Central High

Today is a day and life is lifing.  "I am one acquainted with the night."  "Bad news, baby, better believe me. I'm as fucked up as they come. Let's run away."

[partypooper1111]

"mom, what was pre-season 5 byler like?"

[daisydood]

[wis3h3artt]

I guess this will remain a mystery too 🫩✌️

[immoralcompass]

Stranger things finale reminded me of the ember island players episode of avatar

I'll always love you, like a BROTHER - I wouldn't have it any other way (Byler)

Did Jet just... die? You know it was really unclear (El)

My names Toph because it sounds like Tough and that's just what I am (Nancy)

[missambergris]

Finn wolfhard said I’m gonna show absolutely no emotion in the scenes where my character’s parents are bleeding out and just mew the whole time but lock tf in when my character’s bf has a dizziness spell

[sweetthingcandidate-deactivated]

THEY WOULD’VE LOVED SAYING BE GAY DO CRIME

[gayofthefae]

No seriously how gay has this mf been acting to take him

To THIS

Mike has been laying it ON

Will Byers. Will. Byers.

Asked someone how to signal to Mike that he was interested. Because he had belief that Mike would take it as something. That that knowledge had a chance of being valuable to Mike.

How. goddamn. gay. Has this motherfucker been acting.

Because in 5x3 I thought Will was asking "how do I tell if he likes me" which already insanely more comfortable than where I thought he was at.

And then in the NEXT episode he was like "oh, no, I meant, how do I make him tell that I like him back"

WHAT

Will Byers confidence out the gate is NOT what I was expecting to see here. Mike Wheeler how gay. have you been acting.

To not only redeem yourself from 'you don't like girls' 'we're friends' AND 'I love you' but OVERSHOOT IT so hard that Will Byers noticed and DIDN'T convince himself out of it.

[miwiheroes]

i could think of 100 reasons why their hair was wet in those trailers and them holding hands against a burst pipe in a bathroom they nicknamed "dick" was not one of them tbh

[wiseheartts]

what the fuck happening during these 18 months? HOW GAY was mike queeler acting

[woah-someone-actually]

I literally thought this was a joke… Like that it wasn’t intentional and a total coincidence. WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT WAS REAL??

Thank you @bylertruth3r for pointing this out. This is actually such a huge deal for me

[yellowcurtains7]

Love how they’re all sitting the same way

[queeleronwheels]

this photo has the most bisexual energy i've ever seen

[miwiheroes]

my autistic ass waiting for a good moment to mention byler in any given conversation

[lovesongbyers]

noah at a panel after getting asked if byler will endgame: I cant speak on that obviously, but there'll be.....you guys will be hap- satisfied

we won. WRAP IT UP

[lovesongbyers]

video here!

[reddthekingg]

my stupid bitch ass JUST realised that Jonathan heard both monologues in s4: wills AND mikes. thats why he looked so fucking pressed when mike opened his BITCH ASS mouth and stated confessing his love to el by throwing wills words in her face

[teambyler]

#JonathanFlashbackGate

Jonathan probably was thinking to himself here "WAIT… you've been boyfriend and girlfriend a year and have saved each other's life and she doesn't think you love her??"

Remember, canon couples in this show -- Jonathan and Nancy included -- don't make a big deal about saying they love each other because they already know from their actions.

I'm guessing Jonathan's observation might play out in Season 5 because including a shot of him during the 'love confession' was completely extraneous to the scene. He might not know Mike likes Will back, but he definitely should recognize that something's OFF that Mike needs to make this confession at all.

Jonathan is the one person to hear the two confessions (Argyle was probably too high lol) and knows that Mike's words were prompted by Will. If he ever gets wind of how El actually feels (i.e., El isn't getting what she needs from Mike, he looked at her like a monster, etc.), he might connect the dots.

Maybe him connecting the dots is the reason for the flashback with the 3 of them hmmmm?

People have been talking about Byler getting Murray'd or Robin'd. But Jonathan has the most information out of everybody to put two together. ;)

Still, I don't think Mike and Will should be "Murray'd." They should realize their feelings on their own and in the most extreme and heartbreaking way possible. :D Jonathan's realization might be a way to get the GA to realize it and prepare audience expectations.

-teambyler

[srilankanwillbyers]

if michael ‘she didn’t look fine’ wheeler and jane ‘everyone looks at me like i’m a monster’ hopper don’t break up in season 5 i will start smoking as much weed as argyle

[teambyler]

Let's talk about #WallGate

The Upside Down appears to have been created the night Will went missing. I just read a theory from @MarianDalton on YouTube that Will has powers and in 1983 he created an Upside Down version of Hawkins because he wanted to get back home...

Whether or not that's exactly it, there's SOME connection between the Upside Down and Will. And destroying the Upside Down and saving Hawkins might be directly connected to Will.

Remember the lyrics to "Heroes" about forbidden love and kissing at the Berlin Wall?

Well, it now looks like the Upside Down has a wall:

It's possible that the Upside Down's wall maintains its structure, and destroying it is key to ending the UD and saving Hawkins. Since the Upside Down and Will are likely connected, what if the UD is connected somehow to Will's psychology and his likely coming-out arc this season? A place he created to wall himself in, a seemingly safe place, but also where he's closed off from the world because he can't be his true self? (His CLOSET?)

Ross Duffer has said about season 5, "This emotional arc for [Will] is what we feel is going to hopefully tie the whole series together."

One theme of the show has been the prejudice and fear of Hawkins. What if the physical wall parallels the metaphorical walls in Hawkins? After all, "conformity is killing the kids." We have an episode titled "Escape from Camazotz" which in A Wrinkle in Time was a hive-mind planet...

And what if the key to Vecna's power over Will is the fact that Will never thinks he'll find love? The show establishes that love is what frees people from Vecna.

Will and Mike are standing by the wall in the UD, and Will is about to use his connection to the UD to destroy it and save Hawkins, but it means destroying himself along with it. Mike can't stay or he'll die also. Will tells him to leave, which he refuses to do. Mike had promised Will they'd be a TEAM. Finally, Will, to explain himself, makes clear he loves Mike, and he can't let Mike die (my own favorite theory... mine lol). Mike absolutely will NOT leave and decides to die with Will.

When Will doesn't understand why Mike is doing this, Mike kisses him.

What they don't know yet, is that the key to tearing down the wall is that Will sees he is loved.

The wall falls.

The lyrics to "Heroes" suddenly become perfect:

Standing, by the wall And the guns, shot above our heads And we kissed, as though nothing could fall And the shame, was on the other side Oh we can beat them, for ever and ever Then we could be Heroes, just for one day.

-teambyler

[teambyler]

So... Volume 2, right?

Are we all in agreement that, if Byler happens, it will be during Volume 2?

Netflix has announced:

Volume 1 is episodes 1-4 (Nov. 26)

Volume 2 is episodes 5-7 (Dec. 25)

Volume 3 is episode 8 (Dec. 31)

I think having Byler happen in Volume 1 would be too early for many people. Most people haven't been thinking about the possibility yet. Having it in Volume 2 lets the show plant the seeds for Byler in the General Audience's minds a full month in advance. Then speculation can run rampant, and Byler analysis videos (ahem!) can be consumed.

I've already been thinking about how exactly they'll manage audience expectations! It needs time. Here's an older post of mine: "How the Duffers likely will make the general audience AWARE of Byler and CHEER for Byler"

I'm being a bit selfish, too, in that I don't want it to happen in the very last episode because we need our happy Byler coupley moments! Plus, this gives time in the story for Will to boldly be out in Hawkins High, which could be a great part of his arc and dealing with fear and evangelism in Hawkins.

(EDIT: And it would be pretty cool for gay love to be revealed on the biggest Christian day of the year, wouldn't it?)

Plus, Episode 6 is frikkin titled "Escape from Camazotz." Which is probably a reference to A Wrinkle in Time, which has a scene of someone's love pulling someone else out of a possession, reads like a Byler fanfic, and is consistent with how Mike has saved Will several times from the Upside Down already.

And while we're at it, the final episode of Volume 1 is titled "Sorcerer," which is also the Miwi episode! It's the one that has the flashback of a young Mike, Will, and Jonathan. Maybe it's titled "Sorcerer" because it's about someone new having powers? Someone like Will? Volume 1 of Season 4 ended with the big reveal of who Vecna was. Volume 1 needs to be its own mid-season climax. Isn't this the perfect time for Will's buried memories to make a big revelation about Will? And to jumpstart speculation about Will's future and about Byler?

-teambyler