#pocketgate

[bibylers]

Let’s think about one of the most famous byler theories.

💙 LETTERGATE 💛

Which is also is connected to…..

💙 POCKETGATE 💛

Now, just to clarify, I don’t know EVERY SINGLE detail to these theories, but I’d still like to go through it.

If I miss something please feel free to comment about it! :)

Now let’s start with Pocketgate.

Pocketgate is a theory based on THIS:

Now, how can a POCKET create a full theory?

Let’s take a look at the pocket shall we?

Does it maybe remind you of something?

Hmmm….

Yeah… I definitely don’t think that’s a coincidence.

ALSO..

Okay so triangle imagery on Robin’s jacket = lgbtq+ easter egg…

HMMMMMM….

Not suspicious AT ALL………

Now back to the fact that the pocket looks EXACTLY like an envelope.

That could be some great foreshadowing to season 5.

Maybe Mike DID write to Will..? 🤨🤨🤨

And THAT makes the theory go from POCKETGATE to LETTERGATE.

LETTERGATE = Mike did write to Will but couldn’t send the letters.

“Why??” you may ask…

TADAAAA ✨✨✨✨✨✨

Something almost everyone a part of the lgbtq community has suffered from.

ESPECIALLY in the 80s.

So, are there any other signs or proof of Lettergate being possible?

YES.

OKAY so obviously it’s A LETTER since it ends with

“Love, ____”

Let me try to make my own version of it.

Anyway I think you’ll like it. Sorry I couldn’t get it done for your birthday but you mean so much to me and it’s been so different without you in Hawkins. Hope this is gonna last until I get to California. Love, Mike.

OH

MY

GOD

So if the letter was from Mike and connected to Will’s birthday, then it’s not just connected to Pocketgate and Lettergate but ALSO

💙 BIRTHDAYGATE 💛

Brithdaygate = The duffers didn’t actually forget about Will’s birthday and Mike didn’t either

Also, Milkvans are obviously hoping for it to be about Mike and El, BUT IT CANT SINCE..

UMMM…

BYLER FREAKING ENDGAME YALL!!!!???

[chirpsythismorning]

Can we talk about how Jonathan might've been able to clock Mike simply because of what happened with him and Nancy in season two?

This will be a long post, so you might want to strap in or save it for later.

In Will and Mike's case, it would obviously be much different from Jonathan and Nancy's situation, given that you know, they're gay. But we still have Jonathan arguably going through a similar experience as Will, while Mike is going through a similar experience as Nancy.

In s2, we see Nancy confront Jonathan about how she waited for him before getting back with Steve, which is a revelation to him. Then they're at Murray's and she's struggling to say she loves Steve, after a handful of moments between them that felt like she might return Jonathan’s feelings. And you can clearly see it in his eyes, listening to Murray imply that they have feelings for each other, with him looking back and forth sort of in awe of what's happening, like he's starting to question if she might actually like him back.

Will doesn't have that same affordance as Jonathan to really hope, at least not anymore. Which is why these relationships in s2 and s4 end differently for these two brothers.

Based on all the signs he was seeing that Nancy felt the same, Jonathan decided to take the plunge to admit to Nancy how he felt, and at that same moment Nancy had the courage to show how she felt. In Will and Mike's case, Will wasn't ready to take the plunge to admit to Mike how he felt, at the same moment Mike didn't have the courage to show how he felt.

What's so painfully hilarious to me about all of this though, is that Jonathan arguably starts the season in the same shoes as most of the audience, where from his perspective, it's becoming obvious to him now that Will like's Mike, but that Mike does not feel the same way.

First at Rink-O-Mania, Mike appears a little uncomfortable upon hugging Will. Then as the happy couple continues on their adventure into Rink-O-Mania, he watches Will lagging behind moping. And then unfortunately he's out of commission for the rest of the evening...

But once he's sober and back to being an attentive brother the following morning, we see him watching them at breakfast, with Mike barely sparing Will a glance, all while Will is blatantly staring, almost like he's waiting for Mike to look back, only for Mike to get up and walk away.

All of these instances gotta be SCREAMING unrequited gay love to Jonathan. He's already gotten signs for years that Will is gay, these are now just the signs that are instilling his suspicions that Will has feelings for Mike. He could have easily interpreted their relationship in the early seasons as young best friends, with Will seeming to have a crush on Mike, and with them growing up and that potentially including Will's straight friend distancing himself from him because he doesn't feel the same. It's not the most unexpected thing in the world considering.

But then there's a shift.

Suddenly he's creeping up on them talking in his room. And we know he was listening in on the conversation because he brings up Owens when he sits down. As he's eavesdropping, he's probably thinking something innocent like Aww they're making up! And like, hey! Even if Mike doesn't feel the same, which is okay and entirely expected honestly, at least he still cares about Will enough to make things right after acting so out of character. Still, I'm not gonna lie, that sounded a lot like flirting to me--

Then he's knocking on Will's door like 30 minutes or less later only to find Mike and Will back on their bullshit. Mike suddenly isn't going out of his way to ignore or put Will on the back burner. In fact, he's on his bed and they're talking, again! The door is even closed this time, which is interesting. This has gotta be a good sign in Jon's eyes. Nothing to worry about! Right? Right...?

But then suddenly this shift continues, going in a direction he probably didn't expect.

I mean, this is literally an identical jancy parallel we have here with byler on the hood of the car, with Jonathan right there to witness it. Despite him maybe only now subconsciously picking up on the similarities between Will and Mike to him and Nancy here, he's at least taking note (I mean he's even got his gay map out and everything).

It isn't until the van scene happens, that I think Jonathan starts to genuinely consider his suspicions, which is that Mike might actually like Will back.

EVERY time we get a shot of Jonathan looking back at Will and Mike in the van, followed by a shot of his POV from the rearview mirror, we're faced with Mike looking at Will while Will is looking away.

As Jonathan is hearing Will confirm his suspicions about his feelings for Mike, he's simultaneously witnessing Mike not looking at Will with disgust, but something more akin to reverence. All of those moments in the van that we witnessed, including all the ways Mike looked at Will and everything that was said, Jonathan was right there.

And what's even more insane about this scene, is that it circles back to Jonathan as a character himself.

I remember when people were talking about how odd it was that we never saw Jonathan with a camera in s4. After 3 seasons in a row of making his passion for photography a big part of his identity, that part of him was apparently absent entirely this time around... But was it really?

This is the same guy that said, "Sometimes, people don't really say what they're really thinking. But you capture the right moment, it says more."

Jonathan might not have had his camera in s4, but this was without a doubt one of those moments where he captured something more.

Something that I also think get's highly overlooked about this scene, especially when it comes to Jonathan looking back at them, being followed by a shot of Mike staring at Will, is that he could see both of their reactions the whole time, from beginning to end. Will nor the audience had the affordance of knowing because Will was facing the other way at the end, while we on the other-hand were blurred from even having the chance, despite Mike literally being in the frame. But not Jonathan. He even lets us see what he sees, a few times, but not at the very end, which would have been nice after they didn't let us see Mike's reaction seconds before this.

Let's just stop right there for a second though and circle back to what I consider to be the first time Jonathan really picked up on Will's feelings for Mike, which was at the end of s3, in a sequence that is a little too relevant to the van scene if you ask me, given that they are almost direct parallels.

While these parallels are pretty spot on visually, they are also near spot on narratively when it comes to the evolution each of these characters are experiencing.

For Will in the first scene, it's sadness that he's moving away from his friends in Hawkins and also feeling like he's losing Mike, after what looks like him and El making up, which makes him scared he'll distance himself again. For Jonathan, it's sympathy for his brother who appears to have some very deep feelings for his friend, feelings he can't quite grasp yet but soon enough will.

For Will in the second scene, it's heartbreak that he has to accept that Mike will never feel the same, knowing that supporting his relationship with El (encouraging it honestly) will likely turn out just as it did last time, with him losing Mike all over again, for the last time. For Jonathan it's sympathy for his brother who has now confirmed his suspicions that the feelings he has for Mike are more than just that of a friend.

Given that this parallel reinforces the same feelings Will and Jonathan had in s3 to now, why would this not also reinforce those same feelings that Mike had in s3 to now?

In the first scene, Mike was visibly distraught, with dialogue from Hopper in the background applying a little too perfectly with what he was feeling in that moment, which was scared. He’s apparently back together with El now, despite them doing just fine as friends for the last 3 months, as well as him and Will just having finally gone back to them being on good terms again. But now, it’s like he’s right back where he started at the beginning of s3, feeling obligated to be the perfect boyfriend to El, and as a result, having no choice in his eyes but to distance himself from Will. Mike then walks into his house looking like a zombie, almost emotionless stepping into his mother's embrace.

Now, I say almost emotionless because it looks like Mike was trying to hold back showing how he truly felt in this moment. He's not crying like he did in s1 when he lost Will that first time. Time has passed and things have changed (he doesn't want things to change). And he's trying his best to keep it together. But the in-focus close-ups make it clear that he is definitely not okay.

What's so impactful about these parallels is that it presents the inner struggle both of these characters are having, both queer and experiencing doubts, but in different ways and for different reasons.

Will is the one who covers it all up with lies, hiding the tears in his eyes, because boys don't cry.

Mike is the one who has never cried to them, just to his soul (RUN AWAY! TURN AWAY! RUN AWAY! TURN AWAY! RUN AWAY!!!).

If you actually try to get a gage on Mike's in-focus emotions in that first scene vs. his out-of-focus emotions in that second scene, well they're not that far off from each other.

We go from Mike smiling vibrantly at Will, to him now slowly turning away to look back down at the painting, with whatever the hell emotion this is...

It's near impossible to catch because of how out-of-focus it is, but looking a lot closer, it honestly appears like Mike is feeling something akin to sadness that he's trying to mask. For a moment it even looks like he turns his head to wince emotionally, only to correct himself.

And call me crazy, but these shots also low-key parallel each other. Mike looking down trying to keep his emotions in check and failing miserably, only to look up and meet eyes with someone whose witnessing it.

With each shot before this of Jonathan observing Mike looking at Will, with him showing all the emotions Will never got to see and everything else in between, I wonder what Jon saw this time? Probably another thing he didn't expect.

Can you just try to imagine the silence in this van, accompanied by Will's muffled sobs, and then try to imagine Mike turning to look down at the painting, only to sneak a glance, and then go right back to looking at the painting, IN SILENCE, and then try to tell me how the assumption that Mike didn’t notice Will crying makes any sense, like realistically?

Yeah me and Jonathan are confused too.

Right now, Jonathan's probably wondering why Mike was acting a little fruity and repressed during the painting reveal. And that although he may have a penchant for being able to 'capture the right moment', Mike is sticking with his story (despite all the stalling and doubt). He is 100% straight!

And so maybe this is where Jonathan tries to accept what is being presented to him as the truth, despite the contradictions in front of him. It's likely that despite the way Mike looks at Will and acts around him, in ways he would have assumed coming from Nancy in s2 would've been evidence that she felt the same, it probably doesn't apply to Mike.

Maybe Jonathan's ready to accept that it's a lot more likely Will is experiencing unrequited love as a gay kid growing up in a small town, the most predictable experience a gay kid could go through, and in contrast Mike just feels too bad to let Will down easy.

Or who knows, maybe Mike could still be a little bit gay too...

But it doesn't matter anyways. Mike seems to be adamant about this and so there's really nothing else Jonathan can he do besides tell his brother he'll be there for him no matter what. And so he does just that.

But then Mike just has to surprise him one last time.

For those that don't know, the line Mike gives here in his monologue was in part pulled from Will's monologue in the van. Most don't know this because this line didn't make the final cut for the van scene, but in the official script the writers posted, what we find is an almost a direct parallel.

Which makes the reaction shots of Will and Jonathan directly after Mike says this all the more epic.

From Will's end he was probably hearing Mike say this and just thinking 'Damn. Well, that's what you get for using your feelings to inspire Mike to profess his love to El.'

But from Jonathan's end, I don't think his outside POV of these events overlapping was nearly as naive as his brothers understanding of the events. Because why the fuck would Mike need to use Will's feelings to inspire him to profess his love to El in the first place? Is this what Mike has been struggling with? Really? Why before every moment Mike takes action in this scene, is Will's hand literally pushing him into it? Why is Mike being so dramatic about saying I love you, stuttering and rambling about her being a superhero, not saying nearly as meaningful of things as what Will said in the van?

And then it hits him.

Mike is reminding him a little too much of another Wheeler right now...

Nancy Wheeler, who was afraid of what would happen if she accepted herself for who she really was, leading her to retreat back to the safety of Steve. Because Nancy liked Steve, but she didn't love Steve.

And now here is Mike Wheeler, who has went from being incredibly distant with Will after reuniting with El, something that is very unlike the Mike he knew in previous seasons, to something more himself again after they make up, with him looking at Will with adoration after hearing his words in the van, only to turn away and look heartbroken. Mike who is now struggling to simply tell El he loves her with Will right behind him literally yelling at him to do it.

And now it's like all those little moments are starting to add up to Jonathan.

Suddenly all those signs he picked up on from Will when he was younger are now blending in with moments Will shared with Mike. It was Mike who jumped in after him and his mom's speech to Will in the shed in s2, with tears in his eyes recalling the day that they met (without being asked, let alone pushed to). And it's Mike who is now looking like he's at war with himself as he attempts to give encouragement to El, just like he did with Will in s2, but this time he needs someone to push him to do it, and that person just so happens to be Will. After just finding out about Will's feelings and also while assuming El wants him to love her that way still, Mike is stuck.

I don't think it's takes a genius to consider Jonathan is capable of realizing how fucked they all are in this situation.

As much as Mike isn't ready for a sleuth of reasons, Will isn't ready either.

This provides a huge contrast between the bylers ², because while Jonathan and Nancy went through a similar experience to Will and Mike, them being ready to accept it and act on it didn't involve nearly as many factors and risks. Will and Mike also have the added barrier that is homophobia.

Will's internalized homophobia lies in part with assuming Mike could never feel the same based on some of the words he said in their last two fights, with parts being painfully reminiscent of the things his dad and bullies used to say about him. These are also words that contradict Mike's own words and actions from the previous seasons, things that did once give Will hope. The shame and guilt that comes with falling for your best friend, who you now know will never feel the same after being foolish enough to believe it not too long ago, and who might not even want to be your friend anymore upon finding out the truth, is understandable. He can't have hope like Jonathan can. It's just not the same.

Mike's internalized homophobia lies with assuming El wants him to love her, along with their relationship being expected and socially acceptable from everyone around him. Though unfortunately for her he feels abundantly more in love in the moments he shares with Will. Despite trying to make it work with El as hard as he could, because she's amazing and all any guy could hope for in a girlfriend, he can't ignore the fact that the feelings he has for these two people are different. The shame and guilt that comes with you, a boy, falling for your best friend, who is also a boy, and who is starting to show that he feels the same, all while you can't muster up the courage to break up with your girlfriend, nor can you muster up the courage to tell her that you love her, not when she's begging you, dying or even just simply at the end of a letter, is pretty understandable too. He can't have hope like Nancy can. It's just not the same.

Spoiler: They were not ready.

PS: I'm still not over the fact that they low-key confirmed these events elsewhere in the story...

[lordystrange]

We have had so many byler gates that I’ve lost count, so could you people help me?

Flickergate (Byler kiss in UD, when lights flickered in wheeler’s garage in s1)

Birthdaygate (the theories about Will’s birthday)

Twelvegate (Will being 012)

Scriptgate (August 5th you will always be famous but I hope you weren’t)

Mikhailgate (Enzo’s son being shipped with Will)

Gridgate (The smudge in the s5 whiteboard)

Pocketgate (Mike’s pocket that looked like an envelope)

Lettergate (Mike’s unsent letter(s) to Will)

Mattduffersbasementgate (Noah and Finn being held there so they wouldn’t spoil byler endgame)

What did I forget?

[justmy-account]

List of byler-gates

I’m just bored, but read it anyways, it’s fun

there sooo many of them, and i’m still pretty lazy so this isn’t perfect, but just let’s start

Mikhailgate

This is practically anti byler theory, but nvm

So, Dimitri has a son named Mikhail, which is russian version of name Michael, Mike

So, people were just saying that instead of Mike, Will will end up with Mikhail(who’s technically Mike bc of the name, yk)

I think everyone was just joking, oh, good ol’ times

and willloveinterestgate is the same

Lettergate/Pocketgate

These theories aren’t the same one, but it’s basically the same concept, ig

The basic thing is, that Mike wrote a letter to Will(singed Love, Mike)

In pocketgate, Mike has the letter saved in his triangle pocket, bc in st, characters many times has letters, that were important to them, in their left pocket(above the heart), for example Hopper and El(Hopper’s heart-to-heart), Jonathan(acceptance letter to college) etc.

And he would just take it out in the middle of confession or sth

+the triangle always points to Will like an arrow

Lettergate is just basically the same, ok, idk how to describe it differently 

Twelvegate

Not exactly a byler, but theory, that Will was number twelve in HNL, and that he’s El’s actual twin

And from that, there’s theory that Will has powers, but wasn’t n. 012

Okay, back to byler

This is same as rainbowgate i think

Flickergate

This theory is very lovely! after Will tells Mike that rolled seven in s1, the light behind them flickers

and since ud is frozen on nov6 83, when you signal sth from ud, it should appear at nov6 83-s1

this connects to electricgate(i dunno if sth like this exist, but just keep reading), the electricity~are friends electric~will possibly having electric powers

so mike and will could go together in s5 to ud on a mission or sth, and kiss in wheelers garage, and that would make the light flicker(i’m so good at explaining things, right😐)

will and mike going to ud together is predicted by mike and will sitting on upside down couch in last ep. of s4

Birthdaygate/Memorygate

Soo, remember how they forgot Will’s birthday? what if all wills memories, that people reminded him of in the shed are gone? his birthday, building castle byers, meeting mike… and that’s why mike says that his life started the day he found her, bc he doesn’t remember meeting Will

for me, it’s really weird, they couldn’t just forget Will’s birthday, no, this ain’t it

Kiss at lovers lake

I’m not sure if this has a different name, but it’s that their first kiss will be near lovers lake

evidence: patrick(the kid who died at lovers lake), had a nickname “berlin wall” or sth(we saw this in the school newspaper), and it was devided to four, same as hawkins

and song heroes is abt couple who lived at different sides of berlin wall, and idk, it just connects, okay?

when will painted the map of hawkins while he was possessed, mike was holding blue and yellow meter

Eightfifteengate

Context: will left the wheelers at 8:15 in s1

in s1e1, time mark 8:15 is literally the shot where will disappears in the shead

i think there’s a season 2 soundtrack called eight fifteen

tw: time fuckery: while will was recording on halloween night, the time says 8:04 while he’s recording mike saying “did you agreed with this?”, but when joyce rewatches it, it show 8:15(byler)

“ it’s 8:15, you’re late”

btw, clocks and watches from hiroshima are stuck at 8:15

aaanywaaay, there’s just too much 8:15 things, aaah(this is just a few)

what it has to do with byler?

well, 15-8=….(wait for it)….seven. a byler number. it was a seven!

also, “the first lie”, when murray says this to jancy, the time mark is… guess what, 8:15

there’s this theory with the songs “the first lie” and “the first i love you”, and it just connects 

Motelgate

theory, that after mike’s “love” confession to el, they went to a motel for sleep, and mike and will had to share a bed, and we could possibly see flashbacks of it in s5, and it would kinda explain the two day skip

Colorgate

blue and yellow meet in the west, i’m sure you know this one, and there’s sooo many evidence in this

mattduffersbasementgate

It’s too late for this to be true, but the duffers are(/were) holding every cast member that ships byler in their basement, lol

bloopergate

Bloopers from byler scenes, basically, for example “not when i was the spy, oh fuck”, basically Finn and Noah being all giggly, i guess

bloopergate implies to every blooper, but why not to mention it

curtaingate

Sth like, that when there’s some fight happening between characters, if curtains are open, it means they’re open with their feeling and opposite 

Example: milkvan make out scene-closed, but you don’t love me fight-opened

Bonus: „ but they like the curtain. people like us are just trying to look behind the curtain”(my very bad quotation of murray, yk what i mean)

Also, Suzie had blue and yellow curtains, and they were opened

And, “and i love her and i can’t lose her again”? Also curtains closed, like wtf, this fandom is crazy

piggybackgate

El knows abt Mike and Will. she saw how they act around each other, she’ve heard will saying “you’re the heart” to mike, saw that mike has Will’s painting now

New Coke Theory

basically, old coca colla is mileven, new coke is byler. it contains some of the old ingredients(mike), and new ones too(will). not everyone likes(bc its gay ship). and when you look at scenes with can of new coke, it’s many times symbolizing byler vs. milkvan

one of my favorite new coke theory examples is this: in s3, after el gets attacked by the flesh monster, she tries to crash a can(but she doesn’t have her powers, so she can’t). this is a can of new coke(byler) and she can’t crush that/destroy it. and in this scene, we get a flashback to the lab, where she crushes aka destroys regular coke(mileven)

phonegate

mike and will not calling each other, bc of joyce’s telemarketer job(he won’t stop whining abt it)

————

i miss all these little silly theories abt literally everything

i hope the byler tag will be like this once again

maybe we could start naming our new theories “gate”s again

for example: heartfeltgat, strangerwritersgate, snowkissgate or sth

anyway, byee

[loubetcha]

this post made me realize that mike’s right-facing triangle pocket may not only be right because of will being on his right most of the time/for pocket conventionality, but within the triangle LGBTQIA+ symbol, it’s a sideways triangle (you can’t always tell when a triangle is turned but in this case it’s base is not placed on its base/ it’s set on a point and it’s not equilateral- just like the pink triangle isn’t). first off i think the fact that both triangles are isosceles (really pulling out the geometry for this one) can really show the symbolism behind making a funky pocket triangle for mike. BUT i also think there’s a significance to it being sideways. when the pink triangle was turned upside-down, it was used to shame gay men, but was then reclaimed to be positive by flipping it. i think the significance of mike’s triangle pocket flap being sideways is that he is still torn between that shame of who he is and the defiance against that shame. mike is being shamed/bullied by both himself and society, but the hellfire club and his love for will is slowly shaping who he is and how he is less and less afraid of that.

[cringengl]

Pocketgate my beloved.....

[bylrlvr]

i love you whoever first mentioned how will, an artist, gives the person he's in love with a painting he made VERSUS mike, who aspires to be a writer, can't write "love, mike" to his gf who he's supposedly in love with, so it'd make perfect sense if mike has unsent letters to will hidden somewhere or has been carrying around a letter this whole time for the one he truly loves

[goodomensbringsmetolife]

Gates in Byler Tumblr (these are the ones I know about, if there are any others then comment and I shall add them in)

Scriptgate (the byler script mayhem that all blew up on 10th Aug)

Mikhailgate (i love you mikhail. went crazy on 27th Aug those were good times)

Mjgate (17 September something horrifying happened and we do not speak of it)

Backgroundguygate (began on 7th September making background characters famous)

Googlemapsgate (google maps supporting byler)

Wormgate (2 September was worms on a string, what more?)

Birthdaygate (6 September Byler tumblr got pissed that everyone forgot Wills birthday)

White rabbit gate (began 3 September I’m not even sure what this one meAns but someone mentioned it)

Descendants gate (11 September was ST as descendants)

Pocketgate (around 29 Aug Mike’s pocket became the topic of analysis)

Twilightgate (UmMmm its Byler but Twilight, began 27th Aug)

Ikeagate (2nd September was something about Mike taking Will to Ikea on a date?)

Brbgate (1st September was Breaking Bad…that bald guy. It was weird)

Flickergate (I named that one!! When Byler kiss in upside down its what caused the lights to flicker in season 1, plus “it was a 7” and other theories around the light flicker. Began 12 Sep)

Piggybackgate: (the gay af piggyback theories about how Will and Mike were standing in front of Eleven’s piggyback drawing, and scenarios of what might happen in season 5.)

Breathgate: (3rd September mikes breath catches)

Gridgate (when ST writers released pixelised plot of season 5)

Memorygate (6th September, the theory/discussion that people have been losing their memories like Will’s birthday and that time has been changed)

Will loveinterest gate (27 August, when everyone was confused and so we had multiple different people who could be potential boyfriends for Will, many of them were played by Finn Wolfhard)

Mattduffersbasement gate (something to do with being locked in Matts basement, it was a very specific joke)

Spirkgate (Spirk from Star Trek became some type of meme)

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

Compilation of all the gates:

Jonathonggate

Orangejuicegate

Chocolatemilkgate

Milkgate

Flickergate

Backgroundguygate

Babygirlgate (the best one)

Eightfifteengate

Mikhailgate

Pocketgate / Lettergate

Birthdaygate

Willloveinterestgate

Scriptgate

Whiterabbitgate

Gridgate / pixelgate / whiteboardgate / penholdergate

Memorygate

Mattduffersbasementgate

Piggybackgate

Breathgate

Descendantsgate

Mjgate

Ikeagate?

Twilightgate

Soundtrackgate

Rainbowshipgate

Gertiegate??? / Gloriegate???

Spirkgate

Saltlampgate?

Brbgate

Backgroundgate (I actually loved this one)

Heartgate (this one is really small tho)

Midnightsgate (also really small)

I’m waiting for a sevengate tbh

In the replies:

Bylerburnbookgate?

Flashbackgate

Petergate?

Curtaingate

Radiationgate

Stargate

Bloopergate

[biigiiiii]

Okay so I zoomed in this photo of Mike and I think I can see what might be in his pocket… (sound on)

[akuvvv9]

what flabbergasts me most about Stranger Things is that Mike has good handwriting AND is a writer??? as a writer, there’s no way his handwriting doesn’t look like chicken scratch when he’s not writing something he wants to be legible for others to read. maybe he didn’t send Will letters because they all look like scribbles since his mind went faster than his hands could move. maybe the letter he’s been hiding in his heart pocket is the only legible letter with months worth of feelings all compacted into one ending with a “Love, Mike”

[chirpsythismorning]

Pocketgate + Lettergate truthers unite!

[byler-4-life]

I still can't believe they had a special shirt made for Mike just so that his heart pocket could function as an arrow pointing towards Will in their critical scenes. The Duffers are insane.

[sviiraes]

Don't understand why m*levens still think whatever mike said in the monologue was true?? like hello pls rewatch the van scene

[strawberrybyers]

if you’re interested pls read! i think everyone will find this post interesting! this is going to be one long post about time in stranger things and it’s relation to back to the future. also somewhat theorizing that will is going to get stuck in the upside down and how that could be time traveling?? or how the characters will time travel?? also mentions of pocketgate, birthdaygate, and the blue meets yellow in the west theory. anyways this will probably be a bit messy, but i have a lot of thoughts and i just want to write all of them down and i really feel like i’m onto something lmao

ok so i have been thinking about what the significance of time in stranger things is which led me to remember when robin was explaining to steve about why back to the future was called back to the future. she explained it as “he has to go back to the future because he’s in the past. so, the future is actually the present, which is his time”. i immediately thought back to when i have said in a couple of other posts how i think in s5 there will be time travel because the upside down is stuck on the day will went missing. so while trying to see what scene came after robin’s explanation, i found this article detailing all the parallels stranger things has to back in the future in s3. and that led me to two other articles. the last image is a screenshot from the article about the original pitch for stranger things which mentioned time travel.

so really the rest of this post is now going to focus more on the back to the future stuff. first i want to talk about this part of the vulture article i linked in the beginning of this post. i have seen all the back to the future movies, but a really long time ago, so i don’t remember much, but when i saw “save the clock tower” all i could think about were the clocks in stranger things.

i googled more info on the clock tower and idk i’m about to become a real crackhead theorist, but it makes sense to me considering all the parallels this show has. anyways let’s look at what is said about the clock tower in back to the future.

i started freaking out while reading this because s4 has a big emphasis on time and CLOCKS. vecna’s mind lair thing has clocks everywhere. when a character is about to get vecna’d they hear a clock and see a grandfather clock. also, the clock being struck by lightning?? there’s lightning in vecna’s mind lair thing AND in the final scene we see lightning in the sky!! so in back to the future, the clock got struck by lightning which caused it to be stuck for years at 10:04 (and this is probably just making something out of nothing but the clock being stuck on the 4th minute and vecna wanted to open up 4 gates and you hear 4 chimes symbolizing that). now guess what else is stuck in time? the upside down. the upside down is stuck on the day will went missing which is november 6, 1983. will was stuck in the upside down for a week. what is a week away from nov 6? november 13. the ‘save the clock tower’ flyer mentions the date november 13 on it. also, in back to the future, doc gets the idea for the delorean (the thing that helps him and marty time travel) when he was hanging up a clock and hit his head on november 5, 1955. this is also the day marty ends up traveling back in time to (marty’s present time takes place in 1985 and s3 of ST took place in 1985 lol).

NOW what gets crazy is that on november 6, 1955, doc learns that because marty interacted with his parents which messed up his parents initial meeting, he is now telling marty that he needs to get his parents back together otherwise marty will be erased from existence. WILL GOES MISSING ON NOV 6 AND BECAUSE OF BIRTHDAYGATE WHAT DO WE THINK IS HAPPENING TO WILL?? THAT HE’S BEING ERASED/FORGOTTEN FROM THE TIMELINE!!! and throughout back to the future, the more time that is being prolonged of getting marty’s parents back together, the more him and his siblings disappearing from the timeline is becoming reality (he knows this because they start disappearing from a photo he has of his family). there’s also this post that was made that mentions how the memories that were mentioned in the shed in s2 could be altered or are being forgotten and if that’s the case then it makes sense those memories would be forgotten if it’s a sign something is happening to will. anyways because of the lightning strike that strikes the clock, it powered the delorean on november 12, 1955 and was able to send marty back to the future. marty was stuck in the past for a week. will was stuck in the upside down for a week. vecna begins his attacks on hawkins on march 21 and hawkins is split in half by the upside down on march 28 making that a week (a week that includes the day of will’s bday). that’s why there’s a 2 day time jump because the timeline of s4 needed to last a week. i’m just thinking about “the week is long” part of the blue meets yellow in the west code… and speaking of blue and yellow, the ‘save the clock tower’ flyers are in blue and yellow…

i’ll say one last thing about the flyer, so i can shift more into pocketgate and how mike has a letter written to will. so marty keeps the flyer because his girlfriend wrote her grandma’s number on it and “i love you” and he puts it in his pocket. because he kept the flyer it ends up helping him get back to the future because of the info it contains about the lightning strike. what do we think mike has in his pocket? a letter to will that says “love, mike”. something he couldn’t write to el. there’s been an emphasis in stranger things with letters and yes i know it’s the 80’s so that was one of the main forms of communication, but they’re also a part of the plot, so they mean something significant! like joyce receiving the letter from hopper which makes her go to russia to save him. hopper’s letter to el about not wanting things to change (i will write more on this). max writing letters to her friends for them to read in case something happens to her. max writing a letter to billy that expresses how she has been feeling since he passed. el being upset that mike can’t write “love,mike” in his letters. season 4 opening up with el’s letter to mike that mentions time travel. will and mike have an argument that mike didn’t write enough to will and that “el has a book of letters from him”. now back to the future also has letters play an important role in the storyline. for example, here’s info on the letter that marty gave to doc that he stuck in doc’s pocket in 1955 that saved doc’s life.

now in back to the future 3, doc in 1885 wrote a letter to marty to be delivered to him on november 12, 1955 which marty ends up showing the doc in 1955. the letter ends up helping them.

in the letter up above, doc writes how much marty means to him. obviously the relationship between doc and marty is NOT romantic at all, but if stranger things is paralleling back to the future the way it is, then isn’t it possible mike has a letter to will explaining his feelings? and considering in back to the future, the letters were helpful to the characters, could it be that mike’s letter will help will and save hawkins? could mike’s love for will be the motivation to help will survive the upside down if he gets stuck there again? i’m thinking it’s possible will gets stuck in the upside down, which would basically be him time traveling in a sense. i’m wondering if maybe will will be in possession of mike’s letter before he gets stuck in the upside down and will decides to read the letter while he’s stuck there (maybe paralleling back to the future when marty has the flyer that has “i love you” written on it from his girlfriend). OR do mike and will get stuck in the upside down together and mike decides to give his letter to will then (maybe somewhat paralleling back to the future 3 when 1955 marty gives 1955 doc the letter 1885 doc wrote 1955 marty in order to help them get 1985 doc back to 1985 from 1885). there’s also this tweet from the stranger things writers account. so could it mean that this is parts of the letter mike wrote to will that he will give to him on november 6, 1983 because they’re stuck in the upside down together???

now moving on. i said i’d talk more about hopper’s letter. here’s what the vulture article wrote about hopper’s letter:

the article is comparing the letter marty wrote doc to save his life to the letter hopper wrote to el. so couldn’t the other letters featured in the movies somehow foretell mike having a letter in his pocket? they paralleled a stranger things letter to a back to the future letter once they could do it again. here’s more of what the article wrote on hopper’s letter:

we know what hopper meant by telling el “to maybe stop that change. to turn back the clock. to make things go back to how they were.”. we also theorize because scenes of mike looking back at will’s house and hugging his mom while this part of the letter is being read, we think it relates to mike wanting things to go back to the way they were with will. we even think it could potentially be the moment mike realizes he loves will and doesn’t know what to do with that which leads to his weird behavior in s4. BUT couldn’t this part of hopper’s letter also have a 3rd meaning? s4 does deal with clocks. hopper mentions “to turn back the clock”. when nancy see’s henry’s backstory, there is a scene of henry changing time on the clock. is it possible that time travel has to occur where they are able “to turn back the clock” in order to save hawkins? and if will is stuck in the upside down maybe having to do that to save will? or maybe because he’s stuck there and it’s stuck on the day he went missing then that could be turning back the clock as well…

now for my final analysis of the vulture article and how it relates to back to the future, this part is going to do more with byler. let’s look at this part of the article:

first things first, it mentions back to the future wants to preserve the status quo and how that relates to stranger things. in s4, eddie mentions how forced conformity is killing the kids. finn said in an interview that mike is trying to stay as normal as possible. looking at these things, it makes me think about mike and how he’s trying appear as heterosexual which therefore would be “normal” and fitting the status quo. this also fits into hopper’s letter and the scenes of mike while the letter is being read. mike is losing will and if that moment when will moved is when he realizes he’s in love, then he knew that things would change and if he’s trying to fit in, then he’s going to do what he can to make sure nothing changes even though as we see that backfires throughout s4 because his relationship with el is on the rocks and things with will have been rocky as well. and we know will is being forced to conform as well as he mentioned feeling like a mistake and we can only assume he is afraid to come out as gay due to homophobia.

so back to the future is about marty going back in time to 1955 and having to fix the timeline where his parents fall in love and get married because when he went back to 1955 he messed up the initial meeting of his parents. if he fails to get them together, then he will cease to exist. marty is struggling at first to get his parents together because his mom has developed on crush on marty (weird i know but to me this shows how the right people need to be in a relationship in order for things to get resolved). if we think of how that could parallel to byler, then we know that mike’s love confession did not help el or save hawkins. we know el can defeat vecna and we know that what makes her powerful is love. she was able to banish vecna to the upside down when she remembered her mom saying “i love you”, but with mike it didn’t work— why? because it’s a lie. he doesn’t love her romantically like he says. hawkins isn’t in desolation because of mike, but i think if we want to make a parallel then we can say that mike being with el isn’t what’s supposed to happen because they aren’t right for each other. this also fits in to how mike and will’s love would save hawkins. just like marty’s parents falling in love preserved the timeline and allowed marty to continue to exist. now if we think that will is starting to cease to exist from the timeline due to birthdaygate and coincidentally marty learns he will cease to exist if his parents don’t get together on november 6— the same day will went missing— then could it be that mike’s love saves will?

like there’s just something about the upside down being stuck on the day will went missing… something about el’s letter mentioning time travel and time feeling like it speeds up or slows down based on emotion… something about the duffers saying they’re going back to s1 dynamics… something about vecna’s entire thing revolving around time… something about vecna making his victims visit their past traumatic memories… something about one of the ways to block vecna from getting to your mind is by thinking about past happy memories… something about vecna saying thinking about a past memory that makes him angry or sad makes him more powerful… something about hearing the sound of a clock being slowed down when a character is about to get vecna’d… something about “the week is long. the silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west. a trip to china sounds nice, if you tread lightly”… something about spring break being a week long… something about will being in the upside down for a week… something about vecna saying “seconds. minutes. hours. days. weeks. months. years. decades. each life a faded lesser copy of the one before.”… something about will’s birthday being forgotten… something about will being sidelined from the plot or shall i say fading from it… something about the back to the future parallels such as marty starting to be erased from the timeline starting on nov 6 the same day will went missing…

anyways i know this was long AF, but there was so much to say! i could be grasping at straws, but this was fun to write and analyze! i love the back to the future movies, so seeing how all of this parallels and could potentially continue to parallel is cool. all in all i don’t think it’s far-fetched to think will is going to get stuck in the upside down, some form of time travel will occur considering that was a part of the original stranger things pitch, and that mike and will’s love for each other will save hawkins. if you made it this far, thank you for reading all of this <3

—

back to the future poster parallels x

back to the future november 21st parallel theory x

[cringengl]

So you're telling me that byler theories such as pocketgate are unrealistic and that we're reaching too far, but the Stranger Things costume designer literally put triangles on Robin's outfit to represent her homosexuality?????

Like don't forget they custom made Mike's outfit

If everything in Stranger Things was surface level deep it would be boring, the Duffers are massive nerds and it's meant to be analysed. I'm sure there's a million different details that we haven't found yet🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️