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Post by π cahusserole π on Feb 10, 2017 19:34:15 GMT -5
This all makes me feel like I'm 26 again, reading the MsScribe saga on Fandom Wank.
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Trurl
Shoutbox Elitist 
Posts: 7,693
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Post by Trurl on Feb 10, 2017 19:34:38 GMT -5
You know for a long time I felt an arguable degree of responsibility - the last thing E Buzz Miller did on this site was post a selfie saying it'd be his last because he was gonna kill himself, we had it taken down because of the content, and within twenty four hours I heard he was dead. It'd be absurd to reduce someone else's choices to a degree of social media frivolity, but all the same, for months I felt uneasy recalling that. I could have done something different. I should have done something different. I've never said this out loud because back when I thought it was real it would seem a self-absorbed thing to say (and it probably still is), but there's a weight off my back now. He posted that type of stuff before, so one shouldn't jump to conclusions. One time, can't remember when, I was actually concerned by what he posted so I DM'd him asking him if he was OK and his reply was basically "I'm fine - why do you ask?" - at the time I chalked up the disconnect between the public post and the bafflement of my concern as a transient dark mood that he over-dramatised in his public post, but now I wonder if he just wasn't keeping track of things and wasn't sure what I was asking about. |
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Post by Celebith on Feb 10, 2017 19:35:15 GMT -5
I find I can't feel too upset about this (though I appreciate how others can), because this doesn't seem to be someone just fooling around (since they put so much effort into it) or a scam (I've not heard of anyone losing money to it), so what that really leaves is mental illness. This is the product of someone who needs a lot of help or a job as a Le Carre character. I talked with my daughter about all of this, because she was vaguely aware of his 'death' last year because she had met Miss Anthropy, and I showed her the memorial article on AVC. Her response was 'where does anyone find the time to do all of this, and why don't they do something more productive? I'd kill to have that kind of time and drive.' |
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Post by nowimnothing on Feb 10, 2017 19:43:29 GMT -5
You know for a long time I felt an arguable degree of responsibility - the last thing E Buzz Miller did on this site was post a selfie saying it'd be his last because he was gonna kill himself, we had it taken down because of the content, and within twenty four hours I heard he was dead. It'd be absurd to reduce someone else's choices to a degree of social media frivolity, but all the same, for months I felt uneasy recalling that. I could have done something different. I should have done something different. I've never said this out loud because back when I thought it was real it would seem a self-absorbed thing to say (and it probably still is), but there's a weight off my back now. I thought the story was that he had some medical condition. He had suicidal thoughts but afterwards I thought Opera Punk said it was his medical condition that caused his demise. Not that that makes any part of this any better. After that I supposed that his post here had more to do with his declining health. |
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Post by Tea Rex on Feb 10, 2017 19:43:47 GMT -5
You know for a long time I felt an arguable degree of responsibility - the last thing E Buzz Miller did on this site was post a selfie saying it'd be his last because he was gonna kill himself, we had it taken down because of the content, and within twenty four hours I heard he was dead. It'd be absurd to reduce someone else's choices to a degree of social media frivolity, but all the same, for months I felt uneasy recalling that. I could have done something different. I should have done something different. I've never said this out loud because back when I thought it was real it would seem a self-absorbed thing to say (and it probably still is), but there's a weight off my back now. Oh, man. If it was real, never never never would it have been your fault. I'm glad you have peace from this revelation. |
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Post by Powerthirteen on Feb 10, 2017 19:44:59 GMT -5
You know for a long time I felt an arguable degree of responsibility - the last thing E Buzz Miller did on this site was post a selfie saying it'd be his last because he was gonna kill himself, we had it taken down because of the content, and within twenty four hours I heard he was dead. It'd be absurd to reduce someone else's choices to a degree of social media frivolity, but all the same, for months I felt uneasy recalling that. I could have done something different. I should have done something different. I've never said this out loud because back when I thought it was real it would seem a self-absorbed thing to say (and it probably still is), but there's a weight off my back now. I thought the story was that he had some medical condition. He had suicidal thoughts but afterwards I thought Opera Punk said it was his medical condition that caused his demise. Not that that makes any part of this any better. After that I supposed that his post here had more to do with his declining health. That's right, wasn't there some degree of cross-talk at the time about how, exactly, he had met his "end"? |
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Post by Floyd Diabolical Barber on Feb 10, 2017 19:45:22 GMT -5
This is all pretty bizarre to me, I don't know what to make of it. I've know a few people who "disappeared" and showed up on social media under a different name, but that was usually a case of "flee the state until the statutes of limitations expire". I can't figure what the payoff was supposed to be in this case. What's the angle? I think people are right saying it probably points to some sort of emotional instability, to say the least.
I am glad there appears so far to be no malicious intent, and that except for some understandable emotional distress, no one has has been injured or scammed for money.
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Dellarigg
AV Clubber 
This is a public service announcement - with guitars
Posts: 7,634 
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Post by Dellarigg on Feb 10, 2017 20:03:31 GMT -5
I thought the story was that he had some medical condition. He had suicidal thoughts but afterwards I thought Opera Punk said it was his medical condition that caused his demise. Not that that makes any part of this any better. After that I supposed that his post here had more to do with his declining health. That's right, wasn't there some degree of cross-talk at the time about how, exactly, he had met his "end"? I seem to recall a suicide attempt had been survived, but a heart problem was exacerbated by the trauma and that's what killed him. Which seems a somewhat laborious story now. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2017 20:05:03 GMT -5
I thought the story was that he had some medical condition. He had suicidal thoughts but afterwards I thought Opera Punk said it was his medical condition that caused his demise. Not that that makes any part of this any better. After that I supposed that his post here had more to do with his declining health. That's right, wasn't there some degree of cross-talk at the time about how, exactly, he had met his "end"? Er...I am not a prime source, obviously, but to my recollection the story was "suicide attempt, not immediately successful, but upon revival at the hospital suffered heart failure"? |
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Post by Powerthirteen on Feb 10, 2017 20:07:40 GMT -5
That's right, wasn't there some degree of cross-talk at the time about how, exactly, he had met his "end"? I seem to recall a suicide attempt had been survived, but a heart problem was exacerbated by the trauma and that's what killed him. Which seems a somewhat laborious story now. in retrospect that's well on its way to John Brlushi's excuse to Carrie Fisher in The Blues Brothers. |
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Post by Logoboros on Feb 10, 2017 20:09:41 GMT -5
I in no way want to take away from anyone's feelings of betrayal or anger, but I do wonder if there might be a broader way to look at this kind of thing than just through the lens of fraud and deceit -- especially in a case like this that covers such a remarkable span of time. There's a famous Portugese poet of the early 20th-century named Fernando Pessoa. One of his claims to fame is his lifelong development and use of what he called heteronyms -- not pseudonyms, but alternate literary personas (persona with entire biographies distinct from Pessoa's own). Poems and articles were published as authored by these heteronyms under their own bylines. The heteronyms corresponded with each other. The wrote reviews and critiques of each others work. They essentially had active literary lives in the Portugese literary scene. Pessoa did not create them with intent to deceive -- he openly acknowledged that he created all of these people (though this actual fact may have been known to relatively small sphere of people who were reading the poetry and articles -- I can't quite find a clear answer now on how well known the nature of the heteronyms was at the time, though the fact that new ones are still occasionally being discovered shows that plenty of work was being published under heteronyms that weren't announced as originating with Pessoa). Anyway, Pessoa's heteronyms are generally regarded as a great artistic achievement and not a contemptible fraud. It helps, of course, that these were public personae and not false identities that he was building personal relationships with other real people through, so it is playing in a different sphere of ethics. He's also wasn't co-opting the identities and pictures of real people (not that I recall, at least, though it wouldn't surprise me if some of biggest heteronyms had associated photos of themselves). There's an interesting article at the Poetry Society of America on Pessoa that provides some perspective: Like I said, I'm not offering this as excuse or justification for "catfishing" of the kind being discussed here. But I also think there's something to such an extended performance and elaboration of a character, of an alternate life, that can't be ascribed simply to mere malice or narcissism (or mental illness, for that matter). That said, knowingly doing something that causes other people real pain for the benefit of one's ego? That's pretty scummy. |
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Post by π cahusserole π on Feb 10, 2017 20:23:15 GMT -5
This is all pretty bizarre to me, I don't know what to make of it. I've know a few people who "disappeared" and showed up on social media under a different name, but that was usually a case of "flee the state until the statutes of limitations expire". I can't figure what the payoff was supposed to be in this case. What's the angle? I think people are right saying it probably points to some sort of emotional instability, to say the least. I am glad there appears so far to be no malicious intent, and that except for some understandable emotional distress, no one has has been injured or scammed for money. mentioned on Twitter that she had sent him Laurel and Hardy DVDs. |
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Post by Ben Grimm on Feb 10, 2017 20:33:31 GMT -5
My guess, based on how long ago the account started, is that this didn't start as a catfish, it's that at some point he made up a fake girlfriend and trying to cover it led to more and more ludicrous attempts to cover it. Eventually he had to blow up the account. If that's what happened, it's reasonably likely hes started a second account and is back on the site. It's possible that's an overly charitable reading, though.
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Post by Powerthirteen on Feb 10, 2017 20:36:07 GMT -5
My guess, based on how long ago the account started, is that this didn't start as a catfish, it's that at some point he made up a fake girlfriend and trying to cover it led to more and more ludicrous attempts to cover it. Eventually he had to blow up the account. If that's what happened, it's reasonably likely hes started a second account and is back on the site. It's possible that's an overly charitable reading, though. You'd think "I broke up with my girlfriend." would be the natural way of ending that, not "I died!" |
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ayatollahcm
TI Pariah 
The Bringer of Peacatollah
Posts: 1,689
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Post by ayatollahcm on Feb 10, 2017 20:38:44 GMT -5
I still haven't ruled out a Jekyll/Hyde magic potion.
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Post by pairesta on Feb 10, 2017 20:43:01 GMT -5
My guess, based on how long ago the account started, is that this didn't start as a catfish, it's that at some point he made up a fake girlfriend and trying to cover it led to more and more ludicrous attempts to cover it. Eventually he had to blow up the account. If that's what happened, it's reasonably likely hes started a second account and is back on the site. It's possible that's an overly charitable reading, though. The weird thing is--from the posted google doc at least--how little effort he's taken to disguise his tracks. He uses the same av, similar username, very similar twitter account. I mean up is down right now, so yeah, maybe he is creating a new identity; it's just odd that he's not really hiding himself otherwise. All this to me lends credence to MyNameIsNoneOfYourGoddamnBusin's theory. Like, seriously, the guy posted there for at least six years, because that's when I joined and he was already an established poster then. |
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Post by MyNameIsNoneOfYourGoddamnBusin on Feb 10, 2017 20:44:33 GMT -5
So, we're just accepting that cat cafes are a real thing?
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Post by sarapen on Feb 10, 2017 20:44:40 GMT -5
Did you ever think that he's the normal one, and we're the emotionally disturbed and mentally ill ones? That perhaps, we finally track him down in real life and pull off his mask to find that the one posting as E. Buzz Miller was each and every one of us all along? That would be an even better twist.
Or evil twin. That's a classic.
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Post by Ben Grimm on Feb 10, 2017 20:52:04 GMT -5
Did you ever think that he's the normal one, and we're the emotionally disturbed and mentally ill ones? That perhaps, we finally track him down in real life and pull off his mask to find that the one posting as E. Buzz Miller was each and every one of us all along? That would be an even better twist. Or evil twin. That's a classic. Well, yes, that part, obviously. |
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Trurl
Shoutbox Elitist
Posts: 7,693
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Post by Trurl on Feb 10, 2017 20:56:31 GMT -5
Did you ever think that he's the normal one, and we're the emotionally disturbed and mentally ill ones? That perhaps, we finally track him down in real life and pull off his mask to find that the one posting as E. Buzz Miller was each and every one of us all along? That would be an even better twist. Or evil twin. That's a classic. *looks in mirror, sees he has a goatee, has sudden, sickening revelation* |
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Post by rimjobflashmob on Feb 10, 2017 20:59:53 GMT -5
Did you ever think that he's the normal one, and we're the emotionally disturbed and mentally ill ones? That perhaps, we finally track him down in real life and pull off his mask to find that the one posting as E. Buzz Miller was each and every one of us all along? That would be an even better twist. Or evil twin. That's a classic. Each of us is a different split personality of his. Shyamalan'd. |
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Post by ganews on Feb 10, 2017 21:05:46 GMT -5
Did you ever think that he's the normal one, and we're the emotionally disturbed and mentally ill ones? That perhaps, we finally track him down in real life and pull off his mask to find that the one posting as E. Buzz Miller was each and every one of us all along? That would be an even better twist. Or evil twin. That's a classic. Each of us is a different split personality of his. Shyamalan'd. Charlie Kaufman did it first in "Adaptation". |
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Post by swagonion on Feb 10, 2017 21:13:51 GMT -5
So, we're just accepting that cat cafes are a real thing? I tried to go to one today, and they chastised me for not having a reservation. |
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Scruff
Grandfathered In 
Posts: 629 
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Post by Scruff on Feb 10, 2017 21:15:56 GMT -5
Each of us is a different split personality of his. Shyamalan'd. Charlie Kaufman did it first in "Adaptation". He's killing off each identity a la "Identity." The real question is...who will be next?!? |
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Feb 10, 2017 21:17:47 GMT -5
Ben Grimm I mean I already knew that. This all makes me feel like I'm 26 again, reading the MsScribe saga on Fandom Wank. I've known my share of people who turned out to be faking something too. So I'll tell you all one of the sweeter ones. On a forum I was on there was this cranky, argumentative, delightful old French cineaste who'd trash nerd properties the way only a true nerd could. He lived in the South of France, was in his fifties, and was as comfortable with Jean Luc Godard as he was Arkham Asylum. But he wasn't middle aged, French, or even a he at all: She was a Bostonian who had a parent who taught French and adopted this acerbic literate personality and came clean on the forum when she went to college. She found it easier to express herself as that guy, she said, particularly as a lesbian. I doubt she'd even remember who I was, but she was always one of the most entertaining people to read in that particular community. Hope she's doing well.
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Post by rimjobflashmob on Feb 10, 2017 21:34:39 GMT -5
Each of us is a different split personality of his. Shyamalan'd. Charlie Kaufman did it first in "Adaptation". Jupiter Ascending > The Happening > Lady in the Water > Battlefield Earth > Charlie Kaufman |
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Post by Powerthirteen on Feb 10, 2017 21:40:19 GMT -5
Charlie Kaufman did it first in "Adaptation". He's killing off each identity a la "Identity."Β The real question is...who will be next?!? or rather, which of us will claim to be next. |
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Post by Dr. Rumak on Feb 10, 2017 21:43:12 GMT -5
Jupiter Ascending > The Happening > Lady in the Water > Battlefield Earth > Charlie Kaufman Well, now that whole E.Buzz thing is only the second craziest thing I've read today. |
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Post by rimjobflashmob on Feb 10, 2017 21:51:09 GMT -5
I've never actually seen a Kaufman film (I know I need to change this) but I need to put this thread in perspective.
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Post by ganews on Feb 10, 2017 22:03:48 GMT -5
I've never actually seen a Kaufman film (I know I need to change this) but I need to put this thread in perspective. The night is young. Watching "Being John Malkovich" right now could really lend some perspective on this situation. |
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