(no subject)

[foxwolf321.livejournal.com]

WHO: absinthe stellary

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

WHAT: 4 full colour, fullbody pictures (1 is completed) and 1 flat colour bust. traded for 2 shirts totalling 42 dollars.

WHEN: Originally commissioned June 2011, problems started 3 months later.

PROOF: http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk7/fowolf321/?action=view&current=page1.png

http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk7/fowolf321/?action=view&current=page2.png

http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk7/fowolf321/?action=view&current=page3.png


EXPLAIN: Commissioned her, at the time her paypal account was closed. So we traded art for shirts. She is great to deal with right up untill she gets paid. Then the real fun begins. She has already stated many times that she does not care about artist beware as it paints an unfair picture of her. Well, I suggest to anyone reading this, dont fall for it. Find another artist!


Edit: I have since been put on her block list on FA, so looks like my refund or art will be quickly coming........
Edit: hmm, not sure what this giant space down here is about, I can not delete it......

Comments

[mekania.livejournal.com]

I am... a little surprised at these comments. AB isn't a hivemind but the general thinking here is if there's a delay (for whatever personal reasons), you let your customers know and ask that they have patience while you're dealing with things. If the delay becomes longer than a few weeks or so, you refund (unless your customer agrees to wait, which they should be under no obligation to do).

Stellary did none of this. In the same sentence she mentioned the funeral she gave at least two other excuses for why she didn't do the work AND took on new commissions during this time (See all the notes from around Sept 10th in the second link). I can totally see why the OP lacked empathy in this situation.

[sbneko.livejournal.com]

I do agree with this a lot.

I also agree with how you should have some sympathy when something like this happens. But at the same time, I think the commissioner would have felt and acted very differently if Stellary had sent him a note (rather then have to ask for an update), explaining what's going on, keeping it short but still letting them know what's up, giving options and ideas on time frames even if it's not something concrete.

I'm honestly not too sure how I feel. I agree with both sides, with the commenters I mean. So I guess I'll leave it at that rather then add more points.

[mekania.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't feel like the OP deserves to be put on blast ("you must not have anyone close in your life", really guys?) when nothing in Stellary's notes appear to be a person grieving and asking for some patience. All it looks like is someone using a tragic event to guilt her commissioner into getting off her back.

Sorry, I'm pretty sympathetic to loss but I don't believe people should be guilted into having feelings for something that isn't personal to them especially when, in this instance, Stellary *was taking more commissions while using her dad's death to get out of previous obligations*. I can't stress that enough.

[tunavoice.livejournal.com]

Yeah, even I thought that comment was pretty bad. I won't be surprised if a mod jumps on it. I mean, I can totally see why the commissioner got mad- the continuous excuses would have gotten me angry, too, as well as the lack of communication. Stellary has a history of this, as many of us know.

But on the other side of the coin, what really put me off and made me say what I did was the commissioner's attitude. They came off as HIGHLY aggressive and handled things in a way that could have been avoided entirely. Their responses in the thread did not help.

(In addition, I wasn't trying to guilt them in any way, but moreso explain why I felt the way I did. I apologize if I came off that way.)

[mekania.livejournal.com]

I get it, I do. I just can see how this spiraled a bit and the OP got defensive when people started telling them they didn't express the feelings they believed the OP should feel.

I don't honestly think the commissioner said anything terrible in response to that excuse, to me they were actually pretty reasonable in expressing what Stellary was doing wrong. They were blunt, yes. But not abusive/rude.

Commissioner response to the excuses where she cites the funeral:
"a few months is 2, it's been over 3. as I said I don't mind waiting but this is getting ridiculous. You haven't even tried to do one. work with me here, when can I expect them"

Doesn't address the funeral. It's to the point but willing to work with her. When she responded with "You can expect them when I have time to do them" +excuses for why she needed to take new commissions is when he seemed to really let everything out there. I'm not sure I agree "aggressive" is the right term.

I can also understand the defensiveness in the comments, I'd personally be really upset if people were telling me (not just you, a LOT of people) I didn't have the correct emotions to a situation which I am not personally involved. The first comment included a hypothetical "if this were a different artist who was otherwise great, then you wouldn't have done this" but this is not that situation.

I may not be expressing myself as articulately as I hoped so it may be time for bed. I just think everyone should maybe take a moment and comment based on *this* situation and not the hypothetical in which a good artist who has solid business ethics and would never use a tragedy as a free pass to blow something off gets lambasted by their customer when they ask for some time to grieve.

Edit: Wow second paragraph was a bit confusing, cleaned up the sentence a bit!

[kadaria.livejournal.com]

The last part is exactly how I feel about this whole commenting situation on this post.

[foxwolf321.livejournal.com]

its been awhile, I did mean to thank you earlier, but my posts where just dragging things offtopic. I do appreciate you seeing my side of the fence. Unlike what everyone assumes, I am not unsympathetic, I do understand artists are people. But i have never been one with words, you described it much better then I ever could.

[aerospiritual.livejournal.com]

This, seriously.

[likeshine.livejournal.com]

THIS.

[0acorn0.livejournal.com]

You said everything I was thinking but SO MUCH BETTER.

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

I dont really think that those who are criticizing the OP's reaction are on Stellary's side per se. The general gist is that the beware is valid against her but that one commment is so blunt and cold that it prompted an emotional response from some people.

Both sides have a point really, I can understand OP's frustration as I've had situations like this myself but let's be realistic, handling someone who has (apparently) had such a grave personal tragedy happen to them, in such an aggressive manner, was never going to help the situation.

Of course it's unreasonable to think that the OP should have to force themselves to care but you know, it wouldn't have hurt to fake it a little bit ("I'm sorry for your loss, I'd like to know when you will be able to work on my commission.") or even just have refrained from waving the "I don't give a fuck" stick in her face ("I've been waiting a long time for my art, when you're able to produce some I'd like mine asap").

Saying what they did the way they did came across as intentionally abrasive, and that's what people have been reacting to. Comments like "If my father died right now, you would not care..... If your father died right now, I would not care....." are honestly not helping anyone's opinion of them either.

Like I said at the start, beware's valid but OP's conduct was far from flawless.

[aerospiritual.livejournal.com]

I don't know- it's one thing to be dealing with the death of a family member and obviously dealing with it, and entirely another to have been taking and completing commissions during that time and then whipping out that excuse months after the fact, when someone who has been backlogged, has inquired about their art.

Had Stellary not been drawing for herself on top of taking on new clients during the time where she alleges she was grieving, then the OP was pretty cold and unfeeling.

But the fact of the matter is, is that she wasn't; she was doing new art and taking in new money. Her excuse wasn't "I haven't been working on commissions due to the death of my father", it was "I haven't been working on YOUR commission due to the death of my father." Which has a very, very different context, especially when its coming from someone who is notorious for pulling out a myriad of excuses as to why she can't complete what she's obligated to do.

[mekania.livejournal.com]

I just have a problem with people telling the OP they should care more, or fake concern. Saying you don't support Stellary is all well and good but when things like that are said it makes it much harder for people to come forward when someone is doing them wrong.

When artists who are posted here take it to their journals to post that they have, for example, a "greedy impatient commissioner who is starting trouble because they were demanding stuff when I was having a hard time!!"

The comments almost *every* time has something like "fuck that commissioner, how could they not care that you are going through _____? Your life is way more important than some art!!! Screw them!" and it frustrates me every time.

I never thought I would see comments like that here but I guess there's a first time for everything. It's shaming people for wanting what they paid for in a reasonable amount of time. This is a business transaction and if you treat your customers with respect and let them know about delays, they will be much more willing to give you some slack but you are not entitled to it. If a customer is unhappy about you putting off their commission for personal reasons, that is their right. Refund them.

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

I don't really see how pointing out that being nasty isn't an effective way of dealing with someone is the same as saying "fuck that commissioner, how could they not care that you are going through _____? Your life is way more important than some art!!! Screw them!" but okay.

It's just that from what I've seen, and transactions I've experienced myself, even when you're frustrated and things are going sour that it really doesn't hurt to be civil.

[mekania.livejournal.com]

And this is where I think we can just agree to disagree because I don't equate not showing enough concern with being nasty.

[foxwolf321.livejournal.com]

where have I been nasty? ever?
blunt? sure,

[sintocat.livejournal.com]

I agree with you completely. If the artist had been honest and working on the commissions and then informed the commissioner about the delays, I expect he would be much more understanding. This is a business, and if the artist isn't showing their customer any respect after taking their money, why should the commissioner?