I think you might have misread this chapter. There is nothing here about Will being the reason that Mike was a jerk. Mike in this story was a jerk in s3-4 because he is deeply closeted, deeply insecure, and deeply afraid. And he projects that out onto other people. What Will did (with the painting) was insert his own romantic feelings into reassurance for someone else's relationship, which, let's be real, is a bit fucked up. We know why he did it. No one hates Will--Mike even says that. But deceit is still involved, and we know how strongly Mike takes Will's lack of straightforwardness, justified or not. A confrontation was going to happen.
Plus, to be clear: Will is a core part of Mileven's dynamic. He is El's brother and Mike's best friend and crush. They are a trio, always have been, and always will be. Will is quite capable of pulling himself into their shit--and does so frequently in canon--whether we like it or not.
Comment on ST5-Episode 1: The Crawl
thenecessaryfire on Chapter 7 Sun 21 Sep 2025 05:57AM UTC
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