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Sorry for the bad photo quality lmao but Hehe Cave paintings

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I love talking with neurotypical people about my executive dysfunction because I'm like "yeah there's this invisible wall in my head that I'm incapable of getting past no matter what I do and it stops me from doing things" and they're like what the actual fuck

Meanwhile other neurodivergents are like

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I haven’t listened in a bit but I was literally taking notes on this fucking show when I was listening to it a fuck ton. Not technically a red string board but I was using this app called Obsidian where you can literally create little hyper links to other notes you make and give tags to different pages. So episodes that have a bunch of bugs get a “bugs” tag and if Jane Prentiss is in/mentioned in it there’s a little link in there that’ll take me to her page about her whole deal, which’ll have a little section with links to all the other episodes she’s been in.

I don’t think I’m capable of liking things a normal amount

My thoughts/theories after episode 80 (I’ve watched up to 82 by now, but started writing this right after finishing 80)

I’m still on the track of phobias. I told a friend who’s also into this show about it and they point blank asked if I had been spoiled for anything (nothing more specific than that though) so I have a feeling I’m on the right track lol.

And then the concept of The Entities is revealed. Even though we weren’t specifically told about their deals I think I can make some assumptions. Welcome to another wall of text

First off, The Eye or Beholder. 2 names that have the same vibe but to me gives more context than just one or the other. Something that watches, yeah, but also takes in and learns. To behold something is to do more than just look at it, it’s to process it and commit it to memory. A fear of being watched is common, and we see is episodes like The Observer Affect, and I know characters have mentioned feeling watched, and from episode 82 I assume there’s also a sort of “burdened with knowledge” effect to it cause wtf Elias. I have other thoughts but I’ll put those with my thoughts from the actual episodes

Second off, The Distortion, or The Spiral. This is definitely the entity we have a name for thus far that we’ve seen the most of. Michael is a creepy little fucker and he’s bad at pretending to be a human. I’m assuming the fear it’s related to is maybe a fear of going insane, loosing your mental faculties. Strange, disturbing hallucinations, doors leading to endless hallways that don’t make sense, l hell Michael himself physically looks normal, but appears strange and horribly wrong if you look at it from the right angle. There could be something else there, but,

The Vast. Mentioned first from where I can see in Literary Heights (maybe sooner but I can’t remember). Michael Crew mentioned it when he was in that sort of standoff with the lightning monster. The Vast and some of Michael’s stuff feels like it’s similar in terms on endlessness, but I think The Vast is also related to the fear of heights we’ve seen a lot of. Obviously what happened in Freefall, but also the woodcut of the endless sky with the lightning in Pageturner, everything that happened in A Long Way Down. Not just vast in endlessness, but in the specific fear of drops and heights and the feeling you get looking at the stars and realizing many of them are already dead by the time the light reaches your eyes.

The End is another we’ve heard mentioned, with Mary Keay saying she got her skin book from it, or that that’s where it came from, what it’s tied to. Considering the book has to do with killing and the name itself is wager this is related to a fear of death and dying, which could relate to episodes like The Piper, Cheating Death, and Burial Rites. Specifically these all seem to have themes of people who should be dead, but clearly aren’t somehow. I don’t have much more idea about this, other than the fact that it’s probably a monkeys paw kind of situation. “You’re so afraid of death you don’t want to die? Okay, you won’t die then. See how you like it.”

The Stranger has been mentioned a couple of times, Leitner mentioned the files Elias stole were on The Stranger, and it seems to be related to whatever the Unknowing is. I still can’t quite tell if that’s another entity, or an event/end goal some of the entities are trying to cause/reach. Anyways, I’m not entirely sure what the stranger could be since we haven’t seen much of them explicitly, but from what I’d have to guess by the name alone it’s the sort of uncanny valley effect. The Not-Them completely taking a persons place in reality, leaving only one person to know that it is nothing like the person it killed. Students with far too specific and strange questions about the body, shaping their bones and adjusting their organs to match the real ones. Hell even in Anglerfish all the way back to episode one, a man who simply asks for a cigarette in the same, monotonous tone, never moving to take it, simply waiting for their prey to come. Body horror and people a bit (or pretty far) to the left.

Then there’s other phobias we’ve seen that I don’t know if we have a name for. The Hive might be to do with a fear of bugs, but there’s also been so much discussion of spiders and disease that they could be lumped into one, or simply have a lot of overlap. If they are separate then disease is for sure one of them. Claustrophobia is another we’ve seen a lot of, but I’m wondering if that could be related to The Vast in a sort of equals and opposites way? Things that are so large and ongoing they’re unknowable and spaces that are so small they bend reality and threaten to suffocate.

There are still some things that don’t seem to fit these for me, but I’m sure as time goes on there will be more entities or at least more explanation of the things we’ve already seen in the context of them. The coffin in Do Not Open, everything with the video in Binary. Dreamer is one I’m thinking about, I feel like it could be related to the eye simply in terms of knowing that people are going to die, and especially with the strange veins wrapped around Gertrude, but also could be related to The End cause. Yknow. Death.

I’m also not entirely sure about the fire stuff and the meat stuff, that’s still throwing me for a loop. I know trying to fit everything into nice neat boxes probably won’t help, these are eldritch beings after all, but I am curious to see what all fits into the “caused by an entity” column and what falls into the “caused by a cult *related* to the entity” column and what falls into the “secret third thing” column lol. I’m also curious if everything is related to specific phobias or just. Causing fear? And phobias are a very, very good way to do that, cause that would also help to fit a few more things into “caused by entities” column. Like wasn’t there a fucking werewolf at one point???? Anyways.

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SAFE HOUSE CUSTOMIZATION SAFE HOUSE CUSTOMIZATION SAFE HOUSE CUSTOMIZATION SAFE HOUSE CUSTOMIZATION SAFE HOUSE CUSTOMIZATION SAFE HOUSE CUSTOMIZATION SAFE HOUSE CUSTOMIZATION SAFE HOUSE CUSTOMIZATION SAFE HOUSE CUSTOMIZATION

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My thoughts/theories after episode 80 (I’ve watched up to 82 by now, but started writing this right after finishing 80)

I’m still on the track of phobias. I told a friend who’s also into this show about it and they point blank asked if I had been spoiled for anything (nothing more specific than that though) so I have a feeling I’m on the right track lol.

And then the concept of The Entities is revealed. Even though we weren’t specifically told about their deals I think I can make some assumptions. Welcome to another wall of text

First off, The Eye or Beholder. 2 names that have the same vibe but to me gives more context than just one or the other. Something that watches, yeah, but also takes in and learns. To behold something is to do more than just look at it, it’s to process it and commit it to memory. A fear of being watched is common, and we see is episodes like The Observer Affect, and I know characters have mentioned feeling watched, and from episode 82 I assume there’s also a sort of “burdened with knowledge” effect to it cause wtf Elias. I have other thoughts but I’ll put those with my thoughts from the actual episodes

Second off, The Distortion, or The Spiral. This is definitely the entity we have a name for thus far that we’ve seen the most of. Michael is a creepy little fucker and he’s bad at pretending to be a human. I’m assuming the fear it’s related to is maybe a fear of going insane, loosing your mental faculties. Strange, disturbing hallucinations, doors leading to endless hallways that don’t make sense, l hell Michael himself physically looks normal, but appears strange and horribly wrong if you look at it from the right angle. There could be something else there, but,

The Vast. Mentioned first from where I can see in Literary Heights (maybe sooner but I can’t remember). Michael Crew mentioned it when he was in that sort of standoff with the lightning monster. The Vast and some of Michael’s stuff feels like it’s similar in terms on endlessness, but I think The Vast is also related to the fear of heights we’ve seen a lot of. Obviously what happened in Freefall, but also the woodcut of the endless sky with the lightning in Pageturner, everything that happened in A Long Way Down. Not just vast in endlessness, but in the specific fear of drops and heights and the feeling you get looking at the stars and realizing many of them are already dead by the time the light reaches your eyes.

The End is another we’ve heard mentioned, with Mary Keay saying she got her skin book from it, or that that’s where it came from, what it’s tied to. Considering the book has to do with killing and the name itself is wager this is related to a fear of death and dying, which could relate to episodes like The Piper, Cheating Death, and Burial Rites. Specifically these all seem to have themes of people who should be dead, but clearly aren’t somehow. I don’t have much more idea about this, other than the fact that it’s probably a monkeys paw kind of situation. “You’re so afraid of death you don’t want to die? Okay, you won’t die then. See how you like it.”

The Stranger has been mentioned a couple of times, Leitner mentioned the files Elias stole were on The Stranger, and it seems to be related to whatever the Unknowing is. I still can’t quite tell if that’s another entity, or an event/end goal some of the entities are trying to cause/reach. Anyways, I’m not entirely sure what the stranger could be since we haven’t seen much of them explicitly, but from what I’d have to guess by the name alone it’s the sort of uncanny valley effect. The Not-Them completely taking a persons place in reality, leaving only one person to know that it is nothing like the person it killed. Students with far too specific and strange questions about the body, shaping their bones and adjusting their organs to match the real ones. Hell even in Anglerfish all the way back to episode one, a man who simply asks for a cigarette in the same, monotonous tone, never moving to take it, simply waiting for their prey to come. Body horror and people a bit (or pretty far) to the left.

Then there’s other phobias we’ve seen that I don’t know if we have a name for. The Hive might be to do with a fear of bugs, but there’s also been so much discussion of spiders and disease that they could be lumped into one, or simply have a lot of overlap. If they are separate then disease is for sure one of them. Claustrophobia is another we’ve seen a lot of, but I’m wondering if that could be related to The Vast in a sort of equals and opposites way? Things that are so large and ongoing they’re unknowable and spaces that are so small they bend reality and threaten to suffocate.

There are still some things that don’t seem to fit these for me, but I’m sure as time goes on there will be more entities or at least more explanation of the things we’ve already seen in the context of them. The coffin in Do Not Open, everything with the video in Binary. Dreamer is one I’m thinking about, I feel like it could be related to the eye simply in terms of knowing that people are going to die, and especially with the strange veins wrapped around Gertrude, but also could be related to The End cause. Yknow. Death.

I’m also not entirely sure about the fire stuff and the meat stuff, that’s still throwing me for a loop. I know trying to fit everything into nice neat boxes probably won’t help, these are eldritch beings after all, but I am curious to see what all fits into the “caused by an entity” column and what falls into the “caused by a cult *related* to the entity” column and what falls into the “secret third thing” column lol. I’m also curious if everything is related to specific phobias or just. Causing fear? And phobias are a very, very good way to do that, cause that would also help to fit a few more things into “caused by entities” column. Like wasn’t there a fucking werewolf at one point???? Anyways.

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My final TMA post of season 2. I think in the future I might try and keep these posts a lot shorter, limit my word count or sentence amount or something like that. But in the meantime, enjoy my thoughts on Episode 79 and 80!! I’ll be making a separate posts about some of my thoughts specifically regarding some shit we learned in episode 80. This is a long one so buckle in yall. I hope my ramblings are at least semi coherent

Ep 79: So many fucking thoughts. Jon doesn’t remember what Sasha looked like. Martin and Tim saw Not-Sasha even if they don’t understand it. Martin and Tim ending up in Michael’s. Domain? That feels like a fitting word at this point, even the way Michael talks, the way he has to remember the word for “sport”, makes me think that he’s not even something that’s good at pretending to be human. Not-Them is so fucking scary, the idea of them “wearing” the people they kill not like wearing their skin, but like wearing their essence, taking their place in the world but not their likeness. Fucking terrifying. Not-Sasha saying the institute “has the biggest eyes you ever did see”. Saying that if they took Jon’s place and became the Archivist he’d “miss the Unknowing” whatever that means. She talks about “robbing the eye of its pupil”. Archivist is capitalized in the transcripts when she says it, like it’s a title or a name. So much weird eye imagery in this fucking show. Strange mystery man appearing from the shadows and. Killing Not-Sasha? I’m not entirely sure what that was. God this episode was a lot from like 20-100 so fast

Ep 80: one of the YouTube comments on this episode is from that one TikTok “day 23 in the chamber, they ain’t found me yet but when they do they gonna be surprised” and that gave me a good laugh after this HELL of a fucking episode. You’re telling me we meet JURGEN LEITNER and then witness his DEATH in the same fucking episode???? What the shit??!?? All of my answers and ideas from the last episode were immediately answered here lmao

The Not-Them is trapped, not dead, likely never able to die according to Leitner. The real Sasha is dead forever, and it’s not surprising but there is a deep injustice in that. She didn’t have an inkling of what was going on.

There’s a book that works on Smirke’s architecture and is related to the phobia of claustrophobia, another hint I think.

The amusement in Jon’s voice with “That’ll be our Gerard” makes me wonder if I’ve missed something about his character related to the others, or if it’s just Jon happy to recognize something familiar in all of this.

The evolution through the episode of “what do you mean you thought they were just books, they are right?” to “oh god. They are so much more than books.” Leitner says some of them must like the flame, that things would take a different form if the book was burned. Is that what some of the creatures are? The ones that aren’t even pretending to be something strange and terrifying? Beings released from books and allowed to be more overtly dangerous? Like unbinding Not-Sasha from the table?

The description of what happened when the house was attacked is chilling and brings back many, many memories. Stabbed through the throat by something with too many teeth and limbs like knives sounds like the bajillions of people-to-the-left we’ve seen. Similar to Not-Them I think? Or maybe there’s a different example I can’t remember. Pulled into a maw that opened up from the floor, which sounds identical to the hole in The Butchers Window. Ran into a door that didn’t exist, Michael obviously. A hand through the roof simply grabbing someone is reminiscent of the way the sky ate, or somehow took the man in Freefall. An assistant whose name isn’t memorable anymore (though all the others’ are) being pulled into a pile of meat, the former sounds similar to what we saw in Lost and Found, but the meat mentioned sounds more reminiscent to things we saw in The Man Upstairs. Rooms taken by darkness or fire, things we have already seen the power of overtly and know very well.

Gertrude had 3 assistants, all 3 “meeting an unpleasant end”. I do not like the foreshadowing that offers for Tim and Martin, with Sasha already gone.

And of course. The entities. The humans to us, the ants. I find the analogy Leitner uses to be particularly interesting, even if I don’t know if he meant it in this way. Fingernails digging, changing the world in a fraction of a second, changing reality in a way ants could never fully understand. Like a creature taking the entire idea of a person and warping it to meet their needs. Changing memories and photographs and nearly everything in its path. The sky moving, in ways it shouldn’t because it just doesn’t, to pluck a man from reality. Eyes watching, knowing and seeing and observing, filing information away in a horrifying and terribly understanding kind of way. Always there, it’s people of interest never far from view even as they’re driven mad. Shadows vast and unfathomable, darkness that seems to spread the way light does. Endless expanses entirely impossible and yet very, very real to the people who see it. Themes we’ve seen before all over this series.

Leitner says Michael is “The Distortion”, “The Spiral”. Illusions and hallucinations and insanity. I think some things are falling into place, and I might have to make a seperate post on it cause this one is already way too long, but I think my phobias theory wasn’t too far off.

Elias killed Gertrude. Gertrude and Leitner were going to destroy the archives. Elias took files, files on “The Stranger”. Another mention of the Unknowing. Another entity? An event to come?

[Brutal Pipe Murder] made me laugh far harder than it should’ve. Sorry Leitner. What is the dripping (I don’t want to know). I don’t know how long Tim and Martin were gone, but gods they came on an awful scene. And they think Jon did it. God season 3 is gonna be Fucked.

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Another wall of text on my thoughts for episodes 70-78, I’m gonna make a seperate post for 79 and 80 having listened to them already cause there is just. So much.

I wrote all of these notes after listening to the original episode, not any further, so enjoy my thought process though the last quarter of this season!!!

Ep 70: More death discussions, oh joy!! These are the episodes that make me the most uncomfortable, the ones that talk about the nature of death more than just the fact that it exists. I am curious where these books are coming from, if it’s not just Leitner’s involvement that makes them fucked up. Also Not-Sasha’s laptop having “authentication errors” definitely sounds accurate, even the technology can tell she’s not really her.

Ep 71: Another example of a story with a focus on claustrophobia. Most of the ones we’ve heard by now are from people who are very clearly scared/panicked by the occurance, but Karolina was suuuper chill about it all. Even not being afraid of death, as she mentioned. It feels strange to not be at least a bit perturbed by the idea of your own death, especially in such an untimely way. That’s coming from me though, who absolutely has a fear of death in some capacity, so I’m probably projecting a bit

Ep 72: Basira you better still be alive and not murdered by darkness demons or some shit you’re too cool. Also kindly what the fuck is this episode. I know there’s been some episodes to do with large amounts of meat or body parts, the room in the man upstairs, the teeth in thrown away. A part of me wants to say this is just a story about a crazy fucking murderer, but I am far to familiar with this fucking series by this point to think it’s just that. So seriously what is the fucking deal with all the meat. The link to the Tom Hahn in Killing Floor is interesting though much like Jon I have no clue what it means.

Ep 73: There are officially too many cults and I cannot keep track of them. Once again phobia themes!!! Darkness!!! Plus the idea that a space was much smaller in reality than it seemed while going through it, which sounds at least similar to a lot of the endless/infinite stuff we’ve seen before. I’m a little worried about Basira now, since like Jon mentioned being involved and in the know with these things in the way they are seems to offer some level of safety, at least more than if they’re not part of an official organization. Iirc Natalie was the weird girl who kept unscrewing the lightbulbs in that one episode, and Rayner was mentioned in Fathers Love?? I think??

74: Totally unexpected change of events, something fucked is in the tunnels!!! Never would’ve guessed!!!! Snarkiness aside though, this episode is interesting. Michael being there was confusing at first, but I’d wager a guess the drawings mentioned are fractals, or something similar, and he seems to like things that go on forever and fold in on themselves. The idea of the thing in the tunnels somehow removing and replacing the floor is interesting, I don’t know if we’ve seen things like that happen in places that are not somehow extradimensional or unreal in some way (like the spaces Michael likes so much). The fact that the person is taking files is also concerning, I would hope Jon would check to see if anything important is missing, or what was taken in general. Clues n such. Also we’re finally getting more confirmation that Not-Sasha is up to some sketchy shit!!!! Catch on Jon please god!!

75: Michael Crew what the hell have you become. The mention from Jon about wondering if the books take power from the people reading them instead of the other way around makes sense, but what does that mean for people like crew? People who died because of something to do with the book and are just. Inexplicably back? I can’t remember if there are other examples of something like this or if it’s just that there’s been so many books and so much death that it blends together. Basira really came through bringing the tapes, and it’s a much more satisfying goodbye to her character than just “fuck it I’m done buh bye”

Ep 76: Melanie King my beloved!!! I love that she and Jon are able to, for lack of a better term, infordump together lol. Hearing them literally finish each others sentences in the end talking about the research King was doing gave me a special kind of happiness lol. I do hope she doesn’t get murdered by ghosts in India though. Also she doesn’t recognize Not-Sasha!!!!! She knows she isn’t actual Sasha!!!! And now Jon has a real and true inkling of what’s going on. C’mon Jon you remember Graham from Across the Street, put the pieces together please god.

Ep 77: we have answers on whatever is up with Not-Sasha!! The Not-Them, apparently just one weird creature. Gertrude mentions “The Stranger”, which idk what it means but I know Mary Keay mentioned “The End”. I really don’t know what this could be about, but the way they talk about them like creatures or something is curious. Jon putting pieces together at the end even I hadn’t realized!!! Distortion and Strange Music both had Sasha’s voice. God I already knew the voice actor for Jon is fucking incredible but the panic and horror in his voice as he puts the pieces together of what Not-Sasha is, and what it must’ve done to actual Sasha? Phenomenal. But also I REALLY want Jon to clue the others in on what’s going on. They might not believe him right away and it might take a lot of explanation but there is real logic and evidence in what’s going on, they’ll pick up on that I assume

Ep 78: God the grief in Jon’s voice is awful. VA is too good. But also listening to the statement, hearing such explicit confirmation that the people attacked by the Not-Them are dead, not simply missing or lost, was so hard to hear Jon read. Just realizing that was probably the first time he got proper confirmation of it as well. Also god DAMN it he needs to tell Tim and Martin what the fuck is going on they can HELP. And maybe then he can get help from his friends instead of going through Michael’s fucking doors to escape the now unbound(???) Not-Them. Fucking wild

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Hey guys????? Hey GUYS?????? I’m on episode 80?????? Hey yall what the fuck????

I’m gonna make a whole huge posts of my thoughts from episodes like 70-78 but I might need to make a whole individual post for 79 and 80 cause. Holy fuck so much happened what the HELL is going on. Entities that are gods and- and Elias and fucking LEITNER?? Martin and Tim in the fucking backrooms and what the HELL was the dripping. God I’m sitting down but I feel like I need to sit further down what the HELL is going on. Things escalated. So damn quickly

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Yes exactly!!! Like I said sorry for the confusion lol, talking is hard sometimes

Ok so I have a lot of thoughts about one particular thing and it might be nothing but I’m getting more and more convinced that it’s something, so here ya go

There’s a through line (or multiple, depending on how you slice it) I’ve noticed in not all the episodes, but a lot of them. There’s this running theme of fear, in a lot of different ways. And for a long time I thought it was just a result of this being, yknow, a horror podcast, but some of the things on Gertrude’s shopping list are giving me second thoughts.

First there’s the actual feeling of fear. Again I know, oh wow horror podcast scary. But I don’t just mean for us as the listeners, I mean for the characters themselves. Jane Prentiss mentions in her statement many times that she is scared, and she’s supposed to be the monster under the bed of sorts. I’m pretty sure even Jon comments on it. Jon says in season 1 he keeps up the idea of him being a skeptic because he is afraid, and if he pretends they’re nothing then they aren’t real. I’m sure there are more examples, but even beyond just the content of the statements, the characters themselves are afraid and it seems to be in the very real, dread at the bottom of your stomach kind of way.

There’s also the actual sort of. Concept of fear itself. Not the feeling but the thing you think of when you read the word fear. Like phobias. The vast majority of episodes have these links to very common phobias. Fear of the dark, of enclosed spaces, of endlessness/infinity, of bugs, of death. Hell episodes like Anatomy Class and the stuff with Michael could even be related to the idea of Uncanny Valley, these things that are people but a bit to the left. I had noticed this awhile ago, but just assumed it was taking inspiration. Of course a horror podcast would involve common phobias. But episode 66, with Gertrude’s shopping list, sort of solidified it for me as more than just inspiration, in some way I’m not fully sure of yet. She was buying pesticides, and an exorbitant amount of flashlights. Things to kill bugs and keep the darkness at bay. I’m not entirely sure what the gas and lighter fluid could be related to, but the latter at least could have something to do with the weird sourceless heat that seems to keep coming up.

Like I said, there are some things that don’t fit this. Specifically episodes related to individual people or groups. Piecemeal comes to mind, since other than the fact that Salesa is mentioned the act of a person being dismembered piece by piece from a curse put on them by a nice old lady doesn’t ring any bells with any fears I can think of. Or a father’s love. Clearly horrifying, but other than the lights flickering off (and iirc, not enough to cause complete darkness) they don’t really fit that bill. But going down the list of episodes I’ve watched, a lot do.

This could be nothing. This could be something. But yall seem to like my theories whether they’re crack or not, so I hope you like this one lol

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No no you didn’t spoil anything!!! I just meant that if I was right or wrong about this being something from the show that I haven’t seen yet not to say so lol. More of a future reference thing than anything you did, sorry for the confusion

Ok so I have a lot of thoughts about one particular thing and it might be nothing but I’m getting more and more convinced that it’s something, so here ya go

There’s a through line (or multiple, depending on how you slice it) I’ve noticed in not all the episodes, but a lot of them. There’s this running theme of fear, in a lot of different ways. And for a long time I thought it was just a result of this being, yknow, a horror podcast, but some of the things on Gertrude’s shopping list are giving me second thoughts.

First there’s the actual feeling of fear. Again I know, oh wow horror podcast scary. But I don’t just mean for us as the listeners, I mean for the characters themselves. Jane Prentiss mentions in her statement many times that she is scared, and she’s supposed to be the monster under the bed of sorts. I’m pretty sure even Jon comments on it. Jon says in season 1 he keeps up the idea of him being a skeptic because he is afraid, and if he pretends they’re nothing then they aren’t real. I’m sure there are more examples, but even beyond just the content of the statements, the characters themselves are afraid and it seems to be in the very real, dread at the bottom of your stomach kind of way.

There’s also the actual sort of. Concept of fear itself. Not the feeling but the thing you think of when you read the word fear. Like phobias. The vast majority of episodes have these links to very common phobias. Fear of the dark, of enclosed spaces, of endlessness/infinity, of bugs, of death. Hell episodes like Anatomy Class and the stuff with Michael could even be related to the idea of Uncanny Valley, these things that are people but a bit to the left. I had noticed this awhile ago, but just assumed it was taking inspiration. Of course a horror podcast would involve common phobias. But episode 66, with Gertrude’s shopping list, sort of solidified it for me as more than just inspiration, in some way I’m not fully sure of yet. She was buying pesticides, and an exorbitant amount of flashlights. Things to kill bugs and keep the darkness at bay. I’m not entirely sure what the gas and lighter fluid could be related to, but the latter at least could have something to do with the weird sourceless heat that seems to keep coming up.

Like I said, there are some things that don’t fit this. Specifically episodes related to individual people or groups. Piecemeal comes to mind, since other than the fact that Salesa is mentioned the act of a person being dismembered piece by piece from a curse put on them by a nice old lady doesn’t ring any bells with any fears I can think of. Or a father’s love. Clearly horrifying, but other than the lights flickering off (and iirc, not enough to cause complete darkness) they don’t really fit that bill. But going down the list of episodes I’ve watched, a lot do.

This could be nothing. This could be something. But yall seem to like my theories whether they’re crack or not, so I hope you like this one lol

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I can’t quite tell if this is a quote or just a very well phrased response but either way, that definitely sounds accurate, especially with disease seeming to be another of the phobias (please don’t correct me if I’m wrong lol, I don’t wanna get spoiled)

Ok so I have a lot of thoughts about one particular thing and it might be nothing but I’m getting more and more convinced that it’s something, so here ya go

There’s a through line (or multiple, depending on how you slice it) I’ve noticed in not all the episodes, but a lot of them. There’s this running theme of fear, in a lot of different ways. And for a long time I thought it was just a result of this being, yknow, a horror podcast, but some of the things on Gertrude’s shopping list are giving me second thoughts.

First there’s the actual feeling of fear. Again I know, oh wow horror podcast scary. But I don’t just mean for us as the listeners, I mean for the characters themselves. Jane Prentiss mentions in her statement many times that she is scared, and she’s supposed to be the monster under the bed of sorts. I’m pretty sure even Jon comments on it. Jon says in season 1 he keeps up the idea of him being a skeptic because he is afraid, and if he pretends they’re nothing then they aren’t real. I’m sure there are more examples, but even beyond just the content of the statements, the characters themselves are afraid and it seems to be in the very real, dread at the bottom of your stomach kind of way.

There’s also the actual sort of. Concept of fear itself. Not the feeling but the thing you think of when you read the word fear. Like phobias. The vast majority of episodes have these links to very common phobias. Fear of the dark, of enclosed spaces, of endlessness/infinity, of bugs, of death. Hell episodes like Anatomy Class and the stuff with Michael could even be related to the idea of Uncanny Valley, these things that are people but a bit to the left. I had noticed this awhile ago, but just assumed it was taking inspiration. Of course a horror podcast would involve common phobias. But episode 66, with Gertrude’s shopping list, sort of solidified it for me as more than just inspiration, in some way I’m not fully sure of yet. She was buying pesticides, and an exorbitant amount of flashlights. Things to kill bugs and keep the darkness at bay. I’m not entirely sure what the gas and lighter fluid could be related to, but the latter at least could have something to do with the weird sourceless heat that seems to keep coming up.

Like I said, there are some things that don’t fit this. Specifically episodes related to individual people or groups. Piecemeal comes to mind, since other than the fact that Salesa is mentioned the act of a person being dismembered piece by piece from a curse put on them by a nice old lady doesn’t ring any bells with any fears I can think of. Or a father’s love. Clearly horrifying, but other than the lights flickering off (and iirc, not enough to cause complete darkness) they don’t really fit that bill. But going down the list of episodes I’ve watched, a lot do.

This could be nothing. This could be something. But yall seem to like my theories whether they’re crack or not, so I hope you like this one lol

[ziploc849]

Ok there’s a part of me that feels like I shouldn’t keep making huge long posts with a bunch of my thoughts on every episode but also every episode has important shit???? And I wanna talk about them????? If anyone has better ideas of how to format these without it being huge walls of text lmk, but until then this is what you get I suppose

Anyways ep 67 has fucking. Fire people. Again. People we’ve definitely seen before, with Agnes and probably Diego too. What the fuck is up with these people. Why are they so hot (not like that), and how does it relate to literally any other important thing in this series. Jon mentions that their cult is likely involved in a lot of the stuff related to burning in the series, with the fire at Prentiss’ apartment and the ritual circle, but there are so many other examples of fire or strange sourceless heat that if they’re all related to these folks they have their fingers in every fucking pie. What is their fucking deal

Episode 68 doesn’t stick out to me much on its own, but it’s the connections that make it interesting. Obviously there’s the themes of death, one of the phobias I’m starting to catch on to (someone told me I had the right idea so I’m sticking to it and if I’m wrong who cares), both surviving death and people dying of disease around the book inexplicably. Also related to phobias is when at the end of the post statement Jon says “Insects and disease. No clear connection other than the fact that they somehow feel similar, they both make one feel distinctly unclean”. Germaphobia is another incredibly common fear, and considering we saw Amherst in Taken Ill, where we know one character in particular had an issue with a spot on her hand to the point she lost it (probably cut it off if I had to guess, but we don’t have any actual confirmation), which seems very similar to a lot of obsessions related to OCD I’ve heard of with needing to be clean causing harm from washing hands too much/too intensely. Fear of disease could be another I didn’t take into consideration earlier. Also the suplimental makes me hopeful Jon will figure out what’s up with Not-Sasha (or at least that she is, in fact, Not-Sasha) and we’ll get some more answers there

A part of me was expecting 69 to have some sort of dirty joke at some point, cause I’m a 12 year old in a 20 year old’s trench coat, but spiders works too I guess. Once again, common fear arachnophobia, and this with the trances and such feels very similar to what we saw in Recluse. Also Jon in the suplemental makes me deeply sad in a very real way. He is right to want to go down into the tunnels, the others are right to want to keep him safe but they aren’t the ones recording these statements specifically on a tape recorder because they won’t work otherwise, which is deeply strange in itself. Jon and us have context that they don’t, and I am BEGGING Jon to get his head on straight and just ask for help and provide that context to them (not Not-Sasha tho, don’t trust her even a little) (I know he won’t, I haven’t written in years but I know how to make a story interesting and frustrating at the same time)

[ziploc849]

Ok so I have a lot of thoughts about one particular thing and it might be nothing but I’m getting more and more convinced that it’s something, so here ya go

There’s a through line (or multiple, depending on how you slice it) I’ve noticed in not all the episodes, but a lot of them. There’s this running theme of fear, in a lot of different ways. And for a long time I thought it was just a result of this being, yknow, a horror podcast, but some of the things on Gertrude’s shopping list are giving me second thoughts.

First there’s the actual feeling of fear. Again I know, oh wow horror podcast scary. But I don’t just mean for us as the listeners, I mean for the characters themselves. Jane Prentiss mentions in her statement many times that she is scared, and she’s supposed to be the monster under the bed of sorts. I’m pretty sure even Jon comments on it. Jon says in season 1 he keeps up the idea of him being a skeptic because he is afraid, and if he pretends they’re nothing then they aren’t real. I’m sure there are more examples, but even beyond just the content of the statements, the characters themselves are afraid and it seems to be in the very real, dread at the bottom of your stomach kind of way.

There’s also the actual sort of. Concept of fear itself. Not the feeling but the thing you think of when you read the word fear. Like phobias. The vast majority of episodes have these links to very common phobias. Fear of the dark, of enclosed spaces, of endlessness/infinity, of bugs, of death. Hell episodes like Anatomy Class and the stuff with Michael could even be related to the idea of Uncanny Valley, these things that are people but a bit to the left. I had noticed this awhile ago, but just assumed it was taking inspiration. Of course a horror podcast would involve common phobias. But episode 66, with Gertrude’s shopping list, sort of solidified it for me as more than just inspiration, in some way I’m not fully sure of yet. She was buying pesticides, and an exorbitant amount of flashlights. Things to kill bugs and keep the darkness at bay. I’m not entirely sure what the gas and lighter fluid could be related to, but the latter at least could have something to do with the weird sourceless heat that seems to keep coming up.

Like I said, there are some things that don’t fit this. Specifically episodes related to individual people or groups. Piecemeal comes to mind, since other than the fact that Salesa is mentioned the act of a person being dismembered piece by piece from a curse put on them by a nice old lady doesn’t ring any bells with any fears I can think of. Or a father’s love. Clearly horrifying, but other than the lights flickering off (and iirc, not enough to cause complete darkness) they don’t really fit that bill. But going down the list of episodes I’ve watched, a lot do.

This could be nothing. This could be something. But yall seem to like my theories whether they’re crack or not, so I hope you like this one lol

[ziploc849]

Alright I’m back on my TMA bullshit welcome to the circus. This is a long with many episodes worth of thoughts so strap in

62. Holy FUCK. Mary fucking Keay is here and she’s killing people and putting their skin in a book to. Summon them again??? I have truly no understanding of the implications of this but what the hell man. Also Gertrude is either fucking crazy or knew waaaay more than we do (or both. Both is a solid option at this point) cuz she took everything very well. Also when asked who the book was from, Keay just said “The End”??? Like fucking Minecraft???? Idk what the hell this lady is talking about.

(Also I feel like I recognize the idea of a “The *blank*” in this series. I can’t remember if we’ve seen it before or if I’ve just collected some knowledge after being on the outskirts of the fandom for so long but. Whatever it is it’s fucked and I’m intrigued)

63 What is up with this fucking architect guy what is his deal???? Why does he keep building fucked up places where fucked up things happen??? Also weird that the people in the church seem to know/want to cover up something is odd. Also also the end with Melanie King coming back was an interesting lil thing, of all the characters I expected to be recurring I was not expecting her. Don’t like that she got saddled with Not-Sasha though, hopefully it’s nothing or there are at least other witnesses to her leaving cause otherwise she might not be as recurring anymore. Idk what Not-Sasha’s deal is but I Do Not like it

64. ARCHAEOLOGY MENTION FUCK YEAH. I could honestly go on a whole rant about just how much I dislike Gwynne based on her ideals when it comes to archaeology, as someone who wants to be in the field myself, but I digress. I am curious about the fact that this is someone clearly long dead who still was conscious in some capacity? Clearly they didn’t want to continue as they were. It sounds sort of similar to something one of the officers mentioned in an episode they were giving statements (can’t remember which). One of them mentioned being called to a scene where someone who seemed like they should’ve been dead from a suicide attempt kept trying to reach for the gun. The moment where the skeleton was trying to stab themself in the chest gave me a very similar vibe in the worst possible way.

65. I am following maybe 3 of the words this woman is saying in the first 7 or so minutes. But also the stuff she mentions with the man eating the computer is so unbelievably unsettling, and the stuff he was saying is fascinating. “The maze is sharp on my mind. The angles cut me when I try to think” especially reminds me of all the variations of endless mazes or places we’ve seen in the show so far. Jon reaching out to specifically tech savvy people is also super smart, and it’s sick that he has access to Gertrude’s laptop now. Tim and Jon fighting felt like listening to parents fighting. Im glad Jon is both getting a stern talking to and Tim is getting some sort of understanding of where Jon’s coming from. The fact that they both mention they can’t quit/can’t fire the other is interesting especially. I know stuff like that has been mentioned before, I’m pretty sure after the first encounter with the worms Martin mentioned something about “why don’t I quit?” But regardless it’s just another weird fuckin thing going on

66. Mikael fucking Salesa, what is your problem. I honestly don’t have a lot to say about this episode, definitely another example of weird extradimensional spaces, and some mentions of the weird, unexplainable heat, but also the way he mentioned the box “punishing him” as if it was a living thing was interesting. I also have a lot of thoughts on the stuff mentioned about Gertrude, and I’m really fascinated by all the stuff Jon mentioned about stopping asking about who killed her and focusing more on the why. As we’ve actually gotten to hear some of her recordings, esp the one with Mary Keay where she’s incredibly nonchalant about the murder and skin book, I think it’s an interesting idea that she may have been more suspicious that we thought.

Finally I think her lil shopping list was interesting, but honestly it’s the more mundane stuff rather than the Leitners that interest me, but I’ll probably make a seperate post about that cause it kinda rolls into a theory I’ve been sitting on for a little bit now

[ziploc849]

Ok!!! I got a question a bit ago from @cuttlefrank about my thoughts on Ep 3, so here goes (hope you enjoy my thoughts lol). As I’m writing this I just finished episode 64 for context of where I’m at. Also I did not hold back on this this is a long one lmao. Ask and you shall receive I suppose

I love that Patel’s idea of fun and interesting hobby is taking a Criminology class. Also the fact that she goes from “people watching is a guilty pleasure” to “actively stalking this guy”. Very strange dichotomy of “I’m a very private person and don’t want him knowing we get off on the same stop” but also. Finding out exactly what apartment he lives in so you can watch him for months on end.

I have no idea what pushed her into the road but I think it can be safely put under the “one of the weird fucking things in this podcast” category and can just live there. The disappearing window box is also a weird addition I don’t really understand. Also I hope the notebook he ate was tasty (wtf was that about).

I’m curious if the table has something to do with the Not-People. It’s mentioned multiple times that Graham would spend most of his free time staring at the table, and that’s what Sasha was looking at when she got replaced.

The pipe turned arm (and the creature attached to it) gives me many thoughts. First, on a meta level, the recording starts to get some static in the background right around then as well as the usual eerie music, same with when Patel actually mentioned talking by to Not-Graham, which could be nothing but still. The mention that it doesn’t seem to be moving, rather shifting, definitely makes it sound like a weird Michael related thing, distorted n shit.

The fact that Not-Graham also looked completely different than Graham makes me wonder if Sasha looks completely different now too, and the other just haven’t noticed somehow in the same way plenty of others didn’t seem to notice with Graham.

“Keep watching” feels meaningful as the thing Graham kept writing, both in terms of the fact that Patel continued watch him as well as the fact that she seems to be the only one that remembered actual Graham after he got replaced. Maybe if you watch the person get changed in some capacity you can recognize the difference? Or see the creature itself? There’s also generally a lot of eye imagery in this show and while I don’t know exactly what it means, that feels like it could be related somehow

Finally, of course I have to offer a possible crack theory in here, but I find it interesting that this episode, with a table with fractals on it and a person getting replaced and their original self forgotten by most, has some thematic similarities in those things to Lost and Found, where a man continuously lost things, including his own husband, seemingly because of a vase with fractals painted on it. Could be nothing, but also maybe is something

I think that’s all my thoughts though!! Thank you for asking lol, it was honestly v interesting to listen back to.

[ziploc849]

don't give up

[ziploc849]

Ohhhh that makes complete sense. If it gives you any sense of hope I am in a class that sounds almost identical to that rn and I am fucking living for it. And a lot of my classmates seem to understand the same idea, so at least there is a way to get past the cave man unga bunga pop culture shit lmao

Me?? Crying over Neanderthals??? It’s way, waaaaaay more likely than you think