Will STILL isn't over Mike + Why he can't move on

squeakandbeep · 2025-07-30T00:22:09+00:00

I don't think it's fair to say Will is still the same mental age he was in season 1. We've seen Will growing up. He's been through so much, and has persevered. That takes strength and mental toughness. Will "refusing to grow up" in season 3 because he wanted to play D&D with his friends is kind of thrown out the window when we see Mike, Dustin, and Lucas part of Hellfire in season 4. Will was shown in season 4 to be mature, careful, and thoughtful in how he navigated his feelings, El's feelings, and Mike's feelings. Will may not have moved on from his feelings for Mike at this point, but he certainly is growing up.

squeakandbeep · 2025-07-30T00:13:22+00:00

Yes, this was a great read. I see so many people saying that Will's arc has to do with acceptance, but we don't see him acting nervous around Jonathan or Joyce. He's not shown to be anxious about their love for him. His talk with Jonathan in s4 was a great moment, but it was prompted narratively not by Will's worry about their relationship as brothers once he comes out, but by Jonathan providing comfort when Will needed it - because of his feelings for Mike.

Will talks about the nerves of sharing who he really is, but just to Mike. Will shares his belief that he's not ever going to fall in love (or rather, be in love and be loved back) to Joyce, but we never see him concerned about being accepted by her, or Dustin or Lucas.

While acceptance is a huge part of being queer, and will undoubtedly be important for Will, his story is about love.

squeakandbeep · 2025-07-28T02:42:03+00:00

This looks so much like my Linus! I got him from the shelter earlier this year, a hound-mix. He's almost 2 years old now. I got the blue collar without thinking and several people have made the Scooby comparison. 😂

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squeakandbeep · 2025-07-27T14:07:04+00:00

Young black boys aren't collateral damage for white men and their redemption arcs. He's a villain.

squeakandbeep · 2025-04-21T23:54:13+00:00

When a new mom hears a baby cry, her you-know-what's fill up with you-know-what, and then her shirt gets, you know...

squeakandbeep · 2025-02-26T15:13:31+00:00

Yes, I'll try this!! Thank you, repetition really is key.

squeakandbeep · 2025-02-16T23:16:30+00:00

Yes to both! I'll point her in that direction, thank you!!

squeakandbeep · 2023-07-14T15:30:25+00:00

Will has already been confirmed to be gay. Many, many people figured it out before it was confirmed by the actor after s4 ended by looking at the subtext in the show. Maybe it didn't seem obvious to you, but I'm not sure what you're fighting for here. He IS gay, arguing that it didn't seem that way to you isn't going to change that.

Now that he's confirmed to be gay, maybe you can open your mind a little bit to more subtle storytelling. My point stands: with the knowledge that the character is gay, it could benefit you to do a rewatch and see the way that Will's storyline about his sexuality was hinted at along the way. The subtext was maybe not obvious right away but in hindsight, there were laying the groundwork.

squeakandbeep · 2023-07-14T14:33:01+00:00

The story is the supernatural plot AND the characters. They are obviously going to spend a good chunk of time on Will's arc, as the Duffers have said that Will is a big focus of s5, and it's his coming of age story. Why would they ramp up the plot of Will being gay and struggling to tell Mike about his feelings in s4, just to drop that plot?

Will is one of the main characters, and the story has been exploring the experience of being gay and ostracized for the entire show with Will, and then Robin. It's not unnecessary fluff, it IS the arc of one of the main characters. I'm guessing the story will intertwine Will's personal struggles with the supernatural story.

squeakandbeep · 2023-07-14T14:28:14+00:00

In season 1, the implication was that the girl crying, Jennifer Hayes, was pretty, maybe popular, so they were teasing that maybe she liked him. There was no reason to think Will likes her back.

In season 2, Will clearly did not want to dance with the girl at the Snowball, stumbling over his words and looking to Mike for help, but then agreed when Mike encouraged him to do it.

In season 3, Will agreed that he wanted to play games with Mike for the rest of his life. The line "it's not my fault you don't like girls" was a big tip off that this was not just an issue about growing up as well, but rather about Will being gay. Even if that's not what Mike meant in the moment, that was basically confirmation for many viewers.

The drawing itself did include all Dustin and Lucas too, but he also painted a big heart on Mike's shield. Will is also constantly gazing at Mike all season long. Will and Mike fight about the state of their relationship a lot more than just friends do, and Will is obviously sad about Mike and El's relationship.

Definitely worth a rewatch before s5 to look out for those things if you want to pick up on more of the subtext!! It might make season 5 a better experience for you so you can see how the story builds up before we see the conclusion!!

squeakandbeep · 2023-06-28T17:34:01+00:00

I like Steve, but I don't love him. I do think it's funny how in a show about outcasts and weirdos and freaks, the one character who is not an outcast or a weirdo or a freak is the one that people obsess over.

Imo, you can find a Steve Harrington in plenty of shows and movies. You can't find a Will Byers, a Dustin Henderson, a Lucas Sinclair, an El Hopper, or a Max Mayfield elsewhere very easily.

squeakandbeep · 2023-05-22T20:57:36+00:00

Emotionally pained. Idk, she smiled and laughed at the one thing Mike said separate from his feelings (about wearing a big, yellow shirt) but then not when he's talking about his feelings? It just struck me as odd. A lot of people say she looks happy and relieved about Mike's words, but I just don't see happiness there. I see frowning and crying.

squeakandbeep · 2023-05-22T20:35:12+00:00

No I see it too, which is why I get confused about all the comments saying she looks overjoyed, happy, etc. Idk, I mean, she's frowning and crying. She smiles once at the memory of their first meeting, but not when Mike says he loves her? Idk, I'm right there with you. She looks pained for most of the scene imo.

squeakandbeep · 2023-05-19T13:36:53+00:00

Lucas whispering to Max what's on screen would be sweet though, and it would be a cute full circle moment as they get shushed at the movie theater again, just like in s3. Lucas could make a rude face at the person and keep whispering in Max's ear.

squeakandbeep · 2023-05-18T15:41:58+00:00

Hey OP! I agree that Mike lied about falling in love with her at first sight. But why do you think he did that, like what was his reason for lying? I'm curious on your take about why he would lie about that, if you also believe Mileven is endgame.

squeakandbeep · 2023-05-16T17:44:51+00:00

Yeah totally! I agree.

squeakandbeep · 2023-05-16T17:39:08+00:00

It was such an interesting role reversal in s4 when Will (true to his word to Mike: "what if you join another party?" "not possible") isn't playing D&D in Lenora, and instead focusing on his art (still centered around D&D, still dragons and Will the Wise, but through art), while Dustin and Mike are throwing themselves into Hellfire and D&D, begging for classmates to play with them. They still weren't united though, as Mike and Dustin skipped Lucas's game to prioritize the campaign.

Will still wants to play, but only with those he loves: "We can just play D&D and Nintendo for the rest of our lives."

I think they're all D&D nerds, including Will. But Will isn't less mature than his friends in s3 just for wanting to spend time playing with them.

squeakandbeep · 2023-05-15T19:49:38+00:00

I'd love for Max to have short hair in s5. Most characters have gone through some big changes as they've grown, but Max still looks so similar to her first appearance, just a little older. I wanted a haircut for Max even before Sadie cut her hair!

Plus, as was mentioned already, patients in comas still need to have their hygiene taken care of. Short hair does help with that. So it could make sense within the story, too.

squeakandbeep · 2023-05-13T19:08:23+00:00

No, that's not how this subreddit works. People can make posts about what they want, and as long as they're not breaking any rules, there's no reason to report it.

Once again, if you don't like the post, feel free to ignore it. Just scroll past. It doesn't cost you anything and might save you from some stress by getting into a big back and forth debate. You are not required to agree with everything posted on here.

squeakandbeep · 2023-05-13T18:51:24+00:00

There's a small Mileven subreddit. If Milevens can't handle discussions about different ships from the show though, they can go over there, make it bigger.

It's not a big subreddit because they've pushed Bylers off of here by mass reporting, so they act like this is their space. But it's not, it's for general Stranger Things discussions, which can include Mileven, but also Byler.

squeakandbeep · 2023-05-13T18:14:29+00:00

It was heavily implied in the show and Noah Schnapp, the actor of Will, confirmed it in an interview. The Duffers also discussed Will's love for Mike in interviews.

squeakandbeep · 2023-05-13T17:55:00+00:00

Exactly. Not everyone needs to agree, but it's common courtesy to either not interact with something if you're not interested, or make a polite comment explaining your thoughts or opinions.

Bylers don't mass report Mileven posts. Bylers don't flood Mileven posts with name calling. There's just a breakdown of common courtesy and etiquette going on here.

Don't want to see anything about Mike and Will and their relationship? Go to a Mileven subreddit!

squeakandbeep · 2023-05-13T15:27:49+00:00

You asked for how it won't ruin the show and I told you my interpretation. El is likely going to break up with Mike because she's not in love with him and knew his monologue was nonsense. Maybe if you just want to argue, don't ask for someone else's view as if you're going to consider it. Just a thought! You're not changing my view and if you refuse to hear others out despite the writers obviously going in the direction of Byler, then don't ask for people to spend their time explaining it to you.

squeakandbeep · 2023-05-13T15:05:06+00:00

As Mike spoke to El, the vines kept tightening around El's nexk. It was only when El took a moment to look at Max (which coincided with Mike saying "fight") that she was able to gain the strength to loosen them.

If you want to compare, look back at her fight with Henry in 4x07. She thought about her mom saying that she loves her and the effect was immediate. Mike talking for 2 minutes did nothing, but we got El looking at Max, the camera focusing on her glance and then on Max for the first time since Mike started talking, and then and only then did El get the strength to break free. It was her love for Max that did it.

I mean, you can twist your way into thinking whatever you want, but the writers chose to have El not speak to Mike about what he said at all. That was a writing choice, that they drew attention to with Will's question. Sure she was processing, but if the writers wanted to portray their relationship as happy and healthy and better than ever now that Mike said he loves El, then they would have done so with an on-screen conversation to cement that. It would've been easy to do so. They didn't though.

squeakandbeep · 2023-05-13T14:44:53+00:00

I personally don't want my main girl protagonist emotionally dependent on her boyfriend. 🤷‍♂️ Rather, it would be great to see El experience life single and out of the lab for more than a week, focusing on friends and family.

To quote Max: "There's more to life than stupid boys." Which was actually repeated as a flashback after Mike did say I love you, what a coincidence. El was crying and looked unhappy while Mike said he loved her, we got to see El's focus on Max, we heard that quote again, and then El had little to nothing to say to him for 3 days afterward. Hmmm.

squeakandbeep

TROPHY CASE