Althanas in 2021

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

As we all know, the site's suffered from a bit of a lull in 2020. Members and staff haven't been as active for many varied reasons and, apart from the odd thread here and there, there really hasn't been much going on.

The pandemic has affected a lot. At first I thought people would have more time to write, but things haven't gone that way. For me personally, my work load increased by 300-400% and my free time was wiped out entirely. At first I was annoyed with how stressed I was, but then I realised that I was one of the lucky ones. A lot of other people lost their jobs, and in some cases are just trying to figure out how to pay the rent or feed their kids.

It's put a lot of things in perspective.

Our community has always been a close knit one, no matter how long people go without an IC post. Our discord always has people in it. Members go and come back. Althanas in itself is an institution now.

I know it's a lot to ask given that people are going through some horrible shit right now, but I was hoping we could all band together and really light this place up in 2021. It will never be what it was, but Althanas is still here and we have some great members and friends here. If anything, this is a place to escape and let off steam.

There's a lot that needs to be revamped, changed and "done-up", and we'll definitely get round to that. But we need your help in 2021 to help get this place going again. Max Dirks still owns the site and pays the bills, but the running has been delegated to myself, Philomel, Breaker and Lye. Of us four, only really myself and Phi are active at the moment, and Phi has had a lot on her plate with being a new mum, so for now i'll be overseeing things myself (with Phi's input) to cover.

In the meantime, I'd like to hear from those of you who are still here and just tell us how you feel about things, what your plans are for 2021 and just lay it all out. I have a couple of things I'd like to introduce this year as an Althanas "first", but there's no point in making anything happen until we get numbers up.

As always, peace and love. I really do hope you all have an amazing Christmas in whatever form you can have it, my friends.

[Philomel]

As Chris says I will be around, as always, but becoming a full time mum has taken over my life. I do have people who can help out, but raising a kid during a global pandemic when there's no baby groups, when nursery spaces are limited and costly, and when money is tight is hard. Pretty much it's been me, my son and my husband all year, with the occasional input from a friend or family member. My husband works incredibly hard too, getting himself exhausted so that he can feed his family.

That being said, though my time is taken up with Pippin, I'm still here. So is Chris, and we'll always make an effort to check in with you. We've just heard that one of our number has passed away due to this horrible disease, and so we can only hope that the vaccine is made available to all and soon.

Much love
Mama Phi.

[Dracon]

I'm here I got kids that can't go to school but I'm here.

[Nosdyn]

for what it's worth im around. i cant post much but I'm lurking.

[Sulla]

I might pop in if I see some activity.

[Flamebird]

Y'all know I'm always lurking and sometimes writing solos and trying to RP with others. I'm probably one of the most active chatters in Discord too.

[Rehtul Orlouge]

I want to help bring people in.

[Storm Veritas]

I'm going to be pretty busy, but I also have quite a few plans to write more. I have a solo that's nearly finished, and want to host one of the tournaments I've chatted about a bit in Discord. I'll likely be doing two jobs at once with a puppy and two kids at home for a bit though, so it'd be stupid of me to make bold proclamations of huge commitments for a few months.

[Lye]

Always keeping an eye out in the background. Picked a bad year to sign back up for college.

[Gum do Mugu]

go ed shin lad