Archivegate

Started off as a cutgate/Byler discourse blog, now featuring conformitygate (and divorcegate and whatever else I find). Run by The Arctic Archivist.

[cutgate]

While a lot of people have been comparing Conformitygate to TJLC, I think these comparisons focus too much on the drama of it all. What is more important to look at is the culture around these shows.

Both Moftis and the Duffers encouraged a climate of fandom theorizing and speculation by insisting that small details have meaning, there would be payoff for these details, and that the show would be “smart” (I can’t think of a better way to put this).

This attitude from showrunners encourages fandom theorizing and speculation. TJLC and the various Byler gates are born from this shared culture. And what we saw with BBC Sherlock in the 2010s and Stranger Things in the 2020s is what happens when fandom expectations are not met.

[pinksweaterinthecorner]

haven't been super active lately because of other stuff going on and I've seen quite a few people on the tag talk about how others are coming (back) to cg and posting about it more and I didn't realise it was to the extent that a cg edit on tiktok posted TWO DAYS AGO has 1.5 MILLION LIKES????????? hello??????????? been here for so long with the same people i forgot this isn't a groupchat

[spaceoddity6]

I hope any byler who genuinely wholeheartedly believes in conformity gate understands the damage that matt and ross duffer have done to queer media and their queer fans btw

[georgeodowd]

I honestly have no idea why anyone would believe two cishet white dudes with a track record of being shitty human beings (stolen IP, child harassment, horrific liars, openly homophobic statements in interviews, etc) would put their careers on the line to make a statement about queerbaiting in media. I mean, seriously, lulz what?!? Are we living on the same planet?

Then add in how bizarre and completely incompetent the execution of said statement would be, and it just becomes even more laughable.

Look, I know there's a lot of weird shit that doesn't add about this show, and I completely understand that denial is a very real stage of grief, but there are plausible explanations for all of the weird shit, yes, some people in the biz are literally that untalented and there *were* skilled writers working on the show that we know walked out during the WGA strikes or shortly thereafter, and none of this excuses the harm done to queer audiences.

If they were really that brilliant, they would understand how they're undermining their own message. One they have zero personal motivation to make. One they have no track record of supporting.

[spaceoddity6]

so well said

the thing about conformity gate is it’s all disproven by the simple fact that the duffers are fucking dumb and don’t remember details about their own show, and they wanted to finish season five so bad that they didn’t care about continuity for any reason

[noyouwerebeautiful]

conformitygate going mainstream has to be the best thing that's ever happened to me because what do you mean i get to watch milevens + anti bylers discuss a byler theory without knowing it

[warningboyxboy]

[dingdongyouarewrong]

Apple Tree Yard just gave birth. Will you make a video on Conformity Gate and Twitter's very own Superwholock?

Making Sense of #ConformityGate | Sarah Z

Get more from Sarah Z on Patreon

[lesbianshepard]

For anyone keeping up with the Stranger Things "secret good finale" conspiracy (yes, it is just the Sherlock "secret good episode" thing with a new show.) the current theory is that tomorrow, in place of SNL, the actual finale of Stranger Things will air. They are presenting this as something plausible, and not something that Lorne Michaels would have beaten the Duffer Brothers to death over if they even suggested it.

[lesbianshepard]

The stranger things finale is going to drop on Martin Luther King Jr Day because Stranger Things embodies the values of MLK

[lesbianshepard]

Close enough. Welcome back Johnlock truthers!

[lesbianshepard]

The subreddit also has a 60 page masterdoc of all their evidence, if anyone wants to archive that for the inevitable youtube video that's going to be made.

[lesbianshepard]

we poppin the BIGGEST bottles when Secret Good Finale happens in half an hour!

[lesbianshepard]

[imwiremother]

[emoticon-indy]

GUYS THEY'RE STILL GOING.

[georgeodowd]

It's 2 AM and I'm still thinking about that time the Empire State Building posted about conformitygate.

[anonymousstrangerthongs]

I really want to believe in conformitygate, and I do to an extent… but it is actually becoming ridiculous, the reaches people are going to.

I do believe that the characters lost to Vecna in the end. I do believe that they’re trapped in some sort of facsimile of reality meant to keep them complacent. I do not believe Byler has anything to do with any of it, and it annoys the fuck out of me how every theory revolves around that. Maybe I’m the weird one for not foaming at the mouth over a relationship between two teenagers 🤷‍♀️ But in any case, I don’t think that is, nor was it ever going to happen.

I’m starting to become resentful of everyone in that community. I have been let down too many times.

.

[theglitchywriterboi]

Former & current LoveWinsGate+ConformityGate truthers, do you still have any hope of more or are you done ?

I'm still sure there's more coming 100%

I'm Kinda sure there's more coming, evidence points that way but I still doubt

I dontthink mores coming but theres like 1-5% of me hoping still

There's nothing more coming [barring cash grabs like Tales].

I am 100% sure there isn't more AND 100% sure there is - Either way I win

Other ???

Voting ended onMay 26

For people who still believe there's more coming, what's your deadline for fully giving up ? Like if there's not more episodes/an official announcement by X you're done & are on team it's not happening ? I'm option 1-5% of delusional optimistic hope left & I'm fully giving up hope in November 16th [& the hope I do have is mostly shock from how bad the latter half of S5 was & grief THIS is what we got. I do think the evidence people has is very compelling but ://]

[picsbydarienjay]

I posted this on Twitter before, but here is my Stranger Things conspiracy wall from December! Someday I'll work through it again, because I haven't added anything since the day before Vol 2.

My TikTok has a lot of my theories that feature this wall, if you wanna go check them out over there!

[picsbydarienjay]

Stop normalizing psychotic breaks. You have never seen nor experienced a psychotic break and it shows in the way you take normal fandom behavior and call it psychotic because people are thinking outside of a box you decided to put them in. Bylers had crazy theories for YEARS and nobody in that area of the fandom had a problem with it until it was about subject matter they dont personally believe in. I pray you never have a psychotic break, people's lives are ruined because of shit like that. A fan theory on tumblr that has a timer on it isnt mass psychosis. Its shit fandom has been doing for decades. Its not even an original concept. Idgaf if you dont believe it, just change the language youre using. Undermining a real mental issue isnt cute and it isnt funny.

Hi Anonymous!

It's very interesting for you to assume that, because I've dealt with a LOT of mental health struggles in my life, and you don't know me. I never coined the term Mass Byler Psychosis, and was implicated in it due to the people who coined it (and then changed it to Mass Byler Canon). I never found a problem with it because 1) It was from Milevens making fun of it and it was reclaiming, and 2) I actually HAVE dealt with psychosis and knew how close my stress levels since Christmas matched those previous mental health episodes.

As a person who has been through psychosis and mental health issues, I DO actually think that a fair amount of people genuinely entered psychosis from this whole situation. Just 2 days of missed sleep can lead to psychosis, and it's a lot more prevalent than people think. I did go and change the tag that jokingly apologized for my involvement causing mass hysteria, so I am sorry for that comment making it seem dismissive.

However.

I think you should reexamine how you've chosen to interact with me here. I had to do trauma work following Vol 2 related to my experience of CSA and being triggered by the show, while I was dealing with people telling me I should be "helped" for my theories.

I legit was dealing with paranoid stress delusions due to this, and had to get on a SWAT warning list just in case somebody found my address (including some dedicated haters I'd gotten from my involvement on the Twitter side of Conformitygate). So yes, I did go through some mental health struggles due to all of it.

This is not a normal fan theory. I fully believe the ending of the show purposefully orchestrated to test the mental fortitude of an audience, and our ability to understand messages in media and reject propaganda. Everybody else treats us like we're insane for our ideas, which I greatly disagree with. However, to deny that this seriously affected people's mental health and actually put them into mental anguish is not doing what you think it is.

I still believe, and I don't think it makes myself or anyone crazy for still believing. And if it does? Then fuck it, we're all crazy together. I don't know where you got the idea I don't believe.

I hope you've found the love and support you need to get where you need to be during this rough time. Because it's genuinely been SO rough. I hope it hasn't hurt your mental health, but it seriously negatively effected mine.

[picsbydarienjay]

Ok so I am sorry for assuming. I'm afraid I and many others have been on edge about the normalization of medical terms for weeks (and longer) now. Like yes, I am sure people who were triggered into psychosis would probably like the theory and take it to the moon with their delusions but people have been referring to the theory itself as mass psychosis and started using psychosis as another word for crazy or obsessed and its gotten extremely grating for the people who understand how serious psychosis is. Especially because a lot of the people who are calling us crazy were the same people fighting the "delusional byler" title just 3 months ago and suddenly decided theorizing is a mental issue. Im sorry I was so harsh, and im sorry I opened the floodgates with those antis under that post.

Hey, it's okay. I will admit I was not specific in how I spoke of my experience. It's my first time back actually engaging with a fandom space on Tumblr since the December 2018, so I'm not used to the vibes yet. I also just came from Twitter where I was on calls and involved with some of the worst of the fandom/CG over there. I'm rather jaded, so I apologize for any way I came off in return.

It's absolutely understandable to be on edge about it. I've gotten so many people telling me to commit myself somewhere or that they hope I get the help I "need", even when I explicitly say I am currently getting said help? Actually unrealistic and impossible these people wanna seem so smart and aloof that they literally forget to read the very words people have said. I've gotten dogged on SO hard for how I've discussed my more outlandish theories, but I popularized We (The Audience) Got Vecna'd on Twitter on Dec 26th, so I don't think these people can hurt me ATP. Lol. 67gate literally threw me under the bus and blamed the "more content" aspect of Conformitygate onto me and called me delusional. They need to rethink their concept of empathy from the ground up, and that's what I focus on now.

On the internet it can be hard to discern what people mean sometimes, and I just hope that one lesson we can take from this entire experience is to take things in better faith. Both one another, as well as ourselves.

I think that this show has a lot to say about mental health, and we all gotta fortify ourselves for the themes of the content to come. It might get extremely dark, and I don't know how I'll be able to take it (if many fan theories are accurate). The show is very much already about PTSD and lying to yourself already, so I'm excited to see if they can pull off the complex stuff they have to do with certain characters traumas! And we all need to be ready for it.

[muffin-hemingway]

A cancelled date? Oh I’m sure 👀 @nightnut

[cutgate]

this is a weird thing to say, but I'm very grateful for this blog despite not really being "in" stranger things fandom. like there's something genuinely comforting about scrolling through the evolving drama and being able to spend an hour or two distracting myself from mental health issues or The State Of The World with this stuff. thank you for that.

Just now saw this! Thanks <3

[cutgate]

I have seen multiple people credit ConformityGate to tumblr, but it (and cutgate) actually originated on Twitter. I have been monitoring both, and I believe both originate from the same group of fans who run a discord server (Mass Byler Canon)

[cutgate]

I want to add an addendum to this post for the historical record, that the creation of these fans towards Conformitygate has been called into question.

[whispering-goat]

Hiii, as much as the timeline thing definitely makes sense, the extra episode/CONFORMITYGATE wasn’t a plant by the media. They definitely hinted/ spurred it on but I had thought of the concept of still being in a trance/ an extra episode ten minutes after the finale, and then made a post about it. Afterwards I joined a live Twitter space called “Mass Byler Canon” where the user @67gate was starting a theory called ConformityGate (it was the same as mine minus the extra episode aspect). Because the theory was practically the same except for the extra episode part, I posted multiple videos about it on TikTok, and made it viral. It was not a plant. I even have the screenshots of being the first person to post it on TikTok, and the one with the orange overlay is the one that went viral and spread all over the internet.

I was just clarifying that it’s not a plant that started it, even though it was hinted towards. I love the rest of your timeline idea sm though

(There’s the screenshot of it being brought to TikTok below, with all three videos being mine not from a plant )

Congrats on being the first to bring the idea to TikTok, that's so cool! 🎊 (Also, wow reaching out to me of all people, thanks? I'm glad you like my timeline prediction!) I didn't want to discredit anyone that came up with it themselves organically, thanks for clarifying!

I am pretty sure if nobody had come up with it, that they would have planted it though. It seems to have been a very coordinated social experiment from the start, so they definitely helped it spread.

I wonder what name they would have given the theory, conformitygate is very byler-coded.

Also, there is a conformitygate discord server with the best theorists from Tumblr, if you (or anyone) wants to join send a DM! We're creating a master document with all evidence right now.