#dhmis theory

No but the way I completely forgot I made this should be studied lol I spent so much time on this thing (just to forget about it and leave it unfinished). Oh well.. have it before I forget about it again for some reason.

Now. the important things.

I need a season 3 (or 2 if we don't consider the yt one) like plants need the sun to live okay? Like what do you mean there's another floor upstairs? What do you mean there are little doll backups for all the characters just tossed in some desk drawer? What do you mean YOU ARE NOT MY REAL SON???????? Hello?????? *biting my own fingers to stop me from writing a whole essay about Lesley*

Ok hear me out. SPOILERS BELOW

The whole series is the metaphorical way in which a mother is coping with the loss of her son. WALK WITH ME.

2. Ok now every episode sort of follows a structured pattern:

the main characters are in their home talking about random things -> a topic of interest is presented -> some teacher arrives and start singing a song about the topic -> the song starts ok (child appropriate) and proceeds to become more wrong and creepy as it goes on -> everything ends in gore and splatter -> conclusion (usually the main characters learning the wrong lesson from said teacher, which 99% of the times dies in a horrible way).

3. Yellow guy (the main character) died in a tragic accident

Episode 5 transport shows us yellow guy daydreaming (or remembering???) living in a town outside their house and we hear the voice of a woman (Lesley) describing the town and the neighbors. Then the accident happens and yellow guy is hit by a car while chasing a little bird across the street (the metaphor of the little bird being yellow guy than then we see squashed on the car window when the daydream ends is *chef kiss*).

Anyway my theory is that Lesley was driving the car and accidentally killed her son, ended in therapy and the whole series is her (almost) losing her mind. And I think that in the split second before the impact yellow guy saw her in the car.

Don't hug me I am scared is a peculiar title for such a layered show and the more I think about it the more I realise that 'don't hug me I am scared' could have been yellow guy's last words.. to his mum. yellow guy is a child, he goes to elementary school at best and to him what happened is that his mum hurt him, and there's probably blood everywhere and he is in pain and he is scared. And how could you want a hug from your mother in a moment like this? When she is the one who put you in this situation?

Don't hug me (mom) I am scared (of you)

And how could any decent mother react to such a thing?? Knowing that you killed your own son, who doesn't even want a hug from you in his last moments.

Saying that her brain probably crashed badly is an understatement.

And during the rebooting process something went wrong and now she is making up a whole puppet show in which her son is alive and doing the things a common child his age does: learning!

But since she is the director of the show (and again the reboot process didn't go that well), the teachers are a bit.. odd, to put it lightly. She is trying her best to teach concepts that any good mother would teach to her child, but the guilt and the reality of things is always running as a background process, which in the end gives us very disturbing lessons.

Now, after saying all these things I still have doubts about the role of Roy (yellow guy dad) in all of this; I have many ideas about him actually. I don't remember him directly hurting Yellow guy and the kid doesn't seem that much scared of him, however his appearance is not the friendliest representation of a dad, so maybe Lesley knows something about him that their son doesn't and that's why she is representing him this way? Another thing I like to think about is that he was there when the accident happens and he didn't manage to stop his child from crossing the street. So she pictures him as a sort of bad guy, which in her play never directly interacts with Yellow guy (you know, because he didn't act irl) however Yellow guy didn't really see him not acting to save him, so there's no need for him to actually hate him (in fact we see Roy protecting yellow guy at the end of the 'family' episode, by mauling the creepy family that came out straight from a criminal minds episode if you ask me). Or maybe he was a bad guy and Lesley and her son were running away from him, hence the description of the neighboroud as a new place.. but again why put such negative figure in your play then? I don't want to explain it with the 'fried brain?' reason but who knows.

Anyway

Speaking about the family episode.. there's a tiny, disturbing and depressing detail that I want to point out (no, it's not what you are thinking). During one of the songs Yellow guy says an interesting line:

And die on the same day in the same style of accident but in different locations

I like to interpret this line metaphorically.. as if you are a parent and your child dies, you die with him that day (metaphorically), the days and life stop at that moment, for a parent. And you die everyday again and again, in a loop, every time you wake up and your child doesn't.

Ok, so far then we have a dead child and his mom refusing the reality of things and making up a whole world in which he is alive. Cool.

Now in the last episode we know that there's actually another floor in the fake house and to me that floor is the real world.

And in an exquisite breaking of the fourth wall.. upstairs we have a therapy studio with the real Lesley as the patient..

and Becky Sloan as the therapist.

I am fangirling so much over this you guys can't understand I am foaming from my mouth like a rabid animal

AHEM

I mean this show raised the bar of storytelling at impossible levels to me and Becky seems unhinged (in the most loving way possible) enough to introduce herself as a character in exactly this way. It would be epic. the way I would scream y'all

The reason I am saying that Lesley is going to therapy lies in 2 specific moments.

her screaming YOU ARE NOT MY REAL SON

her giving the book™, which realistically contains the truth about the events, to Yellow guy.

I think that these are two moments in which we see the positive effects that therapy is having on her: part of her is screaming to the rest of her brain to let the kid go and accept what happened, that's why she SCREAMS it, she is not screaming at yellow guy, but at herself. Part of her wants to heal, although, as we are going to see later, this part is too small to actually have a real impact on her later actions.

Her giving the book to yellow guy is another clear indication of her wanting to move in the right direction with her therapy HOWEVER we know that she is the one directing the play and moving the characters around yellow guy.

So imagine this woman trying really hard to take a step forward in her healing journey (giving the book) but at the same time being so scared that accepting the events means losing her child again, that she makes duck and red guy take the batteries from yellow guy, turning him in the goofy kid he used to be, and making him destroy the book containing the truth (the batteries symbolizing yellow guy growing and becoming and independent person, which she can't fully imagine since.. you know.. he died).

Like she takes a step forward and two backwards. You saw the scars on her face right? Probably a daily reminder of the car accident? You saw how the wounds are closed but not healed?

THE STITCHES ARE STILL THERE... AND SHE IS AN OLD WOMAN

How long have you been grieving, Lesley?

Now one way I can see her healing is of course accepting that it was a tragic accident and we all agree on that. But most importantly, to fully heal, she needs to know that her son was just scared and confused and didn't really mean to push her away like that in his last moments. To her not only her child died but the love he had for her died with him too. Like imagine hearing your dying child say DON'T HUG ME MOM. Such a thing would break everyone.

There's only one way in which this could end well: she needs a hug from her son in her play. Yellow guy has to become the part of her that heals her and their love for each other has to become the way he still lives, again metaphorically in her memories of their time together.

Like yellow guy needs to tell her to let him go, that healing doesn't mean forgetting and that she was a good mom. Of course this has to happen thanks to therapy and the role that Becky Sloan will play in all of this.

Becky being the irl creator of the show has to use what Lesley created as a coping mechanism (the character of yellow guy we all know) to help the woman accept the death of her real child.

BOY DO I EVER ANON!!!!!! buckle up because after all this time im making a long ramble again, particularly about one of the earliest theories i ever had!!!! keep in mind this is my personal opinion and view of the series BUT if you’re asking—

i think of this scene the same way i think of the scene in the love episode where he pauses and looks directly at the camera. (Looking for us to answer his question instead of red.)

or the scene in one of the tv intros where the camera swings and he desperately sways back and forth trying to stay in frame. (He knows someone is watching this and he needs to be in frame, he needs to get the same recognition the other two got.)

or the scene in the food episode where he physically pushes the camera down in an attempt to get the episode to stop. (He pushed it down coincidentally when he yelled “I don’t want to do this anymore!” implying he thinks the camera will end the song/episode— Implying he knows of its presence and what it entails. Note that they put him infront of a screen broadcasting the episode to him when he gets eaten by the can!!)

or the scene where he insists that red continues to guess because “the people” are dying to know what his extra dialogue would’ve been. (He specifically says “the people” are curious and not himself despite the demand not changing had he said himself.)

with the reveal of the new website, I’ve been looking through it for secrets or lore. I found some in the merch. My theory:

RED GUY KILLED DAVID

In DHMIS season 1, it’s heavily implied that yellow guy is or is a stand in for Leslie’s son, David. David was hit by a car chasing an animal—shown to be a bird—and presumably died. Duck represents the animal, as shown in patches. We know why Yellow and Duck are there, but not Red.

i haven't seen anyone talk about it online this past decade, so. just to let you know. i'm about to blow up this fandom, because i'm gonna tell you what Red Guy's real name is.

i'm sure there's gotta be other people out there who've figured it out thus far, and i know i won't be the first, but for those who don't know, i'll be back with all the evidence nicely organised in a post :)

Warren's favorite color might be yellow, this might sound stupid(because it is) but notice how the main three like eachother like how they love their favorite colors? Red guy likes yellow guy sometimes (his hair), yellow guy like duck, and duck likes red guy. And because warren likes yellow guy, maybe his favorite color could be yellow? Idk maybe I'm just overthinking

Sure we can see his eyes watching them through the walls but who says it’s controlling? It seems like he’s just stuck in this universe now, the universe that he used to torture the trio but now he’s just as stuck as them. And ofc there’s the scene in episode 5 where yellow guy finds him on the road and he’s all messed up

I’m starting to think that after season 1 red guy freed the group for a little bit but Leslie took over and while she’s a bit more gentle with the group she’s still very malicious, just tortures them more slowly and psychologically.