My Professor And I Had An In Depth Conversation On Public Education Today.

Ao3 is down 😭

Mike either being so self aware of his love for Will or being so deep in denial but either way he still hates the way he acts around him

what is ur fav byler fic troupe of situation? I need stuff to ad to my fic :3

im going crazy from lack of byler

The Strange Postponement of Mike and Will's relationship

If Mike and Will had remained as close as they were in Season 2 in the subsequent seasons, the "are they gay?" rumors absolutely would have spread among the General Audience, as they entered their official teen/dating/sexual awakening years.

There have been peculiar writing choices that seem to have no other explanation but to postpone romantic rumors about these two.

The show does it's damnedest to keep these best friends apart. The only interactions hinting at romance we get in Season 3 are their virtual double date with Lumax, and Mike being concerned for Will's well-being one time. These were necessary to reestablish their "good friendness" at the start of the season to set-up their breakup during the Rain Fight.

Then, of course, the Rain Fight happens. Mike says "It's not my fault you don't like girls." These two effectively break up.

But then there is the strange, interesting choice that there is no resolution ever about the Rain Fight. The apology for not liking Will's D&D game comes from Lucas instead of Mike:

Will had his blow-up with MIKE, not Lucas! And we know that Mike absolutely was DRIVEN to apologize to Will. Maybe he actually did, but it was offscreen. But why not have it ON screen? Why not clear the air on whether Mike thought Will was gay and was being homophobic to Will?

The writers were exceedingly careful to keep attention away from Mike and Will: they have NO conversations during nearly all the rest of the season. They made sure Mike was focused on trying to repair things with El and blurting out "I love her." These two things together kept the Gay Rumors(TM) in check.

Season 4 then dramatizes how they'd grown apart -- specifically, how they don't seem to have stayed in contact and Mike seems to ignore Will.

What a strange thing for the writers to do! Mike and Will had been on good terms.

They soon repair things, but for what?

The Will Counseling Hour:

They literally have no conversations with each other where Will isn't comforting Mike and/or talking about El. To the extent that the GA was annoyed that the California plotline was a "waste of time" and Mike seemed "useless."

The show was putting Byler in a holding pattern. The show established that Mike and Will were friends again, but with a "beard" on Mike: his relationship with El. Will's attempt to talk about a future playing Nintendo and D&D was ignored as Mike worried about El.

The Will Counseling Hour ends only with their very LAST conversation of season 4, when Will shares that he can still feel Vecna and Mike resolves that they will overcome him. The danger of Season 5 bringing them together, along with signs that Mike and El are drifting apart, lay the trajectory for Season 5.

Season 5 will be the first season with Unfiltered Byler(TM) since Season 2.

EVERYTHING that kept the GA from thinking about the possibility of Byler, (1) how young they were in Season 2, (2) their being kept artificially apart and (3) Mike's focus on his relationship with El, will have fallen away.

For the first time since Season 2, the A plot and Mike and Will being close and "a team" will mesh.

During all of this, we will get Season 2 Mike because Will will also be the center of the story and be IN DANGER. It's impossible to imagine Mike being his aloof start-of-Season-4 self. Add to all of this Season 4 hormones: we're likely to see the heart-eyes romantic, Will-Voice-speaking boy in love we Bylers see in the 2nd half of Season 4.

And there's the Painting Lie, which the Duffers have told Finn Wolfhard will "pay off in the end." Mike WILL KNOW Will loves him, and loved him so much as to sacrifice himself for him.

Even if one doesn't accept Byler, one can't deny that there has to be a DIRECT RECKONING over whether Mike returns Will's feelings.

The entire structure of how the show has presented their relationship is building up toward this. The Strange Postponement of Byler had a purpose.

-teambyler

my response to the straight mike allegations

byler

byler

oh I feel

my byler/stranger things fixation is not dead but it is dormant. tactically so... it is hard to survive a drought otherwise... but i think it would take all of one (1) official post or update to reawaken it. y'all feel ?

bro I can imagine the news articles now,

"Ever Since Season 1 A Whole Community Has Predicted The Unforseen Ending Of Stranger Things"

BYLER IS SO REAL GUYS

I like the idea of M22gate being the name for the teaser coming out on wills birthday.

It reminds me of Mileven (like M11 yknow) except we're doubling down against the haters