Continued from 'Old alt.horror.werewolves posts'

[ferine]

shewolfen and krdbuni summed up my past and present observations in response to the previous entry with much more eloquence that I. >;-)

These people, either from the newsgroup or its associated (fairly private) IRC channels (always hosted by mrbearguy), are still my dear friends. There is a lot to be said for that. We grow, we change, yet there is a bond that is truly unshakeable. Many if not most friendships forged on-line, particularly now, suffer a high turnover rate.

An aside regarding the various #ahww (including #folks) IRC incarnations: something telling was how the channels were run. Everyone was given Ops unless someone caused trouble or never said a word. I've never seen another chat channel do this, ever. There was a real sense of trust and being on an even playing field, so to speak. I never felt like certain people were more elite or special due to them being the few with Op control. In fact, I didn't think of Ops as a result, and it allowed for a laid-back atmosphere.

Of course there were arguments on IRC and on the newsgroup. As fierce individuals, we clashed; yet at the end of the day, our commonality brought us together. Even during the best of times we still had trolls pop up on the group, but they most often left immediately or after a short time. The most frequent "problem" was from White Wolf role-players who assumed we were some sort of in-character Werewolf the Apocalypse rp group. Usually they were polite after we explained ourselves and they left. Usually.

Those of you who came into AHWw after '97, what was it like? What became of it?

As the old adage goes, "you can never go home again". What was is, and can't be again. Too many people are on-line in general now, for one thing. Also, too many people raised by and forming their identity on the 'net.

Scenes come and go. Beliefs, sadly, become trendy fads sometimes. Terms, words, superfluous fluff, bell and whistles, smoke and mirrors, all mask the simplicity of being an animal person. None of that matters: the slick websites, the fancy forums, the lexicons and rules one must strictly adhere to or else be ostracized. What matters is one's realness, one's heart, one's humility, and the company of (and reality check and support of!) true friends.

Now then, Reemul. Here are a few blurbs I wrote a while back:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/ferine/43515.html

http://www.livejournal.com/users/ferine/268826.html