honestly the discourse on this site is so bad that I have a new hot take: if you use tumblr at all fuck you
Why are Steve stans and Jonathan stans arguing about who's better they're LITERALLY gonna make out in season 5
"God, I'm always confused"
"So you're always in a state of confusion?"
"I mean what other states are there?"
"Arkansas"
Made with this picrew
making this while drunk after reading a reallyyyy good byler fic in bed at midnight just chilling like a blade of grass i love it
u can probably tell my taste in fics after seeing this lol
he likes it scalding by CastleByersAfterDark - domestic, slice of life fic where will has a bath after a cold miserable day and its written so well like i feel the love theres so much loveee
Say It With Your Hands by Pseudologia - the only time you'll ever catch me reading a different first meeting fic. just so cute, byler meet at a movie theater (working) and mike's obsessed with him
a bed in your shape by passerine_in_jade - omg the angst was angsting but it was so realistic as well i loved it, the payoff ended up being so good.
A Blue Christmas by kwritessometimes - the most carefully and beautifully written fic about mikes coming out to his family. it perfectly shows the connection between him and will's family too, and ughhhhhhh i cried
but if i'm all dressed up (worth it for once) by castlebyer (loverslakes) - regency era england fic. i rarely ever read byler fics in an alternate timeline but omg this was so good and just as i imagined it.
nothing else i could do by astrobi - mike and will live together and they get a dog and then they kiss or smth idk i havent read it in a while but its astrobi so its good
if you kissed me now by astrobi - cute lil secret relationship fic and byler are just so soft and are actually realistic teens in this ugh
i hate accidents (except when we went from friends to this) by burgandyshirts - oh this is the funniest ever, there is a miscommunication where mike thinks he's dating will but will has no idea <3
said that i was fine, said it from my coffin by ruetistic - really sad about byler being gay in the 80s where mike gets hurt by people but its hurt/comfort so dw
feeling like the opposite by delusionaltogether (Whyyyyy) - such a good and memorable love confession on mike's part, also college byler teehee
i have everything i wanted by delusionaltogether (Whyyyyy) - series of one shots of byler that all follow an amazing format basically catered to my fave tags on ao3 HAHA
(give me a second to) forget i ever really meant it by delusionaltogether (Whyyyyy) - one of the better practice kissing fics i've read
autumn air, jacket 'round my shoulders is yours by gaysforbyler - will's feeling the anniversary effect and it just shows how much care mike has for will and how much understanding they have for each other
all this time (how could you not know?) by astrobi - for me, this is a long fic. yeah that tells you everything abt me lmao but this is so amazing it has a great pay off (byler at prom!!!!)
i might be hoping about this by astrobi - this right here will always be my favourite fic. it is perfection. it was one of the first byler fics i ever read and the pure domestic bliss paired with it being a SICKFIC HELL YEAH makes it just soooo perfect
and i might as welllllll um
what you really want by ME - yes this is big headed of me but im so proud of this fic i worked so hard on it and sacrificed some of my grades for it but it was worth it
okay im so eepy im going to eep and then have a hangover and i have a raging headache now ive done this on a whim bye
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
this is honestly so real, idk if it's just Finn and him becoming more mature or Mike actually accepting himself after the apocalypse but damn if he doesn't look more put together than we've ever seen Mike look before.
god even just looking at s5 mike. he looks so different. this is a mike who has accepted himself and his feelings for will. he looks so boyfriend. I can just picture this mike not being afraid to openly touch will's arm to comfort him, hug him, look at him with a warm smile when he figures out will's feelings. he just looks so much softer. im killing myself
Iβm making a YouTube playlist full of Byler proof videos, if you are interested in looking at it here is the link!
Em, 18, stranger things, fanfiction, and stranger things fanfiction β β β random out of pocket thoughts (90% byler ofc)
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