I can’t😆I can’t anymore 😆😆

Will in the Papa script according to Nick from 8flix

when will said to close the gate in season 2… knowing full well how he might have died in the process… it wasn’t just because he was feeling heroic and sacrificial… he just hated himself so much he thought that with him no longer existing, everyone else would be better off

and if it weren’t for mike insisting and constantly reminding everyone that will was going to get hurt in the process too and so they all need to protect him too, god knows what else could have happened :(

script: will byers hates himself

bylers:

friendly reminder that will has been queer-coded from the very start of stranger things :)

just in case anyone else forgot this like i did will has been almost certainly confirmed queer from the start. the first picture is from the show’s pitch. idk i just got a little more faith in the duffer brothers now that ive been reminded that this has been a part of will’s arc since the beginning. i hope it’ll continue to be done right

thinking abt how shipping is inherently queer culture. mhm

something something mlvn vs byler shouldn’t count as a ship war because the odds are historically in mlvns favor

something something byler narratively makes more sense despite being a ship while mlvn’s r fighting for their canon str8 “ship”

Gay Will :)

current mood: listening to seven by taylor swift and crying over byler

hi, sorry, um what does it mean 'to be a bit of a boner between someone'?

Also, his best friend, sure

as there are some parts that are mistranslated, such as pronouns, I'm guessing noah is talking about will the whole time. so uh, will's always happier when he's with mike, huh

I just wanted to remind everyone that no matter how much better Lenora objectively was for Will than Hawkins, he was not happy there!

Will might’ve not been bullied in Lenora but he had no friends either which was not a deliberate decision btw. I see a lot of people claiming that Will could’ve made friends if he wanted to but didn’t because he rather spent time with El and I just don’t think that’s the case. Will is not an extroverted person who makes the first step when it comes to making new friends. He’s introverted in general and shy when he’s surrounded by people he doesn’t know so making friends is a struggle for him in general and has nothing to do with him sticking with El in Lenora. And while we don’t know anything specific about if Dustin and Lucas sent letters or called Will, we do know that Mike did not. Furthermore it’s canon that Jonathan wasn’t really there for Will during the time spent in Lenora either and while it is never specifically said it is heavily and obviously implied, it’s shown, that Will was in utmost need of his brother’s help and support! And El did not replace Jonathan in that aspect! Jonathan being distant from Will does not and did not equal Will and El becoming close on the level that Will and Jonathan are. I know I talk about this a lot (that willel isn’t as close in canon) but I just had to say it again because to me it seems really clear that a lot of people think that Jonathan not being there for Will somehow led to Will and El sticking together. Like it’s them against the world while that was never the case ever! Will did not once seek comfort in El because Will didn’t simply need a sibling, he needed Jonathan. Jonathan and Will have a close and deep bond and it’s unique because Jonathan isn’t just fulfilling the role of a sibling for Will. So Jonathan cannot just be replaced by another sibling or anyone at all. Point is, when Will realized Jonathan was being distant he started bottling up everything he wanted to talk about. He did not talk to El instead because quite frankly, they don’t have that kind of relationship (El also didn’t tell Will about her and Mike’s problems and the lying).

So Will had no friends in Lenora, he almost lost all connection to his closest friend whom he’s also in love with and his big brother whom he could always count on for support wasn’t really there for him either. Mike and Jonathan are literally the two people Will always knew he could trust with anything because he knew they’d understand in one way or another. But then neither of them was there for him anymore for reasons unknown to Will which lead him to feel as though he can’t talk to either of them anymore. He wanted to talk to them! Desperately! But he just couldn’t. And all of a sudden Will was all alone. Lenora wasn’t fresh and happy and so much better than Hawkins. Lenora was lonely.

Did Lenora allow more room for personal development due to the lack of the upside down and bullying/rumors? Of course it did. Will’s willingness to make and present a project about Alan Turing is hinting at some positive development. In that aspect Lenora was better for Will than Hawkins but in every other aspect it wasn’t, simply because Will was on his own.

The fact that Will felt lost and alone in Lenora is also important for byler’s love story btw. Will telling Mike that he felt lost without him throughout the months he’s spent in Lenora is so significant because it’s a reply to Mike telling Will: “It’s Hawkins. It’s not the same without you.” Mike has called Hawkins his home throughout his entire life but once Will wasn’t there anymore the feeling of being at home left as well. And Will could move anywhere with his family but if Mike’s not there he feels lost nonetheless. The place where they feel like they belong is not a place at all, it’s the state of being together. Will feels found with Mike and Mike feels at home with Will. Mike makes Will feel better for being different and Will makes Mike feel like he’s not alone. Hawkins, Lenora, that doesn’t matter because it’s not about the place!

Will not being happy in Lenora without Mike is exactly as important as Mike not being happy in Hawkins without Will. Erasing that creates a different narrative, destroys the story they’re trying to tell. Simply because people are making it seem like Will can do just fine without Mike while Mike loses his mind without Will which is just not the case. The whole of s4 showed us that Will is not happy without Mike and that he needs him! Will literally tells Mike that he’d fall apart without him and still there are people that try to depict Will as having a good time in Lenora without Mike. Feeding into Mike’s insecurities and undermining Will’s love for Mike! And this is honestly something that makes my blood boil! People who constantly feel the need to undermine Will’s feelings for Mike are completely missing the point.

And this is kinda a different topic but I’ve seen this trend where people headcanon Will to have been on a sports team in Lenora and I just think that these people are once again missing a point that’s been made in the show. Will not being into sports serves a purpose in the telling of his story, It’s a story telling device. And while I do of course know that the focus is on baseball specifically, baseball seems to stand as a symbol for sports in general which then again are a symbol for conforming to society. Being into sports is what society thinks you should be into as a boy. “You shouldn’t like things just because people tell you you’re supposed to” is what Jonathan tells Will in s1 in regards to Will going to baseball games with Lonnie. Will does not like baseball = Will does not like sports = Will does not conform to societal standards. And Lonnie dragging him to the baseball/sports games is him trying to force Will to conform to societal standards. And Basketball was this big symbol of forced conformity in s4. Therefore being into sports and joining a team in Lenora totally defeats the purpose of a rather important story telling device in canon and therefore just isn’t compatible with the character. I’m of course well aware that Will wore a letterman jacket in the stranger things experience clips but owning a letterman jacket doesn’t automatically equal being on a sports team. It was a popular fashion item in the 80’s just like it is today. And I think it’s more likely that Will wore the jacket because he liked the jacket and not because he’s on a sports team because, again, that’d be missing the point. And as I said, the Alan Turing project hints at positive development while Will joining a sports team would hint at negative development so it simply doesn’t make sense for Will to have been on a sports team in Lenora.

i just want to start this off by making this clear: i don’t care that byler isn’t canon. i don’t have any serious ships in stranger things and i knew that the duffers would never make it canon in the first place, since our community is almost always put on the back burner for cishet characters/romances. no, my problem is this: what was the point of having will fall in love with mike? narratively speaking, what did will gain from him having feelings for his best friend? what did it showcase? that what, will is gay? most of us who really watched the show knew that already. they’ve hinted at that plenty of times throughout the entire show that will was gay without involving mike at all (the homophobic bullying, his brother telling him not to worry about being normal, being completely uninterested in girls, his alan turning project, being uncomfortable with the girl next to him in class flirting with him, etc). those hints would have been telling enough without having will be in love with mike. and to make matters worse, they decided to have will use his unrequited love for mike, to help him confess his love to his girlfriend, and then have will watch it in person and suffer. what a joke. if they had truly wanted give will some type of romance arc, they easily could (and should) have introduced someone new in s4 that he met in school that he’s crushing on, and that develops throughout the season into s5. after all, they just introduced eddie this season and all of us loved him, so they could have done the same with a crush for will if they really wanted to. but no. instead, they once again have the gay kid pining for his straight best friend (and actively helping said friend with his relationship problems) while all his other friends get to have interesting, well developed, requited, romantic relationships. hell, they could have had the arc just been about will himself figuring out his sexuality, no romantic feelings involved, but they couldn’t even give will the dignity of that either. we had to watch his heart break over and over again throughout the season, for essentially no narrative reason. so i don’t really give a shit that it’s “realistic” for someone in the lgbt+ community to fall in love with a straight person. nothing about this show is “realistic”. it’s literally about a girl who has superpowers, murderous dnd monsters, and an alternate reality in small town indiana. i’m sorry, but “realism” is a bullshit excuse and will deserves more than being just the sad gay boy who falls in unrequited love with his straight best friend. will deserves character development, plot relevance, love, and happiness, and i’m tired of seeing queer suffering in media for the sake of heterosexual characters and their development.

Besides the “Will Voice” Mike Wheeler has also the most flirty + “I’m on my knees for you already ” gaze, only when he looks at Will Byers

And he DOES NOT feel any guilty about it.

I challenge you to change my mind 😉

it's actually canon that Mike didn't fall in love with El at first sight fight me

firstly, that's just terrible writing. many writers, including the Duffers, have literally made fun of this trope.

remember Eden and Argyle??? THEY WERE LITERALLY MAKING FUN OF THE TROPE.

and they have Mike, right behind them, looking disgusted. in fact, that entire scene is queercoding for Mike but that's another story...

remember this?:

Mike, watching Lucas and Mike crush on Max:

Dustin/Lucas: She's awesome.

Mike: Awesome?? You haven't even spoken a word to her.

Mike, talking to Max:

Max: Why do you hate me so much?

Mike: Hate you? How can I hate you? I don't even know you.

REALLY GUYS??

you're all stupid if you think Mike's monologue was truthful and made to destroy Byler, it was literally made to destroy Mileven, why do you think El was ignoring Mike afterwards???

it goes down to the fact that Mike said I love you to El 9 times (9 represents failure in st), the fact that he talks about what she wears (it's a direct quote from Eddie), the fact that Eleven looks hurt when he says it, the fact that she loses (and Vecna just??? let it happen?? he knew it was gonna cause failure), the lights were flickering in a way of anger, not of love (we see how the lights look when she channels love vs when she channels anger), the fact that Will was right behind him in frame and literally had to rub his back and call him pets names in order for Mike to say it even though El was literally dying, the fact that Mike had to brace himself, the fact that "You're the heart" and "you're different" line up perfectly, the fact that he-

IF I GO ON I WON'T BE ABLE TO STOP.

i just think it's hilarious that we knew jopper will be canon and we treated it as such even before s4 just because we knew Hopper is in love with Joyce and there were "hints" it's reciprocated,

the same with rovickie, we treat it as canon just because we know Robin likes Vickie and there are "hints" it's reciprocated even tho they barely talked and Vickie had a boyfriend

and yet still we need to write essays about how byler could be endgame

like ..... it's funny.... it's stupid......why do we need to analyze shit with byler when we didn't need to analyze anything with the other ships😭

The writers absolutely knew what they were doing introducing Will’s love for Mike the same season Mike’s main conflict is struggling to say he loves his girlfriend. They absolutely knew how it would look when they showed Will heartbroken yet completely selfless over Mike and El’s relationship, when they showed how he makes Mike feel better about his insecurities and vice versa. People always root for the underdog. People always root for the ‘it was you all along’ love story. That’s just how these things go. There’s always one love interest who understands the protagonist on a deeper level, who sees and loves the protagonist for exactly who they are, and season 4 solidified that that person for Mike is Will. We literally got a speech from Will explaining in heart wrenching detail precisely why and how he loves Mike, him so overwhelmed he couldn’t hold back his tears, meanwhile we got nothing even approaching that level of deep emotion from Mike’s actual girlfriend. They knew how that would come across! They knew people would hope for a love that unconditional and intense to be reciprocated. They knew people would watch the numerous intimate scenes between them and begin to prefer that pairing. I remember seeing someone say that people shipping Byler was an ‘unintended consequence’ of the writing…like please be serious. These people are professionals. 3/4 main canon ships they wrote are adored by the fan base. If they wanted Mlvn to be loved the same way, it would be. If they didn’t want Byler to be widely loved and supported, it wouldn’t be. It’s simple as that 🤷🏽‍♀️

noah said he was bawling the entire day while shooting the car scene but they cut a lot out and it was more subtle when they edited it.

finn said he filmed a scene where he was crying while riding his bike home after seeing will's body in season 1 but they also cut that out.

so you're telling me mike and will have both cried their eyes out over each other and the duffer bros planned this themselves and FILMED IT and knew exactly what they wanted to do with these characters, and now noah has just confirmed that will has loved mike from the very beginning (while mike's feelings are suspiciously still hidden) and the idea of byler has always been something they considered, and people are still trying to say that it "came out of nowhere" or "doesn't make sense"????? i'm sorry but anyone who tries to deny it at this point are just in denial, because mike and will are the characters that literally started this show. when will went missing, mike never gave up on him along with joyce, even after seeing his body. they're the reason everyone else met and got connected. they were also each other's first friend and they have the closest and most genuine relationship in the entire show. they can actually be themselves with each other and they understand each other better than anyone else. season 4 also confirmed that they both need each other more than anything.

ALSO... imagine if we got the scenes that were cut as flashbacks when they finally become canon to show how much they've loved each other from the beginning :')