I have to open this by saying that my “Achilles Heel” when it comes to suspecting #comformitygate and I guess now entertaining it for a bit is none other than …
If there is any truth to #conformitygate AT. ALL, it HAS to be connected to birthdaygate. There is NO WAY around it.
Also, it’s kind of interesting to me that people in the comments are bringing up the 2017 Sherlock Conspiracy when we have this 4th-wall-breaking moments in S4:
Coincidence? Who the hell knows atp. But tagging some people talking about this in case it helps or rings any bells:
like i called him void!Mike bc he was the part of Mike that is in the subtext and I thought he has been outsmartin the audience + Will this whole time and had a plan to run away with Will once they graduated or something
but Will would confess to everyone that he was gay and “expose” Mike and Mike was gonna be Angry AF with him and that’s what their season fight was gonna be about + the painting lie + the phone calls would also come out and it would be cool af so who knows maybe I was onto something there.
*sighs and opens ao3* if byler isnt engame / canon i might turn this into a fanfic bc honestly it was delish
I have a whole ass Mike as the DM analysis sitting on my drafts about this that I never had the heart to finish bc I ran out of juice but yeah if it turns out real then I’ll polish it up and post it at some point
something about Will confessing under duress because he thinks that he’s a stupid child ( weak and easy to reshape ). He thinks he failed / never stood a chance and that everything that is happening is his fault omg.
So what did he do? confess in a room full of people, which turned out well and frees him from Vecna’s manipulation.
Or so he thinks.
Because now imagine MIKE confesses and Will thinks it’s a trick oh my goddddd if we’re anywhere within the ballpark with this I’m going to lose my shit fr fr bc this is also similar to when Laurie confessed to Amy and she didn’t believe him either
Pointing at Mike bc he just confessed and Will doesn't believe him and is crying and is sad and shaking and angry with this crazed look in his eyes like
"You won't trick me! You won't use my heart against me and make me believe things that aren't true! I'm not a stupid kid, with stupid ideas anymore, who can't tell fantasy from reality. I know what's real! And he's not. I made him up."
and its clear he's talking to mike as if mike was vecna bc he thinks it is a vecna vision/hallucination
Mike and Chance and their weird philosophy-related Easter Eggs make me think Mike is in a horrifying prison of his own making.Will's epic getback to Mileven will fix that right up.
I was doing some codegirlsgate research and decided to throw Lawson into the ring, came across this Lawson V. Turing debate about consciousness (You don't have to watch it). Turns out Lawson is a famous philosopher I should have started just by searching Lawson but whatevs!
Digging into Hilary (man, has a girl name, this comes up again later) Lawson, it looks like he is a postrealist philosopher with some ideas I think are related to Season 4, and potentially Season 5. Yes I'm fucking crazy I know. I was gonna chalk this up to me being crazy as usual when I remembered Mike's stupid Escher paintings. And then all this happened. It all comes together in a crazy way ROOTED IN THE SCRIPT I promise:
In the video I linked, Lawson voices his reasoning against the Turing Test (Alan Turing's method for measuring consciousness of a robot). Lawson argues that whether a robot can emulate humans or not does not determine whether it is conscious.
This is consistent with Lawson's philosophy, which I know way too much about now. Essentially, Lawson hates science and loves art. He argues that trying to define things like reality and consciousness is necessarily reductive. When we try to understand something, we categorize it, which simplifies it. These simplifications are called Closures.
He argues that our unique Closures taught to us by science, or society, or our observations, create our unique understandings of reality. It is difficult to see each other's perspectives or to challenge ourselves to think outside our Closures because we can become trapped within them! He uses the following language to describe the conflict: "trapped within that perspective," unable to "peer around" it to see what's truly going on.
Let's look at this painting in Mike's basement (the first one I've attached below). The man is trapped in a perspective HE is holding, unable to peer around it! The painting is made by Escher, and all of his paintings evoke Lawson's philosophy: reality is impossible to understand because your perspective effects your reality. Look at the stairs painting, which is featured in Mike's bedroom in S4. Depending on where you stand, the stairs are going up vs. down.
Lawson argues that science is an ineffective way to capture reality because it simplifies it. Art, meanwhile express it!
"A magician fascinated by mathematics, which he considered the source of beauty and harmony, Escher studied geometry, topology, logic, fractals, complex numbers, and dimensions. He used mathematics to create surprising visual effects, such as paradoxes, illusions, and infinite shapes."
Will Byers similarly combines math and art. He loves Alan Turing and uses his art to speak in code. What this means metaphorically is that Will is not incredibly trapped within Closures. He is expressing his reality, not forcing himself to fit into the Closures he comes up with nor society's.
Mike, meanwhile, is trapped in all the goddamn closures. This is where this theory gained major merit for me, because what I have so far is actually rooted in the text, and dumb luck, Chance (Chance Lawson) is outright mentioned. This link is the only required reading in this post: Mike is in a Mind-Prison Theory by @mikewheelerapologist4lyfe.
So, Mike is trapped in his Closures. I've written about this before, in relation to Jonathan, who does not have Closures (prejudices). Mike is prejudiced, and constantly operating from Closures, ways that he thinks society is supposed to operate. He lives in storyland, essentially. There's even evidence for it in Season 5! Ignore the twitter person being shady lmfao twitter people are so scary.
ALT
Alright Mike is living in his Closures? What will break him out?
Well, if your mind is a prison, you need a key to open it.
The green key. The key that is made of energy, perhaps electricity. The key to a basement. The key to an underground fortress. The key alluding to Stonewall. The key called "getting to Mike". The music key.
But.. the key needs it's other half. A fucking lock (DON'T SHOOT ME).
Alright.... how will Mike find the key within himself! I am not sure yet.... but there are clues the Lawson theory can give us!
Mike describes meeting Eleven not as fate, but as chance. Chance?!
So Chance and Eleven are paralleled. Well, that makes sense, because........
Chance Lawson is Will's answer to Mileven LMFAO. Mike will get a taste of his own medicine.
Closures are everywhere!!! Eleven and Max break out of their Closures in Season 3. Checkout this analysis by @sterlingarcher23 The other aspect of this theory is timely considering Hilary 'girl name' Lawson is running amok!
Alright. I am done here for a bit. Unless you guys have updates:
Know where that theory went using Hopper's prison break as a metaphor for something with Mike being in mind prison? Seen more references to Mike and mind prisons? Got more insight into how Mike might actually figure out this key stuff?
Thanks for reading. I'm gonna look reaaaaal stupid if Chance's last name isn't actually Lawson lmao.
Also Jedediah is rumored to be Chance's real name (making Chance a nickname) and there is a very cliche romance novel about a guy named Jedediah Lawson if you wanna look it up lol. Someone had a really great analysis about Jedediah's biblical implication being loved by Jesus (Will). I love life, just found this Bychance goldmine by @cypherheartnokey going to go read this may reblog with updates.
I don't want to go to work tomorrow I have a cold.
Do you think Will giving Mike the painting in EP8 was unintentionally a way in which Will trapped him even further? Because he seemed to have been resigned to the idea of him and El being done as early as EP4 only to close the show giving a strained love confession which was very much pushed by Will 😭 pookie was genuinely trying to be a good friend despite his own feelings but like
Mike meant it as a ‘yet’ statement, which if I’m not mistaken, I’m pretty sure Finn confirmed in an interview.
second curtain:
aka the subtext. this scene is visually and thematically similar to the TV show “Eyewitness” which @beepboop358 pointed out in her Byler Master Slides.
This show and Stranger Things have in common the whole “small town mystery” vibe, so the chances of the Duffers having watched this show are quite high.
And because the scenes are not only visibly similar, but thematically as well, I’m inclined to believe they made it feel similar on purpose to queer-code this scene.
conclusion:
if byler is endgame, then this scene is definitely a hint that Mike was experiencing internalized homophobia.
#. The infamous one-way sign into the closet.
first curtain:
closets don’t exclusively symbolize queerness, as in sexuality, in Stranger Things. They can represent characters hiding/not wanting to share vulnerability, secrets, etc, etc. the “ONE WAY” could be interpreted as “ONE OUTCOME” too, as per the season’s heavy emphasis on odds and risks.
second curtain:
aka the subtext. taking this into account, I do find it suspicious. Especially because this season, we find out Will has feelings for Mike. So could this be implying Mike shares Will’s secret?
conclusion:
if byler is endgame, then this would be confirmed as a hint.
#. The airport hug
first curtain:
Mike was jealous. We saw him be jealous over Lucas in ep 1, just like how Lucas was jealous over El in s1, so that’s not inherently romantic.
second curtain:
aka the subtext. this scene is similar to Hermione hugging Harry but not Ron in HP: A Chamber of Secrets, which is in S4’s inspiration board and I mentioned in my #birthdaygate🎈 post.
And moreover … is it just me but the framing looks like they are smooching? lmfao.
conclusion:
if byler is endgame, then this scene is Mike struggling with balancing his feelings for Will and El/trying to pretend he didn’t care that Will might be straight/the painting wasn’t for him like he wanted.
#. the rink-o-mania disaster.
first curtain:
Mike was setting a boundary because he got the vibe Will wanted more from him than Mike could offer. Not necessarily because he suspected Will liked him, but because Will wanted to be held to the same regard as his girlfriend. He didn’t tell Will he did call him because he was being prideful.
He was watching every Will move because of what I said earlier about him suspecting Will liked El. Like how Robin said she was obsessed with Steve and couldn’t stop staring at him because Tammy liked Steve.
second curtain:
aka the subtext. even the GA noticed the Gabriella x Troy “what about us?” parallel. I remember it going viral and everything. High School Musical is in the s4 DNA board as well.
Moreover, I mentioned Sixteen Candles in my #birthdaygate🎈post, and in that movie, Jake Ryan tries to call Samantha to no avail too.
conclusion:
If byler is endgame, then Mike was being a gay disaster here.
#. the “try before you deny” scene @ surfer boy’s pizza
first curtain:
i guess you could say it is a minor scene foreshadowing something else other than sexuality. and whereas there could be some truth to this, there really is no other logical explanation for this that doesn’t require you to wreck your brain. I’d say this is the #1 clue for me honestly, it’s the only one that cannot be interpreted in any other way than queer-coding.
second curtain:
Will ( aka BOY ) is the pizza, plain and simple
conclusion:
yeah this one’s deadass queer-coding on Mike / a nod at his potential sexuality discovery or however they end up doing it.
#. The final shot + Mike’s 'heart’ pocket
first curtain:
the three pairings here represent the three groups: adults, older teens, and younger teens.
The triangle could be a reference to Mike loving and choosing Will, but not necessarily in a romantic sense, as per the high standard this show puts on friendships, and how it has subverted common romance trope through its friendship dynamics.
second curtain:
aka the subtext. but even if I do see that, two things can be true at once, and they’re sandwiched between two romantic pairings, while El is ALONE at the front?
We get confirmation that the triangles in Robin’s clothes are queer-coding.
conclusion:
if byler is endgame, then this can be considered foreshadowing that their arcs together would culminate in a romantic resolution.
✦ . ⁺ . ✦ . ⁺ . ✦
Literally, this is all I need to consider it not only a realistic possibility, but the most likely outcome given the disaster that is Mileven + the fact they confirmed Will’s feelings for Mike as a plot twist, so they can just copy/paste and do it again.
Everything else can be fit within the show’s themes and how they’ve handled friendship and platonic love so far, but these instances are quite specific.
“It could confuse the GA bc it would come out of nowhere”
If we’re talking about the GA, at least a small portion of the GA sees the Bychance vision already without even knowing about Bychance–this post is3 YEARS OLD.
This fits in very nicely with some ideas I myself had too.
Whereas unpacking Will’s internalized homophobia through symbolism, metaphor and eventually a coming out scene makes narrative sense ( “pairs nicely with his physical and psychological torments” ) I’m personally just exhausted of seeing him go through that ( “but from a viewer standpoint, it’s just not fun to watch at all.” )
Bychance not only gives Will agency–it also gives him ( and the writers ) an opportunity to depict him actively working through his internalized homophobia in a way that the GA would understand and even RELATE to. Will’s self-exploration arc NEEDS to include a love interest ( Mike does not count bc we all know that’ll realistically only happen at the END ). This is his coming of age, and the season he gets to stand up for himself and what he believes in. That’s what we have been told, right?
My jaw was on the floor when I read the “maybe a jock who isn’t a sociopath?” comment because that is the basis under which Bychance was created in the first place 💀 it follows a very popular and TIRED trope: jock x nerd. and we KNOW Stranger Things loves its tropes, only to subvert them.
In fact, they count of the show’s derivative nature to weave clues and hints and even BRING OUR ATTENTION to that.
My current assumption is that the GA will be surprised, yes. But they’ll just need a bit of context to get on board. At least the side of them that isn’t homophobic. I know my GA friend, when I told her about Bychance, said that she’d be on board with a storyline like that even without all of the Bychance hints. The hints just suggest the person filling that role is going to be Chance.
So yeah, if anyone has a rebuttal to what I just presented here, feel free to add your thoughts in good faith!
hey how do u feel abt noah saying that people should not get their hopes up for season 5 of stranger things? he didn’t specifically say anything abt it being byler related but idk - a lot of fans think of byler when they think of will and so im worried he was trying to like subtlety tell byler shippers to not get their hopes up
hi anon!
IF he was referring to bylers in that sentence, then this is what I’d assume; I think he was speaking generally. the most beloved byler theories ( flickergate, loverslake, wallgate, heroesgate, ud kiss, etc ) do not fit with the tone of the show, so they’re very beloved, but noah himself once said that the fans are very creative … yet wrong about everything.
that’s why I do not even attempt to make “theories” about how Byler’s kiss will happen or entertain that idea, its just wasted creativity bc they don’t WANT you to know. Prediction theories will likely be wrong unless the Duffers WANT you piecing things together ( like how they said that they left enough clues IN VOLUME 2 for someone to piece together why the UD is frozen the day Will went missing. They wouldn’t have said that IMO if they didn’t want to encourage fans to figure it out. Otherwise it’s sort of wasting your fan’s time for no good reason ..? )
IF byler’s endgame, chances are some of their storyline ( and Will’s arc ) won’t be satisfying to some of them ( *cough cough* I think you might know exactly what I’m talking about ) bc from everything they’ve said so far they ARE departing from this ‘hopeless, martyr Will who suffers in silence and waits for Mike’ vision that the fandom expects for him when it comes to his feelings for Mike. ( I have a friend who believes the 'choice’ is mike’s and mike’s alone and Will is important but in his love life, he gets 0 say like let’s be so fr here for a second. One thing I think Milevens are right about, that Bylers refuse to accept is that Will let go of his idea of being with Mike romantically in that van, and any hope he had left after that faded when Mike gave that speech to El and essentially locked them in as endgame in HIS eyes lmao )
and I personally would rather not have byler endgame than them literally removing the power of CHOICE from the character named Will ( power of CHOICE/Free Will/Will power ) in the season that is his coming of age and that has centered his sexuality and feelings for Mike so much.
That sounds like a genuine snooze fest
like GIVE ME THE SUPERNATURAL AS A REFLECTION OF HOW THEY START OFF S5. GIVE ME FULL ON QUEER HORROR
BUT I’LL BE RIDING THAT WAVE BABY I JUST KNOW I WILL PERSONALLY LOVE IT AND BE CHEERING WILL AND THE DUFFERS ON FOR THAT
I’m pretty sure some of this expectation of 'martyr Will’ comes from some confusion over S4 El’s arc being projected onto him, ( and that’s totally fine! honestly I’m still understanding stuff myself but damn some people around here need to rewatch the show and set aside their fanon version of Byler for a second ) but that’s why the most common version of Byler endgame that Byler fans are expecting/hoping for ( and the GA doesn’t buy, mind you ) is basically a rewritten version of S4 Mileven.
“Leave the station, Nina. Don’t keep waiting for a lover that won’t return.”
She also resisted Henry’s influence and tried to reach him despite everything he’s done–much like how she reached Billy in S3. She’s been coded as an angel, a Jesus figure, El literally means God, etc. SHE’S MY DAUGHTER I LOVE HER SM I’m scared for her ending the most omfg
I have the awful feeling she’ll experience a metaphorical death ( like, staying in the UD and transforming it as the gatekeeper I SO HOPE IM WRONG PLEASE I HOPE THIS IS DUE TO MY LACK OF UNDERSTANDING STILL and not bc they will really do that to her hhh )
Will? imo Will’s being set up to go batshit unhinged and reckless and careless and fucking up as he figures himself out and tbh so far, everything they’ve said falls in line nicely with what I was HOPING for.
thank GOODNESS
And whereas I do not believe for ONE second the Duffers are perfect ( thank god, perfection is so boring and artificial ) I AM choosing to trust they’re choosing to be brave and genuinely love their show.The fact people on both sides will be pissed/triggered due to some of their writing choices I think will just be an unfortunate consequence. Sometimes we forget these guys are not rocket scientists and at the end of the day, they’re DnD nerds who love their play. If you’re not having fun analyzing, chances are you’re not approaching it the right way since both DnD and the show are about community and connection. It’s inherently what makes them both fun.
I already went through my “acceptance arc” where I internalized that I do not write this show and have 0 say in its outcome. I definitely recommend others do the same and be prepared for whatever happens bc we’ve put a lot of emotional investment into the show, and that’s okay, we’re in this together, but we gotta make sure we’re prioritizing our mental well-being and I do worry about some Bylers in the tag that I do not think … should be watching this show … ( especially after the reactions I saw during that Bychance / Byler “Civil War” …. yikes )
but yeah let me know if any of this makes sense / share your thoughts!!! they’d be cool to know <3
this birthdaygate/001/chance bullshit over here making me feel like some mad scientist archetype with all my polls and research and debates and anons 🤡 its super fun
just came across a slideshow on TikTok that’s supposedly debunking different proofs Bylers use and i IMMEDIATELY scrolled past it rather than reading it because im so high on Byler confidence that i refuse to let any Mileven bring me down. i did, however, scroll back up and save it to a folder where, after ST ends and assuming Byler is endgame, i’ll go back and actually read what they “debunked” in order to feel great abt myself
HI SORRY JUST SAW THIS NOW!! and also sorry again because i just went to my folders on tiktok and i think it got deleted 🫤 i had another vid in that folder saved too so im kinda disappointed, but i just stumbled across a similar vid that i’ll link here for u!: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTjK574Yh/ (hopefully the link works)
aww thats totally ok no need to apologize!! 💕 ty for linking it ... the way i was actually excited bc i genuinely thought they'd have at least something new ... but its just the same old same generic arguments + the fanfic-y version of mileven being used as to why they're endgame
ofc!! honestly i’m not surprised at all lmao. there’s such a lack of media literacy it kills me. but also i wanna say that the folder actually appeared back on my tiktok and i have the og vid i was talking abt, so ill finally link it here 😭😭 https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTjK4431S/ i decided to read the arguments myself and honestly they’re the same stuff as usual 🙄
oh this one is even worse … it’s sort of funny to me bc we as bylers could probably come up with better arguments to “debunk” our own theories than milevens can
but i think they’re right about SOME things … for example, it makes me happy that they said that Mike knows Will likes him ( I personally think he at least suspects it ) and that’s why the airport hug was so uncomfortable
it kind of “confirms” to me that we’re right about Mike not being as oblivious as he seems and that’s byler proof to me in and of itself tbh 😭
