#ambiguous byler

[starbylers]

You only really need to understand 5 things to know why Byler is happening:

Mike’s arc in season 3 was about pretending to be someone he’s not in the pursuit of “growing up”. It was about kids playing at relationships. This was the only season with focus on the state of M!leven while dating & not separated and it was treated as an immature joke.

Season 4, instead of proving to us why M!leven are right for each other, quite literally does the opposite and shows us nothing except them having awful communication & not finding emotional safety in each other. There is not a single scene between them which is an exception to this.

Meanwhile, Mike and Will are attached at the hip. We see how they resolve conflict maturely and between themselves. We see a strong emotional connection. We see how Mike feels more comfortable being vulnerable with Will than he is with anyone else, and how Will is always always there for him. We see how…

Will’s painting & monologue (aka his romantic love for Mike) soothed Mike’s insecurities and boosted his confidence. It made him ridiculously happy. And being reminded of this lie about El by Will himself ends up being necessary to encourage Mike to go ahead with his “love monologue”, which winds up indirectly causing a literal apocalypse. You cannot make this shit up lmao.

M!leven is entirely framed through Will’s experience. He’s in every scene except their fight, his pain and misery over them is never not the focus. Literally never. We are not seeing the story of M!leven’s love, we are seeing the story of Will’s heartbreak.

Nothing else matters. Like in the most clinical story writing terms, Mike’s character is not going to find out that the person who made him feel the most loved & understood is in love with him and is the one who actually feels all these things about him that just happen to align with exactly what Mike needs to hear to embody the truest and best version of himself, and instead of realising he loves that character back, goes nah I’m good I’ll end up together forever with the person who whilst dating them I became someone I was not and also had terrible self-esteem—oh and also the relationship is insanely immature. It’s that simple. Whether or not Mike currently believes he loves El or currently wants to remain in a relationship is so so so irrelevant. Storytelling doesn’t care what the character thinks he wants, it cares about what the character needs!

[gayofthefae]

Setting up that Mike can break Will out of trances more successfully and consistently than anything was a genius way to intertwine a love story with lore for real like props. That's how you build to a climax.

[rotisseries]

babe wake up new copypasta just dropped

[ectonurites]

… y’all know actors making ambiguous comments about highly debated elements of a show at cons to keep discussion going while the show is on hiatus is like. a marketing thing. a pr strategy. you guys know this and anyone taking it seriously is joking right. right

[byierficrecs]

❝ descent. ❞ author: @andiwriteordie

link: archiveofourown.org/works/41480385

personal blog || submit a story || support me on ko-fi 🌿

[chirpsythismorning]

a heartfelt moment where Mike is reassuring Will and it’s emotional and electric and you think something’s gonna happen, but then Will’s just like thanks Mike you’re a really good friend, with Mike going from looking enamored as Will smiles at him thoughtfully before leaving, to looking like he wants to punch a wall once Will is gone

[paintingformike]

been noticing in these interviews that the duffers always emphasize the completion of character arcs and how they’re just as important as the supernatural plot...and people have the nerve to say that s5 will just be about the apocalypse and how “there won’t be time for romance” or any personal arcs to discount the possibility of byler 😭 BE REAAAL

[pinkeoni]

Oh no, I’m gonna start overthinking Will’s ambiguous naming of Henry as just “him” aren’t I

[autistic-katara]

ive been the biggest byler fan since season 2 but im not sure if i want them to get together in s5. from a writing perspective i think it could come off as rushed since we havent had and probably wont have enough time to properly adress and explore mike's feelings and sexuality. as much as i want byler to happen i think it would be better if we had more time, which is unfortunate since this is the last season.

yeah honestly i’m kinda worried its gonna be a bit rushed myself. like i still want it to happen ofc (id rather rushed byler than mikes character actually just being a badly written AH nd will’s arc being badly written and lowkey homophobic) but i am a bit worried that they wont have enough time to fully flesh everything out. i mean its not like itd come out of nowhere like there’s been seeds since as far back as s1 (both for the queerness and just for mike’s subtle character stuff in general) but yeah idk i kinda get where ur coming from

(tysm for the ask tho anon <3)

[behindthesefangirleyes]

My mom, the other week: You still write fanfics?

Me: Yeah, sometimes.

Also me: Just finished writing a nearly 22K Byler fic.

[rosesradio]

that “one fear” shirt meme but it says “the duffers leaving byler ambiguous to be artsy”

[gayofthefae]

Before volume 2 I thought that they were gonna save the painting for when they got together, if that be in season 5, then season 5, but then they brought it out so I was like "oh, this is the moment" but then it wasn't and I was confused

but in retrospect, I get it. They did save the painting for when they get together, they just also used it now. It wasn't as simple as setup-payoff - the setup being that he painted something secret and the payoff being what it is. The payoff was aNOTHER setup, what it means, which Mike still doesn't know.

I know I may be being captain obvious here, but it's more about me putting that together with my original expectations. I expected them to use the painting with the final reveal or not at all until then, but they did both. The payoff wasn't what the painting is, it's what the painting means and I suppose I hadn't thought of those being able to be separated.

[madwheelerz]

I'm pretty sure Mike will end up being labeled as gay after coming to some realizations

[ki-flor]

Had a dream that byler wasn't canon so therefore it will be canon because it's the opposite

[andcenterfolds]

Byler vs. Mileven again with which ship parallels with Henry and Patty’s relationship…we can argue with parallels but at the end of the day what matters more is where the story’s going.

[there-was-a-hole-here-itsgonenow]

Mike Wheeler could say “I love you, Will,” in all particularity and seriousness and hardcore Midlevens would say he’s just confused. They would quite literally act like parents who don’t accept their queer kids.

“It’s just a phase!!!”

“But that girl is just so perfect for him!!”

“Try harder!”

“He doesn’t really like boys/Will!!”