#conformitygate: { The Sherlock Conspiracy }

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 ...

#birthdaygate🎈

You mean to tell me that ALL of those hints led absolutely NOWHERE, and not only that, the duffers did not RETCON Will's birthday despite APOLOGIZING to the fans for their MISTAKE and claiming they would GEORGE LUCAS it?

REALLY???

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:

@greenfiend @cypher-heart-no-key @maysileeewrites @itswhatyougive @o11yradio

very much recommend y'all look into the Sherlock Conspiracy because it was the exact same thing:

and surprise, surprise. That didn't really go anywhere. So is the same happening here, or is there a level of self-awareness / meta at play?

i'm so tired

BYCHANCE HINTS - "fortune favors the bold"

i guess i lied about this being my last bychance post bc I just remembered this gem.

"FORTUNE🍀💰 favors the bold" ... balloons, like yknow, in BIRTHDAYS. And then yum that 22 ...

and what did Will do in this episode literally The Next Scene after this?

he was literally being sad about never truly standing a CHANCE

and moreover ... what else does he do in this episode?

he decides to be bold aka BRAVE❤️👑 and come out to his friends and family.

Chance as the epilogue bf instead of Carlton / meta for Chance being a "belated birthday present" for Will from the Duffers come home to me atp 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

LAST BYCHANCE POST - vol i & ii collection

#. EP 1 = 5 TIMES ( bonus: YMCA 🍀 + LUCKY CHARMS 🍀 ) 4 ( ROBIN ) 1 ( DUSTIN )

#. EP 2 - 0 TIMES #. EP 3 - 1 TIME 1 ( TINA )

#. EP 4 - 3 TIMES ( bonus: SERENDIPITY 🍀 + "Being Different" playing ) 1 ( DUSTIN ) 1 ( ROBIN ) 1 ( MIKE )

"Being Different" playing

#. EP5- 2 TIMES 1 ( JONATHAN ) 1 ( WILL )

#. EP6- 1 TIME 1 ( HOLLY )

#. EP7 - 1 TIME ( bonus: LUCKY CHARMS 🍀 + TAMMY ) 1 ( WILL )

<< REWIND TO EP 5

BACK TO EP 7 >>

IF TAMMY = MIKE IS TRUE, THEN VICKIE = ?

And that's it, folks! This is my last bychance post before we finally, FINALLY learn the truth tomorrow and wrap it up 💚 praying for Will Byers happiness in the end

BYCHANCE PUZZLE - VOL II promo

DECEMBER 15

yeah i get it. they just like that word, i guess. been there, done that .....

ok yeah hunter's back at promoting the show bc he's in vol i, he's not returning for vol ii there wasn't anything about the jocks there ...

SCREECHES .........................

ok that's uh ... interesting .... rowill + chandy ft dustin ... i mean i guess it means nothing ....

just funnily enough reminded me of the rockie + will + chance mention scene ... where Will experienced queer joy for the first time by actually seeing a queer couple with his own eyes ...

wait .....................

>>> REWIND TO NOVEMBER 4TH

we failed. we never stood a chance

vs

no one stands a chance against us ..................................

that's uh, very mundane yes but also specific wording ....

wait w

was .....

...... was that on purpose, hunter? hunter did you ... like did you do that on purpose ...? like was ... was that like ... an actual, intentional hint ...?

Alexa, play I Know There's Something Going On by Frida ...

WAIT ... hold up,

>>> REWIND TO OCTOBER 31ST, 2025

vol i had the Queen song i made a whole post about, all of this is "Will hints" in a way though

The Golden Shadow, yes ... but like ... the lyrics ...

only ONE sweet moment set aside for us .......? bc yknow limited screentime + episodes left ... what .... the fuck ....

nah, there's .... no way ......

>>> FAST FORWARD TO DECEMBER 16

Diana Ross + Upside Down lyrics from the VOL II trailer

there's no way .... like ... it's probably just ...

right? unless ...

release .... being in command of his own ability ... & tapping into the hivemind at will ...

and that's that on self love / self-worth / self-respect ...

FREAKING THANK YOU ROBIN FUCKING BUCKLEY

HE'S FREE. HE'S FUCKING FREE, ISN'T HE?!?!!??!?

IS MY BELOVED WILL FINALLY FREE? IS MY POOKIE FREE FROM THE SHACKLES OF FORCED-CONFORMING!?!!?!?!?!? IS HE EMBRACING THE FREAK, THE WEIRDO!? THE MONSTROUS!?

BIRTHDAYGATE ..............................

COME THE FUCK HOME.

COME.

THE FUCK.

HOME.

Holly's Imaginary Friend / Mr. Whatsit foreshadowing dates back to S1.

Here are some thoughts for you @o11yradio and @farrahfawcetts

i first got the thought of an imaginary friend storyline around 2023 when i watched these two movies:

#1. DROP DEAD FRED

Fun facts: This movie is in S4's inspiration board It features Fast Time's actress Phoebe Cates

#2. INSIDE OUT

Fun facts: This movie is also in S4's inspiration board Maya Hawke voices 'Anxiety' in this movie's sequel

So the two imaginary friends featured here are Fred and Bing Bong.

Fred and Bing Bong have similarities and differences, but they both disappear in the end after serving their purpose.

now for the next part, i am not attempting to predict whats going to happen in the story. rather, i attempt to understand whats already happened and where the writers want us looking into at this point.

... and I begin to get a bit nervous because whereas the 'imaginary friend' is very textually Mr. Whatsit ( Henry/001/Vecna ), I'm also reminded of this vibe that Bylers have been picking up on about El for years now. Something about her being 'imaginary', and 'not real' and a 'figment of Mike's imagination' or something like that.

And god, something about Mike saying he doesn't know how to live without her ... it makes me feel like Mike is going to have to ultimately lose her / let her go to be able to fully step into his own ... just like how Andy had to let go of his toys, just like how Fred and Bing Bong also had to disappear for their children to truly grow🥲 ... i just hope El's fate is with Kali now that she's back, and not something horrific or dehumanizing / "supernatural" ... we'll have to see.

But setting that aside, here's where my mind's at but PLEASE feel free to chime in with thoughts if you have any!

The Holly 'material girl era' vibes sequence reminded me of S3 Eleven and Max, with the stark difference that Mr. Whatsit's friendship was fake/a trap, unlike Elmax which came naturally. He brought her gifts / things she wanted that were material rather than sentimental, and pretended he brought them to her on a 'hunch'. Something about S2 Mike talking about toys having emotional value ...

It's as if Mr. Whatsit is a fairy godmother granting her little wishes, yes?

commercial break here for a Vennya mini rant ( #birthdaygate🎈 you're still alive and thriving to me. Where is Will's belated birthday present, Duffers? Everyone and their mother getting gifts except him and no, his powers and him embracing self-love and him giving himself gifts by drawing do not count as a 'belated birthday gift' be so fr. And no, Henry's birthday being March 22nd does NOT erase the fact that that's Will's birthday TEXTUALLY that yall said you'd change and ended up NEVER doing it. smh smfh y'all will NOT trick me into thinking birthdaygate is NOT about Will and that there won't be massive pay off there IM ONTO YALL PHONY ASSES i have way too much trust issues to wave this under the rug nuh-uh, I SEE YALL i KNOW im part of this show's #Target Audience 🎯 I can feel it in my BONES )

But anyway, then we have the iconic 'I Think We're Alone Now' sequence ... which ... not only does this remind me of Henry's sister Alice ( these are likely her dresses ) and Home Alone, yes, but ...

S1 Steve singing 'Old time Rock & Roll' to Nancy + Nancy's Tom Cruise poster ...

Meaning, this scene also doubles as an homage to the iconic Risky Business scene with Tom Cruise, if you ask me.

BREAKING THE 4TH WALL Question ... y'all recon the showrunners Always Knew they wanted to pay homage to this iconic scene in some way?

But back to Holly. Holly "made up" an imaginary friend because she was lonely / was struggling to connect with others in the first place. And Mr. Whatsit preyed on that.

After the hype of new exciting and shiny things has died down, does she ultimately get bored bc the gifts didn't resolve the true issue? Her heart's true longing? She felt alone in Henry's palace and bored ... bc she had nobody to play with. The place where shes at becomes a space frozen in time where nothing ... happens.

I think it's interesting because Henry connects with people he has things in common with. An ache in common with, a pain ... and there seems to be this consistent vibe I get from him ... he had nobody to play with and was all alone his whole life. At least he felt alone all his life. There was only so much the spiders could fill this void for him.

Is he too far gone for redemption? I'd say yes, but considering what the Duffers have said about him ... we'll see

Are the other three children he took at the end of EP4 going to play the roles of 'playmates' for Holly, in Herny's fantasy or dream world or whatever the heck it is he's building? Speaking of, what is Henry's ultimate fantasy or dream life or goal or whatever we want to call it? What's his long-term plan? And, despite him calling childhood weak and frail in both body and mind, does it have something to do with never growing up, like Peter Pan and The Lost Boys and Neverland ...?

What the fuck is he actually doing?

The message, so far, seems to be to me that ultimately, material things, shiny things become devoid of any true joy if you don't have anyone to share them with, if you don't have anyone to play with and create new things with, new stories with. Not sharing becomes imprisoning, keeping your gold to yourself ... something along those lines! Imo we'll see her step into the shoes of Holly the Heroic sooner than later, especially now that her and Max have joined forces to Escape Camazotz. It's very interesting to me how Heny's mind palace thingy became 'Camazotz' instead of Hawkins--which is less than ideal to Holly right now.

But yeah, I also find it fascinating how 'fragmented' our antagonistic force seems. Him having four names by now is no coincidence, which is why I respect the reading of these four not being The Same Entity at all because thematically, they're not. How literal that separation becomes in the text is yet to be seen, but atm I do enjoy seeing them as four separate forces working together as 'one', to achieve an ultimate goal.

In 'order of appearance', this is how I break them down so far:

1. HENRY, THE INNOCENT Main associations are TFS + 001's speech. No, I do not think he was a psychopath from birth. What happened to him is tragic. ->

2. 001, THE "FAILED" EXPERIMENT Main association is Hawkins Lab + his storyline with El when he reached the point of no return ( the massacre ) and tried 'recruiting' her and then she 'broke his heart' by 'rejecting' him and 'banished' him / made him the 'monster' he became -> 3. VECNA, THE MONSTER Main associations are the UD / Dimension X / Vecna's Lair which he controls, but Will's newfound powers might change this. Is Vecna human in any way still? He doesn't seem to feel anything right now. He kinda gives me 'AI' / 'Skynet' vibes 4. MR. WHATSIT, THE IMAGINARY FRIEND Main associations are the 'pretty' version of the Creel House, which Holly refers to as Camazotz when she's with Max aka actual company + Max/Henry mindscape? we see a 'hybrid' between Henry and Vecna ( the arm + something about that cave making him #Scared, angry and sad. Smth bad happened ... on his birthday? ) fantasy, shiny things that aren't ultimately real etc etc it's paying off here.

Also, there's something about #4 here because he has FOUR identities, in season FOUR he killed FOUR teens to open doors and now in S5 he's kidnapping FOUR children ...

what is your actual point with sending me this, anon? i've been memeing this whole time but you know what? i'll take this as an opportunity to get real here.

first of all, don't disrespect me calling bychance "bullshit" bc you're directly insulting my read and understanding of the show. and therefore, my intelligence. and, whether i'm right or wrong, i will NOT allow that. bychance could very well turn out to be just one of many other theories that will inevitably be wrong in the end too, which is fine, we do this for fun and community. and yes, it would be sad if it doesn't pan out, but you're not going around to other people's anon box talking about hoping they can quickly accept their theories are bullshit too and grief those, are you? be so fr

second of all, what the hell is "Bychance grief?" myself, like others looking into this, chose to trust this bc I'm familiar enough with the Duffer's work to deduce they love it, and are familiar enough with the fanbase they've cultivated, to have the decency to have changed Will's birthday date like they deadass said they would if they genuinely forgot it and it wasn't gonna pay off in some way. and that's on good faith storytelling. bc otherwise that indicates to me they WANT us looking into this

i would literally not be entertaining bychance if it wasn't for that and i NEED people like YOU to understand that.

and do not even try to tell me "there weren't actual hints, you're delusional" because:

I took the time to polish that up and compile it so at least give it a read if you're gonna call it "bullshit". it might not be perfect but the essentials are there.

if you assume i'm going through "bychance grief" bc of the jock x Dustin leak "confirming" that Chance is the absolute, irredemeable one-dimensional asshole y'all have been saying he is despite all of the symbolism attached to his freaking name, I do admit i'm not happy AT ALL with what i've been hearing.

but also i'm kinda just confused ??? so we will be able to discuss that once the show's out and we've seen the whole vol i with our own two eyes.

THE TIMELINE //

ST5 LEAKS DISCUSSIONS ON THIS NEXT BIT

even tho that does not erase the hints, i WOULD put bychance to rest on that alone, except ... one of my deductions somewhat paid off already ...? and it is weirdly validating.

idk if you read my bychance timeline, but there was this:

If we combine ACT I and ACT III and make it into one, then ... smth similar to this already happened. Replace Bychance with Rockie and Mike/Jonathan with Will. Not a 1-v-1 and there is nuance, but yknow, this indicates intent on following through the structure of previous seasons.

SIMILARITIES 💀

Does this mean Rockie is doomed? Not necessarily. They could be the couple that subverts this coding.

DIFFERENCES 🍃

Regardless, it IS validating to me that this:

I wanted confirmation on this straight in EP1 and when I wrote the timeline, if you read carefully, I was centering Mike / reading Chance as toxic af. But it makes absolute sense to me that Will's hope gets restored based off of witnessing an actual queer couple.

According to another user, apparently Will later on asks Robin something to the effect of "how do you know someone likes you when you're queer?"

So, if that is true, the easy assumption to make ( and totally reasonable btw ) is that Will is asking bc of Mike, right? It's also the safest bet bc that's the only thing that makes sense, right? With them living together and everything ...

go on anon, ask me what i personally think. don't be scared i don't bite. open the door, anon.

ask me

hi again anon! so how do you know he was a later addition? im so curious

and oh god you're right, we see #22 in the actual show ... kinda makes me wonder how the birthday mentions are handled in the scrips as well.

we don't even know if his first name isn't chance bc like i said the thing is the rest of the jocks ( jason, patrick, andy ) have their FIRST names on their jackets so why would chance be the only one with a nickname?

it's just plain weird

also i have a question anon bc im very curious and you sound like my people lmao but what are your thoughts on the whole angle of free will and chance we've been exploring? bc i feel like there's something there but i can't quite put my finger on it yet

hello anon!! BRO .... okay, age-discourse is OVER thank goodness 🙏 for anyone that is wondering ( since the scripts are scheduled to be released in december ), we're able to look at excerpts. My friend offside also found this link and let me tell you ...

RIGHT ON THE MONEY!! my friend dior noticed that the whole "Jed, you coming?" + the TV scene in ep2 are MISSING from the script 😭 It's as if he ✨ didn't exist ✨

we wondered if maybe Chance was a later addition, and this script is outdated which is a possibility, for sure. We won't know until december ...

.... buuut then there's also that possibility, isn't it? bc isn't that also the thing with birthdaygate? that's not being hinted at or joked about anymore, they're flat out DENYING it, like Noah recently.

and then chancegate ... atp I've accepted chancegate is a conspiracy theory and I'm at peace with that. for all intents and purposes, Chance seems so utterly unimportant right now. because it's as if they don't even want to commit on NAMING him--offside has pointed out how he's listed as 'teammate' in the credits.

But then that name is so symbolically loaded ... ( connected to DnD + the die + Alan Turing's probability theory + Sherlock Holmes quote + associated with birthdaygate through hints ( chance + 22 = 8 times ) + destiny/free will/chance + bychance = serendipity, etc ) ... It's honestly hilarious to consider this is all just one enormous "coincidence" in the show that actively touches on "apophenia" only to encourage you to keep the curiosity door open bc "anything is possible". Lmao not Mr Science Man saying that, btw.

And the people who "invented" bychance as a crack-ship are two of the smartest people I know in this fandom. They didn't just randomly pull it out of their ass for no reason. they were motivated by that "will's love interest" leak, and they had a list of candidates and everything. they were strategic about it. Talk about accidental geniuses, huh?

( I SOUND SO COO-COO HELP ME. *looks into the camera* HUNTER, IF YOU'RE READING THIS AND I'M COMPLETELY WRONG IM SO SORRY IDK WHAT HAPPENED / WHERE I WENT WRONG I GUESS I DREAMT TOO HARD #Embarrassing )

Right now, anti-bychancers can dismiss this stuff if they want to. But we'll know the truth once vol i drops, and that? that's inevitable. And I'm prepared to be wrong, for sure. But ... can anti-bychancers say the same?

also side note but offside and I were talking about this the other day and we think his name is actually Chance Jedediah Lawson because of the names in the other players jackets ( Andy, Patrick, Jason ) were their first names.

Jedediah was King Solomon's SECOND given name so maybe the Duffers followed that recipe? What do you think, anon? ty for coming to me!

Hi anon! omg thank you for asking this hoho. The words "it wouldn't make sense" do not exist to me in the context of analyzing this show because I do not write it and I do not know what the writers have ultimately decided to do. If there's anything I've learned is to keep my mind open because this show has such smart fans you never freaking know when they're right on the money on something that would've otherwise completely blindsided me.

How would you react if instead of a bychance in season 5 happened a chancewheeler?

I can tell you that I have considered both Wheelchance AND Elchance as possibilities in my quest for truth lmfao--I haven't given it too much thought but here's where I somewhat am with Wheelchance:

Would you like it or would you get mad? Or something else?

I know you ask about Wheelchance in a romantic sense, but I genuinely can't read them like that beyond a metaphor. I'd have to read a Wheelchance-leaning analysis to even picture it. ( if there's any or you personally have a read of it by all means I'd love to check it out! )

But I'm too Bychance-pilled 😭 whereas Will's emotional arc ties the whole series together ❤️, and Chance feels like a total wild card 🎲, them bearing the names doesn't mean they alone embody the concepts they're named after. These concepts are woven throughout the narrative and exist in all of the characters--we all have a will, we take chances or we don't, etc. If that makes sense!

So, to start, let's set aside the characters and focus on the concepts of FREE WILL and CHANCE.

How these two concepts are interwined, work together, and affect one another is a philosophical debate in our reality.

Some people think Free Will needs Chance to be able to truly exist, others think Free Will is actually undermined by Chance, so it boils down to how the Duffers themselves feel about this. Did they name these characters after these two concepts on purpose? Or am I assuming that due to bias? ( aka I do not want to get Lost in the Subtextual Sea of Endless Possibilities so just assuming it is intentional gives me peace 💀 )

I do think they fw the concept of Serendipity, which is "the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. Lucky accidents, fortunate discoveries."

I believe this because of Hopper's letter to El at the end of S3--the idea of bad things happening but encouraging her to remember that pain instead of suppressing it, and to keep growing because sometimes, life is SURPRISING and HAPPY. ( Sometimes life is serendipitous! )

Moreover, in DnD, Free Will and Chance are two things the DM cannot control ( Free Will = player action and agency. Chance = the dice, the unexpected ).

As a DM, I can manipulate or persuade and deceive etc but can't really touch them bc that'd make me a Bad DM ( which Vecna is tbf--I mean look at how he's treated Will so far my poor pookie ) so yeah, that's a whole other can of worms too I'm still looking into and somewhat feels like it's stuff that'll be clearer once we've seen S5

So yeah anon sorry I know this doesn't answer your question fully but that's my two cents on it!