last modified: 3 oct, 2023 ----------------------------------------------------------------- GUESS WHO'S BACKKK hi ik i dont post on here anymore but i found some unshared projects in my drafts that i totally forgot to post lol there might be some errors here and there but hope yg enjoy anyways !! i most likely will not make a formal post on my thoughts of s5 as a whole bc im too tired for ts but that was the biggest queerbait of the century and we deserved better. end of story ----------------------------------------------------------------- soooo ive been revisiting mikes character dynamics quite a lot lately & this i think will provide some much needed insight into the implications of what mike was actually telling will in the bedroom scene and just how important this truly is. my take on moikol being closed off is a result of many of his relationships failing to hold space for him. basically, mike doesn't believe that his feelings and expressions really matter to anyone else because he's often being pushed aside except for his Mom (who is often preoccupied with holly) and will (who has now moved away to cali) mike believes will is the one to drop the ball on communication with him here. mike during the end of s3 expresses his fears over losing will when he asks ‘but what if you want to join another party?’ when will is going to donate his dnd books. this is not mike actually asking will about his dnd books, this is mike asking 'what if you forget about me? what if you move on and make other friends?' so when will says 'not possible,' mike sees this as a reassurance that they will remain friends, that he's not going to lose will, but he does. when we hear hopper's letter at the end of season 3 about feeling distant and not wanting to change, we see these shots of mike looking longingly after the byers' moving van and back to their house. ofc mike is upset about el leaving as well, but the implications of the lines from hopper's letter directly follow the narrative of this exchange: a fear of losing, which is not the narrative undertone of the scene between mike and el who promise to stay in touch. mike doesn't feel scared of losing El because communication with his girlfriend is expected of him, but his relationship with will is not explicitly a romantic one, they have no obligation to one another to stay in touch, except, mike wants there to be because will makes mike feel like himself. and we again get this image of mike falling into karen's arms because now that will is gone, she's really the only other person that mike has who seems to understand his emotional needs. when will doesn't reach out to mike during his time in Lenora, i think will is really recognizing the full gravity of his feelings for mike and that even after the destruction of castle byers, he's not able to get over these feelings or make them go away, so will uses this distance as a way of attempting to rip off the band-aid. he wants to believe that mike is not reaching out to him and that mike doesn't care about their friendship because it's easier for will to believe this if he wants to get over his feelings. so will doesn't call mike, he waits for mike to call him. ofc, this attempt at getting over his own feelings doesn't work, because we very clearly see from the painting that will is not getting over mike, but for a while, he tries. and i think the painting is his last-ditch effort: taking the possibility of reciprocation off the table. To rip off the band-aid once and for all. but mike? mike is so confused. because he (likely) has been calling will, except joyce has her telemarketer job and the calls don't go through. and will isn't calling him, despite knowing joyce's schedule. and will promised mike that he wouldn't move on, that mike wouldn't lose him, but mike feels like he lost will, and he doesn't know what to do with that because losing will feels like cutting off the one real connection he's had to the authentic version of himself. mike doesn't just feel like he lost Will. Mike feels like he lost...well, mike. bc will is the only person that he feels comfortable talking to that actually holds space for his needs and emotions. so when mike gets to high school and lucas joins the basketball team and dustin has steve to guide him, and max is so distant that she barely hangs out with the party anymore, mike feels so incredibly lost because there's really not anyone in his corner. not until eddie shows up and takes him under his wing and reintroduces mike to dnd and being a freak and the pride in that. and i think that's why we see mike so devoted to eddie and to the campaign, why he styles his hair and clothes like eddie, why he looks up to him so much, why he has this admiration for (and maybe a crush on) him, because eddie in a way makes mike feel less lost. eddie makes him feel the closest to connected to something that he's felt since will left.
so for the people saying mike joined another party to feel closer to will, i think this is a truer statement than assuming his joining another party was a slight against will. mike needed something to fill that sense of loss, and that's why we see him throw all of himself into hellfire, to the point where he's more devoted to hellfire than he is to going to lucas's game, because eddie found mike when mike was lost, and that creates a huge sense of loyalty. he also feels seen by eddie in a way he doesn't feel seen by dustin and lucas anymore, because they're both moving on to other things and other people, and mike doesn't have that. for mike, a sense of loyalty is huge, and though it hurts when lucas and dustin go their own ways and aren't as devoted to the party (dustin is still more into Hellfire and more present than lucas, but he also has Steve), mike never expected that will would abandon him in the way he did. will has always been there. will has always been loyal to mike. and mike has always felt the greatest sense of loyalty towards will, so will not talking to him? that stings more than anything. when will gets to the airport with his painting and looks so excited to see mike (he can't help it, he's tried to tamp down the feelings, but he can't), will is willing to put aside whatever he believes about why mike hasn't written him because he just wants mike to be there with him again, but mike? mike's giving 'WTHyou didn't talk to me for five months and now you want to hug me?' energy. he feels hurt and abandoned by will in a way that he never expected to and he can't understand how will can look so happy to see him yet have not put any effort into maintaining their friendship. but after the rink o mania scene (which i've talked to death at this point), mike finally decides to cut will a break a little and realizes there's more to the story. mike just, really wants will to be back in his life more than anything, because i think he finally realizes once he's in lenora, back around will, how easy it is for him to fall back into his old self. to open up. to feel seen and heard. so while mike makes will feel like he's not a mistake, will also makes mike feel like he's not a mistake. when everyone around mike misunderstands him and shuts him down, mike feels like he doesn't matter. when he loses will, this becomes a lot more apparent. and will makes mike feel like he matters, because whether or not will interprets mike's feelings correctly (mr byers, please get out of your own way), he never fails to validate mike's feelings. he gives mike a voice when mike doesn't feel like he has one. ~ anyways,,, that’s just my spiel of that! have a lovely day <33
