stranger theories

Hey, anon <3

I agree with a lot of what you said. I will be annoyed if Will is shoved into the background this season, which is looking likely. He's one of my favourite characters and deserves more screentime and plotlines beyond just being gay and sad. We haven't gotten enough of Will's personality (his artwork, his friendships, his interests, etc.) and if they reduce him to some miserable gay guy I'll be annoyed. And I agree that I'll be annoyed if his only plotline is Mike not liking him back. As well as that, I think they can do better than unrequited Byler too. It would be a great relationship and be great queer representation as well.

What I was saying is that I don't believe that the queer representation on the show is inherently bad if Byler isn't canon. Will's self discovery isn't just about him liking Mike, it's about him coming to terms with his sexuality which is still important to see even if he doesn't get into a relationship at the end of it. The question I got asked was not if Byler should be requited but if I'd rather unrequited Byler or none at all to which my answer is still unrequited Byler. I'd rather them explore Will's sexuality and angst about Mike in an interesting and mainstream arc about self discovery than just have him like some random dude or not explore it at all.

So overall, I get what you're saying. I really hope that Will is more of a character in S4 beyond just being sad and gay for his straight bestie and I hope Byler is requited, even if I'm pessimistic about it. However, I just feel as though I'd rather have gay Will and no Byler than no Byler at all. I don't think him not liking Mike back makes him bad rep or tokenism, but making that his only trait would.

I hope this response was alright. I'm not the best with tone so if this came off as aggressive then that was not my intention at all (: