this bathysphere is perplexing!

[sab]

Hey, LOTRips people? There's this thread over on the seekrit_pics community talking about smackin' down some troll or mole or whatnot, and I'm perplexed. Is it me? Looks around...

I'm so confused. I totally friended the community; I'm not a part of LOTRips fandom or even LOTR fandom (while being a fangirl in my own right -- and proud of it! -- off in my own other fandoms), but I was certainly enjoying watching the discussion and the fallout over there. I had no idea that my friending the community would create such draaaaamaa.

I didn't, um, I didn't friend the community to see Jason's pictures -- dude, I am IN the pictures, hell, I *took* some of the pictures; I just friended y'all on a lark when y'all started friending *me.*

Essentially, what happened was this: Jason, who is in no way internet-naive, but who does tend to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and has general faith in the goodness of humanity, uploaded the pictures to his gallery (which was alive and kicking long before y'all found it) and left it unlocked, figuring he'd give the URL out to his friends and family and let us enjoy his photography.

A good question might be, how did fandom discover his gallery in the first place? A reasonable answer might be: well, it's the internet, things are bound to get out eventually.

So, badda-bing. Some fan found the pictures, and the horse was out of the barn. Jason, still having general faith in the goodness of humanity, opted to password-protect some of the albums, while keeping others open, fully aware that fans were visiting and enjoying them, and figuring, well, as long as the fans didn't overload his bandwidth or steal and repost his pictures elsewhere, what was the harm? So about half the galleries were open for the past few months as we tested the waters, but folks kept nabbing and reposting the pictures and Jason's bandwidth usage skyrocketed.

Then last week we had the gingerbread party and the pix went up, and didn't get locked down quick enough, but there had always been plans in the works to lock down and password-protect the whole site, and so, a couple days ago, Jason did just that.

If you have any questions about this, I will answer them as honestly as I can, but there's no hypocrisy or eeeevil at work there, just the matter of trying to save Jason's site from being overrun by fans bent on conspiracy-theorizing about the content of these (really rather innocent, rather personal, and rather human) photos. Plus -- as far as I can tell, half the fandom was bucking for Jason to lock down the site all along, saying he was naive about the ways of the internet and shouldn't have put them up for public viewing in the first place. So what's the deal?

Comments

[thinkum]

I am, yet again, boggled by what passes for some folks' thought processes.

If you were a mole, would that not imply that Jason had no respect for -- or trust of -- their little community? And if so, what would that say about these folks, that they would choose to demonize you, rather than even consider the possibility that Jason doesn't hold them in an esteem as great as their own conceit?

Perhaps because I am generally a private person myself, I find the sense of entitlement present in the referenced thread to be incomprehensible.

I dunno, the whole celebrity thing is perplexing...and pointless. People are people. Some may have cooler jobs than others, some may be more physically attractive than others, but in the end (so to speak) we each produce the same amount of crap. *wbeg*

[somedaybitch.livejournal.com]

what she said....

cuz if i posted my own thoughts, well, let's just say there would be few real words mixed in with paragraphs of profanity.

and i am humbled by how utterly gracious your post is. you rock the house girl.

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

*bows*

Thank you. My thing is this: unless someone threatens actual bodily harm to me or my loved ones, I am cool like three Fonzies. It's that whole sticks and stones thing. Mmmm, Fonz...

[somedaybitch.livejournal.com]

mmm, Fonz. and what *was* it about him that made him so.very.sexy?

[cofax7]

You know, it's like a car-crash. I went back and read that thread again. And you know? I think they're snarking about The M.

Which, frankly, well. I'm looking for something large to hide under. Because really, you know, that's not gonna end well. *eg*

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

They can't tell us apart. They also don't think Bron and M. are really here. They're my "alleged friends." Yeesh.

[cofax7]

I begin to be less surprised by M taking her site down. (tragedy though that is: I tried to rec Please Hold Tightly to someone the other day, and couldn't find it anywhere)

[somedaybitch.livejournal.com]

actually, and i hate to be the one to divulge this secret but i feel i must....they aren't real sab. they are manifestations of your very troubled mind. as your doctor, i'm terribly concerned by this all. i feel an intervention may even be necessary. *sobs*

[sorlklewis.livejournal.com]

Everything makes so much more sense now.

[simplystars.livejournal.com]

Hmm... so if you aren't real, who exactly is it in the photo of that shiny happy person hugging me in Burbank???

Or was I hallucinating again? *facepalm*

[themonkeycabal.livejournal.com]

I think Sab's delusions are catching. We may have to spray.

[somedaybitch.livejournal.com]

i was afraid of this. *shudders*

[sorlklewis.livejournal.com]

BWAH!

That should be on a t-shirt or something...

[maudelynn.livejournal.com]

Well Em caught me sitting by myself at a bar one night last week talking to people that weren't there. Happens all the time :P

[fourteenlines.livejournal.com]

But there was the oddly bitter comment about the "troll" mentioning that Sauron had 52 pairs of shoes, and that was Sab all the way. (I mean, who WOULDN'T mention it if the Man-Flesh Uruk-Hai was their latest housemate???)

Anyway, EITHER way, I think we're all agreed on the badness of the whole idea. *g*

[sorlklewis.livejournal.com]

lol. Well, in all honesty, I know I mentioned S's shoes. And maybe M did, too?

Oh, but wait... we don't exist. Never mind. *G*