Vani/Vanimute/VanillaKitsune

[pagan-foxcat.livejournal.com]

The following was mostly written by Jaitsu on behalf of both of us. I'll put my own blurb at the bottom:

"WHO: Vani/Vanimute/VanillaKitsune

WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/vani

WHAT: Was supposed to be a traditional art commission, in the style of http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4014996/ , for $65, split between myself ( Jaitsu / http://www.furaffinity.net/user/jaitsu ) and Neopagan ( http://www.furaffinity.net/user/neopagan ).

WHEN: The commission was agreed upon and paid for at Anthrocon 2010 (so, mid-late June, 24th/25th?) July 27th she started posting journals going on about her life situations delaying commissions ( http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/1586921/ ). Since she seemed aware that she had commissions waiting, including ours, we waited to prod her with emails. When she finally replied, she said she'd have the commission done by JUNE, or give us a refund. We agreed. It's now long, long past June, and we've received neither, and she's no longer reading notes or responding to emails. (Her twitter's still pretty active, though, so you can't say she doesn't have internet access)

PROOF: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18095502/paganvaniemails.png

EXPLAIN: See "when" for most explanation. We paid for the commission at AC '10, then gave her plenty of time to work on it... then she started putting up dramajournals, so we felt sorry for her and waited a while longer. She kept putting up journals pointing out that she was aware that there were commissions waiting, including specifically mentioning ours, so we continued to wait, until finally, we got impatient. Neo noted and emailed her again, and FINALLY got a response, offering to do our commission (now upgraded to digital) by June, or give us a refund. As of October 4th, we've received neither, and the last several notes we've sent her haven't even been read."



Now, this has been sitting in my email ready to post here since mid October, but I've been hesitant to do so, maybe even a little guilty. I know what it's like to have real life throw bricks at you and the tons of other artists I commission know that I try to work with them and give them a lot of leeway(and tip frequently!) But, enough is enough. I've commissioned and had a full fursuit complete in a lot less time. After emailing her failed (which is apparently the BEST way to get in contact with her), I left her a note on FA which by it's bright yellow color has not been read since mid October, and it is now December. Due to the extensive list of people and any lack of reasonable progress on ANY of them, I'm sure there are many more people who are a little tired of waiting over a year for a simple piece of artwork that they paid good money for( http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18011580/don%27t%20take%20out%20of%20here/todolist.png ), I'm just the first to post about it here. A year and a half and nothing at all, infact, lost contact yet still twittering away? She doesn't seem like the dickish sort, but irresponsible is irresponsible.

For those of you who would think me foolish for getting a commish from someone with that long a lineup, I actually didn't know the artist well and the first exposure to them was the dealer's den at AC 2010. It was only after I got home did I see the huge to-do list. What's worse, is that she started offering commissions for more money in between this and had friends pay her way to AC 2011 apparently.. :|


I don't know if/when she is going to resurface. But if she does I want people to know her work ethic beforehand so they don't get into the same situation.

Comments

[taasla.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's a huge shame that she dug herself quite the hole. I hope you get your owed work and she can get back on track.

[mrst4nkr.livejournal.com]

FWIW, I use twitter from my texts, and I have no internet on my phone.

And I thought my to-do list was large!

My goodness. @__@

I hope you get something out of this very soon. It's really too bad. She has cute art. It looks like she's just overwhelmed. :S It's no reason to ignore you, though.

[pagan-foxcat.livejournal.com]

A year and a half with pretty much zero progess on that list. It's like she isn't even trying. People shouldn't take the money if they can't produce. :/ I'm trying not to be a dick about it and still feel bad about the need to post here, but she hasn't answered the last three emails and I basically hate twitter. I'm not going to sign up there just to chase her, though it sounds like some folks here know her and I imagine she'll take notice eventually.

[n.livejournal.com]

...She's actually been on tumblr quite frequently.
I follow her, and I was always curious as to where she used to post, and yep its her.
However because of finals or something her posting has been sort of but not really infrequent.

http://stripesandteeth.tumblr.com

You can try contacting her via ask, but you have to have an account to do so as she's turned off anonymous.

[dangercrow.livejournal.com]

looks like a classic case of "took on too much work, got overstressed and shut down" because WOW is that ever a massive to-do list. Here's to hoping you can get your work or a refund soon.

[four-calamities.livejournal.com]

This is very disappointing.

She's very active (and still posts art) on Tumblr as well:
http://stripesandteeth.tumblr.com/
http://maplemutesandtea.tumblr.com/ (and art + commission Tumblr, not as active)
I'd suggest maybe shooting her a "question" asking about your commission or linking her here. Knowing she's being posted here may spur her to at least read the note you sent over FA.

[pagan-foxcat.livejournal.com]

I read that last link you posted and wow. Someone asked her why she abandoned Fa and DA completely, and he basically said she realizes she has a huge backlog of people when she says

"Two, I feel like going back would be committing suicide. Pretty much jumping into a pool of sharks that haven’t eaten in months."

Unfortunately avoiding the issue isn't gonna make it go away, it's just going to make it even worse. XD

[gaturguts.livejournal.com]

I don't believe she get son FA often, but I just spoke to her over Twitter today.
Try contacting her on a different source than FA? :<

Hope everything gets fixxed. She's a nice person from what i've seen/spoken to.

[pagan-foxcat.livejournal.com]

If you can point her to her emails, FA and/or here, it'd be appreciated. I thought of contacting someone who knows her better than I to poke her, but didn't wanna cause a white knight situation. :P

[superstarvocal.livejournal.com]

Vani owes me a commission too, but mine has been on her dA's "to-do list" since October 2006. No, I am not even kidding. It's been over 5 years since I commissioned her. I think that 5 years is more than enough time to finish a commission, regardless of how many personal problems you have.

She is just plain irresponsible. I follow her on Tumblr, and it's not as if she is art blocked or something, because I've see her post a lot of fanart of her current anime obsessions and whatnot. And it's not as if she doesn't have time either, because apparently, she has enough time to watch Tiger & Bunny nonstop.

After she posted a journal on her dA asking her commissioners to tell her if they still wanted their commission or would rather like a refund, I noted her asking her for the refund. She told me she would repay me the following month because she was waiting for a paycheck or something... I told her it was alright, since I've had problems with paychecks too. And you know what? Its been over a year since she noted me telling me that.

The worst part is that she doesn't has economic problems, cause I once read on one of her journals over dA that she had bought both versions of Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver CAUSE SHE HAD WANTED THEM BOTH. Oh yes, I bet she is till waiting for that paycheck, the poor girl. /sarcasm

[superstarvocal.livejournal.com]

Oh, I forgot to say that I've noted her several times regarding my overdue commission. And each time she replied saying my commission was next on her to-do list... yet, no progress, at all.

Sorry for my English.

[viothefoxbird.livejournal.com]

I know she has a lot of anxieties, but still, I don't think it's quite an excuse for her lack of motivation. She really does need to buckle down and start working on her owed commissions. She owes me one from I think a year ago? Maybe two. Not sure any more. I think it was around $35.

I understand she's probably really freaked out about this right now (what artist wouldn't be?) so I hope this is an eye opener for her.

Vani, if you read this, try to stay calm and start working on your commissions. Even if you get one done a week, just one. I know you've been working on merchandise to sell at conventions, but instead keep a stock of older work to sell instead of constantly making new ones, so you can devote that time to finishing owed work but still make money by selling old designs at cons. Do NOT take any more commissions on, perhaps for a long while. Running away will not make these people disappear. You owe a lot of people a lot of art. Please try to start working =(

[filthy-animal.livejournal.com]

This. :c

[neonr0se.livejournal.com]

I'm also waiting for a traditional sketch commission from her that i ordered from her in 2010 :/ when she had her meltdown last fall i asked for a refund when she offered and im still waiting for it as well.

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

Not the first time she's done this, won't be the last. I lost my sympathy for her a long...LONG time ago. I never commissioned here -because- of how flaky she is with her business. My friend was lucky to get an image out of her (And even then it took a long time!). I just got a bad sense of "Never gonna do it" with this artist.

Too bad.

[technicolorgoop.livejournal.com]

I'm very surprised to find that this is the first post anyone has made about this artist. She's been up to these shenanigans for years now, taking money for commissions and then running.

[genkigami.livejournal.com]

I've heard rumors she has a habit of taking money and running, didn't think she did seeing how popular she is and how people are beating down her door to commission her.

The comment up there about skipping out on FA because she owes too much is pretty uh... uncool.

[oonaslime.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I'm amazed she wasn't posted to this community sooner. Vani is kind of infamous, y'know? Really bad reputation, especially in regards to business.

I have a friend that likes to keep an eye out on drama regarding her, so this is somewhat second-hand information. But I know she has a massive, massive backlog of work, and from what I understand she still has people waiting on commissions from over TWO YEARS AGO, and keeps taking new work. I don't even know of anyone who's managed to get a refund from her.

But meanwhile? She does icon giveaways on Livejournal, makes a bunch of palette-swap adoptables, does a massive amount of personal work and is currently doing a Tiger & Bunny merch giveaway (That she made, BTW) on Tumblr.

What I'm curious about is, does she technically qualify as a scammer? She's been doing this for ages.

[meta.livejournal.com]

Woah, I COMPLETELY forgot about this up until now but I commissioned her on her old LJ (vani_kins) back in 2009 for a $45 piece that I never checked up on / heard back about.

Honestly, I knew about her to-do list at the time I made the payment but I thought it'd be worth the risk for a chance at her art. I do have a habit of just writing off my cash and forgetting about commissions, so I don't care that much about it, but I'm still huge fan so I'd be pretty happy if she ever manages to finish up her huge backlog.

[retr0h.livejournal.com]

Finally! I've told quite a bunch of people to post about her because she owes A LOT of artwork. She's pretty much taking peoples money and spending it on anime conventions/cosplay so she doesn't have enough to give people refunds. And she's avoiding all of her art galleries (FA/DA) because she doesn't want to read the mass amount of notes she has about owed artwork. Good luck about getting your art back because she's pretty much a lost cause.

It's sad to see a great artist do this to themselves. /: Also, she's gotten her friends to ask for donations for her when she wants to go to a con or something fun so she doesn't have to owe anything to anyone.

[likeshine.livejournal.com]

i know how it feels to be buried under a lot of work... i took on commissions to support my boyfriend at the time, who spent the money faster than i could draw, leaving me with a huge backlog and like, no hope. it took me the better part of a year but i finished them all. it can be done. the guilt was awful. i thought about what was owed all the time... i felt like i could breathe again when it was finished.

i hope you get your artwork OP! i did commish Vani for an icon a few years ago and received it promptly. she's a nice gal who got in way over her head, it seems.

to vani, if you see this: you can do it girl!

[pagan-foxcat.livejournal.com]

The difference here being you had the (metaphorical)balls to own up to it and actually work through your backlog. It sounds like a onetime deal. From what I gather here of other stories trickling in, this is sort of like a long-term drug addiction to her, taking money and not actually doing the work. Plus it sounds like you had noble reasons and ended up getting used for it. O.o If she doesn't want to be seen as a con-artist, she is going to have to stop her frivolous living on borrowed credit and actually be responsible enough to realize when she takes someone's money, she is essentually contracted to draw whatever was detailed in their agreement, or refund. She seems highly irresponsible in the fact that instead of doing either of these options she is blowing it on games and anime and avoiding the issue. :/
I was very hesitant to put her up here at first but in the end I'm glad I did and the more I hear the less bad about it I feel. It will help prevent this from getting any worse and hopefully make her realize that she can't do that sort of thing anymore.

[dangercrow.livejournal.com]

sheesh, all the stories suddenly flooding in makes me wonder why she has not been posted about until now, because honestly, beware well warrented with this one :(

[cappucola.livejournal.com]

same here. One user has been waiting since 2006 even, I really just can't believe this. How terrible :S

[discordinator.livejournal.com]

Yep. Commissioned her for a simple headshot badge that cost me 40$ a year ago and have been nothing but patient with her.

I've put tweets directly on her feed to contact me. No response. Cool beans /sarcasm

[ariakitty.livejournal.com]

I commissioned her in 2010 for 2 icons, I didn't know about her massive backlog when I commissioned her, though. I think she owes like 55 people commissions according to the to-do list she had posted to FA.

I was able to get a hold of her once (and never again after that) on her tumblr, she said she was working to refund a lot of the furry commissions because she didn't want to do furry art anymore. But she said she wanted to do mine since my characters were more human.

Honestly, I doubt any of us are going to see a refund or the artwork we're owed. It's a shame, but I think she has dug herself into a hole that she's not going to get out of. So it's easier for her to run away.

[spikedkanine.livejournal.com]

Fuck. @____@

This really really hurts to read since I've been a loyal fan of her for like 4/5 years.

Yeah I /know/ she had a fucky track record in her past, but I had finally believed that she had learned the ropes and knew what she was doing. :/

When she ditched for tumblr a year ago with no notice, I thought she had finished her commissions with everyone over email and just didn't upload anything else onto the websites.

I've actually managed to talk with her on Facebook/MSN connect a few rare times over the past months and I agree with VioTheFoxHybrid, She /IS/ someone that easily mind fucks herself out of this planet.

Of course being extremely filled with anxiety and pressure is not a good reason to just run off with money and hide on tumblr. :/
Yet alone, My eyes are still blindly attached to her art. u__u And deep down inside I cant hate her for being a klutz when it comes to stuff like this.

But eh. :/
I...I...just dont know. I...just really wanna see if I can talk to her just a heart-to-heart fan-to-artist kind of thing? :/

Im going to fucking flip a table if she pulls a BlueShineWolf and ditches the internet forever. .__.

[poizenkat.livejournal.com]

Not to go TOO off topic, but blueshinewolf still looks at her deviantart. She just wont do any owed work it seems. idk the details though, i've just had problems with her before so...idk XD

[vellacraptor.livejournal.com]

Oh man I hate to see her posted here. She's such a sweetheart. :c

Though yes, she does have a lot of issues, goes to school ft, and as previously states does tend to psych herself out a lot. Last I checked she was in a iffy physical state of health too.

It's not fair she's not doing her commissions, but she's not outright maliciously scamming people I'm sure. She does have another e-mail, but it's not my place to post it. I'll see if I can't show this to her though at least, though I'm sure her friends might have already.

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

Please mind rule number 2:

2. Whatever happens in the community, stays within the community. Do not go to the offender's LJ or art site account and harass them, or contact them any other way if the matter under discussion does not regard you personally.

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

What a shame! I really liked her style and I kind of noticed that she wasn't posting anymore, so that explains it. :/ I think honestly if she contacted the people she owed work to one by one and told them she burned out and offered a refund (assuming she had the money for it,) people wouldn't attack her like "sharks that hadn't been fed for a month?"

[mialattia.livejournal.com]

Sounds like she needs to emotionally remove herself from her BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS and either make good on her end or refund everybody.

Commissioners are not donating to you, they are paying for a service/object.

Commissioners are not giving you their money to hold onto for years, interest-free.

Commissioners are not breathing down your neck and judging you, and if you think this and it makes you anxious, you should probably NOT be taking people's hard-earned money just so you can throw it away and then get nervous about making good.

These artists who get in over their heads, no matter how sweet they are, are lacking in a fundamental feeling of duty. The Internet may make it easy to take people's money, but your obligation is still there, and you SHOULD feel obligated to deliver if you do nothing to make good on your transaction than keep people on a meaningless list for years.

Sad to see she is still doing this, like so many others.

[kadaramy.livejournal.com]

I'd been thinking about posting a beware about her. She's owed me a $25 sketch for a few years now, but every time I asked her for an update I got so many excuses that I honestly gave up. I don't want my money back by now I don't care, but I'm relieved someone is bringing awareness to this issue.

As others have said I have seen her posts on tumblr many times and she draws often, and her lack of work ethic for commissions is disappointing. But anyway, thanks for bringing this up.

[spikedkanine.livejournal.com]

Its been 6 days.

She's updated her twitter and tumblr multiple times-- None of which were about facing what she's running from.

It looks like she's just going to ignore it. u_u

I /REALLY/ don't want to loose faith in her....<:/