byler can't be unrequited
the fact that there has been no content makes it really easy to get doubtful about what we already know to be true. here is why byler being unrequited is almost impossible if the duffers are even a fraction as talented as we think they are.
we have ALREADY got the unrequited arc in stranger things. more than once!!!! dustin liked max and robin liked tammy thompson. reusing this storyline for will (albeit on a much grander, heartbreaking scale) would be extremely lazy and unfulfilling. if will were to move on from mike and have another boyfriend by the end of the series, that would literally just be a direct copy and paste of robin's (and dustin's?) arc.
how satisfying is it to mirror the only two queer characters storyline's almost 1:1?
the main argument we see of ignorant ga members: "it was the 80s, mike not liking will back is realistic and would help older queer people feel represented on screen."
sure... but robin's crush on tammy has already fulfilled that relatable storyline. the sheer impact of "i wanted her to look at me" and robin's coming out scene shouldn't be understated. personally, i was only a confused kid watching that scene for the first time, but in that moment, i felt understand in ways that i wasn't even aware of. i've heard similar experiences with young and older queer people (namely lesbians) while watching that scene. the heartbreak was real.
however, by season 4, robin conceded to the fact that, okay maybe tammy isn't that great.
meanwhile will is literally just beginning to understand how in love with mike he is. mike makes him feel better for being different. this isn't just someone that will saw in passing at school. he is not going to move on from mike after loving him for as long as we've known them, either. imagining will undergoing the level of devastation associated with unrequited feelings when he's this in love with mike feels cruel. advancing the supernatural plot or his "coming of age" arc would not be enough to justify the level of suffering he would face.
queer people felt robin's pain, but the straight ga is fine with putting will through the same thing on steroids. the way the duffers talk about will's character makes me confident that they would handle his story with more care than that.
the unrequited pattern we've seen in the show is:
dustin: likes max -> max likes someone else -> starts dating suzie
robin: likes tammy -> tammy likes someone else -> starts dating vickie (in s5)
is this really something we need to see a third time? wouldn't the right time to give will a neat and easy new love interest be when he moved to california?
the duffers want the characters to have their perfect endings, even if they are shocking.
after being targeted and heartbroken for pretty much the whole series, is being alone or with some random side character at the last minute will's perfect ending?
