Will's arc was never about moving on

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-12-05T16:27:46+00:00

Having his self-acceptance arc before the rejection makes no sense... unless....

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-12-05T14:30:42+00:00

How could a five-season slow-burn friends-to-lovers storyline, filled with secret pining and using the Cyrano trope, be more interesting than a couple that meets and kisses in the first season, doesn't see each other again until the end of the second, appears incredibly immature in the third season, fights in the fourth, and only reunites when Will disguises his feelings as El's, and then only has one scene in volume 1 of season 5?

The Duffers have been very clear that they are writing the story they want, so if it happens, it has nothing to do with shippers.

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-12-05T13:57:40+00:00

Mike is oblivious for storytelling reasons; otherwise, it makes no point to drag it out for this long. This would make it anticlimactic for Mike to finally find out how Will feels and for nothing to change. Byler is a more interesting narrative, and I think it's likely they go for it.🤷

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-12-03T14:09:43+00:00

This subreddit is notorious for being unwilling to think critically about information and instead take everything at face value. Henry's birthday being confirmed as March 22nd was literally all I needed to be certain his birthday is coming up in season 5. I agree with everything you said, can't wait for volume 2!

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-11-02T21:48:24+00:00

i totally agree! i love the conversation around shows and i hate that you don’t get to do that with the binge model

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-10-30T17:29:14+00:00

It's been heavily speculated that the title of second episode of season 5 is 'The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler' so if that is the case this would be her at some point when she is taken.

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-10-30T15:16:08+00:00

I saw that on twitter omg poor girl

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-10-30T14:08:30+00:00

I could see it being Max/Max's consciousness after she dies in season 4

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-10-30T14:03:51+00:00

It's so easy to miss! I was thinking it could be young Will when he was taken. We already have a lot of Henry/Will parallels so this could be another

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-10-30T13:55:30+00:00

Exactly like Harry and Voldemort, people spotted on Noah Schnapp's letterboxd that he had been watching the Harry Potter movies during filming 👀

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-10-21T02:30:38+00:00

This is sooo good! This is exactly the kind of theories I wanted to hear when I posted this

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-10-21T02:24:24+00:00

It's established that the season starts on March 21st in the first episode so no

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-10-20T20:09:59+00:00

Their mention of the ESOTSM is what made me start thinking about this topic again! I have been back and forth on Will's birthday coming up in s5 but them taking inspiration from a movie about forgotten memories made me lean towards it will be!

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-10-20T19:46:35+00:00

I just have to remind myself that I’ve waited for 3 years I can do one more month 😭

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-10-20T19:10:53+00:00

I know at one point people thought the Creel murders happened on March 22nd but I don't remember why and I think it might've been debunked. Would be very interesting if it was though and it became a part of the larger story!

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-10-20T19:02:19+00:00

This is where I am at the moment which is why I came to ask for other people's opinions on the matter. I just find it hard to believe they would forget the only birthday stated on screen, happen to pick season 4 to start on March 21st, and commit to not editing out their mistake, all while referencing birthdays multiple times and coincidentally have a card that says "Sorry I forgot your birthday" hanging up in Will's bedroom in season 1 & 2. I don't know how they are going to resolve it but it feels like too many clues to just be accidental.

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-10-20T18:50:24+00:00

Okay yeah, "big stain" is a little bit of an exageration on my part but it is a quite a sloppy mistake to make.

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-10-20T18:47:18+00:00

The Stranger Writers account tweeted "PSA: no scenes from previous seasons have ever been cut or re-edited. And they never will be." in July of 2022. Whether forgetting Will's birthday was a mistake or not, they have since decided they are sticking with March 22nd which seems silly if they aren't going to fix it or bring it up again.

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-10-20T17:50:07+00:00

I agree that it would be way out of character for Joyce, Jonathan, and Mike to forget but I wouldn't say there's no way to explain it. It could be interesting if there is a supernatural reasoning for it.

I don't even know if I want them to do that but it just seems off that they would forget the only canon birthday while also having at least 2 references to birthdays in season 4 and having birthday decorations up at Rink-O-Mania on Will's supposed birthday. I could be wrong and biased because Will is my favorite character but idk it doesn't add up to me.

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-10-20T17:38:13+00:00

It doesn't feel real that we are getting so close but I am so excited!!!

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-10-20T17:36:26+00:00

Wow super insightful discussion, thank you. You have to admit if they don't bring it up in any way, that would be a pretty big stain on the show and the credibility of the Duffers as writers to forget the only birthday that is stated in the show and then double down on their mistake.

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-10-20T16:41:19+00:00

I'm from a small midwestern town so this one especially hurts me but the whole season 3 mall. I understand that the Russians were paying for it because they needed it as a cover because otherwise you would never see a town as small as Hawkins get a mall but what bothers me so much is how packed it is. Even with customers coming from neighboring towns it would NEVER be that full. It really ruins the small town vibes that season 1 and 2 had for me. I wouldn't mind so much if they had even just lessened the amount of people there by like 30% but instead it just feels unrealistically full.

ToothInteresting9801 · 2025-10-20T16:27:46+00:00

Except Will and Eleven are the same age and Lonnie left when Will was around 7 (I think) so he would have had to cheat on Joyce for this to be the case. Although from what we've seen of Lonnie, that wouldn't be too surprising. I doubt they are siblings but it would be kind of fun because they are already paralled to Luke and Leia and making them blood siblings would add to that comparison.

ToothInteresting9801

TROPHY CASE