waiting patiently for byler endgame

[leoniejulie]

Wolfstar and Jegulus in Crimson Rivers by bizarrestars

[klimtsonian]

“And what kind of king would Camelot want?” 🏰⚔️🐉

[fellyomaai]

cuties

[kidovna]

mike permanently marked with will’s art, and will temporarily marked by mike in other ways (more tattoo artist x florist AU)

[puls1a]

smalltown boy

[narrativelogicofbyler]

i’m just saying: if byler wasn’t meant to read as romantic, then noah and finn accidentally delivered one of the most precise romantic performances i’ve ever seen. and that’s not how acting works. micro expressions, breath work, eyeline, emotional pacing, vocal softness, proximity, those choices don’t happen by accident. they’re the language of longing.

pair that with the cinematography, which is absolutely complicit. the intimate two shots, the warm colour shifts when they’re together, the framing that isolates them from the group, the emotional close ups that linger just a beat too long. the pink sky in the field scene, which is literally textbook romantic visual symbolism, doesn’t just happen. these are intentional aesthetic choices that support the emotional reading the performances are already giving. you don’t get performances and visuals aligning that perfectly unless the story is steering you there.

so if this wasn’t deliberate, then they somehow created a fully coherent queer romance through sheer instinct alone, which would be iconic, but also wildly unrealistic.

[kwadlayns]

childhood friends au /

kazuyo-san watching tobio and shoyo

-🔗-

[crown-prince-zuko]

You’ll never be able to convince me Mike Wheeler is straight when at every turn the epicenter of all his relationships is Will.

Basing his continued relationship with his girlfriend on incorrectly believing his best friend’s love is his girlfriend’s? Will’s confession fulfilling Mike’s need to be needed.

The foundation of your role as the heart of the party being instituted by Will?

Correcting his behavior when called out by Will, and adjusting to reform bonds with his other friends when Will points out how poorly Mike was treating them. (Ignoring Dustin in s3 for him to seem much closer to both Lucas and Dustin in s4)

Will being the one to inquire about Mike’s future? Mike viewing Will as the beginning and end to the story of how they save the world. “It starts with getting Will back”

The end to Mike’s primary story being playing dnd with all his friends in his basement, fulfilling the wishes that Will had wanted in season 3. His connection to the party and others is so deeply intertwined with his relationship to Will.

That boy is gay and I really believe that

✋🙂‍↕️🤚

[karust]

Stranger Things epilogue tweak - Mike the Wise

bonus below

[imaginefirelizards]

I know many of us are simply confused by the finale, so I have translated some of the lies we've been told!

Love will save the day - guns will save the day :)

Fuck conformity! - we love conformity!

A good plot twist isn't obvious, but has been hinted to throughout the show - a good plot twist is *squints at notes* telling your audience what is going to happen in the penultimate episode and then doing that

The duffer brothers have stuck the landing - the duffer brothers gave up on the landing. They may have even crashed.

Happy functional couples work as a team, communicate effectively, and are not built on trauma bonds - unless you're mike and eleven!!!! In that case you don't ever communicate, never say I love you to her face, remind her of her abuser, and only stay together because your best friend "fixed" your relationship. Wait, who is that in the back of their montage shots?

Self acceptance and not relying on others is extremely important - unless you're straight!!! in that case all you need is your significant other :) your personality will only revolve around them too in the future!!

There's no such thing as coincidences in our show! - there is genuinely only coincidences in our show!

Look at all the details! Look at all these movies! We've paralleled and referenced so many things! - none of this means anything but we can pretend we're movie nerds :)

Rewatch these episodes from earlier seasons before season 5 - we certainly didn't rewatch them, but if you rewatch stranger things we might get more engagement and money

The ending will not be ambiguous - we will leave EVERYTHING up to audience imagination

We will answer all questions within the finale - we will make more questions! How did the party scale a cliff in three minutes? I don't know, use your imagination!

We care about our queer audiences! - we care about our straight audiences!

The play is important - well, people haven't seen the play so we'll only make a small reference ... But we'll make sure the references we make explain literally nothing to the audience and only add confusion, and then we'll go against the canon established by the play too so nobody is missing out!

Will Byers is the main character, it started with him and it'll end with him - Will Byers? He's still in our show? Fuck. Uh. I guess he should probably come out. We can then just have him off screen for a bit whilst everyone else saves the day. Maybe he can sympathise with his abuser? We did make a point to show the abuse at the start of the season... Maybe he can snap Vecna's arm? That'll keep people happy.

The finale is character based - the girl who has never had a normal childhood and is treated like a weapon and a monster is told by her father figure that she shouldn't kill herself so she can become a mother one day, and then reduced to being only important to tell an emotionally repressed boy she loves him (he doesn't say it back) before she blows herself up (because she is only useful as a weapon, a daughter, and a girlfriend apparently)

[disastertourwaterdeepedition]

Reminder to everyone:

Do not buy merchandise.

Do not watch the documentary.

Do not rewatch the show.

Do not watch the Duffers new shows when they come out.

Don't watch the spin offs.

We need to make sure these bigots careers are fucking over.

[aintabsolutelynoshot]

just imagining how so genuinely good and realistic it would've been if Mike really was queer in the end.

Especially for the 80s, having subtle representation that almost plays in the background of a character's scenes, that you probably won't even notice at all on first watch, is perfect. Having a queer character 'come out of nowhere' would actually be a genius commentary on heteronormativity - we see a boy with a girlfriend, so he must be straight. But Mike had 'tells' that only really make sense when re-contextualised with this new information.

The audience would become a part of Mike's coming out, too - some might've already seen the signs, but some would have to look back on his behaviour and think 'how did I miss it?.' With coming out stories in media, we always see it from the perspective of the queer person. But with Mike, we'd be the confidant. We'd become the person in that situation that Mike comes out to - the person that thinks back on all their memories of someone and wonders if the signs were always there.

The rewatchability of the show would've been crazy in that sense, because in hindsight, Mike's story becomes one of hiding, and the pressure to be normal.

He likes Jane - but is confused when Lucas and Nancy suggests the he like-likes Jane. He thinks they're right, he should, so he becomes convinced he does.

Will is his best friend, his favourite person. If he could, he'd spend all his time playing games with Will and the others. But he's growing up. It'd be weird if he spent more time with his best friend than his girlfriend.

In fact, Will should just grow up and get a girlfriend too. If Will had a girlfriend, he wouldn't want to play games anymore. And that's just better for both of them. Because people who are 'just friends' shouldn't spend all their time together.

See what I'm getting at? Mike is like the epitome of a queer kid who focuses hard on his relationship and pushes away the person he does, but shouldn't, have feelings for. And most of the ga would be (and WERE) fooled by that - seeing a distant/bratty teenager with a bit of an attitude problem. That's what I saw when I first watched the show.

He could've been the greatest representation of queer youth who hide so well they even fool themselves. But, no, I guess he really was just a distant/bratty teenager with a bit of an attitude problem.

[spookeart]

Fixed it

[domi--mi]

the most destined to be

[leyrinoh]

haunted in his dreams

[ohfallingdisco]

no i will not be celebrating ambiguous byler no matter how "implied" they could be. that was bullshit. homophobia. a goddamn insult. call it what you will, that was not a win. making your own ending is one thing, but don’t accept a compromise as a victory or give them the benefit of the doubt.

[mikewakeup]

Conformitygate idea

Henry has definitely gotten stronger by s5. Camazotz itself is a huge indication of this, but he also offers Holly music from within the mindscape. It's almost like a taunt. Or almost like he's testing his new abilities. He's able to keep the kids confined within his mindscape while providing them all the comforts from their homes.

Since he is omniscient, Henry has most likely seen his own downfall in some way. He knows what's coming for him in his future. He knows he can't survive forever.

There are many signs that Henry might be attempting to circumvent this future just in case, but he is also preparing for the worst.

During the MAC-Z battle in ep4, he lets Will go and seems unbothered by Will unlocking his powers. Henry needs someone to be his vessel on the other plain of existence to enact every part of his plan.

In ep6, Henry taunts Will. He explains that Will isn't using his own powers, he's using Henry's. Will has always been Henry's builder. We get a few flashbacks of s2 and the tunnels, focusing on Will's eye movements while he slept. On the WSQK couch, Will's eyes move in his sleep again.

Will is building one more thing for Henry. A second Camazotz. The conformity reality. One that can exist beyond Henry. Something that will become his living legacy. The last act of revenge.

The first indication of the drop into this shifting reality is the set pieces changing. Then again after Will wakes up. His memories are jumbled. Events don’t align. Characters are confused or behaving uncharacteristically. Will himself becomes hopeless, despondent — reminiscent of his s2 demeanor. Something has changed.

It's unclear whether all the characters are trapped in this reality. But we do know that Henry has it out for the Wheelers. Mike feels the worst of this conformity.

Breaking out of this conformity - this second Camazotz - will require more effort than ever. Escaping Henry's mindscape was easy compared to this.

But as we've been told, Mike is the key. He's the heart of the party. But he's not the only one. Keep in mind, there's still the two-man rule.

Remember the words from the WSQK playlist: "I need you to trust me." "What did you do to him?" "The door is opening. Find the source, William."

previous silly post that i inspired myself from lol and this one of my thoughts before vol. 2