1️⃣ Joyce wants Will transferred to another hospital — shot 3 says “Will’s room” on his boxes for moving to another place, the line “The mirror of your dreams” — Will will not be transferred, Joyce can just dream about it. Here my theory that Will was taken by the lab pre-s1 takes place: here’s the post about the “No trespassing” sign on his door hinting that “Will’s room” from 1x01 is not indeed in the Byers house and it’s an illusion.

2️⃣ Robin to Steve: “have you ever been in love?” “Well, you know, that’s not possible” — “The mirror of your dreams” — Steve’s assumption about him being in love with Nancy is false. — Steve: “Yep. Nancy Wheeler” — “The very best” — “Rhymes that keep their secrets” — Steve true love is his secret.

4️⃣ Dustin is irritated by lumax laughing at his song, Steve imitates the gunshot meaning Nancy but it aligns with Dustin — and Joyce unhappy with the doctors.

The line overlapping with Dustin is “Will unfold behind the clouds”. “I miss clouds, I miss you” is from Will’s letter released post s3, clouds = Mike. The verb “will” is often used in this sync as Will — subconsciously (further, but starting here).

1️⃣ Joyce asks what are they treating Will for. Then she will keep repeating “what is wrong with my boy?” Tbh, her whole sequence looks to me like “wrong” means “queer”, and this must be about his “treatment”. (It aligns with my theory that the Hawkins Lab numbers are queer people, and that’s why Lonnie took Will there.) However, Joyce is angry with them, their attitude. I must notice that every time she further asks “what is wrong with” aligns perfectly with the shots from other episodes with other characters, implying that these characters are all queer.

2️⃣ Robin says that Nancy “is such a priss”, her mood matches Dustin’s feeling that lumax butcher his song.

3️⃣ “Can anyone tell me what’s wrong with him?” — “Turns out not really.”

“Can anyone tell me what’s wrong with…” overlaps with a shot of Lucas blowing air kiss to Dustin, inviting him to “join them”. It overlaps also with Max, who also invites Dustin to join them.

1️⃣ “Can a single person in the room say what’s wrong with my boy?” overlaps with shots of Dustin and Max here.

2️⃣ The answers to Joyce and to Max (asking Dustin to sing) are “No.” and “You’re so funny, you should be on Carson”. In this sequence “no” from other shots stress each other very often.

3️⃣ “Are you still in love with Nancy?” — “You’re so funny, you should be on Carson”.

4️⃣ “What is wrong with my boy?” Steve: “I found someone better for me”. Dustin: “Suzie”. Suzie, like Tammy, means true love. We’ll see it soon.

I mixed up this first shot with the fourth from the previous set (sorry and believe me, it was not easy to sort them 🥸) but it’s not a big deal: I added the first shot to show you that:

1️⃣ This shot is “no” in all three scenes: doctors can’t answer Joyce, Dustin refuses to sing not for Suzie, Steve says he’s not in love with Nancy.

2️⃣ So, Dustin said that him singing is only for Suzie, his true love — the next shot is Lucas. It overlaps with Steve’s “someone better for me”.

3️⃣ Joyce’s wrong overlaps with shots of Lucas and Max.

4️⃣ Lumax start singing — it overlaps with the music player, the tape of Dr Owens saying that he has to: “stop the truth from spreading”.

I think it might hint at what is really going in the lab: my working theory (that connects to what I said about Will in the beginning of the post) is that the Lab might be working with queerness.

It also might mean that literally: that the truth about their queerness is not spread.

Steve says “it’s crazy”. We know from byler that crazy means love.

1️⃣ Dr Owens: “stop the truth from spreading by whatever means necessary”.

2️⃣ They sing: “turn around, look at what you see” that aligns with Steve pointing at Lucas in several shots (remember that the shots are arranged according to the episodes order?) speaking about Dustin who advised him to find his Suzie. Meanwhile, Lucas is also dancing under Steve’s gestures pointing at him. Lucas is Dustin’s Suzie, is his true love.

3️⃣ Robin asks who’s Suzie and we get a close up of Dustin, implying that he made up Suzie and she’s not real. Dustin is Suzie (as a character), he is his imaginary girlfriend. (They also look alike, I pointed that out in my theory why that could be done this way in this post.) Dustin shows the middle finger, lying “in their face”.

The way I see all of this is that ST that we know is most likely fully the Nina project, and even though we had them with Suzie singing to each other, real Dustin out of the program is in love with Lucas, and he lied about his girlfriend.

1️⃣ Visuals and the song lines keep telling us that Suzie is just Dustin’s imagination, the mirror of his dreams”, Steve says he’s not sure Suzie is real.

2️⃣ Now this intersects with Nancy’s hands. Steve is not sure his love for her is real. This also intersects with Will.

In my previous sync we discovered that Will IS real, while El is not, and I think it is the truth of the whole story. But I also theorise that Will was taken by the lab pre-s1, which can make his presence not completely real ST-plot-wise. He might be Mike’s corrupted memories about him — I am still figuring this out, and the post about Will is still in the works.

3️⃣ Nancy packing the tape matched Will packing the game.

1️⃣ Steve: “The point is the [person] I like…” matches Jonathan’s hands and Will’s close up from Mike’s POV.

DAMN, the 4th shot is the next one:

2️⃣ “It’s somebody that I didn’t even talk to in school”. Here we still have Jonathan’s hands from Steve’s perspective and Will from Mike’s.

For Mike, it also happens after their rain fight with Will because Mike ignores him.

3️⃣ Steve’s “And I don’t even know why” overlaps now Robin and two shots:

1) Jonathan and Nancy at Murray’s — hinting that Steve and Robin have loved them since school but didn’t talk to them there.

2) Vodka. Alcohol is our new synonym for love since here. Love-drunk, or, from the later screenshots: romantically obsessed.

So far here we have vodka, Steve speaking about his feelings to Jonathan, Robin thinking about her feelings to Nancy, and we see Mike worrying that Will can join another party. They all are obsessed.

1️⃣ Steve says: “Maybe bc [someone] would’ve make fun of me”. Murray gives a toast: “To taking down the man” who could make fun of queerness. I don’t know about Murray’s queerness (hey, Mr Clarke), but I drag your attention to Jonathan and Nancy drinking alcohol. They’re obsessed. Mike happily chuckles to this toast.

2️⃣ Fear that someone makes fun of your queerness belongs to Steve, but also we see the shots of Robin to this phrase, and Mike’s POV of Will.

3️⃣ Although Will says: “Not possible.” Love and queerness will overcome the fear.

4️⃣ Will and Jonathan — THEY ARE THE SAME PICTURE, Carl!! Just look at them!!

Steve says why he was afraid to talk to his love. We see identical shots of Will and Jonathan, showing Mike’s and Steve’s thoughts. For Steve we have the 2nd shot of Jonathan drinking vodka.

1️⃣ Steve says: “I should’ve been hanging out with them this whole time.” Jonathan: “I guess so”.“They’re so funny.” We see Robin at this moment, we also see her and Steve’s thoughts about Nancy and Jonathan. At Steve’s words Jonathan ‘sighs’.

2️⃣ “Our parents” — “Would be so proud if they knew what you were up to.”

1️⃣ Murray suggests to tell the parents they’re at Tammy’s. Robin will take this advice to tell Steve about her love.

2️⃣ All Steve’s compliments towards his love are complemented by the long frame with Jonathan. Robin and Steve both think that Nancy and Jonathan are smart and funny. Nancy appears to Robin’s sadness.

3️⃣ Jonathan in 3x08 says that his life is packed, there’s no room for him — Murray suggest in 2x06 them with Nancy to take his guest room 👇

⏺️ Being Steve’s love is uncomfortable for Robin. Jonathan and Nancy do not want to stay. They all are uncomfortable. Robin with Steve like Nancy and Jonathan — are friends.

1️⃣ The beginning of Nancy’s phrase is “What if… I don’t let you go” — Murray laughs at it. Robin is uncomfortable that much that Steve thinks that she had an OD there. This is also Jonathan’s reaction to Nancy’s suggestion to not let him go, and his reaction to Murray’s suggestion to stay.

2️⃣ Jonathan comes up with an excuse. Robin says she’s alive (okay). Murray says they lie.

1️⃣ Nancy suggests to hide Jonathan in their basement. Robin sighs, she’s uncomfortable — it’s Jonathan reaction.

2️⃣ Jonathan says Nancy’s dad would love [her to conform, to have a boyfriend]. Steve crawls on the dirty toilet floor.

3️⃣ Murray says they are young and attractive and that they have history, shared trauma, the real shit. Nancy suggests to hide Jonathan in the tent. We still see the dirty toilet floor.

4️⃣ Nancy suggest to hide Jonathan like El.

Mike and El are young, attractive, have history, shared trauma, the real shit. Mike’s dad would love Mike having El in their basement or in a tent, not letting her go. The floor is disgusting.

1️⃣ The chemistry-history-shared trauma-the real shit is blood and puke.

2️⃣ Murray asks: “Trust issues?” Steve asks: “What do you think?” Murray says: “Something to do with your dad?” — We see Jonathan and Nancy

3️⃣ Jonathan says “no, my dad is…” — Nancy says: “An asshole” to Jonathan. But Nancy also sighs to this line in 3x08. Most likely all of them: Jonathan, Nancy, Steve and Robin has not the best dads. (Steve is in the shot when Murray asks about the dad, Robin is in the shot matching “an asshole”.)

4️⃣ Steve says: “She’s awesome”, and we see Nancy. But then he asks: “What about the guy?” and Jonathan sighs.

1️⃣ “As a wise man once said” — “I think he’s on drugs, he’s not thinking straight” — “Probably like everyone”.

Be on drugs = be queer? Like being love-drunk? That’s important, as ST is full of drug references (check out trippygate), — I believe that is because drugs are used on the numbers by the Lab, presumably working on queer people there.

And we get a connection: being drugged/drunk is an altered state of consciousness. Being queer is being alternative. Queerness is about love. Love is an altered state of consciousness. Love-drunk.

2️⃣ Steve says that he’s thinking clearly. But thinking clearly is not to have an altered state of consciousness = to be queer. But Robin says he’s not. Murray says that thinking clearly = being afraid of accepting yourself for who you really are. (This damn phrase has always stood out to me as sounding too queer coded for Nancy from the perspective of 2x06, and now I see why!)

Jonathan and Nancy have shared trauma, shared experience of Robin’s “he’s not” addressed to Steve. Robin is also in the frame. Four of them have shared experience of being queer.

3️⃣ Murray says they retreat back to safety of…Steve — of Robin. Jonathan and Nancy — of each other. Robin says they don’t even know each other, Jonathan approves dabbling in the shared trauma of retreating back to safety a little more.

1️⃣ Murray demands the name from Nancy. Jonathan replies: Steve. Steve from 3x07 is his thoughts, while he’s in 3x08 is with Nancy.

2️⃣ Robin says Steve doesn’t really knows her [Nancy from the above]. But Nancy doesn’t really know Jonathan too: she’s puzzled when he says Steve. They look at each other in 3x08, but they don’t really know each other.

3️⃣ “We like Steve” to both, Jonathan and Nancy. Robin doubts that Steve would want to be her friend. He wouldn’t want to be Jonathan’s friend either. They all are also scared to be rejected by each other and to lose their friendships.

4️⃣ Nancy says that yes, she likes Steve. Steve says “no way that’s true”. Jonathan repeats his approval of shared trauma of retreating back to the safety of conformity: “what’s a little more?”

1️⃣ But Nancy doesn’t love Steve. And Robin doesn’t love Steve. And Jonathan chuckles softly.

2️⃣ “No, we… I mean, I do.” to Jonathan’s close up. Jonathan loves Steve, and it shocked him to his core. He’s laughing and ready to kiss in 3x08.

3️⃣ Robin likes Steve. Nancy says “No, we.. I mean, I do” aligning with it. Nancy likes Steve. Like Robin — as a friend.

4️⃣ Robin says “I really like you” which Steve hears like a possible confession. Jonathan and Nancy kiss. Murray says that this all is a lie.

1️⃣ “But I’m not like your other friends” (Jonathan and Nancy are in the shot) is a lie.

2️⃣ “And I’m not like Nancy Wheeler” is a lie. Because Nancy Wheeler is like Robin Buckley. Nancy Wheeler is queer.

3️⃣ Then we get a shot of Eleven to the line “not like Nancy Wheeler” which can be read in 3 ways: 1) “Eleven is not like queer Nancy Wheeler” 2) “Eleven is not like Robin’s illusion about Nancy Wheeler: they are queer, and Eleven is not” 3) “Eleven is not like lesbian Nancy Wheeler because Eleven is bisexual”.

I think the 3rd option might be the most accurate one. This sync doesn’t give enough details about elmax, aside from a nod to Max being “like Lucas flirting with Dustin”, which is pretty vague; this line also, as you see, can genuinely be read in different ways (the straight one included). Why I think that bisexuality is the case is because in this sync’s part 2 where we will explore their inner worlds with Mike, there are her emotions towards Mike, which may be not the true love (you’ll see), but she still has feelings for him. However it would be weird if the character representing the “strangeness” of it all (in different theories — queerness, byler or — Will in corruptiongate) would end up being just straight, right?

This assumption of her being bi is backed up by Robin’s idea of being “not like Nancy Wheeler”. If Eleven is queer at any point, and Nancy is queer, but Eleven is not like Nancy and she likes Mike, Eleven can be bi/pansexual, and that would reveal that Nancy is truly a lesbian woman.

➡️ Hop into [ PART 2 ]

🎉 and tagging everyone who might be interested (if you want or don’t want to be tagged, lmk 💌)

1️⃣ “Pull-out” sofa matches El trying to pull-out the bear from the shelf.

2️⃣ El is obsessed with Mike not because she has a crush on him, but because Will wouldn’t stop staring at him.

3️⃣ Mrs. Click is El.

4️⃣ Tammy Thompson is Nancy. And Will.

1️⃣ Robin wanted Nancy to look at her. El wanted Mike to look at her. El looks exhausted by jealousy.

2️⃣ But Jonathan couldn’t pull his eyes away from Steve and his stupid hair. And Will couldn’t pull his eyes away from Mike, and Mike’s stupid hair (because it also sounds to the line of Mike, where El is obsessed). And Mike couldn’t pull his eyes away from Will’s stupid hair — because now he’s shown to this line. He also says: “I know they will” at the moment of the hint to Will’s “stupid hair”. (I said in part 1 that “will” is used for Will later.)

1️⃣ “And you asked dumb questions,” — and we see Jonathan and Mike asking questions

2️⃣ “And you were a douchebag,” — aligns also with Jonathan’s perspective on Steve, and also El’s on Mike, but she accepts it so far. (He lied to her, then he didn’t address his feelings months after he said he had them, and she was still thinking everything is ok?)

3️⃣ “And you didn’t even like her” is about Robin liking Nancy, also about Steve not liking Nancy, also about Steve liking Jonathan instead. And Mike didn’t even like El.

1️⃣ Eleven looks for an opportunity to hang out with Mike later, she has hopes.

2️⃣ They all would just scream into their pillows: Robin, El, Jonathan, Mike because of jealousy or not being able to speak about their true feelings.

3️⃣ But Tammy Thompson is the same gender as any of them: Nancy is Robin’s Tammy, and Jonathan is Steve’s Tammy, and Will is Mike’s — because this line sounds when Mike is speaking, and he’s speaking about Christmas when, he hopes, he’ll get to see Will 👇

(There is also the original reading of Tammy being something unserious if we connect it to El here.)

1️⃣ The moment of the truth: Robin concludes her coming out to Mike’s happy “And Will, too”.

2️⃣ Then Mike proceeds to be a chatterbox excited about (Will coming around) Christmas. This goes to Jonathan’s and Nancy’s conclusions that “He’s so drunk” and “Wasted”. This also goes to Steve and Robin again.

1️⃣ Jonathan and Nancy state that knowing someone shortly doesn’t mean you know them: Murray doesn’t know Nancy and Jonathan are queer, Steve didn’t know that Robin is lesbian. (Does Mike and Eleven know each other enough?)

2️⃣ Mike’s joy about the presents for Christmas (the time associated with Will) makes him sounding so excited (wasted and drunk), even childish, as if he was seven years old to which Steve says “Yeah”, Jonathan and Nancy “Exactly”: If Mike being this excited about Will sounds like he is seven years old, it means he’s been in love with Will since he was seven years old.

1️⃣ “I like presents,” oh we got you, Mike, you 😉 like 😉 presents 😉 — but El likes presents too 👀

2️⃣ They all feel the same way: Jonathan and Nancy, Mike and El, Steve and Robin.

(Starting from “feel the same way” we get that it’s about queerness and then we connect it to the presents getting that it’s also about queerness.)

3️⃣ “Yeah, yeah, it’s fine” — “Yeah, cool, yeah”.

4️⃣ El and Robin similarly shrug shoulders in pic 2, Nancy, El and even Steve have all similar facial expressions in pic 4! (I love these details so much!!)

1️⃣ Robin’s and El’s similar facial expressions

2️⃣ “Did you OD over there” to Mike, to Jonathan, to Steve

3️⃣ “Good night, I guess,” and El’s leaving too. Robin and Mike have similar facial expressions.

4️⃣ Nancy and El mirror each other turning around near the door.

1️⃣ Mike and Jonathan mirror each other.

2️⃣ Mike didn’t OD there, he was just thinking…

3️⃣ Nancy’s and Eleven’s “shrinking down” postures mirror each other.

4️⃣ El: “Remember that day?” Steve: “Yeah, yeah”.

5️⃣ The original reading of Tammy about El comes back: El reminds Mike that he was talking about his feelings for her at the cabin, and Steve says right away that “Tammy is cute and all but…”

6️⃣ But Steve’s Tammy Jonathan is cute and all :3

1️⃣ Mike talked about his feelings. He feels that El is a total dud.

2️⃣ I think, here’s Jonathan the one who thinks that Steve is a total dud.

3️⃣ Robin starts to resist what she hears, and so does Mike. I guess, so does Jonathan thinking that Steve is not the best option for him but he can’t do anything about it.

4️⃣ El: “You were talking about your feelings”. Robin: “she’s not” El: “your heart” to Mike’s pic. El is not his heart.

5️⃣ Mike and Steve argues with what they hear (Jonathan struggles not being able to sleep.)

6️⃣ “That was heat of the moment stuff” — Mike says about his so called feelings to El. This also foreshadows Nancy’s decision to go to Jonathan.

Now the mockery begins! Stobin start singing!

1️⃣ “You see me” and “You sound like a muppet” when El and Nancy look at Mike and Jonathan.

2️⃣ El: “I love you, too” — Steve: “She sounds like a muppet giving birth.”

3️⃣ “If you hold me tight” when jncy and m11 do it.

1️⃣ Steve and Robin both laugh while Jonathan and Nancy and Mike and El kiss.

2️⃣ Robin says: “I know” to Mike’s expression of “knowing” why he didn’t appreciate the kiss.

3️⃣ Jonathan and Nancy shut the door, Dustin opens the door, Mike stays in front of the door. The sounds of Dustin’s and J/N doors are similar.

It also shows that Jonathan and Nancy comes “in” because of their straight kiss; when Mike is standing in front of the open closet (dark though, it’s like he’s not out of it, but he figured something about himself), and Robin is out of the closet as Dustin also opens the door to where she is.

1️⃣ “Thank you for saving my life” to Joyce holding Jim’s clothes. “What strong muscles do you have” aligns with the next shot with Billy. (Altho it also aligns with Erica and Dustin being together in the shot after their adventures, could that be a hint to them? Or in a joking way because Robin and Steve both laugh at Erica’s line)

2️⃣ “They’re in love!” after J/N scene and aligns with Jim’s letter to Mike and El — to all of which Lucas says: “No, actually they are not. They don’t even exist on the same planet.”

3️⃣ I’m not sure about jopper, whether they also are from different planets romantically, or because Jim is dead at that moment in s3 or in reality (although it’s a subtextual meaning, so if it is about them, this would be about the ‘reality’)

4️⃣ “Not the same planet” aligns with possessed Billy which might be about this supernatural stuff coming from outer space (aliengate).

YAY! 🎉 We’ve done it!

If you haven’t watched the sync or want to rewatch it, you can come back to the video here:

back to [ PART 1 ]