06 January, 2011

I hope you're ready for a firefight, 'cause the devil's got your number tonight

You know its not that big of a deal right? I mean we do this for fun and I hope all bloggers out there feel the same. We blog for the fun of it, not to have others pick us to pieces and find all our flaws. Really isnt that big of a deal.
That's a quote from Renee Lowenhart to the last thing I said on FabFree. So, I was going to leave this alone, but considering this is the second time Renee's played the "this is no big deal" card, I have to say something.

I just don't have to say it on the FabFree blog.

Let me start this off by saying: freebie blogging isn't easy. I've done it, I have friends who do it, I know some of the people behind the 'big' freebie blogs--it's not in any way effortless, painless, a cakewalk--and I doubt it ever will be. There's a lot of pressure to be the top of the list behind a new freebie, new discount item, new store sale, new cheapie...and there's not a lot of time to go back and correct things if mistakes are made. I get that, believe me.

Secondly, Stolan himself has admitted that English is not his first language. I get that, too, and I'm willing to cut some slack for not knowing all the rules, because--and this is fact, not opinion--English is the second hardest language on the planet to learn. (The first is Chinese, in case you're curious.) Anyone who manages deserves praise for that--and in Stolan's case, I believe he said English wasn't even his second, it was his third language. So he's not stupid.

That being said...

The first I'd heard of him was for his first post on FabFree; apparently the first mentioning him had bypassed a lot of attention. I caught on to the 'Stolan Situation' when people in one of my groups began deploring FabFree's lack of standards. "They'll hire anyone" was how one lass put it. There were also comments wondering who Stolan was sleeping with to get the gig.

I'm not the one saying he is; I'm hearing enough from Renee to assume that she, Whisper and Carson (and you must admit, they are the big three at FabFree) just seem to mysteriously love the guy. Maybe he comes across better in person.
You’ll notice tho I may not be big on any certain style, I do love me some colour, and playing with things that might not be ment for men.
Okay. As any reader of this blog knows, I have this twitch about proper spelling, and, to a lesser extent, proper grammar. Everyone makes mistakes, including me: no one is immune from the typo. But beyond being a blogger and a resident of the net in long standing, I'm also a writer, a reader, a poet. I value language and text-based interchange. I consider the printing press the way some people consider saints or holy places. Words are big for me, to be blunt about it.

And more--I truly believe that if we are to exist in a text-based medium, no matter where that is, then it matters how well we spell, how well we know the language. You will never, ever hear me say "It's just the net, it's not like it matters how we spell". Because to me, it does. It always will.

A further point: I am a snob about this. I won't lie--this is my full knee-jerk elitist coming to the fore and waving the flag for literacy. I run across people on the grid who have difficulty spelling, and I find out they're dyslexic, say, that's one thing. I run across people on the grid who have difficulty spelling, and they don't seem to care...that puts them in a different category, to me. Not to be too graphic about this, but consider the following example as a good illustration.

You've been invited to a party. There are going to be many different people there, different economic backgrounds, different educational levels, so you'll see a good variety of clothing styles, communication styles, and people in general. That's okay; that's kind of the point of the party. You're encouraged to dress attractively, but not specifically formally; and off you go.

There's around thirty people there. Some are dressed to the nines in full formal wear and evening gowns. Some are comfortably, but stylishly attired in sweaters and trousers, shoes polished, hair neatly combed. Some are in long flowing broomstick skirts, their hair beaded and braided and their faces wreathed in smiles.

Then there's the guy in the corner. He looks like he slept in his clothes. For the last week. You can smell alcohol on him--and that's not the only thing you can smell on him--and there are several stains, large and glaring, on his untucked, wrinkled shirt. His pants are torn, his shoes are unlaced, you're not sure he knows what a comb is, and he's spitting food on people as he's talking to them. He might even be doing that deliberately. He's hovering near the buffet, and whenever he pauses in eating something, he's wiping his hands on the curtains.

This guy? This is a good functional mental image of people who don't care about spelling in a text-based environment, to me. I view them with contempt, I view them with loathing, I think they are profoundly doing it wrong, and I feel very little personal guilt about it. Because after all, this is the internet, repository of a great amount of world information. Want to know how to spell better? It's called Google. For all the gods' sake, education is a good thing. And no one who has access to the net can say they are denied education, because if one is on the net--and on Second Life, moreover!--there are places to go, people to talk to, things to research--there's just no excuse for it. None.

So. Back to Stolan.
The port that worried me was the shirt. I did not have a thing to go with these pants. Then I was contacted by Song Grayson. She gave me the answer I needed, tho at the time I did not know it. Song gave me a bunch of giftcards to a few different stores that carried male product. I went to the first place, Grumble Grumble, and found this orange shirt. Now sadly I can’t share the giftcard with everyone, but never fear! This shirt is a mear L$25!
Okay. I'm trying to hold in mind...non-native speaker of English. Check. English is hard. Check. He's new. Check.

Even so...

Part, not port. Products, not product. Mere, not mear. And then I saw the shirt...

All right, another little visual exercise. You work for one of the more well-known freebie blogs out there. What you're looking for, overall: free things. What you're looking for specifically: that would be high-quality free things.

Whisper, for instance, is one of the most drop-dead gorgeous avatars on the grid, hands down. And while she's picked more than a few outfits I wouldn't wear, or knew looking at them they'd never look as good on me as they looked on her, for the most part she has stellar taste. And she looks for the little details as well--the primwork, the sculpts, the seams, the repeat levels. She's focused on presenting the best possible look for the least amount of Lindens, which is not easy, as I've said.

What, in this outfit, is high-quality? Go ahead, give it some time. Study it in depth. I'll wait.

Can't find anything? Go back and look again.

I went to Rude Rebel, just to see if the pants were as bad in person. No clue if they are or aren't; that parcel's for sale and there's nothing on it. A little assiduous searching found that they'd moved to another part of the sim, or maybe it was yet another typo of Stolan's, because his SLUrl said 67/173/24, and mine says 6/173/24.

I found the Asian pants; turns out they're a set of three, all free, on the far wall once one walks into the building. I tried the brown:

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and immediately pegged the problem with Stolan's image. These are shabbily shaded, start to finish. I will give the maker full points for trying; this pattern would be insanely difficult to shade, and what's worse, there seems no way to match the seams up on the sides:

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And it's something that persists through all three designs.

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It's just not a good set of leggings, hands down. Free or not.

I also went to Grumble Grumble and checked out the shirt. Or at least tried to; I got distracted by some of the offerings in womenswear first. Like...this lovely number:

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I can see any number of rape/murder/dark alley RP sims where this would be perfectly appropriate. But in the, shall I be so bold as to say, sane grid? Where would one ever wear this? At home for the lad? Or as a quick-change to go with that rumpled purple t-shirt one owns?

If one owns one...On the larger image, by the way, there's another "shirt" to the side...again, if one calls two scraps of striped fabric with wide ribbon a shirt.

I passed by the pants section on my way to finding menswear, and caught these:

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Anyone who's curious can see the ones I didn't feel I could post without an age restriction warning!

Even her long dresses seem to be built for streetwalkers. This is a lace floral dress she has three variations of (the large image shows all three):

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There's just no way you could wear that, unless you want to flash nipple. I don't care who you are--a bra wouldn't look right, nipple tape is right out, and it fails at being both elegant and slutty, because it's not enough of either to qualify!

As it turns out, "Grumble Men" is upstairs. And I found the orange shirt.

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And that's when my brain fell out. Because, while she designs clothes I wouldn't wear on a bet, she does shade pretty well. Unless the whole of her work is retinted template business-in-a-box stuph--and, while there's a scary diversity in tone that suggests such, there's no direct external evidence--she just...forgot everything she knew how to do when she made the orange shirt.

Or, it's a really, really old offering that she's never gone back to fix.

Around the corner from the orange nightmare, I found these:

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This is listed as a "Goth" shirt (the hell it's goth); and this:

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Ah, yes, clubwear for your typical slut-for-hire steroid warrior on the grid. Marvelous.

All in all, at Grumble Grumble you can't argue with the pricing (you really can't, she puts Bare Rose to shame with her prices; most items are under L$150, and the bulk of her product line is L$25 to L$55), but...really, how cheap does something need to be to be too cheap? I don't care if the pushed-up shirt outfit is L$25; it's going to make me look like a ten-Linden dive artist. Forget it.

How'ver, having read through the original entry that this rant is based on, for the fourth time, I'm going to advance the radical notion that this all could be just because he's new to the grid--that he doesn't have the discernment yet to pluck outstanding designs from crap, and he, frankly, doesn't know any better. And I could be really cranky and say he sounds pretty young RL, too, which could also contribute to the lack of taste and style. And these are all things he'll grow into as the grid days fly by.

Still...he says spellcheck doesn't work, and if that's really true, fine; dig up a dictionary or something. Or have someone--I know, this is a shocking and astounding concept!--proofread your entries.

But maybe I just don't get it. After all, I only occasionally have time pressure issues on this blog. I am not trying to break the latest freebie, the latest hunt, the latest store sale. I'm not in their category, and I'm not saying that dismissively; I'm just explaining I don't have the same push to get things out, regardless of how badly things are spelled.

But I would advance the question of time, here: if all of this is just a question of he'll shed the newbishness in time, then...why not give him that time? He has a blog of his own, which is fine; why not let him age and mature there, and then hire him on to Fabfree?

Because as it is...he's just dumbing everything down. And the more Renee and the others defend his deficits, the more it tarnishes everyone on the blog.

Okay. Enough of that. One last thing: check out what may be the coolest lucky chair ever. It lives at Covenant Realm:

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Does it even matter what the chair's for? Go see it! It has fire! It has dangling skulls on chains! It has poses! It has a winding stone staircase!

Seriously, it's just an insanely cool build. Demonic? Sure. Hellish? Absolutely. Cool, though? Yes indeed.

31 comments:

Diamanda Gustafson said...

Being a non-native English speaker who goes into great lengths to write properly in pretty much every situation I find myself into (including RL employment in academia), I'll have to agree with everything but one thing.

Learning written English is quite easy. The grammar is straight forward and there are no causes or subjugation like.. hm.. Greek ;) Or Latin, or German, actually.

The hard part starts when you need to learn to pronounce the language correctly. Long and short vowels had been my personal doom for years.

Therefore, there are even fewer excuses to write a sentence in passable English. It just requires a bit more effort.

--Dia.

Serenity Semple said...

I think I'd bop myself if I didn't make a comment here. I know what it's like to freebie blog, post, research and such. I also know that you usually won't find the FabFree bloggers out there hunting out goods, as opposed to be handed them with info. Now is this a bad thing? No, not really. Yet these guys consistantly post things incorrectly and then make it difficult, for the 1 outta 50,000 fug they post, to go find. Also, I hated the fact that they try to pass off in their argumentative posting (comments on stolans thing) that people dislike them because they're popular. I felt like commenting right there, I dislike them because of their quality judgement (if there is any sometimes) and terrible pictures. This does not apply to Whisper because I think she does probably the best job out of the entire team, and I may even let Carson slide a bit because his pictures aren't as bad as Renee's and Stolans. But otherwise, that is what my friends will call the FabFreeFug. Need I say more? XD

Emilly Orr said...

Lady Diamanda,

You bring up an excellent point. I myself know many non-native speakers who can write brilliantly, but when it comes time to speaking? The girl, for many years, worked with a fellow from Thailand who owned a school. Over here? His poor pronunciation convinced everyone he was stupid, and he got a job at McDonald's. As proven to her by written communications, he had the language down. But in conversation? "You no want that! Let me make fresh!" Because in Thai, there's a distinct lack of progression--verbal states can be both before, or after, the main concept, and work equally well either way.

Emilly Orr said...

Serenity,

You know, I may be missing the whole FabFreeFug as a concept, and that could be the heart and soul of this debate--that because they have no fixed standards as a unit, enthusiasm for fashion works as a deciding factor. It won't matter if he has no taste.

(Which, sadly, is not true, because I've read through his blog--entries on Egoisme's Groove jacket, the Goldenrod bloggers' challenge, and the Widowmaker look, just to grab three at random, prove to me he knows about shading, he knows how to make disparate things work together, and, while he's still shiny with the newbishness, he's got genuine passion for SL's possibilities.

(So...what happened? He went to FabFree and lost his sense of style? They told him to blog ugly things? What?)

Mainly, I stick to Whisper's offerings; I barely read Carson's, and I skim past Renee's every single time. So I may not be getting the full impact of the fug, there.

Anonymous said...

First of all we had an open call for almost three weeks for bloggers and after reviewing almost 50 entries three writers were chosen.

Stolan has under 30 days in SL. He was brought to Second Life by a well known SL designer who is a RL friend of his. I feel he has a lot of potential. He is enthusiastic and loves being in SL. I can't wait to see what he becomes. That being said, I'd rather be standing next to someone fun like Stolan at the party, not the girl who stands there constantly complaining and criticizing.

No one is perfect, not when they begin blogging or thousands of posts in. We decided on the bloggers based on the fact that we felt they would work well as a team. We are a team of writers.

As for typos, I make typos in every post I make. No it isn't that big of a deal to me! In case you forgot this is a hobby. I am not going to stress out about something I do for fun.

And to me, no it isn't that big of a deal. I blog on my spare time, between running a high profile group of almost 18 thousand members, checking stores, coordinating events, and of course my RL career and responsibilities. Yes I research and go to every store I post. Some items are sent to us to blog, but most we go and find.

What you may call fugly might be someone's favorite item. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean that others wont love it. I am constantly reminded of this when people IM me asking where they can find something I'm wearing.

I'm sure anyone who disagrees with you will get their heads bitten off. But for someone that hates the FabFree blog so much, you sure study it!

Aili Panthar said...

Ok, I totally agree that Stolan is not a fashion expert. Most men in SL are totally clueless about fashion, bodily proportions and how to look presentable. By comparison to most men in SL he's really not that bad. I don't think FabFree promotes itself as a blog of fashion experts and professional stylists, anyway. They're showing people of all types where to find free things and good deals, from newbies to longtime residents. I think they chose Stolan to blog for them *because* he has a newbie perspective and that's a lot more interesting than yet another snobby, know-it-all, 'fashionista' blogger. So perhaps go easy on the guy and just give him some time to develop a more discerning sense of taste.

Sheraton Shilova said...

Dear Little-Miss-Sunshine,
Your written rant screams “newbie in real life experiences” and clearly identifies your personal need to learn and practice the usage of correct punctuation and sentence structure. Your blog is difficult reading in many ways. Your sentences are disjointed and fragmented with colons, semi-colons, and some begin/end with prepositions. It is obvious (to most) that English is not Stolan's first language; therefore, your evaluation is not newsworthy. Stolan’s writing reflects his newness to SL; it emphasizes his enthusiasm in exploration of our virtual community. Kudos to him for being a risk-taker and stepping up to the challenge. If your desire is to receive attention through a judgmental and negative attack on others, you have simply displayed and clarified your RL personality. If this were not so utterly silly, it would indeed be sad and a catalyst for bitterness. A majority of community members believe that SL is designed for positive interactions and entertainment. I, among many, respect and honor all creators, developers, and bloggers in SL for their efforts and evolving talents.

Anonymous said...

If I was you, I'd be very angry with that person who keeps making you go to the Fabfree blog & looking at things you don't like.

Emilly Orr said...

Renee,

Stolan has under 30 days in SL. He was brought to Second Life by a well known SL designer who is a RL friend of his.

A few points. First, maybe it's me thinking time = discernment (which is usually far from the case), but it used to be a pretty widely-held standard that few businesses would hire you if you didn't have four weeks under your belt. That's changed?

Secondly, I'm sure the 'well known SL designer' who's his friend cares for him; that's the nature of friendship. It doesn't necessarily mean that, just because he knows good designers, that he knows good design. (Of course, I'm making the assumption here, also, that 'well known' = 'good'. Which also may not be the case.)

Finally, it should be 'an RL friend of his'...

We decided on the bloggers based on the fact that we felt they would work well as a team. We are a team of writers.

And if that's your deciding factor, that he work well with all the other writers as a unit, I can't argue that. But note, that also doesn't indicate that he knows SL fashion specifically, or style in general; just that he's friendly and easy to work with.

Hmm, this is tending towards long. I'll split it into two comments.

Emilly Orr said...

So, the second half.

As for typos, I make typos in every post I make. No it isn't that big of a deal to me!

As you've pointed out previously. Perceive that it genuinely may not be a big deal to you, and to a large segment of the grid, but it is to me. Which is also part of why I pulled this over to my blog, rather than continue replying to Stolan's first entry--silly me, I thought I was preventing drama that way.

Yes I research and go to every store I post. Some items are sent to us to blog, but most we go and find.

Um...good? I'm not entirely sure where I indicated otherwise in this particular entry?

What you may call fugly might be someone's favorite item. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean that others wont love it.

It's "won't", but beyond that, you're absolutely right. See it in this light: I don't like a lot of the current fashion styles, SL or RL. I keep waiting for the babydoll look to die a well-deserved death in all lives--again--and I have a deranged design ethic anyway. I know this.

But, more to the point, it also has to do with underlying shape. While mine varies considerably, species to species, I've gotten pretty good at looking at something (be that something hair, shoes or outfit) and figuring out if it would look good on me, over the model. So that's it right there--it's half dislike of what's currently popular, and half being pretty sure that what looks good on you won't on me, also.

But for someone that hates the FabFree blog so much, you sure study it!

Again, a little confused here--where in this entry did I say I hated the FabFree blog?

Emilly Orr said...

Aili,

I'm amused that you seem to be inferring that I'm a 'fashionista' blogger; I'm not entirely sure where that impression comes from, to be honest. ('Snobby' and 'know-it-all' I'll agree with; in fact, I even admitted such in this entry.)

All I can say is I'll do my best, but part of the frustration is that there seems (to me, at least), such a huge gap in quality between posts on his own blog and his intro post on FabFree--so, where's the breakdown happening? It's not that he can't write well; it's not that he can't take good pictures; he does both on his own blog. Did he just get overexcited and forget? Did he figure, hey, so the skin's not rezzed in, that doesn't really matter?

I mean, I get basic idea. Renee and FabFree see that he's new, and think there are newcomers on SL all the time, maybe he can speak to them. That's not a bad impulse to hire someone.

But it's just so personally frustrating to think that they hired someone as dumb as a stick to post entries under their banner--and then, to find out that he's not in any way stupid, but actually knows how to spell things, how to organize things...hells, he's already mixing and matching to come up with targeted looks, so what the hell happened with that entry?!? It's baffling.

Emilly Orr said...

Miss Shilova,

I deeply apologize that I don't have a kicky little nickname for you yet; but I promise I'll work on it.

Your written rant screams “newbie in real life experiences” and clearly identifies your personal need to learn and practice the usage of correct punctuation and sentence structure.

*cackles* I may need that further defined, I think. How does my 'written rant' peg me as a 'newbie in real life experience'? Also, which experiences? That seems rather a broad insult to fling at someone.

Your blog is difficult reading in many ways.

Oh, believe me, I understand. The drama, the ranting, my frustration levels, the rotating cast of 'characters' that can be hard to figure out for anyone not in the Steamlands...

Your sentences are disjointed and fragmented with colons, semi-colons, and some begin/end with prepositions.

Oh, that. Yes, you're absolutely right. I like to think I hold to a certain literary standard, but unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, that standard is currently on the low end. While spellchecking does work for me, ofttimes it won't catch grammatical errors, especially if I'm typing on the fly instead of in Word or another program.

In addition, I have a somewhat labyrinthine and idiosyncratic mode of speaking. This can confuse people as well, and again, I'd stress that confusion is my fault, not theirs, for the most part.

It is obvious (to most) that English is not Stolan's first language; therefore, your evaluation is not newsworthy.

Did I say it was?

If your desire is to receive attention through a judgmental and negative attack on others, you have simply displayed and clarified your RL personality.

As hard as it may be for some of my critics to believe, I've never written anything on this blog for attention. I write what I feel called to write, by random impulse, mostly.

I, among many, respect and honor all creators, developers, and bloggers in SL for their efforts and evolving talents.

Sorry, that hurt my head a bit. So, you respect and honor me as a creator and a blogger, while at the same time diminishing me as a bitter attention-seeking neophyte? Those two statements don't mesh well.

Emilly Orr said...

Anonymous Wanderer:

Unless you're clearly a spammer without merit, I tend to leave anonymous comments alone, but I will say it shows a distinct lack of courage to post anonymously.

That having been said, I'm very confused as to why you--as well as others--have this impression that I hate the FabFree blog. I don't. I don't like all the fashions presented, but it's a big virtual world, I don't like all of many things in SL.

Sheraton Shilova said...

*Cackles*.

Emilly Orr said...

Miss Shilova,

I thought it could work either way, as it's technically an extended expression of emotion/action. As in the phrase (in writing) "Emilly cackles."

Sheraton Shilova said...

Ohhhhh, well allow me to rephrase (in writing): "Mrs. Shilova cackles at the idea of meaningless avatar banter." Enjoy your virtual life, Ms. Orr. :-)

Anonymous said...

For your information, the name Emilly is actually supposed to be spelled Emily. So before you post next time, might want to use a spell check!

Anonymous said...

You do realize your profile picks are contradictory to your posts here right and should someone who has to remind themselves they are loved and that they have friends be commenting at all on someone's first post in a new world? Does that make you any more sane than Stolen or anyone else? Pot calling the kettle black if you ask me and do you actually go and read your picks everyday? Isn't a better way to post your affirmations and what not be in RL? Like on a post it note on your mirror?

Mikayla said...

Opinions are like assholes. Everybody's got one and everyone thinks everyone else's stinks. But in your case yours hypocritical. As per the text in your profile picks.

Stating that you want to give everyone a chance and posting affirmations that are better left on a post it on your bedroom mirror.

I'd think twice before just wasting precious time posting mean spirited and useless dribble and focus on bettering your first life, which is obviously in a clear state of chaos!

Emilly Orr said...

Mrs. Shilova,

I do apologize; I had been defaulting to Ms. in cases of unknown marital status. I will remember from now on.

Emilly Orr said...

Anonymous (again),

Emilly is a variant of Emily. Other known variants are Emelie, Amelie, Emili, Emilee, Emilea, Emmily (and Emmely), Emila, Elly, Eily and Milly.

There's also the male variant, Emile.

There may be a few others, but those are the main ones.

Evion said...

What ya forget to read was the dripping sarcasm. But I guess that's beyond your realm of expertise in the English language.

Emilly Orr said...

Anonymous Whomever the Third (which is assuming you're all different people, you may not be):

I would say yes and no. My Guidelines profile pick has been up since my first few months in SL. I don't always live up to it, but I try. The Things to Remember pick I've only put up since...December? I think? That's mostly in reaction to personal matters which aren't germane to this discussion.

And you should, perhaps, go back and read the entry again--I never said Stolan was insane, I never claimed to be sane myself. And that's precisely why I both initially commented on Stolan's entry on the FabFree blog, as well as pulled it over here when I thought more drama over there would be a bad idea.

As I've said--multiple times now!--I don't think he's stupid and I do think he has a decent eye for what works for men. And I agree with Renee; he's not the typical can't-fit-through-doors steroid-warrior SL shape, which should also be given more encouragement. But part of why I started in over there is because I do believe he's capable of better work, so why isn't he doing it?

Emilly Orr said...

Mikayla,

Language. Also, it should be "But in your case yours are hypocritical."

That aside, the 'affirmations' as you call them are only important to me. You don't have to read them if you don't wish to. And I'm amused that you read one entry on my blog and think my first life is obviously in a 'clear state of chaos'. I think both my wife and my girlfriend would soundly disagree.

Emilly Orr said...

Evion,

"What you forgot", is what you meant, and Stolan is dripping with sarcasm? My apologies, then, I was unaware he meant the entire post in jest.

Anonymous said...

Grumble is a mature sim and mature store and if you don't like the clothing, don't go. We design a wide variation and try to have something for everyone so close your eyes and cover your nipples, god forbid you wear something slutty on second life. But thank you for the amusing post. Allie Munro-Grumble Owner.

Emilly Orr said...

Allie,

There's slutty, and then there's just plain sleazy, but I agree on Second Life that line is flexible. I may have strange standards, and it is a wide and varied virtual world.

One thing I am curious about, though: what did happen with the orange shirt? Is it early work? Because everything around it is well-shaded, competently designed pieces. The orange just isn't in the same class at all.

Anonymous said...

Sorry for staying Anon but I don't fancy getting kicked from the Fabfree group for posting my opinion here, and I really doubt you care exactly which avatar is sending this. I don't mind bad spelling. The biggest point I agree with is how disappointing low quality items in a blog are. There are tons and tons of freebies of BIOB quality. Noone but the newest avatars wants to see that. I see Renee post often items that she can't seriously like. Either she is friends with the designer and wants to promote them or she feels the pressure to post more often than needed. Hard to imagine she really doesn't notice when items have bad texturing or poorly made prims. Whisper always has good taste. Carson's posts are really not any better than Stolan's, with unappealing photos as an extra insult, and he is not new at all. So I guess my point is, the new bloggers don't really drag down FabFree any worse than it already has been. The only time I read text is on Whisper's posts, my brain melts after the 100th "I just love this sweater" or "Hugs my curves" on an item that has no prims and is painted on the avatar mesh anyways. Of course it hugs your curves. Ah...where was I? I read Fabfree and stay in the group because there are helpful people there, and they do post many good freebies along with all the bad. But I don't have any hope of the blog quality improving. And speaking of Stolan's shape got me thinking, one of the new female bloggers has a shape that makes anything she wears ugly. Breast and hips going near max and a tiny waist and body. This isn't real life and I don't mind unrealistic curves, but when it gets clownish it's just one more sad point.

And I wanted to let you know, Renee posted this blog link in fabfree chat telling us all how you were ripping into her. Now I don't know if she googled her name or if a "friend" gave her the link or what, but she was quite upset and looking for attention and comfort. The channel was full of how sad and ugly and mean the blog poster must be. As if you had emailed this to Renee or started posting it in fabfree group chat. The funny thing is, after that died down the conversation turned to another of your posts and how funny it was, how everyone had run into the naked noob wanting sex at some point. So her anger has probably given you a few new readers, at least theres me.

I don't usually leave comments but I figured some from the fabfree chat would end up leaving rude messages, and I thought it would be fun to add my feelings in with it all. Also, like on Ruthed.com it's fun to read the "drama" and "tell it like it is" posts. It's fun to laugh at the ugly clothing that people sell or give away without shame. I would never IM or email a creator telling them what a bad job they've done. I wouldn't leave a comment on someone's blog telling them what an ugly shape they use. But I will have a personal laugh and if there is another blog or forum about it, I'll enjoy reading that. If people can't take "flame" posts then they shouldn't put themselves out there. Some "flame" just to be mean but I feel it's obvious through reading that all your points are valid and you aren't posting just to try to hurt someone.

Emilly Orr said...

Anon,

That would be Khalania, I believe, another new blogger for Fabfree. Would you believe Ms. Pearl has spent two years on the grid?

Because I'm really not trying to make this bigger than it is, I don't have any intention to post said chat, but I think one of my favorite comments during those few minutes was this one:

[23:29] Chalice Piers: what i found amusing is the description she gives of the slob at the party, the one spitting food on ppl as he talks. He's the most interesting guy there. I think that's the distinction between ordinary and extraordinary. just my opinion.

I realize, lumping everyone behind the Fabfree blog with Chalice's bizarre attitude is wrong, but it has amused me greatly to think that everyone there would rather hang out with filthy, irritating thugs who lack all personal hygiene because they're more "interesting". I guess that's good to know. :)

Me, I'm honestly not trying to hurt anyone, and if the end goal really is more "This crap is free! Woo!" over "You can put together some really innovative looks, let me show you some mix-and-match pieces from four makers, all free"...well, then quality will stand out. And obviously Fabfree is popular as a group, as seen by the almost instant battalion of championing voices in that bit of chat.

But I've never been interested in being popular. And just because something's popular doesn't necessarily mean it's any good.

Anonymous said...

Well guess what Emilly, you do hurt people by posting things like this. Yes I was very hurt by your words. I spend a lot of time on the blog entries I make. I know all of the writers do.

I would never rip someone to shreds on a blog, or anywhere else for that matter. No one knows the damage words can do. I personally have cried over comments from people. I know that this blog has personally upset the new writers to fabfree. I could never be that cruel to anyone, whether hiding behind a computer and tearing them apart or in real life.

Yes the group and blog are well known. Considering the blog gets 7 thousand hits a day, I have to believe there are more that actually and appreciate what we do. There are some blogs that only take pictures of the vendor ads. This is not what we do. We actually find the gifts, take pictures, and write a commentary.

BTW, the only reason I know of this post and your previous post where you ripped Whisper to shreds and hurt her is because anytime someone links to FabFree it is pasted on the wordpress dashboard.

I urge you to find peace in your life. I really feel bad for people that focus this much energy trying to bring others down.

Emilly Orr said...

First, this is one entry--I'm not spending a ton of time trying to 'bring others down', I've moved on to other things.

Second, when have I ever "ripped Whisper to shreds and hurt her"? I want proof of that one.

hide away, they say, 'cos we don't want your broken parts

Yeah, so...remember that thing I was recovering from? You know, last year ? Yeah. I did it again. So this is Em Faw Down Go Boom part ...