Ok I have so much doubt like it’s built into me . I won’t get queerbaited again . but . if they’re not gonna make byler canon .I need someone to explain why the first season is basically mike’s love letter to will (why do we only see mike go home to Karen instead of Dustin or Lucas or anyone after the body is found? why does mike first think it’s not wills body? why’s he insistent on looking for him——we see Lucas is as adamant as finding him but we don’t see his response to the body do we?) and his perspective on the pain of losing both will first and then eleven by the end of the season. And then the second season is having Will back and how to protect him more than anyone else (why is mike in the spy sequence? how does he understand everything in relation to Will first? why does he stay with him? why does he go to the hospital?) and the newfound pain of losing eleven. This makes narrative sense and we get to see some of the ways Will and el might parallel, which makes some cool lore sense later on, cus Will clearly has a relationship w the upside down now!!! but also…. why do we parallel a male character with mike’s love interest, if he clearly has a special connection to both? we won’t think about this too hard. and then season three plot is like, eleven is back, yay! obviously we need to explore her dynamics with the other kids but that dynamic is inevitably with Mike because of the s1/2 connection, and max because max is new too and now the two girls can find comfort in each other (like we see el want in s1!). and for some reason part of that dynamic with mike is wildly overshadowed by Will being literally shattered by this development and therefore mike and will fight all the time. Huh. okay. weird choice but okay. but then in s4 we realize wait, how’s Will handling this? we finally have a season to get to know who Will is WITHOUT the upside down! While we do that we are going to send MIKE only to California. And then whisk his love interest away for an entire season. They’ll be completely separated the whole time and we will no longer see how their relationship developed because——ohhh, shit, cus mike can’t say i love you. That’s, objectively, narratively crazy. why can’t he just say that? and oh shit wait, Will is gay. that’s, okay, awesome!! That’s awesome. glad we learned that that’s really sweet and cool——And he confesses his feelings to mike but he does it through the lens of a “playing cyrano” trope. Oh. Weird. …..okay. Whys he playing cyrano???? Surely this has no pay off. Now it’s season 5 and will just told his first person ever he’s gay. YAY! He is clearly starting to flirt with mike and asks how you know if someone wants to date. what? okay. that’s pretty forward. mike seems kinda protective again this season, which he hasn’t done since….. season 2? And they also live together. In the same house. Right, cus the California——okay, that makes narrative sense. Cool. what next? now he’s got powers!! yay will! which is something meaningful to mike (Superman speech, someone special, etc)……who is back in full character force as a leader only after Will reminded who he is!! by confessing his love (gay love) to him. Why are…… hm. I am wondering why the show is structured like this if . you are going to write a rejection into this. like. For real. and yes, we also establish more max in s3, which is then followed through in s4, and el’s story is scattered throughout this timeline, but Dustin and Lucas are pretty uninvolved for most of this Will/Mike/El situation. they’ve got their OWN love triangle. That’s Dustin/Max/Lucas. and they resolve it basically in one season. But im still watching Will Byers fag out and I’ve got 4 more episodes of television left to watch . And narratively what SHOULD happen. Perhaps does not align with what WILL happen
