#anna baxter

Part 30: The 🍎 Doesn't Fall Far from the Elder 🌳

PART 1 HERE | PART 2 HERE | PART 3 HERE | PART 4 HERE PART 5 HERE | PART 6 HERE | PART 7 HERE | PART 8 HERE PART 9 HERE | PART 10 HERE | PART 11 HERE | PART 12 HERE PART 13 HERE | PART 14 HERE | PART 15 HERE | PART 16 HERE PART 17 HERE | PART 18 HERE | PART 19 HERE | PART 20 HERE PART 21 HERE |PART 22 HERE | PART 23 HERE | PART 24 HERE PART 25 HERE | PART 26 HERE | PART 27 HERE | PART 28 HERE PART 29 (1/?) HERE | PART 31 (3/?) HERE PART ♾️ HERE | PART 🤫 HERE | PART ❤️👬 HERE

How fitting that Part 30 is where I finally go in-depth with Tharizdun (333 baby) who, if you've read my previous posts, I believe might be referred to as Mother Goose on the show.

But for the sake of my Shavian analysis of ST's "female triumvirate", I'll also be referring to the Chained Goddess as Lilith, the primordial Mother.

🚨 WARNING: TALES FROM '85 SPOILERS AHEAD 🚨

Now, in my last post, not only did I analyze the Mind Flayer through the dark feminine archetypes of the Serpent and the Spider, but I predicted that if mysterious new girl Nikki Baxter from Tales of '85 was actually the Mind Flayer, then that likely meant that her mom, Anna, was Mother Goose.

After all, the Duffer Brothers and ST creatives had to figure out some way to lay in the idea of an even bigger "big bad" than the MF.

But never did I imagine them doing it so explicitly, and using She-Ra to do so. When the Party is trying to figure out the source (referred to as a "common ancestor") of the new vine monsters in Hawkins, Dustin comes up with this convenient analogy:

From Tales from '85:

Dustin: "Hordak. Like, controls the Horde. The biggest baddie of all the baddies, except for his boss, Horde Prime, of course."

Hordak being the MF, the Horde being the Hive Mind, and Horde Prime being MG.

Then, over the course of investigating, Dustin comes across a major clue that leads him to straight-up say it:

"Guys, I know who it is! [...] Horde Prime, the big bad who made the Queen [note the feminine title for the MF], the vines, all of it!"

Mrs. Baxter = Horde Prime = Mother Goose = Tharizdun

Of course, the real baddie they're looking for turns out not to be Mrs. B, but that doesn't mean Dustin wasn't right... But I'll get back to that in a second.

First, I want to return to etymology, specifically the meaning of the name Baxter -- BAKER.

Why is this important? This classic nursery rhyme:

Who is the Baker who baked our "birds of a feather" (the Party), into the perfect pi(e)?

None other than the author of "Sing a Song of Sixpence",

Mother Goose.

I mentioned this in Parts 17 and 19, but part of Mike's S1 Thessalhydra campaign takes direct inspiration from "Sing a Song of Sixpence", making it likely that this whole thing has been just as much her campaign as it's been Mike's.

Who's the real DM?

Well, I predicted she already had some help via Mr. Clarke, her cleric turned evil wizard, who'd been guiding the Party the entire time, feeding them information about the rules of the world the way a DM would.

That theory was only further confirmed on TF85, when Mr. Clarke suddenly took a sabbatical to make way for...

Now, what was Mr. Clarke doing on this "sabbatical"?

But back to Lilith -- *who* is she?

From Back to Methuselah:

THE SERPENT: "Do. Dare it. Everything is possible: everything. Listen. I am old. I am the old serpent, older than Adam, older than Eve. I remember Lilith, who came before Adam and Eve. I was her darling as I am yours. She was alone: there was no man with her. She saw death as you saw it when the fawn fell; and she knew then that she must find out how to renew herself and cast the skin like me. She had a mighty will: she strove and strove and willed and willed for more moons than there are leaves on all the trees of the garden. Her pangs were terrible: her groans drove sleep from Eden. She said it must never be again: that the burden of renewing life was past bearing: that it was too much for one. And when she cast the skin, lo! there was not one new Lilith but two: one like herself, the other like Adam. You were the one: Adam was the other."

In Shaw's play, God as we know him (a Father figure) does not figure into the picture until Cain invents him to justify his own barbarous actions.

The only original Creator ("Horde Prime") the play acknowledges is Lilith, who was alone, realized she was at risk of extinction, and so "renewed" herself by making Man and Woman, who would take on the burden of Life after her.

Mother Goose's Eve and Adam?

In Shaw's play, for all intents and purposes, Lilith is God (validating Arianators everywhere).

However, in Mesopotamian and Jewish folklore, Lilith (whose name means "night monster", "screech owl", or "night hag") wasn't a goddess, but a she-demon who was the true first woman, created for Adam, and then ran away from Eden because she refused to submit to him.

In ancient Mesopotamia, her name was used to refer to "disease-carrying wind spirits", or to a class of demons who were the spirits of adolescent girls who never gave birth.

She is one of the first figures representing the dark feminine, and society's view of female rebellion and independence.

Going back to Shaw's own motivator for writing the play Back to Methuselah -- Creative Evolution.

A refresher from Part 25 (that tbh, I didn't explain super-well the first time): In light of Darwin's exciting theories on natural selection, Shaw became a staunch Creative Evolutionist, based on the philosophy conceived by Henri Bergson. Where Darwin saw natural selection as entirely random, merely an indicator of which traits worked best and persisted in particular environments ("survival of the fittest", as Herbert Spencer called it), Bergson believed that, for mankind, it was our free will and unique creative impulses that drove our evolution, seemingly in perpetuity. However, Shaw took Creative Evolution a step further than Bergson. Unlike Bergson, whose philosophy led him to believe that human creativity was limitless, Shaw believed there was an end goal for humanity to achieve, driven by a version of Bergson's "élan vital", or "the Life Force". The Life Force was Shaw's term for "the driving, undeniable, uncontrollable quest of men and women to perpetuate, in fact, even improve the human race by attempting to create a higher life form known as the Superman" (Lenker, 47). Before you say anything, yes -- it's basically eugenics; Shaw's politics are very baffling.

Compared to Bergson, Shaw's view of human evolution is teleological, meaning it has a specific endpoint. In humanity's case, it would be to create an Immortal Superman.

However, if history has shown us anything, "progress" does not move in a *straight* line, but rather...

A SPIRAL

The spiral is also the symbol of the Pachamama in Peru: Mother Earth.

Representing cosmic energy and the cyclicality of life, death, and rebirth.

FYI, the mathematical formulas for the logarithmic, Golden, and Archimedean spirals, frequently found in nature, all use pi in their formulas.

Speaking of nature, check this out --

Netflix Puzzled Clues from Earth Day (4/22):

It was almost too perfect, because all three of these are symbols you'll see connect to Mother Goose --

As the title of this post indicates, if the MF is the Serpent of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, then that means MG must be the Tree of Life -- the tree granting immortality that God could not allow Adam and Eve to eat from, fearing it would turn them into gods. Hence their expulsion from Eden.

The Tree of Life, or the World Tree, also happens to be an archetype seen across many cultures' mythologies, representing immortality and fertility. I briefly discussed it in this Puzzlegate post, tying it to the Bird & Serpent motif (the bird representing the heavenly world above, and the serpent representing the underworld).

Lilith also has a connection as a spirit of trees, as seen in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the world's oldest surviving written story:

Hold onto these symbols, because they come back.

Now, if this tree symbolism is sparking anything with you, it might be because of this mention in ST's pilot --

After offering Nancy a slice of pizza (pie) and having the door shut in his face, *Dustin* complains that Nancy has turned into a "real jerk". She used to be cool --

Could that mean Mother Goose is the Elder Tree?

Well, a tree has deep roots that keep it stuck in place, almost like a Chained God.

While ST fans have connected mushrooms to the MF, pine trees was a very specific reference.

Trees and types of trees have been mentioned a lot on Puzzled, but this one clue took me out when I was doing my Back to Methuselah research:

This tree? A bristlecone pine tree named Methuselah, living in the White Mountains of Inyo County in eastern CA.

Another real-life miracle tree?

Next symbol, the Moon.

The ultimate symbol of Yin energy, the direct opposite and complement to the Sun, and the ultimate mother figure who dictates the ocean's tides (and menstrual cycles, which in turn dictate reproduction).

Although the "Changing Woman" -- also known as the Whiteshell Woman and the Whitepainted Woman -- is technically an Earth Mother figure in indigenous American mythology, I would argue she links to the moon too.

She is also known as the Moon Woman after all, and whose face changes more than the Moon?

Check out the stories of Women in Native American mythology in the link I included -- the connections are wild.

From Episode 3 of TF85 "Evolution":

Now, after Rosario (the pie-eating, She-Ra watcher 👀) is freed from the Jerk O'Lantern monster, the dying creature releases green spores that float off...

The screen flips from upside down to rightside up, ominous music begins to play, revealing a FULL MOON.

Who else has a connection to the Moon?

Wearing her "Lost Sister" outfit, which is when MG's avatar reunites with her lost daughter, Kali the MF.

Another point for the "El is Tharizdun's avatar" camp, of which there are already many proofs. But here's one more:

Except you should... BECAUSE IT'S YOUR FACE. [Nikki was right to side-eye]

Finally, there's the World Turtle, which, if you watched ATLA, you'll be familiar with:

In many cultures, it is/was believed that the World/Cosmic Turtle carries a flat Earth on her back.

But when philosophers prod at that (then who carries the Turtle?), the phrase "It's turtles all the way down" was coined.

On the show, there's only one turtle of note -- Dustin's pet turtle aptly named Yertle (like the Dr. Seuss book) that he moves to make room for Dart (who represents homosexuality, and the MF).

Also, Dustin with the MG connection AGAIN 👀 I'm really gonna have to update that post soon.

Another famous cosmic turtle, not surprisingly, comes from the Stephen King universe -- Maturin.

"Kind, wise, loving, gentle, compassionate, benevolent", providing "wisdom, power, and aid" to those who need it.

IT's arch-nemesis (although Maturin called him "brother" her "daughter") who has false perception of the Turtle.

Here is where we run into some underlying tension that didn't make itself obvious on ST, but has reared its head on Tales from '85.

Later in TF85 S1, Mrs. Baxter decides it's time to *move again* and start fresh, viewing their time in Hawkins as a "failed experiment" (yikes, what could that mean for future ST?)

We the audience can sense this is a pattern for Mrs. Baxter, much to Nikki's disdain:

Something is amiss between mother and daughter. And I have a feeling this whole campaign has been about mending that rift, at least on MG's end.

But, it does seem like there's a lot that needs healing.

As was referenced earlier, Lilith is associated with the owl.

Who also has a famous connection with the owl? Athena, the Greek Goddess of Wisdom, and divine punisher of both --

Arachne, who was rebuked by Athena for being the better weaver, hung herself out of shame, and was turned into a spider.

And Medusa, the demogorgon Athena transformed into a monster with serpents for hair after she was raped by Poseidon in her temple.

So, Athena is so not a girls' girl.

And it seems that way for Mrs. Baxter too, who only seems to have come to Hawkins to be with her boyfriend, Daniel, whose name means "God (El) is my judge".

He shares a name with the Biblical hero who "interprets dreams and receives apocalyptic visions."

Only this Daniel steals Mrs. Baxter's *regenerative* research without her knowing and uses it to create gluttonous vine monsters that wreak havoc across Hawkins without him knowing.

A former Hawkins Lab scientist, we learn that Daniel was part of the Scientific Progress Committee and he has nothing but a watch to show for it. He uses Anna's research in hopes of finally making a breakthrough that will give him the recognition (and immortality?) he seeks.

He takes a great power and uses it irresponsibly. He takes Anna's powers of creation, and uses it to destroy.

Abusing and destroying her daughter, the Mind Flayer, in the process --

The representation of truth, the knowledge of good and evil, rebellion and independence. Freedom from conformity.

All the things Lilith used to represent.

But like I said before, progress, like time, does not move forward, but in a circle (or spiral) 🌀

Like Daniel misappropriates Anna's research, El has to reprimand her own boyfriend, Mike, for taking away her agency on TF85:

"You do not speak for me."

Makes sense given this information about Tharizdun:

Mr. Clarke, Daniel, Mike: Men misunderstanding and misinterpreting Tharizdun/Mother Goose and what she seeks to do --

Make amends with her Lost Daughter. Which means she has to go in and do it herself.

BTW, for more on ST's symbolism re: MG, check out my Puzzlgate "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" analysis post.

Stay Tuned.

I really like that the conflict between Nikki and her mom isn't about her mom not understanding her or wanting her to fit in or be more normal. I feel like it's so easy with alternative/punk teenagers to make the conflict with their parents a lack of understanding or support.

But Nikki and Anna both embrace and love being weirdos and different and that's clearly something they actually connect over -- their issues with each other are more about a conflict of how they approach things and the fact that Anna constantly following her own interests destroys the stability of her daughter's life.

one, two, and even three where we see that El’s flower actually substitutes a butterfly pic from s3

Part 31: Mambo No. 1985

PART 1 HERE | PART 2 HERE | PART 3 HERE | PART 4 HERE | PART 5 HERE | PART 6 HERE | PART 7 HERE | PART 8 HERE | PART 9 HERE | PART 10 HERE | PART 11 HERE | PART 12 HERE | PART 13 HERE | PART 14 HERE | PART 15 HERE | PART 16 HERE | PART 17 HERE | PART 18 HERE | PART 19 HERE | PART 20 HERE PART 21 HERE | PART 22 HERE | PART 23 HERE | PART 24 HERE PART 25 HERE | PART 26 HERE | PART 27 HERE | PART 28 (1/?) HERE | PART 29 (2/?) HERE | PART 30 (3/?) HERE PART ♾️ HERE | PART 🤫 HERE | PART ❤️👬HERE

Oh yeah, baby -- we're setting this post to song.

🎶 One, two, three, four, five, Everybody in Steve's car, so c'mon let's ride, To Melvald's around the corner, The boys say they want some HI-C, but I really don't wanna -- 🎶

Okay, putting my cringe rendition down for a sec, I have some context to set up first.

I'm having trouble finding the post now (Tumblr or Twitter, who's to say), but someone recently pointed out how the appearance The Police's album Synchronicity might be used on the show to tie to Carl Jung's concept of synchronicity, the phenomenon of seemingly unrelated events that seem to have a deeper connection, with no logical reason for why. In other words -- coincidences.

While he believed experiencing synchronicity to be psychologically healthy, an "overabundance of meaningful coincidences can be characteristic of schizophrenic delusion."

Welp. I can't speak for the entire fandom, but I think I'm teetering on that fine edge myself -- how about y'all?

Why am I bringing up Jung at all right now? Because he also contributed a lot to the concept of the collective unconscious -- that our unconscious mind is somehow born recognizing symbols and archetypes that help us better understand the world around us.

Jung believed the collective unconscious explained why we see certain stories and motifs repeating themselves across time and cultures.

Jung's student, Erich Neumann, would go on to write about one of those archetypes, The Great Mother, and visualizing her in a nifty mandala called Schema III.

While Neumann doesn't include the mortal mother Eve in his schema, he does include the following six figures, split between positive and negative roles:

Positive

Isis (+ Demeter and Ishtar/Inanna): All figures of fertility representing the cyclical nature of life, death, and rebirth. Isis is wife to Osiris, the god of death, who she resurrected by producing their son, Horus. The Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar traveled to the underworld to conquer it, only to be stripped of her power (and her life). She was only able to leave because her husband was made to take her place. Ishtar is also known as Inanna, whose garden was featured in Epic of Gilgamesh (as was Lilith). Demeter I'll go more in-depth with shortly.

Mary (+ Guanyin): Mary is the Virgin mother of Jesus Christ, and the first Christian to be physically raised into heaven upon her death. Guanyin ["The One Who Perceives the Sounds of the World"] is an androgynous Chinese and Buddhist goddess of mercy, whose symbols include white robes, the willow branch, and her lotus flower throne floating on the sea

Sophia (+ the Muses and Maat): The embodiments of wisdom, skill, cleverness, intelligence, and inspiration [basically Athena]. + Maat, who represents balance, justice, and truth

Now if these symbols/themes sound familiar, it's because they came up repeatedly with Mother Goose/Tharizdun/Lilith in Part 30, though Maat in particular sounds a lot like the MF's MO, tbh.

Wanna know what else "sounds" like the MF?

Negative

Kali (+ the Gorgon): Representing devouring, sickness, death, extinction, chaos and destruction. Despite all that, they are viewed as empowering female symbols today.

The Witches (+ the Furies): The bogey(wo)men of fairy tales, who ensnare us with spells, potions, and illusions. Think Morgan Le Fay, too.

And interestingly...

Lilith (+ Circe): Symbols of impotence, madness, stupor, and ecstasy

Sounds about right.

Yet it seems that our Lilith has cleaned up her image...

What do I mean? Put the song back on!

🎶 I'm talking Angela 🎶

Name obviously meaning Angel (Messenger of God (El)), though she's anything but. Still, note the rare blonde hair we see on the show, the scrunchie just off to the side, and the colorful, cosmic jewelry. Also seen wearing blue or pink.

And although she's bullies El into doing something drastic, the "roller skate attack" is also the very thing that sets El's story in S4 in motion.

🎶 Eleanor (+Ella/Elizabeth) 🎶

And speaking of blondes wearing pink/blue -- remember Mike's Swedish cousin "Eleanor"?

At least that's the cover they have to come up with for none other than MG's cleric, Mr. Clarke.

There was another Eleanor referenced in the PILOT OF THE SHOW:

Which Greek goddess is connected to the owl? Athena (Sophia) + Gillespie means "bishop's servant" | This throwaway line basically confirms Twitter user @ode_to_icarus's famous "Tharizdun using El as her avatar" theory. It's been there since the very beginning of the show.

FYI, that's 3 Hopper-MG connections so far...

While Eleanor means "Shining light" and "Sun Ray" (fitting for El, daughter of the Sun Ray), El is the Semitic word for God or Deity.

Hence Daniel meaning "God is my judge" and Michael meaning "Who is like God?"

Both these fellas are romantically-attached to MG-associated characters, not that they are good boyfriends in the least (though there is still hope, we hope, for our boy Mike to be a good friend to El, at least).

Funny enough, Danny and Ella are also the names of the siblings in TF85 Ep 2 "Bad Harvest" --

And with more Tales from '85 characters to round this section off, we have Nikki's two named Aunts -- Angela and Lizzie (ELizabeth). 👀

🎶 Diane/Anna/Nancy 🎶

Although these names do not all have the same etymology, the "anne" sound in their names and their affiliation with MG warrants lumping them together.

Diane Hopper shares her name with the Roman virgin goddess of the Hunt, and the Moon. Meaning "goddess-like" and "shining".

Meanwhile Anna and Nancy do have the same etymology, coming from Hebrew and meaning "grace", "favored", or "pure".

Makes sense for Nancy -- especially in S1, when she was the archetypal "good girl," despite being overly fixated on fitting in with Steve's asshole friends (some of whom will be mentioned shortly).

Of course, over the season, we see Nancy grow into herself, becoming bolder, more sure of her strength, and less worried about what others think about her. And as the seasons progress, she grows more and more into an individual and a rebel -- going after the truth like a dog with a bone, and packing heat with her guns -- more MF-coded, like you saw me reference in Part 29 (spoiler: there's a reason for this).

Now, credit where credit's due to @somanypetals for the photo of Diane, and for pointing out this interesting connection between another notable character who wears it (who I will be pointing out in a bit) --

And the nurse who holds down --

🎶 And Terry 🎶

Terry's full first name, Teresa, means harvester.

Who is the Greek goddess of the harvest? Demeter -- mother to Persephone, goddess of the springtime and Queen of the Underworld, after she was kidnapped by its king, Hades.

It was because of this mother's love and grief over her daughter's absence that the world was introduced to fall and winter.

And it was because of this mother's desperation to bring her daughter back home that Persephone was able to leave (albeit for half the year, since she ate six pomegranate seeds from the UW), and bring spring and summer back with her.

Btw, what does her last name "Ives" mean? Yew Tree -- a symbol of death, resurrection, and immortality. Like an Elder Tree.

🎶 And as I continue, you know it's getting scary....

'Cause the Mind Flayer's been around too, my lord.

Spotting repeating names affiliated with these gals is like a sport

Anything fly, it's all good, let me dump it Please set in the trumpet 🎶

🎶 A little bit of Stacey in my life 🎶

Remember in Part 29, how I mentioned darker-skinned WOC and redheads specifically being associated with the MF?

Here you have Stacey Albright, the girl who rejected Dustin at the Snow Ball (and then invited him to her graduation party in the Conformity!Ending) + Angela's partner-in-crime, also named Stacey.

Albright also means "shining", so maybe it's a family name.

But what does Stacey mean? It comes from the name Anastasia, which, if you saw the Don Bluth movie, you know means,

"She will rise again."

VECNA (+ THE MF) LIVES!!!

🎶 A little bit of Erica by my side 🎶

There's only one of her on the show (if you don't count the Wheelers' Uncle Eric) --

But as I talked about in Part 21 (and tbh I'll need to incorporate her in Part 29 as well), she is also super MF-coded.

As shown above, she is the ultimate truth teller, constantly holding the Party to account, and calling them out when the whole couch is on fire from their lies. She also doesn't mind stirring up a little bit of chaos when the situation requires it.

Her name also means "Eternal Ruler", which makes me excited for her endgame beyond what I've already predicted (You don't come up with the line "You can't spell America without Erica" if she's not about to redefine America somehow lol).

However, her name also shares roots with none other than Henry, whose name means "home ruler." Hmm...

🎶 A little bit of Vickie/Nikki/Nicole's all I need 🎶

Two redheads in this group -- both of whom expose the truth (albeit skewed versions of it, ie the stole drugs, Jonathan's pics of Nancy) at the worst times! Meanwhile Nikki (who has pink hair) prides herself on being a keeper of secrets and gets the Party to spill the truth to her in no time.

And all their names mean "victory" (way to rub it in), but Nikki/Nicole is the feminine version of Nicholas, the most famous one being --

Santa Claus: The all-seeing eye watching "every step you take". Giver of gifts to children who've been good, and disher of coal to those who've been naughty. So you better be good for goodness sake.

Some other ST names associated with Christmas?

Steve's ex-buddy Carol + Steve's date-gone-wrong Natalie in TF85

Two more redheads, both of whom also get people spilling the truth, whether they want to or not. [Plus, I'm pretty sure Natalie is voiced by Odessa A'Zion, who plays Nikki]

🎶 A little bit of Tina's what I see 🎶

Another redhead! Madelyn Cline's hair is also looking a little reddish, but not enough for me to confidently call her a redhead -- although she hangs out between two redheads in that scene!

And they are going gaga over Billy Hargrove, a famously tragic puppet of the Hive Mind. Maybe that's when she first had designs on him?

Then you have Erica's BFF (Best Frenemy Forever), Tina Turnbow, who inconveniently exposed the Turnbow Trap plan early and whose last name means "dry stream".

What's missing in the UD? Water.

Meanwhile Tina's name can either mean "follower of Christ" (Christina) or "follower of Mars" (Martina). I lean toward the latter given her key necklace, which is very similar to --

Marsha Kelley's, whose name means "warlike" and "dedicated to Mars" and whose job it is to listen to kids spill their most intimate secrets. All those folks predicting Ms. Kelley was Patty *or* the MF helping Vecna were right!!!!

And we also know she does not come in peace.

But we'll pivot back to Mother Goose, who's been a lot more present than we initially realized --

🎶 A little bit of Suzie/Susan/Sue in the sun 🎶

That's right -- Dustin, Max, and Lucas/Erica each have a "Susan" in their lives. For the latter three, it's their mothers (Susan Hargrove, like Anna Baxter, moved her daughter to Hawkins to be with her romantic partner; Sue Sinclair is a badass, even if she reprimands Erica for being too real sometimes, idk her deal... yet); for Dustin, it's his super-religious, long-distance GF Suzie Bingham, who his friends thought didn't even exist and who saves his (and the Party's) ass constantly like a Deus-ex-machina. *Is* Suzie is God???

Still, ever heard of a "Lazy Susan"? Although the origin of the turntable's name is up for debate, it's oddly fitting given Susan means "lotus flower," associated with Guanyin.

It's also famously connected with the Lotus-Eaters of the Odyssey, who only ate from the lotus tree, causing them to fall into a state of pleasure and sedation. Meanwhile, it caused Odysseus's men to forget their loved ones and desire to go home.

There's also the antipsychotic drug Seroquel, street name Suzie Q -- the same words BOB NEWBY sings in Patty/Henry's bizarre dreamlike vision and dance number in The First Shadow #thisisstillbobgate

+ There's Mike's mom, Karen, as well, whose name means "lotus" in Japanese.

Now, what does it all mean though?

Why is MG trying to sedate the Party through their loved ones? What does it say about how our loved ones, even if well-meaning, influence us to act against our nature to be agreeable?

Food for thought...

🎶 A little bit of Mary/Marissa all night long 🎶

Here is where I gotta credit @junos-orbit, because their Twitter threads featuring observations about these characters was ESSENTIAL to creating this post and realizing who was supposed to be who.

Both of these gals wear glasses (like Anna Baxter), and wear funky scrunchies/accessories like Angela. [+@somanypetals also pointed out that Marissa wears the same bracelet as Diane Hopper/Terry's nurse]

Mary is obviously linked to the Virgin Mary who, like Lilith in Back to Methuselah, bore children without the help of a man. And Mary specifically gave birth to Jesus Christ (remember the meanings of "Tina"?)

Mary and Marissa both also mean "of the sea," which again -- thematically plays in relation to ST and Mike's journey specifically. Also connects to Poseidon, ruler of the sea, who assaulted Medusa in Athena's temple, causing the latter to punish the victim rather than the perpetrator.

While Mary is Holly's BFF who eventually sells her out for Henry, Marissa the Librarian (and therefore keeper of knowledge and information) tries to keep Dustin from checking out the books he needs: "I Am On A Curiosity Voyage, And I Need My Paddles To Travel."

Dustin has yet another connection with the MG (this being 3) -- his rival Rosario from TF85, whose name is linked to the Catholic beads used to pray to the Virgin Mary.

And not only is she styled exactly like Mary, she's also the one who makes Dustin realize there's a "Horde Prime", a bigger bad than the MF [cough-MG-cough], by referencing She-Ra, a show that didn't even exist yet.

She also participates in the pi(e)-eating contest, but gets "sick" when she eats the Conformity Orange pumpkins and becomes consumed by the Jerk O'Lantern monster.

When the Party saves her, she and Dustin finally mend bridges.

By the way, speaking of "Mary all night long", not only has Marissa the Librarian slept with Hopper (MG connection #4), she's also slept with her cleric, Mr. Clarke!!!

Messsyyyyyyy.... But this isn't new for Mr. Clarke since --

🎶 A little bit of Jennifer, here I am 🎶

People were always sussed out by the framing of the telescope with Mr. Clarke's GF, Jennifer Yoo, who people speculated was Ms. Kelley for a minute... and maybe they weren't wrong to believe the two were connected! My theory: The telescope could have been how MG first made contact with Scott Clarke many years ago....

Jen is Mission Control? I bet... But does Mr. Clarke read her loud and clear fr? I don't think so.

FYI, Yoo means "willow tree" Korean -- another tree name.

Meanwhile, there is blonde-haired popular girl Jennifer Hayes, who seemingly crushed on and mourned Will Byers at his "funeral" all the way back in S1 (is it possible she knew something we don't?)

Blonde again... And it's a RARE hair color for this show.

What does Jennifer mean again? "White wave", "fair one", "fair and yielding."

At last we arrive to Lilith/MG/Tharizdun's rehabilitated image -- pretty and popular, rule-following goody-goody, loyal to her man, white/light-skinned.... and occasionally cruel and/or controlling.

How does her "darker", rebel daughter, the MF, deal with a mom like that?

Jennifer is another name for Guinevere who, if you remember from Part 18, was the nemesis of sorceress Morgana Le Fay.

[Lol MG vs MF]

While Guinevere was the fair Queen who seemingly represented all the virtues of Christian Camelot, Morgana saw past the facade of courtesy and saw a woman who didn't practice what she preached (most famously cheating on her husband, King Arthur, and having an affair with Sir Lancelot).

Meanwhile, Morgana was an outcast due to her use of her pagan witchcraft -- but she used her illusion-making abilities to expose the hypocrisies of Camelot, and always aimed to get under Guinevere's skin.

What's that if not the classic mother-daughter relationship? I'll be digging into that soon, but last but not least --

🎶 A living bit of Sara makes Hop a man 🎶

Sara Hopper remains a mystery.

Her father is Jim Hopper, her mother Diane (who we now know may not be what she seems). Her name means "princess" -- as in daughter of the King and Queen.

Although it's not featured in this photo (and I'm out of space to add them), Sara Hopper had pale blonde hair, but lost it due to her illness.

She's enveloped in Orange: Agent Orange -- inherited from her dad, who got it fighting and killing in a senseless war, slowly killing her. Her tiger stuffy that's a source of comfort in her final days. Listening to Hopper read Anne of Green Gables, the story of a red-headed orphan who marches to the beat of her own drum (played by Vickie aka Amybeth McNulty in Anne with an E). She has clowns on her hospital gown -- cheerful rather than scary. Not dissimilar from the baby mobile in Jane's nursery.

Had she had a chance to grow up, would Sara's hair have turned red? Would she get on her parents' case about truth and justice? Would she be just as rebellious as our other MF-coded characters?

Will we see Sara "rise again", even if at first it's as a scary clown who frightens us? Will she, and our other MF-coded character Max (played by Annie actress Sadie Sink), finally be reunited with her beloved dad? Will she finally find peace with her "lotused-out" mom?

Stay tuned.

Aka: Anna Baxter, who are you really?

Please note the two notable moles on her neck. Also keep in mind that she has some freckles on her face.

There may also be some smaller moles on her neck, though I did not circle them*

You may wish to increase your screen's brightness and zoom in, in order to see details on these images!**

Nancy Wheeler

Looking for good reference photos for Nancy was surprisingly difficult for a few reasons! Not only does her hair often occlude her neck, but I believe that make-up often covers up her moles and freckles.

In the above image, you can clearly see that Nancy has freckles on her face. On her neck, there is definitely at least one mole. I believe I can see one more (or potentially a few) much fainter moles next to it.

Please also note a very similar freckle under both Nancy and Anna’s left eye, towards the outer corner.

Here is a clearer image of the actress. I can clearly see two moles on her neck (and no others), which aligns with Anna. Also note the scattered freckles on her face.

Becky Ives

Due to the quality of the images I could find, this one is a little trickier.

I believe that Becky has one mole on her neck (there may be a second one in this image, though I do believe that it is just a shadow based on the fact I couldn't see it on any other images).

Again, I only see one. Please note the fact that Becky also has freckles on her face, though they are more faint. They are mainly concentrated around the bridge if her nose.

Miss Harris

Miss Harris also has two clear moles on her neck. However, they are on the wrong side and are much farther apart from each other. She does not appear to have many freckles on her face.

In conclusion:

Based on the evidence above, I am fairly confident that Anna Baxter is not Miss Harris.

Due to the fact that I can only see one mole on Becky’s neck, along with her different facial freckle pattern, I believe it is less likely that she is Anna.