hi lol ive been prepping for my bychance fanfic writer era by first writing some lore for chance!! info/chance/stranger things ramble under the cut :3
i'll be so fr. i am incredibly biased and latched onto the idea of chance as a person that exists in-universe bc i see a filipino out in the wild and have no choice but to ride or die for them. like it's actually instinct bro fjfjdjnfnf... also im happy ppl are looking into hunter romanillos' other projects and becoming fans of a smaller actor!! it's legitimately very touching <33
Jokes aside, I gravitated towards this character after seeing a few mentions/fanart of him pre-November 2025 and was curious to see whether or not, after 4 seasons, the Duffers were finally going to consider giving Will a love interest outside of Mike. Nothing against Bylers who enjoy their ship—I totally get it, it just isn't my cup of tea and I respect your ability to ship whatever you want (that's part of the fun of fandom!). I, personally, have poorly-written love triangle fatigue and would have rather seen Will's journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance include another option. As much as I can appreciate a good friends-to-lovers dynamic, I really didn't like the way Will's feelings were essentially tug-of-warred from his selfless act of love in season 4 to this hopeful, frankly painful state of unrequited pining in season 5.
It felt like some of the character development he'd had was being undone, and while we all know that progress and healing aren't always linear, the overall pacing of the season and the sheer amount of content crammed (and fumbled) into 9 episodes ended up feeling suffocating. And at the very end, while a majority of the fandom were convinced Byler was ABSOLUTELY going to be endgame and simultaneously joking about a certain previously-established background character being used only as a stepping stone for their OTP and nothing more, the real enemy reared its head.
The curse of the epilogue boyfriend.
I think everyone can agree that this is the worst outcome an LGBTQ+ character can end up with, especially one as beloved as Will Byers. It feels like a slap in the face to an audience who identify with his struggles, his perseverence, and admire his ability to remain kind despite his hardship—especially considering EVERYONE in this show is allowed at least a taste of reciprocated love.
I feel especially incensed that the two instances of desired romance in Will's story are tied to his emotionally stunted childhood best friend and a guy we only see for a few seconds in the series finale episode. My beef with Mike Wheeler isn't particularly serious. I enjoyed him as a founding member of The Party, and thought he was a silly little goofy guy. HOWEVER, you can't deny that the boy has serious foot-in-mouth issues, and seeing him retread the same grounds of communication and vulnerability (both with El AND Will) felt like pulling teeth every time. Growth does not feel rewarding or earned if, every season, we're right back where we started. If you can't tell your best friend "I really missed you and I'm sorry I haven't reached out more." If you can't tell your own girlfriend "I love you" even after having that conversation multiple times before.
Mike makes me frustrated because he reminds me that being an insecure person and clinging to your relationships will only strangle the very people you're attempting to hold onto. It's fundamentally selfish to stunt another person's growth by refusing to allow yourself to grow with them. Personally, I think Mike HAS TO spend time on his own and do some personal reflection before he can be in a healthy, loving relationship with ANYBODY PERIOD and avoid becoming Ted Wheeler 2.0, and for that reason, I prefer to keep him FAR away from both Will AND El. For any Mike/Byler fans out there who might be reading this, I don't think you're wrong for liking this little goober. I can still appreciate him for what he is, but I can also think he sucks thanks to the canon we were given.
Carleton, however, just irks me on a spiritual level because of what he represents. I still remember Voltron. I still remember the one-second epilogue wedding photo. I STILL REMEMBER KLANCE. And as much as it sucks, what hurts more is the reminder than Voltron ended in 2018. That was almost 10 years ago now. To get a similarly flippant "and it happened for a second onscreen just to show it exists but all the development to get there happened OFF-SCREEN" in 2026 just feels gross. Voltron ended in an equally rushed, unsatisfying way that left fans with a tainted perception of a show they previously loved, so to see a similar outcome with a series as big as Stranger Things so many years later feels telling.
People want LGBTQ+ characters in mainstream media for the sake of having them there, to generate buzz and 'satisfy' the portion of their audiences that can see themselves in those characters and say they're proud to be fans, but don't care enough to write satisfying narratives in service of those characters. Look at the Mike fans who identify him as queer and see lost potential in his story. Look at the justifiable upset surrounding Robin and Vickie's off-screen breakup. Look at Will, sitting down in a bar and meeting up with a guy we as the audience don't know or subsequently care about, only see. It's a tale as old as time—set-up with disappointing (if even that) payoff, or a sudden delivery that says "here you go, isn't this what you wanted? Aren't you happy now?"
Don't get me wrong. I really loved "I had all the answers all along." Because above anything else, your journey to self-acceptance and more importantly self-love is about YOU more than anybody else. You should be able to love yourself before seeking fulfilling love from anybody else. Unfortunately, loving this moment in Will's story doesn't excuse the fact that he deserved more than the romantic encounters he was given.
(That's where Chance comes in!)
As you can probably tell, I really like the idea of this character—a background jock with a handful of scenes that became something of an inside joke within the fandom before our hopes for season 5 were collectively crushed. Will's summer fling, a one-sided lapse in judgement meant solely as the precursor to a Byler endgame. I didn't like that (the Byler appetizer agenda) so much as I liked the idea of Will being shown love. In fact, the first time I saw a piece of Bychance fanart, I distinctly remember squinting and going "Wait a minute... who ARE you?!" because I had NEVER seen or heard about this guy before, only to quickly fall down the rabbit hole and become enamored with the idea of season 5 introducing a character to potentially give Will another dynamic to explore.
... Yeah, no, that isn't what happened.
I find the words "wasted potential" coming to mind once again when I think of the Hawkins High Basketball Team. The satanic panic chase of season 4 felt grounded; not just because of its parallels to real life and mainstream society's misled perception of metal, alternative culture, and DnD, but because, given the state of Hawkins by the end of season 4, one would assume the knee-jerk reaction of the average citizen would be to assume the rapture has arrived. That their fears have paid off and given way to complete devastation. In a small nowhere town where at times (aside from its assumed-deceased Chief Jim Hopper) the police feel more like the stars of a silly buddy-comedy than competent investigators, it's easy to feel for the two groups of teenagers desperately attempting to incite change and justice. The only difference between The Party and the Basketball Team is framing.
The Party is in the know, and they have been for 3-4 years. The Basketball Team has no idea what they're actually up against, and can only assume the worst within reason. As such, with a grieving Jason at the helm of their operation, the entire team is driven to extremes and succumb to a mob mentality based solely on their own preconceived notions of Hellfire and Eddie Munson. We see mass cancelations of individuals online all the time, with evidence based on what we know of a person's online persona and the information they choose to put out into the world. Does this mean we necessarily know everything about them, or that our interpretations of their behavior are completely accurate? No. We can only judge what we see, what we know, and that's exactly what happened—arguably on BOTH sides.
Unfortunately, season 5 does little to expand on the idea of miscommunication, understanding, and reconciliation between these two groups who, at their core, want the same thing. They want everything to be normal again. They want to be teenagers again. They want Hawkins to feel like home again. And, during a stage of personal development that's already tumultuous and confusing and overwhelming enough, is that really so much to ask? Being a teenager is hard. Being a teenager under the threat of an otherworldly entity aiming to tear your very home apart and brutalize it beyond recognition?
(I'd be wanting to fuck shit up too man idk)
So, what is this actually about?
If you've made it this far, I'm happy you're at least marginally interested to know! Thanks to all the lovely Bychance fanfiction, fanart, and fan discussion I've been seeing in the wake of the finale, I've decided to dip my toes into the idea of writing fanfiction for myself, using our little communal oc Chance Lawson/Perez/Romanillos/etc. as my vehicle of exploration. While I'm cautious about my ability to accurately portray the characters of our main cast (I'm a sucker for accuracy, it genuinely affects my immersion), I am confident in my ability to build character from a blank slate.
I have a few goals in mind when it comes to writing Chance, aside from all the shitposty twitter shipping discourse and being a Bychance enjoyer—namely, to add to the lacking POC rep in the cast and explore the concept of feeling like a bystander in one's own life. We get glimpses of popularity and normality from Steve, Nancy, and (to an extent) Lucas, but the lenses from which these these dynamics are shown feel somewhat limiting in their scope. Stranger Things doesn't have particularly meaningful Asian/Asian-American representation, which I think could have been fun to explore given the 'positive' stereotypes surrounding the myth of the 'Model Minority.' The desire to fit in and be perceived as 'one of the good ones,' even if that means allowing yourself to be the butt of the joke, because at least it's better than standing out for all the wrong reasons. To extend yourself at the behest of your peers, to entertain only at the right times before slipping back into your rightful place. To remain obedient, agreeable, and non-threatening. To survive.
The cues we can pick up from Chance's actions and limited screen time paint him as more of a follower than a leader. He rarely speaks first in most of his interactions with others, almost as if vibe-checking to determine the appropriate response. He can fight, but only if he's first provoked. Chance punches Dustin only after being punched. This isn't to say he isn't capable of talking shit, because he IS, and he DOES, but only in the presence of the parties involved. He pipes up after Andy when they confront Dustin the first time, but responds passively when Andy brings up a girl's size. Vibe-checking. Matching energy. Keeping the temperature of the room steady, but careful not to overstep. Are we seeing the vision?
With the hints of Chance that we get from the series (combined with some creative liberties of course), I think that a positive dynamic between him and Will would make a lot of sense. They're both people who are used to making themselves smaller in the eyes of their peers, albeit in different ways. Will has a very tight-knit social circle and seems hesitant to branch out, but this creates an echo chamber of overbearing influences who emphasize his fragility and limit his autonomy. Chance may seem flashy and sure of himself on the surface, but he's always playing second fiddle. Never making the first move, speaking mostly when spoken to, supporting those who stand ahead of him. There's a whole world of untapped potential inside of this character that we don't know about, and I think they'd have a surprising amount in common if they had an excuse to have a real conversation.
Above all, I think it's so cool to see a part of the fandom using Chance as an opportunity to flex their creative muscles. There are a variety of ways I've seen or read Chance be portrayed depending on the person writing or drawing him, and I eat it up every time lol. The fun part about taking a character like Chance, who exists in canon but just barely, and giving him a backstory and a family and a personal worldview is that you could technically be right. We don't know enough about him to say what's in or out of character, because he isn't a focal point of the overall canon narrative. To the Duffers, he's Teammate. Jersey number 22. 'Chance,' embroidered on a green letterman jacket, who yells with the rest of the Basketball Team and thinks Dustin and The Party are satanic cultists who killed his friends. He's a guy fixing his tassle who sat next to Max Mayfield at the 1989 Hawkins High graduation ceremony and that was that.
He can be anything, and I think that's kind of beautiful.
If you made it all the way to the bottom of this really long ramble, thanks for hearing me out! Below are some screenshots of some Chance hcs I have, as well as my rendition of his mom! All of this will be relevant in time—I've been brainrotting fanfic ideas for a while now, but I wanna focus on getting a handle on my version of Chance as a character first. Have any questions or thoughts? Shoot em my way!
