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#be gay make byler canon
sundaisies28 · 1 year
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*starts dating
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*starts dating
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*starts dating
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🤔🤨🧐
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swftlore · 2 years
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stranger things 5:
byler: *starts flirting in the hospital*
max, immediately waking up from her coma: thats gay
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anthrophile1-blog · 1 year
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Out here doing the Lord’s work for bylers on the accursed internet space known as Facebook.
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illogical-fallacy · 2 years
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thatgaytick · 1 year
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Proof byler is real🫢😳
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byler-is-endgame7 · 1 year
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why is it always
ily
and never
dyrtfdtwmiwtfdokiknihnfaijfsaassbisyotsaywatywjsbyaijwutyaiaiaiywtbmfaysyysyiwtbtied
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captainmoofy · 2 years
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someone help me i miss my comfort character and my family won’t let me talk about him anymore
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snacksizedgates · 2 years
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Proof Mike Picked Up on What Will Was Saying in the Van Scene from the Very Beginning.
This is a pretty long post but there are some really interesting things I noticed while finally properly analyzing this scene. I breakdown all of Mike's facial reactions and even other visual clues in this scene that points toward Byler. Hope you enjoy!
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Here's screencaps of when Will asks Mike if he can show him "something." He keeps glancing up and down between Will's face and the poster, indicating nervousness/curiosity. He does this because he recognizes the poster from the airport. He also knows Will was painting something and El heavily implied it's for someone he likes.
They didn't just throw these two scenes/lines in the season for no reason. They put them in there to set a precedent that Mike knows about the existence of this painting, not just through El but also by physically seeing it. This establishes that he knows what this painting is and what type of person it's for (a crush).
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His reaction to the painting. He's happy as indicated by the open mouth smile instead of the more flirtatious close mouth smile. He's genuinely happy that Will made him this, because at this point that is what he's assuming. He believes what El said (the truth), so at this point he's thinking "he painted this whole painting for ME."
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Then this scene. He definitely knows Will's lying. As soon as he starts saying it was El's idea, Mike get's confused and looks back down at the painting. Kind of like "there's no way he's telling the truth cus the math just dont add up." When he looks back up, his lips are pursed, in a disapproving way. He knows Will is lying to him. And then he looks back down to reexamine the painting again. He's perplexed.
Not only that but this part is seen through the perspective of Jonathan, who definitely knows Will is lying. So when they flip to Jonathan's POV we can assume whatever Will's saying, is understood by both Jonathan and Mike, because they're the only one's on screen beside Will and they're both intently listening to him. (by on screen I mean Jonathan was just previously on screen intently listening to Will, creating a comparison between Jonathan and Mike, that essentially they are the same in this scene. Quiet but intently listening and having at least an inkling of the truth) Plus we already established other reasons why Mike knows. So this shot just emphasizes that point even more.
So now, since Mike understands the El commission thing is a lie, and that this painting was made for him by Will, he can reasonably presume that other things Will is about to say are lies or taken out of context. He can assume when Will refers to El, he's referring to himself, because Will has already set that precedent and Mike picked up on it.
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Now, since he knows Will is lying, he gets nervous. Will starts talking about heart and pointing to it drawn on Mike's armor and that's when Mike get's excited. At first he's gazing down at it with a happy and inviting facial expression . Then it cuts to Mike looking at Will explaining how "we'd" all fall apart without (mikes) heart and Mike literally takes a huge deep breath. You can kind of see it in the screencaps, but I would suggest just rewatching the scene after finishing the thread with everything I point out in your mind.
Anyway, his chest rises and his throat gulps. Nervous. His demeanor slowly changes from lighthearted and happy (when Will gives him the painting and he can easily assume its for him from Will and nothing else) to a more hardened, serious expression (when he realizes Will doesn't feel comfortable enough to say it's from him, he's lying to him and he realizes the implications that creates.)
He's overwhelmed with feeling in this whole entire scene, just like Will is. Except Will has better access to his emotions than Mike who represses his. So that's why he's so quiet/stunned and doesn't say anything. Not because he's clueless but because he has TOO MANY clues. Lol.
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This is right after Will finishes talking about heart and for the first time since Mike understood he was lying under the guise of El, he references El. He says "Even El (needs your heart) Especially El." Mikes reaction is pictured above. His face changes from overwhelmed/nervous to a serious expression. Almost confusion but more like an epiphany, like he's thinking. When Will mentions El again, he immediately looks back down at the painting. Like he can't understand how what is being explained to him is true. Look at the eyes. In the previous pictures, his eyes are just ever so slightly squinted which gives off an inviting, warm expression. In the pictures above, his mouth closes and his eyes "harden." He's looking back down at the painting realizing that Will has feelings for him. He put a damn heart on Mike and only Mike. That's why he's looking at it seriously and intently.
Because either he realizes that wow, my internal feelings were being reciprocated this whole time and I didn't notice or he's just beginning to understand that Will is gay and likes him.
However, Will is basically telling Mike I Need You, something Mike always wants to hear, and it's throwing him over board with feelings, so I honestly think this scene is more about reciprocation. Mike's too mixed emotions for me to believe he's not having gay panic inside.
Now either he didn't think Will had feelings for him or he didn't think they were that strong. But this scene is essentially a wake up call for Mike.
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Now in the top two screenshots, it's from Jonathan's perspective again. And once again, he's referencing El by using the pronoun "she" to describe his experience not hers. That's why it goes to Jonathans POV because Jonathan knows his secret (so he knows his lie) and it only goes there when he starts referencing El. Happening more than once indicates meaning to the shot, and that meaning is Mike knowing Will is calling himself different not El. And then he switches to "you" pronouns to make it more vague, but at least it's not lying. And it switches right back to regular audience POV - so he's being truthful now and Mike can discern between the two. Not to mention, Will has his faced turned away, indicating whatever he's saying now is emotional for him, and then he turns back around with slight tears in his eyes. Most people would pick this up in a best friend so it's safe to assume Mike does too. Also Mike's completely focused on what Will is saying, so it's very important to him. He's not even slightly smiling, he has a completely serious look on his face meaning he's really taking in what Will is saying and he knows the implications of everything Will is saying is serious.
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This shot pretty much sums it up like lets be real. Will basically apologizes for being a douche/being distant (even though he never was, Mike was) and Mike looks guilty because he feels bad for doing this exact thing to Will in the beginning of the season. He realizes how similar they actually feel. And he starts smiling/heart eyes in the last frame because 1) Will's apologizing to him when he doesn't even need to making him so selfless 2) his feelings are being reciprocated. Notice "seemed like she was pushing you away" Mike now knows Will wasn't intentionally pushing him away and that also makes him smile. He breaks his serious expression once Will admits he wasn't intentionally creating distance between them, meaning this is something Mike cared or thought about. This is the first time he breaks his serious expression since Will started explaining the heart metaphor, which initially caused Mike to be nervous.
Not to mention if he didn't know before this, then he definitely knows at this point. Many people have pointed it out but let me reiterate it: El never acted distant towards Mike, until the end of season 4. In fact she was heavily concerned with Mike most of the time, wanting HIM to be less distant, so it's quite the opposite. This means he 100% knows Will is talking about himself.
They don't pull away to Jonathan's POV even though he's talking as if he were El here because 1) they want the close up reaction from Mike, meaning its IMPORTANT and 2) Mike isn't thinking about why Will is using El as a cover anymore. Jonathan may be but we've already seen his POV for the last time, so at this point that fact that he was lying about certain things has been understood and moved past by Mike, as conveyed by the different shots. He doesn't care at this point because he's too engrossed in what Will is saying. He isn't thinking in Jonathan's POV anymore that "Will is lying" because he realizes Will's being more honest than he ever has in the entire series. Jonathan stills cares about Will lying, and we know that from the last shot in this scene being Jonathan panning out of the frame looking slightly upset. But they didn't go back to the mirror POV to indicate Jonathan was worried about Will - meaning there was a specific reason they were using the POV shot (to indicate Mike knows Will was lying just like Jonathan).
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This is right after Will saying the bandaid line. Mike gulps and breathes heavy. Since Will is in this scene and we've established Mike knows Will is talking about himself and that he reciprocates the same feeling, he gulps because he thinks about losing Will too. He remembers losing Will. He doesn't want to lose will.
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Then we have the "El needs you Mike. She'll always need you" with Will's tears about to pour down his face. And I know I sound like a broke record, but Mike knows he means "I need you mike. I'll always need you."
Then the "Yeah" "Yeah" which mirrors saying I love you to someone because you typically repeat it back to each other. You can't compare it to hello, or goodbye, or good day because it doesn't fit in the context. So what other comparison is there? Not only that but they also say it in different tones. Mike says it in a slightly questioning way, like he's needs reassurance that its true. He still doesn't believe it fully. But also with a smile indicating he's happy with this. That Will (the protected) is never going anywhere because he'll always need Mike (the protector). He's smiling because of this. Once Will reassures him, Mike's face soften with adoration for him. There's no other way to describe his face than adoration. He also glances back and forth at Will which I think indicates nervousness, uncertainty, awkwardness. Regardless it indicates Mike is feeling a lot in that moment.
Will, on the other hand, says it with finality, like end of discussion it will never change. It mirrors their relationship dynamic because Will knows he's never going to not need Mike in his life but Mike doesn't know that... Until now. We assume he does know things like this because to us, the audience, it's obvious but Mike doesn't see Will the way we see Will. It also goes back to the connection between Will and El (read my theory about that here if you're interested). They mirror each other. And just a few minutes ago he was talking about how scared he is of El not needing him. Their scenes are so byler coded this season if you really look into them. Lowkey has me thinking this is the most byler-y season lol.
And really quickly back to Heart Eyes Mike Wheeler - he's smiling yet he doesn't say anything else. He returns his focus to the painting and stays quiet. This is very atypical of Mike who also usually has something to say.
This is because he just realized his feelings are reciprocated and he's overwhelmed with Will liking him back. He's literally holding his feelings in this whole scene between the deep breathes and serious faces and slightly opened mouths.
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And lastly we have the crying scene. People say Mike just ignores Will and goes back to looking for El but that's not at all what happened here. Look deeper.
Before I analyze the actual actions in the scene I first want to point out how this shot references Will's Boys Don't Cry poster, because it's very important and is more queer coding for Mike. Basically, boys crying = accepting of their feelings, boys dont cry = repressing their feelings, toxic masculinity etc. So while Will is accepting his feelings and having less shame about them, Mike is repressing his. Or at least has been. That's why he's rigid. He's not moving and only just glances at Will. He's feeling a lot too. Furthermore, the poster is yellow and blue, with blue in the bg and yellow in the fg, along with a pyramid in the sunny desert with three trees. Mike in the bg with a blue shirt, Will in the fg with a yellow shirt. The pyramid represents the Love Triangle between Byler and Mileven and the three trees represent each one of them. They're also in a sunny desert and majority of that time they're by themselves until they find El. After that, they're in a nightime desert along with El and we don't get to see them in the sunny desert again I believe (don't quote me on this). Mike went from being in the light with Mike to being in the dark with the both of them. The visual references are actually insane once you start looking into them. A lot of thought was put behind this.
But let's get to analyzing the actual scene.
Firstly, he's staring down at the painting.. They never moved it off his lap so he's literally in silence, kind of stunned just looking at Will's painting. All he said was "You painted this? It's amazing" and "Yeah?" the entire conversation. He barely had a response. To me that indicates nervousness/being overwhelmed. To Will this probably indicates his feelings aren't reciprocated :(
Secondly, he glanced at Will for a second. This doesn't show he's "ignoring" him; if anything the opposite. He most likely heard him sobbing quietly and was checking on him because he cares about him. He can't resist taking a glance at Will. But he knows how Will is, and the fact that they're not alone, so he just lets Will cry quietly.
Thirdly, he's most likely dealing with his own feelings in this scene internally. Mike and Will are queercoded very differently (as I have mentioned in my other posts). Mike represses, ignores his feelings, hence why he is shown just staring at the painting in silence not moving. Will accepts his feelings but letting them out both relieves and upsets him. It's overwhelming but he had to finally say it.
So, imo, Mike's glance at Will wasn't judging or ignoring, he looked over and saw exactly how he wanted to react but couldn't because he's still scared of the repercussions of being gay/dating Will. As seen by the his heavy breathes and mixed facial expressions.
Lastly, why would any of Mike's behavior be appropriate if he thought Will was talking about El by the end? It wouldn't. How would any of Will's behavior be appropriate if he were really talking about El? It wouldn't. There's no need to cry over someone else's relationship and Mike knows this. He saw Will with tears in his eyes and then breakdown. Those have PERSONAL implications. If he thought Will were really talking about El, it would've been a discussion not a Will speech. He would've chimed in like "yeah but I don't know if I actually believe she needs me" "im nothing in comparison to her" or SOMETHING because this is typically what people do when they're being praised, especially someone with low self esteem.
So the fact that Mike lets Will ramble about "El's" feelings completely uninterrupted, with comments that are praising him, is sus on it's own.
The fact of the matter is he recognizes that Will is way too emotionally attached to what he's saying.
And that's the end. This is soooooo much longer than I thought it was going to be. Mike Wheeler is definitely gay. And no one can tell me otherwise.
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chirpsythismorning · 2 years
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It would appear I am indeed one of the very few optimistic (delusional?) Bylers left.
Not saying that if you feel hopeless and need to move on, that you can't. A lot of you have been through this before with other shows. Again and again. You’re tired and fed-up and you have every right to be.
Technically, Season 5 won't be out for another 2+ years anyways, which means the best thing for everyone regardless is to get whatever we need off our chests now and then to just go on a hiatus for the foreseeable future. 
When it comes to how I feel about Vol. 2, there were definitely at least a few good moments. If this season has anything going for it, it’s the emotional value. This is without a doubt the most I’ve cried ever while watching the show. One scene in particular that had me on the floor was the scene with Will and El reuniting and hugging. And of course the scene with Will and Mike in the van (DAMN YOU NOAH SCHNAPP FOR MAKING ME SOB SO HARD ALL DAY THAT I GOT A MIGRAINE!)
But yes, I am a Byler. So you could say I was a bit disappointed in that department.
And yet still, I think my take on the later part of season 4 is much different from the majority.
Because personally, I don’t think that what played out in Vol. 2 means that Byler is dead. If anything, I believe it to be more endgame than I did before (well, at least in comparison to pre-s4. There’s no denying pre-Vol. 2 confidence levels remain unmatched. Truly the best era for the Byler fandom to date).
I think my main issue is, like so many of us on here, I thought it was guaranteed we would get to see Mike become aware of Will’s feelings. 
Alas, we did not.
And to be totally clear, without this revelation, Byler can’t go anywhere. 
Neither forwards, nor technically backwards.
This means the baiting game is not over. Which as bad as it sounds, is why I’m still so optimistic…
Now, if they had made Will’s feelings obvious to Mike, or even the fact that Will is gay as being obvious to Mike, but STILL had Mike behave the way he did in Vol. 2, now THAT would have sucked. It would have been canon rejection on Mike’s end.
But we didn’t even get rejection from Mike. 
Instead, we got Will coming off as a hardcore M*leven shipper in Mike's eyes, all while the audience was getting the exact opposite interpretation of this situation; that Will is helplessly in love with Mike. 
Will is able to voice the extent of his love, albeit through advice to Mike about his own situation with El, in a way that no one else on the show has been able to. Most of the other characters need a bunch of bystanders to make them realize their feelings and push them in that direction. But Will, he doesn’t need someone holding his hand along the way, telling him what the right thing to do or say is. His love isn’t something he needs to really think about in order to understand it. It just is.
(Which is SO fucking ironic when you think about how Mike always needs help with figuring out his feelings for El and even sounds like he’s reading off a script when he’s trying to explain himself to her. Whereas with Will, s2 monologue teas, it’s the most natural thing Mike’s ever done. Unscripted, straight from the heart… And both Vol. 1-2 continued to drive home this concept, so maybe jot that down..)
It’s just that, unfortunately, in Will’s eyes, Mike will never return this love, which means his only option is to let Mike go. If supporting Mike and El’s relationship means putting himself dead last in every respect, so that his best friend and his sister can be happy, Will is going to do just that. 
But as far as Mike knows, Will holds no romantic feelings for him. I mean after all, Will is guiding Mike literally every step of the way to confessing his love to El, and that doesn't sound like the behavior of someone who’s in love with you, now does it? 
So why would Mike, throw everything on the line, including the survival of their family and friends in Hawkins by not simply just telling his gf he loves her? All while El is right there loving him and needing his love to fight (presumably), with Will beside him literally rooting for him to do just that? This is very obviously the only option in Mike’s eyes.
Which is ironic, because in a way, I think that Mike has truly never seen him and Will as an option, just like Will, but for an entirely different reason. 
Mike views his feelings for Will as childish, something he will grow out of, or at least should have by now.
“We’re not kids anymore. What did you think, really? That we were never going to get girlfriends? That we were just going to sit in my basement and play games for the rest of our lives?”
If Mike can’t love El, then how can he possibly love any women? She’s special. She’s a superhero. He HAS to love her, right? It’s the best option he could ever possibly have. Well, at least considering…
But what happens when suddenly, he comes to the realization that him and Will ARE an option? And that the only thing ever stopping them was himself and his inability to just be honest with everyone and himself?
I think the truth is, there’s a reason that they’re holding off on this revelation for Mike. 
It will be a catalyst. It will change everything.
Now, how exactly do you think Mike is going to react to this? The fact that Will was in love with him this whole time and he had no idea?
Honestly, I think he’s going to react horribly, but not for the reason everyone assumes.
Because I would argue that, if Mike was going to react badly with disgust or even just let Will down nicely to confirm it’s indeed unrequited, then the Duffer’s would have just given this revelation up by now. But they haven’t.
Once Mike finds out that Will is (probably always will be) in love with him, and that instead of telling him, Will used his love to help Mike get closer to El, even when Mike himself was having doubts over and over? That Will went as far as to lie about the painting he worked so hard on for Mike in order to rekindle their dying friendship, to instead insinuate it was commission from El, to give Mike that final push he needed to even have the courage to tell El he loved her? That all the moments like this that they shared as of late, was really just Will talking about himself? That the only reason he was able to tell El he loved her in the first place, was because he was so moved by Will’s love for him??
This is going to break Mike.
And let’s be real here, two episodes would not have done this revelation justice. 
So now, just knowing the direction they went for Vol. 2, as well as coming to terms with it, I have reached the conclusion that, despite how bleak things seem now, ‘maybe all of this is happening for a reason’ (s2 Mike Wheeler, we miss u).
Which brings me to the other most important piece of the puzzle, which is that, arguably, El needs to be the one who ends things once and for all.
The general audience has been given the impression El is head over heels in love with Mike, and so of course they were rooting for Mike to get on with it and just tell her he loved her. 
But that’s the interesting part. He finally did tell her, but her reaction in the aftermath was not something a lot of fans expected. 
It seems that she’s distancing herself from Mike, a fact that Will acknowledges to Mike later at Hopper’s cabin, with Mike genuinely confused because he thought he did the one thing he had to do. 
He told her he loved her. Which makes everything alright now, right?
But maybe it doesn’t.
Maybe the reminder we got, of that speech from Max to El, about how she didn’t need Mike or Hopper or ANY man to know her worth, was foreshadowing for what honestly needs to happen in order for El to really process and realize her own true feelings about Mike.
Because, although I do believe El genuinely thought she loved Mike, is it possible that Mike was not only having doubts about saying it because of the reasons he argued, or even because of some repressed feelings for Will, but also because El hadn’t given him what he needed to truly believe she loved him.
Mike, like a lot of people, doesn’t need to hear “I love you” to believe that someone loves him.
“I didn’t say it.”
“You didn’t have to.”
He wants something more meaningful, or more specifically, something along the lines of the speech Will gave to him in the van.
Will’s confession disguised as El’s, was what Mike needed to finally say I love you to El... 
Something I think we also got caught up in, is this idea that the Duffer’s were just going to drop M*leven and throw in Byler, with everything else going on, while they still have a whole ass season to promote for another 3+ years, and to their mostly 80’s loving homophobic audience. If Byler is going to happen, it’s going to be the definition of slow-burn and endgame. That’s literally the only way. 
This puzzle is complex, which sucks if you want all the answers now, because we’re just not going to get them. If they give up all their moves, then what is the point of telling the story at all? 
Other pieces of the puzzle include things that arguably still need to happen before Byler can, even regardless of the constraints they have as show-runners who run the biggest show on Netflix’s dying platform. 
Things like Will and El’s love for each other as brother and sister. Considering all the fans that said Will hates El because he didn’t stand up to her bullies or that he’s a home-wrecker who just wants to get with her boyfriend, is why I do think they needed to debunk these insinuations within the narrative. And boy oh boy did they deliver on that front. Will is the most selfless son of a bitch on the planet, who loves his best friend and his sister so much. They made that very clear. And you can see that despite a few homophobes here and there, the general audience's reaction to Will in Vol 2 is sympathy and to Mike it's confusion and betrayal...
Hmm, making El realize she doesn't even love Mike, after making Will's unrequited feelings for Mike more clear, after making Mike behave like an IDIOT this entire time juggling these two relationships, only for him to become aware of whats going on, and to clearly be in love with Will?
Sounds like a good way to set up Byler to an audience that might not have humored it before...
And like I said, with how important I do think it was for this to happen in order for them to go the Byler route, is why I don’t necessarily see this approach as a bad thing. We even got the Will and El hug in 4x08, which maybe it’s just because Noah and Millie are so close, but I would easily rank that on my top most well-earned moments in the whole show.
We NEEDED that. Especially in terms of what is likely to come in season 5 with Byler endgame...
Also, yes the Will angst sucked and it's just trauma porn at this point. I’m not going to deny that fully. I agree with pretty much all of the criticism in regards to how they chose to do certain things when they didn't necessarily have to, but I also simultaneously am able to understand that it again, maybe this is all happening for a reason. If they are indeed going to have Will play a big role in the final season, than them forgetting his birthday, Mike being oblivious and all this other shit he's been through combined, sets up a really arc for him next season, not even necessarily a villain one, but all of this pain has the potential to lead to a happy ending. And I'm being full serious.
Like we have Finn Wolfhard saying the ending of Stranger Things will be like the ending of Schitt’s Creek??? That it will end at it's highest point. The last episode of Schitt’s Creek is literally a happily ever after gay wedding, there's no other way to interpret that…
We also know that a lot of ideas for the last seasons were planned from the beginning, with David Harbour saying that he knew the ending way back in s2 and that it's beautiful and has been the intended plan all along. That there's easter eggs that will have us going 'WOW this is what we've been watching the whole time'? That it's wonderful?
If you’re the level of Byler truther that believes they were somewhat planned all along from the beginning, then you would also know that if they plan a happy ending for Mike and Will, then they would have no problem killing us this painfully in the beginning of the end, because they know we’ll be the ones cheering on by the actual end, and it'll be the homophobes who are pissed and stuck with this result forever as endgame. 
I’m just saying, don’t be surprised when s5 gets closer and we actually see them promoting Byler… like a lot. And we actually start getting in canon hints at scenes with El herself even trying to get them together.
Groveling Mike Wheeler era?
Will finding a potential new love interest and Mike pining/jealous?
Come ONNN! You guys are way more delusional than you’re giving yourselves credit for and I urge you to join me!!!
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abisbookshelf · 1 year
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mike wanting to have a mental breakdown after will didn’t laugh at his stupid sock joke is so hilarious to me for no reason
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thursdaypigeon · 1 year
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sweater weather byler <3
click for quality
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sundaisies28 · 2 years
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WHY DOES WILL LOOK LIKE THAT STUPID MONKEY MEME LOOK
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onlymelonlyy · 10 days
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I always love to remember this scene, because just look at it, it speaks for itself!! mike saying i have an idea. BOYS ONLY is like, they damn told it to our fucking face, but if that weren't enough then they enter the men's locker and emphasize the word MEN and OH SURPRISE the door is fucking blue, coincidences I guess 😘
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anthrophile1-blog · 2 years
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So, I have a friend. He’s an older gay man. An ElderGay™️ as I like to think of him. In his early 60’s. Nice dude. He’s never watched Stranger Things before. So I conducted a little experiment.
I showed him three scenes from season 4 and asked for his thoughts on the characters. Those scenes were Mike and Will in Will’s bedroom, the van scene, and Will and Jonathan in the pizza kitchen. And you know what the first thing he said was? Even before the first scene was over? “I think the one in the blue shirt wants to be more than friends with the other one.” I kid you not. Without prompting. Without any context. He watched that scene and clocked Mike Wheeler immediately. It was more obvious to him than Will being gay, and Will is the one who is canonically gay. The van scene only reinforced this opinion of his. And the scene with Will and Jonathan literally made him cry.
I wanted to share this for two reasons. One, to show that removed from the context of Mike’s relationship with El, his feelings for Will are easy to see, even without 3 prior seasons of buildup. And two, the way queer themes are handled in this show are extremely meaningful, especially for older queer people who lived through that era. This man is literally twice my age, and there we both were, with tears running down our faces, watching how Jonathan affirmed and cared for his gay little brother. It’s so important for queer people and their friends and family everywhere to see interactions like these in mainstream entertainment.
So, anyway, Byler endgame lol
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illogical-fallacy · 2 years
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been thinking about a couple of screencaps that @will80sbyers posted of what looks heavily implied to be h*omosexual activity at rink-o-mania not in the closet:
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and it's got me thinking: throughout all of s4, we really don't get any introspection into how much personal growth Will has undergone during his year away from Hawkins
we of course know he's torn up about his relationship with mike and is hurting watching his half-sister be bullied at school, but we don't know much about what HE is going through.
what we know contextually:
the fictional town of lenora hills is somewhere roughly between bakersfield and LA metro. even in the 80s when california was overall more right-leaning than it is now, it still would have been leagues more progressive than hawkins, indiana at this time
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2) Will clearly feels comfortable enough in his new environment to do research projects and presentations on openly gay individuals in history
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3. Will feels empowered enough to paint a very emotional gift for a girl he likes Mike.
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4. (admittedly minor) king has a little shop of horrors poster in his room, literally flooded with queer subtext. considering the film had JUST come out, too, this was something he was eagerly anticipating, not hopping onto the cult-classic bandwagon for after the fact
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(unrelated note: if you haven't heard m.j. rodriguez, a BIPOC+ trans actress, sing suddenly seymour, you should do that now).
all of these things together indicate: Will has been put in a position that's allowed himself to slowly begin coming to terms with his sexuality in his time away from Hawkins. He may not be vocalizing it yet, but his actions indicate he's probably seen couples like the ones at rink-o-mania already this year. Something that very possibly could have given him the courage to approach Mike about it over Spring Break.
of course, this goes in the trash as all of Will's insecurities hit him full-force the moment Mike steps off the plane in Cali. The rest of s4 depicts this breakdown very well, but it takes understanding just how far Will has come to appreciate how heartbreaking his emotional deterioration is.
We can also support this by considering Jonathan's POV in the van and pizza cooler. Traditionally a loner who has the same kind of reserved life as Will, he also wouldn't have had a lot of exposure to queer people just existing prior to moving to California. He's evidently experienced enough to be able to pick up on Will's (admittedly obvious) subtext and deduce that his brother may be hiding something.
why would the duffers go through the effort of so subtly building up Will's growth arc to not have the payoff be one that completes the hero's journey?
not to get bogged down in mythology: the hero's journey is a very common framework found in thousands of works. it has three main sections: 1) when the hero has to leave home and venture into the world, 2) the ordeals the hero undergoes to realize their full potential, and 3) the hero's return home with whatever they've gained from their trial in order to complete their adventure.
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to me, this suggests heavily that Will's journey of self-actualization and facing his inner-demons (both extra-dimensional and homosexual) is going to conclude in Hawkins as he enters the final third of his journey.
notably, a section of this Journey Will hasn't gone through yet:
RESURRECTION) One final test is required for the purification and rebirth of the hero. Alternatively, it may be a miraculous transformation.
all i'm saying is that transformation better involve him getting Mike to shut up and admit how he feels about his best friend.
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thatgaytick · 1 year
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i love him so much i can't even explain how much i love him at this point
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