For all your Andy-related info-dumping needs. If there's information you'd like to archive, please post it here, and feel free to link to it from the main post if you'd like to discuss it.
what was the deal with the zombie apocalypse LARP and the other LARP? Aja talked about how he used LARPing as an entry point for cult building is that why you backed out? did he recruit anyone at the first one? do you think the zombie one was canceled because Aja and others exposed it as a con job and dangerous?
NO NO NO. Ok, no.
The Moments to Midnight thing wasn’t even a LARP. It was a mild role playing event. We came, we got in character, we left. It was the same as if you’d gone to a murder mystery night and there were actors there to perform a show. That’s it. No one “got recruited”. I made a bunch of amazing new friends. A marriage came out of it. I looked amazing and me and Chess kicked ass. That was it.
The zombie thing - him and I had a fight, over Megan and some other shit. I pulled out. I told him I didn’t want any part of it, so he closed down shop. That one wasn’t going to have any role playing at all.
So no, no con, no cult, that’s it.
I'm sorry that Andy called you a shit mother. That's really awful. Would you mind elaborating on why your son wanted Andy's attention (so much that he would lie) and how the ill timed "coming out" happened? Was Andy the driving force behind the idea?
I feel like he was the driving force. I knew Joe found men attractive, but he was utterly not interested in having a physical relationship with another guy. I think he just enjoys looking at pretty people. Andy is bright and sparkly, and he treated Joe like a grown up, not a kid. Joe wants to be an artist and admired Andy’s skills.
Also, Joe has some pretty serious mental illnesses, and at the time, they were out of control. He wanted to be the center of attention, a lot. I’m pretty sure Andy talked him into the idea of coming out.
How anyone who claims to know me would think I’d be anything but supportive to an LGBTQA child of my own loins is beyond me. Also, it pissed me off that he presumed to think he knew my son better than I did.
What do you know about Andy's attempts to infiltrate other fandoms like Teen Wolf or WTNV?
Literally nothing. He did the Cecil cosplay to amuse Megan, but I don’t think he gave two shits about Night Vale. As for Teen Wolf? We all got into it around the same time out of boredom and lack of SPN. I’ve since lost any and all interest. I don’t know if he’s still into it?
can i ask 2 questions? (ok 3 bc that was a question lol) you said the aa blogs freaked out about stuff they shouldn't can you give an example? and what was the stuff you told aja that you wanted people to know but she cut?
The AA blogs occasionally twist things too far. Sometimes, something he says is actually innocent and they make it a big deal. I don’t have any direct examples.
I told Aja about GISH, I told her about DC Con, I told her about everything. I think she used like one quote from me? It took me like three weeks to even agree to talk to her, I got so worked up about it I didn’t sleep for three days before the interview - and that’s it. A whole of nothing. It’s like, what was the point?
Another formerly close real-life friend, Jennifer Cilento, said she broke off contact with Blake after deciding he was being manipulative and controlling toward Carlson. She later stated publicly that Blake was “abusive.” She’s now moved away and asked him not to contact her again.
Yup. That’s it. We talked for close to two hours and that’s it.
Dear Jenn, please excuse the possibly stupid question, but is the Megan/wingsandgrace you have mentioned the same Meg in Aja's article who has moved in as his 'groundskeeper'?
Yes.
This is only tangentially about Andy, but did you sense he was freezing Ceirdwenfc out, or including her reluctantly?
I will say this - she’s kinder to him than he is to her. He doesn’t deserve her loyalty.
1) There's a few things you've described so far that follows the same pattern of some of Andy's past abuse. Like the convincing your son he was gay thing for example, trying to persuade someone they're a sexuality they aren't (usually something LGBT-flavoured) is something he's done to multiple people in past. Trying to cause conflict between a parent and their child is also something else he's also done to people in the past. Have you ever read anything on the Andy Awareness blogs where you've
2) had a jolt of recognition in a “He did that to me/another friend too!” kind of way? Can you give any examples?
The manipulation thing is what was really bothering me. I don’t know that I have any actual examples.
Do you think that Andy has learned from his past mistakes (like GISH)? Or if he is in the same kind of situation again, would he be just as likely to repeat them as far as being mean to people on his team, etc.?
I’m not around him enough to know - but he did do GISH this past summer and it seems to have gone well.
How was Andy horrible to Mapal?
I’m sure you’d have to ask her the specifics, but he was very harsh in the way he spoke to her, and bulldozed her out of one of the items she really wanted to do.
Andy told you about Brittany that soon? Do you think he was using her as a hook to gain your sympathy and friendship? And fuck him for calling you a shit mother, by the way.
I think it was a ‘get to her and sell my side of the story before the AA blogs get to her’. I don’t know if it was a ploy for sympathy, but that seems likely.
what's the worst thing you saw andy do while you knew him? i guess what i'm trying to get at is how bad is he, still? do you think he's dangerous?
One of the things that really started to shake things apart was when I got to know his mom. For months, he’d been telling me that Amy Player was his sister and that all of the horrible things Amy had done were done by this person (his sister). It was after I got to know Cyd that I found out his sister’s true name and the fact that he was indeed Amy Player and responsible for all of Amy’s deeds.
That still bothers me. Even after I caught him in the lie, he continued to insist that his sister was Amy Player, and that his mom just called her by her first name (which I won’t use here) and that Amy was her middle name and she preferred to go by that. By this time, Cyd and I had become friends, so when I asked her outright, she told me the truth about Amy.
Do I think he’s still dangerous? I think he has the potential to become dangerous again, yes. Not sure if that’s the same thing.
Do you think Andy has ever genuinely changed?
I think he’s a good actor.
Do you think any of Andy's online apologies have ever been sincere or is there good reason to doubt them?
Considering that his apologies are usually vague and point out how others caused the failure? No.
What were the best and worst things about being friends with Andy?
There was always something fun, new, and exciting to do. He introduced me to new people.
He was always often rude, embarrassing, aggressive in how he “collected” people, and extremely good at making me feel stupid and embarrassed by my body type.
There was the body paint series - if I wanted to be a part of it, I had to be The Hulk. I wanted to be Hawkeye. Nope. Body type. I had to be The Hulk. Still a little pissed about that. Also, that’s why I refused to participate.
There was a lot of that - little stabs at me, telling me in a round about way I wasn’t good enough. Go look at his liveblogs from when he read Cooking with Gas. Yeah. That fucking infuriated me. He has a way of complimenting you that you realize later was far from a compliment.
If you knew back then all that you know now would you have avoided becoming friends with Andy? Do you ever miss him?
I don’t miss him. I miss the kids (posse). I think I would have cut him off the first time instead of constantly going back. Knowing that there are valuable people in my life I wouldn’t have if not for him makes me say that yes, I still would have become friends with him.
I cannot stress how little I miss him. He’s exhausting.
How old was your son when Andy was suggesting he was gay? Because that would have been a couple of years ago now wouldn't it?
August 2013. Joe had just turned fifteen.
***not a question, but final note***
One last thing and then I’m putting this Andy thing to rest - well, two last things.
One is about Megan. There’s a thing in the article (My mother doesn’t want you to wear those pants in the house.) The pants in question are a pair of Navy sweat pants that I’m pretty sure she’s had since Basic. They have the mother of all holes close to the waistline, and gloriously display whatever lovely underwear she happens to have on that day. This is why Cyd doesn’t want he wearing them in the house. That’s all. It’s not Andy being controlling on this issue, it’s Cyd demanding modesty. That’s it.
Two - if you’d asked me a year or so ago what I thought about kumquatwriter, I’d have basically said Abbey needed a hobby. Over the past year, I’ve come to realize I was wrong about that. She’s been through hell. She’s still standing. My level of respect for her is extremely high.
So that’s it. I’m officially closing the book on Andrew Blake. I feel like I’ve said everything that needed to be said, and I’m ready to move on with my life. From this point forward, any and all asks about him will go unanswered. Thank you for your time, and for putting up with this mess on my blog the last few days.
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Winjennster's Q&A, part 2
(Anonymous) 2015-04-12 12:47 am (UTC)(link)what was the deal with the zombie apocalypse LARP and the other LARP? Aja talked about how he used LARPing as an entry point for cult building is that why you backed out? did he recruit anyone at the first one? do you think the zombie one was canceled because Aja and others exposed it as a con job and dangerous?
NO NO NO. Ok, no.
The Moments to Midnight thing wasn’t even a LARP. It was a mild role playing event. We came, we got in character, we left. It was the same as if you’d gone to a murder mystery night and there were actors there to perform a show. That’s it. No one “got recruited”. I made a bunch of amazing new friends. A marriage came out of it. I looked amazing and me and Chess kicked ass. That was it.
The zombie thing - him and I had a fight, over Megan and some other shit. I pulled out. I told him I didn’t want any part of it, so he closed down shop. That one wasn’t going to have any role playing at all.
So no, no con, no cult, that’s it.
I'm sorry that Andy called you a shit mother. That's really awful. Would you mind elaborating on why your son wanted Andy's attention (so much that he would lie) and how the ill timed "coming out" happened? Was Andy the driving force behind the idea?
I feel like he was the driving force. I knew Joe found men attractive, but he was utterly not interested in having a physical relationship with another guy. I think he just enjoys looking at pretty people. Andy is bright and sparkly, and he treated Joe like a grown up, not a kid. Joe wants to be an artist and admired Andy’s skills.
Also, Joe has some pretty serious mental illnesses, and at the time, they were out of control. He wanted to be the center of attention, a lot. I’m pretty sure Andy talked him into the idea of coming out.
How anyone who claims to know me would think I’d be anything but supportive to an LGBTQA child of my own loins is beyond me. Also, it pissed me off that he presumed to think he knew my son better than I did.
What do you know about Andy's attempts to infiltrate other fandoms like Teen Wolf or WTNV?
Literally nothing. He did the Cecil cosplay to amuse Megan, but I don’t think he gave two shits about Night Vale. As for Teen Wolf? We all got into it around the same time out of boredom and lack of SPN. I’ve since lost any and all interest. I don’t know if he’s still into it?
can i ask 2 questions? (ok 3 bc that was a question lol) you said the aa blogs freaked out about stuff they shouldn't can you give an example? and what was the stuff you told aja that you wanted people to know but she cut?
The AA blogs occasionally twist things too far. Sometimes, something he says is actually innocent and they make it a big deal. I don’t have any direct examples.
I told Aja about GISH, I told her about DC Con, I told her about everything. I think she used like one quote from me? It took me like three weeks to even agree to talk to her, I got so worked up about it I didn’t sleep for three days before the interview - and that’s it. A whole of nothing. It’s like, what was the point?
Another formerly close real-life friend, Jennifer Cilento, said she broke off contact with Blake after deciding he was being manipulative and controlling toward Carlson. She later stated publicly that Blake was “abusive.” She’s now moved away and asked him not to contact her again.
Yup. That’s it. We talked for close to two hours and that’s it.
Dear Jenn, please excuse the possibly stupid question, but is the Megan/wingsandgrace you have mentioned the same Meg in Aja's article who has moved in as his 'groundskeeper'?
Yes.
This is only tangentially about Andy, but did you sense he was freezing Ceirdwenfc out, or including her reluctantly?
I will say this - she’s kinder to him than he is to her. He doesn’t deserve her loyalty.
1) There's a few things you've described so far that follows the same pattern of some of Andy's past abuse. Like the convincing your son he was gay thing for example, trying to persuade someone they're a sexuality they aren't (usually something LGBT-flavoured) is something he's done to multiple people in past. Trying to cause conflict between a parent and their child is also something else he's also done to people in the past. Have you ever read anything on the Andy Awareness blogs where you've
2) had a jolt of recognition in a “He did that to me/another friend too!” kind of way? Can you give any examples?
The manipulation thing is what was really bothering me. I don’t know that I have any actual examples.
Do you think that Andy has learned from his past mistakes (like GISH)? Or if he is in the same kind of situation again, would he be just as likely to repeat them as far as being mean to people on his team, etc.?
I’m not around him enough to know - but he did do GISH this past summer and it seems to have gone well.
How was Andy horrible to Mapal?
I’m sure you’d have to ask her the specifics, but he was very harsh in the way he spoke to her, and bulldozed her out of one of the items she really wanted to do.
Andy told you about Brittany that soon? Do you think he was using her as a hook to gain your sympathy and friendship? And fuck him for calling you a shit mother, by the way.
I think it was a ‘get to her and sell my side of the story before the AA blogs get to her’. I don’t know if it was a ploy for sympathy, but that seems likely.
what's the worst thing you saw andy do while you knew him? i guess what i'm trying to get at is how bad is he, still? do you think he's dangerous?
One of the things that really started to shake things apart was when I got to know his mom. For months, he’d been telling me that Amy Player was his sister and that all of the horrible things Amy had done were done by this person (his sister). It was after I got to know Cyd that I found out his sister’s true name and the fact that he was indeed Amy Player and responsible for all of Amy’s deeds.
That still bothers me. Even after I caught him in the lie, he continued to insist that his sister was Amy Player, and that his mom just called her by her first name (which I won’t use here) and that Amy was her middle name and she preferred to go by that. By this time, Cyd and I had become friends, so when I asked her outright, she told me the truth about Amy.
Do I think he’s still dangerous? I think he has the potential to become dangerous again, yes. Not sure if that’s the same thing.
Do you think Andy has ever genuinely changed?
I think he’s a good actor.
Do you think any of Andy's online apologies have ever been sincere or is there good reason to doubt them?
Considering that his apologies are usually vague and point out how others caused the failure? No.
What were the best and worst things about being friends with Andy?
There was always something fun, new, and exciting to do. He introduced me to new people.
He was always often rude, embarrassing, aggressive in how he “collected” people, and extremely good at making me feel stupid and embarrassed by my body type.
There was the body paint series - if I wanted to be a part of it, I had to be The Hulk. I wanted to be Hawkeye. Nope. Body type. I had to be The Hulk. Still a little pissed about that. Also, that’s why I refused to participate.
There was a lot of that - little stabs at me, telling me in a round about way I wasn’t good enough. Go look at his liveblogs from when he read Cooking with Gas. Yeah. That fucking infuriated me. He has a way of complimenting you that you realize later was far from a compliment.
If you knew back then all that you know now would you have avoided becoming friends with Andy? Do you ever miss him?
I don’t miss him. I miss the kids (posse). I think I would have cut him off the first time instead of constantly going back. Knowing that there are valuable people in my life I wouldn’t have if not for him makes me say that yes, I still would have become friends with him.
I cannot stress how little I miss him. He’s exhausting.
How old was your son when Andy was suggesting he was gay? Because that would have been a couple of years ago now wouldn't it?
August 2013. Joe had just turned fifteen.
***not a question, but final note***
One last thing and then I’m putting this Andy thing to rest - well, two last things.
One is about Megan. There’s a thing in the article (My mother doesn’t want you to wear those pants in the house.) The pants in question are a pair of Navy sweat pants that I’m pretty sure she’s had since Basic. They have the mother of all holes close to the waistline, and gloriously display whatever lovely underwear she happens to have on that day. This is why Cyd doesn’t want he wearing them in the house. That’s all. It’s not Andy being controlling on this issue, it’s Cyd demanding modesty. That’s it.
Two - if you’d asked me a year or so ago what I thought about kumquatwriter, I’d have basically said Abbey needed a hobby. Over the past year, I’ve come to realize I was wrong about that. She’s been through hell. She’s still standing. My level of respect for her is extremely high.
So that’s it. I’m officially closing the book on Andrew Blake. I feel like I’ve said everything that needed to be said, and I’m ready to move on with my life. From this point forward, any and all asks about him will go unanswered. Thank you for your time, and for putting up with this mess on my blog the last few days.