#sporegate

[sherlockbyers]

any know of or have any fungi/mushroom/spore imagery in ST? i’m trying to remember some but i can’t think of any

[idontbelieveincoincidences]

“Is this sh*t safe to breathe?” The Spores Aren’t What You Think | Part 2

Part 1

This took awhile to put together because I’ve been so tired lately. You’d better believe, however, that there are more Upside Down/spore and fungi connections!

Shoutout to the coolest @gritstartar for helping with this one! Thanks so much for all the leads.

And so, without further ado…

Mycelium: The Woodwide Web

Mycelium is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Its normal form is that of branched, slender, entangled, anastomosing, hyaline threads. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are found in and on soil and many other substrates. A typical single spore germinates into monokaryotic mycelium, which cannot reproduce sexually; when two compatible monokaryotic mycelia join and form dikaryotic mycelium, that mycelium may form fruiting bodies such as mushrooms. Mycelium may be minute, forming a colony that is too small to see, or may grow to span thousands of acres as in Armillaria.

(Source)

When most of us think of fungus, we imagine mushrooms sprouting out of the ground. Those mushrooms are in fact the “fruit” of the fungus, while the majority of the fungal organism lives in the soil interwoven with tree roots as a vast network of mycelium. Mycelium are incredibly tiny “threads” of the greater fungal organism that wrap around or bore into tree roots. Taken together, myecelium composes what’s called a “mycorrhizal network,” which connects individual plants together to transfer water, nitrogen, carbon and other minerals. German forester Peter Wohlleben dubbed this network the “woodwide web,” as it is through the mycelium that trees “communicate.

(Source)

Mycelium comes from spores! They make me think of the UD and MF, it’s a whole system. The root-like form of mycelium looks just like the Mind Flayer veins that the Flayed get when they are activated.

Mycelium is an extensive, underground network of fungal threads (hyphae) often referred to as the “Wood Wide Web.” It exhibits decentralized decision-making, dynamic adaptability, and resource-efficient communication. Key features include:

Local Adaptation: Hyphae respond to environmental cues individually, allowing localized adjustments without global disruption.

Self-Repair and Resilience: Damaged areas quickly regenerate or reroute nutrients, maintaining overall network integrity.

Efficient Communication: Slow chemical and electrical signals primarily impact local areas, preventing network-wide disruptions.

(Source)

The way mycelium functions is very similar to the Flayed. Because of the hive-mind, the Flayed work together, making decisions subconsciously and acting, similarly to mycelium. They’re also very resilient! Remember the hospital scene in ST3 when Nancy and Jonathan were chased and attacked by the Flayed? They were very strong and hard to fight because they were Flayed, almost “levelled up” in a way.

The construction of mycelium structures is primarily categorized into three approaches. These include growing blocks in molds, growing in place monolithic structures, and bio-welded units. The first approach cultivates mycelium and its substrate in forms, after which it is dried in ovens and then transported and assembled on site. The second approach uses existing formwork and adapts cast-in-place concrete techniques to grow monolithic mycelium structures in place. The third approach is a hybrid of the previous two referred to as myco-welding, where individual pre-grown units are grown together into a larger monolithic structure.

(Source)

Mycelium can be used for building. Man-made constructions, yes, but just consider for a second perhaps sci-fi version? A villain who used someone to “build” the tunnels? Which are filled with spores and other UD fungi looking stuff, by the way!

Slime Moulds

Slime moulds are a variety of small or microscopic organisms in different groups. They have both single-celled and multicellular forms during their life cycle, the individual cells coming together to form fruiting bodies that produce spores. Most live in damp places such as rotting wood.

More formally, the slime molds are a polyphyletic assemblage of distantly related eukaryotic organisms in the Stramenopiles, Rhizaria, Discoba, Amoebozoa and Holomycota clades. Most are near-microscopic; those in the Myxogastria form larger plasmodial slime molds visible to the naked eye. Spores are often produced in macroscopic multicellular or multinucleate fruiting bodies formed through aggregation or fusion; aggregation is driven by chemical signals called acrasins. Slime molds contribute to the decomposition of dead vegetation; some are parasitic.

Slime molds, with their small size and moist surface, live mostly in damp habitats including shaded forests, rotting wood, fallen or living leaves, and on bryophytes.

(Source)

The Upside Down is filled with rotting vegetation (leaves, trees, etc) and spores, both of which can be linked back to slime moulds!

Most slime moulds are terrestrial and free-living, typically in damp shady habitats. Eumycetozoa flourish in swamp forests. Some myxogastrians and protostelians are aquatic or semi-aquatic. The phytomyxea are parasitic, living inside their plant hosts. Geographically, slime molds are cosmopolitan in distribution. A small number of species occur in regions as dry as the Atacama Desert and as cold as the Arctic; they are abundant in the tropics, especially in rainforests. Slime molds have a variety of behaviors otherwise seen in animals with brains. Species such as Physarum polycephalum have been used to simulate traffic networks.

(Source)

There’s no water in the UD (which makes so sense from a scientific perspective, but whatever) so any aquatic moulds can be ruled out. Phytomyxea, however, are parasitic! They invade plants, just like what was discussed in Part 1.

(BOSTON) — If you didn’t have a brain, could you still figure out where you were and navigate your surroundings? Thanks to new research on slime molds, the answer may be “yes.” Scientists from the Wyss Institute at Harvard University and the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University have discovered that a brainless slime mold called Physarum polycephalum uses its body to sense mechanical cues in its surrounding environment, and performs computations similar to what we call “thinking” to decide in which direction to grow based on that information. Unlike previous studies with Physarum, these results were obtained without giving the organism any food or chemical signals to influence its behavior.

(Source)

Slime Moulds don’t have brains but they can “think”. Similarly, UD spores/MF particles certainly don’t have a brain, but they “think” too.

In conclusion…

There is so much more to mycelium and slime moulds, all the connections I found are in this post, hopefully I didn’t miss anything too important (although the chances are high).

With that being said, if you’re interested, I would highly recommend looking into them! If you think I’ve missed anything let me know!

Now that I think I have all the research and connections I need, I’m gonna try put together a theory! I already have some thoughts and suspicions…

[idontbelieveincoincidences]

“Is this sh*t safe to breathe?” The Spores Aren’t What You Think | Part 1

Part 2

For something that appears (key word: appears) to have no importance to the plot, the Upside Down spores sure have been brought up a lot. In season 5 alone, the spores were mentioned how many times? Three to be exact. (If I’m not mistaken). I’m sorry I couldn’t help myself.

The spores have been bothering me for quite some time, so naturally, a curiosity voyage began. I started my research by asking one simple question.

Where do the spores come from?

When I think of spores the first thing that comes to mind are fungi/mushroom spores. There aren’t any mushrooms in the UD (I could’ve sworn there were but I think I’m hallucinating) but there is this “demogorgon egg” which just so happens to look a lot like a mushroom, particularly a morel.

The funny this about this “egg” is that it’s huge. We saw how small Dart was, he certainly didn’t need an egg this size. And he’s a polliwog, they don’t have eggs like this one. Some of the biggest dinosaurs have smaller eggs than this. It doesn’t even appear to have a shell, it just looks like mushroom material. I really don’t think it’s a demogorgon egg.

“Nearly all fungi form and release vast quantities of spores as part of their life cycle. Spores are the main reproductive units for fungi and are usually single cells. They may be produced either directly by asexual methods or indirectly by sexual reproduction. Spores are commonly formed by the fragmentation of the mycelium or within specialized structures (sporangia, gametangia, sporophores, etc.). Some spores, especially those of primitive fungi, have flagella and can swim, though most are nonmotile. When a spore lands in a suitable location, it germinates and grows to form a new fungal individual.”

(Source)

Fungi produce spores, it’s how they reproduce and spread. There’s already weird squishy looking thing in the tunnels from ST2 that sprays spores everywhere.

With these few similarities in hand, I decided to dig deeper into the mushroom kingdom which brought me to parasitical fungi.

Bingo! I had found my goldmine.

Before we continue I would like to say that I know there is a difference between the UD spores and the MF particles. The lines do tend to blur sometimes, however. (I’m not even sure if the MF is real but anyways). For the sake of this post, let’s imagine the MF particles and UD spores are linked very closely. It’s all so confusing and we really don’t know what’s actually going on in this show.

“Parasitic fungi attack living organisms, penetrate their outer defenses, invade them, and obtain nourishment from living cytoplasm, thereby causing disease and sometimes death of the host.”

(Source)

Tell me this is not screaming Will’s possession? Will could’ve died. Remember Jonathan screaming, “you’re gonna kill him!”

Not to mention, parasitical fungi literally invade plants. Which causes crop loss!

“Among the most common and widespread diseases of plants caused by fungi are the various downy mildews (e.g., of grape, onion, tobacco), the powdery mildews (e.g., of grape, cherry, apple, peach, rose, lilac), the smuts (e.g., of corn, wheat, onion), the rusts (e.g., of wheat, oats, beans, asparagus, snapdragon, hollyhock), apple scab, brown rot of stone fruits, and various leaf spots, blights, and wilts. These diseases cause great damage annually throughout the world, destroying many crops and other sources of food.”

(Source)

Here are some crops infected with parasitical fungi, a mushroom that gives similar vibes, and some ST references:

So, Will Byers’ possession and uh… *checks clipboard* the rotting pumpkins… *flips page* both happened, and it just so happens that the same thing occurs with parasitical fungi?

Coincidence? I think not!

“In humans, parasitic fungi most commonly enter the body through a wound in the epidermis (skin). Such wounds may be insect punctures or accidentally inflicted scratches, cuts, or bruises.”

(Source)

Here’s where the MF particles and spores get mixed up again. Similarly, to the parasitical fungi, the MF particles do actually invade people, but for the sake of this theory let’s say the Hawkins residents could breathe the spores in.

“‘Cause after we inhaled those spring-time snow flakes, I mean, who knows what’s wrong with us? Maybe we’re fine… maybe not. No one really knows for sure.” - Robin Buckley ST5:EP1

“Invasive candidiasis is a serious fungal infection. It occurs when a yeast called Candida overgrows and spreads to your internal organs. Another name for the infection is systemic candidiasis.”

“Invasive candidiasis symptoms may include: Belly pain, chills, fever, muscle pain, skin rash, weakness or fatigue.”

“Some symptoms are specific to the location of the infection. For example, invasive candidiasis that affects your eyes may cause: Blurred vision, sensitivity to light, vision changes.”

(Source)

Chills? He likes it cold… Weakness and fatigue? Will feeling “out of it”… the pain he felt all over from the hive mind… vision changes (okay, I’m sure they don’t mean like Will’s vision changes but I’m including it anyways). Not to mention all the flayed in ST3! Billy had blurred vision and light sensitivity at the pool.

“The parasitic fungi such as the host-specific pathogen Ophiocordyceps unilateralis sensu lato can control insect brains and manipulate their behavior to reach death locations that are optimal for spore dispersal, the so-called fungal extended phenotype.”

“Parasites often manipulate the behavior of their hosts; for example, crickets or grasshoppers commit suicide by drowning when infected by the parasitic hairworm Spinochordodes tellinii. A striking death grip behavior has also been observed in carpenter ants (Camponotus spp.) following infection by the parasitic fungus O. unilateralis. The infected, moribund ants essentially behave like zombies; they walk alone and erratically climb to a certain height in the vegetation (approximately 25 cm above the soil surface).”

(Source)

Will, slowly, gets taken over fully by the MF. His actions and words aren’t entirely his own, he starts to forget everyone and everything, his mind is corrupted. He (or rather the MF in him) even attempts to choke Joyce during his exorcism. Basically, Zombie Boy!

I just want to point out this very random scene, which is directly followed the spores entering the atmosphere through the giant tear across Hawkins.

In conclusion…

To my dismay and frustration, I discovered that The Last of Us has used this parasitical spore concept in their story. But that aside, the Duffers have confessed to taking inspiration from TLOS before. Do I think the Duffers would directly copy TLOS? No.

Despite all that, my research, however, still stands! I’m calling this sporegate!

I am making an edit using a bunch of clips and stuff showcasing all the times spores were brought up, will I ever finish it? Who knows? I am a master procrastinator after all. I’ll add it here when or if I finish it.