"There will never be another Petscop..."

[@FTZPLTC]

"And now I am in jail in hell" is perhaps the best line ever written.

[@DickDickstein]

goodbye forever....

[@Garinovitch]

I laughed out at that line, it was so accurate to bad creepypastas I just love the idea of a JAIL in hell. Like eternal damnation in hell wasn't enough. You need to be in jail cell in hell as well lol

[@iridescentisaac3698]

oh no I can hear the Devil now coming, I have to go, goodbye for ever...

[@SmallAngryNerd]

followed closely by "I can't read, so..."

[@SuperFlashDriver]

@@Garinovitch What if I told you that it would most likely be purgatory, not really Jail, in hell. And in hell, you just burn up from ashes as the Devil is the one that laughs at you, not you laughing at the devil....Think about that the next time you mentioned hell underneath earth.

[@kingbash6466]

I love the contrast between AI Builds and Sheriff Domestic in this video. One is deep dive into suicidal thoughts, hallucinations, abuse, and the trauma that clearly affects the player, and the other is literally just an extended shitpost.

[@ter2364]

ah yes............ theres the content and then theres the fandom of that content

[@leo.6541]

bullet in the gun

[@doododaadoo8673]

AI Builds: Desperately trying to find a voice in your art will only result in depression. The life of an artist is a lonely and self-destructive one. Judging someone's art through comparisons is unfair and can lead to mental turmoil in the creator. Sheriff Domestic: disks are fucking awesome

[@Tetramare]

@@leo.6541 bullet gun gun in bullet in gun in gun bullet bullet in gun yeah!!!

[@KonroMan]

@@Tetramare do rap.

[@desthegamer2977]

Sheriff domestic is genuinely so funny it’s like finding game at a flea market hoping it’ll be spooky or something but then it’s just this

[@bone-spoof6666]

Yes

[@dangun2607]

BULLET BULLET AND GUN GUN AND BULLET YEAH

[@amor1064]

It's just so amusingly stupid. If not for the nonsensical humor I probably would've left this series behind.

[@Lonech]

....... oh no!! ...... uh oh OH NO AHHH-

[@oliver1820]

I havent laughed harder during a sagan vid until I saw the secret character mic up and be like "OH SHIIIIT" LOL

[@sidasterdisaster]

Cannot believe I laughed my ass off at “gun bullet gun gun” over the most bitcrushed beat I’ve heard in my life

[@SanrioHorror]

“GON. GON BULLET. Bullet IN GON”

[@_piranha]

It's the fact that they keeping putting the sound at the lowest possible quality, it's genuinely so dumb but funny

[@Sauerkraut404]

Lego movie moment

[@beguiling_]

god same. I didn't think my life would come to choking on my water because of 'GUN bullett Gunbult bullet bullet gun'

[@BeanieGoth]

@@SanrioHorror "GUN IN THE BULLET. UH"

[@regularcasanova7137]

You couldn't make petscop today. You'd release it and people would be like "Hey this is just Petscop, stop reposting."

[@carimede]

Is this a very ironical joke or a genuine commentary on how you'll get constantly compared to other projects

[@itsdreamless1205]

​@@carimede it's a riff on that, actually

[@yowch1081]

no it’s probably a riff on people going “you couldn’t make x today” (because this generation is too soft or something idk)

[@nope47997]

why are people trying to explain something that probably wasn't meant to be subjective?

[@rustyjones7908]

​@@carimedeit sounds like a Normal MacDonald joke

[@heyitzmae]

i love how sheriff domestic starts as a pretty clear parody of petscop and then by the end it’s just completely off the rails into crazy town

[@gabrieltallent1658]

Mr.Eye being so taken a back by Nicolas actually standing up to him that he has to pause the game like a streamer getting caught by a jumpscare is great.

[@TheOnePrinceMeatball]

Eye985

[@cowboyfrogthelord]

Timestamp?

[@gabrieltallent1658]

@@cowboyfrogthelord 1:36:04

[@benjistyles19]

bro thought he was markilplier 😂🤣😂😂🤣😂😇

[@omnipocket3055]

"I wish I had something to say about anything but I don't" is the best vocalization of creative anxiety that I've ever seen. Figure out how to kill that thought and you'll never have writer's block again.

[@suneater_zeef050]

i think the part where mr. Eye tricks Nicholas by saying his mom is coming home is also very potent; it's like he tries to recall pleasant childhood feelings, but ends up summoning hurt and trauma as he does it.

[@Laribhaven]

To me it kinda mimics re-experiencing a traumatic memory I had. This kinda out of body repetition of the scenario that just takes you out all the sudden and you're there on the brink of what had happen

[@spedsoft1869]

@@Laribhavengenuine question, how do you recognize in the moment that it’s happening and I guess “get back” when reliving? (So totally asking for a friend🫡)

[@bradmerilic6848]

@@spedsoft1869That’s almost an impossible question to answer because it’s different for everyone. If your friend isn’t in some form of therapy, I STRONGLY recommend they pursue it. And it may take them several therapists before they find someone they are truly comfortable with, but there is no one skill that you can use to snap out of that. It takes several tools that need to be learned, practiced, and repeated over and over to be able to not only recognize what’s going on, but to bring yourself back from that place.

[@sunnyd1722]

“Animal Investigator” finally made me realize Petscop is Pets Cop. I’ve only ever heard it said as one word.

[@ArmundJay]

oh my god my mind has been opened how did i never notice???

[@Quackervoltz]

WHAT

[@whymori1050]

oh my god it is

[@lionturbulence]

It could also be Pet Scop. Like, pet scope. Spotting pets.

[@sawcrab2249]

oohhh OOOOHHH

[@clementineshetheyfae8312]

AI builds might be one of the most realistic pieces of art covering suicidal thought and ideation I’ve ever seen. I have said those things to myself line by line in my darkest times. It is scary, stunning, painful, and breathtaking.

[@thevoicesaregettinglouder16]

I just take my anger out on trees

[@sidasterdisaster]

@@thevoicesaregettinglouder16 Minecraft Steve

[@V__Vahaa]

Truly a work of art!!

[@Sleepy_Cabbage]

@@thevoicesaregettinglouder16 what did those trees ever do to you

[@GrandpaTrout]

Completely agree. Those moments in the art feel so true to life and raw. At those moments, you are just so worn down, so broken down, so exhausted, and so lonely that you just want life to stop, and that hollow desperation just sits with you while you just say things like this.

[@frozarburst6350]

To call these Petscop clones is definitely an understatement. One is a self aware parody that isn't ashamed of what it is while AI Builds openly addresses the comparisons and struggles artists face when trying to make something original purely out of their own mind. Both have their own themes, styles, and story, and while they're inspired by Petscop and other ARG's, they're not copying anything. They're just making something new out of em

[@ImTheGuy]

Sagan really got out a Petscop 2 before pyro did. Love to see it.

[@Hoovy-uf3vx]

HUGE petscop 2 drama

[@SetariM]

petscop2 battle royale

[@ohamatchhams]

Heck, I'm still even waiting for his promised Cruelty Squad video on top of his next promised Fear and Hunger video too (and Fear and Hunger mechanics, thematics and lore starts to be analysed by so more and more youtubers as times goes on lol) Like I get it that he said that he need to pay hefty amount of commissions for his skits, but I do think that he could do it ala his Utopia video but waaaaaaay shorter instead, even he could milk it into 2-3 parts too, considering of how many young generations attention spans got warped horribly by tiktok culture

[@GoogieBuiscut]

​@@ohamatchhams most if any all of his vids are at least an hour. Fans of these genres love indepth videos

[@Squideny]

​@Al-Insan its coming out by the end of his month, just waiting on people to send their voice lines, hes currently working on My house.wad while he waits, so the next video wont take as long to make

[@hyperlinkblocked7053]

A lot of people don't understand how terrifying the display of abuse that Mr. Eye portrays is so real, as a former victim of abuse there is a lot to say about it *especially* how well it gets incorporated, shivers down my spine from that sweet-talking to immediate anger when relenting

[@PancakeTheKat]

Mr. Eye seems like he’s Nicholas’ father, and after his mother died(I’m guessing from the hospital scene and the green pills but I’m not finished with the breakdown of AI builds), he started abusing Nick. Every time Mr. Eye speaks it reminds me of a father who’s abusing his son, lovebombing then berading nick, possibly under the influence.

[@hyperlinkblocked7053]

@@PancakeTheKat What a good take on this! I genuinley believe this is an amazing write thanks for sharing! Genuinley scary how realistic it portrays it

[@PancakeTheKat]

@@hyperlinkblocked7053 thank you! Plus, I love your spamton profile

[@AyaDaBerry]

Yup it genuinely brought back some repressed memories of my abuse aswell. It felt so good when nick finally takes back control from Mr. Eye

[@hyperlinkblocked7053]

@@PancakeTheKat I love you.

[@LunaWitcherArt]

I'm here for using your friend's platform to have a way to show the masses the TWO-HOUR script that you wrote but don't necessarily have the clout to post yourself. Friend solidarity ❤

[@LadyMapi]

I'm imagining that it went something like this: *Friend:* Hey, Sagan, I've been working on a script about spooky stuff. Could you record it for me? It's not that long. *Sagan:* Sure, why not? *Friend:* _Slams a ~157 page script on the table._ *Sagan:* Oh.

[@mycelium_moss]

that's why i post drawings on my partner's telegram channel instead of my own lol

[@coolguybro421]

My long-lost brother the letter c

[@alchemysaga3745]

​@@LadyMapi probably was more like Friend: -slams 157~ page script- Sagan: "Oh. _Oh,_ hell yeah!"

[@saramichal433]

Lnomlv

[@GrandpaTrout]

I will say, his acting is beyond belief in this. He perfectly portrays an incredibly depressed, broken spirit. I spent 4 days in a mental hospital after I nearly made a very awful choice and his breakdowns in the video were genuinely hard to listen to because it felt so real, and I've been there. It's a terrible place to be mentally and him acting these scenes out so true to life is underrated.

[@LG_XD]

Stay strong stranger 💪

[@FolstrimHori]

I spent a month in a mental health unit and I thought his acting was atrocious. I don't fault him for it though since it was their first stint at acting, and its clumsiness kinda served well to the context of the videos.

[@GrandpaTrout]

@@FolstrimHori grief and sorrow look different for different folks I suppose. In my eyes, he portrayed something I identified with.

[@rustyjones7908]

I had a good time in the nuthouse. Food that wasn't fast food garbage, got to sleep for the first time in months, arts and crafts. Sucks I had to leave because I had 2 grown-ass adults I had to financially support.

[@michellechair]

it feels EXACTLY like when i had a psychotic episode, honestly. the way that mr. eye acted was so similar to the type of voices i heard and the way my brain acted when i dealt with that. the erratic nature of your thoughts, the way it always loops back to self-destruction and trauma...it's horrifying. hope you're doing better now, friend :] i was in a mhu for 10 days after my psychotic break (thankfully it didn't get so bad that i attempted anything) so i completely understand the struggle. it's a terrible place to be in

[@CrimsonDoesStuff]

Sherriff Domestic is unironically one of the funniest series I've ever seen. The gun rap made me laugh so hard, the constantly changing art styles are so unique, and the "inspiration" from Petscop just makes this feel even more ridiculous. It still has parts that actually make me feel a little uncomfortable, like "Dave" brushing their teeth and slowly looking over. So much of that series is really funny and surprisingly well made. I still have to finish watching the video, but so far, I can say that Petscop's style will likely never be run into the ground. It requires too much effort to replicate casually. Hopefully.

[@allisond1645]

The fact that all of the dialogue in AI builds is improvised is insane to me. Like, that's just another level of talent.

[@yourlocalcryptidd]

Wait really? That's incredible.

[@mr.x6313]

Eh, it’s not really that remarkable. It’s pretty mediocre, actually.

[@ronniewhitedx]

He gets most of his ideas from dreams too! So he probably has an outline of what he wants to do and instead of scripting it he just speaks from a place of experience inhabiting that dream. As someone who is fortunate enough to have created a dream world (a plane of reality that I go back to every night) from a very young age I relate very much to this. I've been inspired lately to get better at digital art that way I can actually express this.

[@yourlocalcryptidd]

@@ronniewhitedx that sounds so cool

[@liviwaslost]

@@mr.x6313😑

[@arii9355]

As someone who's had experience with psychosis, I definitely read AI builds that way while I was watching. The hallucinations, dark thoughts, suffocating feeling, ethereal connection to your past and sense of self, among other things was viscerally real. It's one of the better depictions of it I've seen.

[@DickDickstein]

You sound pretty interesting. 🙂

[@strawberrycrisis5592]

So much this. AI Builds hit me from a very real place that I wasn't expecting. It really felt like they understand.

[@TristanJadex]

I second. This is the most scarily accurate depiction I've seen of psychosis, to the point where the creator must have intense experience with it

[@PwnageSoldier]

I completely agree with you. With the limited(?) cases of psychosis I've had, this feels like the closest representation of it I've ever seen in any art form.

[@Vkpz]

1:21:00

[@JTHMRulez1]

I love how Sheriff Domestic is so absolutely nonsensical that it somehow stumbles into a story

[@toasterbunnie295]

opposite of fnaf lol

[@CraftingGummi]

Reminds me of a dumb tangent me and my friend went on where it went from me yelling “communism!” in a Toad voice (from Mario) to a full on plotline about a three-way war in the mushroom kingdom with a full plot. What even happened.

[@togeluga_the_cat]

this gives me vibes of a shitty mobile horror game i found it was so low quality and broken that it ended up being scary for all the wrong reasons the monster had no animations and was on a static pose just sliding towards me the music was a short loop of one weird strain of notes reapeted several times in confusing and diferent ways there was no clear goal in mind or visible to see, only option was to walk around to avoid the monster on a flat surface with white untextured walls and a low cealing boxing you in it just felt like a fever dream just playing it getting caught only made a loud sound play and you return to the starting point but nothing realy reset the monster still was on the same spot he caught me on and was still following me and getting stuck facing a wall as he allways knew where i was and was trying to get me until i made a simple misrake and led the thing to the starting point and it caught me, then imediatly after i was caught the monster was on top of the starting point wich meant that each godam pico second the monster would cath me and play the sound that shit was loud and deafening so i just muted the audio on my phone and quit this happend a long long time ago i dont remenber jack shit other then what happend in the game. still find it weird how un-intentionaly scary it was

[@RyuakiraX]

Also its' music slaps.

[@eldritch_midnight6007]

​@@danielbueno8474he was also pretty drunk when he said that lol

[@peterparkersass]

The acting for Nicholas is absolutely insane holy shit

[@rhagahdhdhdn]

The acting in AI Builds was incredible, really felt like I was spying on something incredibly personal. One thing that really hit me hard was the age options of 10 and 21. As someone who has experienced a traumatic event, it truly does feel like a part of you is stuck at that age forever. He also exhibits some childish tendencies throughout the series, one example being his pettiness towards his brother. Just that notion that some part of you will always be that little kid really punched me right in the heart.

[@sorryoutlandish]

i’ve never heard anyone else describe this feeling i’ve long had, but i’m glad it’s been put into words and better yet, that others have experienced it too. for me, the age is 13 (right before my 14th birthday). it feels like a part of me died during that time, and that part of me is forever stuck at 13 years old. i’m 21 now (will be 22 later this year) and that feeling still greatly lingers. i don’t know what to do about it, and i don’t know if there will ever be anything i can do, but the best i can do is try to take care of that 13 year old me to the best of my ability

[@asterling4]

​@@sorryoutlandish that is absolutely a normal way to respond to intense trauma. a lot of trauma-induced dissociative disorders result in something really similar, which is one of the reasons why "reparenting" can be so effective for childhood trauma survivors. keep taking care of 13yo the best you can, they deserved so much better. you're doing great and i believe in you ❤

[@sorryoutlandish]

@@asterling4 i am glad to hear that. i can’t really explain what happened to me from when i was 13 til about 20, but it really felt like an intense derealization/dissociation. it would explain a lot. i had prolonged/repeated trauma during this time after that huge traumatic event that happened when i was 13, and it would make sense that this would be some attempt by my brain to escape what was going on, since i didn’t have a physical escape. i haven’t yet worked up the courage to attend therapy, but ive read about reparenting and i’ve been trying to apply it. i suspect i may be autistic, so ive been trying to attend to my needs, the same needs i had as a child in an incomprehensible neurotypical world that went completely under the radar and completely unmet. it’s worked somewhat. i’ve broken out of the intense dissociation, but it still affects me from time to time. it’s all a work in progress, and i’ll hopefully be getting some professional help. but in the meanwhile, im glad that i found a work of art that has been able to perfectly describe these scary and damaging feelings ive been feeling for a very long time now

[@rhagahdhdhdn]

coming back to this a year later. the interpretation of mr. eye as a being that may have good intentions but instead only hurts nicholas is really interesting. i know that my ptsd symptoms are really just my brain trying to protect me in the only ways it knows how. however, it has really only managed to disrupt my life and cause me harm. listening to nicholas struggle to breathe whenever mr. eye is present really reminded me of how it feels to have flashbacks and panic attacks. i also have a tendency to avoid sleep and constantly keep myself busy (like nicholas in ai builds) due to wanting to avoid nightmares or having to actually sit with my thoughts. overall, i think ai builds is so great because it can be personal in so many different ways to people. seeing other people talk about how they also related to nicholas because of their experiences in an abusive household or because they grew up with mental health issues is really interesting.

[@MonteScarf]

AI Builds is utterly horrific on a level you can only create through personal experience. It is very clear that the creator, or someone they know very well, has had major difficulties with trauma and depression. Couple that with some genuinely skin-crawling choking sounds and acting, and damn good visuals, and you have a brilliant work of art.

[@cloudsaysthings]

AI Builds really, truly struck a cord with me. I relate to so many of the struggles that Nicholas faces. The desire to be original, the desire to keep working, the nagging feeling like your worth is tied to your productivity, and his struggles with mental health. Thank you for introducing me to this series, because seeing those struggles be turned into something beautiful is... well, inspiring!

[@poisonouslead85]

Let me tell you a secret: Originality is the lie we tell ourselves. Go be a hack. Go be the hackiest hack to ever hack. Even the greats think they're hacks. The ones who don't are in denial. Just go read more different stuff than everyone else. Like the 4 Chinese classics. That's a canon that the western creators have never read and there's a lot of storytelling to be learned in those books.

[@AmbassadorBreadloaf]

The OST in Star Wars is hardly original, and yet it's considered legendary. Snow White wasn't originally made by Disney, but it's still a classic. Plagiarism and copying others doesn't automatically disqualify your work from being worth *something* to *someone,* whether that be yourself or others.

[@sorryoutlandish]

AI Builds really struck something raw for me as well, and the connections I found to myself were startling. Im trying to write a fantasy book series. It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was 12, and will probably be my life’s work. That desire to be original, to keep working, and having your worth as a person be tied to your work. They have iron grips on me at times, and in my worst times felt like those obsessions would drive me insane. And not even to mention losing my dad to addiction when I was 13 (not dead, as far as I know. He left my life, practically overnight. Kinda felt like he had died tho). I struggled greatly with my mental health over the years. Everything mixed together led me to very destructive behavior, and hearing Nicholas’s mental breakdowns and suicidal ideation felt all too real. It felt like my life was being told by someone else, a complete stranger. It was a very surreal feeling, one I can’t describe all too well to be honest. I couldn’t be more thankful for being introduced to this series. All of it means so much to me

[@suneater_zeef050]

the acting for Nicholas in AI builds is _incredible_, i feel for the man so much it makes the series genuenly hard to watch. it's some high quality stuff. scared me quite a bit p.s. good portrayal of film students, too

[@myxini]

The acting is phenomenal especially for this sort of media. I'm sad that I hadn't heard of this series before. Really hit me hard just watching the summary.

[@Beccanin]

100% agree, genuinely scared me at points because of how much it felt like it was real despite the knowledge it isn't.

[@leon_atrewo]

I really really hope the creator IRL is doing fine :(

[@suneater_zeef050]

@@leon_atrewo oh god, yeah

[@leon_atrewo]

@@suneater_zeef050 actually, I'm listening to the interview with him on Nightmare Masterclass right now, and it's pretty fascinating :) (he said that Nicholas was a very "played up" character based on a part of him which incapsulates the loneliness of being a creator)

[@vanirie434]

I like the takeaway that "originality" is about as transient as "genuineness". People often give the advice that the way to make friends is to just "be yourself!" and a lot of people end up taking that advice and becoming someone with no boundaries who is a drain on people around them because they're letting their every whim and passing misery rule their social interactions. People think that "being themselves" when they're depressed is... the misery, when the reality is that we are more than our moods and more than our tastes. I definitely feel like more people should make art and try art and see what it brings out in them even if they make derivative things or poor-quality things or any other number of "bad" art because art is such a fantastic tool for getting to know *ourselves*. Why did this inspire me? Why do I want to make this? Is the reason I am giving to myself making me feel like I want to make it more? :) I'm really glad you chose to go ahead with the production of this video. A fantastic job was done both in highlighting the influences and finding common threads between Sheriff Domestic, AI Bullds, and the act of working within an established genre.

[@darkychao]

I just want to point out that I believe the "Congratulations! Y-" voice that loops at the end of that Sheriff Domestic video is the "Congratulations! You won!" voice used on countless scam pop-up/banner ads from the early late 90s-early 00s internet websites.

[@FusashiYuraka]

My take on Mr. Eye and the pills from my own battles with depression, "Self-Check-Out" thoughts, young life struggles with ADHD, having the shittiest father this side of life (Dude was a user of his own peddled drugs, all that needs to be said), and a mother that was complacent on the abuse: To me, Mr. Eye is a sort of coping method. The main character had shunted off all his trauma and pain into a dark part of his mind, trying to block it all out, only for it to once again rear its head and cause him pain because he hasn't faced it and overcome it, only run from it. To me Mr. Eye isn't the villain here, its himself. Mr. Eye is trying to get him to accept the trauma, the pain, and the nightmares and face them, to overcome them. Mr. Eye has a constant theme of 'Let me in' and 'Hatred' for Nic, and to me its a mix of taking the role of his father and the mental anguish hes been saddled with, an anguish that he knows in the back of his mind, he has to face hence its persistence. Even if its obviously not a kind role hes taking, hes taking it none the less. Hes standing in for the abuse his father caused and mother allowed to take place so that Nic can face it in his older years now. Nic's choking and gasping for air sounds to me like a very violent panic attack. A debilitating one stemming from the mental scarring hes been subjected to and now must endure. The scene of the page burning even has him starting to have one, but he forces his way through it and overcomes 'Mr. Eye'. The laughter sounds manic in some way, but to me, as someone who has had a breakthrough and overcome my own childhood mental baggage, I too laughed in that way a bit at the time when I finally accepted the past was the past. Its a euphoric feeling when you feel a weight thats been pushing your mind down into the mud for most of your life finally be pushed off. As for the pills, I feel that the pills aren't exactly meant to be taken as a straight 1 for 1. My belief is that they simply symbolize the act of taking a medication. Anti-depressants can lose effectiveness with time and age, and maybe this pill is to show that hes on them and they are no longer working like they should, which lends credence as to why the painting of one was shown in front of mountain face between him and the face if the face really is that of his father after death. Which is why he now has to face all those negative thoughts that he says himself and that Mr. Eye berates him with. Every thing that Both have said that sound of the preamble of "Self-Check-Out" I have said to myself a few times in the past, INCLUDING vocally lamenting that people love me while also spouting out the contradictory happiness that they do, usually followed with that I would keep going on for them. I had my own 'Mr. Eye' though not so much a aggressive force in my mind, rather my coping method was to make two mental images so to speak. One was a man I thought was everything that I wanted to be, kind, caring, loving, patient, and able to carry anything on his shoulders. And a lady that was everything I hated about myself, always angry, spiteful, sadistic, you get it. As a kid I made them be brother and sister, with her always hating the brother and wanting him dead while the brother loved her with all his heart and only wanted the best for her. It took many many years of living with those mental images, those mental constructs until my middle school days for me to realize that I made them brother and sister while a child because they were supposed to be a reflection of my mind in a way that I could process as a child, the brother being who I actively worked to be (The opposite of my father). The sister being who I dreaded becoming, A copy of my father, and spreading the same pain to others that he spread to me. I think it was my first year of high school and my first exposure to psychology that made me put the pieces together... and from there I had to do a lot of facing that sister, but unlike Nic here, I had the brother to help me face my torments, an ideal and grounding against the storm so to speak.

[@AracheNerd]

i completely feel the same way. ive also had a lot of trouble with my depression and especially with the shitty father stuff?? the comics about him hiding behind his door brought me to tears. i really love your analysis of the series!!

[@0nullnil]

Idk how this comment hasn't gotten more likes...

[@Traveler_202]

Big agree with you, at the end of the series when Nic leaves the house after deciding that the comic about his trama was “nothing” mr eye vanishes, I think that makes it pretty clear that that mr eye is a direct manifestation of trama, Nic literally decides his trama can’t hurt him anymore and it disappears. Now the thing that sort of fucks this is the entire film student parts but that ambiguous isn’t in the timeline and possibly just a massive shitpost overall.

[@mattaffenit9898]

Long, but interesting to read. I have a similar profile, albeit still different - chronic depression and various acute anxieties, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, et cetera. No complaints with my dad, though. Weird as hell and probably gave me my... shall we say morbid sense of humor, but he's a good guy. Dealt with a lot of abuse from my peers, though, both physically and psychologically. Teachers and other adults that weren't my parents hardly did anything about it either. Grew up pretty much constantly having to watch over my shoulder, to fight, to try and avoid the worst of the abuse by being scary enough that my tormentors would leave me alone. Where I coped at all, I did so by going into a berserk frenzy and either smashing whatever was around me or pummeling whatever was setting me off until I got pulled off of them or the adrenaline wore off. As I noted above, though, there wasn't much processing done. Mostly, I just took what happened at face value and kept moving forward. Probably in part from being on the Autism Spectrum. I've always had a difficult time really understanding a lot of human emotion, even when it's something I actually feel strongly and often. If something is, then it is. It doesn't matter to me if it _should_ be unless you can _make_ it not be, even if it's awful, whether or not I like it, it just is. I'll probably fight it anyway if it harms me or those around me out of pure spite, because... well, I'm a spiteful bastard. But I don't expect people to treat me like a person until they've done so, and I don't expect decency or civility until someone's demonstrated the ability to do so. As far as current coping methods - I pour as much of my raw emotion as possible into creative pursuits. It helps keep the anger in check. Putting together and painting miniatures, writing, doing worldbuilding for tabletop RPGs, et cetera. Also gets dumped into my academic and personal study of history, including historical armed combat techniques as a hobby. Otherwise, I just try to contain it all until I can safely vent it.

[@poisonouslead85]

There's definitely a degree of "Fucking FIGHT ME" going on with Mr. Eye. Mr. Eye is always keeping pressure on the pain points. He never tries to connect with Nicholas. He wants Nicholas to hurt and to become angry through that pain. An abuser takes the time to sweeten up to you, an abuser doesn't want you to know what to make of him. Mr. Eye very clearly wants Nicholas to hate him and to swing back. I have more of a predatory mindset so I'm looking at Mr. Eye from my perspective and I don't see an abuser, I see someone trying to start a serious fight. Like "at least one of us is going to die" serious.

[@bickieeeeee]

oh my lord those noises of him choking when the pill appeared were actually so gruesome i actually had to turn my volume down

[@chocobear4078]

It made me feel so uncomfortable

[@sorryoutlandish]

I couldn’t listen to it, I had to turn the volume down. It sounded… way too real, like a bit more life left with every gasp. Incredible acting, no other way to say it

[@-tera-3345]

There's one thing about the medicine in AI Builds that I think may have gotten lost in the analysis: the one constantly persuading Nicholas to stop taking the medicine is Mr. Eye, an obviously malevolent actor. And he's not just warning about overdose, he appears to be trying to get Nicholas to avoid it altogether. Could it be that the medicine helps keep Nicholas stable such that Mr. Eye cannot influence him? My immediate reaction was that it was some kind of antipsychotic that prevents Nicholas from hallucinating or something. While at the same time, I've heard of cases where people taking things like antidepressants and antipsychotics have the way they think affected in some negative way. For example, they lose their inspiration or creativity and don't want to keep taking the medicine because they can no longer think right.

[@Thor-Orion]

I’m bipolar and the medications completely destroy my creativity and make me feel like a robot. Which is why I don’t take them. I deal with the depressive phases in different ways now, depending on how bad and how long they are. This is obviously very different from anti-psychotics or other medications for mental disorders, so I can only really speak to my own personal experience.

[@ModernEphemera]

@@Thor-Orion Uh, yeah, that’s very different from anti-psychotics for schizophrenics.

[@mr.j3rs3y]

Oh god I really hope my meds aren’t destroying my creativity. I haven’t felt like me in a long time. All my creativity, motivation, and drive is gone when I just want to draw something. Make ideas, etc

[@NoraNekos7]

​@@mr.j3rs3yI do believe that you can maaaaaaybe ask for different meds?

[@michellechair]

​@@ModernEphemera no they're not really that different at all. bipolar people can definitely be prescribed the same anti-psychotics as schizophrenic individuals and they often experience psychosis too!

[@acno1901]

Bro your friend did a hell of a good job writing a script and you did a good job of narrating it

[@Nearigami]

AI Builds has always stuck with me even more than Petscop. When it came out I was in a part of my life where every creation I ever made reeked of insecurity and wondering if all ideas I had were just inferior ripoffs of far better works. I had never seen a work of art that tackled that specific fear so clearly and it hit me to my core when I least expected it. I still think about it even as I grow more confident in what I make. If Alex reads this, genuinely AI Builds has stuck with me more than you know, and if you decide to finish it I’ll be waiting!

[@sorryoutlandish]

i remember watching AI Builds for the first time about a year ago, and i was truly rattled to my core with just how much this series spoke to my personal life. from the abuse and trauma from parental figures (specifically father figures), to substance abuse and suicide, to dissociation, the obsessive need to be productive and original, to even the 10/21 age split (for me, it’s 13/21). it felt like i was watching someone else retell my life, someone that was a complete stranger to me yet was able to faithfully portray even the most intimate details of my struggles with mental health, severe trauma, and creative works. i’ve been trying to write my own fantasy series from the time i was 12 and for the longest time, i was riddled with an intense self-doubt and insecurity regarding creativity, feeling every single idea i had was just a cheap rip-off of someone who had already done it and better than me. it’s such a soul-crushing feeling, and it’s all-consuming. mix that with the obsessive need to work and produce, this intense connection between your works and your personal worth… god it’s just awful. and i’ve never seen any work of art be able to portray this as accurately as AI Builds. since watching it (and with some global events they’ve happened in the last year), i feel like i’ve been finally able to break through this crippling insecurity and like nicholas, find my voice in the world of art. if you’re still working on creative endeavors, then i hope you’re able to do the same if you haven’t 🩵

[@TindraSan]

"Loser" spelled with an Ö actually means "solving" in Swedish and is pronounced "luhh-ser", which I just find kinda funny

[@Ryuu28_voidgames]

I think that the “this game i found” horror genre is the scariest to me, it’s because these types of series feel so real. They don’t feel like a horror web series but an actual series of videos showing a very real game. The people playing feel like real people uploading to a youtube channel. 10/10 content

[@mill_ania]

Genuinely the discussion regarding art originality is superbly done and the nuance is true. There are no truly "original" art, or even idea, in the world. What matters (at least, IMO) is to make your creations distinct, no matter how derivative.

[@Thor-Orion]

Outsider art is a good example of stuff that is very “original.” It’s often difficult for others to really sink their teeth into because of how outside normal conventions of art it is, which brings into the conversation questions about how we analyze and understand art in the first place.

[@zaprowsdower4938]

Just listening to Seirasong's bit on "the color blue" and, oh fucking god. You can just feel from what he said the everything he takes from himself and puts into his work. Diminish has that exact same voice, that exact same energy during its brightest moments. I love this dude, what a treasure.

[@shortking-vp9vv]

From the perspective of someone with ADHD and social anxiety, Mr. Eye reminds me of the generally unhelpful thought patterns I developed as a child that followed me into adulthood. It’s hard to shake those things. You feel like you need them, because you don’t know how to act without them. Nicholas yoyoing between mania, depression, and fatigue with brief flashes of euphoria is something relatable to me and probably others with mental illness. Recovery isn’t linear, sometimes you think you’re doing well just to fall back into the same old shit. Like how Mr. Eye will let up, only to find some way to crawl back in again.

[@doreenlarson5849]

I must say, as an artist myself, your interpretation of AI Builds as an artist stressed with he creation process was the most impactful to me. The idea of needing to put your trauma into your art or it will just feel derivative is something I’ve struggled with a lot myself, especially as someone who enjoys media about trauma as a way of processing my own. I wrote down a note in my sketchbook while watching the summary of AI Builds “everything i make is derivative, so i can’t see why people love me”, which was the strongest take away for me, as it’s related to my own struggles. As someone who’s been artistic since childhood you feel pressured to create, so many people have been praising your drawings since you could barely hold a pencil, so you can’t let them down, anything you end up creating can’t just “be okay” it has to be something standout or you’ll disappoint everyone who once praised you. The piece of the story about the character’s brother mocking them for making a derivative game by making a parody really hurts, when you enjoy a piece of media and just want to make fancontent you get a sense it’s wrong and you NEED to make something original for it to have worth in the eyes of those who once praised you as a kid for having endless creativity.

[@a-morgan-l]

This hit hard for me because while this wasn't me growing up, it was absolutely my brother and he really struggled with it. He didn't get praise or affection very often and when he did it was usually about his art, and I remember once when we were kids he had this massive panic attack shouting at me about it and I was too young to really understand it, but it stuck with me that being better than me at something was actually giving him a really hard time in a way I never had to deal with. Expecting parents should get a free mandatory class on how to not give their kid a complex lmao.

[@liselotteline8596]

I've learned that it's better to praise or criticize a child by commenting on the thing they did instead of making it about their character. For example, it's better to say: "This drawing is very creative." Instead of, "You are very creative." Because children connect compliments or criticism with their character. So if they think their creations isn't good enough or if someone doesn't praise them enough, they think they failed as a person instead of just creating something that is slightly less than usual. By praising or criticizing creation instead of character, they learn that every project is unrelated to the others and to their character. So a failed project is just a failed project instead of the child being a disappointment, or failure. They can create a better project next time. I try to give some other examples, please excuse the text wall, but it's really important to me. If you tell a kid that they are smart, they get disappointed, feel stupid or think they disappointed you if they fail a test. It's better to tell a kid this was a smart answer, solution, etc. when they do something smart. If they do something stupid, or fail a test, they won't associate it as a character flaw and see it more as an occasional event. Instead of saying: "You are so tidy." Say: "Your room is very tidy, I like the way you organized it." When the time comes that their room is a mess, they won't become insecure about it, and think they are a mess themselves. They learn that the room is just in a temporarily state that can be fixed. Instead of saying: "You are mean." Say: "That was mean, don't yell at your siblings. Talk to them, the way you want to get talked to." It's important to teach children confidence and self awareness, but it's better to praise or criticize the outcome, instead of their character. That's why some people become offended by critique. They take critique as a personal insult, instead of constructive criticism of their work. They learned that failure is a character flaw instead of a normal part of creation. But failure is an important part of a process. I'd say that failure can even be a sign of originality, curiosity and ambition. So if someone often fails, it doesn't mean that they are a failure themselves. They probably just deal with unknown things, without a blueprint. Which is pretty impressive.

[@iris.morgan]

I’m someone who’s VERY hard to scare. But AI Builds literally gave me a stomachache. Let me tell you this wasn’t the right video to try and fall asleep to. I had to get up and make some food 😔

[@V__Vahaa]

I'm an anxious eater too and literally had to grab some food to finish ai builds

[@TylerNovakYT]

So what did you guys eat?

[@bassboostwoof6123]

@@TylerNovakYT Personally, when i feel anxious, I need a peanut butter n jelly to calm down haha

[@iris.morgan]

@@TylerNovakYT I made like 9 pancakes and ate them all LMAO

[@yourlocalcryptidd]

The tension and themes were making me so anxious that I had to switch to another video to actually fall asleep. I was also a bit too invested which made it even harder for me to sleep with it on 😅

[@AyaDaBerry]

Ai build is genuinely so accurate to things that ive dealt with such as addiction, trauma, suicidal ideation, and being manipulated. The scenes for introvert island genuinely gave me so much goosebumps and it felt so cathartic when nick finally took back control. Also.... broooo i used to take fluoxitine, i stopped because it didnt help at all

[@RRDino]

FINALLY! Sheriff Domestic is getting the recognition it deserves! GODSPEED PICKLE CHIN

[@Sedric-and-Charlie]

I've always assumed the pills in AI Builds in some way help to suppress Mr Eye. Maybe Nicholas is concerned that they stifle his creativity, or that he'll go the same way as his father, but they help keep the monster at bay in turn, hence why Mr Eye wants them out of the picture (also creating a perceived link between Eye himself and Nicholas's creativity)

[@Sparkle8205]

I kinda thought Animal Investigator was about an abusive father and the son’s trauma to overcome it. My dad (and mom, majority my father though) was extremely abusive especially when I was little, so I picked up the signs of the abuse in AI almost immediately. I was also a gifted kid and have adhd, autism, depression and anxiety so I almost immediately picked up on that as well.

[@PwnageSoldier]

Same here, happened to me with the psychosis. Sometimes you just feel something is treading ground that's too familiar to you

[@techwizsmith7963]

Lots of people use teams to work, letting your friend present your work on their popular channel based on that exact thing just means you've joined the team. Good quality

[@goosekevin420]

Can we just appreciate Sagan's editing? Or, if it's not him, whoever is editing! Because I've just started the video, but the Petscop inspired title was so well done, I just have to give them props! All of Sagan's videos are super well edited, so I hope they keep it up!

[@stupid_MEVKA]

AI builds is one of my favourite unfiction projects. Thank you for covering it!

[@aziebites]

The last two sections of this video were absolutely stellar!! It's so easy as someone who makes Things to get caught up in what is or isn't art or what is or isn't considered original by people who don't even know you. Just make what makes you happy and some people will like it and some people won't. People were made to create at the end of the day. It's good to make things.

[@TheClarkOfficial]

i fucking love AI Builds so happy it's finally getting recognition

[@enviisyk]

Even though it's about more things than just this subject, I don't think I've ever seen a piece of media that captures what it's like being a mentally ill artist struggling with feeling unfulfilled/unoriginal with your art like AI Builds it's kinda scary how weirdly relatable it is in some ways(Ironically, I have clinical depression and ADHD, along with other things). It's so easy when putting your art/work out there and even getting critiqued for it, whether or not it's in good or bad faith, to just spiral because of it. And taking heavy inspiration from things and feeling as though you'll never make anything original. And trying to channel your suffering into inspiration for your work. I also feel as though Mr. Eye in some ways represents the doubt that many ""tortured"" artists feel: the need to create something meaningful and poignant but the perfectionism and that comes along with it and horrific steps they can take to try to get there. Also when I heard PCP, I thought it was a reference to the drug, possibly alluding to what Nicholas or his father is/was addicted to, and also has hallucinogenic effects, but that could most certainly be a reach.

[@verityisoki]

I can relate to Sheriff Domestic as my best friend is also a gun, great video glad I got to watch it early through my patreon privileges

[@rogerphone481]

nice

[@timothyt666]

mr rich man.

[@mr.personalspace7831]

Do you brush your teeth using your best friend?

[@aradiati0n]

​@@mr.personalspace7831damn.......i dont think an apology video can save this one

[@buttermeat6529]

Man, I didn't know I needed this video, the second half especially, until now. AI Builds in particular really hit close to home in several ways and the original art portion was really inspiring as someone who struggles a lot with motivation for creative endeavours. You and your friend are pretty cool. :))

[@necrolog3797]

The quality, quantity and duration of the videos you push out is nothing short of hard work. Thank you.

[@gracellab624]

At the start of the Sheriff Domestic breakdown I was passively listening (It was mainly background noise for me) but the further into the story you went the more genuinely invested in the story i got eventually I was solely watching the video lmao

[@invadertomatocontinued2262]

Holy shit!! Never thought I’d see somebody cover Sheriff Domestic and the other Petscop parodies. You and your friend did an amazing job

[@echoing-music]

On the topic of AI Builds, it is extremely accurate for a lot of those themes. It's almost scary how real the depression is portrayed and it seems like the series in itself is a kind of Mr. Eye, in the sense that it serves as a constant reminder of how I felt during the pandemic, and how I'm sure many others felt and still do feel. I was very touched by the series, whether it be a small series inspired by Petscop, it stands on it's own for me. Petscop was always effective, but never like AI Builds in my opinion.

[@szczypior2714]

I want you to know that you're one of the 4 channels I have full notifications on. I've watched your FNAF retrospective like 10 times in full, and some of the other ones several times as well. They make hour long bus rides to and from my university feel not like a waste of time, but a relaxing and interesting experience. You really are doing great work and it's not going unnoticed.

[@arabidllama]

Some sage advice I once heard on originality in creativity - "Whatever you make should have 1/3 new stuff, 1/3 improved stuff, and 1/3 old stuff". Obviously a loose rule, but the idea is that anything approachable or understandable will need to be rooted in *something*, and there's always lots of tropes that are "tropes" because they work! A majority of your project can be things that have been seen before, so long as you make a lot of them better or surprising or delightful in some way, and then the 1/3 that's totally new and you're really excited about has all this runway to work with because you know people are following.

[@eyesopod]

keeping this vague but i used to make a bit of (personal) fan content for a series i was really into, and it reached the point where i was tired of my ideas being confined by the sources, so i branched out and made this content my own. and i spent a whole year trying to distance myself from the original as much as possible before hitting a lot of burn out. those two sections at the end have given me a huge boost of inspiration and energy to get back to what i made and sort out what i do and dont want, without caring too much about if its "different enough." so thank you :0)

[@DarkGaia92305]

Seirea’s speech of originality is absolutely amazing

[@PwnageSoldier]

AI Builds is genuinely such a masterpiece, as I can fully relate to this media in my own way. Mental illnesses are absolutely horrific, and this art piece is an extremely good insight in how it may feel. To bring my own thoughts to the table, it's possible that his psychosis may have been caused from such severe stress and the deprivation of what your body needs to function that your mind completely starts to fracture completely. I got this impression because it feels similar to my own real world experiences. Depression can become an absolute nightmare all on it's own if you're constantly overwhelmed, stressed, sleep deprived and isolated, as your own mind starts to turn inward and completely lose touch with reality due to complete chaos of the situation.

[@michellechair]

exactly. the way that the game and the little tv show segment were acting as a subconscious and ego-dystonic stream of thought felt exactly like my own experience with psychosis. your brain just operates completely on its own sometimes, spitting out random things and horrifying you by making it feel like someone else is putting those things into your mind

[@vanirie434]

I also love the choice of having the Great Wave off Kanagawa lightpiece in the background during the conversation about art, profit and originality because it's such a fascinating example of commercialisation of art creating more, new, exciting kind of art. It's a fitting visual especially for the "Exit through the Giftshop" part of the conversation.

[@2channelfudanshi]

Since u asked for ppls opinions who actually have these experiences! I'm just gonna say as a schizophrenic person just watching ai builds I was seeing alot of things I related to. Especially since I have early onset shizophrenia the "imaginary friends" of nick are similar to my experience. The imaginary friends I had as a kid became my hallucinations as a teenager / adult. Also! Mister eye is super familiar to me since I also have eye hallucinations. And i would like to say age regression is of course in nicks case probably caused by trauma but many shizo ppl experience age regression. I'm gonna stop now hehe

[@sarahmanning8758]

Average Idia Shroud pfp

[@2channelfudanshi]

@@sarahmanning8758 bro what

[@sarahmanning8758]

@@2channelfudanshi Average. Idia. Shroud. Pfp.

[@2channelfudanshi]

@@sarahmanning8758 wtf does that mean

[@sarahmanning8758]

@@2channelfudanshi average idia shroud fan = schizo and also stupid as it seems

[@creditsunknown7974]

"It's really hard, to make things, when it feels that everything has been done before." Jesus Christ, AI builds has to be one of the most impactful things I've seen, it just, shows what a lot of people who want to create something, who want to DO something, are going through and perfectly explains it through emotion.

[@SomdudeYT]

A thought on Animal Investigator and its themes of creativity and medication: those who experience disorders such as anxiety and ADHD often feel like taking medication will make them no longer be "themselves" or remove their creativity (speaking from experience, myself included). This irrational fear could be what Mr Eye symbolizes and why it seems to want to stop Nicholas from taking the medication (Fluoxetine is often prescribed as an antidepressant or for anxiety). Anyway, fantastic and thought provoking video, your friend did a great job with the script and your editing really enhanced it!

[@MidMilk]

So I developed "Pseudo-Psychosis" due to my general anxiety disorder a few years back (in fact im also on fluoxetine and for future reference the o is silent to my knowledge.) I gotta say AI Builds is easily my new favorite horror series and has the best representation I've ever seen of those experiences. Many of the points in the plot match real life experiences I had, thinking people were banging at my doors, hearing footsteps were there weren't, constantly feeling like being watched, and even hearing a voice that sounded like a deeper version of my own constantly degrading me. Even the childhood parts are extremely relatable, I dont want to get too personal or trauma dump or anything but I've always felt like I missed out on childhood and to this day i desperately wish i could live through a proper childhood. I've seen many horror stories try to tackle the subject of psychosis and do so in a way I greatly dislike, I was concerned AI Builds was going to be the same and I was initially planning to quit the video when I saw the TW but I'm so glad I didn't. I even ended up feeling the creative process there have been so many fan projects. I've gotten repeatedly stuck in the mindset that I need to make something fully original with no inspiration from anything else until recently. I genuinely thank you for introducing me to AI Builds. There is no way I could watch this series on my own though lmao.

[@MidMilk]

@@vikingunicorn ah ok thank you i've always heard flux-oh-tin so i just assumed that's how it was pronounced. also thank you for your kindness!

[@isabellamorris7902]

Hey! I had a very isolated, anxious childhood (thankfully my parents are supportive and I don't experience psychosis -- sending strength and healing vibes, since all of that together sounds SO ROUGH). I'm now trying to live out a second childhood as much as I can, getting back in touch with the things that used to make me happy, toy collecting, trying to be expressive and honest with my feelings. Not all of those are going to be easy or accessible for everyone -- it's not that easy for me, and I have a fair bit of privilege here -- but I wish you luck in achieving that wish at least in part!

[@michellechair]

happened to me too! my pseudo-psychosis developed due to some slightly more complicated reasons, but AI builds definitely resonated deeply with me and how similar my experiences were. feeling like your brain is operating without your input is scary, especially when you're hearing voices and they're doing absolutely everything in their power to keep you talking back to them and feeding into your delusions. either that or they end up dragging you down into an endless rabbit hole of s*cidal ideation and repeating every single horrible thing that's under the sun. that constant noise of subconscious and ego-dystonic thought is terrifying to experience, and even though i was assured several times that i wasn't experiencing 'true' psychosis, i genuinely felt like i was simulatiously going insane and experiencing ultimate spiritual enlightenment

[@Lumiiify]

Thank you for being respectful around the themes of mental health when covering ai builds

[@reggiel7313]

God I hope AI Builds isnt over yet, everything you described made me fall in love with it, congratulations on the video for both of you! I really wish AI Builds becomes the next big thing and the creator gets more support and if not then at least I'm glad I know of it thanks to this video

[@trophygoth9794]

re: your AI Builds theories - it's worth noting (from a personal experience, and the experience of a couple of friends as well) that fluoxetine has some extremely bad side effects. I know of three people (other than myself) who began experiencing hallucinations after taking fluoxetine that persisted even after no longer taking the medication.

[@fleshgarden_]

Seirea's incredibly passionate rants bring me so much joy

[@scotginger4690]

Barely an hour in and I'm hooked by this script. It pulled me in hard and kept me intrigued. Whoever this "friend" of yours is, they're good.

[@gojibbq]

i'm on fluoxetine and have been for the past few years--i think a "coma" is a bit of a stretch, but it's known for dulling intense emotions, so nicholas might be intentionally taking more than he needs to avoid confronting his trauma (seen here as mr. eye) either way, it's an incredibly interesting and well-constructed series, and i'm glad you covered it here! i'd never even heard of it before

[@ForkedMan]

Instead of TGIF, which is too similar to another acronym that we all know, how about "Game that Is Lost and Found," or GILF for short. That should clear up everything.

[@Gamegobazooka]

Nah, I feel like the genre’s too broad to be relegated to video games. IMO it should be “Media that is Lost and Found”. No possible misunderstandings or overspecifications can be made from that.

[@Spoon97]

TGTF (The Game That was Found)

[@fluorescentalien5204]

HUGE props to animal investigator on the voice acting. The voice acting in analog horror is one of its big weaknesses, imo, and the guy playing nicholas gave an incredible performance!! It really sets it apart from the crowd

[@tylociraptor8131]

2 and a half hour long petscop inspired video essay on this lazy saturday? Sagan, you're a mensch. ♥

[@StopDropDash]

HES GOTTA STOP POSTING BANGERS 🔥

[@naingaung2748]

What does mensch mean?

[@luxill0s]

mensch is literally German for person but I looked it up (because just saying “person” in this context looks weird) and people use it to mean an honored person

[@hershelroswell]

@@luxill0s yeah! sort of like a german variant of "you're the man"

[@viderevero1338]

​@Hershel I've only heard "Ubermensch" which I always thought meant Superman. Which means Mensch would be man?

[@unx74]

i actually met the guy behind ai builds years before he started it. alex is a really nice, creative guy and it makes me really happy to see his work recognised!

[@ratkinzluver33]

As someone who went through multiple abusive relationships (though not familial) and has suffered through depression and anxiety and other unpleasant traumatic mental health shit since childhood, as well as a fluoxetine prescription for nearing a decade (and methylfenadine and temazepam on and off funny enough)... Damn. AI builds hits really hard. The acting is phenomenal, and it really accurately captures how it feels. This entire thing is really weirdly personal for me and I appreciate that the creator made a piece of art with such realistic themes. Usually relatable art is more wholesome and lighthearted, which funny enough makes it not very relatable to me, so having something darker presented and feeling that I actually connect to it is really refreshing. Idk sorry this is a ramble, I just really love horror as a genre, it's such a great place to explore real struggles through bizarre and terrifying metaphors. In a way, I think that surreal terror highlights just how serious those real struggles feel to people who haven't been through them, which helps people feel more empathetic towards people (like me lol) who aren't always good at explaining what we're going through.

[@BusterAnimations]

AI builds really hit me in a place that I never thought possible. I never even heard of it until watching this, and yet I felt like a lot of the imagery, the dialog, everything about it is so familiar. It really made me feel uneasy, yet like I saw some of my own problems displayed in front of me. I don't know, but, this truly was spooked by it more than anything.

[@a_o_p_a_o_p]

I'm very thankful for your friend for writing this script and you for covering it! These videos make me feel better about what I want to create in the future :). Also somehow I posted this comment on a completely different video? I didn't notice until someone liked it, must be a weird glitch lmao.

[@WereScrib]

I'm glad for your final section, this is something very hard for people to grasp as like, a professionally trained artist. I was trained in an extremely harsh art-world in which we had absolutely drudging deadlines, extreme workloads, and we were very much forced to regard our work as disposable via taking our art and grading it on the floor with the regard you would a old porno magazine.--but that was because it was for traditional animation. It wasn't cruelty, it was breaking people into the nightmare of what traditional animation demands, and trying to ween those who couldn't put energy and emotion into their drawings despite it. And despite the harshness, our criticism was always extremely encouraging, it was always trying to find what was amazing about it, and push us forward. But what I notice about, well, non artist art critiques is they do not...get that? They get mad at something being derivative. Derivation is necessary in art, influence is everywhere. The only thing you see in the art world is worry about copying without trying to understand. (I.E. The reason art professors worldwide have long tried to start people 'starting with anime/manga style' is not due to that being a poor style, but because it's expressly designed to gravely simplify repetitive art and does not function well to teach people how to make good art out of it, just imitations with a severe difficulty to understand the art being reproduced. Style is not generally what people should begin with. Unless you're Roman Dirge and obsessed with having no-influence on your art when you get started, but even then, its plainly obvious that he had a very notable amount of influence on his art despite that. His works drip with imagery borrowed from cartoons he grew up with, comic art around him, and even popular works about.)

[@meaganfarr2]

AI build was WAY more than I expected it to be. The acting was absolutely fantastic, his voice was heartwrenching. It's amazing.

[@arrowacep]

With regards to your first and second theories for AI Builds (as someone who had untreated adhd for about 25 years, having been diagnosed with chronic depression, and as someone who was MISdiagnosed as bipolar due to family history with that disorder) regarding SSRIs and ADHD as well as being a Gifted Child (warning for talking about SI and suicide): Adhd is comorbid with depression due to a lack of diagnosis, especially among young girls if they are inattentive instead of hyperactive. As someone who was once a young girl, a young Gifted Child who fell apart once she needed to actually study and try to do anything, it is So Dangerous. The compounding desire to be good and do good on top of the crushing guilt that You Are No Longer Good Enough is what drove me, one day in my junior year, to overdose so i didn't have to deal with it. The worst parts of that are that, due to me having been misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder (my father is bipolar) and being given a medication that made me numb. I hated that feeling so i stopped taking this (addictive) medication and started hurting myself to try and feel I had control over something, anything in my life. Physical pain that was sharp and would heal later was better than the nebulous pain that had no source and could never heal. Since then I've been put on medication that works, I've gone to therapy, and I've started creating again and loving what I create. Loving creating. I'm fond of the idea less that its a failed-suicide-induced coma and more that it is, like other people have pointed out, is a record of lucid dreaming while on an SSRI. Slowly working through trauma and internal horrors to try and heal and become better as yourself. Idk that's just me and mine though.

[@seireasong]

Terrifyingly resonant. I’m sorry for your struggles.

[@arrowacep]

@@seireasong thank you. It was a fair amount of time ago and it genuinely changed my outlook on life and kindness

[@SaintRedFox]

i got diagnosed with ADHD at 11 years old and still untreated, i think thats something

[@Thor-Orion]

I have bipolar and the medication made me miserable. It’s odd though, like you said girls with adhd are often overlooked while boys are regularly misdiagnosed with it when they don’t have it because a lot of boys are fidgety and hyperactive which can often be disruptive, meanwhile girls WITH adhd are often not as disruptive because they’re inattentive and not hyperactive. This is kind of a microcosm of society as a whole in that if you’re disruptive they’ll treat you in whatever way will make you more compliant and less disruptive, but if you’re suffering in silence you’ll often be ignored.

[@arrowacep]

@@Thor-Orion specifically the one i was given was primarily like...for seizures and it was just...i wish there was better medication for bipolar disorder. My father's makes him more level but tilting depressive so it was always kinda hard to see him hit weird lows the medication was meant to help with. Also yeah, the overdiagnosis of boys with adhd just coz they're inattentive or have "authority opposition disorder" is tragic.

[@ValentineC137]

"Oh no, I can hear the Devil now coming." I'm literally shaking and crying rn

[@acidsprinkl3r8744]

AI Builds is so well made. It doesnt even feels like a parody, more like a creepy webseries itself.Also, the voice acting is really well and makes it even more real

[@MetalMockingjay]

I appreciated the Seirea interview at the end! As an eager Diminish follower, it's always great to hear more from him.

[@KuriMX]

This vid's gonna make my entire weekend,and it's about petscop!? Hawkes you're one of the channels that restores my hope in content!

[@elysia2605]

tw for the topics discussed in AI Builds the pill that nicholas begins to choke over onscreen at 1:17:00 likes a lot more like duloxetine HCL, an antidepressant used to improve mood, sleep, appetite, energy level, and decrease nervousness. this is apparently a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, (which stops or delays serotonin/norepinephrine from being reabsorbed by the brain,) so there may be some kind of connection by the two, especially because it's mentioned in mr. eye's show that nicholas committed suicide via overdose. i dunno, this is just what i think while chewing apart AI with my dull teeth

[@L-sillybrained]

yoooo I take duloxetine

[@virtualashez]

There’s a TW at the start of the video, no need for it in this comment.

[@undoxxbruh9804]

Mr. Eye's manipulative tactics are so well written, it hits you so hard the way he tries to make the player feel guilty fow leaving him out, it's amazing the work put into those videos

[@renrose8793]

When I clicked on this video I expected getting spooked. What I didn not expect was wiping away tears. AI Builds really spoke to me. I was dealing with suicidal ideation in art school so hearing someone wanting to die while facing a drawing from their childhood hit me hard. And there's no suspensful music or spooky jumpscares rudely ruining the moment. It's just a person tired of suffering wondering when their suffering can end. Absolutely well done, I adore how all the serious topics were handled respectfully both in the series and here by Sagan.

[@Traveler_202]

Someone set this guys friend up with a microphone we need more of their stuff.

[@FishmanZ9]

Something about Sheriff Domestic is really comforting and I like it a lot. Reminds me of stuff I'd draw in elementary school.

[@nathspino9871]

Holy shit guys Pyrocinical just dropped Petscop 2

[@unpopularopinion298]

Huge petscop drama

[@sylv512]

ew not pyro, that guy is a literal pedophile

[@blazewithin4590]

❤😂🎉😢😮😅😊

[@PancakeTheKat]

Actually?

[@amberhernandez]

PETSCOP 2 CONFIRMED

[@vanirie434]

I also came out o AI Builds feeling strongly like this is what being a creative of any kind with depression is like. It's gotten less and less common over time, the idea that the tortured artist draws on their misery to create things that are touching as almost this... magical process, when in reality all art takes way more work to make than it takes to experience and that depression undercuts your ability to work and think critically and examine your work realistically, leading to work you're less proud of, which leads to a tightening feedback loop. The brain is treated like a secular soul rather than a complex organ that needs to be carefully cared for as much as any of your others. I've never had an adverse reaction to meds, but I imagine that someone who has had experiences relating to drug use or overdose on medication would have to work twice as hard on the problem of whether treatment will make you better, or if it'll just make you a duller, more rote version of your bad self, or if it's just the thing you inevitably kill yourself with. To me, Nicholas lashing out at Mr Eye really felt like that breaking point of knowing something is wrong with you, finally internalising that you could be doing better than you currently are, and lashing out and telling your illness "fuck you" for ruling your life for so long. It felt incredibly triumphant, and just because it didn't fix *everything* immediately, didn't banish the demon, it was a powerful moment of catharsis for me. Recovery is incredibly hard, and doing things that you know will make you better (taking your meds, going out on walks, working on creative endeavours) feels so pointless and meaningless and like you're just further a drain on everyone with your flailing rather than just going ahead and ending it all. The bottom of that wave *sucks*.

[@Thor-Orion]

So I’m a bipolar artist, and like yeah the depressive parts of the cycle make me sleep more than when I’m manic, but I can still create stuff. When I’m medicated I don’t create anything and I function like a robot. I probably wouldn’t still be here if I stayed in the meds.

[@elideeart7239]

"You have to keep loving the color blue. You have to keep making it anyway" really hit me

[@razbellx]

The point that SeireaSong made about originality hit so close to home. I have so much self-doubt regarding my creations and I specifically want to create something (a TTRPG system) that has elements I've heard from a lot of people they think is a horrible idea. It's difficult to just focus on the people who love that idea and most importantly, how much fun I'm having with the system and how much I like it, but that speech really made me feel better about sticking with it. I'll try thinking about how much I love blue next time I doubt myself.

[@sacra_456]

holy shit i was the creator of beta 95 LOL massive surprise to see it mentioned in this video. i appreciate it dawg

[@username5155]

Note for anyone feeling like Nicholas: If you draw inspiration from only one source, you’ll make a product that slowly gets closer and closer to the original, with the only changes being changes you make specifically to make your version different. Don’t just try to make something someone else has made. Try to make something new from a variety of inspirations. Because the only way something can be original is if you draw inspiration from multiple people and combine what you love about many fifferent things and don’t just remake something else. And the best source of inspiration is you, so don’t be afraid to add your own things too. If people don’t like it, you can change it if you want to, but if you only want to change it because of other people, then keep it as is, and if they still don’t like it, keep it the way you want it just for yourself. Yeah, a piece of bread taught me that.

[@dieyng]

Alternatively, I understood AIbuilds mother figure differently. For one, he reacts negatively to the butterflies every single time. And when we see Nicholas mother with the butterfly head, again it's not positive, plus I got a very negative vibe from the two raised hands. For me, I wonder if Nicholas mother became either abusive herself, after his father killed himself, or if she became withdrawn, with the raised hands being too high for a little child to reach, instead of being extended down to him to hold him, cuddle him.

[@PhoxphorusKitKat]

If there's one thing I like about Sheriff Domestic, it's how it's I guess reimagining beats from Petscop despite it being a joke. Like obviously most of its ideas are just retreads of what Petscop does, but I love how it uses these ideas as a jumping off point to spiral into its own thing. The introduction of Pickle Chin gave off feelings of finding the Newmaker Plane in the original (even though yeah I get they did that idea earlier). That moment captures the feeling of going from an unfinished or rudimentary game that suddenly expands out to something surprisingly more developed and strange that seems to be trying to convey something specific.

[@PancakeTheKat]

Here’s my theory on AI Builds: Mr. Eye seems like he’s Nicholas’ father, and after his mother died(I’m guessing from the hospital scene and the green pills but I’m not finished with the breakdown of AI builds), he started abusing Nick. Every time Mr. Eye speaks it reminds me of a father who’s abusing his son, lovebombing then breading nick, possibly under the influence. For mountain face, it seems to represent his mother’s(or someone else he loves) death, Nick seeing his mother’s dead body by suicide at 10, and the face being more and more of a blurred memory until it’s nothing but a generic man by the time Nicholas is 21(I’m guessing 21 because it’s the only other age you can pick).

[@dysbelief]

Oh my god yes FINALLY someone is covering sheriff domestic! I’ve known about it for so long and have always tried to get people into it to no avail, but finally it’s being exposed to a larger audience. It’s a genuinely hilarious series that works as both a petscop parody and a similarly styled work in its own right, and it rivals petscop in quality (and may even surpass it in my opinion). I really hope that this video brings it a new audience and revives the project a bit as it’s been rather dormant as of late, aside from the April fools video that came out recently.