#Barb holland analysis

[aemiron-main]

pearl buttons: an analysis of barb possibly having powers

Barb may have had powers. This isn’t the full analysis on it bc im gonna go over it in detail in the vanishing of Will Byers analysis, but let’s take a look at all of this!

First of all, this is some pretty tiny stuff, but Barb and Henry/Edward’s shirts are pretty similar, especially when looking at them from a distance. Barb’s shirt is also a VERY similar style to Robin’s Pennhurst shirt, right down to the same ruffles and bows- and who do they visit at Pennhurst? Victor Creel, tying Barb to Henry/the Creels yet again.

Barb’s shirt, much like Robin’s Pennhurst shirt, also has pearl buttons- Henry’s buttons aren’t completely pearls, but they ARE pearlescent rather than matte white, connecting Barb and Henry’s shirts in yet another way. As well, Barb has her lightning bolt binder- not only do we see Henry being struck by lightning repeatedly, but electricity, as I’m sure we’re all aware, is constantly associated with people who have powers, with things like the lights flickering and the fact that powers and gates affect electromagnetic fields. We can also see that Barb was not only bleeding from her nose, just like El and Henry (even out of the same nostril), but also bleeding out of her ears, which is something we see consistently when El used her powers.

Vecna was possibly trying to use Barb to open a gate just like how El opened the mothergate- how, though? By appearing as a demogorgon. Because it’s confirmed in s4 that he knew that El opened the mothergate when she was scared by the demogorgon, and that Vecna wanted to open his own gates, and so, it would make sense for him to go after other people with powers and attempt to replicate what happened with El, in the hopes of opening another mothergate, which would explain how Will and Barb got into the UD (they opened temporary gates, but didn’t end up opening a full mothergate).

The shot of Barb seeing the demogorgon behind her is IDENTICAL to the shot of El seeing the demogorgon in the void except for one detail- the egg behind El’s demogorgon which is an enigma all on its own and is something I still need to think on. Why parallel Barb’s vanishing to El opening the mothergate, right down to both of them not only having the same bloody nostril, but also having the same sort of smear pattern on the blood, if not to indicate that Barb also had powers and opened a gate because she, just like El, was scared by the demogorgon?

And I talked about this in a reblog awhile ago, but looking at the way that Barb spits out water (much like El in s2 after she awakens in the UD version of hawkins middle school), where else have we seen somebody drown/have water down their throat? Heather. Heather was shown drowning in the void, and when Barb sees the demogorgon, we don’t see any sort of background behind the demogorgon despite the fact that there’s elements of the harrington house and pool that SHOULD be visible. It seems like people who are forced into the UD by Henry, such as Barb and El and Will end up coughing up water, unlike people who go into the UD willingly via a portal- which makes me wonder if Henry is dragging them through the void/they end up going through the void when they open a portal. We even see El fall through the void in s3 into Billy’s memories, and we also see Nancy fall through the void into Henry’s memories/her vecna vision in s4.

It’s just really interesting to me that Barb is paralleled to both Will and El, and that we don’t know how she got into the UD or why her nose and ears were bleeding. It’s difficult without being able to compare her to other victims, as she’s the only S1 victim that we actually see in the UD, but the parallels are definitely suspicious, and Barb having powers would explain the blood and how she got to the UD and why she was targeted & details like the lighting bolts on her binder.

[therainscene]

I think I might have figured out what the Mind Flayer really is.

This theory has been percolating in my brain for a while now; it hasn't really finished baking yet but I wanted to get the gist of it down before The First Shadow debuts.

Let’s begin at the Hawkins National Lab, 6th November 1983. For the second time in her young life, El faces terrifying and deeply traumatic circumstances which cause her powers to lash out and rip a gash in the fabric of reality.

Meanwhile, across town, Will is doing what every queer 12 year-old has done and finds an excuse to spend an extra moment alone with his crush.

His little gay heart is as aflutter as the garage lights.

(Strange, that. The lights, I mean -- considering that he's on the other side of town from the lab. Do you suppose the Demogorgon trekked all the way to Mike's house and quietly followed him home again?)

Will heads home, lost in thought as he cycles past the lab. Is he thinking about how sweet his new X-Men #134 is gonna be? Or is he thinking about something even sweeter? The lights flutter again.

And something in front of him notices.

Will has always been noticeable: his clothes, his mannerisms, his interests -- they've always attracted the attentions of bullies. Now something new -- or maybe something that was always there and is only now making itself known -- has attracted the attentions of a monster.

He runs home, he calls for help, but he's alone, there's no escape. He races to the shed and loads a gun like his father taught him -- but it's not in his nature to be violent. He freezes, petrified.

The lights surge as his terror wrestles control of his powers and uses them to puncture an escape route in the fabric of reality.

Why were we so quick to believe that the Demogorgon -- a minion of the guy whose whole thing is his inability to open gates -- was able to open its own temporary portals in S1 and then never again?

Will could plausibly have been responsible for every temporary portal in S1: he’s at the Byers house when the Demogorgon pushes through its walls; he's on the run to Castle Byers when Nancy stumbles across that portal in the woods; and he's plugged in to one of Vecna's vines during the finale -- something we see Vecna plug himself into when he remotely opens gates in S4.

There’s one exception though.

Barb likely slipped through a gate in Steve's pool, but how could Will have opened that one when he was in his bedroom at the time, talking to his mother through the lights?

Let me ask you this: isn't it interesting that of all the injuries Barb could have obtained in her passage to the Upside Down, she got a nosebleed?

I think powers are more common than we’ve been led to believe, and gates are a last-ditch self-defense mechanism for anyone with powers.

This is why the four curse victims’ deaths opened a gate: Vecna pushed them to their breaking point to artificially trigger the self-defense response. Those headaches and nosebleeds weren't caused by Vecna directly, but by their own powers acting up as they inched towards oblivion.

[Shoutout to @givehimthemedicine's underrated powers and blood theory for the idea of Vecna's Curse being the overcharging of his victims' own powers.]

It was already pretty obvious that Vecna's Curse is a metaphor for suicide, and this theory reinforces it: every kid who gets targeted by the horrors of Hawkins for being "different" tries to find some way to escape.

Willel's misfortune is that their powers are considerably more easily manifested than the average person's. Byler tells the story of visible vs invisible queerness, but that's just a reflection of the larger theme at play in the show: the visible and invisible ways kids are othered and abused.

Max's trauma was a quiet thing that came from within and festered until it was almost too late to save her... but Willel's trauma manifests as a giant monster that openly hunts them down.

And I'm being literal when I say the Mind Flayer is a manifestation of their trauma.

We know that Vecna fashioned the Mind Flayer from a cloud of black particles he found in the Upside Down, but where did that cloud come from? The Upside Down is a mysterious enough place that it's easy to assume the Shadow is native to that realm... but what if it isn't?

The Mind Flayer is heavily associated with repression -- Will gradually lost his memories while he was possessed, and El lost her powers when the sliver of Flesh Flayer wormed its way into her leg.

But Will has mysteriously been without powers ever since leaving the Upside Down, and we've seen El lose memories too: her memories of surviving the lab massacre, in which she didn't simply escape by opening up a gate, but by disintegrating her attacker into black particles.

The Mind Flayer doesn't cause repression -- it is repression.

There must have been countless generations worth of traumatized children who took the extra step El did and sent their abusers -- or at least their memories of abuse -- into that hidden realm beyond the gate.

(There's also the possibility that Mr. Time-is-Just-a-Social-Construct is stuck in a time loop of some sort -- maybe the massacre has repeated hundreds of times, and Dimension X is a timeless graveyard of El's attempts to repress her trauma. This would explain why Henry seems to have both disintegrated and survived: we were watching at least two different iterations of the massacre all along.)

Whichever way you slice it, it's a perfect fit: the tool Vecna uses to perpetuate the cycle of abuse isn't some bizarro alien from an alternate dimension, but a direct consequence of the cycle itself.

The Mind Flayer tells us that escape alone doesn't work as a long-term solution: it might help you survive the initial abuse, but if you don't address the effect it had on you...

...it will come back to wreck havok.

[Edit: Click here for post-TFS thoughts on this theory]

[clericsandpaladins]

The Stranger Things twitter account has encouraged us two years in a row to rewatch s1, and specifically s1 episode 1 this year. So, that being said, can we talk about how strange Will's abduction into the Upside Down is in s1? Like, I personally fully believe he was taken by the Demogorgon because the shadowy figure matches up with how we see it throughout the show and we hear plenty of noises to indicate this along with the flickering lights. That being said, I think there was more at play here. First off, the lock on the door unlocks by itself, which is reminiscent of El's powers. The Demogorgon is shown repeatedly to have to break down barriers with force, as are the Demodogs and Demobats. At no other point during the series do we see a monster from the Upside Down unlock a door like this save for Vecna, but he is also like El so we aren't counting him. That is, unless Vecna did have an influence now that we know he was pulling the strings from the start. And secondly, we see the light flicker two times before Will is abducted. First at Mike's house in his garage, after Will leaves funnily enough, and then when he's bike riding home his bike light flickers. This is normal for when the Demogorgon is present. However, when Will is abducted the light does not flicker, it brightens and then dims when Will disappears. The only time we see this happening is when someone who is decidedly not an Upside Down monster is interacting with the lights. We see it with Will, we see it with Joyce and Hopper, we see it in s4 with Eddie, Robin, Steve, and Nancy, and, surprise surprise, we see it with Vecna. To further prove that this is strange, when Barb is abducted, the lights flicker and even turn off, showing the inconsistency between both abductions. We know that, for whatever reason, Will has a connection to Vecna and the Upside Down. His True Sight for one but also the fact that he can sense Vecna and feel/know his thoughts. We find out in s4 that not only is the Upside Down stuck on the day of November 6th, 1983, the day Will went missing, but also that the Mind Flayer was controlled by Vecna. So, this begs the question of why Will? If Vecna is controlling the Mind Flayer, then he specifically targeted Will in s2, but why? What was so important about Will? Why does it seem like Vecna had an influence in his abduction? I am sure the answer lies in the strangeness of Will's Upside Down experience, especially since we know we are getting a Castle Byers flashback, but what is it? So many questions that I do not have the answers to.

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

Let me get this straight.

S1

Barb (nickname for Barbara) dies.

Benny (might be his full name, or a nickname for Benjamin) dies.

Connie (might be her full name, or a nickname for Constance, etc) dies.

Will (nickname for William) almost dies. (1)

Mike (nickname for Michael) almost dies (the cliff).

El (nickname for Eleven) was meant to die in s1 (but the duffer changed their minds)

S2

Dart (nickname for D'Artagnan) dies.

Will (nickname for William) almost dies. (2)

Bob (either his full name or a nickname for Robert. Or Bobby) dies. (Tbh I do think it’s his full name)

Honorable mention - Dottie (nickname for Dorothy), a member of kali’s gang. Dorothy reference (we know all the wizard of oz references). She lives.

S3

Billy (nickname for William) dies.

Tom (nickname for Thomas) dies.

S4

Fred (either his full name or a nickname for Frederick) dies.

Chrissy (either her full name or a nickname for Christina) dies.

Max (nickname for Maxine) almost dies.

Patrick breaks my pattern of “Vecna’s big four victims have nicknames”. However rumour has it Patrick wasn’t originally gonna be one of Vecna’s four victims…

Eddie (nickname for Edward) dies.

Honorable mentions - Suzie (nickname for Susan, among others) Bingham (who lives) and Alice (currently a full name, but was originally a nickname) Creel (who dies).

What I’m seeing is that, even if not all who die have nicknames, most characters with nicknames die.

[edmufics]

S5 Theory Part Three

SO

Here are my theories with all the info I have from The Dark Tower universe.

Disclaimer: Im not saying any of these are right, likely to happen, or that I necessarily even want them to happen. I just think that btwn learning ab TDT and rewatching stranger things, these are fun theories to consider!

*SPOILERS FOR SEASON 1-4 AHEAD*

*MENTIONS OF S5 BTS CONTENT AHEAD* I think S5 will come out on July 15th, 2025—the ninth anniversary! It will take place over the course of several months rather than a week or two like we have seen in the past. I think it will start in late summer, back-to-school time. I think we will see a lot more of Mr. Clark this season, and he will fill some of the scientist roles (along with new casting) we will be missing after S4's deaths. We will see a lot more flashbacks this season, either due to trying to keep Vecna out with positive memories or just reminiscing. Vecna will return to Hawkins lab at some point. Possibly a significant battle or it will be his lair. Vecna takes Holly, but I'm not sure he kills her (Like an 80% chance he does tho) I think with the increased army presence, we may see the kids lose the ability to see or visit Max (since she is a Venca victim). Nancy has a candy stripper/nurse outfit this season because they are trying to sneak in to see/save her in some way. I'm at about 60% on the chance of Kalli coming back. If she does, it will either help El train or help El defeat Vecna. Nancy detective journalist era, but she isn't going to leave for college. She would never just dip like that. Stobin or Nancy work at the radio station set we've seen. Hopper will either be stuck in hiding with El or in the army, but only as a means of gathering intel.

I think that people were not far off on the Kas theory. I think there will be a character that represents Kas, but it'll be Will. In S4 they talk about how Vecna doesn't kill his victims, he absorbs their abilities/souls. We also see that El can revive the dead (Max) in some way. That skill isn't practiced on her part, and we know Vecna is stronger than she is. I think Vecna kills Will and then revives him using memories like El did to Max, but only uses his darkest memories. These memories turn him against his friends, at which point he becomes Kas. Mike will be the key to getting Will back (since Mike is the heart). Mike will have to confront his romantic or platonic feelings for Will while reminding him of their good memories. This will lead to Will delivering the final blow to Vecna (like Kas) when he remembers.

I also think the idea of "Twinners" from The Talisman will come into play, but not quite in the same way. Instead of them all having Upside Down twins, I think Vecna will reanimate the corpses of his victims (since we've seen that the bodies are still in the Upside Down) and use these reanimated corpses to torture the MCs. Especially bc we know that it's all a hive mind so anyone killed by a part of Vecna's hive mind was technically killed by Vecna (depending on if thats how they wanna spin it). Specifically, I think Dustin will be either Vecna'd (but not killed) or have to see Eddie's reanimated corpse (fitting in with strange similarities between Eddie and Metallica's Eddie). Barb will return to torture Nancy, Bob returning for Joyce, etc.

In the Talisman universe, there is a plot where the person who opens the gate banishes himself to an alternate universe and closes the gate forever, forcing himself to leave behind everyone he loves. I think this is how El's story will end. She won't die but instead will have to stay in the Upside Down forever. In the end, we will see a crying Mike looking up and noticing the light above him glowing brightly, showing how he and El may continue communicating.

Characters I think could die:

Vicki (they loooove giving us a new character to fall in love with so they can brutally kill them that same season)

Steve (sacrificing himself for the Dustin, Robin, or Johnathan.) Holly (Maybe, it just seems too easy) Dr. Owens Vecna (Duh) Either Lucas or Max (I think Max may come back only to lose Lucas) Murray Ted Wheeler Wayne Munson (following Eddie's reanimated corpse into the upside down; I think that's how they reveal that Vecna reanimated the bodies)

Characters that I think are 100% going to survive: Mike Dustin (will try to be a hero like Eddie, but Steve will sacrifice himself to save Dustin (I think at the church)) Will Joyce Karen Wheeler

Anyone else, I'm not sure they are safe, but I also don't think they are going to die.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk!

[erikiara80]

Why so many mentions of Barb in S4? Because it's not just about Nancy

@chirpsythismorning @lilitblaukatz I finally have a theory. I didn't understand what all those mentions meant until I found another one in 4x01.

A hidden reference, in a school project, to Barbara Henry, the woman who teached little Ruby Bridges, the first African-American child to attend the all-white William Frantz Elementary School, New Orleans. Barbara, Henry and William. And El had Henry as a mentor...

EDIT (spoiler of The First Shadow) There's another mention in . The name of main character of the play in the play (Joyce's play) the Dark of the Moon, is Barbara Allen.

So, if most of these Barb mentions/references are connected to Will and El, maybe she's not just important for Nancy's arc, but the writers are also using her story to hide hints about Will and El's story.

I talk about the references here and here. For example, Lenora is in Santa Barbara County, the hint being 805, the area code number on the Surfer Boy Pizza van. There are two Barbaras in Brenner's crossword puzzle, the day of the massacre. This means twin imagery= Willel (and Henry/Edward) and maybe different timelines.

Another twin imagery is in S2. The owls.

Also, Rick's house, where Eddie is hiding, is at 2121, Holland RD. Barbara Holland. 2121, another twin imagery, and 12 mention (the number associated with Will), but reversed. Rick is a reference to Dr Richard Brenner, mentioned in two articles in S1 (here). One of them is The boy who came back to life. The kids also say that there are 12 Ricks... I don't think these are coincidences.

So, S1 is all about the boy in the UD and the girl who escaped from the lab. Brenner refers to them as the boy and the girl. Will and El, the keys to save the world. In fact, this is the first question Joyce asks after Will's vanishing: 'Where are they?' (the keys) After they showed a key on the wall and keys on the table in Hopper's house.

(screenshot by chirpsythismorning)

Also, close up of the number of Hopper's badge, in his first scene: 380 (11) Imo, a hint that Will and El are the keys, and Joyce and Hopper are their parents.

But S1 is also about finding Will and another girl, Barb. So my theory is that Barb represents El and the writers hid some important hints in their parallels.

The boy and the girl

Barb is bleeding when she's taken to the UD, and her attack is different from what happens to Will. But she's attacked right after the scene in Will's room, where Should I stay or should I go starts playing, and the light gets brighter, something that only happens when El and Vecna use their powers. Also, Joyce sees the Demogorgon in the wall. They connected Barb to Will.

Another connection. El finds them in the void, and Joyce helps her. She helps El to find the boy and the girl, a parallel with her trying to find the keys in 1x01. And if Will is one of the keys, Barb represents the other key, El.

If this is true, what are the hints about Will and El's story?

1. Water. They find Will's fake body in the quarry, and in S1 there are random shots of lakes. Something bad happened in the past (more here and here)

Barb is taken in a pool, and water is important in the show, but it's mostly associated with danger/death. They mention another death in the quarry in 1976. Will has the first vision of the UD in 1x08, when he's washing his hands, and a vision of the Mind Flayer after he washes them in S2. El sees Heather in the bathtub, Billy sees the Mind Flayer in the shower. The song when Hopper and Joyce revive Will (I don't want to swim forever... When it's cold I'd like to die- the same song that plays when Max dies). And Owens says that El is going to drown in the water tank.

This scene in S2 also seems to hint at a parallel between El and Maria's drowning scene in the movie Frankenstein.

The word LIFE

El and a bathtub

And after the shot of Maria walking towards the lake, they show the radio and the number 11. Maybe this means that in the past El died, too, and was revived?

Also, the first time Will communicates with Joyce, she only hears him breathing. Then she tells Hopper that she knows her son's breathing. But in 1x08 Will is not breathing. In S2, when he sees the storm, he feels frozen, like when you can't breath or move or do anything. He says it again in S3, three times. In S2 Becky says that Jane wasn't breathing, and the first thing Terry says to El is: Breath.

And this is also connected to the other big hint hidden in Barb's story.

2. The official "cause" of her death, the experimental chemical asphyxiant (so she couldn't breath) is a parallel with Agent Orange and a hint about the real connection between Willel and Hopper

In S3, Will, El, Hopper and Joyce are all connected to the word orange. I didn't notice it when I watched S3 years ago, because I didn't know Hopper's backstory, but now...

Robin sees a pretty girl with read hair and says: 'Twelve o'clock!' Orange and 12 mention. Will.

Then El explodes the cup of another girl. Curiously, another redhead. Imo, another twin imagery that connect the two scenes. Also, there are four cups: Hopper, Joyce, Will and El. And the guy's outfit reminds me of a lab orderly. (I'm not forgetting Jon. I just thinks he is Lonnie's son)

In this shot the word orange is behind Lucas, but he's telling Hopper that the Mind Flayer destroyed his cabin: Hopper's connection to the events of 1959 and the curse are haunting him and his family?

Then my favorite part, because it connects all of them to Agent Orange and the keys.

Murray gives Jon and Nancy the keys of his house.

Then we see one of the keys, Will, with Joyce. When she hugs him he says that he can't breath.

And even when the camera moves on Hopper and El, we can still hear him saying 'I'm suffocating'.

The word orange between the parents (another screenshot by Jo)

And here. Billy (William), El and the Mind Flayer/Henry, the other person connected to the curse.

The reason why I decided to analyze Barb's connection to Will and El is a strange detail in S4.

When El blames Brenner for all the deaths, the flashback shows Bob's death first, then Barb's. But in 4x02 the journalist says that it all started with Barb's death. I'm not sure what this "error" means. The only thing I could think of is the score at the Arcade in S2.

1st, 75 (12) 2nd 65 (11)

11 comes before 12 but in the Dig Dug score it's second. Barb dies before Bob, but in the flashback they show her death after his. Maybe this is also about something in Will and El's past? There's still a lot to analyze.

And, of course, Barb is very important for Nancy's arc, too. I just noticed a connection to other characters and wanted to see what it could mean.

[ohfallingdisco]

Nancy’s Pictures with Barb

Also known as, “4 Reasons Nancy Wheeler Has Been An Absolute, Closeted Bisexual This Whole Time”

So she has four noticeable photos with Barb up on her bulletin bord in her room: kissing faces, same-outfits-but-in-color, a Halloween costume picture, and a printed strip taken in a photo booth.

Let’s start off with Kissing Faces. Listen, I’m not saying Nancy has a type, but I’m not not saying it-

The picture with Barb is up on her bulletin board in her room. It’s fun how both of her love interests friends have their eyes closed when she’s looking at them like this, huh?

In the same-outfit picture…well, Barb looks like—you could see Steve, right?

Except Nancy looks consistently happier with Barb than she ever did with Steve. Her hair is free and curlier, they’re goofing around in sunglasses, and she’s got a watch displayed (which has only ever otherwise been a motif with Mike and Will, really).

Listen, I’m not gonna hate you if you say something else—but there’s clues Nancy is bisexual. She’s not unhappy with Jonathan, like Mike is with El, but she’s not all that different than how she was with Barb, either.

And the Halloween picture. Oh, what foreshadowing.

Barb is dressed like a clown, but also a Vecna victim: arms pulled back, fingers jagged, undereye makeup drawn on like blood. Oops.

Nancy is a bunny—an animal which is consistently associated with both her, and Henry Creel. Hmm…?

And the last: the photo booth strip.

There’s two of the same pinned up, which means she owns two copies. Nancy’s being playful and hanging off Barb, and in 2 out of 3, Barb’s grinning like there’s nothing she’d rather be doing. Nancy in these pictures feels very authentic—like this is the girl who would dress up as an elf for her little brother’s D&D campaign, with the same kind flirty happiness that Mike and Nancy can both give off.

Anyway, thought these were interesting lmao. The Wheelers are probably all somehow queer, right?

[laughing-drawing-aces]

also it’s kind of wild to me how many people take barb’s line of ‘this isn’t you nancy’ so seriously when nancy’s intentions that night where to fuck steve. but also because we just assume that they’re friends for a while we just think they know each other like the back of their hands but do they? we don’t get enough insight into their friendship to actually know what their dynamic was like. there’s not enough information given to say ahh yes they know each other in ways that no one ever could know. because this isn’t the dynamic that we get!! the dynamic we get in canon is more ‘we’ve set up this girl’s best friend to die and this is going to haunt her’. we only see their friendship in a few scenes which is when they’re in the halls where steve comes in, in barb’s car, when they’re on the phone, and at the party. that isn’t enough for the audience to understand what this dynamic is actually like.

it’s very likely that the two don’t actually know each other that well even when they were friends. we just don’t know who they are as friends. even when they are shown together on screen you can feel the distance and then the dynamic we only get after one and a half episode is nancy being haunted by barb’s death! it’s just that their dynamic wasn’t actually supposed to be well developed and we weren’t actually supposed to see them as these close friends they claim they are. to me their dynamic has always been more about the haunting of barb’s death than what their dynamic is actually like because we never know what their dynamic/friendship is!!

the audience isn’t actually connecting and emotional with nancy and barb’s friendship - the audience is more connected and emotional by the fact that nancy looses a friend. not the fact that it’s barb and weren’t not actually mourning this friendship - we’re mourning nancy’s innocence and the fact that she has to go through someone she knows dying

[ladyfromaspookyforest]

ST Season 2 Wardrobe Analysis

Nancy, Jonathan, & Steve

I watched Risky Business for this, you guys. And I hated it. I just need to put that out there. And heads-up: this one is looong.

If you haven't read my other wardrobe posts, here's what you need to know:

Pink (or red) and blue are used to symbolize the idea of the perfect nuclear family or the "norm."

The Byers wear earth tones and warm neutrals.

Steve's color is blue

Nancy's color is purple. She wore mostly pink and blue during season 1, though as she grows into herself, she wears more purple (a blend of the two).

EPISODE 1

For starters, we get a brief snippet of Nancy and Mike fighting at home. Nancy's wearing a soft grey sweater (the go-to neutral color for the Wheelers) and I'm going to be honest: I can't really tell what color the stripes are. They're either pink and blue or purple and blue. Either way, Nancy wearing divided colors, as opposed to just the blend (purple) is an indicator that she has moved backwards into the safe zone of her family's expectations. And we know she's struggling with trying to pretend the events of the last season didn't happen.

Here are some randos, totally decked out in the pink/red and blue palette as a reminder that these are the sheep. Steve is wearing blue and red, the addition of red to his outfit demonstrating that he is trying to buy into this mindset.

Steve wears his jacket all day at school and then takes it off for dinner with the Hollands. Both he and Nancy are putting on performances and both of them are dressed in what I am deeming the Colors of Conformity. The removal of Steve's jacket makes him look more polished. He's lost the sporty half of his sporty-prep look, him bending to fit this situation not only metaphorically through color but literally through style.

Nancy and Steve actually both match this nasty wallpaper, though he pops out more, despite his efforts. But one thing I love is that even the Hollands are doing a terrible job of fitting into their own home/their own lives because look how much the KFC bucket ruins the aesthetic.

Nancy's wearing the Colors of Conformity again, but Nancy's never worn tan or brown before. So while she is still performing, influences from the past year are continuing to leak through. Influences like...

They match! So while Nancy and Steve are both wearing the Colors, their outfits don't actually go together. Whereas Nancy's and Jonathan's do, despite the fact that Nancy is still dragging around these familial/societal expectations.

EPISODE 2

The style of Nancy's outfit (dainty, plaid, little frills alongside the buttons) is absolutely something she would have worn season 1. In fact, the last time she wore a purple sweater was the last day she saw Barb. And in this episode, she sees Faux Barb (we'll call her Farb).

The Farb Incident is a large part of what sets off Nancy's drunken disaster state at the party that night, so this subtle callback to the season 1 outfit is a great detail (aside from the colors, both the S1 and S2 tops have the same type of rounded collars and she's wearing dark wash jeans).

Steve has ditched the red from his previous outfit here so that neither Steve nor Nancy are wearing the Colors of Conformity palette anymore (woo!). The dark blue shirt with a green vest is a bit of an inversion of a couple of his season 1 outfits (green or teal shirt, blue jacket). In those episodes, Steve realized he'd fucked up and tried to make it up to Nancy. This season 2 episode also shows Steve trying to connect with Nancy, and just like these episodes below, it doesn't work because in all of these moments, though he is being genuine, the comfort he has to offer isn't the comfort she needs.

Jonathan calling himself "a guy who hates parties" at a costume party where he is dressed as himself is a very blatant demonstration that Jonathan refuses to pretend. And not only is he dressed in his own clothes to make this declaration, but he's in a jacket he wears constantly, just to drive that point home extra hard. He wore it in the previous episode and he wears it for the remainder of the season.

Jonathan's outfit-repeating is a detail I haven't really discussed much yet, but I keep meaning to. Because while outfit repeating sometimes serves as a callback or, as it does here, to emphasize a point, for Jonathan in particular (who outfit repeats the most of anyone), it is a reminder that he doesn't own the kind of expansive wardrobe characters like Nancy and Steve do because he doesn't come from money. So not only do his outfits give insight into his feelings and his relationships, but they show us his circumstances.

One last thing about The Jacket:

It's red inside! Jonathan is a very closed-off person and all of his...flair...if you will, is on the inside. Back to Halloween.

We've arrived at the reason I watched Risky Business. I googled Nancy and Steve's costumes (because I didn't know what they were), which led me to someone talking about them being the characters from Risky Business and questioning why, of all the (supposedly better) outfits in the movie, they chose these ones. So obviously I had to watch it.

It became pretty immediately apparent to me, before I even got to the scenes with the outfits they chose, why Steve couldn't wear just any Joel outfit. It's because he'd have looked exactly like himself.

So I waited the whole movie only to see them not even wearing the outfits from the party in the same scene? The Joel outfit Steve wears is from a scene near the end, at a big house party (fitting). The Lana outfit Nancy wears is from the final scene of the movie.

Honestly, it doesn't even matter what happens in that scene. That tells me everything I need to know. It's literally the End. Had Nancy worn the outfit that went with Steve's, she'd have been in navy and the big Spill Incident would have had no little to no impact. So they NEEDED to put her in white for ultimate damage. But in addition to that, this outfit is the most like something Nancy would wear of all the outfits in the movie. Which makes this scene pack a double-punch, because Nancy isn't just dressing up like a character she has nothing in common with, she's actually dressing to a degree like herself and yet it's still a costume.

The stain on the costume is irreparable. She is unable to fix the facade after this incident. And going back to them wearing outfits from different scenes, Nancy's reached the end but Steve hasn't yet. Because he's still a few scenes behind.

EPISODE 3

I touched on these looks when I talked about the alley scene in season 1. Then, Nancy was wearing pastel pink while Steve was in baby blue and it was very boy/girl coded. Now, they're both in grey.

I mentioned in the other post was that Steve and Nancy are matching perfectly for the first time here. Not just color scheme or style. They are both in light solid grey with no color, no patterns. And they are finally having an honest dialogue. They are finally on the same page. The truth is finally out.

Nancy actually doesn't match Jonathan at all, and that's unusual too. This grey outfit of hers feels somewhat like a blank slate because she's always dressed in color. She's feeling down, she's fighting with her boyfriend, she's still sad about Barb. She kind of hit rock bottom at that party and this is a new beginning, but it isn't necessarily a happy one. (If it were an uplifting blank slate/fresh start moment, this would probably be represented by white rather than this gloomy grey)

Jonathan is wearing That Jacket again. And I love this sweater!! Not that it matters. But Jonathan doesn't wear a lot of variety, so it's neat to see him here in a multicolored (even if two of those colors are black and grey) striped sweater while Nancy is in this bland, solid, colorless outfit. It's unusual. The addition of more prints and colors into Jonathan's wardrobe tells us he's starting to come out of his shell, even if only to Nancy. This sweater, the yellow one from the episode prior, he wore stripes in episode 1, he has a light-colored flannel on in the next episode. It's a little more variety than we saw in season 1.

EPISODE 4

Nancy has reverted to pink and blue again. *sigh* But once she leaves the house, she adds a brown jacket.

Jonathan's flannel is blue and white with some red, matching her sweater. His t-shirt matches Nancy's jacket, his jacket matches her pants, and his pants match her sweater...it's a whole moment. A very clear sign that they are being drawn towards one another. In this scene, they are baiting HNL, which makes the presence of the Colors of Conformity actually work in their favor for once. They are pretending, but this time it's a conscious choice for the sake of getting justice for Barb. It's not the unconscious desire to be normal.

EPISODES 5-9

Nancy packs a light pink nightgown for the trip while Jonathan sleeps in the t-shirt he wore all day. That completely tracks with what we know of each character. This reminds me a bit of the scene in season 1 when Jonathan slept over at Nancy's house and she was wearing light blue pjs and he was wearing just his clothes. Then, he stood out dramatically against the backdrop of Nancy's pink and blue room. Now, he blends in while she sticks out.

This shows us that motels are not a place Nancy Wheeler is accustomed to. During this scene, they also openly address their relationship for the first time in the series. Nancy tells Jonathan she waited and when he says "yeah, for like only a month," she gets pissy and goes to sleep. Nancy's nightgown shows her discomfort within the room, but also with the situation. Whereas Jonathan has no issues being honest about it. Despite the fact that Nancy brought the topic up, she doesn't like hearing the truth: that she is responsible for "what happened to us."

We've reached the Final Outfits. The ones that last a four episode stretch. With the Colors of Conformity shed, Jancy pops in to see Murray and Take Care of Business, going against what they were told to just accept. In this case, they were told to accept the claims of Barb's disappearance and let it go and they decided to expose the lab instead. But on a broader scale, going against what is expected is like THE theme of themes in this show. So while season 1 involved both Nancy and Jonathan gaining agency and independence (her from expectations, him from obligations), this is the first major instance of them not just taking matters into their own hands, but acting blatantly against what was demanded of them.

The lack of vibrance in the wardrobe gives these scenes a more serious tone. This feels appropriate as a conscious choice for the characters to make (when going to get justice for the death of a friend, colorful clothes probably don't feel like the thing to pop on) and fitting outside of choice in order to match the tone of later scenes. i.e. Jonathan doesn't know Will is possessed yet, but when he gets back, he'll still be wearing this during the shed scene.

These pj pants...my dudes... He wore them at the motel, too, but only a glimpse of them is visible from one angle beneath the blankets. I think, like the Jacket (yes, it must always be capitalized) with the red lining, pajamas being something worn in the privacy of one's home, the bright yellow and the funky print tell us how much more comfortable Jonathan is at home. He would never wear a print like that out and about in Hawkins. And this tracks with his character arc as a whole, which is breaking out of his shell OUTSIDE of his family, letting other people in. I mentioned the season 1 bedroom scene before. Contrast that with this again. He was in his regular clothes then. He's in pjs now.

Logistically, the reasoning is obvious. That was impromptu. This time he packed. But they could have given him something like a muted plaid pant or a basic sweatpant. Instead, the wardrobe department gave him these. And if that doesn't show him coming out of his shell...I don't have an end to that sentence. It does. If I want to be extra obnoxious about the pants, there's the fact that they were barely visible at the motel and he was honest with Nancy about the state of their relationship but didn't push her when she shut it down and now the pants are totally visible and he makes a move. So as his feelings are drawn more into the open...so are his ugly pants.

Something I want to mention about Steve's wardrobe choices, now that we're far enough to have established a trend, is the contrast between what he wears to school and outside of it. So far, we've mostly seen him at school. He wears a lot of polos and button-ups. His season 1 school outfits were generally lighter in color (lots of pale blue) and very preppy while his outside-of-school outfits were darker and sportier.

I didn't talk about this in my season 1 analysis and I totally should have but I wasn't focused on Steve too much at the time, so I'm going to backtrack for a second. In season 1 episode 2, he wears the teal long-sleeve shirt/sweatshirt (which I included 2 screenshots of above). This is the only time in the whole show that he wears something this casual to school and it is IMMENSLEY telling that he says to Nancy that same day that his parents have left town. Not that they're GOING out of town. They've left. We know very little about his parents, but the fact that on the one day they're out of town, he shows up to school wearing something drastically different from what he usually wears says a lot about the performance he is putting on for them.

Through Steve's wardrobe, we are being very subtly told that he is trapped by the same familial pressures and expectations as Nancy despite the fact that we never see his home life. And unlike Nancy, his separate styles for in school and outside school show that this weighs on him consciously. In this season, we see bits of the casual and the sporty begin to be incorporated into his school looks as he grows more comfortable with himself, but we can clearly see in this photo above that his chosen style is not a blend, but just the sporty/casual half.

As a reminder, he wore this to woo back Nancy. This isn't just something he tossed on because it's the weekend and he had no plans. It's something he felt comfortable in. So the combination of the sporty jacket and the preppy shirt in episode 1 or the preppy shirt and the sporty vest in episode 2 are showing us both growth and an internal struggle. The most we hear from him about this is in the car with Nancy talking about his essay when he says "What's the point? ...I'm just going to end up working for my dad anyway." He sounds extremely disappointed and put out by it, but immediately follows up by saying, "Is that such a bad thing?" This boy is CONFLICTED.

EPISODE 9

Last outfits. 3 second read: these two aren't done with each other and are a better match than they realize (please don't stone me). Nancy and Steve are matching despite the fact that they don't even interact and it's in a color neither of them usually wears.

This doesn't necessarily mean romance. It could foreshadow their breakup actually bringing them closer (as friends) or it could foreshadow them getting back together (seriously don't attack me). Either way, Nancy and Steve fit together more now that they're broken up than they did when they were together, largely as a consequence of Steve's journey this season helping him figure out who he is and what he wants (whereas Nancy's arc took her further from Steve), a theme that will return in season 4. I also want to point out that Steve looks at Nancy, but Nancy does not look at him. He sees that they're matching and she does not. She doesn't see that he's changed.

Jonathan, on the other hand, is dressed in black and grey.

Which I'm sure we will all be shocked to find are the other two colors in Nancy's dress. Basically, if I'd done this analysis after season 2 came out instead of right now, I would have known this love triangle wasn't over. Nancy's dress is a HUGE indicator of this. I'm actually so annoyed I didn't catch this the first time around. And back to the glances, they look at each other. They both acknowledge that they fit.

Other Season 2 wardrobe analyses: Mike & Will El & Hopper Lucas, Max, & Dustin

[himynameis4]

Okokok bc this is actually bothering me—did billy hargrove have powers or not?!?!?! Like, first of all, fuck him, but—was he “sensitive”? In the sense that he had, at least, like Terry-Ives-pre-experiment “potential” that could be “activated” by unethical experimentation/electrocution/etc (which is how i understand terry ives’ powers ig). In general, i picture having powers like el’s as a genetic thing that environmental factors—whether during pregnancy/relating to the mother or external factors after the fact—can cause to be “activated” & i use the term “sensitive” to refer to that potential, regardless of strength. I can’t tell jow clear im being rn/if everybody else is on the same wavelength or it i need to give a bunch more context—i’ve seen billy-with-powers stuff but thats most like from fans of billy which…

It would make sense. I’m operating from the standpoint of Will, Barb, & all (or at least some, at least the ones who got the slug treatment & weren’t being eaten asap) of the people “taken” by the demogorgon in season one as likely being “sensitive” in that sense, and i have a whole explanation about that but—

I don’t see the flayed as being the same. The flayed are a stepping stone. Except billy. Billy isn’t mushed into the overall flesh monster. The way billy is controlled is different—if billy is “sensitive,” i don’t think he’s very strong tbh, but he does fight back at the end. Was Heather sensitive, or was it just that El touched her & got inside her head… GAH. i woulda loved to see how much autonomy the other flayed had, the difference between the flayed and will’s experience needs to be elaborated on more bc i have thoughts but i really should just lay them all out & then go & ramble about me theorizing but like—

Max. Max was able to get into Vecna’s mindscape. Vecna was surprised by this. Is this a sign of latent abilities, or a creative use of the human mind that any ordinary person could potentially learn/use? I’m leaning towards the latter tbh.

I don’t think the sacrifices had powers. But i’m trying to figure out the limitations of vecna’s powers. Lucas was correct: all the targets had repressed trauma, something they were trying to hide. But i feel like nancy was an outlier—they were in the upsidedown when she was vecna’d, which you bet your bottom dollar made it easier to “get” her—plus the gates are open. Reaching through time and space and dimensions with no gate and “finding” people is a different matter, & probs a lot harder. What vecna did to nancy is more like what he did to his family, really. But why the obsession with nancy?????? Just because she thwarted him so many times—like MIKE, i might add—or because of something more???

And then vecna/henry has his “i see everything” bullshit but i don’t buy that i think being connected to the hivemind has certain benefits but i think he’s a narcissistic asshole who thinks he’s stronger than he is. Max is right—he sees the darkness. So—if nancy’s an outlier (maybe) then why… what is the unifying factor in the people he saw in his mindspace scene, why is it mostly teens? Bc that unifying factor can’t just be trauma, ALL of the kids have trauma. If we knew what the unifying factor was for the people vecna can “see” in his mind’s eye, that would be another limitation on vecna’s power, and we could rule out some potential targets. Does it have to do with parental neglect/abuse? Generally unhealthy family dynamics? Basically, is vecna seeking out people he can project onto for his sacrifices?

I really truly believe mike was a planned target for henry & that leaving hawkins saved his ass bc targeting mike makes SENSE—but it would be easy to make a different argument & i would buy it, because we DON’T HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION. I’ve seen some posts/fics that posit that Henry targeted people with a history of suicidal ideation, passive or otherwise—but we don’t have enough information to make that determination. But there ARE more limits to his powers, too—i don’t think he has much of a reach beyond hawkins, bc of limits of his powers. But THEN, most of this is speculation—i could point to my reasons for thinking these things (i really need to do that at some point) but that doesn’t—all of it could be disproven next season bc it’s too tentative & we don’t know enough.

Okay. Billy. What was the point of this man? What was his function? Why does vecna want another will, bc from my seat he looks kinda like he’s using will as a fill-in for el (smol child to project onto & take over the world with), and for will’s powers. So… will’s function in season 2. Vecna doesn’t want will dead then, we know this, maybe that’s changed since but again, CAN’T SAY EITHER WAY. Billy isn’t killed like the other flayed & made into jello… but having a human is useful for human things? & human things are necessary when one is taking over the world? & billy doesn’t have an easy home life, vecna could very easily be projecting here.

Like genuinely what was the point of them? What is the master plan? I mean i have my Thoughts obviously but then I want to go back & rewatch & gather evidence & refine bc this is Bothering Me.

Idk. @wibble-wobbegong @aemiron-main @bottomlessabyssposts @givehimthemedicine thoughts?

[toongrrl-blog]

Stranger Things Season One Color Theme

Pink and Blue: What does it all mean? Femininity? Vulnerability? Any thoughts?

[aemiron-main-backup]

YES!! AND ITS SO INTERESTING!!! BECAUSE BARB’S GLASSES ARE ALSO VERY SIMILAR!! Barb’s are basically like a cross between Fred and Ted’s!

And Fred and Ted both have very similar hairstyles too! And the fact that Nancy doesn’t mention Ted when she talks about what she saw in her vision…. And the fact that Fred’s vision was not only about the car accident itself but also about failing to help to other person- the burning car is a parallel to Victor Creel’s burning cradle. Not just because they’re both in fire but because they’re both about inaction. Victor didn’t light the cradle on fire intentionally, didn’t know there were civilians inside when he called for the bombing, but he failed to help the infant once he knew what was happening. He just stood there and watched, much like how Fred failed to get help for the other person int he car accident, ended up dying. Ted Wheeler is not only also paralleled with Victor Creel (especially with the long list of Creel-Wheeler parallels in general), but he also tends to just watch things happen, much like both Fred and Victor, his inaction and ignorance is his core flaw.

What’s also interesting to me though is that although we have this ignorance/inaction parallel with both Fred and Ted, how does Barb fit in? Well, Barb’s on the other side of the inaction, she was the one calling for Nancy and Nancy was the one who ignored it. Nancy was the one ignoring things/not taking action. She heard Barb calling for her, but didn’t realize that it was Barb. Nancy is repeating Ted’s ignorance in some ways, especially with how she talked to Jonathan in S3 regarding his “Oliver Twist routine,” and how in S1 it’s pointed out that Nancy is ignorant to many of the realities of world & thinks she’s rebelling when in reality her rebellion is exactly what every suburban girl her age does. That’s not to say that Nancy is fully ignorant, because she isn’t, she’s smart and perceptive, but that’s because she’s grown as a person and as a character and has learned from her mistakes. Barb’s death is Nancy’s burning cradle/burning car, hence Barb’s costuming ties to Fred and Ted (and therefore to Victor bc of the Ted-Victor and Fred-Victor parallels). And this inaction isn’t done out of malice (Fred wasn’t trying to kill the other guy, for example), but it DOES have consequences. Victor seems frozen when he stares at the cradle, but frozen or not, the child was still left to suffer because nobody (including victor) intervened. This ties into Ted too, with how he isn’t actively hateful the way that somebody like Lonnie is, but his ignorance and inaction contribute to that sort of hatred.

I’m sure there’s more to it too, but that’s what came to mind!

I just realized Fred and Ted have rhyming names and similar glasses and idk how but I will proce lgbt Ted with this information and I don't even fucking know whether I'm serious

YES!! AND ITS SO INTERESTING!!! BECAUSE BARB’S GLASSES ARE ALSO VERY SIMILAR!! Barb’s are basically like a cross between Fred and Ted’s!

And Fred and Ted both have very similar hairstyles too! And the fact that Nancy doesn’t mention Ted when she talks about what she saw in her vision…. And the fact that Fred’s vision was not only about the car accident itself but also about failing to help to other person- the burning car is a parallel to Victor Creel’s burning cradle. Not just because they’re both in fire but because they’re both about inaction. Victor didn’t light the cradle on fire intentionally, didn’t know there were civilians inside when he called for the bombing, but he failed to help the infant once he knew what was happening. He just stood there and watched, much like how Fred failed to get help for the other person int he car accident, ended up dying. Ted Wheeler is not only also paralleled with Victor Creel (especially with the long list of Creel-Wheeler parallels in general), but he also tends to just watch things happen, much like both Fred and Victor, his inaction and ignorance is his core flaw.

What’s also interesting to me though is that although we have this ignorance/inaction parallel with both Fred and Ted, how does Barb fit in? Well, Barb’s on the other side of the inaction, she was the one calling for Nancy and Nancy was the one who ignored it. Nancy was the one ignoring things/not taking action. She heard Barb calling for her, but didn’t realize that it was Barb. Nancy is repeating Ted’s ignorance in some ways, especially with how she talked to Jonathan in S3 regarding his “Oliver Twist routine,” and how in S1 it’s pointed out that Nancy is ignorant to many of the realities of world & thinks she’s rebelling when in reality her rebellion is exactly what every suburban girl her age does. That’s not to say that Nancy is fully ignorant, because she isn’t, she’s smart and perceptive, but that’s because she’s grown as a person and as a character and has learned from her mistakes. Barb’s death is Nancy’s burning cradle/burning car, hence Barb’s costuming ties to Fred and Ted (and therefore to Victor bc of the Ted-Victor and Fred-Victor parallels). And this inaction isn’t done out of malice (Fred wasn’t trying to kill the other guy, for example), but it DOES have consequences. Victor seems frozen when he stares at the cradle, but frozen or not, the child was still left to suffer because nobody (including victor) intervened. This ties into Ted too, with how he isn’t actively hateful the way that somebody like Lonnie is, but his ignorance and inaction contribute to that sort of hatred.

I’m sure there’s more to it too, but that’s what came to mind!

[therainscene]

speaking of your famous rod phallus theory, what do you think of the gooey tentacle that comes out of the mind flayer's demogorgon mouth in s3? its dripping, oozing, its like the puberty metaphor for s3 but also very phallic and invasive. if the monsters are all manifestations of will's sexuality etc, could this be an additional rod symbol? or symbolic of rape etc? the whole s3 billy villain setup is very evocative of serial killers/rapist/abuser behaviour ('keep quiet' etc).

Hi anon, thanks for the ask!

The Flesh Flayer tentacle strikes me as a possible Alien reference -- very consistent with the sexual horror vibes of the Upside Down, which is also lousy with Alien references.

However, my phrasing in the rod analysis aside, I wouldn't go so far as to say that the monsters are manifestations of Will's sexuality, per se.

Rather, they're manifestations of toxic 80s attitudes towards non-conformist sex -- which has obvious implications for the visibly gay kid, but straight (or "straight") characters deal with sexual horror in this show too:

Nancy had conformist sex with Steve while Barb was left all alone where the Demogorgon could get her -- and was quickly slut-shamed as punishment for drifting away from that conformity in order to investigate what really happened. (To say nothing of the guilt that's been haunting her for four seasons.)

Mike largely manages to avoid the horrors, but I think it's notable that he has a few close calls in S3, all of which are associated with protecting El -- almost as though he's unhappy about performing traditional masculinity for El's sake as sexual maturity looms on his horizon or something, I dunno, I'm sure it's nothing

Billy has sex with a lot of women, but note the homoerotic tension between him and Steve in S2 -- he likes the feeling of power it gives him to sexually intimidate other men. This doesn't necessarily make him queer, mind -- the point is that he views sexuality as a tool for control and power, which makes him a perfect conduit for the horrors.

So yeah, the Flesh Flayer tendril isn't one of Will's rods -- but you're definitely not misreading the phallic symbolism there.

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

Please bear with me this is a bit long and, quoting nance, a shot in the dark.

Portals and sexuality: what do they have to say?

This post is inspired by @givehimthemedicine's portals & vaginal imagery: Nancy as El's foil and csa in Hawkins Lab analysis, definitely read that before this

Basically it talks about the portals as vagina symbolism (which is not a new theory) and what exactly does this mean, specially for Nancy and El's characters. Now, portals exist as a way to get to the upside down, however one thing can mean several things in media, which makes it fun.

When reading their post I thought perhaps portals symbolising vaginas were a Nancy thing, a Nancy thing than has been conveniently used to hint/symbolise some things for El as well.

I mean, Nancy is the only character who's sex life is plot relevant and important. We have a whole scene of her losing her virginity, of barb dying during it and Nancy being traumatised, of the cops asking her about it and her angrily confessing it to her mom, her being called a slut, her sleeping with Jonathan in s2... No character's sex life has been such in the front, but that's cause hers is relevant to the plot.

And since part of the analysis focused on her, I just thought it was a nancy thing. Until they talked about Steve + robin (+ eddie) going through the gates in S4. Steve I could get, since he was also once involved in Nancy's sex life, in an important moment as well (her first ever sexual experience with a partner, and barbs death), just like they also talk about Jonathan and vaginal symbolism in the portals, related to nance. But robin? What does she have to do with it?

They wrote: "a lesbian and self-professing nonbeliever in a higher power, exclaims "oh, thank God! that was fun!" upon passing through. I'll just. ok. / she never looked afraid, but she did have a little trepidation in being the first to climb through, saying "guess I'm the guinea pig". interesting line to give to Robin, who could also be called a guinea pig in the sense of figuring out how to date girls in a conservative small town."

And I thought huh maybe the portals can show Nancy's (and El's) relationship with their sexuality and characters’ sexual attraction towards women (or, if they are women and attracted to men, their own relationships with their sexuality / puberty etc)

And then I thought: funny to think mike is the only character to not have went through one to go to the upside down, even tho he's super principal and has known about the supernatural plot far longer than robin or eddie.

But like, what if.

Before I start,

I focus a bit more on the gate at Eddie’s trailer because I feel like it’s one of the most obvious examples of vaginal imagery. I mean, when the teens find the gate while in the upside down, the gate is closed by some kind of membrane (reminding me of the way El sees the gate at the beginning of s2).

(The gate in Eddie’s trailer as seen by Nancy, Steve, Eddie, and Robin while in the upside down vs the gate in the school as seen by El while in the upside down)

To open the gate / the membrane, they have to poke the gate with a stick until they break it. Um, yeah.

And when the kids (Dustin, Lucas, Max, Erica) opened the gate with the stick, the first to approach and the only ones the camera pans to show the reaction of, are Nancy and Steve. Nancy and Steve who slept together in s1, Nancy who lost her virginity to Steve. You get it.

(Steve looking amazed vs Nancy not looking very impressed)

Also

Interesting to mention the older teens have interacted with gates or downright went through them faster than the party. What do I mean? Jonathan saw a gate and Nancy went through the same gate in s1. The party hadn’t even seen a gate until the end of s1, when el killed (?) the demogorgon. Meanwhile Robin appeared and saw a gate all the same season, and Eddie appeared and went through a gate all the same season, while we have Michael here since s1, not even seeing one.

However, by s5 all of the party will already have interacted with gates (Mike included) and in s5 they will be the same age as the teens were in s1. Something something if portals / gates are sexual imagery something something growing up and puberty (as seen in s3 which is the season where they start to interact with gates, most of them. S3 which is extremely focused in growing up and puberty). In s2 they go to the tunnels but that’s not the upside down that’s still part of Hawkins. However it’s a step further, shows they are growing up, maturing, just a bit.

Now yes,

Dustin

Dustin saw a gate for the first time I think in s3 ep 5, the Russian gate at starcourt and his reaction is pretty average, just surprise like “I can’t believe the Russians have got a gate” which is a pretty understandable reaction.

As I mentioned before, the gate in Eddie’s trailer had some kind of membrane that had to be broken with a stick. Guess who was the one holding the stick. Dustin.

Idk if you can see it well in that screenshot, but it was him.

Dustin was basically twice on the upside down, although to me it all just counts as one time. Once in s4 with Eddie, then he climbed out, and then he went again to try to rescue him. Nothing interesting or remarkable to say about his reactions, no disgust, neither excitement, as if going through gates is normal to him, something he has done before. Well, he does seem like a bit surprised but probably because it’s something new. He gets over it quickly enough tho. I mean, I get that given the situation and everything happening he wouldn’t be worrying about the gate (he has bigger things to worry about) but going officially for the first time to the upside down after hearing the horror stories still must shake you up. But I think they didn’t add more trepidation because we as an audience already are familiar with the gates and the upside down, so why waste time?

@frogfacee said “but dustin interacts w them most, being the only party member to intentionally- and on screen- go through one” as a reply to my post where I asked about the party going through gates on screen. When I read that I knew I had to write this post because you cannot tell me that “mr heterosexual” dustin henderson going through gates the most out of all the party (and poking a gate with a stick) while mike “repressed homosexual” wheeler hasn’t even seen one doesn’t mean anything. Specially because as much as I love Dustin, Mike is the one most connected to the supernatural plot (obviously, aside from Will) out of Lucas, Dustin and him.

Something interesting about Dustin tho, he’s straight. Very heterosexual. All headcanons aside, the show tells us over and over he likes women. He had a tiny crush in Max, now he’s dating Suzie, he asked a girl out to dance at snowball, he wanted to impress girls, he talks with Steve about girls and dating, etc etc. Out of all the party, I think he’s the one who’s attraction to women has been reminded to us the most. I know people talk about Lucas (attracted to women) and Mike (gay) as narrative foils for sexuality (Lucas being how a normal heterosexual man acts regarding women and his gf vs whatever Mike has going on), but the “straightest” out of the party is Dustin. By a mile. That boy likes girls, and the duffers want you to know that. Is it surprising in any way that gates don’t seem weird, or disgusting, or confusing, or scary to him? Than he just sees one and despite the original shock says “guess that’s what I’m doing”?

Lucas

Lucas hasn’t gone to the upside down, but he sees gates twice. First at Eddie’s trailer, and then at the end of s4, after max “dies” and a gate opens.

The one in Eddie’s trailer doesn’t give us much. The one at the end of the season, tho. After max “dies”. That gate that cut Jason in half and that merges with the other gates right in front of the library.

But the thing is, he doesn’t care.

He’s holding Max, crying because he thinks she’s dead, a gate opens and his concern is grabbing max and pull her to safety, away from the gate. He seems mostly a bit scared of the way Jason is cut in half but doesn’t really do anything, it’s not his priority, Max is. There is a shot of Lucas’ face looking scared but he’s not looking at the gate, he’s looking at Jason’s torn body. I would be scared at that too.

Max and Lucas broke up offscreen before s4, and in s4 we have Lucas reaching out to max and being worried cause she’s not herself. However not once does he ask if she wants to get together again or anything like that. Instead he worries because “it’s like you’re not even there, like you’re a ghost or something”. Something is wrong with Max, she’s not telling him or anyone what it is and Lucas is worried. She changed completely after Billy’s death, became a shell of herself and stopped hanging out with them, began isolating herself. So Lucas worries, and asks, Max is his priority. Not their relationship, he doesn’t get closer to her to try and get together, but to see if she’s okay, what is going on.

Then they find out about Vecna and the priority becomes trying to save Max, stop Vecna from killing her. Lucas doesn’t even think about getting back together with Max despite still being in love with her because that’s just not important right now, not when Max’s life is at risk. He worries about her, tries to save her and help her, not because then when it’s all over they might get together again, she might date him again if he saves her, but because he loves her and he doesn’t want her to die. If someone told Lucas that she would decide she doesn’t ever want to see him again after they saved her from Vecna, he would still have helped her.

He pulls Max away from the gates to keep her safe, he pushes any romantic and/or sexual feelings he might have away because Max is the priority, Max is in danger, her life is in danger.

Max (& Erica)

Nothing much. They have interacted with gates, even if just a little. Still more than Mike. They are there, in Eddie’s trailer, and saw how Dustin helped open the gate and the teens went through it.

Erica also saw the s3 russian gate, along with Dustin, Steve, and Robin. She seemed a bit scared but didn’t remain like that for long.

And Max was present when the gate opened after she “died” but well.

I take this as Max and Erica being a teenage and a preteen girl (Max is 15, Erica is 11), growing up and coming into their sexuality and this not scaring them much, just seeing it as something normal (which it is). Probably because this coming into their sexuality means 1- their own body growing and changing which they don’t seem to have any reason to be scared of (different to el, see the tagged post at the beginning), and 2- the development of their sexuality (which so far is attraction to men. Regardless of hc’s, Max is attracted to guys, she dated Lucas, she looked at a shirtless Steve with binoculars, she also talked about how Ralph Macchio from karate kid was “so hot”. With Erica, given that she’s 11, we don’t see this many “proof” but her journey could simply be physical).

Barb (& Will)

(TW: mention of undetailed SA)

So like, I read one of the many posts talking about stranger things and sa, and something that caught my eye cause I hadn’t seen it before, is than Barb also has sa coding. I mean we all have seen the pool scene being contrasted with Nancy sleeping with Steve and we all know how queercoded Barb is. This isn’t anything new, so many people have talked about the scenes being together but yet so different to show the differences between Steve and Nancy (heterosexual sex) vs Barb (lesbian). Something something upside down as metaphor for homophobia etc we know it. However so many people talk about Will’s sa coding, and this person also talked about Barb’s. The difference between Steve and Nancy (consensual sex) vs Barb (unconsensual).

It’s interesting to see that Will, gay, has only interacted with portals unwillingly, unconsensually. With this, then Will’s sa coding gets bigger. This could also be queer coding (which has been present since s1). One thing can symbolize several at the same time. Now, I’m not saying Will got sa by a woman, just that since s1 we can see than he would not have sexual relationships with a woman, unless forced. But I don’t think that’s what that means. It’s certainly possible, but I think it’s about sa.

Barb is queercoded. Very. Like, seriously. Super queercoded for how little screen time she has. And yet her interactions with portals are negative, are unconsensual. It’s very different to Robin’s “that was fun”. Well, in a small town in the 1980s during the aids crisis, lesbian sexuality would be repressed and seen as wrong and disgusting. We have robin for contrast, who accepted her sexuality and sure, things aren’t great, but she talks about it openly with Steve (not only her crushes but also how Julie christy is “bonkers hot” in doctor zhivago, aka, expressing sexual attraction for women out loud) and her experience with portals so far has been positive. Barb, probably repressed, who we also have seen hurting herself (cutting her hand) while conforming (trying to drink beer the way Steve’s friends were) (eddie’s voice: “forced conformity, that’s what’s killing the kids”).

However Robin went through the portal on her own, while Barb was dragged. Just like Will. It’s possible the portals as sexual imagery here represent sexual assault for both Will and Barb, and I think that’s what the duffers were going with. We have seen it for Will, all of s2, other seasons as well but specially s2, but with Barb, since she died, we didn’t get to see the effects. Barb also has some similarities with Henry and El, and well, we all know the *theories regarding Brenner and the lab… ( @henrysglock and @heroesbyler have good posts on it and you can also see it in the og post)

*tbh I wouldn’t even say theories I think it’s just there but in the background.

And finally,

Mike

Oh Mike

Mike is the main reason for this post. This was actually intended as a “proof Mike is gay” post but it escalated

The thing than is odd about Mike and the upside down, is his lack of interactions with it. I don’t think he ever even seen a portal.

But, he knows about the upside down. He helps the party discover stuff and he was the first one (aside from Will) to get a connection with it out of them (he was the one to find El, and to find out El knew Will).

Mike is very close to Will, they’re all friends but we see since s1 their relationship is different. Whether you believe in byler or not, we see it in s1 and s2, there’s a different between Dustin & Mike and Will & Mike. Mike is very close with Will, helping him through his episodes etc in a way that Lucas and Dustin don’t, he’s at the hospital, he discovers Will is the spy, etc etc. Mike is also dating El who, obviously, is super connected to the upside down and gates. So it would make sense for mike to interact with gates or even go to the upside down. Yet he doesn’t.

However I think there’s something to say about how Mike is the only one out of the party (aside from Dustin) to not be disgusted by dart. That means something, I don’t know what, though, but something (perhaps the manifestation theory? x x x)

So we have Mike, one of the main characters if not the main character, who is connected to the supernatural plot and who helps the development of said plot (he meets el, el stays at his house, he discovers stuff) not interact with the upside down at all (no, the tunnels are not part of the upside down, guys), while also being an incredibly queercoded character who has not shown any attraction towards women. (“Oh, but, but, but he’s dating El!”, true, that’s something I can’t deny, in canon, regardless of what I believe, they are dating. But aside from el, has mike shown attraction towards any other girl, or just women as a whole, ever? See here)

I think you can see where I’m getting at. Mike, repressed and gay, has not interacted with portals (vaginal imagery) in the whole show. Wonder why.

If this is true then it's genius, cause it shows something is wrong in a subtle way. I mean, in a show about an alternative dimension, where side characters that appeared one season (eddie) have travelled to said dimension, and side characters than haven't been here since the start (robin) travelled to said dimension, and side characters than have known about the supernatural plot since the start (nancy, steve, jonathan, hopper, etc) travelled to said dimension (or at least, interacted with the gates), and main characters (dustin, lucas, max, el) travelled to said dimension (or at least, interacted with the gates), and that started with a main character being kidnapped to said dimension in the first ep (will), and yet, they have main character Mike Wheeler, super connected to the supernatural plot (always the first to figure out stuff, close relationship with el and will), supposed "heart" of the party and "main" member of the group (hes literally the DM), tbh probably the main character, be the only one not being shown even interacting with a gate at all??? Yeah something isn't right. I noticed this so much time ago and found it incredibly weird.

Now, they are definitely going to the upside down and Mike will go through a portal in s5, so my theory probably won't hold up (unless he acts like, super disgusted when doing it of smth) but I found it interesting.

[astronomicalcuntserve]

Randomly back to Stranger Things 2 because my brain loves to be anywhere but in the present:

I noticed that in both seasons, Steve and Nancy have scenes in bathrooms. In season one, they’re in the one at school, and in the second, they’re in the bathroom at this party. 

In the first instance, Nancy is the one setting boundaries. In this scene, before Barb’s death, we see her as this put together preppy girl with a “3.9999″ gpa. For lack of a better term, Steve is the one who’s not “reserved”. This is also lit in a bright, fluorescent environment. 

In the second, after Barb’s death, they’re at a party. Nancy is completely wasted, allowing us to see her imperfections. Steve is trying to control the situation this time. There is no more brightness. The room is darkly lit. Steve is the one that’s more reserved here. 

I might be getting over analytical and reaching too far here, but upon a second watch, Nancy spills red punch on herself. In the bathroom, she goes on to say “like we didn’t kill barb.” so maybe the red can be a symbol for “having blood on their hands” or in this case, sweater.

Onto my next point:

I think that Nancy drank by herself a lot. And because I do ship Nancy and Barb, maybe the” it’s bullshit” part didn’t only extend to Steve.  Maybe everything being bullshit was also something that regarded her living a lie in terms of her sexuality. She’s pressured by compulsory heterosexuality and haunted by her internalized biphobia. Her “perfection” was bullshit in itself. She was worried about how she appeared to everyone else, obsessing herself with Steve’s attention, but she never got to tell Barb how she really felt. 

I do believe that after s1 ended, she really did like Steve, and after being in a relationship for some time, she felt like she could grow to love him. But she doesn’t. She can’t. 

While the Barb subplot felt a bit rushed, I think it was therapeutic for Nancy in terms of getting closure. I feel like her relationship with Jonathan will be more successful because of this (and because Nancy knows now that she can’t go on repressing things like Steve is. They’re both struggling with the same thing and don’t know how to help each other. Jonathan is, in my opinion, living a more genuine life (he’s certainly not perfect) but he doesn’t really hide who he is.

Nancy’s accepted that she will never be the person she wanted herself to be. She’s meant to be more of an outcast. Why else did Nancy and Barb become such good friends? Why else would she ditch Steve for Jonathan twice? She’s attracted to that. She’s drawn to that, at least. That’s not to say Steve isn’t flawed (as I’ve covered) but I don’t think Nancy recognizes just to what extent she’s hurt him. 

Anyway, in summation, Nancy Wheeler is flawed and bi as heck. Thanks for coming to my TED talk. 

[strangertheories]

I would like to update this post by debunking two more theories. I've seen people saying that Vecna is Barb or Billy seeking revenge for their death which they blame our gang for but as I said, this just doesn't fit the timeline. Vecna has been in the Upside Down since the 1960s and likely before either of them were born and much further back than when they died/went to the Upside Down. Maybe he could be possessing one of their bodies (which I think is unlikely for Billy considering he was ripped apart and impossibly for Barb as Vecna looks nothing like her) but he won't have the personality of those characters.

I get everyone wants them to return but the only way I could see them being involved this season is if Vecna uses them in a trance to manipulate someone.

STRANGER THINGS SEASON 4 SPOILERS!

Vecna's role in S4

On request from @rockandrollbyler

In the upcoming season of Stranger Things, we will be introduced to our new big bad; Vecna. Vecna, like the previous monsters, is inspired by its DnD counterpart but also Pennywise, Freddy Krueger and Pinhead. Using the evidence provided through interviews, trailer clips and the new spoiler full monopoly game, I'll be aiming to theorise Vecna's powers, their motivation and try to debunk some popular Vecna myths. I'll also be talking about how this will impact characters like Max Mayfield and Victor Creel.

But first of all, who is Vecna? In DnD, Vecna is an undead God. He is loves collecting secrets so he can use them to manipulate people. He believes that the true key to taking over realms isn't entirely through violence but through these secrets. Unlike other villains, he is highly intelligent and calculated. Vecna used to be a human but ascended to godhood after dying, leaving behind only one of his eyes and his left hand. Stranger Things will obviously make liberties in this description as they have done with previous DnD characters, but I believe the main points still stand; Vecna is intelligent and unlike other villains will use psychological manipulation to bring down our (vulnerable and traumatized) characters. Like in DnD, Vecna will be an ex-human although it seems like he started off with good intentions but was warped by the Upside Down.

So what will his powers be? I don't doubt Vecna will be highly physically powered, but what really makes him special is his dream warfare, his possession powers and his ability to open portals. First of all, his psychological powers. Vecna will be able to force people to re-experience traumatic events in the form of a trance or nightmare, such as forcing Max to experience the events at Hawkins mall. It is clear where the Pennywise influence comes in here as he used to feed off of people's imagination and fear. However, I think they are especially close to Freddy Krueger because I think if they die in the trance they will also die in real life as evidenced by the monopoly cards. This is like their DnD role of using secrets and fears to manipulate, but also serves as an interesting plot device to explore our traumatized characters.

Next up, possession. There's a lot less proof for this theory but I think it would make sense. I believe Vecna himself was possessed in a sort but not by an actual creature but more by the Upside Down warping him. Victor Creel snapped and killed his family members after seeing an odd clock. In DnD, if you take one of Vecna's possessions, it corrupts you so I think that somehow seeing this clock means Vecna can infiltrate your mind and control you. This could manifest as literal possession or internal psychological warfare which could explain why Creel had to go to a mental asylum after killing his family. We already know they can control the demobats and their DnD counterpart uses secrets to control people. I think this would make sense, especially considering that the Duffer brothers said that the Upside Down was psychologically leaking out and they also mentioned how seeing the clock is a really bad sign. If this is true, then Max is in even more danger than we thought. Could she be possessed when she's floating?

Finally, portal opening. In the promotional material, we have seen the portals repeatedly showing up. At the end of every path in the individual posters, there was a portal. In the trailer, there was a frame of several portals. And biggest of all, in the poster with all four groups walking down a path, it is leading to a portal in the shape of Vecna's eye. I believe that this season Vecna will be opening portals near the characters we know and love. Not only is this foreshadowed with every location having a portal in it, but in the monopoly rules booklet it says that you need to stop Vecna from opening portals. It says 'Vecna is opening Gates to the Upside Down in Hawkins and beyond!' meaning I believe the Upside Down will come to the characters and not the other way around.

Now we've established some of Vecna's powers, what are his motivations? I think Vecna's motivation is quite simple; power. But apart from wanting power, as mentioned earlier, he wants secrets in order to blackmail and manipulate people into doing his bidding. I believe that by the start of the season he will have taken over the Upside Down but was not content with only ruling over one domain especially since there are no humans to psychologically manipulate meaning now he is going to start targeting our world, essentially using Creel as a kind of trial.

But before, I finish this post, I want to debunk a few theories. Firstly, is Victor Creel Vecna? I think all signs point to him being manipulated or possessed instead of the big bad himself. What I believe happened to him was that after finding the clock, he got corrupted by Vecna and then killed his family under this negative possession. However it is of note that Vecna went into the Upside Down in the 1960s which is when Creel snapped so whilst I don't believe in this theory, it is possible. As well as this, I highly doubt Brenner is Vecna as well as if he is in the Upside Down then he has only been there for 3 years and his crew tried to kill the demogorgon so if he was from the Upside Down then that would be an odd move.

TLDR: Vecna is a highly intelligent villain who will use a mixture of traumatic dreams, possession and portals to take over our realm and take down the cast.