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@mssncloudsmssnu on twitter

[9wills3]

the deer turned out stupid :(

[mssnclouds]

I think in part the painting is about the core four as a whole, and shows Will’s love for them and his desire to go back to they life they used to have as he’s struggling with internalized homophobia and adapting to moving away. So in-universe Mike was only the heart to Will, but writing wise he’s definitely intended to be the heart of the party. Even if nobody else considered him that, Will will always see Mike as the best version of him, the version Mike wants to be but feels out of reach. The highest potential versions of themselves will always be the dnd roles they were assigned to as kids, I think that’s an important part of childhood, maturation, and identity in the show. So Mike’s role as the paladin and The Heart keeps the core four close, Will’s cleric role relates to his honesty and gentleness as healing (like with how they were closer as a group in the epilogue when he stops unconsciously separating himself). Lucas as the ranger who is rational and independent, Dustin as the charismatic and smart bard. They all bring something different to the table and it strengthens the party, as well as their individual identities via their return to the traits of their dnd roles following growing pains. To me their dnd classes represent the inner child, even as they lead their separate lives, the person they learned to be with the support of their friends will always act as a North Star.

[mssnclouds]

Pain stinging, burning for Will while it feels like drowning for Mike

[mssnclouds]

Bob and Hopper are in part meant to contrast lonnie. For joyce, lonnie deprived her of the standard, stable life and family that was the status quo of Hawkins, and also deep and understanding love. Bob is meant to represent the former, and hopper the latter. She still is lacking the former with hopper, seeing as theres nothing standard in their relationship and shes satisfied being able to investigate and commit crimes with him. So her choice (to not conform), is choosing love over stability. Jonathan and bob have trouble bonding for similar reasons, Bob partially represents a cookie cutter version of life that Jonathan rejects and their interactions are all surface level. Whereas Hopper offers Jonathan the chance for vulnerability and comfort that lonnie never did (morgue scene). With Will this representation falls to the side along with his relationships to both of his father figures, because his focus was on the supernatural and lonnies abuses impact was never adequately explored through him. But I’d say Bob has the same nerdy interests as Will. And Hopper the protection, both ways lonnie failed to bond with or care for will. All this to say I prefer hopper for joyce and jonathan and im indifferent with Will

[willowstar204]

college will is impossible to wake up. he’s dramatic and whiny and refuses to get out of bed. but once he’s up, he gets ready in record time, looks perfectly put together, and is always early, no matter where he needs to be

college mike, on the other hand, has an absolutely ridiculous sleep schedule, is somehow always awake before will, and yet, manages to be late to everything, all the time

and yes, they are roommates 💛💙

[mssnclouds]

Trying to piece together my thoughts on how the writers allowed Will to show vulnerability. But I’d say a part of Will’s writing that doesnt work for me is him only having one big vulnerable moment, while others have multiple. I think its very in character the way he doesnt fully face himself/his emotional repression even when he confronts people and speaks his mind. On the other hand, its a poor writing choice to give a character whose unreliable narration is important to the narrative as whole, and is always written for sympathy, their moment of honesty in the penultimate episode.

This mainly becomes a problem for me in s4, when he was originally written to come out, and it could have served as a chance to explore other aspects of his character through the rest of the show. But instead the only emotionally vulnerable moments he has interpersonally are either set up as conflict or his confessions veiled and passed off as another’s emotions. Im all for complicated willelmike, its one of the biggest potentials and they could have done some great stuff along the lines of the route they went with in s4 that would serve all of them fairly, but i dont believe they could have done it tastefully with the choices they stuck by.

I also think that all of Will’s flaws (emotional repression, conflict avoidance, etc) and his storylines (internalized homophobia, sexual assault, supernatural) are too tied together and makes the emotional moment he finally has feel like underwhelming pay off for a character who is so complex and whose complexities are so integral to the narrative.

[mssnclouds]

In universe Mike was only the heart to Will, but writing wise hes definitely intended to be the heart of the party. Even if nobody else considered him that, Will will always see Mike as the best version of him, the version Mike wants to be but feels out of reach. The highest potential versions of the party will always be the dnd roles they were assigned to as kids, I think thats an important part of childhood, maturation, and identity in the show. So Mike’s role as the paladin and the heart keeps the core four close, wills cleric role relates to his honesty and gentleness as healing (like with how they were closer as a group in the epilogue when he stops unconsciously separating himself), Lucas as the ranger who is rational and independent, Dustin as the charismatic and smart bard. I think in part the painting is about all of them, and shows Wills love for them and his desire to go back to they life they used to have as hes struggling with internalized homophobia and adapting to moving away. They all bring something different to the table and it strengthens the party, as well as their individual identities by returning to the traits of their dnd roles after growing pains. Imo their dnd classes represent the inner child

[mssnclouds]

The lack of mystery and fear shown through characters is one of the biggest reasons that season 5 failed. It was too rushed and didnt focus enough on the characters we’d been following for multiple seasons, so without seeing the fear theyre feeling, it feels stale. Especially through the wheeler family, buidling hollys characterization through scene after scene of her didnt work for the nostalgia bait because its the opposite of what they did with will; where his characterization is based off his short scenes and other’s love for him. Instead we only see sadness through mike and karen, and anger through nancy. Joyces and Jonathans reactions worked because they had a mix of emotions that bled through every scene they had in s1. Joyce didnt need to face off with a monster to be a fighter. The horror wasnt fighting monsters but also other people’s beliefs about your capabilities.

[mssnclouds]

I hate when people say will was “weak and always needed saving” because part of the horror in the first seasons was the story of a latchkey kid from a poor family, who did everything right, but was kidnapped and sexually assaulted.

The fact that its set in the 80s when a lot of kids went missing was one of the biggest reasons the show gained interest. The appeal is that will isnt like a lot of horror characters and does everything right but the odds are against him. And every misstep he took like keeping his visions a secret is just a result of him being a scared and traumatized kid. The basis of the shows horror is that someone’s son was facing incomprehensible horrors and she had to try to save him when it felt impossible.

[mssnclouds]

Mike achieving his storyteller status once he focuses on his identity and learns to understand els decision in isolation and concluding his leader role through “giving his friends away” to the real world by narrating endings for them