so I take it you have one? :D Sorcha

you're right, it is art...and I don't disagree with that at all...but if that is the way you create you must be willing to deal with the reactions you evoke, even if sometimes they are a little stronger or not quite what you had intended...that's all...;) The one image in question pissed me off and for a time I did not look at his artwork after that, but at the time I clicked on that particular image in the gallery I was not expecting to be pissed off. I am not an advocate of censorship at all but if you make it a point to evoke strong reactions, be prepared for whatever they may be. In some cases, it may be to hate you or worse, to want to hurt you, or even in such a case as mine to be determined to never support anything you do... Anyway, I don't really want to say anything more about that, but I never agreed with having the poll taken down and right now I just think it's in poor taste to bring any more doubt upon the decision that was made(regardless of who was chosen)...but I guess everyone has a right to debate the circumstances for as long as they want..;) Sorcha

Honestly Ironbear I agreed with almost everything you said...I have been trying to say all along that I didn't like the way the poll was handled but I know that my other opinions have caused people to believe that I felt otherwise. I'll admit that I don't really care for Legume's work, actually to be completely specific, there was one piece of art he did that absolutely pissed me off and that changed my whole perspective on all of it..until that point I didn't really care. You can make the arguement that he has the right to make whatever he wants(which I agree with, BTW) but if he reserves that right then I equally have the right to feel offended by it if it offends me. You can also argue that the ability to really piss someone off with his work makes him a better artist and perhaps more deserving of the title which in some respects is probably true but that still doesn't change anything from where I am. After that image and the entire sequence of events that followed in the community I started looking for the negative and I don't think there is really anything that can change my mind about it, even now, although I did try to force myself to look at his work with a more open mind a few times(BTW, the pinup series looked really sad, and i don't mean the technique of it, they just all gave me the impression that he was groveling for sympathy somehow and always made me feel sorry for him every time I looked at one of them). But cheating is wrong and you cannot honestly say that Legume and the AOM following Legume didn't get their titles without some degree of cheating and I'm not talking about "self-promotion" either. If you know you weren't part of it, then you know my comments weren't directed at you. But if someone does cheat in any way to earn the artist of the month title, they will not get any sympathy from me if they start saying they were discriminated against by the admins in the final vote....the truth is, if they had to cheat on even the most minor level, then they do not deserve to be at that point anyway. Anyway, now my biggest objection at this point has been that people are still questioning the decision even after the winner was announced...that is just simply not fair to the person who got that award, even if it had been another artist(even Legume) I would still feel the same way about this.. Sorcha

Lynde- who is your post directed to? The Sub-geniuses and all who did what I spoke of above..if you know these conditions do not apply to you then take comfort in the fact that the statement wasn't directed at you..:) Is that so hard to believe? Nope..:) I even liked his stuff until one point...my comments are for those that have participated in those activities alone...:) Sorcha

ask yourself these questions.. If your crew hadn't created so many freaking fake accounts to rig the hot 20, affect the nominating of the AOMs and VOTE for the AOMs, would the thought of discrimination have ever entered your mind when the poll was pulled? What's more if you hadn't been so brilliant(or should I say, "Sub-genius") as to pull the same stunt twice in a row, would the thought of discrimination have ever entered your mind when the poll was pulled? If you guys hadn't been bitching and stiring up conspiracy theories every other day in the C&D forum and eventually gotten it removed from the site alltogether, would the thought of discrimination have ever entered your mind when the poll was pulled? In short, if it hadn't been for all the bullsh*t, would you ever have had cause to believe you were being discrminated against? Regardless of how he was selected, the person who has the title of AOY has it because he deserves it. It's as simple as that...questioning the voting, and continuing to bitch about discrimination charges at this stage only cheapens that for him which is very selfish and inconsiderate on your part. Do you realize this is the second time this sort of thing has happened to him? This same sort of crap happened when the admins selected his design for the renderosity site design a long time ago...I think it's really sad that even now you can't show a shread of decency... Sorcha

Well okay, so the unofficial poll in the poser forum shows Legume as the winner(Congrats to Legume for winning that contest;))...there's no point in trying to pretend that I don't have a point of view at this point but I do feel the need to point something out although I'm sure no one will listen due to the fact that you know I am already biased in the other direction. There was once an "Official" poll which was on the front page for everyone to vote on anonymously which was showing someone else in the lead. Now unfortunately that poll was pulled but does that not count for something? BTW, Congrats to ToxicAngel...the actual AOY winner...;) Sorcha<---voted for ToxicAngel and just voted for Roobol for AOM

that does look better I think as well...I guess I'll just have to find a way to convert all the real eye textures for her..:) Anyway, thank you both for your thoughts on this..:) hugs Melissa

well I was just confused because I had not thought I had read anything in this thread about either person until now(but I could have missed something and apologize if I did)...anyway, I didn't know anything at all about their little conflict but I rarely go to the forums unless there is some issue I'm interested in...I like the galleries much better... speaking of names and pictures, well my picture is real(but it's 3 years old, guess I should shange it) but my "name" isn't and I was thinking of trying to change it since I now use a different handle in other places anyway...I didn't really change it to hide from anything, it's just that this handle was from an RPG character I had a long time ago and now I've come to prefer another name instead but all of my friends know the new name now and know it's me...I made a point of telling everybody when I changed it.. lynde...err...sorcha....err...Melissa

where does Blackhearted fit into all of this?now really confused ;)

I think these are great ideas...nothing that I can think of to add or change...works for me..:) Melissa

Thanks to both of you for your help...I'll try it again and see how it works out..:) hugs Melissa

besides I don't think having a gallery really signifies that someone contributes to the community...in a way if you think about it, having a gallery here is actually just benefit of being a member of this site... Melissa

okay I have a thought again if anyone is interested...the thing is, the admins have stated repeatedly at this point that it's not about discriminating against one individual, the facts are that they made a new policy after last year's contest and by mistake went against that policy and posted the poll up for everyone when they really meant to just reserve the AOY selection for the admins alone. Now regardless of what I think of the way it was handled or whether I like the new policy, it's nto as if it's hard to believe that they came up with this new policy last year due to the fact that there was a lot of suspicion that the popular vote was not acurate due to actual "Stuffing" of votes during that contest. The thing is, now that they have apologized(however inadequate that may be) and given reasons for taking the poll offline, all this continued complaining of discrimination only hurts whoever will eventually get the award EVEN if it is Legume because whoever wins will be left with the doubt as to whether or not they truly deserved to win(including Legume, I since I am giving him the benifit of the doubt and assuming he has a consience too). If for instance the winner is ToxicAngel or Rohi or whoever, that person will wonder if they were just selected because the admins prefered them to Legume and not because of their talent as an artist. And Legume(in theory) should he win, will probably be left with the question of "Would I have really been selected if everyone else hadn't screamed discrimination on my behalf?" or "Did they just throw me a bone just to shut me up?".... Anyway, the bottom line is, if the past is any indication, they are not gonna give the vote back to us and continuing to complain about some conspiracy afoot will only ultimately ruin the enjoyment of the title even further for whoever gets it....:( Melissa

In all fairness I think Billy was just trying to be nice to you..:(

understood, and a good idea...:)