lost in time

if you don’t believe in conformitygate, that’s completely fine, interpretation isn’t compulsory, and no one is demanding you sign a manifesto. but the people who do believe in it aren’t doing anything wrong. they’re engaging critically, creatively, and with a level of care that mirrors actual academic labour. the amount of time, love, and methodological thought poured into those posts makes me love this side of the fandom even more. it’s thoughtful, it’s rigorous, and it’s genuinely joyful to watch unfold.

and some of you really need to just… keep scrolling. if your contribution is going to be hurtful, spiteful, or dismissive, you don’t need to offer it. “uhh just get over it, the duffers just didn’t care at the end” isn’t insightful, it’s not constructive, and it actively shuts down the kind of creative, critical engagement fandom is built on. scrolling is free. silence is free. letting people enjoy their corner of the text is free.

fandom thrives on multiplicity, on divergent readings, on people following threads that excite them. policing that doesn’t make you objective or superior; it just makes the space smaller, meaner, and far less interesting.

i hope people realize that just because a theorized date didn’t become true, that does not AT ALL mean that suddenly all the other 14526378919176262 pieces of conformitygate evidence & basic logical reasoning magically vanished.

i get it, most expected it on the Stranger Things documentary because of that one Freddy Krueger “fake” documentary from the 90s where the villain actually makes an appearance through the 4th wall.

but that was never a guarantee Stranger Things would pull the exact same stunt. it could’ve perfectly just been an inspiration for a “fake” documentary in a more general sense. like a documentary that is secretly a mockumentary. which, frankly, it REALLY looks like it is.

plus: counting one week—7 days—from the 6th/7th january (#conformitygate’s first “loss” lmfao), it lands on the 13th/14th january.

which would be a lot more akin to the season 1 narrative of Will vanishing on the 6th, people noticing on the 7th, finding his FAKE “dead body” on the 12th, and finally getting him back for real on the 13th/14th.

“Roll a 13 or higher!”

and Finn’s SNL appearance is on the 17th—3 days after that date, which would allow time for people to watch whatever they might possibly be planning to release.

i’m not saying it WILL happen, because obviously I’m don’t work for Stranger Things or Netflix lmfao, but.

Ignoring the fact that they have always been meticulous, detail-oriented and seemingly smart filmmakers before the post-finale interviews came out, they are also copying the Game of Thrones creators. Which is weird since they allegedly studied this specific finale so they could avoid everything that went wrong with it!!

Okay so I have seen GoT but I wasn't there when it was releasing so I didn't see the fallout of the finale, but for funsies i have done some research. I can't find any actual interviews with the writers (if someone has any plz let me know), but i have found some articles with quotes in them.

First of all, the HBO released GoT "inside the episode" videos for the final season (sound familiar? exactly.), I do think this is worth noting bc netflix doesn't usually do these kinds of bts videos (and when they do they're not called "inside the episode" specifically), so this could have been set in motion by the duffers. It's also weird that they're giving these away if they're planning on releasing a documentary? Anyway, here's an article from The Outline that i found about GoT:

Something about all this is kind of giving the "off screen" "eleven was a personification of the magic of childhood" "losing eleven was always mike's biggest fear" type of bullshit the Duffers have been spewing the past weeks.

"dany kind of forgot about the iron fleet" carries the same vibe as "vecna didn't expect to be attacked on his home turfs, so that's why there's no demos in the final battle". "they end up looking like two guys who are just sort of winging it" I haven't seen a quote that describes The Dipshit Duffers more than this. BUT in my opinion (as someone who had too much free time a month ago and watched every single interview i could find on youtube) this behavior only started surrounding the release of the finale. If there's anything I know about The Delightful Duffers (pre-finale versions of them), it's that they put effort, thought, care and time into this show!! And some of these interviews are just so...Ridiculously Bad. Like they're not even trying to salvage their image. If anything, they're ruining their image on purpose!

So yeah i think they did study the GoT finale, but for a very different reason than they said they did. Especially since the ST finale also has vibes from other bad finales (mileven being destiel, extra episode being sherlock, etc). I think they're doing it on purpose!! Finn Wolfhard saying they're "we go back and we retcon [the GoT finale]" i think he meant that LITERALLY.

Why? Well, it was never really confirmed that they would come out on January 7th. That was just the most popular belief. When I listened to WSQK radio, they repeated the numbers 11 and 12 way more than 7. Initially I thought that meant the episode would release at 11 or 12 pm, but instead, I think it might be the 11th or 12th of January.

Additionally... I still think it's so weird that Vol 2 & 3 still aren't registered as official episodes.

Where am I drawing the line? When the documentary comes out on January 12th (13th for me), that's when I will absolutely draw the line.

They're calling it "One Last Adventure"; quite the double meaning. It gives the impression our characters will go on one last adventure post-"finale". Additionally, the documentary is coming out so soon, less than two weeks after the show ended. I find that odd; you'd think they would release it a little later, to keep the hype for the show going as long as possible now that it's over.

If it really is just a documentary, then I will finally stop hoping for bonus episodes. I'm not a doomsday cultist; I've gotta draw the line somewhere, and I am personally drawing the line at January 12th.

Hear that, future me? :P

If there are no bonus episodes, am I gonna be devastated? No, the devastation already came when I watched my favourite show eat itself alive at the very end of its run, and the only ship I've ever actually cared about (Byler) be handled with a disappointing level of ambiguity. I'm good, dude. I'm currently powered by a wonderful cocktail of defiance, excitement and spite!

Plus, I'll always have ao3.

If there are bonus episodes, will all be forgiven? I mean... first and foremost, I think the Duffers made a lot of mistakes when they failed to protect their dedicated, passionate queer fans from the relentless homophobia of the GA. I understand that speaking up about it might have jeopardised their "big twist", but it still makes me feel uneasy.

If the new episodes resolve those loose ends, though? If they remove the ambiguity from Mike and Will's romance? Oh, I'll be pleased as hell. I'll be absolutely amazed that they actually did it! Whether "all is forgiven" is something I can only decide in the future, when the bonus episodes are (or aren't) released.

So that's where I'm at right now! I'll be chilling until January 12th (13th for me). After that, there are two roads... my ao3 writer era, or my HOLY SHIT THEY ACTUALLY DID IT era.

Transitioning into the epilogue using clock mimicking sounds and heartbeats? Multiple sets of extras looking directly into the camera? The whatz-it game? The repeated mention of media that revolves around false endings and realities? The dropped logic of hellfire being accepted, max graduating, hopper being chief? The reused engagement ring? Making Mike look like both his father and Henry at the same time? The lack of times on watches, clocks, and video recording? The blank sign, everyone in orange instead of green, the way everyone was sitting the same way Henry does? The saturated colours mimicking the mindscape? The exit signs throughout the season, even in the "happy endings" Mike crafts? The ominous WSQK and how the broadcasters names sound like Vecna and the Mindflayer? The parallels to DND concepts like the false Hydra?