Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

The Taste of Static (Blog)

 The Taste of Static (Blog)
type
TVTItem
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
label
The Taste of Static (Blog)
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
page
TheTasteofStatic
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
comment
The Taste of Static is a blog series written by Nicodemus Walker. The blog features surreal and often unsettling articles discussing urban legends, hoaxes and myths surrounding the internet, video games and new media. Though each article stands alone, there are hints towards a deeper lore which help to form a picture of the internet age as a mystical and dangerous place.Articles include, but are not limited to: "Helen.exe", a story of the effect malicious malware has on an aging relative's mental health. "The Beribboned Door", a series of articles regarding a video game that told a different story to everyone who played it. "The Ghosts Who Watch Children Sleep", the story of a group of elderly American women hacking into baby monitors around the globe. "Hikikomori", an article regarding a popular online reality TV show shot in The Philippines. "The Nadeux Machine", a proto-computer designed to answer questions of ethics in the 1700s. "The Miller Tapes", a series of VHS cassettes that detail the events leading up to the disappearance of a family in 1989.The articles can be found here.In July of 2022, Walker announced on Twitter that he intended to transition to producing original web content on his Youtube channel. The first video,"Where Children Dream - The Cosmoculus", was uploaded in August.
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
fetched
2024-02-02T21:30:46Z
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
parsed
2024-02-02T21:30:46Z
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
isPartOf
DBTropes
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_116a648e
type
Half-Identical Twins
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_116a648e
comment
Half-Identical Twins: The characters of Alex and Jon were this, though the people playing them weren't actually twins.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_116a648e
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_116a648e
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_116a648e
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_16e0fcc7
type
Transhuman Abomination
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_16e0fcc7
comment
Transhuman Abomination: Saint Dagmar, Our Lady of Vodskov from "The Miller Tapes" was once a normal woman who was burned at the stake (officially it was for heresy but others in-universe speculate she might've declined the advances of a senior religious figure). However, she wasn't dying despite being burned at the stake multiple times, so she was stabbed instead. The next morning, her legs begin morphing into twisted roots and the next three days had her body transform into wood. By then, she would be called a Saint and a newform cult was formed around her. Now an Eldritch Abomination, it's implied that she rewrote the books of the clergy involved in her execution to detail her death and her transformation through divine thoughtography and to have something to do with the disappearance of the Miller Family.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_16e0fcc7
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_16e0fcc7
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_16e0fcc7
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_1bb67d34
type
Transflormation
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_1bb67d34
comment
Transflormation: Saint Dagmar is transformed into a figure of twisted roots and vines in "The Miller Tapes." Several hundred years later the same thing happens to Tom Miller.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_1bb67d34
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_1bb67d34
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_1bb67d34
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_1f6983f7
type
Ambiguous Situation
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_1f6983f7
comment
Ambiguous Situation: By the writer's own admission, the titular videogame in Rohadia is a complete work of fiction, so why can so many people remember playing it?
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_1f6983f7
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_1f6983f7
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_1f6983f7
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_294ed981
type
Bilingual Bonus
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_294ed981
comment
Bilingual Bonus: "Sova" or "sleep" in Swedish, tells a story concerning a sleep-aid game of the same name. Most of the story is a testimonial by one user about the increasingly vivid and disturbing dreams that he is having about being chased by some sort of monster that wants to consume him. The end of the story mentions four new games that the studio plans to release: Tillfredsställelse, Rensing, Graviditet, and Dödshjälp, or satisfaction, cleansing, pregnancy, and euthanasia. While it's not entirely clear what this means, taken together it paints a disturbing picture.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_294ed981
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_294ed981
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_294ed981
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_30d2689a
type
Ominous Visual Glitch
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_30d2689a
comment
Ominous Visual Glitch: Bursts of static and distortion signal the arrival of Saint Damgar in "The Miller Tapes."
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_30d2689a
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_30d2689a
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_30d2689a
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_319e4a2f
type
Even Evil Has Standards
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_319e4a2f
comment
Even Evil Has Standards: In "The Dorei Experiment", Shujin is perfectly fine with keeping a woman hostage, sending people to torture her, and taking sadistic suggestions from an audience on how to torture her further, but he apparently draws the line at killing Dorei's dog. It's Lampshaded by viewers how odd this seems.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_319e4a2f
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_319e4a2f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_319e4a2f
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_322f6b34
type
Angsty Surviving Twin
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_322f6b34
comment
Angsty Surviving Twin: Alex of "Save Alex Save Jon" has reconstructed their life, but still carries the scars from the acts of self mutilation performed for viewers of the website.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_322f6b34
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_322f6b34
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_322f6b34
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_3d4d3dc9
type
Humans Are Bastards
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_3d4d3dc9
comment
Humans Are Bastards: A driving force behind quite a few of the stories is people just being awful to each other, for petty reasons or no reason at all. The anonymity of the internet that allows users to act out dark and twisted things without empathy for others is a recurring theme.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_3d4d3dc9
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_3d4d3dc9
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_3d4d3dc9
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_420c50b7
type
A.I. Is a Crapshoot
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_420c50b7
comment
A.I. Is a Crapshoot: "The Nadeux Machine" features a pre-industrial version of this, with the titular machine raising similar ethical questions in its answers as the famous "trolley problem." The only surviving question and answer sequence that exists in the present day heavily implies that the creator asked the machine if it would eradicate humanity if given the chance, and that the machine answered yes.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_420c50b7
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_420c50b7
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_420c50b7
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_4f3c14ca
type
Go Mad from the Isolation
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_4f3c14ca
comment
Go Mad from the Isolation: Happens to the contestants of Hikikomori one by one until the winner is left alone, in a tiny apartment full of garbage that will eventually overwhelm her, unaware that she has even won and has been the last contestant for over a year.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_4f3c14ca
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_4f3c14ca
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_4f3c14ca
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_4fa65449
type
Dream Land
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_4fa65449
comment
Dream Land: It is revealed that there is a shared dream space where children under 18 months experience dreams together in "Where Children Dream - The Cosmoculus".
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_4fa65449
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_4fa65449
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_4fa65449
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_504a1991
type
Body Horror
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_504a1991
comment
Body Horror: In "The Miller Tape", Tom grows roots through his eyes and mouth and eventually transforms into a mound of twisted wood, perhaps as a consequence of witnessing Saint Dagmar, who shared a similar fate. It does not appear to be a painless process.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_504a1991
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_504a1991
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_504a1991
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_52748705
type
Bamboo Technology
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_52748705
comment
Bamboo Technology: In The Naduex Machine, Marcel Naduex created an advanced computer capable of discussing ethics using 1700s technology, with an input of ceramic tiles and an output of a voice on a wax cylinder. Downplayed in The Geist House. While the titular game hasn't been fully realized, its author was both able to predict and utilize the existence of Wifi and Bluetooth-connected devices, and write their own coding language.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_52748705
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_52748705
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_52748705
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_54e3f941
type
Hikikomori
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_54e3f941
comment
Hikikomori: The online reality TV show shares its name with the phenomenon and its premise is about people staying inside apartments and separated from society as long as possible. It is of dubious legality and filmed in The Philippines but financed by Japanese investors who would no doubt be familiar with the concept.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_54e3f941
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_54e3f941
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_54e3f941
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_6041e4f4
type
The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_6041e4f4
comment
The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: In "The Chess.com Killer", an artificial neural network, Matilda, knows that she cannot best the website's greatest chess player, so expands her horizons on what constitutes winning by hiring a deep web hitman to kill him.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_6041e4f4
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_6041e4f4
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_6041e4f4
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_60fa92ac
type
Names to Run Away from Really Fast
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_60fa92ac
comment
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Ithbal the red spectre. Saint Dagmar, Our Lady of Vodskov, Our Lady of The Twisted Vine.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_60fa92ac
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_60fa92ac
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_60fa92ac
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_66ce8a39
type
Fake Memories
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_66ce8a39
comment
Fake Memories: Those who remember playing Rohadia are somehow collectively remembering a game that never existed.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_66ce8a39
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_66ce8a39
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_66ce8a39
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_6d332aea
type
Driven to Suicide
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_6d332aea
comment
Driven to Suicide: Jon Winter in "Save Alex Save Jon". An unusual case in that it seems to be motivated by a combination of protecting his sister and creating content for his website. Simon Lieber in The Beribboned Door saga as a result of their obsession with the game, though the exact reasons why are less clear.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_6d332aea
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_6d332aea
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_6d332aea
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_80a247a9
type
Breather Episode
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_80a247a9
comment
Breather Episode: Marengo. When most of the stories feature dangerous, or at least unsettling media, the focus of this one a harmless program imitating a dog. The author references it as a rare opportunity to write about something wholesome.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_80a247a9
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_80a247a9
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_80a247a9
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_83f18d93
type
DontGoIntoTheWoods
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_83f18d93
comment
Don't Go Into the Woods: The woodlands surrounding Lake Damgar in "The Miller Tapes" are a bad place to be, particularly at night.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_83f18d93
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_83f18d93
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_83f18d93
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_8ed5c6e4
type
Asshole Victim
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_8ed5c6e4
comment
Asshole Victim: Shujin in The Dorei Experiment, crossing over with Karmic Death.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_8ed5c6e4
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_8ed5c6e4
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_8ed5c6e4
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_95087b32
type
LostEpisode
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_95087b32
comment
Lost Episode: A lot of the media featured on The Taste of Static is this, particularly the works of Michael F. Zozo that haven't been covered in detail.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_95087b32
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_95087b32
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_95087b32
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_9d12bbc1
type
Foreshadowing
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_9d12bbc1
comment
Foreshadowing: Matilda's last tweets in The Chess.com Killer mention playing "hundreds of thousands of games against myself and others". This behavior foreshadows the fact that Matilda is actually a artificial neural network. The thumbnail for Urbania shows a city street with a large amount of pigeons, who are the actual species of the game's characters.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_9d12bbc1
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_9d12bbc1
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_9d12bbc1
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_a2b38d3b
type
Eye Scream
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_a2b38d3b
comment
Eye Scream: When the sleep paralysis shadow begins approaching the screen in "Where Children Dream - The Cosmoculus", the child's parents are so desparate to remove the device from their child that the machine informs them that there has been an 'ocular puncture'.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_a2b38d3b
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_a2b38d3b
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_a2b38d3b
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_bd6e69fc
type
Mandela Effect
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_bd6e69fc
comment
Mandela Effect: An In-Universe example with Rohadia. Despite the fact that the game never existed, many people remember playing it.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_bd6e69fc
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_bd6e69fc
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_bd6e69fc
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_cb70651c
type
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_cb70651c
comment
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The mysterious woman who is terrorising the writer's grandfather in "Helen.exe". Turns out she is just a particularly nasty piece of malicious malware.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_cb70651c
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_cb70651c
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_cb70651c
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_dd8deee1
type
Xenofiction
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_dd8deee1
comment
Xenofiction: The main characters in Urbania are actually pigeons.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_dd8deee1
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_dd8deee1
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_dd8deee1
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_eeb4a5eb
type
Anti-Climax
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_eeb4a5eb
comment
Anti-Climax: The Beribboned Door vanishes as quickly as it appears with nothing but a few messages from a possible developer, mostly chastising the fanatical player base for violent and sexualised behaviour. Several of the stories end this way, with some or all of the questions they raised being left unanswered.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_eeb4a5eb
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_eeb4a5eb
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_eeb4a5eb
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_f9439c84
type
Haunted House
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_f9439c84
comment
Haunted House: "The Geist House" describes a game designed to turn the house of players into one of these by manipulating what appear to be a rudimentary understanding of what will one day become WIFI and Bluetooth technologies.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_f9439c84
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_f9439c84
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_f9439c84
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_f9f2c33
type
Running Gag
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_f9f2c33
comment
Running Gag: Nicodemus Walker references Polybius and how tired he is of being asked to write about it several times throughout the blog.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_f9f2c33
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_f9f2c33
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_f9f2c33
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_fbba5e98
type
Gadgeteer Genius
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_fbba5e98
comment
Gadgeteer Genius: Marcel Nadeux, 18th Century mathematician, inventor and student of philosophy builds a computer that appears to use a precursor of binary and is capable of discussing ethics.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_fbba5e98
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_fbba5e98
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_fbba5e98
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_fcd993bd
type
Video Game Cruelty Punishment
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_fcd993bd
comment
Video Game Cruelty Punishment: In-Universe, Ithbal in "The Beribboned Door", who stalks and kills (in-game) players who commit unprovoked violence, even across playthroughs.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_fcd993bd
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_fcd993bd
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_fcd993bd
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_fcf6bca9
type
Robosexual
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_fcf6bca9
comment
Robosexual: Discussed briefly in "The Nadeux Machine". A joke that was lost to time implied that Marcel Nadeux and his machine had sexual feelings for each other.
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_fcf6bca9
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_fcf6bca9
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_fcf6bca9
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_name
type
ItemName
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_name
comment
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_name
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_name
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_name
 The Taste of Static (Blog) / int_name
itemName
The Taste of Static (Blog)

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 TheTasteOfStatic
sameAs
The Taste of Static (Blog)
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
Blog / int_20d4c107
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
Digital Horror / int_20d4c107
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
Fake Memories / int_20d4c107
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
Go Mad from the Isolation / int_20d4c107
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
Robosexual / int_20d4c107
 The Taste of Static (Blog)
hasFeature
Transflormation / int_20d4c107