Every time I listen to that leaked audio I feel anxiety in the pit of my stomach. I can’t tell for certain who’s yelling, but it sounds like either Will or Jonathan to my ears. It might not even be either of them though. Anyways whoever is acting out that scene is giving me goosebumps like holy shit those screams are absolutely gut wrenching and heartbreaking. What the hell is going on?? How am I going to handle season 5 if I can barely handle a freaking audio clip?? I thought I was ready for season 5 but I don’t think I am anymore. I’m scared… 😥 The performances from the actors in this final season are going to be INSANE.

Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s Will based on the outfit and hair in the new picture we got from hawkinsfamilyphoto. Looks the same as the previous picture of him that was leaked. What’s that thing on the roof, though? It doesn’t look like a vine from the upside down to me. It looks like a wire or something after I adjusted the picture and made it brighter. What’s going on?? Will, baby, what’re you doing on the roof of the radio station at night?? Who’s with you? Are you alone? I need answers! 😫

Whether the paparazzi picture is edited or not, we know that Will is going to suffer in season 5. Because boy has suffered every single season. There’s no way Henry is going to leave that boy alone. Like, I’m pretty sure he’s going to suffer the most he’s ever had in the final season. I have to tell myself that to try and prepare myself for whatever it is that he’s going to go through in season 5. And after EVERYTHING he’s been through, it’s all going to pay off. He’s going to finally get the love and happiness he deserves. He has to. He better. The Duffers can’t be that cruel and sadistic. I’m so done with Will’s nonstop suffering. As they say, it’s always darkest before the dawn.

My boy looks so pale and sick… oh god here we go again… I knew this was coming. I know Henry is going to put Will through absolute hell yet again but fuck I just want my son to be safe and happy. 😭 I swear if he doesn’t get a happy ending after EVERYTHING he’s been through and is going to go through in season 5…

The fact that Will was already effortlessly capturing the hearts of girls before his glow up and now he looks like THIS. He’s gonna have to be rejecting girls left and right ugh my poor gay son. 😔

I’m so happy I was proven wrong and they finally posted about Will for his birthday!! LOOK AT MY BEAUTIFUL BABY BOY! 🥹💛

Watch them post nothing about Will tomorrow and claiming that they feel like they’re forgetting something but can’t remember… I swear if that happens… 🙃

I don’t know if I’m the only person who does this, I probably am lol but not only do I read fanfics about ships I love, but I also can watch different shows and replace the characters with for example, Will and Mike. Like I’m a sucker for KDramas because of the romance in them, so when I’m in dire need of Byler content, like now, I can literally replace the lead characters/couple with Will and Mike visually and even clearly hear their voices and how they’d sound in my head as I watch the show. I’ve been able to watch so many different Byler AUs lol yeah I know I’m crazy. Oh well, it’s not like I’m hurting anyone. 😅

I’ve never bought a squishmallow before. I love plushies but just never really understood the hype about squishmallows. If I wanna buy a Sanrio plush or Pokemon plush or whatever I’d rather buy them in a non squishmallow form. Will Byers as a squishmallow has the potential to be extremely adorable though. I might just buy my first squishmallow if it’s adorable enough haha maybe I’ll even buy Mike as well. Will is one of my all time favorite characters ever so I’m more focused on him of course. 😅

The way that Mike talks about El screams idolization to me. Do I think he loves her? Yes. I do think he cares about her. Do I think he’s IN love with her. No. If he actually was in love with her, I feel like he’d talk about traits and qualities of hers that he loves that are beyond just her powers. Like how Jonathan and Nancy explained why they love each other. They were actual meaningful traits and qualities. I don’t know what Mike loves about El beyond her powers.

This is literally the first thing that comes out of his mouth regarding El last season. Like, yes, that’s an amazing thing that she did, Mike. Can you also mention something else, though? What else do you like about her? What else do you admire about her?

It’s clear that Mike struggles with low self esteem and doesn’t view himself in a positive light. He doesn’t see his own self worth. To Mike, he’s unimportant. He’s a nobody. He’s nothing except a nerd, a loser, a freak who’s been bullied his entire life. He has El on this extremely high pedestal and feels like he can’t measure up to how incredible and amazing she is, because she’s a superhero. That’s what he continues to focus on. It’s not El’s fault that he feels this way either. She’s never talked about how amazing she is because she has powers. She’s never made it seem like she’s above anyone or better than anyone due to her powers. If anything, she’s talked about how she feels like a monster because she’s different. She feels like she doesn’t belong anywhere. She even voices that to Mike.

El cries to Mike, doubting that he loves her anymore because he never says it. He can’t even write it. And what does Mike tell her in response to that? Does he tell her that he loves her? It’d be the perfect time to say it if he does. She’s crying and could use some clarity and reassurance. But no, he doesn’t tell her that he loves her. Instead he tells her this. And of course brings up how she’s a superhero…

Even when he finally voices that he loves her, it falls flat to me and feels off. As the audience, we know that Mike’s initial reaction to finding El in the woods was not love at first sight. He wanted to get her back to wherever she came from and continue to search for Will. So yeah, that’s not true. Maybe he forgot what he was genuinely feeling in that moment? It’s either that or he’s knowingly lying to her. And then when he explains why he loves her… when we finally get to hear the reasons why…

BAM! Again… it all circles back to her being a superhero. He loves her for exactly who she is… a superhero who can fly and move mountains and… yeah… the momentum died when Mike brought up that. El’s reaction to that didn’t look positive either. I just felt so awkward and uncomfortable and confused watching this monologue. Seeing Will’s reaction and having him in frame didn’t help at all. Let’s not forget he basically had to push Mike to not stop and continue talking to El by reminding him that he was the heart. Why’d they choose to do that? All it did was make my heart break even more for Will. Especially after watching him give Mike the meaningful painting he made for him and the beautiful monologue where he disguised his feelings as El’s.

If they wanted me to root for M*leven, they could’ve easily had El say this to Mike. El loves Mike, right? She says that she loves him. I don’t exactly know why though. She’s never voiced why to Mike or to anyone else. I can’t solely blame Mike as the reason why I don’t ship M*leven when I don’t know why El is in love with Mike either. This could’ve been why, but no, the writers chose to not only make Will in love with Mike, but that he feels better for being different and loving him. All his life he was made to believe that he was a mistake for being different, but Mike makes him feel the complete opposite. He also mentions how El (he) is always going to need him. He says this to Mike, someone who wants and needs to be needed. You know what Will said meant the absolute world to Mike. It was exactly the kind of thing he needed to hear. How the hell do you top this?? Why would they choose to do this? Why make Will in love with Mike? Why make him have this type of love for Mike? The type of love Mike needs and wants? Why not have El feel this way about Mike and say this to him instead of Will? Throughout season 4 Mike and El just seemed to make each other feel bad and insecure pretty much the entire time. Not on purpose or knowingly, though. I don’t believe that they want or mean to make each other feel that way. They’re just not good for each other relationship wise. At least not from what I’ve seen so far. I have no idea how they’re gonna turn it around in the final season. Also, they’re just gonna throw away Will’s love for Mike? They used Will’s love for Mike to fix M*leven’s relationship then? And Will gets what? Nothing? No love for the gay character who’s unconditionally in love with his best friend? He should just be happy that his friends and family accept him for who he is? Because we know they will. That’s not going to be shocking. What would be shocking is if they didn’t. I don’t think that’s the type of twist the writers would want to do. That’d be beyond horrible. So yes, Will should just be happy and thankful that his family and friends don’t hate him for being gay. He doesn’t need love like everyone else. We don’t need to see the only gay character experience love and a relationship. Or maybe we will with some random, last second, half assed love interest. Oooo yay! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Lumax!! Oh my gosh seeing a picture of these two makes me so happy! See, these two right here are an incredible couple. There’s no doubt in my mind that they’re genuinely in love. I see it. I feel it. There’s no questioning or denying this relationship.

So I’m trying to keep this a strictly Byler/Stranger Things blog, but in my last post I mentioned how my other all time favorite ship is Shawngela from Boy Meets World. Shawn Hunter is one of my all time favorite characters from a television show, just like Will Byers. Those two are like my babies. I’d defend them with my life. They literally can do no wrong in my eyes. Stranger Things and Boy Meets World are two completely different shows. BMW is a freaking 90s sitcom. Because of Shawn, it delves into dramatic territory though. When a storyline focuses on him it’s rarely ever funny, especially as he gets older. We start with him in sixth grade up into college, so we see him grow and evolve a lot. Shawn and Will are really different, but they’re also alike in some ways. They’re both poor, their home life is extremely unstable, and they can never seem to catch a break. The writers of these shows seem to love torturing the shit out of them. Will has his family and friends, though. Shawn, well, he has his friends, not so much his family. His friends are his family. I so desperately want for Will what Shawn didn’t get. A genuine happy ending. Every time Shawn got a piece of happiness, the BMW writers just HAD to take it away. They couldn’t allow Shawn to be happy. I need Will to be happy. I NEED it. If that boy doesn’t get a happy ending… I swear… I just want at least one of my fictional sons to end up happy. PLEASE. Why must I love the characters who suffer so much?? 😭

I watched the entire walkthrough of the Stranger Things VR game. I obviously saw so many posts about the Byler content we got from it. I wanted to see the M*leven content as well though because I’m trying to understand what their shippers see in it. I was expecting to see some M*leven moments, like them interacting together and stuff, especially in Eleven’s chapter, but. there. isn’t. any. Did I miss a scene of them together? The only scene is where Henry is trying to taunt Mike and get in his head by insinuating that losing El and wondering what could’ve been is what he fears most but it doesn’t work. Henry doesn’t know what Mike’s afraid of and asks Will. Hmm… wonder what his fear is. Anywaaaaays… El and Will each have chapters. Mike doesn’t. There’s Byler moments in Will’s chapter. There’s no M*leven moments in El’s. It’s shown that Mike saves Will from Henry. It shows how incredibly important Mike is to Will and how much Mike means to him. It does that in El’s chapter as well. Not with Mike though, with Max. Who does Will need? Mike. Who does El need? Max.

I feel crazy because like where is the M*leven moments?? If season 5 is anything like this and I’m meant to root for M*leven over Byler then I’m just?? I don’t even know. I’m really trying to understand. I’m so confused. I feel like an idiot because I’m not getting it. I don’t see it in the show. I don’t see it in this game. My other favorite ship is Shawn and Angela from Boy Meets World. Yes, a straight ship. No M*leven shipper can accuse me of not liking M*leven because it’s a straight ship and just liking Byler because it’s a mlm ship. That’s not it. It’s because they just make sense to me. The way they are with each other and how deeply they care for one another is beautiful. It’s beyond friendship from Will’s side, and it seems to be beyond friendship from Mike’s side based on what I’ve seen. Could I be wrong? Of course. All I know is that if the writers want me to root for M*leven, they’re doing such a bad job. I can’t get there with them. There are so many incredible straight ships in shows and movies. Heck, you have Jopper, Jancy, and Lumax in Stranger Things being some great examples. M*leven is just not one of them. Byler is so well written and would be such an important, groundbreaking endgame ship. But sure, let’s have M*leven, a badly written straight ship, be endgame instead. Especially about a show for the outcasts, misfits, marginalized, etc. That would be the cherry on top for a show like this.

Okay but like can you genuinely imagine Mike acting this way if Dustin or Lucas got a nosebleed?? He doesn’t even act this way when El gets a nosebleed. Boy is being so fussy over Will possibly getting blood on himself. Literally cleaning up Will and getting annoyed that Lucas and Dustin haven’t brought over a towel for Will. Dustin and Lucas just bickering in the background while Mike takes care of Will and saves him from Henry. If a freaking video game is having such an effect over my feelings and emotions I’m scared about what season 5 is gonna do to me. I’m not going to be able to handle myself lol oh gosh

I feel like there’s only one person in this picture and the other silhouette that people are saying is another person is actually just part of a tree. I tried enhancing the image that sthingsspoilers posted and it really just looks like a tree to me. They liked a comment saying “Noah Schnapp?” on their Instagram so I’m assuming that it’s Will.

Also, I have a theory that if Will is actually by himself in the upside down, maybe that’s how he got hurt? I don’t want him to be all alone in that place again, though. Even just for a moment. 🥺 They don’t always shoot scenes in order. They usually don’t actually. I don’t know, his face looks cut and bruised in the picture that we got of him but it also could be the lighting. I also tried enhancing that one. What I do know is that he’s gonna be put through hell this season because when is he not? I just want my baby to be happy. 😭

The scream that I just let out omg look at how beautiful my son looks!! The hair, the outfit, everything is perfect! 🥹💛

Do I want the familiar face to be Will? Yes more than anything. That’s my son. That’s my baby boy. 😭 Do I think it’s going to be Will? No. I’m going to keep my expectations low so that I won’t be disappointed haha… Also I’ll be extra happy if it turns out to be Will.