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[Dray]

I think that in this case, the reason that we see Jay in Return is because TTA wanted Jay to realize how little control he has over things.

Having SM wander by could have been meant to showcase why Jay and the MM were having coughing fits and seizures in the hallway at the same time as it was a setup for #23: When Jay warps from hallway to SM's basement, we could assume that SM has been using that doorway to get from our world to his. Because the door is a warp-door to SM's domain it's a pretty untenable place for people to hang out when not on their meds.

It does make more sense that SM would be spotted three years ago with Alex living in the house... but on the other hand it seems like a setup for #23 when you watch 'em in order, too.

[Mr.Beyond]

This works so long as Slendy has ONLY been using this doorway as a warp spot since Alex left. Since if this is, as everyone is presuming, the same house where Alex camped out for a while, it never shows him exhibiting any symptoms while moving through that spot.... As well, if Slendy used that spot as a warp spot, it seems as though he'd have warped right in there instead of hanging out on Alex's porch?
Unless of course he likes the slow approach. "Stalk him until he's paranoid and terrified of his own shadow, THEN head in for some more direct investigation."
Even then, though. He couldn't have been using that spot while Alex was around. He used his house as a warp cause he missed him. Cute.

[Salty]

Tim had a coughing fit there in Entry #20. It could be that the spot only affects certain people, but that doesn't really make sense as why would it affect Jay and Tim but not Alex? It could be that you have to stand there for a while before it starts to mess with you. Jay doesn't fall over in that spot in Entry #16 until after he'd been standing there looking in the blanket closet, and then Masky doesn't seize up there in Entry #18 until he'd been scuffling with Jay for a while.

[mellodragon]

It still doesn't make much sense to me for Return to be set in the present. Let's think about Alex's stalking-

I would easily assume that Entry 12 is one of the earliest appearances of Slenderman. They're scouting locations, which comes pretty early in the filming process. Slendy's pretty far away, across the entire field, in fact. Next up (I'm probably skipping a few appearances), SM gets closer with Entry 7 when he's seen in the background behind Brian. Next are probably the scenes with Slendy outside the windows in Entries 1 and 6. Either that or Entry 13, where Alex just happens upon Slenderman at that building. After that would be Entry 14, if I am making correct assumptions.

Slenderman took a long while, months, to get that close to Alex. What is it that makes Jay so special? SM just randomly appears, doo dee doo, with Jay.

[Dray]

Thing is, I don't think Slender Man was there after Jay specifically. Whoever TTA is (and I'm assuming that it's Tim at this point) has attracted SM's attention. Jay was placed almost as a stumbling block in SM's way and SM ignores him in favor of coming towards the camera holder. It seems possible to me that Return was a failed attempt to pawn SM off on Jay, or to kick-start the kind of stalking of Jay that we see having happened to Alex.

[mellodragon]

It's possible, I suppose. I'm still not completely sold on the idea, but I suppose I'll accept it for now. Though that brings up another thing that I'm not certain about.

Slenderman stalked Alex for months, as I already said, but Alex never seemed to display the symptoms of Slendy-poisoning that Tim (Masky) and Jay exhibit: coughing, coldness, seizures. If those who are stalked by SM are poisoned by him, then why did Alex remain healthy? And it brings up Entry 22, where Alex lists those who are 'gone.' Jay was in that list, as was Tim, but they're both here, alive. Maybe them being 'gone' refers to Jay's zombification in Return?

[Dray]

Alex's lack of symptoms could be lack of acting caused by his investigations, or he could have manifested them differently. It could also be because he is in possession of or is close to the ark, whatever that is!

Being 'gone' probably refers to something like that, or else their forgetting of what is going on. Perhaps he tried to rely on them for help and discovered that they were no longer able to do so because of the memory and time loss. Being 'gone' does not mean that they had to have been physically missing, although that is a strong theme in the series!

[mellodragon]

Hmm... That's a good possibility.. About having the ark. But to be 'gone', Slendy first has to stalk his victims, yes? Then why did Brian not exhibit any symptoms before he was 'gone'? I know we didn't see him much, nor did we really see Sarah or Seth, but I think the creators would have made it a point to point out that Alex was the ONLY one that wasn't displaying Slendy-sickness.

[Mr.Beyond]

Actually I had a thought on this. The only times we see Jay or Tim/Masky displaying symptoms isn't necessarily when they're around slendy but when they're AROUND EACH OTHER.
In the interview clip, J starts coughing. This is the first time we've ever heard him cough. His next coughing fit is in the house- during which time Masky (tta) was there filming him, as proved by his video reply. The next major bout of coughing is after Masky's attack in the hallway of the house- when the two of them were extremely close together, as they were fighting or something off camera. This is also the only time we've ever seen Masky's symptoms get bad enough to cause him to seize- after direct physical contact with J. J also coughs pretty badly after he escapes the Masky Hug.
And when we see Tim, unmasked, coughing the worst is in the video J doesn't remember- where J was being the "script supervisor, who supervises the script". Again- he and J were in the same place. The only other video we see his face in is when Alex flips out on him, and Tim is just fine- coincidentally, Jay is not around at that time.
I'm not sure why, but they seem to be the catalyst to making each other sick.

[Dray]

[Elektrikhd]

On the topic of "gone-ness"...

It just occurred to me that given that we see Tim and J, but they are referred to as "gone" by Alex, it could be that they said, "fuck this shit" and backed down from Marble Hornets and what may well have become an investigation into Slenderman. They may not have physically gone anywhere, but I could still see them being referred to as "gone" in that instance.

That may be why they are the only others we've seen aside from Alex in 26--they got out while the going was good. Alex...must have found some other way before he left.

[Dray]

That's entirely possible! I'm still curious about how, if that's the case, what's up with Masky in #26 (because I'm pretty certain that that's a prototype mask and not a second person to Tim's crazy later on in the timeline!) lurking around Alex?

I can totally see Jay backing out and forgetting everything. He kind of seems that way. Maybe Tim pulled something similar and then was using the mask as a secret identity to drive Alex more nuts? In any case, it seems like it could be pretty likely... though Alex seems kind of torn up about it, making it seem like there's something larger at stake then their simple backing down and wiping hands clean.

Too many questions!

[Mr.Beyond]

Too many questions indeed D: i keep re-going over everything, although I know the most logical thing to do would be to wait and see when(if) the next video comes out.... >.<
Still, I think that whatever caused J and Tim to be described as "gone", it was something more sinister than the two of them getting the hell out while the getting was good. Because Alex DID seem pretty torn up about it, and that entire monolouge (with the repeating, and GOD that shadow on the wall...) seemed like something very, very sinister had gone on and was going on. Though if anyone backed out and forgot that he had ever been involved, it seems likely that J did. He'd already clearly been mindwiped about ever being involved in the first place...

[Justice]

[Dray]

Nah, it was just teasing! He was doing fine, and I agree with you on those points. Sorry if it was in bad taste; didn't mean to rile your sleep-deprived brain!