can you keep a secret without telling a lie? 💫

🌟lyric above from "black ice" by maya hawke ^^ robin and jonathan my faves in stranger things💚 ⚡️I post/reblog CG theories and sometimes art !!

[nuffit]

Rebel Robin - Animatic

IT IS DONE!!

this took. ages omfg. I hope some people see this because the lore drop is kind of INSANE and more people should know about it!!!

the audio is from the Rebel Robin: Surviving Hawkins podcast, specifically from episode 2 💥

as you can probably tell I did not feel like drawing Mr. Hauser 💚 but hes still beautiful in my eyes

(I dont usually ask, but a like or reblog would be much appreciated!! '^^)

[lavenderlatte222]

Demogorgon Difference

S1E8 (timestamp 15:48)

Regular version vs. VHS special edition:

Regular version: The demogorgon puts its arm on whatever's on the ground there and opens its mouth.

VHS version: The demogorgon just stands up and stands there.

The audio seems to be the same in both versions.

Another difference.

Regular version vs. VHS special edition:

Regular version: It looks like there's UD membrane, and the ceiling is cracking.

VHS version: It looks like the ceiling itself is more membrane-like.

There's also a white line on the screen right before this all happens.

[gritstartar]

VHS TAPEGATE!!

OKAY Y’ALL!!!!!

My first ~major~ find on the VHS Season

I know everyone is talking about the white lines, but LOOK HOW MUCH OF THE DEMOGORGON you can see in the background in this shot! That’s CRAZY! I’m going to reblog with the original clip just for comparison!

💬 0  🔁 0  ❤️ 0

JK it won’t let me repost with it!

Electromagneticgate we are so here! I don’t know what it means at all yet, but it’s so interesting because I wonder how this will work when we get to the actual clip of the Shadow Monster on the VHS-C but we’re watching it on VHS or on VHS-C (because VHS-C was out in 1984). Will it disappear…? Are the true monsters, more visible on VHS?

I mean, they are shown to interact with tapes, and now we are getting the VHS tapes. VHS tapes work by having analog signals (different from like radio signals but still signals) encoded onto them, and then the VCR basically decodes them into a format that is visible on your screen.

Even the damn NOISE from a VHS tape looks like the starry sky backgrounds in the show…

Remind you of anything…?

Lastly, putting the date on a VHS is a manual recording option… Will, you smart boy!

Worth noting, this DATED tape is also the one the lab confiscated… 🤨🧐

Some of the ones Brenner has are dated, some are not.

Removing height would also likely, get rid of these dates! *we need more height!*

This is making me wonder about these end shots again, the black and white.

Lastly, the consumer … VHS (video home system) is a consumer-level analog tape recording 👀

WHAT does that mean hehehehe in this context ANYWAYS why is Brenner using consumer level taping for the lab what a weirdo, like ur with the government you have access to higher technology id assume

[gritstartar]

Sorry you mean to tell me there is a musician named Ronald Hawkins. Whose nicknames include “Rockin’ Ronnie” and “the Hawk”

So we have… Lonnie “the Hawk” Hawkins

AND Ronnie “the Hawk” Hawkins

And… we have a Rockin’ Ronnie (Ronnie Hawkins)

and a Rockin’ Robin (Maya Hawke)

What the fuck is going on LOL

Oh and a song named Susie Q I must say, I have no idea what’s going on here but like what the hell 😭

[bubblybyler]

My Polyparty dating headcanon

Lucas - Everyone

Max - Lucas, Jane

Jane - Max, Lucas, Dustin

Dustin - Lucas, Jane

Will - Lucas, Mike

Mike - Will, Lucas

[nuffit]

do NOT read the stranger things books unless you want to cry... lucas was PISSEDDDD that his friends didn't show up for him 🥀🥀

[gritstartar]

Queering Technology

As I’ve previously outlined in the following post:

💬 8  🔁 9  ❤️ 34 · Oh okay so this is from the Season 3 ARG 🫪🧐 (I think it’s part of a phone message when you called a phone number, so I don

I think that the Upside Down is basically working a conduit to access future technology/scientific advancements (from OUR timeline).

The lab is opening gates to access future technology that it can experiment on for mind-control experiments, military operations, and general control of media / culture. The lab is doing this for control, and spinning a narrative based on how the kids/town already understands the world. Therefore, Vecna and the Mind Flayer are a representation of this knowledge being used for control, conformity, and manipulation. Also, how people in the past would make sense of current technology.

But the characters also go into the Upside Down, and Will has interactions with the Shadow Monster. Henry also has interactions with the Shadow Monster… I think the Shadow Monster is the representation of what this future technology could be used for, if it was in the hands of the people.

So, the Shadow Monster act through people in the town, but also primarily targets people with control and power THROUGH these people. A lot of these people… are also queer-coded as fuck.

Queer Technologies | Zach Blas

Queer Technologies is an organization that produces critical applications, tools, and situations for queer technological agency, interventio

Again, the characters going into the Upside Down would also give them access to some of the concepts outlined above. But this might be a cool explanation for all of the queer-coding, and how it has an even deeper meaning than we think. As in the queer-coding is even a function of the plot, and required to understand the plot itself. Really putting the coding in queer-coding, and really bringing queer stories from the subtext to the text of the story.

Just a sneak-peak of the website… it’s artistic, political, etc., advocating for incorporating a more human focused view of technology.

@nuffit you might love this

[nightnut]

Dr Owens, Barb/Nancy, two tapes-memories in one: Jonathan and Nancy were not together in the Lab

(the Shutter Island, The Truman Show and Fight Club)

Do you remember a theory that Hawkins got flayed in the end of season 2? I believe we have corrupted memories earlier (most likely from the very beginning of the show, but that’s story for another time). Let’s check this one out.

The first thing that stood out to me was this shot:

Dr Owens opens the door, and the scientist starts “working” immediately. He was not working, when the door opened, he started at the same moment. This jumped out at me as if it was staged, and no one was indeed working there until Nancy and Jonathan entered the room. It gave The Truman Show immediately, and I rewatched the whole sequence… a dozen times.

The sequence starts with this shot:

Here we see just Jonathan, and it would be fine, if only I didn’t feel weird by the way the next shot separates Jonathan from Nancy: we see just him in the mirror, which is okay for thing angle, but something still feels off… For example, the fact that Jonathan in the mirror is not Jonathan in the room. The mirror is fake!

You can see this clearly if you compare the way the chair is seen and Jonathan’s posture.

Then, this shot is followed by (what would you think) the surveillance camera shot 🙂‍↕️ where everything goes even wilder right away:

as much as I could dismiss Jonathan’s hands (the right one is on the left one, while in the shot before the left one was above) or Nancy’s bag (and its shoulder strap) changing position, we still have Jonathan’s posture on the left where he sits with his back against his backrest, while in the mirror it’s different again, but also!!!!

NANCY IS TRANSPARENT!

It looks like her image was put above Jonathan’s. There’s literally no explanation for this table to be seen at the same time we see Nancy. And besides, her image clearly differs from the whole shot. Meanwhile, the shot with Jonathan looks like he is alone there silently looking right into the camera.

My first theory was that Nancy is non-existent in this sequence whatsoever and this is only Jon’s memory, but some dialogues after made me reconsider this. Anyways, then Owens suggest a walk, and Jonathan again doesn’t match his reflection: staying right in front of the chair on this side, he stands very far in the mirror, and also close to the end of the table (although he moves synchronically).

They start walking, and here I caught The Truman Show vibes, when several people were turning around (as if they were curious actors), and The Shutter Island vibes bc, even though Owens addresses them both a couple of times, it still can be seen as if he was talking to only one of them for whom this spectacle is played. (+ Fight Club)

(fyi, George Sargon died on March 22nd, 1956)

Here I had a theory that Jonathan lost his mind after Will’s death, and Owens plays along to his fantasy that he investigates something with Nancy Wheeler, and everyone knows what’s happening and that’s why they turn around.

But is the corridor walk Jonathan’s memory?

The wording “your brother and Ms. Holland”… Whose brother? Did anything happened to Mike? Why does it sound like he speaks to just one person? And this person is Nancy… Imagine, that she’s alone: he speaks of Mike, or Barbara, then:

“You guys been together long?” “We (we)re not together.” “Wanna see what really killed your friend?”

It could be about Jonathan and Will, but then Barb stands out and I barely see Jonathan and Barb as a possibility… but who knows atp. My bet is Bancy though, with the hunch that here we witness two separate tapes and memories combined. Firstly, Jonathan’s, then Nancy’s. Corrupted memories by Brenner’s tapes?

Enjoy!

I’ll finish the post with this:

Consider the possibility that Jonathan in the mirror is Jonathan on the tape, the hands actually match… the fact that tape!Jon’s and real!John’s hands do not match can be just a production error (moreover, on the tape we can see a mirror too in the “correct” place, not mirrored, so I might be wrong), but the idea of the mirrored reality seems curious.

___________________________________________ tagging honey buns who were waiting for the post: @warmglowhc @wrathfulstarlightcavern @sorafyr3 @gritstartar @worldofsouthernwind @itswhatyougive ; @bbghostbones I meant the very last panel, but also I recommend you to check out George Sargon, I didn’t find anything for my theories, briefly reading his biography, but it might be useful for you!

[gritstartar]

Amaze amaze amaze

[bunny-peony]

ehh stonathan gifs idk

[yankee-with-the-brave]

Im crying bruh, Nancy insulted Jonathan’s music taste and he said she doesn’t know ball immediately. Can’t believe he was supposed to sassy, even near death. Why would they take this away from me?

[nuffit]

sassy jonathan supremacy <333

[swiftenthusiasm]

This dialogue (from S3E6) would've maybe been cute in a "meta," double-meaning-kind-of-way if there'd been a some type of CG-like reveal for ST months ago.

I'm just tired now. (...And I kind of suspect they thought the response would've been more robust.)

[bbghostbones]

Putting this in the "they should have informed everyone more efficiently there was cryptologic stuff hidden all over lolol" bin ugh I'm tired too

[gritstartar]

You would think a whole ass ARG before Season 3 would’ve done more for this 😭

They’re like WHEN WILL EVERYONE NOTICE

[autoasta]

I'm back with more Halloween Horror Nights proof of Mike having already been Vecna'd and/or kidnapped

There's three merch items on Universal's shop, two of them feature this mindflayer design. The last one is a set of figurines of Vecna, Dart/a demodog and a demogorgon. They're not that interesting to me and aren't relevant to this post

The two items that are interesting are this mug and shirt, which have the same design and basically the same description.

Now, the parts I find interesting are:

The Mind Flayer is connected to Mike's silhouette

Dustin and Lucas seem to have switched places

Vecna/Henry/001 seems to be amongst the silhouettes

Side note: "Never Go Alone" is the slogan for Halloween Horror Nights, and therefore not relevant to theorising

The Mind Flayer is connected to Mike's silhouette

I think it's pretty clear that it's Mike the Mind Flayer/Shadow Monster is connected to. Sure, it could just be a coincidence. But I don't believe in coincidences then again, there have been other merch items where this doesn't happen (comparison further down)

Dustin and Lucas seem to have switched places

This doesn't seem to be specific to this design, but interesting nonetheless. Especially with all the theories about characters shifting around. It might not mean anything, who knows. Also, this could just be me overanalysing it, but I've come to this conclusion based on the placement of the legs and the silhouette of the upper body. The "heights" are still the same order as the poster. I would assume it's just to keep the design balanced.

Vecna/Henry/001 seems to be amongst the silhouettes

Yes, this is kind of a reach. I know. But to me, the head tilt pose is way more Vecna/Henry/001 than it is El, which we're probably meant to think that silhouette in the middle is.

El only does the head tilt as quick motions, when moving something or killing/hurting someone. I couldn't even get a good picture of it, cause it's always in movement. I'd also say her stare is more iconic (but harder to show as a silhouette).

Henry however keeps his head there, for longer periods. When talking, when dissapointed, when angry. It's his deranged look. And to me, that silhouette seems closer to him than it does to El.

Merch comparisons/references:

First (purple) is a shirt from the Netflix merch store. Second (orange) is a shirt from Hot Topic. And the third (red) is, of course, a shirt for Universal Halloween Horror Nights

Before I go, I also want to mention that the way the Mind Flayer/Shadow Monster is framed on the Halloween Horror Nights design, the Universal archway almost seems to be a part of it. And with that in mind, Lucas (and El/Henry) is the only one not affected. The Shadow Monster is touching/connecting to all of the core four, except for Lucas.

This makes sense to me. We have the Dustin dying foreshadowing (is anyone surprised??), Will is possessed (the coming out speech is pretty telling) and we have the missing Mike (cookbookgate, no Mike audition from Universal. I talked about that here).

I would also go as far as to say this archway-connection represents dying. There's a ton of theories regarding Will and death (Fake-out death. He died in s1 and Mike is coping. Also, didn't he literally die in the first season? Before Hopper brought him back and broke his ribcage completely).

You could also say it's the gates to hell (or heaven, but that would imply god is a Mind Flayer and/or the Upside Down is heaven). Or just that it doesn't actually mean anything.

But I choose to believe read into this And if you made it to here, I assume you chose that as well (I appreciate y'all for reading!! Please share your thoughts/opinions on this if you have any!!)

[gritstartar]

So actually… I’m going to bring it up AGAIN

I have read Suspicious Minds about Brenner, Terry, and Terry’s cohorts probably 6 times since the finale. That is literally required reading for anything going forward I swear it.

It was the first ST novel EVER, it came out in early 2019. It came out before Season 3!

Let that sink in…

They released a book about Brenner’s work with drugs, ALTERING PEOPLE’S MEMORIES, altering people’s emotional connections to their memories (literally says this is a reason he does this, because it makes them easier to control), and the cohorts from even earlier also see and experience the Upside Down! They don’t GO there but they SEE it.

It might not all be ‘right’, but they literally laid the groundwork for how Seasons 3-5 are going to go. He took her ‘source’ memory of her best AND her worst memories (something they focus HEAVILY on in the show), and makes her repeat them over and over and over until she feels nothing. Terry also comes and goes from the lab, she isn’t there all the time.

Like PLEASE. Please read this book!!

I’m willing to bet soooooooooo much that there is no ACTUAL time travel, time loops, or alternate realities. There are competing narratives at play, there are competing stories.

History is written by the victors. Whoever controls the past controls the present, whoever controls the present controls the future. Brenner is not trying to ACTUALLY go back in time and rewrite events that already happened, he is alternating the narratives that the characters have for themselves & their own histories, as well as the history and story of Hawkins/Hawkins National Lab.

The source material that we’re getting IS good. We declassified 11 files of the lab, we’re getting declassified source tapes. We will have to retrace how we all got here.

It’s like how when you have only heteronormative perspectives teaching history, or only have white people teaching history, or only have men teaching history. The narrative loops that keeps us stuck in. Because we are detached from feeling the suffering we have inherited and perpetuated, because we don’t want to look at the actual horror of the monsters out there (and in the mirror). And so, when we don’t learn the true story or at least as many perspectives as possible, we repeat the same atrocities over and over and over and over and over.

[armencias]

Is Watergate about the quarry?

I wanted to see which S4 scene would add up to "Mike ripping off the Band-Aid" (from my last post) in my 3 Timelines Sync... I wasn't expecting it to be Watergate. The actual scene where Dustin names it Watergate. Combined with the Band-Aid, flickergate and Mike's basement! And I think I finally have an idea what watergate means. I wish I wouldn't.

If you want to watch the scene (I extended it a bit), you can find it below, I'll figured most of you don't want the stress of watching 3 episodes simultaneously (which I totally get). So here are -

The Most Relevant Details

The story Mike did never tell was from the day when he jumped down the cliff at the quarry. He never spoke about it.

There are 3 scenes with water at the same time (Lover's Lake, the washroom and the black void). Mike falls to the wet ground in two of them.

Steve was a lifeguard for 3 years.

There's a compass in 2 scenes. Nancy's not working because of the gate in the lake, so what about El's?

Hopper tells El to find Nancy and the others at the graveyard while we see them on the boat. (Maybe a hint that Nancy, Robin + Steve are dead, not the first time that happens. And Eddie ofc.)

Kali says her 'story was always going to end here' ... At a place with water? Like a lake or a... quarry? I mean, 'the mage we saw die was not real', just like Will's dead body which was found... at the quarry. Just saying, many connections between death and water.

Dustin names the gate watergate while we see Sara die, Steve finds dead fish and we see possibly dead El standing at a cliff looking at three two waterfalls. Kinda like Mike at the quarry. What if there's a gate at the quarry?

In S1 Dustin saw Mike almost die at the quarry. Let's assume El wasn't there and Mike fell into the water - who would you possibly ask for help? A lifeguard. Who's a lifeguard? Right, Steve. For three years. Wait... Steve said that exactly three years after Mike and Dustin were at the quarry... What if there's a reason he decided to become a lifeguard back then? The theory is the following: Steve tried saving Mike back then. Maybe he found a gate at the bottom of the quarry that day.

The lights start flickering, Mike's looking up when Steve's getting dragged through the gate.

Will gets compared to Steve and Nancy through the wet hair and the striped shirt.

Robin ignores the warnings and follows Steve and Nancy into the lake, the moment the metal aid breaks. Just like Mike, trying to follow Will to the bottom of the quarry. Telling the true story of what happened that day would be a way of ripping off the Band-Aid. A dark one.

While Steve's in the UD lake the outro starts, showing the scene after Mike jumped at the quarry, the text shortly after is saying "I wish I could swim."

I know there are a lot of ifs here, but I'm still melting, my brains not working like it's supposed to and don't feel like I'm able to explain my thought-process properly, by any means. But I have more stuff leading me to November 12th 1983, connected to all of this. There are reasons I think I took a - like Max said - shortcut through the maze of memories.

If I'm correct with my assumption, that watergate is about Mike following Will to the bottom of the quarry - something the show itself told me - I question who named it that way. In this case it would've been the Duffers starting to call Byler theories 'gates', not the fans.

Of course you are allowed to tell me otherwise. I tried finding something about the origin of watergate as a Byler theory, but I couldn't find anything.

And if you wanna take a look at the scene yourself - please do that. Really. Go crazy with me together. Please. Here it is:

For the "Ripping off the Band-Aid" scene skip to 04:08.

[gritstartar]

Thanks I hate it 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

But don’t worry!!!!! It WILL BE A subverted trope …

Bury your gays (kill your gay characters) -> also means bringing them back to life

[gritstartar]

When all the new and returning conformitygate believers talk about a secret episode or a new volume

And then they catch me theorizing about Bandersnatchgate for Seasons 3-5 in July, unlocked scenes from S1&S2, AND a Season 6 following the dates of Season 5 last year 😳😶‍🌫️

always raise your expectations, always make the theory crazier than you think possible

The live action spin-off they’re so excited about??? 🙂‍↔️ this is how I interpret it

They’ve had a decade to think about this shit, 6-7 years to plan for it. Maybe those brothers are crazier than we can even understand

[gritstartar]

Look idk where it’ll go from here but 🤷🏼‍♀️

The tapes are literally SO IMPORTANT!!!!

[bunny-peony]

another silly ass stonathan board idk 📸

[flickergatedaughter]

as "messy" as that coming out scene was, i still stand by the fact that it was important for the other characters as well as will.

the choice on whom the camera zooms in on during each line reflects what that person is scared of facing themselves. but will was the first to admit his biggest, most personal secret to everyone, which was essential for the other characters' self reflection too. *especially* a certain repressed white boy with internalised homophobia and a fuckass beanie.

so, mike the so-called-brave, you better lock in like you have never locked in before

-

edit: nothing means anything