Sab - I wasn't referring to AG - my comment was a simple nudge to suggest that not everything is wrapped in complex layers of meaning that not only excuse and explain and even justify. Sometimes something is fairly simple. When you start weaving a story full of motive and deep psychological denouement leading to some exciting reveal it may simply avoid a shallow truth. Not always but sometimes.
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Everyone is a complex character that's kind of a given that most people take for granted. A single post however, does not necessarily embody the sum totality of the person. Now I'll go a long way with you on the idea that online we play games, we assume roles, we can be villains or we can be heros. The character AG was pretty bitchy, utterly self obsessed (check the number of self references), disingenuous and was a conduit for a persona that the real world would not countenance (if she talked to everyone about her visions she would be unemployable and would risk being sectioned) she used this forum (and we all use this forum in various ways) as her soapbox for some pretty out there stuff. Where she was utterly rubbish at online forums was that she assumed that everyone would respect a story about visions, mystical voices and dragons and she never found an effective strategy to cope with criticism - her go to method was to trash the poster which naturally provoked severe arguments and ongoing thread wars.
I don't come onto JWN to have one particular poster (because no one else does it here) create a disbelievers v believers board division (she regularly talked about 'them' and 'us', she courted certain posters and tried to create an inner clique of believers) and spend her time preaching her Harry Potter world in one post and then in the next calling me('them') a fly, ignorant, blind, lacking in reading skills etc. in the next. Most posters don't provoke strong reactions in me and hopefully I don't in them - I can read a post and disagree, ignore or comment in the affirmative - that's how forums should work. AG however, went out of her way to act like a troll (some of her recent posts were ridiculous fishing for a fight exercises) relying on the tiresome fall back position of 'YOU misunderstand ME' - a rather weak position so many people claim when they defend her. I'm very happy that I do understand her and I know when someone is being condescending, egotistical, sly, manipulative and vindictive.
If we learn anything as a board it could be to work hard on being understood , KISS, don't carry baggage away from a post that disagrees, don't always route 1 to personal and avoid creating board celebrities who play to the crowd.