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I need your opinion and your answers:

- Why did Vecna ​​choose to kidnap Will?

- Why did Vecna ​​continue to possess him in season 2?

- What does he want from Will?

- Why is the upsidedown stuck on the day of Will's vanishing ?

- If Will has powers, what powers would they be and why would he have them?

-

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Very good analysis of this couple

I’ve been reflecting on Eleven and Mike’s fight in Season 4, and I feel like Mike doesn’t get the justice he deserves in that scene. Most people focus on his defensive side, which is fair, but it misses the complexity of his character.

First, let’s talk about Eleven.

El and Mike’s bond is incredibly special. He was the first person to offer her a warm place to stay and give her comfortable clothes—clothes he wore in the first scene of the show btw. Mike became a pillar in El’s life. Does she need him to survive? No. But she loves him deeply, just like she loves Hopper. Both gave her a home when they didn’t have to.

When Mike found Eleven, he had no idea she had powers. He stood up to Dustin and Lucas to keep her safe, showing how much he cared about her as a person. Even the lines people criticize him for—like calling her a "weapon"—weren’t meant to dehumanize her. Mike was just trying to convince Lucas to let her stay with the party. He’s always been tender with El, promising her they’d meet again when she rang the doorbell.

But let’s focus on the fight scene.

El had just lost her powers—the one thing that made her feel safe and in control. Mike had warned her this might happen, but the loss left her vulnerable. Without her powers, she reverted to the little girl who was bullied in the lab. This explains why she let Angela bully her, even though El is normally confrontational. She was scared of being different and wanted desperately to fit in. She also let Mike lie to her because she didn’t want to lose more than she already had. Deep down, she suspected Mike didn’t love her the way she wanted him to, but she couldn’t face it.

So, El lied to Mike, just as Mike was lying to her. They both clung to a "safe path," pretending everything was okay when it wasn’t. When El told Mike he was scared of her, she was really projecting her own fear—her fear of herself. She didn’t want to confront the possibility that she was the monster in her broken memories. Blaming Mike was easier. That fight became a turning point for her, forcing her to confront the “I love you” issue and begin facing her own fears.

Now, let’s talk about Mike.

Mike was unhappy and anxious, but he didn’t fully understand why. He had mixed feelings about himself—and about Will—but he likely suppressed them because they didn’t feel "right" or "normal." He clung to the idea of being the boyfriend of his “superhero girlfriend” because it seemed like the path he should take. Plus, Mike has always felt responsible for El’s happiness. From the moment he took her in, he probably felt like he had to protect her, and since he knew El loved him, he assumed it was natural to love her back.

He should love her.

But he doesn’t

And he can’t say it.

That’s what makes their fight so uncomfortable and lacking intimacy. Something is broken—not just between them, but within each of them. They were both pretending to belong to something normal, and it didn’t work. They couldn’t face their truths, so they stayed stuck.

By the end of Season 4, though, things seem to shift. El realizes she’s not a monster, and Mike starts to accept his own feelings—at least a little. It’s hard to say what will happen in Season 5, but I think it would be strange if they stayed together. A breakup and an honest conversation would be so much better for both of them.

Even before I started shipping Byler, I didn’t think ElMike was my cup of tea couple. It’s just not my relationship goal. Byler, on the other hand, works because of how they accept their mistakes and apologize to each other almost immediately (in their own way).

So, I hope these three people can have their own happy ending.

I'll keep our tags cuz I like this side of tumblr.

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Very interesting

As a writer, I really doubt they won’t make Byler endgame.

I’m not that good with the cinematography hints or some other details like clothes or lighting.

But, the subtle way the characters interact, the lines they say, I always use that for foreshadowing and to imply a feeling the character is not able to express (or is not totally aware of it yet)

So, in this perspective, I was glad when I got introduced to Byler cuz Mike is my favorite in narrative speaking and some things from s3 and s4 were kind of off even knowing he’s a 16 years old kid and that could explain his flaws while growing up.

But the reason I liked Mike is for his awareness in moments of crisis his loved ones have and the leadership nature in him, also the fact he’s always a step ahead of any situation, specially when he needed to reassure Will or El how important they are for him and that they’ll be okay.

He also reassured Dustin he’s his best friend too.

That’s Michael.

So, why a character that cares so much for how his people are feeling, even with the trauma and his explosive reactions at times, how that kind of character would be so inconsistent with the two people he cares the most?

He needs to have a reason.

Mike is the heart of the party. I do think he’s a very important character for the writers.

So it cannot just be a coincidence or them trying to make him dirty.

He’s struggling, he’s suffering, so he’s messing up things that he can’t handle anymore.

He’s hiding something the audience could know if they pay attention, but the idea of a writer is that you don’t know it.

If you don’t know it, that’s better.

It makes me so happy when a reader comes to me like: omg I didn’t see that coming! But it makes sense!!

That’s what a writer wants, that’s what we’re looking for.

But it was too much deceiving, the GA couldn’t see it at all, so they had to literally say Will was in love with Mike. Cuz Will was the harder to read.

Even with the van scene people still can’t read the room.

So Noah had to literally say it out loud: WILL IS SO GAY AND IN LOVE WITH MIKE.

The writes know what they’re doing. They know the GA is convinced on the ElMike thing so the plotwist coming from Mike is easier and more interesting.

So, as a writer I just cannot see ElMike “happy ending” they got too messy and they don’t even try to show chemistry anymore (talking about their acting and dialogues). Which is not the same with Mike and Will scenes. You can say they take a good care of their lines and everything else.

I could talk about Will and El side, but I have seen enough posts about those two.

May be later.

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Louder for people in the back…. The poor boy seems so lonely… Will is the one which he confess the most but despite this there are a part of him he is scared to share even with him.. I really hope Mike will finally free himself and let it out in the last season

It’s break my heart how he suffers in silence and he is so misunderstood because of this

Just a friendly reminder that Mike has depression, self esteem issues and doesn’t feel good enough neither for El or Will.

El said what she needed to say and found her own power.

Will also expressed himself in his own way and Jonathan connected with him.

Mike hasn’t been honest with anyone, not even himself. No one knows he’s struggling cuz he’s repressing everything.

What if he fears Will could feel gross by him.

I know we wanna know Mike’s POV, but he looked he was suffering too much already on his own.

I hope the last scene was him starting to accept himself and that he can open up.

He really needs it.

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For anyone who is curious where come the scene the artist inspired from, here is the link :

(There is an age limited cause it's an intimidate but very beautiful love scene, you can watch it if you have an account enjoy and there are subtiles !)

Watch Skam France season 3 while waiting for ST5, you will thank me later there are multi language lyrics so you relax :

aged-up byler x skam france ? (thats what this is from right? i havent actually seen it)

time: 6h 8m

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My thoughts on the clues to Mike's depression throughout the series and the cliff scene

I find it fascinating how they don’t explicitly state that Mike is suffering from depression, nor do they depict clichéd scenes of depression—like someone lying in bed with dark circles under their eyes, crying, and so on. Instead, they subtly convey it through small clues embedded in the dialogue. It’s so subtle that you might not even notice it. For example, in Season 2, during his argument with his parents over his toys at dinner, it’s mentioned that Mike has spent the entire year exhibiting problematic behavior at school—graffiti on the walls, bad conduct, etc. His parents even say that they’ve been patient, but this is the "hundredth time" (obviously exaggerated) that they’ve let his “nonsense” slide out of empathy. This implies that he has been acting out in turbulent and difficult ways repeatedly and consistently throughout the year, which is one of the most obvious symptoms of depression, emotional issues, or a disorder in children.

I also noticed during the dinner scene with his parents, when his mom brought up the graffiti incident in the school bathroom and Mike defended himself by saying, “Everyone does graffiti,” his dad sarcastically replied, “If your friends jumped off a cliff, would you jump too?” This line eerily echoes the cliff scene from Season 1, where Mike quite literally let himself fall off a cliff—and he did it for more than one reason. Sparing Dustin’s baby teeth was merely the pretext. This 12-year-old boy, already on the edge emotionally, was pushed (with the bullies threatening Dustin’s teeth) to fall off the cliff, but that was just the final straw. This boy was already depressed enough that a single drop more was enough to break him, and he let himself fall deliberately.

The cliff scene, in fact, is the clearest and loudest sign that Mike was depressed. It’s also one of those clichéd “depressed people” moments that people have in mind, but even this was downplayed with, “He did it because he wanted to save Dustin—what a loyal friend, such a hero at his young age!”

(I deliberately arranged the gifs in chronological order, one after the other, to highlight Mike's facial expressions, his movements, but most importantly, the details that prove he thought before letting himself fall, before taking that step into the void—that it was, once again, deliberate. I emphasize this point because the general audience has minimized this scene far too much, forgotten it, or completely failed to grasp its gravity by reducing it to a heroic act.

We can clearly see that Mike turned around to look at Dustin, who was begging him not to do it, insisting that he could live just fine without his baby teeth. Even Troy's friend hesitated, saying it was going too far. So Mike, hearing all of this, could have refused and fought back. Only Troy was determined to make Mike go through with it, meaning it was essentially three against one. Three against one—they could have clearly turned the situation around and escaped.

And for those who insist, "But Troy was threatening Dustin with a knife": Mike had far more to gain by attacking Troy to protect Dustin than by jumping off a cliff. He had no way of knowing what Troy would do to Dustin after he jumped. What guaranteed Troy wouldn’t harm Dustin even after Mike sacrificed himself? Their only real chance of survival—for both of them—was to fight back or try to reason with Troy, especially since Troy’s own friend had already recognized they were crossing a line.

But no—Mike believed he was worth less than Dustin’s baby teeth. He believed Dustin would suffer more without his teeth than without Mike. Not even the thought of his family and friends was enough to spark any instinct for self-preservation. El (who was their only lead to finding Will) had disappeared, and despite the hope of finding Will alive, Mike had seen what he thought was Will’s corpse pulled from the same quarry where he was told to jump; he came to Will’s funeral, rumors spread in the town that Will had been the victim of a hate crime for being gay—or had jumped off the cliff for the same reason.

Mike had been bullied his entire life, and now his bullies were physically pushing him toward death—the same bully who had intentionally hurled homophobic slurs about Will in front of Mike after his disappearance. I think there are more reasons for Mike’s depression at this young age that will hopefully be explored in Season 5 through Vecna’s revelations, giving us further insight into his inner struggles.

Under Dustin’s relentless pleas, Mike stared into the void. The camera zoomed in on his face, capturing his inner conflict—something far too many people who have faced dark thoughts can recognize (and I can personally confirm this). He weighed the pros and cons: “If I jump, everything will finally stop. But if I jump, I’ll inflict pain and guilt on the people I love.” I’m not saying this is exactly what went through his mind, but it’s a possibility—it’s what crossed my mind more than once when I was at rock bottom in my depression.

After weighing his options, he made his decision, despite Dustin’s desperate begging. Thankfully, El saved his life.)

-I'm sorry I didn't expect my personal emotions to override my analysis. I want to clarify that my thoughts and observations do not mean that everything I say is true. It's just my opinions based on my observations and my way of analyzing with logic based on my knowledge of psychology, my own experiences and the language of cinema and screenwriting. Please don't invalidate my feelings or blaming me to diagnose him I just give my opinions I'm not God or the Duffers- :)

So yes, this echo is deliberate and ties directly back to the theme, further confirming Mike’s depressive state, which has been present since the very beginning. It’s been hiding in plain sight but has gone unnoticed by most people because the clues are subtle and buried among “bigger” topics.

Additionally, in Season 2, it’s quite evident in the writing that Mike is deeply affected by the traumas of Season 1, particularly his survivor’s guilt regarding El. But what’s truly interesting is that there’s an even subtler clue in Season 4 suggesting that Mike is still dealing with depression: when Dustin mentions in the first episode that Mike got a C in Spanish. At first glance, this line seems insignificant, but it’s there for a reason. The writers clearly wanted us to know that Mike’s grades have started slipping this season. The same Mike who is knowledgeable in physics, the same Mike who is a nerd passionate about science and logic.

Now, it’s entirely possible to have a weak spot and struggle with one subject—like being bad at Spanish while excelling in others. (I can relate; I was so terrible at Spanish that my teachers were at their wit’s end.) However, the detail that changes everything is a line spoken just a few minutes earlier. While Mike is heating his bread and his mother asks him not to come home too late after the Hellfire Club campaign, his father sarcastically remarks, “More like the high school dropout club,” implying that Mike’s declining grades are tied to his involvement in the club. With these two lines, it becomes clear that Mike’s grades are dropping, and this has been noticed by both his parents and his best friend. And a drop in academic performance is another common sign of depression in children and teenagers.

(He exudes so much joy of life, look at him lmao)

I didn't plan on writing this much, feel free to give your opinion on the topic :)

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This is clearly one of the best byler video I ever seen, it's feels like a trailer, the edit is so professional I have no words congratulations to the artist

holy shit look at this beautiful editing I’M TREMBLING, this byeler fanvid is making me cry like a BINCH (credits at the end of the video)

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This is definitely the best analysis on El I have ever read. Everyone should read this analysis, especially on twitter !

El "Jane" Hopper — Independence, Selflessness and Male Trauma, A Character Analysis

Hello again. As you may know, I typically post Byler analyses and I also posted that I was working on a Mike Wheeler post but along the way of rewatching and rewatching, it became clear to me that El is the character that truly needs to be understood here, not just in regards to everything I have said in my posts, but in regards to her entire place in the show and who she represents. She is such an important character and I'm so excited to analyze her!

**So to my Byler readers: READ THIS ONE! I know you may only be interested in anything that "proves" Byler but I promise you that reading this will give you a clearer understanding of how El is the central character in this love triangle and how she's the one who holds the power in it, not Mike or Will. It's very purposeful that they made Mike her love interest.**

But without further ado, El Hopper:

I think El is such an important character on the show because her arc represents the trauma a lot of women deal with at the hands of men. And I don't want to make this post about men, this is not my intention, I want to make that very very clear, but I think for many women world wide our lives are heavily impacted by how men treat us, intentionally or unintentionally. So I think it's so important this story was told and El is an amazing character to tell it through because she is the embodiment of being independent her entire life. Also, please note that I love all the women on the show and they contribute to this theme in all types of ways as well, but this post is simply about El!

Independence And Intelligence, The Basis of Her Character

From the very beginning we know El is extraordinarily independent and strong; this is something that can never be misinterpreted because physically she's capable of a lot more than most and what sets her apart from 95% of the rest of the women on the show. But she's also emotionally and intellectually strong as well; she not only is able to endure many years of captivity and brainwash, she's able to free herself from that captivity at the mere of age of 11? 12? She's not as naïve as the some would like you to believe; when the boys find her, they suggest telling their parents, which is obviously reasonable. But El knows better, even if she doesn't know "They're going to take me to CPS" she knows telling an adult will lead to her getting taken back to the bad men. She's keen. She also points Will out of the pictures, indicating she has a big heart and would be willing to help them find Will, even though she doesn't have to even clue them in on any of it. Obviously narratively it helps the story along but it also indicates that she's a good person with empathy; she's emotionally intelligent even though she has not been lent the same empathy in most of her life. Not only is she able to care for herself but she saves the characters each season; In season one, she kills the demogorgan, in season two she closes the gate, in season three she fights til she can no longer fight and in season four she banishes Vecna. This proves that El isn't just the most independent character in the series, she's also the most selfless, constantly pushing herself to her limits in order to save the rest.

People would also like you to believe that she was/is completely unaware of social cues and norms. Which yes, there is definitely a lot she didn't pick up on because of her environment, but she's not completely unaware. In the first season she looks at the picture of Nancy and calls her "pretty", meaning she's knows what girls typically look like in society and may or may not want to look that way too. When she steals eggos, she knows she has to use her powers to get away because she has no money and she looks like a lost child. In season three, she doesn't automatically believe what Mike says about nana - she goes to Max because she knows something is off, even without a lot of social interactions and examples. All of this shows that she's a very perceptive character and understands other people a lot more than you think she does when you first watch it. The fact that she can go and find people in her mind also represents that she's very perceptive to others even if the main story line would like you to think otherwise. She's also very smart and finds other creative ways to describe what she wants to say. Despite knowing nothing about DnD yet she's able to use the game pieces and board to convey where Will is. She has survival skills. At Benny's she gets out of there as quickly as she can. Before that, she only tells him as little as possible in order to get food. She understands what he's saying and could answer "yes" or "no" but didn't. Most children would if they had been lost in the woods and homeless. Furthermore, she survives in the woods for presumably at least a little while, while it's freezing out. She finds food and warmth. She doesn't need someone else to come and save her, even though Hopper does. Further along in S2 she goes off entirely on her own in the Lost Sister episodes and is confident that she can survive out there by herself; she knows to some degree how independent she is. In season three, when Jonathan is trying to remove the creature from her leg, she tells him to stop and does it herself - she is completely capable on her own and knows how to survive without anyone else and there are plenty of examples of it throughout the show.

So now we have established that El is the most independent character on the show. But what we haven't talked about is if El views herself that way - which she doesn't. Of course to some degree she knows she is because of her powers and is seen by the risks that she takes but she still has codependency issues because of Papa, which is what we will see her come out of in S5.

Male Trauma

El ends up having three main males in her life: Brenner, Hopper and Mike. Now at first glance they all seem like completely different characters, and they are, yet they hold similairities when it comes to El's life and expericences with them. Now hear me out because I know that may sound insane. Hopper and Brenner? Alike? Mike like either of them?

However, there are clear and distinct parallels between them. Hopper and Mike actually truly care for El and that's why it makes the dynamics difficult for not only El but also us; it's harder to see.

So we know Brenner keeps El locked up her entire childhood. He's not outwardly sadistic towards her majority of the time though. He has a gentle voice, he pretends he's helping her with her powers rather than reducing her to a lab experiment, he convinces her that he protects her, calls her daughter and refers to himself as her Papa, etc. We as an audience can see how sadistic his behavior is but El herself doesn't fully understand until years of abuse and even after she escapes she still struggles with it, because it's all she knows until the of 12. That's a long time to go in an atypical abusive environment. Because she doesn't fully understand him being a bad person she has conflicting feelings for him. Her relationship with Brenner sets the tone for all of her relationships with other men; confusing poor treatment with love, fearing they don't love her for her but for her powers, fearing they're scared of her for her powers, fearing they're not telling the truth, etc.

Hopper, on the other hand, clearly cares for her, and we as the audience know it. El knows it. We know he keeps her inside to protect her, and in the beginning El understands this too. Even as season two progresses she on some level understands it's for her protection. But at the same time she is still a child and has been locked inside a house for a year now. This clearly resembles her previous situation, at least to her. She's heard lies from Brenner before, contradictions; and now it feels like she's hearing them from Hopper too. That he's the one keeping her locked away this time. She knows it's obviously different but to her, to this child who's emotions are only just beginning to develop into her own, it's confusing and on top of that she doesn't want to be locked away anymore. She even compares Hopper directly to Papa, indicating she definitely does have a difficult time fully understanding the difference in their behavior. Another parallel that is formed between Brenner and Hopper is when Hopper says "I protect, I feed, I teach" which is essentially exactly what Brenner did/claimed to do and what El perceives Brenner's actions as. Furthermore, once the tensions get to a point and Hopper and El begin to fight, El begins using her powers to express her anger. Hopper exclaims "What the hell is wrong with you?!" which can parallel what we figure out Brenner says to her in S4; "What did you do?" indicating she used her powers for bad and it makes her a bad person. What other character also says this to her? Mike, after she's hit Angela, this time not even using her powers, just reinforcing to her headspace that she's a bad person, this time with or without powers. This line/theme that is said to El throughout the show also reinforces the fear that the people, specifically the males, in her life are afraid of her because of her powers. Not only that but Hopper, in their fight, exclaims he can send her back to the lab, indicating to her (remember, a child) that as soon as she becomes difficult, she's to be given up on. I love Hopper and he's only saying it in the heat of the moment but he's also talking to a child who interprets, internalizes and connects things differently than an adult does. It's similar to her relationship with Mike, especially in S4; once she has no powers, she feels as though she's recognized a distance in Mike (still not being able to say ily) and that he doesn't love her anymore. She's become too difficult or useless (no powers) so now she's to be given up on (Mike doesn't love her anymore.) This is also why she doesn't tell him about the bullying even knowing he has been bullied and Will already knows; because again, she's become too difficult (Can't defend herself from bullies), and will be given up on (Mike will see me as weak and leave me.) Mike's behavior only strengthens this thought in her mind. It also goes back to her being the most independent and selfless character even if she doesn't realize it; she doesn't want or need Mike to defend her. She doesn't want to be seen as weak, especially by the men in her life, because she perceives her powers as why they love or care for her (Brenner, Mike) or why they took her in (Hopper, Mike).

Both Hopper and Brenner "lock" her away, creating a distinct parallel between them, even if they had completely different intentions. But how do we create this parallel with the last main male in her life, Mike? Well I'm sure a lot of you are aware of the subtext in the scene where Mike puts El in the closet in S1. If you're not, basically he hides her in his closet and the he has a very coming out coded conversation with his mom and many people think this points to him being gay, myself included.

However I feel as though no one has taken a look at the scene in the context of El and what that means for her character. This is yet again another instance where a man locks her away, in reality or metaphorically. In the scene El looks scared and frightened, which narratively reflects the trauma she has from being locked in cells by Brenner, creating a distinct parallel between Mike and Brenner. Obviously we know Mike and Brenner are nothing alike and Mike didn't mean to traumatize her by locking her in there, but it's very symbolic. Essentially, it foreshadows how El is going to feel in their future relationship; locked away inside Mike's secret closet, completely in the dark about what their relationship even is. And Mike, in the subsequent seasons, is totally unaware of this up until a certain point which reflects in how he comes back upstairs and is surprised to find her crying when he finally opens the door. He shouldn't be surprised though;. he already knows she doesn't like to be in closed small rooms because she told him the day before. You could make the argument that he forgot, but it's a script so it's important. He also says something along the lines of "you have to" or "it'll be quick"; can't remember the exact line but something conveying that he knows she doesn't want to go in there but she has to for his sake. Brenner did everything he did to El for his personal gain, not El's. We're not supposed to see the connection in real-time, only in retrospect.

So basically the men in El's life have all treated her similar regardless of their very contrasting personalities. By the time we get to season 4, this shows her that men will hurt her, intentionally or not, no matter how different or better they seem than the last one or the others in her life. The fact that the connections begin in the very first few episodes shows that this is a huge part of her characterization and heavily flows in each and everyone of her seasonal arcs.

In season four, we finally see her starting to let go of Mike, even though she began the season obsessed and heavily emotionally reliant on him. And although I'm sure Hopper and El will always be close, he's right behind her in the last shot, while she's descending downwards on her own, with Mike, Will and Joyce also behind her. This suggest she's not only moving on from Mike, but gaining even more independence from men and her family (Hopper, Joyce, Will). Remember, even though we as the audience know El is incredibly independent in all kinds of ways as I've explained, she has not necessarily understood that throughout all of the seasons, at least not entirely. That's why she clings so closely to Mike or Hopper and why she had trouble letting go of Papa until the very end of S4. It's obviously very reasonable that she would; Mike is her boyfriend and the first person to take her in, Hopper is her true father figure and in S4 she thinks he died, creating even more trauma and codependent issues to arise, and Papa was her very first father figure. But next season, we are going to see an El Hopper who does not need anyone and knows it.

How This Reflects In S4 and Sets Up S5

This brings us to S4, which sets up the precedent for El's final arc in S5.

In S4, we meet El where she has lost the most important male figure she's ever had; Hopper, while simultaneously being separated from the only other main male in her life who has treated her nicely, Mike. She's finally by herself, AND without powers, which gives her the time to finally understand her true self.

When she's being bullied and can't defend herself because of her loss of powers, it reflects how El thinks of herself without powers. That she's weak and can't defend herself. We see that because of her past, she has put her self worth into being a super powered person. Again, pointing to why she doesn't tell Mike. She's embarrassed and doesn't want Mike to see her as worthless now that she can't even defend herself; after SHE used to defend THEM from bullies. Of course this has to affect her self esteem deeply. She's never really been without powers, so at this point she's connected that to not just her entire persona but her value as a person. She thinks it's the sole reason other people are attracted to her, or want to help her.

This is why Mike not being able to say I love you and separate her powers from her as a person is so important to El's arc. While yes it says a lot about how Mike feels, it also says a lot about how El has felt this entire time.

Having her own boyfriend, the person who is supposed to love her no matter what, only see her as the one thing she's been told her entire life is what gives her value, hurts her deeply, especially now that that "value" has been taken away. It hurts her more than people are willing to admit. This is the one person she wants to love her for more than the surface, and he can't.

And she confronts the topic when she has no powers and says "so you don't love me anymore?" indicating that she used to view him as someone who loved her for more than her powers, even though he's never told her that verbally. Now that she doesn't have her powers and he is very obviously not saying I love you (for his own reasons), it reinforces her idea that her powers hold her value. And that's why she goes and gets them back; not because she truly wants them. I'm sure she misses them and wish she had them in certain situations like Angela, but if she had never been offered a solution or a problem (Mike wants me to have powers, my friends in Hawkins are in danger) she wouldn't have tried to find one just to get her powers back. Note that her reasons only strengthen her selflessness. Throughout the entire show she has been incredibly selfless and the journey she goes in in S4 is meant to show how in S5, she's for once going to be thinking about herself (not just being independent but knowing you are.)

This is the catalyst for El finding her true self; and it's only metaphorical that she has to look deep inside her memories for what truly happened, which on the surface seems like it's strictly related to the main plot line with Vecna or getting her powers back. However, it's extremely important for El's character development. She's going back into her mind to understand that she is not the monster, even though that is what she's been intentionally or unintentionally told her entire life, even just a few days ago by her boyfriend. This whole time this is what she has believed and for the first time she's processing her trauma and realizing the truth, that she's so much more than her powers - she's a good person (when she banished One to the Upside Down for the children he murdered). I think the idea that she struggles with knowing she is a good person because of the male treatment she's been subjected to, is further supported by her solo episode, The Lost Sister. Her sister is practically the only one throughout the show who truly shows her the value of her powers and how her powers don't make her bad, they make her strong.

The shaving of her head is also very symbolic of her journey from being independent but not feeling that way into someone who knows how strong she is. For viewers it seemed very traumatic and wrong that they did this, which I definitely agree with narratively. But it's trying to convey that El is going through a rebirth - she's cutting out all of the old and starting fresh again. Cutting the hair off is typically symbolic of this. It also shows that it wasn't her choice but she's going to have to embrace it anyway. It wasn't her choice but it's time she grows out of this cycle she's been in with others, especially men, in her life. And it's only more ironic that presumably men are the one's who cut her hair - they are forcing her to let them go. Mike's behavior is causing El to realize her self worth. Hopper's death is forcing her to confront the reality that she doesn't truly need him and never did, though she may love him deeply. Brenner being the person behind this maximizes the theme to the fullest, because he's where all of her trauma stems from, and we know she is finally able to let him go this season. She's worked through her trauma and is realizing her own independence, how strong she is.

This theme is further emphasized at the very end when she is the only one to descend into the rotting flowers, just coincidentally the same ones Mike, a male in her life, picked for her. The old is rotting away for her, her old self is disintegrating and her new self will rise. Furthermore, she's also wearing all white, which can represent many things like innocence (I wasn't the monster this whole time) and rebirth (now that I know I'm truly good what will I do with that?)

We're going to see a huge, probably amazing, shift in El's character in S4 from feeling dependent to knowing her independence. She isn't going to be paired with anyone and she's going to be a huge character because she'll most likely be more powerful than ever now that she understands herself and how her powers do not give her value. I'm not sure how this will reflect narratively but get ready for an even more bad ass Eleven for the finale season! I'm so excited for her to break away from everything she thinks she needs and grow into her own!!!

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I need to see this kind of hugs during season 5

Will the Wise won a solo victory on the battlefield of Vecna

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reminder that will byers said the equivalent of "yes i did truly think we were never going to date girls and spend the rest of our lives together doing what we love and i thought that's what you wanted too but clearly i was wrong"

and mike reacted like this:

this his not just sad regret this is YEARNING. the realization that will actually DOES want that has made him not want to let go.

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My poor Mike lmao this is for the good cause you need an catharsis to feel happier after 😭😭😭💙

I love bylers because the approach for Will and Mike is so different.

All the time I see posts that are like: “May Will be happy and be loved and accepted and appreciated by the ga and important to the show.” And the Mike posts are like: “He needs to suffer, I need to see him in full breakdown mode, he needs to do some pining while thinking Will doesn’t love him.” And that’s just wonderful imo.

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I’m really curious to see what they will do about it

Like they will have the age Nancy, Steve and Jonathan were in season 1, we all know that this is the discover of the body and relationship and all, and it would be interesting to see how Mike and Will handle this cause as gays teenagers, they have no one except them each of them to talk about it

they'll be 16/17 in season 5 and they're going to be even more aware of the physical side of things which means that Will could start to feel like he shouldn't be too affectionate with Mike and after that not-hug at the airport and hearing Mike's speech for El there's really a possibility that he's at least trying to keep a bit of distance between them, obviously I don't think he's gonna try to stop being friends, just that he will be more aware of everything and decide to "not be creepy/clingy" meanwhile we saw Mike already starting to reach out to him touching his shoulder in S4... I'm curious to see if Will is going to just try to ignore his feelings again, or if he's gonna start to actively try to put some distance at least physically... and then Mike is gonna be upset about that and start realizing he wants to be close to him even physically and not only emotionally and start realizing everything about his own attraction to Will at the same time when Will is pulling away a little to be respectful towards Mike (and El)

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I very like their interactions ! I hope we will see them interacting as brother in law in the next season ahah

"Jonathan Byers, Mike Wheelie Hive, Lets Go!" - Charlie Heaton

Jonathan Byers & Mike Wheeler in The Piggyback

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I feel like we need to spend more time dwelling on the fact that the, “Looks like it’s gonna be up to us again.” “It always is, isn’t it?” scene and the “…a team. Friends. Best friends.” “Cool.” “Cool.” scenes happen before they decide to go find El.

In the first scene, Mike angsts over El’s note before crumpling it up and throwing it away. He tells Will that “maybe there was something” he should’ve said to her, and Will reassures him that he will see El again and can tell her then, and that she’s gonna be okay.

But Will doesn’t say this in an active way. He’s not saying, “We’re going to go see her right now asap,” he’s saying, “Don’t worry, you’ll see her again, probably sooner than later especially since we know she’ll be going to Hawkins to fight One and that’s literally where you live.”

And then, Will says they should be worried about Hawkins more than El, because from the information they’ve been given and El’s note, it appears that El is safe and Hawkins is most certainly not, so the conversation shifts to that.

Only after their conversation does Jonathan bring up the plan to use Argyle sneak out to go to Hawkins.

Not El. Hawkins.

So in the second scene, they’re packing to drive to Hawkins. None of them know when they’re gonna see El again, but they have faith that they will.

And that’s when Mike admits to Will that the past year has been weird, Hawkins hasn’t been the same without him, and that he feels like maybe, “I was worrying too much about El, and I dunno, I feel like maybe I lost you or something.”

Mike doesn’t think he’ll be seeing El anytime soon. He thinks they’re going to be on different missions: her getting her powers back, him traveling back to Hawkins (with Will) to help out there.

That’s when the Mike from s1 and s2 starts surfacing. That’s when he starts relaxing, becomes more comfortable with Will, starts genuinely smiling, not in a forced, awkward way, but in an easy, natural way.

And that’s when Mike asks Will to become a team with him as they face whatever is gonna happen next. Friends. Best friends.

Mike’s angsting over El notably lessens after Will reassures him, and afterwards, instead of spending what little time he has left before leaving the Byers house in El’s room pining, or forlorn and saying he wishes they could go help El, or basically any indication he would rather do that than go back to Hawkins, he says, “I feel like maybe I was worrying too much about El…”

As he didn’t find out she was lying to him for half a year, saw her get bullied, witness her schmack her bully, and then get arrested and then find out she was taken away by a government faction, all in the span of 48 hrs. “Too much” boy it seems to me like you had/have plenty to worry about! So why are you now saying that you feel you were too wrapped up in your girlfriend and neglected your friend, when the only issues you witness Will have in those 48 hrs (outside of El’s bullying, arrest, etc) was him feeling like a third wheel & then you two fighting?

And it’s only after the soldiers ambush them that they change course and start tracking down El now that they know her mission has been compromised.

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I could see Mike coming out to Lucas. I mean Lucas was there during the famous Mike/Will fight in the rain season 3. He saw how Mike was acting towards El and how difficult it was for Mike to apologize but the second Will got upset Mike immediately went after him and even dragged Lucas along in the rain. I feel like Lucas is a pretty observant character and could easily spot the signs that Will might be gay and that he likes Mike more than friends. Maybe he didn’t see it in the moment but I feel like in s5 we could see a Lucas pov of him watching Will/Mike and sorta connecting the dots and having him outright asking Mike.

Oh, I completely agree with you, and I can absolutely imagine Lucas being the one to figure out what’s going on and help Mike. This would parallel season 3, where Lucas gave Mike relationship advice to fix things with El, but Mike struggled to understand his tips and hints because they were about better understanding girls or a heterosexual relationship.

Additionally, the loop would be perfectly closed because Lucas was the first one in season 1 to make a heteronormative remark to Mike by accusing him of having a crush on El, simply because Mike was treating her with kindness and gentleness. So, Lucas—who was the one to initially influence Mike into starting a relationship with El—becoming the one to help and encourage him to be honest with himself and acknowledge who truly holds his heart would send a powerful message and show beautiful character growth.

Especially since Lucas’s arc in season 4 was all about realizing that trying to conform to the norm, fitting in with the “popular” crowd, and changing who he is just for the sake of conformity was meaningless. That journey taught him what truly matters in life: being himself, embracing what he loves, and staying true to who he is. In season 1, driven by unconscious heteronormativity and conformity, he pushed Mike to follow that same pattern—a pattern Lucas himself fell into, particularly in season 4. But in season 5, after having learned his lesson, Lucas could be the one to help Mike break free from that conformity for the happiness of both his friends.

So yes, Lucas being the person Mike comes out to, or the one who figures it out and helps Mike open up, would be an excellent idea. It could also explain why Lucas seems so confused and as though he’s having a realization after lifting his head during the group hug in season 4. Why does he make that face? And why does he immediately look at Mike with a puzzled expression afterward? Did he sense something behind his back (like Mike and Will’s hands) that we’re not privy to? Was he unsettled by seeing El distanced from Mike? What’s going on with you here, Lucas?

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There is a very interesting parallel in seasons 1 and 2 that I’ve just realized: Mike always knew that Will was alive. He always believed it when no one else did, and he did everything he could to find him (both before and after the discovery of the fake body), even when Will was trapped in another dimension—one Mike had no idea how to access. However, when he saw El outside his window at the beginning of season 2, he didn’t search the woods for her like he had for Will. Instead, he assumed he was “seeing things” and didn’t put much effort into looking for her.

Yes, he called her every day, hoping she’d answer, which shows he held onto some hope. But I think it was mostly a way for him to cope with his grief in the only way he could. The denial phase of grief can last a long time, and, more importantly, his survivor’s guilt was overwhelming. During the dinner scene with his parents, it’s revealed that throughout the year, he’d been acting out—becoming aggressive, vandalizing, and testing boundaries as a way to express his anger and depression stemming from the trauma of season 1. Yet, no one understood him or truly listened, until his conversation with Will on Halloween. That moment coincides exactly with the last night Mike called El. After opening up to Will and feeling understood, he was ready to move forward and start healing.

Similarly, when El made Max fall during her bounding with Mike in season 2, and Max later explained how she’d felt in that moment, Mike immediately recognized El’s powers. But when he went to the hallway to check and saw no one, he just moved on. He didn’t bother searching further, didn’t check outside or the other hallways, even though he knew what he’d seen and recognized it as El’s doing. He likely dismissed it as something he’d imagined, but this marks the second time Mike encountered a potential sign of life from El and didn’t pursue it further. By that point, he had already decided to let go and start moving on.

Mike could have poured the same energy into finding El, after seeing her outside his window and sensing her presence at times, as he had devoted to finding Will the season before. But the difference lies in the reason behind each search. Apart from believing El was dead, the motivation for looking for each of them wasn’t the same. Mike never stopped searching for Will, never stopped believing he was alive, and refused to accept losing him purely out of instinct—an unconscious instinct driven by his love for him.

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This text automatically made me think of them

“Some souls instantly click. Whether you’re lovers, best friends, soulmates, or something so special that words can’t quite explain it. You accept this person for everything they are, and they would never let you be anything other than your beautiful, imperfect self. These are the souls that you encounter and just know in the very first moment that you were supposed to cross paths. Their presence makes you feel safe and calm, like you are home whenever you’re with them. They are without a doubt the most special person you’ve had the privilege to love—no distance, time, or person could come between the bond you share. Their kindness, softness, sincerity, and unconditional love makes you feel like a better person, because life is simply better with them in it. Whatever form they may come in, these souls are your happy place, your comfort, your sunshine, your everything, and you genuinely could not imagine life without them in it.”

- Charlotte Freeman