Something I Haven't Seen Talked About A Lot In CRP Or Slenderverse Spaces Was The Prevalence Of Fire

Something I haven't seen talked about a lot in CRP or Slenderverse spaces was the prevalence of fire in relation to the Slenderman (who, for brevity sake, will be referred to as the Operator in this post)..

What really made it click in my head was finally playing the extra level, Nightmare, in Slender: The Arrival (and also my gorgeous @pechadream pointing out the specifics to me ehe..)

Under cut will be a sort of analysis moreso long winded talk on fire in the story of Marble Hornets, JTK, STA, and Toby's...

It is to be noted that Joseph, Troy, and Tim S. all worked on STA -- not sure to what extent, but they are credited. This is important as there are two instances in MH wherein a fire happened. Linking that with the whole "Cleanse with fire" message that STA was going for, it could explain why people like Alex, CR, Toby, or perhaps Tim W. chose the option of burning in an attempt to kill/cover up tracks instead of anything easier.

Talks of purification are laden in this level of STA which reminds me of the biblical motifs of Marble Hornets. The major cleanses with fire in the Bible (Sodom and Gomorrah, Revelations) all refer to God using fire to cleanse a place of its sinners. Alex himself is often seen with stigmata's and imagery of Christ, of a savior; therefore he sees himself doing a favor by not merely attempting to kill Tim (at first at least lol), the root of it all, by typical means, but to purify him in a sense by letting him die by flame. (CR's plan is similar -- basically the same -- to Alex's so I won't talk about him and Kate ;()

Now it's not really confirmed how Tim's psychiatric institute burnt down, but I think it started in his hospital room? Either way, I think it's an interesting link if it was kid Tim who started it: trying to cleanse himself and everyone he affected, but in turn not doing anything useful.

Creepypasta-wise I think it is extra interesting as we never got a reason as to why Toby would choose to light his entire neighborhood on fire. @pechadream pointed it out that the Operator's influence could play into why Toby would do that.. Whether it be as a last ditch effort to cover up his tracks or deluded empathy trying to free everyone (especially his mother) from the Operator's influence.

Now Jeff (talking about Woods here) is a bit more.. farfetched. This is also if he was in the same universe as the Operator. Story goes that he gets set on fire and he comes out fucked up, why the bullies burnt him? Could be related to the Operator could not be. ANYWAYS. Purifying in the Bible is not only limited to fires, of course. I'd like to think of Woods's burning as a sort of baptism for him.. He was born anew and all that and come to think of it this could refer to Toby too

I think what m trying to say is that cleansing with fire should be explored more when talking about slender.. okay thanks