These Batteries Have Finally Died

[Battery]

They have gotten too old, corroded, and worn out from use, so it’s time they were put down. This time they won’t be replaced.

This is my official good-bye to Avatar Portal.

I have had eight years of memories gained from AP, some good and some bad. I remember the golden years where I was a noob and wrote really crappy Kataang fanfiction. I remember participating in AvRen when it was actually fun. I remember the RPs I played in, and the origin of the icicle meme. I remember season and series finales. I remember DIE JET DIE. I remember watermelons. I remember trivia nights. I remember AP After Hours. I remember LAF wars. I remember all the friends I’ve made.

I also remember when this place was a warm and welcoming place where I never had to be anxious about who was in the chat. I remember when being a complete jerk to someone was something that got you in trouble. I remember when there wasn’t some drama-filled hellhole every time I turned around. I remember when we could just talk for hours on end, instead of debating and arguing and fighting. I remember when I wasn’t socially punished for having a life outside AP. I remember when coming on AP was something I enjoyed. I remember all the friends I’ve lost.

I am tired. I am exhausted. I am done with fighting back. I am finished with trying to make this place a great place to be when my efforts simply get us nowhere else but fighting.

There are still some great people on here (or who have recently left) and I look forward to talking with them outside AP like we have been. Sadly, there are a select few on AP who seem to do nothing but rip down the beautiful walls of this place, and replace them with rotten panels of dead wood. I could live with that when it resided within AP, but lately it has spread.

So I leave you all with some parting advice. I don’t really care if you follow it, but since AP deserves to be awesome, I’d suggest considering the following:

1) STOP debating over every single little thing you can possibly debate over. I think that’s a big problem for AP. Firstly, because no new member goes looking for ATLA/LOK fan sites so they can debate the validity of whatever, or whether or not the nation should do some sort of crap. Secondly, because debating has become all we do when we’re not saying hello or talking about how dead it is in here. Be fun again, guys.

2) START thinking and working with others. It has boggled my mind how selfish and righteous the majority of AP has become. When your every word is laced in righteousness, it makes people angry. It makes them leave. I am exhibit A. If you want this place to live again, stop driving others away with your stupid need to be right all the time, and maybe you’ll get somewhere.

3) STOP being massive jerks to everyone who thinks or acts differently than you. I swear we have become worse than LAF. Yes, I said WORSE than Last Airbender Fans, our mortal enemies. Please wake up and realize that LAF is basically dead. They have almost less activity than we do, and if you don’t believe me, check it out. The whole reason why we hate them is because they are stuck-up scumbags who posted porn images all the time. Now we’re stuck-up scumbags who debate all the time.

4) START being nice and welcoming to people. No one wants to stay in a place where people are jerks to one another for fun. Plus, for your average person, it hurts them. You are hurting AP’s members by being jerks. You’re driving away new and old members because you’re jerks. Try welcoming them and including them in a non-debate conversation. Try asking them about them, and having fun with them.

5) STOP LETTING PEOPLE GET BY ON MAJOR THINGS LIKE BEING COMPLETE AND TOTAL JERKS TO PEOPLE. STOP DISREGAURDING THE MAJORITY OF AP’S FEELINGS BECAUSE ONE PERSON IS YOUR FRIEND.

6) START PUNISHING PEOPLE FOR BREAKING RULES AND BEING JERKS. START TALKING, AND START FOLLOWING THROUGH WITH THINGS INSTEAD OF DEBATING ALL THE TIME AND NEVER GETTING ANYWHERE. START THINKING OF THE HEALTH OF AP OVER YOUR INSSESANT NEED TO GIVE PEOPLE THEIR 50 BILLONTH CHANCE TO CHANGE.

So yeah, TL;DR – Stop debating, stop being selfish, and stop being jerks. Above all, start enforcing rules.

If you wanna argue this, have at it. I won’t respond because I won’t read it.

In conclusion, I am leaving. I have posted my admin and News Chief resignation in LL. Some of you are still friends with me on Facebook, in which case I look forward to talking with you there. I have not (yet) left the AP Buddies group, but time will tell if that changes.

Goodbye, AP. I will try to remember you fondly.
-Battery

[Tera253]

But yeah. have fun in the real world and stuff. Or whatever/wherever it is you're going.
~Tera~

[Raava]

^The attitude of that post really just validates everything Maggie said.

We should be worried that we've had two long-term members resign in the span of a week. And both for practically the same reasons; i.e. the site is an absolutely hostile environment to be in and it isn't a pleasure to come here anymore. Ever wonder why we haven't had any new members in over a year? Because this place isn't fun anymore.

This needs to change right now if we want AP to stay afloat. It's obvious something is fucked up when quite literally everyone is being driven away.

[Tera253]

^ the first line of the above post is nothing but lies and slander.

Two? who was the other?
easy as it seems to be for people, y'all can't blame me this time. I haven't even been here in the last several weeks-ish other than popping in to post a random thing or two and then leaving. Maybe a midnight conversation with broncos about The Hunger Games, or random midnight chats about Sims or Pokemon. there hasn't been a "debate" on AP for months.
~Tera~

[Raava]

Tell me how what I said was lies and slander. I didn't explain in the first post because I thought it was plain as day, but I will now. Posting the picture is basically implying that you don't care about anything Maggie brought up, nor about the fact that she's leaving. I know you two absolutely despise each other, but dismissing everything she said with a "cool story bro" is basically saying "lol fuck you does it look like I care?" You might not have said it outright, but the intent is there.

And I never said you were to blame. I never said ANYTHING that was along the lines of "Yeah Tera's undermining this site IT'S ALL HIS FAULT!!!!!!!" So can we stop. I mean I could get into your decorum but this isn't the appropriate place for it.

Just to address: There hasn't been a debate in a long time because THIS PLACE IS DEAD. And honestly, how can I make it any more obvious that there aren't new people joining because the site is absolutely unwelcoming to nearly everyone, including long-term members? It's startlingly obvious.

To answer your question, Tiny resigned a few days ago.

[Tera253]

perhaps I misinterpretted it a little then, becuase the message I got from your post was that I was to blame. My apologies.
I admit that my first post was rather frank about it, because her post felt very melodramatic and "I'm not getting my way"-ish, very akin to the whole facebook fiasco. I will be honest in saying that I do not care for people who address their problems in such ways, but I saw enough underhanded shots that were clearly directed at me that I couldn't just stand by. (I'd rather it said to my face, or at least be direct in who is being referred to... but that's a separate issue.)

Admittedly, my level of concern was minimal simply because I have not interacted with the two on AP for a long time, and so it affects me minimally (if at all). It was sort of an underhanded insult towards what I perceive(d) as a whiny attitude, and I don't really have a great deal of sympathy for that.

although this site is mostly "unwelcoming" to new members simply because there is no one here to welcome them. even *I* stopped trolling all but the dumbest of anons, and like whininess, there are certain 'attitudes' that I don't think should be here (and because I'm a doer, I act, instead of just give wishful thinking on the subject)

hope that clears some of it up. I apologize again for any misconceptions I might have had.
~Tera~

[Raava]

I think they were less underhanded shots and more "I am not going to publicly name the people who gave me a lot of grief on here simply because I don't feel like stirring up a big pot of drama and I am going to go out with grace." And honestly? I'm sure that if she named names and pointed fingers, there would be a big outcry from those people. She stated plainly the reasons why AP is the way it is now. And if stating blatant truths about the reasons why she is leaving comes off as whiny, so be it. She was mature about it.

Ah-Ah and Tiny leaving might not affect you personally, but it affects the community as a whole. It's really bad when two high-profile members officially resign for the same reasons, and countless others don't even bother to come here anymore because there's always some hellish drama stirred up every single time they came here. Drama is minimal now, but only because there's practically nobody here. Why there's nobody here and why I say the site is unwelcoming? Because the excessive drama and hostility drove people away over the course of the last couple of years. Now you see the correlation between the issues we had in the past and the inactivity of now. Frankly, the issues we had in the past still exist today. They're just not as noticeable because of the ridiculous amount of inactivity.

Also, right now, the ways these issues could be resolved ARE wishful thinking. Because, you have to consider that AP is a community, and we all cannot act on impulse in a community. Sometimes you have to work and interact with others and come to a consensus before changes can be made and stuff gets done. Unfortunately, if other people won't do it, we just cannot get stuff done. And sometimes, it just takes one person to back up the system; this isn't a jab at you and also I am calling the clogged-toilet jokes before they come out. Long story short, we can't just do things on a whim. We have to discuss with the other admins before making changes to the community. And when one person decides to raise giant issues over little things, we cannot get stuff done. And honestly? A LOT of progress was made over the summer. None of it went into effect simply because the admins couldn't all work together and come to a conclusion.

Hopefully that clears things up.

[Tera253]

The above post is comprised of fair and clear-stated points and such.
Yes, that does clear pretty much everything up, and I agree with the bulk of it. Thank you.
~Tera~

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