i was going back over my mallgate theory and noticed that when the group is near lover's lake that Nancy says this:

BUUUUUUUUT according to the County map from s3 and the map from Stranger Things: Worlds Turned Upside Down map, Lover's Lake is in the same area as as the lab!

I decided to randomly watched the film Dreamscape (1983) cause I never saw it and it's free. Tell me why this entire film is about the Government doing experiments on patients during their dreams to use it as a weapon to kill people in plain sight and they need a man with psychic powers to enter peoples minds to do it??

And Alex (Dennis Quaid) has the ability to dream hop through their machine, which it seems like only one other person there is able to do.

walk with me.

how about will knew something and he went back to save mike?

he had to skip school though

selfish you say?

meathead you say?

m marks the spot

this whole conversation is just mike talking to mike about them mike problems

what stands out to me here is that while Nancy and Steve are arguing, no one pays attention to them, but then she spills her drink and suddenly the whole party stops?

the whole party? where you barely can notice anyone beside other drunk crowding teenagers?

and even the wall gets lighter? it was beige, even dark beige, almost brown in every previous shot!

it reminds me of two things: rink-o-mania when suddenly everyone and their momma hated on El (which meanwhile is pretty much the same scene with spilling the drink; could be an homage to such scenes in the 80s movies, but I don’t think it’s just that) but also Nancy and Jonathan at the lab, when everyone pays too much attention to them, like everyone are extras, knowing it’s not real, and the play is going why it’s going

looks like they’re being watched:

Look, I've been a fan of this show and a Byler for years, and I've always felt that there was something being actively concealed from the audience—a dark secret we weren't privy to—that would eventually be revealed to us.

But I may have underestimated just how unsettling it's going to be.

So, in Hopper's flashback of Sara he refers to her as 'princess'.

Fun fact: that's literally what the name Sara means. It also comes from the word 'sar' meaning chief.

Kali's friend Axel repeatedly refers to El as Shirley Temple, presumably because of her hairstyle. Shirley Temple starred in a film called 'The Little Princess' in which a girl called Sara is sent away to school while her father goes to war.

During a birthday party she gets news that her father has died. However, Sara believes he is actually alive. She escapes the school she was sent to where she had now been working as a servant and makes it to the hospital. There, her father is alive, though he can only really communicate to say her name (like Terry).

In Holly's bedroom (wow, yet another blonde girl with pigtails) is the book 'A Royal Pain' where a princess and another baby accidentally get swapped at birth.

There are multiple references to the name 'Diana' in the show. Hopper's ex-wife is reportedly named Diane. There's a lot of weirdness surrounding her, and I personally think Hopper's memories of Sara are actually really memories of Will/El plastered over. Diane seems to appear again in Terry's memories, working for the lab. Remember, Hopper 'didn't see' so we should "blame Diana".

In universe, I think the false memory must be a conglomerate of other memories. There are limitations to both Henry's memory alteration, and the labs alteration powers. They can only really edit, and remember editing is powerful. That means there must be real events cut together to make this false one. I think Sara's death might actually be Peter Owens' death, and they had to use the face of whoever 'Diane' really is as Hopper's wife.

I suspect in universe Diane takes her name from the character Diana in Ann of Green Gables, the book Hopper reads Sara (which also features a child mix up btw). However, I think extra-textually, the combination of Sara and Diane references Princess Diana.

Princess Diana died in 1997 in a car crash. It's famously the centre of a lot of theories that it was a government cover-up. One of the things people theorise about is the lack of CCTV footage despite the presence of cameras along the route. In the original Montauk script Sara died from a car accident, not cancer.

@erikiara80 has a great theory that a car crash happened in the past that I would really recommend reading. I think we have slightly different interpretations (I think this is the key to birthdaygate and the clown imagery) but having read through everything she's pointed out I think there's undeniably a pattern here.

The Princess Diana connection also links to the AIDs subtexts as well, in my opinion. Diana famously shook hands with AIDs patients when a lot of people still believed HIV could be spread by touch.

I think this is Owens' motivations for getting involved in the lab and with Brenner. Brenner is basically looking to use the Mindflayer to create super-powered, essentially immortal, soldiers to use against Russia (links heavily to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). The name Martin means dedicated to Mars, god of war. Owens, on the other hand, is trying to cure diseases like AIDs and cancer.

If you've watched The Boroughs you'll be aware that this links to the major themes of the show. The main character, Sam, literally shares his first name with Owens.

The character Art has a lot of references to the Mindflayer rock scene. My favourite is that he refers to himself as 'Eagle Scout' which is a reference to Henry's boy scout costume and his eagle imagery. His name is basically the inverse of Henry/1/Vecna = H1V. ART is the name of the medication taken when you have HIV that allows you to live as normal as a life as possible, and stops transmission. Brenner says he never was much of an ARTist. He doesn't really care about the kids in the Rainbow Room, only the war. I wanna go into that properly another day though. The point is a reference to Princess Diana would absolutely fit this pattern.

...some observations

1. Visual snow/static can happen on a tape which has been damaged by being watched too many times (I'll be watching you?)

2. Visual snow is officially known as noise ("There's always a lot of noise," say the Duffers. I'm sure!)

3. Noise is displayed when there is no transmission signal

Aaand it’s sent me down a rabbit hole. I’ll take you guys with me 😆

Stranger Things S2 (red cube left of frame)

And we all know they’re from the Rainbow Room. They’re used as a measure of cognitive testing & honing their abilities:

This either tells me that:

Hawkins Lab would visit the Byers household to run cognitive tests, or;

There is something whack with the timeline going on…

Now tell me WHY does the exotic matter from below look like a red cube with a core 😭:

Stranger Things S5 (exotic matter from below)

And yeah, there’s been so much allusion to the tesseract, only for it to go nowhere:

Even this S4 poster, the texture of the Rainbow is just like the bookshelf tesseract in Interstellar:

Stranger Things S4 poster vs. Interstellar tesseract

And the reversed rainbow in the Rainbow Room reminds me of the reversed watches:

Mike Wheeler S4 vs. S5 (the red cubes in the pizza shop!!)

What if…all the red objects and red lights are a reminder that Brenner is testing you between timelines:

(Snippet taken from my edit here)

And all the allusions to the red tapes, particularly S2 is hinting at that:

(Be Kind, Rewind theory here)

And everytime an object was red or changes to red signalled A COGNITIVE TEST:

And it begins & ends with Will going through this test (or maybe all characters being tested):

Will literally goes into his mind here to access memories to save Mike ⬇️

WHAT IF THE ENTIRETY OF S5 WAS A TEST??? (Unknowingly) And they failed 💀 Will literally says they failed in Shock Jock

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!

The next snow ball = giving small signs that you like someone is happening while Mike and Will are walking down a hill. Where it became obvious: this is arguably the first time they are flirting in a way the audience has to understand.

I AM NOT OKAY

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THATS JOYCES REACTION TO GETTING BACK FROM WILLS FUNERAL.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN JONATHAN KNOWS THAT HE MIGHT DIE WHEN HE AND NANCY GO TO HUNT THE DEMOGORGON.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN "i need some time. Away from him." REFERING TO LONNIE

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY HUGGED

WHAT DO YOU MEAN "i told you- you have nothing to be sorry for. So stop saying that" WHAT DO YOU MEAN SOMEONE TOLD JONATHAN IT WASNT HIS FAULT

WHAT DO YOU MEAN JONATHAN SAYS HE WOULD DO "anything" TO BRING WILL BACK AS HE LEAVES TO FIGHT THE DEMOGORGON, KNOWING FULL WELL THAT HE MIGHT DIE

And no one believes that Dustin actually has a girlfriend.

Because yeah likely story! Sure, your ‘girlfriend’ that you can’t talk to over the phone, your ‘girlfriend’ that lives in another state, your ‘girlfriend’ that you met over camp and have known for like maybe a few weeks, your ‘girlfriend’ who’s suspiciously like a super-tech genius. Your ‘girlfriend’ who’s like …

basically a superhero!! Like, Dustin’s best friends don’t believe him

And then as the viewer, I’m supposed to believe that *no one* in this ENTIRE TOWN would notice that Mr. Emo over here…

Is depressed as FUCK right after his boy best friend moves away to California? The same one who was acting out in Season 1 because his boy best friend was missing…? The same boy who Troy et al. targeted their homophobic bullying towards?!

Who *only* looks happy when he’s engaging with his hobby that is *directly* connected to his boy best friend?

**in the wrestling room mind you** I know what you are!!!

And sure, Dustin and Lucas know El, but like… !? NO ONE ELSE!

Sure…

Oh, Mike! Yeah, no he’s acting out because his ‘girlfriend’ moved to another state with the Byers

Sure, Mike’s ‘girlfriend’ no one knows (or, last they saw her, she was being confused with Will fucking Byers)

Sure, Mike’s ‘girlfriend’ that he can’t call because otherwise the ‘government’ will find out her location… so they can only communicate via radio (are we even sure that Dustin’s Cerebro is like a secure method of communication…? That is IF they even used it)

Sure, Mike’s ‘girlfriend’ that’s supposedly SuperMAN a superhero!

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH now he’s leaving for Spring Break to visit his ‘girlfriend’ who ‘lives with the Byers’

You KNOW how bad those rumors were this time around I’m sorry!!! And guess what!! El’s not even there to fucking make his bullies piss their pants anymore!

No wonder we don’t have a Mike POV book yet

And then the SECOND Mike is back in town. With the Byers. Where’s Mike’s girlfriend!?

Oh yeah… hiding from the government!!! Again!

But you know who he’s fucking living with now!? 💀💀

Oh and NOW HE HAS SUPER POWERS TOO!?

I’m sure!!

Give me a fuckin break. That man was fighting rumors left and right I know it to be true!!

But also it's CRAZY how right next to the trophy is the photo from the science fair, but at first ONLY Mike and Will are shown and it LINGERS on them before moving to the others.