#and how that would parallel how el helped him find will?

[bylertruther-moved]

my byler brain rot is in overdrive so i can't form any complex thoughts about this, but i feel there's something to be said about how season five is supposedly going to circle back to season one with the dynamics and that will is going to be a main character because right now (with regards to that love triangle) we have:

will wanting to be closer to mike and honest with him in the safest, least damaging way he knows how (by telling him how he feels about him, but using el as a placeholder so as to not hurt either of them, which manages to be a lie and a truth all at the same time)

eleven having escaped from brenner's hold once again and needing to help save hawkins from the supernatural as well as rescue a lost party member (this time it's max & i say lost bc i still have #hope & we see that el can't find her in the mindscape)

mike is searching for a kind of love and acceptance through the person closest to him without realizing that what he's searching for has been right there all along (he's trying to make it work with el, but the older they get the more glaringly incompatible they become. meanwhile, everything he seeks from her has been there the whole time, readily given to him by will, the same way that they were searching for him in s1, and he was right there the whole time [in the upside down])

and we ALSO know that season one was mainly driven by mike's love for will, because they wouldn't have ever found him if mike hadn't insisted they search, kept el around when she proved she could find will, and remained hopeful even after they pulled a fake body out of the lake. the show starts, is catalyzed, and sustained by mike's steadfast and unwavering love and loyalty to will. who's to say that it won't end that way, too?

#byler #LIKE IM JUST SAYING........ #they SAID they were going to be best friends again and a team. they SAID that it was up to them again. they SAID that they both felt #like they'd lost each other and have now found themselves again. they are ALWAYS by each others sides. #they ALWAYS understand each other. they speak honestly to one another. openly. intimately. freely. they're unafraid - meanwhile they #shrink back when they have to open up like that with anyone else #INCLUDING eleven. #the show starts with mike searching for will. when he realizes that the love he thinks el has for him #is actually from will? #and how that would parallel how el helped him find will? #like idk bro that sounds like it's coming full circle to me! #and el having escaped and found herself a family that loves her for her and being her own person and getting a chance to be normal #for ONCE and for ALL? that sounds like a damn good ending for her too. #she would have started with nothing at all and ended with having found a family that loves her wholly and entirely. :')

[solarmorrigan]

Steve is always the first to fall asleep.

The first time Eddie had insisted Steve stay the night, he and Eddie had stayed up late watching a movie and Steve had looked like he was about to pass out. Eddie wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if Steve had fallen asleep at the wheel on his way home, so he’d told Steve to just stay. Then he’d gotten up to brush his teeth and had come back to find Steve already zonked out on the couch. From that very first time, Steve has always fallen asleep before Eddie.

When their movie nights run long, Steve starts nodding off against the back of the couch, and then later against Eddie’s shoulder. On nights when being alone just doesn’t feel like an option, when occupying the same bed just seems like the most practical solution, it’s always Steve whose eyes slip closed first, who starts up that whistling little snore that he vehemently denies when he’s awake. Later, Eddie finds out that Steve will fall asleep even faster with Eddie all wrapped up around him, arm tight around Steve’s waist.

Once, when they head out to the lake to smoke in the back of Eddie’s van, doors thrown open to let in the clear night, Steve falls asleep half on the mess of blankets Eddie had thrown down as cushioning, and half on top of Eddie. Eddie himself doesn’t really sleep that night; it isn’t safe for them to both fall asleep – not out here, not like this, but Steve looks so fucking exhausted that Eddie doesn’t really want to wake him. Steve drives them home in the morning, and Eddie catches a nap then.

The only exception, really, is on the nights when Eddie has nightmares, when Eddie is feeling jumpy, when Eddie can’t help but look at every fluttering shadow as a threat. Then, Steve will sit up against the pillows and pull Eddie back against him and promise to keep watch; and with Steve solid and steadfast at his back, Eddie can’t help but fall asleep.

At least, Eddie had assumed that was the only exception.

D&D runs long one night—the kids’ parents don’t seem to mind their staying out late as long as they know they’re all at Steve’s house, and Eddie will never let him live down his popularity with the suburban moms, considering how many parties he’d thrown during his high school years—and they agree that it would be easier to simply crash at Steve’s for the night than it would be to go dropping everyone off at home at goddamn midnight.

They pop a movie in and set up around the living room with blankets and pillows raided from closets and spare rooms. The boys are relegated to the floor while El and Max cohabitate in the easy chair. Erica stretches out on the couch, but since she’s short and the couch is enormous, it’s easy for Eddie and Steve to curl up together at the other end.

“You gonna make it to the end of the movie?” Eddie teases, even while draping Steve’s arm over his shoulder like it’s his favorite blanket.

From the floor, Dustin snorts. “Are you kidding? Steve never falls asleep first.”

“I think I’ve only seen him sleep once, but that might’ve been a trick of the light,” Will adds, and Lucas snickers.

Eddie turns to glance at Steve, because what the kids are saying is patently untrue, but Steve only raises his eyebrows at Eddie. “I think I’ll be fine,” he says, and turns back to the screen.

And, in fact, by the end of the movie, nearly everyone else has dropped off, but Steve is still perfectly alert. Even Eddie, who at some point ended up mostly horizontal, with his legs parallel to Erica’s and his torso in Steve’s lap, is starting to nod off. He wants to ask Steve if there’s anything wrong, ask why he hasn’t gone all sleepy and soft at Eddie’s side like he always does, but then Steve’s fingers work their way into Eddie’s hair and Eddie’s out like a light.

They’re woken in the morning by the sound of teenagers trying to be quiet in the kitchen, and it’s like nothing at all out of the ordinary has happened, but Eddie’s curiosity is piqued now, so he starts paying attention.

Any time the kids are with them for the night, any of the kids at any of their houses, Steve stays awake. He stays up while everyone else falls asleep around him, while even Eddie falls asleep, and Eddie realizes – he’s keeping watch. He’s looking out for threats while everyone else is vulnerable.

But he almost never seems to worry about staying awake when it’s just him and Eddie.

Eddie tries to puzzle it out. He spends half an hour or so potentially offended that Steve apparently cares what happens to the kids but not to Eddie, but he knows that isn’t it. Steve is always awake when Eddie needs him to be – and what’s more, he doesn’t think he’s ever seen Steve sleep more soundly than when he’s curled up against Eddie, circled by his arms.

It’s not that Steve doesn’t care at all, it’s that he trusts Eddie. He trusts Eddie more than anyone.

This is a mind-blowing revelation, somehow. Eddie has no idea what he’s done to earn it, but he knows immediately that he’s going to do his damndest to keep it.

The next time they end up in sleepover formation, it’s in the Wheeler’s basement. They’re all crunched up on chairs and the old sofa, though the braver party members (or at least those more inured to the stains on the carpet) have decided to take their chances with the floor.

It’s been a bad week; one of the few nights Steve had decided to simply head home to sleep after a late shift instead of coming over to Eddie’s had been a nasty, blustery night, and the power in Loch Nora had flickered, and flickered, and then gone out entirely.

Steve, the idiot, had stuck it out the whole night, but Eddie doubts he’d slept. And he hasn’t slept right since, twitching at every noise and shifting restlessly against whatever his dreams were assaulting him with. For once, Eddie had actually been the safer option as carpool driver; Steve has looked ready to drop all night.

Now, Eddie looks up at him from his spot on the floor, where he’s been leaning against Steve’s chair, half asleep against his legs and resting his head on Steve’s knee. He can see Steve’s eyes start to droop closed, his breathing going slower, deeper, and then, almost as if shocked, Steve sits up again, blinking and shaking his head, searching the room for danger that isn’t there. It makes Eddie’s chest hurt.

Quietly, he stands up off the floor, patting Steve on the hip.

“Up,” Eddie orders, and, sleep-deprived and half on autopilot, Steve obeys.

He watches in confusion as Eddie pulls over a milk crate full of old magazines and then sits down in the chair Steve has just vacated. He scoots back as far as he can and spreads his legs to make room for Steve in front of him.

“Lean back,” Eddie says softly, once he’s tugged Steve down into the chair, then gestures at the crate. “Put your feet up.”

“Eddie...” Steve protests, barely more than a mumble as he practically melts into Eddie, hands coming up to cover the ones that are clasped over his waist.

“Shh. I’ve got them. I’ll keep watch.” Eddie presses a kiss to Steve’s temple, murmuring into his ear, “Get some rest.”

And, miraculously, Steve does.

Eddie doesn’t sleep a wink that night, and the position he’s resigned himself to is deeply uncomfortable, but for the grateful look Steve sends him in the morning, for the renewed light in his eyes, Eddie figures it’s worth it.

#steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #stranger things #eddiesteve #solar wrote #this whole thing is unconscionable fluff

[aurorabyler]

Flashbacks in Stranger Things: When, Why, and How They Are Used (Long Analysis)

sit back and relax everyone. this is gonna be my longest post yet.

disclaimer before anyone proceeds--i have not tagged this post with any relationships other than byler so if you do not like this pairing please just scroll past this post! i never cross tag because i truly want a safe fandom space for everyone. this is just my analysis of the show and my own brainrot.

I’ve thought about the usage of flashbacks in Stranger Things a lot over the past few weeks. I saw a post by user @girlskth on Twitter (HUGE shoutout to them for this very eye-opening post, please go check it out their tweet and give them all the love!!), who mentioned the contrast between Max’s scene in Dear Billy (running up that hill → from Vecna), versus El being trapped by the vines in 4x09.  First: we need to talk about flashbacks as they have been used throughout film and TV history as a key literary device. Here are some articles that I found that explain why flashbacks can be so important to understanding characters:

This quote is vital:

"Flashbacks are really a function of character, not story…the visual image we’re seeing is what the character is thinking and feeling at that present moment…it illuminates a character’s point of view.”

Flashbacks are never pointlessly placed. There is always an intent behind reverting back to the old material to demonstrate something about the character’s current mindset. 

These two scenes are clearly parallels (complete credits to @girlskth for bringing this up), as both Max and El are encountering the same situation–being trapped in Vecna’s lair and hearing a monologue from him. The scenes are not only plot parallels but visual ones.

However, there is one thing lacking in this parallel, and @girlskth brilliantly points out what it is—their emotional connection. Max relies on flashbacks of her happiest memories to free herself from Vecna’s trance and come back to reality. There are MANY flashbacks of her platonic relationships (her friendship with El being the most significant), and her romantic relationship with Lucas, which is ultimately what gives her enough time to run away from Vecna.

Now, going into El’s scene, I as a viewer was EXPECTING that they would show flashbacks of El’s happy memories with Mike during his monologue. This is coming from someone who does not ship these two characters together at all.

I like them as friends, and I was still waiting for them to show us moments from their kiss at the snowball, from Mike giving Eleven the name “El,” from Mike calling her for 353 days in season 2, from Mike saying “No, El, you’re not the monster–you saved me,” from El saying she loves him at the end of season 3…but nothing. 

Absolutely no flashbacks were shown apart from the scene of the boys finding El in the woods. This is extremely odd for a couple who has supposedly been the centrepiece of Stranger Things for four seasons, or, in the words of people who ship these characters, have been “built up for four seasons.” But no. Nothing.

This is an INSANE contrast to Max’s Dear Billy scene, which went out of its way to show her history with all of these characters over the 3 seasons her character has been in the show. 

The concept of “show, don’t tell,” is critical in understanding this parallel. Take Max’s relationships that are highlighted when she is in Vecna’s trance: these flashbacks all occur because she knows they will give her strength. She is never verbally prompted to think about these memories because she has confidence they will help her fight in her darkest moment. Here’s some more information on show don’t tell and how it is used in media:

If we apply Max's unconcious logic to El’s scene in Vecna’s lair, being able to pull from her happy memories with Mike should have been something that came relatively naturally to her. Except, this didn’t happen. What did happen? El’s memories with Max DID come naturally, and those memories ultimately saved Max’s life.

Zero Flashbacks to Mike/El's Past Seasons' Dynamic

While waiting for volume two, even as someone who likes this pairing platonically, I was excited to see flashbacks to season 1 Mike/Eleven once they reunited at the Nina Project. I’ll always be nostalgic for seasons 1 and 2 and I wanted to see some of their friendship dynamics from those seasons come back. I was literally expecting there to be some sort of “still pretty?” flashback, or some other cut back to season one. Again, I am saying all of this entirely as someone who 100% believes in a byler endgame for this show. I was still very surprised by this, and it is clearly intentional on the writer’s part.

Some would argue that the lack of flashbacks is due to the varying perspectives in Mike’s monologue scene. We see Mike’s, Will’s, El’s, and Jonathan’s POVs switching between each other in this scene. When peeling back the layers, we learned that Mike's monologue utilizes the miscommunication trope in a big way. Let’s analyze:

Mike is under the impression, because of Will, that “these past few months she (El) has been so lost without you…You make her feel like she’s not a mistake at all–like she’s better for being different. And that gives her the courage to fight on.” —Will, 4x09

First and foremost: Mike’s monologue would not have happened without Will’s veiled confession in the van. He believes Will’s feelings are El’s, and it is these feelings that make him think that what he says is what El needs to hear. 

Mike is TOLD (not sure if he entirely believes it especially after the final scene in the cabin when El walks away from him, but we’ll have to wait for more scripts to see the truth), that El has been “lost” without him and that she “needs” him to be able to fight.

This is what he is TOLD by Will about El, and this is not true, as NOWHERE during any of El’s scenes at school in California, or once Mike comes to visit, or during her time at the Nina Project, or during her battles with the military + Vecna does El EVER give the impression that she somehow needs Mike in her life to keep fighting, or that he gives her courage. In fact, given all of the parallels El draws between Mike's "what did you do?" and Brenner's "what have you done?" I would say what Mike gives her is the opposite of courage.

El keeps fighting because she has come into herself and she is powerful and strong, not because she needs Mike there to help her. And Mike, prior to Will’s confession, knows this is the truth, as seen by the line in the official script that was cut out from the show: 

If El truly needed Mike to “fight on,” as Will implies with his own feelings, I believe that more flashbacks would have been utilized, regardless of the multiple perspectives in the scene, to show how Mike has supposedly helped El “fight” in the past. But none of this was shown BECAUSE El’s battles have always been about her personal arc and growth. In the past seasons, El has never relied on or needed Mike to help her fight–he has been misled because of Will’s veiled confession. 

Perhaps the best example of El’s battles being about her own growth is in the 2x09 scene where she closes the gate: you'll see here that all the flashbacks she has during this critical battle have to do with her personal growth and past trauma. The same is true of her fight with the Demogorgon in season 1, of learning from Kali in season 2, of fighting Billy and the Mind Flayer in season 3--her relationship with Mike is not critical to any of these battles. It is her friendships and familial love that motivates her as well as her own coming of age.

The miscommunication about El "needing" Mike to be able to "fight" explains a lot of things, including, at least to an extent why Mike VISIBLY HESITATED when saying “I love you” for the first time in his monologue. There are obviously other reasons to this that have been analyzed by many other people, but I feel this miscommunication is critical.

This is something that has really been annoying me ever since season 4 came out: the whole plotline about Mike not being able to say he loves El should be extremely clear to audiences about what it implies. I love romance and I KNOW that the Duffers can write amazing love stories (Lumax, Jancy, Jopper…).

Lucas and Max never once say they love each other but it is clear to audiences–they SHOW it in their own ways. 

True love is shown, not told–especially in media.

That is how the most popular romantic pairings are so believable to audiences. Showing, not telling your love for someone, makes it feel real. And boom: ever since season 3 and ESPECIALLY after season 4, there have been hundreds of thousands of people saying that Mike/El's dynamic seems "off" somehow.

My point here is that if you love someone unconditionally, if you are truly, deeply in love with them, you would not hesitate for a moment to say that you love them, especially if they practically beg you to say it while crying about that very fact. You would also not call them “ridiculous” after they start crying and then you proceed to deflect blame about a situation you caused onto other people. 

Love is powerful. To me, it’s one of the most powerful things that exists in this world. And I believe that the writers of this show feel the same way: Love Conquers All. I’ll insert one of my favourite quotes from Avatar: The Last Airbender to display how I feel about this topic:

"You have indeed felt a great loss. But love is a form of energy, and it swirls all around us. The air nomads' love for you has not left this world. It is still inside of your heart, and is reborn in the form of new love." -Guru Pathik, Avatar: The Last Airbender

Real, romantic love is never something that should be questioned at critical moments. Let me emphasize: I do not question that Mike platonically loves El. He clearly loves her a great amount as shown by what he has gone through with her over the course of the show, just as he loves Lucas, Dustin, Max, Nancy, etc. 

Millie literally said in an interview for ST4 that “Mike is not loving Eleven the way she wants to be loved.” This situation for El is honestly extremely heartbreaking because she truly deserves so much better than what she’s been given. El is one of my favourite characters and I love her dearly, and seeing her suffer because of this relationship as well as the bullying at school hits very close to home for me. She deserves so much happiness and I hope she gets to have endless amounts of it by the end of season 5. 

How else have flashbacks been used in Stranger Things? 

The article I cited earlier holds true to the Stranger Things writer’s perspective on flashbacks. Remember: "flashbacks are really a function of character, not story…the visual image we’re seeing is what the character is thinking and feeling at that present moment…it illuminates a character’s point of view.” Utilizing flashbacks as a literary device in this manner has been seen multiple times in the show at key character moments. 

Will and Joyce

This flashback is key to showing Joyce's relationship with her son and how much she loves him. It holds true to the article in that it SHOWS that while searching for Will, she thinks back to the time they spent together in Castle Byers.

Jonathan and Will

Jonathan's relationship with Will is key to season one and remains one of the most beautiful parts of Stranger Things. This flashback, just like the ones with Max and Joyce, happens naturally. Jonathan associates The Clash with Will and can't help thinking back to their happy memories together once he hears the song play. This simple scene shows the depth of their relationship.

Hopper and Sarah

In my opinion, this is by far the most effective use of flashback Stranger Things has used to date. When I watched season 1 in 2016, this was the scene that made me cry my eyes out. I still think about it to this day as the catalyst that started my long-running love for this show. While trying to revive Will, Hopper is reminded of his daughter Sarah's struggle with cancer which led to her death. This flashback is a perfect representation of Hopper's development.

Hopper's arc in seasons 1 and 2 was one of my favourite things to watch: he starts as someone cold and isolated who drowns himself in drugs and alcohol to cope with his past trauma. Eventually, he learns to love again in all sorts of ways once Joyce comes back into his life. Hopper's drive to find Will and his love for Joyce inadvertently led him to El, and as he says in season 3:

"For so long, I'd been stuck in one place...And then, I left some Eggos out in the woods, and you came into my life. And for the first time in a long time, I started to feel things again." -Hopper's Letter, 3x03

In summary: flashbacks are used with intent and to SHOW the audience a character's internal struggles and thoughts. Stranger Things follows the textbook way to use flashbacks effectively, and has clearly been selective for a reason when it comes to which moments they choose to remind us of, as well as when, how, and why these moments are used. They have juxtaposed two very similar scenes and how the characters have escaped from the series' antagonist, Vecna, using these flashbacks/memories to their advantage. The final battle between El and Vecna was driven by El's love for Max. Mike was under the impression that what he said was what El needed to hear because it was veiled in Will's feelings. While these ideas have been widely discussed, showing how flashbacks have been effectively used throughout the show and comparing them to their usage (or lack thereof) in season 4 gives us excellent insights into El's headspace, as well as what the future holds for these characters. I put my blood, sweat, and tears into this analysis so I really hope you enjoyed it! Please give it a reblog if you can and leave your thoughts in the comments. I'd love to know your interpretation :) Thank you so much for reading! <3

#byler #byler endgame #stranger things #stranger things theory #st4 #stranger things season 4 #vecna #running up that hill #mike wheeler #will byers #byler tumblr #mike wheeler x will byers #byler nation #001 #001 stranger things #stranger things meta #byler meta #theory

[stompandhollar]

Who am I supposed to be?

pairing: will byers x mike wheeler

WC: 1.8k

warnings: vecna, mike being a little shit, gay panic

summary: Season 5. Will gets Vecna’ed in the final fight, but their walkman is busted. Mike has one final cry of hope to save him.

art credit: @daniartonline on instagram

“It’s not playing!” Mike yells, voice shrill and forceful. “Something isn’t working!”

“We’re running out of time here, guys-“ Lucas clings to the sword he’s wielding like it’s a lifeline. He cuts down another demedog, but not after Dustin hits it clean in the head with a bat. “They keep coming!”

“Where’s El? Where’s Eleven!” Mike’s face is red hot, emotion bubbling inside his cheeks. In front of him- eyes glassed over- is Will Byers, floating an inch off the ground. Mike bangs on the walkman, coughing as the debris from the upside down floats into his mouth and swirls around his throat.

“Come on you son of a bitch, play!”

A scream- purely guttural- echoes over the hills in the Upside Down. The gate crackles and shrills in response. Eleven hovers with her arms extended, blood gushing from her nose, in the distance. She’s holding it off- holding it off until they can wake Will up- and then they’ll be able to escape, and she can seal the gate for good. Except… Will won’t wake up. One of his blue vans lifts higher, but Mike drags the other back down by stepping on his foot hard, driving him back down to earth.

“Will- Stay with me!” Mike chokes on some fluid in his mouth- blood or spit, he isn’t sure. His black fluffy hair has been matted to his skull from the drying gash in his temple. The pain of it barely even registering. “Somebody help me! Somebody do something, Jesus Fuck!”

In the blue glow of the parallel world, Mike clings to Will’s forearms in desperation. Will, however, with red light beating down on him, is in a different place completely.

Vecna’s voice echoes in his mind. “They’ve left you,” He coos. Will’s tears have long since solidified in the congealed dirt that’s built up on his face, having been knocked on his hands and knees in some abandoned baseball arena. The warped stands shroud around him, empty of patrons but still deeply foreboding nonetheless. Will struggles to his feet, only to lose his footing and smack his chin on second base. He feels the hot sensation of blood escaping his body, and doesn’t dare to touch his chin to feel how deep it is.

“They’ve all left you, Will.”

“No, they’re looking for me.”

“You’re lost, Will. No one can find you- and no one is looking.” A form comes into view from the dugout. A cloudy, slimey, growing form that resembles a creature from a scary movie, but is too unfocused to make out the shape of. Will’s head spins as he pulls his hands across the field, trying to drag his body away from the creature. But he only gets closer. Will lets out a deep yell- mustering as much strength as he can and drags his body forward. All he has to do is survive. He managed to make it a week in the Upside Down at ten years old- He can survive a few moments in this place.

“Did you think if you stalled long enough, your mother would come and find you? Rescue you?” Vecna lulls, his voice sounding as if it must be directly behind Will’s head. “Or was it Mike- was it your paladin? The holy night. He’s moved on- He doesn’t care about you anymore, Will. You already know it’s true.”

It isn’t.

“Worthless- A wizard with no party.”

“Get out of my head!” Will yells, his voice breaking at the sheer force of his scream.

Mike jams the rewind button one last time on the Walkman and furiously presses play.

“It’s not gonna work, man!” Lucas shouts, the demedog on him and Dustin getting close. They’re fending it off, but only barely.

“I wish we had Eddie right about now-“ Dustin wacks the demedog in the leg, causing it to limp backwards. “Mike, come on, snap him out of it so we can get out of here!”

“I’m trying, I’m-“ His voice snags. “Will! Will, can you hear me?”

“Mike!” Will screams, wiping the spit and blood from his mouth. “MOM- Eleven, MIKE-!”

“They can’t hear you. No one is listening. It’s only you,” Vecna appears in his grotesque form in front of Will, his long Freddy Krueger hand lifting Will's face up by the chin. The sharp talon-like-nail pressing against the newly made gash and causing Will to yell out in pain. “…And me. At long last.”

“You were the first soul I claimed.” The monster waxed, lifting Will’s body into the air as he squirms and fights against it. “You were my first victim, my first connection from this world I was sent to into the one I used to call my home. You are the bridge between worlds. Eleven opened the gate, but you are the first traveler.” Will finds himself parallel to the dead, black, soulless eyes of his captor. With every ounce of strength in his body, he fights against the urge in his bones to go stiff. Every fiber inside his frame seems to will itself against him- his own body rejecting his control. He feels his fingers begin to crack- not yet break- but pull backwards against their natural track.

Mike watches as Will’s pinkie finger snaps backwards, and he yells. Lucas gets in the last blow, his leg bleeding after snagging a nasty bite from a demobat. “Mike,” He pleads. “Please, man, we can’t lose you too.”

“We haven’t lost him,” Mike breathes. “We, we….”

A scream of courage echoes over the cliffs. Eleven’s eyes streak red down her cheeks, and her hands tremble with force. A low growl that sounds like a wounded animal- but that Mike quickly realizes is the world itself- emanates around her.

The boys all halt in their tracks. Dustin drops his bat in disbelief. She isn't just closing the gate- she’s destroying the entire Upside Down.

The chaos of the battlefield all at once starts dissipating. The bats, gently, begin falling from the sky. Eleven screeches once again, and the very fabric of the universe feels as though it has begun to crumble. Chunks of rock and earth fall from the sky- the world she created, being destroyed by the hands that made it. And yet, while rage had birthed and begotten it, it was love and belonging that ripped it from the seams.

The remaining demogorgons collapse into the dirt and the mire. The Upside Down is silent.

As if on cue, the older kids come jogging into view from their positions in the fight. Steve runs to Dustin immediately, Eddie right behind him, and scoops the kid up in pure excitement.

“Henderson!”

“Steve-“ Eddie grabs Steve by the arm. His eyes are fixed on the two boys standing in the middle of the battlefield, dead demobats surrounding them in hideous piles. Steve’s face pales in realization. Nancy, who’s just come around the corner with Jonathan and Joyce, grabs their wrists in shock. Everyone is frozen. Except for Mike.

“Will, Will come on-“ He sobs, completely oblivious to the dead silence surrounding him. He paws at Will’s face, trying to wipe away the dirt, as if somehow it might help. “Will, come on you can hear me I know you can.”

Small. His voice is small. The onlookers, were they not adults who knew better, may have sworn left and right that in front of them was suddenly no longer a tall, lanky, grown-up Mike Wheeler that stood pleading with Will’s lifeless body- but instead was a tiny little ten year old, fresh out of his moms basement from a ten hour campaign. He sniffs, wiping the tears from his eyes with a snotty sleeve, his hands around Will’s shoulders. The walkman headphones sit uselessly against Will’s ears, and Mike pulls them off, flinging them down. He yells, anger bubbling out of him, and stomps on the walkman.

“Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Fucking—!” His voice cracks again, and he holds Will tight, sobbing into his chest. Everyone else watches, their hearts breaking in front of them.

“Darling you’ve got to let me know,” Mike whispers, singing only ever so slightly. Off key. Pitchy. Quiet. Broken up by gentle sobs he can’t swallow. “Should I stay or should I go,”

Jonathan squeezes Nancy tighter.

“If I say that you are mine,” Mike cups Will’s face in his hands, his nose pressed against Will’s cheek. “I’ll be here…” -A hiccup- “…till the end of time.”

Mike’s eyes are swollen. Will’s are dead white.

“If you don’t want me set me free,” He squeezes Will’s hand tight. “Exactly who am I supposed to- supp- suh- exactly who am I supposed to be without you man? Come on please wake up wake up please I need you, I need you. don’t go, don’t—-“ he squeaks, swallowing hard and catching his breath. “If… if you go, there will be trouble. But if you stay it will be double.”

“So come on and let me know. Should I Stay or Should I Go?”

Joyce clasps a hand over her mouth.

Hopper pulls her into his chest.

Dustin shuts his eyes tight, and Steve holds his shoulders steady.

Lucas looks away. He knows this feeling.

Jonathan buries his face in Nancy’s hair.

Eleven watches in disbelief.

And then Will heaves a breath, and opens his big brown eyes.

Mike’s eyes widen with shocking hope. He holds his breath, then lets out a horribly ugly laugh. “Y- You-!”

“Hi,” Will coughs, his eyes dazed and confused but locked on Mike’s. They mimic his and well with big crocodile tears. “You have a really bad voice.”

Mike barks a laugh, grabbing Will by the face. “You little- You- You—“

“Yeah?” Will smiles, weak but gentle.

Oh, he’s not wasting another second.

Mike pulls their faces together, colliding in the silliest, most important kiss of either of their lives. Will laughs into it, shocked so much that the wind is knocked out of him. He inhales high into his chest, breathing in Mike’s kiss like it’s an anchor to life. And in more ways than one, it is. Will quickly takes charge, holding Mike's face in his hands, kissing him again, deep and full of emotion. The electricity in his fingertips is intoxicating. Pulling away too soon, Will pushes their foreheads together.

“I’ve waited my whole life to do that.” He whispers, breathing hard. His pupils are huge, dizzy with wonder.

“I can't believe I almost lost you before you did.” Mike laughs, tears still spilling over. He looks over to their audience, but specifically to El, who just smiles. Without missing a beat, she runs at them both, and throws her arms around them. Dustin and Lucas don’t waste another second- rushing at the three friends and almost tackling them to the floor in a mess of laughter and tears and chattering voices.

“Alright alright, let mom through.” Joyce smiles, her eyes puffy red and her face bright and smiling- if exhausted. Will’s eyes melt as she hugs him.

“Mom, I—“

“Oh hush. I already knew.” Giving him a gentle wink, and kissing the top of his head. “My boy. Please don’t ever go away like that again.”

Will’s eyes drift over to Mike as Joyce wraps him in a hug. “Don’t worry.” He smiles. “I think I’m planning on staying.”

#stranger things #byler #mike wheeler #byler better be canon #will byers #angst #byler angst #stranger things 4 #byler fic #byler angst fic #byler kiss #byler one shot

[lordystrange]

So let me get this straight (pun intended)

In season 1 Mike meets El in the woods. We’ve been shown other people mistaking her as a boy first, but there’s no way Mike did that. He took her home because it was love at first sight, not because he’s a caring human being and she was alone in the dark woods wearing nothing but a t-shirt in the rain.

Then he makes a plan to get his mother to deal with this in the morning. To send her back to the Pennhurst (which we now know to be a mental hospital), because it was love at first sight?

But then when he finds out she has these cool powers, he realizes she could help finding Will and he decides to keep her. Because it was love at first sight?

Then they have a few moments of understanding and a few moments of lying and fighting and it affects everyone in the party and Lucas makes the marriage comment and then the comment about Mike only liking El because she isn’t repulsed by him like most girls are. But only the marriage comment counts because it was love at first sight?

And then a few days after meeting her, right after discussing how Nancy could be El’s new sister and El asking if Mike would like her brother, Mike decides that’s the right moment to kiss her. Because it was love at first sight? And then she disappears.

Then in season 2 we see El calling for Mike in the UD. A situation parallelled to other ships like Jancy and Lumax and Byler, but unlike with those ships, the other one is not there for her. El finds her own way out with no Mike around. Because it was love at first sight?

And we saw in s1 how Mike only heard someone breathing through the radio, and even though he just saw Will’s dead body, he believed it was him and kept looking for him. But in s2 we see how Mike actually briefly sees El for a couple times and he tells Will about it, but he still doesn’t go looking for her. Even though we see him holding on to hope that she’s alive, calling for her on the radio, he doesn’t go looking for her. Because it was love at first sight?

And they are separated for almost entire season and they finally meet, Mike spends like two seconds with her and then starts raging at Hopper. Because this was not about him feeling guilty about El’s self sacrifice but instead about him being in love with her. Because it was love at first sight?

And then in season 3 they have suddenly been together like 6 months. And we didn’t get to see their journey because why would we wanna see the main couple’s first moments in a serious romantic relationship. Because it was love at first sight?

And they have been written to be this annoying couple who only make out and ignore their friends all the time. And they they have stupid, comedic fights and a break-up. And we’ve told how in these situations the boy soon comes crawling back begging for forgiveness and we do see that happening but not to El. And we also see how El doesn’t know what she likes and how Max teaches her that there’s more to life than stupid boys. Why? Because it was love at first sight?

And then shit goes down and then we have a 3 months long time skip and then suddenly El says ily to Mike and kisses him and he doesn’t kiss back but now they are back together. With no build-up to it. Because it was love at first sight?

And in season 4 we learn that Mike hasn’t been able to even write ily back to El. We learn that El wants to pretend like she’s popular to Mike because she’s insicure, and Mike tries to pretend like he’s not a nerd to El because he’s insicure. And there are fights between Mike and El because of Mike and El’s relationship AND between Mike and Will because of Mike and El’s relationship. And we keep seeing scenes with this love triangle and Mike and El’s relationship not working because they don’t understand each other. Because it was love at first sight?

And they get separated again but instead of showing us them doing some growing together or at least towards one another, we see El growing independent and Mike growing apart. Until they meet again with no kiss and clearly still not on the same page. And soon shit goes down again and we need Mike to say ily to El because that’s the only way this girl could have strength to save her bestie. Because it was love at first sight?

And then we see the monologue that’s disappointingly vague and the ilys aren’t working and Mike is pushed to do it by Will and he uses same words as Will and Eddie and he tells her it was love at first sight and we are supposed to believe him. And it doesn’t save the world, not even Max, but we are still supposed to believe him. Why?

Is this really supposed to be the main ship? The groundbreaking love story? Something unique and never-been-done-before? (Can’t argue with that tho…)

I don’t understand why people love them. Why do people love them?

Mileven shippers often say that Byler shippers only ship Byler because it’s a gay ship…

I wonder where that argument comes from. Is it possibly rooted in them only shipping Mileven because it is a straight ship?

#byler #anti milkvan #anti mileven #stranger things #stranger things ships #milkvan analysis #milkvan slander #byler tumblr #byler is endgame #byler endgame

[iravaid]

sry if this is random but will u tell us what english au is? i remember seeing it passing re: codposting and im so curious

Hi i'm so happy you asked

English AU came about when me and @farramint started bonding over how much we hated the comics and talked about how things might look if Roba was more competent.

English AU sprouts from the concept of what would happen if Simon let the brainwashing 'work' and started complying with Roba, to an extent, as his personal attack dog. Both as a way to get the torture to stop (so he would be healthy enough in the future to escape on his own, when the opportunity arose), and to stall Roba getting bored with Simon and killing him (as, in this AU, Roba had Sparks killed, leading Simon to realise his time is limited here, and dependent on that sadist's interest in him).

It's also a fun, morbid enough exploration on how low Simon will be forced to stoop while 'working' for Roba (murder, torture and such, yknow how it is), as well as the harassment, humiliation, and torture (of all kinds) he'd have to tolerate within the Zaragoza cartel. Things like forcefully being tattooed, mocked for the sexual assault and torture he'd been subjected to, and being referred to by 'English' as opposed to his actual name. I can see Roba subtly holding Simon's family hostage (to where they don't know they're in danger), and making sure Simon knows that any step too far out of line will lead to their harm. Gripped by the idea that the first time Simon hears his brother's, or mother's, voice in months is a conversation secretly recorded between one of them, and someone Roba had planted in Manchester in order to keep tabs on them.

It also lead to the idea of Roba, in all his arrogance, seeing a weakness in Las Almas following the upheaval within the cartel causing El Sin Nombre to rise to prominence. And this spurs him to try and expand operations. One thing leads to another, and Valeria convinces 'English' to help her against Roba, in exchange for his own freedom. Roba eventually dies, Valeria and Simon are violent girlbosses in arms, and Simon is coping sooo well after the torture nexus that he's just going to brutally hunt down the remaining Zaragoza cartel lieutenants while in this tenuous alliance with El Sin Nombre, who is also unsure how much to trust this man, as well as unsure if she wants to even let him go - Simon is very good at what he does, and in all honesty he knows too much about her identity. Also extremely to draw parallels between Valeria and Rudy, but if people want to read about that lmk because that's a separate post entirely.

And it makes sense for the 141 to eventually appear, maybe somewhat faithful to the plot of MW2, with the missiles and such <3. Except now there's some ulterior motives from Price, who might be aware of the MIA SAS serviceman who got tangled up in rumours of corruption and cartels. Leading to him trying to find Simon Riley and bring him back home with this sense of duty/honour to uphold, in the wake of higher-ups failing this man.

Simon then going from one master (Roba) to another (Valeria) to another (Price) is very fun to consider, as well. Valeria giving Simon more independence than Roba ever did, with shreds of respect to stop him from rankling under her thumb as badly (but still keeping Control, at the end of the day). Price is very much a man who knows how to utilise the men under him as Weapons, and while he respects his subordinates as people (versus Roba seeing Simon as a convenient attack dog he used to make kneel naked, arms behind his back, in a wire kennel for hours on end), Price ultimately values them by their individual abilities to keep the 'bad guys' afraid of their own shadows, and to 'save' the world.

This au has everything. Alejandro-Valeria bitter divorce, competent Roba horrors, Graves is there for some reason (he explodes in the tank again), Simon slaughter hashtag girl momen with a cunty silk buttonup a (with the buzzcut no less)(and houndcoding)(and corruption. but how much is merely just building off his sas conditioning), Price's vague sense of corruption but 'for the greater good', Soap and Gaz's horror at Simon's situation in a 'this very easily could've been us' way, and Gaz gets thrown out of another helicopter.

augh this became long, i hope it makes sense. The idea is ultimately that simon gets to go home, too, and tries to readjust to a 'normal' life, reuniting with Tommy and Sharon and Beth and Joseph. But I can see Price convincing him to return to the service (he knows a lifer when he sees one, and why waste a good soldier), potentially as a private contractor with the 141.

#I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK FOREVER TO RESPOND TO. THE HORRORS GOT ME THERE FOR A LITTLE BIT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE #love getting asks about cod pls dont be dissuaded by how bad i am at responding to asks T_T #simon riley #valeria garza #call of duty #modern warfare 2 #english au my beloved #codposting #manuel roba #john price #also Rudy is a bird ringer in this one. it's canon. i was there. he was ringing kingfishers by the river. he finds simon in the river too #ask #anon

[therainscene]

I’ve been rolling the Mike thinks Will is in love with El theory around in my head some more. I like it, but it’s not without its flaws.

One especially damning counter-argument a few folks have brought up is that Mike heard Will refer to himself as El’s brother at the police station:

Will’s line contrasts Jonathan’s earlier “I’m her brother... uh, step-brother...”, indicating that Will has fully embraced her as family where Jon doesn’t quite see her that way yet.

It’s a great point. The only justification I’ve seen for it is that Mike wasn’t put off from kissing El after he’d already implied he wanted to be her brother... but that doesn’t wash with me. Just because he had no idea how to reconcile his feelings with heteronormative expectations at 12 doesn’t mean he's still clueless at 15.

So let’s give him some credit and try a different angle: When we step outside of the Byers POV, Will’s line is actually quite ambiguous.

The unsympathetic receptionist refused to let them see El on the grounds they weren’t a parent or legal guardian, so Will jumped in with an argument he hoped would win her over: we’re her legal next of kin. He’s just saying whatever he thinks will grant them access to El -- there’s no reason it has to be reflective of his true feelings.

After all, it’s not as though Will “be gay do crime” Byers has any qualms about being dishonest with authorities when it suits him.

Mike was present for both of the above moments, so he definitely knows this about Will. And this is only one piece of evidence amongst many -- the rest of it is undeniably suggesting that Will’s in love with one half of Milevn:

Will’s been acting weird in a likes-someone way around El;

Will sulked at Rink-o-Mania over getting third-wheeled by Milevn and rarely took his eyes off El;

Will is always eager to talk about El and brings her up in conversations with Mike more than Mike does;

Will hinted that he was hiding an uncomfortable secret from Mike in the scrapyard heart-to-heart;

Will is the more trustworthy party in the “maybe it is for [someone he likes]”/“El commissioned it” painting lie conflict;

Will was on the verge of tears the whole time he was pushing Mike back into El’s arms in the van and the pizzeria.

It’s obvious to the audience what conclusion to draw here because we had the benefit of seeing it all through Will’s sad gay puppy eyes...

...But Mike is forced to assess the evidence through his own biased POV.

This kid has severe self-worth issues, which are tied up in his feelings for El, which are in turn tied up in heteronormativity. It’s also been hinted that he has depression -- messy room, slipping grades, parallels with Max -- an illness that’s notorious for twisting your thought processes into the most pessimistic directions possible.

So while Mike may very well suspect the truth, I’m not sure he’s in the right headspace to accept it. There’s a good chance he’s torn between the two interpretations:

Will likes El: Mike is forced to choose between making Will happy vs. holding on to the one thing that makes him feel like he has value. But he can tell that El doesn’t need him anymore, and he couldn’t live with himself if he hurt Will... after all, aren’t a straight boy’s feelings more important than some pathetic queer who’s lying to himself?

Will likes Mike: Mike gets to make Will happy and he gets to make himself happy. Letting go of El might be difficult, but he knows she’ll be fine without him, and Will has already proven that his unbridled love can help Mike see his inherent self-worth -- a much healthier approach than tying his self-worth up in being someone’s boyfriend.

The first interpretation reinforces Mike’s heteronormative beliefs and ensures he continues to feel worthless, whereas the second allows him to feel hope that things can get better.

Which interpretation would a depressed brain find more appealing? Or, more to the point, since Stranger Things tends to explore these struggles through metaphor--

--which interpretation would give Mr. Everyone-is-Just-Waiting-For-it-All-To-Be-Over an opportunity to break through Mike’s defenses?

#stranger things #willelmike #byler #willel #elmike #mike wheeler #will byers #el hopper #my analysis

[redpusea]

(Thankyou @spookyghostlover for the gorgina pic.)

Hello my lovelies, I just want to talk about one of the inspirations for Stanger Things (honestly I wouldn’t recommend watching it unless you are politically informed and can approach material that contains contradictions from it’s time (eg. Power imbalances with children, women, queer folk, BIPOC, neurodivergent/differently abled etc.), even still it was painful at times so I won’t mention which show just kind of share my thoughts and what it made me think about) .

I’m currently thinking about the PAINTING and how Eleven kind of isn’t in the painting and how this might cause a realtional rift. I can see Eleven kind of feeling not part of the group and goes to see Max or continues to miss her. Or maybe the recent leak with Eleven and Mike is Mike kind of apologising for not putting in more effort to make her feel apart of the team and kind of taking her away from group activities or maybe even Eleven apologising for this kind of action too?

I can also see Mike being the one to probably get through to Henry, who is someone who hates the world because it’s wrong but Mike will be able to synthesise Henry’s feelings (I think this will happen after my previous theory about time travelling) and find a solution or at least make something matter more than destroying it all/throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Maybe even to get him on the party… (if this confuses you because you think he is entirely evil please see some of my previous posts but essentially Henry (Vecna preburns) (following explanation will be SPOILERS FROM THE PLAY so skip to next paragraph if you don't want to hear this) as a child after moving to Hawkins noticed that something was off and was also sent to the upside down (similar to Will) and when he returned was possessed (similar to Will) although he was never purged of the Mind Flayer unlike Will… Mike was also the one to get through to Will… and Mike is the heart… and popular feminist theory highlights the need for heart, the need for feeling in overthrowing oppressive systems of non-consent. So SLAY.

Dustin will probably tame a dragon and then help the team <3 because Dustin

El and Dustin relations/interactions, I don’t even know this just as an idea would be so wholesome to meeeee

Steve and Mike and Will relations/interactions also I don’t even know where to start this would be so wholesome but like paralleling Robin coming out to Steve maybe or just Steve being already cool with queerness, just yay.

Lastly, I don’t think it’s going to end with them all being in separate romantic relationships but a strong interconnected bond of friendship or at the least their romantic relationships won’t alienate each other from being friends as a group.

#stranger things #st s5 theory #byler #mike wheeler #will byers #st5 leaks #elmax #st5 speculation #stranger things 5 #st5 #lucas sinclair #dustin henderson #steven harrington #robin buckley #vecna/henry/001

[aemiron-main]

owens youre so suspicious

ahahah no totally i trust owens completely i don’t think it’s suspicious at all that ST has very very heavily parallels to the ‘alien’ movies and that paul reiser (who plays owens) plays carter burke in 'aliens’. carter, a character who backstabs and manipulates the main character, ripley, and does so by pretending to befriend her and by playing nice and by pretending that he’s interested in keeping things safe and in helping ripley process her trauma (staring directly at el in nina) by going back to the planet to eradicate the aliens for good but ends up betraying her and trying to bring an alien back to earth.  but not JUST’ bring one back’. bring one back by having ripley and newt (a literal child who is paralleled to holly and to sara) impregnated by the alien. because the alien needed a host to survive. staring directly at not only nina with el but also at s2 with will- in alien, the alien needed a host. in s2, henry needed a host (will) & therefore possessed him. will, having the sara parallel with how his s1 UD rescue flips between clips of will vs clips of sara.  henry, who owens and brenner have canonically been trying to find since 1979.  henry, who now was almost in owens’ grasp if owens let will die/be taken over by henry.  owens, who insisted it was all in will’s head. if they had listened to owens, henry would have taken over will completely. and then even though owens and brenner wouldn’t have had access to henry’s actual body, they would’ve had access to his host body. they would have had access to him in that regard. locked up in the lab all over again with will as his host.  will, who talks in s3 about henry wanting a ‘new me’/new will/new host/trying to recreate will’s s2 possession. henry, who talks in s4 about how brenner tried to ‘recreate’ him. and when we meet these things in the middle? staring directly at owens and brenner trying to recreate henry via will with allowing will to be possessed by henry.  smthn is up with owens lmao

#stranger things #st analysis #byler #sam owens #st-alien parallels #henry creel #will byers

[bylertruther]

thinking about how...

this show has always been about will, his disappearance, and the ripple effect that all has had on everyone. when they mention which characters in particular, it's interesting to note that these are all characters who end up being pivotal / endgame ships. joyce and hopper, jonathan (and nancy), and mike (and will). the only one missing would be lucas (and max), but lucas gets a lot of focus in season one anyway and their relationship is a highlight of the second season. these ships all also continue to grow closer as the show goes on.

mike is introduced as someone with "near-crippling insecurity". he cares very much about falling behind his peers (see: the second sentence) and what others think of him (see: him not wanting to tell eleven he gets bullied). they specifically point out that mike and will escape their feelings of alienation through fantasy. they, unlike dustin and lucas, have a connection to dnd that goes beyond just enjoying it. for them, this is the one place they can be themselves uninhibited or more than what they think they are.

mike finds himself on a real adventure for will. the dogged, devoted, and relentless courage we come to associate with mike was born out of his desire to save will. mike was inspired by will. (see: when he radios lucas and tells him that will could've cast protection, but he didn't. he put himself in danger to save the party.) he becomes the leader we know and love because of will. he faces many monsters—troy and hawkins' homophobia, the bad men, a demogorgon—for will. the last sentence makes you think it's tied to eleven, but really... it isn't.

this is further supported by the fact that mike was originally supposed to enter the upside down by himself! at twelve years old! he was supposed to enter a scary monster-filled dimension because of how much he loves and misses his best friend. he does this for will, because he believes with all his heart and knows that will is alive, and they just need to find and help him somehow. will is the one that inspires mike to unearth that courage he didn't know he had.

the montauk / stranger things bible states that "mike will meet and bond with eleven," but the only time it "defines" their relationship you could say is when it parallels them to elliot and e.t. who are obviously not a romantic couple lol. the only romantic relationship mentioned in this pdf is between jonathan and nancy.

piggybacking off of point five, i feel like that, paired with how everyone pushed mike towards eleven, and the emphasis on mike feeling insecure over never having had a girlfriend or a first kiss, suggests that their relationship in this season is not romantic in nature. not really, anyway.

when mike is talking about their future, this is what he says:

See, I was thinking, once all this is over and Will’s back and you’re not a secret anymore, my parents can get you an actual bed for the basement. Or you can take my room if you want, since I’m down there all the time anyway. My point is, they’ll take care of you. They’ll be like your new parents, and Nancy, she’ll be like your new sister.

whenever mike is talking to eleven without any outside influence, he's always treating her in a platonic or familial manner. she's the one that he's talking about as if they're siblings, not will. he's 100% indisputably describing a family here, because that's what he sees her as—an adopted sister, that is—when no one else is influencing him or misconstruing his kindness towards her. he knows that she has no one and he obviously likes her and considers her a friend. he doesn't want to lose her or for her to be alone and hurt again, so this is the next logical step in his mind.

(also, remember in season three when mike said "i love her and can't lose her again" and when el questioned him on it, he said it was "a family discussion", then again played stupid and didn't say it back when eleven brought it up a second time at the end? and then in season four continued to avoid saying those words in a romantic context until will confessed and then pushed him to say it? and even then he spoke about how he still viewed her as the girl he met in the woods, who needed a family, is a superhero? aka not saying why he loves her or mentioning any of her personality traits like jonathan and nancy are able to? lol.)

it's only when she asks for clarification and inadvertently reminds him of everything everyone has been saying all week that he backtracks. but when it's just him and her and he forgets everything he "should" be doing or feeling at this age, aka kissing girls and getting a girlfriend? it's 100% familial and platonic.

he kisses her in this scene, yes, lol, but that's after she questions him and she's still not understanding that they apparently aren't just friends. she doesn't know what dating or romantic love is until season two when she's been binging soaps in the cabin.

and yes he dances with her at the snow ball in season two, but 1) he promised her, 2) she's his friend he hasn't seen in forever, and 3) what were they supposed to do? stand off to the side awkwardly while everyone else dances? he's a paladin: he made a promise to her and so he intends to keep it.

additionally, that s1 kiss being the only one that the duffers actually planned (at that point in time) suggests this (in my opinion), too.

in eleven, mike finds a friend in a girl for the first time ever. in mike, eleven finds her first friend in general ever. their bond, which is likened to elliot and e.t., is misconstrued as being romantic because that's what everyone around them assumes it is.

mike falls for this because 1) he's insecure (and behind the scenes in interviews finn especially has described their relationship as something that makes mike "normal" and allows him to "impress people", two things which are(/were?) important to mike), 2) doesn't know any better, and 3) as a fantasy lover, do you really think he's going to turn down or hurt an actual "superhero" who just so happens to be the first girl ever to not be grossed out by him?

eleven falls for this, too, because 1) she also doesn't know any better, 2) the soaps she watched for almost an entire year straight and her isolation in general definitely painted their friendship in a different light for her, and 3) he was her first friend. of course she's going to have special feelings for him that maybe eventually in time did turn into actual romantic feelings, but were definitely not that at the start when she knew nothing of the world.

so, like... yeah. all of the parallels between mike and eleven's familial figures in life and the disparity between mike's relationships with eleven and will aren't just a wacky coincidence. it's by design.

mike and eleven both tell us how they feel about each other in season one, the duffers have expressed their vision for those two since before stranger things was even called stranger things, they knew what they wanted to do in season two before casting as well, they called season three their season to "play in the sandbox" before going back to showing their hand and wrapping story lines up, and mike and will's relationship has been this close and interlinked since the very beginning, too. it's all there in the text itself. none of this is new and all of it is intentional.

and, if we are to continue this pattern... mike is going to discover even more courage that he didn't know he had when will finally comes clean and tells him how he really feels about him. he'll realize, too, that he doesn't need to escape into a fantasy world or conform in order to have what he truly wants or be the person he wishes he could be. he'll realize that he's brave, strong, and loved entirely for who he is in this world, too; that it's real, true, and has been his entire life.

#byler #<- hi. behold my post :^) teehee #mine #mike analysis #anyway. they were pushed into this srry but i cannot close my eyes 2 the sacred texts n i shan't ! #he literally describes her as being his sister and u expect me to not look into that. cmon. cmonnnnnnnn nowwww #this is all over the place but i needed 2 get it out like drilling a hole in my head to let the evil spirits out or smth normal like tht

[counting-stars-gayly]

Analysis: Mike Jumping Off a Cliff in S1

Because it’s all I’ve thought about for the past few months.

TW: suicide mention

(Sorry if everything I’m about to say has already been said.)

Mike jumps off a cliff in episode six. At this point in the story, the majority of the town thinks that Will died by falling from the quarry, and it’s possibly been implied that Hopper originally thought Will jumped rather than fell.

Mike, however, knows Will is actually alive, and he’s dedicating all his time to finding him. He even befriended El solely because he thought she could help him find Will.

Then he got into a fight with Lucas, and their argument, at its core, was about Lucas thinking that Mike isn’t doing enough to help Will. Now, Lucas won’t talk to him.

After that fight, Mike got mad at Eleven and yelled at her, which drove her away. This means he currently has no way of saving Will, and on top of that, El, whom he’s made it his job to protect, is now wandering around, by herself, while people are trying to hunt her down and kill her. It’s likely that he feels he’s failed two of his friends, and to make matters worse, someone else he cares about even blames him for one of these “failures.”

When Troy tells Mike to either jump off the cliff or watch him hurt Dustin, Mike is at a point where he feels that he has no one else he’s capable of protecting. From his perspective, Dustin is the only person whom he can actually help, and keeping others safe is his one purpose. If he can’t save Will or El, he has nothing to live for, but if he can save Dustin by jumping off that cliff, he has something to die for.

Mike also doesn’t even try to negotiate with Troy; he makes no objections. It takes him less than nine seconds to decide to go along with it. Then, he walks slowly toward the edge of the cliff but doesn’t come to a stop until he’s on the edge, and he waits there for twenty seconds before jumping. Based on his body language, I think he hesitates not because he’s still deciding whether he’s going to jump but rather, because he’s scared. I also think the fact that he didn’t try to come up with an alternative to himself dying is a sign that at least part of him actually wanted to die — that he wasn’t just doing it because he felt he had to.

Now, the fact that this scene takes place at the quarry, of all places, is obviously significant. It could have happened anywhere in any way — Mike didn’t have to jump off the same cliff everyone thought Will fell/jumped from, toward the same water they’d found Will’s “body” in. But the writers wanted it to be clear that Mike jumped primarily because he felt guilty for not saving Will and that while other characters tried to make it seem like Will’s “death” was an accident, Mike’s own death would have been on purpose — a suicide. Hopper’s lines to Joyce, “Our working theory right now is that Will…crashed his bike. He…made his way to the quarry, and, uh…accidentally fell in,” were designed to contrast Mike’s purposeful jumping from the cliff. The audience is supposed to wonder why a twelve year old boy was so willing to kill himself.

Speaking of the police’s theory of how Will died — if it had been correct, and if Mike had died too, the boys’ deaths would have almost completely matched up. Both Mike and Will would have abandoned their respective bikes in the woods to run from a posed threat; both of them would have gone straight to the quarry afterward; both of them would have fallen/jumped from the edge, and both of their bodies would have been found in the water below. These parallels would not exist if they weren’t important.

Bonus: the camera shots after Will and Mike (and Dustin) leave their respective bikes parallel each other:

Additionally, in season two, episode one, Ted says to Mike, “So, if your friend jumps off a cliff, you’re gonna jump too?” He’s paraphrasing a common expression because he has no actual fatherly wisdom to give, as per usual, so I initially thought this was a throwaway line only meant to remind the audience how useless he is. However, while the line does serve that purpose, it’s not a throwaway from the writers; it has a point to it.

Mike knew, when he jumped off the quarry, that Will himself hadn’t actually jumped or fallen from it, but regardless, it’s plausible that, at the time, he was thinking about Will and the fact that Will’s fake body had been found there. And if Mike had died that day, the town likely would have assumed he did it because he wanted to “join” his friend by dying in the same way he did.

“So, if your friend jumps off a cliff, you’re gonna jump too?” is intended to remind the audience that Mike has some major issues that have yet to be resolved.

#a lot of ted’s lines have more meaning than they originally seem to #it’s the one thing he’s good for #mike wheeler analysis #stranger things analysis #st analysis #mike wheeler #byler #(not really about byler but you guys like Mike Wheeler analyses so have one more) #mike wheeler loves will byers #mike wheeler my beloved #mike wheeler protection squad #mike wheeler defender #mike wheeler defense squad #mike wheeler kinnie #stranger things #st1 rewatch #st s1 #st s1 rewatch #st2 #st s2 #stranger things parallels #st parallels #byler parallels #ted wheeler #mr wheeler #the party #the og party #finn wolfhard #the duffers #duffer brothers

[gayofthefae]

Here it is. The Mike Wheeler Playlist Post.

So I finished it. What seems to be the end of season 4, at least. I am avoiding spoilers for myself. All 28 songs from Smalltown Boy to Mad World. Here is what I have deduced:

Mike got over El after she left and started liking Will, but when she came back, he got with her motivated by the grief of “what could have been” but once they got together he felt that the relationship was aimless, only staying because it was familiar. He pursued getting back together with her because he didn’t want to lose her, despite feeling that the spark wasn’t there anymore. His fight with Will makes him question their relationship again but he ultimately doesn’t believe Will reciprocates and regrets even going back down that path. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do when Will moves. He can’t get Will out of his head and, though secrecy is the only safe thing, he’s getting worn down with it and is increasingly considering taking action in his relationship with El because his feelings for Will make him happy and don’t seem to be going anywhere. He’s getting anxious as it gets closer but Will talking to him in the van gives him a lot of security, but then the moment comes and he lies and feels absolutely horrible about it. He feels like he’s just running in circles. More inaction. Over a year now of just inaction.

There are 19 songs left which feels like a lot for one season as I've said before but in defense of that on top of just the consistent alignment with plot points in the playlist this far, season 5 is going to go back in and reveal a lot of this stuff with some very complicated emotions and much more focus on him, his feelings, his trauma, and his overall relationship with Will. So there IS a lot there to fill songs with. If you would like to read my original semi-chaotic notes from the past 5 hours(you read that correctly. You're welcome. And yes I know the full playlist I didn't even finish is only 3.5 hours) listed by song and including bits I skipped over so that it wouldn't be horribly long, lyric quotes, and one link to a cover analysis, you can do so under the cut.

Scared closeted gay kid in a smalltown in the 80s (confirmed by the songwriter, widely known in this fandom)

He sees Will everywhere.

This girl’s really cool and knows about things I don’t

Alien abduction - ET Parallels.

This song is an instrumental but the title “In The Face of Evil” is self-explanatory

El heroically sacrificed herself for everyone. She is a hero because she is the type of person to make that choice.*sweet that his love isn't hero worship, that's just how he conveys it.

He’s haunted by the memories of El, seeing her face everywhere.

Over time, “absence makes the heart lose weight” and his feelings for her fade

He’s starting to experience a new and scarily tempting, intoxicating kind of love. (based on context…for Will)

This song is an instrumental but the title is “Beta Girl Lost in Forever”. There is a great cover art analysis by @digestionsack at #20 of the post linked here but I could not find anything on the original meaning of the song or album. I couldn't find like anything else on Google of this one's meaning there were under 300 results when I searched in quotes.

This song is a duet that looks back on the relationship of a boy who helped lift up a girl from a very low and helpless place but the girl is now gone and he wants her to need him again and a girl who always had ambitions not dependent on him from the start and appreciated the time they spent together but needed independence now.

He feels an uncontrollable love that’s taking all his focus that he “can’t shake” but “makes [him] feel so blue” (for Will given the last love song)*this is to say nothing of his self awareness. (though could have convinced himself he got over it as opposed to never having known? *consistent with the s3 fight words)

A song about teenage love. Kinda horny.*He's in love and a little bit horny in the season checks notes...without El?

It’s “Ghostbusters”. It makes sense in a literal context but for the record this song is actually very 80s-under the radar-horny like “Barbie Girl”. Probably literal in this case but I’m sure the Duffers know about the second meaning and so maybe it shouldn’t be put right after Teenage Kicks if they aren’t trying to make me at least consider the possibility that they’re meaning to say Mike is jerking off to Will, possibly while he’s possessed. I didn’t need that, Pete Duffer. (Although 13-year-old boys definitely do. I remember the back of the bus conversations on middle school jazz band trips. I'm all for openness and sex education but I know too much about your masturbatory habits, Ben.)

El comes back and he reflects on how their relationship ended so suddenly and she branched out into independence but now that she’s back he’s not gonna let her get away again.*seems like he wants to fix the past vs take action in the present. What could have been. Acting on behalf of his past self.

Their relationship feels aimless to him, but he stays because it’s familiar. “I’ll carry on with what I know”.*her dumping HIM was an important push for him.

Making mistakes is human and a natural part of relationships. He stays in the relationship despite the spark dying out of a larger, more general love for her and because he doesn’t want to lose her. “If not so in love, it’s not so wrong, we’re only human after all.”*feeling an obligation to get her back because while not dating, she's gone completely (at first)?

He left Will/his feelings for him behind but he’s reminded of them by their fight (“little deals and S.U’s”) and he questions the nature of their relationship again but he doesn’t think that it means to Will what it means to him. “A sly touch at times; I don’t think it meant anything to you”. He regrets even going down that road again. “And I should never have tried”.

He’s going to miss them when they move, seeming to specify Will with “seven years went under the bridge”. He doesn’t know what to do without him now.*this song might sort of also explain why he didn't call if he didn't but it's not sure and there are no other songs about it, so he still could have called("if you leave don't look back, I'll be running the other way" but not every lyric has to apply and it could mean something else)

He’s now set/stuck in his desire for Will and can’t get him out of his head. (I considered an angle of this being for El, but the constant thinking about the lover + the interpretation of unreciprocated a love/a pursuit didn’t fit)*one of the interpretations I read also said they think it's about a gay guy which is a great addition, though not an "official" interpretation.

He feels safest in isolation/secrecy (car=closet?) “It’s the only way to live” but he’s wearing down and feeling lonely/alone in this state so he’s starting to consider “leaving” it.

He definitely still has feelings for Will that don’t seem to be going anywhere. They’re kinda…baffling “You got me so I don’t know what I’m doing”. He’s losing sleep over them. But…he’s not mad at it “don’t ever set me free”.

He criticizes himself for his inaction and starts to seriously think about making decisions for himself.

He’s in love. (very simple lyrics: “I saw your eyes, and for a little while/though it took a while, I was falling in love” repeatedly with minor variation)

He’s worn and broken down but still wants love. He’s holding onto Will in the chaos of his mind and the world and trying to keep out of preying eyes. Also it is apparently written as tribute to Stranger Things after season 1, which is cute. “Just stay close” “You can’t stop this feeling.” “They won’t pull us down”. This song is also called “Vale of Shadows”.

Instrumental Synth called “Dead of Night”

He’s full of uncertainty as seeing El gets closer but Will talking to him in the van comforts him and gives him more security; Will’s love makes it all better. “And she pulling the strings” definitely fits this idea of the situation with Will (especially if he is aware)

He feels horrible about lying to El (The song is “Mad World”). He feels like he’s just “run[ning] in circles”.

Notable lyrics: 

[pre-season 2-season 2]

When Love Breaks Down "Absence makes the heart lose weight yeah, til love breaks down, til love breaks down" "When love breaks down, the things you do to stop the truth from hurting you. When love breaks down, the lies we tell, they only serve to fool ourselves." I really thought it would say “grow fonder”, which fit and was cute and I was fine with, but nope. And my jaw went slack and it made me want to write this whole thing.

Love is a Stranger "Love is a stranger in an open car to tempt you in and drive you far away." "Love is a dangerous drug. You have to receive it and you still can't get enough of the stuff." "Comes in like the flood and it seems like religion" "And I want you so, it's an obsession. It's guilt edged."

[season 3]

Something About You “If not so in love, it’s not so wrong. We’re only human, after all.”

Are ‘Friends’ Electric “A sly touch at times. I don’t think it meant anything to you.” “And I never should have tried.” “For you see, it meant everything to me.”

[season 4, volume 2]

Mad World “When people run in circles, it’s a very, very mad world.”

#mike wheeler sexuality analysis #my life #for that one gory detail about jazz band #byler #stranger things #haven't done a full show one of these in a while #i used to do them like every other night in 2022

[shippingfangirl013]

Stranger Things S5 Conglomerate Twelvegate Theory (Part 1):

Because I have no clue what to call this and it’s basically a massive convergence of all the gates/theories into one?

@chirpsythismorning and I had to solve Twelvegate to figure out the rest and… I think we stumbled across the answer just off of rambling… and playing ping-pong with ideas…

This also heavily pulls from Stranger Things parallels to Back to The Future Parts I & II (because re-watching my favorite trilogy helped me to figure out the timeline for Stranger Things).

If you do NOT want spoilers for S5, I suggest you do not read any further.

Because… this is… a doozy. And likely has some MAJOR spoilers, we’re just good at playing detective and dedicating a little too much time to this show.

———————————————————

First, we have to go back to season 1. . .

So, when we first meet the original four kids in the Party, they’re playing D&D. Will knows that he has to roll a 13 or higher here. Will is under the steps, crawling to find the d20.

This is the ORIGINAL timeline. We don’t know much more about the timeline other than seeing 2 minutes into the show. Will is still 12 years old and has a watch on, but we never get a close-up of the watch.

We’ve got a pizza one box, and two regular Coca-Cola cans… okay? Keep that in mind, it’s important later on.

When the Tv flickers, that’s Vecna using his power, likely to alter memories or the timeline/reality itself.

Right after this instance?

We get this scene:

Now, why would Will go from knowing that a 13 counts and is high enough to take out the Demogorgon, to asking if a 7 is high enough? If a 7 counts, right after the TV flickers?

Also, notice that Will is standing framed with the two coke cans and pizza one box behind him. That yellow and blue pen is important too.

(I play D&D, most times, anything below a 13 or 14 is a bad roll and you take a lot of damage. It all depends on if your Dungeon Master wants to be forgiving or not. )

So, the first 3 minutes of season 1, is the original timeline (Timeline A) differentiating/being altered; I say this because, we don’t know anything about that point in time aside from our main Party playing D&D in Mike’s basement.

A key factor here that Jo mentioned while we were talking, is that we don’t see Hopper, Joyce, Lonnie, or Jonathan during the scene in Mike’s basement. We only see Will, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and briefly, Karen.

Timeline A is altered at 8:15 pm on November 6, 1983.

Each point after the TV flickers is a part of Timeline B. But I think Will actually cast protection on the extended party; El, Max, Lucas, Dustin, Mike, Jonathan, Joyce, Hopper, possibly Murray, and maybe on the others’ families.

But Timeline B was Henry altering the timeline, creating a new reality for our cast of characters. (Putting them in a silly little play, perhaps?) Henry stole Will's powers when Will was kidnapped; but what powers could Will have that Henry needs to re-shape the world?

Time-altering powers and creation powers.

Here's the thing, Henry can manipulate what others see, he can manipulate and alter memories, and it is very likely he was able to take Will's time-altering powers while Will was trapped in the Upside Down. Henry is easily able to use time travel powers to his advantage.

But. . . Henry CAN'T create something out of nothing; as evidenced by his using others' memories to make them see what they fear. He can re-shape the particles that made up the Mind Flayer, however, Henry cannot create to the extent that Will (an artist!) is able to. This is how Will is able to do things like cast Fog Cloud in S2. In S1, Will's True Sight is used.

(I'll come back to this later, because this is literally going to be like a 10-part theory, which may literally just be 100% spoilers)

Timeline B is an altered reality; Henry gave our cast of characters new roles to play. Not just anyone though, primarily: Joyce, Jonathan, Will, El, Hopper, Terry, Sarah, and Diane.

(You may be wondering why I mentioned Sarah, Diane, and Terry; I'll get to that in a bit, if not in this one, then in part 2.)

Joyce is the ex-wife of Lonnie Byers and she is Will and Jonathan's mom. Hopper is the small-town police chief who moved back to Hawkins after his divorce from Diane, and the loss of his daughter Sarah. Terry Ives is El's mama, and Eleven is the girl with powers that escaped from Hawkins Lab. Basically, the events of S1 equate to an altered timeline, or therefore, are the repercussions of an altered timeline.

Timeline A still exists after the original event that alters Timeline A to create the altered reality in Timeline B.

The event that alters Timeline A is an occurrence on the day of Will and El's birth. Henry swaps the families of Joyce and Hopper's twins.

Henry went back in time after taking Will's powers in S1, to alter the timeline, by swapping El and Will at birth in the hospital, so that Will and El (011 & 012) grew up together in the lab, never knowing that they are twins. Will grows up with Lonnie Byers as his father, El grows up in the lab, and Hopper lives in New York for seven years and has a family with Diane. Henry alters Terry Ives' memories and scrambles the signals in her brain via Brenner.

In this altered timeline that is Timeline B, El was taken by the lab at birth, and El's Mama is Terry Ives. Will's mom stays the same, but his father (and Jonathan's father) is changed to Lonnie Byers.

In Timeline A, El was kidnapped first in 1976, and Will was taken second in 1978.

In 1976, there was a drowning at Sattler's Quarry. Seven years prior to 1983; now, for a while, I thought that might be Will, but that didn't add up.

El was taken first at five years old, by the lab. . . on her first day of kindergarten. . . which is why Mike found Will alone and scared on the swing set. El's disappearance was covered up as a drowning in the quarry in 1976. This is why El is paralleled with Maria from Frankenstein (1931) in season 1, with Nancy's pink dress, because Maria drowns in a lake after trying to play a game with Frankenstein's monster.

Now, Will was also kidnapped and taken to the lab in Timeline A, but this gets a little harder to figure out how Will got there in the first place. I think Lonnie has something to do with it, because there are one too many instances of Will being paired with trunks, and we see Jonathan check for Will in Lonnie's Oldsmobile in season 1. However, I'm not 100% certain about that and I will update this if I find anything that changes my thoughts on that.

I know that Will had to have been taken to the lab around 1978, at the age of 7, if he and El were not taken at the same time in 1976. This means, that Will's kidnapping was covered up as a death, (maybe a death from a fatal illness?) that was then altered by a character with the ability to fabricate fake memories. . . shifting the death of a son, to that of a daughter. Sarah's death is the cover-up for Will being taken.

Jonathan doesn't remember much of this either, he would have been 8 years old when El was kidnapped, and 10 years old when Will was kidnapped; if we go off of El being taken at the age of 5 and Will being taken at the age of 7.

1978 is an important year in Timeline A. This is because in Timeline B, it is the year that:

Lonnie took Jonathan hunting at 10 years old

Terry was electrocuted/had her signals scrambled

Sarah dies

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -

Another thing that I need to address, is Hopper's role in Timeline B.

In 1983, when Hopper calls Diane, he’s wearing his blue flannel… just like how Max’s mom wore a blue flannel in S4…

(I have seen almost every character in the Byers-Hopper family in a BLUE FLANNEL, the only one I haven’t found in a blue flannel (without a jacket over it) is Jonathan.)

But, we see Hopper calling Diane, and then we hear a baby crying in the background. We assume that after 7 years she has moved on… but what if this woman was never Hopper’s “Diane” anyways?

We KNOW that the phones are important. We also know that the lab/Russian government are always listening in on phone calls- since season 1! So, this “Diane” woman that Hopper called was someone from the lab or someone trying to keep the truth from spreading.

Because, I went back to S3, and found this:

This is the only line that says [Diane] in the closed captions. I’ve looked through a few other shots, and the only other shot similar to this is when Hopper is watching Magnum P.I. and a little text comes up saying that the show is playing. They usually do not specify which character is talking in the tv shows with brackets - it just shows the dialogue on screen.

Hopper got incredibly drunk that evening, but the point I’m making here, is that Joyce is Diane.

Hopper’s wife, Diane.

(He never says ex-wife in season 4. He says: “My wife Diane, she wanted a baby,” )

So. . . This means that Henry has had a hand in every little kettle he could get his hands on after he nabbed Will’s time powers.

I doubt that Hopper going to Vietnam was influenced by Henry in any way, but I know that everything else we are shown is influenced by him.

I was trying to piece this all together, and after going through and making a timeline, I think I’ve got how it all lays out - at the very least, I know where the timeline that was altered. At most, I think I have a large surprise that will come up in S5 pinned down.

My focus when pinning the timeline down, was actually on Hopper and Jonathan.

In S1, Joyce tells Lonnie that Jonathan has wanted to go to NYU since he was 6 years old. Now, Jonathan would have been 6 years old in 1974, because he was born in 1968.

I couldn’t figure out why Jonathan would want to go to NYU unless:

- his parent(s) went there / one of his parents went there / something happened to make him want to go to NYU.

NYU is such a specific school, and it is mentioned once in S1, then rarely brought up again. Even in S4, Jonathan was just planning to go to the same college as Nancy, if he was accepted.

It made me think about how Hopper was in NY for seven years. . . And it took me a while to figure this out.

So, Hopper goes off to fight in the Vietnam War when he is 18. The Vietnam War goes on from 1955-1975. This means that Hopper was in Vietnam possibly from 1960 to 1970 at the latest. However, according to the ST Wiki, Hopper met Diane in 1965. . . (I am taking this with a grain of salt), because if this is the case, then Hopper could have been in Vietnam at any point in time between 1960 (when he was 18) to 1970.

But if you do the math from when Sarah was born, if Hopper met Diane in 1965 (and they began dating that year), and Sarah was born in 1971, then Hopper only knew Diane for five years before Sarah was born. Now, we know that Sarah dies in 1978, from cancer. . . and from that 1983 phone call to Diane (counting backward 7 years), Hopper would have been in NY from 1976 to 1983. . .

Another thing is, in Season 1, Hopper says that he has been in Hawkins for 4 years from the point that we meet him in 1983.

1983 - 4 is 1979 -> the year of the Hawkins Lab Massacre. . . so, why would Hopper (as a police officer) not know about that? I know, the lab is secretive and whatnot, but you would assume in an emergency situation, they might call in backup.

1979 is also the year that Mike, Will, Lucas, and Dustin had their Elder Tree campaign. . . (and I'm not quite sure if Will was there depending on the timeline and how things may have worked out).

And then I started to question just how much inspiration could have been taken from Back To The Future?

The Answer? Quite a bit of inspiration was taken from Back to The Future.

Marty's family is made up of his parents (George & Lorraine), his older brother (Dave), his older sister (Linda), and himself (Marty).

This is apparently an important enough movie for the Stranger Things plot that it is heavily referenced with wardrobes and it is even shown on the big screen in S3. (There is more significance here, but I'll explore that in a later part).

At the beginning of the scripting process for Back to The Future Part II, the creators were thinking of having the roles of Marty McFly Jr. and Marlene McFly set as Twins.

And in S4 of ST, we can see quite a bit of twin imagery throughout the season, in reference to Will and El. (again, I will post more in a later analysis, I don't want this to get too long).

If we go off of the basis that Henry/Vecna/001 stole Will's time powers, then we can assume that the second timeline that was generated from the changing of a fixed point in time (an origin event - in this case), changed other things throughout the seasons in Stranger Things.

Think about it, Henry could have easily gone back in time and replaced Hopper (being Jonathan, Will, and El's father) with Lonnie.

He could have manipulated Joyce, Hopper, and Jonathan's memories if the memories were STILL left AFTER the timeline was altered, making them forget that their family of 5 had ever existed in the first place. Swapped Will and El at birth, putting them in the lab or arranging for them to be taken by Brenner, and then, he could have later helped Will escape the lab massacre. . .

One last thing to address;

The Mind Flayer and why Will was possessed in the first place. . .

If Henry cannot create, then he needs Will alive to utilize that power. Henry may not have been strong enough on his own to manipulate Will into doing his bidding, but working with the Mind Flayer to get what he wants?

Therefore activating Will as the spy, taking El out of the way by using a distraction (making her focus on Max? Knowing that her weakness is the people she cares about - because he's already done this once before with the Lab Massacre by killing the other lab kids?), and getting what he wants?

The Mind Flayer literally looks like the strings attached to a hand for a wooden string puppet. . . (think Pinocchio if you need a visual)

The Mind Flayer possessed Will so that Henry/Vecna/001 could manipulate and bend the final puzzle piece to his will.

(and that's why, I think in S5, we're going in with a bang... because I think that El and Will have been Vecna'd in S4; they have been falling into Henry's traps since S1.) (I'll explain more of this in Part 2 or 3 because again, this is super complex and took me about a month or longer to compile all of the evidence)

So, in short, Henry/Vecna/001 truly has been moving our characters on the board like chess pieces. . .

(this is going to have like 3 parts explaining the theory itself and then like 20 posts of evidence all linked under a masterlist once I have the time to set that up.)

#stranger things 4 #stranger things 5 #stranger things theories #willel #wonder twins #twelvegate #stranger things #will byers #will byers has powers #eleven hopper #el jane hopper

[ichigoli]

Yumi and The Nightmare Painter Shadowbox Master Post 1:

The Yoki-Hijo

I am head over heels for making these Cosmere Shadow Boxes. I would love to find a better mold than the 4" coasters but for now they are so pretty! I don't even know what I'll do with them but for now I'm happy the exist.

To begin, I once again sketched out a design trying to focus on strong silhouettes, and cut out each layer on a different piece of card stock. I decided to go with warm colors to push the heat of Yumi's environment and give some good contrast to the Painter Box coming soon.

Learning from the Mistborn Shadow Box, I was worried about such delicate shapes floating in the resin and messing with the depth. So I tried something that worked out ok with a fabric backing I did for a commission for a friend. I painted the paper cut outs with resin and let them cure on a silicone mat to hopefully give them some more rigidity and less buoyancy in the resin.

I wanted to lean in to the "traditional" vibe that Yumi's side of the story has, so I included real natural elements as part of the resin inclusions.

Real pressed flowers and gravel give the work a more grounded (sorry) element which will contrast nicely with what I have planned for Painter. I also decided to have some fun with it and "stacked" some rocks up the sides. The flowers floating in the sky are such an iconic part of her world that I had to include them.

I didn't take pictures of the individual layers going in this time around because, thanks to the resin painted over each piece, the long curing time between each layer became unnecessary so the process was a lot faster this time around (yay, we're learning!) But you can see the added flowers and some of the gems acting as stand ins for the Hijo floating around the stacks. I know they aren't "book accurate" but I wanted just the tiniest bits of Cyan and Magenta in Yumi's piece. (Keep an eye out for their parallels in Painter's piece)

I'm really fond of the way the resin soaks into the light card stock like water. It creates a very specific kind of translucency that lends itself to the "atmospheric fade" that creates a light illusion of distance and depth.

A quick check through the bottom to preview how it all looks before we add the resin on to the final backing paper layer...

The pale lemon yellow paper pics up a lot of depth from the resin soaking in. I also swirled in the littlest bit of gold luster-dust and a drip of orange ink to the corners for a little depth of color before putting the paper down and more resin over top.

And the final reveal:

A little flat with the simple background, but that's expected. The contrast is exactly what I was hoping for. I mixed a little bit of the glow powder seen beneath the Shadow Box there to help boost the reflectivity of light which can be seen bleeding up around her knees a little bit which I hope helps evoke that heat her land is known for.

When backlit, the rein soaked into the card stock gives the whole scene an almost dreamy quality as the stone stacks fade but Yumi remains stark and crisply focused.

A few close ups of details and how lovely the layering looks peeking through the open spaces.

<3

No preview of Painter yet, I am still trying to puzzle out a good silhouette for him that will show what he's actually doing when he's hunched over a canvas without being able to use internal contours... but I can share that I bought some EL wire and hope to line his piece with real hion lines!... once I figure out how to make the wire Cyan and Magenta along the places I want it to go.

Once Painter is done, I don't plan to stop. Maybe Warbreaker next... or Stormlight, though I have other plans for that behemoth.

Real talk: Anyone who wants to float an idea, I wanna hear it. These are too fun to stop. (I could maybe even be talked into parting with one if the situation arises)

#yumi and the nightmare painter #Cosmere #epoxy resin #paper craft #shadow box #id in alt text #because I love you

[rotationalsymmetry]

My immediate thoughts on the ending of the golden enclaves (spoilers):

I'm happy that El finally figured out how to not only accept her allies sticking with her in a crisis, but actually ask them to. Personal growth!

I do not understand the thing with Orion, but whatever, it's a fantasy story, I'll roll with it. In terms of understanding the plot at least. I'm not sure how I feel about "Orion really did have a monster inside of him that could have destroyed everything, but then it got killed and now he's fine." Wut. It helps that he seems to basically be the same person after. If he'd gone through some sort of personality makeover I would have lost it.

I find it hilarious that El was trying to get Orion to face his supposed trauma as a way of avoiding dealing with her own and her mom absolutely caught on to it. Very human.

I think there's something probably deeply symbolic about El combining the three spells there, I'm not up for unpacking it all but including the Scholomance "shelter all the wise-gifted children of the world" thing but making it real very much reminds me of this poem by Langston Hughes. The whole, it wasn't true but it was a good idea so let's make it true. On that note I imagine Orion is thrilled that he gets to stay in his favorite place and do his favorite activity forever. (Or as long as he lives? I'm not sure whether he's going to end up with a normal human lifespan or not.) And he'll get to see his favorite human at least some of the time.

I don't think I mentioned this earlier, but Orion being afraid he'd drain El's mana is more poignant in retrospect. Apparently there was actually a real risk there.

In terms of real world analogs, I think replacing the enclaves with golden stone enclaves works well as a metaphor for "the capitalist system is fucked up, but if you just tear it all down without a replacement, people will die." I know I was cheering for the burn it all down approach earlier, but the book did in fact do a solid job of showing the problems with that. Little 13 or 14 year old coming home from walking her grandmother's dog and everyone's just gone. Ay.

I'm very happy they found a way to cast the spells that do not rely on El having once in a millennium powers. Ideally they'd also find a way to get rid of maw-mouths that doesn't rely on her once a Millenium powers, but whatever.

I probably would have rolled with it if they'd broken the how enclaves are made news to the world and there was some massive outcry, but I do find it satisfyingly realistic that it's not that simple.

I am still confused about the Orion thing. That one kid from Argentina was OK because his shield was still mostly up. Lu was OK (ish) because the spell had been interrupted. But if someone really did have that done to them, before they were even born, that shouldn't actually be survivable, should it? But if Orion didn't survive, he shouldn't have been a person and he was a person. I don't get it. Gah.

Complaints aside, the ending does work for me. I'm buying it. I'm enjoying El eating edamame with Orion and having birds and butterflies in place of falling snake-things and finally admitting something is nice (personal growth). And it does feel like she's not entirely happy yet, she's not entirely content yet, but she wants to be and she's moving in that direction. I think she's getting there.

And I'm glad El got to reunite with her father's family. I wouldn't blame her if she never forgave Deepthi. But I think it's cool she did, and it really does sound like there weren't better options.

Speaking of lack of better options, it's aggravating that Ophelia made Domina, but...it's consistent with the book's themes that that happened and it doesn't prevent the happy ending. It's not about taking down a specific bad guy, or bad woman as the case may be. It's dealing with systemic bullshit, and actually El can do that without taking Ophelia out. Nice parallel to Liesel letting go of her revenge quest too.

I figure there's a much longer thing to be written about pacifism and themes in the scholomance, but for now: sometimes people get this weird idea that anyone committed to non-violence or anything similar, like not seeking revenge, must have had an incredibly sheltered life with no real problems. Anyways. El is definitely not that. She did have an especially kind mother, but that mother also didn't have a particularly sheltered life and she chose that path anyways. I approve of that narrative choice. (And it doesn't feel like it's floating out in nowhere either. It's grounded, like Avatar the Last Airbender is grounded, in showing all the characters as people. In ATLA, people in the Fire Nation are people, farmers and criminals and guerrilla fighters and soldiers are people, Ozai is a massive dick with an appalling absence of checks on his power but he's still a person. And every time El doesn't like someone, because of their privilege or because they're a jerk, she ends up seeing a different side of them, a way that they're vulnerable or have been hurt, a generous and giving or heroic side to them. Everyone gets to be a person. We don't see enough behind Ophelia's mask I think to really see what kind of person she is (we see more of what's his name, Shanghai Guy's) but we can reasonably assume that she is a person whose motives at least make sense to her.

#the golden enclaves #the scholomance

[onaperduamedee]

my scattered thoughts on the finale after a rewatch. I didn't even need to let the episode infuse; I was just basking in the joy. It was thrilling, it was moving, it IS the fantasy I love. I'm so proud of what this show accomplished

- Renna cutting Egwene's hair. Maddie's eyes in that scene... Light

- The flashback of Ishy's imprisonment at the Eye was so good. YES Alexander Karim is incredible. Fares Fares is incredible. I love a good "3000 years ago" Doctor Who title card

- PADAN FAIN MY FAVOURITE LOOSE CANON. His panic when he saw he armed Mat without subduing him had me smirking

- Denial is a river but I'll take Ishy putting all the pieces in place before Falme as proof that the Cairhien train wreck was planned

- Lanfear yeeting Mo and Lan out of the Gateway... enough said

- Loved the way Avi said that many people would wake from the dream. Her tone sounded kind, full of the awareness that many of the people who would die did not choose to fight

- The Mat stuff... Delicious. I had gripes about his arc but they stuck the landing. I adore his shrewdness, his heart, his relief at finding out who he is. And the Horn! I got chills. It looked nothing like I had pictured it but man, I loved it

- Minor thing: I didn't care for the design of the Horn or the blurry motion, but those are strong stylistic choices and I commend the show for making them. This series has a vision and will not settle for generic fantasy look and I LOVE it

- The bond scene got me, truly. I think we all knew that Lan had misinterpreted Moiraine's words but it was nice to get confirmation. I love that it was such a choice to recommit for both of them. The scenery, the music, the weave, the acting...

- When Daniel's face twisted as he was hit with the full force of Moiraine's emotions, I lost it. I cannot believe how good this relationship is. The choice to treat their platonic bond as profoudly as a romantic bond? GENIUS

- I'm fascinated by the way they're depicting Nynaeve's block. It's layered, nuanced, fed by different experiences and traumatic events and makes much more sense than her book block. Zoë portrays Nyn's insecurities SO WELL, it's painful to watch

- I hated that the way of showing Nyn still could be a Wisdom was with her shoving the arrow with the fletching inside Elayne's leg?!?! Remove the large end please!?! Why??!? I winced at that

- Nyn and Elayne's arc was also a miss for me. Since they use the a'dam on a sul'dam, they could figure out as well that sul'dam can channel except we don't see it. So the set-up with Ryma showing them the a'dam leads to nothing for their arc

- Hmmmmmmm, the parallel with the EF5 and the Ishy, Lanfear, Lews bond was perfect. Especially as Rand is part of both groups. Just amazing

- They dress Nyn as a sul'dam to... show that the white character feels bad when Nyn tortures the real slaver? I get the point of the scene for Nyn and Elayne. The optics are just weird for a disguise that does little. Nyn looked so good still!

- Elayne has the patience and control of a mountain though because the situation was extremely tense

- I loved Loial's little speech even if he deserves more screen time: he's right, they are living history. He's a constant delight

- The trope of characters running into each other in the midst of battle is one of my favourites so I was living

- Eggy's arc is so satisfying: from her confrontation with Renna to her getting to protect Rand, she was utterly amazing. As much as I'm disappointed that Nyn and El didn't help here, I appreciate what this isolation is doing for her character

- Will Perrin keep the MAGIC SHIELD? This show is fantasy with all its heart and it's so enjoyable to watch

- Rand finding her broken and exhausted, not even grasping he was here was heartbreaking and gorgeous. Even if they all came to save her, in the end she was alone and had to break herself free. (Also pouring one for Maigan)

- Perrin had the most consistent and enjoyable arc of the EF5. I love everything about the characters he met and who contrast or echo his internal struggles. His horror at Hopper's death and the fury with which he killed Bornhald sr? SO GOOD

- It's so fun that many book readers had theorized Uno would come back as a hero of the Horn and he did!

- Mat has my whole heart too. Truly, the way he cradled Rand in his arms. These kids love each other so much

- Nynaeve watching Rand agonizing, unable to help him. I feel so sorry for her. She needs to rely on others, it's a needed pain here. Still painful though. Contrast that with Moiraine who shut off Lan because she could not protect him

- Moiraine weaving some Greek Fires torpedoes and using the fire of the burning ships to shape a dragon banner was not on my bingo card, but she deserved that after this powerless era. It was so beautiful and cathartic to watch

- I do love Moiraine "I'm not at my strongest with fire" Sedai hurling a giant fireball at an entire fleet. It's a nice way to integrate the scenes of Moiraine creating firewalls and weaving a giant illusion we did not get from book 1

- Love, LOVE the fact that in the end, Lanfear's and Moiraine's goal aligned. Moiraine got to proclaim the Dragon, making history, which Lanfear had planned. Rand will not like that. It's such a good set-up for future conflict between them

- On Rand, for anyone worried about how his powers come off, show-only sister literally just observed that it was funny that he has better control than Nyn who's supposed to be so powerful

- His greatest display of power with Turak is quick, ruthless, perfectly echoing the easiness with which Ishy and Lanfear wields the One Power. It makes sense he would not channel like Eggy and Moiraine, let alone Nyn

- In the end, I love that the show made his standing up and defeating Ishy a collaboration: all of his friends (plus MoLan on the beach) were essential. It was the perfect hopeful counterpoint to the bleakness of the s1 ending (which I loved)

- The Moghedien reveal... That's the second season where they manage to perfectly tease the next season. Now all the Forsaken are loose and the gloves are off.

I loved s1, I really did, but this was even greater. Two years for more is torture

#The wheel of time #Wot show spoilers #Remblai #Ramblings #wot book spoilers #Merely Twitter notes #Probably favourite or second favourite episode this season