The Sorcerer

We love Will in this house.

[november6th1983]

What an incredible finale. I swear to god I’d watch five more seasons of these guys just living normal lives. Give me a regular dramedy with this same group please!!!!!

[november6th1983]

People in this fandom having absolutely zero understanding of being queer in the 80’s will send me to an early grave!

[gayestoffense-deactivated202601]

i love how no one cares about our canonical lesbians who are in a real, heated, romantic and sexual relationship that is explicit and undeniable.

do they...do they just not matter for queer rep because its not two white cis boys again?

for real you guys lol

This part is almost funny if it weren’t so exhausting.

Because at that point, the word queerbaiting has fully detached from its meaning and become a vibes-based accusation generator.

We have: – Will coming out explicitly, naming attraction to a guy – Mike responding with unwavering acceptance even while likely knowing he’s the crush – Robin Buckley being canonically, textually queer – Robin in a mutual, reciprocated relationship with Vickie

And people are still saying “they queerbaited us.”

At that point, let’s be honest about what’s actually being said:

“The queerness that was canon did not center the pairing I wanted.”

That is not queerbaiting. That’s ship grief refusing to stay in its lane.

Queerbaiting is absence plus implication. This season was presence plus choice.

What’s happening now is that “queerbaiting” is being used as a moral cudgel to legitimize disappointment. Because it sounds righteous. Because it reframes “I’m sad my ship didn’t happen” into “the show committed harm.”

And look, harm can happen in queer storytelling. But flattening everything into that word does two damaging things at once:

It cheapens actual queerbaiting when it happens.

It invalidates queer stories that aren’t romance-forward or ship-confirming.

Robin and Vickie not being “enough” tells me the issue was never simply representation. It was priority. Who gets centered. Which desire gets rewarded.

[november6th1983]

Before you guys who are only obsessed with byler go and give The Bridge a one star review on imdb and other sites just to be assholes, please remember that adults didn't have shows like this growing up. We didn't have characters-- SUPERHEROES-- coming out as gay on television. We didn't see supportive families and friends. My first memory of someone coming out on TV was Ellen, and the next memory was her show getting cancelled because of her coming out.

I know most of you on here are young. That's clear from going through the tag. But this show is set in the 80's. It wasn't as simple as sitting down and saying, "Hey guys, I'm gay." And as much as you all want pretty much everyone to be gay on the show, that was never going to happen. There is incredible representation on this series. Cutting everyone down who worked on the show, and belittling the experience of being queer and coming out just because your ship didn't go canon, is pretty homophobic. It shows that you don't care about representation, you just wanna see two specific boys kiss each other.

These kind of crash-out reactions DO NOT make other creators want to write for lgbtq+ characters. It can actually cause less lgbtq+ characters to show up on your screens. A little google search would show that American television is going to lose about half of its queer representation next year. So instead of whining about what you don't have, be happy about the fact that some terrified queer kid is watching this episode with their family and/or friends and maybe, just maybe, the coming out scene will bring them acceptance from others and strength from themselves.

There's nothing wrong with shipping byler, but there is something wrong with reducing a queer character to only being valid if they're kissing another character who has never (canonically) been described as queer.

[beaulesbian]

So I leave you alone for a second and you turn into a sorcerer?

[november6th1983]

Will’s coming out scene made me so emotional. I felt every bit of fear and anxiety, and the love shown to him was beautiful. Imagining doing something like that in the 80’s makes it even more special, and I’m so glad he was shown nothing but love. Having him list the ways they are alike is so touching. The immediate relief when Joyce said he’d never lose her, and then even more relief when he was embraced by the group. What an incredibly important scene.

[november6th1983]

Being a Will fan that doesn’t give a fuck about byler is so annoying because all I see are people complaining in the will tag and it’s FRUSTRATING. As someone who grew up queer in the 90’s and early 2000’s, the writing for the coming out scene doesn’t suck and it’s not cringe. You weren’t queerbaited, you just read into things and blurred fandom with reality. There’s nothing wrong with shipping byler, but throwing a hissy fit when your fandom ship doesn’t become reality is embarrassing.

[kitkat9400]

My babies 🥹 ❤️

[november6th1983]

Okay but I actually don’t want wsqk to go away because even without the stranger things hints it’s just a good station

[kitkat9400]

🥹

[crowley-anthony]

Robin Buckley & Will Byers | Stranger Things 5.01-5.04

[november6th1983]

It’s just so cool to have a queer superhero who finds his power when he finally accepts himself. I just keep thinking about how important that is, especially for lgbtq+ youth, and how much I wish I could have watched a show like this when I was a teenager.

[fatfatgaybitch]

What accepting yourself for being gay does to a mf

[hellfire--cult]

Oh.

[anylovesong]

Will Byers, the sorcerer

[aemondstark]

STRANGER THINGS

05.04 "Sorcerer"

[november6th1983]

I need more people to follow that love Will but don’t focus on byler with everything! Byler is fine, I don’t care if it happens or not, but I hate how nearly every post disregards Will’s journey in favor of focusing on how it benefits him and Mike getting together. Coming to terms with being gay, especially in the 80’s, is fucking hard and the story of him coming to terms with himself shouldn’t be overlooked with shipping stuff.