#mike is just some guy. he’s not this massive grandiose figure or some clumsy stupid damsel

[wibble-wobbegong]

okay listen man. listen. i was gonna make a big formal epic post but i feel like this gets explained constantly by everybody and yet the point is still constantly missed by even some of the same people who explain it

the entire point of mike’s character is that we are supposed to be in his shoes. mike is the odd one out. mike is the one who doesn’t fit in the supernatural storyline. but he doesn’t fit in with society either. he has nowhere he feels like he belongs.

so many people around him fit in with society. they can be accepted there — they can be cool and have value there. mike can’t. mike doesn’t fit in with society because he’s gay. it’s a very real, very human problem for us. mike will never fit in with society because of how they view him, so he’s always turned to fantasy and comics because he thinks he can fit in there only to find out he can’t

he finally gets to live a real life comic book with super heroes and dark villains only to find out he isn’t the main character he thought he would be. he doesn’t have el’s powers (superman) or even nancy’s ability to gather informaion (louis lane) so where does he fit? he views el as this unreal, amazing superhero he always wanted to be as a kid because then it would be okay for him to not fit in. if he couldn’t be that, then at least he could be someone who doesn’t fit in with society but fits in with superheroes, right?

but it doesn’t work like that. even further than just el or nancy, he can’t be brave like will or strong like lucas or smart like dustin — he doesn’t see how much he adds to the story because he’s constantly just watching. nobody ever tells him how important he is.

the entire point of mike’s story is learning that he doesn’t have to fit in anywhere to be good. he doesnt have to fit society’s standards or be some superhero or fit in with hellfire (ex: dressing like eddie). he doesn’t have to fit in at all and he can still be good.

mike is ugly. mike is queer. mike doesn’t have superpowers and he won’t ever be popular. and none of that matters, because what makes him special doesn’t fit in any sort of standard or expectation — its that he never stops trying. he never gives up. mike will fight till the day he dies for the people he loves and that is what makes him special. he will take people by the hand and drag them out of the dark. he will keep giving people a reason to fight and keep fighting when they’re done.

mike is special because of how he loves. he’s not worthy because of any sort of idea of speciality. it’s his qualities that make him special and them alone. he just needs to learn to love those parts of himself in order to really, truly become the person he wants to be. he needs to stop wishing he were like lucas or nancy or el and start just loving and being himself.

every time we hype mike up or talk him down, we are like him too. we can be who we want to be if we start loving and being ourselves instead of reaching for these unattainable goals set by both the normal people AND the freaks.

that’s the point of mike’s character.