#mike sexuality analysis

[gayofthefae]

Thinking about Mike, who is confirmed to not have liked girls before season 1.

Thinking about Mike, and the terrifying queer experience of standing right next to your straight friend who keeps being called gay, shaking, silent, terrified thinking, "They got the wrong one. Just don't draw attention to yourself."

Thinking about Mike, who in some ways was shielded by Will in that.

Thinking about Mike when Will went missing, and how without Will around to target it at, Troy took his homophobia to Mike. It was still about Will, but it was only a matter of time.

Thinking about Mike, just a kid, terrified of getting caught.

Thinking about Mike and the timing of it all.

[gayofthefae]

I love that it's the season after their bonding and joy too.

"What makes you happiest is actually the joy you feel when you're free" because what Jonathan says isn't exactly "don't like the stuff people want you to", it's "like the stuff you do". In the way that you do.

He likes El. Just not how he's supposed to. And that scene before Jonathan says that is about that. About the fact that he likes El.

It's what they're story is all about: that not being together isn't bad or worse. The scene isn't about him feeling like he's being forced to like her. It's about him being so happy with her when he's free from the romantic pressures towards her of the people around him.

So, we all know that in s1, Lucas is mad at Mike for spending so much time with El and even Dustin tells Mike later on: “[…] and then this girl shows up and starts living in your basement, and all you ever wanna do is pay attention to her.”

Clearly, Lucas’ and Dustin’s only evidence as to why they think that Mike is in love with El is the fact that he spends time with her/pays more attention to her and it all starts with Mike skipping school to stay at home with El. At home Mike shows El around and later finds out that El knows something about Will and from then on he mostly defends her and approaches her even friendlier. He chooses to believe her and tells Dustin and Lucas to do the same which especially Lucas thinks is absolutely insane. Nonetheless Mike stands up for her instead of siding with Lucas and that leads to Lucas accusing Mike of being in love with El.

And the crucial point is that Lucas accuses Mike unprompted and phrases his accusation in a way that erases all indications that this is his personal opinion. It sounds like he’s talking about a general fact:

“If you love her so much, why don’t you marry her?” -> Lucas’ way of wording implies that Mike’s mannerisms alone already give away that he’s in love with El. It’s not Lucas who simply perceives Mike to be in love with El, no, Mike conveys it all on his own. But this obviously isn’t the truth of the situation which is why Mike is pretty confused by Lucas’ statement.

“You look at her all like ‘Oh El, El, El, El, El, El! Will you marry me?’” -> Again, Lucas’ choice of words implies that it’s a general fact that Mike looks at El a certain way which shows that he’s in love with her, instead of telling Mike that he personally picked Mike’s look up at something romantic.

Lucas doesn’t say “I think you’re in love with El” he says “You are in love with El” and therefore basically dictates Mike on who he is and who he likes. But of course Lucas isn’t the only one who does that.

Right after Dustin explains to Mike why Lucas is jealous [and says the quote from the top of this post] Mike tells him “That’s not true.” which Dustin replies to with:

“It’s true and you know it!” -> Just like Lucas, Dustin tells Mike what is true and what is not and completely disregards Mike’s own opinion on the topic. He tells Mike that him being in love with El is the general and overall truth which is obvious to everyone and he even goes a step further and dictates Mike on what he knows and what he doesn’t!! Which then leads to Mike thinking that maybe he should be in love with her!

Even later in the season Nancy asks Mike “Do you like El?” and by doing so she unknowingly proves Lucas and Dustin right. Mike’s behavior does show that he’s in love with El, it is obvious to everyone around him and therefore him being in love with El must be the truth/fact!! But why doesn’t he feel anything then? Why can anyone else see it but he himself can’t? Shouldn’t he feel something? Shouldn’t he see it too? Yeah, he should. But why doesn’t he? Is there something wrong with him? Oh god, is there? No, it’s just like Dustin said, he’s just being oblivious to his own feelings. He is in love with El just like everyone else says! Because he’s supposed to be. And therefore he should be. Therefore he has to be. Therefore he is.

You’re probably wondering why I highlighted “Mike skipping school to stay at home”, right?

Well, as I said, that’s where it all starts. It’s the first time Mike ditches Lucas and Dustin to spend time with El. It’s that day that Mike starts to defend El and therefore it’s the reason everyone starts thinking he’s in love with her. And the first scene [so the beginning of the beginning] of Mike showing El around the house [the scene that ends with El on the La-Z-boy] is followed by no other scene than Jonathan driving to Lonnie’s place which contains the flashback of him telling Will:

“You shouldn’t like things just because people tell you you’re supposed to”

That’s literally the next scene after we first get Mike and El spending actual time together!!! It’s already such a queer coded line for just Will, and from then on all throughout the season we also get different people telling Mike that he’s supposed to like El!! But the problem is that Mike never got told that he doesn’t have to like things that people tell him he’s supposed to! He never had that conversation with anyone ever and so Mike doesn’t know that he doesn’t have to be in love with El just because people tell him he’s supposed to. And so of course he lets himself get pressured into behaving like he is in love with her, even though he isn’t.

[pinksmonkey]

Posting my Ultimate Byler Evidence/Analysis List here directly because it probably makes it more convenient and I should have done this a while ago. XD

There is so much proof for Byler being endgame in S5 of Stranger Things. They are so cute together, and so much in the show has been building up to their relationship. I just wanted to share some of my favourite Byler analyses, because they are so cool, detailed, and in-depth. I love reading about all the hints, symbolism, and subtext for Byler, it's amazing how much thought must have been put into all these things. Why go through all the effort of adding these details if they aren't actually going anywhere with them? Mike is so queercoded, and they are truly in love with each other.

🫥 Just gonna leave some good Byler analyses here 🤐

Most of the links go to written Tumblr posts, and a couple of them are Reddit posts. So it's a lot of reading. If you prefer watching videos over reading, I highlighted my Byler YouTube playlist in green so it's easy to find.

And apologies for any of the links that aren't working, I know some of the posts have been deleted now sadly, but there's no way I'm re-numbering all these so I'm just leaving them in. My fellow Bylers, please stop deleting your amazing posts. ;-;

So anyway, here is the list of some of my favourite Byler evidence/analyses of all time (not in any particular order):

1. Mike's Season 4 Monologue To El

2. Camera Roll Byler Proof Part 3

3. Mike's Monologue and Milkvan

4. Mostly Byler Post Index

5. Dawson's Creek Parallel

6. "My Experience With Stranger Things"

7. What Ollie Learned From Film School

8. Byler Music Analysis

9. Why Don't The Duffers Discuss This?

10. ST Theories Masterpost

11. If Byler Isn't Endgame Then Someone Screwed Up

12. Byler Crumbs From The Cast and Crew

13. Favourite Combination of Endgame Byler Proof

14. I Doubt Byler Then I Remember This

15. The Fact That We Have This Interview

16. You Know Your Ship is Endgame When

17. Mostly Byler Post Index 2

18. Losing Hope Of Byler Endgame?

19. Why I Think Byler is Endgame

20. So Many Thoughts on This

21. Mike's Wall Art

22. Painting Miscommunication Leading to Mike's Monologue Coded

23. Yes, That Scene Did Foreshadow Mike's Monologue as Disingenuous

24. Mike's Monologue Didn't Sit Right With Me

25. Blue And Yellow Pen

26. That Tweet Is So Sweet

27. Heart Eyes, Literally

28. "My Process of Realizing Byler is Real"

29. Looking at Will, Not El

30. High School Musical Parallel

31. Said It Before and I'll Say It Again

32. Delusional Milkdud?

33. ST Writers Twitter Analysis 1

34. ST Writers Twitter Analysis 2

35. For When You Are Doubting Byler

36. Is Mike Bi or Gay?

37. Fully Convinced

38. The Ultimate Byler Playlist (my Byler YouTube playlist)

39. 100% Confident

40. Mike in S4 and S2

41. Mike Is Angry With Himself

42. It's Been A Year, Mike

43. Rink-O-Mania Remodel

44. The Development Of Will And Mike's Relationship

45. Mike's Lies

46. El Was Holding So Much In

47. Flickergate + Lettergate

48. Did Mike Ever Like El Romantically?

49. Mike Is Stupid

50. Byler Won't Write Itself

51. What's The Alternative Explanation?

52. Comparing Mileven and Byler

53. It Was Always About Them

54. Mike Is Not Ok

55. He Has A Love Interest

56. Will's Happy Ending

57. Trying To Be Normal

58. It's Not That Milevens Are Homophobic

59. Byler Is Reality

60. A Proper Look At El's Shrine To Mike

61. Mileven Through The Seasons

62. Suspicious

63. I Can't Doubt Byler

64. D&D Soulmates

65. Let's Talk Phones

66. Not Delusional

67. What Do They Want?

68. The Main Character

69. Mike's Mental Health

70. So Close

71. This Look Confirms Byler Isn't One Sided

72. Mileven Is Bones

73. They Don't Care About Mileven?

74. The Airport Hug Will Always Be Famous

75. The Monologue Mystery, Why Did They Lose?

76. The Cabin Scene

77. Why Couldn't Mike Say It For 2 Seasons?

78. He Was Trying To Find Will

79. Mike The Surfer Boy

80. Mike Definitely Shows Attraction To Girls

81. The Cast Knows

82. Mileven Loses On All Fronts

83. The Bouquet

84. 53 Minutes And 5 Seconds

85. Pink Panther

86. El And Choice

87. Will's Spotify Playlist

88. He'll Come Crawling Back To You, Begging For Forgiveness

89. Mike's Character Arc Prediction

90. It's The Same Look

91. Will's Truly Happy Ending

92. That's The Same Look, Right?

93. You're The Heart

94. Mike And El's Relationship In S4 Was Really Weird

95. Fireworks Parallel

96. Mileven Has Been Built Up For 4 Seasons

97. Not Stupid: The Fate of Mileven and Byler

98. This Suddenly Makes So Much Sense

99. Metaphors In Filmmaking

And unfortunately Tumblr will only let me add 100 links per post, so when I've posted part 2 of this list, I'll link it here: Part 2

[byers-bowlcut]

Mike’s love for El being platonic, and not romantic, and realizing it over the course of season 3 reconciles nearly every contradiction with his behaviour.

He stands like a gay scarecrow as she kisses him in front of Will’s closet. That's him realizing that when he blurted out "I love her and I can't lose her again!" he meant it platonically. But her saying "ily too” WAS CLEARLY NOT PLATONIC, so now he’s left very confused (If he was simply shocked by the fact that she overheard him, he would’ve been surprised initially, and then kissed her back, and been all emotional and happy. But he wasnt.) 

In fact he probably realized his heart fluttered when Will said “not possible” to him in the scene literally 1 minute prior, but NOT when his gf was attempting to make out with him? That’s clearly a problem! lol

This leads flawlessly into season 4.

Mike has apparently been refusing to even write the word 'love’ in his letters for 6 whole months. Why? Cause he didn't want them to look like love letters.

Meanwhile, he’s jealous of Will painting something for a girl. So he argues with Will about growing apart.

El argues with him about not saying ily. In the fight, he deflects romantic connotations with words like “care” and superhero idolization that he seems suuuper into this season.

He NODS when Will says “What if they don’t like the truth?”. That’s him thinking “Yeah, El won’t like the truth that I don't return her romantic feelings.”

In the van, he says their meeting was dumb luck and anyone could've been there for her that night. That’s hinting that he was just being a decent human. Not that it was a fated love at first sight meeting.

Then Will says, “You’re afraid of losing her”. And THAT is the true issue here.

This whole concept of ‘losing El’ (be it in relationship/daily life, or in death), is scary to Mike, because of what he went through seasons 1-2. At 12 years old, he saw another kid that he developed a bond with, die right in front of his freaking eyes. But they didn’t have a body or anything. So Mike kept getting signs and intuitive feelings that she was still alive. So he questioned his own sanity. For a WHOLE YEAR. Can you imagine how traumatic that is? And then for a kid that age?? That’s exactly why he develops an unhealthy codependency with her in Season 3. And we see it have a negative impact on the unity of the party, and on Will.

But a traumatic response doesn’t change the fact that Season 3 transitions us through the party’s puberty and growth into teenage hood. 

And because of said puberty, Mike starts to realize what actual attraction towards someone is, or in this case… isnt.

Like if we think about the first two seasons, for a 12-13 year old living in that type of society, era, and a picture perfect white suburban American family, it would’ve been really really hard to figure it out back then! Like simply becoming very close friends with the opposite gender caused everyone (cough Nancy cough Lucas) to tell him that “ooooh you must like her”. So yeah, he thinks “I really must like her”. Because he does! He just can’t separate it from actual romantic attraction at that point due to age, and strong heteronormative standards, and no role models like Jonathan telling him “it’s okay to stray from the norm bro”. So of course he acts on it? That’s the NORM. He’s like, “You’re supposed to take a girl you like to the ball”, “We're supposed like girls now”, “This is what growing up means”, “This what old people do”. Like HELLO? Mike says stuff similar to that constantly. Dustin and Lucas do not. So yeah, it can be easily be read as heteronormativity. Not romantic attraction!

And so despite wanting to spend every day in the summer with El because of copious amounts of trauma from S1-2, he can’t continue believing its romantic attraction when his hormones say otherwise. 

Like just look at their kissing scenes S3-4:

Seasons 3 starts with him pulling her hands OFF of him when kissing. He’s voluntarily kissing her instead of spending time with his friends, cause he thinks that’s what he’s supposed to do as he’s “not a kid anymore!”, yet he’s evidently not even enjoying it if he’s taking her hands off lol. Then by the end of the season he doesn’t even kiss back, and has his eyes wide open. Then six months later, when he’s way more self aware of his own feelings, this dude wears SUNGLASSES to the airport. We (and all the characters there) can’t even see his true expression when kissing her. And what’s more, he puts the bouquet of flowers between their bodies, to SEPARATE FASTER. When he could’ve very easily put that hand/arm around her, not between them (that's what he does with his other hand holding the bags).  

And all of this: all this repression, the contradictions, the unsaid things... it all culminates to the monologue. Will told Mike in the van that El really needed him. And then Will reminds him of this again when El is in the piggyback, cause Will is annoying! (jokes lol). So of course, all rationality, all of Mike's realizations or progression, goes out the window. After all, he is THE HEART. He is needed by her. He can’t go through what he went through in season 1-2 again! It doesn’t matter if it’s not totally true. He needs to tell her what she wants to hear so she won’t DIE. The stakes are extremely high. So he delivers. He even takes all his knowledge of mediocre romance stories, and blurts out that it was love at first sight. It's silly to us the audience, cause if you actually go back and watch season 1 you can see that it's not even fucking true. 

So why would he lie? Well because he doesn’t KNOW when he fell in love with El. Because he never fell in love with her. So yeah. It’s PLATONIC with a capital P.

(And to add a cherry on top, he gives his sister’s ring to her jfc) 

[counting-stars-gayly]

They’re not going to rebuild Castle Byers because Will can’t rebuild his childhood, which is the reason he destroyed Castle Byers in the first place. He’d been trying to hold on to a level of carefree ignorance that no longer existed for him. The problems Castle Byers saved him from have been replaced by new problems that are bigger and stronger than a child’s fort. He needs to face them differently. Thank you and goodnight

[gayofthefae]

Yes. Everything, yes!

Everything about him feeling like he had to continue because she was initiating in season 2 I am BIG on. The playlist totally supports this, with the song about her being more "I'm so grateful to have you back I won't lose you again" than "I'm in love with you". He's clinging to what he promised her last time. I also think there's definitely a lot with broken promises there. When she was dead, he was off the hook, but now, the feelings he was having for Will are a broken promise to her and he's waiting to see if that promise is still viable. She says that it is.

And now with initiation I'm also thinking about how Mike is pretty much the only one to initiate things between him and Mike, in contrast - especially physical touch. Which is why Will not getting a call is so surprising and also why he wouldn't be habitually inclined to call back, because that's not his usual role between them. Will's role is very much "reciprocator": "Crazy together, right?" "Yeah".

And with "I love her and I can't lose her again", it's really interesting, because "I love her" is not the focus of the statement in delivery. It's "iloveherandi CAN'T lose her again." Similarly, the focus isn't on "I care for you". It's "I care for you SO MUCH" He means the things he says, they just weren't for the purpose people take them for. He does love her, but he doesn't want her to take it wrong if she doesn't have to. He's trying to leave it vague. Not another broken promise. If he says "blank", she assumed what blank was. If he never signs his letters, it was her assumption that he loved her back. On a technical level, he wouldn't be making any promises to be broken.

He loves her and he wants her back in his life but the story could have gotten them back together before the epilogue (and before Hopper died) and didn't. There wasn't too much action, they did it with Lum@x (yet another example of them demonstrating their straight couple writing power on Lumax and then not living up in contrast with Mike and El). Just like Will encouraging Mike, I think that implies that it wouldn't have happened without it.

I don't know if he's gay or liked El in season 1 but I do think that since season 2, he's been team Will. The playlist says that in early season 2, he feels guilty for uncontrollably getting over her no matter how hard he tries to hold on. From there, he kisses her in repayment for her coming back from to life. It's the least he could do.

I've also commented on how when he does initiate, the 1x08 kiss, the 2x09 kiss, he never smiles until she does. His goal is kissing her has always been to make her happy, not him in the end. But making her happy makes him happy so...he can live with that, right?

But when he was off the hook in season 3, there was a window of time where they were friends on good terms. And I don't think he was as able to come back from that dream the second time.

Reading what @gayofthefae wrote about Mike never initiating anything in his relationship with El, I had a thought. I was gonna just reblog, but it turned into something much bigger than planned.

You're mostly right, but I think you're simplifying a bit.

I think you're right that El initiates everything, but it results in Mike feeling like it's his responsibility to be her boyfriend. And he does admire her, we know that from how he talks about her.

We don't really know if Mike invited her to the Snow Ball in season 2. That information isn't provided. We know enough that El was aware of it since Hopper specifically asked Owens about El leaving the cabin for one night. This tells us that El asked Hopper about it. Yeah, she knew about the Snow Ball because Mike told her in season 1. It can be assumed that the others told her about this year's Snow Ball. Did Mike ask her to go? That's just unknown. He certain didn't expect her there, though, judging by his surprise when she arrived.

I do think that Mike wasn't thinking of El romantically through season 2, though. That was all her. He just felt horrible about what happened to her and wished for her to come back safe. You can see when she leaves to go with Hopper to the Gate that he doesn't respond as she leans in to kiss him. Between that and El arriving at the Snow Ball, I think he gets the message that he's supposed to be with her.

Mike didn't get back together with her in season 3, no. Not from what we could see, at least. He makes some efforts to smooth things over with her, but they're pretty half-hearted. Even his "blank makes you crazy" thing seemed more about trying to say it without saying it.

However, we can't ignore that he did blurt out "I love her and can't lose her again!"

But I think this is more about his fear of losing her than anything else. They're talking about using her and her powers, and all he's thinking about is how he thought she died in season 1 and had to watch her go off to the Gate in season 2. He knows overuse of her powers is dangerous for her, and I think he blamed himself for how she overused them in season 1.

He's never able to utter those words again to her, even when she all but begs him to, and I think that's telling. She says it directly to him as she gets ready to leave Hawkins, and he just freezes and stands there. This goes back to how I don't think they were back together at this point. Just like when she left for the Gate in season 2, El staked her claim. They were together again. Mike was stuck again.

I think Mike was being honest with Will when he said that she would figure out she didn't need him anymore. To him, being her boyfriend has been about keeping her close. He thinks that's all he is to her, and she'd eventually decide he wasn't worthy of her. She's a sort of status symbol for him, but not to show off to others, just for himself.

I think there might be a bit of truth to the whole "if I said it, it would hurt more" thing. Mike has terrible self-esteem, but having a literal superhero as a girlfriend, knowing that she chose him, makes him feel worthwhile. He's afraid of losing that because, to him, it would mean that he's not worth anything, after all.

So, yeah, Mike doesn't initiate anything. He wants her to. That was the point of "blank makes you crazy." He was testing the waters. He wanted to see if she'd say it. She didn't. Not because she didn't feel it, necessarily, but because she had no idea what he was talking about.

However, when she finally does say it later, he realizes that it didn't make him feel like he thought it would. It felt wrong. But, by now, he was in too deep. She just lost her dad. So he goes along with it, now fearing for the end of their relationship and what that would mean. It was easy while they were apart. He didn't have to worry about anything.

But, once they were back together...ooh, boy. It was clear the whole thing was a shitshow. Not only was he weird with El, but also with Will. It's important to remind people that Mike had seemingly made things right with Will before the Byers moved. We saw that he was back to being his nerdy self in Hawkins, playing D&D again even though he acted too cool for it in season 3. It's because El was gone. She never had an interest in his nerdy interests, so he pretended he didn't like it. He always tried to change himself around her to seem more "worthy."

Going to visit them in California, though, we see Mike is changed again. He's dressing differently. He seems to be trying to be trendier, which is called out by Argyle when he says its not Ocean Pacific, but "a shitty knockoff." It's not who he is. He's putting on a performance, just as he did in season 3. He plays the part of boyfriend, but can't manage it when it matters most. Just look at how callous he seems when El gets bullied. It's because she doesn't act like how he thinks a superhero would, and she even calls him out on it when she says he thinks she's a monster.

Mike is more genuine again after El leaves. He starts opening up to Will more, once again making things right with him. He's no longer playing a role. He's just Mike again. He tries to talk to Will about the problems he's having, and Will, the selfless little dummy, keeps reassuring Mike that they'll get back together because he assumes that's what they both want. However, Mike seems to resonate with Will's words when Will says that it can be hard to be honest with those important to you because they may not like the truth. The truth being "I'm sorry, but I don't love you like that, but having you choose me as your boyfriend is the only reason I think I'm worth anything."

Both Mike and El seem like they're on their way to being more honest with each other. El is realizing that seeing herself as a superhero is not a mature way to think. She left to become the superhero Mike wants her to be, but she learned that it wasn't what was best for her. She needed to accept herself and be her own person. Mike started to see that hiding the truth wasn't helping anyone. Unfortunately, Will's attempt to reassure Mike led to him pretending his feelings for Mike were hers. In his mind, if he sees Mike that way, then El must, too. Why wouldn't she? It's Mike.

However, El stops initiating. They share a forehead touch on their reunion, but that's it. She quickly notices Will, and, with Mike's help, goes to embrace him. We see no real conversation between them until the pizza place, where they share a rare genuine (and, curiously, not especially romantic) cute moment before El gets a solemn look on her face. She takes Mike's hands and makes him take the sensory deprivation glasses off to look at her. She's initiating something now, but it doesn't seem like it's gonna be happy and romantic. Unfortunately, Argyle took Jonathan's master class in "Interrupting Important Moments" and chose that moment to bring them some pizza. We can argue later about whether or not there's symbolism in Argyle and El forcing Mike to try something he wrote off as disgusting, only for him to concede he likes it.

Mike wouldn't have been able to do anything in the pizza place without Will. He was at a loss. Even after all that happened, and with El's life on the line, he's still hesitating. Selfless dummy Will just made things worse because he didn't realize it was a lie, so he pushes Mike to "be the heart." Mike's fear of losing El combined with Will's reminder of how El "always will" need her pushes him to say what he previously couldn't. Will is basically holding this ship together like in Spiderman Homecoming. Yet, we don't see Mike and El be remotely romantic afterwards. The most we see is El leaning on Mike in the hospital. She all but ignores him in the cabin later. You'd think that after what happened to Max she'd need his support.

I still can't understand why people think that monologue was romantic. I guess they haven't thought about what built up to it.

[byler-invested]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Stranger Things official comic

Be prepared, because… there’s…..….

A LOT.

> “11 o’clock” in focus for no reason (Eleven symbolizes Will’s closet, internalised homophobia, innocence, virginity).

> open yellow curtain (probably signifies Will coming out in s5).

> “theme for the day” (meaning this sequence is thematic of something: Will’s trauma and coming of age).

> “Do whatever you want. Go see Mike and the boys… it’s up to you” (this refers to the perceived freedom of Will coming out or starting his sexual life).

> “not a trick?” (It is a trick unfortunately…)

> “Nope. I’ll even be your chauffeur if you need me. That means I’ll drive.” (gay top subtext)

> “For once, freedom is on the other side of that door. And it’s all yours.” (!!! — someone coercing Will into the gay sexual lifestyle before he’s ready or in an unsafe manner).

> Eggos and maple syrup are Mike coded. But orange juice is NOT! Mike would drink and is associated to white milk. This is a subtle hint that something’s WRONG.

“Technical” meaning in s5 they will start to delve into the mythology of the series.

But also… sexual subtext.

> “Time to get a move on, kid. Go before I realize this is a huge mistake” (something or someone coercing Will into letting go of heteronormativity and virginity).

> “It won’t… open”, “Just give it a push. You get everything you’ve ever wanted and you’re going to let a door stop you? There you go. Put some muscle into it.” (clearly subtext about coming out and first sexual experience from a bottom’s perspective).

Dustin is Jonathan in s5 when he realizes Will is being manipulated/ coerced by some guy.

The alarmed/ surprised turtle on the right is Lucas.

Raph (on the left) is Mike— he’s PISSED. Jealous Mike absolutely CONFIRMED.

> “Most importantly… why does Stockman want to open a gate, and why do they need him hooked up to that machine, too?” Lucas is absolutely shocked that the top (it’s his former basketball teammate Chance) is into guys and that Will, of all people, would be into Chance.

> “There are no good reasons to open a gate. They’re always bad.” Jonathan is protective of his little brother to whom he also represents a father figure. To him, it can never be good that Will’s having a sexual experience.

> “Maybe that machine is using her powers against her?” Meaning Chance is a dark mirror/ foil of Mike and one of the made-up characters we’ve been talking about.

> “Where are you going, Raph?” Lucas is surprised that Mike is so pissed and already springing into action (he won’t have come out at this point).

> “I’m gonna do the rescuing!” White Knight paladin Mike moment.

> “You can’t pull Eleven out. The mind is fragile.” (Will is in a vulnerable situation).

> “Donny, relax. I wasn’t talking about rescuing the girl”. This is the writers telling us this is all a metaphor and they’re not talking about Eleven, but Byler. They even make a point of showing us a bunch of Byler and Mike-coded stuff in the next image: two crossed swords, a walkie-talkie, Mike’s backpack and a huge phallic object…

> Mike makes use of his coding/ programming skills (Alan Turing reference).

> “Well, the two of them are definitely linked”. Mike and Chance are linked in some way.

> “Wait, so this whole thing is designed to create a big illusion? To feed Eleven a lie?” The writers referring to their gigantic five season long straightbait but also, manifestation theory IKTR.

> “Only those inside can shut down the projection”. Like I suspected, the scientists fucked up and Brenner as the lab leader was probably the one who made this decision of ‘trapping’ everyone in the simulation. Also subtext for “only those in Will’s trust and heart can shut down his illusion” aka Mike.

> Nice reference to The Cabin in the Woods movie there in the first pic (heavily recommend).

> Mike doesn’t even ask anyone and just brutally storms in to interrupt whatever Will and Chance are doing.

> We could even infer that his extreme jealousy straight up brutally OUTS Mike, not only to the audience, but maybe also to other characters. He unintentionally crashes down his own closet…

> “That’s not your friend.” Mike telling Will this about Chance.

> The background changes to orange as the villain (Chance) loses his disguise/ farce.

> “Fine, I’ll gladly stop pretending to be this buffoon.” Chance stops pretending to be nice and/or is revealed to be a Vecna/ Mindflayer trap.

> “Like it or not… this place is mine”. Mike and Chance will fight and compete for Will.

Note: Chance is heavily associated with orange even in the show, because of being a Tiger in the basketball team.

TAKEAWAY:

Unfortunately, I think at some point in s5— besides the supernatural plotline— we are about to witness Will delve into real unhealthy coping mechanisms (prematurity, hypersexuality, low self-worth and/or drugs) and reliving the trauma with his father (attraction to unhealthy people, as Chance will remind Will of a mix of both Mike and Lonnie).

These are extremely common results of CSA in many people.

Jonathan, Lucas and especially Mike will save him.

There’s a lot more. I just picked some of the most incriminating pages lmfao. And I’ll leave you with this Paladin Mike bonus:

If you wanna read more ⬇️

masterpost:

part 1:

part 2:

[kidovna]

Why do you think mike is bi?

I personally think that Mike did have a thing for El in s1, 2, and parts of s3, but started to realise that they weren’t really compatible as romantic partners once he started dating her (especially with her spying on him and dumping him publicly). I think Mike has a lot of issues with his current relationship with El but I don’t really think her being a girl is one of them.

Also, Mike being bi doesn’t take away from byler or add anything extra to mileven, so i don’t see why not? If the show proves me wrong and tells me Mike is indisputably gay, then obviously that is canon, because that is a possibility too. As of now, Mike doesn’t have a canon sexuality and I have a feeling that they won’t really go into it in s5

[apatheticlexicographer]

i think i finally understand the exact reasoning behind how both will and mike's sexualities are presented, and how those presentations flatter each other.

will is barely queercoded from a subtextual perspective because there's no need to queercode him. the writers verbally establish in season one episode one that people percieve this kid as gay, so you're immediately guided to see him through the same lens, at least subconsciously. people continue to refer to him as gay and he continues to "act" gay, and most of the audience is able to see this for what it is very easily without the need for heavy symbolism. will being gay is simply treated as a fact from the start by both the characters around him and the writers themselves, for better or for worse.

MIKE, on the other hand, is so heavily queercoded it's barely even funny. he's the one with the queer imagery, the blocking, the set design, the lighting. he's never explicitly referred to as queer, it isn't so much as suggested verbally, but the sheer amount of incredibly blatant subtextual material that surrounds him is insane. none of the characters within the show have the slightest clue that mike is gay. there's a good chance that mike himself doesn't know, or has only begun to realize very recently. even the writers do their damn best to make it appear like they themselves don't know. still, the fact remains that he is, it just isn't expressed in a way that the homophobic masses both within and outside the show are capable of picking up on. when he comes out it will be a shock to the characters and the majority heterosexual audience, but not to the queer people who pick up instinctually on the signalling. basically, you only know mike is gay if you have a genuinely functioning gaydar.

in this way they're so strongly representative of two very different gay experiences, both of which are important and both of which are treated respectfully by the writers, despite the setting.

will is the kid who never really gets the luxury of choosing whether to come out to people, because everybody has had him pegged from the start. even his own family: jonathan tells will he accepts him before will can even hint toward the topic himself. however as much as we're told that he "seems" gay to other people, all we are shown subtextually is a totally normal child who happens to have feelings for another boy. this is important because it subverts the trope of making "being gay" the "obviously gay" character's sole or core trait.

mike is the kid who people would never in a million years guess was queer. it's not just that he gets the luxury of choosing when to come out of the closet; he's so deep in it that he's drowning in winter coats. he's the "twist queer character," except he's not. his subtextual queercoding has been there beneath the surface for just as long as will has been textually referred to as queer on a surface level. this makes it clear that him being gay isn't some kind of last minute decision and the subtlety of his presentation wasn't an accident. if you don't knkw mike is gay now before it's revealed then you aren't supposed to.

they're foils like that. they're the archetypal queers, and i think it's kind of beautiful.

(and if anybody tries to argue that one expression of Queer Experience is more important than another then i'm coming for their kneecaps. having both experiences not only represented but thoroughly explored is so rare, although there are people all over the world who resonate with each.)

[gayofthefae]

He's trying...but he only has one reference point.

Did anyone notice that Mike kept trying to recreate moments he had with Will with El? (Because he loves Will but he's trying to love El( he failed)

He meant it platonically and she knows

He already knew El here so him saying his life started when they found El in the woods makes no sense( unless he meant it in a way that his life restarted because he found hope of finding Will) he only said those things because he thinks El commissioned the painting

The first thing he said when he first saw El was "that's not Will"

Plus his disgusted/confused face at Argyle's love at first sight for Eden should tell you everything (they made fun of that trope)

The writers don't believe in love at first sight

[gayofthefae]

Thinking about how Mike wasn't just told to like El then he liked her. No. There's a third event that happens between them that we skip over so often but is vital and Mike's crush might not have even happened without it.

Mike is being teased about El, yes. But he actually doesn't even get the chance to respond, let alone have his following actions be influenced by only that. Because before he can even react, look who's here:

Stakes.

This scene isn't about El. This scene plays out in one, very simple way.

Lucas: you like El.

Mike: I don't.

Troy: Let me remind you what will happen if you don't.

Just like the ily speech, Lucas is Will, but that's not all it took. It didn't just take the suggestion of something. It took the STAKES. It took threat. He was told to do something then he turned to see just what would happen to him if he didn't do it. The romantic trope is feigned: realize your feelings once someone points out that someone could be romantic. Steve has the same with Robin in season 3. But one thing here is different.

Before he has a chance to respond (to ensure we don't know what would have happened), he is given incentive to lie.

It isn't just suggestibility. "Huh, maybe I should like her. I guess I will." It's fear. It's "you need to hide, like right fucking now, and there's a hiding spot right there." Yeah. You run to the hiding spot and you do not fucking come out ever.

[rotisseries]

are y'all having bi mike vs gay mike vs unlabeled mike discourse again? we do this once a month guys jesus christ

[alex-the-bringer-of-chaos]

Ok, since there's been a lot of infighting (for some fucking reason) over Mike's sexuality, allow me to state something: Who cares? As long as that bitch isn't straight and ends up with El there will be a satisfying story with good narrative being told.

Please finish reading before getting pissed off :D.

I understand that people want to see themselves represented (bitch I'm aroace and agender, I get it), but we don't need to fight over it. Make your analysis and why you think a certain way, but no need to attack one each other.

Now I gotta say something else: I don't care what Mike's sexuality is, as long as he ends up with Will. The reason for that, you ask? Well simple:

Independent el and byler endgame is the only happy and right ending - I've said that numerous times and the narrative agrees with it.

I'm saying this not because I think that his sexuality is irrelevant or cause I don't care about his character arch, quite the contrary. I think that, regardless of him being gay, bi, pan, queer or unlabeled, Mike will have a satisfying storyline and character arch. A good one, that will make sense with the narrative of the show. And we will get to analyze it. A thing that won't happen if he's straight and milkvan is endgame - cause that would be a shit story due to garbage narrative.

Now obviously some people have their reasons for preferring and believing in one outcome over the other, and that's okay, as long as your not a pussy and a little bitch about it. That's all. Thanks for reading folks. Please don't come at me with pitchforks if you wanna hate, just block me.

[gayofthefae]

He is trying SO hard to not emotionally cheat on El that until he realizes it's hurting Will, compensating as much as he is really does feel like evening out to him.

my sweet boy was trying so hard to not emotionally cheat on El with Will even if he feels all weird about him since he left and missed him more than his girlfriend 😭😭😭

he's awkward at the airport and tries to keep his distance imo also because of his attraction to Will (even if I don't believe he 100% gets why he feels like he should act this way and why Will makes him feel SO nervous now)

he panics when he thinks Will is implying there's something more than friendship going on between them because he knows it's the truth

then Will tells him he just wants him back as a bestfriend and Mike calms down a little and immediately takes the opportunity as soon as they resolve their rink o mania drama... because he too wants them going back to being best friends like before Will left Hawkins and things got weird between them

but more time he spends with Will and more he thinks about his relationship with El more Mike becomes unsure of what he really wants to do "next"...

he thinks he wants to fix things with El but their relationship doesn't feel 100% right anymore, he's too afraid and doesn't believe she will stay and deep down he doesn't believe she loves him... he's scared of saying what he feels to her because he doesn't want to get hurt when she leaves again and he doesn't want to be vulnerable and confess his insecurities to her, they are not connecting emotionally and El left him behind on purpose AGAIN, showing him she really REALLY doesn't need him in her life... like he feared... so his brain is a mess now and they are in the desert and he can't help himself, he looks at the only person that can make him feel good like we previously established when only Will could make him feel better after El left him the letter and they didn't resolve their fighting...

in the desert Will catches him and suddenly all of this is too intimate and panic mode is back on!

and then BOOM it's the van speech time and that touches his soul and makes him feel SO loved and emotional

[wibble-wobbegong]

Why do you think Mike kissed El and acted like everything was normal if he accepted he was gay already? (/gen, I haven’t seen an analyses on this)

oh i LOVE talking about this, i can’t believe i haven’t done a proper analysis on it before. this is still gonna be informal but! whatever

okay, so, with the understanding that mike has accepted that he’s gay, we have to consider his current situation. let’s take it back to the ending of S3.

when i believe mike accepted that he’s gay and in love with will, something he can’t change, is that month he spent isolating himself and playing games in his basement which is something he clearly associates with his feelings for will, hence the adamancy that it’s wrong for kids their age to do in S3. that they need to grow up and move on. he represses these things he enjoys during his first time around with el, clearly trying to force himself to not want or need them anymore. by isolating himself and doing the very things he wished to push away and was directly addressed as an example of both mike and will’s feelings for each other, we see him facing these feelings he has head on. by joining hellfire, we see a metaphor for acceptance

the ending of S3 comes after he joins hellfire, what would be around 2 months later. that’s not a lot of time to process this part of himself and be okay with it, though he was making progress. but then el swoops back in, kisses him and tells him she loves him, essentially forcing him back into that relationship. there was no way for him to back out without either hurting el or outing himself because he was making declarations of love himself (unintentionally) 3 months earlier. he’d either have to have fallen out of love with el, which would ultimately make her feel like she’d done something wrong, or never have been attracted to her at all. just because he’s started to accept himself does not mean he was ready to be out to anyone by any means. very few queer people jump from self acceptance to coming out that quickly, especially a small town boy in the 80’s.

so, with el, he’s forced into that relationship. that doesn’t mean he goes back into repressing himself, though. he still puts up posters of half naked men and openly ogles eddie. he goes back to being a nerd and a freak rather than trying to be normal, like he was in S3. that drastic change in behavior regarding dnd is representative of mike’s feelings, much in the same way it is for will.

the reason mike decides to try and be normal with el is because he feels like he doesn’t have a choice; it’s either coming out or hurting el in his eyes. even with their strained relationship, mike has never wanted anything more than to be there for el and try and make her happy. he’s doing his best while battling his own internal conflicts.

we see a pretty good visual example of the fact that mike is hiding in their reunion hug, in which we can see el’s face clear as day;

and we get absolutely nothing from mike;

it’s an intentional shot, but mike’s actions contribute to this with the hat and glasses. mike is making an effort to hide himself from her. he wants to be the perfect boyfriend for her, but to do so he is hiding.

another thing that supports that mike has accepted himself and his feelings is the way he acts around will as soon as he’s accepted el’s letter in which she admits she doesn’t love him (at least not anymore, if she ever did at all). almost immediately he jumps into flirting and openly admitting that nothing is the same without will despite the previous two days indicating anything but that. he stops hiding and starts chasing after will

and now i could get into how mike has had rightful suspicion about his feelings being reciprocated since the rain fight, but that’s for another post

hope this explains it!!

[nicxxx5]

posting this because i've been seeing a lot of discorse/strong opinions going around. i also follow people with very conflicting opinions

but genuinely, i don't care more for one or the other on the whole "is mike gay or is he bi" debate. i only care that whatever he ends up identifying as they address the reasoning saying "he never actually liked eleven" or "he liked eleven but it was puppy love/he fell out of love". also he could just be unlabeled and in love with will and that's totally fine!

if you see me reblogging both bi!mike and gay!mike content that's because a. i agree with the reasoning for both/want to help spread the post and b. i'm simply trying to cause chaos 😁😝🤪