Mike Wheeler Loves Will Byers - Tumblr Posts

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.

I’m literally fighting back tears. Thank you for writing this absolute masterpiece and reminding us all why this story is so vitally important. Please read this work and witness the healing power of love. ❤️‍🩹🏳️‍🌈🥹

we will never go back (to that bloodshed)

A wide smile breaks across Mike’s face and not even a moment later, Mike’s on the ground in front of him, wrapping his arms around the back of Will’s neck and his back and pulling him into a hug so tight that it makes his wounds ache, just a little.

“Holy shit,” Mike says into the crook of Will’s neck. He sounds just as breathless as Will is feeling. “Holy shit, Will.”

“Yeah,” Will laughs lightly, “Holy shit.”

Or, Will and Mike after battle

It represents the cycle of abuse in which these characters are trapped. They all want to control Eleven (for better or worse) and feel the only way to keep her safe is to keep her reliant on them. Mike is obviously not doing this knowingly, but he’s seen El’s powers in action, as has Dr. Brenner, and they fear the repercussions of allowing Eleven to control them herself. Mike rescuced her from the woods, so he feels responsible for her life. He worries that, without him, she or someone else (or many someone elses) will be hurt or killed. Max points this out during their Season 3 argument when she asks Nancy and Jonathon who should be allowed to control Eleven’s powers, Eleven or Mike.

While Dr. Brenner’s actions stem from a place of control and malice, wanting to harvest Eleven’s powers for his own benefit and gain, Mike’s actions stem from something more lethal—guilt and grief. He knows Eleven is intelligent and aware of her powers but if something happened to her, Mike knows he would blame himself. He brought Eleven into their world, just like Dr. Brenner brought Eleven into the physical world (according to the flashbacks, but that’s another story). Just like a parental figure (Dr. Brenner) has to let their child grow up and leave the nest, so does Mike. Is he a parental figure to Eleven? No, but he has taught her how to be human—how to function and survive in the world as a regular kid. Now it’s time for Eleven to spread her wings and venture out on her own, free from Mike’s protection.

Does Mike “controlling Eleven” and his parallels to Dr. Brenner make him evil? NO!!! It illustrates his arc. Mike desperately needs to feel needed. He needs to have someone to love and protect in order to feel worthy. It’s how he shows his love. Unfortunately, instead of loving Eleven, he’s smothering her and stifling her from discovering her true identity. Thankfully, there’s someone else who could benefit from Mike’s protection and care, someone who will always need him. Mike’s arc is about letting Eleven go—understanding he’s done everything he can for her and that she is more than capable of protecting herself—wrestling with his survivor’s guilt and grief, and discovering what it means to be a real leader and protector.

Anyway, Byler Endgame. 💙💛💚

Every(?) Fucking Time Mike is paralleled to people and things that make you go hmm whatthefuck Part 1 : The Brenner special

So. Not to be a crazy person and everything but what started as a small realisation that one Mike's line was identical to one of Flayed Billy's , I told myself 'Hey wouldn't it be kind of fun if i saw how many times that happens?'. More than 300 screenshots after, Mike's identical lines or extremely overt parallels with characters like Brenner, Henry/Edward/Vecna/One and even the parallels between him and the democreatures are something no one can ever deny. How is Mike's relevancy to the plot even an issue when they give him this? But I'm getting ahead of myself. These were SO MANY , that I decided to cut it to 2 posts. So today, we're getting (mostly) the Brenner Special, and the rest will come in Vol 2. I obviously didn't separate it perfectly, but these are mostly Brenner. If this feels like I'm putting you through rewatching all of his scenes....I kind of am, lol. I put some rainbow stickers every time a new parallel starts to make it easier, and as always left to right for the pics...Further commentary at the end<3

First round:

Take some rest traveler. Ok. Time for round 2:

Time for round 3 now you got this. You can do it.

Oh wow. I know. How can there be more. But there are. There are more. Give it up for.....ROUND 4!

Just hold on a little longer.....And....5!!! (One of my faves like can you believe this shit my liege lol)

Ok. Last one. Let's go! Let's fucking go!!! Only a tiny bit more and then it's done!!!!!! After the 6th round, both me and you are dead.

Wow if you reached the end here you are one dedicated little guy. Good for us bro. Never ask me what this means or I will burst into tears, and maybe start screaming and never stop. See you at the next post. Lol

“Please, Mike, go tell him now, before you lose him forever. You still have so much time. I’m begging you, from the bottom of my heart, as your best friend, Party member, and next door neighbor, don’t make my mistake. This pain is permanent.”

Lucas knows about Mike and Will

First off, of course the context is needed that Lucas has known the two of them the longest out of any of the kids. He is Mike’s neighbour and joined their party even before Dustin. He also played wingman for Mike previously in S3, trying to help get Mike and Eleven back together. It’s not a stretch of the imagination that Lucas would end up in a role like that again.

So, the hospital scene at the end of Season 4.

There’s a few things within this scene that are a little suspicious, and then one big thing that basically has no explanation other than Lucas suspecting something is going on with Mike. I brightened the scene here- first let’s just acknowledge they held hands on Lucas’ back. This is the only kind of direct hand touch we get this season.

Lucas can’t see that.. but it’s on his back. Of course he would be able to feel it. It’s also another moment that separates Mike and Will as a pair, versus Eleven on her own. Here’s the full clip below. And then just LOOK at the expression Lucas gives Mike after he sees El lingering behind. Your friend just visited as soon as he possibly could to give you support. Why would you look at them like this after he hugs you? Because he knows there’s something weird going on in the relationship between Mike and El. No other explanation.

Lucas is clearly giving Mike a “what the fuck is going on” kind of expression, eye squinted, eyebrows furrowed. There’s also a blink and you’ll miss it moment where Mike’s breath catches after the contact with Will’s hand, and he makes a split second glance to look at their hands (which I captured in the first image).

Then after Lucas hugs El, he clearly parts and steps back to give room for Mike to join beside his girlfriend. But Mike crosses the room to put himself in between El and Will instead. Another thing Lucas would have found weird. Lucas isn’t dumb.

Then we have the shotlisting post from Ross’ instagram. Shot listing is where they plan out what happens within an episode and what kinds of shots they want. This image is obviously an Easter Egg for fans about who’s interacting with who in the first 2 episodes (ie Stonathan shenanigans of which we already know about). I didn’t see it at first but Lucas is clearly placed in the centre of a triangle between El, Mike, and Will. He’s the centre of the triangle.

This makes sense with what we know about S5 thus far as well. There’s a confirmed plot line that has Dustin trying to isolate himself from the rest of the group (if he hasn’t already been isolated enough from the party in recent seasons). It shows up in the shot list image too of course, with Dustin on the opposite side. For the kids, due to Max being out of commission, the only interactions we are going to get in the first two episodes before the time jump seem to be between El, Will, Mike, and Lucas. We also have confirmation from Millie that El and Lucas will be spending a lot more time together than they had in previous seasons.

Moving onto a bit of cornplating for the last points which just serve as some cherries on top of this theory - we already have imagery of Lucas acting as a bridge between Mike and Will in the party image Ross gave us. This is post time jump most likely because of the new outfits, so it’s interesting that this role could continue throughout the season.

We also have the imagery of Lucas holding a suspiciously coloured blue and yellow shield in Will’s painting of the party. A bit of a stretch, sure. But complied with everything else it is definitely interesting to consider.

Now for the character reasoning, which is always important to consider: why would Lucas end up in this position?

Lucas is going through his girlfriend being in a coma after they had a major distance in their relationship. A coma that Lucas in universe has no clue if she’ll ever wake up from, and realistically (in-universe) hopes are slim that she will recover. And if she does, she may not have all the memories of times spent together still with her. There’s probably so many regrets swirling around his mind of things he could have done or said in the time that they had together. Lucas doesn’t have this luxury - but his friends still do.

Lucas is Mike’s oldest friend outside of Will, and Will/Mike are Lucas’ first friends. They existed as a party even before Dustin.

Out of his pain of ‘losing’ Max and the wisdom he learned from it, I really do think Lucas is going to encourage Mike to seize the day and take control of his life once again. Will and Mike still have the luxury of time and still have chance. If anyone could convince Mike his feelings are reciprocal, it would also be Lucas.

Furthermore, Lucas understands that as a black man in fairly rural 80s Indiana, his relationship with Max is also one that is singled out due to prejudice against interracial couples. Interracial marriage would only have been legalized less than twenty years ago. It’s not quite the same, but again if anyone understood the position Mike would be in (other than say Robin) - it would be Lucas.

sorry but is it just me who listens to this song and laughs my lungs out thinking about how byler it is.

I mean... I get all the princess and the frog references but I also think this song is very byler.

imagine it's mike singing "I'm your frog." I feel like that's so cute not only because he's saying "I'm yours" to will but also he'd be accepting himself and getting back at the people who bullied him like "they said I have a frog face, well I don't care if I'm your frog." aaand the line "I feel wrong" is such a heartbreakingly accurate confession for a queer person and very mike wheeler.

this song for byler. please. they just want to be free. let them be free and happy and in love.

This song is literally them. Crazy together, right?

which was more culturally significant:

the renaissance or… THIS photo:

i can romanticize life as much as i want, but the truth is that I’ll never be will byers and mike wheeler on halloween of ‘84