I'm a byler shipper, and I still think that Will is gonna be Mike's second choice bc El is gonna dump his ass again. Isn't that the whole point of a plot twist romance? The second option is one that most people don't expect, but that also means the first option was more desirable (in some way) to the person choosing. And the saddest part is that Will’s self-esteem is somewhat dependent on Mike ultimately choosing him because he doesn’t have any other love interests. Byler can't even get the same respect that Jancy/Jopper got from the writers so idk how everyone expects it to be revolutionary or amazing. These are the same people who wrote mileven Like That.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I'd rather frame it as: Will's self-esteem is somewhat dependent on Mike, not necessarily on Mike choosing him romantically. He's sensitive to Mike's changeable moods, and Mike holds considerable influence over him which is partly due to Will's romantic feelings.
Do the Duffers truly respect those two pairs? Both of them have bad track records, with some worse than others (Hopper and Jonathan, so Mike would fit right in). However, I understand your point if "respect" constitutes the writers exploring these romances overtly, in the text, across seasons.
Mike and El's relationship is a clusterfuck and a boring one too. At least if they were like Jeremiah and Belly in The Summer I Turned Pretty S3, I'd have some fun with the messiness. What I do have fun with is how people in the sub-fandom want Will and Mike to become a variant of Mike and El, while arguing how toxic the latter couple is. Make it make sense.
