"ENTTRY 37" HAD TO BE TAKEN DOWN, EDITED AND REUPLOADED BECAUSE OF THE FOOTAGE INCLUDING A KID WITH A SPONGEBOB SHIRT. THE FOOTAGE IS SUPPOSED TO TAKE PLACE IN 1991, AND SPONGEBOB DIDN'T PREMIERE UNTIL 1999.

THE HOODED MAN WAS NEVER PORTRAYED BY BRIAN'S ACTOR UNTIL HIS FINAL REVEAL, INSTEAD, THE MAIN ACTORS TOOK TURNS WEARING THE COSTUME AS TO KEEP VIEWERS ON THEIR TOES ABOUT HIS IDENTITY.

SETH'S CHARACTER WAS ADDED IN LAST MINUTE. BEFORE SHOOTING "ENTRY #9", SARAH'S ACTRESS ASKED IF HER BOYFRIEND COULD BE IN THE SHOOT, SO THEY GAVE HIM THE ROLE OF THE CAMERAMAN.

THERE'S A MISSING TOTHEARK VIDEO, NAMED "FILE". IT GOT DELETED FROM THE CHANNEL DUE TO YOUTUBE CORRUPTING IT, AND IT COULDN'T BE UPLOADED WITHOUT RUINING THE IMMERSION. A FAN RE-UPLOAD EXISTS HERE.

ACTOR BRIAN HAIGHT PLAYS BRIAN THOMAS IN MARBLE HORNETS THE WEB SERIES, WHO IS AN ACTOR WHO PLAYS A CHARACTER NAMED BRIAN IN MARBLE HORNETS THE STUDENT FILM. SAME WITH TIM, ACTOR TIM SUTTON PLAYS TIM WRIGHT WHO PLAYS A CHARACTER NAMED TIM.

THE MARBLE HORNETS TWITTER ACCOUNT GOT HACKED ON APRIL 4TH 2021 (COINCIDENTALLY ON ALEX KRALIE'S BIRTHDAY). ALL THE TWEETS WERE DELETED AND IT TOOK THE MH TEAM MONTHS TO RECOVER IT, AND THEY HAD TO MANUALLY RESTORE ALL THE TWEETS, WHICH IS WHY THEY'RE ALL DATED JULY 2021 IF YOU VISIT THE PAGE NOW.

THE SERIES BEGAN AND ENDED ON THE SAME DAY 5 YEARS APART. IT BEGAN JUNE 20 2009, AND IT ENDED JUNE 20 2014. FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS, EVERY JUNE 20TH, AN ANNIVERSARY BINGE WATCHING LIVESTREAM IS HELD ON TWITCH.

AS I SAID BEFORE, MARBLE HORNETS' CENTRAL THEMES INCLUDE TRAUMA AND MENTAL HEALTH. IT DOES REQUIRE SOME SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF, BUT THE ALLEGORY IS VERY CLEAR HERE. AND IT'S VERY CLEARLY SHOWN HOW EVERYONE GETS AFFECTED AND COPES DIFFERENTLY, AND WHAT THAT SAYS ABOUT THEM. THESE ARE MY INTERPRETATIONS OF HOW EVERYONE HANDLES IT.

FIRST OFF, ALEX KRALIE. GETTING AFFECTED WAS THE REASON JAY STARTED HIS INVESTIGATION, AFTER ALL. HE SEEMED LIKE A VERY KIND GUY BEFORE EVERYTHING, BUT AFTER THE OPERATOR STARTED APPEARING IN HIS LIFE, HE REALIZED VERY QUICKLY THAT HE WAS BEING STALKED, AND GOT INCREASINGLY PARANOID AND IRRITABLE AND VIOLENT UNTIL IT CULMINATED IN TRYING TO MURDER EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THE PRODUCTION OF HIS FILM. WHY? BECAUSE HE THOUGHT HE WAS THE SOURCE OF THE OPERATOR'S APPEARANCE AND BLAMED HIMSELF FOR INFECTING HIS FRIENDS. "ENTTRY 37" IMPLIES THE OPERATOR'S PRESENCE HAS BEEN WITH HIM SINCE CHILDHOOD, EVEN.

HE SAW DEATH AS THE ONLY POSSIBLE ESCAPE FROM THE OPERATOR. HE THOUGHT HE WAS SPARING EVERYONE THE SUFFERING, BECAUSE HE SUFFERED ALONE, NOT DARING TO REACH OUT TO ANYONE. HE LEFT TO BE WITH AMY, AWAY FROM HIS PREVIOUS LIFE, AWAY FROM THE WOODS, BUT NEVER ACTUALLY CONFRONTING HIS PROBLEM. HE THOUGHT IT WAS DEALT WITH UNTIL JAY STARTED UPLOADING THE TAPES, AND AFTER THE HORRIFYING REALIZATION THAT MOST OF HIS MURDER ATTEMPTS FAILED, HE HASN'T CHANGED. HE BECOMES MORE PARANOID, DOUBLES DOWN, GETS A GUN, TRIES TO KILL EVERYONE AGAIN. HE KILLS A STRANGER WHO HE THOUGHT WAS JAY. HE WAS CONVINCED THERE WAS NO ESCAPE, AND REFUSED TO ACCEPT THE HELP HE WAS GIVEN.

BRIAN IS AN INTERESTING CASE. I DO THINK HE WAS TOO FAR GONE BY THE TIME THE SERIES STARTS. HE'S A SHELL OF A PERSON, LIVING IN AN ABANDONED SHACK IN THE WOODS, STEALING MEDICATION TO SURVIVE, WHICH DEFINITELY MEANS HE WAS SUFFERING FROM THE SAME SYMPTOMS AS THE OTHER CHARACTERS. HE ONLY COMMUNICATED BY MAKING CRYPTIC, CODED VIDEOS AND LEAVING NOTES. BUT BEFORE ALL THIS, BRIAN WAS THE GOLDEN BOY EVERYONE LIKED: A CHEERFUL, KIND GUY WITH A GOOFY DEMEANOR. HE WAS TIM'S ONLY FRIEND, WHICH IS SAD TO CONSIDER WHEN SIX YEARS LATER HE'S STEALING TIM'S MEDICATION AND RECORDING HIM HAVING A SEIZURE. I DON'T THINK HE EVEN GOT TIME TO COPE WITH THE SICKNESS PROPERLY. THE COMICS (WHICH, DISCLAIMER, I HAVEN'T READ BUT I KNOW THE PLOT OF) DEVELOP HIM A LITTLE BIT MORE. HE STATES HE WAS ABLE TO ESCAPE THE OPERATOR'S DIMENSION, LEAVING PARTS OF HIMSELF BEHIND. BECOMING A SHELL. I THINK THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WE NEVER REALLY SEE BRIAN AS TRULY BRIAN, JUST THE HOODED MAN. BUT IN THIS STATE OF HIS, TWO THINGS ARE CERTAIN: HE HATES ALEX. AND HE TRIED TO PROTECT EVERYONE ELSE FROM HIM.

TIM AND JESSICA TAKE MEDICATION AND SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP. TIM HOOKS JESSICA UP WITH HIS MENTAL HEALTH CLINIC, BECAUSE HE KNOWS IT'S THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO DEAL WITH OPERATOR SICKNESS. JESSICA ALSO FREQUENTLY SEEKS MEDICAL HELP IN THE COMICS. ADDITIONALLY, IT'S SUBTLY IMPLIED IN THE SERIES THAT SHE WAS STALKED BY THE OPERATOR AS A CHILD TOO, BEING FROM THE ROSSWOOD AREA.

TIM HAS BEEN DEALING WITH OPERATOR SICKNESS SINCE HIS EARLY CHILDHOOD, BEING INSTITUTIONALIZED AT A YOUNG AGE AND BEING PUT ON A LOT OF MEDICATION DURING HIS STAY AT THE HOSPITAL. NOT BEING ABLE TO EXACTLY PINPOINT WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO TIM, HIS DOCTORS DIAGNOSED HIM WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA. THE ANTIPSYCHOTIC MEDICATION HE WAS ON HELPED HIM HANDLE THE OPERATOR SICKNESS, AND HE WAS IN THERAPY DURING HIS TEENAGE YEARS, AND POSSIBLY EVEN LATER. DURING THE EVENTS OF THE SERIES, TIM GOES TO A MENTAL HEALTH CLINIC MULTIPLE TIMES. DESPITE BLAMING HIMSELF FOR GETTING EVERYONE INFECTED WITH THE SICKNESS, HE KNOWS THIS IS THE WAY TO GO, AND HE PUSHES EVERYONE TO GET HELP. HE TAKES JAY TO HIS CLINIC, AND BEFORE THAT HE WAS GIVING JAY SOME OF HIS MEDS, MESSING UP HIS MEDICATION CYCLE TO HELP HIM. BUT JAY IS STUBBORN. (MORE ON THAT LATER.) TIM ISN'T ABLE TO SAVE JAY, BUT WHEN HE CONFRONTS ALEX, HE STILL OFFERS HIM HELP. HE TELLS HIM DEATH ISN'T THE ONLY OPTION. ALEX STILL REFUSES, BUT TIM WANTED TO HELP ALEX UNTIL HE HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO KILL HIM IN SELF DEFENSE.

A LOT OF PEOPLE HEADCANON TIM AS HAVING DID (DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER), WITH THE MASKED MAN BEING AN ALTER OF HIS. I AGREE WITH IT AND THINK IT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE, EVEN IF THEY DON'T STATE IT OUTRIGHT IN THE SERIES, IT'S DEFINITELY WRITTEN IN A WAY THAT MAKES THIS INTERPRETATION POSSIBLE. (TO BE CLEAR: I DO THINK YOU CAN HAVE THIS HEADCANON AND NOT BE WEIRD ABOUT IT. AKA: TREAT IT LIKE THE REAL LIFE CONDITION IT IS, NOT LIKE A HORROR TROPE. READ UP ON WHAT DID IS AND DON'T BE ABLEIST Y'KNOW.) I THINK THAT'S WHY WE SEE BOTH TIM AND MASKY, BECAUSE THE OPERATOR'S INFLUENCE ON TIM'S PERSONALITY STARTED DURING CHILDHOOD, MIRRORING DID BEING COMMONLY CAUSED BY CHILDHOOD TRAUMA. UNLIKE BRIAN FOR EXAMPLE, WHOSE EXPOSURE STARTED AS AN ADULT AND BY THE TIME WE SEE HIM AGAIN, HE'S ALWAYS THE HOODED MAN. I FEEL LIKE MANY PEOPLE MISCHARACTERIZE MASKY. THEY'RE NOT THE VIOLENT ALTER STEREOTYPE AND PEOPLE NEED TO MAKE SURE TO NOT FALL INTO THAT HARMFUL TROPE WHEN WRITING/MAKING ART OF THEM. ALL THEY REALLY WANTED WAS TO PROTECT JAY, TO PROTECT JESSICA, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, TO PROTECT TIM. I CAN ONLY HOPE TIM AND MASKY FOUND A WAY TO BETTER THEIR COMMUNICATION AFTER HE EVENTS OF MH.

AND FINALLY, JAY. I LEFT HIM LAST BECAUSE IT MADE SENSE TO ME. AS VIEWERS WE START SEEING HIS RAPID DECLINE IN HEALTH, ESPECIALLY IF YOU LOOK AT HIS EARLIEST TWEETS. HE CONSTANTLY GOT SICK AND NEGLECTED HIS NEEDS IN FAVOR OF HIS INVESTIGATION. I THINK JAY WAS SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE SICKNESS, LIKELY HAVING OTHER UNDERLYING MENTAL ILLNESSES OR NEURODIVERGENCY. MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE I'M AUTISTIC AND DEPRESSED, AND I SEE THE WAY HE ACTS AND I PROJECT IDK. BUT ANYWAY. JAY SOUGHT OUT HELP AT FIRST, CONSTANTLY TWEETING HE WAS SEEING DOCTORS WHEN HIS DECLINING PHYSICAL HEALTH TOOK A TOLL ON HIM. HE DOES STOP TWEETING ABOUT IT AFTER A WHILE, BUT I THINK THAT'S JUST HIM NOT TALKING ABOUT IT AS OPPOSED TO IT GOING AWAY. AS FOR THE MENTAL SYMPTOMS OF OPERATOR SICKNESS, HOWEVER, JAY SEEMED TO BE IN DENIAL.

HE DOESN'T BELIEVE HE'S BEING AFFECTED BY THE OPERATOR, OR AT THE VERY LEAST, HE DOESN'T WANT TO ADMIT IT. HE DOES NOTICE HIS HEALTH DECLINING, HIS COUGHING, HIS MEMORY LOSS, HIS PARANOIA. HIS NEED TO CONSTANTLY RECORD HIMSELF, MUCH LIKE ALEX. BUT HE'S STUBBORN ABOUT IT. AS THE YEARS GO BY, AND HE GETS MORE AND MORE INVOLVED IN HIS INVESTIGATION, HE DOESN'T WANT TO ADMIT HE NEEDS HELP. WHEN TIM SHARES HIS MEDICATION WITH JAY, JAY REFUSES IT, ALMOST INDIGNATED BY THE FACT TIM THOUGHT HE EVEN NEEDED THE PILLS IN THE FIRST PLACE.

JAY DOESN'T ADMIT TIM WAS RIGHT UNTIL HE IS ALONE, UNABLE TO CONTACT TIM, BROKEN AND SCARED. AFTER FINALLY GAINING SOME LUCIDITY AND ADMITTING OUT LOUD THAT HE IS NOT DOING WELL, THE OPERATOR IMMEDIATELY DRAGS HIM BACK TO SQUARE ONE. MUCH LIKE ALEX, JAY ALSO REFUSED THE HELP HE WAS GIVEN, AND THAT ULTIMATELY LED TO HIS DEMISE. I DO THINK JAY'S DEATH WAS BOTH COMPLETELY PREVENTABLE AND INEVITABLE AT THE SAME TIME, EVEN IF IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN.

OVERALL, OPERATOR SICKNESS ALTERED EVERYONE'S PERSONALITIES, OFTEN HEIGHTENING THEIR PERSONALITY TRAITS TO AN EXTREME DEGREE. IT'S A VERY CLEAR-CUT PICTURE OF TRAUMA AND MENTAL HEALTH, AND HOW TO COPE WITH THE INEVITABLE. YOU CAN SUCCUMB TO IT BY REFUSING TO GET BETTER, OR SEEK HELP AND KEEP ON TRUCKING. IT'S NOT PRETTY AND YOU'LL LOSE MANY THINGS ALONG THE WAY, BUT YOU GET TO LIVE ANOTHER DAY. AS SOMEONE WHO STRUGGLES WITH DEPRESSION AND PARANOIA AND OTHER THINGS OF THAT NATURE, THE WAY THE SERIES APPROACHES MENTAL HEALTH AND TIM SURVIVING AND BEING THE HERO MAKES IT HOPEFUL AND COMFORTING, IN A WAY.
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