#both in st@ncy and stobin

[gayofthefae]

"El's gonna be totally not okay with Byler!"

Wrong, it's gonna be this

Previous feelings for someone but actually love them so care more about their happiness with someone else than them being involved romantically.

Will's love for Mike is proven selfless in a plot way that deserves rewarding.

El's love for Mike is selfless in the way that is demonstrated through unconditional love regardless of nature.

The idea that she will be anything less is a disservice to their relationship, not a service to it.

[jaylikesrainbowtigers]

Tag game, Stranger things edition

@hargrove-mayfields tagged me so you know I have to do this. Thank you so much!!

Ride or die ship: Hollogrove. Heather and Billy are my bread and butter. Like so much of my stranger things content is them. I just love them healing and growing together.

Most annoying ship: St*ncy. I just hate it. What Nancy did to Steve was kind of something you can’t return from. I have seen the effects of a similar relationship on one of my irl besties and I would never wish it on anyone. I would cry if that ship happened in S5.

3. Second favourite ship: Either Elumax (platonic Elucas) or Eddie x Chrissy x Steve x Jonathan (with Jonathan, Eddie and Steve dating Argyle and Chrissy dating Robin. If someone has a ship name please suggest in the comments). I adore these ships as the developed relationships there are just *chef’s kiss* but the people who haven’t met? Just so much cute potential for love!

4. Favourite platonic dynamic: Stobin is my platonic tea. I adore Steve and Robin and believe whole heartedly that they are disabled besties. Platonic soulmates.

5. Underrated ship: Hollogrove obviously but Cunningway, Cheerscoops, Photocheer, Stargyle, and Murrlexi. Those ships are also so top tier but underrated. There are so many more.

6. Overrated ship: M*leven. Again I hate it. It is so teenage abuse romanticized. And too many people think that it is healthy or OTP. To be honest, Mike is a bit of an ick for me anyway.

7. One thing to change in canon: Destroy any hints or hopes of St*ncy or M*leven or any abusive relationship. Stop the characters putting up with it, to the extent that it is romanticized. Abuse is not good or something to be idealized. And actually include canon disabilities please.

8. One thing canon did right: Making Robin a lesbian and allowing Max and Eleven to have a strong friendship which is not focused on the boys. That trope is so overused so I am glad it was not used.

9. A thing I am proud of creating for the fandom: I am really proud of my Hollogrove stuff because there is so little content for my babies. But some of my work for @disabledbillyandsteveweek is also something I am super proud of and I can’t wait to show people.

10. A character who is perfect to me: Heather Holloway is my queen. Like she is so sweet and caring but obviously has so much depth potential. The Duffers really made a mistake not giving her more screen time. They could have done so much.

11. Most relatable character and why: Robin is the most relatable character for me. Her social awkwardness and passion for certain topics is really relatable to me. We are both band kids, lesbians and we even look fairly alike!

12. Character I hate most and why: Karen. Moral trash who willing flirted and tried to seduce a child her daughters age. She also put down other teenagers simply because she was being petty??? Like she is the adult in this situation. Even though she backed out of meeting Billy, the fact that she ever flirted with him is creepy. If you reversed the genders, the fandom would be freaking out and be like it’s so creepy!! It’s still the same situation?? Of course, it is creepy. Neil Hargrove is a close second.

13. Something I have learned from the fandom: To be more confident in sharing my opinions and work. Before I met a lovely group of people in the fandom I was so scared of being attacked for my preferences in the fandom but they showed me that despite us all not shipping or producing the same thing, we can all still support and respect each other. It really helped my social anxiety around sharing stuff, particularly for this fandom, online.

14. Three tags I seek out on ao3: I don’t actually read much stranger things on ao3 but Hollogrove, Hellcheer, and fantasy au’s are probably my top three for the fandom. I really want to see more fantasy au’s that aren’t just werewolves or vampires. I might actually write one now.

15: A song I strongly associate with otp and/or my favourite character: Pretty Brown Eyes by Cody Simpson for Hollogrove for a YouTube edit I saw. Love that song for them. Love Story by Taylor Swift is a close second.

I’m tagging @stranger-themes-blog, @carito-dorito , @mrsblackruby , @iloveyoubillyhargrove. Please don’t feel obligated to do this but I thought that I would share this with other stranger things fans.

[itswhatyougive]

Howdy! I'm Ryan and this is my brand-spanking-new Steddie blog.

Maybe one day I will make my own art/fics, but for now it's mostly reblog with a light dusting of analysis

I am an adult and may post NSFT every once from time to time, so minors kindly dni.

Ship:

Steddie, Ronance, Byler, Elmax, Lumax, Elumax, Rovickie, Jargyle , Buckingham

Do not ship:

H*rringrove and especially not M*ngrove or any combo. Not interested in romantic St*ncy or H*llcheer, and not romantic Stobin for obvious reasons. Jancy and Stonathan both just eh. Also not interested in M*leven, so on principle, I won't reblog any Steddie content that features Mike and El together lol

I'm also an 80's/90's music buff, so you may see me music posting sometimes.

Nice to meet you!!!!

[autistic-robin]

dynamics i would sell my soul to see in s5:

1. platonic madwheeler.

aside from the fact that these two are literally two sides of the same coin, i think their onscreen chemistry is a delight. they have so much in common and i feel like their repression issues are so similar. if they had one single heart-to-heart about max’s feelings for lucas you can bet your ass she’d help mike realize he’s in love with will. also— max’s perceptiveness (being in tune with/intuitively understanding other people) would really help mike beat the oblivious brain-full-of-rocks allegations. also i need them together for comedic reasons.

2. robin and jonathan + steve and argyle (with nancy supervising)

robin and jonathan’s dynamic has yet to be explored but they’re so similar that i feel like they would either be best friends or literally a hair away from ripping each other’s throats out and i need to see this onscreen for my mental stability. they’ve both got that lone-wolf, nobody-understands-me vibe and they also share the same class struggles that nancy can’t relate to or understand— i feel like even if they were enemies at first (you can’t be the dark brooding mousy-haired town pariah, that’s MY ROLE) they would warm up to each other super quickly. they’re also both really On It in terms of understanding situations/investigating shit, so. platonic dream team.

steve and argyle are also characters who’ve never been introduced and i feel like they would immediately love each other lol. they’re both himbos, both have strange homoerotic undertones in their scenes with jonathan, and they both toss their personal lives aside to be there for their friends. they also end up helping in unexpected, often unintentional ways, which is sexy of them. i feel like they would annoy the shit out of jonathan and robin and i want to see that play out. preferably while nancy glares at all of them like an exasperated mom.

3. platonic henderhop.

no thoughts just vibes with these two. all their little moments (“she’s our friend and she’s crazy!”; “teeth” *touches dustin’s teeth*; the scene in s3 where they reunite in starcourt) are precious and i wish their dynamic was more heavily explored. since they both recently lost their best friends (eddie and max) & both have survivor’s guilt, i feel like they should get a scene together talking through that pain. maybe reassuring each other that they aren’t to blame for any of it. idk man they make me emotional.

4. unhealthily codependent qpr stobin.

we simply did not get enough of them in season 4. st*ncy revival took up a good chunk of screentime that could have been dedicated to focusing on steve and robin’s friendship and i am and always will be furious about that. i think to rectify this they should make steve and robin attatched at the hip in s5. fiercely protective of one another in the way they should have been in s4, fighting tooth and nail back-to-back, saving one another. i just feel like steve’s arc needs to be about the platonic love he’s found after leaving tommy and carol in s1, and giving these two the attention they deserve would be a great way to show that to the audience.

5. joyce-hopper-murray polycule.

need i say more.

6. stonathan.

give them closure god damn it. let them talk everything out. maybe even give them a few questionable scenes like the ronance ones in s4… just. heavy implication. it’s what they deserve.

7. will and max.

platonic will and max are to platonic mike and el, which is why i feel like this duo would be unstoppable together. soft gentle secret badass + hard-edged fiery secret softie? that’s a five-star dynamic right there. they would kick ass together, they would bully mike together, they would fight the patriarchy together and i really believe that. also the fact that they’ve both been face-to-face with vecna and really experienced the horrors of the upside down could give them a deep understanding of one another and i think that’s something that deserves to be explored— especially since they’re also both abuse victims.

8. platonic elmike.

i want them to break up amicably and gently and lovingly. i want el offering mike the non-judgemental acceptance he desperately needs. i want mike apologizing profusely to el, and finally being able to love her without the hero-worship once he realizes he only loves her platonically. i want their connection to only be elevated and deepened by this understanding and closure. also i want el to softlaunch byler. that is all.

9. lucas and steve.

their mom stances are the same. steve came to lucas’ basketball games. they are both himbos. please give them screentime and further establish lucas as an important part of steve’s found family PLEASE!!!

10. nancy and mike.

what happened to their i-hate-you-but-i-would-kill-for-you sibling bond in s1? what happened to “no more secrets”? all i want is for nancy and mike to have a meaningful, in-depth conversation about their home lives, and hiding things, and not being able to love people the way they want to. and being scared to death of losing the people they do love. i want mike reassuring nancy that barb didn’t die because of her, and i want nancy reassuring mike that he won’t lose will. i also want them to glare pointedly at their dad together.

12. steve and el.

this dynamic is really unexplored and i feel like these two are paralleled so often that it would be criminal not to see them interact. a possible scenario i’d love to see: el post-finale going to steve for romantic advice (because that’s what all the kids do throughout the show) and confessing that mike hasn’t been able to tell her he loves her. steve assuring her that it’s okay, but that she should focus on being independent. that sometimes friendship and family can matter even more than a romantic relationship. that sometimes, people we think we love romantically are actually just people we really care about. and that being their friend instead of their partner doesn’t weaken that bond at all. and then el looking pensive, thanking him, and then immediately asking how he got his hair to grow out so long.

[kaypeace21]

I love how the st songs 'the first kiss, the first lie" and the "first I love you"- show the progression of the failed FIRST relationships of the wheeler siblings. The simplicity is beauituful.

1. The first kiss

- plays during m*leven's first kiss (in s1).

- plays in s2 when st*ncy kiss and she then looks at jonathan walking away

2. The first lie

- is a reference to murray saying " that's -the first lie" when Nancy lies about not having feelings for a mr. BYERS (while dating steve) . And Murray says "the second lie" is claiming she loves Steve. Aka both wheelers lying about their “love” for their first s.o (when hiding feelings for a Byers). I mean , we literally have in s3 (when Mike is dating El) Mrs wheeler not in love with her husband - while eyeing a guy named William lmao.

- s3 max says  to el about m*leven "boyfriends lie all the time". And m*leven breakup over Mike lying. El in s3 also questions whether Mike's "feelings are a lie". We also see the 2 divorced couples in the show in s1/s3 yell "don't lie to me!" Aka don't lie to your love interest - it won't end well (aka: with breakups & divorces) .Both Nancy when dating Steve & Mike when dating El - are said to be "lying" by various characters in the show (aka lying about their feelings for their Bf/gf).

3.The first I love you

-nancy in s2 says to steve "I love you too". Her first "I love you" - in the series, is to Steve. Later she says "its bullshit" as a way to say she doesn't/ never loved Steve romantically .El even says “I love you too”, similar to Nancy saying the phrase- to steve. I also don't believe El "loves" Mike romantically, either.

- Dustin says in s3 "it's bullshit" when max says m*leven is "romantic" and lucas says “they’re lying”. And similar to nancy first" i love you" to Steve being bs. Mike's first "love" is most likely bs too.

Also this song only plays 2x in s3: during El's romantic confession and during the failed st*bin confession. cough cause robin & Mike are gay ; and can't recoprocate the confessions. This is also why the composition of "the first lie" and "first I love you" sound the same: similar to st*ncy ... m*leven's love is the lie.

Both of their FIRST relationships aren't endgame: aka their first kisses, lies, and 'love you’s of said 1st relationships are shown via songs.

Not even getting into all the m*leven parallels to st*ncy & stobin.

[buck-yyyy]

an explanation of stranger things tumblr <3

okay so the thing with the stranger things fandom is that it’s VERY divided by ships- so i’m like. in one very specific corner of it yk? i’m in the crowd of literally ~74k~ people on tumblr who are focused on byler, which is primarily about analysis.

so we’ve got the film and english majors analyzing the SHIT out of cinematography, writing, micro expressions, etc etc in order to compile evidence towards byler endgame in season five. it’s lowkey really really impressive some of the stuff that people have picked up on, i can show you if you’re curious. but we just kinda stick to our own corner? there’s a conscious effort not to cross tag, and for the most part people are chill about letting other people do their thing.

then you’ve got the m*levens, who a lot of are fine and really nice, actually, but there’s a fairly decent chunk who devote way too much of their time into invading byler inboxes to spew made up shit about m*leven and rant about byler, most of which is wildly homophobic or borderline pedophilic at worst. we don’t talk about them. for a while m*levens had an issue with crosstagging, and invading the byler tag with shit, but that’s gotten a lot better, so theyre fairly chill now. so despite the shipping war we both just tend to stay in our own spaces to quietly fire shots at the other ship that are properly tagged so the other people never see it- peaceful m*leven shippers ily and you are never included in my ranting about the other members of your tag <3

then you’ve got the st*ddies. the FUCKING st*ddies. a lot of them are really cool! but a LOT a lot of them crosstag SO MUCH. they tag their fics and posts with other ships and characters that aren’t at all mentioned in order to gain more traction, meaning that a good chunk of the byler fanfiction on ao3 is really just st*ddie fanfiction that’s horribly tagged. fuck the shitty taggers, y’all SUCK.

lumax, ronance, jopper and elmax shippers are super chill, just kinda peacefully doing their thing while everyone else goes absolutely apeshit over everything.

j*ncy and st*ncy shippers are constantly at each other’s throats, that’s,, a lot to unpack.

and one other section of the overall stranger things fandom. the fuckin weirdoes.

this section includes the billy stans who are willing to forgive him for being a racist abusive fuckwad simply because he’s pretty, the stobin shippers who enjoy erasing the fact that robin is literally gay, and the m*levens who spend their time popping into byler inboxes practically drooling over the thought of a m*leven sex scene, which is the most fucked up part of relatively surface stranger things tumblr. we don’t talk about any of these people.

i’m not even going to bother talking about the h*rringroves.

and a bit more about byler tumblr because i have a lot to say on the matter- it’s kinda subdivided into smaller sections of people each doing different things, even more so than most other divisions on the overall fandom. there’s of course some overlap, and people will reblog stuff from all over the board, but for the most part people stick to creating one or two specific things. the divisions are the artists, fanfic authors, theorizers, shitposters, and debaters.

the artists and fanfic authors are self explanatory.

the theorizers are absolutely INSANE at what they do, i’m constantly amazed by how much smarter these people are than me.

the shitposters just kinda hang around making jokes and screaming about whatever new crumbs we got that day.

the debaters are.. interesting. they’re the ones that get the most hate in their inboxes, and rather than ignore it, or post it and just make fun of the asker, they end up starting huge arguments on their blog with anonymous askers. they’re pretty cool tbh? they do a really good job of summarizing all our evidence into clear concise points, it’s just. a little overwhelming to see constant fighting over in one corner.

but yeah! stranger things tumblr as summarized by a byler who enjoys poking around other tags :)

[gayofthefae]

This is what a Wheeler in love looks like

This is not

Also these are best friends btw

[gayofthefae]

If Milkvan were endgame they would have had a love triangle before and that's just on patterns. Before they started dating, season 1 or 2. Know why? Bc they LOVE their main character endgames having love triangles.

Love triangle

Love triangle

Love triangle

Steve Nancy and Jonathan got A SECOND ONE before Mike and El had ONE focusing on them

Oh, and this?

This was not a Mike and El focused love triangle. See, if you go through all the others, they were always about focused on a person NOT in a getting the girl/guy, usually over their current partner who they were not truly happy with. Hell, even in season 4 with St@ncy, which I do not personally believe to be endgame, there's no denying that that was the FOCUS!

Every couple got a love triangle to build them up to getting together. All endgame couples and even one not - since Nancy/Jonathan/Steve got one favoring both directions. And yet, Mike and El have none. 0 in which she is pining for him, competing for him, in fact, she does not participate in her love triangle AT ALL. She remains unaware of Will's involvement (kinda like Bob) then leaves with no comment on him at all for the remainder of almost the whole season.

Well, actually, there was one other main romance without a love triangle: the only other romance with no love triangle....Stobin. You know, "Platonic with a capital P".

We know in many non-romantic contexts they have their tropes and their references that they LOVE and they stick to them. We also know that if all the couples around them. And one thing we can see from that is that every endgame couple between two main characters gets:

A love triangle in which character A, who is not dating character B, is pining over character B but character C also likes or is with them. Character A gets character B in the end.

They love love triangles as BUILDUPS. Not strengthening relationships, you can't "win" your current boyfriend.

Fighting to be with someone who is in a relationship is an obstacle. Fighting to keep the person you've been dating for years from leaving you for someone else does not end in a "win", it ends in a "we have issues". It is not a payoff, it is a wakeup call.

It makes sense for someone to be choosing between you and another person if they are with that person already. It signifies cracks if they are choosing between you and another person despite having been with YOU for years.

It is not the big romantic build and payoff it was framed as for Mike and Eleven.

Every endgame main character couple has won a love triangle TO get together. Mike and El never have. The best they've done is defend their relationship against emotional infidelity that shouldn't have happened in the first place if they were so in love and strong.

[gayofthefae]

It's the same face. The "I don't wanna lose you but I'm scared that when I romantically reject you I'll lose you as a friend" face.

And it's the same message. The "authentic love is malleable and can change in nature but the love remains. If you love someone, you can date or be friends, you're just happy to have them in your life and want to keep them close" message.

ElMike parallels St*ncy AND Stobin so much because of what Steve's arc inherently is: platonic relationships are not less important or deep than romantic ones. For Steve, it's a comparison between Nancy and Robin, or the idea of Robin romantically being flexible where it wasn't with Nancy as they didn't stay close. For El and Mike, it's a comparison between different natures of their own relationship, both of which they have had. That's why they broke up. So they could experience friendship again.

[kaypeace21]

Analyzing the food in ST (narrative analysis)

 A lot of these observations are my own, some are from others (I’ll cite them in this post when I add a detail they mention), and or are very different takes on other people’s food observations. I wouldn’t take this analysis too seriously... just some fun speculation.

Let's start off with the simple eastereggs

3 Musketeers

Dustin on Halloween says 1 of his favorite candies is 3 musketeers (a candy he later feeds to Dart). Dart is short for D'arteagnean (a character from the 3 musketeers novel ).

Russian Vodka

(In s2) Murray’s fav drink is Russian v*dka  , he also has a soviet gas mask in his room- which foreshadows Murray knowing Russian (in s3).

burgers

In s1 benny gives El (who is wearing a burger-shirt) a burger to bribe her to offer information about the American lab. Similarly, hopper does the same with alexi- giving him a burger to get him to talk about the Soviet lab. We also see both (in s3) are associated with burger-king.

Cookies + green drinks

In s2 we see Billy eats Karen's (a mother's) cookies. And in s3 billy and Heather lace cookies with dr*gs to kidnap Heather's mom.

We also see next to her -green glasses- almost the same color as the Soviet’s green goo -that Erica tries to drink (and Robin rolls her eyes at Erica trying to do this). 

cigarettes + beer

We see in s1 Steve try to act cool/ be the king of the high school. Billy later tries to usurp this position of popularity. Both have a scene where (they chug the exact same beer) and smoke a cigarette .

In s1 we also have Lonnie & Hopper’s houses shown. Both men (in 2 separate locations in their home) have beer cans littered over their house -implying aloch*lism. We also see H*pper pop an *llegal p*ll and chug it with a beer (so we may infer certain things about Lonnie as well).

chicken + chips

St*ncy is paralleled to the loveless marriage of ted/karen. This is shown in a myriad ways but includes 1 scene in particular. Both ted/Steve enjoying chicken (at dinner) as both wheeler women storm from the table upset and neither get up to comfort them.

And similar to Steve (Nancy's then bf) being paralleled to her father,to show it's not endgame. El's(then bf -mike) is paralleled to her father (Hopper) in various ways, including with food eastereggs. We have both burp and eat chips on the couch.

Mike also says (after angering El) “what did I do wrong? what did I do wrong?” (2x while eating the chips) . Similar to Ted saying (after angering Karen)  “what did I do? what did I do?” (2x while eating chicken).

Also, speaking of chips. It maybe a coincidence but Keith eating cheese puffs (cheetos) while trying to get a date with Nancy- might be a loose parallel to Mike ( incorrectly complaining about El) and burping  and mentioning he can taste the cheese on the chips. Are we supposed to take El/Mike as seriously as Keith/Nancy?

ice-cream & pizza

El in s1 is given strawberry ice cream by Benny. In s3 she dumps Mike while holding a strawberry ice cream cone. We also have st*bin work at an ice cream shop and not be endgame (cause 1 is gay). Both the st*bin/m*leven confessions even parallel in s3. Both confessions have the 2 sit on the ground, both gals have a bandaid on their leg, both confessions have Dustin interrupt, and both guys say the girls make them 'stupid/crazy'. And both girls say they're not 'crazy/stupid’ for the boys. The song "the first I love you" plays when gay robin rejects Steve & when Mike doesn't kiss El back after she says she loves him. We also had Dustin trying to force stobin together (before it’s revealed 1 is gay) ,similar to Lucas trying to force m*leven together (mostly because Lucas wanted to be a supportive friend, more than actually supporting m*leven). We also have Steve unsuccesfully flirt with a lot of girls while working at the ice cream place, and (in s3) even spy on one of the girls that rejected him. Similar to El spying on Mike.

So in s1 (according to the duffers) Dustin had a crush on Nancy, so offered her pizza. And as Dustin says hi, Nancy ignores him while she's on the phone ,talking about other boys, and when Dustin offers her pizza- she slams the door in his face . So is there any foreshadowing about the fate of j*ncy in relation to jonathan (most likely) working at 'surfer boy pizza'?

Oranges

Someone (sorry can’t find og source) mentioned how Will is in front of an ORANGE flavored ‘crush’ soda can while at Mike’s place. However, no one’s pointed out that on their double-date Mike also grabs an ORANGE flavored soda from Will’s bag. Or how Will the next day, when he (unconvincingly) says he won’t fall in love -drinks ORANGE juice.Showing Mike’s/ Will’s romantic feelings are indeed related to each other. At the mall we even Have El watch a girl (holding an ORANGE julius) flirt with a boy. Right after this her and Max laugh about how ‘there’s more to life than stupid boys’ (showing again how unlike Will-she doesn’t love Mike in the way she thinks).

Now why oranges- well it’s romantic origins derive all the way back to myths of Zeus/musings of plato. But now, in (some) Spanish speaking countries- a way to say “soulmate/other 1/2″ is by using a colloquialism about Oranges.

Cherry v strawberry 

Then we have the strawberry v cherry slurpee ref.on one hand the slurpee speech is a ‘Heather’(movie) reference - where winona's character says she prefers Cheery over coke. Which Joyce also agrees with.

However we have alexi say STRAWBERRY slurpee (a cold dessert) is sh*t flavor compared to cherry. Hopper claims the flavors are the same- and alexi disagrees saying “no cherry , no deal”. And we have el that season eat STRAWBERRY ice cream (a cold dessert) right before dumping Mike. In fact in s3 she ordered a vanilla with sprinkles, but the second she trades it for the  STRAWBERRY flavor- we have El see Mike and confront him about lying and then ’dump his ass’.Aka m*leven (strawberry) is a shit flavor .  Alexi says “this taste like shit strawberry”-the same season someone describes m*lven as “bullshit” -Max’s first words after trading the strawberry icecream -are “you got to be shitting me” (as she sees Mike). And of course Max (who criticizes /doesn't like m*leven) also lives on CHERRY road.  So yes- it’s interesting that El goes to CHERRY street to get advice about her romantic relationship with Mike. And Max says to dump him ,and she does so after Max gave her STRAWBERRY icecream. so cherry=max’s advice?/ sh*t strawberry= m*leven? Not to mention El wore a burger shirt-when eating strawberry icecream in s1 / and Alexi while eating a burger spits up the strawberry slurpee- the same season El holds a strawberry icecream and dumps Mike.

We also have j*ncy fight about the case Nancy started investigating . This happened because Mrs. Driscoll gave Nancy a tip , that made her want to go investigating. This causes Nancy to get Jonathan fired- and for them to argue in the car about class/s*xism. Driscoll is a brand of STRAWBERRIES. And Nancy calls herself Nancy Driscoll (strawberry). maybe a burn about j*ncy?

Another example of cherries is in relation to the chianti. Joyce watches cheers (Ep “rescue me”) and j*pper is compared to Dianne and fraiser. Diane says as joyce is listening to the tv “He (fraiser) had a couple of sips of Chianti tonight and asked me to marry him.” At dinner Hopper orders a chianti  while being stood up by Joyce ( after he asked her out). And Dianne  and Frasier don’t marry and are also not endgame, cause she ditches him at the alter (since Diane was still hung up on her ex-in Joyce’s case Bob). Joyce pours some red wine- most likely chianti. And reminisces of drinking it with Bob. Then as joyce stands him up. Hopper tries ordering chianti and mispronounces it. The waiter corrects him and says it also has "CHERRY undertones". Hopper says "yeah whatever...chick's LOVE CHERRIES... 2 glasses." We have in the bob/Joyce flashback:  them drinking 2 glasses of (most likely) cherry chianti on the couch. However, by the end of the night (after Joyce stands him up) Hopper is drinking the (cherry) chianti alone on the laze-eboy chair. And later (during the alexi convo) when Hopper says cherry/strawberry slurpees are just sugar on ice/ the same -Joyce defends that Alexi prefers cherries over strawberries. Cause I believe she preferred being with Bob over Hopper?

We also have Erica (while eating icecream & drinking a float, similar to a slurpee) say they need her and they need to hold their end of the deal -as she eats a CHERRY.

And in the St book "rebel robin" : robin says her fav flavor of pie is CHERRY. And later (as Robin drinks a cheery soda) she calls out a guy (flirting with her) -despite the fact he's dating her friend). Later her friend says "i dumped his ass" (as a loose parallel to m*leven). heck  Robin and her friend even ate m&ms with Robin -as another parallel to m*leven being platonic.

Eggos + cigarettes VS apples (unhealthy VS healthy relationships)

I honestly found this next part SUPER interesting...

Both Mike/Hopper tell El in a paternal way to stop eating eggos so much cause they're not "real food" (cough they’re not healthy).

We also have hopper trying to eat “healthy” in s2 with an APPLE- he spits it out and then places a CIGARETTE in his mouth (something unhealthy). And later in that season (as a parallel) El grabs an APPLE, then throws it away, to eat the (unhealthy) EGGOS instead (which are highly associated with her and Mike's dynamic). Meanwhile in s2, Mike & Will are behind a rainbow-APPLE logo (aka byler is healthy).

We also see in s3 EGGOS behind her head- the same season Hopper says m*leven’s “not healthy” (as Hopper holds CIGARETTES). We even see him smoke,in s3, while M*leven were kissing in her room . 

Aka Byler (apple)=healthy relationship. m*leven= eggos/cigarettes (not healthy/ ‘not real’ relationship).

We also see at the end of s2 -before Hopper lets El go to the snowball with Mike: Hopper says he’s ‘on a diet’ and rejects the junk food offered to him by Owens. But then 2 seconds later he asks about letting El go to the snowball with Mike-Hopper starts eating the sandwich he just rejected.

By s3 he watches M*leven and eats unhealthy food /smokes to cope with m*leven’s unhealthy dynamic . 

I noticed all these little food details, but I believe @strangertheory is correct in her assumption that the increase in junk food/chemical consumption/ consumerism in s3, along with the problematic media the characters consume- correlates to the unhealthy relationships of the characters (in s3).

In fact, besides the obvious fact Eggos aren’t healthy/ ‘real food’-it correlates to her spying on her then ex Mike (in s3). In s2 El eats an eggo- and Hopper says doing that before eating a healthy dinner is ‘against the rules’. Then Mike says spying on him is ‘against the rules’ and El just says she ‘makes her own rules’. Her eating eggos before dinner /spying on Mike (is her going against rules-aka making unhealthy choices).

it’s also pretty interest that the eggo and Hopper’s beer can are presented next to each other- almost analogous to one another. s1e1 it was already established beer was associated with him not taking care of himself.

Also- the st’s official page joked they don’t believe in love at first sight (like m*leven). But in s2 l*max -was similarly to m*leven in that it became canon in 1 season, had elements of spying on the other, and both pairings danced to ‘everybreath you take’ (a song about spying on an ex). Anyways- when Lucas & Max talk we see above Max a videogame poster that says ‘LOVE AT FIRST BITE” (a pun on ‘love at first sight’-which links  romantic relationships to food)!

 However (although I don’t think byler was ‘love at first sight’) in mrs pacman- eating 7 fruit is associated with winning the game (and again byler-apples/ Will and byer is associated with the number 7)

Hopper & Joyce’s soda choices+Hopper’s cereal

We  have in s3 Hopper drink Jolt cola.Its slogan was  “All the sugar, twice the caffeine!”  Jolt according to nutrition labels had 50 grams of added sugar.Meanwhile (at the same time) we see Joyce drinking a Tab “sugar -free soda”. Tab was America’s first sugar-free soda.  Showing their TASTES don’t line up!

This in the same season he tried to romantically pursue Joyce and get her on a date- despite her initially not wanting to. It’s also the same season he doesn’t respect El’s romantic decisions either.  Aka he didn’t respect Joyce and El’s romantic decisions- so he tried to scheme for what he wanted (tbf I think by the end he learned to let them make their own decisions).

We see when Hopper breaks up m*leven he's eating ‘honey smacks’ (previously called 'SUGAR smacks'). Again associating m*leven with unhealthy/sugary foods.They were infamous for being one of the most sugary/unhealthy cereals on the market. We also notice its Mascott is a frog as another correlation to m*leven (cause Mike is a ‘frog face’).

Later after Hopper is stood up by Joyce, he while hung over on chianti, chugs milk next to the honey smacks cereal. Than Joyce comes in- and next to the cereal- she drops the heart MAGNET (off the FRIDGE) and says its lost its magnetism.

I think this is a hint about j*pper's/milevens issues (they lost the spark, so to speak). This along with how she's still hung up on Bob. As she holds the heart magnet she mentions how Hopper slipped on the magnet. And how the magnets fell at her house too- which is a callback to when she sadly puts Bob's pic back on the FRIDGE in ep 1(and also to the other scene of her thinking of Bob and wine-before his pic/MAGNET falls a 2nd time). Again she thinks of Bob after Hopper asked her out , and thinks of Bob's pic after she stands him up. And when investigating the lab/magnets she has a flashback of Bob. Her obsession with the FRIDGE MAGNETS represents her not being over Bob :(

In fact (not food related but strengthens my argument)when Hopper asks her out we see behind him a ‘radio shack’ sign ( where Bob used to work). Showing she’s still clearly hung up on Bob. 

And behind Joyce is the word ‘prescr*ptions’ showing Hopper is seeing her as crutch for his past add*ction? (or maybe as a hint to show j*pper isn’t healthy- like his p*lls?)

other cereals

We already talked about -Hopper eating cereal-with a frog on the box. aka Mike is a “frog face’ ref.

lucky charms cereal has a rainbow on the box- which triggers el to remember the rainbow room and papa. plus she drinks water- Brenner would make her drink water before using her void powers to spy on the Soviets .

We see Lucas eating coco-puffs. The story behind it was the mascot is " crazy-aka cuckoo" for the cereal. Lucas offers Mike the cereal- Mike swats it away and starts talking about El Cause he's not in (flo's words ) "crazy" in love with el-like he pretends he is. During this convo - Will says m*leven isn’t just on a break, which Max agrees with, and El laughs in turn. Mike mentions how this is proof of them ‘conspiring’ (and Will & Lucas roll their eyes). We also see right before Mike tries to claim he’s ‘crazy’ for El - Will and lucas  wandering aimlessly through a cereal aisle . And pass a ghostbusters cereal: again Will & Mike said they’d go ‘crazy together’ while wearing ghostbusters costumes. coincidently , the ghost buster cereal is also next to a diff coco cereal.

softdrinks  & candy (Hospital scene)

PS: writing the soda as ‘c*ke” because this site assumes I speaking of the non-drink version.

We have El compared to Et in s1. In the og script for Et- Eliot (mike) was supposed to give ET m&ms (however it was later changed to reeces pieces instead). Mike in s3 gives El m&ms and Will’s fav candy is reeces pieces (which Will holds in his hand as Mike gives El the m&ms). This could mean a few things ET is psychic- so since Will & El are psychic they’re associated with those 2 candies? Or m&ms (m*leven/Mike’s og love interest concept) but reeces pieces (final product used/final ship byler)? We also had in the st book ‘rebel robin’ Robin share m&ms with her FRIEND-who says about her bf “i dumped his ass.” Showing the m*leven m&m moment is probably platonic-like Robin and her pal. Aka why when giving her the m&ms he says the new look is “cool” the same phrase Hopper said about her s2 makeover-aka not romantic.

I also mentioned forever ago the meaning of the vending machine with @willthecleric -og link here.  Mike tries to claim him & El are just on a break. He tries to get the kit-kat but it won’t come out (aka the slogan for kitkat was : ‘having a break have a kitkat’). 

Gif made by @bob-belcher

AKA m*leven fight is not just a break. El knocks out all the candy BUT the kitkat.  Also what’s between the kitkat/not break (rainbow skittles & Will’s fave candy reeces pieces.) Will even handed his friends skittles/’7 UP’ in s3e1.Will is symbolically getting in the way of m*leven’s (supposedly temporary) break. Also , in relation to the 7-up,  mike’s kit kat and Will’s reeces have d3 + d4 = d&d ‘it was a 7′.

For context: we had in s1e1 Will tell Mike the 7 (roll in the d&d game)cmade the demogorgan get him, so at the end of s1 mike writes a d&d story for Will about killing a 7 headed monster (based on the demogorgan).And what defeated it was Will rolling a 14- Michael and William being 7s together (and have 7 letters in their names). Mike even makes the king (Will) give them the medals at the end of the story- him replacing princess leia with a king. Mike also at the end of s3 brings up Will to el, and says "sorry I'm acting like a 7 year old". Which is interesting cause he associated being a kid/ d&d with being with Will .And dating girls/El with growing up (he even wears similar shirts to his parents ,who are in a loveless marriage the season he dates her).

Also , interesting is that the 2 candies (associated with Will & Mike)are 50 and 60 cents : 5+6 =11. A hint 11 was in the way of byler/similar to Will inhibiting M*leven’s (temporary) break .

Or like how alexi talks about a 7-11 slurpee and says the strawberry (associated with m*leven) is sh*t. And the 7 (byler) is much more prominent on the cup than 11 (m*leven). 

@ghostgirlinsatin / @iiiris  @smalltown-byers pointed out these next few details,below. When Mike tells Will to leave so he can talk to El- behind Will is a sprite machine. Sprite has 3 meanings that are applicable to Will 

1) ‘fairy’ (a h*omophobic name  Troy called Will in s1).

 2) ‘A computer graphic which can moved on a screen as a single entity’

 (again Will is into computers and subconsciously created the mf. The mf: at this moment is merging people into a single flesh entity he-the mf- can manipulate).This 2nd detail i noticed 

3) ‘faint flash, typically red, in the upper atmosphere over a thunderstorm owing to high-energy electrons’

(the mf being associated with redlightning/affecting electromagnetic fields).

We also have behind Will: l*max sharing skittles (slogan being ‘taste the rainbow’ ( a candy Will originally gave them with the 7 up) . So technical (both the sprite/skittles behind Will) is another loose rainbow/gay ref for Will. Which also correlates to the d&d 7 / byler  story.

Also notice Mike gives El both RED & GREEN m&ms. Red were actually not a type of m&m in the 80s. However we know SPRITE(GREEN) is most likely associated with WILL (he even had a green soda earlier in the season). And C*KE (RED) has been associated with EL/her powers all the way back in s1 (when she crushed that c*ke can). In the background of this scene we see Mike behind both the (red) coke sign and (green) sprite sign .  it flashes to the coco-cola sign when the kitkat won’t come out. Then he sits between Will & El.And then he gives El- green/red m&ms.  

I believe giving red/green M&Ms represents him feeling emotionally stuck between Will and El (romantically)

-We also have little details like Mike and the boys drinking childish drinks like yoo-hoo -as Mike pretends to be a grown up “in love “ with El. Showing all of that ‘grown up’ stuff is a facade. Why he didn’t want Will to give up the d&d game-at the end of the season.

c*ke vs  new-c*ke

I actually- analyzed coke/new coke right after s3-here. Most analysis making it about m*leven v byler... i frankly disagree.  I believe it’s more complex and critiquing the artifice and purposeful superficiality/consumerism of s3/80s culture- and how it affected the characters not being their genuine selfs and being in shallow superficial romances/dynamics, as well being in a corny pro-americana plot (all during the 4th of july).

In s2 , Max criticized the s1 story while talking to Lucas- in a very meta way (saying about s1/lucas’ story. “ I really liked it. I mean, I had a few issues. I just felt it was a little derivative in parts. I just wish it had a little more originality, that’s all.”

So lucas has a similar scene but for s3.Lucas says “new coke” (which was hated by pretty much everyone at the time of its release) is better than the original coke and the whole cast disagrees with him . In April 1985, Coca-Cola decided to change its recipe, abandoning what we now know as Coca-Cola Classic for a new flavor that was not well-received. Known as “new coke”(shown all over s3 which takes place in 1985). Aka- the new upbeat setting of s3 which also takes place in 1985 (whose plot , ships, and characterization appeared shallow on the surface). It’s a meta commentary of what they were expecting people would say about s3 , which also takes place in 1985 . (Aka s1-2 are better than s3, on the surface).  If you take everything at face value and don’t look behind the surface you will not like s3 as much...So when Lucas disagrees (saying the NEW c*ke/the NEW season is better than the original ) the whole cast glares at him in disbelief , saying “What?!”And Mike argues with Lucas saying  he’s “insane” .  And El (the ‘chosen one’ of that season) angrily cuts their argument short. They even say coke vs new-coke is “the same concept” as comparing the original ‘The thing’ movie (s1-2) with it’s remake ( s3/NEW season). Luckily new c*ke-similar to the wackiness of s3 will both be discontinued.

They gave the fans “everything they wanted” (by showing how bad their ideas are- ie ruin their ships (everyone thinks are endgame) , evil russians, el is the ‘chosen one’ who is over reliant on Mike: all while still forwarding the narrative , character arcs, and showing why it’s not good for the mythos (or characters) of the show.

*Also this newcoke convo -of Lucas arguing New coke is good (and everyone disagreeing) is also a loose parallel to Dustin arguing 3 muskateers candy is good -and everyone disagreeing, too.

so NEW C#KE= S3′s superficiality. C#KE=S1-2 (AKA heart of the show)

We see in s3e1 the characters watching a film with the theme of ‘the failures of miscommunication’.

*the character boo when there’s a NEW c*ke (when between Mike & Will). And applaud the og c*ke (when between Mike & Will).

@willthecleric pointed this detail out

We see new coke brought up for certain dysfunctional ships as well ,as just being negative in general

As El SPIES on Mike , he complains about El dumping him (and is next to new-c*ke/chips around),  Karen drinks it before flirting with Billy . Lucas raves about new-c*ke much to Max’s annoyance ( the girl dumped him 6x for the 6 months together-once a month). Also the fact new-c*ke being awful is the one thing Max and Mike agree on -is hilarious.  Especially if you take into context how both their romantic partners are associated with new-c*ke (which is also associated with SPYING). And both Lucas/El SPIED on Max/Mike). And both Max (in s2) and Mike (in s3) confronted their romantic love interests about how this upset them. Also for very different reasons the other pairing associated with new c*ke : Billy/Karen didn’t work out). Also, not even getting into all the pairings being dysfunctional in s3 when it was advertised as “the summer of love” (a phrase for romantic relationships that don’t last).

Jim Hopper also grabs a whole case of new-c*ke, chips cigarettes, as he ironically eats a ‘slim Jim’ after gaining weight from eating/drinking junk food/making poor health decisions like sm*king. 

Again interesting how both Hopper & Mike are consuming unhealthy things like newc*ke+chips .And when m*ke is talking about his ‘romantic relationship ‘ with El-there’s 3 new cokes on Mike’s table . Are we supposed to believe -Lucas drank all 3 of them, or the 3 boys each had a can? If the latter , Mike drinks ‘new coke’(dates El) despite not actually being into her (new coke)- he did say about the relationship “girls think with their emotions ,not logic’.Implying Mike is dating her for logical reasons-not romantic/emotional reasons. And he sits next to Will- when saying he doesn’t like new-coke.

However , original coke (aka og seasons) never made original coke a positive symbol either

In  s4 bts pics: the video store has a poster of  “the coco cola boy’ ( an anti corporate/ ANTI C*KE  SATIRE film).  Which on the surface, people assumed  was pro-cococola. It’s about c*ke affecting small town businesses - and the film using the soda as a symbol/allegory of American imperialism .The factory is later burned down. And we see how (on the 4th of July) the mall affected small business in s3- and the mall (aka big business)  which was controlled by the ‘villains’/corrupt mayor were burned to the ground at the end of the season (the season with various coke mentions).

The whole ‘cherry over strawberry’ quote- is based on Winona’s (Heathers’) character saying she prefers cherry OVER c*ke .  When El & Max spy on their exes she spins a C*KE bottle.When El gets all the candy from the vending machine-BUT- the kitkat (break) Mike wanted (it’s behind a coco-cola sign), and then we see them stare at eachother. We also have j*ncy stare at eachother next to a soda machine with the cococola logo. Both pairings had unhealthy spying similar to L*max in s2/3 (so all 3 are associated with cokes/spying). steve also uses c*ke as an ice pack for his face (as Tommy and karen say st*ncy isn’t a good pairing/ talk about j*ncy).

other negative contexts (not pairing related): in s1 c*ke triggers el to have a ptsd flashback when she sees it on the tv because Brenner made her crush a coke can in the past. And we see her try and crush a new-coke in s3- unsuccessfully after losing her powers. c*ke is therefore directly associated with the ab*ses of the lab.  We also see c*ke signs behind El/Kali when they hurt/steal from a man who owns a gas station/ when El first meets them . And we also see og-c*ke in relation to other instances of El misusing her powers for spying-spinning a coke bottle to spy on her ex (Mike). And we also see c*ke for tensioned scenes: Like Karen confronting possessed Billy/ El looking at a pic of the missing Heather (who Billy k*dnapped).  We also see a cococoola sign when El k*lls the soviets (it’s negative because all of s3 El is doing exactly what Brenner wanted : using powers to spy , literally copied one of Brenner’s phrases, and  in Becky’s words in s3 El was  “a a we*pon against the commies.”Theres prob other examples of coca-cola I’m forgetting...

We also see 2 scenes in s3 that hint at Will subconsciously using his powers (not getting into all the evidence here) -but  this also relates to coca cola . Lucas hands Will a firecracker called ‘devils baby’ as Will is behind a pic of a demon-dog (demo-dogs of s2 + his dad Lonnie is a demon and what the demorgan is based on. in d&d the demogorgan is a demon called ‘deep father’). An earlier s3 scene mirrors this scene- that being  Dustin giving Will a (wind-powered) ‘forever clock’ whose  fan blades have og-cocoloa wrappers on them. The clock reference the past Will doesn’t want to confront regarding Lonnie (like how, in s3, Hopper says he tried to run from his past). Plus, when the demorgan escaped to their world (you can hear a clock ticking in the background) and when Will first sees the mf (the hands of the Byers’ clock move rapidly). Dustin (talking about the clock) references the apocalypse-like how Lucas in s2 ,mentions the mf and ‘doomsday’ in relation to possessed Will).

Also not food related but Dustin’s other device being “the slammer” (slang for prison) and then pointing it at Mike-as El clings on to him. Lmao Mike feels like he’s in a prison dating El. XD

In s4 bts clip-Moutain dew

There’s a play called ‘be more chill’ about the mountain dew drink: that gave me Will s4 possession vibes  ...a bit. It’s very similar to some of the s4 movies plots.  But tbh, it could just be a coincidence. HOWEVER, Shawn Levy (directior of stranger things) is the producer for the upcoming  film adaption of ‘be more chill’!

“At school, Jeremy is bullied by popular student Rich Goranski, who writes "boyf" on his backpack. His "best friend", Michael Mell (on whose backpack Rich has written "reinds"), tries to comfort Jeremy by telling him that being a loser is okay.”lmao- HIM AND MICHAEL-ARE BOYFRIENDS XD.

“Jeremy, as instructed, swallows the SQUIP alien with green Mountain Dew. When the SQUIP activates, it causes Jeremy to have a seizure in front of Christine and Jake ("The Squip Enters"). The SQUIP , criticizes Jeremy's appearance, personality, and behavior, telling him that everything about him is terrible. The SQUIP also tries to sabotage Jeremy’s relationship with Michael.”

“posessed-Jeremy (at a party) runs into a bathroom, where he finds Michael, who has crashed the party. Michael tries to warn Jeremy of the dangers of the SQUIP, explaining that someone ended up in a mental hospital after they went crazy trying to get it out of their head. Jeremy accuses Michael of being jealous of his popularity and calls him a loser. Michael, devastated and angry, locks himself in the bathroom, where he has a panic attack and sensory overload as he mourns the loss of his best and only friend (song:"Michael in the Bathroom").

“After this, Jeremy reprimands his parent for their behavior since the divorce, calling them a loser as well. Shaken by Jeremy's words, Jeremy’s parent realizes that something is very wrong - and tracks down Michael  asking him to not give up on his friend. Michael agrees.Jeremy comes to a realization: (green) Mountain Dew activates the SQUIP, while Mountain Dew (Red) deactivates it. Michael reappears from the audience with a bottle of Mountain Dew Red, which he gives to Jeremy after making him apologize for his actions.”

“Jeremy wakes up in the hospital, sharing a room with Rich, who proudly comes out to Jeremy as bisexual and is ready to finally be who he really is. Michael visits Jeremy and the two reconcile. Surrounded by his friends and family, Jeremy realizes that there will always be outside influences, but he needs to learn to make up his own mind instead. . The SQUIP reveals itself to still be alive, weakly taunting Jeremy from inside his head, but Jeremy ignores it, happily proclaiming that "of all the voices in my head, the loudest one is mine" 

*Of course the choice in Mountain dew could just be because of it’s NEON GREEN color (which resembled the Soviets chemicals in s3

[kaypeace21]

Stranger things & Door symbolism (narrative analysis)

We see doors have a lot of symbolism and different meanings but to a certain extent it’s about respecting/not respecting boundaries &privacy, and being open or closed to others emotionally.

In s2 Max picks the door of the av club (trying to easedrop on the boys)-and it goes wrong (and causes dart to escape). Similarly, in s1 Karen picks Nancy’s bedroom door lock (and Nancy does not open up to her emotionally despite Karen saying “you can talk to me”). BUT in s3, we see Karen contemplating picking Nancy’s door again-and right after she decides not to try and pick the lock and respect Nancy’s boundaries (Nancy finally opens up the door and herself emotionally to Karen).We even  see Jonathan in s1 pick Lonnie’s car door (which we know is not a healthy dynamic).

Nancy also tries telling Jonathan not to break into Lonnie’s car-similar to Jonathan trying to convince Nancy (in s3e3) not to break into mrs. Drsicol’s via opening the front door.

We also see because jonathan doesn’t respect Lonnie (can’t blame him). So,Jonathan walks in uninvited through Lonnie’s front door -to investigate-similar to what Nancy did to mrs. Driscoll in s3 . These prior examples are also similar to El  breaking into Heather’s house  by using her telekenesis to unlock the front door (for her and Max’s investigation) . Or doing the same thing to Becky in s2 (for her solo investigation ). Why we have a shot of just El, Nancy, and Jonathan peaking through the doorway.

El unlocking latches also mirrors how the demogorgan ALSO used telekenesis to unlock the front door latch of Will’s house .

In fact flayed Bruce attacking j*ncy in s3, mirrors Will first being attacked by the demogorgan in s1. Jonathan & Will both lock the doors- than Nancy & Will try calling for help- but the supernatural creature unlocks their latches and both Nancy & Will drop the phones because of this.

we also see through every season-given El’s upbringing- El doesn’t respect  boundaries with doors -since she never received it with Brenner (who would come into room whenever he pleased/closed the door and threw her in solitary) .in s2-3 she uses her powers to pick/UNLOCK doors -to open them . And in s1 she used her powers to LOCK a door- and forcibly CLOSE the door to trap the boys in the room  (akin to the closed door in solitary).

This scene directly contrasts an earlier scene of Mike respecting El wanting the door open -by having El later NOT respect the boys’ desire for the door to be open . Mike asks if she wants the door closed and she says “no” so he lets it be open. When Lucas tries to open the closed door- she closes it and says “no”. (she had other in universe reasons for doing this- but this scene is later also paralleled to Hopper in s3 locking Mike in the car against his will, when he tried leaving. Similar to el closing the door on Lucas in s1 when he tried leaving.

In s1 (with El’s ptsd and) with El not understand privacy- she wants her door open . But in s2 when wanting privacy she closes her bedroom door (as Hopper demands she open it, and she cries). in s3 she also closes her door (now wanting privacy) when kissing Mike/ being on the phone with Mike/ hanging with Max ( and Hopper again yells at her to open the closed door).  Max even criticizes Hopper by saying   “do you knock? JEEZE”And in s3 flayed Billy yells at El and co to “OPEN the g*ddamn door”. In s2/3 we also see Hopper yell for el/Murray to ‘OPEN the damn door’  (despite murray having a “keep door CLOSED”sign).

*flayed-Billy also smashes the glass on the door to try and unlock the door-similar to flayed Bruce at the hospital.

And In s2 we see Neil tell Billy to  “open the door” . In fact the first word uttered after the door is opened, is by Billy -who says “what’s wrong?”. The same thing occurs when Hopper in s3 says to “open the door” -the door opens and Mike says  “what’s wrong?” (as another parallel) .

The Byers also in opposition to this, respect doors/boundaries of Will’s: 

Will (similar to Muray’s sign) has a “no trespassing” sign on his front door in s1 (also akin to the one at Hawkins’s lab). And when Will rides by the Hawkins sign- what happens, he’s chased by the demogorgan. But Jonathan and joyce respect Will’s sign/boundaries- Jonathan knocking on Will’s DOOR in s2 before entering & Joyce ringing castle byer’s DOORbell (and getting verbal permission) before entering in s1.

However, Jonathan doesn’t respect Lonnie :

so walks in uninvited through the door ,break into Lonnie’s car, and opens Lonnie’s trunk (door) without permission. later jonathan gets angry the cops/ Hopper searched his trunk (without permission) . Sort of matching his later hypocrisy of being ok to break into Lonnie’s car but not mrs. driscoll’s house.

of course - this is because Lonnie doesn’t respect jonathan’s boundaries. again- the demogorgan is called “the deep father” in d&d. And a light-bulb is shown in Lonnie’s shed when it attacks Will. So we see Lonnie behind an open door (of Jonathan’s room) and a single lightbulb. A single red light bulb is shown -when Jonathan doesn’t respect others boundaries and develops photos. Later when the demogorgan is in Jonathan’s house- Jonathan hides in Will’s room and the ‘keep trespassing’ sign FALLS OFF the door - when the demogorgan comes near. And again we had a shot of Lonnie next to the ‘no trespassing sign’ too.

So how does this relate to romance?  Or the supernatural?

For romance

Well what does Nancy do in s3 (unlike Karen in s3)? Well she not once, not twice but 3 times- opens jonathan’s door (despite the sign saying “please,do not  enter” (when red light is on). which is similar to Will’s “no trespassing “ /murray’s “keep door closed” sign).This is despite jonathan telling her not to-over and over. We see the first time she enters and he tells her this- she says “sorry”, but after she rolls her eyes  (and than later she does it 2 more times-showing she’s not actually sorry). It shows a lack of respect for her partner and his photography (light destroys his photos). This is similar to Jonathan busting into Lonnie’s. Or El -not respecting doors in every season (and spying on her bf who in s3 was not happy about this).

Which is one of the reasons j*ncy & m*leven were (verbally) paralleled specifically in s3 .Both pairings have no trust in boundaries/privacy- Jonathan taking those pics in s1 vi*lated Nancy’s boundaries/privacy, Nancy in s3 ruins jonathan’s photos while disrespecting his boundaries,El spies on Mike in s2-3 and says she makes her own rules-and doesn’t care if it made Mike uncomfortable.

We even have in s3e3-nancy & El break into people’s houses via the front door (to show how similar they are). 

This also correlates to my other post- where I talked about the theme of spying on love interests being done by many characters too (Jonathan to Nancy in s1,s2 lucas spying on Max, max on lucas in s3, steve and rando-girl who rejected him in s3. El in s2-3 to Mike.And  on the nonromantic end -the mf /the us gov spying on our heroes, El in s1 being trained to be a spy, karen spying on Mike in s3 via phones, similar to how the government agents in s1 monitored phone calls,etc. The snowball even had  l*max/ m*leven (who that season spied on eachother ) dance to a song about a st*lking ex- while the spying mf watched them as well).

Also as another romantic contrast to doors in s3:

Mike throws El in his closet (gay ref) and closes the door (to his real emotions ). As Karen says to Mike “talk to me’ about Will  (similar to Karen saying to Nancy  “talk to me” in s1 ) .And she says to Mike “I never want you to HIDE anything from me.” (which he literally is doing). 

 Similar to Nancy ins1 who’s door was closed (to symbolize being emotionally closed off from her mom -it signifies he wouldn’t open up to Karen in s1 about Will (cause he’s too occupied CLOSING his CLOSET door for EL- and pretending to be straight). 

Than in s3e1 during m*leven kiss it pans to a the rainbow drawing (which says Mike) & a drawing of Will the wise as the lyrics “just a little more time will open closing doors”plays. After this, at Will’s house in s3e1 ( while Will claims he won’t fall in love) you hear the lyrics in the back ironically  play  “Love that was new to you-you open up the door.” Like - go back to episode 1 -it’s true. After Joyce says ‘ok;- the song gets much louder just for the lyric “you open up the door”.XD I’m not making this sh*t up (they purposely didn’t subtitle the segment panned to Will but it’s clear as day) ! The other song Mike kisses El to in ep 1 is ‘can’t fight this feeling’ (which is about a guy afraid to tell his friend of many years that he loves them-but who is afraid to do so and ruin their platonic relationship- which doesn’t fit m*leven who kissed in less than a week . the song lyric also has the phrase “if i have to ...come crashing through your door, baby I can’t fight this feeling anymore.” XD Than after “time” (3 months/last ep of s3) El kisses Mike- infront of WILL’S OPEN CLOSET door, in Will’s room, while El holds Will’s bear that comes between them. El (similar to Karen’s closet scene) even tries to get Mike to talk about his “feelings” which he avoids doing with El (/ Karen). As mike doesn’t open up to El emotionally he also doesn’t reciprocate the kiss- or say i love you back-and the same song (’the first i love you’) which played when, in s3 ,Robin rejected steve cause she’s gay- plays. And both stobin/mileven s3 confessions also heavily parallel . I mean coming out as gay used to be called “coming out of the closet”...

The supernatural: Doors & upsidedown- “ A doorway between worlds”

Murray ,in s3, (translating for Alexi) calls the gate a “doorway between worlds”. While Mr clarke also calls it a “doorway” and discusses Hugh everete’s “many worlds” theory. So later when NOT respecting Mr.clarke’s boundaries and interrupting his date - Dustin says about the supernatural/deprivation tank “why are you keeping this curiosity door LOCKED?” We also see on the st soundtrack -the song playing while alexi is explaining the upsidedown - is called “the door is opening”. And @ghostgirlinsatin​ mentioned this detail after I orginally posted this-when alexi runs away ‘neutron dance ‘ plays and the lyric is “I’ll just stay behind this LOCKED door.”

We see mr clarke stab a pencil into a plate and Alexi stab a straw into a box to illustrate this doorway. Along with Lonnie hammering a nail into a wall in an attempt to close a open door (and saying someone should be held accountable for what happened to Will). it transitions from Lonnie repeatedly hitting the nail with a hammer to Mike stabbing a plate with a pencil -like mr clarke -and explaining how Will got to the upsidedown. Because ironically- Lonnie is the cause of what happened to Will (and should be held accountable). gif visuals-here.

If you’ve read my  ‘crashcourse of evidence for Will creating the upsidedown/mf” or the longer version called the “did theory” you generally know where this is going.

Like Dustin said- the upsidedown is a “alternate dimension” a “dark echo of our world.”

Which I believe Will created based on suppressed memories. A few things appear to be triggers-bathtubs, clowns, and slamming doors. When Will first sees the upsidedown in s2- the arcade door slams open (making Will jump). And later when first seeing the mf (his front door opens by itself-similar to the demogorgan opening the door in s1). In s3 when Billy yells to open the door- Will senses the mf (and touches the back of the neck-which a season prior was associated with memories).

I think the door imagery (to some extent) represents Lonnie coming home and slamming/unlocking the front door. in s1 when Hopper knocks at Joyce’s door aggressively (she says ‘go away lonnie’). Demogorgan in d&d also means ‘deep father’ & Nancy says the demogorgan is like a “lion” (lonnie’s name means lion). And just all the other connections to the demogorgan and Lonnie I talked about in my ‘crashcourse post’ (baseball, hunting,lights,etc). And the fact Billy and el (who are heavily paralleled to Will) also have Dads yelling to “open the door” is  suspicious too.  I mean Neil calls his son William a “f*g”, and makes him play baseball -just like Lonnie did to Will. And Neil also yells for William (Billy) to open his door, before hurting him. So I could see  Lonnie doing that to Will in the past ...

We even have El see a red door- while in the void

Heck- in s2 , Dr owens said Will’s anniversary affect would make him remember tra*matic memories and OPEN his neurological flood GATES(  and these openings to the upsidedown are also called GATES and DOORS)!