#wheelgate

[nightnut]

[wheelgate]

wheelgate is also hard to talk about because i go to contextualize why 'not just a wheel' is about Mike Wheeler and when the first part is Mike Wheeler's Bike Wheels it's really hard to get anywhere from there coherently

but essentially: mike's 'just a wheel' purpose narratively is identical to joyce (at least in season 1), in that his character's motivation, like hers, is to drive the story forward until the Goal (finding will) is reached. (also funny that he's the character known for pacing while he's thinking aka moving while the "wheels are turning")

(these are far from the only joyce/mike parallels in s1, nvm the whole show, but u get the idea).

bike wheel's are also not the only wheel's mike is framed in/near. there's also the furniture in mike's basement:

personal favorite: from will's room in s1

in stories, wheel's (visually and conceptually) don't just represent narrative progression. they also represent time, life, and the idea that all events are cyclical in nature. stories are inherently cyclical because once they end, you can just start them from the beginning again. (neverending story stranger things version plays ominously from somewhere.) visual triggers for this concept (to me) include but aren't limited to:

(these are all just from the first few episodes of s1, the amount of unrolling/rolling, rewinding/fast forwarding, spinning and clock shots in the entire show are diabolical)

for mike, i've noticed his interaction with (wheels) tend to occur mostly with literal bike wheel's, his watch, and dials. specifically, in s1e1, with Mr. Clark's radio.

peep the 'australia' (down under/upside down) joke. the other interesting part in this scene to me, is lucas mentioning california. mike's trip to california i believe is HUGELY significant in this regard.

especially considering the events at the roller rink take place on will's birthday. that nobody remembered. likely because there's something messing with time/reality?

which is where i connect these events to the "finale" wherein Mike (who's narrative purpose is to drive the story forward) doesn't...do...anything. if mike was just a wheel, then his motivations and behavior's towards Will remaining platonic wouldn't have any narrative consequences. but they did. with mike still in the closet (at rink-o-mania), the wheel can't turn, the story cannot conclude, and we're left with (what i believe based on the snowball's significance not yet paying off, s3, mike's trip to california in s4, and s5's conclusion) the 'nightmare' version of reality. specifically, mike's nightmare.

[crispynosferatu]

I love that they Byler tag will have at least one day per week that's like...why is it so dry in here..where is everyone?!? Immediately followed by the most chaotic shit you've seen in your life

[nightnut]

(red wheelgate included)

2x04, before Joyce will say this👇 in 2x09:

[wheelgate]

conformitygate vs the 'mandela effect' (remembering something one way and reality being another) and this bit of dialogue from s5e2. i said oh i'm sure

[nightnut]

previous piece of wheelgate

[crispynosferatu]

Actually, the wheel = Wheeler on the m!leven proof is actually genius since it did damage to both Angela and M!leven's relationship in seconds so lmao

[wheelgate]

everytime i go to discuss wheelgate the only thing that comes out are the lyrics to never ending story and a bunch of screencaps of clocks