mia

20 year old girl who is definitely normal about byler

[snartsyfartsy]

The Dial is the Key.

the dial haunts many of you, I’m sure. as it haunts me. and I know everyone knows about it, but I believe it’s MUCH more important than we realize.

out of all the pieces of confirmitygate evidence, this one is the most obvious, in my opinion. they want us to notice it. it’s HUGE on the frame. it’s moving; it’s the focus of the shot. the new color is BRIGHT red. and, they point it out to us in various ways:

if it’s just an error… why the hell would they be reminding us of it? telling us in the show to keep an eye on colors that are wrong?

the dial been on my mind for so long. its clearly important here, but the question on my mind is… why? why the dial?

well… first of all,

don’t these shapes look… similar?

the moving, pointy hand at the center? the 12 sections of markings around the perimeter? yeahhh….

so it resembles a clock. cool. awesome. …maybe it’s just a coincidence!

and that’s not even the crazy part.

but before I get into the dial more, I need to explain another theory I have that ties into all of this.

QUANTUM DECOHERENCE AND PARALLEL TIMELINES

I believe that vecna, or the mindflayer, is a being which goes against our character’s quantum reality—and that their mere existence is causing their reality to fall apart because of it.

let’s remember how the brothers emphasized that this is a science fiction show, and they clearly love playing with the quantum world. it’s been included as a plot point since at least season 3! (remember how the key to closing the gates in s3 was planck’s constant?)

(PSA: I’m not an expert, just someone who autistically researches and fixates when something applies to my special interest—so forgive any information that may be wrong. but I tried my best to ensure I explain it as accurately as possible.)

in quantum physics, it’s supposed that there are infinite realities—infinite timelines, alternate universes, etc. you get the idea. this is something that stranger things already explores!

check out this excerpt from a page in will byers secret files:

crazy stuff! (I’m being mean and blacking out the right side because it contains a smoking gun… but I wanna reveal that later)

in quantum physics, in order for parallel realities to exist, our reality needs to go through a process called quantum decoherence.

essentially, it’s a process that prevents us from seeing or interacting with parallel timelines and realities. this process keeps our universe—our reality—in check. it keeps time moving steadily, it keeps everything normal.

so what would happen if this process were to fail?

well…

Clocks would act weird

Colors / status of objects would be wrong

Timelines would be weird

People’s memory would be inconsistent

Age and time weirdness

Overall inconsistency

Everything just being… off. Weird.

HMMMMMM….

it’s almost too convenient how well it explains away all the inconsistencies. but… this is a real element of quantum physics that's inherently tied into the quantum-physics lore they have in the show!

I believe that in s5, and more noticeably from vol 2 -> onwards: parallel, wrong realities started to seep into our characters world. this might be due to the cracks, the upside down seeping into their world more and more, or due to the mind flayer gaining more control as the season goes on.

I wonder if the mind flayer, or vecna, is able to control which parallel realities are at play here? or if this process is what “vecna visions” actually are—our characters viewing alternate realities? just some food for thought.

with all that out of the way, let’s take a look back at that page from earlier:

TURN THE DIAL. AND VISIT PARALLEL REALITIES. OKAY.

THE DIAL IS WHAT CONTROLS THE SPECIFIC REALITY OUR CHARACTERS ARE IN.

(or, with a less literal reading, the changed dial is a direct indicator that the timeline is different)

but I kind of like the literal interpretation—after all, things got especially weird after they turned the dial in shock jock, right?

let’s remember what the dial does second:

it controls the voltage of electricity coming off of the WSQK tower. robin turned it up.

vecna and the mind flayer (through "vance" and "mindy") even WARNED US to "don't touch that dial!" constantly throughout the WSQK broadcasts.

(tumblr won't let me attach more than one video but you can find those recordings on my twitter here)

what else did we see happen to the tower in that episode?

no need to go searching I for an in-show screenshot, they conveniently reminds us of it in the poster for the episode!

that's right, the mind flayer particles went up into the tower. the tower that broadcasts electrical signals over the entire town.

they're literally broadcasting the MIND FLAYER PARTICLES all over town. and they turned UP the power.

this is also the episode where nancy shoots the exotic matter.

after both of these things happened, things started to get really weird.

they wanted us to notice the dial, because the dial was the turning point. it's a big part of why everything is weird. different timelines, different, wrong realities started to merge—decoherence started to fail.

(and for the bandersnatchgate truthers out there... maybe an interactive element in new content could literally be us turning the dial to get different timelines/endings?)

anyway, the dial is the key. I rest my case.

(and, as if there weren't enough gates already, I propose this specific subsect/theory be called dialgate) :]

[wet-blanket04]

the phannnnnntom of the opera is thereeeee like man whatever ! ! !

[robinkraken]

demopuppy

[radioheadwillbyers]

okay but him having the gothic husband look too, hello?

[autistic-robin-deactivated20251]

Why “Hiding in the Light” Didn’t Work: Stranger Things’ Psychospiritual Implications

Supplementary Sources: Jungian Theory & A Wrinkle In Time

Alright, buckle in. I’m running on a year’s worth of spiritual awakening, deep dives into Jungian theory and non-dualism, and my own ego’s primary coping mechanism: immersing myself in media as escapism. The purpose of this analysis is to break down the themes of non-dualism and light/darkness in ST (and maybe predict some character arcs), and also to position the narrative of ST as a psychospiritual wake-up call.

For some context: last year, I discovered the work of psychoanalyst (or philosopher, depending on who you’re talking to) Carl Jung. He had a pretty extensive theory about the human psyche that I immediately connected to the themes throughout Stranger Things, specifically Vecna’s mind control and curse. I’m going to break Jung’s theory down as succinctly as I can, and then delve into how it plays out in our favorite gay monster show.

But before I delve into Jung’s ideas, I also think it’s important to define selfhood (you’ll understand why in a minute). For the purposes of this analysis, the experience of the “self” is an illusion created by our senses, perceptions, memories, and consciousness, all of which are impermanent. Therefore, the self is what we call “conditioned.” There is no you or me, just the ideas we have of ourselves.

Now, we can get into Jung’s theory. He posited the following:

1. Every individual has a “persona” they show the world (a constructed self) to feel like they belong. Underneath this persona, everyone has a personal “shadow,” or the part of themselves they don’t want to acknowledge. This shadow is always projected onto others— every negative thought we have about someone else is a product of our own unintegrated shadow. Note: The shadow is NOT bad, it just “is.” It’s actually there to HELP us grow and integrate all the unhealed parts of us.

2. Individuals’ shadows are usually part of their unconscious, meaning most people are not aware of their shadow side or cannot bear to delve into their trauma/darkness and begin to heal it.

3. All of human consciousness is CONNECTED. This means two things. 1: There is a “collective unconsciousness” that contains the sum of all of our unintegrated trauma, and 2: We can heal our collective unconsciousness by healing our own unconsciousness.

How do we heal our own unconsciousness? By becoming AWARE of our shadow side, accepting and forgiving the conditioning that created it, and working to encourage others to do the same.

What— or rather, who— does that remind you of?

Also— great use of lighting here.

We know Vecna has direct access to his victims’ consciousness; not just their memories, cognition, and emotions, but also their awareness itself. This is how he’s able to target and trance people. But it’s not just their consciousness Vecna has access to; it’s their unconsciousness. Their shadow. Their trauma. Yes, he has psionic abilities akin to El’s, but as far as we know, El can’t access the collective unconsciousness like Vecna can. She is only capable of “remote viewing” via the void or piggybacking into people’s minds. So why is Vecna capable of this?

If you want my take on it: the only way to access a collective shadow would be through accessing your own shadow. So is Vecna really Henry, or his unintegrated shadow? And is either really condemnable, considering the larger themes of the show?

We see this theme of non-dualism echoed in Brenner’s NINA pep talk with El:

It’s fascinating to me that they’re communicating these bigger thematic ideas through the show’s “villians”— while the above conversation could be taken at surface-level as Brenner being manipulative, it’s important to acknowledge the truth of what he’s saying. NINA is only successful because El faces “the good and the bad.” This is why “hiding in the light” is a no-go for Max.

Focusing only on happy memories is a form of emotional bypassing. Throughout the show, we’ve been told time and again that hiding doesn’t work. Neither does running away. The only way out for our characters is through their own shadows.

Now, the fun part: predictions. Looking at all of this with a Jungian lens, it doesn’t make much sense to villianize a character or to end the story by “defeating evil.” In non-dual theory, there are no evil people, only unhealed ones.

We know what worked for our characters temporarily (Will in the UD, Max in her first trance, El using her powers against Vecna) was the memory and vibration of love.

This reminded me of A Wrinkle In Time, which is a science fiction novel that’s been noted more than a few times as one of Stranger Things’ primary influences. In the book, a girl and her brother travel through time to rescue their father from an alternate dimension where all beings are controlled in a hyper-individualist suburbia by a giant, all-knowing brain. The climactic “defeat” of the brain is shockingly simple, but incredible impactful— Meg, the heroine, tells it over and over that she loves it. This love ultimately brings her father and brother out of trances they are in, and they’re able to remember her and travel back home.

(Tangent: And God. The implications of that, outside of analyzing ST, are powerful. How do we live in a capitalist hellscape that is so caught up in the mind— in acheiving, obtaining, securing, protecting the ego— that many of us have forgotten our hearts? The answer is love. Loving ourselves more deeply to love all beings more deeply, “the good and the bad.” But love does not negate accountability, and it does not excuse harm.)

Our characters are all struggling with self-acceptance and self-love in some form or another. Each is wrestling with secrets and lies, and the desire to hide parts of themselves they think others can’t accept.

Mike is clearly struggling with self-loathing, guilt surrounding what happened to El in s1, and a crippling hero complex.

Will is also on the self-loathing train, continually self-sacrifices to his own detriment, and is hiding his identity out of fear (not at all villifying that, just for the record.)

El struggled to reconcile her abilities and forced weaponization with her identity outside of the lab pre-s4.

Max was suicidal and had a lot of self-hatred after B*lly’s death.

Nancy parallels Mike in her survivor’s guilt post-s1 and exhibits the same lack of self-preservation and self-sacrificing tendencies.

You get my point. So how will these characters overcome their trauma? Not through hiding, or running, or bypassing. Not through the light alone. Through love— acknowledgement of their own darkness, compassion for the unhealed nature of others, and commitment to being honest with themselves and their loved ones. We know Will is El and Henry’s mirror/foil and will play a central role in S5, and with all of this in mind I think it’s safe to say he will break the cycle of bypassing and hiding from trauma and pain once and for all. He won’t fight it like El, hide from it like Max, or run from it like he did as a kid.

Only by integrating their shadows can our characters become truly “themselves,” or as Brenner puts it, “whole.”

I will probably have much more to say about this after my re-read of A Wrinkle in Time, but for now, that’s all I’ve got. :) Hope everyone is doing well!

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

Oh, man, another Jungian take on Stranger Things? Thank you so much for this.

I once wrote up my own take combining it with my own ideas of the origin of the Upside Down being an unintentional creation of Will as he tries to suppress his "Shadow" (the Mindflayer). If I recall correctly, I had predicted that Will would ultimately defeat the Mindflayer by accepting that side of himself, rather than "killing" it. Unfortunately for me, this is all wrong now that we know about Henry, but it still fits as a connection, I think.

I like the idea of characters needing to accept themselves in their entirety, which would include their Shadow. This was already hinted at, as you pointed out, with Brenner telling El she needs to forget about superheroes and monsters and accept both her good and bad parts. Brenner was an asshole, but he was also right about that.

Ah, we need someone else who can do psychologically-based analyses of this show now that I've largely burned myself out after season 4.

[conflictofthemind]

I wouldn’t discount your theory so fast! Will and Henry are supposed to be contrasted characters, so they can still react completely differently to their circumstances.

Henry eventually submits to his shadow (Mindflayer possession) and lets it overtake him, he accepts being “the predator he was meant to be”. But if you trust TFS canon, a lot of this seems to be after pushes from Brenner and an unsupportive family environment.

Will weakens quickly after his possession but is able to fight off the Mindflayer because of the love his family had for him; however it’s implied as we all know that they never fully exorcised him.

The Mindflayer is dangerous, fully giving into the shadow is dangerous, and will never not be – the key here is self control and restraint. The Jungian shadow is very much based on Freud’s Id/Ego/Super-Ego theory, and the full self there (Ego) is achieved by a balancing act of the darker instinctual part (the shadow-like “Id”) and the moral centre (“Superego”).

Carl Jung does go over this: accepting and integrating the shadow is different than submission to it. It must be achieved by a careful controlling party:

“-it must be Jekyll, the conscious personality, who integrates the shadow ... and not vice versa. Otherwise the conscious becomes the slave of the autonomous shadow.” -Jung

Will could potentially succeed where Henry couldn’t in controlling and accepting his own shadow, and the conclusion could very well be him teaching Henry how to do so and stop his Shadow (Vecna) form in turn.

[sir--crow]

Will in season 5: screaming, crying, throwing up. veins are turning black, hallucinations haunt him. Fire surrounds him. monsters lay dead at his feet, and he stands above them with their blood on his hands. he doesn't care. he has a job to do. he has to save everyone while trying to quell this beast inside of him. this monster. how can he do that? he's using this monster's power, his power, doesn't that make him a monster? maybe he already is one. maybe he always has been. will doesn't know anymore. he doesn't think he cares, because if he can save everyone, then he'll gladly become a monster.

Mike: I think I like men.

[mayhem-in-direction-north]

Legitimately my worst nightmare is dying before byler endgame

[swirlyvie]

i go the speed limit because of byler

[miamc]

i almost got into a car accident two days ago

[miamc]

if byler was about unrequited love it would’ve been more obvious earlier on and maybe lasted like one season but whatever

[walkablepurse50]

i think constantly about them making Dustin's crush on Max surface level and then making him move on quickly so that it didn't get in the way of Lucas and Max's relationship or overstay its purpose for Dustin's story. and Will has been in love with Mike since at the very least season 2. you know... the same season where the decision was made not to drag out the dustin/lucas/max love triangle? anyways

[miamc]

if byler was about unrequited love it would’ve been more obvious earlier on and maybe lasted like one season but whatever

[byebyelurk-deactivated20260125]

Actually, they didn’t cut this scene from the original script:

They just swapped the roles.

Let’s line up the original words with the scene we were given, changing only the names …

[z0mb13b07]

"spreading through our country like some disease!"

oh. its the 80s. yknow what else was a common disease amongst queer people in the 80s? do you know what queernes was considered in the 80s? a disease. i cant rn bro. season 5 better play into the satanic panic, religious guilt, or churchgate stuff, like the setup is already there.

[miamc]

which could mean nothing

[miamc]

will’s outfits are so main character coded this season

[byclairfieldss-deactivated20260]

idk if this has been done before but um

i had way too much fun making this

[miamc]

byler church kiss on christmas

[miamc]

maybe this is a stupid way of looking at it but i feel like just the fact that will’s feelings for mike are considered freakish and wrong by the people in their time and setting means that it should be a big part of the show that claims to celebrate those who are unfairly labelled as freakish and wrong

[wcndertwins]

the ga trying to explain how will’s fitting ending would be him getting rejected by the love of his life and then dying: