hey byler blog! i'm not new here, but im somewhat starting over and trying to get the courage to talk about my VERY WILD and UNHINGED byler predictions, analyses and theories.
a little bit of background about me:
i'm a graduate film student, unfortunately i didn't have the opportunity to pursue this career path due to crippling anxiety. i've gotten better thanks to ... the show! analyzing it has sparked my love for drawing and roleplay again, and i'm even designing my own dnd campaign after 4 years of being unable to even get out of bed.
now i have many opportunities to pursue my dreams, one of them being to go back to film school. i achieved this thanks to a few good friends and my hyperfixaton with the show, which restored my connection to the things i love most: art and writing.
isn't that insane?
and yet come to think of it, i think this is what the show boils down to. am i crazy for believing the duffers actually wanted their show to do good in the world with their themes and messages? perhaps! but i'm choosing to believe simply because i'm finally finding myself again after being alone for so long and unable to get help for myself.
now, of course, all i have learnt has led me to be prepared enough to post the most insane theories this year. they aren't perfect yet, but i think that's the point, finding the hidden message the duffers want to tell, and sharing that with the community instead of isolating.
so right now im trying to understand what the hell is this whole rainbow and ships thing supposed to mean, both within byler and the larger supernatural narrative. stay tuned!
BYLER THEORIES MENU
Byler Theory 1.
BYLER PREDICTIONS MENU
Byler Prediction 1. The Snowball
Byler Prediction 2. The Worst Thing I've Ever Done
"screw conformity" yeah and have the bleakest heterosexual couple have the bleakest love story of all time ever and use your only gay main character's feelings to further that bullshit I HAVE TO LAUGH i wish i could spit in the duffer brothers' faces
i cant fucking believe the spectacle they made out of fuckass mileven like i expected them to at LEAST stay consistent with how shitty they had written that romance
but then try to sell it to the audience last minute with some bullshit speech that did not make sense???
genuinely offended by the duffers saying they studied the breaking bad finale to help them wrap up stranger things… like genuinely NEVER speak on one of the best, most consistently written and tonally perfect shows of all time ever again 💀💀 should have taken more notes instead of asking for a chatgpt summary on it
Hi, Byler fans. I don't usually post here but I just finished the Stranger Things finale and wanted to get something out that I feel needs to be said. My grandmother had an older brother named, coincidentally enough, William.
He was born in 1919 and he was gay.
Everyone in the family knew. It became an unspoken secret. And here’s the part people don't really say about the past: he wasn’t cast out. He wasn’t beaten. He wasn’t disowned.
They loved him. They were a close‑knit family.
What they did instead was play a game called pretend.
They never said it out loud. When the family gathered for holidays, his siblings brought their spouses. Uncle Bill came alone. His partner wasn't invited, of course. They didn't even want to know he had a partner. When children asked why Uncle Bill wasn’t married, the adults smiled and said, “He’s just a bachelor.”
That answer was given to my mother in the 1950s. To my sister in the 1970s. And to me in the 1980s.
People like the Duffer brothers seem to imagine that the past was only made up of violent, cartoonish homophobes. And sadly, there were a lot of those, just like there still are today. But some families were “fine” with gay people—as long as they were quiet. As long as they didn’t ask for the same things. As long as they didn’t bring love to the table.
Uncle Bill was accepted on one condition: He sat alone.
So when a modern show frames a gay boy’s arc as “learning to accept himself without expecting love in return,” that’s not radical. That’s not brave. That’s not new.
That story is over a hundred years old.
It’s the story of being tolerated, not chosen. Of being loved in theory, but denied in practice. Of being welcome—so long as you don’t make anyone uncomfortable.
My Uncle William lived that life a century ago. We don’t need to keep calling it progress.
I know a lot of people on here are young. So take the pain you're feeling now and remember it as you get older. Write your own stories that embrace what this show denied. Write the story you wanted Byler to be. Be the generation that stops telling this tired old story.
Do it for my Uncle Bill. Do it for Noah. Do it to give the middle finger to the Duffer brothers. Most of all, do it for yourself.
i made a post yesterday on Jamie Bower mentioning how it all begins with Will. This is an interview from 3 years ago and he puts Will in the middle of his character mind map. this map was done before his audition of vecna. all of this proves Will is going to be a center and main part of season 5.
can’t help but think it all beginning with Will and him being the center in season 5 means he might be the creator of the upside down. check @willbyersabyss’ post about the upside down being Will’s mind.
TW: slight mention of SA and grooming, not graphic
This post is going to be a little scrambled, I have a hard time construing my thoughts especially when they’re sort of intricate and long ones so just bear with me.
Will has to have powers, because what other reason would Henry have to kidnap and possess him? Brenner stated that he doesn’t just kill, he consumes, or absorbs. Henry told El he was trying to absorb her powers in Season 3.
We know it was Henry who kidnapped Will and not a Demogorgon because of 2 things
Telekinesis was used to unlock the door, which Demogorgons do not have, nor do they need for this specific act as we’ve seen them bust doors down numerous times.
Will was still alive, Demogorgons are shown to try to kill anyone they come in contact with, immediately, unless being controlled by the hive mind. Will simply would not have been able to survive one alone at his age. It wasn’t luck that he lived so long, it was a plan. He was being kept alive.
So going off of that, what possible reason could Henry have to kidnap a young boy and essentially hold him hostage?
The implications of Henry being a predator and the underlying themes of SA involving him with Will and also El is a whole other thing to get into, I do believe he’s somewhat of a metaphor for SA, given the vines when Will was found and “I felt it everywhere” paired with the scene of the shadow Monster possessing being very violating and him essentially grooming El, but they obviously need a more basic explanation for these things that the general public will understand and be able to swallow more, which is why we have the supernatural plot.
The only logical explanation for him kidnapping Will, holding him hostage, and keeping him alive, is that he was trying to either absorb Wills powers, or keep Will there with him to “join him” like he wanted to do with El.
This obviously doesn’t work because everyone and their mom goes straight to bat for Will and pries him from Henry’s grasp, so then in season 2, he tries a new way of consuming Will, becoming Will. Taking over his mind.
My theory is that by doing this, he was again trying to absorb Wills powers, I’m not exactly sure how yet, but to me it seems to be the only logical explanation for the possession. Henry only started using Will as a spy, or spying back, after he got hurt and realized Will was spying on him first, otherwise I don’t think he would’ve allowed Will to give so much information to everyone and make the drawings of the vines. So the original reason for possession was not to spy.
Then we have Will losing his memory, this shows that Henry is consuming him, he’s consuming his memories in a way, making Will essentially just an empty shell or vessel. It’s unclear if Will remembers the events of when he was possessed, or even if he remembers Bob much afterward. I believe the incident is only brought up 1 time in season 3 (I could be wrong though, please let me know if I am) when Will is talking about how Joyce got it out of him and then El closed the gate. So it’s obvious he knows he was possessed, but it’s unclear whether he remembers the things that happened while he was possessed or not. He also never mentions Bob after his death, we see the drawing on the fridge, but Will never mentions him. We know that in the hospital he forgot who Bob was, so there’s a very real possibility that Henry completely consumed the memories Will had with Bob, causing him to still not remember much of him once the possession is over. This would further prove that Henry was trying to absorb things from Will.
If he can consume memories, through possession, why not powers? He has no reason to want Wills memories after all, that wouldn’t benefit him. But if Will has powers, that would.
It’s only after everyone saved Will AGAIN, that he moves back onto trying to take Els powers in season 3.
So yeah, essentially what I’m yapping about is that if Will doesn’t have powers, there would be no reason for Henry to target him at all, which we know he did from the very beginning and into and throughout season 2, so Will HAS to have some sort of special powers, there’s not really any question about it in my mind, just like Byler it’s the only logical way the story can go.
No this is a really good point actually. I think the memories thing makes a lot of sense because Vecna must have to absorb someone's entire mind to be able to take their powers. It's weird to me that he didn't just do the same thing that he did to the kids at the massacre at hawkins lab and opted instead for the slow motion takeover of S2, maybe because he was figuring out how to do attacks like that remotely?
i wonder if Vecna as a metaphor for SA is more of like ... a reflection of the psychological effects of his actions on Will. Because it just feels eerily literal with the way Will describes the experience. The second point is that i really don't think Vecna *planned* to take Will so much as he saw the opportunity and took it (and quite frankly i don't think Vecna can leave the UD so him physically taking Will feels to me plot-holey)
but i do agree the demogorgon definitely approached it more like a kidnapping rather than a mindless attack.
so here's my speculation.
First, Vecna needed someone, just anyone, really, for something specific. my guess rn is that the reason why was for some sort of experiment, and Will was at the wrong place, wrong time like Hopper said, however there was also something about him that matched the 'description' so to speak of the test subject Vecna needed (maybe the similarities between the two of them have something to do with it?)
I'm leaning towards a Harry/Voldemort dynamic in the sense that Voldemort accidentally made Harry a horcrux during their first encounter, so what all happened between Will and Vecna was also chance. I'm thinking due to his exposure in the UD, Will's blood was changed (or something significant about him), as well as his biology (my guess is for the better though, like maybe it made his body more sturdy) which is something Vecna can probably use to his advantage going into s5, especially now that his body is burnt and damaged. Jason talking about Eddie being a 'vessel' for the devil could've been a hint of what Vecna might attempt to do with Will now.
But of course I could be wrong, as i also do wonder if Vecna took Will on purpose sometimes / I'm open to that interpretation too bc for the life of me i cannot explain the demogorgon's use of telekinesis outside of 'maybe it was just a continuity error' but i don't really think that's too fun lol
anyway i'd love to hear more people's thoughts on this! i've been wondering about this for a while and it's been on my mind so ty op for the opportunity to discuss it!
i just KNOW that the worst thing that ever happened to Mike was when they pulled Will's body out of the quarry and he never fully recovered from that
and i just KNOW it in my heart that that scene is going to be referenced in s5 when Mike and Will have their fight and speaks about what he feels in detail and FINALLY has time to Explain Himself after all these years my poor boy
will, and therefore probably the byers family, are staying with the wheelers. hopper and el also could be there but i'm not sure.
holly will DEFINITELY be important this season. "the vanishing of holly wheeler", the leak of her talking to henry on the street, and now this bts photo confirms it for me. my girl is getting put through it this season. and will be crucial for the plot too.
mike's repressed emotions are going to be focused on this season i think!! from the look of it him and holly will (at first) be together a lot this season, so if she goes missing (likely ON HIS WATCH!!) the guilt he feels will be very very intense. perfect set up for his other trauma to come to light and be talked about, like they did with max in s4.
babysitter byler is all i needed in life i love this so much
WILL IS ALSO THERE, so maybe he will also feel some guilt after holly's disappearance?? how he couldn't help someone else and protect them from what he went through?
mike and will will almost certainly be a team / share the same plot this season - they clearly spend a lot of time together and will probably both feel guilt after holly goes missing, so will probably team up to save her.
this feels so full circle. the bikes, a child going missing, rooted in hawkins- it's definitely giving season one. and i'm SO HERE FOR IT
if ur desperately in love with someone and have been for years you don't brace yourself to say i love you you to them you just don't like idk what else to say
are you, like me, a byler who wishes to write a byler doc but don't know where to begin or don't have the energy to do it alone, but REALLY want to do it? because if so, I think it'll be fun to build a byler doc together, helping each other out!
If you'd like to be on board of this mini project please fill out this form!
I´m ideally looking for about 8 Bylers. Each will be in charge of writing out Mike and Will's arcs in a specific season, and once we're all ready, we'll have a 'creative session' where we will streamline our ideas and place them into one consolidated doc!
The only requirements are to have a Discord account, and to have fun! The doc seeks to center and track the Painting arc throughout the season, as that I personally believe will lead to the Pay Off Finn mentioned in that one interview.
Also please reblog to help spread the word, it'd mean a lot to me! <3
isn't it kinda funny how byler's love is the strangest in the show called 'stranger things'? like ... are they supposed to represent the strangeness and confusion that can be falling in love sometimes? the other couples are more aware and accepting of their feelings, and Will accepts them but hides them
and then there's Mike, the strangest thing to me in the entire show because holy cow! is he aware of how he feels? is he not?? they haven't given us enough evidence yet, so how will they handle that? Keeps me up at night
im SAYING like! i think the show is about strangeness as weirdness, neurodivergence, queerness and the supernatural, because from the beginning it's about a group of kids that don't fit in and almost every character arc is about grappling with that & its consequences - for Will that's going missing, and i think the show intentionally sets it up from the start that they think he's been hatecrimed (the first scene where joyce goes to the PD and it comes up that he's queer) because Will is definitely the strangest out of the group and that makes him special & i reckon makes Henry go after him.
I also think El in the show kind of stands as an extended metaphor for Mike's gayness in a lot of ways. Because the specific way she is supernatural almost feels like a Monster Calls parallel, for where a child who is experiencing so much grief and terror, and has always found escape in fantasy, sometimes it's easier to grapple with a girl with superpowers hiding in your basement than the idea that your best friend is missing and you might be gay for him in the 80s.
The fact that she shows up as Will goes missing really sets this in place for me, because nothing would make Mike confront his feelings for Will like having him taken away. The fact that he finds El as he is looking for Will (just like Hopper finds El looking for someone else's missing kid, and it dredges up all of his feelings only for him to find something to fill that hole) to me signifies that in searching for Will and having all of his focus on him, Mike finds his queerness within himself.
Mike falling in love with El as comphet as the plot continuation of this metaphor is also perfect. For one just that she looks like a boy, shows up just as Will goes missing to fill a Will-shaped hole in Mike's heart and he only keeps her around because she can find him. For another that she mirrors Will's sensitivity, talent and strangeness, which I think must comfort Mike because he and Will must've always had a shared connection over being weird and secretly queer and that's why they're best friends above the rest of the party. It's like textbook transferrance, and also keeping in theme with the whole thing of hiding your queerness that i think El stands for in the first season physically and in the later seasons literally. in season two, his preoccupation with finding her and feeling lost without her is because even though Will came back, he isn't the same and they've grown apart - this was where he REALLY started feeling like he "lost him". He's reliving Will's going missing because he hasn't gotten over how traumatising it was, this time just with El as the subject.
(cr:flarrownatural on reddit)
i say that because Mike is always having to hide El - sometimes in his basement, where he plays D&D (where him & his friends can play pretend that they are stronger and braver and more well-liked for it than they ever could be in real life, and that Will isn't missing and Mike isn't gay), but more significantly in his closet. Most aptly the scene where Karen asks Mike to open up to her, which can quite easily be seen as her coaxing him to come out about his feelings for Will & his grief about him being missing, El's presence becomes the thing he is hiding.
Then in the later seasons, El's physical presence as his girlfriend allows him within himself and the outside world to hide his queerness again. El's character arc of being removed from society for her powers (the equivalent of becoming chronically online by consequence of social ostracisation for your neurodivergence) and only learning about people through watching TV depictions of romance and then trying to recreate those with Mike, means she is not only serving to the plot as but also living as compulsive heteronormativity, the distortion and denial of her previous role. Her arc of learning about her own personhood and how to have preferences and needs through Max and imaginably the Byers family shows her carving out her own place in the world & out of Mike's life as his way of hiding.
At the height of the show it is a series of interlinked stories about strange people and how they find love amidst suffering and entwined within their strangeness.
I think beyond Byler being the reasonable plot appropriate ending for both of their arcs, it fits so perfectly with the show that the strangest thing could be that queer love could be found at the end of so much tragedy and trauma in your friend & companion. As the idea that the supernatural elements of the show represent the challenges of figuring yourself out at that age when you're neuroqueer and navigating tragedy.
At the height of the show it is a series of interlinked stories about strange people and how they find love amidst suffering and entwined within their strangeness.
summarised the whole show in that sentence flawlessly! This reminds me of the question of 'how does love work' in the show too, since we do have verbal confirmation (aka the characters say 'i love you') but it's also strange because sometimes, they may or may not mean it (cough cough Nancy and Mike) in a romantic way. But I think gestures of love are considered as more 'solid' proof of love if that makes sense!
isn't it kinda funny how byler's love is the strangest in the show called 'stranger things'? like ... are they supposed to represent the strangeness and confusion that can be falling in love sometimes? the other couples are more aware and accepting of their feelings, and Will accepts them but hides them
and then there's Mike, the strangest thing to me in the entire show because holy cow! is he aware of how he feels? is he not?? they haven't given us enough evidence yet, so how will they handle that? Keeps me up at night
