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butterflysonnets · 3 months

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yes i'm rooting for m*leven breakup because byler is neat but mostly? i'm rooting for m*leven breakup for the sake of el and mike.

to me, their romance was always a puppy love born out of a combination of social pressures, naïve curiosity, and a lack of true understanding regarding intimacy and romantic love and what it really is. it was real in that they do truly, deeply care about each other and they are close friends, maybe even shared an attraction, but a maturing romance is so much more than that. they've grown up and out of being boyfriend/girlfriend, and that's okay! i think television/film needs to show more often that most of us don't have definite "soulmates" or first childhood loves that we spend our whole lives with. it doesn't mean these relationships meant nothing and didn't impact us, it just means they've run their course and that something else is in the cards, and this is part of life!

i've always felt el was at her best and most confident self when broken up with mike, discovering who she was and what she liked alongside another girl her age instead of just relying on mike for mentorship on how to live in the real world. she deserves more of an opportunity to find herself, her autonomy, and her independence, and to love who she is, and she's made it clear she's felt insecure in the relationship with mike because she isn't being loved and understood the way she wants, needs, and deserves from someone who is her partner.

also, it's okay if mike doesn't love her in "the way he should". he is not obligated to love her romantically and stay in a relationship with her just because she's a girl, because she "needed someone", or because he cares about her a lot. he shouldn't be pressured into a romance if it's not truly coming from his heart. he deserves freedom to find out and honour who he is, too, instead of just staying in his non-functional first relationship — one he got into as a child, essentially — and defining himself that way because it's what's expected when a boy and a girl are close. he loves her in some way, yes, but it's okay if he doesn't feel comfortable or secure being her boyfriend anymore, for whatever reason that is. he's felt insecure too, and that's valid and it matters.

they are their own people and are steadily growing and changing every day. they need time to figure out who those people are, and it's become clear (at least in my opinion) that those people aren't meant to be a couple at this stage.

they deserve freedom. they deserve to grow up and be authentic to themselves and not feel like they need to lie for the sake of a relationship. they deserve to move on from this version of their relationship that isn't making them happy and rekindle the best part of their bond: their strong, beautiful friendship. they don't have to be a couple if it doesn't make them stronger and better and happier people.

i think it would be healthy and wonderful for a show, especially one consumed frequently by young adults, to show a relationship starting, progressing, and ending on good terms in this way. sometimes things don't work out, and that is okay.

#eve text #elmike #stranger things #byler #only tagging byler because i feel like yall will like this take lol #tagging tagging tagging WHAT ARE EVERYONE ELSE'S THOUGHTS #god i can't believe i'm making a post about stranger things. this feels like poking a bear #i'm not particularly anti m*leven but like... they'd have to do something pretty special at this point for me to feel like it's viable #i'm seeing the bts of s5 and it's got me Having Thoughts #elmike friendship is something i am so passionate about #even before i ever liked byler (didn't ship at all until s4 even though i knew it was a thing before) i've felt this way about elmike #i always believed they were close friends at heart and needed to break up #the romance part of them felt very distinctly young and very much “he was a boy she was a girl” to me #and it hasn't deepened into anything more mature and i don't see how it could based on the current state of the writing...#the fact that lumax exists — a young relationship that is actively maturing and is healthy — makes that clear to me #and the “love confession” in s4 and how disingenuous and miserable it felt was just the nail in the coffin #also the fact that will (who is IN LOVE with mike) was instrumental in making it happen? ... uh... okay... interesting choice…#fucked up and reductive if they make it another queer unrequited love sacrifice for the sake of pushing the heterosexual agenda YUCK #so i really hope the speculation about a m*leven breakup is real!! i think it just makes sense for their characters but who knows #i don't believe in the notion of love at first sight or one true love and i think the writers don't too???#love to me is an accumulation of experiences and we inevitably choose it at some point rather than fall into it... but idk #tv is so fixated on keeping couples together... sometimes it's just not reality guys especially with young people... LET IT GO...#like i said though i'm not 100% sold that they're going to give up their “golden couple” LMAO #stranger things hasn't historically subverted too many tropes if i'm being honest #anyway i seriously need this season to come out quickly... i'm so bored and getting my master's is crushing my soul #i need frivolity #ALSO btw i won't respond to hateful messages about this so please don't bother. it's not that serious. this is a netflix show

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cringengl · 9 months

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I hope the Stranger Things spinoff is about the party all being roomates in the 90s and getting into shenanigans‼️‼️

#this has a 0% chance of happening but duffers if u see this i would watch 10 seasons of it #like especially if el still had her powers and used them for everyday tasks #or will casually brings up that one time he was kidnapped to an alternate dimension to get out of boring conversations #stranger things #the party #byler #< target audience

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mikesbasementbeets · 6 months

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#i don't know why i did this i have several other things i wanted to work on today and no one likes lyric edits lmao #especially not to emo songs from 2005 but i had the thought and it wouldn't leave so here we are. it's out of my system now i promise #byler #mikesbasementgifs

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andiwriteordie · 1 year

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one last thing before i go to bed.

this

is so spider-man will byers of him

and this

is very mj mike wheeler of him

#spiderwill au #byler #look i just feel like no matter what #modern mike would wear beanies #but ESPECIALLY mike as mj #it just fits the vibes #also a Rare picture of noah not wearing a hat #this and that one green sweater photoshoot radiate spiderman will byers energy #ok i'm done now #when you read my spiderman fic just know these are my will and mike

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fluffyfangirl · 7 months

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Made for the @bylerbigbang Fic: "Second Chances and Dances" by @foodiewithdahoodie 🐝

(Press the links for the first meeting and a photoset)

#Byler #Byler Big Bang #Byler Fanfiction #Byler Fanart #Stranger Things #Mike Wheeler #Will Byers #bbb2023 #byler big bang 2023 #the first one especially was something that popped into my head very early on #like lex you can't have a kirby profile pic and expect me NOT to put little bea into a kirby onesie #look at her drooling and clinging onto her dads

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queerxqueen · 2 years

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byler crumbs from the cast & crew masterpost w/ sources

I’ve freaked out as these moments have happened over the months but I thought I’d track down and compile it all with the sources to give my fellow Bylers a daily dose of optimism.

About Will

David Harbour & Finn Wolfhard - “He’s interested in someone else in the group.” “Yeah, you’ll see soon who he’s interested in.” “Very interested.” (x)

Noah Schnapp - “I don’t think it just came to be, they’re very smart, the Duffers, they outline everything from the beginning. ... They definitely know where they want to go with Will.” (x)

Duffer Brothers - And Will’s sexuality will be [addressed in vol. 2]...? “--Yes!” (x)

Noah Schnapp - “It was always kind of there, but you never really knew, is it just him growing up slower than his friends? Now that he’s gotten older, they made it a very real, obvious thing. Now it’s 100% clear that he is gay and he does love Mike.” (x)

About Mike

Finn Wolfhard - “I think Mike’s just trying to be as normal as possible, and try to keep on a normal path. He might be into some new things, he might be a little more rebellious this year.” (x)

Finn Wolfhard - “There’s a lot of things they both have to learn about themselves, Eleven and Mike, especially for Mike, in order to have proper, like, the love Eleven wants him to give, and in all his relationships in general. It’s kind of a coming of age story within this crazy horror thing.” (x)

Finn Wolfhard - “I think Mike, like, learns a lot about himself, and a lot about how he sees his relationships with people, and yeah… a lot of understanding and growth.” (x)

Finn Wolfhard - “This season is about personal self growth when it comes to Mike and Eleven’s relationship. I think they’re finding out a lot about themselves that they wouldn’t normally know.” (x)

About Mike & Will

Finn Wolfhard - “Yeah. I think you find out slowly through the season, Will’s kind of love towards Mike and I think it’s a really beautiful thing.” How will Mike handle that? “I don’t think he really knows, I think he’s pretty clueless, but I think there’s a mu- probably a mutual understanding and acceptance.” (x)

Finn Wolfhard - *gets super flustered and keeps looking off screen when asked about Byler* “I don’t know, I’m not sure, I wouldn’t know, I, um, I don’t know really, ‘cause, um, we’re pretty early and. I’m not sure, yeah.” (x)

Charlie Heaton - “There’s definitely moments this season where they [Will & Mike] have been closer, and obviously the poster, he [Jonathan] notices he [Will] doesn’t give it to him [Mike].” (x)

Noah Schnapp - “Obviously Byler is just at its peak right now, they’re building that up, so definitely ship that.” (x)

Noah Schnapp - “They have to keep going, they can’t just end it there. In episode 8 you see Mike and him talk, it’s pretty sad. Then in episode 9 there’s an amazing scene…. you’ll have to see.” (x)

Noah Schnapp - Describes season 4 as “unexpected” and “romantic.” (x)

Noah Schnapp - “I mean, I think he wants his friend, obviously. They kind of lost that, they’re obviously super distant. But I think they’re hinting at something a little more, so I guess we’ll have to sit and see.” (x)

Little Details Matter in Stranger Things

Shawn Levy, Executive Producer - “I’ll just say that there aren’t many accidents on ‘Stranger Things,' ... There is clear intention and strategy and real thought given to each and every character. So, if you came away from Volume 1 feeling those bread crumbs of plot and character, it’s probably no accident.” (x)

Dean Zimmerman, Editor - “Like anything, it’s all those invisible decisions, those millions of decisions we make every day. Should I hang on this this long, should I cut to something, you know?” (x)

Amy Parris, Costume Designer - “So, even if you don’t see a detail, it’s there!” (x)

Amy Parris, Costume Designer - [About Robin,] “I added some triangles and equality symbols to kind of have an easter egg that there’s some LGBTQ+ imagery.” (x)

Jeff T, Subtitles Author - [About “tender emotional music” subtitle] “But going back to the leitmotifs, I really liked using ‘tender emotional music plays.’ Because it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s Joyce and Hopper,’ and it connects these moments of intimacy between characters. Our captions don’t have to be flashy, but they have to speak to the truth of the moment, and I really enjoyed using that consistently.” (x)

Leading toward Season 5

Duffer Brothers - "Going back to the original group of boys plus Eleven, the OG group. And again that's kind of setting up us coming full circle back to season 1 and you'll see that with a couple of the character arcs, not just with Will. Things are not fully resolved. The characters have maybe made steps but the journey isn't over yet and all of that is gonna play a huge role as we wrap this thing up.” (x)

#byler #stranger things #stranger things 4 #st cast #noah schnapp #finn wolfhard #mike wheeler #will byers #like i couldnt find the one of charlie heaton saying a byler scene made him emotional slash tear up #so pls help me find that one especially #idc so much about ones just confirming will is gay like WE KNOW THAT ALREADY #cast crumbs #1k+

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mikoran · 10 months

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no man but if byler isnt endgame its just gonna be so disappointing especially if mileven stays the main couple. like okay guess mike was genuinely just an asshole. guess he barely had an arc. guess el never truly developed and just regressed instead. guess another gay character gets an unhappy ending. fucking hell

#itll change my perspective on the whole show and the duffers ability to write relationships #like it wont ruin everything about it for me but its gonna be hard to recover from #especially mike so much doesnt work with him if byler isnt endgame #hes just genuinely kind of a dick #and not to mention just how much shit would not make any sense at all #theres some shit thats really hard to deny or write off as not being byler proof #i just hope they go through with this man #byler #anti mileven #its so important that they do something like this for so many reasons #to preserve the writing and to show people that hey gay people can like. be a major thing in franchises not actively targetted at them #not everything that includes a major gay couple or queer people in general has to be something thats dedicated solely to queerness #we can exist in sci fi shows and have major roles #we can exist in dramas and have major roles #we can exist in any franchise with major roles #we dont have to be exclusive to things designed solely for us #and we can be characters without our queerness being the only aspect of our character #we really need to take that step and one of the most popular shows in the world doing that would literally change the course of film histor #please duffers dont fuck this up

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timetobeaghost · 3 months

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I just noticed that Noah deleted nearly all of his tik toks (including his coming out video)… I hope he’s okay

:(((( I hope so! He should have someone managing this interne stuff, and concentrate on work in a positive environment.

It's just something about the whole breakdown rumor doesn't sound totally off. It would be a normal reaction to internet bullying. and It's even worse when antisemitism. It's actually a pretty rough time for jews in general... I have hope Winona is there for him!

#noah schnapp #support noah schnapp #antisemitism #is one hell of a drug #I wish ever st things fan especially every byler who doesn't support noah the curse of the mummy #it's so fucking digusting #will byers #byler

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chirpsythismorning · 5 days

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Fun fact: In the original pitch for Stranger Things, El had a little brother.

After being rejected by almost 20 studios for the Montauk pilot, the Duffers were finally green-lit by Netflix. It was at this time that they began casting and then writing the first season officially, which included reworking a lot of that first episode.

This led to the removal of the brother reference, and with it, removing any sort of arc El could have had about her apparent brother.

But the thing about this moment, is that it might not have been scrapped entirely...

Going into the final season, no one can explain why or how El recognized Will back in 1x02. And while there are plenty of things on the show that are left unexplained, with a small portion likely left that way with the intention to uncover it later, what sets this moment apart from the rest is that there are very few possibilities here.

Because for starters, the story presents El's ability to see people in the void in s1 as requiring either a picture of that person for reference, or having met that person before.

But when El see's this picture of Will, she's never met him before. Or maybe she has, but we wouldn't know because they never showed us. They could have just not done this scene at all, given that it's clearly a copy/paste/edit of something scrapped from the pitch. Or they could have even still included it, but explained it.

One explanation could be that the lab had shown El a picture of Will before, similar to what they did with the Russian agent they wanted to spy on. But then that begs to question, why would the lab show El a picture of Will? Why would they want to see what he was doing? That alone is incriminating in and of itself, implying that Will is more connected to the lab than we realize.

The only other, and frankly most likely explanation, would be that El stumbled across Will at some point on her journey between escaping the lab and Will going missing. This is actually something that happens in The Other Side comic, which explores all the things Will may have experienced during his time in the Upside Down.

Though it’s worth noting the comics aren’t technically canon, and I highly doubt they would outright spoil everything in relation to Will’s time there, years before it was intended to be revealed. But still, let's humor this for a moment given that I do think Will's time in the UD is going to be very relevant in s5, which means it's highly likely they will finally address how exactly El saw him.

Basically, in the comic, Will see’s El walking through the woods, almost apparition like, glowing as she passes by, while also sporting the Benny’s burgers shirt. This means they would have crossed passed within a short span of time, between when El escaped Benny’s when the agents arrived, but before she was found by the boys.

Though it’s worth noting that we’re seeing this all from Will’s perspective. This means from the UD, Will was capable of seeing El on the other side, despite them being on different sides. And not only that, but she also looks back at him.

What confuses me about this, is that it doesn’t make sense for El to be in the woods, only to randomly decide to pop in to the void for a moment. She was trying to escape the lab and everything that came with it. I doubt she had any desire to lurk back there for some reason, not until someone encouraged her to. Not to mention, it would make no sense for her to go there and see Will if she wasn't even looking for him in the first place. And so this would mean Will and El could see each other, with Will being in the UD, and El being on the other side.

While it does seem pretty far off, given that you would think Will and El wouldn't be able to see each other from different sides, it is true in the story that El not only recognizes Will, but knows that he is in danger. She mentions that he is hiding specifically.

Which means she has likely seen him within the last 24 hours regardless.

This, in combination with Will being able to respond to El in the void at the end of the season in Castle Byers, when no one else outside of Terry and flayed-Billy have been able to, seems to imply that there is indeed something special about Will that makes him capable of communicating with El from the UD. Not only that, but El also seems to have an ability to be in this constant knowing state of how Will is doing, without even checking again to confirm. She's just certain of it. And she seems terrified about it.

Going forward, El never uses a picture of Will to find him. She never did. And more often than not, they don’t show us what she see’s either, not until the very end. And that’s the moment they reveal that he was able to communicate with her.

Again, there was really no reason to have El recognize Will. If anything it complicates things. But the fact that they chose to introduce this concept, with a scene from the original pitch that was related to El’s younger brother, with her pointing at his name cryptically, startling Benny, only to revamp it and have El not say anything at all while pointing at the picture of Will, startling Mike… It just really makes you stop and think.

Which brings me to the other aspect of this that might have people doubting, which is that El’s brother was originally younger than her.

We know Will is not younger than El, so how could this apply to him?

Well, it might be helpful to consider that in the original script, El was actually 10 years old, while the boys were always 12. Meaning that for some reason, they decided to age her up to the age of the boys, aka the same age as Will…

Ever since @erikiara80 shared this brother discovery with me, I have been sort of reeling. It then led to other little discoveries of changes they made between Montauk and Stranger Things.

It’s important to understand that the Montauk bible and the original script precedes what we ended up with in the final product, with it finally changing and evolving months, maybe even a year since that original vision. Even casting occurred before writing started for the first season. We know this because casting announcements were made in June and August of 2015, with writing not starting until August going into early 2016, simultaneously while they were filming.

And believe it or not, what I've discovered is that a lot of the changes they made between their original plans and what we see in the final product, have to do with not only Willel, but also Byler.

If you've read the original script for Montauk, you'll know that Mike's crush on Jennifer Hayes was focused on right from the jump, along with the birthmark on his face being focused on, which was the main cause of the bullying he experienced.

This has actually been talked about recently, and some of the claims people make do fit with what I am genuinely starting to consider here, which is that the initial plan for what makes Mike an outcast shifted.

I think when they completed casting, and started actually deep diving into what they wanted this world to look like, both from a short-term and long-term standpoint, they were presented with some pretty interesting discoveries, arguably already hiding in their initial plans without realizing it.

And this is where it sort of becomes a 'chicken or the egg' situation. Because which one came first? Byler or Willel?

I can't say for certain, because obviously this is all just speculation. But in the case that Willel came first, I think Byler would come very naturally after that.

The Duffers themselves are twins. Then they hire Noah, who is a twin. Then they're thinking and planning for El's past and how her family all fits into this, and they're thinking... wait a damn minute... We could totally Star Wars this bitch!

And then when they think it couldn't get any better, they uncover another layer that they hadn't planned or really considered in their initial plans.

While Will was always going to have sexual identity issues according to the Montauk bible, meaning that the writing process for him likely involved sitting down imagining scenarios that encapsulated this arc for Will from the beginning, they were simultaneously now finding very interesting aspects of Mike's character that made it hard not to at least consider the possiblity that Mike is not exactly straight.

Just think about it. The Byers and Wheelers are basically polar opposites on the spectrum of what a family looks like. While Will's discovery and acceptance of his queerness is interesting to explore because he comes from a low-income, single-mom household, all while having been bullied for years based on his perceived queerness, he also has a mother and brother constantly reinforcing that they will accept him no matter what. They've been sort of hitting us over the head with it for years, and so it wouldn't be very satisfying for his entire arc to merely lead up to something we've known all along. It's pretty much a given at this point.

On the other side of the spectrum, Mike comes from a more upper-middle class family at the end of a cul-de-sac, more aligned with what a nuclear family looks like. Mike's family is also presented as being more conservative, and while Karen does give that very queer-coded speech to Mike in s1 (I'm convinced they only wrote this after deciding to explore queer-coding more heavily with Mike), it also comes with comments from Ted and even still Karen that hint that they are probably not as open-minded and accepting as Will's family is to him. Which means Mike's arc would be a lot more about acceptance around him from his loved ones who we have been led to believe might not be as accepting of his queerness in contrast to Will.

And so as they're putting this story together, and they're being presented with something very interesting. Two similar experiences that play out in different ways because of the characters circumstances.

Will goes missing, and his twin sister with a buzzcut pops up and has the ability to help them find Will.

This leads to several moments where El is being compared to as not only a boy, but Will as well.

Now suddenly, their initial plans to have Mike's arc be about having a girl be interested in him and to hopefully have his first kiss and feel like less of a loser, starts to look a lot like what the experience a queer kid in his position might encounter growing up in the environment that he did.

And if you don't want to take my word for it, just hear the Duffer's themselves hinting at what they initially planned for Mike and the fact that it changed.

The changes don't stop there.

Believe it or not, 'It was a seven', did not exist in the initial pitch. When the boys went outside bickering over Nancy, they leave right after that.

Another thing that changed from the first script, was Scott Clarke's introduction:

And so you might be thinking, who cares? What does that have to do with anything?

Well, it's interesting because the line we end up with on the show is arguably one of the most on the nose Twelvegate proofs to date. Mind you, this is from the first episode:

Why chuck the original version, which was arguably more interesting and fascinating in terms of it hinting at the mysteriousness surrounding this story, only to replace it with him listing off tips about their upcoming test?

Well, I think it's the irony of it all. Here Mr. Clarke is practically telling us where to look to figure stuff out for ourselves what is going on, with all the kids filing out and ignoring him...

I relate to Scott a litttle too much in this shot here, any time I try to drop Willel evidence.

And the changes go on, as they obviously would.

Things like Terry Ives not even being El's mom, but actually a man who more so aligns with the characterization of Murray.

And one very interesting one I almost overlooked was in Hopper's introduction, where instead of a kids drawing done by who we assume to be Sarah, we actually see a picture on the wall of him and his wife and daughter... Interesting that they decided to switch it something that is a lot less definitive in presenting what Hopper's past looked like...

If you've made it this far, congratulations.

If you still think I'm out of my mind, just remember that El was going to have a brother in the original script, but they scrapped the scene and gave a near identical one to introduce her connection to Will instead 😘

#byler #stranger things #willel twins #twelvegate #montauk #as you can see #i am out of my mind #and i'm okay with that #i've spent the last couple months trying to make a video going over all the willel twin evidence #and i can't decide if it's even possible to do without going over an hour #like there is just so much shit that fits too perfectly into this family being ripped apart by mind control and time shenanigans #i hope to have it done soon #trying to make it less than 20 minutes #but it's probably going to end up being closer to an hour #especially with this stuff from the montauk pitch being added to the mix now #anyways #willel and byler are the curtain behind the curtain #if you are open to one of them #you are bound to stumble across the other #and they don't want that to happen #stay tuned for the inevitable twin imagery to continue in s5 related to willel leading up to the big reveal #bc it's arguably the most consistent thing about this damn show #and tbh this all just makes the queer-coding for mike in s1 a lot more concrete to me #them exploring will's queerness through his dad's expectations for him to do more 'manly' things like play baseball #and jonathan saying he shouldn't like things just bc people telll him he's supposed to #how they connect that narratively with the boys being at a baseball field when mike's being pressured about his supposed feelings for el #with the bullies showing up and literally being homophobic seconds later #the fact that jennifer hayes did in fact exist in the original pilot and was the girl mike had a crush on #only for them to scrap that and just make it about her having a crush on will...#never once introducing this idea of mike liking her...

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