#stranger things s2ep2

[etchedstars]

hi! when did you start shipping byler? what’s your favorite moment of theirs? and what’s your favorite part about being here on byler tumblr? have a good day ❣️

oh !!!! okay !!!!!!! :)

SO . back in the old days of like. july, i watched st1 and finally started understanding the posts my mutual tumblr user @parkitaco (hi parker <3 this ones on you /j) had been reblogging . and i had seen these gifsets and analysis and went "hmm interesting !! wonder if ill be able to convince my parents to let me watch" (which i did . so hello)

and upon understanding these posts i was like. hm okay that makes sense WAIT SHIT im not supposed to SEE THAT bc SPOILERS. so i blocked the stranger things tag . as one does.

then the following series of event happened: i watched s2ep1 (the arcade part). i was like . "... oh ??" . watched s2ep2 . "yeah i see it" . unblocked the tag. UNDERSTOOD. the rest is history

my favorite moment of theirs ,,,, oh fuck probably like. all of s2 , ,, the crazy together scene makes me like bounce in my seat whenever i watch it and same with the hand holding scene. MOMENT however just like. every time they sit close to each other at all throughout the series why are they sitting so close hm hmmmmm

my favorite part of byler tumblr is probably all the content ???? there is so MUCH of it and its all SO GOOD why are you on tumblr dot com and ao3 writing full length novels w amazing plot beautiful prose fantastic characterization about two traumatized gay 80s boys i love you do you need a hug

[im-trying-to-decide]

[vaguely-concerned]

big brain take upon this rewatch of s2ep2: the razor crest is symbolic of din’s sense of self and that’s why we keep getting the ‘crest gets torn to shreds ---> din tiredly has to fix it’ loop. it’s old, and creaky, and barely limping along, set up in some peculiar ways to compensate for where things are broken so it can still somewhat function, and lately it’s being continually exposed to stress it’s not really capable of withstanding unscathed and keeps needing repairs.   

if you read it like that this episode has a double meaning: on some deep subconscious level he sees suddenly having to let a stranger, however benign-seeming, into his safe-ish personal space as a hostile invasion, later literalized by having an actual horror movie-esque invasion come flooding in and leave icky cobwebs everywhere. (and yet it is empathy for and bonding with frog lady -- as well as her fabulous call out of his immediate descent into defeatist resignation lol -- that saves the baby and thus din’s will to live towards the end. not all ‘invasions’ are made equal, sometimes we need to connect to safe people and let them in just a little. widening that window of tolerance with the realization that some people can be trusted and will help not hurt you, episode by episode. delicious.)  

even further in this reading: he invited kuiil and cara, two people he already knows and trusts, on board by his own free will and that actually felt sort of nice and cosy but also... a bit crowded, overwhelming, the ship isn’t really meant to hold that many people and certainly not over a long period of time (at least not in its current configuration, I seem to remember the ship is actually meant to be able to house up to three people b/c it’s a pre-Empire military patrol ship? so it might have been refurbished a bit to be more useful to a lone wolf operator). before that he’s been transporting people frozen in carbonite, effectively rendering them into objects that can’t threaten him. din’s whole way of life after losing his parents seems to have been centered on being able to go it alone (emotionally if not tactically), on not becoming too attached to or dependent on anything or anyone, and his ship reflects this perfectly. he can’t have the armour around his entire life, but by god it’s not for lack of trying on his part. (notably he uses the exact same wording about the ship’s hull as he does about his armour -- which is protecting the innermost vulnerable parts of him, the stuff that will literally kill him if broken -- in episode 3: in both cases he phrases it as ‘it has lost its integrity’. I did take note of that the first time around without quite realizing why it seemed important but fdskajfhsad that’s so cool ) 

finally: it was kuiil’s kindness and patience and guidance that helped him learn he can fix the ship, even when it’s been battered until it’s almost reduced to mere scrap, and that’s why his music still plays during those scenes even though he’s gone. and he taught IG-11, and IG-11 saved din’s life by helping to heal where the armour hadn’t been able to protect him despite everything. and I want to cry now  

[mayclair]

in s2ep2 (trick or treat freak) when dustin starts the whole 'totally tubular' thing, max looks at him for like a single second, rolls her eyes, then looks straight forward. but when lucas joins in, max looks at him The. Whole. Time. He's. Talking. dustin really NEVER stood a chance fr 😭😭😭😭

and even before that!!!! when dustin's talking to max about how rich people r suckers and asking her where she lives, she looks at him for a millisecond like twice and not once do they make eye contact. but she looks at and makes full eye contact with lucas despite him not saying a single word!!! and for like!! 2 seconds!!! and he gets so excited when she looks at him he leans forward and everything 😭😭😭 i love him he's so whipped for her (38:45 i think in the episode) the duff bros saying lumax was always the endgame in s2 (beyond stranger things) they weren't lying huh

n e ways i just wanted to point out that max was clearly into lucas from the start <3

no literally lucas starts talking and max is like OH HELLO and i don’t even think she realizes it’s so cute<3 meanwhile lucas is internally screaming bc the super cool girl he likes is looking at him and laughing what does he do it’s so 😭😭😭 i luv them

[farklelucas]

Stranger things for the ask game!

top 3 favorite characters: mike wheeler, will byers, and nancy wheeler!

top 3 least favorite characters: billy, papa, & the mindflayer

top 3 otps: byeler, elmax, henclair

top 3 notps: harr*ngrove, billy x anyone really, children x any adults/teenagers

top 3 brotps: wheeler kids!!! also mike & dustin and max & the whole gang

top 3 favorite episodes/chapters/scenes/games in series: chapter one: the vanishing of will byers (s1ep1), chapter three: the pollywog (s2ep3), chapter two: trick or treat, freak (s2ep2)

top 3 other things u think ppl who like this thing should watch/read/play: ohhh! to watch: black mirror on netflix & a quiet place!! to read: BONE GAP BY LAURA RUBY

my rating of this media out of 3, with 0 being lowest and 3 being highest: 1.95??

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