#basically i agree with you 100% anon i just took the chance to ramble further

[elcorhamletlive]

It annoys me that Bylrs are so against the idea of Will moving on from Mike and finding a new boy that will love him back.

We also know that there will be a time skip (2 years or so) in the next season. It actually makes perfect sense for Will to move on during that time skip. Because the alternate scenario is him just waiting, pining, and sticking to his (unrequited) love for Mike for a long time.... And that is a very tiring, annoying plot at this point.

I think ''Will moving on from Mike is OOC'' type of talking points all come from prioritizing Bylr possibly or maybe happening over Will's character. It's like playing a losing game. It is important to prioritize Will's individual character first than a ship that has next to zero chance of happening. Wishing and making Will be stuck in this pining and gayngst game contributes nothing to Will's character.

Will getting a new love interest during that time skip period is more preferable to having to watch him pine after Mike for a very long time... the way the writers approached this situation deserves criticism ofc, because Will getting a new love interest in the last season must be criticized, and we can do that. However, the insistence on making Will be stuck in his first childhood love is also deserving of criticism. And at the end of the day, it is much more preferable to watch Will move on to find a boy that will love him back instead of watching his gay suffering again. Their relationship will appear for only one season, yeah, and it is worth criticism. But dismissing it completely contributes nothing to the topic.

Yeah, exactly.

I think your third paragraph hits the nail on the head, anon. I have never seen anyone from the party line of "It's OOC for Will to move on from Mike" who did not also believe Mike reciprocates Will's feelings and they're going to end up together. It's the same reason why they believe Will's feelings for Mike are somehow deeper or more real than Eleven's. Usually they will follow up with something like "Mike is his soulmate", which, hm, is pretty revelatory in regards to their true opinions.

I also think Will getting a new love interest becomes exponentially more likely if there is a timeskip, which the Duffers have said will happen but we don't know in which context. Because in a timeskip you usually want to feature some kind of major change in the status quo (like Lucas joining the football team, or El getting heavily bullied). And I've seen people use this exact point to argue for B*ler, saying Mike and Eleven could break up during a timeskip, but I don't think people realise that "Will met a new guy and moved on from the guy who has been dating his sister for like two years" and "Mike and Eleven decided they're better off as friends" are not equally understandable, logical scenarios for the characters as they're presented in canon. One of those possibilities is just a much easier sell than the other, which would require tons of explaining, flashbacks, retconning, etc.

Finally, I feel compelled to add that mutual B*l*r really does nothing for Will's character arc at this point. Most people who argue for it don't seem to believe Will needs to have an arc at all - sure, they want him to have a ton of screentime and defeat Vecna and have secret powers and etc, but they don't seem to want him to experience character development, to grow and evolve and change. In fact I've encountered a lot of pushback from B*l*r truthers to the idea that Will needs to grow and change at all - most seem to think he's already perfect and only needs to be loved back by Mike to complete his arc, and I think this is a pretty self-indulgent view that carries a poor interpretation of canon. The show has dropped the ball with Will in many ways, but one thing that it has been consistent with is Will's struggle to grow up and the fact that he needs to do so for his own happiness.