#byler theories

[stranger-theory]

i feel the need to bring up that in The Dustin Experiment, there's a scene where Mike is venting to Dustin about El being in California and Dustin understands his "lady problems" until Mike starts stuttering and mentions Will and Dustin mentally acknowledges that he suddenly doesn't understand what Mike's talking about.

[cloudycleric]

i don’t get why people don’t think byler isn’t at least a POSSIBILITY. it baffles me. why would the show even entertain will having a big fat crush on mike if there wasn’t a chance at them getting together? you don’t just do that in writing. logically, their relationship must be explored, & in order to make the plot interesting to the viewer, there needs to be the question on whether or not they will get together. byler has always been on the table, & it’s not delusional to think it will happen. because it will.

[byler-is-life]

How homophobic people felt in July 2022 after saying that Will wasn’t gay even though in the first 2 god damn episodes of season 4 Eleven told Mike in a letter that she thought Will’s painting was for someone he liked and then Will’s GAY ASS took it to the AIRPORT. AND THEN GAVE IT TO MIKE TO MAKE HIM FEEL BETTER ABOUT EL NOT NEEDING HIM ANYMORE BECAUSE HE [mike] SAID IN THE LAST EPISODE OF SEASON 3 THAT HE LIKES PRESENTS.

[bylertruth3r]

Everyone go watch this Byler video made by @teambyler it was made really well and it explains a lot of things about Mike and Will's relationship

[maiya-was-here]

i just thought of this idea for st5 ok picture this:

will gets vecnaed but only mikes there. their at the farm and mike doesnt have any music or like cds so he pulls out his acoustic guitar (which he brought for campfire singalongs obv)

so he is like hysterically sobbing rn bc hes so scared of losing will, and he starts to play boys dont cry. his singing is super jolted bc hes crying so hard (its ironic cause the songs called boys dont cry)

and then will wakes up from vecna and theyre both hugging and sobbing and theres an ily confession or wtv and it turns out that mike learned the song bc he wanted to sing it for will at the campfire

if this doesnt happen im suing like mike literally had a guitar in his room in s4 and what could be a guitar strap in that pic from ross at the start of the year

but like i can just picture mike sobbing while singing DESPERATLEY trying to wake will up ok like i would DIE

i would make fanart of this but i cant draw so if anyone wants to id love to see

[whats-youre-deadname]

"Byler rain confession" This " Mike realize's -" that. NOoOoOo!

MURRY IS GOING TO GET MAD AT PEOPLE AND WILL WILL BE ONE. HES GONNA SAY SOMETHING LIKE "ALL BECAUSE WILL'S IN LOVE WITH MIKE" AND EVERYONE IN THE ROOM WILL LOOK A WILL THEN THE CAMERA WITH GO TO MIKE WITH A CONFUSED\SHOCKED SORT OF EMOTIONLESS FACE AND THEN MOVE TO WILL FOR A SECOND BEFORE HE RUNS OUT, MAYBE LUCAS OR DUSTIN REACHING THERE HAND OUT A LITTLE BIT AND CALLING OUT FOR WILL. EVERYONE'S GONNA KINDA LOOK AT BOTH MURRY AND WILL, THEN JOYCE IS GONNA QUICKLY RUN OUT OF THE ROOM AFTER HIM. THE NEXT SCENE WILL BE WILL IS SITTING SOMEWHERE PROBABLY OUTSIDE AND JOYCE IS GONNA SIT NEXT TO HIM AND GIVE HIM A REALLY EMOTIONAL PEP TALK THAT WILL MAKE VIEWERS CRY MAYBE. THEN SOMEWHERE SHE'LL SLIP IN "i knew" WITHOUT THINKING THEN WILL WILL WIPE HIS TEARS AWAY AND KINDA LOOK AT HER AND THEY'LL BOTH SMILE AT EACHOTHER AND HUG. NEXT SCENE JOYCE AND WILL WILL GO BACK TO THE ROOM AND SEE ONLY MIKE IS IN THERE NOW, MAYBE SITTING ON A SEAT SOMEWHERE AND HE'LL STAND UP AS HE SEE'S WILL, JOYCE WILL WHISPER TO WILL "I'll leave you to.." AND LEAVE THE ROOM. MIKE AND WILL WILL HAVE AN EVEN MORE EMOTIONAL TALK ABOUT FEELINGS AND SHIT AND IT WILL END WITH A REALLY PASSIONATE KISS AND WILL GO LIKE " *Kiss - Break away and stare at eachother for a second then Kiss again but this time his passion and there hands will be on eachothers faces-*" AND THATS ONE OF MY BYLER CONFESS THEORIES!!!

btw mike and will would have some subtle but also not so-subtle gay turmoil throughout the season leading up to this.. Murry didn't get mad in a homophobic way btw...

[madmax5]

it’s essay time yayayay!! this one is gonna be a song analysis/stranger things 5 speculation about “a different corner” by george michael.

now as you may have guessed, this will, of course, be an analysis of this song in relation to byler (both perspectives) and why it would make sense for this song, if it were in the show, to be over some kind of scene of them.

ok so first of all. the first thing that really caught my eye (or ear, i guess) with this song was the synth-type backing instrumentals. it sounds so much like something that would be used as background music in the show -- though if it was they would probably use an instrumental version, just to avoid the distraction of singing during an important scene (as i am about to lay out!).

second of all, the lyrics, of course. but first some background and context on the song!

this song was released in July of 1986 as a part of wham!’s album “music from the edge of the world,” though the song was accredited to george michael, as he wrote the entire thing, as well as doing all the vocals and instruments for the song. if you’ve listened to the song or read the lyrics, you can probably guess that it is about some kind of relationship -- and you would be right! when discussing where this song originated from in various interviews, george michael confirmed multiple times that the song was written and recorded in the wake of an ended relationship. 

george michael, who was openly gay after coming out in 1998, also once said in an interview about the song, “it’s amazing how emotional you can get in a short period of time and how long it can last. someone can really shake you up and it takes you a long time to get yourself back on your feet.” (obviously this doesn’t exactly fit mike and will, as they’ve known each other for a very long time, i just thought it was an interesting quote about the song and maybe something that can apply to how clearly devoted they are to each other, whether it be platonic or romantic)

now actually onto the lyrics!! here are a few lines that jumped out at me while i was listening --

“i would promise you all my life, but to lose you would cut like a knife.”

honestly i think this line makes sense from either of their perspectives. from mike’s perspective, obviously he’s afraid to lose will because of the numerous times he has lost him (physically and emotionally) in the past. will is so important to mike that, of course, this loss would be brutal for him and would “cut [him] like a knife.” from will’s perspective, he very clearly really likes mike (maybe even loves him) and wants to “promise [mike] all of [his] life,” but of course, he won’t do that, because he’s afraid of the reaction mike might have. if mike isn’t similarly interested in will, then will risks losing mike if he has a bad reaction to will’s confession. just as will is to mike, mike is incredibly important to will, and this would be a devastating loss -- not just the loss of someone he’s romantically interested in, but the loss of his best friend.

“no, i’ve never come close in all of these years, you are the only one to stop my tears, and i’m so scared of this love.”

to me, this line means something like, “i’ve never loved someone like this and you mean so much to me and are so important to me, but i’m scared of what this feeling means.” obviously there may be different interpretations of what it means, that’s just what it struck me as at first listen (200 listens…). this can be directly applied to, once again, either of them. this may be how will was feeling when he first realized that what he felt for mike wasn’t strictly platonic, whenever that was. this could also be mike’s reaction when he realizes how he feels about will. he’s “never loved someone like this” because (if we’re assuming mike is gay, which could very well not be the case! there’s is still a pretty big chance he also likes girls) he hasn’t been able to really be interested in a girl before, not like the rest of his friends are, not like he thinks he’s supposed to be, so being able to experience that feeling when it comes to will is eye opening to him. and, of course, this is realization terrifying because of his copious amounts of internalized homophobia (there isn’t an essay long enough in the entire world to get into that) and the homophobia that is casually thrown around in small-town indiana in the ‘80s. 

also, on a similar train of thought….

“take me back in time, maybe i can forget, turn a different corner and we never would have met.”

mike probably has wished before/will wish at some point that he had never realized how he felt about will. once again, his internalized homophobia and adamant denial of his feelings are probably making life feel very difficult for him and he probably, in a moment of weakness, has wished to go back to when it was simple. i don’t think he would go as far as to wish he and will had never met, but you never know. 

"i should go back to being lonely and confused, if i could, i would, i swear."

will said to joyce at the beginning of season three that he was "not gonna fall in love." he probably has felt some level of loneliness (in the romantic/relationship sense) throughout his life, both from the lack of ability to be in an openly gay, but still safe, relationship during that time period, and also from the lack of ability to discuss relationships with his friends in a fully relatable way without outing himself to them. when he realized his feelings for mike, it is very possible that he wasn't happy about the way he felt and instead wished he could go back to being "lonely and confused," rather than living with the knowledge that he was in love with his best friend (a very hard thing to grapple with).

i could totally see this song being in the show, whether it be in a more symbolic (playing over the radio in the background of a scene), less recognizable (an instrumental version under a conversation), or completely direct (playing through a scene of a conversation/under a scene of them/etc.) sense. the symbolism would be so cool and it totally fits the vibes of the soundtrack, in my opinion. it’s also perfectly lined up with the time frame (especially with a time jump) -- added bonus!

thank you for reading this crazy long (literally over 1000 words) essay. i literally had so much fun writing this -- i LOVE song analysis!!!

[iluvbylerandalotofthings]

I don’t know what I want more, an angsty almost impulsive kiss.

Or a fluffy kiss where both of them see it coming.

But the point is, BYLER KISS!

[willbyersenthusiast]

just saw the new single ‘the first i love you(orchestral version)’ and i have literally zero byler doubt anymore. like i know it’s happening. if someone were to walk up to me and ask me “is byler endgame?” id say yes 100% without a doubt. we won. like this is it. we won.

byler is going to be the final endgame couple.

[claiireluv]

flickergate we are SO FUCKING BACK

[stranger-theory]

no but fr why do Milevens always say that Mike is 100% in love with El just because he said it.

like, hello??? do any of you remember the whole Stancy dilemma? she confused loving him with wanting to love him. she said "i love you" because she wanted it to be true, not because it was.

which is exactly why mike said he loves eleven but call me crazy

[meowjames]

sooo i was thinkg about the fact that almost ONE byers is in this scene with elmike bc there is byers family car, right?

so jane cant drive we know that, that means that there is another byers (joyce, jonathan, WILL) and it really can be any of them BUT i was watching that wsqk just post the lyrics of boys dont cry and if it isnt will byers idk what it is lmao

IM NOT 100% SURE THAT THIS IS A OFICIAL ST ACC.

but cmon why mike would run faster than jane if isnt for will byers?

[byler-is-life]

Hey so I might be insane but what if I told you the old Byers’ house still has a part of the upside down in it (and no one has bought it yet), so to weaken Vecna, Mike and Will go there in the middle of the night and spill gasoline all over the place and light it up with a cigarette and then it explodes into flames and Will collapses on the ground because it’s a hive mind and he’s still connected to it all, and Mike just holds him until it’s over. Then what.

[phoebebuggers]

my two cents on this only because i saw people talking about hosegate again:

the statements "teenagers are allowed to and do experience sexuality" and "hosegate is mostly likely bs" are not mutually exclusive

[byler-alarmist]

The ST Experience is my Roman Empire

[maiya-was-here]

what’s your fav byler theory??

oooh ok so in terms of like gates i LOVE flickergate (sm so that my brain has accepted it as truth like if it doesnt happen in s5 i will SUE)

but my personal theory is that both mike and will get vecnad and both of their visions are of eachother dying. then they find eachother in their visions at the swings 🥹

ty for the ask!!