Likes: 
Faceplams: I think Trent planted this shit back in '11 knowing that some day it would come back around.
He is probably lurking ets right now, in the basement with mango la croix in hand.
xScott
I think Trent planted this shit back in '11 knowing that some day it would come back around.
He is probably lurking ets right now, in the basement with mango la croix in hand.
Throbbing Member
As long as NTAE is not credited to Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and some schizophrenic woman I believe this is somehow related to the EP.
If that is true NTAE is a record that took more than 5 years in the making.
Yet Dave Grohl drummed on it. So could it be 11?
But one mystery remains - the Still artwork. Still could've been the last NIN record, or it is the last NIN record before Trent went to rehab.
So this EP trilogy could be what TR felt (or someone close to him) when he was working on (or circa) Still. That could explain all this and the Still artwork being re-used.
Just a theory of my own.
Stubby Member
Haven't posted here in years but this strange little devolpment has caused me to want to join the action. I've been a NIN fan for like 15 years and this one of the strangest NIN related things I've ever seen. Creepy and mysterious. Doesn't seem like ARG, especially since it's confirmed to have been written in 2011. However, Trent knows his fans well and he knows his fans are little seedy sleuths. Why wouldn't the cover his tracks better if he was plagiarizing? Not to mention that both of these EPs have basically been begging to be analyzed on an ARG level, it seems odd that if Trent did steal from this schizophrenic diary, that he wouldn't hide it better. Statistically speaking, it's most likely he just came accross it on the net and used it for inspiration but color me very suspicious and very interested.
Stubby Member
This line also appeared in the extra lyrics of Branches / Bones and is neither sung by Trent in the song nor appears on that blog. Could it have a new meaning now?why are you here right now? i don't think you're supposed to be reading this
Throbbing Member
I am worried that TR has directly lifted some lyrical ideas from both William Gibson and a random blog post, but, then again, the majority of the 'sung' lyrics on Branches/Bones are sparse and only referencing of this stuff. It's really the hidden lyrics, which themselves might be homage from his POV, considering the "I don't think you're supposed to be reading this" line.
Active Member
What seems more likely — Trent imitated someone with schizophrenia, wrote a couple obscure blog posts, posted them years ago during an off-period for NIN and secretly planned a release he wouldn’t get to for 5 more years with tons of projects in between, and then lied in every interview about the making of the EP (because he outright said NTAE material was a way for he and Atticus to engage a different side of their creativity while working on Before the Flood and The Vietnam War), and all of this is some elaborate plan for no real reason, or the guy found a blog while searching for similar things to the themes he wanted to explore and referenced it creatively?
It’s very interesting, odd and adds to the overall mood and tone of the record but I don’t think it’s some big complex thing. Artists seek out inspiration all the time and overt and subconscious references to it happen constantly. Year Zero’s ARG had tons of literary quotes and references embedded in webpages and hidden in artwork but we didn’t all suddenly think Trent Reznor secretly wrote 1984. Those weird t-shirts from 2014 quoted Slaughterhouse-Five but we didn’t all think Trent was secretly Kurt Vonnegut. Help Me I Am In Hell is named after a quote from a Hellraiser movie. It’s basically literary sampling.
Hairy Member
i agree, but i think people are more concerned for the ethical outbringing of this kind of reference. trent has basically trained his fanbase to investigate all aspects of his releases, and to do it without much care for an unknown mentally ill person's exposure is really dangerous of him. taking his character into account, we'd all like to believe he wouldn't do that, so it kind of balances out the odds for some of us.Originally Posted by kleiner352
i hope trent does say something regarding this, because we are still on the swing of understanding whether there is an ARG or not, and if we decide to leave it alone out of respect for the person, he's losing part of the experience of creative depth of the EPs with the fans, because the ARG just won't be fully played. but it's best to take the safe, respectful way out. this is concerning
Hairy Member
I could not agree more, especially being the cocksucking chicken wing that stumbled upon the site and created this hole of shit and piss along with Mr. Hesitation Marks.
I would like clarification from TR on whether or not we should keep playing, preferably in the form of a cryptic tweet.
Active Member
No, we aren't.
It's not an ARG.
The reference that lead us to this blog is on the inleaf of an EP that was released, what?, 9 months ago?
If we were supposed to find this as part of a game we would have been nudged in that direction a long time ago. It's not like Trent and co. have been sat around releasing new music, touring and doing whatever whilst thinking "holy shit, haven't they figured out that obscure reference that leads to the blog I planted 7 years ago???????".
It's pretty clear that Trent wanted this to be found, but not as a game.
My favourite NIN joke is that we all think everything is part of a dumb ARG, this thread is ruining that joke
Hairy Member
Rob says it might be nothing.
https://twitter.com/rob_sheridan/sta...40653924237314
Active Member
I agree. After thinking about this a bit longer, I don’t think TR would take something like this and run with it for an EP idea. They wouldn’t put that on the CD for the fans to find for nothing. This would still be buried under the depths of the internet otherwise. We know TR in the past has done some crazy things... like record The Downward Spiral in the Tate house and has come out to say he knew what he was doing years later.. shock factor. But this is some minuscule blog post and was supposed to be found. It’s on the CD!! I was talking with my brother and I think it just adds to the context of the EP. gives more depth to it and it makes me love the EP even more. It may not be an ARG, but just a way to immerse yourself into the music. I don’t know TR personaly, but I don’t see him as being so insensitive around a mental health issue such as this. This blog was more to immerse yourself in the music and my brother and I have been texting about it nonstop since. Pretty wild. Especially if this has been years in the making.
Hairy Member
Yes! Look at what this weird ass blog has done, everyone: Brought all of us NIN freaks together again in the past 24 hours. It was seeded intentionally for us to find, look up, and share with each other to nerd out over. That sounds like classic TR to me.
My entire listening experience for NTAE has changed now, and mostly I'm grateful I got to interact with all of you wonderful folks and discuss. For me, personally, it's been similar to Year Zero all over again, and this cocksucking chicken wing loves it.
Throbbing Member
Yeah but it's "A blog that took from a diary when I was unmedicated", so even if its real, the person seems aware enough of what s/he's doing. Nothing unethical.
Throbbing Member
IF Trent took inspiration from this blog, and it has nothing to do with him/his camp, I have lightened my view of this, seeing as how the majority of the 'copied'/chopped-up bits are in the hidden, obscured lyrics, both digitally and in the physical materials.
Someone mentioned audio sampling or literary sampling (e.g. Twilight Zone episode titles, Hellraiser quotes, other movie quotes, countless audio snippets from videos and films, etc.), so because this isn't so BLATANT and fans certainly had to dig to even find this in the first place, it strikes me as fascinating. A tad lazy, as I thought Trent wrote all of that himself, but fascinating from a curation standpoint.
IF Trent has anything to do with it whatsoever, I think this is crazy. What is up with that Wordpress design/similarity to the NTAE artwork? Why has no one noticed that connection before if it is a Wordpress template which presumably many people have used before?
Administrator
well, maybe it would be unethical if this is a real person with a mental health issue. thousands of fans start hitting their blog and analyzing their writing...unwarranted attention might not feel great for this person. I don't think Reznor would purposely do that to anyone. He is often inspired by other works so it wouldn't surprised me if the scenario is he stumbled across this at some point and it sparked some idea that led to NTAE. Because of the obvious lyrical and visual connections, i feel like he is behind it.
But
to me, 42 guy saying its not them or "nin camp" means its not Reznor.
Stubby Member
I don't think there is any problem with analyzing some writings and things like that, if people just behave like they should and don't start posting comments or trying to reach with this person there's no problem with reading things that are posted anonimously and in public in the web. This may not be an alternate reality or a game, this seems to be reality, and there are some awful things in there and what Trent has been doing all his career is not hiding this ugly part of the world but facing it.
This thing has totally changed my listening experience of NTAE, and it gave me a feeling of unease that I only felt with the Broken/Downward Spiral era releases.
Last edited by mauro995; 02-22-2018 at 01:35 PM.
Banned
Unwarranted attention? I don’t know... of that was the case, the person behind that blog wouldn’t use such a public medium to write that stuff and would have made it private.
This has been hinted at on purpose, whether it is TR behind it or not, NIN wanted us to find this blog or we wouldn’t have those hidden lyrics printed on the album. Maybe it’s not a full-on ARG, but then again, the whole idea of an ARG is to be an immersive experience... wouldn’t 42 or TR admitting there is an ARG (or whatever) going on ruin the whole purpose or core of the experience?
This is fascinating. It adds a new depth to NTAE.
I’ll keep my eyes open to see how this develops. I’m sure there are lots of clues scattered all over the place that we haven’t figured out yet.
Hairy Member
I did just find out that the internet archive machines, Wayback machine etc, can't be tricked (thanks to the most beautiful girl in the world for figuring that out) even with predating, so the site really was made in 2011. The plot thickens.
I still, personally, would like some cryptic clarification from TR about this whole thing but regardless, NTAE certainly has new depth and I've enjoyed myself a whole lot.
EDIT: Has anyone tried looking in the code of the site, or doing anything nerdy with it to see if anything is hidden in it?
Last edited by hannahdriley; 02-22-2018 at 01:44 PM.
Administrator
Here's where I'm at with this.
It's not an ARG. I think that's pretty much been confirmed. My guess is that it's likely that at some point, Trent saw this website or someone let him to it and he bookmarked some ideas for inspiration and decided to resurrect them for NTAE. Past that, I wouldn't try to hunt down the original owner of the page or do anything similar to that because it could get weird fast. I'd say that in the meantime, we wait to find out and have patience.
Hairy Member
even said it's not 42, i call bullshit on "it's not reznor". of course it is. trent keeps a fierce eye throughout the assembling of his releases and artwork does not slip by. plus, the resemblances to branches/bones are uncanny.
my personal opinion? it doesn't even matter if it's an arg or not, if it's something to be looked into or not. i just really do hope tr says something about this out of the spite to not let this story stain the ep on public's eye (not because the court of public opinion is something to be taken too seriously when coming to nin, but because he's a pretty serious man and this story is downright disturbing). it's like broken movie, tate house and down in it all over again... only he's 50. if this hits the media, he'll be having a pretty harsh headache over this.
i mean, i already feel really uneasy listening to branches/bones. which artistically does give depth for the ep, but also, paints trent as really irresponsible at this point. and that's not the image we've had of him for the last 13 years or so.
Hairy Member
What we know:
In 2007 TR was disappointed the ARG was solved so fast. He also said in 2007 "But we put a lot of effort into little things like that, to try to really make an experience that broke down the idea that you come and see concerts, two bands play, you drink a beer, you go to the bathroom, you go home. And ideally in the future the plan is to work with them again. It's something that's probably less classic ARGish and more about breaking that audience performer barrier down into something that — we haven't figured it out yet." ((bolding mine, for emphasis))
In 2017 TR is quoted saying "I like the depth. With the new EPs, I liked world-building, and writing music that can sit in that world. I was always the guy who desperately wanted the Dark Side of the Moon to line up with The Wizard of Oz. I wanted to believe somebody was so far out of their mind that they figured that out. Fuck, I got goose bumps just thinking about that possibility right now — the idea that someone could be thinking so hard about an album." ((again, bolding mine))
Pink Floyd has admitted to not intentionally doing this, which he would know, so... what artist is he thinking of that gave him goosebumps?
Himself, perhaps? In fact, isn't TR known to be the guy who steps in and does stuff himself when he wants to see it done?
Based on that, I propose that this is clearly an ARG, the more complex one that he wanted and has been planning since 2007. I propose that over the last decade, he used spare lyrics to build websites, seeding them for future use whenever he got around to it. I believe we will continue to find websites "from the past" that reference current lyrics. I don't think it's crazy at all to think TR and crew have been laying the groundwork for their next ARG over a long period of time. They are meticulous and they plan things. Ten years doesn't seem that long when you've already been a rock god for twenty.
Source interviews:
http://www.vulture.com/2017/07/trent...nch-nails.html
https://www.wired.com/2007/12/ff-arg-reznor/
Last edited by mrpapercuts; 02-22-2018 at 03:37 PM.
Active Member
this thread is brilliant
also: some of you guys would make great conspiracy theorists.
Stubby Member
I have to say, it's been great reading all of your opinions, and thoughts regarding whether or not it is, or isn't an ARG. I honestly could care less about whether it is, or isn't, I'm here for the ride and I believe this weekend will be a good time to re-visit that ride in its entirety!
Throbbing Member
I like your attitude and gumption. But find me another website beyond this strange, eerily sad one, and I'd maybe believe you.
Hairy Member
Well look at it this way... what's the alternative, that Trent fucking Reznor stole his lyrics and ideas from a rando blog on the internet? Those are the two choices, as far as I can see, and Occam's Razor clearly points to ARG if that's the case.
It took "us" how many months to find this one website since NTAE came out. But the website and the clues were there all along. The fact that we've found one, through clues, should be confirmation that we can find more, through clues. Right?
Again, what's the alternative - that he connected his shit to a rando blog in an obtuse way... but it's NOT an ARG? After making one ARG and saying he wanted to make another?
Hairy Member
I guess my whole point is, this proves there's an ARG going on, and it took us almost a year to figure it out. It's not gonna be as easy as last time.
We gotta get crackalackin on some weirdass shit to find more clues. We gotta get crazy with the cheese whiz.
I know I'm doing my part - I'm currently looking at the variations in settings between different images of the ADD VIOLENCE control board to see if the units of variation lead to anything.
Professional Wrestler
I don't get the fascination with fans wanting an ARG for these Eps as much as they want one.
Active Member
funny, my viewpoint actually says that is way more likely. That blog is probably so vain, it thinks branches/bones is about it.Well look at it this way... what's the alternative, that Trent fucking Reznor stole his lyrics and ideas from a rando blog on the internet? Those are the two choices, as far as I can see, and Occam's Razor clearly points to ARG if that's the case.
Throbbing Member
So what if NATE is like the inner mind's eye of a mentally disturbed person and AV is like how the system controls him? NATE is like, "here is evidence of things that never happened" and AV is how they control this person's mind. The 3rd EP could be this person awaking to actual reality of Year Zero a bummer ending or could be total self destruction, who knows. TR suggested the 3rd EP will make everything come together and make sense. I bet their is still something out in the wilds of the internet about the AV machine that has not been found yet. I really think our serial numbers from AV manual are some how connected to one another in a cypher type code kind of like MD5 hash or something.
Throbbing Member
I had the same exact thought 15 seconds before reading your message
I don't think we've actually tried to collect a large quantity of serial numbers to see if there are some similarities between them. I like the idea that they might be hash of some sort or, or that there might be some sort of order linking one PC' serial number to the other
edit: we're now collecting the SNs. Please fill the form here: https://goo.gl/forms/nlArDF8KZAFpoobq2
Last edited by arsenic; 02-22-2018 at 05:39 PM.
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