The most obvious Byler proof is this Jancy - Byler parallel:
Nancy not being able to say "I love you" to Steve
And then going to Johnathan for comfort and advice
Mike not being able to say "I love you" to El
And then going to Will for comfort and advice
Not only that, the car scenes are very similar
- sitting on a car
- soda
- Wheeler on (their) right
- Byers on (their) left
Byler endgame is real guys 😋
There is so much more proof btw and don't come at me with "Oh but Mike is straight!" Just search up "Mike Wheeler queercoding and watch the video by Lesbianmindflayer about it, you might have to pause to read tho, or there's also another video which is longer by someone else but I haven't seen it yet so can't say anything about it. You will see that he is so much more queercoded than Will himself, the canon (confirmed) gay character.
The Byler gates I think could happen and under what circumstances/order: PART 1; LETTERGATE💌✍️📝🛡️🗡️
I AM VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS SO PLEASE READ BYLERS I PROMISE ITS GOOD!!
pinning and will edit with every part I add, follow if you wanna keep up!! :D
possible BTS photo spoilers and discussion of rumored ‘leaks’ but unconfirmed of course.
After the Wheeler house is targeted, Mike and Lucas will bike there (theory about why I think they go there here) after they are told that something is going down there. They will arrive there during the aftermath, ambulances present. Mike will run into his house to see the aftermath, and he goes to his room to grab things important to him.
His room is destroyed. Will’s painting is ripped (please read my ElMike WQSK Rooftop theory for background knowledge about the painting), and his binder full of Will’s drawings, and the letter(s) to Will, are scattered across the floor. He starts to cry, he was already overwhelmed but now he’s completely breaking. His fingers trail across the painting…his tears fall onto it before he realizes and starts to wipe them from his face.
The instrumental to Smalltown Boy begins to play as he collects all the pieces of the painting and starts to collect things from Will’s binder, and the letter(s).
Lucas sees this, he’s confused, but he knows Mike is hurting so he tries to help him clean up, but he picks up a letter, and reads that it’s for Will, the date from 1986, and addressed to Lenora—but, Mike yells at him, scared Lucas will pick up on his secrets.
Lucas is shocked, but he leaves Mike alone, figuring he’s just extremely overwhelmed right now. His family is crumbling a part, and his valuables have been ripped, scattered and tainted by a monster.
The camera is back on Mike, starting to sob, he’s frantically collecting all of his Will-centric belongings.
The camera focuses on the letter Lucas begun to read…it’s not a love confession, or anything crazy. It’s just Mike talking about himself and telling Will he misses him—but the bottom of the letter reads; “Love, Mike”
The camera focuses on Mike again, lyrics to Smalltown Boy are now playing, we see Mike focus on the letter. He aggressively grabs it and stuffs it in his pocket. He collects everything else, shoves it in his pack, and leaves, trying to contain his emotions. It’s very hard to watch, he is hurting so badly, and those who understand Smalltown Boy, and the Mileven/Byler communication lore understand it all. (Phone gate, can’t write ily to El)
———————————————————
Lucas never pokes at Mike, but he starts to pay more attention to him and Will, wondering why Mike got so defensive over an unsent letter.
———————————————————
I think Will knowing about the letter could go different ways.
1. Either, Mike put the letter in his vest pocket, that Will shared with him, and Will finds the letter when he puts his hands in his pockets to stay warm. (CROSSED OUT BECAUSE VESTGATE WAS SADLY DEBUNKED)
2. Mike gives Will the letter post the reveal of their feelings for each other, and when Will reveals why he lied about the painting, so we can see their love is equal to one another and the beauty of Mike showing love through writing it, and Will showing love through art. (my personal favorite option because it ties “you can’t even write it Mike” back into things and also connects back to Mike being an aspiring writer, and ofc Will being an aspiring artist).
3. We see the letters present in their form in the epilogue, signifying that Mike finally revealed it to Will, and they’re next to Will’s painting that has been taped back together, just like Hawkins had to be ;)
I’ve seen some bylers worry about how the breakup can go down in season 5, especially with such a big time jump and a small likelihood of flashbacks between s4-s5.
I totally understand this fear and it is definitely something that fuels byler doubt. However, I have a few thoughts about how it can play out.
Firstly, I want to mention how Stancy never really had an official breakup scene—Steve realized Nance was in love with Jonathan, and told her it was okay. I could definitely see something like that happening for ElMike. (Maybe the cabin scene from teaser).
Secondly, when it comes to the time jump, Bylers are worried about how Mike and El’s relationship has still been together for a year and 8 months. (reminder we have no confirmation they are happy).
I find it likely that since El is a fugitive, her communication with the main party is very limited because they have to keep her safe. I think maybe when ElMike have their WQSK rooftop conversation, it might be the first in a while. They’ve waited so long to start the fight against Vecna again, maybe it’s only now that they are able to talk to El safety, too.
I don’t think we will get an official breakup scene. I think we will be shown how they work better without any romantic undertones, and how El is stronger independently, and how Mike heavily leans on Will (like how they have always shown us, but this time, it will be more obvious to the GA because they choose their paths instead of being thrown into them like previous seasons—they choose their arcs to not involve romance for one another).
When do you think Byler became the goal for the Duffers?
Since s1
Since s2
Since s3
Since the END of s3
S4
Since the end of s4
There is a seventh option… (comment/reblog)
Voting ended onAug 22, 2025
Personally I don’t even know what I believe. Will was clearly queer-coded since season 1, and there’s definitely aspects to Mike that feel queer-coded as well, but they are a little more ambiguous.
My heart wants to say it’s been the plan all along…
But honestly I could see the Duffers getting mid-way/near the end of season 3 and going “wait chat…we lowkey accidentally cooked here…” and then they had this gay ass kiss between El and Mike’s still born ahh lips and proceeded to have the gayest season ever after that.
And honestly I also think they wanted to go full Byler but they backed out because they wanted to keep the homophobic GA watching so they could spread their left-wing woke agenda propaganda and turn all the kids gay n shi
Tagging this like crazy so I can see a bunch of different opinions
