#ng.asks

[ngage2003]

Hey, I'm new to Marble Hornets and I don't think I ever heard what was Brian and Alex (and Tim, to be honest) doing those three years of being absent? And why did the Operator just leave them be. Maybe I missed a line or something, sorry if this ask is stupid.

Hey no ask is a stupid ask, Anon. That honestly is a really good question because well, it is a very weird detail most people forget. I'll break my thoughts down into three chapters to explain what I think was happening for each character as succinctly as possible. I will say though my ideas are only theories.

1.】 Alex Kralie

I think after burning the tapes he did and running away from Rosswood, literally putting distance between himself and the Operator, it was sort of unable to fully reach him, as while Alex was heavily infected he had quite literally burnt his bridges to it y'know?

I imagine when he moved in with Amy he left behind a lot of possessions and shit to boot, especially since it is stated that Jessica was Amy's roommate, if the two were living together they might not have had space or need for all of Alex's shit.

During his absence, Alex was probably just living his life and slowly recovering from the Operator's influence. I think fuel to this theory is how, in Entry #26, at 4:03, Amy asks if Alex is ok and says he is in an "odd mood," when... he has been being what, a bit snappy? That is frankly nothing compared to his behavior on set, but if him being slightly snappy and stiff is enough to have his partner worried, I think it is safe to say that Alex has probably been doing way better in his time away from the camera, possibly even acting closer to how he behaves in the old tapes we see, of him before the Operator's influence really starts to grow. (Entry #20, Entry #54, as examples.)

The camera appearing, the camera he used to film the murders of Seth and probably Sarah, not to mention the attempted murder of Brian and Tim and Jay, is solely what allows the Operator to reach Alex again, that camera's very existence serving as an anchor of not only what Alex has done but also the Operator's control over him.

(I have thoughts on the camera but that's for another day.)

2.】 Brian Thomas

This one is way more speculative, but personally I believe that after being pseudo-killed and/or given a traumatic brain injury, there was a brief period where Brian was stuck in the Ark or the woods that surround it, disoriented and in pain. During this time he became a missing person's case, and by the time he got out and back to his apartment, it had basically been taken over by police investigation and then abandoned when no leads turned up.

I think though, there was probably a period of time during this three year gap where Brian was just, staying at his house. Its likely he initially he slept in his room, maybe even bedrotting there as he struggled to come to terms with everything that happened, occasionally trashing his room whever the urge of an outburst came over him. I say this because the distortion in Brian's house, the distortion that happens when someone infected by the Operator stays somewhere too long,⁽¹⁾ is strongest in his room, it is where we see the worst sort of pseudo-teleporting and nonsensical passage of time in Entry #24. (Watch Entry #24 again its really good.)

I wouldn't be surprised though if even after he realized what was happening, he just instead slept in that closet that we see Jay find in Entry #16, which has a cushion sprawled across its floor, water and blankets. And it doesn't look like someone broke in, there are no personal possessions in the closet, someone was just temporarily staying there, but not using it as a home base.

But he can't stop it, he can't uninfect his house when he is the problem. Rooms and halls loop, doors open to places they shouldn't why also not opening at all, day becomes night in the blink of an eye.

I can't say when Brian's hunger for revenge started. Maybe it did immediately. Maybe it took a bit of time for him to parse it out. But one thing is for certain, his house was not a safe space to stay after he accidentally corrupted it with his own sickness. Whenever he left, I think it was when he started doing what he did in Marble Hornets, hop around different abandoned houses in the woods, drag dirty mattresses into corners, and possibly even stalk Alex if he wasn't already.

1) We see this phenomena three times, Alex's House, Jay's House, Brian's House. Ignoring the current one for the sake of argument though, what do we see at Alex's and Jay's? Well, in Entry #24, we see the layout of his house first of all, as he films himself, and then we watch as randomly, late in the night, he gets up and leaves his room. But the door never opens up on the other side, Jay himself says, "Two hours pass before I am seen again," when this happens. Well there's our space not making sense. Now, infamously in Alex's case, we see it suddenly cut from night to day in mere seconds. At Brian's, we see both, which I think could imply not only a strong infection, like at Alex's but not at S1 Jay's, but also a recent one to a degree, like S1 Jay's, but not Alex who moved out of that house forever ago.

3.】 Tim Wright

Honestly, no idea. He was probably just living his life. To be fair the Operator does just kinda leave him alone, probably because he is like the only person that can resist and fight it. It is safer to avoid him and his damned protector. Not to mention that until like Mid-S3, when Tim finds out about everything and starts to get infected too and all that, he never produces static, only Masky does, the alter that specifically tries to protect Tim from stuff.

I don't think its unlikely to say Tim just straight up wasn't infected, because Masky took on the burden of the infection.

So he was probably just chilling.

(Masky was probably helping or trying to care for Brian if I had to guess? But only after going to his house in a weird act of mourning and finding suddenly this Brian-not-Brian. And even then well we don't really know she extent or what she was doing. I imagine that time was the best for their relationship though, as once the grief is somewhat dealt with, as Masky earnestly believed Brian was finally this partner she was desperate for, someone who could help her destroy the ark and protect Tim. [Not realizing Brian cares more about just, hurting Alex back and revenge, though at the time Masky probably also wanted revenge for Alex hurting Brian and feeding people to the Ark even if only incidentally. Idk its only later, especially when with Jay, that stuff truly fell apart.])

Anyway, ramble over, I hope this satisfies your question, anon :-)

[ngage2003]

Give us the brian headcannons get graphic I beg

Maybe if i make a second more private blog lol. Not because I am ashamed but because I just don't want to deal with people who may dislike that I am making Brian out to be a "bad guy."

But imo he just is, yk? Like, thats an inescapable part of the series. He is to some degree justifiable and we understand why he does what he does, but he still acts in a very "ends justify the means" sorta fashion, and I don't think he is always thinking clearly.

And I love that about him! It makes him so engaging. But my headcanons about him very much focus on that and his death trauma, along with how I think he is as a person.*

✱ I think Brian was one of those neurodevelopmental people who just barely scraped by into being not heavily bullied but solely as a class clown kinda guy. This left him with no real intimacy and he struggled with letting people actually get close, more often than not being a caretaker. But this is all while he doesn't have the vernacular to describe what he wants/needs, and isn't fully aware of it, because he was raised to "be a man" in the 2000s in the South, and so with no tools for emotional introspection. This left him with issues.

I dunno, a lot of people in this fandom sanitize Brian, to be a villainous mastermind or a uwu soft cinnamon roll who didn't do anything wrong, and I think he is way more complicated than either of those.

He is a mentally unwell guy who probably has a Traumatic Brain Injury from getting his skull bashed in and that whole near death, (in comic 3.5 his face literally has cracks in it ToT,) and he is operating from a black and white, "ends justify the means," perspective. Thats fascinating but its going to leave you with a morally complicated and somewhat bankrupt at times character, who believes he is in the right—which fandoms don't like :-P

[ngage2003]

While I was reading your post about the religious symbolism Brian uses in MH I noticed you say that Alex killed Brian. Could you perhaps explain how Brian was killed by Alex? I am a little confused as to how Brian really dies.

Sorry if it's a bother, I love your MH posts and would love to hear your take on his death.

Hi ok im back.

Basically, short version of it : Often before people die in MH or right after they have been dealt a fatal injury or swagever, we see the Operator. I've talked about how I think this is due to the fact the Operator feeds off peoples minds and when you're dying your mind is vulnerable but thats not important right now.

In Entry 51, Brian is in the hospital with Alex presumably after Alex has attempted to kill two of the people who worked on Marble Hornets, starting with the person he knew the least, then Seth who he was closer to, and then Brian who was his actual friend.

Alex then gets taken by the Operator, before a bit later it shows back up seemingly on its own.

When this happens there is a lot of screen tearing and the footage almost seems to break before we see Brian laying on his back on the ground, slowly being pulled out of frame before Alex's fuck-ass shoes come into frame, pick up the camera, and show us a splotch of blood on the ground.

I personally believe that Alex was taken by the Operator here because he was resistant to killing Brian, and the Operator wore away at him until he would do, doing that teleporting torture thing we see in Entry 65 which I call Operatorture, as it seems to be the Operator's kind of main way of breaking people.

If you mean "how did brian die" like what method, we honestly don't know. Based on his appearance in Marble Hornets Comic 3.5 though and the number of pipes lying around in this hospital, I think Alex bashed his head in. I think this because A] it makes sense considering how he looks in the comics, B] it also could explain why "Hoody" is so surface level different from Brian (he has a TBI, which can really fuck you up, especially your communication, ILY CHARACTERS WITH TBIS) and C] it parallels nicely with Alex getting smacked in Entry 67.

We can presume it was Alex who killed him though literally because the shoes we see well, are Alex's.

Lmk if you have any more questions :-)

[ngage2003]

How would the objectum!jay (jayxcamera) work? I'm genuinely curious! It's an interesting concept!

Well are you familiar with objectums lol? Aka people who have attraction to objects? Usually they're autistic, and are just folks who experience some sort of sexual/platonic/romantic attraction to objects, which is somewhat common for autistic people already, but objectums feel it more extensively.

Jay just is in love with his camera. He is fascinated by how it works, by its intricacies, by the cleanness of the camera model and the click of how it all fits together. He loves how reliable it is, how nicely it fits his palm, how the strap holds his hand back. It to him feels like its a living creature, its electronic insides as alive as his own network of organs. I think reading the camera manual and how it was made would feel almost perverse to him, its too intimate and secret, but he wants to also know how to care for it. He loves it, and he knows logically its not a person, but he hopes it loves him too, irrationally.

It makes him feel safe, stable, loved. Its a comfort item and the literal object of his affection.

[ngage2003]

Do you have headcanons for Brian and Masky's interactions while their alliance?

like, How do you think its dynamics have been?

Ohhh do I ever! Brian in relation to systim, especially Masky, is something I think about a lot because of the inherent tragedy in those two's alliance. Brian was systim's first friend but he also led Masky away from his job/duty to the system¹, and ended up betraying them², something that led to everyone but Tim dying.

1. He had Masky do dangerous things like harassing Alex and Jay, leading them in circles but also putting Tim in danger and eventually getting their body's leg broken 2. Entry 61 with the seizure as a direct betrayal to Masky, but also him letting Jay go after Tim trapped him

I think Brian in a lot of ways understood systim better than Masky did, and while he cared a lot for him, he did use his understanding of systim to his advantage against the Operator and Alex, too caught up in his chess game to realize how bad his actions might be.

In a lot of ways, Jay and Brian share a similarity here, since as Marble Hornets progresses, Jay gets less and less conscious of how invasive/weird his recording of things is, a fact brought up and implied heavily at the start of Season 3. Except while Jay's recording is (I would argue) self interested, Brian's interest is more focused on a vague "greater good," or these guerrilla warfare tactics almost against a paranatural entity. But I digress.

I think Brian knew more alters than even Masky was aware of, from how when Masky was able to access front, it basically opened a backdoor to sometimes let other people in too, as only really Tim could fully lockdown front. (And even then, triggers still sometimes got through him.)

I think there was a lot of trust between Masky and Brian too though, as for a while, even though Brian was having Masky do things for him and you could argue he was using Masky, to Masky it felt like an equal relationship.

Brian wanted things, and Masky wanted to supply, to help their best friend, to be cared for and for once not have to make decisions.

Masky has been a protector for their system since they were a little kid, and no matter how much they love Tim, they are exhausted from it, as anyone would be. Getting to follow for once is relieving, and the way Brian claims he wants to hurt this entity that has been haunting and tormenting the person Masky cares about most—it is a breath of fresh air, something hopeful almost.

I think a part of Masky knows that Brian is putting their body in danger with what he asks of them, but Masky is too eager to help someone and not be in charge for once, and they not only trust Brian and more important, want to trust him.

I think it helps that the Operator is almost a weak spot for Masky, a topic that makes them angry and makes their protector instincts flare. It clouds their judgement a bit, and that makes them more willing to do something they're not supposed to.

Masky felt extremely guilty over Brian's near death when they properly learn about it, (which is pretty early before they start working together,) and blames herself partially for it. Brian was their best friend after all, and she should have protected him, she had been there and she failed. (If you believe that Entry 51 happened the day after Entry 56/57) Never mind the fact the Operator showed up and fucked everything up, she refuses to take that as an excuse.

Masky and Brian are very physically affectionate to me, though almost entirely because Masky is. Brian doesn't feel like a person anymore and struggles to reciprocate hugs and the like, but Masky wants to badly to pull him close, to hold him, to shield him. She almost wishes that she could just pull him into their head, so she could properly keep him safe, but sometimes she gets nervous that what they are (a system) will put Brian off.

I think Brian is nonjudgmental though. Its hard to be judgmental of anything like DID when you have faced horrors beyond imagining.

I think he did care very deeply for Tim and his system, and he didn't want to hurt them, but stopping Alex and the Operator took precedent in his mind. They killed him and changed him fundamentally. He wants them to pay.

I think he nearly regrets it though, sometimes, when he is laying on his mattress at night and feels the cold and mildew setting into his bones, sinking past his skin which he is sure he is rotting.

(He wishes Masky was there, to check, like it had in the past. It has so much experience dealing with delusions and he wishes it was here to help with his—but he knows he has burned that bridge.)

I think when he realizes he is out of his depth, after Jay's death, he panics. He feels a sort of reckless almost frenzy, and it completely jeopardizes whatever small fragility he had. It is why he tries to go contact Masky again, to get her help.

But he refuses to answer his call.

I think about them a lot, anon.

[ngage2003]

good day, I was reading your Seth Wilson post and it was awesome you mentioned a Marble Hornets site that had the crews descriptions, I tried looking for it but its seems that its now dead dead like defunct unfortunately :(( , I was wondering if you have any idea where else it could be archived?

The Marble Hornets site has been defunct since forever, do not worry.

Here is a link to the part of the archive you're talking about, anon :-)

Hope this helps!

[ngage2003]

Jay dad post when. Please

Ok fine Now but you'll have to stick with me on this.

I believe that a fundamental part of Jay's character is that he was neglected, which feeds into his existing issues with understanding other people socially, his self centered and selfish nature, but most importantly, why he started posting these videos. Because let's all be serious, why did Jay start and continue to post videos to the Marble Hornets YouTube?

He found something weird, and wanted a way to archive or document it, sure, but also after a point he does seem to be posting for the audience, but all without ever actually needing anything from us. He never asks for help decoding stuff or our opinions on stuff, hell I know it's something thats sort of post-production but the comments are turned off. He mentions on his twitter talking to people on AIM, but I still stand by my point.

Why does Jay, almost compulsively, keep telling us this story?

I think its because he wants to feel seen. He (whether he realizes it or not) crafts this specific image of himself to us, by what he cuts out and doesn't. He wants to be known.

I think this is honestly bolstered by one of the few times he is really put on the spot, Entry 59. While Tim is rightfully berating him there, we have an interesting piece of dialogue at 2:53.

Jay: "Tim." Tim: "But then suddenly it stops." Tim continues: "And I start getting better. And I can hold steady work, I can function like a normal human being for once in my life. And then suddenly… you show up, pointing a camera in my face, bringing back old memories like it couldn't possibly have any effect on anybody else. And you're not even trying to fix any of this. All you do is point your camera at every little thing that happens. How does that help anybody?" Jay: "In case something happens. I want people to know-" Tim: "Like who? Who the hell is gonna care? What are you trying to gain from all of this? I've seen it myself. Alex points a gun at you and your first instinct is to film it, you psychopath!"

Jay wants people to know if something happens, he wants some record it happened, he happened. He wants to be seen, not a memory or an unreported accident, but to be acknowledged. He is so of not catching something on camera, of slipping through the cracks.

I think he wants to do something important to, of course he does, but it is also more than that. So many people want to be important for so many different reasons, that feeling's roots tie to something else deeper.

"Ok, HOW does that tie into Jay Fatherhood??"

Well, I think, if Jay had something concrete in front of him to focus on, someone who needed him, who he was important to and loved and was his, he would probably not feel this compulsive need to be seen by someone. He doesn't need to be after all, he had this little bundle which needs and sees him already.

Its a sort of bandaid to a bullet wound I admit, but I think it could set Jay on the path to help himself, and personally I see his character as someone who due to his neglect, wants to never be like that, yk? He wants to grow as a person. He wants to be a good parent.

He's an obsessive little weirdo, sure, but I think getting set on that path, on bettering himself not for himself but someone who needs him, would help. I also just personally think he would he so enthused about having a family since he never really did. (Neglected nepobaby.)

Give him a baby to hold it'll fix him.

[ngage2003]

Hey again, I'm the anon who was asking stuff about Tim, Brian and Alex earlier. Thanks for your thoughts, makes things seem more clear now.

If you don't mind me asking then, another thing that I was confused about, is how exactly did Alex manage to escape Brian/Hoody in Benedict Hall? Since he was tied up and all. And after that, was Brian/Hoody walking around there to get to him again, or was it something else.

Hi again anon!!! No problem! :-)

While we will never know exactly how Alex escaped, when Jay follows Tim to where Brian was holding him in Entry #79, there is an exacto knife or however you spell it that he finds, which heavily implies either Alex had it on him and used it to cut the ropes, or Brian left it there by mistake and Alex somehow got it and used it to escape.

Either way, this almost definitely happened during when Brian went to free Jay, though how he knew to do that is a bit up to interpretation. (He seems to have done it really quick? But maybe that is just me assuming too much. Maybe he only went to do it after he saw the upload.)

As for why Brian just doesn't capture him again... well the Operator presence is strong here, stronger the longer Alex stays, and I think Brian is very much falling apart by the time Alex escapes. (Masky has officially abandoned him by then.)

Its implied he only was able to capture Alex before because he got the drop on him while sleeping. I don't think it is too far out there to say, by the time we see him at the end of the series, Alex is so far gone and sick from the Operator that he stops sleeping at all.

That's a lot of speculation I will admit but that is my interpretation :-) I hope it makes sense.