The TENSION In This Screen Shot Is Insane. I Need One Of Those Pointer Things With The Gloves You Would

my response to the straight mike allegations

I’ve read Montauk, the og script for s1 ep 1 of stranger things, back before it was called stranger things

Some highlights

Montauk is in New York, and it’s also a coastal town.

Lucas was called Lucas Conley. Mike has a birthmark (but we all knew this) and Dustin wears glasses.

“Will Byers, 12, playing as a wizard”. “Lucas Conley, 12, playing as a knight”.

Will says the “We're screwed if it's the Demogorgon” line.

After Karen tells Mike to wrap the campaign up, he complains that he didn’t know it would take 7 hours. Yep you read that right, not 10 like in the show, 7. (Imagine how tired we are). It was a seven.

Instead of Dustin going to Nancy’s room offering pizza (and it being a friendly, non romantic gesture), Lucas goes into her room to like, look at her. He has a crush on her.

Nancy used to wear braces?? As in, in the past, not 16 year old Nancy.

Will asks for Dustin’s X-Men Uncanny 269, instead of X-Men 134.

Will doesn’t live near the woods, but rather near the beach.

While Will is pointing the gun towards the door of the shed, instead of whatever it is that took will appearing behind him, it simply enters through the door, Will doesn’t fire cause he’s terrified, and then, AND THEN, WILL’S NOSE AND EARS BEGIN BLEEDING. WHAT THE FUCK.

“Will doesn't fire. He just stares. Paralyzed by fear. The hairs on his arms stand up again. His ears begin to drip blood. And then his nose. He fights tears.”

Hopper has a stumble not a full beard.

Joyce works two jobs, one of them is being a waitress. She wears “too much makeup” and curses a lot. She has a Long Island accent and long fingernails. Jonathan works two nights a week at a movie house. Joyce also is much more aggressive.

Jonathan goes to look for will directly after finding out he didn’t spend the night at the wheelers. As in, skips school and decides to just look for him.

James and Troy are 14, 2 years older that the party.

Mike has a crush on Jennifer Hayes??

Barb wears braces

Instead of a party at Steve’s, it’s a bonfire at the beach. And, Chrissy mention?? “There's gonna be bonfire at Turtle Cove. Chrissy'll be there,”

Terry Ives is a man??

“Florence (hopper’s secretary): And Terry Ives called again, yammering on about some more activity last night at Camp Hero.

Hopper: Tell him I've seen that Twilight Zone. No, scratch that, don't encourage him. If he calls again, cite him for wasting my time.”

Hopper wears reading glasses, and his desk is a mess of mugs, papers, and candy wrappers?

Joyce says “He [Lonnie] doesn’t give two shits about that boy [Will].” Damn.

El is actually 10 years old, 2 younger that the party.

El doesn’t steal fries. She sees the fries boiling, the oil splutters and she gets scared. She encounters a freezer, opens, and finds frozen fish inside. She never has seen fish before, she smells it, studies it. She bites into its belly. When hearing Benny approach, she just grabs as many fish in her hands as she can and runs.

Benny serves fish and chips, and he’s also Benny Henderson. At least, that’s what he tells el. He’s described as “Benny Hammond”.

Mr Clarke is hot, as the girl classmates acknowledge it. He teaches “earth and biology”

Benny makes El fish and chips. She eats it with her hands.

Hopper graduated in 1958. Scott in 1962.

Benny has a Rottweiler. El and him become friends. The agents chasing el kill him :(

Steve sexually assaults Nancy??

After Nancy doesn’t appear again, and Barb is left alone with the rest of people, she decides to call out for Nancy one last time. No answer. She grabs her car keys and goes home. Or at least tries.

All the characters are much meaner too??

This scene with hopper is so creepy

And, huh, confirmation it was Vecna who took Will?

And you can hear things from the upside down!

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-since-kindergarten apart once they enter puberty. The only interaction that possibly hints at romance in Season 3 is their virtual double date with Lumax where Mike is concerned for Will's well-being one time. This was 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." They effectively "break up."

But then there is the strange, interesting choice that there is no resolution ever about the Rain Fight. The apology for ignoring 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, but we don't see it. 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? Why not clarify THEN that Mike is a straight ally who supports his gay best friend, setting things up for Will to have a coming-out arc where he finds a love interest who is not Mike?

Instead, the writers made sure they had NO conversations for 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. That's because it was the start-of-season set-up for an ARC where they become close again.

Alright, so 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 Mike was "useless" and the California plotline was a "waste of time."

(Either the Duffers were bad writers or had a reason to spend so much time on the California plot. Hmm...)

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 anything ELSE -- like 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. Mike becomes the Counselor: he resolves that they will beat Vecna. The bringing of these two 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 ("a team") will mesh.

Meanwhile, we'll get Season 2 Mike because Will will also be the center of the story and IN DANGER. It's impossible to imagine Mike being his aloof start-of-Season-4 self. Add to all 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

EDIT: You might enjoy my s5 speculations in "How the Duffers likely will make the general audience AWARE of Byler and CHEER for Byler" =D

happy birthday mike wheeler 🥳 🎂

Ao3 is down 😭

Byler doubt 😞

i got you anon ❤️

My professor and I had an in depth conversation on public education today.

As someone whose had bad experiences with people significantly older than me, it's refreshing and eye opening interacting with someone respectful and knowledgeable without being degrading.

No bc same 😭

thank god it's spring semester senior year i could not manage hyperfixating this hard any other time

For a second I thought this was a deltarune AU 😭🦎

My little Stranger Things AU. They’re a bit fucked up and they might be causing the apocalypse. Also hi tumblr, I’m new on the platform. Well, I used to have a tumblr but that was back when I was a dumb kid, now I’m a stupid adult.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

So I’ve seen a lot of people talking about evidence of possessiongate…but has anyone talked about THE TRUE PAIN OF IT?

It’s almost like it’s churcgate reversed. Imagine Mike quickly catching on to Vecna being in his head in s5, and telling the others, then proceeding to completely isolate himself from everyone. Locking himself in his bedroom. Going out by himself at night. Being generously reckless because he needs Vecna out.

And the others are so so worried. Especially Will. Because he knows what it’s like. And he wants to help Mike, but every time he tries, Mike snaps at him. Just like he does with everyone else. But sometimes, if he’s lucky, Will can see a piece of the real Mike breaking through. A small smile. A hand gripping his arm gently. A soft “Will…”. But he can’t ever say what he really means.

Anyways, eventually, Mike loses it. He’s terrified he’s going to hurt someone. El…Holly…Will. He would never forgive himself. So, one night, when everyone’s asleep, he slips out and goes to the Quarry. You know, the same one where he nearly committed suicide? And he just stands there. For a long time, feet less than an inch away from the edge. The only thing that’s stopping him is vecnas influence.

Back at the house where everyone is, Will is the first to wake up and notice Mike’s absence. He panics and immediately wakes up Jonathan, who wakes up Nancy, and they go out and search for him. It takes them a long time. Will is on the verge of giving up and breaking down. But then they see a figure standing at the edge of the Quarry. It’s Mike.

Will cries out. Mike doesn’t move. Nancy calls his name. Nothing. Mike just stands there. “I can’t do it,” he says. “Mike…get away from the edge,” Nancy says quietly. “I can’t do it, he won’t let me,” Mike sobs.

Anways should I make a fic on this???