How a Forest Digests You

[@toaster9922]

I watched Over the Garden Wall with my mom and when I caught the brief frame of The Beast illuminated by light it fucking startled me, Mom didn't see it and I had to convince her to rewind. I can't believe they managed to get that into a kid's show.

[@SaxoraMcOhn]

Thats a kids show?

[@toaster9922]

@@SaxoraMcOhn TV-PG implies that.

[@mattiekarwin3667]

​@@SaxoraMcOhnIt aired on Cartoon Network and not adult swim

[@bungislordifbung5690]

say on skibididi 🙏 and let the man outside your home in

[@un-kyejohn2968]

​@@bungislordifbung5690 skibidi rizz pizza

[@YouveBeenMegged]

Another story I think is worth mentioning here is the lesser-known Greek myth of Erysichthon. Erysichthon was a king who committed a grave offense against the goddess Demeter, by cutting down her sacred grove in the deep wilderness to collect wood for his new palace, slaughtering her favorite dryad in the process. In retaliation, Demeter had Limos, goddess of starvation, curse Erysichthon with a ravenous, never-ending hunger. Erysichthon ends up destroying his whole life in his desperation to feed that hunger, leaving himself alone and destitute, until he finally devours his own body, leaving nothing behind. All the metaphors you made here about the forest consuming people just made me think of that story, and how it’s a very good metaphor for how humanity’s own greed leads us to destroy our forests, until we’re left without vital resources, and destroy ourselves, while the forest will eventually reclaim us. In the end, Demeter has her vengeance.

[@MySerpentine]

'. . . at last hunger compelled him to devour his limbs, and he strove to nourish his body by eating his body, till death relieved him from the vengeance of Ceres'-Bullfinch's Mythology

[@Beryllahawk]

Isn't there a similar story in the cycle of stories around Finn McCool? It's been like thirty years since I read any of those old tales but I seem to remember a guy eating his own body at the end of the curse.

[@vulcanfeline]

@@Beryllahawk idk about that but there's a short story by stephen king about a med student smuggling heroin in a plane that goes down. he finds himself on a rocky island and chasing down a seagull for food nets him the bird, but also a broken foot/leg that he treats with his heroin. eventually crippled, starving, and stoned out his mind, he resorts excising his flesh for sustenance.....

[@Beryllahawk]

@@vulcanfeline Whoa. I haven't read THAT one. Dang!! Trust King to write something like that though. Gotta say, that also seems REALLY believable given what little I know about morphine/heroin addiction. Read "Naked Lunch" sometime. (shudders)

[@vulcanfeline]

@@Beryllahawk i'd tell you what book title it was in but, due to old eyes not being able to read anymore, i donated my book collection to the library about 15 yrs ago if that helps you find it. i found an audio book for naked lunch. thx for the recommendation

[@phantomphool]

Once my dog ran off into the woods and wouldn't stop barking. It was the middle of the night in West Virginia, and I knew he was stuck out there in the woods. He had ran out there with a leash on him and it wasn't the first time he'd gotten stuck, just the first time it was at night. So I got my little brother, we were like 16 and 12 at the time, and we set out with headlamps. We've lived on this property for years, a decade at least and I've explored these woods thoroughly. But at night, any of the paths you think you know are gone. There's nothing that resembles familiarity besides the distant lights of your house. We wandered through those woods for at least 30 minutes nearly blind. Every shadow felt like it had eyes. Every bush waiting to grab you and pull you in to be loooonnnggg forgotten. He was stuck in a slim part of the woods where our yard nearly meets with the neighbors, but that slim stretch of thicket no longer than a quarter of a mile felt like a tolkein-esque journey. I'll never forget the feeling of stepping out of the woods, of finally leaving that barrier that separates those almost eldritch woods from the controlled land of our neighbors yard. Covered in thorn bush branches and little stick 'ems seeds. I respected the woods before that night, but after that night I never chopped down a tree that seemed too old. I started to excise invasive species and killing the wild grape vines that try and choke out these old cedars.

[@Beryllahawk]

That's quite a story - must've been one heck of a night. I'm seeing so many other folks telling similar stories and I'm (forgive the pun) stumped by it. When I was very small - about seven years old - we lived in the Catskills for not quite a year. Arrived in fall and left at the end of spring. So I went through late fall and winter on a small farm, nearest neighbor half a mile away. Maybe not "old forest" in the technical sense, but it sure FELT old, and huge - and not JUST because I was a short little brat not even three feet tall yet, ha. But I was never afraid. Not when the bad blizzard came through and snowed everyone in for miles, not when the power went out and we had to huddle together under every blanket and wearing most all the clothes we owned to make it through the night. Not when I ran out into those woods, chasing after a stray sheep, only to find it dying, savaged by a fox, bleeding out all over the forest floor. I've never really felt frightened in the woods. Sometimes I feel very quiet, sometimes I feel a bit lost, but I'm never afraid. Maybe I'm the weird one here, though! I also think the tree-burial thing is wonderful and much better on several levels than traditional embalming and burial.

[@NickIncomplete]

Can you give me a tldr?

[@TheBunchel]

@@NickIncompletethey go in creepy forest to get their dog, forest at night is scary and unfamiliar, come out with respect and fear for the forest.

[@ThrowAway-ji1cf]

ok go write a drama about it or something

[@20storiesunder]

@@NickIncomplete ....Just read it man

[@ChrissieBear]

About Blair Witch: They actually had a witch on set that was supposed to be in a scene, but since the actors weren't told about her for an authentic scare, the actor with the camera got genuinely spooked and forgot to point the camera at the witch. So she got cut from the movie. In fact, the actors in the original movie rarely got told what was happening in order to make them genuinely frustrated and to spook them for real.

[@doctorjay8673]

Oh yeah! That bit where she's going "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?" And she's seeing a guy in all white moving around like a ghost. Then he fell in the mud afterwards.

[@TheMightyZwom]

They actually had their food rations cut shorter every day and genuinely struggled to stay mentally fit. AFAIK they had an emergency phone and could have aborted the project at any time, but luckily they didn't.

[@Cat_Garfield]

"It's just a prank bro"

[@finnik_23]

more movies should do that, makes it feel real, and to a point, they are.

[@jess648]

insane method acting approach

[@Player-1313]

Personally I believe that the Beast from "Over The Garden Wall" is one of the best depictions of the idea of a forest digesting you. The Beast is the embodiment of hopelessness, his power coming from those who have given up or are too tired to continue on. The reason the Beast can't claim Wirt and Greg at the beginning, during their journey to Adelaide is because they still had hope that their path will lead them home. It's only after their meeting with Adelaide turns out to be counterproductive that Wirt begins to lose hope. Once someone gives up all hope they become claimed by the Beast, slowly becoming an Edelwood, becoming a part of the forest. In a way, the forest is just an extension of the Beast, gripping claws to catch his prey to serve his insatiable hunger.

[@nvk3435]

Is the forest an extension of the beast, or the beast a personification of the forest?

[@victory8928]

I see the. Beast as a personification of the forest’s will to survive and how that comes from the hopelessness of those in it. Since the edelwood is needed to fuel the lamp that keeps the beast alive

[@guilhermesavoya2366]

I agree with all that, but I'd also like to add that the Beast's seem to depict a dual nature. He is both the personification of the inevitability of the forest, but also someone who is fighting tooth and nails not to be consumed by it. Now, I'm not sure, but it always looked to me as if the Beast is leading others to death specifically because he knows the forest would have him if it isn't satiated.

[@kamm6001]

i would also like to point out that the show also heavily mirrors Dante's Inferno

[@firespinner1276]

Where can I watch over the garden wall in Australia I really want to see it

[@alooshi9064]

I find people who didn't grow up near a forest carry a sort of irreverence with them, especially regarding the woods at night. I grew up on stories of lost children and impossible to escape woods because I lived right near one, and my parents didn't want me wandering off without telling anyone and getting lost. My favourite part about this kind of horror or fable is that its rooted in the sincerely real fear of never finding your way back and becoming a part of the mulch floor.

[@Streifi]

True that. I also grew up right at the edge of a little wood. Throughout all seasons of the years in my childhood I'd go into the woods with friends to play at the creek that meandered down the slope beyond the wooden railing of the trail, wondering how deep the covered up well on a tiny "island" in the middle of the stream might go, or to whom the plow being left there to rust and slowly submerging in the ground might have belonged to. I loved the woods and almost felt as much at home there as I felt... at home. But that was during the daylight hours... I remember vivid nightmares where I was in those woods after dark, all alone, with only the light of the moon providing a minimum of illumination. The creek turned into a mighty brawl of a river, infested with crocodiles and piranhas and other monstrous ideas of animals that weren't native to my home and there was a single bridge spanning over the river. I knew I had to cross it to safely get back home but there was something off about it that always kept me from getting even close to it. It looked too pristine, too untouched, it didn't really fit in there. Any why would crocodiles just wait for me in the ravaging streams of the roaring river, why not also on said bridge? It felt like a dangerous temptation. Of course, that was just a nightmare I sometimes had, the creek was quit small, so small in fact you could easily hop over to the other side at the narrowest point and apart from some amphibians I never saw anything swimming in it. Likewise there wasn't any bridge, there didn't have to be. Still, the forest inspired some potent images in my head, making the forest much larger and more dangerous than it actually was. Nightmares like those can probably only work "best" for people who grew up near a forest and spend parts of their childhood in it.

[@MrCmon113]

We live next to a forest, but it's nearly impossible to die in there, bcs you would come across a street within a couple of kilometers in any direction. I think it's very different in North America where you have large stretches of wilderness and bears still around. In Western European forests there's nothing that can harm you apart from getting lost and freezing to death.

[@alooshi9064]

@@MrCmon113 That's really interesting! I'm from Australia, the bush stretches on endlessly here, in some places you could wander off a highway, walk in one direction, and never see civilization. Many stories about dangerous woods come from Europe, so I'm surprised to hear it's smaller!

[@chancecompton4061]

There are three places you don't fuck with at night. The water, the woods, and the desert. I've lived in deep forest my entire life, and while I fuck around plenty I don't push it. I always keep my wits about me and a weapon on my person. I track the time and know my directional guides, and I do not make an excess of noise, trotting about without a care like a horse high on oats. Even if I'm out there having a J, I keep it quiet, I don't get in any hurry, I listen to the woods around me, and breathe deeply. It's all about respecting the fact that you are not alone out there, and attracting attention in nature is not always good. You're actively in other animals' territories, and a few will take issue with noisy, erratic behavior.

[@deejus_e]

The fact this video came out on the exact day Hulu is taking down Over The Garden Wall is insane 😭

[@threepeater435]

Hi deejus :)

[@poponolo4307]

what!?!? damn u modern streaming culture!! arg, i guess its back to the seven seas with me

[@fonejunky6306]

Turns out is was actually a false alarm and Hulu just had an oopsie 🤷‍♂

[@rigbycarter2157]

What is deejus doing here?

[@KrazyKaiser]

WAIT WHAT!!!! WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON AT THAT COMPANY?!?!?!?

[@luccubsol]

The forest: "I don't have to kill you, i just have to wait."

[@Seba12322]

“Just got to wait just to got wait” “Yes, just sit there in the cold and wait…”

[@juan-ij1le]

Unless you die in space

[@planetoforts]

​@@Seba12322Come wayward soulllllls and wander through the darkkkkknessss, there is a light for the lost and the meeekkkkk. Sorrow and fearrrrrr are easily forgoooootten, when you submit to the soil of the earrtthhhhh.

[@SamShep]

If you're ever about to be absorbed by the forest, just say "No". The forest cannot legally take possession of your body without your consent. Amazing video as always, thank you.

[@myragroenewegen5426]

Just stopping to LOVE the idea that mobsters would totally try to dispose of a body and get hopelessly lost in the wilderness. In my mind this has HAPPENED. They are so matcho - you can totally see them overestimating their abilities.

[@thatscrazy3554]

Reminds me of that one episode on sopranos where they try to do the exact same thing and end up having to be rescued by their mob boss

[@Nobodyneedsabodyanymore]

Lol yeah I'm glad someone else mentioned the sopranos. The pine barrens episode.

[@Raven-um2wf]

I live in the woods in Appalachia, during the day you have little to worry about in them. After dark the truth of it becomes clear, trespass not without great care and don't leave known paths. It's a known thing and respected in these parts.

[@ColderBacon]

As someone who doesn't live in the Appalachian woods, but has been close to them my whole life, even I know the danger. Most who weren't raised in them can have a hard time even in the day. Though, I don't care *who* you are, It's made well known, you don't go out past dark.

[@greenhydra10]

These mountains and forests were here long before mankind was borne. And I'd wager they'll be here long after. Why would they care if a person ever again sees beyond their boughs?

[@SOAVGaming]

Take only pictures, leave only footprints.

[@phantomphool]

Once my dog ran off into the woods and wouldn't stop barking. It was the middle of the night in West Virginia, and I knew he was stuck out there in the woods. He had ran out there with a leash on him and it wasn't the first time he'd gotten stuck, just the first time it was at night. So I got my little brother, we were like 16 and 12 at the time, and we set out with headlamps. We've lived on this property for years, a decade at least and I've explored these woods thoroughly. But at night, any of the paths you think you know are gone. There's nothing that resembles familiarity besides the distant lights of your house. We wandered through those woods for at least 30 minutes nearly blind. Every shadow felt like it had eyes. Every bush waiting to grab you and pull you in to be loooonnnggg forgotten. He was stuck in a slim part of the woods where our yard nearly meets with the neighbors, but that slim stretch of thicket no longer than a quarter of a mile felt like a tolkein-esque journey. I'll never forget the feeling of stepping out of the woods, of finally leaving that barrier that separates those almost eldritch woods from the controlled land of our neighbors yard. Covered in thorn bush branches and little stick 'ems seeds. I respected the woods before that night, but after that night I never chopped down a tree that seemed too old. I started to excise invasive species and killing the wild grape vines that try and choke out these old cedars.

[@phantomphool]

Hell even my dad started letting the yard grow wild, like we're giving the wild back to the land, only taking what we need.

[@JustRayken]

You never really know dark until you are in a forest at night without moon or light. Once the sunset has passed, you can understand why there’s so many stories about the woods.

[@kirtil5177]

That, plus all the nocturnal life that starts waking up. It could be some random bug or rodent making a noise, but a blind, paranoid person can imagine pretty much anything doing that. Its also because the background noise is completely different from urban life, no buzzing or humming or distant vehicles. Whatever the hell is going on in the trees or bushes is only heard more clearly

[@TaRAAASHBAGS]

​@@kirtil5177 now listen to a fox scream or a rabbit death rattle and you'll understand why many horrific fables exist lol

[@JRexRegis]

and the worst part is that it doesn't get better if you have a source of light - if anything, it gets _worse_

[@Chirpy-eo8jq]

There’s a forest path that cuts through a small grove of trees right next to my Walmart. I’ve trekked it many times before. Once the parking lot lights were gone, I couldn’t see my feet, let alone my path, but I thought I could make my way through this relatively short path. It’s pretty wide, afterall. I completely missed it and nearly slammed into a tree. I’d overshot my about two feet and had absolutely no idea. This is not a small path. It’s like 5 ft across. It was terrifying.

[@steven2183]

"What else could there be?" That he asks the question in itself is powerful...in more ways than one...

[@edmarcamy]

The remainder of his life? Countless new memories to be made and moments to be had.

[@Cookie___.26.]

​@edmarcamy The knight Is asking about Sir Gawian confusion with his own death. In the film the green knight comes to Camelot on Christmas day to play a simple game. The rules where what ever you fell to him he would fell to you a year later. Sir Gawian trying to prove himself worthy and noble to King Arthur proceeded to chop off the Green knights head. The Green knight then leaves with his head in his hands and the deal was struck. One year later Sir Gawian goes to the Chapel where the Green knight said he would be, wondering if he would actually cut off his head and he does. If Gawian had not taken the game to seriously by cutting The knights head off he would of lived. But in the context of the video I like how he's depicted as the inevitable green that will consume us all. Sir Gawian, like us, asking" is this really all there is", and the knight responding with "What else ought there be" is so powerful. Through out the film there is a constant depiction of the dead being consumed by nature because what else ought there be? Honestly such a great film couldn't recommend enough.

[@anthonycambria9109]

@@Cookie___.26.qmxxmmmmxxmqkdkd

[@TheBisDuck]

When in the woods I can feel a pull off the trail, I can feel it trying to lead me off the beaten path into a place I can never return from. One time, it worked. I was walking through the woods alone, and I took a side trail, then another. It was so inviting, it called to me. I got lost in the woods and had to find my way out using only the sound of what I hoped was humanity. I made it out but it was the most dread I've ever felt.

[@troutinspace5427]

I think that’s why forests are so unnerving there not places like tundras and deserts that give off blatant “you don’t belong here” vibes. They almost seem like they want you to come in regardless of how unnerving or creepy they make you feel as some who lives around a lot of largely intact forest in northern British Columbia I know how it feels to hear that call to walk off the trail that once you cross there is no going back

[@kirtil5177]

I feel like bushy and short treed forests feel more comfortable in that regard because the bushes low vegetation subtly act as walls when following established paths. Bare soil forests are full of misdirection

[@Mirar25]

Before the Fae whispers

[@pedrochavez6838]

@TheBisDuck I’ve been there. It’s almost funny how quickly you can feel at peace in a place such as that then in a heart beat you are shiting bricks because you either feel like you are going in circles or deeper into it. Then all the trees and shadows start to look menacing then you start to notice how fast the sun starts to fade or move In the sky only adding to the dread felling of knowing knight fall is only a few hours if you are lucky away, When you know you are lost in them woods. Boy dose it smack you in the face like a ton of bricks. Also everything looks the same or different when you head back. Almost as if it plays with your senses when it knows it can. Terrifying to say the least.

[@YellowPeej]

Over The Garden Wall my beloved they could never make me hate you my loyal fall rewatch year after year

[@Acirclee]

For real! I watched on a whim. No regrets one of the best show cartoon network as produced. Scared more some horror movies I've watched. Especially the bell episode, dear god.

[@MrLFJ7]

A modern classic

[@rafaelbalsan4512]

This show will last forever. One of the best works of western animation.

[@di3g0fr]

Over The Garden Wall is the best mini series animation of all time. Idk what anyone else says, the sheer ambience and world building in every single 20 minute episode is something beyond incredible, form the animators to the music writers to the voice acting everything is perfect and ends exactly where it should. Masterpiece from start to finish

[@Streifi]

Most people say the same, and I agree as well. Just such a good series. And it's almost time once again, for the seasonal rewatch...

[@Seer_Of_The_Woodlands]

The forest gives, the forest takes. it's the unspoken law of the forest. Great Video !

[@Sandaria-.-.--]

the forest doesn't give, humans take, and the forest takes back

[@ja-chrispy5566]

As someone who live in one of the rare areas in Washington that has trees wherever you look, i can say with certainty a forest can go from looking beautiful to being one of the creepiest things ever.

[@Fazikku]

almost half the state is covered in trees, not exactly rare to live in an area that's full of them.

[@musicalfish1260]

"Rare areas"?? Washington??

[@rl9217]

This is good timing, as I recently rewatched Over the Garden Wall. To this day, it’s still a phenomenal series. It’s beautiful in every meaning of the word. The Beast is the perfect antagonist for the series. Mysterious, imposing, intimidating, and horrifying. His design, both in the darkness and when exposed by the light of the lantern, is so memorable for all the right reasons.

[@Illier1]

It really does capture Americana in an absolutely fantastic way. The warm fall colors, the mystery of the rural farms and forests of America. It's a love letter to the settler folklore of the 18th and 19th century.

[@b.ug.p.7681]

I find it interesting how even though I come from an area with many deep forests, pretty much everyone here percieves them seriously. I mean, the fact that a forest is dangerous and can make you disappear without a trace is obvious, but none of the people whom I know, even those who aren't living in the big cities, are really *used to* such an entity being nearby. Aways waiting. We Slavs even have a creature in our folklore whose job is to lure people into the forest, which was obviously made up to make people aware of the danger that it can pose. This means that people here have been treating the forests with fearful respect for centuries. I really like when a video provokes thoughts like that

[@repapeti98]

After work I sometimes fall asleep to your videos because the combination of your soothing voice and the noise cancelling helps me relax. I've probably watched every video a number of times.

[@frisianwarrior2295]

His voice certainly is soothing. The content however is too interesting for me to fall asleep to:)

[@repapeti98]

​@@frisianwarrior2295Oh, the first 2-3 times I actually listen, even while doing chores. There are days where I wake up to my entire playlist being over, though.

[@antonovbiplane]

Chilean artist here! The Wolf House is Chilean, not Colombian. Big props for mentioning it, it's an amazing horror film.

[@TheGreatHrudini]

🎶How the gentle wind, Beckons through the leaves, As autumn colors fall🎶 🎶Dancing in a swirl, Of golden memories, The loveliest lies of all🎶

[@matthewboire6843]

Sounds good. Is it made by you?

[@fonejunky6306]

@@matthewboire6843 It's from Over The garden wall

[@matthewboire6843]

@@fonejunky6306 oh I see, sound good

[@YouveBeenMegged]

I love that song so much 😍

[@rafaelbalsan4512]

Every song in OTGW soundtrack SLAPS

[@dado8467]

There is just SOMETHING about your videos This constant emotional buildup, topped off with the very last line, that always menages to drive me on the verge of tears, if not crying outright Keep it up, you are one of the best

[@jonasb6711]

The game ,,Darkwood " is another great example.

[@Thunder_Star]

@@jonasb6711 flopwood

[@generaljedi8691]

I believe he has mentioned it in another video before...but I am surprised he didn't mention it in this one.

[@matejbobrovsky8665]

That is exacly what I thought about. I think it is perfectly dipict forest, or rather woods.

[@jonaut5705]

@@Thunder_Star huh idk what you're talking about it sold 1.5m copies from a studio that's made no other game before and it's really fun

[@Thunder_Star]

@@jonaut5705 someone doesn't watch pyrocinical, its a joke dude

[@coreybananas]

Just the way you describe forests here is honestly more chilling than pretty much any horror movie I've seen, especially because I live right on the edge of one. One of your best videos yet imo.

[@year-longhiatus4621]

“There is only me. There is only my way. There is only the Forrest, and there is only surrender.” - The Beast from Over the Garden Wall

[@finsterhund]

I was born on the prairie, in early childhood moved to the Pacific Northwest. Forests felt genuinely Eldritch at first. Trees went from an intentionally cultivated form of security and comfort to an intimidating superstructure. I still remember the nightmares.

[@DivineQuetzalcoatl]

Life After People(The TV Series) Is still one of my favorite shows and this video reminded me of it. No matter what, nature will always devour everything.

[@katyb6009]

oh my god i had completely forgotten about that show until now but i used to love it. the wax museum episode where all the figures melted scared the crap out of me though 😭

[@Illier1]

Unless you're the Pyramids or Mount Rushmore, that shit is staying a while.

[@amesnfire1098]

​@@Illier1The faces on Rushmore would become fairly indistinguishable from the surrounding stone after a dozen years or so. They require an absurd amount of maintenance for a tourist trap.

[@circleinforthecube5170]

@@amesnfire1098 they suck anyway, the giant roadside tacky things from the 70s are far better parts of american culture than some faces of some racist assholes carved into native lands

[@dionettaeon]

Forests are some of my favorite places, but they can be so tricky to navigate. All the foliage sort of blends in with each other such that it's difficult to keep track of landmarks, not to mention the fact that you'll often hear animals more than you'll see them and especially that potential predators can easily stay out of sight. Add in the dark and you've got the classic horror setting.

[@Sir_Persevere]

I can picture a future video where you talk about "setting being the character," and you would start off something like: "In fiction, we always talk about character and setting. But what if setting is the character?" And then you could pull inspiration from SolarBalls with talking planets, and then even Bionicle with Mata Nui being both a character and a place.

[@LamarjorieQueen]

Me when mystery flesh pit national park: (I know it’s not quite a “character”, but I think it should be brought up)

[@ensignocean6286]

make your own video! that’s such a cool concept!!

[@Sir_Persevere]

@@ensignocean6286 I’ve thought about it, lol!

[@Squabsss]

giving CA an excuse to maybe talk about rain world for the tenth time, perfect!

[@mishagaming1075]

@@Squabsssthe suicidal calculators in question:

[@rockygetsrolling]

Over The Garden Wall remains one of the coolest and most underrated scary series imo. Sure it’s a kids show, but it’s terrifying in how easy it is, how closely entwined death and the Forest are. And as always, a great video, thank you for continuing to dazzle us with these videos

[@leonardocruz9730]

Not including Darkwood in this video is a crime (but really, give that game its own video, it really deserves it)

[@satellite_panic]

The Jacob Gellerification of youtube video essays will forever be a thing of beauty

[@the_funky_wandrr]

jacob geller rainworld fan real?? but absolutely! video essays are incredible!!

[@satellite_panic]

​@@the_funky_wandrr holy bingle i remember your from the twisting roads animations :D

[@the_funky_wandrr]

@@satellite_panic rw tr fan in the wild :0 hello! thank you so much for watching and enjoying :]💛💛

[@Illier1]

Him and Curious Archive are my two favorite essay channels on the site right now. They just have absolutely amazing production values and insights into media.

[@qwertydavid8070]

@@Illier1 watching curious archive's recent essay ascensacion has been amazing. I've been watching his channel for months now, I absolutely adored all his actual "archivist" videos where he talks about the classifications of fictional creatures. I remember when his first true video essay, the one about monsters, came out. At the time it felt like the perfect conclusion to the channel, a final magnum opus that encapsulated the very essence of his channel. Never would I have expected him to KEEP GOING after that!! Every new essay he puts out is wonderful and I've just eaten them all up.

[@invisiblejaguar1]

Near where I live is a small village that's almost like a time capsule, you enter this place and you feel like you've gone back two centuries. Within this village is a small forest on a hill and I've walked it many times, as many others do. One time, as I quite innocently was enjoying a little picnic alone in the forest, I suddenly found myself turned around. It was broad daylight, but I was struggling to identify natural landmarks I could use to get me back on the beaten trail. If you head east, you will eventually come to the exit, but in my brief moment of panic, I forgot that and it dawned on me how unprepared as a city girl I was for nature's massive shadow that it can cast over a small human like me. Again, this forest is small, frequented by many daily and I briefly lost my way while enjoying a little picnic on an old log. I left the forest with gratitude that this happened in a place that was small and not far from a town.

[@DragonBallistic]

One of the creepiest things of the forest, in my opinion, is the noises produced by old or dying trees. Some of them relocate their weight between their roots in soft moistened soil, some are rotting, breaking inside, but not falling apart just yet. Just imagine: you are in the night forest, everything is pitch black save for your light source. And from beyond, somewhere from sylvan depths, a very low sound comes. Very low, resonating between trees, sending vibrations through ears or maybe bones, followed by cracking of opening fissures. FFWWWOOOOOOOOOOWOOOOOOOOOM, krrrrk-krkrkrkrk-k.

[@joshhenry7513]

Getting on the toilet hoping i can find something quick to watch then seeing another half an hour curious archive video gives me a good feeling.

[@frisianwarrior2295]

I solely watch his videos on the big screen, the TV. Everything else doesn't do justice to his quality, especially not the toilet....

[@jayl5032]

Another half hour poop, here we come.

[@eliasgorman829]

​@@jayl5032"1hr ago" How you doing. Did you die on the toilet.

[@noahrafter-lanigan2409]

the feeling of a numb ass lmao

[@qwertydavid8070]

@@frisianwarrior2295 I'd love to do that, but I honestly prefer to just sit at my computer with my headphones on. The idea of listening to this through janky tv speakers just doesn't feel right. It's gotten to a point where I can't even watch shows on TV because you can miss all those subtle sound design details.

[@darkfae941]

I know it’s odd but I find the concept of being consumed by the forest almost peaceful, the idea of finally returning to the earth that birthed me and melding into the complexity of the forest that as a whole almost exists as a living breathing organism with a pulse and a soul is something that I find innately profound and beautiful. Even when I’m walking in the woods after dark when I’m camping I find it peaceful in all honesty the thing I’m most scared about during those times is running into another person. I’m sure if I were dying in the woods I would feel very differently but conceptually my body rotting away in the forest never to be found again only disturbed by animals in search of food is an idea that I find comforting.

[@edmarcamy]

I feel the exact opposite about it. The thought of rotting away and feeding vermin is so disturbing to me that I have considered asking my future children to have my corpse launched into the vacuum of space when I die, so that the earth can never have me and tear me to shreds. I have no idea how you find peace in that, but good for you, I suppose.

[@Doctrinaaaa]

I was literally about to say that, it feel so peaceful and beautiful, i wanna give back to earth too and be part of it

[@qwertydavid8070]

@@edmarcamy I think part of this feeling, for me at least, comes from this feeling of me "owing" something back to the earth. We humans are ravenous and gluttonous. We do nothing but take and take and take and take, and we leave nothing behind. I grew up hearing tales of global warming and climate catastrophe. Most young people can't shake off the feeling that humans are vermin and the world would be better off without us. It's the reality we've been born in. That's why the idea of rotting away in a forest can sound comforting. After doing nothing but take and take from the natural world, the least we can do is offer our nutrients back to the food web. To give back, at least a fraction, of what we've taken. That's the way it works in the natural world regardless, and it's this recycling of the dead that allows ecosystems to endure for thousands of years. Just like Bo Burnham puts it, everything "gives what they can, and takes what they need!". So to me, the idea of not even giving back to the world even in death, just sounds greedy. However, that's just because I grew up in an age where the narrative has been to put the natural world before ourselves, at any cost, due to the damage we've done to it.

[@edmarcamy]

@@qwertydavid8070 Most people take merely what they need, and most do so indirectly. It’s unfair to pin the greed and excess of few to humanity as a whole. Besides, animals take aswell, and they don’t die out of charity or gratitude for… nature? They die because everything that lives, dies. Personally, I’m not comfortable with the idea of my life or, at least, my body being ‘loaned’. Of ‘owing’ something until I’m dead, buried and my body is defiled. And to make it clear, I don’t judge you or anyone else for thinking that way, I just think this is an interesting conversation and wanted respond.

[@qwertydavid8070]

@@edmarcamy I don't disagree with you either. As I said, it's merely the narrative I've grown up with. It's difficult to be positive and see humanity in a positive light. There's this overbearing feeling of guilt that a lot of young people feel because all of us contribute a little bit to the deterioration of the natural world. And there's a sense of obligation, as the only sentient beings, to be better and to try to make the right decision. A lot of the youth grow up staring at images of climate catastrophe and learning of humanity's many mishaps. As we grow older we will obviously become more passive and less negative, but for now these are the radical ideas we inherit due to our circumstances. I, at least, feel fine giving my nutrients back. Once I'm dead I won't be alive to witness anything anyways. Whatever happens to my body doesn't matter. It's easy for me to say this now because I don't have kids or a family that might feel bad abt seeing my body defiled, so I personally don't really care. If I ever do have a family my opinions might change. All things die, I am animal just like the rest, and I feel okay decomposing away and dying like any other animal. If my death can at least sprout new life, I am personally okay with that, but not everyone has to be.

[@trashtyphoon]

I will always be thankful that you are so diligent with citing which shows and movies clips are from!! You show so much respect for the source material you use in videos, much love.

[@Azkivit]

I hadn't really realized how liminal and frightening forests really were, it is a perfect setting for horror seeing as how it is difficult to not hide if you try to be quiet

[@Kiana173-xq5so]

man you had me crying at the end from how beautiful this video is and your voice really did it for me!

[@The_Awesomeness999]

Man this, and 90% if not more of your videos to be honest, gave me goosebumps. The sort that makes you feel a small sense of dread at the same time as awe or wonder.

[@marvinvieth7853]

The section starting at 2:03 is not quite right. The decomposition of dead animals always falls to insects or microorganisms like fungi. Trees themselves don't possess the enzymes to break down a body, let alone the need to gain energy through digestion, since they gain that through photosynthesis. Eventually, plants will absorb the broken down nutrients from the decomposed body, but saying that equals the tree eating a body is the same as if a wolf defecated in the forest and then you claiming the tree ate that wolfs' previous prey because it eventually absorbed the feces.

[@detanator4669]

I would love to see curious archive do a video on the concept of "The flesh is weak".Ive always found it interesting that so many pieces of media like WH40K,Cyberpunk, Murder drones, Lancer, focus on the blurring of lines between flesh and steel.

[@DarthBiomech]

I kind of want that, but OTOH it would be a depressing video since the owerwhelming majority of stories portray it as neuthral at best, and an "insult to God and all life" at worst.

[@qwertydavid8070]

He does have a video called "The hopeful horror of humanity lost" or something like that. It's less about what you talk about, and more about the idea of how changing our physical bodies can change our identity, and how there are so many stories about "turning into a flesh monster", because we link our bodies with our sense of self, and so losing our physical forms means losing our very identities. The video ends in a more hopeful note, he talks a bit about a sci fi webcomic project called "Humanity lost", with the general theme being that no matter how deformed we may become, that the human spirit will prevail. It may not be what you're looking for, but it's IMO one of his best videos, I've always loved "transformation horror" and seeing him just deconstruct the whole genre to its bare bones was amazing.

[@NotSoNormal1987]

I grew up around the woods, and I have loved exploring them. And I've never gotten lost. I might have a hard time navigating cities, but I've always found it easy to retrace my steps in nature. Every plant and tree is unique.

[@valentinkambushev4968]

Remember: usually people who can swim drown.

[@snakewithapen5489]

​@@valentinkambushev4968 i think you mean "people who can swim still drown" lol

[@deeriggs3319]

I grew up in the woods too.. my dad taught me how to keep direction and not let the woods push you off track. It helped me gain a great sense of direction.. but I’m useless navigating a city of any size lol.

[@Zip_yermouth]

Oh oh! First - amazing work as always I have a contribution. Everyone knows Transylvania, the land of Dracula and monsters. Transylvania Trans Sylvus Across the woods.

[@gabrielgraetz4895]

You consistently produce some of the most fascinating, well-written and thoughtful videos on KZbin! I LOVE Over the Garden Wall, and much of that love stems from how perfectly it conjures both the wonder and the danger of the woods, especially through the eyes of a child.

[@1TitanicFan1]

I love Over the Garden Wall, the music, the story, the characters, the locations, all of it. I hope one day we get another story set in those woods, to remind us all that the forest will never die.

[@auroradiaz5874]

the second you said the words "tree networks also conspire," I immediately clicked the like button. I just know that the prose in this is going to be eerie and beautiful in the COOLEST possible way. excited to listen to the rest of the video!!

[@yondaime500]

In My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, the ponies have full control over the environment. They move the clouds, they provide food and shelter to the "wild" animals, they manage the change of seasons. They even make the snowflakes one by one. Oh, and they move the Sun and the Moon too. They run everything... except the forest. The forest just does its own thing, and that's why they are terrified of it.

[@aquamarie3117]

That's....actually a really good point that I never once considered.

[@frederichfazbearingtonthefith]

Oh shit mlp reference spotted your a king mein fruend

[@aquamarie3117]

IS THAT WHY IT'S CALLED EVERFREE. IS THAT. IS THAT WHY THEY

[@Streifi]

To them it's un-natural how natural the forest is. In a world, where they practically paint the frost on the windows, it must be terrifying to see how the weather and seasons change on their own, without anyone having any control over any aspect of it. Then again, their world must have started off like that, I wonder what made them so obsessed with having to control the natural world at all, then again, they also control the sun and the moon, probably living in a geocentric world, so maybe the world was always static until ponies changed it's natural patterns, then a place which would do it on its own would almost feel eldritch and deeply wrong.

[@qwertydavid8070]

dude.... why did nobody tell me that mlp had this fire worldbuilding. My grown ass needs to sit down now and rewatch this children's show, no one told me it was this peak.

[@FishHatFish]

“The roots will eventually find you” is one of the most foreboding sentences over heard in a long time

[@initial_mark6084]

i’ve been struggling with my mental health quite a bit recently. your sentiment at the end.. i needed to hear it. thank you.

[@f3minine3minem99]

Can’t believe you talked about the horror of the forest without talking about dark wood

[@Seer_Of_The_Woodlands]

There was a forest before us and there is a forest after us. it doesn't matter if we survive to see it ourselves or not. the forest remains and the forest grows and absorbs and preserves history within itself.

[@jameech9380]

I love this channel so much. Over the garden wall was like an enigma in my childhood I watched all of it one day on cable and it changed me forever. The next day I told my friends about it but they had never seen it and couldn’t find it. I thought I was crazy until a couple of months ago when I found it again. Truly a special show

[@octopode170]

this all reminds me of the time me and my family went to visit my grandparents off in montana. they live in some rural-as-dirt strip town out in the middle of an old-growth forest in a massive log cabin with 6 half-wolves as pets (they're all super cute btw). we did a lot of stuff there, but we never visited the surrounding pines. hell, it was never even mentioned as a passing thought, it was simply a given that we were not to enter the forest under any circumstances. then we visited the fire watchtower. the conifers extended right up to the horizon and no doubt beyond it, an endless expanse of needle-leafed dark greens. mind you, these evergreens were fucking HUGE, easily able to fit a closet within their trunks, and to think that those behemoths were so numerous that they stretched as far as the earth's curve would allow me to see, my head could barely even fathom the sheer scale of it all. the only thing i thought then was "oh, that's why i can't go into the forest. i'd never come out."

[@finnneedshelp6653]

This has to be one of my favourite videos of yours to date, and I love everything you put out. I work in forestry and while walking through the woods I always feel as though I'm an invader, even if the road is just a few hundred meters away.

[@edtheangler4930]

"Darkest forest in fiction" Laughs in darkwood

[@f3minine3minem99]

Such a good game

[@darkironraven]

First of all, I want to congratulate you. This is the best of your videos to date. The text, the narration, the poetic way you describe the horror that a forest can represent. Everything forms a truly fascinating set of terrifying harmony. On the other hand, in my youth I was very fond of camping. My friends and I visited many places here in Mexico, but one of the most chilling experiences we had was in a forest. It is a deep ravine in the state of Hidalgo. A hot spring emerges from the mountain, forming a river that creates a small forest around it. The first night we were there was really disconcerting. There was a moment when we actually felt the presence of someone among the trees, even though we knew we were completely alone. At some point, while we were there we even felt someone approaching walking along the river bank. But I want to emphasize that we FELT someone, because we never saw anything, not even a shadow. At that point, trying to ease the tension, I asked my friends, "Would it have been scarier if someone actually came at this hour in a place dozens of miles from the nearest town? Or is it scarier to know it was no one?" Needless to say, that didn't ease the tension, but rather increased it. The other nights were less difficult, but that's a story for another time. TL;DR: The woods are scary.

[@Mushezable]

Someone mentioned a cool concept to me ages ago. A forest that acts like the deeps sea, unexplored with trees and animals becoming titanic the deeper you go in and the air pressure changing enough that you'd need specialty equipment to travel deeper and deeper.

[@aquamarie3117]

That _is_ cool

[@MrCmon113]

The "titanic" animals are like 20cm long.

[@sterthedude]

this is one of my fav CA vids yet

[@jphillips7083]

People who were called witches were also known as shamans and they lived out in the forests because that's where all of the herbs and barks etc to make medicine existed... The people who settled would have had it if they hadn't cut down the entire Forest.

[@FinamationStudios]

Recently while I was in Appalachia I got advice from some locals, like don’t go hiking alone at night, if you think you heard someone call your name, you didn’t, and don’t look into the treeline. I don’t know what they meant for this, but after seeing this vid I’m glad I listened.

[@Aetherial_Moth]

In a forest you feel things just slightly growing faster than they decay, but just barely.

[@tulpamedia]

I live in the forest. The forest has beauty and treachery simultaneously. Being outside at night has an uncomfortable aura that you don't really get anywhere else. Even after living here for ten years, I still get that feeling when I venture too far. With all of that being said, I definitely feel a special connection with the forest. It is ancient and hopefully everlasting.

[@Thunder_Star]

i will always love the woods

[@chancegivens9390]

Same here!

[@floppavevo5920]

Same. I see trees and their connections to each other in the same way a religious person might see their god. They are ancient lifeforms that will outlive us. Even when cut down, they remain through their connections to the forest. Research is being done that suggests that the fungal connections between trees act in ways that show potential intelligence. It's truly fascinating, and I highly recommend looking into it if you're into that kinda stuff.

[@thomasmcnamara5929]

The woods are my happy place! 🌳🌲

[@chancegivens9390]

@Thunder_Star Definitely my proper habitat!

[@demonique7424]

Your crafting of the script for this video is truly beautiful. A mix of education, observational commentary, and deep philosophical ponderings that resonates with a forgotten part of the soul. By far one of your best videos yet.

[@G-raverobber]

I just love the mysterious nature of forests. It's something I want to explore. Something unwelcoming, something unforgiving. And we only make the wonder and horror of the forest harder to experience each day.

[@HeavensMemory]

Great video. The idea, that a forest could, well, "swallow you whole and eat you alive" and other people might never find you/your remains, gives me shivers. And then there is some derpy kid in the back of my head saying: "Big, dark forest goes nom nom". 🙈

[@epicmusiclover]

I think the game Darkwood derserves a noteble mention in regards to this video. A game that takes place in far easteren Europe, where a small village is getting closed off from the world by the fast growing forest that surrounds it in a very unnatural manner…

[@captainsquare6735]

Dude, I love the way you format videos and talk about it. I'm glad to see you still upload.

[@Peptuck]

In the game Darkest Dungeon, it's rather fitting that the most dangerous and inhospitable of the dungeon biomes you can explore is the Weald. Other dungeon environments are undead-infested ruins, deep underground warrens, oceanside caverns full of Deep Ones, a vast swampy ruined courtyard inhabited by vampires, and a time-warped farmstead corrupted by alien colors. Yet none of the environments are as actively hostile, forbidding, or just outright dangerous as the deep woods and twisting paths of the Weald.

[@Beryllahawk]

Damn that last track hit me hard. I know that song! And after everything you'd just said - I'd managed to keep it together for twenty-two whole minutes - but that song broke me. Beautifully written as I've come to expect. Almost every video you make breaks my heart, but in the best way.

[@purplejanew]

If I enjoyed!!??? This is nothing short of one of the MOST enjoyable Channels on YT!!!

[@emilymk12]

It’s the simplicity of it that scares me most. To go missing all you have to do is fall into just the right spot and you’ll never be spotted. The searchers will walk right past you or even over you without ever knowing.

[@leoparkhouse2643]

Your videos are sheer poetry. You pair storytelling and analysis so well, it is both entertaining and educational.

[@iammegan6626]

Watching this channel get more contemplative is a joy

[@Ash-----]

I realised that the forest grows and changes over time. So that means that something that was once familiar is now foreign and creates a dissonance. And therefore uneasy. This happened to me as i visited the place i used to live. Its only a 30 - 40 min bus ride away. The buildings and movements of people stayed the same but the trees where taller and a different shape so similar yet so different. It did not help that i was also significantly taller than when i was a kid walking to church every week. This is similar to another comment about the woods during the day and during the night.

[@hiddenshadow2105]

Have you ever played Darkwood? If you want to experience the forest, play Darkwood.

[@blademasterzero]

I’ve lived in the woods for nearly my entire life, but I haven’t feared it. The forest is huge and sprawling and crawling with things both living and dead but it’s never felt hostile, it feels like home, the critters which scurry and lurk at night aren’t frightening to me, they’re just living things all looking for food and shelter just as you would be. And *that* I don’t fear, what I do fear is a silent wood. When the life around you deigns to hide you can’t help but feel your ancient fears awaken again, though you may not know the threat as they do but you *feel* it in your deepest roots Your never alone out there, for better or worse.

[@ikenosis8160]

"A time will come when we're all digested by the roots." Beautiful.

[@lemonlordminecraft]

An excellent day for rain. Always a pleasure, thank you, Archivist.

[@gamerzilla6113]

You should make video on Analog Horror like The Monument Mythos.

[@henryzhang7661]

I always love how end this video, like sunlight in the first second of the morning finally breaking the darkness of the night

[@ThePseud0Legend]

Perhaps unintentional, but I like how the video both ended and began with talking about Over The Garden Wall, which I feel references the idea that we came from dust and will one day return to it, ending up in the state we began.

[@elliotnemeth]

There's a small loop trail near where I live in western AR that's caused even experienced hikers to go missing. No matter how small or tame the woods seem, they are never to be underestimated.

[@tallspartan117]

I'm surprised you didn't talk about darkwood. Its forest has that perfect hostile feeling that a forest at night has. Everything within is twisted into something monstrous. A forest that will eat you alive. It's grown out of control and there's no way out. It's almost like you're in the stomach of a incomprehensible creature waiting to be digested.

[@RedFloyd469]

More to the point: the forest in darkwood is actively impossible to be resisted through violent means. There is no cutting down the forest. Burning it is temporary too. You HAVE to find a way out, but all the roads are gone. Consumed by the woods. Only the last remnants of civilizations provide a brief respite from the ever-encroaching darkness and hunger of the forest. The only paths through the forest are old bunkers and tunnels, made in a time before the forest was all-encompassing, and they too are being corroded by it's influence. The game truly does provide the perfect image of what the forest is in essence: an uncaring, larger than life, larger than humanity's cycles of civilization, being of eternal hunger. An edritch god, consuming you slowly.

[@joopsc64]

I love this for the horror of the forest and the exploration of death, but I also find the idea of being overtaken by the forest in death soothing. Something about the phrasing of the greenery digesting us is nice.

[@Rdffgriffin]

Man, I love your videos. This one was incredible, as always. Though, I missed mentions about tropical or equatorial rainforests. They also present very unique scenarios. Movies such as Heart of Darkness (the Brando one) and Cannibal Holocaust explore the creepy anxiety of foreign (usually American or European) visitors into the impregnable jungle.

[@qwertydavid8070]

tropical forest are a different beast. I live in the tropics and most cities, even really urban ones, are shrouded in giant looming trees. You just need to waltz a bit off the beaten path to end up in the thralls of a jungle. It's honestly beautiful, but the worst part is that there are very real dangers. Temperate forests can sometimes feel lonely and desolate, but that is never the case for tropical ones. They are always brimming with life, for better and for worse. There's always the very real threat of venomous insects and carnivorous panthers. "Going out for a walk in the woods" is simply NOT a concept here, no one would do that shit willingly because it usually means getting bitten by a million mosquitoes and encountering a snake or smthn lol.

[@settratheimperishable7800]

The craziest part about this video is that my college professor told us a story yesterday about how they found human bones in the woods while walking their dog one day. It turns out the body was of a person who went missing back in 2014.

[@Hoodiestein]

Pine Barrens is incredible, had me laughing the whole time

[@purplehaze2358]

I think this is now officially a solid contender for my favorite video on this channel.

[@kerty-]

Darkwoods would be the perfect addition to this video.

[@CrazyStarr_]

Gotta respect the amount of media that you manage to allude to in all of your videos. Densely packed like literary sardines.

[@shuaebfromiraq4505]

Scary ass thumbnail

[@isabelsilva2116]

I'll always remember when I was traveling around Scotland and England in tour groups or on train rides I would be mesmerized by the woods we would pass. Some woods were so dense that after a few feet it would just become darkness, hardly any sunlight shining through the leaf canopy, even in the middle of the day. I remember at different stops in both England and Scotland I would be looking into a patch of the woods, different each time, admiring the moss and how green it all was, when a breeze would come that felt like a gentle pull into the woods. The way the tree branches waved in the wind felt like the woods were beckoning me to go deeper, to come and sait my curiosity. And as someone who has lived in the urban spall of Los Angeles their whole life, I did contemplate going in juuust a little further each time... In what felt like a second after that thought, I would be filled with a deep sense of dread and I no longer saw the darkness as a curiosity, but as a immediate threat and I'd run back to or catch up to my tour group. This happened a few times because logically I knew there wasn't anything dangerous about just looking and admiring but I'd feel some desire to step in further each time then a jolt of anxiety would tell me to stop looking and get away each time. I'm a grown adult, not superstitious or religious in any way and a rational thinker, but I can only describe the feeling as the whispers of the woods luring me to come closer for a split second... I still think about that trip alot and have been wanting to go back to explore and experience more of Great Britain but in the back of my mind, I sometimes wonder if it's the pull of the woods who want me to come back, still beckoning me to come in from a continent and a ocean away.

[@osanneart9318]

This video gobsmacked me. The symbolic, thematic connections you draw, the poetic phrasings of terrifying concepts, I will probably come back and rewatch this multiple times to make notes. I'm writing an sci-fi anthology and one of the stories is a horror story set on a moonbase. There will be no forests. AND YET! This video was exactly what I needed; the terror of being alone somewhere where you can just be forgotten and disappear and never be found. This is such a terrifying theme that is exactly what my story was missing. The feeling of being so far out of your depth that you are beyond the point of no return and you need to learn to how to deal with being out of your depth and fast, or else you will be consumed by the great big Out There!

[@SkeletonBoi_53]

Another amazing video :)

[@CoopMy]

I was waiting to see you reference the game "Dark Wood" it really embodies this kind of video to a perfect T. Great video, both super scary and enticing.

[@a.morphous66]

I heard that Outer Wilds music you tried to sneak in, and it brings up how that game uses forests. On Timber Hearth the trees are a sign of safety and home, having been lovingly cultivated by your woodworking culture, their products supporting everything from the houses to your spaceship. Trees continue to be a point of respite throughout the other planets as they refill your oxygen. But there is one other place of life in the solar system; Dark Bramble is not only filled with living creatures but composed of a massive plant system, and it is the most inhospitable and terrifying environment in the game. Its fog and twisting arms represent the other side of the forest that the Hearthians have long since driven away -- and, disturbingly, one of its seeds has made its way to your world and threatens to transform it, for the eldritch dark is not quite ready to relinquish Timber Hearth. And if I may speak vaguely and as non-spoilery as possible of the ending, the trees of Timber Hearth return, though the comforting sun and starlight is gone. They are still a place of safety, but these woods are final, patiently waiting to take you in and lay you to rest.