SurrealTube: Salad Fingers Ep 1-4

Weird. Hello everyone, and welcome to Scary Stories we Tell. I am your host, Chris dash You and I am joined as always by my co host or one of the hosts of the show, one of the hosts of this show, your friend and mine Emma. Hello, I'm one of the hosts of the show. I mean, more often than not, if you're listening to this show, you're one of the hosts the show.

But speaking of more often than not, when you're listening to the show, they're hosting this show with me. If you were to listen to the Bollywood Cinema Club and you were a fan of Indian action cinema, you might have heard my good friend Dustin, who's joining us on this episode, all the way over there. But he was on an episode of this show a long time ago. I think we're talking like July of twenty twenty one, like a long time ago, right, sounds about right. Yeah, So we were talking spooky, weird stuff.

Then we're talking spooky strange shit on the Internet, otherwise known as surreal to which is an idea that Emma came up with and we covered a whole Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared Season one and a whole. Don't hug me. I'm scared. Season two. So if you're here now listening to this and you don't know what this is going to be, well don't worry about it, because this is the first episode we're doing on Salad Fingers, So you don't need to know about anything else.

All you need to know is this is the starting place for yet another venture out into the strange depths of Well, this is on YouTube, and this started on YouTube, right, Actually it started on new Grounds. Boy, Dustin, do you remember new Grounds? I do? Okay, So the three of us are all happened. Okay, so the three of us are all varying ages, but more or less within ten twelve years of one another.

So I'm curious before we talk salad Fingers, Dustin, what was your entry point to new Grounds? Oh? Jeez, it was more something that we would just stumble upon. When I first came about it, like just perus it like there. I think there was somebody in the class above me in high school that told me about it, and so I went on internet probably just shortly after dial up stopped, and started just looking around new Grounds.

It's I wouldn't say there's one thing, do you guys, So actually, you know, Emma ask you did you have a specific entry point to new Grounds. If I did, I don't remember it. I was definitely around at like the I was young, but I was around for that peak time when people just like found out about like a couple of interesting websites and those circulated, like I mean, for me, it started with like webkins and neopets, and then eventually, obviously like YouTube got into the mix. And then I don't know if you guys remember all Buy No Black Shape. That was like a couple of like flash games and like weird videos, which I think was basically a watered down version of new Grounds.

And then like so I think probably something from there or trying to search something from there probably at some point brought me to new Grounds, but I was I was young. Most of the new Grounds stuff that I've seen, I saw it as it being re uploaded to YouTube. Okay, so my entry point to new Grounds was Assassin, which was where you it was like it was weird. There was like a subset of flash games, and again I think they got rid of them because we're all sitting here looking at new Grounds as I kind of scroll around. Well, it wasn't like flash Dad or something.

Well, no, it was. It was well like it was a it was a series of It was a style of game where you could kill a celebrity or Osama Bin Ladden or Sadam saying there was The one that sticks out to me was Bear in the Big Blue House and it was like, yeah, so it was like murdering the like the but they were like they were like murderous you know, all the all horrible people, the worst people, just a solid and Ladden Bear in the Big Blue House. It wasn't it was like bad people. It was just like it was. It was celebrity.

So like again, like I don't know how else to explain it. It was. It was something that's pretty transgressive if you think about it now, and there's like a much logic, was too much, But it was one of those things where like it would definitely not exist now. And like I bet we could look Bear in the Big Blue House Assassin new Grounds. I wonder if it's a thing.

I think if we were to see this, Okay, so we can actually see this and you guys can see what I'm talking about, Like this is pretty I would say transgressive in a way that like I don't think you can be anymore. So this is a game and someone's going to play it, and I'm getting to introduce you guys to something that's super fucking insane. What the fuck am I looking at? So what we're watching is literally like them talking about like the characters from Big Blue House, but they're like the perverted versions of them. So there's like it's like again like it's it's it isn't homosexual, honor Titty the Mouse, and like it's and like it's really offensive in a way that's like things can't be of the time, right, it's pretty transgressive.

I mean they used the R word here, so I right, Like it's it's super weird. And so here is what it is, crab. Oh this is so early two thousands, right, but like this was my specific entry point to new Grounds. Fascinating. So when you say to me, like this was a new Grounds thing, this is exactly what I'm expecting, Like this kind of strange, transgressive piece of media that's you literally killing the bear in the Big Blue House.

I mean, yeah, I think this is pretty peak early new Grounds. You know, it's funny you reminded me there were a couple of flash games that I did play on new Grounds, Like I definitely played like a lot of point and click like escape room games, and I played like one rhythm game. I think maybe, Yeah, it's interesting how watching that brought back some memories, just like seeing the style of that like dug up some old stuff for me, it's I mean, but that's when you say this was on new Grounds, that's kind of my internal like brain, that's where it goes because like new Grounds, I took a very specific that's a very specific entry point for new Grounds, a sin where you could kill people like just random celebrities and like people of pop culture fame, like nobody like now in our day and age, people would be up in fucking arms about that, Like you would get canceled before it even existed.

I think it was released for the correct audience at the time, right, and I think it can live in the past comfortably. I agree, Like I don't think like I don't think anybody would even make that any like that kind of content, just I don't think anybody's okay making a content of like no, there are still like fifteen year olds making content similar to this, it's just it's stay most for the most part, it stays on places like people are still making content for new Grounds, and there's like, you know, this unspoken rule that new Grounds is kind of a fucked up place. I think, like probably less so now than back then, but I feel like there's still is, like those kinds of games aren't kind of and anything goes almost like anything goes.

Do you remember And I had to look it up because I couldn't. I couldn't quite remember the name. It was just off tip of my tongue. But Alien Gonzalez. Do you remember this?

Yeah, the kid getting taken out of his family's house. Right, Yeah, there was a like a flash clip made of Alien Gonzalez and it was like a Budweiser What's Up videos up? Yeah, And I remember being on new Grounds and I just looked it up and it's there, so there you go. Like so, like I said, there's kind of this unspoken rule. Most people on new Grounds, as far as I can tell, don't really out who they are, and nobody like goes out of their way to like hunt them down.

If you want this type of content, you kind of have to be searching for this type of content. It's like right, like sure, whatever that is. Wait, do you really not know what why I tmn D is? Should I, Dustin? Do you know why t MND is?

You're saying why t nmd y t m n D? I haven't heard it so you guys can see my screen. So why why? Dmn D is a site where you make a website hosted by them and it's often just like a clip or a like dramatic reading. So it gets its name from this clip from a Sean Connery movie.

And no, I'm not kidding yo, the man no goo, the man no goo, the man noo, the man no go. That's all that is. That's all that is. That's all that is. Is that.

But here is what I remember it for is the back Just there's no way to describe this if you know, you know, as they would say, so it's not making fun of anyone or anything. That is a skit. That's a Spanish language song that for whatever reason, the guy is making that no ways during the song. But they put it over that Batman from sixty seven. Yeah, Dustin, yeah, like see like Emma, not really but with you, dust and it's resonating so like I'll show you soundclip before, right, Okay, so that's where it comes from.

HITTM and D. Interesting. So this is the last one and Dustin will appreciate this one. But this is again this smacks of late nineties, early two thousands, and you'll see why what what that conjures up literally like the early like two thousand's, right, like that kind of like Arnold Schwarzenegger on the soundboards fucking Ebombs World. We didn't talk about ebombs World.

Bombs World in the same world of new Grounds, right, Like subversive, transgressive content being hosted somewhere, oftentimes not their original content, because I remember on Ebomb's World, we used to watch the parody of Die hall Are from the Ben Stillers Show on Ebomb's World, which was a TV show episode snippet that was being hosted there. So it's like funny that everything ends up being just on YouTube because like again, like you said, new Grounds is where Salad Fingers comes from. And I think just judging by the screen image that we're sitting here looking at the quality, there is some of that that is going to be reflective in the quality, Oh yeah, for sure. And the quality I think does jump significantly as we get to some of the newer episodes.

Some of the newer episodes came out more recently. It wasn't like all, you know, all of them are released at the same time. There were some definitely, there were some space in between, so you will see a slight jumping quality. But the reason why I wanted to show you this one specifically similar to Don't Hug Me, I'm scared. How many views does that first episode have?

There? Forty three million and it's been on YouTube for fifteen years. And again, like you mentioned, it didn't start here, so that in and of itself quite impressive because who knows the amount of views it had over at new Grounds. Oh my god. Definitely, and we have to add those up because those are two very different audiences.

But I think it's really important to note that for me my childhood growing up with the Internet, when you know, you were hanging out with friends and you were bored, you know, you'd find like weird shit in your spare time on YouTube and then you'd show it to your friends and that was how that was how like most hangouts went. If you had nothing better to do, you were on YouTube and you were sharing stupid videos with your friends, and a lot of them were for shock factor at the time, like this type of media, this very surreal, weird make you question why what the fuck am I watching? Like that type of media was huge, and I mean, like we've talked about like Charlie the Unicorn, which I think like really emphasizes it in a way that I think like a lot of people can relate to.

I would say solid Fingers is a little bit less iconic than you know, Charlie the Unicorn. I think also just asthetic wise, it reached Charlie the Unicorn reached a larger audience because salad Fingers definitely if you're not looking at it, because it's pretty, that's for sure, right, Which is why I kind of wanted to set the stage here for any of our listeners who maybe don't know about new grounds or kind of the expectation of what we're going to be watching. Because again comparatively too, don't hug me, I'm scared. Even don't hug me, I'm scared. It's roughest, is still ten million light years better than I assume this is ever going to get because the mediums, while they are different, are like the expectations are also different.

I think it's also important to note that this was created by one person, David Firth, I believe, whereas Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared was at least two people, if not a team, like a production team as well. So I'm pretty sure David voices all the characters as far as I can remember, at least for the first episode. He's the voice. So he created it, he drew it, he wrote, he wrote the story, and he voiced the character. So this is basically a one man show, and that's also really indicative of new grounds.

So yeah, so this came out in two thousand and five. That's insane. Deston what you were deston? What were you doing into? Oh, I was out of high school, I was still in college.

I was fifteen, I was in high school, was seven or eight. That's so did you see this in two thousand and five? Then no. I think I came across it when I was probably like eleven. That was when I had more control over my internet experience.

At the time, I was too busy learning how to play innkey doodle on the piano. So wholesome it looks familiar to me, but I don't think. I mean, if I did watch it, it was like in passing, I don't think I ever sat down, And that's because I wanted to ask, because like, what is kind of your entry point into these kinds of things. I mean I know that. I mean, we'd watched a little Don't Hug me I'm Scared, because I was not that I was worried.

But if you watch that and you were like I'm out, like I'd be like, Okay, I get it, Like I get I get it, Like I mean, I get it. It's it's it's not for everybody, and it's not supposed to be like and that's okay, Like you know, like you're making something that's inherently very much something that you like and you hope that it finds an audience once you've released it. But like something like don't hug me, I'm scared is made for the people who make you know what I mean. Yeah, I think it's also important to note that don't Hug me I'm scared. It's like yeah, like it's weird, but like it's it's one.

The premise is fascinating too. It's like the production quality, all of the effort that's gone into like the physical making of it. I think it's enough to get people enticed and like into watching it. Obviously the songs that are very well produced. This is just weird, weird, and there's no downtime of that.

It is always weird, So we don't have me I'm scared as like interspersed with like, sure, there are like creepy undertones, but there are a good stretches of time where she's like, Okay, yeah, this is like a safe point where I'm not currently feeling uncomfortable. I would say Salad Fingers is pretty much uncomfortable the whole way through every single episode, So buckle up for that specifically. All right, So on that note, let us take a look at the first episode of Salad Fingers. And I don't think we would be really doing ourselves a service if we didn't watch it on new grounds. Oh my god.

Oh I really hope that this doesn't just like nerve the quality for us. I hope not. Well, we'll see. So we're gonna be watching the first episode of Salad Fingers that was released in two thousand and four. This came out July first of four at nine twenty five in the morning.

East woke up early three million views on new Grounds, which is pretty good. It's just pretty good for new grounds, pretty good for new grounds. Here we go. All right, we'll pausiti if we need to, but here we go. We're gonna be taking a look at first episode of sound Name, Chris.

I think you forgot to react. You need a suck. That is like the term aggressively off putting comes to me. Oh yeah, I told you. It's a it's a jump in tone.

Oh, Dustin, I'm gonna Dustin, I'm gonna turn the floor over to you first, since you're the since you're the newbie year on the Surreal Tube couch. What what? What? What did you think of that? What?

Well? Having done flash animation back in the day, I was taken back to those like just watching the weird like twitchiness of the mouth like that that's not I mean, that takes time to create, but it's also just uncomfortable to watch. And the just the audio, it's there's nothing fancy about it, but it's just like, you know, it's effective. They're rubbing on the microphone and yeah, it makes me not want to listen to it, but yeah, makes makes you want to listen to it and rubbing on rusty rusty anything. Yeah, and the baby the shriek is like a door opening or closing, like is that what was going on?

Like a audio distortion. I have no idea. Noises in this are just so awful. Oh yeah, headphones and everything. Well, and the thing that cracks me up is, I mean you put it pretty aptly dust and like that that style of animation that like one year later, like the I don't know, like the like the what the fuck not that like that's the SpongeBob thing, the like the like what you guys know what I'm talking about, Like the text on the screen the world was destroyed.

It's like that other flash YouTube video that was pretty popular where it's like the world like we destroyed the world or some shit. I'm flounder. It's another one of these kinds of things where it's like a like an animated ms paint video. Oh yeah, yeah, but it's like a it's like a funny one, and it's like I didn't like that for the same reason. This is ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny.

That's what it is. I'm glad I got it because that's that wasn't that's another really iconic one. At the time, I don't know if I don't know if that's actually the type. I'm a mantell of iconic media says, it's like the ce fucking oh of iconic media. Because Emma said earlier this evening, before you joined us, stuff that salad fingers is iconic media, it's iconic internet media.

And so I said, well, then you need to name a company called iconic Media and it will go over really well with gen Z I mean, which which I mean as they say they're here for it, so I will say it's I will say this don't help me. I'm scared. I think the first episode or two had this problem, and I don't know how many episodes of this are going to have this problem. This feels very much of a time and of a place. Yeah, in a way that like at that time in that place.

I'm not sure. I know for a fact this wasn't my thing. I don't know why. And this is gonna sound terrible, but like I always associated this with like kids that I always found not weird because I was a weird kid. It was like kids that were just kept like kept not kept to themselves because again, that's not the case.

It was just when someone would say this to me, the person suggesting it, I was often like, uh okay, like like I didn't trust their opinion on things. Is a probably the way of putting it. Me and them didn't have a lot of we didn't have a lot of pop culture overlap, and when they said something like this, I was like, I'm probably not gonna like, yeah, you were, you were a weird kid, but they were the weird weird ki Yeah I get, but I don't even want to say that because like the stuff that I was into and I'm still into is weird in a different direction, Like this is weird, but I mean Dustin, you've seen Freaked, Like that's pretty weird in it's different in a different kind of way. It's like a funny, weird movie that has a lot of esoteric jokes and deep pop culture references and weird for weird sake jokes, and it's in a lot of ways like it reminds me of this where you're just trying to be weird, Like why is his name salad fingers?

What the fuck does that mean? Like his fingers look like salad? What does that mean? It's fucking weird, but it's weird for weird sake. Like you said, touching rusty things, that's off putting, in weird in a very relatable way that everybody automatically understands what that means.

It commonality wars. I appreciate. I appreciate the commonality of the experience that he's getting at that makes everybody uncomfortable. What I want to know and I want your opinion on this, and I guess we'll sort of kind of figure this out as we continue, because the series does have an overarching story. But it makes me wonder if this first episode, when David was creating this episode, did he have an idea for that story or was he just creating this for the sake of creating something weird?

And then it blew up and then he continued it just like don't have me, I'm scared, or did he already have because like you'll see, like the there is lord as we continue forward, Like I expected as much this is. This is a great intro to set the tone, but it makes me wonder was that the intention to set the tone for what he was planning on making or was this supposed to be just like a one off, I'm going to fuck around the flash and make something weird. I mean it's weird, like a chicken or the egg thing. Yeah, I guess it depends on when the second episode came out. Let me think it this way.

The three of us are all creative types. I would wager David Firth is a creative type. I would wager he probably had it at least an inkling of an idea where he was probably gone. I mean again, I think to your point, like, but do you make do you go in a certain direction? Because those things are more successful than others, though, and that affects what you're doing right, so right again, like chicken or the like you said those a chicken or the egg.

And again I'm again, I'm of the mindset that these kinds of people, ourselves included, know what they want, know what they're trying to get at, and are not going to compromise unless they have So if I asked you what does the first episode of Salad Fingers mean, what would you respond with, Dustin, I want to hear you first, Well, if you can, let's just accept the fact that this is a weird dude that was in a weird place that has weird fingers. He's got some weird obsession with rusty things. I think it's just I don't know, it's a it's hard to even put a bead on it. What about Chris. I think it's just kind of a weird, like mental and mentally troubled universe.

It definitely comes off that way. Yeah, yeah, I don't like, I don't know. I mean as I mean, I can literally only add to what Dustin said about as much as there seems to be something that draws him to rust. And maybe there's an explanation as to why that is, and maybe we'll understand what it means to have salad fingers. And the other question that I have is is this a man in a green soup whose eyes are sticking out?

Or is that just a fucking strange design choice. Because here's the thing we didn't talk about. You mentioned the mouth moving, Dustin, but the way he moves is really off putting in a way that you can only be doing it because it's a flash you know, MS paint flash animation type. You know what's interesting? Salad can rust?

Have you ever heard the term rusty salad? No hostile ones? So if you if you cut salad with a metal knife, it'll cause the edges of the salad to rust oxidize. Right, Yeah, so that is a term to have your salad rust. So the fact that he's salad fingers and he likes rusty things, that's interesting.

Well, and I mean when I mean if you go buy ahead of lettuce from the store, the root party is brown, right, that's what we're talking about. Yeah, So if I ask you guys to make predictions or where you think this is headed, which, to be fair, it has been a really long time since I've watched all of this. I only remember some of the beats, which is I try not to rewatch if we're gonna, like if I'm showing this to somebody, I like re experiencing it, you know, alongside. So I didn't rewatch it, so I don't really remember where it goes. I only reverse some of it.

If I ask you guys to make any prediction at all for where you think this is headed, place your bets, Well, he wants rusty things, maybe specifically spoons. M It seems like this desolate world, is he going to stumble upon like a department store and find a bunch of rusty spoons and just be in heaven. Well, that would be awesome. Does the baby make a callback the corn baby? It does, kind of a cord.

It looks like corn. Interesting. So it's what this was was so esoteric. I'm not even sure that I have. I would assume that he encounters more people.

I'd be curious if he's the only one of his kind or if there are more of these. And again I go back to what I said, is this. If this is his skin, then he looks horrifying. If it's him in a suit, it's not much better. But I'm curious if he's of his own or if there are others like him.

Well, for the ultimate the ultimate storyline, cop Out wakes up from a dream and he is part of the don't hug me, I'm scared in your diverse. Yeah, it all relates back. He was a puppet all along. All right, he's one of the teachers and this is his backstory. Oh cock, what would he be teaching?

What is he a teacher? On fucking nightmare? That's so okay? So is the next episode this one? Let me double check for you.

Next episode actually is titled Friends. I had open come on new Grounds. Don't you have the series in order? Right? What's up with you?

Guys? This is yeah, this is hard to get to while we watch the first one on new Grounds. Yeah? Well, yeah, we watched the first one on new Grounds. We can watch if I may mend, I will say that when you make the YouTube video full screen, it does tend to lag a little bit.

Put it in mode. Okay, Okay, I don't think this needs to be full screen? Okay, I mean again, like, is you guys tell me what it needs to look like to make it better for you? So yeah, I would just put in theater mode. Is that this one?

Yeah? Okay? So up, Jesus Christ, stay put. So, Emma, is there anything you want to tell us we need to know before we watch the second episode of Salad Fingers titled Friends. The only thing I want to tell you is that you have yet to put it in theater mode.

Okay. Well, other than that which I will do, I'm not one of those teachers that forgets okay, that leaves that leaves the mouse on the screen. Did I hit the right thing? I thought? I know that.

There you go. Okay, okay, I have I have nothing. I have nothing. I don't remember. Like I said, I only remember a good couple of beats.

Just expect more of the same. But progression. Okay, fair enough, So here we go. Second episode of soud Fingers, titled Friends, was posted on YouTube fourteen years ago and it's twenty four million views. Nothing to say in the description other than salad Fingers has a few friends over.

So we'll leave it at that and we'll see where it goes. Oh what the actual fuck? Oh this is bringing back so many memories of showing horrible things to my friends and middles bit like what, I'm not even fucking sure anymore. Yeah, it's like really aggressively off putting. Oh definitely.

Would you call it surreal? I would call it a fucking nightmare, is what I would call it. Hubert Kemberdale, Hubert Kemberdale, Hubert Kemberdale, smells of soot and poo. What what I learned? Yeah?

What, Dustin? What is your immediate I don't know. They ramped up dial turned up a bit from the last one. He's definitely, Ah, somebody you don't want to You don't want to go in salad Fingers house. That's why he's got finger puppet friends, I didn't see a fish in the oven.

I think I saw something. Okay, there was like a yellowish Okay, that's what was left in the oven. The voice. The voice, I mean that that's the thing that echoes through both the episodes so far is just the voice is something I don't want to listen to. Well, good news, that's consistent.

Oh great, thanks, I was really hoping that was going to be your ansom. Sounds like David knew the secret sauce of what he was making. Yeah, I mean yeah, you know like that, you know, you know where this idea fucking came from. This came from him sitting one day just like doing this voice and was like, what does this character look like? As someone who does a lot of voices, some of them like I could rattle them off and they're not like a specific like imitation thing like I have often thought like what would the character that this voice goes to like look like?

And this is someone who knows how to take it that next step like and it's like such a distinct unique thing that like if I could, because I have my voice of my own that are like not like this, but like I could do something that you'd be like, Oh, it's kind of this like cute little thing or this little other thing, like when he must have been doing this, he must have just like he knew, like you said, Dustin, he knew he had something. Because it's so it's so distinctive in a really like just cellularly off putting way that it's like you said, it starts with the voice, and then everything else built everything else built out around it is as equally off putting as the voice that David Firth is just like is conscious evoking.

There is no respite, No, of course not. I mean that's the kind of that's the kind of content we're expecting here. Like I want to just be bombarded with it, and I don't want there to be a logical jumping off point, Like I want this to just keep going and going to the point where it's like excruciatingly off putting. Yeah, it's just to the next thing, the one weird creepy thing happens. And then he sticks his salad finger through a rusty nail and bleeds out.

He likes when the red water comes out. Yeah, he gets to sing somewhere over the rainbow in his brain while he's bleeding out yeah, I mean his brain, which is a meat locker, And yeah, don't you have him beat and then then the and the and the nail as well or the hook? I guess, yeah, I wonder, like, so, you know what I wonder coming off of this episode, is there a town or place that that kid has come from that will now be looking for him? Is like Salad Fingers like a known threat to people? Or is he just again like an agent of chaos in a fucked up world?

Because that's just kind of what it seems like. And Emma, you said that there's lower and mythology here, Yes, especially as we get to the later episodes. I think a lot of the early episodes are meant to like introduce you to the character set, the quirks of the character file, and there are clearly many, you know, sala Fingers is just quirky like that. Well, and again, like this kind of thing really benefits from like making this character as weird as possible, because the weirder he is, those zany or the scenarios he can be put into. Right, Oh, definitely.

Yeah. And and I've mentioned this before, at least to you, Chris. I don't know if I mentioned on the podcast. But what I love about media like this is the creator had a very specific feeling that he wanted to evoke from an audience, and he evokes it consistently. He does it well.

Whether or not you like it, whether or not you think it's entertaining, it is achieving exactly what it's set out to do. And I love media that is able to do that because that's art. Art is setting an intention for a creative peace and seeing that intention through and obviously people are going to interpret it in different ways. I also think that that's art. But when you look at, you know, a piece of art in the museum and it makes you feel something, I think that that means it's a successful piece.

It could be a beautiful piece or an ugly piece, but if it makes you feel something, if it makes you think, that is a successful piece, that it achieved its intent. It does it beautifully in the weirdest, worst way, and it only continues to ramp up. I love how they continue. David continues to find just like the right strings of words and visuals that just make you go, oh God, I love it. Well they can give me is they didn't return back to the rest thing I mean, the rest thing isn't that it didn't come up, no spoons, no rest.

So like again, like you know, similarly to don't hug me, I'm scared. They're not just doing one thing over and over again. They've already done something different, added a layer to this character that wasn't there in the first episode, and again like it raises more questions than it answers, and I don't I'm assuming that they don't ever answer everything, and maybe there isn't anything to answer by the end of this anyways, Unlike don't hug me, I'm scared, which is asking questions every episode and answering very little, so you know, knowing that there's law and mythology and stuff surrounding this, like I'm interested to see what that is, given what we saw how it manifested, And don't hug me, I'm scared, very organically and kind of you know, out of the periphery of your eye type thing, to the point where when you and I were watching some of the stuff, Emma, we were like going back and like scrubbing through the episodes to see those things that we had missed when we watched them the first timing right right, which is like a fun part of this as well.

It's makes it feel more like a shared experience. Outside of the fact that it's the three of us here watching it together, it still feels like there's more people engaging with it in a substantive way than maybe just some random video on YouTube. Oh yeah, and like Charlie, the unicorn, which is kind of right, doesn't ask anything of you, and it's just weird for weird sake and doing nothing other than trying to be funny exactly. And you can tell, as I said, as we get into some of the later episodes, you can tell, at least at a certain point, there is some sort of story that David is trying to tell. But I will say he never confirms.

There are a lot of theories, and we'll go through those as we get a little further. But there's still there's still some more things, some more, some more, some more ways that we're going to set the stage before we get into that. I think definitely Episode three I think covers a lot of it as well, because I mean, so far, if we had to distill salad fingers into everything we know about salad fingers, we know he likes rust, you know, I likes spoons, specifically rusty spoons, like drawing his own blood for some reason. He maybe eats children, and he has finger puppet friends. I think that's like a decent amount of information, but we do get more.

Do you want to click on episode number three? I do, but dusted. Is there anything you want to add before we continue our journey into Stone Hug something that popped out of me. I don't know if you're familiar with the books Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark? Yeah?

Are we familiar with the books Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark? He asks the host of Scary Stories? We tell it was more for the audience, gross, Can you not take it so personally? Oh my gosh, triggered, I'm not just talking to you. Thank you.

That was the response I wanted. If you can recall the illustrations from those books, this kind of reminds me of that, very like Bodily Fluidy and Inky and Harry. I would describe it as scratchy. Yeah, scratchy is good. Dustin, did you know that old McDougall is dead and his brother don't know it?

Do you remember that from that book? Or the thing about the thumb the thumb. Yes, yeah, like that, dude, those books made a lasting impression. I had those books when I was like eight or nine. For some reason, we've never talked about it on this show.

I don't think I said maybe at the first episode, but like that is where the name comes from. Is that series? I mean yeah, because that series of books. I mean for me, like I checked those out from the library a ton growing up. I mean I bought them at Half Rice Books.

A couple of years ago. We were like at Half Rice Books and I was like, I wanted to get something, and I don't remember why. I walked past this cart and I saw all three sitting there on the cart, and I just bought him. It was like five bucks for all three and they're on, Yeah, that's probably where I got him. That's gotta be it.

I mean that, man, that fucking smacks different, Like my god, new series idea, dramatic reading, scary stories to tell the dark. We'll get in trouble, will we? Yeah, because that's like a that's like Scholastic. That's they'll they'll they'll show us, they'll show us how how it truly feels to be taken down. In an instance, I would we'll just do it with like a voice distortion and they can't tell like a voice voice of salad fingers.

Yeah, oh good, Yeah that that sounds extra awful. I'd call that pretty dramatic. Yeah right, so shall we? You guys want to watch the next episode? Yeah, I think so.

This is the third episode of Sad Fingers titled Nettles, and it has fifteen million views. I'm excited for this one. I got it. Bit. You know, what's something I want to mention before we go any further.

The fucking music is really bad in like a really good way, good way. Yeah. Yeah, like that like the like the the old like like record player with the like and you can hear the scratch That old series can be described as scratchy if the lights were off in your house and that music was playing in a room. Oh so you don't go in that room, No sos, no one does it come upstairs? Gayly?

Emm on. I watched that movie together last week. I thought I showed my boyfriend. It was great. Boy promises made and apparently not kept for some people.

What a fucking shame. But yeah, let's get back to this fucking nightmare, because this is way worse than skinimmering in everything. The choice of words. Yes, as I said, he strings together just the perfect words with the perfect visuals that make you go, oh god. Yeah, makes every episode he makes the most of every single word.

Yes, I love how he said fatigued. Yeah, you could just say tired. Nah. No, only only big words for salad fingers. Salad fingers is learning it.

I mean you you saw him going ham on that flute. Yeah, that's another thing we learned about salad fingers. He can play the flute, and that he's fucking yoke and he's and he's he's ripped. God, or have nipples drages? I have nipples drag?

Can you milk me? That's what I thought of? Can we clip that for the sound the sadder? That was pretty good? It does you torment your family with your with your bespoke salad fingers in person family?

Oh god, it's it. There's there is no end in sight with this? Fucking shit? Is there no insight with this? I love you seem more delighted as we continue, though, I'm enjoying it, but it is very much like an enjoyment in spite of what it is, because oh yeah, this for me like, Okay, you know what this reminds me of.

It reminds me of something else I could never get into. Invader Zim like that like art style, that's fair. I am humor for weirdness sake. Like again, like it was never my thing this kind. I have my own breed of bullshit that I like.

That makes very little sense, tim an Eric, awesome show, great job comes to mind, Dustin. I don't know if you've seen that out. Oh yeah, it's very strange. I've seen some clips, right, like is it? Is it your cup of tea?

Emma? I mean I haven't sought it out, so I guess. I mean, if somebody like sat me down to watch it, I'd watch it right, And there's I'm a lot of wishy. I'm very wishy washy on certain things. If somebody is like I really want you to watch this, I really want to watch this with you, then I'm like here for it.

But like otherwise, if I just won't seek it out on my own, which is honestly, how of how I am with music too, which you already know, Chris, right, But like it reminds me in a way, it's like aggressive with how off putting because like I think you would agree, Dustin, like Tim and Eric, is very aggressively off putting, like a lot of it's just like sometimes it's just them making the same noise over and over again, like like not even exaggerating, like literally like the Totino's Pizza boy ad comes to mind. It's like a perfect distillation of that which I am. I you're looking at me like like you don't know what I'm talking about. What you can which is which is glorious because it's so insane and it's like if you if you resonate with that, you might resonate with their overall uvra as one might say.

But like it's the same thing where like if you get it, you get it, and if you don't, you're gonna be like keep this as far away from me as possible. It's cursed. Like you have to be in this knowing what you're getting and being okay with that because like I definitely feel like if you are not open and did for the sake of enjoying this for what it is, you'll take to You'll watch like twenty seconds and go this is not for me, and you'll cook away. You have to go into it knowing that this is weird shit. You're supposed to be weird about.

It's supposed to be uncomfortable, it's supposed to be unsettling. You're supposed to almost hate it. And but like Chris, like the same way, like when we were watching Skimmer Rink and like that trust, Like it's supposed to be long, it's supposed to be drawn out, it's supposed to evoke those feelings like if I, as you said, like if I wasn't geared up for that and I wasn't ready for that, then I was going to hate it right right, And we literally know people, Dustin and I do know people that went into Skimmer Rink with an expectation that was not fulfilled and like they didn't like it, And it's not really any fault of their own, because I think the movies advertising campaign promise something that the movie was not.

But that aside, like you said, like if you go into it with one expectation and it doesn't meet it, it's very hard to reconciled the two in a lot of ways, like if you aren't if it doesn't even satisfy the base expectation of what you have, you're probably not gonna like it, like yeah, like you've really got to be able to jump over that jump through that hoop a couple of times if you're not if you're not into it, like right and real quick, just to backtrack on skidder, if you want to get really pissed off, there's a reaction video that yeahn my boyfriend uh had me like clicked through for me because he after he watched, he was like, I'm going to watch some reaction videos on this. I want to see what other people have to think about this.

And so there's one of this like girl who must be around my age, who basically the whole video I think was like twenty minutes and apparently she watched like the first like fifteen twenty minutes of it and then skipped through till the end and then said she didn't like it. If you want to get pissed off, you should watch that react because I literally told him, like, I can't watch this her her opinion is completely invalid. Missing she did not give it a chance. Missing the quote most mainstream part of the movie to see the most completely bizarre parts too, like yeah, you're getting a completely different movie, Like yeah, could you imagine having absolutely no patience that you're just like click click click anyway, So, yeah, it was terrible.

This is what staying fuck you like, if you're gonna have an opinion, can you at least like experience it otherwise just say like it wasn't for me, Like that's fine, but no, she was like, it's it's a terrible movie. This is what counts for YouTube analysis in this day and age. Oh yeah, I think she had more views than like other people, just because she's like a young girl with like her face on the thumbnail. People that review like horror movies and then they're like, this movie is terrible. I hate horror movies.

Yes, watching it, she was like, Tip told me to watch it, and this was really bad. I was like, well, I mean, are you here if TikTok I mean the Chinese government, I mean TikTok is telling you something clearly, these are the people. I mean that TikTok's not owned by the Chinese government or anything. We swear week we cannot get yourself off the list. Yeah, totally wasn't popular in China when I was studying abroad in twenty eighteen, before basically any knew anybody knew about it in America, but anyway, you know, we think, but yeah, I was literally studying abroad in China when people started using TikTok and let me tell you, nobody was using it back home yet it was only saw it like Chinese content.

It started as Chinese content. When I go to Barnes and Noble or places like, I think I was at Sam's Club, and they say I was at Sam's Club, the other fine establishment, the club that Sam built. It's Wow himself. We went there and they had a stand and it said BookTalk, and that were books you could buy that were book talk books. Because BookTok is a thing.

Yeah, book t okay because like tick because apparently if you want to, if you're in with the kids, they would say, you know, something talks. So book talk is where you Yeah, it's I don't know if you've heard the term like core, like cottage core. Yes, basically the same thing. It's distilling a hobby or an aesthetic down to like that core like term and then there being a whole section on this app like dedicated to that. So book talk is basically all about like book reviews and book recommendations.

So book talk books are basically, I guess, trending books circulating on book talk and I use the term in the definition. I've never read a book talk book. I don't get my suggestions that way, I guess, so I don't know if it's any different than listening to a podcast. I mean, again, like, it depends on what style of medium you're looking for, because that's short form, you folks, And this is not short form. But you can find our short form versions of the show on tick where I post random clips from the episode.

So be a nice segue trying to get in on it. So, so, speaking of getting in on it, do we want to do one more on this one? Yes? Yes, before we continue, I do want to ask, now that we've seen three episodes, I asked you after episode one, where do you think this is going? I want to give you, guys another chance to answer that question, now that we know a little bit more about the world, know a little bit more about our beefed up protagonist who plays the mad flute plays it, but he's a bit He's not a bit of he is a pervert.

Like, just for clarification, he is prepared well. In the first episode, he mentions that rubbing rust is orchasmic. So I don't want to yuck anybody's young. Now, Okay, there's a lot of that going around. Me get a kink, I get it.

Yeah, he really likes stinging meddles. Oh fuck, have you ever held a stinging meddle or or head one? No? Because it's a does it state? So I've been in my share of them.

Uh hopyard growing is something I did too, And nettles were around and it hurts they suck. But something interesting and I said this about like the rusty salad. Uh so nettle leaf, like if you make nettle tea, what's it? And this is just weird information that I have. It actually is good for breastfeeding mothers because it helps helps them lactate.

So it's interesting that that's what is Actually that is a really interesting thing to point out, Like Ian's right. Yeah, Like you have to be like, oh, I guess there was a point to this. Well, and think about like who made it where they're from, that's probably a little more common. Yeah. The only reason I know about it is because we're I mean, I mean my wife and I are a little bit more look for natural things first before we look outside.

Yeah, and so yeah, I just that popped in my brain. I was like, oh, yeah, that that's supposed to happen. I guess there. Usually you ingest it, rub it directly on your teeth. But sold Fingers is a different cat.

So really he's just built different. That's a that's the fucking that's that's the fucking poster line. Sad Fingers is a different cat, special breed, poland built different. Yeah, yeah it was. That's the title of the episode.

You better make that the title was really off footing to see him fucking jacked. I just want to point this out, like it not not helping here with any of this, making him like big do you think he's malnourished or do you think he lives? Oh? I think he gets mad games. And I want to ask now, Emma before we continue any for and I need to know answer.

If you've seen it is because we talked about it, and don't help me. I'm scared a little bit there. You know where I'm going with this, right do I? There are are there people that are into salad fingers. I'm sure, oh god, I'm sure somebody's going to be like, oh, his fingers are long, like, come on, oh god, I just didn't know if you knew, because again you knew.

Not off, boy, I'm scared. Cheer me out that I don't. I mean, I know why, but I don't know why. I know, but I don't know. Okay, tumbler is dust if you're unaware.

Have you ever heard the term tumbler sexy man? So are you aware of the platform tumbler? Yes? So basically, UH fandom tumbler, which is most of tumbler. UH will appoint like unanimously.

They will appoint a care character that they find attractive, and they happen to often have very similar qualities. A lot of them like very lanky, thin limbs and dapper I think are often like perceived as dapper. I think are like have you seen the Lorax movie, the new one? Well, they came out like yeah, you know the one sler tumbler sexy man. Okay, Like that don't help me.

I'm scared from that episode from the second episode, the clock is a tumbler sexy man. And I had to tell Chris that in the episode that we covered it because I think it's important information to move forward. So, I mean, look, if somebody is into salad Fingers. You know, God, blessed, say it whatever, whatever, don't want to yuck anybody's that's why they're watching this. Yeah, God damn, they're just they're just so deprived of content.

It's like watching it. This is like watching Frankenfurter Talk and Rocky Horror. Every word is very, very intentional. It's all so like, Oh, but to answer your question, something something something roll thirty four. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I wonder how many pictures we'd have to look at to find his fingers big dicks? Probably one, one or two? I mean, do they need to be dicks? Is the question? Almost penis?

That's a thing on Reddit, almost a penis. Do you think he's on them? I don't know. I don't know. Maybe he's off putting in every possible way.

So on that note, we'll bring this episode to a close. We'll watch the fourth episode of Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared, just kidding, the fourth episode You did It Again, I Know. The fourth episode of Salad Fingers titled Cage. It has eleven million views. It's an interesting watching the view count steadily go down as they're starting to like find their niche audience.

Right, we've find it down thus, and as I sit here and gather my thoughts, what did you think of that? So as a looking at these in a little bit deeper sense, sald Fingers seems to want connection. Finger puppets, the little kid that he lures into the oven, and then when faced with someone or something that wants a connection with him, that's too much. Hashtag all men, I'm a right, right, not all men. But most of the time a man he wants to be in control.

He didn't have control with a little weird black eyed baby. That's the one thing that I wanted to point out is was that meant to be a baby? Because it sounded like a baby. I think like the vaniness also was very reminiscent of an infant, but it was proposing, and I think that that is some cognitive dissonance for me. I like that Redney, I don't like that Rednecks single as much as I like Cotton Eyed Joe, black Eyed Baby.

The scar no dust is just gonna fucking no sell that one. Fine, fine, fine. The big scar on the thing's head makes you wonder, you know, maybe it's more just a damaged person. That's more childlike might be thinking too might be thinking about it too much. Though it reminds me a lot of Eraserhead, David Lynch's movie.

I mean, this is all very like David Lynch, like early weird body horror David Lynch stuff. It's just it's everything about it is very off putting with that like little baby mutated head character, Like you know, the what's the cage of the episode? Right, the cage is the cage is commitment. It's pretty heavy, heavy handed, it's pretty heavy handed in my opinion. Well, and sad Fingers just wants the pleasure, you know, he just wants, just wants to stroke rust boy.

That's awful. That's all he wants. But it's true, that's what he does. I mean that doesn't want to be tied down him. You can't tie him down.

He's built up. Him jerking off those bars was an image I did not need to see. But yet here we are, so as they would say, I mean, it's again, it's it's continuing that like off putting imagery. Just they know how to make the most out of essentially nothing is what it feels, Yeah, like this is created out of the air. I mean in a lot of ways, like it's this is not referencing anything else.

This is its own fucking weird thing, and it's just being weird for weird sake. And in a lot of ways, I kind of miss this. I mean, I don't like this, but I miss this like energy where it was like I'm just gonna do weird shit, Like I miss that because it's kind of gone now and everything is just so sanitized and sammy and not as exciting as it used to be in a lot of ways, and not because oh we've all gotten older, but because it just feels like some of these things just not that people outgrew them, but people didn't want things to continue to be weird, like there needed to be some sense of normalcy, and like I like weird. I think weird is fun and exciting, like this is. People wanted to stop straying from a formula.

And I think that this does fully encompass the idea of just maybe there is a formula, but if it is, it is not clear. Whereas a lot of creative content, you know, people think that it needs to have you know, the opening, the peak, the conclusion, the lore, the story, and it needs to be like written out in a very specific way, and so a lot of media it feels like nothing new is really happening because of those reasons. And this was a time where people didn't expect to get big online. This was a time before people really cared about going viral. This was just creating for creating sake, And I exactly like I definitely think that with the rise of the Internet, like this was like peak Internet, like gears in terms of like mental health, which is hilarious because we're talking about slid figures, which obviously it makes you question the mental health of the creator.

But I think like in terms as somebody who grew up with the Internet, you're the way that you create, it becomes affected by how it is received. And there was no pressure before that was normalized. Like sure, like maybe you wanted like a hundred up votes, but like that would be enough. There was no like that virality of like this needs to reach every corner of the globe. I need to be relevant.

It was or it means nothing, or I mean nothing? Or what I create? What's the point? Getting five million views on new Grounds meant? What did that mean?

Right? Like first five million views on YouTube? Like what? What? What?

Did those two things mean, because again this got started on new grounds, So yeah, like it was even like you said, it was started at a time where like, could you make a living posting things on new grounds? I don't think that was a thing now, Like you said, it was kind of an anonymous, faceless void of people who some people similarly to like you know, I would compare this too, and I'm not comparing him to this, but again, similarly, something like Logan and Jake Paul on Vine escaping the orbit of vine and making it into YouTube and becoming YouTubers because again Vine disappeared, new Grounds didn't disappear. But new grounds isn't where you would go to make a living. You can make a living on YouTube.

There are plenty of people that do it, and that number is going to continue to get bigger and bigger because there are more people existing with interesting stories to tell or content to create that haven't been born yet or aren't old enough yet to pick up a phone or a computer and do it. And there will be more people being content creators because there will be less people needing to make things and more people being entertaining is needed for less people working, and so there you go, you have more entertainment needs for more people. And that's what happens with YouTube, and that's why this is on YouTube, and that's why anything new for this is going to get posted either on his own side, I'm assuming, or youte because where else?

Right? Like right, I hope that we are able to cyclically come back to this idea of creating for creation's sake, putting it online only so it finds maybe a small audience that gives a shit, and that's enough. I miss those days, honestly, I miss the days where it was just I'm going to make something weird or something fun, or something that speaks to me, and it's not about you know, how how well received this is going to be, how large, how big of an audience can I reach? What's the outreach here? How do I make this palatable for the widest audience?

You know, just creating what you want to create for the sake of putting it out there. And that's enough. And this is that absolute And that's honestly why I think it is as iconic as it is. It's it really is reminiscent of that peak time of content creation. It's so purely self serving.

It definitely feels that way watching it, because it's definitely not tied to any master other than David Firth, because these kinds of decisions aren't made accidentally, like you mentioned with the nettle thing in the last episode, Dustin, you have to know that to make that joke. Right on that note, what do you guys think of solid fingers? Interesting? This? Fuck?

M I mean, I think I think it obviously exists in such a strange corner of the universe that again, like I want these kinds of things to exist again in the future, because these things don't exist anymore like this, this still exists, but this is a hang like a hanging part of a pop culture time that doesn't exist anymore. I want the new thing of this and if when people do make it, such as like skin Marink as an example, to look at it for what it is, like we've said, and give it some respect because it's it is something that was created and it's not necessarily always going to be your cup of tea, but it's that person's cup of tea. And check it out. Oh yeah again, I stand. I stand to someone who's not the biggest fan of this, but I'm I'm wanting to see where this goes because and that's why I wanted to show you, right, I didn't.

I didn't expect you to like fall in love with the characters like you did with Don't hug me, I'm scared, because this isn't meant to do that. Don't hug me, I'm scared. Is meant to draw you in. You were meant to have you know that like pseudo relationship with the characters, which which one is your favorite and all of that, Like, it is very much that purpose because of how it's set up, especially as a kid show. It's very nostalgic in a lot of ways too, And it's meant to be appealing in its own, like weird, creepy way, but it's meant to be, you know, somewhat appealing.

This is not meant to be appealing, not in any way, shape or form, No, unless if you are just absolutely into whatever this is. But it is Internet history and it is creepy as fuck. And I thoroughly enjoyed seeing your reaction. Well, I'm and I'm glad that. I'm glad that I'm glad that we were able to watch it together and experience again something that I've heard about, Like you said, Dustin, I had heard about it in passing, and now I kind of get a better sense of what this is.

Maybe we don't know exactly where this is going, but it's it's a very interesting starting place. It's a very unique starting place, and it's not a starting place that anything else I've ever seen is started from. So the novelty is that that unique. That's a novelty in and of itself. So I would say, if it were to remind me of anything, courage, the cowardly dog.

Yeah, the teeth, the teeth for sure. The wasteland, the weird stylization, the overall tones of just weird and dread and not knowing why anything is actually happening a little bit more palatable because there are moments of respite and characters that you can trust to not be fucking weird, unlike this, where there is no trust to be happened. Not a single character here is comforting. Best I can tell, we haven't met a single character that I would say is remotely welcoming. Everything has been very awesome.

So who's your salad fingers? Comfort character? Don't have one, and there isn't one. God Hubert Cumberdale and whatever is been at a Cumberbatch whatever his name? Yea, God?

Yeah, so Dustin as as the one who was more or less shanghaied into this. I want to give you the final word on on salad fingures to close out this, this first surreal tube with a with a with a full couch of people as it were, Well you said, you said his first posted fifteen years ago. I don't think I would have thought about it the same way then as watching it now, because hey, I would have known nothing about nettle leaves helping your lactation, so very important information. Yeah, yea, So definitely coming at it from a different perspective. But I don't know.

It's uncomfortable to watch, but at the same time you can't look away from it. And it's that train wreck thing. It's weird, and I see there's more episodes and I kind of want to check them out. Are you gonna join us? You gotta join us?

Are you gonna jump ahead? Oh? Was there a part two? Toy? Oh?

We are definitely going SERI, what do you think this is one and done? God? No, what is it? I'm making sure were at the Apollo Chris is dropped in. I'm yeah, there's I can't leave.

They won't let me leave. I want to a Halloween costume. Oh oh Jesus, can you imagine seeing this coming up to you in the tree, knocking on the door with your salads moving? Yeah, rubbing the rusty spoon. Oh god, that's one way to get kicked out of the neighborhood.

Yeah. Right, there's this guy who dresses like this green monster. He keeps talking about rust and spoons. It's like slender Man fifteen years ago. Yeah, yeah, he vokes slender Man.

I think Slenderman energy. I mean he kills kids, or at least eats them. Yeah, hey, that was It was never on screen that he eat that he ate that kid. That's what I'm just saying. That's fair, that's fair.

Just just cook them the implications they would say, it's like cooking chocolate chip cookies. It just makes the house smell nice. Exactly, Wow, aromatic what the fishes gun like. I'm loving these impressions. They're coming from a place of abject horror.

I feel it's not like I've said, Bird from don't hug me, I'm scared, Duck from Dune, I'm scared where it's misgiv I had to get it in there, just for everybody. Just never forget that. That's the best part. I feel like every episode of Surreal Tube you have to say pesky b at least I find a way to bring it. I got to bring the duck energy, that dickhead, little green duck energy with the baguettes for mouths.

That's what they look like. They look like rolls. I never said that on any of the episodes. Keep thinking it. It looked like rolls.

It's like two Portuguese roles. Yeah, I just like that's what it looked like. So so until the next time the three of us talk about salad figures. You can find us over at Weirdingwaymedia dot com, where, like we mentioned, Dustin and I do some stuff from time to time. Emma is here most of the time.

That's where you can find us, and that's a that's a good place to go. As for this show, Scary Stories, we tell dot com big thanks to you, Dustin for the album artwork for the Campfire Stories. Yeah, thank you, thank you in person. Jesus, what's that like? And you know what I didn't ask for?

Like fifteen thousand changes and then abuse you either isn't that weird? I appreciate it and uh and and big thanks to Maggie Yott as well for the main album artwork for the show. As for the music, Alex Malmack of Blondo provides that music. And if you're listening Alex, Hello, we'd like to have you back at some point, but hey, we know you're busy touring the Midwest and kicking ass because Dustin and I know you. That's weird, isn't it.

Yeah, weird, It's kind of weird. H And as always, will let our good friend, the former host of Sightings, mister Tim White, lead us out of no mystery is closed to an open mind. End