#byler van scene
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Y’all moved on too fast mentally I’m still here
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I TOTALLY FORTOT TO POST THIS YESTERDAY BUT I FINISHEF THE PAINTING REPLICA !!!!
#stranger things#byler#will byers#art#stranger things 5#idk man#idk how to tag this#mike wheeler#idk what im doing#dungeons and dragons#strangerthings#stranger things 4#wills painting#you're the heart#byler van scene#byler painting#this took me 2 days
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Mike thinks he has to be needed in order to be loved because he doesn’t think anyone could ever want him. He thinks he has to earn love via offering some form of protection. Meanwhile, Will wants Mike so much that he feels like he needs him. And it has nothing to do with Mike earning his affection — Will just loves him for who he is.
#he’s worth more than what he can do for other people and he has no idea#byler#it’s fine I’m fine this is fine#mike wheeler#will byers#will byers is in love with mike wheeler#will byers loves mike wheeler#byler for the win#byler analysis#byler endgame#byler truther#byler you will always be famous#byler is endgame#byler supremacy#byler s4#byler van scene#byler my beloved#mike x will#mike and will#anti milkvan#stranger things#st4#stranger things 4#stranger things four#st4 vol2#mike wheeler my beloved#mike wheeler is in love with will byers#mike wheeler loves will byers
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to me it’s less of a “Will loves Mike the way Mike wants to be loved” and more of a “Mike wants to be loved the way he’s always felt loved by Will and he didn’t consciously realize that’s what he was searching for until he realized he could already have it in the van scene” yk
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After his first realization that without heart, they'd all fall apart, Will keeps reflecting about how important other body parts and systems are.
Will thinks about a few functions of the body that he's especially grateful for, but he doesn't say those aloud.
After listening to Will ramble about this for a while, Mike eventually thinks of one himself.
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STRANGER THINGS 4
Byler & the van speech
#byler#will byers#mike wheeler#stranger things#stedit#strangerthingsedit#will80sbyersgifs#mike x will#will x mike#byler tumblr#how many gifset of this scene will I make? An infinite amount#the van speech#byler van scene#byler van speech#the van scene#st 4x08#Will's painting scene#Will's painting
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The Map and The Painting
Ohhhh boy if there's one thing about me it's that I'm gonna pick up on some poetic symbolism that honestly maybe wasn't even intended but I'm gonna talk about it to my heart's content anyway!!! Considering how the Duffers talk about the van scene though... And how long they spent filming it... Maybe it was intended. Who knows? I certainly don't!
The Map = Mike's relationship w/ El
The Painting = Mike's relationship w/ Will (obviously)
When the van scene opens, Mike is holding a map. He is looking at that map. This is the map they're using to get to the coordinates of NINA. This is the map they're using to find El.
Mike is holding this map while he vents his insecurities regarding his relationship with El. He looks and sounds dejected. He looks and sounds lost. He is holding a map, a navigation tool, and yet he is lost.
[I wish I had photos but I do not, so just go watch the scene for yourself if you wanna be reminded of just how much is going on in this poor boy's head.]
If this map is a representation of his relationship with El, that would mean this relationship makes him feel lost. Which isn't a stretch considering that is literally exactly what we see in their relationship time and time again. Mike loses himself in this relationship. He becomes someone we barely recognize in s3. And then in s4 we see that he doesn't know how to navigate his relationship with her. He's insecure, he feels inferior, he is completely in the dark about what her life is actually like. He's lost.
[This would not be the first time El is associated with a navigation tool. Specifically navigation tools that are broken/not serving their intended purpose. In s1 she tampers with the compass and leads Mike, Lucas, and Dustin on a wild goose chase. Her intentions were pure, she just wanted to keep them safe. But still, she's associated with a "broken" compass. She broke it. She's the reason they veer off the path to finding Will. (not hating on her for this, like I said, I know her intentions were pure, but that is what happened.) Of course, in the case of the map, the dysfunction is entirely symbolic, and likely not even an intended interpretation. I'm just a little insane.]
He's rambling and he looks lost, and he gives up. He cuts his ramblings off, apologizes, and calls his feelings stupid. Will lets him know that he doesn't have to be sorry. So he tries to continue, but he's at a loss for words. He doesn't know how to describe everything he's feeling. He doesn't even know where to begin.
"I don't know... I just... Uhhh..." // "You're scared of losing her"
Slowed to appreciate Finn Wolfhard's talent
Will says that, and Mike's demeanor completely shifts. He looks like he feels seen for the first time in a long time. We know he's been lost, but we also know he's been hiding. He hasn't wanted to be found. But Will just got pretty damn close to finding him, and Mike doesn't look scared. He looks relieved. He looks amazed that Will was even looking to find him in the first place.
Mike doesn't deny what Will says. He confirms it. He's vulnerable because Will makes him feel safe. So then Will gives him the painting.
This is when Mike sets aside the map in favor of holding the painting.
The map is formal, mature, grown up. Like how he feels he needs to be. He views his relationship with El as a necessary step to growing up. As a necessary step to leaving his childhood, and his childish feelings behind.
"We're not kids anymore. I mean, what did you think really? That we were never gonna get girlfriends? That we were just gonna sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?"
The painting - Will's painting - is reminiscent of the kind of map you'd see in a fantasy world. A scroll that holds the secrets of the universe. The key to defeating evil once and for all. The kind of map you'd find in a fantasy game. The kind of game you played with your best friends. Before everything got so scary. Before everything got so complicated. Before you grew to be afraid of who you are. Before you were forced to grow up. Before everything changed.
"Yeah. I guess I did. I really did."
Mike holds the painting with so much care. He unrolls it with so much care.
This isn't anything new from Mike. We know how much he loves Will's art. How much he respects it. We've seen this before.
(Something I love about the way this is filmed is that it feels reminiscent of scenes in fantasy movies where the protagonist has found some ancient map or scroll and is unrolling it. I really can't know for sure if this was intentional, but it's the feeling I get from it. I don't have a scene to compare it to because I cannot for the life of me think of one, but I know I've seen scenes like that before. And this feels like that)
Once he's looking at the painting itself, he lights up. He has this childlike wonder about him.
Something that we haven't seen from him in a while.
And it's no surprise that this painting is what lights that spark in him again. I mean just look at it. It's their childhood lovingly painted by his best friend. It's Mike and his three best friends, the people he's been through hell with, fighting a monster. Something they have real life experience doing. But in this painting it's not scary, because it's an echo of their adventures before the monsters were real. Before everything changed.
Will points to the shield. The shield has a heart on it. The shield also conveniently looks like an arrow that is conveniently pointing to Will the Wise. Our eyes naturally follow this, at least mine do. Like they're following a map. And if my eyes did that, then I'm pretty sure Mike's did too.
In the same way the literal map is leading Mike to El, the painting acts as a figurative map that leads Mike to Will.
Mike looks dejected and lost while holding the map. He talks about his insecurities and expresses that he feels inferior, and that he's not needed.
He lights up when holding the painting. Will uses the painting to tell him that he's wrong about himself. That he's a leader. That he is needed and he always will be. He looks as if maybe he's on his way to finding himself, and in the process, finding Will.
So when his last significant interaction with Will in s4 is him reaching into the light to grasp his shoulder and reaffirm that they're a team...
And when he ends the season with El walking away from him, and instead of following her, he chooses to stay by Will's side. Ready to face whatever comes next as a team. Ready to fight the monster. With his convenient little pocket arrow conveniently pointing to Will...
Well it's not really a surprise, is it? This is exactly the path that the figurative map that is the painting is leading Mike down. The path it is leading the audience down. We haven't gotten to the destination yet, but we have a pretty good idea of where we're going.
Mike however? I'm not too sure if he's fully aware of what he's stumbling toward.
#byler#will byers#mike wheeler#byler endgame#mike wheeler is in love with will byers#mike wheeler analysis#byler analysis#byler van scene#byler painting#i will never stop being unnecessarily poetic about this ship#stranger things#this is really just artistic expression
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“Because losing you — it just hurts — it hurts too much.”
“Because I thought that if I said how I felt, it would make that day — hurt more.”
#byler#stranger things#mike wheeler#will byers#stranger things spoilers#finn wolfhard#noah schnapp#stranger things theory#byler evidence#byler proof#byler st#byler script#byler van scene#scriptgate
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The way finn keeps emphasizing how it doesn’t make sense that Mike didn’t realize Will was sad during the van scene has convinced me that Mike did understand and they’re just pretending he didnt until season 5 comes out bc his reaction is a spoiler
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happy one year to ST4 volume 2 and happy one year to finn wolfhard's eyebrows 💙💛
used my travel watercolour set, painted this in a hostel in Berlin fun fact! it took 5ish hours? scroll down for the scale, he's pretty teeny
#my art#stranger things 4 vol 2#st4 vol2 anniversary#mike wheeler#byler#byler fanart#mike wheeler fanart#stranger things fanart#watercolour#watercolor#traditional art#watercolor painting#stranger things#stranger things 4#if you look closely i put heart reflections into his eyes ehheheh#byler van scene#mike wheeler i know what you are
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And what if I told you that the fact that Mike asked: “did you paint this?” was neither about being impressed by Will’s art improvement, nor was it about being shocked that someone put that much effort into a gift for him.
This was Mike asking for reassurance that this is The painting! That’s the painting Will’s been working on! That’s the painting for the “girl” he likes! Only that the girl isn’t a girl at all and the painting was for Mike all along!! This was Mike asking for reassurance that: “it’s me!? I’m the person you like?” because of course Will painted this! Of course he did and that didn’t come as a surprise to Mike because he knows how good Will is at art! And he knows that Will usually shares his art with him! What Mike is in disbelief over is the implication this has if it’s actually The painting! The realization that he might be the person Will likes!! And so he asks, and oh boy, he sounds so happy! So hopeful! So in disbelief! And then Will says ”yes” and for a moment time stands still….. until Will tells Mike that El commissioned the painting. Which shocks Mike and there’s a mix of disappointment and confusion on his face because “Oh… So this isn’t The painting after all?” but also “but this doesn’t make any sense!” And now Mike is torn because “what is happening right now?” But as Will starts to explain Mike realizes that he was right. Will is talking about himself. This is The painting. He is the person Will is in love with. And he’s speechless, doesn’t know what to say except for asking for reassurance again and Will says “yes”.
WILL. SAYS. YES!!
#and then the monologue scene comes around and this time mike is so shocked by realizing that will was actually talking about el in the van#mike is so disappointed in himself for letting himself hope that it was about will#that he doesn’t allow himself to hope anymore#and forces himself to lie to el#forces himself to give up on his own happy ending#but if there’s one thing about mike wheeler then it’s that he never loses hope!#never gives up on the people he loves!#so even when he tries to not hope anymore#he still does#mike wheeler#gay mike wheeler#will byers#byler#stranger things#the van scene#van scene#byler van scene#the painting#byler painting
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Mikes expressions explained, lets go!!!
“the painting was for me not for a girl, don’t know what i was so worried about. :)” this part of the scene is so cute, there’s just pure joy on this mans face. Throughout the seasons we can tell that mike is a fan of wills art, mike also likes gifts stated in s3 last episode.
Will: “well, el commissioned it”
“What lol”
After will says this and continues his coded rant about “el” needing mike, mikes face drops from his very happy expression and mike seems conflicted and confused. He was told by el that she doesn’t know what will is painting and that it’s probably for some girl he has a crush on. Literally the whole fight in rinko mania was just mike being jealous and mad thinking that will is pushing away from him.
Literally at the airport he looks down, which i think is him seeing the painting and immediately being like “wtf why did he bring the painting he’s making for his crush”
Mike knows that the painting could be for a crush so during the van scene we get THIS
THE HEART EYES HELLO?? Mike knows more then what we’re thinking, I’m always seeing people say that he’s braindead(he is) but i want to bring up a Byler theory and it’s that a lot of the byler scenes we see are in wills point of view. Because at the end of their conversation, will pulls away from the conversation, ending it, we see mike blurred out and he looks back at will. We can’t see mikes expression, but during that part i was thinking that he was still confused, probably trying to make sense of the conflicting information he’s being given
“but el doesn’t know what he was painting what, why would el lie about not knowing something? El isn’t pushing me away either? What is happening? Is will lying???”
Mike has probably caught onto the fact that will is lying about something because of this facial expression !!
This is the face he made after will slips up a bit about the “party” he takes a sharp inhale, indicating that he’s nervous. Why are you nervous mike huh? Would you like to share for the whole class mike?
He then looks away and looks back at the painting that is most definitely “commissioned” by “el”, and he seems confused again. El doesn’t play dnd so why would she commission a dnd painting for mike, she’s not even in the painting😭
Mike is definitely picking something up, and after this conflicted look on his face we just see mike looking at will, barely looking away. While will is literally confessing to him through els name, he gives will two lip stares. Why mike?
We all know mike wants to kiss will, why is his body language so???? Finn wolfhard really wanted to make it obvious that mike is not straight because the facial acting tells me a whole different story. Mike is not in love with el, he loves will.
Bonus, mike being flustered about will touching his hand.
The photo doesn’t really show much but if you watch the van scene and look at his expression. He’s definitely nervous/flustered.
So yeah, either mike is gay or written poorly. Either way, byler endgame💙💛
#byler tumblr#mike wheeler#byler endgame#byler is real#stranger things#byler#byler analysis#byler proof#i know what you are mike wheeler#mike is in love with will#mike wheeler is gay#byler van scene#mike wheeler analysis#mike wheeler is queer#mike is gay
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I think the 'Mike is in love with whoever the painting is from' isn't as shallow as just he loves whoever got him a present. The painting has always been more than just a painting it's a symbol for Will's love for Mike which we know as an audience but Mike doesn't. Which is why it's even a question at all.
The painting shows genuine care for Mike and acceptance of who he is (a dnd playing nerd), it shows him as a protector (which he's always tried to do), it's shows him as cool (again which he's always tried for), it shows that someone has thought of him enough to either commission or make him a super thoughtful gift. The painting literally is the way he wants to be loved.
Then there's Will's speech which goes along with the painting and again wouldn't even be under scrutiny if Mike knew for certain who it was from. He's told it's from El and that all of Will's words as well as the meaning of the painting is from her. He thinks El sees him for who he is and loves him for it (not that she doesn't), he thinks El sees him as a protector, he thinks El sees him as cool. Mike particularly thinking El needs him as a protector is the outlier because though she's needed his support she's not needed his protection since s1. Plus with the arc El went on this season that all would seem very counterproductive.
(Will also says a lot of things in his speech that is clearly from his perspective and doesn't apply to El at all which again will be messing with Mike's perspective on his and El's relationship)
If the painting were from El it creates a whole new context from Mike's point of view. El would have commissioned the painting before he got to Cali meaning before their fight. El would have loved Mike exactly the way he wanted and and he couldn't say it back. He thinks El needs him and loves him that much that telling her he loves her would help her save the world. We as an audience though know who the painting and the speech is from, we know that El doesn't need Mike the way he believes she does in that moment. But Mike has no other reason to believe Will was lying.
I don't think Mike is going to find out the painting was from Will and immediately think he's in love with Will and dump El. I think it'll be more like he realises that the feelings he got from the painting and Will's speech and the feelings he felt for the person who thought all that weren't for El. That El doesn't love him like that and he can't love El like that. It's more of a gateway to Mike examining his feelings.
So it's a little more complicated than 'Mike being in love with whoever the painting is from' it's more so 'Mike wants the love the painting represented' and he thinks it's from El but we know it's not.
#stranger things#byler#will byers#mike wheeler#el hopper#platonic elmike#byler analysis#stranger things analysis#byler van scene
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I fully believe with my entire soul that Will was one pronoun correction away from being kissed by Mike in the van.
Like look at how Mike was lookin at him as it is:
That is the look of someone who is thinkin about a smooch.
Can you imagine if Will had actually said “you make me feel like I’m not a mistake at all, like I’m better for being different” ???
Legit do not see any scenario in which Mike doesn’t kiss Will before he even finishes, regardless of who was in the van. Like I honestly do not think he was even aware that there were other ppl in the van as it is 😭
#this is my toxic trait#but I’m not wrong#byler#mike and will#mike wheeler#mike wheeler i know what you are#byler van scene#byler s4#byler endgame#elli talks byler
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Every time I watch the van scene I think... Jeez Noah really is the strongest soldier cuz I would fall in love on the spot if someone looked at me the way Finn playing Mike looked at Will in that moment. I would have had to cut the cameras, quit my job, packed my bags, and moved countries if I were in his place. There's just no way I would have made it through that scene and returned to normal life afterwards.
And don't get me started on Noah saying he's going to play Will a little differently now that he's out and comfortable in himself... I say I'm ready but I know the moment I see any byler interaction on screen in S5 I'm going to actually pass out. Between that fact and Finn being the king of micro-expressions, byler is going to hit different in the BEST way, I just KNOW it. I'm seriously soooo done for.
#they better be getting ALL the awards#I just have a good feeling about this upcoming season#byler#byler s5#byler tumblr#byler van scene#will byers#noah scnhapp#mike wheeler#finn wolfhard
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These two scenes look so familiar...
#byler van scene#byler evidence#byler canon#byler is canon#byler#mike x will#will x mike#byler tumblr#byler cinema scene#byler is endgame#byler endgame#byler nation#byler is real#byler parallels#byler parallel#byler are boyfriends fr
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