![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Honestly, I find the whole Andy saga ridiculously compelling. Absolute trainwreck status. I'm completely unconnected to the whole affair, but back when I was on tumblr he re-entered my periphery with the DAYDian nonsense, and for years I felt kinda sorry for Andy. We have somewhat similar backstories - using fandom obsession to deal with gender identity struggles. Only, while I did hurt my internet friends with my lies when I was a teenager, I've never done anything like that again. I transitioned more than a decade ago, and that's when I was able to start living a life I don't want to lie about.
Okay, this is absolutely a reflection on me at this point, but I still can't get over Andy's whole deal.
I think I first learned of it on LJ in like, 2005. Discovered Andy again on Tumblr in 2013 when I was transitioning (and wow did that feel uncomfortable given my own awkward relationship between fandom and gender. The difference being I transitioned so I could live a life I didn't have to lie about.)
I read all the blogs about what happened in the 8 years since I'd last paid attention, and I was just floored. How on earth could one guy go through all that without achieving one ounce of self-awareness? He was busy arguing that because he identified as cis, then referring to him as trans was some kind of phobic.
So after doing all the reading and gaping, I decided I had enough trans drama in my life - mainly self-inflicted, because nothing makes for stability like going through puberty in your 20s as you get your first adult job - and left it alone.
Then, after I recently joined a fandom for the first time in many years, someone linked an article about infamous fandom dramas... and I've spent the last three weeks trawling through the AA blogs.
Honestly, I wonder if Andy knows that the truth of his life would be a far more interesting story than all the lies he tells? I know it comes from a place of never having been victimised by Andy or anyone who behaved like him, but I'm so fascinated - has he finally grown up now he's pushing 40? Is it enough to be making costumes, working two steps away from a fame-adjacent industry, and being adored by a bunch of cats?
I suppose any memoir of his worth reading would require him to put aside his vanity and tell the plain, unvarnished truth... Not something you'd see happening, but the man is full of surprises.
Oh, and KQ, on the offchance you're still lurking here, I met Jed Brophy at a wake a couple of years ago (he went to school with my uncles, everyone in Aotearoa knows each other) and he did tell a very polished and highly amusing anecdote about the time he got kidnapped without realising...
Okay, this is absolutely a reflection on me at this point, but I still can't get over Andy's whole deal.
I think I first learned of it on LJ in like, 2005. Discovered Andy again on Tumblr in 2013 when I was transitioning (and wow did that feel uncomfortable given my own awkward relationship between fandom and gender. The difference being I transitioned so I could live a life I didn't have to lie about.)
I read all the blogs about what happened in the 8 years since I'd last paid attention, and I was just floored. How on earth could one guy go through all that without achieving one ounce of self-awareness? He was busy arguing that because he identified as cis, then referring to him as trans was some kind of phobic.
So after doing all the reading and gaping, I decided I had enough trans drama in my life - mainly self-inflicted, because nothing makes for stability like going through puberty in your 20s as you get your first adult job - and left it alone.
Then, after I recently joined a fandom for the first time in many years, someone linked an article about infamous fandom dramas... and I've spent the last three weeks trawling through the AA blogs.
Honestly, I wonder if Andy knows that the truth of his life would be a far more interesting story than all the lies he tells? I know it comes from a place of never having been victimised by Andy or anyone who behaved like him, but I'm so fascinated - has he finally grown up now he's pushing 40? Is it enough to be making costumes, working two steps away from a fame-adjacent industry, and being adored by a bunch of cats?
I suppose any memoir of his worth reading would require him to put aside his vanity and tell the plain, unvarnished truth... Not something you'd see happening, but the man is full of surprises.
Oh, and KQ, on the offchance you're still lurking here, I met Jed Brophy at a wake a couple of years ago (he went to school with my uncles, everyone in Aotearoa knows each other) and he did tell a very polished and highly amusing anecdote about the time he got kidnapped without realising...
Re: I'm so glad I'm not the only one who can't look away
(Anonymous) 2023-01-12 08:15 am (UTC)(link)Wellp, I thought I'd lost the first part of that comment, but it seems to have been tacked on to the top.
Re: I'm so glad I'm not the only one who can't look away
(Anonymous) 2023-01-15 04:03 pm (UTC)(link)No shit, he did? I'd love to hear more of how he told it. He was a really compelling storyteller.
Re: I'm so glad I'm not the only one who can't look away
(Anonymous) 2023-04-25 05:26 pm (UTC)(link)This is a weird post tbh
This is just a quick heads-up that Andy is once again pretty active on Twitter. He's changed his handle to ![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
craftycatdad/Just A Simple Artificer (previously it was andrewmblake) and seems pretty active in costuming/design/sustainable fashion circles - a few people who I follow in those areas retweeted him a few times and I didn't realise it was him until he posted that GoT-inspired dress that he made a few years ago.
He isn't doing anything especially notable by Andy standards; he's been posting a lot of costuming/sewing "pro tip!" type content, and a lot of social justice/ally stuff. Very weird to see him being retweeted onto my TL by random fashion accounts, though.
craftycatdad/Just A Simple Artificer (previously it was andrewmblake) and seems pretty active in costuming/design/sustainable fashion circles - a few people who I follow in those areas retweeted him a few times and I didn't realise it was him until he posted that GoT-inspired dress that he made a few years ago.He isn't doing anything especially notable by Andy standards; he's been posting a lot of costuming/sewing "pro tip!" type content, and a lot of social justice/ally stuff. Very weird to see him being retweeted onto my TL by random fashion accounts, though.
So he's going primarily or exclusively by an alias again, in at least one online space. I have such a bad feeling about this.
As someone who just saw a twitter thread of his getting circulated on Tumblr with 75k+ notes (he's not the OP, they just screenshotted him), thank FUCK for this post or I wouldn't have realized it was him up to his old bullshit again.
I don't even know who still checks this, but I had to post this because I saw it on Twitter...
https://twitter.com/CraftyCatDad/status/1649217405384818689?t=Y9TRylFWhPKM5LkXrJp33Q&s=19
"I’m not kind because I’ve had a good life and don’t know differently. I’m kind because I choose to be, as I’ve both seen cruelty and people have been cruel to me and I don’t want to be that person to others."
He's seen cruelty and people have been cruel to him, but nary a mention of his casual cruelty.
https://twitter.com/CraftyCatDad/status/1649217405384818689?t=Y9TRylFWhPKM5LkXrJp33Q&s=19
"I’m not kind because I’ve had a good life and don’t know differently. I’m kind because I choose to be, as I’ve both seen cruelty and people have been cruel to me and I don’t want to be that person to others."
He's seen cruelty and people have been cruel to him, but nary a mention of his casual cruelty.
https://twitter.com/CraftyCatDad/status/1652655863725965312?t=sJ-cBlzpNdPY6lc3jAS8tw&s=19
I feel like I've gone back in time. He's got another baby sparrow. Apparently named Nuggie.
I feel like I've gone back in time. He's got another baby sparrow. Apparently named Nuggie.
https://twitter.com/CraftyCatDad/status/1652513159184539650
Pat explanations for why he's gone public again and why he's changed his handle, as if it weren't obvious that the one is because of the attention Nuggie will get him, and the other is more hiding in plain sight.
Pat explanations for why he's gone public again and why he's changed his handle, as if it weren't obvious that the one is because of the attention Nuggie will get him, and the other is more hiding in plain sight.
1. He's currently unemployed.
1.1. He probably has less money than he'd like.
1.2 He definitely has less praise and admiration from positive, work-related sources than he'd like.
2. He's gaining an audience.
2.1 And positioning himself as a child genius
2.2 ...who did bad things, because he couldn't admit "not knowing" things
2.3 ...and seems to have suffered some sort of childhood neglect (nearsighted but no glasses? sent out to work at the age of 7?)
2.4 but is oh-so-creative and loves small animals, which he really appreciates help supporting.
3. He's not spending a lot of posts talking about his actual living situation, and his wife is now the "cat grandma" to his "cat dad," which is weird and makes me wonder if he's trying to appear single.
I have a bad, bad feeling about all of this.
1.1. He probably has less money than he'd like.
1.2 He definitely has less praise and admiration from positive, work-related sources than he'd like.
2. He's gaining an audience.
2.1 And positioning himself as a child genius
2.2 ...who did bad things, because he couldn't admit "not knowing" things
2.3 ...and seems to have suffered some sort of childhood neglect (nearsighted but no glasses? sent out to work at the age of 7?)
2.4 but is oh-so-creative and loves small animals, which he really appreciates help supporting.
3. He's not spending a lot of posts talking about his actual living situation, and his wife is now the "cat grandma" to his "cat dad," which is weird and makes me wonder if he's trying to appear single.
I have a bad, bad feeling about all of this.
he locked his account and i'm not giving him a follow lol, but the 'cat grandma' thing is kinda weird, right? like... his wife is younger than him, by a fair bit. like /maybe/ it's a cutesy little joke but nothing andy has ever done has been cute, and giving him the benefit of the doubt is just never the move.
Andy is now doing small hand embroidery commissions. He seems to be more concerned with speed than anything else, and the results are notably sloppy.
DA
https://imgpile.com/images/9ZaCfL.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9Za9T1.md.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9ZadEP.md.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9Zatuj.md.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9ZaDFx.md.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9ZaxJo.jpg (tilted in the sunlight so you can see the detail)
https://imgpile.com/images/9ZaKLC.md.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9ZaMjS.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9ZaPD8.md.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9ZaYXb.md.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9ZaiE3.md.jpg
In case you were wondering, yes, he's still being aggressively twee:
Currently, what is being sewn Right Now is determined by the floss colors I have on hand from previous projects. However, investment has been made in the 500 Color Big Honking Thread Box (due Monday) at which point it’ll just be in the order of orders received.
https://twitter.com/CraftyCatDad/status/1674576964278177797
And Nugget is somehow still alive, if anyone was wondering.
https://imgpile.com/images/9ZaCfL.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9Za9T1.md.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9ZadEP.md.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9Zatuj.md.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9ZaDFx.md.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9ZaxJo.jpg (tilted in the sunlight so you can see the detail)
https://imgpile.com/images/9ZaKLC.md.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9ZaMjS.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9ZaPD8.md.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9ZaYXb.md.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9ZaiE3.md.jpg
In case you were wondering, yes, he's still being aggressively twee:
Currently, what is being sewn Right Now is determined by the floss colors I have on hand from previous projects. However, investment has been made in the 500 Color Big Honking Thread Box (due Monday) at which point it’ll just be in the order of orders received.
https://twitter.com/CraftyCatDad/status/1674576964278177797
And Nugget is somehow still alive, if anyone was wondering.
Some are neater than others. The ones that particularly stood out to me as sloppy are the Beetlejuice worm and these:
https://imgpile.com/images/9yvr61.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9yv85L.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9yvm8P.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9yvVcx.jpg
I suppose that what I read as sloppiness could be choices he's making to create texture, but as usual, he's emphasizing how quickly he can turn these out, so I question that.
https://imgpile.com/images/9yvr61.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9yv85L.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9yvm8P.jpg
https://imgpile.com/images/9yvVcx.jpg
I suppose that what I read as sloppiness could be choices he's making to create texture, but as usual, he's emphasizing how quickly he can turn these out, so I question that.
StrangeAeons on YouTube just posted a video about Andy and BoE.
Https://youtube.com/watch?v=uJU3AuF3AWs
Https://youtube.com/watch?v=uJU3AuF3AWs
I feel sorry for Andy after all this time: to parphrase Gone Girl, he has to wake up every day and be him.
andy, it's totally ok to fancast the patrick o'brien books, we've all done it. but you don't actually have to tag elliot page on twitter to say he'd be a great stephen. leave him alone, get a job.
This is unrelated to anything recent, save that I was rereading theteablogger’s tumblr recently, and I suddenly wanted to tell someone, anyone, that before she fell into Andy’s company, necromommycon was my friend.
We’d been friends for years, since Fandom Wank. She was always level headed, fair minded, and extremely clever and creative. I knew her under her other name, which I’m not sure is connected to the necromommycon identity officially, or I’d name it (for the sake of my own anonymity.) She’d secretly written some things that were (and, I suppose, still are) well known in fannish spaces at the time, including a certain long post about an infamous and badly behaved former BNF. She confided in me, and proved to me, that it was her.
I could never, ever have foreseen that she would become fully Team Andy. It seems anathema to the person I knew. I wish I knew what exactly about him made her so willing to lose all her thoughtful reason and objectivity. I miss my friend.
(Again, I am very sorry for being so vague. I don’t know that I can “prove” this information, but proof isn’t really the point. I am just disappointed, I suppose. And flabbergasted, to this day.)
We’d been friends for years, since Fandom Wank. She was always level headed, fair minded, and extremely clever and creative. I knew her under her other name, which I’m not sure is connected to the necromommycon identity officially, or I’d name it (for the sake of my own anonymity.) She’d secretly written some things that were (and, I suppose, still are) well known in fannish spaces at the time, including a certain long post about an infamous and badly behaved former BNF. She confided in me, and proved to me, that it was her.
I could never, ever have foreseen that she would become fully Team Andy. It seems anathema to the person I knew. I wish I knew what exactly about him made her so willing to lose all her thoughtful reason and objectivity. I miss my friend.
(Again, I am very sorry for being so vague. I don’t know that I can “prove” this information, but proof isn’t really the point. I am just disappointed, I suppose. And flabbergasted, to this day.)
I've also been recently re-reading all the Andy stuff, beginning to end (since Strange Aeon's video came out.) In retrospect, and in my opinion, Andy played necromommycon like a damn fiddle. He saw her weaknesses immediately. She thought she was too smart and strong to get fooled, which is of course a huge flashing sign that this person will be a perfect mark for anyone who wants to fool them. Relatedly, I think she had a massive case of NLOG (Not Like Other Girls.)
Tbh, she always gave me an iffy vibe, but I thought that was because of a personality clash. Never in a million years did I think she'd fall completely for Andy's bullcrap.
Tbh, she always gave me an iffy vibe, but I thought that was because of a personality clash. Never in a million years did I think she'd fall completely for Andy's bullcrap.
https://youtu.be/xQS_NY-FOBg?si=-diOZ6OyGlbu6vEb
This one covers DAYD. Found it hilarious that he reached out and asked her not to do this video.
This one covers DAYD. Found it hilarious that he reached out and asked her not to do this video.
Has anyone else come back here after years and years because of this video series?
Jesus, someone else pulled a fandom channeling cult back in 1981! State v. Moore, legal case where a woman claiming to channel the spirit of Billy Joel through Mafia drugs got custody of multiple children, one of whom ended up manslaughtered and sealed up in the wall.
https://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/supreme-court/1988/113-n-j-239-1.html
(CONTENT WARNINGS: extreme child abuse and violence of all kinds, child death, child molestation, just all of it. Awful.)
https://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/supreme-court/1988/113-n-j-239-1.html
(CONTENT WARNINGS: extreme child abuse and violence of all kinds, child death, child molestation, just all of it. Awful.)
https://youtu.be/7F-uXwH6VYk?si=3sQc1L8wZJvelEkA
Story about this Billy Joel channeling cult thing. Same TW as above
Story about this Billy Joel channeling cult thing. Same TW as above
I'm reading Teablogger's latest update, and boggling. I am not criticizing the people who fell for/are falling for Andy in this (well, most of them), but looking at what he's done recently, I don't understand how he can have so many people who are utterly devoted to and admiring of him when he:
1) Is blatantly sexist, racist, and transphobic. Sexually harasses people, also blatantly. Is just plain rude all the time.
2) Is incompetent, probably purposefully.
3) Is massively offputting to almost everyone generally, including on a physical basis because he doesn't take care of his hygiene.
4) Lies transparently and stupidly.
5) Requires everyone else to clean up after him, both literally and figuratively.
It's not just about people not having been warned about him. He's a huge pile of serious negatives -- what are the positives? I saw in the past what some of the positives could have been, even if they weren't positives for me, but now?
1) Is blatantly sexist, racist, and transphobic. Sexually harasses people, also blatantly. Is just plain rude all the time.
2) Is incompetent, probably purposefully.
3) Is massively offputting to almost everyone generally, including on a physical basis because he doesn't take care of his hygiene.
4) Lies transparently and stupidly.
5) Requires everyone else to clean up after him, both literally and figuratively.
It's not just about people not having been warned about him. He's a huge pile of serious negatives -- what are the positives? I saw in the past what some of the positives could have been, even if they weren't positives for me, but now?
"Radical empathy" and...what was it Aja said? An endless font of creative passion? I couldn't even type any of that with a straight face.
Does anyone have a picture of this post and/or a link to the old FFA thread? I'm a Game of Thrones nerd and I'm morbidly curious.
DA
Here's screencaps from Teablogger's timeline:
Megan's shots of the feast for the GoT premiere:
https://imgur.com/cGNRsEr
And Andy's "A Feast of Ice and Fire":
https://imgur.com/kJXRUDz
According to the timeline, they're both from 2014, with Meg's post April 6 and Andy's on August 4th.
Andy posted some more pics to his Instagram on October 24, 2016:
https://imgur.com/85UAD6T
I figure the dates might help find the FFA discussion to try and find that.
Here's screencaps from Teablogger's timeline:
Megan's shots of the feast for the GoT premiere:
https://imgur.com/cGNRsEr
And Andy's "A Feast of Ice and Fire":
https://imgur.com/kJXRUDz
According to the timeline, they're both from 2014, with Meg's post April 6 and Andy's on August 4th.
Andy posted some more pics to his Instagram on October 24, 2016:
https://imgur.com/85UAD6T
I figure the dates might help find the FFA discussion to try and find that.
https://small.fileditchstuff.me/s16/AyDcDuOYmqYDghdeFXxp.mp4
Andy's legendary cooking skills do not include washing his hands after handling raw meat.
(Found on VKontakte and edited to protect his friend)
Andy's legendary cooking skills do not include washing his hands after handling raw meat.
(Found on VKontakte and edited to protect his friend)
What accent is he trying to do here? And how lovely he kept the tomato paste can open side down on the counter (never mind the handling of the meat)
Just in case we needed more evidence his characters are just 25 different stereotypes in a trench coat, I was rereading some of the sporkings and noticed something when I looked at his DA list - all his Irish characters except Seamus, Sinead (who never fucking shows up that I recall), and Icarus have red hair. He just hides it by calling it auburn or ginger.
https://www.tumblr.com/winjennster/153616545629/file-under-reviews-that-shock-the-hell-out-of-me
I've refrained from bringing this up in the past because I don't like the idea of dragging Winjennster back into this mess, or of ruining what might have been an innocent and positive interaction.
But it's popped up on my dash a couple times over the past few months, and I'm not even in the Supernatural fandom. And the question of whether this might be Andy is haunting me, as people continue to pass it around as a feel-good story. If it's him, I don't want him getting away with it.
Just please leave Winjennster alone about this unless you know her personally, and are sure she'd want to be in the loop. She's already said on her blog that she's done talking about Andy.
Reasons I suspect this is Andy:
1. Winjennster was already an ex-friend of Andy's at this point, as well as the ex-wife of one of his biggest defenders, ravenjeep2001.
2. Corcoran is an Irish surname.
3. "I found this story by google. I was looking for the movie Painted Angels, but your story kept coming up."
The fanfic in question is part of a series called Painted Angels 'verse, but I still don't buy this.
Google "Painted Angels", with or without quotes. You get the movie, and also a bunch of painted angels. One of the most common art subjects for the past several centuries, including now, on places like Etsy and Pinterest. I don't understand how an AO3 series could have "kept coming up" in that search.
4. "I'm an older lady in my 60's but have an open mind" feels less like someone describing herself and more like a writer describing a character.
5. "I was simply curious. I've never read a story like this with two men. Three days later, I'd finished the first story and read all the other little stories before starting on this one."
Again, this reads to me like a writer going for a comedic smash-cut. "I've never read a story like this with two men. Three days later..."
I realize many people in many contexts do talk about their own experiences in a more narrative way, I'm just noting it along with everything else.
6. "I couldn't understand why this story wasn't a book in bookstores and my granddaughter explained to me about fanfiction and now i know."
A kind and ~tolerant~ older woman who knows absolutely nothing about online fandom—not even the existence of fanfiction—somehow finds her way to AO3, where she reads not only her first fanfiction but her first gay love story. And it's Destiel. And it's yours. And she loves it so much she thinks it should be in bookstores.
Funny and heartwarming if true. It just also sounds like exactly the kind of shit Andy would come up with.
I'm not saying any of this is impossible, but all of it together looks very Andy-shaped to me.
What does anyone else think?
I've refrained from bringing this up in the past because I don't like the idea of dragging Winjennster back into this mess, or of ruining what might have been an innocent and positive interaction.
But it's popped up on my dash a couple times over the past few months, and I'm not even in the Supernatural fandom. And the question of whether this might be Andy is haunting me, as people continue to pass it around as a feel-good story. If it's him, I don't want him getting away with it.
Just please leave Winjennster alone about this unless you know her personally, and are sure she'd want to be in the loop. She's already said on her blog that she's done talking about Andy.
Reasons I suspect this is Andy:
1. Winjennster was already an ex-friend of Andy's at this point, as well as the ex-wife of one of his biggest defenders, ravenjeep2001.
2. Corcoran is an Irish surname.
3. "I found this story by google. I was looking for the movie Painted Angels, but your story kept coming up."
The fanfic in question is part of a series called Painted Angels 'verse, but I still don't buy this.
Google "Painted Angels", with or without quotes. You get the movie, and also a bunch of painted angels. One of the most common art subjects for the past several centuries, including now, on places like Etsy and Pinterest. I don't understand how an AO3 series could have "kept coming up" in that search.
4. "I'm an older lady in my 60's but have an open mind" feels less like someone describing herself and more like a writer describing a character.
5. "I was simply curious. I've never read a story like this with two men. Three days later, I'd finished the first story and read all the other little stories before starting on this one."
Again, this reads to me like a writer going for a comedic smash-cut. "I've never read a story like this with two men. Three days later..."
I realize many people in many contexts do talk about their own experiences in a more narrative way, I'm just noting it along with everything else.
6. "I couldn't understand why this story wasn't a book in bookstores and my granddaughter explained to me about fanfiction and now i know."
A kind and ~tolerant~ older woman who knows absolutely nothing about online fandom—not even the existence of fanfiction—somehow finds her way to AO3, where she reads not only her first fanfiction but her first gay love story. And it's Destiel. And it's yours. And she loves it so much she thinks it should be in bookstores.
Funny and heartwarming if true. It just also sounds like exactly the kind of shit Andy would come up with.
I'm not saying any of this is impossible, but all of it together looks very Andy-shaped to me.
What does anyone else think?
It does sound like Andy. Heck, I think Andy even used the name "Shelia" all the way back in the Baggenders days. Wasn't that the persona he used in that awful hiding in plain sight story where he was seducing Orange Blossum and others over the interwebs and explaining exactly how he would do it.
But not saying it is Andy, it just sounds an awful lot like him. And the doddy old Irish lady in her 60's sounds fake even if it isn't Andy. People in their 60's are not generally that out of touch to not know what slash or fanfic are. It's the over the top explanation that gets me. Why not just say "WOW, I've never read anything like this, but I stumbled upon your story and I REALLY loved it! You're a great writer! You should be in bookstores!" The person making it all about them if very Andy-esque
But not saying it is Andy, it just sounds an awful lot like him. And the doddy old Irish lady in her 60's sounds fake even if it isn't Andy. People in their 60's are not generally that out of touch to not know what slash or fanfic are. It's the over the top explanation that gets me. Why not just say "WOW, I've never read anything like this, but I stumbled upon your story and I REALLY loved it! You're a great writer! You should be in bookstores!" The person making it all about them if very Andy-esque
TB has a post about Andy's anthropomorphizing of the injured sparrow he and Meg take care of:
https://theteablogger.tumblr.com/post/775778396900900864/you-may-have-already-noted-this-but-andys-claims
Q: You may have already noted this, but Andy's claims on twitter about being able to understand what his sparrow is saying (and thus sparrow language in general) seem to be ramping up in unbelievability- apparently yesterday the bird was able to communicate that it didn't want its conversation with other sparrows recorded and shared. Andy makes mention of several of his followers who have apparently been having FaceTime calls with the bird. There's at least 5-6 of Andy's followers who consistently comment on the bird updates and show no credulity, expressing how much they want to be able to communicate with the bird like Andy does. It's probably not the biggest deal, but the whole thing has just been giving me an odd vibe. Feels like Andy once again making friends/followers by demonstrating abilities and knowledge no one else has.
Yes, his allegedly deep connection with sparrows has been getting weird for quite a while. He says he can understand some of their language, enough to relay things that the flock outside his house is talking about and things that Nuggie communicates to him. On top of that, Andy has written about things like Nuggie watching movies and musicals and following every emotional beat, to the point of showing the characters his malformed feet to offer encouragement when they’re lacking confidence. Andy is anthropomorphizing the hell out of that little bird. Meanwhile, his followers praise him for knowing sparrows better than ornithologists do.
I’ve lived with a parrot before, for many years, and I bonded very closely with him. I agree that birds are much smarter and more emotionally complex than most people realize. But they’re not humans. Their thoughts and feelings are not exactly like ours and we have no way to know exactly what’s going on in their heads. Projecting onto them can lead to misunderstandings of their behavior and needs. Andy seems to be taking good care of Nuggie, from what I can tell–bearing in mind that we only have his word for it–but that doesn’t mean he’s right about everything.
I’m not trying to suggest that Andy is forming another cult based around his bird, but like you said, Anon, it’s notable that he is once again positioning himself as someone who has a special ability that no one else has. He’s also repeating an old pattern in making himself the sole conduit to communicate with someone who holds a great deal of emotional significance for people. Back in the day, it was any of 160+ “others”, and later, the DAYDverse/Harry Potter characters; now, it’s a rescued sparrow with a disability, whom a lot of people apparently find inspiring.
Andy has read TB's post:
https://theteablogger.tumblr.com/post/775793961913794561/andy-has-read-my-post
https://theteablogger.tumblr.com/post/775778396900900864/you-may-have-already-noted-this-but-andys-claims
Q: You may have already noted this, but Andy's claims on twitter about being able to understand what his sparrow is saying (and thus sparrow language in general) seem to be ramping up in unbelievability- apparently yesterday the bird was able to communicate that it didn't want its conversation with other sparrows recorded and shared. Andy makes mention of several of his followers who have apparently been having FaceTime calls with the bird. There's at least 5-6 of Andy's followers who consistently comment on the bird updates and show no credulity, expressing how much they want to be able to communicate with the bird like Andy does. It's probably not the biggest deal, but the whole thing has just been giving me an odd vibe. Feels like Andy once again making friends/followers by demonstrating abilities and knowledge no one else has.
Yes, his allegedly deep connection with sparrows has been getting weird for quite a while. He says he can understand some of their language, enough to relay things that the flock outside his house is talking about and things that Nuggie communicates to him. On top of that, Andy has written about things like Nuggie watching movies and musicals and following every emotional beat, to the point of showing the characters his malformed feet to offer encouragement when they’re lacking confidence. Andy is anthropomorphizing the hell out of that little bird. Meanwhile, his followers praise him for knowing sparrows better than ornithologists do.
I’ve lived with a parrot before, for many years, and I bonded very closely with him. I agree that birds are much smarter and more emotionally complex than most people realize. But they’re not humans. Their thoughts and feelings are not exactly like ours and we have no way to know exactly what’s going on in their heads. Projecting onto them can lead to misunderstandings of their behavior and needs. Andy seems to be taking good care of Nuggie, from what I can tell–bearing in mind that we only have his word for it–but that doesn’t mean he’s right about everything.
I’m not trying to suggest that Andy is forming another cult based around his bird, but like you said, Anon, it’s notable that he is once again positioning himself as someone who has a special ability that no one else has. He’s also repeating an old pattern in making himself the sole conduit to communicate with someone who holds a great deal of emotional significance for people. Back in the day, it was any of 160+ “others”, and later, the DAYDverse/Harry Potter characters; now, it’s a rescued sparrow with a disability, whom a lot of people apparently find inspiring.
Andy has read TB's post:
https://theteablogger.tumblr.com/post/775793961913794561/andy-has-read-my-post
SA
A linguist breaks down Andy's claims:
https://abyssalsquiid.tumblr.com/post/775828493856587776/you-may-have-already-noted-this-but-andys-claims
And Abbey confirms that Andy is reusing a scam:
https://theteablogger.tumblr.com/post/775967756928565249/the-state-of-arrested-development-he-exists-in-is
A linguist breaks down Andy's claims:
https://abyssalsquiid.tumblr.com/post/775828493856587776/you-may-have-already-noted-this-but-andys-claims
And Abbey confirms that Andy is reusing a scam:
https://theteablogger.tumblr.com/post/775967756928565249/the-state-of-arrested-development-he-exists-in-is
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