Aikea and Gelydh have their own site...

[Markus]

Welcome to PMBD Aikea and Geldyh. 

[strix]

Thankyou Aikea, for a beautifully written post and succinct explanation of events. As someone relatively new to Simming, I've seen both yours and Gelydh's work as some of the nicest I've come across (among others, of course ) and thank you both for your contributions to the community. As another who has trouble speaking out and socialising, I can surely understand your fears of people imagining that you're egomainiacs. I often have people thinking I am a snob, when all it truly is, is paralysing fear and a conviction that no one could possibly really be interested in anything that I have to say. But here, you are welcome to speak your mind if you choose, or just simply observe if that is what you see fit to do. It is my sincere hope that you both regain the joy in creation that having your own space will bring, and the freedom that comes with it. Congratulations and best of luck to you both 

Edit: Argh, TYPO!

[aikea_guinea]

Where to start?  Not a clue... *jumps in at random*

Anouk, as far as I'm aware it was never even mentioned that Elmazzz had stepped down.  I only noticed when I was randomly looking through the retired artists list one day.  Seems this is a new 'thing' for people leaving FA-dom, and not one I wanted any part of.  It's taking all my self-control not to mention another very well-known artist who's gone the same way, only in the 'fade-out' way Raychael and I were meant to. 

CaptainJojoba, as far as taking guts to post this here, where the TSR lot can see it fully, I only hope that someone else reads this and at least begins to think.  As I said before, this isn't meant to tear TSR to shreds, only to give insight into things that would otherwise be kept from view.  There's nothing to be gained by lying to people.

To everyone else, thank you so much for your warm welcomes into the 'wider community.'  We're still totally overwhelmed but so appreciative of all your support.  We're more inspired than ever and have rediscovered the joy of creating just for the sake of creating.

As for me, I'll swap yer rum for vodka, and be on my merry way.   

Cheers!

[Dark Lunaris]

Hi, Aikea! Sorry for the late welcome. I don't know if you'll trail these forums long enough to see, but I just wanted to say welcome and that most of your outfits are a must-have for my male sims. <3
You also have the same name as me. I'm a Danielle too. ahah.... interesting.
I'm on MTS2 as "Lunar Eclipse".
*hugs*

Please continue to make content for yourself. It should be a fun hobby and never a chore. I think people do their most beautiful work when they do it for themselves and love what they are doing... not when they are trying to please others and meet deadlines. ^^

[pixelated]

Glad to hear that you're enjoying creating once again. I'm sure that you've inspired lots of people, so hearing that you decided to go free isn't only a good thing for you two, but for the free-community as a whole. Enjoy the community (it's, from what I've seen, a lot more friendly than the paysite community most of the time), good luck with your site, and keep up the awesome work. ^^

[Jojoba]

Aikea I really do hope that your post, and the knowledge of what happened to you and Raychael, does make the TSR people think. If TSR has gone to the stage where its own FAs are treated like this, then they must at least think about it - and hopefully get out. The wider community, as you refered to it, is very welcoming.. and any more FAs, who leave as you and Gelydh have, would be embraced into it and their decisions supported

And oddly enough, you both still have FA threads up in the FA Discussions area  Hope Thomas does not think that you are going to change your mind and go back..

[Anouk]

Gelydh + Dark Lunaris + Aikea on one site = made of win
hint hint hint hint hint hint

And I wonder if TSR makes FA's fade out quietly because of the pirates gobbling up rum and kielhauling landlubbers everytime one does? For a site pretending not to be affected by what 'that illegal phorum' is saying, lately, they're doing a poor job. 

[redisenchanted]

It's great to have your stuff available to the entire community. I went and snagged a bunch of stuff from your site. Now I know what all the fuss was about. Top-notch work.

[spunkysim]

A little late here but I would also like to say thank you for posting Aikea and I am so happy to see that you and Gelydh have your own site, best of luck to you both with it!  I am sorry you had to go through what you did but I am also glad to see that you are now out from under the evil thumbs of TSR and hope that you enjoy the freedom.  I love your work, have some rum/vodka/whatever you want and grab some cookies.

Don't be afraid of the pirates, they're really very nice.   

[Dark Lunaris]

*hugs Anouk*

^^

[alia]

I'm a bit late too, but here goes:

Aikea and Gelydh, I'm sorry that you had bad experiences with TSR. Unfortunately, that is not new or unheard of.

Nevertheless, I am glad that you are out of that evil place. I hope that you will find the joy of creating again.

Also, I must say that because you both seem rather reclusive, the web is full of gossip and misinformation about you (some of it can be found on this site). However, your gracious posts at GOS and here have proven much of the rumours false. If you stick around, ignore the older posts here and enjoy the atmosphere and rum.

Welcome aboard, Aikea and Gelydh!

[glasscigarette]

So...I haven't posted here, but I've lurked for a while. I'm also a generally anti-social person (unless you know me well...and then I often won't shut up), but I had to post when I saw your side of the story, Danielle.

I feel kind of after-school-special-ly for saying this, but you really should be proud of yourself for doing what you did. TSR has no right to treat its creators so awfully; after all, you're the people keeping the site running. I'm just one of many who considers your work some of the best available, and certainly amongst the upper echelons at TSR. Quite frankly, the overall caliber of the creations at TSR has been declining for a long time, but your work (as well as Raychael's) has been of consistently high quality, and has proven to be one of the only reasons to continue visiting the site altogether.

Like a lot of people, I've long since been predicting the fall of TSR, so you can only imagine my joy when I learned of your defection. On one hand, my pleasure is highly motivated by the paysite debate. Now that it has once again been confirmed that TSR is essentially trying to steal from their own artists (and force them into some sort of artificially shame-filled lie about their own departure), it's also motivated by the fact that they are engaged in yet another sort of verifiable douchebaggery.

Congratulations on the new site and the renewed sense of calm in your life. I hope to see many beautiful creations from you in the future, and now that you've shaken off the shackles of TSR, I only expect your creativity to grow. Thank you, and good luck.

[Hecubus]

I feel kind of after-school-special-ly for saying this

Another First Post WIN! Heh. (Brings back memories... what was that one with Rex Smith that launched his career?)

but your work (as well as Raychael's) has been of consistently high quality, and has proven to be one of the only reasons to continue visiting the site altogether.

Agreed. There are a few others I like there, but for the most part, the push for quantity has really ruined the quality. When I told A&G this at the time of their defection, they were shocked that people outside TSR even really KNEW them, no less thought so highly of their work. (GoS apparently turned into a fangurl site for a bit when they appeared there. LOL)

glasscigarette, POST MOAR! You're delightful and insightful.

[Azaya]

(GoS apparently turned into a fangurl site for a bit when they appeared there. LOL)

To be honest we're still fangirling. In multiple threads now.

[Anyerfillag]

*waves hand*

I'm not fangirling - does that make me weird/odd/strange??