Okay, so I want Buddie to get together before Chris comes home, right? So, they get Chris, spend a few days getting everyone settled back into the swing of things, and then either 1) they don't get a chance to tell him, or 2) they do, and it doesn't go great (which I feel like is something that's going to happen regardless, I need Christopher to be an angsty teen with abandonment issues in 4k)
BUT
Before they can sit down again and figure everything out, they get a call for another wildfire or a crossover or whatever that requires them to leave town for a little bit.
Obviously, Eddie can't go, because he just got Christopher back home and he really doesn't want to leave him again, even temporarily, but Buck has to go because people need help.
Cue Buck & Eddie spending time apart for the first time since they got together, sleeping in different beds hundreds of miles away from the other, and both spiraling a little bit. Eddie because he's worried that Buck is finally getting some time away from him and the mess that he was in Chris' absence and is worried that he doesn't want to keep wading through Eddie's problems,
And Buck because Chris is back now, and what if Eddie doesn't need him anymore? What if he was just a stand-in or a placeholder for Chris, but now his son is back and Eddie is on his own two feet again and what if he doesn't need Buck anymore, and if he doesn't need him, then why would he keep him around?
Extra points if telling Chris doesn't go well so they're trying to figure that out and cell service is spotty and they don't know what the other is thinking because they're so far away and if they were closer, they would just be together and solve the problem, but they're not so they're relying on delayed messages and downed phone lines and a game of phone tag.
And then, obviously, Buck gets home, and they realize they were spiraling over nothing because they've been building a life together for far longer than the few months they've been kissing, and Buck sits and talks with Christopher, and everything is fine.
AND THEN I NEED TIM TO LEAVE THEIR RELATIONSHIP ALONE. No breakups like in a lot of other main couples (Chenford, Booth & Brennan, I'm looking at you guys.) no! None of that! They've suffered enough, give them plot lines without breaking them up.
Give them better arcs with their parents, BRING US EDDIE'S GODDAMN SISTERS and the drama I K N O W is hiding there. Give us Buck focusing on his career (and also maybe slip in an official ADHD diagnosis, what, who said that?) Give us them talking about raising another kid, kill off an obscure family member and a stroll down memory lane (I absolutely do not mean Isabel Diaz, you keep your filthy paws OFF Eddie's abuela, bitches. I love her so so so so much lol).
Give them character arcs that have nothing to do with them possibly breaking up. They deserve storyline's that are more than just about their love interest. Literally, Buck's coming out wasn't even about him, it was all about Tommy and I'm so sick of it. Buck and Eddie are interesting characters! They are M A I N characters, give them better storylines. (Esp Eddie bc genuinely, wtf have you all done to my boy??)
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Thinking about how people who only (or primarily) understand Mike’s arc through a “hes queer and coming to accept it / struggling with heteronormativity/will get his happy ending when he gets with Will” lens are missing at least half of what defines his arc in the wider context / themes of the show.
Forewarning: long post (& also maybe an unpopular opinion)
Even as a queer person myself, I know that his arc isn’t solely about embracing his queerness (though it’s inherently interlinked). In Mike, you have a character who is being radically challenged by both external circumstances and his own decisions through a journey away from all kinds of forced conformity (social, familial, romantic & heteronormative) and into someone self actualized enough to live how they want…while also being strong enough to accept that they made mistakes along the way. Someone who is learning to be brave enough to say “this is who I am, what I enjoy, and what/who I love…and while it took me a lot of time to figure it out, now I can exist in the world embracing that even though it will take consistently resisting the tendency to accommodate people who think it’s unacceptable.”
Like. Even from a time before puberty (see: S3) Mike wants a life that stands apart from what’s expected of him in every area, not just in choosing a romantic relationship with another guy. He wants to continue to be a nerd and “child at heart” even though something else is repeatedly demanded of him by everyone from his parents to El in his romantic relationship. He wants to be a writer and someone who takes those nerdy interests into his adult life (cue aggressive gesturing toward the duffers themselves) and grates against all that’s been constructed for him even when he’s not (yet) brave enough to challenge it directly. Mike liking boys/loving Will is just “the final nail in the coffin” of his social and societal nonconformity—not the first (or the last) aspect of what makes him different from Hawkins or the life he was made to believe would suit him best.
Even the fact that Mike has a desire to be “normal” comes from an insecurity and fear that choosing what he truly wants will lead to him being outcasted and losing the people he cares for entirely—which is partially motivated by his queerness yes, but that also has a basis in his general interests and personality…which becomes especially obvious when you realize we are repeatedly shown that he is punished/has his wishes ignored in all areas he doesn’t conform, even long before we get into a plot where it’s clearer he likes boys.
We see it in how his parents have already started to demand he put boundaries on the time he spends playing his “childhood games” the very first scene of season one, how they demand social acceptable emotions from him when Will is missing, and how Karen & Ted want him to give up toys in S2 when he’s showing signs of depression (because they think the issue is him growing up, not that he’s struggling with loss or guilt for what happened to El).
We see it in how his own father comments about taking his CA trip away from him after calling Hellfire being a group for “dropouts” in S4 (implying that he is failing on an academic and social level that matters to wheelers—and that Nancy is good at).
We even see it in the way everyone from his bullies to his own girlfriend threaten and take things away from him when he doesn’t conform to social expectations...from Troy telling him to jump off the cliff to save Dustin in S1 (as punishment for the one time Mike stands up for himself in the gymnasium) to El jumping straight into breaking up with him and spying on him when he doesn’t do exactly what she wants him to in Season 3.
All of these moments are critical to understanding Mike as a person because they show us that, even without addressing his queerness, Mike’s desire to conform to socialized expectations involves but is not solely about him moving out of heteronormativity—it’s about him moving against everything that WASP, patriarchal, heteronormative and capitalistic and performative “wholesome American” values…and how he is learning to move past the fear of what will happen if he steps outside the lines in general, even though he already knows he hates those standards.
Mike’s “coming of age” arc is about finding the strength to choose the “path less traveled” in all areas of his life—even when it means (potentially) losing the support of the people he cares about. It’s about starting from a place of privilege and becoming okay with being outcasted from it in a way your insecurities never let you be before (which is inherently different than Will, who has always been shown to have some kind of support not just for his queerness but his artistic endeavors as well). Mike’s lack of support is why he starts from a place of deep insecurity, yes—but it’s also why him learning power of choosing to be himself, even if it means “losing” people when he’s honest about who (& what) he is will be universally powerful.
You don’t need to be queer to understand the power of what it means to know you will be okay even if people leave you. You don’t need to be queer to understand the power of stepping outside social expectations or your family’s way of raising you. You don’t even need to be queer to understand the weight of breaking up with someone you were only with to satisfy what you thought you should do, rather than be with who you want to.
The power of being strong enough to overcome your insecurities in order to “step out of line” and live and love as you want to is universal, and a stunningly brave choice no matter what or why you chose to do so. The fact that Will will be there waiting to love him in that honesty with himself is beautiful, yes—but it’s not the only lesson to be learned for Mike’s character.
Mike starting out with everything the world (or, at least America) tells would make you happy, realizing he is not happy with those things and rejecting them knowing it might have consequences is what makes his arc powerful, because he is learning (exactly like his sister Nancy) to be brave enough to accept those consequences (which for him are getting dumped, and feeling like he’s being left behind by some of his friends) to follow his own heart.
Even though The Duffers aren’t writing this into a tragic ending (aka: he’s not going to die or be left alone, because the duffers writing is inherently designed ro champion the outcast), these are the things that have (and will) make him relatable even to an audience that doesn’t know queerness. Erasing the fact that his lesson is the bravery it takes to follow your heart solely to talk about him liking guys (even Will) is to undermine his humanity, and the lessons to be learned from him by even the most general an audience.
TL:DR - the heteronormative aspect of Mike’s character is not the sole or even inherent issue within Mike, though heteronormativity is inherently built into his struggle.
There are deep dives on how his arc is also about a war against toxic patriarchy, toxic masculinity, emphasis on capitalistic and academic accomplishments over artistic ones, and even conformist relationships (whether they’re queer or not) that should be explored for his character—and I for one like him too much not to move out of just “this boy is queer because xyz” and into “let’s talk about Mike in terms of the wider scope of his cultural context and upbringing.” 🤷🏽♀️😂
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Ride 751: Hakogaku's preliminary inspection
Pag 1
1: Plunging into a new chapter!!
Pag 2
1: The rivals standing in their way in the Inter High!!
Pag 3
1: Kanagawa Prefecture, Hakone city
3: Huh, a preliminary inspection
4: for the Inter High!?
5: Yeah... well... it's a usual thing
Now, really? Really?
Pag 4
1: Gwaaa hoii!!
2: I'll go, I'll go, I'll go!!
Yeeah!!
4: Huh, preliminary inspection? I might be a little interested
He's suddenly acting cool!?
5: Ah
Pag 5
1: Coough
Waaaa
He's suddenly vomiting blood!?
2: He definitely bit his tongue while jumping around in excitement earlier....
3: 'm ohey
It's obvious that your tongue hurts....
Yeah...
This guy is always injured....
4: If nohing!!
I get it, I get it!!
5: 'en u we 'eave? (When do we leave?)
In thirty minutes, before the clubroom... you'll take a car to the train station
'aight!!
6: It's so obvious he's happy about it
7: Was that right? They didn't give us details
I guess, it's what Manami-san told us
First year Tobirama
Pag 6
1: Last month, in the club's tournament he won the F-group climber race
Pag 7
1: Yeah, I see, and he's gonna run in this year's Inter High as the sixth regular member of Hakogaku!!
2: Seriously, I
3: I want to be considered cool by everyone!!
4: What's up with him, he looks so cheerful
Cool, cool, Kyuushu~
That Tobirama is so festive
Pag 8
5: Huh!? It's just me and Manami-san!?
Isn't- like, Doubashi-san coming!?
6: Hn.... I told Jou-kun and Yuuto, too, but they had their practice menu, so they said “no”
8: They said no!?
Huh!? But it's a preliminary inspection!?
9: For the Inter High!! A preliminary inspection, right!?
Yeah
Pag 9
1: A preliminary inspection for summer's great battle, right!?
2: That's right... the place we're going to now it's the biggest “mountain”.....
3: A mountain we absolutely have to overcome
4: And yet the other members didn't come!!
Ah... Manami... I'm seeing now that apparently the train stopped because of an accident
Ah
Should we just go there directly?
Is that okay? Thank you
5: Directly!? By car!?
Huh!?
6: To Kyuushu!?
7: The Inter High is in Kyuushu, right? How long will it take from here....
Hm? Around
Pag 10
1: Two hours and a half
Pag 11
4: Yeah... we arrived in two and a half hours, but- this is Chiba, isn't it!?
5: Where is Kyuushu!? Ah!? Is there a theme park like the park in Kyuushu here too?
And what abaout the splendid nature!? The big volcano...!!
6: Ah
7: Where will he have the preliminary inspection?
Cool
If you hurry up and get ready...?
Pag 12
1: We'll do our practice menu here, today
Pag 13
2: Our menu.... did you want to practice here just for a change of mood?
3: It's here, right? Where they do tournaments and stuff
It's Chiba's
4: Minegayama, right?
Yeah!!
5: Hakone is better though
6: I wanted to go to Kyuushu
7: Ah, by the way, speaking of Chiba, an acquaintance of mine lives here
Pag 14
1: You know, I was in the basketball club when I was in middle school
Ehh... I didn't know...
2: A good senpai of mine meddled with their basket club....
3: And apparently he was a good friend with my club's teacher advisor, and so they often organized practice matches with Chiba's middle school
4: I got injured a lot back then, too
So I often got injured and that guy from that middle school took care of me
5: He was so good at treating injuries that in my school they called him the “super manager”
6: I guess he's still in the basket club?
Pag 15
2: Ah, by the way, what's today's practice menu?
Fifteen minutes at a fixed output... three or something?
Nahh
3: Since they'll probably come, it's “do your best to win against that guy”!!
3: Huh!?
Who's gonna come!? You organized this with someone?
4: Any time now... probably
But we didn't
5: Organize it
6: Huh!?
The sound of wheels.... from behind us!? A bike!? …. no, more than one
Pag 16
2: They're here
Pag 17
1: Last year's champion, Sohoku High School!!
Pag 18
5: Teh!?
7: Yo
Pag 19
1: It's been a while, Sakamichi-kun
2: Hakogaku's captain, Manami Sangaku- why is he here!!
Pag 20
1: Wearing their jerseys and riding their bikes, there's no way they came here to sightsee!!
2: Manami-kun!!
3: The Inter High is next week already, isn't it? Bu before that.... I thought we should cross that “mountain*” once
(*NdT.: here, the kanji say “mountain king”, but the reading says “mountain”)
Pag 21
1: “Mountain”.....!! “That we absolutely have to overcome”- so this is the “preliminary inspection”!!
2: How about... that summit over there?
Your team... we're at an overwhelmind disadvantage, but
3: We don't plan on losing
It's a “preliminary battle”!?
5: Manami-san's concentration.....
Pag 22
1: it sprang up!!
Sounds interesting, doesn't it!?
Pag 23
1: A preliminary battle!?
He wants' to challenge us!?
2: Now!?
Here!?
3: You came here... on purpose... for this?
4: Yeah
5: I came here for this only?
7: Uh!! Sohoku's captain's.....
Pag 24
1: Onoda-san's concentration sprang up too!!
Got it!!
Pag 25
1: Onoda!!
2: Onoda-kun!!
3: Seriously!?
4: Waaa
5: We're starting a race against those two!? Teh!?
6: Oh, oh oh?
Pag 26
1: Really?
Those jerseys
2: It's Hakone Academy and Sohoku!!
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