Not enough of us talk about Jake at Rink- O- Mania
So, I'm going back through the seasons and scrubbing scenes for potential clues, when I come back around to the Rink-O-Mania scenes in Season 4 Episode 2. It goes without saying for those who have been paying attention, but that chapter in the story is heaving queer-coded for several reasons (i.e. Mike ignoring Jane but paying close attention to Will, the HSM2 fight, "We're friends, WE'RE friends!" etc...). But I want to talk about Angela's friend Jake, because I don't think we bring him up enough as evidence for Mike's queer coding.
Now before we dive in, I just want to bring up this wide shot:
Tell me this isn't just the Snowball of '84 if you just swap out the skating rink for the Middle School gym.
Honestly, I encourage you to go back and watch this scene in general. Pay attention to who you see in the crowd and who you don't. It's a lot creepier with everything that has happened.
Ok now back to Rink - O - Mania with Mike, Jane, Will, and the Bullies
When Angela approaches Jane with her friends in tow, I found it impossible to ignore home boy in the orange on her right. This is apparently Angela's boyfriend, according to the fan wiki, although I'm not sure it's ever explicitly said/implied in the show. But I mean come on. He's not really screaming typical "80's boyfriend of the popular girl" aesthetically, which would be relatively insignificant if he didn't immediately start making these eyes at Mike.
Sir, you are not subtle, but I fear neither is Mike
Notice on the right, he's looking at Angela. Then he glances at Jake, and his eyebrows do that thing where they levitate behind his bangs before he glances back at Angela.
Then we get the following exchange with Angela greeting Mike sardonically, Jake noticeably still checking him out in the background.
Now, it's bad enough that Mike is somehow still oblivious to the hostile vibes radiating off of this group, but he also seems to nervously trip over his words as he glances between Jake and Angela again. His voice is also noticeably softened here... which could mean nothing.
Sure, you could argue maybe he's flustered because he finds Angela attractive. But let's look at these next frames, after Angela laughs at the idea of Jane and them being "friends".
On the surface, it would seem like this might be the moment Mike is starting to catch onto the vibes between Angela and Jane being off. And yet... it's not. We KNOW it's not because about 30sec later we see him act completely bewildered when Will reveals the truth about Jane's relationship to them.
So, what's the look of concern at Jane for then?
Again, it comes after Angela laughs saying "Friends? Yeah, super cool."
where do we hear something textually similar but with a different kind of tension????
Mike: I think maybe we should be a team. Friends. Best Friends
Will: Cool :)
Mike: Cool :)
Now, I have seen speculation that Mike may have been worried about Will being "friends" with Angela here, as we know he's been paying specific attention to him this entire day. I think that's plausible, considering we have context from Jane's letter from Ep1 that Mike could think Will likes someone, enough to maybe even make a painting for them.
But let's look at where his eyes go next, specifically after we get a shot of Will looking at Jake.
Crazy, they appear to back on Jake as well. Let's see where they go as they take Jane away to the rink.
Oh. Still on Jake... right, right.
It's even more obvious with Will in this shot, clearly looking concerned at Jane
And finally, what does Mike do as Will stands, seemingly like he might go follow the group?
He glances away and drinks his milkshake, not once looking back up to check on either of them until Will finally says, "Oh no".
I brought up the comparison to the Snowball at the beginning of this post to bring up this shot here:
We know who Mike is looking forlorn over in this shot. It's an interesting shot to compare to the ones above, as we don't see him worried about Jane leaving him behind at the rink (despite his insistence later that all his weird behavior in Lenora could be explained by him being afraid she'll do exactly that). Instead, he's avoidant and looks away. Until he's made to face the situation by Will, the person he's actually been paying close attention to all day.
So, what do I think the deal with Jake is?
Well, the overt context of this chapter as it relates to Will is to show us just how left behind, forgotten, and rejected he feels at this stage, especially by Mike. Same with Jane, in the aftermath of the bullying incident, we see she's mostly hurt by Mike emotionally rejecting her in a moment she needed compassion and love.
In my opinion, the subtext also supports that Mike is feeling all of these emotions as well, only towards Will. Jake just happens to be a narrative manifestation of that.
Let's think about it: Mike comes to Lenora under the impression that Jane is doing great, and Will likes someone else. He acts incredibly weird in the airport by not hugging Will and immediately asking about the painting that's for his supposed crush but doesn't push further when Will deflects. He hears Jane mention Angela is one of her friends, and Will repeat her name anxiously. He continues to put on the performance of attentive, loving boyfriend for Jane, all while silently paying close attention to every move Will makes that day.
And then at the rink, he sees Jake with Angela. Jake, who is clearly making flirty eye contact with him. Who is objectively cute in a very similar way that one might find Will cute. He hears Angela laugh sarcastically about her and Jane being "friends" and then sees Will look concernedly at Jake and appear as though he might follow them to skate.
And then the truth is revealed, and he realizes that Angela, Jake, and the rest of their crew were not who he thought they were. Angela was never friends with Jane, and Will was never interested in any of them. Everything he thought was true was a lie. And who is he upset with over this? Will. Because it's always been Will's communication and honesty that he's cared about. He was never worried about Jane leaving him behind for her new friends. He was worried about being left behind by Will, just like he was at the Snowball. And in the end, Will does emotionally leave him behind when he lies about his feelings belonging to Jane when he gives Mike the painting.
In the S5 episode one, Mike tells Jane that when Will has a feeling, it means something. I unfortunately think that the events of S4 taught Mike to believe in the opposite for himself: When he has a feeling, it means nothing.
This analysis makes so much sense to explain Mike's behaviour in the beginning of season 4!
Season 3 and pre-season 4 background:
- Will reassures Mike that he will not join other party;
- Will not really reaching out. We know that he sent 1 letter with THE "I miss clouds. I miss you" quote and we do not know how Mike reacted and if he saw crossed out "I miss you" part;
- Dustin's book explores how Mike is scared that he will lose both Will and El. Yet when Mike talks to Will on the phone Dustin notices how he treats Will different from El, how tightly he grips the phone etc;
- We also know that Mike called Will so often that he won't stop whining* about Joyce's telemarketing job. We may also assume that Mike's phone was never busy, so Will did not call either, which is later confirmed in s4 Rink-o-Mania fight.
*Complaining about relationships or being emotionally vulnerable (with anyone, but Will) is kinda out of character for Mike:
- When in s1 he never talked about missing Will, he immediately left the quarry after seeing Will's body (and we know he cried on the way home);
- Although crying in his Mom's arms, the next day she tried to talk about Will and he avoided the conversation;
- When he though he lost El he attacked the fort when left alone;
- In s2 he opened up about seeing El only to Will, and we know their relationship is unique and not like with "others";
- In s3 he also cries in mom's arms when Will left, but he never said a word.
Let's recap Rink-o-Mania from Mike's POV:
- Mike comes to Lenora thinking Will has a crush on someone, because of El's letter. He sees THE painting El mentioned in the letter, immediately asks Will, but it is "nothing" -> it is not for Mike;
- Will stayed behind El and Mike, rolling his eyes on El's plans: is he not happy to be there? Why the fist time he sees Mike in months Will is so distant? (we know it's because of the hug, but does Mike know this?)
- Why his only reaction is shown when El mentioned Angela? Everything else only made Will pissed, but now he is surprised?
- Once they arrive to Rink-o-Mania El and Mike go in first, and Will takes a moment with Johnathan and Argyle. Does Will want to leave? Is he waiting for someone outside to join them?
- Mike sits really close to Will, when Will mentioned Mike needs socks;
- When Mike returns with socks he sits even closer to Will, trying to brush their knees, dude is spreading like he is about to split -> Will immediately moves a bit away from Mike. Is Will avoiding Mike's contact?
- Mike makes a joke about socks and looks both at El (who faked a smile) and at Will, waiting for his reaction and he is NOT impressed.
- When they skate Will is in the back, but it is Will who puts himself there. Mike could easily think that Will just doesn't want to spend time and is being distant once again;
All that while Mike came to Lenora with a fear of losing Will and the assumption that Will had a love interest. Mike was scared to lose Will and Will doesn't even act like a friend anymore.
Back to the scene: Mike likely already spirals. Will moved on and is distant from Mike. And then Mike sees a guy who is kinda REALLY similar to Will and kinda dressed as season 4 red/orange Will palette. And Jack seems to reciprocate?!
This could also give more context to the fight, because when Mike said "she's my girlfriend" he may mean "I am someone to her and no-one to you", and when responding "we're friends" to "what about us?" he may already believe it is not true anymore. So Will's reaction and "we used to be best friends" that is followed by Mike's softened look and the immediate return of "Will voice" is Mike realising that Will still cared. And that is confirmed in how he apologised to Will the following day.
Creelby is the key to Byler Endgame... just not in the way you're thinking (what I'm calling #BobGate)
Part One: The Missing Puzzle Piece
*#ConformityGate Compliant*
**Heads up that if you notice changes, it's because I'm updating/polishing things as they come to me!**
PART TWO HERE | PART THREE HERE |
PART FOUR HERE | PART FIVE HERE | PART SIX HERE |
PART SEVEN HERE | PART EIGHT HERE | PART NINE HERE
PART TEN HERE | PART ELEVEN HERE |
PART TWELVE HERE | PART THIRTEEN HERE
PART FOURTEEN HERE | PART FIFTEEN HERE
PART SIXTEEN HERE | PART SEVENTEEN HERE
PART EIGHTEEN HERE | PART NINETEEN HERE
PART TWENTY HERE
**NETFLIX PUZZLED TRENDS/THEORIES HERE**
This is a BIG "hear me out" theory (then again, so was #conformitygate, and here we all are), but this is something so crazy it woke me up at the crack ass of dawn back on December 3rd.
Except as time has gone on, the evidence has been piling up in subtle ways I just need to get off my chest because I don't think these are just coincidences anymore.
People have grown to know and love Patty Newby in The First Shadow*, just as Henry Creel did. We've also seen undeniable Creelby/Byler parallels (check @miwiheroes' awesome analysis here).
*The prequel play was written by ST writer and Co-EP Kate Tefry; story by the Duffer Brothers, Jack Thorne, and Tefry.
While I largely agree, what if like so many fakeouts/distorted details we've been noticing this season, "Patty" was created as one more *red* herring to protect an even bigger twist that's been foreshadowed since Season Two, and has slowly been creeping its way back into the story in S5?
What if the truth is that Henry's true love is someone who would not only genuinely surprise the audience, but whose reveal would completely change the way we view the show?
This season there's been a huge focus on puzzles, both within the show and in Netflix's promotion of ST5.
We've been asked by the story (and the show's creators) to look for the missing piece.
While I definitely believe Byler, Mike's unacknowledged queerness, and #birthdaygate are part of the puzzle (more on that later), there is a piece that's been there the whole time that we've been missing.
And that puzzle piece is the show's established master of puzzles...
...Bob "The Brain" Newby.
Before S5 dropped, the Duffer Brothers recommended we rewatch episodes from S2 and S4. Season 2 specifically because, per Matt Duffer:
Who was introduced in S2? Bob.
Now, I loved Bob as a character, but his introduction as Joyce's BF always seemed... kind of off to me? He was sweet, smart, but... normal. Unassuming. Not to mention Joyce never really seemed all that into their relationship.
Later, he'd try to help Will rid himself of his demons (to disastrous results), would crack the mystery of the tunnels, support Joyce through Will's possession by the MF, and finally, nobly sacrifice himself for Joyce and the others.
Immortalized as Bob Newby: Superhero.
And it seemed like that was that for Bob.
Except now, in S5, there've been details creeping into the season that have made me fondly think of him...
In Vol. 1/"Sorcerer", we see Mike trying to guide the kids to safety by getting to Radio Shack... which is where Bob used to work.
In Vol. 2, Dustin and Steve searched for "treasure" in the "dungeons" of Hawkins Lab....
Only to end up in the Rainbow Room, where Dustin and Steve find not treasure, but toys...
Including a Rubik's Cube that quickly gets dismissed as a --
But if it's such a piece of shit, why is there this lingering shot on the Rubik's Cube? Why did the Duffers post Dustin's Rubik’s Cube line on Day 1 of filming S5?
Well -- who do we recall being particularly skilled at brain teasers like Rubik's cubes?
Who else in the fandom is fondly remembered, but easily dismissed?
And then there was this last Easter egg, in what I'm calling the #fakeepilogue, that left me shook:
What's that about coincidences, Lucas?
How about one more?
Sleeping with BOB???
And another one --
When did we hear something similar???
Bob Newby, once again at the scene of the crime...
And I think it's safe to say that not only have we found the X, but Bob is the X. The key to unlocking this whole thing.
Given Patty's name is on the poster for Joyce’s play in "Sorcerer", she's definitely part of the show's canon.
But is Patty actually who we think she is? Or is she, in the way Vecna's changed details in Holly's (and likely Mike's) memories, just another distortion within Vecna's own memories? What if the person Henry fell for (and lost) in The First Shadow wasn't actually Patty at all?
What if Henry's great love was... Bob Newby?
And if so, what does their possibly failed love say about the outcome for Mike and Will?
I'm going to break my evidence for this theory into different posts under #BobGate (also #PuzzleGate), but if possible, let's keep this contained to Tumblr because I think there are folks who might care about being spoiled for what I think is going to be an amazing twist (if #conformitygate is in fact real. Again, more on that later...)
**I haven't come across a theory like it, but in case someone else also had the thought -- lmk!
If someone ever asks me what my favorite ship is there's a 9/10 chance it'll be a queer ship that's implied, not canon or has a 5% chance of becoming canon
man it’s genuinely diabolical that fujimoto was like how can i fuck up aki hayakawas life the absolute maximum amount possible and then on top of everything else he went and made him bisexual
The audience is about to get hit with the gravity of Mike's love for Will in an insane way .
It is Mike's reason for being the twist antagonist.
+ how we defeat Mike!
I will give you a synopsis first because this is the most evidence-heavy, dense post I've ever done.
Mike will be an unwitting antagonist in Season 5, due to a deal he made with Vecna (who was acting as an agent of the Mindflayer) to save Will's life when he died in S1.
The deal requires Mike to conform: help everyone stick to a relatively specific timeline and keep his mouth shut about it. Mike is like the prison warden to our timeline, a timeline cop.
I believe Mike is getting visions in his dreams to guide him to follow the 'right timeline'. That's why Mike sees this coming.
In exchange for Mike doing his job, Will gets to live (get found in S1). Mike puts himself in 'prison' (slowly killing himself - "forced conformity is killing the kids") so that Will can escape 'prison' (his S1 death).
Mike thinks he made out with a great deal. But he has been tricked. Mike did not realize his actions would have TERRIBLE consequences for so many others, and eventually even himself. He never asked how exactly Will would be brought back to life, or what it would really cost.
This is a metaphor for conformity: Mike thinks hiding his feelings and policing his own behavior so as not to get outed will save Will somehow, when really it just results in a depressing life where you forget who you are. On a large scale, it means everyone conforming until we're all a hive mind.
Because Mike is a timeline cop, in order to win we have to catch him off guard and by surprise! Mike does not want to lose, because in his perspective that means Will stays dead, and Mike is convinced his way is THE ONLY WAY. You also can't outright tell Mike what you're doing because the mindflayer is watching.
There is a scientific explanation for how all this works, which is how I found this all in the first place. I'll explain the mechanics in my ST Science post when I finish it.
"If I only could, I'd make a deal with God, and get him to swap our places"
OKAY Let's go!
Mike is the bad guy, but, is he really? I mean he just wants to find someone.
Mike thinks there is only one way (go rewatch Mike looking at Will's photos and that Henry scene, besides the set being identical, they made that kid emulate Finn's expressions, it's sick, I didn't even grab the best pics but you can see it enough in what I got).
But he is wrong.
Mike makes the choice, he follows a man he knows is evil. Despite thinking it's the only way, it's actually not, and Mike is wrong. But, it's too late, he is going to do what he is told.
Mike follows the bad man (yes that's his dumbass saying 'okay' lol). This seems odd coming from "leader" Mike. Mike agrees:
Mike does not think... he follows. LOL. But, he also just doesn't think that he follows. Mike thinks he is getting a great deal out of following the 'bad man'. To us it seems out of character, stupid, crazy, even, for Mike to follow! But there is not anything Mike wouldn't be willing to give up for his, uh, friend, Will. The whole world would probably be an even trade to Mike.
This parallel is so obvious I am surprised I have never seen anyone else post it. We see two comically ridiculous outfits in S4. Anyways, Mike is willing to do anything for Will, including wear this stupid outfit (CONFORM). Again, Mike thinks he made off with a great deal because getting to speak to Will rocks!
Wow even ST theories have boring Russia sideplots, back to Murray and Yuri!
But is it such a great deal? I mean, Mike's end of the deal is keeping his mouth shut (literally gagged) and acting like someone he is not. This exchange between Murray and Yuri has them impersonating each other, swapping places, peanut butter, and breaking out of prison to save Hopper.
Murray is one of the only characters associated with trades. ElMax gets one other 'trade' mention. Don't get trade and swap confused, because 'swap' actually refers to sharing DNA, so no romance in that, lol.
They just think they are so fucking funny.
The trade/swap motif has a double meaning, like all good writing:
Metaphorical Trade : Mike has imprisoned himself (killing himself slowly - forced conformity is killing the kids) in order to break Will out of prison, (death).
Physical Trade: Mike never asked how exactly Will would be brought back to life. The universe has laws!
I'll explain in my science post, but balance is restored by taking someone from another timeline and bringing them here, too. It has to be someone genetically similar to you, like someone from your family, a sort of 'sibling' if you will. If you can't find a 'sibling', you have to bioengineer one, because a lack of balance will result in total timeline collapse.
Anyways, the Physical Trade is represented in the text ALL OVER and I will get super into it in the science post. But in this specific narrative I'll stick to the most relevant evidence.
First, Nancy in the background of Robin's "anything speech" I just cited.
Second, Mike stealing from Nancy's piggybank when he doesn't have enough money in S2 (this little sibling-stealer!).
And third, since we already mentioned Kali I'll use her again: swapping plates. Families all sit at a dinner table, at place settings. If you move them around using Mike's sibling-swapping, you are swapping plates. Your mom from another timeline could be sucked into your timeline and become your daughter (that's not an actual example). But she leaves an empty spot behind which ANOTHER sibling will have to fill from another timeline. Getting messy....
I am not saying Mike is masterminding the sibling swapping, it is just a bad consequence of his wish for Will to come back. A lot of y'alls favorite characters are from another timeline - results of Mike's dominos falling, so to speak. Sorry, lol. Nature has laws.
Project Rainbow is an example of deliberate sibling swapping and bio-engineering.
Anyways, Mike is definitely still complicit as a Timeline Cop. Mike can influence the timeline and has knowledge the rest of the party doesn't. But as @ven0moir pointed out, there is one aspect of the game the Dungeon Master can not control: chance. If he is a willing part of the hive mind, one of the major requirements of winning in S5 will be surprising Mike. Mike will be working against us because he is convinced his deal is the only way to save Will.
The surprise is a pretty obvious answer: it's proving to Mike that there really was "another way" (you may have to read this post twice lol). Mike can reject conformity, and Will will still get to live. Mike can disobey, stray from the conformity timeline, the "normal path".
Where there is a Will, there is a way.
Yay happy ending.
Just kidding... will Eleven be able to forgive Mike for following the same footsteps as One and Brenner? For what his desperation-dominos did to her mother...?
Lucas says it all:
I love you, Lucas.
Anyways, I don't know enough about literature besides Emma by Jane Austen to make comparisons to ST or find evidence for it. But @cypherheartnokey wrote this comparison which I think fits perfect with this theory (scroll to their section). I think literature is a worthwhile avenue to pursue because Mike's favorite subject is actually english, not science, despite science surrounding him and untying his plot.
I think science might be Mike when he is closeted and english is when he is open, per my Closures theory.
This whole post and my upcoming science post are sort of expanding on this original post. There will certainly be differences as I find more evidence and basis but this was my original intuition + OTHER PEOPLES' REBLOGS / ADDITIONS which are the really important and most insightful parts :)
Tumblr is a place to express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love. It's where your interests connect you with your
Since conformity gate got so viral and even the GA calling it " conformity gate's without knowing how bylers are the ones who originally started calling their theories like theory name + gate ...lol
My brain is getting so cooked after going on twitter after the finale cause all what people are talking on the TL is foah , conformitygate, duffer brothers being dumbasses and freakin doom over byler and the ending ...I'm really going insane bro I cannot
now let’s talk a bit more about how noah was treated by the duffers. noah has mentioned how he struggled when journalists would ask him about will being gay because they would then also ask personal questions about his sexuality which was very difficult for him since he wasn’t ready in his own personal journey to deal with that. let me remind everybody that noah was a child for most of the time the show was filming.
noah explains that the duffers never sat him down to explain that will was gay which makes it seem like they never put that much thought about developing that aspect of his character. later on, it looks like they all had this silent agreement and understanding since noah noticed like all of us that will was meant to be gay. so here we can see how the duffers just threw him to the wolves because they either wanted to have will’s sexuality as a plot twist which is a very insensitive thing to do or that they were cowards that didn’t want to admit until the last minute that they had a queer main character on such mainstream show so they let a child deal with explaining it. it would’ve been so easy to sit with him and guide him how to answer or even make some sort of statement saying “yes will is written to be gay but he’s still growing up, keep watching to see how his story develops” which wouldn’t expose anything plot wise but would protect their young child actor from invasive questions. now that it’s out in the open, they elevate themselves as proud allies that wanted to make it right for will and noah. now they are finally saying that will was always meant to be gay and it was written in the show’s bible.
i think it was super insensitive to deal this way with will’s sexuality while working with a child actor. at the end of the day, noah being gay just like will is a coincidence. throwing some random child actor to deal with all this shows lack of care and understanding of queer storylines.
now years later, noah came out and had more definitive thoughts about will’s queer arc based on his own experiences being a young gay man. they had him waiting and waiting for it, and when asked if he had any input, he said he didn’t want to overstep which speaks for itself. he also was the one who suggested a scene between will and mike getting some closure because the duffers didn’t think about that at all. noah is the only one who thought that fans who invested their time and energy into that relationship deserved closure as well which also tells me what the duffers think about their fans.
i can’t help but think what would’ve been of will if noah wasn’t gay considering how misguided the duffers seem to be while dealing with queer storylines which shows us again the importance of queer representation in tv productions specially in the writers room because at the end of the day, this weight shouldn’t fall on the actor’s shoulders because they don’t write the show and their real life sexuality shouldn’t matter in the writing if we have writers that are truly committed to the characters.
to end this, i have to say that it’s funny how ross can shade people and respond to rumors on his ig all the time but it was crickets when we had so many homophobes mocking will’s coming out scene (including the owner of a big social media platform) and attacking noah, an openly gay actor that they should try to protect if they truly believe in allyship.
I want to add to this that I started to get suspicious when Noah said he got the bravery to call the Duffers before s5 and say, "Will has been sidelined since s3. What do you have planned for him for this next season?" And then they didnt give him scripts or plot points because they didn't trust him and it was after that apparent call (perhaps not solely due to it but definitely noteworthy) that the Duffers said, "Since we started the show with Will, it made sense to end it with him. And we knew we had a lot of work for his arc, since he wasn't really around in s4... so we structured the mid way point to his story."
My bad faith reading can say that the Duffers may have done a powers reveal but not in the centering way they did for s5 ep 1-4. Because they so easily sidelined him from that point on, despite there being Henry connections and GODDAMN POWERS. And it also makes me wonder if they had to be /reminded/ by Noah of the acting versatility he could show. And he and Charlie also had to have them include the Jonathan and Will "I'll always be there for you" scene in s4 so fuck those two's arcs that season, too, ig.
That + not seeming to understand the impact of Noah's sidelining to his reputation as an actor or his self-confidence as an actor, the invasive qs he would get asked as the FACE of queer representation in the show despite being one of the youngest of the main cast, his bowl cut punching bag reputation by the GA, the reason so many have been invested in Byler, and how Byler fans are treated online .... I don't have much faith in them.
I think this probably confirms something very important overall about Byler, as well. Noah saying he was never explicitly told that Will was gay and it just became obvious around s3-s4, tells us that the entire subtext of Mike/Will was never said aloud. My biggest question is whether Finn knows about his own character's intense queercoding; I used to believe that Finn knew what the story really was (Byler), but now it seems like he was kept in the dark about that queercoding and subtext. I wish I could understand Finn but honestly I struggle to comprehend him... But the writing really was on the wall for Byler, they didn't plan to do anything with Will/Mike at all, the show didn't conform, the Duffers didn't bow to Netflix in the end, there isn't a conspiracy, and they didn't even chicken out on a built-up, set-up Byler endgame: No, they simply never had great plans for Will in the first place; they don't even understand queer people enough to realise that 'crushes don't work out and it's okay so move on and find someone else who's actually gay' is an awful message for queer audiences. They really had their one gay character fall for his best friend who was his biggest source of the power of love in the second season, just so he could realise he's gay and then revert all his romantic feelings to platonic feelings - because Mike is straight so oops, that was a mess. But it's all resolved now! It's all back to how it was before Will had those silly, misdirected gay feelings. No, Finn may not have full knowledge of his own character's heavy queercoding, and the rest of the cast is completely oblivious and ignorant of it. The only person who might be in the know, the one person that I think might see us and actually understand what we're talking about: Noah. And I really, really, really wish he could speak to us and honestly tell us what happened.
want to reblog for @prismhearts-electric's commentary here.
I can't begin to know what is in Finn's mind either unless he lays it out bare. But the fact that Noah had to figure out Will was gay on his own terms, just from the context clues and coding himself, as the actor who PLAYS Will is insane. He was analyzing the show the same way that we were. He was trying hard to find motivations in his own character in subtext, around the same time he was struggling internally with those own realizations in his head, and then he was proven right without the Duffers ever actually sitting down with him and saying, yeah, Will is gay? It makes sense to me how he would see Byler using that same method, too.
but as you pointed out and others have pointed out, the Duffers had no fucking plan past making him a gay boy with an unrequited crush. Which meant that they also emptied motivation from Mike in scenes like the van scene, which were apparently only included to establish Will was gay. They were scenes to develop Will only. They forgot to treat Mike as a character, and even Finn has said in the famous 'it'll pay off' panel answer that he couldn't understand why Mike was not recognizing what is happening in all his scenes with Will. Finn mentioned at the time that he thinks Mike's emotional compartmentalization is probably making him unaware of things that are going on, but I'm not sure what else he conceptualized for how Mike felt about Will in general from the scripts he got. I know Finn recognized Mike was trying to be "normal" and he used to say his dream ending for the character was that he would leave Hawkins-- and now we have reason to believe the Duffers didn't debrief him on those motivations. Or if they did, then they just have a weird thing of not telling Noah about his character. Those things Finn says about Mike alone have queer subtext, but I can't tell if he was making a bigger picture from that. I thought he was from his acting choices, but now I don't know, given how 'fine' he seems with the ending and seemingly not taking Byler seriously.
And if Finn is not queer nor used to looking into queercoding (which, given how he's talked about his past actually-gay roles as "brothers", it might be likely he never learned to), that makes it even sadder that Noah was probably actually alone in trying to figure this out, what the end goal of this Byler unrequited love arc could be. And it's sad because if Finn wasn't, and the Duffers were not even trying to, it was a fruitless goal that he alone had to steer the performance, PR, and emotional weight of. All while it was hitting personally for him.
The worst thing an author or director can say about a work you're involved in (either directly or through investment as a fan) is that they have no fucking idea what they're doing with it. Or that what they think they're doing with it is so fucking simple and careless and stupid that it makes you stupid for having trust.
If they didn't let Noah in on what was going on with Will, while letting him suffer through all those questions, then I highly doubt they let Finn or anyone else in on it, either. God only know what sort of direction they gave them in those more intimate scenes to make things look that way without them catching on.
I really have to ask myself, if Noah never came out, would Will's gay arc have ended in the van, forever being just implied?
GUYS HOLY FUCK I'M SO DAMN HYPED FOR FINALE NOW , IDK WHAT HAPPENED JUST DAYS AGO I WAS DREADING IT BUT NOW , YES I JUST SOMEHOW TRUST THEY WILL STICK THE LANDING
dededos
theartofmadeline
snowghoul
ellievsbear
tangentwithtanner
titsay
origamiaround
