Conformitygate is really not that serious, actually.
And the way people are being weird about it is honestly irking me.
Because hereās the thing: conspiracy theories, wild speculation, reading too much into interviews, and hoping for the impossible have always been part of fandom. Thatās not new. Thatās not ācrossing a line.ā Thatās literally how fandom works. If anything, the current reactions are just making it very obvious who hasnāt spent much time in other fandom spaces before.
This is extremely normal behavior when something people love is ending.
And for a lot of us, this isnāt ājust a show.ā Itās about closure. Itās about saying goodbye to something we grew up with. I was the same age as the younger actors when they started filming, and in a very real way it feels like saying goodbye to old friends. You donāt just switch that kind of attachment off the second the final episode airs.
Will it be upsetting that it ended?
Will it hurt if it ends in a way that doesnāt feel right to us as fans?
But thatās kind of the point.
Fandom has always been about building community around theories, headcanons, alternate interpretations, and āwhat ifs.ā Itās how people process disappointment. Itās how people process love. Itās how people process endings. None of this is harmful, none of this is new, and none of this means people are ātaking it too far.ā
This is just fandom doing what fandom has always done: grieving, theorizing, coping, and connecting.
And yeah ā Iāll say it. I believe.
Not just because I want Byler to get together (though I do).
Not because I blindly trust the Duffer brothers.
But because believing has kept the fandom speculative and fun. Because I enjoy theorizing and making jokes with my best friend. Because engaging with the show like this is part of the joy.
Thatās what people keep missing: this isnāt coming from delusion. Itās coming from enjoyment. From creativity. From community.
P.S. the interviews have been weird as hell, actually, and I do think thereās solid reason people are suspicious. Like⦠we still havenāt seen photos of the cast with the red finale script. Just saying.
Let people theorize. Let people hope. Let people cope.