Probably thinking about the ocean

will should’ve been in the brink of death and lost his eye

mike should’ve been so overwhelmed mentally that it affects him physically, and he should’ve broken his arm

lucas should’ve been more impaired by him injuries

dustin should’ve been more impaired by his injuries

from a craft perspective, you don’t structure, block, and frame a relationship the way they’ve done with will and mike unless you’re building toward romantic payoff. none of their major scenes have been staged like platonic beats, not in performance, not in camera language, not in narrative placement. if the intention was “just friendship,” they could have cleanly closed that loop in season 4. instead, they’ve carried the emotional tension all the way into the finale.

and here’s the thing: using a queer character’s emotional arc as narrative fuel for a straight character’s storyline is not neutral. it’s a choice with implications. if they end this by saying “actually it was always just friendship,” after years of romantic coding, that’s not subtext, that’s queerbait. and at that point, yes, they should be held accountable for it.

giving will an epilogue boyfriend would only underline the problem. it would confirm that they abandoned the story they themselves built. structurally, thematically, emotionally, the narrative doesn’t make sense unless will gets the ending that aligns with the love he’s been written toward from the beginning.

it’s all just an excuse for bad writing lol

*For the Mileven shippers, Byler shippers, and anyone else who wants to learn

TLDR at bottom

There are plenty of Mileven shippers who are chill with Will, just as there are plenty of Byler shippers who are chill with El. There are also Mileven shippers that don’t like Will for various reasons. But the actual hate against Will coming from a few of them simply on the basis that they don’t want Byler is what I’m addressing here.

I’ve heard predictions that these hating ‘White Cishet Gen-Z Girls’ /neu who ship Mileven are going to be upset if Byler becomes canon mostly because they won’t get representation. El is a character that represents them, and they want her to end up with the emo Wheeler. I wouldn’t give too many shits about this “it needs to be representation for me” attitude if this show was taking place in the current era. But this show is taking place in the 1980’s, in a small US town. Which means…

Will Byers is direct representation for gay men who were young in the 80’s. (He also serves representation for queer people of all ages.) It’s so important to recognize how traumatizing it was to be a gay boy living through the 1980’s, especially in a small, conservative town. And the things that happen to Will signify the darkest of those traumas. Will is assaulted in multiple ways, his bodily autonomy is taken from him, he goes missing, he is found dead, he is bullied, and he had experienced abuse before ST takes place. When Will goes missing, Joyce worries he’s been a victim of a hate crime. This was reality for gay boys in the US in the 80’s (and before). There are gay men alive today who experienced these traumas. There are gay men alive today whose friends and lovers experienced these traumas. There are people alive today, queer and straight, whose gay loved ones were killed in this era of hate. And all along with the AIDS Epidemic traumas. (These traumas are still happening to many queer people in the US, just at lower rates because of a much more accepting society. These traumas are currently the norm for tens of millions of queer people in other areas of the world.)

Point being, Stranger Things is intentionally providing representation for these people. And with Byler, they want to respect these people with these lifelong traumas by showing that gay lives aren’t meant to be all suffering. That being forced to live in dangerous situations doesn’t mean there’s no opportunity for love.

If Byler is endgame, it’s going to be healing for people with these traumas. For the men who were unable to be themselves and pursue happiness when they were young because the threat of being hurt or killed was too high. For the people whose loved ones died before they could pursue love, or died in pursuit of love. For the parents who lost their sons too young and never got to see them grow up and fall in love and live a happy life. Byler being endgame will be a validation. Showing a gay boy in the 80’s who gets to be himself and pursue happiness in his youth. Showing a gay boy in the 80’s making it through traumas symbolic of theirs and getting to pursue love in the end. Showing a gay boy in the 80’s who makes it to adulthood and gets love and happiness. There are practically no films that have offered this healing representation, and having one as popular as ST would not only make film history, but queer rights history as well.

If Mileven is endgame, it’s essentially another straight ship? Of which there are more than plenty in 80’s media and modern media. And Eleven doesn’t get to experience a life outside of being in a romantic relationship. Even if it may be healing for some girls’ traumas, there are plenty of other films with straight ships that offer the same.

If Byler is endgame, and that subset of Mileven fans who are ‘White Cishet Gen-Z Girls’ have feelings of upset at not having representation, it’s gonna be a Wells For Boys situation. “That’s because it’s not for you. Everything is for you, and this one thing is for him!” If Mileven isn’t endgame, those fans can browse through the billions of other feel-good straight couples in film to find representation. If Byler isn’t endgame, gay men who lived in the 80’s have no films to turn to for representation. The only ones I’ve ever heard of are really fucking sad and upsetting.

When Byler is canon, I will cry because it will be cute and romantic, but I will mostly cry because of the representation of queer joy in film, because of the feat of new queer film history, because I have to hide my queerness and don’t get to experience queer joy like Byler, and so many of my tears will be tears of grief for my queer elders.

If you are a young American who hasn’t really considered the meaning of this representation before, I’d like to suggest you ask queer elders and ally elders about what the mainstream culture around queerness was in the 80’s and during the AIDS Epidemic. Personally, connecting with queer elders who survived the AIDS Epidemic is something I’m really grateful for. I carry a much deeper grief now, but that means I’m connected to the community, and it inspires me to respect the trauma my neighbors carry. We didn’t live in the violently homophobic culture of the 80’s, but many people in our lives did, and it’s our responsibility to learn about that time of trauma before us. Especially at a time when base-level educational institutions aren’t teaching it to us.