#vicegate

🌀😵‍💫

*chuckle* “Patrick thinks he’s cursed.”

🌴🏩❤️‍🔥☎️🎰🍀💸💰🪩🥃🍸🚬

Also #IllusionGate, #EmeraldCityGate, #ChanceGate, #MaterialGirlGate, #GamblingGate, #IllegalGate, #AdultGate, #X-Gate, #TraffickGate, etc etc

Told ya, loves. 🤷‍♀️😘❤️

Source link:

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

+ a possible chronological timeline of Bychance.

•••••••

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.

•••••••

*** 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.

•••••••

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).

•••••••

#ChanceGate🍀 #ViceGate🎰 #DeceptionGate🤹 #MaterialGirlGate💸 I KNOW THAT’S RIGHT

Just saw this post by sylviethewise:

Reblog by @o11yradio:

RIGHT. My thoughts exactly. 🍀🏀🐅

If anyone's curious about this, check this recent post of mine:

…but also, X-Mas. 😀🙃👇

❌ Dimension X

“You tricked me” “No, I saved you” (deception), banishment, electricity, fire, heat, yellow, danger, suffering, alien environment, harsh conditions, predators, mindflayer/shadow particles aka virus…

#DimensionX #DeceptionGate #BanishmentGate #ElectricityGate #FireGate #TemperatureGate #AlienGate #SAgate #VirusGate

❌ Hardcore punk / youth culture → the Straight Edge “X”

Clubs began marking under-21 hands with a black X to allow all-ages shows without serving alcohol.

#PunkGate #PartyGate #ViceGate #TraffickGate

❌ Film ratings & censorship → “X/XXX” = adults-only / explicit

UK: The BBFC abolished the “X” certificate in 1982, renaming it “18.” This happened amid tightening around home-video—culminating in the Video Recordings Act 1984 (the “video nasties” panic). US: The MPAA’s “X” rating (widely conflated with pornography) was replaced by NC-17 in 1990, but that 1980s “X” aura—forbidden/erotic—stuck in pop memory. Urban visual culture: “XXX” storefront signage (peep shows, adult theaters) was part of late-70s/80s Times Square’s landscape, reinforcing X => explicit/adult connotations.

Second pic: MPAA Rating System 1987

#ViceGate #TraffickGate #SIgate (Sex Industry) #TabooGate

❌ Nightlife & drugs → “E / X / XTC” for MDMA

MDMA/Ecstasy entered club subcultures in the 1980s (before US scheduling in 1985). By the late ’80s/early ’90s the shorthand “X” was common slang.

#PartyGate #ViceGate #TraffickGate

❌ Computing & design → “X11” Window System + network

The X Window System (“X11”), created at MIT’s Project Athena (1984; the X protocol has been at version 11 (hence "X11") since September 1987, put “X” on millions of UNIX workstations—so in tech circles, “X” connoted cutting-edge GUI/networked computing.

PS.: “X11”??? Eleven??? “Athena” the Greek goddess of war??? 1987, the year ST5 is set in???

#MetaGate #ComputerGate #CodeGate #WarGamesGate #ManifestationGate #AvatarGate (El is an avatar/manifestation of Mike and/or Will, born from & tethered to certain specific aspects of their psyche)

❌ Advertising & anonymization → “Brand X”

In ad/comparison contexts, “Brand X” meant a generic unnamed competitor—anonymity with a hint of inferiority—a usage well-established by mid-20th century and still common in the ’80s.

PS.: “generic unnamed anonymous inferior competitor”??? S4 Argyle going “that’s a shitty knockoff” at Mike??? Are you guys following me???

#ByChance #ChanceGate #ShittyKnockoffGate #ManifestationGate #AvatarGate (Chance is also an avatar/manifestation of Mike and/or Will, born from & tethered to certain specific aspects of their psyche)

Bonus connections I remembered:

❌ 'The X Files' (TV Series, 1993–2018)

"Two F.B.I. Agents, Fox Mulder the believer and Dana Scully the skeptic, investigate the strange and unexplained, while hidden forces work to impede their efforts."

BRO idk who that on the left is, but that is the same fucking guy as the one on the left of Brenner in s1. They're also SO similar to Murray Bauman tf??

#XFilesGate

❌ X-Men

All the ST / X-Men connections we already know about...

❌'Dimension X' from TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

Which reminded me of my olddddd post about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Stranger Things Comic.

Tagging... ❤

the "Family Video" store where Robin & Steve work is meant to:

(1) be an ironic, mocking quip/remark about the common innacurate notion that Stranger Things is a "family show" & how it's going to completely subvert that label in s5;

(2) deliver subtext for bychance, #temptationgate, #vicegate, #sigate, #traffickgate and a bunch of other clustered related gates (see below).

notice:

the neon red 'ADULT' film section in the background (i couldn't find a screenshot) while s4 Steve flirts with a girl as he rents her a movie (Doctor Zhivago: “It’s a double VHS. It’s long. But that’s because it’s filled with action and romance …”), only to find out she already has a 'boyfriend' to watch romantic movies with (loser Mike foreshadowing);

the red car (#cargate), already associated to Chance & secret flings (check @offsidetracked posts); also the music band The Cars that's been so heavily featured in Stranger Things (song 'Moving in Stereo' playing during the Karen-Billy pool scene) and Finn Wolfhard's sus STurn playlist;

the Palace Arcade (entertainment, pleasure, vice; also the shady s2 direct allusions to prostitution/trafficking while Keith tries to bribe Mike into getting him a date with Nancy + Dustin warning that's gonna give a disease to Mike's entire family (AIDS subtext) + Keith tricking Max into entering a small enclosed space with Lucas while saying 'keep it PG');

also the 'Firestarter' poster, a 1984 sci-fi thriller horror film based on a Stephen King novel.

while the movie is described as "A couple who participated in a potent medical experiment gain telepathic ability and then have a child who is pyrokinetic"--obvious references to "Fireball!", Eleven's telekinesis & Will's possible latent powers...

...there HAS been an effort by the show to associate the concept of "fire" to "passion/arousal/sexuality" as well. in this sense, a 'firestarter' is someone who 'starts a fire', in other words 'ignites a fire' and therefore 'ignites a passion' (#temptationgate).

fires can be hypnotizing, unstable, quick and destructive; exactly what we've been predicting about bychance.

also included in this #ViceGate theory cluster are:

Rink-o-Mania;

the Hawkins' Pool;

the Billy-Karen side fling;

the Billy & Max sibling duo;

Starcourt Mall & the Russian tunnels below;

Hawkins Lab (HNL) itself;

the entire Russian plotline, starting with that Yuri Ismaylov peanut butter-smuggling nut;

Lonnie Byers and his shady buddies, connections & sources of income;

Al Munson (Eddie's father) and his insane Lonnie-coding in the Flight of Icarus book;

a bunch of other plotlines i'm probably not recalling right now;

and the "Vegas" mention by Will in the pizza van.

and trust me, these are absolutely riddled to their CORE with all kinds of subtextual foreshadowing for the s5 Bychance + ViceGate plotline. I'll make a post about those as soon as I'm able to.

"How far is Nina from Vegas? [...] once we save her — El — we should stop on the way back. El* could make us, like, super RICH, and we’d never have to work. We could just play D&D and Nintendo** for the rest of our lives...."

*El = "He" (in spanish) = Chance = men = homosexuality = trauma... **D&D and Nintendo = games, fun, entertainment, chance, vice, risk

-- sly, crafty, streetwise, mischievous, fun-seeking, risk-taking, cheeky, material gworl Will Byers you are SO unironically real and canon. #materialgirlgate #girlsjustwannahavefungate #mikeyouaresocooked #toolameforwill

mike is officially entering his simpy cuck era, i fear. nevertheless he will still have to step in as a white knight and save will from his dangerous hot girl summer

The multiple references to 1980s German youth culture, David Bowie and the Punk scene aren’t a coincidence, at all.

After being present in every previous Stranger Things season, the subtextual “down-low / drugs / smuggling / trafficking” themes are taking major center stage in the s5 plot too, specifically in connection with Will’s independence arc no less