carli

just realized some people might be reading my username as “byler’s pain” instead of what I actually meant, and honestly? maybe that’s exactly the vibe 😵‍💫😭

[bylerspain]

hi! i’m Carla 🌷

she/her · bi · 21 years old · from spain

i’ve been writing here for a while now, and i think it’s about time i introduce myself a little.

i started watching Stranger Things in 2022. i didn’t really know what to expect, but i’d heard there was something between two boys… and there was. Byler found me without me even looking for it, and since then it hasn’t let go.

for a long time, i was kind of a ghost fan, reading and enjoying on my own without telling anyone. honestly, that had its charm.

then the final season teaser dropped. that day i felt something i couldn’t keep inside. i needed to talk about it, write about it, get it out. so i created this blog.

at first, i didn’t really want to use anything too personal — not my main account, not even my full name. so i went with carli (with an i), just a twist on my name that felt a bit more casual. and for the username, i quickly picked bylerspain, like “Byler Spain.” nothing too original, really. but then i noticed some people read it as byler’s pain, and honestly… maybe that’s exactly the vibe. that unintentional double meaning is now part of the whole thing (and yes, it’s in the bio too).

i like to write slowly, taking care with details, exploring what’s left unsaid, what lingers between the lines. for me, Byler isn’t just a ship — it’s a queer story that deserves to be told, a beautiful and meaningful story for those of us who see it.

sometimes i try to find new perspectives, things that haven’t been explored much yet, even if it’s tricky because the fandom is so big and so much has already been said.

this space is for me a place to share those thoughts, to give voice to those silences, to connect with others who feel the same.

i love when someone replies, shares an idea, or makes me rethink what i thought i knew. that interaction is what makes this corner grow and have meaning.

if you also stay living in that almost, in that unresolved tension, in that contained emotion, we’ll probably get along well.

mutuals always welcome 💌

[bylerspain]

honestly, there’s something about the duffers’ narrative that byler was never in the cards that just doesn’t sit right with me.

because i only see two options here, and neither of them makes them look good.

the first one: it’s not true. it was considered at some point, and for whatever reason (pressure, fear, a change of direction, whatever), they backed out. because otherwise, the way they’ve written mike and will’s relationship across seasons simply doesn’t make sense.

if you want to tell a story about unrequited love, that’s fine. it exists, we’ve seen it a thousand times in fiction, and it works. but then why make it SO ambiguous? why write mike in a way that constantly leaves room for doubt? why all the scenes, the looks, the parallels, the narrative choices that never fully close the door?

that’s not “clearly one-sided love.” that’s deliberate ambiguity.

so no, i’m sorry, but this whole “it was never planned” version… i don’t buy it.

and then there’s the second option: that it is true. that they never intended to make it canon.

but then you’re basically admitting it was queerbaiting.

because you chose to play with that ambiguity. you built mike in a way that makes it feel like maybe yes, but you never confirm anything. you keep the audience in that constant “what if…?” limbo.

and why? because it brings in an audience. it pulls in people who get invested in that possibility, who analyze, who wait, who stay. but at the same time, you never commit, so you don’t “alienate” the more traditional audience either.

it’s literally playing both sides.

and honestly… i don’t know which is worse.

being told something now that doesn’t match what we’ve seen on screen,

or accepting that it does match, and that it means they’ve been consciously exploiting that ambiguity all along.

but yeah. that’s my take.

[bylerspain]

it’s been almost six months and byler still shows up in my day to day life one way or another

and it’s a bit bittersweet, because all the content is still beautiful but you never stop thinking about the fact that it didn’t become canon

and yet… it doesn’t disappear

people keep creating, we keep consuming, we keep finding new things where in theory there shouldn’t be anything left

and i don’t know, i think that says a lot about what byler was (and still is)

i guess it’s one of those stories that never really ends 💙💛

anyway, i just stopped by to write this… it’s been a long time since i posted anything on tumblr and i actually miss it a lot 🥲

[bylerspain]

it just hit me that after all this time… i really miss theorizing about byler.

like, the endless analysis, the tiny details, the “this HAS to mean something” moments, the late-night spirals trying to connect mike and will’s story into something bigger. i miss the feeling of knowing there was more under the surface, even if we weren’t sure what exactly.

it wasn’t just a ship, it was a whole experience. a shared delusion? maybe. but also something that felt real in a way i can’t fully explain.

and yeah… i miss that.

anyway, just thinking about them again tonight.

[skeeto0]

El is not E.T.

How dare they reduce her existence to representing ‘the magic of childhood’. Shes not some plot device, shes a human woman you’ve written for young girls to see themselves in. Horrible. Genuinely horrible, I’ll never forgive them for how they treated her.

[bylerworld]

finn wolfhard please call mike wheeler mike queerler on snl and you'll be reincarnated as a lotus flower

[dariatheidiot]

i dont fucking care about what the queerbait brothers have to say. mike wheeler is a closeted gay man and in love with will byers. fuck you

[splendidlyselfish05]

Will Byers showing more consideration for Mike's feelings in one episode than Mike has shown since S2.

(Also I'm sorry but the "You're not an idiot" gets me every time like Will baby why are we lying)

[bylerspain]

One of the things that bothered me the most this season is that we never got a sincere conversation between Mike and Will. A real one. Clear. Honest. Not a look, not a half-said line, not a moment we’re supposed to interpret or fill in as viewers.

What I truly missed was something more. I missed a conversation that went beyond that. Even if the idea of Mike not reciprocating was kept, I think they deserved to talk about it. We deserved to see them talk about it. It didn’t need to be an uncomfortable or overly dramatic scene, but it did need to be a proper conversation, one where it was openly acknowledged that what Will feels isn’t just a simple crush. Because it isn’t. It’s being in love. And that matters.

I think they missed the opportunity to create a beautiful, mature, honest scene where both of them could speak clearly, even if it was just to set boundaries, even if it was to keep things in a platonic space. A scene that could have offered emotional closure, that respected what their relationship had meant over so many seasons. Instead, they chose to avoid words, avoid definitions, avoid emotional consequences.

I understand that maybe they did it this way to keep things lighter, easier to digest, less uncomfortable for the audience. But throughout the entire season, it feels like this storyline was written by taking the easiest route possible. Avoiding important conversations. Avoiding uncomfortable moments. Avoiding the emotional depth that had always defined Mike and Will.

And that’s what hurts the most. Because even if they didn’t want it to be romantic and decided to keep it strictly platonic, things could have been done differently. With more care. With more intention. With more respect for what they had built.

[ilovejellyfish20]

David Bowie would have been offended by his song being played in the credits after the biggest queerbaiting of our generation

[miwiheroes]

noooo.... really?? whoa.......

[onstoryladders]

do they know they didn't do any of this

[sendmepicturesofthemoon]

“omg now mike wheeler will never come out of the closet and be miserable for the rest of his life” he is eighteen years old, and last time we see him he’s exchanging charged looks with his bestie, going “pov i bite your neck” and then leaving to go eat lasagna with him. guys i think he’ll be alright actually

upd: this is NOT me saying the ending is good and you should enjoy it btw!! i hate what they did!!! but i wanted to plant some positivity among 172663 mike wheeler good luck babe posts. it’s literally not over for him. it’s not.

[wickeddreamerr]

I don’t think I can ever watch the first episode of Stranger Things again

[2kidsinatrenchcoat]

stonathan having more chemistry than byler or mileven

[madlovesbyler]

At least we‘re finally making peace ❤️

[ju-nebugg]

every universe except this one, i guess.