This is genuinely my hottest byler take, but I think being obviously queer to the point of being bullied for it from a young age (especially for being weak/feminine) is such a huge part of Will’s character that a femme presenting Willow just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
I keep seeing people try to excuse it with “nooo he was scared of losing her that’s why he didn’t say it :(“ I don’t care! El is about to fucking die! Lock the fuck in! Maybe if you said it once over the past 7 episodes, I’d care, but you didn’t! So say it now before El EXPLODES