I am the delusional byler. fear me.

will byers supremacy; mike wheeler stan first, person second; stop saying you have psychosis when you really just like making little quirky fan theories. these things do not correlate

[lavenderlatte222]

the fact that "whatsit" is short for "what is it", and "what is it" is said in the very first scene with the kids.

by will byers of course.

[acecreamsandwich]

All of the moments that Lucas acts as the audience/The Observer throughout S5:

Episode 2

This entire conversation is Lucas just voicing a bunch of questions we have, saying he's getting deja vu (like many viewers have when they watch this show, myself included), and saying that he no longer believes in coincidences lmao.

Episode 5

(I'm throwing this in, idc, he's clocking Mike's ass here lmao)

Episode 6

And the fact that Mike & Robin ignore his very valid questions is bizarre

Why are you looking at him with almost pity, Mike? You should be wondering this too!

Then he speaks off camera stating that it makes no sense

Then Lucas (understandably) looks annoyed because Robin diverts the convo, leaving his questions completely unaddressed:

Kind of like how we as the audience were fed up with questions still being left unanswered and everything make less and less sense? hmm

Episode 8

Lucas is the one who starts the topic of the Abyss lacking literally any and all monsters. AKA one of the most heavily criticized choices of S5. Which the "documentary" later addresses in a clip that they worried over "demo-fatigue"....ok.

[anotherjlynn]

Max just kind of, meh about the traumatic event around her.

Max was walking on loop.

Mike just kind of, meh, about the traumatic event that just happened to his family.

Holly has been taken on loop?

[nightnut]

Let’s play a game!

Where’s Will, corruptiongate (2x04) — and 3 Musketeers

three friends biking to school

Will comes out of nowhere, looks like he’s not with them at all, placed in the very corner

the previous shot we have is Will at home

and the next scene after ‘the ghostbusters core 4’ is also at home, preparing for trick or treating, where on the left we see X is a lie and on the right butterflygate (yes, it’s those butterflies they have in Cali in s4, and the same Anna Baxter has in Tales!)

I’ve told you already what they’re planning to do with VHS: my suspicion of that was evoked by exactly such framing. I found unexpected things, examining Will’s locations in the shots, although I was thinking that the duffs were separating Will just visually and ‘psychologically’, but then I saw their vhs ratio and it clicked.

but they will not just crop Will out of the corners!

Will has always been erased visually from the narrative!

❗️It happens in the scenes from different POVs (which makes it possible for him personally communicate with his family or with Mike, but he doesn’t communicate with anyone anymore at all)

Even when Will participates, it’s done the way you can cut him out, and nothing changes: look, Mike doesn’t call him by his name:

this line has always felt like no one heard Will, and now I understand why: bc no one did.

Then the duffs hide Will behind the core 3:

Then we move to school, and there we see only Lucas and Dustin interested in Max

After school it’s again three of them on the bikes (We’re still playing, btw! Where’s Will?)

Like I said, after the morning scene, next time we see Will is again at home, and then Jonathan takes him to the guys, we can hear Dustin calling “Will!” from the distance, but we do not see Will’s friends acknowledging him personally. Only Mike. We’re gonna see not fully direct communication with Will’s other friends, and I believe, how we see him depends on the POVs.

Here’s Will’s POV, Mike’s there:

Dustin addresses Mike

Mike says “I am”, again without mentioning Will (like when he said who’s Will without calling him Will in the morning)

And again no name

More visual erasure:

👇And my absolute favourite one !!! 👇

I have NEVER understood why no one notices that the only thing wrong about 3 Musketeers is that there are 4 Musketeers! And obviously this is built around the task to make us question that.

But there are 3 Musketeers, bc Will is not there.

I wanted to include this into another big theory post, but it’ll take eternity to finish that one (especially with this amount of screenshots per episode, and I’ve collected a bunch by this point), and I was dying to share it asap :)

I know, you’re wondering what’s up with Crazy together, and surely it bothers me no less; I keep examining the story that couldn’t be told and have assumptions about what is going on, which I will share in the next posts!

tagging those ones who might be interested! (If you don’t wanna be tagged, lmk) @sorafyr3 @gritstartar @youaremess @artiandthebeat @rpfwithmama @ten-universe @slavless @demogorgirl7 @thatgirlalt @aprilmarsden3 @sidoniemoon @honeymandarin @bbghostbones @warmglowhc @cara-ti-amo @wrathfulstarlightcavern @worldofsouthernwind

[ main corruptiongate theory posts ]

[lavenderlatte222]

Demogorgon Difference

S1E8 (timestamp 15:48)

Regular version vs. VHS special edition:

Regular version: The demogorgon puts its arm on whatever's on the ground there and opens its mouth.

VHS version: The demogorgon just stands up and stands there.

The audio seems to be the same in both versions.

Another difference.

Regular version vs. VHS special edition:

Regular version: It looks like there's UD membrane, and the ceiling is cracking.

VHS version: It looks like the ceiling itself is more membrane-like.

There's also a white line on the screen right before this all happens.

[thebestofmyrmidons]

I felt kind of guilty sitting on this information, but if anyone cares, here are the official maps of both the Rainbow Room and the Creel House, released by the production designer Chris Trujillo a few years ago - I'm mainly sharing this in case it helps anyone to decode the Rainbow Room cipher, but I've kind of lost hope in that stupid puzzle, not gonna lie.

I don't feel like analysing this in detail, but just pushing this out there in case someone smart ones to do something with this.

[candaceswonderland]

I saw someone on TikTok saying she decoded the rainbow room maze from the hawkins lab website, that just came out, and this is what she found.

1) this is the "maze" for those who don't know what I'm talking about.

2) her comment:

So, She basically copied the irl I guess and put it through python to get the answers and this is what it said:

"make believe I'm everywhere, I'm hidden in the lines" (hidden in the lines? Maybe the white lines from the VHS version) that's the Never Ending Story song from season 3. Which connects with the 3 sentence: The neverending story duet

The last one is "Hawkins lab override granted" for the non-english speakers, it means the annulment of control over Hawkins Laboratory has been granted. Basically, there is no more Hawkins Lab, I have the worst memory so I looked it up and got this response

I don't know, I don't remember anything from the earlier season, I have to do a full rewatch but yeah, here you go.

[gritstartar]

VHS TAPEGATE!!

OKAY Y’ALL!!!!!

My first ~major~ find on the VHS Season

I know everyone is talking about the white lines, but LOOK HOW MUCH OF THE DEMOGORGON you can see in the background in this shot! That’s CRAZY! I’m going to reblog with the original clip just for comparison!

💬 0  🔁 0  ❤️ 0

JK it won’t let me repost with it!

Electromagneticgate we are so here! I don’t know what it means at all yet, but it’s so interesting because I wonder how this will work when we get to the actual clip of the Shadow Monster on the VHS-C but we’re watching it on VHS or on VHS-C (because VHS-C was out in 1984). Will it disappear…? Are the true monsters, more visible on VHS?

I mean, they are shown to interact with tapes, and now we are getting the VHS tapes. VHS tapes work by having analog signals (different from like radio signals but still signals) encoded onto them, and then the VCR basically decodes them into a format that is visible on your screen.

Even the damn NOISE from a VHS tape looks like the starry sky backgrounds in the show…

Remind you of anything…?

Lastly, putting the date on a VHS is a manual recording option… Will, you smart boy!

Worth noting, this DATED tape is also the one the lab confiscated… 🤨🧐

Some of the ones Brenner has are dated, some are not.

Removing height would also likely, get rid of these dates! *we need more height!*

This is making me wonder about these end shots again, the black and white.

Lastly, the consumer … VHS (video home system) is a consumer-level analog tape recording 👀

WHAT does that mean hehehehe in this context ANYWAYS why is Brenner using consumer level taping for the lab what a weirdo, like ur with the government you have access to higher technology id assume

[whynotimtired]

For the "Will is El" theory 😭

[olgoki]

Seasons in vhs format coming out once every month would make actually so much sense with cokegate.

Our new coke is Tales from 85 since both were released on April 23.

We may not got an announcement of conformitygate and new epsiodes but we did get our classic coke back, in a way that makes way more sense that new episodes would.

Like think about it, what is more classic to Stranger Things, S1 that came out 10 years ago or new secret episodes we never saw?

Now if this vhs versions of Stranger Things seasons will be coming out one season every month it is perfect with cokegate.

One season per month would mean they would be released as follows:

July – S1

August – S2

September – S3

October – S4

November – S5

We also know that the second season of Tales from 85 is set to be released in October.

So, since Tales is coming in October, and IF the vhs will be released monthly, that means they will coexist.

Just as New Coke and Classic Coke coexisted on store shelves, we’ll get new Tales from 85 content at the same time we’ll maybe be getting our classic Stranger Things content (but in a VHS version).

[amvthea]

WSQK Sync - Part 1

There are three sides in total: Side A, Side B, and Side C. This is the syncing system I use (which differs from the system(s) other theorists have been using):

Here's the main reason why:

This crazy sync was on Side C.

Now, I don't think we can use the same section to sync, for example, both the documentary and Tales from '85. I also think that what matters most is how the hosts' lines relate to what we see in the show—these are the most important anchors.

Part 2

[whynotimtired]

Does anyone have a west end slime tutorial 😔 i need it BAD

[hayesdraws]

Wondering if the vhs season releases won't have differences, per say, but will instead just add more and more tracking/static until it's unrecognizable, then cut to the real story (s6 or whatever they give us) and show exactly Why there are so many trackings/cut video in the VHS seasons

[chromatictapestryperditions]

ST came out in 8 releases, so maybe that'll be the number of tapes: S1, S2, S3, two S4 volumes, three S5 volumes. 8 = illusion and infinite loop. It kinda makes sense how they split S5 so that it was obvious how much worse each volume got. I was joking that the S5 tapes will only be static but maybe only the S5 finale tape will be static.

And then?

Vance Goodman: "Turn this one up to - yes - eleven. Really, turn it up to eleven!"

If they release a tape every two weeks, the S5 finale tape is out about two weeks before November 6.

[itswhatyougive]

Elmax were supposed to hug in the reunion WE WERE ROBBED

[nightnut]

Dr Owens, Barb/Nancy, two tapes-memories in one: Jonathan and Nancy were not together in the Lab

(the Shutter Island, The Truman Show and Fight Club)

Do you remember a theory that Hawkins got flayed in the end of season 2? I believe we have corrupted memories earlier (most likely from the very beginning of the show, but that’s story for another time). Let’s check this one out.

The first thing that stood out to me was this shot:

Dr Owens opens the door, and the scientist starts “working” immediately. He was not working, when the door opened, he started at the same moment. This jumped out at me as if it was staged, and no one was indeed working there until Nancy and Jonathan entered the room. It gave The Truman Show immediately, and I rewatched the whole sequence… a dozen times.

The sequence starts with this shot:

Here we see just Jonathan, and it would be fine, if only I didn’t feel weird by the way the next shot separates Jonathan from Nancy: we see just him in the mirror, which is okay for thing angle, but something still feels off… For example, the fact that Jonathan in the mirror is not Jonathan in the room. The mirror is fake!

You can see this clearly if you compare the way the chair is seen and Jonathan’s posture.

Then, this shot is followed by (what would you think) the surveillance camera shot 🙂‍↕️ where everything goes even wilder right away:

as much as I could dismiss Jonathan’s hands (the right one is on the left one, while in the shot before the left one was above) or Nancy’s bag (and its shoulder strap) changing position, we still have Jonathan’s posture on the left where he sits with his back against his backrest, while in the mirror it’s different again, but also!!!!

NANCY IS TRANSPARENT!

It looks like her image was put above Jonathan’s. There’s literally no explanation for this table to be seen at the same time we see Nancy. And besides, her image clearly differs from the whole shot. Meanwhile, the shot with Jonathan looks like he is alone there silently looking right into the camera.

My first theory was that Nancy is non-existent in this sequence whatsoever and this is only Jon’s memory, but some dialogues after made me reconsider this. Anyways, then Owens suggest a walk, and Jonathan again doesn’t match his reflection: staying right in front of the chair on this side, he stands very far in the mirror, and also close to the end of the table (although he moves synchronically).

They start walking, and here I caught The Truman Show vibes, when several people were turning around (as if they were curious actors), and The Shutter Island vibes bc, even though Owens addresses them both a couple of times, it still can be seen as if he was talking to only one of them for whom this spectacle is played. (+ Fight Club)

(fyi, George Sargon died on March 22nd, 1956)

Here I had a theory that Jonathan lost his mind after Will’s death, and Owens plays along to his fantasy that he investigates something with Nancy Wheeler, and everyone knows what’s happening and that’s why they turn around.

But is the corridor walk Jonathan’s memory?

The wording “your brother and Ms. Holland”… Whose brother? Did anything happened to Mike? Why does it sound like he speaks to just one person? And this person is Nancy… Imagine, that she’s alone: he speaks of Mike, or Barbara, then:

“You guys been together long?” “We (we)re not together.” “Wanna see what really killed your friend?”

It could be about Jonathan and Will, but then Barb stands out and I barely see Jonathan and Barb as a possibility… but who knows atp. My bet is Bancy though, with the hunch that here we witness two separate tapes and memories combined. Firstly, Jonathan’s, then Nancy’s. Corrupted memories by Brenner’s tapes?

Enjoy!

I’ll finish the post with this:

Consider the possibility that Jonathan in the mirror is Jonathan on the tape, the hands actually match… the fact that tape!Jon’s and real!John’s hands do not match can be just a production error (moreover, on the tape we can see a mirror too in the “correct” place, not mirrored, so I might be wrong), but the idea of the mirrored reality seems curious.

___________________________________________ tagging honey buns who were waiting for the post: @warmglowhc @wrathfulstarlightcavern @sorafyr3 @gritstartar @worldofsouthernwind @itswhatyougive ; @bbghostbones I meant the very last panel, but also I recommend you to check out George Sargon, I didn’t find anything for my theories, briefly reading his biography, but it might be useful for you!

[byler-blurts]

the white lines in the vhs tapes (ep 3-5)

episode 3 is incomplete because i just started watching the vhs version where i stopped my rewatch of the regular version. i'm probably gonna continue this for the other episodes over the weekend :)

timestamps (only minute) in brackets

episode 3 (incomplete!)

(21) el looking at pics of barb | (45) joyce talking to will through the lights

episode 4

(4) hop leaving the byers' house after telling joyce about will's body | (6) mike looking at will's art after learning about his 'death' | (9) mike skipping school

(14) honorable mention: this weird glitch after nancy gets mad at steve for caring more about his parents finding out about the party than barb | (16) dustin after lucas says that will is dead | (27) first exploration of the UD

(31) troy trying to get back to mike (right before el makes him pee himself) | (41) el exhausted after contacting will

episode 5

(1) hop breaking into the lab but not being able to open a door | (5) kids discussing if/how el led them to will | (7) hop seeing the gate

(10) lonnie telling jonathan to behave at the funeral | (13) flashback to before will was missing | (18) the lab discovering that el used the radio

(21) informing hop about two more residents going missing | (30) jonathan talking about his parents | (33) el manipulating their compasses

(37) after hop was bugged | (41) when lucas realizes el misled them | (50) nancy in the UD seeing the demogorgon for the first time

since i don't have time to look further into it: we recently talked about the cut-up method where you scramble and rearrange pieces of text. i wonder if we need to rearrange the stills (or clips) from the white line scenes, arranging them according to the position of the white line? (top to bottom)

also interesting that episode 5 has this many white lines compared to episode 3 and 4 (unless ep 3 has a bunch in the first 20 mins, or maybe i missed some)

[lilialunaa]

are we seeing the resemblance

(they’re uploading this for free on the webtoon app over the upcoming weeks, it’s been out for a while already tho!!!)