#st s5 theory

[erikiara80]

Someone noticed (here) that March 29, Billy's birthday, is also the day the Cali crew is back in Hawkins.

So, I'm thinking. We see the name Billy as Max is reading the letter, but the name William when she is in the Vecna vision. That could just mean different timelines, or maybe it's also a hint that the theory that Will is in a Vecna vision at the end of S4 is correct (here)

Maybe on March 29 Vecna goes into William's mind and what he sees from the moment he touches his neck is a vision (everything else is real) The end credit song, Spellbound, is definitely an interesting choice...

I would love it if S4 starts with a flashback of El in the lab, and ends with Will in a vision. Also, we know that S5 starts with a UD flashback, so:

4x01 -> lab flashback -> then El's letter, in which she lies about her life in Lenora

5x01 -> UD flashback -> then a vision, which is also a lie?

What would Vecna show Will? Maybe the day at Rink-o-mania. But I think this would be different from El's letter. This time we would see the truth, twisted by Vecna, like the truth about Max wishing her brother to die. Maybe Vecna would tell Will that he is jealous, and that the reason he didn't help El is that, deep down, he wants her to suffer.

Well, Will is jealous, but that's normal. It doesn't mean that he's cruel or doesn't love his sister. We see that in the van scene and in 4x09.

And how could Vecna show Will that he is jealous and wants to hurt his sister? Maybe by making him be the one who throws the milkshake on her dress.

Remember the BTS photo of Noah at Rink-o-mania in his 4x09 outfit? The boy behind him and Millie is the actor who plays Jake, or his double. Jake is the one who throws the milkshake on El's dress. Jake has a bowl cut and kinda resembles Will.

So, maybe Noah was wearing his 4x09 here because this is the vision scene, and this time he's the one who humiliates El.

I could be wrong, but I think this would be a very interesting parallel with the beginning of S4. And a way to make Will more vulnerable

@chirpsythismorning @shippingfangirl013

[alcalystrasz]

At the end of Eddie's campaign, they had to defeat Vecna and the 2 remaining players were Dustin and Erica. When Dustin went for his last chance, he misses the opportunity to kill Vecna when his dice hit the number 11. Eddie says "That's a MISS!" meaning he couldn't kill Vecna with that number.

11 = Eleven

And then, at the same time, the basketball game of Lucas is being parallaled with the DnD game. While the timer is about to hit 0 and the game's over, Lucas makes the final move and wins, by wearing the number 8 on him.

8 = Kali

So is Kali the key to kill Vecna? Will El need Kali to kill him?

Hmmmmmm....

[redpusea]

The reason Vecna could target Vickie is because historically the Mind Flayer/Hive Mind feeds off fear and shame. How much fear and shame would a straight passing girl have about having a girl crush? Probably at least a little….

[bylerera]

SPECULATION ABOUT ST 5

Wheeler sibilings scene ❤❤❤

[satellitesfilm]

vecna feeds off will's pain and weakness. he's not getting to him the way he got to max or chrissy. vecna has been using will's feelings and trauma against him since the beginning. the weaker will is, the stronger he gets. the thing is, mike makes will feel strong, therefore, he's an obstacle to vecna.

"you make her feels like she's not a mistake at all, like she's better for being different" will needs mike. losing mike would mean losing the one person that gives him the courage to fight on. he would be completely defenceless without him. it would make him an easy target again.

vecna wants will. he's used him and targeted him since season one. he also knows it was mike who saved him, over and over again. vecna knows mike is the one who figures him out first. mike knows about will's connection to the upside down, probably better than anyone (besides el). what if vecna was making things clear for mike, and mike only for a reason? what if he knew from the beginning that mike was the key to his plan? will's connection to the mindflayer is the key to his overall connection to the upside down. a connection mike cracked. mike knew will was a spy. mike knew what would bring will back. he cracked will's true sight.

vecna's been getting to mike since the beginning. mike being the dm, mike missing will getting caught by the demogorgon, mike realizing about the mindflayer using will as a spy, mike's connection to both el and will. he's the key to the people he wants the most - will and el. in s4, he got to nancy of all people. nancy saw the truth behind his story, she now knows vecna's trauma. she's seen his perspective and heard victor's. nancy is a connection to mike AND will (through jonathan). mike was dead in nancy's vision. what if that's vecna's plan? vecna isn't going directly after will, he's going after mike.

henry and will have similarities. vecna chose someone he could relate to, someone he could understand and trick and use. that way he could use will's own feelings, thoughts, and trauma against him. he knows some of the things will went through because he experienced them himself. he's establishing a connection to everyone surrounding him. "he's a sensitive kid" is a clear example, a line both victor creel and joyce said to refer to henry and will.

the weaker will is, (losing in s1, being taken to the upside down, being physically weak in s2, being possessed by the mindflayer, being defenceless in the theater, the rain fight with mike, the battle in s3, feeling like a mistake, past trauma, being back in hawkins in s4) the stronger vecna gets. he gains power over will when he's in pain, scared or defenceless. many of these moments come from moments with mike, too.

vecna, without mike in hawkins, started his attacks. mike is, in a way, the heart of the group. he's the one keeping them safe. their paladin. he's the main reason why el and will succeeded against vecna. having el, will, and mike away meant vecna had a free path and it would be easier for him to get what he wanted. mike being away meant the party (and hawkins) were defenceless.

"the silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west". vecna is stronger when mike is away, he's stronger when mike flies west to meet will.

mike's always been there to protect will. he will be there to protect him in season 5 too, so vecna knows he needs to get through him to get to will. we'll get the original party back together. they will fight together - hints coming from the painting.

will is not strong enough now. he feels like a mistake. he's weak. he's not prepared to fight him again. but mike, who "gives him the courage to fight on", is the key to will's strength. will's painting and his feelings, being back in hawkins, revisiting the places he left behind, it's all hinting towards will's coming of age. a coming of age that will include him coming to terms and accepting who he is. it's him gaining his strength back. and it's mike who's going to be one of the main keys to this. mike, who's will's best friend, mike, who will is in love with, mike, who's been there all along, more than anyone.

to defeat vecna, will's strength will come from love. from being loved. that's what saved him in the first place, that's what will save him again. it's will being vecna's exact opposite, fighting to reshape the upside down, to save hawkins and the people he loves, will fighting to save himself. it's love that will be vecna's biggest threat.

[byler-is-endgame7]

SEASON 5 STARTS WITH A WILL IN THE UPSIDE DOWN FLASHBACK????

[frozenfrogz]

I’m on my hands and knees praying that byler gets murray’d and I know they will. So this is how I think it’ll go. Murray goes back to his house or bunker or whatever and the party and everyone else needs to tell him what’s going on. They can’t contact him so they need to go in person. (Idk why they can’t contact him but let a girl dream) They decide on sending Will and Mike to go because Will can explain the best to Murray because he can also feel Vecna/One/Henry and blah blah blah whatever. (And Mike is with him because why would he not be?) They get there Mike will ring the doorbell and Murray will say look at the camera. Mike will look at the doorbell and Will will look at the camera. (Like Johnathan and Nancy expect we all know it would be the Wheeler this time looking at the doorbell) They sit down tell him about it and Murray starts Murraying. He tells Mike that Mike and Els relationship is toxic and Mike doesn’t love El, he loves the idea of her. (Just like how it went for Johnathan and Nancy) After all that, Mike will be pacing in a room at night complaining to Will about what Murray said saying it wasn’t true and that it’s ridiculous he said it. Then, Will asks if Murray was right and if Mike actually loves El and not just the idea of her. Mike is at a loss for words and just stares at Will mouth open in shock at the question. Will then will continue and say the after Murray talked to them both he talked to Will separately saying he knows he loves Mike. Will tells Mike Murray was right and he does love him. There will be a moment of silence then Mike will sit next to Will on the bed. They stare into each others eyes then have a soft sweet kiss and because I don’t want them doing what Johnathan and Nancy did cause why would I they just cuddle the rest of the night.

I don’t exactly want the whole confession to be like this because I eat up the idea of them fighting then it becomes emotional and they confess. I still think they will be getting Murray’d but they will confess later on. Mike will just realize his feelings truly then. If the Murraying does go like Johnathan and Nancy’s and they confess by the end of it I think this is how it would go.

[howtobecomeadragon]

Mkay, dragon in s5, understood.

But what if "it almost swallowed you whole" is foreshadowing to match up with Nancy's "giant creature with a gaping mouth"?

[lighthouseas]

me when owens is still alive and devises a plan to get will’s memories of that week in the upside down back by sending will back into the upside down and triggering the traumatic memories and mike is adamantly refusing to let will do something like that and doesn’t trust owens at ALL but will agrees because he wants to help the party so to prove that owens is bad mike breaks into owens’s base of operations and finds files on will and a bunch of top secret shit and then owens is revealed to be a bad guy and

[littledarlingone]

Steddie and Byler are so closely tied in my mind.

Somebody plz tell me if I’m completely late to the party here but like…

As much as Mike hates the guy, him and Steve are fundamentally the same. Of course, Mike is much nerdier and prone to bullying than Steve ever was, but at their core, they’re both just rich kids who don’t know how to be their own person. They’re both following in their parents footsteps—the polos, the button ups, the khakis…the American dream with a house and kids—and a girl. A nice girl.

And honestly Mike’s distain for Steve is even more compelling to me. Mike sees himself in Steve and he hates it.

Will and Eddie are of course different too, as far as mannerisms and interests go. BUT they share the same core character archetype—the freak. Not to mention the creative streak and the DND and the queer coding (or in Wills case, just blatant queerness.)

I also feel it’s important to point out just how similar Will and Eddie’s disappearances actually are, and the way the public talks about them when they’re gone. Think about it.

So. They’re alike, so what?

Well, let’s break down what happened in S4.

Mike reunites with El and Will in Lenora, and tries to patch things up with El, but ends up spending all of his time with Will and reconciling their relationship instead.

And all the while? El is spending her time in the memories of the lab with 001.

THEN. ALLLLL the way back in Hawkins, Steve is unraveling Vecna’s curse with Nancy and Eddie, and shows signs of wanting Nancy back (which is completely out of the blue, right? How weird!) Except he ends up spending alllll of his time!!!! With!!! Eddie!!! TALKING about Nancy!! The SAME way that Mike and Will are talking about El! And it serves to reconcile each of their misconceptions of who the other was in high school, under a safety blanket of heteronormativity. It’s a direct parallel to the van scene!

(And don’t even get me started on the failures to say I love you in both Mileven and Stancy!!)

Also what else do we remember happening in Hawkins? Nancy being pulled by Henry (001) into the memories of the lab…where Eleven has been the entire season. El and Nancy are the only two people to walk in Vecna’s mindscape without being under his curse…and why? Why connect them? And not just now.

Why dress El up in Nancy’s old clothes?

Why provide strikingly similar shots of them crawling out of the Upside Down?

Why make them both the girl that no one believes?

They are inherently tied (and tied with Joyce, but I seriously can’t get into that too this is getting so long) the way that Steve and Mike are, and Eddie and Will. It’s the love triangles, not just Steddie and Byler.

So now we’ve come to the last bit of this ramble, which is Eddie’s death.

There’s a lot of anxiety and controversy about what will happen between El, Mike and Will in S5, but we’ve already seen what is (supposedly) the older trios end—Eddie dies, and it ends because it cannot continue. There is no closure.

Wouldn’t it follow, then, that Will would die?

It’s scary, right? Eddie, much as we love him, was a fast-tracked version of what we have with Will. He was only a fraction and we got that upset. Imagine what losing Will would be like!

But here’s what I think. I think that Eddie dying—whether he remains dead or not—served as almost an extreme hypothetical. An ‘if your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?’ Because Eddie jumped. Eddie chose his friends over himself. Eddie saw himself as a selfish coward, and decided that the only thing he was good for was helping others along. And it killed him.

And Will? He gave all of his love and work over to make El happy. Because he sees himself as a selfish coward, and decided that the only thing he’s good for is helping others along. Will jumped.

So yeah, Will could die. The self-sacrificing tendencies are there.

Except. Mike jumped off the cliff, too. Literally.

So. When two people are willing to die for each other, is it a weakness or a strength?

[erikiara80]

Maybe other people have already pointed this out. Headphones? Like Max's? I don't think Will will get Vecna'd, no. Vecna doesn't need more gates. And maybe those aren't even Will's headphones.

But they made me think, if Vecna targets him for other reasons, his friends would probably tell him to do what Max did (only to realize that it doesn't work, because Will's connection to the UD is much deeper than they think) Also thinking about the Byler and Lumax parallels, and how protective Mike is going to be when the UD starts influencing Will. But this time, Mike is in grave danger, too. Poor Will

[alcalystrasz]

I know you've been waiting for it. So... Here's my first theory about Stranger Things 5 :

(No Spoilers, just a theory)

Theory n°1 : Vecna's crazy role this season.

Alright, I'd like to start first with a resume about the 4 lasts seasons. For the three firsts seasons it's kind of my thoughts because Vecna never really explained his role during these three seasons, so I'll try to make it logical.

Season 1 -> Will gets kidnapped into the Upside Down.

If we remember what Vecna said to Nancy in S4, he says he was a sensitive, lonely kid. He was good at drawing, and he always felt different. You know who's EXACTY like that? Yup, Will. So in my opinion, he kidnapped Will in the first place because he was like him. But why keeping him so long without killing him? Because Will's good at hiding? No. We learn in the book about him being in the Upside Down what actually happened to him. He said he tried multiple times to "kill himself" like getting the Demogorgons to eat him, but whenever they got the chance they turned back. So I think Vecna was controlling the Demogorgons in order to not kill Will. He maybe wanted to test him, or keep him here until he could be able to do something with him. Take over him, get inside his body, or other stuff... So then Will's finally saved, but it doesn't end for him.

Season 2 -> Will gets possessed by the Mind Flayer.

So this season, Vecna probably wanted to test Will more, or, this time, to take him in his side, since they have the same personality. So he got the Mind Flayer and sent it to possess Will. However, in the end, Joyce made it to remove the creature from his body. That, of course, made Vecna mad, especially when El closed the gate. But, fortunately for him, it wasn't the end.

Season 3 -> The Flesh Mind Flayer wants to kill Eleven.

Russians opened an other door, which is why he was able to control the Mind Flayer through the Upside Down. Cause if the gate is closed, no more control and the Mind Flayer "dies." Which is what happened at the end of season 3 by the way. But, why willing to Kill El, and not controlling more Mike now? Simple question. She's always changing his plans and that annoys him. So killing her off would be the best to get Will to join him in is...what? Army? Maybe. But she managed to destroy the Mind Flayer, once again, with everyone else this time. That is when Vecna got super mad and finally decided to go in the nature and kill some teenagers. Yeah, let's go Henry!

Season 4 -> Vecna wants to kill Eleven.

Sooooo.... So far, Vecna was not a good master to his puppets (got the ref?), so he decided to be the big master, without puppets this time. We learn in the late season, that the more he kills, the more he becomes stronger, so he's like "Yeah let's go kill, to be come stronger." Logic. So he went down to kill, but not nobody, random teens with past traumas who feel guilt. Chrissy, Fred, Patrick... then El went to fight him, and honestly watching this I was like "Bitch are you nuts he's stronger?" And he, in fact was. The only reason El managed to get out of those vines she was trapped in was with Mike's words (sort of). So she then finally beat the ass out of him and he, of course, got totally BURNED by the fruity three (rip Eddie). But then what? We see he got away with it, he's still alive, and we learn from Will's words (oh weird?) that he's still alive, he's hurt, but he's there. And he doesn't want to kill just El or her friends now, but everyone in Hawkins. So it isn't about saving them anymore but the whole town.

So, now considering all that. Here's finally my theory:

We know Vecna wanted to control or make Will join him in the first two season, and it was logic, cause they're alike, they're sensitive, lonely, they feel different from other people and they're good in arts. During these seasons, Vecna probably wanted to observe and understand Will's behavior in some circumstances. Like what if he gets into this world like Vecna got into? He's traumatized? Oh shit. Well how about his personality changes completely like Vecna. He's also traumatized? Well that's a bummer.

What I'm trying to say is that Will and Vecna are very connected even now. Before, with Will's presence in the Upside Down and true sight, but also now because he also and still feels him behind his neck, like before. He was trying to, small steps by small steps, leading him to join him. And that'd what I want to point out.

I think, Vecna will try to finally make Will join him. BUT, Will, of course, won't accept. So I imagine Vecna putting Will in a sort of transe state, like he did with his four other victims, and maybe show him some moments in his life, that shows how miserable and how sad his life is, and that he'll be way better and stronger if he came with him. But Will will refuse. Why? He may be sensitive, a little naive and sometimes stupid, let's be honest, he's not going to let Vecna take him, because there's one thing that'll make him stay: MIKE FUCKING WHEELER. So I imagine, then Vecna putting his big ass hand on his face and that'll make Will float, just like in season 4 with Max and the other kids. But instead of being killed (cause it's Will, like, bro, come on), he can take a piece of wood or I don't know what but something sharp that he finds. You didn't understand? Let me explain: I imagine this, happen at the exact same place it happened to Max, that's why I said a piece of wood. WHO CARES? SO THEN HE TAKES THAT, AND BOOM, in the eye of Vecna, his left eye to be precise. Why? Don't you remember what Eddie said in his DnD campagne? :

"He's not only missing his left arm, but his LEFT EYE!"

So that's why I think Will could destroy his left eye, as a foreshadowing to what Eddie said (I mean why not?). Vecna would then be hurt again, and let Will go, but he could try to stop him, but not the same way as Max, nah that was too iconic, we need something more Byers, more Will... more William Byers... he could try to stop him by making him hear horrible things Mike told him, like in the rain fight of season 3, or the Rink O'Mania one... But he'd manage to finally get out of this, with the help of Mike's words also, cause I clearly see Mike talking to him. Maybe even a parallel, to what Will said while he had to get El out of Vecna's tentacles "You're the heart", but this time it is Jonathan Damn Byers who says it to Mike. Like, that'd be banger, just saying.

So what next? I already said he could try to take Will by his side, now what? Remember, in season 4 we learn the more he kills, the more he's strong. So I think, he'll try to get to kill all the characters we know, before killing whole Hawkins. Let me explain:

We know that everytime Vecna kills, he uses people's past trauma, in which they feel guilt. Who has past traumas with guilt? Yeah, almost everyone. So here's a quick resume and explanation of what could happen to almost all the characters.

-Nancy's targeted -> past trauma: Barbara's death -> saved by Steve or Jonathan. So why Steve or Jonathan? They're her two loves, be for real. However I see more Steve than Jonathan, but Jonathan could also be possible so it's between both.

-Jonathan's targeted -> past trauma: Will's disappearance in S1 -> saved by Steve. So why Steve? To show Jonathan that they're not enemies anymore, and that they could totally be friends. But it could also be Dustin, his bestfriend, or Robin, his girl bestfriend. But I have something else for Robin...

-Dustin's targeted -> past trauma: Eddie's death -> saved by Steve or Mike. Steve cause he's his bestfriend, but also why not Mike, because they both knew Eddie, and Mike could help him going through this because he also went through it.

-Lucas's targeted -> past trauma: Max's coma state/death -> saved by Erica. I say /death because we don't know if she will actually survive in season 5...

-Will's targeted -> past trauma: tons. Vecna wants him to join him -> saved by Mike.

So I have atleast 5 people that could be targets of Vecna, as for others... not sure what could happen to them. There's still: Steve, Joyce, Hopper, Murray (lol), Erica, Robin, Mike and Suzie (why not). I know Steve doesn't have past traumas he's feeling guilty for, but that's for another theory, along with Robin. Joyce, Murray and Hopper are adults, not sure they could be targetted. As for Erica and Suzie.... Erica doesn't feel guilty about anything, and she's younger so I think Vecna, has a small heart, and will let her live, and Suzie... it's Suzie... I mean... yeah, I think she's safe. However there are still characters we didn't talk about: Karen, Ted, Holly and the other family members of Lucas and Dustin. We know that the series really centered on the Byers and Wheeler family, but never on the Henderson's or Sinclair. So... there's a reason behind that. But it is for another theory.

So to resume, what is Vecna's crazy role this season? Well he's going to turn into a serial killer, trying to kill atleast 4 of our characters and make 1 try to join his army. But he's also going to do more, such as... destroying the Wheeler's house. I'm not kidding. After seeing a "spoiler" of ST5, that I know isn't real (it was clearly fake cause other stuff were like nonsense), I was like "yo it could be a great idea actually." So I imagined a really dramatic scene where, after his 5 tries, Vecna gets mad and tries to make fall the house of the Wheelers. Why? Maybe because everyone could reunite there and talk about a plan or something, when weird shit started to happen. Because it's a 2/3 years time jump, so the first episode is probably going to be them chilling in Hawkins and at the end, BOOM, Vecna's back bitch. And there he could have the opportunity to kill some people, but truth is... no one will die. They're all going to be saved, because they're all geniuses. But it could be a huge dramatic scene anyway. Or maybe if someone HAS to die, it'd be logic if it was either Karen, either Ted, or either Holl- nah just kidding. If one of the parents die, it could create a trauma for Mike, but that's for again, an other theory.

So what's next for Vecna? Honestly, if the Dragon we got foreshadowed since season 1 happens... I think Vecna's role won't be really interesting, so I keep my s5 vision without any Dragon. But I do see him trying to kill, so target, a lot of our characters...

That wasn't the best of my theories though. But, more theories soon, some better and cooler, but as for now, tell me what you think about this one, in the comments or as reblogs!

Thanks for reading all that by the way <3

...I probably am going to add more in this post, if I think about it, but I think I said everything I have to say...

[redpusea]

I was wondering why Mike was the only one without a watch when he could afford one and noticed that all of them have their right hand except for Dustin… In Buddhism the right hand is symbolic of compassion whereas the left is wisdom although this wasn’t hitting for me… I don’t think the show really utilises a lot of Buddhist symbolism unfortunately so I asked chat GPT about other symbolism for left and right hands and came up with…

What is standing out for me is the demonisation of the left hand AND when put into context of the show Dustin has been shown to break the rules by asking Suzie to change his score and the overall tone of Suzie’s father’s idea of their relationship saying something along the lines of Dustin being a heathen…

This is actually another death flag for Dustin for me, although I can see them subverting this for transformative pay off <3

[cryptid-cuties]

Planing, Shaping, & Slotting theory

So the Duffers released some bts images of the filming of ST S5. In one of the shots we see this book laying on a table underneath a poster of Pink Floyd The Wall.

After doing some light digging I found something out:

This book does not exist. Meaning, it was made specifically for ST S5. I went down a bit of a rabbit hole trying to break down everything about this book that we can see to potentially find out its importance. The Photo: - Doing a reverse image search of the factory worker didn’t garner any results, which means this is either a photo that someone had of some random factory worker that has never been published previously or, they took this photo specifically for this book cover. A lot of work for something that is meant to be a throw away background prop.

Also when doing a quick reverse image search, it brought up similar photos (not this exact one though) of factory workers. Specifically factory workers working on manufacturing tanks and turrets. 

“Planing, Shaping & Slotting”

A quick google search of those terms reveals that these are all different mechanical operating processes. Most specifically used in woodworking and metal working. The major difference seems to be a difference in how the machine cuts the wood/metal.

Fred H Calvin

Looking up this name as an author yields no results. HOWEVER, something I do find interesting is if you just Google “Fred H Calvin”, this is the first result:

Calvin’s doctrine of predestination is a book by Fred H Klooster, who is a former professor of systematic theology at Calvin Seminary, specializing in the study of John Calvin. - John Calvin is a well known French theologist who is known for his doctrine of predestination and the birth of Calvinism.

Calvinism, also called Reformed Christianity, is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Calvin and various other Reformation-era theologians. It emphasizes the sovereignty of God and the authority of the Bible

Predestination by definition, at least in theology, is the doctrine that all events are willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul.

- If you look at the reviews on the book, there is really only one that kind of breaks down the main points of the book, which I find to be very interesting: 

Now, I am by no means an expert in theology so I had to go and breakdown what some of the key terms used here mean in reference to theology and Calvinism specifically:

**important note** all of these definitions are pulled directly from Google, so I don’t know if these are all 100% accurate or if anything is being misrepresented.

Election: In Christianity, particularly within the theological framework of Calvinism, election involves God choosing a particular person or group of people to a particular task or relationship, especially eternal life. Election to eternal life is viewed by some as conditional on a person's faith, and by others as unconditional. Unconditional election (also called sovereign election[1] or unconditional grace) is a Calvinist doctrine relating to predestination that describes the actions and motives of God prior to his creation of the world, when he predestined some people to receive salvation, the elect, and the rest he left to continue in their sins and receive the just punishment, eternal damnation, for their transgressions of God's law as outlined in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

Reprobation: Reprobation is God's eternal decree whereby he foreordained that (1) certain persons would be excluded from the number of those saved by grace, and that (2) those same persons would instead experience his just wrath. - Something of note that I also found about reprobation, at least in Calvinism, is that God is not viewed as the author or creator of sin, but rather it’s “fearful, irreproachable, just judge and avenger.”

Double predestination: Double predestination is the idea that not only does God choose some to be saved, he also creates some people who will be damned. Some modern Calvinists respond to the ethical dilemma of double predestination by explaining that God's active predestination is only for the elect.

Foreordination: Definitions of foreordination. (theology) being determined in advance; especially the doctrine (usually associated with Calvin) that God has foreordained every event throughout eternity (including the final salvation of mankind)

Unlike predestination, foreordination allows for individual agency (the ability to choose whether to fulfill one's callings).

Proximate: So looking up proximate in relation to theology I found what is called the proximate cause doctrine. The proximate cause, also called legal cause,  refers to a primary cause or an incident that set everything in motion.

So from my rudimentary understanding Calvin believed, in relation to the end of the world, that God has predetermined who will be saved and who will be damned since the creation of the universe. That he has chosen, or elected, certain people to have a specific role in the salvation of mankind and that they, as well as the damned, have the ability, or foreordination, to choose whether they want to fulfill that calling. And that all of this will be set into motion, or proximated, by a specific incident or event. 

Lindsay Publications Inc.

Doing some digging, I did find out that this is a real publication company. If you look at a list of their published works, you see that they are mostly specialized in manufacturing and machine building books. A lot of their works were published in the mid-to-late 80s and early 90s. 

Now taking everything we’ve learned, I’m sure we are all wondering: How does this relate to Stranger Things?

So based on a couple of theories that are already floating around about S5, especially because of the inspo board the writers posted, I believe this book could be alluding to the party working on building some form of machine, potentially in one dealing with time travel. Let me explain:

So we are all already under the idea that s5 is going to deal with time in some form or another, whether that has to do with time loops, time travel, or something similar. We also know that the Upside Down is stuck on the day that Will was taken into the Upside Down and that s5 potentially opens with a flashback to Will in the Upside Down.

Also based on those weird AI generated clips the writers shared during the strikes about specific scenes in s5 we can tell that Jonathan and Steve are building something as well as Dustin, Nancy, and Jonathan in some kind of machine(car?) traveling through some kind of hellscape. 

Based on things they have already referenced in Stranger Things, I wouldn’t be surprised if they took inspiration from Back to The Future and tried to make their own version of the DeLorean. The book, just as a manual on machinery, could be used as a guide on how to build said machine. Especially since none of the party, except for maybe Dustin,has any understanding on building something of that magnitude. 

That part seems obvious based on things we already know. All we are left with is the question of why they are building this machine in the first place. I think the answer could potentially be explained in the other clues of the book. Stranger Things has dealt in religious imagery before, especially in s4. I found this reddit post specifically talking about all the religious symbolism we see in s4. 

Since they have dabbled in religious imagery before, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that they will continue that theme in s5. In regards to Calvinism specifically, we can take a look again at my rudimentary explanation of Calvinism: So from my rudimentary understanding Calvin believed, in relation to the end of the world, that God (Henry/One) has predetermined who will be saved and who will be damned(Vecna’s victims) since the creation of the universe (The Upside Down). That he has chosen, or elected, certain people (Eleven/Will(?)) to have a specific role in the salvation of mankind and that they, as well as the damned(The People of Hawkins), have the ability, or foreordination, to choose whether they want to fulfill that calling. And that all of this will be set into motion, or proximated, by a specific incident or event(The events of the finale of s4). 

Them time traveling back in time to prevent the events of s4, or even Will being taken in the first place, could be them refusing the call of their roles in Henry’s version of the end of the world/Hawkins. 

Something else interesting is that this book appears underneath the poster of Pink Floyd The Wall. There is a really good post (here) about what The Wall is about. It could be easy to assume that another thing that sets the events in motion could be that the party is not dealing well with coping with the trauma of s4. Eleven’s failure to save Max/Hawkins; Dustin’s failure to save Eddie; Mike dealing with his failed confession and crumbling relationship with El; Will dealing with his, supposed, unrequited feelings for Mike/the return of his connection to the UD; Lucas dealing with the loss of Max. We could see any individual member of the party building a wall around themselves after that. There could potentially be something that happens in early s5 that will cause one or more of those walls to crumble, and the way they see to rectify it is by building a time machine to save those they’ve lost. It also doesn’t hurt that the person in the poster easily looks like one of Henry’s victims. 

I could be way off base here, but I just think all these little details are interesting to pay attention to. Especially since the Duffers have referenced that they hide things in the background purposefully to foreshadow things in the main story.

Tldr; Planing, Shaping & Slotting is foreshadowing the party building a time machine to save Max/prevent the end of the world.

[annes-andromeda]

I know this is probably gonna age horribly since the Duffers will more than likely do something different, but I’ve been having some thoughts about the Upside Down.

I think Wills painting may serve another purpose besides being used for the Byler storyline. This isn’t necessarily a theory but more or less like an alternate storyline thing cause I don’t believe this might happen in the show, but it’s fun to think about.

Now this has been talked about a little bit about how the painting may be foreshadowing for S5. Some have said that the three-headed dragon is the Mind Flayers final form, others have said that it’s the Thessalhydra. I personally believe it’s the latter since Nancy described the creature in her vision as having “a gaping mouth”. And she’s definitely not describing the Demogorgon or Demodogs or Demobats because if that’s the case, then she would’ve just said it.

This is the only picture I could find that depicts the Thessalhydra with wings, but it definitely fits both Nancy’s description and the painting. And it’s not like the show hasn’t made changes to creatures from DnD.

But back to the painting, I believe that it is foreshadowing the Party comic together and defeating a common enemy. Now in the show this may very well be the Thessalhydra, but I have this sort of headcanon that I’ve been concocting:

What if just like Byler in S4, the painting ends up being a miscommunication. Like it is correct in the Party stopping a great foe, but it’s wrong in who the enemy ends up being.

If was just revealed that Vecna was the big bad this whole time despite focusing on the Mind Flayer for three seasons, then imo it would feel cheap. It would feel like when the Star Wars sequel trilogy clearly set up Snoke to be the big bad… only to kill him off in the second film and then suddenly revive Palpatine because reasons I guess🤷‍♀️

In terms of canon, I’d like for it to be revealed that Vecna only thinks that he’s in control of the Upside Down and the Mind Flayer, only for the MF to do a 180 and show him who’s really running things.

Since I believe the MF to be an Eldritch demon of some kind, I think he is the only being who’s mind Henry cannot read. So if he were, let’s say, using Henry as a way to regain power or merge the UD with Hawkins, then Henry wouldn’t know because the MD could simply block his own thoughts.

I do not believe that Henry created the Mind Flayer, but more so gave it its form. Similarly to how Will didn’t necessarily make the Upside Down (because we saw it existing even before his time), but he most likely gave it the form of Hawkins because he was afraid and home was the first thing on his mind (It’s also why I believe transmutation to be one of Wills abilities)

So essentially, Vecna is the Darth Vader to the Mind Flayer’s Palpatine. However, while the Mind Flayer can be referred to as the ruler of the Upside Down, I wouldn’t necessarily make him the creator of it.

This is where the Thessalhydra and the painting’s miscommunication comes in (Once again this is all just a headcanon)

What if it ends up being wrong that the Thessalhydra is the final boss. It could start off that the characters think this giant dragon-like kaiju with multiple heads and a gaping mouth is the ultimate villain to defeat or whatever.

But what if it ends up being revealed that the Thessalhydra is not only the original ruler of the Upside Down, but the creator? And that after the portals begin opening up, it is finally allowed to break free of whatever prison it’s been held in. This means the Thessalhydra can finally reclaim its throne and defeat it enemy, the Mind Flayer.

Now how would all of this be revealed? Well, I don’t know about canon but here’s my vision for an alternate story:

In S4, it’s revealed that Will has powers like El. However, it is subtly hinted that his powers may very well be generational, mainly on his mothers side.

Now this is something that actually was hinted at way back in the very first season. We see in S1 that after Jonathan, Steve, and Nancy defeat the Demogorgon, the lights begin to flicker in the Byers house.

Nancy and Steve think it’s the Demogorgon again, but Jonathan is the only one who senses Joyce walking around in the Upside Down. Not Joyce and Hopper, just Joyce. And the crazy thing is, Joyce senses him back.

(GIFs are not mine)

The fact that both Jonathan and Joyce can sense each other’s presence despite being in different dimensions is insane to me and I hate the fact that this is never brought up again after S1.

So this would fuel my little headcanon (or theory whatever) that Joyce’s side has some sort of generational abilities. Joyce and Jonathan’s abilities would be more mentally focused, whereas El and Will’s abilities would be more physically focused. Yes, I know El isn’t a biological Byers, but we see in S2 that her bio mother Terry has powers of her own, so her powers may also be generational.

It’s also the same for Henry. I also theorize his powers to be generational, once again, on his mothers side. It would explain why his mother was the only one who caught on to what Henry was doing in their house, and his father and sister were oblivious.

So let’s say that while the characters are fighting against some monsters of the UD or Vecna, Jonathan gets taken. Since Vecna has already held Will and El hostage, why not give Joyce even more trauma and stress and take her eldest son/first child🙃

While the group is trying to find Jonathan, he gets taken to an unknown location. There, he meets the Thessalhydra face to face. This could parallel to how Will is the first one to see the Mind Flayer in person.

Obviously in the beginning, Jonathan thinks this is just another monster trying to kill him like all the other ones. But unlike the Demogorgon or the other creatures, the Thessalhydra is much more intelligent and can sense that this boy is not a threat.

Since the Thessalhydra is the creator of the UD, the creatures living there actually were originally impervious to fire. However, once the Mind Flayer took over, the UD became a cold, barren wasteland. Creatures like the Demogorgon and others had to adapt, which is why fire can now hurt them.

Along with figuring out the UD’s history, Jonathan finds out that like his brother and sister, he too has powers of his own. He can actually control the monsters of the UD and sense their thoughts and emotions, which is why the Thessalhydra knows he isn’t a threat. He can also link his mind with the people closest to him, which he uses to communicate to his mother and siblings, as a parallel to S1. Joyce also this same mind link power.

Jonathan shows the rest of the group that the Thessalhydra isn’t their enemy, and boom! Cue epic face off against the Mind Flayer and Vecna (or just the MD if he decided to kill Vecna idk)

Will all of this happen in the actual season? Highly doubt it. But I’d definitely like to learn more about the Upside Down and the Mind Flayer and how it all came to be. And it is the last season, so you gotta go out with a bang.

[joppershands]

What if joyce and hopper kiss at lovers lake in s5?

What if they get married at lovers lake?????