#then we got mike and Will looking on at Will’s s1 ud castle Byers look alike

[chirpsythismorning]

Mentally I’m here

A sword for Mike

Like others have pointed out, the Castle Byers in this flashback is the one we see in the UD (no microscope when Joyce and Jon look for Will) So, if the UD is really made of different memories, then the Castle Byers with the sword is the one where Will is attacked.

But there's something weird going on there. 1) I don't see any sword when El finds Castle Byers, but inside, it is the Castle Byers with the microscope, so the one with the sword (more about this in a second)

2) The creature is not alone. It's too far from Castle Byers to destroy it, and Will sees a shadow. We still don't know what really happened there!

I also noticed something in S3 that could be connected to that specific moment.

I don't think Max's line "Mike will come crawling back to you in no time, begging for forgiveness" is just there to show that Mike actually looks for Will. I think the "crawling back" is connected to going back in time (maybe through memories?) Steve "crawling backwards", Max and El being brought back, El being dragged on the floor in the Rainbow Room, before she sees the past. And when Mike "comes crawling back to Will, begging for forgiveness", he finds him at Castle Byers.

In S3 Max and El are called "a different species" by the boys because, they say, they act on emotions -> Max mentions Mike crawling back in no time -> because "time is funny and emotions can speed it up or slow it down. We're all time travelers..."

Mike's photo in the shot when El mentions emotions and time travel

So, I think the line about him crawling back, finding Will at Castle Byers, and the sword, mean that Mike will save Will

This could be another clue: when El finds Will, before Castle Byers is destroyed, we see everyone's reaction but Mike's. Interesting choice, since he spends the whole season trying to prove that Will is alive.

No reaction, no sword (because he "has it", or, he will have it? He will be there, in the UD. Well, I don't know if he'll really use it, but I think the sword represents Mike)

El gives him his watch, and behind her the words Home and Time

The title of the first episode of S5 is The Crawl, and the first scene is Will singing (imo) in the UD

But Mike must hurry, because in the S3 campaign, which is paralleled to the one in S1 (The vanishing of Will Byers, The case of the missing lifeguard) there's a trap, a distraction, an ending that is not good, not the real ending ("No, let's finish for real"): dying and then living on as heroes in someone's memories. Mike is even mocking Will here, the only time it happens. And we see Will angry for the first time.

And what does he do? He yells: "FORGET IT, Mike!"

Then he goes to Castle Byers and destroys his memories. Castle Byers is destroyed, like it was destroyed in the UD (Mike was too late)

Another parallel between the campaigns: Mike doesn't understand Will in S3 (before Will destroys his memories and senses that the Shadow is back) and he doesn't understand what he's saying about the roll (before Will vanishes)

They need to communicate, let their emotions guide them, through time and space, and they will find each other. Getting to Mike is the key, and he can't be late anymore, or we don't know what happens if Will doesn't remember anything. If there's nothing left and Joyce's boy is gone

[lorax-devito]

castle Byers

Okay so a theory for ST season5 is that there will be time travel,as I’m sure we all know

it’s not my fav theory but it has a lot of potential

so I think what if they go back to Byers house in S5,Will hasn’t seen his house since they moved to Cali and there’s someone new living there (we wouldn’t get to meet them bc no new characters or Eddies Uncle moves in there bc he doesn’t want to live in the trailer anymore bc of hate crimes against Eddie and finding Chrissys body was really traumatic for him and he keeps seeing her lifeless,broken body whenever he steps inside,with Eddies voice echoing “IT WASNT ME,I SWEAR”)anyway the house is messy,falling apart and there’s not much furniture inside (El would open the door or smth also the messy part adds to wayne living there bc he’s so torn apart about Eddies death he kinda just gives up also he wouldn’t have enough money to finish the place) basically fast forward to them finding a gate in the house,getting stuck in the UD (this gives Will serious PTSD from season 1 but ‼️WARNING BYLER CONTENT‼️ mike comforts him and it’s sweet-we all know Will deserves at least a little sunshine in the cluster-fuck,world ending thunder storm he’s living in) while in the UD Mike and Will go and rebuild Castle Byers/go and see it,Mike finds a picture of him and Will there,he knows exactly what picture it is,he has the same on on his desk in a similar frame to the one on his bedside table of him and Will on the night of the snowball,only this picture was taken wayyyy before they met El,the picture was exactly like the original just it was distorted,except for 2 faces,his and Wills were normal,their beaming smiles and pinkish-red cheeks showed up perfectly on the page ,as well as their arms which were slung around each others shoulders,Will had to go on his tiptoes of course because of how much taller Mike was than him then,Will is still shorter than Mike but only a tad and he’s less,scrawny and more *mike glances at will lifting smth heavy and feels his cheeks heat up* muscular now.Mike put the picture in his pocket as he looks around more,he can see the torn up pillows and scratch marks on the fallen branches

“the demogorgan?” Mike asked sheepishly

“yeah”Will said rubbing his bare forearm nervously

“Sorry If I’m acting weird I’m just a little,on edge”Will said with a slight chuckle

“yeah me too”Mike said still rummaging though the cluttered branches

umm this turned into an AO3 story 💀

Anyway,my point is Wayne would be in the UD and finally know what actually happens to Will whilst also being really confused about why his house looks like that also just So.Much.Byler.Potential

also the bit about the picture and the faces was meant to mean that while Will was is the UD in S1 he used it to cope,and the thing that mattered most to him was Mike (obviously he cares about Dustin and Lucas but yk what I mean) and so the picture slowly while Will was there started to de-UD or smth idk 💀

Thanks for reading if you got this far i might add to this later bc I like to yap about Byler 😭

[aemiron-main]

Vanishing of Will Byers Posts 

Clockblocked: There Was A Grandfather Clock Behind Will on the Night He Vanished (x)

Original Eightfifteengate Post/Where Eightfifteengate Started (x)

What The Hell Is Going On The Night Will Vanished? Newspaper Weirdness, Terry and Joyce Being Conflated, and Timeline Weirdness (x)

Eddie’s Poster vs Will’s Poster, Will’s Changing Newspapers, and Timeline Weirdness (x)

The Demogorgon, It Got Me: The “Demogorgon” That Will Saw Was Vecna and Vecna Looks Like An Actual DND Demogorgon (x)

That’s Not The Same Kid At The Same Time: Initial Warm Will vs Cool Will Post (x)

Brief Warm Will vs Cool Will Post (x)

Benjamin Buck and The Articles About Terry and About Will’s Vanishing (x)

That Weird Scene Of Mike Jumping Up Twice On The Night will Vanished (x)

Initial Post About That Weird Still Image Of Will Standing Outside The Glowing Shed (This Shot Doesn’t Exist In The Show) (x) That Weird Still Image Of Will Standing Outside The Glowing Shed Is The Picture Netflix Chose For S1EP1 (x)

Another Post About That Still Image Outside The Shed (x)

Initial Post About The Demogorgon Standing Far Away When The UD Castle Byers Was Destroyed- Which Means Something Else Took Will/Was Walking Beside Castle Byers (x)

“What’s Wrong With His Clothes” ft Will’s Sleeves Magically Rolling Up And Down The Night He Vanished and Warm Will vs Cool Will (x)

That’s The One: Will and 001 and Edward Creel (x)

“Not a Dog”: Chester is Not a Dog Initial Post (x) 

Hopper Referring to Chester As A Guy (x)

Chester Running Past The Rose (x)

Mike S1 EP1 Garage Scene vs 001 Parallels Part 1 (x)

Mike S1 EP1 Garage Scene vs 001 Parallels Part 2 (x)

Mike S1 EP1 Garage Scene vs 001 Parallels Part 3 (x)

Mike S1 EP1 Garage Scene vs 001 Parallels Part 4 (x)

It’s Weird That Mike Didn’t Respond During The Garage Scene (x) Again, Weird That Mike Didn’t Respond During The Garage Scene (x)

The Skis With Eyes Behind Mike In The Wheeler Garage (x)

The Byers’ Dining Room Light Fixture Is An Upside Down Version Of The Creel Foyer Light Fixture (x)

Why Wasn’t Will Damp When Joyce Saw Her Vision Of Him And Why Isn’t El Damp In The Void- Was Will Projecting Himself Like El Does? (x)

Why Are There Multiple Versions Of Will’s Fireball Drawing? (x)

What The Hell Is That White Light In The Byers’ Dining Room Window During Will’s Vanishing? (x)

The Will That El Visits In The Void An  The Castle Byers That She Visits In The Void Looks Different In Many Ways From The Will That We See Singing To Himself And His Castle Byers And Theyre All Shown In The Same Episode (x)

Another Post About Will/Castle Byers Being Different In The El Void Scene vs The Singing Scene (x)

What About The Other Time? Old Post About Joyce’s Dialogue And Multiple Timelines (x)

The Byers’ Warm Toned vs Cool Toned Porch Lights (x)

Benjamin Buck Writing The Article About Terry (x)

Remember How Entering The Coordinates For The Nina Project Takes You To Area 51 On A Map? Look At The Phone The Night Will Disappeared- “Area Code 501″ and The Vanishing Line of Text on the Byers’ Phone (x) Another Post About Area 51 vs Area 501 (x)

The Byers’ Dining Room Light Fixture Is An Upside Down Version Of The Creels’ Foyer Light Fixture (x)

The White Light During Will’s Rescue And During Vecna Visions (x) We Hear The Phone Beeping After Will Drops It- So Why Didn’t Joyce Or Jonathan Notice It? (x)

If The S1 UD Is Frozen On The Day Will Vanished, Then Why Is The Byers’ UD Fridge Magnets/Kitchen Different From The Night Will Vanished? (x)

Why Didn’t The Hivemind React When Jopper Stepped On The Vines In S1? (x)

The Red and Blue Xmas Lights Turning On When Jopper Walks In The UD (x)

Joyce and The Other Time/The One vs Will Being Taken By 001 (x)

The Lights Are Different Colours In The S1 UD vs Later UD Scenes (x)

Why Are The Snow Ball Lights There In The UD? If The UD Is Frozen On The Day Will Vanished, They Shouldn’t Be There At All (x)

The Sound Clip From When Nancy Sees The Girl That Resembles Barb & Barb’s Glasses Being Cracked On Her Left Eye & The Weird Orange Stuff On Her Face & The Blood Coming Out Of Her Nose (x)

El Being Called Sick vs The S1 UD Being Sick (x)

Initial Post About The Demogorgon Coming Up Out Of Nowhere Behind Jonathan In S1 (x)

How Did A Demogorgon Come Out Of The Byers’ Ceiling With Jancy Without Opening A Typical Portal? (x)

The Upside Down vs Rightside Up Light Fixtures In The Byers’ Hallway (x)

Initial Post About The Ticking Sound Effect When El Pokes The Demogorgon In The Void (x)

Who Flicked The Shed Light Off After Will Vanished? (x)

Creel Attic Lightbulb vs Will’s Shed Lightbulb (x)

The Hawkins Power And Light Billboard Advertisement (x)

Talking More About Multiple Upside Downs & The Fact That If The UD Is Frozen On The Night Will Vanished Then Billy’s Car Should Not Be There In S3 (x)

Initial Post About Will and El and Visions and Dampness (x)

Will’s Moving Bike On The Night He Vanished (x)

It’s Weird That The Lab Replicated Will’s Body From The Night He Vanished Right Down To His Sleeves Being Rolled Up (x)

Maybe The Missing Hunters Were Gay (x)

The Light Outside The Byers’ Dining Room vs Vecna Vision Light (x)

Will’s Vanishing and Joyce’s Car Outside Melvald’s (x)

Staircase Shot Parallel Between Mike, Barb, and Billy (x)

Will Had Blood In His Nose When He Was Rescued (x)

Tricked You? No, I Saved You. S1 Brenner-001 Parallel (x)

Will’s Vanishing vs NINA Parallel/Hopper vs 001 Parallel (x)

The Byers’ Changing Laundry (x)

How Did Will Call Joyce From The UD? (x)

What The Hell Is Going On With Will’s Rescue and Barb’s Body? (x)

Initial Post About Vecna’s Regenerative Abilities And Some Vecna-Demogorgon Parallels (x) 

Will’s Unbuttoned Flannel (x) 

Demogorgons Generally Don’t Emit Light: What’s Up With That White Light When The UD Castle Byers Is Destroyed (x)

Will and Saruman and Radagast (x)

Pearl Buttons: An Analysis Of Barb Possibly Having Powers (x)

Will Recognized Brenner- But Which Brenner Did He Recognize? (x)

True Sight, Doppelgangers, Shapeshifter and Will’s Powers (And Why is Brenner Basically Every DND Monster in ST?) (x)

[conanssummerchild]

castles crumbling is so mike wheeler u dont UNDERSTAND

in s1 and also pre s1 we see him being the leader of the group he is so important to everyone and its his initiative that makes them go out looking for will and hes the one that never gives up even when they think hes dead

this maybe led to him getting put on a pedestal...

anyway in s2 things r different obv we see them breifly living a normal life b4 the upside down but mike is still like the leader (the heart wink wink) of the party and even dustin having to remind them the partys a democracy when someone (i dont remember who im sorry i think it was lucas or smth) says that mikes not gonna b happy ab them inviting max to hallowen

BUT in s3 things are changing, mike is spending a lot of time with el and not sm with the party

we see him forgetting ab dustin, pushing will away and fighting with him, arguing with max over el and all in all focusing all his attention on el BUT also ending up arguing with her and they break up. in the end when the ud comes back he reassumes his role as the leader but its not the same as b4

then s4 comes and mike and lucas argue over the basketball stuff and popularity and wtv and when he goes to cali he argues with both will and el over their deteriorating relationships in the span of two days. all his bridges r burning

'one day shes gonna realise im just some random nerd who got lucky superman landed on his doorstep.' mike clearly has very low self esteem and he feels hes not worth knowing

in conclusion castles crumbling mike wheeler foolish one will byers :)

(also im sorry im ass at explaining things but i hope u get this)

[the-lesbianest-batman]

let's talk about flickergate again because

aaaaah imagine s5!will and s5!mike being stuck in the upside down and running to the wheelers house, away from the demigorgon. they are standing in the driveway and they hear it.

"it was a seven"

horrified looks. the two of them got together very recently in a "I can't let you die/take me with you" way before going to the UD together and now this.

"the roll, it was a seven"

will starts hyperventilating or sumn, realising what's about to happen to his younger self.

"the demogorgon, it got me"

mike hugging will because what the fuck kinda shit is this. "I got you, you're safe. with me" will nodding, in tears.

"see you tomorrow"

they realise s1!will is about to leave and s5!will follows him. "what are you doing?" "he's about to end up in here! we have to protect him!"

"but that's you! this will change the past and also change the future!!!"

"there might be some things I never told you about my stay here"

"meaning...?"

"meaning I can't quite remember anything, but I knew I had help. someone was there. looking out for me. and I think that someone is me."

"us", mike said. "I'm coming with you."

"then hurry up already."

anyways they fight off the demogorgon to save s1!will, who passes put almost immediately. "where do you remember waking up?"

"Clcastle byers."

so they bring him there and wrap him their warm clothes and cuddle up on the other end of the "castle". Young will wakes up and sees the two of them so close together, asks them who they are, they briefly explain and he's like "we end up with MIKE????" s1!will marks this down a a fever dream.

they soon have to leave to go destroy vecna lol

[spectraling]

My problems with S3

Salty rant in no particular order below the cut

What the HELL happened to the Byers? They went from being the emotional heart of the show to literally having one brief scene together in ep1 and then Will and Joyce had a hug by the end of ep8, which btw Jonathan DIDN’T EVEN JOIN IN ON??? He was literally in the background in that scene, are you trying to tell me my boy Jonathan Byers would not come out to hug his family after all that shit they just went through???? Jonathan and Will spent like what, four episodes standing next to each other and they barely even exchanged a single line?? Not a comforting touch, a hug, anything??

The Byers’ financial situation and how that could’ve given them some interaction, weight to Joyce’s desire to move and also the Byers talking about that AT ALL was lying right there for the taking. Joyce and Jonathan both had obvious concerns about losing their jobs

Joyce got to spend time doing something else than worrying about Will this season which was nice (instead running after manchild Hopper, great), but where are the repercussions of that? With the growing up theme I was hoping for Joyce to start to look into herself, about letting go and who she is when she’s not a mom

Jonathan was once again reduced to being Nancy’s sidekick, spending most of his time following her around and standing next to her while she drove the plot forward with a vengeance. He spent most of his time in the beginning being an abrasive grump and his pov was barely there with the lack of Byers fam content, which made his argument seem as weak as it did in s2. His scenes with Nancy hit the ground running, were rushed and few and far between. As soon as Jonathan was not by Nancy’s side he disappeared entirely from the plot until she called on him again. He didn’t have one single scene without her

Nancy Wheeler would never, ever stoop so low as to mock Jonathan for a) his socioeconomic position and b) his trauma with his dad. A super ooc low blow. Nancy can obviously be ignorant about how economical strife affects others, but actively mocking him??? This is not the Nancy that approached Jonathan “the freak” in s1 and expressed her concerns despite the entire school side-eyeing her. At least Jonathan got to sass back at her later

Where was Nancy’s backstory that was hinted at before the season? Was hoping for her to get some development OUTSIDE of her rallying to save the world 24/7

Will starts out the season having a semblance of an interesting, very relatable arc (abandonment issues, afraid of growing up, done with The Straights) that then goes nowhere in lieu of The Plot and Will just... doesn’t have a lot of beef with the MF. This thing and the other monsters of the UD fucked him for life, let him have something badass to do like I dunno, give him powers you cowards, let him fight the MF you cowards

Also let Will talk to his family about his issues, or have it be a point that Jonathan is now busy with Nancy and how he misses him. Jonathan being somewhat conflicted about spending all this time outside his family and the potential guilt and effect that has on him. Will destroyed Castle Byers that he and Jonathan built together, where the hell were my brotherly feels???

There was a lot of talk about “new pairings” with the characters, but everything felt very same-y. Jopper goes off on their own, jancy does the same thing, El and Mike have a ton of screentime devoted to just them, Steve and Dustin amped up their bromance to eleven, etc. Even when characters that usually aren’t grouped together were in the same scenes, they barely got anything to say or do (Lucas being said to “become closer with Jancy” was a flat out lie or referred to literally physically standing next to them). Where was Nancy and Joyce solidarity, El and Will siblings, Mike and Nancy bonding over their family falling apart, Jonathan and literally anyone but Nancy?

Villain focus completely shifted from the US government to the spoopy, evil Russians with their spoopy language. Stereotypical, tacky and bland af. Being American is Great and in no way problematic! Go patriotism/capitalism!

The abundance of action and cgi. Omg all of the action sequences. It felt like 70% of the season was spent on El throwing shit around with her powers and Hopper fighting Russian dudes. I remember being halfway through the season and thinking they really should’ve slowed down the plot. But that’s an issue with too little time for too many characters. I had no time to bond with any of the characters I liked since the plots were So Big and So Many that they ate up every opportunity for emotional intimacy and reflection. We had time for a goddamn ad for coke but not for the Byers to interact like once???

Also the whole infection/MF working in the shadows thing? Completely wasted potential. It was set up to induce paranoia in the characters and the MF tricking, playing with and torturing them, people not knowing who to trust which could’ve lead to some really compelling scenes. Nope, it’s just a big meaty version of the MF and now it’s running around town trying to fuck El up while nobody conveniently notices and tons of people died but who cares

Robin was shoehorned into the plot and magically had all the skills it took to figure out the code, could decipher Russian with no previous knowledge (the languages she listed as knowing are not at all related to Russian and why tf does she know so many languages??). At least she slapped Stobin in the face and gave us some actual LGBT rep since the doofuses are hellbent on beating around the bush with Will infinitely

Erica was 100% SASS and nothing else. It got old really quick

The entire plotline with Steve/Dustin/Erica/Robin took up about 60% of screentime with memes and sassy jokes and provided about 5% of relevance in the grand scheme of the plot. Everything they found out in the Russian facility could’ve been relayed by the Russian guy Jopper kidnapped

Which btw, why did a random Russian dude take up that much screentime? He had way more emotional development than 80% of the core cast. Also did we need that much Murray?

Speaking of, I did not need Murray doing his creepy, invasive psycho analysis thing on Jopper like he did Jancy last season. It was terrible and lazy writing then and it’s terrible and lazy now

Steve complaining about popularity “not being that great really” made me want to punch him in the face even more than usual. Nobody gives two shits about a rich white boy who got everything he pointed at, all the popularity and more girls than he could count at school while stomping on the outcasts

Also didn’t need that jab at Nancy in his heartfelt scene with Robin (which was funny bc Robin has a lot of similar traits to Nancy)

Karen and Billy was gross, but at least Karen stopped herself to go back to her unfulfilling but legally sound marriage. No need to rock that boat unnecessarily! A completely mediocre man is just fine for her I guess. At least she got a kickass scene with Nancy

Why in the fucking world did Billy get as much screentime as he did. Why on earth did this asshat, racist abuser get some bs sob story about his awful childhood when we have 47 other, way more sympathetic and interesting characters that could’ve been explored instead. And then he did some stupid “grand heroic sacrifice”. I cried more when the Russian dude died

Max was a victim of Billy’s abuse for years which was completely undermined by her ooc constant concern for him and overblown grief at his death

El being oh so concerned about Billy when she knew he was the asshole who had abused his friends Max and Lucas (and beat up Steve) before felt really insincere

Hopper was a huge, loud, violent jerk this season and I’m not having it. I felt sorry for Joyce having to put up with him and then he presumably died heroically (??? he’s obviously still alive guys) and I...didn’t really care? Was kind of on the Jopper train but have no hopes for it now. Where was their supposed “history” together that was hinted at before the season? It just felt like Hopper constantly acting like a huge, controlling manchild and Joyce having to pep/comfort/discipline him. No sense of back and forth support

What the fuck was that music number with Dustin and Suzie?? Omg cringe. I could feel how the characters all died inside

On the subject of music, they stole Jancy’s theme song and gave it to Steve and Robin and then Mileven. Mileven also stole Jancy’s “I love you”, which was clearly hinted from the name of the song on the soundtrack titled “The first I love you”, which is literally a rehash of their theme “The first lie” in s2. A huge slap in the face to end the season with