#stranger things season 5 speculation

[kurtkankle]

Eddie coming back for season 5 be like:

[wakeupthemembersofbylernation]

My guess is they don't confess their feelings, but during their third fight Mike is gonna grab Will and kiss him. Similar to when Pacey finally kisses Joey in Dawson's Creek season 3. Then something will happen and they won't be able to talk about their feelings until later.

After the show is over I need the ST social media to post a pic from each fight in season 3, 4, and 5. Their S4 fight mirrored their S3 fight so much, this has to be what they're leading up to.

I can see that happening! Either that, or a clear almost-kiss, but they get interrupted by something. Both would make a lot of sense and create dramatic romantic tension. And yeah, there’s no way this isn’t leading to a final fight.

[tvgals]

‘DAMN SON, WHERE’D YA’ FIND THAT?’

2000’s trailer park! eddie x 2000’s black! trailer park! reader <3

black! reader, language, sex, nudity, pg-13

‘eddie? boy, quit gawkin’ at the new lady and help me with my damn car.’ wayne says from under his Lexus SC430. eddie just shakes his head.

‘sorry, wayne. she’s just so.. hot! i don’t know what it is about her. i should just talk to her! shouldn’t i, wayne?” he asks, handing wayne his wrench. “gone ahead, boy. don’t scare her off.” he says, his smirk hidden by the undercarriage. there you were. sitting on your steps, watching your mom and older sister load their things into the trailer, turning your head to talk to your mom. sooner or later, you turn around to see eddie standing awkwardly, kicking rocks and looking at his feet.

‘here for someone?’ you ask, eddie’s head snaps up and he clears his throat. ‘oh, uh yeah! i just wanted to introduce you! i’m uhh.. your neighbor eddie, and that’s my uncle wayne.’ he says, pointing to the shirtless man still under his car. “oh! well i'm y/n and that’s my sister, and my mom! thanks for welcoming us!” you say, pulling his arm up and shaking his hand. you turn around as your coogi denim shorts sway behind you, the door rocking back and forth before closing completely. eddie ran back to his uncles car and was past giddy.

‘jeez wayne! she shook my hand without me having to ask for one! i wonder if we’re going to the same highschool?!’ eddie was almost never this excited. besides his d&d campaigns of course. eddie walked back into his trailer and grabbed his song book, technically, this would be a little weird. but, in eddie’s mind, he was just doing something sweet! so he got to writing. lyrics were one of the only ways he knew how to really express himself. he knew that him writing was easier than outright telling someone how he felt, even if it was for someone he just met out the trailer park.

wednesday rolled around and he practically skipped into school with roses and butterflies floating on his side. the hellfire members quickly noted his out of the blue behavior and started asking questions. ‘what’s got you so happy?” dustin asks, eddie’s eyes shoot open and he takes a deep breath.

‘there’s this new girl at the trailer park, she’s absolutely perfect. i mean, i haven’t really talked to her or gotten to know her, but still!’ eddie justifies. soon enough murmurs and whispers come from students around. eddie looks up to see you: known to the group as trailer park girl. ‘eddie? hi!’ you say recognizing him immediately. you wave at people saying hi while you walk towards eddie and his friends.

‘dude, you never said she was hot.’ gareth says in eddie’s ear. eddie was beaming ear to ear.

‘y/n! didn’t think i’d see you here! even though you look your age i totally didnt mean to come off that you look younger than you do, we’ll i mean you look great i love your shorts! sorry.’ eddie says, he looks as red as a tomato at this point! you giggle. ‘jeez eddie, are you always like this? and who’re your friends?’ you ask, eyes skimming over the collection of freshman through seniors.

‘i’m dustin!’ says the shorter curly haired boy, ‘gareth. nice to meet you.’ he says, beaming. ‘jeff.’ ‘mike.’ and so on. you smilies and nodded your head. ‘nice to meet all of you! you seem very sweet.’ you say. hearing the bell, you shoot one more smile and you all situate to your classes. ‘holy shit. she is perfect! maybe she’s into d&d too.’ gareth says, following eddie. ‘yeah. i’ll ask her later. but now i gotta focus on passing this damn chem test.’

the lunch bell rang and and everyone was packed in the hallway like a can of sardines. soon enough, you found your way to the cafeteria and found yourself standing at the end of the hellfire table. ‘hey, mind if i sit here?’ you ask, hands dug deep into your pockets. ‘sure! no need to ask!’ eddie says, shooing dustin and mike down the bench. listening to eddie and his group talk felt as an eternity. in the pause of a conversation you blurt out a question, quickly surprising your lips afterwards. ‘what’s..hellfire?’

‘i’m glad you asked!’ said eddie, he was practically bouncing up and down. a girl as pretty as you has never wanted to know about their group like this. after hearing the lengthy explanation from eddie and his peers, the bell rang. the last two periods were a breeze. it seemed as math got easier since your freshman year. thank god for that. walking out the school, you started your route home. you plugged your ipod up and started your journey.

it was a good day - ice cube.

you were jamming on your way back home. you turned to check your surroundings and saw a big bulky van trailing behind you. in your intuition, you started walking the other way, just to make sure. looking back once again you saw the van following you, so you stopped dead in your tracks and waited for the van to stop in front of you. while the van creeped up, the window rolled down. sooner or later you make it out to be eddie. a smile tugging at your lips. ‘needa ride?’

after he dropped you off home, you gave your thanks and walked back into your trailer. ‘i’m home!’ you said, your mom playing soul music which sailed throughout the pact home. you smiled to yourself, the smile fading slowly when you heard a knock on the door. 'i'll get it.' you announced, jogging to the door. eddie on the other side was sweating. well, maybe not sweating, but it felt like he was. opening the door your eyebrows knitted in confusion, you were just with him, what could he want now? when eddie heard the door being unlocked, he straightened his back up almost immediately. you peered out of the door and smiled, opening it wider to get a full view of eddie.

'hey.' you say, swaying your hips subtly to the beat of the music in the background. 'uh..hey! so uhh i thought you looked really pretty the other day and uh i write music so' he cut his sentence off to take a deep breath. 'i wrote a piece of music for you and i was gonna play it with my band this weekend so, maybe you'd wanna tag along? of course you're free to decline, but we've never had a pretty girl like you at our shows.' he finishes his rant and he looks you into your eyes, expecting rejection. you giggle.

'well thanks, pretty boy. where's the band playing at?' you ask. 'uhh we call it the "hideout" you can ride in my van if you'd want.' eddie says giddy and over the moon. 'sure. i'd be happy to tag along. thanks for the invite.' you said, winking and walking back into the trailer. eddie jumped off your porch and pumped his fist in victory. he's never been this lucky before.

thurdsday came and eddie walked into his friend group. 'did she say yes?' gareth asks, hearing dustin and mike fake gag over something lucas said. 'yes. she said she would tag along! she even said she'd hop in my van. i'm so excited for this weekend.' as soon as eddie finished his sentence you walked in with your tanktop and microbraids in a up-down do. 'hey guys.' you announced yourself. 'hey y/n,' everyone reciprocated. smiles being flashed. bells rung throughout the day and lunch rolled around once again. eating and laughing almost drowned out the yells from the jocks directed at the hellfire table.

'hey.. got a new piece of meat huh? hey, sweetheart..' jason cooed. 'hey, leave her alone man. she just got here.' eddie defends, fists balled up in anger. 'im not talking to you, sicko.' jason said, leaning over and whispering something in your ear, making you jump and get up from the table, not without an awkward 'bye'. eddie and all his peers took glances at one another as you walked out the cafeteria. 'what did that jerkwad say to her? she just got here and she's totally getting scared off already.' eddie said. he stood from the head of the table and followed after you.

'y/n, y/n, come back! what's wrong? what did he say?' eddie asks, jogging after you. 'nothing, eddie. don't worry about it.' you assure. stepping into the back of the school. 'no, i can't not worry about it when my friend is getting talked down on.' he explained finally catching up to your figure.

'he said some things about me. y'know, being black and all.' you say, pausing the music playing on your ipod. 'oh jeez. i'm sorry, y'know i think you're great. you deserve more respect than what you get.' he comforted, smiling at you. the sound of classes switching bellowed out the school and the two of you walked back inside. school finished and you hopped into eddie's van. happily, you guys rock out to metallica while dropping everyone else who tagged along off and the two of you were the only ones left.

'y'know, i'm glad you've been friendly to me since i've been here. not everyone's so nice to me these past years. thanks ed's.' you say, a soft smile on your face, fidgeting with your fingers. 'well it's not everyday a pretty girl wants to hang out with me.' eddie says, returning that same soft smile. 'welp, here you go. see you tomorrow?'

'tomorrow.'

[wrayofmoonshine]

Alright stranger things fans, I’m curious

[chemicalpunk]

“Come crawling faster! Obey your Master!” 🤘🏻

Also, there is a “dungeon crawl” in D&D. 🤔🤔🤔

Honestly was hoping for something more, but I will settle for this! And so many theories and ideas flying through my head GAHHHHH

[liv45no]

Ok ok but imagine this stranger things plot:

Have y’all seen gravity falls? If not, tough, bc their plot is important for this headcanon.

In order to save Mable and Dipper and the entire universe, Stan and Ford switched clothes so Bill would think he was in Ford’s mind again (like he always wanted) yet instead he was facing Stan’s. Then Stan’s memory got erased and bam! Bill was defeated.

Imagine Will and El doing exactly that. Will shaves his head (bye bye bowlcut) and El puts on a hat or something, then they switch clothes. All just in case (the idea came from our queen max btw). When ‘El’ is captured by Vecna again, He tries to convince Will (who somehow got just as important as El to the upside down squad, but I haven’t figured out that part yet) to join his side. Will accepts, gladly, but then Vecna sees his birthmark missing. And that’s when Will grins and speaks with his sister’s voice, and then- boom!

+bonus

They have first switched in episode 7, one episode before their switch is revealed, and only Max El & Will knew about it. The rest of the party (cough cough Mike cough cough) had no idea about it.

[wisefoxluminary]

Paintings in the sky

By wisefoxluminary

A Will Byers centric story

Will hasn't always had a happy life, the memories of his disappearance and The Upside Down follow him everywhere like a ghost. He lives in fear of the trauma that plagues him everyday, scared that he will lose everyone he cares about. He tries so hard to get away from Hawkins, to start a life in California and to just forget. He is a sensitive and creative child, drawing his insecurities on to the page instead of blurting out his feelings. He misses Mike so dearly, dejected by his friend as he doesn't bother to send him letters anymore. Will struggles to accept the fact he has a crush on his best friend because he knows being gay is a crime. He is scared that if he tells the truth, his friends will push him away. He feels like an awful brother figure to El as he is too scared to stand up to her bullies as they are the constant reminder of the prejudice he faced in Hawkins. He feels like a mistake, trapped in a endless cycle of hopelessness as he feels alone and terrified all the time. He is terrified that the Demogorgen would take him again, that the Mind Flayer or Vecna could sense his dark secrets and use it against him. Will is scared and lost, and the only escape he has from this unforgiving world is fantasy.

Will has been seeing imaginary friends for as long as he can remember, they properly started when he was six years old. Ever since Lonnie began to make his life a living hell. He would be visited by the cleric or "Will the Wise" as he would like to call him. The Cleric would comfort him after receiving a beating, offering words of wisdom and hope that he wouldn't expect to receive from his friends or family. He was always there, to pull him out of a rough spot and to give him guidance when he needed it so desperately. The cleric had always been there when Will's life got tough and was the one light in the darkness that gave Will hope and inspiration in the most vulnerable of times. His condition worsened after he came back from the Upside Down, as the horrors he encountered had left a permanent scar and his imaginary friends began to grow. Most of them were personifications of the party, mirror images of his friends' D&D personas. The cleric was always the voice of reason in the group and someone who had always been there for Will. The paladin was the heart of the group, the one who inspired Will when it felt like his life was falling apart. Caring and protective and extremely loyal just like Mike. The bard reminded him of Dustin, always smart and full of courage. He used his esoteric knowledge and witty sense of humour to give him confidence and light. The Ranger is the most emotionally intelligent of the group, a thoughtful and cautious one who always placed Will's needs and wants first. He was protective and would always fight for him, just like Lucas. He was always accompanied by his trusty steed Taggert, a loyal pet who brought Will necessary comfort and safety. They had always been with Will every step of the way, helping him escape the horrors of the visions as he kept seeing the two worlds flickering in and out of existence. They gave him a resolve to fight back, they encouraged him to take on Bob's advice when he confronted the Mind Flayer that day on the field. They were at his bedside at Hawkins Lab, offering him tranquility as the darkness slowly began to take over. They helped him regain control when the Mind Flayer was possessing him, they inspired him to use morse code to help his friends. They stood their ground and fought against the possession wracking Will's mind, even if it was a battle they couldn't win. The cleric and his comradeship would never give up on Will, even if the monster had gotten him, they were always there.

Will couldn't help but cling on to the childhood that he left behind. His aspirations for D&D were taking hold and his imaginary friends were the only thing that he could hang on to. Will always hated the idea of romance, he didn't feel like he deserved to be loved the same way Mike loved El or Lucas loved Max, he was lost and afraid and the cleric and his party were here for him when he had no one to open up to. They even gave him encouragement to dance with that girl in the snowball, even when his heart was telling him no. He loved Mike Wheeler and he was the beating heart that always kept him going, even if he pushed him away sometimes. Will let all of his anger and emptiness take control as he destroyed Castle Byers, casting away his childhood. A part of him died that day as the cleric and his imaginary friends disappeared. Their end represented the end of innocence for Will as he felt like he had more control of his life.

But Will couldn't get them out of his head, no matter how much he mourned or tried to forget them, their memories were forever with him. The party didn't look human to Will whenever he saw them, they looked like drawings that had came to life, like they had just stepped out of a watercolour painting. So he painted them in honour of their memory, portraying them as legendary heroes as they fought against a fearsome dragon, a representation of all the fear and insecurities Will had been battling with and the obstacles his invisible friends had faced to save him. The paladin was using his heart to keep all of the party together, using his sword as a beacon of hope to his fellow fighters. Without heart, they would fall apart. Without Mike Wheeler, Will Byers would fall apart. So he set out to gift this painting to Mike as a way of reminding him of the person he really was within and gave him the courage to fight for El. It hurt him to tell Mike about how El didn't feel like a mistake because of him, because those were his feelings, that was how he felt about Mike. He cried shameful tears at the thought of getting rejected, because he knew Mike belonged with El more than he did with him. He found himself falling back into that dark hole of wallowing insecurity as the fear was too hard to bear. He found acceptance in Jonathan as his brother would always be here for him. That no matter what happens between them, their family will always remain strong. The Byers family was his fortress and they would protect him to the ends of the earth.

Returning to Hawkins brought Will back to where everything started, where the darkness inside him was first born as Vecna had succeeded. He had opened the four gates and the end of the world was coming fast like never before. He made Mike promise to him that he would finish Vecna once and for all, to end this curse he had been fighting all his life. Every itch in his neck was bringing him closer to becoming Vecna's next victim to become poked and prodded. He couldn't take it anymore. He let his fear get the best of him and he ran and hid away from the rest of Hawkins. He had found sanctuary in his old house, a place that had since been abandoned by its new owners due to the current state in Hawkins. Lost and alone, his imaginary friends came to visit him once again as the cleric and the party had came back from the dead to offer Will support and courage in such uncertain times. They helped him relive his disappearance in The Upside Down and his painful connection to Vecna as he was slowly beginning to overcome his childhood trauma. He was becoming resistant to Vecna’s harm as the cleric, the paladin, the bard and the ranger gave him the confidence he needed to face him one last time. So with a new determination, he returned to his friends and family with open arms as he helped them in the final battle against Vecna. He fought against Henry and watched as he perished at the hands of El and his friends. He was able to deliver the killing blow and it brought him nothing but satisfaction. They may have been so alike, but it was Will's love that overcame Vecna’s hate in the end. With Vecna dead, Will was able to come to terms with his feelings and comes out to Mike as his friend repriocates his feelings. Will was able to gain confidence and start a relationship with Mike as he couldn't believe his luck. All he knew was that his imaginary friends gave him the confidence to come out to Mike and to accept his sexuality as a part of him to fully embrace. He held Mike's hand into a safe future, watching with tears in his eyes as the cleric and his party waved their last goodbyes. Will was in a better place because of them as they would only go away when Will accepted his trauma as a part of him. Will now has a more hopeful future to look forward to because of the party. From this day forth, Will would never forget the friends that gave him hope in a time of darkness and uncertainty. They would always be a part of him.

[dontlistentothemmoose]

How annoyed do you think the Duffer Brothers are that OFMD used Kate Bush’s “This Women’s Work” for a dramatic awakening-from-near-death scene before they could use it for the scene next season when El inevitably pulls Max out of her coma and back from the Upside Down brink?

(i mean, they should still totally use it for this scene, but then i’ll have two nickels and it’ll be hilarious.)

[who-knows73]

People saying that they couldn't clear Eddie's name is so funny to me because they literally brought Will 'back to life' after a public funeral was held for him yet saying that Eddie was falsely accused is to far?

[shia1122]

Idk I feel like m*ke is in love with the, "Superhero" version of el, like she can't even tell him that she's being bullied because even she feels like he feels that way. It's just sad honestly, like he just can't stop using the word superhero even in their fight in season 4, he's like, "Their all nobodies! You're a superhero!" Like bruh

This isn't me shoving byler down ur throats, but this issue could become something bigger in s5 which leads to their breakup which could maybe lead to byler...

Like the guy can't say i love you (especially to will byers 😉)

[kurtkankle]

The names of the two first episodes of Stranger Things Season 5 leaked:

[thelonelybrilliance]

The Figurehead: Chapter 7

Meditations in an Emergency, Cameron Awkward-Rich

I wake up & it breaks my heart. I draw the blinds & the thrill of rain breaks my heart. I go outside. I ride the train, walk among the buildings, men in Monday suits. The flight of doves, the city of tents beneath the underpass, the huddled mass, old women hawking roses, & children all of them, break my heart. There’s a dream I have in which I love the world. I run from end to end like fingers through her hair. There are no borders, only wind. Like you, I was born. Like you, I was raised in the institution of dreaming. Hand on my heart. Hand on my stupid heart.

Excerpt:

Fumbling for the spare key under his parents’ doorstep like a kid breaking curfew is a weird experience to have in front of the Chief, basically all his friends, a few people he wouldn’t really count as friends, and Nancy.

Steve gets through it. He’s had weirder.

This one has a little tribute to @mrs-evadne-cake in it :)

[blackswanyuzu]

if will byers has a villain arc i hope they do so using a madness arc as that would make the most sense for his character with all he’s been through already kinda setting the foundations for mental instability through his relatively untreated ptsd, him being isolated from the others the last couple seasons, and what mindset vecna will manipulate him into to lead him to make those choices in his moments of vulnerability, but idk… can we trust the duffers to conduct topics like that in an educated way like, say, arcane did? what do we think?

[purpleshadow-star]

"The Crawl"

This is definitely in reference to the Upside Down crawling into Hawkins. 100%. Like what else could it be about?

[jopper-lovechild]

my stranger things day notes

(this post contains theories and s4 spoilers!)

today was very eventful and very uneventful at the same time. i had a tiktok blowup overnight about eddie and spent all day being delusional that the big surprise tonight would be an announcement that eddie was coming back in season 5. anyways—here’s what i picked up today after i accepted my dire fate:

the new butcher billy poster

if you’re confused about what i’m talking about, it’s the new artwork butcher billy made for stranger things day (click here). it’s super cool and basically showcases key elements for each character throughout the entire series, like el’s waffles or the castle byers sign. surrounding nearly everything are upside down vines—and i cannot stress surrounding nearly everything enough. there are two items on the poster that instead of the vines surrounding or wrapping around, they travel inside them. these two objects are will’s wizard hat and eddie’s hellfire shirt.

i could totally be overthinking this but i thought it was interesting that only those two things had vines running through them, instead of around them. in my eyes, this is foreshadowing an eddie revival—maybe as a flayed kas character, or maybe something similar to a flayed spy like will was.

season 5, episode 1: the crawl

i’ve seen some mixed opinions on what this title could be referencing but most people are in agreement of two things:

— a DND crawl is a shorter campaign or quest where your team has to make it through a labyrinth of monsters and challenges. typically, it’s done in a maze setting.

— “the crawl” is directly referencing a physical action, heavily theorized to be kas!eddie crawling out of the upside down and into hawkins

now, we know the duffer brothers are notorious for doing everything with purpose. nearly everything they do in the show is intentional, from attire down to blurry objects in the background of a shot. and we know that eddie is a metalhead, specifically of the bands on his jean jacket. someone on twitter made the connection today that judas priest has a song called night crawling, which heavily implies a monster invading a town and terrorizing the people. (if this doesn’t scream kas!eddie, then i don’t know what will). i started to do my own digging around 80s metal bands and found that the song symphony of destruction by megadeath heavily hints at a puppeteer and the pied pier (someone who hypnotized or mind controlled a towns children and lured them away from home). could this be a reference to vecna too? my sister and i spent a good hour or so just going through all of the metal bands eddie canonically likes from the pins and patches on his jean vest and there are so many songs that could inspire kas tbfh

no dead by daylight revival. cries.

[miggydiaz]

Okay rewatching season 4 of Stranger Things and I am now 100% positive of 3 things:

1. One/Vecna/Henry cannot be killed while Eleven lives, because Eleven is his phylactery. Vecna is a lich king — he’s an undead wizard that is attached to the mortal plane via his phylactery. While most phylacteries are created intentionally as a way to hide the lich’s soul in order to protect themselves from True Death, I think the power exchange between One and El when she pushed him through the portal in 1979 turned El into a phylactery for One unintentionally. It’s the same logic that governs the relationship between Voldemort and Harry in HP. Voldemort accidentally creates a horcrux in Harry (which is similar to a phylactery, except horcruxes are used to break a soul into many pieces versus a phylactery which is used to contain the whole soul). This is why Harry has to die at the end of the seventh book because Voldemort can’t be killed while Harry lives. Same with One/Vecna/Henry and El. While Eleven is alive, Vecna can’t be killed. She must die in order for him to be eliminated and he must be eliminated before the upside down can be destroyed.

2. This bond is strengthened by the fact (again, pretty sure I’m 100% right about this) that Papa is not Papa to the special children — One is. One was the first child of Brenner’s program, and is obviously older — by at least ten years, if not more — than all the other children. While One has many powers that we see, his children tend to excel at certain behaviors over others, yet all of their powers are powers they share with One. Eleven, of course, ends up being the strongest of them all — with One’s guidance, as we see throughout El’s memories — and consequently she displays the highest number of powers (including discovering some along the way).

Not to mention, this is LITERALLY the plot of the original Star Wars trilogy, right? (Also, throwback to Dustin trying to make El levitate the Millennium Falcon in season 1). Luke finds out that the Supreme Commander of the Empire —essentially Emperor Palpatine’s (the Mind Flayer’s) five star general (Vecna) is his father — the same way El will find out Vecna/Henry/One is hers.

And 3. It’s no coincidence that the upside down is stuck in 1983. Specifically stuck on the night that Will Byers goes missing, which is the same night El escaped from the facility, using the tunnel One showed her in 1979. El isn’t being used to poke around in the upside down in 1983 — no one even knows there IS an upside down in 1983, because Vecna/Henry/One has been creating it for the last 4 years. Instead, El is being used to spy on the soviets. However, El is prone to wandering around where she’s not supposed to go, and consequently finds the demogorgon, which scares her enough that she opens another gate to escape it and leads it right into the real world. The upside down is stuck the night that El escaped and Will went missing because that’s the night it began bleeding into Hawkins. But when El’s sacrifice destroys Vecna/helps destroy the Mindflayer in the upside down, the right side up will revert back to 1983 — before the upside down ever began bleeding over, before Will goes missing, before Mike and El ever meet, etc. This is how the Duffer Brother’s can get away with killing off major characters in season 5 without being Game of Thrones — every sacrifice in season 5, with the exception of El’s won’t matter in the end because sealing the upside down, which only opened the night El escaped and Will went missing, will reset time back to that point in 1983 just before the bleed between worlds began.

I’ll probably add to this as I speculate more in the off season, but I’ll be SHOCKED if at least the first and the third one don’t turn out to be what happens.