cold open then 1x01 starting with the party playing dnd
cold open then 5x01 starting with Mike and Will playing dnd with Holly
WALK WITH ME
Guys I didn't get any Byler doubt from the trailer but I am unfortunately getting Byler doubt from this 😅
Pls I need reassurance!!!
I wouldn’t give the social media teams any credence to be honest. The Netflix (and Stranger Things) social media team doesn’t know the ending (including endgame pairings) of Stranger Things. The Duffers are keeping that under lock and key. And anyone who does know the ending and endgame pairings is surely under NDAs, which if broken would get the individuals involved in massive legal trouble.
Also Milkvan is still a canon ship, so of course Netflix is promoting them. And it’s clear some people on their social media team ship them and are thus promoting the pairing.
The only social media accounts you should take seriously is that of the Stranger Things writers account and that of the Duffers and directors like Shawn Levy. They actually know what happens in comparison to the social media teams.
completely agree, i don’t think social media admins know anything about the ending (and if they did, they can’t spoil it). however i do think it’s a little annoying and messy that they’re engaging with shippers at all 😬
i saw someone else mention this but everyone is aware (or at least, should be aware) that there is an unfinished love triangle and that there’s shipping wars between bylers vs m*levens so it just feels weird to get involved and stir the pot like this, knowing it’s just gonna make one side constantly brag and not be quiet about it. even though we’re all supposed to CURRENTLY think m*leven is endgame since they’re together at this point in the story, it still feels unnecessary to SUDDENLY push the ship like this on so many netflix accounts and then like comments implying they’re staying together forever. even their own shippers were suspicious because for ages hardly anyone acknowledged their ship, and even finn would speak very vaguely about the shipping wars, but now he’s saying more direct stuff about m*leven and even saying he prefers this ship and giving them hope
if m*leven is endgame, their shippers will just brag that we should’ve expected it the whole time due to all this sudden promotion. WE will get called delusional for not seeing what was “right in front of us” and they’ll say we have no right to claim we were queerbaited because “they tried to warn us ages ago”. but if byler is endgame, then the admins just got carried away with pushing m*leven and their shippers will get so mad about it and say how awful it is to treat the “main ship of the show” like this and end their relationship after 4 seasons for a different one (not that straightbaiting is ANYWHERE near as bad as queerbaiting obviously, but SO many people including the ga will probably be annoyed especially after they kept pushing it like this. it just looks unprofessional on their end as an official account because there is literally no reason for them to reply to a bunch of shippers)
if the admins do know the ending and m*leven does actually stay together and they’re trying to “prepare us”, that’s ridiculous because they’re still spoiling something they shouldn’t be since mike doesn’t even know will loves him yet so it’s completely unresolved
if they DON’T know the ending (which is most likely) and it could go either way, it’s still ridiculous, because them getting involved like this is gonna upset either bylers or m*levens regardless. it’s impossible for both shippers to be satisfied :/ i think they should’ve just made the posts and left it at that instead of stirring the pot further
already spoke about this but once again, there is literally nothing else for the writers to do with mike and el’s relationship, so how could them being endgame possibly be satisfying? (and don’t even get me started on all the will stuff and how they used his feelings to push mike back to her)
they’ve been together the entire show and we’ve seen the same repetitive things: kissing, making out, getting split up, reuniting, going to the snowball, excluding all their friends, arguing, breaking up, getting back together, getting split up again, reuniting again, going on a roller rink “date”, excluding will again, arguing, basically breaking up, getting split up AGAIN, reuniting AGAIN and then getting back together AGAIN (only thanks to will) over and over and over and over again
it’s not ground-breaking, it’s not powerful. most viewers, even people who don’t care about ships at all, are bored. people had no reactions in their reaction videos to seeing them together in the teaser because it’s nothing special, just the same couple they’ve been forcing since the start
there’s literally nothing left for them to do with this ship. and there won’t be another “el will save the world with the power of love” because 1. they already used that and can’t do it again and 2. it failed miserably. vecna won, max and eddie were killed and the town got destroyed. they lost. el didn’t even talk to him after it and mike chose to stay up the top of the hill next to will when el walked down on her own
calling byler shippers “delusional freaks” is one of the most awful things, and it makes me wonder how some people (like, the actual homophobic bullies specifically) even have the audacity to step foot near this show
- you’re literally watching a show that was created for outcasts and minorities
- you’re watching a show with main characters who are passionate nerds that love their hobbies and get super invested in what they enjoy (which literally represents us on here - loving stranger things, being invested in the characters/ships and making so many analysis posts)
- you’re watching a show with characters who have been screamed at for being “delusional” and “having hope” (for example, joyce when she never gave up on will in s1 and kept telling everyone she thinks he’s alive, and she ended up being right)
- you’re watching a show where bullies, homophobes, racists and bigots fall into the villain category and none of the main characters would ever tolerate such nasty, judgemental people
- you’re watching a show where details matter. even the tiniest details you might miss have been carefully thought out. the actual characters in the show also look for clues/hints and analyse things deeply when trying to solve things, just like we do as fans
- you’re watching a show where it’s been confirmed that the gay main character has been in love with his best friend since the start (yes, it was always planned) and who literally gave him strength and made him feel loved with his own confession to him and painting he made for him. even though he lied about it and pretended it was from his girlfriend, it doesn’t change the fact that WILL’S FEELINGS gave mike strength + is what mike truly wants
there is absolutely NOTHING “delusional” or “weird” about rooting for a ship between two best friends who understand each other better than anyone else, especially when one of those friends has barely had any moments of genuine happiness since the show started and has never experienced romance (and thinks he never will because he’s gay). it’s not a crime to want the traumatised gay character to finally have happiness with the boy he’s always loved, and for the boy he’s always loved to also find happiness with someone who actually UNDERSTANDS him and makes him feel truly LOVED
we’ve seen time and time again that mike and el don’t have a healthy relationship (at least when they’re dating) and every season it’s always the same repetitive things. them being forced together and canon for most of the show doesn’t automatically mean it’s a good ship. the length of a relationship doesn’t determine how well they work together as a couple and i think the show has made it very clear mike and el don’t work together well romantically and there wouldn’t have been any “i love you” monologue if it weren’t for will giving mike strength. so how can you possibly blame people for not wanting mike and el to stay together after all of this especially after will got dragged into it? how do you seriously think that’s fair or good writing?
he has TEARS on his cheeks mixed with sweat and i'm not fucking ready for this kind of pain
it’s funny when people say “they’re not going to focus on romance in season 5, they have to focus on the plot!” because mike and will’s relationship has actually always been an integral part of the plot. in fact, it STARTED the plot!
the vanishing of will and mike not giving up on finding him is the only reason he stumbled on el in the woods to begin with, and that’s how the story continued. it all started with will and the impact he had on the people around him.
his sexuality and identity also plays a huge role in his trauma, which vecna targets people for and uses to mess with people’s emotions.
almost EVERYTHING about byler can be heavily intertwined with the main plot. people just act like it’s “irrelevant” and “unnecessary” simply because THEY don’t want it. they’re uncomfortable at the thought of it so they try to come up with any excuse to try and make it sound stupid and unimportant when their relationship and bond is literally the heart of the show that started everything
Season 5 Byler Scenes Compilation
Given that some are questioning after the teaser if Byler really have that many scenes together, I decided to make a compilation post of all the known/speculated Byler scenes for Season 5.
Those that are bolded are for scenes that are basically guaranteed. Italicized are for scenes that are speculated based on what leakers have said. If I include an asterisk (*) it's my own personal speculation. There are potential spoilers below based on leaks, so please skip this post if you wish to avoid possible spoilers. But I will for the sake of avoiding major spoilers refrain from discussing any epilogue-related leaks.
I'm breaking this up into 5 parts: Large groups (5+), Small groups (3-4), pair scenes between Byler, Mike/Will discussing each other with a 3rd party, and then other possible scenes.
Large groups (5+)
- Will giving a debrief to the group at the radio station about the Upside Down (Mike is in the BTS photos with the others)
- Farm scene(s) — Mike and Will should be together for at least some of the farm scenes, including during the attack on the farm when Will is screaming “run!” (likely to Mike, though some believe he's saying it to Steve)
- Lovers Lake scenes — I’ve seen some leakers say there were a lot of cast members filming at the Lake, not sure how many but Noah and Finn were here too (they're seen in a BTS photo with the crew). It's likely characters could be split off during this scene too into smaller groups or pairs
- Scenes at the military base of Will with Joyce and Mike with Holly's friend group.
Small groups (3-4)
- Byler with Holly on the bikes
- Core 4 scene in the cafeteria
- Core 4 scene in the hallway at Hawkins High
- Core 4 scene in the woods with the all-hands-in
- Miwi flashback scene in Episode 4 (this includes Jonathan so I'm including it here)
- Byler/Rovickie supposedly have a scene together? I can't find further information on this right now, but I remember it being discussed before.
Pair (2)
- Byler field scene (the IG photo Noah posted)
- Byler in the tunnels (likely multiple scenes; Byler are said to go on a pair mission early on in the season)
- Byler at the church (likely multiple scenes)
- Byler argument scene (Shawn Levy has confirmed there will be one)
Mike/Will discussing each other with a 3rd Party
- Some leakers have said Jonathan and Mike have an argument about Will’s safety (one leaker specified it’s an argument about Will’s health, which judging from the trailer how Will's fainting multiple times would definitely be a concern for both Jonathan and Mike). Not sure if Will is around to hear this argument
- Mike and El on the rooftop. Many think they’re partly talking about Will based on a lip readings of Mike – he seems to be talking about how Will’s not acting like himself
- *Mike and Lucas — it wouldn’t be surprising if Mike brings up any concerns he has about Will's well-being to Lucas given that Will is their mutual friend and that he’s also being targeted by Vecna. Given that Max was targeted by Vecna last season Lucas can relate to Mike's fears
- Will/Robin and Mike/Robin — together or separately. We know Robin will be having interactions with both of them. It won’t come as any surprise if Robin ends up mentoring either of them.
- Will coming out to Joyce (basically a Will coming out scene is guaranteed to happen, I'd say there's a moderately good chance there'd be a discussion of Will's feelings toward Mike too)
- *Will is likely going to be taunted about his feelings for Mike by Vecna; he already does this on the VR game (which is said to partially tie into Season 5). Vecna in Season 4 preys on his victims fears, and what is one of Will's worst fears? To have the secret of his sexuality and romantic feelings for Mike exposed.
Other possible scenes
- *There's a possibility for some scenes of Will at the Wheeler house. Some leakers have said the Byers are living at the Wheelers in S5 so it wouldn’t be surprising to see some scenes of Will living with Mike. Perhaps Will is sleeping in Mike's basement or they're sharing Mike's room? We could see a scene of Will waking up from a nightmare in Mike's house and Mike comforting him. Or alternatively we could also get a parallel scene to Mike getting ready in the beginning of Season 4, but this time with Will, showing the ease in which they function together as a unit. Maybe Will makes sure Mike's not late this time by waking him up (since every season Mike is late, would be interesting to see Will help Mike break this cycle).
- *Maybe a short DnD scene or small bonding scene between Mike, Will and Holly?
- *Byler in the Upside Down together. Finn revealed during Paris Con how Mike goes to the Upside Down to save his friend. This is most likely Mike going to save Will, and this is probably around episode 7-8
- *Byler kiss/confession scene ofc 💙💛
Let me know if I missed anything! Also keep in mind that there are definitely plenty of other scenes we don't even know about yet.
But as you can see we have many Byler scenes to look forward to!
and what if the big realisation where mike finds out the painting was from will and will is in love with him happens when will isn’t anywhere near him?
what if it happens after they’ve had an argument and split up? and then there’s just this long silence and we see mike’s expression changing when he finally puts all the pieces together. imagine him looking so terrified and guilty and feeling responsible for hurting him. and at that exact moment, will is somewhere all alone miserable and depressed, and then mike starts panicking even more because he’s so scared he’ll hurt himself or volunteer to risk his life or do something dangerous and that he’s been in even more pain because of him this whole time.
AND THEN we have a skam-like moment where mike just thinks “fuck it” and runs as fast as possible to go find him and make sure he’s okay, maybe with a song playing in the background and a montage of their memories/flashbacks. and then he just hugs him and cups his face and tells him he’s not alone and that he’s so sorry for everything… yeah
trying not to let it upset me but it’s a literal fact that so many people are heavily against byler/don’t take it seriously ONLY because they’re both boys
you can put literally anything straight into a tv show and they’ll blindly accept it, even if it’s unhealthy, but the moment you provide evidence of a healthy genuine queer relationship and try to explain everything, it’s invalid to them because it’s not straight. they don’t care. we’re called “delusional freaks” for enjoying a comforting ship between best friends who give each other strength, make each other feel loved and understand each other better than anyone, JUST because it’s gay
the homophobia, invalidation, disrespect and nasty comments people are making are genuinely upsetting, especially considering that stranger things was a show specifically created for outcasts and minorities and people who don’t fit into societal norms. it’s just crazy how heteronormativity and homophobic bullies are invading such a safe space and taking over and saying the most awful things
i really, really, really hope the writers know what they’re doing here and won’t allow their show to be remembered like this, with all these types of people commenting horrible things and saying “i told you so! you were delusional all along”. if byler doesn’t happen, we’ll never hear the end of it, and honestly it’s not even the actual show itself that’ll be the most upsetting part about that. it’s the fact that real people are gonna continuously hurt and laugh at other real people, especially the ones that relate to will, share his struggles and believed this poor kid would actually get the ending he deserved, since so many queer people don’t get to have that. and i don’t mean some last minute boyfriend that the audience doesn’t care about, but the boy he’s loved for most of his life. after everything he’s suffered and everything he’s sacrificed for others, why can’t he win for once?
I deadass said this straight away about it mostly being the beginning but the “doesn’t pull from episode 7” has sent me entirely omg it really was a seven (x)