Goblins in the House

[ellyssian]

Last night, I was thinking about the Goblin drama in Tamson House - flavored by completion of The Wild Wood, which tangled and writhed through my thoughts in conjunction with the Goblins and all on its own as well - and it came to me that the Goblins were fairly typical de Lint characters.

This adds credence to some of the theories that they are not, in fact real; a fabrication of a de Lintian character on a list spiraling (sometimes out of control) around de Lint would not be surprising in the least. I'm starting not to see it that way, though. I haven't spoken with the Goblins directly, but several others have, and some things are starting to click.

Mr. G is a common supporting archetype - not all that bright, and not one to carry a DSM-IV around in his backpocket with which to diagnose mental illness, but with his heart in the right place. He'd fit in on the streets of Newford, trying his best to help folks out, but critically flawed, and perhaps saying "manic" and "committed to a psych ward" when he really means "diagnosis pending, possibly bipolar, with a side order of diabetes" and "emergency room." Although not a mistake one *should* make, it is in keeping with the character.

Mrs. G probably wouldn't fit the leading-waif archetype, but she would also be fairly common on the streets of Newford. An artist, a writer, with eccentricity that is both quaint, cloying, and moving into the realm that requires medical treatment. In Newford, she would quite possibly be living on the street, or close enough to it - certainly from the "wrong side of the tracks." She would charm some, scare others, and annoy the rest. She shows smatterings of understanding and education, but also completely misses the ball on some subjects, showing a naivety that seems bewildering.

Any thoughts, especially from those who talked with one or both?

Comments

[dreadpiratetait.livejournal.com]

Thing is, I've seen her go off on rants about how evil men are, etc. on another list. Very bigoted. And about a few other things (like polyamory, when the list owner is poly) as well. Nor did she ever have that formatting issue on that list. Or ever try to use it as a support group. Just a few of the things that have had warning bells ringing in my head.

If she is bipolar, I don't hold out much, if any, hope. It's an extremely hard disease to treat, it's very hard to get the right meds cocktail, and frankly, I don't think she even wants to fix anything.

No, haven't spoken to her, nor do I want to, frankly. And I still remain skeptical of the whole thing.

[wolfette]

The formatting issue on the other lists could be a matter of the list-serve on that list being able to cope with the formatting of her mail program, whereas the TH one doesn't.

[dreadpiratetait.livejournal.com]

Then why was she able to do it for a time on TH? And why has she repeatdly ingored offers of help? (No, not from me--don't worry, the world hasn't gone that haywire.)

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

That's what frustrates me about the formatting - she was able to do it for a while, and then she dropped it. No amount of mentioning the problem has convinced her to pay any attention to it.

[dreadpiratetait.livejournal.com]

Exactly! It's hard enough to try to figure out what she's saying without trying to separate it from what she's replying to. Hence me not reading her posts.

[bardsong.livejournal.com]

That does seem weird. I can remember when I first got on the Net and got soundly yelled at about my formatting. I wound up leaving the list where I got yelled at in a snit over it, but someone gave me an easy fix and I never made the mistake again.
I don't really see what's so hard about formatting posts correctly.

[gothwalk.livejournal.com]

I wasn't aware she had a presence on other lists...

[dreadpiratetait.livejournal.com]

It's a very quiet list. Oroborous' Flame, run by former Houser Kiwi. It perked up briefly, then quieted down again.

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

The other-list information is very intriguing - adds a whole new dimension that supports either trolling or a severe mental illness equally well.

[dreadpiratetait.livejournal.com]

Yep. So I'm gonna hang back, try to ignore her, and watch things unfold.

[d2leddy.livejournal.com]

**blink

So my hypothesis that the Goblins are Frank gathers a bit of momentum?

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

As people have talked to both Mr. and Mrs. G, and, to the best of my knowledge no one has done so with Frank, I'd say the opposite is more likely.

[johnnybuck.livejournal.com]

Its all just a little eerie that shes back and picking up where she left oft with just quick blurb about her episode. If my spouse outed my condition on a list I would be to embarrassed to come back but shes back and rattling on again.

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

But definitely in keeping with the need for attention. Making a traumatic emergency announcement (or having someone make it for you, whichever the case may be) and then pointedly ignoring said announcement is a surefire method of attracting attention.

Sometimes it's neither quality or content of the attention, rather the quantity that satisfies that sort of condition.

If so, we're all doing a wonderful job to help her out by discussing, pondering, throwing hands up in disgust, and so on.

[opakele.livejournal.com]

I've kept my mouth shut (fingers still?) through all of this. I can't remember when she started posting, but it wasn't long after I started following the list myself. There was a point, where I considered unsubscribing. I was relieved when people began challenging her.

In the real world, I am fairly good in observing and drawing accurate conclusions about people and situations. It is harder online. There is no doubt, she is intelligent and extremely creative. It is the irrational and manipulative tendencies that really concern me. I see an opportunist. All those elements mixed in together, set off warning bells in my head. I believe I used the word *psychotic*, on one occasion.

All that being said, thanks to Ms. G, I've learned a great deal about the list and it's members. It probably would have happened anyway, but it wasn't boring, eh?

[bardsong.livejournal.com]

You know, I just don't know. I have spoken to her and her husband, and Roxie over the phone. I think she is definitely disturbed. I think you might even have something regarding her assuming some kind of persona for the list. That's sort of the sense I'm getting from just the entries I've read here.



Although, if you want something fun to read, check out her son's LJ. He seems to coroborate a lot of this. Also, he's not on TH.

I'm not sure if I should have posted the LJ link, but he's not on my friends list anymore and the entries are public, sooo...