conflictofthemind

[conflictofthemind]

when a bully calls will gay, dustin is the kind of friend that goes "☝️ actually gay used to mean happy 🤓 so technically i'm gay too. 😁 you stupid piece of shit 😒" and then walks away, his hand on will's back, guiding him away.

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If the shadow is collective consciousness...

A metaphor for how your environment can shape and influence you...

Then it's fitting that in Vecna's final form, the branches are literally hardwired into him.

Because that's the monster they need to fight.

[conflictofthemind]

https://www.tumblr.com/conflictofthemind/750954524745809920/by-the-way-uh-we-also-have-confirmation-that

is this post still accurate?… (yes i was stalking your leaks tag)

Omg noo don’t send me this 🤦‍♀️ 😭 I was acting craaazy last year, especially early last year. I was kind of manic & I apologize.

But yeah there’s no new characters (like, teenagers) being added to the cast. That was one of the biggest arguments against by/ler at the time so I said ‘by/ler confirmed’ of course (🤦‍♀️). I have no memory of what prompted me to make that post though

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the problem with me is that I am really endeared to any theories involving mismatched or multiple identities, or non-humanism.

I definitely believe most of them are stupid and that this is probably not happening - but nothing gets me quite like exploring the very concept of identity itself and what makes a human being a human being, and an individual.

I feel this way so much with Will/El and Will/Henry. What if they shared souls????? (<- my mind constantly).

Like if that was actually canon, there could be some fascinating manipulation potential there irt Will believing that he and Henry are the same, almost literally, and having an identity breakdown over the concept. Canonically even El has a breakdown induced by her believing the Lab Massacre was her.

I also find it hard to not be an "El is nonhuman" truther, because while I don't believe for sure that is a plot which would realistically come up in the show... there is a crazy amount of subtext of her being 1) based off of characters that are nonhuman or 2) being treated as nonhuman by the show itself.

I personally find it really cool and I may start posting about stuff like this, with the caveat that I'm not sure if it's actually intentional or canon.

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look at how toxic ex i can be to you tumblr

$500 dollars and you get the full thing

…..

or….

perhaps…

a margarita pizza

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characters being comforted by a loved one

and Will.

[conflictofthemind]

https://www.tumblr.com/hawkinsschoolcounselor/791174702580301824/httpswwwredditcomrstrangerthingscomments1m

That Reddit thread is an interesting theory except that I’m reasonably sure it’s WILL’S compassion and love that is they key, not El’s. Those aren’t exactly qualities that I think of when I think of El’s character.

I disagree. Not that Will doesn't also possess those qualities, but it's just incorrect to suggest that El doesn't.

We see El act with compassion quite a lot. One of the main reasons she was seen as a failure by Henry and Brenner was her reluctance to kill. First, we see her refuse to kill a rabbit. That's significant in and of itself, considering that she was raised in a controlled environment and never taught compassion. This is reinforced when we find out that not only did she not slaughter the subjects and staff of the lab, but she felt incredible guilt for her indirect responsibility for it when Henry manipulated her.

In season 2, while we do see her acting impulsively and, in the case of her treatment of Max, with jealousy, she still retains her loving side. She goes off on a journey, seeing a mother and child and yearning for that same love. She finds her aunt and mother, but is distraught at what happened to her mom, and she leaves in search of her lab sister, Kali. Her entire season 2 arc is her looking for love when you think about it. She's trying to figure out what it is as a concept.

Season 3 has her feeling pity for even Billy, after everything he's done, because she saw into his memories. She saw the abuse he went through because of his father, and she felt sad because of his inner sadness. That's empathy, and it's honestly a miracle she has developed a sense of it. That's not a new idea for her, either. Season 2 also had her sparing the orderly she and Kali's gang hunted down because she found out he had two little girls. Even if she felt he deserved punishment, she wouldn't take away someone's parent.

Even season 4 has her primary motivation for helping Owens being the safety of her friends in Hawkins, specifically Max.

So, we really should think of compassion and love when it comes to El, even if maybe it's not the first thing we think about.

She and Will have simply shown their compassion and love in different ways, owing to their different situations. Will shows it through sacrifice and concern. He puts his own needs after those of others, doing without and sometimes even suffering so that others are happy. El, however, is uniquely positioned to protect and serve others, much like her adoptive father, Hopper. She's able to literally make life or death decisions, and she does so to help a world that has largely treated her so poorly. I really see the two of them as two sides of the same coin, showing love in different ways.

I think it'll come down to love, but not any one person's. The reason we like the heroes of this show are that they are all good people beneath their individual character flaws. I can see Will and El, both of them, not one or the other, being the characters in focus for this, given their unique connections to the supernatural threat, but it really touches all of them.

[conflictofthemind]

how true is the hopfiims leak?

her coming up with that one:

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Without heart, we'd all fall apart. Especially me. These past few months I've been so lost without you. It's just, I'm so different from other people, and... when you're... when you're different, sometimes... you feel like a mistake. But you make me feel like I'm not a mistake at all. Like I'm better for being different. And that gives me the courage to fight on. If I was mean to you, or I seemed like I was pushing you away, it's because I'm scared of losing you like you're scared of losing me. And if I was going to lose you, I think I'd rather just get over with quick, like ripping off a Band-Aid. So, yeah, I need you, Mike. And I always will.

will byers/byler + hounds of love

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it’s vital to me that will gets his license but is passenger princess by choice. yes he CAN drive but he doesn’t feel like it at the moment or pretty much ever if he can get out of it. please let him be chauffeured around by someone who likes to drive with one hand on the wheel and honk at shitty drivers

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does anyone want to hear about this .

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After The First Shadow premiered and details of the play began leaking online, one of the biggest questions that arose from fans was how are we seeing the Mind Flayer haunt Henry in 1959 when we also see Henry create the Mind Flayer when he is exiled Dimension X(?)/The Upside Down in 1979. Was the image of the Mind Flayer as we see it in the play only how Henry imagined the shadow to look, and maybe he simply physically forced the MF to take on the physical form he wanted? Is the MF really the one pulling the strings the whole time, despite the reveal in season 4 suggesting otherwise? Was the play simply a retcon of what we see in season 4?

Unless... there was a way that both the explanations for the MF in the play and the show can be true, and work perfectly together in canon.

I recently finished a watch through of Attack on Titan (after only watching the first season when it came out and not returning to it for years) and without getting bogged down in plot details, *SPOILER* the show does contain something of a time loop as characters in the future are able to see and influence events happening in the past. I'm not certain that the Duffers took inspiration from this show (although the Duffers are definitely anime fans, and this is one of the most popular anime of all time) BUT watching this recently did make me think about the nature of the MF in the show and how something similar to the AoT might be happening here.

What I'm trying to say is that I think the Mind Flayer that Henry formed in season 4 is the same Mind Flayer that haunted Henry in The First Shadow. He was being tortured and manipulated by his future self.

I believe this is being done as a pretty literal metaphor for the cyclical nature of abuse. Of course, Henry was also abused by Brenner and was uncared for by his parents, and he continued the cylce of abuse to Billy and El and Will and, maybe, all the way around to his past self.

I think this idea could easily tie in with the running motifs of time in the show without getting too convoluted with ideas of time travel. I think this will all culminate with Will and El breaking the cycle as they are empowered by the love that surrounds them as well as their own inner strength.

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I'm a bit concerned about a bit of cinematography I've noticed. Specifically, Will seems to be framed as separate from the other three.

Take the "hands in" scene in the woods. At first glance it seems fine.

But other angles shows something a bit different.

Will is on one side of the table, the rest are on the other side.

Side note: The left shot seems to be rehearsal since they have their jackets on. There's a slight adjustment made in the actual scene, with Dustin using his left hand, instead of his right, and Lucas and Dustin switching position relative to Mike. Dustin being forced to use his left hand almost seems to be a conscious decision so he can stand closer to Mike for the purpose of the overhead shot.

Then there's the cafeteria scene.

Now, the first one is just a promotional still, rather than a screenshot. However, it still syncs up with the bottom image, which is from filming. Will is standing because he was seated on the other side of the table. He has to come around the table, whereas Dustin and Lucas can just lean in closer to Mike.

There's two things I notice abut these two scenes.

Will is positioned at a table in such a way that it separates him from the rest of the Party. We likely will see him seated in the cafeteria before he gets up to go around.

He's opposite Mike at the table in both scenes. Dustin and Lucas seem to be positioned closer to Mike than Will.

It might all mean something, but it might mean nothing. Maybe it's to show Will feeling isolated from his friends. He may be withdrawing or keeping himself distant, possible fearing being used as a spy again. It may be a reference to him being stuck "on the other side" in the Upside Down, maybe as a reminder that he has a connection to it.

Anyone else notice this and/or have thoughts about it?

[conflictofthemind]

— Stranger Things, 4x08 / Hunger Games: Catching Fire

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Heyy I just read this post you reblogged about Will loving himself being more important than Mike loving him and they’re so right, but I was wondering, if this happens maybe he might understand that he doesn’t need Mike? And maybe that’s when he moves on and Byler is not the endgame and Mileven might be? Idk but that left me thinking. I know Mileven has problems but they could actually fix them this season given how they look in the teaser.

We just don't want a Monologue 2.0 scenario where Mike's love for Will is the deciding factor on whether Will is able to stand up for himself and fight back against Vecna and the Mindflayer. That monologue shifted El's Season Four story-line from her own internal discovery that she wasn't the monster and her own positive feelings towards others, to her need for external validation from Mike. Which was crap particularly for a female hero...

The show is a very 'actions speak stronger than words' one, where other main couples have never even said they love each-other, because they don't have to.

Anyway. What you're talking about has to do with Mike's story arc, since the ball is in his court on what to do with Will. The disagreement between Mike and Eleven was never actually solved because it was patched over by Will's false story about the painting, which will come out as a lie and shake up Mike's perceptions of his relationships with the two.