#and if the whole timeline can be encapsulated it means there's a single comprehensive arc planned

[gayofthefae]

Season 2 was a purposefully and fully romantic season for Mike and Will and they're gonna come back to it.

El's death changes everything. El's death is a crazy situation to be in. El's death is an amazing setup.

Mike made a promise to a girl. Then she died. Then he fell for someone else. And they had something, unspoken. He spoke it, just a little bit. Then, after a year, hours later, she came back.

That is a CLASSIC bad timing trope.

Ex you thought was gone for good comes back and holds you to something is TEXTBOOK and ALWAYS juicy. But most importantly, as a trope, it's pre-existing.

That is what season 2 is for.

Mike and Will aren't just in love. They aren't just miscommunicating. They didn't just self sabotage. They didn't just miss each other by a little bit because they didn't know. They were INTERRUPTED.

"While you were gone I developed feelings for someone else because I thought you were gone forever but then you came back and I was happy you were back but now I don't know what do" IS a trope. And a JUICY one at that.

They aren't retconning anything. They're pointing it out. They wrote a specific romantic trope by the book already. You just don't know that that's what it was because you don't know that's how he was feeling about it.

But that's the thing. All that's left is the feelings. People think Byler would be forced because they don't notice that the romantic tropes we define every other romance by are already present and it's not just a made up "now kiss" out of nowhere. People define consistency and planning and arcs by these tropes. Byler HAS them. Distinct and specific ones. The situations are there. They just need to be informed of the feelings.

Just like friends to lovers is only friends to lovers when they become lovers. And miscommunication is only miscommunication once they act on the assumption. Tropes aren't always visible until they manifest. But the situation is there. All the actions have been committed. All the pieces are in place.

Mike dated El then didn't. Then she came back. All they need to is say "something happened" in between. You'll believe them. The same way when he couldn't say he loved her we all went "wait a minute, oh shit...he didn't say it in season 3, did he?", we will all go "oh shit, they separated Mike and El for a reason"

When it came out, I always just assumed the separation in season 2 was to try and extend the interest, and I forgave them for it. I still believed that until my realization tonight. I knew it was to give screentime for Mike and Will but I never truly connected the dots. It wasn't just setup and hints. It wasn't just getting people on board with their dynamic. Something was actually there. Something almost HAPPENED.

The thing about this trope is...it's about momentum being cut off. They had momentum. In season 2,...they were going somewhere.