History TearJerker / InanimateInsanity

** [=MePhone=]'s backstory is both this and NightmareFuel. He was [[AbusiveParents constantly abused by Cobs]], who pressured him to be perfect, shamed him for finding comfort in reality shows, and often yelled at him, and then he discovered what Cobs does to his former creations, learning that he [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness leaves them to rot away in a closet once they're no longer useful]]. [[TraumaButton Seeing Paintbrush's painting of Cobs traumatized him so much]] that he [[RepressedMemories represses all of his memories of him]] and shuts down for most of the episode. What makes this even worse is how [[TruthInTelevision this can very well happen in real life.]]

* Tissues is a very minor character due to his early elimination, but if you look at it closely, his situation throughout the show isn't a fun one: Trophy tells him to die when he attempts to form an alliance with him, he's not very well-liked by the contestants, and he's trapped in a cramped closet for ''months'' after his elimination (and since he was the first to be eliminated, he was alone until Cherries was eliminated). To make matters worse, the website reveals that he's been sick "from the very beginning," implying that he's chronically ill.

** [=MePhone4=] gets paranoid that Toilet is working for Cobs and that Toilet is a spy. He angrily orders Toilet to go away and banishes him from the show grounds. [=MePad=] tries to stop [=MePhone4=] but his protests fall on deaf ears. When Toilet looks to [=MePad=] to help, [=MePad=] does nothing, leaving Toilet heartbroken as he walks away with a SingleTear and a glare on his face. What makes it worse is that this scene leads to...

* In "The Shame of the Name", Fan is eliminated again from the show, and Test Tube isn’t particularly happy about it. Despite Fan taking the elimination rather well and enjoying being punched by the Fist Thingy to Indefinite Island, he still makes his escape off the island to go back to Hotel OJ, showing that he is [[StepfordSmiler rather hurt by his elimination despite in what he shows with his expressions]].

* "The Overthinkers":

* "Tragedy At 60 Feet":

* "Out of Body Experience":

* "I Am Chocolate":

* "The Great Bluish Bake-off"

* "The Great Blush Bake-off"

** The ending. Good lord, the ending. As Lightbulb says her final goodbye to Fan and Test Tube, who have ''finally'' managed to make amends with each other, you can see her tear up (although she manages to hold them back). And when Fan and Test Tube walk into the portal, she sulks. She has no one left, all of the three other remaining contestants are from the Grand Slams (and now hate each other to varying degrees).

* Tissues is a very minor character due to his early elimination, but if you look at it closely, his situation throughout the show isn't a fun one: Trophy tells him to die when he attempts to form an alliance with him, he's not very well-liked by the contestants, and he's trapped in a cramped closet for ''months'' after his elimination (and since he was the first to be eliminated, he was alone until Cherries was eliminated). To make matters worse, the website reveals that he's been sick "from the very beginning," implying that he's ''terminally ill''.

** It is subtle, but when Fan accidentally causes Lightbulb to shatter and die, he has a look of pure guilt and fear over what he had done before being angrily pulled away by Test Tube. It goes to show just how much Fan is suffering in this episode and how things just quickly gone from bad to '''''worse''''' in an instant.

** It is shown that Paintbrush is still somewhat sensitive about their non-binary status. Even though they feel more confident to say that they are non-binary to their other teammates, they are still quite bitter about it and calls out Yin-Yang for being inconsiderate towards it. Yin-Yang even takes their insensitive remark back in guilt. Poor Paintbrush.

* "Best Served Cold":
** "Bow" finds out she is actually a robotic replica and pulls out a computer chip! This leads to some serious identity crisis problems for her.

** "Bow" finds out the truth from Test Tube and that she that she really was created to replace the original Bow and nothing more. This leads poor Bowbot to feel like she doesn't have a greater purpose or a real identity of any kind.
** MePhone4 spends the whole episode trying to impress his toughest critic, Ballpoint Pen. Only for Ballpoint Oen to call him out on this, saying that he should do want makes him happy rather than making him (Ballpoint Pen) impressed. To twist the knife further, Ballpoint Pen leaves him with a tearjerking review: "You Can't Do This Forever". Ouch!

** Cabby rejoins the game, and votes out Test Tube as revenge for getting her out of the game in "Best Served Cold". Test Tube takes it in stride, but mentions why she eliminated Cabby and explains it to her. She then, gets to hear Bowbot/TBD speak in her own voice before getting unfairly voted out by Cabby. What makes it worse is that Cabby is left very conflicted over her act of revenge and if it was even worth it. Double ouch!

* That's right! Even the comics have some tearjerking moments to them.
* In " Letters", poor Balloon can barely live in the hotel in peace without the residents of Hotel OJ talking bad about him. It gets to the point where he tries to take Suitcase’s advice from season 2 episode 9 to heart and writes letters to everybody in the hotel to apologize and explain himself. Everybody in the hotel reads the letters and feel sympathy for him and really bad for him. Balloon then gets increasingly scared that he made things worse and begins to have a panic attack! Luckily, things get better when the others come to him and give him a second chance... but '''still'''.

Cabby rejoins the game, and votes out Test Tube as revenge for getting her out of the game in "Best Served Cold". Test Tube takes it in stride, but mentions why she eliminated Cabby and explains it to her. She then, gets to hear Bowbot/TBD speak in her own voice before getting unfairly voted out by Cabby. What makes it worse is that Cabby is left very conflicted over her act of revenge and if it was even worth it. Double ouch!

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/forever_alone.png]]

** Fan and Test Tube saying hello (and goodbye) to the egg that they've raised for so long. The newborn Shimmer is finally back with their own people after they spend god knows how long searching for them... and then Taco ruins everything by killing Test Tube, frying Fan and reigniting the panic amongst the Shimmers.

** Paintbrush getting wrongfully sent to the Calm-down Corner by Lightbulb is played for laughs, but the way Paintbrush is treated in this scene is quite sad, especially since Paintbrush didn't do anything to deserve it.
*** Even at the end of the episode, it shows Paintbrush ''still'' there late at night, being miserable.

*** ''[=MePhone4=]'' even looks and sounds guilty that he can't bring Bow back.

** Box's speech at the podium during the court is surprisingly very dark and sad. If one turned on the captions before they were taken down, Box's speech consisted of him describing what it was like being trapped in the closet and he nearly starved to death, and even ''begged'' for death. And that Box missed his family and is on the show only because he wants to provide for his family living in a small apartment. He then breaks down crying, talking about himself missing his family, and that his family could be on the streets by now.
*** Everyone is understandably moved by Box's speech, and they are seen crying or feeling sympathy. It even moves the judge.

** Cheesy goes too far and makes an offensive joke about Microphone being a monstrosity. Microphone ''snaps'' and angrily yells at him for taking his jokes too far and not caring about who he hurts. Even sadder? Cheesy is badly hurt and sulks away. Microphone even looks with regret as she watches Cheesy walk sadly away as if she regrets what she had said.
** As mentioned above, poor Cheesy spends the entire beginning of the elimination segment still sad and hurt from the encounter.

*** Makes it worse when Baseball doesn't see it that way and thinks the talk with Suitcase went just fine.

*** The flashback itself is quite tearjerking. It has Balloon with a note sheet trying to practice his apology to OJ and the others, but the practice doesn't go well. OJ appears and grabs the note sheet. OJ then takes Balloon inside the hotel, where everybody glares and awkwardly stares at Balloon, and tells Balloon that if he needs to talk then he has got to real with him. Balloon tries to apologize but fumbles over his words, making OJ misunderstand Balloon's attempt at an apology, and simply tells Balloon not to make the same mistake with the other contestants before giving him an umbrella [[InnocentlyInsensitive and kicking him back outside in the rain and slamming the door in his face.]] ''Ouch.''

** The argument between Nickel and Suitcase itself. Nickel goes too far when he outright tells the alliance to abandon Balloon, refusing to accept the possibility of him trying to redeem himself and claiming that he led them into a dangerous path on purpose. Even ''Baseball'' is taken aback and scolds Nickel for this.
*** What makes things even worse is that Balloon overhears the argument and tells Nickel off for his horrible words and actions towards him before sadly walking away and giving up hope of ever being forgiven and accepted.

*** Test Tube’s last words to him? I'm... sorry, Fan." Even though she feels it’s better that she has the egg now, she still cares about him, and it's almost as if she’s regretting her argument with him and wishing he got what he felt was best.

* In "The Shame of the Name", Fan is eliminated again from the show and Test Tube is shown having nothing but sympathy for him. Despite Fan taking the elimination rather well and enjoying being punched by the Fist Thingy to Indefinite Island, he still makes his escape off the island to go back to Hotel OJ, showing that he is [[StepfordSmiler rather hurt by his elimination despite in what he shows with his expressions]].

While still a comedy at its core, ''Inanimate Insanity'' begins to explore more and more of the horrific consequences of participating in a sadistic reality show as it progresses, and it is easier to count the number of contestants who haven't been broken or traumatized by their experiences than the ones who have.

* Tissues is a very minor character due to his early elimination, but if you look at it closely, his situation throughout the show isn't a fun one: Trophy tells him to die when he attempts to form an alliance with him, he's not very well-liked by the contestants, and he's trapped in a cramped closet for ''months'' after his elimination (and since he was the first to be eliminated, he was alone until Cherries was eliminated). To make matters worse, the website reveals that he's been sick "from the very beginning," implying that he's ''terminally ill.''

** Paintbrush getting wrongfully sent to the Calm-down Corner by Lightbulb is played for laughs, but the way how Paintbrush is treated in this scene is quite sad, especially since Paintbrush didn't do anything to deserve it.

** Box's speech at the podium during the court is surprisingly very dark and sad. If one turned on the captions before they were taken down, Box's speech consisted of him describing what it was like being trapped in the closet and he nearly starved to death, and even ''begged'' for death. And that Box missed his family, and is on the show only because he wants to provide for his family living in a small apartment. He then breaks down crying, talking about himself missing his family, and that his family could be on the streets by now.
*** Everyone is understandably moved by Box's speech and they are seen crying or feeling sympathy. It even moves the judge.

** As Pickle rumages through his old belongings, he finds a framed picture of him and Taco having a picnic together and promptly grows dejected. It’s clear that he’s still not entirely over the revelation that Taco was using their “[[FalseFriend friendship]]” to her advantage.

** The episode begins with Suitcase sitting down at the docks, clearly upset and sad from the events of the previous episode and feeling guilty over stealing the battery and not standing up for herself. Baseball tries to talk to her and make her feel better but it doesn't work.

*** The flashback itself is quite tearjerking. It has Balloon with a note sheet trying to practice his apology to OJ and the others but the practice doesn't go well. OJ appears and grabs the note sheet. OJ then takes Balloon inside the hotel, where everybody glares and awkwardly stares at Balloon, and tells Balloon that if he needs to talk then he has got to real with him. Balloon tries to apologize but fumbles over his words, making OJ misunderstand Balloon's attempt at an apology, and simply tells Balloon not to make the same mistake with the other contestants before giving him an umbrella [[InnocentlyInsensitive and kicking him back outside in the rain and slamming the door in his face.]] ''Ouch.''

** Seeing Fan be hit in the face and flying and landing hard on Indefinite Island must be painful to watch. While it is played for laughs when other characters are hit with the Fist Thingy, seeing '''Fan''' be hit with it and landing hard on the island is terrible. It is slightly lessened when we learn in the exit interview that Fan enjoyed being hit and came out unharmed, but '''still'''.
*** Not to mention, Test Tube lost her best friend, Fan, and is shown to not be on good terms with Cabby as a result. Especially, if Fan's little unknown whisper to her before he was hit is something to go by.

* Even though she's not very popular among the fanbase, Pepper's elimination is pretty sad. After the votes are revealed, the Fist Thingy sends both her and Salt flying, and they manage to grab hands one last time as somber music plays before Pepper is thrown into Idiotic Island. Salt is left heartbroken for the rest of the episode.

* '''''Rain On Your Charade''''':
** The episode begins with Suitcase sitting down at the docks, clearly upset and sad from the events of the previous episode and feeling gulty over stealing the battery and not standing up for herself. Baseball tries to talk to her and make her feel better but it doesn't work.

** Soap’s elimination as a whole. She tries to reason with [=MePhone=], claiming his hardware "needs cleaning", before realizing ''why'' she was eliminated - and for an unfair reason - she was the one who correctly pointed out that Suitcase stole a battery from Meeple, but [[KarmaHoudini Nickel]] was the one who forced her to do so. She then gives Suitcase and Microphone some final words of wisdom before she walks into the Rejection Portal, having accepted her elimination.

** Say what you will about Nickel, [[DespairEventHorizon but his elimination has seriously affected Baseball's mental and emotional state]]. Not only has he been separated from his best friend, his alliance has been destroyed by Suitcase, who eliminated said best friend (indirectly, too, since she wasn't expecting a double elimination).

** It’s heavily implied that Baseball's started to suffer from depression. He has now developed a cynical outlook on just about ''everything'', as his painting is nothing more than a black mess of scribbles, and if you look closely, a subtle frowning face.

** Suitcase gets treated horribly in this episode, almost everyone hates her now. Baseball glares at her for betraying the alliance every time he is near her, Microphone rudely pushes her away and even asks her why she is even talking, and when Suitcase accidentally and unfairly gets immunity..., well, everyone gives her the DeathGlare- complete with Fan baring his teeth at her- and she is terrified! If anything, Suitcase accidentally became a pariah amoung the contestants and she is now scared and upset.

Don't be fooled by the show's fun, seemingly light-hearted exterior--[[TheWoobie the interior does its absolute best to try and make you feel sorry for anthropomorphic objects.]] While still a comedy at its core, ''Inanimate Insanity'' begins to explore more and more of the horrific consequences of participating in a sadistic reality show as it progresses, and it is easier to count the number of contestants who haven't been broken or traumatized by their experiences than the ones who have.

** Test Tube and Microphone's elimination. Microphone, after doing all she could, quits despite having immunity because she's sick of Taco's machinations and everyone being torn apart, and Test Tube ends up with the most votes.

** [=MePhone=]'s backstory is both this and NightmareFuel. He was [[AbusiveParents constantly abused by Cobs]], both physically and emotionally, and then he discovers what Cobs does to his former creations, learning that he [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness leaves them to rot away in a closet once they’re no longer useful]]. [[TraumaButton Seeing Paintbrush's painting of Cobs traumatized him so much]] that he [[RepressedMemories represses all of his memories of him]] and shuts down for most of the episode. What makes this even worse is how [[TruthInTelevision this can very well happen in real life.]]

* Tissues is a very minor character due to his early elimination, but if you look at it closely, his situation throughout the show isn't a fun one: Trophy tells him to die when he attempts to form an alliance with him, he's not very well-liked by the contestants, he's trapped in a cramped closet for ''months'' after his elimination, and the experience of being stuck in the closet has traumatized him. To make matters worse, the website reveals that he's been sick "from the very beginning," implying that he's ''terminally ill.''

** At the end of the episode, [=MePad=] tells [=MePhone=] that Toilet was a prominent benefactor in finding him a new battery, and he should thank Toilet for his efforts. [=MePhone=] hesitates for a bit, seemingly realizing that Toilet genuinely cares for him…but he brushes him off and blames Toilet for the Grand Slam’s loss, leaving poor Toilet on the verge of tears.

** This episode is the worst for Suitcase, full-stop. Balloon accidentally drops his team's bucket into the lake, and Suitcase is harshly forced by Nickel to retrieve it. This time around, she '''''almost drowns'''''. Fast forward to the elimination, where Balloon, someone she trusts and considers [[TrueCompanions a genuine friend]], is eliminated 5 to 1. And guess what? ''She didn't vote for him at all'' (Balloon voted for himself, while Suitcase voted for Nickel). And yet she's ForcedToWatch him bid one last farewell to her as he waves goodbye and walks into the Rejection Portal, all while she has tears in her eyes. [[{{Woobie}} The poor girl could really use a hug right now.]]

** Paintbrush reveals that they're non-binary to Lightbulb. They confess that they didn't bring it up with the others out of fear of being rejected. Many non-binary viewers likely share this feeling.

** The scene thankfully shifts into heartwarming mode since Lightbulb validates their identity and finally gets some laughs out of them. [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Awwww!]]
** Their elimination is the most bittersweet one as of yet. Lightbulb entrusts them with Baxter so they can remember her, and Paintbrush walks into the Rejection Portal with a somber smile as their former teammates say goodbye.

** Suitcase entering the TraumaCongaLine. Nickel forces her to steal a battery, and while doing so, she meets Mecintosh. What he tells her causes her to slowly lose faith in her alliance...and things are set up to get worse from there.

** Say what you will about [[{{Jerkass}} Nickel]] [[LaserGuidedKarma and how he deserved to be eliminated]], [[DespairEventHorizon but his elimination has seriously affected Baseball's mental and emotional state]]. Not only has he been separated from his best friend, his alliance has been destroyed by Suitcase, who eliminated said best friend (indirectly, too, since she wasn't expecting a double elimination).

** [=MePhone4=] gets paranoid that Toilet is working for Cobs and that Toilet is a spy. He angrily orders Toilet to go away and banishes him from the show grounds. [=MePad=] tries to stop [=MePhone4=] but his protests fall on deaf ears. When Toilet looks to [=MePad=] to help, [=MePad=] does nothing. Leaving Toilet heartbroken as he walks away with a SingleTear and a glare on his face. ''Ouch!''
*** What makes it worse is that this scene leads to...

** The argument between Nickel and Suitcase itself. Nickel harshly belittles Suitcase and Balloon and goes too far, driving poor Suitcase to the point of tears threatening to fall. Even ''Baseball'' is taken aback and scolds Nickel for this.

** Fan reveals to Test Tube that he feels small and that no one really notices him on the show. He mentions he has a hard time making friends due to his NoSocialSkills. Test Tube shows sympathy for him and even mentions that she is awkward too. It is surprisingly very sad.

** Suitcase being unfairly eliminated from the show and being separated from her alliance. OJ harshly belittles her and even tells her she is "ruining the show". Ouch! Suitcase even has tears threatening to fall from her eyes as she is eliminated.
*** Baseball spends the rest of the episode upset at Suitcase’s unfair elimination. It is worse when you realize that Baseball is like a big brother to Suitcase.