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chirpsythismorning · 1 year

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With Birthdaygate pretty much confirmed, here are two moments from 4x02 Vecna's Curse that hit different...

(1) First we have Jonathan stopping Will as he goes into Rink-O-Mania to tell him something. Will turns around quickly and almost looks, dare I say, hopeful?

But why would that be the case? Unless of course there's something Will's waiting for Jonathan to say, that he hasn't said yet? Happy Birthday perhaps? Surprise Will! We didn't forget your birthday! We're coming in! We have a party planned and everything! Meet you inside! (interesting that there were birthday decorations in there as well...)

Unfortunately, all Jonathan does is tell Will that they'll be back to pick them up at 6:00. And so Will goes from sad, to hopeful, only to go back to looking sad again...

I think a lot of fans attributed Jonathan's concerned looks in this moment as him knowing about Will's feelings for Mike. And I do still think that's present, especially as he's telling Will they'll be there to pick them up later. In that specific moment he sounds sympathetic like Sorry buddy, that sucks.

However, the look Jonathan makes after Will turns away, as Argyle starts driving off, doesn't look like sympathy or pity from someone witnessing unrequited love. It looks like confusion and almost deja vu being experienced by Jonathan himself. As if he's forgetting something, but doesn't know what it is...

(2) Next is at the very end of Will and Mike's fight. Mike sort of echoes the same level of frustration he had during their rain fight, when he said It's not my fault you don't like girls. We know the scenes parallel each other, and how after both of those things are said, there's this silence that takes over, making clear that this is as far as they can go, otherwise they might risk hurting each other beyond fixing. We see both of them make faces of deep emotion here, because they probably are also being reminded of their fight last summer.

And so Will's options here were to, either (A) take it even further and risk hurting Mike more than he's hurting him, or (B) just don't say anything and let the argument end there before it gets beyond repair.

But the thing is, it almost looked like Will was going to say something. He quite literally mouths the word But-- only to cut himself off all together, looking defeated.

Here's what I think. THIS would have been the perfect moment for Will to say, But, you forgot my birthday, Mike. If it was genuinely something as simple as Mike and everyone simply forgetting and needing a reminder, without any supernatural implications involved, I think this would have been the moment to do it.

It would have also mirrored their rain fight even better because it would have been Will saying something and likely walking away, leading to Mike being like OH SHIT I have to fix this! I messed up.

But we all know it's not that simple.

As far as Will knowns, EVERYONE forgot his birthday, not just Mike. And so him calling out Mike here, might have felt slightly unjustified in that it wasn't just him who forgot.

It's almost like they're not the problem here, he is. (WILL POV ANGST)

That's what truly makes the scenes at Rink-O-Mania so heartbreaking. Because it wasn't just about Mike and El ignoring him, it was the fact that it was his literal birthday. All the most important people in his life, who used the literal memory of his birthday to bring him back bc they cared about him so much in the past, have now apparently forgot about him in the present.

Not to mention, the story not blatantly acknowledging his birthday being forgotten in the narrative of s4, means that it was framed this way bc the whole point was they only wanted it to be hinted at in s4, saving it as a surprise revelation in s5.

And so, if Will did say here, but Mike, you forgot my birthday, how would that have impacted the conflict in s4 and Vecna's plan as a whole, specifically for Will? All it would have taken was them connecting the dots after that, figuring out Vecna's plan before he could even reach Will, rendering s5 plotless?...

S5 is likely going to jump right into this, there's too much incriminating evidence about unused footage at the Rink-O-Mania location. It also fits with them not mentioning it in s4 if it's intended to be an early s5 revelation.

TBH with all the storylines going on in s4, them exploring the depths of Will's connection to Vecna just wasn't an option, bc they wouldn't have been able to do it justice. He needs to be front and center for that.

They're clearly saving the best for last...

#byler #<- target audience #stranger things #will byers #birthdaygate #stranger things 5 #st5 predictions #rink o mania #unused footage gate #vecna vision #will getting vecna'd #this also explains them just focusing on byler buildup in s4 #if a lot of s5 going to be filled with angst and revelations behind all these hidden truths going way back to the beginning #it's really good we got these moments in s3-4 that sort of show they are struggling but always come back to each other #and how that is always a constant for them no matter what #it's going to make them defying all the odds against them in s5 that much more epic #also vecna knows will pretty well...#he probably knows will is the kind of kid that if everyone in his life he forgot his birthday #he wouldn't say anything bc clearly that's a sign he is a burden (mistake)#like... that's the whole point #he is too humble to make ppl feel bad in this scenario #when he's taking it as a sign he's unloveable #like it hurts a lot but #that's will byers for you

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lighthouseas · 1 year

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imagine being new to the byler tag and not knowing the lore and community dynamics. like, one day you log on, see a bunch of well thought out, extensive analysis about why byler are going to kiss in s5, what the weather is gonna be, what theyre gonna be wearing, etc. and then you scroll down and see a post and it's just that one picture of pigeon finn wolfhard that people are trying to start a cult with

#like how am i supposed to explain noahschnappgate and scriptgate and flickergate and jonathong and birthdaygate to a puritan #stranger things #byler #phoebe speaks

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heheidks · 2 years

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umm birthdaygate + will has powers but they only work in the UD

something something el lost her memories while fighting (having a psychic connection with) vecna and vecna has been involved with all joyce, jonathan and mike

#byler #birthdaygate #theorygate #pls tell me if it doesn't make sense i'll make a post explaining it

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pinkeoni · 1 year

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me trying to explain that im confident will has had a soteria in his neck since the end of season one but also how i think that will could have used his powers to erase the memory of his birthday due to trauma repression

#will byers #will byers has powers #byler #explaining how i got to this point is going to require a lot of context #birthdaygate

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justmy-account · 5 months

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List of byler-gates

I’m just bored, but read it anyways, it’s fun

there sooo many of them, and i’m still pretty lazy so this isn’t perfect, but just let’s start

Mikhailgate

This is practically anti byler theory, but nvm

So, Dimitri has a son named Mikhail, which is russian version of name Michael, Mike

So, people were just saying that instead of Mike, Will will end up with Mikhail(who’s technically Mike bc of the name, yk)

I think everyone was just joking, oh, good ol’ times

and willloveinterestgate is the same

Lettergate/Pocketgate

These theories aren’t the same one, but it’s basically the same concept, ig

The basic thing is, that Mike wrote a letter to Will(singed Love, Mike)

In pocketgate, Mike has the letter saved in his triangle pocket, bc in st, characters many times has letters, that were important to them, in their left pocket(above the heart), for example Hopper and El(Hopper’s heart-to-heart), Jonathan(acceptance letter to college) etc.

And he would just take it out in the middle of confession or sth

+the triangle always points to Will like an arrow

Lettergate is just basically the same, ok, idk how to describe it differently

Twelvegate

Not exactly a byler, but theory, that Will was number twelve in HNL, and that he’s El’s actual twin

And from that, there’s theory that Will has powers, but wasn’t n. 012

Okay, back to byler

This is same as rainbowgate i think

Flickergate

This theory is very lovely! after Will tells Mike that rolled seven in s1, the light behind them flickers

and since ud is frozen on nov6 83, when you signal sth from ud, it should appear at nov6 83-s1

this connects to electricgate(i dunno if sth like this exist, but just keep reading), the electricity~are friends electric~will possibly having electric powers

so mike and will could go together in s5 to ud on a mission or sth, and kiss in wheelers garage, and that would make the light flicker(i’m so good at explaining things, right😐)

will and mike going to ud together is predicted by mike and will sitting on upside down couch in last ep. of s4

Birthdaygate/Memorygate

Soo, remember how they forgot Will’s birthday? what if all wills memories, that people reminded him of in the shed are gone? his birthday, building castle byers, meeting mike… and that’s why mike says that his life started the day he found her, bc he doesn’t remember meeting Will

for me, it’s really weird, they couldn’t just forget Will’s birthday, no, this ain’t it

Kiss at lovers lake

I’m not sure if this has a different name, but it’s that their first kiss will be near lovers lake

evidence: patrick(the kid who died at lovers lake), had a nickname “berlin wall” or sth(we saw this in the school newspaper), and it was devided to four, same as hawkins

and song heroes is abt couple who lived at different sides of berlin wall, and idk, it just connects, okay?

when will painted the map of hawkins while he was possessed, mike was holding blue and yellow meter

Eightfifteengate

Context: will left the wheelers at 8:15 in s1

in s1e1, time mark 8:15 is literally the shot where will disappears in the shead

i think there’s a season 2 soundtrack called eight fifteen

tw: time fuckery: while will was recording on halloween night, the time says 8:04 while he’s recording mike saying “did you agreed with this?”, but when joyce rewatches it, it show 8:15(byler)

“ it’s 8:15, you’re late”

btw, clocks and watches from hiroshima are stuck at 8:15

aaanywaaay, there’s just too much 8:15 things, aaah(this is just a few)

what it has to do with byler?

well, 15-8=….(wait for it)….seven. a byler number. it was a seven!

also, “the first lie”, when murray says this to jancy, the time mark is… guess what, 8:15

there’s this theory with the songs “the first lie” and “the first i love you”, and it just connects

Motelgate

theory, that after mike’s “love” confession to el, they went to a motel for sleep, and mike and will had to share a bed, and we could possibly see flashbacks of it in s5, and it would kinda explain the two day skip

Colorgate

blue and yellow meet in the west, i’m sure you know this one, and there’s sooo many evidence in this

mattduffersbasementgate

It’s too late for this to be true, but the duffers are(/were) holding every cast member that ships byler in their basement, lol

bloopergate

Bloopers from byler scenes, basically, for example “not when i was the spy, oh fuck”, basically Finn and Noah being all giggly, i guess

bloopergate implies to every blooper, but why not to mention it

curtaingate

Sth like, that when there’s some fight happening between characters, if curtains are open, it means they’re open with their feeling and opposite

Example: milkvan make out scene-closed, but you don’t love me fight-opened

Bonus: „ but they like the curtain. people like us are just trying to look behind the curtain”(my very bad quotation of murray, yk what i mean)

Also, Suzie had blue and yellow curtains, and they were opened

And, “and i love her and i can’t lose her again”? Also curtains closed, like wtf, this fandom is crazy

piggybackgate

El knows abt Mike and Will. she saw how they act around each other, she’ve heard will saying “you’re the heart” to mike, saw that mike has Will’s painting now

New Coke Theory

basically, old coca colla is mileven, new coke is byler. it contains some of the old ingredients(mike), and new ones too(will). not everyone likes(bc its gay ship). and when you look at scenes with can of new coke, it’s many times symbolizing byler vs. milkvan

one of my favorite new coke theory examples is this: in s3, after el gets attacked by the flesh monster, she tries to crash a can(but she doesn’t have her powers, so she can’t). this is a can of new coke(byler) and she can’t crush that/destroy it. and in this scene, we get a flashback to the lab, where she crushes aka destroys regular coke(mileven)

phonegate

mike and will not calling each other, bc of joyce’s telemarketer job(he won’t stop whining abt it)

————

i miss all these little silly theories abt literally everything

i hope the byler tag will be like this once again

maybe we could start naming our new theories “gate”s again

for example: heartfeltgat, strangerwritersgate, snowkissgate or sth

anyway, byee

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bylerweek2023 · 1 year

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THEME

DESCRIPTIONS ✨️

Hello beloved Bylers!!!

In this post we're gonna explain the themes we've thought for each day of our amazing Byler Week.

But just to make it clear for everyone, this is NOT an imposition. There's no set prompt requirements, so you don't have to use exactly what we're saying here!

(Reminding you that you can post arts, fics, memes, theories, gifs, edits, and everything else you want)

The point here is for you to feel free to use your imagination and enjoy Byler Week with no pressure at all 😌

But if you want some ideas, here they are:

Day 1: 03/20 (Monday)

Theme: "Dungeons and Dragons: Cleradin"

Prompt: This is an opportunity to basically do anything related to DnD and Byler! Aka Fantasy AUs, Cleradin moments, them just playing DnD or really anything!

Day 2: 03/21 (Tuesday)

Theme: "80s films"

Prompt: Take any film from the 80s (or older) and make a Byler AU out of it! (This can be just a scene or even a line!)

Day 3: 03/22 (Wednesday) WILL'S BIRTHDAY!!!

Theme: "Birthdaygate/Byler gates"

Prompt: In honor of Will's birthday, the day's theme is Birthdaygate, but this is a time to bring back your favorite gates! (Flickergate, Eightfifteengate, Mikhailgate, Babygirlgate, etc.)

Day 4: 03/23 (Thursday)

Theme: "Summer Love"

Prompt: Have you had that summer love "experience"? That one person that you've met in a summer camp, on a trip? That person that maybe you'll never see again but will always be on your mind? (What if...)

Day 5: 03/24 (Friday)

Theme: "Secret Identities"

Prompt: A chance to make anything related to secret identities. This includes anything from Masquerades, Superhero/Vigilante AUs, Secret Lives/Jobs, and more!

Day 6: 03/25 (Saturday)

Theme: "Pre-volume two"

Prompt: Channel your inner pre-vol 2 Byler wishes and desires! Motel confessions? Theories about Will's painting? Gas station stops?

Day 7: 03/26 (Sunday)

Theme: "Soulmates"

Prompt: Any soulmate AU you've been obsessed over in the past! Seeing colour for the first time? Countdown? First words on arm? Red strings of fate? Take your pick!

We hope you like the ideas!! Let us know what you think about them!!!

LET'S GO!!!

Reblog to let everyone know about the prompts and don't forget to tag #bylerweek2023 !!!!!

SEE YOU SOON 💙💛

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willbyersabyss · 1 year

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I’ve already talked about this but it was buried in a super long analysis so here’s a separate post since it’s really important!

The playground across from the Creel house represents the memories that saved Will in season two.

The first memory Joyce shared with Will was about a drawing of a rainbow spaceship. Front and center in this shot is a rainbow rocket ship! Right next to the ship is a swing set with one broken swing. Mike’s memory was when he first met Will on a swing set. The broken swing is on the right and Will is usually to the right of Mike in their scenes together. This could represent how Will feels like he’s ruining their friendship because of his feelings for Mike or how Mike is losing Will.

I also found something about the carousel on the left in this post!

Well what about the Castle Byers memory? This is kind of a stretch but I think the Creel house represents Castle Byers. When Alice first runs through the house, she says it’s like a fairytale. What fairytale structure could she be referring to? A castle? So the Creel house is Castle Byers. That being said, Castle Byers may not have to be represented here. Why? It was already destroyed.

I think the reason why they made the playground resemble Will’s memories was so they could visually destroy them. The gate from the attic ripped through the front of the house and continued through the playground. This represents how the memories that saved Will are being taken from him. We already saw Castle Byers be destroyed in both the Upside Down and the real world which is why it wasn’t represented here.

Now we need to know why Vecna is destroying Will’s memories like this. I think it has something to do with him recreating Will’s disappearance (read this post). He’s trying to reverse the effects of Will’s disappearance and possession.

This also explains why Max and Will parallel so much. ��He’d want to attach himself to someone again. A new me.” Will said this about Billy in season three. Wouldn’t he try to find a new Will again in season four? Max is Vecna’s “new Will.”

Another thing that was destroyed when the gates opened was the library aka the place where Joyce and Hopper saved Will. He’s taking away Will’s lifelines.

In Vecna’s huge monologue, he says he found a world “unspoiled by mankind” when El sent him to the Upside Down. When Will arrived, he somehow made it resemble Hawkins. Will ruined Vecna’s dream world. I think Vecna is recreating Will’s disappearance and taking his happy memories to figure out how Will changed the Upside Down. It could also be for revenge. Will ruined his perfect world so he’s ruining Will’s safety.

I believe this also connects to why a bike sound effect plays when Vecna is present (this post). Like Max said, he’s been telling us his plan this whole time! The bike represents how the day Will went missing is motivating Vecna’s plans. That bike is in every poster for every season so it’s obviously significant.

So Vecna is recreating the events surrounding Will’s disappearance and his possession. He’s trying to figure out how Will changed the Upside Down to either take that power for himself or reverse what Will did. While doing this, he’s also symbolically destroying Will’s happy memories to try and prevent Will from interfering with his plans again (and possibly get Will on his side by making his friends and family forget about him? birthdaygate?)

#will byers #stranger things theory #byler

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erikiara80 · 2 months

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March 22nd and all the birthday references in ST

Will's birthday has always been important.

A birthday mug in episode 1

Same mug in Mike's basement. We see it in scenes with El in S1 and Will in S2. Yeah, I think birthdaygate could be about her, too. Will is the only character whose birthday was used to literally save him and the whole town. And we've seen El's birth and birth certificate, but we still don't know when she was born? Strange

The I forgot your birthday card in Will's room in S1

But in S2 we only see it when Joyce looks at the Will the Wise drawing. In all the other shots the card is not there, and the drawing is on another wall. This could be a hint at different timelines (of a timeloop?) More screenshots here

Basically, I have two theories about Will's birthday: either people really forgot it in S4, or the Will who was born on March 22 is the brown-eyed Will in the Missing poster, in the timeline we see in the shed scene, and not the hazel-eyed Will we see in the rest of the show. Maybe they hid the truth in plain sight, they let people believe that his eyes were different because he was possessed. But then in S3 they show that Billy's eye color never changes (here) Can't wait to see what this means

No birthday card in these shots

Lesbianmindflayer found a video posted on the official IG account in August 2017. At the time, they had already filmed S2, they knew there was an important scene about Will's birthday, so why posting the wrong date? Is it actually a mistake, or that's really his birthday in another timeline? We'll see!

The amazing shed scene. One of my favorite! Joyce talks about Will's 8th birthday. That was in 1979, the year of the massacre. She also mentions his rainbowship, a hint at his queerness, but also a reference to the lab. And I think there's a connection to the "rainbow rocket" near Creel House, and the ship of Brenner's father, who was involved with Project Rainbow, and the first man to wind up in Dimension X. This scene is so important!

Will drawing a spaceship could also be a parallel to Olivia Dunham (Fringe), who drew what she saw in another universe. A Zeppelin

Olivia's drawing (Byler-Polivia parallel and Subject 13)

3x03. Happy Birthday and '76 on the poster. The lifeguard is talking to El and Max here. My theory about what this could mean and what might have happened in 1976 here and here

The original title of episode 3x06 was The Birthday. There is no birthday in that episode, but after the intro, the song that plays is Stand up and Meet your brother, and then El meets the Mind Flayer/Vecna (as a lab kid, Henry is kinda her brother), who is possessing a boy named William. A surfer boy.

Episode 3x08, posters of Firestarter and Sixteen Candles. Will is associated with fire, and in Sixteen Candles a girl hopeful thar her 16th birthday is the beginning of a great year, is shocked when her family forgets it because her sister is getting married the next day.

Sixteen Candles and a boy's 16th birthday are also mentioned in S4, and it is likely that S5 is set in 1987, after the time-jump, when Will is 16.

S4. There are so many mentions of birthdays in this season, it's crazy to think that the writers forgot Will's birthday.

Mentions of birthday and stolen thoughts in the opening scene.

Birthday party at Rink-o-mania. I could be wrong, but it looks like a party for two people, to me. And there's a hidden reference to the massacre. The game Asteroids was released in 1979 (here)

The scene that made many people believe that the writers forgot Will's birthday.

March 22. The Rink-o-mania scene is a parallel to the lab scenes, Asteroids was released in 1979, and the day of the massacre El remembered her birth. Maybe a hint that her birthday is also on March 22?

They call her little baby, and two of the bullies are twins.

Murray says that a one-year-old won't remember their birthday

Also, the wallpaper reminds me of these birds we see in his house, when Alexei explains how the two keys open a gate

Murray says that his "son" is almost 16

Mention of Sixteen Candles

Mike's Happy Birthday mug

At Suzie's, Will mentions Dustin's birthday

Yeah, I think something will happen to Will in 1987, when he's 16. And it won't be funny, lol. But he'll get his happy ending.

Happy birthday, Will!

#birthdaygate #will byers #march 22 #el hopper #mike wheeler #the first shadow spoilers #st analysis #st theory #timeloop theory #stranger things

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aemiron-main · 6 months

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Weekly Watcher vs Roane Daily Citizen vs Indianapolis Gazette, Multiple UDs, and Timelines

It’s interesting to me that the only paper that mentions Henry (the Weekly Watcher):

Is also the only paper that’s from inside of Hawkins.

The other papers (Roane Daily Citizen and Indianapolis Gazette) are both based outside of Hawkins. And while we can’t get close enough to read the Roane Daily Citizen & therefore don’t know what it says:

We DO know that the Indianapolis Gazette mentions Edward Creel, not Henry Creel:

And we also know that it claims that all 3 family members, including Edward, were found dead with their eyes gouged out:

Which is different than what Victor says about Henry dying a week later/not having his eyes gouged out:

Was Edward the cover story?? Or is there some sort of time bubble/timeline weirdness going on specifically with Hawkins & Hawkins itself is in the Henry timeline, whereas the world outside of Hawkins is in the Edward timeline.

This could explain the choice to house NINA outside of Hawkins, and could also explain part of birthdaygate- because Will and everyone else in the Cali gang left Hawkins, and therefore, may have entered the timeline where Will’s birthday is on a different day/March 22nd isn’t his birthday.

Which, getting into insane speculation territory here, in Fringe, it’s believed that in order for one timeline to survive, the other timeline has to cease to exist.

However, if there truly are infinite parallel universes/infinite timelines, then isn’t it true that there could be a parallel universe where Timeline A survived & Timeline B died AND another parallel universe where Timeline B survived and Timeline A died?

This could also explain what I’ve been talking about with how we see multiple (at least 2) different versions of the blue UD- because in Parallel Universe 1, Henry’s timeline became the UD/got destroyed and Edward’s timeline is the main still-alive timeline, and in Parallel Universe 2, Edward’s timeline became the UD/got destroyed and Henry’s timeline is the still-alive timeline.

And then we, in the show, have been seeing both Parallel Universe 1 and Parallel Universe 2, and therefore seeing two different UDs *and* two different RUs.

And Hawkins itself could be the weird factor in this- because with what I mentioned earlier re: Hawkins and outside of Hawkins possibly being two different timelines, what if it works something like this:

Parallel Universe 1 has Henry’s timeline as the UD/got destroyed, and Edward’s timeline as the main timeline, and Parallel Universe 2 has the opposite of that, right?

But then, if the Still Alive Henry Hawkins ended up in the Still Alive Edward World (basically, the two still-alive Hawkinses swapped places, whereas the rest of that world stayed the same), then it would explain some things.

I need to draw a diagram at some point to demonstrate this better, but. Thinking about it.

#stranger things #henry creel #edward creel #creel newspapers #timeline theory #st vs fringe

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mike-wheeler-ik-what-you-are · 1 year

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how birthdaygate, mike getting vecna’d and the filmin thing are all connected

probably the most insane theory ever written.

so, following all the birthdaygate evidence we have (we have a lot) and the boys don’t cry theory and the flannel shirt parallel, I, sofia, came up with a theory.

“mike will get vecna’d” this “will will get vecna’d” that.

They are both gonna get vecna’d together

and that would explain:

why both noah and finn started filming earlier

birthdaygate tehory

mike getting vecna’d theory

please dani @will80sbyers help me with supportive evidence because I’m really busy rn and I need proof to back this up

#byler #byler theory #st5 theory #stranger things

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chirpsythismorning · 1 year

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I think because closets have being associated with Mike so much, is why a lot of bylers predict that s5 will finally explore his sexuality.

Why have all that closet imagery throughout the seasons, associated with Mike (even more so than Will), if the resolution to his arc is just going to be, "Will loves me and needs me?! Yay!"

5 years of build-up, hinting at Mike hiding his sexuality, and with an audience that's almost entirely convinced he's straight because he hid it so well, warrants addressing the deeper context of why exactly he felt the need to hide in the first place.

It wouldn't be satisfying, both to ga and milkvans who were straight-baited the entire series, nor to bylers and even viewers open to supporting byler, but who think Will deserves better, all because they don't understand Mike beyond what he's willing to outright tell us.

Mike's character has dealt with so much criticism post s4, to the point where any articles or buzz regarding his arc, minimizes his importance as either being El's boyfriend or how he's basically declined in development over the years from a beloved character to most hated.

To have Mike's arc close with his role going from being El's boyfriend to being Will's boyfriend, wouldn't give closure to what all that closet imagery was meant to represent in the first place; Mike hiding his sexuality.

#stranger things #byler #mike wheeler #will byers #will is going to be the main focus early s5 #and also s5 in general but ESP early s5 #theres a reason they're only willing to share info on Will's role in s5 #think about it #why has there been little to nothing said about el's s5 arc??#or mike's?#or literally anyone elses?#they're okay with giving away the importance of will's arc bc it will be integral to #yes s5 overall #but esp early s5 #content from the beginning of a new seasons is what they're most willing to share in trailers/teasers to hype people up #in contrast they are less likely to reveal content slated to be revealed later in a new season bc that constitutes as a major spoiler #i do think birthdaygate is likely to be early s5 #potentially even s5 opener #which would explain the lonnie actor at the s4 table read #as well as the evidence that noah was at the rink o mania location in his yellow plaid #i have a theory they took advantage of the hiatus and filmed their s5 opener during s4 filming #essentially pre s5 time jump #so that no one could complain about the age difference #and so s5 is going to jump us right back into the action of whatever vecna wants from will #why he targeted him in the first place #why will said he wanted to kill everyone except him #seeing will go through all that is going to give s2 will vibes #and in turn have mike also giving s2 mike vibes #it'll be interesting to see elmike's dynamic #i'm excited

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lighthouseas · 1 year

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rewatching the final scene and being reminded that they're making byler endgame

#yeah bringing this gif back #sorry not sorry #stranger things #byler #noahschnappgate #like how am i supposed to explain noahschnappgate and scriptgate and flickergate and jonathong and birthdaygate to a puritan #< IM PEEING THATS A TAG THAT POPPED UP #st.txt

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byler-4-life · 2 years

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Okay, so if birthdaygate is real, AND if Vecna is involved in stealing the memories, as previously theorized, we need to answer one important question - when did Vecna activate this curse or whatever to steal these memories? Let me explain (I am aware that this theory is a little nebulous and might have a hole or two in it, feel free to chime in with thoughts).

We know he didn't steal the memories right then in Season 2. How? Will has had a birthday between Season 2 and Season 3. Remember we're talking about Will's 15th birthday being forgotten in Season 4. However Will's 14th birthday, presumably, went through without a hitch. They were still in Hawkins during this time, and if they forgot his 14th as well, we'd have to also believe that both Dustin and Lucas forgot as well and they weren't in the shed during that Season 2 scene. So obviously Vecna didn't activate his curse right away. He waited until he was ready.

We know this isn't out of character for Vecna. He's very patient, biding his time, waiting for the right moment to strike. And, we can even tie this into the Russian code theory. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west. We've been theorizing this means that Vecna (silver cat) waited to start his plan of destroying Hawkins and killing teens until Mike met Will in California. But...what if "feeding" also means that's when he stole the memories of Will's birthday from Joyce, Jonathan, and Mike?

So in theory, they might've been really going to throw Will a party until Vecna swooped in and stole their memories. Hell, Mike might've even had a present all packed for Will somewhere in his bag. Because we know if you have something like that, you're likely to bury it at the bottom underneath everything. And if that's the case, once he forgot Will's birthday, he might never have seen the present in his bag because...

shout out @brokensvndown who sparked this post in the notes of my original birthdaygate post. I had already been thinking about the problem of will's 14th birthday, but their comments just crystalized the need for this post.

#byler #birthdaygate #i'm aware i'm making a ton of assumptions in this one lol #number one problem i see with this is that El shouldn't have been affected by Vecna's curse #so why would she suddenly forget Will's birthday if they had been planning a party #but...it's something to think about

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strawberrybyers · 2 years

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if you’re interested pls read! i think everyone will find this post interesting! this is going to be one long post about time in stranger things and it’s relation to back to the future. also somewhat theorizing that will is going to get stuck in the upside down and how that could be time traveling?? or how the characters will time travel?? also mentions of pocketgate, birthdaygate, and the blue meets yellow in the west theory. anyways this will probably be a bit messy, but i have a lot of thoughts and i just want to write all of them down and i really feel like i’m onto something lmao

ok so i have been thinking about what the significance of time in stranger things is which led me to remember when robin was explaining to steve about why back to the future was called back to the future. she explained it as “he has to go back to the future because he’s in the past. so, the future is actually the present, which is his time”. i immediately thought back to when i have said in a couple of other posts how i think in s5 there will be time travel because the upside down is stuck on the day will went missing. so while trying to see what scene came after robin’s explanation, i found this article detailing all the parallels stranger things has to back in the future in s3. and that led me to two other articles. the last image is a screenshot from the article about the original pitch for stranger things which mentioned time travel.

so really the rest of this post is now going to focus more on the back to the future stuff. first i want to talk about this part of the vulture article i linked in the beginning of this post. i have seen all the back to the future movies, but a really long time ago, so i don’t remember much, but when i saw “save the clock tower” all i could think about were the clocks in stranger things.

i googled more info on the clock tower and idk i’m about to become a real crackhead theorist, but it makes sense to me considering all the parallels this show has. anyways let’s look at what is said about the clock tower in back to the future.

i started freaking out while reading this because s4 has a big emphasis on time and CLOCKS. vecna’s mind lair thing has clocks everywhere. when a character is about to get vecna’d they hear a clock and see a grandfather clock. also, the clock being struck by lightning?? there’s lightning in vecna’s mind lair thing AND in the final scene we see lightning in the sky!! so in back to the future, the clock got struck by lightning which caused it to be stuck for years at 10:04 (and this is probably just making something out of nothing but the clock being stuck on the 4th minute and vecna wanted to open up 4 gates and you hear 4 chimes symbolizing that). now guess what else is stuck in time? the upside down. the upside down is stuck on the day will went missing which is november 6, 1983. will was stuck in the upside down for a week. what is a week away from nov 6? november 13. the ‘save the clock tower’ flyer mentions the date november 13 on it. also, in back to the future, doc gets the idea for the delorean (the thing that helps him and marty time travel) when he was hanging up a clock and hit his head on november 5, 1955. this is also the day marty ends up traveling back in time to (marty’s present time takes place in 1985 and s3 of ST took place in 1985 lol).

NOW what gets crazy is that on november 6, 1955, doc learns that because marty interacted with his parents which messed up his parents initial meeting, he is now telling marty that he needs to get his parents back together otherwise marty will be erased from existence. WILL GOES MISSING ON NOV 6 AND BECAUSE OF BIRTHDAYGATE WHAT DO WE THINK IS HAPPENING TO WILL?? THAT HE’S BEING ERASED/FORGOTTEN FROM THE TIMELINE!!! and throughout back to the future, the more time that is being prolonged of getting marty’s parents back together, the more him and his siblings disappearing from the timeline is becoming reality (he knows this because they start disappearing from a photo he has of his family). there’s also this post that was made that mentions how the memories that were mentioned in the shed in s2 could be altered or are being forgotten and if that’s the case then it makes sense those memories would be forgotten if it’s a sign something is happening to will. anyways because of the lightning strike that strikes the clock, it powered the delorean on november 12, 1955 and was able to send marty back to the future. marty was stuck in the past for a week. will was stuck in the upside down for a week. vecna begins his attacks on hawkins on march 21 and hawkins is split in half by the upside down on march 28 making that a week (a week that includes the day of will’s bday). that’s why there’s a 2 day time jump because the timeline of s4 needed to last a week. i’m just thinking about “the week is long” part of the blue meets yellow in the west code… and speaking of blue and yellow, the ‘save the clock tower’ flyers are in blue and yellow…

i’ll say one last thing about the flyer, so i can shift more into pocketgate and how mike has a letter written to will. so marty keeps the flyer because his girlfriend wrote her grandma’s number on it and “i love you” and he puts it in his pocket. because he kept the flyer it ends up helping him get back to the future because of the info it contains about the lightning strike. what do we think mike has in his pocket? a letter to will that says “love, mike”. something he couldn’t write to el. there’s been an emphasis in stranger things with letters and yes i know it’s the 80’s so that was one of the main forms of communication, but they’re also a part of the plot, so they mean something significant! like joyce receiving the letter from hopper which makes her go to russia to save him. hopper’s letter to el about not wanting things to change (i will write more on this). max writing letters to her friends for them to read in case something happens to her. max writing a letter to billy that expresses how she has been feeling since he passed. el being upset that mike can’t write “love,mike” in his letters. season 4 opening up with el’s letter to mike that mentions time travel. will and mike have an argument that mike didn’t write enough to will and that “el has a book of letters from him”. now back to the future also has letters play an important role in the storyline. for example, here’s info on the letter that marty gave to doc that he stuck in doc’s pocket in 1955 that saved doc’s life.

now in back to the future 3, doc in 1885 wrote a letter to marty to be delivered to him on november 12, 1955 which marty ends up showing the doc in 1955. the letter ends up helping them.

in the letter up above, doc writes how much marty means to him. obviously the relationship between doc and marty is NOT romantic at all, but if stranger things is paralleling back to the future the way it is, then isn’t it possible mike has a letter to will explaining his feelings? and considering in back to the future, the letters were helpful to the characters, could it be that mike’s letter will help will and save hawkins? could mike’s love for will be the motivation to help will survive the upside down if he gets stuck there again? i’m thinking it’s possible will gets stuck in the upside down, which would basically be him time traveling in a sense. i’m wondering if maybe will will be in possession of mike’s letter before he gets stuck in the upside down and will decides to read the letter while he’s stuck there (maybe paralleling back to the future when marty has the flyer that has “i love you” written on it from his girlfriend). OR do mike and will get stuck in the upside down together and mike decides to give his letter to will then (maybe somewhat paralleling back to the future 3 when 1955 marty gives 1955 doc the letter 1885 doc wrote 1955 marty in order to help them get 1985 doc back to 1985 from 1885). there’s also this tweet from the stranger things writers account. so could it mean that this is parts of the letter mike wrote to will that he will give to him on november 6, 1983 because they’re stuck in the upside down together???

now moving on. i said i’d talk more about hopper’s letter. here’s what the vulture article wrote about hopper’s letter:

the article is comparing the letter marty wrote doc to save his life to the letter hopper wrote to el. so couldn’t the other letters featured in the movies somehow foretell mike having a letter in his pocket? they paralleled a stranger things letter to a back to the future letter once they could do it again. here’s more of what the article wrote on hopper’s letter:

we know what hopper meant by telling el “to maybe stop that change. to turn back the clock. to make things go back to how they were.”. we also theorize because scenes of mike looking back at will’s house and hugging his mom while this part of the letter is being read, we think it relates to mike wanting things to go back to the way they were with will. we even think it could potentially be the moment mike realizes he loves will and doesn’t know what to do with that which leads to his weird behavior in s4. BUT couldn’t this part of hopper’s letter also have a 3rd meaning? s4 does deal with clocks. hopper mentions “to turn back the clock”. when nancy see’s henry’s backstory, there is a scene of henry changing time on the clock. is it possible that time travel has to occur where they are able “to turn back the clock” in order to save hawkins? and if will is stuck in the upside down maybe having to do that to save will? or maybe because he’s stuck there and it’s stuck on the day he went missing then that could be turning back the clock as well…

now for my final analysis of the vulture article and how it relates to back to the future, this part is going to do more with byler. let’s look at this part of the article:

first things first, it mentions back to the future wants to preserve the status quo and how that relates to stranger things. in s4, eddie mentions how forced conformity is killing the kids. finn said in an interview that mike is trying to stay as normal as possible. looking at these things, it makes me think about mike and how he’s trying appear as heterosexual which therefore would be “normal” and fitting the status quo. this also fits into hopper’s letter and the scenes of mike while the letter is being read. mike is losing will and if that moment when will moved is when he realizes he’s in love, then he knew that things would change and if he’s trying to fit in, then he’s going to do what he can to make sure nothing changes even though as we see that backfires throughout s4 because his relationship with el is on the rocks and things with will have been rocky as well. and we know will is being forced to conform as well as he mentioned feeling like a mistake and we can only assume he is afraid to come out as gay due to homophobia.

so back to the future is about marty going back in time to 1955 and having to fix the timeline where his parents fall in love and get married because when he went back to 1955 he messed up the initial meeting of his parents. if he fails to get them together, then he will cease to exist. marty is struggling at first to get his parents together because his mom has developed on crush on marty (weird i know but to me this shows how the right people need to be in a relationship in order for things to get resolved). if we think of how that could parallel to byler, then we know that mike’s love confession did not help el or save hawkins. we know el can defeat vecna and we know that what makes her powerful is love. she was able to banish vecna to the upside down when she remembered her mom saying “i love you”, but with mike it didn’t work— why? because it’s a lie. he doesn’t love her romantically like he says. hawkins isn’t in desolation because of mike, but i think if we want to make a parallel then we can say that mike being with el isn’t what’s supposed to happen because they aren’t right for each other. this also fits in to how mike and will’s love would save hawkins. just like marty’s parents falling in love preserved the timeline and allowed marty to continue to exist. now if we think that will is starting to cease to exist from the timeline due to birthdaygate and coincidentally marty learns he will cease to exist if his parents don’t get together on november 6— the same day will went missing— then could it be that mike’s love saves will?

like there’s just something about the upside down being stuck on the day will went missing… something about el’s letter mentioning time travel and time feeling like it speeds up or slows down based on emotion… something about the duffers saying they’re going back to s1 dynamics… something about vecna’s entire thing revolving around time… something about vecna making his victims visit their past traumatic memories… something about one of the ways to block vecna from getting to your mind is by thinking about past happy memories… something about vecna saying thinking about a past memory that makes him angry or sad makes him more powerful… something about hearing the sound of a clock being slowed down when a character is about to get vecna’d… something about “the week is long. the silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west. a trip to china sounds nice, if you tread lightly”… something about spring break being a week long… something about will being in the upside down for a week… something about vecna saying “seconds. minutes. hours. days. weeks. months. years. decades. each life a faded lesser copy of the one before.”… something about will’s birthday being forgotten… something about will being sidelined from the plot or shall i say fading from it… something about the back to the future parallels such as marty starting to be erased from the timeline starting on nov 6 the same day will went missing…

anyways i know this was long AF, but there was so much to say! i could be grasping at straws, but this was fun to write and analyze! i love the back to the future movies, so seeing how all of this parallels and could potentially continue to parallel is cool. all in all i don’t think it’s far-fetched to think will is going to get stuck in the upside down, some form of time travel will occur considering that was a part of the original stranger things pitch, and that mike and will’s love for each other will save hawkins. if you made it this far, thank you for reading all of this <3

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back to the future poster parallels x

back to the future november 21st parallel theory x

#byler #byler tumblr #byler is endgame #byler is canon #byler nation #will byers #mike wheeler #stranger things #stranger things 5 #st5 #stranger things theory #stranger things theories #birthdaygate #pocketgate #byler canon #byler endgame #byler analysis #stranger things analysis #blue meets yellow in the west

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