#pre s4 byler is like that one point in the film where all the whos are shouting 'we are here' and noah schnapp is the mayors emo son that

[cringengl]

Look at this and never EVER say that Will isn't down horrendous for Mike ever again😡😡😡

[carigm]

MAJOR POTENTIAL SPOILERS/LEAKS REGARDING S5 (WARNING)

Last Spring/Summer, a semi popular fandom account on Twitter got sent some leaks about S5, focused on the first half of the season. At this time, many fandom accounts were receiving supposed leaks, so our attention was a bit scattered and we didn’t focus on any of them too much. A popular leak account on Twitter (unrelated to ST) also mentioned that they had gotten the first half of S5 leaked, and that this source is “never wrong”. Now, it is hard to tell if these leaks are the same as the ones that the specific fandom account I’m talking about received, but something to keep in mind. Her leaks were given to her by a person named James (which I assume is a fake name). These leaks were also posted on Reddit, last year, by her (the person in the fandom that got the leaks from James) but some major things were omitted in that post. I’m gonna leave a link here in case you guys want to read the discussion.

I’m sharing these leaks with you because some things from them are kinda lining up with what we’re seeing from S5 production. Keep in mind that these could be fake/wrong, and James himself said he didn’t have info on the last couple of scripts.

According to James, Mike dies in Ep. 3. I’m adding more screenshots later for more context, but the gist of these leaks is that Mike bites it, mlvn never breakup nor do they get a resolution, and Byler is left up to interpretation but never really happens. (I don’t really need to get into how shitty this all is writing wise)

Let’s go over the things these leaks might have potentially gotten right, according to what we know so far.

1. James said that the time jump would occur in ep. 1, after an establishing scene where S4 left off. He said the time jump would place us in late 1987/early 1988. He also mentioned there would be a series of flashbacks showcasing stuff from before the time jump. The dates he gave do seem to be accurate, and David Harbour had a shaved head right before they went into filming, which could imply pre time jump scenes.

2. According to him, after Mike dies, they find a letter he had been writing. Some of us were theorizing Finn had a letter in his back pocket in those rooftop pics. Could’ve also been Finn’s script and he just stuck it there (who knows).

3. He said that Joyce gets badly injured in ep.3, and since there’s speculation Winona was seen filming at the hospital, some people think that means she was taken there because of her injury. It’s important to notice that Natalia, Cara, and Finn were also supposedly seen filming at the hospital, and that the production called for many extras for nurses and paramedics. So whatever they’re filming at the hospital, it might be bigger than Joyce getting injured in her leg. Let’s remember Max is at the hospital too. I’m not 100% sold on this part of the leaks.

4. Today it was revealed that they’re setting up to film at Stone Mountain. (This is where they filmed UD scenes for S4)

Apparently production might have purple tentacles out already. (UD vines?)

Cara Buono mentioned, in that video shared by Ross Duffer, that she was filming stuff from Ep.2. This was around 2 days ago.

The people that know about the leaks think this is where Mike dies in ep. 3. Here’s some further context:

Here’s some stuff he said about mlvn:

Which is just….meh, because like I said, it doesn’t look like him and El ever breakup before his supposed death. Plus Byler never gets any resolution.

Now some things that might disprove the leaks (I’m trying to be impartial here)

1. These leaks mentioned Argyle a couple of times, saying he has a hero moment at some point. Eduardo made it sound like he’s not coming back to the show, but tbh he could just be lying. He’s listed for ep.2 on IMDb (and yes I know anyone with an account can edit that site)

2. These leaks say that Mike is very insufferable for the 3 episodes he’s alive, basically lashing out at everyone, specially El, and just overall behaving like an asshole. I really didn’t get that from the ElMike rooftop scene, in fact he seemed very gentle with her. People that know about these leaks think that the rooftop scene is Mike maybe apologizing to El and them having a heart to heart, right before he dies (no comment).

All in all, if Mike is dying this early, I’m sure we’ll know soon enough. The rest of the cast is gonna be filming for like a year, and Finn will be done in like two weeks 💀

I also hope there’s more leaks soon (on Reddit) so that we might compare them to these and see wtf is up.

I know someone is gonna inevitably ask why leaks would be out almost a whole year before they started filming when we usually get them during filming or post production, but I’ve been told these leaks happened around the time the writer’s strike began, which is when they were originally gonna start filming. I was also told other shows had issues with leaks around that same time.

I don’t want to get too much into the truly awful writing we’re facing if these are real but…First, I believe it’s a total disservice to Mike’s character. One of your mains since S1 and you don’t even offer him the option of dying towards the end of the season? Even fucking Eddie got that. Two, it seems like a very easy cop out for not having to make Byler canon. Let’s just have neither ship be endgame and that way we don’t get queerbaiting allegations. It also stands in a zone too close to torture porn for my liking, because sure let’s kill the character two of the most traumatized characters in the history of TV love most. And yes, it’s also a disservice to El and Will’s characters. And lastly, if that supposed letter vaguely alludes Mike having some sort of sexuality problems (we don’t know atp) it is pretty fucked up they just killed him off like that. Sure let’s not explore any of that, but give a half assed explanation via letter ex machina. This is looking like Supernatural finale levels of bad to me.

Another point, I distinctly remember the Duffers saying, after S4, that they could never kill off a character like Mike because it would be too painful, and that ST would cease to be ST and lose its identity. They didn’t want to be like GOT. I sincerely hope they actually meant this and were not trying to be cheeky or whatever the fuck.

It would be genuinely insane, and quite frankly, a highlight of their lack of writing abilities.

I hope the leaks are wrong, but I felt like it was necessary to warn everyone just in case. I know I’m not watching something this awful.

[heavencasteel420]

I finally made a list of all my ST WIPs and fic ideas, and they basically break down into five categories (Cute, Regular, Weird, Dark, and Super-Dark) and three lengths (oneshot, short multi-chapter, and long multi-chapter). Here is the list of working titles:

Cute

Oneshot

The P Is for Perfection (and You Know That We Are Freaks): AU where the Byers family stays in Hawkins after S3, El becomes a cheerleader, and Chrissy takes her under her wing.

Raised on Promises: El finds a new hobby in California, bonds with Jonathan and Will.

Regular

Oneshot

Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay (Come Inside Where It's Okay): Lucas-centric, pre-S4, Lumax but mostly vibes.

I Know It Breaks Your Heart: future fic about Tommy.

Short Multichapter

Oh, I'm Bound to Go: companion to Drive All Night, focusing on the kids.

How Will You Make It on Your Own?: no-UD Stonathan college AU, mostly Cute tbh.

Tomorrow May Not Be Your Day: no Vecna, Jonathan in California, Jargyle.

Let the Broken Hearts Stand: companion to above about Nancy going to Emerson, becoming friends with Carol who’s unpacked some of her hostility towards other girls, maybe they become girlfriends?

Long Multichapter

Drive All Night: in progress.

Tomorrow's a Long Way Off: Robin and Jonathan hot girl summer 1983.

It's All a State of Mind: it’s the 1930s and Jonathan and Will and El are carnival workers with psychic powers who are gonna pull a fast one on the sleepy town of Hawkins. Byler plus Jancy or Stoncy, don’t know yet.

Nancy Wheeler Can't Win: no-UD AU but Nancy has to figure out how to navigate high school cliques and family stuff and the Annual Turkey Trot is tomorrow!!! Jancy eventually.

Life During Wartime: companion to above about Jonathan and Will. This is the one with the Lonnie funeral and Will’s clueless girlfriend. Jancy Byler.

Horse Girl: my nice Stoncy idea where Jancy break up temporarily in S3 and Steve kinda wants to get back together with Nancy but also wants to make friends with Jonathan finally (maybe more) but also is weirdly bummed that they broke up…can he have it all?

Weird

Oneshot

How Well I Remember: Jonathan/Jason, kind of, between S1 and S2. Not that weird tbh.

The Sin Eater's Prom Date: Jonathan/Chrissy, AU where he never got with Nancy in S2 and she never got with Jason and also the supernatural stuff ended much sooner, but the point is that they’re going to date and weird everyone out so much. Feat. a Cunningham family dinner where Jonathan heroically does a terrible job eating corn on the cob to get Laura off of Chrissy’s back.

Silver Threads and Golden Needles: moderately dysfunctional Stoncy, between S1 and S2, feat. a passive-aggressive cornfield handjob.

Ugly as Sin (finished): my Hellcheer one shot.

Long Multichapter

Chiaroscuro: film noir homage. Jancy Hellcheer.

Dark

Oneshot

Catch Me When You Can: Eddie/Jonathan in an unhappier timeline. More sad dark than mean dark.

I Need Noise: Billy/Jonathan, early S2, mostly in Weird territory but it’s Billy.

Long Multichapter

Tonight, Tonight, the Highway's Bright: in progress.

Super Dark

Oneshot

In the Night, but There's No One: this idea happened because I was reading a darkfic (horny) and I was like. Huh. I kind of want to see the sad and unsexy version of this. But only kind of. It might be too sad.

Short Multichapter

Tell the Radio Goodnight: evil Stoncy, between S1 and S2. Steve doesn’t reform but instead becomes Worse. I don’t mean this as Steve-bashing; Evil Steve is just fun to me.

[bugsbenefit]

What are your Stranger Things 2024 predictions? Not like "What do you think will happen in ST?" NO. I'm talking: What do you think will be leaked this year? What drama do you think will take place? What rumors do you think will end up being true? What promo do you think we will get? Any scandals? Will the show/actors win awards? If so what awards or acors? I want hot tea predictions.

Sincerely, Prediction anon

ohohoho okay, now that's actually a good question

we'll definitely get some official table read content really soon, which the official twt account has confirmed. it's just kind of likely imo that we'll get those sometime this year because filming is already supposed to start in january if the most recent leaks are true

what's basically guaranteed to start with filming is softcore production teasers by the cast right off the bat. so basic, "back to shooting" instagram posts/stories, generally being on a set, getting make up done, hanging out with co-actors, and so on. we might also see some costuming/hair there, but it might also take a few months before we see concrete looks. also possible that we'll see a costume early on but then it never ends up being in the show because the picture was from fitting and the look didn't make the cut

but none of that will be too wild imo. i mean, i want to see the costuming but that's probably going to be all we'll really get, especially as 2024 starts

and in usual production fashion we'll probably also get typical teasers of things we already know will be relevant for s5 just to remind people of what's going on with the show, like "ooo Vecna ooooo". classic still shooting promo like that. but probably nothing really plot revealing

but that's all really basic. the thing i could see be the most interesting about official teasers in the early months of filming is getting a glimpse of the vibe s5 will have. like if we see more military props in a picture, how does the UD look, if someone posts a pic of like a destroyed house and so on

but yk, official teasers will hold back a lot. they'll get more interesting later on for sure but that's also where it's kind of hard to predict what they'll go for. like how they started with their evil grandfather clock teaser for s4. honestly i could see them continue that since they didn't actually answer any questions about the grandfather clock... i can also see them lean more into the "Hawkins will fall" line of s4. they emphasized it so much in the show and even in all the s4 trailers only for s4 to only be the set up for it. so in my opinion they'll go there again fr this time, now that they finally finished the build up to it (s4) and got to payoff (s5)

the most interesting will for sure be the unofficial leaks but those will also be the messiest. because pictures are always without context and text "leaks" are almost always fake, or at the very least (like, only 1% of leaks isn't fake honestly) missing context and facts

similar to how there were "photo leaks" pre s4, that had people going crazy but gave away nothing. like the byler cabin leak pic for example that i think had people think that would be a confession scene? only for it to end up being the s4 cliffhanger spores leadup and some people ended up being disappointed

and something like that will happen again for sure, 100%. like getting two characters in a leak photo and people make up their own theory on what will happen in that scene. and then it's something entirely different in s5 and those people will be mad. lmao. could happen with byler, mleven, something platonic. basically anytime we'll get a bts leak i'm guaranteeing there will be people who think it tells them what happens in s5 and it will be unbearable to wait an entire year with people around who are convinced they managed to predict an entire plot point by a still image of two actors looking at each other where we don't even know if they're in or out of character. it will happen and it's one of the worst parts of any movie/show fandom during production imo (not speculating about possibilities the pics give us tho, speculating is fun)

also the text leaks will be insane (bad). like usual, we'll get more and more as filming goes on, and all of them minus two credible sources will have the "i know someone who works on the show trust me" backing. so we'll get at leat 20 versions of "mleven is endgame and has two kids <333333", maybe 10ish versions of it with byler endgame. and that also goes for the supernatural plot. someone will say Vecna dies, someone says orderly Henry shows up and stabs El, the upside down starts spinning in circles, there's a dragon, no there's a demogoron but it's two stories tall, the school gets blown up, Steve trips and dies from hitting his nose on the ground etc. it'll be the wild west basically. also i'm expecting multiple "this character dies" leaks too, going into s5 the entire cast will be dead essentially. (most likely for this are probably Will. duh. reddit seems to Really want that guy dead. El -> sacrifices her for everyone else's sake. and Mike, which i unironically think is going to come from a) mleven hardcore believers who'll say he sacrifices himself for El b) "byler shippers" who actually only like Will and think he's too good for Mike, and c) people who just hate Mike and pick him for their "x character dies" leak since they'd like that, and we'll be left to guess which of these the original leaker is)

basically, March-ish to s5 release will be hell on earth because you'll have the people who have no experience with show production periods fall for every "leak" and be in a constant "we won" "we lost" cycle. not fun. unless your dash is normal which i'm recommending you take care of before you get the first people crying over a "my cousin who does the lights says he saw Matt Duffer say they'll kill El :((((((" leak on your dash, lmao

and tbh that'll definitely get worse once we actually get semi reliable leaks like we had for s4. because some things always end up being the opposite of what the leakers make it sound like. either due to lack of info on their part or personal bias. like how there was a leak about about the s4 sbp scene "mike confesses his love to el", and then we got.... that monologue, which was the opposite of the "cute" moment the leak described and made everyone and their mom hate the ship

funniest leak in that regard imo would honestly be a "scene of Mike and El talking about their feelings for each other <3" and then it ends up being a breakup. is that likely?.... honestly i can see that, that's exactly the way that would end up being telephoned to us in a leak😭

also i'm expecting the UD lore to get SO confusing next year. because someone will "leak" something that's entirely nonsensical. like "demodogs die when you shine a light on them", but then it ends up turning out the "light" is a blowtorch in s5 and we won't know until it releases

tbh what i'm most excited about leak wise is, yeah sure a) the costuming/outfits. that's always interesting and leaks will be the place we'll see the most of that. but more so b) actor combinations in different shooting locations. which will absolutely fan the s5 plot speculation flames. like with how there were set leaks during s4 about Steve/Robin/Max/Dustin at family video and so on (i think that's the department we're going to get the craziest theories from as well. like for example, if we got leaks of Jamie ever shooting out of studio with other actors, that would open the floodgates to speculation. honestly kind of want that. let him show up in some vision, or put his ass out in the open in the UD, i want people go crazy over speculating about the s5 vecna interactions. and same obviously goes for the relationship department, bc bts leaks usually tend to spoil either season group ups or at least a shared scene between characters. and i want to know the s5 group ups SO bad)

and tbh, i don't really know/care what the actors will do. i can only see them get awards post s5 in 2025 unless they're doing other projects on the side. same for scandal wise, i'm Assuming there won't be anything (said with a raised eyebrow and a frown), given that they all act normal, especially given they'll be busy actively filming and being instructed on promo posts etc

so my predictions would generally be:

regular socmed actor promo, mostly about bts of the actors hanging out (non work things), some costuming bts etc

i think they'll probably lean into the "hawkins will fall" slogan of s4, and i can see them carry the grandfather clock motif on as well when they start more official promo/teasers

also reminders of things that will be important in s5 semi frequently as well. like "remember when will went to the UD" and "remember how Steve and Jonathan both have feelings for Nancy" and so on

with the filming being exclusively in atlanta again i can also see set leaks getting more interesting again than they were for s4. like how they covered the irl trailer park with vines for the s4 UD. especially with things like the giant downtown replica set for s5 there's a lot of potential for us to see Something happen there. i can see them deck that prop out for the UD, or make it a "destroyed" version of downtown. etc

and obviously a shit ton of things that are baseless or straight up lies. a million mleven is canon vs byler is real ross duffer told me leaks. a shitton of leaks of A interacts with B and then it never happens. all the classic "source? i made it up" leaks that spring up around popular shows. hell on earth. i'm excited btw