#THAT WAS VECNA IN THE SHED WILL HAD A CONNECTION WITH HIM BEFORE HE WAS EVER POSSESSED WILL WAS STALKED THE SAME WAY THAT THE VICTIMS WERE

[omartinyosef]

ST5 POTENTIAL SPOILERS!!!

GUYS I FOUND THIS ON REDDIT AND ACTUALLY IT'S QUITE INTERESTING

ST5 Leaks/Fleaks

Gen Plot

Season picks up briefly where we left off in 1986 before jumping into either late 1987 or early 1988. The season is contained entirely in apocalyptic Hawkins. Things with the government are shaky. Owens doesn't appear in the beginning of the season and it's unclear if he's returning, but Ellen Stinson is the new Owens. Hawkins is like a combination of the UD and Kamchatka.

Labyrinths/Mazes being important to both the supernatural plot and the interpersonal relationships. They're inherently linked.

Two songs to be featured are 'Listen to Your Heart' and 'Alone,' both of which were apparently foreshadowed in a previous conversation between Hopper and Joyce, similar to how Hopper's "I'm the puppet, you're the master" to Joyce in S3 basically foreshadowed Eddie's 'Master of Puppets' in S4.

S1 and 2 scenes being referenced are "Nancy and Mike's conversation in the bathtub" and "Hopper + Lando Calrissian"

Lots of importance in COLOR CODING and blocking from the final shot of S4, and a good chunk is told in the costuming—like passing the torch from one character to another as their arcs overlap. For example, Hopper and Will share the "am I the curse and therefore putting my loved ones at risk by being near them?" sentiment for S5, therefore their wardrobe in the final shot of S4 is similar. Joyce/Jonathan and Nancy/Mike's costuming also similar for the same reason, whereas Eleven stands out because she's the first one coming into her own this season. The white for her represents shedding of false skins.

Character duos this season will be primarily dressed in colors of blue/green and yellow/red.

There's lots of symbolism and foreshadowing for every character in S5 from the moment Will touches his neck in the last sequence of S4.

S4 focused on themes of lies and miscommunication, and everyone is going to have to work through these lies before they can defeat Vecna.

Murray and Argyle are both back. Dimitri and Yuri don't seem to be in the beginning of the season.

One thing left unresolved with the Russian plot. Something important will happen involving the machine and the green liquid from the Starcourt bunker. Reference of Dustin vowing to die with Steve when they initially discovered it.

Hopper, Joyce, Mike, Will, and El had to be away from Hawkins, otherwise Vecna wouldn't have won.

An important death that they're nervous about given the reception to Eddie (not Joyce or Jonathan—see details below).

Eleven

We'll see her unlike we've seen her before. A badass who doesn't take shit from anyone. Not a Monster, not a Hero, Jane. Think: adult El could be headed for a Charles Xavier type role.

Erica, Lucas, and El will share scenes together.

El has significant blocking and development with many characters this season.

Max, Eleven & Max

The "kaleidoscope of colors" from a script the writers posted makes a feature in both the scene where young El remembers her mother's love in order to defeat Henry in the lab, as well as the scene where El revives Max. This is significant because it's the first time we see El using her powers on someone in a non-violent way.

El was able to revive Max because of she, herself, being revived in the bunker by Brenner and Co. It's a show, don't tell moment from the writers.

Max getting Vecna'd was foreshadowed in the beginning of 2x01.

Will, Henry/Vecna, The UD

Filming was supposed to commence mid-June, but Noah and Jamie were set to begin in May due to more complicated costuming. Will is going to require heavy prosthetics at some point.

Will's character design is blocked in three stages. The more the UD bleeds into Hawkins, the more connected to it he feels. The gates being open will physically influence him, especially when he's not as mentally strong.

He's kind of like "the card up Vecna's sleeve."

It appears they want to confuse the audience about Will.

Will wrestling with his own morality

Henry/Will mirrors. Will will sympathize with Henry because, unlike El, he knows how and what Henry thinks, and he can feel him.

Vecna and Will are very similar, but the difference is Will is made stronger by love not hate. They will play into that duality.

Vecna was nerfed in S4 compared to how we see him in S5. He'll be much stronger.

At the beginning, he'll be taking a hiatus while he plans how to divide and conquer now that everyone's back together in Hawkins.

Soteria will be the key to saving Will. If they want Will to be untraceable to Henry, they'll have to insert it into his neck and it'll be painful. Vecna not having access to Will fucks up his ability to leave the UD.

Byler/Mileven Triangle

Apparently, it's complicated and up in the air as of now.

Mike dealing with guilt this season. He feels guilty/responsibility for El. He feels stuck in a loop that keeps him from a truth he's scared to face.

Will and Mike to spend a good chunk of the season together based on character designs and blocking.

Will telling El that Mike won't like being lied to comes back with the painting. During a pre-time jump scene in 5x01, while everyone's together plotting how to defeat Vecna and brainstorming how to save Max, Mike brings up the painting El commissioned for a D&D analogy. Will has to pull Mike aside and confess he lied about El commissioning the painting. Mike gets angry, because he doesn't know about Will's feelings and feels embarrassed that Will thought he was that pathetic he needed to be given a pep talk. Their own version of a "fight you can't come back from." Immediately after their fight, we get the time skip.

Mike's character motivations are unclear and seem to be kept under wraps. After the time jump, he and El won't be talking as much because he's keeping the details about Will's painting from her. She's gonna ask what's wrong between him and Will, and he lies/is very vague.

Joyce, Hopper, Jopper

Joyce feels immense guilt/responsible over Bob's death since she's the one that asked him to help in S2, which is why she pushed Hopper away at first.

Hopper has a secret from S1 that was never addressed, and it comes back to haunt him.

Joyce sustains an injury in S5 that is reminiscent of the way someone was injured in S3, but it isn't critical and she'll be okay.

Jopper are the most established couple after the time jump. Lots of bickering still, but Hopper trusts Joyce more than he ever has.

Jonathan, Nancy, Jancy

So far, does not seem like a breakup is happening.

Jonathan's still lying about the college letter and distant because of it, and Nancy thinks he's not as into the relationship and that there might be someone else. She confronts him, which leads to a talk. She's touched by the lengths he would go to try and protect her and any of their future children even from himself.

A moment where we're led to believe Jonathan dies but doesn't, like Hopper in S3.

Hopper-Byers Family

These five characters slowly unraveling their arcs together and have always been closely linked. Their perfect endings are together.

We see the family combining, especially in relation to El.

Joyce gets to witness Hopper being paternal and tender towards the boys.

Scenes with Joyce, Jonathan, and Will

Hopper being back lifts a weight off Jonathan's shoulders.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, now time to shine.

''(...) sentiment for S5, therefore their wardrobe in the final shot of S4 is similar. Joyce/Jonathan and Nancy/Mike's costuming also similar for the same reason, (...)''

Okay. How did we see Nancy in S4? Confused. Confused with the love triangle between Jonathan, her and Steve. Jonathan is her actual boyfriend. And Steve is her posible love interest again.

So, putting this in byler language: Nancy = Mike Jonathan = Eleven Will = Steve

If Mike's and Nancy's character's clothing is important at this point of the time line and that means they feel similar feelings, this could mean that byler has a chance. BUT then we read this: ''(...) He (Mike) feels stuck in a loop that keeps him from a truth he's scared to face.'' And

''Mike's character motivations are unclear and seem to be kept under wraps.''

THIS LITERALLY MEANS BYLER. FOR REAL. Like byler could be endgame. Also, remember Eleven's injury in S3? Do you remember the leak of a shoe covered in blood?

It's Joyce. ALSO YOU CAN READ THAT WE'LL HAVE SCENES BEFORE THE TIME JUMP. And here it comes. Look at this freaking hair:

Does this look more like this

or this?

The season 4 bowl cut right? So maybe this is right in some part? I dont know. But that could make sense why Will is wearing Mike's pants, because his clothes were in California by that moment. But i really do think that the pic that was leaked a few days ago is before the time jump.

Im so late with this info haha :) but i kinda think some things here make sense. Even if this is too well explained to be a leak.

#stranger things s5 #st5 spoilers #stranger things 5 #st5 #stranger things #st5 speculation #st5 leaks #st5 production #will byers #stranger things season 5 #will byers is gay #byler tumblr #william byers #byler is endgame #byler endgame #byler nation #byler #mike wheeler is gay

[wibble-wobbegong]

daily reminder mike saves everybody’s ass every season except s4 (this is like the sixth one)

1. HE’S LITERALLY THE ONE WHO FIGURED OUT THE UPSIDE DOWN. HELLO?

2. oh my god where do i even start. he’s the only one who actually understood what will’s episodes were, he figured out that will was the spy and that they were in danger, he was a necessity in breaking will out of his possession in the shed, he was the one who realized that everything was a hive mind and made sure they had a plan to exorcise will before closing the gate, and he came up with the plan to distract the demodogs by lighting the tunnels on fire. be serious.

3. he pointed out that the mind flayer had to be destroyed or else it would never stop possessing people. he had a fully planned attack on billy ready less than a minute after el and max brought up their suspicions about him. his sauna test not only had billy confirmed as a host but also led to the realization that there were multiple hosts.

his lack of involvement with the supernatural plot timed with vecna’s first actual success in s4 should make it pretty damn clear that he’s easily one of vecna’s biggest problems. he literally planned his first kill to line up with mike leaving for california. he was waiting for mike to finally leave hawkins in order to enact his plans. his only connection to the supernatural plot was his monologue, which was very much so an attempt at an emotional connection which isn’t mike’s forte. i guarantee you that if mike had been in hawkins that vecna would not have been able to accomplish opening the gates nearly as easily.

#sick of seeing mike slander #el and mike are the characters that push the supernatural plot the most but nobody wants to acknowledge mike #EXCEPT IN S4. WHICH IS THE SEASON THAT THEY LOSE. #byler #mike wheeler

[miahxrrington-blog]

I miss, you

⋆ ˚｡⋆౨ৎ ⋆ ˚｡⋆

steve Harrington x henderson reader

warnings- angst (and un prof read work promise I’ll do it later I’m just really tired

also feel free to leave feed back this is my first time writing anything like this and feed back would be great fully appreciated practice makes perfect!

summary: steve and reader had broken up they now have to fight these supernatural beings together what happens when dustin confronts steve while y/n’s in the car and asks him about how he basically threw himself at nancy

I had broken up with steve a month ago its not that i didn’t love him still. it’s more that i knew he didn’t love me. his heart belonged to someone else. and i was foolish to think that someone was me.

because how could steve harrington ever love me. when he still not over his first love. at first I thought it was in my head. but i see the way they look at each other. the stolen glances here and there. and who was i to deny him the person he truly wants to be with.

so i had to let him go. because i loved him. and he loved her. he always has and always will.

it was the spring of 86 and once again we had gotten sucked into fighting the supernatural once again.

we had just been in the shed that eddie was staying in when we started hearing sirens with confused glances towards each other we look outside and see a bunch of police cruisers. we quickly tell eddie to hide under the tarp while we go investigate.

we all get in steve’s car and I get into the front seat while robin and the kids sit in the back. dustin and max look shaken up.

“hey it’s gonna be okay.” I console them turning around to look at them.

once we get to the scene, we quickly recognize a familiar face. nance. what was she doing there? I wondered. she gives steve a little wave and nods at him.

which steve returns.

we all make our way to the trailer park in which most of these events have taken place. we all sit at a picnic table I take a seat by steve being as thats the only seat that was left. I smile at him and then return to the conversation at hand. it doesn’t have to be awkward.

right?

“so you’re saying this thing that killed fred and chrissy is from the upside down?” asks nancy

“if the shoe fits.” mentions steve

“our working theory is that he attacks with a spell or a curse. and whether or not he’s doing the bidding of the mindflayer or just love killing teens, we don’t know. ” dustin says trying his best to fill her in.

“all we know is that this is something different. something new” I mention.

“this doesn’t make any sense.” said a confused nancy

“it’s only a theory” reassures my brother

“no fred and chrissy don’t make sense. I mean why why them.” said nancy trying to figure out what the connection was.

“maybe they were just in the wrong place.” I answered

“they were both at the game”

“and near the trailer park” said dustin and max listing things on how this could all be related

“were at the trailer park. should we maybe not be here?” asks a concerned steve

“fred started acting weird the second we got here” said nancy

“acting weird as in??” asked robin

“scared, on edge, upset.”

“max said chrissy was upset too.” said my brother

“yea but not here. she was crying in the bathroom at school” adds max

“serial killers stalk there pray before they strike right? so maybe fred and chrissy say this vecman ” asks robin

“vecna” corrects my brother.

“i dont know about you guys but if I saw some freaky wizard monster, I would mention it to someone.” says steve I nodded agreeing with him

“maybe they did. I saw chrissy leaving ms. kelly’s office. if you saw a monster you wouldn’t go to the police they’d never believe you. but you might go to your.”

“your shrink” I said finishing max’s sentence

once we were all done talking we headed to steve’s car. nancy clearly taking a different direction. i started opening the car door when i heard a

concerned steve yell over at nance

“whoa. whoa, nance, nance! where you going.” he asks. ouch. i try not to let this affect me. I mean isn’t this what I wanted. and more importantly what he wanted. I ignore the pain in my chest.

“something I wanna check on first” she answers

“something you wanna share with us?” asks my brother

“I mean yea I thought we were all in this together.” I say

“I don’t wanna waste your time, it’s a real shot in the dark.”

“yea, okay are you out of your mind? flying solo with this vecna creep on the loose no it’s too dangerous, you need, you need some to” steve tried to think of something

robin stares at me and clearly sees my discomfort.

steve then tosses his keys to robin.

“here. I’ll stick with nance, you guys take the car, check out the shrink.” if only he was that persistent when we broke up. I thought rolling my eyes at his behavior.

“I don’t think u want me driving your car” says robin

“why?” asks steve

“I don’t have my license.”

“why don’t you have a liscense”

“because im poor.”

“I can drive” says max

“no, no, no never again. please. anybody but you no.” said steve persistently

“alright just give the keys to henderson.” my brother raises his eyebrows and reachers for the keys.

“no obviously not you dipshit your sister”

“I mean yea I could drive but I don’t necessarily have my license either. are you sure you want to trust me with your car?”

“you’ve driven my car plenty of times I trust you.” said steve reminiscing those times he would teach you how to drive when you were first considering getting your license.

robin then stares at me obviously noticing I didn’t want him to leave with her. robin didnt really understand steve and how so clearly he could’ve chosen you the girl he loves but he keeps doing stupid shit like this.

“alright this is stupid.” said robin grabbing dustins walkie to insure we have communication she smiles and winks at me.

“us ladies will stick together. unless you think we need you to protect us.” I snort which then causes steve to glare at me they both make there ways to nancys station wagon.

my heart aches.

“be careful.” steve yells

ouch. see I was okay with them being together but them rubbing it in my face like this hurt. and maybe it wasn’t intentional all I knew is I never wanted to see this again.

“your just gonna stand there and gawk harrington.” noticing the same thing i noticed

“shut up.” answers steve

I enter the front steve of the car while dustin and max head for the back. I roll my eyes.

“why don’t we go okay?”

“shut up and get in the car and wipe your feet.”

“on the outside not the inside.” says steve in a disappointed mom tone I laugh

steve eventually get in the car.

“always the babysitter. always goddamn babysitter!” he hits the steering wheel.

we arrive at ms. kellys house and we watch from the car as she goes inside

“okay. she’s in”

“we can see that. im missing collarbones not my eyes.”

“so…. dustin continues. we gonna talk about it?”

“im sorry talk about what?” asks steve

“your temporary insanity earlier today when you basically threw yourself at nance.”

i snort.

“that’s not what happened.” steve mutters

“pretty sure that’s what happened it was pretty public. there were a lot of witnesses including my sister.”

“don’t bring me into this.” I say

“are you implying I have a thing for nance?” asked steve

“no im not implying. im stating as it relates to your steadfast refusal to get back together with my sister it’s pretty much the only logical explanation.”

“no way your the one putting these ideas in your sisters head henderson? that im still into fucking nancy”

“I don’t know steve you tell me”

“why are we talking about this situation as if I’m not here.” You mention

“no because you and your brother seem have this stupid idea that im still in love with nancy when so clearly the only person i care for is u.”

“steve can we not do this while my brothers in the car. please.” you pleaded tears threatening to fall out of my eyes

“alright so get out and cover your ears henderson. the adults need to speak ” he rolled his eyes looking out the window

“steve i promise we’ll speak later can we just focus on max.” I asked he nodded and we continued on our journey.

—————

later in the day we made to nancys house we all had to keep an eye on max after everything we had just found out.

once all the kids were sleeping and only me and steve were awake he dragged me to the bathroom and locked the door.

“ we’re talking and I swear to god if henderson is putting ideas into your head that I’m in love with nancy-“

“steve it’s not dustin it’s everyone, we all notice the way you look at her you never look at me that. ever.”

“I don’t want to be in the middle of that you deserve better.”

“baby…..” steve whispers holding my face as he sees the tears I push him off.

“no steve i can’t keep dating someone who is still in love with someone else. I mean look crazy you got back at the trailer park”

“because she’s a friend and I care about her. I don’t see a future with her y/n I see it with you.”

“steve you can’t say things like that.”

“y/n im serious I see you being mrs. harrington one day and carrying my babies. I don’t see that with nancy I see it with you. and im tired of fighting because I miss you. and im sorry if I haven’t been verbal about how much you mean to me y/n but your my entire world..” I stare at him letting him console my cheek while starring into my eyes

“not nancy. you henderson. and I’d kill my self before I’d ever let anything happen to you.”

“im sorry…”

“it’s okay baby it’s, okay just come here.” he says pulling me in for a hug.

#steve harrington #stranger things #steve harrington x reader #robin buckley #angst #steve harrington angst #smut #steve harrington smut #stranger things season 4 #eddie munson #steve harrington x henderson!reader

[thesapphicsoldier]

Everyone always talks about how Robin and Will should meet and connect in season 5, and yes I definitely agree, but—

Imagine her meeting Mike. Her seeing his closed off feelings. Her seeing the way he looks at Will. Her seeing how defensive he gets at the mere idea of him being intimate with a man, even if it wasn’t intended to be romantic (“we’re friends, we’re friends!”). She seems him. Really sees him. She knows what it was like to be young and in denial. In fact, she was about his age when she finally started to connect the rainbow colored dots, and things would have been a hell of a lot easier if she had someone to talk to it about.

So she gets close to him. Or at least, she tries to— Mike is a bit suspicious of her constantly running up to him or inserting herself into his conversations (and well, Robin isn’t the best at talking to people). But eventually, Mike warms up to her a little. He starts talking to her about dnd and even vecna, and if Robin were being optimistic, she’d say they’re friends. After awhile Robin starts dropping hints about her sexuality. (“Oh my god, Phoebe Kates is so hot, don’t you think?” - “I guess so— wait, you think Phoebe Kates is hot?” - “Hell yeah, are you kidding?!) Though it’s the 80s, she’s not scared. She’s talking to someone like her after all, even if he doesn’t know it yet.

But Mike doesn’t seem to be getting it. So she tells him about her crush on Vickie. At first he’s confused and asks her if Vickie is short for Victor or something like that, she tells him no. Vickie is the cute redhead that helps make the sandwiches. He’s shocked to say the least. He stands there wide eyed and mouth agape for about two minutes. Robin wonders if he’s going to run away or make some sort of “you’re going to hell” retort (she wouldn’t blame him for it, she went through that phase in elementary school). But he just… starts talking. Asking questions. Normal questions, like “how’d you guys meet?” or “are you gonna ask her out?” Robin is surprised about how casual he’s being. She had fully prepared herself for a meltdown or for him to not speak to her for weeks, but he just acted… normal. Maybe that’s what he wanted to do. To pretend, even just for a second, that being gay wasn’t such a bad thing. That it wasn’t satanic or disgusting or the cause of diseases, it was just normal. That he’s normal.

Weeks go by as the group tries to figure out how to defeat vecna, once and for all. Robin continues to tell Mike about Vickie, eventually telling him how they’re now happily dating (which she could tell Mike tried his best to not smile at). Mike doesn’t tell her about himself though, and she doesn’t expect him to. The road to self acceptance is long and rocky, with lots of bumps and turns on the way— and sometimes you never reach the end of it, though you hope with all your heart you do. Robin just wants him to know that being himself is okay, and that if he ever needs her, she’s right here.

It was a cold and rainy afternoon when Mike found Robin in the shed, visibly sweaty and conflicted. He looks left and right about fifty times before he mutters, barely above a whisper:

“Hey Robin?”

“Hm?”

“How did you know you were… different?”

Robin simply smiles, the warmest she possibly could, and tells him to sit down.

#this was supposed to be a simple ‘hey what if Robin and Mike were friends’ post and well… I got a bit carried away #I am now obsessed with this idea and hope it comes true in s5 #if you guys want an actual fic about this (oneshot) then lmk #stranger things #robin buckley #mike wheeler #byler #mike wheeler i know what you are #gay mike wheeler #byler endgame #big sister Robin is something that can be so special- #what would their platonic ship name be? #mobin? rike? whuckley? beeler? #surely there’s something that doesn’t sound so silly #byler drabble #byler ficlet #robin and mike friendship #robin buckley & mike wheeler #robin buckley and mike wheeler #mike wheeler and robin buckley #mike wheeler & robin buckley #wlw and mlm solidarity #queer solidarity #jamie writes #jamie talks about stranger things

[willbyersabyss]

The Upside Down is Will's Mind Part Two

I highly recommend reading the first part of this theory (here) before continuing! This post is way longer than the original because I wanted to get all of my thoughts about this out in one place so here it is:

Dustin explains that El opened the Mothergate in 1983 by making a psychic connection to the demogorgan and assumes that Vecna is doing the same with his victims. Why would psychic connection open a gate to the Upside Down if the UD is not related to the mind? If gates to the UD are being opened through psychic connection, how did the original gate in 1979 open? El was not psychically contacting anyone when she originally banished Vecna, or was she? 

Right before El banishes Vecna, she sees a cloudy red tunnel and a memory of her birth. This initially seems like El about to meet death, but what if it was actually a lifeline? The red cloudy tunnel looks similar to Vecna’s cloudy mindscape when he’s searching for victims. What if El was unknowingly searching for someone’s mind, found Will’s, and banished Vecna there? This would explain how she recognized him in s1 as well, she might have seen him in the red void or could sense him because she has connected with his mind before.

Now I want to answer the question of why El banished Vecna to Will’s mind specifically. This needs a bit of explaining before I get to the point so stay with me: 

We know that Vecna likes to target people with trauma because their minds are more vulnerable when they’re experiencing trauma. We can assume that El’s powers work the same. Maybe Will had experienced a recent trauma that made his mind more vulnerable that day and gave El an easy (unintentional) target. But what trauma could that be?

In s1, Hopper says that he had been chief in Hawkins for four years, meaning that Hopper became chief in 1979. When Jonathan speaks to Lonnie, Lonnie asks if Hopper is still chief. This means that Lonnie was still in Hawkins in 1979. So when did Lonnie leave? We can deduce it was sometime between 1979 and 1982. Joyce brings Will tickets to Poltergeist while he is sitting in Castle Byers. Poltergeist came out in June of 1982 so this must have happened around that time. Jonathan and Will built Castle Byers the night their dad left so if Castle Byers already exists, we know this happened before 1982. So Lonnie left before 1982, but after 1979.

Onto my point, I believe that Lonnie left the same day that Vecna was banished to the Upside Down aka September 8th, 1979. This would be a fresh trauma that made Will’s mind more vulnerable to El’s powers. Jonathan and Will built Castle Byers the night their dad left and Jonathan said they were sick for a week after they built it. What if Will’s sickness wasn’t because of rain, but because his mind was being haunted by Vecna? Headaches, nosebleeds, and trouble sleeping sound like they could be symptoms of a typical cold, right? They describe Will’s connection to the Mind Flayer as a “virus” in s2 as well. 

In the shed scene, Joyce’s memory is about Will’s 8th birthday. Will turned 8 in 1979. Hopper said he became chief in 1979 in the scene where Joyce is reporting Will missing and he uses that as a reason why Will is likely with Lonnie. Lonnie is linked to 1979 and Will’s disappearance now. That year is significant to Will. These two scenes indicate that Vecna being banished to the UD is connected to Will’s disappearance and is the reason why he was targeted. Why is there emphasis surrounding Will in 1979? Did something happen to him that year that was significant, maybe his mind being invaded by someone? 

The destruction of Castle Byers has similarities to the night they built it. It was raining both nights and Will had trouble destroying Castle Byers the same way he struggled to hammer it together. How does the Castle Byers scene end? Will feels the Mind Flayer. So what if the parallels don’t end with the rain, what if Will felt Vecna wandering his mind the night they built it too? 

Another thing that felt important: the van scene where Will talks about being different comes just before the scene of Brenner looking at the cracks in the wall left from El banishing Vecna. The song “Being Different” slightly fades us into that scene. Are they connecting Will’s differences to the day Vecna was banished?

Okay so why doesn’t Will feel Vecna for the next four years then? Will said that he doesn’t always feel the Mind Flayer, he only felt it when it wanted to use him. Vecna was dormant until the gate opened again and only made his presence known when he wanted to. 

After season four, we are meant to assume that Will’s visions in season two were just Vecna visions, not him actually being transported into the Upside Down. They describe these visions as “true sight” and I think they were right! Will really was seeing into the Upside Down. That’s not the full story, though. Will’s visions were just Vecna visions, but he was also being transported into the Upside Down because that is his mind. 

Will heard a baby demogorgan during one of his visions on Halloween. Why would Vecna make him hear a baby demogorgan rummaging through trash if the main point of the vision was to scare him with the Mind Flayer? Why not use the classic clock sound insead? Will was hearing actual creatures from the Upside Down during his visions because they reside in his mind. 

The analogy they use in season two to describe Will’s condition is the story of Phineas Gage. It’s interesting how they compared Will’s mental hauntings to a physical injury. Phineas Gage had a rod go through his head that caused personality changes but Will’s personality changes were mostly due to PTSD and the Mind Flayer taking over his mind. 

When the doctors scan Will’s brain, there are abnormalities that they can see and they specifically point out abnormalities in the hippocampus caused by PTSD. PTSD can cause physical changes to the brain like making the hippocampus smaller. Will’s brain has physical changes due to PTSD, but maybe he has physical damage to his brain in a different way. Maybe his mind is a physical location that is actively being harmed by Vecna. Maybe these comparisons to Phineas Gage are being made because they both had physical injuries to the brain, but Will’s brain is really the Upside Down. Max says that closing the gate is like cutting off the brain from the body. The UD is a brain!

On the topic of Will’s PTSD, let’s talk about the anniversary effect. Owens says that Will’s visions are worse because he is approaching the anniversary of his disappearance. At the same time as the approaching anniversary, the lab is losing control of the spread of the UD into the real world. Plants are suddenly rotting and tunnels are spreading despite them keeping it contained for nearly a year. Why is the UD’s spread speeding up as they near the anniversary? Maybe Owens was right, but not in the way he thought. Will’s PTSD response is becoming worse because of the anniversary and this is causing the UD aka his mind to spread into Hawkins faster. His mind is more vulnerable and Vecna can take over easier and enact his plans. 

Will says that the more the vines spread, the more connected he feels to the Mind Flayer. Why does the UD spreading into the real world make Will feel him more? This isn’t just Vecna taking over Will’s mind, Will puts an emphasis on the UD’s spread into Hawkins. It could be that Will’s mind is seeping into Hawkins so he feels more connected to the UD and Vecna because of that. His mind doesn’t feel as distant as before. 

They also describe Will as the “host” for the virus aka Vecna. The lab people talk about the tunnels/gates as if they are diseases as well. What if Will is a host in a bigger way? What if he isn’t just the host for Vecna, but the entire UD? He’s a host for both. 

Why didn’t Will die in s2 when they closed the gate? Obviously they got the particles out of him, but we later learn that he can still feel Vecna so his connection was not entirely broken even though it should have been. The creatures from the UD die when the gate closes because they are cutting the brain from the body, the brain being the Vecna. So if Will is still connected to Vecna, why didn’t he die and why does he still feel Vecna? His connection to Vecna was not fully severed because the UD aka Will’s mind is still a host for him.

Another thing: Will didn’t feel pain from the UD being burned. If it’s his mind, that would hurt right? I don’t think so. Vecna took control of everything in the UD so they belong to his mind rather than Will’s, taking the pain away from Will and attaching it to Vecna. 

It’s interesting how we don’t get a memory sequence during the shed scene. Both Billy and Max had memory flashbacks when they were breaking free from Vecna taking over their minds, so why not Will? They could have shown a swingset, a picture of Will’s spaceship drawing, or a clip of Castle Byers, but they didn’t. We didn’t get to see inside of Will’s mind at all. Do they not want us to see his mind? Perhaps it would be something familiar, something they want to wait to reveal until a later season. 

Speaking of memories, we know that memories can help someone escape their own mind. We didn’t get a visual of Will’s memories in s2, but we did in s1. We get three flashbacks. Will and Joyce in Castle Byers, Jonathan and Will listening to The Clash, and one of Will drawing. These memories have key details that relate to the memories used in s2! Castle Byers, drawing, and Should I Stay or Should I Go. These all save Will in s2 and they may have helped him in s1 as well! Maybe Will used the same memories to make connections from his mind to the real world.

Why does the Upside Down look so different now than it did when Vecna first entered it? I originally theorized that this is because Will’s brain was less developed so his mind looked different at the time, but now I have a new theory. What if Will’s mind is stuck in a Vecna vision? If so, what is Vecna taunting Will with in this vision?

The description of the Upside Down is a place of death and decay. Will’s most prevalent trauma before he was taken by Vecna was the abuse and the bullying he faced for being a visibly gay kid. A lot of the bullying was likely about how Will would one day contract HIV/AIDs. We know Troy had implied this once in s1 and that probably wasn’t the only time. Does Will’s mind look like a place of death and illness because Vecna was taunting his fear of AIDs? Hawkins rotting with vines that carry disease with deadly spores in the air is very on the nose. Vecna was taunting Will with the idea that he will spread disease to the entire town of Hawkins just because he’s gay.

When Max made her mind look like the Snow Ball, there were no people there. The Upside Down is the same way, they even emphasize this fact multiple times throughout the show. It’s just like Hawkins but with no people. Maybe Will tried to hide in a happy memory the same way Max did, transforming the Upside Down to look like Hawkins, and Vecna immediately countered this just like he did to Max. As I said in part one, Will’s fight or flight response is often freeze so he might have frozen his own mind as a stress response, capturing the Vecna vision in time. Max tried to escape her tainted Snow Ball memory but couldn’t because Vecna interfered. Either Will froze his mind himself or Vecna prevented him from switching to a happier memory.

When Vecna realized he could reach into other’s minds, he said he became an explorer. He used this power to go inside of his parent’s minds and see them for who they are. He used the same wording of becoming an explorer when he entered the UD. The reuse of this phrase is connecting minds with the UD! He is an explorer for the same reason!

Something about the UD that I thought competed with my evidence is that voices from the real world can be heard there. I originally couldn’t explain this until I realized that Max heard voices inside her mind and so did El! The second Max’s music gate opened, she could hear the boys calling for her. El can hear people talking to her when she is in the void as well. The voices are faint and distant in both El and Max’s mind, just like they are in the UD! 

Will’s disappearance has a ridiculous amount of parallels with Vecna’s victims (that will be an entirely different post in the future). Why have Will’s disappearance parallel instances of the mind being targeted where gates open to the UD because of a psychic connection? Will’s mind wasn’t involved or targeted in s1… unless?

This next bit is a bit of a reach and honestly feels unrelated but I’m leaving it anyways:

It’s interesting how the UD messes with electricity when that is a feature of someone using powers as well. The UD functions very similarly to mind powers. For example, in s2, Terry flickered the lights to lead El to her and signal that she wanted to talk. Will did the same things with the lights from the UD. Was Will controlling the lights with his mind by touching them within his mind? 

When El connected Will’s mind to the radio, it blew up. The same thing happened when Will used the phone from the UD. If El using her mind made the radio blew up, then maybe Will using his mind made the phone blow up. Will is “using his mind” by simply using the things in the UD because they are inside of his mind. 

Both Vecna and El are shown to cool themselves down when they are about to use their powers. El opens freezers to focus on finding Dustin in s3 and Vecna “likes it cold” because it’s easier to use powers that way. Maybe they need to be cold to use their powers because the mind is cold? A staple of the UD is that it’s cold!

Joyce gets a vision of Will and says that she can feel him. Is this in the same way that Billy, Will, and Mike could sense El when she contacted them through the void? Was Will contacting Joyce through his mind? Once Will stops trying to get to Joyce after breaking a hole in the wall, Joyce says she can’t feel him anymore. Was Will’s mind being cut off from Joyce’s because he couldn’t open a gate again from lack of energy? Henry and El both went into comas after they used too much of their powers. Will was slipping in and out of consciousness in Castle Byers shortly after this. Maybe he used too much energy trying to open the gate.

More of the UD functioning the same way that powers do:

At this point, I feel like I’m proving that Will has powers rather than the UD being his mind. Basically, Will was using his mind to communicate with Joyce, but not by holding out his hand and getting nose bleeds, he was touching things within his mindscape! He was using his mind, but in a different way because it’s a physical location now.

And now I’m going to end this post here. A lot of the evidence I brought up feels like a reach (and trust me, there were many more reaches I did not include) but here’s a repeat of the strongest evidence: music opened two gates to the UD, Will was actually being transported into the UD during his Vecna visions, psychic connection opens gates to the UD, and Vecna’s mind storm is inside the UD. It all comes back to Will and this would be a perfect way to wrap up the many questions about Will’s significance to Vecna.

As for how this could impact the ending of the show, I am a firm believer that the UD needs to be freed, not defeated. If it truly is Will’s mind, that’s a great way to show Will breaking free from that trauma by literally taking away Vecna’s control. Maybe Will can even take back some of the creatures and get them on his side like Dustin did with Dart, allowing them to take part in the defeat of their own abuser. Will is going to free his mind from Vecna’s abuse.

#will byers #stranger things theory #tw child abuse #will’s mind theory

[bylertruther]

if brenner was always making eleven look for henry... and henry was tracking will both in the rightside up and again from the upside down... and she was inexplicably able to recognize will when she saw him in a photo at mike’s house, knew where he was hiding, and felt it was her duty to spend the entire rest of the season helping everyone to rescue him... and he was able to see and interact with her in the void when only people with powers have done so... and the scientists knew to check the byers’ shed after will went missing... and they were then able to construct a fake body with his exact clothes, measurements, and likeness to the point where his own brother and everyone but joyce thought it was real... and we saw eleven take out henry’s soteria but we never saw what happened to it afterward... and henry mentions that the soteria is what allows brenner to track him... and brenner let hopper and joyce go into the upside down after will had been taken to the library because they thought he was already dead/beyond saving... and will is the one and only victim of henry’s whose kidnapping and possession was entirely and completely different... will is the one human being that vecna hasn’t wanted to hurt (including eleven, because he wanted to kill her after she turned him down) and that he instead has sought more than once... and even though max feels vecna in season four she never feels it in her body but will, again, is the only victim that’s always touching and reacting in that same spot on his neck... the same spot where henry had his soteria implanted... and we know that will canonically has powers of some sort because he was able to call joyce in season one, saw her letters on the wall and where she was in the house even though that obviously happened after he went missing / the time that the upside down is frozen on, had true sight + his psychic connection to henry before he was possessed in season two, and likely shaped the upside down to look like hawkins as is suggested by the fact that it’s stuck on the date he went missing and the fact that henry has been residing there this entire time but wasn’t able to change it himself despite claiming that he wants to reshape the world... i’m just saying... the math is 100% mathing right now.

#will byers #stranger things #byler #<- bc u guys are my People #i used to be a hater when it came to this theory but i've seen the light i Understand now </3 #pls forgive me n take me back </3 BHFDJBF #will #will theories #not a theory tho bc im right<3 #s5 predictions #mine #will & henry

[willel]

Will and the Maps

I lost some of this post due to a computer reset but I suddenly gained the will to write it again! (no pun intended)

Was watching a blind reaction of season 2 the other day and something interesting occurred to me. This isn't a full thought or theory, just a connection to previous theories I hadn't really considered before.

First, I'll give a quick review of the theories this new one is related to.

#1. Will "created" the Upside Down. I don't believe he literally hand crafted and shape the Upside Down on purpose with full knowledge of what he was doing. My theory here is that when Will was pulled into/fell into the Upside Down, he completely unintentionally shaped the meta physical space around him into what we know as the Upside Down.

#2. When El opened the gate in 1983, she created a bubble which we now refer to as the Upside Down. These two theories may seem contradictory but it's kinda how I view the whole situation. I believe the world El sent Henry to in 1979, Dimension X, is a plane that has always existed and has nothing to do with El. Then, in 1979 when she tore open space and time, creating the mother gate, the two planes of existence overlapped or touched for a moment, creating a bubble we refer to as the "Upside Down"

Below is a timeline of events I think happened.

In image 1, you have the Rightside Up and Dimension X as two entirely separate planes.

In image 2, you have the aftermath of El opening the mothergate and essentially creating a bridge between Dimension X and the Rightside Up. At this point in time, I theorize the "Upside Down" wasn't the Upside Down just yet.

Lastly, in image 3 is when I believe the Upside Down truly becomes the Upside Down IF Will really did "paint" over the empty space with his presence.

Of course, it's entirely possible that the Upside Down became the Upside Down in step 2 merely by touching two planes together, but we shall see!

Onto the new thoughts I had,

I was watching S2E4 when Will was trying to explain the tunnels he was seeing in his vision. Then, later drawing them out in a big winding puzzle followed by Will telling Mike the more he "spreads" through Hawkins the more connected he feels to the "Shadow Monster".

That bit about spreading through Hawkins making him feel more connected to the Mind Flayer is what partially spawned my theory about Will (unintentionally) making the Upside Down look like it currently does. Why would the Mind Flayer spreading around like that make him feel more connected? In fact, just the presence of the Mind Flayer approaching town caused him great mental and arguably physical distress before he was possessed.

The imagery of Will drawing the tunnels spread across the town in a dazed hypnotic state reminded me of this theory in the first place. Will didn't know he was drawing. None of them realized what it was (except Hopper who ran off on his own without telling anyone) until Bob came by and recognized it as Hawkins itself.

Like I said, this isn't exactly a new full thought out theory here but something about this moment compounded with everything new we've learned, ESPECIALLY at the end of S4 when Will reveals the moment he stepped back into Hawkins he could feel everything again....

I just feel like Will is not just deeply tied to Henry, the Mind Flayer, and the Upside Down, but Hawkins itself.

Like, whatever happened to him the moment he was taken from the shed created some unbreakable chain to Hawkins that he can't escape.

It brings up other thoughts like, "Why was there a renewed sense of urgency for Henry/the Mind Flayer to open giant gates and destroy the barrier between worlds? I feel as though it was because El AND Will left. If Will plays an important part in all this, it must've been frustrating that he left the area and couldn't easily be reached.

It also made me think, "If there's a timeskip, what's taking him so long to start his plans? I would think Vecna would want to start attacking and escaping immediately since he seemed like he was in such a hurry." Well, what if he isn't in as much of a hurry anymore because Will is back in town?? I mean, there's no reason to rush and escape to a far off place if one of your puzzle pieces of chilling in the danger zone right? If Will can sense him, surely the opposite is true?

And you may be asking, "But why is Will such a target anyway?" Well I dunno. Way back it was stated that Will was taken for a reason. I don't know what that reason could be, but if Will holds the key to the Upside Down and how it looks.... I dunno. I feel like that could be a valuable pawn to have?

Think of it this way. El created the bubble and Will shaped what that bubble looks like. It stands to reason both of them can probably shift and change what the Upside Down looks like. Maybe Henry could too.

But... if you think of the Upside Down as a bridge from the Rightside Up to the Upside Down.... and let's say, one of those people in particular can make it a stronger bridge or cause it to crumble.....?

Ah I'm just rambling now. Pfff. But I feel like I'm onto something....

#stranger things #will byers #el hopper #henry creel #theory

[erikiara80]

It's Halloween! Let's talk about Michael Myers

Redditors who think (hope) that Enzo's son, Mikhail, is going to be Will's love interest in S5 will be disappointed. I don't think that name is even just about Mike.

Enzo->italian variant of Heinz (Henry). Real name Dimitri-> follower of Demeter, the goddess whose daughter was taken to the Underworld by Hades. And his son Mikhail calls him papa.

Michael Myers represents Vecna and is connected to Brenner

Eddie's uncle says that Chrissy wasn't killed by Eddie but by pure evil. Then he mentions the killer of the baby sitters with the white mask: Michael Myers. He says this right before Fred hears the clock. Vecna is Michael Myers.

Victor says that it was an evil that was killing the animals, but the police chief, Hopper's father, blamed the attacks on a wild cat.

When Max sees Vecna's mind lair, there's a headstone with the name Myers.

In S2, she wears the Michael Myers mask the same night Will has another vision of the Mind Flayer and almost gets possessed. This is also foreshadowing of her being cursed by Vecna in S4.

Eddie wears the mask too, because people think he is a killer. I have many thoughts about that mask, and the movie The Mask (1961) being mentioned and connected to one of the twelve Ricks (here something about the movie) 1961, the same year of the suicide mentioned by Hopper in S1, when he says for the first time that he feels cursed. Also, Eddie hiding in Rick's house. Rick, the drug dealer-> Richard Brenner, head of the Narcotic Enforcement Division.

Anyway.

After the first vision, Will says that he felt there was an evil who was looking at him.

A few minutes before the possession, the word EVIL in the bathroom, where he finds Dart.

In his room there's a little sticker that looks like a man with a white mask. The evil who is haunting him.

But there's also something interesting about Victor's memories. When he says that he thought that the demon was taunting him and that he would take him just like he had taken his Virginia, we hear the girl screaming and the Demorgon growling. Only, there wasn't a Demogorgon that night in the house (as far as we know). But that's what Victor hears. And it's a parallel with Hopper, the other cursed father in prison, who clearly hears the Demogorgon.

In this parallel, Joyce is ready to fight the Demogorgon, in case it shows up again. And Victor wants to protect his family from the evil who has cursed his town, his house and his family. The Demogorgon/ Michael Myers/evil.

But is that really Henry/Edward Creel?

I'm not sure. Victor hears the Demogorgon, and the Demogorgon is associated with Brenner, who is in The First Shadow and was mentioned by Henry.

At the beginning of S1 we see the Demogorgon in the shed, but at the end of the season, according to the article, the story is different (different timeline, where Brenner's name is Richard) and it's Brenner who took Will to the lab. So in that timeline Brenner is the "Demogorgon" who took Will.

And here's the connection to Vecna. At Castle Byers the Demogorgon wasn't alone. I think Vecna was there too, and he took Will (here the brief analysis of the scene) And if that's true, then Will's second The Demogorgon. It got me, is actually about Vecna.

And if the "Demogorgon" that took him is Vecna, and the Demogorgon is associated with Brenner then-> Brenner is Vecna

Well. Not exactly. I think that something similar to what happened to Will in S2 might've happened to Henry/Edward in 1959 during the exorcism. They have so many parallels so... Was the Soteria blocking something (or someone) that was nesting in his mind? Maybe.

It all depends on what happened during the exorcism and what this curse really is. But Brenner is definitely involved.

Other thoughts:

In S4 Hopper says that he already saw and fought a Demogorgon in the past, but that's not true. Maybe he saw it in the photo Jon took, but it was Jon, Steve and Nancy who fought the creature. Hopper only fought the demodogs in S2. So what is he referring to? Maybe it's about Brenner in S1, or about something that happened in 1959.

In S3 he says that he could kill Mike and cover it up because he's the police chief (the word Watchwear behind him as he says it) I wonder if it's just a joke or a hint at something he actually did in the past. Maybe he actually tried to kill Michael (Myers), the evil, in 1959.

There's also the mention of Mike's Nana. If Mike is related to Henry, then Nana is a reference to Henry's mother. Another possible hint at the events of 1959.

#st the first shadow #the first shadow #henry creel #eddie munson #jim hopper #dr brenner #max mayfield #st theory #st analysis #stranger things

[wewebaggit]

ST5 Will Byers Bingo (Guesses ofc)

Will has natural powers and his connection to Henry/Vecna/001 predates his abduction.

OR the connection exists cuz of the vine but henry/vecna /one figured out will had powers AND he tried to abduct him.

OR Will was in a trance n maybe he was being abducted as a vecna sacrifice before he figured out some new method? I still dunno how the sacrifices came to be the chosen method?

The abduction was possible thanks to El inadvertently opening the gate and Vecna kidnaps him after putting him in a trance like Max. So the shed thing never happened in RU but was a trance. The gooey shit found there. Honestly, no clue. The demogorgon? Idk.

Brenner put in the Soteria into Will in the UD/outside and put him back in. Idk. Hence, Will recognising Brenner. I don't think he's a lab kid.

The Soteria in fact weakened the connection between Vecna and Will and hence the next time he went after Will he had to commandeer the Shadow Monster to possess him. However, he was unsuccessful again and the shadow particles were exorcised from Will.

ST3 is a big load of bullshit, cuz the puberty monster chose to go after people done with puberty and really was a half assed attempt at some metaphor that didn't travel. However, it succeeded in copying El's powers which he needed for opening gates.

Will was ignored because maybe the shadow particles that remained weren't enough to possess him. Like he had needed the whole ass shadow monster to go inside of him in ST2. So, he created an army of the undead or whatevs. Infecting them with .......... puberty or something. Idk. Also, El was present this time. Or maybe he got alerted when she looked into Billy's mind.

Vecna wants Will to create his new world and no longer needs El. So kill her I guess. Easier in general for him. Not like he needs to open/close gates anymore.

Brenner is tracking Will. As the Soteria subdues powers and tracks location or whatever. He doesn't really need Will cuz he wants to kill Henry. He's useless for that. He just needs for Will to not know of his powers and regain his memories. Just needs to stay away from Vecna till he kills him/subdues him. Whatever was his plan.

But he needs El to kill Vecna in the first place.

Phone lines blown up? Well they were literally blown up after the shit that took place there. Not that there would have been anyone to answer anyway. Now Mike whining about it before that? I think he lied.

Henry/Vecna/001 and Will meet. Duh. He appeals to Will's kindness and sensitivity and tries to win him over by revealing his powers. Removing Will's soteria maybe?

Meanwhile nobody is aware of Will's powers n him being the Creator God lmao. They think it's veccy/el. Also because they're all separated from Will atp. I think the veccy/will confrontation is gonna be an intimate event and not an open for all soiree.

Maybe it entirely happens in his head. (guesses n wishes whatevs)

By the time everyone does figure out abt Will tho, it's already to late. In that Will and veccy real meet up has happened.

I don't want no fuckall everyone protects Will shit happening, i want his importance to be a twist for ALL. It already isn't for the audience so at least for the characters on the show.

What else? Swear I had many jumbled thoughts n guesses n this is all i can think of right now. Might add to it later.

#byler #stranger things #will byers #vecna/henry/001 #wewe's opinionions

[aloneinthehellfire]

Chapter 11: Part One: Fortress

Fortress Of Memories

Word Count: 6.6k

Warnings: swearing, mentions of death, vecna's cure, blood, canon-violence?, just a whole heap of 'what the fuck just happened'

[A/N: i can't believe i finally finished the first part to the finale after three weeks omg i'm so sorry but i struggled with writing this without it sounding like a fever dream. thank you all so much for your patience and i hope this is sufficient enough lmao]

Part One: Fortress

Present Day. Hawkins Public Library. Upside Down.

Vecna watches as one creature after the other leaves the lair, rumbling the ground beneath his feet, pulling a smile onto his face.

It was his last choice, to send these monsters after you and the others. One last chance to destroy you before it was too late.

He knew where you were headed, all of you together now. Stronger. But with every strength, there was a weakness. And he knew all of them.

The ‘friends’ you had acquired wouldn’t be hard to rid of. Their human natures only made it easier to trick them, to place a rift between them. And, once they were defenceless, the Upside Down’s residents would take care of the rest.

William Byers was also another obstacle on his board. A problem he didn’t think he’d have to deal with but alas, there you both were, connected to Eleven and sharing something greater between the three of you.

You needed to be stopped.

William would be easy to rid of. The boy had no idea what he was doing, barely able to protect himself. He only survived the Upside Down because Vecna made sure of it.

Eleven would be tricky; he could sense her power had grown since their last fight. But he would win. He always did.

Then there was you. You had no clue what you were capable of, but you provided them with a direct path to his weakest nerve. You would lead them to his destruction. You would ruin all he had built.

Then again, he didn’t want to have to kill you. There was a reason he kept you to himself, forced you to carry out his… collecting of souls. You didn’t know it yet, but you were the reason he was succeeding.

Which could only mean you had the power to his failure. He needed to ensure his future for this mundane town would be secure.

If the monsters didn’t take care of you… he’d have to do it himself.

November 1983. Byers house.

Your mom hadn’t stopped crying.

Jonathan had gone to school as normal, vowing to keep an eye out for your younger brother. You, on the other hand, decided to stay home and comfort your mom as best as you could while fighting the guilt inside.

Will should never have been alone last night. You knew that. But you decided to go to that stupid party.

A party that never would have happened if you had just admitted you and Steve would never be what you wanted. You weren’t even sure you had liked him in the way you were supposed to, but everyone was always adamant on you dating the jock. And when word spread of your break up… let’s just say no one blamed Steve.

It was an irrational attempt to fix your status. As if that even mattered anymore.

Your brother was missing.

Once Joyce fell asleep, a blanket laid on top of her from your sympathy, you realised you needed to get out of this house. You should be doing something.

You venture toward the shed behind your house, gnawing at your bottom lip. Where would he go?

His bike wasn’t here. You had searched and searched but found nothing, only adding to the immense panic bubbling in your chest...

It could be in the shed. No, you think to yourself, he’d never put it in there. Will was afraid of the tiny building, traumatic memories prohibiting him from even looking at the thing.

Looking at it now, disgust was woven onto your face. It hadn’t been touched since your father left you. He was always so strict on not letting you or your brothers anywhere near it unless he was taking your brothers hunting. It was a wooden structure filled with bullets and a shotgun, traps for-

“Shotgun.” Your eyes widen, glancing back at the house behind you.

Your little brother was missing, kidnapped. And whoever had him was getting away with it, the police too caught up in their own laziness to even care.

You had to take matters into your own hands.

Swinging open the creaky door, you stepped through, sweeping the place with your eyes. It should be on the bench.

Why wasn’t it there?

You practically ransack the place, boxes of nails and other items flying all over the place, leaving you sat on the ground with a burden of tears.

“Come back, Will.” You quietly beg, voice breaking the last of the strength you had before you burst into tears, hugging your legs tight to your chest.

That was the first time you felt guilt.

You swore it would be the last.

Present Day. Byers shed. Upside Down.

Stood behind your house, the home you grew up in, was the worst kind of deja vu.

This wooden structure was where your little brother was kidnapped, by the creature you would soon learn to be Vecna. You remembered every detail of that night, stripped down to its core. And you never, ever, wanted to feel that again.

“You okay?”

Eddie’s gentle and understanding voice whispers into your left ear, his hand sliding into yours and intertwining your fingers. It was a small and simple gesture, yet you couldn’t explain how safe it made you feel.

“I will be.” You promise, offering a small smile before leaving a small kiss on his cheek.

“Gross.”

You both turn to Will’s disgusted stare, Mike stood beside him with a frown, and you raise your eyebrow.

“Sorry, would you prefer us to start making out?” You retort and Eddie grins, eyes lit up with the idea.

“I’d rather you take my other eyeball.” Mike comments with a smirk while Will’s eyes widen.

They stare at eachother for a minute before Mike clears his throat. “Too soon?”

With a small nod of your head, you gently guide Eddie away from the boys and, when he sends you a confused look, the expression on your face immediately causes him to realise and he chuckles.

“Makes sense.” Was all he said as your attentions drift to the girl standing directly at the door.

El stares at it like it would splinter under her gaze which, to everyone’s knowledge, was entirely possible. She had seen into your mind, knowing the darkest of places you swam in from guilt and despair. All because of One, a man that tried to turn El into a monster. Instead, he has taken you, the only person she looked up to, her sister. The rage inside her felt like she could obliterate One completely with the snap of her fingers.

“You ready to do this?” Lucas approaches her, a frown woven into his forehead. El tears her eyes away from the shed, taking a breath.

“Max needs us.” She replies, voice quiet as she looks up at her friend.

“Yeah.” Lucas nods, nudging her shoulder. “Thank you, by the way. For believing me. I… I couldn’t do this without you.”

Her smile was small and timid and yet it was the first time in a while anyone had seen happiness on her face. She was going to get her best friend back. And Lucas was now her closest friend.

“So… how does this work?”

Steve inspects the shed like it might bite and Robin steps forward, looking over his shoulder.

“If I’m correct in assuming,” She begins with a smirk, “You pull the door and it will open.”

Steve side-eyes her. “I hate you sometimes.”

“Please, what would you do without me, dingus?”

“I think he means how do we access the… uh, fortress?” Nancy offers, sending a glance to Dustin when he clears his throat.

“Fortress of Memories.” He reminds everyone and Nancy slowly nods.

“Yeah.”

“Y/n.” El calls out and you feel your heart race a little.

You had done this before, even if you were being controlled by a tyrannical wizard. But the thought of going down there again, of possibly finding Vecna there… waiting. Your mouth went dry at the thought.

“Uh…” Eddie clocks the quickened breaths and shakes his head. “Maybe someone else can go. Like me, I’ll do it.”

“No.” Steve speaks up, moving towards the shed door. “I can-”

“No, wait.” Jonathan interrupts.

Soon enough, everyone is arguing over who should enter first, no one really knowing what the task entailed.

But, in the chaos, Will had crept forward, like he had always intended, and swung open the door.

“Will?” You notice the boy stood there, hand still grasped onto the wooden frame, barely moving.

After a moment of dreaded silence, he finally turns his head towards you, moving back.

“I…” He starts before simply stepping out of the way and allowing everyone a clear view.

The shed itself was just as it was left back in Hawkins of ‘83. Tools and traps scattered everywhere. No sign of the shotgun yet again.

“Cool shed.” Argyle comments, seemingly popping out of nowhere. Dustin jumps slightly beside him while muttering a curse under his breath.

“I don’t understand.” Lucas shares with a frown, peering into the space. “What are we meant to be seeing here?”

“A boy.” El breathes, shaking her head. “When Y/n found it last time, she saw a boy. And… and then it opened.”

“A boy.” Steve repeats with pursed lips. “That really narrows that down.”

His comment earns him a slap on his arm from Robin.

“Maybe you have to step inside?” Nancy suggests and everyone looks at one another in anticipation.

“Jesus Christ, you’re all babies.” Dustin shifts into the front, ignoring everyone’s stares, and steps into the wooden structure with tight lips.

He does a little turn, waving his arms.

Eddie shares a look with Steve who simply raises his hand and does a little ‘he’s crazy’ gesture beside his head.

“Uh, you feeling anything?” Jonathan questions, shrugging at Nancy’s confused look.

“Like what?” Dustin asks, a little exasperated at how long it’s taking them to find this entrance.

“Like…” Jonathan searches for a word.

“A chill.” Nancy decides and Jonathan nods, agreeing.

“Nope.” Dustin sighs.

“Any pain?” Steve offers and Dustin rolls his eyes.

“No, dad.”

“Spiritual enlightenment?”

All heads turn to look at Argyle, the boy invested in rolling a blunt, tongue stuck out in concentration.

Eddie’s lips quirk upwards at the sight and you elbow him with wide eyes.

“Stop whatever you’re thinking.” You say and he raises his hands.

“I wasn’t gonna-”

“Sure.” You smirk and he grins at you.

“Okay, this is stupid.” Dustin remarks, joining everyone back outside. “Are we entirely sure the entrance is here? What if Vecna made it up? Like.. a fake memory or something?”

“Can he do that?” Steve asks and Jonathan shrugs.

“El?” Lucas looks to the only girl who could possibly know and she searches the group, eyes finally settling on yours.

“It has to be Y/n.” She expresses, reaching out to grab your hand and you sigh. There was no point in delaying it any further.

“Are we all prepared?” You suddenly ask, the toes of your boots brushing against the entrance into a haunted memory. “For Vecna? For… for whatever we find down there?”

Many looks were shared between the group, but not one held uncertainty.

“Well.” You slowly nod, “Let’s get it over with, then.”

One step and you were stood in the exact same spot you stood in 4 years ago.

Everyone could only stare as you took another step, goosebumps trailing along your skin. You thought for sure it hadn’t worked, that Dustin was correct and Vecna was tricking you.

Until it happened.

“Holy shit.” Robin breathes and you know it’s real.

The ghostly image of a young boy slowly forms in front of you, armed with a shotgun that shook under trembling hands. No matter how many times your father took the boys out to hunt, neither of them had grown accustomed to it.

“Is that…” Lucas begins, his friend gasping with wide eyes.

“...me?”

Will didn’t know how you did it, but you had conjured up a memory, one only he knew of. After all, you weren’t there. You couldn’t possibly know what he had done.

The silence was deafening, tears lining your eyes.

As the haunted past of your younger brother stared up at you with big hazel eyes, you take another step, tentatively reaching out your hand.

Once your fingertips brush against the soft yellow glow of his figure, there’s a huge burst of light and everyone immediately covers their eyes.

“Fucking Christ.” Eddie mutters, blinking away the dots in his vision. “What the hell just happened?”

“She did it.” Nancy says, moving towards you and staring at the discovery that held your gaze.

In front of you, just below your feet, was a gate.

Except this one was different. There weren’t strings of membrane or a red glow. There was a strange sort of shimmering layer, like a bubble; a thin wall between you and the stairs that led to the final destination of the Upside Down.

“Considering everything we’ve seen,” Steve starts, peering over your shoulder, “I’m just gonna let this one slide and go with it.”

“We all remember the plan?” Jonathan asks, glancing back at everyone.

“El and I will walk with Y/n, go in first.” Lucas relays, nodding up at you as El gently took your hand.

“Steve, Eddie and I take the rear.” Jonathan nods, each of the boys wielding their weapons.

“Mike and Will in the middle always.” Nancy reminds, pointedly at the duo in question and Mike rolls his eye.

“Gee, thanks mom.”

“I’ll let you know if he’s close.” Will alerts quietly, moving back to join his friend and wait.

“Bagsy not taking Argyle.” Robin suddenly raises her hand and Nancy sighs.

“Actually I need you two behind Mike. I’ll be back up for El and Y/n.” She says so authoritatively that Robin groans and grabs the oblivious guy next to her.

“Any chance Rocky knows martial arts?” Robin asks Argyle as they move towards the back, secretly glad she wasn’t a front-runner for attacking Vecna.

“I’ll join Mike and Will, I guess.” Dustin throws his hands up as Nancy sends him an apologetic look, sulking as he disappeared behind.

“Ready?” You ask the people either side of you and they both agree. You swallow the fear in your throat and take a deep breath. “Let’s get Max back.”

In your situated formation, the group began descending the stairs, chests rising with the ever-growing pressure of the task on their hands. You only had one shot to save Max.

You barely even had a shot at killing Vecna.

By the time it was Eddie’s turn to descend the stairs, his ears suddenly perked up at a noise in the distance, turning while Steve and Jonathan crept down the gate.

The dark atmosphere didn’t provide much use to his eyes, but he searched the eerie area for some sort of explanation.

“Yo, Munson?”

Steve looked up at him from a couple steps down, gesturing to where everyone was already far ahead.

“You coming or what?” He asks and Eddie risks one last glance over his shoulder before shaking his head.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

As the metalhead races past him, Steve wonders what he saw. If he saw anything, that is.

Eddie wouldn’t lie to them… right?

Steve needed to shake off those thoughts, whatever paranoia was becoming too comfortable in his brain. He quickly descends to join the rear.

Eddie was fine. You said he was fine. And he trusted you.

He wouldn’t make the mistake of not trusting the right people again.

November 1983. South Cornwallis.

Steve parked just outside of his house by the time he came to his senses.

After spending a short amount of time with Tommy and Carol, he realised just how fucked up everything really was. He couldn’t trust his own judgement anymore.

Catching a glimpse of his blue and purple bruises in the mirror, he grimaces. This wasn’t him. This shouldn’t be him.

He let jealousy and rage control him, only fuelled by the influence from his poor choice of friends. Not only had he hurt Nancy, he hurt Jonathan Byers, the boy that despite his creepy motives had never done anything wrong to him. He didn’t listen to either of them. He hadn’t trusted them.

Slumping into his seat, he turns of the car and sits in the silence. He felt sick of himself, of who he became. When did everything start falling apart?

An image in his wing-mirror catches his attention.

You and Eddie, side by side. He was clearly walking you home, as he had been doing for months now, a view often caught from his window whenever he sat at his desk in the evenings. Steve has grown accustomed to it, he supposed, but he couldn’t help the pang of hurt he felt.

You and Steve were far from ever dating. But, as it turns out, you were also far from being friends. He became insecure when you first started hanging out with the high school’s resident ‘freak’, his own self-hatred leading him to doing what would hurt you the mos. A kiss with a girl whose name he never bothered to remember. As if that would put you in your place. If anything, it made him realise just how pathetic he really was.

He remembered how forgiving you used to be. You were great friends before high school began forcing you closer together. New Years, he recalled, was your favourite holiday. You would consistently talk about new beginnings, how people can change and grow. He really needed that optimism right now.

Before he knew what he was doing, Steve stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut, crossing his arms.

The noise was loud enough for you both to whip your heads over, laughter abruptly stopping at the sight of Steve Harrington leant against his car, glaring.

You simply shake your head, prompting Eddie to continue walking. The boy hesitates for a moment before you gently touch his arm and his demeanour softens, shaking his head and ignoring Steve.

Steve goes to speak up, the slur about to slip off his tongue, when he stops himself, blinking.

You were smiling up at Eddie, muttering something that could only be words of encouragement. And Steve didn’t have to wonder why.

Not only did he hurt Jonathan and Nancy, but he did his fare share of bullying on you both too. When you had broken up, Steve was angry at Eddie, somehow blaming the guy for all his own mistakes. The constant beating of words and attitude thrown his way were doubled, hell, tripled once you left Steve.

If he truly wanted to be the person he would be proud of in the future, now was as good a place to start redeeming himself.

“Hey!” He calls out and you both stop.

He notices the slight curl of Eddie’s fist as he ran over, your wide eyes contrasting with the defensive nature of your demeanour.

“What do you want, Harrington?” You ask, eyes shifting to Eddie. Steve’s face fell. He didn’t realise he had dropped to a surname-basis.

“I, uh…” He swallows his ego-driven pride and takes a breath. “I’m sorry.”

Eddie seems to await your response before seeing that Steve was staring at him.

“What?” Eddie frowns, searching your face for any kind of answer. You could only offer a shrug.

“I’m, uh, sorry. You know, for… everything.” Steve found himself staring at his shoes. “What Tommy did, what- what I did. I’m done with them so, I… I won’t, uh, be bothering you from now on.”

“Is this a joke?” Eddie bites back whatever words he wanted to say when you step forward.

“Thanks, Harrington. We appreciate it. Come on, let’s go.” You tug on Eddie’s arm but the boy stays put.

“Let me guess. Tommy’s got a camera or something?” He cranes his neck to looks back at Steve’s car, earning a surprised look. “Be real with me, man. Don’t expect me just to believe you’re some kind of martyr now, stripped of your status because those assholes you hang around with dumped you.”

“I wasn’t-”

“Sure, whatever.” Eddie breathed out, a sad laugh on his lips. “Make amends, become a real ‘good’ guy, just don’t expect any sympathy from me.”

“Eds.” You say softly and he sighs.

“I’m sorry, Y/n, but I can’t. Not with what he and his merry friends have done to me. Especially not what he did to you.”

Steve’s face drops and he notices your jaw clench.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” You break the awkward tension in the air, Eddie’s inquisitive eyes searching yours. “I’ll be okay.”

After a moment, he seems satisfied with your confidence and squeezes your hand, reluctantly leaving you and walking past Steve with the shake of his head.

“What do you really want, Steve?”

Steve’s head whipped up at the pain in your voice, noticing how you bit at your bottom lip. You only ever did that when you were upset.

“Just like he said.” Steve shrugs, “Make amends. Be a good guy.”

“So…” You glance to his car with a raised eyebrow. “I take it my brother beating you ‘til you were bruised was all it took for you to snap out of it?”

Steve runs a hand through his hair. “Word travels fast in this town.”

“No.” You shake your head with a bitter laugh. “But a call from the police station usually does it. Seriously, Steve? Plastering something like that on the side of Hawks? That’s really fucking shitty, if I’m being honest, even for you.”

“I regret all of it.” Steve admits, practically pleading for your understanding. “I just… I need to apologise. To Jonathan, first. Figured I should start there.”

Contemplation wore across your face, head glancing behind you at the road that led to your house.

Then, finally, you let out a sigh.

“Fine.” You agree, nodding. “But don’t mess this up. Okay? I can’t keep defending you when you don’t live up to your promises.”

Before Steve can unpack your comment, you’re moving away from him and towards his house. He frowns before you stop outside the passenger side of his car. His eyebrow raises.

“What?” You question, “My feet hurt. You gonna drive or not?”

As Steve started up the car, something still tugged at him. The way you were shuffled so far across in your seat that you practically hugged the window wasn’t helping.

He would have to work harder with Eddie, he knew that. Especially if he wanted your forgiveness. It seemed impossible at that point.

But then impossible hit him straight in the face when he watched a monster tear out of the wall of your house, and he hasn’t been the same since.

Present Day. Fortress Of Memories.

After what felt like hours of walking, the steps finally flattened into the floor, Lucas breathing a heavy sigh of relief.

“God, that took forever.” He pants, clutching his side and earning looks of disbelief from you and El.

“You’ve managed to walk all the way across the Upside Down, but you can’t manage going down stairs?” You raise an eyebrow while El suppresses a giggle.

“I’m just saying that it was more exercise than I asked for.” He sighs and you tighten your lips.

“Yeah, well, it’s gonna get a whole lot harder from now on.” You say as El approaches a cave-like opening.

When Nancy falls in line behind you, she sends you an inquisitive look and you point in El’s direction.

“So this is definitely it?” She wonders and you nod.

“Just like in my memory.” You barely voice, the flash of broken and bloodied bodies infiltrating your mind for a split second.

Just as the others come into the space, Lucas turns back to you.

“Lead us to Max.”

It wasn’t so much an order as it was a plead. One you couldn’t ignore, not when it came to brining Max back. But at what cost?

Sensing your unease, El slips her hand into yours and offers a reassuring smile. She needed you, too. Your new sister. So, with a nod, you lead them through the cave opening while holding your breath.

Little dots of light were littered everywhere, hauntingly beautiful in a dangerous situation. You were at the very heart of Vecna’s operation now, making each of you wonder just how much time you had before he sensed you here.

You find your eyes lingering on a familiar glow, watching as Will’s 6th birthday party unfolded again. But, as you look around, no one else seems to be commenting on the view. Far too anxious of the battle to come, you supposed.

“This is cool.” Eddie mutters, noticing Jonathan’s confused look, “I don’t remember this place at all. Vecna did some kind of mind magic on me, you know? Controlled what I did. What I thought. What I remember.”

“I’m sorry we didn’t come down here sooner.” Jonathan offers and Eddie shrugs.

“Hey, it’s cool. Back to normal now, right?” He tries a grin before noticing Jonathan’s shift of gaze to his back. Eddie’s lips tighten. “Yeah, uh… minus the wings.”

Steve chooses not to comment, ushering them along. He needed to stop being so paranoid about everything and just enjoy the fact that you and Eddie were alive.

“Fortress of god damn memories.” Dustin looks around in awe, nudging Will’s shoulder. “Right? I mean, come on. We’re living a campaign right now.”

Sending a quick look to Mike, who was busy examining the ground to notice, Will flashes a smile at Dustin.

“I know!” Will whispers.

“Hey, guys.” Mike’s eyes stay glued to the ground but he ushers them with an over-exaggerated wave of his hand.

They both join him and widen their eyes.

“Holy shit.” Dustin recoils when looking down at the skeleton, letting out a breath. “Some warning next time before you show us a dead body. You weirdo.”

“No, not that.” Mike rolls his eyes, pointing. Dustin’s eyebrows rise.

“That’s an awesome-looking sword.” Dustin whistles lowly and Mike nods, grinning.

It lay in the clutches of a dust-ridden skeleton, glinting against the floating orbs of lights.

“Like the kind a Paladin would wield?” Mike asks knowingly and the two boys widen their eyes.

“Come on, guys!” Nancy calls over and they all sigh, trailing after her while whispering over the opportunity to become their DnD aliases.

Will takes another look at the skeleton, frowning. Vecna was trying to scare them, he could sense that. It was a sign, a warning, of what could happen if they continued.

And, if he looked close enough, there was a mark on the skull. Some sort of jagged lines, down the right side-

“Will.” Mike notices the boy trailing behind and Will gulps, joining him and walking away from the omen.

“So,” Robin sends a look to Argyle who hadn’t seemed to notice the awkwardness between them, “You come here often?”

She attempts the joke but is met with a startled look.

“Why would I hang out in an evil mind lord’s lair, dude?”

“I don’t know.” She surrenders, looking around at the creepy place, “Big space for weed?”

Argyle takes in his surroundings, arching his neck to properly take in the height of the cave’s ceiling. He lets out a satisfied hum.

“Yo, you are so right.”

Robin finds herself smiling in disbelief. “You’re fun.”

There’s a small huff of amusement behind her and she turns to see Steve’s smirk, casually throwing him the middle finger before bursting into easier conversation with Argyle, too intrigued about the stoner’s view on life.

The space above them grew bigger and bigger until they were sure they stood in the centre. Around them, tunnels led out into different spaces, more orbs illuminating their paths. It really was a fortress.

“So,” Steve lets out a whistle as he takes in the space of it, “Where do we find Max’s glowy soul?”

“Over there.” You say, pointing towards the darkest corner of the room.

“Are you sure?” Mike questions, frowning at the eerie path, dull to the rest of the shining orbs.

“Positive.” You nod, moving over and leaving everyone no choice but to follow.

“But these souls…” Dustin notes, jumping at a quiet and distant scream. “...they’re…”

“Dead.” El whispers out, finishing his thought. She takes in a shaky breath. Max had to be here somewhere, alive.

Lucas feels the hope fading in him the further they travel, each wisp of light almost black as ebony. He can’t have come all this way to just find out she was gone forever. In fact, he refused it. Max was everything to him.

lucas

His eyes widen at the sound of Max’s voice, calling out to him as if summoned that it made him believe he was imagining it, losing his mind. Once his name had reached his ears, however, he couldn’t resist looking up at you startled.

“What is it?” You ask and he listens out again, shaking his head.

“I-I thought I heard her.”

“Follow it.” You instruct, earning a few looks of confusion. “That’s how I found her last time. She called out to me, so I could find her. And now she needs you.”

Lucas takes no objections. If Max needed him, he wouldn’t waste another second secluding her to whatever Vecna put her in. Max’s voice began to blare louder and he uses it as a path back to her.

The rest of the party go to follow, but you hold a hand out.

“Hey, what gives?”

“We need to follow him.”

“We want to see Max.”

“You can’t.” You shake your head, “I- I can’t explain it, but… you can’t see the souls unless they want you to.”

“Or the memories apparently.” Eddie comments, looking slightly disappointed, and you laugh.

“Yeah okay.”

“No, seriously.” Eddie shakes his head, “I saw like, what, a few objects? Skeletons, too, which I’m gonna have to scrub from my brain. But never saw a single memory and I was promised a Fortress of Memories.”

“You didn’t see the...?” You start to question, the shake of your boyfriend’s head silencing your assumption.

“Me neither.” Nancy shrugs.

“Boring TV if you ask me.” Robin mutters and Steve rolls his eyes before agreeing with the others.

“But…” You search their faces. “None of you?”

“You can see them.” Dustin widens his eyes. Everything he had been hypothesising until this point was becoming much clearer now. “Wait, do you know what this means?”

Blank stares are his answer, but he doesn’t roll his eyes or comment on their stupidity. He was far too shocked by his discovery to care.

“Y/n.” He breathes, looking up at you intensely, “You’re-”

He never had the chance to finish the sentence.

A snarl echoes from the darkness, fear striking nerves. You all turn, grabbing onto weapons with pain-inducing grips, searching between the glittering lights to find the source of fright.

“What is it?” Someone whispers out, your mind too blurred with anxiety to focus on the voices of your friends.

A low cloud of breath. Soft pats against the stone floor.

“Demodog.” You mutter and, before they can stop you, you lunge forward with the spear in your grip.

It pounces just as you strike the weapon upwards, catching its gut and slicing through it with ease. It lands on the ground with a loud thump and you retrieve your spear, the sound of it echoing wet in the cold air.

“Holy shit, that was awesome.” Dustin murmurs, Will nodding beside him.

“How many times have you done that, exactly?” Robin queries with an impressed but fearful look on her face.

“Like an hour ago.” Nancy remembers and you try a smile, but you can’t bring yourself to find anything funny anymore.

Another echo of a monster blares behind you again and you spin around, raising your spear. The breath wasn’t low this time.

“Y/n!” Eddie reacts first, jumping and grabbing you just before a vicious claw could swipe at your eyes, pulling you to the ground with him and rolling away from the danger.

Mike felt paralysed as he saw the Demogorgon stood there, El making quick work of sending it flying across the space and into a cave wall. He doesn’t register it. His mind is flooded with the memory of his scars. The claws. His burning eye. The claws-

“Mike.” Will urgently shakes him, dragging his friend with him when he doesn’t respond.

It’s a sea of breaths and roars around him, something Mike can’t seem to focus on. He doesn’t know why they’re running, or why they were desperately calling Lucas’ name. The claws.

“How many of them are there?!” Jonathan manages to yell out as they sprinted through the cave, trying to reach the entrance.

Creatures were pouring out through every tunnel, some foreign to them but nasty enough to make them think twice about exploring it. The vibrations beneath their feet grew in size and they knew more were coming.

A large creature with gangly arms and a low jaw blocked Nancy and Robin’s path, earning a scream-like whimper from the dark blond. Steve turns back to the sound, but is forced to the ground once a vine shoots out of the barren wall and knocks him to his back.

They were each being cut off from eachother, one by one. Vines slithered out of place and tore at their clothes, tugging them until their bodies crashed into the walls and pinned them against it. It was an ambush on all accounts, leaving very few of their group still on the ground.

“Shit!” Dustin cries out as he manages to dodge an attack, finding Steve’s bat on the floor and swinging it with enough force to send a small fanged creature far away from him while he scrambles onto his feet.

To his left, he can see Will and Mike slowly getting backed into a corner by something 3 feet taller than they were, burn marks coating its body until it was almost charred black, as if allergic to sunlight.

A single blow to its head dropped it instantly, Nancy holding her pistol with heavy breaths.

“Run! You need to-”

Her commands were ripped away from her when a vine slipped around her throat and pulled her back into the darkness.

“Nancy!” Mike shouts for her while Will and Dustin drag him away. They needed to get out before there was no hope for help left.

The cave around them was almost filled to the brim with snarls and murderous eyes when they reached the centre again, backs turned against eachother as they try to find the exit. In their chaos, they couldn’t remember the path back home.

“Guys!”

El ran to them, throwing away a pounce from a creature with the flick of her head. Will reached out to her and pulled her close, closing his eyes. He had watched as the monsters swarmed around her before, anxiety getting the better of him.

“Where is everyone?” She asks with a panic, hand held out in attempt to protect her friends.

“The vines.” Dustin explains breathlessly, yelling out when a demodog attempted to pounce. It was quickly taken care of.

“What about-” She starts before a spear is thrown their way, piercing the heart of something she tried to avoid staring at for too long. Too many eyes.

“Are you okay?!” You suddenly emerge in front of them, covered in what they hoped was monster blood and not your own. Your eyes quickly scanned them, hands trembling.

Behind you, Eddie practically ripped apart anything that tried to get close, chest rising and falling at a rapid rate.

“We needed to get out of here like yesterday!” He exclaims, joining you all while wiping his bloodied hands against the grime coating his jeans.

“Where are the others?” You panic, looking around before spotting them, pinned to the wall and gasping for air. “No.”

“Y/n, let’s go!” Eddie insists, already examining an escape route. You pull away from his grasp.

“I can’t leave them here!” You cry.

Before Eddie can keep you safe, you run towards your friends, spear ready to slash through the vines and free them. Whatever it took.

The only thing that stopped you was the floating body of Lucas Sinclair, slowly hovering into view as he winced under the pressure.

“Lucas.” Dustin whimpers, but all eyes were set on the man appearing behind him.

“Henry.” El glares, earning a blood-curdling stare.

Vecna stood with his arm outstretched, his other hand curled into a fist with light peeking out between the cracks of his fingers.

“Let him go.” You raise your spear, lowering your head to look up at him through your eyebrows and preparing your stance for attack.

Unexpectedly, Vecna flicks his wrist and Lucas is released from his telekinetic grip, sending him crashing into El and Dustin who barely manage to catch him before tumbling to the ground themselves.

Vecna slowly approaches you before something behind catches his attention, his head tilting into a wicked smile stretched across his burned lips.

“Welcome back”

Will stares back at him with wide eyes, frozen in fear to finally meet the monster that has been haunting his dreams.

You move forward to block him but a sharp sting of a bite pierces your shoulder, the sound of flapping air causing you to lash out against the attack and drop your spear in the process.

“Y/n!” The kids begin yelling out, scrambling to their feet as you struggle against the bat gnawing the flesh on your shoulder.

Eddie tries to run to you, cry out for you. But there’s a burning sensation in his body, slowly creeping up every muscle and bone. A high-pitched screech infiltrates his mind to the point of bringing him to his knees, desperately clawing at his head.

Too much chaos was ensued for the Party to react. Lucas was still recovering from the pressure on his bones, aching him into fatigue. Dustin was trying to help Eddie, failing miserably with a cry. Mike and Will were staring back at Vecna, unprepared for the worst to come.

El was the only one who tried to make a difference.

One cold stare was all it took for Vecna to ascend from the ground with a groan, the girl barely having to exert herself to achieve what should be the impossible. She had grown, and so had her power, ease of strength coursing through her veins as the man above her growled.

You finally managed to rip the bat from your shoulder, throwing it to the ground and stomping your boot directly on its head, the squelch of death making you shudder. Ignoring the throbbing pain of your shoulder, the sticky feeling of blood running frown your back, you lean for your spear before your eyes catch sight of the horror about to unfold before you.

“Eddie, stop!” You yell out, but it was too late.

Irises flashing crimson, Eddie bares fangs and tackles El to the ground, grabbing onto her shoulders and smashing her head into the stone ground.

There was no time to realise Vecna’s quick recovery. No time to react as he lunges forward and grabs Will’s face with his long armed claw.

“NO!” Mike screams, and you sob in fear, unable to make it to him in time.

Vecna retracts his hand with a glint in his eye, Will’s head still hung back with flickering eyelids. You only manage to take one step towards him.

Will’s body dropped to the floor.

taglist: @h-ness1944 . @ali-in-w0nderland . @dylanmunson . @silky-luxe . @mothmanatemycat . @sattlersquarry . @sadbitchfangirl . @fangirling-4-ever . @averagestudent03 . @gnnnne . @munsonology . @vintagehellfire . @bokuto-kinnie . @crissicat13 . @katie-tibo . @harrys-tittie . @the-world-is-a-mess-and-so-am-i . @lxvesickreality . @fracturedarkness . @frogers . @we-out-here-simping . @h0peless-r0m4ntic888 . @astrolockley . @fallinginlovewithqueue . @chamomileh0ney .

#stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things imagine #stranger things x reader #eddie x y/n #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #robin buckley #argyle stranger things #jonathan byers #eleven #mike wheeler #dustin henderson #lucas sinclair #max mayfield #will byers #st5 #st5 scenarios #vecna #the upside down #kas #eddie munson kas #kas eddie munson

[eightfifteen]

I was thinking about how the demogorgon appears behind Will in the shed and how he had to come through a gate to get there (we see later in ep 1 and 2 that there was a gate left behind - or at least it's heavily implied).

And then how the demogorgon seems attracted to El's powers aka psychic connections. Like how strong psychic bonds open gates to begin with.

But we see on multiple occasions that the demogorgon appears right when El is using her psychic powers.

When the UD is opened again in 83 it's because El was using her powers to spy on the russian guy, and that's when the demogorgon appeared for the first time. The second time she bumps into it, it's because Brenner told her to look for it specifically, mindlinking with a creature/someone from the UD for the first time and creating a gate. HOWEVER this means that the first time the demogorgon was attracted to her powers or she wouldn't have bumped into it in the first place.

Then in the episode where El and the party goes into the school to search for Will with the AV club's comm system, she links with Will for the first time, and it opens a gate in the Byers' living room, allowing us to see Will for the first time. AND THEN right that second, the demogorgon appears. It's either horrendous timing or once again it was attracted to El's powers/the psychic bond.

Last, we see El search for Will in the bath tub, finding him in Castle Byers, and that's when, once again, the demogorgon is notified of Will's location and overpowers him. Two times is not a coincidence.

So this has me thinking.

@aemiron-main talked about Vecna being the one to stalk Will from cornwallis to his house, which makes sense because the way that being stalks Will is very different from how you'd think the demogorgon would stalk - walking on two feet, no reason to be able to sense Will this easily as he's not bleeding etc. Plus, it uses telekenesis to undo the latch.

When Fred is getting possessed by Vecna at first, much like Chrissy in the bathroom, he's seeing stuff, but still moving in real life. Fred gets all the way from the trailer park to the road while in a vecna vission. So if Vecna was stalking Will from 'see you tomorrow' to Cornwallis and started his vision, causing Will to run home and hide in the shed, he'd be linking to Will psychically, while Will was still manipulating the world around him.

BUT because Vecna was using his psychic powers, similar to El's, it attracted the demogorgon, which opened the gate behind him and dragged Will into the upside down before Vecna could get to him.

I don't know if this makes sense now i've written this all out but i just had to write it down.

HOWEVER contradicting what i'd just said, i realised that the demogorgon has randomly appeared behind people before - like how it's already in the elevator when the lab guy gets in it all the way in the first scene of the first episode.

God season 1 is driving me insane and as much as i want to tell myself it's just the first season and not everything needs to be explained because sometimes things just look cool and as a writer i appreciate prioritizing drama over practicality but still i'm having fun

#stranger things #st analysis #st theory

[sapphicalexaandra]

Okay okay I will post a little thought/theory I have for s5, even though I haven't actively partecipated in a fandom in years and i just read and like all the amazing theories, but I want to just get this off my chest:

I have a strong enough feeling vecna may possess will again

I read many talk about him being "vecna'd", which is not the same thing and judging from his and will's connection, i don't feel he would need to consume him like that, but rather it seems that ever since he was young vecna selected will as a potential host/vessel for himself, based on whatever he saw in will that at this point we don't know what it is exactly

Maybe will does indeed have untapped power (and in this theory I'm going to stick to this premise, as the luke/leia parallel between el and him makes it enough likely for me), so vecna, having lost his purely human form, may have thought he would need a human vessel in the human world so that he could also operate from there. This plan didn't end up well in the past (s2)...

But now, since he got injured, he is hurt and weak, he may need will again

Let's say the season starts with everybody already determined to put an end to him in this weakened state and they all - full group together finally! - gear up to do it...

And in a Moment, something something is happening, maybe el is fighting the monsters protecting vecna and we see the shadow of the mind flayer reaching her AND at that point will steps in front of her as the sacrificial boy of my heart that he is (and vecna knew he would do that...) so there we have the shadow entering him again like in s2 (but probably worse, and anyway the possible scenarios here are many ofc) and our dear old 001/henry takes hold of will's body, grinning from ear to ear, maybe lifting el up from the ground, revealing that will has this powers and he now knows how to use them for him, so he taunts all our group, like how are you gonna stop me now without killing the precious william... and as everybody is paralized in shock he manages to flee

Cue the time skip? As they need to figure out how to fight and defeat this powered up vecna using will's body without killing will (ofc they know they need to kill his actual body, but well now he is doubly protected by an enemy they don't want to harm, vecna in will)

AND i hope in the meantime we still see the actual will, maybe trapped in his own mind or vecna's, bonus point if he finds max in there because i need them to Bond and fight vecna from the Inside

So yeah, i feel like this could bring full circle a lot of themes and elements from the 1st season, as they said they would do.

And do I even need to mention all the potential Byler Angst this could spur as mike is put back in his I Need to Save My Will mood (and el has broken up with him for all the reasons we know - she realized his feelings are not genuine and that she is actually more herself without him and needs to channel what max taught her and become her own person without unhealthy attachments that keep her dependant and small - so mike has no more channel/distraction for his True Feelings)

Also *ahem* judging how Henry treated his own mother, i wonder if he may try to kill Joyce while she tries to reach will through a motherly speech of love, and vecna almost succeeds but then will manages to get control back to save his mother and he promises he will come back, he found max and they are both trying to figure out vecnas weakness (i would ugly cry at a scene like this, with will cradling his injured mother and then leaving her with this promise before vecna gets control back)

This happens earlier on, AND THEN we have later on towards the climax a similar scene but with MIKE and oh boy, the potential throw backs to the shed scene, the fact that in this time apart mike has figured out the truth about the painting and will's feelings and has had time to fully comprehend his, so it's a struggle of vecna wanting to kill him knowing that he has the potential to wake up will more than anybody, and indeed a (proper, heartwrenching) love confession from mike in that Moment is what Does it, and combined with whatever else the others are doing to defeat vecna, the Power of True Love (the duffers love that shit they told me) saves the day and the upside down becomes a beautiful meadow of green grass and blue and yellow flowers (lmao jokees but also has anyone seen she-ra?? Catra chipped by lord prime and adora trying to get to her > "I don't matter!" "You matter to ME!" Is so will and mike Plus their ending kiss saving the universe *ahem* has been a big inspiration for all this, plus to everyone complaining that a season is not enough time to develop a byler endgame, catradora also became esplicitely romantic in the last season (s5 look at that) after being frenemies for 4 seasons and I can just see something similar being done with them)

Anyway if anyone is still here, to sum it up a possessed will would allow a lot of plot points for different characters come to fruition, joyce, johnathan, el and mike especially - like i feel this scenario/theory could be developed to infinity) and I personally would love to see noah playing vecna, imagine the juciness for such an amazing young actor of a role like that after being sidelined for two seasons

and it would really explain all the parallels between henry and will and why henry chose him at the start, because he saw himself in will and knew he would make a good vessel (plus he could have a style change as henry makes him look more how he used to be as human, lol imagine mike seeing that) (plus plus i would cry and love it at the same time)

and the super byler potential is real for me, i See it. I know many would want them to become canon before the ending, but judging by the kind of storytelling the duffers go for, i am inclined to believe they may go for a climatic Moment for them,

still, hopefully the development throughout the season on both will and mikes side of the fight (i would literally love the inside/outside struggles that converge at the same point, poeticness of this scenario) is good and satisfying enough (coming from ME though that i had a pretty good grasp of s4 as it was airing, i knew the build up WAS going towards a mike confession to el which would be what he really believed he felt in his own warped understanding of his true feelings, which allows for an arc of actually understanding it in s5, so I did feel satisfied by what they showed in the sense that i see this as an ensamble show of fighting monsters, where the emotional development is carried on through the moments in between, so no Big fanfiction style inner stream of consciousness of how every character is understanding and feeling the situations)

So really, tying the supernatural and love drama together allow for more actual focus

Anyway! This was longer than i thought. I am very very curious to see if I get anything right at all, would be definitely fun to see it

*goes back into lurking mode*

#stranger things #will byers #byler #vecna #sts5 theory

[theyaregayyourhonor]

I hate Mike's s4 speech with a flaming heart and I have to have the script because I literally rewatched and write down what he said, but it's not enough, anyway I'll do a quick run down breaking it to parts why I hate it, and it's bullshit:

El! El, can you hear me? El, come on. Wake up! Wake up, El! El get out of there! God, El! Wake up! Wake up! El, can you hear me? Can you hear me?

Okay, so after this he starts asking for help, and to put her on the table. Here he is in destress, he cares for El (I care for you so much) and he doesn't want to see her dying. So here it's still okay, you would react this way too if your friend would be dying infront of you. Then Will coaxed him into the speech:

El? I don't know if you can hear this but...but if you can, I want you to know I'm here, okay? I'm right here. And...I love you.

I hate this part. Why are you talking so much about her not hearing you? Why do you stop before you say 'I love you'? It just like s3 (I love her and I can't lose her again) he said it, but he doesn't know El can hear him, and I hate it. Also if you compare it to the shed scene (because the two are pretty simular situations) in the shed scene he dived in, he didn't waste his time stuttering about "I don't know if you can hear me but...but if you can, do you remeber the first day of kindergarten?" this is not romantic, this is desperate and unsure, he's desperate to get her back, because he cares for her.

El, do you hear me? I love you.

Again HE SAID IT AFTER HE ASKED IF SHE CAN EVEN HEAR HIM! If I shipped mlmwlwsolidarity I would be so angry. Don't ask her if she can hear you!

I'm sorry I don't say it more

A lie. You don't 'say it more' you can't even write it Mike!

I... It's not because I'm scared of you. I'm not. I never felt that way. Never.

If you are not scared of her. WHY DO YOU EVEN BRING IT UP?! No, because El said that she thinks he thinks she's a monster in their argument, not that he is scared of her. So tell me WHY do you talking about being scared of her Michael? Why? I tell you why. Because she did scare you in the Rink-o-mania when she hit Angela. Because she did scare you in s1 when she throw Lucas , because she does scares you, she is your hero but you are scared of her power, and what she brought into your life. Your scared of her because of the Upside Down, and the monsters and that there is a chance Will disappears again.

But I'm scares that one day you'll realize you don't need me anymore.

This is true he is very insecure around her

And I thought if I said how I felt it would somehow make that day hurt more.

In the speech the 'day' is used again here:

I feel like my life started that day we found you in the woods

And here is a bit from Vecna speech:

And one day I found the most extraordinary thing of all. Something, that would change everything

Now the first 'day' is about losing El, the second finding her and the third is something being found thanks to her. Vecna lost El, he wanted to have her by his side but she sent him to the UD, Mike lost Will because he was dragged to the UD. Now Vecna found El (a gem in the making) in the lab and thought he can use her, than later 'I sought...You're power.' in season 1 Mike literally calls El a 'Weapon', then Vecna finds the Mind Flayer and Mike finds Will thanks to El both in the UD. I hate this connection. Why would you be able to connact anything from a love speech to the Big Bad's monologue.

But the truth is, El I don't know how to live without you. I feel like my life strated that day we found you in the woods.

Vecna:

At first I believed you had sent me to my death. To pirgatory. But I was wrong

They saying the same thing I live this way and I live today because of you I don't find this romantic. Than feel like he FEEL LIKE not just blatantly says 'My life started..' in the shed scene he doesn't use unsure language he just says:

It was the best thing I've ever done.

If he said this:

I feel like it was the best thing I've done.

I can't really tell you why but it just feels off. Feelings are coming and going, both are more romantic without feel like.

You were wearing that yellow Benny's Burgers T-shirt. And it was so big, it almost swallowed you whole

Through Mike speech we see one flashback. In Vecna's every time El come to screen she was either tied down or using her power. In Mike flashback it just her in the t-shirt, when she tries to get Max back to life all the flashbacks are happy and warm and full of laughter and bright colors and the girls doing so much together.

Mike and Vecna flashback/flashbacks both dark and gloomy and El is in destress, in danger. Why didn't we got a s3 flashback of Mike singin to her? Or them kissing or talking about 'blank makes you crazy'? Because Mike doesn't remeber those. Those are not the first things that come to his mind about El. No it's a yellow t-shirt on the night when he and his friends where searching for Will.

It did swallowed her whole, and it was one of Vecna's flashbacks. The other one if s2 where the Mind Flayer was reaching out for her almost swallowing her whole.

And I knew rigth then and there, in that moment, that I love you. And I've loved you every day since.

This is a lie. In s1 he thought she was a weapon in s2 he was at the side of Will forgetting her, (he knew she was alive, he had to, she reached out to him two times, but he still didn't run of the woods to find her. Wilk was singing and nobody believed him, he saw his body and still believed he was alive)

I love you on your good days. I love you on your bad days. I love you with your powers, without your powers. I love you for exactly who you are.

This is cute (if you don't count the fact that Vecna also talked about her powers mutiple times in his speech and El had the same reaction to both) after this he should talk about who is El exactly, because he loves her for that, right?

You're my superhero. And...I can't lose you. Okay? Do you hear me? I can't lose you.

You just told her you don't love her for her powers, that you love her for who she is. And I know the superhero line was Finn's idea but it clicks. Mike does love her for her powers, who is El for Mike? 'my superhero' everything you just said right before that become irrelevant, you just told us that El for you is just her powers a superhero. Also yet again he asks if she can hear him, so he still doesn't know if any of his 'I love you's got to her.

You can do anything. You can fly. You can move mountains. I believe that. I really do. But right now, you just have to fight. Okay? El, do you hear me?

I let Vecna take the stand on this one:

That is why he sought greatness in others. In you and me. But in the end....he could not control us. He could bot shape us. He could not change us. Do you not see, Eleven?

They both talking about her powers again, and how much she is actually capable of. Brenner could not control, shape, change you because of your greatness

You can do anything, fly, move mountains because your my superhero.

Also three, they both say three things.

And there is the fact that they both want to know if she can hear/ could see. (El/Eleven)

You need to fight! You have to fight! Fight!

Here we see the others, El and Lucas fight back, but El starts fighting after seeing Max in the hands of Vecna. When Mike says:

You need to fight!

El looks at the scene and we hear Max struggle. That was what made her fight. El strats loosening the vines when she sees Max in danger. It was Max. Not Mike and his cheers. EL FIGHT FOR MAX!

I also like to add that Mike in that part became the audience speaker, we see the others in danger, the teens, Eddie, Hopper, Lucas looking up Max, Max in Vecna's hands. Mike srceams FIGHT for us and like us. He yells at El not knowing if she can hear him but this is the first time in his speech he doesn't say it. He doesn't say 'I don't know if you can hear me but...but if you can you have to fight, El! You have to fight!'

That is not convincing. You would be like:

Mike, honey. IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER!

Because it doesn't, it does not matter if she can hear him, he has to say it. This is the same vibe as you sitting in front of the tv or laptop and telling them to fight. It wasn't for El, it was for everybody in danger.

El dumb his ass, pleasw I'm begging you! You deserve so much more! (Max and Lucas, Max and Lucas is more)

So yeah, fuck s4 'love confession' I hate it and give me the fucking script I have to know what get cut out, and what was Jonathan or Will or Mike or El thoughts (fucking Vecna's would be good for me at this point)

#byler #mike wheeler i know what you are #gay mike wheeler #jane hopper #stranger things #mike wheeler #s4 speech #love confession #mike wheeler love confession #anti melvin #el hopper kisses girls

[aemiron-main]

You have absolutely 💯 sent me down a rabbit hole with your laundrygate and doorgate theories!!

This is such a ramble of thoughts so forgive the length. I apologize sincerely if someone already has shared a similar opinion but....what if our favorite unreliable narrator really was under an illusion during his kidnapping? What if Will does have powers which led to him being Vecna's first victim? And what if the weird time inconsistencies aren't due to time manipulation but rather space-time.

In the first episode, the Duffers give us the Xmen 134 reference. Most people quickly connected that to Brenner's manipulation of El and how she later defeats the demogorgan. The parallels are there for sure but if Will really was under an illusion and does have powers than there's a possible bigger parallel.

Without going to deeply into comic lore or nitty-gritty specifics of the Phoenix Force abilities, the villain Mastermind, in a bid to control Jean Grey and her powers, creates incredibly vivid illusions to awaken her true potential. This eventually gives rise to the Dark Phoenix. The Phoenix Force can manipulate space-time. Create and destroy universes. Edit timelines by changing both the past and the future. Be in two places at once.

What if the Mindflayer was already watching Will and was connected to him much like the Phoenix watched Jean since she was a child? Both making them targets for villains who see their potential and much like Mastermind, Vecna's vivid illusion triggered something far more powerful than he was prepared.

Space-time capabilities would explain why Will's vanishing is similar to teleportation. It would also explain why Barb's disappearance was similar if the mindflayer and Will already had a connection which allowed the demogorgan to simply move between worlds. And why Will and the Mindflayer can exist simultaneously in the UD and out. His communicating with Joyce and El while in the UD. The strange gaps in time could be editing from the part of his mind that was already connected to the Mindflayer. He is a spy after all.

What I personally find vexing is that Will's true sight ability simply disappeared after the end of his possession despite having had it prior to. Did the Mindflayer absorb some of the ability since Will and Flayed Billy were both able to communicate with El in the void? Or did Owens install Soteria in Will at the end of season 2 since season 4 revealed that he and Brenner knew about Vecna what he did to his victims? Owens knows vecna wants to destroy the world and if he suspected that Will could spy again, installing soteria would make sense because it would limit the connection. It also links up with his neck spidersense and could be why Will's expressions when discussing Owen look like he doesn't really trust him....because you know, he's a spy.

Here's to him being a successful double spy next season.

OMG PLS NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE BECAUSE THIS IS ABSOLUTELY GENIUS!!!! IM SO SORRY I TOOK SO LONG TO GET AROUND TO THIS ASK!! Everything you said about the xmen 134 really caught my eye, because  I had no clue about the lore behind it!! and i personally DEFINITELY think that will was under some sort of illusion/space time fuckery the night he disappeared, because theres way too many small, purposeful inconsistencies for them all to be production mistakes, including things like the gun still being on the rack in the shed AFTER will disappears, but then gone again when hopper goes in the shed the next day. And the fact that the xmen 134 comic + all of the genius parallels you’ve described here is mentioned in the same episode that will disappears in, right before he disappears?? There’s no way it’s a coincidence.  When you described “The Phoenix Force can manipulate space-time. Create and destroy universes. Edit timelines by changing both the past and the future. Be in two places at once,” I actually immediately thought of will’s season 2 episodes, considering that even dustin, lucas and mike say that it’s different from dnd true sight, considering that with dnd true sight, the person cannot be hard by the other world, but will IS able to be harmed by the mindflayer/the upside-down. So, will’s abilities definitely point towards being physically present in both the real world and the upside-down at the same time, and physically able to interact with both at the same time (ie, when will walks out of the arcade in the upside-down, he also physically walks out of it in the real world.)  ”Space-time capabilities would explain why Will's vanishing is similar to teleportation. It would also explain why Barb's disappearance was similar if the mindflayer and Will already had a connection which allowed the demogorgan to simply move between worlds. And why Will and the Mindflayer can exist simultaneously in the UD and out. His communicating with Joyce and El while in the UD. The strange gaps in time could be editing from the part of his mind that was already connected to the Mindflayer. He is a spy after all.” YES I LOVE THIS IT MAKES SENSE!!!  OKAY, SO: personally, i don’t think that it actually disappeared, especially since he had the ability prior to his possession/had his first episode in the show at the end of season 1- instead, I think that his powers/true sight possibility went “dormant,” in a similar way that El’s powers did + how she had to use nina to get them back. However, it’s also strange to me that will’s episodes seem to have ended as of season 3, but his neck tingles/connection to vecna still remains.  I think that everything you’ve mentioned here regarding will and flayed billy or owens and soteria are absolutely viable theories, and I’m honestly not sure what the answer is. And that’s also a very good point about linking up with the neck spidersense!!! And regarding flayed billy, when you mentioned that, it brought to mind the fact that billy sort of sees a “clone” of himself in the upside-down that talks to him, and like i’ve pointed out before, there’s that weird netflix still image on the pause screen that shows will looking into the shed at the EXACT moment that he would have disappeared: did we somehow have a weird will-clone situation going on???  It’s also interesting that during the scene where will is talking about owens with mike in s4, there’s that blooper of noah going “when i was the spy,” so that is another, albeit small, link between owens and spy imagery. It’s also interesting to me that owens was pre-emptively working on nina in the case of el losing her powers/needing them back again, so he’s definitely been thinking pretty far ahead with this sort of stuff, so i think there’s definitely a possibility that he was worried about will spying again.  My brain is total mush today so apologies if my reply is all over the place, but this is all absolutely brilliant and i love it, and im going to be thinking about it!! 

#stranger things #ST asks #time theory #vanishing of will byers #fave

[morganee]

Byler Fic Rec Week - Day 6: Canon divergence

the taste of the color by waffles_isa (@waffles-isa) (699 words, complete)

It's a world where people are only able to see in black and white until they find their soulmate. Everyone's worried about it, but Mike is completely chill.

Static Re-connection by IllogicalFallacy (@illogical-fallacy) (62k, complete)

AND - H E R E - I - T H O U G H T - U ‘ D - F O R G E T - M E N E V E R N E V E R - E V E R - ? N E V E R - E V E R He thought about the way Will had looked at him all those years ago, lying in the hospital bed, eyes not his own. Even through the fog of possession, something behind Will’s gaze had clicked and recognized Mike for who he was. Even without anything else left, Will had still remembered the connection he had to his mom - and... to Mike. His trembling fingers hesitated for an infinite moment, before typing faster than his brain could hope to process, P R M S E - ? Y E S A miles-apart, oblivious mutual pining, emotional summer vacation disaster-fest starring Mike, Will, and one incredibly unreliable radio connection.

must be a devil between us by els bloody rollerskate (@super-nova5045) (37k, ongoing)

Don’t assume that because every gate was closed by your telekinetic girlfriend before the world split in two everything will be okay. Your best friend might become a new target of this monster four months later on summer camp and be in grave danger. Or do. He’ll have to die. Ever since November 1983, when Will Byers went missing, shit has just gone downhill for Hawkins, tragedy after tragedy afflicting a once peaceful town. For the first time ever, Mike Wheeler, is at peace – he’s going to Camp Hero in the summer of ’86, where the high-schoolers of Hawkins bond for a summer of “totally rad, epic fun”. The only thing that could possibly spoil it? His best friend, Will, happens to be attending camp too, as well as his girlfriend El – the two people Mike was trying to avoid; the sheer level of awkward tension between them driving him insane. Mike’s trying his best to ignore Will and even worse, ignore the feelings for Will he tried to repress, too. However, when his assumed-dead dungeon master, Eddie Munson, steps foot on Camp Hero on one midsummer night, Mike knows he must get over his tension with Will and El and reunite his friends to destroy Vecna, once and for all.

A Hope to Cling To by midnighteverlark (18k, complete)

While talking to Will in the shed, trying to break through the Mind Flayer's control, Mike starts thinking about what he would do if Will gave up, and completely unintentionally blurts, "I love you." Mike's existential crisis follows. Meanwhile, Will uses the words as his anchor, holding onto this glimmer of hope with all his might as he struggles to hang on against the Mind Flayer. Basically, a more Mike/Will-centric version of episodes 8 and 9 and the time beyond, with a good dose of of grit and Serious Stuff but also plenty of happiness and some fluff to come. (I mean, come on - Will is a gay kid in the 80s who just craves love and acceptance, and he deserves A Break. Mike is just realizing he's bisexual and he needs some love and acceptance and A Break too.)

king of my heart by bookinit (@bookinit02) (21k, complete)

Will finds himself wondering, sometimes, if his mark matches Mike’s. He thinks it must, really—he can’t imagine wanting to spend the rest of his life with anyone else. Mike’s cool and strong and brave and funny. His hair flops down over his forehead and his eyes bore into Will’s soul, always so steadily intense. He doesn’t cry when he scrapes his knee. Instead, he just gets back up. Will thinks that if Mike isn’t his soulmate, something is seriously wrong with the world.

truth serum side effects (may include: accidental gay confessions) by sterrenhemel (1k, complete)

"You okay?" Mike asks him. "Yeah, your hands are really soft." And— Jesus Christ, what was that? Sure, it wasn't a lie, but... what?! "Uh, thank you?" Mike replies awkwardly. Will wants to hit himself. Why would he say that?  "I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that." Or the one in which Will is hit by a truth serum.

#byler #bylerficrecweek2023 #bylerficrecweek #byler fic rec #byler fic #will byers #mike wheeler #stranger things

[strxnger-things]

omg i finally found you!! I liked ur birthdaygate post AGES ago then forgot your url but im so glad i found you again bcos i have SO many questions- pls pls pls can you explain your theory more bcos its driving me crazy, a lot of people dont like this theory for some reason but im on the fence about how i feel about it :/

damn, I really thought I had the best hiding spot... *climbs out of a dark corner and stretches*

lol, hey!

ok so before I go any further into this, I just want to make something clear: I'm not the person who came up with the birthdaygate theory. I've seen a few people conflating birthdaygate with the post I made about something funky going on with the memories mentioned in the S2 shed scene, but they're like totally two separate things. Birthdaygate is the cool, big-brain theory that suggests Will's forgotten birthday is secretly a planned narrative tool that we'll see explained in Season 5 (whoever first put the evidence for that together, you rock and I have mad respect for you)

Memorygate on the other hand, is just a small expansion of it: my suggestion as to when or why Will's birthday might have been forgotten. Honestly, I'd not given the whole theory much thought before I unceremoniously threw it into the byler tag and watched the horror and heartbreak spread haha I'll do my best to explain it a little more, but I don't think I'll really be able to help much. My intention was never to convince people of anything. It was literally just me going, "huh... hey guys, isn't this kind of suspicious...?"

and the thing is, if you don't believe in birthdaygate to begin with, then memorygate is completely moot. Like, it's just a lot of fun. But if birthdaygate is real, memorygate just might be one possible explanation. Maybe. ?? honestly? I think it would kinda suck if it was real. I totally understand why some people hate it. Whilst I'm sure it'd be a shocking twist, it would also be very deux ex machina, and it'd mess with the character's agencies.

but like, if it WAS suspicious... ...here we have a villain who can canonically a) view people in the present moment like they're all laid out on a chess board ("now-memories"), b) enter any mind he so wishes and spy on their innermost thoughts and memories, and c) seems to have a connection/obsession with time.

This villain is also literally told a bunch of memories relating to one of his primary antagonists. The S2 shed scene helped Will break free of his possession just enough to save the day, but at the same time, what if Vecna was being given precious ammunition that he could utilise for future use? It's kinda convenient that Will's birthday is A Thing™ now, and the ONE time it's mentioned in the narrative is one of the most powerful and important scenes. Coincidence? Yeeeeah, maybe.

and as to how Vecna could have 'used' all those memories for his own benefit, I can only speculate. We don't yet know enough about what Vecna is fully capable of. Can he flit through people’s mindscapes without the victim suspecting anything? Do they always have a nosebleed or a headache, or is that just for when he’s going to kill/ consume you to open a gate?  Memorygate is just the theory that Vecna’s done something to those memories, including Will's birthday, because he knows they helped Will fight back against his possession.

Of course, Will was physically possessed in comparison to the mind possession we saw with Max and the other victims, so we don’t know if that changes things either.  It could be time-related (like, the date itself has been screwed with) or it could be memory-related (e.g. nobody from the shed scene can remember it because at some point, Vecna has messed with their minds, one by one). I can't help but compare it to how Vecna entered Max's memory of the Snow Ball. She did the same thing that Will probably did, and entered a safe space in her mind to escape him. She fought back by remembering the good, anchoring herself to her friends and to her special dance/kiss with Lucas. But then Vecna found his way in to that memory, slowly but surely, and took it over so she could no longer hide there. 

We didn't see it as an audience, but what if that was kind of what was happening inside Will's mind in S2? 

I'm not sure what more I can say to explain the memory stuff because there's still a lot of guesswork when it comes to Vecna and his powers. But I can go a little further into the Byler part for you, seeing as I only briefly mentioned it in my first post and I assume that's what you want me to get into most. So Mike talks about DnD games and their swingset meeting, and I think the latter is arguably the most powerful memory mentioned in the whole scene. A lot of attention is focused on the swingset memory. It's super important. We can also pretty confidently conclude that Vecna is pissed at Mike, especially by the time S4 rolls round. He's long known who he is, and he knows he's directly foiled his plans on more than one occasion, just like El. So go back and watch the shed scene again, and think about what we learned about Vecna in Season 4. Was he watching from Will's eyes, a hulking presence stalking through his mind, clouding Will's sense of self and listening intently to every word Mike was saying? Yeah, probably. Mike was visibly emotional. Distressed, vulnerable, raw, honest. Vecna learned that day that Mike and Will are deeply special to one other. He knows they're best friends. He knows a lonely Mike first approached a similarly lonely Will on a swingset when they were in kindergarten ('it was the best thing I've ever done...'). He also probably knows how Will truly feels about Mike. So that's a lot of ammunition for him to help put his plans into action, whatever they may be. He apparently doesn't want to kill Will, but perhaps he wants to isolate him. To hurt him, to make him feel forgotten by his loved ones, in a long game to win him over? Who knows.......

Vecna plays chess with people. He spies, he collects information, he uses people's memories against them. And the shed scene would have been a prime opportunity. A feast, if you will.

Once again, I hope I'm wrong about this. :)

#in which i ramble #I was driving back from somewhere late at night when the thought first popped into my head #like #crazy stuff #memorygate #birthdaygate #long post #anon answered #byler #vecna #st5 speculation