#elli talks byler

[booksandpaperss]

rip to whatever episode the byler kiss is in bc once that’s on my screen I’m gonna have to pause, get up and walk around trying not to scream, and then sit down and watch it at least two more times while pinching myself so I don’t pass out

[cosmobrain00]

saying this in the nicest way possible but smtimes the way ppl portray byler u wouldn't think they've been best friends for yrs

[bethhiraeth]

So can we (not you @booksandpaperss sorry elli I'd actually love to hear your thoughts) talk about how byler coded I Know The End by Phoebe Bridgers is? Like,

"Close my eyes, fantasise" - playing dnd

"Three clicks and I'm home," "There's no place like my room"- Will in the upside down wishing he could go home

"But you had to go, I know" Will leaving for California, Mike 'leaving' Will for El

"Man I hate this part of Texas" "But I'm not gonna go down with my hometown in a tornado" - Hating Hawkins for its memories and closed-minded people and want to run away (Smalltown boy style?)

"Talking on a rusty swing set" HELLO? SWING SET??

"After a while you got quiet and I got mean" Will being quiet and not sharing his feelings and Mike getting frustrated?

"I'm always pushing you away from me," HOW MANY TIMES HAVE THEY PUSHED EACH OTHER AWAY? Also the next line "But you come back with gravity, and when I call you come home." They always find their way back to each other.

OH AND THE COVER ART FOR THE ALBUM! I think it was @wayward-sherlock who pointed this out, but the art is literally two people standing in the same spot but the image is mirrored and one of them is UPSIDE DOWN.

This song just screams THEM every time I hear it.

[willandmichael]

i got into the last of us recently and the crazy together parallel really did make me lose it

[pholiabanna]

People also love to say that Byler wouldn't be popular if it was a wlw ship. Haven't they heard of big and popular wlw ships in mainstream media like Korrasami, Yumihisu, Haruka/Michiru, Madoka/Homura, Max/Chloe, Ellie/Dina, Catradora, etc?

They probably haven't heard of them, no, and the reason why is that they don't actually care.

This is like Melvins pretending to be super invested in eImax because they didn't want byler to win the script polls, or when they acted like they cared so muck about rockiie all of a sudden just because if an article talking about the importance of byler endgame.

They use wlw as a tool to hide their hatred towards byler because they're homophobic and can't bear the thought of a gay couple happening, so they feel the need to gaslight it's shippers into thinking they're "delusional girls who see love between 2 boys who are just boys because they have a fetish".

[andiwriteordie]

hello Andi. I am once again invading your inbox to talk about the possibilities of a Merlin AU bc I know you see the vision and it actually fits so perfectly??

Mike as Arthur

Will as Merlin

El as Gwen

Max as Morgana

Lucas as Lancelot

Dustin as Gwaine

Like?? With adjustments to the plot + character arcs and how events play out (like for example Lucas would fall in love w Max still not El but also elmax as morgwen possibilities), it fits them all so WELL especially Mike and Will as Arthur and Merlin. Even their families fit: Will growing up with a single mom in poverty who loves him, Mike growing up in wealth with a shitty asf dad that makes horrible decisions but Mike would be a much better leader than him-

anyway. Thoughts? I’m considering making a 5-10 chapter fic with 1-2 chapters per Merlin season after I finish the show but idk anyways I’m getting off track I mostly just wanted to hear ur thoughts on the concept bc I know you’re a merthur enthusiast and u have a Merlin AU wip rn 😎🫶

okay okay okay hi elli. i have thoughts on this, and it's been a while since i've thought about those thoughts but here i am today. to share with you my thoughts. some of them get a little funky weird controversial, so bear with me. (also. i say read all of this with caution if you're still watching merlin, bc i'm gonna try to not spoil too much of it, but i will be hitting on major character arcs that build throughout the show!)

the easy ones. will's merlin. mike's arthur. duh. easy peasy. all the parallels you just mentioned? perfect. literally byler as merthur works so well, and i just know modern byler would've loved this show. like mike starts watching it and gets so excited??? anyways.

i also think lucas is actually more of a mix of lancelot/gwaine, and dustin would be leon (though depending on where you are in the series, you might not have gotten to the point where leon is a more central character?). anyways, i think lucas is a mix of lancelot/gwaine because he has the same moral righteous and kindness of lancelot, but is definitely more brash like gwaine (love my boy planning to storm fucking hnl by himself lol). with dustin, leon's a very level-headed character, also arthur's second in command for later seasons with the knights, and so i think it fits with how mike and dustin are both the planners and dustin sorta steps up to help lead in mike's absence in s4!

now for the girls. so, i've gone back and forth on this, because for obvious reasons, the el/gwen parallel works because of the merlin/arthur/gwen and will/mike/el love triangle. like that's the most obvious interpretation of this. but then, as i was thinking about it (and honestly i was wandering down this rabbit hole while writing my merlin byler fic lmao), i was trying to think about where el having powers and just willel in general would fit into all of this?

so i started thinking about el/morgana, which then would um. make max/gwen. (i'll come back to that in a second, let me explain el/morgana first.) i'm just thinking about how morgana is one of the most powerful sorcerers we see in the show and how morgana and merlin are foils to each other. i think there's an episode that calls morgana the darkness to merlin's light. so like yes, merlin and arthur are two sides of the same coin and have their shared destiny, but likewise, morgana has always been that third part of their destiny (which is so fun once you explore the ancient religions and stuff this show loosely pulls inspiration from, because three is kind of a big number) in that she is connected to merlin.

so you think about willelmike, right? and obviously, el is our hero and protagonist of the show, so she's not gonna end up turning bad unlike morgana. but in the context of thinking about a merlin x st crossover, how interesting would it be if el did turn evil? because in st, we see this is a back and forth conversation el has with herself - is she the monster? is she good? or is she bad?

and i think about an el who actually did go with henry when prompted to in the lab. an el whose moral code would be shaped and manipulated by someone with an ulterior motive, someone who recognizes her power. because that, in my opinion, is what happened to morgana with morgause. morgana was terrified and alone because she had this secret which could get her killed, and morgause was the first to show that her magic could be good. so she trusted morgause and went spiraling down a path that led her to destruction because of how morgause manipulated her into thinking. i don't think morgana was ever inherently evil. i think the fear and manipulation motivated her and morphed into anger and a desire for revenge, because this poor woman was alone for so much of her story.

so, when i'm imagining a merlin x st au, i am imagining henry would take that morgause role. if we're following merlin canon, will and el never learn about each other's magic and spend their character arcs alone and motivated by fear, when they really could've found solace and love and acceptance in each other. if we're not following merlin canon, will decides not to be an idiot? and he tells el about his magic? and they become magic twins together, and look, el grew up as mike's sister essentially, so then will's basically her brother in law.

(also. the platonic elmike sibling vibes crack me up. like all the canon st jokes about how they're so family coded? that right there. merlin vibes. they're family. no dating your sister.)

anyways, so that then defaults us to having max as gwen, which i think would change her character a little bit. maybe instead of a romance between max and mike, it's more that sort of friendship that gwen and arthur do develop, because max challenges mike to be better and brings out the good parts of him - the parts that care about justice and about his people and about doing the right thing. and so mike, kind of feeling forced into having a queen because ya know. laws of the land and stuff, very tentatively asks max if she would ever consider stepping into that role because he believes she would be an excellent leader. and so that's when the engagement happens and stuff and it's for show for the people, and only like. will and max and mike and dustin know that obviously. and then through whatever circumstances, the engagement ends up called off, and unlike in merlin canon, it doesn't end up happening again, and max just becomes an advisor to mike, who remains single as a king until. ya know. magic is legalized and he marries will (not following canon lol. or he dies. and i cry again.

okay that's it! the end! :)

(does this make hopper gaius)

[castleclerics]

ALL THIS SPORE TALK MADE ME DO A TLOU REWATCH AND I REALIZED HOW MUCH INSPO ST RLY GOT FROM IT BUT GUYS………..

i know this has probably been talked about before but god. i’m literally losing my mind they literally pulled crazy together from this they’re even on the respective byler sides……

it’s gonna be really interesting to see how much of ellie and riley’s story aligns with s5 byler especially it being post-apocalyptic just like tlou oh my god HELLO?????

[creelby]

if the rosewood gang watched stranger things (( this took me ages for some reason 😭 )) :

lottie: absolutely terrified of it, shaking in her disney princess pyjamas, loves nancy though, and will watch it to make the others happy

jamie: “yeah, it’s an alright show i guess” is actually secretly the biggest fan ever, bi mike truther and byler analyst

ellie: laughs at all the gory bits much to everyone else’s annoyance, elmax shipper and “everyone is gay” truther

anastasia: max mayfield kinnie and elumax shipper, likes the show a lot more than she lets on

saskia: yells “lesbian” every time el comes on screen. which is quite annoying. because. el’s on screen quite a lot. nobody disagrees with her, however.

binah: analyses every episode frame by frame, byler and lumax shipper, points out all the tiny details and references to 1980’s things that nobody else notices

lola: sits in complete and utter silence with her bag of fudge and nobody knows if she’s terrified or loving it (she’s loving it)

mickey: also sits in complete and utter silence with his bag of fudge but everyone knows he’s absolutely terrified. he’s also a will byers kinnie but he doesn’t know that since he’s too scared to watch

percy: he is for byler if byler is for byler and he is sure as hell that byler is for byler. 50/50 split between mike and will and has decided that him and mickey are the definition of byler (i wrote byler way too much here)

raphael: “lmao they’re so gay” “she’s a lesbian” “look me in the eye and tell me that man is not bisexual” has been kicked in the head (by ani) multiple times for talking too much, lucas sinclair kinnie and byler shipper

ollie: him and raphael have a stranger things tumblr account where they just post memes and copy and paste binah’s byler analyses, byler and elumax shipper, has to sit on the floor when they watch it as a group because nobody cares enough about him to save him a seat 😭😭😭😭

[sunsetserenade]

hi how was the movie? :]

okay now for byler. who do you think will have the most amusing reaction to mike and will coming out (as a couple)? any headcanons as to the person's reaction?

hope your day has been awesome!

hi hello!!! the movie was SO good. still sobbing actually <3 /hj

anyway!

hmmm… the most amusing reaction…

oh, this is easy. hopper.

he’s gonna be like “you’re telling me… that after all that effort i spent trying to separate you and el… you’re in love with someone else??? oh now i REALLY am gonna kill you, mike wheeler—“

i feel like, despite having no evidence yet to back this, hopper wouldn’t have any problem with the fact that either of them are gay. i feel like he’d take that fact very well actually. but being a shitty boyfriend to his daughter? mike better run for his life <3

next up, and more so for will, id say lucas will be the most shocked. again. nothing to back that with. but i feel like he’d be the type to just step back for a second and be like. “holy shit??? did i miss something?? i mean nice… but what???” dustin probably knew it would happen eventually honestly. but at the same time his gaydar is nonexistent considering he tried to be a wingman for steve and robin akdjskjdjs

but no yeah. all in all it’s gonna be hopper. he’ll walk past his soon-to-be stepson and give him a high-five, but he’s definitely gonna strangle mike <3 a bit hypocritical yknow? actually hold on hypocrisy isnt the word im looking for… ah. favoritism.

some headcanons, as requested:

as said, at first, hopper is angry

because he wants the best for el

he knew mike couldn’t be the one to give el what she deserved, but he’s also just very, very protective. understandable. the events of season 3 proved it too soon for el to know what love really is for herself

so hopper is still gonna be like. you guys went through all of that. and for what???

and mike and el are gonna just stand there like.. it’s okay. we talked it out. we’re good, we promise. pls don’t hurt us

but when hop talks to Will he’s gonna be like “im happy for you, kid. hey, look at me. love is hard. it’s gonna hurt sometimes. so just… talk to each other, okay? talk to each other” and gives him an unexpected pat on the shoulder

will stands guarded but nods intently because if anyone knows this, it’s him

hopper doesn’t stop staring daggers at mike for the next seven months whenever mike is at the hopper-byers residence

joyce has to calm down hopper so he doesn’t surprise mike with a sucker punch to the stomach

will thinks the entire thing is comical

thanks for the ask, ellie!! <3

[0aurelion-sol0]

You know in all this talk of whether or not Will will be important in season 4 or not, let's change the question!

What do y'all think Will's storyline will be about in season 4?

Let's play a game! 🤗

Choose 4 fictional characters you know from any piece of media that you think will represent or represent Will's storyline the best this season and possibly why if you want to go into more details.

(And do not just make it about Byler, even if it appears to be likely that it will be apart of his storyline, try to find something different and interesting.)

I'll start!

Ellie Williams (The Last Of Us Series), Harry Potter, Henry Carpenter (The Book of Henry), Frodo Baggins.

If you need some help with this or don't have any real idea yourself. Here are all the movies that are the DNA and influences for season 4. Perhaps there will be some movies you know and that can help you choose. But of course, it can be something totally unrelated and that you think is similar to Stranger Things and Will's storyline.

[booksandpaperss]

will “i wish I was a girl so he’d love me” byers vs mike “I wish he were a girl so my love would make sense” wheeler

[booksandpaperss]

weirdos on here who clearly haven’t unpacked their own internalized homophobia as well as they think they have: even IMPLYING that byler would do anything more than innocently kiss in fanfiction is a CRIME it is SEXUALIZING MINORS and it should be PUNISHABLE BY DEATH how DARE you

meanwhile the actual show:

two instances of Will and Mike very blatantly checking the other out and then ofc-

but sure. fanfic authors who write heavy byler makeouts and potentially suggestive themes should be shamed and exhiled or whatever

[booksandpaperss]

bylers and cleradin enthusiasts how does it feel to realize that no matter how much cleradin content we as a fandom produce, we’ll still never live up to Michael Wheeler the OG cleradin writer since 1978

[booksandpaperss]

idk who exactly on this tag needs to hear this but it’s definitely a lot of you:

it is perfectly okay for a fanfic writer to have Mike and Will having physical and sexual thoughts about each other. They are teenagers and it completely normal for allosexual and even acespec teenagers to have sexual thoughts about the person or people they like. Yes adult fanfic writers can do this too it’s literally not weird as long as it’s written respectfully and accurately, and I’m actually so fucking tired of all this discourse that is so clearly rooted in people feeling uncomfortable with two boys being sexually attracted to each other, or even queer teenagers in general having sexual thoughts about each other.

I do think it’s weird to write explicit sex scenes between minors and especially in this case when these characters are represented by real people with real bodies who were minors while filming the vast majority of the show, but honestly anything suggestive between two 14/15 year olds and up that’s not explicit and/or sexualized is normal. And before any of you come at me saying I’m sexualizing minors, you can fuck right off bc I am 17 and I am sick and tired of teenagers and especially queer teenagers being shamed for sexual thoughts that are perfectly normal.

I understand if you personally are not comfortable reading and writing anything suggestive, that is fine bc I have a solution for you! Wanna guess what it is??

Just. Don’t. Read it.

If it’s content u don’t like, simply don’t interact!!! No one is forcing you to read or write anything that you don’t want to, so simply don’t. It’s that easy 😱

I will say though, that if reading an even vaguely suggestive thought in a byler fic makes you extremely uncomfortable, maybe you should take a moment to ask yourself why that is. Bc love between teenagers is not all fluffy and pure and innocent, and its honestly way weirder to have that ideal than to write teens having sexual thoughts, so maybe do some self reflection. If you’re ace and suggestive content in general makes u feel weird then that’s different, but if that’s not the case then if you’re allo and u still feel this way… idk just take a moment to check and see if you’re internalizing anything before complaining about it and spreading legitimately harmful discourse.

So, to recap:

-it’s normal for teenagers to have suggestive thoughts about each other and it’s normal to write it

-writing teenagers having sexual thoughts and making out with each other is not sexualizing, fellow queer ppl who think this literally why do u hate ur community so much 😑

-anything short of an explicit smut scene between minors is fine as long as it’s done accurately and respectfully

-it is still weird to write explicit smut in the byler fandom specifically (and any other ship between teens in ST) just bc you’d be describing the bodies of real people that were minors until very recently with actors who have stated that they’re not comfortable being sexualized like that, but first and foremost…

-…if something makes you uncomfortable or you don’t like it, simply don’t interact

-stop shaming queer teenagers for being physically attracted to each other, and stop idealizing teenage queer love as something completely pure and innocent, if you’re going to do that, please keep it to yourself

If after reading this post you 1). want to block me bc you think this whole post was sexualization or 2). plan to use this argument as an excuse to actually sexualize minors and write hardcore explicit smut between them, block me. Weird reformed purity culture is not welcome on my blog and neither are people who enjoy sexualizing minors. Fuck you ❤️

[booksandpaperss]

to me it’s less of a “Will loves Mike the way Mike wants to be loved” and more of a “Mike wants to be loved the way he’s always felt loved by Will and he didn’t consciously realize that’s what he was searching for until he realized he could already have it in the van scene” yk

[booksandpaperss]

you ever get bamboozled by a byler still where one of them is looking at the other with an expression of such blatant gut wrenching want that it makes you want to keel over and just die a little

to quote stav heroesbyler: who gave Finn and Noah the right to Act

examples.

these are not even all the examples they’re just some of the ones I could find in my camera roll and that’s not even including the other seasons hey notice how some of these look really similar to each other almost like mikes feelings for Will are paralleled to Will’s feelings for mike or something Hm