The Bing Zone

>Finally play Outlast Trials for the first time

>Finally see that Coyle guy you always see people thirsposting about

>Check his wiki page after playing because you thought you heard him say a slur

To start, I need to give a bit of backstory, I was in middle school when the original MH first aired, and I followed the series very closely; every upload, every tweet, every puzzle. I have very fond memories of running up to a friend in the hall (or them running up to me) yelling "JAY UPLOADED". MH as a series means so much to me personally and creatively. It almost single-handedly shaped my interest in media by kickstarting my love of horror, and found footage is still my favorite subgenre to this day because of it.

So before anything I want to thank Troy, Joseph and everyone else involved for taking us on another ride. No matter how brief, seeing each upload go live gave me the same jolt of adrenaline and excitement that I got as a teenager over a decade ago. It almost felt like Jay and Alex never left. So again, thank everyone on the team so much for putting a smile on my (and so many other peoples') faces.

As for the finale itself, I'd also like to thank them for tearing my heart out and kicking it down the tunnel. At least kiss the block of cement before you break my leg with it, folks.

Jokes aside, amazing ending. I've seen some complaints about it being too vague, having too many loose ends, but that's Marble Hornets baby! To me, it's never been about getting all the answers. It's been about watching these characters unravel in a way no one can stop, and realizing that not even getting the answers they seek would probably save them. We have the answers to some of these thanks to behind-the-scenes stuff and the comics, but for years questions like "Who is the third member of Totheark?" "What is the Ark?" "Why did Brian and Tim become Hoody and Masky?" "Who was in the skull mask?" "What's on the other side of the tunnel?" "Did Tim burn down the hospital?" all had no answers, and that's a big part of the horror to me. I feel like, in recent years, people have gotten too used to horror over-explaining everything or making sure to tell all at the end-- hell, I could just about write a thesis on how the internet ruined the concept of The Backrooms because people couldn't stand that it was so vague and had to turn it into a knockoff SCP Foundation just to hamfist answers and logic into it.

The phrase goes "What you don't see is scarier", and it really is true. I'm glad they never directly showed us what was making the scraping noise, or what exactly happened to Alex. I'm glad we don't know exactly who Jodie is in relation to Jessica or who was dragging the camera at the end. That sense of mystery, that sense of foreboding dread and crushing hopelessness, is what MH thrives in.

And oh my god, don't even get me started on the Operator. They took its scare factor and cranked it up to 20. It doesn't drive you insane by just existing near you, it taunts, it torments, it acts maliciously. I loved seeing it take a more active role, and I actually had nightmares last night after watching. They did a fantastic job of showcasing that whether you live for years with its sickness, or a day, that's by the Operator's own choice. It decides when your time is up, not you. Absolutely horrific.

Also, it manipulating the phone? That's the most insane pun I've ever seen. The thing was literally a telephone operator. Crazy work.

Overall, I couldn't have asked for more. Amazing acting, editing was just as insanely impressive as it was back then (hell I'd argue way better), and they made every second of the episodes count.

Cheers, Marble Hornets. It was great to be scared again.

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So something I think is very poignant about this is that, in a way, it kind of invalidates Tim's fears. In MH he has a breakdown wondering if, without him around, everyone would have gone on to live happy lives.

And now it looks like that isn't fully the case. Brian, Seth and Amy maybe. But Jay and Alex? Tim's (theorized) disappearance only postponed it. Him not being around didn't save everyone, which lines up perfectly with how Joseph once described the Operator as a force of nature. No matter the universe, seems those two were always going to contract the disease. Which somehow feels both vindicating on Tim's behalf and simultaneously a new kind of horror.

Troy, Joseph and the gang are once again knocking it out of the (rosswood) park. I watched the original MH back when it was coming out, and it shaped so much of my taste in horror, as well as my style of writing. That series has always meant so much to me creatively, and getting a new miniseries is something I never would have thought possible.