I Headcannon Mike Wheeler As Autistic (because We Share The Exact Same Strain) And I Have A Theory Regarding

I headcannon Mike Wheeler as autistic (because we share the exact same strain) and I have a theory regarding Season 5. Many autistic people, including myself, have a warped sense of inherent danger. We will throw ourselves into dangerous situations not fully understanding the risks involved. It’s a dangerous situation, sure, but not so dangerous we should avoid it. Mike also has this problem, what with him diving head-first into every fight. He wants desperately to be a hero, to prove his worth and might as a person—to be remembered. If that means doing something stupid like getting himself killed, then that’s what it takes. It’s heartbreaking, but that’s the world he lives in. Hopper, Eleven, Will, they’ve all sacrificed their lives in some capacity to save the world, now it’s his turn.

Eddie touched on this concept with his “Don’t try to be heroes, not today. There is no shame in running,” but Mike doesn’t see it that way. In his mind, those who run are cowards, afraid to face their fears and fight for what they believe in. Has Mike been a bit cowardly these past two seasons by avoiding his feelings for Will? Yes, absolutely. But that’s his arc. Mike has to understand his actions, why he’s hiding, and the serious danger everyone is in. He has to face the music. Where does this lack of inherent danger come in? Glad you asked.

We all know Mike wants to be a hero. He wants to go down in history as someone good, someone who put others before themselves and saves the world. The Brave Knight, The Paladin. Paladins swear an oath of bravery and loyalty, vowing to avenge any threat that dares harm their allegiance (Byler anyone?). Something will threaten to harm/kill Will in Season 5, and Mike will have none of it. They’re not doing this again. Thus, Mike will throw himself in front of Vecna/Demogorgon/Brenner, etc. to protect Will, not fully comprehending the danger of the situation. He’ll be a hero. Unfortunately, this risky act will most likely cost him his life (temporarily). He doesn’t have to die. He’s the heart.

Lucas says, in the Season 4 hospital, that Max’s heart stopped for over a minute, but it miraculously started again. She is alive. El’s love for her conquered death itself. If we go on the “Will Has Powers” theory, then his love for Mike will conquer death and revive him. Mike only needs to be presumed dead, to be out long enough for Will and El to feel the effects of his death and consider joining Vecna. Because without their HEART, they’d fall apart. Both of them.

Back to what Eddie said, there really is no shame in running. Will doesn’t need Mike to do some egregious, knightly act of sacrifice to prove his love for him. His love is already enough. Will loves Mike for EXACTLY WHO HE IS. He always has, and THAT is the real heart of this story. Mike is not a hero because of what he does, but because of who he is. The way he loves, the way he stands up for what he believes in, the way he treasures his friends and protects them. The way he makes Will feel safe just by being there. That’s what Will fell in love with, not some fantastical DnD character that never actually existed.

Like Mike said in Season 2, “this isn’t DnD, this is real life.” DnD characters are fun, and it’s exciting to dream about slaying dragons or exploding orcs with your Magic Missiles, but that’s not real. It’s a game and it will end. Hit Points don’t magically restore you after a Long Rest and Healing Potions don’t deal 2d4+2 Healing. Actions have consequences and danger is real, even if your brain tells you it’s not. Paladins, Clerics, Bards, Rangers, they’re not real people. But Mike Wheeler is (in this context) and Mike Wheeler is enough. He is so enough. It’s time he wakes up and realizes he doesn’t have to be the Hero, slay the dragon, and make everything better, because it was NEVER HIS FAULT. Bad things happen and, sometimes, we can’t fix them. All we can do is stand beside our partner, hold their hand, and fight along with them—to remind them they are never alone. That, in and of itself, is truly heroic.

After El viewing young Billy and then young Max… I think something like this will probably happen.

you are 16 years old. Your parents are divorced. You live with your mom and younger brother. You dislike your deadbeat dad. Your mom works all the time. You watch your younger brother because she is absent a lot. You do not mind. You are 16 and you know money is tight, so you pick up an extra shift to help pay the bills. In the morning, you get breakfast ready for your younger brother, as usual, while your mom gets ready for work. She scolds you because you did not wake up your brother on time. She finds him missing. You are 16 and your mom berates you for not picking up your brother from his friend. She appointed you guardian and by trying to help out you lost your brother. You are 16 trying to keep calm while your mom falls apart. You are 16 and the most important person in your world has disappeared because you did not pick him up late at night. You are 16 and insist on visiting your deadbeat abusive piece of shit dad because he might be the reason your brother is missing. You are 16 and your mom is spiraling so you organize your brothers funeral. You are 16 and your deadbeat piece of shit dad returns and makes himself comfortable in your mothers home,your home, your brothers home. Your deadbeat dad sits on the couch drinking with your mom. He does not belong. You are 16 and any hope you ever had for a different future for you and your family fades. You are 16. You are 16 and life is as bad as it gets. You have to stay calm for everyone around you. This is how you were raised. You are the guardian. You endure. You are 16 years old.

In honor of it being 50 days since Heartstopper season 2 was released, Alice has shared a snippet of episode 3 season 2’s script. Alice has shared it was one of their favorite scenes from this season. 🍂

“i want byler’s first kiss to be soft and sweet.” yes.

“i want byler’s first kiss to be hungry and greedy.” yes.

i want byler’s first kiss to be a peck, if only on a technicality. something that is somehow both confident and scared. it’s will. it has to be will. he just lets himself do it. maybe in the heat of the moment, maybe in the quiet of a sleepover where everyone else has fallen asleep. it’s quick, but for will- for will it feels like an eternity. it’s everything everyone’s ever described a kiss as feeling. it’s lightning and fireworks and butterflies. mike doesn’t move. not an inch. and will thinks he messed up. he thinks he must’ve finally ruined everything, he knew it’d happen eventually. he looks away, anywhere but mike, quiet apologies flying out of his lips. mike doesn’t say anything. he couldn’t even if he knew what to say. so he follows will’s lead, and he just does. he takes will’s face in his hands and presses forward. it’s hungry and greedy and every emotion he’s ever felt is right here. right here for will to feel. and will does. he feels it all. and he responds; just as hungry, just as greedy, just as emotional. so yes, their first kiss is soft and sweet, but yes, it’s also hungry and greedy.

Theory: The Upside Down is Will’s Original Hiding Spot

“He’s good at hiding.”

In season one, One (either through himself physically or through a demogorgon he controlled) destroyed Castle Byers, which was Will’s final hiding spot and last safe space.

Symbolically, this is meant to show how this experience has literally destroyed his childhood, he no longer has a safe space because no space will ever feel safe again.

However, I think this instance of One destroying Will’s hiding spot might be indicative of a more literal meaning as well.

So atp I’m fairly confident that Will has been connected to the Upside Down since way before One ever kidnapped him, which is why he went after him in the first place.

The Upside Down was Will’s original hiding spot, and One took it over in the same way he destroyed Castle Byers.

I’ll explain:

So in season one Jonathan keeps repeating that Will is good at hiding. And he was hiding— in the Upside Down.

It’s implied that the reason Will is so good at hiding was because of his dad. But once he left, Will no longer needed to hide and Castle Byers became his new safe space. Jonathan even tells Hopper that Will used to hide in Castle Byers.

Now this kinda contradicts what I just said, but it’s also important to note that Castle Byers didn’t go up until after Lonnie left. Before that, Will would have lacked a safe space for himself to go.

So what I’m proposing is that Will had a safe space before Castle Byers, and that space was the Upside Down.

I’m not saying that Will would go through a gate every time he needed to hide from his dad, rather this would work in a similar way to his true sight ability in season two. Will’s physical body would be in the in the Rightside Up, but he would physically manifest in the Upside Down as well. While the real world was dangerous, his consciousness would take him somewhere safe. We know that Will was physically in the Upside Down since the Mind Flayer was able to physically enter his body. We didn’t see the particles in the field where he was possessed, it was able to enter his body because he was actually there too.

So let’s say, for example, Lonnie would come home drunk and start getting violent. Will might find somewhere actually in the house to hide, for example a cabinet, but then as an extra protective measure his powers would bring him to the Upside Down and away from danger.

I think this would be akin to some kind of short-term dissacociation, which is basically a defense mechanism for traumatic situations that are hard to get away from.

This article also attributes dissociating to the freeze response, which is stated in the show to be Will’s fear response.

I don’t think Will was ever conscious of doing this, and he was probably so small when it was happening that he didn’t process what was really going on. Rather, I think this ability is triggered by extreme fear, more specifically fear of his father. In fact, I think this ability might be how Will actually went into the Upside Down in episode one. One was able to trigger a fear response so powerful that Will teleported into the Upside Down. And since the gate was open, all of Will went inside. I think this might be why he brought an impression of Hawkins with him. Kinda like a pinhole in a camera obscura, the moment that Will phased into the UD he brought with him an image of the town at that exact moment.

Now, in season two, Will does not go completely into the UD, despite the gate being open. This is because the Soteria is likely in his neck at this point, greatly supressing his powers. Furthermore, One had some control over when this was happening, although I do think he was amplifying it using Will’s emotions. I think there’s a reason he decided to do this during the anniversary of Will’s trauma.

An important part of this theory is Castle Byers, more specifically when and why it was built. Jonathan says in s2 that they built it the night dad left. As I hypothesized before, Will was phasing into the Upside Down because of his dad specifically, but then Castle Byers became his new safe space. As such, he wouldn’t need to phase into the UD, leaving an opening for someone to take it over.

We never get an exact date for when Lonnie left, but we know that it was some time before the events of s1. Furthermore, we don’t know how much time One was wandering around in the UD before he took it over, but it looks like he had been there for quite a while. I’m willing to bet that Lonnie left either before One took over the UD, meaning that Will wouldn’t have been occupying it and leaving a space for One to easily take it over.

This echoes exactly what One did to Castle Byers at the end of season one: He destroyed Will’s safe space.

Another important facet is how Will was able to hear his mom through the Upside Down, but Joyce was not able to hear him. If you wanted to hide from someone, it’s important they not hear you. However, it would be important to listen for when the coast is clear. Maybe whenever Will hid, it was always temporary, because eventually his mother would always reassure him that everything was okay and make him feel safe.

When Will is in the Upside Down in season one, the fear never goes away. Now that One is in charge, the creatures there are after him, and no amount of hiding will allow him to feel safe. This is why he can’t teleport back, because he doesn’t feel safe. But still, he is able to harness the love he has for his mother and find a way to communicate through the lights.

I know this post is already very long but I’ll write out the timeline here:

When Will is younger Lonnie is an abusive shit. Whenever Will gets scared and hide his consciousness takes him to the Upside Down for safety. When Lonnie leaves Will no longer needs to do this and Castle Byers becomes his new safe spot. At some point between Lonnie leaving and the start of season 5, One takes over the Upside Down, effectively destroying Will’s sense of security both figuratively and literally. Will hides in the UD Castle Byers has his last safe spot and it’s After the events of season one, Will has a Soteria placed in his neck (either by One or by Owens) which filters his teleporting abilities and comes through as True Sight.