sophology

i need byler to be canon already because i’m getting sick of the ga’s and anti-byler’s half-assed media literacy and thinking they have everything figured out.

“robin’s speech was CLEARLY about will not needing anyone else.” yeah that’s obviously what we’re meant to think initially, but if you look closer, that analysis doesn’t fit.

here are reasons why vol 1 did NOT rule out byler (and also why i think it’s now clearer than ever it will happen):

1) robin found her strength after watching a film reel of ONLY herself. conversely, will found his strength after thinking of memories (shown as a film reel) of MIKE and his family. unlike robin’s story, will’s film reel shows that will’s strength came from thinking about his loved ones (including mike!!!). if they wanted to directly parallel will and robin’s experiences, they would’ve had will think about memories of ONLY himself. but they’re showing us that their stories are not exactly the same.

2) mike is not tammy thompson. tammy was a distant crush robin had. they weren’t friends, and they likely didn’t even talk. mike and will have been BEST friends for almost a decade, and it’s been made clear that they have an incredibly special bond. they know and love each other (in one way or another), which is totally different to tammy and robin’s relationship. if the writers wanted to show a parallel between mike and tammy, they would’ve had robin talk about a straight best friend she was in love with when she was younger and had to learn to get over. that would make it extra clear to us that mike doesn’t like will back. but they didn’t do that :)

3) the scene of will asking robin how she knew vickie wanted to date was too long and too emphasized to only be used as payoff for the one scene where will flirtatiously pushes mike. this is the writers telling the audience what to look for in mike. i think this will really payoff in vol 2.

4) will is the main character of the entire season. the end of episode 4 was him reaching his “independence/strength arc” but we still have four more episodes… how else could he grow from there? his next arc will be him finding happiness and realizing that he can, in fact, get the love he wants and deserves.

5) also, will is the main character of the entire show. why would the main character NOT end up with the person they’ve been in love with and yearning for since the very beginning?? and no, queer people don’t need a reminder that things don’t always work out the way we want it to. i don’t think the duffers would use this whole situation to teach us that lesson. the “gay person in love with their straight best friend” trope is old and overused, and it doesn’t fit with the theme of uplifting outcasts.

6) the dick joke scenes?? the mention of “dick” and “liking dick” and then an emphasis on will AND MIKE’S reactions?? what else could that be for. honestly.

7) volume 1 is there so the GA can start to realize byler for themselves. if there were too many explicitly byler scenes in vol 1, it would be seemingly out of nowhere for the casual watchers and the people who haven’t watched 30+ hours worth of theory videos like us. now, a lot of the GA is going to be rooting for mike and will to get together, because that’s what vol 1 is pushing us to want.

8) el is very clearly on a journey of independence, so don’t worry about our girl. not to mention, her and mike had one (1) scene together in vol 1. mike and el’s romantic relationship makes each of them so much worse and more insufferable (which is probably why they’re so great this season!). again, if they wanted to make it clear that byler won’t happen, they could’ve easily done that by having mileven kiss or do anything explicitly romantic, but they didn’t because:

9) the duffers WANT it to be ambiguous.

they’re not going to give everything away before it happens!!! the will-they-won’t-they discourse is healthy and it’s what they want us to do, but it’s not accurate to say that anything in vol 1 proved byler won’t happen.

“but I had all the answers.”

“I just needed to stop being so goddamn scared.”

“Scared of who I really was.”

will didn’t say yes.

he didn’t say anything. he just nodded.

i didn’t say it.

Love the way Will's powers are revealed via accepting himself and by thinking of his most cherished memories of his loved ones. Meeting mike for the 1st time, Joyce complimenting his RAINBOW ship, and Will building castle byers with Jonathan (after their homophobic dad left). All of these memories were mentioned in the s2 shed scene-which broke Will from his possession. It's also similar to how El thought of a happy memory to strengthen her powers and initially send Henry into the void ( she thought of her bio mom saying 'i love you' ). Love is the answer (and recalling happy memories of being loved heightens their powers).

Robin's speech also mentions tapping into your inner child , the opposite of the "we're not kids anymore..." fight MIke/Will previously had in s3. And Mike said he "doesn't believe in coincidences" anymore . In s4, his (love) pep talk about El's powers didn't work : max got harmed, and the town ripped into pieces (because “without heart we all fall apart”). But Mike's pep talk to Will (about his powers) was correct and ended up being inspo for Will being a hero.... and protecting everyone in ep 4.

Will *breaks the limbs of the demogorgans just like vecna broke the limbs of his human victims*. Also this episode being called "the sorcerer" a name Mike dubs Will with.

Will’s arc of self acceptance & love is key to defeating the evil. The fact that Will’s powers came out saving Mike & his loved ones is symbolic of him coming out. THIS IS WHO I AM.

Remember this?

“You make ‘me’ feel like I’m not a mistake at all, like ‘I’m’ better for being different”

Will is Different:

And Mike accepts him & loves him for EXACTLY who he is:

Mike was AWESTRUCK & had an epiphany about himself. He knew right then and there that he loves Will. Because Mike is Different, too.

I guess Superman was at his doorstep this whole time & now it’s his turn to open the door😏💙💛

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