#teleplays

• mike’s expression in the van scene shows that the painting is “stunning”—in fact, “his smile could light up a room,” so jot that down.

• the miscommunication trope is #confirmed in the van script—they are both misunderstanding the vibes and each other, and kinda speaking in code. it’s excellent.

• the way the pacing of the van scene is written out makes it seem like…….mike is getting ready to break up w el? or wants to talk thru with will abt how maybe he and el aren’t so compatible? (but instead will is like “nooo she needs u haha :/” bc he thinks mike is truly in love w el)

• speaking of mitskivan being bones, toast, splitsville, dunzo, etc, their reunion uses language that parallels el and mike’s bond to a strictly familial and platonic one—and even calls back to the idea of “when i stumbled on her in the woods, she just needed someone.”

“thanks! i’m actually not worried about that at all. i’m just trying to figure out how to break up with her. thanks anyway bestie ur so wise and mature and also my favorite artist ur work is stunning <3”

this is actually my favorite part of the script when it comes to byler coding. let’s look closely at mike and el’s actions:

1. he grabs her shoulders.

his first instinct is not to kiss her, not to embrace her even, but to put his hands on her shoulders.

2. the physical contact is WARM AND INVITING; to them both.

forehead touch = platonic elmike !!!!!

“when i stumbled on her in the woods, she just needed someone.”

this “warm and inviting” stage direction HIGHKEY confirms to me that almondmilk is not being romantically coded anymore. not even a little bit. they’re literally having them embrace out of need for human contact. that is NOT romantic; they “just needed someone.”

3. (about the willel hug) their hug is STRONG; neither will let go.

clearly, this is the important hug in this moment, rather than the reuniting of the main couple who is currently in a really serious fight and the audience is wondering whether they’re gonna get back together ????

aka, the focus is mainly on will’s arc, and will’s arc is kinda centered around being in love with mike.

oh this is fucking delicious.

[Will senses the change in vibe; although oblivious to the actual motive behind the change]

oh my god. will thinks the change in vibe is about el—see where his line says “re: El”, that’s what he thinks they’re talking about/mike is sad about)…

but the change in vibe is really because he mentioned playing dnd & nintendo forever and that touched something in mike enough to change the mood.

think abt it—will clearly knows that moment about dnd was awkward, so that’s not the part he’s oblivious to. he also thinks he knows that mike is talking about/worried about el. so what is he missing here?

look at the way mike’s stage directions are here: (nervously) yeah i know, i know she is. (contemplatively) but what if after all this is over, she doesn’t need me anymore?

CONTEMPLATIVELY?

like the same way i was contemplating just now whether to make breakfast tea or earl grey??? he’s so chill about it??? yooo if i thought my gf was breaking up with me i would not be feeling “contemplative”??? he’s not worried that she’s leaving him, at least not when he says the lines that are pictured in my screencap. he’s simply pondering that he thinks she might.

so this is how i read his stage directions based on context (my interpretation)—

(nervously, because what will just brought up reminds me of our fight from last year that we never addressed, but i’m not ready to talk about that so i’ll just go along with what he’s saying about el) yeah, i know. i know she is.

(contemplatively, because things are sliding into place after what will just said and maybe, just maybe, my time with el is coming to a close) but what if after all this is over, she doesn’t need me anymore?

~~~