#The first Byler shipper

[rainypebble07]

byler getting cursed by witch max who ships them and wants them to stay together forever and thats why they’re living out all of these different time period

YES ANON YOU’RE THE BEST!

The history with Byler lore is loring rn

[i-promise-i-am-not-on-drugs]

[ifistayitwillbedouble]

i knew i hated milkvan before i even knew i was gay, so there's that

[heyitspersephone]

Thinking about stranger things again now that the strikes are over and how, narratively, it would be way, WAY cooler to have Mike get Vecna’d instead of Will in s5

It’s just something about the way Mike’s trauma is never addressed or handled in any way?? Like, he hugs his mom twice and then when he was depressed in season 2 and 4 nobody did anything (his parents scolded him for his behavior in s2 ig but that’s not support). His best friend went missing leaving from his house, he watched his body get pulled from the quarry, watched El (in his eyes) kill herself stopping the demogorgon, watched Will be possessed, saw Bob die, was in Star Court when everything went down, saw Billy die, had his best friend move away, was SHOT AT (and really too few people talk about the shooting in Cali bc omg??), buried a body, and watched the apocalypse start. And that’s just off the top of my head.

(And yes I’m aware that the other characters (especially Will) are traumatized too but I will get to my point in a second just hold on)

The plot is geared towards this idea that Will and Henry have to have some big face off (and they should, in my opinion, but I don’t think it should be in a possession, or at least not the the Vecna kind of possession, yk?) but that makes it all the better, writing wise, to have mike be the one in danger. Will was helpless and hiding in s1, I think Will should get his big strong moments in s5 where he gets to be the hero of the story.

It would just be a lot more fun to work with Mike being Vecna’d than Will, because what are we going to bring up with Will’s visions? His dad? His sexuality? The events of s1 from his perspective? It would be cool to see, for sure, but we already know most of that. Mike, on the other hand, has a number of untapped things, like jumping off the quarry, why he’s so hesitant to tell El he loves her, how someone who was smart and kind enough to take El in in s1 and come up with the spy and sauna plans in s2 and s3 could turn into the oblivious asshole that he was in s3 and s4 (he needs therapy, ik, I still love his character but I want to explore the reasons he went from his s2 characterization to his s3 one)

It would be a very interesting parallel, I think, to explore Mike’s thought processes in this way, especially with all of Mike’s repression business (bc whether you ship byler or milkvan he is repressing his feelings HARD. Like, beyond his inability to say I love you there’s the fact that he doesn’t bring up the apparent many times he called pre-s4 during the Rink O Mania fight?? That literally would’ve absolved him of guilt in that argument since he WAS reaching out to Will the whole time? Hellooooo????).

Anyways, this all brings me to my main point: Vecna targets isolation as much as he targets trauma and guilt. The whole party was traumatized by the events in s1, s2, and s3, but Max was the one targeted. Plus, Henry went for Fred, Chrissy, and Patrick (I think his name was Patrick) instead of going for the perceivably easy targets that the mcs would make (ik narratively that would’ve made it more boring but shhh), so why Max and those three specifically? They were isolated. Lucas and Erica have each other, Dustin goes to Steve and Robin, Will and El have each other and Jonathan and Joyce, Nancy probably goes to Jonathan, and who does Mike go to?

No one. And don’t say Nancy because if those two have heart to hearts then I’m the next coming of Christ. Max separated herself from the Party in the aftermath of her grief and guilt over Billy, and it feels quite obvious that Mike was doing the same (like I said, he has repression issues). So Mike is traumatized, alone, and guilty (be it Will getting taken from Mike’s house, losing El in front of him multiple times, the many deaths he has witnessed, or the internalized homophobia angle), which makes him more of a target than Will, in my opinion (or at least an easier one, especially given his tendency to put himself on the line during fights (quarry, most of s2, s3 mindflayer fight), which would set him up on the suicidal ideation path)

Furthermore, as I’ve seen a few other people point out (and I can’t find the posts but one of them had eight screenshots of the various moments), Mike is always the one getting in the way, so it would be a strategic move for Henry to target him to get him out of the picture. Mike was the one that found El and got her involved in saving Will s1, he was the one who came up with the spy plan and called out the ambush in s2, he was the one to monologue Will out of his possession s2, he was the one with the sauna plan for Billy in s3, he was the one trying to help El get the strength to fight s4 (even if the monologue sucked ass it’s the intention that counts). As much as people like to hate on Mike, he is in the leader position most of the time when the party is grouped up (barring his mental health struggles slowing that down beginning of s3 and throughout s4, but he’s still capable of it). He’s the idea man, and he’s the one whose character’s foundations were built on the desire to keep his friends safe, so it would be a very fun plot line to watch him be the one targeted in s5. Like Will said, as lovestruck and cheesy as he was, Mike is the heart of the party when he’s on his A-game, so Henry should 100% be trying to keep him in the issues he’s been struggling with.

Obviously, Will and El are the Targets with a capital T for Henry since they’re the ones that got away or whatever, but I think Mike is a weakness of Will’s (and El’s tbh but also I think they need to have separate character arcs and I don’t exactly ship milkvan) that should be exploited.

TL;DR: Mike should get Vecna’d instead of Will in s5 because it would make sense in lore and be a very cool way to resolve his character arc

[love-bylerstuff]

I would also like to include this picture

As we can see Mike in a yellow shirt standing next to a yellow light and will is in blue standing directly under a blue light.

Not only are they corresponding with the opposite ones color (Mike in and next to yellow while he’s blue, will in and under blue but the’s yellow) but could the light mean something more too

Will knows how he feels and he has accepted that he feels that way so he’s directly under the light while Mike is beside it because he’s oblivious and is suppressing the feelings

[cowboylikeliz]

i feel like will byers would love dead poets society

[bylerismyjoy]

‼️ATTENTION ELMAX AND LUMAX SHIPPER‼️

PLS TEACH US BYLER AND MILEVEN SHIPPERS TO GET ALONG WITH EACH OTHER WELL!!😔🤷‍♀️

[rosetylerism]

already seeing some fanpages i follow on instagram being like “see we told yall bylers were delusional mileven endgame” WHY is a ship your main concern right now? of course stranger things is still important to me and i am a byler shipper but why are you more concerned with being homophobic and dunking on gay shippers instead of focusing on the fact that noah schnapp is a full blown zionist and has been seen celebrating israel. wheres your fucking minds losers. grow up

[emily-mooon]

Y’all should know that you cannot pry ships that involve one character having a canonical crush on another out of my cold dead hands

[snixx]

not my tumblr crush going on a judas x jesus rampage on the dash -

[willthecleric]

Will is my otp for life. 😍😍😍

okay guys we’re now will shippers

[love-byers]

the first time i saw this, when i was NOT a byler shipper, i thought el was running TO mike. i thought we were getting a sweet moment where el runs to mike and he puts an arm around her or hugs her.

then i realized she was running away from him. 

and i was like, why?? they're supposed to be the couple why does she not want his comfort??

and even after will calls her out on doing mike wrong by lying to him, even after she sees that mike is attempting to talk to her and comfort her, that he's not angry at her, she still tells angela to lie to mike. more lies. that's how much she cares about keeping up the persona. had angela lied to mike, el would've continued lying to him the entire week. something she knows in her heart is wrong and not fair to mike.

this is a theme in s4. putting who you want to be seen as before being honest with your bf/gf. going above and beyond to preserve your lie, to be seen as who you want to be.

chrissy does that with jason. who she portrays herself as is completely different than who she really is and what she's really going through. jason has absolutely no idea chrissy is struggling and refused to believe chrissy would buy drugs, because chrissy didn't want to tell him. who knows how jason would've reacted if chrissy was honest, we don't know because chrissy didn't trust him enough to tell him. that's not love at all, that's sad.

this is a point in s2 as well. murray calls nancy out for being afraid to be her true self, and she stays with steve because she doesn't have to be her true self around him. she is her true self when she's with jonathan, and that's why they worked together. that's love.

the exact same thing happens with chrissy. the first time we see her genuinely smile is when she's with eddie. she's sweet and charismatic, and had she lived she totally would've gone to eddie's show, something you never would've expected from her, something her boyfriend, the person she pretends to love, would NEVER do.

robin and steve reinforce this too

you fall in love with the person who makes you feel accepted, the person who makes you feel like you can be who you are. the person you trust with your true self.

mike and el don't trust each other enough, they don't understand each other well enough.

they would have to change their behavior towards each other by leaps and bounds, and we're already at the last season. there is no time for that. stranger things isn't a multi season show about the complexity of romantic relationships and the healthy way to resolve problems. there is no time for that in just about any movie or show, especially a sci-fi show. you know what's way easier and way more likable? pairing your character with someone they naturally click with, who bring out the best in each other and for some reason can't help but be their authentic selves when they're with each other.

did it with jancy, like i said earlier

did it with lumax. when lucas and max talked on the bus max found herself spewing about things she'd never even said out loud before, and she had to stop herself. something about lucas just made her feel comfortable, like she could be herself and tell the truth. she trusted him.

"You're nothing like your brother, okay? You're cool and different, you're super smart, and you're like, totally tubular."

jopper too! joyce constantly had to hide things from bob, she was insecure about their family not being normal.

"This is not a normal family."

"It could be."

though bob had good intentions, the message of the show is not trying to be normal when you aren't. whatever it is about you that makes you weird or different, whatever you've been through that changed you, stay true to it. dont bottle it up and try to be someone else. all of vecnas victims in s4 were doing this, and it didn't end well for them.

they even did it with dustin and suzie. dustin constantly tries to impress max with his teeth, then in season 3 he says suzie thinks kissing is better without teeth. he doesn't have to be insecure about that or try to impress her. she likes him for him.

mike isn't comfortable being his true self around el either. he's insecure about his interests, he feels like he has to act older and cooler to impress her.

you shouldn't be with the person you feel you have to impress. you should be with the person who relieves that pressure, who makes you feel like being the authentic you is enough.

jonathan and nancy, lucas and max, joyce and hopper, dustin and suzie,

cough WILL AND MIKE cough...

[lunii-vii]

I don't think enough people talk about how revolutionary Byler Churchgate would be in s5.

Like, two boys sharing their first kiss and/or declaring their love in an abandoned church (especially after a massive fight where their sexualities were the main focus) would be such a massive "Fuck You" to homophobes. Why?

Because people would be angry.

Religious people would claim that it was "religious intolerance" or that it disrespected the Bible to have two men kiss in a place of worship, even if said place of worship was literally abandoned and overtaken by a very demonic force. It would make headlines on bigoted news sites and toxic people would shout "DON'T WATCH STRANGER THINGS!" from the rooftops.

You might be thinking, "How could controversy be good?"

But the entire moral premise of Stranger Things is based around anti-conformity and the celebration of people who are different in a hateful small town. It attempts to give a voice to the "different" (through biracial couples, queer people, "nerds," etc) and take away the voices of oppressors (racists, abusers, homophobes, etc). "Disrespecting" an establishment where a large amount of this forced conformity and discrimination has occurred would be so symbolic and culturally significant, especially when coupled with the amount of internalized homophobia that both of the boys have struggled with throughout the series. It would represent both the show's defiance towards discrimination as well as Mike and Will's.

A huge portion of the fanbase is already losing the entire point of the show (with Billy stans, Stobin shippers, etc) and it's ruining the message of the show entirely. Having such a controversial scene that is in favor of the minority would be astonishing.

It would also help remind the audience that forced conformity doesn't work. Homophobia could not keep Mike and Eleven's relationship together, and religion cannot make people straight. Two queer boys can still overcome the bigotry, and they can still express their love while in a bigoted establishment.

On the other hand, it would simultaneously make the point that the church isn't inherently bad. Religion doesn't need to be oppressive, and it is okay for you to be queer and religious.

On another note, Joyce and Hopper had that dramatic make-out session in a church in s4, and I don't recall many people having any lasting qualms with it. It would be such the perfect moment to call out the homophobia and contradictions that often appear in religion- Why is it OK for straight people to kiss in a place of worship, but not for two boys to do the same thing?

Having this carefully planned opposition towards homophobia in such a mainstream show, especially one that is not specifically labeled "queer," would be so impactful. I hope I converted some of y'all to being Churchgaters. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

TLDR: Byler Churchgate is cool.

[lovemikewheeler]

In the context of byler, Lucas would be Mike’s wingman 100% I can just see it. He would be the first to notice their growing romantic tension and would indirectly try and get them together. Lucas is the #1 Mike supporter and he is also the #1 byler shipper. I can see the vision, I have a clear vision of wingman Lucas

[faelorelia]

No matter what anyone influential says, I’ll always be a Byler shipper. Even if the entire fandom abandons them, I’ll be their last shipper. I know a sweet childhood best friends-to-lovers story when I see one, and I’ll choose slow burn over a cheap love-at-first-sight cliché any day. 😌

[lizbetlovesbyler]

ex milkvan ride-or-die shipper and i am convinced the majority of modern day milkvan shippers are people who didn’t watch the show until it became super popular in 2022 when s4 was coming out.

like, there is a difference between binging all four seasons of a show and having years of wait between each one.

the time between each one gives you time to reflect on what you might see next season. as a milkvan truther after watching the first 2 seasons of the show in 2018, i was super excited for season 3 because we could see mike and eleven finally be together after their sweet reunion in the s2 finale.

and then…they literally break up in the first 2 episodes 😭

all my expectations flew straight out the window. i remember sitting there like “oh…wait what?” not necessarily disappointed (probably idk i was like 13) but super confused. even when they kissed at the end i hated it because it was just such an awkward kiss omdsssss😑

fast forward 3 years then i’m 16 and in a lesbian relationship and milkvan is just not hitting any spots. can’t remember what my expectations were for them, but i hated their reunion and didn’t have high hopes for them after that. (high hopes looked at the “i love you” scene, laughed, and left forever)

it was after vol2 was out and marinated when i started to see byler for what it was, because much like milkvan itself, each new season broke down all the expectations i had for them whilst byler only thrived.

binging all four seasons completely in one go strips this kind of trial and error experience away from you, you’re less likely to have grown accustomed to the writing and predict what will happen next time. (not suggesting bingers who joined in 2022 and post cant have picked up on byler too, it’s just a bit more difficult for the average person so pat yourself on the back if that’s your experience)

hence why i see so many new milkvans claim s5 is gonna be the season where they’re finally the power couple we thought they’d be back in 2018…and they weren’t.

“they’re gonna get married and 🤫 and have superpowered babies!”…what in the muthr fokc?

the only power they ever had was the power of heteronormativity

still love their pairing, but they’d be so much more powerful as friends like they were in the beginning