#byler is requited

[lillie98]

How to Save the World—Stranger Things 5

I’ve had some time to sleep on the episode titles and think about them, read theories, etc. and I now believe they might be real.

Hear me out: Stranger Things is all about cycles, parallels, tropes happening over and over again. The Duffers love taking a moment and repeating it in slightly different ways to prove a point. The story started with “The Vanishing of Will Byers” because we needed to place a small, innocent child in the center of our story, something to bring our character together and drive them to action. Well, that child is no longer in danger and our team is ripping apart at the seams. It’s almost like we need something similar to reunite everyone and drive them to action again.

Remember: The Duffers love parallels. Will’s disappearance brought his deeply fractured family together, uniting them for a common cause. It also brought Nancy and Jon together when their families needed them most. Now, the Byers are a united front, ready to tackle any monster that comes their way. They are the glorification of the avant-gard family. Now which family is struggling? The Wheelers. The perfect, All-America Nuclear Family: Mom, Dad, 3 kids, and a picket fence. They look perfect to the outside world, but behind closed doors, they are deeply struggling. They don’t communicate, the parents have idea what’s happening in their children’s lives, and if they’re not careful, if they don’t come together and form a united front—they’re going to lose everything, potentially causing the end of the world. (Why? I haven’t gotten that far yet!)

Now, how do we inspire them to action? Maybe by taking the child who was born to save their crumbling marriage—the one has seen everything but, up until this point, been too young to contribute. Now, she’ll be the same age Will was when he disappeared and Mike and Will are the same age as Jon and Nancy. The Duffers are trying to illustrate the idea of “The Next Generation.” This evil, this Upside Down dimension is NEVER going to stop until someone from the Wheeler and Byers families breaks the cycle. Children will continue to vanish, the world will continue to crumble, until someone steps up and says ENOUGH. The Wheelers and Byers (parents and children) must step up and face their pasts in order to move forward.

The “Stranger Things” are not only LGBTQ+ matters, they are the skeletons we hide in the closet that literally eat us alive. They are the dark, festering parts of ourselves we don’t let anyone else see. The invisible cancers that slowly and silently kill us. Until we face them head on, until we bring them to the light, they will NEVER die. Stranger Things is about owning your past, facing your fears, and finding the light again.

So yes, Stranger Things will end with Will Byers making it home from Mike Wheeler’s house on November 6, 1983, but not in a time traveling way, in a finally letting go of that scared, pained little boy who thought the world was better off without him. It’s Mike accepting his sexuality and place in his family. His role as a leader. It’s Joyce accepting love from Hopper, who must accept that he is not actually cursed, but that sometimes, bad things happen to good people, even when they think they’re doing the right thing (Vietnam). it’s Karen and Ted falling in love again and fighting to save their family. It’s Eleven discovering that love, not anger, should fuel her powers. It’s mourning your stolen childhood while stepping into the version of yourself that child never got to be. It’s stopping the cycle and creating a better world for the Will Byers and Mike Wheelers and Jane Hoppers of tomorrow. THAT’S how you become a Hero.

[michaelqueerler]

What do you mean they've always loved each other?

[bylerismyeverything]

People saying “I hope that if Will and Mike won’t end up together, Will still gets a love interest.” Is crazy because I don’t think Will “but you make (me) feel like (I’m) not a mistake at all” Byers is physically capable of looking at another human being.

[willslun]

they judge people together

gifs by: emblazons

[mikewheelerlikesboys]

Okay so I’m rewatching season 1 and I have to bring something up, so obviously the line “only love makes you that crazy sweetheart” is super important to us as bylers because of the crazy together scene. But, I think we need to talk more about the line right after that

“And that damn stupid”

This line is clearly directed at Jonathan beating up Steve, she’s calling it stupid and saying love makes that happen. Now let’s think back to just 2 episodes before.

Mikes response to Troy making fun of Will.

And then to add onto that, the scene where Troy and James track them down in the woods, in retaliation to when Mike shoved him, happens directly after the “and that damn stupid”

[wheelerssecret]

THINKING ABOUT WHAT MICHAEL WHEELER WAS GOING TO SAY AFTER THIS "Uh..." KEEPS ME UP AT NIGHT

AND THEN WILL JUST INTERRUPTS RIGHT HERE

AND

THE F*CKING [tender, emotional music playing]

WILLIAM BYERS, WHY DID YOU INTERRUPT HIM???? YOU WERE ALMOST GETTING THE BOY, HE WAS ONE STEP AWAY FROM MAKING A FULL DECLARATION

I can't

[anthrophile1-blog]

Out here doing the Lord’s work for bylers on the accursed internet space known as Facebook.

[bylersbear01]

is that really what they thought of when they saw this photo…

[curseyouperrytheplatypus]

[retrocitizen]

UMMMM FUCK YES.

WE R NUMBER 1!!!!!!

[sincerealev]

Hey look, I drew Byler 🐋

Me when s2 and s4 Byler, I can't wait for s5 Byler 😭😭

[lillie98]

You Can’t Be What You Can’t See.

Positive, authentic representation means the difference between feeling like an alien in your community and discovering your identity. I’ve been on this journey for the last four years. Diving into media, my past, and other autistic creators to put together some semblance of what it means to be me. A large piece of that puzzle snapped together last year after watching Stranger Things Season 4, specifically the Painting Scene. I could not wrap my head around why Mike didn’t take the time to comfort Will as he cried or why he didn’t seem to understand Will was talking about himself. I thought back on his whole characterization and what I would have done in that situation, and the lightbulb dinged: Mike is autistic…just like me.

It was an overwhelming moment of joy, understanding, and identity that not only did we share the same diagnosis, we practically share the same brain. Since then Autistic Mike has taken over my mind and taught me more about myself than any doctor. I’ve explored him through my writing and used his (eventual) relationship with Will as something to aspire to, that maybe someday my Will will come for me. Someone to accept, love, and understand every part of me. It is incredibly healing and life-giving and I’m so thankful for everyone involved in creating such a beautiful story. When Bhavna announced she had opened commissions for her art, I knew I had to have this turning point in my life memorialized. We worked together for about a month to come up with this piece and I could not be happier. I sobbed when I saw the preliminary sketch—I finally felt seen.

All that to say, never be embarrassed about something you love. There is someone out there who needs to see it’s okay to exist. Please enjoy Mike’s latest DnD info-dumping session while his boyfriend, Will, looks on. It’s late, they should be in bed, but Mike can’t stop and Will’s too infatuated with Mike’s happiness to make him. The world is a little too loud, so Mike donned his headphones, and Will loves the way they relax Mike and allow him to process the world a little easier. Thank you, Bhavna. Happy Stranger Things Day. ❤️

[michaelqueerler]

how did they even get away with this

HES STRUGGLING TO BREATH-

THE BLINKING

His eyes moving from one eye TO THE other

LIKE WHYS HE STUDYING WILLS FACE LIPS LIKE that BRO

his eye twitched-

and WILLS NOT EVEN LOOKING AT HIM in those ^^

then there's that ^^

[bylerismyeverything]

So like… I love Mike. But I can’t wait for him to suffer in season 5.

[jessffwrs]

sometimes I'm having a perfectly good day and then I remember that will byers canonically is in love with mike wheeler and I break down

[fruitybowl]

Byler getting together wouldn't just be good for Will, but for MIKE as well. It's clear that he is very very insecure about himself. He doesn't understand why El of all people would like someone like him. In his mind El is SPECIAL and he's NOT. El has super powers and literally saved the world, and him? He's just a nerdy, socially awkward guy and there's NOTHING special about him. Him learning that Will loves him not despite but BECAUSE of his quirks will do wonders for his self image. Obviously Will telling Mike he's in love with him won't fix all of Mike's problems, but it will definitely help him knowing that Will's gonna love him no matter what.