Think of the Children

I’m sorry I haven’t posted in over two weeks. I honestly don’t know what’s been keeping me from this. My finals didn’t keep me that busy. But straight into the work. (Disclaimer: I must admit that I am not an expert on the following material, so the conjectures presented should be subjected to even more criticism than normal)

--How do the children escape?

My current thoughts on this are that the Slender Man stalking the child in question is “calibrated” to a certain type of brain chemistry. Or rather whatever method the Slender Man uses to access a human mind is. It is accustomed to a “childish” brain, and if it gets distracted, say by an interloper such as a parent, during a point in the child’s life during which the brain chemistry is altered, say puberty, it either can’t or chooses not to adapt and simply goes after another “childish” brain.

Assuming this, we must assume that the percentage of Slender Men “thrown off” in such a fashion is very small.

Alternatively, if adaptation is indeed impossible, it may be that any child that reaches puberty can be saved. In this case, certain medications may be used to save children from being taken while young. Of course, medications that might force puberty to occur should be avoided for obvious reasons.

As a note, this may have a connection to the medications some of the victims in various blogs have been documented to take. More information is needed for any certainty.

--Does it simply stop or does it taper off?

If it is indeed the brain chemistry as described above, it depends on the adaptability. If they refuse to adapt it may be a sudden stop or a tapering effect. If they cannot adapt the same could be said, depending on if they must have an “exact” chemistry or if it slowly becomes inaccessible.

If a disruption does occur, preventing contact, a sudden stop would be expected. 

--Why does a Slender Man wait years and years for a second attempt?

If a Slender Man is interrupted and thereby loses contact with a child due to chemical change, they must wait until they can access their brain chemistry again. But if they can adapt, why wait? And if they can’t, how is it possible to access the now permanently changed brains?

The most reasonable answer is that they can adapt to different brain chemistries, but not suddenly. By comparison, a human can be killed by a sudden high dose of poison, or become immune over a period of time of controlled exposure. The same principle may apply here. Trying to access a suddenly changed (chemically speaking) mind may be “toxic” and render it impossible. On the other hand, actually being in contact as the child becomes an adolescent may allow the Slender Man in question to now go after teenagers in addition to children.

However, it may take many, many children until this occurs. The initial victim that escaped may be out of puberty again once this has occurred, and the issue must be resolved again. The Slender Man must become accustomed to the adult brain chemistry. Once this is achieved, a Slender Man, frighteningly, can pursue virtually anyone they want.

Thankfully, there is no telling how long this may take.

--Is the goal the same as with the children or is there another reason?

This is absolutely impossible to know. I have no inkling of an idea as to what the initial idea is to begin with, thus I cannot possibly say if it has changed. Perhaps this condition of whether the child escaped or not makes them a candidate to be an Agent, or ensures their demise.

Perhaps the Slender Man that finds them the second time isn’t even the same one. Even that much is impossible to know for sure. For that matter, it’s impossible to know if there is only one from the beginning.

Now there’s a nightmare. Imagine being cornered some dark night by half a score of those abominations.

I’ll leave you with that. My mother may have information to give me regarding my father’s death at any time. I’ve been waiting for her to call me back, as she was in no shape to tell me anything immediately, as one might expect with such an issue. But two weeks is too long. I’m leaving for home later this week since classes have finished for the semester. She can’t hold off on the issue much longer.

The Flower

So, there is a symbol in my old files. I had forgotten about it, but it’s been around in my backups for ten or more years now. But let’s just get it out of the way. Here’s the image (edited for size):

It looks like a flower to me, so I’ll call it as such. However, it personally reminds me of a certain type of prison, the Panopticon. This prison is constructed in a circular fashion with a central tower. The cells are such that the guards, in the tower, can view into any of them at any time. However, the tower windows are constructed in such a way that the imprisoned cannot be sure if they are looking at them or not. The point is control. The prisoners cannot see the guards, so they can never be sure when it is safe to do something… less than moral or forbade within the walls, such as escape attempts.

At any rate, there is something it reminds me of even more, as mentioned in the last post:

The Operator Symbol. Although it’s almost certainly unnecessary, a comparison follows:

This makes me wonder if I had an encounter in the past with a Slender Man, and out of boredom stylized the symbol that is so common to its appearances. However, as mentioned, I did not own a computer when this apparently was created. But I did finally realize something. And I believe this to be very significant.

The date in the file’s properties states it was created the day my father was killed. Or rather when they found him.

My father died under strange conditions. Not that his cause of death was atypical. It was obvious that he had been stabbed repeatedly, or at least that’s what anyone would tell me. It was where they found him. He was near his truck in the woods.

Up a tree. They found it odd that he would be in a tree after being killed, as the evidence suggested that he had been placed there after he almost entirely bled out. There was almost no blood on the tree itself.

That was all anyone ever told me. I was just a child at the time, it would have been cruel to tell me anything more graphic than that, I suppose. Even that was a little much.

But now, I must assume that there was something more than that to his death. The symbol’s date could simply be a taunt, trying to elicit an emotional response from me. But I can’t afford that. The tree symbolism is near constant within Slender Man lore. I can’t dismiss it out of hand as coincidence, as it may be the connection that finally led a Slender Man to me, rather than it simply finding me after I started investigating it. That’s more likely than coincidence.

However, I’ll have to look through public records to figure out if any of my assumptions are correct. I have to admit, I think I’m making too many sweeping declarations lately. My father died, therefore Slender Man involvement. I’m grasping at straws, it seems.

I will post again if I find anything.

Slender Man Characteristics

I’ve been thinking about the physical characteristics, or rather the possible ones, of a Slender Man. This is beyond height, width, color, etc. I mean physical capacities. Here are my current thoughts on said possibilities:

Biology: Nothing worthwhile can be said, other than it is clearly alive and humanoid in appearance, but is also clearly not a typical organism, as there is no clear face (and therefore entrance to the digestive tract or any external indication of sensory organs beyond touch). However, repeated reports suggest that it can see (“Sees me”). There is the possibility that the “face” does conceal a more typical arrangement, or some other portion of its body does. It may simply see in a different part of the spectrum, allowing it to see through its own skin. Alternatively, lens for its eyes may simply appear the same color as the surrounding material in the visible spectrum (compare that the external portion of the human eye has visibly transparent material, which is not transparent at all wavelengths).

Cross-Species Interface: It is possible that the creature can directly connect to the nervous system of a human being. This is evidenced by the blackouts attributed to its appearances. The most likely cause would be a thin, almost wire-like appendage (possibly either an extension of or modified tentacle) that can be easily inserted into the skin, possibly through bone, even, that can connect to and interfere with nerves electrically. This insertion, obviously, is either wiped from memory or entirely painless. This presumably has the potential of rewriting information, and even causing massive behavior changes. What changes are intended are impossible to be certain of, if any are explicitly desired. For all we know, this kind of interaction could be something akin to sex or drug usage, a pleasure-based or even necessary action.

Electronics Interface: I theorize that a similar or same appendage is used to interfere with electronics, sending impulses into them to disable, or even manipulate them. If this is sophisticated enough (as it would need to be to intelligently modify humans through the nervous system) a Slender Man could even implant information into the system, such as adding footage to a recording, either as it is being recorded or after the fact, depending on the storage medium.

These conclusions, if correct, are disturbing. Obviously I’d prefer them to be wrong, but if they are indeed correct, this might actually give an advantage. Knowing what to expect gives the opportunity to counteract.

Wearing thick clothing and a helmet (the motorcycle sort) could stave off the appendage, but it’s impossible to be completely shielded from something that passes through bone without ludicrous and costly accoutrements. Shielding electronics is easier, in that metal plating is comparatively cheap for smaller items, such as cameras, though the lens is still potentially an issue.

In the end, the most intriguing idea for me is trying to get non-visible imaging of the creature. My gut instinct is that ultraviolet is the best bet, but it could be anything. However, the imaging requires the chosen wavelength to have an external source. I can’t exactly lug around a gamma ray-emitting device for obvious reasons. Radio, on literally the other end of the spectrum, is unlikely to give me the resolution I would need for any meaningful analysis.

An ultraviolet source is much easier to obtain, or as they are commonly called, a black light. Unfortunately, the range wavelength-wise is smaller than I would like, but I actually own some currently, even if they are not on hand at the moment. This includes a small handheld one I can have on my person at all times. The only issue is a camera that can pick it up. However, I have a friend whose father likes to tinker in this sort of thing. I’ll see if he can get something jury rigged while I look for things online within my price range.

If this fails, infrared is the alternative imaging choice. It is even simpler, as normal cameras can pick up certain infrared wavelengths. However, if I were to use a normal camera, I would have to use a filter of some sort, else the infrared would be lost amid the visible light.

So there is my current plan. Secure and if necessary modify electronics to look at a monster that likely wishes to kill and/or mutilate humans, probably including myself, just so others can know about it. Oh, and it may be able to control both humans and electronics directly.

Sounds like an enjoyable pastime, doesn’t it?

Collected Thoughts

After the sounds I have been hearing recently, I am still rattled. But I feel I must continue onward. Here I will collect my current thoughts as succinctly as possible.

My current belief is that Slender Men have an appreciable population. Otherwise the widespread terror they spread would not be possible. The alternatives are that they do not mate often, have a long life span, and/or reproduce asexually. Though the last is naturally absurd for a species of such physical size. These assumptions, however, are all based on the guess of humanlike travel speed, specifically on foot, which is likely incorrect.

The abilities of the species are obviously the biggest conundrum. They seem to have control over space-time to some degree. The keyword here is “seem”. It is more likely, though still rather unbelievable, that they have the ability to tap into the human mind and rearrange, put in a suspended state, and/or control thought itself. This may even extend to technology. I once called a tech savvy Slender Man ridiculous, but that may have been in error. Rudimentary skill, possibly taken from the minds of victims, could be used to stop and restart a camera, or a human may simply be commanded to do this. (For a scene in which I believe both mental and electronic control are at work, see everymanHYBRID, “Ashen Waste”, 6:00-30)

However, the biggest issue with mind control is the mechanism. Long-distance, “wireless” communication is flat out ridiculous. Emitted electromagnetic radiation could account for video equipment disruptions, or perhaps a strong electric field (a magnetic field would be obvious for hopefully equally obvious reasons, and said reasons’ absence rules it out). The human mind, however, has no method with which to accept EM radiation of any wavelength, except by proxy (the eyes, which simply do not work as “input devices” so much as passive receivers). It is more likely that a direct method is used. A fine wire covered in anesthetic could be slipped into the skin and towards the brain to affect control, unpleasant though the thought is. These, if in existence, are likely housed in the tentacles or arms. I should mention the constraint of “fine wire” was used as otherwise there would be a visible entry wound, and the appendage itself would be clearly visible. The anesthetic is to prevent the victim from noticing the attack, of course. As for potential evidence, I direct you to Marble Hornet, “Entry #22,” 6:19-21 where something is seen apparently going towards and into a person’s (Alex’s) head.

This isn’t quite everything I have compiled, but I feel it covers the important ideas that I have been able to come up with for now. If anyone can find any flaws in my reasoning here or elsewhere (and I’m sure there is at least one flaw), please alert me in the comments and I will consider the implications and rework my theories.