#trippygate

And, as much as t85 timeline is questionable (pretending to be post s2, while it heavily feels like post s5), I mind you: if anything in T85 even is real, it wouldn’t make sense for s2 to end at Snowball in the end of December with no plans for Hop and El to renovate her room, and in two weeks to have a fully new look for it (as T85 takes place in the middle of January). And even if we dismiss t85 as it’s still not a continuation of s2, but of s5, take into consideration just the og show and imagine that even though they had half a year till July to do that, it still doesn’t seem reasonable, as El lived with Hop for almost one year, they prepared the place for it, but they never coloured the walls and didn’t have a reason to do it urgently for s3.

Now I need to take you back to the opening scene of the episode: it has a parallel that I caught later in the notorious scene of the fight between El and Hopper. Let’s check how Will is doing (not great).

… your little what trip? your little field what? 👀

1️⃣ In the show playing a lot with a topic of drug trips, is what Will experienced at the field anything but a trip 💨? (yes, that’s trippygate over here)

2️⃣ Who are we even looking at this scene? Who is Hopper speaking to? Is it Will?

Let’s move for a second to the way Hopper grounds El: he forbids her to watch TV. The show playing (and the shot implies that she likes it) is Cheers… who else, as we know, loves this show?

Doesn’t it seem reasonable that out of all kids Will would be the one loving Cheers, bc he used to watch it with his mother?

I started the post claiming that this is not Hopper. You know, as many times as I watched this scene, I always tried to excuse Hopper as his arc is surely constructed to make us want to trust him, and bc of that this scene feels like a whiplash.

I get that people can lose their temper, even (or especially lol) when it comes to their kids, and we know that he’s so nervous for El etc… It seems like we have every reason to understand him even here, but his anger looks too beastly, not normal at all, so, the way he behaves throws us off.

I caught the feeling of something being wrong about Hopper behaving like this again this time with a thought yelling in my head “this can’t be him”, so I started rewatching trying to understand how it is even possible that it’s not him… That’s when I found the field line. That’s when I suddenly understood that the kid kept in the cabin is Will, and the bad parent is not Jim Hopper, but Lonnie Byers, known for suspicions in kidnapping his own son since the very beginning of the show.

There is a theory that Lonnie was the one to take his kid to the Lab for money, as we know that he’s very capable of it as he infamously known for not giving a damn about his family at all. And he’s also of course disgustingly homophobic.

We know Will’s powers are “innate”, so he was a person of interest for the Lab: it also explains all the supernatural stuff El does in the scene.

Now, remember the weird drawing of Paladin that El had in her s3 room that made no sense (weird bc she doesn’t care and knows nothing about D&D, has no idea who Paladin is, doesn’t draw as good as Will, there’s no reason for her to have this depiction of Mike at all)? If we consider those s3 scenes as Will’s corrupted memories, it suits perfectly well: he lives with Lonnie (not all El’s scenes are his, but at least a specific one is) and has a drawing of Mike as Paladin on his wall. Lonnie hides Will, doesn’t let him leave, the only thing that can support Will is a drawing of Mike.

Looks like Will escaped from the Lab/was taken back by Lonnie, but Lonnie doesn’t want to be caught, and his supernatural kid is his pain in the ass. He still has contacts of the Lab though, and he still threatens Will to take him back:

Meanwhile, he manipulates or even truly believes that he’s doing something good for them both, Will included: let’s say he’s the shittiest parent, but probably still thinks that Brenner is evil, worse than him, so he explains himself, let’s Will know that he keeps him safe, but also…

confirms that he is in danger too. Will’s being found by anyone is not in his interests.

Maybe Lonnie doesn’t hate Will to the point where he wouldn’t feed him, for example (and that’s where good-parenting lines saving Hopper’s character in this scene build not pure evil-but still disgusting bad father Lonnie Byers), maybe he found out something he didn’t like about the Lab/stopped getting money from there, and decided to take Will back. But he surely despises his own son enough to do egregiously awful things to him (still believing that teaching and feeding him in that environment is enough to demand gratefulness and obedience).

I hope the idea of Will being into Cheers makes even more sense now as it’s literally the show he used to watch with his mother, when everything was alright, and which now helps him to feel safe and to remember the way life was going before.

Now that we look at Hop and El seeing Lonnie and Will, this line also reads (and hits) differently:

Will, not being able to see Mike for over a year (almost a year in the cabin and god knows how long while he was in the Lab), knowing that Mike still believes he’s alive (canonical events of Will’s going missing and El’s presumably being dead interestingly match here, and absolutely add up to each other, being just one storyline about Mike never giving up on Will), surely misses him, draws him and quotes him, which pisses Lonnie off.

Will desperately wants to see Mike, and Lonnie knows that. We also know how Lonnie calls him and can assume that he suspects that Mike is the one “not just a friend” to Will making him “queer”. And now even this question, that already had two layers, reveals the third:

Where’d you go on your little trip?

From Mike. To Mike.

Coming back to the first post of corruptiongate: Does it mean s3 m11/byler-kiss is a part of Will’s life at Lonnie’s? I don’t think so. (But Ig it’s time to finish my old theory of what is really going on with s3 through s5 lens.) Surely, not every scene of El and Hopper could be read as Will and Lonnie, so, most likely it has other explanations; however, El substituting Will barely leaves her as her own character with her own plotline. She might represent another character (Sara? still Jane but not Eleven?) in the right timeline/reality, but with every new detail El, as we know her, seems to be more of a concept and not her own character.

Now I suggest you watching the full scene with new eyes, and please pay attention to the OST (it starts being heard around the middle of the scene), it sounds eerie, but in a sci-fi way, like it implies that something scientific happens in this scene: like, a corrupted memory being loaded into the brain of a receiver, laying in the Nina machine, and only the sound directly gives it away.

I’ll finish this post with a picture of Hopper with matrixgate cue, i.e. blue and red [pills].

After all, if El is not fully real, it can mean that the whole storyline was corrupted since the very beginning, so we didn’t have just Snowball as the point of no return, but some memory fuckery was happening all the way through.

[ main theory posts ] [ more corruptiongate key posts ]

❗️bonus post: Will (as El) checking on Mike

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 💌)

🌴 Palmgate (p.1 is here)

now with an actual pic of weed

🍄🍄‍🟫 ofc Argyle’s here, the last time we saw him

🍃🍃🍃 and my absolute favourite part: if you smoke, please, try Carlton 🚬

🚭 bc that’s exactly what you get in a stoned season like s5. bc byler is for a sober, honest season. no way we could have it in that daze.

so Robin, you’re so right here!👇 I’m with you.

And a micro bonus from s5: