The harmful effects of queerbating
If you just watched the last episode of Stranger Things and you are cheering, for whatever reason, about Byler not being canon, you shouldn't.
Of course, it's not the audience's fault. It's the writers's, it's the director's, it's Netflix's and every single other figure that had anything to do with writing this shitty ending.
What is queerbating?
If you are not familiar with the term, it's a marketing technique that is used to attract a queer audience by hinting and not canonizing queer representation. This is generally used in GA (General Audience) media, to ensure a bigger audience, so that the GA can enjoy a piece of media and so that the queer audience doesn't feel left out.
Supernatural did this same exact thing in 2020. With Destiel (Dean Winchester/Castiel) having one of the greatest fan bases in ships history. Dean Winchester, a heavily queer coded character, witnessed (spoiler warning) Castiel's death, right after a love confession. A one sided 14 years long love story.
Sherlock, is another example. Probably the greatest example of queerbating ever. Sherlock Holmes and John Watson's relationship has kept the fans on edge for a long time. Queer fans.
Because straight people have everything. Straight people have their coworkers slow-burns, they have best-friends to lovers slowburns, they have their unexpected friendship to lovers slowburns. They have it. And they keep taking advantage of the queer community yearn for representation and for a good fucking slowburn in a big Netflix's show.
Byler as queer "bait"
It's been 10 years. 10 years in which the Duffer Brothers, Netflix, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp and the whole team has been making FUN of US with OUR money, they're paying their fucking shitty show with OUR FUCKING MONEY.
The Duffer Brothers have been washing their asses FOR 10 YEARS with the water that WE payed.
Do you actually think that they have anything else beside Stranger Things? They don't, the only thing that made more than literal pennies is Stranger Things. Because Hidden SUCKED.
And you know why Stranger Things made so much money? Do you know why Stranger Things is popular? Not because it's good, sure the first seasons were awesome, but a show made by two literal nobodies is only popular because you have one known actor (Winona Ryder and David Harbour), it's a Netflix original, AND it was able to create a fanbase.
And the fans, they did it. They made the show popular.
Millie, Finn, Noah. The fans loved the child actors. And Bylers and Milevens they were so strong.
This is why THEY started the ship war. There was NO need of dragging Will's crush on for THAT long. I mean, it could've been closed in season 4.
Are you telling me it's fair? It's a fair fight? The only reason people even watched episode 8 after that shitty volume 2 was the ship war. I mean volume 2 was SO BAD that people couldn't believe it was the actual final product.
It would be a fair fight if Mike was actually bisexual and had feelings for both Will and El. I would've given you that. That's a fair love triangle. But no, Mike is straight and Will? Will gets an EPILOGUE BOYFRIEND.
A fucking epilogue boyfriend. Who has no goddamn line.
Stranger Things is about outcasts, unconventional couples, being different. And the only queer representation we have is two couples, that developed off screen?
I mean, seriously?
But, you know what, I'm happy it's ended this way. It proves that the Duffer Brothers don't have the balls to actually make history. They proved to the world that they ain't shit as writers.
I believe that every story unfolds naturally. I believe that as a writer you have a responsibility to write a story the way it is. And I know they considered Byler. They set the table for them is season 4. You don't do that if you don't want them to eat.
And I don't care if it was Netflix or Jesus himself who stopped them. This is on them.
They knew what Byler meant to the queer community and they used us. They knew that Netflix wasn't going to allow that and they STILL wrote it. They KNEW that the queer community was watching and had hope, for once, and they still wrote that final script and called it a day.
And when I say, for once, I mean it. I have never felt this hopeful about a queer ship going canon. Not because of Byler, that's the point. It's not about Byler. It's about what Byler meant.
Byler would've been one of the first, if not THE first, canon slow-burn romance between two male characters in a GA show.
History.
I'm not exaggerating.
And I'm sure there's a lot of people who don't care, but I know that there's so many people out there that were waiting for this. There's so many people that were waiting for the queer community to hit this milestone.
And if 9-1-1 doesn't do it with Buddie now, who will? Another show in the 10 years? 20? 30 years?
As a writer you need to ask yourself one big questions before writing a story: what message do I want to give to the reader?
You can do as many press tours and interviews telling what the message is, but only in the end the real message will show.
And only the audience can tell you what the message was.
The message the Duffers gave us today is that queer people are not worthy of proper representation. That queer romance, among all the other "unconventional romances", is the only one that doesn't deserve representation.
We lost today.
But I am tired of scraps, of leftovers.
I am tired of being disappointed.
And I could sit here analysing every single Byler moment since 2016, but would that matter anyway? Would that change anything? Those are the scraps.
Proving that we were right all along? We were right, they were writing Byler. They were. To keep us watching, to keep us on edge. To keep us making content about Byler. US, the queer community.
They took advantage of the queer community and I can't believe that in 2026 they are able to get away with it. Again. If the Duffers can get away with queerbating, everyone can.
And they did it, over and over and over again and there are so many examples. This is not the first time it happens, it's not even the fifteenth time it happens.
And I hope that after all this the Duffers will lose all the respect that the community had for them, and I really hope that Netflix burns in the money they accumulated from us.
BURNS.
Sorry for not making sense but I'm writing this at 6 am. And I'm angry, disappointed.
I hope everyone that reads this will understand where I'm coming from and if you don't agree, please illuminate me with why. I really really think this is another case of queerbating, in the big year of 2026, happy new year, and I hate it. I feel the same way I felt when I thought Kamala was going to win.
Happy new year everybody.
