#anyways Byler is Endgame

[jonathanbyersphd]

Something about Lucas & Max spending the entirety of s4 repairing their relationship and something else about Mike & Will repairing theirs too and Lucas ends the season by Max's side and Mike ends the season by - *is taken out back and there's gunshots*

[imo-byler-endgame]

Why i'll always ship Byler;

In spite of risking being told i'm extremely selfish for what i am about to say, i'm gonna say it.

The main reason i ship Byler, a reason that changed through the years because the story has been developing, is Will's unconditional and selfless love for Mike.

And it's not an 'i ship them because i feel bad for Will' it's an 'i ship Byler because Will is willing to break his own heart for Mike and also, Mike really deserves to be loved that fiercely'.

This is where i think people might think i'm being selfish, because, what about Mike's feelings? what about El's feelings? A couple is not just about one of the people in it feelings. And please believe me i know that, i've been there myself, being on a relationship just because the other person wanted me when i really didn't.

But the truth is, look at the three of them and tell me to my face the relationship and communication between El and Mike goes as deep as the one Mike and Will have. Please, tell me so and convince that that El will be as heartbroken as Will was in s4 while trying to fix Mike and El's relationship.

I've been thinking a lot about the fight at Rink-O-Mania only to understand that Will really wanted to see Mike, he even made the painting for him, he has been in love with Mike all the time he's been in Lenora, while his heart kept breaking everytime he didn't get a phonecall or a letter from Mike while El did.

Will still went all his way out with his painting and his happy face to the airport just to be met with awkwardness and a cold shoulder pat from the boy he's in love with.

There's no time nor way to bring a different love interest for Will at this point, he is just not gonna get over Mike, probably ever. Which means we'll never see him heal from a rejection if it was to happen in s5.

Are they really gonna end an *actually * uplifting show about friendship, unconditional love and being different being a good thing on such a sad note?

Could happen, but it would break my heart if it was the outcome of everything we've seen on Stranger Things.

It's obvious that two of the characters that suffered the most on this story are El and Will, there's no way around it. And you could ask, why should Will get the happy ending with the boy he loves but not El?

And to that i really want to ask you, can't she get a happy ending without Mike? Because so far she seems pretty miserable while being with him.

And that's super important to me.

El is being miserable when she is with Mike, while Will is being miserable when he feels he can't have Mike.

Sure, Mike is his own character and there''s a lot to say about him, so let's look at him for a minute. Which relationship looks more fullfilling for Mike at this point in the story? He is boy with a severe case of low self-esteem and feeling inadequate.

Look at him at the beginning of s4, while you see Dustin going to look for Lucas's replacement for the dnd session, he goes to the people he knows. He asks Steve, Max and ultimatively he comes up with the idea of asking Erica.

Mike is seen looking for his sister first, who says no and it makes sense, because even though she was nice years ago to the boys dressing up as an elf for a campaign, now he has to look outside, talking to people he probably doesn't even know, because since the Byers and El left Hawkins, it has not been the same, and yes, there's Lucas, Max and Dustin, but it's not the same for him. Mike lost something when the Byers left Hawkins, something he's gonna bring home by the end of s4.

I'm obviously talking about William.

He said he was gonna get Will home, and that's something he has always done. He was able to find El in Mirkwood, the one person who could help them find Will when he went missing. He was on the shed telling the most heart wrenching story of how important was the day he met Will for him and managed to help getting through Will's possession, hence finding a way to bring Will home again.

The one time Mike didn't manage to bring Will back; "Will, come on, you can't leave, it's raining" everything went downhill and it ended with the Byers and El leaving Hawkins.

But once again, when everything went to shit in Hawkins and they needed El and Will back, Mike was already in Lenora and it ended on all of them, once again, getting back home to Hawkins.

But what is home? Is it Hawkins? Is it Mike's basement?

As Mike himself says, he feels he lost Will and now Hawkins is not the same. Maybe Hawkins doesn't feel like home the way it did before. Maybe "home" is not the same without Will in it.

Or maybe that one phrase saying "home is where the heart is" is right and says a lot about Mike's feelings.

[miwiromantics]

Dustin: Alright give me your hair dryer.

Will: what are you talking about?

Dustin: don’t you carry one everywhere?

Will: have you ever met a gay person?

Dustin: hey, do you carry a hair dryer with you?

Eddie (over the phone): of course, im not an animal.

Will: *shakes his head*

[queen-of-hawkins-why-ler]

I think Byler hits so different as a ship because of how damn unlikely the circumstances are and also because the stakes are so high. Like, in what universe do you fall in love with your best friend over the course of ten years? And in what universe can you expect that love to be reciprocated? To feel those feelings and that love about someone you know so deeply must be terrifying, as is the idea of them rejecting you, which would be devastating but also fully expected.

Add onto that the fact that they are both gay in a time where being gay was taboo and just not seen as a genuine option. Mike and Will are hopelessly, desperately in love with each other—with their own best friends—and they both believe that this friendship that is so important to them comes under threat because of the love. Like, both boys probably partially resent themselves for even putting their relationship at risk by daring to have feelings for each other.

It’s so damn unlikely to have a slowburn romance with your best friend over the course of a lifetime. It’s even more unlikely for your best friend to reciprocate your feelings. It is the most unlikely thing of all for your seemingly straight best friend to surprise you by revealing that they are gay too and that they’re in love with you. Like… can you even imagine how intense it will be for Mike and Will to realize all of this in the span of a few seconds? They’re both banking on rejection and that their love is an impossibility. But in one swift kiss or confession, the truth will come out and the weight on both of their shoulders will be lifted.

Also, I simply can’t imagine how intense it would be to know that your best friend who you’ve been in love with as long as you can remember is in love with you back. It’s almost too good, too fantastic to be true even for straight couples and even for people in real life. Like, the reality is that most of us can’t even fathom how intense a love like that would be. It’s truly a once in a lifetime, romance of the century kind of thing. Add onto that the fact that neither Mike nor Will knows that the other is gay let alone reciprocates. The moment they realize will be so intense that I’m all out of words to use to be able to describe it. It will be indescribable.

[seagull9111]

did you know that if byler was a straight couple this whole thing would be considered a "perfect love story"...

[everythinghasbeenmadealready]

i need a byler parallel where they’re holding hands. every canon couple has had a “ holding hands when scared” scene. i need byler to have one 😔

i am fully expecting mike and will to have a scene paralleling one of these

[michaelqueerler]

how did they even get away with this

HES STRUGGLING TO BREATH-

THE BLINKING

His eyes moving from one eye TO THE other

LIKE WHYS HE STUDYING WILLS FACE LIPS LIKE that BRO

his eye twitched-

and WILLS NOT EVEN LOOKING AT HIM in those ^^

then there's that ^^

[ybwmia]

not trying to be mean but some of y'all people on here sometimes forget there's an actual plot in the show and not everything is about byler. let's use common sense and stop saying "omg, Nancy is crying, that must be because her brother is gay and absolutely not because her sister is a potential vecna victim and her mother is in the hospital! byler endgame!" yes, byler is endgame and yes you're all allowed to make your own theories about season five but let's not reduce characters/plots just to a ship. maybe let's focus on the stuff that actually counts as byler proof like the fact that we haven't seen Eleven and Mike together in the teaser or at all since january and for what we know, Mike and Will (+ the og party) are gonna spend most of season five together which will lead to them ending up together because otherwise all the build-up wouldn't make sense

[weepywhalewatcher]

im so hilarjous,,, please laugh at my joke i beg 🙏

[somesaintiam]

reminder that Will Byers canonically hates himself and believes he doesnt deserve love(specifically romantic from what weve seen) and if the ending of stranger things proves him right by making him end up alone that would make no sense!! it would also be just disrespect to the character since that would mean Will's feelings were simply used to strengthen mike and el's relationship!! that is sickening!!

[hellinhawkins]

oh and also. in s1 I recall steve singing whenever he was inviting nancy (was it to the movies?). she turned him down and he left. would you consider that another mileven-stancy parallel?

[tetri-mina]

Milkvans n Bylers when Byler endgame

[love-bylerstuff]

Byler makes more sense than mildew ever will. Eleven asked Mike to be her brother right before he kissed her. Mike was only using her to find will, then he said he would turn her in. Both of these things are from season one before outside things were brought in.

[miwiromantics]

Colouring did by dear @i-promise-i-am-not-on-drugs AGDJSJSKWKKWKEJEJODVJKDL SOO PRETTY

[newlesbianprideflag]

joyce pulling will mike and jonathan aside at the byler wedding reception because she wants to get a photo with all three of her sons

[bylersboy]

can’t stop thinking about season three when will destroyed castle byers… it was built after lonnie left and it was this way of reclaiming the parts of will that weren’t able to be expressed with lonnie under the same roof. so when will destroyed it after feeling so ignored and dismissed by mike it felt like him trying to destroy himself. his identity. his queerness. because it didn’t feel right anymore. it felt shameful and it felt like something that he had to get rid of.