Last time, we went over a preliminary overview of what Magreat probably wanted us to go into the maze keeping aware of (this is a grave for a multifaceted power, the grave itself being heavily obfuscated)-- and that's just from the title! Today, we'll set foot in the maze and make a decision.
vicekingsgraab.blogspot
Viceking's Graab (Intro)
Already, there's a lot to analyze. This set-up should remind readers of the more.. controversial(?) Fear series, specifically of The Archangel that started it all, with its "Batman punches God" and low-res picture of the Green Lantern. Those blogs have their own meanings-- though I have a sneaking suspicion that Viceking's Graab might very well be a long-winded epic attempt to build us up to the "punchline" of explaining The Archangel.Either way.
The text "This is not the blog" brings to mind the url for every Fear blog-- a translation of "This is not a blog," a reference to Rene Magritte's The Treachery of Images (an abstract reminder of the function behind art's form). It can also be taken literally in at least three different ways: 1) This is not the blog we were promised, 2) This is not the blog we are looking for, 3) This is not the blog the author wishes to show us. The differences between each are subtle, but they will become relevant soon enough.
The text, as described here, is also incomplete. Its response can be found beneath the image: "[url] This is." The implication is obvious: "This [that you are reading] is not the blog. This [url] is." A simple signpost pointing us in the right direction, but one that raises an innocent question: Why show us this initial blog at all, then?
I can offer no answer.
The last thing to point out is that the image is the same Green Lantern picture of The Archangel but shoddily recoloured in MSPaint to depict the Slender Man. This might imply that, here, it is the Slender Man who punches God (punches the sky). It certainly establishes two things: 1) The Slender Man holds some relevance to the Graab, and 2) Regarding tone, we should not expect the seriousness of Fears to be sacred here. At least not in conventional means.
Now we can click on the url provided by the image caption itself and enter the maze proper.
imnomanbut.blogspot
Viceking's Graab (Catacomb)
This heavily customized Blogger website, with its darkened title and lack of Gadgets, could be said to be Viceking's Graab proper. We will end up in this blog the most out of any blog in this labyrinth, so we'd best get acquainted with its design.
Let's begin with the url. Every url in the Graab is significant, and this is no exception. "I'm no man but." We will soon find that a majority of the urls in this maze are directly taken from Finnegans Wake, but this one, for one of the most important blogs, seemingly has no relevance; it can't be found in the text! Well. This is why you folk need a total nerd like me, as I have no life and have been around the Joycean critical spheres a few times. I can confirm that this actually alludes to a hypothesized excerpt from the Wake. See Chapter II.3, page 309:
It may not or maybe a no concern of the Guinnesses but.The thorough dissertation The Agency of the Letter in the Conscious posits that this line, which bafflingly opens one of the most crucial chapters in the tome (and even more bafflingly is one of the few sentences that seems to lack proper syntax), contains an acrostic. It may not or maybe a no concern of the Guinnesses but. I'm no man. The "but" that ends the line, the dissertation goes on to posit, is the name of the narrator's usurper ("Butt" is the name of a character later in the chapter, the name of a usurper, the usurper of the narrator).
In alluding to this, the Graab establishes from an early stage its focus on usurpation, on hiding secret messages in plain sight, and on self-deprecation.
The next thing to look at in the blog's design is the title-- and what's under it. It would be easy to overlook that this blog has a title at all, considering the dark shade of its font (this could be further recurrence of the "hiding in plain sight" motif, or it might simply be atmosphere.), but there it is, followed by a line we should already recognize:
Now are all tombed to the mound, isges to isges, erde from erde. Pride, O pride, thy prize!Everyone dies, everyone returns to dust. This is all that pride will give us.
Further design choices: Post titles are in Impact, suggesting a "totally rebloggable meme-worthy" statement. Page text is in Puritan, giving the text an uneven and unruled, almost "typewriter"-like effect.
This opening post, "ENTRANCE," establishes all that we need to know. Physically, we are in a tomb. Our goal is to uncover who is buried here, who killed them, and why. Also established is the presence of "writing on the walls." There is much to analyze about the writing on the walls, and at many times it will be our comfort as well as our primary source of frustration. But I am contractually obligated not to analyze it, only to remind the reader: "If you get too confused, remember that you are alone, reading text on a blog." This mantra is one of the keys to making it through this maze alive.
(I am similarly instructed not to touch the "signpost marked META.")
If we click "The passage extends," we are taken to our first branching path. The physical description here is almost telling in its detail: Bricks without seam, vibrating softly. Another contract forbids me from analyzing further. Understand, reader, that I am only hear to help you explore the inner workings of the maze; I am not here to explain the mysteries. Consider me yet another conspicuous signpost marked META.
As for the branching path itself, note that it is both a physical fork as well as a mental one. Physically, the path splits into three. Mentally, the writing on the wall asks us to remind ourselves why we stepped into the tomb to begin with. Notably, it is the mental fork that receives hypertextual focus; this is where the clickable links are.
Was it for personal gain? Was it for curiosity? Was it for the hell of it?Before I end this post, let me remind you of something I said in describing the previous blog.
The text "This is not the blog" [...] can also be taken literally in at least three different ways: 1) This is not the blog we were promised, 2) This is not the blog we are looking for, 3) This is not the blog the author wishes to show usClicking on blogs for 1) Personal gain. 2) Curiosity. 3) The hell of it.
Join me next time for a look into the bulk of the maze: The many, many pastiche blogs.
