#being different

[aurorabyler]

CRITICAL MUSICAL SYMBOLISM IN STRANGER THINGS ACROSS 3 SEASONS SETTING UP FOR ST5

Will’s First Lie & First I Love You

STRANGER THINGS NATION, BYLER NATION, WATCH, LISTEN, AND READ THIS WHOLE POST VERY CAREFULLY. NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE HAVE TALKED ABOUT THIS SO PLEASE SPREAD

this is one of my favourite details in stranger things and i love how it connects the different relationships in the show. i’ve thought this melody had a lot of narrative significance ever since season 3, but now that all of season 4 is out, i’m even more amazed by how this soundtrack ties everything together—especially with byler.

my nerd brain picked up on the similarities between these three songs—The First Lie, The First I love You, and Being Different, from seasons 2, 3, and 4 respectively.

The First Lie is played during the scene where Jonathan and Nancy hook up in season 2 following Murray’s encouragement. It’s a reference to Nancy not being truthful about her feelings towards Steve and could have a few double meanings, including the LIE literally being Nancy and Jonathan sleeping together (hence, LYING together), as well as Jonathan’s trust issues that Murray talks about.

The First I love You plays during Robin’s coming out and also El saying I love you to Mike (that Mike appears confused by in season 3). My favourite detail here is that the word “love” in the song is not capitalized. This may seem insignificant, but when you look at the ENTIRE stranger things soundtrack pre season 4, no other words have been in lowercase. This was intentional, both for Mike/El’s awkward kiss, and Steve/Robin’s love for each other, which is not romantic, since Robin is a lesbian. It starts out as one-sided for Steve and then we obviously see their amazing friendship.

Here’s where the symbolism gets super interesting. There’s no way this is not intentional. In season 4 vol 2 when Will gives Mike the painting, he confesses to Mike but covers it up with El’s name. He then turns away from Mike and cries, muffling the sound with his hand. It’s been emphasized throughout the show that Will is unable to lie to Mike. Literally season 1, episode 1: “it was a seven. The demogorgon, it got me.” Lucas encourages Will to not say anything to Mike since he didn’t see the roll, but Will physically cannot lie to him. This theme is seen with byler again and again throughout the show. Will never lies to Mike. EXCEPT, in this scene in season 4.

Will covers up his feelings. It’s a weird halfway point. He lies to Mike for the first time, and he can’t bear it, combined with all his other feelings for him. THE SONG THAT PLAYS DURING THIS SCENE, BEING DIFFERENT, has the exact same melody as BOTH THE FIRST LIE AND THE FIRST I LOVE YOU.

Are you guys hearing this??

It’s both the first time Will lies to Mike in the show AND the first time he somewhat confesses the truth, that he loves Mike. The melody of First Lie/First I love You ONLY STARTS once Will finishes up his monologue and turns away to cry, realizing what’s just happened.

This is literally insane musical symbolism.

I compiled a video with Will’s scene at the end for you guys to see how similar the songs are.

Let me know what you think of this!

#byler #stranger things 4 #the first lie #the first i love you #being different #musical symbolism #subtext #stranger things #stranger things theory #st4 #byler is endgame

[blimboob]

sometimes i am a child again, praying that god will fix me. sometimes i am 8 years old with my knees to my chest in my elementary school’s bathroom crying because i know i am different. sometimes i am 12 again, in my first year of middle school, wondering why i must fight so hard to fit in when the people around me seem to have it figured out. every birthday is a reminder that i will never be normal, that every year that passed is just another year full of “you’re just so weird” and “hush, you’re being too loud”. once, after i got my diagnosis, i sat on my bedroom floor, hugging my stupid pokémon plushies and sobbing, because being unique can only get you so far. autism isn’t just a thing i can push aside and hide forever. autism shaped who i am. i talk too loud, i cry too easily, the things that bring me joy are “too weird”. its so hard to be so full of love for the world when the world just sees you as an outsider.

#autism #autistic things #being autistic #autistic spectrum #actually autistic #being different #its hard #autistic adult #autistic experiences

[chirpsythismorning]

Remember when the Duffer’s talked about a song they put in 4x08 and Matt was like ‘you know the one we’re talking about’ and Ross was just beaming on the side… the fact that they were talking about Being Different and we just moved on

#byler #st music #being different #duffer brothers

[byler-alarmist]

Why do I get the feeling this also applies to Will.....?

"Look, he's not like you, Hopper. He's not like me. He's not like most. "

Oh... so Will is not like most? Is he different? Special?

#st5 speculation #st5 theory #st parallels #st brainrot #will has powers #will byers has powers #will byers analysis #will byers #being different #van scene #st1 rewatch #st4 rewatch #mike wheeler #joyce byers

[akindplace]

Being different from others doesn't make you less worthy of anything, it doesn't make you less of a person. Don't settle for those who think they are above you. If people around you don't think you are good enough, stop trying to convince them of it or trying to become who they want you to be, and find someone who loves you and respects you for who you already are.

#original writing #self-worth #self-compassion #relationships #self-acceptance #self-kindness #validation #you are good enough #being different #you deserve love

[robynrocksforbrains]

I think about Being Different and You're The Heart a lot.

The fact that the van scene told us that Will is different and that sometimes he feels like a mistake for that. But then we also learn that Mike makes him feel like he's not a mistake and that he's better for being different. And in this scene "different" really just means "gay". Will is assuming that Mike wouldn't understand how it feels to be different, seeing as he explains how it feels. That isn't the first time in s4 someone close to him assumes he wouldn't understand what it means to be different. Yes, the van scene is ultimately about Will, and a confirmation of his sexuality, but it is also a love confession. It is intrinsically tied to Mike. Therefore, the song Being Different is also intrinsically tied to him.

Then we have the monologue, and You're The Heart. They could've named it anything. They could've named it "You're My Superhero" or "For Exactly Who You Are" or something that has to do with El. Something that has to do with the monologue itself. If they were setting up mlvn endgame. But instead they named it after something the other love interest in the love triangle said. And the choice to name it that intrinsically ties this scene and this song to Will.

The van scene cannot exist without Mike. The monologue cannot exist without Will. These songs fit together like puzzle pieces. Like two halves of the same whole. Like one cannot exist without the other.

I think about the fact that Being Different sounds like hope and love. But it also sounds like letting go. It sounds like falling with the belief that no one is gonna catch you.

I think about the fact that You're The Heart Sounds like fear. But it also sounds like clinging onto something for dear life. It sounds like being terrified to fall because what if no one wants to catch you? What if the person you wish would catch you doesn't even notice that you're falling?

I think about the fact that these songs put together sound like love, and hope, and falling, and being caught, and coming home.

I think about the fact that Mike makes Will feel like he's better for being different. And Will makes Mike feel like he's worth something. They both are written to make each other feel secure and safe. They are written to complete each other. They are written as two halves of the same whole.

I think that none of that happens by accident.

#byler #mike wheeler #will byers #byler endgame #you're the heart #being different #they're in love your honor #they complete each other #📑

[moonshadow-thoughts]

I feel like I'm stuck in life. Everyone moves on, and moves further with their life. Except me. I can't make this world work out for me.

#I'm probably on the wrong planet #thoughts #my thoughts #introvert #introverted #neurodivergent #neurodiversity #textpost #writing #escapism #loneliness #lonely #alone #isolated #isolation #social isolation #life #being different #stuck

[itswhatyougive]

Eddie contradicts himself.

In one breath, he tells Steve he would "never have jumped into the lake to save your ass under any.....normal circumstances".

Then in the next, he tells him that the only reason he jumped in was because of Robin and Nancy, and he just didn't want to feel ashamed to be the only one who stayed behind.

But he already told on himself. Because he could have either said :

"I would never have jumped in that lake under normal circumstances" (does not mention Steve was the cause)

or

"I would never have jumped in the lake to save your ass. i did it for the girls" (implies Steve would never be the cause) and left it at that.

But the line as it is implies that he did jump in the lake to save Steve's ass!!

The only reason he wouldn't have jumped in the lake under normal circumstances is because he believes he would've been too scared, as evidenced by the next line when he talks about how he's not a hero and was disappointed to learn recently that he runs in the face of danger

Despite what he was saying about all the reasons he has to dislike Steve or be jealous of him, those are not the "normal circumstances" that would have stopped him from saving Steve.

Another fun bonus to this is that being "normal" in the series is often contrasted with being "different," which also holds the connotation of queerness (as Will's van monologue demonstrates).

So one could also say that Eddie wouldn't jump in the lake to save Steve under "normal" circumstances......because his circumstances are, in fact, "different" (queer). 😹

#steddie #steddie analysis #st analysis #stranger things analysis #st4 rewatch #the massacre at hawkins lab #steve x eddie #eddie x steve #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #eddie munson analysis #being different

[keithanime]

Monsters are the patron saints of otherness.

Guillermo del Toro (source: Indiewire)

#guillermo del toro #monsters #being different #otherness

[duncanor]

If byler isn't endgame why make the track "being different" so romantic and sweet.

#Byler #will byers #mike wheeler #Being different

[pussyistheforbiddenfruit]

People act like being different is cool and quirky but it not often not it's lead to you being misunderstood, lonely or even bullied.

What people wanna be is unique and special, which nothing wrong with that each individual is unique some of us are similar yes but not the same, the problem is that ppl don't wanna be authentic just unique for shock value or to be superior to others

What truly being different means that its almost impossible to find people to befriend, thinking differently from people they assume your crazy or stupid, looking different means that ppl will outcast you or think your doing it for attention and acting different means you get isolated or rejected from others.

People only accept "different" people when they are socially acceptable different (unique, special) not socially unacceptable different (weird, outcast),

Being different is not fun idk why people act like it is.

#Yes im posting this because i experience this isolation from others for being different #Its not cute and i dont feel like im unique or special i feel lonely #Man its fucking sucks #this is just my opinion #being different #alien girl #masc girl #different #outcast #different from the others

[ardent-reflections]

Understand me. I'm not like an ordinary world. I have my madness, I live in another dimension and I do not have time for things that have no soul.

Charles Bukowski

#bukowskipoems #literature #charles bukowski #spilled thoughts #poetry #words #poems and quotes #poem #quotes #lit #being different

[frogwheeler]

when we get mike's entire perspective of how he feels for will and how much mental torture of internalized homophobia he went through over the year him and will being apart as he tried to force himself to have the romantic/'not normal" thoughts he was having for will be about El and watching him finally come to terms with his feelings and embracing them once he learns that will feels exactly the same as he does. That. And that only will be my joker moment. Nothing can stop that.

#BEING DIFFERENT #YOU'RE THE HEART #HAVE Y'ALL HEARD THE COMBINED AND MUSIC???? #they're my babies :''( #THEY DESERVE EACH OTHER #byler #mike wheeler #will byers #byler season 4 #byler season 5 #byler mike #byler will be canon #st5 byler #st4 #byler better be canon #st4 byler #byler st5 #st5 predictions

[aurorabyler]

i know it’s been a while since my analysis but it’s still absolutely fucking wild to me that the song “being different” is a combination of the first lie and the first i love you, and LITERALLY plays during will’s first lie and first i love you to mike.

like what the fuck. combining songs from seasons 2 and 3?? that played in situations that work for the context of byler?? that display a deep level of care and attention to detail over the seasons for a pairing that may well be not only the endgame of the show but also the pairing that perfectly displays the overall message of the show? that our differences are what make us unique, and it is love in all its forms that make our differences so important? that amongst all the chaos and hatred in the world, two childhood friends falling in love is not the (forgive me) strangest thing that could ever happen? it’s just so…. wow.

with what the duffers have been saying about season 4, that it’s them “peeling back the layers” and “showing their hand” to the audience, all of this just makes so much sense. it’s going to be really beautiful to watch this story come to fruition. i’m so excited :’)

#byler #stranger things #stranger things 4 #will byers #mike wheeler #byler endgame #st4 #byler better be canon #byler is endgame #mike wheeler x will byers #byler nation #musical symbolism #the first lie #the first i love you #being different #stranger things soundtrack #stranger things score #kyle dixon #michael stein

[sunthroughdarkclouds]

#being different #weird #goofy #geeky #nerdcore #geekcore #quirky #odd #different #redhead #ginger #felicia day #philosophy #thoughts #advice #geek #nerd #geek girl #queen of the nerds

[qualifiedaquarian]

Yes, I am.

#different #being different #different is a good thing