#itsbeenayeargate

A.K.A. the “MISSING PUZZLE PIECE” of Stranger Things.

+ a possible chronological timeline of Bychance.

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It’s VERY unlikely Chance the Jock doesn’t have some kind of relevant role in the finale (even if through flashbacks only).

Because… there’s all these breadcrumbs and Chekhov’s Guns that haven’t fired or gotten any payoff at all yet:

JealousyGate.

Mike’s extremely recurrent possessiveness/jealousy arc throughout all seasons. That’s definitely not just a funny gag.

ChanceGate / LuckGate.

Chance being named after the concept of Luck/Randomness. Mike: “it’s simple dumb luck”.

22Gate + BirthdayGate.

Chance being number #22 in the Tigers basketball team, which is Will’s mysteriously “forgotten” birthday.

TimeJumpGate. ItsBeenAYearGate.

18 full months of Will’s AND Mike’s life (between s4-s5) that we have seen nothing of.

OrangeGate.

Why is there SO much orange in s5, specifically in Vol 2…

… and even WILL is wearing ORANGE too now.

Yellow (Will) + Red (Vecna) = Orange (Chance).

Chance is associated to Orange through Basketball 🏀, Tigers 🐯 and Halloween 🎃.

Orange is also a color that signifies danger, alarm, risk, thrill.

HalloweenGate / RainGate / BasementGate / PossessionGate.

Max & Holly visited memories from Halloween day, when it was RAINING and Holly occupied the basement with a friend.

Meaning, Will had to have slept SOMEWHERE ELSE.

Now, was that “somewhere else” really Mike’s bedroom, like many are theorizing right now?

Or was it… not?

Remember—that was exactly the moment Henry took control of Holly’s mind. And Holly is acting as a bit of a metaphor for Mike and Will’s minds too.

What if Will was somewhat possessed by Henry that night and did something to push Mike away?

SecretsGate.

Will talking about Vecna seeing his “secrets” in Vol 2.

What secrets???

Are we sure it’s just him loving Mike… I don’t think so. We’ve been KNOWN that. I think there’s definitely something else at play.

DustinsLiesGate / PhysicalInvolvementGate / SnakeGate.

Dustin having been PHYSICALLY INVOLVED with the Jocks is still a secret to everyone else (except Steve—his BEST FRIEND—who suspects it).

Dustin’s been LYING about it.

And I firmly believe this is foreshadowing for Will’s own secret PHYSICAL INVOLVEMENT with (one of) the Jocks.

Except… this physical involvement is not really about a “fight” but about something all of us can probably guess…

Plus, the Dustin-Andy conflict implicated a SNAKE 🐍, which is not only a very established type of PHALLIC symbolism, but also BETRAYAL symbolism.

FramingGate.

In all of Chance’s scenes—and specifically in s5e1 when Mike and Will approach the jocks—there’s a very weird focus on Chance’s blocking, behavior and facial expressions.

He even exchanges noticeable looks with both Will and Mike; and Mike and Will exchange deliberate looks at him too!!!

Will and Chance in particular look slightly worried/guilty, but like they’re trying to hide it or act nonchalantly.

There’s even one shot where they’re all framed together in an incredibly suspicious way. You could even say in a love triangle imagery way.

What the hell was THAT all about?

[see more about this in the *** “Bychance Chronological Timeline” section below]

SwingGate.

“Nice swing!”.

This is what s5e5 Will says in a flirty voice towards a bare-chested Lucas (a former Tiger/Jock, and also a man of darker skin lol).

Keep in mind, “Swing” and “Swingers” have a sexual connotation too.

Then, Lucas responds with “You saw it?” -> prompting an immediate & slightly possessive response from Mike: “He didn’t ONLY see it.”

Meaning, Will didn’t ONLY “see” Chance, he DID something about it. He ACTED on it. He got INVOLVED.

HunterRomanillosGate, lol…

Finally, Hunter Romanillos (Chance’s actor) said he—and the jocks—would reappear again after Volume 1. They did not, yet. This means they will play a role in the finale.

And that role will 100% be relevant or even crucial, otherwise the writers wouldn’t even bother wasting time on those “background” characters in the very last episode of the show.

Yes, it will be about the Andy-Dustin conflict, but taking DustinsLiesGate and SnakeGate into account… I fear that’s not going to be the exclusive reason.

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*** Bychance Chronological Timeline:

My theory of how the Bychance thing went (chronologically) is this:

1986 March

Ending of s4. Will starts trying to get over Mike.

1986 October 31st / November 1st (Halloween)

Will either meets and/or begins his secret affair with Chance.

1987 Uncertain Timeline:

Somewhere along this year, Will cheats on Chance with Mike (Byler development that we will probably see in flashbacks, likely BasementGate).

By this point, Mike still doesn’t know about Chance; at most he simply suspects something.

Chance finds out Will cheated on him. Bychance breaks up.

1987 October 31st / November 1st (Halloween)

One year has passed since Bychance started dating. “It’s been a year, Mike.”

It’s raining. Henry takes control of Holly’s mind (and metaphorically, of Will’s and Mike’s minds). Will isn’t sleeping in the basement.

Something VERY crucial about Byler AND/OR Bychance happens this night. One of the 1987 events in the “uncertain timeline” above; whether it’s:

- the aforementioned Bychance breakup;

- a Byler fight;

- and/or BasementGate (the Byler confession/kiss).

1987 October / early-November

Whereas before he probably didn’t really give much of a fuck, Chance now grows a personal vendetta/resentment against Will, Mike and the entirety of the Hellfire club because of jealousy.

He’s a cowardly pick-me gay, basically lmao.

And that’s why we see him being so collaborative with Andy and therefore violent against Dustin in s5 (November 3rd).

1987[???] November 6th

It’s Nov 6th, but weirdly, there’s no mention of the year. This implies time distortion/warping, which could mean Will’s past [SA] traumas from Nov 6th 1983 are resurfacing.

Mike listens to Will’s “coming out” that he weirdly agrees to do in front of the entire group of ST characters on their team. Will says his feelings for Mike were a “crush” and Mike’s his Tammy because “he’s not [queer] like me”, implying he’s “moved on” from Mike.

Throughout his speech, Will also adds eerie references to the 1950s, activities that we know don’t really belong to his life (or his friends’ lives) and “getting lost in the woods”, which is his childhood core traumatizing SA-coded vanishing event from Nov 6th 1983—and quite literally what set the entire story of the show in motion in the first place. (The details in this paragraph weren’t noticed by me; this is #playgate and #vecnascursegate, theories that aren’t mine.)

Mike remembers their intimate moments of the last year/days (BasementGate?), notices the inconsistencies in Will’s words & attitude—clocking that this isn’t Will speaking. He realizes Will is already being possessed by Henry, who’s putting on a BAD performance of Will (Will is dressed in ORANGE).

However, Mike doesn’t say anything. Because if he does, then Henry will know that HE knows.

So Mike has to equally put on a “performance” to pretend that he doesn’t realize what’s happening. And that’s why he stays silent, acts weirdly distant and looks so conflicted/heartbroken/scared during that scene.

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Edit: PLEASE also read the reblog I made to this post, because there’s another piece of crucial evidence (related to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which is one of the main movie references the Duffers told us to watch before s5).

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