“im looking for stuff that means something.”

And the way people are being weird about it is honestly irking me.

Because here’s the thing: conspiracy theories, wild speculation, reading too much into interviews, and hoping for the impossible have always been part of fandom. That’s not new. That’s not “crossing a line.” That’s literally how fandom works. If anything, the current reactions are just making it very obvious who hasn’t 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 isn’t “just a show.” It’s about closure. It’s 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 don’t just switch that kind of attachment off the second the final episode airs.

Will it be upsetting that it ended?

Yes.

Will it hurt if it ends in a way that doesn’t feel right to us as fans?

Also yes.

But that’s kind of the point.

Fandom has always been about building community around theories, headcanons, alternate interpretations, and “what ifs.” It’s how people process disappointment. It’s how people process love. It’s how people process endings. None of this is harmful, none of this is new, and none of this means people are “taking it too far.”

This is just fandom doing what fandom has always done: grieving, theorizing, coping, and connecting.

And yeah — I’ll 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.

That’s what people keep missing: this isn’t coming from delusion. It’s coming from enjoyment. From creativity. From community.

P.S. the interviews have been weird as hell, actually, and I do think there’s solid reason people are suspicious. Like… we still haven’t seen photos of the cast with the red finale script. Just saying.

Let people theorize. Let people hope. Let people cope.

The demogorgon/Vecna also violated that. It didn't only enter without permission but also destroyed Castle Byers, which was a safe space from his childhood, in the process of doing so.

It genuinely baffles me that people can see all that on screen and still deny the SA implications of Will's experiences in the Upside Down. No one is "reading too much into it" for pointing them out. They're seeing exactly what the show wants you to see. It was never subtle. You could see the SA implications with the vine and the town speculating that Will was raped by some older guy and left for dead (and they weren't totally wrong) in S1, but they made it even more clear now.

You shouldn't need to see a child raped on screen to understand what they're trying to depict. The fact that Stranger Things did show a child being raped and there's still people who deny it is genuinely scary.

Sexual assault is about the victims. It's not less valid for not being a source of sexual pleasure for the offender. It's insulting to insinuate otherwise. Will is a fictional character who won't see you invalidating his experiences. But the real victims can see it and be affected by it. Have some sense.

The "No trespassing" signs in the Byers' house in S1 are there for a reason. "All friends welcomed" in Castle Byers is there for a reason. The password is there for a reason.