#elmike enthusiasts and elmike haters please learn there is a middle ground

[wibble-wobbegong]

it’s not a matter of loving her more or less. the love mike has for el is so different from any other type of relationship we’ve seen in the show because their foundation is incredibly familial, they’re projecting onto each other romantically because they’re desperate for normalcy, they try to use each other to supply the love they lack, and none of that is what either of them want. they do love each other, but it doesn’t manifest in any one specific way. it’s a completely unique product of actual genuine care, having shared trauma, and an attempt at romance that’s failing miserably. the love they have for each other, currently, is there. they do love each other, but that love isn’t entirely healthy, nor is it built entirely on reality. there are pieces of it that are genuine and true, but a lot of it has been built out of lies. that’s why it’s so important that they break up and learn how to be friends. they love each other enough to want to be good friends but they need to destroy the pieces of their love that aren’t real, which is a lot of it. they don’t have a lot to lean on, but they have enough.

they aren’t a completely loveless, dead relationship nor are they infatuated with each other. there are a lot of problems, but el isn’t going to forget the fact that mike took her in as a complete stranger and tried to get her help even when other people were suggesting they leave her in the rain. mike isn’t going to forget that el fought to protect him and his friends with everything she had. mike and el are both good people and they like that about each other, and it’s enough to want to relearn each other. they had a rough start, but they can recover and they can be real, actual friends.