Collected Thoughts

After the sounds I have been hearing recently, I am still rattled. But I feel I must continue onward. Here I will collect my current thoughts as succinctly as possible.

My current belief is that Slender Men have an appreciable population. Otherwise the widespread terror they spread would not be possible. The alternatives are that they do not mate often, have a long life span, and/or reproduce asexually. Though the last is naturally absurd for a species of such physical size. These assumptions, however, are all based on the guess of humanlike travel speed, specifically on foot, which is likely incorrect.

The abilities of the species are obviously the biggest conundrum. They seem to have control over space-time to some degree. The keyword here is “seem”. It is more likely, though still rather unbelievable, that they have the ability to tap into the human mind and rearrange, put in a suspended state, and/or control thought itself. This may even extend to technology. I once called a tech savvy Slender Man ridiculous, but that may have been in error. Rudimentary skill, possibly taken from the minds of victims, could be used to stop and restart a camera, or a human may simply be commanded to do this. (For a scene in which I believe both mental and electronic control are at work, see everymanHYBRID, “Ashen Waste”, 6:00-30)

However, the biggest issue with mind control is the mechanism. Long-distance, “wireless” communication is flat out ridiculous. Emitted electromagnetic radiation could account for video equipment disruptions, or perhaps a strong electric field (a magnetic field would be obvious for hopefully equally obvious reasons, and said reasons’ absence rules it out). The human mind, however, has no method with which to accept EM radiation of any wavelength, except by proxy (the eyes, which simply do not work as “input devices” so much as passive receivers). It is more likely that a direct method is used. A fine wire covered in anesthetic could be slipped into the skin and towards the brain to affect control, unpleasant though the thought is. These, if in existence, are likely housed in the tentacles or arms. I should mention the constraint of “fine wire” was used as otherwise there would be a visible entry wound, and the appendage itself would be clearly visible. The anesthetic is to prevent the victim from noticing the attack, of course. As for potential evidence, I direct you to Marble Hornet, “Entry #22,” 6:19-21 where something is seen apparently going towards and into a person’s (Alex’s) head.

This isn’t quite everything I have compiled, but I feel it covers the important ideas that I have been able to come up with for now. If anyone can find any flaws in my reasoning here or elsewhere (and I’m sure there is at least one flaw), please alert me in the comments and I will consider the implications and rework my theories.

The Hornets' Nest

As stated before, I will be going over the log known as Marble Hornets to establish a base from which to derive information. I suppose this should go without saying, but for those who still treat this as a game, spoilers follow.

Marble Hornets:

The entire ordeal started years ago when a group of college students started make a film called “Marble Hornets,” from which the events’ collective name come. They encountered the creature and were all apparently affected one way or another, such as loss of memory, paranoia, and possibly abduction as at least one crew member, Sarah, apparently hasn’t been seen by Jay, the video uploader, for some time and is rarely even mentioned. This log also set the precedent for Slender Man causing aberrations in film when it is nearby.

Alex Kralie, the mastermind of the student film, was apparently plagued by the creature and began videotaping himself. Precisely why or when it began is never explained, but it eventually becomes evident that it was a good decision, at least if certain theories are to be believed. Slender Man is captured on film in many of Alex’s tapes, both directly and indirectly.

Jay himself is eventually given the tapes and Alex disappears. After reviewing the tapes, several things become apparent. Jay’s involvement in Marble Hornets had been erased from his mind, to an extent, though this was not discovered for some time. The Slender Man’s presence unnerved Jay, and he started looking into things, eventually trying to track down Alex himself. This leads to encounters with a masked individual commonly referred to as totheArk (sic), who had previously been “commenting” on the Marble Hornets videos.

It is usually theorized that this person is someone named Tim, who previously had worked on Marble Hornets as a cast member and showed early signs of behavioral irregularity (coldness in comfortable temperatures, a cough commonly associated with the creature, and consumption of unknown pills). The encounters with totheArk are usually strange if not outright dangerous, with video disturbances similar to Slender Man and unexplained disappearances.

To be blunt, things went downhill from there. Jay developed a cough similar to Tim’s, and several times tried to give up the quest. Various incidents prevented him from doing so, the last of which resulted in months of inactivity on all of his internet accounts. Things only became stranger when he returned. But I will not cover that portion of the log at this time, if ever.

Analysis:

It should be noted that this log introduced the Operator symbol, which is depicted as a circle crossed out with two lines in an "X" formation, sometimes represented in text as (X). However, beyond identifing a connection with the creature, no real use or meaning of merit can be obtained from the log regarding the symbol.

totheArk is the most interesting thing aside from the creature itself. He has connections with the creature, that much is clear. But to what extent is not. Some theorize he is under direct control of Slender Man, or that his actions are merely guided. Alternatively it is thought he may be fighting against the thing, in his own insane way. I fall into the former category of beliefs.

He actively tried to harm Jay, apparently kidnapped him, and hijacked his account. He also insists that Jay lead him “to the Ark”. What the “Ark” is has not been made clear. The most compelling argument I have found is that Ark is actually an acronym for Alex R. Kralie (though I have yet to find an “official” source confirming Alex’s middle initial). totheArk certainly has an interest in Alex, with some goal in mind relating to him. totheArk seems to want to use Jay to find Alex, if my interpretations are correct, as well as possibly using for some other purpose as well.

It has also been suggested that totheArk is not unique, that there are others like him, and Entry 26 seems to indicate as much, with four masks in total, only one of which is definitely totheArk’s. However, the video corruption is such that is impossible to tell if these are just film problems in all cases.

If Tim is totheArk, then he provides us with clues. Those who become like him may experience coldness, a cough, and take some sort of pills. This could provide a warning sign for those being stalked.

As for Slender Man itself, several things become apparent. Firstly the video distortion. It manifests in any number of ways, the most mundane of which is simple tearing. But the more severe it is, the stranger it gets. Clips and images are inserted, audio is lost, and entire sections simply vanish. In addition, it has become evident that it can “hide itself in plain sight.” That is, under certain unknown conditions, it is possible to look directly at it and not see it.

However, it has been often suggested that Slender Man has a sort of weakness to observation. And that being seen, even by a nonliving video camera, inhibits it. It is often seen standing stock still or moving slowly on video. But when it moves off screen, it seems to teleport. Some attribute this to Slender Man being a macroscopic manifestation of quantum physics (that which is observed is changed, specifically), or that it is a being from another dimension.

This is pseudoscientific trash.

The observation phenomenon of quantum physics is not just some quirk of reality. I simply cannot explain everything wrong with any assertion to the contrary. However, I suggest you read up on subjects such as the uncertainty principle, deBroglie wavelengths, and other basic physics subjects.

As for the dimension-jumping version, it is possibly even more ludicrous. If you come from one universe to another, its physical laws do not change to suit you. Here is a programming analogue: if you try to use a Java compiler for Fortran code, the result isn’t functional. It’s just a meaningless mess. More specifically, if you try to apply the physics of our universe to something from another, you would get a result consistent with the physical laws of the universe in which that “something” currently exists within. Gravity, electromagnetism, the weak and strong nuclear forces, they all still apply. If the particles do not exist in our universe naturally, but have the appropriate properties (mass, charge, spin, etc.), they will act as expected according to our laws. There is no diplomatic immunity. If the particles cannot exist in our universe then they will cease to exist. Or rather, they will not have existed here at all.

But there is a much more reasonable explanation for the apparent incongruities in appearance and behavior. As frightening as this may sound at first, the more rational line of thinking is that there are more than one Slender Man. However, this is more of a boon than it seems. If there is more than one, there is likely a method of procreation.  And if there is procreation, there must be a reason to procreate. The most likely is death, unless it is as (crude as it is to say this) pleasurable as the human equivalent. The third is numbers insure a goal. But by far, avoidance of species death is exceedingly more reasonable, again considering established reality as a basis.

Conclusion:

I will make this quick; totheArk is dangerous and possibly “contagious” as an agent of Slender Man, while Slender Man itself may be less so than initially believed and part of a larger species.

That is it for my Marble Hornets analysis. I am sorry that it ended up much longer than I initially expected. Next time I will be writing about some of Slender Man’s possible origins and modern resurgence into public knowledge.

If you find any errors in either the facts of the log or the conclusions drawn, please leave a comment specifying the error and correction below. Also, alternative theories are encouraged.