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teambyler · 24 days

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Stranger Things has made the General Audience care too much for Will to deny a Byler ending

In Season 1, Will is kidnapped, survives a week without food or shelter in a nightmare dimension, and is implanted by a demon. He's been abused by his dad and bullied his whole life. Yet once he orients himself the FIRST thing he does is see Jonathan's hand and ask if he's okay:

In Season 2, he avoids telling everyone what's tormenting him because he doesn't want to worry them and he thinks he'd be misunderstood and babied. (He only tells Mike.) He gets possessed, has the guilt of causing people's deaths, and multiple times feels the pain of being burnt alive:

In Season 3, his friends aren't interested in D&D. Mike tells him something homophobic and cruel. Will realizes he's gay and closeted and has had his innocence stolen from him forever. He destroys Castle Byers full of sorrow and self-hate:

In Season 4, he's in love with his best friend and lives with the pain that Mike is dating his sister. STILL, he unconditionally helps Mike in the relationship, even if it denies himself a chance to be with him. He gives El the credit for the painting HE made for HIM:

For 4 seasons, the show has made people care for Will as he suffers alone. What logically happens in Season 5 is that he stops suffering and is no longer alone.

In Season 5, the Duffer Brothers have left an open plot point where MIke's love confession to El was based on a lie. He felt romantic love for the first time because WILL confessed his love for HIM. (See my blog for more on that!)

The seeds for a "Byler twist" are all there. The main factor against a Byler endgame is a need to cater to the General Audience who might not be ready for a gay relationship between two main characters.

But not only would denying Byler be (by far) the worst instance of queerbaiting in media history, where Will's love for Mike is simply a device to prop up a straight relationship...

... It also would feel particularly CRUEL to Will. For 4 seasons, the Duffer Brothers have made sure the GENERAL AUDIENCE wants him to have a happy ending. And they have made clear that Will wants to be with Mike so much.

Nearly every other main character in ST has had their love interest. There is no main cast addition to s5, so there is no "other boy." If Byler happens, then the people who'd complain would not only want the gay boy, but WILL of all people (how dare you!), to be the only main character to end up alone. He is America's Gay Adopted Son. The anti-Bylers would be isolated.

The Duffer brothers have set up the GA to cheer for Will pairing with the boy he loves. It would be a home run against homophobia.

Will told Mike he is the heart of the party. But for the GA, Will has been the heart of the show since the beginning. (And if Mike leads the party in s5, it's because Will's heart is on his shield.)

"Will really takes center stage again in [season] 5," Ross Duffer told Variety. "This emotional arc for him is what we feel is going to hopefully tie the whole series together."

The Duffers have said s4 was their Empire Strikes Back ending. Which makes s5 the show's triumphant Return of the Jedi.

Will will get his happy ending. It's all there!

P.S. Follow me and read my blog! I have so much to say!

#byler #stranger things #st5 #speculation #byler theory #leave will alone #happy ending

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0daylighthours0 · 1 month

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A Deep Dive into Milkvan and Byler's Development: If Milkvan Was Endgame All Along, Why Was it Written Like This???

SO. I've been rewatching st with my mother, who's never seen it before. And she was a fan of milkvan throughout seasons 1 and 2. Viewing those seasons again I could see why, they're cute. However, come season 3 and INSTANT distaste. And, listen, my mother is not the consciously shipping gal. She simply routes for main character pairings as writers intend, doesn't read between the lines, doesn't nothing. And she does NOT know my own opinions on the pairing. In other words, completely unbiased, uninternet drama influenced eyes. We've now reached season 3 and, after getting through a chunk of it, I asked her,

"so what do you think of Mike and El?"

and she expressed to me that they seem to be, quote:

"not very good together."

She said El's character doesn't suit the way she's acting now (in the first few episodes, concerning Mike), that Mike is more likeable and interesting when he's away from her. She doesn't like the way they ditched the party, and when it comes to their 'making out' the scenes are seen by her from Hopper's perspective (in other words, distasteful). She claimed that they'd be much better characters as friends.

And ya know what, she's right. And I mean like - duh, that's what we've been saying all this time, I'm not stating anything new here. But guys, wouldn't it be strange if the central couple of the show, pivotal that it is liked by audiences and is rooted for by them as they are THE pair, would be so dislikable like this? So uninteresting, so cliche.

I mean, okay, let's do a little mental experiment I like to do to test if I'm not just acting delulu. Let's play a game. In this game, milkvan ARE meant to be endgame. They are in love, they were all along, and they're here to draw in viewers and appease all El stans. Now, seasons 1 and 2 their relationship is honestly fine. Surface level, yeah, people will watch and appreciate them. They perfectly blend in with all the other neat pairings of the seasons, and have their own unique character traits to stand out as a main couple.

Just pretending our mate Will doesn't exist, we now get into season 3. Now, writers have nothing to lose here. If you've finished season 2, you probably like milkvan already. The issue is that they're already together now, so what's the conflict going to be? The arc? And every central couple needs that conflict to stay juicy.

Just take a look:

Jancy: quarrels, struggle to understand one another

Jopper: not yet together, one sided? will they won't they

Lumax: ...

Lumax? Lumax. Huh, guess they were simply together. Some loveable bickering, maintained a friendly dynamic while clearly in closer proximity. Well then, writers can do the same for milkvan right? Well, yes easily. But one might argue that since they are supposed to be THE pairing they need more going on between them than that. So what'll it be? Well, it seems that writers thought,

"hey, why not break them up?"

ok so.. that's a bit risky. I mean you want people to like this ship, if you break them up then that threats: 1. there being a disliking to one or both characters, 2. coming off generic if done incorrectly, 3. the break up might make no sense considering how in love they came off as just a season ago. But hey.. it could work, if done right. Some kind of misunderstanding, similar to Jancy. Maybe an argument leading to a sudden parting. I mean, yeah, Yeah! I can see that. Perhaps Mike is being too overprotective whilst El's trying to sacrifice herself for something, so she NEEDS to separate herself from him attempting to hurt him less. Or, I dunno, something akin. What's crucial is that us, AS THE AUDIENCE, still know them to be deeply in love. I mean, we have to still want them to be together. And we've seen couple trouble before. Just take a look at Lumax season 4 - did you or did you not want the best for both of them as a pair? You most likely did. See, it's doable. So did people like milkvan season 3 the same way, even after a separation plot? No.

Okay well, there are obviously those who'll always love milkvan no matter but, see, season 3 tainted it. "We need to write them like this cause it's more realistic to teenager behavior" my ars. You can make it messy without making it icky. Not only did it sour their unique dynamic, it flabbergastingly stomped on Mike as a character.

Honestly, I feel Mike has always been a mild struggle to write. Season 1 his motivations were 'find Will' (who still doesn't exist in our mind game yet shh) and 'protect El'. This worked well for him. Afterwards though, El and Will became more separate plots to him. But as a main character it remained integral that he be closely linked to them somehow. This sets him apart from Lucas and Dustin, who can easily be given any arc any season as their plots have the flexibility of a side quest nature. Since what Mike does is meant to matter more - with there probably being a better way of phrasing that but you know what I mean - it's harder knowing what he'll do when El and Will (who we'll GET to sh.) are their own separate people. And Mike is just a boy, he doesn't have super powers and he isn't a cop, which leaves there even less for him to do which is of significance. Season 2 writers decided upon having him support Will's arc, making himself of enough relevance by being able to take credit for some Will development in the story, and the plots that surrounded that, and then Mike was thrown a little bone by being the one to come up with the idea of burning those vines in the finale.

Truthfully, you don't really remember Mike's deeds much when reminiscing the series. It isn't like Dustin who's bond with Dart sticks to everyone, or Nancy and Jonathan responsible for kicking out Hawkins Lab. This is due to them, again, being able to traverse all sorts of adventures without limits. But my guy Mike can't do dat. Sadly, this kind of leads to him coming of as a little.. well... insignificant. And I know I know, the Mike truthers are gonna come at my throat. And hey! I love him too. I only want the best for my boy.

This makes season 3 a unique case cause it seems that, for the plot they decided they wanted, writers actually had to almost entirely change his character. I mean mate s2 Mike and s3 Mike are two different peoples, don't even. And I don't believe that the Duffers had their story and character turnouts completely drawn out from the very start at all. If I was to guess, I'd assume they have vague ideas of little plots they plan to include in future, but there is definitely a lot that has come unpredicted or changed throughout st's runtime. And one of those phenomenons are Michael Wheeler. So they decided to make this guy a di-

So they decided to make him more douchy, more movie typical teenage guy. It's not as if he wholly sucked, he didn't, but he didn't really do much. Whined about his girlfriend, separated the party. I mean what even was his arc? (UnLESS–)

You see, if milkvan is written to be loved, then season 3 was strike one. All of its charm was stripped away. It seems they had some cute scenes after their reconciliation, but it's not enough. It's just sort of

"oh, ok, so they're happy with eachother now. yayy."

and Stranger Things should want to be anything but boring. Sure they often enjoy indulging in tropes, but they always do something different with them. Something standoutish. And from this point on milkvan just got dull. Either writers ran out of ideas or lost interest, honestly (still with our mind game of telling ourselves they're meant to be).

But it's okay. Look, so season 3 was a bit rocky, maybe lost a couple of fans for the guys, but it is salvageable. Easily, easily. Looks like we want a plot of Mike struggling to tell El he loves her. Great! Much to work with.

So let's get into it. Season 4! Choices were... made. And, okay, now we can't go any further without bringing in our boy Will.

Mike is intrinsically tied to Will and El and has been from the start. Maybe Will was more of an accident. Maybe s1 Will was just a plot device for Mike, then s2 Will was a plot device again and Mike needed to be there as the main boy character. Come season 3 and it seems their relationship still matters. Will was sidelined - hard - so most of Mike's moments revolved around El. But as his bond with Mike is the only that's been properly built up, that's the only friend we'll get him interacting with in a way that matters. So the Mike and Will tie continues!

But that does not have to be the case for season 4. Now the writers have a chance.

They made Will gay.

Ok so.. ok so yeah that's fine. Yeah! I mean they didn't have to do that, might put them in hot water with the bylers since milkvan is their golden beauty but.. you know what no no that's okay. He's been hinted at being queer since episode 1, why not make it canon! Cool that works. Explore that, especially since we now have Vecna who can easily target Will for this. Give him a boyfriend! Or a guy crush. He's at a new school now? That's cool. Maybe we can explore some new male character Will's taken interest in. Hey maybe he meets someone who interests him which rises to surface his whole sexuality plot and-

he's in love with Mike.

Ok. No. No. What are you doing? What do you mean?? You didn't have to do that. Strike- strike EFING TWO mates! Strike. 👏 efing. 👏 2!

This was part 1. I am tired and gots to get my ars in bed. But ohohoh, do not worry. I am just getting started.

#anti milkvan #anti mileven #byler #byeler #stranger things #mike wheeler #will byers #byler is real #byler is endgame #byler analysis #byler nation #byler proof #byler is canon #byler endgame #byler tumblr #stranger things 4

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starbylers · 11 months

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Here’s 7 of my favourite Byler proofs just from season 4. Pretty sure we all know these but just a refresher if anyone is feeling doubtful <3

Camera focusing on men wrestling when in Mike’s POV

There is no other explanation for this shot: Mike was watching the boys. Hinting at his sexuality is the only reasoning here that has actual narrative purpose.

Symbolism in the final scene

The dying Mlvn flowers vs the blooming flowers edited between Mike and Will.

El walking away from the love triangle framing, alone. Mike and Will centred as a pair between the other endgame couples. This is not an accident, the way everyone is positioned in twos is incredibly staged and deliberate.

Mike’s bedroom walls

The shirtless male dragon on a literal rainbow poster (this one is so obvious I have to laugh). Other characters have pictures of the gender they’re shown to be attracted to on their walls, why is it any different for Mike? And of course the one way sign. Set design is a professional career, these things were not thrown in at random. A character’s room is supposed to give us insight into who they are and their story.

The narrative. The most basic but strong evidence that exists.

El lying to Mike for months. Mike avoiding touching Will and pretending not to look at him in the airport, after finding out he likes a girl. Mike and El fighting and Mike using gaslighting language and shifting blame. El leaving Mike behind with ‘from El’. Their relationship is on the rocks. Will and Mike having multiple interrupted heart to hearts. Borderline flirting and definite gazing into each other’s eyes in the Dear Billy talk. Mike feeling insecure and inferior in his relationship. Will’s secret love confession making Mike feel happy and better about himself. That same confession encouraging Mike to give the monologue. The monologue being completely impersonal and containing at least one 100% confirmed lie (love at first sight). El fails to achieve her goal (save Max) despite Mike’s words. El having no response to Mike’s long-awaited ‘I love you’ when it’s been days.

Suzie’s house foreshadowing episode 9

Mike & Suzie’s dad both hit by the arrow (to show he represents Mike)

‘It looked genuine’ do I need to say more?

Also this foreshadowing is backed up by one of Suzie’s sibling’s lines ‘too much salt’ (aka reference to the salt bath).

The Suzie’s house sequence has absolutely no purpose to the plot. It exists for parallel purposes.

Fruit on pizza metaphor interrupting Mike’s alleged ‘I love you’ attempt

Mike: ‘That’s blasphemous! Putting fruit on pizza?’

Argyle: ‘Try before you deny.’ El: ‘It’s good!’

I think this metaphor is pretty self-explanatory. (Trying the ‘fruit’ = exploring his sexuality, Mike thinks it’s wrong, specifically using the word ‘blasphemous’ (which in simple terms is defined as ‘to disrespect God or religion’, and we know Mike grew up in a homophobic small town in the 80s). There are more detailed explanations of this elsewhere on Tumblr, this is just a mini summary).

Also, Argyle calling Mike Romeo (reference to a doomed relationship).

Again, this scene had absolutely no purpose plotwise or character-wise (at least explicitly). It was pure symbolism.

‘Straight doesn’t make sense’ map joke

Mike: ‘Straight, straight, straight…right on the money, as I said.’

Jonathan: ‘It just doesn’t make sense.’

Yet again, no plot or character purpose for this dialogue, or at least not for wording it this way. This was clearly a joke alluding to Mike’s sexuality (and him possibly being in denial), similar to the telemarketing joke in s3 (‘El? Sorry, not interested’).

#byler #these things are only scratching the surface of all the evidence but just wanted to ease people’s minds :)#we are getting our endgame guys

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kiirotoao · 15 days

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Byler and Confrontation 1.5: The Importance of Season 4

Byler being immediately comfortable with each other in season 4 would have been too easy. Too obvious. No other pair is as close as Byler, and if they kept in contact, their relationship’s progression would have been so clear that it wouldn’t even be interesting, and that’s why I think that Byler is plainly intentional to end up together in slow burn fashion.

Imagine the airport scene but they hug with all the emotion of true best friends (which, they are, and that’s a canon fact that Mike asserts and Will agrees with in s4e4, but I digress-) meeting again, crashing into each other, joking right off the bat, being comfortable like they easily could have been. Will comments on Mike’s ridiculous outfit and Mike defends himself and Will laughs and Mike’s forgotten how much he missed hearing that laugh. Then Will would give him the painting and Mike would be blushing, and the story’s over! Even if they dance around their feelings for the rest of the show long, they could have instantly recognized that something’s changed and yet stayed the same, and they’d be a unit again. Or should I say, a team?

I feel like there’s no other way to treat Byler other than subtly vying for each other’s attention (Will looking at Mike longingly, Mike turning to Will for wisdom) or blatantly vying for each other’s attention (Will the Wise, Mike Wheeler in general), and to go full blown best friends attached at the hip from day one in California would have been way too romantically charged. Not necessarily openly, but just in the way it’s easy to doubt, to have brows raised.

And what good storytelling would that be? To just seal the deal the second they meet? We know that they miss each other. Will was ready to give him that painting. And yeah, it takes Mike a whole business day to realize how much he misses Will, too, but that type of love that reaches out doesn’t originate from only that business day. So do they just flat out hug and say, “God, I missed you so much” ?? Of course not! Because that’s immediate intimacy. That’s honesty with no side effects, and that’s something that doesn’t happen in any well-created nor real life love story.

Once upon a time, the end? There’s no way! No one would be as invested.

And I’m not saying that I don’t want Byler to be so strained, or I don’t want them to be happy. I want them to be so happy. And seeing their mistakes and growing through them only makes that happiness more and more apparent whenever they come around. Because they find each other, in the end. They forgive and work through things and their chemistry abounds through tough moments, and that’s what makes them amazing to me. Literally look at every other ship in the show. Jopper fought all season long during season 3 because Hopper was jealous and Joyce was a stressed-out boss ass bitch. Jancy fought in seasons 1 and 3 before and after they learned more about each other and worked through their biases. Lumax had that fight at the arcade where Max didn’t believe what Lucas was telling her.

Anger often breeds hate, but sometimes, it creates something beautiful in people who, deep down, want to figure something out about each other: steadfastness.

Simply put, their story grows.

Which is why they couldn’t hug. Which is why they barely spoke. Which is why they lashed out at each other. Which is why it took a whole business day to rejoin as a team. Which is why their forgiveness is all the more sweet. Which is why their relationship is all the more sweet. Which is why they prove to know each other. Which is why they’re so good together.

Look at them!! Look at Mike, chuckling at five damn words. And this was BEFORE they truly amended fences!!!

I love how hardships bring Byler together. I don’t know about you, but I’d want a partner who doesn’t avoid the rough patches but strives to love me through them - because they will happen! No one is perfect! And no, I don’t mean fight and you will find love. But when you love, you will fight. And that’s what I think is what happens when Byler fight.

So I can’t wait for it to happen one more time, probably about the lie of the painting being commissioned, for everything to fall apart only to come back together because they realize it’s all one giant story of misunderstanding and internalized homophobia and repressed feelings - a final and urgent fight that demands them to let everything out in the open and truly realize that they are the love that each other seeks.

And, I mean, I don’t know, I think that it would be pretty cool to write a slow burn romance amidst all the love triangles and love-at-first-sights and tragic losses. With bonus unique notes of being childhood best friends with deeply-explored queer coding. Just saying.

#byler #byler analysis #Byler brainrot #lowkey shitpost #I feel so bad for cursing on this blog idk why but I was impassioned so. oops #hehe #thinking about their fights again #stranger things analysis #BYLER IS ENDGAME #special thanks to Conan Gray’s the final fight for putting me through this lmao

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yourpreciousrose · 2 years

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ok hear me out...could pockets be more telling than we thought?

this is the shirt Mike kissed El in and the shirt Mike saw Will again in. I didnt even notice there was s pocket at first, it blends in...almost like Mikes trying to either blend in or his true feelings are being hidden. or maybe he's unaware of his actual feelings so its hidden/blends in bc he doesn't know yet.

off center pocket, something is off and Mike knows it. this is the shirt El dumps him in and the shirt the byler fight happens in. Mike seemed to be projecting during the fight, Mike found out Will did want to spend his life with Mike...by his reaction I think Mike was already realizing that he is feeling things for men and Will specifically but pushing it away. his life is being pushed off center bc hes realizing but he's still trying to be normal, trying to push it away so the pattern is the same just off center.

then we have the weird two pocket shirt which design wise is weird...but what did we see when he was in this shirt? El saying she loves Mike back and kissing him as he keeps his eyes open. we also see how Mike acts when Will said he won't join another party. pair that up with the letter, things are changing. two pockets, conflicting feelings. they also seem to be in a weird location, idk where pockets are supposed to be located but it feels off. almost like its supposed to represent that its not over his heart bc he hasn't listened to his heart yet idk.

update: I missed a pocket shirt but this still works

so this shirt also has 2 pockets idk if the pockets are actually aligned or not but hear me out, they purposely made it look like one is higher than the other for a reason. one looks higher than the other, the pocket that happens to be on the same side as his watch that matches Wills seems to be higher up. this also works into the flower split where Mike gave El yellow and purple flowers but there was too much yellow. so like there was more yellow (Will) the pocket was higher (also Will?). so its like the pockets of the last pocket shirt we see him in with the button but with the almost arrow like design. so like a callback to that shirt to show that now he knows where his feelings align. he hasn't made his choice yet though, he knows who he likes but hasn't accepted himself yet so those arrows are down vs his last shirt his arrow points to Will.

this pocket is decorated, Argyle points out this shirt is a knockoff (Mikes not being his authentic self). its like hes trying to make it seem like is relationship is nice and decorated, that hes fine. that its all nice and pretty for others but not true to himself and his real feelings.

this pocket is interesting, the design is turned it doesn't line up at all but its the same design. something is off with the line up and their relationship. Mikes not being fully truthful so things aren't aligned. he can't say or write I love you bc the feelings aren't aligned in his heart and he knows it. hes still trying to pretend though, to be normal, which is why it's the same design just turned.

this pocket has an arrow that seems to point to Will often. not only that but it looks like an envelope (letters, from vs love Mike) and its a triangle (lgbt imagery). its almost like his heart has made its choice, the "love Mike" points to Will. also notice there's a button just like the end of s3 one (call back to the outfit where he didn't know who to chose, or what to feel), he knows who he's in love with and made his choice in his heart and mind already. that could explain why he looked almost pained to say I love you to El bc he knows he's in love with Will. (also speaking of this pocket it also ties into my Nancy Drew theory and my little pony/rainbow of light theory. I love when theories align)

idk I just found it interesting how Mikes pockets are and how often seems to have shirts with pockets when it involves his relationship with the love triangle and his feelings.

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toomanybandstocare · 2 years

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{With or Without You, U2}

Program: It's time to move on. Just about everyone else could easily go about their days, but it felt like there was nothing left. Until Steve Harrington decided to crash your pity party and push you back into reality.

Pairing: Platonic(ish)! Steve Harrington x GN, Platonic(ish)! Reader, Best friend! Eddie Munson x Heartbroken! Reader

Genre: Angst, Heartbreak, Learning to move on

Warnings: couple of swears, depictions of anxiety symptoms, mentions of depression, pet name (babe), heartbreak, trying to move on, slight jealousy, angst, unrequited love

Length: 1942w

Series Program | Camp Upside Down Masterlist

Counselor Notes: Thank you so much for the love on p.1 of this! I really wasn't expecting the reaction I received, and it meant the world as I'm coming back to creative writing. Much love to each ot you campers! <3

Your nose grazes across his cheek bone. His left hand squeezes your hip as his other presses against the small of your back, pulling you as close as he can. Your chest heaves to push any and all amount of oxygen through your burning lungs. The sound of blood washes over your ears, deafening anything the sweet boy tries to say. Gasps break past your chapped lips allowing salty tears to catch on the rips and cracks.

You couldn’t do this. The pain nearly broke you that night. But this? You teeter on the edge of shattering. Pieces of you to never be found again or never truly fitting comfortably again.

Panic dulls all your senses and weighs down on your bones.

“Come on, babe. I know you can hear me, Come back to me,” Steve quietly rasps against your ear, “Please”. He dances his fingertips from the small of your back, gently pressing on the tense point against your spine, and grazes them down your arm to take your hand in his own. Bringing it to his lips, Steve locks onto your welling eyes. As soft and fleeting as a butterfly, he presses small kisses onto the pads of each of your fingertips. He then presses a tender kiss that sends sparks through the palm of your hand.

“Breathe with me. Just breathe with me- I know you can do it,” he murmurs, moving your palm to rest against his cheek. “It’s just us, babe. Just you and me”.

You break from his heavy gaze and turn your attention to the flickering stars above. So distant, yet ever present as they look down on you.

Feeling like you were pushing through water, you move your hand from Steve’s hold and place it against his chest. Your entire focus shifts to the sawing breaths as you try to match with Steve’s collected ones. Pants and tiny sniffles echo in the parking lot, muffling the giggles and chatter of groups as they enter the roller rink.

“That’s it, babe. Take your time, “Steve murmurs again, pressing himself closer. His heart pounding against your palm despite keeping a steady, deep breath. “I’m here- I’ll catch you. Come back to me. Please?”

You may have his heart in the palm of your hand, but he grounds you to reality. A month of settling back into the mundane Hawkins routine had become what felt like an eternity of social isolation. Every phone call to the trailer park was answered by a giggling school boy apologizing and promising another time to hang out, or the sound of a concerned uncle asking if you were okay only to flood you with more tears. Group plans fell through in favor of couples pairing off on their own, or the kids hiding in the Byler’s basement to plan their own summer campaign. Except Steve. Steve never left you.

He dragged you out of bed after two days of radio silence from that first hang out of the season. After a week of stale air sitting in your room and clothes moving from unpacked suitcases to piles on the floor, he just about threw you into the shower, so he could tidy up your safe haven. So he could make you feel welcomed in your own home.

The two of you had countless arguments spanning over the course of the month as Steve tried to bring you back to the land of the living. You yelled and protested, tooth and nail, to stay in your catatonic safety net. If you didn’t leave its walls, then you wouldn’t drown from the unyielding flood of heartbreak. Even through all the stinging sobs, hair pulling deflections, and hoarse pleads, Steve stayed by your side.

He wasn’t leaving until he got his friend and right hand comrade back- doing what everyone else seemingly had no time to do. To share and enjoy in your missed company.

“Hey,” he gently taps his finger tips against your jaw bone. A flurry of tingles linger under your skin. “I know they’re beautiful, and I can see you mapping your story in the stars- but could I see those stunning eyes again? I miss getting lost in them”. He softly cranes his neck to try to regain your attention.

Slowly, you stop searching for your answers in the stars only for time to all but freeze when you meet the radiant hues of sunshine, twinkling from the moonlight, in Steve’s umber eyes. His smile beams when the pair of you reconnect, and he takes you in for a moment. “You got this. And,” he holds your wrist to send a comforting squeeze, “I’m right there beside you”.

He steps back a bit, still gently holding your hip as he points towards the entrance to the rink. “We are going to walk in there, heads held high,” he steadily grows in enthusiastic volume, “and we are going to have the time of our lives making fools out of ourselves.”

An astonished laugh pushes past your sealed lips as you look at him in disbelief. Steve is all for pep talks and motivational speeches, but one without an air of royal confidence? He might just be spiraling as hard as you at this rate. “You can’t be fucking serious right now. The love of-” your voice rising so your defense can be heard.

“Ah, ah, ah,” he jumps back, holding his hands out to stop you. Not even realizing, you stumble to take a step and follow. A smile creeps past your guard and breaks across your face. What the actual hell has gotten into him?

Steve excitably points at you in uncontrollable joy, “Yes! There! Just like that”. Rushing back, he grabs your arms and holds you in an electric embrace.

Like two magnets, neither of you can fight the connection pulling you together. As far as either of you are concerned, it’s only the two of you on Earth. No one else around. No else to break your bond.

Resting his forehead against your own, Steve breathes out, “It’s just you and me, babe. It’s just us- no pressure to look good or to fake it. It’s your time to let go and enjoy yourself”.

A heavy ache forms in your chest when Steve moves away and holds out an outstretched hand. Dizzy from the whirlwind of emotions and slightly high from the warmth he left buzzing where he held you, your stomach plummets at the invitation to the next stage of heartbreak.

Shakily pushing out a breath, your peer up from his hand and nearly take a step back from Steve’s beaming expression of encouragement.

“ ‘S just us?” you whisper.

“You and me- against all this bullshit ‘young love,’” he boasts.

Bouncing on your toes, you nod in determination as you grab Steve’s hand and run into the unknown. The two of you wildly laugh while pushing and pulling at each other. Not a care in the world about how others see you. It’s just you and him.

The two of you dash and stumble into the rink, entangled in each other’s hold. The pair of you can barely collect yourselves from the fit of laughter and childlike joy you’ve fostered.

Only for your secret world to be breached. “Guys, over here! Christsake, what made you this late?” With Johnathan’s joking welcome notice, the sounds of the roller rink break the spell wrapped around the two of you. The scraping of skates, beating music, and flashing lights make you wince.

Not letting go of your gaze, Steve calls back, “Be there in a sec- gotta finish this conversation real quick”.

Steve squeezes your hand, “So what’s it gonna be, babe? Lousy, overhyped ‘young love’? Or the time of your life with this catch?” He chuckles and points to himself.

Enthralled by the guy holding you, no one else could win your attention in that moment. There is no other competition. It’s just Steve. And, maybe Steve is onto something? For fuckssake, Steve has been there since the moment all meaning left your life. Yet, a guy this caring still hasn’t met someone who can see past the social crown atop his head. Even if it didn’t shine as bright as it once did, that’s all people would note when complimenting him.

He meets your stare with a look of teasing inquiry. How much longer can you put your life on pause for a man, no a fool, who doesn’t even spare you a second thought now.

“Come on,” Steve tilts his head to the side with a playful smirk, “I know I’m good looking, but at this rate you might as well buy a guy dinner first”. He waggles his eyebrows.

Gagging as you push him away, you turn to see the table your friends sit at. Eddie securely wraps his arm around Chrissy’s shoulder on one side, and the back of Nancy and Johnathan’s heads lean against each other across from them. One chair at either end of the booth.

Pin pricks building in your waterline, you whip back to look at Steve. “Fuck, ‘young love,’” you huff and make your way over. Steve falls in step right beside you- his proud presence fills the once empty spot of another’s. He fist bumps the air spreading his excited energy to you and overpowers the nervous one beginning to fester through the tips of your toes to the crown of your head.

Taking a seat at the head of the table and between the couples, both of you greet them kindly. Nothing like the giddiness bouncing between the two of you.

“The hell man?” Steve whines, “Where am I supposed to sit, huh?” He quickly steals a vacant chair from the next table over and seats himself between yourself and heartbreak. Settling himself in the tight squeeze, Steve shoots you a wink before sitting upright.

“So what took so long for you two to grace us with your presence? Did big boy over here need to fix his hair?” Eddie jests, easily sending the table into a fit of giggles.

Before Steve can protest, you rush to defend him. The nervous adrenaline rush coursing through you pushes you over the edge at long last. “No, actually,” you let out an anxious, airy chuckle. “There was a song that I really wanted to share- listen to, so we just got caught up in our own little world for a bit”. You smile softly at Steve’s own- noting how it grows into a sincere one. Not the stage performance either of you use to hide behind around everyone as of late.

Eddie stiffens at your response. He’s the person you share music with. The hell happened to that? Eyes darting between your fidgeting figure and Steve’s confident, relaxed posture, Eddie chews on his bottom lip. Watching Harrington casually drape an arm on the back of your chair.

A shock of electricity strikes your shoulder and spreads like a wildfire through your body when Steve brushes his hand across your shoulders to readjust his position. “Yeah, it was out of my usual taste, but I really enjoyed it. What was the name again?” he hums.

Barely even registering Eddie’s scoff, you blink and try to break from Steve’s comforting pull. You grip the edge of your seat, recentering around the cold, solid metal biting into your palms.

Still feeling Steve’s intense gaze, you look around the table practically buzzing. Taking a deep breath as you subtly poke Steve’s thigh, and he pushes it against your own. It’s just you and him.

“‘With or Without You’ by U2,” you nervously share.

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paintingformike · 2 years

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a lot of milevens like to point out that el was grieving max and thats why she wasnt reaching out to mike and being distant from him and acting aloof when she slammed the door in the cabin...but the thing is, if that was the case then she would’ve been acting distant and disconnected from everyone. she wouldn’t have had the energy to even smile and be that happy the way she did with joyce and hopper but this only goes to show that she was only treating mike that way specifically (and possibly will too ig)? her literal boyfriend? who at that time could’ve been a support system for her?

in the end they showed us el seeking comfort from hopper and having heartfelt moments with him and being able to look happy along with joyce. yet we didn’t get a single interaction between mike and el in the cabin, or even have them staying close by each other at the very least. she literally saw him and even glanced at him for a moment but kind of just walked by then...used her powers to slam the door? even as i first watched that scene with a GA mindset i thought it felt out of place and didn’t understand why she actually seemed sort of annoyed about something, especially because after that she managed to be genuinely happy around her parents, a stark contrast of emotions. if this wasn’t supposed to be unusual behavior towards mike on her part then will wouldn’t have asked him if she ever talked to him and expressed visible concern over it because it shows that will noticed her weird demeanor around him. he expected her to talk more to mike specifically, because he knew she would’ve actively reached out to him as one of the most important people in her life. if it was just about el grieving and being distant from everyone then will wouldve asked something along the lines of “did she talk or open up to anyone at all?” yet will was inquiring about mike and el’s relationship specifically. why isn’t she opening up more to you at the very least?

and the weirdest part is mike just shrugging it off and saying “not much...i mean, a little bit.” it’s like he didn’t even look worried/concerned about her, he acted so nonchalant about it. you literally can’t deny that he was being a little too calm and indifferent over his girlfriend supposedly being deeply sad and grieving one of her closest friends and not talking to him much. if that wasn’t the case then maybe he was feeling defeated/done over something between them, idk, but it really doesn’t look good for the stability of their relationship. if they truly resolved all their problems and their love for each other was stronger than ever then mike would’ve taken more of an initiative to comfort her at a time when she felt her lowest? and tried to actively do something over her being distant from him? since he was so afraid of her not needing him, too. like those were literally his supposed fears playing out in real time. but he doesn’t, and then we find out the one conversation they had wasn’t even deemed important enough to happen onscreen.

its also important to note that they actually made most of the couples stick together by the end of s4 too, even jancy who were supposedly the ones still having unresolved issues between them. lumax in the hospital, jopper up towards the field holding hands. its pure instinct for them to stay close together and naturally gravitate towards each other, and they’re purposely paired up because it conditions the audience to constantly associate them with each other. yet who did mike choose to stay close with by the end of the season? will. and they made a point to give them one last one on one scene and intimate conversation together too, where they once again confide in each other. the moment they did this, they emphasized byler’s relationship more than mileven’s. and the more i think about it, the more im realizing it doesn’t feel as natural to picture mileven as a dynamic duo or unit as much as the other couples, who have gone through hell and back to their own little missions together. their relationship just wasnt given enough opportunity to develop that way, season 1 was the most we got of them teaming up. since then, el has always been off on her own self discovery arc separate from mike. and mike doesn’t feel like they’re equals, he feels inferior to her which is all the more reason why thinking of them working as a “team” feels unnatural and unlike the way their dynamic is portrayed. well, so much for them being the “main couple” of the show i guess...

#me when my posts end up being too long again #but im always correct and right on the money about everything idc!#byler #byler analysis

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eightfifteen · 1 year

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I resent the notion that Mike as a character will be ruined if he doesn't return Will's feelings.

Mike does have his own arc outside of Will and outside of his romantic interests.

In season 1, he's the Dungeon Master. He directs the party and takes on the main carer role for El. People listen to him and his ideas, he's being heard.

Then in s2, he loses himself. The party gets louder, he gets quieter, and he feels like he's speaking into thin air for 353 days (not knowing El is listening on the other side). It's also why he gets so upset at the party for inviting Max without taking his opinion into consideration. He gets better once Will needs him and he can be there for him, when Will opens up to him and he realizes that he can help, that he can listen and be important in that way.

Just as importantly, when he's teamed up with Joyce and Hopper in that season, two adults, they still take his opinion in consideration. They take him seriously. They listen to him still, and he once again finds himself. He gets to contribute ideas - he tries to warn them Will's plan was a trap, Joyce listens to him when he tells her to sedate Will, and he's the one that came up with the idea of going into the tunnels. He finds his role again.

Then in season 3, he knows now that life goes on and he has to go along with it. Except, when shit starts going down again, they pair up with Nancy, and suddenly no one listens to him anymore. Nancy takes charge, leaving him literally in the backseat. and every valid concern he has gets bulldozed and pushed to the side, literally ignored to talk about something that doesn't even matter ("El broke up with you???"). He literally just becomes Supergirl's boyfriend.

Mike lost pieces of himself that summer. First when he realized he'd been pushing his friends away trying to be normal, then when he loses his leading role and becomes insignificant to the party, and eventually he literally loses both Will and El.

He had to literally build himself back up when he went to High School, starting with the hellfire club where he found joy in simply being a paladin again, just a member of the party instead of team leader. He gets to be a kid again, not just someone's boyfriend and not someone who has to shepherd his friends through the apocalypse. He gets to figure out who he is without El, without Will, and even without the party.

Yet once he's in California, he's once again faced with the fact he is just someone's boyfriend and that despite his best efforts, he's fucking it up. And he's doing it wrong and he's not being heard and worse, maybe, because now no one is even telling him things anymore. Now he's being kept out of the loop, clueless and oblivious because they don't trust him enough to tell him things. El doesn't even rely on him for comfort. And maybe, now he's realized who he is as a person, he's realizing he might not want to be El's boyfriend at all.

But at least when he promised El everything would be okay, he did manage to get her back. He finally got the take charge again and his plan worked. People are finally listening to him again.

So "you're the heart" does have meaning outside of both m*leven and Byler. It is Mike realizing he has to take up this leading role again despite currently having very complicated feelings about the position - because on one hand it's a serious burden, especially when they fail and the responsibility is on him, and no one listens to him anyway, but on the other hand, he wants people to hear him again and feel like he has purpose within the party.

This whole theme of not being heard and listened to is also reflected by his family dynamic - where all his concerns get consistently brushed aside by his parents, all the way from season 1 until now. At first, he fights back against it, trying to be loud and get through to his parents, because the party listens to him and they take him serious. But then slowly, bit by bit, he stops caring about getting through to his parents, because the party doesn't listen to him anymore anyway so maybe he should just shut up.

(((and yes through it all, there's only one person that never ignores Mike. One person that always hears him, even when Mike doesn't even speak. One person to whom Mike will never be invisible and who will always need Mike's guidance and protection. Who takes Mike's opinion seriously.)))

I really hope season 5 delves deeper into Mike as a leader, the paladin, to really round out his character arc to the point that even the GA can finally understand him better again. He deserves the spotlight for once. I'm sick of people trashing on his character.

#yes i am still salty about articles like ST having 'A mike problem'#mike wheeler #byler #stranger things

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empress-of-snark · 24 days

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Where do u see the gang in five years?

The details of this are subject to change, so take it with a grain of salt, but here’s a glimpse of the gang around the fall of 1998!

Nancy is now the junior editor of the magazine. It’s still not quite a big name, but is rising in popularity thanks to the mainstream feminism of the late 90’s. Jonathan is a successful freelance photographer and often sells his work to her magazine. They’ve been married for two years but don’t plan on having kids just yet (of course, what they don’t know is that Nancy’s already pregnant).

Chrissy is happier than ever at the flower shop, where she’s been promoted to co-manager (a mostly meaningless title that just means she can run things whenever Lucinda’s out of town visiting her daughter). After Jonathan and Nancy got married, Chrissy moved across the hall and she and Eddie eloped a couple of months later. They currently have one little girl, who has blonde hair and big brown eyes.

Eddie still makes music, mostly as a studio guitarist, but he also plays regularly at a few different bars around the city and Chrissy comes to as many performances as she can.

Steve was the first of the gang to get married in 1995 (to a woman who will show up in chapter nineteen, if all goes according to plan). They already have twin boys and another baby on the way. He teaches middle school theater and still books regular bit parts in movies and TV shows.

Robin has met Vickie by this point (I promise she’ll show up in the fic eventually lol), and the two of them are engaged. Robin is training to be a curator at the museum, and Vickie works at the public library. They’re living together with their two dogs, a pair of overly friendly Dalmatians named Mo and Ginger (after characters from Alison Bechdel’s comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For).

Another extra bit of info that I didn’t get the chance to set up in an earlier chapter like I’d planned is that Chrissy’s brother Liam is also living in the city. He works at an architecture firm and has been seeing Will Byers for going on a year now. (I just really want Jonathan and Chrissy to be in-laws someday, okay? And since I didn’t go the Byler route, I wanted to give Will a nice boyfriend. This may or may not feature in a later chapter, idk.) Will splits his time between Hawkins and the city, where he’s getting started in his art career.

Again, y’all know me and how often I rearrange things, so the specifics are subject to change if they don’t end up working with the timeline. But that’s about where I’d like everyone to end up ☺️

Thank you so much for the question! This was a fun one to think about!

#asks #personal #stranger things #friends #like i’ve been there before #hellcheer #jancy #rockie #robin x vickie

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astrobyers · 1 year

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byler hair tuck

“hey, have you talked to your mom about sleeping arrangements yet?” mike asked as he added an old pair of gray sweats to a donation box.

“yeah,” will said. “she and el are going to stay with hopper at the cabin, and jonathan and i will be staying with you guys. apparently your mom insisted.”

mike bit his lip to keep himself from outright smiling like an idiot at the news. he assumed it would be something like this, but knowing will would be staying with him rather than at the cabin was a relief. he couldn’t explain it, but he felt the need to be close to will. he’d just gotten him back and with the world turning to shit again… well, he just didn’t want to let will out of his sight. he didn’t want to think too hard about why that was.

“cool,” mike said, maybe a bit too casually.

will came up beside him and peeked into the box. “finally getting rid of those ancient sweats, i see.” he laughed.

“hey, they’re not that old!”

“mike. c’mon, man. you’ve had them since we were twelve. maybe even ten or eleven, who knows.”

“and? they still fit until a few months ago when i went through that ridiculous growth spurt.”

“hmm, okay.” will smiled at him, and his stomach did a weird flip. “hey, you’ve got more freckles.”

“do i?” mike supposed that could be right. he hadn’t thought much about it. “i mean… it has been awhile. i guess maybe i do.”

“yeah, you do. hard to see ‘em under all those curls you’ve got though,” will teased, and mike stopped breathing.

as the words left will’s mouth, his hand came up to mike’s face and smoothed back a few strands that had fallen into his face and tucked them behind his ear.

will’s hand stilled as he seemed to register what he’d done. “i—” he said. “um… your hair…”

“uh, yeah.” mike swallowed and begged himself not to lean into will’s fingers as they hung in midair by his ear.

mike wanted to do something, say something. he wasn’t sure what the situation required though, so they just stood there, mouths hung open slightly and eyes blown wide in mirrored shock.

will cleared his throat and finally retracted his hand. “right, uh… so what else needs to be sorted?”

mike didn’t much care about sorting through the boxes anymore honestly.

. . .

just a lil something i wrote during my downtime at work earlier <3

#byler #byler scenarios #hair tuck #flustered and in love #fluffy #will byers #mike wheeler

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deanismysavior · 2 years

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4x04 "Dear Billy" Script Breakdown

Okay friends, let's talk about the S4×04 "Dear Billy" Scripts

For the purposes of this post, I'm mostly going to be looking at the Lenora scenes since I'm going to be focusing on the Mike/Will dynamic and what this means for Byler.

Now, before I get into my analysis, I know we were hoping for more from Mike's POV here, but Mike was not a POV character this season, so this makes sense that specific stage directions for him are left out of the scripts. This does not mean, however, that directions were not given during the time of filming. It just means that they weren't explicitly written out. So let's take a look at what's in front of us, and I'm going to try to be as objective as possible.

So first the episode opens with Mike, Will, and Jonathan being informed of where El was taken. We really don't get too much more from the script here than the text we see show up in the show itself, but we definitely get the sense that both Mike and Will are really concerned about the people they left behind in Hawkins and are also concerned about El, but I do think it's funny that Will is more concerned about El being with Owens than Mike is.

Mike starts off as incredibly distrusting but becomes less guarded when they identify that they are friends of Owens.

The context for this is later brought up because Mike trusted Owens with Will in season 2, so he feels more comfortable knowing that El is with him. The only reason I bring this up in my analysis is because the text and stage directions in this scene, and the following scene in which Will and Mike are talking about Owens, makes allusions back to the dynamic that Mike and Will had in season 2 of the show, Mike being extremely protective over Will and constantly feeling the need to look after him and check in on him, so the fact that Mike seems to relax when it's his girlfriend in a serious situation seems curious. This could just be chalked up to Mike trusting Owens though, so I'm not going to make any definitive claims about that. However, it's still intentionally making parallels here so I think it's important to talk about.

The next thing I really want to hone in on here is Mike's reaction to El's letter and the combined imagery with Jonathan.

So here, we get this scene of Mike opening El's letter and we can tell he's deep in thought. What he's thinking, we don't really know yet, the notes just say "Mike stares ahead contemplatively." We see this come out more later when he talks to Will.

But then we get this really tender moment with Jonathan here and I really want to take a closer look at this.

Here we see Jonathan going to the fridge and lingering on a photo of Nancy. It specifically says that he "stares longingly at the CHEERFUL COUPLE in the photo." Here we're getting pretty blatant love imagery. Jonathan misses Nancy and he misses when things were less complicated. Even with the current deception in their relationship, we can really see from these directions that he really loves her.

This is then paired with the next scene in which we once again get Mike sitting in El's room while Will is pacing and Mike is still looking at the note

I mean, the contrast in these two scenes could not be more stark. We have Jonathan, lovingly looking at a photograph of his girlfriend, while Mike throws the letter from his girlfriend away. I think it's pretty safe to say that the Duffers wanted us to pick up on this imagery and the difference in tone.

Mike then follows this gesture by speaking with concern about the fight he had with El, and claims the fight was like something they "can't come back from."

The tone of Jonathan's scene is longing, a wish to return to the relationship, but the tone in Mike's scene? While it's more complicated because he is worried about El, I think the symbolism really speaks for itself that on some level, Mike knows that things are over for him and El, and if throwing the letter in the trash is any indication, I'm not sure he entirely wants to come back from it.

This is again, another example of narrative dissonance in which the story we're being told by Mike, that he wants to fix things, and the imagery of the scene, discarding the letter, tell us two very different things.

Okay, so let's take a look now at this next shared moment between Mike and Will. This takes place right after they are talking about whether Will trusts Owens, and Will replies by saying Owens is a good guy, but it was "you guys" who actually saved him (referring to the rest of the party).

We get this shared look between Mike and Will

The directions here are not explicitly romantic, but it's good to know that the script's intention here was to build back some of the intimacy in Mike and Will's relationship. We see them joking around for the first time since Mike has been there, and it feels like this tender exchange where the dynamic of their old friendship comes back.

So the next scene here is the big one, and I'm going to try to do my best to parse it apart.

Here we have Mike and Will in Will's room, getting ready to leave Lenora.

Now, we have a lot going on with Will here. We get to see his mood shift very blatantly as he navigates this conversation with Mike. The pining is palpable, but there are a few key moments I want to highlight and explore more.

The first is this bit here with Will giving Mike a "SLY SMILE"

We can see here that Will is initiating this sort of flirty behavior with Mike, and while we don't get explicit directions to indicate exactly how Mike smiles at Will, the important thing to take note of here is that Mike returns the smile. Mike returns the smile that is meant to be flirty in nature.

How can we establish that flirtation is the tone here? Well, let's take a look at these stage directions in a moment between Steve and Nancy from the same episode.

This takes place after Robin and Nancy secure the files on Creel and Nancy has doctored letters for herself and Robin to make it look as though they are students writing a thesis.

She hands them to Steve, and he gets upset that he's not being included here. We then see the same stage directions are given to Nancy to convey the way she looks at Steve. A "SLY SMILE"

Here, she seems like she's trying to let him down easily that he won't be included in the operation, and in the very next scene where Nancy, Steve, and Robin are in Nancy's room, and Nancy is looking through her closet, Steve is saying he can bring charm to their mission, and Nancy tells him "Not the kind of charm we need" with a flirtatious expression.

It's a big plot point in s4 that they are re-examining the relationship between Steve and Nancy. They have romantic history together, and their scenes together in this season are meant to read romantically to hint at the possibility of them getting back together and to establish the love triangle between Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan.

It very much feels as though the "SLY SMILE" is meant to be romantically coded here. So what does this mean that Mike returns Will's "SLY SMILE"? We can't necessarily say anything definitive, but I think this hints towards Mike's openness to the flirtation, whether he's conscious of it or not.

And then, of course, we get the blush from Will, which I think is another clue aa to how Will took that interaction between himself and Mike: Will establishes flirty behavior, Mike returns it, and Will gets flustered.

Now that we've established this exchange, this next bit here becomes far more interesting.

This directly follows Mike's line, "No, no. You didn't do anything" as he's trying to apologize to Will.

Will is turning to Mike with "ANTICIPATION." He's just had, what read to him, as a flirty exchange with the guy he's in love with, and then he hears these words and thinks he's getting "DENIED," but we also get here that Will's facial expression here is "LOST ON MIKE."

I think there are a few things we can take away here:

1. Consciously, Mike seems unaware of the way Will feels about him. He's not picking up on Will's disappointment.

2. I don't think Mike realizes that he's flirting back with Will.

So if this is the case, what does this mean? It means Mike's feelings are what's driving the way he interacts with Will in this scene, not Will's.

So when, in the next line, Mike says, "It's Hawkins. It's not the same without you," this is coming from an incredibly genuine place. He's smiling at Will and telling Will this because he wants to, not because of anything he thinks Will might be feeling or wanting to hear.

There are a couple different ways you can take this, that either Mike is just smiling at Will like a friend, or that he's subconsciously flirting with Will because he wants to. Personally, I'm more inclined to lean towards camp 2 given the rest of these scenes.

So let's move on to this next bit. Here we have Mike telling Will that he feels "like he lost [him]," and these stage directions given to Will make it clear that Will is happy to hear this from Mike, happy to feel like he's still needed by Mike. Again, Mike is telling Will all of this completely unprompted. Mike is still motivating and driving the emotion in this conversation.

So when we get to this part

The locking of eyes is very intentional. It's not just that Will is looking at Mike, which from the rest of the stage directions in this scene, it seems like he has been intently looking at him the entire time, it's that Mike initiates this eye lock. Mike is the one that makes this moment intimate here, not Will.

Then we have this bit here following the "Cool." "Cool." exchange, which it's important to note that there is no stage direction for that, so the little eyebrow quirk from Finn was likely an acting choice, but again, editors choose the takes that best convey the message of the story, so I'll leave that up to y'all to interpret.

But we do get a very explicit direction that reads "THE SOUND OF SKIDDING TIRES seizes the moment."

I think this is important because it implies that this eye lock continued from Mike's initiation of it to this moment here. In seizing the moment, the sound breaks their eye contact, but the intentionality of this is unquestionable. We're meant to read this scene as at the very least deeply intimate, but likely romantic with the amount of romantically-coded exchanges that exist within the script.

We may only fully be seeing Will's point of view, but when we look at the deeper implications of the writing here, I think there's a lot more going on here than just Will's feelings.

The last part I want to just take note of here is when Mike and Will are running from the soldiers who are actively shooting at them, there's nothing explicitly written into the script about Mike covering Will with his arm, so this looks like it could either be an acting choice or a direction that was given upon filming.

I don't know that the script gives us anything conclusive on Mike's feelings, but I definitely think there's some interesting choices being made to chew through here. Anyway, let me know what you think!

#byler #byler endgame #dear billy #dear billy scripts #will byers #mike wheeler #stranger things #st #stranger things 4 #st4 #will x mike #mike x will #stranger things analysis #scene analysis #will #mike

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bugsbenefit · 11 months

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people still doubting that Mike is the heart of the party is wild

sure Mike is the heart because he's the leader and who everyone of his friends turn to for advice. and sure he is the heart because Will said so in his love confession and having him be wrong would take so much away from endgame byler. but you don't even have to go that far because Mike is the only character that even has an established relationship and developed dynamic with Every Single party member (even when including El and Max as extended members) end of discussion. there's no one else who could even be the heart

there's a reason i'm still hoping for Dustin and Will to interact again or El and Lucas, etc. because neither El, Will, Max, Dustin, or Lucas have a canonically shown relationship with all their friends. some of the pair ups just weren't important to the plot or their character development as of now. meanwhile every season has a focus on Mike interacting with his friends and going through a relationship arc with every single party member

Mike and Will are childhood best friends, crushing, feelings etc. Mike kicks the whole plot and search for Will off in s1 out of concern for him and then proceeds to stick with Will throughout all the supernatural plot in the following seasons - even being ready to kill Vecna together. Mike is also apparently the person Will is most comfortable confiding in, both about personal feelings of being belittled as well as actual UD related issues

Mike and El at this point have a lot of history. after being the only one of the boys not making a fuss about taking a girl in they've gone through it - Mike seeing El "die" in s1, them reuniting in s2, Mike helping her get away from the MF in s3, and then their entire fighting and ultimate sbp monologue situation in s4. aside from the mess that is their relationship, they've also been through a ton of trauma together, which makes up a bit for them never talking or confiding in each other on an emotional level

Mike and Lucas constantly butt heads and annoy each other despite being incredibly close. they're more of the 'like brothers' best friends that Byler refuses to be. a major plot point of s1 is their argument and ensuing falling out, which Mike then tries to fix. Mike apologizing to Lucas also introduces us to a lot of party rules right off the bat. that plot is now coming full circle with Lucas and Mike once again arguing in s4 which they've had no time to address yet. Lucas also gives advice to Mike when it comes to relationships a lot and Mike tries to emulate Lucas's approach to dating

Mike and Dustin are close, which often happens because they're "left behind" by their other friends. (both when Lucas leaves in s1 and when he's off at basketball in s4). they're both planners, however, Dustin still looks for Mike's approval when it comes to final decisions. s3 explicitly focuses on Mike leaving Dustin behind (not looking for him) when focused too much on El, and he rectifies that in s4 by having Dustin now be the person he seemingly spends the most time with

Mike and Max have probably the journey that covers the most ground since it starts pretty hostile, with Max looking for Mike's approval and him refusing to let her in the party. which only gets more interesting when he later reveals it's because of the horrible things that happened to El the year before. they have similar personalities in parts and can be very blunt giving them potential to clash, which happens in s3, where they're the people closest to El (ironic since Max originally served as a fake out love interest for Mike from El's pov). they argue most of s3 yet come together at the end. despite their rocky start, they've clearly become friends, interacting friendly both at the beginning of s3 and s4.

Mike has had an arc or plot point focused on his relationship with every party member

he's literally the one tying the group together from an audience perspective. to this day Will has never shared more than a few sentences with Max, and even Dustin. El still hasn't gotten closer with people like Lucas or Dustin. Max and Dustin stopped interacting once their love triangle died down in s2. etc.

obviously that doesn't mean that, say, Will and Dustin aren't actually close. it's just a dynamic we don't get to see a lot, or get any concrete conversation/storyline for because it's not a focus. Will's relationship with every individual party member isn't that important, we know they're all friends, so people like Mike and El are prioritized since those are the most plot relevant. and the same goes for all of the other characters. us not seeing a relationship doesn't mean it doesn't exist, it means there's nothing interesting or plot relevant to develop there as of now

yet Mike is a character consistently placed in the center of the party's social dynamic. he's the one that ties all the characters together

Mike being the heart of the party being so clearly true isn't just because of the negative impacts it not being true would have both on Mike's character and Byler, but also because there just isn't an alternative to fill that heart role

#''Mike isn't actually the heart-'' ????#so Will is Actually lying and Mike being the character most tied to all of the individual party members isn't real anymore?#be so seriousssss #mike wheeler #byler

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queerxqueen · 2 years

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last ditch byler predictions on how it all goes down

see also my bingo board and my og predictions. this is based off of what i think makes sense for the characters and arcs as well as substantiated leaks and set photos

They get El in Nevada.

After, El is shaken up by everything and Mike comforts her; they fall into old habits. Will grows distant as the couple pairs up again, and Mike as well as Jonathan take notice.

They go to a Surfer Boys Pizza.

The others go inside to set up the salt bath for Eleven. Mike and Will talk outside and have a fight similar to Rinkomania / S3 fight. It’s a coded argument and Mike says something that Will interprets as rejection. The argument may have to do with the painting but I don’t think it will be revealed/given yet.

Mike goes in and talks to El while Will goes in and talks to Jonathan.

Jonathan knows something’s up and asks after Will who breaks and comes out to Jonathan.

Meanwhile, Mike is talking to El, trying to mask under his heterosexuality after his complicated feelings with Will and their fight. So he tells El he loves her like he’s trying to convince himself. And Eleven knows that now. She breaks up with him gently.

They drive to Hawkins.

The World’s Most Awkward Road Trip Ever with Mike, Will, and Eleven all awkward as hell in the back seat.

They arrive to the destroyed Hawkins after the supernatural earthquake.

Will gets Vecna’d, he learns something about Vecna’s plan, while Mike realizes his feelings.

Byler hug when Will is safe.

They go to Hopper’s cabin.

Will talks about Vecna as seen in the trailer, paralleling to s2 with the Mind Flayer. Mike tries for a comforting hand touch to parallel but Will pulls away because a) he thinks Mike is still with El at this point and b) he’s still hurt by whatever he saw in his Vecna trance.

Mike asks about the painting and possibly about Will’s crush, still thinking based on El’s letters that he has a crush on some Cali girl. Will gives the painting and they have a heart-to-heart / romantic moment which is naturally interrupted by action plot.

Then... no idea. The actual ending of season 4 is a mystery to me in terms of the supernatural plot, how Will is attached to it all, and how Byler will resolve.

#stranger things #byler #stranger things 4 #st theory

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starbylers · 11 months

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Hi. Can you tell us how do you believe byler will happen in s5 in the most realistic way? How the love triangle will be resolved?

Hi :) I usually hesitate to make specific s5 predictions because I have a feeling it will be different from what any of us expect so I don’t want to pretend I’ve got all the answers. That being said:

These are my general thoughts/predictions going into season 5:

First, I think it’s likely El will spend a lot of time bonding with Lucas (because of Max–didn’t Caleb allude to this already?), and probably Hopper too. I think she’s really going to come into her independence and realise Mike’s ‘love’ isn’t doing anything except holding her back. We see throughout the series that her character develops when she is not with Mike and stagnates/regresses when they are dating. With her parental figure returned to protect and support her, and newfound determination to achieve her goal i.e. save her best friend (something Mike’s ‘love’ couldn’t help her do), she really has like…not much need for him? I think El got what she thought she wanted (Mike’s confession), only to find it wasn’t what she really needed (it didn’t help her win in the end), and she’s going to be processing this come s5.

I think Mike will recognise that El is pulling away and direct his attention to the person who actually does need him: Will. We already see the beginnings of this in ‘2 days later’: El isolates herself in her old room, clearly not happy, and Mike chooses to comfort Will instead of going to her. Same pattern as in the final shot: El walks away from Mike, alone, and he stays by Will’s side.

Mike and Will are likely going to spend a large chunk of the season together. This has been foreshadowed (‘We have to kill him’/‘We will’, them paired in the final shot). Will is probably going to find himself in danger early on (he’s the supernatural focus of the season and it’s confirmed they are jumping straight into the action), which will bring the return of s2 Mike in full force.

I think we will get a lot of romantic tension, and references to their history to remind the audience how special their relationship really is. And most crucially: the gradual unveiling of what’s really going on in Mike’s head—probably while he himself is coming to terms with all of it—so the audience can begin to piece together why he’s changed so much since s3. I’m not sure how they will do this (more explicit pining? Vecna? Mike confiding in someone else?) but it’s really important otherwise Will is going to look like a second choice.

Thinking about the break up, mid-season is most likely to me because I just don’t believe Mike or El are quite there yet in their arcs for an early season split. Imo, Mike still needs to process that his ‘feelings’ for El are rooted in attachment/codependency (though I do think on some level he is aware that he’s not actually in love, which is why he did everything in his power to avoid the word—friends don’t lie), which will naturally happen when he starts to accept that how he feels for Will is what love is supposed to feel like. El also needs time to fully understand that she’s better off without their ‘romance’. The time-skip is a mystery to me, but I think Mlvn have to break up before it happens. (If their relationship makes it another two years and then Byler happens, Will is again going to look like a second choice and no-one is going to buy it).

As for how the break up would actually go down, I can’t be sure but I hope it will be amicable and light-hearted (maybe even a bit funny like an ‘I dump your ass’ callback as I think El is most likely to initiate), just one of those things that feels inevitable when it happens as they’ve both been spending time apart and prioritising other people and realising they’re actually happier that way. That would make sense if everything I have said up to this point is how it happens. Of course it could be more dramatic, but I think either way it will be emotional and end with them hugging it out.

After that…I don’t think we have enough to go off for any solid theory. But what I personally believe is that there will be a very dramatic confession scene for Mike and Will. I’m talking like Max’s running up that hill scene level of drama. Flashbacks and everything. I just think there will have been way too much build up and if they’re going to go for Byler, they really need to commit to it. I think it’s going to be one of them trying to save the other's life.

I obviously do think they will have quieter moments after though—maybe this is when they kiss. And I truly don’t believe El is going to be heartbroken over Mike and Will. I think by the time anything happens between them, El will have come to terms with how incompatible her and Mike were. I am of the belief that El likes the idea of Mike more than she actually likes/wants Mike. I don’t think she will struggle to move on once she realises this. Honestly I kind of hope the three of them can laugh about it in the end because that would be so healing to see.

That’s how I see it generally, but like I said I leave room for myself to be proven wrong and I’m always open to different interpretations (especially about Mike). Also, I don’t really see it as a love triangle? I mean it is one, in the technical sense. But I think that implies Mike is going to be ‘choosing’ between Will and El, and I really don’t think that’s the story here. I think for Mike it’s a story of realising it’s okay to be who you are (in a general sense and about his sexuality), and with that comes accepting who the right person for you actually is. Hope this answers your question!

#byler #anti mileven

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tozierbeeps · 6 months

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Stranger Things, Game of Thrones, or the Stand for the Fandom Question Game. Dealers choice. Whichever or all. Up to you.

Thank you for always letting me yell djdjd (Only just realized this is still in my drafts)

👾 STRANGER THINGS 🤖

The first character I first fell in love with: Will or Mike. Maybe Hopper

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Steve, of course, but I did also suspect he was gonna be a good guy early on. in a different way I didn't think Max or Hopper would resonate with me so hard either

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: Billy. I can't see past the Lucas and Max treagment

The character I love that everyone else hates: Mike, I guess? He's just a kid. Kinda dumb, but his heart's in the right place even if it doesn't show

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: I really don't think there is one. Once characters have my devotion that's about it

The character I would totally smooch: So many. Steve, Hopper, and Joyce are probably the top

The character I’d want to be like: Max

The character I’d slap: Billy. So. So hard.

A pairing that I love: Oh where to begin. Jopper! Elmax, steveddie, romance, byler, lumax. God I'm sure I'm missing more. Always Murray x Alexei

A pairing that I despise: Steve and Billy

🗡️GAME OF THRONES🛡️

The first character I first fell in love with: Arya Stark

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Jaime Lannister and Theon Greyjoy. Both grew on me like absolute weeds. They're incredible

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: Dany. I'm not even gonna start

The character I love that everyone else hates: There's a lot of negative talk about characters but yet I can't think of any?

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: I don't have any I don't think, I came around for the good mostly in this show

The character I would totally smooch: Literally so many okay. Just put the whole list here and we're good. Gendry, Jaime, and Brianne are extremely high

The character I’d want to be like: Jaime (bar the stupid end). Let me recover from my demons like that

The character I’d slap: Cersei and Ramsay always. Tywin and Joffrey would also be great wins

A pairing that I love: Brianne x Jaime, Theon x Sansa, Gendry x Arya are always my top three

A pairing that I despise: Jaime x Cersei

🐦‍⬛ THE STAND 👹

The first character I first fell in love with: Nick Andros

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Funny enough this is also Nick. As a very huge Rob Lowe fan, I refused to get hopes up when I started the book that I would like him. So I was prepared to hate him and then, well, he's Nick fucking Andros. I didn't think I'd like Larry and I most definitely wouldnt have expected to love Trashcan Man

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: I don't think I have one? I'm not insanely invested in Lloyd I guess but I love him

The character I love that everyone else hates: I don't think there is one?

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: I thought I would like Harold a lot at the beginning of I remember right but that lasted... Not long

The character I would totally smooch: NICK! ANDROS!

The character I’d want to be like: Am I the worst if I again say Nick Andros? I want that kind of forgiveness and caring.

The character I’d slap: Julie. Please. Many. Or one, I'm not picky

A pairing that I love: Larry x Lucy. Huge fan, will forever be a fan. I also like seeing Fran and Stu. And Lloyd and Flagg has become a vibe

A pairing that I despise: Harold and Nadine???

#the stand #stranger things #game of thrones #Asoiaf

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