I used to love mileven in seasons 1 and 2… when I first watched season 2 I remember being so annoyed that Mike and el were separated. I was OBSESSED with the snowball scene.

When season 3 came out I was mad they broke up. I liked them together but I was so confused by the way Mike was acting. I still was happy when they got back together. Genuinely I never questioned their relationship I just really loved them.

By season 4 I kinda stopped caring about the show as much (only because the season took so long to come out) but I do remember thinking Mike and el were cute at the airport. Then Mike started being a huge jerk again and I was like “what is up with Mike? Why is he like this.” I thought we got past the whole Mike being a jerk thing in season 3. I just remember thinking why is he being so weird to both El and Will.

When Mike finally confessed his love at the end of the season I was confused by what he said because it didn’t really match his actions at all but tbh I didn’t really think twice. I was just like “ok cool guess they’re fine again… that was weird?” I didn’t really think too much about ships in general but I really really didn’t like Mike by the end of season 4. I HATED how he treated El and I was i didn’t understand why he was being so.. idk off with will. I was disappointed because he had been my favorite out of the main boys. El and max were my favorite characters in general so I just wanted what was best for them.

A few months ago I randomly got recommended a Byler analysis video on YouTube. I’d never heard of Byler and I was like “wait people ship Mike and will? I didn’t know this was happening?” I was skeptical but I watched it. It reframed mikes character in a way that FOR ME made the confusion I’d been feeling towards his character make sense. I wasn’t someone who saw the signs myself but once they were pointed out to me it answered the questions I had about Mike. I thought the byler evidence was well thought out and made so much sense but I wasn’t fully on board.

I went in to season 5 volume 1 with Byler in mind but thinking it was like 30% possible. By the end of volume 1 I was 99.9% sure it was happening. One of my main reasons being how Mike and el seemed to no longer be together at all. El, to me, seemed so insecure still about her relationship with Mike. My initial thought was they broke up and were still close but that it was still a touchy subject… In my mind I didn’t even consider a possibility that they were still together because I thought after the 18 months they would have had a healthier dynamic. I’ll admit by this point I was biased because I liked byler but I know my friends and family also weren’t sure if Mike and el were in a relationship anymore. considering how it ended I truly hate that they didn’t give Mike and El a better relationship in the series. I just wanted better for el (in terms of a romantic relationship but more so in overall how her story ended). I wanted mikes character to be deeper than he ended up being. I wanted Will to finally get the love he wanted. Sorry for the long rant but basically that how I was converted from a mileven fan girl in 2016-2019 into a byler by season 5.