Cocoayote

not him ending up alone (canon fear for queer people)

None of us are wrong. The Duffer Brothers, Shawn Levy, Netflix are wrong. This was the most elaborate queerbait in media history. The responsibility is on them. Don't ever forget that.

All the evidence is that Mike is not straight, has feelings for Will, and is grieving over the loss of his first love.

And El's imagined happy ending did not include a romantic future with Mike.

BYLER IS REAL.

They stoked in us a hope and fire that will not burn out. The subtext was ABSOLUTELY planted and is there. They just didn't deliver. No network corporate execs have the right or the ABILITY to quell our fire to want want to be human and free.

They absolutely knew we exist and who we are when they played David Bowie's "Heroes" during the credits. They gave a nod to heroism, but weren't heroic themselves. What some corporate suits and the Duffer Brothers do does not dictate what WE do.

EDIT: The fact that Will's coming-out journey played NO role in the finale is bad writing. I said it. Like wtf.

EDIT 2: After seeing comments, I rewatched Mike putting his D&D book next to Will's. Mike shows the most emotion he has all season, looking at Will's book which takes up half the frame, and breaks down when placing his own book next to it. It was a nod to Byler. The Duffers never ruled out Byler; Will's painting is on his wall. It was cowardly, but the writers made Byler live on in subtext.

If Byler were canon, it would have been a fictional story after all. What would have mattered is what we did with it after. And for us, BYLER WILL ALWAYS BE REAL.