Ok, so if you have been directed to this thread, it's because you have asked The Question. What question, you ask? Generally it will be some variation of why did (insert your author here) stop writing (insert your character here)? Perhaps you want to know why character (fill in the blank) was not included, did not go on, was not a part of (insert situation here).
Now we're quite sure, to your mind, this is an innocent question. You probably are new to this thing we call the Whateley Universe. Unfortunately, you have stepped on something of a thread land mine. You see, Whateley has been published since 2004 and work was actually started some years (yes, years) earlier. A lot has happened since then, and, sadly, not all of it good. Back then there were just a handful of authors, what we call The Founders, Bek D Corbin, Maggie Finson, Starwolf, Scrambler J, Babs Yeruncle and E. E. Nalley. Over the years, a number of great other authors joined and the universe grew and took off. A fan, some might say an over zealous fan, began spreading the word about us to TV Tropes and the fandom exploded.
And therein lies the rub.
Over the years we've been blessed with some truly great fans, who have stuck with us and supported us through good times and lean times and have become fixtures in their own right. But as is human nature, with the good, must always come bad. We've had some ugly 'fans' too. Some just thought they were giving honest feedback and genuine literary criticism, some were a tad indelicate and never really got that text has no tone of voice. But some were the worst kind of troll; the Nuclear Troll. You've seen the type, I'm sure, the troll who doesn't like something and goes out of their way to destroy it to the best of their ability. In conventions, they heckle the invited con guests at panels, they might to stir things up on message boards by making inflammatory posts, some even arrange boycotts.
Well, we got some real toxic trolls.
The kind of trolls that urged authors to kill themselves, who went out of their way to piss on our collective fun, to insult authors and fans and in general be as nasty and mean as they possibly could. I know you're probably thinking, well, it's just words on a forum, what's the big deal? Well, the answer is, some of our writers got into this hobby because they were trying to escape difficulty in their real life. While I don't mean to imply anybody was a wilting violet, but when things are going bad in real life so you preform a creative work, a labor of love, a gift of sorts to the internet. None of us are getting paid for this, so friendship and the joy of shared entertainment is all we take from this. So when you have to deal with someone going out of their way to insult you, well, you start to ask yourself, “Why are you putting yourself through this?”
Trolls chased off Maggie Finson. Yes, they were banned. So then they created new accounts. And those were banned and their IP addresses blocked. Then they started emailing her. Finally, she had enough and left. Writing these stories cost Starwolf his marriage.
No, really.
So yes, we are VERY defensive of our Authors.
Now, why were you directed here?
Maybe you asked, where Author X is? So, our list of missing or inactive authors is summarized here:
Maggie was chased off.
Starwolf lost his marriage.
Diane Castle suffered burn out. She is still writing over at the Hellmouth, but it is unlikely she will return to Whateley.
Babs Yeruncle is a bit of an unknown. She just went silent. We think, sadly, that she is no longer with us.
Liliandra also went silent and as we know she was in the US Military, may have died as well.
Hart also went silent and we don't know what happened
Renae is dealing with a number of personal issues and also a burn out.
Motley is dealing with a number of personal issues and also a burn out.
Dr. Bender is now Branwen may return, but now is concentrating on her transition and we wish her all the best
PoetHeather had a bit of burn out and is also concentrating on her transition, though she is still around on the forums now and again.
Sleethr has gone silent
Tensai has gone silent
Drunkfu is concentrating on his art.
Warren is suffering writers block and lots of real life, but is still here and helping on the admin side of the web site.
Kirstin is still here and helping on the admin side of the website.
So, if you didn't ask about an author, you probably asked about a character who's author is above. Probably something to the effect of I want/When will we see a story about X again? If they are on that list, the reason you don't see much or anything of that character is because their writer is not here to write them. The authors who are still here are writing their own characters and, while there may be cameos and guest stars from time to time, don't expect one of the orphaned characters to be in the lime light because of their author absence.
Now, if this didn't answer your question, send a PM to one of the old hands on the forums, you'll know them by their post counts, but Sir Lee jumps out as he was one of the original fans and is the fan Admin of the Wiki. Chances are good that if this didn't answer your question, Sir Lee probably can. So, since you were sent here, we ask that you respect the feelings of our remaining authors and have this or a PM with a forum member serve as the answer to your question. Don't pester the authors for more of character X.
Thanks, and enjoy your time here at Whateley Academy!
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