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mrstedeteach · 1 day ago

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It's time for Mike's side of my main headcannon for season 5!!!

Okay, so this might be strange, but I believe Mike's storyarc conclusion will be mostly "solo." Kinda... let me explain.

(Spoilers for Season 5!)

(I'm a lot better at visual descriptions than verbal descriptions, so I apologise if this isn't very clear/straightforward. I'll try my best!)

What I mean by "solo" is that Mike needs to figure out who he is and who he wants to be with no outside prospective or influence. Throughout all the seasons so far, there's always some kind of influence or others' perspectives that steers Mike to certain points in his life. The earliest view of this is season 1, with Lucas and Dustin teasing Mike over "loving" or crushing on Jane/El without him ever stating if he does or not.

I guess I just really want him to solve his delema, which is his relationship with both El and Will. To figure out the difference between the love he has for both of them.

I want him to come to the conclusion that he loves Will, maybe at the halfway point of the story. Maybe a little earlier than that. But it's this accepting of his love for Will that will drive the story forward. It's his love that will make him brave enough to charge into this war to fight for and with Will.

Mike is a leader, and Will needs him to take the lead here. Because from the end of S4, Will has given up and is trying to move on from the love he has for Mike. It's Mike that needs to make the move here, but he can't do that unless he figures it out on his own first.

So many fans here have speculated that he's staring at Will's painting here, and I do too. I hope that this scene is when Mike either starts to really question everything, or he's starting to figure things out. With Mike's outfit here, it's definitely early in the season.

Mike is smart, and I know we've all joked about him being an idiot when it comes to his relationship with both El and Will, but Mike is intelligent. He's the party's leader for a reason. Mike's only issue is simply his upbringing. He's an 80s kid with conservative parents in a backwards town with similar views. The LGBTQ+ were villified on TV at the time, and Mike, like what Finn says in a BTS, is just trying to be "normal." Which Mike believes is the stereotypical boy dates girl teenager.

Of course, he knows gay people exist. The poor kid had to defend and protect his best friend from the homophobia thrown at Will's way on a daily basis. Without a doubt, Mike wouldn't care in the slightest that Will's gay. But to Mike, being gay himself isn't an option. The idea of being gay in a conservative family is terrifying. To a lot of people in the 80s, that was a death sentence. You were either kicked out of the family/disowned or worse. It's why he pushed so hard to be a "typical man" in a heterosexual relationship in the 80s. To Mike, that was his only option.

Though I am certain that Karen will support her son and let Mike know that she loves him no matter what. Back in Season 1, it always felt like she had a hunch that Mike and Wills' relationship wasn't the typical friendship boys had. She knew just how much Mike cherished Will, I mean, that boy kept every single drawing Will ever did for him, even the unfinished ones. I doubt he did the same with Dustin or Lucas, not to that extent. I am certain that there's going to be a parallel, where Mike and Karen are going to have a one on one talk, just like she had with Nancy back on S3. Though timeline wise, I'm not sure when it'll be.

Now, it could go either way. Whether this talk happens while Mike knows who he is or when he's still trying to find the answers. But I know for sure that It's important to his storyline that he knows that he has a parent who loves him no matter what.

Ted in all this, I really don't know. (I'm a "Ted will die in S5" believer, as he's not a very big side character in the show, but his death would still impact our characters in such a big way.) But having his mom on his side would definitely give Mike courage to confront who he is.

Mike's Season 5 storyline

Let me go back to the photo of Mike above. My Season 5 theory for Mike starts off with him finding out that Will lied about the painting. I imagine Mike and Jane/El are talking, and the painting comes up. Jane/El's response would probably be to ask Mike what a commission is, which would lead to Mike realising that Will, his best friend, lied to him. Mike is going to be super upset, BUT I don't think he'll confront Will about it just yet.

Will has been off lately, has been more distant, and of course, Mike notices it. So he probably believes that confronting Will about the painting would just push him further away. Mike will probably still be the clingy/protective person he is with Will, all while trying to figure out the painting. Mike would also be stuck on why the painting meant so much to him. (I mean, they wouldn't have made a Funko Pop of Mike holding the painting if it wasn't such an important object to Mike.)

When it comes to Mike and Els relationship in S5, I believe it'll start in this turbulent state of not really being together but still are? If you get what I mean. As if they're both afraid to say we're done, especially with what is happening around them. For me, I want their breakup to be bittersweet, for the both of them to come to the same realisation that they love each other but just not that kind of love. They would probably finally have an honest conversation about everything. Where at the end, I can see them both saying I love you's to each other in a friend/family way and giving each other a big hug. They'd talk about how they didn't want to officially break up for so long because they didn't want to lose each other, but they would make a promise that they'd always be friends no matter what.

Once that relationship between Mike and Jane/El has concluded. There's going to be a breakthrough with his own feelings towards Will. Not right away, of course, but gradual. While Will has metaphorical ripped the bandaid off and is trying to move on from Mike. It's Mike who's going to put that bandaid back on, Mike is going to be the one glueing himself to Will's side.

Mike's going to notice that Will is trying to push him away and how Will stopped going to him for support. Of course, Mike is going to ask and probe Will for why, but Will won't say anything. It's why I believe Mike will go to Lucas asking for help.

I can imagine that Will went out on his own late at night. Once Mike noticed Will gone, he'd drag Lucas out to track Will down. Maybe Lucas would make a comment about Mike's own behaviour here. Maybe Lucas would tease Mike on how he wouldn't be acting this crazy if it was Dustin or Lucas leaving at night. They'd probably find Will in the middle of the woods or somewhere. And that relief Mike would feel at seeing Will would hit him like a truck. I believe this moment would be the turning point to Mike realising his feelings.

Of course, he isn't going to do anything about it yet. Since he wouldn't be sure about how Will feels about him. I LOVE the idea of Mike confining in Lucas about the feelings he has for Will. In which Lucas would be shocked, but then say "wait no, that makes complete sense." But I'm not 100% certain that would happen.

The painting comes back into the picture at this point. Maybe Mike is staring at it. Studying the details, and maybe the camera would focus on the heart on the shield. As he remembers the conversation they had in the van. Maybe he'd remember Will calling Mike the heart. And it's this scene that gives Mike the courage to say something to Will. Maybe we would see Mile write down and plan what he wants to say to Will. Cause he'd want it to be perfect.

But oh no! Something happens. Vecna/mindflayer is trying to possess Will again! They're at the radio station, and Will yells at everyone to leave, that he can't keep him back, but Mike refuses to leave Will. Big action scene here! I imagine that maybe Vecna is taunting Will in his mindscape, making him watch his body attack his loved ones. But Mike manages to help break Will free, maybe by recounting the memory from when they were 8.

Afterwards, I imagine Will being wrecked with so much guilt for hurting his loved ones. That he decided enough is enough. He plans on sacrificing himself to save everyone. Mike finds out and can't let that happen. Maybe Will goes off to the upside down alone to confront Vecna or to give himself to Vecna like a trade in order to save his friends and family. But Mike runs after him.

Mike is completely terrified over the idea of losing Will. He won't let it happen. Here's where I tend to branch off since there's so many possibilities. But my favourite one is this!

Mike catches up to Will, and they have a verbal fight at the church in the upside down, with similar colourscheme to the rain fight in season 3. Will would say how they're out of time, that if he doesn't do this, then more people would die. That Vecna would burn the world to the ground. But Mike, oooooh, he would tell Will he'd rather let the world burn than not have Will in this world. How he can't function without Will, how important Will is to him. I can see Will, tearfully begging Mike to stop, to don't say that. But Mike won't stop until Will understands just how much he means to him. Completely forgoing the speech he wrote, and just speaking from the heart. In the end, Mike goes for it and kisses Will.

Imagine the lighting and music, ahhhh, it would be so perfect.

Of course, if you read my Will theory, you know that I'm certain that Will still makes a sacrifice to stop Vecna but survives. One of my ideas is with how connected he is to the hivemind. I believe once that's ripped apart for good, Will would suffer from having some kind of amnesia, like maybe he gets amnesia episodes, where he forgets everything for a bit, and Mike has a book he wrote of all the memories they had together, to help Will remember things. (Or worse, Will forgets everything, which would be so sad, but at least it would still be hopeful because you know Mike would still be there for him and Will of course would fall for Mike all over again. But oooooh, the Mike angst would hurt so bad)

(My original draft was all over the place, so I had to re-write it, lol)

#stranger things #byler #mike wheeler #will byers #stranger things theory #stranger things spoilers

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