#mike hopper contrasts

[gayofthefae]

Even if Will hadn't encouraged Mike, that moment wouldn't have felt right. Because no matter how you spin it, saying those words in that situation cannot be unprompted. And to be genuine, to convince me that you just wanted to say it from the heart, it has to be.

I was just thinking about why Hopper's apology in season 2 over the radio felt so much different despite that common "I hope she can hear him" energy. That's what it was.

Even in the shed, this was there. When Joyce spoke, they didn't know this was something that would help. She was just trying it and absolute worst case scenario, getting through to him to say goodbye and make sure he knew he was loved. She did not know it would help. Jonathan's joining was also unprompted because he was under no obligation to. His mom already got it covered and could have kept talking. The same is true for Mike, even the way he starts talking from out of the shadows emphasizes the unexpected and thus voluntary nature of it: he did not need to do that. He was not the only one capable of doing and therefore it was not required of him. He just wanted to and thought he should. Even in knowing it could help, he still wanted to help in that way and chose to be vulnerable when he was not the only one that could. My example is always that Hopper was not close enough to volunteer like that and so he didn't, despite being present.

The key difference I finally pinpointed is that no matter what, those stakes will always keep the words from feeling voluntary. However good it was, those words had an undeniable ulterior motive. And by interrupting him with the pizza earlier so we can't know for sure what he was going to say, the writers ensured that.

[jonathanbyersphd]

Something something the specificity of the Jancy "that's why I love him/her" scene versus the vagueness of the milkvan "I love you" monologue

[whynotimtired]

Thinking about how in st2 Mike pitched his idea to set the hub on fire as "distracting the demodogs so El has a chance of getting in there and closing the gate" when what mike REALLY succeeds in doing is being the breaking point for the mindflayer in wills exorcism. His plan was the thing that finally broke the hold and FORCED the mind flayer get out of him. He saved Will. Hopper was the one who ended up keeping the demodogs away from El.

[conflictofthemind]

Thoughts on "Escape from Camazotz"

Oppressive Suburbia, Conformity, and Season 5 Themes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[will80sbyers]

Byler endgame parallels GIFs masterpost:

Byler & Rovickie parallels

Byler Vs. M*leven - Stupid & Crazy code + Jopper

Byler & M*leven contrasting parallels

Mike reacting in the same way for El & Will

Byler, Lumax, Jancy find their lovers + El saves herself

M*leven/St*ncy/Boyce/Tedren kiss at the start of the season = not compatible enough

M*leven/St*ncy parallels -> it's not true love

St*ncy & Mil*ven fight "What is wrong with you?"

Mike/Ted/Steve parallels

Byler & Jopper parallel in s3

Byler & Jopper parallels

Byler/Jopper/Rovickie looking at the love interest

Mike and El don't understand each other anymore

All the couples holding hands in the show

Byler & M*leven: Understanding each other Vs. Not

Mike grieving for Will & El in the same way

Mike hearing Will & El on the radio when they are missing

Mike thinks Will & El died and then gets a hug from his mom

Will & El lose consciousness and Mike is worried for them

Mike fights someone to defend Will & El

Mike is worried for Will & El after something UD related happens

Mike makes the same love expression looking at El & Will

Byler & Jancy: the Byers make the Wheelers smile

Byler & Jopper: Joyce and Mike romantic moment + guilt

Byler & Jopper: Hopper and Will look at Joyce and Mike from a distance

M*leven & Stancy: something romantic happens to you when your best friend is being killed

Byler/Jancy/Jopper: roadtrip together looking for someone

St*ncy/M*leven/Boyce: make out at the start of the season because they are not compatible long term

Mike & others trying to change themselves and seem cool for their partners -> not true love / not working out

M*leven/Jancy/Lumax/Jopper/Byler: denying a romantic implication

The interruption trope being used for all the romantic couples

Willelmike love triangle framing

Byler & Jancy parallels part 1

Byler & Jancy parallels part 2

Byler/Jancy/Jopper/Lumax talk about killing the monsters

Love triangle framing + El breaking free from it

Byler/Jancy/Jopper/Lumax sharing a nice moment together... near a vehicle

Byler & Lumax parallels part 1

Byler & Lumax parallels part 2

Byler/Lumax/Jopper thinking they lost someone they love

El choosing to leave Mike behind

Steve/Dustin/Mike idealizing someone they think they love

to continue...

BYLER PARALLELS WITH OTHER SHOWS:

HEARTSTOPPER

Byler & Nick X Charlie parallels

Mike is trying to look cool for El and not being himself like Tao was briefly

Nick's speech about heteronormativity fits Mike and his behaviour on the show

HALF BAD

The same framing of the queer love triangles

I AM NOT OKAY WITH THIS

to continue....

PARALLELS FROM THE IT SAGA

Byler & Benverly

[carolperkinsexgirlfriend]

Steddie Upside-Down AU Part 98

Part 1 Part 97

It’s fucked up, but Steve’s never been happier. He’s not sure how much of it’s the drugs, and how much is the relief, but it sits like a weight on his chest that he never wants to shake off.

There’s a constant stream of visitors. Ms. Byers, who’s taken to cupping her cool hands around his face and kissing his forehead each time. Uncle Wayne, who’s calluses are starting to become as familiar as Edde’s to the skin of Steve’s palms.

Barbara and Carol, attached at the hip in a way he can’t parse. He doesn’t think he was gone that long. How did this happen? But he knows that flirty smile, knows what his best friend’s fingers trailing over Barbara’s shoulders means.

Tommy doesn’t come. It shouldn’t hurt, but – But. Something inside him tightens and contracts. It might just be his heart.

Jonathan and Nancy come together. Jonathan’s bubbling over with apologies, contrite in contrast to Nancy’s fuming.

“You should have called me,” she says, curly hair practically raising with the power of her ire. “I could have helped.”

From his seat by Steve’s side, Eddie huffs and puffs and barely holds back his yell. He doesn’t see the way her fists are curled, can’t see past the veneer of control that hides the worry behind it.

“I was possessed, Nance,” Steve replies, smiling up at her. His face hurts with all the smiling. “I didn’t even know who you were.”

She sputters and stalls while Jonathan stands beside her, shooting worried looks out of the corner of his eyes.

He can almost feel the hole they’d left in his brain. The shape of their outlines at high school parties and in line at the cafeteria. Nancy’s firmly raised hand, Jonathan’s slumped shoulders. It’s filled now.

He wants to fill it with more memories, so many that the bad ones just shake loose.

“Oh, alright,” she huffs, settling down on the other side of the bed, far away from Eddie’s twitching fingers. “But that won’t work as an excuse next time.”

The kids are easy; they come in a pile, stacking against each other in his room’s doorway until Dustin comes pouring in, everyone else after him. They all crowd onto his bed with no regard to his personal space. Even Mike slinks onto the end to sit with sullen shoulders and shining eyes. 

They’re like puppies, yapping over each other for his and Eddie’s attention. Will’s planning a new campaign, and his eyes light up when Steve agrees to play.

Chief Hopper comes next with a girl hiding behind his back, clutching onto the hanging lapel of his jacket. Her head peaks out behind him, curls springing wildly from her scalp as she smiles shyly at Steve. 

“I know you,” Steve says.

The chief huffs, as the beams, and says her part in their little play, “I found you.”

Steve shuffles up in his bed, not looking as he feels Eddie prop up pillows behind his back. He holds his arms out and open, waiting even as his muscles begin to strain. 

She shuffles out from behind Chief Hopper, head down as she climbs onto the edge of his bed, butting her forehead against his chest like a cat. He puts his arms around her, slow as he feels what he’s come to find out are burns of varying degrees. No one will tell him what they’re from, but Carol had looked especially shifty when she’d witnessed the bandages being changed. He elected not to ask.

The girl doesn’t put her own arms around him, just lets her hands settle into her own lap and leans in. 

“You really are a supergirl, huh?” Steve asks, reaching his hand up to play with her curls. His splinted finger knocks against her skull once before he holds it back as best he can. 

She leans back to beam up at him, eyes alight. “You can call me El”.

They probably both look stupid, smiling at each other, one of them all banged up, the other in what must be Chief Hopper’s cast-offs. 

Hopper clears his throat when the silence lingers. He stomps in his clunky work boots over to the seat beside Eddie and sinks down, almost reclining into it despite its straight back. Eddie curls away from him, glaring at the man like he’s got a live grenade. 

Or like he’s been searched for drugs before and doesn’t want the fuzz to be sniffing around. Steve laughs, loopy and pleased while they both look at him with the same furrowed brows and worried frowns.

“You alright, kid?” Hopper asks gruffly, reaching out to put his meaty hand on Steve’s shoulder.

Steve winces, feels the bandages pull until Hopper drops his hand. 

“Did you know she was real?” Steve asks, reaching out to pull one of El’s bounciest curls atop her head. It all goes straight and taught and then bounces back into place.

Hopper snorts. “Where do you think she’s been living?”

“Oh,” he replies. 

His brains clicking in his skull, weighed down by morphine and too much sleep, but when his gaze flickers around the room, he recognizes the awkward grimace on Eddie’s lips.

“You knew,” Steve accuses, finger pointed toward Eddie’s face, to emphasize who he’s accusing. His finger shakes unsteadily until Eddie snatches it out of the air and pops it into his own mouth to bite down. “Ow, what the fuck?”

Eddie’s dimples pop around it as he nibbles into the knuckle one more time before letting go with a suctioning pop. “Don’t be mad, Stevie,” he weedles, looking up at Steve through his lashes with wide, innocent eyes, even as his prominent dimples give away his amusement.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” 

Steve’s slightly damp finger flicks Eddie’s nose until he hisses and snatches Steve’s hand to interlace their fingers with a shrug. “I thought it would be funny.”

It’s hard to hold a grudge when El giggles, light and airy as it breathes life into the room.

“He’s got you there, kid,” Hopper replies, reaching out again, this time to ruffle El’s hair. 

Steve huffs, “whatever, man,” but his lips are little traitors and they can’t stop from turning up at the corners. “See if I introduce you to the next superhero we meet.”

Eddie squeezes his hand, familiar callouses scraping against Steve’s palm. “You’ll introduce me, Stevie.” he replies. Steve closes his eyes as he feels warm lips on the back of his hand. “You love me too much.”

Steve closes his eyes against the feeling, still smiling even as his healing skin pulls, and his finger feels unwieldy and wrong, and his head aches and floats up toward the ceiling. 

Yeah, he really does. 

Taglist: @deany-baby @estrellami-1 @altocumulustranslucidus @evillittleguy @carlprocastinator1000 @hallucinatedjosten @goodolefashionedloverboi @newtstabber @lunabyrd @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @manda-panda-monium @disrespectedgoatman @finntheehumaneater @ive-been-bamboozled @harringrieve @grimmfitzz @is-emily-real @dontstealmycake @angeldreamsoffanfic @a-couchpotato @5ammi90 @mac-attack19 @genderless-spoon @kas-eddie-munson @louismeds @imhereforthelolzdontyellatme @pansexuality-activated @ellietheasexylibrarian @nebulainajar @mightbeasleep @neonfruitbowl @beth--b @silenzioperso @best-selling-show @v3lv3tf0x @bookworm0690 @paintsplatteredandimperfect @wonderland-girl143-blog @nerdsconquerall @sharingisntkaren @canmargesimpson @bananahoneycomb @rainwaterapothecary @practicallybegging

Part 99

[ronanceautistic]

NANCY WHEELER DETAIL OF THE DAY #10

Today is all about the internal battle between a great warrior and a small child. Nancy was forced to let go of her childhood in Season 1, however, brute forcing her way into adulthood just doesn't work. And it's interesting how, in the moments where she's shown to be tough and adult, that's when the show compares her to a child.

This is literally an entire character essay. Like, it's longer than a few of my fics. But there's pictures!

In Season 1 Episode 8, Hopper, while interrogated by the Lab, says "you made it look like that little girl just ran away". He's referring to Barb, who is actually older than Nancy, implying he'd see Nancy as a little girl, too. It's a big contrast to how she's usually portrayed during season 1, from Mike's perspective she's the older bratty annoying sister, and from Nancy's she's maturing into a young woman. But from an actual adult's point of view, she's a little girl.

Meanwhile, what's Nancy doing while Hopper calls her this? She's saving his ass. She tells Jonathan that Hopper and Joyce will die in the Upside Down if they don't do something, and steal the weapons back from Hopper's office.

In Season 2 Episode 9, she saves Joyce (the adult) by stabbing Will (the child) with a fire poker

In Season 3 it's very clear that she's on the path to becoming an adult, with an internship at the local paper, and a huge desire to write a story for them, despite the fact she's only a teenage intern. When it all blows up in her face, she tries to argue her case to her boss. But after it doesn't work out, and she gets fired, and then fights with Jonathan, she goes to her mom for comfort.

During the conversation, Nancy says she's "Just a kid who has no idea what she's doing"

It's funny, how in the season where she's arguably trying the hardest to be an adult, she is more often than not the child of the situation. In Season 3 Episode 6, when confronted by the Flesh Monster, she's basically helpless to it. It's a position we rarely see Nancy in, and in the end, it's Eleven (the child) who saves her. This happens again, during the cabin battle. While Nancy saves Jonathan, it's Eleven who saves Nancy.

There's also blatant comparisons to herself and Holly in this season. When Karen takes Holly to the pool, she plays Marco Polo with her friends, a game Nancy "plays" with Bruce right before she kills him.

Not only that but herself and Holly are the only people to notice the there was something in the woods, without someone else pointing it out to them. Holly, in both of these cases, is first. She plays Marco Polo before Nancy, she notices the trees before Nancy. Nancy is unintentionally copying her.

This one is subtle and probably unintentional, but when Billy comes at her with a speeding car, she leans towards the kids, not Jonathan.

In Season 4 we immediately start the season with Nancy ruling over the high school newspaper with an iron fist. She's finally got a leadership position, and it's clear she takes it very seriously. That being said, when given the choice between working or playing with a puppy, she chooses the puppy.

As well as that, when she talks to Wayne, she tells him "the paper I write for is small", intentionally leaving out the fact that it's a high school paper. When Wayne begins to talk about Victor Creel, he says "I guess you're too young [to remember]". And when Fred's missing and she goes to the cop, he says "I told you kids to stay home."

Just like with Hopper, it's another case of Nancy play-acting as the adult, while the actual adult in the situation still sees her as a child.

In Episode 4, when Steve complains about babysitting, Nancy says "they're not babies anymore". While it is true in the sense that high schoolers don't need babysitting, it is interesting that Nancy specifically calls him out for that. The kids are almost the same age Nancy was at the start of all of this, and in her mind she's 'growing them up' in the same way she grew herself up at that age. However, at the end of the season, she thanks Jonathan for looking after Mike, showing that deep down, she doesn't actually believe they're completely independent and not in need of babysitting.

In Episode 4 Nancy very carefully crafts her persona for going to Pennhurst, she ages herself up to be a college student, creates a resume for herself, and dresses herself in a way she deems 'academic'. I like Robin's line where she sees the outfits as "Easter Brunch" outfits, because it does remind me of the outfits little kids are made to wear on Easter, which clearly wasn't Nancy's intention.

Despite given herself a completely new identity, an older and more mature one, in her eyes. It's the name that actually reveals her true self. She picks the name Ruth as a reference to a children's book, Swallows and Amazons. In the book, the character - who is usually called Nancy - reveals her name used to be Ruth. She changed it, as she wanted to be a pirate, and pirates are ruthless.

In Nancy's case she does the opposite, instead of being 'ruthless', she's Ruth. Despite hamming up her achievements, and her age, her own name is telling us she's still a child, without the tough exterior she displays to the world.

There's more comparisons between herself and Holly in this season, too. Protecting Holly from the world, by telling Dustin to stop talking about Freddy Kruger. And when in the Upside Down, she uses Holly's Lite Brite to communicate with Dustin. It's interesting how the past two seasons have included multiple parallels between her and her younger sister when you consider Holly's role in the upcoming season. It feels like they might be slowly ramping up to something.

When Nancy is, once again, helpless to Vecna, it's the youngest of the group, Erica, who urges everyone to hurry up and save her.

Not only that, but as Nancy leads the charge into the Creel House for the final battle, it's technically Erica who's pulling the strings, instructing her on when to go. Just like Eleven in Season 3, it's another case of a child protecting Nancy.

When the gate opens, we see Karen running to protect Holly, while Nancy is left clinging to a banister on her own. It shows why she's had to grow up against her will, no one else is really there to protect her when things get rough.

Finally, when looking at her childhood toy, Mr. Rabbit, she decides to give it away. The sad look on her face is clear, and reminds me of watching Henry kill the rabbit in her vision.

There is a bonus instance, although it's not technically canon. In the Stranger Things comic 'The Other Side', when Nancy is in the Upside Down in Season 1, Will throws a rock near the Demogorgon stalking her, luring it away from Nancy, and sacrificing his own opportunity to crawl back through the gate and saving Nancy instead. Another case of a child saving her when she can't save herself. In fact, almost every single time Nancy has been unable to fight for herself, it's been a child who has saved her.

I can't find an image of the page itself where he does this, but this is the cover of the issue. That's Nancy's flashlight.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk wow.

[spicybylerpolls]

All of the teenage relationships are sexualised from the get-go. Stancy's introduction was all about the trope where bad boy Steve just wants to try getting good girl Nancy into bed. Jancy is also immediately sexualised when Jonathan takes the spicy photos of Nancy. And Steve and Robin make booby jokes before Vickie is even introduced. Meanwhile for Stobin, we only really got Steve thinking that he and Robin would be a cute couple but no sexual innuendos whatsoever, hinting that the relationship will not happen because there is no sexual attraction there.

It is initially a bit different for Mileven/Lumax/Byler because they are actually kids at the start of the show. But Season 3 makes such a big fuss about them not being kids anymore and it is coincidentally also the time some of the characters start to make innuendos themselves. Which also means that who they liked as kids is not necessarily who they are eventually attracted to as teenagers.

In comparison to the other teenage relationships, Mileven seems to be a relationship free of any sexual implications. In Season 3 Hopper wants the door certainly not open because he is afraid of them kissing - however, Mike and El never overtly express a desire for sex, neither with each other nor for other people. Milevens like to say "Oh, this means that Mike and El only have eyes for each other" although the sexual implications are completely absent from their relationship.

Of course you could argue that the characters may be demi/ace, but I think especially in Mike's case it is made clear that he is not acespec but a repressed queer (with the Season 4 Episode 1 montage as biggest proof). Some people also insisted (and still insist) that Will is ace too because they are subconsciously so afraid to see any sort of queer attraction on screen. (As a person on the acespec myself, I really long for the day where asexuality is finally done justice on screen. But Stranger Things is clearly a show where they actively contrast lack of sexual attraction and actual sexual attraction with each other. Unfortunately, 99% of media does not include intentionally-accurate representation of asexuality, so right now Stranger Things is not under the obligation to be the show that is suddenly an exception)

This is all so true! People try to argue that Mike and El "making out all the time" is evidence that they have interest in sexual exploration, but A) the show very clearly draws our attention to the fact that he takes his hands off her when they're making out, B) Mike doesn't express sexual interest in the Phoebe Cates, the hot girl of the day, like his friends, C) the show draws our attention to how unnatural it is by having Hopper comment on it, and D) this doesn't progress or increase in any way. In fact, it decreases. In S4, they have one fairly awkward kiss and never show any signs of desire for each other. Instead, the emphasis is on Mike not being able to say ILY to her.

For a ship that's allegedly the main ship, this is all pretty unusual. When was the last time you saw a ship with teenage characters who "only have eyes for each other" yet never show even the slightest sign that they want to explore the physical side of things, even if only 2nd base? It's like Mike got to 1st base and immediately wanted to abort mission and backtrack and never do anything straight again.

Some Milkvans will say it's because Mike is a gentleman, but... come on. Lucas is a gentleman with Max, and the show goes out of its way to emphasize his sexual desire multiple times. Dustin and his girlfriend aren't even in the same state, and she's a devout Mormon, and still there's no doubt that Dustin would round all the bases multiple times in a heartbeat if he got the chance.

Meanwhile, everything between Mike and El looks like a weird, unnatural performance. And they don't even kiss in the desert!

Especially considering the fact that Mike and Will, who are allegedly just platonic friends, do show signs of physical desire. This is what they're like JUST touching arms ever so slightly. Get a room.

[dinitride-art]

So you know how Mike and El tend to have a kiss at the end of the season and then we don’t see them again until after a time skip? Season one- Mike kissed El at the school. Season two- Mike kissed El at the snow ball. Season three- El kissed Mike before moving away. Season four- pattern breaks (one kiss- greeting- in episode two/start of season four). The first three seasons effectively hide the flaws in Mike and El’s relationship by having them kiss at the end of the season. A kiss at the end of the season is the last word in an argument. There’s nothing else to be said because the conversation is over.

In season one and two, the end of season kiss works very well. There aren’t many visible cracks in their relationship yet. This starts to change in season three as we transition between the last word in the conversation to losing the argument. Mike kisses El in the first two seasons. In season three, El is the one that kisses Mike goodbye. This is important because of the contrast between El’s previous reactions and Mike’s reaction in season three. El is somewhat confused but seems mostly positive when Mike kisses her in season one and two. Mike’s reaction in season three isn’t positive. It isn’t negative, he isn’t pulling away or pushing her away, he’s just neutral about the situation. He simply isn’t responding to her kissing him at all. This is the point in the story that Mike stops trying to be in a relationship with El. He doesn’t say he loves her. He doesn’t even write “love, Mike” in his letters. In season four, at the airport, there is a singular kiss between Mike and El. Instead of a goodbye kiss, it’s a greeting. El is positive about this kiss, but Mike is no longer neutral. He’s the one that pushes her away and says “hey, you’re squishing your present!” There are no other greeting or goodbye kisses in season four, no kisses in any situation other than the one at the airport when Mike pushes El away. After Mike does that, El reads the card on the flowers that says “from, Mike.” Mike is pulling away from El and their romantic relationship.

Mike’s already pulled far enough away by the time that the monologue happens that whatever he would’ve said wouldn’t have been enough to come across as genuine. Mike and El don’t kiss at the end of season four. This is the completed transition that started in season three. The very last scene of season four separates Mike and El. They don’t kiss, they aren’t standing next to each other like Hopper and Joyce, and Nancy and Jonathan, they don’t even talk to each other. There’s no last word in this argument because there is no longer an argument to be had. Mike and El don’t kiss at the end of season four. They break the pattern of the previous three seasons and let the flaws in their relationship be seen. At the end of season four, Mike doesn’t kiss anyone but he does reach out towards Will. And although Mike doesn’t kiss anyone or make any inherently romantic gestures, at the end of the season, he’s standing next to Will and the pattern of Mike and El kissing at the end of the season has been broken.

[gayofthefae]

Thinking again about "you're my superhero" versus

"I can fight" "Better than any of us. But right now, I need you safe."

[luccksks]

Mike's behavior in season 3

I find Mike's behavior in S3 a little curious and suspicious, as always he is trying to deny some things or his behavior in this season, and it has importance in the next season. I will try to make my thoughts make sense, because I don't know how to explain myself most of the time ghfdsjk

Throughout the third season, we see how Mike does not want to play D&D with Will, or how he says that games are for children, and they are no kids anymore, that they have grown up, and how Mike focuses more on El, because she is his girlfriend. even Will points this out in the rain fight. That Will thought yes, that they were always going to play together, but Mike answers that no, that they are not kids anymore (Which is quite funny, because later in S4 it is seen that Mike wanted to play D&D, that's why he ends up joining the hellfire club with Dustin, and since at the end of S3 he doesn't want Will to put the game in the donation box)

In short, he believes that since he is older, it is normal for you to stop liking games, and to behave less like a child. But still, Mike is desperate to play D&D again, with Will, and other games, and he shows it at the end of the season, both in Hopper's dialogue (I'll show it later) and in the last scene they have together this season

In the last episode, Mike shows his concern about losing Will, thinking Will will join another party, or not playing with Will again (although he has previously shown that he was not interested in playing with him).

And it is a curious contrast, how with Will he is not afraid to show that he wants to continue playing with him, and he is afraid of losing him (Even if he doesn't say it, we can see it) And how with El he has to pretend, and remember himself "That made me sound like a seven-year-old" although he doesn't think that and he's really excited to be able to play, because you can tell he says it with some enthusiasm, but he ends up retracting it, and saying that it sounds like a kid, which is he's been saying all season. And it's not until she says "I like presents, too" that Mike says "Yeah, I like- I like presents too."

And I don't know, it just seems to me that Mike is trying to behave in a way that is not him, when he is with El (Beyond the most obvious), since all the times that Mike has tried to be funnier she didn't like it, like in episode 1 when Mike is singing and Eleven tries to silence him, or in episode 4 when Mike takes the mannequin to try to make a joke and Eleven makes a bad face, but anyways

Mike is afraid of losing Will, he is AFRAID that things will change between them, and Hopper's dialogue (Which is very important here) is VERY them, and is made to show the emotions of Will and Mike, but above all Mike, perfectly reflecting Mike's feelings throughout this season and next, and, perhaps explaining his behavior this season

In this scene the focus is on Mike, the camera focuses on Mike, because they are Mike's feelings towards Will, Will even says that, in the painting scene, I don't have a photo of that, but in 4x08, minute 17:25, Will says "Or she[I] seemed like she[I] was pushing you away is because she's[I] scared of losing you, like you're scared of losing her" they both feel like they're pulling away from each other

"I was worrying too much about El" This is what Will what he said to Mike in the rain fight, and Mike admits it, he was worrying a lot about Eleven, and he was leaving his friends aside, a parallel to Nancy, in the first season, that when she was dating Steve, she left Barbara, her best friend, alone. "I feel I lost you or something" Mike felt like he was losing Will, who is also named in Hopper's dialogue, taking into account that during those 6 months they spend apart, Mike calls Will, but Will almost never answered. + the whole season 3 theme, Mike worrying a lot about El, and feeling like he was losing him

Honestly, in their heart-to-heart there are many references to Hopper's dialogue, and they are always referring to pulling away from the other, feeling lost, or losing the other.

Continuing with Hopper's dialogue, just after saying "You're pulling me away or something" he says:

"I miss playing board games every night" D&D is a board game, and in S1, you can see that the party played at night, but they don't play as much as before, because they have grown up, and Mike misses that, just like many other things

The dialogue then continues talking about other things, referring to El, to Joyce, but suddenly it focuses on Mike, when he says "Changing" Mike is changing, he knows it ("Mike is trying to be as normal as possible"), but he is afraid of changing, and that things will change too

And then, when he says that he doesn't want things to change, because he's afraid, the focus is on Will, that means that he doesn't want things to change with Will, he's afraid, he's afraid of losing him, and taking into account that before he says " You're a pulling away from me or something", so Mike has felt a change, and it scares him. There has been a clear rift between Will and him since S1, and that is why season 4, he says "I feel I lost you" and "I think it'll be easier if we're a team. Friend. Best friends" he corrects himself, remembering Will's words at Rink-O-Mania when Will told him "We used to be best friends."

I really don't know what it is referring to here, other than that Mike wants to stop that change, and make things go back to the way they were between him and Will. It reminds me of the scene where Mike goes crying to his mother after seeing Will's "dead body", and his mother hugs him to comfort him.

Now, let's talk a little about the songs at the end of the season

In this scene The First I love you plays, when El says I love you to Mike, and they kiss. But can we see Mike with a slightly... confused face? He doesn't return the kiss, he stays with his eyes open, Mike is in front of a closet (in Will's room) And with a light in his head, I don't know. And we could say that the title of the song is romantic and this song is made for them, because El tells him I love you and they kiss, but that song also appears in a scene that is a coming out of the closet...

The First I love you (The "love you" is not in capital letters, considering that all the song titles in Stranger Things are in capital letters, which I think the song does not have such a romantic meaning) It also plays when Robin tells Steve that she is a lesbian, and that in reality she didn't like him, but rather the girl who kept looking at him. And it's even more curious, because The First I love you, is a remix of The First Lie, which plays when Jonathan and Nancy kiss for the first time, after saying that they were just friends, and they didn't like each other (a Lie ). And in the two scenes where The First I love you plays, there is a lie, and a confession, or a truth that comes to light, I wouldn't say it's entirely like that, because Mike doesn't say it with words, but with body language, as I said before, not kissing back (in front of a closet) and then looking confused

(Here the songs, at least to me, they sound almost the same)

And taking this into account, we can say that The First I love you is more platonic than romantic + a lie

Steve tells Robin (who at that moment has a crush on Robin) that he likes her, and Robin tells him that she is not like the other girls, because she likes girls, and that is the first lie, when she implied that he was the one she liked, but in the end she ended up being honest with him.

Mike doesn't kiss El back when she kisses him (who at that moment has a crush on Mike) He doesn't even say anything, but Mike implies that he likes El, but that's Mike's first lie, he doesn't like girls, he doesn't like El in that way, because he likes boys.

And honestly, the fact that the one song, called The First I love you, plays in a coming out scene, and in another where Mike doesn't kiss El back and then gets confused is very… well, and taking into account that it is a remix of The First Lie…

But well, that's it for my analysis, thank you for reading it and sorry if it was too long, or it was not understood as I wanted it to be understood, but hey, Byler Endgame :)

[afewproblems]

Part Three of my Kas!Eddie AU!

Part One, Part Two

***

Steve hits the dirt hard as Eddie tackles him to the ground with his full body weight.

He tries to crawl away but Eddie's faster, flipping him around and dragging him through the rough brambles until he is directly underneath Eddie's snarling face.

"Did you really expect that to work?" Eddie growls, leaning down until Steve can feel his hot breath hit his lips, "did you really expect to escape me?"

"Thought it was worth a try," Steve groans, as Eddie presses him further into the ground, squeezing the air from him lungs, "you're a lot faster than the last time we were running".

By some miracle, he manages to keep his voice steady as he tips his head towards Eddie, "guess you didn't have wings, last time".

Eddie pauses, that same strange expression from before takes over before he shakes his head, his wild matted hair whips around them.

Huh.

"Stop saying those things," he hisses, raising one clawed hand to cup his forehead, releasing Steve's shoulder from his grasp.

Steve's not exactly sure what he's done, he wishes Dustin or Robin were here -granted if anyone should be held down by a God Damn vampire in the middle of the woods, he's glad it's him- but they others were always better at putting the puzzel pieces together in these situations.

Steve sees the way Eddie's shoulders quiver, the way he doesn't move his wild hair away from his face, how he cluches his head as though it's about to crack.

His heart breaks a little at the sight.

"Eds," Steve says softly and Eddie stiffens at the word, "why are you doing this?"

"Shut up!" Eddie shrieks, the words pierce the quiet woods as he shrinks away, the grip on Steve's other shoulder loosens even further.

"This isn't you," Steve tries again as Eddie howls, bringing his other hand up to hold his head.

He takes his chance, wriggling out from under the vampire, scrambling to his feet which slip and slide around the leaves and rotten mulch of the forrest floor.

Steve keeps the howling man in front of him until Eddie stops and crumples into the ground.

Steve stumbles away, throwing a hand out to catch a nearby tree to steady himself as he catches his breath. He hesitates, just long enough for Eddie to raise his head and whisper in a small, broken voice, "Steve?"

Steve shakes his head, breathing quickly, his heart in his throat.

"I don't know what's going on," Eddie whispers, as Steve takes yet another step back, his voice wavers and cracks into an inhuman whine.

"Steve I need, I need h-help".

Steve feels like he's about to vomit at any moment as he takes another step.

"I'm sorry," he whispers, the words come out wet as he takes off again, leaving Eddie behind him, crying out into the dark.

***

"Tell us again," Nancy says as she paces the floor of Hoppers cabin.

Its finally morning.

They've all gathered around the small cabin, Hopper had decided it would be best to call everyone over after daybreak -once Steve had finished desperately explaining himself after throwing his whole body weight against the wooden front door and screaming to be let in.

Jonathan, El, and Will sit next to one another on the threadbare couch across from Steve, they look tired but not from the early hour.

Dustin sits on the floor beside Mike and Lucas who leans against Max's wheelchair. She moves her leg, still in its bright white cast and pokes Lucas in the shoulder -hard by the way he yelps and shifts away from her with a laugh.

Dustin alternates between shooting Steve hopeful and dirty looks -he's still angry then, perfect.

Joyce makes her way from the kitchen, ruffling Wills hair as she goes, before handing Steve a steaming coffee mug and hiking the blanket around his shoulders even further. He leans into her warmth, a stark contrast to his own mother's touch before remembering where he is.

Robin curls into Steve's side and yawns loudly in his ear as Nancy continues to pace and clears her throat impatiently.

She doesnt look at him, her eyes trace the windows at a point in the distance. It's the same expression she used to get in class when analyzing an English passage for Mrs.Click.

Steve sighs and scrubs a hand over his face, ignoring the sting of the cuts and scrapes from his time on the ground. They've been over this so many times now, he's so sure he's told them absolutely everything.

Well, maybe everything but the way some of Eddie's words made his chest tight in a way he wasn’t quite ready to deal with…

"I don't think it's going to be any different from the last two times Nance--"

"Kid," Hopper interjects in an uncharacteristically weary voice that sets Steve's teeth on edge, "just, explain it again and don't leave anything out".

A soft hand grabs his own, he flinches at the sudden contact before realizing that El has made her way from the couch to sit infront of him.

Her hair has started to grow back, the buzzcut has been slowly taken over by a mop of brown curls that frame her small face. Steve manages a tight smile as she squeezes his hand again.

"We will help him," El says with quiet conviction, as though she said nothing more than an objective truth.

The sky is blue, my hair is brown.

"We will bring your Eddie back".

[mlchaelwheeler]

once again, i'd like to point out that stranger things is a tv show. the characters are not real. why is this important? all scenes and narratives are written a specific way, they don't just happen by themselves. for example, this means:

in 1x03, the writers chose to emphasize mike's reaction to will's "body" being found in comparison to lucas and dustin's reactions. they easily could've shown all three of the boys' reactions, but instead mike was the focus and got multiple scenes of his shock and anger over will's "body" being found.

in 1x04, the writers chose to focus on mike being depressed over will's death. they didn't do this for dustin or lucas, even though all four of the boys are introduced as a group at the beginning of the season.

in 1x04, the writers chose to have mike shove troy in the gym for making homophobic comments about will. any one of the boys could've taken offense to that, but instead, mike is the focus while lucas and dustin stand off to the side.

in 1x04, the writers chose mike to be the one who recognized will's voice over the radio. they could've easily had the entire party there for that scene, but instead it was just mike who immediately knew will's voice.

in 2x01, the writers chose mike as the one to follow will out of the arcade and bring him back inside. it could've been any of the party members, but instead mike was singled out as having noticed will disappeared.

in 2x02, the writers chose to have mike be the one to comfort will after his "episode," even though the whole party is trick-or-treating together. it could've easily been written as group bonding where will tells everyone about his visions, but instead the writers gave us the crazy together scene.

in 2x03, the writers chose to focus on mike at school when will is acting weird. it was specifically chosen that mike was the only one to notice will was "quiet today" and that it was weird he missed class, while the rest of the party didn't notice anything was wrong.

in 2x08, the writers chose to have mike be in the shed with the rest of will's family. there could've been a cute scene of the whole party trying to reach will with stories of their dnd campaigns, but instead mike is the only non-family member present (not counting hopper because he didn't share any memories).

in 3x01, the writers chose to make the movie theater full enough that mike/will and lucas/max couldn't all sit together. this was directly after lucas implied going to the movies was the equivalent of "spending romantic time" together.

in 3x03, the writers chose to have mike and will get into an argument at the wheeler's house, even though lucas was also there. lucas didn't just happen to stay behind in the basement. it was a clear choice that mike and will got into a fight, just the two of them.

in 3x08, the writers chose to give will and mike an individual goodbye scene, even though the only other individual scenes were jancy and mlvn (two couples). there could've been a scene of the whole party saying goodbye but instead the writers specifically had a (flirty) goodbye scene between mike and will, directly contrasting the (extremely) awkward mlvn goodbye.

in 4x09, the writers chose to give mike and will another heart-to-heart in hopper's cabin right at the end of the season. will could've easily told everyone there that he still knows vecna is alive (this is probably what should've happened honestly), but instead only told mike-- when el was right there! the clear choice to give them a special talk right at the end of the season was very telling.

[greenfiend]

i think the parallels between mike and brenner are meant to highlight the contrast between their intentions. like mike is doing this out of love and care and determination whereas brenner is acting out of vengeance and a need to control. i just don’t think the purpose of those parallels is to say mike is just like brenner. if anything it’s saying brenner is acting like a child, not considering the safety of another child. mike is not a bad person for acting that way in s1. he’s 12 years old and he just wants his friend back. i think it’s really cool we can find all these parallels but what do you think is the intent of them? what do you think the duffers are trying to tell the audience, what are they trying to draw our attention towards?

Noooo Mike is definitely not just like Brenner, anon! Their intentions are very different as you said. But the way their dynamics with El are comparable… both using her in a way? Housing her… and reaping the benefits of her powers. This does not mean that Mike is a bad person though… it’s more complicated than that. Like you said, he is just a child and he’s trying to get his friend back. He actually cares for her too and feels incredibly guilty when she “died”. That guilt is still present too imo.

As for the writer’s intentions… I think it’s for multiple reasons!

One reason I think is for foreshadowing. I think this scene will parallel Mike and El’s breakup. It’s not gonna be pretty (at first anyway). I mean, we already know that Mike and El are not currently in good terms with each other… they aren’t talking. Mike was lying to El in his speech and he knows it… and El knows it too. She was there. She’s not stupid, and Mike broke a major promise: “friends don’t lie”.

Another reason is Mike’s guilt. This is likely going to be a way for Vecna to target him. I don’t think we talk about the potential of Vecna!El hitting at Mike’s insecurities. Do I think El would accuse Mike in the same severity as she accused Brenner? Probably not. She does care for him too. But… Vecna!El? Oooooh boy. That’ll be intense. (I’d love to see it).

But finally it’s about El’s independence too! “Not Hopper… not Mike… YOU!” This poor girl has been controlled by men her entire life. Brenner… Hopper… Mike. Even though Hopper and Mike have good intentions, she is still… in a way… controlled by them. Brenner’s control is obvious. Hopper is a strict parent who wouldn’t let her leave the house (for her own safety I know but still…), and Mike kind of pushed her into a relationship (though he also felt pushed too to be far.) She’s only had brief moments where she could explore herself and her own identity, like with Max. She needs to be freed! She needs time to explore what she wants in life without the influence of others.

[francesderwent]

what is stranger things saying about the dichotomy of ordinary versus strange? it’s more complicated than you think

1x01 Hopper tries to tell Joyce that Will is probably with Lonnie, saying, "99 out of 100 times, kid goes missing, the kid is with a parent or relative." She answers, "What about the other time? You said 99 out of 100. What about the other time, the one?" Over the course of the season, her willingness to entertain unlikely options is proven correct (pro-strange)

1x02 In a flashback, Lonnie skips out on a baseball game with Will and Jonathan tells Will, “He's trying to force you to like normal things. And you shouldn't like things because people tell you you're supposed to. Okay? Especially not him.” (pro-strange)

1x04 Jonathan tells Nancy why he does photography: "I guess I'd rather observe people than, you know..." "Talk to them," she finishes. "I know, it's weird," he says. "No," she says. "No, it is. It's just, sometimes, people don't really say what they're really thinking. But you capture the right moment, it says more." (pro-strange; verging very slightly into anti-ordinary because Jonathan doesn't trust people to tell the truth from their own lips, he has to seek it out and capture it.)

1x05 The infamous Nancy and Jonathan scene, Nancy says why she thinks her parents got married, "I don't think my parents ever loved each other." "They must've married for some reasons," Jonathan answers. "My mom was young, my dad was older but he had a cushy job, money, came from a good family. So they bought a nice house at the end of the cul-de-sac and started their nuclear family." "Screw that," says Jonathan. "Yeah," Nancy agrees. "Screw that." (pro-strange, starting to creep into anti-ordinary)

1x05 Jonathan explaining what he saw in Nancy's photograph: "I saw this girl trying to be someone else, but for that moment, it was like you were alone, or you thought you were, and you know, you could just be yourself." "That is such bullshit," Nancy says, "I am not trying o be someone else just because I'm dating Steve and you don't like him." They fight, he says, "Does that mean I have to like [Steve]?" Nancy says, "No." "Jonathan says, "Listen, don't take it so personally, okay? I don't like most people. He's in the vast majority." Nancy says, "I was actually starting to think you were okay. I was thinking, Jonathan Byers, maybe he's not the pretentious creep everyone says he is." Jonathan answers, "I was just starting to think you were okay, I was thinking Nancy Wheeler, she's not just another suburban girl who thinks she's rebelling by doing exactly what every other suburban girl does, until that phase passes and they marry some boring one-time jock who now works sales, and live out a perfectly boring little life at the end of a cul-de-sac, exactly like their parents, who they thought were so depressing." (this is a clash of perspective; Nancy is vaguely, defensively pro-ordinary and Jonathan is pro-strange and pretty-anti-ordinary)

1x06 Eleven confesses that she opened the gate and she's the monster. Mike says, "No, El, you're not the monster. You saved me." (her powers and her difference make her a hero; pro-strange)

1x08 Steve, the boring, popular one-time jock, comes back to fight the demogorgon alongside Nancy and Jonathan. (pro-ordinary)

1x08 Mike tells Eleven that when it's all over she can have a real bed in his basement and his parents will be like her parents and Nancy will be like her sister. "I was thinking, I don't know, maybe we can go to the Snow Ball together. It's this cheesy school dance where you go in the gym and dance to music and stuff." (cheesy ordinary school stuff that Mike wouldn't have considered going to before is now a desirable ending. pro-ordinary)

so the main thrust of season 1 is strongly pro-strange. ordinary people are blind to the evil and suffering in the world, and blind to the strengths of people like El and Will. Joyce is contrasted to the perfect prim Mrs. Wheeler; where Mrs. Wheeler's comfort and advice is useless, Joyce sees the truth and saves her child. Nancy and Jonathan butt heads, but end up being an effective team. there's just a little bit of ambiguity introduced at the tail end of the season: Mike doesn't want to escape or rebel against his family, he wants to bring El into it, and wants them both to go to the Snow Ball - the epitome of ordinary - together. and ordinary, shallow Steve surprises everyone (including the writers, who'd planned to kill him off) by showing courage and selflessness when it counts.

2x01 Steve talks to Nancy about the future: "I'm just going to end up working for my dad anyway. Is that such a bad thing? There's insurance and benefits and all that adult stuff." (the scene is about Nancy's fear of following in her parents’ footsteps, and so it leans pro-strange)

2x01 Will tells Jonathan that treating him like he's fragile just makes him feel like more of a freak. "You're not a freak," Jonathan tells him. "Yeah, I am. I am," Will answers. "You know what, you're right," Jonathan says. "You are a freak, but what? Do you want to be normal? Do you wanna be just like everyone else? Being a freak is the best, I'm a freak." "Is that why you don't have any friends?" Will asks. "I have friends, Will." "Then why are you always hanging out with me?" "Because you're my best friend, right? And I would rather be best friends with Zombie Boy than with a boring nobody. You know what I mean? Okay, look, who would you rather be friends with? Bowie, or Kenny Rogers." Will grimaces. "Exactly, it's no contest," Jonathan says. "The thing is, nobody normal every accomplished anything meaningful in this world. Got it?" "Well," Will says thoughtfully, "some people like Kenny Rogers." Bob, passing by in the hallway, says "Kenny Rogers? I love Kenny Rogers!" (strongly pro-strange, strongly anti-ordinary)

2x02 Nancy and Steve fight about whether to tell Barb's parents the truth or keep on pretending everything's alright. Steve says, "It's hard, but let's just go to Tina's stupid party, wear our stupid costumes that we've been working on for a stupid amount of time, and just pretend like we're stupid teenagers, okay?" (this scene is ambiguous, leaning pro-strange, because they both use the language of "pretend"--ordinariness is all a performance, a lie)

2x02 Bob asks Joyce, "What if we were to move out of Hawkins together? I was thinking about what you said, we have all these memories here and you wish you had enough money to move. My parents are selling their house in Maine, there's a Radio Shack nearby I'm sure they'd take me on. We could just..." He sees Joyce's reaction, and says ruefully, "My turn to be silly now." "No, it's just so hard to explain," she says. "It's just this...this is not a normal family." "It could be," Bob says. (this scene is ambiguous, leaning pro-strange. Bob means well but Joyce doesn't see his hopes as possible or realistic given the complications of their life)

2x02 Nancy drunkenly accuses Steve in the bathroom, "You're bullshit. You're pretending like everything's okay, you know, like we didn't...like we didn't kill Barb. Like it's great. Like we're in love, and we're partying." Steve echoes, "Like we're in love?" Nancy says venomously, "It's bullshit." Steve asks, "You don't love me?" (the scene is mostly pro-strange, but with a little ambiguity injected because we can see how much this hurts Steve)

2x02 Will tells Mike about his episodes, Mike tells Will about feeling like he sees Eleven. "I don't know, sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy," Mike says. "Me, too," Will says. "Hey, well, if we're both going crazy, then we'll go crazy together, right?" Mike says. "Yeah, crazy together," Will agrees. (pro-strange)

2x03 Nancy and Jonathan discuss the burden of carrying on after loss. "Maybe things just can't go back to the way they were," Jonathan says. "Doesn't that make you mad?" Nancy asks. (ambiguous! "the way things were" being possibly gone forever is a loss, according to Nancy.)

2x05 Bob deciphers Will's drawings, saving Hopper's life. (pro-ordinary)

2x06 Murray tells Nancy, "Probably, like everyone, you're afraid of what would happen if you accepted yourself for who you really are, and retreated back to the safety of...name? Name!" "Steve," Jonathan supplies. "Steve!" exclaims Murray. "We like Steve, but we don't love Steve." "We - I do!" Nancy protests. (pro-strange and anti-ordinary; Steve's only desirable characteristic is that he's safe, he's being set up as another Mr. Wheeler, the husband in another loveless marriage)

Bob tells Joyce, "I thought stuff like this happened in comic books and movies, not in Hawkins and certainly not to people like you." "Or you," she says. He chuckles, jokes, "Bob Newby, superhero." She asks if he's cold, he tells her not to worry about him. "It's not as if you didn't warn me, this is not a normal family, isn't that what you said? Kind of makes my idea of moving to Maine seem a little less crazy, doesn't it." Joyce says, "Oh, it's not crazy." (still ambiguous; Bob's heart isn't in question but it's still unclear whether he can keep up with the world he's been thrown into. his plan is to flee it, but is that admirable?)

2x07 Kali tells El, "We will always be monsters to them. Let me guess, your policeman, he also stops you from using your gifts? What you can do it incredible, it makes you very special, Jane." (pro-strange, anti-ordinary)

2x07 El tells Kali that she has to go back because her friends are in danger. Kali says, "There's nothing for you back there. They cannot save you, Jane." El answers, "No, but I can save them." (pro-strange but with nuance! the strange and the special have something to offer the ordinary)

2x08 Bob gets Joyce, Hopper, Will, and Mike out of the lab, saves all their lives. Mike tells everyone that Bob was the original founder of Hawkins AV club, that their teacher Mr. Clark learned everything he knows from Bob. (strongly pro-ordinary! not only is Bob a hero, but he's shown to have been just like the boys, and even though he grew up and became the epitome of normal, his legacy helps other little nerds)

so season two is more complex than season one. on the one hand, Nancy finishes the arc she started in season one: rejects Steve and chooses Jonathan, rejects ordinary and chooses strange, precisely because she sees being with Steve as buying into the whole suburban destiny that she now knows is a lie. on the other hand, the two main heroes of the season are Bob - Mr. Ordinary - and El, who rejects her sister's anti-ordinary worldview and chooses to use her strange gifts in service of her ordinary friends.

3x03 Joyce tells Hopper that the magnets can't be a coincidence, and he says "I don't think it's a joke, I think that when I asked you out, I think you got scared. I think you got scared, and now, you're inventing things. You're inventing things to get worked up about so that you can push me away, because God forbid any of us move on! Because that, that would be too much, right Joyce?" (the strange happenings are seen as an excuse to stay away from ordinary vulnerabilities; the scene is vaguely pro-ordinary, filtered through angry hungover yelling)

3x03 Dustin tries to tell Steve that he should date Robin, Steve tells him she's not his type: "For your information, she's still in school. And she's weird. She's a weirdo. And she's hyper. I don't like that she's hyper. And she did drama. That's a bad look. And she's in band? No." Dustin says, "Now that you're out of high school, which means you're technically an adult, don't you think it's time you move on from primitive constructs such as popularity?" (pro-strange)

3x07 Steve confesses to Robin on the bathroom floor, "The point is, this girl, you know, the one that I like, it's somebody that I didn't even talk to in school. And I don't even know why. Maybe cause Tommy H would have made fun of me, or I wouldn't be...prom king? It's stupid. I mean, Dustin's right, it's all just a bunch of bullshit anyways. Because when I think about it, I should've been hanging out with this girl the whole time. First of all, she's hilarious. She's so funny. I feel like this summer I have laughed harder than I have laughed in a really long time. And she's smart. Way smarter than me. You now, she can crack, like, top secret Russian codes and, you know, she's honestly unlike anyone I've ever even met before." Robin tells him he's not thinking straight, he says he's thinking a lot more clearly than normal. She says, "Look, he doesn't even know this girl, and if he did know her, like, really know her, I don't think he'd even want to be her friend." "No, that's not true, no way is that true," Steve says. (pro-strange)

3x08 Joyce re-initiates her date with Hopper, calling it what it is this time. If the world doesn't end, they deserve to celebrate. They deserve to move on. (pro-ordinary)

season three takes a step back from the focus on these themes or any themes. as in s2, Joyce tries to have the courage to seek an ordinary happy ending again, and again, experiences loss. the only person still grappling is Steve, who's coming to see more deeply the parts of "normalcy" that deserve to be rejected.

4x01 Eddie's introduction speech: "We're the freaks because we like to play a fantasy game. But as long as you're into band or science or parties or a game where you toss balls into laundry baskets...it's forced conformity, that's what's killing the kids. That's the real monster." (pro strange, casually anti-ordinary)

4x01 Chrissy confesses to Eddie, "You know, you're not what I thought you'd be like." "Mean and scary?" he guesses. "Yeah." "Yeah, well, I actually kinda thought you'd be kinda mean and scary too." (this scene is pro-strange AND pro-ordinary! neither of them is what the other thought they'd be, underneath the "freak" and "queen of Hawkins High" facade)

4x07 One's manifesto: "Why would you cry for them, Eleven, after all they did to you? You think you need them but you don't, you don't. Oh, but I know you're just scared. I was scared once, too. I know what it's like to be different, to be alone in this world. Like you, I didn't fit in with the other children. Something was wrong with me. All the teachers and the doctors said I was...broken, they said. My parents thought a change of scenery, a fresh start in Hawkins might just cure me. It was absurd. As if the world would be any different here. But then, to my surprise our new home provided a discovery and a newfound sense of purpose. I found a nest of black widows living inside a vent. Most people fear spiders, they detest them, and yet I found them endlessly fascinating. More than that, I found a great comfort in them, a kinship. Like me, they are solitary creatures and deeply misunderstood. They are gods of our world, the most important of all predators. They immobilize and feed on the weak, bringing balance and order to an unstable ecosystem. But the human world was disrupting this harmony. You see, humans are a unique type of pest, multiplying and poisoning our world, all while enforcing a structure of their own - a deeply unnatural structure. Where others saw order, I saw a straitjacket, a cruel, oppressive world dictated by made-up rules. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, each life a faded, lesser copy of the one before. Wake up, eat, work, sleep, reproduce and die. Everyone is just waiting, waiting for it all to be over, all while performing in a silly, terrible play, day after day. I could not do that. I could not close off my mind and join in the madness, I could not pretend. And I realized...I didn't have to. I could make my own rules. I could restore balance to a broken world. A predator, but for good....I could reach into others, into their minds, their memories. I became an explorer. I saw my parents for what they truly were. To the world, they presented themselves as good, normal people, but like everything else in this world it was all a lie, a terrible lie. They had done things, Eleven, such awful things. I showed them who they really were, I held up a mirror....To your papa, Eleven, you are just an animal, a monster, a lab rat to be tamed, but the truth is just the opposite. You are better than they are. Superior....If you come with me for the first time in your life you will be free. Imagine what we could do together. We could reshape the world, remake it however we see fit." (this is explicitly the villain’s perspective which it is clear we are not supposed to share, and so the scene circles back around to pro-ordinary. moreover El, our hero, rejects his proposal, and so we see that the heart of the strange doesn't have to be about superiority and resentment, and so it's also pro-strange)

4x08 Will's speech to Mike, about El and about himself: "These past few months she's been so lost without you. It's just, she's so different from other people, and when you're...when you're different, sometimes you feel like a mistake. But you make her feel like she's not a mistake at all, like she's better for being different. And that gives her the courage to fight on." (pro-strange & pro ordinary! ordinary Mike makes his strange loved ones feel like they belong; they fit together)

4x08 Steve's speech in the Winnebago while Fire and Rain plays: "It's silly, but I've actually...I always had this dream that I'd have this really, really big family. I'm talking like a full brood of Harringtons. Like, five, six kids?" "Six?" Nancy repeats. "Yeah, six little nuggets. Three girls, three boys. And every summer I figured all of us Harringtons we'd pack into something like this and just see the country. You know, the Rockies, Grand Canyon, maybe Yellowstone, end up in some beachside town in California, spend a week parked in the sand, learn how to surf or something." Nancy says, "That sounds nice." "Yeah?" Steve asks. "Yeah," she says, then shakes herself and adds, "Well, um, except for the six kid part, that sounds like a total nightmare." Steve gestures around the kid-filled RV and says wryly, "If only I had some practice!" Nancy smiles, and says, "All right, fair. That's fair." (strongly pro-ordinary! but at least a little ambiguous because Nancy tries to brush it off after.)

4x09 Max hides "in the light": the Snow Ball. its ordinary goodness is a haven against the darkness, which is invisible to Vecna who can only see the evil of the world. (pro-ordinary)

4x09 Jason tells Lucas, "I was wrong about you. I never should've let you in the door." Lucas answers, "And I never should have knocked. I thought I wanted to be like you. Popular. Normal. But it turns out, normal's just a raging psychopath." (pro-strange, anti-ordinary)

4x09 El tries to get through to Vecna: "I know what [Papa] did to you. You were different, like me. And he hurt you. He made you into this. He is the monster, Henry, not you. Not you!" "You're right," Vecna answers, "you and I, we are different. And Papa did hurt me, but he was no monster. He was just a man, an ordinary, mediocre man. That is why he sought greatness in others, in you, and me. But in the end, he could not control us, he could not shape us, he could not change us. Do you not see, Eleven? He did not make me into this. You did." (this scene is more ambiguous than his previous one--it's clear we ought to reject his extreme anti-ordinary views that make him want to destroy the world, but it's less clear what we are to make of the fact that El did reshape him)

4x09 Mike's speech to El: “I love you on your good days, I love you on your bad days. I love you with your powers, without your powers. I love you for exactly who you are. You're my superhero.” (like his conversation with Will, it's both pro-strange and pro-ordinary)

4x09 El uses her powers to restart Max's heart, focusing on their happy memories together rather than any anger - her power is more than violence, it can also be beauty. (pro-strange)

season four, things are coming to a head! the "normal" townspeople are shown to be afraid of what they don't understand, and prone to blaming the wrong person just because they're different - but if we look closely, Jason isn't evil, he's just misdirected. he does want to kill Eddie, but then again all our main characters want to kill Henry, and it just so happens that they're correct about who's to blame. Jason's biases are wrong, but his intent- Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good - is very much right and in line with the message of the show. Jonathan and Nancy's forays into anti-ordinary thinking are shown to be eerily similar to that of the monster haunting them - and moreover, Jonathan's solitary ways lead to him smoking so much pot that he can't even be there for the people he does care about. El remains committed to using her powers to help her friends; she doesn't want to be a monster just because she is different. and Steve finally reveals himself as the anti-Vecna, completing his transformation into the embodiment of ordinary. his prior classification as "babysitter", an unorthodox role for a teenage boy to choose, has been replaced by a sincere desire for the most orthodox of destinies for an adult man: fatherhood.

[cringengl]

When bylers say that byler makes more sense in terms of the narrative, although there's lots of little proofs throughout all the seasons, it's mainly due to byler's correlation with the themes of the show.

Stranger Things is all about outsiders, freaks, losers and nerds. From s1, the main characters have been the ones that are bullied and are called names and the show wants us to root for them, sympathise with them etc. This is why Nancy chooses Jonathan over Steve, why the Starcourt Mall is destroyed at the end of s3 and why Eddie is constantly affirmed as a good guy.

M*leven endgame wouldn't make sense in terms of the storyline because the relationship between Mike and El is seen as the 'normal' thing to do.

In Mike's eyes, he's supposed to be growing up and not playing DnD in the basement with his friends for the rest of his life. In order to grow up, he needs a girlfriend, which is why he is dating her instead of just being friends. Finn Wolfhard literally says that Mike wants to be "normal".

On the other hand, El clearly wants a normal life, shown not only by her letters to Mike and the dream world she creates within them (as it could be argued that she was just doing that to ease Mike's anxieties) but also by the effort she puts into waving to people at school even when they don't wave back, as well as imitating the movies she watches in Hopper's cabin in s2. This is also why she wants to be in a relationship with Mike instead of just friends, she feels like she needs to have a boyfriend to be normal and doesn't see any issue with dating Mike.

However, as Eddie says, "conformity is killing the kids". El is clearly having a miserable time with school in California, despite doing her best to fit in and Mike is just a "shitty knock off"- the stark contrast to his Hellfire outfit and airport outfit is insane in both colour and style.

The Wheeler family as a whole is learning that conforming to the nuclear family stereotype is not good for any of them, meaning that El will find more peace and power in being single (as well as being able to learn more about the world) and Mike will be able to defy heteronormativity by being with Will, meaning that it's not only Nancy who breaks that Wheeler family cycle (the one that Jonathan goes off about in his rant to Nancy in s1).

Therefore, byler endgame makes much more sense as the show is about the outsiders, and going against the mainstream.

(Which byler would be as it's a gay ship in a show set in the 80s that hasn't been spoon fed to the audience from the start to make it more palatable as well as the fact that making byler canon would also be breaking up a straight ship).