#joyhop

I genuinely didn’t mind the ending… I feel like each character got a good ending (relatively, i mean, everyone got something that made sense for their character).

Max and Lucas finally seeing their movie??? Joyce and Hop engaged??? Dustin valedictorian and science genius that roadtrips with Steve, coach and sex ed teacher???? Jonathan making college movies??? Nancy joining the newspaper, Robin and Vickie staying together and Robin going back to being Rockin’????

Mike being a writer was perfect, and felt VERY IT chapter 2, which I thought was neat (Okay Bill Denbrough?). His character’s storytelling was beautifully crafted and all, and Finn did an AMAZING job in the finale with what he was given.

El (open ended possibly) escaped somewhere new where she could find herself (which is what she’s been needing, my girl got a boyfriend before she even knew who she was— she needed to see the world and discover herself). She left Mike to find himself too. She let him discover himself, which he will do later in life (he’s early 20s, he has a lot of time. Mike needs his friends and family now, and he’s grieving which I don’t deny).

Will went somewhere new and is exploring his sexuality and passions, which is very important for him too. Even if he were to end up with Mike, he’d need some stable ground in himself first.

At the end of the day I’m a byler shipper, but I also recognize the fact that these characters are young and romance isn’t the focus of their story. And I liked Mike’s apology to Will and their scene, because at the very least I needed them to still be best friends, and their relationship didn’t end which I appreciated.

Maybe Mike spends the rest of his life surrounded by his loved ones, writing stories and supporting his friends as they find their paths. Maybe Mike goes to find El (or tries) and they live happily ever after (not my cup of tea, but still enjoyable).

Maybe Mike discovers himself and finds Will in the city and they rekindle— maybe they fall in love decades later without pressure and allow themselves to grieve El, who changed both their lives in many ways. Maybe they have a happy ending together, or maybe Mike never gets over his middle school love.

I love the open-endedness of the finale, and the way everyone can imagine their own endings. I think many details of Mike and Will’s relationship were wasted by not making them endgame, but in the end I think Stranger Things was a story about El, and a story about love. Familial love, platonic love. Above romantic, always.

For me? I’m still writing my Byler ending. It could have happened, and it did in my heart. I could write a HUGE rant about why Byler should have been canon, but I understand why that wasn’t a part of the story in the end— it was for the GA. Everyone got an ending, and everyone will be okay, no matter what the Duffers had them do. 

But I’m also a Naruto fan since 2015 and that queerbait exceeds any queerbait I could ever consume…