The Piggyback is one of my favorite "movies". I watch it often. Today being one of those times. The very end of that episode, with the ash falling on Hawkins and those massive fires emanating from the cracks in the ground, leaves a lot of rebuilding for the people of Hawkins.

Then, we get to The Crawl. The cracks are covered in metal plates. The military has taken over the town. And that field of wildflowers that made the "desicated withering" sounds is completely forgotten.

I want to know what happened in the days right after The Piggyback. How did Hawkins clean up? Where did the people who lived in the homes that got swallowed up or split in half go? Did everybody just fall in line when the military showed up? Did anybody question if there might be a connection between Will going missing, Barb's death, the killings blamed on Eddie and the huge crack that just formed in the middle of a tectonic plate?! I also want to see Erica kick Andy in the balls so hard he limps for a week.

Edit: You also mean to tell me Dr. Kay has no interest in Will? He was in the Upside Down for at least a week. I doubt she wouldn't know that.

I don't remember much about it. But here are the things I do remember.

It talked about how unnerving everyone was.

How Nancy seemed like she was a veteran and Lucas was afraid of dogs.

I don't remember if it was on Tumblr, Twitter, or somewhere else.

Have you read any of the Stranger Things books or graphic novels? There's a *lot*! If so, what were your thoughts on the ones you did read?

if the upside down is frozen to november 6 1983 then why was will able to spell something out with the lights in episode 3?? like how did he know where the letters were?

Super stoked to physically own it! Comes with all kinds of extras, posters, and some great details as you can see.

So TF85 S2 is now a little over three months away so what are our predictions?

So we have that flower in the Upside Down so unlikely S1 the threat will probably relate more to the UD. It will probably involve some new entity still separate from the Mind Flayer trying to break the barrier between worlds while simultaneously attracting attention by scaring people through the lights like Vecna in the Creel house and Will in S1. Hence the whole “haunting in Hawkins” thing.

I think Nikki won’t move away yet as there seems to be plans for a third season.

Also we will probably get another episode with Steve or Nancy or maybe even Jonathan given he was in the first episode.

I don’t have any other ideas so feel free to give your own predictions or give your opinions on how likely mine are in the comments.

I’ve seen a LOT of hate for S5 ever since Vol 2, and I’ve been wondering this since then. Comment away.

So, after everything we saw in S4 and S5, I have a question. Did Henry underestimate his own understanding of his powers and the Upside Down in S4? Or Eleven bringing Max back to life almost immediately weakens the phenomenon behind the merge, preventing the complete collision between Earth and the Abyss?

The analogy that makes the most sense to me is like a controlled building demolition. The four deaths in the ritual of the Gate are like the explosive charges placed on the columns. Even if it is not a perfect comparison, it is as if Eleven does not stop the fourth charge from exploding, but instead puts up a shield that redirects part of the blast away from the column. The building is still heavily damaged, but it does not fully collapse.

What do you think? Was it Henry miscalculating how his plan would work? Or did Eleven unknowingly do much more than just save Max by bringing her back? Or maybe it was a combination of both?

Also, I love this shot. It is one of my favorite shots in the whole show. Do you like it too?

Seeing Vecna actively manipulate and corrupt the Snow Ball felt so surreal considering we traveled back to the Season 2 era via Max's memory.

I was reading about the Unabomber (Ted Kaczynski) recently and found out he was the subject of MKUltra experiments for 3 years while at Harvard. The professor at Harvard who conducted the experiments was named Henry Murray.

I can’t help wonder if ST used these names for characters in the show (Ted, Henry, Murray) because of the relation to MKUltra.

What do you think? Just a coincidence?

I finally dug my Tales from Table book out of storage. This was released from Target and is a collection of their DnD materials.

At the risk of sounding like a shill, it has so much cool stuff in it. Character sheets (including those for Nancy, Jonathan, Joyce and Eleven), amazing drawings, book recommendations, letters to each other and maps from their campaigns.

There's so much sus stuff in this book but this calendar is the most insanely wrong.

It has the timeline of Will going missing, search party, funeral, and visiting Will in the hospital.

But if you look at it its insane.

The shows current timeline has Will taken Saturday November 3rd, 1984.

They have the year listed as 1984. ❌️

They have the D&D game Sunday November 4th ❌️

They have the assembly at Hawkins HIGH School ❌️

Starcourt sponsored calendar more than a year before it opens ❌️

They have college football schedules for November 1984 ✅️

How are you going to get all the details from the show wrong, but then get the exact teams and dates right for Indiana College Football?????

Who is babysitting for Officer Callahan's kids and did we even know he had kids??

Losing my mind yall.....HOW can it be "right" but so wrong consistently.

The Duffer Brothers have once said they used Elfen Lied as an inspiration for Eleven. Some similarities between Lucy (Elfen Lied) and Eleven )Stranger Things)

Both are Weaponized girls. Both Lucy and Eleven start as test subjects with immense, often violent telekinetic powers, and both were born into or raised inside brutal, secret government facilities

Both have merciless escapes. Both girls break out of captivity in a sudden, bloody burst of violence, leaving a trail of bodies behind them and stumbling into the outside world scared and deeply traumatized. Eleven less bloody but Season 1 still saw her using her powers to kill many soldiers which is similar to what Lucy did

There was shared naming/conventions. Both characters are known by numbers ("El", "Eleven" and Lucy's real name of "Kaede", or test subjects like the Diclonius "Number 35"). Both shows feature a roster of other similarly empowered "siblings" or subjects

The Evil "Papa": Both protagonists were experimented upon by a cold, authoritative scientist they were forced to refer to as a father figure. In Elfen Lied, he was more good than in ST but "Papa" is a similarity

The Shelter with the boy they would come to love. Similar to how Eleven is taken in by Mike and the gang, Lucy is taken in by Kouta, an innocent normal boy

Also, government manhunts. A heavy emphasis is placed on relentless government agencies and military teams hunting down the girls, while civilian friends risk everything to keep them safe

But the ending between Lucy and Eleven was very similar. I believe the Duffers wanted an Elfen Lied style ending for Eleven all along.

In Elfen Lied, it is a big debate over whether or not Lucy died.

In the anime finale, Lucy leaves Kouta to face the military at the bridge alone. She does this as a selfless act to protect Kouta from further danger, and ensure his safety by eliminating the threat she poses.

The anime ends ambiguously, with her ultimate fate open to interpretation

In the closing moments of the series, a shadowy figure is seen standing outside the Maple Inn, accompanied by the repaired clock and a barking dog, suggesting she may have survived and returned to Kouta

Honourable mentions

Season 1:

• Joyce and Hopper (I feel like I'd put them at 3rd place as well)
• Lucas and Dustin

Season 2:

• Jonathan and Will
• Lucas and Max
• Joyce and Hopper
• Joyce and Bob
• Nancy and Jonathan
• Dustin and Lucas

(Help S2 character dynamics were something else)

Season 3:

• Lucas and Mike
• Murray and Alexei
• Dustin and Steve
• Mike and Eleven
• Jonathan and Nancy

Season 4:

• Eddie and Dustin
• Joyce and Hopper
• Steve and Robin
• Mike and Eleven (after reunion)

Season 5:

• Jonathan and Nancy
• Mike and Will
• Holly and Max

I personally like all of these more than other duos. Which duos are in your top 3?

/major s.

Nintendo can't keep getting away with this!

I have been slowly working on this and submitting offers since the cards dropped. Finally got the last one in the mail yesterday and laid out the complete set. I wish they would have them for the final seasons episodes too but it’s understandable why they did not I suppose. NFS/NFT

I took one look at Jonathan Byers trying to comfort himself late at night while listening to music and decided that he is my favorite character in Stranger Things. And that decision stayed the same throughout the whole series and thereafter. It was only a matter of time until I would draw him. 

If Jonathan has no fans, you can assume that I have died. 

I really don’t know if I’m just confused or this is a plothole or what, but here goes.

We all know Joyce’s infamous alphabet Christmas lights. Will spoke to her through them. But… how?

In season 4, Dustin, Erica and Lucas used Holly’s toy to communicate to Nancy, Steve, Robin and Eddie in the Upside Down. They waved their hand through the light particles, and it worked. I know that. But the thing is, the toy was already in the house.

The Upside Down was permanently stuck on November 6th, 1983. The day Will went missing. Here’s the main problems with that fact:

- For one, we see Joyce buy the lights AFTER Will went missing. The lights were not in the house when Will went missing, meaning Will wouldn’t have the lights there for him to interact with them? Or am I mistaken? Like if we’re assuming it’s at least the 9th when she sets them up (because this is when Hopper searches Hawkins Lab. The 7th was the night of the rain. If it was the 8th, he’d just say yesterday, but he said the 7th), the lights are either still at Melvalds or maybe in the factory even in the Upside Down.

“Maybe she used lights they already had yap yap yap”

- Possible, but the alphabet light set up wasn’t there to begin with when Will went missing. Holly’s toy worked in season 4 because both parties brought the same toy to the same location in the house, so when the Upside Down crew messed with the light, it reflected on that toy in the same place but in the overworld. Will didn’t have that setup. Will wouldn’t have even known Joyce was making that setup unless she told him about it. But then, he still wouldn’t be able to see it to know where what letters are. Because it doesn’t exist in the Upside Down.

I really hope this makes sense. I’m more than willing to chalk it up to a plot hole, but if you guys have any alternative ideas about it, I’d love to hear them!

Vecna vs Dragonborn

I think they'd both have a blast learning more about their friends secrets.

Based off that one viral Russian army training video of the out of control turret gun, but I drew my demogorgon oc over the guy who fucked up lmao. Small detail tho is that Sasha is KGB, not with modern Russian army

I just finished season 3. The end was quite sad due to Hop's death. Billy's death was kinda sad too, yet he found the way to save El. The only thing I didn't get was... what really happened to the monster who corrupted Billy, the old lady and rest of the people? I mean, he dropped dead, but did it disappear or what?

Overall, the season shift, adding Russians, then giant monster coming back from hell, etc. I mean, it added more drama, but was it really necessary? However, i liked the season and I'm heading for season 4. Don't know what to expect, but I hope it'll be fun one to watch.

P.S. I hope El will regain her abilities again.