The Historic Fandom Schemes Of BitOfEarth.net

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☼ Merch: strange-ons-sh...
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Outro Song: "Driving in The Rain" by Timecrawler 82
timecrawler82....
/ @timecrawler82

[@STRANGEONS]

Use STRANGEONS55 to get 55% off your first month at Scentbird sbird.co/3QaHO7A

[@CraftyXan]

hi strange. :D

[@caseymovius4999]

HOW DO I BUY UR BUTTONS😭

[@angusmcnay5449]

Coif is pronounced "kwoff" you booklearner

[@happytester]

I really enjoyed scentbird - it helped me learn so much more about what perfumes work on me

[@hathorthecow7146]

Is there any way to indicate allergens on scentbird? I like smelling nice, but I'm deathly allergic to lavender and that's a pretty common additive to smelly things in my experience.

[@leagaillard755]

what i'm really getting out of this was that celebrities in the 2000s were NOT scared about attending random events held by weird online communities

[@marywren3998]

This might be one of the reasons they are nowadays

[@guardingdark2860]

To be fair, that might just be Sean Astin, who by all accounts is just a very friendly and outgoing person all around.

[@EvilGeniusIIpi]

You know it’s gonna be a wild one when *psychic abilities* are introduced less than 12 minutes into a two hour opus.

[@salem-01]

I was like “Holy shit ALREADY???? Bitch what the FUCK”

[@AnInsideJoke]

You mean *The Mind Hole*?

[@nataliesantana1923]

@@AnInsideJokeNOT THE MIND HOLE

[@comatose1818]

I read this comments Just as I hit the psychic abilities

[@tarafromtheau4516]

@@nataliesantana1923 I don't wish to have this term in my mind, but here we are now.

[@kittyqueentengu5327]

youtube video: so then vb faked their death and was replaced by the spirit of elijah wood me, crocheting a bee: oh my god no way

[@hannahwilson6778]

as a fellow crocher, same lol

[@corvuscallosum5079]

The mere thought of a crocheted bee feels like salve on my brain after two hours of learning about an abusive LotR cult, so thank you very much XD

[@lizabethhampton4537]

me, revisiting this video but crocheting a tank top and seeing this comment:

[@lokiaxel5028]

Same, making a no face plush rn :3

[@jessicafree8281]

me, crocheting a dress, and seeing that we're all having the same experience lol

[@samkuperman9035]

Jeanine being a doctor makes the needless transphobia and homophobia soooo much worse

[@sophitiaofhyrule]

Oh dear lord I hope none of her patients are LGBT for their own sake 😨

[@TheMeggos]

And unfortunately makes more sense.

[@jessg3533]

My brain feels like it just went through the spin cycle, so sorry if this is a dumb question, but did anyone specify whether she was a medical doctor? Cus you can use the title doctor and not have a medical degree. You just need to have a PhD or equivalent doctoral degree.

[@thomasstone3480]

she listed herself as 'md, phd' and afaik only medical doctors get mds@@jessg3533

[@FrostedGalaxies]

@@jessg3533 I believe that she was both an MD and a PhD.

[@woundworship]

im sorry but faking your death instead of just changing your name and saying your soul died and was replaced by some guy instead of just coming out as trans is so fucking funny to me. guys we have to start doing that regularly

[@topgunenjoyer]

when i was a kid i really considered this because coming out felt more daunting than just pretending i had died

[@Creature7777]

I fucking WISH 11 year old me had thought about this bc it wouldnt have been funny at the time but it would be ridiculously funny now.

[@jvgreendarmok]

"deadname" is usually a metaphor. Usually.

[@VTWS]

I’ve met trans people who joke that their dead name had a horrible accident and died but they (dead name) were assholes and got replaced by a better person, or whatever, but that was way too boring for Andy I guess

[@morgueish]

Its so real though like if I had cracked my egg as a younger teen I could have gone on a similar bender lol

[@persbaderse]

"trans people are liars" factoid actually statistical error. lord of the rings andy, who is trans and lies 10000 times a day, is an outlier and should not have been counted edit: i'm trans, i can make this joke

[@hellohello-ic4dh]

holy shitttt bro XD

[@LL-tr5et]

giggling so hard

[@some_condiment]

all i can think of when someone says the name "andy" is Jerma being called "4K andy" once (referring to having 4,000 concurrent viewers on Twitch) and then having his entire community call people (INSERT THING HERE) andys as a silly joke

[@vaguelyexhausted]

@@some_condiment chat: fart andy Jerma: BAN THAT GUY

[@speziramen2599]

LMAOO

[@cactus_vixen7093]

as a trans girl, this has made me realize my years long struggle to come out was actually totally sane, I didn't even start a cult.

[@celestwaker7848]

Never too late to try though!

[@iwantcandy2]

You didn't start a cult YET.

[@merrittanimation7721]

It's never too late to fake your death and start a cult around a popular media franchise! You can do it.

[@moonym6555]

Its totally okay to struggle a long time with your own transness. Hope you're in a good place and living your best tgirl life!

[@grey29825]

You haven’t even tried to channel the spirit of Elijah Wood after your soul died once

[@butasimpleidiotwizard]

Janine is literally the most irritating part of this because she kept doing extremely stupid things with her own money and then wrote a book about how none of this was her fault when like. Sis you were directly involved you are no less at fault than anyone else here

[@ridley1230]

Fr like girl… no one was forcing you to spend that money?

[@Lolo50000]

This whole situation is incredibly and uncomfortably fucked up, and I have nothing but sympathy for Abby and the others, especially Diamond. It was however jarringly funny every time Janine piped in with 'despite my apparently perfect credit score I agreed to spend another $10,000 to finance the third in a chain of completely random investments' Just the tonal juxtaposition of 4 people becoming stuck in an abusive cult and this random transphobic doctor saying she's the real victim for bullying them

[@dinofelisdruid78]

EXACTLY. plus it's not like she went broke from this either. she's a doctor who had money to spare for this. she was clearly privileged enough to have thousands of dollars to loan to random kids she met off of fanfiction. especially since she went on to make money from publishing abbey and diamond's trauma. Gross.

[@IndieHellCat]

janine is clearly a terrible person in a lot of ways but a scam is a scam - anyone can be scammed into doing all sorts of seemingly stupid things we don't understand, janine included

[@butasimpleidiotwizard]

@IndieHellCat I have very little desire to be understanding towards Janine when she is so overwhelmingly hostile to a bunch of abuse victims who suffered far more from that whole situation than Janine ever did. I'm not even really inclined to believe she was "scammed", maybe a little but she certainly isn't a blameless victim here the way that word implies. If she truly had been scammed maliciously by people trying to trick her so they could use her money for their own benefit, her anger would be a little more justifiable, but she wasn't, she was just not told the whole truth by a bunch of kids who were mostly trying to do something good but were really, really bad at it. Her money genuinely did go to what they said it would, they just lied about how effective they were at actually producing results. It's not like any of them benefited from lying to her, and when she chose to give them money for them to use to get back on their feet that was not a scam, it was an act of charity, and she doesn't get to rescind that just because it didn't work out the way she hoped it would. Especially targeting Diamond who had clearly been a victim of financial abuse and who was not in control of her own money for failing to pay back the loan, that was entirely Andy, it was not Diamond's fault and she did not deserve to be threatened and harassed in that way by Janine.

[@roseivy5956]

Abby's mom did more to take down Andy's little cult in a month than Jeanine ever has or will in her entire life

[@talb.1805]

Even though she's a turf I dont this this is objectively true

[@thesun5275]

​@@talb.1805she isn't just a TERF she is just a shitty person. She saw all this happen and decided to attack the fucking victims of the manipulation as she just flailed around.

[@talb.1805]

@@KATtube03 Abby's mom ftw , but she did more than document.. she essentially outed them as a cult, which led to the rest of the members (other than abby) to leave. She also took them to court which resulted in andy not being allowed to receive donations. She's a bad person, and she did horrible things, but she did took them down. Abby's mom only helped abby

[@talb.1805]

@@KATtube03 that's right but it doesn't change the fact that she did

[@leeledyke]

​@@talb.1805While Jeanine did dismantle Andy's following, she did not remove his ability to hold his cult. She merely brought him back to the growth stage. Removing Abby meant that for a while there was no one left to defend Andy, or for Andy to hold emotionally hostage. Without Abby's mom's actions, Andy would likely have just rebuilt his cult.

[@lime5276]

if this story has a hero, I think it's definitely abbey's mother. I mean can you IMAGINE having that level of patience? knowing for years that your own child is in a horrible situation where they're being constantly manipulated, but your only option is to wait and prepare and plan for your one and possibly only opportunity to get them out of there. what an incredibly resilient person

[@kumquatwriter]

She is a true hero and I will share your comment with her ❤

[@YouCallYourselfAFilmCritic]

Honestly nearly welled up when I heard she followed her daughter and her abusive monstrous partner for *YEARS* to keep tabs on her and waited patiently for her to reach out knowing her making the first move would not help her That's unconditional love

[@mariencarrascosa]

I almost screamed in joy when I got to that part of the story. Truly epic mom.

[@zevra2489]

Genuinely I was floored hearing how much planning and research she put into helping her daughter. The amount of self control and restraint it must take to be so patient in that situation (especially with Andy) is insane

[@lime5276]

@@kumquatwriter I'd be happy if you did! wishing you the best, and I realized after reading your comment I misspelled your name - sorry for that, it's fixed now!

[@natmorse-noland9133]

God, I do NOT miss the flowery and overly-self-important way that people used to write in fandom spaces back then.

[@Kintsugi23]

"Used to"? :P

[@chaoticenbybard6699]

​@@Kintsugi23yeah fics now are surprisingly more lax like the use of slang and writing sex more bluntly

[@carolinewheeler77]

You can tell when someone was from those times now tbh and I’m always like. Help.

[@asterisk5054]

no fr!!! someone I knew talked about themselves being so important that "people are gonna build monuments to pay homage to me" jfc

[@Cookie-uj3cb]

That lady in the Taylor Swift fandom that put out an apology for going to a concert wrote just like this.

[@radiationshepherd]

I teared up at Abbys mom being ready with all the cult deprogramming and group psychosis therapists. That's so touching

[@Gwenobbie]

Oh my god same. Just the idea that she was there all along, super informed and patiently waiting for a move to make, knowing full well that if she was to bash in it would ruin everything because cult abuse is so delicate to handle. Fucking hero.

[@KumoriCoffee]

me too. that's love, to me, waiting all this time, always being ready

[@zbsfm]

seriously amazing. Like honestly one of the most uplifting and powerful things i've heard in a long time.

[@insertcrochetpunhere]

Same! I'm in the break room at work with tears in my eyes. ❤️ What a good mom.

[@_coloringbook]

SAME. It gives me goosebumps. What an absolute hero. 😭 Truly a light at the end of the tunnel of this horrific story.

[@jorgus1]

i love it when lesbians make 2 hour videos about stuff i have never heard about before. my favorite genre of videos.

[@mercuresis]

i love it when lesbians

[@sst4rscr34m]

​@@mercuresistrue

[@carolinewheeler77]

Do u have any reccs of this bc I need them

[@lynxie2598]

​@@carolinewheeler77hazel is an amazing youtuber if you're into lost media!

[@mozchick2]

Ugh same

[@kingozymandiass]

Committing soul suicide and becoming elijah wood certainly is a... creative way to transition

[@ehoddes]

I think we can safely draw the line and say you can't transition to Elijah Wood.

[@morinomajou]

@@ehoddes I mean, Elijah's a pretty popular transmasc name and Wood's a common surname, so *technically...*

[@basedokadaizo]

​@@ehoddesoh i wish i could.

[@urbanarmory]

Well I'm very cishet and all that but if I knew I could transition to being Elijah Wood... hmm

[@robinisok]

I tried to transition to Elijah Wood but I ended up more like John Rhys-Davies. 🫡

[@tjh1701]

As someone completely unfamiliar with this story, “this brings us to the one-year anniversary of 9/11” was such an amazing and unexpected transition.

[@likeahorse]

Between this, snapewives, and the final fantasy house, applying esoteric new age beliefs to your fandom and turning it into a cult is weirdly common.

[@meganary876]

IIRC Final Fantasy house was the same person. Mind blowing, honestly.

[@cuervus_]

@@meganary876 wait was it? Jen? it sounds unlikely because of the timeline but theyre the same brand of cuckoo for sure

[@LRGhost7489]

@@meganary876 That's actually a different scary con-artist cult-leader person that was in Final Fantasy VII -> Hannibal fandoms (googleable). I've seen other people in FFVII and other fandoms (Death Note, Villainous, Supernatural, Glee, Dr. Who, Marvel, DC, TMNT... basically if it's a big enough to *have* a fandom, there's always *somebody*) veer into similar con-artist/controlling narcissist territory - apparently being a community mod especially can bring out the predatory worst in people - and/or take roleplaying a bit too seriously/to the extent of religion. But the combination of both, I've only witnessed (from afar) from Andrew Blake and Jennifer Cornet (the Final Fantasy House person).

[@doxaforthesoul]

@@LRGhost7489out of context, this is at once the most terrifying and most confusing thing I have read in a long time

[@erylaria398]

Final fantasy house???? What???? Jesus christ on a motorbike i need to google that right tf now.

[@karmacrackdown]

"VB said that he would be leaving fandom forever," I hear, squinting at the 80 minutes remaining runtime.

[@lolwutubish]

EXACTLY MY THOUGHTS

[@georgecooper9766]

And now there's another 90min video on top of that 😂

[@NocturnalTyphlosion]

like an hbomberguy video

[@imgoldzful]

why are multiple online cults just "let's do christian fundamentalism but with a wildly popular fantasy novel"

[@flynnferal5878]

cause then you got a readymade batch of niche recruits, I guess

[@betheguy_posts]

Christian Fundamentalism is the SquareSpace of religion/cult, it has the perfect building blocks to place your own radical ideology onto to make your own niche worship group. Maximum engagement for minimal effort.

[@jonathanj8303]

​@@betheguy_postsThis, plus also good-old-fashioned lack of originality. Christian fundamentalism provides the bones, *but I need to be in charge*, so let's change it up by ripping off someone else's hard work as well, this is about being on top, not putting effort in. I'm sure there must be a final fantasy based based cult somewhere - I actually I've seen UFO/alien presentations* where they were reeling off the plot of stargate, you could even say which seasons, and claiming it as facts that they were personally involved in at area 51. Only the names were changed. Except when they forgot and refered to Sam. *seen for entertainment purposes only. From a safe distance.

[@betheguy_posts]

@jonathanj8303 "I'm sure there's a Final Fantasy based cult somewhere..." You should should check out the story behind "Final Fantasy House", it's wild how you called that.

[@jonathanj8303]

@@betheguy_posts Mow I'm just frightened.

[@juniawetmann1311]

VB not thinking Cate Blanchett is hot should have been the first indication that he was not, in fact, a "bisexual woman"

[@starfish.sunfish.moonfish]

As a bisexual woman who doesn't think Cate Blanchett is hot, I always considered that the distinction between lesbian and bisexual women (besides the beeing attracted to men stuff). ALL lesbians I know are into Cate Blanchett, but not all bisexuals. Well, there goes my theory.

[@doxaforthesoul]

@@starfish.sunfish.moonfishAs a lesbian who doesn’t think Cate Blanchett is hot, I report the need to propose an alternate theory.

[@AndreaMartinez-ip2vu]

Pro-Blanchett bisexual woman reporting in 👀

[@JoyfulOrb]

Pro-Blanchett Pansexual woman here... but I don't see why anyone WOULDN'T find Cate Blanchett attractive?!

[@WolframHeart]

Gay/ace man here, Cate Blanchett is hot.

[@cheeseball94]

when a strange æons video is longer than the 2004 movie adaption of a series of unfortunate events (starring jim carrey), you KNOW it’s gonna be good

[@mothma_am]

you KNOW the events were unfortunate

[@cheeseball94]

@@mothma_am and they happened in a series

[@evangelinewood3325]

I FORGOT ABOUT THAT MOVIE AND I HATE THE EXISTENCE OF IT

[@ApparentlyCoral]

YEAHH I CAN FINALLY CLEAN MY ROOM (this is the channel I get the most work done listening to💀)

[@NadirEatsRocks]

Oh Jesus, I didn't even notice how long it was. This is gonna be a journey!

[@antoinette365]

Abby's comment of "I didn't need to be another Jeanine" is...really, super self-aware. She saw the damage that vindictive retaliation had done and she chose not to engage, not only for knowledge of the consequences, but also for her own self worth and mental care. I hope she's doing well. I hope Diamond is, too. And fuck it, Sean Astin as well. Edit: the part about Abby's mom always makes me tear up.

[@riley33987]

po

[@fuzzycatbutts]

This comment did not age well lol

[@kjdgroove]

“i’ve just been outed to my parents as not only a lesbian but a slasher” he’s so real for that

[@therevoltingslob2564]

Of all the “I do ___ so you don’t have to” KZbinrs out there, Strange Aeons’ “I dig up messy fandom discourse so you don’t have to” is definitely what I’m most thankful for

[@indigothecat]

This made me think of "Will it Blend?" for some reason. 😂 " dust; don't breath this!"

[@mummytrolls]

I love it so much. I know nothing about the Lord of the Rings fandom or lore and I am still fascinated by this video

[@karapalmer7228]

Calling this "messy fandom discource" feels like the understatement of the century

[@therevoltingslob2564]

@@karapalmer7228 Yeah obviously I wrote that when I first clicked on the video not knowing how it was gonna play out, but I do still think that’s a good overall category for these videos cause stuff like My Immortal and the snapewives are ultimately pretty harmless. This ended up being much less like those and much more like Final Fantasy house but even worse.

[@lexnight]

Having been around for many of these wanks, she does substantially more accurate coverage than most youtubers I've seen cover fandom topics, too.

[@skylarjohnson7779]

The way the terf is just bragging about bullying abuse victims for what their abuser has done is just… what a piece of shit. I hope Diamond and Abbey and all the cult members are doing great now.

[@sophitiaofhyrule]

Jeanine does not care about the victims. She celebrated when they were rendered homeless. She says she wants to protect them but she contributed to the abuse

[@DisasterEnby]

it's disappointly common terf behaviour, too...

[@kumquatwriter]

Hi there! I'm Abbey. I've actually been a subscriber for over a year, so it was a fun surprise to see my own life pop up in my feed! I'm impressed with the work you did to sum this up. It's SO MUCH to cover but you did it well. Thank you! Oh and I eventually changed my mind and am again working on a book - especially since people are still talking about all this 20 years later ETA: Y'ALL the amount of kindness and support has been amazing! I've had a lovely time reading them, and sending screenshots to Mom ☺️

[@colmryan9289]

Yo, I hope this is actually you! Bumping just in case, I’m sure Taya can verify.

[@Joniness]

Your resilience and the tenacity of your mother and support group is really quite something that you can be here today commenting on this video. Good luck with the book and I am glad as hell to see you're now an atheist and a skeptic.

[@savinaysood177]

@@colmryan9289 It is! It matches the blog and photos :) And I'm glad you got out Abbey! I hope you're doing way better now

[@mariencarrascosa]

Well now I’m invested, what can I say! Best wishes!

[@Silvermoon424]

Hi Abbey, I hope you're doing well! And I'll be first in line to buy your book!

[@lilyjackson6460]

Jesus christ janine could have been the main villain of a million other fandom dramas but she somehow landed herself in one of the few where shes second fiddle to an absolute monster. And Abbeys mum.... goddamn this was depressing to listen to and the sudden introduction of an honest to god hero to the story made me tear up.

[@cloud_and_proud]

Thinking about it, this is kind of similar to the Hamillton Aids fandom drama thing. Like the person documenting that also decided to fully dox the pathological liar for like no reason. Maybe there's some explanation for the correlation

[@CommieBukkakie]

​@@cloud_and_proud right?? that one is just so insane to me because they were so patient and reasonable even while dealing with that kind of pathological liar, and then after it was all settled just turned around like “and then i ruined their life for fun cuz why not.” insane whiplash

[@cloud_and_proud]

@@CommieBukkakie so true youtube user CommieBukkakie

[@meevins]

@@CommieBukkakie with that context in mind looking back it really felt like they were less concerned with doing the right thing [as much as they kept insisting otherwise] and just got a kick of having power over someone as well as being more morally superior. it seemed like they were less concerned with people getting any justice for being tricked by the persons race and aids faking but rather taking joy in being holier than thou given the way their messages were worded. and then you know the whole doxxing. you see this behaviour a LOT in fandom discourse that people do not actually care about the causes they claim to and just want to feel better than others, it's so weird.

[@newyin9214]

Yesss!! Mom of the century, coming in to sweep a the story into something heartwarming!!

[@nastiagarachtchenko]

The thing that really bothers me about Janine is that she thinks that since she was manipulated that means her actions are completely disassociated from her. Abby and Diamond clearly recognize that although they were manipulated, they are still partially or wholly responsibility for the things they did while manipulated. Janine acts like the catalyst of Andy's manipulation absolves her of all responsibility for her decision to pay that money, for acting like a loan shark, for celebrating as mentally ill kids suffered. Girl that was all you.

[@HarperGamble]

Holy crap. Sean Astin is just built different. He showed them exactly how an adult acts in these situations. They are still playing make-believe thinking things can just manifested into existence and catch Sean up with their delusions of this garden, and he comes in and actually makes the garden happen. That was a turn in the story I didn't see coming.

[@Sailormac2]

Sean proved himself to be a truly good-hearted individual who deserved so much better than being exploited by Jordan.

[@BlueGangsta1958]

Shoutout to Abby's mum for being amazing and managing to get her daughter out of that horrible situation. Her and Samwells actor are the only thing that keeps this clusterfuck from being purely depressing

[@babyface3396]

fr. abby's mom is the real mvp in this story. Could have ended a whole lot worse without her.

[@Soy_boi]

Yeah, her whole story and plan to save her daughter actually made me tear up. A mother’s love!

[@DYWYPI]

If this was a novel, I'd calling the Abbey's Mum character a deus ex machina, but I guess mums are just like that.

[@GiantKitten]

​@@DYWYPIDeus ex momina

[@3bugsinatrenchcoat]

do you mean samwise?

[@AppleIPie]

Abbey's mom and Bob, true heros. Bob must have been in grey stone mode for ages, being so close to the nexus of things. "Try to be boring enough that the manipulator ignores you."

[@ravenclawesome9093]

There's something to be said about how much Janine prides herself on being Jordan's number one hater and enemy, while simultaneously doing everything in her power to push his victims closer to him

[@samkuperman9035]

It’s like she got drunk on the sympathy, and once it was cemented in her head that Jordan was ontologically evil, anyone with any connection to him was a legitimate target

[@beeaggro2593]

the fake doctor part got me though

[@samkuperman9035]

@@beeaggro2593 there’s an Oregon medical license belonging to a Jeanine Renner

[@beeaggro2593]

@@samkuperman9035 that would make sense. It's more a thank God she never saw patients thing

[@samkuperman9035]

@@beeaggro2593 Well sure, maybe, but she is a real doctor lol, doctors who don’t see patients aren’t “fake”

[@gothgirlglittercrust7118]

jeanine's harassment of diamond over email, purposefully seeking out andy and abbey to mock them in the street , just the general obsession with causing as much hurt to these very clearly mentally ill kids is so weird and scary. she could've chosen to help abbey and the rest of them when she saw how abusive andy was but instead she chose to harass them and then write a book about it. andy sucks and so does jeanine.

[@EmeraldCityVideo]

Yeah. Whenever Taya was quoting straight from the book I was on edge. All the "my 20 years of perfect credit" and "why have a platinum MasterCard if you aren't going to use it" stuff, coupled with the homophobia and transphobia, feels distinctly like this is the kind of rich, middle-aged bigot who is at the root of a lot of our culture's problems right now.

[@morinomajou]

Yeah, the 'everyone on screen despises you' bit made me wince irl. Idk, maybe it's my autism talking but weaponising people's comfort media like that is fucking evil imo. EDIT: Had to pause halfway through to comment about that so I hadn't got to the rest of what she said yet, but that wasn't even the worst of it? Christ.

[@clementinedanger]

This loopy cow is a DOCTOR

[@ZeroPlayerGame]

I suspect she got big mad about being duped by a teen for so long. The "my cousin is Elijah Wood" stuff? Wild she bought into it.

[@fools-tarot6895]

Harassing them on the street is so excessive and honestly quite disgusting. If she wanted to help Andy's victims I don't think harassing one of them on the street while they're trying to earn money will do anything other than bring them closer and make it harder for Abbey to become financially independent. I want to be empathetic because she was victimised too but instead of helping others she just takes it out on the very people Andy is hurting. And her needless transphobia and homophobia is just… eugh..

[@rachelunabridged]

after all of the manipulation and batshittery, the reveal that abbey's mom was watching out for her the whole time and waiting to be able to help her seriously made me cry. lovely to hear something so sweet in an otherwise harrowing story.

[@pianosquad]

Love how the first thing she mentions is how there was a cult, really sets the mood

[@RosieCooper1000]

but what about the MIND HOLE

[@clementinedanger]

THE MIND HOLE

[@20dabarr58]

What would The Others think??

[@mistermangoman69]

The fact that Janine wasn’t the main villain of this story says a lot about how fucked this whole situation was

[@fronthal157]

Dunno how she would be, she's telling the truth

[@bap3227]

@@fronthal157transphobe 👎

[@Corpseflora]

@@fronthal157 bruh she literally told two cult victims that she wished they lost everything and were forced into prostitution. like that's not how u get people out of cults that's how you force them further in.....like respect for telling the truth but when ur bragging in ur book Abt telling cult victims u wished they were forced into prostitution and were willing to do legitimate loan shark behavior when u know they live with a cult leader-like manipulator ur probably also not a good person?

[@bishielurfer]

​@@Corpseflorafor real. Like I get wanting to get your money back and not be on the hook for that loan, but 1) she was older and should have really known better than to put her name on that loan and 2) obviously these people were in a bad situation and she just made everything worse for Andy's victims.

[@the_last_ballad]

​@@fronthal157 the idea that you must be lying to be a villain is so dumb. Truth can be used to manipulate and hurt just as well as lies. Better hope you don't meet any fey, they would eat you alive...

[@CrystalJupiter]

God, I feel so bad for Sean Astin for being sucked into this. Dude just did his job well in a movie and was catapulted into this crazy shit. I can’t even imagine.

[@psychickumquat]

Yup, makes you understand why some celebrities seem like they don't want anything to do with their fans. They're probably worried about looney toons like Jordan doing something potentially ridiculous or even dangerous. This level of delusion can spiral into violence if it goes far enough; just look at the murders of John Lennon, Christina Grimme, and Dimebag Darrel among others.

[@morinomajou]

'Nurturing mother goddess that manifests as Pippin' is a hell of a sentence to be listening to when you're taking a sip of tea

[@doxaforthesoul]

As a whole, this is a hell of a video to stumble upon with completely zero knowledge of the situation (and never having seen LOTR)

[@completely_normal111]

I was drinking tea while reading this comment haha

[@michaelkeller5555]

This story joins that of Ms Scribe, Cassandra Clare and the Snapewives on the list of reasons I'm endlessly grateful I was in elementary & middle school during these years.

[@nicolasnamed]

Yeah same, though I was a baby/toddler during these times instead lol

[@iwakeupandboomimarat]

im so glad i was a sperm cell

[@clairification7206]

I was in middle school and actually going to LOTR conventions at that time. There was one called "RingCon" which took place a few hours away from where most of this went down (and was actually well run). Who knows. Maybe the subjects of this video were there too, and I didn't notice them because I was more into swords and GW miniatures than fics.

[@miniminininja538]

Glad I didn't exist for the first like, half of the video

[@LeonBes]

This really was the Wild Wild West era of fandom, I'm also glad I was a grade schooler with no access to the internet lmao

[@mossbaby6292]

I was so rooting for abbey when I saw those pictures of her at the garden project, and devastated to hear about all the events that came after. I started sobbing when the level of research and planning abbeys mom devoted to saving her daughter was revealed, and I’m devastated that Diamond, who escaped one cult with nothing to her name only to get sucked into another and then put in a truly dire financial situation worse than when she started, had to escape both situations on her own. My heart breaks for Bob also, who watched his friends go through struggle after struggle and not be able to reach them, while obviously not being in a great place to begin with. What the fuck do you mean this happened again

[@felicia3551]

She was in another cult ?

[@cariander]

​@felicia3551 no, Andy (vb/jordan) started another cult, this time around a Harry Potter fanfic he wrote. Things ended up even worse, if you can believe it.

[@ArtThingies]

@@felicia3551Diamond was raised in an extremely christian household - that is wht is being referred to as the first cult she was in.

[@ashtonw.573]

I am SCREAMING. I got most of the way through this video before realizing I've interacted with Andy before on a very surface level. A few years back, I was friends with him on Facebook because he was a Bucky Barnes cosplayer (under the name Andrew or Andy Blake). Suddenly, he started posting about how people were trying to ruin his life, making up lies, etc. so he had to leave fandoms forever. I remember him mentioning something about LotR. I thought it was something petty since he's really great at acting like the victim. I NEVER woulda guessed it was ANYTHING this clown shoes bonkers

[@Sailormac2]

It sounds like Andy drifts around to whatever is the Hot Fandom of the Moment to pitch his tent and start recruiting his latest Cult of Personality. LOTR, then Harry Potter, now it’s Marvel? Ye gods, I’m glad I’m in smaller fandoms.

[@berrim26]

Andy should join the star wars prequel fandom. He and Anakin Skywalker are alike in that they can always be relied upon to make the most dramatic choice possible in any given situation

[@sadies8100]

​@@berrim26god, don't give him any ideas. That fandom would be so easy to start a cult in!

[@astralloser1177]

@@sadies8100 y’know, Jedi is acknowledged as a real religion… andy wouldn’t get any kick out of a second-hand idea 🤣

[@artemisiakyrell7727]

Me too! My parents took me & my sister to Hollywood boulevard when we were little & istg I remember seeing a Fiona &Legolas cosplayer among the character actors there! The photos in the video looked really familiar, creepy...

[@gamerliliturra7434]

Big hero of the story: Abby's mom. Wonderful, beautiful woman. I wish every vulnerable teen caught up in cults or abusive relationships had a mom that dedicated, loving and resourceful.

[@solis-g2t]

Despite everything, as another trans man I completely understand why Jordan tried to lie and say he was from a pagan cult to change his name and gender. The legal way is so tedious 😅

[@MJMdr8]

Fr, might just have to leave a pagan cult

[@ArtThingies]

And in the early 2000s, it was even worse. Hell, in some places, the route he took was (or in some places even still is) the safer route.

[@LOC-Ness]

i think he got too used to lying for survival and just got it in his head that you can get whatever you want if you lie

[@thepinkplushie]

ironically it seems like when he did end up going the legal route it went relatively well. Like timeline wise it seemed to be relatively fast and no one mentions any issues (in fact they remark about remembering that he now has an ID so they have options). Obviously that's not common or the norm but I do find there to be some comedic irony in pretending to have been born into a pagan cult off the government's radar only to end up getting an ID and SSN relatively painlessly

[@MaxGreen111]

As an organization, BOE is impressive. Imagine having what is basically like seven LOTR dashcons on your resume. Just incredible!

[@dirtbagdeacon]

This comment made me LOL. BOE walked so Dashcon could fly! What is with people with untreated dark triad personality disorders trying to run fan cons?

[@shytendeakatamanoir9740]

I fully approve of dashcon being used as a common word!

[@fruitygarlic3601]

Some villains from the Final Fantasy house had dealings with Fannibalfest, which is a smaller, successful Dashcon-type event fondly remembered by some people who attended. And how similar the Final Fantasy house is to this story!

[@annalivingtv]

I just get more and more mortified as this story goes on, especially in them including Sean Aston, who just sounds like an extremely genuine and sweet guy. I am baffled at every opportunity they had to work with him 😭 I just wanna like apologize to him and I wasn’t even aware of this situation an hour ago. Not to mention all the other actors they worked with/bothered. The whole story is just horrifying

[@novanoonthyme6208]

He was only there for a few hours that day and at the movie the night before. He's fine.

[@annalivingtv]

@@novanoonthyme6208yes but they’d still had his contact information, worked with him, thrown around his name as proof of their validity, and he’d had to answer for them once everything fell apart and make some kind of statement on it. As far as I’m concerned that’s far more bother than he should have had to deal with from these people

[@shovelmetimbers]

@@novanoonthyme6208his name was still associated with the group no matter how minimal his participation was.

[@tychopanda]

​@@novanoonthyme6208Regardless, his likeness, image, and a character he played were used to scam and manipulate multiple people. Anyone in his shoes would be fucked up after learning that you were unknowingly interacting with and supporting a cult.

[@sourdoebread]

"When a fan hits the shit" is an amazing title for a book about fandom drama and I'm so sad it got claimed by someone like Jeanine. Also Abby's mom is awesome, she was like the only happy part of this story. I think part of me died at the end of the video when you said Andy did it again.

[@davidmaxwell4696]

Well whatever else you can say about this mess, Sean Ashton is an absolute saint. I hate that his kindness was abused like this

[@mxmissy]

It's just so embarrassing! Like having A CELEB help out numerous times for a fandom that he probably never looked really in depth to do all that? Could you imagine if this same shit was pulled to like an MCU actor or something?

[@yuvalinbar1921]

The willingness of this Main Actor In The Biggest Franchise Of The Decade to come down and continuously help and support what is clearly a hot mess is honestly so inspiring. I left this video a huge Sean Astin fan

[@vivvy.wivvy13]

yeah, AND he was the cutest boy in the goonies?? he has it all.

[@jolynelovemail]

Yeah I’m leaving this video with a lot of respect for Sean

[@adamwise1111]

Oh my god, the revelation that Abby's mom had been keeping an eye on her and that whole time almost made me tear up ;-;. It couldn't have been easy for her, to just stand back and wait for a call, but she loved her so much she was willing to wait. And that love was what helped Abby to realize that she did not deserve to be treated so poorly. I'm glad there are some heroes in this story. UGH my heart.

[@adamwise1111]

You also just told this story so beautifully sdjaofirjfeiojrijf

[@morley364]

Abby's mom is the coolest person in this story by a mile, and I'm including Sean Astin in that. The woman is a legend.

[@PaintedCryptid]

Absolute hero of her to go through all the work and know that reaching out before Abby was ready would have caused a bigger problem. Having a specialist ready for her daughter and setting up comfortable boundaries so that Abby would feel safe to keep talking to Andy if she wanted.... adoration all around for her mother's hard af work, making new standards for all mothers!!

[@cain5253]

I’m crawling out of my own skin thinking about this involving the actual actors. Passing away. It’s just too much.

[@cain5253]

Additionally, I’m reminded to keep up with my medication. This is a level of mania/psychosis that can’t be compared.

[@luiysia]

when bret mckenzie made a cameo i about shit myself 😭

[@Lolo50000]

Diamond's story broke my heart. Finally escaping what sounds like a religious cult and abusive upbringing and finding what was essentially a new family in the Bagenders, doing everything she could to support their life and their goals, and ultimately being so heavily psychologically abused by a person she cared about deeply to the point of effectively a complete mental breakdown, being isolated and villainised by former friends for things she didn't do. Plus from the sounds of it she had to face coming out of it almost completely on her own. From the epilogue it sounds like she's doing better but I hope she finally gets the life she deserves. Also like. Pertaining to the former friends, You have to be a particular type of unlikeable to be featured in a story where you were scammed by a psychologically abusive cult leader and still come off as part of the problem, Janine.

[@arin2747]

Shoutout to Abbey's mom, I am so impressed by everything she did behind the scenes to prepare to take care of her daughter when the time came

[@celestethabest]

She's a real one

[@w0rmg0rl]

Strange: VB my horrible gremblin brain: vacterial baginosis

[@debdebberton]

you are not alone lmao

[@Shyyrn]

Amidst everything else about this saga, Bob pitching pre-megafame Flight of the Conchords to play at Tentmoot and Andy dismissing the idea out of hand is an underrated moment. On par with telling the Beatles “guitars are on the way out”

[@kyler4963]

Imagine being able to have been able to get in at the ground floor for Flight of the Conchords 😭 Especially with how big Jermaine Clement became in his own right too

[@matthewhearn9910]

@@kyler4963 And Taika Waititi, who wasn't part of the band but was consistently involved in a lot of their projects.

[@kyler4963]

@@matthewhearn9910 oh TIL! That is amazing

[@angrynerdgirl]

I literally yelled alone in my apartment when I got to that part. Like WHAT

[@Alexander-wf3mt]

Literally. Had to google them because I thought 'oh there must be some other band with the same name or something' and then like no it was actually them!!!

[@fern1820]

To this day, reading Abbey's autobiographical telling of that night spent on the border moves me to tears. Her bird named Boo (the one Andy would later attempt use against her, because of course he did) really gave her so much strength and I am so happy she had him. I believe she still has his body preserved in a touching diorama, which might seem morbid but hopefully serves as a reminder of how she was able to overcome her hellish experience.

[@bishielurfer]

Pets really can be literal lifesavers. I've had my own instances where the only thing keeping me alive was my cats. I'm glad she had that connection to keep her around and give her a chance at recovery.

[@ocarinachic76]

I looked into Andy's Harry Potter fandom days out of curiosity and it's even more wild than I could have imagined. Excited for Strange to cover it because Wow.

[@ramencat516]

agreed

[@felicia3551]

Where did u find the Info on this? I’m interested

[@aquabluerose7734]

Boosting this, I want to hear more about this crazy dude's escapades!

[@emofurryboyfriendasmr]

well...

[@spacetextadventure5619]

Fun fact: "Kalimac Brandagamba" really is Merry's actual name according to Tolkein. It's complicated but basically he pretended to be translating the books from Westron, so he "translated" Kalimac into Meriadoc, which is an actual Celtic name. wheels within wheels...

[@ilexdiapason]

yes! i remember that part of it is that "kali" is supposed to be westeron for happy/cheerful, which is the meaning of "merry", and the full words both mean a kind of plant in their respective languages i think, so it's supposed to be a very clever translation

[@GrayYeonWannabe]

yeah tolkien was a language freak, that absolute legend

[@Saibellus]

​@@ilexdiapasonyes, that's on the money. and pippins name has a similarly clever translation. his full westron name is razanur, which means wanderer, and is shortened to razar, a type of apple. his english name, peregrin, is derived from the same root as pilgrim, and his nickname, pippin, is ALSO a type of apple! it really is true that tolkein wrote the books as an excuse to put his made up languages to use xD

[@debdebberton]

pretending to translate a fake fictional story from an effectively-notional fictional language has BIG-time House of Leaves energy

[@sunnysides9691]

he was kicking around the critical role fandom a while ago! i was young (18) and a bigger name fan at the time (fic writer and gifmaker as well as a mod for the unofficial discord) and just thought he was a cosplayer and was briefly mutuals, but older fandom friends recognized him and DRAGGED ME AWAY and raised the alarm about him. i am eternally grateful to this day knowing i was that close to him but they realized.

[@merrittanimation7721]

This man is like a wandering curse, going from fandom to fandom spreading misery as he goes

[@Mars-jf4gy]

i’m shocked i’ve never seen him in the homestuck fandom. i’m a young adult myself- younger than most homestucks who got into it at it’s peak. so maybe i just barely missed him, but he seems like he’s everywhere lmao. early homestuck was a breeding ground for really shitty situations similar to this one, so id be shocked if he didn’t take advantage of that. happy that i’ve never heard of this situation until now! it must’ve been crazy to learn about it while being near to him.

[@arthuradelaide1266]

OH MY GOD???? does anyone possibly know what his current usernames are? if he's still active even now there should be some kind of doc or something so people can avoid him. this man is DANGEROUS

[@PhoenyxV]

oh my god I remember seeing WARNINGS about him in the tags on tumblr back when I was in CR (beginning of c2 up until the 2020 hiatus was my peak). I also remember people trying to figure out how to warn the cast not to give him ANY attention, because CR was/is such a parasocial fandom and Andy's such a manipulative snake if he got an ounce of notice from any of them he'd find a way to use it to make yet another cult.

[@samdedman9629]

​@@arthuradelaide1266he's currently under crazycatdad

[@allhailralsei]

"Tolken would have loved gay fanfiction shut up idiot" is my new favorite quote

[@user-qv2mc3dw5o]

I mean i’m a HUGE fan of his work, and, like, i think he genuinely would

[@allhailralsei]

@@user-qv2mc3dw5o he would lol

[@adamuffoletto7869]

I am in absolute awe of Abbey's mother. She recognized the manipulation and abuse her daughter was going through and did EVERYTHING RIGHT to get her out of that situation. What a boss human being and absolute god-tier parent

[@pinkyhc4130]

Insulting someone for their gender, race, physical appearance, identity, etc is the MOST low hanging fruit. Address their behavior, the thing they actually control, not their personhood. When we demonize people we reduce the pain of their victims.

[@JazzyRedMusic]

could not have said it better myself

[@Crossark1]

I heard “Andrew Blake” and “cult leader” early on went…wait a second, this sounds awfully familiar. Then you started talking about others and it sounded even more familiar. When I heard that last sentence about there being another one, I was positive it was gonna be the Final Fantasy House - but no! Apparently this has happened at least three times, and not even all by the same person!

[@catnumber6967]

This is one of those stories that really makes you realize that you sure can do whatever with your life. I personally do not want to follow in Andy’s footsteps, but man. He sure is living his life in a way that never would’ve occurred to me

[@artcowboy]

This comment is like exactly my thoughts, like wow… I didn’t realize you could do all of that really lmaoo

[@person.probably]

"A lot hinges on the fact that, in most circumstances, people are not allowed to hit you with a mallet. They put up all kinds of visible and invisible signs that say, 'Do not do this' in the hope that it'll work, but if it doesn't, then they shrug, because there is, really, no real mallet at all." Terry Pratchett

[@khodges72]

I was thinking this too. It's almost inspirational. Out of pure tenacity they managed to get a major actor for Lord of the rings involved with the project. If Andy wasn't a complete mess and put as much effort into marketing and other aspects of these events, they might have been a big success.

[@iseetheendisnear2416]

From my research into Munchausen syndrome, compulsive lying, cults, narcissism, and psychopathy, I can readily tell you that Andy's story ISN'T inspiring because the best way I can describe the mind of someone like this is that it feels like being in a constant waking nightmare. I want to underline the hollowness and fragility of his mind. He is far from talented. He is a ghoulish child with adult eloquence. Superficial charm is always found in these people because that's their only chance at drawing in victims. The don't enjoy life and are often loneyly and depressed. They throw temper tantrums and/or abuse drugs to regulate their emotions. They change their mind constantly because they dissosiate from negative memories, failing to develop an authentic personality. They often feel like people are out to get them. These are actually their own suicidal feeelings they've dissociated from. They demand others to be perfect mirrors to their every whim and impulse. What isn't perfect they want to make dissapear.

[@abigailgnome2117]

“He sure is living his life in a way that would’ve never occurred to me” I SAY THIS ALL THE TIME!!! And it’s wildly applicable here!

[@kas23997]

janine: what's the point of having 2 mastercards if i never use them? janine months later extorting a young cult survivor with no support system: it's my BUSINESS to ruin your life unless you pay me back my doctor money, hope your friendship with the older people in your cult who held power over you was WORTH it

[@williamp8823]

I know that we all agree that Jeanine is very much the secondary villain of this tale but the fact that she attempted to turn a profit on this whole nightmare at the expense of Abby and Diamond, while actively going well out of her way to harass and stalk them is absolutely insane

[@williamp8823]

To clarify as well, Abby didn’t write her story in a book and she was arguably the person most affected by this situation. Yes Jeanine likely suffered financial backlash from Jordan’s lies, but he was kind of the only person who didn’t suffer for it. Jeanine drove them to the streets and continued to demand and money from them and then wrote a book in which she shamed everyone involved except herself while extolling about her financial success and her privileged lifestyle. The craziest part about all of this is that she isn’t the worst person in the story, Despite rivaling Jordan in self centeredness, and being a blatant bigot, Jordan stilled ruined so many lives and left an enormous trail of suffering in his wake.

[@mallarieluvsgirls]

and the fact she’s literally a doctor. horrifying.

[@teleportzz]

so far i'm only about halfway through the video but i'm already squirming with secondhand embarassment watching these people fumble MULTIPLE events and be so unprofessional and disrespectful in the presence of their favourite actors. It can't possibly get worse than this, right? Edit: OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD JESUS CHRIST

[@Kirkeyressa]

reading this in rottmnt donnie's voice is stunningly in-character, lol

[@trustfulplace3894]

this video was so great but the anxiety of hearing about people just be so disrespectful to the actors makes my soul die. i cannot imagine treating any person like this let alone my favorite actor. my skin is crawlingggg

[@ironicallynice]

You mean there's more?

[@iwakeupandboomimarat]

love the pfp

[@annalivingtv]

I know I’m so mortified 😭 I wanna apologize to Sean Aston and I didn’t even know about this situation an hour ago

[@ktonytbb]

1:39:31 I always think I can't be shocked anymore, but those emails Janine sent Diamond had my jaw on the floor. Her harassing and threatening a young, manipulated cult survivor...and being proud enough of it to publish it in her book. I was sick to my stomach

[@orsolyafekete7485]

It's kinda impressive from Janine that I came out of watching this video despising her more than the actual legit cult leader

[@librasuperstar3779]

She honestly was just making a bad situation worse

[@RyanPrez-gz4lh]

​@@orsolyafekete7485Andy later got two people killed and is a self-admitted rapist. He's a way worse person than Janine who even Abbey sees as a victim.

[@Adventure66]

I cried during the bit about your mother and her careful planning. She's an absolute legend

[@Starmongoose]

@@orsolyafekete7485 You need to double check your priorities then honestly.

[@Sssighh]

Man, theres so many sinister details to this too. Like Andy convinced Abbey she had been abused by her parents and coached her into writing a letter to them accusing them of horrible things. One of his Others was Elrond, who was Abbey's special guide and became a father figure. When channelling the children from 1944, Abbey was like their mother, so she felt she couldn't cut Andy off because that would mean losing her father and children too. She posted pictures of notes and letters from the children (written using Andy's body of course) and its soooo creepy.

[@cursedcontent4207]

If I had a nickel for every time Strange discussed a manipulative, narcissistic cult leader who lied to the police, changed their name, and was obsessed with someone named Abbey, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

[@arandomcomment1092]

who is the second???

[@youngstermcgee420]

@@arandomcomment1092i think onision?

[@Eagledude131]

​@@youngstermcgee420i hate that I can confirm without a shadow of a doubt that you guessed correctly

[@okayokayfineilldoit]

This also eerily reminds me of the final fantasy house saga, as per that down the rabbit hole vid. This dude and the Jen?? girl from the ff house sound SO similar, right down to the “channeling” stuff. Idk what the fuck kind of new age bullshit was in the water back in the early 2000s but clearly this is a recurring phenomenon

[@radishfest]

​@@okayokayfineilldoitalternatives to Christianity for people who wanted absolutely no part got VERY weird back then. I was raised as a psychic cos my dad hated Catholicism, lmao. If you had nerdy parents and were queer, online fandoms not only tolerated LGBTQ people but welcomed you. Since we were young, scared of being rejected or outed, and surrounded by fanfiction... "that was the character, not me" was everywhere. Abusers loved it.

[@BandFairy]

Your absolute exhaustion when you were talking about VB's "psychic abilities" elicited such a visceral sympathetic reaction from me. For a second, it was 2012 again and I was listening to someone explain to me how their maladaptive daydreaming was actually the Actual character Castiel from Supernatural who lived in their head as a role-playing muse.

[@lizabethhampton4537]

I used to roleplay around that time and the memories... 😰😰😰

[@Finn_01]

Wait, that’s been going since _2012_

[@BandFairy]

@@Finn_01 Oh yeah. Possibly as early as 2010, but I only got in with that particular group around 2011 when I started going to conventions regularly.

[@merrittanimation7721]

The intersection between people who believe they have psychic powers and fandom is a strange one. Probably born out of a lot of lonely mentally ill people.

[@Finn_01]

@@BandFairy Not to sound like an old fart who mutters ‘kids these days’ at the slightest inconvenience, but it does seem like a lot of these problems would be solved if the government gave people access to reasonably inexpensive (preferably free) mental healthcare

[@Lazysupermutant]

As someone who worked in a convention for over 7 years *man* does this whole thing make me want to fucking evaporate. I cannot begin to go on about all the meetings, the anxiety of getting guests and planning events, and the constant stress of the weekend of and wondering if the numbers are as good this year as they were last year and oh god can we sustain this an- My point is, it's so much work, and I die from second hand embarrassment from the absolute mess that BitOfEarth was. I've seen mini conventions that run in bowling alleys, it's not big but you can feel the passion behind it and the people running it know what they're doing and have realistic expectations. Hearing that a group this small was expecting, 4,000 attendees? In LA? My brother in Christ you'd be lucky to 400, 140 at most if you advertise well and budget accordingly. I've also been a part of a con that fell flat on its face because one of the heads was a fuck-up and the other was a vet who had unrealistic expectations. This just hits me hard, man. Also Janine, real fucking heel turn in the second half not gonna lie.

[@dizzylilthing]

I have the shame of going from a cog in the planning and hosting of a convention to the last head of the convention after just one year working and I'd much rather have our last con go off again than anything at all in this story.

[@swiftfated]

I also feel kind of bad for Sean Astin being tangentially roped into all of this mess 🙄

[@aneel7337]

Haven't watched the video yet beyond the first minute but I'm LOVING these disclaimers up front! I read the book about this situation some years ago, and the emphasis on "he LIED about being a MAN" was so deeply frustrating. Andy is a dangerous person and I'm glad more people will be learning to avoid him by watching this video, but the transphobia is totally unnecessary.

[@Nassifeh]

Andy being trans actually feels like a huge twist in this story. In my experiences in 90s and 00s fandom, the trans people *weren't* the ones inventing whole separate fake identities for themselves; it was largely the province of cishet sex pests and lonely housewives. Fandom had so much transphobia then, but also I would never have guessed that someone who did all this stuff *was* trans.

[@honoratagold]

@@Nassifeh Yeah. There were definitely fanwriters who just used a male penname and pretended to be actual dudes writing m/m ships at the time because the novelty would get them a fanbase. Andy turning out to actuall be trans was such a twist I think it took the people following this story several years to realize that while he was a compulsive liar, scammer, and abusive person, the gender stuff was that he's just a trans dude.

[@Chickengirl005]

@@honoratagold damn, this takes me back to my days in fandoms back in the mid 2000s where I followed a few artists who drew m/m content on DeviantART and livejournal; that had male pennames and pretended to be cis gay men. Till one day out of the blue, they revealed themselves to be women. I say women, because don't remember them actually identifying as transmen. Because it was like you said, the novelty of being a cis gay dude drawing gay porn would earn them a fanbase. So it just felt very scummy being lied to all that time. Maybe did identify as trans later on, But I remember I just stopped following them because I felt "betrayed". Not remotely close to the Andy Blake Saga, but seeing this comment made me think of that.

[@carolinewheeler77]

That’s like the weirdest thing to be concerned about when he’s a manipulative cult leader tbh

[@dado__]

​​@@carolinewheeler77By misgendering him or associating the scam stuff with his being trans a link is made between being trans itself and being a scam/abuser. It impacts innocent trans people who are just trying to live their lives, unlike him. It's not really giving "respect" to him but more separating being trans from being evil. Like, I get concerned when people make fun of Lauren Boebert for being a high school dropout-not because she isn't a shitstain on humanity, but because being a highschool dropout is not part of why she's a shitstain. EDIT: I was only partway through the video when I wrote this but Teya's point at 1:13:30 is important: even tho transness was tied into what he lied about, it's not reflective of other trans people. Not misgendering him is the equivalent of not calling Ben Shapiro the k-word for using his Orthodox Judaism as part of being evil.

[@sockgoblin2942]

I did some further reading on Abbey's blog-- she seems to be living a good life! I am sad to report, however, that Bob passed away ten years ago, in 2013. Rest in peace Bob, you seemed like a cool dude.

[@fanrosefabrose9457]

R.i.P Bob

[@izzymika8825]

D: Can you say/do you know how he passed away? No worries if not (or if it's too personal)

[@sockgoblin2942]

@@izzymika8825 Abbey’s blog had a post where she was explaining who each of the Bag Enders were, there was an update added onto Bob’s section that he had passed.

[@ollympian_art]

@@izzymika8825 I recall it was either a car or motorcycle accident :(

[@izzymika8825]

@@ollympian_art that's horrible :( idk what I expected, but :/ thank you for the info

[@urbanarmory]

For context as someone who came of age in this fandom era- the whole "young hot thing walking into a Con and being worshipped by the elders" was shockingly common and unbelievably problematic. Most geek spaces were older and came up in the 80s, and the new crop of fans from LOTR and Potter and stuff were both completely coddled and frajkly frequently groomed. I knew a few young women who I have to shamefully state at the time I thought of as "attention wh*res" who were either creepily "raised" to behave that way or literally groomed. I dont know what The Kids These Days are like but I hope that's less common...

[@TheRach995]

Unfortunately, its still really common. I was groomed as a child/teenager in the homestuck fandom & at conventions in new england. There is a real problem with lack of boundaries at cons in general, and with so many congoers being kids/teenagers it's an even bigger issue. Tbh I wish i never got involved in cons aside from the time i went to SDCC as a young child, which was mostly fine. I couldve avoided so much stress and trauma by just not going.

[@urbanarmory]

@@TheRach995 I'm super sorry to hear all that, Homestuck felt pretty... I dunno, a little wild, as a fandom, even though I was in grad school at the time and moved on. Too much worshipping of terrible relationship dynamics, although that was also present in other fandoms too...

[@animeROX08]

I go to conventions and was an avid Tumblr user during college and it was still very much a thing until pretty recently... frankly it's still kind of common 😬 I think conventions adopting the "cosplay is not consent" um... movement? I think has helped, and I think with people who were at the very least put into uncomfortable situations as teenagers are the adults now and looking out for kids at cons (I sure am lol) but there will always be creeps preying on young kids especially at events like conventions.

[@poisonmantis4191]

it's still common but not in that way- since most fandoms now are majority young people, it's less that they show up to a con and get doted on and then groomed, its more that the groomers have their pick of the litter of young people who don't know that what's happening to them is bad. it's getting better in person, as cons are trying their best (well. most cons are) to have better security watching out for minors but it's way easier to do online now

[@Dodoorknob]

Funny how Janine wrote a whole book that’s essentially “woah is me I did so much for these people :(“ but essentially only ended up exposing herself as a cruel and miserable human being, she and Andy should both lose internet access forever. I feel so bad for Diamond having to deal with emails from a grown woman who is literally a wealthy doctor. Two can play at that game. Get rubella Janine.

[@Dodoorknob]

Abbey’s mom is the real hero here, being there for her daughter no matter what she had done. Janine is an adult woman who made a bad and idiotic financial decision and used that to bully two abuse victims.

[@novanoonthyme6208]

Jeanine is actually one of the kindest people I've ever met.

[@Dodoorknob]

@@novanoonthyme6208 She may be kind to you and others around her I do not doubt that for a second. She also bullied and harassed abuse victims and then profited from their trauma. Two things can be true. She can be kind and nice to you but her behavior towards Abby and Diamond is despicable and unforgivable. Plain and simple.

[@beeaggro2593]

@@novanoonthyme6208 from all accounts, she acted horrifically but maybe life experience humbled her?

[@notshardain]

@@novanoonthyme6208 People are capable of being kind to some around them while also being capable of treating others horrendously. Her being kind to you and in your presence doesn't undo the cruelty she knowingly inflicted on others. I hope you meet people who are kinder than her some day.

[@tyrannosaurusrhett]

As a South Carolina native, I want to say that Jeanine is either lying about relocating sea turtle eggs or admitting to breaking the law. You're not allowed to relocate sea turtle nests in this state. You can rebury eggs that have become exposed or are beginning to wash away perhaps from being buried too close to the water, but that's it. We're not even permitted to open the nests if there's a hurricane incoming, so she shouldn't have been messing with those sea turtle nests.

[@scoutlaceharding]

This was utterly fascinating. I am so glad Abby's mom reached out to experts and was able to do what she did to save her daughter. I hope all the survivors are doing well...Jeanine can go kick rocks, though. Between the transphobia and the decision to harass abuse victims in a cult-like situation she just seems so gross.

[@jackdanielsinthelionsden1887]

When Jeanine's harassment of them with her book came up I had to pause the video to yell "what a fucking loser"

[@notshardain]

I'm so amazed Jeanine thought her harassment of abuse victims who were STILL STUCK WITH THEIR ABUSER??? was a good thing to put in her book. Like girl what is wrong with you???? Why would you do that in the first place, and then why would you publish it???? Amazing. No notes.

[@librasun-scorpiorising]

I literally went “YEAH!!!” out loud when the deus ex machina of Abby’s mom appeared in the story. So many of the casts of these fandom drama stories are nothing but liars/scammers and vindictive jerks, it’s nice to see a true hero come in and save the day for once ❤

[@zoeb3573]

deux ex mamma mia

[@kalebh3419]

Its so scary how close to being in this circle i was. Not sure if it's touched upon here but after Andy left the LotR fandom, he migrated to the Harry Potter fandom and created a wildly popular fan fiction based on students who were stuck at Hogwarts during the time the death eaters took over, i believe it was called the DAYDverse? Same weird behavior ensued and tangled more people into this web of cringey chronically online bullshit. WELL HE THAN expanded his horizons to the SUPERNATURAL FANDOM (can you guess which fandom i was?), more specifically, the Destiel fandom, which i at the time was also pretty invested in, not nearly in the scale of others, but i was part of an EXTREMELY modest fan podcast dedicated to Destiel. Well turns out i was really close with people who were themselves REALLY close to Andy, and i had actually talked to him only twice very briefly (constantly called me Princess... didn't sit right with my soul, i was 17/18). I had no idea about Andys previous incidents at all, and he had gotten my friends to believe that he was innocent and would convince their friends(like me) he was innocent. But even than i knew he was min-maxing being the perfect fandom leader, he attached himself to Misha Collins and was an AVID participant of GISHWES and all of the popular destiel fans were on his scavenger hunt team(a lot of them were my friends and some of them were members of our modest destiel podcast). The last interaction i had with him was when MY PHONE NUMBER WAS GIVEN TO HIM by people in the destiel circle, and he begged me to go to a GISHWES event because none of them could go and i lived closed to it and he... really didn't want to hear me tell him no, which i did and than right after that blocked his number, i can tell he was used to people bending over backwards for him and i was just so disinterested it frustrated him, and i definitely feel like i was painted later as 'not a big enough fan' to be a part of my friends circle anymore where it involved him. Honestly i didn't care much about it at the time, i had a very strict relationship with the internet even then so none of this fandom wank or obsession really effected me. But oh my God did this video just unlock deep dark memories of my cringey fandom tumblr past 🤣

[@kalebh3419]

Ok Strange did shout out dayd lol, the lore goes deep y'all

[@carolinewheeler77]

Holy shit he also went to the supernatural fandom??? What did he do there???

[@kalebh3419]

​​@@carolinewheeler77basically the same crazy fandom shit, just replace frodo/sam with dean/castiel and found new minions to manipulate, parodying the source material beyond recognition and treating it as Canon to the source material, using fanfiction and spreading it to gain clout in the fandom so he can get more popular etc etc. Tho I don't think he did the channeling shit anymore? Or at least not as publicly.

[@MalkuthSephira]

it's so funny when people feel the need to write multiple paragraphs denying accusations that they were embarrassingly into fandom that... no one has even made yet we know you were embarrassing and cringey because you're so desperate to tell everyone over and over that you're not, and also because no matter how many times you repeatedly emphasize that you were running a "modest" Destiel podcast... you were RUNNING A DESTIEL PODCAST i don't even think you need to be embarrassed about any of that, the only thing that's actually embarrassing is how desperate you are to pretend you were always a normie when you obviously never were and probably never will be you can just be a weirdo, you know? you can just enjoy fandom, or whatever you're doing these days. the fact that you were super into supernatural shipping doesn't mean you were anything like Andy or other dangerous, manipulative fandom predators. you could just own the life you lived and be proud of it no one believes you're Too Cool For Fandom now. the thing is... you're the only person who even thinks being Too Cool For Fandom is aspirational

[@ladyhouseoflove]

Ok, I knew about Jeanine’s lashing out at others, I knew she was transphobic, and I knew she was cruel to other victims but hearing you describe all that she said makes me livid. Also, I hadn’t realized till now but she had to be at least 5-10 years older than everyone. It makes her attack on Diamond and Abbey even more wicked. God, it concerns me that she's a doctor. How does she handle domestic abuse victims? LGBTQ+ people?

[@beeaggro2593]

thankfully she wasnt an actual doctor

[@olly8367]

ive done some surface-level googling and it looks like she doesn't work in medicine anymore and instead in music management?

[@beeaggro2593]

@@olly8367 of like obscure Celtic music bands

[@heavensdevil6943]

​@beeaggro2593 why does the TERF need to be in nice celtic music gdi

[@Tsochar]

Apparently she never interacted with patients after finishing her residency in 1996; her time as a healthcare worker was in assisting attorneys investigating malpractice cases.

[@bluessbelles]

I’m half way through this video and I gotta say Sean Astin must’ve had a patient of a saint. After the Project Eleanor stuff, i was surprised to hear he still continued to work with them.

[@stanable9716]

This makes DashCon look like a well planned success.

[@Kiki-li6wp]

i can't wait to hear more about the deliciously aged horrors of early 2000s fandom Edit: it was even more than I could've imagined holy shit

[@VTWS]

I always go into these Strange fandom drama videos thinking they’ll be boring compared to the previous one… and then get hit with insanity like this, it just keeps getting crazier

[@ThennaryNak]

Sadly it gets even worse. Andy seems to bring complete disaster to any fandom he touches.

[@melissam6931]

The word abusive somehow did not prepare me for how bad Jeanine's harassing emails actually were jfc, why does it ever seem necessary to these people to eviscerate somebody's self worth with blatant lies? Like Jeanine has a right to stay on top of things I think given how much they screwed her over, but not to anywhere near that extent

[@vans0nhead220]

especially because like? Jeanine? Girl? that group’s defining traits are 1), their inability to handle money responsibly, and 2), and their inability to meet expectations, both their own, and everyone else’s. Jeanine. Girl. What the actual FUCK did you think was gonna happen?

[@ACDBunnie]

Yes, but also Andy's abuse, next next level

[@TheLetterbomber]

there's something kind of iconic about going to the Social Security office and declaring yourself a Pagan Cult baby for the sake of your transition-related legal name change. what a bonkers story.

[@juntoringo]

i might actually not be strong enough to finish watching this. the real involvement of the actual actors is literally sending me into hell everytime they're mentioned. usually fandom stuff is contained into its own septic tank online, at most an awkward question at like meet-up or something. but the crossover into irl actual interaction with real (ACTUALLY NICE? WELL MEANING?) people, who are donating time and generosity, and giving the benefit of the doubt to genuine goobers.... listening to them getting sucked into this radioactive vortex of lotr forum mania and seriously outragious behaviour -- i can't. it's been a long time, i'm a web vet fr, but i'm cringing so fucking hard. i tried fast forwarding. double speed. it's literally crushing, it's so fucking juicy but i'm not strong enough oh. my god. oh my god. strange why

[@jasminv8653]

Same. I haven't been able to watch for more than a short section at a time. I'm not sure if I can survive.

[@Sapphykins]

I can't believe the LOTR fandom found a worse way to break the performer/fandom divide than when idiots in bandom usd to send RPF incest fics to gerard way... it's always the fandoms you least expect, i guess!

[@callies3789]

send what now to gerard way

[@carolinewheeler77]

@@SapphykinsNOOOO WHAT??? 😭😭😭 I found some of that incest shipping on tumblr and idk anything about MCR so I thought they were like pretend brothers???? They’re real brothers??????? Mind you I didn’t ship it or anything but now I’m doubly horrified

[@littlemau1360]

​@carolinewheeler77 Yes Gerard way and their brother Mikey Way are both in the band.

[@TheCommonplaceBook]

This was such a wild ride from start to finish. I was a kid in the Portland area when Project Elanor was going on. My mom helped run a separate (non-cult) fan group that was also helping out with the garden project and we were both there helping with the landscaping. Honestly my mom did a huge bulk of the work (she's a complete legend in a garden!) Sean Astin was wonderful and most of the people there who actually did the work weren't even from Bit of Earth, they were from my mom's LotR fan network of local friends, so I had no idea that Bit of Earth has spearheaded it (though wow I remember Andy and remember my mom kinda herding me away from him lol). When it fell into disrepair a few years later, I remember my mom saying it was because the people who were supposed to maintain it "had flaked." I don't know if she knew about the cult thing, but it makes sense now why they didn't follow through on taking care of the garden after it was planted. That plot of land now has much simpler landscaping that's easy to maintain and the beautiful tree is gone. Excellent video! This is so well researched and totally threw me for a loop when I started hearing about events I'd been to with my mom and realizing I'd met this guy.

[@TheCommonplaceBook]

me and my old childhood friends are the kids at 49:39 oh wow I never thought I'd see myself as a tiny tot in a Strange Aeons video (they handed us a bunch of books and had us pose with them for a photo but I remember being annoyed that they were easy reader books because I was a very pretentious child lol)

[@kamonskye240]

@@TheCommonplaceBook Oh, photo ops people LOVE shoving random books in kids hands. When I was a kid, I was forced to read from a bible for a TV spot my parents landed in... Mind you, I'm not nor have I ever been religious, but at the time I didn't really have any problem with the bible... But I had a copy of the bible that I liked, and it WASN'T the one they made me hold and read for the stupid TV spot. No, they chose some other bigger bible that had more words per page and was GIANT in my tiny hands... Because it made the line they wanted to dub over me reading it, "When he left, she could barely read... Look at her now!" (The TV spot was about the long time away from family that military members had to take.) And like, the fact they chose a book I didn't like was enough to upset me the day of, but the fact they dubbed over with that BS about how I could barely read? Bitch, I've been reading since I was 3 years old. I was at a college reading level by fifth grade. I was SEVEN when they filmed their stupid TV spot that instead of detailing the real tragedy of my father's long time away from the family (my mother having to raise me on her own when I suffered from severe mental disabilities and an ableist school system), instead decided to portray some sort of bizarre lie that a seven year old could barely read and somehow miraculously was reading this giant book that barely fit in my hands when my dad had only been gone for six months. That childhood experience made it so I never trusted the news again - not cable news, anyway. I'm lucky I live in the era of the Internet, because it's easy to get my "news" from firsthand reports - people who live in cities affected by whatever terrible Headline Thing is currently ongoing post about it on their twitters or blogs or whatever and I can easily verify that it's true, and isn't just news crew making up stories about seven year olds who can't read again. Sometimes I wonder if I didn't live in the era of the Internet where I can easily look things up and find firsthand reports, if I'd have become some kind of hillbilly conspiracy theorist thanks to that shitty news channel. I understand this story is only barely related to your experience... But it's something I think of whenever I see these obviously staged photographs/videos of kids, trying to portray some sort of bs "feel good" story for the adults looking at them. About how staged so much of what tries to pass as news is - whether it's about military service members returning from a war, or of it's about some kids at a charity event. Like, yes, my reading level probably improved in those six months my father was gone. Yes, you were at this event helping out... But rather than showing the truth, people decided to make up lies to try to seem more appealing, to appeal to more people. Because more people are interested in stories about kids learning to read than they are stories about kids battling with mental illness (eek!) without a father, people are more interested in seeing kids holding age appropriate books than they are seeing kids working in (icky!) dirt plating flowers. And by God (the one from my childhood bible that was small enough to properly fit in my hands, not the one from the stupid giant bible that was spilling out of my lap), do I hope that changes at some point. It probably won't anytime soon, given we're still living in the era of reality TV twisting the meaning of reality, but by gosh, can I hope.

[@randomnpc7773]

Holy shit this must have been *wild* as a video for you to watch LMAO

[@LoveKillFear777]

I’m only just starting the video. Your side of this story is fascinating!

[@alienrat-z3g]

​​@@TheCommonplaceBookthis is absolutely wild and I imagine it must be even crazier for you

[@chelseahindle3645]

Cate Blanchett not being hot enough for LOTR is an extremely wrong take. -Sincerely, the most asexual asexual to have ever asexualed.

[@morinomajou]

The idea of anyone not being 'hot enough to be Galadriel' is also just a really wrong take anyway, because like... elves in general, and Galadriel especially, aren't really MEANT to be hot? Or at least, not in the conventional way? Like, Book!Galadriel is very aesthetically pleasing, sure, but in more of an ethereal, sexless, even slightly unsettling way. Casting a conventionally 'hotter' actress would undermine that.

[@UsernameXOXO]

​@@morinomajou True as that may be, you're talking about a fandom's interpretation. There is some form of smut of exactly every damn fictional character in existence.

[@hotpinkcrayolas]

Cate Blanchett was perfectly cast. It had to be her or Tilda Swinton to get that level of ethereal beauty x

[@pahvi3]

​@@hotpinkcrayolas Tilda and Cate are both absolute goddesses ❤️

[@dawert2667]

Tilda would fit the character for sure but her also being in the Narnia movie would have been too poetic

[@existentialdread875]

hearing that abbeys Mother was working behind the scenes to basically save her daughter is so heartwarming. I can't even imagine the amount of pain and patience that woman had to experience through this disaster.

[@VincentMariethe4th]

I'm only a half-hour in so far & already I'm seeing a similar pattern to the infamous "Final Fantasy house". I feel kinda sad for these people cuz it seems like they're really going through some shit, but instead of using fiction or fandom as one of MULTIPLE ways to cope with their issues they instead bury themselves in it. Kinda breaks my heart, & just another reason that mental health treatment should be more available & affordable for all.

[@AshNRoses4409]

As someone who was in a similar situation not so long ago (not to this extent and thank god I'm out of that now) yes, that's a big part of it. Fandom can easily become your whole identity when you're young and mentally unwell, and is very easy for other to start turning what was meant to be a safe space into a personality cult. After all, all your favorite characters are here, they're real and they love and they need you, isn't that sweet? Doesn't that make you feel special? Oh, but you're also very very broken, I- I mean _they_ these people you have come to love, know how to help you, no one else

[@VincentMariethe4th]

​@@AshNRoses4409 Wow. That's terrifying. I'm so glad you were able to get out of that situation.

[@NoveltyTea]

Hi. I'm Talisha, or rather T now (they/them). I was going to be married at Tentmoot. This video has dragged up so many buried memories, now I can't sleep. I feel sick. But honestly, thank you for talking about this. I guess I should finally convert my old wedding vhs and my dv of Halloween 2003 spent in Bag End LA before the shit hit the fan. Might actually have Jordan... Andy? somewhere recorded there. 😔 Still can't believe I was in this mess at one point.

[@ernie39]

I hope you're doing well!

[@BuglordSupreme]

hope you are having a good life T!!

[@panam6074]

Hope youre living life well T

[@VultureSkins]

I hope you’re having a better day, you deserved so much better than having that happen to you

[@Sailormac2]

Don’t feel bad about it T, Jordan pulled the wool over a LOT of people’s eyes. Hope you are living your best life now!

[@GoodBerriesOfficial]

Janine is out there thinking she's the hero but the real MVPs (besides the survivors from the cult) are Abby's mom and her pet Sparrow

[@Niinque]

"And it was around this time....sigh... that VB revealed his psychic abilites to Abby" the fact that this is only *eleven minutes* into the video, wooh boy, we are in for a wild ride

[@sharkbarkxx]

May that bunny rest in peace. I have a larger then normal rabbit aswell. I just refilled her food, water, and gave her a treat. I refuse to let my mental illnesses hurt her. If I dont take care of myself, I will take care of her.

[@garfieldiloveyou]

same they are my babies

[@minni_sung9437]

It's crazy that I can feel like I'm ons deaths door and still take care of my snake and cats but people in much better states will neglect animals to death cus they "don't like them" rip bunny

[@Verka143]

I feel so sorry for every victim of this situation but especially for Diamond, she was constantly under someones influence and Jeanine berating her did not help the situation at all

[@yourstruly9013]

Operation: Catch and Release and everything about Abbey’s mom made me cry. I can’t imagine seeing a loved one being so hurt and knowing the only realistic thing to be done is be patient. I’m so happy Abbey made that call, and that Abbey’s mom spent so much time learning and waiting to hear just that.

[@arcticg7644]

The way my heart dropped when you said “Andy Blake.” I knew of him from the Harry Potter and Supernatural fandoms. I never got tied up in his cult shit, but I do remember other people warning me away from him and reading his fanfic. It was basically torture porn.

[@arcticg7644]

Andy Blake is also terrible at writing female characters but that’s another thing. You can still find his work if you know where to look but I don’t recommend it.

[@capriciouschronicler1872]

I remember really liking his Harry Potter Daydverse when I was younger. Going back and reading that as an adult was incredibly jarring, it was so edgy and dark for the sake of just being edgy and dark

[@M.K.ultra.]

Yeah, and also his HP fanfics feature doubtlessly the most painful, cringe-inducing butchering of British (and Irish) peculiarities by an American who's never been to Britain. This guy believes that North Ireland in 1998 was a battleground of a civil war (the intensity he describes is worse than The Troubles ever were) and that Marks&Spencer is a posh boutique for aristocrats.

[@bridgetg6857]

​@@M.K.ultra.Not just that but he claimed to gave fought on both sides of The Troubles. He would have been in his early teens at the time.

[@M.K.ultra.]

@@bridgetg6857 This claim is extremely revealing of his lack of self-awareness. "Fought on both sides of a civil war" is something you put in your OC's backstory to make him a rugged badass. It's not something a real person tells about themselves, especially in case of a sectarian conflict like The Troubles. Thanfiction treats reality like a fanfic, so to speak.

[@hamilkarbarkas2071]

For some reason I can‘t quite articulate, the „thwarted monstrous child“ line really got to me. Both fascinating and terrifying in some way.

[@spacequeen2046]

omg "an extra named Bret McKenzie" that's BRET from Flight of the Conchords!!! Maybe he wasn't famous then, but a couple years down the line he was a legit celebrity working with Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi.

[@RariettyC]

He's also alongside Cate Blanchett as one of the only LOTR cast members who is an Academy Award winner

[@tehharu]

The way I started crying hearing about Abby's mom, how wonderful she was there to catch her.

[@timaal5897]

i teared up too