Why Shayfer James' song "Your Father's Son" reminds me of Mike Wheeler <3
TW: discussion of self-harm/self-endangerment & mental issues
Starting off with 1st verse:
Just the start and I'm already reminded of how loose lipped Mike can be.
First line, "Wielding words like aimless arrows": I see this as meaning the words being thrown don't have much heart behind them or miss their target.
Best example I have of this for Mike is obviously in S3. Focusing on Will and Mike: Mike begins avoiding D&D, games, his friends, etc, telling Will he wants to mature and such. Which, while this hurts Will, his words don't snap him yet.
Then the next lines of the song "It could be days, it could be hours // But every arrow's got to land" can imply that eventually an arrow is going to land on it's target, which:
...Yeah. It did eventually.
[TW applies below]
Then the lines "If every second has a fiddle // Does every razor have a wrist?" could be related to Mike's relationship with El and then depression.
"play second fiddle" is defined as "take a subordinate role to someone or something in a way often considered demeaning." by Oxford Dictionary
Mike and El's relationship has a perceived power imbalance. He's insecure in their relationship. Perhaps he also feels like he's playing a second fiddle in their relationship? (Posts on Mike's insecurities: 1 2)
Now the second half. While I don't believe Mike physically S/H's at all, I do believe he has self-endangerment/impulsivity issues or other issues that mentally hurt himself which could relate to that line (Posts on that: 1 2 3 TW: more in-depth discussions)
[End of TW]
Chorus:
Most of us know Mike has conformity issues (1 2 3)
Most of us also know Mike parallels his parents (1 2 3 4)
The thing about his parents is...they went with what society told them to do. Now they're in an unhappy place in their lives and not impacting the story directly like. at all. Plus a majority of the GA probably forgot one or both of their names ("never be much of anyone")
So if Mike continues down this path of being exactly what people want from him. Then he's going to be exactly like his parents. Going to be his father's son.
2nd verse:
Starting with the first part: "Now you've more than you can hold"
Now, Mike is stressed, y'know? He's at most like 15 in the series and he's the "leader" of a party who's going through basically hell. On top of that, he's struggling with his identity and relationships and so much shit teens usually go through.
He has more than he can hold on his plate, so he wants to get away from those feelings. To do that he becomes mean. He's breaking under the pressure and it's showing.
Then, the lines "And you're gambling with a giant // From some fairytale you told"
These can not ONLY be read as Mike making("telling fairytales about") issues("giants") that he then struggles("gambles") with
but can ALSO be read as giants:
That are named after fairytales they told (D&D campaigns)
Then the bottom lines: "And every tock will have a tick // It fits it so well" which is just about conformity again to me.
Mike was born as a white middle-class boy (tock) so he has a future (a tick) that would just fit him so well. It's not a question of what tick would actually be best for him, just of what fits.
Lastly, bridge:
This is just relating to the first point again.
He's pulling away from his friends so god help him when he needs them. Of course his friends still love him and will come for him, but if you pull away enough do you feel like you can go to them? (1)
This is probably not the original meaning behind those lyrics, obviously, but...death of the author y'know?
[lyrics]
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so my younger cousin is flying in to visit from brazil on sunday, and will be staying here for like, the entirety of july. which, don't get me wrong, is super cool! i love the kid! but it felt like a super weird move, considering his parents are the SUPER strict and borderline helicopter parents. even the smallest prank/roughousing with him/his little sister would lead to a strict talking to from his parents, he couldn't ever do anything without their clear permission, that sort of stuff. so letting him fly at alone at 16 to a whole different country and stay there for a whole month seemed WILDLY out of character. additionally, it just felt like a super last-minute trip. it's not like we have any plans to do when he gets here, and the flight itself and stuff only got booked like, midway through june.
and i was talking to my mom about it, kind of trying to nudge some answers out of her, and after a while she went, "yeah, i think they're sending him over here to get away for his boyfriend. see if the distance breaks them off." which, first of all, surprised me because last i checked, they didn't KNOW he had a boyfriend. literally everyone in the family did EXCEPT for them because while that entire side of the family being semi-conservative, his parents (mostly his dad) are EXTREMELY old-fashioned. so clearly something already went wrong. and considering the only reason the rest of the family knew is because one person found out and it spread like wildfire, i have a sneaking suspicion he wasn't the one to tell them, either.
and second of all. they're sending him HERE. to try to make him forget his homosexuality. i couldn't do anything but just wordlessly gesture to the multiple pride flags scattered around my room, then to myself, because really? he has like two other cousins in the us and they're sending him to me? honey i am about to introduce this kid to queer scenes you have never even heard of. he'll be returning home with labels only shrimp can perceive
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