Can the Slender Man talk?

SlenderManFan wrote:

I believe that if he talked he would only do it to comfort people.

Comfort people.

Comfort...people?

I couldn't care less if it's a matter of opinion, Slender Man is no one's "Guardian Angel". That is not the Slender Man, it's some disturbed overt fangirl's idea of a good time. He will in no way "comfort" anyone.

Mr. Jeebles wrote:

I couldn't care less if it's a matter of opinion, Slender Man is no one's "Guardian Angel". That is not the Slender Man, it's some disturbed overt fangirl's idea of a good time. He will in no way "comfort" anyone.

Comforting was part of the MO as of Victor Surge. "We didn't want to go, we didn't want to kill them, but its persistent silence and outstretched arms horrified and comforted us at the same time..."

Might I point out that they disappeared soon afterwards (or presumed to be dead; whichever one you prefer), Lero?

It's like Marlin and Dory from Finding Nemo when they see that light in the darkness. You could say they're comforted by it, and when they start to go near it... Well, if you saw the movie, you know what happens.

The angler fish tries to kill them!

So, yeah. Slender Man's 'comforting' is most likely a way to catch us off guard before he kills us/kidnaps us/the unspeakable.

Yes, but a lot of stuff Surge has gone with isn't really considered part of Slender Man anymore. But what I was generally referring too was a nice Slender Man that comforts you when you're sad and is your "Guardian Angel".

Because calling Slender Man a Guardian Angel comes DANGEROUSLY close to H(a)unting territory. Let’s NOT have another teenage girl tackle hugging Slender Man.

Lero wrote:

Mr. Jeebles wrote:

I couldn't care less if it's a matter of opinion, Slender Man is no one's "Guardian Angel". That is not the Slender Man, it's some disturbed overt fangirl's idea of a good time. He will in no way "comfort" anyone.

Comforting was part of the MO as of Victor Surge. "We didn't want to go, we didn't want to kill them, but its persistent silence and outstretched arms horrified and comforted us at the same time..."

That was when Slenderman was dealing with children though. Perhaps he uses different tactics with different people. He knows to keep children calm so they won't run off screaming. He HAS to comfort them. Twenty something year old with cameras require a different method.
And no, I think a chat with the Slenderman would completely spoil him.

It's a public thread so it's pointed toward everyone. You're allowed to reply to someone even if they didn't quote you.

But on this matter, Victor's original stuff isn't really widely considered to be part of Slender Man anymore. He's evolved so much further than that. He does not only go after children, he has no face instead of many. Victor provided a basic template which was expanded upon exponentially.

I TL;DR'd most of this thread, because I'm extremely lazy and it didn't seem all that important, though I did read most of the first page and all of the third, but apologies if this has been said. But the way I feel about it is that doesn't talk per se, but in a way he does. Sort of like telepathy, but, not. What I'm thinking is that he causes you to hallucinate in a way that would comfort you, coax you into whatever it was he wanted. Your auditory hallucinations are his voice, and he doesn't decide what the hallucinations are, they just take the form of whatever would comfort you (if anything). It probably wouldn't work on adults, but for luring children it would work fine. This may all sound really stupid, but it just sort of makes sense to me.
[/nonsensical ramble]

Well, I remember reading one of the earlier stories that these young children (I think four or five) disappeared, and when their parents questioned their sister, she said that "the tall man had visited them last night, and had told them to keep him a secret" or something like that. The parents didn't believe her at first, though, because the boys' bedroom was on the second story.

I'll try and find the original source, unless someone else posts it here. But yes, there has been cases where Slender Man has been able to 'talk'.

I think that the Slender Man can't talk, but that mad people can believe he is talking to them. The problem with Slendy talking is that it allows him to be understood or have mechanisms for understanding. And you can't sustain an eldritch horror that is beyond our human knowledge or understanding if he could be interviewed.

I like the idea that the sound heard when people write or hear Slendy "talking" is actually a reflection of their own paranoia and neuroses. I see it somewhat as a coping mechanism for fear-- it brings the monster to a more human level. Though I do like some of the theories bandied about in this thread... hmm.

Lero wrote:

Maybe he can, but he doesn't. We're just so far below him, he sees no point in trying to communicate. Do you speak to bugs?

I do. I like to say hello to bees and grasshoppers, which are some of my favorite insects. To flies, I say, "Get the fuck out of my room!"

....

Don't judge me!

But hey, they probably don't understand me at all, which is likely analogous to us and Slendy.

Like many have said before, Slendy talking steals all mystery from him. From a short conversation or even a phrase, we can assume personality, motives, etc. This is why, IMHO, he ought not to talk. If someone could make it work though, I'd love to see what they come up with.

Personally, I like to think that he can, but one utterance from him would drive a human mad.

You guys are forgetting that this is already totally canon.

Okay, but seriously.

I like (and have used) the idea of "brainwhispering." Basically, Slendy doesn't talk. He can, however, sort of communicate through a form of telepathy that sounds kind of like a bunch of indecipherable whispers directly inside your brain. It's not coherent at all, and you sort of feel what he's saying, rather than deciphering it. Sort of like an aura. If he's trying to draw you in, you'd feel it as an attempt at comfort. If he's trying to drive you insane, you'd interpret them as a menacing intent. A very subconscious way of speaking.

DaLadyBugMan wrote:

You guys are forgetting that this is already totally canon.

Okay, but seriously.

I like (and have used) the idea of "brainwhispering." Basically, Slendy doesn't talk. He can, however, sort of communicate through a form of telepathy that sounds kind of like a bunch of indecipherable whispers directly inside your brain. It's not coherent at all, and you sort of feel what he's saying, rather than deciphering it. Sort of like an aura. If he's trying to draw you in, you'd feel it as an attempt at comfort. If he's trying to drive you insane, you'd interpret them as a menacing intent. A very subconscious way of speaking.

This actually makes much more sense to me. I think its very easy to forget that we're animals too, and even if we ignore it most of the time, we still can pick up on what a person/eldritch abomination means to "say". Intuition plays a big part in our lives and when something deliberately messes with that core part of ourselves it makes us both vulnerable and creeped out.

SlenderManFan wrote:

Is it bad that the link made me ROFL? I must go find Slendy and give him a shoulder rub...

Not really. After all, this is the same blog that gave us Periwinkle Blue.

I like the way that Brighter than a Spoon did it, with Slendy using a human to speak for him.

I just had a really fucked up image come up in my head of Slendy thrusting his tentacles up someone's chest and using them to manipulate their voice box. Holy fuck. Nightmare fuel, we meet again.

Has anyone done this idea? If so, please show me where.

LoveHopeRainbows wrote:

I just had a really fucked up image come up in my head of Slendy thrusting his tentacles up someone's chest and using them to manipulate their voice box. Holy fuck. Nightmare fuel, we meet again.

Has anyone done this idea? If so, please show me where.

It's called Independence Day... Slender Man will not have anything to do with Will Smith.