#WSQK radio station

[fairyrona]

NOW WHICH ONE OF YALL IS THIS !!!!!!

[oceanic-sunsets]

I’m begging y’all to check out this song posted by the mysterious WSQK radio station twitter acc (I’m crazy but I am Free)

This song sounds like someone who waited too long, who took too long to realize someone’s love and their mutual feelings. But the time being NECESSARY for this realization to happen, and how they hope they aren’t too late.

“If you received my letter telling you I’d soon be free” -> they took long but finally got there. Also it mentions a letter so yes I’m pointing it out because I believe in lettergate

So this person is waiting for a Sign that the other person STILL loves them, the confirmation of their feelings being represented by a YELLOW ribbon around an oak tree. -> “It’s been three long years, do you still want me?”

and

“If I don’t see a yellow ribbon ‘round the old oak tree, I’ll stay on the bus, forget about us”

Just listen to the song, there’s just something about it i swear

[in-deep]

Ohhhh okay…. The heavily queercoded quote from Jonathan to Will followed by She Blinded Me With Science lyrics (a certified banger) from Mike’s official Spotify playlist.

again, wish I knew if this was real or not but it’s… pretty interesting

[strawberrybyers]

they play too much because now i’m stressed 😩 the pic of the duffers looks to be at the radio station but the other pic looks like maybe a military base?? who is the guy in the white shirt?? i was thinking maybe charlie or noah but i’m not sure 🧐 possible stunt double ??

[ellstinson]

the sign in this state showing that the radio station had not been in operation for a long time 😭

[conflictofthemind]

Montauk, The Project Rainbow, and Experiments in Time

It’s fairly common knowledge that Stranger Things is based on Montauk. The unfortunate part is that Montauk has been attributed to another ‘vaguely MK-ULTRA mind control related side project’ and not the big narrative that it is, with details incredibly close to plot points in Stranger Things that resulted in an attempted lawsuit years back. Montauk does not just set the general ‘spooky scientific experiments on kids’ tone for ST - it is the backbone of the whole lore. 

‘The Montauk Project’ Book / Conspiracy explained simply is that the US government unofficially experimented on humans with ‘great psychic ability’ to allow their psychic brain waves to interact with the normal electromagnetic waves of our world. The end goal being manifesting thoughts into reality, and opening up wormholes in time. This would give the military great advantage and potentially control over the outcomes of war. It then turns out the whole narrative of Montauk occurs within a time loop from 1943-1983, when the disappearance of a ship called the USS Eldridge opened up a wormhole which was connected with by a research subject in 1983. The time loop is self-causing - the entire reason the Montauk experiments take place are to further study the events that occurred on this ship, but part of the reason the ship disappears is because of the Montauk Project. Due to all of the other time travel references within the series - trust, we will get into those - this leads me to believe it’s very unlikely there isn’t time travel / a time loop involved. Here I hope to posit the basic information about Montauk/The Philadelphia Project, how the powers work within ST, Will’s clear involvement in all of it, and the time travel element. 

Ahahaha why does that look like a bowl-cut…

Let’s put this out of the way first: the idea that Montauk/Philadelphia is the direct inspiration for the show is not based on flimsy grounds. The original series the Duffers planned to make was going to be an actual retelling of Duncan Cameron’s (think El and Henry - main research subject of Montauk) story. This was later changed to become the story we know today with the characters we know today, although with different names and the title remaining Montauk. Some of the characters had names from Montauk too… like Mr. Clarke being Mr. Nichols. I’ll save that for a later post. The entire design of HNL is based off of the ‘Camp Hero’ / Montauk lab with the iconic banana-shaped radar disk. El’s Void ability comes from the ‘Seeing Eye’ power Duncan has in Montauk, where focusing on a personal item belonging to a person lets him see into their mind. The research subjects’ power is amplified by white noise and a sensory deprivation chamber - again, seen with El. 

The Rainbow Ship and the Electromagnetic Connection:

The Electromagnetic Spectrum is usually mentioned at least a little in every season. Joyce’s magnets falling off, El needing the radio, etc. Lights are another focus, with the kids in the Rainbow Room being tested on how they can manipulate lightbulbs, and the emphasis on lights flickering whenever powerful forces are being used or the Upside Down is interfering with Hawkins. I expect them to really start pushing it in Season 5, and we can already see evidence of this (below: the WSQK Squawk Van). They’re at a radio station, the Middle School kids are learning about light from Scott Clarke most likely, and you can see the abundance of rainbows everywhere. It’s my opinion that rainbows and light are the mechanism in which these gates open, and also when at high enough power, how time can become warped. ‘Project Rainbow’ is another title basically interchangeable with the USS Eldridge and Philadelphia Project. This was because “the mechanism involved was the generation of an incredibly intense magnetic field around the ship, which would cause refraction or bending of light or radar waves around the ship”. However as we remember, this had the unintended effect of teleporting the ship across space-time. In the ST Universe, this results in the Eldridge being teleported to Dimension X temporarily (without a gate being opened).

The eagle shoots out beams of a rainbow which are meant to represent the radio waves being broadcast. 

It’s a commonly asked question as to how Will ‘blinked’ out of that shed without a gate, considering only El was able to open them at that time. The close-up on the lightbulb is the last shot we see before he just vanishes. It’s not just powers interfering with the surrounding electricity; this bending of light is what took him to the UD. But when this happens, it doesn’t result in a gate. I also believe this will end up being the mechanism for the eventual time-travel plot we’ll be seeing. Again in Montauk, there is a ‘time-tunnel’ made between the Eldridge and 1983 Montauk that was caused by the disappearance. My original post investigating this was me hypothesizing that being able to bend light to travel faster than it could result in temporary anomalies that allow one to time travel. 

Anyway, back to the rainbows. Rainbows are one of the most common recurring symbols in Stranger Things. The Rainbow Room exists of course, and there’s a deliberate costuming choice, especially in later seasons with the brighter atmosphere, to have characters wearing rainbow patterned items. Holly’s room is full of rainbows, and there are multiple rainbow props scattered around other locations (Mike’s basement, Erica’s room, etc). Scott Clarke (seriously what is up with him) is introduced in Season 1 doing a lesson on ROYGBIV. The BTS pictures of S5 Hawkins Middle School have him teaching yet another lesson on the visible light spectrum. And space for some reason. This brings us back to the Rainbow Ship.  Now we know the USS Eldridge is a marine ship, not a spaceship. But for the characters who seem to have some connection to it, it is represented as one regardless.

Will drew something representing the USS Eldridge (which it is mentioned was not from a movie i.e. he came up with it using his own memory and mind). The main fixture of Henry’s playground, where a ‘significant’ memory took place also features this representation of the Eldridge. I suspect there might also be a larger reason it took the form of a spaceship, but for now, consider that the ST Universe’s version of aliens are the Demogorgons. And outer space is Dimension X. The ship ‘flew’ to ‘outer space’ (D-X) and encountered ‘aliens’. In Montauk, that is kind of what happens. It’s more metaphorical in Stranger Things. The comic book Henry is obsessed with in TFS is seemingly changed from the real life Captain Midnight who was an airplane pilot, to be an astronaut. I think there is some kind of “alien abduction” theme with both Henry and Will being suddenly transported to another dimension that is alien in itself. Even when the lab scientists enter the UD in the first few seasons, they use hazmat suits that are deliberately similar looking to spacesuits. Stranger Things is a story about UFOs and aliens that also isn’t exactly about UFOs and aliens. 

And then, I’ll mention the weirdest part of this all - Will knows about the Eldridge somehow. And he knew about it before he was ever kidnapped and attached to the hive-mind. 

This is either possible because 1) he was in fact involved in research projects at HNL, and maybe the Project Indigo before the age of 8 like the original “rainbowshipgate” suggests. Or 2), there is an element messing with time in this situation, just like in the original Montauk book series. Montauk is literally named ‘Experiments in Time’. They’ve nabbed Linda Hamilton from Terminator (a movie about time travel) for this final season. They’re referencing a Wrinkle in Time with the Episode 6 title and Holly plot. Then we have everything else involving Henry’s clock theming that hasn’t exactly explained itself yet. Thinking time travel is a far-fetched idea at this point is a bit ridiculous. 

It really depends on how crazy they go with the whole concept. One of the other main characters from Montauk I haven’t mentioned yet is Al Bielek. Al Bielek was the original “whistleblower” who came forward with his story after supposedly recovering his repressed memories of the events. He claims to have been on the crew of the USS Eldridge in a previous life as Edward Cameron, Duncan Cameron’s brother. When he was sent forward in time he ended up staying in 1983 whereas Duncan Cameron was effectively sent back to where he came. Very confusing. But the story is, the man’s a time traveler. 

I do wonder if Al Bielek is loosely the inspiration for Will’s part in the story. Will who has seemingly repressed memories of many points in his life and has been suggested to be a time traveler many times. His name appears on the grandfather clock. He wears Marty McFly’s outfit in the first season. He has knowledge of an event that happened in 1943. He has lines about “seeing into the future” and Mike calls him a time-traveler in the VR Game where the writing staff had access to scripts and a writer from the show. The Upside Down is stuck on “the day of Will’s disappearance” (in the Duffers’ words), though that one probably has a slightly simpler explanation. 

The exact mechanics of how that would work are unclear. Right now, as young as an eight year old Will needs to have the knowledge of the Eldridge - so this isn’t something he will only end up connecting with this season. My theory is that there is a time loop involved, and Will’s actions in the future of Season 5 have him interfere in some way with the 1943 Philadelphia Project / Project Rainbow. The time loop is cyclical and self-causing. Our Will Byers already has a past iteration in yet another timeline where he already went back and tried to interfere with the past (and likely died trying in 1943). Then he is reborn again in 1971, and awakes a very small portion of his past memories of the previous loops. If that doesn’t make sense, I created this handy-but-ugly flowchart to help you out: 

Basically there is no beginning, since the future causes the past and vice versa (a bootstrap paradox). Every Will would then have memories of a past self(selves). The time loop also gets more complicated than this. Did Henry create the mindflayer? It’s presented like that within the show, but let me remind you that shows with heavy mystery elements can and will purposely deceive you. In the First Shadow, Mr. Newby is attacked by the Mindflayer and produces a drawing of the entity - it’s purposely not shown to the audience, but considering the Mindflayer was supposedly just a black mass then why is that? And regardless, in order to have Henry become possessed by it, the Mindflayer was definitely not created by him in 1979. A few have written up theories about this already, I’ll link to my friend's two posts on this element of the time loop.  

I don't have anything else super definitive yet. But I believe wholeheartedly that this is the right direction to search in and I hope we can put more attention on the subject. All of this makes sense, from the military connections they keep pushing in the show, the time travel hints we have been getting, the origin story of Brenner (whose dad died aboard the ship) and the Rainbow Room, everything ties back to the Eldridge events being incredibly incredibly important going forward.

Here's a link where you can read through Montauk Experiments in Time for free.

[will80sbyers]

STRANGER THINGS 5 PRODUCTION MASTERPOST

All that we know about season 5 of Stranger Things:

At some point things will be happening during November 21 in 1987 (?)

The government/military ppl will be in Hawkins and they build things around town

Schools are open

Hawkins is probably having problems with electricity

There is a project (from the Department of energy) for the students in High School to build something that can help with solar and wind power for the town

Dustin, Nancy and Jonathan have some scenes together in the farm of Eugene McCorkle and the upside down farm too in ep. 4

Jonathan and Steve have a scene together trying to open or start something that looks like a machine (a light turns from red to green) in ep. 1

There is a scene with Will, El, Robin, Nancy and Joyce

One of the first scenes will be a kid singing a song in the Upside Down ( probably Will singing Should I stay or should I go )

"The crawl" is the title of episode 1 of season 5

There's a lake involved? More pictures from the set

The lake is Browns lake in Georgia near where they will be filming (not confirmed that they will be filming at the lake)

More set pictures

First picture of the Wheeler's home while they are preparing the sets | more pictures | more

The actors are going on set and things are getting ready to start shooting stranger things 5

Max will be back in some way in the first episode

I'm gonna just do this for all the RANDOM pictures from the filming on set : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Season 5 will have 8 episodes / first table read during the first week of December, production is starting in January

They confirmed that the finale will not be of the "it was all a dream" kind of finale, it's not a d&d game the kids are playing

Production of s5 officially started on the 5th of January 2024

First official tweet of the production on the 8

Bts from the first day on set!! Stobin ❤️

First bts of Dustin on set / 1 /

Argyle may not be appearing in s5 (I hope it's a lie)

First look at Mike on set (paparazzi)

Other pictures of Dustin and what I think happens in this scene

At some point they go to the supermarket again

They use the radio station for something

Pictures from the set by Ross (Mike and bts)

Pictures from the radio station: El and Mike talk on the roof, Hopper and Joyce are around: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Video of Mike & El having a heart to heart

Lip reading made by me (it could be wrong!!!!)

They filmed something at the hospital and something at the Mall of season 3

Extra from the scene of Mike and El on the roof of the radio station

I think they are filming the ep. in order: what we know so far

Filming at Stone Mountain in Georgia

More background pictures in the school: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Pictures from the filming at the hospital

New pics at the hospital

Filming at lover's lake? More

Sets that we know have the upside down vines

Random news about the extras / more

Filming some scenes near the metro and train tracks?

Radio station at night / more radio station pics

More random pictures from the set / more

A good picture of the WSQK blue van

Who was on set / very blurry pics on set / more

WEEK 3 From Ross Duffer ( El!!)

Leaks from the radio station set (video + Murray has the outfit of the supermarket)

First look at Nancy and Jonathan / more /and again

Pictures from the McCorkle farm / more

FIRST LOOK AT WILL BYERS IN SEASON 5

First look at Nancy and other pictures from Ross! (week 5 and 6 of filming)

to be continued...

NEW PRODUCTION MASTERPOST (with the date)

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

Prediction for the start of season 5

I've been going crazy trying to figure out just how they'll transition into season 5. It certainly seems like "life goes on" in Hawkins despite everything that happened at the end of season 4. While it does seem like there's a military presence in town, there are clues that quite a bit of time has passed.

Aside from dates left on papers on set and whatnot, which could potentially be faked to throw people off, we see character differences that indicate time. El's hair has grown back. It's hard to tell just how long it is now, but it looks to be at least as long as it was in season 3, if not longer. We've seen little of Hopper, but we've been able to see set photos of David with a long beard. Then there's Holly, who seems older even taking into account the casting change.

This tells me we're looking at an approximate 8 months to one year time skip. While we might see some immediate aftermath from after the ending of season 4, the bulk of season 5 seems to be set in late Fall/early Winter of 1987. This isn't taking into account a possible rumored second time skip considering they're only halfway through filming.

So, how do we go from the end of the world to almost a year later? Well, there wasn't much that could be done in the position our heroes are in. Here's what I think happens after that final scene in the field.

Shortly after the "earthquake," an Army Corps of Engineers detachment arrives to help rebuild, overseen by Lt. Col. Sullivan. They proceed to block off affected areas for "safety concerns" under the pretense of having to seal up the fissures to allow for later rebuilding. In reality, they are setting up research stations and entry points while also preventing anyone else from getting in...or anything getting out.

Blocked off from being able to go after the weakened Vecna, and now faced with the concern of Sullivan possibly finding El, the heroes have to regroup. They both need to be able to hide El and have a safe base of operations. Agent Stinson arranges to set El and Hopper in the old WSQK radio station under the guise of the station being under new ownership.

While researching, I found out that many old radio stations had emergency shelters built by the government during the Cold War in case of a nuclear attack. Like the Dept of Energy Lab before it, the radio station would serve as a legitimate front for getting equipment and other resources they may need for what they're really up to. The shelter would also provide a place to hide their real activity and keep El safe. It may also even potentially provide access to the areas the military blocked off if the shelters contain escape tunnels.

We would essentially find out that the time since the end of season 4 were spent with the heroes trying to find a way into the Upside Down to get Henry while he's weak. However, it's just not possible with the military presence. The mission turns to trying to monitor both the military and the Upside Down threat until a window presents itself.

What might be the event that provides this window? I have some ideas.

The military breaches a Gate, which allows for Upside Down creatures to get out.

El has a breakthrough in her search for Max, providing them a critical clue.

Henry comes back to full strength, leading to Will getting Harry Potter-like visions of his plans.

Problems I have with this idea:

El is once again living in hiding, just as she did in season 2. I can't imagine she's able to get any kind of education unless Owens' people can set her up with tutoring.

The Byers being in town would certainly tip off Sullivan, and it doesn't look like they're lying low. I suppose they could feign moving back to Hawkins because they think she's dead.

What is up with Owens, and would his people even have the ability to do anything after the losses sustained from Sullivan's actions?

Why the hell would anyone even stay in Hawkins? This isn't the first disaster the town has dealt with in the past few years. I suppose it would cause property values to plummet to levels that could prompt a rich family to buy up land in preparation for owning everything after rebuilding. There was a Turnbow Land Development & Realty ad seen on set.

Does anyone else have thoughts on this?

[smalltownrobin]

Robin Buckley in ST5 - what we know so far

Decided to make a comprehensive post of everything we know about Robin in s5!! A little for my own benefit but I'm sure something like this won't be unappreciated? I have checked with others for details I've missed or gotten wrong and all seems to be correct, but if anyone thinks I have missed anything please feel free to let me know!! (this well ofc be added to if we get more info over the rest of production)

POSSIBLE S5 SPOILERS BELOW (OFC)

Confirmed details:

“more involved than ever” (Maya quote)

Makes friends with characters she hasn’t interacted with yet (confirmed by Maya)

Loads or unloads groceries from Bradley’s out of a lorry with Steve, Nancy, Jonathan and Murray (paparazzi)

Has a kiss scene (most likely with Vickie) (confirmed by Maya as a “spoiler”)

There is a shot where Robin is stood in a line with Nancy, Joyce, El and Will (El says “there’s too many”, Will looks nervous) (ST staff)

Is in the centre of a birdseye shot with the whole group lying down next to Will (Vickie is also possibly there next to her) (ST staff)

Acts as a mentor figure for one or more of the party (most likely Will, also possibly Mike) (confirmed by Maya)

Shares scenes with Will and Mike (could be separately and together) (ST staff)

There is a small painted figurine prop possibly related to Robin that Maya wants to keep after filming (confirmed by Maya)

Has a scene helping someone called Debbie (presumably a child) out of or into a tunnel (Debbie asks if she works for someone, Robin lies she is “one of his elves”) (script page leaked by Maya)

Has a scene inspecting a fuse box with Joyce (ST staff)

Has a scene with Mike by (or even possibly in) the WSQK van and a car covered in upside down vines (paparazzi)

Has filmed on a blue screen set with Mike (ST staff)

Runs down the hospital corridor with "another character" (seemingly Vickie) while the lights are flashing multicoloured (paparazzi)

Drives Joyce's car to the hospital behind an ambulance being followed by military (paparazzi)

Confirmed filming locations:

WSQK radio station (exterior) with Steve, Nancy, Jonathan, and Murray (paparazzi)

a separate instance with Mike (ST staff)

WSQK radio station (interior) with Joyce, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, Nancy, Jonathan and Steve (ST staff)

Hawkins Memorial Hospital (interior, specifically a patient room, possibly also the waiting room) with Vickie (ST staff/Amybeth)

a separate instance in the corridors with Vickie (paparazzi)

Hawkins Memorial Hospital (exterior) with Lucas (paparazzi)

McCorkle Farm (presumably) with the whole cast (Will, Mike, Nancy, Karen, Erica and a new character confirmed) (ST staff)

Hawkins National Lab (exterior) with Mike (paparazzi)

Outfits:

(a long blue coat on top of what looks like a plaid shirt and black trousers) (the pattern/mark on her shoulder is interesting... all I will say)

This outfit is seemingly from the first episode, and she has worn it at both the radio station and the hospital sets!

(a blue jumper possibly with a white graphic or pattern on the front and black trousers with a black watch)

I believe this outfit is from the second episode! So far we've only seen it at the radio station set, there's a chance she also wore it at the hospital set (instead of the first outfit) but it's so difficult to tell since they're similar colours.

(a white graphic t-shirt over a purple jumper, with light blue jeans and a belt, black converse and a mid length black leather jacket which she removes, with her hair half up with a blue bow, silver rings, a black watch and a silver chain necklace) (the glasses in the first photo I'm assuming were for the Duffers' birthday party and are not part of her costume)

I believe this outfit appears in either the third and fourth episodes and onwards until idk, which she has worn at both the radio station and farm sets! The image on her t-shirt is of Tom Waits:

He's a musician mostly known for folk music in the 70s and 80s. This photo specifically was taken in 1983 and was printed in russian and dutch magazines. (a side note: Maya Hawke loves folk music and is most likely a fan of his, and Winona Ryder owns and has famously worn a Tom Waits shirt over the years!)

(there is another photo of Maya in the Robin wig wearing a triumph motorcycles t-shirt, but as far as I know that t-shirt is Maya's own, so I'm assuming she is not in full costume in that photo!)

And that's everything!! There is of course supposed leaks floating around, but for the moment I'm not including them as most of them appear to be fake so would be a little pointless? There also just hasn't been that many for Robin so this seems to be it for now!

[chirpsythismorning]

WSQK Update

The Twitter account for WSQK Radio has reached 100(ish) songs! And while it's currently unknown whether or not this account is in any shape or form associated with Stranger Things, I still want to give a breakdown about it as well as some reasons why this account intrigues me so much, because there are actually quite a few.

For some context about when and how this started, it might be helpful to know that the first (un)official leak regarding the existence of the WSQK filming location occurred on January 18th, the day prior to WSQK making their first post.

That same Friday when WSQK made their first post, fans also got official 'Week 2' BTS from Ross, which more openly acknowledged the existence of the radio station location in comparison to his previous posts for s5.

What then followed was a rocky start in terms of this Twitter account’s approach at making posts. Initially, they only made posts consisting of lyrics, followed by another post with a short clip of the song those previous lyrics came from.

After less than a week of the account being sporadically active, they became very consistent and continued their roll-out of lyrics + video, and then adding in + dialogue, every single day. There are a few outliers, with them not making a post on March 14th and March 20th, but the first time they had a big break in between posts was from March 22nd-March 24th, notably with their March 21st's post being related to Will's birthday:

After the March 21st post, and with their return on the 25th, they officially switched it up from posting every day, to every other day, and more recently with a consistency of every 2-3ish days.

But still, over 5 months later (roughly 156 days), they remain active.

When it comes to the type of posts this account interacts with, they stick to strictly liking and sometimes retweeting/replying vaguely to posts regarding the WSQK location, along with liking the posts of anyone that replies to their posts.

After some time though, I noticed they began posting songs that they already posted before, just with different lyrics and lines from the show along with them. This actually makes sense given that they are acting as a radio station, where songs are known for playing and replaying numerous times.

Which brings me to the most interesting aspect about WSQK, which is that while a good chunk of the songs posted have featured on the show at some point, there are also a decent amount that have not.

Here is a playlist of the songs for reference:

Here are some songs specifically that pique my interest. Some I will elaborate on, while others I might just share and let you figure out for yourself why I think they're worth mentioning.

This song was originally the third song they posted, though it was removed about a week later. Hard to tell why exactly they removed it. Maybe since it was still early on. they mixed something up and decided to get rid of it? Regardless, lyrically there could be some significance to this song choice.

Since we've obviously heard Kate featured on the show already, I don't think it would be too hard for a fan to include this. Though, it being added this early on is an interesting choice to me. Lyrically a song like many on this playlist that I think have a specific meaning which could fit quite well with a potential storyline in s5. It is also one of quite a few songs that have been posted at least twice.

While this song did feature in s3 and s4, this song is one of many that are unlisted for the show. It doesn't feature on any official soundtrack or playlist and so you'd have to already know it to recognize it or go out of your way to search it for yourself. And the meaning is also ummmm... yeah.

I actually got barely any results when looking into this song and its lyrics. Though I did discover that it is most known for featuring in an episode of Miami Vice in 1986.

I could only share 10 songs here, so if you want to look at more or even all of them, I highly recommend taking a look, even if it's only out of mere curiosity. I do plan on going through and confirming all the songs one by one again because I probably mixed up or missed one or two (or more). Scrolling down a Twitter account until their first tweet is not exactly fun, but this should be accurate for the most part!

Something else I want to mention is that @erikiara80, who also keeps an eye on the account, noticed a while ago that they have always followed 11 people, some fans and some connected to the show. There was one time they unfollowed some accounts and then instantly followed some others, keeping them at 11 follows, which means the number could be an intentional choice.

A while ago, it hit me that, if this is a hypothetical radio station, wouldn't they also take requests? So Erika helped me with that by requesting two for them to post, getting this reply:

And they did in fact eventually post those two songs requested... I'll let you guess which ones :)

Basically, I felt the need to bring this whole ordeal back to the conversation now, not because I am convinced that it is run by someone connected to the show, but because the eeriness around it persists.

Keeping something going on this long would not only require someone to be very consistent, but to also have the willpower to not go over the top interacting with fans (which I don't think most fans have the self control to not take advantage of). This account doesn't seem to have any bias towards anything. In fact they remain completely impartial, sticking to their script. They seem fine with remaining in the shadows with fans assuming they are insignificant or otherwise, all while keeping the act going almost a half a year later.

With s5 getting no promotion outside of Ross's (sometimes) weekly BTS photo-dumps, this season's roll-out has been almost non-existent. Usually we would get phone numbers to call and obsess over, even 1-2 years out from release, and yet nothing.

I find this approach interesting because it does honestly resemble something I could picture the show doing to hype up s5. If the radio station is going to be a prominent location, then it offers up a really creative way to interact with fans as a way to promote the show.

Them humbly leaving hints about the final season through songs via a ‘radio station’, could parallel similarly to easter egg like approaches they've presented in the past. Only this time (the last time) it would have existed and built up for months with most not knowing about it, offering up a sleuth different songs fans could dig into if it was ever revealed to be promotion for s5.

With their being whispers that we could get something revealed in regards to s5 very soon, and with this playlist finally reaching 100 songs, I thought I would celebrate and remind ya'll it still exists in case you need an excuse to overanalyze something new.

[henrysglock]

D.A.D. and The Squawk: Radio-Based Mindflayer Tracking Devices

The WSQK van was leaked showing it with the radar dish/antenna that was originally in Steve’s car:

I've talked before how the antenna was reminiscent of Bob's D.A.D. (Directional Antenna Device) from TFS, which he, Joyce, and Hopper used to track down the weird radio emissions that happened every time Henry had a Mindflayer attack.

Now that the van has it, I want to talk about the WSQK slogan:

"The Squawk"

What's so special about the squawk? Well.

First: The Definition

The main protest we see is in ST3, when a guy named Henry is leading a protest against the construction of Starcourt (a cover for the Russians trying to open a gate to the UD, which would activate the Mindflayer ...interesting connection, that). It also has other ties to protesting and Starcourt, like Murray's code name being Bald Eagle and him/Nancy "squawking" about Barb's death re: HNL and the UD. You could even say Terry "squawked" about Brenner, and we all know she has an absolutely insane number of ties to both in-show Henry and TFS Henry. There's also the fact that it's vomiting rainbows vs Will vomiting up slugs vs the ties between the slugs, the Mindflayer, and Brenner/HNL.

So right off the bat the slogan is a tie to Henry, Brenner/HNL, the Mindflayer, and fighting The Man.

Second: Squawk Codes

I'm not sure how many of y'all are military/aircraft loons, but "squawk codes" were invented during WW2 as radio-transmitted codes to distinguish between Allies and Axis to avoid friendly fire as part of the IFF system "Parrot". They range from 0000 to 7777, and each one has a meaning.

This, of course, immediately had me thinking of this:

In Squawk, 3700 becomes:

What's an AEW aircraft?

Airborn Early Warning. AEW aircrafts patrol to keep on the lookout for incoming aerial and/or maritime attacks.

They're even used to track UFOs

So, given that these were implemented in WW2, we can all see the ties to Victor, yes? And how this creates a nice web of connections between all this:

And Henry/TFS? Nifty.

One last thing: IFF "Parrot"

Are we 100% sure the bird on the van is an eagle? Because while it does resemble an eagle, it also resembles a parrot.

Given that it has a short lower beak and ruffled feathers (it also happens to be colorful), whereas a screeching eagle is sleek and has an elongated lower beak:

I talked about it with Em, and we both agree that it looks like a weird eagle-parrot hybrid, which may be an intentional stylization to cover both the eagle symbolization and the IFF references (parroting having ties to mind control and the Mindflayer, as well as the threads of word repetition in ST as a whole).

In summary: If the antenna and the radio station are being used the same way Bob's D.A.D. was in TFS, then it essentially functions as a radio-based early warning system against the Mindflayer, which is supported by the design and slogan of the WSQK van.

Additional support:

There’s a poster of “The Squawk” in the theater of The First Shadow, tying the two directly together. It’s a nice final piece to the puzzle!

[fairyrona]

okay if this is real then i am deceased at the amount of hidden content, because this acc has so very little attention??? and so much content???

[powderblueblood]

I know this has been done a million and one times, but Eddie just vibing at the gas station. Something inevitably goes wrong. Please and thanks dear Powder

jo my love i present to you 1k+ words of eddie munson's no good very bad wednesday night no warnings! just silly. and acab includes hopper

So it's eight thirty on a Wednesday night, the very armpit of the week, and Eddie's standing there under the glare of the gas station fluorescents. Right in the heart of the snack aisle.

"What's become apparent to me, Sam, is-is-is-is that it's fear. It's the iron claw of the bonds of being a scaredy-cat little bitch that has stunted me fundamentally."

Loaded. So stoned he's stalagmite.

"See, I'm a capable guy. Many capes have I, but it's like, I've finally mastered the fuck-you-chip-on-my-shoulder adolescent thing that I'm reluctant to let it go. I'm skirting around putting on my big boy pants. I'm failing my courses. I'm dumbing myself down to stick around high school, seemingly, on purpose. Because I'm afraid!"

Eddie's pouring his heart out to the narcoleptic octogenarian cashier, the guy that likely built this place out of shiplap and bullet casings way back when it was a horseshit stop for Buffalo Bill's Wild West Freak Show or whoever.

"And I know what you're thinking." Sam isn't thinking anything. Sam's sleeping with his eyes wide open. "Why not really, grr, take root with that family tree, huh? Drop out like my old man and my uncle did? Well, I'll tell ya--"

Eddie wonders, in the middle of his own sentence, what it'd be like to hitch his wagon to an operation like that and coast solely on being a moorless weirdo.

He's really stoned, okay?

"--high school is easy to fail in. Real life? Isn't."

And look, before you get all, he's got good reason. It's been a particular drag of a week, a real sandpaper to the balls kind of kick off. Corroded Coffin's Tuesday night engagement at the Hideout was a special kind of bust--not least of all because the slapdash stage finally gave way under all that threatening creaking, and almost took Jeff's neck with it.

The neck of his bass and his human body. Neither of which Jeff's ass is in any position to fix.

So Eddie's got a band that's bruised and barely in the pocket, and a mouth that won't stop running.

“WSQK 94.5, The Squawk!” Eddie echoes the radio, complete with eagle screech, as the opening chords of Renegade by Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes pick up. "Hawk-ening right back to a time when Ted Nugent hadn't yet sold all his actual guitaristry to that pissant Wango Tango-ing... You know what, man, this is it!"

His ringed hands come down on the counter all a-clatter, chip crumbs flying out the bag he hasn't quite paid for yet.

"Lock me in a room full of records under a radio tower and throw away the key, I mean, I would be good to fucking go. None of that shock-jock shit, either. I'd play nothing but real music. The Hawkins Midnight Rambler, huh?" But Sam isn't paying sufficient enough attention. "Think I got a face for radio, Sammy?" Because he's asleep.

It takes a couple of molasses-slow moments for Eddie to register this, he himself still working through his own big sluggishness. I mean, damn, even waving a hand in front of the old man's face is an effort.

He's out, though, like a light. Makes Eddie wonder how this place stays open, much less unrobbed.

Well. Careful what you wish for there, buddy.

His hand is slinking toward a Three Musketeers, ready to nab it from the shelf right under old Sam's nose and write him a little IOU for whenever he next has the cash, but Eddie senses a shuffling behind him.

"Put your fuckin' hands in the air!"

Oh? "Dude, what?"

There's this guy behind him, this guy whose corporeal form Eddie can't be a bajillion percent sure isn't, like, a vivid hallucination, with pantyhose tugged over his face. Poking a pistol around under the cover of his camo jacket. The whole bit.

"Put your hands in the air or I put a hole through ya, asshole! You too, old man!"

Eddie tuts, hands still very much hovering near that candy bar.

"What's the fucking hold up, you and your grandpa tryin' to get shot or somethin?!" this very serious masked assailant demands.

"He's asleep, guy," Eddie says. "He can't hear you."

"What?!" our villain splutters, "Well... wake the fuck up! I ain't got all day and I want what's in that reg--"

He goes to point his still-concealed fuckin' sharp shooter or whatever it is he has at Sam's face, and Eddie, with this strange surge of protectiveness and complete buffoonery, nudges his arm away.

"Don't! Number one, dude's a narcoleptic, you could give him a heart attack if you just woke him up like that--number two, I saw him pull a sawed off from under that counter one time and you're in way closer range so the hole he blows through you is gonna be, like, way bigger and... like, he'll kill you and shit. Be cool."

The would-be thief groans. Oh, god, Eddie just knows he thought this hit job would be way easier. In and out, quick and dirty, wham-bam-thank you Sam.

Eddie nearly laughs. He does laugh, actually, because he's still super-mega fucking high and can't exactly control the noises that come out of his mouth, so next thing the dude is rounding on him with the thing in his pocket. Eddie actually puts his hands up this time. Feels a cold shock go through him somewhere that he really hopes isn't piss.

You ever get that? Get so stoned you constantly think you're peeing yourself? Anyway.

"Get the fuck behind the counter! If the old man can't open the register for me, you're gonna do it!"

"But I don't know how." Liar. Lying ass. Eddie knows how to work a goddamn register. It's not like he's tucking that money from the Hideout straight into his garter belt. Though he could. Maybe he should. Maybe he should buy a garter b--

"I'm gonna tell you how, dickhead!"

"What's in it for me?"

"Is that a fucking joke, wise guy?"

Only kinda. Closed mouths never get fed. "Worth a shot."

But Eddie doesn't really love this dude's tone, so he obediently scoots behind the counter, and almost gets distracted by all the copies of Penthouse Sam is keeping back here. He knew the bastard was holding out on him.

"Um..." Eddie gingerly starts, hands just sort of floating in the direction of the register in a way he hopes to Christ won't disturb Sam and wake him into a world of cardiac calamity.

So the guy tells him what buttons to push, clearly a man of the trade, a fellow familiar with wiling countless hours away behind a counter, which makes Eddie be all, why don't you steal from your own job, you shyster and keeps hitting the wrong buttons on purpose.

But dear old Sammy must have this thing rigged to make Eddie look like an asshole, because out pops the fucking drawer anyhow!

This guy, the pantyhose head, the robber, lets out an honest-to-god yippee! as he reaches over to snatch that cash.

And Eddie, working solely on instinct at this point, narrows his lovely red-rimmed eyes and shoves the drawer right in on the unlucky fuck's fingers.

He screams. And Eddie screams. And something falls out of his pocket. And Eddie leans over the counter, expecting to see and hear the shiny clatter of a pistol hit the lino.

But there is no such hardware.

It was a banana in his pocket. He was not happy to see you.

"What the fuck, man!" they chorus in near unison. They could have been brothers in another life, says some disembodied voice in the back of Eddie's head.

But then, something yellow flies towards Eddie's face and the shock of it knocks him right back into the lotto tickets and cigarettes. Thunk! His head knocks far too hard against the fire extinguisher and now there's two unconscious guys behind the counter.

Now, I don't know if you've ever had a banana thrown in your face by a masked assailant before, but I would call that something of an overreaction.

Anyway, he wakes up to police sirens and that Callaghan dweeb hauling him up by the front of his Hellfire shirt.

"Sshsjesus, Officer Handsy, buy a guy dinner first," Eddie slurs, head pounding. Callaghan's dorky Buddy Holly glasses have an aura around them that he unconsciously tries to swat away.

"He's resisting arrest!" Callaghan yells.

"Keep it down, I have a headache!" Eddie blinks once, twice, twenty-million times and is still having a tough time taking stock of his surroundings. Cash drawer's open and empty, and Sam is nowhere to be seen. "Didja catch the guy or what? He had a banana gun. Threw it right at me."

"Pipe down. Edward Munson, you're under arrest for armed robbery--"

"--wait, hold on--"

"--endangering the elderly--"

"--hold the fuck on!"

"--and swearing at a police officer!" Callaghan clicks the cuffs on and Eddie's about to burst, he's so mad and his head is pounding with such a fury. Shuffling him out into the forecourt and into the squad car like some kind of penguin idiot!

"That last thing isn't even real!" he spits, "None of this is real--I was trying t--fuck, did you not hear me about the banana gun?!"

"Reminds me to drug test him when we get back to the station," Callaghan puffs as he slides into the passenger seat.

"No one's drug testing anybody," Chief Hopper grumbles from behind the wheel. "We don't even have those facilities. Plus, kid doesn't even have any of that stolen cash on him."

"Thank you!" Eddie barks from his seat in the back. He can't really seem to sit upright, and he doesn't know whether to contribute that to the lump that's risen on the back of his head or the drugs that are definitely still in his system.

"W--well, why are we arresting him, then?" Callaghan blubs. Which is actually a salient point.

The Chief shrugs. "I'unno. Wednesday night. Somethin' to do."

[in-deep]

Still unsure about whether this is real or just someone having fun but!

A tweet of Brenner’s iconic line from s4, a line about hating the answer phone (I can’t find anything about this one) and then boys don’t cry lyrics???

Yeah okay we get it, Mike’s gay.

[jazy3]

We've got some new BTS pics from Ross Duffer from Weeks 28 - 30 of filming! First off we've got a photo of Caleb in costume as Lucas filming in a field. His look is very similar to what he wore last season so no big changes there! We've got a photo of Millie and her dog on set at video village with what could be Brett Gelman in the background but it's a bit hard to tell. They're also filming outside so it looks like we'll be getting a lot of outdoorsy scenes this season.

Next we've got a black and white photo of the Duffer Brothers behind what appears to be a controlled fire. It looks like they're on a sound stage and there's a fence and what could be a telecom or military tower behind them. Next we've got a wall that says ‘Restricted Area’ with blood on it and barbed wire at the top and caution taping at the bottom. Then we've got an upside down photo of a dead looking mannequin dressed in military clothing. Based on what we've gotten so far it looks like by the mid-point in the season that the military will be in Hawkins in full force.

Then we've got an ‘Everything must go’ Radio Shack sale sign above a radio. It looks like Bob's old haunt is going out of business! Next we've got a flyer for radio station 94.5 WSQK with a picture of a bird sitting in a mic booth advertising the Jimmy Fasthands Lee radio show weeknights from 7 - 11 PM. It looks like the radio station is going to be a big location in Season 5 the same way the Creel House was in Season 4! And it looks like the characters are making it their homebase this season so that should be interesting!

We've got a photo of what could be Dustin sitting in a van. The person has a yellow baseball cap on and there’s a WSQK t-shirt overtop of the back of the car seat they’re sitting in and you can see the letters 'HAW' on the van's windshield. Based on everything we're getting I think Dustin must be working or volunteering at the radio station and that's how they're getting access. He seems to be the character with the most ties to the station so far. Lastly, we've got a video of another marble being dropped into the marble bowl next to a tiny prop mold of Vecna’s head and a Lions baseball cap.

[ellstinson]

I'M FREAKING OUT