Names and Power

In reading the bulk of the old Something Awful Slenderman stories and measuring them up against what I have read of most slenderblogs, I have noticed something that both intrigues and irks me:

There is a sort of taboo against saying Slenderman's name.  The immediately obvious reasoning behind this  is the same reasoning that causes people to be hesitant to talk about him.  Slenderman is, in my opinion, a mind-virus.  He spreads via contagion.  To say his name is to spread it.  This is simply a method of stopping the pathogen from spreading any further--a quarantine, of sorts.  Each mention of his name is another chance for one who is uninvolved to overhear and be infected.

Another immediately obvious reason for the lack of usage is one tied into tradition and superstition:  naming something acknowledges its existence.  To give something a name is to give it power.  The more people who know this name, who spread this name, who speak this name, the more powerful the bearer of the name may become.  The Forgotten Realms setting (by Wizards of the Coast) used this sort of logic to strip a goddess of her power.  By erasing her name from history, they essentially erased her.  By not speaking Slenderman's name, we may be able to erase him (or, that is what these individuals may hope).

It could even be as simple as the reason why one should never say the name of one of the Fair Folk:  if you say their name, they are summoned to you and will whisk you away to the land of the Fae.  There was at least one of the original "transcripts" in which one who had seen Slenderman begged her doctor not to say his name, as it would summon him.

All of these reasons are valid.

Yet I feel that it is better to name the beast than to simply ignore the elephant in the room.

Yes, I know that I could be spreading the contagion.  We are overlooking a key factor here:  fear.  If we avoid using his name, we cause his name to invoke fear when uttered.  The lack of use gives it a different power--not over Slenderman himself, but over those who know the name of Slenderman.  To continue my slightly nerdy comparisons, the disuse and taboo of Slenderman's name is much the same as calling Voldemort "You-Know-Who."  The only difference between the two is that, while it requires one to use Voldemort's name in order for him to pinpoint your position, the minute you think of Slenderman, he knows where you are.  It is completely irrelevant whether or not you use his name, he'll be able to find you anyway.  The only possible escape is lobotomy or amnesia, as he holds no power over those who do not know him (much like The Game, in a way).

So, I will be using his name within this blog.  If you disagree with this, that is fine.  This is simply a heads-up.

Disappearing Notes, and Notes on the Names

After a hiatus in my search of info on the foe, I pulled up my OneNote notebook containing all of my collected information only to find that half of it had been completely removed.

I'm not exactly sure whether it was my computer acting up or otherwise, but it seems a bit suspicious to find that over twenty separate "pages" of notes (coming to around fifty or so printed pages), each of which was saved on a different day and thus could not possibly have just not saved correctly, have just vanished into thin air.  Days, even weeks of research have been lost.  I am very displeased with this development.

I am hardly surprised that there was no response to my last post.  I'm not a Runner, nor am I one who has seen the foe himself.  In lieu of discussing findings, I shall simply share my view of one of the strange language conventions used by those who have seen the Slenderman.

"Hallowed" and Proxies

I find it strange that some Runners use the term "Hallowed" to refer to those who have been turned into servants of the Slenderman.  Were the term "Hollowed" I would not be so confused--the former human has been turned into nothing more than a shell to be manipulated.  The living human has been replaced with something no more than a phantom or a ghost of what they once were.  The human has been hollowed out.  This makes more immediate sense.

"Hallowed" requires more work to discern the meaning of.  Let us begin with the definition of the word "hallowed," as well as its more common uses.  "Hallowed" is most commonly used in place of the word "holy."  It means something is sacred or blessed by God, the opposite of unholy.  This suggests that the proxies are something more than human after being converted, something sacred.  It could also be as simple as the idea that the once-humans are acting in the interests of a higher power (Good and Evil being only the constructs of the human mind, I shall refrain from labeling the Slenderman as either).

The term "Hallowed" also has another, more disturbing consequence when used.  To call someone "Hallowed" is to recognize the divinity of the one who consecrated them.  In using this term, Slenderman is being raised to the level of a divine being.  One would think this would be the last thing Runners would want, and yet I see this term used fairly often.  If you use this term, I implore you to stop.  You are only making him more powerful through its use.

There are plenty of alternatives to "Hallowed."  I have already suggested "Hollowed," due to its similarity to the former and the appropriateness of its meaning in context.  Another popular term is "proxy" or "slenderproxy."  This seems to be one of the most appropriate.  These individuals act in Slenderman's stead.  They act as his hands when he does not wish to make an appearance.  I have also heard these individuals called "Agents," but this seems to give them more credit for being organized and businesslike than I believe them to be.