Avatar discussion

[snowbank]

Eh?

My avatar is more disturbing than that.

No offense, but I think it's kind of cartoonish. And it looks like stone, so it can't move very fast.

[Chiroptera]

I personally would be more creeped out by an intact doll.  The discarded toy is cool and spooky for me.  Regular dolls are bad creepy.    I don't like dolls.

[AcornArmy]

Would you care to teach folks how to do that blocking image thing? 

Sure. I use Mozilla Firefox, which allows you to download open source add-ons that add useful applications into your browser. One of the ones I have and use is Adblock Plus, which lets you block annoying spam images and such, preventing them from being displayed on your screen.

If you use Firefox, you can download the Add-on from the official Mozilla site here.

[AcornArmy]

I personally would be more creeped out by an intact doll.  The discarded toy is cool and spooky for me.  Regular dolls are bad creepy.    I don't like dolls.

Hrm. In the interests of trying to figure out where we all fit on the creeped-out spectrum, who here thinks clowns are creepy?

*raises hand*

[Chiroptera]

Clowns are definitely creepy.  We have a museum in town with exhibits on local history.  But for some reason in the back, up this dim, narrow staircase, they have a bunch of life-size clown mannequins.  So you look around the corner and there are at least half a dozen clown dolls staring down at you.  And not fun happy clowns.  Creepy murder clowns.

(Creepy Murder Clowns would make a great band name).

[tallgrrl]

NoScript is another good Firefox add-on.

About the clown thing?  Clowns are not worrisome for me.  Could someone come up with a way to make one extra creepy?  Definitely.  Can I ignore it or find a way to avoid it?  yes.

[Wizard H]

Hrm. In the interests of trying to figure out where we all fit on the creeped-out spectrum, who here thinks clowns are creepy?

*raises hand*

*raises hand*
Also those old style china dolls and the like, where they have big life sized heads and dead empty eyes staring forward, those are wierd.  They kinda creep me out too.  All dolls should be, like, Barbie sized(not necessarily shaped mind you don't attack me!) in my opinion.  I think the avatar in question isn't bad it's in keeping with the Halloween season and as was mentioned earlier even Toy Story had a creepier one.

[snowbank]

I think Evil clowns are creepy. But they wear all that facepaint, so it's hard to tell the evil ones at first.

[AcornArmy]

I think Evil clowns are creepy. But they wear all that facepaint, so it's hard to tell the evil ones at first.

Exactly. Any of them could be evil clowns, and the only way to tell the difference is to get to know them, thereby opening yourself up to some freaky evil clown attack. Probably something involving knives, or big, pointy metal teeth. Why risk it? It's safest to assume they're all evil, and therefore creepy.

[Paynesgrey]

NoScript is another good Firefox add-on.

About the clown thing?  Clowns are not worrisome for me.  Could someone come up with a way to make one extra creepy?  Definitely.  Can I ignore it or find a way to avoid it?  yes.

Pretty much the way I look at things.  Whatever our avatars, someone somewhere will be creeped out by it.  There are options to block avatars, those who have serious issues can do so should they so choose.  It's like watching TV.   Most reality tv "drama" fills me with rage and hate.  (I frequently pray for cleansing nuclear fire to obliterate Bret Michaels and anyone, ever, who has appeared on Rock of Love.  It's the only way to be sure that the evil dies.)  Even the commercials make my teeth wiggle.  Point being, there'll be commercials for things one finds icky, offensive or annoying. One can TIVO skip right past them, but if one wants to watch the commercials because they find the one with the scrubbing bubbles to be cute, then they pays their money and they takes their chances.  

Because we have teenly and tweenly members and no age check, we have a PG-13 (Or is it 14?) policy, and we might step in on something borderline... but we're really not in the business of stomping out everything someone somewhere will find creepy, icky, ookey, or offensive.  

[Piotr1600]

About 3 years ago, Herself & I were having problems with neighbor kids trespassing into the back yard. Not the "Oh crap, I accidentally kicked the ball over the fence" way - which never bothers me, but the "wander around the place while they're at work, dump out the potted plants, tip the rainwater barrel over, pee under the pergola, and worst - break into the locked yard-box & pour all the fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, etc., in a big pile, killing a good chunk of the garden and making a potentially lethal chemical cocktail.

Even after several iterations, the parents denied everything, and the police couldn't/didn't get there fast enough to catch them in the act.

If you can't beat them one way, we're firm believers in beating them in a different fashion.
So... we gathered up a few old (and maybe even antique) doll heads, & put them on stakes among the plants.
The effect was *immediate* - The vandalism stopped completely.
I know we completely creeped the little turds out - that's what we intended to do. Thankfully the family has since moved, so there aren't doll heads in the garden anymore.

I do understand snowbank's discomfort with (FM)'s avatar, although I don't share it at all.
In fact I have *much* more creepy/weird things in my house as art/knick-knacks.
So, is the avatar creepy? Kinda/sorta.
Is it over the line somehow? I don't think so at all.
At base, it is a picture of a child's toy with some missing bits.
Judging from some of the stuff that I've seen at the movies and in video games, it is not in any way improper for a PG-13 audience.

It would seem to me that those disturbed/offended should be the ones blocking the image as the most proper solution.
But if (FM) chose to change it because of being asked nicely, that would be very cool too...

And FWIW, I find clowns to be *much* creepier and waaay more disturbing...

[snowbank]

I feel validated and supported by tallgrrl's post. It's not just the image I feel is objectionable.

[Paynesgrey]

About 3 years ago, Herself & I were having problems with neighbor kids trespassing into the back yard. Not the "Oh crap, I accidentally kicked the ball over the fence" way - which never bothers me, but the "wander around the place while they're at work, dump out the potted plants, tip the rainwater barrel over, pee under the pergola, and worst - break into the locked yard-box & pour all the fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, etc., in a big pile, killing a good chunk of the garden and making a potentially lethal chemical cocktail.

Even after several iterations, the parents denied everything, and the police couldn't/didn't get there fast enough to catch them in the act.

If you can't beat them one way, we're firm believers in beating them in a different fashion.
So... we gathered up a few old (and maybe even antique) doll heads, & put them on stakes among the plants.
The effect was *immediate* - The vandalism stopped completely.
I know we completely creeped the little turds out - that's what we intended to do. Thankfully the family has since moved, so there aren't doll heads in the garden anymore.

I do understand snowbank's discomfort with (FM)'s avatar, although I don't share it at all.
In fact I have *much* more creepy/weird things in my house as art/knick-knacks.
So, is the avatar creepy? Kinda/sorta.
Is it over the line somehow? I don't think so at all.
At base, it is a picture of a child's toy with some missing bits.
Judging from some of the stuff that I've seen at the movies and in video games, it is not in any way improper for a PG-13 audience.

It would seem to me that those disturbed/offended should be the ones blocking the image as the most proper solution.
But if (FM) chose to change it because of being asked nicely, that would be very cool too...

And FWIW, I find clowns to be *much* creepier and waaay more disturbing...

I find, Sir, that I quite like the cut of your jib.

[Chiroptera]

Maybe I'm just weird, but I think if the picture were done at a creative angle in black and white film it could be a very poignant piece of art.

[۞†Grey Warden†۞]

FM's avatar kinda gives me that whole metaphor loss of innocence kinda thing.

I think as long as an avatar avoids the whole TT thing and keeps it pg 13 then it should be fine

Just my two cents