Okay so I'm still on the bus for conformity gate and I have a new theory.
These pictures were posted on the @stonbreadway account on Instagram on the 5th of August 2025
These are part of the scripts for Joyce's secret play in Stranger Things The Last Shadow.
(I actually haven't watched the last shadow so please bear with me if you see any mistakes)
Take a look at the characters names.
John & Barbara - they are highlighted in blue and yellow.
What else do we associate with blue and yellow?
Mike's full name is Micheal.
Their colours are reversed, since Will is usually associated with yellow and Mike is associated with blue. Whenever Will and Mike have an argument/disagreement, they are wearing each other's colors.
When Mike and Will are wearing each other's colours, we know something is wrong - usually with their relationship, but I digress.
If Mike is Yellow and Will is Blue, something is wrong, and they (Mike) needs to fix it.
If we replace the names on the script with Will and Mike, we get this:
Will: It's bad luck not to finish a song
Mike: It's a sad song. I like the gay ones best.
Will: It doesn't have to be sad. You never know the ending till it's sung all through.
Mike: Then lets make it a gay one.
Will: Sing your own ending.
I'll sing a song from down our way
From the mountains where I's dwellin
About a Witchboy almost got a sou
For the love of Barbara Allen
It was the merry month of May, the greenbuds were a swellin
A witchboy saw a mountain gal and wished that he was human
Doesn't this fit strangely well?
Mike is stuck in Camazotz, he needs music/love to find his path out
To get out he needs to go through all his traumatic memories
Will: It's bad luck not to finish a song
-> Bad luck = Vecna has cursed Mike and has him in a trance where he's not able to escape (because he's not able to finish listening to the song that could let him find his way out)
-> The phrasing seems kind of menacing, it sounds kind of like Vecna so maybe, Will = Vecna, where Will is resisting against Vecna's control, trying to hint to him something is wrong
-> Mike wasn't able to finish his first (on screen) campaign (back in season 1) = he's been cursed by Vecna to not be able to ever properly wrap up a campaign ever since
-> He didn't finish the song = he didn't finish the story - there are plot holes in the ending because it's not finished
Mike: It's a sad song. I like the gay ones best.
-> Sad song = sad ending - Jane/El dies or leaves him, Will moves on from him, the party splits up and Mike is alone
-> He likes the gay one(s) best = He likes Will the best
-> Since Will was reduced to just 'the gay one' in the epilogue, replacing 'the gay one' with Will, we get ~ "I like Will best" - this tracks with Mike's behavior and feelings towards Will in the earlier seasons
Will: It doesn't have to be sad. You never know the ending till it's sung all through.
-> It doesn't have to be sad = You don't need to be sad - this doesn't have to be your ending, you can find a way out, live a better ending (the 3rd door)
-> You never know the ending untill it's all sung through = You can't control/write the ending but you can follow it through - Mike isn't the storyteller, he's the Paladin, he just needs to follow though with his feelings
Mike: Then lets make it a gay one.
-> Let's make it a gay one = Let me finally accept myself, my queerness and my love for Will - if Will is nudging him into thinking something is wrong, all the puzzle pieces will click for Mike and he'll realise the only way to get out is to be gay (accept himself and his fears)
-> gay also used to mean happy = let's make it a happy one - let's get our happy ending, Mike and Will together, the Paladin and the Cleric, the brave and the sorcerer
Will: Sing your own ending.
-> Sing your own ending = Find your own way out - Mike needs to find his own way out, he has all the pieces, he just needs to connect them: he knows Will is gay, he knows Will has/had some sort of feelings for him, he knows something is wrong and he knows he needs to be brave. Connecting all of these pieces will let him become Mike the Brave and will let him find his way out, back to Will.
I'll sing a song from down our way
-> I'll sing a song = I'll be brave and find my own way out
-> from down our way = Mike will use his memories with Will to give him strength - Will is Mike's greatest strength, his heart
From the mountains where I's dwellin
-> from the mountains where I's dwelling = Mike has been locking up/ repressing his feelings - he's been living there for a while (dwellin = dwelling - he's been residing there for a long time, brooding/bottling up his emotions/feelings so much he's about to explode)
About a Witchboy almost got a sou
-> Witchboy almost got a sou = Will almost got a hint of his feelings
-> witch = magic - Mike tells Will; "we could use some magic up here" -> Will unlocks his powers/becomes a sorcerer -> Will is magic/ a witch -> witchboy = Will
-> a sou = a very small amount of money (according to Google) so,
Sou = small -> small hint -> small hint of feelings
-> Will almost got a hint of feelings - 'signals'
For the love of Barbara Allen
-> Barbara Allen = Micheal Wheeler (like we established at the start)
-> For the love of Barbara Allen = For the love of Micheal Wheeler
-> The love interest of Mike Wheeler = Will/Jane
-> Will/Jane are the most important people to him and they will be the reason he gets out of Camazozts - by using his memories with them, he will find the exit
-> He needs to dedicate his happy memories to Will/Jane to find a connection to get back home (like Lucas was the connection for Max to get home)
-> For the love of Micheal Wheeler = For Will/Jane
It was the merry month of May, the greenbuds were a swellin
-> It was the merry month of May = The epilogue - the epilogue takes place in the spring of 1989
-> Merry month -> Christmas -> Fall/ Winter (the byler seasons) -> the leaves of the trees at the graduation turn brown/yellow like in Fall
-> the greenbuds were a swellin = the greenery (plants/nature) were thriving - the trees at the graduation turn brown/yellow -> they're dying (like Mike is dying on the inside by repressing his feelings)
A witchboy saw a mountain gal and wished that he was human
-> A Witchboy saw a mountain gal = Will saw Jane/El
-> Witchboy = Will (as we've established already)
-> Mountain -> nature -> forest/woods (Jane/El was found in a forest/woods), gal -> girl, so; Mountain gal = Jane/El
-> and wished that he was human = Will wished he was normal (he wished he was a girl - Jane/El) - he was envious of her relationship with Mike
-> Mike and Will will kiss
-> this part is highlighted in green
-> Mike (& Will) will confront their fears/insecurities together and there love will save them/Mike
Do you see what I mean when I say it all fits? Everything fits Mike and Will almost to a T.
I haven't seen anyone talking about it so I decided to do it myself and I'm know calling this playgate (since this was the first page of Joyce's script for her secret play)
Lmao this was a lot of fun to analyse and I'm so glad Stranger Things still has some of its old magic for me <33
THIS SHOW WAS FOR THE OUTCASTS, SO IT'S OURS NOW, NEVER FORGET THAT!!