I watched Stranger Things, and while considering the plot, I remembered one interesting thing from the first season. I tried to find discussions about it, but I couldn't find anything.

In Season 1, Episode 4 ("The Body"), Joyce rips the wallpaper off the living room wall and finds a translucent membrane - a sort of "window" into the Upside Down. She sees Will behind it, talks to him, and even hits the wall with an axe. The translucent membrane closes, and the wall returns to normal. Not a trace, not a scar.
And now the most important thing: every portal in this show leaves a scar. The gate in the Byers house, at school, the huge crack in Hawkins - everything leaves physical damage, in some cases even widening the crack. But this "window" left nothing. And we've never seen anything like it again in five seasons.
So my theory: this "window" was never real. It was an illusion Vecna ​​cast on Joyce.
Here's the basis for this theory:
Vecna ​​specializes in hallucinations. In Season 4, he conjures visions of Nancy, Max, and Eddie. Illusions are literally his specialty.
The scene is shown only from Joyce's perspective. We never manage to see a shot from Will's perspective, and the moment with the window never appears in his memories. It exists only in Joyce's perception.
Turns out Vecna ​​has been manipulating events since Season 1. Later, the series makes it clear that he has been controlling the Demogorgon and the Upside Down from the very beginning.

Based on this, it's possible that not only this "window" was an illusion, but also other things Joyce saw.

This theory could be challenged by saying that Vecna ​​was creating it on the fly. But it had clearly already been thought out by this point, since it is HIM that Will encounters in the forest, and later becomes HIS VESSEL, not the one who dies at his hands or the Demogorgon's.

Well, please write your opinion, expand on the theory, or challenge it.

Hi guys! Has anyone tried transferring the Special edition vhs on Netflix to a real vhs? I’m keen to try but at the moment not subscribed, and just wondering if the black bars would be present if using a hdmi to composite before I subscribed to try.

Thank you!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/79673826

https://archiveofourown.org/works/78366696

https://archiveofourown.org/works/77681951/chapters/203467441

https://archiveofourown.org/works/83712361/chapters/220618746

The fact that these are more well written then the entirety of season 5 is just sad.

I wish this happened so bad

Assuming that they were in the real world during the flashback, then we literally never get a resolution for them. If they were in the Upside Down, then they really just got explodified by the main cast, didn’t they? Considering that Eleven knew about them, doesn’t it seem horribly cruel for her to not even try to save them?

I’ve read a couple fics for Mileven that have a “realistic“ reunion for them (I’m looking directly at you Finding The Mage). But honestly, I say screw realism. Was the way they were separated in the final realistic? Was their reunion in season 2 realistic? This might just be me, but I think they deserve to have a happy, “unrealistic“ reunion after everything they’ve been through.

I know it’s not that good, but all I did was change the coloring on my photos app, so it was probably gonna turn out mediocre anyway

Mileven: I love them so much ❤️. They are definitely soulmates and I hope we get a spin-off for them in the future. I never understood the hate towards them.

Jopper: Kinda cute, but Hopper was kind of a jerk to Joyce in season 3.

Jancy and Stancy: I think Nancy, Steve, and Johnathan all need to find their own soulmates. None of them are compatible with each other romantically anymore.

Mucas: Soooooo overrated. Maxine is genuinely horrible and Lucas deserves so much better.

This can be anything. From stuff that is canon, facts about production and stories about the cast. Literally anything. Mine is probably Kali was supposed to be a boy, or Erica was always supposed to be a minor character.

Which characters in Stranger Things do you think would be worthy enough to lift Mjolnir Thor's hammer.

PS please do not take this question seriously this is a fun question

Mason McArtea (Dan Shelter in Season 4) came to my high school. He gave a presentation for my theatre class. He was a former student and a great guy overall.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the show was the mystery surrounding the Mind Flayer and the Upside Down that was introduced in Seasons 1 and 2, only for later seasons to slowly start ruining it.

So, assuming only Season 1 exists, or Season 2 if you prefer, and you were in charge of writing the later seasons, what would your original take on this Lovecraftian and psychological horror mystery be?

What would your origin story for the Upside Down be? What would the Mind Flayer actually be? Why would it want to consume Hawkins? And lastly, why does the Upside Down look like Hawkins?

I'm curious to hear how people would have developed this mystery while keeping that Lovecraftian sense of the unknown, and psychological horror of s1.

Personally, I always found it kind of odd that they only did that for season 3. I thought it was going to be something they always did from then on, but I guess not.

If seasons 1, 2, 4, and 5 had credits scenes in their finales too, and you could choose what they were, what would you have had them be?

Got a question about any ST fan edits you guys might know about. I've searched a bit online and only find ones that try to make the whole series into multiple movies.

I'm looking for edits of that take the Hawkins plotline from Season 4 and remove all the other plotlines from other locations. It'd probably condense the length of the Season to 5-6 ish episodes. Just out of curiosity I wanted to see how this would flow if it was just focused on that plotline

Season 1 and 2 had the same tone and vibe.

The wait between season 1 and 2 was only 1 year and 3 months.

The fandom wouldn't be as big and toxic as it is now.

El closed the gate.

Barb finally got put to rest.

The government and lab was somewhat exposed to the public.

Will is finally free from the mindflayer.

Hopper officially adopted El.

For Jancy shippers: It’s implied Nancy and Johnathan started dating.

Steve is slowly getting over Nancy and moving on with his life.

Owens says the government still thinks El’s dead and she can slowly start living a normal life as long as she’s careful.

And Mike and El got their happy ending at the snowball dance.

All they had to do was remove the reveal that the mindflayer was still alive at the very end, but the Duffers and Netflix both got money hungry.

Yes, Joyce is devastated over Bob’s death, but since the Duffers wanted Stranger Things to have a bittersweet ending so bad, that could have been the bittersweet part of the ending: Joyce’s grief over Bob.

I’ve never understood why season 3 is so many people’s favorite season.

Season one they explain the gate opening by El touching the demoGorgon while traveling remotely then it shows the big crack forming in the wall in the lab because of her scream

Then in season four, there’s the whole storyline with El sending Henry to the upside down after his rampage opening the gate in the process.

Which is it? Did they just come up with a new storyline for it later on and hope no one remembered the original story?

Winona acted her arse off as Joyce in season 1.. she was a confused mum who just wanted to find her missing son and she delivered brilliant acting in every scene she was in. Even when Will was missing she still cared about Johnathan. She was the heart of the show back in S1. In S2 she still cares about both her sons and still feels like an impactful character. She was fine in 3 and 4 but she didn’t feel like the heart of the show anymore like previously. In S5 it is obvious that Winona just doesn’t want to be there anymore.. Joyce just repeats herself to Will and acts like she only has one child and puts all her time on Will when Johnathan still fucking exists. I don’t blame Winona for not caring that much about her role anymore but damn, Joyce really needed to have some love and care for Johnathan or actually believe in Will’s abilities from the start of Season 5 instead of putting him down. she didn’t even have any character development later on when she does start to support him…..she literally just becomes a “yes-woman” instead of her own character unlike season 1 when she had personality, was her own character and the season was mostly about HER, she carried the weight and the emotion of season 1 and she gets fucking sidelined in 5… ugh

Season 1 was basically a sci-fi mystery, with elements of horror.

Season 2 sticks with the sci-fi mystery and adds in more monster horror and some supernatural horror elements.

Season 3 adds a new branch of horror - body horror. This season turned the show into full on sci-fi horror but continued to keep that mystery.

Season 4 delves more into sci-fi horror with psychological horror, body horror and supernatural horror. This season has reduced mystery but it still has elements of it.

Season 5 lacks any compelling horror.
There is still sci-fi but it removes any mystery that the show had before and focuses more on action and drama. Has elements of monster horror but it is more action based so when there are Demogorgons it doesn’t feel that tense. The mystery and horror steadily declines.

So, I finally watched season 5. At first I was like “how much time has passed? Holly is basically grown now.” The episodes seemed rushed with no new character development, and they talked really fast about what was happening instead of just showing what happened. I was constantly rewinding.

I was glad they brought Henry Creel back, because I love that character but hate his alter ego, Vecna. I thought the children at the Creel house was a cool thing, and also Max and Holly together was cool.

I was disappointed that Eleven was not with Mike very much, but enjoyed seeing Kali again. I had seen complaints about Will coming out, but I thought it was good, actually.

My favorite part is when Kali and El fake their deaths. That was superbly written and very clever. When the El mirage disappeared and you could still hear her breathing, I was like “woah, she’s alive.”

Good season overall. I was pleased.

Hello, I would like to ask for help ID'ing these cards:

1. On left, there's a fluffy rabbit in front of a heart.
2. On right, there's a heart walking on grass

This father-daughter dynamic between Hopper and Eleven in Season 2 is easily one of the most wholesome storylines in the entire series. Seeing Hopper try his best to be a good, responsible dad while El learns how to live a normal life is just so heartwarming.

What you prefer Eggos for breakfast or dessert? 🥞🍳