Enchantingly Beautiful...

Rewatching Stranger Things “The Sauna Test” after “Sorcerer” has revealed greater queer subtext in its almost identical undertones, themes, and story beats. As both of these sequences start off with innuendos suggesting Mike and Will’s shared sexual interest, they evolve into closeted metaphors about conformity.

Less subtle, the gang’s queer-coded washroom scheme in Season 5 has a running “dick” joke, with lines like “let’s hope it’s not too hard.” In Season 3, a similar ruse starts with Mike escorting boys (“only”) to the men’s sauna room and accidentally walking in on naked men, ending in the punchline of making Lucas feel “sick.” These two plots use evocative humor of male anatomy, as well as set design, including a water pipe, one burst and the other steamy.

Building on these direct parallels are shifts in meaning. The drawn-out goal to “hit the dick” implies that the sauna joke doesn’t end when Mike quickly shuts the door, and the plan of activating Billy (rhymes with willy) also implies Robin’s dick joke is a litmus test for hidden sexuality (to activate Mike). But, funnily enough, both schemes are Mike’s idea, poking fun at how sexual repression manifests.

Personally, For The Duffers, They Like Pipes 😶‍🌫️

Below are a few fairly self-explanatory side-by-side comparisons, beginning with Mike and Will’s starting reactions to the “tests.” While Will is almost paralyzed with fear, there is a beat of Mike looking panicked that contrasts the predictable straight teenage boy’s mock reaction behind him. Lucas pulls a similar face at Robin blurting out the word “dick” (after she looks at Mike, by the way), and Mike looks around to gauge everyone else’s reactions, namely Will’s.

Illuminated in this comparison of evocations is his change from internalized shame to a reserved yet less scared reaction. Perhaps this suggests his coming to terms with his sexuality and maturing, taking Joyce and Robin smiling at his shared look with Will as a subtle confirmation. Moreover, the heat of the sauna (vaporized water one can hardly see) and the Mind Flayer possessing Billy signify internalized hatred and fear. Yet the latter metaphor of the sink pipe bursting, flooding, unable to be contained, has a heroic outcome and ends on a positive for both boys.

As you can see there are some near identical visuals and lines of dialogue that play with closet metaphors, getting caught, and looks of realization—even the plot down to the same way Mike gets saved while the lights flicker, is similar. Except for one very clear distinction. While Mike is transfixed on Will in "Sorcerer," he is distracted when El is his savior. As she falls into his arms he's looking elsewhere at the huge hole in the wall where Will stands.

Breaking Down Mike and Will's Brick Wall 🧱

Right behind El and Mike is a plaque about the general rules of sauna use. Just prior, Mike and El argued the rules of a relationship with anti-patriarchal undertones, in a supply closet no less, comparing Mike and El to a CPR dummy (suggesting both only use each other for kissing practice). The party stares at the hole in the brick wall, imagery that provides significant meaning. Walls are metaphors for self-imposed isolation, emotional barriers, and psychological defense mechanisms, with bricks being every societal rule that builds up these emotional walls. Here what adds weight to this symbolism is the rain fight before this episode as Mike's internalized homophobia almost walled him off completely from Will.

Notably, behind Mike and Will in the last image, there is a poster of Pink Floyd’s 1982 visual album The Wall. Its title is inspired by the musician’s popular song “Another Brick in the Wall,” with the same themes and symbolism of emotional walls and conformity (“we don’t need no thought control”). In the film, Pink hallucinates between different realities of revolutionist anarchy and fascist regimes. Behind Will, the poster is spotlighted by a lamp, signifying its importance to Mike and Will’s overall story.

Floyd’s film ends with a brick wall bursting open and the younger generation cleaning up the mess. This is very similar to how a younger Will’s love conquers Vecna’s hate at the end of the episode, where the barriers of fear and shame are broken down into rubble the new Sorcerer rises from.

A lot of the shots in these examples are angles from Mike’s point of view about Will. Billy having the same name as Will is no coincidence, especially in this scene as the lines blur on who gets "activated". Mike is a character whose perspective is rarely granted access; however, these two sequences being in his subjective while having the most heavily sexualized, queer-coded messaging makes the writing on the wall clear that his sexual orientation is not straight.

The gay bar I was in last night has mirrors on the ceiling

Because he's still scared of the water, he can't go near the toilet because he's scared that he would get trapped which causes him to have an anxiety attack and refuses to use the toilet. Well, that's fine at home but not when out in public, he can't just wear pull ups or diapers because the risk is too damn high so he has to find someone who make adult training potties(I'm BEGGING for these to be a thing because I would buy one in a heartbeat)

Bonus: if he has a caregiver, they reward him with a chart and a piece of candy every time he uses the potty and after hes been dry for 5 days he gets a special gift like a toy or a day trip to get ice cream or something(I've been thinking about this for a few days)

🖍 (going as crayon anon here)

Oh goodness ;^; the poor boy💔💔💔💔

Those days in the sub they certainly did something to his body, especially his bladder- both physically and emotionally!

Meaning that all those thunks/falls and high dosages of radiation definitely didn't exactly *help* his bladder nor did the trauma of being submerged in such a tightly enclosed space- which a lot of the facilities on the station are you know...smaller than the sub.

So, back on the station, Simon is very much locked up when it comes to the facilities (certainly a lot of incidents the first few weeks because he's just so paralyzed from fear) ;0;

He tries to breath through it,getting more and more mad at himself for being so damn scared of something so literally mundane! He's a grown man, he shouldn't be scared that the toilet is suddenly gonna become the eel and swallow him whole or that the door will become locked from the outside and leave him trapped in the small room!

So...what if he didn't face it like a grown man? What if regression aids him in dealing/healing with his traumas ;w;

Like, his carer helping him by well, going back to square one!

They introduce him back to the facilities with gentle introductions, the washroom door ALWAYS open so Simon doesn't feel like a trapped animal! They kneel on the ground with Simon as they pat the closed lid toilet, explaining gently that the toilet is a friend, it helps them feel better when their body declares it's time to go! It will never ever wanna hurt Simon, it sits there like a special chair just for removals!

They also definitely do desensitizing activities with Simon. Like, having him sit on the toilet clothed, just to get reintroduced to the feeling, to know that he's in control of the situation- or having him bring his comfort toy with him so he had something to hold/squeeze when he's feeling nervous if the carer isn't there.

The tricky part is the door being closed. That part REALLY scares Simon. He only likes open spaces currently and closing the washroom door basically sends them back to square one if the carer isn't careful.

So, they start veeeery slow! Every few days they inch the door closer and closer to closed- of course not all at once! Until eventually Simon is able to go with the door ajar ;w;

Of course, that doesn't exactly work too well when in the public areas of the station. So, the carer will sorta be a body guard, guard of the potty- aka they will stand infront of the slightly open door so Simon can see the carer and not feel trapped xD it's a bit silly but, hey, whatever works, works (and the others on the station probably just shrug, they've got bigger issues than caring how Simon goes pee)

When Simon isn't regressed he definitely mumbles so many apologies to his carer, apologizing for being so needy, for making them do all that "desensitize stuff", he should just be able to go like a normal person.

But the carer gently cups his jaw, promising and reassuring him that he isn't making them do anything.

They want to help him, they want him to feel safe in the washroom and, they do find it rather precious when tiny Simon wants his toys to go potty before bed, why would they wanna lose that adorable ritual ??(Simon groans, pressing his face into their hand as he tells them to shut up but, he's smiling and there's no heat to his request, just so fortunate to have someone who cares about him so much ♡)