maddogdrawing

[maddogdrawing]

Will's kindness was the catalyst.

My number 1 biggest headcannon that I have for Season 5 and the overall story is that Will's kindness is what "caused" everything bad that happened to him. (i.e., Vecan being a creep) I know that sounds incredibly bad. Just let me explain!

One of the biggest traits Will has is his kindness. It has been established since the very beginning. The biggest tell is in season 2, when Joyce was trying to get through to a possessed Will, she told him the story of how he gave away his toy truck to a girl who was crying, cause she needed it more than him. We didn't get an age, but from the sounds of it, he was extremely young, maybe 4 or 5ish since he was calling Joyce Mommy. Young kids (toddlers and up to age 6ish) are naturally more selfish or self-centred. On average, 6+ is when they start to develop empathy and more awareness of others around them. With Will already having this awareness of others at such a young age just elaborates Will's kind and empathetic nature.

My headcannon is that Will was Vecna's Target from the beginning, it wasn't the wrong place at the wrong time. The second Jane/El opened the gate in 1983, Vecna wasted no time in grabbing Will. Though, the big question of why can be answered in many different ways. But the majority of them start the same. With a young Will meeting Henry.

I believe from what we saw so far of s5, Will is going to need to remember what happened to him in the upside down, like when Jane had to remember in s4. Memories are fickle things, and trauma can affect that heavily. Fogging up that memory, or completely blocking it, is our brains way to protect us. I am certain that Will doesn't have the best memories of his childhood outside the good ones, like being with Mike and eventually the rest of the party. Him not really remembering the Lego story is a big hint to this. And I'd bet money that a lot of it, if not all of Will's missing memories, is related to Lonnie. A lot of people who've been through child abuse, especially from a very young age, tend to have very little memories of it.

For the sake of this post, I won't go into detail of what I think Will's relationship with his pos father Lonnie was like. But I'm convinced that one summer, Lonnie needed extra cash for drugs or alcohol. He probably saw an ad in the newspaper for Hawkins Lab offering money for testing. Of course, he ain't gonna pick himself for all these tests. Why would he when he has the docile and quiet Will? I imagine Will would be pretty young here, but since he's a kid, Dr. Brenner could use him for some control tests for his super psychic kid army project, and who better to do these control tests on than Will, who has no connection whatsoever to this project. Who's supposed to be completely ordinary. But maybe, just maybe there was something small that showed up during one of these test that shouldn't have. Maybe, out of curiosity, Dr. Brenner offered more money to Lonnie. To bring Will in once a week for further tests.

This is where Will meets Henry. In-between tests, I imagine Will was put in a room, maybe the rainbow room, but Henry would be there and talk to Will. My guess is that, similar to what he did with Jane, he'd try and encourage Will to use his negative emotions during these tests. Maybe he'd give Will example stories from Henry's own childhood. Realising how similar their experiences are. But instead, Will being the sweetie pie that he is, would instead try and comfort Henry, maybe he'd draw him a picture or give Henry something he owned like in the toy truck story, or simply a hug and I'm sorry you went trough this comment. Will's natural kindness and good-heartedness would completely throw Henry off. For someone who's gone through so much pain (by Lonnie) in such a short life shouldn't be as kind as they are. To have a heart still full of love and kindness for others is alien to Henry.

I believe Henry becomes somewhat obsessed with Will. (Not in a romantic sense) Henry isn't used to genuine kindness from anyone, and to have this small child freely give him that, he becomes "protective" of him.

Maybe when Henry (who becomes Vecna) in the upside down, he stalks Will, spies on him. Seeing the abuse Will goes through angers Vecna, makes him more and more sure that the world needs to burn, that he needs to protect Will from the world.

When the gate opens up again, Vecna wasted no time in grabbing Will. But something happened, the upside down changed, Will somehow changed it. It's probably how Will managed to escape from the Demogorgon/Vecna in the upside down. Will's power, a creative kind, activated when he was petrified. Vecna now has an even bigger reason to take Will now. Cause to Vecna, Will is "just like him." And together, they could re-shape the world.

Vecna never wanted to kill Will, unlike the other. He could have killed Will and taken his powers like Vecna did to the other psychic kids. Like he planned to do to Jane in season 3. But no, he wants Will to work with him, to have him be by his side. In S2, Will mentioned how the MF wanted everyone dead, but Will. Venca's anger towards Jane grows due to her saving Will, not once but twice. Vecna knows that Jane will always get in the way of his plan. So he changed his focus. Take out the powerful "dragon" that protects the treasure. (Season 3)

In Season 5, Vecnas is going to really push Will to "willingly" go to him. While our party is distracted with everything that is going on. I have a feeling that Vecna is going to show/torment Will with all the bad things that have happened. Exaggerated versions of events, like the Rink O'Mania. (The behind the scenes shot of Will in the Rink wearing the wrong outfit).

The sad thing is, Vecna's going to "win." (At least by the end of act 2) Will has a habit of not wanting to burden his family and friends with what's happening with/to him. That's the downside of Will's kindness. He doesn't believe he deserves the same kindness/love back. He believes he's being selfish just for asking for help. That's how Vecna's going to get Will at last, cause Will going to feel like he'll need to suffer alone, that it'll be selfish of him to ask or reach out for help.

But in season 2, we do see him reaching out to Mike. Mike makes him believe he's worthy of some of that love back. But, slowly, that belief is fading. In Season 3, he was a lot slower to "ask for help." Before he would have gone straight to Mike about what he's feeling, even if it's just about his mental health. But in S3, he took longer to tell Mike what's wrong. It wasn't until he knew for sure that it wasn't in his head and that it was, in fact, upside down related that he spoke out.

S4 was the first time we saw Will "lie" to Mike. Especially when it comes to how Will feels. All because Will wanted to help Mike. He wanted to make Mike happy again, even if it broke his own heart. Will gave up his own heart to give Mike some happiness by mending his relationship with Jane.

Will feels like a burden, a mistake, the problem in the group, and I have no doubt that Will is going to want to "be better" for the people he loves in S5. To Will, he needs to close himself off from the one "selfish" thing he gave himself, which was opening up to Mike, putting some of that burden he carried onto Mike's shoulders. He's going to feel like he needs to "man" up and take care of it on his own. But that is how he's going to "lose." Vecna is going to chisel away at Will's fears, traumas, and mind. Get Will weak enough to take over his body and mind. To finally make Will his once and for all.

But the turning point in this season is going to be Mike.

Cause Mike isn't going to back down. Will's going to try and push away from the special closeness he has with Mike. To try and burry the love and "selfish" need he has for Mike so far underground that it'll never see the light of day. But Mike is going to come running at Will with a shovel. He's going to ask and probe Will with questions. He's going to glue himself to Will's side. Will's going to get frustrated about it. He's going to snap at others cause Mike isn't going to leave him alone all the while dealing with Vecna tormenting him at the same time. And eventually, when Vecna finally takes over Wills body, Mike isn't moving. He's not leaving Will. Mike's going to run into the upside down for Will without hesitant.

It's only when Will finally accepts that yes, it's not selfish to rely on others. That it's okay to ask and / or accept help. That he isn't being selfish for needing Mike cause lo and behold, Mike needs Will too. Its only when he finally accepts himself that he'll be able to stop Vecna.

Season 5 is no doubt going to be brutal and emotional. I'm not sure how exactly they're going to defeat Vecna once and for all, but I know Will's going to most likely give the final blow. But not without some sort of sacrifice, but one thing I know for sure is that Mike is going to be there for Will in the aftermath, and Will is finally going to be selfish for once and accept and take that love wholeheartedly.

~~♡~~♡~~♡~~♡~~

(It's 3:47 am, and I have work at 9 am. So I apologise for rambling and any grammar/spelling mistakes. I'll correct them later. I just needed to write it down to get it out of my head.) ((I'll do a Mike season 5 take at a later date that correlates to this theory))

[maddogdrawing]

"Barely made it out of that dive, hope we had the time of our lives...I can't miss another night like this, yeah - cool like bad kids." - Bad Kids by The Strike

I've wanted to try doing a Bad Kids character lineup for ages - based off of the junior year designs because they're fantastic - but with a bit of my own spin on them :D

(please no spoilers for junior year btw, I've only just started it ;) )

closeups below the cut ->

[maddogdrawing]

Why Will Byers?

An analysis and theory on why Henry/Vecna targeted Will first in season 1 and his plans for Will in season 5

‼️Contains The First Shadow (TFS) spoilers so please proceed with caution.‼️

This is going to be a little long but I���ve tried to give as much context as I can without actually being able to show snippets from the stage play. This is my interpretation of everything that went down as a member of the audience and not as someone who has read up any theories about TFS before. To understand why Henry took Will first in 1983, we have to start with -

Henry and Joyce

From all the times I’ve watched TFS, the one thing that has stuck with me is the final conversation Henry has with Joyce. It’s just before his last confrontation with Patty Newby and before he joins Brenner for good. Joyce is the last person (who doesn’t know about Henry’s powers) that he canonically talks to.

Throughout the entire play Joyce, Hopper, and Bob are investigating the animals dying at the hands of Henry and come to the conclusion that Victor Creel has been the one doing the killing. They get so close to solving the case. In her last conversation with Henry, Joyce tries to comfort him by saying that Victor will pay for his crimes - which makes Henry laugh because she’s so close yet so far from the truth. He gets a little frustrated and says something along the lines of “You don’t get it. But someday you will.” (edit 28/9: the exact dialogue is [Henry: you’re too nice. that is how they’ll get you. you have to learn to do anything you can to protect the ones you love] [Joyce: I don’t understand.] [Henry: You will.]) The next time we see Henry make a reappearance in Joyce’s life is during -

The Vanishing of Will Byers

Will is taken into the Upside Down (UD) by Henry. It’s not even a question anymore. All of the context clues from 1x1 lead us to believe that Will’s kidnapping was not by a demogorgon. Will - a 12 year old - miraculously survives a week in the upside down with no food or water. Will is even around the demogorgon a few times in the Upside Down. (Joyce communicating with Will through the lights and then the demogorgon coming after her immediately).

Barb dies the night she is taken but Will stays alive and also somehow manages to talk to Joyce through the wall. Joyce is led exactly to where Will was held at the end of s1 and he makes it out alive. It’s almost as if Henry knew all along that Joyce was the most capable of never giving up on finding her son. Like Henry took Will Byers because he was Joyce’s son. And like he was giving her just enough to know that Will was alive. Even when Joyce and Hopper find him at the end in a state of near death, he’s not injured by a creature. He was being prepared for the next stage of Vecna’s plan -

The Possession of Will Byers

The origins of Henry’s powers happen as such - As a kid, he is transported into the UD (originally coined Dimension X by the government) for a few hours because he touched something he wasn’t meant to touch. During his time in there, he came in contact with the Mind Flayer (MF). According to TFS this is the point in his life when he started getting “corrupted”. Brenner’s dad - who was one of the first people to enter dimension X - had mutated blood after but no powers. Henry was the first person to come in contact with the MF and it’s highly likely he got his powers because of this (This would also track considering how most of the party has been in the UD now but show no signs of having powers). The MF controls Henry for the rest of TFS and Henry grows more power hungry the more he kills.

In S2, Henry presumably sends the MF after Will - who has now had a year to heal from the events of 1983. Will is the only other person in all of ST to have had direct contact with the MF and survived it. Henry didn’t hesitate to kill Billy in S3, but he always gives everyone just enough to keep Will safe. Will himself tells Owens in S2 that the MF wants to kill everyone except him. Will once again survives the entire ordeal and is given a “break” for the next 2 seasons. Except I don’t believe he’s been just given a break. I think Will is -

Henry’s Sleeper Agent.

Ready to awaken in s5. I undoubtedly think that Will is going to have powers. And I don’t think they’re going to be the same as Henry and El. El and the other lab kids get their powers directly from Henry. Will’s powers will be directly from the MF like Henry. I believe this has been Henry’s plan all along and it’s further affirmed by what he tells Will in the recent VR game. That Will will be the key to Henry being able to infiltrate his friends’ minds. Jamie Campbell-Bower also mentioned during the S4 press that to get in character, he set up a display with all of Henry’s victims and targets’ faces on his wall(?), and Will was in the center.

Henry is going to use his connection with Will sneakily and midway through S5 he’s going to awaken Will’s powers (maybe in ep4 - which is said to be titled ‘Sorcerer’ and has young Will in it). Henry is going to try and manipulate his way into making an ally out of Will, and it’s not going to work because -

Will is the Perfect Character Foil.

Will is everything Henry could have been if he had a better support system. He is the perfect character foil. Unlike Henry, Will has a mother who loves him unconditionally and more importantly, believes him. Unlike Henry, the person who Will loves the most (the Patty to Will’s Henry: Mike) is going to love him back and stay by his side all season. No one is going to force them to be apart the way Henry was told to stay away from Patty. Will is not going to be easily swayed even though Henry has spent years crafting him into the perfect soldier. Sure, Henry has seen him heartbroken and sad, but that comes nowhere near to the amount of love and support Will is going to get from his people next season. And they’re going to quite literally defeat Vecna with the power of love and friendship. After that, Will Byers is getting the happy ending that Henry could have gotten.

[maddogdrawing]

sus music editing in s4 byler scenes (a saga)

i've been wanting to do this for a while but never got around to it. i recommend watching the video attachment (at the end of the post) after reading the whole post, just so you'll have context when watching

ALRIGHT!

will and mike are interrupted in the majority of their solo scenes. the scene in jonathan's room, the scene in will's room, the scene on the car, & the scene in the cabin. i noticed a long time ago that the songs used in the first 3 scenes listed build up for the first half and then kind of explode for the second half. there's a point where the song changes/released after the buildup.

the songs are:

eight fifteen (jonathan's room)

on the bus (will's room)

letter to willy (talk on the car)

BUT, in will's room & the car scene, mike and will are interrupted almost right before the song is supposed to climax. i lined the songs up and listened and i'm right. interestingly, in the scene in will's room, on the bus is edited. in the scene, the song starts like normal at the start of the song. but they cut the middle out so it would skip right to the part RIGHT before the climax of on the bus. THEY DID THAT. so at the very end of the scene just before they get interrupted, the song is teetering on the edge of the big explosive part of the song, but it doesn't happen because they're interrupted and the song ends. in the car scene letter to willy is also edited. maybe im wrong, but there's a note i hear in the car scene that i cannot find anywhere in the song. so it seems like they're purposefully using songs that are building to something but cut off right before the pay off of the buildup. i wouldn't be capitalizing on this so much if 90% of the scenes this happens in werent mike and will staring into each other's souls and then having their gazes torn from each other, but they are. so take that as you will.

now we need to talk about eight fifteen. this is fucking wild.

eight fifteen is all build up for the first half. then there's a moment where it teeters on the edge for a second, and then BOOM! release & loud pretty synths. i lined it up, and the 'teetering' part of the song is in the scene in jonathan's room, but like the others, it's edited. but this one is WAY more crazy.

the song starts from the beginning when will sits on the bed next to mike. it builds while mike talks about his problems with el and not saying the thing she wants. then will says "look, mike, you're gonna see her again, and whatever it is you didn't say, you can say it to her then, okay?" the teetering part starts when will says

"look" and goes all the way until he says "then"

when he says "then", that is the moment when the buildup is supposed to release. but in this scene, it doesn't happen. instead, when he finishes talking, specifically when he says "then" the note kind of trails off. it sounds weird. it's unsatisfying. there was no payoff to all that buildup. i've seen plenty of other tv shows where this is used to emphasize the face that there was no payoff. something in the scene was anticlimactic. something that they wanted to happen or were expecting to happen didnt. the characters are disappointed or left hanging.

and when that note trials off, mike says

"yeah...yeah" and looks down, looking upset and conflicted and disappointed

he wanted will to say something else. will saying "you can say it to her then, okay?" disappointed mike. that's not what he wanted to hear. i think mike wanted will to reassure him and tell him he doesn't have to say something he doesn't mean or doesn't want to say, and that when they see el again mike can explain himself. mike desperately wants to be told he doesn't have to pretend to be in love with el if that's not how he really feels. he wants to be told that el won't be angry if he's honest with her about his true feelings for her, which are platonic. (hence why he later nods after will says 'what if they don't like the truth?')

but will doesn't understand that. will thinks they are in love, he thinks they're perfect. so in his mind, it's fine because mike can just say it when he sees el again. but he thinks that because he thinks mike actually means it, when in reality he doesn't. and by doing that, will only further pushed mike into giving his false confession. now mike thinks even more that he just has to spit it out and tell el what she wants to hear even if it's not how he really feels. this just breaks my heart because mike is so hated on but he's a GOOD BOY💔💔 he's just a 14 year old kid who's afraid of failing the people he cares about but also hates lying about his feelings and just wants to feel free from the expectations others have for him. he just wants someone, specifically will, to tell him it's okay, and that he doesn't owe anyone anything, especially not his own feelings. and it hurts extra bad because if will knew the truth about mike not loving el he would shower him in support because of course mike shouldn't have to lie just because it's what el wants to hear.

and just in case anyone tries to say otherwise, YES mike lied in the monologue. it doesn't need to be proven, it's simply canon.

like there's no denying this. believing it's just a mistake by the writers before believing mike lied is CRAZY heteronormative copium. like come on💀

anyways, the things mike says and does in the scene in jonathan's support this theory. he threw away el's note. "a fight you cant come back from" "maybe if i just said that thing then things would be different" his phrasing sticks out so much. "said that thing" and not "told her" or "told her how i feel". to mike it's just saying words he doesn't want to say. and "a fight you cant come back from" its almost like he's hinting to will that he and el need to break up and he's hoping will will catch on and support him. he trusts will and values his opinion and wants his support. usually he and will very easily communicate non verbally and are naturally in tune with what the other is thinking and feeling, but this time will doesn't catch on (because of his own heteronormativity and assumption that mike and el are in love), and mike is disappointed. he brings this up over and over, like he isn't satisfied with will's answer, and is a little more honest every time. the only thing that seemingly satisfied mike was hearing will's feelings. why did it even get that far?? why would what will said in jonathan's room not suffice if he is actually in love with el??? it just doesn't make sense.

(unless it actually makes perfect sense)

i'm very confident in this since this lies less with the continuity within stranger things itself and more with basic film/video/sound editing. i even got some comments from editors/musicians who agreed with me!

"It's a tactic I've actually used before in editing. It keeps the audience engrossed, and really makes it FEEL interrupted for the audience."

"Woah that's crazy! And it literally stops on the fifth so it's totally legitimately unstable/ unresolved."

stopping on the fifth refers to a technique used in music composition to make a chord progression sound completed. i actually know a bit about this because i took music theory in college, but if anyone knows more than me feel free to share! a completed progression is like a circle. you must begin and end with the same chord. you start with one chord and move down a fifth to the next chord, and do that until you end up back at the original chord. that way it sounds nice and satisfying and completed. in 'on the bus', which the commenter was referring to, this process is cut short, which would serve no purpose other than making the music sound and feel incomplete or interrupted or unsatisfying.

if i just butchered that whole explanation please let me know, but im pretty sure that's accurate.

here is the video with two of the scenes i talked about, using 'Eight Fifteen' and 'On The Bus'

and just as a reminder, on the bus has only played twice in the entire show. first in the lumax talk on top of the bus in season 2, and second in the byler talk in will's room in s4. 🙂

anyways i hope this was comprehensible😅 i remember my tiktok followers being very confused so feel free to re read and re watch as many times as necessary or reply with any questions! and anyone who has more input on editing/music pls share with the class if you'd like!!

anyways byler endgame, thanks for reading

[maddogdrawing]

The Empire Strikes Back and Stranger Things 4 Analysis: A Look at El’s Arc, Will and El’s Relationship, and Byler

Hi all!

I have been following the Byler tag since 17k, but until now I have not directly engaged. However, I recently watched The Empire Strikes Back and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing—I HAD to write about it! Apologies if someone has already covered this, but maybe having a fresh post about it will appeal to the newbies in the tag. Warning: This will be a long one. And now…

*Empire Strikes Back spoilers ahead!*

I had not seen ESB in years, but based on this interview/article with the Duffer brothers, I went into my rewatch of the movie looking at it through a Stranger Things lens, since the interview basically says that Duffers wanted to create the same “all is lost” ending that was in ESB for ST4. Not to mention this

being on the official S4 movie whiteboard. And because of you lovely Bylers pointing out the character parallels, I went into the movie looking for Han=Mike, Leia=Will, and Luke=El similarities. So I’m watching the movie and waiting for the ending parallels…and then I realized that the Duffers didn’t just parallel the ending. They paralleled the WHOLE DAMN MOVIE—especially when it comes to El’s arc, Willel, and Byler’s relationship.

In the beginning of ESB, we have this established love triangle between Han, Leia, and Luke. Leia even kisses Luke (it is implied that she does this to piss off Han), and her and Han’s relationship is somewhat strained. This loosely parallels Mike and El’s face-value relationship at the beginning of S4 and the tension between Mike and Will. At this point in ESB, this creates romantic ambiguity in the Han/Leia/Luke dynamic—as is so with most love triangles.

And then…things got super interesting in regards to parallels, especially when it comes to El’s S4 arc. Luke receives a message from a now-dead Obi Wan Kenobi, who instructs him to go off on his own to begin his official Jedi training with Yoda. This really solidified the El=Luke parallel for me, as El goes on a similar journey with the Nina Project. So Luke goes off on his own to fully come to terms with his power, his past, and his role in the Rebellion/Empire conflict, and El goes off in a similar fashion to regain her powers, come to terms with her past, confront her pain (negative memories and the emotional manipulation of Brenner), and learn the truth about Vecna/Henry/One. But the parallels don’t stop here. El and Luke both cut their training short when they realize that their friends/loved ones are in danger, against the advice of Brenner and Yoda. When I was listening to the dialogue during El’s and Luke’s departure scenes, I was reeling—they were so similar. To quote one lovely Byler: “If my teacher made me run that shit through turnitin.com, my ass would be on the BRINK of expulsion.”

Both El and Luke leave their training to go fight, and both S4 and ESB end with loss. Luke is rattled by losing a hand and learning Darth Vader is his father, Han is frozen in carbonite, and Darth Vader is still on the loose. El is rattled by the loss of Max, the Upside Down crossing over into Hawkins, and Vecna is still on the loose.

The Will+El/Luke+Leia Wonder Twins parallels are not all that subtle, either. In S4, it is established as early as episode one that Will and El have really begun to lean into their sibling/twin bond after moving to California—not too hard, since the two have been strongly connected ever since S1. With or without a script, their reunion in the desert only solidified their love for each other. Luke and Leia do not find out they are siblings until Return of the Jedi, but their bond through the Force becomes a big part of the ending of ESB when Luke calling out to Leia through the Force and Leia coming to rescue him.

Ergo, El=Luke and Will=Leia.

Okay, so I specifically put this in the Byler tag…so…Byler. This part is shorter, but this was so juicy on my ESB rewatch that I cackled. Just…heh.

Man, ST4 really said “forced proximity road trip creates romantic tension and bonding,” didn’t it? But…so did Star Wars. Because while Luke was off on Dagobath with Yoda for his Jedi training, which pairing went on a road trip (space trip, if you will) that emphasized romantic tension and bonded the two characters? You guessed it….

Listen, was I a big fan of how aggressively Han pursued Leia? Not really. Do I think the romance could have been developed a bit more before the execution? Yeah, I do. There are many aspects in which Byler is different from Han/Leia (enemies/annoyances to lovers vs childhood best friends to lovers being a clear difference). But the parallel still stands, even up to the end, when Leia loses Han to the carbonite (and Will rips off the bandaid to push Mike towards El). Leia and Will both think that they have lost their love interests. But in The Last Jedi, Han and Leia reunite and are still endgame. As for Byler in S5….well. That remains to be seen.

Tl;dr: The similarities between ESB and S4 are so glaring they must have been intentional. This has major implications for El’s arc, Willel, and Byler. Who knows, maybe I’ll find some more crumbs and S5 hints when I watch The Last Jedi…

If you’ve made it this far, thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate it and I hope you had fun!

[maddogdrawing]

Star Wars parallels in Stranger Things

Okay so I’ve definitely seen this take at least once before (i don’t remember from who, sorry), but I think it was dated to pre-S4 and there’s a whole lot more evidence to it now. Also, I’m coming from the BNHA fandom so I’m practically conditioned to compare any media to Star Wars lmao. Not all of these are direct matches, but I found the similarities interesting.

Up first is Henry Creel/One/Vecna, who parallels Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Anakin is born sensitive to the force (the Upside-Down). He begins to train as a Jedi later than most younglings (as far as we know, One was the only number not raised in the lab from birth). As he grows older he becomes jaded to the world around him and spiteful to the people in it. He draws his powers from a place of hatred. After growing increasingly erratic, he completes his transition to the dark side when he slaughters the younglings (the massacre at the lab, where he killed off almost all of the numbers). He also becomes physically deformed after he falls in the lava when another Jedi punishes him for this action, and is unrecognisable until he reveals his identity (One’s transformation into Vecna after Eleven sends him to the Upside-Down). Only a few Jedi survive the massacre (Eleven, Kali, and Will). The largest difference between Henry and Anakin is that Anakin redeems himself in the end, whereas Henry has explicitly rejected redemption.

Next are Eleven and Will, who represent Luke and Leia respectively, and need to be grouped as a package deal. They’re siblings! Luke has strong innate abilities with the force, which he doesn’t unlock until he is much older than most Jedi-in-training (Eleven being a late bloomer). He is also the protagonist (Stranger Things might technically be an ensemble show but it isn’t fooling anyone). Leia’s force sensitivity isn’t as focused on or as strong, but it is present (Will’s True Sight and my stubborn belief in the Will Byers Has Powers agenda). The plot of A New Hope is kicked off when Leia is captured by Darth Vader and Luke is the one to receive her distress signal (Will being taken to the Upside-Down, which was confirmed to be for a reason and presumably intentional on Vecna’s part, and El being able to locate him there and listen to him through the radios). Luke struggles between the dark side and the light side, but ultimately the light side wins out and his powers come from a place of love (El’s initial use of her powers being based in anger, as reinforced by Kali). One interesting thing about these two is that Leia is the one with a consistent love interest, while Luke remains happily single. 

these three are the most 1:1 matches. There are other characters with notable similarities, but they aren’t quite as obvious. I’ll list them, but there’s less supporting evidence for them.

Kali is a bit of a wild card. In some aspects, she represents Yoda, one of the few remaining Jedi who teaches Luke how to better control his powers, involving a task where he must move an incredibly heavy object (Kali training Eleven and her moving the- train carriage? container? truck? I forget; that episode sucked). However, running with our current analogy, she would actually be a youngling who happened to escape the massacre. I have quite a lot of thoughts about Kali and her likely connection to One, and while they’re tangential to this post they support this angle. I might make another post about her later. 

Brenner also embodies Yoda a little, as El also went off to train her powers with him. Yoda told Luke he was not ready after his training, and died in front of him. I toyed with the idea of him paralleling Palpatine, but other than their shared Creepy Old Man Vibes they don’t have many strong narrative similarities. Brenner, despite being awful, is not trying to convert Henry to the “dark side”. Henry is doing that by himself. Indeed, Brenner seems to be trying to hinder him.

As Han Solo is Leia’s love interest, the obvious person to tie him to is Mike. Beyond that, though, there isn’t much to go on. My main concern with this parallel is the carbonite incident. If this is foreshadowing a plotline in S5 where Vecna does something terrible to Mike after Will’s confession, and Will is the one to save him, I’ll scream. Not sure if it would be a happy scream or not.

I’m not sure how much stock I put in this observation, but I do find the parallels neat and surprisingly easy to draw. I definitely wouldn’t be surprised to know that Stranger Things was plagiarising Star Wars, at any rate.

If you think of any other Star Wars parallels, please share them with me!!! I’ll add any more that I think of as well.

[maddogdrawing]

I'm yelling at that trailer because I was JUST thinking about Byler/Mileven and Star Wars parallels and then El and Brenner pull "My friends need me" - "you're not ready yet" ....y'know directly paralleling Luke and Yoda???

Anyway what I was thinking about before was that before Return of the Jedi released, there was a subset of the fanbase extremely sure that Leia/Luke was gonna be endgame, only to be severly disappointed when Leia/Han happened. Obviously that doesn't map 1-1 onto the Mileven and Byler debate (althought it is interesting that among the fan theories they had the cast react to "Luke and Leia El and Will start a secret relationship" was one of them), but I found the situation very similar and other things from the Luke-Leia-Han love triangle DO fit the storyline very well.

However, if you try to map ST onto SW, it doesn't fit heteronormative assumptions. Narratively, El is Luke, Will Leia, and Mike Han: El is the one we know has powers, Will we've been theorizing might have powers that have been hidden sofar, while Mike is the one without powers who is there to help out in other ways. Not to mention any talk that I've seen calling/joking about El and Will being like twins (and rn being more or less legally siblings). It also maps storywise: Leia is abducted by Vader, prompting the entire story in the first place. Luke and Han meet and go to save her together. Also later we have the twins separated from Han (although in this case they move away instead of Han getting frozen in carbonite), meaning they need to reunite first to move the plot forward again. And now Luke goes to a deserted planet to train with Yoda, only to leave before Yoda thinks he's ready because his friends need him (which will, storywise, lead to El not being able to defeat Vecna, prompting whatever will happen in S5).

However, if that storyline is the inspiration, then Mileven won't be endgame, but Byler (Han/Leia). They always go on missions together when Luke is busy doing force stuff (like, y'know, we've seen them do), they have that same wordless communication ("you didn't have to say it" vs. "I love you" - "I know"), and Han/Leia have a tighter relationship than Luke/Leia, who kiss once (to make Han jealous) and work better as friends/siblings.

So, yeah, I hope my rambling was halfway coherent, but the Star Wars parallels just had me screaming.

[maddogdrawing]

smthing smthing the parallels between stranger things season 4 and star wars: the empire strikes back... el as luke... mike as han solo... will as leia...

luke is off training to master his powers whilst his friends are sort of stranded,,, han and leia grow closer and have an implied growing romance,,, luke leaves his training early cuz he fears his friends are in danger and are walking into a trap,,, its revealed later on that leia also has the same abilities as luke,,,

does any of this sound familiar... 🤨

[maddogdrawing]

twins in love with emotionally closed off character who has a problem with authority... now where have i heard this one before

[maddogdrawing]

Hands of the spider

Oh yes, Georgie, they float, they all float.

We all float down here.

And you'll float too

[maddogdrawing]

it's my sons birthday!!🎉🎉 happy birthday will!!!

[maddogdrawing]

DNDADS S2 MUSICAL

Feedback needed

Yes I know they suck but I promise it’s a wip please give brutally honest feedback for both songs (I have anon asks on)

I’d also like ideas/ inspo/ lyrics for other songs

You have full permission to do whatever with these just tag me so I see it

The first one is normal oak’s song. The second is a close family ballad

[maddogdrawing]

The Wise, The Brave, and The Heroic.

[maddogdrawing]

"what if I just dropped my sso sequel wip apropos of nothing" "why not!!! do it!!!" "roger"

[maddogdrawing]

Everything between Jayce and Viktor can really be traced back to their childhood inciting incidents and it’s killing me.

Jayce: a miracle saves him and his mom, forever imprinting him with the certainty that miracles do exist, they can be controlled, he can save his loved ones no matter how awful things get, if he can just be smart and bold and quick enough.

Viktor: he saw the horror of what Singed had done—of forcing a creature to live against its will, of the degradation and terror of being fundamentally changed. For a while he thought he understood Singed, when he decided that he was willing to throw away all his principles to survive his own body. But he didn’t, really. He didn’t understand. There was still a line he would not cross. He wanted to die human.

It’s fitting, then, and unspeakably tragic, that Jayce is the one who played Singed’s role in the end. Because you can’t ask Jayce to let a loved one go, when he knows there’s a miracle that can save him, the solution is right there, it will work if you will just let him try—and so he forces a change onto Viktor against his will. He traps him into the Arcane, takes apart and reassembles his body, strips him of his selfhood and humanity. All so that Viktor will live. Singed wasn’t talking about the desperation not to die—he was talking about the desperation not to lose someone you love.

And so Viktor is…changed. He lives, whether he wants to or not.

And so Jayce loses him anyway.

[maddogdrawing]

Parallels between Jayvik and the Phantom of the Opera

I can't believe I haven't seen any discussion yet around the musical theater influences in Arcane S2 so far (besides my one mention of its parallels with Les Miserables).

So as a basic, Phantom of the Opera-loving bitch, can we please take a moment to examine the Phantom of the Opera parallels that are literally shoved in our faces during this opening sequence and what that means for Jayvik?

Viktor is the Phantom. The show opening outright says it. The parallels are there. They're impossible to miss.

And then, when you dig a little deeper, hooo boy those parallels become even more stark. Especially if you read Viktor as romantically pining after Jayce, which 99.9999% of humanity does.

To quickly summarize, Phantom of the Opera is the story of a deformed genius who falls in love with an opera singer, Christine, and then nurtures her talents, only for her to in turn fall in love with a nobleman, Raoul. The ensuing love triangle is the heart of the plot, with Raoul and the Phantom both vying for Christine's love.

This shouldn't be a hard one to see the parallels for.

Viktor = The Phantom. Literally a genius born with a disfigurement, in this case a disability he sees as a weakness and a disease that is sapping away his life and hope of a legacy. He is riddled with jealousy for the person trying to pull his scientific/musical partner away from him, a person who happens to be beautiful and live a life of privilege that Raoul/Mel could offer to Jayce/Christine instead.

Jayce = Christine. Instead of sharing genius in music, he and Viktor share genius in science. Like Christine, he is tugged between the glittering world of politics and privilege, vs his genius and love at a more esoteric skill, in this case science instead of music.

Mel = Raoul. Literally an aristocrat who is far more beautiful than the Phantom/Viktor, who steals away his partner's attention and offers them a glittering life of privilege in the public eye instead of the wonders of their joint musical/scientific pursuits. Whether or not Mel meant to embody this, or steal Jayce from Viktor, this is the role she fulfills in Viktor's view of the world.

But the most profound moment for me of, "Oh wow, they're doing Phantom of the Opera! Actually, they're not just doing Phantom, they're doing Phantom fixit fic?!" was this:

Which, if you'll forgive the potato quality of the screenshots, is literally the moment Viktor has his mask knocked away and then cringes in on himself to hide his exposed face from Jayce.

Which... is literally a scene in Phantom of the Opera? Just after "Music of the Night"?

But we're already in Phantom fixit territory, because Jayce doesn't recoil like Viktor expects! Instead, he embraces Viktor and loves him for all his self-perceived flaws.

And then, AND THEN, in a moment that made my Phantom-loving heart sing, Viktor tells Jayce to go!

And Jayce doesn't.

In the final song of the Phantom of the Opera musical, Christine is forced to choose between Raoul and the Phantom. She chooses the Phantom and kisses him. Flooded by remorse, the Phantom then relinquishes her to the man he knows she truly loves, and when Christine hesitates to leave, he shouts at her, "Go!" and then, of course, she and Raoul leave together.

Viktor is expecting that to happen! I think his order to Jayce very clearly implies that he thinks Mel and Jayce are still together. It's the classic, "Go be with the woman you love instead of staying here and dying with me," trope that we see over and over again in dramas.

But Jayce. Defies. The Trope.

Unlike Christine and just about every buddy war movie out there, he stays with Viktor. He chooses his scientific/artistic partner over the life of aristocracy and privilege that Mel would theoretically offer him. He chooses the masked genius with the disability and calls him perfect. He refuses to go when he is ordered to leave. He stays with Viktor until the end.

And I still can't believe that no one else is talking about this!

[maddogdrawing]

I love women ‼️