75. Percabeth -64
Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase, the Percy Jackson universe
76. Hucklerobby
Dennis 'Huckleberry' Whitaker & Michael 'Robby' Robinavitch, The Pitt
77. Bunnydoll
Jax & Ragatha, The Amazing Digital Circus
78. Wangxian -25
Lan Wangji & Wei Wuxian, Mo Dao Zu Shi
79. Shadowpeach -19
Sun Wukong & the Six-Eared Macaque, Lego Monkie Kid
80. Eternalberry
Hollyberry Cookie & Eternal Sugar Cookie, the Cookie Run franchise
81. Odypen
Odysseus & Penelope, EPIC: The Musical
82. Mizisua
Mizi & Sua, Alien Stage
83. Sterek
Stiles Stilinski & Derek Hale, Teen Wolf
84. Shadowvanilla
Pure Vanilla & Shadow Milk, the Cookie Run franchise
85. Moshang
Mobei-Jun & Shang Qinghua, The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
86. Spideypool
Spider-Man & Deadpool, the Marvel universe
87. Davekat 0
Dave Strider & Karkat Vantas, Homestuck
88. Heavymedic
Heavy Weapons Guy & Medic, Team Fortress 2
89. Lumax
Lucas Sinclair & Max Mayfield, Stranger Things
90. Sonamy
Sonic the Hedgehog & Amy Rose, Sonic the Hedgehog
91. Rookanis
Rook & Lucanis Dellamorte, Dragon Age: The Veilguard
92. Zoeystery
Zoey & Mystery, KPop Demon Hunters
93. Poolverine -90
Wade Wilson & Logan Howlett, the Marvel universe
94. Everlark -12
Katniss Everdeen & Peeta Mellark, The Hunger Games
95. Clois
Clark Kent & Lois Lane, Superman
96. Johnlock
John Watson & Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock
97. Agathario -21
Agatha Harkness & Rio Vidal, the Marvel universe
98. Stolitz -64
Stolas & Blitzo, Helluva Boss
99. Devil's Minion
Armand & Daniel Molloy, Interview with the Vampire & The Vampire Chronicles
100. Skystar
Skyfire & Starscream, Transformers
The number in italics indicates how many spots a ship moved up or down from 2024. Bolded ships weren’t on the list last year.
*And, it turnes out we love pure vanilla x shadow milk so much, our data actually pulled it twice. Woops! We hope you enjoy nonetheless, and thank you for understanding❣️
How did your ships fare this week? Did your faves make the cut? Any surprises? Tag your posts and commentary with #ships week 2026 to keep this party going. Thanks for joining us. Now, go forth and keep doin what you're doin tumblr <3
the elephant in the room w willel that nobody wants to address is that they want to be each other. Obviously Will wants to be strong and autonomous and somebody Mike could love (as will fans have talked abt endlessly) but nobody talks abt Janes desire to be more like him. Someone with roots, friends, a family that cares enough to look for and fight for her— but ALSO someone soft, kind, to “good” to be a monster like her. That’s why she’s lying to Mike so much in her letters and at the roller rink she is so terrified that violence is just Her Nature and that she has no place in society, ONLY as a weapon. And the fact that Mike actively leans into that narrative is gonna be the thing that kills their relationship. Like Will is her model for normalcy and goodness, down to him ALSO having experiences with henry/the upside down but in ways that only cause HIM pain and psychological anguish. SHE however has the tendency to lash out and views this as her being in line with her abusers
This may sound fucked up but the best way I can phrase it is: Will envies the way Jane can resist victimization, Jane envies the way Will can endure it
This is actually why I kinda believe Will may play more of a role defeating vecna than Jane just bc it feels like what they’d both WANT at this point— but also Jane seems pretty focused on the mission rn! But also kali could change that
Every time Mike and el fight so do Mike and Will. Their storylines always mirror each other. Only the Byler fights are always solved faster because Mike is always quick to apologise to Will whereas with el he always needs to be pushed to apologise. Byler is literally embedded in the narrative. If we aren’t supposed to see Mike and Will as a romantic option then why are they always compared to Mike’s romantic relationship?
Mike’s relationships with Will and El have always been interconnected since the very beginning of the show.
In S1, When Mike loses Will, he finds El. When Mike loses El, he gets Will back. There was also a recurring theme of El looking like a boy and El being mistaken for Will and Mike hiding El and his family thinking he was acting strange because of Will. (He hides El in his closet and he has a queercoded conversation with his mom about Will/Nancy talking about how he thought he was acting strange because of Will and then asking him if he likes El). Mike and El’s bond is also built upon finding Will. When he’s discussing a future with El, Mike mentions Will (and this isn’t the first time he does this — it’s a pattern that comes up again and again).
In S2, El and Will are once again the characters that Mike devotes the most time too. However, there is a contrast with the way he devotes his time to Will and El in this season. On the surface, it seems that Mike is straight, loves El and is just a caring best friend to Will but if you pay attention to his actions and compare both dynamics — he instinctively gives Will more attention. His bond with Will feels more special, intimate and real. His bond with El is cute but it’s all on a very surface-level and shallow way. His instinctive actions towards don’t really stand out in any way. He treats her like a friend and he prioritises her when her life is in danger/grieves her when she’s fine. With Will, he seems to always be hyper aware of him, gives out his sole attention to him, (as you said, in later seasons, he apologises better and faster to him), is the most determined out of all his friends to find him, etc. The difference at the end of the day between El and Will is that El is a girl and Will is a boy. A relationship with El is normal and acceptable. His affections for El (although simple and shallow) hence became perceived as this great love meanwhile this deep love for Will is perceived as friendship.
When El returns and they enter a romantic relationship, this is where Mike’s struggle balancing between the two of them begins.
More specifically, Mike can’t seem to give Will any attention — not even in a platonic sense — when he’s with El in S3 and 4. In S3, the conflict is more subtle you could say as they make it about the entire party. (It’s about that entire party but lol it’s only them dramatically fighting in the rain and only them exchanging a one-on-one scene in that epilogue other than the couples). When he’s having conflict with El, he has conflict with Will too but he tries to apologise quicker and you know…in S3 and 4…even with conflict between them…Mike and Will naturally gravitate to each other. They just fought but you’ll see them attached to the hip.
The biggest way in which the interconnection shows is through the painting because Will himself plasters El’s name onto his feelings and Mike pretty much confesses his love to El driving strength from Will calling him the heart. Will’s heart reaches out to Mike, he thinks it’s from El, and hence he confesses to El.
I did mention in my old post how perfect the Playing Cyrano trope was for them as Mike has projected Will onto El since S1.
It’s exactly what it is. Projection. The interconnection exists/the contrasts exist because of that. This subtextual analysis comes to mind where El is regarded as the personification of Mike and Will’s love for each other. Yeah. She can be seen like that. However, she has grown into her own character too. I like to think that with this reading in mind El gaining independence and autonomy (like her arc is designed) is symbolically on par with Mike and Will getting together. The personification of their love gaining freedom like she’s meant to is them being able to be free too. What we got was El dying but the show suggesting that it’s possible that she’s alive and out there. “I believe” campaign or whatever. In the context of Mike and Will, Byler was left up in a similar way. Is their love dead or alive? Depends on what you believe apparently! It is a bleak ending.
That subtextual analysis talks about how Jancy and Karen/Billy symbolically represent Byler (and their points make a lot of sense). Mike and Will’s love story is the key subtext behind ST in their view. It’s the central story. It’s what’s behind the curtain. ST easily can be interpreted as a big allegory for Mike and Will’s queerness and their love for each other and it is a reading that ties the whole story together.
I did say recently that if Will’s storyline was meant to be solely about self-acceptance then he should had a crush on Lucas. That’s still true but the entire narrative would have to be changed for that to happen considering how Mike and Will’s love for each other is embedded into everything. That’s why the whole “Tammy” analogy doesn’t truly work. It comes across as Will accepting that he needs to move on because he believes Mike is straight and that’s what’s best for him. When in reality, the most logical interpretation of Mike Wheeler is the queer one and he ends the show coming across as a closeted queer person who was never given the chance to come out and express his true feelings for Will. Bleak ending indeed (unless you believe in their words ahem).
I’d argue that their love story became more than an allegory in ST4 and even ST5 Vol 1. There was a textual setup established that they failed to follow through and now they made a mess of things because of that. If Byler forever remained in subtext, the show wouldn’t have suffered so much but they pulled it out of subtext in ST4 and that’s why failing to commit to it is the reason for half of the problems in the finale.
Byler is a core part of this show’s narrative. Who put it there? No idea. How much of it was intentional? No idea. (I like to think it is because there is way too much evidence but debating that gets messy because then we need to get into the speculatory territory of why the ST5 finale was butchered and there’s been enough discussion of that). However, it’s a central story that was left ambiguous at the end of the day. I think anyone with an understanding of storytelling and film can easily recognise that.
It's been a couple of weeks and I think I can finally put into words what the Stranger Things ending felt like to me, but this is going to be a long extended metaphor — bear with me.
You are an experienced, decorated detective. You're well-known for being sharp-witted, brilliant, and you've always, always been able to solve your cases with a deadly accuracy.
But there's one case that you have never been able to solve, an inexplicable case that has been hanging for decades. You've come close, but somehow the criminal always gets away right under your nose, leaving nothing but cryptic hints and supernatural disappearances. This one case, you've never been able to understand. It's frustrating — but thrilling all the same.
One day, as you near your retirement, the same criminal begins dropping deliberate hints, all alluding to one thing: they are going to commit one last crime, one last crime that will explain everything. Decades of chasing, decades of searching, decades of defeat. One last crime, one last chance for you to set this right.
You get an anonymous tip that the criminal has been sighted for the first time in years at a nearby cafe. You rush in with your colleagues, preparing for a massacre, but you find the man you have been searching for for what feels like your entire life lounging on a plastic chair nursing a warm cup of coffee. Waiting.
He doesn't even flinch when you move to arrest him.
When you bring him back to the station and shove him inside an interrogation room, he is quiet, complacent. You begin to ask, to uncover. You think this will be the best experience of your life—finally, finally!—but it turns out to be utterly disappointing. When you ask why? he shrugs. When you ask how? he says something so absurdly ordinary that it doesn't add up. When you ask about all the clues he's left, all the trails, all the inexplicable occurrences in his wake, he says, earnestly, that he doesn't know. It was an accident, it seems. You explain to him your theories, your interpretations of his actions. He looks at you blankly. It hits you that he was never quite as clever or as astonishing as you'd thought.
At this point, you're in despair. You exit the interrogation room, to talk with your colleagues. To make sure you haven't made up everything, to make sure that all of your analyses, theories had been once been grounded in fact. Your colleagues nod — yes, of course, we'd come up with those together. Yes, of course, we'd witnessed that together.
When you return to the interrogation room, you find blood on the walls. A sharp gasp. The criminal is dead, gun still smoking in his hand. You're — shocked.
You call for help, you check the cameras, you check his pulse — he's dead. For real. Shot himself in the head.
It's over, just like that. Hundreds of answered questions. Hundreds of mysteries that have yet been uncovered. You've found the criminal, but he knows as little as you. You cannot settle with the fact that you will never receive the answers you've searched for, answers you've searched for years and years and years.
A quiet silence hangs over the meeting room. You and your colleagues settle around a round table: there's happiness, of course, that it's all over and that the criminal is dead (of course), but there's also an unsettling anger, an odd grief.
Even your colleagues with whom you have never agreed with, colleagues who have ridiculed you for your theories, for your predictions, for your assumptions sit with you, basking in that same silence.
"Maybe this isn't over," someone pipes up. "Maybe this is the final crime. Maybe we've been played."
There: the silence shatters. Everyone starts talking again, animatedly, a little hysterically. Yes, yes. It can't be over. There must be more. It can't be over: too many loose threads, too many equations unsolved. Of course this is another elaborate crime. Of course.
hopper and joyce just happened to conveniently forget going to school with henry
the painting lie hasn't been addressed
we don't know why el recognized will in season 1 without having ever seen him before
we don't know who opened the door the night will was taken
mike and will's colors just HAPPEN to be blue and yellow and the cast, crew, and WRITERS THEMSELVES telling us to "pay attention to detail" was deadass just generational queerbait
after everything, mike STILL couldn't say i love you to eleven
patty newby is non-existent and creelby just happens to parallel byler for literally no reason 🩷
will was about to FORGIVE henry.
the duffers genuinely forgot their OWN MAIN CHARACTERS BIRTHDAY AND AGE MULTIPLE TIMES
the russian involvement in s3 and s4 was never explained so it was prob just capitalist propaganda except they don't want us to realize that so they gave jonathan an entire anti-capitalist film storyline for the sake of "screwing conformity" i guess
ohhh but! critiquing society???? fuck that! because they also didn't show us vickie in the epilogue at all, giving her and robin a completely ambiguous ending in which 90% of the fandom believe they broke up off-screen!!!!!!! A+ for representation !!!!!!
not only that, but will doesn't even have a CONFIRMED epilogue boyfriend. that is full well a cute lil headcanon that MIKE has for him.
terry ives, lonnie, enzo, max's mom, suzie, argyle, dr kay, the turnbow family, the school counselor with the clock necklace, and dr owens just vanished into thin air, ALONG WITH ALL THE DANGERS OF THE UPSIDE DOWN???? where were the demodogs, the demogorgons, the demobats????
max's letters were just completely insignificant and had no reason to be mentioned again i guess
november 6 just happened to be a funny coincidence
they ALSO happened to forget that nancy had a vision of mike being killed by vecna in s4 bc that boy wasn't even remotely in danger at all while every other wheeler was put through hell
dr brenner's obsession and fascination with the upside down and abyss stemming from how his father was involved in project rainbow was also not addressed
not to mention that the dude is literally horrendous at drawing animals but when it comes to the flipping hexcore he's da vinci
melvalds, the general store, just happens to sell milkshakes
will adores getting lost in the woods because that's such a fun activity for him
henry just gave holly her favorite song because he was feeling kind
they never actually defeated the mind flayer !!!! which is wonderful
we actually never find out whether or not will lost his powers
el's water tank in the upside down being completely full although there has literally NEVER been water in the upside down before
mike is somehow the only one who has ever understood el even though she was 10x happier with max. could they not have just admitted that they made the elmax reunion so incredibly lackluster because they refused to let ANY gay ships win regardless of how much chance they had of being canon?
the 'lovebirds' parallel between jonathan + steve and mike + eleven??? what was that even for
all the dick jokes, mike listening the a band called the BUTTHOLE SURFERS, the camera panning to mike 7000 times during will's coming out scene, mike not being able to touch will, all just happened to be fun coincidences
not only that, but the mike-will-eleven and nancy-jonathan-steve love triangles were resolved by none of the couples working out! wow.
they really just made us wait 3 whole years for something BEYOND mid.
Why writers need to tell a story, but also let their story tell itself: HIMYM vs. Stranger Things
I was going to make a post a long time ago about how Stranger Things couldn’t end with milkvan endgame even though it was likely the intention in season 1 using How I Met Your Mother as an already executed example, but I never got the energy to.
Because Stranger Things has now made the same mistake as HIMYM, I now want to explain why the ending of ST, in terms of several character arcs and not just Byler, didn’t make sense in the end, and the lesson writers should learn from these shows. This post will contain major spoilers for HIMYM, so only continue if you’ve seen it or don’t mind spoilers.
So if you know anything about HIMYM, you probably know it has one of the most hated TV show endings of all time. If you don’t know much about the show, it’s essentially about Ted, the main character, in his journey to find the love of his life. At the start of the show, Ted meets Robin and it’s immediately assumed that this is who he is going to end up with. He spends the first season and much of the rest of the show pursuing a relationship with Robin, and at the very end of the show, they end up together. So why is it one of the most hated TV show endings of all time? Because while they were initially intended to end up together, this ending no longer suited the story and characters after the narrative choices that were made over the course of the show.
At the beginning of HIMYM, Ted sees Robin for the first time, and immediately starts to think she might be the one. She joins Ted’s friend group, and they finally end up together by the end of the season. At this point, everyone is rooting for them! They’re a good couple, and Ted finally gets to be with the person he’s been chasing after.
That’s the peak of their relationship.
After that, things go downhill. Robin and Ted are shown to want different things. Because of their differences that eventually make them incompatible, they eventually break up.
Ted’s feelings for Robin never truly go away, and are a focal point throughout the show. While viewers may still have been rooting for Robin and Ted to reunite when they break up, things start to change when Ted’s friend Barney gets thrown into the mix.
Barney’s whole identity revolves around self-interest and hedonism: he tries to sleep with as many women as possible, treating them like objects and taking advantage of them, and always throwing others under the bus to avoid negative consequences or feelings. Despite being comedic relief, he seems almost heartless in his treatment of others, always prioritizing himself. However, by season 3, he starts to develop feelings for Robin, and by the end of season 3, he falls in love with her.
Over the course of the show, two things continue to happen: first, Ted and Robin continue to demonstrate how incompatible they are. Ted wants kids, Robin hates them. Ted wants to settle down and have a family, Robin wants to travel the world. And continuously, time and time again, Robin makes it clear that she does not love Ted.
Second, Barney continues to fall deeper in love with Robin. Not only is this the first person Barney is shown to prioritize over himself, but his whole character changes because of her. He stops going after other women despite that being at the core of his character, he makes a genuine effort to be honest with Robin and treat her the way she deserves, and he makes huge sacrifices in order to prove to her that she is worth giving up every selfish desire that made him who he was for so many seasons. He becomes a more loving, vulnerable, and devoted person, and eventually, they get married.
In the last two episodes, we fast forward and find out that Robin and Barney got divorced, the mother of Ted’s kids passed away, and Ted ends up with Robin. This ending is so widely hated because the show continuously gave you reasons to stop rooting for Ted and Robin. While they were likeable at first, it eventually becomes clear that they are miserable when they are together and that they are incompatible. At the same time, Barney has the strongest character development of anyone on this show because of Robin, and the final choice to break them up reverts him back to who he was at the beginning, undoing his entire arc. While the writing choices may have initially been set up to result in a plot twist, those choices also changed the direction the story was heading in. By choosing to stick with the ending they originally planned, they ruined the story as the trajectory the narrative took over the course of the show made it so that this ending was no longer a plausible option.
This is the same mistake that Stranger Things made. Jane’s sacrifice would’ve made sense at the end of season 1. She escaped captivity, was finally able to use her powers for good and for her own reasons, and can now live on in her friend’s minds as a reminder of magic and what it means to fight for good in the face of danger. By season 5, however, Jane is a fully fleshed out person who has learned what it is like to have a family, to have people treat her like a real person, and to learn what it is like to be loved. She has been idolized and weaponized, and she then starts to learn how it feels to be herself, to discover who she is outside of her powers, and to learn that she matters outside of the people who have controlled her. She repeatedly is poked, prodded, tortured, used, and she becomes her friends’ shiny weapon, putting herself on the front lines every single season to protect her friends. For a character who has been abused and hunted continuously, who never gets a chance to have a normal life because of the usefulness of her powers, and always has to be at the center of every battle, bearing the brunt of the damage because she is the only one who can, sacrifice is no longer an option. When her character arc becomes about finding people who value her for who she is and deserving to have her own shot at a normal life, sacrifice or ending up alone is no longer an option.
Milkvan would’ve made sense at the end of season 1. Mike and Jane find comfort in each other during what is likely the scariest time of both of their lives, Mike providing Jane real care and Jane providing Mike protection. However, Mike and Jane get together and are shown to continuously misunderstand each other. Their chemistry disappears, they are unable to be fully themselves around each other, and their relationship begins to hinder the character trajectory of the other character. Meanwhile, Mike is shown to only be comfortable being vulnerable with Will. He is shown to understand him better than anyone else. When he starts performing around others, he only lets his guard down with Will. While Mike and Jane are shown to be incompatible, Mike and Will are shown to develop arguably the most authentic friendship in the show (sound like Robin, Ted, and Barney?). And in the midst of Mike and Jane being written as incompatible, Will is shown to be in love with Mike. By season 5, milkvan is no longer an option. Mike has become the thing that gives Will “the courage to fight on,” and Will then becomes one of the most important people needed to fight Vecna. Mike is the heart because of Will’s feelings. Mike and Jane’s relationship is now built on a lie, and you are made to feel bad for Will during Mike’s attempt to fix his relationship with Jane. Jane’s story is motivated by breaking free from the people who idolize her, such as Mike. It is clear that Mike makes Will stronger, Will makes Mike brave, and Jane is hindered by her relationship with Mike. Milkvan is no longer an option.
Will’s self-acceptance arc would’ve worked early on. He could’ve had a small crush, realized he was more vulnerable to Vecna when he put his self-worth in someone else, and learned to find strength within himself. By season 5, Will is shown to be a romantic. Will is in love with Mike, which has been built up for 4 seasons. Will is continuously shown to still love Mike even after he accepts himself, and that self-acceptance is motivated in part by his love for Mike. Will’s arc ending at self-acceptance is no longer an option.
The point is, writers may write stories with a specific ending in mind. And sometimes, that works out perfectly! But sometimes, as the story progresses, it begins to write itself, and the trajectories that each character are heading in may render the initial plan moot. Both of these shows are examples of the disservice that can be done to a story if you try to force it into what it was “always meant to be.” Sometimes, writers need to listen to the story they’re writing and learn when to let it lead the way.
Will accepting his powers are innate is the final step in his sexuality arc.
Robin explains her sexuality journey through three steps. 1. Self-acceptance 2. Coming out 3. Romance. The same path will be followed with Will’s powers, aligning with his acceptance of his sexuality.
1. Self-acceptance
At a distance from the radio station, Mike proposes that Will has usable powers. Will’s powers are like a radio antenna. The signal is weak. Will doesn’t agree in this moment. He isn’t ready to accept who he is.
Will’s powers were always used subconsciously, but he didn’t believe he had any control. Then he stops hiding from himself. He takes back agency over his sexuality. He finally accepts he can use his powers.
In Robin's film reel, she was alone. In Will’s film reel, he was surrounded by those he loves most. He still doesn't fully believe in himself or his powers. He’s using others to activate them. He’s using Vecna to activate them.
2. Coming out
Will and Mike constantly bicker over the source of Will’s powers. Will insists they’re siphoned from Vecna, but Mike believes they’re innate. Vecna tells Will his powers don’t belong to him. He then shows Will that he can’t have a happy future if he comes out. Will is still struggling to be okay with who he really is, both his powers and sexuality.
When Vecna forces Will to spy, Will tries to use his film reel to escape and fight back. It doesn’t work. He can’t use others to activate his powers anymore. Siphoning isn’t the answer.
The group doesn’t include Will in their plan to kill Vecna because Will doesn’t believe he can. He doesn’t believe he can come out. Will now sees something that comes from within, but only his fear and weakness. But he doesn't want to be dictated by fear anymore.
In the radio station, the signal is stronger. Will comes out and they accept him. Vecna was wrong. He can have a happy future. So Will decides he can help defeat Vecna too. He isn’t scared to be himself. He isn’t scared to use his powers again. What else could Vecna be wrong about?
3. Romance
Will’s powers stem from love. This is how they show themselves subconsciously (ex. protecting Joyce). He defeated fear by coming out, but he hasn’t accepted love. He hasn’t received romantic love. Will is like a receiver.
Just as he denies Mike’s signals to protect himself from outward rejection, he denies that his abilities come from within. He’s scared of what will happen if he’s wrong. What if he uses his powers and Vecna retaliates unexpectedly? What if Mike retaliates? So he keeps his guard. Mike isn’t sending strong enough signals to be received.
Vecna says that he’s unlocking the kids' dormant psychic abilities to move worlds. So the powers are innate. In a weird way, Vecna is Will’s Tammy. Will is seeking answers in Vecna, he’s siphoning from Vecna. But the answers—the powers—don’t come from him. They come from Will.
Will and Mike will be at the top of the radio tower together in the finale. The signal is most strong. Will’s powers are most strong. Mike will reciprocate Will’s love. In doing so, Will will understand how Mike views him and internalize it. His powers are innate.
But remember, it’s still not about Mike’s reciprocation, it’s about Will seeing himself for who he truly is. Mike is just the catalyst. He knows who Will is at his core and loves him for it. Will can love himself too if he looks at himself through this lens. Mike isn't the answer, rather Mike sees Will's answers. He sees what's already there. Mike knows Will's powers are innate. Will needs to see it too. Only then can Will use his powers to their full potential.
Will doesn’t have to fear that his powers can be turned back on him. Love can’t be used against him. He can use love. That’s his true channel. Not Vecna, but himself. The love he feels and the love he receives. Love can defeat fear.
as "messy" as that coming out scene was, i still stand by the fact that it was important for the other characters as well as will.
the choice on whom the camera zooms in on during each line reflects what that person is scared of facing themselves. but will was the first to admit his biggest, most personal secret to everyone, which was essential for the other characters' self reflection too. *especially* a certain repressed white boy with internalised homophobia and a fuckass beanie.
so mike the so-called-brave you better lock in like you have never locked in before
I think a time loop would connect everything, make every inconsistency make sense, make the story both epic and profound, and make Will and Mike's love the missing piece that can finally free all of them (they will be heroes, just for one day. November 6th. They will remember, they will save the world and kiss, and leave the shame on the other side)
And it would even give something to all people that always complain that no main character dies on this show.
If this theory is correct, it is likely that all the fake deaths are not lazy writing or plot armor, but hints that these people are stuck, and maybe at the end of every loop they all die. All of them.
Every loop ends in tragedy. They fail or sacrifice themselves ('If you die, I die'). The bomb explodes but destroys everything. Or they can't complete the mission, and someone or something restarts the loop. Maybe in the last episode they realize that they have died countless times. A neverending tragedy.
Possible hints
But who restarts the time loop? Maybe it's the lab, or it just happens because of the exotic matter. Or maybe it's the Mind Flayer. I don't know. Owens says something interesting though.
Each time the evil returns, it comes back stronger, smarter, deadlier. This makes sense in a time loop.
He also calls the evil a virus, like the Mind Flayer in S2.
So maybe, Vecna is stuck too, and the solution is to find him in the labyrinth of his memories, find his darkest one, when he was a child and his life changed forever, and after finding the truth about what happened to him, feel compassion and sorrow for his lost innocence and what he had to endure, alone.
Then, in the present, remind the monstrous man that he's become of that innocence. He has done many awful things, and like Darth Vader, he can't go back. But he can change the future, he can refuse to complete the plan and in doing so, give the kids the time to save the world.
Memories of love or compassion as the spark that can change everything. We've already seen that.
This time though, I think it should be Will the one who reminds Henry of his younger self, since they're basically the same person. And I'm not saying that he has to forgive him. It's not about that, it's about reminding him of his humanity. A brief connection that is not about power and control. Just human connection.
Now, the Duffers knew since S1 that the Upside Down was a wormhole, so Mr Clarke explaining Hugh Everett's Many-Worlds Interpretation could be the first hint that we've been seeing different timelines.
Then in S5 he mentions time travel. I'm not sure if time loops and wormoholes make sense together, but they're the writers, this is their story, they can make their own rules and make it work, if they want.
Mike and being late
We often see him in the shot, or we see his photo, when time is mentioned. It happens during Mr Clarke lesson and when El says that emotions can make time speed up or slow down, and that they are all time travelers.
And although Will has the Marty McFly outfit, it's Mike who is always late. But late for what? Maybe late to admit his feelings for Will, late to be the Heart and become Mike the Brave. Will and El are the ones connected to the supernatural, to Vecna and the Mind Flayer. They are the Wonder Twins, the keys that will fix it together. But just like in the Russian secret base in S3, this is a three man operation, and the key is also getting to Mike. Since Hopper says that after he menages to separate him from El, I guess this is really about his feelings. That means that only when he finally accepts himself and his love for Will (not sure how it's going to happen), they will be able to fight together, break the cycle and save the world.
In S3, Max says that Mike's going to crawl back in no time, begging for forgiveness, but then we see him crawl back (in time) to Will, in a scene that parallels what happened on Nov 6th and when the Demogorgon got Will at Castle Byers. Mike also says that he is building the bomb to destroy the wormhole, and the trigger is a bike bell...
I could be wrong, and the loop could just be the connection between the Philadelphia Experiment or the experiments in Nevada, and El opening the gate in 1983. But this is a theory, and it's my favorite, so, I'll keep hoping that this is what the story is about, until I see the last episode.
theartofmadeline
areudirty
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