The Chilling Aesthetics of “Withered”

From the moment the journal opens, the tone is overwhelmingly dark. The pages are splattered with red ink that fans claim is designed to look like blood, and the handwriting is jagged and erratic. “The whole book is demonic and sounds like the spirit of death talking,” one commenter noted.

But it’s the text itself that has truly “chilled people to their bone.” In his introduction, D4VD writes about “drawing inspiration from everything around me… even other people’s lives,” before describing the album as “raw, real, and me.” In the context of the Celeste Rivers Hernandez case, these words have taken on a sinister tone.

“I Couldn’t Take it Anymore”

The journal breaks down several tracks that seem to document a deteriorating relationship with a minor. In the description for “You Left Me First,” D4VD writes about a cycle of being “mistreated and emotionally neglected” until he “couldn’t take it anymore.”

Similarly, in “Say it Back,” he describes feeling a “crushing” sense of rejection when someone doesn’t return his professions of love. He admits to holding a deep grudge, stating, “Sometimes it gets to a point where becoming numb to mistreatment doesn’t work anymore.” These entries have led many to speculate that the music was a direct reaction to his interactions with Celeste, whom he reportedly met on Discord.

The “Invisible String” and the Trunk Connection

One of the most discussed entries involves the “Invisible String Theory” interlude. Based on an East Asian belief about a red thread that connects two people destined to meet, D4VD uses this imagery throughout the album. However, the journal entry ends with a haunting observation: “I just find it funny that that person that introduced me to this unbreakable bond is now no longer in my life anymore. What a trip.”

The imagery becomes even more graphic in the descriptions for tracks like “Somewhere in the Middle,” where the text is superimposed over an illustration that many interpret as the chalk outline of a body.

“Ghost” and the Final Confession?

The most disturbing entries, however, come near the end of the journal. For the track “Ghost,” D4VD writes about the feeling of when someone is “no longer yours but you always keep a piece of that person… forever.” He continues, “To be connected with someone to the point where every person they meet after you is getting an incomplete version of them… because the only thing that completes them was you.”

In the context of the dismemberment allegations surrounding the case, the phrase “getting an incomplete version of them” has sparked widespread horror. The artist further claims that “it doesn’t matter how much you love someone… it just will not work out for the life of both of you.”

The journal concludes with “Afterlife,” which D4VD describes as the “death of a beautiful rose” and a “sendoff.” He admits to “staying by her side even going as far as to let love kill me and even then still loving her after death.”

Art or Evidence?

As the LAPD continues its investigation, the court of public opinion has already reached a verdict. For many, these entries are not “poetic” metaphors, but literal documentations of a crime. The music video for “One More Dance,” which features D4VD dragging a body and placing it in a trunk, only adds to the narrative of “self-snitching.”

“I don’t think anyone is this creative,” Trap More Ross remarked during his breakdown. “It seems like this was inspired by real events to me… this reads like a full-blown confession.”

While the album Withered remains on some streaming platforms, several collaborators, including Kali Uchis, have reportedly sought to distance themselves from the project as the details of the Celeste Rivers Hernandez case continue to unfold. For now, the “Secret Journal” remains one of the most disturbing pieces of evidence in a case that has shocked the music industry to its core.