Creelby is the key to Byler Endgame... just not in the way you're thinking (what I'm calling #BobGate)
Part 🌧️⚡️: The Thunder Twins
This is a theory that's gonna upset the Henderhop shippers so bad, but bear with me --
These are from the official ST tarot deck (photo courtesy of the wonderful and incomparable @nuffit 💙💛 and I thank @maytheoddsbeinmyfavor every day since they introduced me to this tarot deck)
El as the Moon and Dustin as the Sun???
A traditional pairing, like PB and chocolate. I mean, it applies to Will and Mike as well, I think, as the Eyes of Ra and Horus respectively. But it also applies to the Greek gods of the sun and moon, Apollo & Artemis.
El, as some believe, is Henry's daughter by blood (and Bob Newby's if you believe in Bobgate lol 😁) [also Byler's love child, but spiritually].
What about Dustin, who famously has an absent father*???
*Walter appearing in TFS is not a valid counterpoint if you consider the multiple inconsistencies in the show re: timelines/characters. If Bob can be Patty, Patty be the MF, and Alan Munson be Scott Clarke, then who's to say Walter also isn't what he seems? I keep thinking back to Patty exposing Walter making out with his cousin, followed by the implied incest jokes about Patty and Bob. And the fact that Walter's family owns a liquor store (alcohol being a depressant and symbol of things being obfuscated on the show).
Credit where credit is due to @junostarzz and Twitter user @coldas_rwylm for connecting the meaning of Dustin's last name, which led me down this path to begin with 🙏
Do we see a family resemblance???
I also keep circling back to what Dustin's big hero moment is going to be in Vol. 4, given we've been predicting most everyone else's. Rn, I theorize going after his best friend Lucas, the lost sheep, and taking down his evil mentor, Mr. Clarke, will be part of that...
But maybe it'll be tied to a surprise twin reveal.
Not WillEl (which people have long suspected), but El and Dustin.
Canonically, we have Dustin's birthday as May 29th, 1971 and El's and June 7th, 1971. Though we may find out one of those birth dates is incorrect, these dates mean they're GEMINIS.
Not to mention Dustin has always felt like an "outsider" within his own friend group since he only became friends with them after moving to Hawkins in the fourth grade.
Not to mention -- what does Mike tell Dustin about his shoulder trick in the VERY FIRST EPISODE OF THE SHOW?!
"I think it's kinda cool. It's like you have superpowers or something."
The ST cast and crew kept saying they didn't want to pull a GOT, but what if they decided to pull a "Bran is King of the Seven Kingdoms"-style move, but with our brilliant and truly deserving King Dustin 🫶
It's funny because, like El, Dustin is also a lot like their dads, Henry and Bob.
From Twitter user @pantostado3333:
Not to mention that like Henry, Dustin has always embraced being an individual and rebelled against forced conformity.
Henry: "You see, humans are a unique type of pest. Multiplying and poisoning our world, all while enforcing a structure of their own. A deeply unnatural structure. Where others saw order, I saw a straitjacket. A cruel oppressive world dictated by made up rules. [...] Everyone is just waiting [...] Waiting for it all to be over. All while performing in a silly, terrible play, day after day. [...] I could not pretend. And I realized, I didn't have to." [S4, Ep 7: "The Massacre at Hawkins Lab"]
Dustin: "Do you even hear yourselves right now? Blend in? Follow the rules? That's not what we've ever done. We stay true to ourselves! We're supposed to stay true to our friends. We stand up for what's right, no matter the cost." [S5, Ep 1: "The Crawl"]
Though they obviously go about their rebellion in different ways, it should be pointed out that Dustin goes to a darker place in S5 after losing Eddie. He's getting into fights with the jocks, riling them up whether it's his Hellfire shirt or Jake the Snake (snake symbolism associated with Vecna btw!). He's snapping at his best friend and big brother figure, Steve. He even tells the boys, "I want to see Vecna's heart on a platter."
But in staying true to himself, Dustin's Conformity!Epilogue has a "happy ending" where he sticks it to the man, is valedictorian, and gets an invite from the girl who rejected him in middle school.
Whether that was a reward from the MF (who punishes liars) or from Henry himself, there's no denying he's Henry's sun --
[and yet another potential Green Lantern]
Dustin is a regular chip off the old block!
But he definitely has more shared interests with Bob--
Big on science and nerdy stuff
That's not even mentioning the fact that Dustin (with Steve) was the one who solidified Bobgate for me.
Before ST5 Vol. 2 came out, I was so convinced the "Rubik's cube not even being a good measure of intelligence" line would be said by or to Bob in a memory... and if this theory is true, it's his son who said it!
There's also more links between El and Dustin and the actual Wonder Twins, the extraterrestrial Zan and Jayna --
Zan can transform into any form of water while Jayna can shapeshift into different animals.
Zan's powers line up more with El imo. She's the physical manifestation of Byler and Creelby's queer love, which as we know, is also represented by water #loverslakegate.
Not to mention the repeated connections to El and water nymphs (#El is Lady of the Lake)
Who, on the other hand, has always had an affinity for animals?
Like Jake the Snake (see above), Yertle the Turtle...
Dart (who represents homosexuality)...
And Claudia's beloved cat Mews, who was gone too soon? #RIPMews
OFC, look who showed up with Mews in a YT digital special 👀 Bob Newby, once again, you ARE the father!
Lmao not both of them dying the same way 😭 Also did you hear that first thing Sean said? "It's time to face your fears. Confronting your past is the first step to healing." It's really been in our faces this whole time.
Again, sorry to the Henderhop shippers, but people shipped Luke and Leia before Return of the Jedi came out 👀
That's all I'm saying.... keeping an eye out in my rewatches for any Wonder Thunder Twins foreshadowing...
