What do you mean they've always loved each other?

I remember thinking, “I wish I could live in a world where Mike and Will could fall in love for real, be real” back in season two and three.

Like I actually remember THINKING that. I remember the real ache, the sadness and loneliness of knowing that gay people, especially gay children, are seen as alien, morphed, distorted, wrong. They don’t want to see us on their screens. It doesn’t matter that we were queer children and we were real, that we had the crushes and the heart fluttering and the falling in love and the wanting just like they did. We are wrong to them. ‘Other’, even when we really aren’t.

So of course Mike and Will would never be shown in a story of falling in love with each other. Perhaps, maybe in a distant dream sort of way, will will be cruelly made to fall in love with a Mike who could never love him back. Maybe the kid who’s been kidnapped, starved, possessed, haunted, and abandoned will be gay because he’s already different, already other - but then we’d have to watch Mike wheeler, the main hero boy of the show, reject him. Because of course it would be rejection, anything else would be unfathomable; the main hero boy falls in real love with the main girl, the center of attention; the main hero boy goes through trials and tribulations, learns courage, and beats odds. He does not fall in love with another boy. He does not fall in love with the starved boy, abandoned boy, haunted boy. Not in this story. Not in any story. Of course not. That’s ridiculous, unthinkable, on a show this massive and known and loved, there is no way they will show us up there, cracked open and bare and bleeding love like they do. It just doesn’t happen, and hasn’t happened, so it won’t happen.

And now we’re here, on the precipice of the final season of this grand grand story, and it’s not just a possibility, it’s a likelihood. An ‘all signs point to here’, an ‘all roads lead to this’.

The creators are revving up for the plot twist of a lifetime; a reveal of Mike’s thus far unrevealed internal struggle. it’ll be a cultural reset, a shockwave, a disbelief producing outrage and disgust from some but tears of disbelieving joy, from others. That one of THE biggest shows of all time, created slowly over the course of the better part of a decade, watched and praised and anticipated all over the world… reveals that it was the story of the two main boys falling in love, slowly, the entire time. The cultural whiplash will, I think, be unparalleled.

And yea, obviously maybe we’re wrong about how the story will end. If so, I suppose I’ll delete this when the time comes. But I don’t think I’ll need to. I’m more than excited and proud to be a byler and a stranger things fan in general and I love being on this ride with all of you.

Here’s to the grandest grand finale we can hope for. 🎉 XX

What would be absolutely insane would be Mike and Will kissing to heroes (Peter Gabriel version.) Like imagine the song says “And we kissed” and they do kiss. It even says “And the shame was on the other side.” Which is so impactful cuz it could show them accepting their love for each other. It would also perfectly juxtapose the s1 and s3 Mike losing Will with s5 Mike is getting Will back basically.

Proof byler is real🫢😳

Mike being visibly angry as they walked through the airport and when they were at Rink-O-Mania just because Will wasn’t talking to him enough and because he thought Will had a crush on a girl is still so funny to me. Yes, funny “haha” but also funny “queer.”

been thinking about a couple of screencaps that @will80sbyers posted of what looks heavily implied to be h*omosexual activity at rink-o-mania not in the closet:

and it's got me thinking: throughout all of s4, we really don't get any introspection into how much personal growth Will has undergone during his year away from Hawkins

we of course know he's torn up about his relationship with mike and is hurting watching his half-sister be bullied at school, but we don't know much about what HE is going through.

what we know contextually:

the fictional town of lenora hills is somewhere roughly between bakersfield and LA metro. even in the 80s when california was overall more right-leaning than it is now, it still would have been leagues more progressive than hawkins, indiana at this time

2) Will clearly feels comfortable enough in his new environment to do research projects and presentations on openly gay individuals in history

3. Will feels empowered enough to paint a very emotional gift for a girl he likes Mike.

4. (admittedly minor) king has a little shop of horrors poster in his room, literally flooded with queer subtext. considering the film had JUST come out, too, this was something he was eagerly anticipating, not hopping onto the cult-classic bandwagon for after the fact

(unrelated note: if you haven't heard m.j. rodriguez, a BIPOC+ trans actress, sing suddenly seymour, you should do that now).

all of these things together indicate: Will has been put in a position that's allowed himself to slowly begin coming to terms with his sexuality in his time away from Hawkins. He may not be vocalizing it yet, but his actions indicate he's probably seen couples like the ones at rink-o-mania already this year. Something that very possibly could have given him the courage to approach Mike about it over Spring Break.

of course, this goes in the trash as all of Will's insecurities hit him full-force the moment Mike steps off the plane in Cali. The rest of s4 depicts this breakdown very well, but it takes understanding just how far Will has come to appreciate how heartbreaking his emotional deterioration is.

We can also support this by considering Jonathan's POV in the van and pizza cooler. Traditionally a loner who has the same kind of reserved life as Will, he also wouldn't have had a lot of exposure to queer people just existing prior to moving to California. He's evidently experienced enough to be able to pick up on Will's (admittedly obvious) subtext and deduce that his brother may be hiding something.

why would the duffers go through the effort of so subtly building up Will's growth arc to not have the payoff be one that completes the hero's journey?

not to get bogged down in mythology: the hero's journey is a very common framework found in thousands of works. it has three main sections: 1) when the hero has to leave home and venture into the world, 2) the ordeals the hero undergoes to realize their full potential, and 3) the hero's return home with whatever they've gained from their trial in order to complete their adventure.

to me, this suggests heavily that Will's journey of self-actualization and facing his inner-demons (both extra-dimensional and homosexual) is going to conclude in Hawkins as he enters the final third of his journey.

notably, a section of this Journey Will hasn't gone through yet:

RESURRECTION) One final test is required for the purification and rebirth of the hero. Alternatively, it may be a miraculous transformation.

all i'm saying is that transformation better involve him getting Mike to shut up and admit how he feels about his best friend.

Whenever you doubt Byler, remember that Will was planned to be in love with Mike from the start. Remember that Finn and Noah had to take a chemistry test. Remember that Mike has never had moments like that with anyone but Will. Remember the Venkman Lucas/Max Mike/Will foreshadowing. Remember every heart to heart Will and Mike have had. Remember the Variety interview. Remember Brett Gelman. Remember Eleven wasn't supposed to come back after season 1. Remember how most of the cast ships Byler. Remember how Byler has way more chemistry than Marijuana. Remember that the Duffers have taken inspiration from many shows with best friends to lovers tropes. Remember that Shawn Levi is for Byler. Remember Finn and Noah are for Byler. Remember the scripts. Remember the Eyewitness parallel. Remember the Byler docs. Remember nobody believing us about Will being gay and calling us delusional when we were right. Remember that Mike and El have nothing in common, and never have normal conversations. Remember the Duffers saying they don't believe in love at first sight. Remember Mosquito breakups being shown as comedic. Remember Byler fights being shown as a serious breakup. Remember Season 2. Remember the final placements in Season 4. Remember the show cares about detail. Remember Megamind is paralled to doomed relationships. Remember that, Byler, Jancy, Jopper, and Lumax are endgame couples, and have been all paralleled to each other at least once. Remember how the four endgames are always standing together. Remember the Duffers calling Mildew puppy love. Remember the cast's reaction to the monologue. Remember the stupid ass monologue in general. Remember Causeineedu. Remember NaturallyBrielle. Remember Millie improvising in almost all Mormon scenes. Remember the duffers mentioning one of their favorite shows growing up was a show where a man fell in love with his best friend who had a gf, and it turned out he shared those feelings. Remember that Mozzarella is paralled to Byler, but Byler is always the better version (You make me feel better for being different/You think I am a monster [] I say it/You didn't have to) and many more. Remember that Byler is absolutely going to be endgame, and they wouldn't build it up for 4 seasons for it to be unreciprocated. The duffers make mistakes, everyone does, but they know what they're doing (they made a hit show) and if you're still doubtful, it isn't just them writing it. Also, we have the music, the sets, the outfits, and camera angles on our side as well. Let MinnieMouse deny it all they want, but Byler is endgame along with Jopper, Jancy and Lumax. We have already won. It's been confirmed many times before, we just have to wait to prove it. And in those to years more proof will come, and we've gotten a lot of it already and it's only been 2 weeks. I know that sounded really stupid, but I see a few people giving up hope that the Duffers can pull this off (including myself at times) and I think despite all the proof we have we all need to hear this, especially with the Malaria shippers flooding everyone's inboxes lmfao. Anyways have and anazing day/night Byler nation. I am done with my rant.

more foreshadowing from s3?

“he treated you like garbage.”

“you’re gonna treat him like garbage. give him a taste of his own medicine.”

“and if he doesn’t fix this, if he doesn’t explain himself…”

“…dump his ass.”

max mayfield just laying it all out; crazy how she’s never been wrong before in her life!

byler will inevitably be endgame in 2024 and there’s no way out of this plotline 🫶

how byler is being set up as the endgame couple and is being contrasted to mileven as the healthier, more sensible relationship on the show

some blatantly unexplainable scenes in the show that wouldn’t make sense if mike was to be read as 100% straight and only feels platonically for will

season 4 byler is supposed to be the build up and development of romantic tension between them from the romantic tropes applied in their scenes, their clothing, cinematography and the narrative itself

if people were able to figure out will was gay and had feelings for mike 1-2 seasons before everyone else through subtle hints in the show, how wrong could they be about mike?

some parts of the GA also have suspicions about mike’s true feelings for will, we aren’t just in a fandom echo chamber!

the successful tanking of mileven and loss of their appeal to the audience pt. 1

the successful tanking of mileven and loss of their appeal to the audience pt. 2

reassurance for if you “don’t trust the duffers” pt. 1

reassurance for if you “don’t trust the duffers” pt. 2

reassurance for if you “don’t trust the duffers” pt. 3

reassurance for if you “don’t trust the duffers” pt. 4

duffers’ interview that vaguely applies to byler pt. 1

duffers’ interview that vaguely applies to byler pt. 2

deliberate pairing of endgame couples

how the cast treats other non-canon ships vs byler

WE WILL WIN IN TWO YEARS TRUST 🙏

I was reading, once again, this wonderful post by @aurorabyler and this part particularly struck to me:

And I wholeheartedly agree.

Can I say how much people disregard the actions of Mike towards El or don't think too much of it? Same with El.

Mike going through ST4EP3 is paralleling Nancy's incapability of saying "I love you" to Steve after she called their relationship "bullshit" while drunk (even though Nancy already said that she loved Steve, to his face).

Why is it that people took it seriously when Nancy was unable to say those words when Steve demanded them but when Mike doesn't say such words after El confronted him about it, most of the audience's response is "He's just a teenager", "They're too young", "He doesn't know what love is" or "He doesn't have to say that he loves her to demonstrate he cares about her" while simultaneously saying "Say you love her!", "My man, you can't say those words?!"

How come Steve and Nancy were teenagers but people still took it seriously when they had their "I love you" situation but somehow the same doesn't apply for Mike and El?

How come people were expecting someone who can't even write "Love, Mike" in a letter to his girlfriend or mention the word "love" to his best friend to say "I love you", even after he was confronted by said girlfriend and just said that he cared a lot about her?

A character saying "I care about you" to someone else is THE MOST PLATONIC thing ever and it basically means that person is automatically being friendzoned.

We all know that.

But when Mike says it, it's nothing serious?

When El wrote "From El" in the letter Mike received in ST4EP5, most audience's response was "It just means she's being petty", "Aww she wrote him a letter" or it just caused some laughs.

They downplay every action Mike and El take towards each other and honestly? I'm not even surprised cause most people suppose Mike and El will never have a big issue or something that can break them as a romantic couple because they've been "love interests" throughout the show (as if movies and TV Shows have never broken up long-term relationships ever before).

Why is it that back in ST2, when Steve and Nancy had that fight, everyone automatically thought of Jonathan, who seemed to show romantic interest in Nancy but somehow nobody thought of Will (who was shown pining after Mike) when Mike couldn't say "I love you" to El?

post volume 2 byler hope

i know volume 2 has left us feeling very pessimistic and hopeless for the possibility of byler. yet, i do still think there is reason to hope and so i have compiled a list of amazing posts that have definitely increased my faith in s5 byler.

(here is a small disclaimer that even though byler just makes sense to us narratively and overall, there is still a chance that the duffers won’t go through with it. if you choose to have hope regardless, that’s great! but pessimism is absolutely valid too. cautious optimism is definitely recommended)

on tumblr:

1) Ok This may be something that can give us bylers a little more hope. by @beepboop358

3) Five act structure: reason to hope by @reservoir-god

4) Will’s First Lie & First I Love You by @aurorabyler

5) Listen, I know that feelings are mixed in this tag right now but hear me out. by @admirablespoling

6) wanted to put this on here bc it perfectly summarizes my thoughts 🙃 by @lesbos4robin (and cr to @/causeineedu on tiktok)

7) i guess the thing giving me the most hope right now by @queerstshit

8) Mike’s monologue sorta feels like a (weird) Wikipedia article (also check comments) by @wakeupthemembersofbylernation

9) insanely steaming hot take but the Will / El / Mike arc was kinda insanely well done by @mssingrls

10) it’s so insane to me how mike just hasn’t been able to tear his eyes away from will the entire season by @heliumcake

11) I just actually watched season four all the way through and byler is 100% gonna happen it’s so obvious. by @tinyteenieworld

12) This scene reminded me a lot of the beginning of s3, when Mike is goofing around by singing in the middle of kissing by @howtobecomeadragon

13) Piggybacking off of and inspired by this rad post by @admirablespoling. by @tsugarubecker

14) there really is no point to byler if it's unrequited. by @11byers

15) The m!leven flowers are rottin— by @dancing-in-our-snow-globe and @beepboop358

16) It would appear I am indeed one of the very few optimistic (delusional?) Bylers left. by @chirpsythismorning

17) a part of me feels like it's possible that the end of episode 9 was preparing the general audience for Eleven going off on her own, and a Byler ship by @merthurfan-blog

18) my analysis of mike’s “feelings” for el and what leads to the monologue/his feelings behind it by @strangerfigs

19) Here’s a handful of cautious optimism as a treat, my brothers in byler by @hopfields

20) Mike's S4 jacket (and who his heart is really pointing to) by @mlchaelwheeler

21) St@ncy’s revival is like one of the biggest byler proofs in V2. by @neverforever09

22) michael’s airport outfit by @prfctmxxnlight

23) analyzing ST S4/Byler from someone with a film degree. by @swift-fated and credit to @/joannimal on twitter

24) Somebody on twitter noticed how the scene at the roller rink… (parallel to Little Women) by @justmeandmyships

25) Do you find it possible that Byler will definitely happen in season 5 and if so why by @upside-down-byers

26) volume 2 & instant vs delayed gratification by @chartreuse-goose

27) Whenever you doubt Byler, remember that… (a little reminder of all the things pointing towards byler as endgame) by @byernation

28) i just rewatched “the piggyback” and oh. OH. !!!!!!! by @hawkinsp0st

29) i can’t get over “we’re friends. we’re friends.” and “are ‘friends’ electric?” on mikes official Spotify playlist by @strangerfigs

30) “False Confessions” & “Piggybacking” in ST4: Ask Yourself if We Are Being Encouraged to Pick Apart the Inconsistencies... by @bluemeetyellow

31) Byler is going to be Canon and Here’s Why: by @allnaturalapplejuice

on other social media:

1) this beautiful twitter thread on ‘stranger things and the art of slow burn’ by @/hawkinshermit on twitter

2) any and all videos by @/causeineedu on tiktok. this one is one of my personal favs.

3) all the videos by @/naturallybrielle on tiktok

4) the analysis videos of @/girlskth on tiktok. she made a really cool discovery here and here.

5) this post on the use of little women parallels in the show by @/sbyleril on twitter (check comments! there’s a really good video with the parallels too)

6) this perfect harry potter chamber of secrets/byler parallel by @/folklorent on twitter

7) this twitter thread on the parallels between the romances in little women in stranger things by @/rosiec4ke on twitter

i will definitely be adding more posts to this list if i come across any. thank you to all the bloggers for giving me permission to include their posts! i really appreciate it. i also really hope this helped restore your hope in s5 byler, even if just a little bit :)

This is just who I am now

Insane to me how Mike actually literally says “maybe I was worried to much about El and not enough about you” or whatever because he literally… doesn’t? Like he DOESNT worry about El too much, in fact he very clearly worries very little the whole season up until that point.

Case in point: he doesn’t notice anything’s wrong from any of her letters, or at rink o mania when she’s obviously being bullied. He’s focused on Will the entire time she’s being bullied, arguing with him even when they’re supposed to be looking for her after the bullying. In the car ride after, they show only a close up shot of him looking at Will, and not even sparing a glance at El. At the dinner table, Mike doesn’t even spare her a worried glance as she storms off, clearly extremely upset. And later, Mike crumbles up and throws away what could be the last letter he ever gets from her just cause Will made an offhand comment about it.

Mike. Baby. You were NOT worrying ‘too much’ about your gf boy bffr

Me: I am a god and byler is canon i can predict everything and I know exactly how it’s gonna happen in season 5

Also me: B-but I’d the .5% chance occurs and byler isn’t Canon im going to have to apologize to all my friends and family for the hours I’ve ranted to them about all the proof it’s canon

It looks like Mike is looking at Wills hand wondering if he should hold it or not 😳

The top 10 season 4 moments video that was just posted to the official stranger things instagram account is such a win for byler...

You're telling me that Mikes monologue where he finally "confessed his love" wasn't even in the top 10 moments?

Almost like it wasn't important at all...

You know what is on there? WILL'S MONOLOGUE TO MIKE

Heck- even Steve taking his shirt off made the list

Interesting...