This Will Byers Was In Love With This Mike Wheeler

I know it's not the popular theory but I'm still convinced that I'm right and that Mike did not understand that Will was talking about himself in the van, he maybe suspected it was weird but dismissed it, BUT those words made him feel in love for the first time and he thought that that feeling was for El so he tries to tell El in the Pizza place but the words don't come out initially, he's so nervous and he's asking himself why can't he just say it again and then Argyle interrupts them and everything happens and then WILL TELLS HIM TO TELL HER and he watches Will and he remembers that feeling and he just spits it out! but it's not genuine! it doesn't feel right!!! she knows it too and she loses because it's not the truth!

Mike doesn't understand himself.

Please be kind to Nick he’s trying to get the script up. In the meantime Get some sleep, get food, something to drink. Take a few deep breaths. Ily<3 pls take care everyone!!

just noticed something… the only time mike has ever been his true self and shown his “nerdy” side to eleven is in season 1 episode 2. he’s showing her his toys and trying to tell her about star wars and dinosaurs and he seems so excited about it. but she doesn’t look interested at all and actually gets up and walks away while he’s still talking

he never really talked about his interests to her again after that. the only time he spoke about presents and got excited was at the end of season 3 when he was telling her about christmas but then he stopped himself and said he probably sounds like a child. he’s embarrassed and tries to act cool around her and he just can’t be himself. it’s really sad if you think about it. even now after years of dating, they don’t even communicate properly and barely know anything about each other. i’ve never seen them give each other gifts of something they enjoy and they don’t share the same interests or hobbies

meanwhile will on the other hand has made so many drawings that mike has kept over the years. he even worked on a beautiful painting of their d&d party which is so meaningful to both of them, and you can see how happy it made mike when he gave it to him. it’s like little mike came out again and you could see how his entire face lit up. mike can only be his true self when he’s with will and he feels so comfortable with him. in fact, they both feel most comfortable with each other and they understand each other better than anyone else. they also make each other feel better for who they are and they don’t have to hide. that’s what makes their relationship so beautiful and genuine

i care him a normla amount.

at first i was like “if byler doesn’t get to be happy im never recovering” as a joke. i don’t think it’s a joke anymore

no because I think about Will Byers and it makes me want to literally cry and I'm not a crying person usually

I just read the most out of character-never-happening Byler fic but i am absolutely bawling my eyes out 😜

But I’m okay now because I mean Byler is canon and it’s happening so I really don’t have anything to worry about 🤭

Finn sneaking in the directors room to edit those hearts in bylers eyes

i don’t understand how literally everyone isn’t insane about byler like what do you mean. they’re everything. they compliment each other. they’re compatible in every possible way. they’re meant to be. how are you not foaming at the mouth over it. how is your brain not rotting at the mere thought of them. i just ,

Mike Realises His Feelings Halfway Through S4 - Analysis

I was editing this post and one specific clip caught me off guard, which was this one specifically:

I 100% believe this is Mike realising his feelings for Will.

When you look into it, you start to notice the small details. Mike blinking approximately twelve times in seven seconds alone, almost like he's trying to block out any thoughts that just came to his head; Will telling Mike that he should say I love you to El when she comes back, but when Mike responds he stares at Will like he can't take his eyes off of him; then he says "Yeah'" not once but twice, almost foreshadowing he has to say it two times (one to El, one to Will); how the way he says it even makes me believe he knows the true person he's supposed to say I love you to; when he turns back he blinks even more and silently thinks to himself; the fact that he is using his Will voice and how he doesn't talk for the rest of the scene like he's processing what he's just discovered until the "Looks like it's going to be up to us again" line.

Mike's still under the impression that Will doesn't reciprocate, that Will could never reciprocate. And he knows that the person he should say I love you to is Will, but Will wants him to say it to El. This is further implied to Mike when he has to use Will's confession to confess to El while Will practically begs him to in order to save El.

But once you look at the full picture, this scene begins to unravel a whole chain reaction of the true meaning of the other events.

First of all, before Mike has this realisation, he and Will have the fight and the awkward conversation in the airport (basically, Mike still views Will as a friend and is repressing his feelings, eg: "We're friends! We're friends!") Mike and El also have their fight within this timeframe, where Mike is under the impression that they're broken up because he calls it a "fight you don't come back from" and El uses "From El" in her letter. This scene even starts off with Mike crumpling up the "From El" letter as he and Will talk about Mlvn's relationship. I think this scene is Mike trying to process everything. El doesn't use "Love, El" anymore, so he has full reason to believe that El's moved on. And through this, he's trying to move on as well. But in the process, he gets wrapped up with Will and ends up falling for him.

After Mike has the talk with Will, you end up noticing he's a lot more... flirtatious, especially in the apology scene. And you wonder... why didn't Mike apologise to Will before the talk with him about El going away? It's because Mike didn't see a reason to apologise before when he was, and I quote, "worrying too much about El". But once El left, and he saw through his own disguise, he apologised to Will because he finally realised what everything meant, and that he didn't mean any of it.

I'm not even sure Mike is aware he's flirting with Will. But when he realises... he tries to push his feelings away knowing that Will's the only solution to his problems. But I supposed he gets ahead of himself, because I mean, you can't really interpret this other than flirting.

Towards the end, when the car pulls up and destroys the moment, Mike realises what he exactly was doing, and he tears his head away in response.

And... I've always wondered why we have two scenes with Will and Mike where they talk about how Mike should have said "that thing" to El, just repeating the same thing over again. Why do we need two scenes with the same dialogue? Though, considering that the first one happens right before Mike realises his true feelings, and the other after he realises, it's very telling.

Scene A:

Scene B:

Scene A is Mike oblivious to his feelings for Will, where he thinks he needed to say I love you in order to keep her safe, that he'd take her with her. Scene B is Mike realising that he shouldn't need to say I love you, but rather should have told her what was going on with him, hence the line "Maybe I should have explained myself."

This even explains when Mike nods as Will says "Sometimes, I think it's just... scary. To say how you really feel. Especially, to the people you care about the most. Because... what if they don't like the truth?"

And now, we know why Mike nods. He's too scared to tell Will how he truly feels, one of the people he cares about the most, because he thinks Will would never reciprocate, especially after pushing Mike to tell El he loves her.

This even backs up the triple take in the desert, when Will stares at him and he panics because Will can't know that he's staring too. He's scared. Scared to come to terms with his newfound feelings.

You start to wonder why Mike isn't shoveling in the first few frames of this scene. Why he looks like he's pondering his life choices. So he looks to Will, for answers-at least something to tell him that it's all just a phase and these feelings will pass soon, but when he sees Will staring at him, he panics and tenses up, because he's scared to give himself hope and that Will will find out.

I think that later on in the season, he tries to put these feelings aside.

He tries to push them away because Will still believes that the person he loves is El, and after Mike was led to believe and he and El were over, Will reminds him that El still needs him. That what El wants is for Mike to tell her he loves her. So, now he's under the impression that El still loves him and needs his love. He's also under the impression that Will wants him to tell El that he loves her, oblivious to the real reason Mike can't say the words to her face. And so, in order to make both the people he cares about happy, he goes through with the plan. He plagiarizes Will's monologue and passes El's supposed feelings as his own. But when we see El again, she appears like she doesn't need him anymore. She's mourning Max by herself in peace, because it's something she needs to do alone. She doesn't need him for comfort anymore- she's realised that she doesn't have to rely on him because he doesn't give her the love that she needs. She realised there were other people that cared about her just as much (Max, Will) and Mike wasn't the only one who deserved her attention. She knew the monologue was fake. She knew that what Mike was trying to tell her wouldn't help her in the end.

But when we see Will again, Will's hurting. He's hurting, just like El, but this time, he talks to Mike about it, telling him about Vecna and everything he feels, and Mike places his hand on Will's shoulder, telling him that he's there.

Because it's not El that needs Mike anymore...

It's Will.

Mike's season five arc is going to be heavily centered around protecting Will again after realising that El's moved on. It's going to focus on him, making sure Will's okay, while he deals with the fact that he can't just push these feelings away anymore. They're going to stay with him, and they weren't going away anytime soon. Will being a main character again even backs up this cause. It's going to be season one and season two all over again.

TLDR; Mike realises his feelings halfway through S4 and knows who he should really say I love you to. But, being pressured by Will and El's supposed feelings, he thinks what's wanted is for him to tell El he loves her. But after we learn El doesn't need him anymore, the true person that needs him and that he needs to is Will.