#MIKE LOVES WILL

[sporadicparadisewolf]

"Even El, especially El"

And Mike makes this face:

Mike wanted it to be Will who would fall apart without him, not El.

[whenyellowmeetsblueinthewest]

Fr 💀

[teambyler]

Mike and Joyce were the ones who recognized Will's voice

Just another way the Duffers established in s1 that Mike has a special bond with Will was the clear PARALLEL of Mike and Joyce being the only ones certain Will was alive. Mike knew Will so well that he recognized his voice as well as his mom did:

Mike, like Joyce, believed Will was alive despite everything. He was steadfast even though they saw what looked like Will's dead body. Joyce's faith and determination wee beyond doubt, but remember that when she saw the fake body in the morgue she had the advantage of already interacting directly with Will beforehand. She also saw that it didn't have Will's birthmark. Mike had NOT interacted with Will, had no evidence the body was fake, and Dustin had a plausible theory that what they heard was Will's dead spirit. But Mike was still determined to believe Will was alive. He was more "irrational" than Joyce:

As with Joyce, Mike's love and determination for WILL overrode everything. He was the one not held back by any doubt. This made him the leader of the party in s1. Everyone contributed, but Mike was the "heart" who fused the group together and drove them forward. And it was his love for Will, which rivaled even that of his mom, that moved him.

-teambyler

[wistfulenchantress]

mike needs to have a genuine conversation with joyce. genuinely, i think she is the answer.

i don't even think she would figure out the will thing. but i think she could help him find the words to end things with el (paralleling when she wrote the speech for hopper in s3)

joyce: but you didn't actually want to date her?

mike: everyone said i should. it was what i was supposed to do.

joyce: but did you want to?

mike: ...no

joyce: do you love her?

mike: i do. but not that way.

joyce: *wipes his tears away* then talk to her. and, if you ever love someone, do it because you want to. don't listen to anyone else.

and then, once mike has his feelings for el sorted out, he can figure out the will thing.

[taeiris]

and we kiss as though nothing could fall

part 2 to this post

this is canon to me.

[humblebumble069]

Byler portrait with a crow and a barn owl.. Thingg

I actually love hwo this turned out cuz I wasn't super sure, and idk how I finsihed it so fast?? HEHEHE ANYWAYS I LUV THEMMM

Here soems closeups too cuz i put in the WORKK

Thank you for your time 😁

Hope you love it as much as I do

[yourpreciousrose]

"Mikes not gay" oh yeah? what's this then?

keep in mind these hand symbols have no relation to the scenes at all meaning this is most likely a hint to the audience to pick up on rather than an indication to the other characters.

no one:

Mike: *does secret homosexual code signals while talking about shoving the bear up the mans ass*

...this is the man you're in love with Will 😭

[bonniebyler]

Hopper's threat to Mike

Hopper: you can't go out looking for Will Mike: goes out and desperately looks for Will for days

Hopper: you need to stop seeing El every day Mike: stays home, avoids her and even lies to her

Mike normally doesn't give a shit when adults tell him what to do. He disobeyed Karen, Ted, Hopper, Steve, the agents etc. and did what he thought was right. But in season 3, he did what Hopper told him to do, which is out of character, called him crazy and a "sick old man", and refused to tell El the truth. Hopper didn't threaten to hurt or kill him, as Mike told Lucas, so why was Mike so scared and didn't go and see El anyway (which he normally would've done), let alone even tell her the truth?

Hopper said "I'm going to talk, and you're going to listen" meaning he must've said more than just "if you keep seeing El you'll be in trouble", he must have given him a whole speech. Also, there must be a reason why they didn't show us that conversation or why we never found out what they'd talked about.

So maybe Hopper said something about Will, because that must've been the only way to scare Mike so much. Maybe Hopper knows about Mike's feeling for Will, and that he's only projecting them onto El. To me this is the only logical explanation to why Mike did something so out of character and followed orders he didn't like.

[darkcrowprincess]

Mike Wheeler about Will:

Mike Wheeler: WILL BYERS IS GENTLE, LOVING PERSON! HE RULES THE UPSIDE-DOWN WITH COMPASSION..... AND... LIGHT GOODNESS!!

[spuffyfet]

[shreya11111]

the will smile™️

[teambyler]

Can we all just appreciate how, while the other kids reacted with fear when Will got possessed in the field, Mike only had empathy and sorrow for Will?

[madwheelerz]

Okay, so, like whenever I talk about how I don't subscribe to the whole Mike fell harder thing it's like we watched Will who-

1) Went through homophobic bullying at an early age, one of the sources being his own father. Not to mention the townspeople he lived with being able to see right through him bc of the way he dressed, the way he acted, the things he liked, etc.

2) Was hurt in unimaginable ways due to supernatural forces and felt like a mistake

decide that simply being in love with a Mike who didn't reciprocate his feelings made him feel less like a mistake. That's insane. Even after the rain fight, after every little fight they've had, after every horrible thing that's happened, Will is able to take comfort in these feelings. Like.

[frogwheeler]

The parallel to Mike's "I love you" crappy monologue except it's for will and it actually DOES help

The little women themed time jump seeing mike realizes how much he loves will and why it's better him and El don't end up together

Flashbacks to mike seeing the ruined castle byers

Mike having a hard time sleeping at night trying to settle his mind from thinking about will in the way he knows he should be thinking about El

SEEING HOW DEPRESSIVE MIKE WAS DURING THEIR SEPERATION

Mike's internalized homophobia and fear of being un-needed by those he loves and cares for

Will byers though a sensitive kid can still hold his own and load a gun to defend himself if it comes down to it like a true badass

PALADIN AND CLERIC EPISODE

The unsent letters from mike

The concepts

The flickergate kiss in the upside down w/ APOCALYPSE BYLER

WILL PROTECTING MIKE WITH A GUN

BYLER FACING VECNA

[runninguplenorahills]

Once again here to tell y’all that “Will’s painting gave Mike the courage to tell El he loves her” is not what happened at all because it doesn’t make sense!!!

The fact that Mike didn’t immediately tell El that he loves her upon reuniting is a dead giveaway that the van scene was not at all about El for Mike either!! If the painting actually gave Mike the courage to tell El that he loves her then he would’ve told her that the second he saw her again!!!! Because why would he wait until the monologue to tell her if he’s been so encouraged to do it since the van scene?

At Surfer Boy Pizza Mike and El have a moment alone but as they start to direct the conversation into more serious territory Mike is at a loss of words. Mike struggles to say whatever he wanted to say! The most reasonable guess is that he wanted to break up with her and therefore struggling is a legitimate reaction. But if he wanted to tell her that he loves her then he wouldn’t have struggled so much if the painting gave him so much courage for his relationship with El!!!

Mike also didn’t bring up the painting to her and why would he not do that if it was really about El for him?

Shortly before the monologue Mike is at a loss of words again! If the painting did anything encouraging for his relationship with El than he wouldn’t have struggled to say it immediately!! But no, he needed encouragement to do so from Will! When Will says “Mike” Mike’s head shoots up to Will immediately with so much hope! But after Will references the painting Mike does not look encouraged at all!!! Mike looks discouraged by Will pushing him to say something and afterwards he forces himself to tell El that he loves her!!

And the biggest reason why “Will’s painting gave Mike the courage to tell El that he loves her” doesn’t make any sense at all, is that the fact that Mike doesn’t tell El that he loves her has absolutely nothing to do with courage!! Mike is not afraid to tell her! Mike is not a coward for not doing it!! Not telling El that he loves her is a deliberate decision by Mike due to the fact that he does not love her!!!! This has nothing to do with courage!! Mike doesn’t need encouragement to tell her!! Mike simply doesn’t love her! The thing that Mike actually needs courage for is breaking up with El!

The painting wasn’t encouragement for his relationship with El! It was encouragement for his relationship with Will!! Mike understood that Will was talking about himself and he feels the same! So in retrospect the painting gave him the courage to approach the breakup with El for good!! And thus Will’s words before the monologue discouraged Mike for their relationship again which lead to him forcing himself back into the relationship with El!!!

The argument that the painting gave Mike the courage to tell El that he loves her which means Mike is in love with Will’s feeling for him but thinks they’re El’s has got to be the worst byler “evidence” ever!!!

Let me put it into perspective for you:

If someone was in love with me and they’d describe their feelings for me by telling me that my partner feels that way, I’m gonna fall in love with those feelings because they’re attached to my partner!!! You simply cannot separate the feelings from the person!!! So when you say that Mike is canonically in love with Will’s feelings for him but he thinks they are El’s, this means Mike is in love with those feelings because of the exact reason that he thinks they are El‘s!! And that’s the most ant! byler thing ever!!

And also 100% not what happened!!!!

Mike is in love with the feelings Will described in the van because they’re attached to Will!! Mike knows Will was talking about himself!!

Mike is in love with Will, so of course he loves the fact that he feels the same!!!!

!!!the van scene was not about El for either of them!!!!!

The painting didn’t give Mike the courage to tell El that he loves her! It gave him the courage to break up with her!!!

[yourpreciousrose]

ok hear me out...could pockets be more telling than we thought?

this is the shirt Mike kissed El in and the shirt Mike saw Will again in. I didnt even notice there was s pocket at first, it blends in...almost like Mikes trying to either blend in or his true feelings are being hidden. or maybe he's unaware of his actual feelings so its hidden/blends in bc he doesn't know yet.

off center pocket, something is off and Mike knows it. this is the shirt El dumps him in and the shirt the byler fight happens in. Mike seemed to be projecting during the fight, Mike found out Will did want to spend his life with Mike...by his reaction I think Mike was already realizing that he is feeling things for men and Will specifically but pushing it away. his life is being pushed off center bc hes realizing but he's still trying to be normal, trying to push it away so the pattern is the same just off center.

then we have the weird two pocket shirt which design wise is weird...but what did we see when he was in this shirt? El saying she loves Mike back and kissing him as he keeps his eyes open. we also see how Mike acts when Will said he won't join another party. pair that up with the letter, things are changing. two pockets, conflicting feelings. they also seem to be in a weird location, idk where pockets are supposed to be located but it feels off. almost like its supposed to represent that its not over his heart bc he hasn't listened to his heart yet idk.

update: I missed a pocket shirt but this still works

so this shirt also has 2 pockets idk if the pockets are actually aligned or not but hear me out, they purposely made it look like one is higher than the other for a reason. one looks higher than the other, the pocket that happens to be on the same side as his watch that matches Wills seems to be higher up. this also works into the flower split where Mike gave El yellow and purple flowers but there was too much yellow. so like there was more yellow (Will) the pocket was higher (also Will?). so its like the pockets of the last pocket shirt we see him in with the button but with the almost arrow like design. so like a callback to that shirt to show that now he knows where his feelings align. he hasn't made his choice yet though, he knows who he likes but hasn't accepted himself yet so those arrows are down vs his last shirt his arrow points to Will.

this pocket is decorated, Argyle points out this shirt is a knockoff (Mikes not being his authentic self). its like hes trying to make it seem like is relationship is nice and decorated, that hes fine. that its all nice and pretty for others but not true to himself and his real feelings.

this pocket is interesting, the design is turned it doesn't line up at all but its the same design. something is off with the line up and their relationship. Mikes not being fully truthful so things aren't aligned. he can't say or write I love you bc the feelings aren't aligned in his heart and he knows it. hes still trying to pretend though, to be normal, which is why it's the same design just turned.

this pocket has an arrow that seems to point to Will often. not only that but it looks like an envelope (letters, from vs love Mike) and its a triangle (lgbt imagery). its almost like his heart has made its choice, the "love Mike" points to Will. also notice there's a button just like the end of s3 one (call back to the outfit where he didn't know who to chose, or what to feel), he knows who he's in love with and made his choice in his heart and mind already. that could explain why he looked almost pained to say I love you to El bc he knows he's in love with Will. (also speaking of this pocket it also ties into my Nancy Drew theory and my little pony/rainbow of light theory. I love when theories align)

idk I just found it interesting how Mikes pockets are and how often seems to have shirts with pockets when it involves his relationship with the love triangle and his feelings.