#* &. karen wheeler.

[wildkissed-a]

"   it   could’ve   been   a   lot   worse.   "   /   karen   &   mike.   

eyes   widen   upon   hearing   mike's   word,   big   box   filled   with   items   ready   to   be   donated   being   placed   harshly   against   the   table   before   turning   around.   ‘   mike,   don't   say   that   !   do   you   know   how   many   people   were   affected   by   the   earthquake   ?   ’   so   many   people   injured,   families   torn   apart.   it   honestly   felt   like   hawkins   had   been   cursed,   even   if   karen   knew   that   was   just   a   non-sense   narrative   that   the   press   was   trying   to   spread.   his   son,   being   part   of   a   cult   ?   please,   clearly   they   had   never   met   him.   ‘   i'm   just   glad   you   weren't   home   when   it   happened.   to   think   that   something   could've   happened   to   you   ...   ’   she   shudders   to   even   think   about   it,   shaking   her   head   in   an   attempt   to   shake   the   awful   thought.   she   hesitates   before   speaking   again,   softly   this   time.   ‘   but   you   know   ...   i'm   always   here   for   you   if   you   ever   want   to   talk   about   it.   about   maxine   or   ...   that   other   friend   of   yours.   ’   that   kid   the   whole   town   claimed   was   the   devil   himself.   karen   never   knew   much   about   him,   but   if   mike   and   him   were   really   friends,   then   she   was   sure   he   was   a   good   kid.   (   @353calls​.   )

[soniclion92]

They know.

[luveurmilk]

i just woke up from a dream where this was the byler endgame.

[gayofthefae]

"Mike and Nancy can't say I love you because of their parents," so close, Mike and Nancy can't say I love you in relationships that resemble their parents'.

[thefirstlioveyou]

i need a s5 version of this NOW

[meowza315]

joyous day today fellas

I finished it.

After 25 and a half hours and three separate attempts, I finally finished the fan-made S5 poster :) I remember getting the idea in November of last year, and I just now finished it almost a year later. thats actually wild

not everything or everyone is perfect, but that’s okay. I’m proud of it and I think that’s all that really matters

character closeups under the break

[will80sbyers]

STRANGER THINGS 5 PREVIEW

[imactuallyreallycool]

Hello every-pony lmao

Here’s some of my mlp x stranger things designs :)

[elyasdoodles]

🫴

[conflictofthemind]

Thoughts on "Escape from Camazotz"

Oppressive Suburbia, Conformity, and Season 5 Themes

I've long thought that a major focus of Season 5 will be the contrast between the families of The Wheelers and The Byers, and exploring how non-traditional family environments can be freeing vs the oppressive structure of the nuclear family.

In a Wrinkle In Time, Camazotz is a planet controlled by the big bad of the book, the "IT", who forces the citizens into a conformity that resembles American suburbia. All of the houses the same, the citizens the same, doing the same things at the same time without individual identity. Without anything different. Different means a lot of things, but with Stranger Things dropping different in reference to Will's identity and the presumable themes of this season, it will heavily codify as queerness and how it threatens the cisheterosexual family model.

Henry was raised in the 1950s, a decade still revered by conservatives for it's traditional family dynamics that supposedly were the peak of culture and happiness for all. That was all a lie, of course, and Henry knew so as he shows to Nancy and Eleven during his monologue. The second most conservative decade aside from the 1950s in American society is widely considered to be the 1980s.

The Creels will serve in parallel to The Wheelers; the worst example of what they could become and the damage that this type of family could do to a child that is different in any way. Notice how Vecna selectively shows Nancy visions of The Wheelers dying, but not anyone else she may consider family or friends (like Jonathan).

That is; unless they change their ways and come together as a healthy functioning family facing their traumas, The Wheelers will be toast.

Karen has been moved up to a main character role this season. Ted's actor says the father starts to show up more for Holly (hold that) and realizes he wants to act differently. Holly has been recast. Finn has said Mike goes on a much more personal journey this season, and steps up as a leader.

Oh, also: the catalyst for all of this is that Holly goes missing. The contrast will help show how the Byers (including El and Hopper here) were able to pull together and help solve Will's disappearance, versus how the Wheelers as a closed off nuclear family grapple with Holly's vanishing.

Each of the Byers is in some kind of a non-1950s conformist relationship, but particularly Will (not in one now but we all know he will be). I think El might represent, after she breaks up with Mike, the fear of the unmarried woman being satisfied without a husband. The above shot really emphasizes my point.

I predict that Will will end up coming out to his family rather early on, and we will see all of them immediately accept him with little surprise or push-back. Will is a visible gay man who comes from an open minded non traditional family (divorced, non-married, adoptive) that is willing to have honest conversations.

But this theme will place the most focus on the Wheelers. Mike is the main character of said family and this will particularly focus on his arc, and his acceptance of his queerness in the midst of suburban conformity.

He is not visible, he comes from a Reagan-supporting family who don't communicate with each other. He is not particularly close with his family like Will is. He pushes his feelings down and tries his damn hardest to be normal despite it all. His trauma hasn't really been addressed at all. He is falling back into his usual habits - the one thing he dared to do different (grow his hair long) has gone back to how it was.

It's not all doom and gloom though. This season above all will be a redemption arc of the American nuclear family, how they choose to escape their conformity and learn to be there for each other, thus overpowering Vecna. Not that the Wheelers are going to end this personally.

"Great, more hysteria. Just what we need". "It's the news, now indistinguishable from the tabloids".

[wildkissed-a]

“   i   think   i’m   losing   myself   again.   ”   /   karen   &   nancy.   

‘   oh,   honey   ...   ’   it's   almost   as   if   she   can   hear   own   heart   breaking   at   her   daughter's   words.   nancy   has   had   it   worse   than   most   —   losing   her   best   friend   that   way,   it's   a   difficult   thing   for   anyone   to   manage.   and   now,   having   to   face   the   reality   of   what   it   means   to   be   a   woman   :   men   belittling   her   abilities,   ideas   and   intelligence.   it   fills   her   with   anger   to   think   of   anyone   treating   her   daughter   that   way,   because   nancy   is   smart   and   driven,   way   more   than   karen   ever   hoped   to   be.   she   still   isn't   sure   how   she   managed   to   have   a   daughter   so   perfect,   better   in   every   aspect.   karen   knows   she's   going   places,   secretly   hopes   she   never   settles   for   the   same   life   as   her   :   nancy   is   destined   for   bigger   things   than   what   karen   herself   was.   ‘   i   know   it's   hard,   but   you   can't   let   other   people   tell   you   how   to   act   or   how   to   feel.   ’   it   almost   saddens   her   to   think   that   nancy   is   feeling   this   way,   but   as   her   mother,   karen   knows   deep   down   nancy   will   find   a   way   out.   dinner   is   suddenly   forgotten   as   she   takes   her   daughter   hands   into   her   own,   squeezing   them.   ‘   it's   okay   to   feel   sad   right   now,   or   to   be   lost   ...   because   i   know   you'll   find   yourself   again.   you're   a   fighter,   nancy.   ’   she   knows   there's   more   to   it   than   what   she   can   possibly   know.   it's   natural   for   daughter   to   keep   secrets   from   their   mothers   —   she's   just   grateful   that   nancy   had   decided   to   come   to   her   for   comfort.   ‘   you   know   i   love   you.   and   when   you're   out   there   in   emerson   living   your   life,   just   know   your   mom   believes   in   you.   ’   (   @enternecers​.   )

[hellshee]

Grief is not a feeling, but a neighborhood. This is where I come from. Everyone I love still lives there.

—Brenna Twohy, from Swallowtail

[indigo-scarf]

Karen should be the one to help Mike out of the closet.

Both those hugs are related to Will's absence, and that "why not" is encouraging Nancy to push back against conservative 80s society to chase her happiness, while Karen has also started doing the same.

Plus she eavesdrops on Mike's phone conversations with El, so she knows there's no romantic chemistry there, plus she makes that face everyone always brings up when Ted says "no sweetie pie".

[foreverautumn89]

Karen and Jonathan need more scenes together

Karen's dynamic with Jonathan is so cute. Their scenes together are so rare but its clear she adores Jonathan. Words cant describe how much I appreciate this woman for always being so kind to Jonathan when the rest of the town isn't [I mean Hawkins townspeople not main characters].

Karen coming to visit Joyce and check in on her in S1E3: How is Jonathan holding up? She is one of the rare few concerned about his well being at that time and asking about him wanting to make sure hes ok.

s1e8

KAREN: Hey, boys.

- Hey, Mrs. Wheeler.

Hey, wish your mom a merry Christmas for me, okay?

- Yeah.

- Yeah, thank you. Uh, merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

S2E3

Jonathan?

Mrs. Wheeler.

-What a pleasant surprise. [So cute how shes so happy to see Jonathan there]

---

- Bye! It's good to see you.

She loves Jonathan so much. It's so adorable. I love her mother son dynamic with him and we need a lot more scenes of it.

[bylrlve]

No comment.

[tellthatbrokebitch]

st text posts pt. xi