#Byers Lake

[lumaxramblings]

#jonathan byers #will byers #max mayfield #anti billy hargrove #stranger things parallels #came across that tweet while scouring thru some stuff and knew i had to make this #this parallel makes me want to jump in a lake. Btw

[greenfiend]

The Significance of Lover’s Lake and Byler (Theory) Part 2

Sequel to this post

(Warning: mentions of sex and drugs)

Okay so first of all, if you haven’t seen my previous post on my theory involving Lovers Lake and Byler, please read it first. I go over my theory and predictions for Byler and the heart shaped lake. This is a secondary post to it, outlining some VERY interesting details involving the owner of the lakeside house, the lakeside house itself, and all the romantic and sexual elements present. I’m saving the best for last here.

Let’s start with the owner of the lakeside house.

Reefer Rick

So I recently made a silly post arguing that the most queer coded character in Stranger Things is not Mike nor Will (nor Robin, Henry, Eddie etc), and I stand by this statement. The most queer coded character is: Reefer Rick. Now, I know we never see the guy, but literally all the information we have on him is either queer coding or drug references.

Synonyms of his name are literally f*g Dick, with a shared last name with the famous tea company founder who so happens to have been a homosexual: Lipton.

We know he doesn’t have a family, thus he’s a single man who occasionally has his buddy/fellow dealer Eddie stay over. Hm, not very heterosexual of him.

Then we have his movie list.

Now, as many of us know, the movie “Fast Times” is used within Stranger Things as a way to gage if someone is attracted to women or not. We have Steve, Dustin, Lucas, and Vickie all confirmed to have enjoyed this movie… specifically for that shot at 53 minutes and 5 seconds. Sure, Reefer Rick rented the film, but why is it the only movie he rented that was returned on time? For context, he’s the only character who had films listed as “late” returns. So, he obviously enjoyed Cheech & Chong a lot more. Two guys doing drugs is more interesting to him than a sexy lady. Okay, noted.

Now, how is he perceived by the people of Hawkins?

Oooof. Okay. He’s not well liked it seems. He apparently is causing some fear and anger amongst the Hawkins residents. Kind of similar of a reaction these people would have towards an openly gay man during the 1980s.

Also I have to include @/conflictofthemind ‘s excellent point that injectable drug use and unprotected sex (specifically between two men) were both commonly associated with HIV/AIDS… a major epidemic during the 80s and a major subtextual theme within the show.

Now, where’s this guy live while outside of jail?

I don’t blame the guy for “hiding” when the town is not too fond of him. Of course he is a drug dealer so there’s that as well. But interesting they used the word “hide”, which has been associated with queerness within the show already (plus this line was said by Robin (featured in the middle of the shot!!!) who is queer herself).

(Both of these screenshots are from 1x02 interestingly enough.)

Wouldn’t it make sense for these two “hiders” to hide out in “a perfect place to hide” together? Seeking refuge in a fellow gay man’s secluded house?

I will say it’s also worth noting that he does not have any women featured on the walls within his house. Also, he has a phallic shaped bong (we’ll get back to that soon).

Phew okay so that’s Reefer Rick. Are you still with me? Hopefully I didn’t bore any of you with this. I promise you this all leads back to Byler.

So, moving on to his house.

So as @/therainscene kindly pointed out, this poster with the smiley face can be related to rave culture and ecstasy in the 1980s. So a drug reference, in a drug dealer’s house… shocker I know. But I gotta say, ecstasy is also a term often related to sex. I also have to add this little tidbit from one of our favourite directors of Stranger Things, Shawn Levy. Keep in mind, he knows what’ll happen in the next season… and he’s directing episodes after 3 and 4…

Interesting word choice, no?

So, back to the symbolism within (and near) the house.

Let’s talk about the phallic symbolism that appears in pairs in these shots. It’s a choice, isn’t it? With two males in each shot. We know the Duffers love details and foreshadowing… I doubt it’s a coincidence. Also, anyone else notice that phone in the background? Just had to mention it, since our boys are frequently associated with phones and calls.

Then, of course, I gotta bring back this shot.

The bed. Blue meets yellow. You know it! We all heard it a thousand times by now. Let’s look at what else is in the shot. A closed closet. Another reference to our boys. To the right, you’ll see a toilet paper roll. Now, if you have a brother, you might see the same thing in his room. Sure it can be used as a tissue for your nose but let’s just say there’s usually another use for it. I’ll call it “self love”. So, basically, another sexual reference.

To sum up this house: lake/water, drugs, and ecstasy/smiley face. Now, let’s go back to a scene featuring our boys with all these elements in the background.

Makes you wonder doesn’t it?

I must also point out the “Paris” poster in the background. City of love, anyone? Plus the fireworks. They’re really trying to tell us something here.

Also, @/foodiewithdahoodie pointed out how Paris specifically was one of the first places to decriminalize sodomy.

You know, I also wouldn’t rule out every aspect of Murray’s prediction here.

Shout out to the Hylers out there!

Perhaps after a lot of stressful days of fighting interdimentional demons, these boys want to wind down and de-stress in their hiding spot. I can see Reefer Rick as a fellow Nintendo player, leaving his console behind, as well as his weed, for our boys to use. I also wouldn't be surprised if Eddie left a few of his beers behind. I mean… Murray has a pretty good track record for predictions. This would also really double down on the message that Mike and Will “aren’t kids anymore.”

Also, wouldn’t it be fun to look back at Murray’s predictions and realize that they’ve all come to be?

Okay, now let’s finally get to the romance elements!

First thing I want to start with is this shot:

So… they had to show us a mailbox, didn’t they? With that name “Lipton” which as I mentioned in my previous post… is associated with Thomas Lipton who had a lover named William Love.

1 point for #lettergate

And…

“Hope Our Love Lives/Lasts And Never Dies”

WWII solders used the acronym H.O.L.L.A.N.D. to convey a love message in a letter. The whole love letters association with Mike and Will never end, do they?

2 points for #lettergate!

As for the “2121”, I think it’s possible that it’s referencing multiple things… number references are tricky like that in my opinion. But I will say that @/thestrangestthing89 brought up the fact that “2121” could be a reference to “Twin Flames” which is yet another reference to romance.

Continuing on with the romance…

Let’s return back to the scene where Reefer Rick is first mentioned. After Max mentioned him, we are cut to Steve talking about a movie.

A movie filled with action and romance, you say?

So… Doctor Zhivago.

Basically a tale of two people in love during a difficult time (Russian Revolution) being separated, with other people, then finally reunited. Not completely unlike our boys. Notice how the “adult” sign is noticeable in the background. Not kids anymore.

He mentions action, which I’m sure there will be some of as well at the famous lake.

Okay enough with the silly details, let’s stop and look at the bigger picture.

Our beloved lake. Look how gorgeous it truly is. Plus the fact that it’s a literal heart? You can’t get more “on the nose” than that.

Now, who else is known as a heart? (Tough question I know…)

This boy is, without a doubt, narratively tied to the lake. He is “the heart”… he is THE LAKE (symbolically).

Thank you to @/everaster for bringing attention to the fact that after Mike was pushed to deliver that monologue to El by Will, Max “died”, then the gates opened WIDE. One of those gates, as we know, is located within Lover’s Lake… known was “watergate” (term coined by Dustin).

So, as of now in this story… Lover’s Lake is literally broken in two. A broken heart in need of mending.

Who better to accomplish that task than the boy who has known him for a decade and loves him completely and selflessly?

💌📬❤️‍🩹

Hope you enjoyed these posts as much as I enjoyed making them! It’s honestly so much fun looking for evidence and finding such interesting stuff. Some of it may be reaching, and that’s okay because it’s all in good fun! That’s what fandoms are all about.

The level of attention to detail in this show never ceases to amaze me! There’s so much depth and clues to look for and play around with. I hope to have sparked some inspiration and creativity for some people! 💛💙💚

As always, would love to know your thoughts!

#Byler #loverslakegate #lovers lake #stranger things #stranger things 5 #Mike wheeler #Will Byers #byler theory

[jeonthoughts]

"mike and el's love will save the world in s5" the world literally broke in half after mike's monologue. be fr.

#eleven knew mike was lying too #she didnt believe him in the slightest #that whole monologue did nothing #it did not help el save max #the world BROKE IN HALF do yall get it #the heart shaped lake broke in half as well while mike was giving his monologue #you know whose heart broke in that scene too? #mike and wills #BOTH of their hearts broke #stranger things #byler #byler endgame #byler canon #byler nation #will byers #mike wheeler

[kidovna]

love the idea of mike trying to flirt and will always accidentally outdoing him

#byler #inspired by me saying that ‘the lakes’ by ts is a will pov song to a friend and that escalating #to will calling mike his muse #Mike wheeler #will byers #artovna #byler fanart #stranger things

[bylertruth3r]

so remember this?

this is the s5 set leak (lover's lake)

#byler #stranger things #mike wheeler #mike wheeler is gay #will byers #stranger things 5 #lover's lake #st5 leak

[willbyersoffical]

When Will and Mike go to lovers lake in season 5

#Byler #will byers #mike wheeler #stranger things s5 #Lovers lake

[erikiara80]

@greenfiend I was thinking about Lover's Lake in Joyce's room. The truth behind the curtain, something about what, imo, happened to Hopper and Joyce there in the past, and what will happen to Will and Mike in S5

I found another connection. You noticed the blue and yellow sheets on Reefer Rick's bed

Hopper also has blue and yellow bed sheets in S3, and his room has no door, only a curtain :)

#lovers lake #byler #will byers #mike wheeler #jim hopper #joyce byers #st parallels #stranger things

[lottieishot]

OK SO...

What some ppl think is that this is a map going to be usd in the show but I dont believe that yall

I think this is somthing for filimg like a map off where they are going to film at

Sooooo mabye we are going to get some lover lake byer bts soon???

#byler #mike wheeler #will byers #byler nation #byler endgame #byler tumblr #byler is canon #stranger things 5 #gay mike wheeler #stranger things #lovers lake

[justmy-account]

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

#stranger things #byler #st5 speculation #byler gates #will byers #mike wheeler #mikhailgate #willloveinterstgate #lettergate #pocketgate #anti milkvan #twelvegate #flickergate #birthdaygate #memorygate #byler kiss at lovers lake #eightfifteengate #motelgate #colorgate #when blue meets yellow in the west #mattduffersbasementgate #bloopergate #curtaingate #piggybackgate #new coke theory #phonegate

[capital-star]

sketches from today 🫶🫶

#jim lake jr #aja tarron #krel tarron #troll jim #hisirdoux casperan #will byers #mike wheeler #el hopper #byler #trollhunters #3below #tales of arcadia #stranger things

[will80sbyers]

There is even a owl in Joyce's room after Bob dies because the owls are a symbol of Vecna's victims since season 1 (we see them in Will's room, for Barb when they show her pictures at her parents house etc etc Max with the owl sticker at the counsellor), plus they have lover's lake framed behind because it's a lovers scene between Joyce and Hopper that are supporting each other

Also interesting that Jim is framed directly under the owl, it could be foreshadowing for his fake death the next season

#joyce byers #jim hopper #jopper #bob newby #boyce #byler #st foreshadowing #lover's lake

[greenfiend]

Lovers by a lake

Inspired by Loverslakegate

#promise imma start requests now #just had to get this idea down #byler #loverslakegate #lovers lake #stranger things #stranger things art #byler art #mike wheeler #Will Byers

[bylerspookie]

who's going to stop me from making a lovers lake byler edit to "the lakes" by taylor swift? not you.

(help)

(I'm still at the restaurant)

(this is a cry for help)

(lalalalala)

#byler #taylor swift #the lakes #lovers lake #help when I typed in lovers it said “foot lover” I'm gonna cry #i should sleep #byler is real #mike wheeler #byler is canon #byler is endgame #byler nation #stranger things #will byers

[anon-asker]

this is gonna be annoying to so many people in so many fandoms but heres me trying to get attention by putting this post in all the tags i can think of

and don’t even think of clicking the “see more” button on the tags

i would like to add that if you interact with this post and you have your asks on i’ll give you a message (plz have anonymous on lol)

#poll #fat fuck friday #walrus or fairy #bee and puppcat lazy in space #bee and puppycat #sean lockwood #lockwood netflix #looney tunes #tuna #tunes #tunisia #stay tuned #stranger things #will byers #byler #anti mlvn #tumblr polls #stranger things 5 #street photography #bungou stray dogs #stray kids #byler edits #polls #from the river to the sea palestine will be free #riverdale #river song #crimson rivers #riverclan #lake #mountains

[musicalchaos07]

Jonathan Byers would release the frogs before they get dissected btw

#I'm assuming they're live frogs in this scenario #and he's conned Nancy into breaking into the school with him #in the dead of night #they're casually stuffing frogs into Chester's old dog cage #they release them all in lovers lake #and when Hopper catches them they lie about being there to hook up #... we didn't get enough of them having hijinks between s2-s3 #and i KNOW they had hijinks because the rat plot was absolutely wild #i love them but they're both so silly #jonathan byers

[chirpsythismorning]

#stranger things #byler #will byers #mike wheeler #LOVERS LAKE #no bc it didn’t even hit me until Bylers started posting about lovers lake #and how it’s shaped like a heart #and how the first time we heard about it was during a heavy byler scene #and how s4 circled back to it heavily #meaning it will likely have more prominence in s5… #meaning it will finally get to live up to its name… #apocolypse byler stopping at Murray’s on their way to lovers lake and Will has a gun and Mike is pining out in the open #byler analysis #stranger things 5 #st5 headcanon