Stranger Things x Care Bears 🐻 collab analysis part 1 🤪( Byler will get it's own post ngl lmao cuz lowkey Bylercarebeargate /rainbowbrightpuzzlegate is so real in my head so it'll be part 2 asap 😭 hopefully I can get it out before vol 3 drops)
I'm going to start with Lucus and Dustin because I love them (srs they needed more appreciation ), anyways I think after whatever vol 2, was it's just fun to have a more light hearted post (and it just being first post in this fandom on tumbler specifically)while I'm waiting for vol 3 to drop I said why not go over why they picked these specific carebears for them and why they are perfection( even though these bears are based on season 1 st I'll still analyse characters traits throughout seasons / iterations just emphasize how much they actually fit).For Lucus, Tender Heart Bear makes so much sense for him; here's why. While I have seen people say Mike should have been Tender Heart simply because he's the leader, I disagree. Lucus is the number one character in the party who always shows he cares for his friends throughout the show, even more so than Mike, just like the things I've highlighted in Tender Heart's bio that are characteristics he has. Lucus often worries about his friends' safety but knows that his friends are strong and have his and each other's backs. (Also, I feel like it's very Lucus and Dustin-like for Lucus to call Dustin out when not to joke 😭.) Anyways, there's also the fact that we see Lucus give advice multiple times; he is often portrayed as the skeptical, grounded member of the group, and his "advice," often blunt, suggestions are based on the reality of the situation other characters are in, just like Tender Heart Bear, who does that for his fellow bears.Moving on to Dustin, a lot fewer people disagreed with the bear they picked rather than the color because, as anyone who is remotely fixated on ST knows, yellow 💛 is Wills color (personally, if Will really has to be yellow, then he should be Birthday Bear 🤷♀️ because you know... BirthdayGate and it is a yellow bear. I'll come back to this later in my Byler carebear post 😭). Anyways, back to my boy Dustin, since it's universally agreed he's Funshine to a tee. Here are some thoughts regarding what I highlighted: first, I love how Funshine's BFF is Grumpy Bear and Grumpy is Demogorgon—the very thing Dart turned out to be. I don't know, it’s just a very cute detail; that's how I know they really aced this collab in terms of which characters would be who. Secondly, I'm a firm believer if Max was in this collab (which she should have been because we need more Max merch, tbh), she'd 100% be Share Bear. Let me elaborate before I tie this back to Dustin being Funshine. 1. Both Max and Share Bear have characteristics of being friendly and empathetic, and if there's ever a disagreement, both find solutions that work for them. 2. Share Bear's two best friends are Tenderheart Bear and Cheer Bear. Guess which two characters 🤔 in the ST cast are Cheer and Tender? Oh wait... That's Jane/El and Lucas, who are Max's best friend *cough*girlfriend lmao and her boyfriend ( yes I'm both a lumax elmax truther lmao )🤭. So if Max is Share Bear (in my eyes), Funshine's crush parallels Dustin's one on Max, who also similarly teased/joked with Max like Funshine did with Share, and both the girls not knowing the boys liked them nor liked the jokes the guys directed towards them from respective boys. So that similarity is just another reason I love both the teams that worked on this collab because I think they are so accurate, and I can tell they put a lot of thought into it (compared to some other collabs I've seen 😭😭, not specifically Care Bears or ST, btw). Rant aside, one last thing about Dustin as Funshine is how accurate it is that Dustin is the type to try his best when it calls for him to be serious, and if he fails, he keeps going, which we've seen throughout the show, but mainly in seasons 3-4; that pops up first when it comes to him doing that or other similar actions 10/10 no more notes Dustin. Is. Funshine. Period!!!!
Now on to my Queen, Miss Jane Hopper, aka El. This one was a no-brainer in everybody's mind; like, come on, who's the main character of Care Bears? Hello, that's Cheer Bear—99% of the franchise. And who's the main character of Stranger Things? That would be technically the whole party, but El is the first one you'd think of if you were a part of just the GA. But outside of that, Cheer and El have more similarities than, oh, "they're the main characters/are heavily tied to rainbow imagery." 1. Both Cheer and El share a lot of determination, no matter what the world throws their way. El and Cheer can get their friends through any situation because they keep fighting for not only themselves but for their love of their teams. 2. I love how Cheer’s rainbow represents hope, 'cause we see how El constantly, throughout the show, has to not only get hope from others in the show but also find the hope within herself, and then that in turn fosters hope in the others. Also, isn't it ironic that for El, rainbows are tied to deep-seated trauma, yet it's only with her finding power from it that we see her overcome some of her hardest obstacles? 3. El and Cheer have in common for this point: like, they both use unique ways to communicate at times; the way they communicate is seen as quirks. 4. They both have "challenges" with Grumpy Bear/Demogorgans. 5. They both can clear difficult terrains; for Cheer, it's silver lining, and for El, it's multiple terrains, like the lab, woods, normal everyday life, and the Upside Down that they overcome to various degrees due to their natural abilities that can be said are "super." 6. Both are naturally kind, happy, and upbeat people due to all the love they receive. (Before y'all try to clock me, I truly think El is a happy person/upbeat naturally based on late season 2 - season 3, and she tried to be in season 4, but in her life, there's always something going on that messes that up.) It's only circumstances that make them not be. It's safe to say, similar to Dustin, I think Jane and Cheer are basically mirrors of each other, lol, and the pairing of them for this collab wasn't only just, "oh, just pick the pink bear because she's the main character like el" and I love that sm!!! Bc I think it ties in to how Jane's / els 's arc is about independence, determination, love of others in the sense of learning and growing from them while also teaching them something within themselves which as I mentioned so many times cheer is the literal embodiment of those types of things like come on her name is cheer bear she's like a cheerleader encouraging and helping others find hope even when all is lost and even she feels lost and again isn't that kinda of beautiful that even though these bears are based of season one the still can be tied to these character's arcs in future seasons. :)
Anyways thank you guys for reading all the way through I know my ramblings are kinda all over the place but I think I'm kinda cooking here...
( I hope to see some of you in part 2 where I'll cover Byler 🩵💛 carebeargate ofc + rainbowbrightpuzzlegate cuz if y'all think I'm cooking now just wait till that post it be just as jumbled as this post but that's my appeal tbh🤪😼)
