#hentty | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

willthewise7 · 5 months

Text

Henry Creel and Patty Newby

As requested by many, I will be detailing in the form of a long analysis the relationship and, at first, the friendship that Henry and Patty had. Again, if you do not wish to have spoilers, please do not read on!

Firstly, Henry was misunderstood by his whole family. Alice said that it was "not Henry" that was in the house, just a random boy. Virginia was terrified of Henry, especially after the incident that occurred in Nevada that contributed to them moving to Hawkins for a fresh start. Finally, his father, Victor, was very oblivious to many different things and was generally absent. On his first day of school he was pretty much called weird and not listened to by any of his classmates. The only person who he connects with is Patty Newby.

They form an instant emotional bond with each other. You can feel the chemistry between the two of them. The dynamic has been likened by many to that of Mike and El when they first met. However, I do tend to disagree with this statement. Mainly, due to the fact that, Henry and Patty seemed to form an instant and deep emotional connection. They both were on the same wavelength. Patty is convinced that Henry is good and keeps reassuring him of that throughout the play. I'll get to his powers further on in this post.

After they first meet at school by the locker room, they form an instant bond. Henry talks about his Spyglass that he has and how he likes Superman. He even does the Superman pose and nerds out to that. Patty finds this funny and mentions how she loves Wonder Woman. They both bond over these topics. Before they leave the locker room they say an awkward goodbye and Henry walks off annoyed with himself that he made himself look weird and awkward in front of Patty.

The next time they meet is at a rehearsal for Joyce's play that she is organising. She is desperate to leave Hawkins and therefore she plans to do so through a scholarship. However, the play has to be successful for that to happen. Anyway, back to the story. As Patty is auditioning for the lead role and starts to sing, Henry jumps in out of nowhere and tries to help her gain confidence. He has a go at singing, not to an amazing ability, and everyone in the audience laughs at him. Again, you can see the bond as Henry is trying to help her and genuinely has feelings for her. They have further moments in the play where Henry helps her to calm down and sing, which leads us to the next scene they have together.

It's church day, where everyone goes and attends. The Creel family arrive and Henry hides in the backroom of the church. At the back he finds Patty doing the same thing. Patty is nervous to go out on stage and Henry tries to calm her down. They give confessions and Henry says how that he is not right and there is something wrong with him, he has some sort of power. Patty again tells Henry that he's good and maybe he can use his powers for good. Following that, Henry creates a vision for them both where the church turns into a dance. Patty has the lead role of singing and is adored by everyone who reacts warmly to her performance. During the vision Henry tries to put his arm around Patty to try and get closer to her, but Patty gets caught up in the positive chaos of the vision. Henry gives her confidence through his powers, demonstrating that he can use them for good purposes. He is not inherently bad.

They spend literally everyday together, they really have a strong bond. Not only was it romantic love, they had a true friendship. Their next crucial scene together was during a date that they had at Melvalds. This is where Henry reveals to Patty that he can read people's minds and see what they're really thinking. He tells Patty that Karen thinks Ted is an idiot and Ted is afraid of Karen. Also, that most of them in the place were pretending to like it, really they were bored. Patty is astonished by this and also laughs. Shortly after this, Patty and Henry share their first kiss together.

Unfortunately, the next part is where things start going downhill for their relationship. It's mainly all because of what was going on with the Mindflayer, plus everyone else not being accepting of them being together. When I say not being accepting, I don't mean due to it being a race issue. It was simply that they were not approved of being together by some. Particularly Brenner who wanted Henry for himself, he saw Patty as an obstacle to controlling Henry. After Henry broke out of the HNL, due to Virginia contacting Brenner to take him there, Brenner wanted to find him again. One way was through finding where Patty was as he knew Henry would go for her.

Anyways, let's get back to the story again. Patty convinces Henry to look for her biological mother and Henry is not keen. He knows this could go wrong if the Mindflayer possessed him. They meet up and go to Henry's attic to start the search her mother. Patty mentions how it is cold in the attic, which Henry says that he likes it cold, which is what Will says in Season 2. He manages to find her performing and singing. Patty is so happy to hear this news. However, like Henry feared, the Mindflayer managed to take him over whilst he was in the void looking for Patty's biological mother. Patty gets frightened when Henry tells her to leave so that she doesn't get hurt. Patty's father, Principal Newby, finds them in the attic. To give context to this, Victor Creel goes to speak to Mr. Newby after he mentions how he should know that Henry and Patty are dating. He therefore decides to come over as he is not happy with this. So Mr. Newby walks into the attic at the wrong time. He tries to get Patty away from Henry which leads to him being attacked and almost killed. He is lifted up into the air. Patty manages to encourage Henry to take back control and beat the Mindflayer by telling him she loves him. Henry manages to break through the barrier and tell her that he loves her too. This stops the situation and saves Patty's father. However, he suffered the consequences of the attack by falling through the attic floor when he was dropped, alongside being blinded and seriously injured from the fall.

When we see Mr. Newby lying on a hospital bed, he suddenly wakes up after being visited by Patty. He tells her that he was attacked by a monster and that he saw it. He goes on to describe how Henry saved him from the monster. He proceeds to draw an image of what the Mindflayer looks like, detailing the shape of a spider looking dark shadowy creature. He hands this drawing over to Patty.

After these events, this is when Virginia sends Henry away to the HNL with Brenner. Later on after Patty learns that Henry did in fact save her father, she returns to the Creel house to try and find Henry. She calls out for him and manages to communicate with him. Henry contacts her through the void and they both are able to speak to each other. Patty tries to convince him that he's still good and she believes in him. She encourages him to return home and to play alongside her, as they auditioned to do so, in Joyce's play. He commits to this and decides to return, leaving the HNL. He rejects Brenner's attempt to try and make him kill another man and leaves the lab. Brenner tries to stop him and suffers the consequences of nearly being killed.

Brenner has a significant influence over Virginia Creel during the play and provides her with medication throughout, in the form of tranquillisers. He convinces her that Henry needs help. He goes to Virginia after Henry breaks out of the lab and tells her that he escaped. Virginia is immediately worried that he is a threat. Brenner reassures her that he can control him but needs to find out where he could be. He suspects that someone is holding Henry back and asks Virginia about this and she tells him. Although before we get to this point, we need to mention the Creel massacre. This occurs before Henry sets off for the play and to see Patty. When he returns home, he reads his family's mind and sees that Virginia has been contacting Brenner and talking about how Henry has never been good and is willing to give him up for good. He does so through seeing her memories. During this moment, Henry is very angry which allows the Mindflayer to take over. During emotions of hate and fear, this is when he loses control. We can visually see Henry having some sort of fit inside his mind. On the stage of the play we see two versions of Henry to demonstrate that he is stuck in his own mind. Meanwhile, the Mindflayer is controlling his physical body and can be seen hovering over the room. After which, Virginia and Alice are killed. Henry then leaves for Hawkins High to see Patty, hoping to get there before Brenner finds him and her.

Before finding Patty, Henry runs into Joyce. who voices her suspicion that Victor is dangerous and was behind the animal killings in Hawkins. It could be argued therefore that this gave Henry the idea to frame his father. Before she explains who she is suspicious about, Henry is worried she is on to him. So the Mindflayer starts briefly coming through until she reveals that it's Victor. Due to this, Henry calms down and he takes back control.

Moving on now, Henry finds Patty on stage but is momentarily joined by Brenner. Brenner attempts to convince Henry that Patty is the thing that's holding him back from his true potential. Patty tries to convince Henry to not listen to what Brenner is saying to him. Brenner also tries convincing Patty that Henry is a killer and is dangerous, that he killed his family. Henry tries dismissing these claims but he starts to get mad and angry at Brenner. Brenner knows what he is doing and is trying to incite this anger to get him to cause a reaction. Brenner is so deranged that he wanted Henry to keep killing to get stronger powers. The Mindflayer therefore starts to takeover and Henry does his best to try and stop it. Unfortunately, it does not work and he loses control. Patty falls from the rafters after the Mindflayer forces him to push her.

Henry basically is now back at the HNL and appears to try and contact Patty through the void. This is where we then see a scene where Patty finds her mother. So she did survive, this is where it's unclear whether she tried to find Henry again or not. Maybe she can help end this story.

#byler #stranger things 5 #henry creel #patty newby #stranger things the first shadow #tfs spoilers #hentty

75 notes · View notes

aemiron-main · 5 months

Text

“Gay Henry Truthers Are Erasing An Interracial Relationship During The 50s”: No We Aren’t, The Struggles Of An Interracial Relationship Are Still Very Much Present Even With Gay Henry & You’re Actually The Ones That Are Erasing Key Aspects Of Both Henry and Patty

So, it’s weird to see people talking about how gay Henry analysis is “erasing an interracial love story in the 50s” as if people arent also trying to erase the story of a gay kid in the 50s & the HNL conversion therapy allegory & also erase the way that Patty’s feelings specifically being puppy love is a key part of her reclaiming her sexuality/rebelling against Mr Newby, and also the fact that even with gay Henry, the struggles of an interracial relationship are still very much present.

I just think it’s a bit odd and reductive to try and reduce it down to “gay Henry headcanons are erasing an interracial love story,” when a.) it’s not just a headcanon, it’s analysis of canon, and b.) part of Henry’s story is very much being gay and the heavy heavy conversion therapy vibes/comparisons with Hawkins Lab and Brenner and how that ties into Brenner and Henry’s dynamic AND the fact that the struggles of an interracial relationship in the 50s are STILL PRESENT with gay Henry, I’m not erasing a single thing in that regard- Henry still stands up for Patty/joins in with her at the audition after Walter makes racist remarks & Henry still goes on his dates with her & they still experience all of the same things that they would experience if Henry was straight- except with some added queecoding on top.

So, yeah. Enjoy Creelby all you want, but I do think it’s strange to try and twist the fantastic story we have here re: gay Henry and Patty & intertwining queerness with interracial relationship & the concept of “being normal,” into an “us vs them, you’re Morally Wrong for believing that Henry is gay,” debacle.

Like, could they be more obvious than the “I like the gay ones?” line from Patty? It’s not subtle. Not to mention the stuff that IS subtle re: Henry’s queercoding (him basically having his “boys only,” moment when he’s in the boys bathroom & Patty comes in & he says she’s not supposed to be in there), etc etc.

And also, ignoring the queer side of things also erases the intricacies of Henry and Patty’s dynamic with their parents. Here’s why:

So, I talked about this in my other post-TFS gay Henry post, but part of Henry’s reason for having a relationship with Patty/going on dates with her etc is due to Virginia’s emotional incest and the fact that Virginia doesn’t want him to be with Patty & that Virginia is jealous of Patty.

Now, you might be saying “but Em, isn’t rebelling against Virginia and being with Patty just a testament to Henry’s romantic love for Patty?” To which I say: no! And I say “no,” because Henry’s key “romantic” interactions with Patty happen after Virginia tells him not to be with her- it’s not that he was already asking her out on 5 million dates and super interested prior- he was happy to be around her & trying to be “normal,” etc prior to Virginia’s complaints about him being with Patty, but the main date etc happened AFTER that conversation between Henry and Virginia. Henry’s date etc with Patty is a response to Virginia’s controlling behaviour and emotional incest and Virginia’s jealousy towards Patty- Henry straight up asks Virginia if she’s jealous of Patty after Virginia says that she doesn’t want Henry around patty anymore.

So, this demonstrates how Henry may have not pursued a romantic relationship with Patty if he wasn’t a.) trying to be normal (which, Virginia literally makes him repeat “My name is Henry Creel and I am normal,” all the time), and b.) if he wasn’t trying to rebel against Virginia’s emotional incest and controlling behaviour.

And there’s also the Brenner aspect of all of this. I talked about this in another post, but in TFS, many of Brenner’s conversations with Henry tie heavily into themes of sexual assault and conversion therapy in a way that’s SPECIFICALLY tied to Henry being gay and Brenner talking about how Henry can never be “normal,” specifically in the context of going to prom/being around girls, and Brenner also talks about how “I know you like it,” re: trying to claim that Henry likes killing, but it’s written and set up in such a way that the subtext is definitely tied to “I know you like being assaulted by a man/by me because you’re gay and nothing can fix that/I’m not trying to fix you, because you can’t be fixed, and I know you like it,” which then later ties into Henry and stockholm syndrome vibes and Henry wondering if he belongs in the lab, and again, that stockholm syndrome and self-hatred vibe with Henry is specifically tied to his queercoding.

And when it comes to Patty, trying to act like her and Henry are this end-all-be-all true, reciprocated romantic love & ignoring the references to it being “puppy love,” and the direct Mileven parallels erases a key part of Patty’s dynamic (and trauma) regarding Mr. Newby, as Patty is afraid to perform in The Dark of the Moon not only because of the sexual aspect of the play, but SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE Father Newby would have an issue with her performing in a play with explicit material.

So, Patty’s puppy love with Henry/her feelings for him/going on dates with him are also rooted in rebellion against Mr Newby, just like how Henry going on dates etc with Patty is rooted in rebellion against Virginia and her emotional incest. Ignoring Henry’s queerness & how Virginia’s emotional incest pushes a queer boy towards being in a relationship with a girl AND also ignoring the way that Patty rebels against Father Newby by pursuing a rebellious puppy love relationship rather than “waiting for marriage/waiting for a relationship that’s Approved By The Church And Me Newby/a True Love Moment TM” really reduces the depth of both characters.

Like, one thing I actually really enjoy about the puppy love side of Creelby on Patty’s behalf is that Patty doesn’t have to justify her relationship with “oh but it’s True Love-“ instead, she’s simply doing it because she wants to, because it makes her happy, she’s finally getting to make her own choices and break away from Mr, Newby’s controlling behaviour. She doesn’t plead with Mr Newby about how “oh, it’s True Love, please let me be with Henry, I want to marry him and spend my life with him-“ instead, she takes matters into her own hands, and enjoys her little puppy love/fling without that “justification,” of “oh but it’s True Love,” and without continuing to try and appeal to both religious standards and Mr Newby’s standards.

And again regarding how Patty’s feelings for Henry/going on a date with him etc are tied to Patty’s dynamic with Mr Newby, Patty even has a line that she says to Henry, where she says “what are you, my dad?”

So, not only do we have the familial coding there coming from Patty, but we also have a connection between Henry and Mr Newby created via that line, which reinforces what I said about how Patty initiating a relationship with Henry isn’t just because she’s “deeply romantically in love with him,” but instead, is also very very connected to Patty’s dynamic with Mr Newby & the way he punishes and controls her & the effect that Mr Newby has had on Patty’s expression and understanding of relationships and sexuality.

There’s also the emotional incest aspect between Patty and Mr. Newby, as Mr Newby’s wife left him for Ted Wheeler’s dad- and so, Patty ends up filling that void in a weird way, and Mr Newby treats her more like a controlled wife than he does a daughter/child.

So, yeah. It’s just a little frustrating to see people try and claim some sort of moral highground re: interracial relationships and Creelby vs gay Henry while also ignoring the conversion therapy aspect of Henry’s story and how that plays into his dynamic with Brenner & Brenner’s abuse towards him, and while also ignoring the way that gay Henry/puppy love Creelby plays into both Henry and Patty’s dynamics with their parents. Frankly, that sort of attempt at moral highgrounding comes across as a “grasping at straws/trying to cope and find a moral highground because the evidence supports gay Henry,” approach, which again, is frustrating.

Like, gay Henry doesn’t erase the interracial aspect/struggles of Creelby at all- but people are trying to use Creelby’s status as an interracial relationship to sweep Henry’s heavy handed gay coding under the rug and sweep the fact that Patty’s feeling being puppy love is a key pert of her character under the rug, and prove that Creelby is a reciprocated, endgame-esque romance, which not only then erases key aspects of Henry and Patty’s characters and dynamics with their parents and with Brenner, but also frankly comes across as people trying to use the struggles of an interracial relationship as a way of “proving,” that a ship they like is endgame, while also erasing key aspects of those characters & it just feels disingenuous to try and use the fact that Patty and Henry are an interracial relationship as justification for why they’re endgame/as an attempt debunk gay Henry when that doesn’t work & when they’re reducing the depth of Patty and Henry’s characters in the process.

Like, is it just me, or is it weirder to flatten out the characters of an abused black girl and an abused gay boy simply because you want Patty and Henry to be endgame?

Hell, I ship romantic Creelby in a fanon way!! I have a bi Henry au!! But when we’re talking about analysis & trying to claim some sort of moral highground in that regard, I think it’s really important to consider what elements of character dynamics and story get erased when we remove key aspects such as the puppy love dynamic and Henry’s gayness.

#stranger things #henry creel #the first shadow #hentty #creelby #tfs spoilers #party newby

74 notes · View notes