#i really liked unsolved and i watched watcher a lot at the start (all of puppet history especially) but i've barely watched in like a year

[californianedgeworth]

the amount of people who point out Steven as some kind of money hungry villain manipulating Shane and Ryan in the whole Watcher debacle is so annoying. clearly they just liked Shane and Ryan a lot better and want to take culpability away from them. but all 3 of them made this decision, as far as we know they're all equally accountable. stop making conspiracies based off people's lives you don't know so you can continue to justify your parasocial relationship jfc

[cleolinda]

My sister noticed

Previously on: I grew up in a haunted house and I didn't notice: So I told you a story about how a Count Chocula used to creep behind me at night when I was a child, and I described my very weird childhood home to you. I told you how my sister had Something Dark living in her bedroom, and I told you about the time she and I compared notes and realized that we also had the ghost of a young woman in the house. Maybe.

I asked my sister to read over the draft for me, maybe gather up the fortitude to fill in some details, and she texted back, "Oh, I'll tell you anything you want. But that’s not how it happened."

I am willing to believe her version for two reasons:

1) My memory has been shit after having covid umpteen thousand times.

2) I actually remember her version of the conversation we had, now that it's in front of me.

I also remember my version, is the thing—the one where I told her about Rebecca when we were younger. And that raises some questions about how independent, how uncompromised, our experiences were. But I think those questions are themselves the story. Can I trust my memory at all? I had such bad brain fog the first time I had covid that I could not remember how to scramble eggs. A lot of things are just mist to me now. There's what I remember and there's what actually happened, but what do I even remember? And that's before you even get into the idea that we're talking about ghosts we "felt" in the house. We saw no apparitions, no shadows, no odd movements.

This is not a story where I'm asking you to believe me.

There are things you experience, and things that happen. An example from the winter of 2016:

What I experienced was standing out on our deck one night and looking up at the stars. They were moving in a slight swirl motion, not unlike the painting Starry Night. I turned to my mom and said, "Well, the stars are moving, so if the world ends or something any time soon, here's our first sign." She stared at me.

What happened was, our upstairs heating unit had a leak, and I sustained mild carbon monoxide poisoning. (I like rooms to be cool, so I had used the heater less than most people would, at least.) This was only discovered during a routine furnace check, after my vision had been a little weird and I had been deeply fatigued for two or three months. I have had a CO monitor upstairs ever since.

Did I see the stars swirling? Yes. Were they? No. That's the distinction I want you to make while I tell you all this. Did my sister and I experience things? Yes. Do I know what happened? No.

So what I agree happened was, we were having Grownup Sunday Family Dinner a few years back, maybe 2019 or so. I had been really into Buzzfeed Unsolved, which later evolved into Watcher Entertainment, but my sister was refusing to watch any of it. She's a big fan now, but she only started watching the guys last year. Yesterday, we tried to piece this back together via text.

My sister ["MS" from here on out]: Like I feel like off and on for years you mentioned [Shane and Ryan's shows] and I refused

MS: And one day my argument was to talk about our own house

Me [let's go with Cleolinda Jones, "CJ"]: You said you felt like fake ghost shows were disrespectful to people who actually experienced [hauntings].

MS: YES I FEEL LIKE THAT WAS THE CONVO

I love paranormal investigation shows, whether they're patently fake or not, as long as I enjoy the people investigating, so I couldn't understand why they personally offended her. Pulling at this thread back in 2019 is how the the whole ghost story started coming out.

CJ: And I was like, okay, but here’s one show where they get, like, nothing, but I can promise you that it's real

(Because the Unsolved/Watcher shows pair a believer with an actual skeptic who still, lo these many years later, does not believe in any of it. I truly believe Shane and Ryan would not stage "evidence," for that reason. Shane makes fun of ghosts and people who believe in them, but he's honest about it, and my sister likes that.)

At this point, we go back to the first version of the story that I posted: my sister had told me that Something had lived in the Four Closets Bedroom with her when she was a preteen/early teenager. It felt very dark, very bad, and she had not told anyone else about it until that dinner. The way I relayed it to you, Dear Reader, was that she hadn't wanted to go into detail, and I wasn't sure what it looked like, or if it "lived" in the little witch closet, or what. That night at dinner, I had gone on to tell her that, you know, now that you mention it, I did feel like something used to follow me up there at night. And this was when "My sister started crying. Like just staring at me in wide-eyed horror, her eyes filling with tears" had come in.

1. Something Dark

CJ: So you were telling me about our house being haunted. Something in your room. How would you describe it?

MS: I think it more lived in the attic

(our pal the dark fucked-up attic room)

MS: but would roam the entire floor so I felt it in the peach room [my (Cleo's) old bedroom and then later, my sister's] but more so in [the Four Closets Bedroom] as it was closer to the attic

MS: The best way I can describe it is just never feeling like I was alone. Feeling like something was always behind me. But I refused to turn around to look. It felt like a darkness that almost oozed behind you in a way that was almost suffocating.

CJ: What I find interesting is that we both describe it as Just Feelings, and never feeling alone.

My sister texted me at this point that she used to sense Something upstairs whether it was day or night; "even in the day, it didn't feel safe." But night was worse.

MS: There was one night in 3rd grade when I was reading and had like my first panic attack because I was newer to living upstairs and I felt it come in the room at night for the first time

MS: I also used to feel compelled to keep the AC running all night like it was never cold enough.

Here's the weird thing: when we moved to the house where I currently live and our rooms were on the same floor, we always fought over the thermostat. My sister hated her bedroom being too cool, whereas I get hot. I remember one night, we were arguing over it, and she was weirdly on the verge of tears: "Why do you have to have it so cold?" In 2023, my sister texted me at this point that she didn't want our childhood home to be cold; it was like the thing wanted that temperature, even if she hated it.

You often hear that ghosts make rooms cold, that's a big ghost hunter show thing—but whatever was up there couldn't lower the temperature on its own?

CJ: "If you can’t make it cold yourself, storebought is fine"

CJ: And you don’t have a visual impression of it, I’m not just blowing past that?

MS: I refused. REFUSED to look. Ever. For any reason.

CJ: I did too, so that’s interesting

CJ: I describe it as a Count Chocula, which should tell you how much it didn’t bother me. Which I find weird

(Truly, there is a reason I titled that post "I grew up in a haunted house and I didn't notice.")

MS: I can’t tell if it was truly terrifying. Or if the amount of data I was getting from it was just so overwhelming that that alone was terrifying to a child. I wish I could answer that now.

CJ: Yeah, in some way I think we’re saying the same thing. I was seven years old and I couldn’t comprehend what it was, either, so I just imagined a silly vampire

CJ: like I can’t overstate how cartoonish it seemed to me at the time, while still being very DON’T LOOK BACK

Part of the problem, she added, was that she felt compelled to go turn down the air conditioning... and the thermostat was next to the (carpeted. shag carpeted) bathroom. And then she had to race back to her bedroom... the same way I used to, as quick as she could.

MS: I also felt like I could NOT run. Like the way you shouldn’t run away from a mountain lion. It would create the need for it to chase me.

MS: What is so strange is that [learning about paranormal investigation] has not changed my perception of my experience in the slightest. Whether that’s the reality or not. It is still something I find dark and terrifying.

CJ: I think you would answer this differently now than you did then: what do you think it was?

We discussed this by text for a while. I mentioned being intrigued that Something Dark wanted to be cold (but apparently was not able to make the room cold). My sister—having agreed to be quoted here—said, "I kinda hope to avoid someone being like 'you had a demon in your house,'" as she doesn't really feel like that's what it was. Her gut feeling (and, bear in mind, we are working off nothing but feelings here) is that it was a spirit or ghost: something formerly human. We agree that it seemed male in some way (again: a Chocula).

And you're probably thinking, This is total bullshit. And it probably is! I'm not claiming any of this to be real evidence! I just find it interesting that we somehow came up with the same bullshit.

CJ: It just fascinates me that I did not experience 90% of this, and yet I got a strong enough whiff of it that I’m like, yeah, I can see it

But what about the female presence, the one I went off to color with in the middle of the night?

2. Rebecca

MS: I didn’t find out you had done the ouija board until we were adults. You didn’t tell me when we were kids

MS: That’s why I was SO shocked when we talked at the dinner table.

See, I was convinced that I had told her about my ouija adventures when I was a teenager, and "What about Rebecca??" flowed really well in the first post. That conversation was already a bit fictionalized in order to condense it from what I remembered—that's how memoirs work, really, unless you have actual transcripts of your life and room to include them. You're telling a story. I thought I was telling a condensed version of a true story. And yet, I do remember how shocked my sister was at dinner that night. And she would have only been seven or eight when I was messing around with that shit. Those two things do support the idea that I wouldn't have told her.

MS: You did tell me skeletons lived in my closet tho

I told you I was kind of a shit.

CJ: when I told you about Rebecca, what was your reaction?

MS: That’s when I went white. Bc I realized we had had a similar experience and I wasn’t just crazy

CJ: The thing is, I WOULD HAVE SWORN I had told you about Rebecca when we were younger

MS: If you did you didn’t name her and that’s why it was nuts when I realized 2 decades later we pulled the same name and we both remembered it.

We did it again, too—I posted briefly about putting this whole saga together, and how my sister asked me to give the ghost a pseudonym (ghosts deserve privacy too). And in trying to think of a good replacement, we both came up with "Rebecca."

CJ: so how did you know the [original] name?

MS: Ouija board with [best friend, redacted] in the playroom when I was like 13. She cried the whole time. We both thought the other was moving [the planchette].

You'll remember the weird, windowless, sky-blue playroom with the scary door from the previous post.

MS: But she was crying so she wouldn’t have been. And I would have never pulled out the name [Not Actually Rebecca]

MS: There was part of me that wonders if I did it but I would have NEVER chosen Rebecca

CJ: So did I bring Rebecca up first in this conversation [at dinner in 2019], or did you? I did?

MS: You said it first. I would have never [told you first] cuz I would have thought you were placating me. Like I’d never really know if you weren’t just agreeing with me

And that's when my sister had "stared at me, saucer-eyed, pale. Like I'm not sure I had ever seen anyone 'go white' until that moment." And I had told her about getting up at midnight and going to color in the weird playroom, and someone else being in there with me, no big deal.

After all this discussion, we do think that Rebecca was briefly my "imaginary friend," but our mom told me to stop talking about that. Not because our mom was spooked, but because she felt like it was rude for me to talk about someone I was presumably making up in front of company. So that stopped. Thinking back on it, I just felt like someone was sitting next to me on the couch. I didn't feel anyone next to me; when I looked, I felt like I could see where... someone was not? The space that someone invisible was taking up? It felt like something reasonably friendly. "Chill" is the word I keep using. Not super eager or possessive, just like a girl who was a bit older, maybe a teenager, a babysitter age, who liked me well enough. There was some dark shit in the attic, apparently—it did feel very oppressive in there—but I would get a sense that a metaphorical desk lamp had been turned on. A presence that stayed back, relaxed, but emanated "hey, I'm here."

What my sister and I agreed on was that we remembered how these "feelings" were both vague and memorable. I can't remember events or chronology accurately, but I remember the actual sensations and presences very, very clearly. They resist reinterpretation. I can't sit here and say, "Oh, Rebecca was totally a guardian angel, I see that now." The Something Dark sounds functionally demonic, but my sister doesn't feel like that's accurate. (If anything, she gets a sense that this could have been a malicious uncle—not father—of some kind to Rebecca, if the two beings were related: particular in their vagueness.) These two presences just... were. My sister says she primarily sensed Rebecca outdoors in our backyard, when we were pretending (were we?) to play with fairies. I didn't sense Rebecca there—but then, I wasn't aware that what I sensed was a someone, not for another thirty years or so. My oblivious ass was up at midnight filling in my She-Ra coloring book with a ghost like, "Yeah, I'm alone in the dark for no reason, this is normal." It's only in retrospect that I recognize atmospheric feelings as things that actually took up space, and I don't know how I didn't see it at the time. I can't explain that, and I can't ask you to believe it. All I know is that my sister still feels very traumatized by her experience of it—and I can't explain why I don't.

I think one of the reasons paranormal investigation shows don't scare me a whole lot is because so much of the "evidence" is random knocks and creaks and movements and vibes, and I'm like, yeah, I've lived in two houses now like that. The door of my current bedroom opens and closes on its own all the time. It's probably a draft from the ventilation system (which does not have CO leaks anymore) (probably). I've seen something at this house that a lot of people might call a shadow person, but I was probably imagining it. So many of these ghost shows just have things that I grew up with and didn't even think a whole lot of at the time; I seem to be protected by a +3 Sphere of Sure, That's Fine. Is my current house also haunted? I honestly don't know. Would I notice if it was?

[tasty-littl-snack]

I saw some clips of that one streamers show and they all seem kinda not great and no I will not be naming because I hate them with a passion but maybe you can guess who. But anyway, it got me thinking; Why does most of the watchers content just feel so…authentic. Like they put so much hard work and passion into their stuff and I’m just feeling so emotional about them right now lmao. Steven’s cooking shows(yes all of his cooking shows) Ghost Files, Puppet History and WWW are just so fucking amazing and the love and care put into them is just so beautiful. ;-;

Sorry to be weird in your inbox but I had to let this out lmao

Hope it's okay to answer this because you got me thinking and yeah I agree. While I don't watch any other let's call it "youtuber with a streamer" type channels, so I can't really speak to wether they are good or bad I know that watcher is the only one that appeals to me. From what I've seen the others have the "quantity over quality" aspect and while that is a way to game the system and get people feel like paying for more content is worth it (I personally think that it's a disease of modern times like why would you pay for one good movie if you can have several bad ones for the same/lower price), I prefer to pay for something that is done out of passion even if it's some kind of niche stuff I didn't think about before. And it's very well made and I feel like Watcher delivers just that.

I feel like the difference with Watcher and their content is that there is a lot of heart put in their shows, and they are doing things that they are curious/passionate about, and they have the ability to also awaken that curiosity in the viewer. Kinda a "follow me on this deep dive into a topic I just learned about", which is also the appeal of like video essay/long form content, but in watcher you can really feel the love they have for the thing and the people they work with. Steven once said in his interview that finding new people is their goal but it's very hard to find them because they feel like the chemistry and 'clicking' has to match with what they are doing. And when I heard that I was like "well this feels unnecessary" but then I watched the www woundtable where Violet talks about finding the right locations for www and how research goes into that, and then I felt it you know. They really care about every detail, to the point where you feel like "Wait why does this matter" but then the end result is a high quality episode of a show.

If you think about it, all of these shows are made from scratch. From ideas that they come up with and then discuss how to execute them well. The fact that Ryan got his popularity with unsolved aka things he was interested in and that allowed him to gather a team of trusted people who know what to do to make his idea a reality (and a better show and I will die on the hill that Ghost files is better than unsolved) is amazing to me. Shane with his interest in fun history facts and Puppet history starting out as a spiritual continuation of his previous show but then being combined with the manic energy of hot daga allowed him to express his creativity in ways that I really admire. (Like listen to believe me maizy and then to the dinosaur metorite song back to back you can feel that the creativity is there but as the years passed he got better at writing storytelling songs.)

I also think Steven is an interesting example because he wasn't a foodie at first but then got known for a food show so it feels like food is the niche he has to do. But even then, if you look at his first shows on Watcher it's Grocery run which gives voices to Asian-american influencers, and home made which is comparing the home made foods to the restaurant ones. The conclusion in that one is that even though sometimes home made is better the restaurant ones have a love for food as well. So he chose food as connecting with people and nowhere it's more shown than in dish granted which, yeah started as a show able to be made in a pandemic but also as making food for his friends to express gratitude for what they meant to him. The expensive stuff is the gimmick to get clicks, but you can see that the connection with people is really what that show is about. Travel season is again, an exploration of different countries through food and the fact that he chose Korea to start it off with - knowing that his wife is Korean, and the way he introduces some of the food to Andrew and Adam I think it's another expression of love he has for the connections he can make while eating food.

I just think all the shows are made with love, even the ones with guest shows. You can really feel the passion there that they have for the topics they explore and for the people they work with. I think that's what makes Watcher different and I really love that about them. They also find ways to improve their current shows and always evolve, and that takes time and effort but I feel like at heart they are creative people who got popular, whereas other people got popular first and then felt like they have to come up with things to keep this going. And that might be the difference and what sets watcher apart from all the other similar channels.

[averyreaderofmanybooks]

A list of the fandoms I am in. (And how often I interact with content from that fandom.)

Wilderlore (I am very active in the Wilderlore fandom, it is a very underrated fandom.)

DC comics, specifically Batman and stuff about the Robins (My new favorite hyperfixation.)

Dead Pate (I didn't play the game but I watched someone play the game on YouTube and I love the game.)

Wild Kratt's (I loved watching the show as a kid and I still love it.)

Supernatural (I check the Supernatural side of Tumblr often, I also introduced Supernatural to my brother so my entire family likes Supernatural.)

Buzzfeed Unsolved (I loved Buzzfeed Unsolved)

Watcher Mystery Files (I was so happy when I found out that Ryan and Shane were going to continue doing ghost hunting and things like that, I also love puppet history.)

Hamilton (I listen to the musical while I work and I watch the musical sometimes.)

The Music Freaks (I loved this show so much.)

Llamas with hats (I thought the show was amazing but there was also a lot of gore so if you don't like blood or gore then don't watch it.)

The Stanley Parable (I haven’t played the game, but I have watched Evan and Katelyn play the game. Also, I think the game is great.)

The MCU (I am trying to get caught up on all of the Marvel movies, but there are a lot of them so it’s gonna take a while for me to get caught up.)

Nimona (I loved the movie, and I’ve read quite a few stories on Ao3, they have become one of my new coping mechanisms.)

The Inheritance Cycle (I haven’t re-read the books in a while, but I’m really excited about the movie and the new book.)

Hermitcraft (I have only watched a few of Grian’s videos and I’m not really caught up on any of the recent episodes.)

The Owl House (I loved the show, and I might re-watch it at some point. )

Gravity Falls (There is no words in the english language that can express how much I love this show, I haven't watched any of the episodes in a long time, but I might re-watch it.)

She-ra (I f*cking love this show and started re-watching it, and then I started watching Supernatural.)

PJO and all of the book series that came after it (I can’t decide if I want to re-read the series or not, but I think it is an amazing book series.)

SCP (I watch a few videos sometimes but I haven’t been that interested in the fandom.)

The Dream smp (I haven’t been very interested in the fandom since the ending.)

The life series (I watched a lot of Grian's Limited Life videos but I didn’t watch the last episode, I watched a few of Grian’s Double Life videos, but didn't watch 3rd Life or Last Life, but I’m mostly caught up on Secret Life.)

Evolution smp (I loved it.)

Sweet Tooth (I liked the first season and was gonna watch the second one with my family but we never had time to watch it.)

Origins Smp (I used to like the Origins SMP but I haven’t watched many of the videos about it.)

Empires Smp (I loved the first season but I didn’t really like the second season.)

100 Days in a Hardcore Minecraft Apocalypse (I loved the video but I haven’t watched it in a while.)

SCU/Slimecicle Cinematic Universe (I haven’t watched many of the videos.)

Hazbin Hotel (I don’t often interact with this fandom and I don’t know why.)

Amphibia (I loved the show but I haven’t been very interested in it recently.)

Wings of Fire (I haven’t really interacted with this fandom since I finished the most recent book.)

Warrior Cats (I haven’t read the recent book, I stopped reading halfway through “The Broken Code” but I might continue reading, eventually.)

(I will probably edit this list if any of this changes.)

[toomanywatchers]

alright! knew soemone took out the corkboard for this one. I totally agree though with all the stuff about the rebranding. I would suggest they are trying to rebrand themselves and make themselves better because on WW+ they do talk about how watcher wasn't exactly how they thought it would be and the pandemic really was rough for their company. And I would agree with the streamings service bc it is literally called www.watchertv.com but it is true that they are a suggested smaller company and have a relatively smaller audiance then their buzzfeed days. One thing on their part I wish they would have done differently when watcher first started was promoting watcher more on buzzfeed. They did a few times and at the very end but no one reads the discription and or the last little bits of the crdits. if they did promote it more, then maybe more of the audiance from unsolved would have come over to their company and have given them a bigger start. but with that comes its own problems of not having enough content or better content yada yada yada. One thing I did think of when I say the announcement was maybe it was a slouth of new shows were already ready to watch like a series. I quickly shot that down. Bc when would they have time to shoot 2-3+ shows? Between editing and keeping their current shows alive I doubt they had time (this is all speculation I have no fucking clue). Anyway I do think it might be stuff like maybe a new show announcements like maybe one with Sara and Joyce. As well as the somewhat annocued one with Steven and his crew. aybe a new tour and merch? Merch store has been pretty dry (minus the new patches) and we haven't had a tour since november which isn't long but idk what they do in HQ. Truly excited tho. I have my alarms set and everything. Anyway lol that's for reading my ramble too. Your theories were great, didn't mean to kind of debunk them though.

I believe you and I are on same the page and here are some of my responses to this.

With the whole BuzzFeed promoting: I don't think they had much of a say on what and how much they could promote Watcher over on BuzzFeed. If I remember correctly, BuzzFeed is very stingy on their employees/shows promoting other outside sources that could be seen as competition. Henceforth many BuzzFeed employees on contract could not appear in other YouTubers videos do to conflict of interest. In the end, it was really generous for the amount of promoting allowed of Shane and Ryan to put into the last seasons of BuzzFeed Unsolved.

The possibility of new shows: Yes, filming a lot of shows to add in this new slate would seem like a lot, but not in possible. It would seem more likely than touring as touring takes the boys away from the office and takes up a considerable amount of time and obstacles for filming schedules. Also I said how there are new names showing up in the credits of new editors and production crew, meaning they are hiring on new folks. Bigger team, more flexibility to work on new projects. Also if these new shows are less of Shane and Ryan, and more of other individuals like Steven and friends of the company it would actually mean a more balance flow of shooting. Letting Shane and Ryan have a break from constantly filming and to work on other projects within their own lives or through the company. Actually, Ronnie who was an intern for Watcher back in 2021 or 2022 I believe posted this on their instagram story:

They actually left the company sometime in 2022 possibly after the internship was up. Then when to work for GMM though that internship has come to close. Basically what I am saying is they are continue to grow their employment and with more people on the team means more flexibly in expansion of shows.

Merch???: I feel like merch could be a possible in this announcement if it's a relaunch of sorts. Especially if it's like a rebrand, selling merch to fit the new rebrand? Perfect idea to generate some revenue as for long time fans it would be a refreshing site to their merch line... and who doesn't love fresh new merch?

Don't worry guy I am also so excited! I noticed I actually don't work on Friday so I can be fully present for the announcement day! Imma be on the internet as a menace all day watch me.

[perseidlion]

I started watching a lot of YouTube when many people did, in around 2016 when influencer culture was exploding and Buzzfeed was at its height.

When people like Safiya Nygaard and The Try Guys branched out (followed by the guys who would go on to create Watcher and Ghost Files/Unsolved) I started watching their content.

As we all know, things have changed a lot in recent years and both the Try Guys and the Watcher crew have seen scandal. I had no desire at all to sign up for any of their off-site channels when they were launched. I thought the post-scandal landscape was why I wasn't as engaged in their content as before.

Recently, I figured out the real reason. There's only so much content I actually want to see from any one creator or group of creators no matter how much I like them. I kind of want it to be two formats max. I don't want to see the same cast of characters in a bunch of different shows.

For example, I really enjoy Gordon Ramsay as a media personality. I liked Kitchen Nightmares back in the day. I watched the first two seasons of Hell's Kitchen. His travel show, Uncharted, is great. But none of this was ever appointment viewing. It was something I stuck on when I wanted to zone out. I have no desire to consume all the other shows he's been in. One show at a time was enough Ramsay for me. And if I stopped watching him, I didn't really miss him.

The YouTubers of Watcher and The Try Guys are very similar. Watching Ghost Files and Mystery Files (or back in the day, Unsolved Supernatural and True Crime) is enough of Ryan and Shane for me. I don't want or need to see them in anything outside of that. Same for Stephen and Andrew. They were right to retire Worth It, but one show with them in that format is plenty for me.

At the end of the day, I am interested in presenters + format. If one or the other is different, it'll take a lot of convincing for me to get on-board.

The same goes for The Try Guys. Watching Eat the Menu throughout the year and Without a Recipe at the holiday season is enough. I like their new supporting cast, but I don't really need to see more of them than I already do.

Wanting to consume multiple shows with the same cast of characters on an ongoing basis is not something that really has a precedent. That's not how a lot of people consume media, even on YouTube. Most people want the same kinds of videos with the same format from one YouTuber or a duo. If they want something different, they go to a different creator.

Therein lies the fault in this subscription model for Watcher and 2nd Try. In order for their monthly fee to be worth it, you have to want to watch multiple shows with the same cast of characters. Their prices approach the cost of an actual streaming service. You'd have to want to watch pretty much everything they put out for it to make sense financially.

Now, they probably don't actually need a huge subscriber base for this to be worthwhile. One person paying a monthly fee is probably worth a couple thousand views on YouTube revenue-wise at least. But I do wonder if it's sustainable as times get tougher and people cut back on discretionary spending.

One YouTuber who I think is doing it right is another Buzzfeed alum, Safiya Nygaard. Her and Tyler's day-to-day content seems to be YT shorts and TikToks. When she does drop a YT video it is usually longform (20-40 minutes if not longer) and very in-depth and well put-together.

Her videos only appear every couple of months and they're always a must-watch for me. I believe her and Tyler consciously chose to scale back how many videos they were producing because they were burning out. That's smart because the audience was probably getting burnt out too. I also appreciate that the videos she does put out are very high-quality, interesting and long-form.

All this to say, I do wish these creators well, especially 2nd Try who I admire for their ingenuity and the way they handled their scandal. But that doesn't mean I'll be subscribing or even watching more of their content than I already do.

There is so much content out there that it doesn't make sense to spend too much time with any one creator or set of creators.

[tame-a-messenger]

hi, social team anon here. so yeah watcher hired a fan to be the social person and I have some background that I just find really fascinating. so she was very well know within the fandom because she edited their show on buzzfeed (unsolved) and is insanely talent at that. ryan and shane were also aware of her and had some interactions in their post mortem show. so when they started watcher with steven they reached her to work with them. and I honestly think that no social team in like the youtube space is as able to connect with their audience like the watcher team. she knows the memes, she knows what catches the audience attention, she engages so much with the fandom in all platforms (and knows how big they are here on tumblr which is something that a lot of the teams I see don't use in their favor)

also sorry this is becoming kinda rambling but I think one thing they do that makes such a difference when it comes to connecting with their audience is any video they release right after their logo they put something special related to the content of the video itself in the captions (which is also something I really appreciate, most of their videos have captions available immediately and as a non english speaker captions help a lot)

it's fun little things like that, that take effort but are simple and something most people wouldn't care to do that makes me feel so connect to their channel. like if i'm not wrong they premiered a show in the same day as a taylor swift album was released so the caption at the beginning of the episode was something like "thank you for taking a break from listening to *insert album name here* to watch us".

it doesn't take a lot of effort and the reward is so big because by interacting and being playful with the audience you bring a lot of people to watch not only your content on youtube but to also follow you on other socials medias, because they feel connected to what you post.

I feel like smosh miss the mark so much when it comes to that. and it's like you said, i'm gen z and their posts on social media feels very millennial, very catered to only one age group. they end up restricting themselves by always staying in the same bubble and not expanding

The only thing I have to say is, WOW.

If Smosh did that I think I would die of happiness.

could you IMAGINE

[stenka-razin]

Watcher nonsense

So they shat the bed, they apologized, course corrected. I know some people are still not satisfied and want blood or something, but I think it's realistically the best compromise possible. All that said... yeah some bells can't be unrung. And like honestly, when faced with that pricetag you start asking, is something I would pay six bucks a month for? You start being a lot less forgiving when assessing the quality of the material. And like hooonestly... most Watcher stuff kind of sucks right? Ghost Files is any other show that the Trvl channel would pad out a night anchored by Ghost Adventures with. Mystery Files was alright but had diminishing returns. Too Many Spirits had a similar story, you can only have so many boobs69 moments. Really Puppet History is piece supporting the whole house of cards (and I could do without the songs).

People clown on their claims that any of this is TV calibre (imagine watching Top 5 beat down on prime time), but I don't even care about that as much as the fact that by any standard... it's not that great. At best alright, but the chemistry that made Unsolved so good is officially off. Again, a monthly fee has a way of making you face painful truths and the fact is Shane has gotten so much more obnoxious since the Unsolved days. Like back then, yeah you had him being a jackass on the Goatman bridge, but now I feel like he's always bringing that energy. And it's not even his "Eat the Rich" rhetoric being openly bullshit (it kinda always was). He's just always fucking loud now.

Anyway, yucking of the yums. I ain't saying never or anything, it's just the sad truth. Good times are over!

[thestarsofpines]

1, 2, 5, 13, 30, 38, 39

what are 3 things you’d say shaped you into who you are?

ahhh hmm. okay as corny as it sounds definitely growing up online/growing up in fandoms is one, since I come from a relatively small town and I got exposed to a lot of stuff (both good and bad!) in online spaces like deviantART and tumblr. Two, I guess doing gymnastics for thirteen years. It definitely taught me dedication and later in my experience, how to voice my limits. As for three, I guess this one is a bit more serious but I did a summer job that was pitched as an internship but ended up being a job in an industrial factory. I got to meet all kinds of people from different walks of life, and it just made me really appreciate all the opportunities I have.

2. show us a picture of your handwriting?

oh boy!!

5. what made you start your blog?

I think originally I made it for Disney stuff?? I can't remember my first URL but it quickly changed to my first dA username.

13. what are you doing right now?

rewatching season 1 of buzzfeed unsolved, 'cause I watched a few compilations of Shane and Ryan from them and it made me miss the series haha I love Watcher though

30. what’s one thing that never fails to make you happy/happier?

cuddling with my cat, Pretty!

38. fave song at the moment?

oooh, I've been listening to a lot of k-pop, so right now it's probably Pick Me from Produce 48, OR Galileo by Kep1er

39. youtuber you’ve been obsessed with and why?

I wouldn't say obsessed, but I've been watching a lot of Abroad in Japan. I just like the vibes and getting to see all of the rarer stuff he shows in his videos!

[becrystalamazed]

Podcast Recommendation

Love true crime podcasts but struggling with the ethics behind them? 

Love actual play rpg podcasts?

Love fiction podcasts that drip-feed you lore?

Then I have the podcast for you!

Aurelius Whitlock’s Murder Museum!

Containing artefacts from famous unsolved murders, and giving you the opportunity to retell the tale and put things right or can you. The player is sucked into the exhibit and placed into the body of an investigator. It’s up to them to work out who they are, what’s going on, and most importantly, Whodunnit?

The two hosts take turns at being GM and player, and the mysteries are so innovative and imaginative and are filled with meticulous detail.

They investigate the murders of vampires! Robots! Hamsters! As well as humans from all kinds of genres. Steampunk! Retro-futurism! Noir! 

It’s two guys having fun and playing with the rule of cool. It also has moments that are absolutely heartbreaking, and then moments that are even more heartbreaking as revenge for the initial heartbreak. 

Some exhibits are full of puzzles, some are narrative driven, others are straight deduction. Lots of them have really cool exhibit-specific mechanics. And as it’s run like an RPG, the player’s actions mean everything. The order they visit witnesses could be the difference between one murder and two.

And the LORE! What is the museum? Who is Aurelius Whitlock and why is he like That? Who else knows about the museum? Who watches the watchers? And exactly how real are the exhibits…

The quality increases with each exhibit, but if you’re going to watch in order, I’d recommend skipping straight to Exhibit 3: The Empty Cage Exhibit as it’s when they start getting into their stride.

If you’re watching out of order, you have to start with Exhibit 5: The Gala Exhibit, not just because it’s brilliant (it is though, it has a really cool mechanic and an even cooler twist) but because it introduces some major lore that later episodes won’t make sense without.

Three episodes I’d recommend to anyone are:

Exhibit 5: The Gala Exhibit

Exhibit 7: The Moonshine Exhibit (<3) 

Exhibit 8: The Hard-Boiled Exhibit

It’s quite a small podcast, but it’s so good and I’d love to see more people talking about it. 

[littlekingbergara]

Regarding the youtube comments: Sometimes I think here on tumblr we live in a very wholesome bubble, and for the most part we just share love and appreciation for the content we get. I, for one made sure just to see things I want to see.

However if you dare and read comments under the videos it is shocking what kind of people consider themselves Watcher “fans”. It seems like as soon the video doesn’t include Ryan and/or Shane some people start spitting all sorts of idiotic and offending stuff. And even if they are in the video people demand certain content all the time and complain about the content they get.

One of my biggest pet peeves in regards to this is people claiming to be the biggest Ryan & Shane fans and then asking constantly about the release date of Ghost Files or about new Unsolved videos etc. If they are such enthusiastic fans, why don’t they follow their announcements on social media.? It seems like some people can’t properly comprehend information they hear or read. Sorry, I know I’m being irrational about this. 😞

Sadly I fear this fandom as a whole isn’t as wholesome as we (or as I) want to believe it is.

i think a huge part of the people who leave youtube comments are people whose only or main form of social media Is watching youtube videos so they don't really have a reason to follow them on twitter or instagram. a lot of them probably don't have those things or don't use them. but yeah it is annoying when all you're seeing is "i miss unsolved" "i'm tired of the food shows bring back the ghosts" etc whatever else they can complain about. and it's literally not the place for it but it's probably the only place these people have.

it also seems like those people have no understanding that creating those things like... takes time? a world where they're expected to constantly be out ghost hunting is a world where they stop ghost hunting very quickly. and it also seems like they don't know how to not watch things they don't like lmao what a miserable way to live. tuning in every week to complain about the fact that the video you clicked on isn't the video you wanted to see? just click on a different one.

all that said. i prefer our little bubble.

[theniftycat]

When I first started watching Buzzfeed Unsolved (to which I arrived via Ruining History) about 4-5 years ago, I was super jumpy and extremely scared. I already mentioned that falling in love with Shane and Ryan’s duo and rewatching their shows regularly (each Autumn at least) made me a lot less afraid of things like ghost hunting and made me okay with true crime.

Now on Watcher they’re doing a lot of great shows and I’m watching them all even if they’re not my cup (I rarely love Are You Scared, but the artworks and the presenters make it work). And their latest project Survival Mode took me by surprise.

They’re playing scary games and I can watch it just fine. Before, I was very scared of stuff like this. In the past year I had to leave my home, had a lot of stress and genuine fear due to the situation in my country, I got into a bad work situation and lost my job. I guess, that’s what made me unafraid of a ghost appearing on screen. True fears in real life.

But still, Ryan and Shane were always there for me, allowing me to face my lesser fears in a safe environment. I love them so much for it, they truly changed my life in this aspect. I really appreciate them.

[corvidaenightcrawler]

That whole thing with how white fans treat Ryan and Steven as poc in Watcher has got me thinking a lot about how my opinions of the trio have evolved since I first started watching their content. It started with Unsolved, I didn't really know anything about Steven but I recognized him vaguely, you know?

My view of Ryan was fairly standard. Average height guy with some major guns who gets really frightened, an ultra-believer. Like, the most basic interpretation of his personality. Since then, I've sort of grown with him over the course of Unsolved and into Watcher. I think of him as incredibly courageous for being able to do what he does for a living, even while afraid. I think of him as hardworking and passionate about what he does. He's got a lot of emotional vulnerability that you don't really expect just by looking at him. He's a risk-taker. He looks up to people, even being a huge role model himself. He's very aware of the situation and is a problem-solver at times. And I think we can all agree, he needs to take care of himself more given all the work he puts into what he does.

My views of Shane in the beginning were also quite black and white. A spooky weird-looking tall guy, ever the skeptic and a grim mess. Nowadays, it too is a lot more refined. He's a dorky guy with a strange sense of humour. He's more vulnerable than you'd think when compared to his braggadocio on Unsolved. He's comfortable around his friends, he's open to new experiences and ideas, he's artistically intelligent and not just book smart. He knows his limits. He's his own biggest critic. He's creative, and just like Ryan, extremely hardworking.

I still don't know a lot about Steven. On Watcher, he came as a sort of enigma to me. In the earlier episodes, it was a lot easier for me to pick up on the personalities of Ryan and Shane, because I was familiar with them. I was even hesitant, I admit. But I'm really glad I gave him a shot, because he's also just as important as the others. We need to give him more spotlight, honestly. He deserves it. Even for somebody who owns a friggin Tesla, he's exceedingly humble. He's a fast-learner as we see on Dish Granted. He cares so, so much about his friends and remembers little things about them. Like Ryan, he's a risk-taker and a problem-solver. His personality blends well with those around him. He takes little ideas and pumps them up into maximum effort to make it just right. He's a bit of a perfectionist, but it's proven to be a motivator more than a downfall. He's flexible and adaptable and works off of mistakes.

And now with the addition of Ricky, I'm so excited to see him shine through on his show, and see what he's like, see his own unique talent! It's important to value all members of Watcher equally. They all do their part in making Watcher what it is, and you can't just pick and choose favorites. But don't forget that they're also individuals, all intelligent, and that they are defined in more complicated ways than just what you might see them tweet about. Their beliefs do not define their intelligence, or validity. You can't just gauge their personality and opinions off of what they look like or how outspoken they may be. Seriously think about it.

[noa-nightingale]

Unsolved’s Last Episode

What a journey it has been. And now it is over and I have to find ways to deal with that. So I decided to do what I do best, which is rambling about things I love, finding meaning in them and trying to get that meaning across in a way that is probably way too earnest and too emotional.

Let’s take a close look at the last Buzzfeed Unsolved episode, Return To The Demonic Sallie House.

I watched this alone. I stayed away from tumblr, twitter and discord on purpose. It was midnight in Germany when the episode aired and it was about 1 a.m. when I went to bed. I decided to go to sleep immediately after I watched the episode without talking to anyone about it, and that’s exatly what I did.

I wanted to cry but I did not manage to do it. I just lay in the dark, stared at the ceiling and had a lot of thoughts in my head.

So, let’s unpack this.

The Sallie House! Where it all started! And the second demon ep of the season! They really decided to go out with a bang.

I don’t know why I thought I would be able to get through this without getting my heart broken - it already started in such a wonderful, beautiful, sad way. Shane reading what Ryan said the last time at the Sallie House. The handshake. The trip via plane and car (loved that tiny bit of footage of their journey there). Shane making Ryan say “And now I’m back” with confidence.

“What a weird mix of emotions, to be sad, happy and horrified.” Lord, that hit me in the feelings. Ryan, I hope everything you went through and everything you experienced was worth it to you. And I really hope you know how much it means to people.

(I have my own weird mix of emotions attached to that episode now - sadness, excitement, joy, happiness, grief, gratefulness, love.)

I loved how they kept referencing the first investigation without making this episode feel like “just” a copy of it. It’s an entirely different vibe, a strong, fantastic episode in its own right and a worthy goodbye.

(And I also have to mention that little conversation about Shane laying on the pentragram. Look. Listen. I am asexual as hell. I am the most asexual asexual who has ever asexual-ed. I have not experienced one single sexual attraction in my entire life. It’s just not part of my experience. But putting yourself on a pentagram in the basement of a demon house while yelling “Rock’n’roll buckaroo” at whatever entity might listen - that is, respectfully and platonically, friggin’ sexy.)

“It just occured to me, we don’t really talk on the phone to like, just see what’s going on, because we see each other every day.” Oh dear God, it’s still happening. ^-^ I was reminded of the several times this has been brought up before - that they see each other more than any other person, that they spend a shitton of time together, and that even during quarantine they facetimed almost every day. Idk it just made me even sadder - they made memories together, went on this journey together, got closer as friends, grew as people; and now this show is over.

I am beyond grateful that Watcher exists and that Steven Lim (because goddamn, I love that guy) exists and that new memories will be made, but I am still so damn sad.

“It felt like the right time to leave on our own terms.” I am gonna ignore for now that he said this to a demon - I am just happy for them. This episode is such a great ending for such a great show, and I am glad they could do it on their own terms.

(Although I am a tiny bit salty that they apparently could not promote Watcher the way they should have been able to. Having to cut parts from the postmortem etc. But I once again have to give kudos to the Watcher fandom here; I have seen many people promoting the hell out of Watcher, and that is a beautiful thing.)

Ryan: “If that actually is a demonic presence in here, or Sallie, the thing that says it’s Sallie, can you turn the light on?”

(light switches on immediately)

Ryan: “Oh fuck off.”

I almost laughed out loud (had to stop myself, did not want to wake my roommate or my cat) but he said that in such a genuine, emphatic way and it was funny as hell.

“An audio recorder left in this room would later pick up the musical mobile playing by itself. Making this evidence even more compelling is the fact that seconds before the mobile plays, a white orb moves across the top right corner, just near the mobile that is out of frame.”

This narration brought to you by Ryan “Not An Orb Guy” Bergara. :p (I am not gonna razz him too much though - we know he presents evidence (or “evidence”, if you are a Shaniac) and then let’s the viewer decide what to make of it. He’s just reporting the findings. And yeah, I think that is admirable. Also, I know it has been said many times before but hats off to those guys for not faking evidence. Best ghosthunters in the world indeed, and I mean that.)

I also love that Ryan considers Shane a ghost cage (and an organic ghost cage, at that). Shane Madej, organic ghost cage. Put that on a lower third somewhere.

I generally don’t get that scared while watching Unsolved but the little girl turning into the demon thingy - the visual itself - is a tiny little bit disturbing when you watch this stuff at midnight. (I still slept soundly though lol. Did not have any nightmares.)

A thing that is just really endearing (and a little bit funny) to me is Shane sitting on the counter in the kitchen, with his long legs. Compare that to Ryan sitting on the table, with his little legs. ^-^

Also, compare Season 1 Ryan to Ryan now. He would never have mocked a demon in its own house and now look at him, drawing that portrait of Sallie. Yeah, I know it is silly but I am so incredibly proud of the guy.

Aand into the basement we go. And almost six years later, they are still a package deal. *noises of ugly crying*

He’s on the pentagram! I repeat, he’s on the pentagram!!! Never thought I’d see the day. Like, good God, this guy. The character development. The courage. I am blessed to be allowed to witness it.

AND THE BOYS ARE SALLIE APPROVED! GREATEST GHOSTHUNTERS IN THE WORLD! I AM SO DAMN HAPPY FOR THEM!!

That’s some well-earned cheering right there. Genuinely happy for them. Loved this moment.

We have reached Shane’s solo investigation and I got, once again, punched in the heart when Ryan said “So long, friend”.

And I know I am “just” watching Shane doing what Shane has done for all this series - being rude to demons and ghosts, yelling at them, telling them to do stuff to him and to wreak havoc. But it’s the last time now and it’s difficult to watch. I am happy for him - he defeated Annabelle, he defeated the Goatman and now he defeated Sallie.

“You’re a big nothing! You’re powerless in the face of the ghoul boys!” Hell yeah!!!

And, for the last time, they are doing the little dance of Shane telling Ryan he heard some spooky stuff that he did not actually hear. My heart can’t take it, it’s too much, I don’t want this to end.

Really enjoyed how Shane admitted that it is a spooky house (always has been, always will be). Like, that seemed like a genuine moment he had outside by himself there.

And now, Ryan’s time alone in the Sallie House.

I adore how brave Ryan as gotten, how he developed as a person, how things that would scare him in earlier seasons do not scare him as much anymore - but I have to admit, the moment in the kitchen when he told whoever was there not to show itself was fucking delicious. The fear in his voice. I don’t want this to sound mean but I adored that little moment.

“I am not my fear. I am stronger than my fear.” We love to see it. Genuinely.

I had to giggle when he started laughing maniacally by himself. I am sorry, it is just too hilarious and endearing at the same time.

And he went into the basement alone!!! <3 <3 <3

Shane: “How’d it go?”

Ryan: “It’s over.”

Shane: “It’s over.”

Ryan: “That’s how it went.”

Shane: “You ended it.”

Just... let me cry in peace.

I had to stop myself again from laughing out loud when Shane lay down with the two dolls next to him, aaannnnddd the framed pic of the ghoul boys near where Ryan slept was just a very nice little touch, honestly.

And it is over. It is morning, the “the investigation is done” music starts to play in the background and the series is complete.

... And Shane killed the spirit box. That happened too.

Before I write the last words here like Ryan said his speech at the end of the ep, let me just say: I loved this. I loved this entire episode. And I love these guys. From the bottom of  my heart.

“You believed in us. And for that, I will always be grateful.”

I did. And I do. And many more people do too. And you made me cry. Thank you.

“And sure, we may have never definitively answered the question of Are Ghosts Real. But in the end, in perhaps fitting fashion for a show that finds resolution in the unresolved, all I can say is I’m sure glad we didn’t, because the pursuit and the friendship made along the way was far more fulfilling. I hope the ride was as joyous and full of discovery for you as it was for us. That being said, I ask you one last time: Are ghosts real? For now, and perhaps forever, the answer will graciously remain Unsolved.”

I hope you know how many lives you changed and how many joy and happiness you brought to people, both of you, and the rest of the team. I have seen many many people say how this show helped them through dark times, helped them make friends, made them happy, and was deeply deeply meaningful to them.

The same is true for me, I just never know how to adequately put it into words. This changed my life for the better. It was a light in dark times. It made me braver. It made me better. I can’t thank you enough.

And they could have ended it here, after the “Unsolved”. But nooooo, he had to say more heartfelt words and Shane had to say more heartfelt words and that was what truly made it real for me. It sank in at that point, that this is the end of an era and that this chapter of their life and this chapter of my life is over.

Ryan’s words just really touched me, and it also touched me how intently Shane listened. And Shane can’t tell me that he was not moved as well. Package deal, bond that can’t be broken, best ghosthunters in the world.

(And I would also like to report that while writing this, my dumb stupid eyes finally cooperated and I cried. Thanks for everything, guys. I will keep the memories with me forever while making new ones with Watcher, and I love you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.)

[rockandroobuckaroll]

With the show being properly over now I'm just gonna try and get all my thoughts out there towards the ending.

First of all, the most important thing... they FINALLY were allowed to plug Watcher at the end. I'm so glad they could, hopefully more people will be brought into this kooky world that Watcher has created and enjoy the content we all love so much.

Secondly, I'm not too sure how to feel about the end. I've never been a particularly emotional type but seeing something I've held so dear for many years come to end like this has genuinely moved me. Unsolved is one of those shows that got me through a lot of tough times in my life. I started watched just before I was leaving college in possibly the darkest time of my life. I was ignoring doing an essay and instead looking up the source for that funny "hey there demons, it's me... ya boi." meme and the rest is history. I fell in love with the show instantly, as I'm sure a lot of other people did. And while I haven't been active in the fandom side of things for that long, maybe a year and a half or so, it's always been there as a distraction from things that were going on in my life.

There have genuinely been times in my life where I'm ready to quit, take a permanent break from life so to speak, but I know there's a new episode coming out friday and I want to wait around for that or I need to know the thrilling conclusion to the hot daga (rip). It's very much been a crutch for me, as Watcher has now also become. There is certainly going to be an Unsolved sized hole in my heart from now on and, to be honest, if it wasn't for Watcher I genuinely wouldn't know how long my future would be without this sort of content on a regular basis.

I'm so proud of these guys for doing the show their way, for ending on their terms and just being happy with all the content they've put out. So what if they never really definitively proved that ghosts are real? So what if they never solved any cases? The show was never about that. It was never about the proof or the groundbreaking new theory that solves the case, it was about Shane and Ryan.

It was about watching them grow into who they are now. It was about watching Ryan go from a timid man who was scared of the slightest gust of wind to laughing in the face of demons. It was about Shane being there to keep Ryan grounded and throw in a joke that always got a laugh out of him, even if it wasnt that funny.

To me the show was the reason I kept going until next week, hoping that things would be better. But even if they weren't, even if things got worse, that I would still have something to look forward to. And for that, I cannot express my gratitude.

Thank you Unsolved. Thank you Shane and Ryan and all of the crew. Thanks for the scares and the laughs. Thank you for being in my life.

[sad-little-ghost-hunter]

The Professor and The Genie: A Full Breakdown

Welcome one and all to A Comprehensive List of All The Genie Lore In Puppet History, With Theories. If you aren’t familiar with what I’m talking about, go watch all of Puppet History made by @wearewatcher on YouTube and come right back here. No dilly-dallying. For those of you who are, you’re probably also aware of the recurring character of The Genie on the show, whose role has been the subject of much speculation among the show’s audience. I couldn’t find a compilation of references/ theories, so I made one! 

The show, which tells somewhat obscure stories from throughout history, accompanied by a special guest each episode and a musical number at the end of each tale, is hosted by The Professor, a little fuzzy blue puppet, who commonly references The Genie, with whom he holds a deep-rooted grudge. I will be going through all the existing information on this guy so far, and discussing a few theories as to what all this is about. It’s like my very own BuzzFeed Unsolved except I’m just one very bored person with way too much time on her hands. 

Let’s compile all of the currently known information: on April 10, 2020, in the video entitled, “Surviving The Titanic: History's Luckiest Woman • Puppet History” the Genie is first mentioned, at 16:10, in a question about what Violet Jessop saw while peering off of the ship. The answer choice reads, “A Genie??????????????????” 

On August 14, 2020, in the video entitled, “How America’s First Female Detective Saved Abe Lincoln • Puppet History” the Genie again comes up, at 23:04, in a question entitled “What’s the matter?!?”. The answer choice reads, “The secessionists had found a magical genie!” The pattern was starting to emerge. 

On September 4, 2020, in the video entitled “The Disastrous 1904 Olympics • Puppet History” the genie is once again mentioned, at 5:06. The genie is referred to as “fickle” and apparently keeps making things worse, no matter what the Professor says. From this we can gather that the genie may have gone back on some sort of promise he made to The Professor, and is escalating the situation. 

On September 11, 2020, in the video entitled “Isaac Newton's Nemesis • Puppet History” the genie is mentioned in an answer choice at 6:45, reading “A genie that will stop at nothing to make my life a living hell, even though I followed his silly rules to the letter and I don’t owe him anything.” Clearly, things with the genie are only getting worse. The genie is harboring some sort of grudge against the Professor, be it the Professor’s fault or not. The Genie also provided rules for something-- we’ll return to this later.

On September 18, 2020, in the video entitled, “The World’s Greatest/ Rudest Samurai • Puppet History”, The Genie once again comes up in the answer choices at 24:52, as “A genie who insists I owe him, and I wish I had a wish left so I could wish Musashi were here to teach him a lesson.” Once again, we see evidence that the Professor may have made some sort of deal with this genie, and whether or not he fulfilled his end of the bargain is still up in the air.

On September 25, 2020, in the video entitled “Policarpa: The Revolutionary Teen Spy • Puppet History”, the Professor makes not one but three references to the genie! We get so much lore here! First up, at 1:05, Ryan Bergara asks The Professor how old he really is. The Professor responds with this: “Yeah, you know, you start jumping around in time and things get a little funky…”. Just a few seconds later, the Professor says, “Well, if you could ask the subject of today’s story, which, how could I, it's not like you can just wish to be able to time travel…“ The pain in his voice here is apparent, devastating, and very real. Lastly, later on in the video at 20:05, The Professor gives the following answer choice to the question, “What happened?” (to Policarpa). The choice reads, “A magical genie meddled once again with history, and turned Policarpa in, and tried to pin the blame on a bespectacled puppet, who is at this point starting to suspect he may have made a deal with the devil.” Now here’s where things get real interesting. The Professor is now alleging that not only is the Genie out to get him, but the Genie is actually influencing history. 

On October 2, 2020, in the video entitled “The Grisly Journey of the Donner Party • Puppet History”,  The Professor goes on a longer than usual tangent about the genie at 18:38, saying, “He had cached a trove of treasured items, including a magical lamp that only a creature about the size of a human hand could get to, and inside the magical lamp was a Genie, capable of granting any wish, up to and including turning a seemingly everyday item into a secret time machine, but that if you wished for that, THE GENIE WOULD BE A TOTAL PRICK ABOUT IT, SO MAYBE BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR.” The genie appears in a short montage of clips, with the professor’s above monologue in the background. The genie shown is just Shane in eyeliner and an Aladdin-style genie costume, cackling and looking mischievous. The professor rubs the lamp in the skit, and the genie does that evil villainous hand thing, and casts some sort of spell. There’s a lot to break down. First up, we may have gotten a glimpse into the Professor’s actual past here. It seems as though at some point in his life he was either told about, or found out about this cache of treasure deep in the mountains, that only a creature about the size of a human hand could get to. This is important because it debunks one of the most popular theories circulating the internet right now-- that the Genie somehow turned the Professor into an immortal, time-traveling puppet. The Professor was clearly already a puppet, as he had access to this treasure trove. Next we get the part about the time-machine. If we can assume that the Professor is projecting his past experiences onto the poor guests on this show, we can surmise that the Professor used his wish to wish for one of his ordinary objects to turn into a secret time machine. We will delve more into this later. 

Finally, on December 25, 2020, in the video entitled “The Story of St. Nicholas • Puppet History”, The Professor goes on another rant about the Genie in the answer choices, saying “The same curse that eventually befalls all of God’s creatures-- an evil genie was pursuing him through time and space to steal something the genie himself had made magical!” From this we can gather that, after the Professor wished for his time machine, the Genie gave him some rules and conditions he had to agree to. The Professor may have broken these, hence why the Genie is pursuing him across time and space. 

Now that we have all the existing information, assuming I didn’t miss anything, let’s get into the theories. 

My current, working theory is that The Professor happened across this lamp somewhere deep in the mountains, and wished for a Time Machine from the Genie inside. The Genie (who appears malevolent in the Professor’s flashback, but I’m gonna chalk that up to personal bias) agreed, but gave the Professor some conditions and rules to follow regarding the Time Machine. The Professor agreed, and promptly broke these rules. The Genie then demanded something in return-- This could be the Time Machine itself, but given Shane’s twisted mind I would assume the Professor owes the Genie something more. Perhaps… his soul?

Or maybe just a fine, I don’t know.

The Professor refused to pay up, possibly time traveling away to hide from the Genie, and is now on the run. A fuzzy blue fugitive. But, the Professor also mentioned that the Genie actually meddles with history, and tries to get the puppet in trouble for stuff he didn’t do. This begs the question; why would the Genie resort to a relatively harmless source of mischief to target the Professor, instead of just taking whatever is owed to him? This almost implies that whatever it is the Professor owes the Genie has to be given willingly. Hence, why the Genie is making his life “a living hell”. 

The puppet also seems to be immortal, or at least old enough to not remember how old he is. In his words, time is “funky” when you travel around it too much. 

We also don’t know which of the Professor’s objects could be the Time Machine. Some have speculated (some being me) that it’s his satchel, or hat. But, when you think about it, it seems most likely that it’s actually the theatre itself. The Theatre does often seem to transport you back in time to the actual stories, although that could just be Watcher’s killer editing skills. Either way, the Time Machine seems to be a source of great trouble for the puppet, so maybe just… get rid of it?

There are 2 main schools of thought here, in my own opinion. The idea that the Genie is in the wrong, and is relentlessly torturing this poor Professor for no good reason, or the idea that the Genie is actually justified in his anger at the Professor, and that the Professor brought this on himself. 

Theory #1: The Genie is a malevolent entity, and tricked the Professor into making an unfair deal with him. This is clearly what the Professor himself believes, or wants us to believe. The Professor says, and I quote, “starting to suspect he may have made a deal with the devil.” If this is true, and the Professor is actually on the run from the Devil himself, then that would imply that the Professor sold his own soul for this time machine, the most commonly referenced deal with the devil. However, since that would be a little far-fetched even for Shane (although, let’s be real- would it?) we could go with the second option- the Genie is just a Genie, but he did trick the Professor into making a bargain with him, and the Professor still believes he has held up his own end of the deal. 

Theory #2: The Genie is just doing his job, and the Professor’s the one at fault. Now I don’t want to take any sides here, but this does seem to be the most plausible theory. Even the Professor, on several occasions, has implied a set of rules that he agreed to when he wished for his Time Machine. What these rules were we may never know, but the Genie clearly thinks that he broke them and is now owed something. Historically, in folklore from all over the world, Genies are tricky creatures, and will try to deceive you into wishing for stupid stuff, or agreeing to things that you maybe shouldn’t agree to. However, in almost all cases, if you manage to outsmart them, or keep your word, they will leave you alone. Let’s say The Professor knew what he was getting himself into when he wished for the Time Machine. He agreed to the rules, and he understood that if he broke them he would owe the Genie something. Yet he went ahead with it, and now the Genie is after him. He clearly broke the rules and the Genie is just collecting on his bargain.  

All in all, we don’t have enough information yet to actually know what this Genie’s DEAL is (see what I did there). Is the Genie an evil being trying his very best to ruin the unlucky Professor’s life? Or is the Professor the one who wronged the Genie, breaking his word and escaping via Puppet TARDIS? The answer will remain… Unsolved.