#BUT he also said that mike (and likely others; given joyce's mention of the rainbow ship and how proud she was in s2 which DID literally

[bylertruther]

he did sob, yes, but is that pertinent? don't we sometimes sob because we're overwhelmed, stressed, scared, or even happy? how do we know that was because of self-hatred? i think sobbing is a rather appropriate response when one decides to repackage their feelings for their best friend and the painting they've spent so much time on and care so much about as being wholly their sister's. i think it's also an appropriate response when someone you love happens to see you for who you really are despite all of your tireless hiding and tells you they love you unconditionally.

the duffers said that will wants to make himself understood, he wants to get this off his chest to those that he cares about. jonathan sees it and responds to it when they're alone, but mike doesn't because he doesn't understand. there is no one way to be or experience anything, but this is a character in a story and i personally just don't feel like those desires and his actions line up with someone who is experiencing shame. will is already a reserved character and we've seen him be ashamed or embarrassed of things before, like the mind flayer for instance, but he doesn't exhibit those behaviors now with this. he behaves more like someone that doesn't think his "crush" could ever return his feelings, which is in part why he pushes mike towards eleven. he doesn't tell mike, because he thinks he has no chance whatsoever. noah even says that himself, too, that his role this season was to essentially play someone in love with their best friend. if will is already such a sensitive and reserved character, would it really be like him to want to and unpromptedly divulge that which brings him shame or that which he hates?

i'm not saying that will is an out and proud lgbt icon strutting around in rainbow everything, not even in the safety of his mind. i also don't think that's realistic or accurate lol. i do, however, believe there's a difference between navigating a dangerous society and actually internalizing their hatred and turning it on yourself. given his actions throughout the show, i just don't feel like he holds that hate for himself or his sexuality. if he did, i struggle to understand then why he would lean into that part of himself more openly in an environment where he doesn't have to be the local fairy that got hate-crimed. i struggle to understand why he would want to tell mike, per the creators of this story, if that was something he was ashamed of. will has hidden things before. if he wanted to hide this, why hasn't he?

i guess i just feel like will being covert, aka being sensible and not suicidal, isn't a result of hatred that he's internalized in the I Hate Myself For Being Gay</3 way that this post was about. it's just survival instinct and wanting to live, no? that doesn't mean that he's ashamed of himself; it just means he has to play by society's rules if he wants to participate in it, just as everyone else does even if their rules are different. at the end of the day, he wants to love and be loved for who he is. he has never tried to tame that or snuff it out like some other characters (looking at you, mike) have. he lives as true to himself as he can in a society that can and would kill him for it if they had proof, seeing as how the people of hawkins thought his death/disappearance was a hatecrime. if he did actually hate that part of himself, then why would he honor it as much as he has even with all the pain it has and continues to cause him?

maybe we're just having a philosophical disagreement or i've misunderstood you, but i just have A Lot of feelings about how people mischaracterize (in my opinion) his bravery and strength as shame. the fact that he continues to be as he is without apology for it is an act of bravery that he commits every single day. just because he isn't throwing people around with his mind or shooting a gun doesn't mean that he isn't as brave and strong as some other characters. he fights every single day; it just looks different than everyone else's fight. and while shame is undoubtedly a social construct that obviously does not exist or arise in a vacuum, it feels unfair to say that people doing what they have to do to be safe and survive is a result of shame or hate turned inward In The Way That This Post Was Referencing. society needs shame, shame enforces the rules, and we need to abide by the rules if we want to live, but that doesn't mean that we have to believe in or accept that shame. people not endangering themselves and remaining covert isn't always due to shame, the same way that not everyone that's "in the closet" is in there because they're scared or not proud of their sexuality. everyone has their reasons and i just don't believe that will's are due to that. it isn't safe for him to be out as some people are today. that doesn't mean that he hates himself all the time for being gay. will's struggle has always been with how other people treat him: in season one he's bullied, in season two he's babied, in season three he's ignored, and in season four... well... he feels like his love is unrequited and reiterates that he's different as he has in past seasons, but at least he has his best friend that doesn't make him feel like a mistake at all and gives him the courage to fight on as well as his brother, so not all is lost. shame is a social construct, but i don't think he's the character to look to for internalized homophobia.

people who think will byers hates himself for being gay when will byers is one of the very few characters on the show that has refused to change himself to fit anyone else's idea of what he should be despite the fact that people, including his own father, have been harassing, bullying, and abusing him for it literally his entire fucking life are just...... so weird.

will's entire POINT is that he will survive and brave whatever you throw his way against all odds and come out on the other side of it still clutching on to his sense of self and hope that tomorrow will be a better day. the entire point of his character is that he loves what he loves without apology or shame.

he sings "that weird song he loves" in the middle of hell because it reminds him of his brother and offers him comfort in a place where there is none. he creates art because he loves it and doesn't care if it isn't something boys do, then he gifts it to his friends because he loves them and wants them to know it, too. he loves dnd and writes campaigns and dresses up for them because they bring him joy and he just wants to spend time with his friends even if they think they're "too cool" for it now.

he knows that sometimes it's harder than it should be to be gay in a homophobic society and has been harassed for that literally his entire fucking life it's LITERALLY how they introduce him to us not even twenty minutes into this fucking show and YET !!!!!!! he doesn't back away from that. ever.

he gets picked on for his clothes, but he doesn't change them. he gets called names, but he doesn't make any attempt to conform. his best friend, the boy that he's in love with and his very first friend ever, tells him it isn't his fault that he doesn't like girls and shamefully asks him if he really thought they were going to play games together in his basement for the rest of their lives and never get girlfriends, and what does will do?

he says yeah. i guess i did. i really did.

will faces all of that and goes to a new place where he has the golden opportunity of a clean slate, and what does he do? when assigned to do a presentation on his hero... he picks alan turing of all people. and when his brother later on tells him that he loves him no matter what, essentially giving him the It's Okay To Be Gay I Love You So Much And Always Will talk, still there is no denial on will's part here either.

will has NEVER, EVER denied being gay. he has NEVER tried to change that part of himself. he has ALWAYS stood tall and braved another day even when it was scary and hard. he has ALWAYS remained true to himself even though that has only ever made his life that much harder.

he said that sometimes he feels like a mistake for being so different from other people, but that being loved and accepted makes him feel like he isn't one at all and like he's better for being different and that gives him the courage to fight on.

literally what the fuck are you guys on about when you talk about will being self-hating for being gay. where is the canonical evidence for that? and more than that, why are you so keen on throwing away all of his acts of bravery and the sheer fucking strength of character that he's had since the very beginning? it would've been so much easier for him to conform, to be the "man" that everyone has always pushed him to be, but he doesn't ever do that. he stays true to himself no matter what. so, again, where the hell are these self-hating receipts?!

[beepboop358]

My Byler theories/predictions for S4

Since s4 is already confirmed to not be the last season, I don’t think Byler will officially get together in s4. I do think that we are definitely going to get a large amount of Byler’s development in s4 though, we just aren’t at the finish line yet. Since Byler has been being developed all through each of the seasons, I think the writers are playing the long game with Mike and Will. I really appreciate a queer romance that is so well developped, especially in something so popular! I think the season will end on a note where it’s understood what Mike has been struggling with, It’s made known that Will is gay, and that Mike has feelings for Will, and Will has feelings for Mike.

My predictions/theories for Byler in s4:

Mike might be acting a little off at school and Dustin is going to notice his odd behavior and ask what’s up

I think Mike will be getting in trouble at school and at home (based on whenever he doesn’t have Will/El around he does stupid things - like graffitti the bathroom wall, plagiarize essays, curse at adults, etc.) I don’t know if Mike knows about Eddie dealing drugs, but he might and he might get drugs from Eddie and do them to cope with everything he is struggling with. His parents might ground him for doing drugs, and forbid him from going to visit the Byers, and then we could get our runaway smalltown boy montage! LOL

Lonnie might come to visit the Byers in California for Will’s birthday. He will probably show up because he thinks they have money now, or he wants to sue Starcourt like he wanted to sue the quarry in s1. Mike will also be there visiting for Will’s birthday. Lonnie will mock Will and make fun of him like he always did, but he will also hate Mike. Lonnie will definitely notice Will and Mike’s dynamics and he will definitely comment about it. He might even call them homophobic slurs like we know he used to do with Will when he was younger. Lonnie will probably make Will cry and Mike upset. Lonnie might possibly “out” him and Mike before they are out and confirm it themselves. Some of the movies on the stranger writers twitter for s4 also hint at this, as well as having the baseball references. There are also hints to Will’s birthday throughout the show: The rainbow happy birthday mug seen in the crazy together scene, the “sorry i forgot your birthday card” in Will’s room from Lonnie, and Joyce’s speech in the shed discussing Will’s 8th birthday and his “rainbow ship”. Jonathan also mentions how Lonnie made him kill a rabbit on his 10th birthday and he cried for a week after, just more hints that if Lonnie shows up for Will’s bday, it’s gonna be bad.

Mike might get Will a watch for his birthday. This would reference the clocks being central to the s4 plot, and “not wanting things to change/turning back the clock” in Hopper’s letter

Will is being homophobically bullied at his new school again, possibly references to Will having HIV/AIDS because the height of the epidemic was in the 80’s and it was very stigmatized

Mike will call Will more than he will call El. Will might be slightly surprised by this, El’s frequent calling will annoy Mike and he might turn off his walkie talkie. (basically the reverse of what Mike said would happen in the s3 ending mileven scene)

Mike and Will will be in the same location for most of the season, like s2. They will not leave each other’s sides for the majority of the time they are together.

S4 Group Predictions:

- El, Will, Mike trio together with Jonathan and Argyle. (we will get some obvious tension between El, Will, and Mike, and Mike will hate Argyle at first)

- Robin, Steve, Erica, Max, Dustin, Lucas, Vickie, Eddie, Nancy

- Joyce, Murray, etc?

- Hopper and the other Russians (Dimitri, etc)

The rift between Mike and El will continue to grow.

When Mike comes to visit, she will notice he seems much more interested in Will.

El will ask why the bullies call Will those things (queer/fairy/gay/homo, probably f slurs too), what it means and if he really is “a queer”.

I don’t know if Will is going to come out to El. They have never interacted before, and I doubt Will trusts her or really likes her much mainly, because of Mike. Unless they get super close during the time not portrayed on screen between s3 and s4, or by being all each other has in California, I don’t know if  he will come out to El. I could see this going either way depending on how their friendship develops. I definitely do not think Will is going to tell El he likes Mike, even if he does confide in her he is gay. I think she will find out eventually but in some other way, probably just from Mike’s behavior towards Will.

El will eventually realize she doesn’t actually love Mike and let go of the ‘romance’ aspect of their bond, but still highly value him as a friend.

Mike might be called homophobic slurs at school as well. Mike will definitely be teased (regardless of his sexuality) because he is in the hellfire club and since satanic panic is sweeping the town, people look at D&D as if it is a satanic game, and he will be teased because of that.

Based on the leaked bts pics, I have a theory a cheerleader, or someone else, might show interest in Mike.  Mike will not reciprocate and she will call him out for it asking why he doesn't like her because “any other guy at this school would” or something like that, maybe even ask “what are you gay or something”. It would certainly be good for Mike’s narrative but idk if it will happen.

Will may confide in Jonathan about his feelings for Mike and the things the bullies say to him at school. Jonathan will be supportive of Will, as will Joyce. I think he will also try to protect Will from Lonnie and they will both defend Will to Lonnie.

I think we need a scene of Mike with his Mom telling him to follow his heart, like who you like, etc. because life is too short to waste it being miserable or something like that. This could be inspired by Mike’s parents seperating, but idk. This could also encourage Mike to initiate more romantic things with Will.

I would love to get a scene of Will confronting Mike for “Joining another party”, after Will said he wouldn’t.

Will and Mike need to discuss what was said in their fight.

I think since Mike's been holding in a lot of turmoil and struggling with his sexuality for so long we might get a small breakdown scene from him, of him telling Will he’s really sorry for how he treated him last summer, and for all the things he said to Will. Mike will profusely apologize and also hint at how he’s confused and been dealing with a lot.

I think Mike will be the first one to break down and confess he has feelings for Will and has been struggling with coming to terms with his sexuality.

Once Will has confirmation Mike is also struggling with his sexuality, Will might come out to him. I would love for him to reference the fight being like “You were right. I don’t like girls.” (from @itsonlystrange ‘s 4x07 byler script it’s so good!) I don't know if Will will confess he likes Mike to his face or not. I don't think it's likely given how shy Will is and how afraid he is of Mike not reciprocating, but who knows.

Mike may initiate a kiss between him and Will - towards the end of the season probably (eyewitness parallel - explained in my byler proof google slides)

I think Mike and Will might write letters to each other, with some love-y connotations. There is a lot of evidence for this in the canon comics of them writing notes to each other, and that cryptic tweet from stranger writers twitter with a blocked out message and the date Will went missing saying it wasn’t about a couple or hopper. Maybe byler related? This tweet may not be a letter but it might be. The most popular theories are that the message is to Will, “love mike”, which I love. https://twitter.com/strangerwriters/status/1184945905973153792?lang=en

Will has a new haircut (bts pics) and Mike will gush over it. Maybe some gay-panicking too hopefully

I think El will be either physically or at least emotionally distant the entire season from the other kids (again following the pattern of even and odd seasons) El needs some personal development this season, since she didn’t get any in s3.

El might confront Mike and ask if he is gay and if he likes Will, which could be El’s motivation to go off on a journey of her own to learn more about her own life. I don’t think it will be a huge fight, but El might make some references to him always lying to her. I think Mike might just kind of try to talk his way out of it at first, but he will eventually break. This might be a two part discussion and Mike doesn’t admit she is right until later. I don’t think it makes sense for El to be heartbroken (explained in my byler proof slides), just slightly annoyed. This is based off of the movie Tootsie which they borrowed the “gift” idea from in s3 already. In the movie, the girlfriend then after receiving the gift asks “Michael” if he is gay.

I really think eventually El will realize it’s okay because she doesn’t love him romantically either, and once she realizes that her own personal development can really begin.

I think we will see a noticeable change in Mike’s demeanor. I think Mike will mainly just be trying to hide that he is gay now. He joined the hellfire club so we know he’s playing d&d again meaning he is reverting back to his true self, not the weird act he put on in s3 trying to be straight and change himself. He is still struggling, but he knows he likes Will. Regardless that doesn’t mean he is going to be super clear about how he feels. He is going to be extremely afraid of opening up and then getting hurt by Will. He will probably do some of his usual ‘lead Will on and then shut it down’ thing. And I really want Will to call him out on this. This could also lead to Mike breaking down in front of Will and confessing. I think we are going to get a lot of 'Mike gay panicking' moments, he's going to be extremely afraid of being found out/suspected.

Byler things I really want to happen that we may get because they would have narrative significance:

I really want flashbacks to those 3 months of summer between the starcourt explosion and the Byers moving, of moments between Mike and Will when they hang out alone together, with some obvious romantic tension. Like where they are super playful and almost kiss, or they are kind of touchy, or something in the realm of that. I think we need a flashback of something that explains Will’s flirty nature at the very end of s3 with Mike, because he doesn't normally act like that. I want noticeable “is something going on with them?” vibes. This could also happen during the thanksgiving/christmas flashbacks.

I hope we get flashbacks of Mike going to the Byers for Thanksgiving, and the Byers coming back to Hawkins for Christmas. Preferably of some Mike and Will moments that hint at Mike’s confusion or how he feels “so alone” without Will, maybe with some “crazy together” references too! I’d also love some tension between the 3 of them, maybe this is when El starts to get suspicious of Mike liking Will.

Hopefully we get some shots of Mike biking past the byers old house and going to look at castle byers and reminiscing.

I’d love to get a flashback of Mike the day the Byers moved away, of him crying or being upset, alone in his room/basement while looking at Will’s drawings or pictures of Will and him together. Mainly to confirm for people that Mike was upset about Will moving, not as much El.

This one does not seem super probable, but it is a very popular theory. Idk if it’s possible because of location logistics, but if they spend enough time together, I’d love for Mike to get to know Robin better, and Will too. Maybe once everyone comes together at the end of the season, she will notice their dynamics and could help guide and inspire them to be themselves. Hey maybe thats for s5 :) But I do think it’s a possibility that Mike may work at the video store with Steve and Robin, and she will pick up on Mike’s behavior and understand, whether she communicates that to him or not.

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

“It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!”: How one line sparked a pointless debate

Oh, this one line. It really should have cleared everything up. Those who picked up on hints at Will being written as gay saw it as a reassurance. Others saw it as a sign that Will is developmentally behind his friends and just isn’t ready for romance yet. The biggest flaw in this feud is in seeing these two as mutually exclusive options. There is no reason that Will can’t be both gay and not ready for dating. 

On the matter of Will’s sexual orientation, there have been many hints throughout each season of Stranger Things thus far. In Season 1, Will is mentioned as having been bullied by both his father and peers for perceived homosexuality. Joyce says that Lonnie would call him “queer” or “fag”, and this is also what Troy and James would try and use to bully him at school. Troy and James using this is particularly meaningful since they just as easily, if not more easily, targeted Will for being poor or small. The writers made it a point that this was what Will gets bullied for.

His relationships with Joyce and Jonathan also support the idea that Will may be different, even if they don’t necessarily know how. The love and support that viewers get to witness from Will’s family is conspicuous should it turn out to be insignificant. Jonathan tries to reassure Will that there’s nothing wrong with being different or weird. He explicitly tells him that he doesn’t need to like something just because he is supposed to. Joyce provides unconditional love and support for Will’s “less masculine” interests. In an effort to break through Will’s possession, she recalls Will drawing a spaceship. She specifically mentions it being a “rainbow ship” and how proud she was of him. These are little things that, when considered in a vacuum, others could say people are reading too deeply into. It gets a bit harder to dismiss, however, when combined with other evidence.

Will’s relationship with Mike continues to reinforce the idea that Will may be gay. Beyond the fact that their friendship is shown as being somewhat deeper than that of the rest of the party, there are also specific moments that show that Will may see Mike as something more than a friend. At the Snowball, Will resists dancing with a girl who asks him to dance, and he looks over to Mike as he begins to stammer out a refusal. While it may not have come across as explicitly on screen, the script also mentions that while Will is dancing with the girl his eyes are fixed on Mike.

Season 3 brings some new evidence as well. Will watches his friends gain girlfriends, and it is clear he doesn’t see the appeal. His mother suggests that he will one day, to which he replies “I’m...not gonna fall in love.” It’s not a childish reaction of disgust. Instead, it comes across more like annoyance and resignation, as if he’d thought about it before and didn’t like the answer. In addition, he reacts to Mike’s relationship in a way that is unique. All three of his friends have girlfriends, but only Mike’s evokes disgust in Will. Lucas regularly banters and bickers with Max, and Dustin absolutely gushes over Suzie, but Will appears unfazed by them. The suggestion is that Will is jealous.

Will’s fight with Mike is framed as analogous to Mike’s fight and breakup with El. This is where the title quote comes from. Will accuses Mike of “ruining everything” by spending his time making out with “a stupid girl.” This prompts Mike to angrily reply that it’s not his fault Will doesn’t like girls. Will is rendered speechless despite his previous anger, and Mike immediately seems to regret it. It’s a very well-crafted scene, that somehow retains a degree of ambiguity despite the implication that Will simply “doesn’t like girls.” This and the other pieces of evidence are circumstantial in real-life, but this is a TV show, and one that is meticulously written and shot.

On the other hand, Will is also depicted as being somewhat less mature than his friends. Being portrayed by a younger actor compared to the others, Will is smaller than his peers. He also lacks much of the sass or attitude that is often seen in boys his age. Season 3 also goes to great lengths to dress him in simpler, boyish outfits compared to the more mature, style-conscious choices of the others. He has an almost fanatical desire to play D&D, and is very amused by Dustin’s gadgets. These are some of the main reasons people think he just hasn’t matured to the point of wanting a girlfriend.

The problem with this approach is that it assumes eventual heterosexuality from Will. It is very possible that Will has not reached the point of wanting romantic relationships, but evidence suggests that when he does he may not be interested in girls. It may also be that his lack of a desire in romance may instead be a desire to avoid romance. 

If Will is indeed a young man grappling with homosexual desires, he would no doubt be terrified. Given the time period and the bullying he’s received, this would be an undesirable outcome. Accepting these desires could lead to isolation, violence, and even death. It would be admitting that everything people have said about him was right all along. It would mean his dad would never love him. It would mean he would be better off not growing up, never falling in love. 

Will didn’t need to worry about a girlfriend as a kid. It was completely acceptable for him to spend all of his time with his friends. With Mike. For Will, growing up could mean all of that changing. It could mean facing his feeling for Mike. It could mean losing Mike to a girl. It could mean no more trips to the arcade, no more movies, no more late-night D&D sessions. It would mean everything changing, and it’s easy to see why Will would want nothing to change. It’s not so much that Will isn’t ready to grow up as it is he is refusing to.

Will potentially being homosexual and not wanting to grow up are not issues in opposition to each other. In fact, the former is, at least in part, the trigger for the latter. 

[kaypeace21]

Mike Wheeler and other queer subtext

How come no one ever talks about how just changing one word in his speech  makes what Mike said to Will sound like a marriage proposal?

“And I asked you to be my {friend} and you said yes ... you said yes. It was the best thing I’ve ever done”.

Is it just me? I mean think about all those speeches in the shed. Jonathan talks about the day their dad left (the same guy who called Will homophobic slurs) and lets be honest him thinking his son might be queer, may have been one of the reasons he left. Jonathan even mentions that ‘castle Byers’ was built after their homophobic dad left, the place where Will felt the most safe while in the upside down as he sang ‘should I stay or should I go’ was that place. He sings the same song Jonathan played for him when Lonnie didn’t show up for visitation and Jonathan told Will “He’s trying to force you to like normal things. And you shouldn’t like things because people tell you you’re supposed to ... especially not him.”

What makes Will feel safe is the antithesis of his father.Lonnie left when Jonathan was 10 so will was about 7 or 6 (maybe)? And it was on Jonathan’s 10th birthday when he was first taught how to use a gun, and was traumatized because he was forced to kill/shoot a rabbit to be “more of a man”. SO why does Will know how to shoot a gun when Lonnie wasn’t in his life at 10 years old ?! Can you imagine how much more shit he forced Will through (compared to Jonathan) if he thought he was queer and was forcing him to ‘man-up’?! 

So then, what Joyce says before Jonathan’s speech about his “rainbow ship” and “being proud” isn’t just an overt hey look Will’s lgbt+ ! Its makes narrative sense given what the family knows and we’re supposed to put 2 in 2 together.

So the fact that Mike’s speech about how they first met, is RIGHT AFTER Jonathan’s speech about their dad leaving is interesting? So let’s think about this ; WHY does Lonnie think Will is queer? Speaking from personal experience , to most straight people if you aren’t an ‘over the top stereotype’ (nothing wrong with that, by the way) no on believes you even if you say it to their face (although that may be more of a queer women problem, but I digress.) My point is Mike met Will at age 5, BEFORE Lonnie left. And I sort of gather that Will & Mike were probably very close (especially because they probably weren’t taught yet what was considered normal-friendship behavior), and Lonnie got suspicious about how close they were. In other words, Mike was the literal catalyst for Lonnie leaving! I mean if as teens, they are still more affectionate than what the 80s  deemed ‘acceptable’ who knows how they acted before being conditioned to be told what was considered ‘wrong’ and ‘not wrong’.

Essentially these stories tell us a chronological order of events: Mike and Will meet. Lonnie gets suspicious of their bond and his abuse escalates as he tries to ‘fix his’ “queer, fag” son, but he eventually gives up and leaves . Joyce even says  “You never cared about him” (because he wasn’t straight), when she learns Lonnie wasn’t mourning for Will’s death but simply using him to make a quick buck. However, Will  feels safer and happier without such a toxic individual in his life and his mom does everything to make up for the damage he’s caused- as she tries to support her son’s sexuality  .

Will and Mike being ‘suspiciously’ close actually makes a lot of sense if you look at what other characters say about the 2 in season 1. When Will went missing in s1 , Mike’s mom said “ What’s been going on with Will, I can’t imagine what it’s been like for you. I just ... want you to feel like you can talk to me. I never want you to feel like you have to HIDE anything from me” (she even emphasizes the word ‘hide” it’s so heavily queer-coded and it makes me feel like she suspects something because she was around to see the interactions between the 2 we never did).

Even his dad jokes “Absolutely not” *turns to wife* “our son with a girl?”. If you rewatch the scene Karen doesn’t make eye contact and literally freezes at the comment and blinks rapidly (She’s clearly uncomfortable). Bisexuality wasn’t really something people believed in so it’d be kind of funny to think Mike’s parents thought he would turn out to be gay the whole time because of his interactions with Will.

Also, how come no one talk about that binder? You know the binder (from s1) that Mike keeps, filled with 100s of Will’s drawings. Think about that! Will has been giving his drawings to Mike for years! And Mike not only accepts them but treasures them so much he keeps every single picture Will’s ever given him . When Will is believed to be dead, we see Mike look through the whole binder, he even gently strokes the drawing of the cleric, probably thinking he’ll never get another pic from Will again. Also when Will ‘dies’, “we can be heroes” by David bowie (a bisexual singer) plays,  there’s no romantic lyrics in the song except one lyric “And we kiss as though nothing could fall and the shame” and this is the lyric that plays when Mike returns to his house and cries in his mother’s arms over the ‘death’ of Will. Do I have to explain how ‘kissing and shame’ are queer-coded XD

Hell, even when Lucas makes fun of his crush on EL, Lucas gets down on one knee  and says “ I love you so much, will you marry me?” and literally 1s later, we’re introduced to the bullies and the idea that will is ‘gay’, and Mike is in the forefront of the scene and unlike his friends he is physically assaulted (like a gay-bashing) . It’s supposed to subconsciously hint he has feelings for both of them. The first interaction with the bullies, they mention Will being ‘gay’ right after they mention Mike’s crush on androgynous El , Mike says to “ignore them” but is assaulted anyways. And when asked what happed he doesn’t want to tell El the details cause he’s ashamed . 2nd time the bullies talk about Will, Mike is once again in the forefront , as his friends are in the background , and the bullies say Will is “flying in fairyland with all the other little fairies”. Mike was literally on the verge or tears at this comment (despite being happy a few moments earlier telling the others to ‘act sad’ because they’d look suspicious other wise). But this is the comment where Mike snaps and pushes Troy back (because he took it personally) and El protects him in the end. Then the last time the bullies appear , Mike jumps off the cliff and “flies like a fairy” thanks to El saving him . Nancy even says says “I thought you were acting weird, but I thought it was because of Will” And Mike responds “I thought you were acting weird too I thought it was because of Steve ... Do you like Jonathan now”?” Nancy: “No, do you like Eleven?”. They literally compared the explicit love triangle between Steve/Nancy/Jonathan to the Will-Mike-El dynamic!

And since this devolved into me talking about the Duffers making Mike bi since the very beginning. Lets not forget when El was in her wig , he called her “pretty” and she looks at the mirror happily restating the word “pretty”. And after she lost her wig and broke Troy’s arm, at the police station he says “ Her head’s shaved she doesn’t even look like a girl”. And in the same episode, El looks in the mirror sadly and asks Mike “Still pretty?” And he say “Yeah, pretty, really pretty.” And they almost kiss! Note that 3 separate characters said El looked like a boy, but Mike doesn’t care he still wanted to kiss her! Even one of the men thought El might be the missing ‘Byers boy’. I’m not saying Mike has a thing for quiet-brunettes with super powers, and daddy-issues but ... wait that’s exactly what I’m saying. XD

I mean in season 1 when El asks him the difference between friends and crushes, Mike literally uses gender inclusive pronouns by using the word “someone” (3 times), and embarrasses himself because he can’t articulate the difference. When he could of simply given the 80s heteronormative  answer of ‘when a boy likes a girl’. 

Mike: “ you go to school dances with someone. You know someone that you like”

 El: “a friend?”

Mike: ‘not a friend uh ... uh someone like a” (gives up and kisses her)

And I mean the dance- we’d be here all day with all the hints! But, Will’s first instinct when asked to dance with a girl (who’s wearing a rainbow hairclip)  is to look at mike and say “I.. uh, don't”, and then after Mike forces him you literally see Mike’s shocked expression like  ‘what. why’d I do that ?’ After this, they show Dustin looking sad about Max/Lucas dancing and then they have Mike get into the frame (next to Dustin) and look sad when Will/girl are dancing in the same exact frame as Max/Lucas. They have 2 scenes of Mike moping - one where he's moping about El (and she shows up immediately to convey he was thinking about her) and another moping scene of him just looking at Will dancing with a girl.

Sorry for the rant but there’s just SO much subtext, a lot of which I didn’t even mention (like all the scenes that directly parallel byler and mileven ) and I’m really curious about what will happen between the 3 in later seasons, I want it to be July and until we get a teaser or something I’m going to bother people with content 😂  

[rambling-at-midnight]

Tech Ed Sucks

Stranger Things Fic

Request: Hii! 1st time requesting something, I hope it’s okay! Could you write a Will/Reader where she finds something in common w/ Mike and it seems like she enjoys spending time with him more than she does with Will, and when he tries to confront her, she says he’s being ridiculous and there’s no reason for him to be paranoid, and she doesn’t realise it hurt his feelings, so he talks to Eleven and she’s in the same boat, and they do pretty much what Mike and Reader are doing, so that they both realise (anonymous)

So you didn’t finish the request, anon, but I think I went where you were going. Hope you like it!

Pairing: Will Byers x Reader

“Hey, Y/N, these are my friends,” Will introduces, motioning to the group of people sitting at his lunch group. You’ve seen them all in different situations, but never together; that redheaded girl always skateboards around and the boy with the dark curly hair and dorkish sweater has had to fix problems teachers have had with technology more than a few times. They’ve all been a little too intimidating for you to approach on your own; like you’d said, the redhead is a skateboarder, and the curly-dark-haired boy and the curly-haired girl you can only assume is his girlfriend are literally never apart, and you don’t want to intrude on that. Not to mention the boy with the wild but light curls always looks to be joking around with everyone and popular. The last boy, the dark-skinned one, plays basketball, which means he is automatically cool.

So, really, you feel like the only approachable one is Will. He’s in your art class and pretty quiet. You’ve never even see him with these people, so it’s a coincidence that he’s friends with them. Pretty close friends, too, if he’s leaving his art friends to sit with them and everyone else is leaving their own friends to sit here. You know for a fact that the dark-haired boy always has an invitation to sit with the basketball guys, and to turn down an invitation with them takes guts.

So it’s a bit intimidating for you, the new girl at the school for the past five months, to sit down at this table of clearly very close friends when every other day at lunch you’ve been eating in the library despite it being against the rules. You just hide your food when the librarian’s watching; it’s easy.

“Guys, this is Y/N,” he continues. “My…”

You tense. You and Will are definitely something. Neither of you are for sure about what you are, but there’s definitely feelings that are reciprocated. Now what those feelings are you have to figure out.

“Hey!” the curly-light-haired boy says, extending his hand. “I’m Dustin. You’re in my science and P.E., right?”

“That sounds right,” you say, shaking his hand (seriously, what kid shakes hands?). He’s got a good, firm grip, though, even if his hands are slightly sweaty. You try to discreetly wipe your hands on your pants under the table after you sit down. “You’re the class clown, right?”

The dark-skinned boy and the redheaded girl offer small chuckles.

“I’m Mike,” the boy with the dark curls says, offering you a smile that that doesn’t show teeth and a small wave. “This is El.” He nudges the girl you’d assumed to be his girlfriend with his elbow and she offers you another smile without teeth. She doesn’t wave, though, or echo the greeting.

Did you do something to offend her? Then again, you’re pretty sure she’s just like that; you’ve noticed that Mike’s practically her voice during class and nobody’s batted an eye. Maybe she’s deaf.

“I’m Max,” the redhead says, waving at you with her sandwich. A few crumbs land in Dustin’s hair and he groans at her. “That’s Lucas.” She jerks a bit and Lucas groans and clutches his leg. She’d obviously kicked him under the table. “So how do you know Will?”

“We’re in the same art and history class,” you respond, taking a bite out of your own sandwich. Plus, you’ve met at the arcade more than a few times. And at Benny’s...

“Hey, you’re in my Tech Ed class, right?” Mike asks, staring at you and squinting like he’s just trying to place you.

“I think so?” You shrug. “Probably. You looked sorta familiar, so that might be it.”

“What do you think about Mr. Short?”

You make a face and immediately regret it. What if he likes Mr. Short?

To your relief, Mike laughs and gestures at you. “I know, right?”

“He doesn’t explain a thing!” you exclaim. “And I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even know how to use a computer!”

“I know more about that class than he does!” Mike responds excitedly.

Will and Eleven lock eyes as you and Mike talk in increasingly loud voices, as if you’ve forgotten the rest of the table is even there. When El puts her hand on Mike’s knee, he doesn’t even notice, and you’re talking so loudly you don’t even hear the bell ring for the end of lunch.

“Talk to you later, Mike!” you say, waving over your shoulder at him as you walk away. When you turn around, you hug your books to your chest and grin at Will. “Wow, Mike’s really nice!”

Will sighs and turns the volume up on the TV once more. Eleven sits next to him, trying to watch the show, but you and Mike aren’t making it easy. Will swears he hears you say ‘Mr. Short’ five times in less than as many minutes.

Will hadn’t intended for it to be only you four. That would make it seem too much like a double date and he is not dating you. He has no idea what you feel about him. Honestly, at this point it sort of feels like you’re more interested in Mike than you are him, and if Will didn’t know any better, he’d say Mike’s interested back.

Unfortunately, Max and Lucas were off doing their own thing (both vehemently insisted it wasn’t a date, but why else would they be going to a diner just the two of them on a Friday night?) and Dustin had to take his mom’s cat to the vet.

So the moment you and Mike arrived, you were talking about your one (one! Will shares two classes with you and so does Dustin!) tech ed and your infuriating teacher and the latest unclear homework he assigned.

Will had even told you that it sort of felt like you were interested in Mike. You’d brushed him off, which made him think that, maybe, you might be interested in Mike. You’d just said that he was being crazy, which was sort of rude, now Will thinks about it. Whenever he brings up concerns like that to Jonathan and his friends they listen to him.

Well, except Mike now. He’d also told Will that he was practically crazy for thinking he may have feelings for you despite the fact that he’d brought El here and has barely said a word to her. Besides, Will has it on good authority that Mike didn’t sneak over to the cabin on last Saturday night even though he always does. El had acknowledged that the Chief had been sending Mike dirty looks recently, so he might not have wanted to risk it, but why wouldn’t he have just told El?

Will’s not sure if Mike was with you Saturday night. He doesn’t want to think about it. He’d liked you. You’re smart and sweet and a really good artist. To be honest, he’d expected you and El to hit it off more than you and Mike; she wants to learn how to draw and you seem like someone that’d be willing to teach her. Now it may have something to do with the way El thinks you’re stealing her boyfriend, but she sort of hates your guts. Not that anyone can tell; she’s been ignoring you, which is par for the course when El’s at school. She loosens up a little bit at the cabin, Mike’s house, and Will’s house, but she’s still super duper quiet.

Will notices El’s hand clenching. She’s staring at you and Mike again. He puts his hand on her fist. You still don’t know about her powers and he doesn’t need El hurting you with them just because she thinks you’re making moves on her boyfriend. “Hey,” he says softly. “It’s okay. I talked to Y/N.”

El just blinks at him, which he takes as a cue to keep talking. Mike’s the best at reading El’s little cues, but given the amount of time she spends over at Will’s house while his mom and the Chief ‘hang out’, he’s gotten pretty good at it too. “She said they’re just friends.”

El shakes her head. It doesn’t look that way.

“I know,” Will says softly. “Hey, do you want to draw?”

She nods.

“But we’ve gotta trust them, right?” he continues, handing her a piece of paper and a crayon. At this point, most of El’s drawings look like children’s drawings, but he tries to be as encouraging as possible. After all, she is a superhero that saved his life, and she’s also emotionally fragile. He also can’t help but think of her like a sister. She’ll be his stepsister soon enough anyway; the Chief asked Jonathan if he could ask Joyce to marry him and Jonathan told Will.

He said yes. Will thinks.

“A relationship without trust isn’t a relationship.”

“You and Y/N?”

Will shakes his head and exhales. “I wish. I don’t know, though.” So he’s a hypocrite. So he doesn’t trust that you and Mike are ‘just friends’. It’s still good to set a good example, especially for such an impressionable young girl. “I’m just trying to work up my courage, you know?”

You have hung out with Will without Mike. You have. And Will’s pretty sure you’re acting normally when it’s just you and him. And, really, if he’s going to get into a relationship, he doesn’t want it to be like his mother’s marriage; he wants to be able to trust his partner. He also doesn’t want his partner to act like they prefer someone else’s presence over his all the time. Some of the time, sure. Will can understand if you’d rather hang out with Max while you’re talking about sports, or (if you were close to El; he’s sure you will be once El stops thinking you’re making moves on Mike) El if you want to talk about fashion. El likes fashion.

But not all the time.

Eventually you have to leave and Mike immediately comes to sit between Will and El, asking her what she’s drawing, and the purposeful way he sits between them starts to give Will an idea.

“So what do you think?”

“Yuck,” El says without looking up from the rainbow she’s coloring. Her nose crinkles. “I like Mike.”

“Yes, I know you like Mike,” Will says, bouncing his leg anxiously. “And I know you don’t like me.”

“I do!” she insists. “Just… not the same.”

“Yeah, that’s what I meant,” Will clarifies. “You like me like a friend or like a brother, right? And you like Mike as a boyfriend. And I like you as a friend or a sister, and I like Y/N as a girlfriend.” He hunches down over the table to continue coloring so El doesn’t think he’s too invested in this conversation. He really wants to try the experiment and get to the bottom of the drama, but El might not want to do it if she thinks he’s being too demanding of her. She doesn’t like to do things that aren’t choices. And he totally understands! It’s because of those assholes in the lab, but right now he really needs her to say yes. Will picks up the blue crayon for the robes of the wizard he’s drawing. Normally he hates crayons and prefers colored pencils, but El likes pencils and also feels insecure about all her differences from the other kids. Sometimes it’s nice to let go a little bit and draw with colored wax. It doesn’t look as bad making a mistake as it would if he was using a colored pencil. “But if we just pretend for, like, a day or so, then we can see if Mike still likes you like a girlfriend.”

He hears a massive sniff and looks up with alarm. Tears are already pouring down her face and cascading onto the drawing of her rainbow. Will drops the blue crayon. “El! Wait! How’d you start crying so fast? Wait, El, that’s not what I meant—” He practically throws himself around the table to hug her. “El, that’s not what I meant at all. I’m so sorry.” He looks up nervously at the sound of a car passing. If the Chief comes home and sees his daughter sobbing, Will’s gonna get murdered. “What I meant was I want to know if Y/N thinks of me as a boyfriend. Mike obviously thinks about you like a girlfriend. Didn’t he sneak out last night to come see you?”

El sniffs and wipes her nose with her sleeve, nodding. “Came to my window.”

“And it was cold last night, right? And Mike’s house is pretty far away. Plus, it was a school night,” Will points out. God, his friend is so whipped. Too bad El’s too insecure to see that. “Mike wouldn’t just do that for any of his friends.”

Wait. But Mike would do that for any of his friends. That’s just the kind of person that he is. Will curses internally and hopes El won’t think about that, but the look she gives him let him know that she knows that.

“What if Mike doesn’t want to go to the Snow Ball with me?” she wails, starting to cry harder, and Will’s at a loss. He knows that Mike and El mean a lot to each other. He honestly can’t see Mike ever leaving El, let alone for a girl he’s known for around a month. Honestly, Will’s just worried about you.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” he says hurriedly. “We don’t have to pretend to like each other. I’m sorry I brought it up. Mike definitely likes you. Do you want me to get Mike? I can get Mike.” Mike always knows what to do when El’s crying.

El shakes her head, hiccuping. “Mike doesn’t like me anymore. Mike won’t help me.”

“Oh, no, El,��� Will soothes, rubbing her back. “Mike does like you, I promise.”

“I don’t like Y/N!” she bursts out, clenching her fists and banging them on the table. Well, angry El is better than crying El. It’s something, at least. At least, it would be, if the crayon she’d been using to draw wasn’t hovering over the table. It’s a sign that El’s losing a teensy bit of control over her powers.

Now, Will’s got a good imagination. It’s not as good as Mike’s, obviously; Mike’s the best Dungeon Master anyone could ask for. But Will’s still got a good imagination, and right now Will’s imaging Eleven using that crayon to stab you.

“El, I just really like Y/N,” Will pleads. “This would help out a lot.”

“I’ll do it,” El says suddenly. The crayon snaps in two and falls onto the table. Will flinches. “Not too much. But…” She rolls her eyes. “To help you.”

Will grins and has to stop himself from pumping his hand into the air, crowing.

You notice when Will doesn’t greet you in the morning. He’s too deeply engrossed in conversation with El. They’re both standing by Mike’s locker, obviously waiting for him to get here.

“Hey, guys!” you greet happily, walking over to them. Your stomach flips a little bit, just like it always does when you see Will, and you hope he doesn’t notice the way your grin widens when you make eye contact with him. “What are you doing?”

“We were… just talking,” Will says, motioning between him and El. She stands on her tiptoes and whispers something into Will’s ear and his face breaks out into a wide grin. “What?” He looks at El in a way that makes your stomach churn. It’s intimate in a way and shares many more words than a mere sentence.

The smile drops off your face. Shit. Fuck. He’s moved on from you and you two weren’t even a thing. Worst thing is, he’s moved on to El, and you know how much Mike likes El. He barely stops talking about her!

“Hey, Will,” Mike greets behind you. His smile looks a little forced as he glances around. “Hey, have you seen El?”

Will shrugs and points in the direction she left. “She went that way. She probably saw Lucas or Dustin.”

Mike nods, giving Will a look you’ve never seen before, and he stalks off without even getting his books from his locker.

“Y/N, do you want to get dinner with me tonight?” Will blurts out before you can make up an excuse to escape his presence. “Like… a date?”

You blink, having gotten whiplash. Just a second ago he was flirting with El, wasn’t he? “What? A date?”

“Well, yeah,” Will says sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I have a funny story to tell you…”

“So me and El were super jealous, you know?” Will starts. You nod. You hadn’t realized how upset Will was by you and Mike being close. You’d thought he’d be happy that you’re getting along with his friends, and you’d also thought that if he really cared he’d make a move!

Well, he did make a move.

You hope.

“Well, we decided that we were going to try to make you and Mike jealous,” he starts and you screw up your face with disgust.

“Ew! Mike said you and El are practically siblings!”

Will huffs out a laugh. “Well, yeah. That’s why the whole scheme lasted for about five seconds until El whispered in my ear that she was sure you liked me. So… I asked you out. El’s never wrong.”

You tilt your head. “Why didn’t you just ask her in the first place?”

“I think she was a bit blinded by her hatred for you,” he says matter-of-factly.

You blanch.

“Not anymore!” Will adds, holding out a placating hand. “She just thought you were going to make a move on Mike or something. Anyways, neither of us think that anymore, so…”

You smile at Will. “I’m glad you didn’t waste either of our time on that stupid scheme. I’m also sad I didn’t take your feelings into account when you came with them to me.”

“Hey, it’s fine,” Will promises. “No big deal.”

Taking a huge risk, he reaches across the table to where your hand is resting on it and laces his fingers with yours. Your eyes are wide, brain unable to function, and his fingers are so very warm.

Will smiles at the table.

I’m going to start working on a Wanda Maximoff x Stark!Reader as soon as I can. Unfortunately, my spring break is ending so I won’t be able to upload as quickly. Thank you all for the support!

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

Were we Gay-Baited? The Issue of Will and Byler/Byeler, a Discussion of Apophenia, Identification, and Empathy

I’ve been struggling with my own feelings since finishing Stranger Things 3. Curiously, I find myself being overcome with rage and disappointment, which isn’t how one is usually meant to feel about a TV show. It wasn’t a bad season by any means, though I do think it was the weakest of the three so far. The one biggest point I find myself stuck on is the treatment of Will Byers, not just as a character, but as a reflection of my own experiences and feelings. Identification happens all the time when we engage with fiction. Sometimes we are meant to do so, while other times it is due to how we interpret otherwise ambiguous aspects of a character or story. It’s an aspect of empathy, as we’re feeling the emotions (or at least what we believe to be the emotions) of a character.  I identified with Will back in Season 1. It looked like they were building, slowly, but surely, towards Will being gay, and I let myself build this idea that his struggles with the Upside Down and the Mindflayer were a metaphor for him coming to terms with these feelings he had for his best friend. I saw the Upside Down as an allegory for being in the closet. A dark, lonely, scary version of the real world. I don’t know if Barb was meant to be seen as a lesbian, but I latched onto that as support for my theory. It was after being left alone by Nancy that she is captured and killed by the Demogorgon. She felt alone and rejected, and subsequently was consumed by the despair that comes with hiding. Will, however, was able to get out due to the overwhelming love and support of his friends and family. Was I wrong to make this assumption? Possibly. Then Season 2 happened, and I don’t know what else we were meant to think.

For reasons we never really find out, at least in the show itself, Will finds himself being stalked by the Mindflayer roughly a year after escaping the Upside Down. This creature wants Will, and apparently only Will. The simple explanation, I suppose, is that it wants what it sees to be his. Will got away, the Mindflayer isn’t ok with that, and this all ensures that our main cast are at the center of the story. I read into it deeper though, which was probably a mistake. This happens during an election year, and Reagan signs are prominently displayed. The AIDS crisis was in full swing, and still mainly seen as a gay disease. Will still doesn’t feel safe, and doesn’t even fully understand how he feels. He flashes back into the Upside Down, feeling targeted and watched. Mike is generally able to pull him back out, and Will seems to seek out the safety of his best friend. Mike is the only one he trusts. Mike is safety, comfort, and unconditional love. He’s special, at least to Will. 

It is again love that saves Will. Joyce, Johnathan, and Mike get through to Will by sharing stories meant to express how they feel about Will. Joyce loves her son, and is proud of his rainbow ship. This was unnecessarily specific if it wasn’t meant to be gay coding. Johnathan shares the building of Castle Byers, Will’s safe haven, after their dad left, The same dad who would call Will a fag. We see Will start to waver, ever so slightly, as they start to reach him, but the kicker is when Mike starts. Mike shares the story of when they first met. He remembers it in surprising detail, and it’s the oldest memory out of the three so far mentioned. Mike is barely keeping himself together as he relates walking up to Will on the first day of kindergarten. He’s so overwhelmed by the memory himself, repeating that Will said yes to being his friend, as if he cherished it immeasurably, and goes on to say it was the best thing he’s ever done. Despite the Mindflayer’s control, Will himself is barely holding back tears at this moment and we see emotion on his face for the first time since being fully possessed. He’s able to start with the morse code. Mike is the one who ultimately broke through. I read this as him being the single most important person in Will’s life, but was it that, or was it simply that he was the last to speak? It’s hard to tell the intent here, especially as Mike’s attention leaves Will as soon as Eleven returns shortly thereafter. All we’re left with is a look at Mike when Will is asked to dance, and his fake smile faltering as he glances at Mike dancing with Eleven. More curious decisions that could be something, or may be nothing.

This brings us to Season 3, where my confusion, annoyance, and anger boil over more with each episode. We start with scenes that I felt did a good job showing an emotional conflict set up by the end of Season 2: how does Mike find room for both Will and Eleven? Mike is shown obsessively attached to Eleven, which is reasonable given his age and his fear of losing her again, and we also see him going to the movies with Will, Lucas, and Max. The latter scene is oddly double-date like, to the point where they don’t sit together, putting Mike and Will separate from Lucas and Max as if to highlight the two separate couples. Lucas and Max get some playful banter in (pretty much the last we see of their relationship this season), and Mike is shown still harboring concern for Will. I found it odd when Mike asked if Will was ok, as Will hadn’t really done anything unusual. The suggestion, at least to me, was that Mike is still paying close attention to Will, and this made sense, as he would have a fear of losing Will the same as he does with Eleven. After this we see Will mope over the amount of time Mike spends with Eleven, but he has no complaints about his other friends. His obsession over D&D is over the top and jarring, and very much out of character. He’s a fully fleshed out character with multiple interests, but all he wants to do is D&D, why? I don’t really have a great answer for that beyond it being bad writing just to set up a later scene. That brings us to their fight, which fully ignited my hopes that they’d continue this build-up.

Will loses it when Mike and Lucas seem to mock his campaign. They don’t really dislike it, they just aren’t engaged due to girl troubles. His anger, though, seems focused on Mike. Will feels betrayed, and laments his loss of the Party due to girls, but he never blames anyone but Mike, even though Lucas and Dustin are similarly focused on girls. He calls El a “stupid girl”, and that wouldn’t be unusual given the situation had we been shown any interactions between El and Will or given exposition to inform us that the two of them get along. Indeed, I got the impression that Will still hasn’t had any meaningful interactions with her, since it’s implied she’s constantly with Mike and only Mike. The only time we see her out with the Party, before the crisis begins anyway, Mike bails with her very quickly. Will resents El. She’s stealing Mike away from him. That’s how I saw it anyway, and I remember feeling that way many a time at that age. At this point, you might still be able to argue it was just Will mad he’s losing his best friend, but then that one line comes. “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!” 

This line could have been done in any number of other ways if the implication was anything other than Will is gay and has feelings for Mike (any maybe thought Mike might like him as well). Mike could have told Will he needs to grow up or that it’s not his fault Will doesn’t have a girlfriend. But, no, Will simply doesn’t like girls. Will’s reaction speaks volumes, despite him not being able to talk. Up to that point, Will had been jabbing Mike with accusations, but as soon as Mike says this he’s stone silent. Lips quivering and eyes watering, he stares at Mike in disbelief and fear. To his credit, Mike immediately realizes he crossed a line and softens his approach, something we never see him do when he fights with anyone else. The damage is done, however, and Will’s final words “I guess I did. I really did.” screamed of a breakup to me. Will thought it’d be him and Mike forever. He destroys Castle Byers in a rage, berating himself for being stupid. It’s no longer a safe haven for him, as it is filled with memories of his childhood. A childhood spent with Mike.

This whole scene is never addressed again by the two of them. Lucas is shut down in an attempted apology, and I saw this as Will not wanting an apology from him and not willing to discuss the situation. It still felt very aborted, as if that quick scene with Will and Lucas was meant to tell the audience that, nope, we’re not getting into that. He and Mike have no real significant interactions throughout the rest of the season, though Will is shown reacting negatively anytime Mike expresses his feelings for Eleven. Our attention is never really drawn to it, but it’s there. This takes us to the finale, where Mike’s goodbye to Will is oddly quick for friends as close as they were supposed to be. Mike expresses worry that Will would move on and replace him, and Will reassures him that such a thing would never happen. I like how they had Mike smile perhaps his most genuine smile of the season here, but it still felt odd. When they hug outside right before the end, it’s again quick and not indicative of the emotion that should be there. Will seems to linger in the hug a bit, but Mike staggers away to Eleven. Mike’s attention seems to be solely on Eleven as the Byers leave, though he glances back at the house that he shouldn’t really associate with her. The final scene is a near perfect mirror of Season 1 when he thought Will was dead. It was confusing, possibly intentionally so, but why? 

Mr. Clark brings up apophenia when speaking with Joyce. It’s the tendency for humans to spot patterns where there are none. As humans, we like for there to be explanations for everything. There are no coincidences, we just haven’t figured out how things fit together. Part of me wonders if this whole line of conversation was targeted at fans, such as myself, who read too deeply into Mike and Will’s relationship, and possibly Will’s possibly homosexuality. I could understand how it could be used to cast doubt on Joyce’s fears. However, it ends up having no real bearing on the plot, as Joyce is relatively quickly shown to be correct in her suspicions. 

In the end, I’m left to wonder if this whole idea of Will being gay, and possibly Mike and Will being subtextually written as a couple, was simply a case of apophenia. My empathy for Will and identification with him could have caused me to misinterpret things to fit my own personal experiences and unfulfilled adolescent wishes. The dissonance caused by what I thought and what I’m now seeing is what is causing my anger and disappointment. It’s having me relive what I felt so long ago where all I wanted was to see a boy like me happy on TV or in movies. I thought this was going to be what I never had, but, though we still have Season 4 yet to come, it looks like it was simply a case of seeing what we wanted to see. Still, the way they did it reeks of gay-baiting, and I feel used.