The HHP

He/They//The sickness we've made ourselves be//Number one atrocity fan//The profile is for personal expression

[maddy-k-reads-all-day]

Hi mega fucking hot take time.

This game is about Rebecca and Sam Colton and how antiblackness in MODERN America affected them and ripped them apart as well as how the child entertainment industry is inherently abusive towards children.

If we ACTUALLY cared about the themes of this game I would be seeing a LOT more discussion around:

The fact that there were very few children's cartoons with Black main characters like Amanda in the 90s, how hard it would have been for Sam Colton, first off to make and produce Amanda in the first place but also to get it made as a cartoon that was planned to be aired NATIONALLY in the first place. In the 90s and early 2000s? With relatively respectful/decent representation? A cartoon that allow kids across the country just like his little girl to see themselves in a show being adventurous, curious, kind, and brave.

The fact that they used the villainization of Black parents to their advantage after making Sam disappear to make NO ONE CARE. Well, technically the general population doesn't care or act nearly enough when Black people go missing or are killed. THATS THE POINT. THEY USED THAT THEY MANIPULATED THIER LANGAUGE IN THEIR STATEMENT TO PLAY INTO THAT.

WHITENESS DOES MATTER AND PLAY INTO KATES CHARACTER AND HER LACK OF ACTION Not because she is inherently a bad person who does not love or care for Rebecca but because our very White supremacist culture literally teaches us not to act. We are doing enough just by talking about it, by researching it, by sharing our kind words. But when it is time to act the majority stays motionless. That is what Kate represents. She is a well-meaning White woman who does not know how to take action.

Caroline took action but her friends did not back her up so that probably was what lead to her failing. Not because taking action was unwise but taking action alone against such a big force will usually not end in one's favor.

LETS TALK ABOUT HOW KATE EXPECTED AMANDA, AFTER ALL OF HER TRAUMA TO STILL ACT THE CHEERFUL HAPPY REBECCA SHE KNEW AND QUESTIONED IF IT WAS REALLY HER WHEN SHE DIDN'T.

Let's talk about the canon implication that Rebecca was wide awake during her brain surgery, quite possibly without any pain medication or anesthesia. Let's talk about how that plays into medical antiblackness and the belief that people of color do not experience as much as White people. LETS TALK ABOUT HOW THAT BELIEF IS STILL PREVELANT TODAY AND CAUSES PEOPLE OF COLOR TO GET DENIED ACCESS TO PROPER NECESSARY LIFE SAVING MEDICAL CARE AND BENEFITS AND INJURY COMPENSATION.

Let's talk about how child actors usually develop eating disorders, identity problems, substance abuse issues, mental health disorders, depression, anxiety, and more into adulthood and lets see more "unpleasant" headcanons for post-game Rebecca instead of imagining her healing process to be smooth and perfect and her to recover completely. People who have gone through less than her have lived their whole lives having never fully recovered. Their lives and her life is still 100% valuable, meaningful, and worth living even if they never are able to meet society's standard or expectation of being perfectly recovered.

Lets talk about Rebecca developing delusions, mental health disorders, self-harming habits, struggling with her identity post tapes. Let's talk about how easily regular society would trigger her how afraid of it she'd be the danger she would experience as a Black person with facial differences (from the rotting), mental illness, and developmental delays. Lets talk about how her trauma affects her even if it isn't pleasant or aesthetically pleasing because that's what real people go through in real life.

Lets talk about how the conditions she endured would leave her probably chronically disabled. Lets talk about how even without the fact that she is being chased down by Hameln who has public immunity, she would not ever get the complete medical and psychiatric help from society that she needs on a base level because people of all races especially people of color already cannot access that care. ESPECIALLY BECAUSE SHES A BLACK WOMAN. Realistically it is plausible that she could get addicted to pain killers, marihuana, and other substances because they would be the only way to relieve her stress and pain. Let's talk about the fact that even in the best case scenario she would not be able to get a job. Let's talk about the fact she did not receive an education. Let's talk about the fact as a chronically disabled person with these issues Riley would become her primary caretaker who she would be dependent on, lets talk about how Riley might financially struggle with this. Let's talk about how even if all of this was true she still deserves to be loved, taken care of, and alive.

I am not saying all of that is guaranteed to happen, but it also isn't guaranteed not to happen and I don't think it is soiling the ending to discuss how Hameln and societies behavior could affect the rest of her life in the world she lives in.

I AM NOT SAYING ALL OF THIS IS CANON, I'M SAYING THESE ARE POTENTIAL THINGS I WOULD LIKE TO SEE DISCUSSED MORE.

I don't sit and write a lot of post-game content, despite thinking about it ENDLESSLY because while I know quite a bit about this stuff I am no expert and I definitely do not feel I know these experiences personally enough to write from that perspective. And I have made some of my own posts on these things and before ATA 3 I saw a lot of mutuals posting about these things I had originally learned a lot about antiblackness from this fandom and it made me go and do a lot of research on my own.

I really wish people discussed Rebecca and Sam more. I can't even interact with this fandom anymore without seeing 3 or more posts with blatant or subtle ableism, intended or not, whether towards Rebecca or just within how you talk about certain characters, not even directed at the character themselves. This isn't new. The fandom has always had problems with discussing Amanda/Rebecca and Sam's story with the weight it deserves. It has always had problems with racism and ableism.

I still love these games, these games are why I started learning about antiblackness in the first place. They opened my eyes to much more than I knew and I probably acted uneducated in the past, maybe I still do and I recognize that. But the more I personally learn about these subjects and the world the more I've come to really really dislike this fandom. Its not fun. Very few people discuss this game from antiblackness perspective, especially post-ata 3. I love seeing posts from those who do talk about this especially hearing from the perspectives of people of color in this fandom I love you keep posting I love you I love you I love you don't let anyone shut you up about your experiences and how you relate to these games they are foremost made for you don't let anyone take them from you. I never see people talking about this from a children's rights perspective or how the games themes relate to the real world in a serious manner, especially post-ata 3.

And also I am so sick of seeing ableist language and even occasionally slurs in this fandom. You aren't cute. I am not causing an argument with every person who does this, but know you make people feel unsafe. I've definitely felt unsafe in this fandom. Which is why I don't interact with it like I used to. Believe me I still love these games they are my favorite of all time. I just- I just- can't anymore.

Also I know Wooly is important to the themes of this game but I DARE you. To try and comment on this post without mentioning him JUST ONCE. PLEASE. This post is about Rebecca and Sam Colton. DO NOT DERAIL. PLEASE I AM SO CLOSE TO LEAVING THIS FANDOM ALTOGETHER.

I am not trying to accuse any specific people, I am just sharing my thoughts on this game and it's fandom as everyone else does and I have equal right to do :) Have a wonderful day.

[retratrio]

im so tired of this mf Genuinely😂😂😂😂 Lamb chops 2nite!

[hameln-happiness-protector]

Yo, so it's an open ending where we are like supposed to imagine everything that wasn't mentioned and fill all the gaps on our own?

They still haven't denied working on any additional non-game content though (me when I create useless hopes)

[hameln-happiness-protector]

Following this post (which, in short, implies that employees with level 3 access didn't know about the cult), imagine that Marcus started to suspect something and eventually made a plan to break in and explore where the elevator leads. He stole the keys or whatever from the security, disabled the cameras in the pod room, and checked the other cameras which monitored halls to make sure no one was nearby. When everything was clear, he went down the elevator and was met with a surprising sight of the chapel. However, he never managed to enter the sector used for preaching and sacrificing because, obviously, it was protected by a code lock. Still, with the knowledge that something strange was going on there, and considering the suspicious details he had noticed before, he managed to put two and two together.

Marcus then tried to communicate with his colleagues and explain what he had seen. Unfortunately, one of them was a member of the cult and quickly informed the authorities. Marcus was restrained and locked in a room, the same way Sam had been. (This would explain a few of the "open door" flashbacks that are supposedly Wooly's)

The Director then told the employees that Marcus had broken under the pressure of work and gone insane, which is why he started making up stories about a demonic cult.

(It's interesting, because Amanda seems to play this in ATA1. She was obviously acting when she said Wooly’s head was broken and other nice, not so nice statements following that. Amanda normally doesn’t provoke others like this, it’s not her personality, but it feels like she was trying to remake what happened in real life. She kept insisting that Wooly was not well in the head and therefore needed surgery)

Now imagine Hameln doing the same thing to Marcus. They had the perfect chance to excuse taking him away by his "insanity". Imagine they just said that he needed help from a mental health specialist (company had quite a handful of those), or even a neurosurgeon. This would be how they were able to use him for whatever they needed, through force and by deceiving his colleagues. They knew he wouldn’t stay quiet, so they kept him isolated until they could find some kind of use for him.

After Sam’s death, two major problems appeared from Hameln's perspective:

1. Who's gonna play Wooly and calm down Rebecca if the closest person to her, the father, is gone? We wanted to use Sam for it, but we failed in preventing the monster, which we knew would appear at some point, because of that girl's powers, but not this soon, and now he's dead

2. How are we going to defeat a powerful spiritual being created of mental suffering and primal fear that's after our throats?

It's easy, the useless employee kept in the dark just got a whole new purpose! He's our new biological experiment, a ritual subject and Wooly which Amanda will trust because we'll force him to play the role of that one lost male parental figure.

[Also adding that I headcanon Marcus having no one in his life to care about his vanishing. No parents, no friends, no no one, because he usually interacted with children in the company and that brought him happiness. Not because he would be a groomer and a bad person just like Wooly ended up being, but because he got disappointed by people his age and was mentally scarred. Maybe he found peace in interacting with children, teaching them and showing them interesting stuff from his field of expertise. (In addition, just to clear some things up, this is a well documented psychological phenomenon in adult subjects, more common than people would like to admit. Interacting with children and observing their behaviour/antics with good intentions is inspirational + mentally healing, because adults are rotten]

Thank you for reading my rant 🌃

[hameln-happiness-protector]

So does Hameln or someone influential from the company own the Kensdale Public Library? And did they establish it? Wouldn't that explain why they plagued it with their suspicious books, the show and have a security camera set there?

[hameln-happiness-protector]

There has been an idea among some of the fans which is pretty nice but never really talked about, that employees with access level 3 or lower had little to no idea there was a cult behind the KDOH Rebirth project. Meanwhile, those with access level 4 or higher (or unlimited access) were actually devoted cult members and leaders that knew everything.

So, hypothetically, the access levels may have been used to hide the true intentions behind Hameln from the manipulated employees. These employees might have been willing to perform illegal scientific experiments on children, but they likely would not have accepted the job if they knew it was connected to a satanic cult.

At the same time, the cult itself may have had limited resources because its members relied more on faith than on science or formal education. Because of that, they needed skilled scientists to carry out the experiments, but they had to keep the cult’s real motives hidden from them.

Now I've been checking for any signs that would suggest it could be this way and there are some. They're not 100% the proof of it, but they strongly suggest this is actually the case:

1. In ATA 3 demo there is a cutscene as soon as we enter the security room and during this cutscene we get a glimpse of the left screen which talks about the KDOH Rebirth project but also states that it is a level 4 matter.

Level 4... What? Bananas? Apples? I personally think they're talking about the level of security this project holds, because it's the true one, the cult's one. This probably isn't what the cover project was called and what the other employees who were kept in the dark expected of it.

2. The types of locks on the doors in Hameln's facility.

The office for average workers and an unknown room - normal handle

The eight-pod room and the entrance to the main chamber with Rebecca's pod - a card verification.

Sam's room, the "manager tower" over Rebecca's pod and the security room all have knobs - can be opened by codes, maybe keys

I think there’s a reason we always see the security room door open: it makes it less noticeable. If the door that hides secrets is already open, players don’t feel the need to question it. The mystery disappears.

However, if one thinks about it, the setting actually becomes strange. The security room door does possess a built-in metal lock system that needs a code, keys, or maybe a keycard to open.

So what if the door was normally closed when the facility was operating, but once the place got abandoned, the security left it open because those simpler locking systems were no longer important and it made moving around faster?

It could also be that the security room was officially restricted to employees with level 4 access. That would include people like security guards, the priest, the Director, and other cult members.

Since the only path to the chapel from the floor of the wing we’re in goes through this level 4 security room, it would make sense for the entrance to such an important place to require an additional verification step from within the level 3 pod room in which clueless scientists worked, if the theory is correct.

See, what I'm trying to point at is that maybe employees such as Marcus Moutman didn't know about the cult. And there are a few ideas surrounding this I'd like to share such as him getting too curious, finding out about the cult, getting caught and being kept in a room because he essentially became "dangerous" thanks to the knowledge. However, I think I'll make a new post about all that.

[separocean-anxiety]

Amanda the Adventurer 3 was peak don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.

[hameln-happiness-protector]

I'm sure someone noticed that there are whole ass notes on the board in Kate's office in ATA 2, does anyone have the whole thing it says? I'd be very thankful if anyone had atleast some parts of it.

[separocean-anxiety]

Originally written in response to this post by @fading-bisexual-queen-milkshake, I realized this got a bit long and figured it would be more practical to isolate it here. This is basically the demo of an essay I've been meaning to write for months and I used this exchange as a chance to get my thoughts down. It's not meant to be combative or anything and I hope the length doesn't give that impression. I'm totally chill with OP and glad they asked the questions they did, as they incentivized me to finally write something I've been thinking about for a while.

This isn't to say that I don't personally have any issues with these games or how they ended. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel like some things were unresolved, or couldn't have been handled better, but on the whole I still stand by the assertion that the devs of this game succeeded overall in what they wanted to communicate, and deserve credit for what they managed to accomplish here. I've seen too many people deriding these games in retrospect by virtue of ATA 3's ending and almost zero discourse surrounding the meanings I took away from said ending.

This essay demo primarily concerns the role of Marcus in this story and the significance of Rebecca's survival. It is not an attack on anyone or anyone's alternate interpretation(s), barring those that demonize Rebecca. The only analysis I've seen that reflects my feelings toward ATA's controversial ending is this one by @whencartoonsruletheworld, as well as its additions by @theamityelf [here] and @birdsareblooming [here]. These are the kinds of exchanges I wish we were having in this fandom as opposed to writing off the choices of the games entirely.

As with all my analysis posts, constructive criticism is encouraged and open discussion is welcome.

Okay these first two things weren’t written in direct response to this but I wanted to include them anyway:

Before I proceed, please note that I’m speaking of the subtextual implications of Marcus’s whiteness within the plot of the games themselves. This analysis has no bearing on AUs that reimagine his character and is by no means an attack on said AUs.

Canon Marcus’s grooming of Rebecca is inseparable from his whiteness, and their dynamic mirrors that of Hameln’s with Sam, the Missing Kids, and Kensdale itself. Hameln represents whiteness on a systemic/institutional level and Marcus represents whiteness on an individual level. I’ve got an essay in the works specifically about this, but I’ll try to paraphrase it here.

A few months ago I likened Marcus to Remmick from Sinners and Simon Laurent from Infinity Train. white identity is inherently extractive and heavily dependent on clinging onto something (or someone) beyond oneself to fill the void left by generational assimilation. I fully believe this is something all three aforementioned characters do and just one reason why their whiteness is relevant to their narratives. Marcus’s grooming of Rebecca is racialized in the same way Simon’s idolization of Grace and Remmick’s predation of Sammie are. These three all rely on Black characters to fulfill a static role for them in order to distortedly “self actualize.” Marcus’s escapist tendencies also tie directly back to his whiteness, as whiteness itself is a form of escapism by virtue of how in order to “become white,” one must first sever their ancestral ties and assimilate. We are repeatedly shown Marcus’s desperation to erase/forget himself, and this desperation extends to Rebecca as well, as he tries to distract her from remembering her old life. Hameln conducts this erasure on the systemic level by means of gentrifying Kensdale (as evidenced by the library post-renovation) and disembodying the Missing Kids. Marcus’s precious “escapism” is literally only upheld by erasure and death. While it takes Hameln to manufacture that fantasy at the expense of human lives, Marcus gladly upholds it for fear of facing the real world. His grooming of Rebecca is therefore the microcosmic manifestation of Hameln’s “grooming” of Kensdale. He tries to shape her in his image just as they gentrified the town. Systems like Hameln only continue to survive BECAUSE of the selfish choices of people like Marcus, with whom they fabricate a parasitic sort of symbiosis. “You depend on us for your comfort and the illusion of safety; we depend on you to remain loyal to us at the expense of human lives.” The exploitation of people of the global majority in the entertainment industry isn’t possible without the compliance of people like Marcus.

The creators didn’t go out of their way to make Wooly sympathetic. You just so happened to sympathize with him by virtue of assuming pure intentions behind his (presumably misguided) actions, and that’s fine so long as you weren’t demonizing Amanda in the process. I can totally understand how people came to love his character early on—he always fascinated me, even if I didn’t personally sympathize with him. I would say that the game’s creators went out of their way to make Wooly seem unassuming/timid/innocent, which is what he’d like us to believe about himself.

As for your last point, Hameln wanted Rebecca to die. Marcus wanted Rebecca to die. Both try to directly and indirectly destroy the tapes, which are effectively Rebecca’s only means of calling for help—they’re her interface with the real world. In the same way Simon repeatedly tries to kill Grace when she starts to change, and deems her a “void” when she returns alive, annulling her humanity in his own mind, Remmick tries to turn Sammie in order to gain access to his musical gift, and assimilate him into his hive mind. The Curtain, like whiteness itself, is the death cult Marcus has sworn allegiance to—the institution rotting him from the inside out while simultaneously upholding his gruesome escapism. As Shepherd, he enacts the same kind of violence upon Rebecca as Simon and Remmick do Grace and Sammie. Both the Colton Anomaly and Shepherd are reflections of their respective sources’ base instincts and desires: the Colton Anomaly’s primary goal is to protect Amanda by any means necessary; the Shepherd’s is to destroy the Colton Anomaly and the tapes containing Rebecca’s soul by any means necessary, as this would ensure the death of Rebecca’s ability to remember herself, leaving only Amanda—and by extent, his idea of a perfect world.

“Destroying the tapes” is thus synonymous with “killing Rebecca.” When Joanne tells us to destroy the tapes, it’s because she’s been deceived; when Kate tells us to, it’s because she’s given up hope. Hameln burns down her house in order to destroy them. Shepherd repeatedly tries to attack us for the same reason. Riley watches the tapes and listens to Amanda, and in doing so, helps her memories return. These memories return life back to Rebecca through the power surges we see leading to her pod. Her awakening means that she finally gets to “grow up,” and that all Hameln and Marcus’s efforts ultimately failed. Yes, Hameln’s still out there, because these systems are still in place and it would be a dishonest narrative to claim they’re as easy to destroy as killing a monster (believe me, I wish they were). But Rebecca’s survival shows us that these systems are destined to fail so long as people choose humanity, and choose to care. So long as people listen to and fight for those these systems seek to exploit and destroy.

Rebecca’s lost many of her loved ones; her only known remaining support system is Riley. But just as she’s experienced loss before, as a young child, she’s also experienced profound love and acceptance in the wake of that loss, in the form of Sam’s adoption of her. Rebecca has lived the past 20 years in a plastic facade of reality, cleaved from her own body, with only her abuser for company. Now she’s returned to herself, and put the Entity to rest. Now she has someone who truly cares about her. And because she’s Rebecca Colton, the girl who’s always been able to see the best in the world without ignoring its painful realities, she’ll be able to rebuild again. She’ll be able to heal and find even more people who love her.

While I feel more qualified to speak on the psychological effects of whiteness on white people, and by extent what subtextual messages a character’s whiteness is intended to communicate, I don’t think I have to explain why Rebecca’s survival after incredible trauma and the prospect of her building something new from the ashes is especially profound given that she’s a Black character.

I hope this answered all your questions as best as it could. Please let me know if you want me to elaborate on anything I’ve said (and that goes for you too, omniscient reader!!). I think the fact that I can extrapolate all this from these games is a testament to how rich their story is, and how much care their creators put into crafting this narrative. ATA has been deeply meaningful to me for that reason. At the same time, I’ve been burned before by other stories; I know what it’s like, and I sympathize with how you likely feel right now. I’m sorry this story wasn’t able to do for you what it did for me. Even if you don’t agree with it, I hope this response helps you at least better understand my perspective.

[sovereignfives]

Shepherd-Grim concept art

based of this connection between the shepherd and church grims

I've been wanting to take a crack at a shepherd redesign for awhile now(I love the canon design I just like redesigning things) but was stuck on where to start until now, but with the connection I made I was struck with inspiration!

this is a quick sketch to get the idea down but it was pretty fun! main dogs this design is based off of are the belgian shepherd and the afghan hound

[hameln-happiness-protector]

Im gonna be direct. I never got people who defended wooly after the third game. If only we just tried to accept the lore weve been given fully instead of dismissing it. The game is a perfect representation of what an abusive relationship is like and how it appears to the viewers. And it just made me so uncomfortable because, as a victim of emotional abuse, just like many others, Ive noticed those concerning signs in the first game, but this time from the perspective of a viewer. Let me point to some of them and compare with real life psychology behind it

Wooly intentionally uses the strongest weapon an abuser has, eyes and gestures. Ive noticed this in my father's interactions whenever I was around. He would switch between staring at different people, giving different stares and keeping a timid body language. Wooly constantly gives us a "concerned" or "scared" stare, covers his mouth, turns head to the side, closes eyes for prolonged periods of time and much more obvious stuff, all just to manipulate the viewer. He doesnt need to manipulate Amanda that much anymore, we are the ones who can change everything, he needs us on his side. Another thing, I was always upset and tired in my fathers presence and as a result it looked like he is the one suffering because I'm too emotional about him being in the same room with me, about his words, stupid statements and "innocent jokes" regarding me. We can see how much Amanda is done right from the start, not because shes a bitch (like some people have called her), but because she is a tired child which has had enough of that sheep, so much that she doesnt care about hiding her irritation anymore, which is what happens after years of constant abuse.

Can I have a speacial treat? No, you cant, what the hell? What do you mean you just inserted yourself into the middle of attention out of nowhere and got upset when it didnt go your way? Thats not a little innocent question which is 'rudely' ignored, he was just trying to get viewers to feel bad for how hes 'mistreated' before-hand, so that once he does something concerning we all would brush it off with 'oh but shes been rude to him, and hes a victim too!'

Now let me make a very hyperbolic comparison, almost all murderers, r@pists, terrorists and criminals overall are victims of abuse. Does the fact that theyre victims matter at all when they wipe out human lives and future of someone else? Not at all. Nothing that Wooly has been through can ever excuse the way he behaved. Theres nothing that can excuse the fact he emotionally decimated Amanda, that he murdered atleast 9 innocent people and that he manipulated the viewers (Except him not being himself quite literally). If he did it because he wasnt sane and couldnt control himself, he should be in an asylum, if he fully understood what he was doing and still did it he should be in a prison. He isnt a badly written character, hes simply a well written example of people in reality. People who are nothing more than straight up abusers. It was the most obvious way he was portrayed from the start and his character felt disappointing from a moral stance, but thats not a bad thing. It was supposed to wake us up and force us to realise that in reality bad people arent book characters, most dont have any hidden good aura and they cant be fixed. Criminals are disappointing. Theres nothing more to them, theyre just explicitly bad, no matter the reasons. Everyone has a chance and can choose to be more likeable and interesting, he chose to be a horrible human being despite the fact that his victims gave him countless chances to prove he could be better. And instead of using the opportunity to express his feelings he pitied himself and yelled at a child for dismissing his sick fantasies.

I have nothing more to add to this, thank you very much for this ask. I feel like I needed someone to say it out loud this way, even if it sounds harsh and straight-forward, it's true.

[hameln-happiness-protector]

The version of Marcus we see in the mirror in ATA 3 is very interesting, because there needs to be something more behind it than just that corpse (Only if the devs really go by realistic expectations, which they did in a very genius way so far). He has tissues, we don't see exposed bones, there are whole strands of hair hanging from his head. We see skin. We can clearly see his nose is still mostly intact, there's just a tiny gap. That is not a standard corpse after 20 years of rotting. If he was in a coffin, he'd be in a skeletal state with only a few pieces of hair left, some corpses rarely have darkened remains of meat, but they're usually disconnected and small. If he was in the dirt there would be no hair and skeleton would be barely holding together. If on open air he'd be just a bunch of dry bones scattered around, maybe even broken apart completely by the acidic conditions. If he was mummified he'd be in almost perfect state after such a short time. And that's just plainly how it is on average, there have been many simulations done to understand how human body decomposes in different situations.

So what is the thing we are looking at? There are three possible outcomes that appear.

1. Something or someone must've been preserving him not enough to leave his body in a good state, but enough to not let him decompose completely

2. He didn't die 20 years ago (This is a crazy assumption, but the fact that his corpse looks to be weeks-to-months postmortem in an open environment is crazy too)

3. The image is just the depiction of his real personality. Something reminding him that he's not in fact as worthy of befriending and likeable as he thinks he is.

(Also I had no idea where to insert this in the post so just pointing out at the end: The proportions of his face are just wrong, unrealistic and it makes me wonder if it's there just for the sake of bringing the sense of horror and making the situation more unsettling or if it has a real meaning behind it)

[hameln-happiness-protector]

What the hell is Curtain even about ✌️🫩. A little bit of this a little bit of that ahh. They're collecing their beliefs like Pokémon cards.

"It's the 15th century, I'm a Christian with a damaged brain.

It's the 16th century! Ars Goetia has come out and it's so perfect. Whoa demons, I like demons. Let's call those stupid demons and order them, heil Höllenzwang!

Also I'm a superior white man who got a chance to study and become fascinated with Ancient Egypt, so why not just learn about it from Greek and Roman scripts? I love misinterpreting ancient belief systems by reading information from second hand! Just like another hundreds of German hermeticists, occult philosophers and any random scholars from my time. I'll just believe there was some primeval darkness Egyptians liked very much because it fits my made-up pseudo-christian scripts!

Oh hey it's the 18th century, why not add Baphomet and pentagram? The darkness and basic demons are not enough anymore. I need a goat to lead me. Specifically a half-naked skinwalker with four horns. A little bit of newly emerged satanism surely wouldn't hurt anyone!

Oh hey it's the 19th century! How about I randomly become an extremist half-theist, half-atheist satanist, get an urge to kill people and justify it by telling my fellow followers that all who believe in the superiority of light deserve to just disappear from the face of our Earth? I don't care about the new literal translation of Egyptian scripts, I can believe whatever I like anyway!

Oh hey it's the late 20th and early 21st century! I think... I'm genuinely just gonna steal children and use medical equipment to transfer their souls into a tv show because I believe they have magical powers which would help me travel interdimensionally 😀. What a blessing that I am to this world."

This is literally how the beliefs emerged and fused with already existing ones. But instead of adapting or giving up some part they just be taking random goatshit and and glueing it together in a way it may fit. And like I'm not even joking, all of those things named above are explicitly shown to us atleast partially in the game and the secret tapes. That's just insane

[hameln-happiness-protector]

"The show is a celebration of kids' imaginations. But really, it's all Rebecca."

Which are Sam's words but it sounds as if he was describing the cult's doing. It's the whole truth there is behind what Hameln was doing with Amanda the Adventurer. No matter how significant or insignificant children's role and their imagination may seem, it's all just Rebecca. It all starts and ends with her, because she's the main tool.

And I would bet money that if the sacrifice theory is true, the one who was supposed to originally be sacrificed was Rebecca but it got complicated because of Anomaly and Hameln needed a replacement, so they chose someone else to bond demon to, but about that in different post (it's crazy that there's an actual evidence of this really)

[hameln-happiness-protector]

When we give Anomaly the Wooly plushie in ATA 2, it's for the very first time we see her show any kind of fear. And then we hear Shepherd roar and probably break the cage open. So he suddenly got so powerful, but why?

Now, before making my point, let me be clear with one thing first.

It is suggested that Colton Anomaly was born out of overly intense function of Rebecca's amygdala, so more simply, just intense fear, and she got provoked based on that too. Now imagine you have to make a creature which can fight Anomaly, what would you focus on? That's right, fear.

But how and why would this connect to Shepherd? Well maybe because he seems to be spiritually connected to Anomaly and feeds on her fear. He broke free because she was afraid.

It is assumed by the fans that he reacts to Wooly's anger, but what if that is not the case? If it was then Shepherd would have unlimited power whenever, but he doesn't, because the source of that is weakened and Amanda seems to know that. Which is why she keeps replacing her fear with anger. Wooly tries to intimidate her but she always does her best to not give Shepherd any part of emotions he could feed on.

[hameln-happiness-protector]

If Hameln really had roots in Ancient Egyptian teaching about Amun and later on in about 9th century wandered away from it to include Christian teaching about demons and incorrect idea of the dark to win false lottery, then they're no longer welcome in The House of The Unseen. Just saying, that realistically and historically accurately he's on our side, they chose cheap demonic filth.

They are trying to establish dominance of the Darkness, even though Darkness himself hates this idea, because in his eyes, every basic element makes a part of perfect universe. Especially the Light.

If this is right then Amun will bless his warriors and help them bring Hameln down

[hameln-happiness-protector]

I may make some people and myself mad about what I'm going to say, but Peter was right. And even though he was, no one liked him and his ideas or listened to him just because he ruined it.

Now this isn't about if he co-operated with Hameln, which for now appears to be 50/50 possibility, it's rather about explaining what his ideas may have changed if they were considered in a proper measure.

You may not hate the idea, but the presentation of it. The presentation was ignorant, arrogant and agressive. It loudly halted other ideas to the point it eliminated itself. Peter eliminted his own potential and professionalism in the story. And I want this to be acknowledged instead of ignored just because it sounded wrong.

Anyone who has ever studied demons and how they work knows it requires highly time-consuming preparation/consideration, not diving head-in immediately. It's like a war. You won't ever move anywhere, if you run on an open field instead of digging a ground tunnel before-hand. You'll just get yourself killed as soon as you show up.

So what exactly is to be done in the face of demonic organisations if you want to dismantle them? You need to get to their very core and understand how it works so you can create an effective anti-attack

Hameln's core is a demonic entity who preserves a promised space-time without boundaries.

What now? There are main points you need to cover after finding the core:

1. Identity of the demon (you'll know how they work based on this)

2. Source of the demon

3. Their way of communication, language, objects, signs

4. What keeps their connection to the physical dimension, so some kind of human or object vessel

5. What keeps their side connections in case the main one fails.

6. Then you need to find an effective way of disconnecting, first side ones and then the main

7. You need skills necessary for protection if something fails and you face the entity directly. They're not stupid, you need to treat them like you treat and manipulate people

8. And all this needs to be done in such way that the demon stays in their own realm and doesn't get stuck in ours

All those tasks are difficult on their own, even more so as a whole process. There's been no one throughout centuries that would have done this all successfully, because if they did the cult would've been gone already. Connection would've been terminated, atleast until the new one would be found. But there hasn't been a single human being able to do that.

Now that doesn't mean Kate and her group were incompetent or weren't the "chosen ones", but the moment they stopped listening to each other they have doomed their work.

This doomed them:

Peter maybe had some partial plan, probably something close to what I've listed up there, but he was also going by his own logic only, refusing to listen to others.

Kate tried to speak up but the moment she was silenced she hasn't fought anymore, she kept too much to herself and probably had great ideas.

Caroline had the spirit of empathy but that was driven by her hurry rather than patience, I wish she halted Peter and encouraged Kate to speak up more too.

If this was how they worked as a group they had no way to win.