#hsm byler

[there-was-a-hole-here-itsgonenow]

We saw the HSM 2 Troy/Gabriella and Byler side-by-side last year.

And, due to being on a Disney-related trip with my brother and his girlfriend recently while HSM music blasted in the car (courtesy of his girlfriend), I thought back to the above and started thinking about what other potential HSM references would be great to get in s5.

Specifically from the third and final film soundtrack.

Just Wanna Be With You:

So the HSM 2 reference we got for s4 was Troy and Gabriella splitting up for a bit after some bad miscommunication (to sum it up simply). From HSM 3 we have “Just Wanna Be With You,” the couple’s concluding romantic song for the series. And it’s so, so sweet and what Mike and Will deserve to communicate to each other. But more than that, there’s so much of the song that just fits the dynamic they have had from the start! A dynamic that we on this tag know so well!

Read some of these lyrics and just envision Byler TwT:

“We're being pulled

A hundred different directions

But whatever happens

I know I've got you

You're on my mind

You're in my heart

It doesn't matter where we are

We'll be alright

Even if we're miles apart

All I wanna do

Is be with you, be with you

There's nothing we can't do

I just wanna be with you, only you

No matter where life takes us

Nothing can break us apart

You know it's true

I just wanna be with you”

…

“You know how life can be

It changes over night

It's sunny then raining

But it's alright

A friend like you

Always makes it easy

I know that you get me

Every time

Through every up

Through every down

You know I'll always be around

Through anything you can count on me”

I have… so many feelings about this song for Byler. Something I love is that Troy and Gabriella are in love with each other and the song establishes they are friends too. We all know that’s one of the best parts of Mike and Will’s relationship: their friendship!! Their friendship will be at the core of their romance! And just ‘understanding/getting each other and falling back on each other’ and being in each other’s minds and hearts… It’s everything they have but deserve more of too! In truly getting to be together as friends and more than friends!

Not to mention life changing overnight, ups and downs… but they have the ability to make things easier on each other (when subtracting miscommunication and societal norms getting in the way, Mike and Will are able to open up and lean on each other in ways they can’t with anyone else). And what is all Will wants to do? Play DnD with Mike in his basement for the rest of his life. He just wants to be with him 🥲

Also just… IMAGINE getting anything resembling sequences like this for s5 Byler:

(Fanfic balcony wishes)

(This is while they are singing “I just want to be with you”)

(And this lil scene involves playing around with paint; I can’t dEAL!! The vision is there and it’s so precious!!!)

In conclusion: more HSM Byler would be very welcomed!!!!

The Boys are Back:

This is me wanting to be spoiled with OG Party scenes. But seriously though!! This song works for the Party! The whole song is about Troy and Chad thinking back on their childhoods and reliving the pretend games they played as kids—like detectives, spies, and superheroes. We even get a flash of their younger selves!

You can spin some of the lyrics to meaningfully fit the context of the Party (but unlike playing pretend games as kids and teens, the Party’s DnD games keep manifesting into reality). Some of the best ones include:

“Take it back to the place when

You know it all began

We can be anything we wanna be

You can tell by the noise that

The boys are back again

Together making history”

&

“Here to change the world

To solve the mystery

Fight the battle

Save the girl…

No one can stop us now

We’re the ones that make the rules”

Of course they’re [now] all back in the same place everything began, Hawkins (more full circle relation). Changing the world in the way ‘classic’ heroes do: solving mysteries and fighting battles (both Vecna-related + Will’s painting), but also saving/helping save [Max]. I believe the victories in each example will come because the ‘rules’ (Vecna’s ways of order) are going to be flipped and fought against.

More to be said here but the above speaks for itself. Overall, the main thought is our boys are coming back together again and will make some history. The song is framed as confident and assured, as if a big bad will be overcome. I love the thought of this for the Party!

Scream:

And this one, I feel, fits Mike the most. In HSM 3, this song is about Troy feeling torn about what to do with his life after highschool: go with a basketball scholarship his father has always forced on him or a Juliard scholarship he didn’t apply for. He’s having an absolute mental breakdown trying figure out what he’ll do, a big emphasis being that he wants his own personal choice without feeling forced one way or another. Not to mention, worried about being separated from Gabriella as she got accepted to a college far away from either college option he’s being presented.

With lyrics like these, it’s not hard to associate them with Mike at all (too many feel so on-the-nose too):

“Voices in my head

Tell me they know best

Got me on the edge

They're pushin', pushin', they're pushin'

I know they've got a plan

But the ball's in my hands

This time is man-to-man

I'm drivin', fightin', inside of

A world that's upside down”

…

“I don't know where to go

What's the right team

I want my own thing

So bad I'm gonna scream

I can't chose, so confused

What's it all mean

I want my own dream

So bad I'm gonna scream!

I'm kicking down the walls

I gotta make them fall

Just break through them all

I'm punchin', crushin', I'm gonna

Fight to find myself

Me, and no one else

Which way, I can't tell

I'm searchin', searchin', can't find a

Way that I should turn

I should, to right or left, it

It's like nothing works

Without you”

(This next part is just… scarily beyond fitting)

“… the clock's running down,

Hear the crowd getting loud

I'm consumed by the sound!

Is it her?

Is it love?

Can the music ever be enough?”

Truly… do I even need to explain that? Any of this for ST context?? Mike not only trying to find himself but trying to fight for it… all this on-the-money Vecna and Vecna’d correlation… Not to mention the part about wanting his own ‘dream’—as if dreams already aren’t a huge theme in ST! There’s just so much in the realm of possibility with “Scream”!

Let me put emphasis on this scene too:

“A world that's upside down

It's spinning faster

What do I do now

Without you?”

If this were a reference for a Mike scene… god just think of the serious angst this could entail. Especially if Mike and Will got separated or during Mike’s Vecna’d scenario (playing upon his fear of losing Will all over again). In some version of the UD, physical or metaphorical, perhaps in a situation that has Mike trapped and stuck, yet he is mustering the power to fight back despite being overwhelmed! So, so many possibilities with what we know, especially with a focus on Mike’s mental health in mind.

I swear if I see anything resembling the above scene, lyrics, or anything from this sequence in s5 for Mike, I will lose what little mind I have left.

Troy is even wearing the number 14 on his jersey!!!!C’mon!! It’s right there all gift-wrapped for us!!!

[lokis-bitter-ghost]

sorry i know this is not a new take at all by ANY means but the fact that the byler fight at rink-o-mania is perfectly synced with troy and gabriella arguing in "gotta go my own way" is the funniest piece of information i have ever had the pleasure of knowing. literally what is funnier than that. i cant think of anything.

[will80sbyers]

Fun fact! Did you know that Stranger Things was born from a High School Musical fanfiction? The famous character Will Byers is based on the less well written character Troy Bolton played by K-pop star Zac Efron

[crazy-together-cambria]

byler is gonna rina so hard in s5

[angelwithnightmares]

This will never stop being hilarious

[willow-lark]

ok. so. high school musical au. el is sharpay. will is ryan. lucas is troy. mike is chad. max is gabriella. elumax & byler endgame. hear me out. just HEAR ME OUT—

[hagnoart]

Hsm/Stranger Things AU heheheh

I hope people still know High School Musical… like this one:

Gonna draw more from it, I have so many ideas oh my goodness… I don’t know how communications works here, but if you have and ideas etc let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear about them :)

[rosesradio]

the biggest byler proof to me is just how mike acted around will when el wasn’t around. the triple take, the heart eyes at his painting, the hand clawing into his shoulder in the cabin scene, the “we’re friends. we’re friends”

sure, you can say the love for the painting was for el (the lie, might i add). you could say the awkward hug at the airport was awkward because he was awkward with everyone. but why else would mike, our 100% straight boy that we know and love, be acting so weird around will?

[reikunrei]

i hate being one of those bitches that’s craving attention or conversation or something but not being able to come up with any conversation starters myself so i just sort of sit here pacing around like a panther in a cage mumbling “pay attention to me pay attention to me pay attention to me”

[ki-flor]

It's always so funny to see people call bylers delusional when the writers have shared the movies they discussed for S4 and some of the parallels are either from a romantic movie/has romantic subtext

And we know it wasn't for mlvn so who could it be for? Riddle me that

[morganee]

So I found a HSM poll on my dash and it made me think of something Byler-related. We know that High School Musical 2 was used as inspiration for S4, right? We saw how the Byler Rink-O-Mania fight mirrors the Troy/Gabriella "Gotta Go My Own Way" scene.

But the poll in question was about the most queer-coded line in "I Don't Dance" and.. that song literally has this line:

"you'll never know (oh I know) if you never try"

When I read it I couldn't stop thinking about Argyle and El force-feeding Mike the pineapple pizza ("Try before you deny!") and how fruit on pizza can be viewed as a homosexual reference. And we know that "I Don't Dance" is widely considered a queer-coded song (rightfully so lol).

Is this a coincidence? Most probably. I just find it extremely funny that Argyle's line about pineapple on pizza can be found in one of the gayest songs of HSM lmao

[will80sbyers]

No one wants to be my high school musical partner I am HEARTBROKEN

[smalltownduck]

uh so we had a high school musical 2 reference in s4 with the "what about us" line right

--however, you can't look at the lyrics of gabriella's sad ballad in the first hsm and tell me they don't mirror s3 will's feelings almost verbatim:

so... would it be farfetched to imagine that will's feelings and struggles in s5 (and the byler plot), at some point and yk, in a metaphorical way, might echo gabriella's last sad ballad in hsm3??

buddy's so up and ready to sacrifice himself thinking he's protecting mike (+ everyone) in s5 if the record tracks 😭

[sailorzakuro]

Bringing this back cos people have tried to pull me into ship wars on two separate occasions neither time I was even trying to ship anyone it's really really not that fucking serious calm tf down have a drink or something

Actually I'm going to use this space to put all these thoughts down cos I keep thinking about it and idk maybe someone can relate but although I'm still very much a part of fandom culture (I recently joined the Stranger Things fandom if anyone's at all interested) I really just Don't give a fuck about shipping. Like it's not even like I'm actively trying to not care about it. I truly don't give a fuck.

So for example, I joined the Stranger Things fandom (very late I know I'm sorry I watched the whole series I'm obsessed with Robin Buckley if you want to see me talk about that my twitter is smalltownrobin) and that show is like ships galore, especially with the group of characters I have the most interest in. The "older teens" group of characters (like Robin, Steve, Nancy, Jonathan, Eddie, that lot) get most of that, and I've just never found myself caring. People heavily debating whether Nancy will "end up" with Jonathan or Steve? I don't care. I'm chill with either, I'm chill with none. Even people who ship Nancy with Robin, or prefer Robin with Vickie, honestly I just want Robin to kiss a girl I don't give a fuck who it is. THE STEDDIE RAMPAGE I'm glad it's making people happy but I'm fine either way, and I don't actively seek content for it out. I'd say the only pairing I care about on that show is Robin and Steve's platonic friendship, THAT I love I am obsessed but like. they've already reached the "goal" of their relationship so it's not like there's any official title that the show writers or fans can give to them or take away. It's an easier life overall and I'm pretty happy.

I really don't know what's done this to me, cos I used to LOVE shipping, I remember in high school my friends and I used to have seriously intense conversations about which Fairy Tail characters worked best together. I made two entire videos on why people should ship Cheryl and Veronica from Riverdale (and even now ages after I stopped watching and it turns out they had a 100% platonic fan service kiss I DON'T CARE THAT IT HAPPENED). The point is something's just happened to me since those days and now I just don't care. Maybe it's cos my main fandom is kpop where shipping is Not okay and I don't wish to involve myself in the romantic lives of real people dictating to them what I think they should do with their personal endeavours, but yeah. I don't care. It's not a bad thing if you are into shipping, you know, enjoy yourselves, if it brings you joy and it's not hurting anyone go ahead.

All that being said I still very much care about Thasmin but we're never going to get any more of them now so. fuck.

Did anyone bother to read that I'm sorry 🙃 I know I barely post on here anymore, I converted it to my SCD blog but then couldn't be bothered talking about it so this is kind of empty now. I talk about the fandoms I did talk about on here on my twt so I guess if you're still interested in my fandom opinions go on there? I cannot promise I'll convert this blog to anything to make it active again I might just pop in every so often and rant about something completely random ✌️

[willow-lark]

ok. not to like pressure anyone or anything. but if any byler artists need inspo then pleeeaseeee consider. putting will in one of ryan evans’s outfits from hsm. think ab it. mwah

[hagnoart]

Day… 4 presents

I might be doing something wrong or just no one likes my posts… also valid