#jonathan byers analysis

[gayofthefae]

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

[cannibalismyuri]

there is no sense in pretending (breakdown) jonathan byers & will byers | jonathan byers centric | 3.4k | 3 times jonathan doesn't break down and 1 time he does 🕰️🥀 | the playlist

The one in which Jonathan loves his brother. So, so much. But he also realizes that he has to take care of himself as well. This leads into a culmination of a decade's worth of repressed feelings pouring out under red skies and thunder that beats like drums.

available to read here on ao3! ... a gift for my dear friend @ice-sculptures 🌈🌟

[burtonbabygirlguster]

so i looked up ‘jonathan byers analysis’ and i found the “Jonathan Byers and the Victimized ‘Geek’ Misogynist Complex” and wow. just skimming through. i am baffled about…everything. now i’m gonna rewatch seasons 1-2 to prove everything this person said wrong. soon. right now it’s just things off the top of my mind. i’ll do a full read and rewatch some time- anyway, how do i, a random ass highschooler, have a better understanding of everything TM about jonathan than someone who writes a shit ton of criticism and has a degree?

YES HES THE VICTIM! Steve called him a slur, called his whole family a disgrace, compared him to his deadbeat father, and said it’s not a surprise what happened to his missing/dead younger brother. “they’re both victims” my ass. steve deserved what he got.

steve bought the camera, nancy delivered it 💀 not defending the pictures obviously

HIS DAD SHOVED HIM AGAINST THE WALL FIRST. “he hasn’t done anything to provoke jonathan.” right, so shoving your teenage son against a wall is normal, a-okay behavior? if your gonna write an entire article shit talking someone, get it right. my god.

she could have very well ended up killing him- obviously not intentionally, but it was a supernatural possession, they had no idea how it was going to turn out. if your brother, who you’ve looked after your entire life, was possessed and looked like he was dying, would you just stand by? “oh, my brother is suffering and possessed, my moms trying to burn it out of him, but nothing is going smoothly, and he might die, but just let me hang back here ✌️”

but so anyway i’m petty and pissed so i’ll be rewatching the first two seasons (because the article didn’t have the 3/4 seasons) and responding to every point on that and why the author is not correct at all with Jonathan byers 👍

[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...

[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” ❤️❤️❤️

[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:)

[byler-alarmist]

Insert jonathan byers gif "straight, straight straight....." "It doesn't make sense"

[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!

[gayofthefae]

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

[gayofthefae]

Thinking about how Jonathan had no idea for most of the season that Will could be alive, even when he got involved with the supernatural plot. He just thought that they were gonna kill whatever killed both Will and Barb.

Jonathan hasn't let go of the need to protect Will because he experienced thinking he lost him forever and it was all his fault for not being there for him and he doesn't want to feel like that ever again

[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.

[thy-lovelylionheart]

with all this talk about baseball in Stranger Things being a metaphor for heteronormativity and conformity,

let’s not forget that Will destroyed Castle Byers with a baseball bat

[love-byers]

these scenes play back to back btw

just thought you all should know that

[therainscene]

@emblazons recently made an excellent point about Jonathan in S4 -- that there are lots of little hints suggesting he's not only been picking up on Will's queer-coding, but Mike's as well, and could be in the process of connecting the dots on Byler.

I'd like to add some more evidence to the pile, because while dual-meaning throwaway lines like the above are easy to dismiss as coincidences...

...it's harder to ignore the fact that the van scene is explicitly shown from Jonathan's POV.

You might be wondering how this tells us anything about Mike -- after all, Jonathan's observations here lead pretty directly to the pizzeria heart-to-heart, so surely this is just about the Byers brothers?

But as I've pointed out before, the pizzeria heart-to-heart was not in the original script, and was only added after they'd already filmed the van scene. [source]

So if a heartwarming affirmation of brotherly acceptance wasn't the reason for the van scene to be shown from Jonathan's POV... then why Jonathan POV?

Jonathan, amongst others, has been showering Will with love and acceptance since S1 -- but nobody has ever bothered to tell Mike that they're proud of him, and he's been spiraling into depression and comphet because of it.

In the van, Will came so close to breaking Mike out of that spiral by assuring him that he's valuable for being exactly who he is... but his own internalized homophobia sabotaged the whole thing and only served to shove Mike even further into the closet.

So isn't it interesting that the Duffers felt the need to spell it out for us that Jonathan was watching all of this go down?