Stranger Things S4 creators admit to trolling fans with this hidden joke

Photo credit: Courtesy of Netflix - Netflix
Photo credit: Courtesy of Netflix - Netflix
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Stranger Things season four has seen us experiencing all the emotions, from tears to fear, and of course laughter. And just when you thought you'd fixed your eyes on every single detail the show has to offer, creators have taken things to a whole new level of funny - admitting to trolling fans with one hidden joke.

The update comes after fans began noticing some, err, interesting subtitles when watching the show with captions on. Viewers particularly honed in on some choice usage of the words "moistly" and "wetly", especially around Vecna's scenes. See, exhibit A: "tentacles undulating moistly," and B: "gate pulses wetly". Yeah, you get the picture.

However, it turns out the whole thing was one big in-joke on the part of the Stranger Things subtitling team, and we're very here for it.

Photo credit: Steve Dietl/Netflix - Netflix
Photo credit: Steve Dietl/Netflix - Netflix

One ST subtitler named Jeff T opened up about his strategy surrounding the now-viral captions in an interview with Vulture. He explained, "I will admit I was trolling a little bit with that.

"Also, in the past year or two, I've been watching ASMR streams to figure out which words elicit that kind of response in people. 'Moistly'" pops up a lot in those ASMR streams."

Fellow subtitling editor Karli Witkowska also chimed in on the choice of "moist", saying, "It's a word where I can name six or seven of my friends who don't like it. It is supposed to be an uncomfortable situation, and that's why it was used in the show."

Jeff went on, "I try to stick to genre-appropriate language as well. People brought up the squelching, but that palpable pressing sound is meant to evoke disgust and horror."

Hey, it all makes sense! We'll be ready for more "tentacles roiling wetly" in season five...

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