@ Minister of Silly Walks. Thanks for coming out a bit more , but you still haven’t told us what role you played on AFF, and what your ava there was called?
For my own part, although I did sign up with AFF (under my usual handle) shortly after it's inception. I rarely posted, and wasn’t there at all when the drama happened, so I’ve just had to pore over the relevant threads here to try to get a balanced picture,. I have to say that what I’ve read here does tend to support Al’s narrative over yours. But given that this was a complex situation, involving many different individuals that played out over a considerable period of time, it’s also easy to see how reasonable people could come out of that with opposing points-of-view .
I saw a lot of respect for Gareth in evidence here and I share that respect . It looks like Amy had some sort of a breakdown, doesn't it? In the light of that, I do wonder if it wouldn’t be kinder and more constructive if we stopped raking over the coals? I keep thinking to myself, how would I feel if I had a breakdown, got over it, but a bunch of angry people were still throwing rotten tomatoes at me on account of my irrational behaviour, for what might amount to rest of my life, at this rate? I’m thinking, if I were Amy, I would need to to keep well away from that angry mob , to protect my own mental health.
So I’m not sure we should having this discussion at all, let alone posting this discussion in a place where anyone, even non-members can read the lot. That said, you’ve convinced some people that it’s relevant, and crucial to understanding what’s happening here. But can we at least move the sodding thing? Odeon? To somewhere slightly less exposed.
I notice that Gareth comported himself with enormous dignity, when he came on here. caught as he was between the angry mob and (presumably) fragile wife. He got a lot of respect for that. But Gareth already had people’s respect. It’s not a simple mob v “Gareth and Amy” thing
That someone as impressive as Gareth can stand by Amy suggests to me , not that Gareth has ben duped by his psychotic bitch of a wife, , as some have it, but rather: there’s more to this than meets the eye, and we’ll never know the whole story, because the rest of the story is deeply personal to Gareth and Amy, and none of our damned business.
I also note that Gareth seemed satisfied, after talking with al, that Al was not to blame. Here’s a thought: maybe no particular individual was to blame for that trainwreck? Maybe the whole community played a part, with their righteous indignation pulling the board in opposite directions until the whole thing just snapped like a christmas cracker, and the predictable bad joke and flimsy party hat fell out of it. And we’re still quarrelling over who gets to wear the hat.
That;’s the overall impression I got, for what my opinion is worth. But I’ll say again, I was not involved in that one, I’m just going on hearsay, same as Odeon. But at least most of that hearsay was stated on this board for all to see, by people who clearly disclosed their identity on AFF . You’ve still only come halfway towards that, MoSW . It matters. Unless we have some idea of your personal affinities and perspective (as in : how good a view did you have from wherever you were standing?) we have no way to judge the reliability of you testimony. You seem like an intelligent person. You can surely appreciate that?
Finally, your clincher is that you see uncanny parallells between the situation here and the situation on AFF. Umm, Well , I see uncanny parallels between the situation here and the situation on Aspegia / Aspergian Island. I really do, and it worries me. But If I leapt to conclusions based upon those parallels, then those conclusions would completely contradict yours.
One of us would have to be wrong. So, that should sound a note of caution for both of us, shouldn’t it?
I think I’d better make a further post, spelling out exactly what I mean by those parallels I see, because that statement in itself, is far to vague to carry any weight. No better than your first post on this matter, indeed.
If either one of us is onto something, then we surely have big problems on I^2 However, , at the end of the day, the best way to ensure that those problems destroy the board, is to promote suspicion, anger, scapegoating. If too many people leap to conclusions then react accordingly, then this board is as dead as all those other boards , nevermind who (if anyone) started the rot.
So, I will be more explicit regarding those parallells. I see more good than harm in it ATM, But wait for it. I’m a slowcoach, and how to post about that without inadvertently adding to the toxic air of distrust around here? That’s quite an ask .
Also, I’m not sure that raking over the coals of any dead boards on a page that’s visible to all-and-sundry is a good idea at all. I’ve surely nothing to hide, but real people got very badly hurt in the Aspergia debacle, and who knows if a totally public discussion might serve to fan the flames all over again? or rub salt in old wounds for innocent parties. So, again, I’d rather post it somewhere a little bit less public. I’d rather post it in Elder’s , indeed, but I note that would serve to exclude at least one participant. Yourself. So I won’t go quite that far.
