honestly, lots of people dismiss the idea that mike wheeler is queer coded & they say that it’s a result of shipping byler. but even without byler, mike is still incredibly queer coded.
1. why can’t he say ily to el? mike is portrayed to be a character who isn’t very connected to his emotions but wasn’t the whole ‘from mike’ letter saga in s4 already addressing that? in the finale’s void scene HE WAS NEVER GONNA SEE EL AGAIN and he still couldn’t say it back?
2. if the directors were truly adamant about going down the route of el sacrificing herself and mike having to be an eternal yearner, why couldn’t they have established mileven more during vol1 and 2 of s5 so mike’s yearning would make sense? having mileven not kiss at all and act awkward around each other does nothing to the plot except bait byler supporters. and having mike still be hung up on el’s death after 18 months while hopper doesn’t seem sad at all does NOT make sense. season 1 mileven was really cute, if they kept that up, yearner!mike would be so bittersweet and tastefully done
3. saw an interview about the void scene and it not being real but if it was, why would el choose to communicate with mike and not idk? hopper😭. or even will! millie herself has said that will understands el more than mike does
4. epilogue boyfriend.. i wasn’t a byler shipper before, but after watching the entire show, i honestly think that byler was the only acceptable way to end will’s story. the epilogue bf/carlton wouldn’t understand the stuff will has been through as much as mike would, and leaving will single until the end would just be cruel.
5. what was the point of the whole ‘signals’ talk between will and robin? and let’s say will noticed that mike wasn’t reciprocating the signals and will wanted to get over him, there is NO way will managed to accomplish that in the span of like 3 days. reducing his feelings to a ‘crush’ when he genuinely loved mike is insane
6. will could have been written as gay and having a crush on any random guy, it being mike does nothing for the plotline if byler wasn’t going to be canon
7. heroes in the credits. no comment.
8. i guess the ‘one way’ sign to mike’s closet represents the fact that he’s forever going to be in there 😭
9. honestly after vol1 came out i was pretty confused and didn’t ship byler because i thought they were going to develop mileven and i didn’t know how they were gonna break them up just for byler. but THEN they didn’t even bother developing mileven 😭
10. when the fuck was the painting gonna be addressed? and patty newby? and the fact that henry went to school with all the parents? and the suitcase guy in the cave was honestly super random
11. repeating the same point but.. “mike had a gf for 4 seasons he’s not gay!” well yes that would make sense if he actually acted like he liked his gf, as i said before i genuinely think season 1 mileven was really cute. and again tons of people date someone of the opposite gender for many years before realizing that’s not what they’re into and vice versa
12. max throwing and breaking stuff during the epilogue dnd game CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD. flashback to that scene where billy said that he would break stuff and max has said before that she wouldn’t ever want to be like him. were the duffer brothers trying to prove that you can’t escape the cycle with this or?? really really weird
13. nancy’s hair cut like karen and mike looking exactly like ted
14. why was mike lobotomized omg.. finn’s acting threw me off sometimes but he’s a good actor in other shows so the script has to be what restricted him
15. mike realizing that will had a crush on him was never directly addressed.
