I so have to start managing my expectations for canon Byler. As a Destiel survivor, especially 😅. I lived through the Destiel queerbait (which was kinda not really queerbait because Cas WAS in love with Dean and he did confess, and... Well that's a conversation for another post, because there was SOME queerbaiting happening, but it's a little more nuanced. But yes, that's a longer conversation).
I am getting flashbacks to the Destiel fandom in 2020, our expectations for canon Destiel, how the evidence kept piling up season by season, how it was obviously a romantic narrative between them in season 15, how clearly this was going somewhere and that somewhere HAD to be canon Destiel, because we could not imagine what else in the world it could be that gave Cas a genuine happy moment other than Dean Winchester, and the Empty deal (Cas would be taken by the Empty after a moment where he allowed himself to experience true happiness) HAD to come to light because it was the final season, so it HAD to be addressed. Destiel HAD to be addressed.
And it WAS! And we were all elated! Because now Cas had said it, and now we had to wait for Dean to answer! ...except he never did. The other shoe never dropped. Cas never got his answer. In fact, we didn't even get to see Cas being rescued from the Empty. Cas was never seen or mentioned again in a meaningful way after his sacrifice and love confession.
There are some differences, though, at least. I do think Byler has a more solid foundation for Will's love to be reciprocated by Mike. For starters, it's canon already that Will is in love with Mike, so we are going into the final season with half of the ship already confirmed. We have a full season (in which we know there is a timeskip, too) in which Mike's feelings can be built up so he can answer Will in a believable way even for the casual audience (arguably their love has been set up since the first season, and I believe it has, so all they have to do for Byler is just put the pieces in their place so the characters can address the elephant in the room).
I remember how many of us had lost faith in Destiel by season 14 (the showrunners seemed to be actively trying to downplay the tension between them, fruitlessly, after season 13), but our expectations were built up again in the final season. A lot of the conversations had around the time were very similar to the Byler fandom's conversations ("if Destiel doesn't happen it will be the queerbait of the century" was said a lot, for example), but at least with Byler we have more reasons to believe that their story will end more positively, and in fact, it's actually truly likely that they will end up together. The story is just pointing to it in a verifiable way.
And yet, you could probably say the same about Destiel, at least in that final season. Despite how sure I am about Byler being endgame, I am STILL scared that I will go through another Destiel.
I do NOT want Will (or Mike!) to die. I do not. Especially not after Will confessing his feelings or sharing a kiss with Mike. I want them to have a happy ending. I want them to be able to come out of this darkness alive and finally be together. It would be so unfair to Will to have been this tragic character all series long, a character who believes himself to be unworthy of love, who is so selfless he is even willing to sacrifice his own happiness if only the person he loves will be happy (by fixing the frankly unfixable relationship between Mike and El). It would be so unfair and absolutely tragic (in a bad writing sort of way) for this boy to have his fears proven right. To have confirmation that he won't be loved back by the person he loves, and then to die as a result of something that was never his fault. Vecna wanting him for whatever purpose he wants him was never Will's fault. Everything that has happened to him has never been his fault. That boy is a victim. And yet, if he dies, however heroic they decide to make his death look like, to me it will just feel like this character is being punished for things that he never had any control over. All his pain leading to an early demise is just terrible writing.
I don't want him to confess his love only to die. I don't want him to be loved briefly by Mike only to die. I want him to live. I want them both to live.
"No one writes a slow burn rejection", is a saying that goes around a LOT in the Byler fandom, and the statement is true (in my opinion, at least), but I have seen a "slow burn, no answer", a "slow burn and bury your gays" before, in Destiel. And it scares me that history will repeat itself.
I have trust in the Duffer brothers, and Netflix seems to be pretty progressive, too. So Byler going canon (with a kiss, even), is actually a likely scenario, but I have been burned before (and in November, no less 😅) by a favorite ship in a favorite show's final season, and so I keep telling myself "tread carefully". I do not want to be betrayed again. Everything seemed right for Destiel, and then it all fell apart in the final three episodes.
But yes, in the Duffers I trust... Still, I gotta start managing my expectations. I DO think Mike and Will will kiss, though, and I have a solid reason why I believe this: it was totally foreshadowed in season 3, when Will comments that Nancy staying over with Jonathan (and presumably the things they do together) are "gross", and Joyce says "You won't think it's gross when YOU fall in love" and Will says "I'm not going to fall in love". Will is going to be proven wrong. That line is there to set this up for later. Yes, Will is going to fall in love, and yep, he won't think it's gross when Mike is kissing him.
Anyway, there it is. As you can see, my expectations are very high for them. Which is why Tl;Dr, I need to manage them so I don't crash and burn if I get less than I hope for. As reasonable as I think my hopes are, the chances for a show disappointing me in the final season are never zero.
