#stranger things theory

[strangeeditsbylr]

How Eddie could possibly tie into Mike's story in season 5.

I'm gonna say it right away, it would make the most sense for Mike to be a target of Vecna in season 5. It would be a natural way to explain why he does certain things (such as why he was a jerk in s3 onwards) why he feels the need to pretend to love El and his feelings towards Will, it would just make sense.

I think the bts photos of s5 but Mike and Dustin specifically are really important here. Before Eddie died, Mike had his hair grown out in the same style as Eddie's hair and Dustin seemed in the process of growing his hair. In season 5, Dustin let his hair grow out and he styled it like Eddie, probably as a way to honor him or as a way to cope with the loss. Mike on the other hand, cut his hair, which could signify him trying to repress his grief, it could be a nod towards the fact that he just wants to forget Eddie because of how painful the loss is.

One thing you have to understand about Mike and Eddie's friendship is that it's extremely likely that Eddie came into Mike's life when Mike really needed it, I think a lot of people don't stop and think about what Mike must've felt between season 3 and season 4. Think about this, his best friend (and presumably the person he's in love with and likely still feels guilty about hurting) left for the first time in almost 10 years. They've never had to live without each other. His girlfriend left too which I don't think it matters if Mike's feeling for El are platonic or not (even though they are) but having a person who you do care about leave is hard nonetheless. Max started becoming distant which in turn made Lucas more distant, until finally it was just Mike and Dustin. Can you imagine how horrible that would be? He lost almost everyone he cares about in just a few months. Eddie, I imagine, was his escape from all that, Eddie was a massive influence on Mike, everything from his hairstyle to his hobbies (the guitar in Mike's room, also Eddie bringing back his passion for DND) Eddie was his escape from reality, Eddie was one of the only people he had left.

Now imagine you had a person like that in your life, a person who came to you when you most needed them, a person you felt like yourself again when you were around, and imagine you left for a week and when you returned that person was dead. Mike has nothing left to escape, he can't go to Eddie to handle his grief anymore so now he just tries to strip himself of anything that makes him think about Eddie, he doesn't know how to process his grief so he just simply doesn't, he bottles it up.

That's exactly what vecna wants, like Max for example tried to bury her grief when Billy died and it made her a target.

Vecna is going to use Eddie against Mike, I just know it.

#mike wheeler #mike wheeler theory #byler #byler endgame #mikewheeler #stranger things theory #byler theory

[alcalystrasz]

I predict a foreshadowing to Mike being a target of Vecna (the first or second one) to introduce: the Villain (Vecna), El and his internalized homophobia along with his feelings for Will...

#stranger things #byler #noah schnapp #will byers #byler tumblr #finn wolfhard #mike wheeler #byler is canon #love #byler is endgame #byler nation #stranger things 5 #stranger things theory

[eddielovr]

Jonathan and Wayne putting up missing posters while wearing similar jackets…. a chance the Duffers may bring Eddie back?

#i might be delusional #jonathan byers #stranger things 4 #stranger things #eddie munson #st4 #wayne munson #stranger things theories #stranger things theory #joe quinn #joseph quinn #charlie heaton #steddie #probably just a reused costume piece but i am delusional #i take everything as a sign sorry

[greenfiend]

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

'Cause we're lovers, and that is a fact

Yes we're lovers, and that is that (Heroes by David Bowie)

Part 2 here

(Warning: This post has mentions of sex (nothing graphic)… if you’re uncomfortable with that please do not proceed.)

So, Lover’s Lake has existed within the show ever since season 2, when Will mapped out the entirety of Hawkins. The lake is shaped like a heart (keep this in mind for later) thus the name “Lover’s Lake”. Makes sense within the town of Hawkins, but does not provide an explanation on a subtextual level. None of the “lovers” existing within the show has been associated with the lake (you could say Steve/Nancy but honestly it’s a stretch since they never actually rekindled their romance.)

This leads me to the question… why call the lake “Lover’s Lake” without associating any lovers to it?

Because maybe, there will be lovers connected to it… but they aren’t lovers… yet.

Okay, let’s get back to the shape. A heart. ❤️ Hm. Now which character within the show is most associated with hearts? Which character is even referred to as the heart by their love interest?

Mike.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that he’s one part of the “lovers” here. Thus ruling out many other romantic pairings within the show. Leaving only two pairings: Mike/El and Mike/Will. I won’t go into detail on why I believe Mike and El will inevitably break up, you can read a lot of different analyses for that. So that leaves… Mike/Will. Not lovers yet.

Okay, here’s the part where I may get crucified. The definition of lovers.

Please put your pitch forks down for this.

Lovers usually refers to two people in a sexual relationship outside of marriage.

With all the subtext (and actual text) around sex and sexuality, and how we see Will struggle with his own sexuality, there is a likely conclusion here. He’s going to confront his sexuality. To do so, he will have sex. With whom? Well, with the one person he loves the most, the one he affectionately refers to as the heart… his best friend… Mike.

Now, where’s this going to happen? What better location than somewhere empty and secluded.

Reefer Rick’s lakeside house.

Now, who is “Reefer Rick”?

Also known as, Rick Lipton, Reefer Rick is a drug dealer who’s closely acquainted with Eddie.

He’s an enigma. We never see him. All that is known about him are the things mentioned by other characters.

He’s currently in jail apparently for dealing drugs. Also, he seems like a town pariah.

Also, he isn’t too keen on Fast Times (returned on time), at least not as much as “Cheech and Chong” (returned late each time.) That shot at 53 minutes and 5 seconds in Fast Times doesn’t do it for him, I guess. Unlike watching two guys get high.

His name choice is an interesting one.

“Reefer” Rick Lipton.

“Reefer” is a synonym for “marijuana cigarette”. Okay, makes sense, he is a drug dealer after all. But why the term “cigarette”? Well… there’s this other word that also happens to be a synonym for “cigarette”…

Then Rick… short for “Richard”. Richard is one of the few names out there with a nickname that is also slang for male genitalia… “Dick”.

Then finally… Lipton.

As Robin says, spelled like Lipton tea. Now, why would the writers use the name “Lipton” and even reference the tea company if there were no significance to it? They wouldn’t. We know this about them.

So why “Lipton”?

Let’s do a bit of research here, shall we?

The founder of Lipton tea was a man named Thomas Lipton.

Thomas Lipton just so happens to have been a closeted homosexual man who had a long term relationship with another man whose name is… *drumroll please*

William Love.

Okay, that can’t be just a coincidence right?

So moving on to Reefer Rick’s house.

We see glimpses of his living room, kitchen, and briefly his bedroom.

Jason and his buds are searching for Eddie and this involves looking under the mattress? As if, Eddie could successfully hide under there? Haha okay sure.

The angle of this shot is interesting too, because the bed is essentially being shown off to us.

This bed with a blue blanket and yellow sheets. Hm. Interesting.

Keep in mind this scene is essentially unnecessary. They could have easily shown Jason et al searching for Eddie without creating an entire new set for a room that’s only used in one single insignificant shot. Therefore, I do not think it’s unreasonable to believe this is used for foreshadowing.

Then we also get this shot from outside the window into the bedroom.

Look familiar? I thought so too.

Okay. Now for my theory/prediction.

As I mentioned earlier, Will is currently struggling with his own sexuality and feels a lot of shame and internalized homophobia. There’s also a lot of evidence that Mike is experiencing the same thing. Unlike Will, Mike conforms to the society’s expectations. He dates El, performing as her boyfriend. This is comparable to Nancy’s arc in season 1. She also conforms, and like Mike, leaves her best friend behind. We all know how that ended.

Now, what better way to wrap up the show than to have Mike correct his sister’s mistake? To have Mike reject societal expectations in favour of his best friend?

Okay so this is my theory.

Mike and Will have their first kiss an episode or two prior to 5x07. Tensions are high, but they’re busy fighting interdimentional monsters along side their friends.

Then comes 5x07 which somehow leaves Mike and Will alone by Lover’s Lake. The tension between them reaches an all time high, leading to a passionate kiss and then… more. Let’s just say it involves that blue and yellow bed.

At the same time as these two become the lovers they were meant to be, another character is being saved, or perhaps being brought back to life. Perhaps another red head, one we all know and love. Yes, a major parallel and contrast to Steve/Nancy’s sex scene in season 1, which featured Barb dying. But because Mike is rejecting conformity and being authentic, another character lives instead.

I mean, what better way to represent the beauty of the love and intimacy between these two boys? Their love is literally bringing back life to the world.

So yeah, basically I’m saying that Mike and Will expressing their love for each other will save Max.

This also wouldn’t be the first time that Max’s survival is correlated with their relationship. As I doubt that it was merely a coincidence that in episode 4x04 we have Mike’s genuine monologue to Will, then we have Max surviving Vecna. In contrast to 4x09, which features a forced monologue from Mike to El, followed by Max losing to Vecna and barely surviving.

So, as their bond strengthens, Max’s life bar goes up (so to speak). If something interferes with their bond, Max’s outcome is more dire.

The writers have also been associating Mike/El with death…

[Tumblr only allows a limited number of images so pretend we have one of El holding dead flowers and another image of the cut scene from 3x05 with Mike/El having a moment cutting to a dead body on the hospital floor]

Mike/Will on the other hand have been associated with life. The birds chirping in the background of their final scene together, the flowers blooming between them as they stand together. Plus, blue plus yellow does equal green after all. Which is the most commonly associated colour with life.

🌿🌱🌳

To conclude, I just want to say that I personally think this would be a nice way to end their arc. I know a lot of people are uncomfortable with associating Mike/Will with anything sexual… but the show has been doing this already. Whether you like it or not, Mike and Will have been shown implicitly and explicitly that they desire each other both romantically and sexually. The fact that they have sexual desire for each other does not minimize or trivialize their friendship and love, it’s an aspect of it… adding another dimension to their relationship.

Do I think or hope they would show anything pornographic? Absolutely not (do I even have to say this?) But explicit like Steve/Nancy? Yes. Do I think they’ll be only 14/15 years old when this occurs? No. This will likely happen after a time jump.

Being authentically yourself and not conforming is overall a major theme of the show. I mean it’s called Stranger Things after all. Will people be upset by the ending of this arc? Bylers included? Absolutely. Many people within the town of Hawkins and people watching the show will both show disgust for it. But that’s the point. It’s not “normal” and that’s okay. Different is good, and can be a beautiful and wonderful thing. We all just need to open our minds and hearts a bit. I’m not just talking about the GA; many Bylers are also closed minded and stuck in their ways too. Let’s all try to work on that, shall we?

Despite the opinions of others, Will and Mike will choose to love each other which will inevitably lead to their defeat of Vecna. Love concurs all. It may be cheesy and cliche but personally? I think that’s a beautiful thing. We all can learn to love more.

Anyway, would love to know your thoughts on this.

Then we could be Heroes, just for one day

Part 2 here

#loverslakegate #byler #stranger things #stranger things 5 #byler theory #stranger things theory #lovers lake

[romainlettusdinnerparty]

HOLY SHIT THIS IS SO BIRTHDAY GATE CODED

#SOMETHING ABOUT SITING ACTUAL TEXT FROM THE SHOW #IT FEELS LIKE THEY HAVE TO DO SOMETHING WITH THAT RIGHT?? #byler #will byers #mike wheeler #stranger things #stranger things 5 #byler tumblr #st5 #byler endgame #byler fic #noah schnapp #birthdaygate #st5 leaks #st5 speculation #st5 theory #stranger things theory #stranger things analysis #byler theory #byler analysis #byler leak #mine

[chirpsythismorning]

LMAO not Murray literally sensing byler angst bc his curse

#byler #stranger things #murray bauman #mike wheeler #will byers #stranger things spoilers #finn wolfhard #noah schnapp #stranger things theory #byler evidence #byler proof #byler st #byler theory #stranger things spoiler

[stranger-theory]

me when mike starts digging out a box of crumpled papers out of his closet after a breakdown

#bestie aint no way lettergate aint real #theres AT LEAST one note he wrote #but im a big fan of: #'my god this man wrote so many notes with tear stanes on them because he couldnt get the words right' #byler #stranger things #mike wheeler #will byers #byler endgame #stranger things theory

[vintagecxctus]

being gay isn’t a choice. one day you just hear tender, emotional music start playing.

#stranger things #mike wheeler #st4 #will byers #st4 theory #byler #stranger things theory #stranger things 4 #mike wheeler is gay #will byers is gay

[devondespresso]

FINALLY

after NINE. HOURS. (NOT including meals and sleep) ITS FUCKING DONE.

A complete floorplan of the entire Harrington house. Including too much thought about random, throw-away lines from characters and squint-to-see-it background glimpses inside.

plently of stuff in the actual house is altered or straight up ignored in favor of following the fiction logic and because I Wanted To. A lot of this is motivated by my headcanons for the Harringtons and how I'm writing them in my fic, but I'm also certainly not an architect so it's by no means perfect. It is, however, unreasonably canon compliant in the few bits we do see.

Thought Process (for context):

the darker shaded floor areas are lower than the rest, some bits like the garages having stairs and some areas like the sun and dining rooms list being like a step lower. Windows are marked with dashes along the outside, sliding doors are two thin lines slightly overlapping, stairs change color as they diverge from the level we're looking at, and furniture is eyeballed so don't look to closely a the scale.

not all closets are labeled, just the ones i figured could be confusing. Steve and the guest rooms have closets i promise.

the laundry room and pantry are not the same size but by the time i noticed i was exhausted. so pretend they're both more reasonably sized.

i don't know what the floorplan symbol for garage door is and then i forgot to look so the headlights point to where the doors are and you can see them clearly in photos so yeah.

The general layout is based on the idea that the Harringtons are or were into hosting dinner parties and business meetings in their home, especially as a young rich couple looking for respect in their circles (Mr. Harrington taking on his father's business and reinforcing that power, Mrs. Harrington climbing her own social ladder and building an image).

So the house is laid out with hosting areas towards the right with the office big and near the dining room because it's more than just a workplace, it represents him as a businessman. In canon the entryway and living room both have very high ceilings and no second-floor above them, so I'd imagine they're also aware of how the top floor looks from below, hence the fancy double/french doors to the master bedroom which is in plain view from below. Steve's room and the guest room are's nearly as visible.

As for the kitchen and sun/pool rooms, I see them more as secondary hosting areas that aren't used as the main location most of the time and are more this background setting to these events that still feel rich. The kitchen is massive and mostly for dinner-parties and Mrs. Harrington's social events.

The kitchen and main bathroom's placement is based on a line Steve said to Barb giving her directions to the bathroom: "down past the kitchen, to the left". With the massive living room on the left and wanting to keep the dining and office close by, i interpreted the "to the left" part being like "find the kitchen, then turn left". And with the rest of the area being open-concept, the bathroom would be the only normal door over there and easy to find. it's a bit of a stretch with just that line, but it makes sense to me with the rest of the context for the layout.

the basement is similar to this, though not as openly displayed so I imagine its for slightly closer friends. Theres a garage door down there so I figured Mr. Harrington might have a cool car he shows off, like he's letting people in on a personal detail about himself. There's also a guest room down there (the only one still considered 100% for guests, more on that later) for those people.

beside the basement garage, there was originally one main garage that holds two cars, obvious Mr. and Mrs. Harrington's cars. I imagine they bought the house before having kids, so a third one wasn't on the mind but after having Steve they added the front one (either turning the carport into a closed garage or they never had a carport and added a whole new addition, up to you)

Both garages lead to the same part of the house, and that area is the only one besides the water heater room that is purely function over effect. It still looks good like the rest of the house but it's not made to be fancy because guests would rarely need to be over there if at all and it's not noteworthy from other parts of the house.

In my headcanon, Steve's room used to be a guest room, staying his room from nursery to present with Mrs. Harrington renovating every now and then. Its one of those places in the house that doesn't have to look perfect for all to see, so she gets creative and has fun with it.

The upstairs guest room is also unofficially Mrs. Harrington's room, based on a line where Tommy mentions a fireplace in "his mom's room" instead of "guest room" or "parent's room" or "master bedroom". I belatedly realized this could be a solidarity thing with Steve hating his dad and calling the master bedroom his mom's room, but that was after 9 hours of this and im not changing it but there you go. In this version, I imagine she leaves the master some nights because her marriage with Mr. Harrington is failing (cheating and all, I wouldn't want to be in the same bed with someone who cheated either)

the master bathroom was an executive decision, just looking at the house in canon and not having enough space in my first attempts, i decided the triangle roof part above the dining and office could fit a master bathroom.

Feel free to use or reference this in your own fics! Feel free to block out my furniture or walls and make your own version. If you share my image please credit my tumblr name (again, 9 hours)

#steve harrington #steve has bad parents #stranger things #steve's parents #the harringtons #steve harrington stranger things #stranger things steve #stranger things season 1 #steve stranger things #stranger things steve harrington #Steve's house #stranger things thoughts #stranger things theory #stranger things tumblr #devon's steve henderson au #steve henderson au rambles #this was made specifically for my steve henderson fic so a lot of this backstory is tied to that #i've listened to david bowie the entire duration of this and istg my internal monologue is dubbed in this guy's voice hELP ME #im so tired #wELP TIME TO DO HENDERSON'S HOUSE #devon thinks sometimes

[gaysforbyler]

When “the week is long” because the Upside Down is forever stuck on the week Will went missing

#it tis a long week #they were correct #i did an entire analysis for the code on my twitter but no one Cared #has it been done before? #probably #but i figured it out with my very own brain #stranger things #will byers #stranger things theory #when blue meets yellow in the west

[robin-buck1ey]

This has got to actually be canon

#max mayfield #mike wheeler #st #stranger things #mileven #elmax #stranger things theory #st4 #st hcs #st headcanons #stranger things hc #stranger things headcanons #max mayfield headcanons #mike wheeler headcanons #st mike #st max #mad max #mike stranger things #max stranger things #Mike and max #max and mike #platonic madwheeler #cali crew #california #mike wheeler meme #mlm wlw hostility #maxine mayfield #maxine stranger things #max mayfield my beloved

[suzieburself]

give me voice overs of Max’s letters sprinkled throughout season 5. Start with the letter to her mom explaining some of the supernatural stuff (to intro the season). Give me the letter to Mike as he stares at Wills painting. Give me El’s letter as she’s preparing to face off against Vecna agin. Give me Lucas’ letter at the very end and have him read it to her. I’m dying to know what she wrote to Lucas, but I want to hear what she wrote to other characters too!

#I feel like it’s more likely this won’t happen though #and they’ll make another book to comment that has the letters in it #like we’ll probably hear one or two but definitely not all #Stranger things #max mayfield #Lumax #byler #Stranger Things theory

[greenfiend]

Mike + creature with gaping mouth = “death” (+ madwheeler s3 parallel)

#byler #byler art #madwheeler #mike wheeler #stranger things #stranger things theory #stranger things art #Will Byers #max mayfield #stranger things 5

[romainlettusdinnerparty]

ok so i talked to a professional lighting designer i know and here’s what’s going on with the picture:

basically sets will use a key light that will highlight the subject of a scene. this light is normally yellow in tone and the brightest one on a set. you can see here its coming from the upper right corner and making the girl’s hair and shoulder the most highlighted part of the shot and also very yellow in tone. she is most likely standing in will’s light, preventing him from being properly highlighted.

now, to ensure that that bright yellow light doesn’t over expose the shot, another light needs to counteract it. it needs to create a shadow for the highlight to contrast with. this is called a fill light. because the key light is yellow, the opposite color will be taken from the color wheel to contrast it: blue. this is why will looks so pale, the blue tones of the fill light are the only thing shining on him due to her blocking him from the key light. the fill light looks like its coming from the opposite direction as the key light thus she is not obscuring him from it.

this would also explain what looks on the surface to be mistakes in makeup application. stranger things is netflix’s darling, they have good makeup artists!! they wouldnt just not apply makeup under his bangs or around the collar of his shirt!! this is just the result of where she isn’t blocking the key light contrasting with the fill light that he’s mostly bathed in.

the reason the lighting looks so dramatic is because the white balance in the picture was likely off due to this being a paparazzi photo where they were unaware of the lighting conditions, whereas that’s something they adjust to using the filming cameras when they know what lighting to expect.

ok thats all thank you for coming to my ted talk!!!

(he also said that an actor would never wear an earpiece mic like that so sorry to burst anyone’s bubble, this is a PA not millie😭)

#stranger things #byler #will byers #byler tumblr #stranger things 5 #byler endgame #st5 #st5 leaks #st5 speculation #mike wheeler #st5 filming #st5 predictions #st5 theory #st5 production #stranger things theory #stranger things analysis #stranger things leaks #noah schnapp #mine

[teen--marvel]

okay, but can we talk about how the duffers chose steve for this scene when he hears dustin's voice?? one of my absolute favorite fucking shots, btw

they coulda had eddie stop, or nancy, but no. they chose our boy. mainly because i think they wanted to show us that their friendship is still where it was in season three.

yes, dustin has eddie in s4, but who did dustin call when they needed a sub?? steve.

who did they continue to partner up? steve and dustin.

who had the most banter (playful or not)? steve and dustin.

they're friendship was still there, just not in the way it was shown on camera <3

sorry if this doesn't make sense. i have a premie migraine forming, so my ability is form proper sentences is out the window at the moment, lol

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington theory #stranger things theory #???

[chirpsythismorning]

I LOVE CINEMA

#byler #stranger things #the duffers putting mike and will in a trunk together in s3: #‘it’s a surprise tool that will help us later’ #mike wheeler #will byers #stranger things spoilers #finn wolfhard #noah schnapp #stranger things theory #byler evidence #byler proof #byler st #byler theory #stranger things spoiler #stranger things theories #mike x will #stranger things meta #byler st4 #byler season 4 #mike wheeler i know what you are #stranger things 4 #Mike wheeler I know what you are