Caesar, I suggest you take a perusal of Saff's posting history. He has verbalized and slandered more people on this forum, to worse degrees, than me or any other member, even going to lengths of creating GIFS of them. He is a textbook narcissist, and I have no tolerance for narcissists. And that won't change as long as he is enabled to be one, and is babied out of the problems he creates for himself, and allows others to fight his battles for him.
But yes, you are are right. I will change my signature, and will not continue this.
And yes, Oscar--nepotism. Kind of like how I get reduced to one yellow brick, but Saff is at five after having made considerably more derogatory statements and having posted GIFS which feature members engaged in sexual acts with animals (which actually is slander) amongst other things. If that isn't nepotism, I don't know what is. If I do get banned, that will have real world ramifications for me because I use this site to trade and purchase seeds. If that does happen, I will ensure that that action has real world implications for both of your enterprises too. If it's going to go that far, I suppose I'll be forced to create my own justice--because clearly I won't get any here. I suggest both you and Saffron take a breather, and have a long, hard think about whether or not you really want it to go that way.
Starling, are the most recent posts on this thread representative of the "verbalization" Adam tends to dish out? If that's the case (not sure if it is, yet), frankly, I'm finding fault in both of you. On the one hand, we have you... If these posts of his are representative, you seem a little over-sensitive. You gotta grow a thicker skin, man. It's clear he's not taking the situation very seriously. Times like these, I take my sister's advice: remain calm. Show them your best face, gracefully. Think about it, if your opponent is taking things as calmly as Adam here, then he's sitting home, cool as a cucumber, completely at ease, while in full knowledge that you're angry and bothered and worse off than he is. Don't give him that satisfaction, play it as cool as he is. If he's not taking it seriously, neither should you.
Also, at least some of these replies don't really seem maliciously antagonistic. A lot of them seem like playful banter, a verbal roughhousing, if you will. Not so much a nasty attack, but a "friendly" (at first) jab. Maybe he expected a playful jab in return. Size up your opponent, and play the same cards. If he gets angry, stand firm. If he plays it cool, play it cool back, don't let him know it's bothering you. If he seems like a narcissist to you, don't give him your time; it ain't worth it. Just cool down, and let their antics fall off you like water off a duck's back. "Rubber - glue - back to you", you know? Tryin' to tar and feather his reputation (and that of his chosen fruit) ain't the way.
If these posts are NOT representative of what he usually dishes out, you might as well disregard my above commentary as irrelevant (in which case, you might not be over-sensitive), and I have failed.
Also, I think the word you're thinking of is favoritism. I got confused too, thought "nepotism" was the right one at first; then I remembered nepotism is favoritism specifically towards a family member.
Now on the other hand... Adam, Oscar... Assuming my above commentary is correct... What the heck, guys! In such a case, it's plainly obvious that he doesn't share your sense of humor, he doesn't like the way you guys comment around; he finds it insulting. Why do y'all bait him like that? All it's done is make him angry and spawn an out-of-control argument. Yes, he seems over-sensitive (which is on him), but if I know I'm dealing with someone who doesn't like my antics, I don't keep poking fun at the guy and expect him to come around, I give him some space. It wouldn't hurt to drop the humor (and disbelief) every once-in-a-while, and talk it out civilly and seriously. If he still finds a way to cause an argument, then ignore him, leave him be. If his comments are misleading and untrue, let him stew by his lonesome. It's not like anyone who knows you and the fruit would believe such innacuracies. No need to make more back-handed comments on other threads, just forget it ever happened. Talk it out, make nice; I'm sure he's willing if y'all are.
Again, if my above commentary is inaccurate, then I have no idea what I'm talking about, and might as well leave the conversation.
Neither of you have to take each other's crap, but there's no need for anger or disdain either. Adam, stop baiting him. Yes, he was riling people up; but the way he puts it, sounds like he was reacting to you. Overkill reaction? Maybe... but don't feed into it. Starling, chill out. If he keeps antagonizing ya, treat him like a bully. You don't talk back to bullies, you report them, then ignore them. Don't let him get to ya, simple as that.
There's no need to let this get any worse. People's livelihoods are at stake. I say there's no need to ban Starling, and no need for Starling to sic his lawyers on y'all. It's gone on long enough. I don't wanna lose two great business partners to litigation, and a possible third to a forum-banning. Listen to this wannabe hippie: forgive, forget, let it be, and pretend the whole thing never happened.
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Now, to get back on topic...
I have embarrassingly little experience with exotic fruits, so I'll have to make due with what I already know for my top 5, dipping in to both tropical and temperate fruits. Note: this takes "out-of-hand" eating into account. For processing, my list would be different.
1. Garcinias (particularly Purple Mangosteen).
2. Langsat.
3. Banana.
4. Strawberry.
5. Raspberry.
And there's my current top five. Woot!
