I Know Something You Don't

Regardless of whether or not you believe they had legitimate romantic attraction in early seasons, and for the sake of argument let’s say they did, it doesn’t negate the fact that El literally grew up in a lab and is being pushed into a romance with the first boy she meets.

Furthermore, getting them together early, at the tail end of season one (even if they don’t officially get together as a couple until season two) is even more proof that they aren’t meant to last. Just from a storytelling perspective, it would make more sense to save the main couple getting together until closer to the end. That way, you can capitalize on the dramatic tension between them until they finally get together. This is why so many popular couples are victim to slow burn, even within the same show we did not see Hop and Joyce get together until late this most recent season, even when it seemed obvious they would eventually be together. When a couple gets together early, there’s not many places to go but down.

This ultimately put a hinderance on El and Mike’s personal development. This goes back to what I said earlier about El’s backstory. Personally, the only way I could see milkvan actually working as a ship from both a character and a story standpoint is if they held off on getting them together at all until the very end. That way, not only could the story build tension between them, but both of them would be allowed to grow and go through their own arcs seperate of each other. El could become her own person outside of the lab before choosing who she wants to be with, and in a world where Mike is straight, he would most likely go through an arc where he learns that he is more than just a “pathetic nerd” and that he’s more than deserving of being with this girl that he fell in love with. But that’s not how their stories are written.

Shake your hair, have some fun Forget our mothers and past lovers, forget everyone Oh, I’m so lucky, you are my best friend Oh, there’s no one, there’s no one who knows me like you do

Are your lights on? Are your lights still on?

I’ll keep you safe If you keep me strong

byler through the seasons - and one of my fave headcanons for season 5, mike the hero and paladin, protecting will. lyrics by wolf alice