Mike Needs A Hug - Tumblr Posts

Okay listen. Do I want Mike Wheeler to be vecna’d? Hell yes. I think his character needs it, honestly. Do I think he will be? Probably not. See, he is almost always standing on the sidelines of another character going through something he can’t help with (The one exception being when he almost jumped off a cliff for Dustin)

(Will being possessed, El closing the portal and disappearing, Will and El disappearing or leaving, the whole final star court mall fight, etc.)

He is almost never the one in the most direct danger. Even in the newest season he was benched and had to play support again.

The Duffers seem content with this formula (one thing they rely heavily on) and I don’t think it’s going to change. Which is sad because I think his character could honestly thrive from being Vecna’d and finally being the one in the most direct danger.

“The music from the Walkman stopped. Mike didn’t care much. He just stared at his ceiling. It doesn’t matter how long he stayed like that because no one bothered to check on him. Eventually, he might have fallen asleep. No one really knew, let alone Mike.”

That’s the ending of the first chapter of the stranger things fanfic I’m writing 😫

https://archiveofourown.org/works/40664451

mike’s character is one of the most interesting to me because does anyone really know how mike feels? and i don’t mean like his obvious feelings like when he’s annoyed or sad etc. but does anyone SEE him. id say the closest person to see him for who he really is is will, but even then there are parts he hides from will that only us as an audience can infer.

i feel like this is one of the reasons mike getting vecna’d instead of will would make a lot of sense. we have a decent idea on what goes on in will’s head and how his mind works. but mike? he’s been hiding who he really is for so long that he’s even fooled the general audience into thinking he’s someone he’s not. mike’s character is so fascinating because we rarely get to understand why he does what he does, who he is to himself. all we see is who he is to other characters and how those people shape him.

if mike gets vecna’d, it would show the audience a direct pov of the mike we never get to see. the raw mike that hides away from not only viewers but his own family and friends. it would be the perfect gateway to seeing how complicated mike really is.

i would like to think one of mike’s biggest inner conflicts is whether he’s a good person to the people he loves. ofc he cares deeply about his friends and family, but he’s made so many mistakes with them that i wonder if he contemplates if he deserves them.

here’s how i envision mike getting vecna’d going:

the scenes like the snowball and the roller rink seem like places where we’d see will being jealous of mike, but what if instead they were spots where mike felt a strain in his relationships with will and el.

at the snowball, mike encourages will to dance with a girl and after he waits in a slump for el or possibly for will to be done dancing with the girl. here maybe vecna mentions how he should feel guilty that he’s jealous of will even though he’s dating el. maybe he’s told that he can’t be a good boyfriend for her let alone a friend, that will is clearly happy with that girl and that he’s better off without mike.

then we go to the roller rink. we see el getting bullied then mike and will’s fight. vecna tells mike that he’s selfish and inconsiderate to both el and will. that he didn’t even make an effort to say happy birthday to will. maybe mike sees el and will skating together and says he’ll never be good enough for either of them, that he better off leaving them be because they’re clearly happier without him. that he’s treated both of them undeservingly and they deserve better.

we see the scene where mike cant tell el he loves her, we see the famous s3 byler fight in the rain, we see all the times mike has hurt the two people he cares about the most and he starts questioning…maybe he doesn’t deserve them…maybe vecna’s right that they’d be better off without him.

they try to use his favorite song to save him, which only will knows because everyone else hasn’t been aware, but mike’s too far gone. he’s already convinced himself that vecna’s right.

this is when the party splits up in the upside down and go through what mike’s been seeing from vecna. they finally get to see a part of mike they never do. will and el are the ones to find mike being tormented by vecna. they’re the ones that pull mike out of his trance by dragging him through the portal created by his favorite song.

they all come back and mike’s alive. they all start crying after seeing how hard it’s been for mike, this guy that boasts confidence. they hurt knowing mike was willing to give his life up so that his friends would be supposedly be happy. then there’s mike who’s yelling saying they should’ve let him go, that all he’s been is a negative presence in their lives. here starts mike’s monologue. he talks about how he can’t love el the way she wants him to but he still cares about her deeply, that he’s sorry for being such a horrible boyfriend and that she deserves someone better than him. he tells will how he’s hurt him so many times he doesn’t understand why he keeps coming back. that he loves will but he can’t always prove it in a way will deserves even if he wants to.

el reassures mike explaining that she understands. that mike doesn’t need to worry about her and that she knows how much he cares. she gets that people make mistakes and that she would never want to lose mike despite what they are to each other. she gives mike a loving hug, one to symbolize the end of their relationship but not the end of their friendship.

will is the one most emotional. he finally understands what mike has had to go through so many times, his best friend on the verge of death. jonathan suggests everyone gives them space and the two are left alone.

will hugs mike while saying all kinds of things “ur so stupid” “why would you give up ur life” “never do that again”. and mike is just there hugging back apologizing like hell because he still doesn’t feel worth will’s attention. will shuts him up and pulls out the drawing. it’s of the swingset from when they first met. will explains how he does remember this day, and that ever since that day he hasn’t regretted a single day in his life because mike was always there, that being with mike are the happiest moments of his life, that he knows that mike isn’t perfect and he understands he’s figuring himself out, that he knows he cares because each apology mike gives is engraved into his brain. will confesses what he’s been meaning to confess since that day in california.

mike still in disbelief argues saying there’s no possible way will could accept all the mistakes he’s made, and will fed up with mike’s stubbornness takes the chance and kisses him. they break away and will explains how mike is the only one he’s ever wanted to be with. and mike, hesitant at first, goes for another kiss. he tells will that he’s sorry he couldn’t realize it sooner but he’s always been the most important person in his life and he couldn’t ask for anyone else either.

mike pulls out the “for will” mixtape, and he explains he made it for his birthday, but he was too cowardly to give it to him. will grabs the mixtape and on the back is written “love, mike” and scene ends.