GaimanGASM

[Eater of Clowns]

Intro:  Reading through some Sandman and the influences that went into his work, I think Neil Gaiman is potentially sympathetic to Discordianism.  It's unclear whether or not he knows specifically about us, but he has a clear understanding of symbols and gods, meaning he would recognize Eris and perhaps things like the Sacred Chao or the chaos star (used in Michael Moorcock's work, which he's definitely read).  His obsessive tweeting and public engagements lead me to believe that he's at least in some touch with his fans.

Goal:  At the very least, the goal is to get a shout out to Discordianism from Gaiman.  If this is just a tweet, that's fine, but if it's a series of statements or even an inclusion in his work, all the better.

Strategy:  Gaiman is a storyteller.  Frequent references and deference to storytelling characters in his novels and comics lead me to believe if he became involved in a story, he would choose to press further.  The plan I have in mind also taps into the old psychology idea that if someone agrees to do something small for you at first, they are more likely to later offer more.  The exchange here is a story to tell, giving him a curious and entertaining series of events to make life more interesting.

Plan:
Step 1:  Gaiman will be attending a benefit at the Boston Public Libarary on September 26th with a signing open to the public at 3:30.  I'll be attending, for my own fanboy purposes, to get Absolute Sandman Vol. 1 signed.  Inside the front cover where he signs I'll leave a note along the following lines:

Mr. Gaiman,

Please do not react to this note.  We have observed a sympathetic sentiment in your works to our own goals.  Consider this an offer to work together.  To accept, mention "the golden apple" in a tweet on October the 1st.  Further instructions will arrive shortly thereafter.  Be on the lookout for this name on an envelope.  The attached mustache is a sign of our good faith.

-The Supplanter Watchman

PS.  Discreetly removing this note so as to avoid the notice of the young man before you would be greatly helpful.  If not, no matter.

***

I'm going for intriguing enough to warrant a simple communication via twitter.  If the golden apple reference is too overt, it can be replaced with another key phrase.

Step 2:  It gets a little more difficult here.  Should the offer be accepted, the response will come in the form of an actual lengthy letter.  Ideally, the letter would recommend Gaiman to choose his own Holy Name and declare it publicly.  Here's how I intend the letter to get to him:

Neil Gaiman is engaged to Amanda Palmer.  Amanda Palmer is currently the Emcee for Cabaret at the American Repertory Theater in Boston.  I have a friend who works at the A.R.T.  Ideally, I could hand her an envelope with a key phrase on the outside and have it find its way to Amanda Palmer, where it would then be handed off to Neil Gaiman.  Perhaps something slipped into a bouquet following one of her performances?

I'll have to talk to this friend to hash it out, see if she's on board.  This is as far as my ability to reach the author goes.  This is hear to further hash out the idea, not only to refine the steps so far but also to see how we can move forward should it progress.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

THIS is a good idea

[Juana]

He responds to letters on his blog, too. Might be another avenue to reach him through.

[Eater of Clowns]

He responds to letters on his blog, too. Might be another avenue to reach him through.

A good source, especially since his appearance dates are on the homepage.  It looks like he has upcoming events in New York and San Diego.

[Golden Applesauce]

Do we have somebody in NY?  Because if he gets a similar note across two different states....

[Doktor Howl]

Though I'm not in principle opposed to this, a GASM seeking a "shout out" seems more of a vanity thing than a GASM.  The Colbert one was one thing, especially if we could get him on board more or less permanently.

Don't take this as discouragement...It's just my own personal opinion.

[Eater of Clowns]

Though I'm not in principle opposed to this, a GASM seeking a "shout out" seems more of a vanity thing than a GASM.  The Colbert one was one thing, especially if we could get him on board more or less permanently.

Don't take this as discouragement...It's just my own personal opinion.

I was meaning to word it that a shout out would be an acceptable result, not that it's the only goal.  ColbertGASM is what I had in mind with this, but as I wasn't around for it I don't know the finer details like trying to get him to join the board.

I don't know about the vanity thing.  I don't intend to use my name or anything associated with me for it, except for The Supplanter Watchman being what my names mean.

Anyway it's a fair assessment.

[Doktor Howl]

Though I'm not in principle opposed to this, a GASM seeking a "shout out" seems more of a vanity thing than a GASM.  The Colbert one was one thing, especially if we could get him on board more or less permanently.

Don't take this as discouragement...It's just my own personal opinion.

I was meaning to word it that a shout out would be an acceptable result, not that it's the only goal.  ColbertGASM is what I had in mind with this, but as I wasn't around for it I don't know the finer details like trying to get him to join the board.

I don't know about the vanity thing.  I don't intend to use my name or anything associated with me for it, except for The Supplanter Watchman being what my names mean.

Anyway it's a fair assessment.

I didn't mean personal vanity, ie, you personally getting a shout out.  I meant that this sort of attention seeking is directly counter to what we should be doing, IMO, right about now.

I'm reasonably certain that we'll all have enough headaches just from this board, within the next 10 years or so.

[Eater of Clowns]

Though I'm not in principle opposed to this, a GASM seeking a "shout out" seems more of a vanity thing than a GASM.  The Colbert one was one thing, especially if we could get him on board more or less permanently.

Don't take this as discouragement...It's just my own personal opinion.

I was meaning to word it that a shout out would be an acceptable result, not that it's the only goal.  ColbertGASM is what I had in mind with this, but as I wasn't around for it I don't know the finer details like trying to get him to join the board.

I don't know about the vanity thing.  I don't intend to use my name or anything associated with me for it, except for The Supplanter Watchman being what my names mean.

Anyway it's a fair assessment.

I didn't mean personal vanity, ie, you personally getting a shout out.  I meant that this sort of attention seeking is directly counter to what we should be doing, IMO, right about now.

I'm reasonably certain that we'll all have enough headaches just from this board, within the next 10 years or so.

I see, so you think pd should be left out of this altogether then?  I was thinking of this as more of a discordian society identifier than strictly pd.  But then there's, I guess, the whole thing with this being the biggest discordian board some kind of attention is bound to come here.

This has me thinking about the ultimate goal.  Gaiman is influential and has other influential contacts.  If this thing strung him along a bit, peppering pieces of Discordian philosophy and outlook in any corresepondence, the final part could be pointing out he is and has been an independent agent of chaos, and to sew its seeds however he is able.  That might take this from an "I'm one of those guys," to an "I'm part of this," perspective.

[Doktor Howl]

Though I'm not in principle opposed to this, a GASM seeking a "shout out" seems more of a vanity thing than a GASM.  The Colbert one was one thing, especially if we could get him on board more or less permanently.

Don't take this as discouragement...It's just my own personal opinion.

I was meaning to word it that a shout out would be an acceptable result, not that it's the only goal.  ColbertGASM is what I had in mind with this, but as I wasn't around for it I don't know the finer details like trying to get him to join the board.

I don't know about the vanity thing.  I don't intend to use my name or anything associated with me for it, except for The Supplanter Watchman being what my names mean.

Anyway it's a fair assessment.

I didn't mean personal vanity, ie, you personally getting a shout out.  I meant that this sort of attention seeking is directly counter to what we should be doing, IMO, right about now.

I'm reasonably certain that we'll all have enough headaches just from this board, within the next 10 years or so.

I see, so you think pd should be left out of this altogether then?  I was thinking of this as more of a discordian society identifier than strictly pd.  But then there's, I guess, the whole thing with this being the biggest discordian board some kind of attention is bound to come here.

This has me thinking about the ultimate goal.  Gaiman is influential and has other influential contacts.  If this thing strung him along a bit, peppering pieces of Discordian philosophy and outlook in any corresepondence, the final part could be pointing out he is and has been an independent agent of chaos, and to sew its seeds however he is able.  That might take this from an "I'm one of those guys," to an "I'm part of this," perspective.

No, I think Discordianism, to be effective, has to largely stay invisible.  Not just PD.  The moment we get nationally recognized, we get shrink-wrapped, bar-coded, and shelved as a convenient and cute Con product.

And while that may have SOME advantages as camoflage, any benefit will be eliminated by the sheer mass of hipsters that drop on our heads.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Though I'm not in principle opposed to this, a GASM seeking a "shout out" seems more of a vanity thing than a GASM.  The Colbert one was one thing, especially if we could get him on board more or less permanently.

Don't take this as discouragement...It's just my own personal opinion.

I was meaning to word it that a shout out would be an acceptable result, not that it's the only goal.  ColbertGASM is what I had in mind with this, but as I wasn't around for it I don't know the finer details like trying to get him to join the board.

I don't know about the vanity thing.  I don't intend to use my name or anything associated with me for it, except for The Supplanter Watchman being what my names mean.

Anyway it's a fair assessment.

I didn't mean personal vanity, ie, you personally getting a shout out.  I meant that this sort of attention seeking is directly counter to what we should be doing, IMO, right about now.

I'm reasonably certain that we'll all have enough headaches just from this board, within the next 10 years or so.

I see, so you think pd should be left out of this altogether then?  I was thinking of this as more of a discordian society identifier than strictly pd.  But then there's, I guess, the whole thing with this being the biggest discordian board some kind of attention is bound to come here.

This has me thinking about the ultimate goal.  Gaiman is influential and has other influential contacts.  If this thing strung him along a bit, peppering pieces of Discordian philosophy and outlook in any corresepondence, the final part could be pointing out he is and has been an independent agent of chaos, and to sew its seeds however he is able.  That might take this from an "I'm one of those guys," to an "I'm part of this," perspective.

No, I think Discordianism, to be effective, has to largely stay invisible.  Not just PD.  The moment we get nationally recognized, we get shrink-wrapped, bar-coded, and shelved as a convenient and cute Con product.

And while that may have SOME advantages as camoflage, any benefit will be eliminated by the sheer mass of hipsters that drop on our heads.

Forgot about the hipsters... I'll be sure to avoid putting any Discordian materials in Allston then.

[Telarus]

How about after the Tweeted code-word our next request is to ask him to write a letter about [insert topic Neil is passionate about here] to the Colbert Show. Then we can send Colbert a warning that he's about to get a letter from Neil Gaiman and see if we can't get it read on-air.

[Eater of Clowns]

No, I think Discordianism, to be effective, has to largely stay invisible.  Not just PD.  The moment we get nationally recognized, we get shrink-wrapped, bar-coded, and shelved as a convenient and cute Con product.

And while that may have SOME advantages as camoflage, any benefit will be eliminated by the sheer mass of hipsters that drop on our heads.

Okay, I get it now.  How would you feel about leaving overtly discordian references, such as the golden apple or sacred chao, etc., from the project entirely?  That would leave this as a vehicle to throw a few larger themes like thinking for yourself and recognizing chaos as the natural order of things out there.

How about after the Tweeted code-word our next request is to ask him to write a letter about [insert topic Neil is passionate about here] to the Colbert Show. Then we can send Colbert a warning that he's about to get a letter from Neil Gaiman and see if we can't get it read on-air.

Hah, that would tie things up neatly.  Mr. Gaiman, your next point of contact will be a popular variety show.

[Placid Dingo]

I wouldn't mind contacting Gaiman, but not through Amanda Palmer. I follow both Twitters and there's usually a lot of irritation when either feel they're being treated as a package.

That said, Palmer herself is a fantastic utiliser of memes and seems herself pretty consistent with ourselves.

HOWEVER, I'm not sure that contact should be the entire aim, or even 'contact then maybe something else.' I think if there's something cool we can achieve by getting in communication with these guys.

Colbert was into the conspiracies, and we pretty much invited him to play a game with us. With Gaiman though, I don't know that the same approach makes sense.

[Roaring Biscuit!]

Uhh...  Don't know if you went along with this in the end, but I just read this and then went and had some "ideas" and what-not.

If you gave him the note, I'm thinking, get as many people as possible, from as many different places as possible, to start a twitter account and follow *only* neil gaiman, all of us with some fairly subtle reference to the s****anter or watch**n in the account name.

Also, as far as overarching plan goes, I've been reading The Hero with a Thousand Faces recently, and I wonder if we could plan a mindfuck based around the structure of a monomyth.

In a way (if you gave him the note), we already have, "initiation", the first stage, is often brought about by some wisened figure approaching the "hero".

Thus far we have our wisened and mysterious initiator (you), and our hero (neil).  Now we just need to make everything weird as fuck.

x
edd