I know the homies love Lumax, Jancy, and Jopper. But if the Snow Ball was started this all and turned it into an Avalanche.
Dustin and Nancy dancing (Dancy lol)
Also, the concept of a middle school dance enforcing conformity is quite clear to be honest. Young children who are literally 13 years old and already being asked to perform heteronormativity. Before they have even entered puberty. And as the Duffer Brothers say, Season 3 is the ‘puberty season’.
Again, I personally believe they’ve been developing this massive twist of the show since before Season 3, and that Season 3 is the new coke. I think if Byler were to be the ‘plot twist’, it would have happened by now. In the show, and CG dropping. Using the concept of one queer couple as the ‘plot twist’ has been done before (idk examples, but I know people don’t like the idea). But you know what’s never been done? The plot twist being that everyone is queer.
We also see the Snow Ball appear again for Max and El in Season 4, meaning it has to also be significant for them.
And they look like they’re dancing.
Overall, we have seen less Lumax on screen than we have seen for Mileven. Lumax has even been together for less time both, physically and emotionally.
Mileven’s ship name includes the majority of El’s dehumanised lab number. It also starts with something sounding like “Mill” (Mike and Will) (🧐). Lumax is a cute name, but another alternative is also Mucas. Dustin and Susie literally sounds like Doozy.
Mileven acts as the blueprint for conformity, and for our characters being stuck. Byler is the blue print for nonconformity and for our characters ‘escaping’.
Even before the events of Season 3, we hear that Max has broken up with Lucas like 5 times. Max has broken up with Lucas multiple times. Between Snow Ball and Season 3.
I know we love our Byler parallels to Lumax, Jopper, and Stancy, but these couples do also parallel Mileven which is confusing I know for some people.
Let’s partake in a fun exercise where we use Byler as the blueprint for romantic coding in the show. Instead of trying to prove Byler by comparing them to straight couples, let’s use Byler as the blueprint for the queercoding/romantic coding for other queer couples. If Byler is the heart and the soul and the story, they’re also the blue print for the surrounding romances. If we agree that Byler is the show, then they are the key to reading the entire show as well. And let’s use Mileven as the blueprint for non-compatible relationships.
We have Mike and El kissing, then Mike going to the movie date. Mike is on what he wishes was a date with someone else. Max is also making fun of Mileven before this date. If Byler is the blueprint, then the person on the left (Max) is on a date with someone she wishes was someone else. But here, we don’t even know if Max and Lucas are together. (The same logic we use to argue that El and Mike weren’t together in Season 5!)
Will encourages Mike to stop focusing so much on El. And Mike listens. But Max tells El to breakup with Mike. And El listens. For fucks sake, Max and El basically play spin the bottle at a sleepover. They wake up in rainbow sheets at Max’s house.
Max doesn’t like Billy, but it’s understandable that she’d be grieving his death because he was technically her step brother. But, you know what the Battle of Star Court Mall also took away from her?
She’s acting out, she’s getting bad grades, she’s associated with graffiti in the school bathroom. All of the things we originally hear associated with Mike when Will is missing. Per Karen Wheeler.
They’re acting the same in Season 4.
If we can assume it’s because Mike is missing Will, we can extrapolate and say that it’s also because Max is missing El. What is it that El asks Hopper in Season 2?
“Do you believe in ghosts?”
And Lucas says, “It’s like you’re a ghost” to Max.
And, if we associate not wanting to play Dungeons & Dragons with wanting to conform. Lucas not wanting to play Dungeons & Dragons in Season 4, while Mike just overcame this arc the previous season. He’s also trying to get Max back this season.
The last time we see Mike & El together one-on-one, they kiss. The last time we see Max & Lucas together one-on-one, they’re also kissing and Erica calls it gross. Oops, they also kiss while watching Ghost. The movie where someone’s dead lover (and who JUST died?) is appearing in front of them to warn them of looming danger. Do you believe in ghosts? I believe.
Max calls the scenes where her and Lucas are together (and watching Ghost) trite and unoriginal. She cries and says she believes the story about El being alive.
Again, if the Upside Down is the closet in Season 1, or even just the queer experience. It is changing every single season. The reason the queer-coding cannot only be applied to one person or one couple is because it applies to more people than we think.
Even just Dustin’s whole ‘having a girlfriend’ everyone thinks is fake. Who is exactly like him. Who he met at Camp Know Where (Suspicious Minds calls the Upside Down/The Void the “nowhere, everywhere” a few times). Who no one else can see or even talk to, until she changes houses. Until her room’s body changes exteriors, but the inside is the same 🤔
*Not to mention, Season 3 is the Season where the lab is heavily associated with more medical and scientific experiments* Truth serum. Green tanks. Demogorgon experiments.
Dustin grows his hair out
We know they could get their haircut during this lockdown, because everyone else does.
Short hair. Orange shirt. No Susie. You could argue it’s the conformed ending, so Dustin isn’t allowed to have his girlfriend. But, it’s even more conforming with an even queerer interpretation.
Dustin’s been acting weird. Yeah, because Susie can’t be around anymore.
Anyways, I wanna see where we could get if we stopped using straight couples to prove Byler, and started viewing Byler as the blueprint for ALL couples. If Byler is the show, then 🤭
And for the Jancy scene where Jonathan is on the floor paralleling Byler. Nancy invites him into her bed, Will does not do this. One of these things is not like the other.
