I think, faithful reader, one of the defining characteristics about Outpost Skaro - and my growing infamy - was that it was born out of fire and battle - a bit like the Ninth Doctor. It was, like my original blogs, acerbic and cruel and defensive and uncompromising. Now, that's not a criticism, or, indeed, an apology. Just an observation.
Like the Ninth Doctor, however, I - and by proxy Outpost Skaro - have mellowed with age, and become something more. The Tenth Doctor, if you will. Skaro itself is a wonderful place full of clever, opinionated, talented and caring people with diverse and interesting lives. And in Skaro we talk about that - one of our people have just had a baby! Another is getting married. We have an RPG - which I must confess I haven't played yet - that invites the whole community to come together, and it has a chatroom, which does pretty much the same. People who weren't given a chance in the "other places" are now bright and shining Mods in Skaro and showing a humour, self control and grace seen no where else. It's a wonderful place full of amazing people. And I am humbled and proud to be it's face. However masked that is.
A couple of things - apart from the community support we give to our members and the one on ones that happen behind the scenes - that I am particularly proud of are:
Our apology to DWF and Steve Hill. Both that forum in its ethos and Steve Hill in his person attacked Skaro very vigourously - and me in particular - for apparently no reason. We of course, defended ourselves, and, in my opinion, it all got a little out of hand. Let me say here and now that I have no beef at all with Shaun Lyon or the patrons of DWF in general. Shaun has always been courteous and professional towards me, and the majority of patrons in DWF are bright and articulate and enthusiastic. In fact, we have a few joint members. Arisia for instance is a funny, clever and valued member of the Skaro community. Not to mention damned foxy. And of course, there is the wonderfully dark Mr Dark, without whom, ironically, fandom would be a blacker place. Steve on the other hand has had a number of personal pops at me, and allowed certain trolls the grace of commenting on me, in posts and sigs, in the forum. So, like I said, we fought back.
However, Skaro is bigger than that - I am bigger than that - despite the slanderous comments and the unfair banning I put up a public apology to him and DWF. Unconditional, without motives, just a straight forward "we were a bit over the top sometimes, and we're sorry." We didn't get a reply, and I was disappointed with that, but, hey, it wasn't done for a reply, it was done because we - and I - meant it.
Now, don't get me wrong. We will continue to comment on fandom - all fandom - and bring to account trolls and bullies and people who try to waste the series with spoilers - we are the protectors of these things - but DWF has had it's Spoilers closed now, thanks to the leaks being blocked, and it seems to have dispersed the egos, so we're not chasing them through a field with a net.
On the subject of trolls, this is another thing I am immensely proud ot. Last month we were attacked in a blog and in comments on here from someone posing as Rich Flair. For those of you who don't know Rich, he's a vocal and prominant member of the DWF community and HATES us at Skaro - I'm not sure why actually. When I was a normal punter on DWF for years before I "came out" we got on well and invariably agreed - when I left and showed myself he took a dislike to me and the forum and constantly sniped at it and its members over on DWF - and was allowed to.
However, it became clear quite early on that the blog delivered under his name - and primarily attacking the much loved Mr Dark (who's me, apparently, go figure! I'm much better looking for a start...) - wasn't Rich at all, but a nameless troll spilling poison into what was at the time pretty calm waters.
So, despite the snipes and the attitude and the way he hated us, SKARO went about finding who the troll was and closing him down. We contacted Rich in DWF and told him about it. Even Mr Dark - who spars with the real Rich frequently - backed the guy up and is now on the tail of the real culprit. So we protected Rich and his integrity and his own name, despite how he had been with us.
And Rich, if you read this, it was a genuine, sanctioned by all, move to help you out. We hold you or anyone else no malice.
To me that sums Skaro up and maybe helps belay some of the misconceptions. We will attack Trolls who invade our space or try to corrupt fandom - and we will attack them strongly, with vigour and energy and ferocity. We'll stop them, we always do. But it's not a personal thing, it's not a DWF v Skaro thing, it's not an Eddie v The Establishment.
It's done cos it's what the Doctor would do. And that's the whole point of being a Doctor Who based fan leader. We do what he does. We stop the monsters. We stand up for everyone. That's the point. That, amongst the myriad of other things, is exactly what Skaro is, and why I urge people to join and get involved.
Happy times and places
Eddie
Like the Ninth Doctor, however, I - and by proxy Outpost Skaro - have mellowed with age, and become something more. The Tenth Doctor, if you will. Skaro itself is a wonderful place full of clever, opinionated, talented and caring people with diverse and interesting lives. And in Skaro we talk about that - one of our people have just had a baby! Another is getting married. We have an RPG - which I must confess I haven't played yet - that invites the whole community to come together, and it has a chatroom, which does pretty much the same. People who weren't given a chance in the "other places" are now bright and shining Mods in Skaro and showing a humour, self control and grace seen no where else. It's a wonderful place full of amazing people. And I am humbled and proud to be it's face. However masked that is.
A couple of things - apart from the community support we give to our members and the one on ones that happen behind the scenes - that I am particularly proud of are:
Our apology to DWF and Steve Hill. Both that forum in its ethos and Steve Hill in his person attacked Skaro very vigourously - and me in particular - for apparently no reason. We of course, defended ourselves, and, in my opinion, it all got a little out of hand. Let me say here and now that I have no beef at all with Shaun Lyon or the patrons of DWF in general. Shaun has always been courteous and professional towards me, and the majority of patrons in DWF are bright and articulate and enthusiastic. In fact, we have a few joint members. Arisia for instance is a funny, clever and valued member of the Skaro community. Not to mention damned foxy. And of course, there is the wonderfully dark Mr Dark, without whom, ironically, fandom would be a blacker place. Steve on the other hand has had a number of personal pops at me, and allowed certain trolls the grace of commenting on me, in posts and sigs, in the forum. So, like I said, we fought back.
However, Skaro is bigger than that - I am bigger than that - despite the slanderous comments and the unfair banning I put up a public apology to him and DWF. Unconditional, without motives, just a straight forward "we were a bit over the top sometimes, and we're sorry." We didn't get a reply, and I was disappointed with that, but, hey, it wasn't done for a reply, it was done because we - and I - meant it.
Now, don't get me wrong. We will continue to comment on fandom - all fandom - and bring to account trolls and bullies and people who try to waste the series with spoilers - we are the protectors of these things - but DWF has had it's Spoilers closed now, thanks to the leaks being blocked, and it seems to have dispersed the egos, so we're not chasing them through a field with a net.
On the subject of trolls, this is another thing I am immensely proud ot. Last month we were attacked in a blog and in comments on here from someone posing as Rich Flair. For those of you who don't know Rich, he's a vocal and prominant member of the DWF community and HATES us at Skaro - I'm not sure why actually. When I was a normal punter on DWF for years before I "came out" we got on well and invariably agreed - when I left and showed myself he took a dislike to me and the forum and constantly sniped at it and its members over on DWF - and was allowed to.
However, it became clear quite early on that the blog delivered under his name - and primarily attacking the much loved Mr Dark (who's me, apparently, go figure! I'm much better looking for a start...) - wasn't Rich at all, but a nameless troll spilling poison into what was at the time pretty calm waters.
So, despite the snipes and the attitude and the way he hated us, SKARO went about finding who the troll was and closing him down. We contacted Rich in DWF and told him about it. Even Mr Dark - who spars with the real Rich frequently - backed the guy up and is now on the tail of the real culprit. So we protected Rich and his integrity and his own name, despite how he had been with us.
And Rich, if you read this, it was a genuine, sanctioned by all, move to help you out. We hold you or anyone else no malice.
To me that sums Skaro up and maybe helps belay some of the misconceptions. We will attack Trolls who invade our space or try to corrupt fandom - and we will attack them strongly, with vigour and energy and ferocity. We'll stop them, we always do. But it's not a personal thing, it's not a DWF v Skaro thing, it's not an Eddie v The Establishment.
It's done cos it's what the Doctor would do. And that's the whole point of being a Doctor Who based fan leader. We do what he does. We stop the monsters. We stand up for everyone. That's the point. That, amongst the myriad of other things, is exactly what Skaro is, and why I urge people to join and get involved.
Happy times and places
Eddie
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