#byler analysis

[eilissxx]

the detail i noticed about this two photos

so it’s the same scene. in the first photo we can see that all guys are sitting opposite their trays, except for will, who’s standing behind mike to see better the map or something. but in the second photo there are only two trays and they are opposite each other.

initially, mike and will were sitting just the two of them.

[human-being-on-earth]

this is sending me

did you know that green socks are a symbol often associated with queer men?

i follow Eleanor Medhurst, a lesbian fashion historian, on tiktok. she made this video researching green’s role in queer color history and stumbled upon the presence of green socks as a symbol for queer men in the U.S. in the 1960s.

the tradition dates back to before Celtic tribes inhabited the British Isles when “the British Isles were inhabited by a darker-skinned pagan tribal culture known as the Brownies or, alternately, the Fairies.” Their culture emphasized non-patriarchal values and sexual liberation, which most likely included same-sex relationships. If you’ve ever heard of queer men being referred to as fairies, this is why.

Green was a color often sported by these people. Alongside this, Thursday was a holy day, hence the old superstition/saying that wearing green on Thursdays means you’re queer.

Phillip Hiscock, an assistant archivist and cited source in Medhurst’s video, stated, “To wear green socks, by the same people*, was thought to be a sure token of queerness, of being homosexual.”

*people who took care to wear green on Thursdays

Source: Venetia Newall, ‘Folklore and Male Homosexuality’

I think it’s definitely interesting that the writers chose to emphasize Mike’s choice of green socks in this episode!

[glisten-inthedark]

I will always defend Mike Wheeler, for real.

This boy lost his friend, thought he died, grew attached to someone else because of survivors guilt, thought he lost her too, saw his friend being possessed and thought he'd die and all of this while he's struggling with coming to terms with who he is and his sexuality.

He deserves as much love and as many hugs as Will does and I'll stand by it.

[kiirotoao]

Kinda wild how many talking opportunities that Will poses to Mike during their fights. And not about themselves - about anything else - and yet, Mike always finds a way to bring it back to Will. In the rain fight, Will brings up being in the mood to play D&D, Dustin, and El. In the Rink-O-Mania fight, he brings up the bullying, El lying to him, and the letters. Mike had all the chances to segue into some argument over them, but what does he say?

“You’re destroying everything, and for what? So you can swap spit with some stupid girl?” “El’s not stupid! It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!”

“I didn’t know she was lying to you!” “Which is why you decided to be a douche to her all day?” “I wasn’t being a douche!” “You were! You were - you were rolling your eyes, you were - you were moping, you were barely talking, you basically sabotaged the whole day!” “Well, she was lying to you, Mike! Straight to your face, ever since you got here!”

Like, Michael. Dude. Stay on topic. Will even tries to redirect him in the Rink-O-Mania fight, like, hey, this is about El, remember? but Mike can’t seem to get the memo. Just after this, he quickly turns right back around to discuss “well, what about us?”

Keep Will out of the forefront of your mind challenge failed spectacularly, Mike.

[meloqnspblog]

A small problem about birthdaygate

So, I just realized something about birthdaygate which no one has explained yet 😭. Before I start, I absolutely love birthdaygate, it's my favorite theory and at this point is literally canon. But, what about Will's 16th bday in 1987? S5 takes place in November 1987. Will they go over it or will they also forget his bday that year too?

[bigbazoxngas]

I’m Your Man - Mitski, 2023 / Mike Wheeler - Stranger Things, 2016

inspired by this post!

[love-byers]

been a minute since i posted this gif

[bylerlipglances]

[myname1sca1]

When Finn Wolfhard's nervous lying tell (pursing his lips) shows in his acting

[ghostlyaces]

Byler Kiss 🤭

[sirfrogthe3rd]

"If an artist falls in love with you, you can never die."

[fiendforbyler]

SO YOU ARE TELLING ME THAT THIS HAS ‘ROMANTIC UNDERTONES’??? OH I’M GOING TO BE SICK

my miwi 😭❤️

[zom61eboy]

Let’s say Mileven is endgame. Do you think it is a satisfying way to fix their relationship problems in s4 by using Will’s painting and Will’s feelings (disguised as El’s) to inspire Mike and give him the courage to confess to her? Are there any other pairings that needed external help to save their relationship?

And not only they needed external help but a gay character’s feelings were used to fix a straight relationship. If they are such a great pairing why not use something that El actually said/did to inspire Mike? Why did Will have to resort to lying and using his own thoughts to help Mike?

If the Duffers wanted to make them look like they have a beautiful and strong relationship they could have written it differently. But they didn’t.

And besides that, imagine how bad it would look for them if a gay character was used as a plot device to further a heterosexual relationship.

[glisten-inthedark]

I'm going to be petty and point out that Mil*ven shippers clearly see Byler as a genuine threat.

Because while they claim that Mike is straight and can't reciprocate Will's feelings, they sure as hell go out of their way to tear everything we say apart.

If they truly think that Mike is straight and completely in love with El, then why are they so desperate to negate everything that has come out of season 5 and everything we've said about the show and the pair itself so far?

They should just stop at "Mike is straight and in love with El" and leave at that and for some reason – they can't.

They'll call Will names, they will call us name and some will claim that Byler won't happen just because Mike and El have been together from the start.

[lizbetlovesbyler]

my biggest personal byler proof is just how much they remind me of my first queer relationship before we started dating

queer characters are incredibly easy to fuck over, even without intention. often spelled out or intensely sexualised to prevent misunderstandings for a mostly heterosexual audience, queer storylines are exaggerated and thus become unrealistic.

stranger things doesn’t do that with its queer characters. take robin:

this scene is done beautifully. genuinely beautifully.

robin admits her feelings for tammy and how she locked them away, not just because tammy didn’t like her back, but because she is a queer girl in the 80s. her feelings are unnatural and unwelcome in hawkins.

steve’s acceptance of robin in this scene makes people forget how horrifically this could have ended:

As for Mike and Will

you don’t write a perfect representation of mutual teenage queer pining between childhood friends by accident.

queer pining is quiet and suppressed (especially for young people and ESPECIALLY in the 80s). It is unhealthy to suppress these feelings the way queer people tend to, it’s beyond the typical “secret crushes” straight people experience. queer pining can destroy people when they’re not supported.

through robins character, and wills arc in season four, we can see clearly the duffer brothers understand the nature of queer love, and wish to do it justice.

will ending up with some random last minute jock is unrealistic and does not do his character justice.

mike staying in an insecure relationship, constantly worried his girlfriend will grow out of him and leave him, rather than accepting will’s unconditional love for him, accepting his own love for will and letting himself be who he is, does not do his character justice.

even so, if they tried to set up byler in a way that would come across clear to the GA, it would, by default, become unrealistic and unrepresentative.

neither are yet able to admit to close friends and family they are queer, but they are supposed to convey that part of themselves to an (understandably) dense/heteronormative mainstream audience?

queer teenage love is not the same as straight teenage love, it doesn’t shock me that the majority of the audience isn’t able to pick up on byler beyond wills feelings, and they’re not supposed to.

we all say what we see, they don’t see the queer love brewing because they’ve never experienced it, they’ve never been mike and they’ve never been will. they’ve been max and lucas and nancy, steve, jonathan, etc etc

doesn’t make their heteronormative perspective accurate, they are just straight. they understand will and mike the same they do lucas and dustin. mike says they are friends, they have no reason to think otherwise. they do not know what queer love actually looks like, the duffer brothers do. the actors do. we do.

you are not delusional. you are queer.

if byler was widely agreed upon at this point in the story, it would not be an accurate representation of queer romance. that is the point.

my moneys on the latter and they better get every award for it.

[meloqnspblog]

Mike is NOT as oblivious as you'd think

This is kind of a rant and something that's been on my mind for a while. I love Bylers and I love all the theories we make and everything we discuss, but one big flaw a lot of Bylers have is - they believe Mike is oblivious and doesn't understand anything.

This couldn't be further from the truth. He's not oblivious, he's just in denial/in the closet!! And sure, Dustin said he thinks Mike is oblivious, but his actions truly prove otherwise:

He never gave up on Will and was the one giving the most ideas/possibilities

He figured out Will was a spy

He noticed Will being upset at Rink O' Mania

He noticed Will crying in the van scene, he just didn't say anything

So, based on all of this, do we really still believe that Mike knows absolutely nothing about Will's feelings? I'm not saying he's 100% confidend/knows for sure, but there's no way he doesn't suspect things at least a little.