This Is A Major Part Of It All - Tumblr Posts

Forever thinking about S1-S2 Mike and how his relationship with Will developed over time.

People always talk about Mike pulling away from Will because of his growing feelings towards him, but what about their collective trauma?

Mike watched them pull his best friend’s body out from the quarry. He saw what everyone said was the dead body of the person he cared about most. And then he came back.

Will basically came back from the dead for Mike. And in season two, when Will was going through the flash backs, Mike tried to hang onto him and support him as best he could. Mike couldn’t protect him from the upside down the first time, but he could this time. He was dedicated to protecting Will from the horrors he had been through.

But once Will was possessed, I think Mike pulled away a little. He realized he couldn’t protect Will the way he wanted to. He couldn’t save him. But El could. So he pulled away. He couldn’t bear to lose Will. He couldn’t bear to watch him slip from his grasp a third time. So he made El his priority, to ensure that she stopped all of this once and for all, so he could have his Will back.

Mike doesn’t want El to be his super hero. Mike doesn’t want El to be free from the upside down. He wants El to make Will free from the episode down. She needs to be Will’s super hero, because Mike can’t be.