#general audiences

this is the effect byler kiss WOULD have had globally:

Actually, I noticed something: aside from the Milevens who craft their own narratives based on illusions and fantasies, and the hardcore homophobes who only want Mileven to be endgame so that the idea of a gay couple among the main characters in one of the most-watched series in the world never becomes a reality — the general audience has clearly understood where Mileven stands. They just don’t see Byler as the future simply because of pure heteronormativity.

Honestly, out of everyone around me who’s watched all four seasons of Stranger Things (people who are not part of the fandom, just the general audience — and trust me, there are a lot; I was actually the only outcast who hadn’t watched it for a long time), every single one of them came to the same conclusions: Mike and El are not a happy couple, their relationship as it is now is unhealthy, and the monologue didn’t fix anything.

When I ask them if they think Mike and El are still together in season 5, the majority say they’re probably not — that it felt obvious from El’s cold reaction to Mike at the end of season 4. And unanimously, they all say they hope they’re no longer a couple because they make no sense and have no future. Every single one of them — without exception — said that Mike and El would be much happier as just friends and that their bond would thrive better that way.

And here’s the thing: they didn’t even notice Byler in the sense that most of them didn’t pick up on, or don’t even consider, the idea that Mike might have feelings for Will in return. All they understood is that Will is in love with Mike and that he sacrificed his own feelings for the sake of Mike and El’s happiness. They all feel deeply for Will and hope he finds happiness — that he ends up truly loved. They also feel for El and want her to grow and thrive. And they’re frustrated with Mike for failing to make El happy and for not noticing Will’s feelings (and they also say they just “don’t get” Mike anymore because “he changed after season 3”).

From what I’ve seen online, this seems to be the dominant opinion. The only piece missing for people — the one puzzle piece that would make everything crystal clear — is Mike’s point of view. That’s what would explain everything: why does Mike change so drastically the moment puberty hits in season 3? Why is it that the second Mike and El become a couple, their relationship becomes all about conflict and distance? Why are they never on the same wavelength if they’re supposed to be the show’s “endgame”? Why is Mike unable to say “I love you” in season 4?

“Poor Will, he’s willing to give everything out of love for Mike, but that idiot doesn’t even realize it. Wake up, Mike! Damn — doing all that for a couple that doesn’t even work? What a waste! It’s ironic that Mike is dating El when he spends literally the entire season 4 with Will and seems way more emotionally comfortable and understood with Will than with his girlfriend.” — These are literally the words my family and friends used when talking about the topic — and mind you, I hadn’t even mentioned Byler at all.

So when that final puzzle piece — Mike’s thoughts and feelings — is finally revealed, I swear the general audience is going to have that classic realization: “Aaaah — so that’s what it was! Now everything makes sense.”

But even without Byler, people already understand that Mileven is not a happy, healthy couple. If Will wasn’t even in the picture, they’d still be saying the exact same thing: those two just don’t belong together.

Before I became a Byler, I was just part of the general audience. I watched all four seasons without any outside opinions from the fandom or the internet. And yes, I noticed there was a bit of ambiguity between Mike and Will starting in season 2, but it was subtle. It was only through the accumulation of all their scenes through to the end of season 4 that I became completely certain Byler was endgame. But even before I reached that point, seeing Mileven as a romantic couple never made sense to me.

And honestly, if Mike isn’t a closeted gay boy in love with his best friend, then nothing he’s done with El since season 3 makes any sense — and it would make him the worst boyfriend ever written. That is, without question, the only logical and valid explanation for the drastic shift in his character that nobody failed to notice. Mike literally went from being everyone’s favorite character in seasons 1 and 2 to being one of the most disliked — and it’s all because of that change in behavior, which is clearly tied to the love triangle dynamic and the fact that he’s a closeted gay teen in the 1980s.

I know I’m going off on a tangent here, but my point is: I understood it. The general public around me — and online — understood it too. What’s keeping them from putting it all together is just the filter of heteronormativity that blinds them from seeing the answer that’s been right in front of us the whole time.

The people online who are aggressively against the idea of Byler are either Milevens deep in denial or homophobes who probably voted for Trump. Everyone else — the actual general audience, the people who are too busy touching grass, working jobs, and living actual lives — they got the message.

If season 5 reveals that Mike is in love with Will by finally giving us his point of view, it won’t be “out of nowhere.” It won’t be some shocking twist. It’ll be the kind of reveal that clicks into place like the end of a good mystery — like when you find out who the killer is in a movie and realize the clues were there all along: in the background, in the dialogue, in the pacing, in the way the story was told (I’m thinking Scream, for example, with Billy and Stu). And audiences love that.

It’s gonna be like a revolution- you’re gonna see byler antis either at full force or slowly fading from the reddit and members of the GA getting banned for asking do yall think these two could like, like like each other???

And then after volume two, assuming the byler kiss happens in the finale, there would be shock and theories among the GA that come to the subreddit for guidance and byler antis would complain that byler does not make sense because mike wheeler doesnt seem gay and and and he dated el so in as many words as possible.

Then the finale and byler kiss happens and the subreddit will actually crumble. Like a good quarter of r/strangerthings was just clowning on byler and the mods will be so conflicted because who do they ban??? The homophobic antis whose views align with their biases or the fucking fairies that they were laughing at, and now the GA, who are objectively and undeniably right?