#mikes mind

[armencias]

Will's Lie is the Snowball | "The Mind of Mike Wheeler" Part 4

I feel like I'm melting because of the heat, but this kind of snowball isn't helping me to cool down at all... I mean, that's probably the best piece of evidence I'll ever find. Yes, actual evidence.

There's only a few steps left to reach that part, so let's start with the video. As always, you'll find my detailed analysis below. Related Posts: 5/5 Sync, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

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▶ Calling Will's Name

The first timeline shows Will having a vision in the Abyss, while the second one shows him having another vision at the Mac Z.

Both times Mike's calling Will's name and trying to get to him. He's not able to do so at the Mac Z because the soldiers are holding him back. But there's no reason he can't touch Will's arm in the Abyss - except it's the same reason.

▶ "Resist it."

In the upper timeline Henry's reliving his trauma, watching his younger self interacting with the scientist in the cave, right after gaining his new powers. The lower timeline shows Will after hijacking Vecna's powers and killing the three Demos. Both the adult Henry and Will are dressed very similar and raise their heads to see what happened.

The cave scientist is giving warnings: "You must resist it. It will consume you. It will consume all." This leads to scout Henry looking at the scientist, stretching out his hand and killing the man, getting a nosebleed right after. At the same time Will's looking at Mike, getting a nosebleed too.

Tbh, this was was the first scene I synced of Season 5/5, making me reshape the rest of it. And it's still one of the scariest ones for me, I don't fully understand it, but I know it must be something dark. My first thought was that Will killed Mike and... and that was the first time I thought about Mileven being the better option. Ô_o

But despite the fact that both young Henry and Will used their powers for the first time here, powers they didn't had before, they react completely different. When Henry stretched out his hand his palm was facing downwards, Will's was facing upwards. Henry was in absolute shock after killing someone, which is a very valid reaction, but Will was very calm and didn't acted surprised at all.

▶ (Not) Deciding Between Two Options

Timeline one shows El and Mike's last goodbye, while timeline two shows the group discussing Erica's and Lucas' plans. We'll focus mainly on the second one.

Erica's plan is building a new telemetry tracker, seeking help by the 'biggest nerd' in Hawkins. But there's more than one nerd in Hawkins, for example Will - who helped Dustin to set up the antenna for the telemetry tracker. So why not ask him first, he's right there. Why are we forgetting him again? In short - Erica's plan is 'Will.'

Mike's the only one reacting to this, saying that 'her plan' could work. But he's hesitant about this, looking at Robin for approval. Robin, another gay character that he barely knows... while Will's standing on the other side of him... Very interesting choice, Michael.

Lucas' plan is 'El' - which makes his comment for the Mileven kiss even funnier: "As I was heating up my popcorn, I thought about Billy in the sauna." Wild combination. When El's about to die, Lucas is talking about the particles, to heat them up and bringing them back to live. He's suggesting to bring Mileven back.

Mike, who's standing in the middle (in between both options), doesn't seem to be enthusiastic about it. He keeps quiet, looking for the reactions of the others. Only when Joyce's suggesting to try both, throwing two darts and playing for a bullseye, he silently agrees with the others. He still cares a lot about what other's might think about him, still trying to fulfill their expectations. Maybe that's why the other Mike just wouldn't stop calling El's name. That boy's costing me my last nerve, omg...

▶ The Basement And The Snowball

Finally we reach the scene with the best evidence.

In the first timeline El's still busy exploding with the Upside Down, in the second one Dustin and Steve are investigating the basement of Hawkins Lab.

Dustin is searching for a magic shield generator, but now he calls it a treasure instead. Steve's getting mad at him for not keeping his metaphors 'straight.' During the time they finally find the rainbow room in the basement, we see the Wheeler house collapsing above.

That's our next metaphor already: Mike's basement. The rainbow room. It's about staying closeted, only letting gay stuff happen in the basement. Don't ask me about what stuff exactly, I don't know. But maybe you noticed that this is the third time we've come across this metaphor during this series. It was always about Mike, every single time. And it's about him this time again (Steve = Mike).

Steve finds a maze with two balls in it, he's picking one up and calls it 'treasure,' just as we get to see El again in the other timeline. If this one is 'treasure' aka 'El,' that means the ignored ball is the 'magic shield generator' aka 'Will.' More metaphors.

Dustin's getting mad at Steve now, saying that's the perfect spot for him with his arrested development and that he's going to search the rest of the basement. As he says this the flashlight beam's illuminating the rainbow behind him. Actually Dustin's mad at Mike for staying in the rainbow room / basement with his maze and not getting out to explore.

Steve (Mike) is making fun of the metaphors Dustin's not keeping 'straight.' He calls his idea 'made-up bullshit,' just as we see El for the last time.

In the second timeline we switch to Nancy and Jonathan now. Jonathan worries that Dustin might be wrong this time. Wrong about Steve (Mike) staying in the rainbow room? He says that "this place is dead" when El finally dies or vanishes. Okay, bye El.

When the terrible noises finally stop Nancy says to Jonathan: "Might as well search this place." This is about 'the other Byler' exploring. When Jon says "Hey" both Nancy and Mike react to it (Nancy = Mike; Jonathan = Will).

Jon asks if he did something to piss her off, but Nancy (aka Mike) gets defensive and blocks. Nancy says "Now there's a tone because you're being ridiculous" and somber piano music starts playing for Mike, who's watching the ruins of the gate. Tone-deaf Tammy (El) is gone now, huh?

Now Jonathan's asking if he was being ridiculous downstairs, right after we had a scene of the rainbow room in the basement. Nancy answers this with "You mean when 'you' and Steve started up your 'macho crap' again?" Since Dustin was downstairs with Steve, that means Dustin = Jonathan (= Will). Therefore the 'macho crap' means exploring, not being stuck to being straight and being gay outside of 'the basement.' Why is this so complicated, omg?

Nancy said that they "should stick to the usual" but Jon's pointing out that she hesitated back then. Mike was considering to change things, to explore, but decided to stick to the usual instead.

Jonathan's repeating "I know you, Nancy. You hesitated" while he's looking at her. On the other screen we see Will looking into Mike's direction. That's our final hint for Jonathan = Will.

They talk about the importance of Nancy's missing sister, which happens to be Mike's sister also. Oh, and Will's sister just went missing too, well...

Jonathan tells Nancy how scared he is after everything that has happened. He doesn't know what's on 'the other side' of any of this. At the same time we see the camera zoom in slowly on Mike and we see him shedding a tear. Will and Mike are both scared of being together outside of the basement aka 'the other side.'

He goes on, saying they need to be a team like they used to be. Nancy answers that they still are but Jon doesn't agree. " Not anymore." Meanwhile the other timeline's showing a black screen only, but we can hear a rhythmic beating. They're getting nervous.

A quick reminder, in season 4 Mike was referring to him and Will being a team. As far as I remember Jon and Nancy never used that term for describing themselves. But correct me if I'm wrong.

Nancy asks Jonathan if he wants to solve all of their relationship issues there. In the upper timeline the epilogue starts. We see a hole in a wall, getting fixed at the moment. The camera zooms out, showing a scaffolding around the building.

Jonathan answers "I just want you to stop running away from me." ... To stop... running away? Wait a minute. Mike ran away from home in the epilogue. He was sitting on a bench, watching the same building that we see right now. Even thought we can't see him right now, he's probably already there...

Finally "Smalltown Boy" is being mentioned, omg!? The first track of Mike's official character playlist, which disappeared out of nowhere and was never played in the show. The song text is basically just "run away, turn away," but it discusses the oppression of closeted gay youths. That's just fitting perfectly right now. If you want to listen to it (again) I'll link you the YouTube video here.

Jonathan wants Nancy to start being honest with him, but she only says: "Oh and that's what you've been? Honest with me?" She knew he was lying to her. Mike knows that Will lied to him. And what's the one thing Will has lied about? Right. The painting. His feelings.

Okay, so what about the snowball? As Nancy's talking, "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac starts playing in the other timeline. Let's take a look at the song text, even though we don't hear it.

"I took my love, took it down I climbed a mountain and I turned around And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills 'Til the landslide brought me down"

A landslide on a snow-covered hill? Some would call that an avalanche.

"Oh, mirror in the sky What is love? Can the child within my heart rise above? Can I sail through the changin' ocean tides? Can I handle the seasons of my life?"

Oh, we've seen the child within Mike's heart a lot. It's Holly! Also the seasons of life... why are there falling leaves in the back if it's May? That's the wrong season. And if Mike's mental season reached fall already, you know which season will come next. Winter. Snow.

"Well, I've been afraid of changin' 'Cause I've built my life around you But time makes you bolder Even children get older And I'm getting older too"

Mike's afraid of changing and his heart literally is a boulder, a homonym for bolder.

Here are the links to the song and the whole song text.

Okay, so we have a song referring to the 'snowball turning into an avalanche' so far. We won't stop here.

Jonathan says that he's been honest, but Nancy noticed that he hesitated. "And that hesitation was the size of a Mack Truck." Have you noticed the lamp? What does it look like to you? I mean, we only see a white ball, the camera's moving upwards, past it... Could've easily been avoided, if it weren't meant to be intentional...

Connected with the song that's our literal snowball rolling down the hill. The size of a Mack Truck. You could say the size of a Fleetwood Mac Truck. You don't even need the 5/5 Sync to see the snowball. It has always been there, very obvious but still unnoticed. You only need the Sync to understand what it's about.

So yeah, Will's lie about his feelings is the snowball. And that snowball just started rolling down the hill. Why would the epilogue start with the snowball if there's no avalanche yet to come? Looking at the trees we've only reached fall, not winter. And how can a show end when there's a whole season still missing?

A season and some paintinggate payoff. ↪ BTW, I just noticed another detail about "Landslide." Let's compare it to the text of "Never Ending Story."

"Turn around" - "I turned around" "Look at what you see" - "I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills" "The mirror of your dream" - "Oh, mirror in the sky"

Why does it sound like the songs are having a conversation? There's so much evidence only in the last 30 seconds, what the hell is happening here???

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Be honest with me, did you notice the snowball in the epilogue? I mean, maybe that was common knowledge already and that info just went past me? I absolutely can't trust my ADHD brain with this. I feel like sometimes is see everything and nothing all at once.

Hint for part 5: Mike's mom.

[armencias]

The Secret Byler Storyline in Season 5 | "The Mind of Mike Wheeler" Part 1

There's a story that the storyteller can never tell.

But I do and I f**king will!

I wasn't lying, when I said that I can read Mike's mind by now. That's what analyzing the Season 5/5 Sync has done to me. And holy shit, i wasn't prepared at all.

It's easiest if you watch it yourself, that's why I made a video with the most relevant scenes and added my thoughts to it. But since I couldn't add everything to the video, I'll put my detailed analysis below, so you can read it. But let's start with part 1 of the video for now:

I had to split it into 5 parts because it was too long for tumblr. Part 2 will follow soon.

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▶ End of Mileven

In the timeline on top we see El and Mike talking on the roof, while the timeline below shows us the last part of the Jancy unproposal, under the roof they crashed through. The platform on the WSQK roof looks a lot like the table Nancy and Jonathan are sitting onto.

Everything Mike says now is matching the situation Jon and Nancy are in. They are angry, scared, reckless - not themselves. Both of them are stuck 'in here' (the room), are about to lose it and need to catch a break (Jonathan's actually catching Nancy here). They ended 'this' (their relationship) once and for all, while the camera focuses on the forgotten ring on the floor.

The timeline below changes now towards El getting into the tank to save Will (you can guess where this is leading to). While Mike's talking about 'starting again, together' the lid of the tank closes, leaving El in darkness. And as Mike finally asks: "If Vecna's gone, then what's stopping us?" the El from the timeline below answers: "Will." Finally someone's saying it, omg!

▶ "Try it."

The upper timeline's showing Hop and El talking about beef jerky in the Upside Down, the other's showing Mike, Will (and Joyce) talking at the WSQK.

Hopper's saying "Try it. You might like it" and Mike turns around. (That's almost exactly what Argyle said to him about pineapple pizza btw.) And then we get a visual parallel of El and Will, while El is eating the beef jerky. As Mike seems to be fascinated by this, I wish to unsee it, please.

▶ X = Radio Tower

In the first timeline we have Holly, reading the letter from Henry (Max), telling her to meet at the X. She's looking towards the playground tower right after. The second timeline's showing Mike and Will, having a break while climbing the radio tower.

If you hadn't noticed, the tower's looking like an X from below. But beware! The X is functioning as a free variable, it can change it's meaning depending on the context! This time it means radio tower, next time you see it, it will be something different.

▶ Other side of the wall = being gay

STOP seeing Derek as a person from now on! Focus only on the rainbow shirt. As long as we're talking about Mike's mind, this one will be constant. Don't worry if you don't understand it right now, you'll get it soon enough!

The timeline on top shows the two Upside Down groups talking via their walkies, while the timeline below shows Mike sitting in the bus with the others after the final battle.

While Hopper's saying that you can't break through the wall, we see Mike as the lyrics "Maybe I'm just like my father" play. Mike's fearing to be just like his father, if he can't break through 'the wall.' Hopper and the others talk about finding a solution to fix this problem. In the meantime we see Derek waving at Mike and Mike slowly waving back at him. Yes, Mike's working on a solution to get to the other side of the wall, meaning he's starting to accept his own queerness. We'll come back to this in the next point, it will be easier to understand afterwards.

▶ Finally accepting that he's gay

Time for the first masterpiece in this series, hehe. But first, here's an

Important Note! Earlier in the sync you learn that the strangely shaped stone at the cave equals 'the heart.' Conversions here are always important to understand someone's true feelings. This one's purely visually, but as Holly said: " We just have to get the shapes to line up! And since the cave was marked with an X on the map, we already get our new context here: X = heart.

So, in the first timeline we see Max and Holly talking at the cave. Max is telling her story about the past two years. In the second timeline we have El's and Mike's goodbye in the black void (and I absolutely love this scene in the following context).

We start with a kinda funny mixture of conversations between both timelines, leaving us with the fact that Mike doesn't understand El, but Max does. So we focus on the conversation between Max and Holly. Since Holly is paralleling El here (red collar), that means Max is paralleling Mike (green clothes). Everything they say is fitting Mike too. This is leading us to the following facts:

Mike is trapped in a nightmare prison world, just like Max.

Normally he's the main character, like Meg from "A Wrinkle In Time," but he's under the control of his fears (IT) and now he's a prisoner like his dad (Meg's dad). His worst fears are coming true: he's becoming like his father.

As a prisoner in a messed up prison world he only has a few doors open to him. Being gay is none of them.

Door 1, taking your own life, is something he tried in season 1. Door 2, accepting your fate, was being in a relationship with El. Door 3, escaping, is being with Will (the best option). But he's only starting to see this option, since Will's out of focus.

Mike's mind is a maze. He became lost, turned around and ended up right at the beginning. Kissing El. Not able to say 'I love you.' Stuck at the rainbow room with the corpses of the kids that never got out.

But music has a way to find you, even in the darkest of places (like the black void) and lead you back to the light. And that's how "Purple Rain" saved Mike here. But afterwards "everything went wrong" as the wall broke down.

The first timeline changes scenery now, showing Derek (= queerness) walking towards the gate of the Mac Z, just as the Wheeler house in the Upside Down collapses.

The soldiers (which are dressed like Mike) are blocking his way at first, but let him finally walk into the restricted area, just as El finally vanishes. Mike's finally says goodbye to being straight and accepts the fact that he's gay. A new door opened to him.

At first Mike's keeping his head down, but he finally lifts it as the teacher says: "Boys!"

A few moments later Joyce and the others hear Derek talking through the walkie: "I'm in." Mike's having a moment of realization here, shedding a tear. Being gay isn't something bad (Dipshit) to him anymore (while looking towards Will btw), but something good (Delightful).

As Derek hangs up the sign saying "OUT OF ORDER" the scenery in the second timeline changes to a hole in the wall being fixed. The wall's out of order now.

▶ Internal Struggle

In the timeline on top we Mike, Will and the others walking over the field in front of the Squawk tower. (Meet me at the radio tower!) The timeline below shows us Lucas and Max talking before the graduation ceremony.

As Joyce says "Just give him time, It hasn't been that long," Max says "In two hours. I think you're getting ahead of yourself." Sounds like someone's about to let things happen to fast, huh? What could that mean... ahh?!

A KISS?!? For real now?!? At least they're thinking about it while looking at each other, but I highly doubt that's it just that...

I'm skipping ahead now, because I got no relevant information out of the next moments. We're still in the same scene in the first timeline, but the second one shows us the depressed version of Mike staring at the fixed hole in the wall. Everything on the field turns grey now and Mike's hairstyles are matching each other.

As Will bumps Mike we can even see the other Mike exhale the same second. We can see that he's mourning that El is gone and he's still afraid of the situation, explaining why he left Will on the field so suddenly.

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That's it with part 1, I wish I hadn't had to end it at such a sad moment, but don't worry, it will get better soon!

Hints for part 2: Byler date and Mike the Brave as an actual character.

[armencias]

Mike the Brave was Taken Away | "The Mind of Mike Wheeler" Part 2

We're going right back into analyzing the messed-up mind of Mike Wheeler, using the Season 5/5 Sync. I tell you, it's gonna be really wild this time again, but a different way than in part 1.

As last time, we're gonna start with the video and you'll find my detailed analysis below:

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▶ Trying To Tell Someone

In the timeline on top Max is sitting in the cave ('the heart') with Holly, telling her how she almost escaped the mind space. The timeline below shows us Karen's reaction, as she sees Mike arriving at the graduation ceremony. Again, everything Max is saying is also fitting Mike.

Same as Max, Mike also found "the way out," meaning he found a person he wants to out himself to: his mom. But he panicked and ran away, not saying anything in the end. Karen is very understanding and not expecting him to explain the situation.

While Max is telling, that she was so close to getting out she could feel Lucas hand on hers, Karen is hugging Mike. She's so important to him, her touch could probably break Vecna's curse. But in the end neither Max nor Mike were getting out here.

▶ El is Mike's Tammy

The upper timeline shows Robin as she's asking Will if he remembers Tammy, who was a terrible singer. The lower one shows Mike at the graduation ceremony, remembering the moment right before El vanished, including Dr. Kay's terrible sounds.

Robin tells how the time slowed down, when she saw Tammy for the first time. It was like in a lame-o movie. At that moment time slows down for Mike too. And I think you all agree when I say, that the epilogue was a lame-o movie itself.

▶ "Heroes"

In the first timeline Mike is leading the others during the Mac Z fight, while the season's outro is playing in the second one.

As David Bowie sings "standing by the wall" and we see a picture of Robin coming out to Steve, Mike is shielding Derek, Will and the others from the guns, demos and flames.

Afterwards Bowie sings: "And we kissed as though nothing could fall." But Will fell. And some random Demo too, btw.

▶ The Date

The timeline on top shows us the end of "Sorcerer," starting with Will's flashback (the film reel). In the timeline below we listen to the Morning Squawk and see a lot of different locations. There's one thing we have in both and that's Robin talking - a lot. But we focus on the words of the Squawk Robin.

We start with a collection of tiny comparisons. As the Squawk Robin's calling herself "your friend," we see tiny Mike asking Will to be friends. While she's talking about Jimmy "Fast Hands" Lee, we see a close-up of Will's hands while drawing. And when she says she "couldn't be happier," we see Will and Jonathan building Castle Byers.

While Robin's talking about a "Phenomenon never before seen by man," meaning the giant metal Band-Aid, Mike sees a flying Demo while standing on said Band-Aid. The dead men with guns in the back surely "don't like" any of this.

Okay, okay, coming to the good part already.

As Robin's saying "Go on that Date!" we get a close-up, showing Will - for the first time. While she's saying "That's right. Rockin' Robin has a date," she's making triumphant arm movements. We don't only just see Will, as she's saying this, no. He's making literally the same arm movement - killing those Demos!

Alright, alright, Will's got a date.

"And now, who is this lucky someone? Well, don't be so nosy, kids." Oh come on, of course it's Mike! And as the camera zooms in on Will (in Mike's pov), we see the statics collapse in Vickie's car.

So yeah, Byler date confirmed, basically! Even though I've got no idea how we landed here so suddenly, I don't care. Just look at them!!!

▶ Homophobic Bullies

So, I genuinely hope you took your time looking at them being happy because it's going downhill now.

Timeline number one's showing us Derek and the other kids, waking up in Camazotz. That's it. Timeline number two is showing us a conversation between the core four, right after Dustin got attacked for wearing his T-shirt.

The camera zooms in on said 'T-Shirt,' while we get a good look on Derek's rainbow shirt at the same time. Will's saying: "You know it's more then a T-shirt." A reminder of the homophobic bullies Mike and Will had to dead with as kids - and probably still do.

▶ Back to being Straight

In the timeline on top we see Derek talking to Max and Holly in Camazotz, in the timeline below we see the core four making plans in the woods. We focus mainly on Derek's conversation.

Derek's calling Mike his best friend, meaning right now Mike's being okay with being gay. He started trusting Max and Holly, but they weren't allowing him to come with them. Afterwards they offered Derek to help them, but only if he drops being "Delightful" and will become "Dipshit" again. In other words, Mike had to 'stop' being gay and go back to pretending to be straight.

From the uneasy look on Will's face I see two possibilities what happened here. Either it was something internal happening to Mike and Will just had feeling that something's wrong - or it was an actual conversation between the two of them. Either way, Mike was rejecting Will 'cause of his own fears. Noticing the fact that Will and Derek are dressed in the same colors here I fear that it's the second option. But hey, pick your own poison. MWTFDYD, but in a bad way.

▶ Kali the Brave

Okay, what if I tell you that 'Mike the Brave' is an actual character in the show (or at least in Mike's scenes in the 5/5 Sync). Sounds crazy, right? But well - he is. Only that 'Mike the Brave' is 'Kali the Scared' now.

In the upper timeline we have Kali, telling El the story of her time in the Upside Down Lab. In the lower timeline Mike and Holly are talking with each other at Holly's school.

Mike is telling that he turns to 'Mike the Brave' when he's scared. A version of him that goes on adventures called dungeon crawls, where he explores underground worlds and fights monsters, evil wizards, sorcerers and stuff. 'Mike the Brave' is never scared, so Mike's imagining him by his side, whenever he's feeling frightened or nervous, and he feels better. In the meantime we see how Kali was taken away by Dr. Kay and her soldiers, showing quite the opposite of the story Mike's telling right now.

Kali's now talking about Dr. Kay and her endless need for her blood, while Mike's giving Holly the DND figure of 'Holly the Heroic' and telling about her powers (like casting a dimension door). Kay's taking Kali's blood like Holly's taking Mike's braveness (and screen time).

Kali knew she needed to 'get out' and the only way out was death. As she says this the lower timeline changes to Will at the hospital, mentioning Mike. The term "getting out" is fitting both of them and they both already had a character's death in the first season. What's frightening me here is the fact that's Kali actually very suicidal during season 5, just like Mike was in season 1.

While Kali's telling that not all tricks require power Will's getting up to get a Coke or something caffeinated. True, a caffeinated drink is helping against Vecna's curse without needing powers.

Kali's opening a door as Will closes one and regretting it right after. "If I had known what was on the other side of that door, I never would have left." The way I see it that means Mike's back in the closet and Will's not talking to him right now.

▶ Playing with El's feelings

The first timeline shows us Max and Holly walking through different memories - right now it's a memory of Holly and Mary in the Wheeler's basement. In the second timeline we see Mike greeting El in front of the WSQK building.

After Mike hugged El he turns around and sees that Will has turned away from them. At this moment Holly and Mary are screaming because of their horror movie.

Mike's internally screaming as he sees Wills reaction. He's hurt.

As the camera shows Mike and El again I noticed two things. One of them is the fact that Hopper and Joyce in the back are kinda similar dressed as Max and Holly.

But the other thing is way more interesting. El's looking worried, wondering if Dustin's alright. But Mike (who's not the main focus right now) is worried about Will.

We've seen this before already - in season 2. At the snowball! Mike was sad that day after sending Will away to dance with some random girl. And now he put himself in the same damn situation - again.

We're skipping a bit ahead now. The first timeline changes to Steve and Dustin talking in the rainbow room, while the second one's showing Mike and El talking on the WSQK's roof.

While Steve's trying his best to solve a Rubik's cube, Mike's talking about 'starting again, together.' Starting again with El (or the Rubik's cube)? El's asking "Do you think that could be real for us?" Before Mike can say anything, Steve's throwing the cube away, calling it a "Piece of shit." So, I guess that's a no. It's not what Mike actually wants.

Mike, that liar, says "Yeah, of course" to El. But in the rainbow room Dustin's getting mad at Steve for playing in there, just following orders. He's getting mad at Mike because he's playing with El's feelings, just to fit in. That he's lying to hide the fact that he's still stuck in the rainbow room. Pretending to be straight, staying closeted.

▶ "Get out!"

This one's pretty self-explaining. In the upper timeline Henry's trying to get rid of Will, who's hijacking his powers. The lower timeline's showing us Ted during the Demo attack at the Wheeler house. The scene's visuals are matching wonderfully.

At the moment Henry's screaming "Get out!" towards Will, the Demo's smashing Ted right through Mike's closet and destroying it. Absolute perfection!

The line's fitting Will, Mike, Ted and even Holly and Karen, who need to get out of the house. Wasn't expecting to get so many hints for Ted Queeler, but here we are now.

To put it short: Mike needs to get out.

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We've reached the end of part 2 and I'd say that was probably the most devastating part of the series. Mike's such a mess, his mind is in ruins. But we've overcome the worst, so hang on.

Hints for part 3: Meeting at the heart and pipegate.

[armencias]

The Byler Storyline is Not Finished yet | "The Mind of Mike Wheeler" Part 5

Finally we’ve reached the last part, wohoo! It won’t be as intense as the snowball in the previous one (I probably won’t top that in forever), but there are still two scenes left that are worth discussing!

Going right in, we start with the video and you’ll find my detailed analysis below. Related Posts: 5/5 Sync, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

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▶ Finally Telling His Mom

In the first timeline we see Mike sitting on the bench after he ran away, in the second timeline Kali's telling El what happened to her in the Upside Down Lab. Another round of Kali as Mike the Brave.

While Mike's just sitting there, lost in thought, Kali tells that she was getting drugged, knowing she needed to get out. And the only way out was death. While she's pretending to die we see what Mike's staring at: the hole in the wall is fixed now.

Kali's talking about the awful sounds of Dr. Kay, just as Mike remembers the last moments of El... and Kay's awful sounds.

Hopper then finds Mike sitting on the bench, showing that the whole memorial place looks like an X. Kali comments this with " not all tricks require powers."

Mike's telling Hopper how he fears that his mom won't understand why he can't walk the stage. Meanwhile Kali says that she never would have left, if she knew what was on the other side of that door. This time it's about Mike running away after actually telling his mom.

The second timeline changes to kids sitting on the swings in Camazotz. But Mike goes on: "It'd be like a lie. Like I'm okay with moving on. And I'm not." He's not okay with moving on from the swings, his first memory of Will.

Derek walks on screen, about to go into the woods. The other kids try to stop him, reminding him it's against the rules. He walks away anyway, just as Mike starts telling about his plan to go someplace far away with El, where no one would find them. But the kids immediately start running towards Mr Whatsit to tell him about Derek going into the woods. He will be found. Mike's plan wouldn't work. And please mind the very present 'snowball' (lamp) behind Hop and him.

Mike calls it a childish fantasy plan and that he should have had a real one. In the second timeline we switch to Max and Holly in the woods, trying to escape Camazotz. They say Derek's safe as long as he makes it to the cave. He's the bait for Henry. Okay, so Mike's fantasy plan was bait too? Wait, does this make Derek queer bait? ⚆_⚆

Max says that she's been moving through this maze for two years now, while we get a close-up of Mike. She's all the guide that we need. Keep in mind, she was the one giving the instructions to create this whole Season 5/5 time loop at all.

She says "Once we find his first memory of you, we follow the memory trail to the night he captured you. And if I'm right, the exit to the real world will be there. [...] Then we escape Camazotz." So we need to find Vecna's first memory of Mike to find the exit to the real world, so he can escape. And I have a feeling that the hospital scene with all the exit signs (Part 3 'The Fight Inside Mike's Heart') will be important, connected to this. I Just can't prove it yet.

Skipping ahead, the second timeline changes for the last time, this time showing Will and Robin talking on the roof under the WSQK tower.

Will's asking Robin about Tammy and the tape epiphany, just as Hopper says "I've been down that first road before. And I don't recommend it." At some point during "Sorcerer" Robin was comparing her future with Tammy to a fantasy life. And didn't Mike just described his future with El as a fantasy plan? So road one is a fantasy life/plan aka Tammy/El.

Hopper thinks Mike knows what El wanted for him and Robin explains that she was finally cool with herself, but sharing that part with someone else was a whole other thing. Road two is about accepting yourself and what El wanted for Mike.

But eventually Robin told someone. And before she can go on the first timeline changes to the graduation ceremony. When she says she told Steve, we actually see her talking to Steve. I think it's quite interesting we see the principle starting his speech at the podium, just the moment Will's standing on the roof, looking down at Robin who's standing on the floor now. It looks like he's standing on a stage, moments after Mike said to Hopper that he can't walk the stage.

While Holly and Karen spot Mike arriving at the ceremony, Robin tells she only got out to Steve after being injected with a truth serum. So she got drugged and 'needed to get out,' just like Kali.

Robin goes on, saying how special it was to her to say it to someone out loud and hearing them to be cool with it. At the same time Karen's running towards Mike and is hugging him really tight. This time Mike actually told his mom, despite being scared and feels better now.

Karen tells Mike how proud she is of him, hugging him again and Will asks Robin if she has any of the truth serum left.

▶ Will's Leaving The Basement

In the upper timeline the group's sitting in the basement for the last time and in the lower one Will's hijacking the dead Demo. While Mike's saying, that Will the Wise travels to Vallaki, Will's actually traveling through the hive mind.

Mike's describing it as overwhelming and different to the village where he spent his youth, just when Will sees the children in the Abyss. The next thing Mike says is, that Will finds happiness and acceptance. Meanwhile Will finds Camazotz and the person he's looking for. He's Derek. Oh, and the epilogue boyfriend gets called 'Dipshit,' I like that.

Skipping ahead, we see Will leaving the basement, the same moment the particles leave the dead Demo. Mike's looking at Will's DND folder with a sad face, while the other Mike's calling him to come back. Basically what all of us were hoping for.

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And after that... Nothing. Nothing?!? All of this and we just stop in the middle of nowhere, still not knowing what will happen next? That's such bullshit!

Yeah, to be honest, we might not end on the best terms here, but thinking about it again, isn't that the whole point?

It. Does. Not. End.

We can't analyze the ending of a show, if it doesn't exist yet, right?

And even though I'm done with this series now, there's still so much I want to share with you. Alone the Season 5/5 Sync contains so many more interesting details, like lettergate or "Ripping off the Band-Aid."

Wait, why didn't I include this? Because it's not about Byler! The Duffers are meanies, but on a level that affords knowing their fans very, very well.

There's so much amazing stuff, but it will cost me some time to show you everything that I want to. You are absolutely welcome to take a look yourself, to analyze and to post about it. The link's in the original Season 5/5 post.

There were many Byler scenes I didn't understand, maybe you do?

Even after this, there's more to come. I already mentioned that Season 5 parallels to Season 4 in many ways, to this point I still got no clue where this whole loop will end. But one step at a time.

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One last thing I want to share, personal this time. You might've realized I went absent again, but this time because I wasn't feeling well mentally. I needed to take a break, like immediately.

Analyzing Mike's mind was probably the loneliest thing I ever experienced in this whole fandom, and to this point I'm still pretty much alone with the stuff I'm doing. I need to take better care for my mental health from now on, so please understand that I'll take slower and tinier steps for the time coming.

I thank you for all your support and nice comments, I was so afraid no one would understand the stuff I was writing about at all, honestly. Like, almost everything I was talking about happened off-screen, haha. If it weren't for you, it probably would have taken me way more time to write that last part. It really means so much to me, so thank you again and again. <3

[armencias]

The Heart-Touching Side of Byler | "The Mind of Mike Wheeler" Part 3

Last part really wanted me to throw Mike out of the window at some point, for real. But only looking at the notes for this part wants me to give him a really tight hug. Uff.

As always, video comes first and my detailed analysis is below it. Related Posts: 5/5 Sync, Part 1, Part 2

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▶ The Fight Inside Mike's Heart

In the first timeline we have another scene of Max and Holly in the cave ('the heart'), the second one shows Mike (and Nancy) at the hospital. While Holly's looking for a secret passageway to escape Camazotz, Mike's grabbing a coffee, standing in front of an exit sign.

Holly's turning towards the cave opening and asks Max if she'd searched 'out there.' All of it. Which she did not. At the same time we see Mike walking past a hospital window. He's just briefly glancing through it at first, looking the opposite direction immediately, but then he finally stops to take a proper look into the room behind it.

The things Mike sees are a wall, a rainbow puzzle and then the book "A Wrinkle In Time." (Remember, he was getting compared to Meg, the main character of it.) The moment we see the puzzle Holly starts moving, planning to get 'out there.' She's representing the part of Mike that wants to get out, to explore.

After that we get a long close-up of "A Wrinkle In Time." Long enough for Max to say: "You are not going out there. Holly, we're staying here, and we wait for Eleven, end of story." That's the other part of Mike, the scared part that wants him to stay closeted, to be with El. To end the story with El.

I need to make a quick jump now, but you remember what Mike said in the epilogue, right?

"The storyteller keeps telling stories."

Do y'all understand the message of that? Mike's not ending the story with El. He decided to get out there and explore. Decided for Will. And that story hasn't been told yet.

Back to the actual scene. Holly thinks there's another way for Henry to get to Max. At the same moment we see Mike in front of another exit sign. While he's at the hospital - just like Max. That's creepy... I think this scene needs another deep dive in a greater context at some point. But not now.

As Holly finally wins the argument (what a surprise) she starts moving and touches the 'heart.' Meanwhile Mike's totally zoning out and not noticing that Nancy started talking to him. Max says "Your are your brother!" and then starts following Holly. Only after that Mike finally reacts to Nancy, not beings distracted by the fight inside of his heart anymore. So technically Max was right about Holly being her brother.

Skipping ahead we have Mike, El and the others gathering around the comatose Will in the first timeline, while we stay with Mike and Nancy at the hospital in the second. We get some nice visual parallels here.

Mike and Joyce ask El if she can find Will, while the other Mike's saying to Nancy that he doesn't want to have any more regrets. Regrets like letting Will get hurt. Or hurting Will himself.

El's face is giving "I know what you are." ( ఠ ͟ʖ ఠ)

▶ Fear of losing Will

The upper timeline shows Mike and El having a conversation at the cabin, while the lower one's showing Will and Robin talking in the forest.

El's lying to Mike and he wants her to be honest, while Will's looking up at the other timeline, saying he's not feeling anything. El and Will are paralleled through the red collar and their movements, which means that Will's lying about his feelings.

Skipping ahead we have Mike saying "Because this is our story. And it starts with getting Will back." Meanwhile we see the camera zooming in on Will and afterwards the mandala's starting to 'spiral.' Okay, so Mike wants to get him back, it's their story. Nice.

I'm being honest with you, the complete scene still contains more secrets that are left to uncover. There are really weird connections I don't get yet. I only focused on the tiny parts I'm able to understand. You might wonder why I included it at all or why I made exactly those connections. Yeah, I guess I need to tell you something, there's no way around it...

The Season 5/5 Sync's not the only one I have, there's more. Season 5 and season 4 are deeply connected with each other. But I actively decided to keep that out of my focus until I'm done with analyzing Season 5/5, my brain was collapsing under the amount of information. The only reason I'm telling you this now is because I need to make one exception. You need to get the importance.

Adding season 4 on top of the 5/5 Sync we get this:

Will's giving Mike the painting when Mike's saying it's their story and it starts with getting Will back. Moments before Will's lying about his feelings. Boom.

I really, really hope I'm not confusing your minds too much with this right now. But- we will come back to this in part 4. And that's a f**king promise!

▶ Meet me at the Heart

In the timeline on top we see Will's coming out scene, almost completely. The timeline below shows us the first conversation of Max and Holly in the woods.

Max is saying to Holly "It doesn't look that deep, I bet it stings though. You can talk to me, you know" while cleaning her wound. Meanwhile Mike's about to leave the room, but turns around as Will asks him to wait. Mike's feelings might not look that deep, since he's not showing them on the outside, but the pain of losing Will still stings though. And now Will's ready to talk to him again.

Holly is representing Mike here, while Max parallels Will. Just take a look of how they're sitting in the exact same way. Max is saying that she'd been to Holly's house a lot. Guess who spent even more time at her house? Will, obviously.

When Will says that he is different, Max and Holly hear a loud noise, scaring them. So the fear's kicking in for both Mike and Will after his last sentence.

While Will's busy rambling about world history, Max is leading Holly towards the cave. Holly's very scared and starts talking about the letter, telling her to meet at the X. 'The heart.' So the sub-context is the following: Will is leading the way towards 'his heart,' but Mike's still afraid of what he might find there.

Max tells Holly that she wrote the note, followed by Will saying how they liked to get lost in the woods. While Max and Holly are kinda lost in the woods. Makes me wonder if Will wrote a note too?

Afterwards Max says sorry and that she didn't wanted to lie, she just needed to make sure that Holly would come to the cave. Another mention of the lie, interesting. I absolutely don't like the fact, that Holly thinks about Max as a monster here, ugh...

Next thing they talk about is the 'orange mohawk' Holly's 'brother' tried 'to get' until her 'sister' tried to stop him. I had some loose thoughts about this. Like, Kali was taken trying to save her friend, the one with the orange mohawk, and she was also portraying Mike the Brave earlier... Maybe there's some connection? I'm not sure. Anyways, Max still needs to end her sentence -

"- saving him from possibly the greatest social humiliation that a freshman has ever experienced at Hawkins High?" Followed by Will saying "I don't like girls" in front of half Hawkins. Peak humor. Very self-aware of you, Duffers.

After a longer pause Will starts rambling again, trying to make the situation less awkward. At the same Max is heading back into the cave, not knowing if Holly will follow her. Will's retreating back into his 'heart,' leaving it open to Mike if he will follow him there. Which he does. Personally I think that it's about a conversation just between the two of them.

Will says that Vecna showed him what would happen, if he told others the truth. Showed him a future where he's alone. While Max is showing Holly the cave. The place she's been alone at for two years. We're actually seeing the thing Will fears - a future where he's alone in his heart.

He's also talking about pushing the other's away, followed by Max saying "Hey!" to Holly. So he's not pushing Mike away.

Next thing Will's saying is "And it just felt so real. It felt so real." While Holly's touching the 'heart.'

Max is showing Holly the view, saying it might look nice, but it's not. "This place, this world... It's a prison." So, who do we see, when she's telling the prison part? Mike of course.

▶ "Friends? No thanks."

We're going for another round of "Meet me at the radio tower!" And this couldn't be more obvious, I mean - that freakin' tower is in both timelines! In the upper one we have Mike and Will talking on the tower and in the other one we see the both of them (and others) walking over the field in front of it.

Will says: "I didn't even understand it myself for the longest time." At the same moment Joyce is saying "Just give him time. It hasn't been that long." So basically the same sentence. It's fitting both Will and Mike who weren't understanding their feelings for the longest time.

It's followed by Robin saying: "When you look in the mirror, do you see a Navy SEAL looking back at you?" Just for Mike, wearing his army clothes, to simply not and grin. That part send me already, I don't know how I'll survive this. The Duffers were truly in their silly goose era.

I had to rewatch the next sequence multiple times, it all happened so fast. The simple version of it is this:

Will (tower): "- and you still think we can be friends." Mike (field): *bumps Will's arm* Mike (tower): "Friends? No thanks!" Will & Mike (field): *shared look*

Before the Mike on the tower can finish his next sentence we get a change of perspective in the field scene, giving us a close-up of another shared look between the both of them. I wonder what he wanted to say, I suddenly can't remember anymore... Might not've been that important, huh?

The upper timeline changes to Max and Vickie talking at the Squawk. Vickie's asking what's taking 'them' so long. Probably the fact that 'they' are busy flirting. While being a fuckin' slowburn. Will's telling how he could feel the anger of the hive, but the only thing Vickie feels is hunger.

When Mike and Will are talking about the scary movie you can't turn off, Max is living in her own scary movie moment. Seconds later she's kinda looking like a puppet master with Will and Mike being the puppets.

At the moment Max is standing up out of her wheelchair, Will's saying: "Yeah, she's 5' 3". " I got a weird idea and asked Google about this. And it turned out to be right. Sadie Sink is 5' 3". Will was teaching me an actual fact about her. Truly wasn't expecting that.

Now Mike and Will are talking about Vecna as a 'puppet master' and Max is looking like the puppet. How the turns have tabled.

At the moment Will is giving Mike the bump, we switch from Max to Vickie who just got herself some cereal, saying that 'nothing cures anxiety like a bowl--' A bowl--? A bowl what?!? ... Ah. A bowl cut!! To put it short: Will cures Mike's anxiety.

But Mike drops Will after his flirting attempt, just like Vickie drops her bowl. I feel very sad for Will. (But I'm still giggling about my notes saying 'Will = bowl' or 'Will the sad bowl.')

▶ No More Bottling Emotions

To those of you thinking this might be about pipegate - you are absolutely right!

In timeline one we see Hopper in the Upside Down version of Hawkins Lab, being trapped in a vision made by Vecna, in timeline two we see Mike and Will trying to stop the broken pipe from leaking with the special technique 'holding hands.' Ehm.

We hear Vecna say "You are as you fear" while Mike's telling Will to wrap the pipe with his jacket. Mike's trying to suppress his feelings because he's still afraid of them.

While Hopper is trying to shoot Vecna, Mike and Will are showing one of the kids the way to Mr Whatsit.

Just as Hopper discovers that water is leaking out of the tank, the next pipe Mike and Will are holding literally explodes. Derek (aka Mike's queerness) gets alerted via his lunch box.

Hopper starts hitting against the glass of the tank. When it finally breaks a literal flood of water's coming out of it. Meanwhile Ashley discovers what they are doing in the bathroom and Mike comments that with "Shit." He just got hit by the flood of emotions he was holding back for way to long.

El disappears (from Camazotz) when Ashley alarms the officers. Wait... Camazotz is a place in "A Wrinkle In Time." Mike got compared to Meg, the main character of it. We even saw the literal book being a story he was supposed to end with El. Did Mike just erase El from his story? OMG! Almost missed that.

Before Max disappears too, she's telling Holly to get to the cave with the kids. At the same time Mike's warning Lucas that they got spotted, indirectly giving him orders to flee with the kids through the tunnels. We have both Holly and Mike in a leader role here.

Next we see Max wake up at the radio station where she's hiding with Vickie. Max was loud for a moment, so Kay and her soldiers find them, opening the door to their hiding spot. In the other timeline Mike, Will and Derek (the queerness 'between' them) keeping the bathroom door shut from the soldiers on the other side.

Skipping ahead we hear Hopper say "You've been attacked, manipulated, abused by terrible people. Life has been so unfair to you, so cruel." Meanwhile the boys are still fighting to keep the door shut. The things Hopper's saying apply to Mike and Will too.

He goes on: "But you never let it break you. And I need you to fight, kid. I just need you to fight one last time. Fight for the happy days on the other side of this." The soldiers still try breaking through the door and finally manage to do so. Hopper's telling Mike and Will to fight for the happy days on the other side. Living their gay life, not sticking to the rules (soldiers). Not to conform.

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Okay, done for now, yeah! My head hurts. That's so much information by now, I really hope you can still follow. If you have questions please ask!

Part 4 and 5 will be shorter than the first three because they were slightly to long for tumblr to put them into one post. But it's probably better this way, especially the next part will contain soooo much important information.

Hints for part 4: the basement and the snowball. hehehe

[armencias]

Mike's Ripping off the Band-Aid | "The Mind of Mike Wheeler" Bonus Part

Welllll, guess I missed an really important Season 5/5 scene by accident. Oops.

I mean... flickergate, ripping off the Band-Aid and Mike's basement in a single scene... How the fuck was I able to miss this omg?!?  Maybe because the whole thing is 9 ½ hours long and sometimes really hard to understand. There’s a reason no one else watched it yet, lol.

Anyways, I have two scenes for you in total, one is set after "El is Mike's Tammy" (8) and the other one after "Heroes" (9), both taking place during part 2.

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▶ Ripping off the Band-Aid

In the first timeline Will announces the arrival of the Demos at the Mac-Z, followed by flickering lights. Meanwhile in the second timeline the core group's leaving the basement, which is noticeably full of turned on lamps.

The moment Will starts leaving the basement, the banging sounds from beneath the metal aid start. The camera focuses a lot on Mike. While the soldiers (conformity) get ready to hold back whatever is coming out, Mike's staring at Will's DND folder. As he places his own folder next to it with a sad face, Derek (Mike's queerness) screams "We're all gonna die!"

Mike fears to miss his last chance being honest to Will.

The moment Mike starts leaving the basement, the metal aid finally breaks, lights still flickering. Finally ripping off the Band-Aid.

While the soldiers try shooting the Demo that came out, the kids enter the basement, ignoring Mike's complaints and making some Castle Byers and DND references.

Mike stares at them with a sad face and only starts smiling the moment we see Will on the other screen. Joyce calls Will's name, but I could swear her voice sounds like Mike as a child. That's... that's actually just scary. He leaves the moment a Demo opens a hole in the wall.

Since this is directly followed by "Heroes" (9) I'd assume it's about coming out to someone (like Robin to Steve) and... a kiss. Would make sense. Yaii.

I looked at this scene again with the addition of S4 btw and that made more sense than I'd like to admit... Uhm yeah, I'll come back to this in a few days, just... Just stay happy as long as you can. D: (And yes, I'll come back to the non-Byler 'ripping off the Band-Aid' scene I promised too, just not right now.)

▶ The Mac-Z Fight

This one's merely visual, which is the reason I didn't add it earlier, but since I'm making a bonus part anyway...

In the upper timeline Vecna's arriving at the Mac-Z, in the lower one 12-year-old Will's fleeing from a Demo in the Upside Down. Mike and Joyce notice Vecna and Will is watching the scenery. All three of them are under attack. Will sees Mike falling and getting knocked out, just to do the same seconds after.

This one is followed by "The Date" (10), so I guess things work out fine here.

I think I'll still make an extra post with the full scene though, since it's just epic, hehehe ~

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Related Posts: 5/5 Sync, The Mind of Mike Wheeler: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

[djtswag]

DJTSWAG

MMCS Live (After Movie) directed by: DJTSWAG

[whenimgoodandready]

Did anyone else think that that creepy looking tower in Mikes mind looked like Mordor from Lord of the Rings?