#el thinks mike is stupid

[taeiris]

little hcs for @pinkeoni ‘s theory

considering one of the “leaks” for s5 are that apparently noah will use prosthetics playing will+ the left hand theory

#i love this theory #in my head its canon #its also like??? so cool too #cataclist for a good ol drama☝️ #willelmike #el thinks mike is stupid #elmike #byler #mike always finds a way to make will smile :( even if… well he… got his arm chopped off #byler kiss #willel #el will do anything to make every sacrifice worth it! #stranger things #will byers #mike wheeler #stranger things fanart #byler fanart #will byers fanart #fanart #mike wheeler fanart #eleven #eleven fanart #stranger things 5

[whynotimtired]

The best part of Will saying he wants forever with Mike so blatantly is that he isn't the one who brought it up, Mike was. In an act of projection he asks "What did you think? That we'd actually get to be together forever? When we're both boys?" and will says yes. He says yes, and Mike immediately regrets it.

#not even going to get into how earth shattering it was for me to make that reference #i didnt even realize that's what i was writing until halfway through #he said yes. he said yes. (it was the worst thing I'd ever done.) #accidentally implying he doesnt also want forever with Will #gonna scream #this is so stupid dkndnd i just woke up #byler #will byers #byeler #mike wheeler #stranger things #mike wheeler is gay #AND KNOWING THAT WHEN WILL MOVED ALL MIKE DID FOR A FULL MONTH WAS LOCK HIMSELF IN HIS BASEMENT AND PLAY VIDEO GAMES #LIKE #IT CANNOT GET MORE BLATANT THAN THIS #will 'i want forever with you' byers and el 'hes my first boyfriend' hopper #also imagine how much white hot rage mike felt when will said 'you called maybe a couple times' when mike called CONSTANTLY- #and will NEVER called him back #i hate the roller rink scenes they both think that theyre being ignored and dropped by the person who they care about most in the world #& the idea that once mike finally got on the right page and understood what the painting & the speech meant. WILL flew to a whole diff BOOK #mikes like holy shit he loves me this is all ive ever wanted & then wills over here like TELL HER YOU LOVE HER CAUSE YOU'LL NEVER LOVE ME #mike 'I thought my wants were something i had to grow out of. i thought i you would never love me the way i do you so i tried to move on- #but YOU want ME?? YOU want forever with ME? Then i want it with you.'

[azuries]

fellas you ever thought of a scenario where mike had a terrible day in school and so he decided to try to contact will after trying for so long, thinking itll be different this time and his fate being kind to him, but then getting nothing. well now you have

#byler #piano arts #mike wheeler #will byers #yes those eyebags imply he cried!! #stranger things #literally cant stop thikning about the potential dialogue #''hey will #''its mike.. i know its been a while and .. youre probably busy. i mean its school hours. but you should be done now right? '' #''i hear a lot from el but i dont think she ever talks about you. howre you doing? hows cali?'' #''i dont know i sound so needy dont i?... i just.. i guess.. *sigh* i miss your voice.'' #he hangs up from the nonexistent line on the other side. he rubs the bridge of his nose and whispers ''stupid'' to himself. #did i just write a mini fic in the tags ahahah yez

[i-dont-bite]

"you're basically saying disabled people can't be in relationships!! you're ableist!!!" no i'm not you dumb fuck i'm saying a girl who's been a LAB RAT and ISOLATED FROM SOCIETY since she was born until she was TWELVE shouldn't be thrown into a lifelong relationship with a kid she just met a WEEK after she escaped from the lab when she could BARELY SPEAK and didn't know what a the word "FRIEND" MEANT

#istg milevens are fucking STUPID #they literally ignore el's canon backstory to paint bylers as the bad guys and then accuse US of hating her #i fucking LOVE el #NOBODY says that she's incapable of loving someone of course she is #but she didn't even know how to tell what CLOTHES SHE LIKED how could she tell if she liked a boy or not??? #SHE COULDN'T. SHE DIDN'T. SHE THOUGHT MIKE WOULD BE LIKE HER BROTHER. #SHE LEARNED WHAT ROMANCE WAS FROM TELEVISION #PLEASEEEE #MILEBINS I'M BEGGING YALL TO THINK #anti mileven #el hopper #byler #greatest hits

[lighthouseas]

do u guys think mike, early on into making out w el in 1985, ever pulled away from her kissing him only to say "hey we should call will and the others to come and hang out!!" because he was getting kind of sick of kissing her and didn't want to be rude about it (and he thought hey!! weve been kissing for like 15 minutes maybe she's sick of it too!!) and then el kind of looked at him strange like...."no mike we are kissing." or something and mike was like ???? oh. yeah. right. okay. carry on then 👍 (?????) and didn't understand that that wasn't a normal thing to randomly ask while making out with your girlfriend until lucas informed him of this later. and needless to say. he never asked again

#just....a thought. thinking some thoughts #also this post is not meant to make el out to be bad or anything 👍👍 like she didnt know. this is about mike being gay n a teeny weeny bit #-of stupid ❤️ #anywayyy #mike wheeler #st.txt

[bylertruther]

not to be too real but since we're talking about it... we always talk about will feeling lonely which is fair, but... it is such an Ugly, isolating, and genuinely heart-wrenching feeling to be the odd one out in your family, and to watch them treat others who aren't related to you the way you wish they would treat you, to watch them perform their familial roles with them and not you.

nancy's the only person in his family that mike could talk to, the only person that has the same trauma and would understand, and yet... he can't. they don't ever talk unless it's to be snippy and bite. nancy spends more time caring about max and will than she does mike, her own little brother.

holly is too young for him to bond with like that. she's just barely a kid, one that still needs to be cared for.

his mom tries her best, but he doesn't feel comfortable being vulnerable with her. considering the fact that she did everything "right" according to society's standards and married their dad of all people, i doubt he feels comfortable showing her who he really is. he lets her hug him when he's at his lowest, but we don't see them actually connecting.

his dad is just some ghost that haunts his house. he doesn't care about mike or think highly of him at all. the only times we've seen him pay mike any attention are when he belittles his interests, mocks him, punishes him, or shuts him down by telling him to listen to his mother. the only support he gets from him is financial in nature.

meanwhile, everyone else has a family they can turn to. dustin, despite lying to his mother to keep her out of his shenanigans, seems to have a decent relationship with her. even if he doesn't, he still has steve and robin. lucas is shown to have a healthy relationship with his parents and erica. will and el have their family.

max's situation is different, but she has the backing of the party; people that love her and actively try to help her and pull her back into the world of the living. she isn't thrust into a leadership role that doesn't allow for vulnerability. she has nancy who is willing to fight monsters for her, el who literally performed a miracle for her, and lucas who has stood by her since the beginning.

and mike... well. he has will back now, sure, but... things have been different between them for a long time now, even if they're both trying their best to be how they were before. and before then, will obviously was in california, not returning his calls or reaching out, making mike feel like he'd lost him for good.

so... all that being said, it's not that surprising that mike is the way he is: riddled with abandonment issues, wanting to be needed, immediately apologizing whenever he dares to open up, inclined to give others the protection and comfort no one's ever given him, prone to jealousy and possessiveness, unable to be completely and wholly honest about what troubles him, not exactly the most open to new people, and someone with appallingly low self-esteem.

you know how they say people that are drowning don't always look like they're drowning? that's mike.

#mike #mine #wheeler #mike analysis #byler #i can't think abt him for longer than two seconds bc then i make myself sad lol <3 #will's story is fucked up but at least he has people that love him and help him and SEE him and that he feels comfortable being his #true self with. but mike? :/ sigh. #mike just bottles it up and overcompensates / gets his mind off of it by caring for someone else. #like in the van scene when he's opening up to will and then immediately tries to deflect bc he thinks it's not important. #like... mike... you ARE important. you're feelings aren't stupid. you aren't some worthless loser with nothing to offer people. #the way that he talks about himself and the lack of support he has in his life is like ... actually so fucking sad lmao! #bc he spent all that time with el and sent her all those letters and yet they never actually got to know each other. it wasn't anything of #value. it was just company. and he had will but things started changing and mike felt like will was pulling away from him. then they both #moved across the country and he tried to call will all those times but couldn't reach him. and then will never reached out first so he just #straight up felt like he'd lost will. and the remaining party members are great but like mike says they aren't will. so he was just alone. #bites my own hand bites my own hand bites my own hand bites—

[daisybrained]

My hottest take is Will is going to come out to Lucas first

#byler #will byers #Lucas Sinclair #will #Lucas #Mike isn’t safe because the stakes are too high #Dustin is a possibility but I think Will might be worried about him making some stupid joke #el is also a possibility but I can see him not wanting to have to explain what being gay is on top of coming out lol #but lucas is safe. lucas is home. lucas will take him seriously and understand the gravity of it and will hold the secret safe in his hands

[heartsgettingwiser62]

The show expresses El's and Will's main arc and desires through their art in s4.

On the one hand, we have Will, who creates a painting for Mike that portrays them and the party together again, as their dnd characters. Of course, it displays Will's desire of belonging again in that friend group, of having what was taken away from him last summer. But, after all, the main focus of the painting is Mike. Because 1, the painting is for Mike after all, and 2, Will himself is telling where his priorities are, by painting a heart on top of him. Mike's the heart, his heart.

On the other hand, with her art (the figures she makes), El portrays Hopper and his cabin, the first place she actually considered a home. This creation is, in a way, for Hopper. Since she obviously can't give it to him directly, it's a tribute to his sacrifice, therefore, it's made for him. That's where her priorities lie: family.

Will's arc, his biggest hopes and desires, are primarily about love, just how he expresses in his art. El's arc, her biggest hopes and desires, are primarily about family, just how she expresses in her art.

So, narratively, who would make more sense to end up in a relationship? The one whose focus is love and belonging (being who he loves one of the reasons he feels as if he doesn't belong) or the one whose focus is family and finding herself?

#sorry if this has grammar mistakes i'm not native and for some reason i forgot how to speak english today 😭😭 #idk i'm tired man #anyways 'will's arc is about accepting mike doesn't love him back ' HE ALREADY KNOWS (more like thinks) THAT #his arc is about learning that he can be loved the way he wants to bc there's nothing wrong with him or the way he wants to be loved #and el's arc is definitely not about romantic love is about finding a family and finding herself #and guess what THE ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP SHE'S IN DOESN'T LET HER FIND HERSELF #literally stablished in s3 #'there's more to life than stupid boys' max mayfield the wisest woman on earth #like IT'S SO OBVIOUS SKDNSKD #idk i'm feeling a bit angry today at how ppl can't read tv shows and plotlines #byler #will byers #mike wheeler #stranger things #mike wheeler i know what you are #anti milkvan #anti mileven #el hopper #byler proof #byler is requited #byler is canon #byler endgame #byler theory #willel #gay mike wheeler #milkvan is bones

[occasionallykettle]

fucking hell

#who the actual fuck is watching stranger things and how stupid could they possibly get #and OF COURSE the comments had to somehow twist it into 'mike is straight 🤓' and 'el needs mike 🤓' #in the replies #would it be a stretch to call this homophobia? because honestly i don't see how they think will is going to die #and SUCH A LARGE PORTION OF THE COMMUNITY TOO #i say this again and again but byler tumblr has raised my expectations too high. you guys are too smart #byler #byler tumblr

[aemiron-main]

ok so I was in a gay mike Mood today so here’s a passionate ramble abt it from earlier because regardless of whether you’re a gay Mike truther or anything else, the idea that Mike being gay/having never loved El would hurt El more than him falling out of love with her/is inconsiderate to her and her character arc is absolutely fucking stupid and imo, Mike being gay is actually the sexuality for Mike that is the GENTLEST and KINDEST to el’s character and works with her themes and arcs Perfectly in a way that no other version of Mike does. You don’t have to agree with me on this but I’m literally going insane seeing the “people who think Mike is gay don’t care about El” takes because IMO and like I’m gonna talk abt more in-depth in my full analysis, again, gay Mike is actually the resolution/sexuality for Mike that is the best for El/cares about her the MOST.

Why do I think this? Why do I love gay Mike narratively when it comes to Mike and El’s relationship and the end of it and SPECIFICALLY from the perspective of caring about El and wanting to make sure that she gets her happy ending/that her arcs and themes are resolved in a happy and satisfying way?

BECAUSE EL REALIZES IT WAS NEVER ABOUT HER!!!! SHE REALIZES THAT IT WAS NEVER ABOUT HER ABILITY TO *BE* LOVED BUT RATHER ABOUT HIS INABILITY TO LOVE HER, AND THAT ITS NOT ANYTHING AT ALL ABOUT WHO/WHAT SHE IS OR ANYTHING SHES DONE BUT INSTEAD ABOUT WHO/WHAT MIKE IS (GAY). AND SO SHE REALIZES. WHY MIKE COULDNT SAY HE LOVED HER. WHY HE PHYSICALLY STRUGGLED TO SAY IT TO HER FACE IN THE S3 AISLE SCENE. ITS NOT THAT HE DIDNT WANT TO SAY IT, IT WAS THAT HE COULDNT, IT WASNT THAT HE DIDNT WANT TO LOVE HER ITS THAT HE CANT. EL REALIZING THAT THIS IS SOMETHING MIKE CANNOT CONTROL AND REALIZING HOW HE *IS* DIFFERENT (callback to the s4 bedroom fight scene where she said he doesn’t understand what it’s like to be different & I think that in the s5 OST in this Mike and El breakup scene we’re going to get a track that has parts of the ‘being different’ track incorporated into it) AND JUST. EL REALIZING FINALLY THAT ITS NOT HER THAT NEEDS TO CHANGE THAT HE DOESNT SEE HER AS THE MONSTER, BUT INSTEAD SEES HIMSELF AS THE MONSTER, AS THE FREAK.

El who realizes that every single time mike lied to her was because he was lying to himself. El, who is so focused on “friends don’t lie,” and was upset about Mike lying to her because it implied that they weren’t friends, realizing that it was never about anything she did, but rather, Mike was lying to himself, it was about him, and that he doesn’t have to lie anymore and they can be friends.

El, someone who feels unlovable not only realizing that it was never about her being unloveable but rather abt mikes inability to love her bc he’s gay, but also seeing somebody who tried so HARD to love her, who saw her as somebody who deserved love SO MUCH that he would cut out parts of himself and repress himself in an attempt to give her the love that he thought she deserved. And how people in el’s life like brenner have never actually *tried* to love her, but Mike tried SO HARD but couldn’t love her in the right way (not that brenner loved El romantically but yknow general love) and how Mike can’t fully love her platonically as long as they’re in a relationship bc of the lying and the idea that lying = not friends/lack of platonic love. People who COULD love El didn’t even try to, but Mike, who CANT love her still saw her as SO worthy of love that he tried so hard to love her.

Mike didn’t not love her bc he felt she didn’t deserve love- he COULDNT love her but tried so hard to, because he DOES feel that she deserves it. El feeling like Mike didn’t give enough in their relationship- but then realizing just how much he gave up for it, how much of HIMSELF he repressed and gave up for it.

Like. Platonic Elmike with gay Mike specifically makes me so emotional for these reasons!! It’s such a beautiful conclusion to their arcs!!

El feels unlovable for who she is & so if there’s smthn that Mike doesn’t like about her & fell out of love with her over then it’s still ABOUT HER, she still feels unlovable. Those sort of messy situations happen IRL and Mike wouldn’t be morally bad for falling out of love with El, but it wouldn’t be a satisfying, happy conclusion to El’s themes and arcs, because El has been set up in a way with gay Mike in mind from the start, so her themes and arcs are meant to work in tandem with Mike being gay.

Like I just!! Not to mention the acceptance and relief that Mike would feel from El in all this and the deepened understanding between them!! But focusing on El and her feelings specifically because that’s what this post is about: I just am so emotional rn about El realizing that Mike tries to love her, that despite everything, he saw her as so worthy of love that he tried to give it to her even when it was killing him and forcing him to repress himself. He saw El as so worthy of love that he’d stew in hatred towards himself if it meant that she could feel loved, because he TRIED to love her even at the cost of his own mental well-being. El, who thought that Mike didn’t love her because of something wrong with HER, realizing that it was something “wrong” with him instead, realizing that he IS different, just like her, and that she was wrong to say that he isn’t different during the bedroom scene. The narrative BEAUTY of El feeling most loved at the END of her relationship with Mike, how his inability to love her is beautifully and ironically exactly what makes her feel loved, because a.) it wasn’t about her/her ability to BE loved but his ability TO love her and b.) he tried SO HARD to love her because he saw her as so worthy of love. El feeling so loved because of the realization that Mike can’t and didn’t love her romantically?? It’s such a beautiful narrative!!

El feels unlovable. Mike feels incapable of loving. But neither is true. El cannot be loved romantically by Mike because Mike is incapable of romantically loving her- but that doesn’t mean that El is incapable of being loved as a whole, and it doesn’t mean that mike is incapable of loving as a whole, he just can’t love her, and so she can’t be romantically loved by him, and because of the ties between “lying = not friends,” and the strain that their romantic relationship put on their friendship and prevented them from even getting to fully KNOW eachother, he can’t fully platonically love her until the romantic relationship is over!!

El Hopper is so loved. And she’s going to realize this and it’s going to be tied to gay Mike!! And it’s so narratively beautiful!! El realizing how much Mike tried to love her, how highly he thinks of her, how much of himself he gave up in his attempts to love her, how much it hurt him to try and love her, but he did it anyways because he sees her as being worthy of love and happiness and was trying to be the one to make sure that she got it?? It’s so good!!! There’s so many people who treated El HORRIBLY, and didn’t even fucking try to love her, people from the lab, and the bullies, but Mike TRIED, people who COULD have loved her but didn’t even try versus somebody who CANT love her but tried so hard??? El is going to feel so loved, it’s a perfect tie-in to her arcs about feeling unlovable, like a monster. El realizing that Mike doesn’t see her as a monster but instead sees himself as one?? Sees himself as the different/freak one?? And dismissed El’s feelings of being a “freak/monster” because Mike thinks so highly of her and so lowly of himself & sees HIMSELF as a freak/monster for being gay that he can’t process El feeling like a freak/monster because he sees her as being in completely different league than him. But that also puts him in a position of seeing her as a superhero which is something she Doesn’t want- but then they both realize that neither is a hero and neither is a monster and that they’re both actually deeply similar and that the they’re both just different, they’re not monsters, they’re different. And that’s not a bad thing! And Mike is going to realize that it isn’t a bad thing! Because El is different and so is he, and he thinks so highly of El that if he’s different, like her, then he can’t be a monster/awful for being different, because El isn’t a monster/awful for being different.

So yeah. Please cut it out with the absolutely ridiculous “gay mike ‘truthers’ don’t care about el,” and “mike being gay would be mean to el compared to mike being bi or unlabelled” rhetoric because it’s the literally the absolute opposite.

#stranger things #byler #mike wheeler #st analysis #mike wheeler analysis #milkvan #elmike #and before people start whining I’m not saying ‘thinking Mike is bi is stupid’ I’m saying ‘thinking that Mike being gay means ppl don’t care #about El and it would be mean to el’ is fucking stupid and demonstrates a lack of understanding of both El AND Mike and their themes & arcs #gay mike wheeler

[cherubcleric]

idk who needs to hear this, but mike is in love with will and el is in love with max. mike and el are projecting their ideal versions of a partner onto each other and it's literally just will and max.

mike wants someone who needs him. mike wants someone he can protect and keep safe, who takes the protection in stride and finds comfort in it. mike wants someone who understands him. he can't always say i love you because he has a hard time communicating his feelings, but the feeling is tangible and it is real and it is there. mike wants someone who will choose him no matter what.

will has always needed mike. his protectiveness is always leaned into and appreciated, comfort always found in it, even if will doesn't really need it. will has always understood mike like no one else. he gets mike's hangups with emotions, but he always works to help him overcome them. will will choose mike no matter what.

el wants someone who lets her be independent. she wants someone who gives her support and protection when it is truly needed, but not when it's unwanted. el wants someone who doesn't see her as a superhero or a monster. she wants someone who sees her as more than her powers, as jane hopper, a caring friend and loving daughter and a strong, brave person, powers or not. el wants someone who doesn't see her independence as a threat, or a jab at them, but as a strength.

max has always helped el be independent, and was in fact the first to encourage her to do so. "not mike, not hopper, you." max offers support and protection when el is in clear need of it, but not when she clearly doesn't need or want it. max has never seen el as a superhero or a monster, she's simply seen her best friend, a caring, loving, brave, and strong person. her powers mean nothing to max in the grand scheme of what makes el herself. max has never seen el's independence as a threat or as something that is insulting to her, but as a strength.

i could keep going, but in conclusion: el has chosen max. mike has chosen will. neither of them has grasped this quite yet, not fully, at least, and their relationship is them projecting their ideal partners onto one another. for mike, it's been like that since the beginning. for el, it's been like that since s3.

#🐇 posts! #criticism is not welcome at this time. thank you #perpetrators will be blocked on sight /j #i was just thinking about this going crazy going stupid #the version of you i created in my head would never do that #and it's just will and max #stranger things #st4 #mike wheeler #jane hopper #el hopper #will byers #max mayfield #byler #elmax #anti mileven #not really but if i get one (1) hate message i will scream cry vomit tear my hair out

[whynotimtired]

My Mike is Lucas, El is Dustin, and Will is Erica agenda...

#like you THINK that mike would be by the groups side...but he's needed elsewhere (somewhere that seems stupid to everyone else) #and will is finally included in the battle after not being there since before s1. his relevancy is bumped up suprisingly high #my lil benchwarmers <3 #and erica and lucas won their games AT THE SAME TIME #which means mike and will do the same (hivemind?) #will byers has powers #will byers #mike wheeler #stranger things #byler #byeler #el hopper #st5 speculation #st5 theory #st5 predictions #ALSO I DO THINK THEYRE GONNA HAVE TO FIGHT THE THESSELHYDRA FJSNDN #nancy seeing smthn huge with a large gaping mouth......its giving thesselhydra IM JUST SAYING #and thats the only dnd campaign weve seen that hasnt come full circle yet.....so therefore....

[will80sbyers]

Tbh if I shipped them and they had marketed Mileven all those years as a real romantic relationship selling merch about them for the fans and then in the last season they tell me they were never romantic I would get why people would be pissed about that especially if I spent money on merch, I think they would be justified in feeling a bit pissed if the ship was just never meant to be real at all because they have been duped financially

#mileven #el hopper byers #mike wheeler #not saying this justifies people being homophobic obviously #that's never ok #but even being a byler I would get why they would be pissed at the writers #because if I had spent years shipping them and buying merch about a ship and then the writers told me oh btw they were never romantic #I would be pissed too #and from the writers I think it would be kind of a stupid marketing decision to do that to a big part of their fans #strictly on the marketing side

[post-modern-prometheus]

mike and el’s fight in s4 kind of proves that everything i love about their relationship is all but gone. that scene in season 1, when el asks him why they (the bullies) hurt him. and she tells him she understands. versus mike telling el that he’s been bullied his entire life and knows how it feels and her refusal of that. it’s kind of like their mutual understanding and acceptance is gone. they are both distancing themselves from each other for different reasons.

#el: u wouldnt get it #also el: saved his life after his bully forced him to jump off a cliff at kinfe point #st4 spoilers #stranger things #mike wheeler #el hopper #eleven #elmike #BY THE WAY I DO THINK THIS IS THE WRITER’S FAULT WHETHER IT’S INTENTIONAL OR THEYRE JUST STUPID #I DONT BLAME EL AT ALL SHES GOING THRU IT

[bylertruther]

me when season five airs and The Big Reveals are mike's sexuality and will's love for mike bc mike has always known he's loved will but he hasn't always been comfortable with his sexuality and will has always known what he is but he didn't always know that what he felt for mike was that kind of love until it was already too late and thus the source of his pain has been jealousy + unrequited love

#mike said 'it's not my fault you don't like girls' and 'did you think /i/ would never get a girlfriend?' and joyce said she was so proud of #will's rainbow rocket ship and jonathan told will he'd always love him no matter what and to please talk to him if he needs to and the #party has always heard what people call will and loved him anyway no matter what and will has generally always had people in his corner #to support him that have literally endangered themselves and almost died for him and some people STILLLLLL think that HIS plot is abt #/focused on coming out n being generally accepted for being gay. like we didn't see that his entire s4 plot was abt his feelings for mike #specifically not his feelings for men in general. #UNLIKE MIKE who was fiercely devoted to will from the get-go but suddenly pushed him away n projected his internalized homophobia #and shame bestowed upon him by society onto will who wasn't even fucking talking about THAT thank u very much and who has been #battling being a freak loser (aka himself) vs conforming to what everyone else wants him to be (wearing mommy's clothes; impressing #other people by getting not just a girlfriend but a SUPERHERO girlfriend) and who in the season where he says he doesn't want to be #popular and where the person he looks up to talks abt nonconformity and mentions sodomy in relation 2 dnd etc etc they make HIS plot #focus on how he CAN'T SAY I LOVE YOU TO HIS GIRLFRIEND IN A ROMANTIC CONTEXT until HIS BEST FRIEND confesses his feelings #and it moves him enough to then make him say it to el when his bestie tells him to. like. literally how much more clear does it need 2 be #MIKE is the one that has BEEENNNNN vying for acceptance and self-worth and battling shame #WILL has been the one that has Known what he is and suffered bc he thought mike was that too n obviously felt hurt by mike replacing him #with el n ignoring him altogether aka 'you're destroying everything and for what? so you can swap spit with some stupid girl?' #like am i the weird one or does mike's 3984093 weird projecting statements after s2 vs will being jealous of el not make this super clear #will HAS ALWAYS HAD ppl to accept him n love him for who he is. the party + his family are right there for him to go home to after being #bullied. it's scary and a part of his story yes undoubtedly but it is not The High Point. and mike has always been crazy for will but #that doesn't mean he's accepted it or thinks others will accept it. #but anyway. im normal i did not write an entire essay in the tags bc i am normal