Episode 234: I Barely Killed Anybody
March 24th, 2017 | Robin
We creep into the Gaming Hut at the command of Patreon backer Alexander Permann, who assigns us the mission of envisioning a Night’s Black Agents spinoff featuring the Kingdom of Asturias.
In a joint session of the Horror Hut and our Tell Me More feature, we look at that crowdsourced urban legend, Slenderman.
Robin vents in the Narrative Hut about one of his least favorite terms: plot immunity.
Then Ken’s Time Machine takes to the chrono-skies as Patreon backer Bruce Miller (no relation) asks about the fatal final flight of bandleader and WWII pilot Glenn Miller.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Wish to introduce innocent children to the horror of the Mythos, while remaining on budget? Atlas Games is here to affordably twist young minds with a buy two, get one free deal on Ken’s Mini Mythos line of childrens’ book parodies: Where the Deep Ones Are, Goodnight Azathoth, Cliffourd the Big Red God, and Antarctic Express. 
Want to plunge headlong into Lovecraftian mystery, but lack a gaming group? Want to introduce a friend or loved one to the roleplaying hobby? GUMSHOE One-2-One has come to your rescue! Find this new system by some guy named Robin D. Laws, in the line’s flagship title, Cthulhu Confidential. Now pre-ordering at the Pelgrane Press store. 
Do intervals between episodes plunge you into Hite withdrawal? Never fear! his brilliant pieces on parasitic gaming, alternate Newtons, Dacian werewolves and more now lurk among the sparkling bounty of The Best of FENIX Volumes 1-3, from returning sponsors Askfageln. Yes, it’s Sweden’s favorite RPG magazine, now beautifully collected. Warning: not in Swedish. 
John Scott Tynes’ Puppetland is ready to knock the stuffing out of a game store near you in its gorgeous new full-color hardcover edition. Join the good folks at Arc Dream in battling the horrific forces of Punch the Maker-Killer! 
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My own introduction to Slenderman was via my kids’ obsession with Minecraft, which has “Endermen.” Now that there are licensed LEGO Minecraft sets, children of all ages have easy access to tiny, cute Slenderman effigies: http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/Enderman
I’ve since learned that my (now teenaged) daughter’s obsession with monsters has led her to read creepypasta. Thankfully, she seems to be one of the most stable little weirdos I know–more so than I was at her age, I’m certain.
See also James Stewart in The Glen Miller Story (Oscar winner for best Sound 1955)
I dislike the term “suspension of disbelief”, it is backward. You do not suspend your natural scepticism. Scepticism or disbelief is learned, you learn not to trust due to the narrative because it breaks your verisimilitude. People believe what is put in front of them unless, something makes you not believe it. Like the first film, people were startled by a train coming at them because they had not learned how movies work.
Does anyone remember Aztec Ace, an early-1980s sf comic by (writer) Doug Moench and (artists) Michael Hernandez and, later, Dan Day? Very much like Doctor Who dragged through the Eliptony Hut, including an entire issue of Ambrose Bierce, Amelia Earhart, and Glen Miller hanging out in an extradimensional graveyard discussing the nature of reality. Seems right up both of your alleys.
The other aspect of “plot immunity” that you didn’t discuss could broadly be discussed as a type of special pleading: situations where a menace takes out one character after another and then, for no discernible cause within the narrative, the protagonist is spared. If the heroine survives because of her own characteristics–whether it be physical strength, sharp wits, charisma, password, special knowledge or position, whatever–that’s not plot immunity, although it can often be incredibly contrived. The most obvious examples would be situations where multiple characters are suddenly under attack and only the spear-carriers fall to the hail of bullets even though the protagonist(s) are equally exposed.