#why has there been little to nothing said about el's s5 arc??

[chirpsythismorning]

I think because closets have being associated with Mike so much, is why a lot of bylers predict that s5 will finally explore his sexuality.

Why have all that closet imagery throughout the seasons, associated with Mike (even more so than Will), if the resolution to his arc is just going to be, "Will loves me and needs me?! Yay!"

5 years of build-up, hinting at Mike hiding his sexuality, and with an audience that's almost entirely convinced he's straight because he hid it so well, warrants addressing the deeper context of why exactly he felt the need to hide in the first place.

It wouldn't be satisfying, both to ga and milkvans who were straight-baited the entire series, nor to bylers and even viewers open to supporting byler, but who think Will deserves better, all because they don't understand Mike beyond what he's willing to outright tell us.

Mike's character has dealt with so much criticism post s4, to the point where any articles or buzz regarding his arc, minimizes his importance as either being El's boyfriend or how he's basically declined in development over the years from a beloved character to most hated.

To have Mike's arc close with his role going from being El's boyfriend to being Will's boyfriend, wouldn't give closure to what all that closet imagery was meant to represent in the first place; Mike hiding his sexuality.

[strangeswift]

May I ask why do you like S3 overall, is it bc of vibes and all? I am not judging you, I just find S3 to be the most lackluster filler season to ever exist in the season and if you just deleted it, nothing really would make a huge difference. Some stuff were good but you could just add those good things in S3 or S4.

Overall that season destroyed many characters like Mike, Hopper (by making him a largely comedic relief), Jonathan (by adding sexism storyline which was cringe), destroyed several character relationships that were important in the series in the previous two seasons (Mike and Will, Will and the party in general, making Dustin leave the party and no one really caring about it aside from Will etc).

The only good things that happened were Robin and her coming out plus straightbait, and Max and El's friendship. Overall, there is nothing in that season plotwise and it didnt introduce anything new to the story... plus is destroyed the previous good elements like characters, character dynamics and plot. It was lackluster compared to S2's real horror, the meaty MF was trash, most of the new introducations of new plot lines such as Evil!Soviets were very underwhelming and unnecessary that took too much screen time for no reason. And the Duffers obsession with the Russia plot lines both in S3 where it got introduced, and the continuation of it in S4 where it got drageed for so long, honestly felt so unnecessary and reductive. There was no UD. It was heavily fanservice-y and filled with eye candy elements and relied on just vibes (like summer vibes and shit) and big budget action rather than actually telling a good story with a vision and quantity.

Hi anon!

Gonna try to respond to everything you said sorry if this is a little scatterbrained!

So firstly. I don't feel as if they destroyed Hopper's character. He's going through it this season, but I actually feel like he has a good amount of depth this season, and he's actually trying to be vulnerable. Sure a lot of it is sort of through a comedic lense, but I don't feel like he's been completely reduced to being comedic relief, and I definitely don't think they ruined his character.

The most certainly did not destroy Jonathan's character by any means, especially not with the sexism plotline because... he isn't the one being sexist? Sure, he doesn't completely Get It. Just like Nancy doesn't completely get where he's coming from with his family's financial situation. I don't think he's apathetic to the sexism, I just think he hasn't considered just how much it must be affecting Nancy. Now, if I were him, would I stay at a job like that? I don't know. I would love to say that I wouldn't, but with his financial situation and the lack of jobs? I'd probably suck it up and stay. Yes, even if they were being demeaning toward my girlfriend. However. It's true that he clearly Doesn't Get It. That's not "ruining his character" though. That's a character having flaws. Just like Nancy has flaws, like not considering Jonathan's situation.

I also don't think the sexism storyline was cringe. I think it was important.

I don't think S3 "destroyed" anything except Mike and El's romantic relationship and depending on how S5 shakes out maybe Mike's character. I mean sure if Mike isn't actually struggling with his sexuality and was just being an asshole then yeah they ruined Mike. So fingers crossed that they didn't ruin Mike.

I'd argue that some important shit happened S3. I mean Billy's death set up Max's entire S4 arc. Mike and Will's conflict is important for Will's arc. Steve had massive amounts of character development. Robin was introduced and incredibly well developed which it takes time to do.

I personally thought the horror elements were cool, although S2 and S4 solo S3 as far as horror elements obviously. But I'm not a horror gal really so if you're really into horror then I get how maybe you'd be disappointed? I mean I thought the building of the army and everything was pretty fucking cool. And the rats and shit. I really liked the whole mystery.

And there was Upside Down!! I mean.. that was the whole plot. The Mindflayer was the villain he's from the UD. The Russians were trying to access the UD. So it's not really accurate to say there was no UD.

As far as Russia plotline. Eh. Idk scoops troops whole storyline from cracking the code to sneaking through the vents and getting drugged and tortured for info all within the mall? I thought it was really cool. Yeah the Duffers Russian obsession is kinda weird and they kinda went ham in S4 but I did actually like it in S3.

I do like the summer vibes but also I really like a lot of other things! I really like the plot. All the scenes of El in the void were SUPER SICK. The beginning of El's independence arc and her having fun for the first time in her life? Priceless to me. She means everything so me oh my god. Hopper and Joyce being badasses and the Jopper will they won't they?? Lumax's banter this season is so important to showing how comfortable and real their relationship is. Will's whole arc is super important and amazing. SUZIE MY BELOVED!!! The Scoops Troop MY BELOVED I adore them. Erica becoming a main character? Also everything to me. Stobin? Everything to me. Robin's coming out remains my favorite scene in the entire show.

^ Sensing a pattern? Females. Women. S3 is more female centric, it brings existing female characters to the forefront. Elmax friendship. Independent El. Introduces Robin a smart and fiercely Independent lesbian. Joyce being a badass as usual. For better or worse, Karen having her arc about being unhappy in her cookie cutter marriage. Nancy confronting sexism in the workplace and coming out stronger the other side. Nancy and Karen's talk.

Also. Honestly? After S2 I needed some fun. S2 is my favorite don't get me wrong, but it's dark. It's depressing. Immaculate vibes, amazing horror elements, amazing storytelling! My favorite! But. Depressing. Needed some fun next season as a chaser.

I mean it's all subjective, but these are just my personal opinions and why I do really like S3. Not my favorite though. I like S2 then S1 then S3 then S4. (That might change after I finish my rewatch though S4 might move up idk)

[jackiietaylor]

☕️ people saying eddie is coming back next season + the love for him but complete disregard for max

thank you for asking! this turned out really long

hmm first of all, i don't think he's coming back. i mean i loved him as a new addition and wouldn't be opposed to it if it did happen, but its not going to. thats not really what you asked but let me start with that anyway. i completely understand why people want him back and weren't happy with his death/why he died/how he died, but i can't really say i feel the same way. i mean ill be honest, i was reading spoilers for months before the season came out and knew he was a goner, so maybe thats why im not really interested in a plot where hes alive, but i think it was kinda obvious that he existed the way he did just so they didnt have to kill steve. and i think stranger things as a whole, because of the way they have handled character deaths in literally every season so far (barb, bob, alexei, chrissy, etc), has this weird phenomenon where fans get way more attached to new side characters that exist only to die than the writers have ever intended, and that combined with the constant use of fake out deaths has created this idea that everyone needs to or is going to come back even when it doesnt make a ton of sense or would set the story back. i think theres so many interesting plot lines being set up for s5 (el vs vecna final showdown, max, wills connection to the upside down/vecna, the upside down literally leaking into hawkins) and i just dont think bringing back a character who had a decent (in my opinion) death scene would be a great use of screen time. but like i said i get that people really like him and want him back so if they want to theorize that hes somehow coming back as a vampire or whatever i have no problem with it. they seem like theyre having fun idk

(i dont even know how to word what im trying to answer the second part of your message so this is a little all over the place sorry.) you bring up a really good point about the differences in reaction to eddie and max. i can't say im particularly surprised that all the attention after volume 2 went to eddie instead of max. i think just about everything to do with max's arc this season was done almost perfectly, and its really unfortunate that so much of that is being ignored. also back to what i was saying before about theories, theres so few people really talking about what happened to max/where she is (in terms of the fact that el couldn't find her in the void)/how's shes going to get freed from wherever she is. i think that part of the finale was so interesting but its largely ignored because maxs "death" was overshadowed by eddies. and I dont think that was the intention in the way that those scenes were written, I think thats entirely because of fan reaction. and kinda unrelated but ive also seen a ton of people posting about st and eddie in particular that have either a. not seen the show at all or b. only watched s4 for him, which i mean theres nothing wrong with, but it definitely shows in the discussion thats been happening about volume 2/season 4 as a whole. anyway long story short max has been one of the best characters on the show since s2 and people need to acknowledge that more, especially because so much of s4 revolved around her but shes barely being talked about, even when her plot going into s5 is probably going to be one of the most interesting

send me a topic + ☕️ and ill tell my honest opinion about it

[hawkinslibrary]

I’m sorry if you’ve been asked this question, or something similar before. I know there are people that are quite nervous about what this new season will bring and I completely get that, because the duffers are not going to be able to please everyone. So I was just wondering, going into season 4, is there anything that you want to see happen, or not happen, that would be some sort of a deal breaker? Apart from wanting El and Hopper to reunite as I’ve seen theories about them not doing so until season 5, which would suck, but other than that I’m so excited to see what they have in store for us. I want to go into it with an open mind, so I can enjoy it as much as possible.

oh no, don't worry about if anything has already been asked or anything. i'm always up for any questions as long as i actually have something of substance to contribute haha

this got long bc of course it did, so i put the answer below the cut

honestly i don't think i have any dealbreakers ? i know like with every season, there are probably going to be things that i think we could probably do without or things that i wish happened differently -- but, it's like you said, they can't please everyone all the time

i totally understand people having reservations about this season. it's been a while, s3 wasn't everyone's cup of tea, there's a ton of stuff happening this season and a ton of new characters in play. the scale of this season is huge and it's natural to wonder if they're going to be able to pull it all off in a satisfying way

i personally am very very excited for like... everything this season. i'm probably not the best person to ask here tbh bc i've kinda been annoyingly positive about this show for a while. for example, s3 is pretty divisive i guess and i'm not sure how you felt about it, but i really did enjoy it for the 'middle of the series blockbuster' it was trying to be. again, i see why people might not have liked it as much as s1 and 2, but i think it was the way it was for a reason, you know, and it did still give us a ton of amazing content

now, the end of season team ups/reunions are some of my favorite parts of this show and i've been a little nervous we might not get it this season as well, since s5 is supposedly working as a part 2/direct continuation. but i do think that even if we don't get an actual reunion, these characters are still going to be all over each other's stories -- el and hopper especially even

the only thing i'm a little wary about with this season is that some certain characters might not be getting the great individual arcs that they deserve. so many characters it seems are getting these huge arcs for themselves this season (el, hopper, max), while i feel like i know nothing about characters like the cali group except that their stories are tied up in el and the government

i still think the content we'll get with them is going to be amazing, and i'm prepared for this season to be a pretty emotional one for everyone at points, but i'm also anticipating that some fans are going to be disappointed no matter what happens, so

i don't want to sway you or anything, but i'm literally going into this season expecting it to be the best one yet haha. i'm just very excited to see everyone again, and for all the new dynamics we're going to explore and for the resurgence of some older ones too tbh. i think if you go in expecting to enjoy it, and you really like the characters and are open to these dynamics, and you don't mind horror or psychological stuff, then you're going to like this season a lot