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