#they all ship byler

[ladylokilaufeyson5]

“this ship isn’t canon” to YOU. I, however, am delusional

[brungeons-and-bragons]

Bitches will be like “my ship just got confirmed” and then show you a single low-res frame of ambiguous origin where the characters walk out of a room together. It’s me. I am bitches.

[iwannascreameurekaa]

People saying "can't two guys just friends!!11!!!" As if friends to lovers isn't one of the most popular tropes in media

and lots of real relationships start out as friendships too like...

And yet they look over the the female friend of one (or both) of the characters and automatically ship them just because it's a boy and a girl who are close

[ghostlycleric]

I’m pretty sure Mike and El are the only couple in the show that don’t have shared interests.

Lucas and Max: Arcade games

Dustin and Suzie: Science/Technology

Jonathan and Nancy: Documenting life (Through Photography/Journalism)

Joyce and Hopper: Investigation (Hop was a cop, Joyce is Joyce) +caring for their kids

Mike and El are never given any interest that they both have and do together. Their relationship isn’t even given much volume beyond their trauma bonding. They actually went out of their way to have El dismissing Mike’s interests and only have El gain her own when she’s away from Mike.

With every other couple we have scenes of their shared interests adding to their relationship. Scenes that prove that their dynamic is rooted in a real, not-purely-physical connection.

There is one other couple who didn’t have shared interests… (*cough* Steve and Nancy *cough* who are broken up *cough*).

Mike and Will by default have a lot of shared interests. They’d be the only best friends to lovers in the show (which is actually crazy in a show with so many couples and friendships). DnD, despite being the root of the party itself, is specifically tied to these two in an interesting way. They’ve used dnd a few times as text above a more romantic subtext, which I feel like deserves its own post.

(I feel like it’s worth noting that technically they have Art (writing and painting), but Mike’s interest in writing has never been specifically confirmed in the show, so I’m not counting that.)

I’d be really interested in seeing canon byler having an isolated interest in season 5 that goes beyond subtext. Even if it’s still dnd, just isolated.

[autistic-katara]

saying this like 90% of us aren’t lesbians and most of the rest r bi or smthn

[wakeupthemembersofbylernation]

It’s wild how they try to make us feel crazy and delusional for believing Byler will happen when Byler is literally a plot line set up by the show. Like it’s not some kind of chronically online conspiracy or based on queer “vibes.”

Will is canonically in love with Mike and made a veiled love confession through a painting that serves as a concrete, narrative Chekhov’s gun moving into the final season. The only thing they can cling onto is that Mlvn is currently canon, but that doesn’t prove anything when Byler is within the show’s text as well.

Like, why would it be delulu to believe something semi-canon will be fully canon? Mike’s perceived heterosexuality is a thin wall of glass that prevents people from recognizing what would otherwise be a straightforward love triangle situation that no one would be able to call us delusional for, even with Mike’s infamous monologue in the pizza shop.

[whynotimtired]

I don't want to be mean but you all sound batshit when you try to convince milkvans byler is real by talking about pure subtext and color theory and "Mike was checking Will out in this scene!!!" there's CLEAR plausible deniability in your own interpretation of someone's acting. The duffers intentionally kept it all vague enough that most people wouldn't figure it out until they get the chance to shove it into people's faces and if the majority of people look at the scene you're analyzing and go "aww they're finally friends again yay" and you go "Mike was blatantly checking wills ass out in the beginning" when...he was taking a breath to settle and prepare to reconcile with someone he's been "off" with for a year... you end up sounding a little insane. Those types of takes are subjective, and you can make a funny video with zooms implying that that's what he was doing but actively trying to convince someone your headcannon is canon will almost always make you sound deranged.

There's a reason you don't go up to milkvans and go "b-but blue meets yellow in the west" and start talking about the intricacies of making film and how everything is on purpose, that stuff isn't for normies. Analysts love that shit but to someone who just watches the show for fun they hear you say all that and go "you're reaching" because you took someone who is at a zero and shoved them into a thousand without showing them why you ACTUALLY ship byler and just tried to prove that it's real

[eddiezpaghetti]

Okay, so my experience with Stranger Things is a weird one.

I didn't care when it first came out, started to watch it out of "might as well" in 2020, wasn't interested in it enough to make it past S2, forgot about it outside of going "oh, hey, cool, there's a lesbian in it now, I guess," in S3, got really annoyed when "Running Up That Hill" got popular from it because it was a song I listened to on fucking loop after one of my best friends died in high school and I fully expected its appearance in the show to ignore the whole survivor's guilt theme of the song (and was very happy to learn later that it did the exact opposite of ignoring the lyrics), saw people drawing Eddie, suddenly got a lot more interested, watched just the fourth season like a fucking psychopath because I was seriously only there for Eddie, then got interested enough to start the show over properly, having mostly forgotten what I did watch of the show before.

And let me tell you something from the perspective of someone who started with the complete fourth season, who wasn't there from the start, who wasn't tainted by ship goggles or this internal battle of hope and despair, who wasn't theorizing about what the painting could be or expecting Mike and Will to kiss when Volume 2 happened or rooting for Mike and Eleven's relationship to go down in flames or whatever the fuck. Just someone who went blind into Season 4.

It's really fucking obvious that Will and Mike are gonna be endgame.

Like holy fuck. It's so fucking blatant I don't even know why people are nervous.

No sane fucking person would shoot this scene this way if they wanted the audience to care about El and Mike as a couple. Despite being all blurry in the background, Will's reaction to what's happening here is smackdab in the fucking middle, clearly showing that the important part is what's going through his head here. What he's feeling. It's like the opposite of that scene from Kingdom Hearts II where Sora and Riku reunite and Kairi just fucking vanishes into the aether while it's happening because, despite the fact that she was standing between them when the scene began, she doesn't matter to the scene, so she's just kind of gone when the camera angle changes. Will could have been behind one of their heads, or so far in the distance he blends in with the background, but he's not. He's so obvious that despite being massively blurred out, he's still the first goddamn thing you look at. What, you think that's an accident? You think he's in the middle of this dramatic fucking scene because of a mistake? He basically has a big flashing neon arrow pointing at him with "THIS IS THE POINT" being screamed through a megaphone.

And then this?

They're paired up like they're taking fucking prom pictures. Each one of these pairs is so fucking close to one another and so fucking far from everyone else. It's not, "Oh, they're standing vaguely near each other in a group shot," it's fucking Noah's Ark out here. Again, there's no way to take this as an accident. It's not just a framing issue. If they wanted to make the shot look balanced while still not hiding anyone else behind El, they would have scattered people around much more naturally. Even if they wanted to keep Nancy with Jonathan and Hopper with Joyce, there's so much room on that hill for three people to stand on El's left and three on her right. But they didn't do that. They put Mike and Will together on purpose in the most obvious way possible.

Like I get that coming up with crackpot theories is fun in and of itself and I'm not blaming anyone for having fun. I totally get the appeal of arguing a point and reaching for every stupid little thing to pull into it because it's like a game, okay? I've done that. But if you're trying to actually convince someone (whether it's someone who wants to believe or someone who's pissed at the very idea that Mike and Will could be in love), stay away from blue and yellow lights, stay away from costume design, stay away from the existence of closets in backgrounds. And don't worry about whether Mike's gay or bi when he's in love with Will either way. I'll give you a little tip about persuasion: You're only as strong as your weakest argument. Even if you've got strong stuff in there, too, the person you're trying to convince is going to dismiss anything you say as complete insanity the second you start going on an entire tangent about the shape of a character's fucking pocket.

Sometimes, clothes are just clothes. Sometimes, there's a closet in the background because it helps establish that a character is in a bedroom. Sometimes, blue and yellow are just a couple of colors that look nice together. And sure, it might be set designers and costume designers and cinematographers smirking and winking at the audience from behind the camera. But if the show was just those things, instead of those things in the context of everything else, they wouldn't be saying anything of note.

But this?

This tells a story all on its own. Someone with no context can look at this and automatically assume that each paired person is standing with someone they care about deeply, seeking comfort as they watch some sort of disaster unfold. And yeah, romantic couples usually come in twos, and we live in an amatonormative society, so that's going to be the first association anyone makes seeing a bunch of people paired off.

It's the same reason you look at this

And go, "Oh..."

"Those two are probably a couple."

And I genuinely don't understand how people could have watched S4 Vol. 2 and gotten scared. Because as someone who went in with no investment whatsoever, I just looked at these two--

--and went, "Oh, those two are a couple. Good for them." And I moved on. Shut up about the trees for five seconds and just see the forest for what it is.

Oh, and if you're still nervous? Little thing from a storyteller here: You don't leave a hanging thread like "Will confessed his romantic feelings for Mike by projecting them onto El, but Mike either didn't understand or at least didn't say he understood," without coming back to that later. That's Chekov's gun hanging on the wall, babes. It's gonna fire at some point. If Mike was going to reject Will's feelings, if they weren't relevant, they would have had that discussion in Argyle's van. There'd be no reason to leave you in suspense.

[hawkwidows]

okie idm being the messenger, here are the past two days of byler mentions people are talking about! and yes the live really did disconnect in the middle of chanting byler endgame 😭

there was also another byler mention where he says "I ship byler more than anyone else" but wasn't captured, maybe someone else did!

(and then after this he said his favourite byler scenes were the rain fight and the miwi hand hold in st2 oh--)

not my recordings (friend's with permission!) sorry the tiktok comments cover parts lmao, any necessary credits are in the videos!

[bylerserotonin]

Reblog to manifest a gay relationship this Christmas cuz I know I need it

[butterflysonnets]

yes i'm rooting for m*leven breakup because byler is neat but mostly? i'm rooting for m*leven breakup for the sake of el and mike.

to me, their romance was always a puppy love born out of a combination of social pressures, naïve curiosity, and a lack of true understanding regarding intimacy and romantic love and what it really is. it was real in that they do truly, deeply care about each other and they are close friends, maybe even shared an attraction, but a maturing romance is so much more than that. they've grown up and out of being boyfriend/girlfriend, and that's okay! i think television/film needs to show more often that most of us don't have definite "soulmates" or first childhood loves that we spend our whole lives with. it doesn't mean these relationships meant nothing and didn't impact us, it just means they've run their course and that something else is in the cards, and this is part of life!

i've always felt el was at her best and most confident self when broken up with mike, discovering who she was and what she liked alongside another girl her age instead of just relying on mike for mentorship on how to live in the real world. she deserves more of an opportunity to find herself, her autonomy, and her independence, and to love who she is, and she's made it clear she's felt insecure in the relationship with mike because she isn't being loved and understood the way she wants, needs, and deserves from someone who is her partner.

also, it's okay if mike doesn't love her in "the way he should". he is not obligated to love her romantically and stay in a relationship with her just because she's a girl, because she "needed someone", or because he cares about her a lot. he shouldn't be pressured into a romance if it's not truly coming from his heart. he deserves freedom to find out and honour who he is, too, instead of just staying in his non-functional first relationship — one he got into as a child, essentially — and defining himself that way because it's what's expected when a boy and a girl are close. he loves her in some way, yes, but it's okay if he doesn't feel comfortable or secure being her boyfriend anymore, for whatever reason that is. he's felt insecure too, and that's valid and it matters.

they are their own people and are steadily growing and changing every day. they need time to figure out who those people are, and it's become clear (at least in my opinion) that those people aren't meant to be a couple at this stage.

they deserve freedom. they deserve to grow up and be authentic to themselves and not feel like they need to lie for the sake of a relationship. they deserve to move on from this version of their relationship that isn't making them happy and rekindle the best part of their bond: their strong, beautiful friendship. they don't have to be a couple if it doesn't make them stronger and better and happier people.

i think it would be healthy and wonderful for a show, especially one consumed frequently by young adults, to show a relationship starting, progressing, and ending on good terms in this way. sometimes things don't work out, and that is okay.

[dax-enfinity]

i hate that ship where you have to give the characters a complete 180 for them to even work on paper, and then you don’t even recognize those characters anymore because the shippers just make the ship the characters only existing trait.

[dykrophone]

the quickest way to get me to follow a blog on tumblr dot com is a post with "lesbian" and "byler" in the same sentence tbh

[ghostlycleric]

What is the point of Will loving Mike if byler isn’t endgame? Genuinely what is it?

Yes love triangles are a common trope, but what’s the point of this one? To use the only gay mans feelings to uplift an already established straight relationship? To throw a curveball in milkvans relationship so they can keep milking a plotline that could’ve stayed contained in season 3? To give Will just a little bit more struggles for vecna to bank on even though he already has bullying, an abusive (+absent) father, getting kidnapped into an alternate dimension alone at the age of 11, being used as an incubator for demodogs, getting possessed and almost killing his own mom, feeling like a mistake, and so on for vecna to bank on.

If it is for some vecna plotline, it was just an awful move. They could’ve spent screentime investing in the trauma they’ve already established for him instead of creating more. It’s messy. It’s useless. They could’ve given him a different love interest and still had being gay in the 80s as one of his struggles, but now it’s too late.

I genuinely cannot fathom a plotline where Will just gets over Mike. A rejection affirms Will’s belief of never finding love. A rejection affirms Will’s decision to give up his love for Mike to El. A rejection changes absolutely nothing: we know Mike would never be homophobic, we know Will already gave up on him, we know they’re best friends.

Will gets over Mike and gets with this random new boy in season 5! What a happy, satisfying ending! Yeah… no😭

A rejection plotline makes no narrative sense.

[gay-episode]

Me looking at my 3 screens that each have my favorite silly gay ship fanart and fanfics

[wakeupthemembersofbylernation]

AHAHAHA.

the episode titles of the first 6 episodes just leaked, and GUESS WHAT?

there's not a single mention of byler in any of them. HAHA.

because byler will NEVER happen!

ONCE AGAIN, YOU DELUSIONAL BYLERS HAVE LOST.

"b-b-b-but byler tumblr told me 5x05 would be called "the paladin and the cleric" and would end with a byler kiss 🥺 i thought-"

LMFAOOO. you thought wrong!

the duffers really are gonna humble you good when S5 comes out 🤣

you keep losing, and we love to see it.

BYLER IS BONES! AHAHAHA!

I’m not sure I believe the new leaked episode titles until further confirmation/clarification (I’m not much of a believer in “leaks” to begin with), but either way, this is an exceptionally silly ask even by Melvin hate anon standards.

Since when have episode titles explicitly referenced ships before??? And there’s no mention of M11 either? Or any other ship? So by that “logic,” none of them are happening. M11 bones. Jopper bones. Lumax bones. Jancy bones. Be serious for even one second. 🙄

The Paladin and the Cleric was always just a fun episode title idea. I don’t think anyone was married to it, what? 😭 I personally never believed it would be an actual title cause that seems way too on the nose to be a thing. Most episode titles only make sense in context.

And beyond that, I’d say that if these titles end up being true, there actually are some… interesting titles like Sorcerer and The Vanishing of ____ Wheeler that make me go 🤔 and set off my Byler spidey signals. And we still don’t have the final two possible episode titles.

The fact that you think Bylers are sheep who are easily swayed & controlled by what “Byler Tumblr” says instead of fans watching the show and coming to their own conclusions 💀

No one “lost” or “won” anything. You made up a strawman Byler in your head and then laughed at the strawman you created, which makes you the joke. And it also makes you sound super immature and silly. Middle school ahh logic. This ask makes no sense, and I’m only answering it because I’m baffled by it.