Modus Operandi

 

Okay.  So.  The big important stuff.  I keep talking about how I keep surviving, but I haven’t given you anything about that yet.  That changes now.

How do I survive, exactly?  What do I do?  How do I keep him at bay?  This is all just the basics of that.

Well, the first thing I do is I make sure to have a social life.  This does several things.  The first is that it keeps you calm and happy.  No matter the situation, it’s always good to stay upbeat and level-headed.  More importantly, it provides a distraction from the Slender Man.  I can’t be positive, but from my experience, it’s almost confirmed that he appears most often when you’re thinking about him.  Keeping your mind off of him helps.

It’s also a good idea to hang out around in large groups.  In addition to being a good distraction, people usually can’t see him if they don’t know about him (there are some exceptions, of course).  The bigger the crowd, the less likely he is to appear.  If he does appear, he’s probably not likely to do anything.  He seems unable to physically affect things if those who don’t know about him can see.  I don’t know whether that’s because he doesn’t want to reveal his presence, or because it’s related to M’s Third Rule, but either way, he leaves me alone when I’m in crowds.  When he appears in a crowd, don’t run.  That’s what he wants you to do.  He wants to get you isolated.  Just remember—stay calm.  Stay with a group.  Trick them into coming home with you or even staying the night if he refuses to leave you alone.

When alone, stay busy, and try not to think about him.  Reading blogs are usually a bad idea when alone.  It’s best to read them in a crowded area, like a busy lab, or on a bus or something.  Of course, if you can’t help but think of him, you may as well help other people out.  I can’t keep him out of my mind for more than an hour because of the time logs, so I’m past that stage already.

That’s how I do things mentally.  Now, physically.  Remember that “decorative” katana I mentioned?  Well, I’d recommend having something like that around for any encounters you may have with proxies.  Something you can use to defend yourself from physical threats.

Do I use the Operator Symbol?  No, I don’t.  Personally, I don’t trust it.  I’ve heard from some sources that it’s a repellant, but I’ve heard from others that it’s his “calling card” or that it draws him.  I don’t like putting my faith in a symbol that could possibly do more harm than good.  It’s risky, but I’ll risk it until I can experiment with it some more.  I’m not quite brave enough to experiment with it yet, though.  All I know now, though, is that I feel uncomfortable when I see one, and I’m not going to wear something that makes me uncomfortable to walk past.  I am a Christian, though (even if I’m not a particularly devout one), and I wear a cross.  Prayer, incidentally, also seems to help, even if all it does is calm the nerves.

And finally, I want to cover sleep.  That’s the one time when you’re most vulnerable, because you don’t know if and when he’s coming, and he can mess with your subconscious while you’re asleep.  Hell, you don’t even know if he’s messed with you or not.  So what do you do?  Well, I’d recommend staying away from cameras.  Like the Operator Symbol, I’ve heard that cameras tend to draw him.  Unlike the Operator Symbol, though, no thinks that cameras repel him.  They just go wonky when he’s around them.  Because of that, I don’t trust cameras at all.  My solution is a roommate who’s a light sleeper.  If the Slender Man is in the room and messing with me, he’ll hear me (or maybe even the Slender Man), wake up, and moan at me to shut up or go back to sleep.  It’s happened twice already, so I know it works.  And no, my roommate doesn’t know about the Slender Man.  Not that I know of, at least, and I’m not about to bring the subject up.

When my roommate’s not around, I try to either find another light sleeper to spend the night with (I have a friend or two like that), or just stay awake all night.  It’s worked pretty well so far, and I don’t run the risk of using a camera.  I can’t be completely sure it works, since I’m not awake for it, but again, I’m not going to risk a camera for confirmation.

So, yeah.  Those are the basic things I do.  I guess that’s all I have to say.  I’m sorry I can’t be witty this time.  Oh, yeah, that’s another one!  Stay witty (falls under “keep calm and happy”) to keep your spirits up.  But either way, I’ll see you guys next time.