#let me be delusional milkvans

[pinksmonkey]

Posting my Ultimate Byler Evidence/Analysis List here directly because it probably makes it more convenient and I should have done this a while ago. XD

There is so much proof for Byler being endgame in S5 of Stranger Things. They are so cute together, and so much in the show has been building up to their relationship. I just wanted to share some of my favourite Byler analyses, because they are so cool, detailed, and in-depth. I love reading about all the hints, symbolism, and subtext for Byler, it's amazing how much thought must have been put into all these things. Why go through all the effort of adding these details if they aren't actually going anywhere with them? Mike is so queercoded, and they are truly in love with each other.

🫥 Just gonna leave some good Byler analyses here 🤐

Most of the links go to written Tumblr posts, and a couple of them are Reddit posts. So it's a lot of reading. If you prefer watching videos over reading, I highlighted my Byler YouTube playlist in green so it's easy to find.

And apologies for any of the links that aren't working, I know some of the posts have been deleted now sadly, but there's no way I'm re-numbering all these so I'm just leaving them in. My fellow Bylers, please stop deleting your amazing posts. ;-;

So anyway, here is the list of some of my favourite Byler evidence/analyses of all time (not in any particular order):

1. Mike's Season 4 Monologue To El

2. Camera Roll Byler Proof Part 3

3. Mike's Monologue and Milkvan

4. Mostly Byler Post Index

5. Dawson's Creek Parallel

6. "My Experience With Stranger Things"

7. What Ollie Learned From Film School

8. Byler Music Analysis

9. Why Don't The Duffers Discuss This?

10. ST Theories Masterpost

11. If Byler Isn't Endgame Then Someone Screwed Up

12. Byler Crumbs From The Cast and Crew

13. Favourite Combination of Endgame Byler Proof

14. I Doubt Byler Then I Remember This

15. The Fact That We Have This Interview

16. You Know Your Ship is Endgame When

17. Mostly Byler Post Index 2

18. Losing Hope Of Byler Endgame?

19. Why I Think Byler is Endgame

20. So Many Thoughts on This

21. Mike's Wall Art

22. Painting Miscommunication Leading to Mike's Monologue Coded

23. Yes, That Scene Did Foreshadow Mike's Monologue as Disingenuous

24. Mike's Monologue Didn't Sit Right With Me

25. Blue And Yellow Pen

26. That Tweet Is So Sweet

27. Heart Eyes, Literally

28. "My Process of Realizing Byler is Real"

29. Looking at Will, Not El

30. High School Musical Parallel

31. Said It Before and I'll Say It Again

32. Delusional Milkdud?

33. ST Writers Twitter Analysis 1

34. ST Writers Twitter Analysis 2

35. For When You Are Doubting Byler

36. Is Mike Bi or Gay?

37. Fully Convinced

38. The Ultimate Byler Playlist (my Byler YouTube playlist)

39. 100% Confident

40. Mike in S4 and S2

41. Mike Is Angry With Himself

42. It's Been A Year, Mike

43. Rink-O-Mania Remodel

44. The Development Of Will And Mike's Relationship

45. Mike's Lies

46. El Was Holding So Much In

47. Flickergate + Lettergate

48. Did Mike Ever Like El Romantically?

49. Mike Is Stupid

50. Byler Won't Write Itself

51. What's The Alternative Explanation?

52. Comparing Mileven and Byler

53. It Was Always About Them

54. Mike Is Not Ok

55. He Has A Love Interest

56. Will's Happy Ending

57. Trying To Be Normal

58. It's Not That Milevens Are Homophobic

59. Byler Is Reality

60. A Proper Look At El's Shrine To Mike

61. Mileven Through The Seasons

62. Suspicious

63. I Can't Doubt Byler

64. D&D Soulmates

65. Let's Talk Phones

66. Not Delusional

67. What Do They Want?

68. The Main Character

69. Mike's Mental Health

70. So Close

71. This Look Confirms Byler Isn't One Sided

72. Mileven Is Bones

73. They Don't Care About Mileven?

74. The Airport Hug Will Always Be Famous

75. The Monologue Mystery, Why Did They Lose?

76. The Cabin Scene

77. Why Couldn't Mike Say It For 2 Seasons?

78. He Was Trying To Find Will

79. Mike The Surfer Boy

80. Mike Definitely Shows Attraction To Girls

81. The Cast Knows

82. Mileven Loses On All Fronts

83. The Bouquet

84. 53 Minutes And 5 Seconds

85. Pink Panther

86. El And Choice

87. Will's Spotify Playlist

88. He'll Come Crawling Back To You, Begging For Forgiveness

89. Mike's Character Arc Prediction

90. It's The Same Look

91. Will's Truly Happy Ending

92. That's The Same Look, Right?

93. You're The Heart

94. Mike And El's Relationship In S4 Was Really Weird

95. Fireworks Parallel

96. Mileven Has Been Built Up For 4 Seasons

97. Not Stupid: The Fate of Mileven and Byler

98. This Suddenly Makes So Much Sense

99. Metaphors In Filmmaking

And unfortunately Tumblr will only let me add 100 links per post, so when I've posted part 2 of this list, I'll link it here: Part 2

[mikesmelodrama]

"bylers are delusional"

now look at this milkvan acc on ig and say that again...

(user blurred so no one goes to harass them bc i promise there's enough of that happening😭)

so... you see how there's not a lot of affection between them.. like kissing? and you see how that's a problem? and you think they'll be endgame??? ☠

specimen 2:

yeah. their relationship has problems. and kissing hundreds of times would solve that. that would be so normal and not weird.

i have some respect for this level of delusionality tbh. was this scene perfect too?

(agree that finn and millie did an amazing job at playing two characters in a struggling relationship)

"you can't even write it, mike." wow, so romantic!

THEIR WEDDING? and "i just wanna see them happy again" ??? THIS IS TOO MUCH LMAO

first of all, mike and el will be like 17(?) in season 5. them getting married would go against the entire message of ST which goes AGAINST forced conformity. and it would be really weird too😭

second, you see the problems they're having and still want them to be together? and they're gonna be endgame? spare me pls

(context: the final scene in s3)

"i loved hoppers letter but it would be nice if they made the scene about m*leven and not el missing her dead dad"

it's stranger things not the mileven show ffs😭

i'm just gonna let the picture speak for itself here.

and, as a bonus: the ig account writes fanfiction that brought tears to my eyes (from how bad it is).

please don't be offended, i'm a hater first and foremost! this acc is very anti byler, i'm just doing my part in balancing it out ❤

[byler-but-sus]

Imagine how heartbreaking byler could be from El’s perspective

I feel like we don’t discuss this enough (or maybe I’m not looking hard enough, wouldn’t put it past me lol). Imagine being El and realizing that your boyfriend not only doesn’t love you like you love him, but also is in love with your brother. I truly believe that El loves mike, just based on the show. I could probably be convinced otherwise if someone has a good argument, but IMO El genuinely feels love for mike (even if it’s based in the fact that he was the first person she knew after going through serious trauma). We can already tell from season 4 that her realizing mike doesn’t love her is incredibly painful for her and I don’t blame her. I’d be goddamn heartbroken if I found out that my boyfriend of 2 (?) years couldn’t muster up the resolve to write or say “love” to me. Just imagine for a second that season 5 goes how I personally want it to, with milkvan breaking up and byler getting together. Think about that from els perspective. It might overall make her feel better and improve her self worth, but that doesn’t mean it won’t seriously hurt. Personally I know that I think about the pain will feels from not having mike, but flipping that just to make one happy? It’s gonna suck, just a little bit at least. Even if they keep it a secret, El isn’t blind. Let’s put it in the context of what we have already. Look at how close will and mike physically are in season 2 and 3, and compare it to El and mike, so while El is in California and she’s feeling insecure about her relationship, she has to think about how mike never has a problem being mere millimeters from Will at any given moment but with her it’s like he’s gotta leave room for seven jesuses. Imagine her being freshly broken up with and she looks over at her ex boyfriend and her brother sitting on a couch sidebyside with absolutely no space in between them, whispering to eachother and giggling and blushing, and just thinking to herself “why wasn’t I enough? What is it about Will that makes mike so happy? So carefree? What does he have that I didn’t?” Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s just normal breakup stuff, being upset at your ex’s new partner.

Ig what I’m trying to say is that as much as I’d love to live in a delusional dreamscape where El is completely ok with byler and not at all upset by her own breakup, I just don’t think that’s feasible. One good thing we can hope for in season 5 out of that tho is some good old hopper & El father daughter bonding time, and a good long hug where hop is like “see I always told you that bastard child mike was no good” and El just like cry laughs. Can’t wait

[wibble-wobbegong]

I'm gonna be fr as someone who's been in the general audience until a a month ago. Nobody gaf about mileven or byler or Cali crew really 😭😭 most people just care about Steve and Dustin and the Hawkins gang tbh. People acting like anyone's acc out to get them irl for their ship is delulu. Like unless ur on TikTok/twitter/Tumblr 24/7 and get super deep into the ship wars NOONE CARES. At most I've seen people meme the mike monologue or the van scene 💀 not to mention most people hate Mike and any ship he's in. That's why whenever someone's like "oh yeah I hate [insert ship] cuz of the fandom" I'm confused bc just. Log off then?? If youre so online that ur letting randos change ur opinions that's your problem.. also I'm just saying if most of the GA doesnt care about a ship that's been canon for 2 seasons and just had a big monologue maybe that says something about the quality of how its written and not that everyone's been indoctrinated into the byler cult and is out to personally offend the shippers idk 🤷‍♀️

i’ve literally never talked about being attacked but go off delusional queen!!! make me into your little fandom oc to complain about shit!!

most of the ga isn’t heavily involved in the lore of the show and love to take things at surface value, and people are naturally attracted to comedy. steve and dustin are relatable, comedic characters of course they’re the most popular are u fucking stupid. and the hawkins gang had all the action this season, of course people who aren’t looking into the details of the show aren’t gonna get excited about the other plots. the other stuff like the russian plot and the cali plot are gonna seem boring as fuck to anybody who doesn’t wanna look into the details of those plotlines. and they also don’t have to!!!

fandom is about shipping and looking into details and making headcanons and analysis. when you’re heavily involved in online spaces, your view of a ship can be altered and that’s ok. nobody is forcing anyone to like any ship for any reason. you can be a little hater for whatever reason you want, no one actually cares unless it’s like racism or homophobia or ableism or smth

also you’re bashing milkvan at the end there??? do you even know what you’re trying to say dude? my brother in christ you are just Saying Things to a guy who could not give less of a fuck. i’m only responding so you know how stupid this take is