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Saturday, September 15, 2007

I Was Here: A look back at Cassieiswatching one year later

Earlier in the week we published a link to this brilliant article on Anchor Cove . With Milowent's permission we are now able to reprint the entire article here for any readers who may have missed it the first time around:

I Was Here: A look back at Cassieiswatching one year later
Written by Milowent
Wednesday, 12 September 2007 09:31

On September 12, 2006, the story of Lonelygirl15 changed forever.
And it wasn't because internet sleuthers discovered on that same day that unknown New Zealand actress Jessica Rose was playing the part of "Bree." No, the creators of Lonelygirl15 knew that day was coming upon them quickly, and were somewhat prepared for it.
But what they weren't prepared for was a young evil girl called Cassie.

This is her story now. More or less.

The Bait
In late August 2006, the popularity and press coverage surrounding Lonelygirl15 on youtube was skyrocketing. In about two months time, "Bree" had gone from being another promising young youtuber to one of the most popular celebrities on the internet, with her videos topping the "most viewed" charts almost daily on youtube, and garnering daily mentions in major newspapers.
On August 29, 2006, Bree posted a video entitled Swimming!, where Bree and Daniel went on a hike to go swimming one day. At perhaps the peak of their powers, the creators of Lonelygirl15 ("the Creators") were playfully toying with their audience, most of whom were going bezerk arguing about whether "Bree" was "fake" and what the ulterior motive of Lonelygirl15 was. Was she Mormon? Was she a Scientologist? Was this viral marketing for indie music? Every little word and action of Bree and Daniel, every minute item in Bree's room, and every possible theory no matter how ridiculous, was being endlessly dissected.
"Swimming!" deftly played with many fans' belief that Daniel was quietly pining for Bree, whose ugly one piece black swimsuit starkly contrasted with her physical beauty. And at 77 seconds into this 26th video posted by Bree, out of nowhere Bree asks Daniel:
"Whatever happened to that girl Cassie?"
"WHO IS THIS? " asked Bree's adoring fans, "Someone in Daniel's class?" But Daniel seemed not to remember her. "Everyone was mean to Cassie," said Bree. What the hell can this mean? This must be IMPORTANT. At least as important as the fact that Bree had a picture of famous occultist and bad boy Aleister Crowley on the wall of her bedroom, something that had come to light only three weeks prior.
Speculation ran rampant among fans, some of whom at that very same time were trying to capture Lonelygirl15's IP address to track her down, were having botanists look at plants in the Swimming and Hiking videos to determine the filming locations, and were scouring for clues on the myspace pages of bands like the Jane Does, whose song "Junkie" was featured to great effect in Swimming. Among the more outlandish early Cassie theories was one that referenced a Cassie killed at Columbine, and a stealth marketing campaign for R&B singer and P.Diddy protege "Cassie".

Cassie Speaks, Sorta Kinda.
A few days later, Virginia Heffernan, New York Times TV critic and probably the journalist most interested in the Lonelygirl15 phenomenon as well as the one due the most credit for the buzz created around the show, noted on September 5 that she'd received a cryptic message from a "Cassie". She also shared with fans a very weird and mostly unintellible voice message supposedly from this same Cassie. No one was sure what it said, but it was kinda scary. The mystery of Bree was already rubbing off onto Cassie. On September 11, Ms. Heffernan followed up and reported that Cassie would be branching out into video:
And soon we might see two plots diverge. Two lonelygirl15’s? Look for a renegade plot to show up in videos on YouTube, using much of the lg15 mise-en-scene. Including the swimming hole! Will fans follow the new plot? Can a new plotline restore some of the sheen of verisimilitude, which was the beauty of the original, before it overnight came to seem all overthought and agented?
Virginia's post was read by many to suggest something sinister was going to emerge that was connected to the creators of lonelygirl15. Much later, she admitted she didn't really know:
"I was tipped off to it in weird ways: Morse-code text messages, Skype IMs with a mysterious name, and that screwy audio file. The only proof that what the person was saying was true is that he/she/they/it had a photo and the coordinates of the swimming hole, so I believed that there had been some contact with the original creators. But who knows? (Source: LGPedia)"
Whoever Cassie was, then, she knew her stuff. Including little details, like that she was using an email nickname of "cassiestruggles18" that mirrored the "breesnuggles15" email address used by Bree.


The Head That Launched The Frenzy
The next day (and one year ago today), on September 12, 2006, the brand new youtube channel Cassieiswatching (CiW for short) posted a 27 second video titled "This Is My Story Now". It consists primarily of footage showing where Bree walked to the swimming hole in Swimming!, the swimming hole itself, and some mysterious bag falling into the swimming hole. You can hear the freaky whisper "I was here," at the beginning, and "Come and get it," at the end -- an invitation to come get whatever was in the water. (A number of fans who first saw the video joked that the bag was the head of cassie, since Bree had joked in Swimming! that Daniel was actually taking her to the woods to hack her up into pieces. However, the youtube tags for the cassie video were "Bree tells lies.")
Within a few hours of the video being posted, Cassie updated the video description to include a link to Google Maps, showing the presumed location of the swimming hole. For most people, filming at the location of a recent Bree video was substantial proof that Cassieiswatching was connected to Lonelygirl15. No fan had ever posted a Lonelygirl15 response video like this--on holy ground where Bree had tread. In hindsight however, at least a few fans had already posted publicly where they thought the swimming hole was, and they were correct (Sept 8th: "I think it might me San Gabriel River East Fork."). So it is quite possible someone in the L.A. area figured it out without knowing directly from the Creators. And in the excitement of having such knowledge, decided to exploit it.
Meanwhile, Lonelygirl15's press coverage reached a fever pitch, hot with the new discovery of Jessica Rose's identity. Fans were literally pouring into lonelygirl15.com website and YouTube, and many of them were intrigued by the strange and scary Cassieiswatching video. Sucked in, threads about locating the bag shown in the video grew to enormous length, while at the same time others urged great caution, concerned that some "sick freak" was trying to lure someone into the woods and chop them into bits. Though a number of those who were interested in Cassie thought it was an ARG - or Alternate Reality Game, and jumped into the Cassie rabbithole excitedly. But before this date, the Creators of Lonelygirl15 had no idea what an ARG was.
In the first days after the first CiW video was released, no one seemed to be able to locate the bag, and Cassie messaged a few searchers with additional location information. Then on Sept. 15, famed ARG-veteran Cu Roi claimed to have found the bag, and posted his evidence online. (Casket of Tears, Sept. 15, 2006). All this was met with crazy excitement on the phorums and in chat rooms.
However Cu Roi was duped. The clue he found was a tarot card, and "Cassie" soon posted a disclaimer on YouTube saying, ""TOO SLOW I DON'T PLAY CARDS YOU ALL FAILED I HATE YOU." Someone else had "gamejacked" the clue to interfere with Cassie's game. In fact, gamejacking attempts were very common during the Cassie era due to the large Lonelygirl15 audience. Among these early gamejack attempts was the appearance of a Cassie profile on Myspace, whom "YouTube Cassie" discredited, and also on ebay of all places. The clones were deliciously spoofed in the video "Crisis of Infinite Cassies." (Not long after that, a voicemail message from Cassie appeared to be gamejacked and replaced with a substitute, and a new fanfic ARG called "OpAphid" later took credit for it.)

What's A Little Murder Among Friends?
What could Cassie do next? On September 13, Bree posted another video outside her room (only the third time she had done so), called in "In The Park." Somehow, Cassie learned this was La Cienega Park in Beverly Hills, and quickly put together her second video, all of 11 seconds, and posted it on YouTube on September 17.
It was called When I Get To The Bottom Where I Stop. The title references the lyrics of the Beatles song Helter Skelter, and also Charles Manson. A picture of a Manson murder scene is also included among the blur of images which appear in the video. Fans Cu Roi (again) and scdgoofy (who incidentially was the first person to discover that the creators had trademarked the term Lonelygirl15 via Greg Goodfried's father Kenneth--causing Greg and his family to feel majorly stalked), found the park and a note left by cassie. (Recovery video).
The Manson murder imagery drove many Lonelygirl15 fans crazy. And really, a stark clash was occurring between older Lonelygirl15 fans who had fallen in love with sweet innocent Bree, and brand new fans who were enjoying Cassie's dark mystery and didn't care much for Bree. So, it was almost inevitable that matters would quickly come to a head, and they did. Before the end of that same day (East Coast time at least), the Creators posted a statement distancing themselves from Cassieiswatching and disavowing any connection to it:
Cassieiswatching is NOT Official. Cassieiswatching is an independent fan creation. We are really excited to see fans creating their own storylines and riffing on our characters and our Universe. Although we encourage creativity and storytelling by our fans, we cannot be responsible for the outcome of the Cassieiswatching story or its content and imagery. Watch it if you like, but know that it is not official, nor is it guided by our team or a "splinter group."
We have plans to incorporate more ARG elements into LG15 so we are excited to see such a vigorous investigative response to Cassieiswatching despite the fact that the subject matter is darker than we would like.
We will leave the Cassieiswatching and related forums open so you can discuss it if you like. The most important thing is to have fun!
Others shied away. Anchor Cove, recently founded as an independent LG15 forum, went so far as to ban all discussion of Cassieiswatching. Some were afraid that Cassie would displace Bree. Indeed, the Creators had already claimed they would be incorporating "ARG elements" into their story, when a few days prior they had never heard of ARGs. Nor had most of Bree's fans.
And, in fact, Anchor Cove's concerns proved to be true. Since the Creators allowed Cassieiswatching to use its forums, it became dominated by Cassie fans. Within a few weeks of Cassie's debut, over 66% of all posts at the lonelygirl15.com forum were about Cassie, not Bree! It was as if Cassie had gamejacked Lonelygirl15.
And many of these Cassie fans didn't particularly like Bree, because the stories were completely different in tone. Different strokes for different folks and all that jazz. But the fervor of Cassie's fanbase deeply influenced the Creators to start adapting Lonelygirl15 to more of an ARG format, with a more violent story. Even though Cassie's audience was much smaller than Bree's (no Cassie video reached even 50,000 views during its run, and the last few were much lower), CiW's very devoted fans were very influential. The Creators may have not realized that ARGs tend to attract fans willing to devote a substantial amount of time to the game, and thus would not necessarily be representative of what the average Lonelygirl15 viewer wanted.


Cassie's Story Continues And Then Fades Aways
After the megadrama of the first two Cassie videos wore off, Cassie posted three additional videos (Revelations 1,2, & 3), which contained elaborate clues and puzzles in them. Hoever, there was no more filming where Bree had been. The CiW fans attacked the puzzles in earnest, even though they preferred the first days of excitement.
But, inevitably perhaps, Cassie slowly went on a downslide. The puppetmaster of CiW created a blog by someone called Frank, who claimed he heard strange voices. Perhaps Cassie was a figment of Frank's imagination? Hecklers polluted the comments of Frank's blog. Then Frank was reported dead on the blog by his wife.
Cassie's last YouTube video, Revelation 3, showed Cassie in an animated format, and online game players quickly realized that Cassie had moved into "Second Life", a large online role playing game (which also happens to be well known for cybersex, but that's really another story). Cassie's fans went to Second Life enmasse and followed Cassie to "Gothinger" church, where Cassie floated around and didn't seem to do much. But the fans had fun nonetheless, including holding an infamous "dancing cows" party (*The author did not follow the last part of CiW very closely, or dance with any cows naked, so anyone who sees fit to post more details about Cassie's life and demise in the comments to this article should do so!). And Cassie's last immense anagram puzzle lays unsolved to this day.
Conventional wisdom is that Cassie died out because it was too dependent on the plot of Lonelygirl5, which it could not predict. Everyone expected that Bree was going to take part in some bloody Ceremony on October 12, 2006, and when Bree didn't die that day, it left Cassie in the lurch (so the story goes).

Whatever Happened To That Girl Bree?

The lasting influence of CiW on the storyline of LG15 cannot be understated.
Cassie herself generated a wave of her own fanfiction and spoofs, including one from the Creators themselves! They posted a video on the youtube channel "Breeiswaiting" on October 13, 2006, the day after the Ceremony.

(Green shades of LaRezisto?)
However, the video failed to grab fans' attention (it got less than 1,500 views at the time), many of whom assumed it was another lame gamejacking attempt despite good evidence that the video - posted just a few hours after The Ceremony video was posted -- seemed to reveal the location. Such is the fickle nature of ARGS.
As far as I am aware, the Creators have never acknowledged that they made this video, but it had to be them. Nikki Bower later cited this video as directing her to the location where she found the box with the watcher symbol on it. And Amanda Goodfried of the lonelygirl15 team filmed Nikki's videos, though that wasn't known until months later.
One fan turned onto Lonelygir15 in early September 2006 was Glenn Rubenstein. He then stumbled upon Cassie, and became immediately addicted. He also rearranged his own ARG ideas he had been working on to fit into the Cassie and LG15 storylines, and OpAphid/Tachyon was born. Mocking Cassie in its early videos (and by allegedly gamejacking the Cassie voicemail message), the OpAphid ARG gained a fair amount of Cassie's audience, and quickly drew the attention of the Creators. Having failed at their own quickly done ARG attempt, and already overworked, they realized they needed assistance. And on November 21, OpAphid was made the official ARG of Lonelygirl15, bringing Glenn into the Creators' fold for an alliance that would last for four months.
During that (unholy?) alliance, Glenn (aka the "Intelligent Designer") brought OpAphid and Tachyon into the mainstream of the Lonelygirl15 plot. ARG puzzles were worked directly into the show, and Glenn also did a lot of writing for Lonelygirl15 episodes for some time. That has had a lasting effect on the plot, in my view.
After Glenn parted ways with the Creators, the Creators have continued to include ARG aspects in Lonelygirl15, such as the Hymn of One seminar which invited select fans in Calfornia to join Bree's cult (It's A Cult, June 1, 2007), and a recent clue hidden by the ominous LaRezisto (Way of the Gun, Aug. 23, 2007). They have also employed other ARG veterans, such as Jan Libby at Lg15, and Hazel Grian at Lg15 spinoff KateModern. And it has been pointed out that some of Kate's "art videos" on KateModern bear more than a passing resemblance to some of Cassie's styles and tricks.
So, without Cassieiswatching, there would have been no OpAphid or Tachyon, no influence or contributions from Glenn Rubenstein (including fan cult favorite videos like "Human Ransom") and, probably, no ARG elements at all in LG15. The type of audience would, perhaps, be more like Bree's original audience. Thus, the Bree who had once discussed the Heisenburg Principle of Uncertanity was drastically changed, herself, by her fans. And especially one anti-hero named Cassie. She was most definitely here. (Are you getting tired of these cliched CiW references yet?)


Epilogue: So, Who Gets The Credit (or Blame)?

(pic from Cassie spoof "No More Cassies Forever")
If you are still reading this, perhaps you are wondering (other than wondering why you are still reading), who was behind this Cassieiswatching? Ah, the final mystery. The puppetmaster has never been identified, and has chosen to remain in the shadows from whence Cassie came and went.
There has been much speculation, though. Here's a sampling of the partial CiW-Duke lacrosse team candidates:
At first, many pointed to Grant Steinfeld aka Bukanator, who had been part of the original lonelygirl15 team and separated from them early on in strained circumstances. Marked as having an axe to grind, Grant also was the primary source for Virginia Heffernan's September 12 article identifying the Creators and Jessica Rose. However, just because Grant spoke to a reporter doesn't mean he also was behind CiW. At this time, Virginia was being inundated with hoaxes and other submissions daily. And there is no hard evidence. Grant's own video offerings (and he is primarily a photographer) have no similarity to CiW.
Other speculation has focused on the Creators themsleves, whose September 17, 2006 disavowal of CiW did not say they didn't know who was behind it. But the fact that the Creators tried to create their own ARG with Breeiswaiting, their quick moves to bring Glenn Rubenstein on board, and admission that they had never heard of ARGs before suggest otherwise. Also, Alli Danizger, aka "Nikki Bower", a friend of the Creators, has disclaimed any connection to CiW.
Glenn Rubenstein himself has been subject to suspicion of running CiW due to OpAphid's alleged hacking of Cassie's voicemail message. But OpAphid's mocking of cassie, and Glenn's early involvement as a fan of CiW appear to rule him out as well. Also, OpAphid's puzzles are not similar at all to Cassie's. Other candidates bandied about have been Cu Roi (Cassie fan who recovered drops), Christi Coors Beasley (current Kate Modern executive producer), and TWJaniak (uber cassie fan, but no where near California).
Who knows? Apparently the Cassie creator wants to stay quiet, perhaps he or she is right here above us, running another ARG as we speak. And if ARGs ever become financially viable on their own, maybe they will come out of the woodwork at Gothinger church one day. To paraphrase the now-famous "Message From the Creators":

Right now, the biggest mystery (left) of CiW is, "Who is she?" We think this is an oversimplification. Cassie is a reflection of everyone. She is no more real or fictitious than the portions of our personalities that we choose to show (or hide) when we interact with the people around us.
So, Cassie, whoever you are, may you rest in peace. You left your mark.

Note: The original article with active hyperlinks can be found here on Anchor Cove.

BATGIRL?



Friday, September 14, 2007

The Journals. - xmarlasingerx


I made my decision...

If you want to discuss this, make sure you LOG IN to the forums and discuss it under "remember maddison" - thanks guys.

Note: In the video Marla says she has a 'tiny game' for us. The tags have a tinyurl code in them which leads to here http://tinyurl.com/25w2un This leads to:


The text decoded to a journal entry from by Maddison:

katiej88 said...
missing number in pi: 2
horse: h
mouse: m
x-ray: x
hippopotamus: h
2 squared = 4

tinyurl.com/2hmxh4 (from the letters and numbers from above) lead to a jpg image of hex code which translates to:

"March 17th, 2007

Christian Music?!! I learn something new everyday. Well, he's out. He was nice, and he seemed to be smart too. That's what gets me. How is somebody so smart willing to make such a finite statement about the afterlife. I mean, who can know really? He reminds me of Ned Flanders...only hot. Mild Heartbreak. Ugh!

Til tomorrow."

Discussion thread.

Re: Decision Time - bubbleteamaylee

You did the right thing. What Jonas is asking of you is unfair. Also, we don't know if we can trust those videos.

Saved by LeBeouf - Gavin (KateModern)


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Decision Time - Daniel (LG15)

Life is full of really difficult decisions. I wanted you guys all to see how Emma is doing with hers, so I put the video on this account. - Daniel

Somebody Do Something - Gavin (KateModern)


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Angel of Death?

Looking up Angel of Death of Wikipedia leads to an interesting religous reference to Sariel:

"According to the Book of Enoch, Sariel was one of the leaders of angels who lusted after the daughters of men. They descended to the summit of Mount Hermon, in the days of Jared, to acquire wives and lead men astray. Sariel specifically taught men about the course of the moon. Knibbs translation of the names of the Book of Enoch says it is possibly “light of God” or “moon of God” however he is listed as Araziel. His name is also listed as Arazyal and Asaradel in some Enoch translations. The name being a combination of sa'ar and 'God'. In the book of Enoch he is usually listed as the fourth angel with the name of Samuil or Sariel."

"As an angel of death
Judaic-Christian texts say Sariel is the angel of death along with Michael, Gabriel, and Samael. Some Enoch translations for Sariel use Arazyal/Araziel/Asaradel which in its anglo translation sounds very similar to Azrael. If Azrael is the same as Sariel he is one of the four Islamic angels in conjunction with Mikhail, Djibril, and Israfil. The name Azrael is listed in Muslim and Islamic theology as the angel of death "forever writing in a large book and forever erasing what he writes: what he writes is the birth of man, what he erases is the name of the man at death". We also see parallels in Rabbinical lore for Sammael, Falasha for Suriel, and Azrael in the Arabic."

Now, where have I heard that name Sariel before?. Oh what a tangled web we weave.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

When I stop at the bottom..when I..get to..there? - Margotiswatching

I SEE NO ONE...I THINK

Look who I found... - hopefulsemblance


Some of you have been wondering what I've been doing...
I think this proves that we don't need to bring little girls into this war to win it.
I'm close enough to smell this b@$t@rd's cheap cologne. Just a little more time...


you Question my knowledge of LaRezisto's past. lest your Methods align with mine, i have no desires to answer you. regardless, They matter not. do not Bring harm to my door. enter at risk of Death.


yfc

Bullsh%t - DanielBeast (LG15)

I just saw the La Rezisto video and I needed to comment immediately.

Help Us! - LaRezisto

Emma, you are the key . . . Fight the Order. LaRezisto

Actress who plays Alex has a new web series

Quarterlife Trailer
Quarterlife Trailer

Add to My Profile | More Videos
Description: A show about a group of twentysomethings coming of age in the digital generation. And a social network about what it means to be creative, to pursue a passion, to make a difference in the world, or just to find a place in it. Coming Nov. 11th to MySpace.

One More, One Less - FrackedUp

Where, L.A.
How, torture, dismemberment.

music: Adagio Sostenuto, Moonlight Sonata by California Guitar Trio.:.Pathways.1998

other notes: SVwnbSBub3QgaGFwcHkgd2l0aCB0aGlzIGxhdGVz dCBlbmRlYXZvciwgdG9ydHVyZSBhbmQgbXV0
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aGUgd2FzIGdsYWQgdG8gZ28u

this is my diary now - Margotiswatching

Anne tells lies.

the working of the mind - thejanitorofoxford

September 13, 2007
what have we done to them?

I Was Here: A look back at Cassieiswatching one year later - Milowent



On September 12, 2006, the story of Lonelygirl15 changed forever.

And it wasn't because internet sleuthers discovered on that same day that unknown New Zealand actress Jessica Rose was playing the part of "Bree." No, the creators of Lonelygirl15 knew that day was coming upon them quickly, and were somewhat prepared for it.

But what they weren't prepared for was a young evil girl called Cassie.

This is her story now. More or less.

A look back at CiW one year later


Tachyon Replies!

Posted by Virginian

Tachyon replied to my message. . . . and she's pretty mad at me. You all know how impatient I am. . .don't jump on me too much. Tachyon pretty much put me in my place. I sent it last week sometime in one of my impatient moods. I didn't expect an answer:

From: Tachyon [videos (11) | favorites (13) | friends (88]


Sent: September 13, 2007
Subject: Re: Come on!
Message: I do a lot of things, thank you. Pardon me for not "showing my work" to your satisfaction, but I wasn't aware that this was a math test.

You're not the boss of me, you know.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some boring detective work to do in chasing after these leads. But the good news is, one or the both of them may still be alive.

xoxox,

T


Tachyon Replies!

KateModern: Desperately Seeking Shia

Dreams do come true! The music is 'Thin Disguise' by my fave band Sneaky Sound System!!

http://www.sneakysoundsystem.com


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WELCOME GENE FOAD


Gene Foad is the actor that plays the role of Dr. William Griffin in the webseries KateModern. He has had minor roles in various TV shows since the 1970s. Most recently, he played a hologram in "Starhyke".






Gene Foad on LGPedia

Gene Foad on IMDB


LGpedia needs your HELP!

Deagol says....

RE: Maddison Atkins Chapter 2.

deagol Posted:
Wed Sep 12, 2007 8:46 am

I'd like to propose a theory. Please feel free to shoot it down or expand on it. Think about this chain of events:

We sent Zipp that note by pigeon, the last part being "A4 tuned 15 Hz flat: feedback expected" which is just asking him what would happen on 4/25. Then on 4/22 we get his reply, in plain text: "six broken strings: mute them". And we're all like, huh?

So, on the 25th we advise Maddy to run due to Warpy's video from the previous day. Maddy takes off and gets murdered. But we've now learned that there was another vial and note in the warnook. I propose that that note arrived on the 25th, after Maddy had left, and later her mom found it and put it in the warnook. Or perhaps it was there all the time but Maddy just didn't see it.

The note said in plain text "don't run, you're safe." The cipher leads us to the Nashville drop, and check out the right side of that page, it's a "six-stringed tin Schwinn mandolin" with tab code over it. That must be our six broken strings! and we were supposed to "mute them" = do not play it, do not decode the guitar tab. The guitar tab gave us "staff g" = treble = the key to both ciphers, leading to London and Riverside. But why would Zipp tell us to ignore drop 4?

Ok, this now is quite a bit speculative, but it's making a lot of sense in my mind. Hear me out. I think Zipp changed his mind about us going for the London drop and/or the cult school and was telling us not to decode, or at least not to disclose and pursue those clues which led to the 5th drop, the final one, the coffer in our treasure hunt, with very sensitive information. Maybe he knew time had run out for him and Maddy, and that the bad guys were on to her, and if we decoded it they would get to it first and plug the leak. Maybe it was because we didn't reach the intended audience ("final check" was replied with "empty house!? like, "no, no final check, we can't go to London." Maybe the intended audience were the only ones who could make use and act upon the 5th drop info. Or, perhaps he even suspected that drop 5 would get jacked, or it was compromised already.

This might've been Zipp's plan: If Maddy had waited a bit and seen the note, she would've read it and would not have run. Then, we would've found the 4th drop and seen the six broken strings and would understand that we needed to sit on it, leave it alone, muted. Later, after regrouping and reseting the mission, perhaps finding a new "microphone" that was unknown to the bad guys, just like Maddy was for two weeks, and if we finally reached the right audience (Rachel, 15/15?) we could go ahead and decode drop 4 and retrieve drop 5 unnoticed, revealing some dirty laundry from this evil organization. Real, material proof, like documents, incriminating pictures of high-ranking officials, scandalous sex tapes , etc. Stuff that could be acted on legally to stop or at least disrupt them, and in the process liberating his only child from them.

As it happened, Maddy missed the 4th note and thus the dirty laundry remained hidden, until 3 months later Clara finds the note and we get drop 4 and attempt drop 5, but fail miserably. We find 15/15's letter and the rest is history. I think it's clear 15/15 has the original drop 5, the dirty laundry, but while trying to accomplish the second objective of saving Zipp's child who I believe is Rachel, she and Linc got abducted.

Maybe I'm trying to tie too many things in one swoop, but the basic two realizations I'm trying to sell here are:

1. The Nashville page was our six broken strings, which we got to through a note and vial that might have arrived on 4/25, consistent with our question about what would happen that day.

2. In that context, "mute them" means don't decode it, don't act on it, at least for now, until we find a new set of strings or get a new guitar, i.e. a new secure channel of communication.

Phew! sorry this was so looooong.

(Added from an additional post)

This is called "Your Actions Have Consequences," or Jeromy's "Choose Your Own Adventure Pages."
-----------------------------------

Chapter 1, page 1: Retrieve 5 drops in 2 weeks, and get the right audience. Can you do it?

Yes: Uncover the big bad secret society, Maddison and Adam live and are considered heroes. Yay, you win!

No: Read along.

-----------------------------------
Chapter 1, page 11: Retrieved just 3 of the drops? Haven't got the attention of the intended audience? Don't despair. You haven't lost yet, so don't run away. You have to get drop 4 and sit on it until we find a chance to get our intended audience interested. Protect the last drop secrecy, and don't alert the enemy. Can you sit tight?

Yes: Recover drop 4, sit on it, and wait for chapter 2. You haven't lost or won yet. Congratulations on staying alive.

No, you run: You miss the note and drop 4. Maddison and Adam get murdered. Sorry, you lose. However, the intended audience is still out there and drop 5 is safe. Wait for chapter 2. (ok I know this is very unfair to us as we made the decision without knowing if there would be another note, and the deadline was up. so yea J, Maddy should've found that 4th note).

-----------------------------------
Chapter 2, page 6: You find the 4th note... it's game time! You need to retrieve drop 4 and remember to sit on it to protect the integrity of drop 5. Can you keep it on the down low?

Yes: Good decision. Now you realize you've been reading chapter 3 as well (yea 'cause this book is crazy like that, chapters 2 and 3 kinda happening at the same time). There's your intended audience, and they're watching your progress now. Drop 5 is safe with them. Congratulations! Keep reading. Oh and while you're at it, here's a hint: heart=5.

No: What? you say you asked and begged the whole world for someone, anyone to retrieve drop 5? Jeez, no way, I won't let you ruin this like that. Thankfully, our intended audience is now watching and got there first to protect drop 5. They left a note that says heart=5. They're the one's you've just started reading about in chapter 3. Keep reading.

-----------------------------------
Chapter 2, page 11: Remember to keep quiet about the info in drop 4. Don't alert the enemy by walking in on them. They know about Maddison's murder, so they'll spot you a mile away if you come asking questions. Can you be like Fonzy?

Yes: Cool, your friend Duke helps poor Joel escape and you meet him in the creek. He spills the beans about the murders and stuff. You win! Keep reading chapter 3.

No: You went right up to the enemy asking questions and being nosy. Great, now they're watching your every move. Duke helps Joel out and you set up the meeting, but the enemy got there before you and killed him. Sorry, you lose again. Keep reading chapter 3.

-----------------------------------
Chapter 3, page 4: Can you help Linc solve this phone mashup?

Yes: Good job! Meet 15/15, our intended audience. He's in charge now, and hired Linc to protect Rachel. Keep reading.

No: err... here, let me sit with you and plow through it: it's fuckin fractions, add them all up but don't make it whole. See? Oh yea, of course heart=5, because you read the note they left when you were all foolish during chapter 2, remember? Sure they would've told you anyway if you'd been sensible and kept quiet about London. Keep reading.

-----------------------------------
Chapter 3, pages 5-11: Nothing for you to decide here. Just watch Linc and Rachel awesomeness and awkwardness. Awesomesauce.

Chapter 3, page 12: Again, Just watch. Linc saves Rachel. Badass.

Chapter 3, page 15: Warpy! Freak out.

Chapter 3, page 16: Is that... with the gun... !!! Faint.

Chapter 3, page 17: WTF? I hate to quote Madonna, but "Who's that girl?" Cassie? Op? Heart attack.

-----------------------------------
Chapter 4, prologue: Take joy in the return of Oppy. Jump up and down.

Chapter 4, page 1: Can you help Linc get Buddy's help and get him to ask Terry to help rescue Zelda?

Yes: Good job. And you're a geek.

No: Try flirting with him. Yes, even if you're male.

-----------------------------------
Chapter 4, page 2: Buddy finally opens up. You got the time? Call! You got the songs? Go tiny! Got the file? HAHAHAHA, suffer! Can you handle three 10033 friggin mashups?

Yes: You're not human. Congratulations! Tach's on it.

No: It's ok, you'll start liking music in no time. Give it a year or two and you'll be rockin and rappin again. Oh, and Tach? She'll do it anyway. Yea.

-----------------------------------
Chapter 5, page 1: Where's this story going, nowhere? Well, why don't you come to the story? Yes, come to Nacodg... however you spell that, "the oldest town in Texas." You coming?

Yes: You're Marla. You're awesome.

No: You're normal.

-----------------------------------

Ok I'll stop here. This is too much already, and it turned into a friggin personality quiz there in the end.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

First Attempt = Cookies - lonelyjewfifteen

Hey, it's Peter on Anne's account. She's been couped up all week. I want to try to cheer her up. (Oh, and hi Zoey...am doin' my part...)

THE AFTER PARTY

The random insanity continued, but was greatly enjoyed by all.

Your most embarrassing moment?

with Hammy and co-host B-man, who was looking for dominos pizza

  • The After Party <---TUNE IN NEXT WEEK!
  • Go For It :) - LG15

    Hi, I'm Emma. Daniel gave me the password to this account. I wanted to introduce myself and give you an update on what's been going on. :) - Emma Faction: THE RESISTANCE

    Super Kate - Charlie (KM)


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    LonelyJew15 Episode 9: Learning to Kick Tuckass

    Even Anne Frank needs a montage. And Miep is just the girl to give her one.

    To see all the videos in the LonelyJew15 series, please visit http://www.youtube.com/user/lonelyjewfifteen

    LG15 Meets Greek - DemonicPagan



    A reference to Lonelygirl15 by LG15s one and only Bree (Jessica Rose) - Uploaded by DemonicPagan

    This Is My Story Now - cassieiswatching

    First posted: September 12, 2006 - no embedding allowed but its well worth the click!
    TOO SLOW I DON'T PLAY CARDS YOU ALL FAILED I HATE YOU
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IcYUifgEfw

    Tuesday, September 11, 2007

    Not Over Yet - StormFaction

    The Order may have destroyed us.
    But they should have KILLED us.

    Life's Good When......VIDEO CONTEST


    http://www.lgvideocontest.com/

    A New Hope!!!- jonastko (LG15)

    We're not afraid anymore, and we're definitely not running. Jonas Faction: THE RESISTANCE

    A Year ago .....cassieiswatching

    Some say it changed the lonelygirl15 series forever, one thing for sure is cassieiswatchig definitely opened up the series to a whole new realm of user interactivity, whether someone has taken claim for it or not.

    One year ago yesterday marks the aniversary of this first cassieiswatching video.

    From Jai (aka Tariq) on Myspace


    From Jai on Myspace:



    Hey peeps,

    Asian Star radio station are giving me an interview tomorrow (Wednesday) from 12pm till 2pm, about our internet show and maybe even "me" if they're interested lol.

    So for all you brownies out there you'll enjoy the Indian tunes in between the chat, and for all you brownie lovers - what the hell, get cultural and shake your shoulders. But anyhow I'll be talking about KateModern and other stuff so show some love.

    Many thanks x

    http://www.asianstar1016.co.uk/

    Dr. Weirdo (KateModern)


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    We finally met Dudley’s dad, but can we believe a word he says?

    Strike one, strike two, strike three . . . SFA out!

    By: adam lamar
    Issue date: 9/10/07 Section: Opinion
    "So if I take the red pill and then chase after my little late friend, I'd start to question why all but one of our vice presidents have been "relieved" of their duties over the past two years."
    http://media.www.thepinelog.com/media/storage/paper954/news/2007/09/10/Opinion/Strike.One.Strike.Two.Strike.Three.Sfa.Out-2959308.shtml
    Research: TDZane

    Monday, September 10, 2007

    MicFranXon - From New York

    The Order is nothing.

    Searching... - MissionAnchorCove

    We found what we were looking for.

    Music
    "Hello London" Scarling

    Beyond The Gun - Zarbod


    "Beyond The Gun" by The Rez Band

    What Happened??? - Jonas Faction (LG15)

    After Friday's craziness, I went back through the footage to try and get a better understanding of what happened. - Jonas Faction: THE RESISTANCE

    Tell Kim I Love Her - Charlie (KM)


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    UVC Honor Code for Derivative Videos

    by immortal1
    on Sun Sep 09, 2007 2:14 pm

    The Flock recently has added a number of videos to the site. Since then I've seen a lot of derivative videos added and I realized that maybe by adding videos I was giving the impression that I was okay with with the rights granted video makers concerning derivative videos under the new TOS. Far from it. I have people I work with that I didn't want to subject to this battle. We are also in the unique position where we ended our season so I can use the break to address this issue.

    I've posted alot in regard to how derivatives are now vulnerable to things like "storyjacking" under the new TOS. The truth is they were always vulnerable. The difference now is that the Creators seem to be encouraging making derivatives of derivatives.

    The Creators wrote:"Basically, this means that if someone creates a new character that is "fighting the order," that person can put the video anywhere they want as long as they also put it on our site, don't make money from the video, put a link in the description when it is uploaded to other sites, and let other people build from that story/character."


    I feel that this will only encourage bad behavior such as "storyjacking." To encourage this without establishing some guidelines first sets it up to be the Wild West where derivatives are concerned. I have a theory about why the hardcore ARG players left lonelygirl15 and haven't returned and that's because the ARG Commandments were broken. Those aren't laws enforced by anyone, rather more an honor code among thieves. This same honor code amongst theives has been established in the literary world of collaborative storytelling. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_fiction Collaborative storytelling is in essence what we do with derivatives. I think we can adapt these rules to apply what we do here.

    Commone guidelines for Collaborative fiction deal in:

    1. Enforcing a specific genre
    2. Not killing off or otherwise permanently changing a major character owned by another author
    3. No God Mod'ing, i.e., not making a character a God, invincible and never wrong when all other characters are not similarly endowed
    4. No writing for another author's characters, unless agreed by the author
    5. Sticking to a certain 'point of view'
    6. Keeping a certain pacing, theme, or style emulation
    7. Keeping up grammar and spelling and staying to a certain language
    8. Sticking to rules regarding 'adult content'.
    9. Staying with 'the story'.
    10. Minimum and/or maximum word counts per contribution.
    11. Restrictions on or requirements to work together outside the story over plot and other elements.
    12. Restriction on who can contribute, and how often, when the work is being put together in an open area such as an online forum or mailing list.

    Obviously most of these do not apply but from these I suggest we establish an "UVC Honor Code for Derivative Videos." It's an honor system. Every person who creates a derivative video can put "I follow the UVC Honor Code for Derivative Videos" in the video description or maybe we can even establish a small symbol. If someone breaks a rule- the community will respond accordingly by not watching those vids. It's self regulation and I think the Creators will get on board with that.

    So my hope is that this post sparks discussion about guidelines and the examples offered. Feel free to suggest your own guidelines you think may apply.

    For more on this discussion follow this thread .

    I'm an idiot - WatchingOpAphid

    I posted the wrong mash up.
    Acid thought it was funny.

    Jess says......


    From her MySpace blog:
    September 9, 2007 - Sunday

    just when

    Just when you think you have everything under control life changes in an instant. They say bad things come in three's, Well it must be my time.
    It's sad how it takes something monumentally bad to bring people all together.. someones birthday may bring a few guest but someones death brings everyone. why is it that we can suddenly make time when it's too late? All the reasons for not coming to previous engagements seem ridiculous and worthless. missing an appointment or audition is nothing compared to missing a friend. Why does everything else come first? Why does it take something like this to make people realise what's truly important in life? Right now all I care about is loving the people who love me and forgetting the ones who don't. Life really is too short to deal with trivial drama and misunderstandings. I don't want to waste another minute worrying about the past or contemplating the future. It's right now that matters, Today could be a day you remember for the rest of your life.

    The End - Tariq (KateModern)


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    Sunday, September 9, 2007

    Public Service Announcement - WatchingOpAphid

    My head hurts D==

    Dream 16:"Walking and Falling" (Emma) - jerrypwjr

    You're walking, and you may not always realise it...

    Music by: Laurie Anderson

    Conversations with Dead People - TheLadyLazarus


    You have to trust it.
    Maybe not from these sources
    You have poured yours
    Maybe not from the direction
    You are staring at
    Trust your head around.

    "Cassie taunts Willow and it doesn't take long before Willow realizes Cassie is representing the thing that will devour everyone from below."

    THE STORYTELLER CHALLENGE



    Storyteller challenge on MySpace.

    So Impatient... - sneakygurl15

    ..She's not going anywhere.
    Its only September after all!

    Girl Power- Charlie (KateModern)


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    Note 1: Jenna said...
    Hey don't have the email address to contact, but thought I'd post here an email i got from KMProduction RE: Today;

    Hey Jenna,

    Thanks for offering to help Kate at Pinchin Street today - but I think that Kate and Charlie can handle this one alone.

    However! Kate did mention her Art exhibition on 22nd September - if you want you come go along to that! Details will be confirmed nearer the time by Sophie.

    Thanks for watching and I hope you get this message before you leave the house!

    KM Production

    Note 2: There was a bit of confusion about whether fans were supposed to go or not. Everyone should always make sure that their safety will be protected before attending any live event. For any ARG "event" operator control should always be established but for live events such as this no clear guidelines have been defined.

    Yousef Abu-Taleb BEST ACTOR - angelprincess6879

    Vote for Yousef Abu-Taleb for best web actor at http://www.tvguide.com/special/onlinevideoawards/

    Tariq says.....


    http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=4267542223




    If you want to become an "author" on Web Series Today please read: http://tinyurl.com/becomeaWSTauthor

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