#I'm not so good at articulating my fannish thoughts lately

[gt-ridel]

Okay, okay... So I know the entity in episode three of The Sounds of Nightmares likely isn't connected to Mono at all. There are too many plot holes and it perhaps has better parallels elsewhere. But I don't think it was entirely by accident that so many of us latched onto the idea.

For starters, Noone begins her recounting of the dream in this way. "In the dark... A hand let go of mine." This statement doesn't seem to connect to anything that was happening before or anything that follows. Hand-holding was a pretty significant aspect of Little Nightmares II. Mono and Six would give each other boosts to reach high places, catch each other when making a long jump, or if you were so inclined (and I was because it was cute) just hold hands as they walked along. Until of course that last scene. You know the one. In the dark. When she let go of his hand.

The second major connection is the Mall itself. A living structure, able to bend space and time, and give you exactly what you want if it means you won't try to leave. I believe that's what happened to Six in LN2. It gave her back her music box. How would it have known about that? Perhaps it saw into her mind. Saw something she wanted. After all, when we first find her she's sitting alone in the Hunter's basement just playing with it. Not trying to escape or anything. perhaps it would be enough to pacify her? (It's my theory that Six has been in Nowhere longer than Mono, and is, therefore, closer to the monstrous than he is.)

In the case of Noone, if we imagine it's the same entity, it seems its tactics and vocabulary have improved since Six's imprisonment. The illusions are more complete, less dreamlike. Perhaps as a side effect of being able to keep Mono. Learn from him. (Total headcanon here, but I like to believe that eventually Mono and the Tower begin to work as one.) It's also the only non-hostile entity (not counting the Nomes) we have met in Nowhere. It's just lonely. So terribly lonely. And who can blame it? If it grew from one little boy, abandoned in a deep pit by his only friend. (Maybe that's why his purpose as the Thin Man was simply to abduct children and bring them back to the tower. But I digress) But let's get back to Noone. Once she enters the projection booth, she comes face to face with the true nature of the building. A giant eye working as a projector, and a pulsating mass of flesh. The building is literally alive, and the image is instantly familiar to the listener.

The illusion even begins to tear itself apart at the seams when she tries to run. The same as it did for us in the game. Anyway, I'm not sure to what end these similarities exist. I don't think it was the intention of the showrunner that Noone meet Mono. But hey, I think we all felt like we'd gotten socked in the gut when we finished Little Nightmares II. So is it any surprise that we're desperate to see him again, in any form? To hope that he finds some kind of solace, even if only for a short time? I mean, I do. So even though it's not strictly true (unless stated otherwise by the developers) this is a headcanon that I hold near and dear to my heart. Like a beloved bootleg plushie. This is not to say that I disagree with, or even dislike other interpretations. Basically, It's just that Mono is my poor sweet baby child and I wuv him. 🥺