There will come a time in a year or so when the current "about-a-year" people will look at the new crop, and find that there's really no common ground between them. They'll find the "new" spin on humor to be sophomoric and unfunny, and some of them will say so. It's a timeless pattern that fits any aspect of society. Group dynamics change... that's why they're not group statics.
Of those who leave, some people do fade away, some make grand speeches, and some post a goodbye to clue those who care in about why they left. I think bunner took a little from columns b and c. I think mainly he was sharing his point of view (which, let's face it - is the reason why we post on the forums) for a last time. Also, I think he handled it in a pretty good way.
Bunner: if you're checking the thread, or if you stumble upon it some time several months in the future during a fit of nostalgia over the times at stripcreator that you remember fondly (the way I am right now), I want to thank you for including me in that short list of people you miss. Drop me a line sometime.
Nate: I couldn't "clean up" the forum. That was never really my intent, anyway. I think I mainly wanted to show some people what it was that they were showing of themselves to me, in the hopes that they'd see why I found them so off-putting. I had some issues with not accepting people as they are. That wasn't limited to here, but happened in every online community, and actually to some extent in daily face to face interaction as well. Once I started learning to accept people as they are, I found that most of them are just not worth my time. That's why I pretty much faded away from all my online communities. I still communicate occasionally with some. I miss plenty of people from here, and I miss certain elements of our group's interaction. That's why I came back to poke my head in and see what's up.
Will I go back to posting regularly? Probably not. That's just a realistic assessment of my lack of desire to invest energy in something that doesn't feel fun or interesting any more, and not an indication that anyone has "won." Still, if the people who found such great pleasure in their ability to annoy me want to feel that they've won, they're more than welcome to the sensation of victory. I pity them enough to grant them that.
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I am a delicate fucking flower.
https://beacons.ai/jesskent