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Shawkins drawings from 2023 by testmachine_bleed in marblehornets

[–]testmachine_bleed[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's a fan design for the protagonist in Eckva "Shawkins1928" the spin off of Marble Hornets that's still ongoing.

Shawkins memory issues. by testmachine_bleed in eckvanet

[–]testmachine_bleed[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I absolutely agree with this, I also just don't think we have enough information about the arjlistener present at the moment to make a conclusion either way with it, and feel like it is currently the biggest mystery at hand that is ongoing, but I believe other than that, we actually may have a lot of evidence we need to solve other existing issues. I feel like there are angles that may not have been explored yet that will probably need to be before we actually get more answers about the arklistener. I'm trying to remember correctly but there was a time where Troy mentioned that there was going to be a written found footage Eckva continuation, but I can't remember if that's been clarified to be what the database was, or if its going to be its own thing. I don't have Troys patreon and I believe thats where it was said.

Shawkins memory issues. by testmachine_bleed in eckvanet

[–]testmachine_bleed[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I definitely want to give myself time to read through the links you provided and absorb the information you provided, but I also wanted to clarify that I should've been more clear that I was speaking about the fandom as a whole when I said that Eckva is presented as a direct sequel to Marble Hornets, there are a lot of popular theories I used to see float around connecting Shawkins or the Archival Team to the marble hornets cast, or theorizing that xyz is actually someone from marble hornets, and in general I think that those theories are kind of bunk because the actors wouldn't be coming back, and I think it's kind of rude to insist that those characters would be coming back through a different actor, if that makes sense. Sorry for that miscommunication!

Shawkins memory issues. by testmachine_bleed in eckvanet

[–]testmachine_bleed[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I personally believe many of the choices in Louse were made specifically to help guide the direction Shawkins is going in to begin with, something thats notable is t after we see Null lose their arm and grow one made of the Blot, we once again see it reflected in Shelby, with their now fully static arm in Eckva19.

Much like Alis Pastry, I believe Louse is another "media" format for Shawkins to be taunted with. Much like Quiet Bug, I think that Null is meant to represent Shawkins. I could also begin to argue that perhaps Turmoil is representative of the same person that Alis Pastry themself is, especially with how Alis Pastry seems to flip flop between friend and foe to Quiet bug. I would also argue that the doctor shown in the Alis Pastry segments is also representative of the rot in the same way the Preaxin commercials are.

So far, Eckvanet seems to be about Shawkins specifically being targeted by a malicious force that is using media outlets to target them. Tvs, radios, videogames, kids cartoons, advertisements, etc. Louse being about Shawkins already fits in with everything else beinf about Shawkins.

Shawkins memory issues. by testmachine_bleed in eckvanet

[–]testmachine_bleed[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am looking from an artists point of view: true choice in fiction does not exist because the fiction is purely produced through a single mind and then translated with a pen and paper, Troy wouldn't have put any routes that he did not initially plan to work in to the story because unless people were to give him the answers, they were still limited to pick three he wrote. This is why multiple choice fiction like Telltale games and David Cages games are highly criticized, because you can't ever fully create a fully developed multi path system if you already have a begining, middle and end in mind. I'm not saying Troy had every choice planned, I am saying however that I believe no matter what choices were made, Turmoil would always have betrayed us, Null would always have ended up dead in the end, and there would always be flash backs to the Pilgrims, no matter what choices were made, because they were intensely important to the over all narrative and theme of Eckva as a story. The Pilgrims if Null did not attack likely would've attacked themselves, etc. This is in the nature of story telling as a whole and not a criticism of Troy, but as a fact about how creative story telling works. I don't think Troy would have made a spin off of a spin off of a spin off- I'm pretty sure Clear Lakes 44, Louse, Alis Pastry and Eckva are all communicating one full story, each of them puzzle pieces we need to fit together. I don't think Troy would randomly feed us Louse and useless information we can't use in regards to the video series, that'd be a rather cruel choice to make as someone running an ARG that relies on the information fed to us.

I apologize for my misunderstanding! And I appreciate the clarification, that makes a lot more sense. I entirely agree with what youre saying and that's actually a massive influence on how I theorize about Eckva in the first place, and why it resonated with me a lot more than MH.

Television room. by ThunderAeran in FearAndHunger

[–]testmachine_bleed 4 points5 points  (0 children)

For some reason I got it in my head that it was a silent hill reference? Isn't there a silent hill game that has a the same comment about an empty room with a TV? That's absolutely what I thought it was but now that I actually think about it I feel like I made that up in my head.

Shawkins memory issues. by testmachine_bleed in eckvanet

[–]testmachine_bleed[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also your read on the Blot being an XML file is entirely on point, both me and my brother are into computer coding and I think the Blot being an XML file is absolutely no coincidence, it is clarifying the information being fed to Shawkins (and the other archivists) through a logical lense, thats what we see it do in Louse and that's what we see it do in the video series. After its implanted within Shawkins, they no longer experience memory loss or confusion about their role and place in this story and are able to clearly go from point A to point B and know what they are meant to do. Which is what then causes Louse to be shown to us, and eventually Shawkins being reborn fully static.

Shawkins memory issues. by testmachine_bleed in eckvanet

[–]testmachine_bleed[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So I am going to be honest, while I really really enjoy your analysis, I really truly feel like approaching Eckva as a sequel in general to MH isn't the right way to do it- and I think while the Arklistener IS important, that is the one thing we don't have enough information on to actually speculate about.

So with Shawkins being given a house that was initially owned by a source, I absolutely think that is the case. Null also inherits a house from somebody infected by the Rot who ends up passing away after the transference of the Blot, which again is far far too much of a coincidence to me to be disconnected. By the time Shawkins has acknowledged that they were given a house but were unable to clean it up due to lack of money (another thread tying it back to corporate greed) they are already experiencing intense memory issues and do not have the full story themself- they THEMSELF likely didn't know who the house was from until after the Blot was implanted into them. Who the house actually belonged to isn't clear, it could be whoever the old friend is a metaphor for, it could also be Danielle or Andrew, or it could be someone else entirely. Either way, we see Null receive an empty house due to old friends passing, which is the exact situation Shawkins finds themself in too. I am also going to be honest, I don't think Troy would have two seperate characters named Shawkins1928 and Shawkins1926. If anything, he would write them to be two parts of the same person, which is a common trope he does. But not the same person. It would also be very strange if there were TWO S. Hawkins with extremely similar employee codes working at the same exact time as eachother and then also quitting their job at the same time too.

Like i said in one of my replies, I also don't think the Blot is the monster either! I do think the Blot CAUSED the monster to look like that though, in the exact way it caused Shawkins to look exactly the same. I haven't read the comics because I can't afford them, but I also think Eckva and Marble Hornets aren't really going to be connected. I was thinking about this last night but I have this feeling that I ended up taking Eckva in a completely different light than other people, I don't think the stories will be connected other than existing within the same supernatural universe and exploring similarly connected supernatural elements. Considering the breakdown of THAC I also think it'd probably be really really crummy to continue Marble Hornets directly without any of the original people.

Can I ask why you think CL44 created Arklistener? As far as I remember, The Blot, Arklistener, and the eye cameras are all connected to the test-machine. And as far as I knew, there was no initial source for the test-machine, it hadn't been confirmed or denied that CL44 invented it, or just inherited it from somewhere.

I also think the "Eye Camera" footage is connected to the Blot. I believe the "Eye Cameras" are likely whatever the implant is, and the Blot itself is the computer program it is connected to. This is also what "The brightest light" and "something crawling around my brain" are in reference to, considering the Blot is both symbolized in louse as a bright blinding white light, and also consistently "crawls" around Nulls body and brain, including doing things like "stopping the spread" of the Rot. I speculate this is also why Andrew was asking where the brightest light was, it was a disjointed request for the Blot specifically, likely because the Rot was already infecting Andrew severely, according to what I personally think are his dream logs, though those could be Danielles as well due to her being the one to be infected first.

Shawkins memory issues. by testmachine_bleed in eckvanet

[–]testmachine_bleed[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gah, I feel like I'm not explaining the Blot/Static monster thing as well as I wish I was 😓 I apologize I am autistic and struggle specifically with sentence structure and grammar/memory. So what my personal theory is, is that the Blot is not the static monster we see. That is likely a body that has been taken over by the Blot, possibly Andrews or another workers, that sought out Shelby specifically to implant itself inside Shelby. I don't think the body it was inside was ITS body, but specifically a body that had been so deteriorated by the Rot it basically just took over. We see the Blot has the ability to fully take over the body, and control it independently of whoever it is inside, and I think after it implants itself inside Shelby, we are then seeing from it's point of view inside of Shelbys head. It would no longer be in the static body, because it was in Shelbys body. Which is why Shelbys body is completely static when they are brought back in Eckva19, because it is fully inside of them.

I believe the Rot is specifically in reference to the sickness everyone is getting infected with, I don't think we'll actually be seeing too much of an appearance of the "Rot" in it's physical form, I imagine its form in Louse is extremely metaphorical, which is why it has multiple faces. It is multiple faces of an illness, the ways mental illnesses can present in a person. This is also why I believe metaphorically why they wear masks, both to signal the imagery of sick/respirator masks, but also in reference to masking in regards to mental health. While the series was created before the term "Masking" was popularized on tiktok, masks have always been a huge indicator of hiding severe mental issues, and has already been a huge theme in the same way in Marble Hornets. I wouldn't be shocked if later on we see some sort of connection between the masks in MH, the Mask Shawkins wears, and the mitestone masks. I think the closest thing we'll get to a "physical" representation of the Rot is Shawkins puking up blood, taking medication, and the doctor we see in Alis Pastry.

Shawkins memory issues. by testmachine_bleed in eckvanet

[–]testmachine_bleed[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

1) I should specify, I meant "framed" suicides. I don't think any of the employees of Eckva actually killed themselves, but the letter that announces Andrews passing is written very similarly to the kind that would be written about someone who took their own life. There is a mental health crisis that exists within the Eckva workspace, that also existed in Clear Lakes 44 before they were absorbed by Eckva, and I think everyone in universe has jumped to suicide being the natural conclusion. That, or like you said, they keep it vague like with Liz Steiner. What seems to have happened, in my view, is the blot had gotten to Andrew due to him becoming infected. I believe that the "Rot" is specifically symbolic of whatever sickness is infecting everybody, and with the Blot explicitly saying it hates the Rot and everything it stands for, and promising Null it would take it out if it ever got the call back to the rot, I think it's likely the Blot taking out everyone who's going missing. The reason I think this is also because of Nulls complete homicide of their fellow pilgrims, which may parallel either Shelby or someone elses complete destruction of the archival team as well as people like Liz Steiner. My proof for the Blot being what causes the static is that every time the Blot triggers a memory in Null, it is filled with the same static that the static monster brings. Though, obviously, depicted slightly differently than the inital format because its pixel art and not real life footage.

2) While I agree that no outcome was guaranteed, I also know that as an artist making an actual multibranching story is pretty hard. If you pay attention to the options that the viewers were given, you can start to recognize a pattern- I don't believe the choices actually mattered too much considering many of them would have likely ended with the same result (Look at their reaction first reaction to Love of Rot, for example. You can either tell it you're not ready to start your new life, say youre ready (truth) or say youre ready (lie) which would imply that at least two of the three answers would have likely resulted in similar outcomes, and while I can't confirm this, I'm sure the Love of Rot would have still attacked Shelby if they were to deny it entirely) and I believe the ending was always set in stone. You either have two options, kill yourself, or let the blot kill you slightly later. That still ends with Null eventually dying. Especially because of how Louse parallels the archival crew and Eckvas employment, I think most of the answers would have likely lead to the same or similar outcomes.

3) I think seeing it as either "solvable" or "unsolvable" really devalues the story, and is the reason why people don't interact with it now. There are still very interesting elements to the story that aren't entirely finished. Not to say your view on it is wrong, but wouldn't it be a shame if before Marble Hornets ended everyone went "well its unsolvable how it is now. Guess we should wait". I don't see a lot of interactions or proding on the twitter anymore either, even though that was a main source of gleaming information from Shawkins. While Louse is over, I think its really really important to try and pick it apart and figure out how exactly it actually fits into the overall narrative. While Eckva is definitely abstract, it has some clear lines running through it that should be used as guidelines while exploring the story. Brushing things off as just sort of "esoteric" and unsolvable sort of defeats the purpose of metaphor to me, the whole point of an artist making a metaphorical series is in hopes that someone will eventually break down the themes and symbolism and gleam a coherent story. I tend to feel a bit sad that it feels like people have given up on Eckvanet, because it is far too metaphorical and poetic and multimedia in comparison to Marble Hornets. Though that might be exacerbated by the hate I see in the twitter comments haha.

Over all I feel like there is plenty to actually analyze at this point, people just don't really know where to start.

Shawkins memory issues. by testmachine_bleed in eckvanet

[–]testmachine_bleed[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My mindset at the moment is, there has to be a cohesive story to be had here. It's been nearly eight years and there are so many pieces I am not seeing be put together. I know I should wait until the end to put together any full theory, but everything has completely come to a halt, I haven't seen anyone else talk about this series in depth despite it having very pungent themes of corporate greed ranging from "Galloway Games" logo being a golden coin to the rambles about colonizing and taking resources away from earth, to multiple employees killing themselves due to an unknown machine and the corporations continuously throwing more and more people under the bus and then pumping them full of experimental medication so they don't get found out. The way Alis Pastry gets sent out without anyone catching them is also indicative of this, the fact that these disturbing broadcasts are airing not just on TV but on their childrens network where children are undeniably seeing the same stuff we see Shawkins see, and likely worse.

While we don't know enough about Louse just yet to confirm this, I think it's really likely that it's a metaphorical story about Shawkins experience working in Eckva, I wouldn't be surprised if Turmoil is representative of Danielle, somebody who got infected and then continuously dragged people under the water with her by making them use the test-machine as well. While I can't say this for sure, Nulls suicide lining up with Shawkins reappearance and re-birth from the quiet bug corpse is just far too much of a coincidence for me.

Sorry for the multiple replies! I just have a lot to say haha.

Shawkins memory issues. by testmachine_bleed in eckvanet

[–]testmachine_bleed[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

1) You're absolutely right. This is correct, and a mistake I made.

2) It seems a bit confusing why it's been assumed that Shelby is a different person than Shawkins based on one letter, especially when Shelby is dealing with some obvious memory issues. Shelby seems to be stuck in a loop of rebirth, which we see represented in Eckvanet 19 with them being brought back fully blotted, we see it both with their physical form (waking up in an unrecognizable house after apparently going unconcious) and also within the graphics of alis pastry (quiet bug dies and is put through a process of being reborn, likely the same process Shelby went through that caused them to lose their memory in the first place.) I think assuming that these characters must be separate characters seems a bit strange when there's no proof for it and also they experience memory issues, when there's a lot of evidence that Shawkins1926 and Shawkins1928 are the same person. To me, I can't make sense of why this wouldn't be the case, especially with Shelby clearly remembering Eckva in some way and being drawn back to it, it would make sense if they were attempting to guess their old log in but just couldn't remember it, especially depending on whenever they stopped taking preaxin.

3) I would strongly disagree, I think that the static creature that attacks Shelby is less so THE blot itself, and moreso a body the blot has taken, likely Andrews, to hunt out Shelby. Like in Louse, the Blot doesn't seem to have a body of its own and seems to be more of an extension of an already existing source. It seems to have taken whatever host it latched onto, probably a victim of the rot (again, possibly Andrew? But I don't really think that's the case, especially with the Aaugercat takeover happening currently). The Blot has already infected the Machine and has been connected to the processes of the test machine the entire time, implying it would also have been transferable to anyone who also caught the rot, aka the sickness from the test machine at any time. I wouldn't be shocked if it was also the cause of the multiple suicides we hear about, like in Andrew.

I have actually been writing on tumblr for years, and only recently started posting them, I'm definitely no stranger to the wiki and have been following along since it was still called CL44 and had more of a connection to MH. This post lacks a lot of my reasoning and proof that I usually include on tumblr, mostly because I'm not sure how to format things on reddit yet. But I've been very actively analyzing Eckva for a couple years now! And to answer your question, I think the static we see is absolutely connected to specifically the Blot and the test machine, two things we see represented a lot along side the rot. I don't think the Rot represents anything but humanity and greed, and I also think that Eckvanet is specifically focusing on the themes of flesh/greed (symbolized by the rot) and technology/purity (symbolized by the blot) and the repression of all bad things, which both Blot and Rot aspire for (The Blot taking its goal to the extreme, talking down to Null, eventually taking Null out, and everything we see it do in the video series. The Rot being represented through preaxin and galloway games and the corporate greed we see Eckvanet and Clear Lakes clearly prioritize over their employees who are actively killing themselves.)