Reading fics tagged "period typical homophobia" is like a lottery because the homophobia in question ranges from a weird look to a hate crime with no in between

You know Will is gay for a fact because the girl that hit on him in S4 is SO CUTE and I know any person who loves women would uncontrollably swoon if she tried playing footsie with them

I see a lot of the rhetoric that Will's crush shouldn't have happened if they're not going to make it required or people saying that it's pointless for Will to come out to Mike if they don't get together and I sorta disagree. I feel as though we can critique anti-Byler rhetoric without discounting how Will's character arc is not entirely dependent on Mike liking him back.

Will coming out and being unashamed of his identity after years of feelings broken or like a mistake as a result of bullying is still a big deal for his character arc. I would much rather an unrequited crush than none at all. Not only does it make Byler semi-canon, but it's huge for Will's character and I think we can be disappointed or even angry if it's not requited whilst simultaneously acknowledging that.

To a lesser extent, this applies to the idea that Byler is the only possible happy ending for Will because I think that whilst it is the happiest and best ending for him, I think there's still value in him coming to terms with his identity, being accepted by Mike and then being able to grow and move on. We've seen it before and I'd rather Byler much more, but as someone who went through the same thing Will went through (if it's unrequited), I think younger me would've still felt very represented and hopeful by seeing a character be able to accept himself, even if his crush was unrequited.

Of course, the solution to all of those issues is just... canon Byler. So yeah, Duffers, do that please!

Perhaps I am incorrect, but if we're going with the theory that Will being framed in Mike and El's kiss is a parallel to Robin being framed between Vickie and her boyfriend's kiss in order to show that both Byler and Rovickie will be canon, doesn't that also point towards bi Mike? Because Vickie was once attracted to the guy she kissed but felt out of love with him because her feelings for girls like Robin got in the way, just like she got in the way of their kiss. Could that apply to Mike too?

I'm so odd about Mike Wheeler because usually when a character I like messes up I go "why would they do that?" but whenever post-S2 Mike messes up I go "why would the writers do that?"

strangertheories in her active era?

Shockingly yes, now there is stuff to post about beyond me taking 13 paragraphs to ramble about Will Byers and say nothing ultimately. If anyone is interested, my ask box is still open ;)

Also I just realized I've never been referred to with she/her pronouns before on this app and it gave me a bit of a surprise to remember I am in fact a human girl and not just a PNG of Will Byers and the mind flayer with Bengulat font on top of it. That or I'm not relevant enough to be spoken about in third person.