#proof of history

[softwaredynamism]

Solana's Secret Weapon: How it Dethroned BNB

Solana Surged Past BNB Chain, Claiming Fourth Spot in Global Market Cap Rankings Last Week.

Solana has been making waves in the cryptocurrency world, consistently surpassing Ethereum

in daily decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume. This trend, coupled with innovations in

decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePINs), signals a potential shift in the crypto

landscape that could have far-reaching implications.

Key Highlights:

● Solana overtook BNB chain in Market Cap this week, making them fourth place in the

overall global market cap

● Solana overtook Ethereum in DEX volume again, with $848.71 million compared to

Ethereum's $778.66 million on July 1, 2024.

● Firedancer, a new high-performance validator client, promises to boost significantly

Solana's transaction processing capabilities .

● Solana's low fees and high efficiency are driving its growing popularity.

● Innovations in DePINs, like those proposed by Koii Network, could further accelerate this

trend.

Solana's Rising Dominance

The latest data shows Solana surpassing Ethereum in daily DEX trading volume, with $848.71

million compared to Ethereum's $778.66 million on July 1, 2024. This "flipping" event is

becoming more frequent, occurring approximately every 10 days in recent months. This

increased frequency suggests a growing shift in user preference and network activity. Moreover,

Solana has received a great deal of interest from institutional investors as a potential candidate

for the launch of a future spot ETF.

Solana's appeal lies in its low transaction fees and high efficiency, making it more

capital-efficient for traders. This efficiency allows for profitable trades at lower values and

enables high-frequency trading, contributing to higher overall volumes.

#DePIN - The Decentralized Infrastructure Revolution

While Solana's growth is impressive, innovations in DePINs could further accelerate this trend

and reshape the entire blockchain landscape. The Koii Network, for example, proposes novel

solutions to enhance scalability and reliability of decentralized networks by leveraging consumer

computing capacity.

Koii introduces two key innovations:

1. SCALEs (Succinct Curated Acyclic Ledger Extensions): These efficient large archives

are event streams with dynamic audits and incentives, addressing blockchain scalability

challenges.

2. CARP (Compute Attribution and Reputation Protocol): This standardizes reputation

management to boost network security and reduce audit inefficiencies.

The above innovations have the capacity to support a wide range of decentralized applications,

from streaming services to AI-driven search engines and uncensorable social platforms. By

tapping into underutilized and idle consumer hardware resources, they aim to create a more

efficient and equitable digital economy.

KOII: A Fork Built on Solana's Strengths

Recognizing Solana's potential, KOII, an innovative blockchain project, has forked the Solana

codebase to create its own unique ecosystem. KOII's decision was influenced by Solana's Proof

of History consensus mechanism, which provides an excellent framework for DePIN

applications. The recent growth of the Solana ecosystem further validates KOII's choice.

However, KOII isn't just a Solana clone. It has introduced several key differences that set it

apart:

1. Leveraging Consumer Hardware: KOII taps into the vast potential of consumer devices,

creating a more decentralized and accessible network.

2. Multi-Token Support: Unlike many blockchain networks, KOII allows users to pay fees in

various tokens, supporting a diverse ecosystem.

3. Shorter Epoch Time: This feature enables faster network updates and more responsive

governance.

4. Off-chain Storage Integration: KOII reduces on-chain data load by integrating with

off-chain storage solutions, enhancing scalability.

5. Flexible Smart Contracts: KOII's smart contract system offers greater flexibility, allowing

for more complex and diverse applications.

6. Minimal On-chain Data Load: By utilizing off-chain hooks, KOII minimizes the amount of

data stored directly on the blockchain, improving efficiency and reducing costs.

While Koii has been up and running for a couple years, their whitepaper is still one of the best

ways to learn more about how this fits into the broader Solana landscape. Read more here:

koii.network/whitepaper

Firedancer: Boosting Solana's Potential

Solana's rising dominance is further bolstered by the development of Firedancer, a new

high-performance validator client. Created by Jump Crypto, Firedancer aims to dramatically

increase Solana's transaction processing capabilities, potentially handling over 1 million

transactions per second.

This significant upgrade not only enhances Solana's appeal as a leading Layer 1 blockchain but

also addresses the network's need for client diversity. By providing a fourth validator client

option, Firedancer strengthens Solana's resilience against bugs, code exploits, and attacks,

positioning it to better compete with other top cryptocurrencies. The introduction of Firedancer

could be a game-changer in Solana's quest to challenge Ethereum's dominance in the DeFi

space

Future Implications

The rise of Solana and the development of new decentralized infrastructure technologies point

to a future where blockchain networks can handle greater transaction volumes (i.e., TPS) with

increased efficiency. This could lead to:

1. More competitive DEX environments, potentially driving down costs for users.

2. Increased adoption of decentralized finance (DeFi) applications due to lower barriers to

entry.

3. The emergence of new types of dApps that were previously unfeasible due to scalability

limitations.

However, it's important to note that Ethereum still maintains a significant lead in total value

locked (TVL) and overall ecosystem size. Ethereum's TVL stands at $59 billion compared to

Solana's $4.5 billion, indicating that Ethereum's dominance in the broader DeFi landscape

remains strong.

Conclusion

As Solana continues to gain ground on Ethereum in terms of DEX volume, and newtechnologies like Koii's SCALEs and CARP emerge, we may be witnessing the early stages of a

major shift in the blockchain and cryptocurrency landscape. These developments could lead to

more efficient, scalable, and user-friendly decentralized networks, potentially accelerating the

adoption of blockchain technology across various sectors.

For those interested in being part of this revolution, there are two primary ways to get involved, one of which is

1. Run a KOII Node: Contribute to the network's decentralization and earn rewards.

As the blockchain landscape evolves, Solana's rise and its influence on projects like KOII

showcase the dynamic nature of the crypto ecosystem. The flippening of BNB may just be the

beginning of Solana's journey to the top, with far-reaching implications for the future of

decentralized technologies.

However, it's crucial to remember that the crypto market is highly volatile and that Ethereum's

established ecosystem and ongoing upgrades could help it maintain its leading position. As

always, investors and users should conduct thorough research and consider the risks before

participating in any cryptocurrency-related activities.

[cryptoschmypto]

The Allure of Solana (SOL): Lighting the Path Forward in Crypto

Solana (SOL) has rapidly risen to prominence in the cryptocurrency arena, turning many curious eyes toward its unique features and promising infrastructure. A deep dive into its nuances reveals a tapestry of innovation, scalability, and technical prowess. What is Solana (SOL)? At its core, Solana (SOL) is a high-performance blockchain platform designed to support decentralized applications…

[reality-detective]

For those who be-LIE-ve we went to the Moon

It's time to let go of your be-LIE-fs those words contain the LIE hidden within. 🤔

[bluerosefox]

A Fair Warning

It was only a matter of time, and a long awaited and well deserved comeuppance, when Joker tried to hurt the wrong person or people.

Not everyone was going to play his games like 'Batsy' does. Not everyone will hesitate or let him live should he put his hands on someone to hurt them. Not everyone will believe Arkham could 'fix' him, he just needed more time and help.

No.

This time Joker bit off more than he could chew when he kidnapped the newly hired Arkham psychiatrist Jasmine Fenton (and he had plans, so many plans, for her. With her mixture of Harley's mind and her looks matching Gordon's daughter would sure to cause some chaos and pain in memories) and the girl's visiting sister Danielle 'Ellie' (and did he laugh when he noticed the 'Wayne' adoptive looks the girl had, on the fun he'll have, maybe he'll beat her the way he beat the second Robin just for funzie's, it'll no doubt upset Batman) from Jasmine's apartment.

He had plans to keep the Bats guessing where he was and by the time they reach him it'll be far to late for them to save either of the two girls, he had just sent the little video he taped to the Bats and the police to get the ball rolling...

So...

So why did a shiver run down his spine for the first time in years when they both looked unafraid (it was their eyes that made him shiver, a look of already dead yet somehow alive, something he never seen before. He's seen the light fade from people's eyes before yes, he's even laughed as he watch people desperately cling onto life only for it to fade into nothing as they took a final breath but never have he seen someone, something alive yet dead at the same time before. It, their eyes, held a natural yet unnatural sense as they stared at him, stared at everything that made him Joker and it unnerved him), honestly they looked very bored, and one of them (the youngest of the two, and the one with more of the look of death than life in their eyes) said with a chill tune in their tone.

"Last chance to back out of this Freakshows Reject. You wont like what'll be waiting for you."

The tone alone was enough to send another bone deep chill down Joker's spine.

But instead of listening to his natural instincts, the deep inkling of run blaring at him, Joker merely placed a grin on his face, ignoring the strain he felt from doing so, and said as nastily as he could in order to scare the two girls (BOTH OF THEM STILL LOOKED BORED WITH HIM?!?! Not even a twitch of fear!)

"OH? And pray tell what is awaiting little ol' me hum?"

His mocking question got a wide feral grin from the smaller girl, a grin with sharp teeth and iris eyes beginning to bleed slowly from sky blue to neon green with each second he stared at her and he barely stopped himself from jumping in his spot when Jasmine answered his question.

"Your end."

-x-x-

By the time the Bats get to the warehouse Joker had taken Dr. Jasmine 'Jazz' Fenton and Danielle 'Ellie' Fenton they were prepared for anything and everything to go wrong. As much as they held the tiniest bit of hope that the two young women were still okay they knew better than to really do, this was the Joker that had them after all.

They had manged to narrow down his location much quicker than normal when they gotten Joker's first video and his little 'game' he was setting the Bats on, most locations he gave them were going to be red herrings or traps to keep them busy and it would had worked. Batman and the others would had been searching for hours for even a hint of the clue of where the Joker and his hostages were actually being kept.

It was nearly, not really, a shame all of Joker's plans went to waste when Red Hood had stumbled onto something when scooping out Jasmine's apartment with Red Robin.

You see, not only were they looking for clues at first but something about the apartment Jasmine rented seemed off, Red Robin noticed it first and called in back up encase there was more to oldest Fenton than what they could dig up (oldest daughter of Dr's. Jackson and Madeline Fenton, grew up in a small Illinois town, straight A student and a goal to become a psychologist, has two younger siblings, etc etc) and their suspension raised up more when the moment Red Hood entered the apartment and seemed to freeze for a moment.

Red Hood couldn't really explain it but he said it felt like something was... strange. Not evil bad danger strange but it felt familiar? Like he was a kid again on the streets and had walked into someone else's territory but knew the person wouldn't be too much of a hardass about it as long as he didn't stur up trouble or disrespect. A kind of... as long as you don't fuck around you won't find out feeling.

It was because of this feeling that Jason had manged to stumble across something in the room, his instincts telling him there was more to it, and they had discovered a clunky old custom PDA hidden away in a false floorboard in the office room. Thankfully Red Robin, was there in person because the old thing apparently had a rather ingenious firewall to keep others (aka Hackers) OUT but it did nothing against someone who held the main thing.

But still it took Red Robin almost frying the damn thing to get to open up, turns out the ghost and star stickers on the PDA was a rather large hint of the pass code. Once Red Robin was in the PDA he noticed some rather interesting files, one of them labeled "Gremlin Tracking" with a tiny green blob with red eyes and a green outlined star as the icons.

Curiosity taking a hold on the most curious of the Bats he opened it up, hoping it would need another password, and watched as the screen split into two maps, one was... strange, there was no land marks or anything but the star icon seemed to be right in the middle of wherever it was and the only hint of anything was the name "baby brother" and the map labeled as IR.

The other one showed an above map of Gotham, before zooming into the city, heading towards some abandoned warehouses Red Robin knew of and stopped right at one. This was the green blob icon, the short abbreviation for Gotham in the corner of the map, and the name for the icon was 'baby sister'

Red Robin immediately got onto coms to tell the others of what apparently was a tracker for Jasmine's younger siblings. Some questioned why the young woman had trackers on her siblings, though some of the others snarked back that "oh didn't know keeping trackers on each other wasn't normal. Mind if I loose the one you got on me than?"

After a quick sweep into the warehouses camera feeds, the very few up that could be accessed, done by Oracle they quickly discovered that yes the tracking on the younger girl of the two, Danielle Fenton, was correct and that was where they and Joker were at.

Despite this, Batman decided that in order to make sure Joker didn't have suspicion that they already know his actual location he made sure to send a few of the others to the fake locations.

So here they were now, staking out the warehouse where they could see a few of the Jokers goons walking around and looking for a way into the building without alerting any of them. As they talked low into coms, Robin mentioning a possible way in for Red Robin by how small it was, Red Robin hissing back a "just because you got a growth spurt doesn't mean you can poke fun at my height you little-"

"Wait!" Red Hood suddenly hissed shouted, his tone startling the rest of them and they all turned their heads to him. Batman made a quick and harsh grunt as a way to say "report."

Under his helmet Jason's eyes were wide and wild. He could feel something, something huge was on the rise, like something was out of sight but the energy of it was felt.

And if Jason could feel it from his spot, the Jokers goons all felt the same thing from the way they all dropped their weapons, turned toward the warehouse and looked ready to bolt like scared animals.

Jason opened his mouth to explain but fell silent when the feeling suddenly popped. Whatever was causing the feeling was here and like the calm before the storm he could only watch as the first drop of rain fall.

The next thing they know, was the noise and the screaming.

It was inhuman, a mixture of noise and sounds to hard to explain. The closest they could explain was a thousand voices coming in all at once mixing with radio static that kept changing volume so only few words could be even hinted at, and the angry cawing of crows along with the flapping of their wings as they took flight. The noise was so bad that many who heard it nearly ripped their coms out, or covered their ears. Thankfully it only lasted a few seconds.

Then, the air itself shifted. It felt like the coldest of winter nights and bone chilling shivers ran down their bodies for a moment. The air was suddenly that sharp cold that hurt to breathe sometimes.

The goons surrounding the warehouse fled in fear. Many scrambling to get far, far away from whatever was happening. If they felt even a fraction of what Jason could feel, he could understand. He honestly felt like a small animal cornered by a predator and there was no escape.

Then just as suddenly as it happened, everything shifted again. The noise of Gotham returned to normal, cars honking, a stray cat hissing or a dog barking, police sirens in the distance, hissing steam from a nearby factory. The air went from winter cold to a chill mid winter harbor feel now.

Once everyone registered what had just happened and not wanting to waste anymore time they bolted towards the warehouse, cautious and alert in case they needed to fight. Batman went in first, quickly making his way to the area he knew Joker would be with the Fenton sisters and wondered just what the fuck was that? Did Joker do something? Was he messing with things outside of his usual MO?!

He walked into the room and stopped.

There was nothing.

The room was in fact the room Joker had used to record his first message to them, the layout was correct and the evidence of two people who had been tied up were still there as well, ropes that weren't cut sitting on them, a lone lamp light above shining down from above no doubt to emphasize the two girls were meant to be the 'stars' of Jokers latest show. Thing was, the two weren't there despite the fact Oracle swore she could see them a few mins ago from a camera set up in the room, she would later explain that she heard the noise as well and that all her tech had glitched hard.

The only other thing in the room was, sitting innocently on one of the chairs was a green sticky note and on a tiny pillow was a tiny sickly green orb with hints of purple, white, and red swirling in it.

A note they would later read the following message written on it after carefully examining it over.

'Joker learned not to touch what is mine to protect. Sorry not sorry, but hey one less killer clown and he was warned not my fault he didn't take it seriously... The massive amount of souls wanting to rip apart the Joker's soul into nothing was quite a sight to be honest.

They were so ruthless. Best not mess with the vengeful dead am I right?

PS. I left a tiny gift for Jason Todd aka Robin Two. It's the tiniest piece of Joker's soul left over after everyone else got done. He can finish it off since he's a reverent and all, and well they need their revenge filled in order to peacefully move on later or else they'll be stuck forever in a loop of madness and revenge. So yeah. Hope he likes the gift.'

D.P.'

It took Jason less than a second after those words were spoken out to reach for the orb, ignoring the cautious and alarmed cries of the others, and could feel deep, deep, deep in his own soul the absolute pure weeping joy as he threw the orb onto the floor, the bottom shattering thus it didn't roll away and stomped hard with his reinforced boots. Crushing the broken orb into more pieces and if one listened closely they could hear the pure screaming terror that came from it.

And Jason for the first time in years felt his rage finally leave him.

[villanevedenier]

Donna Tartt at Clarance House 25th March 2025

[incorrect-green-lantern-quotes]

A funny side effect of the Corps generally recruiting only adults is that the Green Lanterns of Earth are probably on average the most well-educated of all of DC’s hero legacies*

Like, Hal was a fighter pilot in the USAF, for which a bachelor’s degree is a requirement. Guy in his original backstory got two degrees in education and psychology at the same time. John’s an architect, so he would’ve gone to college for at least five years.

Kyle’s run in the 90s mentions that he went to college, probably for art. Simon is stated to have a degree in automotive engineering. Jo went to freaking Princeton University. No idea what she studied but I assume it was something like criminal justice since she became a cop afterward.

The only reason Jessica didn’t get to finish her forestry degree was because she was hiding in her apartment for three years after her friends got murdered. But she would’ve if not for that horrifically traumatic event!!

No wonder Bats don’t like Lanterns. They’re all bright and colorful and college educated, like many of the most infamous Gotham rogues.

*I’d like to point out that this is more so because the other superhero families tend to include multiple kids, who are statistically unlikely to have graduated high school yet (and if they haven’t by now they likely never will thanks to DC’s sliding time scale)

Legit, I’m pretty sure the Earth GLs are the absolute last hero legacy to get a kid in main continuity (Keli’s first appearance was in 2019!)

And bc reading comprehension on this site is piss poor, this isn’t me saying that the Green Lanterns are smarter than all your hero blorbos. Just that the majority of them went to school long enough to get their diplomas.

[trips2saturn]

telling my future kids that they were romeo and juliet

[urthefartmike]

milkvans call byler shippers delusional and stupid and then they say some shit like: “if mike was gay then he would’ve already kissed will and not el.”

[atomicradiogirl]

excerpts from 'coming out under fire: the history of gay men and women in WWII' by allan berube

[veerbles]

I know it's certainly been said before, but I just know in my heart of hearts that ronan (impulsive, romantic, religious, all or nothing) woke up with a ring in his palms the morning after he and adam kissed for the first time. and then he probably didn't dream for a while, after his mom and gansey and cabeswater and noah - but once he started again and also started sharing a bed with adam I just know that he dreamt rings again, and I just know at some point adam caught onto it, and I just know adam (practical, logical, love-skeptic, took a year to consider his feelings before making a move) freaked the fuck out. and I think that's hilarious.

[bionic-baby]

Proof that history repeats itself:

[apollos-boyfriend]

i can’t sleep rn so i went to check on smth that’s been haunting me since i rewatched the first las nevadas finale again

so when punz first confronts purpled in his cave, they bring up the fact that quackity had been torturing dream, to which purpled said was an obvious lie, and that he didn’t expect punz to have been stupid enough to believe something like that. the exact dialogue (with some bits in between) is:

punz: did you know that quackity tortured dream for six. months. six WHOLE months, purpled.

purpled: […] and the prison thing is bullshit. you know that they don’t allow ANYONE in there EVER. like, you know this. c’mon, punz, you’re SMARTER than that.

and i found that strange, because i could’ve sworn purpled knew about quackity’s actions. i knew he was gunning for the revival book, obviously, but maybe i’d gotten confused. maybe the in-universe explanation was that he’d heard quackity was after the book from slime without the prison ever having been brought up or something

so i went back to the betrayal, and sure enough, purpled brings up the prison visits when confronting quackity. it’s the first thing he confronts him about actually. and yes, admittedly, there’s no confirmation to purpled knowing about the torture necessarily. he knows as much as slime did, whatever that may have been. however, it’s made clear he does know that quackity had constant visits with dream

i think the ccs likely just forgot, however the in-universe implications are FASCINATING to me because it just goes to show how much of a conniving bitch cpurpled is. he knows quackity was allowed into the prison, and if he didn’t know about the torture, he’s pieced it together thanks to punz’s speech, but he still denies it. he wants to keep what he knows close to his chest and he wants to belittle punz as much as possible. it’s borderline gaslighting, honestly - “no, punz, dream had to be lying to you, no one gets into the prison. c’mon, you’re a smart guy, don’t tell me you’ve fallen for such a stupid story. you’re better than that.” and i love it so so much. purpled already spends that entire interaction insulting punz outright and asserting his own superiority so this added layer of boldly lying to their face is just the cherry on top 💜

[reality-detective]

Old photos never lie 🤔

[marzipanandminutiae]

also shoutout to the woman who wanted to argue with me that, even though the earliest known source of one=piece unglazed bisque dolls being called "Frozen Charlottes" after Elizabeth Oakes Smith's 1841 poem Fair Charlotte, Or A Corpse Going To A Ball is from collectors in the 1940s and pretty much all known 19th century sources call them "penny dolls" or "penny babies"

because I couldn't prove that nobody ever called them that back then, so it might be true! I needed to stop ruining a good story! we all have different opinions, and hers is just as valid as mine! :) :) :)

excuse me while I scream into a pillow

[canary-song]

This is direct tracing of a reference image, and the goggles in the reference look like they weren't peoperly secured, BUT. Mask for Pete

[miwiheroes]

Dropping Byler Evidence Every Day Until Season 5

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁ Day 11: End of Season 3 pt 2/3 . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁

Welcome back to this series after a one-day break because of my exam, and again I'm gonna talk about the end of season 3 aka one of the most damning pieces of evidence that it's basically a fucking paradigm of the byler fandom atp <3

So here we have it, the scene where Mike probably (definitely) realises something is wrong about his relationship with El. Up until this point in the season, we have seen that Mike is desperate to grow up, and he does this by trying to emulate his parents' by getting into a relationship with a women, thinking about it logically rather than emotionally, right?

I think that as an audience, when watching S3, we were kind of waiting for Mike to have his proper character development moment, because obviously, he was kind of a jerk all season with his attitude towards Will and El. I'm still surprised that the GA believed his character was put in a blender and shat out, because this season and this SCENE literally gives you that last minute realisation and character development.

But unfortunately, and here's the kicker: it really is just too late. El and Will are gone, so he can't really do anything about his realisation that things are wrong.

Just wanted to put some things in perspective first, so here we go!

1. The Bear

So first of all, we start the scene with El trying to reach for the teddy bear which, BY THE WAY, is in Will's closet in his room. It is also definitely his bear that can be seen in his room in season one.

Therefore, this bear is a representation of Will. He literally gets taken out of the closet by Mike here as well. It is important to know that this bear represents him throughout this scene, because we can then keep in mind that El is holding him the whole time all this subsequent stuff plays out. The bear is between Mike and El, basically a litttleee foreshadowing moment to the imagery in S4 where Will is seen between Mike and El multiple times.

(this is where i realise how long this post is going to be bc there's so much to unpack here help)

2. Growing Up Issues No. 1000000

AnyWAYS so Mike then says something that perpetuates the whole S3 narrative and arc they set up for him trying to reject 'childish' things and associating childish things with Will.

"I was thinking you could come up here for Christmas. And Will too! Then we'd all have cool new presents to play with. ...Sorry that made me sound like a 7 year old."

Right after he mentions Will and the fact that he's excited to see him and everyone, he immediately feels childish. And the fact that he's been feeling like he needs to grow out of his feelings towards Will this season means he's thinking about those feelings here, however unconsciously. But he's only trying to grow up in a way he thinks he has to, there's no indication to the audience that this growing up is a good thing. (it always ends in Mike feeling self-conscious or an argument with Will)

3. Saying I love you

El then tries to remind Mike about the time that he 'talked about [his] feelings' and his 'HEART' (oh my goawsh), and he instantly looks put on the spot and definitely remembers what he said to her, obviously, but doesn't want to repeat it. He says stuff like:

"I don't think I follow." - he doesn't really remember something like this without a blatant reminder because he doesn't want to.

"Oh yeah. That. Man, that was so long ago." - when he says that it's 'so long ago', it feels like he's trying to play down what he's saying, backpedaling so that he can come up with an excuse to why he doesn't actually want to say that anymore. His excuse here is that it was a long time ago, EVEN THOUGH IT WASNT REALLY HAHA.. This his way of saying he doesn't really feel like that without actually saying it, so not to hurt her feelings.

"No, it was like heat of the moment stuff, and we were arguing and..." - again, these are just more excuses so that he can explain himself. Hmm, maybe it's that they are technically broken up here still, so he might just feel self-conscious in case she doesn't love him back. But here's the thing - they would have made him look much happier when she says 'I love you too' if this was the case, right? And they would have made him able to say I love you in S4 if he was just self-conscious she didn't love him back right?

"I don't really remember... What did I say exactly?" - Oh he definitely remembers. So this has to be yet another case of Mike trying to get El to say I love you for him, so that he doesn't have to say it. He doesn't really want to lie to her like that, so saying the words himself would feel wrong. It would be much easier just to agree with her if she says it. I talk much more about how he has already done this in the supermarket in this post. Go have a little read <3

Now, when El starts to walk up to him and puts her hand on his face, he looks utterly weirded out. It's a very strange thing to be looking like when your girlfriend might love you back, which is what she thinks Mike wants. The kicker is that El is unfortunately being presented as naive in thinking that she's making him happy by saying 'I love you too'.

This is Mike's face right after his gf says I love you btw yeah really cute and romantic.

This same sentiment of irony can be seen later when we get a shot of her smiling when she walks away from him, before cutting to a shot of the opposite of what she expected: which is Mike looking confused. Again, Duffers love subversion.

I think a lot of people think that Mike looks confused in this little part here because he also acted confused when El asked him about his feelings. So people think that, what, he just found out that El knew he loved her? No. He wasn't actually confused about what he had said ages ago, he was pretending to be confused. He clearly already knew that she had heard him, anyone can surely see that he's just trying to get her to say it for him, right? Why would he be confused about something he already knows (that El knows he said I love her)? Why would he look so shocked instead of happy that she said it back?

4. The kiss + Closet Imagery

This is literally the most blatant ass queer coding that I've ever seen. If this was any other show, it would definitely be called queer coding because I mean it is literally a girl initiating a kiss that the guy does not respond to at all, WHILST BEING IN FRONT OF A FUCKING CLOSETTTT

I barely need to analyse anything here, as you can see, El just kisses him and he doesn't do anything with his hands, he has his eyes open, and it frankly is a bad kiss, sorry but-

There isn't much stake in the argument that he's just confused and shocked as well. IN STRANGER THINGS there have been surprise kisses before (see Jancy season 2) that the directors easily made have good chemistry because they are good directors... they don't do this stuff by accident.

How else do I know they are great directors? Because they put Mike directly in front of a closet while El isn't. The Duffers fucking love background symbolism, they love symmetry. They even had some of this symmetry earlier in the scene with Jancy!:

(the window symbolises their love being open with one another or the fact they can be free with each other etc)

Not only does this closet get positioned right behind Mike in the shot, there is also a LIGHT on that is positioned right where his head is. This portrays that he's thinking about something new, like he's just been given a new perspective on something. (Also why would there be a light in the closet unless it's to draw ur attention to it??)

So why would a kiss from El, that he's had numerous times, conjure up a new idea? Why would it be that he loves her, when he allegedly already knows that because he said it ages ago? It's not an idea about El, it's him discovering the truth.

I talk more about how light symbolises truth in one of my very early analysis posts on this app here, but basically, light often symbolises the truth in film, and the fact that a light is IN THE CLOSET AND POSITIONED WHERE HIS HEAD IS just shows that he's thinking of the truth, which is not what is right in front of him.

AND THE BEAR THAT SYMBOLISES WILL IS STILL IN BETWEEN THEM. OH MY GOD,,,, this scene is literally just- the byler endgame scene I fear holy moly

So as we all know, afterwards, Mike stands there as if he's just realised something.

Based on what I've already said, that Mike can't just be realising that El figured out that he said "I love her", that Mike can't just be processing that she loved him (because wouldn't he be happy and the writers could have written a cute moment), and the fact he has lightbulb moment, this is him realising that something is wrong with his relationship. He realises that he doesn't want this.

The closet is fucking clear as day here, like it just all comes together in this perfect way I love it.

Keep this in mind for when I talk about the Hopper monologue at the end, because he just realises here he doesn't want this relationship, and during the monologue part he regrets everything he's done over the course of season 3.

This whole season he's kind of confused and trying to figure out what is wrong with him and why he feels so hurt by everything, but here is when he realises why, which is why it is a good closer of his arc. It is also supposed to be ironic that it's completely last minute. Meaning it is too late to do anything about it, leaving a good space for S4 to come along.