ADR - Episode 517: New York City, Statue of Liberty, Dodecagon

[00:00:00] Oh, hello and welcome to Al Dente Rigamortis. I'm Review Cultist.

[00:00:22] I'm Mik.E, Eastend Treasurer. And I'm the Gamer in Yellow.

[00:00:27] And we're here to discuss those internet stories, most creepy and most pasta, and be critically

[00:00:31] silly doing it. And tonight we have New York City Statue of Liberty, DoDekagon. So this

[00:00:39] story is a staff pick on Creepos.wiki that I just came across when I went to the Creepos.wiki

[00:00:48] site. So you can check it out there. It's by Squid Man Escape on Creepos.wiki.

[00:00:56] It might be Squid Manescape.

[00:01:01] No, it's a squid man's cape like a dog's cape, but it's all squid men.

[00:01:06] Yeah. Well, no, because there's an E though between like squid man and scape. So

[00:01:11] squid man escape.

[00:01:14] Squid man. Is squid man escape not just like what happens when Cthulhu shows up?

[00:01:22] Or squid manescape?

[00:01:24] That's what I'm saying. Yeah.

[00:01:25] So squid has a mane?

[00:01:26] Yeah, it's just like a mane of tentacles and just a scape of them.

[00:01:31] So the story.

[00:01:33] So the actual story. Yeah. So yeah, it's by Squid Man Escape on Creepos.wiki. You

[00:01:39] can check it out there. And before we get too deep in the weeds of the squid

[00:01:46] manescape, let's give our initial recommendations. I'm going to recommend it.

[00:01:53] I'm going to partially recommend it.

[00:01:56] I am tired of saying that I'm going to partially recommend it. So I'm just

[00:02:00] gonna say I recommend it.

[00:02:01] I thought you were just like, I'm not going to recommend it.

[00:02:04] Yeah, I got a balance in there.

[00:02:06] Really worried there for a second. I was like, really?

[00:02:11] Don't worry. I'll find something to bitch about.

[00:02:13] Yeah, that's fair.

[00:02:15] But with those out of the way, I suppose we'll move on to the rundown featuring

[00:02:22] the rock.

[00:02:24] Yeah, this is used in there. It's easier.

[00:02:27] So Nare Ator.

[00:02:30] It's a try tested method for like replacement.

[00:02:36] So Nare is forced to write this story following the prompt, remember this

[00:02:43] behind the eyes of the Statue of Liberty in the ancient city of New York lies

[00:02:47] the Dodecagon with a terrifying power.

[00:02:50] Whosoever looks at it will perish violently for it does not wish to be

[00:02:55] seen. They've been doing this under a psychic influence by a mysterious

[00:03:01] memetic entity known as the Dodecagon.

[00:03:04] As it goes, this all started when some kids went to the Statue of Liberty

[00:03:11] to search for alligators, you know, like alligators in the sewers,

[00:03:15] like that whole rumor.

[00:03:17] For some reason they were searching for them in the Statue of Liberty

[00:03:21] and not how I saw it, but that's fine.

[00:03:25] Oh, OK.

[00:03:27] And they come out running and in a calm yet manic way, proclaiming to people

[00:03:36] in Nare's burrow, the Dodecagon is controlling certain words that Nare

[00:03:42] must write down, including burrow rather than town, by the way.

[00:03:47] That no one should go to the Statue of Liberty and that they saw

[00:03:52] nothing.

[00:03:53] So a week later these kids are killed and of course a team of people

[00:03:59] went to the Statue of Liberty to see what was going on.

[00:04:03] One such member from the team was Nare's mom, despite Nare's

[00:04:09] like begging and warning not to go.

[00:04:12] After the team left, the Dodecagon asserted, after the team left

[00:04:17] the Dodecagon exerted its power of influence over everyone and Nare

[00:04:23] recalls leaving school and staring at his wall at home for a day or so

[00:04:28] before gathering with everyone else in the town at the town square.

[00:04:33] There, there was the team.

[00:04:36] There the team was, including Nare's mom, who were kneeling with their

[00:04:43] heads down and a man with an axe came and executed all of them before

[00:04:48] taking the axe to himself.

[00:04:50] Everyone in the square watching on was stuck like statues as this

[00:04:55] horror happened.

[00:04:56] But their eyes were able to move around.

[00:04:59] Yeah, they were forced to stay there and see and not interfere.

[00:05:04] When the Dodecagon released its control, everyone ran off, though

[00:05:10] eventually the Dodecagon would force its control again on the borough

[00:05:14] and begin methodically and quietly killing off everyone in the

[00:05:18] borough so as not to raise suspicions from outsiders.

[00:05:22] A lot of people were also given lobotomies to make them more

[00:05:27] enthralled and I guess controllable, though not Nare

[00:05:33] because they had been the only person to not flee the town and

[00:05:38] spread the word of the horrors of the Dodecagon.

[00:05:41] And so it kept him alive and their mind unmolested, at least

[00:05:47] aside from all the mental trauma of like the previous events.

[00:05:50] Nare blames himself for all of this and wishing to finally die

[00:05:57] or at least end all of this or end all his misery has been

[00:06:02] writing this story to be posted online.

[00:06:05] From there, they will go to the statue and meet their end.

[00:06:09] The story ends with the same prompt as the start.

[00:06:13] Finn.

[00:06:15] That's not the prompt, it's that whole, you know,

[00:06:20] behind it in the eyes of the Statue of Liberty, blah blah blah.

[00:06:24] Yeah.

[00:06:26] I didn't want to confuse anybody, but it's like,

[00:06:31] the story ends with the same prompt as the start.

[00:06:34] Finn.

[00:06:36] That's not the prompt.

[00:06:38] Anyways, so I suppose we'll move on to

[00:06:44] everyone, tolerance or grammar and positions at this point.

[00:06:48] Guys, Mikey, the East Ends for Evil, do you have anything?

[00:06:53] I have extension junction.

[00:06:55] All right.

[00:06:57] And next stop, conjunction junction.

[00:06:59] So prepare to throw away everything you know about New York City.

[00:07:04] It took a long time, so they must have looked all over the

[00:07:10] Statue of Liberty until they managed to get from the crown

[00:07:15] into the head.

[00:07:17] It's doing that right now, making me think I want to mention

[00:07:24] the Statue of Liberty here, only to snap out of it a few seconds later.

[00:07:30] But nowadays I think she would have been killed early even if she'd stayed.

[00:07:38] It wants me to use New York City words and Statue of Liberty words

[00:07:46] and the word dodecagon over and over again to create an image in your brain.

[00:07:54] So instead of trying to type something that it immediately deletes,

[00:08:01] I'll just say that my burrow wasn't actually that important.

[00:08:07] And everyone in my burrow moving away wouldn't register as a problem.

[00:08:15] It was a project that took years.

[00:08:19] It hates being remembered, hates being in people's minds.

[00:08:25] But it can't actually erase itself from people's minds,

[00:08:30] so it erases the minds, so to speak.

[00:08:34] It destroys the town, slowly murders all the people in a way

[00:08:40] that makes it look like nothing really went wrong to any outsiders.

[00:08:46] It lets only one person live in order to send the following message,

[00:08:52] New York City, Statue of Liberty, dodecagon.

[00:08:57] It just seems right to blame myself for this somehow.

[00:09:03] Finn.

[00:09:07] Wow.

[00:09:10] Again, not too far off from a very succinct rundown.

[00:09:16] There's too much context to get too much silliness out of that.

[00:09:19] Aside from talking about Statue of Liberty and then immediately saying,

[00:09:25] I wish she took my suggestion to leave or otherwise she wouldn't have been killed.

[00:09:32] I just imagine the Statue of Liberty dead.

[00:09:37] Yeah, that's true.

[00:09:40] That's the one silliness we could take from this.

[00:09:42] He's warning the Statue of Liberty,

[00:09:44] and the Statue of Liberty did not heed his warning, so she died.

[00:09:52] But that's what happens when he grabs a bunch of sentences throughout the story

[00:09:55] that start with words that they probably shouldn't,

[00:09:57] like it's ends or buts, because there's always better words to use.

[00:10:00] And I guess we have the grammar in yellow with gamers.

[00:10:05] No.

[00:10:06] Okay, fair enough.

[00:10:10] Yeah, that literary I read through is like, well, I know what I'm going to be doing.

[00:10:14] Guys?

[00:10:16] Did you find anything?

[00:10:20] All right, then I guess we'll move on to actual thoughts.

[00:10:24] I'm going to start with the prompt.

[00:10:29] Remember this, behind the eyes of the Statue of Liberty in the ancient city of New York lies a dodecagon.

[00:10:38] Oh God, it's influencing me.

[00:10:39] It's trying to stop me from saying the words.

[00:10:43] Lies a dodecagon with a terrible power.

[00:10:46] Whosoever looks at it will perish violently, for it does not wish to be seen.

[00:10:52] Okay, so this story as I read it, filled me with potential for game fodder.

[00:11:00] So I guess the prompt works on like multiple levels because it works for the stories as a prompt for the story and it works as a prompt for game fodder for me as I was reading the story.

[00:11:12] And this is what I came up with.

[00:11:15] So taking bits and pieces of like various monsters in D&D, like a basilisk, a mimic, mind flayer, maybe even a little bit of an aboleth, creatures with psychic abilities or shape changing traits and what have you,

[00:11:30] and creating a dungeon from those bits, from those traits, from those abilities, like some horrid monument that has appeared near a small town overnight seemingly and begins exerting control over its people with the most terrifying, ignore me energy it can emit.

[00:11:55] And then you get like a gaggle of adventurers arrive on the scene to see what's going on with this town and try to stop it.

[00:12:04] Cut to TPK TPK.

[00:12:08] Pretty much.

[00:12:10] I think I'd even use the layer rules from the monster manual, but this dungeon is basically the monster itself.

[00:12:18] Like the layer is the problem.

[00:12:20] Elaborate what layer rules? I don't even know what that means.

[00:12:23] So with larger monsters in D&D, and like specifically like dragons or aboleths, and aboleths are basically like tentacled, psychic monstrosities.

[00:12:33] They're basically like the D&D placeholder for like the great old ones, like the Thulu and stuff like that.

[00:12:39] They get special features, basically they get special combat features and special abilities that they can use after a certain amount of charges per day for their dungeon, like for the place they live.

[00:12:59] Like the place they live can become a secondary threat on top of the boss monster you're fighting.

[00:13:07] That's cool.

[00:13:09] Yeah, and it can sometimes hamper the players as they're like traversing through it or dealing with the big bad.

[00:13:16] Or they can either be like an obstacle to try and get to the big bad or when you're actually fighting the big bad monster like the dragon or the aboleth or what have you.

[00:13:25] On the aboleth's turn or even on the dungeon's turn, because the dungeon will sometimes get its own turn, they can use certain abilities because they have like a certain amount of charges for the abilities per day.

[00:13:40] Or I think maybe it's even like per round or something like that.

[00:13:45] So yeah, that's basically the rules for like layers in D&D or like dungeon layers.

[00:13:52] It is layers, not layer?

[00:13:54] No, it's layer as in like the hideout, the base of operations for the monster.

[00:13:59] Every time you say it I keep thinking you're talking about layers, like layers of...

[00:14:03] Well it's like, ogres have layers.

[00:14:06] Yeah, it's not layers as in like the layers of pages. It's layer as in like the domain, the location.

[00:14:14] I hate names language.

[00:14:16] Yeah, it's a terrible thing.

[00:14:18] It really is a terrible thing.

[00:14:22] But yeah, so...

[00:14:24] And weird like for our sister podcast, When Let's Die, I have been kind of diving into like fifth edition D&D for campaigns and stuff.

[00:14:31] And I've been kind of learning the ropes of like big bad monsters and their layer moves and stuff like that.

[00:14:38] So again, not exactly like a kind of like connective tissues time, but like it's just happy accident that I happen to be like...

[00:14:48] I have that in my head as I'm reading this story.

[00:14:50] I was like, oh, I can actually use that bit here for this.

[00:14:54] But yeah, the creature's mindfuckery, like this Dodecagon's mindfuckery of and like making people forget or just like trying to make people forget

[00:15:06] or like controlling their brains and like trying to kill off this town.

[00:15:10] Also brings to mind a certain beastie that Gamer in Yellow is probably all too well familiar with.

[00:15:16] No, I don't remember it.

[00:15:18] Oh, so you don't remember the...

[00:15:24] No, it erases memories. I don't remember that.

[00:15:26] Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah.

[00:15:29] Yeah, but yeah, the false hydra I could definitely see bringing ideas or abilities and flavor from the from the false hydra monster to this.

[00:15:37] And for anybody who doesn't know and doesn't wish just like Google false hydra, which do it.

[00:15:45] It's cool and creepy.

[00:15:47] But essentially what a false hydra is, is it's a multi headed creature.

[00:15:54] That is kind of like the silence from Doctor Who in that when you see it, it makes you forget it exists.

[00:16:01] And it makes it also erases the memory of its victims from you.

[00:16:07] So the one example that's always kind of seems to be given for it is like the adventures walk into a town and there's not a lot of people there.

[00:16:16] There's a lot of like closed down shops or just boarded up shops and stuff like that.

[00:16:20] And you go to the tavern and there's a happy couple there, like a wife and husband.

[00:16:28] And then you guys get a room there.

[00:16:30] They bring up some stuff like if the adventures bring up like, oh, like this town is really empty.

[00:16:35] It's like, oh yeah, it's always been like that.

[00:16:37] And then they get a room, they go to sleep and they come back down the next day and they notice that it's just a wife.

[00:16:43] And if the adventures ask the wife about the husband, she'll say that she's never had a husband.

[00:16:49] And then she'll just start crying and she doesn't know why.

[00:16:53] And that's because the husband has fallen prey to the false hydra.

[00:16:56] And because this entire town has become the domain of a false hydra.

[00:17:02] It's a creature that basically like you have there's a few ways of getting around it.

[00:17:06] It's it's it's forgetting mind like mindfuckery.

[00:17:10] But yeah, like you'll just be getting hurt and you don't know why.

[00:17:16] Or you'll just like suddenly you're like tossed across the street and you have no idea why.

[00:17:21] Like no one knows why.

[00:17:24] Which is fine. Yeah, exactly.

[00:17:26] Closing the environment a little bit.

[00:17:27] Yeah. Or you know, you'll be walking and you trip on something and you look back and there's nothing there.

[00:17:35] So yeah, it's that kind of stuff.

[00:17:37] It's like that kind of mindfuckery and I could definitely see using like elements of that for statting this this dodecagon.

[00:17:46] But move on to the next thing I have here.

[00:17:53] I bet your first question is why do you have to follow the prompt?

[00:17:58] And to that, I say my second question is actually more of a statement.

[00:18:03] This is this got really meta, like right off the hop.

[00:18:10] Honestly, as I kept reading it, I kept going.

[00:18:13] God damn, this is weird and surreal in like when the prompt stuff got brought up.

[00:18:20] I didn't know if that was like the author talking about it out of character or not.

[00:18:25] Same. Yeah.

[00:18:27] Like at the very beginning.

[00:18:29] And then you keep reading it like, oh no, that's part this is actually I guess this is the story I'm reading.

[00:18:34] Yep.

[00:18:35] Especially because the line break is there too.

[00:18:37] Yeah, exactly.

[00:18:40] And it brings to mind running right out the gate of the story, the vibes of some of something like the the entries from the SCP Foundation or even the game control.

[00:18:53] And just with like how this is written, it comes off very much like an account from like an SCP or from one of the items in the control games.

[00:19:02] Also, the monument mythos popped into my head a couple of times as I was reading this.

[00:19:07] And I feel like this would sit right at home in the myth in the monument mythos if they didn't already have a dedicated entry for the Statue of Liberty as a monster.

[00:19:18] No, they do.

[00:19:20] But and for anybody out there, we haven't covered it yet.

[00:19:23] But the the the monument mythos is an analog horror YouTube channel where it's basically an alternate version of American history where all of the great American monuments like the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, yada yada yada.

[00:19:40] They were all constructed to house horrific Eldritch horrors.

[00:19:47] Or horrible giant monsters, either to like contain them and or to feed them people.

[00:19:56] Like, specifically the Statue of Liberty one I believe it mentions that like people are sometimes like carted down into a special room in like the base of the Statue of Liberty, where they're never seen again.

[00:20:10] And like there's like schematics for like the Statue of Liberty, like the inside and you see like there's like a whole like kind of like kind of a mouse trap style mechanism like of like how the people are like taken to the monster and stuff of that.

[00:20:24] So it's a really interesting interning series, and I recommend it but that's also not the story. It's just kind of tangential as and it kept popping into my head as I was reading this because it kind of shares a similar theme I guess with like a monster being in the in the Statue of Liberty.

[00:20:41] I guess to that end it also kind of this kind of reminded me, I think, I think we even brought it up out off recording the heart in the Statue of Happiness, I think in GTA four.

[00:20:56] Maybe I think it's a GTA. I think GTA four is the one with Liberty City right? Yeah, yeah, the Liberty City one. If you go to the Statue of Happiness, I think that's the statues name in Liberty City.

[00:21:09] You can find a large human beating heart in the center inside the Statue of Happiness, and it's called the Heart of Happiness.

[00:21:20] I'm sure that's fine. Yeah, and so it kind of just reminded me of that except I guess this is the brain of the Statue of Liberty since it's found in the head of the statue.

[00:21:30] But I'd address.

[00:21:33] We'll move on to the next thing I have.

[00:21:35] This quote's a bit of a long one.

[00:21:37] You might be wondering how this could happen in an entire borough of New York City without anyone noticing.

[00:21:44] If that's the case, I want to clarify something.

[00:21:47] The dodecagon doesn't care about logic only vibes.

[00:21:51] It wants me to use New York City words and Statue of Liberty words and the word dodecagon over and over again to create an image in your brain.

[00:22:02] So instead of trying to type something that it immediately deletes, I'll just say that my borough wasn't actually that important.

[00:22:12] And everyone in my borough moving away wouldn't register as a problem.

[00:22:19] So as the story goes, this dodecagon was getting increasingly more and more terrifying with the implications of its abilities to influence large areas.

[00:22:32] When you mentioned borough earlier, you were replacing that with town.

[00:22:37] I don't think it's meant to be like the entire city of New York City has been killed by this.

[00:22:42] No, no, it's a town like it's like a town near New York City, isn't it?

[00:22:46] No, I think it just means like a development in New York City.

[00:22:50] Yeah, because oh, so maybe I'm so I'm maybe maybe I would just constrain because I just assumed it was like a satellite town around New York.

[00:22:59] But maybe it's just a ward or a neighborhood in New York.

[00:23:03] OK, yeah, yeah, because he uses town in different sections so he can use the word town.

[00:23:09] Oh, OK, that's yeah, that's fair.

[00:23:11] So he says like people in my borough aren't like my borough isn't that important.

[00:23:16] I'm pretty sure New York City is pretty important if you're referring to the city as a whole.

[00:23:21] But like New York is also like so big that's now like kind of an amalgam of different neighborhoods and wards and districts.

[00:23:27] So boroughs.

[00:23:29] Yeah, I didn't actually look up the word borough, but I'm pretty sure I thought that's what it was anyways.

[00:23:35] Yeah, borough is basically like a small urban area where it's like an urban community.

[00:23:39] So yeah, it's just an old way of saying it.

[00:23:45] But yeah, so the story again as it went on, it gave me like serious like cosmic horror vibes and even like some strong mimetic vibes,

[00:23:54] which is ironic because the creature or the entity itself insinuates that it is an anti meme later on in the story.

[00:24:01] Like it does not want to be be known, even though it mentions things like burning like burning an image into your mind by using like certain words over and over again.

[00:24:13] Yeah, I didn't get that like the whole creature's motivation.

[00:24:18] Well, I mean, right here.

[00:24:22] Yeah, well, that will actually that's literally my next note thing here is like there is like it sort of is that thing of like why wouldn't like like why is it like doing this?

[00:24:32] Like why does like this doesn't make any sense.

[00:24:34] It literally just says in my in the quote I just mentioned, it doesn't care about logic only vibes.

[00:24:39] What does that even mean?

[00:24:41] Only like, yeah, like, well, like it's basically like it's it's a creature that we really can't comprehend fully like we can't comprehend its its motivations, which is a very like cosmic horror thing.

[00:24:57] So like it and I think we brought up a couple of times like a couple times in the past of like that of like the the Eldritch horrors that like they don't understand humanity as much as we don't understand them.

[00:25:08] And I kind of get that vibe from this as well.

[00:25:11] Or that feeling like when I think of vibe, I think, like, I think what it's saying is like it doesn't care about logic, it just care about feelings.

[00:25:17] So like the like, I think what it's trying to get here is that the creature is incomprehensible to humanity like we can't fully grasp what it is.

[00:25:30] But in a way, it also can't grasp what we are or how we act and how we react.

[00:25:35] Otherwise, it probably would have been a little bit more subtle on like how it's like trying to erase itself.

[00:25:40] I guess. Yeah, it also kind of feels like it's like so I mean, it also from the story writing and some of that from like the outside of it, it just kind of seems like it's a self hating meme.

[00:25:52] Like it's it's it's something that like that's the best way I could describe it.

[00:25:55] And that's what I mean, like when I say like it's incomprehensible, like that's the best way I can understand it is like it just seems like a self hating.

[00:26:03] Mimetic virus.

[00:26:06] Like it doesn't want to be known, but it can't help but be known when somebody knows about it.

[00:26:12] And like it's a troll pasta.

[00:26:15] It might be or it might. Yeah, who knows?

[00:26:19] Actually, hang on.

[00:26:23] No, no. Okay. Hang on there. There's a couple of categories.

[00:26:27] So the categories that the creep us out.

[00:26:29] We could give this is on top of like spotlighted pastas.

[00:26:33] There's beings, items, slash objects, places and weird.

[00:26:37] No troll pasta as far as I can tell.

[00:26:39] But who knows? Maybe this is actually just a low key troll pasta.

[00:26:44] Or maybe that's like maybe it's not so much a troll as it's trying to get into your head and just like trying to fuck with you.

[00:26:49] Like, you know, that's the whole point of the story.

[00:26:52] But yeah, I was very like I was like reading like as I read through this was like this is definitely a cosmic horror thing.

[00:27:00] And it's just this like weird self hating meme that does not want to be known.

[00:27:05] But like it's immense power is like forcing it to be known.

[00:27:09] Also, I was like kind of like how are outsiders outside people not noticing like these people like dying or go or moving away and stuff like that.

[00:27:17] And then it brought to mind the town of Derry and how Pennywise has control over like everybody in that town or that comes through or lives in it.

[00:27:26] That's in some capacity like to basically not know about it or to just like not worry about it.

[00:27:33] Like people in Derry know that people are dying or that there's weird shit.

[00:27:39] But their mind then just gets like sort of like just ignore it.

[00:27:44] Like this time, yeah, yeah, literally Pennywise just gives them the This is Fine meme in their head constantly.

[00:27:50] Like literally in the book and in the in the miniseries and movies, there are multiple times where like Pennywise is around like fucking with the kids like the Losers Club.

[00:28:00] And like they're asking for help from the adults and stuff.

[00:28:03] And the adults are watching and then they just walk inside their houses because that's like because Pennywise has that much control over the town of Derry.

[00:28:12] So I have a feeling that's the same kind of like psychic domination that this this town is or this not town.

[00:28:19] Sorry, this borough, this ward, whatever it is really has.

[00:28:25] Also, there was there's a point in the story where it's like it's saying like like it's making me use the words Dodecagon, New York City and so on that.

[00:28:34] And I was like, it's making him use borough, which means he wouldn't normally use the word borough to describe what he's describing.

[00:28:40] Yeah. And it's making me use New York as making me use the Statue of Liberty.

[00:28:44] Is this even in New York? Is this or is this like somewhere else in the world?

[00:28:48] Like either somewhere North America?

[00:28:50] It's not worth more.

[00:28:52] It's actually the CN Tower.

[00:28:56] It's a district in Toronto.

[00:28:58] Yeah.

[00:29:00] But yeah, no, that's what I was thinking is like is like is this even like this is 100 percent a case of like an unreliable narrator because we don't exactly know all the facts and some of the facts that were given.

[00:29:14] We're we're even kind of suddenly we're kind of like suddenly told aren't true.

[00:29:20] And he says that like his mind isn't molested or anything by the creature, but also the creature is actually dictating what he's allowed to type or not.

[00:29:29] So he's saying that he's under control of it, but it's just making him type that different shit.

[00:29:35] Yeah, it's like that that very it's like that trope in in horror movies is like no, everybody else is infected.

[00:29:41] Like with this this virus, this mimetic virus of this, this this influence of this creature.

[00:29:45] Not me, though. I'm totally fine.

[00:29:47] I'm just going to take this razor blade to my wrists.

[00:29:50] I was like, jeez, like, like, and it's clear that the monster is infected the guy like that kind of thing.

[00:29:56] Yeah.

[00:29:58] But yeah, that's all I have for the story, honestly.

[00:30:03] So, Mikey, these stands for evil.

[00:30:09] All right.

[00:30:11] Well, let's start with some fun.

[00:30:16] So I have a quote here.

[00:30:20] You know, people think they're alligators in the sewers of New York City.

[00:30:25] To which my response was, no, they're Ninja Turtles.

[00:30:28] Yeah, yeah, of course.

[00:30:30] Yeah.

[00:30:31] I mean, technically, if you want to go that route, I mean, technically there are alligators in the sewers that mutated alligator like hillbilly from.

[00:30:42] I can't remember what his or her name is.

[00:30:46] Yeah, actually, I think in the newest movie, I think they made it a girl but.

[00:30:54] And then the next sentence, imagine if instead the myth was about the Statue of Liberty.

[00:31:02] Just when I thought was the Statue of Liberty lives in the sewers of New York.

[00:31:09] I don't think it's going to fit.

[00:31:11] Yeah.

[00:31:13] Yeah.

[00:31:14] Yes.

[00:31:15] Or maybe it does.

[00:31:16] Maybe it's like it's like this is already kind of like bordering onto like an SCP anomaly like object.

[00:31:21] Maybe it's just like it is both both very large and very tiny at the same time.

[00:31:26] And your brain just like, ah, yeah.

[00:31:31] And then we get the next sentence which clears it up.

[00:31:33] It is. Yeah.

[00:31:34] Alligators in the Statue of Liberty was like, oh, that makes more sense.

[00:31:39] Oh, OK.

[00:31:41] So here's my thought as well.

[00:31:43] Sorry that this spawn from this.

[00:31:45] What if they were searching in the sewers of New York for alligators in the sewers?

[00:31:50] They went down a corridor and into an open like there's like an archway or like an opening of some kind that they went into.

[00:31:56] And as soon as they went through it, they ended up in the Statue of Liberty in like a weird part of it that's not that no one's supposed to know about except it just like they sort of like transition from the sewer systems of New York to the Statue of Liberty's interior.

[00:32:10] Like some kind of like weird spatial anomaly.

[00:32:14] That would be pretty cool.

[00:32:17] All right. And then my next quote here.

[00:32:22] Nobody else was able to move anything but their eyes until the executioner turned the axe on himself.

[00:32:32] I didn't expect that.

[00:32:34] Because, do you know how hard it is to turn an axe on yourself?

[00:32:40] I mean, I like when you have a human being.

[00:32:45] Yes. And I mean, like in D&D, this spell doesn't allow for like acts of...

[00:32:51] allows for a wisdom save or a will save on acts of suicide or like self-harm.

[00:33:00] Yeah, no, I like yeah it's I think that's just kind of like the thing of like this is how terrifyingly powerful this thing is it can make somebody just do that to themselves.

[00:33:12] Yeah, but it would have been nice to have a bit more description on how they turned it on themselves.

[00:33:19] Like, did they just whack themselves in the head and then went unconscious?

[00:33:24] Or are they taking the blade and then trying to stab it into their own throat?

[00:33:30] Like, yeah, that's true. Yeah.

[00:33:32] Are they just like lying? Oh God.

[00:33:34] And then just like, boy, I like trying to.

[00:33:37] Because like even if they don't go right through the neck, they're going to like basically bleed out.

[00:33:45] Being puppeted. Yeah.

[00:33:46] So it's not whether or not him himself can do it.

[00:33:49] It's can the outside entity control this guy's limbs to make him lop his own head off?

[00:33:54] And to that answer is yes.

[00:33:56] Yeah. Yeah.

[00:33:57] Yeah, it kind of brings to mind the in Paranormal Activity at the end of Paranormal Activity.

[00:34:02] Spoilers for a movie that's like a decade old.

[00:34:06] After I think Kate kills her boyfriend, she then goes in front of the camera possessed,

[00:34:11] like fully on possessed by the demon or whatever with a butcher knife and then just slits her own throat

[00:34:16] and then and then just drops like dead.

[00:34:20] So like and it's very unnerving because it's like you definitely have to be puppeted by something

[00:34:26] to really do that to yourself or you have to have like a really like weirdly strong sense of will to do that.

[00:34:33] But yeah, all right.

[00:34:39] So my last actual thought here.

[00:34:42] Goes down a little bit of a rabbit hole based on the thinking that cultists was talking about earlier.

[00:34:53] And the quote is, Remember this behind the eyes of the Statue of Liberty in the ancient city of New York,

[00:35:03] The Do-decagon with a terrifying power, who's so ever looks at it will perish violently for does not wish to be seen.

[00:35:17] And now that we've done a dozenth time.

[00:35:20] Yeah.

[00:35:21] The key there is that the monster doesn't wish to be seen.

[00:35:26] So why would it give location of New York and Statue of Liberty?

[00:35:32] Yes.

[00:35:33] So that's the worst cosmic horror is when it's just dumb because that means it's doing its shit and like in fucking with people

[00:35:45] and your congrats you're being killed off or driven insane by an idiot.

[00:35:51] Like who's the bigger idiot, the idiot monster or the idiots or the people getting sandblasted or dying from the idiot monster?

[00:35:59] Yeah.

[00:36:02] Sorry, can you?

[00:36:03] Yes.

[00:36:04] So with that line of reasoning, it's clear to see that the monster is not in New York City or in the Statue of Liberty.

[00:36:14] And I looked up the furthest location from the Statue of Liberty,

[00:36:22] which is on the other side of the planet and is actually ocean just off the coast of Perth, Australia.

[00:36:32] OK, so.

[00:36:34] So my theory is based on this, that this is actually the location of the ancient city of Atlantis.

[00:36:47] And the Statue of Liberty is either, say, a statue of Poseidon or their town hall.

[00:36:55] And the dodecagon is actually the cloaking technology for Atlantis gone horribly wrong.

[00:37:01] Nice. I mean, so Atlantis is supposed to be the Atlantic.

[00:37:06] There are Pacific lost cities in the ocean.

[00:37:11] It could be it could be a city from Mu or Lemuria, probably more close to Lemuria, since that's in like the Indian.

[00:37:19] That's supposed to be in the Indian Ocean area of the Pacific or Pacific.

[00:37:24] Yeah.

[00:37:26] What?

[00:37:27] Because there's Atlantis.

[00:37:29] Oh, yeah.

[00:37:33] Or, yeah, there's or it's not like the pop.

[00:37:36] It's not none of the famous ones because the dodecagon is doing its job.

[00:37:41] So it's the lost city of Pacific. Oh, my God.

[00:37:44] I want to write that story about people.

[00:37:48] Yeah, sorry. Continue.

[00:37:51] And then the thing that blends to this theory is that the story does not mention the word island at all,

[00:38:02] which the Statue of Liberty is on an island and you have to take a ferry to get to it.

[00:38:07] That's true. And even though the story itself has a photo that clearly shows the Statue of Liberty on an island separated by separate from New York City.

[00:38:16] Yeah.

[00:38:17] It doesn't say it's on an island.

[00:38:19] So the thing there is that when he's forced to say burrow, he could be meaning he's on an island.

[00:38:28] Hmm.

[00:38:30] Because it won't let him say island.

[00:38:34] Interesting.

[00:38:37] Which leads credence to my whole sort of ancient island hypothesis.

[00:38:44] It's the lost city of Pacific.

[00:38:47] I really like that.

[00:38:52] Yeah, gamer.

[00:38:53] Did that answer your question?

[00:38:56] I don't remember what my question was anymore.

[00:38:58] Does it matter that it's on an island?

[00:39:00] Oh.

[00:39:01] Or that the Statue of Liberty is on an island?

[00:39:04] Sure.

[00:39:06] I think to your question, it doesn't really matter, but the fact that they don't...

[00:39:12] Because that is sort of a big thing about how to get to Liberty Island is you have to take a ferry.

[00:39:19] I don't know.

[00:39:21] It seems like they maybe should have mentioned it if it was indeed on...

[00:39:25] They were talking about the actual Statue of Liberty.

[00:39:28] Again, though, why does it...

[00:39:30] I guess it didn't ask my question.

[00:39:32] Why does it matter that it's an island or not?

[00:39:34] Because these guys that went and saw it and freaked out and went back to the mainland, they could just get on the ferry and go back and freak out.

[00:39:42] Like, I don't understand what this has to do with anything.

[00:39:45] Okay, so the fact that he is being mind controlled and can only use certain words...

[00:39:53] The fact that there's no mission of the word island when you have the Statue of Liberty which is on an island, it seems odd to not mention island.

[00:40:06] It doesn't mention water or the ferry or...

[00:40:10] Yeah.

[00:40:12] Again, you're just trying to distance itself from those words so that you don't find it just off of the coast of Perth.

[00:40:23] Yeah.

[00:40:25] I think the fact that they don't mention it is the reason why it matters.

[00:40:30] I think that's what Mike is trying to say.

[00:40:35] Also, this is just a funny little theory that we're doing.

[00:40:37] We're not actually assuming that this is how it is.

[00:40:40] This is how the author intended it.

[00:40:42] It's just a silly little goof that we're making up.

[00:40:45] No, I think it's...

[00:40:47] Yeah, yeah, fair enough.

[00:40:50] This is clear.

[00:40:51] We are a critically serious podcast after all.

[00:40:58] Or would it be lightly serious?

[00:41:01] Like, critically serious versus lightly serious?

[00:41:04] Sorry, my bad.

[00:41:07] Yeah.

[00:41:08] So that's the end of my actual thoughts.

[00:41:10] All right.

[00:41:11] Gamer.

[00:41:12] I didn't really write down too much reading this because it reads pretty cleanly.

[00:41:19] But I got to this part.

[00:41:20] Imagine New York City, the skyline, the smells, the steam.

[00:41:23] Imagine staring into the Statue of Liberty's eyes and seeing a Dodecagon there.

[00:41:28] That's the entire point of the story and the message it wants to send.

[00:41:31] You can stop reading here if you want.

[00:41:33] Okay.

[00:41:37] It was quite late when I started reading this, so I'm like, I can just go to bed now.

[00:41:41] I think you should stop.

[00:41:43] Yeah.

[00:41:44] You don't have to read it.

[00:41:45] The story's giving me an out.

[00:41:49] I'm free!

[00:41:52] What's that stupid like lot?

[00:41:54] I keep seeing this line, it's like, oh, Martha, I'm coming home.

[00:41:57] And then it's like, I was out!

[00:41:59] I was out!

[00:42:00] Because they find out that they're not done.

[00:42:03] Okay.

[00:42:04] It's a TikTok thing.

[00:42:07] Okay.

[00:42:08] Yeah.

[00:42:09] I'm not on the Tiki-Taki.

[00:42:11] It's probably for the best, honestly.

[00:42:15] It's sort of like the Dodecagon, it doesn't let you leave once you've seen it.

[00:42:23] And then the other part, by the way, is basically like we kind of talked about it.

[00:42:27] It's kind of odd how the creature doesn't want to be seen.

[00:42:30] But it's also horrible at puppeting people to be convincing.

[00:42:33] So people want to go and check it out anyways.

[00:42:35] It's also kind of odd how Nair is actively spreading the anti-meme to like the entire internet at this point.

[00:42:41] Yeah.

[00:42:42] Now that we've read this, now we're also being, we could be under the influence of the Dodecagon.

[00:42:49] Yeah.

[00:42:50] I don't know if knowing about it is enough to be infected.

[00:42:52] But given the circumstances, if Nair has any like rational thoughts left in his head,

[00:42:58] putting this out on, putting out this infection primer basically might not be the smartest idea.

[00:43:03] Unless, here's my thing on this.

[00:43:05] Unless he's doing this as an act of rebellion because it doesn't want to be seen.

[00:43:09] So this is his like final like middle finger to the Dodecagon.

[00:43:13] I was like, well, you don't want to be known?

[00:43:15] You don't want to be seen?

[00:43:16] Fuck yeah.

[00:43:17] Yeah, maybe.

[00:43:19] I'm going to kill the entire world.

[00:43:21] Yeah.

[00:43:22] Let's see if you can take on the entire world.

[00:43:26] And then like he goes meets his end and then like, it's like, nope, I ain't totally dead.

[00:43:30] Like the world ends.

[00:43:32] Thanks Nair.

[00:43:33] Yeah.

[00:43:34] This truly is all your fault.

[00:43:36] You were right to blame yourself.

[00:43:42] Yeah, the whole, it's a very confusing read.

[00:43:45] Yeah.

[00:43:46] Is basically the most of my notes because it's like, I don't want to be known.

[00:43:50] But here's a bunch of stuff to know about me and my exact location.

[00:43:54] And I'm going to repeat this over and over for the purpose of putting this image in your head because I want it to be known.

[00:43:59] Although I don't want to be known.

[00:44:01] Yeah, it's I think it's it's it's the difference between like what the creature wants and what it has to do.

[00:44:07] Like it's like sort of like, um,

[00:44:11] like it's programmed to do things a certain way.

[00:44:14] It has to go through the programming even though it doesn't want to do any of that to actually get the information out there.

[00:44:19] Yeah, in a way it's kind of, um, it's kind of suicidal in that way because it's like it doesn't want to do what it what what it's meant to do.

[00:44:29] And by not doing that, it will end itself.

[00:44:33] Similarly, it's like say like as like if a fish stopped, if a fish wanted to be on water, be on land rather than water, but it will die if it does.

[00:44:43] Like it's meant to be in the water.

[00:44:45] Like it's meant this thing's meant to be spread, but it doesn't want to spread.

[00:44:48] It doesn't want to be known.

[00:44:51] Yeah, so I guess.

[00:44:54] And and I think maybe that could also be why it's fumbling around and like trying to stop because it's like it's pushing against its its prime directive or its its its what it was made to do.

[00:45:05] It's it's fighting those those those urges, those pro that's programming basically so that maybe that's why it's so clumsily like controlling people and like having like the end against way.

[00:45:17] I think it's like it's kind of more horrifying this way because it's a cosmic entity or it's some kind of cosmic horror that is fallible but also incomprehensible.

[00:45:30] In a way, it almost sounds like partially because you've been saying programming in a whole bunch of other robotic and technological world where it's almost sounds like it could be some sort of like an AI or some like actual man made thing.

[00:45:44] Some man made super weapon that is like you know what this is too hazardous to get actually loose.

[00:45:50] So let's just hide it.

[00:45:51] Oh god, this could I could definitely see using this for like, like a gamma world game or or mutant call classics or something where they use like AI like gods.

[00:46:03] Really like super basically like super AI is or even like clips face I think you could read could run this in eclipse phase as like basically a Titan that is like trying to self self harm but in the only way but like fighting against the programming that it was made for, which was

[00:46:19] to spread the exergen virus or the to to spread itself out but it doesn't want to do that.

[00:46:24] And so it's trying to fight that and then so doing it's creating this really weird like to an outsider out of context like what the like goof like goofy sort of like haphazard like like activities and events.

[00:46:42] It's very strange. Yeah, it's like half the time when I'm reading it.

[00:46:46] The story it's like, I wanted to want to be taking it seriously because like a whole bunch of people are being puppeted in or killed.

[00:46:53] But like, it's the creatures like Gomer Pyle or something you're like, Mr. Magoo, you know.

[00:47:00] Yeah.

[00:47:02] So it's a senile old god.

[00:47:05] Yeah.

[00:47:06] It could be that yeah like, I still find that like that, like, it that's terrifying.

[00:47:11] It that's terrifying to the right it is but there's still a comedic aspect to it you know, like a heavy comedic aspect at least to it in my head. Yeah.

[00:47:21] I mean like that's that's fine you can have that.

[00:47:24] So, does it ruin it for you or like that that's there.

[00:47:29] No, it's like, yes and no. That's why I like you guys on the fence originally and I'm like, fuck it I just need to pick a side I didn't truly hate it but I don't know the more I'm thinking about it.

[00:47:41] It's like, it has like, I'll talk about it in my final thoughts. That's about it for my normal notes though. Okay.

[00:47:51] I had a feeling this one would be a bit more of a talking piece because it's just such a weird surreal situation.

[00:47:57] Like in the writing itself so yeah.

[00:48:02] That that's all you have for final thoughts or for after after that's sorry. Yeah, I didn't really have much to write down to be honest.

[00:48:08] All right.

[00:48:10] Well, let's move on to final thoughts then Charlie.

[00:48:13] I'm still going to recommend it.

[00:48:15] Though you probably do need to be in the mood for something a bit more cerebral or surreal, or just like weird fiction, because that's, it is a very it is a bit of a mindfuck in terms of like some of the stuff that's going on in the story.

[00:48:33] It feels very much like it's a very it's a very David Lynch, like I feel like David Lynch would make this into like a movie.

[00:48:41] Because all of his stuff is like kind of has this vibe. Like there's no lodge, it's all like kind of like almost dream logic or vibes.

[00:48:49] It's like it's all it's pure expression no logic of like that.

[00:48:54] It's not at all. No, it's just like it's it's a sort of thing that's going to make you talk about it and like you're either gonna love it or you're gonna hate it.

[00:49:03] Or you're gonna be very conflicted.

[00:49:07] So to me, to me it was, it was a funny little rabbit hole to like kind of fall down while reading it just kind of like I was Alice just like here for the ride like alright let's just see where this this this dream logic style like thing goes.

[00:49:24] And it did take me by surprise as I was reading it. So, but in a good way and I do think that this could actually be really interesting for like game fodder as well.

[00:49:35] So yeah, I'm still gonna recommend it fully.

[00:49:38] Alright, so originally when I read this, I just didn't like it.

[00:49:46] But the more I thought about it and came up with the theory that the monster like really doesn't want you to find it or know about it, which means that it's actually telling you secrets and lies.

[00:50:00] Which are.

[00:50:02] Which means it could very well be on the other side of the planet and you're focusing people and sending people to the Statue of Liberty.

[00:50:11] That bumped it up to a partial for me and nothing really said about it more has pushed me beyond that.

[00:50:21] So, one might say that.

[00:50:25] This story about a mimetic virus that doesn't want to be known got into your head after you read it and you had couldn't stop thinking about it.

[00:50:36] Right? Yeah.

[00:50:41] Like I just like as you were talking, I was just like, wow, so this this worked as a mimetic virus because it because Mikey didn't like it when he first read it.

[00:50:49] And then as he like walked away, it started it started like postulating and like formulating in his head and it started growing in his mind.

[00:51:02] Wow, but still I can only give it a push.

[00:51:05] Okay, that's fair.

[00:51:06] Tomorrow, though. For now.

[00:51:10] All right. And gamer.

[00:51:14] Yeah, I've been going up and down this ladder of liking this while reading this while listening to you guys and thinking about it.

[00:51:22] Because like with the view of this creature is actually doing an excellent job at misdirection.

[00:51:30] That's good. Like I prefer that.

[00:51:33] Although when I read it, I just I couldn't help but see this creature as like being completely inept at its job.

[00:51:41] And as much bonus points as I would give it for potential immersion of like the character talking all in character and saying like I'm saying this because it makes making me do that.

[00:51:53] Instead of just a dude talking about it and describing it, you know, you could see it the influence on him.

[00:51:58] I give it points for that. But I'm like docking points for other things.

[00:52:03] So I don't know.

[00:52:04] I'll probably actually just go to a partial on this because there's aspects of it that I like but there's aspects of it I didn't like which is the definition of a partial recommendation.

[00:52:13] Yes.

[00:52:15] If if you're having such a struggle on like whether or not you don't like it, then you end up in the middle.

[00:52:24] There's just like a such a chill horror going on with this story, too.

[00:52:27] It's like it's all like no one cares about the stuff that's going on about it.

[00:52:32] And I know they're doing that.

[00:52:34] They're not caring about it because they're being puppeted and not care.

[00:52:37] But it is still rubbing off a little bit on me that thing where like if the character doesn't care about something in the story, why do I?

[00:52:43] Yeah, you're falling too much into the like that one little corner of immersion where it's just like because they don't care.

[00:52:49] You don't care.

[00:52:50] Yeah, even though they're being puppeted though.

[00:52:52] So like it's it's sort of working in its favor but also against itself for you.

[00:52:59] Yeah.

[00:53:00] See, am I there in this?

[00:53:01] Like you guys are the ones being affected strongly by the story and I'm just like, I liked it.

[00:53:05] I think it's fine.

[00:53:06] And I'm like wholly perfect about it because we want to get out of here.

[00:53:10] We don't want to be killed.

[00:53:12] We want to leave.

[00:53:13] You're like, this is fine.

[00:53:15] Yeah, but you're the one getting like creepypasta.

[00:53:18] Exactly.

[00:53:19] You're the ones that are going to get lobotomized and then murdered.

[00:53:22] Definitely.

[00:53:23] So I'll leave it at a partial.

[00:53:25] It's not a bad story.

[00:53:27] Depending on how you view it, you'll either see the creature as silly or as ultra competent.

[00:53:32] And if you see it the way Mike, you saw it.

[00:53:35] That's huge misdirection.

[00:53:37] That's really cool.

[00:53:38] Like I really do like the I know you came up with the name for it, but I really like Pacific off the coast of Fern.

[00:53:48] Also, because there's a town, there's a township, I think in Ontario called Perth.

[00:53:53] Now I can also just think it's in like the middle of Ontario, like farmland.

[00:53:58] Yeah.

[00:54:02] Fun times.

[00:54:04] All right.

[00:54:05] So yeah, I guess that'll do it.

[00:54:08] We got one full recommendation and two partial recommendations.

[00:54:12] Yep.

[00:54:13] And yeah, that'll do it for this week's episode.

[00:54:15] So if you like what you heard or if you didn't leave us a comment in the comment section below where this gets posted.

[00:54:20] We're all on Twitter.

[00:54:21] Mikey's at the East Ends for Evil.

[00:54:23] TheGamer in Yellow is at theGamer in Yellow, but without that W at the end because his name is very long.

[00:54:27] Yeah, I don't have a choice.

[00:54:28] And I'm at ReviewCultist.

[00:54:30] I'm also on BlueSky as ReviewCultist.

[00:54:33] You can also send us emails at aldenherrygmortis at gmail.com.

[00:54:37] That's A-L-D-E-N-T-E-R-I-G-A-M-O-R-T-I-S at gmail.com.

[00:54:42] We can also leave suggestions for other Creepbastas, SCPs, Smooky things.

[00:54:46] You creep it, we'll peep it.

[00:54:47] Yeah.

[00:54:49] And if you'd like to help support our show financially, you can go to Patreon.

[00:54:52] We have $2 and $5 tiers with special episodes, early access, extra content.

[00:54:58] To all our patrons, thank you immensely.

[00:55:00] You're helping keep those hosting bills at bay.

[00:55:02] And as always, we very much appreciate that.

[00:55:04] And to the listeners and the authors of these stories, thank you immensely because without your listenership, you'd be like screaming into the void.

[00:55:11] Into that void within the Setch of Liberty where there is no dodecahedron.

[00:55:15] There is nothing there.

[00:55:16] You're all fine now, here.

[00:55:18] How are you?

[00:55:19] And without your authorship and posting these stories online or the word to get out so that people know about the dodecagon and where it lives and where it exists,

[00:55:29] we really wouldn't have much of a show because we have nothing to talk about.

[00:55:32] So thank you.

[00:55:33] Until next time, I have been your host, ReviewCultist.

[00:55:36] I am Mikey, the East End's Travel.

[00:55:38] And I'm the Gamer in Yellow.

[00:55:40] And this has been Aldo-Decagon Rigmoretus.

[00:55:44] Sleep well.

[00:55:45] What was that?

[00:55:46] What?