Mother Fucking Rubix Cubes.
MLAndersen0 is amazing and to my belief, underrated. There may not be a ton of “Action” and running through the woods like most other Slenderseries, but MLA is full of great storytelling that is delivered very well. The writing in this is phenomenal, and while I will not say that everything about this series was strategically planned, and that some of the metaphors may have been happy accidents, this series has a ton of things in it that deserve praise.
One of the biggest metaphors I have found revolve around a Rubix Cube of all things. It shows up, noticeably, in two entries. “The Flash Drive” and “So It Goes (Part 1/2)”.
I’ve already briefly talked about how much of the characters is shown through the interactions surrounding the Rubix Cube, but there is also a definite layer of symbology and metaphor as well.
Rubix Cubes are, by definition, a puzzle. But there is a way to get around the hardest parts of solving it by looking up a cheat sheet, much like finding video game answers on the internet. The Rubix Cube in MLA stands for the larger puzzle of Slenderman and why he is involved in their lives, and even ultimately, how get him to stop.
I’ve mentioned before that Michael shows that he wants the puzzle solved without having to figure it out on his own, where Shaun refuses to give him the answers because he wants Michael to learn a little patience. That’s the character part of this. The metaphor is buried even deeper.
In “The Flash Drive”, Michael is playing with a Rubix cube, he has every ability to just set it down and ignore it, but he doesn’t. Even with the answers to how to solve it being withheld from him, he keeps trying. This ties directly to the statement that Michael makes later in the same video saying that people effected by Slenderman are compelled to film themselves and compelled to upload it and show others. He felt compelled to continue trying to solve the puzzle, for no reason.
"It’s right there."
"I don’t know how to get it there though."
"It’s right in front of you, just look."
When Michael can’t easily see how it’s solved, he just tries anything he can at random, making Shaun roll his eyes because now he’s just made it worse. Michael can’t see the patterns he’s supposed to follow that Shaun apparently can see, and that makes him overreact. The creation of Patrick within Michael’s mind can be, not just a measure of self preservation, but of changing the faults within Michael that make him unwilling or incapable of trying to solve the puzzle of Slenderman’s Clock. Though in both cases, the real puzzle and the Rubix Cube, Michael/Patrick is convinced that he needs Shuan’s help. In one case he refuses it, the other he is unable to help because he cannot remember anything.
In “So It Goes (Part 1/2)”, Shaun and Stormy are now playing with the Rubix Cube. Stormy comments how it’s much easier to manipulate and move around but doesn’t seem interested in actually solving it, just messing with it as a toy. Ignoring what that specific action could mean… Anyways. Shaun mentions that how they got the Rubix Cube to be so easy to move around and, by extension, solve, was by taking it apart and putting it together again. Which, in terms of metaphor, is saying that one way they may be able to get further in solving their own problems with Slenderman that they need to back up and dissect the entire thing, before trying to figure out where all of the pieces go.
I feel like this is poorly written and literally just a bunch of word vomit. I hope this makes sense. If someone has more to add please feel free to.
