stranger things is, fundamentally, a show about the queer experience— and it always has been. (season five, part one)
(i had to bite the bullet and split this one up, since it was getting too long. more coming soon!)
(seasons 1+2) (season 3) (season 4)
this is the fourth part of my analysis series looking into all of the ways in which stranger things truly is a show About the queer experience, in that it is what every single season happens to thematically center itself around.
and, yes. though you might not believe me, that includes season five.
season five, as it features the same main villain as season four, is once again about fear. this time, however, instead of fear keeping you from being yourself, fear now places itself firmly in the way of your ability to keep a strong enough grip on the things that you love.
and…season five also happens to be about what happens when you let that fear win. the story, this time around, is a tragedy.
the main argument i want to make with this part is that the choices the characters make were not decided on by throwing darts at a wall and going with whatever option was furthest away, but instead do, in fact, carry an internal logic that can be followed.
now, does this mean that these choices are good for them? no! but a negative choice does not necessarily make it a completely nonsensical choice on the part of the writers.
before you jump in to tell me that this idea contradicts what the duffers have been saying recently, here is an interview from 2024 in which the duffers themselves contradict what the duffers have been saying recently. (s5 was outlined in full before s4 was even filmed and then re-outlined again once it was finished, they've had all the answers to the world's lore written out since s1, the s5 finale would contain many big ideas originally drafted for s2, they always got really excited about writing, etc.) so i’m just going to take the season as i see it. :)
again, this season is about fear. but it isn’t the kind that creeps up behind you until it’s right in your face, and all you can think about. instead, though it may feel less overwhelming, it also never really leaves. simmers at a constant burn, instead of flaring up with even the smallest pinch of salt.
in season 4, the presence of fear itself was scary; something new and alarming in how it distinctly sets you apart from everyone else around you. here, though, it's now become something our characters have resigned themselves to actively living with. something they've accepted they will continue to live under for the forseable future.
we're eighteen months into an apocalypse, here. if people remained as off-kilter as fear had rendered them in season 4, they would hardly last two. you need to force it down, get used to it, and not let it show. it’s become your normal state, since your environment would not let you continue on unscathed in it otherwise.
because it isn't just an apocalypse. it's an apocalypse whose presence needs to be kept hidden despite it quite literally bleeding into the cracks of the world around you. a monster whose presence, even only in theory, has you never letting your guard down.
a house full of people, where you have to pretend like everything is normal. a life at school, where you have to remain unnoticed. and a job to do, where distractions and moments to breathe are largely luxuries reserved for after your work has been done. then you can relax. then you can go after all the things you've been holding yourself back from seeking out.
because those circumstances were surely the only thing keeping you trapped.
as mike tells holly, everyone in hawkins is scared shitless, and this applies to our crew, as well. in theory, this makes sense; they can feel the looming threat above them even if they haven't found him.
what is it that each of our characters are afraid of, again?
robin is scared of vickie learning about the supernatural. max gets scared that lucas doesn't actually love her. hopper is scared of losing el. dustin is scared of losing steve. joyce is scared of will going where she is unable to help him should he need it. jonathan is scared of his hesitance towards marrying nancy. will is scared of what what has happened to him means for his family and friends, as well as his place among them. el is worried that she may not have any place at all.
we can see the love and fear interference here quite clearly. but…do any of these hinge on vecna being gone? would they all magically disappear along with him?
some would feel less severe, maybe. but there would still be things robin could never talk to her girlfriend about. sara’s death had nothing to do with demogorgons, or alternate dimensions, or supernatural attacks. will’s trauma is not going to desert him entirely simply because it would be more convenient for it to do so.
in fact…all of these fears stem from the possibility of an undesired outcome. nothing that has shown any signs of presenting itself to you currently, but could show up in the future. so you should brace for impact, shouldn't you? protect yourself?
be prepared for vecna’s reappearance, the second he shows up?
now, there's obviously nothing wrong with trying to get your shit together in the apocalypse. but…how much good do all those crawls actually do for our team, in the end?
and how much good does waiting for the ‘right’ moment do for mike?
because, for the fears on this list that get to be assuaged, have you noticed anything about their resolutions?
robin confesses to vickie. max decides to trust in lucas. dustin is open with steve. jonathan is honest with nancy.
“with vecna gone,” mike asks, “what's stopping us?”
i don't know, michael. YOU tell me.
so what is mike afraid of, this season? what is at stake for him, in this standoff between love and fear?
well. at this point, i think this should be rather obvious.
in the season about puberty, where mike is firmly distancing himself from being more introspective with his emotions, he realizes that he is not physically attracted to women. in the season on moral panic and the desire to be normal, he comes to terms with the fact that he is gay.
and so, in the season about a subtle, underlying fear that runs alongside a love whose expression it quietly submerges whenever the current gets too strong, it only makes sense that our boy is now finally trying to handle all the complicated weight that comes with the knowledge that you are desperately, terribly in love with your best friend.
because it isn't completely life-altering, in the way that realizing you're gay is, along with everything that that means for your future. mike doesn't act like he does in the airport, here. it's exciting, yet terrifying, in an almost exhilarating way— because it is still love. and for someone you already care so much about, no less!
mike is incredibly picky with the emotions he chooses to share with other people. as i’ve said here before, he's a child of emotional neglect, which, under normal circumstances, means that that boy is only ever going to let people see what he is absolutely sure they are going to take well to. (so, yes, it is significant that 95% of his already small list of vulnerable moments happen when he's with will.)
though he's normally happy to keep his rougher emotions to himself, there is one thing he does actually want to show to other people— joy, and excitement, for all the things he thinks are really cool!
this just also gets impacted by how he thinks people will respond, so he still only lets himself ‘geek out,’ so to speak, when he knows it's emotionally safe to do so (or when he can't help himself). in season one, he tells el how excited he is to introduce her to everyone now that she doesn't have a reason to hide anymore— though this is quickly proven to be false. and he’s unabashed in his open affection for will, until he gets worried that it'll clue Normal Straight Man Will Byers in to how not normal mike is.
so, mike has just had this startling revelation about himself. it contains an emotion he kind of wants to express, because now the coolest person he knows just got even cooler, but also one he wants to keep pushed down and away because tossing it out into the air like that is kind of terrifying, and there are other things he has to be focusing on that are obviously more pressing and important, anyway! except the times he ends up expressing himself the most are when he feels either emotionally comfortable, or emotionally overwhelmed and thus cannot help himself (end of sorcerer, anyone?), and the subject of this revelation currently happens to very easily make him meet both of these requirements.
are we starting to see what mwtfdydgate looks like, yet?
because we’ve already been shown the shape of the answer.
mike and will are actually, when you get down to it, quite fundamentally different. many of these differences end up manifesting as the ways in which they complete each other, and make each other stronger, but they also end up becoming the source of a lot of their strife.
will is someone who always wants to talk about how he's feeling. emotional vulnerability is one of his strengths; whenever he's feeling unsteady about something in his life, he knows he can go to someone he trusts to help him feel secure again. since his emotions are so large, and he's so attuned to them, this is really important to him. he's willing to do this with everything EXCEPT his queerness, and his feelings for mike— and it is absolutely eating him up inside.
mike, on the other hand, never wants to talk about how he's feeling, EXCEPT for when it comes to all these new emotions regarding will! it feels good, and it's exciting, and he wants to gush about how much he loves his favorite person in the world, but his fear towards what the reaction will be has him biting his tongue and pulling himself back. and that is eating him up inside! it's the single emotion whose repression genuinely makes him sad to feel like he has to do!
mike is not planning to say anything about this to will unless he knows it would be emotionally safe to (the feelings are fully reciprocated), which he doesn’t think is going to happen with Straight Man Will Byers. and will is also not planning on saying anything about this to mike, because he anticipates hearing a rejection he knows would devastate him.
except mike has also been showing will signs. things that sure seem like he’s trying to flirt with him. only, will’s still a little confused. because it isn’t all the time. plus, he seems to pull away whenever will tries to flirt back. will places a lot of importance in being able to talk about his feelings— if mike does like him, then why hasn’t he said anything? will’s been all but spelling out his feelings for him since basically season three.
mike, however, is…not actually flirting. not intentionally, anyway (which is why will responding in turn seems to snap him back into his head, and he withdraws, like in the field scene). but will, as simultaneously his best friend he’s previously felt comfortable being vulnerable with, someone who frequently and abruptly finds themselves in peril or distress, and the boy he is in love with, happens to very easily check off one or more of his emotional expression requirements, and mike’s newly-heightened affection can’t help but burst out of the box he tries to keep it tempered down in and let itself show.
again. end of sorcerer, anyone?
compare season 4 mike’s airport greeting with season 5 mike’s lingering shoulder touches, or gentle bumps of the elbow, or longing stares when he holds out his hand, or the way he’s almost always the first to reach will when he’s in trouble. of course will was going to feel that something had changed!
this is mwtfdydgate! just, you know, multiplied across 18 months. i wonder if mike ever got his preferred hand pile positions.
yes, they’re more open with each other emotionally in season 4, but they barely even touch!
and i do think that that difference is significant.
will, much like holly, has registered that mike is keeping something from him, but the complete lack of verbal acknowledgment of it is making will just as uneasy as mike is worried he will be should he ever actually be honest about it.
and this is the season of strategy meetings and tightly executed missions— between a reassuring hand on the shoulder and a quiet, vulnerable conversation stolen away in private, which of the two do you think these characters feel more comfortable taking the time out to execute? especially when someone like mike already has such a long and specific list of prerequisites to meet before he even feels comfortable enough to open his mouth and start!
mike has not been ‘lobotomized’ this season. he, in his mind, is prioritizing. pushing everything off till later, when he thinks the time will feel more ‘right’ to indulge in and express it (outside of when he just can’t help himself). again— “with vecna gone,” he thinks, “what’s stopping us?”
and this is an idea shared by the others, as well!
lucas tells mike and el to hurry up with their conversation on the roof, so they can get started with their crawl. mike and el both agree that dustin and hopper, when expressing their fear instead of bottling it up and shoving it down out of necessity like the rest of them, are acting strange. dustin should be keeping his head down at school instead of letting out how he feels about eddie, and can’t spend too much time at his grave since he’s needed and expected at every single mission. and we cut right from the scene on the water tower to vickie wondering what the hell is taking them so long!
since the consequences of bottling up emotions for so long are illustrated through both dustin with steve, and jonathan with nancy, the show is aware of the issues that arise with doing this. it’s been eighteen months, and eddie’s death, steve’s insecurities surrounding him, and jancy’s season 4 relationship issues are only just now being addressed, and only after things had reached an unavoidable boiling point.
it’s been touch and go since the moment season 4 ended; mike wheeler, of all people, is certainly not going to think himself justified in taking the time to sit his best friend down and tell him he’s recently discovered he actually wants to kiss him a lot.
unfortunately for him…this ends up being his downfall.
because season 5 is a tragedy, but michael’s portion of it is entirely self-constructed.
…with a little outside influence, of course.
let’s start back at that timeskip.
yes, it is quite long, but aside from the answers of what they did with those spores, are we actually…missing all that much? anything more significant than the usual ways characters shift from a season to season jump?
we know that this was a period of time in which no one let themselves deal with or talk about anything left unaddressed in the season 4 finale, because everyone got right to work the second that was over, and never really stopped.
we know this applies to dustin and steve. we know this applies to jonathan and nancy. less intentionally, this also applies to lucas and max (their last “interaction” for max was him scorning her in her vecna vision, remember?), and so…i am incredibly sorry to say…that this also then has to apply to mike and el.
no, they haven’t broken up. i know. but there is not a single world in which you could convince me that dustin is less willing to be open about his feelings than MIKE.
so they haven’t really talked about that confession at all, actually, or really about anything that doesn’t pertain to their missions. (because mike’s still got that painting up in his room, right?) after season 4, el jumped right into training her personal strength after she failed, and hasn’t looked back since.
so, what is that greeting on the field about? why did so many people watching feel like they had broken up, if they actually haven’t?
simple: neither of them actually need this relationship anymore, because they’ve both found something they find more fulfilling than what the other person was previously providing for them.
mike had been relying on his relationship with el to help him feel normal. even once the painting helps him accept his feelings for the shape that they take (accept that he’s gay), he’s still perfectly fine with staying in a relationship that doesn’t center around romantic love, because it worked out well enough for his parents, didn’t it? they both still got what they wanted. and, based on what he actually took away from will’s confession, he thinks that eleven is also perfectly fine with this.
then, though, he realizes that he’s in love with will. so now he has a reference for what the alternative feels like. that it really does feel better than keeping himself with el for the sake of it. again, he’s accepted he’s gay— it’s his fear of will’s reaction, and his complete lack of an expectation of the feelings being returned, that keeps him from stepping up and saying anything.
el, similarly, had been relying on her relationship with mike for validation and reassurance of her identity she didn’t know how to give to herself. the confession helps her learn that she needs to seriously start figuring this out, so by season 5 she’s become more secure in her own strength and sense of self. she doesn’t need mike to be the sole bearer of this anymore.
however, she doesn’t know what awaits her on the other side of all this. she may have grown more comfortable with herself, but will the world be just as comfortable with her, once she steps out into it? she’s been pushing for hopper to let her go, but i think, deep down, a part of her really wants to stay. she doesn’t know if there’s another place she can go! her relationship with mike is a positive thing she’s managed to get for herself, and though she isn’t solely relying on it anymore, she also doesn’t know how many more of those the world is gonna allow her to get!
so fear is keeping mike and el— and all of our characters— in one place. literally! they’re physically stuck, they haven’t moved on from most s4 issues due to letting them stay unaddressed, and they’re all worried about the prospect of what awaits in the future, both in regards to vecna and to what comes after him.
mike and eleven both feel fine with staying in a relationship that doesn’t actually fulfill them anymore, because even if they can get the sense that the other person is feeling something similar (neither of them are being super physical in order to overcompensate by giving the other person what they think they’d want, or anything), they’ve still never actually sat down and talked about it— both because they think there are more important things going on, and because they’re actually a little scared to do so.
which, ah. you know. almost sort of sounds like. a couple in a long term relationship they’re no longer satisfied with, putting off getting a DIVORCE. but. ahem. that’s neither here nor there.
this is why lucas calls them ‘lovebirds,’ but they still look a little individually confused when he does. it’s: oh, but i don’t. actually think it’s all that like that anymore, though?
this is also why mike isn’t intentionally flirting with will; he’s still, technically, with el. and again, he doesn’t think there’s any chance of will liking him back! so this is part of what is making will so confused.
another way mike and will fundamentally differ from each other is that mike is very physically affectionate while not being so great with his words, while will is very good at deciphering and communicating his emotions to other people but is extremely shy and hesitant when it comes to initiating physical contact. in fact, across the entire show, i literally cannot think of a single instance in which he does this with mike (besides that hug at the airport, which. we all know how that went)— save for one.
the two of them are out on that field, and mwtfdydgate strikes again; mike can see that they’re behind everyone else, it’s a quiet moment between planning a mission and executing it, and he’s directly next to will— and his affection takes the chance it’s been given to make an appearance! so he nudges will with his arm, and looks at him like That while gushing about all he’s certain he can do.
and will, emboldened by his recent discussion with robin, tries to take the signs as signs, and goes for giving out one of his own.
i’ve seen people be like “but why would will flirt with mike, if he and eleven aren’t already broken up?” this is a single hit on the arm after eighteen months of mike consistently making heart eyes at him and being noticeably both less physical with his girlfriend and more physical with him, lol. i think will is allowed to test the waters a little bit just to see what happens, this is hardly him being all that messy.
and, besides— the interaction doesn’t exactly leave him planning to do any more.
because of all the things to choose, my love, why did you have to go with pushing mike away?
again, though mike is flirting with will, he isn’t doing it intentionally, nor with the thought in his mind that will could possibly reciprocate. since his emotions have such delicate guidelines for when they’re able to be expressed, it doesn’t take much for him to instinctively shove them back down, or snap back into being overly aware of whatever it is he’s doing. he’s extremely susceptible to becoming self conscious/ashamed/embarrassed of his own emotions depending on how people react to them.
and here, it looks like Straight Man Will Byers has noticed that mike is geeking out over him in a way that is kind of too much for a ‘friend’ to do, and is telling him to cut it out! if you look closely, you can even see that mike is about to lean forward even more just before will pushes him away!
yes, the shove is playful, and not at all intended to be a rejection, but mike is very new to this! he needs more positive reinforcement that what he’s doing is okay first before he can feel comfortable joking around about how he comes off. it’s still enough to make him internally go ‘shoot, yeah, okay. you’re being too much. dial it back.’ so he retreats, because this is the signal he thinks Straight Man Will Byers is trying to send him.
but this of course makes will feel embarrassed! as is often the case with these two, will thinks that he is being so obvious about how he acts and what he says around mike, that mike has to already know about his feelings for him to at least some degree, and so he assumes that mike is always operating under this knowledge during their interactions.
but mike, in truth, has yet to even fathom that will could like him at all. as i always say, he is too stuck in his own head about his own troubles to consider how he could be coming off in the event that this is the case!
and i think that this is something we the audience need to keep in mind, as well.
mike has gotten a lot of flack this season for the way he seems to not care as much about will as he does in season 2. but i don’t think this is true at all.
because mike always cares about will! the way he acts in every single season can largely be attributed to the specific way in which he is now caring about will; he doesn’t ever really stop. but this has always still manifested itself differently as mike grows up.
seasons 1 and 2 feature a much younger mike, who hasn’t yet realized that he’s gay. will is very actively in danger in new and scary ways, and all mike is worried about is making sure that his friend is okay.
season 3 is when mike realizes he doesn’t like girls, and season 4 is when he’s coming to terms with the fact that he’s gay. he’s growing into a teenager, and things feel more complicated than they did when he was 12 and could say he liked el and that was it. since will is in generally the same amount of danger as the rest of the group he’s with in both seasons, though, his instinctive desire to help and protect him doesn’t really have to war with all the newfound realizations he’s recently had about himself (and the subsequent worry about what the reaction from his closest, Straightest friend will be). ‘max get away from the door’ and the roller rink fight remind us that mike does still keep a very close eye on will at all times, even when the way he’s acting would have you thinking otherwise.
with all that being said, and all that we’ve already discussed, it isn’t that hard to classify season 5 mike as sort of a mix of both. will is back to being directly targeted, and mike’s instinctive urge to immediately run and check on him has made its continued presence known once more. now, however, things are more…complicated. from what is now expected of mike in terms of crawls, to the yet unspoken state of his relationship with el, to the knowledge mike now carries of the truth of his feelings for will— there’s a lot more riding on mike and how he is perceived by the people around him than there was when he was 12 years old and could brazenly tunnel his vision down to exclusively caring about how will was doing. now, we can see that this protective instinct of his has moments where it is…reeled back in.
there are two moments, i think, that people call out the most in terms of how mike acts specifically when it comes to expressing concern for will:
“why does mike not say anything after he hears will refer to the kids as ‘vessels,’ or when he calls them weak? why isn’t he doing anything? season 2 mike would’ve been on that immediately! will is possessed!’
‘why the hell does mike just leave will on the ground like that in episode 8? he runs away immediately! season 2 mike would never!’
the former is going to take us into quite a bit of further discussion, so i’ll start off with the latter.
i feel like this moment gets misrepresented a lot because it comes post the water tower scene, and is in episode 8, and many people were already upset while watching it. and i do understand that! however, i think it’s also important to acknowledge the full context and circumstances of the scene before denouncing mike’s actions here entirely.
in the very beginning of the season, there is a scene in which mike, thinking his sister is currently in the bathroom, says something he very clearly would not have said had he known that will’s mom was the one inside. because the wheeler house no longer belongs solely to him and his family— the byers all now live here, too!
now, i’m not going to sit here and try to say that the ‘whizz on the floor’ line is secretly super deep, or anything, but i do think it establishes a pattern we can see surface throughout the entire season.
mike has to check himself, now, in ways he never had to before! he’s surrounded by new circumstances he’s never had to deal with before, and he can’t go approaching them in all the ways he used to, because how he comes off to people is now an additional factor he has to take into account.
this applies to el, and it applies to will, and it also, obviously…applies to joyce.
there’s something interesting, about the times in which mike goes straight for will and stays there versus the instances where he doesn’t. because, for the latter, do you know who is almost always there?
in the forest, when it’s just mike, will, and the rest of the party, mike is the first one to place a concerned hand on will’s shoulder following his sudden vision and noticeably keeps it firmly planted there for an almost comically long amount of time. he even gives lucas a look that makes him remove the hand he’d had on will.
and yet, in shock jock, when will is thrown backwards on the ground, you can see mike hesitate in running over to him, allowing joyce to get there first. when will is trapped by vecna, we get a shot of mike hovering in the background to watch him while joyce sits directly beside her son. mike walks in on will and joyce having a clearly personal conversation, and will more or less tells him that, rather than tell mike separately as well, he’d have nothing more to say to him that he wouldn’t say to people he’s virtually never spoken to (and i have a post on this one, but we’ll also come back to it later).
and, once will collapses in episode 8, it is joyce who tells every other character to keep going on ahead while she stays with her son.
mike, this season— and for a large majority of them, really— is incredibly worried about how he will be perceived. if he could accidentally end up cluing the people around him in to the sheer size and shape of his feelings for will.
joyce is will’s mom. when she says something like, ‘please let me be alone with my son,’ people acquiesce with little complaint, because she is his mother, and this is her son. if you have a crowd of people waiting to see will in the hospital, she is probably who would be let in first. the association is clear, and the justification is already there.
if the choice of ‘who should primarily be there to take care of will’ falls between ‘any of his friends,’ ‘his brother,’ and ‘his mother,’ then the hierarchy is kind of…clear, isn’t it?
but do you know when it wouldn’t be?
if one of those ‘friends’ were to actually be something more.
mike, to everyone else, is just one of will’s closest friends, exactly like what dustin and lucas are— and mike really does not want to know what would happen were the perception of him to change.
and why would someone who is only one of will’s ‘friends,’ be rushing to reach him faster than his own mother? lucas and robin certainly aren’t.
why would someone who is only will’s ‘friend,’ ask his own mother to step away from him while he’s unconscious, so that he can watch over him instead?
and what justification does someone who is only will’s ‘friend’ have to stick around after his mother went and told the rest of them to leave? when dustin and lucas and robin and everyone then do leave?
if mike had stuck around, the first question joyce would probably ask him would be: ‘why?’
and mike does not want to provide the why. though it could probably be enough to get joyce to allow him to stay, or spend some time alone at will’s bedside, or not give him a second look when he tears himself over to will as fast as his legs will carry him— no one was going to suggest someone else stay with max over lucas at the end of season four, even if they were technically broken up at the time— mike really, really does not want to provide the why. doesn’t want anyone to get even the smallest impression that there could be a why.
he and will are just friends. so mike is careful to make sure he acts like it.
now, onto the second point— that ‘vessels’ comment clearly pings mike as odd. why doesn’t he do anything about will being possessed?
i have a few things to say to this.
people like to compare how mike acts in season 5 with the way he acts in season 2, and that is especially true where this particular moment is concerned. so while i’ve already demonstrated how this is a little unfair to do, let’s actually take a look at this comparison for ourselves.
season 2 mike does express concern for will’s mental and emotional wellbeing in addition to his physical ailments, yes, but does he ever…bring that up, directly to will’s face? the “will’s quiet today” scene happens when the party are observing him from a significant distance away; mike isn’t announcing how he’s noticed his friend’s significant change in mood when will is right next to him. he’s there for him when he’s physically in peril, obviously, but will mentions every single person he’s close to except mike when talking about how ‘everyone’ keeps hovering around him and treating him like he’s something fragile! though he’s there to be a non-judgemental ear when will wants to open up about something (crazy together), he isn’t treating will like someone who has to constantly be checked in on with every single thing he says or does.
and, speaking of which, will does not like when people constantly check in on him with every single thing he says or does! this season, he feels like his mother is suffocating him with how overprotective she is! this is absolutely something both mike and lucas are aware of. even if they don’t want to bring anything up to will directly, sounding the alarm to joyce would end up having essentially the same effect.
and, also. at this point in canon, it has been YEARS since will was possessed. still treating every single thing that comes out of his mouth like a potential signal to tie him down and drag out the space heaters again sounds emotionally exhausting for everyone involved, especially will— that doesn’t sound like a very comfortable environment to be in. it’s like having a friend who used to struggle with depression, and anytime they look or sound a little down you gasp and go ‘oh— oh my god. is that— is that your depression coming back? are you depressed again? is this you being depressed right now?’
literally no one wants to deal with that. so even if mike looks put off by some of the things will says, there are a number of factors getting in the way of the reaction many people seem to want from him, including but not limited to:
his aforementioned struggle in pursuing deeper interactions with will in terms of how these could affect the group’s perception of him
many more things are now in the way of his emotional expression than there were when he was 12. but he didn’t even respond in this specific way when he was 12, either!
will hates being hovered over outside of any situation where he is not literally in active physical danger or peril
this is one thing said by will one time whilst otherwise acting relatively normal, which does not a justified cry of possession make
calling up the cavalry every time will sounds slightly off or speaks a little negatively of himself is a very quick way to make will never want to say anything around any of you ever again
and, to sort of branch away from what the characters themselves may be thinking about,
can HENRY actually possess people in the first place?
and, perhaps more importantly...does he even actually want to?
