thatgirlalt

I'm currently hyper-fixated on Stranger Things through a queer + Byler lens because that's what the whole story is all about and it's profoundly important the story they are telling.

My interests outside of the cyberspace are hiking, trivia, cooking, writing, music, dancing. I’m an aspiring film student who’s currently analyzing the hell out of media; especially Stranger Things, which I post here. As well as BoJack Horseman and Fallout: New Vegas, to name a couple more.

Maybe one day, I will move on from Stranger Things and post about other media, but for now:

STRANGER THINGS ANALYSES

🌈let's make it a gay one - this story is undoubtedly a queer one.

💧Byler is the Story and it's Not Finished & El is Absolutely Necessary to that Story Part I -> exploring El as the "magic of childhood", what she is meant to represent and why her role in the story is so crucial and powerful. Will x Billy x Henry parallels, I believe all three are queer and experienced abuse and that is why they are the three hosts for the Mind Flayer. ☀️Byler is the Story and it's Not Finished & El is Absolutely Necessary to that Story Part II -> expanding on El as the "magic of childhood", and how it relates to her history with the Hawkins government lab. The Mind Flayer is meant to represent a reflection of fear, hate, conformity, and trauma. This show is not an homage, but a critique of the 80s. Henry as the peoples' perception and fear of the HIV/AIDS crisis, but remember, he's misunderstood. 🧩My Faith Has Never Been So Incredibly, Indisputably Unshakeable -> somewhat a follow-up and part three of the above analyses. Proof that The Duffer Brothers are personally linked to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 80s. Proof, to me, that the false ending was absolutely a commentary on queer stories, history, and people being erased, ignored and sidelined, and the art of storytelling. 🥀Eighties Politics in Tandem with Stranger Things' Chronology -> the supernatural plot of Stranger Things suspiciously follows that of the exponential progression of the HIV/AIDS crisis from 1983-1986. How race relations and racial tensions are addressed in the show. The art and political messaging of film storytelling.

🔁Operation Cycle-Break -> Mike and Will manifest the supernatural plot based on their deepest, darkest fears and shame. Vecna is an amalgamation of our three MCs respective hero’s journeys. Unpacking trauma, breaking cycles.

🌀Part I: Final Boss Mike - fear & feelings -> Mike's fear of his feelings for Will have been manifesting, foreshadowing and affecting the supernatural plot of the show since its inception. From abstract, obscure monsters to eventually a personified "poster-boy" to the horror. 🔆Part II: Final Boss Will - shame & birthdaygate -> diving into Will's shame from past trauma and how it affects the supernatural plot. More on Mike's fear. On Vecna's connection to our main characters. Will and Henry. Mike and Mr. Whatsit. El and 001. 🦄Part III: Jane the girl & Eleven the alien -> Jane's girlhood, unpacking her trauma at the lab. El's connection to 001. El's connection to Kali. Her difference, led through her humanity, is her superpower. Embracing queerness and difference will save the world. But they can't save the world until all humanity is restored. 🪐Part IV: Final Boss Vecna - or should we say Vance Goodman -> recap of Mike and Will's perspectives of the supernatural; El's throughline theme of Monster vs Superhero. Why so many names? How to stop the time-loop. Vecna wants to break the time-loop too and has told us the keys to do so. 🗝️Part V: Final Boss Three Keys - cave memories & the time-loop -> the three keys of El, Mike, and Will. Expanding on lettergate and birthdaygate with more predictions. Unpacking El, Mike, Will, and Henry's cave memories. Mike's Survivor's guilt. Bob Newby and Will parallels. Breaking the time-loop. The in-show motifs around cycles of abuse and histories of violence. 🕊️Part VI: Final Boss Human Cannonball! -> work in progress ⏳Extra: Duffers last line of defense -> work in progress.

🌱More on Character Analyses

🧱Will the Builder & Mike the Storyteller -> Will's powers of light, creation and connection. Will is a visionary artist capable of creating worlds. I fear he built Mike's Camazotz and Mike controls the narrative within. 🎸Eddie is Mike -> a breakdown of Eddie, how he is Mike and what that means for s5 Mike. Predictions about Tales from '85, and who the hell is Nikki Baxter? 💙Mike Needs a Hug -> exploring Mike's perspective, his feelings for Will, his fears of accepting himself. Will gives mixed signals too.

Miscellaneous - random, silly, fun, or otherwise don't have a distinct category.

Cardboard Cutout Character

Pineapple Pizza

Triple Decker Eggo Extravaganza

Lots of Fruit

Something about Mike’s Doritos burp

this took me ages ohmygod. it's so worth it though.

Will the three MCs please stand up?

Mike: “I guess it’s up to us again.” Will: “It always is, isn’t it?”

Will: “Don’t tell the others. They wouldn’t understand.” Mike: “El would.”

Mike: “Okay, what don’t I understand?” El: “I am different.”

“If you see what he sees, if you feel what he feels, maybe we’ll know how to stop him.”

Fittingly broken up into four gates parts:

The Three Keys

From one Lettergate to another

Cave memories & the three Birthdaygates

Breaking the Time-Loop

CW: this post will allude to CSA and CA implied within ST. Please read with care. <3

The Three Keys

To avoid being repetitive, I will try to keep this recap as brief as possible!

Henry – 001 – Mr. Whatsit – Vecna, each moniker a representation of the internal struggle each of our three main characters has to overcome in order to resolve their respective conflicts within Stranger Things. And each representation is how our three MCs can relate to and therefore humanize Vecna.

You see, Vecna is an amalgamation of Mike’s fears (Mr. Whatsit), Will’s shame (Henry), and El’s alienation (001), and Vecna is the representation and dark reflection of what it looks like to have history repeat itself again and again.

Because, as of right now, not only do Mike, Will, and El embody the internal struggles that Vecna’s monikers suggest, they succumb to them in the finale. Mike succumbs to his fear, runs away from his feelings, shrouds himself in ignorance, and lives out a lie. Will succumbs to his shame, basically disappearing from the narrative (has just enough screentime to not make it super suspicious to a casual viewer), and in the Storyteller’s “ending” for him, Will is removed (and seemingly forgotten) from Hawkins altogether. And El succumbs to her alienation; thinking she will always be perceived as a monster and never belong anywhere, believing there will never be a stop to the cycle of abuse, ends herself. It’s truly so very sad.

The gate of Hell opens at the end of s4, marking Vecna’s official return to Hawkins. The same gate, that when it originally opens all the way back in 1x01, unlocks a certain fear in Mike, uncovers a certain wound in Will, with El at the center, a result of her experimentation, being the one to open the gate. So, just as the gate re-opens and Vecna makes his return, our three main characters are forced to make their own return to face him. Which means facing the things they hate and fear most about themselves, and ideally overcome them.

Just as there are three doors, I believe there are three keys in El, Will and Mike. Three characters that have lived their own unique Henry – 001 – Mr. Whatsit – Vecna experiences and can therefore relate to, understand and humanize him and stop the time-loop (which is the cycle of abuse/violence and history repeating itself) for good.

How do I suggest our three MCs achieve this? Well, it begins with facing Vecna. Which means Mike facing the root of his fears, Will facing the root of his shame, and El facing the root of her alienation. Which, you guessed it, you could call their cave memories. But let’s hold off on that for now.

While El and Will, from what we’ve seen, have both tried to sympathize and empathize with Vecna as they have gone through their own similar traumas as Vecna’s, Mike is the most compelled to take Vecna at face value, not seek out the truth, and insist that he is just a monster. Just as Mike, who is the representative of the party, can’t humanize Vecna, neither can El and Will believe they can be fully accepted, embraced, understood, and loved by Mike because of their respective connections to Vecna.

From one Lettergate to another

Mike needs to embrace El, just as the rest of the party has. And there’s a reason the rest of the party has been able to embrace El, when Mike has had a wall up with her. The thing is, Mike can mask his difference with his privilege, most of the rest of the party cannot. As @cara-ti-amo effectively puts it: comphet is Mike’s sword, his privilege his shield.

When El and Mike put expectations and a label to their relationship to seek a sense of normalcy, is it any wonder why Mike all of a sudden can’t seem to embrace and understand El anymore? El who represents the magic of childhood, embracing difference, queerness. All of a sudden when Mike seeks out normalcy with her, he can no longer understand her, interesting that is. Because with that, Mike seemingly is the only person of their friends that isn’t different like her.

Let’s break it down, Dustin has a rare medical condition and is from a “broken home”. Lucas is Black in smalltown America. Max is a young woman and a child of abuse. Will is queer, poor, from a broken home and a child of abuse. El is also a child of abuse and has special abilities deeming her, too, a “freak”. The other members can’t “mask” their difference like Mike has chosen to.

He was the first to humanize and understand her until he started seeking out normalcy in her. So, it’s no wonder that, out of everyone, Mike has the hardest time understanding El once he starts pressuring himself to seek out normalcy in a character that is meant to represent difference. Mike can’t embrace El because he hasn’t tried to understand, embrace, and accept what makes himself different. He hasn’t embraced his queerness. There it is. Btw, I really like this post from @sunflowhoops, breaking down the party members respective relationships with El and how they have embraced her vs. Mike.

It’s no doubt that a big part in breaking the time-loop is Mike needing to confess, truly this time. It will take the first person to really humanize El to understand and embrace her once more. Which means embracing what’s different; embracing his “magic of childhood”, his queerness.

He will have to be honest and honour the first rule of friendship he ever teaches her: “friends don’t lie”. By being honest with her and admitting his own difference, he can embrace her in the way he was always meant to, before they conformed to societal pressures and sought out normalcy in each other, that is still a deep and profound love, just not a romantic one.

With that, El can let go of her insecurities and her alienation. She can feel like she belongs again, because with Mike’s honesty, she will realize it was not anything about herself that was unlovable or monstrous. It was always Mike’s heart just not belonging to her, not in the way she sought at first, but in the way that makes the most sense now.

I really see Mike’s true confession to El reminiscing a scene from s1, before Mike and El ever felt any pressure to be a couple because of what Lucas and Nancy would suggest with Mike or what a year in a cabin with nothing but old romance films to consume with El.

I see something reminiscent of this scene:

"I don't know why I didn't just tell you." "Mike. I understand."

Since there is inevitably another confession on the horizon regarding Mike and Will's feelings, just based on dialogue throughout the show, either with his confession to El or his confession to Will, I reckon Mike will use these words specifically, “I’m different, too”.

If anybody would understand the desire for “normalcy” from her life of being alienated, it would be our most empathetic El. Surely, Will would also understand what Mike is inferring since his coming out scene uses those same words.

But just as we speculate about one lettergate, I think it’s important to note there is another lettergate on the table here. A letter that’s been read by one, but was meant for two. A letter that was also meant for Mike and a letter that could very well lead Mike out of his own cave. Hopper’s letter to El and Mike.

Hopper’s letter, as far as we’re aware, was only read by El, but I think it would do a world of good if Mike also got his hands on it. By reading it, Mike would understand his own internal struggle, his own Survivor’s guilt, and why the truth is so painful but necessary to face. He would understand the dangers of being stuck in a cave for so long, after his own time in Camazotz.

Being stuck in a cave is not much different from being in the Upside Down. It is devoid of any emotion, literally the Upside Down is devoid of water (which is synonymous with feelings, vulnerability, truth, purification, and transformation). By putting walls up around you and closing yourself off because you don’t want to get hurt, you don’t get to feel anything at all really, except fear which just breeds hate and self-loathing.

When you’re so afraid to be open (“keep the door open three inches”; just enough to allow yourself to be seen) because you don’t want to get hurt, you don’t allow yourself to be open to anything, which includes feelings of connection, trust, joy, love, and pride in oneself.

Those are the lessons I think Mike could get out of reading Hop’s letter and those lessons would help him in escaping his own cave.

The Cave Memories

El

I think, to some extent, El has already experienced revisiting her own cave memory when she was in Nina; when she regained her Massacre at Hawkins Lab memories, albeit how suspicious and likely tampered those memories are. 001 and El share much of the same root of their alienation. Their shared experience at the lab, being used, degraded to weapons of destruction that have made them feel monstrous, like they can never escape their alienation and never belong anywhere properly.

It is the whole thematic narrative of The Lost Sister episode and much of El’s storyline in general, that El resists the cycle of violence and doesn’t give in to Kali’s insistence on revenge. No doubt, I interpret this as foreshadowing that El will indeed be one of the three keys in breaking the cycle altogether, rather the humanization of El. It is El finding reclamation in her Monster vs. Superhero conflict. It is El’s greatest superpower, realizing her difference is a gift (not a curse), and using her difference as a means to empower her humanity.

I’ll be interested to see in what ways the Nina Massacre memories were tampered with. I imagine 001 has memories from the lab he, too, feels like he can never come back from. Meaning he thinks he can never truly be humanized, normalized, or accepted after his time there. 001’s memories are as mumble-jumbled and unreliable as any.

Mike

Something that haunts Mike all throughout ST is his Survivor’s guilt. We see Mike going through this when Will originally goes missing, again when El sacrifices herself, when he almost loses Will again to the Mind Flayer. That boy is hellbent on never losing Will a second time in s2. I would imagine, to some extent, he also experiences it when El leaves for Nina, not knowing if she will ever return.

The following will be quite speculative based on extensive readings I have done focused on Will’s trauma and Mike’s adeptness of caring for Will and El, who he recognizes are both traumatized children of abuse [here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here]. I suspect Mike likely witnessed something happen to Will (and this ties in with birthdaygate) which is the root of his Survivor’s guilt.

I believe this could reveal to us why Mr. Whatsit, who is a reflection of Mike, desperately wants to save the children from the monsters in Hawkins, even if it requires concealing the ugly truth of what that really means. With that, I do believe Mike and Mr. Whatsit share the same root of their fear when it comes to facing their feelings and their truth.

By that I mean, there is evidence to suggest that Henry witnessed something happen to his own childhood best friend. If you subscribe to Bobgate, let’s say his “childhood best friend” is Bob Newby. It’s no mystery that Bob’s recounting of Mr. Baldo alludes to his own ca. Mr. Baldo would “come to [Bob] every night in his sleep” and Bob would need his mother to stay with him until he fell asleep to evade Mr. Baldo.

Prior to the events of The First Shadow, Bob’s mother left and ran away with another man. @cara-ti-amo theorizes that Bob could have been experiencing abuse by his father and my own take is Henry was, to some extent, witness to this at some point. That would explain why, in The First Shadow, Henry specifically targets Bob’s father, attempting to kill him. I don’t know what other explanation there would be to this (in the “I don’t believe in coincidences” show) besides Henry using his abilities to "play god" for the greater good.

I do believe Mike shares the same root of his fear which is the root of his Survivor’s guilt. Mike just wants to be a hero and his greatest fear is feeling useless, being unneeded and unable to protect the ones he loves most. This is why the show makes it a point to depict Mike always “at the scene of the crime”. It’s why bad things seem to always happen around him, affecting his loved ones, but never him directly, and why Will is often perceived as the victim and Mike the helpless bystander. It’s his worst fear coming to life again and again.

From one Birthdaygate to another

Will

Finally, with Will’s cave memory, there is a shared root of Will’s shame and Henry’s. I would imagine this would be the same event of Mike’s cave origins. And, yes, I think this has to do with the clown cake, Will’s fear of clowns, the clown and Big Top references and imagery in s2 and s3, the Big Top circus tent as a supposed leaked s5 set. (The Big Top in s3 was a house of mirrors, mind you. It begs the question, what kind of self-reflection and transformation could one face inside?). And why from Will’s perspective the Demogorgon and Vecna are depicted as especially predatory, they are a reflection of his worst shame and repressed trauma coming to the surface.

As @nightnut pointed out, birthdaygate is coming.

This shame and trauma are undoubtedly rooted in Lonnie’s abuse, whose actor was at the table read for s4 and Noah said in s5 press will have a big influence on Will’s arc in the final season. I can only theorize based on context clues that, like Henry, Will had something especially traumatic happen to him on/around his 8th birthday. Both of Will and Henry’s “first shadow”.

This would be the same root of their shame that then allows them to be revisited by the shadow four years later. If my suspicions are true and something happens on/around Will’s 8th birthday, that would just so happen to be the same year that Henry gets banished to the Abyss and the first gate opens in Hawkins, 1979. As established, when a gate opens, it largely represents a wound being opened, revealed, uncovered.

What’s more, Henry gets revisited by the shadow four years from his original encounter with it, November 6, 1959, when he is twelve. And wouldn’t you know it; Will gets reminded of his own shadow on that fateful November 6, 1983 night when he shares a look with Mike, four years from 1979, when he is also twelve years old. The gate re-opens. Bobgate part fifteen for more on Henry's cave memory.

As I said in the last part, in terms of Stranger Things lore, the time-loop goes as far back as the Silent Generation and the G.I. Generation, which includes Martin Brenner and Henry Creel’s parents. Which leads me to, we don’t just have one birthdaygate (Will), we don’t just have two birthdaygates (Henry), we have three birthdaygates!

Even, ever the antagonist, Brenner had an especially traumatic event happen on a birthday of his. I’m compelled to believe this only reiterates the emphasis the show has put on Generational trauma, the cycles of abuse, and history repeating itself and what this means for breaking the time-loop.

Breaking the Time-Loop

The idea of generational trauma, history repeating itself and children of the new generation feeling defenseless against abuse and therefore helpless in breaking cycles, is something that is ingrained in the imagery and dialogue of the show since its inception.

This motif is reinforced repeatedly through the course of the show. As recently as s5, when, in one instance, Holly, Mike’s stand-in mind you, feels guilty when she is unable to defend or save her mother and Max, using the words “I just stood there". I reckon this is something that will be revisited with Mike.

Again, in s5, when Will tries to empathize with Henry in the final battle, “you were just a kid. A kid like me, and it used you”.

We see another instance of this motif when El also tries to empathize with Vecna in 4x09 in the final battle of that season. “I know what he did to you”. Certainly, El has some idea of the extent of Brenner’s abuse with Henry, but that would be only one out of the three keys.

We get a lot of imagery around adults/parents destroying childhood innocence, as early as s1. When El is seeking out the supernatural in the lab and encounters the Demogorgon, she sees the creature eating its own eggs, consuming its babies.

In s3, Will destroys his symbolic “magic of childhood”, Castle Byers, with a baseball bat. A baseball bat, as we know is a symbol of conformity, but it’s also the sport Lonnie tried to force on Will. Therefore, essentially Will’s “childhood innocence” is destroyed by something associated with Lonnie’s abuse. If anyone is guilty of ruining childhood innocence, it’s absolutely Lonnie.

Just like Billy and his father, Neil. When El is seeking out literally “The Source” of the Mind Flayer in s3, she must go through memories of Billy’s childhood innocence being broken down by his father’s abuse. Which also includes imagery that associates baseball with Billy’s abuse.

It’s not lost on me too, that the teased episodes titles for s3 were meant to be 3x05 “The Source” followed by 3x06 “The Birthday”. Which is just an insane thing to overlook. But yes, with that, I think “The Source” of the Mind Flayer is quite obviously child abuse/trauma. Which, in Will and Henry’s case, is most likely associated with “The Birthday”.

We see three instances of scenes with Victor Creel that are juxtaposed with imagery of a burning baby. And my suspicions wouldn’t be raised around Victor Creel, if it weren’t for the burning baby imagery and these other few images surrounding him.

There’s a reason why a lot of father figures in the show are veterans or participants in wars. It’s not just an easy way to build character background. It is, in and of itself, a reference to history and cycles of violence repeating themselves. It is a direct commentary on each generations’ repeated obsession with power, control, and conquest.

We have Captain Brenner, conducting his own endeavors with the Philadelphia Experiment and U.S.S. Eldridge during WWII, resulting in his obsession being passed on to Martin Brenner. It’s Victor Creel’s inability or refusal to process his own PTSD from WWII, becoming an alcoholic, and I suspect abusive, father to Henry. It’s Virginia’s own ca effecting the way she raises Henry. It’s Hopper’s belief that his time in the Vietnam War cursed him and he passed on that curse to his daughter, killing her.

It is abuse and violence continuously bleeding from one generation to another, from parent to child.

Victor and Virginia to Henry (burning baby).

Neil to Billy (the scene of El encountering the Demogorgon in the void eating its young is so, so similar to the scene in which El finds Billy in the void when he sacrifices Heather to the Mind Flayer. see below).

Lonnie to Will (destroying Castle Byers with a baseball bat, for one).

It’s an innocent child losing a parent to violence (El and Terry).

It’s a child being trapped in a closet because the generation in power says it's not safe for you otherwise (Mike).

So, this is what I mean when I say the resolution of this story is absolutely dependent on the three keys' (El, Mike, and Will) ability to break the time-loop, break the cycle. Breaking the time-loop is "defeating" Vecna because Vecna, at his core, is history, the cycle of violence, repeating itself.

To defeat Vecna is to take time to understand and humanize him. Remember, Vecna is an amalgamation of our three MCs greatest fear, shame, alienation; an amalgamation of what El, Mike, and Will are most afraid of in themselves. "It's like he only sees the darkness in us" [4x09].

Since Vecna is an amalgamation of all of these things, again I ask, what could be the thing to defeat that? It's revisiting their own cave memories with care, understanding what makes them so afraid and why that is, it's not giving into the darkness and instead embracing their "magic of childhood" once more. It is truth defeating lies (Mike); it is superhero defeating monster (El), and it is love defeating fear (Will); it is humanity over cruelty.

Are our three MCs doomed to make the same mistakes as the generations before them, thus repeating the time-loop?

I, for one, believe there is always still time to re-write history.

Thank you for reading!

Come on Duffers, finish it!

I have the final part of my Operation Cycle-Break series coming soon. It has proven to be quite the project as it's the epic conclusion. And just as I'm sure the real final episodes will do, I want to tie up all the loose ends of my own work with this series' conclusion. I've had so much fun writing this series and I'm so so proud of it. [part one] [part two] [part three] [part four]

I feel like I've been ia, but I am still on the bus and still working hard on analyses! Another post will be playing Duffers' advocate like I promised and I have another breakdown/vent about problematic "death" predictions.

I'll also, at some point, have a post about the Dog God dilemma of Vecna (I know the Duffers are Fallout: New Vegas fans, I just can't prove it - "The hard part is letting go" "Begin again.") I'm also working on my own scripts right now, while working full-time. But I'm keeping up with the cg/lwg theories and posts and still having a blast. Always a pleasure going crazy together.

Peace and Love, fellow cg truthers. Hoping the Duffers will finish the story they believe in by July! Also, I'm lowkey so excited for Tales?despite the ragebaits I've seen.

What’s that about Sympathy for the Devil on the ‘For Will’ mixtape? Right, well allow me to play Devil’s advocate here.

Aka I think Vecna himself has already told us exactly how to "defeat" him.

“If you see what he sees, if you feel what he feels, maybe we’ll know how to stop him.”

Fittingly broken up into four gates parts:

Let’s recap!

At the core of his character, what does Vecna represent?

What does Vecna’s return really mean?

And what does that mean for our story’s resolution?

First let’s recap:

Mike and Will both come to the realization of their feelings on that fateful November 6th, 1983 evening, thus the gate (the curiosity door) to the supernatural opens, and the events of the show begin to unravel – the thing they find so scary because it’s the thing that makes them so different. And who opens the gate? Jane, El, Eleven. Who I, like many others, have interpreted represents queerness. So, just as Mike and Will simultaneously discover a revelation of their shared feelings, and therefore their difference, their queerness, El, opens the gate.

Mike’s perspective, interpretation, and manifestation of the supernatural stems from his fear based in future uncertainty, the anticipation of danger and the feeling that, more than anything, makes you want to run away. Will’s, on the other hand, is rooted in his shame based in past trauma; shame makes you feel unworthy and wrong and, above all else, makes you want to disappear. In other words, the gate unlocks a certain fear in Mike, and uncovers a certain wound in Will.

El’s throughline the entire show is her internal struggle of Monster vs. Superhero which is reliant on others’ humanization of her and El humanizing herself. It is El choosing humanity over cruelty, despite her repeated alienation. This constant theme around El, the choice of humanity over cruelty, is key to the story’s resolution. El is her most powerful when she remembers her difference as something she approaches as a gift, not a curse, and when she enacts said gift through her humanity; that is indeed her greatest strength.

Much of El’s history with the lab conditioned two things into her, which our other two main characters – Mike and Will – have internalized themselves through their own upbringings.

On one hand, with Mike, we have a reflection of an upbringing that has led them to believe through fear that having a choice, having preference, having curiosity meant sacrificing safety; self-repression and conformity meant survival.

In Will’s case, it’s associating what makes them different with wrongness, a reminder of shame rooted in past trauma that made them feel disgraced, guilty, a mistake, broken, as their abusers (Papa/Lonnie) would have them believe. It’s being aware of their difference and associating that feeling with their abuse; making their difference feel like a monstrosity.

That’s Too Many Names

Henry – 001 – Mr. Whatsit – Vecna, each moniker a representation of the internal struggle each of our three main characters – Will, El, & Mike – have to overcome in order to resolve the conflict of Stranger Things. And each moniker a suggestion of the themes that are constant throughout the show. Each representation being how our three main characters can relate to and therefore humanize Vecna.

With Henry, we have Will for all the points mentioned in Part II. Henry, who was just a kid like Will and was used and abused. Henry, who had something really traumatic happen to him as a child that ruined his innocence. Just a boy, who at twelve years old, is revisited / reminded of the shadow, and therefore comes to the brink of his humanity. Two boys, who must realize what happened to them is no fault of their own and who must be reminded of how truly loved they are. Will and Henry, two boys consumed by shame.

With 001, we have El for all the points mentioned in Part III. Another test subject abused by Papa. An authority figure to El, not unlike Papa, who builds trust with her, only to reveal it was all manipulation. Another example of a male figure using El as a means to their end. But someone that trusted her enough to disclose his own backstory and motivations with her. Someone that empathizes with her because they are both different. A conflicting dynamic and power struggle. A reflection and a constant reminder to El the delicate balancing act between monster and superhero. I would reckon 001 and, by the end, El are consumed by alienation.

With Mr. Whatsit, we have Mike for all the points mentioned in Parts I & II. A leader who has been weakened by fear so he depends on lies to delegate, hoping no one will see through his façade. Thinking that by concealing the truth, he is protecting, even saving, his group from the “evil” supernatural. Mr. Whatsit and, in the end, Mike are consumed by fear. “You can’t even protect yourself […]. You’re not going to protect anyone because you’re too afraid.” (Dialogue from The First Shadow.)

So, what does Vecna represent at the core of his character?

Vecna is a shadow, a “faded, lesser copy” of his former self; a man that lost his “magic of childhood”. A soul consumed by fear, shame, alienation, and therefore hate. Simply put, Vecna is History repeating itself; the very personification of the Cycle of Abuse; the complete loss of all innocence. He is what happens when Fear defeats Love.

And as for the eighties, can love defeat fear in this cycle?

I think Henry already foreshadows that for us in The Last Shadow: to Joyce, “What are you going to do? Rewrite the ending?”

And I think Joyce has already started to do such a thing. With her parenting of Will. In the case of Henry / Billy / Will parallels and how Will has been able to hold off the Mind Flayer for as long as he has, Joyce makes all the difference here (okay and Mike and El play a part). And Joyce of all characters, in my opinion, is the character we see most in-tune with her own “magic of childhood”; unapologetically, shamelessly, fearlessly herself, always curious, always digging deeper, always trusting herself.

We see that Billy had a mother he adored in his childhood, but he got stuck with his abusive, homophobic father. Henry’s relationship with his mother is also tainted by Virginia’s desperation to “fix” him, rather than Joyce’s approach: first and foremost, to understand her son and find the truth through communication, acceptance and empathy.

@cara-ti-amo has done truly brilliant work with her bobgate posts. The most viscerally profound to me have been the recent three-part analyses on motherhood in regards to Henry and Will. Linked here. I cried reading part 26, just beautiful and truly tragic.

The Time-Loop

There’s a lot of talk about the time-loop and when it started. I was always of the opinion that I would rather see a less literal “time-travel” plot.

As H.G. Wells likens the human mind to a time machine: “We all have our time machines, don’t we? Those that take us back are memories and those that carry us forward are dreams”. The concept is that memories anchor us to our past, and dreams propel us into our futures, acting as the psyche’s means of navigating through time.

I do feel like there is a good amount of evidence to support a more literal “time-travel” plot. But I fear it might be too much? A lot of things would have to go right for it to feel authentic and original to Stranger Things. I’ll just link to this conversation with @upsidedownlurker about the human mind x time machine interpretation. I would rather this approach and I have a feeling this would be the direction the show would actually go in terms of a “time-travel” plot.

As for the two timelines, I would say one is the bad ending that we have currently, when our characters have allowed history and the cycle of abuse to repeat. I mean, seriously, the beheading of Vecna is so disturbing and so not what Stranger Things is about.

And one is the good ending, when they break the cycle, break the “time-loop” by understanding and humanizing Vecna, just as they humanized El, hell, just as they humanized Dart, who both could be perceived and otherwise become monsters themselves.

All that being said: when does the less literal time-loop start? Well, if we’re talking about cycles of abuse and history repeating itself as Vecna represents, it would start with every new generation. The fifties would be the Baby Boomers – Henry, Joyce, Bob, Hopper, Karen, etc. – and the eighties would be Generation X – Will, Mike, El, Jonathan, Nancy, etc.

The Last Shadow would suggest Virginia and Victor, of The Silent / G.I. Generations, have as much of a part to play in cycles repeating themselves. Victor being a veteran of the war, never able to truly unpack and resolve that trauma, making him an absent, alcoholic father. And Virginia, a child of abuse herself, struggling as the main parental figure, turns to pills. And the cycle repeats, the time loops. (There’s also something really sus about Victor, but I digress.)

The first riddle of the Hunt for the Thessalhydra goes as follows: “At my heels you nip in this game we play. But cursed is the maze and lost am I. So, who’s chasing whom? Oh, who’s to say? The front is back. Hello is goodbye.”

And the thing is: it’s so easy to blame people from the past generation as the root of our problems, but it is also so easy to make the same mistakes. It is much, much harder to collectively put in the work to break cycles. It takes a lot of courage - facing fears, resolving shame - and resistance to do such a thing.

There are a number of ways to interpret Vecna (and the Upside Down) but at his core, I do believe Vecna is History and Cycles repeating themselves. What’s truly more horrifying than cycles of abuse, violence and generational trauma repeating themselves to no end?

Why else do you think Vecna makes his home in the attic of the house where his fears, trauma, and alienation consumed him? (And manifests the Abyss based on the Nevada desert when the Shadow first visited him.) There is a comfort in the refusal to face fears, unpack trauma, and resolve alienation, thus allowing the cycle to so easily repeat.

But this is where I think we misunderstand Vecna. Vecna who, I believe, would rather break the clock by any means necessary, despite the internal struggle of wanting to hold onto the comfort of the Creel House attic and everything it represents.

What to make of Vecna’s return?

In this Cosmic Love Story post, I liken Vecna to the Roman god and planet Saturn. In Roman mythology, Saturn seemingly consumed all of his children because it was prophesized one of them would overpower and overthrow him, just as he overpowered and overthrew his own father before him. What’s that about the fear of cycles repeating themselves?

I think, in this case, it’s fair to assume El is Juno and Will is Jupiter, two of Saturn’s (Vecna’s) children. But as it turns out, the mother’s deception and devotion to her children saved them from Saturn’s consumption. She tricked Saturn into only thinking he did such a thing. And it’s El’s connection to her mother (I love you, Jane) and Will’s mother Joyce that have saved the wondertwins repeatedly at this point.

The lore of Saturn consuming his children has sparked discussion by scholars and historians. The story is interpreted to be a cautionary tale around the fear of change, destructive nature of time, power and control, and the cyclical nature of violence, all themes that are ever present in Stranger Things and this particular post.

The Return of Saturn

More importantly, let me tell you about Saturn returns in astrology. Use Vecna and Saturn interchangeably to help me get the point across:

As someone who has Saturn as a ruling planet and just went through my own Saturn return, I can attest to the challenges Saturn puts you through. Saturn itself is the planet of trials and tribulations. And when there is a Saturn return, it will put you through HELL.

Saturn returns can be absolutely brutal, even devastating at times. It breaks you down and makes you face your deepest, darkest fears, shame, and insecurities until you are transformed and feel as though you have no choice but to follow your destiny. It feels like it quite literally kicks you into the place you're supposed to be if you try to resist your true path. It makes it all the more transformative and enlightening when you understand, accept, and embrace, without a shadow of a doubt, your destiny.

A Saturn return is a ~ Cosmic Coming of Age ~

What do the Duffer Brothers always say about the show? It is, above all else, a coming-of-age story. Is the coming-of-age story in the room with us? As of right now, I would say no, in fact, it remains very obviously unresolved.

Saturn’s energy in general can feel very heavy and punishing, but it rewards us with growth through perseverance and karmic retribution. By understanding Saturn in this way, it can lead to profound breakthroughs and exponential personal growth. By understanding Saturn, this is possible. And as of right now, Vecna remains largely misunderstood.

You're telling me that the gate of Hell opens up just as Saturn Vecna returns to Hawkins? The same gate that unlocks a certain fear in Mike, and uncovers a certain wound in Will opens just as Mike, Will and El are forced to make their own return?

Vecna's return, if it's anything like Saturn's, means making you face the truth about yourself ("I held up a mirror"), face your deepest, darkest fears, shame, and insecurities. Vecna's return means a coming-of-age that will have you transformed and understand, accept, embrace your true destiny. Huh, looks like Mike, Will, and El are just in time.

The amalgamation (Vecna) of Mike's fears (Mr. Whatsit), Will's shame (Henry), and El's alienation (001), the representation and the dark reflection of what it looks like to have history repeat itself returns. And his return forces our three main characters, who I am certain play the biggest part in "defeating" aka humanizing Vecna, to make their own return to face him.

Facing Vecna means facing the mirror he holds, the reflection of the consumption of fear, shame, alienation, and therefore hate. A dark revelation of the ugly truth. The ugly truth that is what our characters and the world look like if they allow history and cycles of abuse to repeat themselves once more.

What does Vecna's Return mean for the story's resolution?

Much of Henry – 001 – Mr. Whatsit – Vecna's monologues actually suggest foreshadowing of how to break the cycle and resolve the story. Because they are juxtaposed with sinister music and imagery, doesn’t mean they aren’t meant to help and guide our protagonists to their destinies.

With Vecna’s monologue to Will in 5x04, he explains why he took the children, not because they are weak as he falsely claims, but because they can re-shape the world into something beautiful. And how can they re-shape the world?

Well, Mr. Whatsit’s monologue in 5x05 tells us exactly how. Because children possess a certain power. Powers that are otherwise dormant if you don’t know they’re there or have yet to embrace them. I can only assume awakening these dormant powers means unlocking or reclaiming, you guessed it, your “magic of childhood”. Meaning understanding, accepting, and embracing everything that makes you different and realizing that is your superpower. Being completely unashamed, unafraid, and unapologetic of yourself. And when we awaken these dormant powers, the light will expel all darkness.

But by 5x08, our three protagonists seem to have entirely lost their own “magic of childhood” (literally because El dies </3). So, how do we resolve that?

Well, wouldn’t you know it, 001’s monologue to El tells us exactly how! A step-by-step guide to escape Camazotz and it's really quite simple.

“Where others saw order, I saw a straight jacket. A cruel, oppressive world dictated by made up rules. […] All while performing in a silly, terrible play day after day. I could not do that, I could not close off my mind and join in the madness, I could not pretend. Then I realized, I didn’t have to.” Step 1: Realizing what a silly, terrible play you’re in and Step 2: deciding you don’t have be. You don’t have to walk the stage, you don’t have to play the part. You can make your own rules.

Is that all there is to it then? Not quite. We’re forgetting the most important part. Breaking the cycle, meaning we’re never stuck in a terrible play again. And how do we break the cycle? We humanize Vecna by understanding him.

Just as there are three doors, I believe we have three keys in Will, El, and Mike. Three characters that have lived their own unique Henry – 001 – Mr. Whatsit – Vecna experiences and can therefore relate to, understand, and humanize him and stop this cycle for good.

Will needs to revisit his cave memory and know that his abuse is no fault of his own and that despite his shame, he is so very loved. Unpack his baggage trauma (or else he will suffocate!) and unravel possibly one of the biggest mysteries of the shows – birthdaygate. More on that in Part II and V. Henry and Will, I would suspect, share the same root of their shame.

El needs to be humanized and remember that what makes us different should not alienate us, it should, in fact, empower and, when all is said and done, it surely will unite us. She must remember she is superhero, not monster. This will allow her to reclaim her power. More on that in Part III and V. 001 and El, no doubt, share the same root of their alienation.

This humanization and empowerment relies heavily on possibly our biggest obstacle yet. It requires the one that humanized her in the first place to understand her once more.

Which requires this certain character to face his fears. Which, if I suspect a pattern here, likely shares the same root of his fears as Mr. Whatsit. More on that in Part V.

It requires this character to face the truth; understand what it is that makes him different, and understand that his own difference is his superpower too. And then, I reckon, he will be flying, indeed. You could even say he might be a Human Cannonball. But more on that, the three keys, and the vicious time-loop in Part V.

Thank you for reading!

"All I needed was someone to open the door.”

Will: “Don’t tell the others. They wouldn’t understand.” Mike: “El would.”

Mike: “Okay, what don’t I understand?” El: “I am different.”

Fittingly broken up into four gates parts:

Who is Jane the girl?

Who is Eleven the alien?

Who is El the superhero & the magic of childhood?

008, 011 & 001

In Parts I and II, I suggested that Mike and Will started manifesting the horror and supernatural plot of the show when they first realized their feelings for each other, therefore the thing that makes them both different. Mike’s perspective, interpretation and manifestation of the supernatural stems from his fear, and Will’s stems from his shame. Fear is based in the future (future uncertainty, anticipation of danger) and more than anything, it makes you want to run away. And shame is rooted in the past (trauma that has made someone feel unworthy, guilty, wrong) and above all else, makes you want to disappear.

 They both come to this realization on that fateful November 6th, 1983 evening, thus the gate (the curiosity door) to the supernatural opens, and the events of the show begin to unravel – the thing they find so scary because it’s the thing that makes them so different. And who opens the gate? Jane, El, Eleven. Who I, like many others, have interpreted represents queerness. So, just as Mike and Will simultaneously discover a revelation of their shared feelings, and therefore their difference, their queerness, El, opens the gate.

We will dive into El as queerness, as difference being your superpower, but first, I want to talk about Jane the girl and how Jane has been conditioned to conform most of her life too. She is not much different from Mike in that regard. Mike, who’s locked himself away in a prison of conformity himself, on his own accord as he is not embracing his difference. But El has been different her whole life, and can’t change that or, better yet, “mask” it like Mike; she is locked away against her will.

Jane the Girl

Jane’s growth as an individual is distorted not just because her life in the lab was secluding her, but because it was controlling her. It’s one thing to be secluded from the world, but the lab was conditioning her, enforcing conformity through fear from the beginning.

Brenner would have her think her value was measured only on her obedience and what she could produce. If she made a mistake, she was not redirected, she was punished. Brenner, positioning himself as a Father figure, Papa, was not meant to be a comfort to her. Rather, a manipulation for Jane to believe affection and care were conditional and that condition was compliance. It equated compliance with care, meaning obedience and conformity meant survival. Solitary confinement being a consequence meant associating being alone (independent) as dangerous and a punishment.

Jane shows softness and empathy when she refuses to kill the cat, and she is subsequently punished for it. This conditions her to believe her softness, her empathy, her humanity is weakness. She has had enough and she kills the two men on their way to solitary confinement. So, what’s worse is that Brenner’s amazement at what he has just witnessed equates her horror as a breakthrough, her pain as productive, and her anger as her superpower.

This conditioning: associating anger as power and empathy as weakness, is what ingrains this Monster vs. Superhero struggle that Jane has to then navigate throughout the whole show. This dynamic is especially relevant as we consider 001 and Eleven being mirrors of each other, but more on that later.

I should mention here that much of what is ingrained in Jane from her upbringing is what our other two main characters – Mike and Will – have internalized themselves.

On one hand, with Mike, we have a reflection of an upbringing that has led them to believe through fear that having a choice, having a preference, having curiosity meant sacrificing safety; self-repression and conformity meant survival.

In Will’s case, it’s associating what makes them different with wrongness, a reminder of shame rooted in past trauma that made them feel disgraced, guilty, a mistake, broken, as their abusers (Papa/Lonnie) would have them believe. It’s being aware of their difference and associating that feeling with their abuse; making their difference feel like a monstrosity.

So, when we see this shot of Jane, seeing a reflection of herself and then screaming into the void, it's not just an indication that she is revisiting this feeling of her being a monster after she hurts Lucas. It’s also a reflection (literally) of her childhood and girlhood being stolen from her, that theft being a constant reminder of what made her the “monster” to begin with.

What makes this scene of Jane screaming into the water even more heart-breaking is it’s immediately followed by a scene with baby Holly being cared for by Karen, a nurturing mother feeding her breakfast. A life Jane will never know. This tells me that Jane’s resolution is centered in familial, especially maternal, love.  

In season three, Max and Jane build a beautiful bond around girlhood. Max allows Jane to be self-driven and independent. Better yet, Max shows her it’s not a danger to be independent, as Jane’s experience in the lab would suggest. I would reckon Max is extremely reparative and healing to Jane.

When Max and her pick comics, when they pick clothes, Jane learns she can try things, make choices, without any stakes attached. She can voice her opinion without consequence. She can say “no” without repercussion. The moments Jane shares with Max allow Jane to reclaim her autonomy and imagine her identity on her terms.

“How do I know what I like?” is really one of the most impactful lines we hear from Jane, as it gives us a lot of insight into her character in relation to her girlhood, and her relationships with others. It dismantles any M11 argument for me completely. @massy2ly has a great post elaborating on this here.

The show needed Max so badly, they needed Jane to have a peer, and they built this relationship beautifully in s3.

What’s more, Max introduces Jane to Wonder Woman. Jane is her own Wonder Woman; a reminder that she can have power and strength in femininity without apology. It’s Wonder Woman choosing to protect just because she has the power to. It’s humanity without weakness (a comparison the lab so desperately tried to ingrain the opposite in our Jane). It is a reminder to Jane that she can be strong and soft; that the love she gives and receives humanizes and empowers her.

This arc is one that should stick with Jane for the rest of the show, but like in reality and any good fiction, there are always obstacles, it is always a struggle to choose between Monster vs. Superhero.

Something can be said about El losing her powers in s3, when Mike and Will’s paladin-cleric oath has been broken, and Will destroys Castle Byers (“magic of childhood”). Later, Vecna claims he stole them from her so he could open his own gates, but I digress.

In the subsequent season, Jane is bullied for being different, again equating what should be her superpower as something that reminds her of her abuse and makes her feel, yet again, like a monster. Once again, Jane is empowered by revisiting her memories, and confirming that she was never the monster, even coming to the realization that Brenner is the real monster (Agreed!). She tries to use her superpower of empathy despite adversity, to get through to Vecna. Vecna who then only reinforces her greatest fear. That Brenner did not make him this way; she did and that she is as much of a monster as he is. What’s that about El being queerness? (Put a pin in that).

And, finally, the slop that is her story in s5 and really, truly, one of the biggest reasons I can’t get behind that being the real ending, because, seriously, what the hell kind of messaging is her resolution? There is no resolution for our main characters (Jane, Mike and Will) and that is the whole point. By dismantling their respective arcs in the “villains win” ending, it is all the more confirmation that they are the three biggest players in “defeating” Vecna, but more on that later.

Jane gives into the Mind Flayer (as Kali) and agrees that the world will be better, restored to order, without her in it, because she will always be a monstrosity. Yeah, I’m not buying it. But since we’re on the topic of Jane giving into the monstrosity propaganda, it’s a good segway into the next section.

Eleven the Alien

The name itself, is the dehumanization of El. It is a version of El that is the most at risk of being consumed by alienation and giving into the mentality that she is a monster. But allow me to explore Eleven the Alien just for a moment because I do wonder if much of season two is trying to suggest to us that she was immaculately conceived from “A Love Supreme” as @cara-ti-amo theorizes in bobgate.

Early on in s2, El asks, “Do I have a mother?” to which Hop replies, “Of course you have a mother, you couldn’t really be born without one.” And the fact that Terry Ives brings El and Kali together raises suspicion, Kali who is the avatar of the Mind Flayer.

What’s more is that when El leaves the cabin and ends up in the backyard of a mother and daughter, the mother asks her, “Where are your parents?” and El turns her attention to the swing set behind them and uses her powers to make the swings move. That’s an interesting connection to another Love Supreme, Mike and Will.

And what’s really interesting is Dart and El share much of the same storyline. Allow me to elaborate. Dart is discovered by one of the party members and instead of being scared of it for being different, Dustin decides to take it into his care. Dustin promises to take care of him and Dart begins trusting Dustin. They form a bond, while the other party members think they should turn him into the authorities. Dustin says if they turn him into the authorities, he’s as good as dead. Dart oddly enough, really likes candy, just like we know El loves her sweets!

Okay, how about this: when El leaves the cabin for the first time, in the very next scene, we see Dart grow legs. Dart is the reason Dustin breaks the rule of law, like Mike in s1. Dustin says, Dart “missed him. He wanted to come home.” And, “I’m sorry about Dart. I guess I just thought he was my friend. I broke the rule of law so Max can take my spot in the party if you want to banish me.” But indeed, Dart ends up saving the party as they escape the tunnels, even sacrificing himself in doing so.

Dustin is immediately fascinated by him, as he is with El in s1. Funnily enough, Mike wants to kill it even though Dart takes an affinity to him. Which is just funny if you consider the Dart (who represents homosexuality) of it all. Lol. Okay, let me be so serious.

With that being said, I don’t think El is literally Dart. Rather, Dart is an example of an alienated being, someone that could easily be perceived as a monster, easily become a monster, but is humanized by a member of a certain party. I can’t help but think this is also meant to be a commentary on the Nature vs. Nurture debate. The debate which asks if human behaviour is determined by genetics or environment and experiences. If we take that into consideration when analyzing Stranger Things, it’s a matter of interpreting creatures from the Upside Down and El as monsters or not. Dart and El could surely share the same DNA, no? Henry’s DNA was altered by the Mind Flayer and passed down to El. Dart would likely share that DNA given he’s from the Mind Flayer’s world.

Of course, we know El is not a monster, and even Dart, who is much scarier at surface value, proves to be not a mindless, soulless monster himself. So, we know just because they have this DNA, that does not make them inherently evil. Just as I don’t think anyone is truly inherently evil, that is dependent on your experiences and what you make of them. And that got me thinking, I wonder if that could at all be foreshadowing a redemption arc for Vecna, which this whole Cycle-Break series centers around. It really is a matter of humanizing Vecna to break “the time-loop”, break the cycle of abuse, violence, and hatred. Is he too far gone? Is he doomed to be monster forever or can he be superhero?

El the Superhero & the Magic of Childhood

I have to re-iterate that El loses her powers shortly after Will destroys Castle Byers, symbolic of his “magic of childhood”. When Will destroys Castle Byers, he is, to a degree, destroying himself. Mike destroys his blanket fort, where El (“magic of childhood”) lived, when he thinks he has lost El. The track Castle Byers plays as El loses Mike in the void in s2, while he is in his reconstructed blanket fort. I surely hope there is a scene in new content where they rebuild Castle Byers, that would be quite beautiful to see. But moving on.

I’ve seen some people are dismissive or uncomfortable with El being a “concept”. But as you can see in my breakdown above there is also the story of Jane the Girl; a complex story of girlhood, discovering and reclaiming autonomy and identity. El the Superhero does not diminish or take away from Jane the Girl. They honestly go hand in hand. Jane the Girl and El the Superhero can exist in the same context and, in fact, they coexist beautifully.

I believe this interpretation of El originated, or at least was popularized here. I have my own breakdown of that interpretation here and here. And I’ve seen @vecnapilled is doing their own breakdown here.

I’ve seen people say it is reductive to her character and I honestly don’t see how that argument stands. When, in fact, it actually adds so much depth to this already incredibly well written character and story. It reinforces why El is the superhero because of her difference. Why the name itself, El, means “God” and why El gets this Jesus imagery (see 4x09), because El is the show’s savior. Why? Because El the Superhero and Jane the Girl do coexist, and better yet, they empower each other.

El is the “magic of childhood”, the representation of absolute self-love and self-acceptance, the pure innocence of all forms of love and acceptance, and the fearlessness and shamelessness that comes with accepting and being yourself completely. That includes accepting and loving “every part of yourself”, meaning embracing what makes you different, your queerness.

It’s Jane choosing compassion and humanity time and time again. It’s Jane herself proving time and time again that her difference does not make her a monster, in fact, it’s her superpower. It’s Jane being different, and being accepted, embraced, and understood by everyone in the party. It is all love and no fear.

Is there really anything more pure and powerful than the fearlessness and utter joy of people being unapologetically themselves, loving every part of themselves and embracing everything that is different, before they are exposed to the fear and hate in the world? That is the magic of childhood.

It’s established in the very first episode that being different is what makes you special. What makes you different is your superpower. Mike: “I think it’s cool. It’s like you have superpowers or something. Like Mr. Fantastic!” Dustin: “Yeah, except I can’t fight evil with it.” Oh, I reckon you can, Dustin.

And this is the best part, when El is humanized, meaning when she is accepted and embraced by every member of the party (I’m looking at you, Mike), when they see that difference does not equate monstrosity, when Vecna too can be humanized, they will all be set free, that includes El. And what do you reckon will happen when El becomes accepted, embraced and humanized by everyone? She is not only at her full power, but, when all is said and done, she is free to be Jane the Girl!

008, 011 and 001

The Lost Sister is really an episode all about breaking the cycles of violence, which I do believe the resolution of the whole show will come down to as well. Kali forces a sentiment onto El that is with her the entire show, really. “We will always be monsters to them. Do you understand that, Jane?”

Kali also suggests that pain (“she’s in pain. She needs this.”) and anger should be the source of her power. That those feelings make her the most powerful, the same sentiment Brenner has after El kills the two men in the lab: her horror is a breakthrough, her pain is productive, and her anger is her superpower. We see that it can be a great source of power, indeed, as she moves the freight and closes the gate, but it is not her greatest source ("I love you, Jane.").

At the same time, Kali does make a point to tell Jane, “What you can do is incredible. It makes you very special, Jane,” and “our gifts don’t have to be scary. They can be magic.”

Yet, Kali operates with a similar mentality to that of 001, as in she mostly wants revenge and is motivated by anger, which only perpetuates the cycle of violence we are hoping to break. “I kept my anger inside. I tried to hide from it. Until I finally confronted the pain, I began to heal.” And I do sympathize with Kali, as in I think she does believe she is healing from enacting her revenge. “You hurt the bad men?” “Because they hurt us.”

“Let us heal our wounds together.” I think Kali is sincere when she says this and that’s why she is especially hurt when El rejects her. El, the missing piece that has made Kali feel complete, returning to her “father”, who Kali no doubt associates with their abuser, Papa, to some degree. @cara-ti-amo puts it really well in this post. I think Kali does think she can heal El, but El, at her core, doesn’t operate from a place of revenge (most of the time).

To “heal” their “wounds together” implies using El’s powers as a weapon, as a means for revenge, which just reinforces that El’s powers are innately destructive, meant to hurt, monstrous. Which is exactly the opposite sentiments El has been trying to prove to herself. Kali claims she is healed and can heal El as well, yet she literally puts a wall up to run away at the end of the episode, resulting in El’s rejection.

In The Lost Sister, they make a point to show El objecting to revenge and the cycles of violence. When they go on a mission to kill one of the men from the lab, she is hurting the man and then sees a photo of his two daughters. To kill the man would mean ruining two innocent young girls’ childhoods just as El’s and Kali’s childhoods were taken away from them. It’s a stark revelation for El; that violence only leads to more violence. It reminds her of her humanity; it reminds her that she doesn’t want to be the monster.

And, again, at the very end when they are running away and having a shoot-out with the cops. El is likely thinking to herself, what is the point in all this? It only hurts all parties involved and surely makes everyone angrier. You can’t fight fire with fire, but you can fight fire with love (which is water = emotional vulnerability, and truth).

In that moment, El is reminded of the party back in Hawkins, the party that needs her, the party that was the first to originally humanize her. This humanization the party allowed her, the first of its kind to a young, traumatized, alienated El, surely manifested a feeling that her approach to her difference, leading with her own humanity, is indeed, her greatest superpower. And that makes all the difference.

In Part II, I suggested the following:

Mike becomes Mr. Whatsit, a phony leader motivated by lies, consumed by fear. Will becomes Henry, a boy consumed by shame from his trauma, on the brink of his humanity, thus allowing the shadow to corrupt him. Vecna is a dark reflection of the Town of Hawkins (more on that in Part IV). And El becomes 001, thinking she will never be more than a lab rat, a monster because of her difference, a constant reminder the delicate balancing act of Monster vs. Superhero; consumed by alienation. But, as we know, this is surely the bad ending!

So what does that mean for the good ending and for El and 001?

I reckon it means, El remembering and re-confirming to herself that she was "never the monster", that leading with her humanity is her greatest superpower. And just as the party had humanized El, just as it had humanized Dart, two “aliens” who could otherwise be perceived as, could otherwise become monsters like Vecna, to defeat him means to humanize him.

But just as Vecna is still perceived as a monster, the last reliable interaction between Mike and El suggests that she still believes Mike thinks “she’s a monster, too.” Again, it comes down to Mike (fork found in kitchen) coming around to truly understand, accept and embrace El, that is El the Superhero and, better yet, Jane the Girl, not the monster. Which means coming to understand, accept, and embrace his difference. But more on that in Part V.

Thank you for reading!

Mike: “I guess it’s up to us again.” Will: “It always is, isn’t it?”

Indeed, it will all come down to the resolution of Byler, that includes El, and here’s why.

Fittingly broken up into four gates parts:

What is the Upside Down and Vecna to Mike?

What is the Upside Down and Vecna to Will?

Why so Many Names?

What is the Upside Down and Vecna to the Town of Hawkins?

CW: this post will allude to CSA and CA implied within ST. Please read with care <3

To start: oh, I can’t believe how blind I have been. birthdaygate has taken even me victim, just as Will would have wanted, to be honest.

For the better part of the last week, I’ve done a lot of reading of theories and analyses. I read through all of bobgate (@cara-ti-amo your mind is truly nothing short of brilliant!) and I read quite a few posts regarding Will’s trauma (here and here). Of course, as we know, Will is taken to this horror dimension and pursued by monsters, that is trauma enough for a twelve-year-old boy.

But just as I suggested in Part I, that the manifestation of the horror and supernatural plot coming from Mike, the same can be said for Will. What is the Upside Down and the monsters that come from it a manifestation of if not Will’s shame rooted in his childhood trauma? The thing about shame is, unlike fear, it’s rooted in the past (put a pin in that).

When Will and Mike share a look on that one fateful November 6, 1983 evening, I think they both had a certain revelation about their feelings for each other being different and that’s what sets off the events of the entire show. I already talked about Mike’s side, but Will plays an equal part in unraveling and resolving the plot and, better yet, the story of Stranger Things.

What is the Upside Down and Vecna to Mike?

In Part I, I talk about how there is something that goes unspoken between Mike and Will in their first scene together. They are given a close moment by themselves, aside from the rest of the party. While Lucas tells Will to lie to Mike about the roll because it’s just a game, and Dustin is preoccupied offering Nancy the last slice of pizza, Mike and Will’s first scene together stands out as a unique connection between these two boys specifically.

Will honours the cardinal rule of their friendship, friends don’t lie, and the two boys share a look, setting off the electricity in Mike’s garage. And as Steve would put it a season later, electricity is synonymous with romantic chemistry, attraction and/or a deep connection. I’m certain this exchange suggests Mike realizing, in that moment that Will honours their cardinal rule even when it’s something as trivial as a roll of a D20 dice, that his relationship with Will is different. Hence, the electricity surging. I didn’t, however, consider that this was the exact moment Will realized the same thing.

In Mike’s case, he doesn’t understand the meaning of his feelings just yet, only that they are different and that fact alone scares him. Thus, an abstract supernatural phenomenon and a faceless monster manifest. And as Mike’s feelings for Will become more realized, the supernatural reveals more of its depth and lore, eventually putting a personified (and one day humanized?) face to it all – Vecna.

To avoid repetition, I do suggest reading Part I to understand how the supernatural unravels in tandem with Mike’s feelings, and therefore his fears, becoming more realized with every season.

Vecna and Mike

As much as Henry/Vecna is a mirror character for Will, I think he is nearly as much of a mirror character for Mike. Allow me to elaborate.

Henry’s last name itself, Creel, means “weaver” or “weaving”. As in, spiders and spiderwebs? I would imagine, yes. How about as in, story weaving? As in, we have a Story Weaver (Henry) and a Story Teller (Mike)? Okay, I’ll be so normal about this.

Story-weaving: “the art of intricately connecting multiple narrative threads, characters, and themes into a cohesive, rich, and layered tapestry”. Not much different from Story-telling: “the interactive age-old art of using narratives, comprising plot, characters, and emotion, to share experiences, entertain, and convey values”.

A weaver is also a small bird, known for constructing elaborate nests. A bird you say? @walkablepurse50, what’s that about queer subtext of flying? Put a pin in that. In Part VI, we are flying, indeed.

@newgipestel also pointed out to me that a weaver, the wheeled device to spin textiles, spindle is what puts Sleeping Beauty into eternal slumber. And we have this imagery in Mike’s basement, the couch and garbage bin. I said oh, I’m sure!

And while we’re on the topic of name etymology, let’s talk about Mike Wheeler himself. A wheeler, as you can imagine, is a wheel-maker and repairer. No, Mike, we are trying to break the wheel, I repeat, we are trying to break the wheel. More on breaking the wheel in Part IV and V.

All that being said, I think the show has evidence to suggest that Henry/Vecna is not only a reflection of Will, but of Mike, too. In Part IV, I’ll talk more about what Vecna represents at his core. Mike ending up a conformed shell of his former self - a reflection of the depression that comes with repression - by the epilogue, is more or less him becoming another Vecna, less evilly depicted obviously but, in my opinion, just as unsettling.

What I can’t get past is Mr. Whatsit and Mike Wheeler having the same initials. Mike ending up with a nearly identical appearance to that of Mr. Whatsit; Mr. Whatsit and Mike having the same leg limp. And Mr. Whatsit sat at the head of the table like Ted who, up until this point, Mike is seemingly abhorrent and critical of all throughout the show.

I can’t shake this feeling that Mr. Whatsit is a split in Henry’s being that is meant to mostly reflect Mike. Besides the parallels mentioned above, Mr. Whatsit and Mike, whether it’s obvious or not, whether our characters like it or not, are controlling the narrative of s5. More on Mike the Storyteller in s5 here.

Holly says Mr. Whatsit was trying to protect her and the other kids from the monsters in Hawkins that go after kids like her. For that reason, I believe Mr. Whatsit is convinced he is operating with good intentions, just as Mike does, when they have both trapped their respective parties in the worlds that they have built on lies. Mr. Whatsit and Mike both believe that, by trapping their parties in their worlds built on lies, they are protecting and saving them from the scary truth. But they are both motivated, consumed even, by fear.

What is the Upside Down and Vecna to Will?

So, from Mike’s perspective and how he affects the supernatural plot, we talked a lot about fear. The thing about fear, is that it’s undetermined anxiety of what is unknown. Fear is rooted in future uncertainty, the anticipation of danger, whether real or imagined. Fear makes you want to not change, not grow, not take risks, and more than anything, it makes you want to run away. This sounds like our Mike.

Unlike shame; which upon reading so many analyses on Will recently, makes all the difference in Will’s perspective, interpretation, and manifestation of the supernatural plot. You see, shame is rooted in past trauma, that has made someone feel disgraced, guilty and unworthy. Shame makes you want to withdraw, to hide, to disappear, to forget and to be forgotten. This sounds like our Will. :(

So, when Will also has a revelation about Mike and his relationship on November 6, 1983, it’s not an unknown fear of the uncertain like the one that starts brooding in Mike, that then manifests itself in the supernatural. Rather, in Will’s case, it’s a reminder of his shame.

When Will first suspects his feelings for Mike are different, it triggers this feeling that Will is a mistake, broken, and wrong, as his abuser Lonnie would have him believe. When Will realizes something is different, becoming aware of his queerness, he associates that feeling with Lonnie’s abuse. It’s a complicated, delicate and vicious realization for Will. He associates his queerness with his trauma, and because of that he equates his queerness as wrongness. With this realization of his feelings and therefore a reminder of his trauma, Will’s shame starts to manifest. And what did we say about shame? It makes you want to disappear.

As much can be analyzed about the implications of Mike’s jumping off the quarry cliff being a reflection of his mental after realizing his feelings for Will and then losing him, among other things, a lot can be said about Will’s mental in a similar context. But remember, Mike’s is rooted in fear of the future, and Will’s is rooted in shame from the past.

For Mike, I’ll reiterate, it’s a reflection of his fears; the crippling uncertainty of what it means to have such feelings for his best friend (and no doubt being bullied his whole life plays a part in it) and the anticipation of the worst-case scenario - losing said best friend, the one person who seems to best understand and see Mike truly for who he is. But otherwise, Mike is the most privileged, seemingly the most “normal” and from the most conservative family of his friends which makes his repression all the more reasonable. We often see Mike depicting the responses to fear. Fight – fighting with Lucas in s1, challenging the bullies, his crash-out to Hopper in 2x09 all come to mind. Flight – run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away, need I say more? And Fawn – eventually yielding and conforming by s5.

Whereas, Will, we know is prone to the responses of shame: shrinking and downplaying himself, hiding and withdrawing. And in s1, it’s less literal than Mike’s jumping off of a cliff. But if I’m correct in that Will realizing his feelings for Mike in their first scene together reminds him of his shame, then that realization makes him want to disappear. You can hopefully see where I’m getting at here. The song that plays when Will is “brought back to life” is a song centered in isolation and depression, wanting to escape the world and finding peace in doing so. It’s lyrics “I don’t want to swim forever” playing as the conclusion of s1 hangs in the air, Will may or may not come back. He does come back, as we know, thanks mostly to his mother, and I’ll say it again, I think Joyce makes all the difference here (and, yes, surely Mike and El play a part).

I believe Will’s shame will be revealed in more detail in new content and it does pertain to Lonnie, who we know had a history of abuse, making Will feel inadequate, unworthy, guilty, a mistake, wrong, broken. In Will's case, Vecna is a reflection of Lonnie's abuse.

Lonnie’s actor was featured in a table read video for s4, and I’ve heard (although I’ve not seen it myself) that Noah said Lonnie will have a big influence on Will’s storyline in s5 during press (if anyone has a reference to that, please share so I can link!)

With that being said, Henry, who at twelve when we meet him for the first time, becomes corrupted by the Shadow, the same shadow that first visited him on/around his 8th birthday. Surely, you may know where I’m getting at here. As in, I think we will get some revelations of both Henry and Will’s backstories, specifically revisiting birthdays. I think something really traumatic happened to both of them on their respective 8th birthdays (the real first shadow).

“It wasn’t you. You were just a kid, a kid like me, and it used you.” Will to Henry in 5x08.

 I believe Will has these particular memories blocked out, just as Henry can’t face the truth of his own cave memory, just as there is a wall up in the Upside Down, and hence the Nina Project plotline about repressed trauma. Just as Mike is not fully aware of what his feelings mean, Will doesn’t know why exactly he associates his feelings with shame. Thus, both of the boys’ respective interpretations of the supernatural plot is very abstract and faceless in the beginning, but unravels more with the series’ progression.

I fear this is the real birthdaygate, and why Will would rather forget his birthday, and sadly, to some extent, his existence altogether. The supernatural unravelment, and that includes birthdaygate, manifests from Will’s shame too. That’s why he is so evidently side-lined in the finale, when Will is one of the biggest players in “defeating” Vecna and the supernatural. Why Will is replaced by Max in the DnD finale shot, why he disappears from scenes in the credits. I believe it’s Will that is actively erasing himself because he has become consumed by shame, the feeling that makes you want to disappear, forget and be forgotten.

That’s Too Many Names

I think part of the reason Henry – 001 – Vecna – Mr. Whatsit has so many names to begin with is each one is a different split of the same being. And each split a reflection of a different character(s) and how they perceive him. (As well as the HIV initials).

With Mr. Whatsit, we have Mike for all the points mentioned in section I. A leader who has been weakened by fear so he depends on lies to delegate, hoping no one will see through his façade. Thinking that by concealing the truth, he is protecting, even saving, his group from the “evil” supernatural. Mr. Whatsit and, in the end, Mike are consumed by fear.

With Henry, we have Will for all the points mentioned in section II. Henry, who was just a kid like Will and was used and abused. Henry, who had something really traumatic happen to him as a child that ruined his innocence. Just a boy, who at twelve years old, is revisited / reminded of the shadow, and therefore comes to the brink of his humanity. Will and Henry, two boys consumed by shame.

With 001, we have El. Another test subject abused by Papa. An authority figure to El, not unlike Papa, who builds trust with her, only to reveal it was all a manipulation tactic. Another example of a male figure using El as a means to their end. But someone that trusted her enough to disclose his own backstory and motivations with her. Someone that empathizes with her because they are both different. A conflicting dynamic and power struggle. A reflection and a constant reminder to El the delicate balancing act between monster and superhero. If I suspect a pattern here, I would reckon 001 and, by the end, El are consumed by alienation.

I will have a whole post about El the "alien" coming out at some point. It's here.

So, we have Mike the Storyteller, the unreliable leader as Mr. Whatsit, overcome by fear; Will, the visionary, the artist, the Builder as Henry, overcome by shame; and El, the monster and the superhero as 001, the one who opens the door, overcome by alienation.  

And finally, with Vecna, we have the Town of Hawkins.

The Town of Hawkins – On the Outside Looking In

The Town of Hawkins at large does not and refuses to understand Vecna’s presence and the supernatural as a whole. It is a town consumed by ignorance, and in some cases, consumed by hate. Surely, there are a select few who try to understand it (the party) because it is more or less affecting them. But otherwise, Hawkins is careless, disregarding, ignorant, and hateful of it all.

I do suggest reading this post to understand how the general public and people in power’s response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic unravels similarly to the supernatural plot of Stranger Things. There’s a lot of evidence to suggest we should interpret it as such; the plot suspiciously follows that of the exponential progression of HIV/AIDS crisis from 1983-1986 (s1-s4) and how the Town of Hawkins' response to Henry – 001 – Vecna is reflective of that.

It’s not until s4, when there is a face to the supernatural, a story-weaver of its lore, that the Town has no choice but to face it and then vilify it immediately, which fair enough, it is killing teenagers.

But here’s the thing about the teenagers that are cursed by Vecna: they are all similar to Mike in that they are all running away from their “problems” and in some cases, are dealing with the complexities of Survivor’s guilt, which is a recurring feeling for Mike. And they are all (but Fred?) similar to Will, in that they all feel deep shame that’s rooted in child abuse. They are all traumatized characters that are pretending not to be, and Vecna is the monster that holds up a mirror to them.

Again, I think that Vecna thinks he is saving them, although in a very horrific and disturbing way, by holding up a mirror to them. And better yet, with his plans in s4, Vecna is bringing the horror of the Upside Down to the surface, making the Town see, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the awful, ugly truth that is the reflection of their misunderstanding, ignorance, and hate.

Vecna is a reflection of what this Town hates, a dark revelation. As his monikers’ initials would suggest, Vecna is the monstrosity of HIV (the demonization of gay men), which causes mass hysteria and what reinforces the ostracization of gay people in the eighties. El is the monster of “being different” (queerness), locked away from Hawkins for almost the whole show, but what is saving the town repeatedly, in every season, from behind the curtain. Mike and Will are two boys navigating what it is that makes them “different”, one responding from fear and running away, and one responding from shame, wanting to disappear.

Take Nancy, ever the investigator, as the representative of the Town of Hawkins here:

“I see you’ve been looking for me, Nancy. You were so close, so close to the truth.”

And what is the truth, and therefore the resolution? It will take more than El and more than Will to “defeat” Vecna; they are not the ones who originally vilified him so. Again, I think it comes down to Mike returning to Hawkins, re-assuming his role as leader and heart of the party, a real leader. Mike will become the representative of the Town, like Nancy the season prior.

More importantly, Mike facing his fears to see the truth, and that the truth is not what Hawkins has made it out to be: a truth that is still scary to face if you’re Mike, yes, but not monstrous. (Will and El have their own truths to face too, which will complete the puzzle.)

It’s only then that all three: El, Will, and Mike can “defeat” Vecna.

It will take a lot to humanize him, because not only do we have to overcome alienation, shame, fear, but we have to have understanding to overcome hate and break the cycle. And to have understanding, we have to find a missing piece of the puzzle, a big one. And, only then will we have the truth. But more on that in the next installments.

As always, thank you for reading!

aka: trying to prove to you beyond a shadow of a doubt Stranger Things has been that of a queer story since its inception.

I also address race relations leading up to and in the eighties in the second half of this post in regards to Lucas’ storyline.

Stranger Things doesn’t shy away from addressing politics, but with nuance and care, in the subtext and with its implications, meaning making its message more accessible and palatable to a wider audience.

The HIV/AIDS Crisis

The more the Reagan administration neglected the HIV/AIDS crisis as it escalated exponentially, the more horror progressed in the eighties.

In my posts here and here, I came to the conclusion that Stranger Things is meant to be one of a fictionalized exposé and critique on how fear, hate, and homophobia (The Mind Flayer, among other things) took over in the 80s and were responsible for so much hurt and horror. It is a fictionalized, sci-fi - fantasy - horror retelling of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the eighties. And, hopefully, it will be somewhat of a retcon in which queer love and compassion actually save the world in this case (lovewinsgate).

Yes, I believe it is that deep. Walk with me.

So, just as the Reagan administration neglected the HIV/AIDS crisis (and disregarded and mistreated the queer community as a whole) as it escalated through the eighties, the looming threat over Hawkins gets more intense, imminent, and horrific with every passing year / season. Stranger Things’ supernatural plot undoubtedly unravels in tandem with the AIDS epidemic throughout the eighties.

S1 & 1983

The very opening scene is Mike ominously saying the words, “something is coming…” and as we know, that ends up being a horrific monster and, eventually, a dark reflection of our world wanting to spread and take over. You can obviously interpret that as the virus itself – HIV/AIDS – as the “something” that “is coming” and what will eventually start spreading and infecting people over the course of the eighties.

But I also interpret it as a warning of Reagan’s re-election and his subsequent negligent and unsettling response to the crisis the following year, 1984. In terms of the dark reflection of our world, this could also apply to the explosive rise of nationalism, capitalism and conservatism that was especially present under Reagan’s administration.

In season one, the supernatural plot is something that only directly affects Will, our only canonically gay male. And, of course, Barb, a queer coded character who gets attacked just after deeply cutting her hand, (whilst with a group of very sexually active teens – Steve, Tommy, Carol), making her especially susceptible to infection. I think Barb’s attack and death is a little more on the nose.

As in, in Will’s case, I don’t think it’s the show’s intention to imply Will actually contracts the virus, but he is meant to represent the young gay man of the United States in the eighties. He is the first person affected by the Upside Down, a dark reflection of our world and because only Will – a (suspected) queer, poor smalltown boy - is the only one affected as of yet, the general public is not up in arms, or better yet, doesn’t seem to care at all. In fact, the government lab would much rather just cover up his disappearance and ignore and downplay the problem altogether. Doesn’t that sound an awful lot like Reagan’s response to the epidemic?

The only people that care or take his disappearance seriously are the loved ones of Will, but they’re not enough to actually cause a stir, so they are repeatedly shut down or perceived as crazy, hysteric or conspiracists by the general public.

Little does the public know the true power of love and compassion (and understanding and communication and acceptance) that ended up saving Will and could likely save many people like him. If only everybody put in a little more effort to be more of a Joyce, a Mike, a Jonathan, an El, a Hopper, a Lucas, a Dustin, etc., likely a lot more lives could be saved in the eighties, indeed.

It was in 1983 that HIV was discovered and identified as the cause of AIDS, and yet, Reagan was absolutely negligent of the research going into HIV/AIDS and the epidemic as a whole. At the point, the crisis was still largely not taken seriously. It would take another two years before he acknowledges it publicly.

S2 & 1984

In season two, once again Will is the focus of the supernatural plot. It is still just Will that is directly affected by this looming threat of the dark reflection of the world that is the Upside Down. And once again, the power of love saves the day.

But what’s interesting is there is a virus starting to spread across Hawkins. It starts infecting the crops, the pumpkin patches; more people start noticing, but still not understanding its origins, and hoping it will just “sort itself out” or somebody else will “take care of it.” Enter Hopper and Dr. Owens who try to make sense of, find a way to treat, and attempt to contain the virus.

In the eighties, the Reagan administration, up until this point - 1984, had still refused to make a public address about the exponential progression of the HIV/AIDS crisis. It is still not taken seriously and, in many cases, it’s irresponsibly treated as a joke and with palpable homophobia.

In fact, Reagan would as much rather focus on funding and fuelling the Cold War. Interesting, like how the Russian subplot in Stranger Things has a place or reference in every season, that takes focus away from the supernatural plot – the real looming threat – happening right under their noses.

S3 & 1985

In season three, we know Billy becomes the third host for the Mind Flayer. In a previous analysis, I interpret Billy as another repressed queer character in the show, who also experiences abuse, and is therefore targeted by the Mind Flayer, like Henry and Will before him. Billy is especially shown as a promiscuous character, on his way to a hook up (with Karen) no less. On the surface, it does seem like another more on the nose attack. But what’s more interesting is that the Mind Flayer leaves Will alone for the most part this season. Our only canonically gay male character is not the one affected this season, but it starts infecting the Town of Hawkins at large in that one fateful summer 1985.

Up until this point, the Reagan administration largely ignored concerns and dismissed questions regarding the HIV/AIDS crisis. Up until this point, the Reagan administration and public at large still considered this as a virus that only affected “gay men, (and sex workers, drug users, and inmates)”, so why should they care?

So, what changed in the summer of 1985?

It became clear that HIV/AIDS was not a “gay disease”; it is, at this point, undeniably, indisputably affecting children, and heterosexual women and men. Not only that, a close personal friend of Ronald Reagan, Rock Hudson, disclosed his AIDS diagnosis in the summer of 1985. He became one of the first major celebrities or public figures to do so. In July 1985, Rock Hudson appeared in an interview with Doris Day, where his changed and emaciated appearance due to AIDS sparked widespread exposure and conversation about the severity and reality of the virus and the epidemic. His appearance in the interview was broadcast repeatedly across national news media outlets for the next several days.

Rock Hudson’s diagnosis and public appearances following marked a turning point with how Ronald Reagan and much of the general public in the United States viewed AIDS. It was at this point, after the summer of 1985 (!) Reagan finally seriously publicly acknowledged the crisis, and when policies and funding began to somewhat reflect that.

And if you recall, in July 1985 in season three of Stranger Things, it’s clear that the supernatural threat looming over Hawkins, the dark reflection of our world, is now on their front doorsteps. It is now affecting the town as a whole – there is no denying it anymore, also in a season with a focus on dirty and corrupt politicians, no less.

S4 & 1986

By 1986, HIV/AIDS is now rightfully recognized as a national crisis. It is now clearly a threat to anyone, and thus moral panic is at an all time high. People don’t want to make sense of it and therefore start pointing the finger to continue to place blame on the “outcasts” and the “freaks”. And is it any wonder, then, why the satanic panic plot takes such a natural place in season four. By the late eighties, satanic panic was at its peak.

And by season four, the supernatural plot of Stranger Things is carried out by a character with the initials HIV, no less. Henry – 1 – Vecna. He starts coming after the teenagers of Hawkins. The Henry – 1 – Vecna connection is one that I believe has to be intentional. These analyses - here and here - of mine go into more detail. But to name a couple examples that should be evidence enough:

One: in season four, El (who I also believe is meant to represent queerness, in a way) is made to feel like she is a monster and she believes she is the one who killed the kids in the Rainbow room, but it was actually Henry – 1 – Vecna. But it wasn’t even him entirely either. Remember Vecna is misunderstood as per Noah’s own words. More importantly, it was the government lab that failed to protect the kids and refused to understand Henry – 1 – Vecna as anything more than a monster.

Two: in season five, the Mind Flayer (as Kali) convinces El that she has no choice but to end herself, because essentially, she says the world will be better and restored to order without her, and for that matter, anybody that has Henry’s blood.

And here’s the thing about Henry – 1 – Vecna; he is misunderstood. Noah says it himself in that one interview and it’s as if he just spoiled the biggest thing in the show. Nobody took Henry – 1 – Vecna seriously, they overlooked him and nobody tried to understand him, and that is why he was able to kill so many people. That sounds awfully like the government’s response to the HIV virus, doesn’t it?

Between 1985 and 1986, after Reagan finally acknowledged the crisis for what it was, he was still reluctant to address it publicly. He finally made a public address in 1987, seemingly and rightfully taking it seriously, explaining plans for funding, and asking the public to do more testing.

They originally did not take it seriously, made it out like a joke rooted in homophobia because it was “only affecting gay men” (s1 & s2). They finally acknowledged it as a crisis in summer 1985 when it was clear it was beginning to affect the general public, including those close to the people in power (s3). And by 1986, it was rightfully declared a national crisis, moral panic rises, and we are shown the repercussions of overlooking and not taking the time to understand HIV for as long as they did; the reason it was able to kill so many people and why the government (lab) should be to blame (s4). But even still, requests for funding by doctors at the CDC were repeatedly denied and the Reagan administration largely ignored and underfunded the AIDS crisis as a whole, leaving most of the work and responsibility to advocacy groups. And speaking of advocacy groups…

Why would the Duffer Brothers even care to tell this story?

If you are asking yourself that, I totally understand. But I implore you to take a look at this post; it is proof that the Duffer Brothers are personally linked to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the eighties and more proof, to me, that the false ending was absolutely a commentary on queer erasure.

Race Relations

I wanted to also take the time to write up what I’ve noticed is touched upon in the show that hints at race relations in the United States at the time, as I’m currently doing a re-watch with a focus on Lucas.

I will say, unlike the Duffers experience of likely growing up with some education regarding the true horror of the HIV/AIDS epidemic from their personal link to it, I can’t say for sure if they have any such personal link that would hint at race relations in the same vein. There isn’t a world where they would know first hand what it’s like to be Black in the United States in the eighties obviously. So, to address it in as much of a fully fledged subtextual way like they did the AIDS epidemic, would seem out of their depth, in my opinion, and maybe it’s out of my depth to comment on it, too. But I believe they still address race relations in the United States with Lucas’ storyline on a number of occasions.

Like with the AIDS crisis breakdown I explained above, I do think Lucas’ story in relation to the racism he would inevitably face, is handled with care and nuance, through subtext and implications, as well as any two white writers could implement such themes into the show. Again, there are a few instances they do this that are profoundly in the subtext, you really have to read between the lines and know your history to get it, but I believe it’s there.

On a personal note, my mother and I are Anishanaabe – Ojibwa. My mother was a child of the Sixties Scoop and her mother and two brothers were put in Residential Schools. If you don’t know what those mean, I get it, it’s a dark part of history that people would rather bury and keep hidden. But I implore you to do research and know your history on your own terms. My mother was miraculously reunited with her birth mother in the late nineties, right before I was born. (:

I am used to my stories going untold or not being told responsibly. I plan on telling them myself. And if this show has taught me anything, I plan to tell those stories with nuance and care, through subtext and implications, so they are much more accessible and palatable to a wider audience, still in a way I can get my message across. But all that to say, I take race relations and history seriously and I think that’s why I was able to pick up on some of the subtleties around Lucas’ story.

When the Black Lives Matter movement was ongoing in 2020, I did my due diligence and felt a certain responsibility to research the history of race relations - policing, the disproportionate incarceration and military drafting and deployment of Black Americans, and the War on Drugs.

The War on Drugs

In the seventies, less than six years after the Civil Right Act passed (1964) and two years after Stonewall (1969), Richard Nixon began the War on Drugs (1971). The War on Drugs was an effort to essentially target anti-war leftists aka hippies for weed and psychedelics, LGBTQ+ for party drugs, and most predominantly Black Americans for opiates and crack. Then, in the eighties, the Reagan administration doubled down and added more fuel to the War on Drugs fire. The Reagan administration was in suspicious cahoots with the drug cartel (in Venezuela, iirc). It is believed that they likely intentionally planted drugs and guns in Black and poor communities in the United States, prompting a mass incarceration of Black Americans.

All I will say is I’m glad they made Officer Powell chief of police in Hopper’s absence. Realistically, I would otherwise fear for Lucas in s4 as he’s associated with not only Hellfire Club which was believed to be a cult, but associated with a known drug dealer as well, Eddie. Also, in s4, it’s Lucas that gets an in with the popular kids, the jocks. I don’t think that’s just because Lucas is the most athletic and coordinated of the bunch, so he would obviously get the sports star storyline. Even though they hate high school and seemingly still get bullied, it’s easy for Mike and Dustin specifically to brush it off and not care about being popular, in fact, it’s white privilege.

For many young Black men, becoming sports stars in high school with the hopes of sports scholarships and stardom in college (and beyond) is seen as literally a “get out of jail free card”. I believe Kendrick Lamar and JID rap about this frequently, that young Black men are overlooked and criminalized, unless they are otherwise playing for our favourite sports teams.

With the War on Drugs ongoing and after the fallout of the Vietnam War, racial tensions were really at an all time high in the seventies. Reagan’s administration not only double downed on the War on Drugs, Ronald Reagan opposed the establishment of Martin Luther King Jr. Day as well. And let’s talk about the Vietnam War, because this is what set off the alarm bells to do this very breakdown of race relations in this already political post.

Within the first few episodes of the entire show, it is revealed to us that Lucas’ father served in the Vietnam War. In 1x03, as the party is unpacking their supplies to go monster hunting and find the gate, Lucas shows the boys what he has in his pack. Lucas shows his supplies and says, “Binoculars from ‘Nam”, and in case you missed it the first time, he has something else, “Army knife from ‘Nam”.

What’s interesting is nobody else is ever implied to have served in the Vietnam War, it’s only Lucas’ father, and from the very beginning this is established. (It’s revealed to us much later, in season four, that Hopper also served in the war, but I digress. So, Hopper and Charles Sinclair are still our only two direct references to the war.) It’s easy to miss the implication here if you don’t know the dark history of the Vietnam War.

The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War lasted until 1975; it is another tie in with the Cold War with the two taking focus away from the ongoing domestic issues in the United States. The Reagan and Nixon administration, in this case, were both more focused on funding, fuelling, and winning wars overseas over the horrors of the AIDS crisis and racial tensions escalating right in their very backyard. North Vietnam was supported by communist nations, especially the Soviet Union and China, and South Vietnam was supported by the United States. Notoriously, the American soldiers in the Vietnam War were absolutely disproportionately Black Americans.

Despite Black Americans making up only a little over 10% of the population of the United States, they made up for nearly 20% of all draftees and were absolutely more likely to be drafted than white Americans. And despite over 300,000 Black Americans serving in the war, only twenty-two of those draftees were awarded with medals of honor. Black Americans in the Vietnam War were more often than not assigned to combat units and especially on the front lines, meaning a higher casualty rate than white Americans serving.

So, when one of the first things we learn about Lucas’ backstory and family history being one of a reveal that his father served in Vietnam, when that applies to nobody else that we know of (besides Hopper seasons later), I can’t help but think there is some kind of commentary they are trying to imply there.

And much like the homophobic slurs used by bullies and abusers hinting at the bigger picture of the AIDS crisis and queer commentary, Lucas has his own instances of obvious, textual evidence of the racism he surely faces. The bullies in season one make comments about Lucas' skin tone, and his storyline with Billy in season two. Caleb is a great actor. The nuances of Lucas' storyline in season four when he is pleading with Mike and Dustin; why he wants to get in with the jocks, it goes beyond "wanting to be popular" for Lucas and I think Caleb definitely conveys Lucas' motivations with that context in mind.

Conclusion

I believe Stranger Things doesn’t shy away from addressing politics, but with nuance and care, in the subtext and with its implications, meaning making its message more accessible and palatable to a wider audience. They do it in a way that you sometimes really have to read between the lines and know your history to see what they are implying, what they are planting in the subtext.

And that is the whole point of film storytelling. The true meaning of the story is meant to be planted in the subtext, this is the whole essence of film. It's planting ideas, implications, nuances, in the subtext until you reveal them at the end, the bigger picture, if you will. Film is a sequence of pictures paired with dialogue, neither of them complete and tell the full story without the other, but paired together form the "bigger picture" of the complete scene.

Film storytelling is having a deeper meaning, a profound message that will resonate with its audience. It's something that does not reveal itself without its audience putting some work in first; a deeper meaning that isn't presented perfectly on a silver platter. Film puts trust in the intellect of its consumer to put the pieces together, to pick up on the subtext, for it to then be somewhat revealed at the end to then leave its audience thinking on its message. What is it really about? That is a good story.

As any important media that has stood the test of time, it makes a commentary, it makes an impact, it leaves a legacy, because it makes people think, or better yet, rethink everything. There's a great quote from David Foster Wallace that goes, "good fiction's job is to comfort the disturbed, and to disturb the comfortable". And, yes, media is political, it's always political. What that means for Stranger Things? I truly hope it means the story is not over because otherwise it would not be a good one considering its "ending."

I still believe this story is not over and, in fact, it is that of an expose and critique of the eighties decade. A sci-fi - fantasy - horror retelling of the HIV/AIDS crisis. How the queer community as a whole, and anybody deemed different, were disregarded, discarded and mistreated. And, hopefully, it will be somewhat of a retcon in which queer love and compassion actually save the world in this case (because it is also very much a story of breaking cycles - but more on that particular theme in my next post.)

I will leave you with this post by Mr. Clarke himself:

If Will is Jupiter -

(ode.to.icarus on twt)

Jupiter: the god of gods, the god of wisdom, the god of the sky, "I miss clouds", the god of weather, "here comes the rain again", always bathed in sunlight or surrounded by storms based on his emotions, the god of lightning, Will has the power of light.

And Mike is Mars -

Mars: the god of courage, valour, military prowess, discipline, honour, a strategic and protective deity, the source of security and safety, and strength (in Rome), guardian of the roman people, the warrior and protector.

Then that Means -

The planets Mars and Jupiter have a distinct and dynamic relationship, and the space between them offers unexpected revelations and challenges our understanding of the cosmos. Their conjunctions through history have fascinated and awed stargazers for the visual splendor and cosmic intrigue. Mars and Jupiter have an especially beautiful dance around the sun due to their different orbital speeds.

Their latest conjunction (Aug 2024) was the closest the two planets have gotten in over a decade. In astrology, conjunctions of Mars and Jupiter signify a blend of warrior energy and wisdom - bravewise! Charts with such a conjunction often create powerful, driven, wise, and intense dynamics.

Thank you to @newgipestel for sharing these connections with me!

Once, there was thought to be a hypothetical planet between Mars and Jupiter named Phaethon. It was thought that the "planet" of Phaethon was destroyed and created the asteroid belt between the terrestrial planets and the gas giants. We will circle back to the asteroid belt, trust.

Phaethon is a name derived from Greek mythology. I'll focus mainly on the Romans to sell the Cosmic Love Story that is Stranger Things with some mentions of Greek mythology when relevant. My interpretation is that perhaps when Greek connections are relevant, it may be hinting at someone being from another timeline than their Roman counterparts.

Phaethon in Greek mythology was the offspring of Clymene - an Ocean nymph - and the Sun god, Helios. Phaethon was born from the ocean and the sun, blue and yellow, Mike and Will. (I wonder if Phaethon will be someone from another timeline connected to Mike and Will in such a way.)

Back to the Romans:

Remember this calendar I found in my childhood bedroom? Yeah, well, I think some important connections can be made to sell this Cosmic Love Story. Let's also not worry about the interfamilial and personal relationships between the deities in the mythology and more so about what they represent.

So, in the calendar, they have certain characters corresponding with each of the months. I'll touch on the ones that I think are most relevant.

Dustin as January aka Janus. Janus is the god of transitions, doorways, and gates. Janus is uniquely depicted as having two faces, symbolising his ability to look into the past and future, and see between two worlds. It's always Dustin who makes revelations that lead the party to find the gates to the Upside Down. In s1 and s4, Dustin makes connections about the compasses that lead the party to the gates, and in s3, he is part of the storyline that finds the Russian gate in Starcourt Mall. Janus is also the god that presides over war and peace and Dustin is almost always the voice of reason, the peace-keeper and the one resolving conflict in the party.

Erica as April aka Venus. The goddess of love, beauty, and prosperity. Venus had a strong political connection and influence to the state of Rome and was key to their military successes. She is also the Roman goddess of Victory - it's Erica that has the winning roll in s4 and the winning plan in s5. This checks out with how, since season three, Erica has always played a vital role in the party's missions. I also think Erica being Venus correlates with how she is, along with El, the show's Princess Diana.

Dart is June aka Juno. This is random at first glance. But Dart being Juno, in my opinion, represents Vecna's "children", which leads me to:

Vecna is Saturn -

(CW: some mild talk of incest in Roman mythology and child abuse.)

Before I go into the mythology of Saturn, I want to touch on astrology. As someone who has Saturn as a ruling planet and just went through her Saturn return, I can attest to the challenges Saturn puts you through. Saturn itself is the planet of trials and tribulations. And when there is a Saturn return, it will put you through HELL. It breaks you down and makes you face your deepest, darkest fears and trauma until you are transformed and feel as though you have no choice but to follow your destiny. It feels like it quite literally kicks you into the place you're supposed to be if you try to resist your true path. It makes it all the more transformative and enlightening when you accept, without a shadow of a doubt, your destiny.

A Saturn return is a ~ Cosmic Coming of Age ~

Back to the Romans part two the remix:

This is when I think certain relationships of the gods is relevant because Saturn was the father of Juno and Jupiter (and many others but we'll be focusing on Juno and Jupiter). Saturn consumed all of his children, because it was prophesized that one of his children would overpower and overthrow him, just as he overpowered and overthrew his own father. Remember when 001 consumed the kids in the Rainbow Room? (And consume is an interesting distinction because he said they are still with him, as if he's just consumed their souls.) Yeah, about that.

It was revealed that Juno's (and Jupiter's) mother tricked Saturn into thinking he consumed his children, but in reality they all lived thanks to the mother's deception. El overpowers 001 with memories of her own mother and Will is able to be saved in s1 and s2 because of his mother. And indeed, Juno and Jupiter are the ones to overthrow Saturn in the end and the two become the Queen and King of the gods. Did somebody say wondertwins?

The lore of Saturn consuming his children has sparked discussion by scholars and historians. The story is interpreted to be a cautionary tale around the fear of change, destructive nature of time, power and control, and the cyclical nature of violence, all themes that are ever present in Stranger Things.

I want to note, I don't think Vecna is actually Will's father, but they do share DNA from both being consumed by the Mind Flayer. (Same with El, he is not actually her father, but they also share DNA.) I do think that Vecna is representative of Will's fear and trauma about Lonnie as well so there's another connection to Will's father.

I hate to bring up the elephant in the room, there is a lot of incest in Roman mythology, most of it is absolutely irrelevant to my interpretations. But, it's interesting that Juno was the sister and partner of Jupiter because obviously El is the sister to Will. And as I and many others have interpreted, El is an allegory of Mike's love for Will.

Maybe not relevant, but: Jupiter made a child from his own head and that was Minerva. Minerva is the goddess of wisdom, justice, medicine/healing, victory, and arts and crafts. There is something about Minerva that also reminds me of El, but I could be reading that wrong. (Edit: I just remembered Max knows a lot about “healing” from skateboarding injuries?) Juno also conceived a child on her own from a magical flower and oddly enough, it was Mars. So, this might be where the interfamilial relationships in the mythos become irrelevant again lol.

Let's go back to the Cosmos once again! ->

The Asteroid Belt

Remember there was once thought to be planet between Mars and Jupiter named Phaethon and Phaethon was born from the ocean and the sun, blue and yellow? Okay, well there is a lot more where that came from in the asteroid belt.

Juno was also a theoretical planet thought to be between Mars and Jupiter at one point. There is now a larger asteroid between Mars and Jupiter named Juno, and a space probe named Juno designed to study and check in on Jupiter, I said oh I'm sure. Willel, my heart! There is also an asteroid named Minerva in the belt.

When astronomers were theorizing about the planets between Mars and Jupiter, they once thought there were as many as five - Vesta, Juno, Ceres, Pallas, and Phaethon. All named after children of Saturn except, oddly enough the last two. Pallas and Phaethon, who are not only outliers as they're not children of Saturn, but they are two of the few things in the solar system with Greek derived names.

We already talked about Phaethon and how I think it might be hinting at someone from another timeline because its name derives from an entirely different mythos. But Pallas is interesting, Pallas is acknowledged as the Greek equivalent to Mars. I want to emphasize that Mars and Ares should not be viewed as counterparts, I think this is a misconception many people have. Ares was much more about brutality and chaos and violence. Meanwhile Mars was all the things I mentioned at the beginning of my post when comparing Mars and Mike - valour, courage, honour, guardian, warrior, protector, etc.

Pallas should be viewed as the Greek equivalent to Mars. Pallas also embodies strength, courage, strategy, tactical wisdom, military prowess, martial arts. I can't help but make the connection to Lucas and that he is from another timeline. Two Venkmans.

I'm still working on a rewatch mainly on Lucas, maybe I will have more to this when I'm finished the rewatch. But Mike and Lucas are absolutely two sides of the same coin. Lucas is known as the jumper. He literally jumps and "jumps to conclusions" more than anyone else. (Mike is quite the opposite), the concept of Lucas time-jumping to save the party from the darkest timeline. Ironically, as he is one of the realest characters and best communicators, Lucas is kind of a mystery to me still. But I do think he might be from another timeline and he will be time-jumping to help save Byler. And speaking of Byler...

The Cosmic Love Story Prevails

~ This is when you should play Never Tear Us Apart by INXS ~

When Phaethon was more or less debunked as the "mysterious, secret fifth planet" between Mars and Jupiter, astronomers determined the asteroid belt was not of planetary origin. Rather, the asteroid belt formed from the remains of a huge accretion disk. An accretion disk is just a term for an accumulation of materials in space that form around stars during planet formation.

So, yes, billions of years ago during the formation of the solar system, there was a huge accretion disk between Mars and Jupiter which itself could have otherwise easily formed into a planet between them. But, Jupiter has an enormous gravitational force of attraction that affects the planets closest to him. Which planet is the closest, you ask? You already know the answer is Mars. So, this accretion disk could have very well formed into a planet between them, but Jupiter's gravitational pull prevented such a planet from forming. Instead, the accretion disk formed the asteroid belt of little bodies, since Mars' attraction to Jupiter and Jupiter's forces literally refused to have a whole planet separating them.

“Turns out, getting to Mike, that was the key.”

Is Stranger Things all a DnD Campaign manifested by Michael? Well, yes, it sorta is.

Except it’s a metaphor (analogy?) for Mike’s Hero’s Journey to accepting his true self. Which, especially being queer in the eighties, and as Will could already attest to, could feel a whole lot like having to fight for your life against unimaginable horrors and monsters (hopefully with the help of your friends and loved ones – the party). But we often only see Mike as “the Storyteller”, the Dungeon Master, which is more proof that Mike is inadvertently controlling the narrative, not actually being a hero within it.

Fittingly broken up into four gates parts:

When did it all begin?

How does Mike's fears manifest through the seasons?

Season four - who puts a face to Mike's fears?

Why is Mike the bad guy? (and my take on Tharizdungate)

This goes against a few of my predictions I’ve had in the past, in that I no longer think it will all come down to Mike needing to save a dark-sided Will; we’ve seen that before anyway in s2. Mike and Will will equally save each other. Will may very well be the one to enlighten Mike, you could say. Something, something, Will is Pelor, the god of light. And, in other words, I don’t think Tharizdun is the BBEG we think it is, but more on that later. :)

When it all began:

I think a part of Mike realizes, to some extent, his feelings for Will on November 6, 1983 when they share their first scene together – when Will is honest with Mike about “the roll, it was a seven”. This scene already establishes that Mike and Will’s relationship is different than the other boys as Lucas was just telling Will to lie to Mike about the roll. “Friends don’t lie” is Mike and Will’s rule to friendship and Will honours that even if it means “the Demogorgon got” him. The two boys share a look and the lights flicker. The electricity, synonymous with connection and/or romantic chemistry as the show suggests, surges and Mike, unsure what it means at the time, turns off the electricity.

This sets off the events for the entire show, and as the future DnD scenes throughout, it’s foreshadowed by Mike’s campaign just as he is realizing the extent of his feelings for Will. I think everything from the show manifests from Michael’s repressed feelings, repressed self, and his fears through the party’s DnD campaigns and, to me, that means Mike is the real Final Boss.

The supernatural plot and lore are absolutely reflective and based in how the HIV/AIDS crisis progressed in the eighties, but I think it also manifests from Mike’s repression. Conforming, that’s the real monster, right? Hear me out. Mike is constantly self-sabotaging when he is not true to himself, either through his own character actions or, unbeknownst to him, through the supernatural plot that he manifests or foreshadows. It affects almost everyone around him, but never really affects him as directly as he is not facing his fears, he is actively repressing them, and always running away. Is it any wonder why it took him until season five to see the Upside Down for himself for the first time? Even still, with season five most likely being all an illusion, we still can’t say for sure how or if he does ever face his fears and himself.

How does it manifest through the seasons:

Let’s go through the seasons, shall we? I’ll have a post up soon about how eighties politics, especially the response to the HIV/AIDS crisis, works in tandem with Stranger Things chronology. But, for now, let’s focus on how Mike’s fear of embracing his true self manifests through the show.

As mentioned above, I think a part of Mike realized the extent of his feelings for Will, or just that he has different feelings for Will in the very first episode and that’s what sets off the events of the show. Of course, Mike doesn’t understand the full extent of his feelings, he just suspects he feels something different for Will. Nonetheless, he is scared of this realization – “scared of who I really was.” He doesn’t understand and is scared enough by what it could mean, he shuts it down, literally turning off the flickering lights – the electricity – in the garage.

So, Mike doesn’t understand what it is, where it came from, but he knows that it’s scary to him. And just like that a Demogorgon, a faceless, alter-dimensional being, appears and takes Will away. A Demogorgon – we don’t know anything about it, we don’t understand it, where it came from, it is a very abstract monster indeed. The monster is abstract and unknown at this point, just as Mike doesn’t fully comprehend what he is so afraid of. There is, in fact, a lot of dialogue from Mike of him saying “I don’t understand” throughout all five seasons.

And funnily enough, Billy has the same dialogue and repetition that Mike loves so much, “I don’t understand. I don’t understand!” as Billy gets flayed in season three. Billy is also a repressed queer man, let’s not forget that.

When Will is missing, internally Mike is torn up and torn apart by it. I’m sure Mike is pleading with anything, anybody, any god, to bring Will back. He insists he will go out on the night of November 7, and find Will. Mike makes a wish to get Will back. And when Mike is in the woods, wishing Will to appear, Eleven enters his narrative. It’s a common idiom to say you “make a wish on elevens” (meaning making wishes at 11:11 a.m./p.m.), and wouldn’t you know it, Mike makes a wish for something and Eleven manifests in his world. “In her face, the mirror of your dreams!” Eleven represents a lot of beautiful things and, in a way, she is exactly what Mike needs to help him get his Will back. Not sure what I mean by that? Check out these posts: here and here. But, in short, El is a manifestation of queerness, and by extension Byler itself. “I was thinking once Will’s back and you’re not a secret anymore [...] my family will accept you." (1x08).

During season two, we explore the true and pure devotion Mike has for Will, staying by his side as he is hurting, broken down, tortured and possessed all season. It is not a question that Mike loves Will, but to what extent? Does Mike even know yet?

The main monster this season – The Mind Flayer – is arguably even more abstract than the Demogorgon, and it’s not even visible to Mike, still only Will can see it. Will, who has arguably come to the realization of his true self earlier than Michael. Will knows the monsters better and because of this, is rightfully even more scared of them than Mike, who still doesn’t fully understand them.

El (queerness) is hidden away all season, but Mike still senses her and never gave up on her. And when El returns at the end of season two, Mike has a generational crash out, exclaiming “I don’t understand. I don’t understand!” :(

As El returns, Will is able to be saved from the Mind Flayer. Then, at the Snowball, when Will is dancing with a girl, Mike’s feelings for Will manifest once again. I think he is starting to understand them better now.

The monster in season three I think is much more reflective of the HIV/AIDS epidemic progression in tandem with Stranger Things events. But, in terms of being a manifestation of Mike’s fears, it finally eases up on Will and the party for the most part. Interesting. So, you’re saying that after the Snowball, when Mike is presumably starting to understand his feelings for Will, Mike then suddenly, coincidentally proceeds to be a shitty friend and push Will away in season three.

Mike is already self-sabotaging through his own actions; he doesn’t really need supernatural forces and inter-dimensional monsters to do it for him at this point. Mike is being his own worst enemy, his own version of a monster he would otherwise manifest to make sense of his fears. He is also already doing some of the monsters’ dirty work by effectively breaking down Will’s spirit and “childhood magic”. He also doesn’t really spend any time being a Dungeon Master this season, so the Mind Flayer takes action into her own hands and targets another “William”, Billy in this case. By the end, I believe Mike finally realizes and understands his feelings for Will, aka his fears, when El kisses him and he loses Will again. Earlier this season, you could say Will even foreshadows Mike’s realization: “welcome to my world”.

So, just as Mike’s feelings become realized at the end of season three, in the subsequent season, we get Vecna. Vecna enters the narrative - we get a “face”, a poster boy, to the horror of the Upside Down. Vecna was once a boy himself and he is a more personified villain to Mike’s manifestation of fears. He is a more realized monster, while the previous ones were more abstract – because we weren’t meant to understand them, their motives, where they came from, just as Mike didn’t truly understand his feelings until the end of season three.

Season Four – Eddie is Mike Part II and Vecna

Vecna puts a face to these feelings and fears of Mike’s because Mike understands them now to some extent – he loves Will. But still, he keeps repressing himself and running away. And we have another DnD campaign that foreshadows and manifests in the future events of the show, Eddie’s Hellfire night. And let’s not forget that Eddie is a reflection of Mike, so, in a way, Mike himself is still manifesting Vecna and the events of season four through his fears. Mike is aware of his feelings for Will now. He runs away from those feelings so much so that he is removed from the Hawkins storyline altogether and essentially a mirror of himself, Eddie, takes his place in the party.

Eddie is Mike part one here. Eddie’s conclusion in s4 is one opposite of Mike’s. They have a very similar build up but entirely different endings. Just as Eddie has to go into hiding after 4x01, Mike removes himself from the Hawkins storyline by flying to California, hiding from Hawkins in a way as well as hiding from himself. As Mike starts gaining courage by making amends and rebuilding a foundation with Will, Eddie comes out of hiding to help the party in Hawkins. In Mike’s perspective, he probably thinks he is acting recklessly getting so close to Will knowing the risks, like Eddie coming out of his hiding and subsequently getting killed because of it.

For myself and a lot of people, Eddie is easy to love for many reasons, but especially because he is so familiar to us. He is supposed to be akin to an early seasons’ Mike. Eddie is very reminiscent of s1 and s2 Mike, as in a truer and less fearful version of him. Eddie's very own story progression in s4 is just like Mike’s from s1. Eddie (Mike) is targeted and threatened by bullies all season while he is compelled to solve the mysteries and supernatural causes of Chrissy’s death (Will’s disappearance). Eddie (Mike) is wrecked with Survivor’s guilt and even willing to sacrifice himself to “save his friends”, specifically Dustin.

Just as Eddie completes his anti-conformity and bravery arc – he faces his fears and doesn’t “run away this time”, Mike retreats back to safety with El thinking he can never love and be loved by Will.

Mike loves Will, but he can’t completely read Will, in the same way Will can’t completely read Mike, at least they don’t want to risk anything by reading something the wrong way. They both send mixed signals and retreat back to safety and lie to protect their feelings. It’s honestly just the miscommunication trope again and again for these two; more about Mike’s perspective here. At this point, I feel like even El herself is begging Mike to let her go, because it’s not helping either of them anymore and he “has all the answers, he just has to stop being so goddamn scared”.

What’s interesting is Vecna. Henry, or 001 I guess, seems very anti-conformity himself in his monologue to El in 4x07. “I know what it’s like…to be different” (Mike says something just like this to El in 4x03, which is weird). Vecna says he “found comfort in the spiders” but if the Mind Flayer is the spider-like creature we know it as and my interpretation of the Mind Flayer is true, then isn’t Vecna saying he finds comfort in hate, fear, homophobia, and conformity? Contradicting himself a little bit here. But if my theory on Vecna is correct, then his next line checks out, “like me, they are solitary creatures. Deeply misunderstood.” Deeply misunderstood, I do believe Henry is such. The rest of the monologue:

“Humans are a unique type of pest, multiplying and poisoning our world. All while enforcing a structure of their own, a deeply unnatural structure. Where others saw order, I saw a straight jacket. A cruel, oppressive world dictated by made up rules. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades. Each life a faded lesser copy of the one before. Wake up, eat, work, sleep, reproduce, and die. Everyone is just waiting, waiting for it all to be over. All while performing in a silly terrible play day after day. I could not do that, I could not close off my mind and join in the madness, I could not pretend (I can’t walk the stage). Then I realized, I didn’t have to.”

001 is obviously depicted as very evil and ominous in this scene, but this sounds very Escape from Camazotz coded. And if Henry – 001 – Vecna is meant to be a mirror for Will, could this be foreshadowing Will being the light and Will escaping?

My point is Vecna is an interesting villain, because as I interpret the Mind Flayer as the epitome of fear, hate, homophobia and conformity, Vecna seems to be the antithesis of conformity, yet he is still the Mind Flayer’s five-star general. I stand by the idea that Vecna is self-hatred and internalized homophobia’s final boss, but his victims are different. So maybe it’s around this time when they realize it’s better to go for someone like Mike…hear me out.

The victims being different in season four, just as season three starts infecting a lot of the town of Hawkins, could also be reflective of how the HIV/AIDS epidemic progressed, but again more on that in my next post. Let’s keep focusing on how Mike’s fears and self repression keep manifesting in Hawkins despite Mike being 3000 miles from the scene of the crime. I’d say Mike is quite similar to the four other victims of Vecna.

In s4, Mike is especially hiding from himself. He really tries to pretend to be normal and not at all someone who has feelings for Will. Just as Mike hides from himself this season, we hear Vecna tell Max, “They can’t save you, that is why you hide from them”. Yet, Max is able to be saved. So, that’s encouraging, at least. Max is also hiding from her friends and hiding from herself, trying to be normal, pretending to be fine, like Mike, she is playing her part “in a silly, terrible play”. In fact, it’s explored that all of Vecna’s victims aren’t just traumatized, they are all actively trying to conform despite not feeling “normal”. The victims he targets specifically are teenagers that are hiding from their problems, trying to ignore / forget their trauma, running away from their fears, downplaying their feelings and their pain, pretending to be fine, hiding from themselves, denying their truths. Mike sounds an awful lot like Vecna’s victims, the more you think about.

So, why is Mike the bad guy?

He doesn’t mean to be, truly, he can’t help that he is self-repression and self-preservation personified. By season five, I believe Mike is absolutely at war with himself and his own worst enemy.

@upsidedownlurker made a post recently in their #rightsideupgate series, about how they interpret the Dustin and Steve fight in the Upside Down Rainbow Room to be a fight between Dustin and Mike. This makes a lot of sense to me, especially after analyzing Eddie as Mike. So, remember that Eddie and Mike are absolutely mirrors of each other and they have entirely opposite endings to their otherwise identical arcs by the end of s4. Just as Mike conforms once again and retreats back to safety, Eddie is killed while doing the opposite. And remember Mike has his own progression of courage as he was getting closer to Will. This progression of Mike’s bravery played in tandem with Eddie coming out of hiding. I said earlier that, in Mike’s perspective, he probably thinks he is acting recklessly getting so close to Will knowing the risks.

So, if Steve is really Mike in this scene, Mike is more or less saying that because Eddie was acting out, because Eddie was so anti-conformity and acting so recklessly in his final moments, he was basically asking to be killed. Eddie was flying too close to the sun (Eddie’s novel is Flight of Icarus) and therefore his stupidity to act out in such a way got him killed. Mike might think if he continued to act so recklessly by getting closer to Will as s4 progressed, he might as well have had the same fate as Eddie. But, the opposite of what Mike is so adamant killed Eddie is actually what’s killing Mike right now. Btw, Eddie dies by the Camazotz bats, as Mike is dying by the Camazotz prison by s5.

By season five, Mike has trapped himself in his own Camazotz. He is Mr. Mike Whatsit Wheeler and he is continuing to manifest the events of the show through his fears and self-repression. And the twelve kids are actually the members of the party following his narrative, his campaign. Mr. Whatsit portrays himself as a friend to get everyone’s trust, Mike is the heart of the party. In 5x03, they emphasize how they have to get someone that the Turnbows trust to infiltrate the family and begin their attack. One more for you: Eddie, who is Mike, was a drug dealer, you could say he helped to numb and ease people’s pain. In 5x03, Mike knows an awful lot about benzos and putting people to sleep. He lulled everybody into his conformity world and is controlling everyone’s narratives. He is the Storyteller; he is the Dungeon Master of Camazotz. He thinks he is protecting them just as he tries to protect himself from the truth because the truth is still too scary for him to face.

I promised I would wrap this up with Tharizdungate:

Tharizdun is a god that was locked and hidden away ages ago, a god only DMs – Mike would know about. In my humble opinion, Tharizdun is not the BBEG that we think it is. But he is the BBEG that Mike keeps chained up, locked away, because Mike thinks if it’s released, it will destroy his entire life and the world around him.

Mike has never been to or seen the Upside Down, but if he manifests it (and the monsters that come from it) with Tharizdun, the scariest monster of all to him, in mind – Will describes it as “dark, it’s so dark and empty and it’s cold!”. I really believe Will created the exotic matter and stabilized the Upside Down when he is taken there. Will has his own powers of light, creation and connection. I theorize about his powers here. But Mike manifesting it in a way and El opening the gate to it just as Mike first realizes (to some extent) his feelings for Will on that there night of November 6, 1983, I just think that's insane!

Tharizdun was locked away ages ago, people believe he is evil and will destroy the world; everyone and everything in it. But El is his avatar! And remember El is representative of queer love. In my previous analyses, I interpret El’s character as such, she is meant to represent queer love and acceptance and by extension the very concept of Mike + Will. All the way back in 1x01, Mike “makes a wish on elevens” to find Will and Eleven appears; Mike’s love is what helps save Will. El has saved both Mike and Will a number of times and Mike and Will have saved each other. If El is Tharizdun’s avatar and she is the manifestation of queer love, queer acceptance and Byler itself, shouldn’t Tharizdun be representative of something similar? Something scary enough to think it will “ruin the party, ruin everything”, but something that actually needs to be freed to save everyone.

Mike’s feelings scare him so much, he thinks unlocking them, freeing them would destroy his life and everything in it. But again, El, the avatar, is the manifestation of the love between Mike + Will and has saved them again and again. She is the avatar of a god that was locked away and El herself is locked away for nearly half the show and is made to believe she is the monster. And Mike thinks this Tharizdun is the scariest “monster” of them all. Tharizdun is Mike’s queerness and his feelings for Will. Tharizdun is the truth and I think it’s about time to release Tharizdun and free El. In fact, I think this is the only way to win this war. Maybe it will “end the world as we know it”, to make room for a new one - a better, more loving, compassionate, accepting and less fearful one.

Thank you for reading!

Aka: Tales From ’85 Is Not Canon and Who the Hell is Nikki Baxter?

Tales Is Not Canon:

I’ll try to keep this part brief but it is definitely relevant to my interpretation of / theory about Nikki Baxter. And I’ll admit, this seems like a head canon for now but I got some interesting nuggets for ya to back it up, so hear me out.

In the teaser for Tales, some of our protagonists act a little too out of character for my liking. Most specifically, Hopper. He would literally never in a million years let El out of the cabin to go on monster hunting adventures with the gang, especially in between s2-s3. Remember even Mike is outraged that Max took El out of isolation in s3. And as begrudgingly as Hopper is to let El go, it is still way OOC, to the point where I’m led to believe this story is not canon. And not to mention, there are new monsters that are never shown to us or referenced previously, and a whole ass new character, Nikki Baxter, who is never shown or mentioned, and better yet, seems so out of place in the narrative. But I have a theory (?) on her too!

In my mind, Tales is a story written in the future. It takes place prior to the events of s3, but it is written after the events of the show. Specifically, my head canon right now is future couple Mike and Will produce the animated series. Mike is the writer and Will is the illustrator. So cute. It is their way of honouring their friends, their childhood that was otherwise tainted, and possibly as a way of healing from their childhood traumas. Assuming that members of the party will die in hypothetical new/real episodes, it would also be Mike and Will’s way of honouring them in the ways that they know best. Remember when Bob dies in season two, it’s Mike that honours him with his words, and Will that honours him with his art. I don’t think it’s going to be entirely the M11 propaganda people think it will be lol.

So, the events of the cartoon are not canon, but, in my mind, canonically, Mike and Will make the show together?

And remember, if it is a story produced by future Mike and Will, it would have to be another “story they can’t tell, at least not the real story”. Meaning, the story would somewhat have to be told under a guise that would “appeal to the masses” for a “Saturday morning cartoon”, so maybe no young gay romance and certainly not a character explicitly honouring Eddie Munson, who would still likely be misremembered as a cult leader that was responsible for the ’86 killings in Hawkins. Yes, that’s my theory on Nikki Baxter, and then some (more to come!).

I really wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery that is Tales From ’85 and Nikki Baxter. Upon reading this post, it got me thinking. Yes, I believe Nikki could very well be a self-insert for a non-conformist Michael, everything he wishes he could be in terms of not gaf and living fearlessly. But then that got me thinking, Nikki could also be a character semi-honouring Eddie Munson. And then that’s when it clicked: we already got a character that is representative of a non-conformist Mike, and it was most certainly Eddie. The parallels are actually crazy once you go looking for them, so let’s get into it!

Wait, sorry, before I begin: has anyone pointed out that almost every new character introduced to us as a nickname suffixed with “ie” or “y” are some of our most compelling parallel characters to our main party members. Okay, look at this:

El: Tammy (if you subscribe to the take that is Tammy = superficial love / first crush, or better yet the interpretation El / Tammy = queer awakening), Chrissy in a way (you’ll see);

Will: Billy (such an important parallel character), Henry (although not technically a “nickname”), Chrissy, too, in this case;

If Will has arguably two of the most important mirror characters, Billy and Henry, introduced in s2 and s4, it’s only fitting for Mike, our other MC with El & Will, to have some parallel characters of his own introduced. And, boy, do they ever introduce those characters in season four, we all know the parallels with Vickie. But the piece de resistance that is Eddie Munson. (and perhaps Bob eventually, but I digress).

Eddie is Mike:

Let’s think back to some of Eddie’s first scenes. He is first introduced to us as the animated, DnD-loving, Dungeon Master and de facto leader of Hellfire; just as Mike is introduced to us as the animated, DnD-loving, Dungeon Master and de facto leader of the party we know and love all the way back to 1x01. (He spends the rest of the season targeted and threatened by bullies. Nonetheless, he is compelled to investigate the mysterious and supernatural forces surrounding what happened to Chrissy.)

It’s not until we see Eddie outside of his group, on a one-on-one with Chrissy, that we see a much softer side of him. And what are his first words to her: “you okay?” he says gently to take her out of her trance. Hmm. That sounds very familiar. I think it’s safe to look at Chrissy as a Will parallel and an El parallel character if we see that Eddie = Mike. Chrissy being somewhat of a parallel to Will and El both is really important (we’ll get there), I promise. And speaking of promises.

When Chrissy gets spooked again during their drug deal, Eddie says, “There’s nothing to worry about, okay? Nobody ever comes out here. I promise.”

That sounds a little similar to Mike reassuring El in 1x02. He tries to tell her everything will be okay, and nobody will find her if she hides in his closet (lol), he says “I promise”.

Chrissy asks Eddie, “do you ever feel like you’re…losing your mind?” Eddie: “Uh, you know. Just on a daily basis.” This is akin to the “crazy together” dialogue, no?

Chrissy: she remembers Eddie! “Corroded Coffin, yes! With a name like that, how could I forget?!” Eddie: “Yeah, I don’t know. I guess you’re a freak.” Interesting dialogue. I can’t help but think of Will reclaiming the term “freak” for himself early on in s2.

One more for you:

1x02 – Mike: “Oh, so you can speak.” Followed by, “Hey, I never asked your name. (sees tattoo) Eleven?

4x01 – Erica: “I’m eleven, you long-haired freak.” Eddie: “So, the child speaks. So, what’s your name, child?”

Bonus actually:

Eddie trying to get the boat motor to work: “Come on, you piece of shit. Come on, you piece of shit!” Sound familiar?

In fact, the other members of Eddie's Hellfire Club are oddly reminiscent of Will, Lucas, and Dustin.

Will could be Gareth - quieter than the others. When he wants to surrender during the Cult of Vecna, Erica tells him not to be a “pussy” (Lucas in 1x01, “don’t be a pussy. Fireball!”). Gareth is seemingly especially protective of Eddie, his whereabouts and defending his honour in a way when the jocks come looking for him. Eddie says, “you would be wise to listen to Gareth the Great.” Even in Flight of Icarus, it seems like Eddie has a soft spot for Gareth, standing up to bullies targeting Gareth and vice versa.

Lucas could be Jeff – from what we see of Jeff, he values loyalty and he seems very matter of fact like Lucas. During the Cult of Vecna, he says, “Vecna just decimated us!” in such a way, you cannot tell me Lucas wouldn’t say this in the same way if it was him playing the campaign. It’s Jeff that is especially taken aback / hurt that Lucas has joined with the jocks on their hunt for Eddie. When Lucas pretends not to know them and calls Hellfire a cult, it’s Jeff that calls Lucas out specifically: “What the hell, Lucas?!”

Dustin could be Freak 1 (that’s his name) – Freak 1 is especially outspoken and unfiltered, the “comic” relief of Eddie’s party, very expressive. He has a Motley Crue pin on his jacket, not specific to Dustin, but relevant to my theory about Nikki.

If that’s not enough to convince you, remember that Eddie was killed by demon bats aka Camazotz. Yes, Camazotz. In Maya myth, Camazotz are demon / “death bat” creatures that serve the lords of the Underworld. And Mike is slowly dying by his own Camazotz. Crazy. Remember the only thing Eddie knows in morse code is S.O.S. Mike needs to send his own S.O.S. to escape his fate before it’s too late.

Back to Chrissy kind of representing Will and El to Eddie’s Mike. Eddie is gutted by what happened to Chrissy, he blames himself and has an almost desperation to avenge her sevenfold. I feel like it’s not a stretch to say that Eddie is dealing with his own Survivor’s guilt about Chrissy. Remember that a lot can be analyzed about Mike’s own Survivor’s guilt, once when Will got taken and again when El sacrifices herself to the Demogorgon. Mike surely feels this again and again and again in the series, as bad things always happen to those around him. This is similar to Eddie in season four, he’s always at the scene of the crime, but never really affected directly. So, yes, I think Chrissy being a bit representative of both Will and El is important here. Eddie feels a certain duty to honour her, just as Mike does for both Will and El.

Eddie undeniably feels guilty over Chrissy’s death: “I didn’t know what to do. So, I ran away. I left her there.”

Mike feels guilty about El “disappearing” to Project Nina: “Maybe things would be different. But I didn’t know what to say.”

Just as Eddie has to go into hiding after 4x01, Mike flies out to California, effectively removing himself from the Hawkins narrative, hiding himself in a way. And for most of s4, Eddie remains in hiding, just as Mike is also hidden away from everything in Hawkins for most of the season. Eddie literally becomes “Eddie the Banished” like Mike is “banished” from the Hawkins storyline. California Dreamin’, amirite?

Have you ever stopped to think how empty the Hawkins storyline might feel without the character of Eddie. I mean sure, Lucas and Max and Dustin, they’re great. But it’s Hawkins, it’s not the same without Mike? (& Willel).A version of Mike very akin to the season one version of himself that we know and love, a little less fearful, a little more true to himself. Eddie is easy to love for a number of reasons, but maybe most of all, it’s because he’s familiar to us, because he is supposed to be akin to this version of Mike. Eddie being this version of Mike could explain why Mike is so enamored by him in 4x01. It would add layers to why Dustin grows so close to Eddie so quickly, because Eddie is not only already familiar to us, but to our characters as well.

Eddie cutting the sheet, cutting off Dustin, preparing to sacrifice himself, and Dustin begging him not to, to me, is reminiscent of Dustin begging Mike to not jump off the quarry cliff in 1x06. Which leads me to…

Eddie’s whole arc in season four is “not running away” from what he fears. Eddie says, “outside of DnD, I am no hero. I see danger and I just turn heel and run.” If you subscribe to bobgate, it’s very compelling that they, Eddie and Bob, share the same seasonal arcs. They are both tired of being “guys in the chair”, in other words “playing it safe”, things just happen around them, but don’t necessarily affect them. They both want to be remembered in the end as being brave and they both end up paying the ultimate price. “Hear me now, Eddie (Mike) the Banished (the Brave) is done retreating”, right? It’s very compelling that this is the arc we know is also meant for Mike, but we have yet to see it. I truly believe this is foreshadowing that Mike will have a fake-out death, but more on that later.

Do I think Eddie was really Mike the entire time in s4? Not necessarily, but I think it’s maybe meant to be foreshadowing? Remember, Will tells Mike, “Welcome to my world” towards the end of s3. Dustin, Lucas and Erica are trying to solve the mystery of Vecna and they say, “God, we need Will”, to make sense of it all. Dustin says that his compass, leading to a gate to the Upside Down, is the key to saving both Max and Eddie (Mike?), and remember Mike is absolutely foreshadowed to be Vecna tranced in s5. “Let’s exchange the experience.”

If you take a look at Dustin’s face when he sees Mike leading the party that’s been missing from the Hawkins storyline in 4x09: Mike steps out of the pizza van with Will, El, Jonathan and Argyle following suit. Dustin’s face says it all. That’s the face of someone who knows that when Mike is the heart of the party, they can save the motherfucking world. That is the face of a best friend going, “you son of a bitch!” (endearingly).

Flight of Icarus (Eddie’s Novel)

Of course, I had to cover all my bases here, so I went ahead and read the synopsis of Flight of Icarus, the novel that is based on Eddie’s backstory going into s4. There is certainly some interesting stuff here!

So, Eddie meets this woman named Paige, who is from Hawkins, but has since moved to California. Paige works for a record producer in LA, and she has a killer taste in music (this is reminding me of Robin). So, let’s say Paige is Robin and remember Robin is a host of WSQK. And, host, in and of itself, is interesting because we know that the Mind Flayer’s vessels are referred to as hosts and the hosts of the MF, I have theorized are all gay/queer and that’s why they are targeted. But anyway, Robin is a host of WSQK, and Mindy Flare, the Mind Flayer seems to run the show. So, Paige is Robin and the record producer she works for is the Mind Flayer is my take away.

Paige sees one of Corroded Coffin’s shows, and she says her record producer actually really likes Eddie (Mike), but clarifies her boss wants only him, not the rest of his band. Despite the opportunity, Eddie declines, saying he doesn’t want to be “a star” if it’s without his band.

Later in the book, Eddie gets mixed up in some crimes his father has coerced him into and gets arrested. He is visited by Hopper. Hopper remembers Eddie’s father, Al, from high school. Hopper tells Eddie that disappearing to California would make him like his father (don’t know what to make of this). After this exchange, I think Eddie returns to his uncle’s trailer where one of his friends demands to know why he missed Hellfire. His friends apparently thought and were worried he “vanished like Will Byers”, interesting (The Vanishing of Mike Wheeler?).

At the end, Eddie goes to Main Street Vinyl, where Jonathan and Will enter shortly after. Kids from Hawkins High start teasing Will and calling him “Zombie Boy” and Eddie (Mike?) steps in and stops the bullies before they hurt Will any further. So cutie :’)

And let’s talk about the title of the novel itself: Flight of Icarus. This is in reference to a song by Iron Maiden. This is from their Piece of Mind album. The cassette tape that Eddie holds up when he says his iconic “this is music!” line is of that album. This is also the album that has the track The Trooper on it - the track that plays during Dustin’s valedictorian speech. The Trooper is an anti-war track that empathizes with soldiers who are forced to follow orders without question. Okay, this is where things get kind of crazy tying back in with Eddie being Mike and vice versa.

So, Iron Maiden’s mascot is a zombie-like creature named Eddie. Eddie the mascot is featured on all their album covers I believe. For this album specifically, Piece of Mind, Eddie is depicted as a mental patient who has been lobotomized. So this album that is referenced time and time again in Stranger Things lore, depicts its mascot named Eddie, Eddie who is supposed to be Mike, as a mental patient who has been lobotomized. Oh, Mike, what have they done to you?

Also, on this album, Iron Maiden took the piss out of the Satanic Panic movement by putting a nonsensical backwards message in one of the tracks. But more importantly, one of the album cover notes reads an altered version of a bible verse that goes:

“And god shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more Death. Neither sorrow, nor crying. Neither shall there be any more brain (originally pain), for the former things have passed away.” Okay, so this sounds a lot like the epilogue. No more death, no more sorrow, no more pain, but no more brain. I am being so chill about this (:

One more thing: this is Eddie explaining his shield in 4x08, “light, but durable. Deadly, but reliable.” I reckon the finale/season five we got was “light, but durable”: nothing heavy, nothing to make waves, basic, average, but stable. Solid (I guess?), but unreliable. I can only hope we get the “deadly, but reliable” version some time soon.

Last Thoughts on Nikki

This might be the biggest hear me out of all my theories, but hear me out. I think Nikki might be in reference to Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx. Motley Crue has been referenced and featured a number of times in Stranger Things. Shout At the Devil plays at the Halloween party in season two; Home Sweet Home plays in s3 trailer and was in rotation on the WSQK broadcasts; one of their albums was seen in Billy’s bedroom in s2. Freak 1 had a Motley Crue pin on his jacket.

When Robin is looking for music to play to take Nancy out of her trance, she goes: “Madonna? Blondie, Bowie, Beatles.” And I was half expecting Eddie to say something in return like: “Metallica, Megadeath, Motley Crue.” Because as far as “M” alliterations go, those would be three of the biggest trail blazers of heavy metal in the eighties, and we know Eddie helps save the world with the power of metal.

But anyway, why Nikki Sixx? If Nikki Baxter is truly meant to be akin to a self-insert of a non-conformist Mike and my sneaking suspicion is true that Mike will have a fake-out death, then Nikki Sixx is to Mike, what Iron Maiden’s Eddie is also to Mike lol. As in, Nikki Sixx famously died and came back to life in 1987. Yes, you read that right. It was a whole thing. In 1987, Nikki Sixx died from a drug overdose, he was declared clinically deceased for over two minutes (also sounds like Max). After being declared dead for over two minutes, he was miraculously revived by two shots of adrenaline that started his heart again. So, I’m curious to see, what will be the adrenaline that kickstarts Mike’s heart again?

And since the promotional team loves to compare us to Mike, like we are dying in Camazotz under Vecna’s curse with him, as much as they love telling us that we are the heart, I can’t help but think Nikki is also supposed to be our self-insert in the party? She represents the outcasts that the show is supposedly for as we (the heart = Mike = Nikki) have loved joining this party on all their crazy adventures. Aka is Tales From ’85 going to be the interactive media where we “play” as Nikki? What’s one more "one last strange adventure"?

Yes, it is absolutely that deep.

part one here. part two here.

There is absolutely more to this story and it absolutely revolves around queer love and, by extension, Byler of course.

Upon really diving into the allegories and character personifications, especially El, Henry, and the Mind Flayer, I essentially came to this conclusion of what this story is truly about. The TLDR:

Part one and, I think even more importantly, part two of these analyses.

We've known since its inception, this show is an "homage" to the eighties. But I think it's actually meant to be more of a fictionalized expose and critique of the decade.

As any important media that has stood the test of time, this is a commentary, this is a statement, it makes an impact, it leaves a legacy, because it makes people think, or better yet, rethink everything; changes the way we think, changes the way we see everything.

Remember just yesterday, Randy Havens posted this:

So, you're probably asking, okay so what has made your faith so incredibly, indisputably unshakeable?

To cover all my bases and for my own peace of mind, I wanted to see what research I could do on the Duffers. See if there is anything that could support this idea of mine of what the show is really about.

And lo and behold, right there, on their already humbly condensed wikipedia page, the evidence I was looking for to support my TLDR sitting there all along.

The Duffer Brothers' father, Allen Pace Duffer Jr., made his living as a Project Director for Research Triangle Institute (RTI). RTI is a nonprofit organization whose efforts in the eighties went towards HIV/AIDS funding, research and possible treatment.

This has to be something, right? Like actually something undeniably linked to the story being unfinished.

And more proof that the fake ending, more than anything else, must be a commentary on queer stories/queer history being erased, ignored, sidelined, right? I mean, the commentary on critiquing media is also very important here too. Because media should always have a message, but people will watch a show for ten years and not even once consider or pay attention to its story. And yes, I mean story, because I suppose you could like the plot without even considering the story, and that is an important distinction.

Does this go along with the bobgate @cara-ti-amo and lovewinsgate of it all?

I think I visited my hometown for the first time in over a year at literally the perfect time. Always a good time to see my family, of course. But I found this in my bedroom from years ago. It’s a calendar for 2021 from between s3 and s4. Official merch TM Netflix, Inc. 2020.

First of all, the rainbow plastered across the front cover. “There upon the rainbow, is the answer to a never ending story.”

Secondly, correct me if I’m wrong but we really don’t see much of the Hawkins AV club since season one. I know, very briefly in season two, the core four are in the AV club room when they’re debating what to do about Dart.

Interestingly enough, the only other reference to the AV club is when Mike credits Bob as the founder and they have a moment to honour him. And it’s interesting that Mike is the one to do this when, with bobgate on the table, he is meant to entirely parallel Bob Newby of Creelby with his part in Byler.

But this is a season three based calendar, a season of which has no mention or reference to the AV club. So, the imagery surrounding Mike’s page of the calendar is an interesting choice. Literally, he’s surrounded by exclusively AV club imagery. I don’t know, it’s just interesting to consider.

Also he is the month of March, Will’s birthday month (I had to say it). And the page for Mike is entirely red; the colour that hints at Vecna’s influence. (No other page is just monochromatic like this btw, so it's definitely a choice! It really stands out vs. the other months…almost like it’s trying to tell us something.) Vecna is most certainly hinted at since seasons two and three btw!

The first page of January has a rainbow sprawled across its calendar and the last page of December has a brighter, inverted rainbow. The first one missing green (ouch) and the second one missing purple (hmm). lol the shit these Duffer Brothers have me doing…

Other than those findings, there’s not much else to report. I went through every month’s dates to see if there’s any in-universe hints at dates, anything to hint at birthdaygate perhaps, but there’s nothing there. It’s just actual holidays and moon phases.

But if it interests you:

January - Dustin, Camp Know Where hat, with, oddly, Dart next to him. Cerebro in the background with a helicopter above shining a spotlight on Cerebro.

February - Alexei with his cherry slushie and a huge cherry icon above his head.

March - discussed above. Mike with exclusively AV club imagery and an entirely red page.

April - Erica with Scoops Ahoy imagery.

May - El and Max posing at the mall, with funnily enough, blue and yellow (looks like paint) smeared and splattered below them.

June - dk why, but it’s just Dart.

July - Scoops Ahoy Steve and Robin.

August - just Hopper in his Enzo’s date shirt.

September - the Mind Flayer / Meat Flayer monster and “Starcourt Mall”.

October - Billy, his car, and kind of like a Californian sunset behind him. I’m just going to shamelessly plug my analysis on Billy, why he is so important, how much I overlooked his character.

November - El gets this one, she just has her hand up as if using her powers in queen El fashion.

December - the party sans El, the same one from the front cover. This is the one with the rainbow missing purple (El’s colour). But I think we need the full rainbow iykwim.

I can attach/send more photos of the calendar if y’all want to dive deeper, just let me know! But I think there isn’t much else besides the big findings at the beginning, especially (maybe) the big hint at bobgate.

Oh also, please forgive me if it’s been mentioned in the bobgate posts, I have to revisit and finish them:

Bob’s whole arc in season two is his longing to become a more purposeful, courageous version of himself; he goes from nerdy, guy-in-the-chair to brave superhero! And what have we been begging of Mike as if the world depends on it (because it does), to be Mike the Brave, right?

This got me thinking of The Last Shadow and the bobgate of it all. Would Patty not be somewhat of an El (what her character represents) in Creelby. Patty is the “girl from nowhere”, the “obvious, in-text” love interest of one of bobgate’s Creelby, and a sister to the other. When she “goes away” the story ends in tragedy with the Mind Flayer winning? That sounds familiar.

Btw, damn, the way this fandom has reached such a collective flowstate, I love y’all. That’s all for now. And don’t take the calendar too seriously. Although, the Mike page is suspicious, and the rainbows have their own implications of what we already know the story is all about, I just had fun with this. I don’t really think there’s other hints beyond those findings, and even those could be unsubstantial, but I felt like sharing!

Bonus:

Part one here. Part three here.

TLDR: Stranger Things is a fictionalized exposé/critique on how fear, hate, and homophobia (The Mind Flayer) took over in the 80s and were responsible for so much pain. It is a fictionalized, sci-fi - fantasy - horror retelling of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 80s. Yes, I believe it is that deep. And, hopefully, it will be somewhat of a retcon in which queer love and compassion actually save the world in this case.

In my last post, I talked about how El is the catalyst of Mike + Will’s endgame. “El represents, in a lot of ways, the magic of childhood.” Is how the Duffers described El and why they needed to “let her go”. Which is just an insane message to send to your audience if that’s the explanation for the “real” ending of the story (if that’s truly meant to be the real ending). Yes, that’s a really strange message when you’ve shown us time and time again how characters’ purest childhood memories are what save them.

Robin’s 8mm film, Billy’s wave being seven feet, the first time Will and Mike meet on the first day of kindergarten are the examples I dove into in part one. I believe these being the three examples we see in the show of the “magic of childhood” memories saving these particular characters is not a coincidence. I absolutely believe Billy is also queer, like Robin and Will are canonically, and Mike is implied (queer-coding) to be. Billy is deeply repressed, trust. More in part one.

Let’s not forget that El is often compared to as an alien, and more specifically E.T., by the Duffers, Finn, and I believe Millie. A quick overview of the themes of E.T. and what E.T. represents: innocent friendship, empathy and connection between two worlds; a profound, almost psychic bond between Elliot and the alien; childhood magic and how children possess a certain wonder and compassion that adults lose as they grow older; both Elliot, and the alien, navigate feelings of isolation and longing for home and belonging; the importance of accepting and caring for someone different rather than fearing them; and a child dealing with a dysfunctional family, an absent father, that the alien fills a certain void in his family/his life in general.

These themes speak for themselves and we’ll touch on them when I expand on El’s narrative meaning, but I want to just expand on the last one in its own part:

Filling voids in the young boy’s life: As we know, Will has an abusive, absent father, and Mike has an emotionally unavailable, distant father he finds it impossible to relate to. So not only does El fill that void in the family when she is close to Mike, but also later when she becomes Will’s sister. El takes Will’s place in Mike’s party when Will goes missing, but she also takes a place in Will’s family when he is separated, by 3000 miles no less, from Mike.

I concluded that I do agree with what El is meant to represent. I reckon, El is the “magic of childhood.” The Duffers (under the Mind Flayer’s influence perhaps if it’s really that meta) said because of what El represents, they had to “let her go”. I already talked about how this is a really weird message to send, but it’s exactly what the villains would want. The Mind Flayer would need El dead in order to win, so yes, they needed to “let her go”, the villains had to make sure she died. Because, you see, if El dies, and Byler by extension, the whole supernatural plot, story and characters as we know them die with them. If there is no Byler, if there is no El, the villains win.

So, let’s go even deeper: I believe beyond just the “magic of childhood”, because let’s not forget the three examples above (Robin, Billy, and Mike/Will’s purest memories), El represents: absolute self-love and self-acceptance, the fearlessness that comes with accepting and being yourself completely. And as the purest memories that save our certain character in the three examples suggest, it’s not lost on me that, more specifically, El is the personification of queer love and acceptance, and by extension the concept of Byler itself. It is all love and no fear. Yes, I believe it is that deep. Is there really anything more pure and powerful than the fearlessness and utter joy of people being unapologetically themselves, loving every part of themselves and embracing everything that is love, before they are exposed to the fear and hate in the world?

In part one, I go into why this plays a role in how she takes Will and Mike’s place in the absence of each other. For the sake of not being too repetitive, please go see part one if you’re interested in how she is a placeholder for Will and Mike’s love for each other essentially, and the timing of when she loses her powers and gains them back is all the more evidence to this interpretation of El.

To avoid being too repetitive, I’ll try to keep this brief. Billy is at the intersection of Will and Henry. And just like Will and Henry are two sides of the same coin, so are Will and Billy. With Will, it’s Joyce (and Michael and El) that make all the difference in why Will is able to be saved in the earlier seasons. And yes, all three (Will, Billy, Henry) are gay. Read: part one for Billy’s reasoning, read bobgate here for Henry’s reasoning. We have only known three hosts of the Mind Flayer: Will, Billy, and Henry; that should be an implication to set off some alarm bells, in and of itself. Moving on.

Remember when Noah and Millie were asked who’s the most misunderstood character in the show and Noah answered, “lowkey Vecna”, and it’s as if he just spoiled the biggest thing in the show? Let’s expand on that.

Let’s talk Henry, 1, Vecna. Just as Will is described as a “sensitive kid” and different by Joyce in the first episode, in the same vein, when we hear about Henry for the first time, Victor describes him as “a sensitive child”. It’s not lost on me that if bobgate is true, and Henry is gay, and therefore he is self-hatred and internalized homophobia’s final boss, the initials of all his names (Henry, 1, Vecna) spell out HIV, which is just an insane thing to overlook.

Once you see certain allegories and character personifications, like what El is supposed to represent, like what the Upside Down is reflective of (fear, hate, darkness seeping into and wanting to consume our world), what arguably this whole story should be about, in the eighties for godsake, it’s hard to overlook anything like this.

Henry, 1, Vecna. This is his chronological progression: first he is Henry; then he is deduced to number 001, then he is villainized and becomes Vecna. I sincerely doubt that the Duffers themselves overlooked this. If it happened to be a coincidence, wouldn’t they notice and see the implications this would have. Like, I’m sorry, you cannot convince me this is unintentional until the Duffers themselves tell me. It would be a really crazy coincidence.

Especially when we’ve heard time and time again from the likes of Millie and Shawn Levy that the Duffers are “perfectionist, extremely detail-oriented, everything they do is intentional”. Levy said there are “very, very few, virtually no mistakes or coincidences” the Duffers let slip through the cracks.

I’ve found it’s uncomfortable to grasp for some people, because it’s misunderstood and people are afraid of it, of what it implies, but I fear that’s the whole point. It’s a connection that is supposed to be provocative, because it represents exactly how it made so many people uncomfortable, how it was an unspeakable thing in the 80s.

And speaking of 80s, the whole setting fits into the narrative I’m trying to sell here. Most people think it’s just for the nostalgia and because the Duffers grew up in the 80s. I fear, with everything else going on here, its period and its main villain - the Mind Flayer - is a fictionalized exposé/critique on how fear, hate and homophobia (in due part to HIV which most people just misunderstood) took over the 80s and were responsible for so much pain. The Mind Flayer (fear, hate, homophobia, conformity) tainted an entire generation and group of people that should have been protected. Misunderstood – remember that - because that’s exactly how Noah would describe the character of Vecna, who is Henry, at the end of the day.

Remember the Mind Flayer (and the government) is the real big bad at play here. The Mind Flayer is the epitome of fear and hate and homophobia (and conformity) in this lil’ eighties-set show. So how did we get to the Mind Flayer? This is all where it ties back in with El. All credit to @walkablepurse50 for really opening my eyes about El’s connection and history with the lab. Remember that El is the representation of queer love/acceptance here.

When Mike is willing to jump to his death off the quarry cliff, it’s El that saves him (I’ll cry right now). She collapses from exhaustion and cries, “I’m the monster.” Mike tells her, “No, El, you’re not the monster. You saved me, you saved me.” Looking at everything through the lens of El’s queer love personification adds so much visceral, undeniably emotional depth to everything.

In season four, she spends most of the season thinking she’s a monster. Mike tries to tell her, again, no she’s not a monster, implies that he’s different too, he “knows what it’s like”, to not belong, to be bullied, and to “not let it ruin them”. Interesting.

More importantly, El believes she is a monster because she (queer love) thinks she’s what killed the children in the Rainbow room, but it was actually Henry / 1 / Vecna (HIV). But it wasn’t even him entirely either, remember he’s misunderstood; it was the hate and fear of the Shadow that took over him, and the government lab that failed to protect them. In season five, she thinks she has no choice but to end herself, because the Mind Flayer (if you believe Kali is/is possessed by the Mind Flayer) essentially says the world will be better, restored to order, without her, and for that matter, anybody that’s got Henry’s blood (are we serious right now?). Damn.

And let’s bring it full circle: what was El being used for by the government lab from the beginning. It’s revealed in season four, it was to make contact with Henry – 1 – Vecna, but I think it was to make contact with the Mind Flayer, the Shadow, too. The secret government experiment that wants to make contact with the thing/the real monster that will essentially target queer children (and eventually, anybody else deemed “different” or anybody that acts against it). The monster that will take queer children out of our world, and effectively cover up their disappearance. Are you guys getting this? This is actually insane.

So, yes, El is absolutely necessary to the story and she always has been, and she has to survive. And yes, I think the only thing to resolve this story is Byler endgame through El’s empowerment. Because we have Vecna, self-hatred and internalized homophobia’s final boss, and the Mind Flayer, representing fear, hate, homophobia, conformity. Really, I wonder, what could possibly be the thing to defeat them in the end? Queer love, El and Byler endgame.

And More on Will x Billy x Henry Parallels

part two here.

I think I reached flow state? #Bobgate is genius and real. Thank you @cara-ti-amo. Henry is absolutely queer and so is Billy. Byler is the foundation of this story and the key to its resolution (we knew this, but I have never been more certain). If Byler is sacrificed as is the whole supernatural plot, story + characters as we know them, and the villains win - aka the bad season five.

Not long ago, I analyzed the entirety of the Stranger Things scores from seasons 1-5. Upon analyzing the s3 score, I realized how much I have overlooked the parallels between Will and Billy. And by extension, El’s role as the catalyst in all of this.

El as the catalyst for Mike + Will

“El represents, in a lot of ways, the magic of childhood.” Is how the Duffers describe El and why they needed to “let her go”, or, better yet, why the villains had to make sure she died. (Which is heart-breaking in and of itself, as El had no childhood to begin with, but I think they will retcon this in the real episodes). But then, that got me thinking, that reminds me an awful lot of Robin describing this 8mm film of her as a child and how it enlightened her to accept herself, the memory that “saved” her you could say.

“I was looking at this little version of myself. And that little me, I could hardly recognize her. She was so carefree and fearless, she just loved every part of herself. And that’s when it hit me. It was always just about me. I had all the answers. I just needed to stop being so goddamn scared. Scared of who I really was. Once I did that, I felt so free. It’s like I could fly.”

And then that got me thinking, El was able to save Billy with his purest memory: Seven Feet. A memory from when he was a child, and he was happy, carefree, fearless and rode a wave that was seven feet! It made him feel invincible, like he could fly perhaps?

And one more for you, how Mike was able to save Will by, I’m assuming, his purest memory. The memory of them as children, both otherwise alone and scared, meeting for the first time, on the first day of kindergarten, on the swings. It was the best thing Mike had ever done and it was the thing that saves Will.

So, I reckon, El is the “magic of childhood” as the Duffers say, and then some: she is the representation of absolute self-love and self-acceptance, the innocence and purity of all forms of love and acceptance, and the fearlessness that comes with accepting and being yourself completely. And, as the purest memories that save our certain characters in the three examples above suggest: it is not lost on me that, more specifically, El is a personification of queer love and acceptance, and, by extension, of Byler itself. It is all love and no fear.

In season one, when Will goes missing, who conveniently is right there to “take his place” in the party while he’s away? El. Will is able to be saved in due part by Mike’s love and devotion (and we will get to Joyce because she is so important) through El, through her connection and history between the two worlds that Mike and Will are in. Mike is willing to jump off the quarry cliff to his death and it’s El (Mike + Will’s love) that saves him (I’ll cry right now).

Then in season two, Will takes his place in the party again as El is in hiding, but Mike still senses her for the whole 352 days she is “gone”, nonetheless.

A lot of stuff happens in season three. In terms of El being the personification of everything mentioned above: let’s not forget how Mike regresses and is a bad friend to Will; their Paladin-Cleric oath is broken; Will is no longer a cleric, he becomes a wizard in this season; Will destroys Castle Byers, symbolically and effectively marking the end of his innocence and childhood; and El loses her powers.

You could argue, El still helps Mike realize his feelings for Will to some extent by kissing him at the end of the season <- this is Mike’s realization moment for me, at least. Also, El loses her powers just as Mike and Will are about to be separated by 3000 miles, mind you.

Just as Will and El grow closer in season four so does Will’s feelings for Mike. So, El feels powerless, she is still affecting the characters with what she represents regardless. This time it’s Will whom she’s close to, but still communicating with Mike through letters. (It’s giving: he fell first, but I fell harder, but then he fell even harder, and then I fell the hardest).

And how funny, as soon as Mike reunites with them both and restores his relationship with Will, El has the opportunity to get her powers back. She progressively gets closer to regaining her powers as Mike and Will grow closer and their bond gets stronger through the season. Isn’t that something! Will’s veiled love confession - he credits El with the sentiments of the painting. Interesting if she represents queer love and acceptance, and Will + Mike’s love by extension.

Season five is slop but even it has its nuggets. Mike feels helpless when Will goes into his trance, when El returns from the Upside Down, he thinks she is the only one who can save him. Mike, hello? She is representative of your love for him; you can save him if you just woke up and stopped “being so goddamn scared”.

Robin’s monologue is a catalyst for Will’s empowerment arc. And Robin’s monologue is exactly what got me considering El really being the “magic of childhood” in the first place. And wouldn’t you know it: upon listening to Robin’s advice, Will’s purest memory remains and is able to save Michael: The memory of them as children, both otherwise alone and scared, meeting for the first time, on the first day of kindergarten, on the swings.

Little side note: I saw a still from Will’s childhood memories montage, the shot of Mike and Will looking at the DnD instructions. And literally it is so similar to the shot of Mike opening up the painting with the biggest smile on his face and Will’s arm naturally grazing Mike’s as he proudly points out Mike’s coat of arms and being the heart. These two have to be endgame like there is just no other way.

Will / Billy / Henry

So, when I was analyzing s3 score, I was able to pick up on a lot of Will / Billy parallels. Which got the gears turning in the first place for this analysis. I’ll admit, I overlooked season three and Billy for far too long, but I have seen the light now, so let’s get into it.

Billy is at the intersection of Will and Henry. Will and Billy are two sides of the same coin. What I mean by that is Billy and Will were both brought up by abusive fathers and bullied (by their fathers and otherwise). While Billy lets it corrupt him, becoming abusive and violent like his father. Will insists on breaking the cycles of violence and holding onto his love and light, trying his best to remain pure despite it all.

In Will’s formative years, he had the devotion and love from his friend group and loved ones when he needed the support the most. And more importantly, he had his mother, Joyce. We learn in Billy’s backstory, his purest memory, that he seemed to have a very loving mother, at least a mother he seemed to adore as the memory suggests. While Will gets to be with his own loving mother, Billy gets stuck with his abusive, homophobic father. Imagine if Will was stuck with Lonnie. There is a chance he could end up like Billy, no? Joyce and Mike (and El) make all the difference here.

It’s not lost on me that Billy’s father calls him the slur (you know the one), the same slur that Lonnie called Will. Billy also has a poster (with bi colours) of a woman in a bikini plastered on his closet door. Billy is emotional, he acts out in curious ways, he’s eccentric, erratic, he turns to vices to ease his pain: beer, cigarettes, compulsive exercise, sex, vanity, violence. I think this goes beyond numbing the pain of his father’s abuse; it bleeds from his repression of self, too. You thought Mike was deep in the closet…may I present to you: Billy Hargrove. I believe, for all intents and purposes, Billy is a repressed queer man. And I don’t think that’s a reach for all the parallels (they literally have the same name) they emphasize between him and Will, and that he has a father that is just like Lonnie.

Think about it: Will gets possessed by the Mind Flayer in season two. Billy gets possessed by the Mind Flayer in the subsequent season. We have only seen three hosts for the Mind Flayer: Will, Billy, and Henry. They must all have something in common. They must all be different, in the same way, for the Mind Flayer to target only them specifically.

And, in the end, Billy is able to be saved from the dark-side by his purest memory and by El herself no less. The character that represents queer self-acceptance, the character Billy’s been trying to evade or rabidly trying to kill all season up until this point, saves him.

Even though what we see of Billy, he is a real pos, analyzing him through this lens has brought a whole new depth. This scene is really a beautiful moment, proving that, no matter how far gone someone seems, how corrupted by hate and fear they seem, there is always a chance they can still be saved.

In terms of how close to the tipping point of total corruption goes, it looks like this: Will -> Billy -> Henry.

I can’t help but theorize that this could really be foreshadowing…a certain character…also named William…needing to be saved from the dark-side… (with a memory also involving a seven? “Seven feet” / “it was a seven”) and we’ve already seen Mike is capable of this. But Vecna/MF have been chipping away at Will for some time, so it is going to be a fight.

I feel as though, Billy felt like he had much less to live for than let’s say Will, but his turning on the Mind Flayer to save El would still certainly have to be symbolic of him choosing love over fear, right?

Will won’t die though, he will have a better fate, I’m sure of it. Because it won’t just be El saving him, it will be Mike and Mike’s love which is symbolically El lol.

Can’t help but to also theorize that possibly…another character who seems very much…fully corrupted and evil as far as we know…possibly being redeemed…and turning on its master…just like Billy… (I’ll never forget that leaked official merch t-shirt that had the description: "Vecna faces off against the Mind-Flayer in one epic design depicting the final battle". I shan’t forget what I saw!)

Henry is absolutely gay, and I haven’t looked at all the #bobgate posts, but there is compelling evidence there along the heaps of parallels of Will and Henry we already have and the fact that they’re foils of each other. Again, Will and Henry are two sides of the same coin. Will has loyal and devoted loved ones by his side, that Henry likely did not have, not enough to save him.

Side note: it’s also just funny that Sean Astin plays both Bob and Samwise of Sam and Frodo, a pair of characters that really parallel Byler and Creelby, and Sean Astin seems to be a big SamFro shipper.

It’s also not lost on me that if Henry is supposed to be self-hatred and internalized homophobia’s final boss, the initials of all his names (Henry, 1, Vecna) spell out HIV, which is just an insane thing to overlook. Obviously, that caused a mass hysteria against gay people in the 80s; if we really had gay love saving the world in the 80s, could you imagine the statement, the impact, the legacy that would have? I would never shut up about it.

It makes sense that Bob would have to be concealed by Patty in The First Shadow play, that would certainly give away far too much about the story of season five we have yet to see, the extent of Will and Henry’s parallels, the Creelby parallels. It would give away that love and acceptance, queer love and acceptance more specifically, is literally the only resolution to the vicious cycle of fear and hate that the Mind Flayer wants to seep into and spread across worlds.

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been going through each season’s original scores to see where I can draw parallels between tracks sounding alike, sampling from each other, and what scenes in particular they correspond with. I want to see if certain tracks may foreshadow plot points and narratives that will take place in the content we have yet to see. There are a lot of connections I’ve been able to gather between the seasons’ respective scores.

And while we’re on the topic of music: I would like to note that I really believe in the A-Side/B-Side theory. The theory that we have only seen the B-Side, the mostly unreliable narrative, of season five, and we are therefore still missing at least half the season. In 5x08 when they put on Prince’s Purple Rain, they play the B-side of that record. When Doves Cry is the first track on the B-side and Purple Rain is the last track on the B-side, implying the whole B-side of the record plays before the bomb goes off. The night of Finn's SNL show, for the first time in over a decade, the SNL cast played a new warm up song - Let's Go Crazy by Prince. The first song on the A-side of Purple Rain. We have yet to see the A-side, the reliable narrative, of season five but could we infer that it’s coming as hinted at by this particular SNL warm up song?

Anyway, back to the Stranger Things score analysis. I honestly had so much fun with this! And now look, I have no degree in music or experience in digital music production, but I am an audiophile and like to think I have amazing sound recognition. (I’d like to thank my dad who has a 600+ record collection and was always, always spinning records during my upbringing).

Here are my findings:

Season One: honestly nothing much to report, I mostly just used this as a reference. Foundational tracks we will revisit as we go through the later seasons.

Season Two: the undisputed goat score of the series and it’s not even close. Again, not a whole lot to touch on besides just using this season’s score as a reference. Quite a few foundational tracks here too!

The sleeper hit-rification of Season Three aka the goat season for theory crafting, hints towards Vecna and how I seriously overlooked Billy and Madwise.

Season Four – the spring break season of romance tracks & Lord Vecna has entered the chat.

Season Five – childhood friends to lovers = Confirmed aka the piece de resistance that is “We’re Friends, Good Friends”; the Lord Vecna-fication of it all, the crazy Planck’s Constant Theory, and a lot of “are you picking up what I’m putting downs”.

Tracks that just go hard

Tracks sevens and elevens of each season

Tracks hinting at birthdaygate / memory fuckery

And since we’re talking about music: WSQK official vinyl predictions – in a perfect world - if I were in the writer’s room - can you see the vision?

Season One:

Like I said, not much to report. We will revisit tracks that are sampled in later seasons such as; Kids (s1, track 2); Friendship (s1, track 6); Starts to Rain (s1, vol. 2, track 21).

You Can Talk To Me (s1, track 34) – can’t help but point out this song plays as Karen is having a heart-to-heart with Mike about his feelings with “everything that’s been going on with Will” while El is literally hiding in his closet. The implications have really been there from the jump, but I digress.

Castle Byers (s1, track 9) has got to be my favourite track oat. It was my most played song of 2017 lol. It gets a pink – aka it goes hard.

Season Two:

Again, not too much to report besides just revisiting this season for future seasons’ tracks that sample from season two; The First Lie (s2, track 7); Eulogy (s2, track 3); Eight Fifteen (s2, track 6).

And, as if I didn’t need more reasons to appreciate season two anymore than I already do, this season’s score is the undisputed goat – therefore, all of the tracks get a pink aka they just go hard. I would literally listen to this score for funsies, it’s really a vibe.

Season Three:

The sleeper hit. Okay upon revisiting this season’s score, I realized just how much lore can be explored from this season. The theory crafting goes crazy!

I fear I’ve slept on season three far too much and seriously overlooked Madwise and Billy’s character as a whole. I can’t believe I just brushed off the fact that Will and Billy literally have the same name and it took me until listening to the track William (s3, track 14) to realize the parallels, oh my god.

I believe Billy is at the intersection of Will and Henry. Max and Will are very similar in the same way that Will and Billy are two sides of the same coin. What I mean by that is Billy and Will were both brought up with abusive fathers and bullied (Billy by his father) and although Max wasn’t abused by a parent, she got mistreated and abused by Billy. While Billy lets it corrupt him, becoming abusive and violent like his father, Will and Max insist on breaking the cycles of violence and holding onto their love and light, trying to remain pure despite it all.

Which also makes it even more insulting that Max ends up like a rageaholic and breaking things in the epilogue, when she refuted time and time again that she was not like her brother, she would not become like her brother. In their formative years, Will and Max both had the devotion and love from the same friend group when they needed the support the most. Will and Max shared the same supporting group of loved ones, that Billy and Henry likely didn’t have in their upbringings.

And although, in the end, Billy was able to be brought back from the dark-side by his purest memory, I believe he was very much at the tipping point of becoming just like Henry, becoming another Vecna. And Billy was brought back with a memory and a corresponding track about the “wave being seven feet” no less – Seven Feet (s3, track 26). Although, what we see of Billy, he is a real pos, this track and this scene was really a beautiful moment, proving that, no matter how far gone they seem, how corrupted they seem, there is always a chance they can still be saved. So, in terms of how close to the tipping point of total corruption goes, it would look like this: Will/Max -> Billy -> Henry/Vecna.

 I feel like…this could really be foreshadowing…a certain character…also named William…needing to be saved from the dark-side…in a certain season five…with a memory involving a seven…(“seven feet” / “it was a seven.”)

and…possibly…another character who seems very much…fully corrupted and evil as far as we know…possibly…being redeemed…and turning on its master…just like Billy… (I’ll never forget that leaked official merch t-shirt that had the description: "Vecna faces off against the Mind-Flayer in one epic design depicting the final battle". I shant forget what I saw!)

I also can’t help but crack theorize that the meat flayer pieces were told to look for “William” and just happened to stumble upon Billy who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, and the meat flayer pieces were like, “ah yes, William, we have been looking for you”. lmao. I should also add here that I really don’t think the mind-flayer/meat-flayer from season three is the shadow monster, they are just not on the same level, not the same entity.

Okay, but interestingly enough, as if the parallels of Will and Billy weren’t obvious already, this sequence of tracks is very telling:

William (s3, track 14) -> Destroying the Castle (s3, track 15) -> He’s Here (and “He’s here” is interesting because the Mind Flayer is a feminine entity, right? Mindy Flare? Kali’s powers being more akin to the Mind Flayer? So, I believe Will is subconsciously aware – even though his memories of Vecna are supposedly gone - his trauma in season one and his connection to the hive mind comes from Vecna).

In episode 3x03 the tracks actually go as follows: Not Kids Anymore (s3, track 35) – the rain fight -> Destroying the Castle (s3, track 15) – Will destroys Castle Byers -> paralleling William (s3, track 14) – Billy gets corrupted by the meat flayer and starts building his army -> He’s Here (s3, 38) – Will sensing that the big bads are back. “I want you to build” is what the flayed say to Billy. Who else is called a builder in season five? Will.

Will breaking down and destroying Castle Byers has so much significance as it is directly paralleling Billy getting corrupted. Then “He’s here” – could this be signalling that Vecna senses that Will is beginning to crack? Much to think about. The hinting at Vecna is certainly there as one of the next tracks: Portal Drill (s3, track 19) is very Lord Vecna coded, and I don’t know a better way to explain the Lord Vecna songs besides they just sound “Vecna-y”, okay?

(Edit to add: I now believe Billy is queer, and deeply repressed. And that’s exactly why he becomes a host for the Mind Flayer in s3. It’s all in my latest analysis.)

Destroying the Castle (s3, track 15) and Mirkwood (s3, track 18) and Blueprints (s3, track 33) all go hard by the way, they all get pinks!

Tammy (s3, track 17) is an enlightening track and it sounds very El coded. Tammy sounds like it samples from Eight Fifteen (s2, track 6) – the track that plays when we find out El is still alive and living in Hop’s cabin – and First Kiss (s1, track 7). I want to stress that I don’t claim that El is Mike’s Tammy. Their relationship also goes beyond a “hallway crush”. I believe they have a lot of genuine love for each other, but Mike’s heart does not belong to her. I think if anything El should be Mike’s Steve. As in, they should have more of a Stobin dynamic, just with more history and a deeper connection.

The First I love You (s3, track 8) samples from The First Lie (s2, track 7). I’ll remind you that “love” is the only non-capitalized word, hm, what could that imply I wonder. It is the track that plays when Robin comes out of the closet to Steve and when El kisses Mike in front of Will’s closet. The implications speak for themselves. One scene of a character coming out of the closet – another scene with closet imagery – and both scenes either confirming explicitly (Robin) or implying sub-textually (Mike) unexpected revelations of feelings. The First I love You is also one of only three tracks with the word “love” in its title, and the only one with the word “love” not capitalized, the other two are in seasons four and five.

The Week is Long (s3, track 27) – Listen, I’m not one to play records backwards or slow songs down to find hidden meaning in them, I’m not doing all that. But…I feel like if any track could have a secret message in it, it could be this one? Upon listening carefully to the scores for this analysis, it just sounds like there is something more to this track, I can’t explain it.

The Silver Cat Feeds (s3, track 12) doesn’t really go with The Week is Long, they don’t really work together, but The Silver Cat Feeds does end up sounding like/sampling from Starts to Rain (s1, vol. 2, track 21). I don’t know if that implies anything, it’s just something I noticed!

Theory Crafting

Season three, although I hate to say it, probably remains my least favourite season, which is why I fear I overlooked it as much as I did, but if you’re not familiar already with the Tharizdun theory by heir.to.Icarus on TikTok, please take a look. This theory is brilliant and makes even deeper sense of our characters’ development and storylines in this season from a very cool DnD lore perspective. I love this theory so much, I can’t stress it enough. I can’t help but to think Cold As Ice (soundtrack) and It’s Just Ice (s3, track 22) support this theory even more.

Another theory that bases its crafting in season three is the Planck’s Constant theory which we will revisit in season five’s section - Planck’s Constant (s3, track 24).

Season Four:

All right first thing I notice right away is Teens (s4, track 3) obviously bases its foundation in Kids (s1, track 2) but Teens has ticking and Vecna chimes in the background – Vecna’s influencing even our original score tracks! Teens mixes with the main theme a little bit too.

In the closet (at Rink O Mania) (s4, track 6) is actually an insane, unhinged title, like they really threw subtlety out the window for that one. “We’re friends, we’re friends”, yeah okay. In the closet actually gets really quite dark, tragic, twisted and like another Lord Vecna track. It even sounds like a busy phone line beeping in the background of this track too. “You called maybe a couple of times” - “Maybe you should have reached out more, I don’t know” – “Joyce has this new telemarketing job, she’s always on the phone. Mike won’t stop whining about it.” Their miscommunication will be the death of me. Mike would only be calling for Will. Mike and El had to write letters or use Cerebro as to keep her whereabouts private.

Other Lord Vecna songs – A Realm Unspoiled by Mankind (s4, disc 2, track 12); there are some things worse than ghosts…(s5, track 42); and oddly enough: [delicate, intense music playing…] (s5, disc 2, track 29) lol. Bylers clocking that, with closed captions on, canon couples and Mike and Will scenes would often have [delicate, emotional music playing…] or [tender, delicate music playing…] so this one is just funny (rude) to me that it’s actually a dark Lord Vecna track.

We are NOT Heroes (s4, track 15), just what an odd name for a track. Maybe hinting that Heroes in the end credits (s5) does not mean our heroes won in the end, as Vecna said, “you have already lost” at the end of season four. You Have Already Lost (s4, disc 2, track 37) also happens to be the very last track of season four’s score, hm. And then to have Spellbound (soundtrack) playing in the end credits of season four. I wonder if they are trying to tell us something…

You’re the Heart (s4, track 20) plays during the Mike to El love profession. As soon as the track starts to build is exactly when El changes her focus onto Max, giving her the strength to fight. “There is so much more to life than stupid boys” – “Not Hopper, not Mike, you.” Cannot stress enough how much I love Elmax. You’re the Heart is also not particularly romantic in the least bit, it’s actually quite sad at first but becomes an empowering track by the end.

Letter to Willy (s4, track 24) is also an interesting title. It plays when, you guessed it, Max reads her letter to Billy. Also plays when Mike and Will are sitting on the junkyard car talking about opening up about feelings. I can’t help but think the track’s title is also trying to remind us to look back at Will/Billy parallels…and perhaps hint at lettergate (listen, a girl can dream, okay).

Brenner’s Little Pet (s4, track 27) – the title is crazy work. I wonder if they are trying to tell us we shouldn’t be rooting for a certain couple… “What is she your little pet?” – “Yeah, am I your pet?”

On the Bus (s2, track 4) - plays when Mike and Will are having a heart-to-heart and agreeing about being a team again, which just so happens to be the same track that plays when Lucas and Max have their first heart-to-heart scene in season two. Which leads me to:

Spring Break Season of Romance Tracks <3 (they also all get pinks because they are all very good + just a vibe to listen to)

Surf That Tasty Pie (s4, disc 2, track 6)

Hiiiiiiiii (s4, disc 2, track 2)

Still Dizzy (s4, disc 2, track 3)

Unambiguous True Love* (s4, track 9) – the second of three tracks with “love” in the title.

Being Different* (s4, disc 2, track 9)

*Trust we will be revisiting these tracks when I get into the piece de resistance that is We’re Friends, Good Friends (s5, track 6).

Season Five:

Eulogy (s2, track 3) plays when Jonathan and Nancy are about to die. Can’t help but to worry about their true fate, but I honestly think they’re safe. Now another duo, Dustin and Steve, I’m not so sure about.

You Die, I Die (s5, track 5) – it gets to a point where you repeat a certain line so many times that it becomes a manifestation. Dustin and Steve have now repeated this line to each other three times throughout the series going all the way back to season three. I hate to say it, but I sincerely fear that they are bones. Because may I present to you Stinkgate.

Stinkgate: After their successful mission of 1,2,3, Kill Vecna, as they are driving back to the MAC-Z gate, Robin makes a note that Steve stinks, she says she doesn’t know what it is, but he smells like shit from a butt apparently, so much so she has to air out the truck in the Upside Down. Then, in the final DnD scene, when our party leaves the basement and the younger kids take over, Derek says to Josh, who is in the seat Dustin was just in, “you stink, are you farting, you smell like rotten pizza.” And I can’t help but notice this has been hinted at since even season one which is insane but… at the end of the campaign, when Jonathan goes down to the basement to get Will, he makes a comment about how it stinks down there, and Lucas said that it’s Dustin, “he farted, Dustin farted!” I think they’ll die together tragically, possibly making a sacrifice, something something you need two keys to destroy the machine (callback to season three). I’m ready for some emotional damage after that mindless spectacle of 5x08.

Like I Could Fly (s5, track 4) – I know a Castle Byers sample when I hear one.

Will the Wizard (s5, track 13) – end of Sorcerer, Will’s powers – and Like a Sorcerer (s5, track 5) – field scene (track is romantic as fuck) – This and the context of 5x01 should tell us we should expect a tragic Mike vs. Dark-sided Will showdown. Will is still possessed and may even harm Mike but I don’t think Mike will go quietly, he will be brave and bring Will back from the dark-side but it will be a fight. Something’s gotta happen to Mike’s arm, right? Mike foreshadows this in 5x01 when he says, “This is Mike the Brave, he fights monsters, evil wizards, and sorcerers.”

And if that isn’t a hint enough, listen to: Real Life Honest To God Sorcerer (s5, track 27), this track is actually really dark and sinister sounding. I think we are in for a reveal that something actually really bad happens when Will taps into his “Vecna powers”.

Move Worlds (s5, track 13) – towards the end of this track it starts sounding like Planck’s Constant (s3, track 24), and the very next track in season five’s score is Zone G1 (s5, track 14) which directly samples from Planck’s Constant. I haven’t had the best success with hyperlinking TikToks, but in the event I can’t link, Whitney Wickham’s account has the best videos on it. I don’t claim to know anything about science (I really am not that girl), but I’ll try my best.

Planck's Constant Theory: Planck’s Constant is the point in quantum mechanics where everything is stable above Planck’s Constant. Once you dip below that, everything begins to decompose. The theory is that when Suzie gives Dustin Planck’s Constant over Cerebro after their Never-Ending Story duet, Vecna/MF were spying and this is the moment when they are able to break through and infiltrate their world and begin merging their two worlds, and possibly starting either a time-loop or two/multiple timelines.

The end of the track Move Worlds (s5, track 13) beginning to sound like Planck’s Constant (s3, track 24) is certainly suspicious and could support the theory that when Vecna hears Planck’s Constant, he is able to begin making plans to merge/move worlds. Move Worlds is a very strange, sinister, and unsettling track, indeed.

The Abyss (s5, track 18) goes hard.

We’re Friends, Good Friends – oh shit, here we go.

We’re Friends, Good Friends (s5, track 6 – which we have yet to hear in the show), the piece de resistance that you are…the number of times I had to listen to this track to get this analysis just right. This is the Byler track and it’s not up for debate. This is the most childhood friends to lovers track that could ever exist in this show’s universe. Let’s get into it:

The track samples from and lays most of its foundation in the track Friendship (s1, track 6) ->

Around 0:30 into the track, it begins playing flickering synths, the same, or very similar, flickering synths that are in The First Lie (s2, track 7, which is Jonathan and Nancy’s first kiss track). The flickering synths sound as close to what I imagine “electricity” could sound like in a song, electricity, as established in the show, is synonymous with romantic chemistry.

Then, as We’re Friends, Good Friends starts to build, it begins layering soft organ synths. It now has Friendship as its foundation, and flickering synths of “electricity” from The First Lie, and now soft romantic organ synths from Being Different (van scene, see 0:45 – 2:33) and Unambiguous True Love (Joyce and Hopper first kiss).

It is the friends to lovers track. And it is the Byler track because as @byelerheart said in one of their recent posts: Byler is not a ship, it is a story that has not finished. Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein really said, “all right, we need a friends to lovers track. What if we use Friendship as its foundation, and layer it with samples from two of our canon ships’ first kiss tracks, sample flickering synths that sound a whole lot like music’s equivalent of electricity aka romantic chemistry, layer that with soft organ synths from tracks called Being Different and Unambiguous True Love, symbolizing how sacred this love is and call it We’re Friends, Good Friends. Is that friends to lovers enough for you?”

I’m so intrigued by this next sequence of tracks (not that the scores are put in chronological order but the sequence is rather interesting!)

Afraid to Look For You (s5, disc 2, track 35) – this track is awesome.

A Love Supreme (s5, disc 2, track 36 - the third and final track with “love” in its title) – this track is sad and gets a little weird in parts. If we were to get a fakeout death, I think it would be to this one. I even get flickergate vibes from this, but that could just be because I can never get flickergate off my mind. (A Love Supreme is the name of the John Coltrane cassette album that conceals Jonathan’s ring.)

She Has Corrupted Your Mind (s5, disc 2, track 37) – I have no idea what this track or track title could mean but this track is also so cool.

You Are the Curse (s5, disc 2, track 44) – damn is this play about us?

And finally: I Need You to Believe in Me is the very final track of season five’s score which is certainly interesting! Maybe they are trying to tell us something…

Tracks hinting at birthdaygate / memory fuckery

A memory within a memory (s4, track 43)

Just A Memory (s5, disc 2, track 23)

Memory Go Round (s5, disc 2, track 26)

Never Forget (s5, track 46) – very emotional, euphoric and cathartic song.

Stuck in 1983 (s4, track 10)

November 6 1983 (s5, disc 2, track 20)

I Like Presents Too (s3, track 2) – this is a quote between Mike and El at the end of season three but I can’t help but think about birthdaygate.

I wouldn’t remember me either. (s4, track 2) – this is an Eddie quote from his scene with Chrissy, but again can’t help but think about birthdaygate when I read this track title.

TRACKS SEVENS:

These could really be meaningless but just thought I’d cover all the bases.

Season One: Eleven / First Kiss

Season Two: The First Lie (Jonathan and Nancy kiss) / A Familiar Shape (dark track but refers to Bob recognizing Lover’s Lake)

Season Three: The Ceiling is Beautiful (When Stobin are tripping balls at the mall just before they yack in the toilets)

Season Four: Does that make us friends? (Interesting, track plays when Nancy and Robin have a chat in the woods) / Follow Me Into Death (ouch, feel like this could be foreshadowing – fakeout death?)

Season Five: Preppers / Just Us and the Crickets (Jopper proposal reference, but if you follow the ESOTSM Montauk stuff…could have a deeper meaning).

TRACKS ELEVEN:

Season One: The Upside Down (iconic track) / Speak of the Devil

Season Two: Chicago / The Spy (Kali being flayed?)

Season Three: Find the Source (The Source was the original title for 3x05 which was renamed The Flayed)

Season Four: Hawkins National Lab (El’s backstory – makes sense) / I Want You to Watch

Season Five: Even Comes with a View / He’s Still Human

WSQK Predictions

It’s still very weird that there are ten tracks on the official vinyl, but only two of them have played in the show, considering they have to license all of these songs so without featuring them is strange. And one of them is heavily protected and nearly impossible to license (similar to Prince songs) – Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2.

So anyway, just thought I’d make some predictions of how these unheard songs could be used if we get more content. Because I’m really good at visualizing theoretical scenes to music (I do it when I’m out of valium).

Magnificent Seven and Bicycle Race – both kind of chaotic songs, very upbeat, and very anti-conformity. I picture them in action sequences. In particular, in scenes of Mike’s escape from Camazotz. I theorize that Mike will have to escape through memories, just like Holly, particularly memories with Will. I picture Mike revisiting the rain fight or even “it’s a seven”, getting on his bike and racing after Will, while everyone else in Camazotz starts noticing that Mike is trying to escape. So, as Mike is biking after Will to his next memory to the tune of Bicycle Race, the rest of the flayed people in Hawkins Camazotz are pursuing him to prevent him from escaping.

Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2 – Mike breaks out and with El or anybody else that exists outside of Camazotz, they help the other members of the party break out of Camazotz, or if Mike escapes = the whole illusion is effectively broken, Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2 will play as we see our protagonists break out of conformity and regroup for the final battle plans.

Here Comes the Rain Again – y’all already know. This will be the Byler soundtrack song.

A quick + easy one while I finish up my weeks in the making Original Score deepdive analysis.

I've touched on the conformitygate / season five colour theory in previous posts and comments, but I can't believe I never noticed this one thing - will be at the end.

In my Will the Builder & Mike the Storyteller post, I theorize that Will (against his will, under Vecna's possession) built Mike's Camazotz world. If we're to assume this is true and that's why everything is so orange in season five, it's because orange is Will's conformity colour.

That could also explain why so many characters are seen wearing orange throughout season five. Joyce in an orange corduroy jacket (volume one), Steve in an orange jacket (volume two), Will in the Clementine (ESOTSM) orange hoodie in 5x07 & 5x08. Coincidentally, when our protagonists are acting quite out of character too. Joyce kind of acts like a caricature of herself and forgets important details about Will. Steve makes low blow comments about Eddie and physically fights Dustin out of nowhere. Like I know tensions are high and they're prone to bickering, but this seemed so OOC. And Will reminiscing on lovely memories of milkshakes at Melvald's and getting lost in the woods.

YELLOW (Will) + RED (Vecna) = ORANGE: Will's conformity colour.

Purple is Mike's conformity colour. And don't even get me started on the implications of El's colour being purple, and their song in the void being Purple Rain. And how Prismatic Spray #7 Purple is foreshadowed by Dustin in 5x01. Prismatic Spray: Violet requires a wisdom saving throw. If you fail the first time you are blinded, if you fail a second time, you are sent to another dimension. I got a lot of this DnD lore from Icarus on TikTok.

Mike conforms the first time in season three, when his character regresses, he breaks his Paladin - Cleric oath with Will and Lucas sprays a purple perfume bottle into Mike's eyes, blinding him. And conforms a second time at the end of season four, lying (friends don't lie) and professing his love for El, effectively sending him to another dimension - the fake world that is his Camazotz in season five.

Since the beginning of season five, Mike is seen wearing a blue and purple striped shirt (volume one). Then the purple and blue sweater in 5x04 and volume two. Then in the epilogue, a fully purple sweater. (I should mention here that Mike's sweater in the epilogue looks suspiciously similar to MJ's sweater and Will's costuming in 5x01 looks suspiciously similar to Peter Parker's outfit in Spiderman: No Way Home, a film in which MJ gets her memories of Peter erased at the end.)

BLUE (Mike) + RED (Vecna) = PURPLE: Mike's conformity colour.

What is the opposite of RED in colour theory? It's GREEN.

BLUE (Mike) + YELLOW (Will) = GREEN.

(The concept of Christmas lights starting this crazy ride that is Stranger Things for green vs. red to end it is kind of insane)

Mike and Will’s love is quite literally the only thing that can “defeat” Vecna. They already parallel Creelby. Mike and Will’s love is the KEY, it’s M marks the spot, it’s the X over Will’s heart, it’s Mike being Will's heart. It is love conquering fear. It is their love being the foundation of this story and the key to its resolution.

I know this is really simplistic and juvenile in nature compared to something like #bobgate #ozgate #wsqksyncgate, hell even the research going into #superbowlgate is rocking my socks off. And I've had this theory sitting like a cannonball in my pocket for some time now, since volume one at least. I have touched on it briefly in past posts and comments, but wanted to make it its own post while I finish another big analysis.

But, as if it couldn't get any more obvious that Mike + Will are endgame, here is just one more thing I would like to add that I only just realized tonight:

On a colour wheel, the opposite of ORANGE - Will's conformity colour - is BLUE - Mike's true colour -

And the opposite of PURPLE - Mike's conformity colour - is YELLOW - Will's true colour -

Okay that's all for now, thanks for reading!