mike: yeah, im actually not worried about that at all right now, im literally thinking about all the reasons we just don't work.
will: i am the most selfless person alive so im just going to try to reassure you using my feelings but replacing my name with hers, maybe that'll make you feel better and i can get my feelings off my chest even though it's killing me inside.
mike: wow your words made me feel more loved than i have in my entire life, if those are her feelings then i guess maybe it is love, despite the fact that nothing you described makes any sense in relation to her feelings because you clearly aren't talking about her but im oblivious and an idiot so im not gonna pick up on that fact.
I spend so much time pretending Endgame doesn’t exist that I forget the extent that Sebastian Stan put everything he had into that final “you’re taking all the stupid with you” like??? That is a man IN LOVE there is not a single heterosexual explanation for that look or that delivery, fuck the scene but Sebastian does continue to give us what we need and I thank him for his service
Just thinking about the fact that finn wolfhard improvised the whole "____ makes you crazy" thing after byler said they'd go crazy together and the "you're my superhero" line when el clearly needs to be seen as more than her powers.
I mean, even if the duffers didn't write for byler to be canon in st5, finn will make it happen for us.
with the way that will's love for mike is written in the script with such detail, precision, and intent (will blushing, his eyes glistening and welling up, them locking eyes), it would be so cruel and nonsensical to have mike simply reject him. i'm not saying that mike OWES will anything, but i am saying that all this build-up has to lead to something big (perhaps subverting the general audience's expectations, since most people believe that will's feelings are entirely unreciprocated).
unrequited love stories happen irl all the time, but in fiction? people want a happy ending for their favourite characters. the fact that they placed so much emphasis on WILL'S perspective in particular shows that they want the audience to root for his happy ending.
honestly, after that i REALLY don't want will to have powers. like i already didn't like that theory, but after reading that script? even more so.
he doesn't need another reason to hate himself or feel different or be in agony or stress like... leave him alone.
also, if everyone does realize how important will is to them (because most of them have been really fucking shitty to him, not just mike), i don't want it to be because he has powers or because he dies.
i want them to look at will for all that he is and go wow, he's amazing. because he IS amazing and he's worth loving.
he is so kind and selfless and thoughtful, the fact that he hates himself is just so utterly heartbreaking???
i don't care how we get there, i need him to get a happy ending. he doesn't deserve to die, or to get rejected, or to be ignored, he deserves to be happy and loved for all that he is and have the life he's always wanted.