Дани

Here’s a visual I drew of my theory about Mike and Will’s confession/kiss in season 5!

Click Here for the long version of my theory

Afterwards she started embracing it more, she already loves the outdoors and nature, it could also be a great power for her along with being a hobby she enjoys to do.

my point is to show that he did all the romantic things with Will before he did them with El cuz he's trying (failing) to love El the way he loves Will

i also think that Mike realized he loved Will in the shed scene in s2 which is why he pushed Will into dancing with that girl at the Snowball

in s4 Will was already in love with Mike but he kept trying to fix Mike and El's relationship

At the start of season 4 he's wearing short sleeves because duh it's California.

But after their fight in Rinkomania (where he is more covered up when first meeting Mike probably because he was apprehensive about seeing him for the first time in so long with so little communication) he's wearing a flannel over a longsleeve shirt?!?!?! In the middle of the californian desert?!?!?!

Even Mike has taken of his blue/green jumper. But even after shovelling a hole under the sun Will is still wearing a ridiculous amount of layers.

Now listen I get it, anything for the fit but I think it's interesting that in the scene above Mike's being vulnerable with Will and he's taken his jumper off. Will after their fight stays covered up representing him literally hiding himself from the world and being closeted which is not allowing him to be emotionally vulnerable in the same way as he used to. He's always holding a part of himself back this season.

And in the promo pics of season 4

Bruh, he's wearing a flannel, a jumper and a jacket over it. Seriously, he's wearing a ridiculous amount of layers 8f you compare him to most other characters in the show.

I don't think this is the only thing in which he's hiding himself, another aspect is definitely his hair. The bowl cut literally covers a lot of his face yes but its also the fact that his haircut hasnt changed since he was 10. He's stuck in his development because of the trauma he's experienced.

We know that a big part of Wills arc this season is coming into his own as a man and probanly coming out to his friends and family. He needs to overcome a lot in order to move on from a super traumatic childhood and embrace himself as he is, im imagining once this happens the iconic will byers bowl cut will be replaced with something that leaves his face more open and his wardrobe will change slightly to have him wearing less layers.

Mike is in love with the way Will makes him feel.

See that look on his face? That isn't the face of someone who just fell in love with his best friend, it's the face of someone who just fell in love with the version of himself that his best friend sees whenever he looks at him — not in the sense that Mike is romantically attracted to himself (lol), but in the sense that he loves the person Will believes him to be, aka the person that he *is* when he's with Will... if that's not the most romantic shit ever, I don't know what is.

And if there's anything I'm certain of, it's that Will's painting and his speech in the back of that pizza van was exactly what Mike needed to finally start believing in himself and his ability to embrace and embody that version of himself. Something about that speech and the implications of it totally rewired Mike's brain chemistry and immediately made him go from believing that he's just some random nerd who got lucky that Superman landed on his doorstep to believing that he's The Heart.

And isn't that just the most beautiful thing ever?

like the boy mike parallels in this scene is currently dating a girl to hide the fact that he has feelings for a boy as he's scared of his father finding out. his emotionally distant and conservative father...sounds awfully like someone we know? *cough* it's ted *cough*

anyways, they also both have a scene where they kiss their girlfriend with their eyes wide open and look uncomfortable and in lukas' case he was dealing with internalised homophobia and insecurity but who am I to judge mike 🤷🏻‍♀️

and the parallels gets worse because will and philip's arcs are so similar it's honestly cruel. they're both much more aware of their feelings and sexuality though are still closeted. they both struggle with self acceptance in a small town. they were both bullied and called gay by others. they both have a parent that is an addict and were abandoned/removed from said parents custody. and it's never them who is unsure of how they feel about the other, it's never them pushing the other away.

At the end of S3, there's an orange truck with a logo of a wheel(er) next to a "one-way" slogan. In the frame is a red crate, then blue and yellow bikes together (beside Joyce's green car). This shot is referenced in the 'one way' road sign in Mike Wheeler's bedroom in S4.

Parallels & Two Timelines 📦

In retrospect all of this imagery—the color orange, the red crate—is a part of Vecna's curse, which is the theory that Hawkins was successfully turned into Camazotz and the characters were left under a trance.

Hopper's voice-over during this U-haul scene talks about "change" and "turning back the clock," repeated by Robin in the S5 epilogue and we see Henry turning the Creel clock back in S4.

If you notice, there are two versions of the Byers and Jane moving out at the end of S3.

One version happens while Jane reads Hopper's letter—it's bright, emotional with the line "hurt is good, that means you're out of that cave," which now connects to Henry's cave.

Another version happens as a "flashback," we rewind back to the Byers moving out again but it is less bright, the kids are standing around despondent, nothing is overtly emotional or sanguine. More objective than subjective.

In this version, we see inside the U-haul and the license plate. Inside are warnings and labels about having the "right equipment," something to do with sexuality, and the plate reads "Truck 7"—Will's number ("It was a seven").

The moving box El carries is "Marshall Field & Company" that foreshadows the wilting field scene of the open gate's toxicity leaking out in S4. Then it ends with a closed door, just like Mike closing the door on his basement as the last shot of S5.

Other Meta Symbols & Foreshadowing 🔴🔵

A few other things to note is the red and blue "for sale" sign, and there is also a blue crate in Jonathan's car. There are red and blue labels on moving boxes—a red "stamp" label and a blue "cave spring" label.

There is a mattress with blue flowers that recall the blue flower on the photosynthesis poster when El and the Demogorgon vanish in S1. The monster is always related to (blue) flowers.

Conclusion

Overall, a lot of the bittersweet feelings and symbols recall Mike's first D&D game, which had mysterious flowers in a cave. This all points to the first version of the S3 goodbye being from his perspective.