mlchaelwheeler

[mlchaelwheeler]

sometimes tiktok is pretty chill

[mlchaelwheeler]

Still blows my mind that they chose to put an unconscious Will in Jonathan’s room after the shed scene in s2 instead of in his own room, thereby leaving Will’s room open and empty for Mike to scream at Hopper in.

Like as a writer, as a director, as a storyboarder and basically anyone involved in choosing what scenes happen in what room, the most obvious choice is to put Will in his own room. After all, we later see Joyce enter Will’s room specifically to stare at the open windows and realize they need to stop making the environment suitable for the Mind Flayer. It would’ve been the perfect opportunity to show Will lying in his own bed with the windows open, hammering this point home.

But instead, they put him in Jonathan’s room. Which makes it clear to me that putting Mike’s breakdown in Will’s room, with Will’s wallpaper and his yellow walls, standing right about where Mike spent the night sleeping on the floor—in the clothes he’s been wearing for 3 days and 3 nights now—to stay by Will’s side, was very important to the creative team.

And I think it seriously lends credence and weight to the interpretation and theory that a major part of Mike’s breakdown was not only survivor’s guilt, but a culmination of the past week’s events regarding Will’s condition, as well as because this means Hop knew Will’s condition was worsening and yet he didn’t bring El into the loop to help Will, something Mike implies he thinks she could do on Halloween (“El would [understand].”)

We know and understand that Hop was prioritizing his adoptive daughter’s safety, but to Mike, it was outright betrayal on several levels. In his eyes, this man, this authority figure who carried Will’s unconscious body through the lab, didn’t tell Mike that the person who had the greatest chance of saving Will’s life was alive, much less try and get El to come help. El had to show up on her own in order to get involved. In his eyes, it’s like Will was dying of a rare disease and Hop had the cure the entire time.

For all Mike knew, Hop would’ve never revealed El was alive, Will be damned. (I personally think Hop would’ve broken eventually, especially for Joyce’s sake, but Mike probably didn’t think the same in the moment.)

[mlchaelwheeler]

HELPPPPP 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[mlchaelwheeler]

If STRANGER THINGS Season 5 aired in the 1980s x

[mlchaelwheeler]

guys byler kiss s507 IS SO REAL. (not mine i found this on pinterest)

[mlchaelwheeler]

Jonathan was getting flashbacks from the time he tried salvaging Nancy’s relationship with Steve by giving him credit for his own show of affection, that’s why he clocked Will so fast

[mlchaelwheeler]

Location, Location, Location

The Turnbow Mansion, the Meat Wall, and Mirkwood

this post includes spoilers from the Feb style guide leak, so look away if you're avoiding that

as mentioned in this post, the teaser tells us that the Meat Wall is right by the Upside Down Turnbow Realty billboard that we've known about for a while. you can see it behind El and Hopper in the reaction shot above.

since we've only seen the billboard in the Upside Down, it's likely this undeveloped parcel in 1983 has now become a totally new subdivision by 1987 (the billboard says "new residences coming soon," so coming soon in 1983).

this is a direct pull from Back to the Future, where Marty drives by his subdivision in 1955 and sees an open field with a billboard advertising a subdivision that is long established in 1985 (implied to be where Marty lives, because the house on the billboard is the same style)

thinking about this in relation to the Hawkins tunnels map we got as part of the leaked Consumer Products Style Guide in February (Google Drive link, I am still really paranoid about copyright strikes), this is also interesting considering the G1 square of the WSQK bunker map wall - which is the square that Mike has out on the table in the scene with the Party at the picnic table in ep 1.

they've been tracking something with this whole set up. it seems like their biggest goal at this point is figuring out where Vecna has been hiding since El can't find him. so my guess it's related to that, but could also be related to what the military is up to (or both)

can someone who is better at image enhance forensics than me figure out any of what is written on the little white tabs they have pinned on the map here, I want to knowww

Cornwallis passes through this square (Mike has placed a little military vehicle there, circled above in yellow), and it includes a golf course (outlined in red above) and the start of a street grid that looks extremely like a subdivision. and a country club/golf course makes sense if you're developing a shiny new upper class community.

it was immediately eye-catching that even though Cornwallis is included pretty specifically in the tunnels map, Kerley is nowhere to be found.

so, basically, what the reason there is no Mirkwood (Cornwallis/Kerley intersection) on the map is because Kerley doesn't exist anymore, or was renamed?

Cornwallis also ends in this square, so it's possible the full Cornwallis/Kerley intersection is now completely nonexistent. this section of the map is on the outskirts of town towards Lovers Lake, which if they're maintaining the Lovers Lake/Hawkins National Lab/Byers' old house proximity means that this could be that zone.

so this area of the map very well could include the site of any of those significant landmarks for the show, they just have been demolished or built over between 1983 and 1987. (I personally think Hawkins National Lab is still standing, but I'm now really worried about the Byers' house/maybe even the old site of Castle Byers...)

what the deal is with the obviously significant stop at the residence of this random family has been a big open question for ages, and now I'm wondering if it's not so much about the Turnbows themselves but the mansion's location. if they were developing a whole fancy subdivision, they could certainly have included a nice big house for themselves in the project.

was the Turnbow mansion built over a site of some important 1983 Upside Down event? it seems like the one that would have the most utility if old gate imprints are "waking up" somehow would be the Byers' shed, but I'm still thinking through that. obviously that wouldn't have been part of whatever stage of the project was occurring in 1983, but the Turnbows could have continued to buy up and develop the surrounding real estate so maybe a post-1985 addition.

the other detail that tells us something is this has to be in close proximity to wherever the military's new lab is set up, since El and Hopper seem to travel between this billboard in the UD and that lab pretty directly. so in the picnic table scene, Mike could be noting something weird going on with the military's activities in this region that points to experimentation. so whatever they're doing at the mansion could also be related to that...

[mlchaelwheeler]

they feel like my children (i'm the same age as them)

[mlchaelwheeler]

they’re on that fuck ass bathtub btw

[mlchaelwheeler]

it’s kinda tragic that el fell in love with mike by watching him look for will because she’d never known love like that, and she saw mike’s capacity for such intense love, and, rightfully so, wanted it for herself. but she never got that version of mike. it’s more apparent in s4 than anywhere else, but all el has really ever wanted is for mike to love her like he loves will

[mlchaelwheeler]

what's the url lmao 🤫

michaelwheeler... i'm so close yet still so far away

[mlchaelwheeler]

you all just don't understand my agony

vagueposting about the blog whose url i want that vagueposted about me,, humbling but i must continue the cycle

[mlchaelwheeler]

glad to see some stranger things plot priority... literally, fandom isn't structured to talk about it much but! curious to see what route they're taking in s5 to explain things!

yes!! i have always given priority to the supernatural plot of st, since that's what got me hooked back in 2016 when i first saw s1 🫶🏼 byler is just an added bonus imo

[mlchaelwheeler]

vagueposting about the blog whose url i want that vagueposted about me,, humbling but i must continue the cycle

[mlchaelwheeler]

mike wheeler puppy eyes you will always be famous

[mlchaelwheeler]

and when mike is looking at will's lips once again but then he doesn't stop and he just gets closer and closer and closer and CLOSER

[mlchaelwheeler]

Hi, I saw that post you reblogged that referenced some leaker sharing the S5 episode titles and they got them all right except for 5x07. I must not have been around when that happened but I'm really intrigued by it, do you know more? When was that? Did they really claim that episode 5 would be named The Cleric and the Paladin?

hi, i'm sorry but i've been totally out of the loop on leakers and the episode titles! i wish i could give you a timeline of what's been leaked but i'm not up to date besides what i've seen on here the past week. maybe one of my followers can help!