Many of you may not recognize my name, because in
the last few months I have had little time -- or
need, honestly -- to post here like I used to.
Just not a lot of action on the Escaflowne cel
front, which is my specialty.

That being said, I just want to throw in my bit
here, even though I usually try to stay out of
things like this. 

The cel community operates on personal reputation
FAR more than almost any other hobby on earth.
Because we are engaging in high-dollar
transactions with people we usually do not know in
person, and we do not have a built-in feedback
system like eBay, behavior on forums and
statements made have much more impact than they
might otherwise. This leads to two points:

1) By now Shura/Fancels.org should have learned
that her previous OUTRAGEOUS behavior has branded
her as untrustworthy to most people on this forum.
She has never, to my knowledge, apologized for any
of the threatening, racist, criminally-minded
statements she has made here. And we're not
talking about minor lapses in manners -- we're
talking about speech and behavior that in the real
world would have led to her losing her job, being
kicked out of school, etc. Her actions are
obviously going to affect how people react to her,
and anyone who expects it to be otherwise is not
being practical. Personally, I am stunned that
Shura still has not caught on that some retraint
and some well-worded apologies would go a long way
to getting her taken more seriously. Then again,
it has been so long now that many people many
consider even that too little, too late.

That being said, I do think as posters in this
forum we need to take more care in our replies.
Remember that this is not a "private" place, and
we have many occasional readers and lurkers who
simply do not know the full history of every
individual, just as many of you probably do not
know who I am! If you are going to reply with
criticism, do so as logically and politely as
possible, and provide your reasoning and evidence
so that EVERYONE, not just the in-crowd, can
understand the full situation. Saying that Shura
deserves this, or that it is karma in action,
without providing specific reasons or evidence
ends up making YOU look mean-tempered, and might
end up having a negative effect on YOUR reputation. 

The bottom line -- we do not operate in a
sanitized bubble. Everything that is said and done
is recorded and remembered, and used to judge
one's worthiness as a potential cel trader or
seller, and in many cases, even one's worthiness
as a simple human being. But that does not just
apply to Shura. It applies to us all. Take more
care, friends.

I feel like I am part of a dying breed. I don't
know how many are actually going to slog through
this long post. But if some do, maybe it will give
people on both sides of the fence food for thought.