#jonathan byers analysis

[gayofthefae]

This gif is adorable but they look like two parents and that breaks my heart

[gayofthefae]

Lonnie pushes him up against a wall as soon as he shows up. It's the first thing Lonnie Byers does on our screen.

I definitely believe he was physically abusive. If nothing else from the venom that lies in the words of a survivor saying "get off me".

Jonathan told his father 'don't touch me'. I agree.

the 'you've gotten stronger' line from lonnie makes me cry because it implies that lonnie was not just mentally, verbally and emotionally abusive but also physically abusive and that poor little jonathan had to defend himself against his own father

and jonathan checking the trunk of lonnies car is even sadder cus it further proves that he was physically abusive to jonathan

its because of lonnie that jonathans afraid to lose nancy and feels that he's not worth enough to her

its because of lonnie that jonathan had to be an adult as a child

its because of lonnie that jonathan isn't good at talking to people and puts everyone before himself

its because of lonnie that jonathan feels undeserving of being loved

its because of lonnie that made jonathan who he is and afraid to be like his father even though he is nothing like lonnie

lonnie byers is the worst father ever yet jonathan has a heart of gold and would do anything for the ones he loves and cares about

lonnie byers hurt this sweet boy who grew up too fast

jonathan cares and loves so hard yet because of his father, he still feels like he'll be like him

[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...

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

Making a post about the s1 parallels in s4 (there’s a lot) but I just needed to post this rn. God, they’re insane.

Also if I might add: “I always took you for a queer” vs “oh no, did we embarrass you in front of your boyfriend” (with mocking laugher).

[sapphicslut777]

this scene in st1 when karen is saying to mike “i want you to feel like you can talk to me, you don’t have to hide anything from me” she had no idea about the el plot line at this point… she was letting him know it’s safe to talk to her

suspiciously like this scene from st4 when jonathan is hinting to will that he knows he’s gay and is comforting him and telling him he loves him no matter what and he’s “here to talk, now more than ever” ❤️❤️❤️

[willfreakbyers]

The way that this fandom portrays Steve sometimes pisses me off.

In season one, he was the biggest asshole ever. He was homophobic, called jonathan a queer, and said what happened to Will wasn't supposing, since he came from a family if screwups. In season one, we all agreed he was a bully, and an asshole.

But in season three, when he meets Robin, who's canonically queer, suddenly he's the biggest ally ever, at least to the fandom. Now, I'm not saying that people can't change over time, or be a better person, but it's the fact that the fandom brushes it off, meanwhile with Jonathan, he's the bad guy.

the same Jonathan who curated his own little brothers funeral, the same Jonathan who comforted his mom who was on the brink of insanity, the same Jonathan who went back to his abusive dad and literally checked the trunk of his car for Wills (maybe dead!) Body. And sure, Jonathan dod do some weird stuff in the beginning of season one, but he apologized for it. Steve never really did, at least on screen.

Both Steve and Jonathan could be towered as misunderstood and complex characters, but in my mind, Steve isn't really all that complex. I just don't understand why we as a fandom say Jonathan's the bad guy fir taking a couple of photos of Nancy in one of the first episodes of season one, but we chalk up all of Steve's mistakes since 'oh, he's such a morally good person now because he watches over the kids amd has a queer bestfriend!'

Also, side note, Steve in s4 basically cknformed that he only wanted to be with Nancy to start a family with. Not her personality, he just wanted to impregnate her 6 times. Which, that isn't very romantic sounding.

[sambyers-wheeler]

Byler analysis

Ok so I was rewatching 4x09 and the one scene with the endgame couples came up and I noticed something.

Ok so if you look at each couple, they are very clearly divided despite the expected blocking of a scene with this gravity. I’ll break down the divided sections below. ⬇️

Section one: Jopper

So the section where they are is what I would call the clearest. The air and horizon look the least contaminated and the ground in front of them only has smaller cracks. So if you look in the background of the section you can barely make out a tower that resembles a radio tower, I’ll explain the significance of this in a bit. So I would venture to say their relationship is already established, has few problems, and is not heavily involved with the supernatural plot (similar to season one). Section two: Byler

Their section is sitting directly in the middle of the shot and the largest rift, has a red looking horizon, has a heart with lightning on top of them (as does Jopper and I will explain this later as well), the ground in front of them seems very affected by the rifts. Despite them being in the middle of the biggest rift it barely divides them. They also have a radio tower in the distance, very clearly in the middle of them (probably the clearest one in the shot). Overall they are very close and have the least interference in the shot. This signifies to me that they are very crucial to the story, are involved in the supernatural plot quite a bit, their arc focuses around their relationship, and figuring out where they belong.

Section three: El

So her section is directly in the middle of the biggest plume of smoke and there is no clear horizon in her shot at all. The largest rift is directly in front of her, no radio tower in sight. Instead on her horizon is a gap in the smoke surrounded by and emitting red light. She is very clearly alone except that mike is barely in her section and very far away and Johnathan and Nancy are further into the section and closer by a little. To me this means that in season five she is going to be the main character in the supernatural plot, she is going to be dating Mike but very briefly before they both end it, and then she is going to rely heavily on platonic relationships this season.

Section four: Jancy

Theirs is interesting, in the section with their heads (that’s what I’m counting as their section) there are multiple rifts and smoke plumes, the destruction looks bad, there is a helicopter in the sky, and there is a radio tower in the distance. They are close to El so I don’t think they will be off in their own story line like season one but they will have a slightly separated storyline. The helicopter is right in front of the radio tower symbolizing an obstacle or something in their way. Steve, the helicopter represents Steve. The helicopter played a big part in helping me understand the symbolism in this shot. So I would say that they are very crucial to El and the others and they are struggling with their relationship.

Ok onto the other things.

Heart clouds:

The heart clouds represent 2 things. One is a change in the relationship, this means for Jopper and Byler their relationships will change. Why these two and not Jancy? Well let’s start with Jopper. Jopper is an established relationship and they are adults and we are going to have a time skip so it is logical to assume there will be a wedding. Also maybe a more mature change in their relationship. For Byler they have been friends the entire show, and logically ( if you are able to see very obvious subtext) they will end up dating by the end of the show. The heart represents this change in relationship from friends to dating. Jancy might breakup and their relationship might be bumpy and need repairs but overall their relationship will not change. I at least think that they will end the series by them going off to some college together and very happy. They have not had a significant chance in relationship. That is why only Jopper and Byler have the hearts. Two is the hearts also represent charged scenes between the characters since they both have lightning coming out but that’s not as important as the change in relationship.

Radio towers:

The radio towers, these really tipped me off and made me want to do this analysis. Ok so the radio towers represent a future or destination of some sort. (If you all have any better ideas of what they represent feel free to share!) they are clearly placed in front of Jopper, Byler, and Jancy. Though Jancy has the helicopter in front. These represent happy endings for the characters since they are an end point on the horizon. Now El doesn’t have one and here’s what I think that means.

El’s lack of a radio tower and what I think that means:

So, El is very obviously positioned in the biggest smoke column, which is where the upside down is bleeding into Hawkins. She doesn’t have a radio tower or even a clear horizon. This to me means that, sadly, she is foreshadowed to either not survive or be stuck in the upside down somehow. Since the radio towers represent a future/ destination and she only has something from the upside down in her section, that’s why this foreshadows that. And also what Mille said about see El’s ending.

That’s it!! Wow that was a lot of typing. Let me know if anything is off or if I should change anything. If I get a little repetitive, sorry!! I have a problem with that. If I need to elaborate on anything I totally will js ask!!!

[willthewiz]

Jonathan Capturing the Right Moment

In this scene, Jonathan says he'd rather observe people than talk to them. And then says:

“People don’t really say what they're really thinking. When you capture the right moment, it says more.”

We'll get back to that later.

Here is Jonathan in season 4:

In the van scene, the camera only cuts to Jonathan when Will is telling a lie. Remember, Jonathan said people don't say what they're really thinking (the truth). But he captured the right moment, when it says more. Jonathan knows what Will is actually saying are his feelings not El's.

Will tells Mike that El told him what to draw. Then the camera cuts right to Jonathan. When he knows Will painted it and El didn't know what it was or who it was for.

Will: "I mean, without heart we'd all fall apart. Even El, especially El."

Then it cuts to Mike then Jonathan. Again, Jonathan knows this is about Will, not El. He's capturing these moments.

Will continues to lie and we once again, cut to Jonathan.

Here is more of Jonathan:

Mike: "But I am scared that one day you'll realize you don't need me anymore. And I thought that if I said how I felt it would somehow make that day hurt more."

We cut to Will and then Jonathan.

“People don’t really say what they're really thinking. When you capture the right moment, it says more.”

"But I am scared that one day you'll realize you don't need me anymore. And I thought that if I said how I felt it would somehow make that day hurt more."

Mike's fear & reason for not telling El he loves her:

What he thinks would happen:

Mike says I love you to El

One day, El realizes she doesn't need him anymore

That day hurts because she doesn't need him even though he loves her

El WANTED Mike to tell her that he loved her, but he didn't say it because he was afraid of losing her??

If Mike told El that he loved her, why would he still have doubts that she wouldn't need him??

Because Mike doesn't love her romantically and he's scared that if she knew, she wouldn't need him anymore. But that's just not true.

Jonathan is observing him in this scene. In previous scenes, Will is lying to Mike. Will isn't saying what he's really thinking (the truth to Mike). But Jonathan captures those specific moments, those lies. He sees through them and they become something more. The truth. Will is confessing his feelings for Mike through El.

In this scene, Mike is lying to El. Mike isn't saying what he's really thinking (the truth to El). But Jonathan captures this particular moment. This moment is when he sees through Mike's lies. He sees the truth. Mike is confessing his real feelings. He's saying that he isn't in love her and he's scared to lose her because of that. He's saying that the whole reason why he didn't tell her he loved her is because he's scared El wouldn't need him anymore.

Again, if Mike told El that he loved her, why would he think El wouldn't need him anymore? Why is he so scared that one day she'll come to this realization? Hm... I wonder...

Mike doesn't love El romantically, but he needs her. They will always need each other. And, I think, in season 5, Mike will realize that El will always need him and that they don't need to be in love with one another to stay with one another. Mike wouldn't lose her just because they're not together as a couple anymore.

--------------

Idk if any of this made sense or not. Not really sure about the whole Jonathan thing, but it is clear that he observes Will (and people in general) and knows he loves Mike. I just thought that what Jonathan said is interesting. Is this the shows way of saying that characters don't always mean what they say? Maybe...

I don't know anything about film, so don't take this seriously. I have no idea what I'm doing, I'm just bored and very sleep deprived.

Let me know what you think:)

[zom61eboy]

Stancy & Byler in s4

i gotta say i dont understand how some people say stancy will be endgame because it was treated the same way as byler in s4. i dont see how those two ships were similar AT ALL. in fact, they were OPPOSITES.

ok so we have both stancy and byler teaming up while jonathan/el isnt there. steve expresses his love for nancy and will expresses his love for mike. pretty similar, right? NO.

steve focuses on what HE wants out of a relationship with nancy, ignoring nancy’s own desires (and confessing to her while nancy is literally in a relationship). do you seriously think nancy who is so focused on her career, would want to have SIX children and be a regular housewife? no.

now on the other hand we have will. he focuses on what he thinks mike needs. he hides his own feelings, disguising them as el’s because he thinks hes helping and making mike happy. and mike was happy, but not because of el. because will’s feelings for him was EXACTLY how mike wanted to be loved.

and now, the conclusion of s4. we see jancy reuniting and steve looking disappointed and robin consoling him. while with byler? their last scenes are with each other.

one is a one sided love while the other one isnt.

and yes jancy do have their problems that they will need to work on in s5. but do you really think a stupid lie about a college application is enough to break them apart? i dont think so. and also i do think nancy was a bit attracted to steve in s4 but it was just that. attraction. not love. she was feeling insecure about her relationship and people kept trying to push them together (and i think thats also a bit similar to how will was pushing mileven together) but ultimately steve isnt what nancy needs.

[lizbetlovesbyler]

"youre reading too much into it"

ok well the duffers themselves have established that single frames can reveal a lot about how characters are really feeling so how are they allowing these frames to make into the final cut

(also lord i just realise how little mike smiles in that van scene - the second will mentions el his smile is gone. and thats so unusual because like...how often does someone make you a whole ahh painting? spoiler alert: its cause he wants it to be from will)

[gayofthefae]

Jonathan Byers is a glass child and we should say it more.

[love-byers]

these scenes play back to back btw

just thought you all should know that

[gamma-ghoul]

I have a question, and perhaps the Stranger Things fandom can help me with this.

But, I've been wondering about this for a while: why does Joyce seem to not care that much about money, unlike Jonathan? One of Jonathan's core traits is that he constantly worries about money, even when they move to California and the family is much better off, at least they are in my opinion. I understand that the first season was meant to show that Joyce is willing to do anything to find Will so money is not even within her scope. However, in season 3, she all but ditches her job to figure out what the hell is going on with the magnets. Meanwhile, Jonathan is getting into a fight with Nancy over an internship.

I like the dynamic personally, as it shows how Jonathan is more tied to his social class compared to Joyce. I mean Joyce has played a role in the parentification of Jonathan Byers.

While Joyce loves her children deeply, she does make some questionable choices when it comes to Jonathan. I mean Jonathan's plight highlights the traumatic impact that can be caused by poverty. And you can sort of infer that Joyce probably didn't experience that growing up.

But it is jarring as viewers to see Joyce give not a single fuck about their financial situation while Jonathan is worried about mortgages. It makes Joyce look way more irresponsible as a parent, or Jonathan is clinging onto an identity that is no longer accurate to their current circumstances.

[strange-anni]

i Prfer BoyZZ

is what it says when you read it counterclockwise and start with the i

[bymarara]

Hello, Mara is with you.

I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but it's pretty interesting looking that Nancy's appearance in season 1 and Will's appearance in season 5 are very similar.I'm not sure I fully believe that Holly will go missing, as the episode titles have yet to be officially confirmed...BUT! If it is, we do know something.

-Mike will find himself in a similar position as Jonathon was when Will went missing in season 1. That means parallels between Mike in season 5 and Jonathan in season 1.

We know that Nancy and Jonathon will "team up" in season 1, and we remember that Mike has already laid the groundwork for that with his "I think it's easier if we become a team."

Does that mean we'll get parallels between Will in season 5 and Nancy in season 1? I've been thinking about this and while rewatching season 1, I realized something:

plaid shirt on the bottom, blue shirt on top and a jacket over it. I can clearly see peoples similarities, just different color schemes for obvious reasons and whatnot, they are similar enough as it is.

Plus, we remember that in season 1, Will could user gun, and Nancy has gun already as a symbol.

There used to be other parallels like Jonathon/Will and Nancy/Mike..... Will something change in their dynamic? Or maybe (maybe) the Jonathon/Mike and Nancy/Will parallels won't be as prominent, and we're just shown the fact that Mike will be just as responsible about finding his baby sister, and Will will be just as serious about helping Mike. Maybe also Will will become more stale(?), hope you get my point!

[queen-of-hawkins-why-ler]

I know people tend to think that Dustin, Lucas, Max, El and some of the other characters will have a difficult time wrapping their heads around Byler because of the time period, but I kind of think it will be like a lightbulb moment for them where they're like "Ohhhh so *that's* why." I mean, maybe it should be difficult for Jonathan and Joyce to wrap their heads around it too because of the time period, but it clearly isn't. They recognize the love that Mike and Will have for each other and most likely see it as being "different" from what other people experience, but no less beautiful or valid.

I can see the other party members having a similar reaction. They will be open to and accepting of the idea that Mike and Will belong together, not because they haven't been influenced by the negative stereotypes they've been taught to associate queerness with, but because they've all had a firsthand look at what Mike and Will's relationship is really all about. Like in s2 when Will was having visions in his now memories, the party saw the way that Mike snapped him out of it, wrapped an arm around him, and took him home. Lucas saw Mike's devotion towards apologizing to Will and making things right with him in s3. Like, they have seen and probably subconsciously understand that Mike and Will love each other: they just don't have the tools to recognize what the relationship is yet. But as soon as they realize what it is, I don't think they'll struggle to accept it at all and will probably actually be the boys' biggest supporters and defenders.

That's the dynamic the party has had from the beginning. Dustin and Lucas aren't homophobic---they were fine being friends with and defending the "gay kid" even if it meant getting bullied or harassed. The party is a group of disadvantaged kids whether because of queerness, race, disability or poverty, and they all love and accept each other not just in light of their disadvantages but in part BECAUSE of their disadvantages. I think a beautiful part of Byler will be that the party will accept Mike and Will with open arms, and Dustin and Lucas particularly won't be weird about it all since they've seen this love growing and flourishing since the BEGINNING. I hope we get scenes of the four boys together where Mike and Will are unabashedly a couple but the group's friendship dynamic hasn't changed at all other than maybe growing stronger because of it. Lucas and Dustin will totally take up for Byler and defend them because they essentially always have.