plot twist – f-your blog

Uncovering The Purpose Behind A858

Welcome to Today’s FYB Post where We will be Discussing what is considered by Many to be the Most Mysterious Subreddit of All Time. Now while it is True FYB has Posted Numerous so called Internet Mysteries in the Past from Slightly Absurd to Absolutely fucking Insane. This Time Though when Examining A858 it Quickly becomes Apparent that this is the Internet Mystery that’s the Strangest of Them All. So with that Said let’s get Going.

A858DE45F5b098C9 (or A858 for Short) is an Extremely Mysterious Subreddit that Showed Up in 2011 Posting Strange and Complex Hexadecimal Sequences Multiple times Per Day. For the first Year after its inception A858 went completely Unnoticed by the Online/Reddit Community as it continued its Output of Daily Encrypted Messages. Finally a Small Handful of People ended up taking Notice of A858 and the Word of this Bizarre Subreddit began to spread across the Web. After a Short while A858 had built such a Significant following that Computer Students, Code Breakers, and Reddit Users decided to Join Forces in Large Part Due to the Intense Difficulty in just Attempting to Decode a Single A858 Message.

An Added Roadblock for the Collective of Internet Detectives was A858 Keep it’s Subreddit Private. This meant that You could only gain Access if You were Deemed Worth, and Subsequently Invited to Join. To Combat this Problem the Internet Detectives formed Their Own Sister Subreddit R/Solving A858. This way Any Information could be Shared with the Entire Group even if the Majority were Not Invited, and Thus Lacked Access to the A858’s Subreddit Posts. Now the Users had There a Preverbal Mountain Work ahead of Them (there were THOUSANDS of A858 Encrypted Posts) that would have Easily Overwhelmed the Average User. As the Detectives Work Diligently the Results were Virtually Nhill as A8585’s Encryption Proved to be Damn Near Impossible to Decipher.

As the Days turned into Weeks that became Months Only a Quite Small Handful of A858’s Posts had infant been Cracked. The Problem was NONE Provided any Actual Insight and Seemed to be almost as Random as A858’s Encrypted Coding. One of the Decoded Messages was a Basic “Thank You Gold” when a Subreddit User in A858’s Subreddit Purchased (and then Gifted) a Month of Gold Membership. Another was an Excerpt from the 1949 Book Title Actions and Passions By Max Lerner. The Excerpt was “Do Not Confuse Your Vested Interests with Ethics. Do Not Identify the Enemies of Humanity.”. The Last of the Decoded Posts was an Primitive Computer Image of Stonehenge with No Additional Information Attached to It.

Then in August of 2015 a User in the A858 Sister Subreddit noticed that all of a Sudden without Rhythm or Reason Someone was Posting Hexadecimal Chains that Matched those of the Original A8585 Message Board. The Sister Subreddit discovered that the Newly Appearing Hexadecimal Posts They were seeing being Posted there was in fact The Creator of A858 Who was conducting an AMA (Ask Me Anything) Session. The Users Quickly Launched into Action a created a Script that Automated the Code Breaking Process. This Allowed Users to Ask Questions/Interact with A858’s Creator Freely and Significantly Faster.

The Most Prevalent Question asked of A858’s Creator was Why had the Creator decided to Brake Their Prolonged Silence. The Five Word Answer given By A858’s Creator was “The Audience Was Getting Frustrated” which Meant the Creator was Keeping Active Tabs on the Participants Progress. When asked what the Purpose of the A858 Subreddit the creator Responded “We Cannot Disclose the Purpose. A858 will End when the Purpose is Disclosed or Discovered.” indicating that there was a More than One Person responsible for A858’s Creation/Content. The Most Significant part of the Interaction with A858’s Creator was when the Creator Disclosed that One of A858’s Messages HAD been PROPERLY Decoded, but that None of the Users Noticed Other than the Creator. Apparently a Woman from the United Kingdom (UK) had been the One who Managed the Proper Decoding, Yet She Deleted Her Account soon after She Cracked the Coded Message and Never Returned.

In Mid 2016 A858 Peeked in Popularity when Main Stream Media like Fox News and The Daily Dot began Covering the Mystery. Then Suddenly Out of Nowhere a Post by the Now Deleted User u/TeamWMod showed up on the Sister A858 Subreddit. TeamWMod Claimed in His Post that the A858 Project has Ended and Thank You to all Participants, and went on to say Any Further Decoding or Research into A858 would be Futile. TeamWMod claimed “The Information Available to the Public is NOT Sufficient to Solve all Outstanding Puzzles.” and “Again Any Further Efforts on Solving A858 will be In Vain.” A User Named Fragile confirmed TeamWMod’s Message as Legitimate since TeamWMod had Demonstrated Ownership over A858 by Temporarily making Fragile an Approved Submitter to the A858 Subreddit. The Last thing TeamWMod Posted before Deleting Their Account that “We will Not Respond to Any Questions in the Comments Noe by Direct Message.” After TeamWMods Announcement the A858 Subreddit was Locked.

Some Time Later a User Named Eathed wrote a Post Called “Some Closure” in which They Claimed that He (along with Fragglet) had been able to Contact the Person A858. Eathed went on to Reveal the Person They spoke with Claimed He was Paid (by an Unnamed Company) to Post Coded Puzzles using Encryption or Various Methods of Text Manipulation. The Company occasionally requested that a Post be Made to Draw Attention to the Project one of Which was the Previous Stonehenge Post. Eathed and Fraggley stated that They would Not Divulge ANY Information or Personal Information Pertaining to Who They talked with or The Unknown Company that Hired Him. The User Duo claimed They wouldn’t divulged such Information since They still Unsure of the Actual Purpose of the Project. They did however ask Why the Project Ended while there were so Many Unsolved Puzzles, and this is What They were Told by Their A858 Project Contact. The Contact Answered by Saying that the Company Paying Him No Longer Wanted to Fund the Project Any Longer, and They Shut it Down.

Eathed and Fragglet’s Contact went on to Explain most of the A858’s Posts were Randomly Generated Text with Extremely Difficult and Constantly Changing Encryption. So Even if a User did Manage to Decode One of the Encrypted Messages Virtually Every time the User would be Oblivious to Their Accomplishment. This had been the Reason the Puzzles where Damn Near Impossible to Crack, and the Cause for So Many Users Growing Aggravation/Frustration while attempting to Decode A858’s Encrypted Posts. Now for those Who May Not Be Aware the Difference Between a Encoded/Encrypted Message a Encoded Data is meant to be Read in a Different Format, and Encrypted Data is Meant to Remain a Secret. Eathed and Fragglet did however ask Why the Project Ended while there were so Many Unsolved Puzzles, and this is What They were Told by Their A858 Project Contact. The Contact Answered by Saying that the Company Paying Him No Longer Wanted to Fund the Project Any Longer, and They Shut it Down. He also said that He fully Believed the Project would Never be Rebooted.

That though Proved to Be Wrong as Wrong could be. After Two Years in 2018 a Post titled r/A858 is Back Open appareled in the Sister Subreddit. The Sister Subreddit had continued Their Attempts to Unravel the A858 Mystery in Spite of TeamWMods Post (Claiming doing so Would be Useless since the Project was Over). There were some Notable Changes that had been made such as the A858 Subreddit would No Longer Be Private, A858 was NOT the Moderator, and the Original A858 Appeared to have been Deleted. Just a Week Later the Reactivated A858 Project’s Subreddit was made Private and Remains so to This Day.

Thus in the End No One is Any closer to Solving the Mystery of A858, but that hasn’t Stopped Users from Formulating Theories. One of the Top Three Theories is A858 is an Alternate Reality Game, but Why would Someone create a Game that was so Insanely Difficult? So Difficult in fact that the Creator would have to Break Their Silence After over a Year since the the Game Started, and to do a Q&A Session with the Players since “The Audience is Getting Frustrated.” Another of the Top Three Theories is A858 was in Reality a Number Station. Number Stations are Shortwave Radio Stations that Broadcast Encrypted Messages to Spies/Shady Organizations in Various Different Countries. It has been Documented that Terrorists use Ebay, Redditt, and Other Social Media/ Online Services to Pass Encrypted. This however Doesn’t match up with Eathed and Fragglet’s Contact who Claimed He was Hired by a Company, and that some Posts like the Stonehenge Post was to Draw Attention to the A858 Project.Moreover the Fact that some Messages had been Decoded (Properly or Not) Punches Holes in the Number Station Theory. The Last of the Top Three A858 Theories seems the Most Plausible at Least to Us here at FYB which is A858 was a Recruitment Tool. If A858 is/was indeed a Recruitment Tool then it would Most Likely be Run by Cryptography, Security Firm, or Government Organization (Military, CIA, NSA etc.). This would Explain Why A858’s Heavily Encrypted Messages and Similar Theories Surround the Mystery of Cicada.

In Summation while Many find the Fact that there NO VIABLE Answers pertaining to the Mystery of A858 rather Comforting. The Reason We say this is Because once You have all the Answers then the Investigation is Over and Done. The Mystery is Solved and the Illusion is Destroyed. Sometimes its better to be left Wondering What it was all about Rather than to have a Definitive Answer.

Thanks For Reading,

By Les Sober

Short Horror Film Friday: Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared

Welcome to Another Installment of Short Horror Film Friday featuring the Surreal British Cult Comedy Horror Web Series DON’T HUG ME I’M SCARED . The Web Series was Created by British Filmmakers, Graphic Designers, Artists, and Animators Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling. DHMIS Consists of 6 Episodes, Released from July 29, 2011 to June 19, 2016 through The Artists’ Website, YouTube, and Vimo. Every Episode of DHMIS Utilizes Live Actors in Costume, Anthropomorphic Puppets, Traditional Animation, Stop Motion, and Computer Animation to Tell Each Story in the Series.

Each Episode Revolves around Yellow Guy (and His Father Roy Gibbleston), Red Guy and Duck Guy meeting One or Several Anthropomorphic CHaracters, Who begin a Musical Number related to a Basic Concept of Day-To-Day Life complete with an Upbeat Melody similar to that of a Nursery Rhyme. As Each Song progresses, it becomes Apparent that its Moral/Message is Nonsensical or Self-Contradicting, and that the “Teacher” Character has an Sinister Ulterior Motives. The Climax of each Episode Typically Involves GRAPHIC VIOLENCE, BLOOD SHED, GORE, OR PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR!!! Later int he Series, the CHaracters begin to Questioning the NAture of Their Reality and the Bizarre Messages of the Teachers.

Enjoy.

Thanks For Watching,

Presented By Les Sober & Justin Sane

The Lingering Ghosts of Days Long Gone

Holt Mulligan was considered a good many things, but human never seemed to be one. You see Holt grew up in the tiny rural community of Wayward Louisiassippi. Now its no wonder no one outside of Wayward heard it referred to as Louisiassippi and if They did it was an anomaly.

Back when the community was first settled in 1630 just 10 years after the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. Louisiana became a State in 1812, and that didn’t much affect Wayward as a whole. It wasn’t until Mississippi became a State itself in the year 1817 that Wayward was presented with an unique dilemma.

Once Mississippi became a State the State Line was created which cut the Wayward Community right down the middle of Main Street placing half of the Community in Mississippi, and leaving the remain half on the Louisiana side.

The Citizens of Wayward had no intention of dividing their Community in any way, shape or form so They had Wayward reclassified in the Federal Land Commission as a United States Territory like Guam or Puerto Rico. And by doing so this allowed the Wayward Community to stay united in spite of the Government implemented, and inforced State Line.

With the exception of Main Street there were no other paved roads in Wayward which instead was connected by an intricate network of Dirt Roads. The system of Dirt Roads bobbed, and weaved through out the dense forests, and along the various Swamplands of Wayward like a Ancient Spider Web.

Holt lived in an old dilapidated Trappers Shack circa 1880 on the outskirts of of Wayward. The Locals referred to it as Hobgoblin Swamp. Being considered by most to be a highly undesirable place to live Holt was left on his own (aside from the stray Hunter/Trapper wondering through the Swamp in route elsewhere), and seemed to embrace the Isolation.

Holt had being living in His Trapper’s Shack in Hobgoblin Swamp as long as the Oldest Elder of Wayward could remember which only helped to fuel the rumors about Holt that ran through Wayward like a Wild Fire. And there were plenty believe you me.

There were the cliche Urban Legend Rumors such as Holt lived in isolation because He was a Drug Smuggler. Then there were others such as that Holt was an escaped Convict or Mental Patient hiding out in the Swamp. Some thought Holt was your garden variety Serial Killer who avoided detection (and capture) by committing His killings deep in the dark heart of Hobgoblin Swamp.

Other’s believed Holt was some sort of Immortal Swamp Shaman that chose to live in seclusion so He could practice His Dark Arts in the Shadows. Now not all of the Rumors were nearly as Dire.

Some though Holt was a Shell Shocked (PTSD) War Vet who had lost His sanity fighting on the Battle Field. Others were inclined to think Holt was some how involved with/in the Witness Relocation Program, but weren’t sure if Holt was a Good Guy (like a Law Enforcement Officer) or a Criminal (as if Holt testified against dangerous Criminals in Court as part of a Plea Deal.)

The Rumor Mill even had a other Holt related Gossip. Holt drove a massive 1976 Ford M151 Military Jeep which Holt had repainted in Battle Ship Gray. No one even entertained the idea Holt had just bought the fucking thing or perhaps got it from a Family Member or Friend (Though Holt didn’t seem to have either).

The Gossip about the Jeep was Holt stole it from a near by Military Base, The Military gave it to Holt as an accommodation for being a prolific Solider, Holt dredged part of Hobgoblin Swamp and salvaged the Jeep then, The Jeep belonged to one of Holt’s alleged Murder Victims, or the Jeep was stolen by Holt from some Drug Dealer/Gun Dealer/Human Trafficker after he killed them.

The other gaggle of Gossip surrounded Holts “Dog”. I put dog in Parenthesis because according to the various rumors it was considered anything BUT a Dog by the residents of Wayward. Holts dog was an undeniable Beast weighing in at right around 225 or so, and stood so high that Holt had to lift his hand from his side to pet its head while standing. It sure as shit wasn’t a pure bred anything, but rather it had a sort of Frankenstein aesthetic as if Holt had built the Dog Himself one late night alone in the Swamp.

This led to gossip from the Dog was a Holt’s Spiritual Totem, and that the Dog was a bonafide Hellhound Holt raised from a Pup once He rescued it from the clutches of the Devil Himself. Others speculated the Dog was in fact a Hyena that Holt had acquired in some shady back ally manner. Still some thought it was a Russian Wolf Hyena Hybrid a sort of home bred make shift Monster.

Holt and His Hound were so tightly bonded that if they were both sitting out on the Front Porch of Their Trapper Shack when someone or thing approached Holt and the Hound would slowly turn to look in unison. Holt never had to use a single vocal command with His loyal companion as they seemed to communicate using just Their eyes alone.

No matter how much Holt may of enjoyed the quite isolation out there in Hobgoblin Swamp He still had his daily routine. Holts truck could be heard pulling onto Main Street every morning around 10 am.

Holt habitually parked his Shit Kicker Jeep in the same parking spot directly outside of Old Ed’s Hardware and Mercantile before exiting with purpose. He would then stride right over to Grover’s Guns’n Ammo to spend the rest of the morning mulling around the Gun Shop inspecting the wares so to speak.

At Noon Holt would leave Grover’s and walk over to The Greasy Spoon Diner arriving right at 12:30 for lunch. Holt ate only Steak and Eggs with Several cups of Coffee served black. It had reached a point long ago that The Staff at The Greasy Spoon got in the habit of preparing Holt’s Usual as it were everyday without even thinking about it having it ready, and waiting upon His arrival.

After ravenously devouring his meal as though it was His last Holt would make His back over to Main Street. Holt would walk down one side, and back up on the other with a slow, and deliberate stride. By Three Holt was holed up at The Boozehound which served as the Local Watering Hole.

Holt would sit at the far end of the Bar facing the Door, and start the afternoon off drinking Budweiser. Once 5 o’clock hit cloaked in a cloud of Cigarette smoke (Holt had a penchant for Unfiltered Camels) Holt would switch from Beer to Bloody Mary’s (usually holding up 4 fingers to signify “Make it a Quadruple” a drink they would only make for the sole reason that Holt was the one asking.) Finally somewhere around 7ish Holt would switch one last time from Cocktail to Strait Booze, and Holt’s pick was 3 fingers of Maker’s Mark.

Holt would remain at The Boozehound until after closing as the staff had to clean and prep for the next day so they let Holt stay until they left. Once it was time to kill the lights the Bar Tender would hand Holt a pickled Egg propped up in a shot glass, which Holt would then throw back like an actual shot as He walked out into the night.

Since Holt came from a Strict School of “Don’t speak until Spoken too” so normally He would just nod his head or flash a fleeting smile, but never spoke. There was an acceptation and that was when He was at The Boozehound nightly. Even then He didn’t Indulge in Idle Chit Chat or Engage in Gossip (another favorite Southern Past Time) the few times Holt did speak were more than memorable. Especially since what Holt said was as bizarre as Him talking in the first place.

Holt was noted as say things such as “Sure, Meet Up and We’ll fuck each other up with a Rubber Spoon”, “Smooth To The Groove Like Sandwich Bread.”, “Never Met One I didn’t want killed.”, “Death Comes Quickly For Those Who Wait”, “Guess he Killed By Death”, “Pay it Never-No Mind” and other such oddities.

Holt’s life had gone on in this fashion for more years than anyone could remember (Holt included) until one humid Summer day in 1980 all that changed forever.

That day had run on like any other swelteringly hot and horrendously humid Summer’s day complete with Holt arriving on Main Street around 10. Holt rummaged around Grover’s as he always did, and then He ate lunch at the Greasy Spoon before heading to The Boozehound. Holt’s routine remained the same until 5 o’clock.

Holt approached the Bartender Terry and ordered a Double Quadruple Bloody Mary. Terry baulked at such a extreme drink request, but obliged just the same as it was at Holt’s request. Terry made the drink, handed it to Holt who paid for it, and promptly exited The Boozehound.

Holt stood for a moment or two in front of The Boozehound before downing His Bloody Mary in one solitary swallow. He then lit an Unfiltered Camel, and took a long drag, and vanished into thin fucking air leaving nothing behind, but a lingering cloud of exhaled cigarette smoke.

THATS RIGHT KIDDIES!!!

Holt was the ONE Thing NO ONE Guessed the whole fucking time.

Holt was A BONAFIDE FUCKING ALIEN!!!!

SUCK ON THAT TITTY TWISTER OF A TWIST M.NIGHT!!!!!

Note to Reader : I started this piece and it didn’t turn out at all the way I wanted. Needless to say I got pissed off as a son of a bitch, BUT I couldn’t pull the fucking trigger and delete the thing. So as I was mulling this motherfucker over when this jumped into My mind:

………HE’S A FUCKING ALIEN. He’ll fucking just up and vanish end of fucking story. Why not the post already shit the bed so why not just take it out in a Blaze of Absurdist Angst.

ALSO just in case Anyone is Wondering I have no clue why I took a shot at M.Night considering I’m a fan of a few of his films.

Thanks for Reading,

By Les Sober

Sigmund Frued & The Oedipus Complex: An Exercise in Clarification

Now it safe to assume that if your reading this you know 1) Who Sigmund Freud is, 2) Who Oedipus was and his whole back story. See that the point of my post right fucking there, yet I will explain.

Everyone knows basically that Sigmund Freud was one of the world’s most brilliant Phycologist and is considered the Father of Phycology. That is very much true, but as time as tough us once Historians dig into the past of the World’s Most Important People they find that Person’s Skeletons hidden away in the closet. Once those Skeletons are discovered We are quickly reminded that these Exceptional People were in fact still very much Human, and so we find out what assholes they really were.

Now as we take a tad bit more in-depth look at Siggy most people also know he was rather obsessed with Sex and Human Sexuality which makes him sound like a Dirty Old Man or Basic Pervert. What few people know is Siggy not only prescribed Cocaine to his Patients he also indulged frequently. I believe once Siggy was on/doing Cocaine it obviously affected him personally as well as professionally. One then could ask at what point did Siggy go from Brilliant Psychiatrist to your run of the mill Cokehead?! Anyway when Siggy was extremely interested in Sex/Human Sexuality he came up with a Theory that he called “The Oedipus Complex”based on Ancient Greek Mythology. Simply stated the “Oedipus Complex” says EVER MALE on the Planet secretly desired to KILL HIS FATHER & BANG HIS MOM. Not very pleasant I grant you.

MY 1st POINT: When someone hears this they get these grimy, scummy and sleazy thought of Men they know sitting at the dinner table with his parents eating in silence while secretly thinking about how he can Murder is Dad and Hook Up with his Mom. Its a Incest Horror Show that would make Shakespeare Jealous.

My 2nd and MOST IMPORTANT POINT:

The General Public DON’T KNOW OEDIPUS’S BACKSTORY and IF they did they wouldn’t think twice about it because the Historical Truth dispels one’s 3rd hand thoughts on the subject. Since I find this the crux of the matter here is the Story of Oedipus the Cliff Note Version.

It was Ancient Grease and the current King of Thebes Laius was freaked the fuck out because an Oracle (a mystic with a direct like to the knowledge of the God’s) had just informed him his unborn Son would Kill Him. So when his wife Jocasta gave birth to a boy Laius ordered it be taken out into the Wild and left there to Die of Exposure.

That plan was foiled when a local shepherd took pity on the baby when he came across it and raised Oedipus as his own Son. Oedipus grew up to be a fine young Ancient Greek Man. Now this is where the story becomes Twist City.

One day while traveling to Thebes Oedipus came head to head with a Wagon traveling in the opposite direction. The issue was the road was very narrow so one wagon would have to yield, and pull over to the side of the road to allow the other wagon to pass. Neither Oedipus nor the Other Man would yield to the other. After arguing and being well provoked by the Other Man’s Insults Oedipus got violent and ended up Murdering the Other Man. The Other Man unbeknownst to Oedipus (Who was exiled to die in the woods as an infant had no idea who his actual birth parents were or that he was a prince and the Air To The Throne of Thebes.) was in fact Laius his birth Father.

Oedipus continued on his journey to the Kingdom of Thebes. Once Oedipus arrived at Thebes he found it plagued by a Sphinx who asked every passerby a riddle. If the person could not answer the Sphinx’s riddle they were gruesomely killed upon the spot.

Oedipus was smarter than your average Bear and was able to answer the Sphinx’s riddle and ironically the Sphinx killed Herself. For killing the damnable Sphinx Oedipus was rewarded by the Citizens of Thebes with the Throne of Thebes and with it the hand of their recently Widowed Queen Jocasta (Oedipus’s birth Mother) Here it is important to remember once again Oedipus never knew his parents since his Father attempted to murder him as an infant, and thus Oedipus’s parents had no idea who he was either) Oedipus and Jocasta had a total of 4 children together.

But Inevitably The Truth would come to light and when it did Jocasta immediately committed suicide. What happened to Oedipus is highly debated. One version of the story states that after his mother/wife committed suicide he remained as ruler of Thebes until his death. The second version states that after Jocasta committed suicide Oedipus gouged out his own eyes and Advocated the Throne to his brother-in-law Creon. Oedipus then Exiled himself accompanied by two of his children, his son Antigone and Ismeme. In this version it says Oedipus died at Colonus near Athens where apparently was swallowed up by the Earth, and became a Guardian Hero of The Land.

BOTTOM LINE: Oedipus had no idea who his parents were (nor they him) so OEDIPUS’S ACTIONS WEREN’T INTENTIONAL, a key fact missing from good old Siggy’s “Oedipus Complex” Theory. Proof agin a small difference can greatly affect the story.

Thanks For The read,

Les Sober