And what if I said that whenever Mexican food 🌶️is referenced on Stranger Things, it’s Chance / Bychance foreshadowing?
What then… 🥀
Mexican food is ALWAYS referenced when Mike is facing relationship & jealousy problems.
BONUS AT THE END OF THE POST: I also theorize / speculate on the possible bychance timeline, byler development & Will’s s5 character arc.
🌯 BURRITOS (s4)
El talks about “burritos for breakfast” right when Mike is internally seething with jealousy at the airport. “That’s a little weird”, he says, pissed.
This was after the “shitty knockoff” comment. @ven0moir (I think) has pointed out how this refers to Chance. I think this is how bitter jealous Mike is going to see Chance: a shitty knockoff of himself.
“Are your friends gonna meet us there [at Rink-o-Mania]?”. Will: “Friends? What friends??.”
El = Will
Burritos = Chance
Friends = Chance & maybe some kind of secret queer scene (Chance’s friend group outside of the jocks -> @ven0moir has pointed out how Chance is visually & tonally framed as distanced from the other jocks -> this probably means he was heading towards another place or activity before Jason pulled him to the basketball celebration party -> “What friends??” seems to imply these clubbing guys would not exactly only be Will’s friends but something more intimate or promiscuous).
Rink-O-Mania = disco / club where that queer community & friends usually meet for partying (El: “I go to lots of parties here”).
🧀 NACHOS (s3)
“What did I do wrong?!?!” asks Mike while eating nachos messily & stressfully, lying on the sofa, after being dumped. “I just don’t understand what I did to deserve this.”
Lucas: “Mike. Relax. You got this.”
Mike: *burps* “Dude. You can SMELL the nacho cheese”.
Nachos = Chance
Mike being dumped by El in s3 = Mike being “dumped” by Will in s5, when he finds out Will is seeing Chance.
(by that time, Mike’s not dating Will or actually breaking up with him, but in his emotional possessive mind he is lmfao).
“*burps* You can SMELL the nacho cheese” = Mike being jealous, resentful & a douche to / about Chance, calling him “cheesy”, lame, etc. -> & this is likely why Will gets annoyed or pissed off at Mike & temporarily “dumps” him as a friend.
🌮 TACO BELL (s3)
“See? What did I tell you? There’s so much more to life than stupid boys!” Max says while running around Starcourt with El & a big Taco Bell restaurant sign is seen behind them.
Meanwhile, Mike is frustrated because of having been dumped & unable to find a reconciliation gift.
Will couldn’t care less, he’s bored, impatient & eager to “play D&D”.
Taco Bell = Chance
“Stupid boys” = Mike
El = Will
Max = someone or even just a part of Will who breaks him free of his dependency on Mike & empowers him to explore other options romantically & sexually.
D&D = (bear with me lmfaoooo) Dick & Dick 😹 = gay activities basically -> especially associated to Byler, as D&D is framed as their love language & a sign of their compatibility as nerds.
🧠 TLDR. FOR SEASON 5:
— As he becomes 16 years old, Will incrementally feels the need for emotional, romantic & sexual connection;
— However, Mike is stalling: he won’t leave El, be honest with himself & others, come out or make a proper first move;
— Will feels lonely, frustrated, tired of waiting for Mike, out of hope & convinced that his true love will never be properly requited;
— Will also has a certain impatient, impulsive, gambling, masochist, self-deprecating & even self-harming unhealthy side to him that barely anybody on the ST or Byler fandom ever talks about in a serious way or is even willing to recognize. But it’s still a fact that it’s there, and we kinda know why that is (hint: Lonnie). Now, what do these tendencies mean for s5 exactly? Only God knows, but we can certainly make some guesses.
— Will starts exploring his sexuality with other people (Chance & what I predict is Chance’s “unofficial” friend group which will probably be comprised of an underground queer community involved in partying, sex & drugs).
— This is… very likely & predictably not going to end well. Mike will need to step in at some point.
💉🌿💊THE DRUG THEME (a small observation):
I think Chance is also a drug dealer.
This tracks with the drug dealer Eddie Munson foreshadowing & also the common association of Mexico to illegal drug production & trafficking (fulfilling Stranger Things’ customary use of cliché tropes & stereotypes).
Maybe Chance, being Mexican, has family in that business back at home— & that’s how he manages to traffic drugs into his partying peer group.
I don’t know though! This is all just speculation. But let’s also acknowledge how it kinda fits & makes sense…
🔞🚳 TW: CSA & TRAFFICKING
This entire “party, sex & drugs” ordeal seems to me like one of those narrative ‘cycles’ or ‘loops’ in Stranger Things where future events ‘echo’ the past (and vice-versa).
What I mean by this:
The experimental lifestyle above is going to echo / mirror a much more serious & dark past version of it.
This past version being all the illegal & nefarious activities & circles Will’s father, Lonnie, was involved in:
The alcoholism, the drug dealing, the promiscuity, the abuse, the prostitution, & even the child sex trafficking ring— stuff that has subtly but surely & consistently been foreshadowed in subtext throughout the entire show & other official canon materials.
What this means for Will:
In the middle of his— less serious & less illegal, I would hope— s5 situation, he will get in trouble, FOR SURE. SOMEHOW. I don’t know what will happen exactly, but I do have to say I’m pretty fucking scared tbh.
It will mirror and even trigger his past trauma.
Which is obviously going to intertwine with the supernatural plot as well.
This is where I believe Mike is going to truly step in & prove himself to be Will’s true love— sticking to his side through thick & thin. ⚔️🔮
🩷 Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you think.
……………………
Tagging ppl who are usually interested in bychance theories: @ven0moir @bylerlipglances @greenfiend @offsidetracked @byerstst
🗝⸮₎₎⁾⁾⸝⁺⋆｡ﾟ⋆⸜﹒⋯﹒
To see more of my Bychance posts, click here -> BYCHANCE MASTERPOST.
