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[tender, emotional music playing]

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Thoughts on "Escape from Camazotz"

Oppressive Suburbia, Conformity, and Season 5 Themes

I've long thought that a major focus of Season 5 will be the contrast between the families of The Wheelers and The Byers, and exploring how non-traditional family environments can be freeing vs the oppressive structure of the nuclear family.

In a Wrinkle In Time, Camazotz is a planet controlled by the big bad of the book, the "IT", who forces the citizens into a conformity that resembles American suburbia. All of the houses the same, the citizens the same, doing the same things at the same time without individual identity. Without anything different. Different means a lot of things, but with Stranger Things dropping different in reference to Will's identity and the presumable themes of this season, it will heavily codify as queerness and how it threatens the cisheterosexual family model.

Henry was raised in the 1950s, a decade still revered by conservatives for it's traditional family dynamics that supposedly were the peak of culture and happiness for all. That was all a lie, of course, and Henry knew so as he shows to Nancy and Eleven during his monologue. The second most conservative decade aside from the 1950s in American society is widely considered to be the 1980s.

The Creels will serve in parallel to The Wheelers; the worst example of what they could become and the damage that this type of family could do to a child that is different in any way. Notice how Vecna selectively shows Nancy visions of The Wheelers dying, but not anyone else she may consider family or friends (like Jonathan).

That is; unless they change their ways and come together as a healthy functioning family facing their traumas, The Wheelers will be toast.

Karen has been moved up to a main character role this season. Ted's actor says the father starts to show up more for Holly (hold that) and realizes he wants to act differently. Holly has been recast. Finn has said Mike goes on a much more personal journey this season, and steps up as a leader.

Oh, also: the catalyst for all of this is that Holly goes missing. The contrast will help show how the Byers (including El and Hopper here) were able to pull together and help solve Will's disappearance, versus how the Wheelers as a closed off nuclear family grapple with Holly's vanishing.

Each of the Byers is in some kind of a non-1950s conformist relationship, but particularly Will (not in one now but we all know he will be). I think El might represent, after she breaks up with Mike, the fear of the unmarried woman being satisfied without a husband. The above shot really emphasizes my point.

I predict that Will will end up coming out to his family rather early on, and we will see all of them immediately accept him with little surprise or push-back. Will is a visible gay man who comes from an open minded non traditional family (divorced, non-married, adoptive) that is willing to have honest conversations.

But this theme will place the most focus on the Wheelers. Mike is the main character of said family and this will particularly focus on his arc, and his acceptance of his queerness in the midst of suburban conformity.

He is not visible, he comes from a Reagan-supporting family who don't communicate with each other. He is not particularly close with his family like Will is. He pushes his feelings down and tries his damn hardest to be normal despite it all. His trauma hasn't really been addressed at all. He is falling back into his usual habits - the one thing he dared to do different (grow his hair long) has gone back to how it was.

It's not all doom and gloom though. This season above all will be a redemption arc of the American nuclear family, how they choose to escape their conformity and learn to be there for each other, thus overpowering Vecna. Not that the Wheelers are going to end this personally.

"Great, more hysteria. Just what we need". "It's the news, now indistinguishable from the tabloids".

#loving these ideas

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THE VANISHING OF WHO???? THE VANISHING OF WHO??????

#whatttttttttt #if these aren’t fake #I feel like the vanishing is probably Holly? #sorcerer I can see as a Will reference #also ep 6 👀 non-conformity​ that’s what’s saving the kids

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Tfw ur stuck in the upside down and the thought of ur crush gives u a lotta hope.

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S.J. Sindu, Marriage of a Thousand Lies

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Still hc that Karen weaponized Will's cuteness to get a temper tantrum Mike to chill out. The moment Mike starts screeching like a banshee, Karen threatens that she'll cancel the playdate, and Mike suddenly quiets up

#stop I’ll cry

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I just gotta say it’s an interesting choice to have a closed curtain behind Lover’s Lake in the same episode as Murray gives his curtain speech (2x05 Dig Dug).

#well would you look at that

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who'd make a terrifying villain?

(el and will are excluded because we already have an idea on how they'll be like [el with her powers and possessed will])

a. mike

b. dustin

c. lucas

e. max

lemme know why you think so as well, i would love to know! ☆

#Mike #I get it Max has a scary don’t mess with me side #but that’s just a part of her. a shield if you will that she puts on to protect herself and her friends. Mike on the other hand #he’s the Paladin. the leader the heart the embodiment of goodness and bravery always win the day type of storytelling #imagine the horror of the one character who dedicates his entire existence to protecting the people he loves…turned evil #and is now trying to kill them instead. like goosebumps honestly I’d be viscerally terrified of villain Mike because it’s just so eerie #and wrong like a total violation of his nature. but I think that’s why it’d be really cool to see #if you’ve seen Teen Wolf then think Void Stiles. that kind of thing #I guess that could also apply to Dustin because he’s more like Stiles personality wise but in the context of ST I think it’d hit harder #if it was Mike

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#the double take Mike does in that moment always kills me

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chester’s favourites (1980)

#🥺🥺

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was he really immature or was he gay and 13/14 and the others were playing grown ups

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Looks like it’s gonna be up to us again.  It always is, isn’t it?

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✨ WILL BYERS (AND THE END OF THE BOWLCUT ERA!) ✨

okay I'm reposting this bc I didn't like how I coloured it the first time, so here he is (!!!) hope you like it 🥹

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📍 [ you can find all my art HERE ]

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I know someone (well, a few people to be honest but I'm mainly going off their info) who keeps very close track of filming details and schedules as well as monitoring the actors' whereabouts - and oh boy it is not looking good for the ol' Milkvan in this first half of the season.

As in, Finn and Millie have had very little shared set days and are definitely not on the same or even similar schedules. They're also not filming at the same places; they are fairly certain that Millie has not shot a single day at the farm despite it seeming to be a large plot and location also one where we have confirmation Finn and Noah have filmed and likely filmed there this week too.

They think that El's main pairings will probably include the Byers-Hopper family (obviously), Jo/pper separately at some points, and Lucas, as well as perhaps another individual plot. Keep in mind this is just what's been shot already. But other than Mike visiting the radio station at what appears to be the beginning of the season they can't place them together at any other location yet.

Compare this to J/ancy and Jo/pper, which they know are shooting together at multiple scenes, and Lucas' whole plot revolving around waking up Max....

#unless theres major stuff being concealed it seems el's plot is very separate from mike this last season #which is interesting :) #< I love when everything we’ve been saying all along starts to play out

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S2 shed scene -- Will/Vecna POV -- part 2 of 2.

[Finally finished the Bylerween comic! And only *checks watch* six months late!]

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I could see Mike doing his own version of the van scene/Will's painting confession in S5 where, because he is a writer, he tells a little story but it's clear to us and Will that the characters are stand-ins for their own relationship and reveals his feelings for Will.

#I like this a lot