Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The World of Slender Man

I wish I could blame my failure to post anything on Blogger being buggy lately (which, to be honest, has been a real problem for me), but Minecraft also deserves a large part of the blame. Okay, most of the blame. Building an underwater fortress made of Obsidian takes time, you know.

OntopicOntopic.

What I want to do today is essentially an overview of the setting which the Mythos takes place in. While once we used to be able to claim that it was the real world, with all the horrible implications that implied, it’s become more difficult to do that (at least, if you try to accept every story out there as canon). The Mythos has grown too large; in the past, it was just a few stories, and we can accept a scattered few mysterious disappearances. But now the Mythos has over 200 stories, each discussing several disappearances, deaths, proxies, huge events, all occurring across the globe. The scale has expanded just a wee bit beyond our regular everyday world. Taking it all as real is especially hard for me, as accepting the Mythos would mean I’d have to believe that a forest less than half a mile from where I’m living was burned down. Last I checked, it was still standing. When that place goes up in flames is when I’ll start to worry.

But claiming it isn’t real with a snide tone while snobbily sticking your nose into the air isn’t fun, so we’ll forget that, and throw ourselves right into the Mythos. It isn’t going to be a safe trip there, and we can only hope that the hole which I’m blowing in the Fourth Wall stays open long enough for us to make it back to the real world. If any of you don’t make it out alive, do not worry. We shall forever remember you as heroes who sacrificed yourselves for the glory of Meta.

Now that we’ve landed in the Mythos, let’s take a look around. At first glance, it’s not that different from out world. We’re likely in an American suburban neighborhood. The East Coast is a popular location, although more western settings are becoming common (sadly, for most bloggers, Texas remains a pit stop, instead of a permanent headquarters). The essential point is that, on the surface, it looks just like a regular town.

Once we start investigating, that’s when things begin to look suspicious. A child has gone missing, vanishing from the park in the middle of the day. The police have been unable to make any headway on the case, their only witnesses being young children who talk about a “Tall Man”.

For the family of the missing on, times have been hard. Just a month after the abduction, their only other child killed herself. In the weeks before her death, she had been obsessing over her little brother’s disappearance, and her parents wonder if this may have led to her suicide. It takes a great deal of convincing, but eventually we talk them into letting us see their daughter’s notes on the abduction.

Through studying her notes, as well as several cross references, it becomes clear that this was not an isolated case. Mysterious disappearances have been occurring in this town for decades. But these are not unique to the town; we find evidence of similar disappearances in surrounding towns and cities. When we look into them, it only leads us to more, spreading further abroad.

Soon we’re traveling across the country to investigate the growing number of cases. As we cover more ground, the number of vanished increases; first into the hundreds, and then maybe even as high as the thousands. We find entire towns left empty, their whole population having vanished in a moment. It becomes clear that there are very few places to have been left untouched, even overseas.

After further traveling and research, one begins to wonder if those who disappear are the lucky ones. Stories arise of people found horribly mutilated, organs torn out and bodies impaled on the limbs of trees. Like the disappearances, these slayings are not focused in a single area, but spread across the world.

Though perhaps most horrible of all are those we do not just vanish, but are erased from existence. We interview a man who claims that one day his girlfriend vanished, but no one except he could even remember her. She is not only gone; she never even existed to begin with.

Looking through all the information we’ve been able to gather, the casualties are surprisingly high. It’s likely that the real number is even larger, due to deaths being misattributed to suicide or homicide. Surrounding many of these incidents are other unexplained phenomena: fires without any visible origin, or mutilated animal carcasses.


As we dig further, patterns begin to emerge. A figure, or silhouette, seen in the background of photos. A stalker alluded to time and time again. And a name which has appeared all too often: the Slender Man. There are variations of the name; The Gentleman, Tall Pale and Faceless, The Slender One, The Operator, or even the almost endearing “Slendy”, but all refer to the same creature. None can agree on just what the Slender Man is; even its reported abilities are inconsistent, ranging from simply a powerful monster to a nigh omnipotent god which toys with space and time. Its motives are an even greater mystery. No one can explain why it does the things it does, or how it chooses its victims. But at any moment, it may choose to stalk, abduct, or kill any human, of any age or background, in the world. Occasionally commonalities emerge between victims, but in the end, anyone is a potential target.

Records become even more inconsistent when discussing encounters with Slender Man. Some treat it almost like a human, and even claim to have communicated with it. More consider it to be something totally incomprehensible to the human mind, and that all attempts to humanize it are wishful thoughts. Its origins are even harder to identify. Our studies appear to be leading towards the hypothesis that the Slender Man is a new creature, only for additional evidence found in a dusty library to claim that the creature is at least as old as Ancient Egypt, if not older. In the end, about the only things which can be confirmed for certain through studying witness testimonies is that the Slender Man is a creature alien to what we believe reality to be, which appears as a tall faceless man in a suit, and which is, for some unknowable reason, hunting humans.

But if this creature has killed so many, surely it must have been noticed? For this answer, we cannot rely on old journals and newspaper clippings. After a series of Ocean’s 11 style escapades, we succeed in securing several secret documents from Washington D.C. From reading them, we learn that the American government is very much aware of the Slender Man. But in true bureaucratic fashion, their response is divided and ineffectual. Agent Fisk and his branch of the FBI seek to cover up information pertaining to the Slender Man’s actions, ensuring that it never receives mainstream attention. As their goal is suppression of information instead of fighting back, they often end up hindering the victims of the Slender Man, instead of helping them. On the opposite end is the SMSC, another FBI branch which is more proactive in engaging supernatural threats. Though while they may actually be trying to help, they can do little to stop the monster.

It seems that the most effective organization in combating the Slender Man is not a government group, but an international paramilitary organization, the PTC. They are a surprisingly large group, with technology far beyond any nation, devoted to the capture, study, and destruction of supernatural entities. The PTC is an aggressive organization, having attempted multiple direct confrontations with the Slender Man. But while they may be currently working for the benefit of Slender Man’s victims, this was not always the case, and it cannot be said for certain that they will continue their benevolent actions in the future. There is little to no information about why the PTC is interested in the supernatural, how it gets the funding needed to run such a large organization, or even who its leaders are.

Of course, these large organizations aren’t the only ones seeking to combat the Slender Man. Throughout our travels, we have encountered many people who refused to give into despair, and have taken up resisting Slender Man. They’re a varied group, and trying to describe them all would take far too much time. Some group together for the safety of numbers, while others act independently. There are saints who give everything to protect others, and monsters who will use any means necessary for their own preservation. Some are nomadic, some stationary; some aggressively attack the Slender Man, others focus on survival. The only common ground between them is that all are being stalked by Slender Man.

Through the power of the Internet, these Runners and Fighters have found a perfect way to communicate with one another. Miniature dramas are played out in the growing network, as stories and advice is swapped, inspiring leaders emerge, relationships form, and common purpose is found. But the attitude which fills these blogs and discussions is usually far from confident: an air of fatalism pervades this community. Survival is not likely for anyone, and they are aware of the fact; all the time, accounts are suddenly going inactive. Sometimes, the others are fortunate to be given some kind of closure, either through a hurried last message from the user before their end, or a witness providing testimony of the person’s death. More often than not, there is no explanation, and their internet presence simply vanishes. Survival in this community is measured in months; those few who survive for years are often held in extremely high regard.

But there is a darker side to humans being aware of Slender Man. We soon realize that we are being followed; not by the Slender Man, but by humans. These are proxies, the humans who have, for various reasons, chosen to serve Slender Man. They are as heterogeneous a crowd as the humans opposed to Slender Man. Many are mindless drones, their sanity crushed by the horror of the Slender Man, who live out sad and short existences. Many others have chosen to side with the Slender Man on their own free will, though the reasons for doing so are as many as they are. Then there are the cults, whose members may not even have seen Slender Man, but who consider it to be some kind of god to worship.

More frightening than individual proxies is the amount of influence they control. People who believe themselves to be followers of Slender Man existing within government bodies is not unheard of. And in certain parts of the world, these people have taken control of patches of land; during out travels, we (very quickly) pass through a city in Indiana completely under the control of a Slender Man cult. Of course the government is aware of the existence of these towns and cities wrested from their control, but remain unable to do anything about them beyond hiding their existence.


After an epic battle against a group of proxies, we are forced to seek refuge in the town of Lusk, Wyoming. It is there we learn a terrible secret: there is something which sleeps in the town, something that even the PTC fears. For Slender Man is not alone in this world. While he may be the most active creature prowling through the shadows, there are others, each of which presents its own danger to humanity. Many of you are already familiar with the Rake, a humanoid monster with long sharp claws. Less known are Archangel, the Cold Boy, and a host of many other monstrous creatures.

Monsters aren’t the only supernatural forces in this world. Claims of supernatural and occult rites and powers are common. People with some magickal abilities (the extra k at the end is important, apparently), or knowledge of the Astral dimensions have been growing more common. We even meet a talking dog (Trust me, the blog featuring Tommy the Talking Dog is actually better than it sounds). Countering these claims of supernatural abilities are those who bring evidence that these claims are hallucinations, caused by Slender Man related madness. It has become nearly impossible to discern which are cases of genuine occult abilities, which are hallucinations, and which are simply hoaxes.


But now it would seem that we’ve outstaying our welcome, and a certain tall gentleman has taken an interest in us. Oh, good heavens, it just impaled Fred with one of its tentacles. Poor Fred. He was a good man. Quickly, everyone back into the TARDIS hole in the 4th wall. Time to go back to the real world, where things are much safer.

30 comments:

  1. OOG: Haha. Damn, I never realized what an insane clusterfuck this all was.

    ...I miss Fred. -Seann

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  2. OOG: It does get rather surreal, doesn't it? --Allan Assiduity

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  3. Oh man, this is awesome.

    RIP Fred. You shall be missed.

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  4. Don't worry. I'm sure Fred's in a better place. A non-slender world. Maybe he's now in a Camper world. Maybe he's a puppet. I hear slendy likes the Wooden Girl.

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    1. Well I guess it depends whether Slender Man's a Fear or not, since nowadays he's not considered one. But if you go by the Fear interpretation like me, Fred has nothingness.

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  5. fyi: "magic" = illusions and sleight of hand. "magick" is the archaic term, which is used to differentiate the real deal from "magic".

    this post is too amazing for words. there it is, the entire mythos, laid out in front of us. when you see it all at once, it really is quite a lot to take in. XD

    just... wow. just wow. XD

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  6. Take me to the fourth wall
    So I can go back.

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  7. Bwahaha. This entry alone lives up to the blog's name. I'm going to enjoy looking through these - you have a fantastic sense of humor, and you're about as well organized as you can be, given the extent of the mythos. I applaud you!

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  8. Word of God has it that McDonalds is actually one of the funders of the PTC. I'm not even making that up.

    Also, new theory: everyone who has ever been murdered, ever, is a victim of the Slender Man. The people who murdered them were either framed or proxies. It's the only way to explain how we hear of so few of these Slenderdeaths that are obviously taking place in the real world all around us.

    That, or it's not real. And that would just be ridiculous, wouldn't it?

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  9. That explains the taste of chicken nuggets.

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  10. No. Quite the opposite of delicious and heavenly, actually.

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  11. ....heavenly and delicious?

    /kidding.

    Mickey D's needs new food, though.

    They should hire some italian chefs or some shit, no joke.

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  12. That was beautiful... +30 Hope

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  13. Wow. Impressive. *nods approvingly* Ah, if only it were that easy for the others. 'Escape to the real world.'


    Huh. Imagine if all the Slendy attacks ever, were, just some collective dream.....Eh, never mind. That would be lame. REally lame.

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  14. I'm pretty much brand new to the so-to-speak Slenderverse, having in fact discovered it on TV Tropes. It was interesting, so I decided to delve into the mythos by reading your entire blog in one day. No mean feat.

    However, I have noticed a gradual but noticeable shift in the mythos as I read. In particular, it's not really scary anymore. At first, just reading about Tall Dark and Faceless had me paranoid, constantly turning in my seat or stepping out into the sun to calm myself. Now it seems to have turned into a Mary Sue-ridden fanfic of itself, full of prophecies, superheroes, and a Flanderized uber-villain.

    Not that this is a bad thing, and I'm really no authority on the matter, but it certainly has been interesting to observe as your style changes from a satirical encyclopedia of an Urban Legend to an anxious newsfeed about the team's latest adventures.

    Either way, if not for you and your blog, I might never have been properly involved in this mythos. You made it fun. I thank you.

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  15. The shift away from horror is something frequently discussed nowadays. I'll admit, the Mythos hasn't been scary for me in a long time; most of the big stories currently out there focus on character instead of suspense. Whether this is good or bad depends on your tastes more than anything else.

    I wouldn't go as far to say that it's now a "Mary Sue-ridden fanfic of itself,...." etc. There are blogs out there which match that description, and they tend to receive far more attention than they deserve. However, most of the big blogs which are currently active tend to avoid those pitfalls.

    But it's nice to hear that I helped someone get involved. I'd suggest that you start running for your life, but it may be a bit late for that now. Just be on the lookout for anyone in a suit.

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  16. Haha, I'll keep that in mind. I did sleep with all the lights on last night, lol. Makes a black suit easier to spot.

    Sorry if that comment came off as more biting than intended. My dog had just spent like five straight hours barking at nothing and I was a tad cranky. I plan on starting into Marble Hornets today. From there, I don't really know where to go.

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  17. If you're looking for video style series, EverymanHYBRID and TribeTwelve are the next big ones to look into. If you want to look into the blogs, I'd suggest first reading through some of the earlier works, such as Just Another Fool, Seeking Truth, or Dreams in Darkness.

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  18. "For the family of the missing on, times have been hard. Just a month after the abduction, their only other child KILLER herself." I think you meant killed? Also, good entry.

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  19. this was quite the read and rather enjoyable. i truly enjoy the world of my operator. some of these lines will work perfectly in the book I'm writing for my brothers and sisters in shadow so they can understand what he truly means to us.

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  20. I love your way of summing the entire Mythos up in an admiarably short story while keeping a humorous tone of speech! I also like the idea of "escaping" to another dimension without Slendy!

    Though, If it were that easy to get rid of Slendy, or any other monster for that matter, I'd be far happier than I am right now, because I wouldn't have to worry about the safety of the victims of said monsters! Always having to consider the consequences of your actions for other living creatures and/or entire universes full of live while simultaneosly trying to erease the monsters in question is a task nearly impossible to achieve!

    That is the case because there is no way in hell I could destroy Slendy without destroying the fabric of spacetime in the "reality" of the Mythos!

    The problem is that "escaping to the real world" actually means travelling from one dimension to another! The Mythos is actually happening in several seperate dimensions from your's, and it just "bleeds" into other dimensions, thus making Slendy almost omnipresent in all of "reality" that has connections to those dimensions!

    With him also simultaneously travelling through time, his destruction would have an incredibly adverse effect on the very timespace continuum of several different dimensions at the same time!

    How would I manage to save everyone? Even supernatural creatures like demi-gods have limits to their powers, especially if they try to be nice and considerate to others!

    But truly ereasing all monsters would be even harder than that because one would have to prevent every monster's birth in the original "Reality"!

    The original "Reality" would be the first dimension to exist! That world is the worst one in all of "reality" because it is the origin of every other world! Everything that exists in your world also exists in the real "Reality" and in minor or major ways, depending on the age of your dimension, vice versa!

    The nigh infinite amount of remarkably different worlds, with a metric shitload of monsters of all kinds, makes it obvious that the original "Reality" is very messed up! I don't recommend going there, since that is a certain death sentence for anything not immortal or at the very least invulnerable/indestructible!

    Even the Fears of the Mythos' and the Rapture's dimensions wouldn't go there willingly because there are creatures there that could kill them in under a second!

    To actually get rid of every monster in existance, someone would have to go to the Origin's very creation and prevent every monster's birth from that moment onward without changing anything else or you can expect certain doom for all of "reality" as the timespace continuum colapses!

    Though that wouldn't prevent the creation of a few monsters through the "Tulpa effect" or simple gene-mutations, which in turn would spur that monsters birth in the Origin's dimension!

    As you probably realised by now, this is a circle seemingly created by the devil!

    I seriously can't imagine many tasks that are harder! The only other task that is worse, that I know of, would be the rebuilding of a universe/dimension after its end!

    Wow! Seems like I wrote a small lecture about my current job without noticing it! Oh well, why not? It doesn't hurt!

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    1. 1) What's with all the exclamation points!
      2) Rapture is actually just a single universe within the larger Fear Mythos multiverse. The FM as a whole isn't a single setting, but rather a huge series of settings which have crossovers due to Dimensional Bleeding.

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  21. I have realized something. How can all these people be getting attacked or stalked by Slendy at nearly the same time. I find that highly unbelieveable no matter if he can teleport or not that that could be possible. Therefore i thonk Slenderman is a myth.

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    1. The Slender Man is a myth? Really? Shocker.

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  22. Let's hope Slendy doesn't follow us through the fourth wall. Nobody closed the hole.

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  23. Slenderman is real, how do we know we are even in the real world anymore? How do we know we're not just in Slendy's world, that he made it, that he rules it? How do we know we are not in the Mythos world? How do we know reality from fiction? Slenderman came, and he shattered my sense of safety. and he will do it again.

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    1. Well, the first thing to note is that he started off in a Something Awful post, so that probably means he's not real.

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