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[taylortexas]

Proxies.

[Langerz]

Re: Proxies.

[SolDL]

Slender Man is intensely linked to psychological fear patterns, and I feel proxies come into reaching a larger audience (and subsequently making them shit themselves): the whole 'otherness' of him throws some people off, the whole Eldrich Horror deal, yadda yadda yadda. But what scares other people is, possession: a human being controlled by a power like a puppet. The act of changing a person so internally subsequently reaches people who find self-autonomy to be something irrefutable; invasion of the body is far more frightening than standing in a field in the rain. I don't see proxies as tools to make other people frightened, they're more...a model of what the next stage for Jay and Evan is, so to speak?

[taylortexas]

[qaqa]

I think "proxies" (I hate that term) are simply a tool to provide an immediate, overt physical threat in lieu of SM himself. It also plays on the classic primal fear of a strange intruder in one's home or space.

That being said, the current roster of them in the vlogs has become somewhat predictable sans the big 3, and I hate the "proxy" term - I find it stupid.

[taylortexas]

[The Kempest]

This was posted a while back:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7707638&postcount=11

The section on Slender's Fanatics is worth a read, given your question. (To summarize, it spreads fear when he's otherwise occupied, and they defend him if he should somehow lose the upper hand. Also, because he can.)

Also, I have a theory of my own. My personal idea of Slenderman works similarly to the demon from Paranormal Activity, in that his power grows as his targets fears him more and more. In his first appearances, he's keeps his distance, letting paranoia fester and gnaw at the victim. The more times he's sighted, the more fear he generates, letting him exist more fully in our realm, i. e. starting to walk/warp around and wreak havoc on the target's psyche.

Now, he typically targets groups, attracting more fear in a shorter amount of time. When he's powerful enough, Slender can single out one person and shatter them emotionally. When they're weak enough, Slender exerts a little influence, and suddenly he's got a proxy running around causing added chaos, which generates more fear.

Of course, once he's fully manifested in our realm, he breaks out the tentacles, and it's all over. SORT OF. His victims are dead, strung up in trees, waiting for some hapless fool to come along and find him. That fool gets scared and tells his friends, and the cycle repeats itself.

That last paragraph was added for completion's sake.

So that's why *I* think Slender has proxies. Every series is different, but OOG, it's just so things can happen without the use of an actual Slenderman (because it's usually a doll of some sort of a costume that is both hard to make and difficult to move around in).

[VoidCaste]

[RatheadSyndicate]

I always liked the idea that the fanatics are not so much working FOR Slenderman. Maybe they've been driven so mad that they act as weird groupies, doing the tall dude's work without ever having been asked. The idea that Slenderman would in any way need them (or that his mind functions in such a way as to want them) turns me off, but I like the idea that this eldritch abomination is minding his own business, fucking people up, when all these crazy mortal assholes show up and try to lick his loafers clean.

[Lewa]

Delta (err, SolDL) has a good point, but if that is their purpose, then a lot of series don't get it. They don't make it seem as if the proxies were ever really normal humans.
I also dislike the term proxy and prefer to call them non-Slender antagonists (NSAs). That's a more generally applicable term.

[Spazz]

Hm. Really, it's an interesting... problem.

One one hand, we have Slender, in some ways, the perfect antagonist. But in some ways, he's impossible to write.

And how?

For one, he's not realy a writeable charater. Shaky motivations, no dialouge, and no real "canon" to say the least. In my opinion, most attempts to "humanize" the Slender Man (you all should know what I'm talking about) are... entertaining, if not impossible to take seriously. In fact, they almost feel detached from the mythos because they take what little rules we have and destroy them.

The Slender Man does not NEED to be human, or even prominent. Again, in my opinion, Proxies serve... to almost keep the real star of the show shrouded in mystery. To do all those little things that would be downright silly if the big guy did it himself. Plus, well written antoganists can actually help a story, in making Slender all the more terrifying for what he's done, instead of simply what he's going to do.

Of course, Vlogs are... a bit more complicated. That's more the "what you see and what you don't" aspect... A lot of the time, even the most tacky monster of the week can be terrifying if it's not shown most of the time.

...

I'll go back to lurking now. >>;

[JohnSmith]

I always saw them as his follwing. Like in the Chtulu mythos, you had a variety of people and tribes all over the world that worshipped him in the hope that by doing his bidding, they would be rewarded.

Perhaps you can see them as his extra muscle. Where you have Slender Man who makes you disappear and 'taint' you, you also have his following, a group of people exposed to his existence and by gaining this knowledge instead of trying to fight or flee him, they chose a more macabre goal. Or perhaps they're his slaves, involuntary obedient to his will. I'm a big fan of the last theory

[SublimeInsomnia]

I have to agree with qaqa and Delta; proxies primary purposes are providing a more traditional antagonist that the characters can actual confront and possibly even overcome (which would provide a nice hope spot before their inevitable crushing by Slender himself) and tapping into our fears about losing control of ourselves. Also, in a lot of depictions (Masky being the most obvious), they also dip into the uncanny valley by moving jerkily, wearing masks or doing other things that make them seem abhuman.

The problem is that a lot of blogs just use generic proxies instead of actually developing them as antagonists. One good example of a blog that uses a well-developed proxy is A Wand And A Prayer whose proxy has a fleshed-out personality, mannerisms and a personal conflict with the blog's protagonist.

Also, I personally dislike the term "proxy" but I use it because it's convenient. Especially since other terms seem even less appropriate; "hollowed" really only applies to those that are left as nothing more than shells, "hallowed" makes them sound blessed and "non-Slender antagonists" provides no distinction between minions (actual or self-appointed) of Slender Man and antagonists who are not part of Slender's entourage i.e. Fisk from Seeking Truth/The Mystic or Brett from Deja vu Dreamer.

[HunterEris]

[Spazz]

Hm. I would say that the problem doesn't stem from the use of Proxies themselves, but rather from the use of bad writing. Right usage can actually strengthen a story rather than weaken it, because let's be honest. The "Main Character in isolation and slowly going crazy" has been done before, and that's an understatement. After introducing proxies, we got the "Main character goes marginally insane while fighting off psychopaths." Guess what's being done now?

Here's my point; what we need is new ideas and good characterization. I think the problem is that most (new) writers feel as if there's a "standard" that's been set, and they must follow the template. Proxies can be an awesome addition to the story... if done right. People have to stop being afraid of taking risks and... well, take some risks. As HunterIris mentioned, backstories and characterization CAN be done well, as long as one has original ideas. Conventional proxies are usually boring and pretty much useless. Only with proper writing can they be used to build tension.

/gets off soapbox

(Now with 80% less italics!)