#it's scene from season 5 i'm duffers

[pinchcinnamon]

mike: will, what's your type?

will: dumb curly-haired men who play DnD

mike: wow thats specific. do i know him?

will: ....did I mention dumb?

mike: yeah, why?

will: just checking.

/later/

mike, jolting up in the middle of night: OH MY GOD HE LIKES DUSTIN

[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)

[chirpsythismorning]

The Duffer Brothers Didn’t Forget Will’s Birthday + the Hints Everyone Missed Hiding in Plain Sight:

I encourage you to also check out this post I did a while back. It goes into some other evidence that debunks this whole fiasco even further.

The most obvious hint that was hidden in season 4 itself, is the last scene from this clip, aka the Duffer Brothers acknowledgement of Dustin’s birthday, down to the month, day, and hour.

The timeline for 4x06, which is when the Cali gang arrives at Suzie’s, is March 25th, 1986.

Dustin’s birthday, is May 29th, 1971.

Which means that Suzie’s comment about Dustin’s birthday being: 2 months, 3 days and 5 hrs away was... spot on (we don’t know what time Dustin was born, and so that’s why it varies slightly off between days and hours here).

This means the Duffers went out of their way to look on their Character Birthday/Important Dates Calendar (which 100% exists, like be serious this is the Duffer Brothers for gods sake), and did the math to calculate exactly how long it would be until Dustin’s birthday according to the present timeline they were in, just so they could throw in this line.

And you expect me to believe they forgot Will's birthday????

Why else do you think they had Mike trail off into thought trying to remember, with Will right behind him, only for Suzie to interrupt, giving an exact countdown before Mike could give it much thought?

I’m also convinced Eden barging in at the last second was meant to ironically symbolize the Duffers themselves ‘barging in’ to stop the conversation from going any further, before Suzie caused Mike, or worse, the audience, to figure things out before the events of s5.

It’s important to note that Dustin’s birthday wasn’t even mentioned in the show ever. It was only mentioned in promotion over the years, separate from canon. Which is a serious contrast to Will, who is one of the only characters to have their birthday mentioned on the show, in canon!

So why, go through all this trouble of tracking down Dustin's birthday, a birthday that's never been mentioned in the show, if they're apparently not paying attention to that sort of thing?

What makes this even more interesting, is that if they are actually fully aware of their character’s birthdays, then they know Mike’s birthday is April 7th… which means if s5 picks up roughly where s4 left off (March 29th), then Mike’s birthday is just around the corner…

Idk... It's all just a little too perfect to be a coincidence.

BTW For anyone that's interested, I'm going to keep editing this to add more theories other fans have made that support this. So if you want to know all there is to know currently, make sure to circle back to this original post and they'll be here below:

A BIG one

reblog, reblog

Another one, another one, another one, another one

People who sort of predicted this already and deserve credit where credit is due: here, here, here

(If there are more that you think I should add, please let me know!)

Updated 9 Sept

[kaypeace21]

Alot of the plots were good - but some aspects just really made the season overall awful . How dare they do that to Max. I'm livid about that. You really had venca's curse represent su*cidal thoughts- which we see Max overcoming in part 1 . Then part 2: bam vecna k*lls max- the girl who str*ggled with ab*se, a horrible home life ,and throughout the season overcame her su*cidal thoughts but got an awful ending . And while dying she says over and over she doesn't want to d*e. It's cruel. Even if she does wake up from the coma - is she blind and or paralyzed and never able to skate again? Play videogames watch movies ?And for what- vecna is alive , and hawkins was still destroyed. Her sacrifice wasn't worth it. And Eddie's death was not only cruel but pointless too. He didn't even save anyone during the scene. And he literally mentioned how he did not want to become like his criminal dad . They kill him and the whole town thinks he's a worse criminal than his father. And he never graduated - it was "not his year". Aka part of his last words.The erica and lucas scenes of being attacked- honestly deserves it's own post. Also the romance is still low key one of the worst cringe parts of an otherwise great show.

I'm sorry m*leven is still so sus to me. Like besides all their relationship issues, it's weird s1-s4 parallels m*leven to family members. Like seriously side eyeing the Duffers just for those weird family parallels- if m*leven is romantic endgame. I mean ...nancy called herself "ruth" and el was in "Ruth, nevada" (and that's like 1 of 20 examples). Just to name one of many of those weird family parallels. Like why do that?? And yeah if it's an actual romantic declaration - you'd think they'd kiss like they did in the beginning of s4 . Not even getting into retcons like mike saying meeting Will at age 5 was "the best thing I've ever done". But now he says his "life started" at age 12 when he met el- cause "love at first sight" bs trope. Love at first sight isn't real. And mike literally the day they found her was suggesting ways to send her away so they could go back to looking for Will, and when he thought el lied ( about seeing Will alive) he slapped her hand and yelled "what is wrong with you?"2x then later said lucas was right to not trust her. Ummm... love at first sight? That?! Ok?And wow glad Will could hear mike's confession about how the 1st day he was reported missing- mike's " life began". Mike be like : "I knew Will for 7 years , before I met el . And all my friendships prior to meeting el- meant nothing to me- because my life only began when I fell in love with El instantly and rushed into a relationship after 1 week of knowing her (and when we finally Date- we just fight for 2 seasons straight). True love. "

Honestly they parallel robin/vickie/her bf to will/mike/El - which is also sus. Given how (supposedly straight) Vickie and her bf breakup- and Vickie seems into Robin at the end of s4.

But regardless I'm so sick of just getting "crumbs" whether byler is a queer bait or s5 makes byler canon. I'm just tired- especially after how the socials /cast and crew constantly pumped up byler during pride month- before part 2.

Not to mention the fact we have to just see Will lie to mike to help m*leven. Even though he hates lying to mike. Like no that was Will's painting -el thought it was for a crush of Will's (she didn't commission it for Mike at all)! He was just trying to be a good friend and brother by trying to fix m*leven (and lying to mike to fix m*leven's failing romantic relationship).like think about it- mike literally thinks that d&d painting /"heart" metaphor was El's creative idea and something el made as a gift for him . When it was all Will!!! That "heart" line Will says to mike is used again later by Will- to encourage mike to confess he loves El. Will literally uses his own romantic words for mike- to encourage mike to confess to el instead. Gross. If m*leven is endgame- could they do it in a less awful way to Will? Not to mention mike finally says he loves el-partially because he's moved by Will's painting (he thinks is from el). Which is also messy for m*leven endgame. All those words in the car to mike were Will's confession (he literally just replaced his pronouns for "El" and "she/her" ). Even jonathan saw it that way. Will to mike: " you're guiding- inspiring . That's what you do. you're the heart, without the heart (i'd) fall apart. These past few months (i've) been lost without you.(cough mike said the "lost " line to Will first) .When you're different from other people ... when you're different ... sometimes you feel like a mistake. But you make (me) feel like (I'm) not a mistake at all. And that gives (me ) courage to fight on. If (I) seemed like (I) was pushing you away. It's because (I'm)scared of losing you. "

And the fact we're just left with Will sulking in the corner - and being a trope of "sad gay character in love with his (supposedly straight) best friend". And have Will low key fix that the dysfunction het couple - who have trivial convoluted drama/dysfunction every season they date. But never actually resolve any of their fundamental issues - lying, spying, neglecting all their friends for eachother ,etc. Because you know the trope: gays always have to step aside and sacrifice the romantic love they have for a friend -so that same friend can instead live " happily ever after" (in a het relationship). Even if that het couple is dysfunctional and poorly written. I'm gay ... and just so tired of this type of stuff , repeated over and over and over again in media. Do writers not realize bad-rep is much worse than no-rep?Like if byler isn't canon these scenes right here are literally just rubbing salt in the wounds of Will and other gay/queer fans who empathize or relate to him.

It's like i've mentioned in the past a lot of straight writers LOVE the 'sad gay - trope' . Alot of those straight writers don't empathize with us as people, they infact "romanticize our pain" and find it "beautiful" . And just find our suffering "dramatic and angsty" decoration to their story- where they can also add bragging points of being "inclusive". They don't actually care about how problematic the queer rep is -and how it negatively affects us.

Even Will said he'd rather "pull the bandaid off" in regards to romance drama between him and mike. But duffers didn't do that- or give any closure for Will. Nah they forgot his bday and did this instead. Heck, no romantic closure for Will or even the whole st*ncy/j*ncy drama. Which is a whole other can of worms in itself (i'm saying this as someone who doesnt ship either st*ncy or j*ncy). Regardless of what could happen in s5. I'm just tired of how poorly some (frankly most) of the romance is handled in the series.

If m*leven is endgame they did it in the most reductive , stereotypical, predictable, and also hurtful way possible to lgbt fans. Without actually fixing m*leven's real issues to make us like them together as a couple. Heck (not only do they have problems that were never fixed ) : like lying /spying/ mike still hero worshiping her - which were never fixed ). They're now just a cliche ("love at first sight couple", who ever since they started dating have artifical convoluted drama every season ). Literally s3 and 4 are the same: m*leven neglect their friends for eachother, lie to eachother , fight with eachother, then say they're in love. There's no change , no progess they just repeat the same problematic pattern. Forget mike saying in part 1 this was a fight the pairing "couldn't get past" or mike nodding to Will saying maybe he's afraid to tell el the truth, cause she may not like it. Ummm - part 2 doesn't connect to that, why would El not like his confession? Not to mention mike only can say he loves her in s3 and 4 when her life is in danger (and in s4 when Will encourages him to keep talking)- not sus at all. The whole season Mike shares dialogue with brenner - even in the love confession (ick). And lol after his love confession- el won't talk to him. (purposeful hinting it won't work out ? or just horrible writing for an awful romantic pair who always have had poor communication?) Straight-mike narratively just makes mike a sh*t friend too- going from a great , considerate,and observant friend in s1 and 2. But , then the second he starts dating El in s3 :he neglects his friends for 2 straight seasons in favor of El (all while being a not good bf to her for 95% of their relationship). And also he literally said his life didn't begin until el (this is literally insulting to all his prior friendships which were established long before meeting el ). Straight-mike isn' t the "heart" of any party as Will claimed - not anymore (he straight up says his other relationships don't matter. Will, lucas, dustin- pfft his" life didn't even begin " until el ). Some of the worst days of Will's life - pfft mike, his bff, doesn't care about Will's tra*ma cause it gave him the chance to meet el. And he'll say it -right infront of Will. Iike mike could have said he's grateful to have met el in so many ways - but bringing up the day itself like that. Ugh. But in the end, both seasons his friends are the ones who have to help mike retain this supposed perfect romance. And let's get real they have no chemistry as a pairing- Mike just doesn't seem genuine in his love . And the confession incorporating mike's desire to be "needed" and having mike call her a "hero" and "superman'.yeah- hero worship from mike and dependence from el (winning romantic combo) . Also yeah , weird how El's "hero' is her dad and mike's is El. Given again all the family parallels. Heck terry(mom)/ mike saying "I love you" to El- is what gets her to defeat vecna.

And If byler is endgame in s5 - the duffers are overestimating how much bs they can put queer fans through- before they give us a happy ending . Like wow thanks for ending the season with mike & Will standing together, in between 2 other romantic pairings. After you made Will suffer through a bunch of problematic queer tropes (that you may subvert in s5- in like... 4 years). I'd say that framing at the end is a hint of byler- but they did the same framing in s3 only to do this in s4. So they may just leave those hints in the show to string and queer bait us longer. But honestly even if byler is canon in s5 (i actually think it has a decent chance of being endgame ): the Duffers sabotaged themselves. Becuse now bylers are less engaged in wanting to watch s5, and in s5 you'd piss off the m*levens . Cause mike would have lied to El and led her on (or just said it cause he didn't want her to d*e/ he meant he loved her in a non romantic way). But also when mike did his romance speech to El- he said the most messed up stuff right infront of Will ( aka the day Will was k*dnapped is when mike finally felt alive- cause he met El) . THAT'S SO MESSED UP. most bylers probably won't even bother to watch s5 - assuming the worst again too.

So my point is - regardless of whether mike is straight, gay or bi (they wrote themselves into a corner where mike looks bad either way). And his relationships with both of them are messy af.

[nowmemoriees]

NO, THEY DID NOT FORGET ABOUT WILL'S BIRTHDAY....

- birthday gate analysis

as we know, Mike arrived at California on March 22, 1986. As it was mentioned in season 2, this date is supposed to be Will's birthday.

People pointed this out, saying that Will was mad at the Rink O' Mania because everyone forgot about his birthday. But the Duffers denied it and said it was a production mistake and that it would be fixed. (They forgot, but not the characters)

but some days after that, via twitter, the stranger writers account said that no scenes have been and would ever be edited on the show.

Plus, they have already made some references to forgotten birthdays before...

like, the duffers were insane for this one

-> early birthday reference robin & vickie

so, a very popular theory (which I agree with) says that, Vecna took away this memory from Will (his birthday date, which Joyce has mentioned), and all the other memories that were mentioned to him during his posession (rainbow ship, mike talking about the first day they met, etc).

It would make so much sense knowing that Will is the key of everything this next season. He's the main target now. Vecna wants him.

Check -> will byers has powers theory

Even if that's not the case, there's something we know for sure. Will's birthday day is coming back in season 5!

As we know, there's a great possibility that Will is going to relive the Rink O'Mania events in the first episode of season 5.

He may probably be in a trance or a vision where he is trapped again in a bad memory. In this case, the Rink O' Mania one. We know this because Noah recorded some scenes there using his finale outfit.

the first one is his finale outfit and the second one is his March 22nd's one. We haven't seen him at the Roller Rink with any other outfit than his blue shirt.

But he was there with his final outfit!

"but actors were still spending time in other sets even if they were not in those scenes". Yeah, that's a good point, but not this time. The Roller Rink has been rented for over a month for this.

You would not rent the place so much time just to film 10 minutes of the show there.

We also had this spoiler! (noah's typical behavior)

He was wearing a harness under his finale outfit, but we haven't seen any scene that requires one (yet).

Still hesitating about Will having a vision? Then what was Lonnie's actor doing in season 4's production BTS? (i'm afraid this bit*h is also part of Will's bad memories :c)

Finally, the final scene script also revealed that s5 continues right where season 4 has been left. Something will interrupt the scene and I may have and idea of what is...

-> another theory related to this, is Mike's unsent letter about Will's birthday?

[swanqueenelmaxshadowhunters]

so I just learned that Sadie is still in London and I'm starting to get worried about Max.

apparently they shoot two episodes already, but according to Sadie's IMDb, Max will appear in 7 from all the 8 episodes.

I mean, I'm not wondering just about Max at this point, but also about Sadie, if something happened, if something changed.

the duffers said Max would be very important this season as well and I was excited about it but now I'm just worried.

also it's the first time I'm actively involved in the fandom and following the filming schedule and spoilers so I don't really know how they work but I think that if your character is important, you would be already there filming.

I mean the only other show I followed closely, we used to have hundreds of set pics every day because the fans were allowed to the set, and they did the lord's work.

and it wasn't just scene leaks, there was lots of cast pics with them just interacting, being goofy, having fun and etc. Damn, I miss this.

anyway, I hope this changes soon and Sadie goes to work because I need Max in season 5 and I need her to receive the importance she deserves.

[thegayhimbo]

Stranger Things Season 5 Theories:

Given we've already seen a photo of Dustin wearing his Hellfire shirt (and a trenchcoat) next to Eddie's desecrated grave, I'm assuming Dustin's arc for S5 will be about clearing Eddie's name. It's also possible the Hellfire Club will still be dealing with the lynch mob Jason created in S4, which means they'll still be the targets of harassment from Hawkins Residents who believe Jason's claims about the Hellfire Club being a Satanic Cult, or from the basketball team who will want to avenge their fallen comrade.

Another possibility is Dustin might be recruiting the remaining members of Hellfire Club/Corroded Coffin to help the Party fight Vecna. Their knowledge of D&D and how it's played could potentially be a factor in how they defeat Vecna and his army of monsters once and for all. It's similar to a theory I suggested in my Erica The Great Review where that scene in the S4 premiere of Erica rolling a 20 and beating Eddie's campaign could foreshadow how the battle against Vecna will play out.

As for Henry's Hill.............

It's likely we'll get more backstory about Henry/One/Vecna's time at the Lab and in the Upside Down. This was something the Duffer Brothers discussed in the interview after S4 aired:

DEADLINE: Did Dr. Martin Brenner not know that this kid killed his family and framed his father, or did this kid’s sociopathic potential offer Brenner an opportunity to really mold a weapon without a conscience?

MATT DUFFER: The second, really. He knew what this kid did and also what he was capable of when he was young. Brenner’s going, how can I mold this character, but not just into a weapon? That’s really how he sold it to the government, but for him as a scientist, it’s like, what other worlds can this kid show me about how our universe works? So, he’s really just that scientist who’s not really thinking about the consequences. He just keeps pushing, pushing, pushing, and he’s using the government’s money by saying hey we can fight the Soviets with this kid. It’s something we will get into in Season 5. What happened to that program once Henry became involved and how Brenner evolved it into including multiple kids. We’re going to go back and see some of that in Season 5.

As for what "Henry's Hill" means...........I'm taking a shot in the dark and saying it refers to 3 locations with the most importance for Henry/One/Vecna:

a.) The Creel House (which is located on a small hill)

b.) Hawkins Lab (where Henry was imprisoned by Brenner for 20 years).

c.) The hill where Henry found the dark particles in the Upside Down and formed them into the Mind Flayer.

If anybody has any theories for season 5, feel free to share them! :) This theorizing is all meant to be in good fun!

Also, if someone knows what songs are on the barcodes posted on the signs, please let me know. I've been unable to scan them.

[astreinomane]

things you’re looking forward to in stranger things s5?

(Also I’m sorry I haven’t gotten to your asks yet 😭 I’ll try to answer them soon though!)

hope you’re doing well :)

Ok, first of all, I'm doing fine, thank you for asking.

As for your ask...

Well, I surely look forward to Ronance being endgame (I know it's probably impossibile, but a man can dream, can't he?).

Oh, and Byler. Byler needs to be endgame, too.

Another thing I look forward to is Steve and Nancy finally having an heart-to-heart and realizing that they simply aren't made for each other romantically (because, say it with me, NANCY DOES NOT WANT SIX NUGGETS), and so they both decide to stay friends.

In this way, Steve will find someone else to realize his dream of having a family with, and Nancy will find someone who truly gets her and makes her happy ( *cough* Robin *cough*).

And in general, I look forward to Nancy being finally freed from this stupid ass love triangle that shouldn't have existed in the first place.

Another thing I look forward to is Max waking up from her coma.

But I also really hope that she won't wake up in the last minute, but on the contrary, that she will be important to the plot, even in her state.

I'm sure the Duffers can find a way to make that happen.

And also, I hope that Erica will be an important part of the team 'cause she's awesome and she deserves it (and I also hope to see more of her bonding with the Party).

And also, if they aren't going to bring Eddie back, I at least hope that Dustin and the others will be able to restore his name to Hawkins and make people understand that he wasn't a monster, but quite the opposite, 'cause it would be fucking awful for Eddie to have sacrificed himself only for Hawkins to still see him as a monster.

He at least deserve a good memory on people's minds.

And also, I know Eduardo has confirmed he won't be returning this season, but I hope Argyle will still get to make an appearance, because I refuse to believe they'll completely throw away his character without even a mention.

Oh, and Kali, Kali needs to return as well.

And I also hope that Suzie will come to Hawkins to help Dustin save the world again.

This way, we'll finally see Dustin and Suzie interact with each other in person, and Suzie will finally be aware of all the Upside Down stuff, and so we will have more content for Duzie shippers.

And also, Jonathan needs to have more importance as a character this season.

And maybe a coming out scene from both Will and Robin, where they tell the others they're gay and immediately gets hugs and support, 'cause they both deserve it.

And finally, another thing I really hope to see in this season are more moments between the Party at complete (Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, El and Max).

And also, I really hope that they won't split up the characters, but that they will all stay together.

And I think that's all.

Damn, I didn't planned this list to be this long.

Anyway, thank you for the ask.

And tell me, what do you look forward to in season 5?

(And also, don't worry about my asks. Take your time. I can wait.)

[alcalystrasz]

This is a small theory I had so I won't count it as a main one (those I talked about in my "survey") but I wanted to point it out.

I was rewatching stranger things season 4 when I noticed AND remembered something.

In the last episode when Steve talks to Nancy in the Upside Down, talking about the dream that he wants six little nuggets and everything, he also said that he used to crawl backwards when he was a baby. In his two arms and two knees he was crawling, but not to move forward, but to move backwards.

So then, I remembered that The Duffers posted some tweet on Twitter back at the time when the filming for stranger things 5 didn't begin. They were still writing I think, but whatever, they posted the title of the first episode and it's called "The Crawl." Maybe we can connect the scene from ST4 and the title of the first episode of ST5. What if people or Steve, specifically, needs to do some sort of crawling, backwards, like he said, either to escape something, either something else. Since going backwards means going back to the beginning, going back to the past... something could happen with that? I'm not sure what exactly but it could be like some past events that we will be remembered, or past events that we will discover and that didn't appear directly in season 1. Or even something else.

I didn't see anyone talking about it, or maybe I'm just blind? Probably. So tell me your thoughts about this little theory!

[i-am-autistic]

I feel like if you have any media literacy at all you should know Jancy is very likely endgame.

You can read my posts and see I'm not even a hardcore Jancy or anything I lean more Jargyle. It's just like........

1. The writers like their original pairings from s1 a lot. Mike-El/Will(Im pro Byler, yes Will isn't present in s1 but Mike spends like 90% of the season moaning and talking about him- for the sake of this post El/Will are interchangeable), Jonathan-Nancy, Joyce-Hopper and then they also like Max-Lucas. All 4 of these couples have been presented as romantic since the pitch bible and from their first interactions.

2. S4 was all about division and how the characters lose when divided. They really focused on the absence of Jancy in s4. Hence they are building to an s5 with a lot of Jancy. We also got s4 featuring the other 2 main couples: Jopper and Lumax so it's probably going to switch to the other 2 couples to finish it off and wrap up the relationship and character arcs. The duffers really really love the whole story beat of "break the characters up and then show them coming back together". You can tell because this is exactly what they did with Jopper and Lumax in s4. Jopper obviously had a physical distance that broke them up but Lumax had an emotional distance. The same things Jancy and Mileven/Byler are bringing into s5. Arguably you could even say Byler went through this in s4.

3. Cmon bro the final scene where Nancy RUNS to Jonathan and Robin pats Steve's back is the most obvious thing of all time. People bring up the script and that it wasn't a big moment in the script but those scripts are redacted as hell to avoid giving out more information.

4. Jonathan and Steve had a pretty clear parallel this season when talking about having kids in the future. Jonathan and Steve essentially come to the same vision for their futures but both decide differently. Jonathan hates it and Steve loves it. We also know from s1 and every piece of info we've got about Nancy since s1 that Nancy also hates it and doesn't want to raise a bunch of kids. Yes I know it's possible to pursue a career and have kids. But kids in this situation and the vision Steve have don't only represent kids but also represent her parents and their relationship. Which is what the show has always told us Steve represents to her and in everything we saw in s4 he hasn't developed into this new person, he still represents that. Even if the character himself has still improved he still represents that.

5. As soon as Stancy is introduced in s4 we also get introduced to the fact that Nancy isn't over Barb and Barb will still be a part of her arc. Which she pretty inextricably links to Steve.

6. This is the one people don't realize often but s4 is literally maybe 5(?) months after the end of s3. Taking place in March 86 with S3 ending Oct 85 and about 8 months after the end of s3. Steve has seemingly had literally 0 contact with Nancy in that time and doesn't fall for her again in s4. He's already fantasizing about her as he says so it's presented as a continuation of the feelings he's always had for her and he seemingly isn't as over her in s3 as was implied. If the writers are going to write that relationship, they are essentially saying they were wrong, the characters were wrong and the audience was wrong about the relationship.

7. This is kind of a half point expansion of the above but like.....seriously it's important that none of the feelings in s4 are new feelings, it's all old feelings for a relationship the writers have told us 1 million times doesn't work. I keep seeing people say "they are different people" but they aren't that different from when they broke up. Steve's actual in show character arc has always been a lot more revolving around Nancy than it is about his relationship with Robin or the kids. Like as much as the fandom is about Steve and the kids and it's cute(And I like this too! I don't dislike this) in the show when he becomes friends with Dustin it's all tied back to Nancy with that final Dustin-Nancy scene and the relationship literally being developed with Steve ranting about his relationship. S3 his relationship with Robin in the original version is written as a romantic one as he gets over Nancy. Even in the show for 90% of s3 it seems Steve looks at Robin as a romantic partner and then switches to friends when she's not available. I think people forget he's not actually babysitting the kids in his off time in the show-the fandom is cute and such- but I don't think he spends significant time with anyone except Dustin and Robin in the show. This is moreso a point about how the writers of the show are kinda poor at evolving the characters. But seemingly the way it was presented in s4 Nancy and Steve are essentially in an incredibly similar position to when they broke up in s2.

8. Joyce in the recent play. Ok I need this to be said but like Emmerson vs NYU is a thing people make out as a bigger deal than it is. Emmerson is like an excellent university too??? Like IK people want Jonathan to be validated but he is getting validated by going to a big university. The university you pick when you're a kid doesn't really matter that much and seemingly even Jonathan hasn't brought it up. Like as a kid I wanted to go to my local uni a lot but I didn't go in the end. Emerson isn't like bumming it out it's a pretty great uni. But morseo I mean Joyce's whole arc in the First Shadow is about not going to university as an art student. They are surely not going to make her son do the exact same thing. This one is really simple I don't need to explain it.

9. I think Jopper literally solves like all of Jonathan's family issues because he won't feel as burdened and that he HAS to stay.

10. Oh as a final point I'm fairly certain Argyle with Eden in Suzie's house in s4 was supposed to be a backdoor pilot for a spinoff. And I think Jonathan's only other ending they've given so far is California. I think maybe they could include Jonathan in a spinoff but I don't think they'd want to. Like they've said they don't want to continue any mains story after s5 and Argyle is periphery enough he could leave and have a spinoff and it could work with an occasional Dustin cameo or whatver but with Jonathan I feel like he is a bit too tied to the Byers for him to be in a spinoff. Like you'd have to include the Byers too and I don't think they would want one that features central characters too much.

11. This is just my opinion.

[booksandpaperss]

my (probably too optimistic) hopes and dreams for ST season 5

a genuine exploration and explanation of what exactly has been going on with Mike these past 2 seasons. we can guess and analyze but it needs to be confirmed made clear and done well or so help me god-

Will interacts with multiple characters. any characters I'm not picky at this point PLEASE (I'd say main character Will too but that's a given atp)

Will gets to yell at Mike

Will and Mike finally get that hug

Will looses his shit over something One does. idc how or what but it happens and my boy gets to scream

I'd put reveal of Will's time in the UD and Will with powers here but those are also givens (at least they better be lol)

actual OG party scenes

el and Lucas bonding

el has to make a choice between being everyone's savior again and staying to help max and she chooses max

Lucas gets more screen time and development and his trauma is actually explored

free Nancy from being confined to the love triangle drama and explore her guilt with barb thru her friendship with robin

Robin's character gets fleshed out more

Robin and Vickie kiss on the mouth. but that it's not the sole end goal of robin's arc

byler jancy team up

rain fight gets explicitly brought up through dialogue (preferably in a byler fight)

here is where I'd put painting get's brought up but that is definitely a given

Joyce actually interacting with her kids

return of season 1 and 2 Joyce

whatever they do with max's character it better be done well (this includes her waking up at some point and surviving bc it would be dumb as hell to almost kill her twice only to then actually kill her)

hopper does not go back to being a cop

mike fights a creature with a sword

Whatever is going on with time fuckery gets explained in a way that's not rushed or lazy

Whatever Owens' deal is and what he was doing with Brenner gets explained

free Steve from romance unless it's ambiguous homerotic tension with Jonathan that doesn't get addressed but its. there

Give Erica Sinclair the development and plot significance that she deserves

Argyle is there and he's vibing and he doesn't die and he lives a happy life afterwards, also he teams up with the other older teens

she probably won't but. kali content. please I want her back and I wanna know how she ties into everything

What I think definitely will happen

genuine Mike character explanation (also byler endgame is included in this)

will gets to yell at mike

mike and will get to hug

will gets to loose his shit

Will with powers and how they tie into the UD

OG party scenes

el and Lucas bonding

el choosing max over playing the part of superhero

robin and vickie kiss

rain fight gets brought up w painting

Joyce interacts with her kids

max lives

mike fights w sword

time fuckery gets addressed

Owens' deal gets addressed

also known as my ideal season 5 vs the exact amount of confidence I actually have in the duffers and what I think they care abt. it’s not nothing but it’s not a whole bunch either💀💀

[chirpsythismorning]

Byler Getting Murray'd: Inevitable?

I never really humored the possibility of Will and Mike getting Murray'd at Murray's house, but recently I realized something...

When it comes to the whole lovers curse Murray has going on, both jancy and jopper were confronted directly at Murray's place, alone (granted jopper had Alexei present, but he couldn’t speak English).

I'm not saying that Will and Mike would even for sure be alone, but I still think that it's very likely they will be 2 of the few (or many) who end up residing there at some point during season 5. (I also think it's likely we'll get a parallel shot similar to these two above, but involving Will and Mike).

Before I get into this, I urge you to check out this post first! It analyzes scenes from 2x05 when Jonathon and Nancy visited Murray's and how a lot of the details in those scenes, as well as the dialogue itself, foreshadowed endgame byler.

While I do have separate evidence below, for why byler could end up at Murray’s in s5, I still think that the Duffers leaving all those hints back then in 2x05, only to have byler themselves, on the literal cusp of coming to terms with their mutual feelings, ending up in that very setting in s5, would be pretty epic.

But basically, why I think this is all very likely is because Murray’s house isn't even a house, it's a warehouse. It was designed by a literal conspiracy theorist, aka a perfect safe house for the apocalypse.

Of the scenes we get at Murray's warehouse over the seasons, there's a focus on the remoteness of it, as well as it the safety it provides having numerous locks, security cameras, a rifle right next to the door, etc..

(We even get a glimpse of it in s4, when Murray is taking an ice bath post-karate practice...)

It's very likely Hopper's cabin won't be enough room for everyone, or maybe even anyone for very long, as it's not exactly safe long-term. While there's other places that are a possibility when it comes to locations in s5, Murray's warehouse is arguably the most fit for this upcoming storyline, meaning it's very likely it will be one of the main locations for the final season.

Why else would they have put so much emphasis on his house and all that comes with it, if they had no intention of circling back to it?

Also, why wasn't Murray with them upon their return to Hawkins at the end of s4? Well, probably because his warehouse is the only place he wants to be right now, and understandably so. Odds are that’s exactly where he’ll be waiting for our mains at the start of s5.

But it gets even better. Upon going back and rewatching the show recently, I noticed that in 3x08, there's a scene where they're planning for the kids to go to Murray's to hide-out. We get him literally handing over the keys to Jonathon and Nancy, explaining each individual key they'll need to get in (the keys are blue and yellow or whatever).

Then we get a scene directly afterwards, of Joyce explaining to Will that he will be safe there.

We can only theorize right now, but it's possible apocalypse-byler could end up alone at Murray's hiding out, seeing as that’s the trend thus far (mostly) with Murray's lovers curse on jancy and jopper. Also the ending of s4 seemed to emphasize on byler being side by side and sort of on their own at times, which could have been foreshadowing for their dynamic in s5.

But again, considering how safe of an option Murray's place is in general, I think that it's likely the other kids would come too. Maybe they would just follow through with their original plan at the end of s3, before the mind-flayer barged in and messed it all up. Maybe, again the parents will make attempts for the kids to not be involved initially, and so they'll ship them off to Murray's (though they'll inevitably rebel I presume).

I am curious about how it would play out with Murray though. I'm sort of in the middle on the spectrum, where idk if I even really want byler to be murray'd, while at the same time it's literally all I want...

Though I should admit regardless of what I want, the story is telling us that it’s inevitable...

I just don't know how it would go down. Would Murray go about it the same way he did with jancy and jopper and just tell them to cut the bs, or would it be more complex? I'm hoping the latter, but also with a twist that manages to somehow match his previous pattern in a way, because having it come full circle with parallels between all three pairings would just make it that much more amazing to watch and rewatch.

[discoscoob]

Ok, I'm gonna be honest, but what is the Eddie is Kas/ Kas! Eddie theory? Who is Kas? What does that have to do with Eddie? What does that have to do with vampires?

I keep seeing it, but idk what people are talking about :/

Okay so in the first episode we hear Mike say something about how Kas killed Vecna and then Eddie’s like “so we thought, but Vecna lives!” but I think Kas is the reason he’s missing an arm and an eye. But it’s all from d&d lore.

This is Kas btw he’s got long brown hair just like Eddie 👀

Kas became a vampire because of all the time he spent next to the “negative energy” and Eddie’s body has been left in the upside down so he’s also next to the “negative energy.”

Then in dnd lore if you’re bitten by bats and you live then you’ll be fine (like Steve) but if you’re bitten and die then the chances are likely you’ll turn into a vampire (if your body is buried that is) we don’t know if Eddie was buried or not. Maybe he wasn’t, maybe Vecna will find his body and bury him in order for him to resurrect as a vampire? Who knows? Maybe they won’t follow dnd lore exactly and just make it so bat bites alone turn you into a vampire. That’s if they do it at all that is.

But it’s also interesting that they introduce bats at all into the upside down, when they never dealt with bats before.

Some other “foreshadowing” (if you can call it that) is the fact that Erica was painting a Kas figurine in episode 4, just before Jason knocks on her door. So the Duffers made more than one reference to him, obviously they know who he is and his back story and stuff.

Some other clues I’ve heard that don’t carry much weight but are just fun, is the fact that Eddie’s band is called “corroded coffin” and vampires sleep in coffin’s.

The fact the Duffers apparently said demobat bites don’t kill? But Eddie died.

There’s a video of Joe getting his makeup done for the bat attack and on his wrist there’s a mark that looks suspiciously like a vampire bite, that could be anything though, like a couple specs of dirt just landed in the position that looks like two vampire teeth.

The fact Joe and Jamie have been paired up for a lot of promo together, despite sharing no scenes in the show, if the Kas theory was true, Eddie would be working for Vecna, (but eventually he betrays him) so they’d end up having a lot of scenes together.

And when an interviewer said that they’d like Eddie to return in season 5, Joe pulled this face. I mean he’s probably trolling us but idk?

Overall, I enjoy the theory, I like looking into what evidence there is to support it and I think there are some strong coincidences that if they did do it, it would make a lot of sense it wouldn’t just seem out of the blue.

The Duffers kept saying that Eddie HAD to die and I don’t think he had to, there could’ve been many other options for him, but if they had already planned for him to become Kas then I guess he did HAVE to die so it could explain why they keep saying that.

[ronancexists]

^^^ Exactly!!

This is why Ronance should be canon. Robin and Nancy are already integrated into the whole Upside Down of it all, they're flushed out as characters and we love them because of it, and we wouldn't have to worry about a new character taking over possible plot lines for the two of them along with the rest of the characters.

If they made Ronance canon:

1) We would get to see Nancy be with someone who respects her, sees her, and understands her, but also challenges her in ways Steve and Jonathan haven't. We would also get to see Robin have a girlfriend for (I'm pretty sure) the first time in her life.

2) We would just get to see more fun dynamics between Ronance and then also the drama with Steve and Robin and their friendship. Like imagine how confused and hurt and overwhelmed he would feel about Robin being with his ex-girlfriend and how guilty and worried Robin would feel being in a relationship with Steve's ex, especially because I have no doubt he told her everything that went down between Nancy and him at that Halloween party. And also because the Duffers were trying to push Stancy on us so hard during season 4 with Steve saying he imagined/was currently imagining a future with Nancy and six kids.

It would definitely put a strain on his friendship with Robin and Robin would be so upset and feel so bad that she hurt her platonic soulmate and broke "the bro code." Nancy would feel guilty and try to break things off with Robin but then as soon as she does that Steve gets on her ass about not hurting his best friend and he would eventually get over it after he saw how happy they were together. Because ultimately that's what he wants. He wants his friends to be happy, but it would still sting for a long time after.

3) I would hope we would get Nancy confessing to Mike about her feelings for Robin and then in turn Mike confessing that he thinks he might like Will as more than a friend (because let's be real the Duffers are going to be burned at the stake if they don't make Byler canon by the end of this series) and we get the same scenes but it's with Robin and Will. I like to imagine it as the scene in season 4 that was switching between Nancy and Fred/Jonathan and Arygle about the not coming to see each other on spring break thing.

4) We would get to see both of these characters have their happy endings. I imagine Nancy would still be attending Emerson and Robin would follow her (I would have no doubt that Robin could get in because she's fucking smart as hell, like girlie learned 3 languages for fun and she translated Russian without an ounce of knowledge about the language) and because Steve is Robin's platonic soulmate he would follow her. They would live together and Steve would probably go to the community college there and they would share an apartment while Nancy lived in the dorms until she could save up enough to move in with either just Robin or Robin & Steve because again, platonic soulmates.

I'm not trying to upset anyone who ships Vickie and Robin. I would too if only she didn't appear to be so similar to Robin like with the rambling. I (personally) love the whole opposite attracts shit with Ronance and I think they have more chemistry than Robin and Vickie do. But like the post I linked said, the Duffers have the entirety of season 5 to make Vickie a fleshed out character with an entire character arc and storyline while also making the audience fall in love with her, and they would somehow have to do it without taking away from the characters we already know and love.

This, along with the reasons above, are why I ship Ronance and, personally, why I think they are the better ship. I'm sure there are more (PERSONAL!) reasons, but these are the only things I could think of off the top of my head.

[wheeler-fan]

referring to your response on this ask, https://www.tumblr.com/wheeler-fan/739685299098124288/if-el-is-literally-dying-in-front-of-mike-and-hes

...this isn't a hate anon, but i do have some problems with what you said here. i think a big problem with many milevens is how much y'all seem to disregard mike's bond with will and will's pain in general.

like on what PLANET do you think will exists as "his gf's brother" in mike's head? that's his best friend of 10+ damn years, that he bonded with long before el. that's the one person that actually told him how much he mattered in the van scene and made him feel NEEDED and SEEN. that's the boy that mike said meeting was the best thing he ever did. mike's already shown how much he loves Will from that 1 scene alone, be it platonic or romantic. So yeah, the writing set up is all already in place and it won't be a surprise at all if season 5 he ends up falling for will... if he hasn't already. You can blatantly see the direction/build up of the writing surrounding mike's feelings for will, simply from the way they wrote him as insanely attached to will S1-2, and then wrote him as actively pushing will away S3-4. if it was unrequited, there would be no conflicts between them like this. in classic unrequited love writing, if one side is unaware, like the duffers confirmed mike is: 1 person would be pining and heartbroken, and 1 person would be acting as USUAL, friendly, and affectionate. Yet mike is stewing byler's conflicts just as much as will (and it 100% makes sense due to 80s homophobia). Like mike's actives role in these conflicts is the most glaring set up for him having feelings for will in s5.

but i digress~ the bottom line is, will is never gonna be "oh that's my girlfriend's brother" to mike.

ALSO: will is not a bad person if he ends up dating mike. he sacrificed his painting for el and kept trying to push mike and el together all of season 4 despite it hurting himself. he deserves something good FOR ONCE, and mind you: has had an insanely hard and traumatic life too, so idk how only el having a hard life matters to you, but not him??? lol. like we know that el and mike are gonna find out about will's feelings in season 5... that's how the painting lie has been set up. the truth is gonna be forced out. so el is a good person for being with mike, even though she'll find out it's hurting will- a kid who's had a very traumatic life and liked mike BEFORE she even appeared- cause mike chose to be with her? but will wouldn't be a good person for being with mike because el would be hurt and has had a very traumatic life, even IF MIKE CHOOSES TO BE WITH HIM?? i mean, mike's a human, not an object. neither el nor will own mike and have "dibs" on him, that el OR will would be bad people for dating mike regardless of who dated him first, like hello?? ultimately, it's mike's decision and will deserves happiness to be with mike just as much as el does. that doesn't make him a bad person.

nah stop that's not what I meant 😭 when I say that Will is Eleven's brother I don't mean that he is only an eleven's brother to mike😭😭 it wouldn't make sense they have known each other since kindergarten 😭🙏🏻 bffr. I'm just pointing this out as one of the obstacles to making byler endgame (imo), if Mike is going to leave his girlfriend to be in a relationship with his best friend (which I doubt because I think he loves her and isn't lying when he talks about it) then it's his best friend but also the brother of his (then ex) girlfriend! Am I the only one who sees how many problems this would cause between the kids? Second thing, to be clear, I don't think that making Lucas&Mike or Dustin&Mike endgame would be better just because they are not eleven brothers💀 that would also be weird, it would spoil their party + all of them, all three of them have girls!!(and i truly believe that they love them in a romantic way)

I feel like people ship Byler because of Will - we know he's gay, we know he likes Mike romantically, and we know he deserves a happy ending after what he's been through.

but I don't think you're listening to what Mike is saying because everyone automatically assumed Mike was lying??? that he doesn't speak from the heart about eleven and to eleven?? is this your proof that mike is interested in being in a relationship with Will? because "he is not honest with his feelings towards eleven" and he's staring at Will's lips?😭

as a Mileven fan, I'm trying to be realistic and analyze everything- I won't be surprised if Mileven will be endgame because it makes sense to me (please let them be endgame or I'm gonna die) but I also don't want the byler dynamic to be ruined- I love them together!! I can simply appreciate male friendship without turning it into something romantic (it would make a lot more sense to me if not the fact that I'm not assuming mike is lying about his feelings to eleven, i feel that he was speaking from his heart doing a monologue and i personally don't think he's interested in Will in the same way)

and also when I ask someone what he thinks shows that Mike will be in a relationship with Will and not Eleven, I don't want to get an explanation of how Mike behaves around Eleven because believe me, I know it😭 but it's not proof for me that he's in love with Will, it's giving anti mileven and not byler😭and what proof do you have for byler from mike pov? because all I hear is that Mike is staring at Will's lips and it doesn't really convince me, sorry 😭😭

(I'm not trying to be mean this is a serious ask..😭😭)

[sterlingarcher23]

El & Max and...the Lasso of Truth

The vine tightening around El's and Max's necks (and do even more during the "love confession") are Stranger Things version of the Lasso of Truth from Wonder Woman.

Nowadays known as a truth seeking/lie detector device that compelles a person to tell the truth, it was originally invented as an allegory for feminin (!) charm by W.M. Marston.

In both cases they can only free themselves by facing the truth...that they love each other.

In Max's case thinking about Lucas isn't enough. - And in El's case, she understands that she's living a fantasy.

Admitting the truth and if it was just to themselves set them free.

PS: Although maybe repetitive but this and that Matt said in an interview that the coma is pivotal to 5 (and through Caleb we know that there's a relationship between El and Erica and alluded that this is connected to Lumax) also tells you that there's no way in keeping this "subtextual". ElMax as a couple (romantic & as best friends...lovers, sisters, friends so to speak) is to important to understand the plot bc they were already in parts the plot of 4. This needs a...denouement. Answers. And the audience needs to understand these things and I'm talking about a general audience first and foremost (also all the bigots need to "get it"); as a writer you need to keep these in mind not your fans and it's not catering to the GA, that's just a normal process. One day people go back after the revelation and understand what these scenes actually showed. That's the basic idea to rewatch later and look at the show with completely different eyes.

Besides: they called it the season of revelations. (The Duffers are liars but certain statements are true - always hide the truth between a lot of lies, tell a mishmash to confuse ppl etc).