#The Stranger in the mirror

[ego-sum-imperator]

Little cartoon I made to illustrate the great fanfiction ‘The Stranger in the mirror’ by @eriathalia

I hope you will enjoy it, part 2 is coming soon and the rest as soon as I can!

Part.1

[autumnsoldier13]

Oh wow the book I’m listening to just mentioned todays date (significant and awful to one of the characters)

[netflix]

You're not ready for what's next on Netflix

[tryingonametaphor]

Why Will Byers?

An analysis and theory on why Henry/Vecna targeted Will first in season 1 and his plans for Will in season 5

‼️Contains The First Shadow (TFS) spoilers so please proceed with caution.‼️

This is going to be a little long but I’ve tried to give as much context as I can without actually being able to show snippets from the stage play. This is my interpretation of everything that went down as a member of the audience and not as someone who has read up any theories about TFS before. To understand why Henry took Will first in 1983, we have to start with -

Henry and Joyce

From all the times I’ve watched TFS, the one thing that has stuck with me is the final conversation Henry has with Joyce. It’s just before his last confrontation with Patty Newby and before he joins Brenner for good. Joyce is the last person (who doesn’t know about Henry’s powers) that he canonically talks to.

Throughout the entire play Joyce, Hopper, and Bob are investigating the animals dying at the hands of Henry and come to the conclusion that Victor Creel has been the one doing the killing. They get so close to solving the case. In her last conversation with Henry, Joyce tries to comfort him by saying that Victor will pay for his crimes - which makes Henry laugh because she’s so close yet so far from the truth. He gets a little frustrated and says something along the lines of “You don’t get it. But someday you will.” (edit 28/9: the exact dialogue is [Henry: you’re too nice. that is how they’ll get you. you have to learn to do anything you can to protect the ones you love] [Joyce: I don’t understand.] [Henry: You will.]) The next time we see Henry make a reappearance in Joyce’s life is during -

The Vanishing of Will Byers

Will is taken into the Upside Down (UD) by Henry. It’s not even a question anymore. All of the context clues from 1x1 lead us to believe that Will’s kidnapping was not by a demogorgon. Will - a 12 year old - miraculously survives a week in the upside down with no food or water. Will is even around the demogorgon a few times in the Upside Down. (Joyce communicating with Will through the lights and then the demogorgon coming after her immediately).

Barb dies the night she is taken but Will stays alive and also somehow manages to talk to Joyce through the wall. Joyce is led exactly to where Will was held at the end of s1 and he makes it out alive. It’s almost as if Henry knew all along that Joyce was the most capable of never giving up on finding her son. Like Henry took Will Byers because he was Joyce’s son. And like he was giving her just enough to know that Will was alive. Even when Joyce and Hopper find him at the end in a state of near death, he’s not injured by a creature. He was being prepared for the next stage of Vecna’s plan -

The Possession of Will Byers

The origins of Henry’s powers happen as such - As a kid, he is transported into the UD (originally coined Dimension X by the government) for a few hours because he touched something he wasn’t meant to touch. During his time in there, he came in contact with the Mind Flayer (MF). According to TFS this is the point in his life when he started getting “corrupted”. Brenner’s dad - who was one of the first people to enter dimension X - had mutated blood after but no powers. Henry was the first person to come in contact with the MF and it’s highly likely he got his powers because of this (This would also track considering how most of the party has been in the UD now but show no signs of having powers). The MF controls Henry for the rest of TFS and Henry grows more power hungry the more he kills.

In S2, Henry presumably sends the MF after Will - who has now had a year to heal from the events of 1983. Will is the only other person in all of ST to have had direct contact with the MF and survived it. Henry didn’t hesitate to kill Billy in S3, but he always gives everyone just enough to keep Will safe. Will himself tells Owens in S2 that the MF wants to kill everyone except him. Will once again survives the entire ordeal and is given a “break” for the next 2 seasons. Except I don’t believe he’s been just given a break. I think Will is -

Henry’s Sleeper Agent.

Ready to awaken in s5. I undoubtedly think that Will is going to have powers. And I don’t think they’re going to be the same as Henry and El. El and the other lab kids get their powers directly from Henry. Will’s powers will be directly from the MF like Henry. I believe this has been Henry’s plan all along and it’s further affirmed by what he tells Will in the recent VR game. That Will will be the key to Henry being able to infiltrate his friends’ minds. Jamie Campbell-Bower also mentioned during the S4 press that to get in character, he set up a display with all of Henry’s victims and targets’ faces on his wall(?), and Will was in the center.

Henry is going to use his connection with Will sneakily and midway through S5 he’s going to awaken Will’s powers (maybe in ep4 - which is said to be titled ‘Sorcerer’ and has young Will in it). Henry is going to try and manipulate his way into making an ally out of Will, and it’s not going to work because -

Will is the Perfect Character Foil.

Will is everything Henry could have been if he had a better support system. He is the perfect character foil. Unlike Henry, Will has a mother who loves him unconditionally and more importantly, believes him. Unlike Henry, the person who Will loves the most (the Patty to Will’s Henry: Mike) is going to love him back and stay by his side all season. No one is going to force them to be apart the way Henry was told to stay away from Patty. Will is not going to be easily swayed even though Henry has spent years crafting him into the perfect soldier. Sure, Henry has seen him heartbroken and sad, but that comes nowhere near to the amount of love and support Will is going to get from his people next season. And they’re going to quite literally defeat Vecna with the power of love and friendship. After that, Will Byers is getting the happy ending that Henry could have gotten.

[ahhrenata]

Steve tries to stay quiet while he gets ready for work, but Eddie hears him. He keeps his eyes closed and just listens- to Steve grumbling to himself when his hair doesn’t sit quite right, who starts to hum and whisper some catchy song. Eddie turns his sleepy gaze onto Steve as he shuffles around their room- watching quietly as he slips on his clothes, his shoes, a simple chain with Eddie’s ring around his neck. A warm, affectionate smile breaks across his face. Before he leaves, Steve glances at what he expects to be a sleeping Eddie, but instead, he’s met with a rasped, ‘Hey.’ Eddie sits himself up, stretches his arm across Steve’s side of the bed, and reaches, fingers wiggling. Steve crosses the room to cradle his face.

Their foreheads press, noses bump, and Steve brushes his fingers across scars and dimples.

He breathes a quiet,

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.’

Eddie huffs a tired laugh,

‘You know I never mind.’

Because, yeah.

Every morning Steve tries to stay quiet while he gets ready for work, but Eddie always hears him.

( another one from the poll | WIP )

[dont-let-me-eat-pears]

in which qimir is a lying liar who lies

[ineffablejaymee]

sure steddie dating pre-season 4 is great and all, steve rushing to eddie to check up on him instead of eddie attack him in the werehouse is nice

BUT

steddie hooking up pre season 4, then sorta-almost-dating but they have a big falling out and they dont see eachother until the werehouse IS JUST SO JUICY

even better if they had the argument bcs steve wasnt telling eddie something to protect him from the upside down fuckery. and in the werehouse they lock eyes as eddie realizes what steve has been lying about, and steve (who just realized he was in love with eddie) realizes he failed and eddie is now in the middle of this crazy dangerous shit and he blames himself ofc

and give me robin who knew steve had someone, but he didnt tell her it was eddie. and she connects the dots and looks at steve and they have a little silent conversation bcs holy shit i knew u were a boy kisser but an eddie kisser?!?!

[gaysforbyler]

Byler hc that Will draws a portrait of himself and Mike but he doesn’t add that little mole above his lip, so when Mike sees it he grabs Will’s pencil and draws in. Will is confused because he sort of forgot he had that, and Mike is offended because it’s his favorite part of Will’s face

[canisalbus]

i agree with previous anon about your boys having depth and nuance. i see a lot of myself in machete--he's not prickly because he thinks he's superior or that other people don't deserve kindness. he's prickly because he's scared every moment of his life. he has to always be on hyper-alert because in his experience, nobody cares if he's hurt or unhappy. some people enjoy it, even.

so: if i can make myself seem like someone that shouldn't be fucked with, people will automatically give me a wide berth. projecting a cold, aloof, disdainful persona keeps him safe.

and this is why he's almost a completely different person around vasco. vasco is safe. vasco has seen him at his most hurt and vulnerable and chosen over and over again to only offer him kindness and support. machete is gentle and lighthearted and relaxed around vasco because he knows vasco would never take advantage of it.

i like ur dogs i rotate them frequently

Gnawing on this comment, you put it so succinctly.

Yes, I don't think Machete is hostile or domineering by nature, it's more likely the opposite. But he has found his way into an environment where displaying weakness could cost him his reputation or his position. His innate nervousness has morphed into distrust and avoidance. He can't afford to seem like an easy target. He's very much a trapped animal, living things rarely show their best sides when they're stressed and threatened.

(If we're talking about the original setting, probably the biggest reason he was so insistent on becoming a priest since young age was the level of respect and protection associated with the title. He didn't have a true spiritual calling for becoming a preacher, nor did he do it purely for the power or the wealth. But being treated with reverence, being considered someone valuable and worth keeping safe, even being seen as holy, was something he desperately longed for as a sickly kid who had been given up by his parents for being too difficult to care for. And with that role comes certain elevated dehumanization. He's playing the part of a man who is a conduit of God, and that raises the stakes for any potential failures. He has no delusions of grandeur, he's painfully aware of his own shortcomings, but he can't let others see how tired, sick, lost and scared he still is. Coming across as cold and impersonal and keeping your guard up keeps the cracks in his facade from showing and the pedestal under his feet solid. If he performs his duties just right, nothing will hurt him.)

[taeiris]

stuck in time

close ups⬇️

[ego-sum-imperator]

Second part of the cartoon made for the fanfiction ‘The Stranger in the mirror’ by @eriathalia

I'll post part 3 and 4 next week

Part.2

[hvkno]

random sketch

[wulfhalls]

wolf hall: the mirror and the light (2024) // the mirror and the light by hilary mantel

[bylerist]

byler truthers: lawyers, film students, industry nerds, writers, analysts, professional overthinkers, fandom types and hyperfixators who’ve watched the show too many times (🙋)

byler antis: watched s4 once in 2022 and have barely thought about it since — unless they feel like being homophobic on social media, plus the occasional fellow hyperfixator (homophobic edition)

[netflix]

Stranger Things. Squid Game. Wednesday. You're not ready for what's next.

[phoebebuggers]

guys if we get a scene of will sleeping on mike's bedroom floor next to his bed paralleling the scene in s2 where mike spends the night on will's floor while he's possessed i am going to go fucking insane. in a good way