Yesterday I was checking in to see if Rory has posted on his Instagram account recently. What typically happens is he goes for weeks and then posts something, and then I don’t see it for like three days. I was trying to get ahead of him this time. I found out there’s a 90% chance I’m getting this apartment and that I may be moving in this coming week, so of course he’ll wait until that’s going on to post again and I’ll miss it for longer, because that’s the way my life works.
Love ya, big man. Mwah.
Anyway. So I was over there looking at his posts again because either he or his wife does cool things with multi-part photos and such and it’s fun to look at, when I notice this discussion in the comments section, and someone who follows me on IG opining that of course the account isn’t him, it’s a hoax.
Look. I’m not 100% discounting the idea of a hoax, because there are some gigantic assholes in the world and they make everything stink. But here’s why I think you’re wrong.
Photos we have not seen of Rory before
If you can show me where Hound’s Lair got that pic of him in front of the waterfall or that other pic of him on Scotland’s west coast before his account posted them, I’ll reconsider this point. I can’t check, because I’m on her shit list. But as far as I can tell, everything he’s posted is original to “his” (assuming a hoax) account. You can’t see his face in the waterfall photo and you can’t see much of it in the Scotland photo, but if you’re familiar enough with his build and posture, you know it’s him. I am. I do.
Rory not having much to say in his posts
His wife may have set up the IG but he’s probably the one posting things. He’s so protective of his privacy that it really couldn’t go any other way. And he’s not in there writing out a bunch of corny platitudes. He might be telling the occasional corny joke, but that is 100% in-character for Rory McCann. Telling his life story on social media? Not so much. Kissing his fans’ asses? Very not so much. (I think he appreciates those of us who are not insane — so jury’s WAY out on what he would think of me — but that’s as far as it goes.) I suspect he got tired of the media making a big deal out of him and getting half of it wrong, so he stopped sharing years ago. I predicted before I knew he had the account that he’d probably do Instagram if he did any social media at all, and I thought that because Instagram is image-based and he doesn’t really have to say anything.
And most of all:
The people following Rory on Instagram
Here’s who I’ve seen there in Rory’s followers so far:
– Rory’s film/TV agent
– Rory’s voice-acting agent
– Rory’s makeup artist, Chloe, from season 4 onward in Game of Thrones
– A band (Future Islands) Rory has met in person
If Rory’s sister Sally-Gay were still on Instagram, she’d be following him too. If she’s there, she is. I don’t know what her account name would be, so I can’t tell. I’m not going to go to the trouble of digging, because it’s like a curse: I find out what her account handle is, and three months later she’s gone. But yes. Count on it. He’s got three very important women in his life, and she’s one of them.
All these people have access to speak to Rory on the phone and ask him if that’s him. If he’d said no, they wouldn’t be following him. Even Chloe, who is cool as hell about answering fans’ questions about Rory if they are not too personal (questions like “Where was this photo taken?”, and she’s contacted me personally to answer that question before), doesn’t follow any of his fan accounts that I’m aware of. She probably searches his tag now and again to see if anything interesting’s going on. If even that at this point, what with him now having an Instagram account.
So anyway, there you go. I wanted to convey that I’m not a blind follower: I have specific reasons for believing this is Rory McCann. If you can look at the evidence I’ve presented and still argue this is a hoax, I can’t help you. You can look forward to feeling like a vindicated genius if it ever turns out you’re right.
I suspect you’ll be waiting a long time.