Yk even tho byler wasn’t canon and they massacred Mike’s character (in canon) I still love byler and byler has inspired me to write my own characters like Will & Mike and has taught me sm more abt film and cinematography than I previously knew & was taught.
Before byler, I didn’t rlly understand internalised homophobia and projection, but the analysis videos on Mike’s character (particularly @eddiemunsonbrainrot’s vid) helped me (and probably others) learn abt it and how many queer ppl are affected by it.
Byler cinematography analysis by lesbianmindflayer on YT were rlly interesting (esp the videos of the van scene, closet imagery, framing and blocking of scenes etc).
Analysing body language - particularly Mike queerler’s - shows how important body language is in conveying a characters personality, struggles, insecurities etc
I’ve also learned abt sm writing techniques & tropes bc of byler - Chekrovs gun, the cyrano trope etc
I loved all the gates/theories the community/theorists created (which would’ve made the show better imo) - esp paintinggate, birthdaygate, basementgate, lettergate (fun fact I remember of thinking abt the concept of lettergate myself b4 coming onto tumblr & r/byler to learn it was alr a thing lol)
I’ve always loved Will’s character and I remember before becoming a byler, I’d clocked he was queer in s1 and in love w Mike in s3-4, but I thought they go the same route of it being unrequited (which they unfortunately did…) but byler gave me hope that Will would finally get his love story and for a queer relationship to play out on screen.
Byler also gave an answer as to why Mike was a prick to Will & El in s3-4 (outside of js teenager) and made me appreciate his character, byler fans truly understood Mike’s character better than ppl on the show lmao
I also never liked milkvan (from s1 it felt off, in s2 it was kinda cute but still) and byler showed how flawed their relationship rlly was and how both of them deserved better than it, especially El.
I’ll never regret clicking on that byler compilation proving how gay Mike queerler is 2 (ish) yrs ago bc it introduced me to this community and this ship has genuinely changed me and made me excited abt analysing media I enjoy (rather than doing the pieces of media I was assigned - which I still enjoyed doing but I’ve developed a passion for it outside that).
I also started reading fanfics/ao3 - my 1st byler fic being ‘To Hell and Back Again’ by @perexcri and it’s still my fav till this day.
I hope one day someone from the byler community can make a show like ST - not exactly like it ofc, but have a dynamic similar to byler play out on screen and truly subvert how queer relationships are (usually) handled in non queer shows.
