#like this boy is having an extended metaphorical existential crisis over being gay. that is the point

[emblazons]

It’s “realizing that Will’s struggle in S2 with being infected with a virus that spreads and will kill him quickly (but doctors don’t care) is a metaphor for how gay men were treated during the aids crisis” hours

—right alongside Mike (who comes from a family with a Reagan sign in their front yard + a mom who outwardly supported Margret Thatcher), who sat at his now confirmed gay best friend’s side the entire time he was sick and watched as people were willing to let him die because he was viewed as expendable……and now has an ongoing storyline where

1) his relationship with his girlfriend is falling apart because he doesn’t love her romantically

2) he’s staring longingly and pushing toward the freedom his gay best friend embodies for him, and

3) he cannot bring himself to tell anyone around him something because “what if they don’t like it” + dehumanize him for telling the secret truth he cannot bring himself to externalize, despite now knowing something that scares him about about himself:

(Bonus points for the fact that the first time we see Mike push Will and himself toward a girl is after he watches how people were willing to let his gay best friend (and him, by extension) die should they not confirm to expectations)

#can you tell I am rewatching S2? lmao but!! #he’s gay. he’s gay. HE IS IN THE CLOSET AND TERRIFIED AND FUCKING. GAY #this is not about his feelings for El and never had been #it’s about his DEEP AND UNRELENTING FEAR that he is going to be seen as less than human and potentially killed for his honesty #THE REFUSAL TO TELL THE TRUTH IS A PROTECTION MECHANISM #ROOTED IN WHAT HES SEEN & EXPERIENCED & KNOWS ABOUT HIMSELF AS A GAY MAN #like this boy is having an extended metaphorical existential crisis over being gay. that is the point #it always HAS been. but the depth and context for his struggle requires complex sociological knowledge & people don’t do that anymore lmao #ANYWAY #I’m gonna do a whole proper post on this I promise. I just had to get the thought out somewhere lmao #mike wheeler core #mike wheeler #will byers #stranger things #the me tag #gay mike wheeler