Meeting 6.13.16

Wooooo…. message loud and clear – heard something similar from Bob Jones but not as in depth. I have made my decision as to my alignment and I know why I continue. Best of luck with this.

@addisonborn Why did he have you leave me the voice message if his main point seemed to be to denounce the OOA?

1. Why is “marshmallows” a tag for this thread?
2. I wonder if Megan had a similar meeting?

Interesting. You say he worked for the OOA ten years ago? Does that imply that he no longer works for them?

I’m sorry it was such a hostile, weird meeting. That makes a lot of sense that they would want to make this look like something it’s not; Who knows how many others have come before this group found them?

I’m not comfortable with how the OOA have acted, are acting, and I’m amazed so many friends are besotted, devoted, and adulatory of everything here.

This is a real cult, creating real cult-like effects in our friends. Everyone might be in danger.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by  111_error.

Interesting info… I too have been a bit uncomfortable lately and this post is really saying something to me.

This is maybe the one area I am happy to be on the other side of the country, if there is any danger I should be pretry safe lol.

So… random guy contacts you and tells you OOA is bad and then we’re just supposed to buy into it?

Don’t get me wrong, happy to have to more info… but come on. Could easily be a test, a spy job from BoS to get to you and shake up the community… etc.

Not buying it.

At this point, it seems multiple people with varying hidden agendas and varying tactics… all of them questionable. @111error has a point, we may all be in danger, no matter where we place faith or mistrust.

@addisonborn If it’s not gonna put him in danger could you say how he got a hold of you and/or was able to contact you?

Some notes/questions:

Phone call/voice message – Kim now has you recorded. Not sure if that will be given to anyone, but if history has taught us anything, this will probably come back to haunt you at some point. I know from experience. Also, if this person was saying how bad they are, why would they have you call someone, who has also spoke out against them, and pledge allegiance. Was this to upset her/them?

He told you he had a voice over part, did he say what he had to say? Or what it was supposed to be for? Same questions for the on camera gig. Any way to find out where the locations are? Maybe it’s a thing we can stake out or a Bohemian Grove type thing to check out.

The industry people ARE involved and know it’s a front? Or they’re just involved and don’t know what’s really happening?

Everything negative that has been said against the OOA has been word of mouth. There are no concrete facts yet. Not saying they’re right or wrong, but there’s no hard evidence that I’ve seen to substantiate any of these claims.

so, I had a Very similar experience to what @addisonborn describes. Earlier in the day Aleister, whom I was supposed to meet with, informed he would not be able to meet because III(why the hell is this guy always sleeping!) had woken up and was suspicious of his activity. (Not sure what this means in terms of aleister’s allegiance, but I have a guess).

I was told to go to a specific zip code (studio city area) and wait for a call around 7:30. So I drove over to Ventura Blvd and found a parking spot and waited for the call.

Just after 7:30, my phone rang (no caller id) and the caller gave me instructions to head to a bar on magnolia and meet a dude there. (location name and his name I will withhold out of respect for his safety).

I parked in the back behind the bar and looked for someone alone and slightly shifty. After looking at all the patrons, I decided my contact was NOT the 80 year old lady sitting in the middle of the bar sipping whiskey.

I found him at the end and he instructed me to buy a drink and come sit with him at a table in a darkened corner of the bar.

Once seated, we had an extended Mexican stand off. I think he was trying to size me up and see whether he could trust me or not.

He gave me the usual spiel, asked me why I was doing this, said they(OOA) can’t be trusted. Then he stopped and said, before I can tell you more you need to go convince the bartender, a woman who did not appear to be somebody who would be interested in playing an online/immersive horror arg, to join the tension experience. Not passing any judgement here, she just seemed more like a sports, cigarette, and beer/whiskey type gal.

I told him he must be joking. He said he was serious. I said I don’t think it seems like a good idea, she looks busy. He said, I’m not telling you anymore information until you go convince her to join. At that point, he sat back and clammed up.

So I stared at him, then got up and went to go convince the bartender to join tension! She was actually very sweet and indulged me as I told her about the online game I was playing called tension experience and seemed interested as long as they didn’t email her all the time. I said they don’t and wrote the web address down on a napkin.

Back at the table, the guy sadly didn’t praise my valiant efforts. Why is he seemingly anti-OOA and yet having me recruit someone? Go figure.

He said there was one more thing I had to do. He gave me an envelope with a phone number written on it and told me to call the number and after it started ringing, tear open the envelope and read whatever was inside to whoever answered the phone and if it went to voicemail, leave a message.

Lo and behold, they made me call @coryphella and read some scary stuff! I had to tell her where the meeting was, say my name, and say that I know the creators and have been in on this since the beginning. I then had to tell her not to come as something bad would surely happen. God help me!

After I did these things, I got the same story from him as Addison described above. He then got really nervous and told me I had to leave. As I started to leave, he said, one more thing, take this seriously, these are people who can make somebody disappear, for real(sies).

So, all in all, it was pretty awesome! Not much new info we haven’t heard before, but a very interesting experience.

I just got a message from Aleister. I don’t know what’s happening. This is what he said

“Mike they know. I am sorry. Tell them all I am sorry”

Time to start #whereisaleister

Hope Aleister will be okay, III seems upset.

I had an interesting night, which included an unusual voicemail from @coryphella. The transcript is as follows:

Sean, I have some crazy information about who and what the OOA really is. When you look back, it was always there. They are trying to gather up all of our vulnerabilities, and they know yours. Sean, I am looking at a file of you right now. The things in here… I need you to listen. They have marked you. They are going to– ((END OF VOICEMAIL))

If anything @thegilded is one of the least likely to be in danger. He’s all the way in San Diego folks. If you’re going by the OOA pattern, the next person in physical peril is going to be identified publicly via some form of social media, and they’re going to be local to LA, where the OOA are.

“They have people everywhere, watching everything we do.”
How very voyeuristic of them. I hope they enjoy the show.

Ok, all caught up, whew!!

I kinda have this feeling that this was a big test for all you involved in this meeting tonight. @addisonborn you say that you were made to swear allegiance to the OOA before he gave you details about his past? That could be a test to see if you stick around and are worth the OOA to put in time for your “enlightenment.” @endlesspictures you had a similar experience to test your commitment as well, you were asked to recruit an absolute stranger, who was working! To consider that it was a test of your commitment to the OOA, this gentleman telling you his back story, well that’s the true test. What side are we all gonna land on? Believers or non-believers? I personally have not seen any wrong doing from the OOA yet. The kidnapping of Addison, that wasn’t a kidnapping. She was there at the mixer of her own free will, and then ?dad? busted in and went all nuts in the place. How do we even know that it truly was her Dad? Have you ever thought that maybe the OOA got Addison out there to protect her from a crazy nut that wanted to cause harm upon them? Dad always said, “There’s two sides to every coin.” I just happen to see the other side of the coin.
I also have a conflicting point of view when it comes to getting “Industry” people. From what I have seen and been apart of, Tension is open to anyone and the OOA has open arms for anyone that wants to be taught. Of course, being in LA (that we know of), it is only logical that a lot of people within the industry would find this entertaining and be curious about it. That statement is obviously a stab in the dark, and is using Los Angeles as the scapegoat because of how many people are in the industry.
I want to digest this more, but those are my initial thoughts.

I’ve been pretty upset tonight, because I feel like I personally fucked tonight up.

Melissa emailed me close to 4:30 with the text she had found and we talked about what to do with it. I told her that I wanted to approach Aleister about it first and that I was meeting him at 8pm. Of course, that didn’t happen, just like with everyone else.

As I was driving to the meeting I made the decision to try to get his attention via periscope, knowing that using social media to discuss our experiences here has been smiled upon in the past, I thought that I could ask someone else to try to get his attention. It worked, he was talking to me within just minutes after that. By that time though it was almost 8pm and my phone rang. It was Jake, of course, reading me the text.

As I was going to the meeting I told Aleister that Jake warned me to NOT go to the meeting, he said he advised me to go and to be careful. *Everything* about this, for me personally, was off. And I’m positive I’m going to regret saying this at some point, but I feel the need to offer up an explanation to *someone*

I’m a weird person. I don’t do things the way most people do them. I do things my way. I don’t know how to explain that any better, other than to say I decided to use periscope to get Aleister’s attention and wasn’t told by anyone to do that. I made up my mind about how I was going to approach whatever this meeting was and that was that. But there are situations I’m really uncomfortable in, and this pushed a lot of those buttons so I was very defensive right from the start. I am not a compliant person. I do not like being told what to do. I don’t want to get a drink and spend that money. I don’t want to drink the tequila in the guy’s glass. I don’t want to sit with my back to the bar, ever. When the guy asked me why I wouldn’t drink the tequila, I said “because I’m a woman, and I’m not stupid.” I eventually drank it because hey, free tequila, and my drink was AWFUL. But my point is by the time he got to telling me to go talk to the bartender and convince her to join the OOA I wasn’t going to do anything of the kind. There is NO way I’m going up to a stranger who is not involved and involving them. No way. He told me to do it twice, and I refused twice.

After that, he seemed really off. The meeting was basically the same as the rest of yours. He seemed to see someone over my shoulder and suddenly decide the meeting was over. I was really confused, it seemed weird, but ok. I said “so…we’re done?” He said yes. I left.

In the car I messaged Aleister and said “well that was weird. I would have rather met you. That guy was a dick.”

When I got home, I had a slew of messages from him, and here’s where I got upset. He told me that I was supposed to go talk to the bartender, and the bartender *would have then taken me to meet Aleister himself* He said it wouldn’t be our last opportunity to meet, actually KEPT saying that, but I’m getting on a plane in 7 hours and heading back to Minnesota, so I can’t help but feel like I just failed at a mission a little. I didn’t do the thing I was scripted to do, because I didn’t see that there was subtext and that is something that happens to me all the time. Let me emphasize that: ALL. THE. TIME. I’m pissed as hell at myself. This is not them messing something up, this is a personal flaw of mine that has gotten in the way of things in the past, and got in the way tonight.

So, nothing happened the way I’d hoped. Maybe I shouldn’t have tried to do anything at all. Maybe I should just stick to the script. Maybe I spent too long this weekend in interactive theatre workshops. Maybe I need to drink more.

Either way, I’ll be back in Minnesota tomorrow, and what was an AMAZING five days has ended on a bit of a let down for me. I’ll get over that and write up my experience for my blog as before and hopefully hear from Aleister again; hopefully sharing those redacted documents doesn’t cause too much trouble for him.

Just to get meta for a minute, I feel as though Tension has gone out of their way for me this weekend and I’m incredibly thankful for that. I wish tonight had worked out. I hope I continue to be a part of this experience, and can find money to fly back out soon for more fun. Give me a reason to and I absolutely will.

I think all of your meetings sound exciting. I don’t know if you should assume the OOA is up to no good just because of your meeting, but that’s your decision to make. And @coryphella it sounds like you drove, which is staying true to yourself and that shouldn’t screw anything up. Hugs!

Fascinating accounts from all involved. I will say that I don’t think anyone did anything “wrong” – as Tension now has remarkable insight into our own personalities. So when @Megan worries that she might have acted against the experiences’ plan, chances are that they could have very well anticipated that.

Oh, and marshmallows are tasty… I vote we all make smores at our next meet up!

I got a message from Aleister yesterday that sounds similar to his invitation to @addisonborn and @endlesspictures. He said someone wanted to meet me last night but I wasn’t able to respond to him in time and a meeting was never set up. Really interesting twist with that claim that the game/theatrics are a front…did Aleister message everyone in the L.A. area on the forums or just a random few?

Oh my…

Locked out of the site for over a day and not knowing why and now I’m needing popcorn (maybe a few marshmallows as well) to catch up on everything.

Ok, read through everything. What a wonderful discussion.

To the nature of our so-called “vulnerabilities” and the OOA’s use of them in some way(potentially malicious), should I remind all of us that in order to join the OOA we were required to submit a questionnaire, one that (assuming we answered said questions truthfully), would have lain bare to the OOA parts of ourselves that would have remained hidden from the public eye? And have they not proven time and time again that they are more than capable of prying deep into the digital world to showcase things about us that we long forgot or were surprised to see once more?

So yea, of course the OOA knows things about us that most people probably wouldn’t. And I’m not surprised if they’re willing to leverage that knowledge against us if we transgress their bounds.

Now, @addisonborn. You pose the question of “Why are you here? What is the point? What are you actually looking for?”

Well then. Allow me to be a bit…vulnerable here. 😉

Deep down inside, there’s a part of me that no one sees. And that deep, inner me hates a lot of things and a lot of people around me, all the time. Underneath the happy, pleasant exterior is a hollow, empty feeling that makes me feel like there’s not much in my life. Blames me and the people around me.

When I found the OOA, when I first discovered Tension, that emptiness began to fill. Drip by minuscule drip, it began. I began to feel less and less like there was something wrong with me, like I was somehow disconnected with the world around me. Granted, I still live with people with whom I have…irreparable relationships with and being with them only intensifies the hollow feeling in me. But Tension…the OOA and the experience I’ve begun to sink myself into as a result…that puts a smile on my face. I was confused, stumbling in the dark but step by wonderful step, I began to move. I began to walk on a _Path that made me fill the void, even though I’m no where near LA. It brought me peace and tranquility.

I recall the April newsletter, how it teaches us to find our “center”, to take hold of the sick, twisted and disgusting feelings that we shove deep into the recesses of ourselves and seal up as best as we can….and acknowledge them. When I began doing that, when I began to take the emptiness and focus it into a single sensation…..I stopped feeling bad about myself. At least, I started to control that feeling more and more.

The OOA, in simple ways, has already begun to impact me and no one around me notices it. When I smile now, I smile with confidence and a tinge of joy. When news breaks out here on the forums, I rush to them-regardless of what’s going on around me. I was once staring at an ocean of possibility that the OOA showed me. Then I promised myself(here on the forums, if you dig hard enough) that I would be a part of this. I no longer stared at the ocean: I began to swim into its depths with no plans of leaving.

The waters of the OOA are warm. I think I’m drowning. And I feel ok with that.

AND FINALLY: to @irishalliwell120: “How very voyeuristic of them. I hope they enjoy the show.”
That is the single funniest thing I’ve read on the forums so far. Thanks for making me laugh. 😀

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by  Mustafa Said.

My guess (about ARGs) would be the Jejune Institute, it’s thematically in the same ballpark as this one.
The next biggest one after I Love Bees was the Batman one.
The one that really pushed them into mainstream attention was The Beast in 2001.

I hesitate to say this because I don’t know that I want to read anything into any of my feelings about my meeting last night, but I didn’t like that guy. Maybe I just did everything wrong, but I was told to give the information I had to him, and that seemed to just….not happen. He also asked me kind of sarcastically if I always did everything that Aleister told me to do. 😛

Ive been experiencing some glitchy wiggly posts as well. for a few days now! Winds of change!

As @addisonborn explained, he had a face-to-face meeting with a man he has not yet named. The man handed him an envelope and instructed him to call the number (mine) and read out loud exactly what was on the paper.

Here is a link to this voice mail recording:

Audio File – AddisonBorn voice mail

Thank you for calling me a Bringer of Darkness. Sweeter words never spoken. I <3 you too. P.S. Best hair ever.

Why have @addisonborn do the exact thing the unnamed fellow did for the OOA that he found so distasteful?

What haunts/ARGs were around 10 years ago that the OOA could have been luring people in with (if that’s the case)?

Wouldn’t doing work in a dark, disturbing medium sort of be par for the course for people in a certain portion of the entertainment industry?

Lunch time thoughts. Damn, now I want marshmallows.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by  Susie J.

I Love Bees was ’04, and was huge. It was big enough to put ARG’s into more of the public light and inspired a number of others. The earliest that I’m seeing was Dreadnot, starting back in ’96.

I can’t speak towards haunts, but there’s been a medium for Tension to exist in for a couple decades now.

Are we trying to figure out what the actor that contacted a few folks was involved in years ago that was OOA? Is that important? How do you plan to use that info if you do figure it out? Contact people that were involved with that an interrogate them about the OOA?

Someone has been reading!

Well, for one, extracting yourself from the sphere of influence of the OOA seems to be an unusual occurrence.

I’m not saying we should go find this guy, I was just mulling over his motivations and actions. Why make Addison phone in a scripted message? Why get involved after all this time? It means he’s been keeping tabs on everything and has not been uninvolved at all. So what does this all add up to? It says the OOA has been operating like this for a while. What has kept them so secret, with all these former associates running around having been freaked out by their activities?

Bathroom thoughts.

Right and why did Aleister send this person in his place? Unless the person that was supposed to meet got a phone call telling him to go to another bar, and then this guy took that person’s place. Anything is possible!

@addisonborn – Replies are wonky for me, too. I believe once a thread hits a certain size, things start breaking and I believe we hit that size a while ago