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delightedchips · 1 month ago

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about the timebomb healing period ..

particularly interested in the idea of ekko also struggling to adjust having returned back to the current universe so suddenly and being whiplashed by a lot of things like the scar & sevika team up 😭 (i assume anw by how casual the two pop in tgt during the recruit meeting) it does offer a neat foundation of a shared sorrow of some kind between timebomb .. jinx watching him pour so much of himself taking care of her and also catching glimpses of him when he's away struggling to digest all the happenings of the firelights during his absence, grieving heimerdinger, rebuilding a semblance of a relationship with sevika, seeing the current dissipation of the tree, getting bombarded by news of an upcoming war and still having a big chunk of his heart to help jinx, making sure she's eating, her bed is warm, water is always ready .. a boy of many burdens ..

maybeee. the sadness cycles back to jinx because the sight of it all tugs her heart to guilt (maybe even anger) and she has this sudden urgency to save him from what hes committing to by taking her in . a part of her actually wants this second chance but she still doubts ekko understands who she really has become and desperately wants assurance that he does . But instead of asking for it she opts to try and convince him to give her up again via rashing out in cold-hearted anger . with the outcomes of either ekko actually giving up (which, in turn, to jinx, 'saves' him. which is viewed good! ekko doesn't deserve another burden. ekko deserves the 'truth'. at least to jinx) or, ekko not giving up (which, in turn, to jinx, assures her. affirms she is still worthy of love at all even at this point. maybe it's not too late. but jinx won't admit how appealing it all actually sounds or how she would much prefer that outcome).. I don't think ekko would react w comfort .. i want to think he'd break too . All the rage cracking thru .. but in the end he still chooses to pursue this path .. something something

A shared sorrow . Kinda. A cycle of sadness . Kiiinda. Just two broken people trying to figure it out .. carrying a semblance of a want to save the other but each of their efforts costing a part of themselves

#Like jinx's guilt could probably be rage too .. how dare u not see how bad i am. how dare u take these lengths #Maybe she would try to convince him hey this commitment isn't worth the time U R dumb . Make him hate her again #she doubts his commitment and his understanding of what he's getting himself into #the way you look at me is shrouded by the past. think of the dead bodies. think of the shimmer. the bombs. remember now #The past is gone #you are still so naive #(Please look at me as I am) (please prove I am worthy of this forgiveness)#(I as in me in all my terrible)#And then she slowly would see the evidence Ekko did not in fact take her in with rosy lenses #he saw her completely #from the innocence of their childhood to the hurting of their parting sumthsumth he did not take her thoughtlessly .. he knew her completel #I do not look at you half-heartedly or through a past we have lost I look at you with a love I can not leave #I have tried #I have tried to rid of it but it keeps coming back. Now it is here and I have decided to let it stay #I know your mistakes I know all the pain you have caused. I know the ones you felt #I know as well the ones you caused me. I know a part of me hates u still . I know. I know #there's this reassurance he did not make the choice with a different person in mind He Had HER in mind fr fr. All of her #jus brain slopping like goo!!!!!#not good explained but whatever #!!!#Ekko #timebomb #Jinx #Ekko x jinx #Arcane #idk I get the vibe. That desperation that u love me for me right? Not the facade . Or anything. U saw my imperfections right?#i hope u did. I hope u know what ure getting into . THAT KINDA THING.. eats door..

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chirpsythismorning · 2 years ago

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The Hellflire Club Foreshadows Mike's Monologue (and More Than You Think...)

Several fans have noticed already that there are direct parallels between Mike's monologue in The Piggyback, with Eddie's monologue in The Hellfire Club.

While we've been grappling with all sorts of supernatural creatures over the course of Stranger Things' entire run, here Eddie is warning us about forced conformity and how that is the real monster.

This has also led fans to joke painfully about the fact that Max 'died' because forced conforming; that's what's killing the kids, aka Mike's whole speech to El wouldn't have happened the way it did in the first place, had him, Will and El not been trying so hard to be who they think they're supposed to be, instead of who they truly want to be.

However, what I want to add to this discourse, because I haven't seen anyone else acknowledge it (correct me if i'm wrong!?), is that this scene at lunch has two extras with whom Mike sits between, which are very likely meant to represent Will and El.

We've seen a lot of (love) triangle blocking used with these three before, often with Mike between the two. This screen-cap below has gotta be one of the most iconic and so I feel the need to mention it briefly:

What also makes this shot relevant as an example for this post, is the costume choice for Will and El here: the same shade of dark blue (hints of gray), and the fact that this doesn’t align with the colors/style they usually wear as individual characters. However, this was presumably one of the few times Will and El have genuinely interacted beyond supernatural happenings. And so now, with both of them standing on either side of Mike, after two seasons of him having only one of them beside him, and while the other was out of reach, what we're seeing is that these two are more or less two sides of the same coin. Whether Will and El are actually blood related (I'm like 75% sure they could be) remains to be seen. However Mike's bond between both of them individually is causing him to sort of be at war with himself (and his identity).

Now bear with me, because I know so many of you see theories/analysis involving set design/blocking/costumes and you just instantly check out and stop taking it seriously. But I can assure you, this is the real deal.

What follows, is so outrageously easy to overlook. And yet upon thinking about what it actually requires to film a scene, especially a scene like this with dozens of background extras, along with how this scene actually turned out, I'm going to explain why there are several factors which make me feel fairly confident about what these two specific extras represent.

To start things off, we know how this scene begins, with Eddie dramatically reading a Newsweek magazine:

"The Devil has come to America. Dungeons and Dragons, at first regarded as a harmless game of make-believe, now has both parents and psychologists concerned. Studies have linked violent behavior to the game, saying it promotes satanic worship, ritual sacrifice, sodomy, suicide, and even... Murder."

After they give us a short introduction to some of the faces of the Hellfire Club (notably Eddie), they cut to this point of view shot from Mike:

Here we are instantly introduced to the two extras that are going to dominate a majority of this scene outside of the main characters themselves, aka Willel...

note: interesting they don't include Mike in the shot for that specific sound bite below... almost as if he considers himself a freak for a different reason...

Yes, on the surface this scene is establishing that Mike and Dustin are finding a place in High School, as the freaks and geeks, but a place nonetheless.

Though, is that really all there is to it?

You'll see what I mean.

note: there's no meaning behind the circles touching here. i just wanted to acknowledge here that the El extra is visible at first, only for her to become hidden the moment that the Will extra becomes visible.

Now, this shot right here below is kind of iconic, because it's what made me realize that this girl extra here in the scarf represents El.

To provide a little more context, the Will extra next to Mike has already been picked up on by a decent amount of fans. I've even posted about it at least once. This guy definitely resembles Will at certain angles, to the point where he could arguably be a stand in/stunt double for scenes that don't require a close-up of him.

Also keeping in mind, this is a scene of the party in high school, in a D&D club. Assuming Will could have stayed in Hawkins and went to high school with the party, he would've more than likely been right here beside them. So that's what I initially got out of this scene and still partially do get out of it, regardless of these other observations I'm discussing here.

What's so fascinating about the Will extra though specifically, is that they avoid showing his face as much as possible, which is a unique choice that we're just not seeing be applied to the other extras in the frame. They even let us see the face of the guy across from the Will extra (blue/yellow striped shirt guy) multiple times, but apparently they really wanted to avoid showing this guys face (there are a few notable, but fleeting side profiles from an outside POV), almost to keep up this guise that we could imagine this is Will and hell, it could be him, bc it's pretty damn close.

However, upon recently rewatching this scene, I remember looking for other points when this Will extra might have been prominent, to see if I could find anything else.

And that's when I realized this girl in the scarf, directly blocks the Will extra at the most convenient time.

And that's when it hit me...

FORCED CONFORMING!!!!!!!

The following images below is when it really starts to get obvious that there was an intended direction going on here with the blocking of these two extras, in accordance with Mike's placement in the frame.

What sealed the deal for me, was noticing how the other extras surrounding them (excluding Willel), do not seem to be granted much importance in the continuity of this scene.

Continuity between shots is pretty essential to filmmaking. It's gotta be the main thing about film that just bugs me, which is that you can tell very visibly when a shot is followed by another shot, but from a separate take (has the capacity to ruin the illusion that this is real and not all fabricated).

For example, what I gather from the beginning of this following conversation, is that there were at the very least 2-3 takes done for these reaction shots of Dustin and Mike, and it's because the extras in the background give it away. Sometimes they're in the frame, sometimes they're not.

The Will and El extras provide a contrast to all the other extras, in that the continuity for their blocking in the frame is fairly spot on each time, equal to the standards of the main cast arguably. Meaning they had a mark and they had to stick with it.

Check this out:

side note: star wars reference (luke & leia??)

The most obvious thing that gives away the importance of these two extras, besides the blocking, is them both sporting an almost identical color in their costume. While the Will extra wears a maroon shirt, the El extra wears a scarf in that same color.

This is so simple yet sort of genius, because again, from what I understand, no one has noticed this, and so it's pretty epic once you finally do pick up on it.

The Will extra is almost always in the frame on Mike's right? The El extra is facing the the opposite direction as them (not on the same page), and wearing a scarf, which is there to represent the tentacle choking her during Mike's monologue...

This theory does take a turn for the hilarious, when at a later point Eddie starts monologuing again, while Dustin and Mike look at him fondly (w/ Mike in focus), the Willel extras are now nowhere to be found...

I think this choice was made to indicate that Mike's attraction to Eddie is based on the most basic type of attraction, while what he shares for Will and El is so much more complicated (and deep). When you're just experiencing everyday attraction, you're not thinking about your significant other or your hearts desire in that moment, because this moment is just a blip encounter that isn't going anywhere, it's attraction and that's all there is to it. Whereas what he feels truly for Will is true love, while what he feels truly for El is familial love. This tiny moment isn't about his conflict over his romantic feelings, it's about the fact that Mike is attracted to men.

And then what follows directly after this, is that little snippet of Eddie's monologue, which echoes Mike's monologue to El at the end of the season...

Oh and look who it is?! The El extra has made a reappearance, just in time!

This is one of the few times they made a point to have the El extra in the frame while the Will extra wasn't, which I also think is intentional because it could be a hint to how Mike's speech about falling in love with El the moment he saw her is a fabrication (copyright to be exact), and it also doesn't resemble the love that Mike has for Will, hence why he was almost entirely left out of those shots. (Also similar to Mike's monologue at the end of the season, where Will was in certain shots but not others, because the words did/didn't match Mike's feelings for Will at those points).

Lastly, we get a Gap (gay and proud) reference for Mike. And low and behold, the Will extra is making a reappearance, just in time!

I think what makes this scene easier to understand on a basic level, without making it too complicated for yourself, is comparing the implications that come with it, to the implications that came with Mike's monologue.

The choice to put Will in most of the shots, directly behind Mike as he professes his love to El, who is lying before him unable to look in his eyes or even respond, leads those truly paying attention, to the conclusion that this is not how you shoot a satisfying love confession. Therefore it can't be a genuine love confession.

Instead what this scene more so depicts is a character having a confession practically wrenched out of him. And because of all the other details happening over the course of this season and just the series overall, we can gather that Mike feels pressured to go through with this because he thinks he has no other choice.

They didn't beat the big bad this time, instead they lost. Because forced conforming, that's the real monster.

With only one season left, they're going to have to face the truth if they want to make it out alive this time (and happy!).

#byler #stranger things #stranger things analysis #mike's monologue #stranger things theory #blocking #costume design #the hellfire club #the piggyback #these scenes could have taken a long time to film #when you've got dozens of extras #with upwards of at least 5-10 in the frame at times #you have to account for continuity and making sure each shot reasonably matches the previous #the problem is sometimes you get a take that's really good but the next part of that same take isn't good #so they have to go with whatever shot works best #sometimes that means having to settle for shitty continuity #and that happens a lot when there are lots of extras #because being picky would make you a pain in the ass to work with #especially when it comes to young actors #though it does seem to me like the willel extras were probably a big part of the framing of each shot including them #bc it's way too consistent in comparison to the other extras for them to not have been in the notes for the shot in some capacity #we also see other times when extras look like will #so this is a decenty common occurrence #i think it also does a good job of hinting at will being in the back of mike's mind at times when we least expect #which is also why will is in the back of the frame facing him constantly #bc in those shots will represents mike's feeling he has for will that he's repressing...#they've been doing that heavily since s2 this is not new at all

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