#lumax analysis

[weyddikor]

its a parallel and u can't say that it is not so

[love-byers]

st4 music coding: yearning and miscommunication (& lumax/byler parallel)

alright here we go

this will be long so strap in

(yes this is the post i've been hyping up for like 3 days lol)

there's a song that i noticed plays twice in season 4, in two very similar scenes, and a third that ill talk about later. the first is lucas looking at the hellfire club celebrate, and the second is will looking at mike and el skate ahead of him. i've drawn a few interesting parallels here that i think really strengthen byler endgame. please watch the video above in tandem with reading the post

first of all the obvious: lucas and will are both yearning to be with what/who they're looking at. lucas wanted to be there for the end of the campaign. he asked them to move it, not cancel it. he wanted to be there because he likes being in the club and he loves his friends. and we all know will byers is devastatingly in love with mike wheeler, so that speaks for itself. lucas and will are both feeling rejected, forgotten, unneeded, replaced. they are also both looking at their sibling taking their place. erica took lucas' place in hellfire, and el has taken will's place at mike's side. mike and el were attached at the hip the whole day, and that used to be mike and will. will knew mike long before el did, and before they started dating mike and will were a firm duo. mike and el were heavy on the PDA that day, but mike used to be affectionate towards will too, putting his arm around him, holding his hand, sticking close to him, laying his head on his chest, hugging him, etc etc. now mike can't even hug him. and there's a special sting about your sibling of all people replacing you, and seeing your friends (or crush in will's case) having a great time without you, with the better version of you, not needing you, not even thinking of you. and right there, ladies and gentleman, is where will and lucas are wrong. sure, the hellfire club were happy with erica and about the fact that they won, but they wanted lucas there. the whole reason mike and dustin were upset in the first place was because lucas was choosing the basketball team over them. they accepted that lucas had "gone to the dark side" and went on to find his replacement. they feel like lucas doesn't need them anymore, that he's replaced them with the jocks. and little do they know, that is not true. lucas misses them and yearns to be over there celebrating with them. and though it doesn't seem like it in that moment (lucas' point of view), they miss him and want him there too. they are miscommunicating. the same is going on with mike and will. will feels rejected, ignored, replaced. he thinks mike has basically forgotten he was there. he thinks mike couldn't give half a shit about him. he thinks mike doesn't need him. he will soon find out that that could not be farther from the truth. mike was HOT AND FUCKING BOTHERED. he felt rejected by will. he felt like will was purposefully pulling away. he felt ignored. he felt replaced by will's non-existent friends and maybe even a girl will liked. he felt like will didn't need him anymore, that will was doing great without him. he felt like he had lost will. he, like the hellfire club, accepted (or attempted to accept) that they weren't wanted or needed and leaned heavy into filling that void. (meanwhile lucas' replacement wasn't sufficing, and will didn't even have one). and little does mike know, that is all wrong. he missed will just as much as will missed him. he'd been watching will all day hoping will would talk to him. meanwhile will thinks mike has looked at him like...twice, and so does the audience, because we got will's pov first. this is why the rink o mania fight is so all over the place and dramatic, they're basically running smack dab into each other at full speed. they're both confused because the other suddenly cares about their relationship, and they're both hurt. they are miscommunicating. the hellfire club enjoyed having erica there, but she's not lucas. mike enjoyed hanging out with el, but she's just not will. meanwhile , lucas' replacement for hellfire wasn't sufficing, and will never tried to replace mike at all.

onto more specifc and visual parallels: lucas, el, will, and mike all fake smiles. i really want to stress el and mike, because not a lot of people realize that shot is about both of them. mike is faking a smile too. mike is upset too. mike is trying to appear happy and satisfied too. like y'all please cut my son some slack he was having a BAD DAY. his whole day was shitty too just have some empathy. if you really pay attention, you'll see that mike and el are doing the exact same things in tandem. mike sighs, el sighs. mike fakes a smile, el fakes a smile. mike's smile falls, el's smile falls. they're both trying to conform, trying to pass of lies as reality. "I try to laugh about it, cover it all up with lies... I try to laugh about it, hiding the tears in my eyes..."

now lastly: the scene of max listening to the radio call of the game. this falls right in line with the themes of the other scenes. she feels like lucas is doing great without her, like she's not needed. his life is just getting better and better and hers is getting worse. but she's got it all wrong too. she turns it off when the radio guy says "He must be feeling on top of the world right now". he was not. he was feeling shitty and missing his friends. he was missing max desperately, all the time. and he felt rejected by max, like she was steadily pulling away from him. and unlike the others where the distancing happens because of the miscommunication, max and lucas' happened because max distanced herself, and she was not there to see how lucas was really feeling, which was shitty. and yall already know im byler brainrotted as fuck so its extremely important to me that both times this track is used there is romance involved. in the ep 1 scene the song specifically trails into max's scene, roping her into this coding. mike and will are once again paralleled to a canon, requited, well written couple.

i don't really have any closing thoughts

actually here i have one: lucas and will parallels are the reason i wake up and breathe every day

and another actually

at this point to anyone who truly thinks mlvn are getting married:

and byler endgame but wbk

[yuukifinalgirl]

no one understands my love for them

[apoll0-g13s]

hi heres my theories for what was included in the s5 teaser

SO... who else cried

this seems to be either a heart to heart or some kind of pep talk?? i mean if you think about it we havent seen much of joyce and will reconnecting in these recent seasons so this could be like an early-season catch up before all the absolute chaos that will ensue

also if i may just slide in any little bit of byler that i can further in this conversation i would love love love it if will told Joyce about his crush on Mike but this is kinda just delusion and i don't think it will actually happen

heres my main question; who's behind joyce? and to me, it looks like robin to her right and will + one of the new characters, one of the main characters looking down or erica

this does prove us one thing though.

ROBIN AND WILL INTERACT IN SEASON FIVE OH EM GEE OA YES

but also, the lights flicker in this scene and theres something banging on the doors. i think this is a sort of parallel to the demogorgon scene with will at the beginning of season one, but it seems like the amount of force on the doors is too big to be a demogorgon. so is it something new?? is it like- an army of creatures from the upside down?? is it the swat team that they show us later??

i actually have no idea BUT joyce has an axe!!!! we love women with axes!!!

also note i know everyone already knows this but i think its so cool that they released season one on the 26th of november and theyre releasing season five on the 26th. i know everyone kinda expected it but still

also

the fact. that they're ACTUALLY putting the finale out on NEW. YEARS. EVE. theyre putting out vol. 1 & 2 in the last two months of the year like EVERYONE said they would and THEYRE ACTUALLY RELEASING THE FINALE ON THE 31ST OH MY GOD AS LATE AS THEY CAN GIVE IT TO US

so theyre obviously looking at something. now this is one of two options in my head

they're looking outside to the contents of the upside down being spilled out into the town and the town being torn apart. i really do think were going to have some kind of chaos where all the demogorgons and bats kind of go from staying in the upside down to kind of merging with hawkins and its just an all over battleground

theres something in the house. most likely a demogorgon and this is where holly goes missing (the dissaperance of ___ ((holly)) wheeler) because yknow demogorgon snatches holly

now this does also mean that karen now also fully has proof of the upside down existing. the parents, other than joyce & hopper, do not know about the upside down. this is gonna be such an eye opening moment for karen and possibly will make her much more of a present character for season five.

not much to say here, because we all know that max was in hospital but here she has no neck brace here, where in the end of the show she was in a neck brace. so either she woke up before this scene happened or shes making good progress.

(also i dont know shit medically so this could just be something they do in hospital idk)

so dustin.

theres really not much to say about steve here but dustin.

he looks very clearly beat up, which could be a result of the upside down OR

its from the graveyard where he supposedly got beat up. which leads me to believe that in that scene with steve, they weren't in the upside down. that was in hawkins.

the vines are already in hawkins, which means the upside down has travelled over to hawkins. and if theres a grave there for eddie that means that they had time to bury him and have a funeral between the end of s4 and beginning of s5, but wasn't his body in the upside down? does this mean that they went in to get his body to have the funeral? so does vecna already have clear access to hawkins, so much so that they were able to go down and grab his body?

this could make no sense btw it is so late at night

what is going on here.

i seriously have no idea

she looks like shes in pain, so maybe vecna is in ehr head?? shes grabbing her ears and it looks like theres something shes using her powers on something so is it another mindfight?? maybe she just defeated something??

but also yippee more hopper and el scenes yippe yippe!!

wall.

i think this could be like the end of the upside down. like hold on

do you guys see the vision?? also sorry this looks like ass i drew it in chrome canvas using a mouse

i also think that the big orange pimple looking thing could be like.. an egg?? like a demogorgon egg of sorts?? so maybe the objective is to like destroy the wall so that they can't make eggs any more and therefore stop existing?? maybe??

so theres a whole ass swat team here

this also means the government is involved in some sort so thats nice

now i dont know if its like. how all those gates opened and something is just poking out under the floorboards but everyone seems very afraid of it so this is where im thinking theres some kind of new monster for season five

we can also see will unconscious on the floor in this scene right behind one of the soldiers/swat team members idk what to call them man

so these last two clips seem to be in the same military base/same scene which means its very important. which leads me to believe that it IS a new kind of monster

now the people behind him i think are just bystanders. i don't count on them having much of a significance to the plot

but we can see joyce holding on very tightly to will which leads me to believe hes still unconscious because he also looks very sloppy?? like lazy?? idk how to explain it but he looks limp

NOTE: there's also a soldier passed out behind the gang. so maybe there's something in particualr making people pass out?? that or the soldier is dead and the swat team is useless.

i did will so dirty in this screenshot im sorry

but anyways, will is so terrified in this photo. re-possessed?? maybe?? hes looking up at something which means its huge. so is this the hydra theory coming back and actually in the show?? maybe maybe not

but there is something new and big definitely coming. and im scared. and excited.

NOTES:

season five is a concluding season. this means they have to cover everything of nuance. the painting, byler vs elmike, stancy vs jancy, any questions about the upside down, lumax, etc etc. just trying to get you excited.

in my opinion, they wouldn't have all this build up and talk about will liking mike if it goes nowhere. theyve talked about it constantly, hinted it in scenes and letters and confirmed that a love interest will be a present trope for Will in season five. i don't think this will just end in a "sorry will, i dont like you that way." and if it does then that will have to be used for some kind of motive for will in some kind of actions later on in the season

i will add more when i am less tired

anyways lets enjoy the next 214 days until the finale yippee huzza i will go cry myself to sleep

[i-promise-i-am-not-on-drugs]

Something I love about Lucas and Max's relationship is that they're not just a couple; they're friends.

We especially see it in st3, but I think it was visible pretty much ever since they were introduced as a romantic pairing.

In season 2, Lucas pretty much immediately had a crush on Max, sure. But before even really thinking about trying to date her, he wanted to be her friend, and he treated her as such. Unlike Dustin, who jumped on his romantic feelings for her before even trying to get to know her.

And that's why Max felt more comfortable with Lucas first: because he wanted to be her friend, and didn't see her only as a romantic interest. (No hate to Dustin ofc, I love him and he was like 12, his reaction was completely normal for his age!)

In season 3, we see that even when they are dating, they still behave like great friends do: they laugh together, they mock each other jokingly, they have inside jokes, they can spend time with the rest of their friends and still consider what they do together as romantic, they're not kissing all the time (actually I can only remember them kissing once at the snowball)... And yet, their romantic feelings for each other are still very obvious to anyone watching!

At the beginning of season 4, Max is pulling away and we know that she broke up with Lucas and refuses to get back with him. And yet, Lucas only seems worried for her, and doesn't even try to get back as a couple with her-- he just wants her to talk to him, as her friend, because he cares for her as a person and not only as his girlfriend. And even when they start to talk (kinda) about their romantic feelings for each other and consider the idea of getting back together as Max was literally about to maybe die, it wasn't overly dramatic or overkill-- it was sweet and familiar, something they both wanted and needed.

Anyway. My point is, Lucas and Max work so well together because they're each other's friend, before and on top of being romantically involved.

And I love them very much and they are absolutely going to be endgame, or I'm gonna bash my head in a wall.

[redshoes-blues]

It's ST5 soundtrack analysis time!

Been wanting to do this since we got soundtrack images, but life was crazy and I wanted to wait and see what song would feature in the trailer. So, now is the perfect time to nerd out over music!

First off, the soundtrack this season is themed around the WSQK radio station where a lot of the season will be taking place, with our host "Rockin' Robin" as the curator. Of course, in-show, we don't know if these songs will specifically come from a radio playlist or if this is a fun marketing gimmick. I'm suspecting the latter, but we shall see.

Trailer Song: Who Wants to Live Forever, Queen, 1986

Starting out strong. Our final official trailer for Stranger Things features an extra-epic version of this magnificent Queen track. Right off the bat: Queen is obviously the perfect choice for beautiful, gut-wrenching, and epic 80s music to soundtrack a momentous event like this! Notably, Queen is mentioned by Robin specifically when she's listing "real music" (as opposed to Eddie's taste) in ST4. There's also the nod towards queer history here with Freddie Mercury being the giant in our community that he is (also see: HIV/AIDS, which Mercury would later pass away from, as the historic backdrop for ST).

Some noteworthy lyrics:

There's no time for us There's no place for us What is this thing that builds our dreams

References to time and place bring to mind the Upside Down as a place existing outside of the real world of Hawkins. Dreams bring to mind the quote in ST4 about the connection between music and dreams, with music being used to treat the patients at the psych ward, which inspires the use of music to fight Vecna. See also: Dream a Little Dream Of Me. Lots of Vecna imagery here.

Obviously, this is also a love song, with lyrics about an "us."

But touch my tears with your lips Touch my world with your fingertips And we can have forever And we can love forever Forever is our today

Love is what comforts us in the midst of death. The Party is what everyone in ST fight for. Love holds them together.

I Think We're Alone Now, Tiffany, 1987 (orig. 1967)

Another classic. A song about escaping at night with your lover where nobody can find you, with a forbidden love flavour.

Noteworthy lyrics:

Running just as fast as we can Holding on to one another's hand Trying to get away into the night And then you put your arms around me And we tumble to the ground And then you say I think we're alone now There doesn't seem to be anyone around I think we're alone now The beating of our hearts is the only sound Look at the way We gotta hide what we're doing'Cause what would they say If they ever knew?

As our first song, I think it's safe to say this will play in the first ep, and I'm interested to see it in context. Are we getting a fun dance montage like the Umbrella Academy's masterclass? Perhaps Holly is a Tiffany fan bopping in her room. Or is the song playing over a scene with a couple? Perhaps a couple who are trying to escape, to get away, to hide whatever they're doing?

2. The Magnificent Seven, The Clash, 1980

An anticapitalist anthem! The "seven" here refers to the hours worked in a typical day by a working class person. This song is a journey through the sluggish hell of capitalist life. Monotony. Police brutality. Working dawn to dusk. We even get Marx and Engels name drops.

Noteworthy lyrics:

Ring! Ring! It's 7 a.m. Move yourself to go again Cold water in the face Brings you back to this awful place

So get back to work and sweat some more The sun will sink, and we'll get out the door It's no good for man to work in cages

In context, The Clash is obviously important to Will and Jonathan's relationship. Should I Stay or Should I Go is probably Will's Vecna song and the reason he stayed alive so long (at least in part). So this song could be calling back to that, or it could be referencing the monotony of life under the military dictatorship Hawkins seems to be under. They're very much trapped there, in a cage-like atmosphere. Perhaps this song speaks to that.

3. Bicycle Race, Queen, 1978

Queen is back! With an iconic tune that drives my family fucking crazy when we're playing Queen's Greatest Hits on vinyl. On one hand it's about literally riding your bike. On the other it's about just wanting to ride your bike and enjoy your life and freedom, not follow adult responsibilities and obligations (Watergate! Vietnam! Taxes!). Aka: can't we just have fun? (Biking! Girls! Cocaine!)

Noteworthy lyrics:

I want to ride my bicycle I want to ride my bicycle, races are coming your way

So forget all your duties, oh yeah Fat bottomed girls, they'll be riding today So look out for those beauties, oh yeah

My guess is this song will be used in a biking montage. Mike and Will biking with Holly? Could be anybody. These characters fucking love to bike around Hawkins. It could especially be used to acknowledge how the military is restricting peoples' movement within Hawkins.

4. Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2, Pink Floyd, 1979

Absolutely. Yes. Thank you to whichever incredible person chose this song. I love you.

This song has been misinterpreted as an anti-education-system anthem by many. In reality, it's pointing to the flaws in institutions where kids who are different are often targeted or devalued. Roger Waters himself put it best: "Obviously, I care deeply about education. I just wanted to encourage anyone who marches to a different drum to push back against those who try to control their minds rather than to retreat behind emotional walls."

Noteworthy lyrics:

We don't need no education We don't need no thought control No dark sarcasm in the classroom Teacher, leave them kids alone

All in all, you're just another brick in the wall

I'm seeing a common theme cropping up in most of these songs. Institutions targeting outsiders and working class people with violence and discrimination. Standing up against The Man. Being a freak is the best, alright?

5. Wheel in the Sky, Journey, 1978

Stranger Things loves its Journey! This song again points to the monotony of life. The wheel of fate keeps on turning and it's weighing down on you and the future is uncertain, but you've got to keep going because that's all there is.

Noteworthy lyrics:

Winter is here again oh Lord Haven't been home in a year or more I hope she holds on a little longer

Sent a letter on a long summer day Made of silver, not of clay Ooh, I've been runnin' down this dusty road

Ooh, the wheel in the sky keeps on turnin' I don't know where I'll be tomorrow Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'

Fans of lettergate will enjoy speculating over the line about sending a letter. Aside from that, I think this song (combined with the others) really points to the mindset the characters have this season. Everyone is sick of this. Everyone wants to win and break free. But can they? And how?

6. Upside Down, Diana Ross, 1980

THANK GOD! DIANA ROSS AT LAST! A disco queen and gay icon, this Diana Ross track is going to be a blast and I'm interested to see which couple this song will likely play for. Especially because the song is from the perspective of Ross, who is singing about a boy turning her upside down...the Stranger Things pun is incredible.

Interestingly, the tracklist for this album is printed upside down, and, perhaps as a nod, the song is printed upside down on the ST5 compilation tracklist.

Noteworthy lyrics:

Instinctively, you give to me the love that I need I cherish the moments with you Respectfully, I say to thee I'm aware that you're cheating When no one makes me feel like you do Upside down Boy, you turn me inside out And 'round and 'round Upside down Boy, you turn me inside out And 'round and 'round

So. Someone is probably thinking about a boy...Joyce? Nancy? Will? Max? El?

I think it's interesting that the word "instinctively" is used to describe how the love interest in the song is giving her love, as if this person isn't aware of what he's doing to her. Also, this man is cheating...will this aspect of the song be relevant? Stay tuned, I suppose!

7. Surrender, Cheap Trick, 1978

Okay. I'll be honest, I have no clue what's going on here. Lol. The parents are fucking on the couch (but they're alright!). Mommy fought in the war (but she's not an old maid!). There are STDs going around so beware of that I guess? Mommy warned narrator to be careful of girls because you never know what you'll catch from them? Idk y'all. This one might just be fun. And it is!

Noteworthy lyrics:

Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright They just seem a little weird Surrender, surrender But don't give yourself away, hey, hey

Please for the love of god tag me in an analysis of this song for the new season if anyone has any ideas because I'm out of ideas...

Wait! One thing:

Whatever happened to all this season's losers of the year?

Losers. The Party are losers! Yeah, that's all I've got.

8. See Those Eyes, Altered Images, 1982

First of all I hadn't heard this song before but I fucking love it?! Another love song, and this time I have an idea based on almost nothing so here goes.

I think this is going to be our Lumax reunion song!

Noteworthy lyrics:

Her head is full of nonsense But she says her heart is true, fool for you I'm feeling rather funny and I don't know who I am I'll forget for you, forget those eyes, forget those lies

Besides the vibes alone being very Max-coded, I'm thinking of the fact that Max's eyes are closed as she's in her coma, and when they open, she'll be reunited with Lucas. This song also plays with the idea of a relationship that has had some troubles in the past. She has lied in the past ("I'm fine") but she's in love with the you in the song and her heart is true. Aka: her love was never a lie. The narrator is willing to forget the past troubles and lies she told because her love for them is true and they both love each other. It's literally Lumax!

Max waking up towards the end of the season before the time skip perhaps?

9. Here Comes the Rain Again Eurythmics, 1983

THIS IS THE BYLER KISS SONG I SWEAR TO GODDD. And I'm going to get into it because I am so convinced.

Do Eurythmics need an introduction? They're gay icons, of course. They've featured in ST before. They're amazing. This song is all longing and staring across the room before you explode into each other's arms. It's interpolated in Wake me Up When September Ends.

Here comes the rain again Falling on my head like a memory / Raining in my head like a tragedy Falling on my head like a new emotion I want to walk in the open windI want to talk like lovers do Want to dive into your ocean Is it raining with you?

This is the pining song. I love you. I want you. I feel something. Do you feel it too?

This song is about a relationship that seems to not quite have begun, or it is still in that blurry space between friends and lovers (talk to me like lovers do). Rain is coming and the narrator is reminded of a memory, a tragedy. But they don't want the past. They want to explore these new emotions. They want to walk in the open wind and embrace the storm together. They don't want to talk like friends or even strangers. they want to talk like lovers. They want to explore the depths and emotions and trauma and past with the person they are speaking to. They don't want to be alone remembering their experiences. They want to explore a future. A future where they can be free and they don't have to live in the storm alone. Ugh. Guys.

So. Yes I'm convinced this is going to be The byler kiss song. It could be from any couple's POV, but I'm biased so there we go.

10. The Warrior, Scandal (feat. Patty Smyth), 1984

A song about not wanting to cage someone, letting them run wild and being a warrior. I think this is probably the final song we'll be left on. Like a fade to credits scenario possibly. Mostly based on the song's finale-esque sound and the image it conjured in my mind, and it obviously being placed last on the soundtrack.

This is a song about survival and winning. About heartache and victory and freedom. To me it reads as an El song, but it could easily be about anybody or nobody at all.

Noteworthy lyrics:

Shooting at the walls of heartache  I am the warrior Yes, I am the warrior And victory is mine

And that's it, folks! Thought? Theories? Let me know—I love overanalyzing music and this show and I'll miss doing it so bad when we reach the end of the season.

Also, I want to say that I am also fully expecting the Peter Gabriel Heroes to play because of the rule of threes and the symmetry of it playing every other season would be perfection. I know I've always been the "Bowie's Heroes will play in ST5 and HERE IS WHY" girl but given that it isn't on the tracklist I think that theory is pretty dead in the water. Still, I think that song is incredibly valuable as a way to look at the show as a whole, and that's another reason why I expect the Heroes we've already heard to show up.

Similarly, I think it's safe to say we may hear Should I Stay or Should I Go in the little Will flashbacks (showing the song protecting him—or it being used as his Vecna song in present-day) and/or Running Up That Hill for Max reasons (just look at that radio Lucas has—there's no way it isn't playing Kate Bush!).

[queen-of-hawkins-why-ler]

It becomes so obvious that Milkvan isn't supposed to be endgame when you compare the development (or lack thereof) of their relationship to Lumax's. Mike and El are supposedly the main characters and "the main couple" of the show, but if this were actually the case, then why wouldn't the writers spend more time developing their relationship like they have developed Lumax's?

Truth be told, Mike and El's storyline does not have much "development" beyond what happens in the show on a surface level. In s1, they meet each other, become friends, and Mike hides and protects El from the people who are trying to harm her. When he loses her at the end of s1, he subsequently misses her a lot in s2 and they spend the season looking for each other. It's very sweet when they reunite, but even so, not a lot is happening with their relationship besides the obvious, which is that they are happy to see each other again.

Contrast this to Lumax in s2, which portrays an actual relationship DYNAMIC that goes beyond a surface level. Lucas likes Max, and Max likes Lucas, but there are so many layers to how they feel about each other and what is actually going on between them. Lucas likes and cares about Max and wants to get to know her better, but he is genuinely afraid for her safety and doesn't want to involve her in the supernatural. On the other side of it, Max is clearly drawn to Lucas the more she gets to know him, but she has a difficult time trusting or opening up to people, especially when she realizes that the boys are deliberately shunning her and leaving her out of the know and AV Club meetings. Not to mention the entire problem of race, wherein Max is afraid of how her racist, emotionally abusive brother is going to react to her becoming intimately involved with a black boy. Needless to say, Lumax from the very beginning is a complex relationship that has lots of layers, while Mike and El's relationship is pretty straightforward: boy loses girl, boy and girl miss each other, boy and girl are happy to be reunited.

While s3 doesn't do a whole lot for Lucas and Max other than showing them being cute together, it does set the stage for s4 Lumax, which beautifully continues the aforementioned themes. In s2, we are introduced to the idea of Lucas wanting to open up Max and allow her to be in the know, but he does so with the fear that she could get herself killed: that he could lose her. Max, too, is unsure about the amount of risk that comes with opening herself up to somebody, and the answer to both of these problems is both characters' worst nightmare: Max getting hurt and them losing each other. We see Lucas trying so hard and doing everything he can to reach out to Max. He loves her so selflessly and wants her to know that he is there for her no matter what, but she is of course still so traumatized from what happened to Billy and scared of what Vecna is doing to her that she struggles to open herself up freely. And when she finally does, she STILL reaps the consequences and is targeted by Vecna. And of course Lucas feels like his worst fears have become a reality, and Max's ultimate fate is a direct follow up to the initial conflict that was set up for Lumax in s2.

Think about how much thought had to be put into creating that relationship for it to not only work but to be well-executed within the show itself. Not to mention that all of these story elements get developed by way of Lumax developing both as individuals and as a couple. We see them succumbing to their fears. We see them growing apart and together. Most importantly, we see them COMMUNICATING. Max pulls away from Lucas because she is afraid, but Lucas pulls her right back in and assures her that he is there for her, he is protecting her, he loves her. Do we see any of this depth for Milkvan? No. Because there isn't any depth.

In what season (or scene for that matter) have we ever watched Mike and El struggle against what they are faced with both individually and as a couple?? Mind you, there have been plenty of opportunities in this story for Mike and El to develop and to take things on together. And in a very literal sense, they DO take on things together, these things are just utterly surface-level and transparent. Mike is scared that people are under or overestimating El and what her powers are capable of, so he bats for her and tries his best to advocate for her and be by her side. Okay, that's great. El, on the other hand, worries that Mike could be holding her back so she tries relying on herself and her newfound best friend for strength (interesting writing choice lmao). Again, great. But what's happening here beyond a surface level? Nothing. There are no subsequent layers to Mike and El's relationship that the show would have us dive into. And if we ARE in fact supposed to dig into Mike and El's relationship, we are only doing so...

To directly contrast the lack of depth in Milkvan's relationship to the depth we see in Mike and Will's relationship. Milkvan hasn't been layered and built up the same way Byler has because they are not a main focus of the story. Byler IS, on the other hand, which is why their relationship is just as fleshed out and developed as Lumax's. Milkvan gets virtually no development beyond a surface level for four whole seasons, meanwhile Byler's relationship shifts and changes again and again. Even from the beginning, when we barely see Mike and Will interact, we are shown that they share a special bond that is contrasted to the platonic friendship that the other boys have, and we see Mike ceaselessly, endlessly searching for Will with no intention on ever giving up (side note: when Mike is missing El in s2, does he ever throw the tantrums he threw for Will or try to get everyone else involved in finding El the way he did for Will?? Does he ever claim to be the "only one who cares about El?" No). When he finds Will, he stays stuck to him like glue and does everything in his power to watch over and protect Will, the same way Lucas does for Max. In s3, we see Mike and Will's relationship get rocky and we see them struggle, but we also see Mike develop and go the distance as far as mending his relationship with Will, which is something we barely see for Mike and El in the same season. And then in s4, we see the ultimate demonstration of Mike and Will literally working as a team, taking on each other's problems, and most importantly, COMMUNICATING about said problems. They check in on each other, they make sure that the other is okay. They are real about their feelings and don't deliberately hide things from one another (besides the fact that they love each other, ofc, which they only feel the need to hide because it is unsafe and because they are afraid of how the other would react). Needless to say, Lumax and Byler are both well-written, fleshed out, and get development. There are many layers to these relationships as well as shifting dynamics and real, relevant plot threads. Milkvan gets none of these things. Probably because their relationship does not go much deeper than "they care about each other." The only thing worth exploring in terms of the depth of their relationship is all the things Mike isn't able to do and the ways he isn't able to be there for El because his priorities lie with Will.

[mrmostlyblind]

Stranger Things s3 Comic (Byler + Lumax)