#milkvan is bones bc mike said ily due to will's confession but will's confession does not apply to eleven. she doesn't feel that way.

[bylertruther]

season five isn't going to be the byler show because we all have brains and recognize this is an ensemble sci fi show obviously, but it is kinda funny to hear people argue that because the duffers specifically point out in their pitch that will is gay and gets kidnapped soon after realizing it, then in season one have everyone who isn't "in the know" assume that this occurred because he's gay, thus really linking this realization with his disappearance both supernaturally and also to those outside of the main cast. this means that you can't separate the two. there's more to it of course, but will being gay and the consequences he faces for that is intertwined.

not only that, but they then reveal his kidnapper to be will's perfect character foil--love vs hate, light vs dark, hope vs despair, optimism vs cynicism, freedom vs subjugation, light wizard vs dark wizard, etc.

vecna spends all of season four preying on those who are traumatized and "other". he enshrouds them in their darkness until they succumb to it and believe it to be true, and gains strength from their despair.

what does will spend all of season four doing?

he stays by mike's side and banishes his deepest, darkest insecurities by basking him in his light. he listens to mike's worries and his secrets and tells him no, you're wrong, you're absolutely wrong and here's why. this is who you really are: someone worthy, capable, and strong. don't listen to that voice in your head; it's lying to you, mike. he gives mike hope and a way out of his darkness. he frees him from the grips of self-hate out of the goodness of his heart, not because he stands to gain anything from it.

vecna uses people's darkest and scariest memories to trap them and will uses one of mike's happy and safe memories to help him.

vecna gains strength from pain and rage and will gains strength from love and acceptance; acceptance that he felt from mike all his life and then acceptance that he specifically received from jonathan in the back kitchen.

time and time again, season four made sure to show us that they are two sides of the same coin and will's story cannot be extricated from mike and his romantic love for him, so like... season five is not going to be the byler show, but it also ... kind of is going to be the byler show lmao.

if season five is going to feature will then automatically it will feature mike and if it features them then it will pick up on their unfinished plot from season four and if love and acceptance are vecna's weaknesses and love and acceptance are what byler feel and receive from each other then... how is it not the byler show?

obviously other stuff is going to happen because they're not the only two characters in a romance show, but like ... to act like season four [for them] wasn't all about their relationship, the unsaid things that sit between them, and how will's love for mike is not only what made him able to finally say i love you to eleven for the first time but also precisely the love that he was trying to get from her, and that somehow that isn't going to bleed into season five and be resolved and be the exact kind of love and acceptance that will defeat vecna because will's otherness is rooted in his queerness and season five is literally his coming of age and also he's the focus and we'll be exploring his relation to everything because he is In Fact Actually connected to Everything and always has been is just .... weird. and nonsensical.

#mine #like. it isn't but it literally is the byler show idk wht to tell u man. every ending has a beginning and will is that beginning. #his disappearance is tied to him being gay. his otherness is BECAUSE he's gay. his first trauma was homophobia. #milkvan is bones bc mike said ily due to will's confession but will's confession does not apply to eleven. she doesn't feel that way. #she TOLD us and mike she doesn't feel that way and they showed that with how they ended the season. when mike realizes what he's been #searching for has been right beside him all along paired with will being in the most danger he's ever been in.. do you really think it #won't lead to some realizations? when their season four plot was literally their relationship being built up? when s4 showed u how #every problem that mike has with eleven is nonexistent with will? when they told us that the one person mike can't lose is will? will's #weakness is the trauma tht stems from his otherness and once he receives that love and acceptance vecna won't have anything #to draw strength from in him. and since this is stranger things we KNOW that love will defeat evil bc it always does. like. what's #not clicking. not every single second of every single episode is going to be byler falling in love being boyfriends and no one is saying #that lol but to act like will's gayness is not inherently tied to the plot and his coming of age and like will being a focus doesn't #automatically make mike a focus too especially since he's 'figured some stuff out' but still has more stuff to realize it's like. i just #don't understand tht sentiment. they cast will knowing he was going to be a big component of st. the show started with him and it ends #with him. and they said in s4 that mike is the leader guiding everyone. n tht without heart [aka mike] will would fall apart. #literally what is not clicking someone explain it to me bc i don't understand. 🤨📝🧐