"we'll go crazy together, right?"

its that will is such a raw, emotional character. for him to sit with the fact that he was in love with his best friend whether he liked it or not, not knowing--- no, not just "not knowing," being convinced, being sure that he would never feel the same? and then for his world to be flipped on its head after the robin talk, giving him an overwhelming amount of hope, unconvincing him of everything he thought he knew about mike? finally being able to accept the truth for what it is, finally allowing himself to be comfortable in his own skin for the first time since he himself knew the truth? and then for it all to be ripped from him, watching as his best friend looks at him with that platonic love in his eyes, realizing that he had hope for nothing. he was unintentionally led on, and he let it happen. for him to realize that he was right all along, that mike truly never loved him the same way, to know that Vecna, of all people, was right? that is what I would never get over.

and mike just deserves a better character arc. he needs something that makes him different. he had a candlestick as a weapon, for gods sake. all he has is being snarky. for a main character, he doesn't feel all that prominent. all he really has going for him is saving will from the upside down all those years ago, and being els boyfriend. and he has so many behaviors that need an explanation. his will voice, always staring at wills lips, "crazy together," El being superman and not superwoman, the El speech being improvised vs the van scene taking an entire shooting day... maybe it all feels stupid and silly and pointless and unimportant, but if there's one thing I've learned about stranger things, its that nothing is unintentional. its all honestly the elephant in the room, and it needs to be addressed.

and el. her character arc would be completely disregarded is mileven was endgame. she spent her entire life getting away from being controlled by men, being told how to use her powers, being told what to do. that girl didnt know what a friend was when she got with mike. how was she supposed to know that she loved him? and the cherry on top? they spent the better part of their relationship either broken up or in different dimensions altogether. there is no way that she knows how a relationship is supposed to be. I was talking to my friend, whos a mileven, about all this and she said that she learned to love him and that he doesn't control her anymore; that she wants him. but how is she meant to know that she wants him when she isn't fully healed from all her trauma? she really doesnt know what she wants, she just knows how mike makes her feel. and how is that? most of the time, its frustrated. but also, maybe cared for. but then again, look at how he treats all of his friends. with a similar amount of care. because that's who he is; caretaker. idk them being together forever would just deduce her to "Mike's girlfriend" and that doesn't sit right with me all all.

going back to will, I don't think that the duffers should just give him an epilogue boyfriend and call it a day. I mean, I don't think noah schnapp, being a gay guy himself, would stand for that either. Will doesn't deserve that, he deserves the boy that he's been pining after for years.

Oh, you need two years to release 8 episodes? HR filmed 6 episodes in less than 40 days.

You need more budget to pay high profile actors? HR took a risk with aspiring unknown actors because they were promising in the audition.

You butchered a language on screen? Connor Storrie delivered a monologue in Russian after learning the language for just a few weeks.

You added more dialogue to your adaptation to explain feelings? Hudson Williams delivered emotional rollercoaster performances with just his eyes.

maya: i really wanted ronance, really badly, and i pitched that really hard.