November 8, 2023 • 55 mins
Chris and Emma are joined by artist Dustin Rutledge continue their newest series SurrealTube, a look at surreal, weird, and strange YouTube content, with a look at David Firth's Salad Fingers.
You can follow Chris Stachiw @Casualty_Chris, Jess Byard @writerjessbyard, and the podcast @ScaryStoriesWT. Alex Malnack of Blondo provides the music for the podcast; that track is "Stay Here." The album artwork is provided by Maggie the Odd.
For more episodes of Scary Stories We Tell along with many more podcasts that are guaranteed to be your new favorite audio obsession, check out Weirding Way Media at weirdingwaymedia.com.
You can follow Chris Stachiw @Casualty_Chris, Jess Byard @writerjessbyard, and the podcast @ScaryStoriesWT. Alex Malnack of Blondo provides the music for the podcast; that track is "Stay Here." The album artwork is provided by Maggie the Odd.
For more episodes of Scary Stories We Tell along with many more podcasts that are guaranteed to be your new favorite audio obsession, check out Weirding Way Media at weirdingwaymedia.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:46):
Hello everyone, and welcome to anotherepisode of Scary Stories. We tell I
am one of your hosts, Chris, and I'm the other one, Emma.
Sometimes and we're joined by our goodfriend on this episode of Surreal two,
where we're taking a look at thingson the Internet that are joined by
our good friend. You've heard himhere before, and you'll hear him here
again, all the way from partsNo Dude, your friend and mine Dustin,
(01:07):
Hey, Hello, he's the sameenergy as Meek. And when it
comes to introducing myself, hello,hey, not everybody has to be energy
level one thousand. You know,let's let let let that be a lesson
to you kids. You don't alwayshave to try and be the center of
attention. Sometimes you can just exist, ladies and gentlemen. And speaking of
just existing, on this episode ofSurreal two, we're gonna be jumping back
(01:30):
into something I wish didn't exist,that thing and being that's so harsh.
The fifth episode and sixth episode andseventh episode, Right, we're gonna do
three? I think, so okay, I think we can knock out three?
Or said four? Do we wantto do four? I guess we'll
see how we feel. Play itby you. Okay, So I'll just
I'll mark this part that and onthis episode of Surreal two, we're gonna
(01:51):
be taking once again another hard look, unfortunately at everybody's favorite Internet monster with
salad fingers. N No, Ithink monsters a little hard. I don't
what would you use to describe solidfingers testin given that we've had a little
bit of distance in time from thisU from from salad fingers, I know
I know what I'm creature, notmonster creature, because creature can be lovable.
(02:15):
I was going to say misunderstood.Uh, but we could also go
for scrimblow, scrunkle, sprunkly scrimblowI think also fits, which is a
gen Z term that I'm not explaining. Okay, yeah, because I have
no idea what the fuck you're talkingabout. He's not that much for bloorbo,
but he is quite Are you beingserious right now? I am.
(02:36):
I'm actually being completely one hundred andten percent serious. You can look that
up on Urban Dictionary later. Waitwaite are you wait? Are you being
serious about all of them? Orsome of them? Everything I have said
is true? Okay, all right, I mean fair, So shout out
to every gen Z in the audienceand or millennial that's chronically online. Ah
yeah, apparently so, Emma.For those listeners that maybe don't know what's
(02:59):
out fingers is, give us aquick re update or reprimmer on what what
Anyone listening to this or or whoknows what salad Fingers is can ex well
to hear and listen to us talkabout when we talk about salad fears.
So salad Fingers I spoke about inthe first episode was originally a New Grounds
(03:20):
animation. It was one of thosethat was creepy for creepy's sake, playing
around with you know, flash atthe time when that was very new for
you know, the everyday person ofaccess to and a lot of people made
some really cool, surreal, strange, creepy content and I think this one
is so infamous for that reason.You can definitely expect a lot of really
(03:49):
weird voices, occasional high pitch soundsand jump scares, and a lot of
things that will make you generally uncomfortable. But that's the intention, and it
doesn't row up. Boy, isn'tit like that? For me? I
think is the thing that cannot beoverstated is this is creepy intentionally and it's
doing a very good job of it. So well, yikes, all right,
(04:12):
well, I think without further ado, one might say, we'll take
a look at the fifth episode ofSalad Fingers titled Picnic has eight point two
million views, and it was posteda long time ago, fourteen years ago.
Here we go, brushing you upon your internet history. Yeah right,
(04:46):
So how do you feel about thosemouth works? That was like the
most disturbing one yet to me?Yeah? Really? Well, yeah,
I mean the whole thing with thekids again is like you said that there
will be mythology at some point,yes, yeah, there starts to be
slightly more of a cohesive narrative asyou go, as you all of these
are sort of meant to intro kindof world built slightly and introduce, you
(05:10):
know, what these characters kind ofare. But mostly, you know what
Salad Fingers is, We're not there, thought right, it's setting the stage.
I think we're still in setting thestage and theory territory. Okay,
okay, okay, That's all Iwanted to know, because again, like
with shows like this, it's sometimeskind of hard to interpret what is meant
(05:32):
to be interpreted and what is justweird for the sake of weird, and
that's something we kind of have tonavigate here, given that this is coming
out teen years ago, you know, when people obviously had no idea how
to make a story fourteen years ago. No, it's just it's more an
issue of this kind of entertainment doesn'tPeople aren't expecting it to have a cohesive
(05:53):
narrative. I mean, Charlie theUnicorn, it doesn't have the staying power
of this because you can watch Whenyou watch this, you have you have
to and can watch more things toget more of it. Charlie the Unicorn
is like a one note bit overand over again. Like again, that
was more my question because again,there are some of the things that is
just weird for weird sake, andit's not meant to mean anything. So
(06:16):
I just didn't know if we werethere yet or if the things we were
seeing like should be over over interpreted. I guess so is Charlie the Unicorn
in salad fingers Cannon? Is thatwho he called his friend Charlie? Yeah,
that's that's no. I mean Iwould I mean I would watch that
right. Oh yeah, I wasabout to crossover. You can I it's
(06:36):
it's interesting to me that they keepthey keep bringing the kids bet you know,
like I mean, like again,I'm wondering where they're going with that,
but like it's very clear that likesalad Fingers has something to do with
kids or has like an maybe Iwould attraction isn't the right word, but
an infatuation maybe I would agree withthat. I also think it's important to
(06:58):
note that the you know, thekid character, that the little girl that
is introduced in this episode, Ithink she is the most articulate and most
quote unquote normal character we've en counteredthis far, truely comparatively comparatively. I
mean, there's one the little childcharacter from the previous episode just went really
(07:18):
like you know exactly like yeah,maybe I don't know what I'm supposed to
get from that, but that seemslike that's just weird for weirdness sake like
that specifically, Like though again thosekinds of things, it's like, all
right, we're just gonna have likea loud noise to like scare you or
unsettle you. But again, I'minterested to see when we get something that's
(07:38):
not just weird because I don't know, like with don't hug me. I'm
scared it kind of set set thebar a little high unfortunate fortunately or unfortunately
however you want to kind of interpretit. Yeah, I think don't Hugby,
I'm scared. The production value obviouslyis much higher and had much more
you know, brains behind the narrativeof and was meant to I feel like,
(08:03):
don't have me. I'm scared.Its purpose was more to relay a
complex idea, and I think SaladFingers is a lot more simplified than that.
You know, it's mainly for somesort of condensed narrative rather than a
commentary, So I feel like thatalso, I don't want to say,
you know, dampens the quality Ithink for what Salad Fingers is, like
(08:28):
I said before, what it's tryingto do, it does very well.
But I think the part of thisepisode that I want to get some opinions
on what happened towards the end wherethat Salad Fingers spoon was stolen by a
crow or a raven. I couldnever tell the difference, And at first
(08:50):
he thought it was amusing, andthen the child speaks for the first time
in the episode, also finding itthen amusing and then all of a sudden,
h Salad Fangers has a breakdown inhis house, and it seems like
an odd course of events. Anythoughts, feelings, predictions, theories.
(09:11):
Is it the fact that she spokeso articulately that through him for a loop,
because like we've said, we haven'treally heard anybody speak quite like him.
Salad Fangers is the only other characterthat actually speaks kind of speaks well,
So maybe that surprised him and you, Chris, I don't know,
Like again, like it's it's interestingbecause so much of this maybe it will
(09:31):
make sense when we look back onI don't know, Like I can't know
you're at a loss. It's notthat I'm at a loss. It's just
these kinds of things it takes toget to write, It takes getting back
into a right mindset to really Idon't know. These are the kinds of
things for me that I have ahard time watching and analyzing and making predictions
(09:52):
because like right now, it feelslike it could be anything that's fair.
So in that case, do youwant to watch the next one? Say
you feel done? Sure, let'sdo it. I'm let's do it.
So this is the sixth episode,of salad Fingers. This episode is titled
Present was posted thirteen years ago.So to eat Jeremy Fisher is to eat
(10:26):
himself. There's a lots unpacking thatone. Huh ah, Okay, do
you feel like there's some more substanceto work with now, Chris, Maybe
I'm curious your thoughts for a stustinon them, because that episode ended with
him eating himself. Yeah. Sowell, and it began with him eating
his finger puppet, which is essentiallymyself himself, and it came full circle
(10:48):
to him eating himself. His actualself is the physical representation of salad fingers.
As the show has shown us.It's almost as if it's getting a
look to his tormented psyche. Ifhe's eating Jeremy Fisher, like I said,
he's eating himself. I don't know. It's weird in the whole thing
with the toilet. I don't know. Is he like talking to like a
(11:09):
poop demon or something? I haveno idea. Well, it's like he
was seeing. He was seeing,he was seeing something and he was interacting
with it like one reflection. Imean, this whole episode has kind of
been himself and himself, right,instead of being called president should we go
like Dopple Dope Gunga. I thinkthe horse was the present, oh as
in present, not not like notpresent but pres Yeah, I don't know
(11:37):
if the inflection changes are present butnot pre sure gift is in present not
like the present, not like presently. There are presents in this room where
we are all present, not likethat, right, and they are presented
to you, the three Stooges andEmma's thet much is yes, yes,
(12:01):
yes, yes, sure whatever Andnow I understand what present meant, but
I want to know what that's myinterpreting. I mean, that makes sense
more than I could have a dualmeaning. Yeah, but there's no reason
why I couldn't. I'm with youlike in the in the present not in
the prison makes less sense, andit's harder to show visually than a a
(12:24):
present, as as as as wewould be interpreted. There's also mentioned about
the Great War, yes right,a couple of times, and that Jeremy
went to fight it. And theway that I interpret this episode, or
at least part of it, isafter Salad Fingers eats the finger puppet the
first time, he seems to makebelieve that the horse that he has been
(12:48):
gifted apparently by the puppet of JeremyFisher that it is a real horse that
could take him places, because afterthe scene with the toilet, he tells
the horse to take him home andthen continues to play with it, almost
like he's acting out something that hadhappened in the past. And then when
he gets home and he sees therepresentation of Salad Fingers at the other side
(13:11):
of the room, and then it'slike the shot reverse shot, and sometimes
we're seeing where we were originally standingwalking back into the house as Jeremy and
again like, oh, I thoughtyou were out fighting, you know,
the Great War, which I thinkbrings up an interesting idea that he was
potentially acting out something that had happenedin the past as Jeremy. So he
(13:31):
maybe suffers from PTSD, And thatis a theory that I think is the
most prevalent that I've seen online.And I think that he has PTSD.
That is what I see a lotof. So Salad Fingers fought the Great
fought in the Great War and gotdisfigured. Oh wow, okay, we
(13:52):
could see that, we could seethat the Great War potentially caused some sort
of apocalypse I think we talked aboutin the last episode that the escape looks
very apocalyptic and there seems to bea lot of deformed or some deformed,
which could also I mean, he'slike a living corpse though, like if
he's a little because that's the thingSolad Fingers is it is he's like a
(14:13):
it's I mean in a lot ofways, because I was something I asked
last time we talked. It waslike, is this a mask with guys
eyes poking out of it or not? Because he looks so emaciated, it's
like he's a skull. I couldsee. We're looking at the image of
his face right now. It's juston our screen emblazon to see, Hey
you did it. That was prettygood, Dustin dust I like that.
(14:35):
Yeah, for those of for thoseof you that are not able to see
Dustin, because this is the audiomedia you did. You did a really
good impression last time. Oh yeah, oh yeah yeah. I think it's
interesting for me with this that nowwe might be looking at like someone who
suffered trauma, So that kind ofspins this in a weird way. I
(14:56):
mean, I'm not going to say, like clearly he suffered trauma, because
there's something wrong with him, butlike there's something immensely wrong with him.
South Fingers needs professional help. Idon't know if there is professional help for
him. You're probably right it gothim, as they would say. So
(15:16):
with that theory in mind, Ithink we should start up suth. Okay,
so episode seven is athlete titled.Surely it was posted five years ago,
so there was a bit of ajump. Yeah, and I think
this is where you start to seea shift in narrative. So well,
(15:50):
now I think we have a betteridea of what his brother again, like
what oh YoY, well, isthere going to be an obvious answer or
is it gonna be is how?Okay, let me ask you something because
again, like this is something youhave a frame of reference for obviously because
you were there for don't hug me, I'm scared. Don't not me.
I'm scared. It feels like whenwhen, like when the when the jig
(16:11):
is up and you kind of knowwhat the score is with don't hug ma,
I'm scared. It makes sense,Like I get it. I can
see logically a B, C,D, E, F G got it.
Is it gonna be like that withthis? Is there that? Or
is it like more esoteric and justkind of like, well, maybe it
means this. I would say itleans esoteric, but it has been a
hot minute since since I've watched itall the way through. Okay, so
(16:37):
I might be misremembering. I don'tremember it being like two on the nose.
I remember, you know, they'reneeding to be like fan theories or
to sort of decipher Okay, peoplewere still kind of confused on what it
all meant. Okay, yeah,because that's I mean, that's my thing.
It's like for me, it's oneof those things where all I want
to do is know is there gonnabe something here more than what we're getting,
(16:59):
and is It's like, yeah,it's a little bit more than this.
Okay, because like again, likeif this is how they're going to
do the revealing of things, it'slike, I mean, there definitely will
be more to go off of us. Okay, Okay, it's sort of
at this point, as I said, like you can kind of feel a
little bit of a shifted narrative.Yes, totally, it's a little bit.
It's a little bit more straightforward thanany of the other episodes, this
(17:23):
one, you mean, moving forwardor so far, so far out of
all the ones that we've watched,I think this one is the most straightforward.
It feels the most cohesive and narrative. Yeah, well there's things happening
that like need to be Yeah,yeah, totally, And so you can
definitely see that, like there's beena lot of growth on the creator side,
you know, in terms of youknow, presenting a narrative, and
(17:47):
that does Continueka, So do youhave any you want to make any updates
to the current theory, because Ithink at this point it's pretty safe to
say that the Great War obviously hasa lot to do with this. Yeah,
there was evidently a great war orone going on. Kenneth doesn't seem
although he mentioned Kenneth as his brother, doesn't seem to be in similar form.
(18:12):
You know, he's got hair,he kind of looks more human.
You could tell that it's the corpseof a human. What I want to
point out is salad Fingers obviously verymuch likes to name objects and refer to
certain things by like names that wedon't really have a freewer reference for,
(18:33):
and he just like comes up withnames like that. That's what it seems.
Yeah, it's like very just liketrain of thought, like just words
like word jumble. Like we're notword jumble because they all make sense,
but it's like just like verbal diarrhea. It's very much like a child playing
with dolls, right, I thinkis what it evokes. But I do
think it's interesting to wonder if hesaw this corpse and just was like,
(18:57):
this is now going to be therepresentation of my brother. Like it might
not have actually been the corpse ofhis brother, but I think it's safe
to say that he probably did havea brother that went to the Great War,
Otherwise he wouldn't be talking about it, either that or maybe exactly either
that or maybe he is. OK, there's a lot, Like I think
(19:21):
with the episode prior, it's reallyhard to see where these characters start and
where Salad Finger ends. I suppose, Yeah, he does kind of step
out a lot. Well, they'reall like essentially representations of himself, right,
because he has the Finger puppets andwe've seen in the last episode he
eats one of them and then anotherversion of him creates or exists. Maybe
(19:47):
hallucinations, yeah, also play alarge right. Yeah, they do that
filtery thing where they kind of washit out with white to show that it's
in a dreamscape or in his heador something to that. But I definitely
think that the PTSD angle is verystrong, at least at this point with
the information we have so far.Yeah, I mean, it doesn't explain
(20:11):
his fascination with rest or texture.Butting away from that, I'm wondering because
I don't remember if that is betterexplained moving forward, and I'm curious to
see if that is explained because,like I said, it's been a hot
minute if they do circle back tothat and give that more of a purpose,
(20:32):
or it could have just been likethis was the throwaway gag of the
early episodes for the sake of beingcreepy. Okay, so there was there
may have been some of that though, right Like I think so, and
I think, like not everything.I don't want to I don't want to
say that everything before you know,the what ten year eight nine year gap
is irrelevant because I think it definitelywas world building, but I wouldn't take
(20:57):
all of it, you know,completely serious, Yeah, because there's a
pretty big gap in all of this, right, It's a really big gap
between the start of the series andwhere the series wound up going where So,
how so you said it was likefourteen and then all of a sudden,
the last one was five years whatgeez lo Weeziana. That's i'd say
(21:18):
makes I think it makes sense thatthe original series ended where it did.
It ended with salad fingers eating ofrepresentation of himself, and I think like
that is a really good bookend fora creepy mini series, and so it
makes sense that that was closing outthat chapter. And so this could be,
you know, the new interpretation ofthe same character. So kind of
(21:40):
like when they came back with don'thug me, I'm scared. Yeah,
on the show, on the showversus the YouTube series. That's what I
remember it being like, because Iwanted to re experience this with you guys,
so I didn't rewatch it and Ihad I think I watched all of
these maybe three or four four yearsago, all the way through. So,
(22:02):
like I said, it's been it'sbeen a while, but do you
want to continue? Yeah, Imean I think it's I think it's interesting.
I think that what's interesting for meand all of this is again like
now that we're seemingly trending towards maybesomething more narrative, like it reminds me
a lot. And this is whyI was like, oh, this is
what this reminds me of. Itreminds me of no Fielding's character, Old
(22:22):
Greg. I'm off Greg, doesn'tit I'm all break and I got a
magina Like it's so that like nowI can't now, I can't see this
as anything else, and it's notnearly as disturbing. I I know what
you're talking about, right, Idon't know who showed it to me.
I could not tell you where thatcharacter is from, but I do know
(22:42):
what you're talking about. I haveseen some clips. It's good. Somebody
showed it to be at some point. It's good. I mean it's weird.
I mean it's it's kind of likethis, it's kind of weir.
It's more it's more of like weirdfor weird sake. But yeah, that's
what it reminds me of. It'sjust like again British and weird. Because
that's the other thing. This isclearly and this is something we kind of
(23:03):
haven't mentioned. It's like coming clearlyfrom British sensibilities as well, because like
salad fingers is British, David forclearly British, because he's the one who
does the voice for Salad Fingers,So there is a I think uniquely British
sensibility to this is David British.You have her drunk failies from an old
chaw. Yeah right, love gameis. I just wanted to make sure
that it wasn't just an accent hewas putting on. If that's an accent,
(23:26):
he's doing a no way a rayof good yay, I know what
that is. I just want tosee him his reaction. That was a
little little my Fair Lady. Imean yeah, but it's like that's the
kind of British accent that I cando, is like, yeah, no
rubbin to a then like yeah,like that's you know, like cast me
(23:47):
in that movie for five minutes,give me two lines. You have the
remake of My Fair Lady where you'reone of the ensembles they're asking. I
don't think they asked for rubbin tugsin My Fair Lady, but maybe we're
talking about different movies. I know. No, I will say in this
last sound Fingers episode things we're gettingkind of weirdly sexual with that corpse.
Oh he kept, you know,just saying weird things that he was I
(24:12):
mean he was talking, Yeah,he was Canada coming on strong, is
it? I mean talking to acorpse is weird? Yeah, Like,
I'm sorry, this is a weirdtangent, but I kind of want to
like, being around a dead bodyis weird. Yeah. Yes, I've
been around one dead body once inmy life, and that was my grandmother's
funeral, and it was very strangeand very surreal. What is it called
(24:34):
when you sit with the with thebody after they pass away viewing? No,
no, no, there's like athing where you can like sit with
it overnight. Oh I don't know, like Italians do it. I think
it's in Jewish. It's in Jewishand Italian and I think Spanish as well,
where it's like you stay up withthe body the night before and like,
I'm sorry, like it's just Idon't think that's I don't think that's
(24:57):
the thing in Judaism then, becauseyou don't have to worry about someone doing
that at your funeral, because it'slike, it's fucking weird to me to
be around dead bodies. Like,I'm sorry, so like seeing sound figures
because so blase is just I thinkI think being around her dead body,
there's a time limit before it's likeit's like hugging too long. It's like
okay, it's time to walk away. Yeah, and being around it,
(25:21):
it's a very short time limit.Just I want to make that clear.
It's not like sixty seconds and it'slike okay, three hours. I mean,
I don't know, like I haven't. I saw my grandfather and my
mom's mom, my dad's dad,and my mom's home, but I didn't
want to see my dad's mom,Like I didn't want to see it like
it just like it's not that's notthe way I want to remember the person.
(25:41):
That's maybe my thing with it.Does that make sense? Oh?
I know I'm the same way becausewhen we uh put my dog down back
in like twenty nineteen, I wasmy senior year of college, and my
parents were like, do you wantto come home for when we have to
put down you know, the familypet? And I said no, I
didn't want to be there for thatbecause I, you know, I had
(26:04):
my goodbye with him. I knewthat he was on his way out because
he had had a pretty nasty seizurethat was that really killed his quality of
life. And so I was awareand so I kind of had my goodbye
with him, and then there wasno need for me to come home to
relive that. Great, you know, so I can tell I can relate.
(26:27):
I've always I've always been very squeamishwith death in general. Brings up
weird thought, Pats, I'm withyou. I don't Yeah, I mean,
I'm not like, I don't know. It's just like I don't know.
I don't want to that's not thelast and that's not the way I
want to remember someone, and that'slike the last thing. So it's it's
a little mud you know, Iget it. I do well, you,
(26:48):
Dustin, what about me? What'syour stance on dead body? This
question? Mark? Yeah, Iwas expecting you to say something like pace.
Great. That was Moore putting youon the spot for a clever ins
er. No, I don't havemuch Okay, Well, leave them where
(27:10):
they lie. I don't know thingsthat you would say about corpses and legos
if you want to make parents angry, Survey says, leave them where they
lie. So, uh, who'slying? I know it's a family is
a family feud? Yeah? Yeah, is that what it is? I
think they also did that in Who'sline? Oh oh, I see what
you mean, like make the jokeabout it. Yeah, never seen that
(27:33):
show. You've never seen Who's I'veseen Whose Line? And you have like
a full episode I've seen like gags. I stumbled across it on like the
old TV when I was like,I don't know seventy EV didn't know what
the hell I was watching, didn'tget any of the jokes. But Wayne
Brady Drew Carrie Boy, that's ablast in the past. God, they
(27:56):
have Who's Line? Now? Right? Isn't there like a new version of
it? There? I think thereis a new version, and I haven't
seen it. I feel like mostpeople would probably say that it's not quite
the same, but I'm glad they'rekeeping it alive. Yeah, I mean,
hey, it's an improv show,right, Like yeah, so,
I mean that's what YouTube's for,right, Well, I mean and TikTok
and and yeah and any short formmedia anything. Right. You don't need
(28:19):
TV to promote yourself, folks.You're listening to a podcast radio on the
intern. I haven't turned on aTV in ages. That's fair. I
mean, unless if it was toaccess Netflix, that's like to go on
the TV. Yeah, that's fair. I haven't flipped through channels except when
I was on a plane. Wellwe're we're because I literally had nothing better.
(28:41):
But we're coming in for landing in. Any of you youngins who don't
know what a TV is, checkout that we have the satellites on this
plane. Guys, check out youcan watch TV. Get all these crazy
channels right, Look at all thisvariety and yet nothing to watch. Jesus.
So, speaking of things to watch, shall we? Shall we watch
one more episode? I think wecan fit in one more all right?
(29:03):
So this eighth episode is titled Cupboard. Salad Fingers receives some unpleasant frequencies from
his radio and ladies and gentlemen.Two years ago, David Firth posted salad
Greenheart fingers green Heart lushies Greenheart greenHeart over at saladfingersstore dot com, a
(29:23):
real website where you can buy stuffedanimal versions of salad fingers. Thank god,
there's no rule thirty four of saladfingers there totally is. I take
that back, Fuck me, Iwhy would you even say it? Yeah,
well I don't know why I saidit. Mistake. Let's just watch
the episode titled covered it was sucha mistake. Go back to your idiot
(30:00):
hole bro man of you since onceexcept maybe that first, since I think
maybe eight ex since I think allof them, because it sure seems like
he has a collection of something thatpeople who kill people take. It's one
of his very special hairs. That'sgood. That was pretty good, Dustice,
(30:22):
that's real good. I mean,I'm not sure that's one that you
can crack out in polite company andor with children. But you know,
unless you want to go to bedor daddy salad fingers will get you.
Oh yeah, I think it's ait's a very niche party trick. You
have to put the daddy in there, or just call him daddy fingers,
which is even worse. Chris yourmind. No, these are the same
(30:45):
people that came up with the phrasedaddy wise for when people are like lusting
for it's like lusting for pennywise.It's the same thing. It's just like
fucking you fuckers like you like Igain. Some people just want to be
eviscerated by a clown. People leanthey want to be a You know,
Emma, you're right, put thaton a bad shirt. Put that on
(31:07):
a fucking shirt and print it becausethat's awful. No, and there's the
thing they want to be a visceratedby a clown sexually. It's yeah,
no, no, It's like,I don't want to yuck anybody's yums because
I don't you're yucking to you.I don't want if somebody's somebody's youm right
now is being yuck. Other podcastson this network have the perception of being
yum yuckers. We hear at.Scary stories we tell are not yum yuck
(31:32):
heers. Folks, if you wantto be viscerated by a clown in a
sexual way, we support. Yeah. I mean, hey, you know
what you want to do? Thatcool. But honestly, though, like
that for me is just it's alittle weird. That's just a little weird.
That's just a little weird. Doesnot it well, it's but again,
like what's weird is like we're makingexcuses for salad fingers, but salad
(31:52):
fingers is eating kids, right,they're trying to make it like but I
was leading up to a point becauselike they try to they're trying to make
us feel empathetic towards but he eatskids, right, he murders kids.
Yeah, Like, but that's whatmakes him an interesting character by my approximation,
I don't think that is necessarily ascanon as it was in the first
(32:13):
few episodes. That felt more veryearly on, and I'm not sure if
that's still a relevant part of hischaracter. It could have been something that
was ultimately reccollned. I don't thinkit's something they revisit, and I think
the better focus of this episode iswhat does the radio represent? Right?
(32:34):
And to me it sounded like anabusive parent. Well, and is the
is the like? What I couldn'ttell is the radio hymn like? It's
it's sound. It was a differentit sounded like a different force, and
it sounds to me it sounded likea parental figure. I don't know if
gender matters. It was a male'svoice, but I don't know if it
represents, you know, necessarily afather versus a mother. But it definitely
(33:00):
sounded like some sort of abusive parent. And then it's weird because Sala Fangers
tends to come off as somebody withlike all of these polite mannerisms, you
know, the way that he speaks, how he carries himself, and also
when he's very quick to judge othersfor being dirty, that comes up a
lot, and so the moment thathe's being ridiculed that his house is filthy,
(33:23):
he shuts down and to me thatthat screams PTSD from abuse in some
sort of familial situation. Sure,And I think the other important thing to
note is where it's said, giveme back one of my hairs, or
give me back you have one ofmy hairs given back, or I'd like
(33:45):
it back. And so that makesme think that the collection of hair could
have been members of the family whohad lived in the house prior. I
don't necessarily think it's children that he'skilled. I think it might be more
so of like a hair from hismother, a hair from his father,
a hair from his brother, ahare from his sister, you know,
because that's how I see it,Because if this is his home, it
(34:07):
would make sense that other people mighthave lived in empire, and especially if
it's posts this great war, youknow a lot of people it seemed like
a lot of people have died,which I think is a strong possibility.
And so the radio he could be, you know, personifying the static of
the radio, because it was veryfuzzy to hear, and so obviously I'm
(34:29):
not saying that like the ghost ofa relative was like controlling the radio.
I think it could have been moreof an auditory hallucination that he was having
because of PTSD. Interesting, Andthen I think he eats the hair to
avoid having to get rid of itotherwise, and that way he could be
closer to his family members. Ordoes that represent getting rid of him so
(34:50):
he doesn't talk to him anymore.It could have been that, it could
have just been a genuine act ofdefiance, you know, just in general.
But I do think that this openI think this definitely opens up a
broader conversation of mental health. Ifeel like that's the shift that we've taken.
Yeah, well, I think it'sinteresting that we have something that is
entertaining but also maybe talking about thator at least like the character is dealing
(35:15):
with it in a way that's notjust like I don't know, inter I
don't know, but it is entertainment, right. I think it's a very
interesting way to tell a very confusingnarrative. They didn't at all detract from
the creepy. It's still creepy,it's still weird, but they're doing less
but saying more, If that makessense. Yeah, Well, and it
(35:37):
seems like it's more focused, likethey know more of what they want specifically
they be I mean again, I'massuming it's like the one guy I mean
again, one has to sit hereand essentially look and say, all right,
we're moving in a direction now whereit seems like he has a purpose
and a intent on what he showingus, and it may be going towards
(36:01):
something, and it definitely feels thatway. So are you more invested at
this point because you at the beginningof this episode you seem to very take
it or leave it? I amI mean again, Like again, I
just didn't know how much longer theycould continue with the gag. You know,
I think it's evolved past a gag, right, I agree, But
it had to get there, andwe had to get through the point where
(36:22):
it was a gag. Is alsoyour right, I mean, because that
was new Grounds. New Grounds wasall about gags and shock humor, like
that was animation on new Grounds,And I think YouTube allows people to sort
of create whatever content they want,and especially if you're already in an anticipate
(36:43):
like a creator of an anticipated series, you're kind of given that freedom to
do what you want with it.With a platform that will reach ultimately more
people, right right, Well,And I'm I'm of the mindset where I
would go wherever I can as thecreator to be able to tell the story
however I want. So Yeah,I mean, it's not a limitation to
(37:05):
be on YouTube obviously, but italso allows them to just do kind of
whatever and not be beholden to traditionalstorytelling measures either. So that's why you
can kind of just be fucking weirdfor weird sake and go nowhere with it.
I mean adults, I mean,like adult swim doesn't exist, you
know. That's like adult swim andits core in a lot of ways is
(37:27):
like being transgressive and subversive. ButI mean this is at times both subversive
and transgressive. So I'm enjoying thisa lot more than I was before.
What about you, Destin, Yeah, I'm kind of with this whole angle
of it. I'm kind of interestedin, I don't know, seeing how
it's explored further and if it justkeeps getting worse or if it starts to
(37:50):
resolve itself a little more. That'skind of where I'm at. Where do
you think the logical next step wouldbe if you had to make a guest
talking about what we're talking about withPTS, the abusive parents. He's trying
to suppress some of that. Itseems like it's either going to continue,
like start to boil over more likehe was getting frustrated with Hubert Kemberdale.
(38:15):
I see more like anger coming out. So I don't know this next episode
or two he might flip out alittle bit. What about you. Yeah,
I mean it's one of those thingswhere it obviously is going in a
direction, there is something that itis now driving at. But I'm yeah,
I'm very curious. I'm curious wherethis ends up because there's only you
(38:37):
know, nine through fourteen, sothere's not that there's not a lot left,
but there's not as much as therewas at the beginning, and they're
just now getting to the story.So I'm curious to see if they're able
to get us to that point wherethe story makes sense, along with the
way they've been telling it where it'skind of like giving it to us necessarily
the most efficient way. I'm curiousto see if they're able to make all
(38:58):
of this work because again, likethe way that they're doing it, they
kind of got a late start ontelling the story, and I'm wondering,
like if that's going to be aproblem again, like they they they could,
they could they have They obviously dohave plenty of shows out there that
have nothing, but these like,you know, five to six minute episodes,
(39:19):
but they only have fourteen. Thereis an there is a finite amount,
So I have to assume that theytell the entire story that they want
to tell in this format. ButI'm just curious, that's all, if
they're able to like make this workin a way that's I don't know that
feels rewarding as a viewer, causeby watching Don't Hug Me, I'm scared.
I felt rewarded as a viewer bythe end of it for sticking with
(39:43):
it through all of its problems andalso like doing a little bit of extra
work to go and watch the thingsabout it kind of answer some of the
questions that I may have had andI don't. I mean, this probably
has that, But again, willit be as rewarding Were those things there
or is this a little bit ofreaching you know? That's what I don't
That's what you can't know until theend. So I'm excited. I definitely
(40:05):
think that you're going to enjoy whereit continues to go. I can't speak
for how you're going to feel necessarilyabout how it ends, because I don't
remember how it ends fair, butI do think you're going to like the
direction it continues to go in.It really does. It never stops being
surreal, it never stops leaning intothe creepy factor, and it never stops
(40:27):
blurring that line between you know,reality and hallucination, which I think is
what makes the series so strong,is that you're never sure what you're seeing,
if any of it is actually whatis happening, or if it's all
a representation. Like there's no wayto say whether or not how we perceive
solid Fingers is what solid fingers actuallylooks like in universe? Right? You
(40:50):
know, there's there's really there's nothingthat we can go off of and say,
like without a doubt, at leastin my opinion, of like what
is concrete in this I think theonly thing that we can say is concrete
is that Solid Fingers at this pointis alone. And I think that really
is like the only like one concretething that we can cling to and everything
(41:10):
else it's really hard to say whatis actually happening and what is some form
of a hallucination or blurring the boundaries, and they keep pushing that uh that
bar, you know, further andfurther, which I think is really interesting.
Well, and again, like yousaid, I mean they're I think
it's also the stuff of him inhis own head is also so interesting because
(41:34):
they keep coming back to it.But I'm not sure. I'm not sure
if they ever do they did theyget to a point where they explain that,
I mean, is I mean,is there more of that? Like
I'm enjoying that, but I'm alsohesitant to get invested in it because it
seems like they were doing it alot before and now they haven't done it
a lot now since the show haskind of come back. I think that's
going to be more of a personalopinion as we move forward. So I'm
(41:57):
curious to see what you have tosay about that as we okay continue,
Okay, Yeah, because for me, it's like, I I like seeing
those things because yeah, they're alittle kind of obtuse, but at the
same that's totally my jam, Likethat's my kind of thing where it's like,
oh, dream sequences and stuff.But yeah, I don't know,
that's like the Lynch, David Lynchstuff. This is I mean, this
is a mix of a lot ofreally interesting things. But I'm I don't
(42:21):
know ultimately, all I know isI'm enjoying it. Also, you know
it is No, it does reallystrike me as no fielding old Greg.
So it really is like the voiceis kind of the same, like whispery.
Shit, it's like a whisper voice. It's whispery and effeminate, and
I think like those are the twoboxes that it checks off. Yeah,
(42:44):
for both characters. Totally, No, totally, You're totally right, which
makes it even funnier to me.When Solid Fingers uses the terms gay and
queer to mean happy and weird,he uses them in the best way.
It's great. It's too fun.The way he speaks is a trip in
a half and I love it again. It's it's painfully British. It's like
(43:06):
it I can't tell if it's likereal like polite mannerisms or just like that
fake polite mannerism to appear, youknow, like a they're of higher class
in a sense, because that's likeI guess That's one other angle that I
think is important to note is theway that's all. As I said,
in the way that Selvi carries himselfis very if we are to use the
(43:28):
British term, it feels posh,right, And so that also makes you
wonder does he come from, youknow, way back in the day,
does he come from a more welloff background. So I think there's definitely
a lot to unpack as we continuegathering you know, data and evidence of
(43:49):
what story this is trying to convey. Yeah, it's it's it is a
little bit more esoteric than Don't HugMe I'm Scared. But I do like
like it's more of a car it'smore of like a character piece. It's
like a focus singularly on Salad Fingersand him as a character. So,
right, whereas, like I saidearlier, Don't Have Me I'm Scared is
a commentary, right like it is, I think with the newer, the
(44:13):
new series versus the I think theYouTube series was more of a commentary,
yeah, or a broader I wouldsay, a broader commentary, and I
would say the TV series is abit more of a narrower commentary and a
character study. But Solid Fingers tome, is like completely a character study
with world building like slight world building, right, yeah, that the world
(44:37):
building has been minor best but againit's not not minor as in in quality,
just they're not letting that get inthe way of talking about him,
which is perfectly fine ultimately. Like, yeah, the character of Salad Fingers
is the focus of the piece.The name of the piece is salad Fingers,
So Salad Fingers. I honestly,he's the he's the character of the
(44:58):
show. Like I care significant lessabout what happens outside of the house than
what happens inside of the house.Wait, wait, I care significantly less
about what happens outside. Oh okay, what happens inside of the house to
me seems much more important than whateverwas happening outside. You know, the
picnic was outside, and that wasinteresting, but it feels inconsequential in comparison
(45:21):
to what we just watched. That'sthat's fair. That's fair. But to
be fair, all of the consequentialstuff has more or less like happened inside
the house, right, I meanthe baby esque character proposing happened outside of
the house, that's fair. Butthe first but that Baby episode, a
lot of it takes place in thehouse. Though, yes, a decent
amount of it does also take place. Yeah, this, you know,
(45:43):
I will say I like that thequality of the show has ramped up a
significant amount. Oh, seven toeight episode. I mean, now we're
talking like actual it looks. Itlooks like there was something. I mean,
let's not get ourselves like, therewas something that was added to the
show by having it kind of grainyand gritty looking. It added to the
qual it added to the creep factor. I kind of miss but it looks
(46:06):
I mean, it's a good Imean, I miss it. But at
the same time, it's like,eh, it also looks better now because
it's in widescreen's an HD essentially like, it looks good. So I'm glad
it was a product of its timeand a product of its original platform.
And I guess there is a littlebit of nostalgia that comes with that that
now you know it is lacking.But I think ramping up in production quality
(46:30):
does increase the Oh it's lord.I'm looking for the effectiveness of it for
me personally, because it felt likewith the original couple of parts that were
made for new Grounds, it wasvery much a story made for new Grounds,
where now it just feels like astory that's fair, which I in
(46:51):
my opinion, it's less restrictive becauseof that. That's fair. With the
style of new Grounds, it's verymuch like what are we expecting from new
Ground? But with this, youknow, he was able to revamp his
style, refresh it, make itnew, make it his own again.
Right, and reclaiming the story andnot just being driven by what he thinks
(47:12):
will get a lot of views onnew Grounds, I guess, is what
I'm trying to say. I agreethere, Like I said, the nostalgia
factor as well as like that grainequality does add more to the creepiness.
But I think the level of detailthat they're showing now I think adds just
the same level of creepiness, ifnot more. Like the details in his
fingers, I mean, like comeon, yeah, no, I agree
(47:35):
with his fingers are so detailed.I agree, Like, I appreciate it.
It's a better looking show. Imean, I I wasn't really as
good looking as Solidisation. I meanthat's I mean, that is the that
is the thing, right, It'slike, well, ultimately, like fuck
it, salad fingers doesn't look great. It doesn't look great either way,
because he's not meant to look great. But he looks worse better in the
(47:58):
newer episode, which I am appreciativeof. I get it, though,
Dustin, Like I do get itbecause like it did benefit from looking kind
of shitty. I think, asidefrom just the creep factor, it just
kind of gave it that, uhthat almost like the setting that it is,
if it is this dystopian post warlike, not everything's going to be
(48:21):
perfect. Yeah, that's true too. Well, It's like it's like that.
I mean, they were using ita lot in those first couple episodes
where it's like it's clearly like someoneusing like a gramophone. It's like that
it had that quality to it,like that graininess. You kept listening to
Vinyl. Did you say Grandma's phonelike the video Grandma's Phone. Yeah,
again, I mean that, andI ran Grandma's phone, but it had
that quality. They were using thatmusic. I mean, they were using
(48:44):
it in those first couple episodes.So I don't know. I'm curious to
see if this ends up being asinteresting as Don't Have Me. I'm scared
there's no more of this after fourteenthough, right, Like, as far
as I know, there are tonsof theories as well. I do also
want to note, I don't necessarilythink it's fair to compare the series to
Don't Hug Me I'm Scared. Ithink they are. I understand why.
(49:06):
It's the only other one of sofar that you you know, that we
have talked about. So it's aframe of reference, you know, for
for all of us to discuss.So I understand the comparison, But I
also think it's it's very much likethe whole Apple story. I agree they
are, so I more saying thatfor the benefit of the audience. Well,
and that I mean, I agree, but I think at the same
(49:27):
time, like they are both tryingto do the same thing. They're both
trying to tell a story, andthey're both trying to tell a story in
an unconventional way. And I don'tthink that either one of them is inherently
insuccessful. I think that they're bothsuccessful in their own respective ways as they
was. I would definitely say thatDon't Hug Me, I'm Scared has a
broader appeal, But I think it'smeant to yes, because again, it's
(49:49):
it's supposed to mimic a children's show, and children's shows are supposed to have
a very broad, up right agreed, agreed, and I mean again,
like, yeah, they're also operatingin two different mediums. The expectations are
different. They're yeah, I don'tcompare them as much one to one as
much as just like the evocation ofthe feeling that they're going for, and
they are both successful in that regard, because again, they are both trying
(50:09):
to be creepy, weird, unsettling, any one of those words you could
use to describe what they're doing,and they're both rather successful. I mean,
I think frankly, we're talking aboutbeing creepy, weird, and unsettling.
This takes the cake over. Don'thave them. I'm scared, and
this is committed to it longer.Don't help me. I'm scared. Kind
of gave up being scary after awhile, Like you know, yeah,
(50:30):
it wasn't. That wasn't the interestand the goal of the storytellers was to
be scary. It was to tell, you know, the story that they're
telling. It was more gross thananything else. It had kind of gross
out humor, But I don't thinkit was scary, you know, in
the way that this is. Imean again, maybe this isn't scary,
but this is unsettling. Don't notbe I'm scared there was one that you
(50:52):
had to watch in a dark roomalone with headphones on, and which one
would you rather watch alone in adark room with phones on. I would
definitely picked on Harvey. I'm scaredover there, Yeah, because it's like
a more upbeaten bright show. Ultimately, even it's core outside of it kind
of being subversive. So this isjust kind of like it's one note,
(51:13):
but it's playing that one note ratherwell, and that's not exactly a note
that's necessarily easy to hit to beginwith. And it's not one that's hit
off, No, I mean it'shit on YouTube and stuff more often because
that's where these kinds of things tendto be. But that's also because again,
like we mentioned, this kind ofthing would never end up anywhere else,
Like who's going to put this onthe air other than something like an
(51:35):
adult swim So so on that note, I think that's a safe place to
wrap up. I'm very excited tofinish this. I don't know if we're
going to finish it because the episodesget a little longer. I don't think
we're going to finish this in onemore one more episode of this show.
I think it's probably going to besplit into at least another two. I
think that will cover that episode andthen do the last one. This next
(52:01):
one is almost ten minutes long,so I think we're probably going to have
to cover a few less. Butyeah, I'm really excited to continue watching
this with you guys and going onthis journey. So I'm glad that you're
enjoying the ride now at least agentle green man long fingers. He sure
(52:22):
is? He? Sure fucking is. No, I'm enjoying It's fun.
What about you, Destin? Areyou enjoying? SHANGHI? Well, what
I've liked about it is not onlyjust the episodes themselves, but I like
our discussions about it because it's it'sgone from something that's kind of nonsensical to
something that's like, oh wow,there really is a little picture into this
(52:45):
character's mind, but the creator's mindas well. And that's what I love
about this series is not just likereacting to creepy shit on the internet for
creepy's sake, but finding the meaningwithin it and discussing it. And I
was always into the like theory huntingand lore hunting, and so that definitely
scratches that inch for me personally,So I love doing this. This is
(53:07):
really fun for me. I likewatching those I like watching those videos on
YouTube, people that talk about likethe deep Tumbler lure shit, that shit
trip, that shit trips men likeJohn Lock, the John Lock conspiracy.
Oh, Emma, fucking shake inyour head because you know what it is.
You know it's true that fourth episodewill be coming. We promised,
(53:30):
fucking wild dude, I know ofit, and I stay away from.
Yeah. Yeah, Internet, Internettheories and fan theories are a deep dark
hole to fall down, folks.They're a fun one. Yeah, if
you have hours, right, ifyou despect you've got like ten hours to
listen to someone tell you why onegroup of people on the internet, but
(53:52):
two fictional characters were magically gay forone another. Yeah, couldn't do anything
better with your time? I supposeI guess so too, But yeah,
no, I guess the next timeyou hear the three of us, we'll
be doing close to the end ofsalad fingers. So until then, Weirdingwaymedia
dot com is where you can findthis show, but scary Stories we Tell
(54:14):
dot com is where you can gofor everything else. About this oh big.
Thanks as always to Dustin who's here, I'm here, and Maggie for
the album artwork for the show,along with our good friend Alex Malinak.
Hey, we know that guy.We know that guy. If you're listening,
Alex, we know you, andyou can uh you can find him
and his band Blondeos kicking it inthe Midwest, but also over on Spotify
(54:37):
just search blondo Uh Yeah. Andas always, until we uh talk to
salad Fingers again, We'll let ourformer We'll let our former friend. We'll
let our good friend, the formerhost of Sightings, mister Tim White,
beat us out. No mystery isclosed to an open mind.
Hello everyone, and welcome to anotherepisode of Scary Stories. We tell I
am one of your hosts, Chris, and I'm the other one, Emma.
Sometimes and we're joined by our goodfriend on this episode of Surreal two,
where we're taking a look at thingson the Internet that are joined by
our good friend. You've heard himhere before, and you'll hear him here
again, all the way from partsNo Dude, your friend and mine Dustin,
(01:07):
Hey, Hello, he's the sameenergy as Meek. And when it
comes to introducing myself, hello,hey, not everybody has to be energy
level one thousand. You know,let's let let let that be a lesson
to you kids. You don't alwayshave to try and be the center of
attention. Sometimes you can just exist, ladies and gentlemen. And speaking of
just existing, on this episode ofSurreal two, we're gonna be jumping back
(01:30):
into something I wish didn't exist,that thing and being that's so harsh.
The fifth episode and sixth episode andseventh episode, Right, we're gonna do
three? I think, so okay, I think we can knock out three?
Or said four? Do we wantto do four? I guess we'll
see how we feel. Play itby you. Okay, So I'll just
I'll mark this part that and onthis episode of Surreal two, we're gonna
(01:51):
be taking once again another hard look, unfortunately at everybody's favorite Internet monster with
salad fingers. N No, Ithink monsters a little hard. I don't
what would you use to describe solidfingers testin given that we've had a little
bit of distance in time from thisU from from salad fingers, I know
I know what I'm creature, notmonster creature, because creature can be lovable.
(02:15):
I was going to say misunderstood.Uh, but we could also go
for scrimblow, scrunkle, sprunkly scrimblowI think also fits, which is a
gen Z term that I'm not explaining. Okay, yeah, because I have
no idea what the fuck you're talkingabout. He's not that much for bloorbo,
but he is quite Are you beingserious right now? I am.
(02:36):
I'm actually being completely one hundred andten percent serious. You can look that
up on Urban Dictionary later. Waitwaite are you wait? Are you being
serious about all of them? Orsome of them? Everything I have said
is true? Okay, all right, I mean fair, So shout out
to every gen Z in the audienceand or millennial that's chronically online. Ah
yeah, apparently so, Emma.For those listeners that maybe don't know what's
(02:59):
out fingers is, give us aquick re update or reprimmer on what what
Anyone listening to this or or whoknows what salad Fingers is can ex well
to hear and listen to us talkabout when we talk about salad fears.
So salad Fingers I spoke about inthe first episode was originally a New Grounds
(03:20):
animation. It was one of thosethat was creepy for creepy's sake, playing
around with you know, flash atthe time when that was very new for
you know, the everyday person ofaccess to and a lot of people made
some really cool, surreal, strange, creepy content and I think this one
is so infamous for that reason.You can definitely expect a lot of really
(03:49):
weird voices, occasional high pitch soundsand jump scares, and a lot of
things that will make you generally uncomfortable. But that's the intention, and it
doesn't row up. Boy, isn'tit like that? For me? I
think is the thing that cannot beoverstated is this is creepy intentionally and it's
doing a very good job of it. So well, yikes, all right,
(04:12):
well, I think without further ado, one might say, we'll take
a look at the fifth episode ofSalad Fingers titled Picnic has eight point two
million views, and it was posteda long time ago, fourteen years ago.
Here we go, brushing you upon your internet history. Yeah right,
(04:46):
So how do you feel about thosemouth works? That was like the
most disturbing one yet to me?Yeah? Really? Well, yeah,
I mean the whole thing with thekids again is like you said that there
will be mythology at some point,yes, yeah, there starts to be
slightly more of a cohesive narrative asyou go, as you all of these
are sort of meant to intro kindof world built slightly and introduce, you
(05:10):
know, what these characters kind ofare. But mostly, you know what
Salad Fingers is, We're not there, thought right, it's setting the stage.
I think we're still in setting thestage and theory territory. Okay,
okay, okay, That's all Iwanted to know, because again, like
with shows like this, it's sometimeskind of hard to interpret what is meant
(05:32):
to be interpreted and what is justweird for the sake of weird, and
that's something we kind of have tonavigate here, given that this is coming
out teen years ago, you know, when people obviously had no idea how
to make a story fourteen years ago. No, it's just it's more an
issue of this kind of entertainment doesn'tPeople aren't expecting it to have a cohesive
(05:53):
narrative. I mean, Charlie theUnicorn, it doesn't have the staying power
of this because you can watch Whenyou watch this, you have you have
to and can watch more things toget more of it. Charlie the Unicorn
is like a one note bit overand over again. Like again, that
was more my question because again,there are some of the things that is
just weird for weird sake, andit's not meant to mean anything. So
(06:16):
I just didn't know if we werethere yet or if the things we were
seeing like should be over over interpreted. I guess so is Charlie the Unicorn
in salad fingers Cannon? Is thatwho he called his friend Charlie? Yeah,
that's that's no. I mean Iwould I mean I would watch that
right. Oh yeah, I wasabout to crossover. You can I it's
(06:36):
it's interesting to me that they keepthey keep bringing the kids bet you know,
like I mean, like again,I'm wondering where they're going with that,
but like it's very clear that likesalad Fingers has something to do with
kids or has like an maybe Iwould attraction isn't the right word, but
an infatuation maybe I would agree withthat. I also think it's important to
(06:58):
note that the you know, thekid character, that the little girl that
is introduced in this episode, Ithink she is the most articulate and most
quote unquote normal character we've en counteredthis far, truely comparatively comparatively. I
mean, there's one the little childcharacter from the previous episode just went really
(07:18):
like you know exactly like yeah,maybe I don't know what I'm supposed to
get from that, but that seemslike that's just weird for weirdness sake like
that specifically, Like though again thosekinds of things, it's like, all
right, we're just gonna have likea loud noise to like scare you or
unsettle you. But again, I'minterested to see when we get something that's
(07:38):
not just weird because I don't know, like with don't hug me. I'm
scared it kind of set set thebar a little high unfortunate fortunately or unfortunately
however you want to kind of interpretit. Yeah, I think don't Hugby,
I'm scared. The production value obviouslyis much higher and had much more
you know, brains behind the narrativeof and was meant to I feel like,
(08:03):
don't have me. I'm scared.Its purpose was more to relay a
complex idea, and I think SaladFingers is a lot more simplified than that.
You know, it's mainly for somesort of condensed narrative rather than a
commentary, So I feel like thatalso, I don't want to say,
you know, dampens the quality Ithink for what Salad Fingers is, like
(08:28):
I said before, what it's tryingto do, it does very well.
But I think the part of thisepisode that I want to get some opinions
on what happened towards the end wherethat Salad Fingers spoon was stolen by a
crow or a raven. I couldnever tell the difference, And at first
(08:50):
he thought it was amusing, andthen the child speaks for the first time
in the episode, also finding itthen amusing and then all of a sudden,
h Salad Fangers has a breakdown inhis house, and it seems like
an odd course of events. Anythoughts, feelings, predictions, theories.
(09:11):
Is it the fact that she spokeso articulately that through him for a loop,
because like we've said, we haven'treally heard anybody speak quite like him.
Salad Fangers is the only other characterthat actually speaks kind of speaks well,
So maybe that surprised him and you, Chris, I don't know,
Like again, like it's it's interestingbecause so much of this maybe it will
(09:31):
make sense when we look back onI don't know, Like I can't know
you're at a loss. It's notthat I'm at a loss. It's just
these kinds of things it takes toget to write, It takes getting back
into a right mindset to really Idon't know. These are the kinds of
things for me that I have ahard time watching and analyzing and making predictions
(09:52):
because like right now, it feelslike it could be anything that's fair.
So in that case, do youwant to watch the next one? Say
you feel done? Sure, let'sdo it. I'm let's do it.
So this is the sixth episode,of salad Fingers. This episode is titled
Present was posted thirteen years ago.So to eat Jeremy Fisher is to eat
(10:26):
himself. There's a lots unpacking thatone. Huh ah, Okay, do
you feel like there's some more substanceto work with now, Chris, Maybe
I'm curious your thoughts for a stustinon them, because that episode ended with
him eating himself. Yeah. Sowell, and it began with him eating
his finger puppet, which is essentiallymyself himself, and it came full circle
(10:48):
to him eating himself. His actualself is the physical representation of salad fingers.
As the show has shown us.It's almost as if it's getting a
look to his tormented psyche. Ifhe's eating Jeremy Fisher, like I said,
he's eating himself. I don't know. It's weird in the whole thing
with the toilet. I don't know. Is he like talking to like a
(11:09):
poop demon or something? I haveno idea. Well, it's like he
was seeing. He was seeing,he was seeing something and he was interacting
with it like one reflection. Imean, this whole episode has kind of
been himself and himself, right,instead of being called president should we go
like Dopple Dope Gunga. I thinkthe horse was the present, oh as
in present, not not like notpresent but pres Yeah, I don't know
(11:37):
if the inflection changes are present butnot pre sure gift is in present not
like the present, not like presently. There are presents in this room where
we are all present, not likethat, right, and they are presented
to you, the three Stooges andEmma's thet much is yes, yes,
(12:01):
yes, yes, sure whatever Andnow I understand what present meant, but
I want to know what that's myinterpreting. I mean, that makes sense
more than I could have a dualmeaning. Yeah, but there's no reason
why I couldn't. I'm with youlike in the in the present not in
the prison makes less sense, andit's harder to show visually than a a
(12:24):
present, as as as as wewould be interpreted. There's also mentioned about
the Great War, yes right,a couple of times, and that Jeremy
went to fight it. And theway that I interpret this episode, or
at least part of it, isafter Salad Fingers eats the finger puppet the
first time, he seems to makebelieve that the horse that he has been
(12:48):
gifted apparently by the puppet of JeremyFisher that it is a real horse that
could take him places, because afterthe scene with the toilet, he tells
the horse to take him home andthen continues to play with it, almost
like he's acting out something that hadhappened in the past. And then when
he gets home and he sees therepresentation of Salad Fingers at the other side
(13:11):
of the room, and then it'slike the shot reverse shot, and sometimes
we're seeing where we were originally standingwalking back into the house as Jeremy and
again like, oh, I thoughtyou were out fighting, you know,
the Great War, which I thinkbrings up an interesting idea that he was
potentially acting out something that had happenedin the past as Jeremy. So he
(13:31):
maybe suffers from PTSD, And thatis a theory that I think is the
most prevalent that I've seen online.And I think that he has PTSD.
That is what I see a lotof. So Salad Fingers fought the Great
fought in the Great War and gotdisfigured. Oh wow, okay, we
(13:52):
could see that, we could seethat the Great War potentially caused some sort
of apocalypse I think we talked aboutin the last episode that the escape looks
very apocalyptic and there seems to bea lot of deformed or some deformed,
which could also I mean, he'slike a living corpse though, like if
he's a little because that's the thingSolad Fingers is it is he's like a
(14:13):
it's I mean in a lot ofways, because I was something I asked
last time we talked. It waslike, is this a mask with guys
eyes poking out of it or not? Because he looks so emaciated, it's
like he's a skull. I couldsee. We're looking at the image of
his face right now. It's juston our screen emblazon to see, Hey
you did it. That was prettygood, Dustin dust I like that.
(14:35):
Yeah, for those of for thoseof you that are not able to see
Dustin, because this is the audiomedia you did. You did a really
good impression last time. Oh yeah, oh yeah yeah. I think it's
interesting for me with this that nowwe might be looking at like someone who
suffered trauma, So that kind ofspins this in a weird way. I
(14:56):
mean, I'm not going to say, like clearly he suffered trauma, because
there's something wrong with him, butlike there's something immensely wrong with him.
South Fingers needs professional help. Idon't know if there is professional help for
him. You're probably right it gothim, as they would say. So
(15:16):
with that theory in mind, Ithink we should start up suth. Okay,
so episode seven is athlete titled.Surely it was posted five years ago,
so there was a bit of ajump. Yeah, and I think
this is where you start to seea shift in narrative. So well,
(15:50):
now I think we have a betteridea of what his brother again, like
what oh YoY, well, isthere going to be an obvious answer or
is it gonna be is how?Okay, let me ask you something because
again, like this is something youhave a frame of reference for obviously because
you were there for don't hug me, I'm scared. Don't not me.
I'm scared. It feels like whenwhen, like when the when the jig
(16:11):
is up and you kind of knowwhat the score is with don't hug ma,
I'm scared. It makes sense,Like I get it. I can
see logically a B, C,D, E, F G got it.
Is it gonna be like that withthis? Is there that? Or
is it like more esoteric and justkind of like, well, maybe it
means this. I would say itleans esoteric, but it has been a
hot minute since since I've watched itall the way through. Okay, so
(16:37):
I might be misremembering. I don'tremember it being like two on the nose.
I remember, you know, they'reneeding to be like fan theories or
to sort of decipher Okay, peoplewere still kind of confused on what it
all meant. Okay, yeah,because that's I mean, that's my thing.
It's like for me, it's oneof those things where all I want
to do is know is there gonnabe something here more than what we're getting,
(16:59):
and is It's like, yeah,it's a little bit more than this.
Okay, because like again, likeif this is how they're going to
do the revealing of things, it'slike, I mean, there definitely will
be more to go off of us. Okay, Okay, it's sort of
at this point, as I said, like you can kind of feel a
little bit of a shifted narrative.Yes, totally, it's a little bit.
It's a little bit more straightforward thanany of the other episodes, this
(17:23):
one, you mean, moving forwardor so far, so far out of
all the ones that we've watched,I think this one is the most straightforward.
It feels the most cohesive and narrative. Yeah, well there's things happening
that like need to be Yeah,yeah, totally, And so you can
definitely see that, like there's beena lot of growth on the creator side,
you know, in terms of youknow, presenting a narrative, and
(17:47):
that does Continueka, So do youhave any you want to make any updates
to the current theory, because Ithink at this point it's pretty safe to
say that the Great War obviously hasa lot to do with this. Yeah,
there was evidently a great war orone going on. Kenneth doesn't seem
although he mentioned Kenneth as his brother, doesn't seem to be in similar form.
(18:12):
You know, he's got hair,he kind of looks more human.
You could tell that it's the corpseof a human. What I want to
point out is salad Fingers obviously verymuch likes to name objects and refer to
certain things by like names that wedon't really have a freewer reference for,
(18:33):
and he just like comes up withnames like that. That's what it seems.
Yeah, it's like very just liketrain of thought, like just words
like word jumble. Like we're notword jumble because they all make sense,
but it's like just like verbal diarrhea. It's very much like a child playing
with dolls, right, I thinkis what it evokes. But I do
think it's interesting to wonder if hesaw this corpse and just was like,
(18:57):
this is now going to be therepresentation of my brother. Like it might
not have actually been the corpse ofhis brother, but I think it's safe
to say that he probably did havea brother that went to the Great War,
Otherwise he wouldn't be talking about it, either that or maybe exactly either
that or maybe he is. OK, there's a lot, Like I think
(19:21):
with the episode prior, it's reallyhard to see where these characters start and
where Salad Finger ends. I suppose, Yeah, he does kind of step
out a lot. Well, they'reall like essentially representations of himself, right,
because he has the Finger puppets andwe've seen in the last episode he
eats one of them and then anotherversion of him creates or exists. Maybe
(19:47):
hallucinations, yeah, also play alarge right. Yeah, they do that
filtery thing where they kind of washit out with white to show that it's
in a dreamscape or in his heador something to that. But I definitely
think that the PTSD angle is verystrong, at least at this point with
the information we have so far.Yeah, I mean, it doesn't explain
(20:11):
his fascination with rest or texture.Butting away from that, I'm wondering because
I don't remember if that is betterexplained moving forward, and I'm curious to
see if that is explained because,like I said, it's been a hot
minute if they do circle back tothat and give that more of a purpose,
(20:32):
or it could have just been likethis was the throwaway gag of the
early episodes for the sake of beingcreepy. Okay, so there was there
may have been some of that though, right Like I think so, and
I think, like not everything.I don't want to I don't want to
say that everything before you know,the what ten year eight nine year gap
is irrelevant because I think it definitelywas world building, but I wouldn't take
(20:57):
all of it, you know,completely serious, Yeah, because there's a
pretty big gap in all of this, right, It's a really big gap
between the start of the series andwhere the series wound up going where So,
how so you said it was likefourteen and then all of a sudden,
the last one was five years whatgeez lo Weeziana. That's i'd say
(21:18):
makes I think it makes sense thatthe original series ended where it did.
It ended with salad fingers eating ofrepresentation of himself, and I think like
that is a really good bookend fora creepy mini series, and so it
makes sense that that was closing outthat chapter. And so this could be,
you know, the new interpretation ofthe same character. So kind of
(21:40):
like when they came back with don'thug me, I'm scared. Yeah,
on the show, on the showversus the YouTube series. That's what I
remember it being like, because Iwanted to re experience this with you guys,
so I didn't rewatch it and Ihad I think I watched all of
these maybe three or four four yearsago, all the way through. So,
(22:02):
like I said, it's been it'sbeen a while, but do you
want to continue? Yeah, Imean I think it's I think it's interesting.
I think that what's interesting for meand all of this is again like
now that we're seemingly trending towards maybesomething more narrative, like it reminds me
a lot. And this is whyI was like, oh, this is
what this reminds me of. Itreminds me of no Fielding's character, Old
(22:22):
Greg. I'm off Greg, doesn'tit I'm all break and I got a
magina Like it's so that like nowI can't now, I can't see this
as anything else, and it's notnearly as disturbing. I I know what
you're talking about, right, Idon't know who showed it to me.
I could not tell you where thatcharacter is from, but I do know
(22:42):
what you're talking about. I haveseen some clips. It's good. Somebody
showed it to be at some point. It's good. I mean it's weird.
I mean it's it's kind of likethis, it's kind of weir.
It's more it's more of like weirdfor weird sake. But yeah, that's
what it reminds me of. It'sjust like again British and weird. Because
that's the other thing. This isclearly and this is something we kind of
(23:03):
haven't mentioned. It's like coming clearlyfrom British sensibilities as well, because like
salad fingers is British, David forclearly British, because he's the one who
does the voice for Salad Fingers,So there is a I think uniquely British
sensibility to this is David British.You have her drunk failies from an old
chaw. Yeah right, love gameis. I just wanted to make sure
that it wasn't just an accent hewas putting on. If that's an accent,
(23:26):
he's doing a no way a rayof good yay, I know what
that is. I just want tosee him his reaction. That was a
little little my Fair Lady. Imean yeah, but it's like that's the
kind of British accent that I cando, is like, yeah, no
rubbin to a then like yeah,like that's you know, like cast me
(23:47):
in that movie for five minutes,give me two lines. You have the
remake of My Fair Lady where you'reone of the ensembles they're asking. I
don't think they asked for rubbin tugsin My Fair Lady, but maybe we're
talking about different movies. I know. No, I will say in this
last sound Fingers episode things we're gettingkind of weirdly sexual with that corpse.
Oh he kept, you know,just saying weird things that he was I
(24:12):
mean he was talking, Yeah,he was Canada coming on strong, is
it? I mean talking to acorpse is weird? Yeah, Like,
I'm sorry, this is a weirdtangent, but I kind of want to
like, being around a dead bodyis weird. Yeah. Yes, I've
been around one dead body once inmy life, and that was my grandmother's
funeral, and it was very strangeand very surreal. What is it called
(24:34):
when you sit with the with thebody after they pass away viewing? No,
no, no, there's like athing where you can like sit with
it overnight. Oh I don't know, like Italians do it. I think
it's in Jewish. It's in Jewishand Italian and I think Spanish as well,
where it's like you stay up withthe body the night before and like,
I'm sorry, like it's just Idon't think that's I don't think that's
(24:57):
the thing in Judaism then, becauseyou don't have to worry about someone doing
that at your funeral, because it'slike, it's fucking weird to me to
be around dead bodies. Like,I'm sorry, so like seeing sound figures
because so blase is just I thinkI think being around her dead body,
there's a time limit before it's likeit's like hugging too long. It's like
okay, it's time to walk away. Yeah, and being around it,
(25:21):
it's a very short time limit.Just I want to make that clear.
It's not like sixty seconds and it'slike okay, three hours. I mean,
I don't know, like I haven't. I saw my grandfather and my
mom's mom, my dad's dad,and my mom's home, but I didn't
want to see my dad's mom,Like I didn't want to see it like
it just like it's not that's notthe way I want to remember the person.
(25:41):
That's maybe my thing with it.Does that make sense? Oh?
I know I'm the same way becausewhen we uh put my dog down back
in like twenty nineteen, I wasmy senior year of college, and my
parents were like, do you wantto come home for when we have to
put down you know, the familypet? And I said no, I
didn't want to be there for thatbecause I, you know, I had
(26:04):
my goodbye with him. I knewthat he was on his way out because
he had had a pretty nasty seizurethat was that really killed his quality of
life. And so I was awareand so I kind of had my goodbye
with him, and then there wasno need for me to come home to
relive that. Great, you know, so I can tell I can relate.
(26:27):
I've always I've always been very squeamishwith death in general. Brings up
weird thought, Pats, I'm withyou. I don't Yeah, I mean,
I'm not like, I don't know. It's just like I don't know.
I don't want to that's not thelast and that's not the way I
want to remember someone, and that'slike the last thing. So it's it's
a little mud you know, Iget it. I do well, you,
(26:48):
Dustin, what about me? What'syour stance on dead body? This
question? Mark? Yeah, Iwas expecting you to say something like pace.
Great. That was Moore putting youon the spot for a clever ins
er. No, I don't havemuch Okay, Well, leave them where
(27:10):
they lie. I don't know thingsthat you would say about corpses and legos
if you want to make parents angry, Survey says, leave them where they
lie. So, uh, who'slying? I know it's a family is
a family feud? Yeah? Yeah, is that what it is? I
think they also did that in Who'sline? Oh oh, I see what
you mean, like make the jokeabout it. Yeah, never seen that
(27:33):
show. You've never seen Who's I'veseen Whose Line? And you have like
a full episode I've seen like gags. I stumbled across it on like the
old TV when I was like,I don't know seventy EV didn't know what
the hell I was watching, didn'tget any of the jokes. But Wayne
Brady Drew Carrie Boy, that's ablast in the past. God, they
(27:56):
have Who's Line? Now? Right? Isn't there like a new version of
it? There? I think thereis a new version, and I haven't
seen it. I feel like mostpeople would probably say that it's not quite
the same, but I'm glad they'rekeeping it alive. Yeah, I mean,
hey, it's an improv show,right, Like yeah, so,
I mean that's what YouTube's for,right, Well, I mean and TikTok
and and yeah and any short formmedia anything. Right. You don't need
(28:19):
TV to promote yourself, folks.You're listening to a podcast radio on the
intern. I haven't turned on aTV in ages. That's fair. I
mean, unless if it was toaccess Netflix, that's like to go on
the TV. Yeah, that's fair. I haven't flipped through channels except when
I was on a plane. Wellwe're we're because I literally had nothing better.
(28:41):
But we're coming in for landing in. Any of you youngins who don't
know what a TV is, checkout that we have the satellites on this
plane. Guys, check out youcan watch TV. Get all these crazy
channels right, Look at all thisvariety and yet nothing to watch. Jesus.
So, speaking of things to watch, shall we? Shall we watch
one more episode? I think wecan fit in one more all right?
(29:03):
So this eighth episode is titled Cupboard. Salad Fingers receives some unpleasant frequencies from
his radio and ladies and gentlemen.Two years ago, David Firth posted salad
Greenheart fingers green Heart lushies Greenheart greenHeart over at saladfingersstore dot com, a
(29:23):
real website where you can buy stuffedanimal versions of salad fingers. Thank god,
there's no rule thirty four of saladfingers there totally is. I take
that back, Fuck me, Iwhy would you even say it? Yeah,
well I don't know why I saidit. Mistake. Let's just watch
the episode titled covered it was sucha mistake. Go back to your idiot
(30:00):
hole bro man of you since onceexcept maybe that first, since I think
maybe eight ex since I think allof them, because it sure seems like
he has a collection of something thatpeople who kill people take. It's one
of his very special hairs. That'sgood. That was pretty good, Dustice,
(30:22):
that's real good. I mean,I'm not sure that's one that you
can crack out in polite company andor with children. But you know,
unless you want to go to bedor daddy salad fingers will get you.
Oh yeah, I think it's ait's a very niche party trick. You
have to put the daddy in there, or just call him daddy fingers,
which is even worse. Chris yourmind. No, these are the same
(30:45):
people that came up with the phrasedaddy wise for when people are like lusting
for it's like lusting for pennywise.It's the same thing. It's just like
fucking you fuckers like you like Igain. Some people just want to be
eviscerated by a clown. People leanthey want to be a You know,
Emma, you're right, put thaton a bad shirt. Put that on
(31:07):
a fucking shirt and print it becausethat's awful. No, and there's the
thing they want to be a visceratedby a clown sexually. It's yeah,
no, no, It's like,I don't want to yuck anybody's yums because
I don't you're yucking to you.I don't want if somebody's somebody's youm right
now is being yuck. Other podcastson this network have the perception of being
yum yuckers. We hear at.Scary stories we tell are not yum yuck
(31:32):
heers. Folks, if you wantto be viscerated by a clown in a
sexual way, we support. Yeah. I mean, hey, you know
what you want to do? Thatcool. But honestly, though, like
that for me is just it's alittle weird. That's just a little weird.
That's just a little weird. Doesnot it well, it's but again,
like what's weird is like we're makingexcuses for salad fingers, but salad
(31:52):
fingers is eating kids, right,they're trying to make it like but I
was leading up to a point becauselike they try to they're trying to make
us feel empathetic towards but he eatskids, right, he murders kids.
Yeah, Like, but that's whatmakes him an interesting character by my approximation,
I don't think that is necessarily ascanon as it was in the first
(32:13):
few episodes. That felt more veryearly on, and I'm not sure if
that's still a relevant part of hischaracter. It could have been something that
was ultimately reccollned. I don't thinkit's something they revisit, and I think
the better focus of this episode iswhat does the radio represent? Right?
(32:34):
And to me it sounded like anabusive parent. Well, and is the
is the like? What I couldn'ttell is the radio hymn like? It's
it's sound. It was a differentit sounded like a different force, and
it sounds to me it sounded likea parental figure. I don't know if
gender matters. It was a male'svoice, but I don't know if it
represents, you know, necessarily afather versus a mother. But it definitely
(33:00):
sounded like some sort of abusive parent. And then it's weird because Sala Fangers
tends to come off as somebody withlike all of these polite mannerisms, you
know, the way that he speaks, how he carries himself, and also
when he's very quick to judge othersfor being dirty, that comes up a
lot, and so the moment thathe's being ridiculed that his house is filthy,
(33:23):
he shuts down and to me thatthat screams PTSD from abuse in some
sort of familial situation. Sure,And I think the other important thing to
note is where it's said, giveme back one of my hairs, or
give me back you have one ofmy hairs given back, or I'd like
(33:45):
it back. And so that makesme think that the collection of hair could
have been members of the family whohad lived in the house prior. I
don't necessarily think it's children that he'skilled. I think it might be more
so of like a hair from hismother, a hair from his father,
a hair from his brother, ahare from his sister, you know,
because that's how I see it,Because if this is his home, it
(34:07):
would make sense that other people mighthave lived in empire, and especially if
it's posts this great war, youknow a lot of people it seemed like
a lot of people have died,which I think is a strong possibility.
And so the radio he could be, you know, personifying the static of
the radio, because it was veryfuzzy to hear, and so obviously I'm
(34:29):
not saying that like the ghost ofa relative was like controlling the radio.
I think it could have been moreof an auditory hallucination that he was having
because of PTSD. Interesting, Andthen I think he eats the hair to
avoid having to get rid of itotherwise, and that way he could be
closer to his family members. Ordoes that represent getting rid of him so
(34:50):
he doesn't talk to him anymore.It could have been that, it could
have just been a genuine act ofdefiance, you know, just in general.
But I do think that this openI think this definitely opens up a
broader conversation of mental health. Ifeel like that's the shift that we've taken.
Yeah, well, I think it'sinteresting that we have something that is
entertaining but also maybe talking about thator at least like the character is dealing
(35:15):
with it in a way that's notjust like I don't know, inter I
don't know, but it is entertainment, right. I think it's a very
interesting way to tell a very confusingnarrative. They didn't at all detract from
the creepy. It's still creepy,it's still weird, but they're doing less
but saying more, If that makessense. Yeah, Well, and it
(35:37):
seems like it's more focused, likethey know more of what they want specifically
they be I mean again, I'massuming it's like the one guy I mean
again, one has to sit hereand essentially look and say, all right,
we're moving in a direction now whereit seems like he has a purpose
and a intent on what he showingus, and it may be going towards
(36:01):
something, and it definitely feels thatway. So are you more invested at
this point because you at the beginningof this episode you seem to very take
it or leave it? I amI mean again, Like again, I
just didn't know how much longer theycould continue with the gag. You know,
I think it's evolved past a gag, right, I agree, But
it had to get there, andwe had to get through the point where
(36:22):
it was a gag. Is alsoyour right, I mean, because that
was new Grounds. New Grounds wasall about gags and shock humor, like
that was animation on new Grounds,And I think YouTube allows people to sort
of create whatever content they want,and especially if you're already in an anticipate
(36:43):
like a creator of an anticipated series, you're kind of given that freedom to
do what you want with it.With a platform that will reach ultimately more
people, right right, Well,And I'm I'm of the mindset where I
would go wherever I can as thecreator to be able to tell the story
however I want. So Yeah,I mean, it's not a limitation to
(37:05):
be on YouTube obviously, but italso allows them to just do kind of
whatever and not be beholden to traditionalstorytelling measures either. So that's why you
can kind of just be fucking weirdfor weird sake and go nowhere with it.
I mean adults, I mean,like adult swim doesn't exist, you
know. That's like adult swim andits core in a lot of ways is
(37:27):
like being transgressive and subversive. ButI mean this is at times both subversive
and transgressive. So I'm enjoying thisa lot more than I was before.
What about you, Destin, Yeah, I'm kind of with this whole angle
of it. I'm kind of interestedin, I don't know, seeing how
it's explored further and if it justkeeps getting worse or if it starts to
(37:50):
resolve itself a little more. That'skind of where I'm at. Where do
you think the logical next step wouldbe if you had to make a guest
talking about what we're talking about withPTS, the abusive parents. He's trying
to suppress some of that. Itseems like it's either going to continue,
like start to boil over more likehe was getting frustrated with Hubert Kemberdale.
(38:15):
I see more like anger coming out. So I don't know this next episode
or two he might flip out alittle bit. What about you. Yeah,
I mean it's one of those thingswhere it obviously is going in a
direction, there is something that itis now driving at. But I'm yeah,
I'm very curious. I'm curious wherethis ends up because there's only you
(38:37):
know, nine through fourteen, sothere's not that there's not a lot left,
but there's not as much as therewas at the beginning, and they're
just now getting to the story.So I'm curious to see if they're able
to get us to that point wherethe story makes sense, along with the
way they've been telling it where it'skind of like giving it to us necessarily
the most efficient way. I'm curiousto see if they're able to make all
(38:58):
of this work because again, likethe way that they're doing it, they
kind of got a late start ontelling the story, and I'm wondering,
like if that's going to be aproblem again, like they they they could,
they could they have They obviously dohave plenty of shows out there that
have nothing, but these like,you know, five to six minute episodes,
(39:19):
but they only have fourteen. Thereis an there is a finite amount,
So I have to assume that theytell the entire story that they want
to tell in this format. ButI'm just curious, that's all, if
they're able to like make this workin a way that's I don't know that
feels rewarding as a viewer, causeby watching Don't Hug Me, I'm scared.
I felt rewarded as a viewer bythe end of it for sticking with
(39:43):
it through all of its problems andalso like doing a little bit of extra
work to go and watch the thingsabout it kind of answer some of the
questions that I may have had andI don't. I mean, this probably
has that, But again, willit be as rewarding Were those things there
or is this a little bit ofreaching you know? That's what I don't
That's what you can't know until theend. So I'm excited. I definitely
(40:05):
think that you're going to enjoy whereit continues to go. I can't speak
for how you're going to feel necessarilyabout how it ends, because I don't
remember how it ends fair, butI do think you're going to like the
direction it continues to go in.It really does. It never stops being
surreal, it never stops leaning intothe creepy factor, and it never stops
(40:27):
blurring that line between you know,reality and hallucination, which I think is
what makes the series so strong,is that you're never sure what you're seeing,
if any of it is actually whatis happening, or if it's all
a representation. Like there's no wayto say whether or not how we perceive
solid Fingers is what solid fingers actuallylooks like in universe? Right? You
(40:50):
know, there's there's really there's nothingthat we can go off of and say,
like without a doubt, at leastin my opinion, of like what
is concrete in this I think theonly thing that we can say is concrete
is that Solid Fingers at this pointis alone. And I think that really
is like the only like one concretething that we can cling to and everything
(41:10):
else it's really hard to say whatis actually happening and what is some form
of a hallucination or blurring the boundaries, and they keep pushing that uh that
bar, you know, further andfurther, which I think is really interesting.
Well, and again, like yousaid, I mean they're I think
it's also the stuff of him inhis own head is also so interesting because
(41:34):
they keep coming back to it.But I'm not sure. I'm not sure
if they ever do they did theyget to a point where they explain that,
I mean, is I mean,is there more of that? Like
I'm enjoying that, but I'm alsohesitant to get invested in it because it
seems like they were doing it alot before and now they haven't done it
a lot now since the show haskind of come back. I think that's
going to be more of a personalopinion as we move forward. So I'm
(41:57):
curious to see what you have tosay about that as we okay continue,
Okay, Yeah, because for me, it's like, I I like seeing
those things because yeah, they're alittle kind of obtuse, but at the
same that's totally my jam, Likethat's my kind of thing where it's like,
oh, dream sequences and stuff.But yeah, I don't know,
that's like the Lynch, David Lynchstuff. This is I mean, this
is a mix of a lot ofreally interesting things. But I'm I don't
(42:21):
know ultimately, all I know isI'm enjoying it. Also, you know
it is No, it does reallystrike me as no fielding old Greg.
So it really is like the voiceis kind of the same, like whispery.
Shit, it's like a whisper voice. It's whispery and effeminate, and
I think like those are the twoboxes that it checks off. Yeah,
(42:44):
for both characters. Totally, No, totally, You're totally right, which
makes it even funnier to me.When Solid Fingers uses the terms gay and
queer to mean happy and weird,he uses them in the best way.
It's great. It's too fun.The way he speaks is a trip in
a half and I love it again. It's it's painfully British. It's like
(43:06):
it I can't tell if it's likereal like polite mannerisms or just like that
fake polite mannerism to appear, youknow, like a they're of higher class
in a sense, because that's likeI guess That's one other angle that I
think is important to note is theway that's all. As I said,
in the way that Selvi carries himselfis very if we are to use the
(43:28):
British term, it feels posh,right, And so that also makes you
wonder does he come from, youknow, way back in the day,
does he come from a more welloff background. So I think there's definitely
a lot to unpack as we continuegathering you know, data and evidence of
(43:49):
what story this is trying to convey. Yeah, it's it's it is a
little bit more esoteric than Don't HugMe I'm Scared. But I do like
like it's more of a car it'smore of like a character piece. It's
like a focus singularly on Salad Fingersand him as a character. So,
right, whereas, like I saidearlier, Don't Have Me I'm Scared is
a commentary, right like it is, I think with the newer, the
(44:13):
new series versus the I think theYouTube series was more of a commentary,
yeah, or a broader I wouldsay, a broader commentary, and I
would say the TV series is abit more of a narrower commentary and a
character study. But Solid Fingers tome, is like completely a character study
with world building like slight world building, right, yeah, that the world
(44:37):
building has been minor best but againit's not not minor as in in quality,
just they're not letting that get inthe way of talking about him,
which is perfectly fine ultimately. Like, yeah, the character of Salad Fingers
is the focus of the piece.The name of the piece is salad Fingers,
So Salad Fingers. I honestly,he's the he's the character of the
(44:58):
show. Like I care significant lessabout what happens outside of the house than
what happens inside of the house.Wait, wait, I care significantly less
about what happens outside. Oh okay, what happens inside of the house to
me seems much more important than whateverwas happening outside. You know, the
picnic was outside, and that wasinteresting, but it feels inconsequential in comparison
(45:21):
to what we just watched. That'sthat's fair. That's fair. But to
be fair, all of the consequentialstuff has more or less like happened inside
the house, right, I meanthe baby esque character proposing happened outside of
the house, that's fair. Butthe first but that Baby episode, a
lot of it takes place in thehouse. Though, yes, a decent
amount of it does also take place. Yeah, this, you know,
(45:43):
I will say I like that thequality of the show has ramped up a
significant amount. Oh, seven toeight episode. I mean, now we're
talking like actual it looks. Itlooks like there was something. I mean,
let's not get ourselves like, therewas something that was added to the
show by having it kind of grainyand gritty looking. It added to the
qual it added to the creep factor. I kind of miss but it looks
(46:06):
I mean, it's a good Imean, I miss it. But at
the same time, it's like,eh, it also looks better now because
it's in widescreen's an HD essentially like, it looks good. So I'm glad
it was a product of its timeand a product of its original platform.
And I guess there is a littlebit of nostalgia that comes with that that
now you know it is lacking.But I think ramping up in production quality
(46:30):
does increase the Oh it's lord.I'm looking for the effectiveness of it for
me personally, because it felt likewith the original couple of parts that were
made for new Grounds, it wasvery much a story made for new Grounds,
where now it just feels like astory that's fair, which I in
(46:51):
my opinion, it's less restrictive becauseof that. That's fair. With the
style of new Grounds, it's verymuch like what are we expecting from new
Ground? But with this, youknow, he was able to revamp his
style, refresh it, make itnew, make it his own again.
Right, and reclaiming the story andnot just being driven by what he thinks
(47:12):
will get a lot of views onnew Grounds, I guess, is what
I'm trying to say. I agreethere, Like I said, the nostalgia
factor as well as like that grainequality does add more to the creepiness.
But I think the level of detailthat they're showing now I think adds just
the same level of creepiness, ifnot more. Like the details in his
fingers, I mean, like comeon, yeah, no, I agree
(47:35):
with his fingers are so detailed.I agree, Like, I appreciate it.
It's a better looking show. Imean, I I wasn't really as
good looking as Solidisation. I meanthat's I mean, that is the that
is the thing, right, It'slike, well, ultimately, like fuck
it, salad fingers doesn't look great. It doesn't look great either way,
because he's not meant to look great. But he looks worse better in the
(47:58):
newer episode, which I am appreciativeof. I get it, though,
Dustin, Like I do get itbecause like it did benefit from looking kind
of shitty. I think, asidefrom just the creep factor, it just
kind of gave it that, uhthat almost like the setting that it is,
if it is this dystopian post warlike, not everything's going to be
(48:21):
perfect. Yeah, that's true too. Well, It's like it's like that.
I mean, they were using ita lot in those first couple episodes
where it's like it's clearly like someoneusing like a gramophone. It's like that
it had that quality to it,like that graininess. You kept listening to
Vinyl. Did you say Grandma's phonelike the video Grandma's Phone. Yeah,
again, I mean that, andI ran Grandma's phone, but it had
that quality. They were using thatmusic. I mean, they were using
(48:44):
it in those first couple episodes.So I don't know. I'm curious to
see if this ends up being asinteresting as Don't Have Me. I'm scared
there's no more of this after fourteenthough, right, Like, as far
as I know, there are tonsof theories as well. I do also
want to note, I don't necessarilythink it's fair to compare the series to
Don't Hug Me I'm Scared. Ithink they are. I understand why.
(49:06):
It's the only other one of sofar that you you know, that we
have talked about. So it's aframe of reference, you know, for
for all of us to discuss.So I understand the comparison, But I
also think it's it's very much likethe whole Apple story. I agree they
are, so I more saying thatfor the benefit of the audience. Well,
and that I mean, I agree, but I think at the same
(49:27):
time, like they are both tryingto do the same thing. They're both
trying to tell a story, andthey're both trying to tell a story in
an unconventional way. And I don'tthink that either one of them is inherently
insuccessful. I think that they're bothsuccessful in their own respective ways as they
was. I would definitely say thatDon't Hug Me, I'm Scared has a
broader appeal, But I think it'smeant to yes, because again, it's
(49:49):
it's supposed to mimic a children's show, and children's shows are supposed to have
a very broad, up right agreed, agreed, and I mean again,
like, yeah, they're also operatingin two different mediums. The expectations are
different. They're yeah, I don'tcompare them as much one to one as
much as just like the evocation ofthe feeling that they're going for, and
they are both successful in that regard, because again, they are both trying
(50:09):
to be creepy, weird, unsettling, any one of those words you could
use to describe what they're doing,and they're both rather successful. I mean,
I think frankly, we're talking aboutbeing creepy, weird, and unsettling.
This takes the cake over. Don'thave them. I'm scared, and
this is committed to it longer.Don't help me. I'm scared. Kind
of gave up being scary after awhile, Like you know, yeah,
(50:30):
it wasn't. That wasn't the interestand the goal of the storytellers was to
be scary. It was to tell, you know, the story that they're
telling. It was more gross thananything else. It had kind of gross
out humor, But I don't thinkit was scary, you know, in
the way that this is. Imean again, maybe this isn't scary,
but this is unsettling. Don't notbe I'm scared there was one that you
(50:52):
had to watch in a dark roomalone with headphones on, and which one
would you rather watch alone in adark room with phones on. I would
definitely picked on Harvey. I'm scaredover there, Yeah, because it's like
a more upbeaten bright show. Ultimately, even it's core outside of it kind
of being subversive. So this isjust kind of like it's one note,
(51:13):
but it's playing that one note ratherwell, and that's not exactly a note
that's necessarily easy to hit to beginwith. And it's not one that's hit
off, No, I mean it'shit on YouTube and stuff more often because
that's where these kinds of things tendto be. But that's also because again,
like we mentioned, this kind ofthing would never end up anywhere else,
Like who's going to put this onthe air other than something like an
(51:35):
adult swim So so on that note, I think that's a safe place to
wrap up. I'm very excited tofinish this. I don't know if we're
going to finish it because the episodesget a little longer. I don't think
we're going to finish this in onemore one more episode of this show.
I think it's probably going to besplit into at least another two. I
think that will cover that episode andthen do the last one. This next
(52:01):
one is almost ten minutes long,so I think we're probably going to have
to cover a few less. Butyeah, I'm really excited to continue watching
this with you guys and going onthis journey. So I'm glad that you're
enjoying the ride now at least agentle green man long fingers. He sure
(52:22):
is? He? Sure fucking is. No, I'm enjoying It's fun.
What about you, Destin? Areyou enjoying? SHANGHI? Well, what
I've liked about it is not onlyjust the episodes themselves, but I like
our discussions about it because it's it'sgone from something that's kind of nonsensical to
something that's like, oh wow,there really is a little picture into this
(52:45):
character's mind, but the creator's mindas well. And that's what I love
about this series is not just likereacting to creepy shit on the internet for
creepy's sake, but finding the meaningwithin it and discussing it. And I
was always into the like theory huntingand lore hunting, and so that definitely
scratches that inch for me personally,So I love doing this. This is
(53:07):
really fun for me. I likewatching those I like watching those videos on
YouTube, people that talk about likethe deep Tumbler lure shit, that shit
trip, that shit trips men likeJohn Lock, the John Lock conspiracy.
Oh, Emma, fucking shake inyour head because you know what it is.
You know it's true that fourth episodewill be coming. We promised,
(53:30):
fucking wild dude, I know ofit, and I stay away from.
Yeah. Yeah, Internet, Internettheories and fan theories are a deep dark
hole to fall down, folks.They're a fun one. Yeah, if
you have hours, right, ifyou despect you've got like ten hours to
listen to someone tell you why onegroup of people on the internet, but
(53:52):
two fictional characters were magically gay forone another. Yeah, couldn't do anything
better with your time? I supposeI guess so too, But yeah,
no, I guess the next timeyou hear the three of us, we'll
be doing close to the end ofsalad fingers. So until then, Weirdingwaymedia
dot com is where you can findthis show, but scary Stories we Tell
(54:14):
dot com is where you can gofor everything else. About this oh big.
Thanks as always to Dustin who's here, I'm here, and Maggie for
the album artwork for the show,along with our good friend Alex Malinak.
Hey, we know that guy.We know that guy. If you're listening,
Alex, we know you, andyou can uh you can find him
and his band Blondeos kicking it inthe Midwest, but also over on Spotify
(54:37):
just search blondo Uh Yeah. Andas always, until we uh talk to
salad Fingers again, We'll let ourformer We'll let our former friend. We'll
let our good friend, the formerhost of Sightings, mister Tim White,
beat us out. No mystery isclosed to an open mind.
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