Hey all! It's so exciting (and scary) that ST5 is almost here. Welcome to spicy byler polls, where we post polls for the byler community to answer that are, you guessed it, spicy. Basically any polls you wouldn't submit to the main byler polls account, and any polls/asks you'd feel too afraid to ask on your own blog. This blog is 18+.
Yes, of course, that includes polls related to the 😈 tango, but not necessarily limited to that. Can include headcanons about their first time, questions about specific fanfics, what a hypothetical implied sex scene would look like in S5, them making out sloppily, what their individual feelings towards sex would be like, etc. There's been an increase in anti-spicy byler sentiment, and so I think it's important now more than ever to speak up and take a stand for what's right.
Submissions are currently open.
I use he/him pronouns. And I'm bi and in my 20s if you're curious. Btw, this blog is also pro-Finn AND Noah. While it's not the original/main purpose, I do tend to get those kinds of asks as well, so this blog is open to Foah related asks, or questions about the cast/show in general too. I know some people don't like RPF, so going forward, those kinds of posts will be tagged properly.
Please note that the purpose of this blog is not to be "creepy" or to make anyone uncomfortable. That's why I created the #spicy byler tag. (I will tag all relevant polls/asks with this). If you don't want to see this blog or anything related to it on your feed, please filter out that tag. Not everyone is comfortable with this sorta stuff, and that's okay. PLEASE use discretion if you submit a poll. Yes, the idea is to not shy away from the taboo and the "problematic" aspects of Byler, but within reason. If the poll goes "too far," it will not be answered. (This is subjective, obviously, but my point is just to use your own discretion. I think most people have an intuitive sense of "the line").
I also likely won't post a poll if the entire purpose is to troll/aggressively make a point with only one right answer (i.e. "Who is the bottom?" and all the answers are variants of Mike Wheeler). No offense to the anon who sent that poll in; it was pretty funny. There's nothing wrong with having a strong opinion, but this blog seeks to be respectful of Bylers on both sides of key debates. It's easy for things like this to quickly descend into pettiness and bullying and otherwise mean-spirited behavior, but let's leave that to Twitter. Or nowhere.
Disclaimer so I don't get 50 million asks on it: for 99% of polls on this blog, you should assume that Mike and Will are aged up to at least the ages of Steve/Nancy in Season 1 (or older). And this should go without saying, but everything here is within the realm of consensual, wholesome, romantic sexuality unless otherwise stated (i.e. in the case of context specific darker questions). Sexuality includes sex, and so this blog rejects purity culture and censorship!
Please format your polls with numbers or letters if you have more than two answers. And if you have a question about Mike or Will respectively, please submit two different asks.
Thank you! Stay safe, and have fun! They may call us crazy, but we'll go crazy together :)
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To all the analysts and theorists: what do you think we might see? I'm genuinely very interested to hear what people's ideas are about a potential intimate byler scene - what it might look like, what it would symbolise, the focus of it, etc.
I'm of the idea that an intimate scene would serve a great purpose in Mike and Will's personal arcs.
The queer experience
For so many queer people, sex and sexual attraction, or even just personal sex life without a partner, comes with a lot of shame. And this is the 80s. It's rather likely that the boys feel some similar way about themselves, too.
Of course, accepting their feelings for each other will do wonders. It helps a lot. But it's all a supposition.
And, of course, the AIDS crisis was a big factor in this: it brought shame, fear, guilt. And it being so tied to the idea of sex - of gay and queer sex - made it ten times worse. This linked queer sexual relations with imagery of disease and death.
Non-queer characters
With other characters, like Lucas and Dustin, we get '69' signs above their beds and adult rated comics are enough to tell us that they're at ease and comfortable with their sexual identity. (can't find em right now, sorry).
Mike and Will
But Mike, and Will? Not only do we see nothing of the sort in their rooms, or clothes, or any other items that might otherwise give us any information, but we know that:
Mike is often seen in front of closets and has signs in his room that point to it
He tenses up like a string even just touching Will when he first sees him at the airport in S4E2. He does this thing where he grasps for Will's shoulder but with tense, half-retracted hands that end up barely touching him and he just sort of moves down a couple times before pulling away. He does it in S5E1 as well, though not as dramatically.
When kissing El, his eyes remain open.
Will is extremely reserved. Other than that, we see him get very uncomfortable when a girl touches his foot with hers during class in S4E1.
S5
And now, in S5, what we have so far is multiple instances of someone saying the word 'dick' or making a joke with it, and while everyone else just looks a bit confused or taken aback, both Mike and Will grow instantly very tense and rather uncomfortable, extremely embarrassed and awkward, and start looking around themselves.
They don't know where to put their arms or hands, what to do with them. Their facial features hint at distress of some kind. They usually lock eyes for at least a moment, and Mike often turns to Will.
*Though I have to say, S4 airport Mike would've likely made the best poker face he could, tried to look expressionless, trying to make it seem as if he had zero reaction. S5 Mike has definitely grown a bit. He's awkward, he's likely not enjoying himself, but he's trying!
So,
An intimate byler scene would serve to show that Mike and Will don't feel shame around physical and sexual attraction. It would tell us - after clearly hinting at a discomfort in that area - that they've accepted themselves. That they're comfortable and at ease with their own bodies and with each other's bodies. No hiding, or feeling ashamed. They should be able to explore their sexuality freely and comfortably, without guilt or discomfort of any kind. It's pretty damn important.
Mike: Rough play like an extension of strength kink like wrestling, edging/orgasm control, hair pulling, maybe suspension. Mike struggles with letting himself be touched at times so hair pulling is easing into that, which could be liberating later down the line through massages and worship. Power struggles or D/S, and is probably into vocalization, tickling, the works. A potential trigger might be ignoring him so I don't know how to work that in but its a thought. Also orgasm control brings with it big opportunity for genuine emotional release.
Will: Temperature play(the contrast between a hot/cold setting and object), sensory deprivation or just sessions involving sensations like teasing tactile work, and breath play. He may benefit from some exchange of power to just learn about control and vulnerability in a safe way but he would shy away from it at first. He could be interested in bondage, in making things maybe aesthetic and exercising control in a very specific way. Visual cues through brightness might also get to him.
Both are into filming, role play, emotional aftercare with a lot of praise, and sensory overstimulation. Most of these things are with them receiving but it can go either way.
Poll suggestion: Impact Play
Do you agree Byler would be interested in these things?
Does WILL prefer long hair Mike (S4) or short hair Mike (s5)? Spicy because Will is imagining spicy Mike.
A) Short hair (no real reason)
B) Long hair (no real reason)
C) Short hair for "masculine" reasons
D) Long hair for "feminine" reasons
No "No Preference" option.
Does WILL prefer long hair Mike (S4) or short hair Mike (s5)?
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Honestly don’t mind the sxual implications of lockgate and hosegate mostly bc Will deserves to reclaim his sexuality. Especially after whatever the fuck those first five minutes were.
That being said lockgate may or may not be real—but if it is, it’s interesting that they would supposedly have Will wear it after making the SA imagery so graphic. Like as a way of saying he is reclaiming his sexuality for himself.
Attacking me for proving the show portrayed Mike having sexual feelings for Will betrays LGBT+ liberation, youth sexual liberation, and the Byler fandom
I am responding to the latest attempt to mount a witch-hunt against me for acknowledging the sexuality of Mike and Will, likely TWO fictional gay teens. There was a previous attempt that failed to silence me, and this one is failing as well.
Unapologetically acknowledging, discussing, and proving that the show creators made the decision to depict the sexuality of Mike and Will is necessary to defend their right to put Byler on the screen against right-wing backlash. Because the accusation that discussing or depicting onscreen the sexuality of gay teens is the point of attack that the right-wing will employ against Netflix and our community if Byler happens.
My critics who hypocritically profess to protect "minors" and/or claim to support LGBT+ people are objectively promoting actual bullying, invoking sexual moral panic, empowering homophobes, and undermining LGBT+ liberation and the sexual empowerment of young people.
This also is an attack on the ability of the Byler Tumblr community to have open and free discussion about gay sexuality, to openly talk about why we are here. We relate to these fictional characters Mike and Will and want them to move beyond friendship and have romance, which includes sex. Byler is important to us because if it happens it will be a blow against the widespread irrational sexual moralism that so many of us deal with in our lives. We came here to get away from censorship and harassment and to feel free to express our sexuality and our identification with these characters.
Before I address the slander against a certain video of mine that used parody to make the point that a fictional gay teen has (gasp!) sexual feelings for another fictional gay teen, it’s necessary to make clear who I am, why some are attacking me, and the political character and significance of this WITCH-HUNT.
Because, in the end, my video is not the issue. The vast majority of people who saw the segment of my Byler Part 2 video in question are completely fine with it and enjoyed it. The allegations from a loud minority are baseless and unserious: none are taking actions one would take if the video did what they say because they know they can't. What’s really happening is that the people spearheading this witch-hunt (and the gullible people who are being roped into it) are using the false accusation of "pedophile" as a political attack against LGBT+ sexuality and the LGBT+ community, which has become more prevalent with the rise of Trump and which the homophobes will use against Netflix and our communities if Byler happens in Season 5.
I am an openly-gay radical political leader
I am a public figure working to build a mass, militant movement led by young people against racism, for immigrant rights, for LGBT+ liberation, and now, with the rise of Trump, to defeat his fascist government and movement. For 30 years, I have been an activist in BAMN, the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN). (And, for most of that time, as one of its activist-lawyers.)
BAMN has led successful campaigns, including a 75,000 person March on Washington in 2003 that successfully defended affirmative action and integration programs at the U.S. Supreme Court, which was featured in this year’s HBO documentary Eyes on the Prize III. In public statements, I call on our communities to form worker/student/community defense guards to stop ICE deportations and to stop Trump’s fascist government.
I gave this speech at a 2022 high school student walkout protesting anti-LGBT+ legislation:
I work to empower youth to fight for themselves. My Ronald Off the Record channel has become part of this work: I’m committed to making crystal clear to LGBT+ youth that their suspicion that these two gay teens have romantic feelings for each other—including sexual feelings—is true!
Calls to "protect youth" with moral panic and reactionary rhetoric and legislation are completely hypocritical: they have always been used by the right-wing as a cover for attacking the right of youth (and particularly LGBT+ youth) to express themselves and their sexuality. Whatever some people would like to tell themselves, this is the objective effect of parroting their hateful talking points.
The fact that I’m an effective and bold political leader—both through my traditional political work and my YouTube channel which seeks to destigmatize, prove and (if it happens) DEFEND the Byler ship—creates enemies. The current attack against me was initiated in the right-wing cesspool of Twitter and is spearheaded by people who oppose my politics: whether it’s my usual BAMN activism, my advocacy of Byler (including my unapologetic acknowledgment of the sexuality of gay teens), or a combination of both. They are trying to bully me to stop doing what I’m doing, which won’t work.
Byler is important, and if Netflix makes it happen then Trump and MAGA would love to attack Netflix and the Byler fandom with the same rhetoric being used against me.
Anyone who saw my concluding message in my 1st Byler video should know that being a Byler is not separate from my radical politics. Byler has real political significance. It would be a victory for LGBT+ visibility and equality for this global hit show to portray the sexuality and romance of gay teen boys, for young gay love to be portrayed with the same frankness, honesty, and affection that straight young love has always enjoyed in popular media for decades. Will and Mike’s arc as gay boys daring to love each other in the 1980s would inspire LGBT+ people of all ages who have faced homophobia and bigotry in our lives. And, as I say in my Part 2 video, it likely would sway the great majority of viewers to support it, and empower and embolden many young LGBT+ people to be out and proud for who they are.
And that is why Trump and MAGA will hate it:
Just a few weeks ago on October 16, 2025, Trump’s Pentagon called Netflix’s gay military drama Boots "woke garbage." Boots portrays a real-life story of a closeted gay soldier in the U.S. Marines in 1990, when it was still illegal to be gay in the military. Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson invoked the old homophobic chestnut of 'grooming' children against Netflix: "We will not compromise our standards to satisfy an ideological agenda, unlike Netflix whose leadership consistently produces and feeds woke garbage to their audience and children."
The "pedophile" accusation is the anti-gay rhetoric of choice for Trump and his movement, for two reasons.
First, the right-wing has always used it to attack LGBT+ leaders and the LGBT+ community because it taps into homophobia and moral panic about sexuality. Use of this rhetoric has escalated in recent years. Before Charlie Kirk was killed, he regularly called slain gay civil rights leader Harvey Milk a "pedophile" and accused LGBT+ people of being "groomers" and "pedophiles." Two years ago, a school board member in Temecula, California called Milk a "pedophile." (Even that very-conservative community thought that went too far and removed him in a recall election.) It is the old right-wing chestnut to attack LGBT+ leaders who embolden and have a popular following LGBT+ youth.
Second, Trump has a particular incentive for people on the political left to be falsely accused of being a "pedophile" because of credible evidence that he himself had sex with minors that his administration is trying to hide in the Epstein Files.
The Trump administration’s attack on Netflix for Boots could pale next to the witch-hunt it would love to wage against Stranger Things, if this worldwide hit show has the boldness to do what many of us Bylers predict: have a gay boy as its ultimate protagonist, a gay couple as its "main couple" (Mike and Will would acquire that status), and have gay love save the world:
They would love to go after Netflix the way they did against the companies broadcasting Jimmy Kimmel. They would say that the show, which features Mike and Will, who will still be minors in Season 5, is "gay propaganda" that is "grooming children" to "be gay and trans."
These right-wing ideologues have no regard for the truth. They might even say that the Duffers and/or Netflix "caved" to the Byler fandom, whom they’d call "the woke crowd," "groomers," and "pedophiles," by "forcing" this supposedly "straight" minor (Mike) to be gay.
The best cover for their slander and lies would be the lie that merely acknowledging, discussing, or portraying the sexuality of gay teens in fiction is inherently “pedophilia.”
Byler fans are already familiar with this baseless accusation when trying to discuss Byler in fandom spaces. We are routinely falsely accused of “sexualizing children,” which is only the “pedophilia” accusation by another name. We know it's a homophobic double standard not applied to straight teen romances in fiction. We all know we are simply analyzing what the creators write and put on the screen.
By the homophobes’ logic, if we cannot discuss the sexuality of gay teens put on the screen, then surely the Duffers and Netflix shouldn’t be able to put it on the screen, either.
This is all why it is obviously dangerous—and for those who profess to support LGBT+ equality, stupid and against the cause you profess to support—to sign on to or give "progressive" harbor for the witch-hunt calling me a "pedophile" and claiming that I promote "pedophilia" simply because I unapologetically discuss the depiction of Mike having sexual feelings for Will.
For better or worse, I am probably the most prominent voice in the Byler fandom, and the Trump administration and/or the homophobes—who already have reason to attack me because I am an out and proud militant gay anti-Trump activist—would have even more reason to attack me (and attack the cause of putting Byler on the screen and the cause for LGBT+ equality), if specifically people who profess to be queer or pro-queer join this witch-hunt against me.
Regardless of whether the homophobes choose to direct their rhetoric against me specifically or against the broader pro-Byler community as a whole, they will be using this rhetoric to attack the entire LGBT+ community.
Already, these people’s actions have emboldened some reactionaries to make thinly-veiled threats and accusations on my YouTube videos. These were comments were posted on Tuesday (Nov. 4), two days after the attacks against me escalated. The first comment is a fascist threatening physical harm, and the second is clearly a Trump supporter based on their profile name as well as a homophobe:
No, it is the ATTACKS against me and people who discuss Mike’s sexuality—coming from outside this community and even from a few members within—that are disgusting and unacceptable.
People who profess to support LGBT+ equality and sexual freedom and oppose moral panic need to choose the right side. You either defend the right of people to freely DISCUSS and DEPICT gay teen sexuality on the screen, or you serve the homophobes.
My video unapologetically and effectively proved that it appears that Mike is sexually attracted to Will
Now onto the ridiculous accusations about my video. So what was the video doing? After all, when witch-hunts appeal to irrational moral panic, the actual thing people are talking about naturally gets lost in the discussion.
With my Byler Part 1 and Part 2 videos, I systematically prove that Byler is a possibility and that we are not "delusional" to think otherwise.
The most common argument against Byler is that "Mike is straight." Proof that Mike is not straight is that he has sexual interest in Will. This video showed that he was flirting with Will and checking out his butt.
That’s it.
Straight teens have sex in popular media all the time, and it is eroticized far more than my modest edit. It is commercialized and completely normalized. The Twilight films and TV shows like Euphoria regularly feature characters (and sometimes actors) who are minors in highly-erotic scenes:
Mike and El (and their actors) kissed onscreen when they were 11/12 years old. Nancy and Steve had a scene that could have come from a softcore porn in the series' second episode. Wait! So are the Duffers "sexualizing minors" because they show minors having sexual interactions with (gasp!) each other? And what about their storyline where a middle-aged mom flirts with a 17-year-old Billy (s2e9) and later almost has sex with him?
No. The only reason my video is controversial is because I’m an adult gay man showing that there is a sexually-charged interaction between two gay male teens. Everybody knows that there wouldn’t be the same hysteria if I had done a porn parody of Steve looking at Nancy in her bra in the second episode:
There is no stigma about highlighting the sexual feelings of STEVE HARRINGTON while he’s a minor because it’s a BOY'S sexual desire for a GIRL, which is not only normalized but cheered for in this society. This is a homophobic double standard.
The witch-hunt against me is based on moral panic about frankly acknowledging, discussing, and yes celebrating the sexual awakening of gay young people. Mike and Will don’t have just romantic feelings for each other; they have SEXUAL feelings.
Meanwhile, Mike and Will will still be minors in Season 5. Are we such prudes that we'll march onto Netflix for "sexualizing minors" because they kiss or have sex in Season 5? The homophobes would. And we should do nothing to enable them.
The reality is that fans of Byler DO fantasize about these two gay teens having romance and many want them to have sex. And there’s nothing wrong with that. A number of Byler fans going after me are projecting onto me because they fear acknowledging some aspect of their own sexuality and what they enjoy.
And this hysteria, done in the name of “protecting minors,” harms young people. The height of radical LGBT activism was the 1970s and 80s. It was an outgrowth of the sexual liberation movement that began in the 1960s. The movement espoused sexual freedom and exploration, and empowered young people to explore their sexuality without concern for irrational societal mores.
This witch-hunt harms the people it claims to protect: it harms minors by stigmatizing youth sexuality, particularly gay youth sexuality, by stigmatizing any acknowledgment or discussion of it. This is the EXACT same rhetoric used by right-wing legislators who oppose sex education and LGBT-inclusive education in schools, who oppose young people learning about sex and making their own decisions about their sexual lives generally:
In making baseless claims about fictional victims, they justify harming real-life people, including the people they claim to be protecting.
I’m not going to be shy about what I saw. A gay teen checked out and wanted to get sexual with another gay teen. If you don’t see it, then you don’t see.
If anything, this little controversy and video just made clear to a lot of Byler Antis that the sexual subtext of the scene is undeniable. And some people don’t like it? Then GOOD.
This witch-hunt by a loud minority is harming the Byler community
The vast majority of people who saw the segment of my Byler Part 2 video in question are completely fine with it and enjoyed it.
But the internet allows a small minority to gather and feel bold around each other, like being in a torch-wielding mob does. Such mobs, when formed around homophobic and sexually-conservative hysteria, feel far bolder than their actual numbers. It’s easy to spout indefensible positions while remaining anonymous. And they would have no significance, but for the fact that Trump’s fascist movement the past several years has made inroads in normalizing anti-gay demagogy.
Both the previous witch-hunt and the current one have been instigated by people in the cesspool called Twitter, the right-wing's preferred platform to mount campaigns of cyberbullying.
This is not only a personal attack against me, but also an attack against the majority in this community who are disturbed by the hysteria that is taking place. In a recent post where I shared a Byler theory, certain users have acted on their declared intention to “spam” my comment section to harass me and hijack discussion away from Byler.
This is having a harmful effect on the community that has formed around my posts and videos. No LGBT+ or young person should be discouraged from discussing sexuality in this fandom, or from engaging with my analysis and commentary.
In the face of bullying and homophobia in other spaces, we Bylers gathered here in Tumblr to have a safe space and community to normalize discussion about this love story between gay teens. These people are undermining it.
Numerous people have written to me personally expressing support, while also sharing their distress and feeling of being intimidated that they cannot address the loud, strident, and baseless allegations that are being repeated ad nauseum.
What I will now do: I will block every single person reactionary and/or gullible enough to engage in this witch-hunt up until now and from this point forward. (EDIT: And the individuals who simply repeat the accusations without engaging with this post. No need to dialogue with people who don't listen.) I have a right to engage in fandom without dealing with harassment and baseless attacks on my character. Blocked people will not be able to contact me or to see or engage with my posts. If people see more bullying and harassment against me or any other Byler on this issue, feel free to take appropriate action as well. My posts will be safe spaces for people to engage with these topics free from hysteria and bullying.
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Re: The recent poll about dark sexuality stuff
The writers have already gone off the deep end in that regard for multiple different characters throughout the breadth of the ST universe (There's even a blatant sexual assault scene in the Henry play where he's kissed without his consent/he says no and it happens anyway.) So even without going into the UD/Mindflayer/the lab, ST is already very dark in terms of sexual stuff.
It's kind of the backbone of the plot at this point, by which I mean: how different people react to their statuses as victims drives and shapes the plot. ST is only TV-14 because they don't say "fuck" enough times to have it be rated higher. I really wouldn't be shocked if things remained weird and dark for a significant portion of ST5. They have a lot of loose ends to tie up in that regard, especially re: Will's status as a victim/his continued entanglement with the Mindflayer.
Do you think S5 will include "dark" sexual stuff as part of its larger thematic exploration?
not to immediately bring up discourse 💀 but I appreciate you for mentioning not posting polls where people are being more spiteful like the only bottom mike options etc, cuz that was pretty annoying back when the polls were running. i always understood you trying to be diplomatic, but the entitlement was too much from some people and created an immature space. maybe don't post this if it'll cause mess but anyway i love that you're back yay!
Thank you! It's good to be back! And yeah, I hope people can be civil instead of purposely being spiteful and/or trying to get a rise out of people. We should all be able to have fun while also discussing the the themes of the show instead of descending into immaturity. All views are welcome, but that requires being respectful of others.
But enough old discourse! After today's absurdity, let's cleanse the spicy byler tag with actual spicy polls/asks. 😊 I'm curious to see what new ideas/thoughts promo season has generated!
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Hark! In days of yore, within a solitary stable, Michael and William did partake in carnal congress - a most vigorous union, to be certain.
Firstly, the moment they entered the premises, Sir Michael - with greatest haste - didst rend William's tunic asunder. Such marvelous flesh didst lay beneath these yards of colorful fabric! Such marvelous flesh that he had immediately to run his hands and tongue along it - much to William's great, volcanic ecstasy. Verily, Michael had long harbored a most puissant urge to lay with his holy cleric. Indeed, from the depths of his loins came a shuddering need to clutch at William's ample posterior. As he brought his lover to ecstasy, again and again and again, he came to know, deep within his chest, that William's own heart had always sung the very same madrigal, just for him. And as this knowledge spread throughout his very being, joyous cry upon joyous cry - nigh unto a bliss that bordered unto pain - did escape his trembling lips.
William, for his part, didst fall readily to his knees, as though struck by a divine hand. At long last, the time had come for him to partake of his beloved's gargantuan girth. Oh, how delectable it all was - the salty taste of him, the urgent sweat that poured from every crevice, the taut skin that trembled beneath his very touch. How divine it all was, this gorgeous love, this endless pleasure. Neither Michael nor William could contain an ounce of their brimming lust. Nor did they need to. Yes, after hours upon hours of sheer, unadulterated bliss, the day was soon to break; and eventually, the villagers may call upon them. But no matter! Their desires didst exceed the bounds of a single eve's indulgence. Verily, these two are bound to eternal love, forsooth.
Look, I dislike responding to things like this directly, they invite debate that isn't relevant here because they're incorrect on a base level. Reactions like what this last ask sent to me can teeter into homophobic very easily, which is what all of us adults try to encourage younger (apparently queer) people to understand, to teach themselves. Blatant disgust towards the sexuality of two fictional gay characters (in the 80s during the height of the AIDS epidemic no less), wanting to keep them safe and pure from "dirty" sex - IS homophobic. We've had this conversation many times, but I figure if these people want to come and look at my blog (despite the fact I've now blocked a few of them) I may as well restate it.
You can have a personal discomfort in sexual content, byler or otherwise. You can not understand why people explore sexual content, even if teens, or not understand how ageing up/exploring character's futures beyond canon is an incredibly normal thing done for decades in fandom. You can be uncomfortable with how you've watched characters or actors grow up in show and not want to sexualize them yourselves. All of that is valid, what it IS NOT, is an objective fact that everyone must also believe and so you're offended and shocked when others don't adhere to YOUR personal opinion on a matter. That's no problem of any of ours on the 'spicy' side. We're adults who are experienced in fandom, and find a lot of comfort and joy in these characters often because we didn't get to experience freedom in our queerness growing up. It matters. Queer sexual exploration >>>>> worrying about fictional characters over real people. Sorry!
Now I know the immediate response to the above is "okay but you're not speaking about them narratively anymore, you're making fantasies and being graphic and that is gross!", nothing antis like this can say will ever be new or something we haven't heard before. It falls flat, they all really need to just stop parroting the same thing, it's not even a valid point in the world of fandom. I also see more rhetoric about "porn ridden brains" and it's framed in a way that anyone enjoying byler smut is a poor soul who 😱 can't see how broken they are 😩 .........lol? We're fine. Some of us have high sex drives, some others are asexual but love to explore via their ships. Majority though, are experienced with smut in fandom over the years, and VERY simply are just having fun with exaggerated scenarios and headcanons that happen to be sexual for yet another ship we love! And yes, to the same person causing a fuss in another post I saw, it is no nut November, but I don't see how that's some "gotcha" 🤔 giggling about it like we're fools. Is this your first fandom? Because people only go harder during November. It's not some real thing adhered to legally lmfao.
Point being: There will always be smut, there will always be people preferring to explore sexual scenarios in ships. A lot of that is - especially with queer ships - is due to how so many of those ships never have a chance of even becoming canon, fanfic and fandom is all we've had. byler is a special, wonderful case, but still worthy of exploring in any way people want because it's frankly what they deserve, especially Will who already views himself as disgusting for his feelings.
If you think the duffers, any of the cast or any creators would agree with you on 'protecting' these fictional characters from 'evil disgusting adults', you're very mistaken. They would appreciate the respect towards their queer characters in the 80s. The euphoric liberation of what Mike and Will would experience in the 90s and beyond, getting to live life away from the judgement and restriction of their small conservative town. Too many people in this fandom sound like the people of Hawkins at times and don't even know it. Calling gay teens pure, calling gay sex dirty, throwing out the word pedophile super casually and especially towards real life gay men - is all FAR more dangerous and homophobic than tagged and completely normal fan works.
You don't have to participate in anything mature. You don't have to like it, you can be disgusted! But you'll never rid of those who enjoy the mature aspect of their ships in fandom, you cannot police everyone. Certainly not when it's just your personal feelings you're trying to spread as fact, which it'll never be. Proper fandom etiquette - which depressingly the internet is losing the knowledge of - is to block those you don't want to be in a fandom with, and keep scrolling. Make a post venting about what you don't like, sure, but it's your responsibility to not upset yourself by intruding on spaces you can't be mature in. And don't expose fellow minors to more than they may have seen otherwise under the guise of 'disgust', none of us do that, literally no one is harming minors here. We stay in our corner. People find us. That's normal. My hundreds of followers are proof enough that this fandom lies about not enjoying mature content - which we already knew because the hits on smut fics are high as is the case in pretty much every ship fandom lol!
Anyway, feels like a cool time to say that the shot of Will nodding dumbly at Mike's leader speech in the trailer has motivated me the past couple days to write a smut drabble about the post I made on it 😋❤️🔥 hopefully I can actually get that one done and break my dry spell for you all!
