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“Stranger Things is about supernatural stuff not romance! There’s no time for Byler or any romantic drama in season 5, they have to focus on defeating Vecna! Byler makes no sense anyway because it hasn’t been built up and it’s too late to start now!”

The truth: the reason people think this is because what they’re interpreting as "romance" is the few & far between overtly romantic scenes and nothing else, as opposed to recognising the stories of the numerous different relationships on the show as being the point. This is how we can infer that Byler is the end goal. These writers don't do fluff. They build up romances by focusing on the things that actually make a relationship strong: teamwork, emotional connection, and overcoming problems. They show "romance" in every pairing effectively working together, in how much they understand each other emotionally, and in their conflicts & how they handle them. It’s not about displaying "romantic” behaviour between characters but about the narrative of the relationships; who these people are, why they are right for each other and what they go through to be together. And all of this stuff happens alongside and intertwined with the supernatural action.

Overt romance is shied away from in the characters who are in love. For example in season 1, Janc.y are basically shown as “detective partners” with a little tension & one cheek kiss at the end. In season 2 they have the same working together plot, they just also show Jon looking after Nancy when she's drunk; that one hand touch & brief sad exchange about how she didn’t wait for him after s1; and then the (offscreen) hook up after Murray grills them, that you could call overtly romantic but even then it really doesn’t take up much time and—aside from their time at Murray’s when everything between them finally pays off—is very subtle. In season 3 they’re shown waking up together to establish that they’re dating, then I believe they kiss once a little later, and the rest of the season there’s (unpleasant) tension & arguing about work before they reconcile & fight alongside each other….and at the very end they get an affectionate goodbye with one kiss. Max 3 overt moments there (and 2/3 really are moments not even scenes). Then in season 4 their entire story is about their conflict & there’s literally no “romance” outside of them telling other people in the beginning that they love each other although they’re having issues, and then their reunion at the very end after they’ve both gone through separate journeys but again…that’s is their romance. It’s not about showing them off as "being a couple" or "being in love" (even though we know they are), it’s about telling a story grounded in reality, the story of Jonathan and Nancy and their relationship. That’s how the Duffers do it.

Then there’s Joppe.r! They don’t have any “romantic” scenes until s3, and even in s3 it’s mainly about them being friends & working together, building from that same foundation from the first two seasons. The romantic implications are just more textual at that point because of the Enzo stuff & Murray clocking them, and I believe they have one more intimate scene when they’re in the Russian base at the end but the majority of their bond is built via their teamwork and general closeness. Then in s4 same as Janc.y they’re completely separate until their reunion & long earned kisses, and the "romance" is in them fighting to get back to each other & keep their promises.

Romance is very much part of the show, it’s just mostly subtextual and focused on larger arcs. And as I said: all of this stuff happens alongside and intertwined with the supernatural action. There is absolutely always time made for it and there will continue to be in season 5. People appear to see romance as some sort of separate entity to the rest of what’s going on when it’s literally just another form of character relationship and that’s like…as important to the success of the show as the supernatural. Romance is not some superfluous unserious thing it’s a legitimate part of what often brings the necessary heart & humanity to a story (along with platonic love), otherwise it would all just be mechanical and clinical with little reason to care what happens to these people. And don’t just take my word for it:

“People talk about mythology and the Upside Down, and all that is huge, but the magic of season 5 are the characters who find a sense of belonging with each other and through that connection, become heroes.” ~ Shawn Levy

I think maybe it’s also that people don’t see how plot ≠ story. Simplistically I would say plot is the action we are seeing unfold, story is what this action is telling us (story is the "show", plot is more "tell", if you will). This is precisely why I don’t care about the fact that Mike & Will don’t have textually romantic scenes, and I don't buy into what often feels to me like Bylers warping certain moments that are about building a connection/building the storyline between Mike & Will into being romantic when—although through an analytical lens you can recognise it as build up—in-universe they’re pretty much not romantic at all yet. And they don't need to be. We don't need Byler to have been "romantic" the whole time. That’s not the Duffers M.O., they like to build relationships largely on, as I've explained: friendship, being a team, intimate conversations and hints of something more until it pays off eventually (and then even when couples start dating they introduce more conflict). They seem to be of the mind that everything else is fluff and are very sparing and intentional with it. But I concede it’s not to everyone’s taste and I can see how it might lead someone to think ST doesn’t focus much on romance. (And they don’t mind you, it’s not a romance show, but it’s inaccurate imo to claim it's not given importance. It is, just in a very show-don’t-tell manner over any cutesy stuff. In fact the tipoff is they use that stuff to demonstrate to us who the unserious couples are 👀*.)

Byler have their Duffer-style build up (close friendship, teamwork, deep conversations and hints of tension), albeit less obvious/more complicated because they’re boys in the 80s and it’s meant to be a twist (and on top of that people just having a harder time seeing it due to heteronormativity). A complicated/imperfect but deep friendship, spent a season facing supernatural stuff as a pair & being there for each other emotionally, spent a season with the character-focused parts of their (California) plotline almost entirely dedicated to them having six whole different heart to hearts & emotionally supporting each other again (tied into/alongside the plot), moments of tension & feeling that anyone would recognise as potential for romance if they were straight…it’s all there. And no, it doesn't matter that Mike was caught up over El in s4 or that she was often part of their conversations. Nancy was caught up over Steve early in the show while Jonathan was there for her. The point is what these scenes show us about their relationship i.e. how much Will cares for Mike’s happiness, how he’s the only one Mike feels safe opening up to and being comforted by, and how Will makes him feel confident in himself (obviously there's much more to that storyline that points to Byler but I'm just trying to get a point across). So yeah ST has its romance, it just does it in a mostly subtle, story-focused way. And that's how we can see Byler has had build up, and why there was always going to be time for said build up to continue & culminate next season.

*Keep reading if you want to see how Mileve.n, Stanc.y & Bob/Joyce do not fit this pattern at all ⬇️

Mileve.n completely breaks these rules btw: no friendship foundation to their insta-romance, have never had a story about working as a team, have legitimately zero deep conversations after one brief exchange in s1, and there’s absolutely no subtlety with them: they constantly cling to each other & make out & go on a (very forced given the context) date & engage in showy gestures like flowers and El’s Mike shrine 😭 & have a recurrent plot point about saying ily until Mike has to give a melodramatic monologue. Same goes for Stanc.y: no friendship foundation, no teamwork, no deep talks. Just kissing/sleeping together, partying and drama about saying ily. And Bob/Joyce even though it’s a little different because they’re adults: not friends before dating, lack of teamwork because Joyce is so reluctant & refuses to fully let him in until she's forced, and a focus on couple-y stuff like making out, dates & dancing, and talk about moving in together. We know the fate of those last two couples so…

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In light of recent confirmation (not that we even needed it to know this but it’s always nice) about the meaningfulness of complementary colours in showing visual harmony between characters like Mike & Will who are supposed to work well together, I felt like sharing this graphic I made ages ago cause it’s crazy to me just how similar these early season outfits actually are:

Not only wearing almost the exact same colour scheme but also the whole structure…the collars, the semi button down look, the colour block style, Will even having a stripe on his jacket mirroring Mike’s stripy shirt… Literally so matching it’s like they’re following some kind of dress code lol. A true team 🫶

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mmmm cleradin my beloved

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can november come any quicker .

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Going over some incriminating things about Finn’s response to this question:

He had such an easy set up to just follow along and say something simple and nice about Mike & El’s relationship, like yeah they’ve definitely developed a really close bond over the years, they’ve been through so much and it’s really strengthened their relationship—he did actually start off saying something like “I mean I think they probably just got really [close?]” but cuts himself off and instead…

Finn starts rambling about how Mike was just a nerdy kid so romance wasn’t something he saw for himself, it “wasn’t even on [Mike’s] mind [in general]” but also “romance wasn’t even on his mind initially when he found El”, instead Finn compares it to finding an “alien” like in ET. Love at first sight? Lol, okay. He goes on to specifically emphasise how “as all the scariness kind of started to go away” (aka the “government conspiracy” stuff he mentions & also the UD stuff too by extension) is when it became “more about the relationship between them”, and I think he’s referring to s3 here because that’s when they actually start a relationship and all the supernatural/dangerous stuff slows to a stop, and how it then became…

…what he calls “that first love […]. That relationship is his first romantic feeling towards someone, it just comes after all the craziness he finds out about”. He really kept pushing that point of his feelings/the romance of their relationship not coming till later. Sounds a lot like he’s pushing back against the claim of their “romantic relationship” being “foundational” to ST. And there’s the way he says “first love”. The Duffers have also used this label (or similar—I think they’ve said puppy love or first crush too) to describe Mike & El before. It’s very indicative of innocence, childhood, and not being built to last. It implies that more loves are to come, and is usually used in a sort of nostalgic sense.

He reiterates that “going into season 5 they're definitely, you know, they're still a couple going into it” and how that’s all he can say. This is the extent of his response to the “how does Mike’s confession impact them” part of the question. Which is weird because….what is there to be so secretive about? “Going into” what about within the season hm? Such an evasive response for a couple that ended the last season with a “love monologue” that supposedly tied all their issues in a neat bow and are now happily sailing toward their endgame.

Basically this entire answer is completely pushing back against the premise of the question he was asked. “So what makes Mleven so foundational to the show and so strong of a couple and how does Mike’s big confession make them even better??? 😍” Finn: well actually Mike and El’s relationship wasn’t really a thing until halfway through the show. He looked at her like an alien when they met and did not think about romance. When they get together later it’s his first romantic feelings. First love. First, definitely. They’re still together at the start but I can’t reveal anything further. Like what 😭 that’s a crazy way to talk about an “endgame from the beginning” couple. The way he just completely disagreed/deflected is priceless lol

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whenever I’m alone with you

you make me feel like I am home again

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How much of “El” was actually in Will’s van speech, why this scene does NOT point to him letting Mike go, and what we actually know about Will's arc/Byler because of it

I know everyone jokes about the Will crying in the van shot so we sometimes forget how serious of a moment that was but like…..he was devastated. It’s always bothered me when people act as though this scene was about El in any genuine way, and that the message to take away is that Will is accepting Mike and El love each other and starting to move on. Both of these things couldn’t be further from the truth, they’re just convenient interpretations to fit a certain narrative.

In reality, Will assumed what El feels because he loves Mike, and that’s how he feels. There was no conversation between him & El, nothing Will ever witnessed, for him to determine that Mike “makes her feel like she’s better for being different”, that that helps her “fight”. It’s what El wanted to feel from Mike, but she clearly didn’t (“You think I’m a monster too”). We never see Mike uplift her for her differences throughout the entire time they're dating, and then in s4 El gets a plot about feeling like she doesn't fit in (“I am different”) and actively lies to Mike about it ??? So...when exactly does Mike make her feel like she's “not a mistake at all”? El doesn't even feel safe giving him the opportunity, in fact she actively refuses to repeatedly: lying in her letters, asking Angela to lie to Mike at the rink, in their fight when he tries to understand & she tells him he doesn't. (And then when he tries in the monologue to use the sentiment “I love you for exactly who you are” etc.…she loses.)

And aside from that, explaining the painting and its meaning was the most blatant lie we see Will tell, and that’s all him. It wasn’t El who said all these wonderful things she loves about Mike, who created a gift inspired by something personal to Mike (DnD) to emphasise that message. Those were Will’s thoughts and feelings, unquestionably. There is nothing to suggest that El perceives Mike in that way (“the heart”, “guiding the party, inspiring us”, “without [you] we'd all fall apart”), that she understands him and knows exactly what to say to make him feel important, special and needed, that she loves him the way Will loves him (which just coincidentally happens to encompass exactly what Mike needs to hear to soothe his insecurities (“I’m just some random nerd” etc.)). And frankly even if we pretend El thinks the exact same things, Will was the one who did the work to make Mike happy. The idea that El should be able to coast on the efforts of someone else because well she obviously feels the same way (where ???) is kind of disturbing. Mike deserves to be with someone who gets him and puts in the effort, just like El deserves, just like anyone deserves. It makes no sense for the writers to narratively reward a love interest who did none of the emotional work to help her partner feel secure and loved vs. the one who went above and beyond to make him feel loved, valued and confident, starting that painting before he even found out Mike was struggling with insecurity.

That speech only applied to El insofar as Will sprinkles in “these past months she's been lost without you”, “she's so different from other people”, “we'd all fall apart, even El, especially El” and “if she was mean to you/seemed like she was pushing you away”. Not because El said any of this, but because it's plausible for Will to come to these conclusions on his own and think he's correct (and even be partially correct). But it all applies to him too. He knows El was having a hard time in Lenora, but saying it’s because she’s “lost without [Mike]” is an assumption he makes, probably because he missed Mike while they were separated & barely speaking. He knows El is different, and so is he because of his sexuality. He knows El’s been helped by Mike and his leadership before, just like he’s also part of the group and has had Mike be there for him many times. He knows El fought with Mike and then left him, and Will barely reached out to Mike and then was acting moody at the rink. So they both pushed Mike away, but I’d say himself moreso than El is what he’s referring to by “being mean” (not that he was wrong for being upset but he was still acting how he was acting). And when was El ever “mean” to Mike? Will doesn’t even know why they fought. So it’s about a 60-40 balance but yeah, parts of El’s experience are definitely intertwined with Will’s here.

But the rest? “Of course she needs you Mike, she'll always need you”, “You make her feel like she's not a mistake, like she's better for being different and that gives her the courage to fight”, “if she [...] was pushing you away, it's just because she's scared of losing you” (I do think that one's maybe partially true but Will wouldn’t know beyond a random guess), “if she was gonna lose you I think she’d want to get it over with quick”, “El needs you and she always will”, and of course “El commissioned it” and the compliments he gives after...who is Will to make all these claims? He doesn't know how El feels, he didn't even know El was lying to Mike, she clearly doesn't confide in Will about her relationship. No, these things are all Will guessing/outright lying while letting his own feelings slip through. And just in general outside of Will, El hasn’t done/said anything elsewhere in the show to confirm that she feels any of this (in fact it was de-confirmed, in the case of the “better for being different” stuff).

Essentially, it’s all just Will's assumptions about El, some of which are based in reality and some of which are Will projecting. But most importantly, the reassurance and comfort he gives (the painting stuff) in response to Mike talking disparagingly about himself are Will and no-one else, and part of the most blatant lie he tells (“she told me what to draw [...] your coat of arms, it's a heart [...] without heart we'd fall apart”) is specifically what is called back to to push Mike into confessing!

Now, the idea of Will “accepting the reality” of Mike loving El is so ridiculously irrelevant. Will was heartbroken after he did what he did, this boy was literally sobbing out the window, but the whole reason he does is because he fully 100% believes Mike loves El. He knows, people! He spends the entire season giving Mike advice and pushing him towards her. Why would Will need to accept something he's been actively supporting before and during this scene? In his mind it's fully unrequited and he's operating within that reality in the most selfless, helpful, unobstructive way! He's not in denial, he has no hope.

What they really mean is he needs to move on and that this scene is somehow an indication that he is, but again, no: “[I] need you, and [I] always will” is Will's final projection before he cries his eyes out, and then later on we see him miserably staring at them again. The fact is, Will has accepted his “reality” that just didn't lead to him getting over Mike. No, it led to him sacrificing something he poured his heart into to save Mike’s relationship because he thinks that what will make Mike happy is to be with El, so he's making that happen. He is a bigger M!leven shipper than anyone. He still loves Mike, shows no signs of letting go, but he's just that selfless. And it's perfect, because no amount of knowing Mike loves El seems to change how much Will loves Mike. Incredibly inconvenient for a “plot” that relies on the gay character’s silly feelings magically disappearing out of reverence for a het couple and their deep soulmate love……

But this is why some people try to invent an imaginary arc where Will was somehow trying to get in the way of M!leven/had hope Mike could feel the same way, because otherwise you just get: Will likes Mike, knows it's hopeless, and then it randomly fizzles out lmao. Everyone knows that's not an arc; there's no change, no development, nothing learned. Plus, if Will is already in full acceptance of M!leven endgame…what’s next seaon's alleged rejection going to do/change? Nothing, Will’s feelings aren’t dependent on Mike reciprocating as has been shown, so the only purpose would be rubbing salt in the wound. And again, you end up with not an arc but a flat, depressing line. Will likes Mike, knows it's hopeless, has it painfully reaffirmed that yes it is hopeless, and then fizzle. If you know stories you know this makes zero sense, and therefore is not happening 👍

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Soft byler, my fav

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Happy New Year Byler Nation 🎆

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The first attempt to do animation in procreate

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Confession I kind of don’t like the suggestion that the way in which they will show Mike liking Will is having him constantly worry over him/be desperate to save him from something. The reason Mike & Will work and would be better together than Mike & El is because of their friendship, I don’t want Mleven 2.0 where the main reason people perceive them as in love is because of the life and death dramatics. I want emotional support and strong communication and teamwork between them (I also want flirting like in 4x04 but that’s besides the point). In s3 Mike fusses so much over El making her own choices about using her powers that it suffocates her, she literally has to tell him to stop it and to “trust [her]”. All he does 24/7 is worry she’s going to die and/or abandon him, it’s nauseatingly repetitive and not romantic, just sad because it demonstrates his trauma & insecurities. I don’t want that for Byler. I want Will to tell Mike “I need to do X” (X being risky/dangerous thing) and for Mike to say “okay, talk to me. tell me how I can help. how are we going to do this?”. Maybe we’ll get it both ways depending on if Will tries to do something really stupid like sacrifice himself, and obviously Mike being a bit on edge in general because of Will likely being Vecna’s main target makes sense, but I just want their relationship to be mostly focused on showcasing their actual bond and why it’s so special instead of forcing this state of panic onto Mike that is too reminiscent of his trauma-induced dynamic with El which is half of why I need that ship to be over in the first place

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them and summer

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Tethered

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Before vs After watching Arcane

[Reblogs are Love!]

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and the shame was on the other side or something

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New byler art💙💛