Anastasia Marie Gault—alternatively known as Puppet Strings and Toxic Ann online—is an internet personality from New Orleans most known for her "factual" Creepypasta content uploaded to her YouTube channel, which is currently supported by approximately 35.2 thousand subscribers at the time of posting.
The opinions of her long-term subscribers and viewers tend to be subjective; some are under the impression the facts stated in her videos have been obtained by credible sources, while others believe her videos are representative of her personal head-canons and are not intended to be perceived as legitimate.
As someone who highly values fact-checking when researching a subject extensively, I intend to view Ann's content and overall persona from a multitude of perspectives and angles. I'll also provide information I may deem crucial or relevant, first prefacing this analysis with notable past incidents and behaviors she's exhibited.
{ notable scandals. }
On September 9th of 2016, Ann uploaded a 10 Facts About Sally Williams video. The video later received attention from the author of Sally's origin story—Shilo Rose, or La Mishi Mish online—and was disregarded as uninformative. Shilo politely suggested the video be removed due to the potential spread of misinformation, and Ann not only hadn't removed the video, but also refrained from acknowledging Shilo's request.
According to past spectators of the Puppet Strings channel, Ann had additionally uploaded a video in regards to proxy training and transformation. A subscriber of hers had allegedly followed the video as a guide and committed suicide in the process. Ann has yet to address the situation publicly, or privately with the family involved. This is supposedly the reason for her video A Message For Change, as well as the inclusion of the disclaimer in the description of her fact videos.
{ before you watch. }
"And he goes, 'I got this special contact up in New Jersey. He's a former CIA agent' (...) I start talking to him, and he just tells me all this shit."
—Anastasia Gault, in regards to the inspiration behind her content; featured in a podcast with Snuff Bomb and BaptismOnFire
Ann claims all information provided in her Creepypasta videos is legitimate and was extracted from reliable sources. Taking this into consideration, any statements made by me in this entry are supported by the laws of science, medicine, and physics to either debunk or support the more complicated subjects in her commentary.
{ video review #1: "10 facts about jeff the killer" }
plausibility rating: 1/5
"Jeff's original hair color is brown, but due to the fire it charred together and turned black."
Even once hair is burnt to a certain extent, it wouldn't char into a solid black color. Due to the harsh level of damage it went through, Jeff's hair would instead become so brittle it would simply either fall out or break off.
"Jeff had tan skin, and after the accident his face made medical history, as the doctors had considered adding an extra burn severity scale called 'fourth-degree' because of his white skin."
Fourth-degree burn is already present on the burn severity scale. A burn is defined as fourth-degree when the skin is severely charred down to the surface of bone underneath. Such an injury would require amputation if applicable due to the complete deterioration of surrounding tissue, muscle, and tendons. Jeff would be considered lucky if he survived such a penetrating burn—on his face, no less!
"Jeff's clothes are a bit different from what people think. He has dark brown tennis shoes, black jeans, and a white hoodie—not a sweatshirt."
If you read Jeff's origin story, the author described the notable layers of his outfit in detail. "He found a pair of black dress pants he had for special occasions and an undershirt (...) Finally he found a white hoodie and put it on." While Ann is technically correct in regarding Jeff's over-shirt as a hoodie, Jeff wore black dress pants as opposed to jeans. Footwear, however, was not disclosed and is up for interpretation.
{ video review #2: "-the interview-" }
plausibility rating: 0/5
Despite Ann's claims in the introduction stating the video was not staged, I couldn't help but notice how scripted and disingenuous this video felt.
A script is intended to provide a sense of pace and structure to a speech. An on-hand script is capable of achieving this even when condensed to a basic outline. Ann generally has an appropriate structure and pace to her dialogue, but she often tends to come across as bland and stiff in her delivery. A proper, well-versed script should sound natural and organic when the speaker recites it. If it doesn't and the delivery fails to resemble something convincing, the façade crumbles, and what's left is what sounds like a high school student forced to present a project in class. Unfortunately, that's how Ann came across to me in both videos, but it struck me most with this video especially.
There's notable traits throughout the video indicative of poor writing and direction, the most prevalent being Ann's mechanical delivery and the amount of plot conveniences offhandedly written into the script (i.e. the Killer Quill's appearance was abrupt enough for Ann to make comment of it, yet Ann still somehow had already made preparations to stage a full interview in case of an early arrival?)
Outside of writing, I produce, edit, and upload my own content to YouTube. While infrequent, my basic knowledge of editing has helped me discern whether certain videos and images have been digitally manipulated. This video is one I suspect has been heavily manipulated in post-production.
If you inspect and closely monitor the white noise in the audio, there seems to be a faint hum in the background, which remains persistent throughout the course of the video. At first this detail seems insignificant, but once you listen to the white noise for an extended period of time, it becomes apparent when the audio is interjected by the occasional odd sound clipping through it. Oftentimes, these rare occurrences are suspiciously reminiscent of the click of a computer mouse or microphone, and often occur only after the Killer Quill replies, indicating the pausing or ending of an audio recording on her behalf.
This signifies at least two separate audio files were filmed, compiled, and mixed to mimic a convincing conversation. The hum throughout the video is white noise Ann layered over both of the audio files to create a consistent sound and provide a more seamless transition between responses.
This would also make sense of why the visuals consist of only a black screen with white text; the two individuals involved were likely in two differing settings—potentially even two contrasting time zones—when each of their audio files were filmed.
The video was likely made with the purpose of supporting a friend of Ann's who wanted an original character or story of theirs to spread to a larger audience. As any decent friend would do, Ann suggested they could make their debut on her channel, though it'd have to comply with the "factual" theme of her content so it would gain more traction. As a result, the interview became a concept they chose to follow.
{ body language and speech patterns. }
Ann's script-writing and delivery aren't the only particular issues I have with how she presents herself. This isn't in regards to her external appearance and how she decorates her body, as I have a general appreciation for body modifications and have a handful of them myself. Instead, I'm referring to her persona and the manner she chooses to portray herself on camera.
As I've mentioned before, her pacing and structure of her commentary isn't necessarily bad. However, she tends to stammer frequently, though not in a manner indicative of a speech impediment. You could likely find a moment in each video of hers where she either makes an abrupt pause mid-sentence, or where she stutters briefly before completing her statement. In these scenarios—when she pauses mid-sentence especially—it becomes abundantly evident how much of her videos are scripted, as the delivery of her lines tend to falter and don't sound natural in those breaks. But stuttering isn't only seen as an indicator of poor script-writing and performance, but of deception as well.
I research a wide array of subjects, and the art of deception and verbal analysis is one I've lightly dabbled in through my overall interest in psychology. Stuttering is one identifiable trait of the act, as it may indicate nerves or a psychological rift between what the person knows to be true and what they're saying instead. This isn't the only indicator of deceit from Ann either.
Liars have a tendency to either equivocate relevant topics to avoid commitment to detail, or to fabricate an explanation with extraneous detail so they appear more valid. Ann tends to do the latter, as she consistently falls back on the statement she got her facts from "three different police officers in Denver, Colorado, and the United States Department of Crime and Investigation." This seems to be her go-to response whenever somebody questions the credibility of her information.
She additionally appears excessively defensive in her responses when questioned, as though she feels offended anyone would suspect her of being misleading. Those who tell the truth are more prone to allowing others to have their own interpretations of what they've said, while those who deceive tend to feel as though they have to justify themselves until doubt is no longer an option.
Make whatever resolution you'd like to from this entry, but I'd personally advise you not to take everything Ann says as factual. If you find entertainment in her videos, that's one thing. If you genuinely believe her "top ten" lists though, I don't understand your conclusion given the evidence against it. But to each their own, I suppose.