#staff only

“All of the paper materials tucked away inside the envelopes we have received are usually crammed together and covered in paint and ink. Despite this, volunteers have both restored and recreated most of what was found on the documents. Below is an example of our work as we extract information from the original document and translate it into a digital state.”—(emphasis mine) About Us

Information about the black stuff from Staff Only:

We know not to touch the black stuff, based on information from W, written to the QA.(interestingly, it seems to say that the QA got all of the stuff that they had to this point, but the information given by W in awayfrompryingeyes seems to indicate that W was holding the weird stuff back)  In the photo we have of the original document (Julie and sibs) they already know or have an instinct to wear gloves when handling the stuff. 

In the letter below, the QA approaches W to let them curate the items, aka clean and preserve them in a way that won’t damage the items, and is told no in no uncertain terms. 

The response to this seemed a bit over the top, but as we have seen, the WHRP members (maybe just W) have reported some kind of influence from the items.  The insinuation here is that the black stuff has lead to a number of symptoms and they are bad symptoms:

“It means it is inside of you too, then, this urge to find it. Our efforts won’t be in vain.”—About us

The statement, “it is inside you too, then,” is an interesting one, because I have always taken it to mean that some mysterious force or unknown evil is spread by touching these things.  It hasn’t been specifically linked to the black stuff, but it seems the obvious choice in “being infected” with Welcome Home.

“To be honest, we were drawn in unexpectedly. All of the information found on this website was extracted from documents that had been uncovered in brightly colored envelopes. We are thankful to be the first to jump start this exciting journey! But it hurts.”—About us

As we have seen above, items received have black stuff on them.  It is after exposure that they become obsessed with solving the mystery of this show (have we been exposed?)  The person above is using gloves, and there are notes in Staff Only about wearing gloves and they are available.  There are also dirty gloves on the table.  I would assume that means that they are taking the necessary precautions. But, these are far more dirty than the exhibit items. (Maybe the gloves were used with the paint roller? At least some of the black stuff appears to have been spread by fingers and hands, based on look.  In addition, you can see two paint cans in the bottom corner of the image. Is this where the paint comes from? It would seem less mysterious with the paint cans there, unless this is the black stuff controlling the QA and staff and making them paint.)  

To begin with, I assumed that people had become lax and were handling them directly, but it is possible that whatever influence is spread, it isn’t through direct touch.  They are asked to return any items with black stuff on them:

“We are overjoyed you have received all of the work we have so far uncovered!  Please take care of it while it is in your possession, but under no circumstances should it be touched with your bare hands.  Please wear gloves:  If a substance begins to grow on anything delivered (?), please place it back in the box it was shipped in and return it to us at your leisure.  If you or anyone on your team experience nausea, dizziness, or fatigue, please don’t be alarmed!”—Staff Only

You can see in the picture below that they have gloves for this purpose.  The letter instructs them to return anything that has growth on it, though they don’t specify what it would look like.  It says not to be alarmed if any of them experience dizziness and fatigue.  I don’t know why the QA would take the risk of the black stuff, and it seems that W knows it is there, potentially there, or that it grows quickly and unexpectedly. 

This particular email has always captured my interest for two reasons:  the content, but also, you can see the black stuff in its physical form.  Where on the paper and walls it looks like ink, this stuff looks/acts more like kudzu (for those that aren’t familiar, an invasive species of ivy native to Japan and other Asian countries that massively took over the American south, also known as “mile a minute” or “the vine that ate the South” from Wikipedia).

In these pictures, you can see instances of the creeping black stuff.  It is all over the staff only room, and on the ceiling in the exhibit space/or back room (I think it is exhibit space).  We can see that this stuff has gotten out of hand and is creeping along. Is this what happens after the inky stuff starts to spread? Or when staff members touch the inky stuff and then touch something else?

As previously discussed, there is a roller on the table, and in some shots you can see what looks like paint cans. This could mean that the roller on the table and the black stuff on the walls are related and it’s just paint.  There are some gloves close by covered in the black stuff as well.  The QA believes someone is punking them, so this could be evidence of that, but who would know enough about this stuff to play that particular prank?

Known symptoms of contact are headache, dizziness, and nausea, and while WHRP says it isn’t anything to worry about, we know that the QA was sick for quite a while, and whether that is physically, mentally, or both is not stated.  I believe paranoia is listed as a symptom as well, with both W and QA experiencing this (as evidenced by their written concerns that someone is tricking them..)

It appears that the QA didn’t take that advice in the email (or is subject to another force), leading to the spread of black stuff.  Given the state of things in the Staff Only room, it would appear that the black stuff has arrived.  This leads me to wonder, can they see it?

What we can extrapolate from all this, is that the black stuff could account for the behavior of the individuals we have seen so far.  The ick, which can be seen underneath Home, and has grown in size during the last year, has stringy bits that reach further and further out. 

(Could this explain why Eddie has his moments of paranoia during the Commercials?  All his increased heartbeat and strange faces, the sweating and feeling disoriented?)

W doesn’t mention the black stuff.  The curator only mentions “more of that stuff is on the walls.”

There is more of that stuff on the walls.  I keep hearing phones ringing.—Staff only, QA’s notes

The association of the black stuff and the ringing has stuck with me as we have progressed. 

It’s probably a not so common reference, but it reminds me of Red vs. Blue, where Tucker keeps getting volunteered to go through the portal.  Tucker comes out covered in black stuff (which I believe he says is carbon.)

I don’t believe it gives Tucker any special powers, just a lot of armor cleaning.  But he is pushed to be the one to go through it, because those kinds of portals have potential consequences.  The rocks they test it with come out black, and they make Tucker do it anyway. (bowchickawowow?)

But the direct reference to more black stuff and the phone is ringing reminded me of W as well.  They hear the phone ringing.  They hear Wally talking sometimes.  W finds themselves seeing things on a TV that they shouldn’t be seeing (hmm…but Eddie specifically), and the QA has a note on the TV that says to replace it ASAP if it gets broken. I can see two different ideas here:  either the QA thinks the TV is broken when it starts playing things it shouldn’t, but also could be a note to have it fixed ASAP, because like W, they are seeing things in the TV that they aren’t supposed to be able to see.  W, in particular, knows that there is weird stuff going on in the website, going as far to test Wally’s response.  They don’t seem to be willing or able to make the connection to Wally specifically. 

What if  all the stuff on the website is for W specifically?  Wally could be talking directly to W.

I think it is very possible that touching the black stuff not only opens you up to symptoms/not feeling well, but also infects you with something that allows you to hear or see Wally and Home.  Those are the only two that have spoken to us directly.  There is an argument for Eddie speaking to us, but I don’t think he is aware of us.  I’m not sure where the video comes from, in universe.

But we do know that Wally has stated we draw eyes, and that allows him to see through us (or W and their team.)  We have seen eyes littered throughout.  On the website, all the eyes in the borders are presumably from W, since they are still on the site.  In Staff Only, there are post-its with eyes littered around, including one that says “who are you” and eyes on the WHRP folder as well (in addition to the background being upside down eyes.  With upside down text.  OK, maybe upside down eyes.)

We are all drawing his eyes, but does he know about us?  I don’t think we have communicated back in a way that is specifically identifiable as us.  It could be that Wally/Home are trying to desperately break down barriers through contact with individuals in W’s universe. 

That would make for a good explanation of why the show disappeared.  If the black stuff started to spread in our reality, any of those kids would see the show for what it is.  I don’t think we have a full idea of what it is yet, but we haven’t touched the black stuff.  If kids started to act weird, and people started to notice black stuff around, they would have avoided it.

I can really see something like that coming through in a toy or other merch, and begin to spread, leading to strange behavior in the kids, leading to parents thinking it is black mold or something and pushing the series away for that reason. 

This concept art portraying Sunny seems to lay out the plan a bit more (though it could have been a former plan, not the current plan for the story).  “Children have seen it and now they know what to do!”  It’s really creepy and shows Wally as an oppressive force.

“Everything is so disgusting to touch.  Sometimes the mail doesn’t come for weeks.  I want to rip into everything I have.  My head feels so muddled, too.  Ever since I opened that envelope.”

This interview/questions for the website are asked by WHRP and answered by QA in the email above.  The note discovered by using blacklight is presumably the QA, either answering in some kind of invisible ink, or maybe they don’t remember, leading them to think it is another part of the supposed “prank.”  I suppose it could be an actual prank, but I don’t think that fits the story very well.

I haven’t ever really understood the use of the blacklight/invisible ink.  The messages are of the type that Wally leaves, but there is no expectation that it is Wally who wrote them.  It could be the QA or another of their staff, as well.  But the QA leaves instructions to use blacklight on everything.  I assumed in the beginning that maybe the blacklight catches the black stuff, but given the use of ink, maybe the QA is looking for the messages from Wally.  I don’t think there is enough information at this point to know the answer to that, but am open to hearing some, if anyone has theories about it. 

The important thing about the black stuff, especially as experience in the Staff Only page, is a visible type of infection into our world.  If we can see this stuff, either we are able to see it because we haven’t been infected, or because we have.  Either way, in the realm of Staff Only, we see a physical manifestation of the influence of Welcome Home on people who come into contact with it, even now.