RONALD YOU MADE MY DAD CRY 😭
Nah yo, I didn't expect my dad to cry watching the Byler Lawyer vid, shit's crazy 😭
We’re just vibing, watching the vid, right? Halfway through, I glance over at my dad and this he has tears in his eyes. At first I was like, “Okay, he relates to Mike, already knew that.” But nope. Next thing I know, he’s crying. Not ugly sobbing or anything, but definitely crying.
Now, my dad had already told me he related to Mike, but I didn’t realize it was this deep. And then when the video ended, he turned to me, eyes all watery, and said:
“I’ve wasted more than 50 years of my life.”
…and I swear my heart shattered into, like, 87,000 little Lego pieces. That line hit harder than Mike's "love" monologue.
✨ Lore drop for the uninitiated ✨: My dad is gay (slayyy🏳️🌈), but he was in a lavender marriage because, well... points at self hello, evidence! He got married at 29, divorced four years ago, and only came out then too. So when he says “wasted,” he means he spent most of his life pretending to be “normal.” He even lost his own “Will” along the way 😞
The only thing he says he doesn’t regret is having me and my sister. And yeah. That’s when I cried my eyes out later, because OH.MY.GOD.
But also… plot twist: he’s officially a Byler now! We literally share a hyperfixation. My dad is out here, gay and thriving, but also ready to fight Netflix executives if Byler doesn’t end up canon.
Anyways...THIS. This right here is why Byler needs to be endgame. Stories matter. Representation matters. My dad saw himself in a teenage boy fighting to be honest about who he loves: and it broke something open in him. If Stranger Things has the chance to give people like him, like Mike, like Will, a happy ending, and they don’t? That’s not just disappointing. That’s cruel.
Because for my dad, it’s too late to rewrite the first fifty years of his story. But for Mike and Will? For every queer kid watching them? It’s not too late. They can have what he didn’t. They can win.
So yeah. This isn’t just about shipping. This is about giving people hope.
And if Byler isn’t endgame… then honestly? The Duffers have wasted our time.
(P.S: Ronald, seriously, thank you SO much ❤)
snowghoul
janainaart
vaporwave
areudirty
pixelskylines
tangentwithtanner
2087
stormborns
yousharknotpass
jbbartram-illu
