I read the whole thread at one time or another I think, but I may have still missed it... what about some kind of demon monkey illustration with a caption that reads, "I fling flaming poo" ?

Oh snap on the quack! 

All I can say is that I'm looking forward to being able to customize my avatar, though I can't bring myself to just post utter nonsense to get there.  Perhaps I'm being a little extra verbal as a means to that end, but not to an insane extent... or so I tell myself.

My avatars tend to be more subtle than not, even when I'm attempting to make a statement... that statement may only mean something to me, and since it makes me feel better, that's ok... I doubt that any avatar I ever put up would be sledge hammer-ish enough to offend anyone since they're mostly meaningless to others.

I like ducks!  There!  (>.>)  *shifty eyes*   after all, I already have chickens and guinea fowl,   so this spring I think it's time to get some ducklings!   

I personally think it would be kind of cool to have recreations of the shirts Harry wears in the books.

You mean covered in blood and gore?

I went and got the firefox add-on that AcornArmy speaks of, (you need *Adblock Plus* as well as *Adblock Plus Pop-up Addon* BTW.  Neither was a problem at all, anyone who has firefox should be at least a little familiar with their Add-ons.  I've gotta say it's GREAT!!!

I personally also use NoScript, which helps protect from 'clickjack' attempts by only allowing active java scripts to run on sites you approve.  It does take some active decision making though, I happen to think it's well worth the trouble though.  Here's the link to that.  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722/  Especially good if you or someone in your house tends to click on things first then think maybe that wasn't such a good idea.

Both work fine with at least my anti-virus software BTW, I suspect it's ok with most any of it,  in case that's worrying you.  Both also WAY reduce the adverts.

   You out creeped the creeps!

On another note, AcornArmy's solution of using Adblock Plus and Pop-up Addons works like a champ, you can totally select specific adds or individual sources!  Frustration level (not to mention creepy level) went down exponentially.  Gotta love firefox.

Wait!  There's a lolspider thread?        WHERE!!!???

For the record, I dislike the avatar under discussion and avert my eyes from it whenever it's on the page.  I'm old, not at all impressionable, but I don't disagree with whoever said it brings to mind babykilling/mutilation sort of feelings,(Huge paraphrase there) which in my opinion was obviously (FM)'s intent.  (No, I'm not a mind reader, I DID say IMO)   ...I slide the screen so it's partially off the screen for now if it's on the screen long enough while I'm reading, and I may disable avatars if it or any other one bugs me enough.  

I've seen death, injury, and I've seen awful things in RL and I'm not a fluffy sort of person, I can hold a wound or artery with my bare hands if I need to so you don't bleed to death... I just don't care to see it here so I move my window off screen.  I'm less offended by sexual innuendo or explicit stuff than that empty doll head, but I understand that there are many reasons for such restrictions.  If I had a 13 year old who frequented this board, I would explain that in this case, I think (FM) is getting the reaction he/she wanted here and now, and it's behaviour I'd expect my kid to avoid, and that it's totally possible for a person to have a unique avatar without offending others and grasping for attention.

//eta//  I know I'm just a n00B, but this thread offered me the chance to scratch the itch I got as soon as I saw that avatar.