Primcey

I'm a New Zealand 20yr Film-Maker. I like gaming, movies, animation and writing. I'm cool, promise.

[lovisus]

Byler in The Pitt cus why not

[karust]

Of Lover's Lakes and Hiveminds

[miwiromantics]

It’s always gotta be some fuckass painting,

that godamn swing set,

a traumatised gay boy

and finn fucking wolfhard at the crime scene

I quit.

[ab0g1arka]

the stranger things finale kind of sucked.

not in a “it was all terrible” way.

but in a “how did we fumble THIS many narrative balls in the FINAL season of a billion-dollar show” way.

and it all starts with:

⸻

THE HOLLY WHEELER PROBLEM

i said it.

i meant it.

i’ll say it again louder for the people in the upside down.

the holly plotline was useless.

not “bad.”

not “poorly acted.”

just… narratively unnecessary.

she had more screen time than half of the original cast.

HALF.

characters we’ve known since season 1 were standing in the corner like forgotten coats while holly and her little stranger squad were running around having their own side quest.

and for what?

what did it actually change?

remove the holly plotline and you still get:

• vecna

• the final fight

• the upside down

• the world ending

but suddenly you also get:

• more time for mike

• more time for will

• more time for joyce

• more time for literally anyone who mattered

they said they were “circling back to the core themes.”

FRIENDSHIP AND LOVE PREVAILS MY ASS.

this season was:

doom

gloom

crying

death

suffering for no actually reason

apocalypse

action packed bullshit

⸻

HOPPER SHOULD HAVE STAYED DEAD

i love hopper.

he is a king.

he is a dad.

he is a real life hero.

but.

HE. SHOULD. HAVE. STAYED. DEAD.

bob’s death in season 2 hit because it told us something:

no one is safe.

that’s what makes horror work.

that’s what makes you hold your breath.

now?

steve falls off a TOWER in season 5 and i don’t even blink.

i was like:

“he’s fine.”

because he is.

everyone is.

they have so much plot armor they could walk into the sun and come back with a mild tan.

when everyone is guaranteed to survive, nothing feels dangerous.

and when nothing feels dangerous, nothing feels important. Or real!

hopper staying dead would have:

• raised the stakes

• fixed the fear

• and forced eleven to grow on her own

which brings me to—

⸻

LET ELEVEN BE A PERSON, NOT A PET

this is not about ships.

do not come in here with that energy.

jane needed independence.

she needed to exist outside of:

hopper

mike

the government

netflix’s marketing department

kali should have lived.

period.

eleven could have escaped.

built a life.

been a person.

instead we got:

more suffering

more trauma

more reset-to-factory-settings arcs

girl has been through ENOUGH.

⸻

THE WILL BYERS SITUATION

they should not have dragged will being in love with mike this long.

there were two options:

1. follow through

2. shut it down early and give will a new love interest

they did neither.

they just let him suffer in the narrative corner for five seasons.

and that robin pep talk?

wasted time.

led nowhere.

gave him false hope.

then did nothing with it.

you know what that time could have been?

what were all those clues? those glances? the touches? the tension?

all these for a big Nothing Burger!

THE FINAL FIGHT.

people are not wrong when they say the final battle was barely longer than will’s coming out scene.

priorities were in hell.

⸻

CONFORMITYGATE AND THE MARKETING MACHINE

netflix knew this was controversial.

they fed it.

they promoted it.

they tweeted about it.

because controversy = clicks

clicks = engagement

engagement = money

we are not viewers.

we are metrics.

we are little corporate pawns in netflix’s chess game.

and they’re playing 4D chess with our feelings.

⸻

BACK TO HOLLY (BECAUSE I’M NOT DONE)

they aged her up.

ignored her canonical age.

made her important.

why?

new kids = new audience.

but what was their actual purpose?

“to merge the worlds.”

okay.

why.

how.

to what end.

no answers.

Pure aesthetic, zero explanation.

we didn’t need 12 new characters in the FINAL season.

we needed:

the kids we started with.

that’s it.

⸻

IN CONCLUSION

the choices this season were… interesting.

that’s the nicest thing i can say.

this could have been a beautiful, focused, emotional ending.

instead we got:

corporate storytelling

safe decisions

marketable drama

and a finale that felt like it was trying to please everyone and satisfied no one.

anyway.

i’m going to go lie on my bed and stare at the ceiling now.

reblog if you agree.

reblog if you’re mad.

reblog if will byers deserved better.

[karust]

Canon divergence route B: The Heart

[emichen88]

You wanna get wild? OKAY WE'LL SHOW YOU WILD!!!

@ambersonic96 @powerauerart

& I are proud to present this AMV we made w/ love and passion.

[rock-dog]

things i am confused about after the stranger things finale (SPOILERS)

(disclaimer: i have been a byler and queer mike truther since 2022)

what was the “for will” tape in all the merch?

that one bts(?) shot of mike looking in the bathroom mirror

mileven’s relationship (or lack thereof?) throughout season 5, mike not saying “i love you” to el after she says it to him in season 5

birthdaygate

the malted milkshakes from melvald’s thing

what was with all of the hinting toward’s will losing an eye? all the imagery, the eye of vecna stuff…

when blue meets yellow in the west + all the other mike and will related blue and yellow imagery… what was all that about

it’s not my fault you don’t like girls and the eyewitness parallel

why couldn’t mike hug will at the airport in season 4?

in season 4, when will calls out mike for not reaching out, why didn’t mike tell will that he had been trying to call him in cali but couldn’t reach him because joyce always kept the line busy, as dustin explains later in the season?

actually the rink o’ mania fight as a whole

mike nodding in agreement when will tells him it’s scary to say how you really feel because people might not like the truth in reference to mike’s struggle to say “i love you” to el in season 4

why is will’s memory of crying in the van in season 4 altered in season 5?

the narrative purpose of will’s lie about the painting and if mike ever found out the truth

lowkey what was the purpose of the entire california van plot in season 4 anyway

the parallels between will’s relationship with mike and robin’s relationship with vickie

the fruit on pizza scene in season 4

mike’s “i love you” speech in season 4, the love at first sight stuff

the one way sign pointing to mikes closet + the destruction of said closet

framing mike and will as a pair at the end of season 4 between the other established couples

mike being “in the dark” motif in season 4 (the lighting, the sunglasses…) is it just because he was oblivious to will’s feelings?

the whole snowball becoming an avalanche conversation between robin and will at the hospital in season 5

shared looks

mike with the rainbow puzzle in the hospital + hopper’s reference to “missing a piece of the puzzle”

this tweet:

mike’s character shift between season 2 and season 3, why he’s “trying to be as normal as possible,” why he’s was being fake (a “shitty knockoff”) when he got to California…

mike and eleven’s relationship issues (mike being a terrible boyfriend)

mike and will’s relationship issues (mike being a terrible friend)

why was smalltown boy the first song on mikes official playlist?

“The First I love You”

the “byler won’t write itself” sign at the WGA strike

this is not meant to be a byler post but a lot of these are byler related. i’m definitely going to add to this, but these are just some things that i simply don’t understand or can’t come up with a good explanation for given the way everything turned out in the finale.

[primcey]

The Duffers did fuck up their first big film. Guess they were always shit.

Just got lucky with season 1 and 2, then Netflix, Producers and executives got greedy with money and merchandise that they no longer cared for their characters.

Noah, Finn, Gaten, Caleb, Sadie, Millie and the rest of the cast deserved a better ending for their characters.

Steve, Joyce and Hopper were the only characters that felt like they had a fitting ending. Dustin too possibly.

Noah deserves so much praise for how amazing of an actor he is. The strength he had to ask for a closing scene between Will and Mike because the Duffers are too cowardice to do so.

The Duffers and Shawn Levy are liars. The fans are the true writers of the show.

[primcey]

Will saying Mike is his "crush" is what HE believes. Robin told her story of liking Tammy, a girl she's had a crush on for a while... before she realised she needed to accept herself truly. Then she found Vickie.

When people broke down that conversation, we understood that Mike isn't Will's Tammy. Tammy is El, Robin is Mike, Vickie is Will.

Will believes he's Robin, that Mike is a crush. He's liked Mike for years. Way longer then Robin probably liked Tammy. WE, the audience are supposed to believe Mike is Tammy, that byler won't happen.

As a film-maker and writer, the coming out scene is good and bad. I think him coming out to multiple people was fitting for the amount of characters that care for him, but including Kali, Murray and Vickie is odd (though kicking them out the room is kinda rude xD). Also by the fact Stranger Things is set in the 80s where queerness is definitely terrifying and coming out even one person is scary. Having him come out to a large group is definitely not a route I would recommend. A scene between Will, Jonathan, Joyce and Mike probably would've been more intimate, sweet and more heartfelt. Just like the scene between Will and Jonathan in season 4 in the pizza place when they spoke about the lego figure up Will's nose. Also the idea he is FORCED to come out due to Vecna is odd and made the scene feel forced and slightly out of place.

Also Will said the word 'different'. A word stated in a conversation between Will and Mike in the van, about the painting. I'm not fully sure if the painting will be mentioned, but just like the University letters of Jonathan and Nancy, there is a chance this can be brought up again.

Additionally, throughout the scene (this has been pointed out by some users, the editor cuts to Mike when Will says "I am like you", "dnd into the night", "I don't like girls" (this then immediately cuts to a shot of Mike but he is the only one in focus, Dustin turns his head, Lucas looks down... but Mike readjusts himself. He's affected by the line). The line "I know they're not like me". Mike is again only one in focus, he's hesitant, as if he's comparing what Will is saying to himself. Also the line "he's just my Tammy." If Mike WAS Tammy, the camera would stay on Mike, but it didn't. The audience is supposed to think Mike is Tammy, because Will is influencing the audience to believe that.

Also if we are under the assumption that the vision Vecna showed Will where everyone was worried, where Will pushed everyone away till he's alone is wrong. The line "we just drift apart more" is focused on Will. Between season 3 and 4, Will and Mike had drifted apart. What if the line is supposed to be taken the opposite and that the Will and Mike would be closer later one rather then apart. (This is me just bullshitting atm and writing whatever, but ayy)

But what I'm explaining is that cuts are intentional and always done to obviously tell a story or POV. Some of Will's lines are what Mike also believes, that he now has to figure out.

[kidovna]

new beginnings

[fatfatgaybitch]

What if?

Red is Vecna’s powers and blue is Will’s?

Commonly in film blue represents the good, whereas red represents the bad. (Most common example being Star Wars).

Could Will be fighting back using blue forces against whatever Vecna is trying to do with the red explosions?

Here is the evidence that leads me to believe this…

@tryingonametaphor also mentioned that this supports the Will Byers created the Upside Down theory because the Upside Down is blue whereas Vecna’s lair is red!

Will is encompassed in red lighting in the picture below to the right as Vecna taunts him…

In this shot of Will below, we can see bright blue light take over as from the left side as he is in deep focus…

Maybe it is in this scene where Will becomes the ‘Sorcerer’…

Edit: @that-witchy-pan mentioned in the comments that Will’s powers in his painting are also blue!!!!

[teambyler]

Vanishing of HOLLY WHEELER (Byler talk)

Okay they're not even trying to hide it anymore. Isn't this virtual confirmation that Holly gets taken?

And the only glimpses we've seen of Mike and Will are with Holly... Aren't they establishing their bond with her for a reason?

With Holly vanishing, doesn't this mean MIKE AND WILL might hunt for Mike's sister together, the way Nancy and Jonathan ventured out to find HIS missing sibling?

Isn't this scene from Season 1...

... a direct parallel to this?

And doesn't this mean they'll be a TEAM and FACE DANGER together? And that MIKE AND WILL GO INTO THE UPSIDE DOWN AND BOND OVER MIKE'S TRAUMA OF LOSING WILL AND GROW CLOSER THAN EVER?

I'm NOT going crazy here. Or am I? =P

-teambyler

[mike-weezer-apologist]

I firmly believe that this scene

Is whatever this scene

was going to be

The scene in s5 is presumably before this scene since El is wearing the same wetsuit she is in the scene with Mike

Which parallels it to this

I feel there’s also something symbolic about El not wearing any blockout goggles in the s5 scene. Almost like shes seeing clearly now. As opposed to in the pizza dough freezer where she wears blockout goggles that Mike made for her.

Plus it makes you wonder the different results that it would yield if Mike and El got the chance to finish that conversation.

If the writers wanted to show us the importance of Mike and Els love for eachother, they would have let them finish that conversation in s4. If Mike was going to say he loved her, why interrupt that soft, private conversation just to have mike “confess” in a high-stakes situation after being prompted to do so by Will?

I believe once they’ve had this conversation in s5, El will be seeing clearly and will be more successful in whatever battle she has to fight as a result.

[notassshe]

So, this scene is clearly after the fight in the Military base.

As you can see, Mike has a bruise on his right cheek here, but he didn't have that bruise in this scene.

and here too...

So my theory is this. Either Will gets taken by Vecna OR he voluntarily goes with him to keep Mike and Joyce from even more harm.

Which leads us to this Mileven scene...

They're sitting on what is clearly a deprivation tank. El is also wearing a wetsuit.

They're trying to find Will here.

There is no doubt that this is a Will-centric scene. Mike has probably realized his feelings for Will and already knows about the painting, and this is him and El tying up loose ends. Closure.

Edit: I forgot to mention that Mike is wearing the same outfit in the Mileven scene, sans the jacket.

[primcey]

[FLASH WARNING]

First edit, be nice :)

[chaotixcx]

I’ve been rewatching Transformers Animated again

[camrlart]

whenever i’m alone with you

you make me feel like i am home again