#mike wheeler analysis

[thegaybyler]

once again I'm here to rant about Mike.

I just can't put into words what he means to me, I've tried several times but I only managed to explain a small fraction. Like yeah, he's relatable, yeah analyzing him got me through the darkest point in my life, yeah I still lean on him for comfort when things get hard again, but there's more. There's something so special about him that I can't for the life of me explain or even fully recognize. I tend to chalk it up to "omg he's so silly I love him sm bc he's my son, blah blah" but I can't emphasize enough how much more he is to me

Also s5 mike photodump

[higuysetc]

Okay I haven’t seen anyone actually talk about this scene from S1E2 as Byler evidence but I think it’s so telling and honestly insane

In this scene, El asks the boys what a “friend” is and they explain it to her. They tell her and it’s wholesome. Then Lucas performs a spit swear with Dustin and it’s funny. This conversation was just leading up to a funny bit between the two! Right?

Wrong. Oh my god, WRONG.

I was like actually kicking myself when I realised I missed this detail not just on the first watch but on the second as well.

(I should have put a trigger warning in earlier but I didn’t so I’m editing it in now- TW for: homophobia, attempted suicide, bullying, reference to the AIDS crisis)

“Friend?”

“Yeah, friend: Will?”

El doesn’t understand what a friend is so Lucas gives the example of Will.

“What… is friend?”

“Is she serious?”

Dustin shrugs

“Um… A friend is someone—”

“—Is someone that you’d do anything for”

Lucas specifically referred to Will in his example of a friend. When El asks him to expand on their bond, he struggles to elaborate and seems exasperated with her questions. Dustin isn’t much better. He doesn’t seem to care much for answering her and they both chalk it up to the weirdo being weird.

Before Lucas can even begin his clumsy explanation, Mike jumps in with

“—Is someone that you’d do anything for”

Which is. Wow. He says it so simply, so bluntly, so instantly and he looks overjoyed at the opportunity to talk about his loyalty to not just Will specifically but also the rest of his friends.

And, bless him, he’s literally bouncing on the spot when he says it. This scene is adorable but it’s also kind of heartbreaking, especially when you take into account when Mike tried to end his life at Sattler Quarry to save Dustin’s baby teeth.

He would literally do anything for his friends. This isn’t hyperbole, this is Mike being excited to show El, his new friend, that he’s loyal and protective. He’s not exaggerating when he’s saying he would do anything because friends don’t lie.

And the rest of his friends know this. When Mike is about to jump, Dustin begs him not to because he knows Mike and he knows just how important loyalty and being a protector to his friends is to him.

But the way he says this:

“Someone you would do anything for” It’s like he’s beaming with pride for his friends. He’s ecstatic at the idea of calling them his friends and being able to be there for them, to protect them, and is proud of them for just being themselves.

Obviously, this could include the entire party, especially with how it relates to Dustin and Mike ‘protecting him’ at Sattler Quarry.

But the fact that Dustin immediately follows this up with:

“You lend them your cool stuff like comic books and trading cards”

Okay so maybe we are still talking specifically about Will. In the first episode, Will and Dustin race and Will, the snarky little shit (affectionate), declares that Dustin owes him a comic. This is. This is a pretty blatant reference to Will and Dustin’s friendship.

What he says is also a lot tamer than Mike’s declaration of undying loyalty which reflects Dustin and Will’s friendship vs Mike and Will’s status as besties for the resties. Quite literally.

Besties for the resties.

We should also take into account the fact that Mike most likely didn’t just jump off the cliff only to save Dustin’s baby teeth after seeing the person he would do anything for’s limp body being pulled out of the water. He would do anything for them both.

But the fact that in some sick alternate universe Will Byers was found dead in the quarry and 12-year-old Mike’s body was found there days later should be enough evidence to be honest.

And if El hadn’t have found Mike and Dustin when she did, this would have been their reality. And Mike knew this was an almost certainty, unaware that he would be saved, and he jumped anyways.

And how does that look? In a conservative small town where no major crime ever happens, the adults spread rumours of a 12-year-old Will Byers being hate crimed for being gay after going missing instead of having any compassion towards him or his family because of this child’s supposed sexuality. His body is found not long after he goes missing and within days, the boy he was rumoured to be so close with jumps in after him and dies.

And let’s be honest, Will most likely didn’t get this much shit for his alleged queerness because he liked art or was quieter than most. He may have gotten picked on at school but for his parents to pick up on this? Lonnie was a bastard which is standard I guess. Common knowledge. Like the quarry meaning certain death thing. We knew that. Maybe he just gave him a hard time because he didn’t like baseball (Insert coded heart-to-heart with Jonathan and Will destroying Castle Byers with a baseball bat because he thought his feelings towards Mike were childish).

But for Joyce to bring this up to Hop instead of omitting both slurs and just leaving it at “he’s a sensitive kid” or just her most relentless “find him”s? For her to avoid the question when Hop asks whether or not Will is gay? Huh.

Most probably, he was really- suspiciously- close with a male friend. A male best friend. A little too close and a little too affectionate and for a little longer than is normal for boys to be so close with each other. Maybe this best friend even thinks that befriending Will was “the best thing he’s ever done”.

Mike was willing to die. That’s not fucking normal.

His best friend went missing and bear in mind Mike had little to no evidence that Will was alive at this point. He was presumed dead. Mike was 12 years old when he tried to kill himself. You can’t just chalk this up to trying to save Dustin’s baby teeth.

“You make that jump from this height, that water turns into cement. Hits you like a ton of bricks, break every damn bone in your body.” -Hopper

Mike understood that he was going to die. Outside the fact that it’s common sense and probably common knowledge in a small town, where he’s probably been warned by parents and teachers not to play too close to the quarry, it’s basic physics. He’s a physics nerd. He knew that he would die and he still went through with it.

The fact that they emphasise just how brutal Mike’s end would have been by having Hopper stand there and explain in graphic detail what would happen if someone fell over the edge? And then they send the point home further by having Mike weigh his options for a good while before making the decision to ignore Dustin’s pleas and ,I don’t know, any will that he has left to live? Is insane. No pun intended.

I don’t think I will ever get over the quarry scene. Mike jumps off to ‘save’ Dustin and possibly to join Will, out of love and out of loyalty, but also out of lonliness. Fucking insane. Especially with how that would have looked in a conservative town during the AIDS crisis, if El hadn’t interfered. And how Dustin must have felt after he begged Mike to stay alive for him and saw Mike actively ignore him and try to sacrifice himself to save him.

So yeah. Mike would do anything for them both, to a concerning degree.

But back to S1E2, El asked what a friend was. Lucas hesitated. Mike excitedly said some deep shit. Dustin followed up with something more lighthearted but still painful (lowkey imagining how he must’ve felt after failing to get Will home safe, and then later get Mike not to jump) and—

“—And they never break a promise”

Mike when I catch you Mike.

What promise could Mike be referencing here? Friends don’t lie, perhaps? Yes. That. That’s like the only option at this point, I fear.

And we’re back to Mike specifically describing his relationship with Will. How do I figure this? It’s established right off the bat.

S1E1- Will chucks the die somewhere and he rolls lower than thirteen. Lucas tells him it doesn’t count if Mike doesn’t see it. Lucas is willing to lie. Lucas is willing to break the promise. Mike is specifically referring to his relationship to Will here.

“It was a seven.”

“Huh?”

“The roll: it was a seven. The Demogorgon. It got me. See you tomorrow.”

Will dgaf about winning the campaign if it means lying to Mike. He would never break his promise. (Do not bring up the Season 4 painting right now istg this is pre-the-puberty-amplifying-internalised-homophobia-thing (and also I could go on a whole rant about what Will meant by “ripping of the band aid” there so lmk if you guys would be interested in that))

Immediately, within the first eight minutes of the first episode of the first season of Stranger Things, it is established that Mike and Will do not fucking lie to each other no matter what and they have a bond much stronger with each other than with the other two boys.

What did Will say again?

✅ The roll was a seven.

✅ The demogorgon got him.

❌ He will see Mike the next day.

Oh. Okay. That’s not like. Blatant foreshadowing or anything. This might be a reach but I feel like the fact that Will never lies to Mike but told him that he would see him tomorrow, then went missing, may have amplified Mike’s desire to find him faster or at least served as a way to communicate to the audience that Mike and Will hold their promises dearly and if Will says he’ll see Mike tomorrow, Mike will do everything in his power to see him as soon as possible and this is made further tragic by his attempt to join him at the bottom of the quarry.

Maybe a reach. I’m confident about everything else though so who gaf. Let a girl have fun.

“—Especially when there’s spit.”

“Spit?”

“A spit swear means—Puh—you never break your word. Its a bond”

Comic relief for all the devastated re-watchers, classic. This scene definitely wasn’t intended to be sad but I’m a sap, I fear. Plus the absurdity of Lucas’ spit swear and how seriously he talks about it contrasts how bubbly Mike is when he talks about promises when he is the one who holds loyalty so dearly that he is willing to give up his life for it.

Oh my god, I’ve just had a thunker of a thought. It’s. Oh my god. I’ve had a revelation. But it’s 5 am and I’ve been trying to put my thoughts into words for like a good couple of hours now so. It’s to do with the spit swear thing and how it relates to Mike’s asexual treatment of El until Will’s disappearance. Oh my god. Stay with me. It sounds like such a reach and it may well be but I genuinely unironically think I’m onto something here. Especially with how comedically Lucas’ bits are played out compared to Mike’s. Holy shit. Aaand it’s nearly 6 am. Well. I’ll edit this for basic grammar mistakes later, it's fine.

Okay, I’m gonna end this part here so just let me know if you guys want a part 2 and I’ll tag some lucky individuals in it maybe.

Also let me know if colour coding the characters’ names was too jarring or something? I feel like it helped me get through writing this monstrosity but low-key idk how the rest of everyone will feel sooo just lmk :)

Edit: Drafting up Part 2 rn if you want a tag then just reblog this post

[bylerpining]

thinking abt the symbolism of the evolution of mike's style/aesthetics!!

s3 is the first time we see mike actively pushing will away and forcing himself to conform to what he thinks he's supposed to do, and also the first time his style noticeably changes. his haircut is different and he goes from wearing more subdued dark blues, greens, and greys to brighter colours, and also a lot of button downs (?) which is such a jump from his previous style. it's giving ted lowkey and screams trying to conform

in s4, his style becomes a lot edgier. edgy haircut, less basic shapes/cuts, cuntiest electric blue jacket you've ever seen. he's slowly returning to his true self, as shown by his embracing his love for dnd again. his style being a bit out there and it's diversity in s4 is fitting for all the confusion he's feeling internally. he doesn't know which way to go yet (scream hsm reference) and is struggling with his identity: his heart or his head? conform or break free?

in s5, he's returning to his s1/2 aesthetics, bringing it full circle. same haircut, same darker colour scheme, same stripes, same collared shirts (and the return of mike wheeler in a sweater!!). a time before he was conscious of how society would look at his relationship with will. a time before he was aware that his feelings for will might be seen as "wrong." it's marking his return to fully embracing how he feels about will and no longer shying away from it.

I too am gonna miss the mullet dearly but I love love love the symbolism in the choice they made here. he's going back to his roots and we're going to see byler's s2 dynamic return, except now they've both realized their feelings and are making an active choice to come back to each other !!!

[lune-moon-nuit]

"...cause I love her and I CAN'T LOSE her AGAIN"

“I'm just trying to demonstrate how careless Max is with Eleven's powers. In fact, how careless all of you are. You're treating her like some kind of machine when she's not a machine, and I don't want her to die looking for the flayed when they've obviously vanished off the face of the Earth. So can we please just come up with a new plan because I love her and I can't lose her again.”

Mike’s most quoted line in Season 3 — “Because I love her and I can’t lose her again” — is often cited as definitive proof of his love for Eleven. But this statement, when viewed in full context, is a trauma response rather than a heartfelt romantic confession.

What’s hilarious is that the reason why he said that is literally in the sentence itself: the trauma. It’s ironic that this scene is being used as the ultimate proof, when in reality, it perfectly illustrates Mike’s core issue. The trauma of having watched her sacrifice herself to protect him, after he’d spent the entire first season urging her to use her powers (he literally said it in season 1 that she was a weapon). What pushed him to say this was the accumulation of all the unresolved trauma he experienced throughout Seasons 1 and 2—and that doesn’t exactly strengthen your argument, because…

The trauma begins in Season 1. Mike forms a fast, intense bond with Eleven while Will is missing. He projects his grief, fear, and protective instincts onto her.

Expanding upon the notion that trauma lies at the heart of Mike and Eleven's relationship, it's significant to note that the moment Mike kisses Eleven in Season 1 occurs on the very same day he effectively attempted suicide by leaping into the quarry—an act from which she rescued him. From that point forward, he perceives himself as entirely indebted to her. Not only had he already idealized her as his only hope of finding Will, but she now embodied the literal reason he was still alive. Layered atop this is the influence of those around him—Lucas, Dustin, and even Nancy—who had begun to suggest he harbored romantic feelings toward her. Combined with his own confused emotions, the pedestal upon which he placed her from the very beginning due to the almost mythic timing of her arrival in his life, it constructs what appears to be a perfect narrative. And as a Dungeon Master and an aspiring storyteller, Mike is especially susceptible to such emotionally charged, almost archetypal storylines. Within this context, it becomes entirely plausible that he would interpret his overwhelming emotions—rooted in trauma, gratitude, and projection—as romantic love. That this kiss occurred on the very day of a near-death experience he never references again (and may never have shared with anyone besides those present) underscores the depth of repression and denial involved. Fundamentally, their relationship is born out of mutual trauma and survivor’s guilt. It is a structure of codependency rather than genuine romantic affection. Personally, I believe that had Mike not jumped into the quarry, and had Eleven not saved him, he would not have kissed her that night.

From the moment Eleven disappears at the end of Season 1 after using her powers to save him and their friends, Mike internalizes guilt and blame. He had encouraged her to keep using her powers, to push herself, and to fight — and she seemingly died because of it. He urges her to use her powers repeatedly, culminating in her presumed death. For nearly a year, Mike believes she died because he pushed her too far, he grieved her, believing it was his fault. This established a psychological pattern of guilt and a compulsive need to protect her, not because of romantic love, but as a trauma response.

If he truly loved her romantically, he would’ve reacted with joy and emotional fulfillment at the end of Season 3, when El told him she heard what he said and that she loves him too. He would’ve kissed her back, smiled, said something, even if he was surprised. The truth of that scene is, ironically, a perfect summary of how Mike—his point of view and his emotions—is misunderstood by the other characters and also by the audience. Because he is incapable of truly communicating or expressing his emotions.

That scene is literally Mike breaking down in a full-blown panic, triggered by his unresolved trauma: the fear of loss and abandonment caused by Will’s disappearance in Season 1, El’s absence and presumed death in Season 2, the helplessness of watching Will be possessed and nearly die, the massacre at the lab (gosh let’s be honest, Michael Wheeler urgently needs therapy, I did a post cut in two part : here and here who develop more and where I was already mentioning how this scene says a lot about Mike mental health), and finally, his survivor’s guilt for having encouraged El to use her powers to the point where she “died” right before his powerless eyes. This scenario is a mirror of Season 1's climax, and Mike’s panic reveals a deep-rooted fear of repeating past events.

For a whole year, he believed he was the reason El was dead. And the very argument that triggered that line was literally about whether or not El should keep pushing herself and her powers to the limit to stop Billy—when she had already nearly died doing exactly that. So yes, when Mike says, "Because I love her and I CAN’T LOSE HER AGAIN," it's true. Because, breaking news: Mike does love El. He deeply cares about her. He feels the need to protect her. He carries immense guilt over what happened to her, which only amplifies his desperate need to protect her now and avoid repeating the same mistake that, in his eyes, led to her "death"—a death that felt absolutely real to him.

When faced with the possibility of losing El again in Season 3, Mike's fear resurfaces—not because he is madly in love, but because he cannot emotionally survive another loss for which he feels responsible (he is just 14 here remember). The panic in his voice, the overwhelming urgency of “I can’t lose her again,” reveals that it is not romantic love driving him—it is fear, shame, and unresolved grief. This is compounded by his lack of romantic follow-through when she returns. There is no joy, no emotional intimacy, no physical warmth. Instead, there is distance, awkwardness, and emotional shutdown.

But the real truth in that line isn’t even the “because I love her” part—because nothing in that moment confirms he's saying it romantically (especially since he can’t even say it to her face, can’t write it to her, and still can’t say it even after she confirmed that she loves him and heard him say it). So yes, he loves her, just like he loves Lucas, just like he loves Nancy, just like he loves Dustin.

What truly matters in that sentence is: “and I CAN’T lose her AGAIN.” And those are the words he emphasizes. Not “because I love her”—that part is rushed, buried in the flood of words he’s pouring out mid-panic. But he clearly articulates and stresses “and I CAN’T lose her AGAIN.”

Everything is shown here—not told—through his words, his body language, his tone, the context. His trauma is triggered. He’s terrified. He’s trying to prevent history from repeating itself, because the current situation feels too much like the Season 1 finale from his perspective.

So no, it wasn’t romantic love that drove him to say that. It was unresolved, ignored trauma being violently reactivated. The only difference lies in how people interpret that line—be it other characters or the audience—through the lens of heteronormativity, completely ignoring the full context and everything that follows in Mike’s behavior and attitude toward El.

It could’ve been cute, and could’ve worked in your favor—if the show had ended with that episode. But unfortunately, the Season 3 finale and the entirety of Season 4 only go on to confirm that yes, he loves her and he can’t lose her again, but he doesn’t love her romantically, and he is deeply traumatized and in need of healing from his abandonment and loss issues—or else Vecna’s going to have an easy time with him.

If Mike were truly in love with Eleven, one would expect expressions of that love to come naturally, especially in moments of emotional vulnerability. Yet, at the end of Season 3, when Eleven tells him she heard what he said and that she loves him too, Mike gives no response. He looks stunned, confused, almost empty. He does not affirm her words, kiss her back, or show any sign of romantic fulfillment. Mike’s behavior in these scenes doesn’t resemble a boy in love. It resembles a boy in distress, one who is playing a role he feels obligated to fulfill, but who cannot emotionally connect with that role.

This pattern continues in Season 4. He avoids writing “Love, Mike” (and write every time "From Mike" instead) in letters, despite knowing it’s what Eleven needs to hear. When confronted, he dodges and manipulates: “I say it”. But we, the audience (and El too), know that he doesn’t. His behavior is not that of a loving boyfriend, but of someone trapped in a role he doesn’t know how to escape from. His “I love you” speech in Volume 2 is prompted not by genuine passion, but by external pressure, specifically by Will’s emotionally charged metaphorical painting (that channels Will’s own feelings for him) and pep talk and his finally staged encouragement ("don't stop, remember, you are the heart ! You're the heart"). The words are performative, desperate, idealized—not grounded in emotional truth. He praises a version of Eleven that no really exists, emphasizing her strength and powers, not her vulnerability, her personality, or her heart. This suggests he is in love with the idea of her—an idea shaped by admiration, yes, but especially guilt and obligation, not affection (further alienating her and reinforcing that his attachment is conditional and performative).

So yes, if the only two times your boyfriend tells you he loves you are:

– once, when you're not physically present, and he says it in a panicked trauma response, then refuses to take ownership of those words afterwards,

– and the second time is only after you told him that never hearing it from him is hurting you, and you need to hear it—and instead of reassuring you, he gaslights you into thinking he says it when he clearly doesn’t, dodges the subject by idealizing you as a superhero…

…and this “I love you” only comes when you’re on the brink of death, and only because his best friend handed him a painting with a disguised declaration of love in it?

Then I’m sorry, but that’s not romance. That’s codependency, guilt, trauma, emotional repression, and societal expectations. Not romantic love.

The relationship between Mike and El has long been framed through a heteronormative lens, one that presumes emotional closeness between a boy and a girl must equate to romantic attraction. The show’s framing and marketing often push this narrative, but Mike’s behavior consistently subverts it. His discomfort with physical affection, his emotional volatility, and his failure to express romantic feelings — even when prompted — all suggest that this narrative is externally imposed, not internally felt.

The audience’s insistence on seeing “Because I love her and I can't lose her again” as a definitive romantic confession overlooks the complexity of Mike’s trauma, his guilt, and his emotional repression. It ignores the fact that he never says it to Eleven directly until forced to, and even then, it is with inauthentic language and shaky motivation. The tragedy is that Mike’s real love story — one rooted in slow-burn intimacy, shared vulnerability, and mutual understanding — is with Will. But because it doesn’t fit the traditional mold, it goes unacknowledged by both the characters and the audience.

Mike Wheeler is not a romantic lead blindly in love with Eleven. He is a traumatized boy burdened by guilt, struggling with self-identity, repressing his true feelings, and unconsciously projecting protectiveness as love. His actions toward Eleven are rooted in trauma, not desire, while his connection with Will reveals the kind of emotional intimacy that speaks to a deeper, romantic truth. Until Mike confronts his trauma and his sexuality, he will continue to play a role that does not align with who he truly is — a boy in love, not with the girl who saved him, but with the boy who always understood him.

Mike is not a character who lacks love—on the contrary, he feels deeply. But his emotional repression, unresolved trauma, and fear of loss lead him to confuse guilt with devotion, and obligation with romance. His relationship with Eleven is a product of circumstance and narrative expectation—but it lacks the emotional reciprocity, intimacy, and authenticity of true romantic love. Meanwhile, his emotional world orbits around Will, whose presence brings out the rawest, most vulnerable, and most honest version of Mike.

In truth, Mike doesn’t need a girlfriend—he needs healing. He needs to confront his guilt, allow himself to feel, and to stop hiding behind a version of love that doesn’t belong to him. Only then will he be able to understand what love really is—and who it’s truly for.

[cleradinhive]

Mike somehow gets away with never commenting on any girl throughout the entire show, while Lucas and Dustin both have no problem freaking out over Jennifer Hayes, Princess Daphne, talking about how hot Phoebe Cates is, and being upset that girls don’t give them attention.

Meanwhile, Mike doesn’t talk about girls, and when he does it’s asking if they’re “cute,” while the other boys use “hot.”

This is often explained away by his relationship with El; he’s just a loyal and respectful young man. However, both Dustin and Lucas have an active girlfriend in a couple of these screenshots, and yet that doesn’t stop them from making the expected teenage-boy-esque remarks.

The only other boys who don’t make those types of comments? Will, the canonically gay character, and Mike.

Mike gets a lot of armor against speculation because of his relationship with El. When comparing his interest in girls to Lucas’ and Dustin’s though, there’s no arguing that he falls short.

I’m not arguing the gay vs bisexual point, but I do feel like this portion of his character is overlooked. If byler were to happen, this might be one of those things that the GA looks back on and thinks, “huh.”

[carmenilla]

so many characters in stranger things are shown to be interested in the opposite gender aside from their significant others (excluding will and robin for obvious reasons), yet the writers and set designers consistently avoid showing specifically mike to be interested in girls

now i'm not like some of y'all where i have gifs and screenshots tucked into my backpocket, but let's all try to remember these scenes

max has a crush on ralph macchio. she says that he's hot and that she bets he's a good kisser.

in the arcade, lucas and dustin are trying to win princess daphne in an arcade game (the name i forgot). when dustin fails the game, lucas says something along the lines of "princess daphne is still mine!"

dustin refers to his girlfriend as "hotter than phoebe cates", which is him indirectly calling phoebe cates very hot (making his girlfriend seem ungodly levels of attractive)

steve and jonathan both have suggestive posters of women in their room. jonathan's is pointed out by lonnie - lonnie tells him to "take that down, it's inappropriate". steve's can be seen before the st*ncy sex scene

nancy has a tom cruise poster in her room, pointed out by robin

but when it comes to mike, there's absolutely nothing that even mildly implies him being attracted to girls. the closest thing i can find is him asking dustin, "is she cute?" while dustin is talking about suzie, and when dustin compares her hotness to phoebe cates, mike is making a weirdass face that definitely does not imply any heterosexuality from him.

sure, he has a girlfriend. but we all know how that's going for him. (see: mike not kissing her back or even closing his eyes in the s3 finale, mike taking her hands off of him while they're making out, mike being unable to express his love for her while she's truly present, him never once explaining a single thing about el he loves/finds attractive except for "you can fly, you can move mountains" and "you're my superhero" and "you wore an oversized benny's burgers t-shirt one time", etc.)

bottom line - mike wheeler i know what you are

[kakerutori]

It’s telling to me how much Mike glorifies El for what she does and not who she is. From the very start of season 1, he calls her a “weapon.” Very similarly in season 4 - years later - he calls her a “superhero.” She is not his lover first, she is a set of traits first.

But that’s not to say that Mike is incapable of healthy connections with others. Yes, he calls Will the Party’s “cleric” and a “super spy,” but Will is his “best friend” first. We’re not established with traits, we see how much Mike and Will like being with each other first. Will is not a set of traits first, he’s his friend first.

Byler will always, always have the better chemistry for me, because Mike doesn’t just look at Will and see what he’s done and fixate on that, but he knows who Will is and encourages him for his traits to speak to that heart inside. He does not have that same heart connection with El.

[hadleysgallery]

during s4 promo, finn said that during the season mike is “trying to be as normal as possible”. i think this gives a lot of insight into what mike is feeling is s4 in regards to his sexuality.

(TL;DR at end)

in s4, mike is an active and proud member of his schools dnd club. mind you, this was during the 80s when satanic panic was at peak. dnd players during this time were largely regarded to be promoting satanism, and definitely not seen as normal. however, mike doesn’t seem to care about this. in the scene pictured above, mike says to lucas “have you ever considered that maybe we don’t want to be popular?” followed by (or following i don’t remember) dustin saying “we are nerds and freaks!” it’s very clear that mike isn’t worried about being perceived as ‘normal’ towards his classmates in terms of his interests/nerdiness.

mike sits at the table in school that would be considered the “freak table”. yall i live in a small southern town and i’ve sat at one of these tables before. it’s not fun. but again, mike doesn’t seem to be worried too much about this either.

none of mikes behavior in hawkins during s4 really indicates he’s “trying to be normal as possible”. so what is finn referencing?

during the airport scene, will is obviously going for a hug. however, mike is the one to make it weird by giving him a side hug. like, he had to deliberately decide to not return wills hug. mind you, will is the one who has already come to terms with the fact that he’s in love with mike, but still feels comfortable being affectionate with him. it’s mike who makes it awkward, because he’s clearly questions if his feelings for will are actually platonic, or romantic. hes literally having gay panic. this confusion is likely leading him to question his interactions with will. he decides to opt out of the hug, because he thinks the awkward side pat would be more normal (aka straight)

during him and wills fight at the roller rink, mike feels the need to emphasize “we’re friends. we’re friends.” mind you, will hadn’t said anything to imply that they were anything but. so, why mike? why feel the need to remind your best friend are only friends? he’s projecting! while will knows that he loves mike, he doesn’t think mike reciprocates. mike, however, is in denial about the fact that he kurt have romantic feelings about his male best friend. while he was physically taking to will, he was trying to convince himself that him and will are only friends. he clearly feels that anything more than that would be abnormal.

it should also be noted that the reason mike is acting so weird around will in these scenes is likely due to the fact that mike hadn’t seen will in a longgg time, and this was his first time seeing him after will moved. not only does distance make the heart grow fonder, but it also makes it easier to push away feelings of love for your best friend.

i could keep going, and i could even include s3 moments that are similar, but i just don’t have the energy to do so lmao.

TL;DR: the only times in season 4 where mike is desperately trying to “act normal” are during his scenes with will.

mike wheeler i know what you are

[lunabug2004]

The first time I watched s4, I remember thinking this

was such strange blocking for Mike... Like why isn't he celebrating with the others?

Then I remembered the way he's been pulling away from everyone since s2. This is a perfect clue put in for the audience to realize/remember this.

He's not only being hidden from the audience, he's hiding himself from his friends as well!

Istg the blocking in this show is actually genius.

[gayofthefae]

Thinking about from "I'm the only one acting normal here" to the shoulder punch.

He started thinking what we all think: that our normal is the normal. But between them and now, he realized that "I'm the only normal person" was, by definition, a lot less likely than "I am the abnormal one".

He used to view everyone who didn't see Will like he did as weird, crazy, confusing. Then he realized that he looked that way to them, that he was the odd one out in how he saw Will, that his feelings weren't what you "should" feel and everyone else wasn't matching up, his weird the outliers. And after thinking he was the only normal one his whole life, he didn't know what to do and he didn't know how to correct.

The crisis, always: how much of me is abnormal? Which parts? I know my desire is what's to be hidden, but today I desire to hug him, is that a shameful secret too? Is that a dangerous one too.

I would additionally like to now the timing of Mike's lines and behaviors used so strategically in season 1. This line, "I'm the only one acting normal" is said by Mike only before any homophobia has been levied against him. He was corrected.

But it's that classic story of "queerness exists and is hated but this isn't that, or it isn't in the way theirs is". Often, we didn't think "I didn't experience these feelings and thoughts", we think "every straight person does".

"Mike is just trying to be normal" - Finn Wolfhard on season 4, 2022

My off the top of my head speculation is that he thought it was normal, worried that it wasn't but buried that worry, felt it in an isolated and safe environment where he didn't need to think about its moral or social value (season 2 - one on one with Will), realized as puberty hit and those around him outgrew feelings he didn't that it was worrisome again and became frantically avoidant and trying and hoping to be able to love El as a means of "growing up" and implicitly growing out of those other abnormal things, he realized that he failed to love her that way/by a typical time and that his feelings were in fact abnormal but didn't know which parts of himself or how to hide them

Season 4 is him knowing he feels "abnormally" (some might say queerly) and thinking he should have grown out of it in season 3, not knowing why he didn't, and attempting to rectify it while also hiding the fact that it happened. By the end, he comes to term with the fact that he is different, just like Will describes, and that it is permanent. His journey may continue to be to hide it, but it is no longer to fix it.

He goes from wanting what he is already to be normal to wanting to change it to become normal to accepting that what he is is staying and it isn't "normal".

[vampirementality]

i really don't think mike is as clueless as a lot of people make him out to be, i see people always talking about how he's going to realize that he's queer but i think he already knows and is just hardcore suppressing it.

i think he knew something was up with will's painting speech too, and yeah he's a bit clueless about that, but not completely. i think he kind of understood what will really meant in the moment but second guessed himself after will urged him to profess his love for el.

i think he knew exactly who he was in season 3 and what was really going on, and couldn't come to terms with it. i think he definitely realized after the rain fight that he was high key projecting, but what is he do to with that knowledge? like realistically? and his face after el kisses him before she and the byers move away?

yeah, mike wheeler i know what you are, and so do you.

[cleradinthealps]

did you know that green socks are a symbol often associated with queer men?

i follow Eleanor Medhurst, a lesbian fashion historian, on tiktok. she made this video researching green’s role in queer color history and stumbled upon the presence of green socks as a symbol for queer men in the U.S. in the 1960s.

the tradition dates back to before Celtic tribes inhabited the British Isles when “the British Isles were inhabited by a darker-skinned pagan tribal culture known as the Brownies or, alternately, the Fairies.” Their culture emphasized non-patriarchal values and sexual liberation, which most likely included same-sex relationships. If you’ve ever heard of queer men being referred to as fairies, this is why.

Green was a color often sported by these people. Alongside this, Thursday was a holy day, hence the old superstition/saying that wearing green on Thursdays means you’re queer.

Phillip Hiscock, an assistant archivist and cited source in Medhurst’s video, stated, “To wear green socks, by the same people*, was thought to be a sure token of queerness, of being homosexual.”

*people who took care to wear green on Thursdays

Source: Venetia Newall, ‘Folklore and Male Homosexuality’

I think it’s definitely interesting that the writers chose to emphasize Mike’s choice of green socks in this episode!

[bylerpining]

closets in stranger things

season 1

season 3

season 4

season 5

some interesting things i noticed:

there's closet imagery in every season except s2, which is the season focused on developing mike and will's relationship. mike wasn't trying to hide himself; he was openly protecting and caring for will the whole season, and almost completely separated from el during this time.

el is directly involved in almost all of these scenes. in s1 mike literally hides her in his closet (he's unintentionally pulling her into the closet with him aka their straight-passing relationship). and again in s4 she's crying in a closet, which isn't mike's but it's played back to back with mike and will's fight about their relationship, and connected by the song "in the closet (at rink o mania)."

in s3 the closet is open, bathed in yellow, framed right in between them. mike takes out will's bear from the closet, el is holding it (stand-in for will?) and mike also brings up will randomly in this scene ("and will, too!").

in s5 they're sitting on what resembles an open closet (i know it isn't a closet but it looks like one ok) again surrounded by yellow. they're no longer inside it or standing in front of the closet; they're out in the open.

[lune-moon-nuit]

I must admit, I find it incredibly difficult to understand how a portion of the Stranger Things audience can be so conservative, when from the very beginning, the Duffer Brothers—along with the cast—have made it a point to consistently remind viewers, through dialogue, storytelling, and thematic structure, that this series exists to honor, uplift, and defend the marginalized—those who do not conform to heteronormative standards or societal expectations.

As @kieusol so aptly pointed out in their post, the same segment of the audience that clings to conservative ideals also tends to idolize Billy, despite the fact that he embodies everything the protagonists of the series are fighting against. Billy is the ultimate result of what happens when a person is forced to adhere to the suffocating pressures of conformity, toxic masculinity, homophobia, racism, and a cycle of violence inherited and perpetuated through trauma. He is the very embodiment of what societal norms want us to become, but whose existence brings only pain and destruction.

He is glorified not because of his complexity as a character, but because he represents the ideals conservatives wish to preserve—and it’s not a coincidence that during a time when far-right and fascist ideologies are gaining momentum across both the United States and Europe, there are people watching Stranger Things and deliberately glorifying what Billy represents, all while turning a blind eye to the deeper meaning and symbolism of the show.

This trend parallels the alarming rise in homophobic rhetoric targeting Will, particularly since Season 4, and especially within the Mileven fandom. Beyond fans who simply want Mike and Eleven to stay together as a projection of themselves onto El/Millie in order to fantasize about being with Mike/Finn, I’ve also observed a growing number of online voices—entirely unaffiliated with any fandom—insisting that Byler is impossible and that Mike loves Eleven. These are not fans; they are outside viewers with conservative, Trumpist, and blatantly homophobic mindsets, who care little for Mileven but are adamant that a main character who is openly gay should not win, should not get the love he deserves, and should not be allowed to thrive.

It is worth noting that Stranger Things Season 1 premiered in the same year Donald Trump was elected for the first time. It is critical that we remember the words David Harbour spoke when the cast received an award shortly thereafter. As @miwiheroes brilliantly articulated in their thesis, particularly in section 1.4.1 For the Marginalised, Harbour’s speech (as you can watch on @your-ivy-grows13 post) was a call to action—a plea to uphold the series' fundamental message and to extend its protective embrace to the real-world marginalized. And today, we need that message more than ever.

Every single main character in Stranger Things is targeted in one way or another—for being a "nerd", yes, but even more so for being girls, for being Black, for living with a disability, for being gay, queer, lesbian, poor, a single mother, or a survivor of abuse. These identities are precisely the same communities being attacked and made most vulnerable by far-right regimes such as Trump’s. When David delivered his speech urging vigilance, Trump had already begun cultivating an atmosphere of fear. With his potential second term, he has shifted from laying the groundwork to openly launching assaults on human rights.

And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that more and more conservatives have gradually started watching Stranger Things, seeking to strip it of its nuance, subtext, and pointed symbolic direction, all carefully crafted by the Duffers. These individuals despise art, culture, and intelligence—anything that threatens their propaganda and rigid worldview. That’s why they idealize someone like Billy, excusing his crimes and abuse, and cling to a romantic pairing like Mileven, even when it makes both characters deeply unhappy. They’d rather see Mike and Eleven suffer than accept a narrative where two gay boys are in love and happy and—especially if those boys are main characters in one of the world’s most popular shows. And to witness a young girl—survivor of years of abuse—gain her independence and come to the profound realization that she does not need a man’s validation in order to exist. (For this I can only recommend you to read the posts that this genius @gayofthefae wrote about El and her relationships with the male figures in her life : here, here and here it's fascinating).

This is precisely why, as an act of resistance against the normalization of homophobia, racism, hatred, and violence disguised as societal norms—which is the very thing the characters themselves suffer under—it is crucial that Byler becomes canon. It would be a message of hope to queer viewers and an opportunity to awaken those whose minds have been clouded by conservative rhetoric. All art is political. There is a reason the far-right seeks to censor it: art is one of the most powerful forms of resistance. Through metaphor and allegory, it transmits vital truths that challenge the status quo.

I know I may be rambling and struggling to organize my thoughts, but what I am ultimately trying to express is this: the Duffer Brothers, Shawn Levy, David Harbour, and the rest of the cast have been repeating since 2016 that Stranger Things is a love letter to the freaks and the imperfect. That message is what gives many of us the strength to fight, to survive in a world that demands conformity, to dare to be ourselves, and to realize we are not alone. We are not mistakes—no matter our differences, no matter who we are, who we love, the color of our skin, our gender, our bodies, our pain. We are not alone—we are united. And it is love—romantic, familial, platonic—that binds us together and triumphs over hate and violence.

That is why we must never lose sight of what this series has stood for since day one. We must remember its original message. Never forget.

And when the little twelve-year-old boy—bullied, abused, hated for who he is, kidnapped and traumatized in the very first season—finally defeats the monster of conformity and trauma, and emerges alive, healed, and happy, with the boy he loves by his side—that message of hope will be passed on to viewers, and we will have won. And that victory, within the story, must inspire us to achieve those same victories in the real world—to create a better, more compassionate future for everyone.

[bylrray]

I hate when people reduce Mike to an overly loser, helpless, timid twink who can’t defend himself.

[edited]

Did we all just forget that he’s always the first to jump into action? Even if he loses the fight, he never hesitates to throw himself into danger. He’s reckless, impulsive, and fiercely protective—especially in Season 3, where we constantly see him stepping up to help El, whereas everyone just freeze up—scared, shocked, unable to move. Mike was the first one to leap into an action even if he's scared at the moment, he pushes the thought aside in order to help El, forcing his legs to move and do something in order to rescue his friends. Even after Billy knocked him out, he was the first one to regain consciousness. In Season 2, during the scene with Dart, he was the first to act in order to protect Will. He doesn’t cower—he fights, even when the odds are against him.

This idea that Mike is weak and always in need of protection is completely false. Steve loses fights all the time, yet no one calls him a fragile twink who can’t defend himself. So why is it different with Mike?

Let’s not forget some of Mike’s most heroic moments throughout the series:

In Season 1, he literally jumped off a cliff for Dustin . Eleven saved him. That’s not the move of someone afraid to stand up for his friends.

In Season 2, he was the only one who truly believed in Will’s consciousness still being there and refused to give up on him, even when everyone else was losing hope.

In Season 3, he was constantly putting himself in harm’s way for Eleven, trying to help her fight off the Mind Flayer and even risking himself against Billy.

And in Season 4, despite everything, he still stood by Will and Eleven, even when he didn’t fully understand how to help them.

Mike isn’t weak. He’s stubborn, brave, and endlessly loyal. He doesn’t always win, but he never backs down—and that’s what makes him a fighter.

Calling him a twink or a loser is no problem—but making his whole personality as a helpless loser is where the problem stands.

[cleradinhive]

While everyone is focusing on the “romance was not on his mind” part of this answer, I’m particularly interested in the way Finn said, “that relationship is his FIRST romantic feelings toward someone.” Mike has had one relationship in his entire life and as far as the audience knows, Eleven is the only person he’s had feelings for.

Finn saying the word “first” instead of something like “only” sounds like a subconscious slip. This may be because in season 5, we will see that, while Eleven might be the first, she certainly isn’t the last.

It’s also not lost on me that Finn refers to romantic feelings towards “someone” instead of “a girl.” In the audio for this answer, he says “Mike didn’t forsee him to be in a romantic relationship [with a lot of people] just because he was a nerdy kid.” The gender inclusive language is striking.