#mike wheeler analysis

[byler-alarmist]

You're gonna sit there and tell me that Mike had feelings for El, yet when El was crying for reassurance that Mike loved her--

He couldn't have gotten the fck up and went over to comfort her??

Like this????

This is where the "he couldn't say ily because he was afraid If he said it-" yadda, yadda, yadda, falls apart.

Even if he couldn't say the words aloud, we have seen that he is able to show his affection and love through physical touch.

(Which did wonders for Will feeling cared for and supported, btw)

Also, even if he couldn't say the words "I love you", he could have spoken softly to her, gently reassuring her of how she was special to him.

Like tbis???

Singling her out from the rest and assuring her his feelings haven't changed and home isn't home without her??

There are so many ways that conversation could've gone to make E feel loved, even if he couldn't say it. We know Mike is capable of showing it.

But he did not use his love language with El. He wouldn't even go near her to hold hands or even put an arm around her, nor did he try to say he missed her or that they were a team.

TL;DR: Mike Wheeler, I know what you are.

[aemiron-main]

staring at how mike’s hand gestures during the s4 wrestlers’ scene were familiar to me but we never see any of the wheelers do any sort of similar gesture. i thought it was just a mike thing at first but that didn’t explain why it was so familiar. and then i realized. 

he picked it up from mr. clarke.

even the head tilt. and it makes sense that mike would pick up more mannerisms from mr clarke than someone like ted because mike’s canonically had more positive interactions with mr clarke on screen than he’s had with ted. 

[kiirotoao]

Season 2 Mike said, “he’s quiet today.” He really said, ‘hey, I know that something’s wrong,’ without a single hint from Will that anything was wrong.

And when Mike learned that things were going wrong, he said, “if we’re both going crazy, we’ll go crazy together, right?” He really said, ‘hey, I’m here for you. No matter how rough it gets, I’m not going anywhere,’ even in the face of this new, terrifying, bad force.

And after Mike made that promise, he stayed by Will’s side and said, “we won’t let him.” He really said, ‘I’m sticking to my word and we will overcome this,’ even as the Mind Flayer was actively taking Will over.

And throughout this whole horrific ordeal, as Will got worse and worse, Mike said, “what’s wrong?” Multiple times, at that. He really said, ‘I want to help you no matter what. Tell me what you see. Let me help you,’ and he never, ever feared Will or doubted him.

And after Mike figured out the Mind Flayer’s plan, after it possessed Will completely, after everything he knew, he said to Will,

“You remember the first day that we met? It was the first day of kindergarten. I knew nobody. I had no friends. I just felt so alone. And so scared. But I saw you on the swings, and you were alone, too. You were just swinging by yourself, and I just walked up to you, and I asked. I asked if you wanted to be my friend. You said, ‘yes.’ You said, ‘yes.’ It was the best thing I’ve ever done.”

And… do I even need to elaborate on how sweet that is?

The more and more Will was taken from him, the more and more Mike gave to him. It didn’t matter to Mike that Will was almost gone, he poured everything out to him to reach him.

That’s not just love. It’s not even just unconditional love that looks past bad circumstances, that’s dedicated love that actively works in the face of hardship.

Season 2 Mike loved Will so much that it hurt. And he was only 13.

[strangerthanyou011]

will and mike when they first met: i’m not the only one who’s lonely

will and mike in season 1: i’m not the only freak

will and mike in season 2: i’m not the only one who feels crazy

will and mike in season 3: i’m not the only one struggling to survive puberty and figure out who i am if i’m not a kid anymore

will and mike in season 4: i’m not the only one who’s afraid to be honest with people about my feelings

will and mike in season 5: i’m not the only one who’s gay and in love with my best friend???!?

[wheeler-fan]

Can we please talk about how people downplay Mike's trauma over losing Will and El?

Mike lost Will, first Will went missing while returning from Mike's house which probably made Mike feel guilty, then he literally watched his body being fished out of the water, there was even a funeral. People don't pay attention to how hard these days must have been for him - and why? because Will is back, safe and sound. People in the fandom and the characters in the show, no one pays attention to it. Fans think that how much Mike cares for Will in season two is a reflection of his romantic feelings for him - no one wants to connect it to his trauma. The characters in Stranger Things don't pay attention to it either because Will is back so it doesn't count, everyone talks about Nancy losing Barb but no one talks about Mike because at least his friend is back.

Mike lost El, and he was literally going crazy even though he had only known her for a few days. He fell into depression and couldn't come to terms with the loss so he was calling her for 353 days. Her return is a miracle from heaven for Mike, and the way he behaves after her return, how much he cares for her, what makes him look like someone who wants to control her even though he doesn't. All this is the result of the trauma he had to go through alone without any help. People say Mike has no trauma which always surprises me because people see Nancy's trauma after losing her friend or Joyce's trauma after losing her lover, so why can't they see Mike's? because the two people he was mourning are back, and no one cares about Mike's feelings anymore. This boy had to (still has to) do everything he could to look like a normal teenager without any problems because no one took his problems seriously anymore.

remember, this post is not about romantic things related to this character, it doesn't matter if you ship byler or mileven, this is a post about mike and his trauma, take it easy, thank you

[strangeeditsbylr]

Mike not having a birthmark might be because of byler.

For people who don't know, originally the Duffer's wanted Mike to have a large birthmark on his face but they ended up scrapping that idea for an unknown reason, but I think I might know the reason.

All the kids from the main party in season one are all ridiculed, hurt or made fun of for something about themselves, something out of their control

Lucas is bullied for being black, Dustin is bullied for having a disability, El is treated like a lab rat because she has powers, Will is bullied for being gay and Mike.. Not really anything, he's bullied but there's not an obvious reason for it like with the others.

I'm going to use Will as an example for what I'm about to say, I think Mike is also bullied for being queer even if he doesn't know it. Will is absolutely not open about his sexuality, he keeps that hidden as much as he can and yet people bully him for it anyway because they can tell there's something different about him. The same could easily be true for Mike as well, he's bullied because they can tell something is different about him. If they had given Mike a birthmark however, everyone would assume he's being bullied for the birthmark, not for being queer, and that's not the story they're trying to tell with Mike here.

[mocha-mochii-blog]

guys I just noticed this on the left is Dr. Frank-N-Furter from Rocky Horror and on the right is Mike Wheeler’s main s4 outfit the triangle over the heart on the left was historically used to indicate people as gay and has now become frequent lgbt imagery (e.g. in Robin’s shirt) this is making me crack upppp

[prfctmxxnlight]

let’s talk about

michael’s airport outfit

and how different it is from the rest of his clothes

as we all know, the people involved in making this show go above and beyond to make everything mean something. almost nothing is a coincidence. you can see it from the way some characters talk and react, to the way they’re placed in a scene, maybe from a small detail in the background, or the music that’s playing during, but most importantly: through their clothing

for the most part, mike’s style has always been the same, collared shirts and jeans, maybe shorts (which he only ever wears on season 3 and on his first day in lenora in season 4)

the airport outfit is just so out of character, and i don’t think it’s a coincidence

when argyle first meets mike he checks out his shirt and calls it a “shitty knockoff” and while they’re making it up to seem as if he’s talking about the brand, he’s talking about mike

how airport mike is the shitty knockoff of hawkins mike, real mike

mike is pretending to be someone he is not

he’s trying to please el, dressing how he thinks she’d like, trying to prove that he likes her (despite the fact that no one doubts this), trying to convince himself that he likes her

this weird, knockoff version of mike wouldn’t even hug his best friend after 6 months (give or take) of not seeing him, i wonder why?

6 months really is a long time to reflect about your feelings and come to new realizations

this outfit, this attitude, they’re a representation of mike trying to hide who he really is, how he really feels. it’s him trying to be someone he is not to please other people but also to erase himself, to try to change who he is because he doesn’t accept himself

[lunabug2004]

Guys whatever you do don’t think about the fact that Mike Wheeler gets no comfort while watching his best friend get taken over by a literal monster and then be in excruciating pain because of this monster, only to be lost to this monster in front of his own very eyes. Don’t think about the fact that despite being the only (aware) child in the situation, none of the adults around him ever try to check up on him or support him through this.

Then when Bob dies he’s the one providing comfort to Joyce when they run, he’s the one comforting and supporting the others by coming up with plans.

The only comfort he gets isn’t until the beginning of episode 9, when everything isn’t even over yet, and it’s too late. He’s already lost his trust in Hopper now. He kept El from him for almost a year, letting him soak in his own depression and self-guilt. He may stay by Hop after he comforts him because that’s what he is craving, it’s what he needs, but we’re back to disrespectful Mike in the next season bc obv it was too much for Mike to forgive Hop.

In season 1, we see a kid with his heart on his sleeve. He knows what he wants and he’s not afraid to tell people this, even when his own family is putting him down for it. But in s3, we see a kid who represses his emotions as far down as they’ll go, full of self-hatred, never opening up to anyone.

I believe this change is mainly due to these facts: 1) he was depressed for a whole year and no one ever picked up on it, again, no one comforted him, esp not his family. He probably thought he was being stupid, we already know he thought he was crazy. 2) at this point, he had been repeatedly shut down when voicing his thoughts (Lucas shutting down his worries about Will, Dustin yelling at him when he was grieving for Bob, Hopper immediately getting mad when he was voicing his frustrations), and he probably doesn’t think there’s any point to it anymore. No one ever listens to him anyways. And then 3) the complete lack of comfort he is (not) given throughout seeing Will, his best friend, suffer and being completely unable to help him. That is, until he’s forced to listen to his screams as he’s convincing the others to put Will to sleep.

So yeah… don’t think about that guys :)

[crazytogether4l]

The hug that will deserved ❤️

Drawing inspired by a random photo I found on Pinterest lol

Thanks for the love as always!!! 💕

[cluelessbees]

Hi hello, I really wanna talk about how crazy together is such an important moment for Mike. So--

Up until this point, Mike's depression and his struggles have been brushed off by everyone around him.

For one, his parents don't really try to listen to him. Instead they sort of guilt him for not moving on or feeling better fast enough.

They don't give him a chance to talk about his feelings. They just berate him. And we also see the same thing with his friends. For example, the way Dustin sort of questions why Mike is on the different channel.

And we can see how this really affects Mike. He already feels stupid for even believing she might be alive, and Dustin's comment is just a reminder of that insecurity.

The Duffers are such little shits for this because they have Dustin and Lucas's convo in the next scene play over Mike looking sad to draw your attention away from it, but you can see how much this is affecting him.

He feels stupid and weird for holding on, for not being able to let go.

But then there's Will, who gives Mike the space to talk.

Who listens to him with no judgment.

Who hears Mike call himself crazy, and rather than judge, admits that he feels crazy sometimes too.

This moment specifically is so fucking crucial. Because two things happen.

1- Mike starts to brush off his own feelings. He pulls himself away because he feels like he was weird for admitting that. He's ready for Will to judge him and agree. For him to say "yeah, you're being crazy."

2- Mike calls himself crazy. Like, this is the 80s. A time where the subject of mental illness was a huge taboo and highly stigmatised. Mike is implying he might mentally ill. And that's both such a vulnerable and terrifying thing to admit.

He's prepared for Will to agree with him. For Will to make him feel even more crazy. And he's scared of getting scrutinised, but none of that happens. Will willingly admits he feels the same (which is equally vulnerable) so that Mike knows he's not alone. And it works.

Mike's no longer alone in this. He has Will. They're in this together.

[hessolivagant]

Analyzing will and being obsessed with his point of view

Analyzing Mike and his point of view

WHAT IS GOING ON INSIDE YOUR HEAD, TELL US, TELL US NOW

[robynrocksforbrains]

Mike Wheeler is important and there's nothing wrong with analyzing him

Since y'all wanna be insufferable bitches about it I'm gonna explain to you why he's important, why Will loves him, why his struggles should be acknowledged, and why his character depth is pivotal to byler endgame being a satisfying conclusion for both Mike AND Will. Deal with it!

We are not seeing smoke where there isn't a flame. We are seeing smoke where there is a literal fucking forest fire.

Starting off with something a lot of people aren't ready for but I've seen more people talking about: Mike is the main character of s1 at the very least. He is the character that brings us into the world of stranger things. He is the character that the writers chose for this. Mike is the main character of s1 and it was an instant hit. The writers love Mike. Contrary to popular belief, giving a character an arc where they are struggling and their behavior changes from what is normal for the character we know and love does NOT mean the writers hate that character. It means they deliberately chose to give that character complexity and depth. Your inability to like characters that do anything wrong ever is not the fault of the writers. Your decision to act as if a character is not important is not reflective of the actual narrative because it in fact is in direct opposition to the narrative. So just to be clear, if you genuinely believe that Mike isn't important, or that the writers hate him, or don't care about him, or that his story "takes away" from any other character's - ESPECIALLY WILL'S - you are simply wrong.

In s1 and s2 Mike is established as an extremely caring person. He's loving, loyal, brave, intelligent, and trying his best. He is also established to be hot headed, someone who speaks without thinking quite often, someone who is capable of hurting his friends despite that being the last thing he wants to do. He is all of these things and more. He is a human. He is a kid. So in s3, when suddenly he is entirely different, it is completely logical to assume that there is a reason for that. He did not just wake up one day and decide he wanted to be an asshole, push Will away, make his friends feel abandoned, and echo the same sentiments their bullies held. Something is happening with him. He has so much going on in his head and it is painfully obvious. He's holding something in, he's hiding from everyone and from himself. We see glimpses of what he's trying to hide after Will calls him out on his behavior. Will gets through to him. Mike is usually unresponsive to tough love, except for when it's coming from Will. After their fight, it is obvious that he's trying to be better. But he still doesn't wanna face certain things, and he doesn't know how to navigate that. Because he's 13 years old.

There is a reason for all of that internal conflict. There is a reason it comes pouring out of him at certain times. He's crumbling. He is quite literally falling apart because he's holding on to too much. It's not a stretch to assume that, it just takes basic media literacy. Why would the writers have Mike act this way if he was just supposed to be a one dimensional character? Why would Finn be directed to portray Mike the way he does if there was nothing more going on? There are times where Mike looks like he's in physical pain because of his internal conflict. There is a reason for that. And acknowledging that DOES NOT mean people are taking away from Will. That's the most idiotic thing I have ever heard. Do y'all seriously not understand that more than one character can have emotionally complex storylines? Genuinely asking, is this a new concept for you?

Will's love for Mike

Will is head over heels in love with Mike. That is very much established. So when you're dismissing the emotional depth of Mike's individual arc because you think acknowledging it "takes away from Will" you are actually diminishing the significance of a huge aspect of Will's emotional arc. By taking away the significance of Mike, you take away from the significance of Will.

Let's do a quick recap of the very significant role Mike has played in Will's entire life:

Mike is Will's first friend.

They have grown up together and it can be assumed that they've reached important milestones together.

Mike has always been a safe person for Will. He's been a constant in Will's very chaotic and unfair life. Until the summer of '85, Mike had always been something good in Will's life. (That's not to say he is no longer something good, but it can be assumed that the summer of '85 is the first time Mike has been a causal factor in Will's unhappiness)

When Will went missing, Mike did not hesitate to search for him. It wasn't even a question of if. The moment he knew Will was missing he knew exactly what he'd be doing that night. He spearheaded the search amongst the party. He was the leader.

When Will came back, Mike was the only person that didn't treat him like he was gonna break. He cared for him, and he was there for him, but he didn't treat him differently; Will tells us as much. Which means we can infer that the way Mike was with Will in s2 - how gentle and loving he was - was nothing new. He had just always been like that.

When Will was possessed, Mike stayed by his side. Even when it was scary, even when it could've gotten him killed, he stayed. Because once again, for him, it wasn't even a question. That's just where he knew he needed to be. He was in the shed when they were trying to get through to Will. He was set apart from Lucas and Dustin, but he also wasn't equated to family. And his retelling of the story of the day they first met was the final push Will needed to find a way to communicate.

After a year of things being "weird" between them, Mike tells Will that he didn't deserve to be treated the way he had been. Mike tells him that he wants them to be okay again, and for the rest of the season he puts in the work.

Things get rough in s3, and at the beginning of s4, and despite all of that, Will confesses his love (albeit veiled). In a moment where Mike is feeling awful about himself, he tells him that he loves him and needs him, and he tells him why. And to him it doesn't matter that he's breaking his own heart to do it, because it's Mike. Mike, who makes him feel like he's not a mistake at all, and that he's better for being different. For Will, there was no other option. The person he loves was hurting and he knew how to help, and so he did.

Mike is the first person Will tells about Vecna still being alive. Because they're back to being a team. He knows he can trust Mike, and Mike seems to be very determined to prove him right.

SO.

These are all real and canon aspects of Mike's presence in Will's life. Will falling in love with Mike isn't something that just happened for no reason. Will fell in love with Mike because of who Mike is. When you acknowledge that, and when you acknowledge the reasons they've set out for why Will loves him - the reasons Will literally told us - you can better understand Will. But when you dismiss all of these things about Mike, you are dismissing a large portion of Will's emotional and romantic arc. You aren't being a Will Warrior. You are erasing so much of him and his feelings and his lived experience. That is not the hill you wanna die on.

Will loves a person. Not a feeling. Yes, he says that Mike makes him feel like he's not a mistake and that he's better for being different. But that's not why he loves him. He feels that way because he loves him.

Mike is a fully fleshed out character with his own feelings and struggles and fears and traumas and motivations. He's not a plot device. He's not just an accessory to Will's arc. He's not a character that was written only to be Will's love interest. He's Will's love interest because he's Mike.

If Mike didn't matter, and if Mike didn't play a significant role in byler, then they would be able to write in a love interest for Will in s5 and have it be somewhat satisfying. But they can't do that. Will's love for Mike has so much depth because Mike has so much depth. It is genuinely crazy that this has to be stated and that I have to back up this claim because it is simply a canon fact.

So yes, the rain fight affects Mike's character development and his involvement in it is important. Yes, the van scene literally could not exist without Mike and therefore his involvement in it is incredibly important. Yes, every single byler moment has an impact on Mike, and Mike has an impact on it because they are BYLER moments. Yes, Mike will have a lot of significant moments - with Will AND on his own - in s5 because his arc deserves and needs as much attention as Will's in order to execute byler endgame in a satisfying way.

No, none of these facts negate Will's importance or take away from his story. If anything, they add to it because Mike and Will's arcs are corresponding and intertwined.

Mike's struggles

To name a few

Dysfunctional family

Has been bullied his entire life

Extreme self worth issues

Inferiority complex

Hero complex

Lack of self preservation

Suicidal ideation (has been on display since SEASON ONE)

Internalized homophobia

To get this out of the way: Mike's internalized homophobia is allowed to be discussed. Discussion of it is not the dismissal of Will's internalized homophobia. Surprise surprise, two queer kids in the 80s have internalized homophobia! Who'd'a thunk it?! Their internalized homophobia presents in different ways but it is there for both of them. I personally relate to the way Mike's is portrayed way more than I relate to Will's. So why is it that we can't discuss it without being accused of erasing Will's experience? Or without people saying that we're "copy and pasting" Will's story? Because quite frankly, that feels dismissive of my - and likely many others' - real and lived experience. So please for the love of all things that are good just stop with this talking point because it will never hold up.

Moving on

I'm not gonna do a full breakdown of all of Mike's issues. Because contrary to popular belief, there are a lot. And that would be exhausting and I'd get carried away and it's not the point of this post. The point of this post is to defend the acknowledgement and mere existence of them.

If you're a byler that for some reason thinks Mike only exists to be Will's love interest and his trophy as compensation for his trauma, let me ask you this: Have you considered how awful it would be to have a queer character's individuality and emotional depth completely ignored for the sake of focusing on the queer character that "really matters"?

If Mike's own issues, with his queer identity and otherwise, aren't thoroughly explored... What's the point of all this? If Mike really is insignificant in this storyline and his individuality has no effect on it.. where's the emotional payoff? If his perspective doesn't matter... Why have the writers gone to such great lengths to ensure we don't have that piece of the puzzle yet?

Analyzing Mike and understanding Mike is very important to understanding byler. Once again, I think it's crazy that this needs to be said.

I also think it's important to note that characters can have similar struggles. There's no rule against that. Just like real life. Characters having similar struggles is not a bad thing, and acknowledging that their struggles are similar is not dismissive of either character. We're talking about STRANGER THINGS. Jonathan and Nancy's thing is "we've got shared trauma". They have literal matching scars. Shared experiences are some of the main building blocks for this show's romances. Byler has a TON of shared experience, basically their entire lives. We already know that. So wouldn't it be so beautiful for them to learn that they've been struggling with the same thing this whole time? That the entire time they felt alone in what they were going through when really they had each other and they never even knew it? Wouldn't it be so beautiful for Mike's acceptance of Will and Will's love for him was also a step toward accepting himself? Wouldn't it be beautiful for Will to learn that his love makes Mike feel like he's not a mistake? None of that would be in the realm of possibility if Mike didn't have emotional depth and if his individuality wasn't important.

And that leads me to my concluding point...

A satisfying execution of byler endgame hinges on Mike's individual emotional arc being handled well

God I hope this isn't controversial to say. I sincerely hope most people haven't forgotten that.

Here's a hypothetical:

Imagine season five has been released. You're watching it, and you notice that Mike has been relegated to just a supporting character for Will. We don't get any of his perspective. We don't get any explanation for his s3 and early s4 behavior. His breakup with El doesn't have any real tangible effect on him, it's really just used for El's character development. We never see him pining for Will like we saw Will pining for him. And then suddenly Mike is learning about the painting and then suddenly he's confessing his love and then suddenly byler is canon and official.

Now wouldn't that just be awful? Wouldn't that be unfair to the audience, to Mike, and to Will? For us to never learn just how much Mike had to go through to even be able to say it out loud? For Mike to never get the chance to prove to himself through word and action that he is the heart? For Will to never get an explanation for why things did get so "weird" between them? It would leave us with one big, nagging question: What was the point of everything Mike has said and done throughout the entire show if his conclusion is that lackluster?

Disregarding Mike for a moment (I know that's incredibly ironic given what the entire point of this is but just bear with me) - how would that be a satisfying conclusion for Will? I mean, Will's s4 arc was basically dedicated to showcasing his struggle with his sexuality and with his love for Mike. We were shown just how deep that love is. We were shown how patient, unselfish, unwavering, and beautiful that love is. So how would it be satisfying for Mike's love for him to not be shown with just as much depth? How would it be satisfying for Mike to just be a one dimensional character whose s5 arc is essentially "break up with girlfriend, wait to find out best friend is in love with him, say he loves him back, then they live happily ever after"? I think Will deserves for his love to be returned with the same intensity at which he gives it. And I think it should be clear to the audience and to Will himself.

Back to Mike!

Mike has been through so much shit. I don't think anyone that is denying that actually believes he hasn't been through shit. Because you'd actually have to watch the show on mute and with your eyes closed to think this kid hasn't had just the worst time. It's so ignorant to act as if this stuff hasn't affected him. There's stuff we've seen but there's stuff we also haven't seen. There are issues he has that date back to his childhood pre-canon. Just like Will, Mike has been a queer kid growing up in 80s smalltown conservative america. Acknowledging the pain he 100% carries because of that is so important. His perspective has been withheld from us, not because it's unimportant, but because it's the final puzzle piece. If we had Mike's perspective in s4, byler wouldn't be a "will they won't they" (even though we all know they will). If we got his perspective in s4, byler would be a "100% certain without a doubt they will". But the thing about his perspective is that it's so much more than just loving Will. It's fear. It's pain. It's insecurity. It's doubt. It's the belief that his happiness just doesn't matter all that much. All of that has to be explored. All of that has to be laid out in the open for us in order for byler endgame to feel earned. Mike's emotional payoff will lead to byler's emotional payoff.

Mike has known he loves Will. In s5 we will see him make a deliberate and active effort to overcome the things keeping him from doing something about it. And then he will do something about it.

And so when it finally happens. When both Mike and Will finally know that their feelings are requited, and when their arcs end with us knowing that they will face whatever life has in store for them together, that will feel earned. That will feel like the logical conclusion for both of them. Not just for Mike. Not just for Will. For both.

And Mike is just as important to that conclusion as Will is.

And one last thing...

Some people are going to talk about Mike more. Some people are going to talk about Will more. Because newsflash, people have preferences. Some people just relate to Mike more, or they find his emotional arc extremely compelling, or they just like him. It isn't an attack on Will or any other character. No one is saying Mike is more important than any other character (I'm sure there are people that say that but they are a vocal minority and they are simply wrong). We are just saying that he is important. If you wanna engage in media analysis, please understand that "main character" or "central character" does not mean "only important character" and "only character that should be analyzed". If you wanna talk about Will and only Will, that's fine. But you don't get to act like people that talk about other characters are doing a disservice to your fave, because that's not how any of this works.

[aemiron-main]

A THOUGHT: if Mike was ever in love with El/romantically interested in her, then why did he claim that he fell in love with her at first sight when that’s 100% factually untrue. Why didn’t he just use the actual moment that he realized he had feelings for her? Even if it was just a crush, why not use that moment and claim it was love?

Because that moment doesn’t exist. He was never in love with her or romantically interested in her. And by the time s4 rolls around, he KNOWS that, he’s learned what romantic love and attraction feels like and has begun to realize that he’s gay and never loved her romantically.

He definitely didn’t even have a crush on her at first sight (see: wanting to send her to an asylum), so if he DID ever have a crush on her, why not use that moment that he realized he did? Because again, that moment doesn’t exist.

He HAD to lie about it in the monologue because it literally doesn’t exist!! It doesn’t make it okay that he lied about it but it does explain part of WHY.

[light-lanterne]

hmm, i just saw the loveliest gifset of nancy being protective of max and once again got reminded of the fact that she's never shown that amount of concern for mike.

for three seasons straight, she'd even leave him to his own devices when it wasn't the safest. ditching the kids at the gym in s1 regardless of the fact that they were being hunted,,, leaving them with steve in s2 when there were demodogs still at large (and knowing the kids have a proclivity towards getting themselves in danger),,, straight up driving away from starcourt, leaving them with no escape method, as well as russians and a flayed biIly in the premises (even when seeing first hand what happened to the last two flayed men they "killed").

in all three instances, mike's the only constant (which doesn't seem unintentional in the slightest) and it's not just about that. she's worried about will in s2 and s3,,, el in s3,,, max in s4,,, even on lower stake circumstances, she comforts dustin in s2, when he was sad at the snowball (even though mike was also moping at right around that same time).

and yet, for mike, she only showed concern in s1, a little in s3 (but it was mostly about will, seeing as he'd been targetted by the mf before), and a little in s4 after vecna shows her his plan.

idk,,, it just makes me sad to see her being so protective of everyone, pushing herself to be brave even when she's still just a teen girl who shouldn't be dealing with any of this, but always leaving her own brother to the end. almost like an afterthought; the last thing in her mind, only worrying about him when the big bad straight up shows her his death.

and even then, when he returns from cali after days of suspicious lack of contact, she doesn't give him a hug. doesn't ask how he's doing,,, doesn't even talk to him, from what we were shown.

because, after all, there are larger problems at hand than mike.

[conflictofthemind]

I don’t know how to break this to you guys, but Byler as an official couple is not going to be happening in the first half of the season and it probably won’t even officially be a thing until the finale. Because of Mike’s issues. And it being the 80s.

Will has actually… been a fairly easy character to figure out. And for as much as he does still absolutely repress his sexuality, he is way further on the path to living authentically than Mike is. We all agree on this, right? Will is used to being labelled as a freak regardless of what he does or doesn’t do. He never really tried to feign interest in girls. Most of the town already suspects he might be gay, and while it would get worse for him if the rumours were known to be truthful, he knows he has the support of Jonathan. And I think he knows deep down that he has the support of Mike (and Joyce). Otherwise, why tell him that he makes him feel better for being ‘different’ (gay)?

But Mike? ‘Just trying to be normal’ Michael Wheeler? We know he didn’t mean that as in school; he prides himself as a nerd. Michael Wheeler who seemed like he could have been on the precipice of finally breaking it off with El, and then tried to go back even harder after Will’s push? And for the general audience to make sense of what they will perceive as a sudden shift in Mike’s character when they reveal his feelings for Will, they’ll have to hammer it in that Mike is afraid to his core of being out for them to make sense of his previous actions.

Mike has a different personal life than Will. Reagan supporter conservative parents who don’t like to speak about emotions. He doesn’t have as strong of a relationship with Nancy. We know Hellfire and Eddie’s death will have big consequences on the narrative, and that the town will continue the witch hunt against all of the members of Hellfire. They list sodomy as one of its demonic influences. Will is also going back to high-school, and it’s possible he has a bruise on his face in that Episode 4 farm scene. He’s been bullied before, and I don’t see how they don’t bring that up again, and worse.

If Mike is out, or gets outed, he will fall from a much higher place into a much deeper pit than Will. I honestly foresee them both realizing eachothers’ feelings by the middle of the season, maybe acting on them in private, but Mike suddenly pushes him away in public when Will tries to initiate any contact or closeness - even nothing overtly romantic.

Will is ready to start being more open about their relationship to family and friends as he’s sick of hiding himself and has probably, at this point, come out to Joyce at the least and met Robin. Mike is not so ready. This creates a conflict leading up to the finale where Mike truly has to choose between living in the closet for the rest of his life, and losing Will, versus the bravery to be open (to friends/ family) at the risk of being rejected or further outed and kicked out / assaulted / etc.