I am trying so, so, so hard to stay positive after vol 2. Honestly, I still believe in Byler Endgame, (it will likely be awfully written, though!)
What gives me hope is Will's coming out scene (yes, I didn't like how literal random people were there, but I think there WAS a reason)
1. The camera SPECIFICALLY focuses on Mike after Will says "I don't like girls". I know this was intentional because 2 seconds later, when Will says "not like you guys do", it focuses on Lucas and Dustin, but now Mike is out of focus/not framed in the shot.
2. I can't remember exact specifics but when Will is talking about his struggles, we focus on characters that feel the same way, like Dustin "pushing people away", but we also focus on Mike, who didn't relate to any of those struggles, UNLESS HE IS ALSO GAY, and is relating to Will's struggle with being gay.
3. Yeah, I hate that Murray, Kali, Mr. Clarke, and other people Will barely knows were there during the coming out scene, but I think it had a purpose, not only for Will, but for Mike as well. If Mike turns out to be gay, it'd be clear that he struggled with internalized homophobia (the reason he hasn't come out yet), and how do we lessen the fear rejection because you're queer? We show that people will accept you no matter what. None of the (too many) people in that room had a problem with Will, showing that they accept him. The last words of this scene are "I'm not afraid anymore", and who do we focus on? Not Will, Mike. MIKE isn't afraid anymore, he was shown that it's okay to be gay, so now not only is Will not afraid of Vecna using his gayness against him, Mike isn't afraid of his queerness either.
How I feel talking about tiny details with the fucking camera work
If Byler isn't endgame, it will be the biggest queerbait of all time, I really, really hope it isn't. I know I'm not insane for picking up details in camera work, that's intentional, it has to be.
