To those who don't understand why what Stranger Things did is so painful and so harmful to the queer community, or who lack the words to express it themselves:

They showed so much queer pain. From episode one, they were calling Will a f*g. Hopper thought he might've been hate crimed and that's why he went missing. In season 3 even Mike was homophobic toward him, and that was never truly addressed. The scene right after, where Will destroys Castle Byers, his safe spot, with the baseball bat his abusive dad gave him trying to make him man up, yelling fuck as he does? I know that feeling, that fear that I won't be loved, that I will never be accepted, that I will always be other. The pain that comes from that. Everyone queer does. It's like he's taking the bat to my heart, like I can feel the bruises all over my body. In season 4, when he all but confesses his love for Mike, just substituting himself for El, and cries after? I cry with him because I get it, I understand. And I'm mostly accepted by the people around me, the people I care about; I can't imagine how much more people who don't have that acceptance relate to it.

These scenes are cathartic to me. Or at least they were, when all signs pointed to a happy ending. But for all the queer pain they showed, they didn't show queer love. Queer joy. They could have told every queer kid that they're worth it, their stories are worth telling, their love is worth showing, their lives are worth living. That no matter how hard it is now, it will get better. That we can have those epic love stories. That we can defeat monsters, not in spite of who we are, but because of it. But all they gave us was a vague "he and Robin might end up in relationships." Nothing good ever confirmed for the queer characters. So now when I watch those scenes, all I see is never ending pain. And I can't imagine the scars that will leave on people who need that happy ending even more than I do -- especially when the finale is very easily read as romanticizing suicide to escape abuse.

They gave us hope, that suffering is not all there is, that queer people can be happy and joyous and loved and worthy and powerful, and then they ripped it all away and left us with nothing but the pain.

To every queer person reading this: They are wrong. We are all of those things they denied us and more. Don't give up, and don't lose hope.

remember when this was all we had

those were the days man so peak

"you know, max and lucas and dustin, they're great. they great. it's just...it's hawkins, it's not the same without you" im gonna jump

jesus christ

they literally are like students who write their essays with chat gpt and then cannot answer a single question about it lmao i can’t 😭😭😭 why

when we all made "wow i hope Will likes Mike back" jokes but now we actually have to hope that Will still loves Mike when he finally pulls his head out of his ass and confesses he's been in love with him this whole time

I DONT look at my best friend this way btw because im not hoping they'll kiss me wtf

2 names i NEVER want to hear again are tammy and carlton

i’m watching it: welcome to derry and why does it have 1960s lesbyler

You know what's so crazy and sad about byler not being canon?

The fact that there are too many shippers out there for it not to be canon.

There are too many proof slides for it to not be canon.

There are too many beautiful cinematic shots for it to not be canon.

There are too many talented artist and writers dedicating their time to this ship for it to not be canon.

There are too many songs and a whole color-coding that this ship has claimed for it to not be canon.

There is an actual song based on this ship specifically and clearly for it to not be canon.

There are too many beautiful lessons to be learnt and told through them for it to not be canon.

There are too many people who can be taught something about love and the lack of its borders because of this ship for it to not be canon.

There are too many people who want to shut down representation for queer people and relationships because they feel like it is forced into mainstream shows for it to not be canon.

There are too many people who will use the outcome of this ship to shame queer people for their hopes and theories, and will take pride in erasing their existance for it to not be canon

There are too many young queer people who see themselves in Mike and/or Will and their stories for them to not be canon.

There are too many people who could use this ship to express and learn more about themselves and finally see it on the big screen and feel validated and seen for it to not be canon.

There are too many Mikes and Wills who didn't get a happy ending in their universe. Why make them have a tragic one in this universe too?

Why not make them happy, because that way they'd reciprocate with all the hopeful emotions someone put in this ship for their own queer journey and relationship?

if the final vecna fight had been a mind fight rather than a physical fight and he could’ve “vecna’d” all of them and had them running through each other’s traumatic memories and this is how we could’ve seen the cut scene of mike biking home crying from the quarry and we could’ve gotten current mike’s reaction to it and it would’ve been so insane to have will also see this reaction too and this is how we could’ve made up for how mike treated will the past few seasons and it could’ve been so great but instead we got lazy writing and unfinished storylines

goodbye goodbye, conformitygate. you were bigger than the whole of st5 put together

Don’t think for a second that Stranger Things having a whole plot point of women being forced to carry babies to term by the government and then unceremoniously killing every single one of them off along with one of their only poc female characters AND the main female character who were both also abused and treated as nothing more than lab experiments by said government isn’t the Duffers making it clear who they side with in this political climate. It was not an accident and they are not this stupid. Do not give them the benefit of the doubt. What they have written is completely irresponsible and they cannot be allowed to continue having a platform without us resisting it.

"Will voice" this, "Will voice" that. What about Will EYES

So Henry just likes the number 12, and also clocks, and also libraries

For no reason tho

There's reasons, but they happened off-screen so they'd be up to audience interpretation.

genuinely henderhop would have been so incredible. a deadpan girl who says the most insane things out of context then provides no explanation with an animated boy who talks an insane amount. a girl who does crazy things and a boy who backs her up no matter what. an abused girl and disabled boy getting to be the main romance of a mainstream show. like we genuinely could have had it all.

Neurodivergent girl and disabled boy being the main romance of a mainstream show. We could have had everything.

"you have to wrap everything up"

SO WHY DIDN'T YOU??? 😭🙏

Lost for words, they're braindead & misogynistic no other way to put it