nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide

To get the obvious out of the way, it will force general audiences to think harder about the media they consume, and will likely also push creators to invest more in the detail of their shows.

Now, having byler get together in the last episode would’ve obviously caused a lot of controversy and done a lot for the community, but people would’ve moved on relatively quickly, maybe a month at most. After that, they’d likely harass Bylers whenever they happened to come across them, but that’s it.

But conformitygate would be huge, next level.

To give the general audience their ideal, big bang marvel-esque ending where our main characters get seemingly happy endings (except for the poor tragic doomed lovers with no chemistry)

Will, ooooo he gets to be gay with his implied nameless epilogue bf, careful, don’t wanna get too queer! Away from all his friends and family, his fear of being seperated due to his queerness is realised, and also apparently drinking now

Mike is mourning the love of his life, aw so sad, at least he gets to keep writing and believing el is alive! Do I even need to explain?

Max and Lucas, the it couple! And nothing more

Dustin is doing great with all his non-conformity and in college! where the fuck did suzie go and why did he give a damn about that Tracy girl OR her party?

El might be dead, but she also might be living her best life in Greenland, all you have to do is believe! The three waterfalls weren’t even her dream, they were mikes

They get their sad goodbyes, and go about their seperate lives, hanging their childhoods up on the shelves and leaving it all behind. It’s bittersweet, but necessary to move on, right?

—Only to take it away and present them with a fantastical ending full of in-depth lore, heart to hearts, resolved character arcs, an intense psychological battle. but hey, it’s also gay!!!!!

They’d be forced to pick: the boring finale, or the gay one. Intelligent and in-depth fictional media, or shutting out queer stories.

Having byler be canon in the final episode would’ve been incredible, conformitygate would change the world. It’s riskier, bigger, bolder.

If it’s real, it’s 100% a social experiment—imagine the research we would get from this? The way the GA reacted would be studied, the callout on homophobia would be huge. I’m talking massive—REVOLUTIONARY!!!

(And even outside of Stranger Things specifically, that research could do so much.)

They wouldn’t be able to deny the homophobia within their fandom space anymore, not with the shows very creators calling them out on a meta scale. And going forth it would force people to face their own individual homophobia on a much deeper level. Some people would obviously close their eyes and block their ears, but if it’d happened in EP8, damn near everyone would’ve.