sirvinkunt

[sirvinkunt]

Does Mike know Will is in love with him?

short answer: yeah. but he doesn’t want to know.

long answer goes like this ↓

So, a lot of people say Mike is “clueless,” and that’s why he hasn’t noticed how Will feels about him. But… really?

This is the same Mike who, in season 2, noticed that Will was quieter than usual when neither Dustin nor Lucas did. The same Mike who’s always been the most emotionally intuitive in the group — the one who connects the dots fast, the one who jumps headfirst to protect the people he loves.

And most of all, the one who knows Will better than anyone.

We’re also talking about someone who grew up hearing rumors about Will — who said “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls” with all the subtext in the world. He’s not unaware of what people were saying.

And in season 4? Will is not exactly subtle. He gives Mike a drawing full of symbolism. He gives a whole speech that’s basically a coded confession.

And Mike… doesn’t get it? I doubt that.

I don’t think Mike doesn’t know.

I think, deep down, he does.

His subconscious has already connected all the dots.

There’s a part of him that does understand what Will is feeling… but he doesn’t want to look too closely.

Because that would mean facing two very big things:

1. That Will is in love with him.

2. What that makes him feel in return.

And that’s terrifying.

Because the moment he names it, the moment he says it out loud, everything changes.

The truth is Mike isn’t living in ignorance — he’s living in denial.

Denial as a defense mechanism.

Because if he accepts what Will feels, he’ll also have to reevaluate his own place in all of this.

He’ll have to ask himself why everything from Will hits so deep.

Why he needs him so much.

Why he never manages to say what he really feels — not even when Will is pouring his heart out in front of him, practically shaking.

And beyond that: why there’s something in him that doesn’t want it to stop.

Admitting that Will loves him (and that maybe… just maybe… he loves Will too) would mean letting go of the world as he knows it — his relationship with Eleven, his self-image, his idea of the future.

It means accepting a kind of intimacy so deep it completely disarms him.

And Mike — who’s been brave in so many ways — still hasn’t found the courage to face that.

That’s why he stays silent.

Why he looks away.

Why he chooses not to see — even when Will’s feelings are glowing right in front of him.

It’s not ignorance.

It’s fear.

But not just any fear.

It’s the kind of fear that hides in silence. That stays still, hoping no one names it — because deep down, you already know, but you’re not ready to face it.

Because if Mike admits that Will is in love with him — and yes, he knows, deep down — he also has to admit that something inside him has been feeling things this whole time.

And that’s not easy.

It’s not just fear of losing his best friend.

It’s fear that, if he puts all the pieces together — if he allows himself to really see the full picture — he’ll realize it was never just friendship.

That all those times he thought about Will a little too much, all those times he searched for him with his eyes, all those times he felt something when they were together… they weren’t coincidences.

It’s fear that if Will is in love with him…

he might be in love with Will too.

But he doesn’t know how to face that yet.

He doesn’t know how to live it.

And he’s scared that once he admits it, there’ll be no way to go back to pretending.

Because if he accepts it — even just to himself — he won’t be able to keep hiding behind what he’s supposed to feel.

He won’t be able to keep pretending it’s simple.

And Mike has never been good at handling feelings he doesn’t fully understand.

That’s why it’s easier to look away.

To pretend the drawing was El’s idea, like Will said.

To pretend the speech that came with it was hers too.

Even though… it was all Will.

Will put his own feelings in someone else’s mouth.

And Mike heard them.

He felt them.

But he chose not to think too much about it.

Not to ask uncomfortable questions.

Not to look too closely.

It’s not that he doesn’t know.

It’s that knowing changes everything.

And he’s not ready yet to live in a world where that’s true.

If you want to see how Will’s handling all this (spoiler: it’s not that simple), check out his side.

[sirvinkunt]

And when this is a flashback scene from when Will was in the upside down for the first time...

[sirvinkunt]

Why I think Mike realized the truth about the painting in the van scene

This probably isn't a new or revealing topic, but I want to give my opinion anyway. So, let's get to it. First of all, we need to keep in mind that Mike Wheeler is one of the smartest people on the show, and he's always been the leader for some reason, right? And one of them is that Mike is the kind of guy who acts on situations. He was the one who acted when Will disappeared; he literally put himself in danger multiple times; he jumped off a fucking cliff. He devised plans to defeat the monsters of the Upside Down and made them happen. He's not the kind of guy who sits around and waits for things to work themselves out. No. Mike Wheeler is a problem-solver.

We also need to remember that he realized the difference in his feelings for Will and El at the end of season 3. This is very clear in the way each goodbye unfolds.

Here we have Mike happy that his best friend says he can never "replace" him.

And here we have a Mike who is supposed to BE HAPPY because his girlfriend just said she loves him back.

That said, let's get to it.

Season four begins with a different version of Mike; he's aware of his feelings for Will. He's already a teenager, and he knows what he wants and doesn't want in terms of sexuality. He literally has a folder with Will's drawings under his bed, which is a not-so-subtle parallel to what Erica says about Lucas hiding his things under his bed too (something we can get a sense of, lol).

We all know Mike knows about the painting because El told him in the letter, about how Will was working on a painting in secret and how she thinks Will is painting it for someone he likes. So when he goes to California, Mike already knows about it. And (in my opinion) he HOPES it's for him.

We have the first Byler scene of the season, and it's that extremely awkward hug that screams "gay panic," right? But what about the FIRST WORDS Byler? There's a subtle greeting, and then Mike asks about the painting. Mike is anxious, nervous, and curious about the painting Will made for someone he likes. Someone Mike hopes is himself. But then Will "denies" it, and Mike literally wilts before our eyes. And then there's the whole thing about him being hyperaware of Will's actions and reactions while his girlfriend is clearly uncomfortable and about to be bullied, and all that stuff we already know.

In my opinion, Mike is upset beyond jealous. He's also desperate for the slightest sign that Will feels the same way. And that's why we have this scene here:

Like I said, Mike Wheeler is the kind of guy who acts. And so he's desperate for the slightest sign of reciprocity from Will. So when Will drops a suspicious "what about us," Mike looks not only devastated but also fucking HOPEFUL. I can literally hear his heart beating like crazy from here.

And when I say Mike needs a sign of reciprocity to act, I'm not saying he's going to kiss Will or anything like that. But I believe he was waiting for a sign so he could resolve his issues with El and then make amends with Will. But why? Well, it's the '80s and they're two boys; the social issues surrounding this type of relationship should speak for themselves. He needs the security of reciprocity to act because Will is his best friend above all else, and one wrong move and boom, it's all over. I mean, that's basically what Robin already made clear, right, about asking the wrong girl out.

Anyway, Will "denies" it again. And then things start happening with El, and Mike cares (and loves, even if platonically) enough for her to put her first in that moment. There are all the subtle "flirting" scenes initiated by Mike, but I'll refrain from that because otherwise this whole post will get too long. So let's skip ahead to the van scene and why I think (I'm 99.9% sure) Mike understood Will was talking about himself, not El.

When Will hands over the painting, we see Mike literally break into a firecracker of a smile because the painting was meant for him all along, like, "Hey, I was right, Will likes me too."

And then there's the whole speech and Will projecting his feelings as if they were El's. But Mike's not an idiot, you know? He's one of the smartest people in the group, and besides, HE KNOWS El didn't ask for the painting. Oh, but why didn't he say anything? You might be wondering. And I'll answer. 1) They weren't alone, it wasn't a private conversation, and even though it was Jonathan and Argyle with them in the van, it's still the 80s and being gay isn't "cool." 2) Just before, they had that whole thing about being afraid to tell the truth and the other person not liking it, so I assume Mike didn't want Will to back down and "deny" it again. He wanted to hear. He wanted to know. 3) He is still El's official boyfriend and although he is the type of person who acts, he would NEVER act with Will without first resolving his situation with El.

There, in the van, Mike knew his feelings were mutual and THAT'S WHY he made that expression when he realized it was time to work things out with El.

Mike is happy to find El; he loves and cares for her. But he knows he'll probably break her heart. He knows he'll hurt her with the truth, and that makes him sad. But he's willing to do it because "friends don't lie," and he doesn't want to repeat the mistakes of the summer. He doesn't want to prolong this relationship when he knows Will is there too and loves him. And that's what Mike was going to talk to El about before Argyle interrupted them. Mike would probably tell her he loves her, but not the way he should, or something like that. That would be a breakup scene.

And again, that's why Mike looks so incredibly devastated when Will encourages him to confess his love for El.

Is Mike scared for El? Definitely. Afraid of losing her? Definitely. Does he want to help her gain strength against Vecna? Of course. But he's not about to confess his love for her. I've watched and rewatched the scene several times, and each time the conclusion is the same: if Will hadn't encouraged him, Mike wouldn't have told El he loves her.

Once again, from the beginning of the season, Mike has been incredibly aware of Will's presence in a way he never was with El. He knows what he feels and needs a sign of reciprocity from Will. And the painting is that sign; it's what Mike needs to be certain that Will loves him back. But then why is Will telling Mike to confess his love romantically to El? Mike is confused and deeply devastated here because he thinks he misread the signals.

He doesn't understand why Will would say something like that after the van speech, not if Will truly loves him. So I suppose he concludes he's got it all wrong. He probably thinks the painting El mentioned in the letter was a different one, and that everything Will said in the van was really about El.

I have some theories about the continuation of Byler's romantic development and how the painting issue will be addressed in season five (but that's a topic for another post). However, everything is connected, from the fact that I think Mike will be the first to initiate any romantic interaction and how/when he will do.

In conclusion: Byler is endgame.

[sirvinkunt]

How it feels being a byler in the st fandom

[sirvinkunt]

THE DEMODRAGON IS REAL !!!! I really hope this will end up being a spoiler for season 5 omg!!!! They added a new monster in this game collab!!!

From this video here

[sirvinkunt]

Mike having that heart with the crown on his shirt... I said oh I'm sure...

Byler is so strong it lives in every universe

[sirvinkunt]

BYLER GATES: A GUIDE

(A masterpost explaining all the different theories, for anyone who is also lost with how many there are)

THE BIG 4

Flickergate: This theory involves a lot of time shenanigans and is connected to the Will having powers in s5 one (possibly manipulation of time or electricity). Theory claims Will and Mike will kiss in the UD, specifically outside Mike's garage, paralleling 1x01. Will is going to tell the truth at the same time his s1 self is ("it was a seven"), causing the garage light to flicker on Nov. 6th 1983.

Birthdaygate: This theory suggests that the Duffers didn't actually forget Will's birthday is March 22nd (the day of the rink-o-mania incident). It claims that Vecna is actually manipulating the characters' memories (possibly even Will's), making them forget his birthday in the process, maybe in an attempt to make him feel excluded/lonely and making him vulnerable. (Similar to the beginning of Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets, which happened to be on the inspo board for S4)

But also the Creel murders themselves happened on March 22nd.

Churchgate: More UD kiss related theories! This one claims Will is going to get Vecna'd or possessed in the Upside Down church (and that he's going to hurt/choke Mike in the process). With a crazy amount of religious symbolism, Mike would be the one breaking him out of his trance, through a kiss or a confession.

(More thorough explanation here.)

Lettergate: This gate's truthers believe that Mike did actually write to Will in the time period between s3 and s4, but never sent the letters. Said letters (signed "Love, Mike") are going to make an appearance in s5, revealing his true feelings. (Great post that has to do with this gate here)

Also related to:

OTHER GATES

Pocketgate: Very connected to Lettergate™️, this theory has to do with Mike's infamous triangle shaped pocket in S4. It suggests that the letter signed Love, Mike is hidden in said pocket throughout s4, since it very closely resembles an envelope. Triangles have also been used in ST as a queer symbol (with Robin) and Mike's pocket consistently points to Will like an arrow.

Phonegate: Kinda similar to the previous two, this gate claims Mike did actually call the Byers in Lenora. For some reason, the calls didn't go through, either because of Joyce's telemarketer job OR because of Vecna manipulating things again (cough, birthdaygate, cough).

This is backed up by one of Dustin's lines, saying that the Byers' phone line is always busy and Mike won't stop complaining about it. We know he must have been calling WILL, since the whole reason he was communicating with El using letters is that they couldn't talk on the phone.

Loverslakegate: Related to Lovers' lake (obviously). The lake is shaped like a heart, tying into its name, but it was split in two after the gates opened, now resembling a broken one (and Mike is ofc referred to as "the heart" so it could be a reference to him).

According to this theory, Mike and Will are going to kiss/become lovers near said lake/Reefer Rick's house.

Heartgate: To put it simply: Heart reflections EVERYWHERE. This one is better explained through pictures:

Also: Different heartgate but really interesting

Colorgate: I don't think I have to explain this one tbh but anyway

Blue meets yellow in the west.

Mike and Will have been HEAVILY associated with blue and yellow respectively since the beginning of the show (even wearing eachother's colours in both of their arguments). There's an insane amount of evidence that backs this one up.

It's speculated that the Russian code in s3 was foreshadowing for s4 ("The silver cat feeds when Blue meets Yellow in the west") Silver cat: Vecna who started killing when Mike (Blue) met Will (Yellow) in the west (California, literally west of Indiana)

Curtaingate: "They don't spent their lives trying to get a look at what's behind the curtain [...] They like the curtain. It provides them comfort, stability, definition" -Murray 2x05

Mike and El are pretty consistently framed in front of CLOSED (and more often than not, yellow) curtains, or ones that have closed blinds. According to this theory, closed curtains represent not being honest with one's true feeling. So, the truth about Mike's feelings is beyond the curtain and in s5 he will open it (and come out)

Motelgate: This one has to do with the dreaded two day time skip at the end of S4. Theory claims the Cali crew stayed at a motel during that time skip and the scenes were cut for time, but we'll flash back to them in s5. It's based on a photo a production assistant posted from the New Mexico filming, as well as some bts pics of the Cali Crew playing board games in a motel.

Shoegate: In S4, we see a pair of Will's shoes in his bedroom. In s5, Mike seems to be wearing that exact pair. This, in addition to the fact that they wear the same shoe size (a 10 according to their rollerskates from 4x02), lead people to theorize they will share clothes/shoes in s5. More importantly though, this theory suggests Mike is figuratively being put into Will's shoes (maybe pining?). Also, both of them wear the same shoes they wore in s2. Interestingly enough though, even though the design is the same, the colors are reversed (so their roles will be reversed too).

Possessiongate: This one runs DEEP so I'm going to link a bunch of posts

To put it VERY simply: this theory claims Vecna somehow attached himself to Mike (maybe when the vine grabbed him by the leg in the S2 tunnels- right before he started acting weird in s3 and s4) and he has been influenced/possessed for some time now.

He's not the dungeon master anymore, he's not in control. Both in s3 and s4 someone ELSE is the DM when they play D&D (Will and Eddie respectively)

More here and here

Victimgate: Very closely related to the previous one, this one suggests that MIKE was originally supposed to be Vecna's 4th victim instead of Patrick. Since Max escaped the first time, SHE ended up being the last victim but the original plan was for it to be Patrick. However, Patrick's curse doesn't fit the theme of all of the previous ones. We only see one of his visions, he gets cursed for ONE DAY, as opposed to the other 3 that are cursed for almost a week and we also know very little about him, even though we gradually knew more about the previous victims. Chrissy (no relation to main characters) -> Fred (friends w/ Nancy) -> Max (main character who we've known since s2)

More thorough explanation here

Twelvegate: This one is not really Byler related but i wanted to include it anyway

Theory claims Will was one of the lab kids (specifically 012) and him and El are actual twins. There are mentions of Will and El looking similar since s1, and a lot of twin imagery.

This theory obviously ties in with the Will having powers one and some people believe he wasn't 012, but him and El have a deeper connection/may be actually related. It could theoretically explain Henry's connection to Will, as well as things like El seemingly recognizing him in s1.(Alternatively called rainbowshipgate, because of the rainbow ship drawing Joyce mentions in s2 and the rainbow room)

Eightfifteengate: Again, not explicitly Byler but it's quite crazy.

TL;DR: The time 8:15 seems to have great significance in the show and it's mentioned all the time, if not by the characters themselves, (Eg. "It's 8:15, you're late"- El s2) then by small details in the background. There's even a whole track named after it.

Will left the Wheelers' house at 8:15 and it's the EXACT timestamp of his disappearance in 1x01. It's also the time in which most of the UD related weirdness happens and so it's very likely the UD is stuck on 8:15. (Also you know, 15-8=7)

Radiationgate: Related to the previous one! Clocks in Chernobyl are stuck on 8:15 and Hiroshima has been described figuratively as being frozen in time. Henry has burns identical to Chernobyl victims and almost all of his + his victims' symptoms can be explained through radiation exposure. As this post explains, for radiation levels between 8.3-11 Gy (SI unit for absorbed radiation), symptoms start with headaches and disorientation, move on to unconsciousness and bleeding (the exact symptoms of his victims) and finally, death happens at around 7 days (which is about how long Vecna's curse lasts AND how long Will was in the UD for)

Whiterabbitgate: The song "White Rabbit" is the first song in the show and it plays when we first get a sense of El's powers. Theory suggests it will also be the last song in the show (coming full circle) with either Will using his powers, or Willel using their powers together.

In general though, ST has a lot of similarities/parallels to Alice in Wonderland. The white rabbit constantly being late (Mike is late to something at the start of every season), great significance to clocks/ticking/time, a lot of hallucinations/visions, the overall similarities between the Upside Down and Wonderland. Henry's sister was literally named Alice Creel and there is SO much rabbit imagery throughout the show. There are also direct references to AIW with set pieces and paintings.

Soundtrackgate: This one has to do with the Stranger Things OST and the overall insane musical symbolism throughout the show. A lot of different theories talk about the show's soundtrack, but this one talks about 3 tracks in particular: Being Different, The First Lie, The First I love You

To put it briefly: "The First I love You" plays in both Robin's coming out scene and El's kiss with Mike at the end of s3 (Already a weird parallel). The three tracks not only share the same melody, but they also sync up perfectly. "Being Different" (s4 van scene) and "The First Lie" (Nancy and Jonathan's kiss in s2) especially, match up together to create an entirely new track, completing eachother. The scenes featuring those three tracks also share very similar themes at their core. (This post goes into a lot of detail!)

Playlistgate: Character playlists! At a certain point, every character's official playlist on Spotify was deleted, except for three: Mike's, Will's and Billy's. Songs were seemingly being added/deleted for no reason to the Mike and Will ones and people were struggling to make sense of it all.

Also, Mike's character playlist in particular is VERY interesting (so many byler coded songs, as well as "Smalltown Boy" a gay anthem, about a young gay boy forced to leave his home town to escape from their disapproval and homophobia.) There are three playlists on Finn's spotify that are very incriminating. "Love songs" (That has "BOYS DON'T CRY" on it, a song that Will literally has a poster of in his room), "drive" and the most recent one "STurn". These playlists feature songs like "Let her go", "Angst in my pants", "Me and Michael", "Gay thoughts" just to name a few. Basically a lot of the songs on all four playlists seem very relevant to some complicated feelings about Mike's relationship with El/Will but also with himself and his sexuality.

Scriptgate: Oh boy. Here we go.

On August 5th 2022, the byler fandom got #bylerscript trending worldwide on Twitter while waiting for the 8flix account (run by Nick Runyeard) to release some supposed s4 scripts (that people PAID for, mind you). These scripts dropped on August 8th, featuring lines like: "I hate who I am" from Will in the van scene, "His mouth dry, like a California summer" from the bedroom apology scene and also, Will seemingly recognizing Brenner at NINA, despite never meeting him in canon.

These turned out to be fake and the community was in shambles. Nick started calling people psychos, the Stranger Writers tweeted that everyone got scammed, Nick privated his account and the authenticity of some released s2-s3 scripts was questioned. This post explains the entire situation in detail.

Breathgate: This one is also script related and specifically about a Mike/Max parallel.

In the official van scene script, when Mike sees Will's painting "his breath catches." Then, when Lucas asks Max to the Friday movie date, "(her) breath catches" as well. People caught on that parallel very fast and since the latter is obviously a romantic moment, it boosted their confidence for both Byler and Lumax endgame.

Piggybackgate: This one refers to two different situations/theories.

One, the seemingly deliberate framing of Mike and Will inside the little bubble in El's piggyback drawing (and it referening to Byler). The framing is especially suspicious, because the bubble drawing was drawn two separate times (it's different from one shot to the other). In the second shot, they're framed directly inside of it.

Two, Mike in his monologue essentially piggybacking off of Will's van confession. His monologue was going off of El's feelings, but since they weren't actually El's, the speech was based on Will's feelings. It also ties in with the parallel/foreshadowing between the monologue and Suzie's house, with Will being paralleled to the "director" kid, directing a "choking" Tabitha and their dad (more thorough explanation here).

Footballgate: On December 25 2024, the vast majority of the byler community spent their Christmas watching hours of NFL football, in the hopes we would maybe get a teaser or at the very least a release date for s5. This started from leakers saying we would most likely get something during the game.

We got nothing.

People were disappointed they wasted hours of their lives watching a sport they neither cared for or knew anything about, and the only thing we learned is that we would probably get something before the end of January 2025.

THE SILLIES

(aka the joke-theories/memes)

Miniongate: Mike and Will are secretly minions. (Because you know, minions are primarily blue and yellow)

This information will be revealed to us in s5 and they will have a magical girl-esque transformation where we see their true minion form. (Original post here)

Localvillagegate: Related to the leaked Mike and El rooftop scene.

Basically, a mlvn used AI to lip read the scene and try to figure out what Mike is saying (and then posted the video on Twitter).

According to them, Mike was telling El they were going to leave the local village (AKA Hawkins) together and travel to a beautiful faraway land with "like, three waterfalls or something" (and also that she has to "improve her motivation", whatever that means).

People thought it was hilarious and started making a ton of memes based on it.

Parrotgate: This is directly connected to localvillagegate™️ and it was created by @cloudycleric in one of his streams.

Basically, the parrots are gay and represent Will and Mike, who in s5 will kiss under the three waterfalls depicted on the image.

Backgroundguygate: People making headcanons and creating backstories for random extras. The star of this gate is Barrett, an extra from the Lenora high school, who wears a barrette, bright red pants and a shirt that says "Hell".

According to this gate, he's actually gay and in love with Will. He has a goth best friend named Claire who is a lesbian and in love with El.

Chancegate: The theme of shipping Will with random extras continues on strong

Chance is one of Jason's friends and part of the basketball team. People thought he was attractive and somewhere along the line started making headcanons for him and shipping him with Will (Bychance). Basically, they're gonna date and Mike will be jealous.

Mikhailgate: More shipping Will with randoms! (I'm beginning to see a pattern here)

Originally created by @paladin-n-cleric

Enzo in S4 mentions his son, Mikhail Antonov. Mikhail is the Russian name for Micheal.

People started making jokes that Mikhail would arrive to Hawkins from Russia in s5 and shipped him with Will (Willhail), since he's like Mike but Russian and cooler. They made fanart, edits and posted pictures of Finn as Boris in "The Goldfinch" claiming it's Mikhail.

@will80sbyers then begun to ship Mikhail with El and thus the ship "Jail" was born.

Pastagate: On January 2nd 2025, Noah posted a 2024 recap on IG, which included a photo of a trailer door labeled "Rigatoni". People then started joking about Rigatoni being Will's new bf and the ship "Willoni" was born.

In reality, Rigatoni is a nickname for Noah and that was his trailer. But where's the fun in that?

Baldmikegate: Did you know Mike is actually bald and is bullied for it? Well, now you do.

In 2022, a cult was born and the byler tag was filled with edited pictures of Bald!Mike. Terrifying honestly.

Some people made posts about how the rest of the party feels about Mike's secret baldness and some even wrote FANFICS.

Gridgate/whiteboardgate/pixelgate: The Stranger Writers posted a picture of a pixelated/blurred whiteboard that had the entirety of s5 mapped out. People were desperately trying to decode it and figure out what was written on it.

On the space for episode 7, there was a "big black hole" that people went crazy trying to make sense of, only for it to be revealed as a pen holder.

Babygirlgate: The babygirlification of Mike Wheeler. That's it. That's the gate.

I think pretty much every line Will has ever said to Mike has been posted with the word "babygirl" replacing his name (it's hilarious and I love it)

Some examples here and here

Mattduffersbasementgate: Finn and Joe made up a third Duffer brother named Pete, who has no hair for some reason and is the actual writer of Stranger Things, while Matt and Ross are just the faces of it. Pete lives in a shed/Matt's basement and that's where he writes all of the scripts.

Finn and Noah are both also being held in Matt's basement however, and they're not allowed to leave so that they don't spoil byler endgame.

Lobegate: (This gate was officially named by @tripleatechie). In January 2025, a byler went undercover, sending asks to other members of the community pretending to be a Mlvn. In one of those, they accidentally misspelled "love" as lobe, which immediately became an inside joke. People starting speculating whether or not this was an actual Mlvn and an investigation ensued. On January 7th 2025, the identity of the undercover byler was revealed as @somewiseoutthere. The mystery didn't end there though, with people wondering if this was in reality a group effort with multiple culprits. Here is a list of all the possible culprits with a full timeline here.

Blankgate: On January 26th 2025, Atlantaspotting posted on Twitter a thread with controversial claims and gossip about the cast, but replaced all the names with BLANK, making pretty much incomprehensible, and impossible to figure out who it was about. Memes were then made, replacing every name and pronoun with BLANK.

omg this took SO LONG, but I will keep adding as more gates surface

[sirvinkunt]

OHHH TURN IT AWFFF

[sirvinkunt]

I just discovered this and... Wow. They're not even HIDING IT.

[sirvinkunt]

Byler is so endgame that even if they aren't endgame they will still be endgame.

[sirvinkunt]

Guys wait, the concept of Mike running late this season bcz he is looking at Wills painting...

Like we have this bts photo (it isn't an actual scene, but I don't think it's not not a scene yk, more of preparing for the scene) and he's in his room, and we already theorized that he's going to be late taking Will and Holly to school... like it's almost too perfect.

[sirvinkunt]

THIS PHOTO IS NOT A SCENE GUYS IM SO SORRY!!! Like something is frs happening in his room but like a phone is literally on the desk behind him this is not an actual scene.

[sirvinkunt]

The teaser was the last proof that Will is definitely living with the Wheelers - this was a pretty good find by Byrhop on Twitter.

The kids take off biking in the morning for some setup shots on the state of Hawkins with the radio transmission playing in the back; that scene on the field should be played at the same time as "high chance of helicopters".

And for Holly and Will to be close and have played DND together, Will would have to be at that house a ton. I'm accepting this into the canon of the season

[sirvinkunt]

OMG COOK!!!

Am I tripping or is that literally Will the Wise...

Ik we already know that Mike gives Holly a cleric "to protect her" but like no way in hell did Mike give Holly Wills character to protect her...

Oh byler I see you.

[sirvinkunt]

Am I tripping or is that literally Will the Wise...

Ik we already know that Mike gives Holly a cleric "to protect her" but like no way in hell did Mike give Holly Wills character to protect her...

Oh byler I see you.

[sirvinkunt]

Something about season 4’s poster having people all looking either ahead or at eachother. Except for Max, who was looking behind her.

Something about season 5’s poster having people looking ahead, except for El, who is looking behind her.

[sirvinkunt]

What's not clocking to you that he's standing on business???