Okay but I really don’t get why mlvns would think that the writers would forget about the painting??? Because I swear I saw interviews where they said that they outlined seasons four and five together because they wrote too much for one season so they had to ask for another one?? In fact, the way season four is written and the cliffhanger ending very much sell’s that idea to me anyway without confirmation from the duffers. So if that really is the case then they very much have an idea on where they want the painting plot line to go since they would’ve wrapped it up before now if it wasn’t going to be important to season five. What they’ve done for this season is hold off on the reveal because that’s literally the only thing they have to do to then do Byler endgame and they clearly want to do it right and not rush it (unlike someone’s pizza place confession which is shoved in between the other party members getting their asses kicked and has other peoples reaction shots in there too)
not sure if this is a hot take, but HARD AGREE. once the truth behind the painting is revealed, all the pieces fall into place. byler is canon the instant mike hears the painting is actually from will. also that one video where the duffers said there was lots of discussion about the painting? that they went through many iterations of what it was gonna be?? that doesn't sound like a dropped plot line to me...
dustin is actually so fucking funny for having one of the gayest friend groups of all time and having the world’s worst gaydar. he’s painfully straight too
in s1 he thinks that lucas and mike are the best friends of the group and s3 and 4 are him really genuinely thinking robin is straight. robin.
he loves women and is a devoted boyfriend to suzie and gets so uncomfortable when eddie is in his personal bubble (compared to mike leaning in and staring). he respects women above all else, too. he has never said one bad word about a woman ever
when he learns about how many fruits there are in the group he’s gonna be like &$,$,$:!$.92)/7:@/????⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️ … OHHHHHH that makes way more sense. afterwards he tries to invent an actual gaydar for himself so this never happens again
I asked my friend who doesn’t watch Stranger Things some questions
I wanted to hop on the trend about asking friends about Byler and so I sent a text to my friend about “3 rhetorical characters relationships.”
I wanted to see how this looked to someone with an outside perspective and no bias based on gender. I am one of those believers who FULLHEARTEDLY believes that if Will was a girl, everyone and their mother would be demanding Mike break up with El and get together with her. So I told my friend about the relationship between Boy (Mike), Girl 1 (El), and Girl 2 (Will). I basically gave him a run through of M!levens relationship vs Bylers. I told him about M!levens getting together, their fights, and their “ily” scenes. I told him about Bylers fights, the monologue in s2, and general quotes they’ve said to each other.
Once I was done I texted him:
He agrees that “Boy” is in love with “Girl 2”
I then told him about how “Girl 2” was actually a boy
He STILL agrees that “Boy” in love with “Girl 2” even though he now knows that “Girl 2” is actually a boy!
So then I pulled the old “One of these characters is canonically in love with the other, which one is it?” with these photos:
Guess who he said?
He agrees just with a basic rundown and photos of their faces that Mike is in love with Will. He literally said “it’s so obvious”.
Mike chose to lie in his monologue because that’s what he thought El needed to hear just like how Will thought Mike needed to hear that El loved him when it’s Wills love that Mike wants and needs
i will always be a firm believer that this was Mike's oh no i like him moment
and that's why he immediately went after El because he likes her too right? she's cute and really pretty, she's cool she has powers and saved their lifes so many times already! and he really cares for her and missed her this year and it's like Nancy and Lucas said he must have a crush on her! that must be it. so maybe if he focuses on her these feelings for Will (whatever those feelings might be) will go away and he can be normal right?
and this was his oh fuck i'm in love with him and it won't just go away but it's too late now moment