mike-wheeler-the-heart

[mike-wheeler-the-heart]

Can we talk about how Jonathan might've been able to clock Mike simply because of what happened with him and Nancy in season two?

This will be a long post, so you might want to strap in or save it for later.

In Will and Mike's case, it would obviously be much different from Jonathan and Nancy's situation, given that you know, they're gay. But we still have Jonathan arguably going through a similar experience as Will, while Mike is going through a similar experience as Nancy.

In s2, we see Nancy confront Jonathan about how she waited for him before getting back with Steve, which is a revelation to him. Then they're at Murray's and she's struggling to say she loves Steve, after a handful of moments between them that felt like she might return Jonathan’s feelings. And you can clearly see it in his eyes, listening to Murray imply that they have feelings for each other, with him looking back and forth sort of in awe of what's happening, like he's starting to question if she might actually like him back.

Will doesn't have that same affordance as Jonathan to really hope, at least not anymore. Which is why these relationships in s2 and s4 end differently for these two brothers.

Based on all the signs he was seeing that Nancy felt the same, Jonathan decided to take the plunge to admit to Nancy how he felt, and at that same moment Nancy had the courage to show how she felt. In Will and Mike's case, Will wasn't ready to take the plunge to admit to Mike how he felt, at the same moment Mike didn't have the courage to show how he felt.

What's so painfully hilarious to me about all of this though, is that Jonathan arguably starts the season in the same shoes as most of the audience, where from his perspective, it's becoming obvious to him now that Will like's Mike, but that Mike does not feel the same way.

First at Rink-O-Mania, Mike appears a little uncomfortable upon hugging Will. Then as the happy couple continues on their adventure into Rink-O-Mania, he watches Will lagging behind moping. And then unfortunately he's out of commission for the rest of the evening...

But once he's sober and back to being an attentive brother the following morning, we see him watching them at breakfast, with Mike barely sparing Will a glance, all while Will is blatantly staring, almost like he's waiting for Mike to look back, only for Mike to get up and walk away.

All of these instances gotta be SCREAMING unrequited gay love to Jonathan. He's already gotten signs for years that Will is gay, these are now just the signs that are instilling his suspicions that Will has feelings for Mike. He could have easily interpreted their relationship in the early seasons as young best friends, with Will seeming to have a crush on Mike, and with them growing up and that potentially including Will's straight friend distancing himself from him because he doesn't feel the same. It's not the most unexpected thing in the world considering.

But then there's a shift.

Suddenly he's creeping up on them talking in his room. And we know he was listening in on the conversation because he brings up Owens when he sits down. As he's eavesdropping, he's probably thinking something innocent like Aww they're making up! And like, hey! Even if Mike doesn't feel the same, which is okay and entirely expected honestly, at least he still cares about Will enough to make things right after acting so out of character. Still, I'm not gonna lie, that sounded a lot like flirting to me--

Then he's knocking on Will's door like 30 minutes or less later only to find Mike and Will back on their bullshit. Mike suddenly isn't going out of his way to ignore or put Will on the back burner. In fact, he's on his bed and they're talking, again! The door is even closed this time, which is interesting. This has gotta be a good sign in Jon's eyes. Nothing to worry about! Right? Right...?

But then suddenly this shift continues, going in a direction he probably didn't expect.

I mean, this is literally an identical jancy parallel we have here with byler on the hood of the car, with Jonathan right there to witness it. Despite him maybe only now subconsciously picking up on the similarities between Will and Mike to him and Nancy here, he's at least taking note (I mean he's even got his gay map out and everything).

It isn't until the van scene happens, that I think Jonathan starts to genuinely consider his suspicions, which is that Mike might actually like Will back.

EVERY time we get a shot of Jonathan looking back at Will and Mike in the van, followed by a shot of his POV from the rearview mirror, we're faced with Mike looking at Will while Will is looking away.

As Jonathan is hearing Will confirm his suspicions about his feelings for Mike, he's simultaneously witnessing Mike not looking at Will with disgust, but something more akin to reverence. All of those moments in the van that we witnessed, including all the ways Mike looked at Will and everything that was said, Jonathan was right there.

And what's even more insane about this scene, is that it circles back to Jonathan as a character himself.

I remember when people were talking about how odd it was that we never saw Jonathan with a camera in s4. After 3 seasons in a row of making his passion for photography a big part of his identity, that part of him was apparently absent entirely this time around... But was it really?

This is the same guy that said, "Sometimes, people don't really say what they're really thinking. But you capture the right moment, it says more."

Jonathan might not have had his camera in s4, but this was without a doubt one of those moments where he captured something more.

Something that I also think get's highly overlooked about this scene, especially when it comes to Jonathan looking back at them, being followed by a shot of Mike staring at Will, is that he could see both of their reactions the whole time, from beginning to end. Will nor the audience had the affordance of knowing because Will was facing the other way at the end, while we on the other-hand were blurred from even having the chance, despite Mike literally being in the frame. But not Jonathan. He even lets us see what he sees, a few times, but not at the very end, which would have been nice after they didn't let us see Mike's reaction seconds before this.

Let's just stop right there for a second though and circle back to what I consider to be the first time Jonathan really picked up on Will's feelings for Mike, which was at the end of s3, in a sequence that is a little too relevant to the van scene if you ask me, given that they are almost direct parallels.

While these parallels are pretty spot on visually, they are also near spot on narratively when it comes to the evolution each of these characters are experiencing.

For Will in the first scene, it's sadness that he's moving away from his friends in Hawkins and also feeling like he's losing Mike, after what looks like him and El making up, which makes him scared he'll distance himself again. For Jonathan, it's sympathy for his brother who appears to have some very deep feelings for his friend, feelings he can't quite grasp yet but soon enough will.

For Will in the second scene, it's heartbreak that he has to accept that Mike will never feel the same, knowing that supporting his relationship with El (encouraging it honestly) will likely turn out just as it did last time, with him losing Mike all over again, for the last time. For Jonathan it's sympathy for his brother who has now confirmed his suspicions that the feelings he has for Mike are more than just that of a friend.

Given that this parallel reinforces the same feelings Will and Jonathan had in s3 to now, why would this not also reinforce those same feelings that Mike had in s3 to now?

In the first scene, Mike was visibly distraught, with dialogue from Hopper in the background applying a little too perfectly with what he was feeling in that moment, which was scared. He’s apparently back together with El now, despite them doing just fine as friends for the last 3 months, as well as him and Will just having finally gone back to them being on good terms again. But now, it’s like he’s right back where he started at the beginning of s3, feeling obligated to be the perfect boyfriend to El, and as a result, having no choice in his eyes but to distance himself from Will. Mike then walks into his house looking like a zombie, almost emotionless stepping into his mother's embrace.

Now, I say almost emotionless because it looks like Mike was trying to hold back showing how he truly felt in this moment. He's not crying like he did in s1 when he lost Will that first time. Time has passed and things have changed (he doesn't want things to change). And he's trying his best to keep it together. But the in-focus close-ups make it clear that he is definitely not okay.

What's so impactful about these parallels is that it presents the inner struggle both of these characters are having, both queer and experiencing doubts, but in different ways and for different reasons.

Will is the one who covers it all up with lies, hiding the tears in his eyes, because boys don't cry.

Mike is the one who has never cried to them, just to his soul (RUN AWAY! TURN AWAY! RUN AWAY! TURN AWAY! RUN AWAY!!!).

If you actually try to get a gage on Mike's in-focus emotions in that first scene vs. his out-of-focus emotions in that second scene, well they're not that far off from each other.

We go from Mike smiling vibrantly at Will, to him now slowly turning away to look back down at the painting, with whatever the hell emotion this is...

It's near impossible to catch because of how out-of-focus it is, but looking a lot closer, it honestly appears like Mike is feeling something akin to sadness that he's trying to mask. For a moment it even looks like he turns his head to wince emotionally, only to correct himself.

And call me crazy, but these shots also low-key parallel each other. Mike looking down trying to keep his emotions in check and failing miserably, only to look up and meet eyes with someone whose witnessing it.

With each shot before this of Jonathan observing Mike looking at Will, with him showing all the emotions Will never got to see and everything else in between, I wonder what Jon saw this time? Probably another thing he didn't expect.

Can you just try to imagine the silence in this van, accompanied by Will's muffled sobs, and then try to imagine Mike turning to look down at the painting, only to sneak a glance, and then go right back to looking at the painting, IN SILENCE, and then try to tell me how the assumption that Mike didn’t notice Will crying makes any sense, like realistically?

Yeah me and Jonathan are confused too.

Right now, Jonathan's probably wondering why Mike was acting a little fruity and repressed during the painting reveal. And that although he may have a penchant for being able to 'capture the right moment', Mike is sticking with his story (despite all the stalling and doubt). He is 100% straight!

And so maybe this is where Jonathan tries to accept what is being presented to him as the truth, despite the contradictions in front of him. It's likely that despite the way Mike looks at Will and acts around him, in ways he would have assumed coming from Nancy in s2 would've been evidence that she felt the same, it probably doesn't apply to Mike.

Maybe Jonathan's ready to accept that it's a lot more likely Will is experiencing unrequited love as a gay kid growing up in a small town, the most predictable experience a gay kid could go through, and in contrast Mike just feels too bad to let Will down easy.

Or who knows, maybe Mike could still be a little bit gay too...

But it doesn't matter anyways. Mike seems to be adamant about this and so there's really nothing else Jonathan can he do besides tell his brother he'll be there for him no matter what. And so he does just that.

But then Mike just has to surprise him one last time.

For those that don't know, the line Mike gives here in his monologue was in part pulled from Will's monologue in the van. Most don't know this because this line didn't make the final cut for the van scene, but in the official script the writers posted, what we find is an almost a direct parallel.

Which makes the reaction shots of Will and Jonathan directly after Mike says this all the more epic.

From Will's end he was probably hearing Mike say this and just thinking 'Damn. Well, that's what you get for using your feelings to inspire Mike to profess his love to El.'

But from Jonathan's end, I don't think his outside POV of these events overlapping was nearly as naive as his brothers understanding of the events. Because why the fuck would Mike need to use Will's feelings to inspire him to profess his love to El in the first place? Is this what Mike has been struggling with? Really? Why before every moment Mike takes action in this scene, is Will's hand literally pushing him into it? Why is Mike being so dramatic about saying I love you, stuttering and rambling about her being a superhero, not saying nearly as meaningful of things as what Will said in the van?

And then it hits him.

Mike is reminding him a little too much of another Wheeler right now...

Nancy Wheeler, who was afraid of what would happen if she accepted herself for who she really was, leading her to retreat back to the safety of Steve. Because Nancy liked Steve, but she didn't love Steve.

And now here is Mike Wheeler, who has went from being incredibly distant with Will after reuniting with El, something that is very unlike the Mike he knew in previous seasons, to something more himself again after they make up, with him looking at Will with adoration after hearing his words in the van, only to turn away and look heartbroken. Mike who is now struggling to simply tell El he loves her with Will right behind him literally yelling at him to do it.

And now it's like all those little moments are starting to add up to Jonathan.

Suddenly all those signs he picked up on from Will when he was younger are now blending in with moments Will shared with Mike. It was Mike who jumped in after him and his mom's speech to Will in the shed in s2, with tears in his eyes recalling the day that they met (without being asked, let alone pushed to). And it's Mike who is now looking like he's at war with himself as he attempts to give encouragement to El, just like he did with Will in s2, but this time he needs someone to push him to do it, and that person just so happens to be Will. After just finding out about Will's feelings and also while assuming El wants him to love her that way still, Mike is stuck.

I don't think it's takes a genius to consider Jonathan is capable of realizing how fucked they all are in this situation.

As much as Mike isn't ready for a sleuth of reasons, Will isn't ready either.

This provides a huge contrast between the bylers ², because while Jonathan and Nancy went through a similar experience to Will and Mike, them being ready to accept it and act on it didn't involve nearly as many factors and risks. Will and Mike also have the added barrier that is homophobia.

Will's internalized homophobia lies in part with assuming Mike could never feel the same based on some of the words he said in their last two fights, with parts being painfully reminiscent of the things his dad and bullies used to say about him. These are also words that contradict Mike's own words and actions from the previous seasons, things that did once give Will hope. The shame and guilt that comes with falling for your best friend, who you now know will never feel the same after being foolish enough to believe it not too long ago, and who might not even want to be your friend anymore upon finding out the truth, is understandable. He can't have hope like Jonathan can. It's just not the same.

Mike's internalized homophobia lies with assuming El wants him to love her, along with their relationship being expected and socially acceptable from everyone around him. Though unfortunately for her he feels abundantly more in love in the moments he shares with Will. Despite trying to make it work with El as hard as he could, because she's amazing and all any guy could hope for in a girlfriend, he can't ignore the fact that the feelings he has for these two people are different. The shame and guilt that comes with you, a boy, falling for your best friend, who is also a boy, and who is starting to show that he feels the same, all while you can't muster up the courage to break up with your girlfriend, nor can you muster up the courage to tell her that you love her, not when she's begging you, dying or even just simply at the end of a letter, is pretty understandable too. He can't have hope like Nancy can. It's just not the same.

Spoiler: They were not ready.

PS: I'm still not over the fact that they low-key confirmed these events elsewhere in the story...

[mike-wheeler-the-heart]

the day that the lotus hotel episode of the percy jackson series airs gay people online will become more annoying than ever before. people zooming in on grainy images of extras. people screaming when they see someone with dark hair. the specter of nico di angelo shall be upon us

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begging people who call mike "an awkward flirt" to actually look at the scenes where mike is flirting with someone he's genuinely interested in (will)

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they really are soulmates

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On this day one year ago, I was fired from Crumbl Cookies because my grandfather suddenly died and I cried when I found out and was on the clock. They make you sign a waiver to not talk about the recipes that lasts one year after your termination. Well guess what babes. That day, is today. RIP Nanu, you’ve been missed. But for anyone who likes the Chocolate Chip Cookies or the Iced Sugar Cookies, check out the recipes in the links. Feel free to ask about other recipes, it’s been a year but some things are just reskinned versions of these lol. Good Luck and Happy Baking.

Edit: Here is a Master List of all the recipes I have been able to remember thus far; I will be updating it as I am able!

[mike-wheeler-the-heart]

mike’s favourite book is “the picture of dorian gray” and he’s read it a million of times, but he never told anyone about it.

once they’re dating, will finds out and even though it’s absolutely not his genre, he reads it just because it’s mike’s favourite and mike is his favourite. when mike asks why he’s reading it, will just shrugs and says “i just love you is all”

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Mike being the first one to hug will....

Mike putting his head on wills chest to hear his heartbeat....

Will holding onto mikes shirt not wanting to let him go....

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Mike’s bulletin board- garbage pail kids cards

I’m not sure if anyone has found this out before but I did some research on popular 80s toys and stumbled upon the garbage pail kids cards which I’m certain are these cards on Mike’s bulletin board. And the crazy thing is that (almost) all of the garbage pail kids whose cards Mike owns share their names with characters from Stranger Things:

Mad Max

Mad Max who is taking their brain out of their own head, just like our Max who suffers from some kind of supernatural brain death because her mind has been taken by Vecna! Her mind is not where it’s supposed to be, it’s been taken out of her head.

Evil Eddie

Evil Eddie who is a vampire about to bite a Barbie doll, kinda like our Eddie who got framed for the murder of Chrissy, killed by demobats and is deemed evil by basically everyone in Hawkins.

Live Mike

Live Mike who is getting electrocuted……. whatever the fuck that’s supposed to mean💀 I feel like this might be a dig on “Love Mike” but I’m really not sure. Maybe some of you guys have some smart thoughts on this??

Heavin’ Steven

So this is the last one and the kid is called heavin’ steven which could be about Steve?? But I’m really unsure about this!! Maybe some of y’all also have some more smart thoughts in this here.

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"see you Will😊" *says it again to make sure he heard him* "see you Will🥰"

[mike-wheeler-the-heart]

how 4 sets the scene for Blind Max

another reason I suspect she'll have a blindness arc continuing into/through 5 is that I've been thinking about how Max's season 4, from its very first to very last second, laid groundwork de-prioritizing sense of sight for her and often shifting importance onto hearing.

on the surface, this is all just aspects of her depression/curse experience this season, but it all has the side effect of helping prepare her for blindness.

let's go:

do you wanna hear about the deal that I'm making? 🎵

Max's s4 begins with her shutting out the world around her to focus on her music all the time,

and that's before it's revealed to be a very literal lifeline. the special power of music here places enormous importance on sense of hearing (which has also benefitted Will, Victor, and the other Pennhurst inmates)

(deaf Vecna victim: "guess I'll die")

Lucas's basketball game

Max not wanting to attend the game was about not wanting to be seen by Lucas, rather than not wanting to see Lucas. she has no problem seeing Lucas - check out those heart eyes at the pep rally but only when he isn't looking.

she doesn't not care about him. she's just hiding from him.

so they could easily have established Max secretly caring via a scene where she does attend, watching but staying out of sight. maybe it turns out she refused his ticket because she actually already had one. or maybe she gets a ride from Eddie and gets to the gym and reaches for a door handle and hesitates and goes home instead.

instead they chose for her to keep tabs on Lucas without seeing the game at all, by listening instead. (looked upon by a poster with giant eyes lol)

not only tasty as a foreshadow, but a great little touch to set up Max knowing that her connection/enjoyment of her friends and awareness of what's going on doesn't depend solely on her ability to see.

bonus: her only line in that scene? "alright, I hear you" (because that dog barks)

shutting her eyes

Vecna doesn't blind his victims (well. not at the beginning) but instead forces visions upon them, so instead of their actual surroundings they see horrifying things, both literally and in a depression-metaphor way.

anyway, how does Max escape Vecna in DB? she shuts her eyes to the darkness he's forcing her to see, and focuses on the light - the love of her friends - which she knows to be the truth.

that worked the first time, and it worked again to escape the Creel house vision.

where it failed was at the snow ball, I think because Vecna got too much in her head by talking to her, and she couldn't concentrate. (the other two times he didn't talk to her while she was trying to hide in her memories, but this time he won't shut up).

after that, she seems to have given up on shutting her eyes, maybe because Vecna has figured out to target her hearing. because at the next attempt, her eyes stay wide open, and I think she would've been killed except for El interrupting. the third time, her eyes stayed open and she was killed.

avoiding eye contact

4 Max carries on a considerable chunk of her conversations staring off to the side, especially when the topic is herself.

not that this is unique to season 4 or to Max - people just tend to avoid eye contact when uncomfortable. for example, Max barely looks at Lucas throughout the s2 heart to heart on the bus either. this is just part of Sadie's portrayal of Uncomfortable Vulnerable Max, and Max is just that way a whole lot more in 4 than in prior seasons due to being depressed.

still, the end result is Max having her most important conversations with limited visual emotional cues from the other person - a trend that will obviously continue if she's blind.

relatedly, Max was able to deliver two deeply emotional and personal monologues (a supremely uncomfortable task for her) no doubt aided by the fact that her audience wasn't there to make eye contact with:

and like I've talked about before, right after her first Vecna survival, Max grabs and holds Lucas, and hears/responds to him, but it always struck me as weird that at NO point in this scene does she look at anyone:

hm.

relying on her friends' sight

thanks to the visions, Max is starting to find her sense of sight unreliable. so although nothing is currently wrong with her eyes, this puts her in a position where she's already learning to stop relying solely on her own sight, and to consult with her friends and listen to what they say they're seeing when she's unsure.

which she'll be doing a lot more of if she's blind.

not to mention the big plan with Lucas - his whole job is to keep an eye on her and "call in Kate Bush" when it gets too dangerous. so, literally trusting her life to his sight and her hearing.

losing her sight

in the end of course we arrive at literal blindness. Max can't see or feel anything but apparently can hear Lucas.

not sure what to make of potential paralysis (I don't think they'd both permanently blind and paralyze her) but that's where we stand now - with hearing as Max's last known working sense.

which is why we end on Lucas reading to her in hopes that she can hear it. if Max does wake up blind, you can bet that being read to will become one of her primary sources of entertainment. I could totally imagine Max not being ready to withstand a lot of heavy personal conversation, but still wanting to take comfort in her friends' voices.

anyway. losing her sight would be devastating of course, but I like that they've had Max placing major value on her hearing while she still has her sight instead of leaving the entirety of the conversation for when she's blind. and I like that they've had Max already start learning to trust those around her for support.

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Mike Wheeler + text posts

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Sexuality themes in s4 : Lucas and Mike as foils in conflict compared to the rest of the party

So. I've been meaning to talk about how the theme of Lucas being the prototype of straightness (sorry bi Lucas truthers<3) continues in s4 , and how it ties to how sexuality is written concerning the young party.

Lucas as Mike's straightness prototype, in universe and as a meta narrative

So , I'm definitely not the first person to talk about how Mike is incapable of being authentic in his straight relationship, so he relies on Lucas telling him what to do, in comparison to him acting on his own accord with Will. Many analyses have been written about this. Let's show an overview of the times, narrative wise and in universe, that Lucas lead and Mike followed suit:

S1

S1 is an interesting concept because Lucas isn't at a place where he's actually interested in girls yet. In fact, he shows great jealousy and contempt because a girl is "stealing" his best friend, who "betrayed" them and Will to spend time with a guuuurl because he likes her. Even so, we get Lucas's narrative blessing :

We also get this in their fight, but i'll talk about this later. We get this scene before Mike kisses El for the first time, or shows any kind of "interest" in her other than being a weapon.

S2

Lucas and Dustin start actively being straight, and having a crush on Max. Mike is not pleased with this, and he has absolutely no interest in Max or the princess in the game or any girl. The entire season leads to the Snowball, where Mike looks at Lucas and Max dancing like this.

Why does Mike seem more upset and displeased than Dustin lol. He does not like this new fascination with girls around here. But well, Lucas is dancing with Max, before they kiss. So what will Mike do, mere seconds apart, the takes cutting from one to the other?

S3

Now that kissing and, presumably, making out are checked in the checklist, there's another part of being in a straight relationship that Mike learns from Lucas : conflict. Pretty hard to have conflict in your relationship when your gf was raised in a lab, knows nothing about the world and only talks to you, the person she's latched on to, and her dad, while never leaving the house or having a single friend (sigh).

In the Lumax-Mileven break up arcs, the "Mike has no clue and needs Lucas to tell him everything all the time because he's gay" is kind of spelled out for us. Later, Lucas spells out to Mike the entire plan : buy a present that says sorry and the lots.

Which leads us in s4. A season where Mike and Lucas are apart for almost the entirety of. But their sexuality coding and narratives are still deeply interwined. Before that, let's see what the rest of the party get, before we highlight the Lucas-Mike foil.

Max

Max has her own thing going on this season, but she's not exempt from having a "sexuality" scene. In fact , she's the only member of the party to even talk about sex at all, in s3 , as she read in "her mom's cosmo".

Dustin

Dustin has a long term girlfriend, and we know he's made out with her plenty from his comments to Steve. Before that, he has talked about seeing Lumax's electricity. Here, we get some classic "my mom almost caught me" scene. Pretty straightforward.

Will

Will is a very complicated character when it comes to sexuality coding. As a victim of sexual abuse, and a boy who is well aware he's attracted to boys, his relationship to this topic isn't the same as the others. However, we do get his reaction and acknowledgement of the hose scene, which is meant to be the first time Will coexists with this kind of coding and it's not non consensual. (yes i know this sentence is awful but it's like. true. let's get rid of the rods for one moment)

El

El has her own thing going on as well this season and she in fact has zero (0) scenes regarding sexuality. With the definitive amount of csa coding El gets, and the ambiguity of what she knows about sex at all, sexuality is in the back burner throughout s4, and more importance is given to her becoming an actual person.

And then, we have Mike and Lucas. Lucas' sexuality coding is overt this season : forget show don't tell, we're told loud and clear that Lucas likes girls.

We get Lucas framed under a poster of a woman during his throwing up scene : he's had his first hangover, he's partied, he's "grown" now. Posters are important framing for all the characters. After that, we get the "69" road sign and the sexy calendar pages above his head, where he sleeps. Genuinely doesn't get more straightforward than this. Textual sex references and half naked girls.

And then , Mike.

The composition is identical : road sign and posters. With Mike, everything is code. It's not in line with his staightness, but it's also all in code. Nothing overt here. Mike's road sign says one way and points to a closet , and while the dragon is half naked, it's still a dragon and not a person. The actual half naked man poster isn't on top of his bed : he's not nearly in the same ballpark as Lucas. His sexuality is all show, no tell.

Moving on to the second scene they parallel each other in (as they also parallel each other in having 2 such scenes altogether : once again they're a package deal in the meta narrative) :

Lucas has something gross under his bed, embarassing enough to be blackmailed with . In case there's one person in the entire world who didn't get it, this is about masturbation! So sorry you had to hear this from me. And Mike's parallel scene is....drum roll....Everyone's favorite means of filling a pool!!!

Will is also there (his reaction is important as i stated earlier and @bylertruther den has mentioned before) but when it comes to Mike, this is as explicit yet covert a scene can get. @scrunchietown has talked about this in length and I'm still traumatised by the All Of It so you can infer the rest lol.

This time, Lucas leading by example isn't possible : Mike messes up with everything regarding being with El, she does too, it's a mess. But out of the narrative, we are shown that Mike being gay and in love with Will is true, because Lucas liking girls and being in love with Max are true. This also happened in s3, it's not new : Lucas has ran to apologise about his mistakes to Max a thousand times, and Mike did the same for Will without thinking about it.

Lucas and Mike's s1 and s5 fights

Now that it is established that Lucas is the expression of authentic sexuality progression to the inauthentic and complicated Mike situation, let's talk about Lucas and Mike's s1 fight and their relationship where we left them.

S1

In their fight, we got this :

For starters, Lucas absolutely 100% believes Mike is straight and has no reason not to, as much then as now. Lucas was harsh with Mike here, but considering his pov, he was completely right : Mike was prioritizing El , the supergirl , over their friend. By blaming El here, he actually blames Mike for stalling them and siding with the person that could very much be behind everything.

Lucas keeps pushing , getting into the "Will is dying" territory, which escalates the fight immediately to physical : Mike lashes out about what seems to be defending/talking about El, but in reality is about Will and the fact that Will is more special to him (does that ring...any bells...something about a rain fight and a rinkomania fight...the closegate season 2 situation...yeah.) This fight does eventually get resolved, but we take from it that Lucas is a very logical person that cares deeply for his friends and doesn't shy away from conflict, and that human relationships are a touchy subject for Mike lol.

s4 -> s5

In s4, we find Mike and Lucas' friendship at a rocky place. Mike and Dustin both acted horrible towards Lucas, and hurt him deeply by not attending his game and because of all the connotations of that. While Dustin never apologised about it, he and Lucas spent meaningful time together bonding, being friends like before and fighting a greater evil together. Mike just went to California and left things with Lucas in a bad place. And to top that off , after Mike says "We came as soon as we heard" we get this :

Now. For the love of god, I can not think of a single thing that Lucas could be a) realising b) looking at Mike like that over. I really don't understand why, but whatever the reason + their previous conflict set them up for a repeat of season 1, only this time it concerns Max, and not Will.

In this case, the stakes are in fact higher. In s1, Mike stalling because of his obsession with El could potentially be killing Will, and El maybe was behind it all . In s4, it actually did result in Max's death, who is as loved by Lucas as Will was. Having the object of the debate be Lucas' romantic interest puts an interesting spin on the dynamic of the fight compared to a friend : Lucas will confront Mike as a person in his shoes, as he always has, they're a narrative pair in whatever they do, right? And Mike, in his eyes, cares about neither him , nor Max, and he is blind, because a girl isn't grossed out by him, all over again.

What this could look like in s5?

I definitely believe they'll get a very similar fight, and obviously a more severe one, but the themes will remain. Only this time, Mike is fully aware of his sexuality, and he also lied because he thought helping El was the best thing to do, exactly like having El around in s1 was the best thing to do. But Lucas doesn't know that. I expect lots of Will and Max parallels, Lucas not wanting Mike to help save Max and openly naming him as the reason why she died, Mike being unable to handle explaining why Lucas' accusations aren't true ( in s1, unable to explain them to himself, in s5, to Lucas).

I also expect the final parallelism confirming Mike's feelings for Will to be blatant and direct s5!Lucas to s1!Mike parallels. As far as Lucas is concerned, I hope that after Mike has already come out, can get an honest apology from Mike, without needing Dustin to push him. I could also definitely see Lucas integrating the conforming theme in his fight with Mike, seeing as he has already rejected it.

[mike-wheeler-the-heart]

actually no longer interested in any mike wheeler hate club jokes. they are boring. out of character. all the party love him because he's their sweet prince shining star best friend. jon and nancy teach him how to drive. hopper gives him the key to the town.

[mike-wheeler-the-heart]

/🧍🏻

[mike-wheeler-the-heart]

This two scenes are literally one after the other. They think they're so funny i'm about to be hilarious