Enter: Jori Watler
I first met Jori Watler during the summer of '08. She was hired on as a real estate sales agent for the estate that I am manager and builder for. I had nothing to do with her hiring, so basically I was just left to accept this new staff member as one of my peers and fellow teammates. Almost immediately after she was hired, the estate owner, Giancarlo Takacs, received a rather ominous warning from a third party, warning him to be careful of Jori.
This estate owner agreed to speak with me on the condition of anonymity, in an attempt to avoid any drama, but he was willing to tell me of his experience with her. I had been forwarded this warning at the time it was sent, and both of us took it with a grain of salt. On the one hand, it wasn't very reassuring, especially for someone whose job it was going to be to represent the estate in a financial area, but on the other, we understood that she had a previous romantic relationship with this person, so perhaps his opinion of her was not entirely objective. We decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, but kept his warning in the backs of our minds.
She Did WHAT???
Not long after Jori joined the staff, things started happening that made us wonder if maybe we should have taken the other estate owner's warning more seriously. There was a couple, who are still residents of the estate to this day, who were known for not only being very nice and decent people, but also seemingly financially comfortable. There was also another executive, Xochi Tolsen, who was leaving the estate, and had put her own open space sim on the market, for L$60k, which was below fair market price, she just wanted to unload it quickly and be on her way.
I had spoken to this resident about using this conversation in this article, and he agreed to allow it, as long as I kept his name out of it, since he prefers to enjoy a drama-free SecondLife. This conversation is rather well-known, so verifying its authenticity will not be difficult for anyone who is nosy enough to want to do so.
For one thing, this was an estate staff member asking a resident for a loan, which most people will agree is just not acceptable. For another, they weren't even close friends, more just casual acquaintances, and yet she was asking him for roughly the equivalent of USD$240--no small sum, considering these two people hardly knew each other. What I found especially shocking was the fact that (as if asking a resident for a substantial loan wasn't shocking enough) she asked for the full L$60k, instead of the difference between the asking price of the sim, and what she claimed to have in cash and liquid assets. Jori had told me several times that she was doing very well from the sales of land, so I was especially curious as to why she would even need to borrow any money at all.
Another situation that Jori found herself in involved Blazin Aubret and Tristan Careless. At the time, Blazin and Tristan, a long term couple who were separated, had a business together, House Of Gestures. They had ended their romantic relationship, but needed to maintain a professional working relationship because of their business. Blazin, by herself, was a resident of the estate, and also had a shop in the commercial district. Tristan was not a resident, but because of his business partnership with Blazin, was a commercial district merchant by default.
It was common knowledge that Tristan and Blazin were considering moving their main store location, and a possibility was that they would move it to the estate. If they did this move, and Jori was involved, she stood to gain a handsome commission off the sale, since it would probably mean they would be buying an open space sim for their store. Jori proceeded to befriend Tristan, and soon the rumors started flying as to the nature of their relationship. Tristan thought it was clear that it was strictly platonic, but there were rumors going around that it was something more. Jori claimed it was Blazin who was spreading the rumors, and we wondered if perhaps Blazin's emotional feelings for Tristan were causing her to spread the rumors. Blazin and Tristan had been a couple for a very long time, and are back together again today, so most people accepted the fact that, despite their separation, they still harbored feelings for each other.
As a staff member, I think it is treacherous territory to flirt with the ex of a resident. Regardless of whether or not the resident's ex is a resident, and therefore "off limits" to staff members, the resident's feelings should be considered. In this case, Jori should have acknowledged that Blazin and Tristan had a history together, Blazin was a resident of the estate, so therefore Jori should stay clear of anything more than a platonic, superficial, professional association with Blazin's ex, out of respect for Blazin's feelings. I don't think that this is too much to expect; in fact, I think it's just common decency.
Eventually, the rumors surrounding the relationship between Jori and Tristan became too common, so Giancarlo felt the need to confront her directly about what was being said. She assured him that everything was strictly copacetic, and that her behavior was professional. She seemed to overlook the fact that Tristan knew how to copy and paste conversations, himself.
Less than a week after she told Giancarlo that there was nothing going on between her and Tristan, she told Tristan that he, "let me think you cared, and you totally had me fall for you." Note in this conversation that Tristan mentions Adrian Deschanel, who was the ex of Sabein Streeter, another resident who had a bad experience with Jori.
Sabein had been married to Adrian for a short time--their marriage was shorter than their engagement--but she still had feelings towards him, and it was not easy for her to be around him after their break up. Sabein had been a resident prior to her marriage, and remained a resident afterwards. Adrian wasn't a resident until he married Sabein, and then after their break up, he left the estate--for a short time.
The buyer that Jori found to buy her land, so that she could buy the open space sim from Xochi Tolsen, just happened to be Sabein's ex, Adrian. Once again, Joris' own greed took precedence over the feelings of a resident, and Jori had no problem selling her parcel to the ex of an estate resident. Sabein had confided in me that she was very upset that Adrian was a resident of the estate, as he was a chapter of her SLife that she was trying to leave in the past, and she was seriously torn between her love of living where she was, and leaving in order to escape his memory. She had also told me she suspected that Jori used her sexuality to pursuade Adrian to buy her property, and Tristan's remark seemed to substantiate Sabein's suspicion.
The questionable situations between Jori and Tristan, and Jori and Adrian, weren't the only scandalous rumors flying around about her. There was also another man, who was a friend of Sabein's. Hammer Collas was looking for a place to set up housekeeping, and Sabein had told him about how much she loved the estate, so he agreed to take a look at some parcels for sale there. Jori got involved, and not long after, the rumors started about what exactly the deal was between them.
I don't know Hammer very well, other than helping him terraform and set up his house. I did try to contact him when I was preparing this story, but he never responded to my IM's. I do know Sabein quite well, as do many other people. She is a rather down to earth person, and I think most people will agree that she's just a regular gal who keeps her nose clean, but in no way is any sort of a prude (note: the bridesmaids at her wedding were dressed Moulin Rouge style).
Regardless of what the truth is between Jori and Hammer, I found it odd that Jori decided to resign from a seemingly lucrative position at the estate, due to some false rumors. If it were me, and a resident was saying some things about me that weren't true, I wouldn't leave my job over it, but that's just me. Hammer never did get back to me, and the notecard that was sent to me, that was originally sent from Hammer to Sabein, seemed rather cryptic.
Even outside of land deals, the drama continued. It was no secret that another executive staffer, Xochi Tolsen, did not care for Jori from day one, something most of us just took to be something that happens between women every now and then. Jori had a lot to do with Xochi leaving the estate, so Jori was not a person that Xochi ever cared to see again for as long as she SLived. Not long after Xochi left and established herself on her own, she found Jori at her location. Xochi confronted her, and made it clear under no uncertain terms that she was not the least bit fooled by Jori's apparent innocence.
All of this, so far, seems to be just "he said, she said" stuff, falling into a gray area. One thing that is absolutely certain, however, is a blatant case of fraud Jori Watler tried to pull off regarding her "art." This fraud was discovered by the lady homebuilder, whose prefab house was what Jori was proudly saying was the only one in the estate at the time Jori first (supposedly, as Jori, anyway) set up housekeeping there. I won't mention the homebuilder's name, but I will drop hints; she's British, her first name is also the name of a spider in a well-known children's book, her brand name has the name of a very famous Southern belle from a very famous novel in it, and her houses have a signature look of being very modern and very white. This homebuilder alerted the RL artist of the theft.
When Jori first set up housekeeping at the estate, she claimed to be a real life artist, and the above picture was one of the works of art that she claimed was her own. This is the link to the original artist's work:
http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/concepts-and-ideas/time/396513-cherry-blossom-drawing.php?id=396513
Even now that Jori has left the estate, the truth still seems to be a foreign concept to her. She seems to forget that people talk to each other, and that people that know her also know other people, as well.
There is someone who has given us the names of some of her more well known alts. She probably has already retired these ones by now, though--or she will once she sees this article. He has also told me about his experience with her--he is the estate owner that sent the warning when Jori first came on staff. One of her alts has the same words that she has on her primary profile, and both alts have her photography studio on her picks, so these are probably not her "super secret" alts.
Jori may have called Maggie Mahoney and Ocean Bates douchebags for creating alts in order to escape their professional responsibilities, but it started to look like she was all too familiar with this procedure. Perhaps this estate owner, and former boyfriend of Jori, knew why she needed so many alternate accounts.
Even to this day, Jori still seems to have issues with telling the truth. In her world, everyone is a participant in an enormous fabricated conspiracy against her--even people who don't know her, know each other, or even have English as their primary language. Almost a year after she was banned from the estate, she is still trying to find a way to weasel her way back in.
Even her current partner doesn't seem to be able to discern the truth, apparently so gullible he will believe anything she tells him. He did contact Giancarlo, and told him that I have been asking people for "derogatory information" about Jori, which is untrue. I did my research for this article, which involved me contacting people and asking them what their experience was with Jori, so that I could verify information I already had. Anyone who knows me knows just how ridiculous it would be for me to IM someone and say, "Hi, I want any derogatory information you have on Jori Watler."
Of course, none of this article would probably have ever been published if it wasn't for Angelique Latzo and her big, foul mouth. It didn't take long to find out that she is the alt (oh, gee, another alt, fancy that) of Joelle Oppewall. Why would someone drag so many irrelevant things into a comment on an article about Frolic Mills' attempt to take over RUNAWAY Magazine? Apparently, displaced frustration played a role. Claiming to be Jori Watler's sister, it became clear that dishonesty and mental illness are their family heirlooms.
Since she has a problem with Raine Dagger, I figured I would start with Raine, in my attempt to find out who she was and what her deal was.
Raine then proceeded to tell me the story of Joelle Oppewall, who is on the ban list at Raine's house. The story goes that Joelle had an SL boyfriend, who became friends with Raine, Joelle said that Raine "stole" him, Raine says he was just a friend, thus began their catfight. Joelle sent the boyfriend, whose initials are F.C., a RL pic of herself. What was unusual was the pic she chose to send. In it, she is pleasuring herself with a sex toy (with clit stimulator), with the words, "LOVE YOURSELF", on the side. When asked if I wanted to see the pic, I politely declined, and then was told to "imagine dried up chicken skin", apparently some sort of resemblance to the subject of the pic. Allegedly, Joelle Oppewall is shown as the creator of the texture, and she had given it to F. C. with full perms.
I decided to check with one of the other ladies from that year's pageant. Many people know Colleen Bracken as a sweet, friendly, drama-free person, so I was curious to see what she had to say about that year's contestants. I had taken some interface shots of them at the meet and greet, but I only had six contestants, and there were seven chairs on the stage. Colleen confirmed what Raine had told me about the identity of the missing contestant.
Not only did Colleen confirm what Raine had already told me, but Colleen also let me know that Joelle Oppewall had been a stripper at some point, also. Imagine that. the person who told me that she was going to stuff my "sick stripper thong" in my mouth was a stripper herself. I didn't really think my few weeks at Sixx Pack was any big secret, as Natalie even went there with me, in addition to some other people that I am still friends with to this day. I guess I need to put on my profile "One Of The Original Sixx Pack Dancers" just so nobody thinks I am trying to hide anything. Maybe I should kill off Rawly and come back as an alt...maybe as Angelino, or maybe Jodi...hmmm....
AngelEEK was right, though, I was a totally pathetic stripper, so pathetic that she remembered me over two years later--I had practically forgotten about those days, if it weren't for Devine Hunt running around I might have forgotten about them. I also have a really good RL sex life so "emoting" in SL has never been particularly intersting to me.
I know a few guys who I met at Sixx Pack, who have gone on to do other things in SL. I also know a lot of women who started out at a strip club in SL, and moved on to other things as well--Juro Kothari even gave me Anshe Chung's escort card from her days at the Cannibis Cathedral, which he built back when there was only a handful of sims. I'm not ashamed of my past, and I think I'm something of an SL success story. I was curious as to what Angelique knew about my Sixx Pack days, and knew that only one person on my friends list would have been the one to tell Angelique about those days. I called Devine Hunt, former owner of Sixx Pack.
At first Devine seemed like she was going to deny knowing Joelle, but eventually admitted to it. She was taking rather long pauses between responses, and me and (somebody shhhh) were laughing on the other IM, saying she must have been on the other IM with Angelique/Joelle asking her what to say. Devine did tell me that Angelique/Joelle was at the club ALL the time, for over TWO YEARS. Imagine. For two years in SL, and all you do is hang out in a club that features male go go dancers--and she calls me the pathetic one.
In addition to Jori and Angelique's being misled into believing themselves superior to others, Angelique seems to share her SListers aversion to telling the truth, assuming people are too stupid to contact each other to verify information. I had shown Giancarlo the comment that Angelique left saying that his estate was "dirty, poorly run, etc", so he IM'd her and thanked her for the publicity. She then went on to say that Colleen Desmoulins from The Loft thanked her for talking shit about his estate by sending her a vanity as a thank you present. He then contacted Colleen himself, and she informed him that Angelique lied. Colleen told him that Angelique had shopped in her store, bought a whole bunch of stuff except the vanity, so she sent that to her as a present. She also said she frequently does that with her customers. Apparently, she also told Angelique that she laughed at the comment Angelique made about me, and made it clear that she doesn't know me, or what the situation was about, she just saw the humor in it. I'll let that one go for now, but I'll remember that remark. I do have the screen shots of these conversations, which I have elected not to include here.
At first, the comments I had read on the Shopping Cart Disco blog pissed me off. Later, they just made me laugh, as I realized that they were made by people with serious issues in their real lives. Angelique just showed herself to be what she is--a miserable asshole. How can a sim be dirty? How can an estate with less than 100 sims, but over 3/4 million square meters of public space, be called greedy or mismanaged? How is someone who circulates pictures of herself masturbating in any position to call someone else a degenerate? I think it's rather obvious who the degenerates really are, and maybe someone's "Pretties" label should really say, "Pretty Uglies."
