Ceci

like i rewatched these moments from the end of s4 and i see it a bit differently. only now i noticed that mike started to get more determined about defeating vecna (and angry as well i guess) listening to will who is talking about his connection with mf/vecna. he is clearly scared cause he knows for sure that something worse is going to happen.

mike, at this point, begins to feel more protective towards will because he understands that will will be in danger again and will suffer the most.

in this certain moment mike gains more power to fight back. now he knows this is not the end and they haven’t won vecna yet. and now he realises that he has to stand by will’s side, as always, no matter what. mike assures will that it will be them who’ll stop everything.

We don't talk enough about these

The slippery slope of wanting to be needed

Because if Mike had it his way, yes, they would be in quiet misery, no questions asked.

But El fights back like her mom.

I just remembered that not only was it stated that D&D promotes "sodomy", but all the way in Russia, when Hopper tried to give a man his food, the man responded with [in Russian] "I am no fairy".

The show establishes that El likes extra stuff on her Eggos:

When Mike knocks on the door he says he made these Eggos for her and they are plain and cold. And there isn't even butter! Sheesh!

And NO fork!? She's supposed to eat them like she did in Season 1?

Maybe you could get away with that before, Mike, but now that there's sticky syrup on it? Eww! You're not giving scraps to a dog.

Sure, this is a tiny thing. But when you make a massive show like this there EVERY detail is thought about by several people. Why NOT bring the utensils you yourself had set out to her room? Why not reheat the Eggos? Sheesh!

The same episode ends with her at the diner with Dr. Owens. She orders waffles:

Now we know she loves waffles, but this is DINNERTIME. Dr. Owens says "Never too late for breakfast." Not judging her, but spelling out for the audience that this is not the usual time to have breakfast.

This is on the SAME DAY Mike offers Eggos. This isn't 100% proven of course, but the implication here is she didn't eat Mike's sad-ass Eggos, and this is her having the breakfast she skipped.

Also, diner waffles are naturally MUCH yummier than factory-made Eggos. =D Look at what she orders!

With fixings! She's choosing what she really wants, and it's better.

And this is the scene where she chooses to go with Dr. Owens to become a superhero again. She doesn't eat her yummy waffles because they leave right away. So even if you choose to read her ordering waffles because they're associated with Mike and they don't serve Eggos in a diner, she's leaving THAT behind, too!

Mike's sad, rejected Eggos seem like a deliberate echo of how they related in the past. It's apparent that Mike is not bringing what she needs right now. Their relationship, like his Eggos, is cold and stale.

-teambyler