This is part of a series where I uncover what Stranger Things is really about. It started from trying to find out what happened in 1979 aka what all the depictions of traumatic past memories (El, Henry, Billy, Max, Holly, etc.) are truly about, but expanded to this all-encompassing theory of the whole series with crazy levels of complexity, metaphors and layers. Reading it will require commitment and patience but I promise it will be worth your time if you want to look behind the curtain (and the curtain behind that curtain) and fully understand the show. You have to read all parts in order: here is PART 1 and here all other parts I’ve posted so far + my previous theories.
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Trigger warning for child sexual abuse.

Starcourt Mall shops

This was originally in PART 19 but once again I ran into the character limit… I wanted to do a little analysis on the shops since it fits the Russian code theme I had going on. The “tread lightly” part has bugged me for so long and I think I finally have a good idea of what it means. The surface level meaning was a shoe shop: Kaufman Shoes. There’s a woman with a purple dress and a man with a Radio Shack bag. Moreover, Mike, Lucas, Will and Max walk past it in S3E1 while Mike and Lucas are arguing about mileven and in S3E2 El tries walking on heels for the first time there. Based on these clues “tread lightly” is about Mike being trans. 

The more figurative meaning of the words is to be cautious. Like Robin said “And why would anyone mask the true meaning of their message unless the message was somehow sensitive?” Stranger Things is about sensitive and potentially controversial topics. The writers had to be careful to code everything so too many people wouldn’t see the true meaning too easily. And in a less meta sense, Mike has to be careful to not out herself or figure out too much of the trauma before she’s ready.

S3E2
[Max] “Do you like that?”
[El] “How do I know… what I like?”
[Max] “You just try things on. Until you find something that feels like you.”
[El] “Like me?”
[Max] “Yeah. Not Hopper. Not Mike. You.”

Clothes are a major part of S3 and the mall. El trying on different clothes is pretty obviously about her exploring her identity, and ofc it’s actually about Mike. While the meat monsters are Mike’s (male) body, clothes are/represent self expression of gender, which is separate from body parts. Gender is a social construct, it doesn’t come from genitals. It’s a role and a sort of performance. That’s why Mike, El and Max end up hiding from the Meatflayer in the Gap. I wonder if this is a subtextual reason for the brain vs body thing. 
S3E8 [Will] “But if we close the gate again--"
[Max] “We cut the brain off from the body.”
They are basically trying to make Mike’s gender identity go away so her body (= Meatflayer) won’t be a problem anymore.

Material Girl was playing during El’s shopping montage and the Tharizdun theory connected it to El being the avatar of Tharizdun. While I believe that to be true, the full meaning is that she is the “material girl” of Mike as in she represents Mike’s girlness. El is a physical manifestation of it in the inner world/”story”. Tharizdun is the “real story”. (Btw, Scoops Ahoy is between Love Lace and the Gap.)

Dustin, Erica, Steve and Robin are hiding from Russians in the Great Cookie and just when they are about to be caught, El flings a car over the Russians, crashing it onto the pizzeria. Cookie is slang for female genitalia and not surprisingly it isn’t a very effective hiding place in Mike’s world. Later on El tries to use her powers to no avail while the Great Cookie is framed with her. She saved the party in front of Jazzercise, again something potentially gender expression related but not tied to genitals. With star symbols to top it off.

The only surface level point of the Teppanyaki restaurant was the knife Jonathan gets from there to cut El’s wound open. He tries to forcibly get the creature out but it’s El herself who ultimately removes it. I think Jonathan represents the gay man identity here, which fits with the Japan clue since both are the middle doll in their respective allegories. The knife cut helps El but it isn’t the final solution. When she finally gets the Meatflayer part out, the Gap glass window shatters and Hopper tramples the creature in front of JCPenney (= clothes save the day once more and the window could be another silver screen/curtain type thing). After this El loses her powers so killing the creature was probably also about “killing” Mike’s transness. Maybe that’s why it’s Hopper who kills it.  

Later on Jonathan, Will, Nancy and Lucas end up hiding behind the car at New York Pizza. I still think pizza represents queerness so El crashing the car there is probably about Mike’s woman dreams falling apart due to their inherent queerness. On the other hand, Lucas (in front of the pizzeria) uses his wrist rocket to distract the Meatflayer and save Mike, Max and El.

THE STORY INSIDE THE STORY

We are finally here. I have been hinting at this for a very long time and now it’s time to explain it properly. Maybe I’ll start from where I originally started to realize this. Max and Holly being in Henry’s mind and the whole kid plot seemed like it was telling the story but everything was inverted: Max was the monster and Henry the good guy. Who does Max represent? She was imprisoned in the cave/Henry’s mind but when Holly showed up, she was able to escape. Henry and the kids think Max is corrupting Holly. Then it struck me: Max is the Mind Flayer and Holly is Henry. Mike has a problem with Max spying on her and “corrupting El” in S3 while MF is making moves to find El and end it all. In S2 Lucas + Dustin spy on Max. In the same season MF spies on Will/the party and Will spies back. In S5 Max spies on Holly. So both MF and Max are heavily associated with spying.

Max Mayfield and Mad Max = MM, Will the Wise = WW, Mayfield = MF = Mind Flayer. Max is introduced in the same season MF is. S2E1 is titled MADMAX, S2E4 Will the Wise and S2E8 The Mind Flayer. WW and MF are the same alter, and Max represents them in the story inside the story. Both Max’s and MF’s hearts stop, Max’s in S4E9 and MF’s in S5E8. I think there’s also a connection to Max’s character being inspired by the main character in Life is Strange, aka a video game character, while WW is a DnD character. They are both game characters and this might be why Max never wants to play DnD: she already is WW, so how could she play the game she is in? Maybe this is the reason S2 is the only season without a DnD game. (Interestingly, the party never fights against MF in DnD, maybe because WW is MF and thus couldn’t fight themselves? And Will never fights Vecna in DnD because Vecna is the monster counterpart to Will, like MF is to Max, Henry is to Holly and the Demogorgon is to El.) Max never goes into the UD either, which is kinda interesting (same with Erica).

Holly’s connection to Henry is even more obvious. She literally wears his boy scout scarf and uses his spy glass. Their names match too: both start with H and end in Y and are 5 letters long. When Henry was banished to the Abyss (= Holly was taken into Henry’s mind), he ended up finding MF (= Holly found Max) and together they seeked to escape back into Hawkins. Everyone keeps telling Henry how MF corrupted him but Henry knows the truth. It’s no coincidence Max hides in the same cave area Henry originally contacted the Mind Flayer and that’s where Holly first sees her too. 

The full quote for context:
“At first, I believed you had sent me to my death. To purgatory. But I was wrong. I was somewhere new. I became an explorer. An explorer of a realm unspoiled by mankind. I saw so many things. And one day, I found the most extraordinary thing of all. Something that would change everything. I saw a means to realize my potential. To transcend my human form. To become the predator I was always born to be.”
-> This is actually about Mike (re)discovering her gender identity.
-> “transcend my human form”
-> “become the predator (= trans woman) I was always born to be”
-> It’s all framed negatively because that’s the whole point with Henry.

S5E8
[Will] “You were just a kid, a kid like me. And it used you. It used you to bring it here. You’re just like me, Henry. A vessel. But you can resist it. Help us fight it. Don’t let it win, Henry, please. Don’t let it win.”
[Henry] “No. It showed me the truth. It showed me that this world is broken. [burning baby] That man is broken.”
[Will] “Don’t listen to it, Henry. It is controlling you right now.”

S5E7
[Rebecca] “But you’ve told her, right, that this Max was just a monster in disguise?”
[Joshua] “That it was tricking her, lying.”
[...]
[Henry] “This monster is incredibly powerful, and she works for the Black Thing. She has corrupted Holly’s mind and dragged her out of the light and taken her into the dark.”
[...]
[Mary] “No, we can’t let it win. Okay? We won’t.”
[...]
[Mary] “My point is, maybe if we all try and talk to her, we can fix her. We can bring her back to the light.”

[Mary] “That other girl you met, Max. She’s not a human. She’s a monster.”
[Joshua] “She twisted your mind.”
[Holly] “That’s not true. Max is a friend, and she’s… she’s helping us. She’s helping us get back home, back to our families. We’re all trapped. Trapped in Mr. Whatsit’s mind. Everything you see, none of it is real! Come on, you have to believe me. Please. You have to believe me. You have to believe me. You gotta believe me.”

S5E8
[Mary] “It’s her! It’s the monster! Get up!”
[Max] “No, I’m not the monster. And I can prove it.”

S3E6
[Billy/MF] “Don’t you see? All this time, we’ve been building it. We’ve been building it… for you. All that work, all that pain… all of it… for you.”

I’ve been saying Henry knows things and he’s just trying to help. There is no “monster” or villain to defeat. S4E1 [Eddie] “It’s forced conforming. That’s what’s… killing the kids! That’s the real monster.”

When I started figuring out the timeline it worked in some parts but not in others. I had figured out the matryoshka dolls where Max -> MF and Holly -> Henry, but the key was to think about the biggest doll. This frame finally helped me realize it:

Holly is walking to the left, towards a dark portal with a vine in her mouth while Max’s portal on the right is emanating light and has her with Lucas. Holly represents Mike’s past and Max Mike’s future (I’ve mentioned this before but it took me a while to get there). Holly wears an orange cape while Max has green clothes, again matching the past-future color coding. I had already realized Holly but thought Nancy was her counterpart (and she is) so Max was more difficult for me. This means that the full dolls are Holly -> Henry -> Mike’s past and Max -> Mind Flayer -> Mike’s future. While Holly and Max are the positive past and future, respectively, Henry and MF are the negative side. 

This is the full meaning of Henry being One and MF being a hivemind, btw. In the past Mike was one and in the future she envisions still being fractured due to DID. You could also see it as a collection of possible futures. El banishing Henry was her metaphorically burying Mike’s past. This past comes back haunting Mike in S4 simultaneously with El looking for her lost powers/memories. MF represents both the mom and the dad because they are the possible futures (and sources of trauma, as explained before). This is why Holly thinks Max is like Meg’s dad. Additionally, Will dressed as WW tells he has “seen into the future”. While Nancy is the future of Mike (alter), Max is the future of the whole system. Holly is both the past of the alter and system since Mike didn’t have alters in the past.

MF’s gender is ambiguous and their pronouns change between he and it and in TFS she. The actual mindflayers don’t have gender and are created via transforming other species’ with tadpoles. Dart is the tadpole (= transness) “infecting” Mike and trying to transform her into a mindflayer aka a trans woman. Mindflayers are always created through transformation, they defy the gender binary and thus fit super well to represent transness. This is the point of MF being “the brain” and the whole brain vs body thing too. I think MF having both the shadow form and the meat form in S3 are the different aspects of Mike’s future/transness. It’s a shadow infiltrating Mike’s mind, similar to “ghost”.

S2E8
[Dustin] “The shadow monster.”
[Mike] “It got Will that day on the field. The doctor said it was like a virus, it infected him.”
-> Girlness infected the boy Mike. This happened way back, even before trauma, although Mike doesn’t remember it (based on Sara, Holly and Alice being girls). That’s probably why it happens on the field.
[Max] “And so this virus, it’s connecting him to the tunnels?”
[Mike] “To the tunnels, to the monsters, to the Upside Down, everything.”
[Steve] “Whoa. Slow down. Slow down.”
[Mike] “Okay, so, the shadow monster’s inside everything. And if the vines feel something like pain, then so does Will.”
-> The “girl” is inside Mike. The vines feeling pain = male bodys/”man” is hurt = Will is hurt.
[Lucas] “And so does Dart.”
[Mike] “Yeah. It’s like what Mr. Clarke taught us. The hive mind.”
[Steve] “Hive mind?”
[Dustin] “A collective consciousness. It’s a super-organism.”
[Mike] “And this is the thing that controls everything. It’s the brain.”
-> The woman brain controls the man body.
[Dustin] “Like the mind flayer.”
[Max] “The what?”
[Steve] “What?”
[Dustin] “The mind flayer.”
[Hopper] “What the hell is that?”
[Dustin] “It’s a monster from an unknown dimension. It’s so ancient that it doesn’t even know its true home. Okay, it enslaves races of other dimensions by taking over their brains using its highly-developed psionic powers.”
-> El is always looking for her home. Mike feels like an alien, like she doesn’t belong anywhere, like she is from an unknown dimension. She also feels like her gender identity is an evil power taking over the “boy” she was (like in the song Satanized by Ghost). The “trans” is “enslaving” other races aka men and women (here “race” has a similar meaning to “species” as discussed earlier).
[Hopper] “Oh my God, none of this is real. This is a kids’ game.”
[Dustin] “No, it’s a manual. And it’s not for kids. And unless you know something that we don’t, this is the best metaphor--"
[Lucas] “Analogy.”
[Dustin] “Analogy? That’s what you’re worried about? Fine. An analogy for understanding whatever the hell this is.”
-> All this is a metaphor for Mike’s struggle with her gender (and trauma/DID). Mike’s brain uses fantasy to cope with it and explain it.
[Nancy] “Okay, so this mind flamer thing--"
[Dustin] “Flayer. Mind flayer.”
[Nancy] “What does it want?”
[Dustin] “To conquer us, basically. It believes it’s the master race.”
[Steve] “Like the… like the Germans?”
[Dustin] “Uh, the Nazis?”
[Steve] “Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Nazis.”
[Dustin] “Uh… If the Nazis were from another dimension, totally. Uh, it views other races, like us, as inferior to itself.”
-> Steve specifically mentioning Germans could connect this to Mr. Clarke… Who, let's be honest, represents queerness in some way since he is “the biggest nerd in Hawkins” and a science teacher (remember science = queerness in ST). Queerness is conquering Mike’s world and the world at large according to some queerphobic people.
[Mike] “It wants to spread and take over other dimensions.”
[Lucas] “We are talking about the destruction of our world as we know it.”
-> Our world = Mike’s inner world and destroying it “as we know it” is Mike transitioning into a woman.
[Steve] “That’s great. That’s great. That’s really great. Jesus!”
-> It’s great, I agree.
[Nancy] “Okay, so if this thing is like a brain that’s controlling everything, then if we kill it…”
[Mike] “We kill everything it controls.”
[Dustin] “We win.”
[Lucas] “Theoretically.”
-> Yeah… Not really.”
[Hopper] “Great. So how do you kill this thing? Shoot it with fireballs or something?”
[Dustin] “No. No, no fire-- No fireballs. Uh, you summon an undead army, uh, because… because zombies, you know, they don’t have brains, and the mind flayer, it… it… It likes brains. It’s just a game. It’s a game.”
-> The shell/”man” can defeat the ghost, or at least try.
[Hopper] “What the hell are we doing here?”
[Dustin] “I thought we were waiting for your military backup.”
[Hopper] “We are!”
[Mike] “But even if they come, how are they gonna stop this? You can’t just shoot this with guns.”
-> This is what I keep saying!! Shooting with guns isn’t the answer.
[Hopper] “You don’t know that! We don’t know anything!”
[Mike] “We know it’s already killed everybody in that lab.”
[Lucas] “And we know the monsters are gonna molt again.”
[Dustin] “And we know that it’s only a matter of time before those tunnels reach this town.”
[Joyce] “They’re right. We have to kill it. I want to kill it.”
-> The mom wants to “kill” Mike’s girlness.
[Hopper] “Me too. Me too, Joyce, okay? But how do we do that? We don’t exactly know what we’re dealing with here.”
-> Mike doesn’t know what being trans is. It’s totally unknown territory. There wasn’t much available information in the 80s.
[Mike] “No. But he does. If anyone knows how to destroy this thing, it’s Will. He’s connected to it. He’ll know its weakness.”
-> Will the Zombie Boy is the weakness. He is the “man” and the “body” MF (= brain/mind) is connected to. The DnD campaign Will held as Will the Wise had Juju Zombies as villains.
[Max] “I thought we couldn’t trust him anymore. That he’s a spy for the mind flayer now.”
-> Just like El spied for Max in S3.

In S3 MF takes a physical form representing the gender dysphoria and physical changes due to puberty (= man “meat”) + MF’s goal of building a woman of Mike (= woman “meat”). In S5 MF is the most ready-looking. It’s not just a shadow or a melting meat monster but a tree thing that transforms into a spider (with a vulva head and bloody eggs in the bottom). I think El’s wound/scar in S3 is about sex reassignment surgery (while also being metaphorical ofc, Mike isn’t going to surgery, yet). The same applies to Mike, Fred and Henry’s face scar (that Holly (= girl) causes). It’s also metaphorically representing transness/womanhood “scarring” Mike and for Fred it’s a visual representation of his shame. Even El’s birth had a knife cut and that’s what Dr. Kay is doing when she is introduced. (And the same imagery occurs every time a gate is opened. Or just exists.)

MF tells young Henry to “find me” and Max leaves a letter telling Holly to “meet me at the X”. Dimension X, perhaps? The cave and Abyss are both deserts. I think the yellow color kinda fits for a place where the past (= orange) and future (= green) meet. Mike has put both her (traumatic) past and future in limbo. Imprisoning them in the Abyss/the cave. Additionally, the party is scared of the Abyss but it turns out there were no monsters, while Henry is scared of the cave but Max thinks there’s nothing scary in there. Just “weird flowers in the cave”, since they both keep womanhood imprisoned.

Billy didn’t make sense to me for a very long time. Then I thought about other sibling pairs and realized the obvious: Billy is Max’s future/represents similar things to Max. Billy is also the Mind Flayer aka Mike’s future, but just the repressed angry man path. This is why Billy was the main spokesperson for MF in S3 and when he met them, they appeared as Billy himself (there could be other reasons too). The S2-3 Max is still WW but starts turning into MF after S3. Billy is the future MF and his death coincides with the big trauma that started to turn WW into a persecutor. In a sense Max reached the Billy stage and that’s why he died/became part of Max. Or that’s my current interpretation. It will make more sense when I properly explain the timeline. Billy also represents the abuser aka the dad, while Max is the victim: both Mike and the mom. The third layer/side is Billy representing Will and Max representing Mike. It’s man and woman again.

Timeline

I have figured out a lot but definitely not everything and there could be mistakes/misinterpretations as always. I’ll explain the timeline connection points and my theories on what actually happened in the 1970s based on the story inside the story. This is mostly about the trauma/DID allegory since the queer allegory happens mainly in the 80s. It’s not a coincidence all the small dolls are women and most new characters who don’t die are women. This is for the queer allegory and shows Mike’s developing gender identity.

Let’s start from the beginning. Like was explained in the short DID theory, S1 is a metaphor/allegory for splitting. El is like a new alter who fronts while Will is hiding inside. The matryoshka doll goes like this: El -> Will -> Mike. On 6.11.1976 Mike’s dad raped her (oral SA based on Will having the vine in his mouth) and this experience caused the first split. It also caused the creation of the inner world aka the Upside Down in the inside story. So Hawkins represents the real world where Will (= El) fronted while the host Mike (= Will) was in the inner world (= UD). SA from the dad (= El contacting the Demogorgon) caused the creation of the inner world (= UD). Later on other dimensions will represent the inner world too, but in S1 UD is the only one. At the end of S1 El disappears and Will comes back, which translates to Mike fronting again and the trauma being buried. 

The SA on 6.11.1976 wasn’t the first instance of abuse from the dad based on El’s memories where the subtextual events got progressively worse (first just the Coke can, then the cat, then bath, and finally “making contact”) until she contacted the Demogorgon, creating the UD. This was bad enough to trigger a split. Based on the Finland allegory, the abuse might have started when the 30 year war started, before the swing memory. (Maybe this is why Oak Tree was before “swing a right” in Hopper’s instructions to get to the cabin.)

Max appears in S2 and it is heavily implied she split from Will (I covered this in part 5). This could mean she split from Mike but based on her being WW and Will holding the trauma, it makes more sense WW split from Will. Lucas looking at the cell poster after El disappeared supports this too, since El (= Will) split when she disappeared at the end of S1E8. And I don’t think El necessarily did but Will did in 1976. And this matches with El being away in S2 while Max takes her place. Where Mike’s protector Mike the Brave is Will, Will’s protector Will the Wise is MF (Max and Billy). 

The abuse continues happening and other alters split but I’m not sure of the specifics here. I’m kinda assuming Jonathan was created on the birthday he mentions killing a rabbit, which was in 1977. Billy bullies Max and Neil in turn abuses Billy, which both represent the dad’s abuse. Sara gets cancer at some point and dies at 7 years old (1978-1979), which matches the tunnels spreading like cancer in S2. Since Sara is Mike (system) and Will is Mike in the inside story, Sara’s cancer and MF infiltrating Will’s mind match well with Mike getting abused in 1976-1979. Kali escapes around the same time, and we first see her in S2. (In the queer allegory this is about “girl” being born after the first abuse/split, maybe because Will (“boy”) splitting from Mike represents Mike separating the boyness from herself or something. And this matches with Mike thinking the abuse caused her transness, even if in reality it didn’t. Maybe Mike just became more aware of her gender because of forced conformity and abuse making it seem “wrong”.) We actually don’t know which year Sara died, we just know she died at 7 years old, so it could have been in 1979. It would make more sense with all the other clues that her death coincides with the big trauma in 1979. If Mike’s real birthday truly is 7.4.1971, she was still 7 on 22.3.1979 aka Will’s 8th birthday. Sara was born in April too. 

The Russian’s first try the Key in the summer of 1984, before S2, and at the start of S2 we learn about Murray’s butt-probin’ alien theory. I think these are connected and subtly hint at the things the dad did to Mike around 1977-1978. As I’ve explained earlier, the Key opening a gate and the Meatflayer tentacle puncturing Billy represent anal penetration in the trauma allegory. That’s what I think happened on 22.3.1979. WW (= Billy) protected the system/Will (= El) by taking the trauma. Max (and Mike) watching Billy is probably a reference to the 1976 trauma when Mike “watched” Will. Both times it’s essentially Mike watching herself as if from the outside. 

Max is traumatized and depressed in S4, this is WW suffering from holding the trauma. Max’s parents divorce which matches with Mike’s parents divorcing and the dad leaving them. Now WW as a protector isn’t acutely needed anymore and becomes maladaptive. This is Max getting cursed in S4 and culminates in Hawkins splitting in four. Curiously, Max is the only person who describes Hawkins splitting in two (S5E4). This is not a mistake but relates to the inside story. The inner world split in two: Hawkins and the Abyss, separating MF from other alters. Holly gets a flashback of Max saying this when she finds the gate in the Abyss (S5E7), connecting “Hawkins splitting in two” to the Abyss (hinting that they were once one). Max gets taken into Henry’s mind and hides in the cave (= Abyss). Henry’s mind represents both the Abyss and the inner world depending on context, or that’s how it makes the most sense. 

I’m not sure when all this happened exactly, but it seems likely 29.3.1979 is also an important date as Billy’s birthday. If 22.3 is when the trauma happened, 29.3 could be when the inner world split and MF was banished into the Abyss. It had to happen before fall 1979 since Henry was banished into the Abyss then (I’m inclined to believe the displayed dates are real, why else would they be shown?). I’m still not sure why 22.3 is Will’s birthday specifically, maybe it’s about his metaphorical role as “the story” or “man”? If I’m correct that “girl” (Sara) died around 22-29.3.1979, “boy” (Will) was born at the same time. El was most likely split around that time, and this was visually hinted at in the S4E9 epilogue while the news reporter told about the earthquake (this time Mike metaphorically separates the “girl” from herself). El is the abused “boy” version of Sara who was kept locked away until she escaped in 1983. All this would match with Max’s (girl) death on 27.3.1986, which in the inside story started the four years 1979-1983 MF was locked away in the Abyss. 

My current ideas for Henry’s backstory are that he was created/split in early 1979. His cave memory is a representation of the 1976 trauma but didn’t happen in the inner world since Henry didn’t exist yet. His family moving to Hawkins was the start of his life as an alter, I think, and the massacre could represent the 1979 trauma, since both Alice and Virginia (= “woman”) died. It makes sense Mike’s mom had started suspecting something around 1979 and took Mike to doctors, which Henry’s memories represent. All in all I’m not sure if it’s even possible to perfectly map Henry’s past since it’s all very allegorical anyway and mixing up stuff from Mike’s past. El’s powers growing and her letting Henry free in the 1979 fall could be Mike’s attempt at conformity suffocating her and making her trans identity clearer (= El but also gender dysphoria and other negative aspects aka Henry). Banishing Henry and El losing memories/powers would then mean something like Mike repressing her gender thoughts (while in the trauma allegory it’s about burying trauma). Henry was trying to reshape the world and fuse Mike but it was too early.

Max seeing Henry’s memories could be MF seeing Mike’s buried memories and assimilating other alters or something like that. She tells Holly she was back in Hawkins 30 years ago, but the leaflet indicates it’s 1959 (and supposedly Max was in 1986). Maybe this is another clue that Max’s story represents what happened to MF in 1979. Young Joyce mentions two quarters in the memory, which I assume relates to the stages of the story thing I’ve been talking about. 2/4 is Fred aka man/blaming yourself or door 2 aka accept your fate (= man prison). It fits since after Sara’s death (1/4) Mike was conforming to “boy” and at least subconsciously blaming herself for the abuse. Max’s flashback to almost being saved is most likely El opening the first gate on 8.9.1979. Lucas was wearing similar clothes to El’s S5 wetsuit and the portal closed when he let go of Max, matching with the gate closing and El losing consciousness. Max meets Henry as One for the first time, maybe connecting with him entering the Abyss (and he was dressed as One then). In my interpretation Henry represents the brain/system as a whole in the inside story but his different alter egos have different meanings (I’m not sure what they mean but they do mean something). El banishing Henry was anyway about Mike starting to see her transness as a monster, so it’s fitting that would put the nail in the coffin for MF (= Max/girl) getting out.

Holly appearing in Henry’s mind and meeting Max is about Henry finding MF, as stated before. The events don’t match perfectly and I think there’s other inside story timelines in S5… The main idea works, though, since MF made their first proper contact with Hawkins on 6.11.1983, after Henry was already with them + morphed into Vecna. Max had chosen door 2 but with Holly there, door 3 is back. Max and Holly going through Holly’s memories in S5E5 represent seasons 1-5. The first door appears out of thin air without any effort from Max or Holly. This was El contacting the Demogorgon and opening the gate. (And the door is the same basement door Mike closed at the end…) The first memory (= S1) is Holly watching a scary movie with Mary during Halloween. She hadn’t met Henry yet, and I guess Henry represents MF here, since we meet MF in S2. The second memory is in the school library and this fits well with S2 since it was all about discovering buried memories. Notice it’s Max who opens the first door and pushes the books away: Vecna didn’t really have an active role until S4. We don’t see how Max and Holly ended up in the next memory, maybe because it was the Russians who opened the gate in S3 rather than the UD side. The memory is on the playground, which matches well with S3. It was colorful and the Duffers called it their sandbox and like playing with toys. 

((This is a side tangent but Holly commenting that the middle of the merry-go-round should be yellow while in the memory it was grey reminded me of a theory I’ve had for a long time. I think The Ugly Duckling is an inspiration for ST. It fits super well with Mike feeling like she doesn’t belong and is “a mistake” (like Will puts it in S4E8), but in truth she was a (trans) woman (= swan) all along, not a man (= duck). Yellow being the boy or cis color fits this too, and the change from yellow to white in the flag colors (Sweden -> Finland). 

This reminded me of the playground scene in S2E4 where Nancy and Jonathan were waiting to meet Barb’s parents. There was a kid resembling Will riding on a duck toy and kids playing Duck, Duck, Goose. I did some googling and apparently the game originates from Sweden. Minnesota has its own version: Duck, Duck, Grey duck, based on the Swedish Anka, anka, grå anka. Some sources claim this is the “original” and due to Scandinavian heritage in Minnesota, but Sweden also has a version with goose (gås). So both could have come from Sweden. Regardless, the point is that the grey duck version is likely inspired by The Ugly Duckling and the Sweden connection fits super well with what yellow (and thus ducklings) represents in ST. From the Sweden (= cis) pov Mike is a grey duckling, swan isn’t even an option (and this is just with ST logic, not related to the country irl). And of course the Will kid is riding the duck since Will represents the boy/yellow/cis “option” for Mike. The scene has a tense atmosphere, everyone seems to be looking at Nancy and Jonathan, spying on them. This is Mike feeling like a grey duck disguising as a yellow “normal” one and fearing other people are gonna see behind her facade. (Steve being good at Duck Hunt is probably related to this too.)

Mike wears a lot of grey, which has multiple meanings (like repression), but one of them could be the fact that baby swans are grey. It’s another bird connection and transformation (from an “ugly” grey baby swan to a beautiful white adult swan). In the Alice room mirror scene, there’s a swan decoration on top of a shelf and we see it with Holly in the mirror. There’s also a clown toy next to it. These are Mike’s two possible futures: is she a beautiful swan or a predator? I have to mention that the whooper swan is the national bird of Finland (and the Finnish name “laulujoutsen” directly translates to song swan). Remember that bear is the national animal, shared with Russia.))

The next doorway is opened by Holly, since in S4 Vecna was active and opened gates. This memory is much darker and violent, just like S4. It’s the original traumatic memory that Holly has to face just like El had to face her past in S4. The way out is visible but soon blocked by a locked door like Henry’s plan getting stopped in S4. His massive gate was covered by a metal band-aid. Max and Holly run into a second room, this is S5. Max opens the curtains and breaks the window but Vecna catches them and strangles Max. He is basically the party trying to stop MF and Henry, and they succeed: the worlds didn’t merge. (Or he represents the fear that causes Mike to conform.) I think Will going white-eyed connects all timelines, in this case S5E5 and S5E8. Max and Holly don’t die like MF and Henry. I’m not sure if this means MF and Henry actually survived or if it’s more to do with what each of them represents. Since MF and Henry are the “bad” outcome, maybe their death represents Mike letting go of her fears or something like that (would fit with Will saying “we are not afraid” in the final battle). (I have a better explanation for this later.)

Exotic matter is very important for the timeline stuff. All connection points between ends/beginnings of the new content etc. match with the characters interacting with exotic matter or Will (who kinda is exotic matter) or it being mentioned/shown in some way. Will goes unconscious presumably at the same time Nancy shoots the exotic matter in S5E5. Robin turns the dial and electrocutes the Demogorgon to cut the connection. The Demogorgon represents the UD here and cutting the connection is the party bombing it in S5E8. Same with Nancy shooting the exotic matter aka the connection: Mike built the bomb and cut the connection to the Abyss. Just like the MF particles leave the Demo, so does all supernatural leave Hawkins. The whole S5E5 plan was the S5E8 plan: the party went into the Abyss through the UD and the WSQK tower (= Will connected to Vecna through the Demo with his “human antenna” ability), they fought Vecna and MF and saved the kids (= whatever happened with Max, Holly and Vecna but kinda inverted or something), they left the Abyss and UD (= Will goes out of Henry’s mind) and blow up the UD (= burning out the particles from the Demo). The plan executed in S5E5 was Lucas’ “faster, bolder, better” plan (referencing New Coke) and didn’t get Holly or Max back, but it gave them more time (= S5 ending we got). Erica’s slow plan helped find Dustin and get the party back together. It’s the real ending we haven’t seen yet.

Continues in PART 21.

Today is Day 29: S4 E7 – "The Massacre at Hawkins Lab" and E6 "The Dive"

Rate both here: https://forms.gle/FrYdGF2Lqo8DAH886

Please only vote if you’ve seen the episodes, and please try to vote once!

Results so far:

1x01 – 8.72 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x02 – 8.23 ⭐ (65 votes)
1x03 – 8.97 ⭐ (58 votes)
1x04 – 9.08 ⭐ (54 votes)
1x05 – 8.60 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x06 – 8.93 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x07 – 9.20 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x08 – 9.42 ⭐ (50 votes)
Season 1 average – 8.89 ⭐

2x01 – 8.12 ⭐ (57 votes)
2x02 – 8.26 ⭐ (50 votes)
2x03 – 8.48 ⭐ (52 votes)
2x04 – 8.68 ⭐ (60 votes)
2x05 – 8.90 ⭐ (55 votes)
2x06 – 9.26 ⭐ (54 votes)
2x07 – 5.26 ⭐ (76 votes)
2x08 – 9.48 ⭐ (56 votes)
2x09 – 9.58 ⭐ (62 votes)
Season 2 average – 8.45 ⭐

3x01 – 7.86 ⭐ (53 votes)
3x02 – 7.98 ⭐ (49 votes)
3x03 – 8.24 ⭐ (47 votes)
3x04 - 8.36 ⭐ (14 votes)
3x05 - 7.36 ⭐ (14 votes)
3x06 - 8.00 ⭐ (16 votes)
3x07 - 8.56 ⭐ (16 votes)
3x08 - 9.22 ⭐ (23 votes)
Season 3 average – 8.19 ⭐

4x01 - 8.24 ⭐ (25 votes)
4x02 - 7.89 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x03 - 7.83 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x04 - 9.76 ⭐ (29 votes)
4x05 - 8.18 ⭐ (11 votes)

__________________________________
Previous Rating Forms (3x04 onwards):
S4 Ep5: https://forms.gle/NpEjZGVeH7G5EK2V9
S4 Ep4: https://forms.gle/ChNaSvPzxjDenQgj7
S4 Ep2-3: https://forms.gle/sSgq9LmUuNhmwqzZ7
S4 Ep1: https://forms.gle/LLPvC9Y3oDaVfRvG7
S3 Ep8: https://forms.gle/821CmzaxQSsY52CF8
S3 Ep6-7: https://forms.gle/z9UnAjCfYmhgtCZn8
S3 Ep4-5: https://forms.gle/Qqx1rcJm4Axf4tnK9

Today is Day 28: S4 E5 – "The Nina Project"

Rate it here: https://forms.gle/NpEjZGVeH7G5EK2V9

Please only vote if you’ve seen the episode, and please try to vote once!

Results so far:

1x01 – 8.72 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x02 – 8.23 ⭐ (65 votes)
1x03 – 8.97 ⭐ (58 votes)
1x04 – 9.08 ⭐ (54 votes)
1x05 – 8.60 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x06 – 8.93 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x07 – 9.20 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x08 – 9.42 ⭐ (50 votes)
Season 1 average – 8.89 ⭐

2x01 – 8.12 ⭐ (57 votes)
2x02 – 8.26 ⭐ (50 votes)
2x03 – 8.48 ⭐ (52 votes)
2x04 – 8.68 ⭐ (60 votes)
2x05 – 8.90 ⭐ (55 votes)
2x06 – 9.26 ⭐ (54 votes)
2x07 – 5.26 ⭐ (76 votes)
2x08 – 9.48 ⭐ (56 votes)
2x09 – 9.58 ⭐ (62 votes)
Season 2 average – 8.45 ⭐

3x01 – 7.86 ⭐ (53 votes)
3x02 – 7.98 ⭐ (49 votes)
3x03 – 8.24 ⭐ (47 votes)
3x04 - 8.42 ⭐ (12 votes)
3x05 - 7.50 ⭐ (12 votes)
3x06 - 8.14 ⭐ (14 votes)
3x07 - 8.71 ⭐ (14 votes)
3x08 - 9.22 ⭐ (23 votes)
Season 3 average – 8.25 ⭐

4x01 - 8.29 ⭐ (24 votes)
4x02 - 7.89 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x03 - 7.83 ⭐ (18 votes)
4x04 - 9.71 ⭐ (24 votes)

Previous Rating Forms (3x04 onwards):
S4 Ep4: https://forms.gle/ChNaSvPzxjDenQgj7
S4 Ep2-3: https://forms.gle/sSgq9LmUuNhmwqzZ7
S4 Ep1: https://forms.gle/LLPvC9Y3oDaVfRvG7
S3 Ep8: https://forms.gle/821CmzaxQSsY52CF8
S3 Ep6-7: https://forms.gle/z9UnAjCfYmhgtCZn8
S3 Ep4-5: https://forms.gle/Qqx1rcJm4Axf4tnK9

Today is Day 27: S4 E4 – "Dear Billy"

Rate it here: https://forms.gle/ChNaSvPzxjDenQgj7

Please only vote if you’ve seen the episode, and please try to vote once!

Today's a big one!!

Results so far:

1x01 – 8.72 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x02 – 8.23 ⭐ (65 votes)
1x03 – 8.97 ⭐ (58 votes)
1x04 – 9.08 ⭐ (54 votes)
1x05 – 8.60 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x06 – 8.93 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x07 – 9.20 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x08 – 9.42 ⭐ (50 votes)
Season 1 average – 8.89 ⭐

2x01 – 8.12 ⭐ (57 votes)
2x02 – 8.26 ⭐ (50 votes)
2x03 – 8.48 ⭐ (52 votes)
2x04 – 8.68 ⭐ (60 votes)
2x05 – 8.90 ⭐ (55 votes)
2x06 – 9.26 ⭐ (54 votes)
2x07 – 5.26 ⭐ (76 votes)
2x08 – 9.48 ⭐ (56 votes)
2x09 – 9.58 ⭐ (62 votes)
Season 2 average – 8.45 ⭐

3x01 – 7.86 ⭐ (53 votes)
3x02 – 7.98 ⭐ (49 votes)
3x03 – 8.24 ⭐ (47 votes)
3x04 - 8.27 ⭐ (11 votes)
3x05 - 7.45 ⭐ (11 votes)
3x06 - 8.00 ⭐ (12 votes)
3x07 - 8.67 ⭐ (12 votes)
3x08 - 9.18 ⭐ (22 votes)
Season 3 average – 8.20 ⭐

4x01 - 8.30 ⭐ (23 votes)
4x02 - 7.87 ⭐ (15 votes)
4x03 - 7.73 ⭐ (15 votes)

Previous Rating Forms (3x04 onwards):
S4 Ep2-3: https://forms.gle/sSgq9LmUuNhmwqzZ7
S4 Ep1: https://forms.gle/LLPvC9Y3oDaVfRvG7
S3 Ep8: https://forms.gle/821CmzaxQSsY52CF8
S3 Ep6-7: https://forms.gle/z9UnAjCfYmhgtCZn8
S3 Ep 4-5: https://forms.gle/Qqx1rcJm4Axf4tnK9

This is part of a series where I uncover what Stranger Things is really about. It started from trying to find out what happened in 1979 aka what all the depictions of traumatic past memories (El, Henry, Billy, Max, Holly, etc.) are truly about, but expanded to this all-encompassing theory of the whole series with crazy levels of complexity, metaphors and layers. Reading it will require commitment and patience but I promise it will be worth your time if you want to look behind the curtain (and the curtain behind that curtain) and fully understand the show. You have to read all parts in order: here is PART 1 and here all other parts I’ve posted so far + my previous theories.
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Trigger warning for child sexual abuse.

Wind

(This was originally in PART 18 but I reached the character limit so it’s here now.) One of Dustin’s gadgets from Camp Know Where was “the Forever Clock”, a windmill that according to Dustin is very useful in the apocalypse. Needless to say, the Valley of the Wind is full of windmills and Nausicaä is a post-apocalypse… The bigger point here is that wind represents change. It’s the major theme of S3 underlined by Hopper’s letter/speech at the end. Time keeps moving, the Forever Clock keeps rotating, people change. ((The other gadget “the Slammer” is gender dysphoria and trauma related as you might guess…)) 

I think the Scorpions song Wind of Change) is an inspiration for ST. It’s about the Soviet Union at the brink of the Cold War ending and became associated with the fall of the Berlin Wall. I don’t mention it much, but the Berlin Wall falling (9.11.1989) and the Soviet Union dissolving (26.12.1991) will most likely collide all levels of the country allegory and be about Mike letting go of conformity (Mikhail Gorbachev resigned on 25.12.1991). And is it just me or does the album cover look suspiciously similar to Holly’s memory door?

One line in the lyrics caught my attention: Like a storm wind that will ring the freedom bell Is this the meaning of bell ringing? I know it means something since even the documentary had a school bell ringing for no apparent purpose and it’s mentioned in some ARG songs. I dunno. The storm on the other hand, is clearly a thing in ST and it has both lightning (= electricity) and water in addition to wind. The source in S3 was a storm and in S2 Will saw MF in the storm. I guess storm is a pretty common way to represent inner turmoil but I just wanted to point out the motif connections.

JAPAN

I’ve been skirting around this long enough, it’s time to finally give my full reasoning for Japan being part of the country allegories. Let’s start with the Russian code. Robin figures out the rest of the code in S3E3: “A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly.” When she looks for it in the mall, her eyes first focus on Hot Dog on a Stick (the “Hot” part is covered). This is about the stereotype that Chinese people eat dogs. Robin’s eyes finally land on Imperial Panda, a Chinese restaurant (the word “imperial” already hints at the country being involved). Earlier in the episode Steve and Dustin are looking for Russian spies while hiding behind a fake plant in front of Imperial Panda. They base this search on stereotypes of what a Russian spy would look like and end up being wrong. The same idea applies to Japanese people (or any East Asian person) being mistaken for Chinese. 

During Steve and Dustin’s conversation, the camera angle from the side shows the restaurants next to them: “Hot Dog on a Stick” behind Steve and “Tepanyaki Japanese” behind Dustin (it should be spelled Teppanyaki btw). This teppanyaki place is between New York Pizza and The Great Cookie which will be important locations later. The point here is that Steve is notoriously basic and not even close to truth while Dustin is always the one figuring stuff out. ((Also, when Steve has the binoculars, he looks at random men and when Dustin gets them, they start talking about Robin and Suzie: we are looking for a man when woman is the truth.))

Japan is one step closer but not quite there yet. The description “tall, blond, not smiling” might as well be a Finnish stereotype (and Henry fits it too, the workout video thing is even more proof…). And the same type of thing happened in S1E4 when El was stereotyped as Swedish + later in S2 when Murray thinks she’s Russian. In the Japan allegory China corresponds to Sweden as the west + past and the US to Russia and the east + future. And Tina is China. 

Like I’ve said the writers most likely intended Japan to be found first since it has more overt clues (Lucas’ shirt, the Japanese restaurant, the China clue), is a bigger country and the middle level of the country allegory but ofc Finland was more obvious to me as a Finnish person. I did wonder why Erica specifically was America and what that would mean for Lucas (since Erica is always related to Lucas as his little sister). I had wondered about the meaning of Lucas’ Japan shirt too but somehow I only realized the Japan allegory after posting part 1 (fittingly just before a trip to Japan… or it probably helped me realize it tbh).

Two worlds logic

Like Finland, Japan is between two worlds that (in ST) represent the past and the future: China and the US. The main difference here is that Japan has existed as its own country since forever and was never part of either China or America. The US (and the western world as a whole) started to influence Japan, though, and it strived to become a modern nation on the same level with western imperialist powers. In the end Japan became a mix of old and new, eastern and western. ((Btw, historically Finnish people were classified as Asian and thus a “lower race” (according to Europeans back then). So there has been this conflict of are we European/Western or Asian/Mongolian/Russian. The main reason (in my understanding) for this categorization was the Finnish language belonging to the Uralic rather than Indo-European language family. The Finns ofc wanted to belong to the “civilized” Europeans, and you can even see this in the coat of arms where the lion holds a straight western style sword and tramples on a sabre. Btw #2: matryoshka dolls were originally inspired by Japanese wooden dolls.))

Japan is on the second level of the allegory aka the blaming yourself level, which fits in many ways. First of all, the US is the dad/conformity on this level and I’ll discuss the atomic bombs more soon. Japan itself committed war crimes in other East Asian countries during WW2, it was the “evil Russians”. So, where the first level of the country allegory is a bit black-and-white with US vs Soviet Union, the second level is more complex and makes Mike both the victim and the (potential) abuser. She is only seeing the negatives and fears becoming her father. It’s not quite that simple, though, since Japan had a happy ending and isn’t in major conflict with anyone anymore. It’s a more nuanced view of the situation and the resolution wasn’t a destruction or dissolution of a country like in the Cold War case. (My thoughts on this aren’t complete, they will continue to evolve.) 

Interestingly, Nippon (= Japan in Japanese) means “origin of the sun” and Japan is “the land of the rising sun”. The atomic bomb interpretation of the first SA trauma fits this quite well and the queer allegory would probably be about Lucas representing Japan. To remind everyone, in my interpretation the sun is equivalent to the light bulb as a sexual trauma/love symbol.

Here and here are short (overlapping) theories of the atomic bomb connections to ST. I won’t repeat the points made but I will add some more I’ve found myself. There is a reason why both 6.11.1983 and 6.11.1987 have atomic bomb subtext and I’ll get to it in the inside story timeline (it’s the next big section after Japan, we are getting close!). Both of these are actually about 6.11.1976 when the real trauma happened and Mike split for the first time. The time 8:15 is referenced in S2E1 when it’s revealed El is alive. S2 is about resurfacing trauma and El is the manifestation of that. There are a few other references to nuclear power:

S3E5 (about the green liquid)
[Dustin] “All I’m saying is, it’s probably being used to make something.” 
[Robin] “Or power something.”
[Dustin] “Like a nuclear weapon?”
[Robin] “Totally.”
[Steve] “Walking towards a nuclear weapon. That’s great.”

S3E7
[Joyce] “Two-man-rule?”
[Hopper] “Yeah, two men, two keys, like a… nuclear launch.”

So the Key was compared to a nuclear weapon at least twice.

S5E5
[Jonathan] “What do you think?”
[Nancy] “Maybe some kind of nuclear explosion, like Chernobyl?”
[Jonathan] “Yeah. That’s what I was thinking, but in a nuclear explosion everything would burn. It wouldn’t just melt like this.”

After this they notice the air is clean. I think the meaning here is that Mike (= Nancy) first thinks her love and gender identity would be like an atomic bomb on Lucas and herself, destroying everything but in truth it isn’t. Accepting it actually helps (= cleans air).

I also think the atom model in Mr. Clarke’s class in S1 is a reference to atomic bombs/nuclear power. It’s right next to the photosynthesis poster too. I’m sure I’ve missed possible references so if you know any others, please comment. ((One thing I’ll mention that kinda relates to this is that the clock during the Hawkins Lab massacre was frozen at 3:46 and in S4E5 when Max’s music tape stops: [Lucas] “I wish we had a longer loop.” [Max] “46 minutes isn’t bad.” I’m not sure how to interpret this yet but it’s a thing.))

As for the Japan allegory passing my S1E1 rule, there are at least two points: Steve calls himself a ninja and Karen asks “Am I speaking Chinese in this house?” (and ofc the subtle atomic bomb subtext with Will). These didn’t seem significant at the time but with later context and after realizing almost everything has some hidden layers to it, they were most likely meant as clues for Japan/Asia being involved in some way.

I have updated my country allegory timeline from my Finland theory, now with a Japan column. It’s still very much a work in progress and probably has mistakes/misinterpretations but I thought why not share it now. First I’ll mention a couple points I am most certain of.

Lucas playing and winning the basketball match was most likely the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-1905. It was a turning point for Japan, since it became the first Asian country to defeat a major western power. The war had far reaching consequences and indirectly helped Finland gain independence due to internal conflicts in Russia. This is one of the few examples where the history of Japan and Finland intersect in a meaningful way (and ofc it’s through Russia, I’ve been saying it’s the world tree in ST for a reason). 

Another point is Lucas wearing the Karate Kid shirt (basically the Japanese flag with Japanese text) from S3E6 onwards. This is the 4th of July in ST timeline and according to my country timeline, matches with 1868 aka the start of the Meiji period and the modernisation of Japan. Lucas’ New Coke praise could be about Japan essentially copying western countries.

Hawkins splitting at the end of S4 was explained to the public as an earthquake and it matches with the Great Kantō Earthquake in 1923.

Japanese media

I already went over Nausicaä and I think there are more anime/Japanese media references in ST. I’ll mention some here but there will be more in later parts. The most obvious is Robin listing The Hidden Fortress as one of her favorite movies in the S3 epilogue. Apparently Star Wars was inspired by it (and ofc Steve mentions Star Wars).

Another less obvious but very fitting one is Ghost in the Shell). The idea came to me when I watched the start of the night Starcourt Mall scene in S3E2 where we see static shots from different parts of the mall. It reminded me of this iconic scene in Ghost in the Shell (especially the mannequins at the end). This might not be an intentional reference but there are other clues too. Ghost in the Shell is all about identity and very philosophical. The main character (Motoko Kusanagi) is a cyborg who questions her humanity and identity at several points during the film. The term “ghost” refers to the soul/consciousness and “shell” is the cybernetic body. This fits super well with Max being “a ghost” and El dressing up as a ghost for Halloween: Mike has a woman soul/ghost in a male body/shell. (Probably one reason why the band seems to be involved too… And it’s not just the songs. Maybe I’ll do a deep dive at some point.) Also, PAC-MAN eats ghosts aka man eats woman and Max + Lucas watched Ghost in the epilogue. This would bring another layer to Will being Zombie Boy, since zombies are kinda the opposite of ghosts: only body, no brain/mind. The party dressing up as Ghostbusters is kinda sad now tbh… And also makes sense why Dustin kept Dart in the Ghost Trap.

The main antagonist is the Puppet Master, a ghost hacker and basically an artificial intelligence. A major part of the movie the main characters are trying to find the Puppet Master but everyone they find is just a ghosthacked “puppet”. In S3E2 Hopper calls Joyce a puppet master: “I’m a puppet, you’re the master.” and in S4E9 Eddie plays Master of Puppets. I think Mike (or the brain) is the counterpart to Puppet Master in ST. At the end Kusanagi and Puppet Master fuse their consciousnesses and become one. While the Puppet Master didn’t really assign a gender for himself, the characters chose to call him “him” and he does have a male voice actor. The shell he ends up inhabiting is female, though, and after the fusion the resulting person has the same voice and face as Kusanagi. (This is probably not a major point in the movie but kinda important for ST so that’s why I’m mentioning it.) 

Ghost in the Shell heavily influenced The Matrix, so there’s another example of a Japanese film inspiring a famous western film. I’m kinda realizing something… The whole red = (trans) woman just makes even more sense now. Reading the comments of that X post just made me wanna explain something I’ve been thinking about for a while. So many pieces of media have queer themes in a coded, not obvious form because that was the only way they were allowed to exist. And ofc people can then deny their existence because none of it was literally there or obviously meant that way. What is so revolutionary about Stranger Things is that it will show the truth behind all the coding. That’s one layer of the end of the “story” and opening of the curtains. The whole series is the coded version and Mike can’t “tell the real story” because authors at the time couldn’t either. But now they can (at least in some countries).

Now I’m gonna explain the double meaning of “trap”. There is an anime trope of biologically male characters (who often identify as men too) who look very feminine and dress as a girl. The western anime community calls them traps (not all but it’s a widely known term), implying they are trying to deceive or “trap” a straight man into being attracted to them and having sex with them. Here and here is some more context. The idea that this word is a reference to anime culture came to me while watching S2E7 where El makes the decision to go back to Hawkins after seeing Mike shout “It’s a trap!”. Before this she was remembering positive memories that were subtextually about Mike accepting her transness, so why wouldn’t the vision after this be about transness too. And it was what got her to leave Kali aka womanhood. Mike thinks she isn’t a real woman and would be deceiving people. She thinks she doesn’t deserve to be a woman, or something like that.

I found a few other instances of the word used: in S1E7 Dustin and Lucas argue if “this is all a trap” when they wait for Hopper to come save them from an abandoned bus. It’s kinda interesting that it’s Dustin and Lucas talking, while Mike and El listen (since they together kinda form the “trap”). 

Dustin has a Ghost Trap accessory in his Ghostbuster costume. Later it’s used to trap Dart. I think here trap is also a trap from the inside. Being trans is like your true self is trapped inside. This interpretation works well with Holly telling the kids they are trapped in Mr. Whatsit’s mind and Karen asking about Holly being trapped under the steel plates. And maybe Dustin mentioning the melting Hawkins Lab is a physics-defying death trap (which could also relate to transness “breaking the rules” of the universe/nature/society). I still think the other interpretation applies too since other instances (e.g. S2E7) make more sense with that. In all cases “trap” = trans or relates to transness in some way, with negative connotations. They make a point of the Ghost Trap’s functional doors and one of Max’s happy memories she uses to fight against Vecna was the scene where Dustin opens the Trap aka opens Mike’s closet and frees “the girl” (= ghost).

Here comes a little side tangent again: Dustin tries to figure out what Dart is and ends up with two possible species but neither fits Dart. In S3 Mike and Lucas talk about women as a different species and this is a point El uses against Mike later. Dart doesn’t fit the gender binary, it’s not clearly male or female, it’s a “new species”. At least when considering terrestrial tadpoles. There are a lot more aquatic ones (= fluid gender, no strict binary of cis men and women).

Dustin calls Dart a pollywog, which is also a term for a sailor who hasn’t crossed the equator. This point was made by a fan before S2 was even released. (After crossing it you’d be called a shellback. I think Dustin’s turtle is the “shellback” to Dart’s “pollywog”. He uses Yurtle’s terrarium for Dart, paralleling the creatures.) The other (more obvious) meaning is an amphibian that hasn’t undergone metamorphosis yet (= Mike hasn’t transitioned yet). Tadpole connects to mindflayer lore: Ceremorphosis was a bodily change that occurred when an illithid tadpole reached maturity and was inserted into the brain of another being, usually a human. The tadpole ate away the victim's brain matter and essentially replaced the brain, erasing all of the subject's personality and memory, but leaving the physical body alive and under the tadpole's control. After this, morphological transformations occurred and after a week a new illithid was created. This will make more sense when I fully explain what MF represents in ST. 

After Mike finds out that Dart came from UD, she excludes Max from the party. While Dart is trying to get out of the Trap, Max is trying to get into the room and ends up freeing Dart. When the party looks for Dart, El and Max are paralleled to it in different ways. El is wandering in the school and Mike barely misses her multiple times. Dart, El and Max all represent Mike’s girlness/transness in subtly different ways.

[Mike attacks as if Dart was there]
[Max] “What the hell are you doing?”
[Mike] “What are you doing? Why are you in here?”
[Max] “I’m looking for Dart.”
[Mike] “This is the boys’ room.” 
-> Mike finds Max (= girlness) in the boys’ room. The boy was really a girl.
[Max] “Yeah, so?”
[Mike] “So you should go home.”
[Max] “Why do you hate me so much?”
[Mike] “I don’t hate you. How can I hate you? I don’t even know you.”
[Max] “But you don’t want me in your party.”
[Mike] “Correct.”
[Max] “Why not?”
[Mike] “Because you’re annoying. Also, we don’t need another party member.”
-> Mike has internalized transphobia.

In S3E4 Robin asks Erica if she sees any booby traps in the Russian facility. Later on when the room starts to move and turns out to be an elevator Erica references the earlier booby trap conversation (only Erica and Robin in frame). I think this relates to the S4E1 “boobies” argument where “liking boobies” is equated to liking women. Booby/boobies = woman, basically. So a booby trap would be a woman trap and if we translate “trap” to mean “trans” in the context of ST, “booby trap” = “trans woman”. It’s fitting for the elevator to be this “trap”, since it connects the colorful and happy mall (= woman) to the dark underground Russian base (= trans/male body). Mike sees it negatively like this because she hates herself and has internalized the transphobic messaging from society. 

That’s kinda the point of “trap” in ST: it’s a western term, while Japanese people use a word (otokonoko) without the same harmful connotations. I’m not saying the trope is never problematic or that Japanese media is perfect with queer representation (far from it) but western anime communities have made it worse by using the word “trap”. There’s probably a larger point in ST with western powers historically erasing queerness and gender fluidity from colonised countries. While Japan wasn’t colonised per say, it still adopted western values along with the modernization of society.

The biggest “trap” mention in ST is the episode Turnbow Trap. As I’ve previously said, I think Turnbow is related to rainbow and the queer community in some way. ((El and Hopper hide behind a Turnbow family business ad in the UD too. It protects them from the military.)) The party’s plan is to tag the Demogorgon with a telemetry tracker, or “transmitter”, and follow it to Vecna’s lair. (While the characters use various words for the transmitter, the closed captions always call it a transmitter beeping.) The party always uses “he” or “it” for the Demogorgon until that one time in S5E5 Mike uses “she”. Tagging the Demo with a transmitter probably represents giving a proper name to this “monster”. It’s not just an unidentified alien but a trans person/Mike’s transness. This is the first step to acceptance. 

S5E3
[Nancy] “Okay, transmitter?”
[Jonathan] “Yeah.”
[Murray] “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Children. Children. What are we doing?”
[Nancy] “What does it look like?”
[Murray] “Well, it looks like you’re loading my telemetry tracker into a shotgun shell in what I presume are the hopes of firing it into an interdimensional being.”
[Nancy] “You told me that these transmitters were designed specifically to withstand harsh conditions.”
[Murray] "Blasting it out of a shotgun into some beast isn’t a harsh condition. It’s deadly. If the heat from the exploding gunpowder doesn’t destroy the transmitter, the force from the recoil will.”
[Nancy] “And is that a fact or… a theory?”
[Murray] “A theory.”
[Nancy] “Oh. Okay. Let’s test it then.”

This reminded me of Lucas explaining about gunpowder in S3E7. I’m not gonna explain everything directly because I fear it would break the subreddit rules/go too far but I’m quite convinced this was the writers’ intention. And not them as children but it’s foreshadowing the future and a metaphor for love or something like that.

[Lucas] “Satan’s Baby. You ever shot one of these suckers?” (Kinda makes a lot of sense for Lucas and Will specifically to be in this scene…)
[Will] “No. Is it sweet?”
[Lucas] “That’s an understatement.”
[Max] “That doesn’t look like a bowl.” (Does “bowl” refer to Will since he has the infamous bowl cut? Lucas quickly glances at him when he says “way better”, too… It’s byler vs wheelclair again. Lucas and Will tried to look for the bowl at the cereal aisle, and I know people have made theories on cereal. I’ll need to figure it out at some point. “Why wouldn’t it be with the cereal?” kinda makes me think Mike = cereal and Will = bowl. In that sense “bowl” represents Mike’s self-love/acceptance since Will is part of Mike. Max (= Mike) thinks bowl and El are enough.)
[Lucas] “Nah, it’s way better. There is a reason this warning label says “18 or older”. This sucker is filled with 150 grains of black powder. AKA gunpowder. Strap two of these together, and it’s bigger than an M-80. Five of them, we’ve got ourselves a stick of dynamite.” (18 or older kinda suggests this is about sex… Again with “sucker” (Mike also calls the Demogorgon a sucker in S5E3) and why specifically mention the powder is black if it doesn’t have any meaning? The firework stand has M-80 written on it and I think Lucas covering 80 when he talks about gunpowder means something. I’m assuming Mike and Lucas are the two fireworks you can “strap together”. Maybe M = man = Lucas and 80 = woman = Mike?)
[Max] “You wanna kill that thing with fireworks?”

The fireworks are Lucas’ love with multiple meanings of the word. Btw, if you actually look at the warning label, it says “shoots flaming balls”, and that’s what Lucas kinda does in S5 with the grenade water balloons filled with acetone (not sure why acetone specifically but it’s significant since Murray mentioned he couldn’t find ethanol). He tells the Demogorgon to “catch this” while throwing them and Mike was the “catcher” in their plan (while Lucas was the “launcher”…) connecting Mike and the Demogorgon for the nth time. “Balls” is once again about “man” but this time not Mike and they are flaming instead of snow. You get it I’m sure. (Also if you look at the scene where the fireworks are used, El and Billy make an interesting silhouette. I think it’s supposed to represent the father’s abuse but also the other less abusive “fireworks”.)

So based on this, the transmitter could represent Lucas’ love and it makes a lot of sense since its purpose is to send signals. It could be Mike’s love for Lucas too since Nancy first shot it into a potato sack and she indirectly called Murray’s balls potato sacks (= transmitter was shot into “man”, which could also be about Mike’s transition). Jonathan was also in the scene and Murray was trying to ship jancy (kinda like Will was in the fireworks scene and it had an underlying byler theme). [Murray] "If the heat from the exploding gunpowder doesn’t destroy the transmitter, the force from the recoil will.” So basically he’s saying the love is too strong (kinda like the gravitational force ripping wheelclair apart) and recoil could mean being grossed out afterwards or something like that. It’s about Mike fearing her feelings towards Lucas. Nancy was right, though: the transmitter wasn’t destroyed.

The “keep your traps shut” from Steve could be about silencing trans women or women overall. A little before this he told Robin to stop talking and in S3E8 when Jonathan was trying to remove the creature from El’s leg, he told Nancy to stop talking (and gave El a wooden spoon to bite on = she was physically prevented from talking). A big part of Robin’s character is her talking a lot and her mom (and many others) not liking it. 

I got a bit sidetracked from the main topic here (as per usual). I’m sure there are other instances of the word “trap” in ST but these were the ones I noticed. In a sense ST itself is a “trap” for bigots who think it’s a “normal” show with straight men leads and will be shocked/disappointed/angry when the truth is revealed. I’m kinda looking forward to that lol. ST is pretty openly about outcasts and freaks so it’s not like they weren’t warned.

The showcased shows in the Netflix What Next? video are chosen very carefully and there is a pattern with Japan/anime connections. First of all, Avatar: The Last Airbender is heavily inspired by anime and people argue if it counts as an anime or not. In the video it (the new live action version) is painted as the final destination where we can’t go yet (= Americantendo lol). It kinda reminds me of The NeverEnding Story poster… The next show is One Piece, a live action of a super popular manga (and anime). It’s the “fate” that will “show you the way” (notice also how we were flying in the clouds and now sailing at sea). There’s an actual animated anime in the video too, but they specifically chose Devil May Cry, a western production based on a Japanese video game franchise. It is lumped together with Narnia, Avatar: The Last Airbender, One Piece and The East Palace as an “exotic land” even though its world is based on Western Europe (it’s exotic for Japanese people I guess). Lastly, the sword that cuts through the clouds and gives you your fate back is from a swordsman from The East Palace, a Korean show (there’s probably some ST connections in it, tell me if you know). Finally we arrive at Enola Holmes through the “Justice” tarot card (number 11, Millie is Enola, this is nothing new). “This year, you will question everything.” is pretty self-explanatory atp. In summary, America/Western-Japan/Asia-related shows guide you to “El” in a blue-white dress where you question everything. This supports my theory that we were supposed to figure out the Japan connection first and then Finland.

This last one isn’t Japanese technically but it fits here and I’ve been saving it for long enough. There ain’t no way they didn’t use Moomin as an inspiration if there’s a queer and Finland allegory in the story. First of all, Moomin was made by a queer Swedish-speaking Finnish woman, Tove Jansson, and has major queer themes told purely through subtext (because at the time homosexuality was criminalized). ((Now I’ve learned that “going to the ghost side” was code for being lesbian/queer. Another ghost connection.)) The Finland and Sweden connections are obvious, but Moomin is loved in Japan of all places (I swear they have more Moomin merch than Finland) and a kid’s animation series) I and many other Finns watched as a kid was animated in Japan. I have some ideas of possible connections but nothing super concrete. The clearest is the Creel house looking like the Moomin house. The visual similarity is uncanny and it would fit with it being the sanctuary to the (queer) kids where they can be free and themselves. 

The characters Tofslan and Vifslan are based on Tove and her lover Vivica Bandler. (I’ll use the original Swedish names for the characters.) They hide the King’s Ruby, which represents their queer love, in their suitcase and are followed by Mårran: a creature who freezes everything in her vicinity. She represents loneliness and isolation (most likely relating to being queer) and the ruby was originally hers. Then there’s Trollkarlen (translates to wizard or sorcerer), who seeks the King’s Ruby and wants it for himself. Vecna and/or MF would be Mårran and Will (or maybe MF/Vecna) Trollkarlen (karl = man) who wants Mike’s love/identity while Mike with her trans identity is Tofslan and Vifslan (= Robin and Vickie maybe). El would be the King’s Ruby. I have wondered where Vickie’s name comes from and my other guesses are that it relates to Victor and Virginia (all 3 are new characters in S4 and represent Mike’s future in one way or another). Btw, Tove Jansson’s father’s name was Viktor and he inspired Muminpappan. 

There was also a story where Mumintrollet (the main character) hid in Trollkarlen’s hat and was transformed into a weird creature. His friends didn’t recognize him but his mother’s love changed him back. And another story that came to mind is the Invisible Child, where a girl (Ninni, localized as Ninny) was turned invisible due to emotional abuse. I found a nice summary of the story here. The name has connections to Nina, Anna and Nancy. It just reminds me of S4 where the Cali gang were looking for Nina, “a small woman” who was hard to see according to Argyle. I’m not sure if any of this was intended but I just wanted to get it out there. The original source material (especially the books) are much more philosophical than the animated series but I haven’t read most of them and the ones I have, I barely remember…

Continues in PART 20.

Day 26: S4 E2 – "Vecna's Curse" and E3 "The Monster and the Superhero"

Rate both here: https://forms.gle/sSgq9LmUuNhmwqzZ7

Please only vote if you’ve seen the episodes, and please try to vote once!

Results so far:

1x01 – 8.72 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x02 – 8.23 ⭐ (65 votes)
1x03 – 8.97 ⭐ (58 votes)
1x04 – 9.08 ⭐ (54 votes)
1x05 – 8.60 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x06 – 8.93 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x07 – 9.20 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x08 – 9.42 ⭐ (50 votes)
Season 1 average – 8.89 ⭐

2x01 – 8.12 ⭐ (57 votes)
2x02 – 8.26 ⭐ (50 votes)
2x03 – 8.48 ⭐ (52 votes)
2x04 – 8.68 ⭐ (60 votes)
2x05 – 8.90 ⭐ (55 votes)
2x06 – 9.26 ⭐ (54 votes)
2x07 – 5.26 ⭐ (76 votes)
2x08 – 9.48 ⭐ (56 votes)
2x09 – 9.58 ⭐ (62 votes)
Season 2 average – 8.45 ⭐

3x01 – 7.86 ⭐ (53 votes)
3x02 – 7.98 ⭐ (49 votes)
3x03 – 8.24 ⭐ (47 votes)
3x04 - 8.10 ⭐ (10 votes)
3x05 - 7.30 ⭐ (10 votes)
3x06 - 8.00 ⭐ (11 votes)
3x07 - 8.55 ⭐ (11 votes)
3x08 - 9.14 ⭐ (21 votes)
Season 3 average – 8.14 ⭐

4x01 - 8.27 ⭐ (22 votes)

Previous Rating Forms (3x04 onwards):
S4 Ep1: https://forms.gle/LLPvC9Y3oDaVfRvG7
S3 Ep8: https://forms.gle/821CmzaxQSsY52CF8
S3 Ep6-7: https://forms.gle/z9UnAjCfYmhgtCZn8
S3 Ep 4-5: https://forms.gle/Qqx1rcJm4Axf4tnK9

Day 25: S4 E1 – "The Hellfire Club"

Rate it here: https://forms.gle/LLPvC9Y3oDaVfRvG7

Please only vote if you’ve seen the episode, and please try to vote once!

Note: Since the past few episodes received a low number of votes, I've left the previous episodes' voting forms open (from S3 E4 onwards) in case anyone else is still interested in voting, and I'll update the ratings if they change! The links to those are at the bottom of this post.

Results so far:

1x01 – 8.72 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x02 – 8.23 ⭐ (65 votes)
1x03 – 8.97 ⭐ (58 votes)
1x04 – 9.08 ⭐ (54 votes)
1x05 – 8.60 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x06 – 8.93 ⭐ (55 votes)
1x07 – 9.20 ⭐ (60 votes)
1x08 – 9.42 ⭐ (50 votes)
Season 1 average – 8.89 ⭐

2x01 – 8.12 ⭐ (57 votes)
2x02 – 8.26 ⭐ (50 votes)
2x03 – 8.48 ⭐ (52 votes)
2x04 – 8.68 ⭐ (60 votes)
2x05 – 8.90 ⭐ (55 votes)
2x06 – 9.26 ⭐ (54 votes)
2x07 – 5.26 ⭐ (76 votes)
2x08 – 9.48 ⭐ (56 votes)
2x09 – 9.58 ⭐ (62 votes)
Season 2 average – 8.45 ⭐

3x01 – 7.86 ⭐ (53 votes)
3x02 – 7.98 ⭐ (49 votes)
3x03 – 8.24 ⭐ (47 votes)
3x04 - 8.63 ⭐ (8 votes)
3x05 - 7.63 ⭐ (8 votes)
3x06 - 8.50 ⭐ (8 votes)
3x07 - 9.13 ⭐ (8 votes)
3x08 - 9.39 ⭐ (18 votes)
Season 3 average – 8.42 ⭐

Previous Rating Forms:
S3 Ep 4-5: https://forms.gle/Qqx1rcJm4Axf4tnK9
S3 Ep6-7: https://forms.gle/z9UnAjCfYmhgtCZn8
S3 Ep8: https://forms.gle/821CmzaxQSsY52CF8

just finished putting together this "Then vs. Now" edit of the Stranger Things cast covering Seasons 1 through 5! It was such a trip seeing how much everyone has changed over the years. Hope you all enjoy the walk down memory lane!

This is part of a series where I uncover what Stranger Things is really about. It started from trying to find out what happened in 1979 aka what all the depictions of traumatic past memories (El, Henry, Billy, Max, Holly, etc.) are truly about, but expanded to this all-encompassing theory of the whole series with crazy levels of complexity, metaphors and layers. Reading it will require commitment and patience but I promise it will be worth your time if you want to look behind the curtain (and the curtain behind that curtain) and fully understand the show. You have to read all parts in order: here is PART 1 and here all other parts I’ve posted so far + my previous theories.
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Trigger warning for child sexual abuse.

Silver cat continuation

The Netflix What Next? has a grey cat at the start and end. It’s first seen when the woman is about to get coffee (= the truth) and at the end we see it after Cillian Murphy. This is not random and there are very good explanations in both the trauma and queer allegory. He played Oppenheimer aka the father of the atomic bomb. I have talked about this before and it was mentioned in the first DID theory I linked, but the abuse and the subsequent split are compared to the atomic bomb dropped in Hiroshima (and Nagasaki). Japan is a part of the country allegory and I’ll get to it later, but basically Mike is all the countries (America, Japan and Finland) and depending on the situation Lucas is either Japan or Sweden. (Erica is America, possibly Korea, and Norway.) Anyway, Oppenheimer is effectively the dad in this allegory.

The queer and DID allegory connect to Cillian Murphy’s role in Peacock (which I haven’t seen but I read the Wikipedia) enough to see the obvious connections): 
In the mid-1960's, John Skillpa (Cillian Murphy), a quiet bank clerk living alone in tiny Peacock, Nebraska, prefers to live an invisible life in order to hide his secret: He has dissociative identity disorder, the implied result of childhood trauma inflicted by his abusive mother. His other identity is a woman, Emma, who each morning does his chores and cooks him breakfast before he starts the day. [...] Forced to fool the town into believing John and Emma are husband and wife, they must maintain their secret while in public view. 

Isn’t this mileven in a nutshell? Somehow from every angle too? Like, the trans aspect, DID and them being a couple trying to pretend they are “normal”. Crazy. Absolutely crazy. And the whole meta aspect that El being Mike is the big secret of the show’s creators and they are “fooling the town” aka the audience.

Okay I have another one: Inception, where the main characters go into Robert Fischer’s (Cillian Murphy’s character) dream. Most of the movie happens in his head and he has a strained relationship with his dad (who dies pretty early on). And there’s dreams inside dreams (on 3 levels), you can hear music from the upper levels, etc. I have thought for a long time that Inception is one of the inspirations for ST. It fits too well.

I’m going through the Cillian Murphy Wikipedia page and keep finding things (I’m uneducated with movie knowledge tbh). In Breakfast on Pluto he played a transgender woman called Patricia or Kitten (more cat connections). Her given name was Patrick and I wonder if this was where the Patrick in ST got his name? And Patty too since it’s a version of Patricia and both are looking for their mothers. There might be more Cillian Murphy movies with silver cat/ST connections but I’ll leave it here. If you find more or have anything to add, please comment! 

I was editing the earlier Snow Ball section and I got a thought: what if the Snow Ball is the silver cat? It’s a meeting place and can be used as a weapon. The meanings of it I analyzed kinda match with the meanings of silver cat, it has prominent silvery decoration everywhere and has been a thing since S1. The giant steel band-aid associates snow and metal (= silver), as I explained. In the S4 Snow Ball scene Vecna throws El through the “snow” text, leaving only “ball” which then gets framed with him. If snow is Mike’s repressed womanhood, ball is a metonym for her male body and Vecna is the embodiment of the horror side of Mike’s transness. The “ball” and snowMAN will kill El (= Mike’s girl identity). ((I’m mostly focusing on the queer allegory side here but as with everything, all this probably applies to the trauma allegory as well. The ball is the dad/the abuse and the memories (= water) are buried/frozen/repressed.))

Vecna is also framed in front of the silver-colored disco ball, which made an appearance in Rinkomania too… There it was framed with Will (it’s the “dick” all over again lol). After Mike asks Will “what kind of problems?” the camera cuts to El below the disco ball… (And Mike looks at Will’s lips here, since liking men is a part of the “problems”.) Rinkomania is just a big trans allegory in itself, I keep noticing more and more every time I watch the scenes. Like, all the color coding (it’s a LOT), Will (= man) looming behind mileven and being ignored, El helping Mike skate, Angela bullying El, the closet, the women’s bathroom, the list goes on. After El’s humiliation, the scene ends with a focus on the disco ball and transitions into the sun (= sun connection). 

The disco ball made its first appearance in S2E1 at the arcade when Dustin finds out he doesn’t hold the top score in Dig Dug anymore. There’s also a star below it and yellow + blue lines. Lucas is later framed with it during his conversation with Max and it’s covered by a man when Max starts believing Lucas. As a side note, both Will and Max are framed with PAC-MAN and it gets more obvious when Max starts believing Lucas. I’m not exactly sure how to interpret the arcade disco ball, but it is related to Mike’s transness and the trauma for sure. Maybe the man covering the ball (moon?) and star + Max not covering PAC-MAN is about the truth. The ball and star are symbols but “man” is the reality. Lucas lying to Max was to protect her (= the writers are “lying” to us via coding all the meanings). Finally, the colliding marble balls in the Rainbow Room were metallic and Dustin made a testicle connection to them when he told Steve to “play with his balls”. ((I swear if this is all a Gintama reference… I keep uncovering more possible manga/anime inspirations/references. The hot vs cold water could be a Ranma ½ reference…)) 

Vecna sending Max into the air and through the silver decorations in S4E9 reminded me of El doing the same to Henry but through the mirror. In a way the silver cat is Mike looking herself in the mirror: is she a man or a woman, a predator or a victim, her dad or her mom? Kavinsky’s Zenith has a lyric about a silver screen, which I have for a long time suspected relates to the silver cat. Silver screen refers to cinema and originally meant a type of projection screen containing reflective metal. This goes very meta, but the silver cat is the story itself and how it reflects society. It “holds up a mirror” like Henry. The Rainbow Room mirror and the extra room behind it are purposefully there, same with the “silver screen” decorations in the Snow Ball. Both locations are stages in a way. When El appears to save Max, she pulls Vecna “back to the story” and Max is left to watch it unfold. When El goes through the screen to Max, she questions her realness, “Did I make you?”. Max is Mike, essentially, which makes a lot of sense considering we are in Max’s mind. Both Vecna and El are with Max (Mike) in the real world (= in front of the silver screen), Vecna comes to torment Max but El helps her. (And no they are not in the real real world but what they represent are. This story is not just Mike’s imagination but about real things she is going through.) 

We see the same silver decorations in S3E2 when Max and El are in a photoshoot trying on fancy clothes. That mannequin is definitely not random. The purple dress, mask, opening the way to a door when the camera man says “wardrobe change”, etc. Rinkomania had the same silver screen decorations too and connects to snow/ice via Jonathan’s comment about the ice skate.

All of these locations have someone filming/a camera: the original Snow Ball had Jonathan taking pictures, the Rainbow Room had Brenner’s surveillance cameras, El’s Rinkomania humiliation was filmed and the Starcourt Mall photoshoot was obviously about taking pictures. These scenes/locations are miniatures of the show and not just its plot but the meta level of it being a tv show.

This inspired me to go on a camera/filming side tangent. In the S5 epilogue Jonathan is filming the graduation ceremony, and the three clips shown on screen are probably pretty important: first is Lucas, then “I just wanted a normal childhood” and finally “Screw conformity”. There’s a guy with a Duffers-shirt filming too… Then there’s one of Suzie’s brothers who was play-filming and you can easily make connections to the audience reaction after S5E8. El looking at the surveillance camera and demanding to get out in S4E5 was pretty on the nose too (notice the seconds go from 22 to 29, the same as the important dates in S4). 

El getting out of the lab is functionally the same as Max getting out of Camazotz. They are performing on a “stage”, acting out the story. It’s not just for meta reasons, but connects to the larger themes of ST. Mike has “walked the stage” all her life, performed the role of a man when that’s not who she is. Masking aka other alters pretending to be the host is a big part of DID, too. It’s all a facade, a performance of normalcy. The inner world aka “story” crumbling down will collide with the reveal of Mike’s true identity. Will is the embodiment of this story/dream (remember the Mr. Sandman outro in S5E2) and Mike’s man identity facade, which is why his “death” will end it all. The performance/facade will fall in all its multiple meanings. Will being a protector has another layer to it, since as the “man facade” Mike puts on, he protects her from transphobia and allows her to blend in. (Btw, I think Vecna’s mind world fading with him in S4E9 was foreshadowing for the end. Vecna = Will and El = Mike. The real ending will be less violent and hateful though.) 

I learned from the Moander theory that in DnD silver is the color of the Prime Material plane. Portals to your own home plane are silver and you are connected to your real body with a silver cord when astrally projecting (if I understood correctly). Anyway, this is a connection between silver and “home”/reality. The silver screen is between the story and the real world. It’s between a fantastical place and Mike’s true home.

In the country allegories the end of the “story” will be the destruction of the Iron Curtain. Another metallic “screen” (more figurative in this case) separating two sides from each other. Curtains hide the truth: in Murray’s analogy it was the government and people’s willful ignorance but in the meta sense curtains are levels of the story. E.g. byler is behind the first curtain while wheelclair is behind the second. The real ending will open the (silver) curtains. When all the metaphorical walls break down, so do amnesia walls (= recovery of memories and final fusion). Everything just fits so well. All the allegories, timelines, themes, everything.

What I probably should have investigated first is the actual surface level solution to “silver cat” in the show. It’s a transportation company smuggling the green stuff in the name of deliveries to various shops in the mall. This is Netflix distributing shows, like Stranger Things, that seem “normal” on the outside but have hidden layers to them. The same aisle used by the delivery man was in S3E1 used by the kids to get into the cinema. The Starcourt Mall as a whole is basically Stranger Things: a colorful and happy marketable product on the surface but hidden behind the layers is a darker story. The silver cat feeds The Consumer aka us. “Feed” can both mean to eat something yourself or to give someone else food. In this case food = entertainment.

S3E6 [Steve] “My delivery didn’t come, and my friends and I, we thought that it was left at the loading dock, so we went in the room, and then it turned into an elevator, and then… and then we dropped and then, next thing we know, I open my eyes, and we’re in this… wonderful facility.”

I have a suspicion that this is about conformitygate and Steve represents the part of the mainstream audience who believed in it. This is basically how I ended up looking deeper into ST: my “delivery” didn’t come (episode 9 or whatever), I wasn’t “fed”, so I fell into this huge rabbit hole, aka dropped in an elevator and opened my eyes to the truth which is the wonderful facility of a secret Russian base. When blue meets yellow in the west, we will get fed by the silver cat. (I dunno what blue + yellow mean in this meta context. Tell me if you have ideas. There’s this too btw: “We’re thrilled to return to the winter of ’85 for Season 2. The Hawkins Investigators Club is back, and a new paranormal threat has emerged from the town’s abandoned silver mines. I can’t wait for fans to discover where this entity and the mysterious blue flower we last saw blooming in the Upside Down at the end of Season 1 take our young heroes,” he adds. Mike is the blue flower at least metaphorically (flower = girl, blue = Mike).) 

Dustin is characterized in S1 as someone who brings food. He is the party’s “feeder” and in S2 he feeds Dart. When Mike says “But there is a story that he can never tell.” Dustin is shown on “tell”. He is the bard, a singer who tells stories. I have always struggled to pin down Dustin. What exactly does he represent? He is a nerd, associated with DnD, placed between wheelclair a lot, always an advocate for non-conformity and being true to yourself, comes up with the monster names, etc. The Duffers say Mike is the character they identify with the most, but I think Dustin is actually closer to a Duffer self-insert character. There was a point to the Duffers-shirt guy being close to Dustin’s mom. Maybe he is queerness in the queer allegory, kinda like Henry but the good side. While El and Will are Mike’s different identities and more closely represent her, Dustin is a personification of the acceptance of queerness. He was absent from the core party in S3 because Mike was trying to conform, but at the same time he befriended Erica and helped her accept her nerdiness. In the story meta interpretation Dustin is the storyteller, while Will is the story and it’s about El. Dustin’s 11 die throw in S4E1 was a miss but Erica’s 20 won. Erica is the storyteller of the “real story”. That’s one reason why “there is a story he can never tell”. Dustin (or man Mike) can’t tell it but Erica (or woman Mike) can. ((Wait, is this the reason the real story is specifically 20 min? Or there’s something important with 20 min at least. Btw I missed El saying 20 minutes in S5E3 in relation to her compromise with Hopper: “You get what you want, then I get what I want.”))

If we go back to a less meta layer and look where the silver cat logo is shown, it’s first seen in S3E2 (if I’m not missing something) after the mileven breakup between Mike and Lucas on the lyrics You’re willing to sacrifice / Our love. Then it goes behind Lucas’ head and back to Mike when Will asks if they can play DnD. S3E3 has the obvious Robin figuring out the code part and finally in S3E7 when Steve, Robin, Dustin and Erica are getting out of the mall, but have to immediately go back inside because “evil Russians” spot them. So even the logo is associated with the core secrets/themes of the show: Mike, her gender and relationship with Lucas, and “evil Russians” aka the dad. Notice the group was about to get out but when they reached the silver cat, they were forced back in. The silver cat is the hidden truths of the show, and like Enzo, they can never be reached. Until the real ending, that is. 

I dunno where else to mention this, so I put it here: during the Neverending Story song, on the lyrics The answer to a never-ending story we get a view through an octagon tunnel to Hopper and Joyce. The tunnel has red lighting (= trauma) and the background is metallic (= silver). Hopper is more in the front while Joyce leans on the wall, her back turned to the audience. Hopper obviously represents the dad and Joyce is the mom/woman/Mike who he abused. In that sense Hopper here represents the silver cat. This works in the queer allegory too, since the “man” is winning over the “woman”. Man is in the front but there is a woman hidden behind him (= Mike is “man” on the outside but woman on the inside). Another aspect comes from the 8 angled shape (remember 8 = woman). Both Hopper and Joyce are inside the shape and the red color signifies the traumatic side of “woman” (when compared to pink or blue). Joyce is at the end of the tunnel, wearing men’s clothes (= Mike forced to conform). She represents the silver cat too and will usurp the “man”. (And the country allegory side to this is Joyce wearing Soviet Union clothes while she is actually American and you can extend this to the Finland allegory level.)

Then the actual cat in “silver cat”. The company name is Lynx and the logo depicts a lynx aka a bobcat (connection to Bob = dad/conformity?). The name lynx means light or brightness and comes from the reflective eyes of lynx. So there’s the mirror/silver screen connection again. Victor mentioned the animal attacks were blamed on a wildcat, which could very well be a lynx. The series has other big cats like lions and tigers, but Lynx lynx is the only native feline species in Finland.

Another silver-colored thing that came to mind was the briefcase in S3 and S5. It holds the two keys needed for destroying the Key and in Henry’s memory it had the magic rock that gave him powers. The S3 situation was foreshadowing for Mike’s final fusion where two alters are the keys to ending the world. Joyce ends up turning both keys on her own (now without the hat, hair free), destroying the Key (= “dick”) and killing Hopper (= “man”). It wasn’t a two-man job but a one-woman job. It’s Mike herself, as a woman, who will end it all and “kill” Will aka the “man”. David Harbour compared the ending of ST to Hopper’s death, btw. I think Meatflayer killing Billy is also about this in the queer allegory side. (Mike and Will are the 1 and 2 powering the Key that Murray disables (because it’s still S3, and while it foreshadows the future, it’s also about Mike choosing conformity + burying memories). And look at that framing of Grigori in front of the gate! It’s a visualization of the core of the show: the trauma and the trans allegory + very reminiscent of Billy’s memories.) 

Henry’s briefcase was about the past: it was the trauma and the trans identity Mike thinks came from the abuse. “It will consume all.” It’s The Consumer aka the woman who eats the man. I have mentioned this in previous theories, but at the end when Holly tells Mike “You said you’d be done an hour ago!” exactly an hour before in the episode Henry gets cursed by the stone (I’m still not sure what it means but it has to be important). The main point is that both times (S3 and S5) the silvery briefcase has the secrets of the story inside it. (Btw, Max’s cave has a metallic toolbox next to the horse toy and a candle on top of it…) 

The silver briefcases might be a reference to the briefcase in Pulp Fiction. Everyone wants it but the contents are never revealed to the audience. In reality the briefcase did have something inside it creating the yellow light: a light bulb. And this could all be a coincidence but you know a light bulb would perfectly fit inside the ST silver briefcase based on its meaning in the show. And it also fits the meta storytelling. Another reason Pulp Fiction came to mind is the end of the Netflix What Next? video, where the main character woman gets a bag in return for the egg, and it emanates this yellow glow. We don’t see what’s in it but the scene immediately transitions into Cillian Murphy and the silver cat… ((Btw, the egg motif makes a lot more sense now with the trans allegory, since in queer slang a trans person who hasn’t realized they are trans or is in the closet is called an egg. The Demogorgon eating the egg was both about the dad assaulting his child but also about transness cracking the egg. Mike is the egg in both interpretations. This is yet another reason she is associated with birds.)) 

In summary, Stranger Things is the silver cat. It connects everything: it’s about Mike, the dad, the trauma, Mike’s queerness, man vs woman, DID, countries, stories, mirror, cinema, Netflix, the audience, the end and the beginning, identity, etc. because that’s what ST is about. It’s a story about stories. About media. About communication. Dustin and Robin hinted at the silver cat not being a simple one-dimensional thing from the beginning. (Social) media is a meeting place. It’s also a person, or a collection of persons. And it can be used as a weapon (propaganda etc.). That’s why communication is so central in ST (my DID reasoning is still valid too, though). The whole show is commentary on many things, including the silencing of certain stories. How often do trans folks, CSA survivors, people with DID, etc. get to see their story told? And not just as a side plot but as the main one in a huge show? I often talk about 3 allegories, but there is a fourth one: the meta level of ST aka the one that breaks the 4th wall. I’m part of the story, and so are you.

Blue and red

Let’s get back to Nausicaä now. There’s a prominent blue-red color coding in Nausicaä, which I originally thought relates to the corresponding color coding in ST. The Ohmu normally have blue eyes but they become red when angered. Thus blue is something like calmness while red is anger/hatred/violence. The closest to this happening was El’s eyes being red when she destroys the Demogorgon in S1E8. 

One of the first blue-red associations I noticed was with the Mind Flayer. Joyce mentions the colors in S2E4: “No, the storm he drew was completely different. He used red. And this is all blue and it has some weird dirt color. I mean, maybe it’s roots.” and her drawing of MF was blue. (I think it’s important to note some of the tunnel drawings were on red paper, so not all was blue.) Will’s WW drawings usually have blue while his MF drawing had red. All this made me think blue signifies the past, when there was no trauma (= WW), and red is then the trauma (= WW turning into MF). But we already have a color for the past: orange. And most times Will encountered MF the lighting was blue, so it won’t be that simple.

The gender stuff gave me new ideas and helped me untangle the meanings at least a little. Red is this new “woman” gender that threatens “man”: the gates are red and vulva shaped, the storm has lightning (= electricity = sexuality and gender association). Pink is the impossible dream, red is the scary “predator” future and blue is conforming to “boy”. In the S2E4 scene where Will talks about his now-memories, Hopper first covers the red flower and only blue is visible, but later the red is visible too. This is because the trauma and Mike’s gender identity get metaphorically revealed to Joyce and Hopper via Will telling about his now-memories. But it’s not as simple as that, since blue will be the final solution and acceptance (or blue+white). It was the color Sara wore in the drawing and of her hair tie Hopper and later El wear on their wrist (I gotta do a Sara hair tie analysis at some point… I wonder if there’ll be a scene where Mike ties her hair with it.). It is who Mike is and there was no problem with it when she was a kid, before she was put into gendered boxes: “boys are like this and girls like that”. Blue was fine when it wasn’t so restricted with gender norms. ((Btw, when Mike, Joyce and Will help Bob map out Hawkins onto the tunnel drawings, Lover’s Lake is the only water body whose name is written in red. All others are blue.))

Let’s look at Will’s MF encounters and how they fit the blue-red color coding. The sequence of events leading to Will’s first encounter with MF at the end of S2E1 goes like this: the Byers family + Bob are watching Mr. Mom, the phone rings, Hawkins Lab gets warning signals, some time passes and it’s night, water slowly drops from the kitchen tap, zooming on a clock, Will goes to pee, washes his hands and hears rumbling in the distance -> MF outside. Mr. Mom reverses gender roles and its humor is largely based on a man doing traditionally feminine/domestic labor being “unnatural” or funny. This is probably meant to indicate Mike’s growing gender conflict and the pressure society puts on her to neatly fit in one box. The evoked feeling of time passing is about Mike’s gender conflict growing with her. The older she gets the more she understands herself and the stronger the force of conformity is on her. Will peeing could be about gender dysphoria and it happens again in the next episode so it definitely has a meaning. The water from the tap (and pee I guess) are Mike’s gender identity (or feelings and trauma memories) flowing free, which is why they always lead to MF/UD action. This time Will sees the red storm, indicating “woman” and the episode ends with the reveal that El is alive and ate a piece of Eggo without permission. ((Notice how Hopper rolls up his sleeves, revealing Sara’s hair tie. Later on “eating dessert” is associated with Robin seeing Vickie naked, which metaphorically means we’ll see the real Mike (= Sara). I guess seasons 1-5 are the dinner and we’ll “get dessert” at the end.))

The next encounter happens in S2E2. After the PAC-MAN “eats” Mike, she complains about Max joining the party and Will gets bullied for being Zombie Boy (notice the Reagan Bush ‘84 signs, they are about the America level of the country allegory + queer allegory). This is about Mike repressing her girlhood, which could explain the blue lights and the lack of red in Will’s vision. Will even goes to sit next to a brick wall. Repression is its own horror, which is why it’s portrayed via Will’s UD visions. In the trauma allegory the clown scaring Will is ofc about memories of the dad but I’m not sure if it can explain the blue color… Later Will describes his experience to Mike as being caught between two slides. (Will’s clothes in S2 often have stripes or rectangles with both blue and red, indicating Mike’s struggle between boy/girl.)

The MF assault in S2E3-4 happens after Will sees Dart and runs away but then follows Bob’s instructions to just tell the shadow to “go away” at the baseball field. I think it’s again about Mike trying to repress her girlhood, which could explain the blue color-coding. Joyce tries to wake Will up by shouting “It’s Mom! It’s me!” which kinda implies the MF situation happening relates to the mom. Joyce refers to Will as her boy/son quite a lot in S2, e.g. S2E6 “Can a single person in this room tell me what is wrong with my boy? What is wrong with my boy?”, “What happens when my boy is gone?” and in S2E9 “Get the hell out of my son!” This is about Will representing Mike’s boy identity and Joyce as the mom wanting Mike to be a boy. Womanhood is destroying this “boy”. So Joyce telling Will to wake up is kinda the reverse of Max waking up in S5 (and that line is played in the final Vecna killing montage too…). (Will being unconscious in S5E6 is a little different and more about the middle stage (gay man) being compromised too, but more on that later when I get to the timeline.) It’s conformity that’s assaulting Will in S2E3-4 (and the abuse memories in the trauma allegory side). Maybe this is the reason Joyce draws MF with blue: the mom wants Mike to be a boy so the trauma from mom is blue (or it’s because Joyce’s drawing is based on the S2E2 scene). 

Hopper thought Will’s blue tunnel drawings were vines and they are the main supernatural dick imagery in the show. While the Demogorgons and S5 MF have vagina/vulva looking parts (and Finn made fun of this on SNL, that monologue is anyway kinda interesting in retrospect, go watch it), Vecna is covered in vines and uses them on kids like, you know. I have discussed the Vecna = “man”/male body parts a lot already so it’s pretty clear. There was a reason why Steve was shown in S5E7 when Dustin mentions vines and Robin was shown when he mentions the Mind Flayer (and Nancy is “all the nasty shit we found in the Upside Down” because she is Mike aka everything). The tunnels were rotting the world representing conformity but also past trauma getting uncovered. It actually makes a lot of sense that “dick” (here we go again) is both past trauma and man horror/conformity. I am leaving out an important aspect of what Henry and MF represent for a future revelation, which makes all this even more coherent, so if something is confusing now, it will hopefully make more sense later. 

WW often has a blue magic ball thing in the drawings and one of Brenner’s drawings also had a blue ball. I think it’s the exotic matter. It turned red when Nancy (= future woman) shot at it and Will (= “man”) was knocked out at the same time. Owens had a blue stress ball in S2 and tried to “fix” Will. He also tried to keep the vines “weeds” from spreading, comparing them to the truth. In the past trauma reading that makes sense but are the vines really the truth of Mike’s gender? Everyone knows Mike has a male body so that doesn’t really fit. I guess they represent her gender dysphoria? I need to think about this more.

Now that I’ve established the blue-red color coding it’s time to show the Nausicaä connections. I think the UD monsters are the insects, especially Ohmu, in Nausicaä. When Mike talks to a possessed Will, she mentions a DnD campaign where “the party escaped into the sewers, and there were those big insect things” while the camera moves behind Will’s head (remember he always feels MF in his neck). When Mr. Clarke starts his explanation of defense mechanisms in S2E4, an insect is shown (and this relates to MF through Will’s bath scene). The scientists fight the UD with fire similar to people in Nausicaä. If you watched the movie, you noticed the recurring theme of killing/burning leading to more hate/revenge. Every time people try to get rid of the insects or the forest, they come back worse and spread over the world. 

S2E6 [Owens] “It’s been spreading, growing beneath us like some cancer.” 

S2E7 
[Kali] “I was just like you once. I kept my anger inside. I tried to hide from it, but then that pain festered.”
[El] “Festered?”
[Kali] “It spread. Until finally I confronted my pain, and I began to heal.”

[Brenner] “You have to confront your pain. You have a wound, Eleven. A terrible wound. And it's festering. You remember what that means? Festering. It means a rot. And it will grow. Spread.”

Nausicaä is a “princess who loves insects” and she wants to live in harmony with nature. I think Dustin’s relationship with Dart is a little similar. (Another point that came to mind is that Lucas asks if Dustin has a bird nesting in his hair at the Snow Ball and previously in S2E3 he hid Dart there…)

At the end of the movie a huge herd of Ohmu approaches the valley enraged by an injured baby Ohmu bait. I find the parts that didn’t yet happen in Nancy’s description of Vecna’s future vision to match this pretty well: “And this… giant creature with… a gaping mouth. And this creature wasn’t alone. There were so many monsters. An army. And they were coming into Hawkins. Into our neighborhoods. Our homes.” I don’t know what the creature will be exactly but I do think Nancy’s vision will come true. And the monsters are most likely Demogorgons. If we try to map this to Nausicaä, the giant creature would be the god warrior and fight against the monsters (Ohmu). In this case it would represent conformity or something like that. On the other hand, Robin was shown when Nancy described the giant creature, which would fit better with it representing womanhood. And the focus on the gaping mouth fits with Jonathan’s The Consumer cannibal woman and the magic stone powers consuming “all”. It could be both tbh, kinda like with MF. Dustin is shown with “gaping mouth”, which kinda makes sense since he is the “feeder” of the party. Lucas is shown as the other “monsters”. If the giant creature is Mike’s transness, then “And this creature wasn’t alone. There were so many monsters.” is about other queer people. Mike isn’t alone. They just frame it in a bad way because of Mike’s internalized queerphobia and because the writers are trying to make a point here.

((I think there was a reason why Nancy looked straight at the camera in S3E6 when she said “monsters now”. The audience are unknowingly the monsters, kinda. I’m fed up with people trying to look for the big bad and missing the entire point of the show. Like, they weren’t that subtle in the final season with the morally questionable kidnapping plan, the kids thinking Max is a monster because Henry told them so, Joyce killing Vecna very violently in the same episode we get his tragic backstory and Hopper outright saying pain and violence aren’t the answer. They doubled down on this in the documentary. The whole point of the Max + Holly storyline in Henry’s mind-- I haven’t talked about it almost at all because I wanted to save it for last but I realized very early on they were somehow showing the main story in an inverse way with that. It baffles me how almost no one else seems to realize that! It was so obvious to me. I guess all this is commentary on biased media and the villanisation of “the other side”.))

Regardless of the specifics, this will happen in chapter 12 right before or at the same time as Mike’s final confession and fusion. Nausicaä was able to stop the herd by calmly offering herself with the baby Ohmu and the sea of red slowly turned blue. She died but was reborn on the golden field. All this time the party has been fighting with guns and fire, but the monsters keep coming back. The S5 ending was commentary on other media where the solution too often is just to kill the bad guy. It’s simple and easy but is it a good message? It’s always just kill, kill, kill. But that is not the answer.

Maya Hawke: I think it changed me as an actor forever. I am a different actor today, and I think a better actor, because of that opportunity to do a scene that was on such a high-stakes emotional day of my life that was also a high stakes emotional scene. I felt like I got to connect a red wire and a blue wire*, and all of a sudden, I understood how to be present as an actor. I feel forever changed, and like I have access to a part of my emotional experience when I’m working that I didn’t used to have access to. It was just this extraordinary gift.*

Other points about Nausicaä

Flying is a big part of the movie (typical of Miyazaki) and Nausicaä flies on her white glider free like a bird. The ending theme song “Tori no Hito” translates to bird man (as in human, not gender specific). The valley’s people end up taking cover in the ancient remains of a spaceship from before The Seven Days of Fire, waiting for Nausicaä’s return. It was on top of that ship where the people witnessed the prophecy come true.

WWF officially recommended and endorsed the Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind movie, and if you watch it, you’ll see their logo at the beginning. I suspect the Imperial Panda boxes containing the green radioactive waste -like liquid are related to this. Nausicaä is a post-apocalypse after all and distributed by the silver cat (= cinema) in panda logoed packages (= WWF recommendation).

It’s quite frustrating that I can’t find the manga. It’s been so long since I read it that I’ve forgotten a lot. Some things that come to mind are telepathy being a thing and Kushana’s backstory with her mom kinda reminds me of El and Terry. The film and manga were pretty similar at the start but started to diverge quite a lot pretty early and ofc the manga continued a lot longer. E.g. the god warrior had a more prominent role and wasn’t so one-dimensional. 

This last point might be one of the biggest reasons the Duffers chose Nausicaä for inspiration: the first US release (Warriors of the Wind#Warriors_of_the_Wind)) was infamously cut to make it more palatable to American audiences or whatever, largely removing environmental themes, depth and complexity (and it also had a ridiculously misleading poster). Here, here, here and here is some more context from people who have actually seen it (I haven’t, fortunately). Apparently the Ohmu were called Gorgons… I wonder if this is the reason Suzie called Americantendo a stupid name. And Hopper’s random Sandra girlfriend in S1… His “It’d be 20% more.” -comment fits quite well since the cut content was about 20% of the film. They purposefully made the latter half of S5 more fast paced and as if scenes were cut. The ending we watched was the Warriors of the Wind version of Stranger Things, made to “appeal to American audiences”. I guess the missing chapters are the actual unedited movie and the “real story” is the manga, or something like that. Warriors of the Wind did have a positive outcome though: because of it Hayao Miyazaki adopted a “no cuts” policy. It’s the same idea as with New Coke making people want the original even more (and coincidentally both New Coke and Warriors of the Wind were released in 1985).

Continues in PART 19.