Is a Happy Ending Possible?

I'm interested to see what you guys think. I don't mean like "I kill da Slondeman and am winnar forever" but some other form of Good End where the protagonist isn't Dead or Mad.

I would LIKE a happy ending, but idk if it's possible...

I have a blog and I plan to end on a bittersweet note. I don't want to spoil it though so I won't suggest anything, but I believe it is perfectly possible.

I don't necessarily want to see many of them, but I guess it could be possible. Any happy ending will probably be open ended, though - I just can't imagine a concrete one.

I guess you could escape him for a while. Kind of like Alex did, he was supposedly free for three years. Just end it with him running, but I don't think you can ever escape him.

I agree with Mephisto. I think with a horror story, the most you could do is make it bittersweet. Since most horror stories tend to have that tragedy in them.

All in all, the only way you can truly escape is through death. So far at least. *shrugs*

I think either let the character die on their own terms, or have them just pack their bags and run as far away from all of this as they can. That's the only way I can see the characters reaching a happy ending.

SickSlickMan wrote:

I think either let the character die on their own terms, or have them just pack their bags and run as far away from all of this as they can. That's the only way I can see the characters reaching a happy ending.

This, pretty much. The best ending I can see for a Slenderblog is to break even and spend the rest of their natural life as a Runner due to the restrictions of dealing with a communal, public-domain character whose entire mythos revolves around an almost Lovecraftian level and flavor of fear and hopelessness.

And, since nobody's going to get derailed by it, my plan for finishing Peering In was for Thage to drop off the grid and go on the run, and spend the rest of her life as a Runner.

I dunno, I think the runner angle is kinda played out (no disrespect meant to the runners). I'd like a new flavor. It's like eating chocolate ice cream, it's satisfying but after a while it makes you sick and you gotta throw in some pistachio.

Then again, I also hate the idea of a defeated Slender Man (Breaker was sickening, but I think it was because there was no substance, just a Michael Bay blog). I feel like there is a way to escape.

Given the nature of the Slender Man, i don't think that as "happy" ending is possible; the happiest ending that could be done, i think, is a bittersweet ending. Exilis Veritas comes to mind; Vivi and Chester don't remember anything about Slender Man, and can now live their lives without worrying about him.

Amnesia: Don't remember Slender Man, maybe he gets confused and wonders away to find a more eager meal.

If I ever thought to write a blog, that is how I'd end it. BUT that would make sense within the world I'd create around it. It wouldn't work for say MH because everything is on tapes just waiting to be watched.

Which totally makes me think of how MH could end... oh. This is a juicy theory.

I tend to agree with most people before me. A happy ending in the classical sense can't really happen, or at least, if it did, it would be extremely difficult, and has eluded everyone thus far.

That's really what motiviates most Runners, I would guess. The hope that there is an escape, and if they just stay alive long enough, they might be able to find it.

If we compare Lovecraft's mythos for a moment, we can see that there were a lot more happier endings then there have been so far in the Slender Man Mythos. There were stronger powers that the humans could call on, the few humans who had the knowledge to meddle with such forces would do so, and would often put away creatures much more powerful then themselves by doing so.

Though there is the permanent psychological damage of having the truth of the universe revealed to them as well as the damage that comes from meddling with powers much greater then yourself. The battle was never easy, and would tax the humans to near death, but in the end, they would sometimes pull through and continue to live many years afterwards.

I think if there was something like this in a Slenderblog I would accept it as a feasible ending. They wouldn't even be ensuring the 'defeat' of the Slender Man by succeeding, they would just be ensuring the continued protection of their own lives. The protection wouldn't even have to be permanent, it could just make the Slender Man back down for a few decades and them come back when the Runner is weaker and can no longer resist as effectively.

After some thought, I would conclude that there is a possibility of success against the Slender Man, however this would be extremely difficult, as well as temporary at best.

Still, 50 or 60 years of a normal life is a great improvement in any Runner's lot. I would count that as close to a happy ending as possible in the Slenderverse.

P.S. Just imagined Professor Armitage facing off against the Slender Man in a circle of magick, chanting frantically, a test of willpower and endurance to end all tests. Arms rising and falling in pattern, a strange and alien rythym being beaten out by the Professors words, the magickal energies blasting at the stoic, black suited monstrosity, taking each hit without flinching and returning in kind. Armitage hoping against all hope that his body does not fail him, and that he does not miss a beat in the incantation. For if he did the protection of the spell would waver, and the alien blasphemy across from him would tear him apart with its thin, spider like arms...
EPIC BATTLE.

Bittersweet. Either let the character pick his own death or make him forget. For example, my character, Ron, is going to do the former.

Slice, I dunno about you, but I'd say AHoS had a happy ending. It had a sense of awe and pride to it.

So you COULD have a happy ending, but...well...you can always come back and deconstruct it later, like I did, to give the story a whole new twist and meaning.

So do you want to be happy, or write well, cuz this is the Slenderverse baby, we all end up in a bodybag here.

When I think of a happy ending to stories like this I always think about Freddy Krueger and how the characters would find a way to end him or his ways indefinitely, but something brings him back wether it be part of the story or simply by just bringing him back for the sake of bringing him back.

It also really depends on how you see "happy ending". Maybe some see running until you die of old age as a happy ending, or to some even getting controlled by him could be a happy ending.

In my mind, there are two types of endings in the slendermythos. Tragic, and a bit less tragic. Given the nature of slendy (like Thage said, Lovecraftian creature that we could never even hope to comprehend, let alone defeat), there really is no way to "win" against him, which would almost be required for a happy ending.

The tragic ending would probably be the most common for blogs and vlogs. This consists of everything the character(s) have worked for in their life slipping through their fingers like sand. As if they had been working on a porcelain statue for years and are nearly complete when a five-year-old runs in, smacks it off the table, and runs out. The character usually goes absolutely insane, is thought to be insane and tossed into a mental institution, or end up dead/presumed to be dead. Basically, whatever slendy wanted, he got.

The not-as-tragic ending is not nearly as bad, but still sucks quite a bit. Like the porcelain statue did break, but only into five pieces and you and only find four. Slendy has worked his tentacled madness on you, ruining many of the things you once enjoyed. But you fight back the only way you know how; deprive him of a target. You run as far as you can, always on the move, always one step ahead of him. You surround yourself with meat shields friends and family, convincing them to believe your story and they stick with you to the bitter end. You deny slendy what he wants. If you can't be happy, no one can, not even him. This one is less likely, however, considering that no one really knows what he wants. Generally it has something to do with you, so if you remove yourself from the picture in a manner of your choosing, it might break even.

Unless slendy just wants you dead.

SliceandDice wrote:

I'm interested to see what you guys think. I don't mean like "I kill da Slondeman and am winnar forever" but some other form of Good End where the protagonist isn't Dead or Mad.

I don't know if it's possible, but at the end of my Blog I'm just going to have the Slender Man out and out stop stalking the Brother's, due to what they think is because of irrelevancy. If this is a bad idea, then let me know.

I guess it depends on what is considered a "happy" ending. There could be an ending in which the narrator is safe and well and happy/contented. The narrator could come to accept the role of Slendy in his/her life, become a convert, and be happy with it. Assuming that's what Slendy wants. If he's happy with a devoted servant, it could be an ending on a positive but ironic note.

Then there are endings like "It was all just a dream!" or "I was temporarily insane, but I got help and I'm better now". Such an ending could leave the objectivity or subjectivity of the experiences ambiguous, again for a possibly ironic ending.

Given the nature of the mythos, it seems like it would be hard to end any narrative on an unquestionably positive note. But that may be true of any story. That happy ending is always happy only because that's where the story stopped. The characters will still get old and die, there will be all of the small tragedies which beset the human condition. So possibly it's all a matter of narrative tone. Sometimes comedy and tragedy are separated only by the tone of the story. Write a Slendy story as comedy and perhaps there's a greater chance of finding a happy ending.

But Neomenia may be spouting utter rubbish, too.

zero wrote:

Slice, I dunno about you, but I'd say AHoS had a happy ending. It had a sense of awe and pride to it.

So you COULD have a happy ending, but...well...you can always come back and deconstruct it later, like I did, to give the story a whole new twist and meaning.

So do you want to be happy, or write well, cuz this is the Slenderverse baby, we all end up in a bodybag here.

That's kind of how I see it. Even if your character dies, if he goes out with a big enough bang (like Zero did in AHoS) it could qualify as a happy ending, at least in my book. It's tricky, though, to do it without seeming self-indulgent or Sue-ish, which is probably why most stories end with the characters dying miserably or spending the rest of their lives on the run.

^I think most authors kill of their characters to keep other aspiring authors from picking up where they left off. I know I've heard of people starting blogs as Logan from JAF because that blog didn't really end. If you horrifically (and in detail!) kill off your characters, no one can come along and steal what you created.

LisaEvermore wrote:

^I think most authors kill of their characters to keep other aspiring authors from picking up where they left off. I know I've heard of people starting blogs as Logan from JAF because that blog didn't really end. If you horrifically (and in detail!) kill off your characters, no one can come along and steal what you created.

Someone did that? O.o

Yeah. Didn't last long though because well, rabid fans are rabid. >>; They quickly deleted the blog but it has been done at least once. I heard rumors of someone else trying to pawn off a blog by Matt's like brother or something and were peddling another "secret" journal. I was never able to find the link though. I don't think that last very long either.

I think that bitter sweet is as far as you could go in a Slenderblog. Simply because it ending without death or becoming a proxy, it would break the immersion that Slender Man is unbeatable and will not let you go until he's gotten what he wants.

In my blog, I planned a sort of bitter sweet ending. Anna is going to end up with Starguards, and Slendy comes to her in a dream and offers her her eyes back if she becomes a proxy. But that could go some crazy ways, and I don't know how good of an idea that is anyhow.

I just thought of something relating to Zeke's theory about people who had been stalked as children, then He left them alone and came back for them later. Something like that; they apparently manage to get away from the Slender Man, but really He's only letting them alone until He decides that it's the right to come back and get them. Although I suppose you'd have to set that up so it doesn't seem like they've actually just gotten away from Slendy which would sort of negate the whole happy ending thing.

I'd say really the closest you could get would be what's already been mentioned. Either something like AHoS with the protagonist going off with a grand display and hope for the future, or Exilis Veritas with the characters getting to live a normal life with no knowledge of the Slender Man.

Although, playing the Lovecraft angle again, there were, as was mentioned, a few times that humanity did manage to defeat whatever eldritch abomination had showed up currently. Of course, you can't actually kill the Slender Man, but maybe someone finds some way of temporarily holding him at bay so they could escape for a while. Like Alex (supposedly) did in MH, but like I mentioned at the beginning, only until Slendy decides He wants to play with them some more.

Really I'd say that there's no way you could actually ever defeat Slender Man or permanently escape from Him, but maybe have them manage to at least stay safe in the short term.

I'm really just rambling now though, I think that's all I meant to say...

happy endings need to be a scarcity, but I believe they can be done.

HiH has a good example. I teared up a bit for that ending.