#haha closet bcus that's where mike is rn

[cringengl]

One of the reasons why I think they saved confirming Will as gay for s4, is to distract from Mike's queercoding.

When the GA watch the rain fight, they probably think about how Will doesn't like girls, he's probably gay, and how sad it is to see Mike and Will's friendship fracture. This distracts from thinking about how "it's not my fault you don't like girls" also sounds a lot like projection, or how weird it is that the writers are having Mike trying to act grown up by dating El, dressed similarly to his father, in a show that celebrates childhood and friendships.

A similar phenomenon happens during the rink o mania fight. The GA tend to use this scene as proof of Will's sexuality, his jealousy and hurt over Mike not communicating with him like he did with El is the first big hint towards Will's feelings for Mike in s4. However, the rink o mania fight also works to distract from the fact that it's weird that Mike didn't talk to Will, or hug him in the airport, sending the message that he's ignoring him, despite them being best friends and then Mike noticing that Will is rolling his eyes and moping. The line "we're friends, we're friends" is so incriminating for Mike, like yeah, Will already knows that, what were you thinking Mike?? The trope of the endgame couple saying that they're "just friends" is always such obvious set up, it's an expectation just aching to be subverted, Mike and Will are going to end up as more than friends.

The thing is, the GA is so much more likely to pick up on Will's queercoding, not only because it has been more overtly hinted at throughout the previous seasons, and it is also more palatable since Will has never had a girlfriend, but also because we lack Mike's perspective in s3 and s4. Once we start seeing Mike's struggle with conformity, growing up and internalised homophobia, lines like "it's not my fault you don't like girls" and "we're friends, we're friends" is going to be considered as hints towards Mike liking Will on a wider scale.

In short, due to Will's more obvious and palatable queercoding, the GA are more likely to be looking for reasons to assume Will is gay, rather than Mike. Before Will had been confirmed as gay, the audience is more likely to think that byler scenes are supposed to hint at Will's sexuality, which they wouldn't have thought if this was already confirmed as there would be no need for this to be done. This may also lead to byler scenes being interpreted as "proof Will is gay" scenes instead of "proof byler is endgame" scenes.

#ik will is going to be the mc in s5 but i need mike's perspective like i need oxygen #the writers think they're so slick hiding mike is queer proof under will is queer proof #it's like cleaning ur room by shoving everything in the closet #haha closet bcus that's where mike is rn #i mean literally #there is a one way sign pointing there🤭🤭 #byler #stranger things #will byers #mike wheeler