kat!

she/they // 18 // number one will byers defender

[pinkeoni]

Will Byers, Coming of Age, Transformations, Predators, Queerness & Teen Wolf

There’s one part of the “leaks” that sappicjopper put out that really caught my attention—

And as to not look naïve, yes I am highly aware that these “leaks” are likely fake. However, disregarding the legitimacy of this as a “leak,” it is in itself a compelling idea that does have some legs to stand on as a theory.

So awhile ago I made a post about Will’s coming of age story and how that fits into the horror genre, and how exploring coming of age and sexual awakening through the supernatural is a popular trope.

I wanna point out three films I use in my analysis, Ginger Snaps, Jennifer’s Body, and Black Swan. These films have a lot of things in common, but one aspect I want to point out is there use of physical transformation.

These transformations covers an umbrella of different themes depending on the character, but something that all three of them have in common is sexuality. As all of these women become more sexually liberated, and thereby seen as dangerous by those around them, they fall deeper into these physical transformations. (IE Jennifer and Ginger both eating men after they have sex with them)

In my original post I also discuss how this fear of sexuality, or view of sexuality as something monstrous and predatory, is related to queerness. Both Jennifer Check and Nina Sayers are visibly queer characters in both their respective films.

So what? All of this is very speculative, how do I know that Will is going to go through a similar arc, just because I can relate him to a few movies that I like personally? How do I know that the Duffer’s are going to do something similar? Is there reference to a movie within in the show, that features transformation as an allegory for coming of age and queerness?

Actually, there is.

All credits goes to @chirpsythismorning for their deep dive post into the shows use of the film Teen Wolf, which appears in the show as one of Rick Conroy’s recent rentals as well as the poster in the background of a few shots.

(screenshot credits to @chirpsythismorning)

The Freddy Krueger standee, the character who kills people in their dreams whose actor makes a cameo in the show, positioned right over Max’s shoulder should be enough to say that the film references in the background are a lot more than just meaningless references.

Teen Wolf is a 1985 supernatural coming of age movie about a teen named Scott who learns that he is a werewolf.

Within s4 we actually get some parallels between the film and Lucas’ arc— Scott is a basketball player who seeks popularity before embracing who he is and what he really wants. However, I think it’s possible that the film could also be a piece of foreshadowing for Will’s arc in s5.

While Scott is not an explicitly queer character, there is some coding within the film that correlates his lycanthropy with queerness. Remember this is a mainstream teen movie from the 1980’s, if there’s going to be any queerness it’s gonna have to come from subtext, although it is pretty unsubtle.

There’s this very heavy handed scene where Scott confesses to Stiles that he’s a werewolf, and Stiles believes that Scott is coming out to him initially.

There’s also this conversation Scott has with his father that can be read as queer coded.

Or essentially saying, being queer isn’t easy, but it’s not bad either. And then Scott equating his queerness with being a predator, and expects to be hunted as such.

When Scott goes through his first full transformation, it’s right after he played a game of two minutes in heaven with his childhood friend Boof, equating sexuality with his beastlihood.

In s4, there’s a big emphasis on the word predator.

Will’s queerness is an open secret in a town that believed he was “killed by some other queer” and that a group of satanic sodomizers are responsible for murder. I’m willing to bet that that predator label is going to be put onto Will, especially as he begins to come more into his own sexuality.

What would be a literal way to portray this predator title? By having him transform into a predatory creature, just as everyone sees him.

Am I saying Will is going to become a werewolf? Well no, that wouldn’t really make sense with the show. But there is something that may have even been foreshadowed in the show.

How would this transformation even happen? Well, as our “leaker,” or rather, enthusiastic theorist suggests, it has something to do with his connection to the Upside Down, which is progressively leaking more and more into Hawkins. So not a literal zombie, but maybe a zombie like creature that could survive in the Upside Down.

When Vecna was sent through the gate to the UD we saw him go through a physical transformation as he adapted to his environment. This would he a like a speedrun version of that amplified by Will’s own personal connection to the UD (which I believe predates his kidnapping)

It would also serve as a way to highlight the parallels between Vecna and Will, what by having Will physically become similar to him. What better way to show the Vecna/Will mirrors by having Will look in the mirror and see the spitting image of Vecna staring back at him.

Bonus: Scott in Teen Wolf in played by Michael J. Fox, and which character was dressed similarly to a popular Michael J. Fox character in season one?

[lesbianmindflayer-deactivated20]

Mike being shown time and time again in season 4 to be observant. Yet people still think he’s oblivious.

[lesbianmindflayer-deactivated20]

Some moments in previous seasons:

+ another from season 4

[mlchaelwheeler]

Is the end scene of S4 actually Will's "Vecna vision"?

I just want to quick point out that this possibility was first pointed out by @heroesbyler in this post. I'll be adding some of my own evidence to Stav's original idea, as well as doing some theorizing.

So we know S5 is going to pick up right where S4 left off. We also know that S5 is action-packed from the start. Let's take a look at the final scene of S4, starting from when Will feels Vecna outside Hopper's cabin.

Look how warm the lighting is in this scene! It has warm hues, particularly yellow and orange. However, the minute Will feels Vecna in the back of his neck, the lighting immediately changes.

The scene becomes much darker, the lighting turning towards a blue/grey hue. This is the moment I believe Will entered his trance from Vecna. Let's take a look at the lighting in the scene where Max entered her Vecna vision.

Look familiar? The scene starts out in very bright lighting then quickly shifts to darkness. Why isn't the lighting for Will's vision so starkly different? It's because this is a plot device to throw off the audience's suspicions after S4. No one expected Will to get tranced right at the end. No one would expect the scenes they believe to be real to actually be fabricated by Vecna. It's called suspense! It's a stunning plot twist!

This isn't my only evidence though. Another strange thing about the final scene is that the grass/flowers are decaying right in front of the characters' eyes. El picks up a flower and it disentegrates to pieces. That seems weird, given how far they're standing from a gate.

The nearest gate is way in the distance, perhaps even a mile away. Why is only the grass by the characters rotting? The ground by other gates we've seen looks perfectly normal.

I believe this is because where Vecna goes, things rot. Think back to Chrissy's vision. The table of food she runs across is rotted and decaying. The pit Fred falls into also is rotting and greyish. It's hard to tell with Max's vision, since the entire ground is covered by fog. Yet we can probably assume that where Vecna walks (or around him) is where the ground rots, just like what we see only near the characters in the final scene of S4.

Extra Byler theory about Will's vision:

The final scene makes a big show of Jopper and Jancy holding hands, with Mike and Will standing close to each other, but not touching. There is even a zoom shot on Hopper grabbing Joyce's hand for extra emphasis.

What if Will's vision in S5 starts out with Mike grabbing his hand? Will is startled, but smiles. The camera pans down to their hands linked, only for Mike's hand to fade, replaced by Vecna's. "This is what you've always wanted, right William?" This would be a great parallel to Vecna posing as both Susan and Billy to inflict maximal trauma on Max. Imagine if Vecna is in that final scene, but disguised as Mike.

[pinkeoni]

Cheering for Will to do something creepy and cryptic next season. Let him be a little wierd and off putting

[sknnymnne]

casual m!leven enjoyer to hardcore i-will-die-if-it’s-not-canon byler shipper pipeline

[ladyfromaspookyforest]

Just thinkin' about the yellow stripes on Mike's flannel and the red ones on El's. It's almost like Mike's falling in love with Will and El's falling in love with herself or something. Idk something cooky like that.

Color theory brainrot has a hold on me.

[erikiara80]

Will, the Forever Clock and Cerebro

The writers used Dustin’s inventions to tell us A LOT about Will and his powers. 

The Forever Clock, very useful in the apocalypse is probably about time powers, timelines and time loop… Maybe only Vecna has time powers, we don’t know, but Will’s name is on the grandfather clock, so he can definitely ruin his plan. 

But let’s talk about Cerebro! 

Cerebro, an unassembled, one-of-a-kind battery powered radio tower

Will: So it’s like a HAM radio.

Dustin: The Cadillac of HAM radios. This baby carries a crystal clear connection over vast distances. I’m talking North Pole to South.

Note: Dustin uses Cerebro to communicate with Suzie, who lives in Salt Lake City. Water and salt. Two things that are constantly mentioned on the show. @will80sbyers made a masterpost about it )

Why is Cerebro connected to Will?

1.  One-of-a-kind It’s also the title of the book behind Will in Lenora.

That could mean that his powers or his very existence are important.

2.  Battery.  Will has always been associated with lights, and in S4 Nancy even says it: When Will was in the Upside Down lights came to life.

So it is possible that his powers give the UD and the hive-mind energy, and Vecna needs them to build a new world.

3.  Battery powered radio tower 

It doesn’t matter if Will is actually Twelve or not, Will’s also been associated with the number twelve since S1. When Hopper talks with Joyce after looking for Will, she says: Six hours. It’s been six hours! And when she’s at the lab with Brenner, he says:Six. Six people (have disappeared) And there are many other examples

And what does Twelve do in the Rainbow Room? He builds a red tower.

So it really seems that Will can build. Creation powers? The shed scene is the first time they mention that, when Jonathan tells him that they built Castle Byers just the way Will drew it (and Vecna/Mind Flayer is also there, listening)

Or maybe, like a battery, Will can give the UD the energy to grow and spread.

In S3 the Flayed had to eat fertilizers for the Mind Flayer to build its body. Maybe Will’s powers/energy are like “fertilizers” too, but for the whole Upside Down. 

He’s like the water that plants need to grow.

I’m still analyzing the many Billy-Will parallels but it’s in this season that the writers started to show AND tell what Vecna wants from Will. 

Vecna/Mind Flayer tells someone named William, who he just possessed, in a scene that has many parallels with Will’s vanishing, that he wants him to build.

Keep reading

[ilynotes]

i think people have been very deeply misinterpreting mikes character and struggles in s4. his relationship problems with el aren’t about him “trying to be normal” and fearing abnormality, it’s about his codependency and his fears of being alone.

mike wants to be someone’s favorite person. he wants to be someone’s special person. he wants someone to need him, to rely on him, just as he can do the same to them. i see a lot of people say mike needs to learn it’s okay to not be needed because you can still be wanted without being needed, and sometimes that's enough, but i disagree. i don’t think there’s anything wrong with wanting to be needed, because that’s what literally all of us want deep down. it’s easy to be wanted by anybody. to be loved by anyone. to be liked by someone. but to have somebody love you so much that they need you in their life, that they need you around, and cannot live easy without the presence and love you give them — that’s a whole different thing. to need each other is a much more intense and raw form of love. when mike tells will so many times that he “keeps telling himself el still needs him,” but he “doesn’t believe it” that he thinks they really might not come back from this fight, will tries to reassure him and say, no, of course she needs you. how could she not? but will is misreading els feelings for mike, when the truth is, mike is right. she doesn’t need him anymore. not in the way she used to or the way he wants her to. and that’s a soul crushing thing for anyone; to realize the person that made you feel like you had a purpose, that looked at you like you were something so special, that made you feel larger than life — doesn’t feel that way anymore.

the thing about mike is he doesn’t know how to live for himself, he doesn’t want to. he lives and shines when he has someone to love with his whole being, and to lose something like that is worse than dying. mike is so codependent on el because he so desperately does not want to lose her, does not want to lose himself through the process of losing her, he is terrified of her not needing him anymore because if he isn’t needed then who is he? where is he supposed to go? so he projects onto el and desperately wants to believe that el needs him the way he needs her. but she doesn’t.

mike doesn’t realize will is that special person for him, he doesn’t realize will is the one that needs him the way he wants to be needed and desired. that will cannot live easily without mike in his life, just like how mike couldn’t live easily without will and el in his. and el and mikes relationship isn’t toxic, or fake, either. el loves mike, she always has. but she doesn’t really need him the way he does. and mike needs el, but does he love her the way she does?

i just think people have been missing the point. mikes feelings and actions make sense when you consider everything he’s bottling up and worrying about inside. it’s hard to read how he feels when he hides everything but what he wants more than anything else is to belong, to be loved and needed so unconditionally, to have that special relationship with someone. he’s deeply insecure of himself and always worrying he isn’t enough, he craves reassurance, he tries so hard to be enough and hide from his fears of being alone or rejected that he fucks everything up. mike doesn’t even have all his feelings and emotions figured out for himself — so of course it’d be hard for us to understand them too.

[will80sbyers]

they must have had such a nice day together here

[4ngelbytez]

I don’t wanna jump to any conclusions with that sign.

But.

WARRRRR (maybe) IS OVERRRRRR

[tobergrae-deactivated20230812]

byler from Will's perspective is just a never ending loop of "I think Mike likes me back" "never mind" "oh, wait, maybe he does" "nope, I'm an idiot" "ohhhhh wait a minute" "shit"

[neiljostenpussyindulgence]

Will:

[bylershipperakaroxy]

LMFAOOO

[sknnymnne]

if they ever (please) drop a mike book (pretty please) i need it to be called smalltown boy

[lesbianmindflayer-deactivated20]

Mike Is Getting Vecna’d Theory

Something I’ve been looking into over the last couple of months has been signs that Mike is getting targeted by Vecna. From subtle visual hints, to major story elements Mike Wheeler is the perfect bait for Vecna to get to El and Will.

(CW: Fake blood, violence, scary images, monsters, flashing lights, discussions of abuse etc.)

[pinkeoni]

One selfish reason why I like Will creation powers theory so much is because it does make him stupidly powerful in a way that makes Vecna look like a total loser in comparison. Oh you had to mind control half the town into drinking clorox so you could make your one (1) big monster meanwhile twelve-year-old Will is blasting out sentient monsters and perfect replicas of Hawkins without even realizing it. You wanna be him sooooo bad

[chloesdaylight]

i desperately need to know how this person is doing

[chirpsythismorning]

Remember when the Duffer’s talked about a song they put in 4x08 and Matt was like ‘you know the one we’re talking about’ and Ross was just beaming on the side… the fact that they were talking about Being Different and we just moved on

[bylershipperakaroxy]

Being different as a soundtrack is extremely depressing I cant-

[bylerluminescence-deactivated20]

(trying this again) reblog this if you ship byler