Paul: If We Put The Songs In A Certain Order We Can Weave A Narrative Thread

my only consolation in case byler isn't endgame is that i will get to be a world-class hater. i will hate on levels never foreseen before. i will be so ruthless, netflix will have no choice but to denote a cease-and-desist order. things will get ugly.

stranger writers please come back they are tarnishing the name of your show with their fake leaks

might be a hotter take, but i don't want byler to even utter the word "love". i want it to be said through their actions, looks, touches, metaphors, callbacks, their mutual care and understanding, but not through clear and explicit words. i don't want them to say "i love you", just because

"i didn't say it."

"you didn't have to."

satisfying payoff of the milkvan s3 finale scene:

mike processes the kiss after standing still for a few seconds, recollects himself, follows after el, spins her around and kisses her the way he should’ve kissed her back moments ago. maybe they pull away and smile adoringly and hold each other or something. a goodbye that doesn’t wanna feel like one.

but instead we got:

…and that’s it.

@love-byers and i have been discussing the many layers to this scene and it’s just impossible that this scene is pro milkvan in the slightest i’m sorry but if this was meant to be romantic i’m just not feeling it. i remember watching this for the first time— thinking this’ll be the moment that finally makes me ship them, but all i felt was utterly confused as to why mike reacted the way he did… and the lack of action he took when he apparently “realized the girl he loves loves him back after all”. i’m not buying that shit for a second.

hey i like you! *vecnas your mike wheeler*

"but, tumblr user willielli, does this post of yours mean you believe any ship will be endgame as long as one of the characters is in love?" absolutely not, my lovely imaginary opponent! just being in love doesn't save a character from ending up on a losing side of a love triangle, au contraire, stranger things has a character exactly like that. and, as you might've guessed, it is no one other than steve harrington himself!

so buckle up, ladies and germs, we're doing an impromptu will&steve comparison/analysis! hopeless loverboys, fear me, i've come to dig in your guts-

just to preface, please note that i'm perfectly neutral on steve, which means i have not spent too much time thinking about his character, so i might be wayyyyy off here, but: i firmly believe that steve's endgame is going to be staying single & better for it, maybe finding someone in the epilogue. so, in other words... steve's endgame is exactly what some people on reddit envision for will, lmfao.

yeah, both steve and will are in love with their respective wheelers, both have dreams of happily ever after, but this is about where the similarities end. they are opposites when it comes to narrative ideas and character arcs, which is why their outcomes will be different.

first off, this point has been beaten half to death, but i'll repeat it anyway: stancy goes against the main message of stranger things, while byler supports it. in the jancy vs stancy love triangle, steve represents conformity: nancy choosing steve means leading a life terrifyingly similar to one of her parents, safe, but also miserable. this theme was first introduced in s1 with the jancy gun shooting practice scene, then amplified by murray in s2, and in s4 they repeated it via steve and his six nuggets talk. it's enticing, this image of happy and peaceful life, and while nancy is interested, she isn't won over by it in the end. steve represents an easy way out, but it also goes against what nancy, a very ambitious and driven woman, actually wants in life.

byler, on the other hand, is a queer relationship in the 80s, meaning it's the definition of non-conformity. the other, conforming option for mike (the center of this love triangle) is mil*ven, a relationship that was explicitly shown to be ridden with lies and play pretend. both of them are unable to be their true selves when with each other, both of them act like they are enjoying things they actually don't and are ignoring things they actually love. the biggest evidence here is mike's relationship with d&d in s3 and s4: he acts like he's too grown to be interested in the game while el is in the picture, then doing an 180 and joining the hellfire club the moment she's out. being with el is an obstacle to doing what he actually wants, just like it was for nancy with steve. will, on the other hand, shares mike's interests and encourages him to partake in them, be unashamedly himself.

the second aspect to this is how steve and will's character arcs (the romance parts of them, anyway) are actually total opposites. their starting points are mirrored: steve starts off in an established romantic relationship with nancy, confident and secure that nancy wants him; will is convinced that he will never fall in love — a romantic relationship is simply not an option for a gay kid like him. steve is proven to be incorrect, of course, when nancy doesn't get what she needs from him and breaks up with him, giving his head the biggest thump of his life and kickstarting his arc/development/redemption. the purpose of steve's love for nancy is for it to end up rejected, serving as an inciting incident that changed the trajectory of where steve's character was headed, allowing him to escape bad influence and grow from a douchey jock to the compassionate and open-minded person he is now. his arc is still not over, though, as steve is yet to find his worth, purpose and confidence, the lack of which manifests in his romantic failures, but i have a feeling he's not going to find that through nancy. just as for nancy this relationship means going against who she is, for steve it would mean a regression.

when it comes to will, his conviction is going to be challenged as well, since it's very obviously the Lie — stranger things is not a show that will reinforce a queer kid's belief that he will never be loved romantically. will's love for mike isn't tied to negative aspects of his character (unlike steve's, as his jealousy for nancy turned him into into a jerk and a bigot), as will was shown to be self-sacrificing, loving and supportive of both mike and el, unwilling to hurt them despite all the pain he's going through. moreover, the van scene is him giving up his love, conceding defeat without fighting, which comes as both an outcome and a reinforcement of the wrongful belief that romantic love is an impossibility for him. him ending up rejected would not be the cause of some character growth — there is no lesson to be drawn from a heartbreak for him. it's not giving a thump on his head to make him go in the right direction, it's headshotting a corpse.

now, will's position going into s5 was set up by the writers 100% intentionally. they chose to write themselves into this corner in which mike reciprocating is the only logical outcome, because it's a combination of several deliberate writing decisions. they didn't have to write will expressing that he will never fall in love, his struggle with his queerness could've come in a different form. they didn't have to write him have feelings for mike and mike only, it could've been anyone, existing character or new. they didn't have to write him in love, it could've been an infatuation or a childhood crush. they didn't have to write mil*ven lie to each other about who they truly are, they could've had a strong connection and understanding. they didn't have to write will giving up his love for mike and el's (dubious) benefit, he could've fought and gotten mean with it.

they could've written him being worse for loving mike, but they chose not to.

the writers gave both will and steve love triangles, and both of them are in the position of hopelessly in love third party as of s4, but their arcs are not parallels. both characters are in love, but love serves opposite purposes for them — for steve it's something to overcome and grow from, for will it's something to embrace and allow himself to have.

i'm decently sure it's all bs, just based on the kali part. linnea wasn't part of the cast of s5, so i don't think it's likely she returns

that said, what pissed me off the most here isn't even the byler part, but kali&el saving will from vecna's possession. that once again puts him in this passive role of victim to be saved, and that goes against everything that was said about will's arc in s5 and him coming into his own, which by definition requires him to take back control. if these leaks are true, this is what's going to drive me mad, not mil*ven endgame

is this real

i hope the one abt mike is fake i can’t do this rn 😵‍💫😣