gotigersiguess

[gotigersiguess]

Let's just say I would give them a bad grade if they wrote a literary analysis.

An actual poetic ending for Will would be a full circle moment, but it would look different. Will getting kidnapped → Will struggling with the lingering trauma of this kidnapping → Will coming into his own and standing up for himself → Will overcoming and defeating the perpetrator/trauma. It starts with Will being the victim, it ends with Will being the reluctant hero. That's poetic. That's also Writing 101. Self-sacrifice wouldn't work for this sort of character, it would cheapen his arc and would only perpetuate homophobia in media. Killing your gay protagonist in a story set in the 80s, at the height of AIDS epidemic, is not some revolutionary writing for a coming of age sci-fi story.

What would work wonders is false self-sacrifice. It would prove the audience and Will wrong - he isn't expendable, he has every right to live a happy life, he doesn't have to give and give and give to others while waiting for nothing in return. He has the right to want and live, just like everybody else.

I know I'm not to first to say this, but I really don't get this argument:

He didn't "start" anything.

The show begins with him being taken.

(The first episode is literally called "THE VANISHING OF WILL BYERS")

So, to successfully complete his arc he must be returned/saved.

Him dying would ruin his character narrative, because, then everything that was done up to the point of his death would have all been for nothing.

The show is about saving Will Byers.

So why would they end the show by killing him off?

[gotigersiguess]

It just got too popular. It has a very broad mass appeal - 80s nostalgia, sci-fi, small town mystery, coming of age story, straight romance between two main leads, good kid acting, great pacing and writing. It has all the ingredients of a successful Netflix show for a pretty wide demographic. It's no wonder the loudest of them all dominate the most popular spaces. Do they pick and choose what element of the show to engage with? Of course. There's no reason for them to question the themes of the show beyond the obvious, if the surface level stuff is entertaining enough. Most of them are not here for queer representation, most of them treat Will as expendable. Every single theory I see about who's the most likely to die involves Will for a reason. He's seen as an afterthought, as a "crybaby", a character that only suffers and doesn't bring much to the table and now, on top of it all, a potential threat to the main pairing of the show. The ones that scream on the top of their lungs that Mike hates Will, that Will will be rejected and sacrificed are the same people that think it's a possibility.

I will never understand how a show that's all about empowering nerds and weirdos and marginalized people ended up having one of the worst fandoms I've seen. Where is the empathy? Why are people so quick to bully other fans for their different opinion on an unfinished story? In the anti-bullying show???

Bullying queer people for being obsessed nerds is something the characters of this show would never, ever do. And they would hate you for doing it.

And why are ST "fans" so homophobic? Don't they realize that this show is making a statement against homophobia?? I wonder if these people will turn their backs on the show after season 5, I hope they do. Please let us queer people exist in this fandom without being mocked and ridiculed and called delusional. This is our show just as much as -if not more than- it is yours. And the bullies and homophobes? You're definitely not welcome here. So why are these people ruling the reddit fandom and other places?? I will truly never understand this.

At this point I just need the season to come out so we can finally be free from this hell 🙏

[gotigersiguess]

Just saw that Wenclair got refuted by the writers. That's quite responsible of them, actually. Queerbaiting your audience is finally seen as something you shouldn't do, nature is healing. As someone who hasn't seen the show, I have some questions, though. I know that the ship is very popular, and there's probably something beyond the main leads' chemistry if people were expecting them to be canon. Did the writers accidentally write a sapphic romance and now trying to course-correct?

(This is just out of idle curiosity)

[gotigersiguess]

Ok so I got curious, and I couldn't really find the love angle used by anyone in academic circles. However, I did find an opinion on Reddit.

I might be rolling my eyes just a tiny bit.

that love triangle where all of them are dumbasses low-key

[gotigersiguess]

Hi! A person with BA in Literature here. It's a love triangle, by definition. LMAO

If you want to be pedantic about it, go ahead. Just don't act like it's some commonly accepted truth someone is misrepresenting. It's not. It has always being called a love triangle, whether it forms a real triangle in your head or not.

that love triangle where all of them are dumbasses low-key

[gotigersiguess]

they can’t help you, max

this scene, this show AAAAA

@strangerthingsnetflix

[gotigersiguess]

can i be a part of the heart for you?

[gotigersiguess]

On another note, Ed Sheeran is once again threatening to represent UK one day and I hope someone stops him. Why does he want to potentially receive zero points in front of 200 million people...

Heard an unsubstantiated rumour that Loïc Nottet could represent Belgium in ESC'26 and almost started crying because I'm a normal and well-adjusted person

(I would fall to my knees if this is confirmed)

[gotigersiguess]

Heard an unsubstantiated rumour that Loïc Nottet could represent Belgium in ESC'26 and almost started crying because I'm a normal and well-adjusted person

(I would fall to my knees if this is confirmed)

[gotigersiguess]

Once any of my mutuals change their pfp, I'm lost. I don't know who you are. I have no idea who that mysterious person on my dashboard is unless they have some distinctive handle. I apparently follow like 10 identical Mike Wheelers. It's just a hive mind atp

[gotigersiguess]

They probably do, it's prevalent in media. That's exactly the reason most of them try to deny the love triangle even exists in the first place.

Milkvans know the rule of love triangles, right? If the third party remains pining after the couple starts dating, the third party will end up with the love interest. For example:

Joyce/Bob/Hopper: Hopper was clearly interested in Joyce while she was dating Bob, and now they’re endgame.

Steve/Nancy/Jonathan: Jonathan has several romantic scenes with Nancy while she was dating Steve. Jancy endgame

Lucas/Max/Dustin: Dustin moves on the episode after Lucas and Max get together. Lumax endgame

Mike/El/Will: Will has been pining for Mike since s3 at the very least. Mike and El have already been dating for four seasons. Will hasn’t even has a chance yet.

All members of a love triangle must get a chance to date the love interest, or the triangle falls apart immediately. If byler wasn’t going to be endgame, Will would have moved on after the rain fight.

[gotigersiguess]

So today I learned people are really horny for KAJ and it's so funny to me for some reason. Like, they all look exactly like my uni professors. If someone told me they teach Latin to a bunch of philology students, I wouldn't be surprised. People are thirsting over the goofiest goobers alive. Love this for them.

[gotigersiguess]

So this is freakishly good what the fuck

@willfreakbyers it won't let me put it in reblogs buttt

here you gooo 🤞🤭

[gotigersiguess]

Finished another wip!

This started out as a piece of concept art but turned into a fake screenshot lol. I wanted to work on The Party's designs for Hawkins Outcasts-Season 2 (Sorry I'm doing so much of this out of order slkafjk) Also wanted to design D'Artagnan and establish him as the group's little weirdo pet.

I also wanted to tweak my style a little because I've been getting kinda bored with it lately, so I'm rearing it back towards the retro cartoony look I enjoy. I'm very much into playing and experimenting with my style, so whenever I get tired of it I'll screw around and try new things.

Anyway, enjjjjoooyyyyy!

[gotigersiguess]

Mike's S5 Outfits

Okay so, I have been having many many thoughts about how season 5 will be the first season we get to see a Mike outfit that is entirely himself. Like hello???? We are getting an entirely authentic Mike Wheeler!!! For maybe the first time ever!!!! Which is really exciting!!! So, while a lot of this stuff might not be new by any means, I wanted to analyse the themes in Mike's outfits so far and suggest what I think this confirms for his character come season 5. I absolutely love the Stranger Things costume department and so this is a bit of a love letter to them.

Starting with a bit of byler proof:

Matching Outfits

Both of Mike and Will's primary outfits are matching each other. Stranger Things loves to make romantic pairings look visually good together and so very often couples will have similar clothing silhouettes, matching colours, similar motifs, that kind of thing. I think maybe the most blatant example of this happening is Joyce and Hopper literally changing into the same outfit as they kiss for the first time. But here's a couple examples that do this in different ways:

First we have an example of the matching colours and styles with the button ups and all the blue; then an example of a matching outfit (to state the obvious they have to have chosen to match so uniforms and costumes don't really count here, though uniforms are used to symbolise unity); and then an example of matching silhouettes and motifs with the similarly cut shorts and vest, and Max's belt matching Lucas's top.

This kinda thing happens pretty consistently between romantic pairings. In Mike and Will's early season 5 outfits their colours are matching, they have similar collar details, and when they both wear the jacket their outfits have similar compositions. The late season 5 outfits clearly also share very similar colours and softer shapes and fit. If I didn't already think Mike and Will are getting together this season because of the show's narrative and themes, this shows that the show wants us to think of them as a unit. They are meant to look good together. They want romantic couples to look visually pleasing! Not to mention they've already been doing that with Mike and Will, just through complementary, split complementary and triad colour schemes.

The Yellow Collar

Mike's early season outfit with the yellow collar is probably going to be the last time we see Mike wear yellow in the show. We all know about the yellow/blue colour theory, and that Mike wears yellow when he is not acting like himself. It's meant to be sort of jarring to see him in yellow.

Mike's first outfit of S5 being the last we see of this colour on Mike (as far as we know) is super significant because it means he's finally being himself. The collar's colour is also much less jarring than the bright yellows, being muted and in one place. Mike will probably still be struggling with conformity early on but this will be resolved for the second half of the season. Also, scenes at Hawkins High, maybe scenes with the painting, scenes of Mike's home life before everything goes tits up, etc. will probably take place while wearing this outfit. I wouldn't think that we'd get scenes anywhere near as jarring as the airport scenes though, both because it makes less sense narratively and because the show likes to make it very visually clear that something is off in those kinds of scenes.

This is not something I've really seen anyone talk about, but this being a collared shirt also seems to be significant. Almost every Mike outfit since season 2 has had a collar. Usually it's a polo or a button up that's fastened up to his neck. In my opinion, this also represents inauthenticity. Other characters wear polos and button ups, sure, but the main person we see doing so is Ted. I think we're meant to get the sense from Mike's collared shirts in seasons 2 and 3 that his clothes are being bought for him (as Eddie would then point out in season 4), and that in some ways Mike is emulating his dad.

Moments where Mike doesn't wear a collared shirt (wearing the hellfire tee, wearing white undershirts/vests in season 4) are typically moments of vulnerability or authenticity. That conversation where Ted puts on Mike's tie, "Ah. Dad... you're choking me," "it's supposed to be a little tight," comes to mind here. His dad's clothing is metaphorically choking him.

Mike's early season outfit is still collared but it's no longer the same cut. It's looser, the edges are softened, it's a bit less preppy. It's a far cry from most of Mike's polo shirts.

Nancy and Jonathan Parallel

These early season outfits also look a lot like some of Nancy and Jonathan's season 1 outfits (much better picture of nancy in comparison to Will in this post here). Obviously there's some romantic connotations there, but it also might suggest something of their dynamic. This outfit is where we sort of have Nancy coming into her own, Jonathan talks to Nancy about her becoming like her parents, and Nancy gets stuck in the upside down. We already know that Mike and Will's storyline is likely to have some similarity to theirs in season 1, with Mike and Jonathan both searching for their younger siblings and fearing for their parents' safety.

Mike's Parents

We won't know for certain until season 5 comes out, but from what we know so far I don't think we're going to get any direct parallels between Mike and his parents. We've seen some of Karen's outfits but I haven't seen any pictures of Ted at all (this might be because he's bones sorry Ted). This gives me a chance to talk about how, not only are these two outfits from season 3 direct parallels to Ted and Karen...

...these two season 4 outfits are as well.

These are even more significant than the season 3 ones in my opinion; despite Mike's choosing his own clothing and resolving his "I love you" arc (in the opinion of the GA) he is still dressed like Ted and Karen. More himself but still ultimately choosing the path of his parents. Being paralleled to Nancy and Jonathan rather than these two in season 5 is a significant change to his clothing and I think suggests the show is going in the way we expect it to.

What I think will be the MOST authentic Mike Wheeler outfit

This one right here

For Mike we've already seen a shift towards darker or edgier clothing with his black jeans last season and now we're seeing it even more so here, with both of his primary outfits being a lot darker. Both of his outfits are much softer, especially around the shoulders, and have a looser fit. This outfit is not collared, it's Mike's dark blue, his hair is no longer emulating Eddie's. And! The outfit it's paralleling is his own. Not his parents, and not Nancy and Jonathan. It mirrors this outfit from the very start of the show pretty closely, which suggests he's going to take up a similar role to season 1, probably being the drive to find Holly (and I also think Will potentially). For most other characters early show parallels with themselves might symbolise a regression, but I think with Mike's character there is a sense that he has lost something fundamental to his personality, and so I think this could symbolise regaining it instead.

This is not just about internalised homophobia and Mike's desire to conform, I also think Mike's PTSD and insecurity are going to be addressed. Especially since he is so close to the characters who seem to be most threatened in season 5. The darker clothing I think probably reflects this narrative as much as it reflects authenticity. Mike coming into his own is intrinsically linked to dealing with these issues. Mike wears a lot of dark blue in season 2 where we see him most obviously struggling with PTSD and also spending most time with Will.

I cannot emphasise enough that this outfit is so so significant, Mike's clothing is some of the most intentional in the show and this single outfit symbolically breaks from so many of the themes we've seen in his clothing. Huge props to the costume department, they've done an amazing job imo.

Details

The pattern on Mike's jumper seems to look a lot like the demogorgon's face. Considering we also get demogorgon attack imagery for Mike in s5 (see the Jaws poster directly behind him) we can probably imagine he might be injured by one, or have a significant scene with one. I think he's probably not cooked but I could imagine him being pan fried a little. There's also Mike and Will's shoes being inverted from their season 2 shoes which probably means their roles will be reversed this season. Plus the shoes Mike is wearing may be Will's which would be literally putting himself in Will's shoes. With the attention put into Mike's costuming I personally believe this is absolutely intentional. It's also fun to see more red/burgundy on Mike's clothing since it appears so often on Will's in particular, even if in this case it probably means he's in danger (sorry Mike).

This is all confirmation of stuff we already thought from the narrative so far, and I know a lot of this analysis has been done elsewhere, but I mainly see people talking about the colours characters wear rather than details like cut, fabric and shape so I thought I'd give it a go. If you have read this far, thanks for reading my ramblings :]

+ Bonus

Both of Will's outfits match his season 1 one in different ways but with significant changes to signal his progression. There's the collar details, the inclusion of both red and yellow which are significant costuming colours for Will, the little bit of plaid, the undershirt in the second outfit, but it's an evolution rather than a devolution. He's still wearing a lot of blue which is associated with his struggle with sexuality through his feelings for Mike.

Plaid for Will is used to suggest innocence or that he's 'prey' as it were (he gets kidnapped in it, he wears it throughout his possession, he spends season 4 sad gay pining in it). Plaid's meant to make us feel that he's vulnerable so starting season 5 with a little bit poking through his collar means he's being targeted but coming into his own. He's standing up for himself! He's the main character! In my opinion the season 1 parallel obviously points to the events of season 1 being re-explored, the blue suggests his sexuality is central, and the bridgerton glow up does suggest he's potentially a romantic lead. yay!!! I would like to go into more details about his outfits at some point and I'm also super interested in Nancy, El and Jonathan's season 5 outfits so I might make posts for them in the future.

Other outfit posts here:

Nancy

[gotigersiguess]

you're the heart, mike