I'm sorry, I know I said I wouldn't post any more Creepypasta related stuff for a while and I know I've sort of discussed this before, but I just have to get this off of my chest again or I'll explode into a million pieces. That, and when I wrote that entry, I wasn't as knowledgeable about the Mythos and about the Slenderfans in general, although I have been getting more into it and am starting to understand why some of them react the way they do. Look guys, I know you see this Mythos as your baby, and really, it is. I greatly admire the work you guys do and appreciate the amazing world you have built around something that began as little more than a few pictures on a SomethingAwful thread. I know some of you are very upset about certain things that are "Ruining the Mythos" and therefore some of you believe that these things are not valuable to anyone, ever, either inside or outside of the Mythos.
But when you say that something is "ruining the Mythos", you're forgetting something, something very important.
You cannot ruin the Mythos.
Do you know why you cannot ruin the Mythos? Because the Slenderman Mythos, being a collective, open-source horror story that literally anyone can add to and discuss, changes so much that you can consider anything canon or not. Just because one blog's Slendy has it impaling people on trees doesn't mean another blog will; the other blog might have it as a harbinger of doom or just quietly stalking someone into insanity. We're all adults or almost adults here (and I'd urge parents of very young Slenderfans to read/watch the story first before they let their child view it because seriously people get torn apart and impaled on trees and shit), and we can all make our own choices in this Mythos as to what we consider canon or not. We can choose to ignore stuff that doesn't make sense to us, because everyone's interpretation of the Tall Guy himself is different. Hell, I even have multiple interpretations for different scenarios, and it's that multi-faceted beauty of the Mythos that makes anything possible and nothing set in stone. Your blog/vlog is kind of like Schrodinger's Cat - although, instead of being both alive and dead, it's both in and out of canon, depending on what fan you ask and which interpretation of Slendy you subscribe to. Therefore, doesn't it make sense to count every story as valuable in its own way since every story is literally a different universe playing with different concepts of the same communal character? There's no continuity, only a handful of constants about the central antagonist, and those things are that it's tall, it's insanely skinny, it's faceless and it's in a suit. So what is all of this bullshit about some stories and fans "Ruining the Mythos?"
Look, I know you guys like things a certain way in the Mythos, I understand, really, I do. I like my Slendy a specific way too. Like everything, your first impressions of the Mythos color your perception of it as a fan pretty much forever. If you start on a very serious, very gory Slenderblog with a very evil and aggressive Slendy, you're going to probably prefer that interpretation. As for me, I started on a silly little video game, then progressed to Creepypasta and fanfilms, and then got into the blogs and vlogs. Because of that, my ideal Slendy doesn't necessarily kill people and isn't necessarily even evil, to me it's best portrayed as an alien being that has its own rationale for why it does what it does to humans, a rationale the human mind can't ever comprehend. See, I find the interpretation of "Slendy = EVUL!" far too limiting. It takes this incredibly fascinating being that is horrifying in multiple ways and boxes it up into a prepackaged set of plots and motives, and no offense to you if you like this interpretation, but I find it stale and boring. If I want to read about a villain that does what he does Foar Teh Evulz, I'll read a story about the Joker. XD Now granted, I still have a lot to learn and I am nowhere near as well-versed in this Mythos as some of you, but where I've been as a fan in the past is part of who I am as a fan now, and I can't change that. So, sorry, but if you really don't like me as a Slenderfan just because I got my start through some stupid little horror flash game (that was made by a Mythos fan, for the record, as a quote-unquote "Love letter to Marble Hornets"), then put on your big person undies and deal with it. My experiences with this Mythos do NOT make me any less of a fan than you just because I view Slendy differently from you, and it sure as Hell does not give you the right to make me feel unwelcome. My interpretations have changed, and my introspection on the character has changed, but I am NOT any less of a fan. Do NOT lump me in with these people who call Tall and Faceless "Slender" and harp on about Wifin' in the Club and $20 just because I once started out that way. That's not fair to me and it's not fair to any other newer Slenderfan who got into this Mythos recently. I will fall, I will stumble, and I will find my place as I discover what does and does not work in this Mythos. But do NOT harass me when I do mess up or make a joke I didn't know was overplayed, or when don't know a reference to some vlog or ARG I haven't started watching yet. Point me in the right direction and say why I messed up so I can learn from it. The only thing anyone learns from being shamed or bashed is that they are unwelcome in that community, and that is not an okay lesson for us to teach newer Slenderfans because, like it or not, the newer folks in the audience are the people who will support this Mythos in the future. They're future vlog actors, blog writers, and creepypasta tellers. They're future guiders of future generations of Slenderman fans. This Mythos is for EVERYONE to share and add to; you don't get to use your seniority to harass newer users just because they know less about the Mythos, and you sure as hell don't get to be a jerk to people just because you've been around the Mythos longer than they have. Just because you don't like something someone says does not mean you get to be a dick about it. It just means you're an asshole.
If you're still not convinced, allow me to tell you a story. Aside from being a Slenderfan, I'm a Batman fan, and I got into that Mythos around 2008 when The Dark Knight came out. I went and saw the film, and I was blown away by Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker so much that I started to delve a bit deeper into Batman - the animated series, the comics, the graphic novels, everything. My first graphic novel was Joker, and my first serious foray into comics was The Killing Joke. I slowly grew to prefer a more comic-style Joker, and I slowly became a more well-rounded Batman fan, although the Joker is still who I focus on and prefer reading about. And I never would have become a fan of such a fascinating character and the superhero he battles with if it hadn't been for The Dark Knight. But do you know what happened to me for the longest time before I started reading the comics more? Blame-gaming. Being ignored or trolled by more serious fans and being called a "Ledger Fangirl". Being told I "wasn't a true fan" because of where I started out and what I had read. Being made to feel unwelcome. All because I didn't start in the right spot for these people. And now I am seeing the same damn thing in the Slenderfandom, all because a silly little game got popular and some extremely serious Slenderfans got all butthurt that their Mythos went mainstream. It wasn't cool back then in that fandom, and it's not cool now in this fandom, either. I see it every single time someone yells at a person because they called Slenderman "Slender" instead of politely correcting them. I see it every time someone makes a fanfilm that doesn't perfectly include all these little minutiae about the history and origins of the character. No, if it's not perfectly perfect in every way, and if it's not up to THESE peoples' high-ass standards of the fandom, it's not something any Slenderfan should look at seriously and the person who made it is not a true Slenderfan.
Look guys, I understand. I have berserk buttons too, and sometimes, the fairweather fans press them. I understand the rage that comes from hearing someone call Tall and Faceless "Slender" instead of one of the many, many more proper names for it. I understand the irritation at ignorant fairweather fans who played Slender: The Eight Pages and now think they know everything about Slenderman. I understand and I feel your annoyance and pain. But two wrongs don't make a right, it just makes you fucking wrong. Man up (yes, even if you're a woman) and be the bigger person. Those people will eventually move to the next big thing and leave the Mythos alone, forgetting all about it. It's the people that become interested and stay that will help the Mythos thrive. But it's these people you're hurting when you bash them for not knowing enough about the Mythos or harp on them for making a joke they didn't know was played out. It's not okay to bully new people just brcause they didn't start out the way you did. There is a line between snarking and being a jerk, and far too many people cross it, either with or without realizing it. You might not realize that you're hurting someone over the internet, but if and when those barbs are pointed at you, it really does hurt. We should be welcoming more people into the Mythos and turning the influx of new people from Slender: The Eight Pages into gold, not shutting people out because of it! If you let more people in and allow them to learn from their past mistakes, then they will bring more interpretations and new ideas to it, and the fandom will flourish. But when you harshly criticize (NOT critique, that's different) a newcomer's starter, barely-informed Slenderblog just because it's not what YOU want to see and not what YOU feel the Mythos is about, it both makes that person feel like they will never be welcomed in the fandom (so they may give up as a result) and makes you look terribly closed-minded. Just because a film says it's based on the game "Slender: The Eight Pages" does NOT make it bad by default. What makes a Slenderfilm (or any film) bad is poor acting, poor script-writing, poor pacing, poor attention to detail, poor effects, etc. And just because there aren't a billion little references to the Mythos or a film is very basic in interpretation doesn't make it bad, either. What it does make it is "Slenderman for Dummies". Everything in this Mythos has at least a little good to it, even a shitty Slenderfilm. If anything, it can serve as an example of what NOT to do to make your own film good. Even that horrible awful porno Slenderblog that I will not name gave us a goofy Slenderfan meme in the form of "periwinkle blue", and even shitty Slendershipping 'fanart' can provide LOLz at how terrible it is.
To further drive home my point, I've compiled a list of common complaints I've heard in and around the Mythos, from creators, fans, and others, and I've explained why these things are NOT ruining the Mythos and really should just be ignored if you don't like them.
- PewDiePie, Tobuscus, and LPers in general (but especially PewDiePie) are NOT ruining the Mythos. Love or hate PewDiePie, he's just a guy doing what he loves. He's very likely not a Slenderfan and doesn't plan on becoming one - he's just some guy from Sweden who got popular for being just the right mix of funny and charismatic to the right group of folks while he played horror games. Granted, I sort of like the guy (as an LPer, as a person in general he's kind of a shithead), but I don't like how some of his fans behave, I don't find his newer stuff that funny anymore, and I really wish he'd stop making certain jokes (The BARRELS! thing is really stale now, Pewds; save it for Amnesia LPs. And some of your jokes truely can be very offensive and really aren't all that funny). But the thing is this: nobody is forcing you to watch his videos, and nobody is forcing you to like him or what he stands for (and if they are, tell me where they're holding you so I can come kick their asses). If you don't like the fact that he and other LPers have done Slender: The Eight Pages, Slenderman's Shadow, Haunt: The Real Slender Game, Slender Man, Slender's Woods, or any other Slenderman game, then pretend those LPs don't exist. As an LPer myself, I get very offended whenever someone claims I'm an awful person just because I happened to LP Slender: The Eight Pages. Calling me a jerk because you think nobody should ever play that game again ever just because you don't think it adds to the Mythos enough is not an okay thing. Some of us LPers ARE Slenderfans too, and we don't take too kindly to our fandom hating on us for playing a stupid little game that got popular just because a bunch of high-profile LPers did it. Please stop this. Now. It really, really hurts. :c
- Slender: The Eight Pages and all the other Slenderman games out there are NOT ruining the Mythos. Once upon a time, a guy named Mark J. Hadley who happened to be a Slenderman fan, particularly of Marble Hornets, programmed a game that he called "Slender". Then he put the game up on the internet as a free download, and everyone who was anyone started playing it, freaking out, and experiencing just a tiny bit of the horror and fear this Mythos can cause. This distressing yet oddly pleasurable sense of fear, which I have dubbed "Slendernoia", is common in newer fans who often contract it through watching too much EMH or CaughtNotSleeping in one sitting, and causes severe paranoia because what if it's real and you swear there is something outside your window right now and oh my fucking god it looked just like Masky, or the Rake, or Slendy, or the Observer, or oh my God oh my God oh my God. Now, do you really think someone getting into the Mythos for the first time, someone of the proper imaginative faculties and ability to think deeply, someone who has gotten into it through that game or any other game, is really going to be any less afraid than you were when you first finished watching TribeTwelve for the night? Really? Is their fear and their experience with the Mythos really any less justified than yours? Really? Because if you really think that your own experience getting into the Mythos is better and has more value than mine just because of where you got your first bit of fandom nightmare fuel from, then you're kind of an asshole. The fear comes not necessarily from what you see on screen, but from what is implied to happen. The fear comes from Fridge Logic, when you wake up at three AM and realize, "Oh my God, what if his mouth... is in his torso... and it's full of EVEN MORE FUCKING TENTACLES?" Or when you drive home from work one day, and catch a glimpse out of the corner of your eye of first a discarded plastic bag in a tree, and then a lamp-post that you OH MY FUCKING GOD IT'S FUCKING HIM RUN SHIT FUCK DAMN FUCK. The fear is subtle and it sneaks up on you, and that's why this Mythos scares so many people. It doesn't have to come from a vlog or blog, it can come from anywhere, even the simple idea of something that you can't escape from chasing you is a horrific concept regardless of what is doing the chasing. Besides, Mr. Hadley recently, at the request of a Slenderfan, put in a button to more information about the Mythos on the game's main menu so that those downloading it can learn more about what's chasing them and hopefully not be so ill-informed. Now stop saying this game is wrecking the Mythos and chill the fuck out.
- Short fanfilms like Windigo and poorly made Slendervlogs and films in general are NOT ruining the Mythos. Okay, I will give you guys this one - even though I actually kind of liked the concept behind Windigo, I didn't like it that much and I understand why it gets so much hate. The film drags on way too long for what it should be, the action doesn't come soon enough, there's not enough creepy subtleties to draw the interest of the fans, the plot's really not all that different from any other Slenderman found footage film, the acting's wooden in spots, the characters aren't likeable so you don't care what happens to them, and the effects have more than a few issues. That still does not make it a bad Slenderfilm. A poor one and a disappointing one, sure, but it is NOT as bad as Slenderbone. Nothing is as bad as Slenderbone. For those who don't get what I mean, go to Youtube and search up "Mr. Creepypasta Slenderbone", but please, don't say I didn't warn you. FAIR WARNING, IT'S A PORN READING AND IS VERY MUCH NOT SAFE FOR WORK. The fact of the matter is, kids, not every Slenderman fanfilm is going to have a ton of aspects related to the Mythos, because not everyone enamoured with the idea of Ol' Mr. Thin is a Slendervlogger or Slenderblogger. This Mythos is for EVERYONE, not just creators and vloggers/bloggers, to enjoy and use as they see fit. EVERYONE can add to the story and EVERYONE should be included and considered. It is NOT okay for you to hate a fanfilm like Windigo just because it's not doing enough to add to what you percieve this Mythos to be. Critiquing it and pointing out flaws is fine, as is explaining why you don't like it. But when you complain that a film or vlog is bad just because it just is, amiritegaiz?, it makes YOU look like the immature, unaccepting one, and it makes everyone else in the fandom look bad by comparison. So how about this - instead of being a jerk about why you dislike a film or vlog, how about being nice? How about you try helping that person understand where they went wrong instead of simply flaming them? Lord knows there are plenty of communities out there for this, like Slender Have (a GREAT Slenderman Mythos forum with very helpful people that I'm proud to be a member of), but even if you're not part of a community you can still help a newbie blogger or vlogger! You can help by politely pointing out to the creator where you felt they fell flat and why, and explaining what you think they could do in the future to improve. Hell, you're the one that supposedly knows more about the Mythos than them, so why not educate them for the future? As that old adage goes, "Help a Slenderman target Run, and you keep him alive for a day; teach a Slenderman target how to Run, and you keep him alive for months." Or something like that with fishes but whatever.
- Newcomers are NOT ruining the Mythos. Please don't say we are. Please don't exclude us for not knowing that people really are sick of the $20 joke. Please don't make us feel unwanted because we made a really stupid blog that sucked and we know it sucked but we don't know why. Please don't yell at us and berate us for making silly cracky fanfiction pairings. Be accepting of our shortcomings and teach us how not to make the same mistakes in the future. Give us a chance to grow, blossom, and learn from our experiences! Nobody ever learns when they keep getting insulted, all that happens when insults fly are hurt feelings and lowered self-confidence that one really, truly is able to create anything of value. I know, I've been on the recieving end of some of those kinds of barbs, and they really, really do hurt. A lot. We're not stock parody noobs, we're people. That is not who we are and assuming otherwise is not okay.
- $20 is NOT ruining the Mythos, and that's all I'll say about this worn-out joke. Stop making it. It's cute every once in a very, very great while, and even I refer to in-game posting in out-of-game areas as "Wifin' ", but the joke's old and the people who came up with it (Troy Wagner and Co. of Marble Hornets) are sick of hearing about it. And so is everyone else. Please find another Slendermeme or Slenderman parody to laugh at. May I suggest "Joseph Touches A Grapefruit" or "Concrete Giraffes"?
- Slenderman Parodies and fluff-fic are NOT ruining the Mythos. Lighten the fuck up and laugh a bit. People often try to downplay and alleviate fears by writing lighter and softer stuff, or making jokes about it. This Mythos is a scary, scary place, and it can be difficult to deal with sudden bouts of Slendernoia when they crop up. Please be a bit respectful of that and try to see WHY these people are parodying Slenderman. And furthermore, sometimes fluff-fic is a way of dealing with fear, too. I purposefully wrote my original draft of I, Slenderman as a much lighter and softer interpretation of the character, but then edited it much later when I realize he was no longer alien or creepy enough. But I specifically wrote it as lighter and softer because I was scared of the Slenderman and I needed some way to alleviate that fear. That doesn't make me or any other Slenderfluff author any less valid as a fan, what it makes us is people trying to cope with fear before it boils over and we can't control it anymore. In fact, the reason I write horror is partly because it helps me get out my own anxiety and paranoia about thoughts that fill my head. I believe I have pointed out before on this blog that I have GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) that likes to flare up from time to time. Well, writing, drawing, and creating in general is part of how I cope with those feelings, so when I started becoming terrified that a certain Slim Gentleman could be watching (even though I knew that wasn't really possible), I started writing about him, and that helped me cope. A lot. It's how I eventually got over my own Slendernoia, and now when it does crop up every so often I know how to handle it so it doesn't do much more than give me the shivers. Speaking of writing, by the by...
- Slenderman fanfiction is NOT ruining the Mythos. And not all of it is bad. Here's a fun exercise for you Slenderfans - go on Fanfiction.Net and look in the Webshows section, filtering for only fics under "Marble Hornets". Read a few. Not too impressive and even downright appalling, right? Congrats, you now know why I do not post my Slenderman stories on FFN. Now go to Fictionpress.com and look under Horror, filtering for only "Supernatural". You should find stories like Derik Ritter, an excellent Slenderman story that blends that Mythos with Lovecraftian horror and is just deliciously freaky. You should find stories, if you search enough, like Creeping In The Night and The Madman Across The Water that, while not by any means perfect, definitely try to include some Mythos elements and ideas while also keeping Slendy creepy as Hell. You'll even find more than a handful of Slendy stories that could function as legitimate Creepypasta. And if you look in the right spot, you might just find one of my own Slenderman stories, a little tale called The Hunted. Now, if you're tempted to hate any of those stories you find for adding nothing or not including enough Mythos elements, just stop yourself. Stop and think, because many of those stories are not specifically about the Mythos, but about playing with Slendy as a character, what he is and what he can do, and about trying new things and telling a story for the simple sake of creeping people out, not for the sake of trying to please the fans. I'd be downright honored if someone became a Slenderfan because of something I wrote, but I would hope they'd continue on to delve deeper into the Mythos and learn more about the character, to enjoy series that are, let's face it, far better than anything I could probably ever film, write, or do. That's because I don't write to just please the fans. I write to tell a story, to go with what I think is creepiest about Slendy, to play around with him and work new ideas into his legend. I'm not out to tell an epic tale of Man vs. the Unknown; at the end of the day, I'm just out to scare people and have fun writing, and that is why I often say my Slenderman stories do not occur in the Slenderverse, but within the Mythos as a whole. So please, take those stories for what they're worth - as standalone tales - and ignore the shitty pairing crackfic about how OMG Tim/Jay is so hawt and now let's pair Slendy and Hoody LOL. Just ignore it and go find actual decent stories, because they are out there... if you look hard enough.
Okay, I think I'm done now. This has been literally bugging me for days now and I just had to get it off of my chest. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some woods to film in...