A Stranger Things hot take that’ll probably get me flogged:
While Will would be able to understand El’s trauma more than Mike, he sure as hell would not be able to understand her more than Kali and Henry.
Yes, Will could understand having an abusive father figure and going through trauma at a young age, but he absolutely cannot understand not having a childhood at all. Yes, he went through fucked up shit, but he had his mother, his brother, and his friends to fall back on. He had a chance to figure out who he was and what he liked.
Meanwhile, Kali was taken from her family at just five years old. She lost two found families, was recaptured and tortured by Kay, endlessly vilified before dying in the Upside Down after no one even bothered to save her.
Henry has not been alone in his own mind since he was eight years old (fuck u duffers he was EIGHT) and spent practically decades in the lab. The second he became Vecna, he lost practically all bodily autonomy. No one was on his side right until the end. He claims to have chosen to be flayed, but that is bullshit. He. Was. A. Child. A child doesn’t choose to be possessed by an Eldritch demon. And just as we found out he’s flayed, he gets killed with no remorse despite having an entire play made to have use sympathize with him.
El has been in the lab since she was an infant. It’s all she’s ever known. And when she leaves, she gets into a romantic relationship she sure as hell isn’t ready for, and spends the majority of the show barely knowing who she is, not feeling like she belonged, and seeing herself as a monster.
Mike was a better friend to her than a boyfriend, Hopper was extremely possessive of her. The Byers, nice as they are, did not make El feel like she belonged. Sorry to people who like Will*l but no, Will barely made an effort to be a brother to El and neither did Jonathan. Joyce barely made an effort to be a mother to El. El never sees them as her family. This doesn’t make the Byers bad ppl, mind you, just characters with flaws like everyone else.
It’s pretty ironic that I don’t care for the will*l dynamic anymore. I used to be all over it back in the day, but now I just see it as overrated. I get annoyed when ppl trying putting Will on the same level as Kali cause. No. El actually sees Kali as her sister. She does not see Will as her brother.
Fine if ppl like it, but it is a fanon dynamic. So don’t get mad when other fans don’t see it (cause I’ve seen fans get mad when you don’t see Will and El as siblings with this super deep bond)
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