One More for the Road

Soo... it's 1:42 AM and thus technically Saturday where I am...
...but two timezones west of me, it's only 11:42, so I am redeemed. ;)

This Sunday evening I'll be taking my computer up to my dorm, where it will stay the better part of the year.
There's no telling what speed my internet will run there.

That being said, anybody interested in reading banned and censored books needs to check out this website:
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm

Banned Books Week isn't too far away, and I've found myself reading more and more Bradbury as it approaches (and if you get the reference to him in the title of this post, you win a free hypothetical cookie!!), and I've found a few teen books like "The Libyrinth" by Pearl North that address the subject of bookburning in new and intensely interesting ways.

I wonder how many books you all read have been banned somewhere.
Have you ever enjoyed Harry Potter, The Giver, or Where is Waldo?
Have you sat down with your older relatives to hear about Red Riding Hood?
Maybe Judy Blume, Jane Yolen, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Bruce Coville delighted you as a tyke... but I bet you have no IDEA how much of their art has been removed from libraries for reasons that most free-thinking people would regard as perfectly ridiculous.
To Kill a Mockingbird... required reading at my high school: banned.
Fahrenheit 451... suggested reading at my high school, and addressing bookburning: banned.

It's really a sick irony, but books that defend books are most frequently the books removed from public libraries and recommended reading lists.

Oh, and if you've ever enjoyed Orson Scott Card, Isaac Asimov, Eoin Colfer, Herbie Brennan, J.K. Rowling,
or K.A. Applegate...
...then you are automatically a reader of banned books. Those four authors hold rather an interesting distinction in that somewhere on Earth, every last one of their books written under those names (non-pseudonymous) has been banned.
Sometimes people take it so far that they ignore the genre, plot, and quality of a book, and they want it gone simply because of the name printed on the front.

Why, you may as, is Estelore suddenly championing banned books?
Well, two reasons:
1. I spent these past two summers doing volunteer work at the local library. It's impossible for me not to love those books and the knowledge in them.
2. There is enough stupid in the world. Rather, there is far too MUCH stupid in the world, and by removing books, we are removing chances to lose some of that stupid.

Little Scout Finch in Harper Lee's much-contested classic said it about right:
"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing."

I don't know about you, but I love breathing. I love reading. Heaven help the fool that tries to take that away from me or the people who feel the same as me about this.

Well, it's late. I wish you all a lovely weekend, sweet dreams, and a superabundance of quality reading materials.

Read on.
-Estelore

So Begins the End of the Beginning.

Well, folks, here it is: University season (and just plain school for most of the rest of you).
Thursday next I move into what will be my residence for the duration of the coming year, and Monday after begins my semester.

Also, today my router died twice, and tomorrow I'm away with family for a few days, so my communication before I leave is likely to be not-much-at-all. I should have web at the dormitory, but I make no promises.

So, in the event that I am kept from you overlong:
I love you all. You are wonderful to me, and I cannot thank you enough for it.

Blessings and much fondness to you all,
Estelore

RAFrecommended Reading Lists

For those of you not in-the-know regarding my day-to-day life, you might like to know that I move into university on 20 August, a Thursday.
That means that after this post and maybe another one next week, it is very probable that I won't be keeping up with my weekly article segments.
All that being said, I've decided that this penultimate (and possibly last) Friday blog post will be about books, since that's what brought me to RAF in the first place.
Specifically, it will be about the books on my nightstand and overhead shelf. I think of them as my Required Reading, since they've spent the whole summer within arm's reach of my bed.
To you, they are my Recommended Reading. There is not a book on this list that I haven't loved in some way. Some of them aren't for everybody, but here they are, just the same:

Ray Bradbury - R is for Rocket ; S is for Space ; The Martian Chronicles ; Fahrenheit 451
Isaac Asimov - The Martian Way ; Nightfall and Other Stories
Jeffrey Deaver - Twisted
Margo Lanagan - Black Juice ; Red Spikes ; White Time
Voltaire - Candide and The Maid of Orleans (one volume)
Herbie Brennan - Faerie Wars (whole series)
Scott Westerfeld - Peeps ; The Last Days
Marcus Zusak - I am the Messenger
Cornelia Funke - The Thief Lord
Sun Tzu - The Art of War
Jasper Fforde - Thursday Next
Alyson Noel - Evermore ; Blue Moon (it's not vampires, so don't write it off as a Twilight-mimic, even if the plot is a little hard to believe)
Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game/Shadow ; Xenocide/Speaker for the Dead ; Ender in Exile ; Shadow of the Giant ; First Meetings in Ender's Universe
Lois Lowry - The Giver ; Gathering Blue ; Messenger
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Jane Langton - Fledgling
Mitch Albom - Tuesdays with Morrie
Katherine Paterson - Bridge to Terabithia
Rodman Philbrick - Freak the Mighty
Conrad Richter - A Light in the Forest
Caleb Carr - The Italian Secretary
Caroline B. Cooney - Code Orange
John Barnes - Orbital Resonance

Well, I've made this post too long as it is. Like I said, these books individually aren't for everybody, but trust me: there IS something here, at least one book, for every member of RAF to enjoy.
G'day, my dearlings!

-Estelore

Short and Early this week: RAFmusic exchange

In the time I've been a RAFian, other RAFians have recommended to me much music and many bands for my listening enjoyment.
I feel like paying it forward, so to speak, by making a shortlist of bands that, pre-RAF, I'd not even heard-of. Feel free to do the same in comments, if you like.

Lordi - Awesomesauce on cheese fries in the back of a humvee on the moon. Metal.
Basshunter - this music is HAPPY distilled into longitudinal compressions and rarefactions of air.
Nightwish - I do not have the words for how awesome they are. Symphonic metal.
Ayreon - Coolidge. End of story.
Infected Mushroom - I'm still getting used to the idea... :D
Dredg - twenty-seven kinds of epic, whether it's the album or the live-acoustic version.
Freedom Call - where Triumph and Happy meet and spend the rest of their lives riding off into the sunset. Power metal.

I know many of these may not be to your individual taste, but please don't write off one band just because you disliked another band on this list, because none of these really even fall into the same genres as the others.

Have a happy weekend, dearlings! I'll see you about. :)

-Estelore

Just a heads-up to anybody who actually reads me. ;)

Folks, just a little heads-up, school is starting fairly soon for me, and I'm not going to promise that I'll make a blog post every week like I have all summer.
At the very least, I'll keep it up to the end of July, as long as my internet stays functional. :)

*hugs* to all of you lovely RAFians. I hope what's left of the year is seriously great for you.

-Estelore

Harry Potter VI

Hey, RAF!
Well, I'm going to see the new Harry Potter movie tonight with some people, and I'll preface the article by saying that I've only read the third book. Books tend to be better than their movies, so I decided at the beginning of it all to refrain from reading the series until after the movie cycle is complete. This way, I'll be able to appreciate fully the movies as they are, without interference of my opinion of the plot.

For this week's article, I'm going to offer a question for you: If you had never read the books, how do you think you would have received the movies?

Please answer in comments, avoiding spoilers if at all possible. (Yes, I know who dies and who doesn't die in the 6th book. There's no avoiding that knowledge. *chuckle* Just please no intimate gory details, okey?)

All my love to you, dearlings. Have a brilliant weekend!
-Estelore

Oh, how nice!

I've noticed that lately several of our early-RAFgeneration members have been returning and posting, and that the Animorphs boards are getting a bit more action in recent weeks.
If this is a trend as much as the streak of absences and departures was, then RAF may start seeing more and more old and fairly familiar faces on a regular basis.

Oh, and on another, slightly less pleasant note, a few RAFians who email me regularly are having computer issues (not because of me, ha ha very funny), so if you see somebody pretty much drop off the map, that may be why.

Have a great weekend, everybody! ^_^

-Estelore

Independence Day approaches!

So... is everybody ready to combat the approaching invasion of 17-mile-long alien spacecraft? I know I am!

I'm curious if anybody remembers the worldwide panic and hype that resulted back when the Will Smith movie "Independence Day" went to theatres. A bunch of people thought that the advertisements were public-service-announcements, and they freaked out severely.
The same thing happened again when "The Day After Tomorrow" (by the same director, just so y'know) came out and everybody saw the Statue of Liberty get taken out by an uber-tsunami.
Now there's this "2012" movie coming out... again, the same director... I'm curious whether or not the same thing is going to happen yet again.

Anyway, I just hope you all are ready with your fighter planes, crazy drunk crop dusters, cigars, and malfunctioning missiles. :)

In the immortal words of Jeff Goldbloom, "Must go faster MUST GO FASTER!!!"

Have a great weekend, folks. To those of you celebrating this American holiday, I hope you stay safe and alien-free. To the rest of you, I hope you find our pyrotechnic antics amusing, at least. ;)

G'day, dearlings!

-Estelore

I know it's already been said,

but I think it's worth saying again.

http://animorphsforum.com/forum/index.php/topic,3345.msg221063/topicseen.html#new

Anna is right.

I know, this en't the most fawesome blog post in the history of RAF, but... I think maybe we need to have it on a nice, easy-to-access record the fact that there has been a problem.
This is the sorta' problem that doesn't really get fixed without collective co-operation.

*shrug*
All there is to say has been said.
Have a great weekend, dearlings.

-Estelore

War! *huh yeah* What is it good for?

...Absolutely nothing!

Folks, if you aren't gonna' start an all-out RAFcivil war over something, then why argue and insult and tick off other people about it? Ice it down. We all love RAF, neh? Let's not start taking sides...

...'cause if we do, I'm gonna' take the winning side, and the losing side is gonna' feel purty foolish and self-righteous about it all, just sayin'. ;)

If you don't know what I'm talking-about, then there's no problem at all, and this isn't even necessary.

I love all you folks; I have zero animosity towards any of you. What I DISLIKE is DISCORD. If everybody is willing to just swallow his/her misplaced pride, kindly shut up, and take a nice healthy chill pill, then there won't BE any problem or discord.

Fair enough, I hope?

Have a great weekend, guys. If I'm not on the forum much, it's probably because my router is being a stinker. :P

-Estelore

Have you ever noticed...

...the similarity between Animorphs and the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers?

Oh, I'm sure this has been mentioned someplace in the forums, but I think it's worth mentioning again.
Look at all the line-ups:

Billy, the blue techno-dude... Ax, the blue techno-dude.
Kimberly, the spunky blonde with 'fashion sense'... Rachel, the- erm- spunky? *shrug* blonde with fashion sense.
Tommy, the brooding outsider who saves their butts in a nasty fight... Tobias, the brooding outsider who does his own share of butt-saving.
Three other characters (with variable names) who line up nicely with the three remaining Animorphs.
Zordon... Ellimist.
*snicker* Okey, maybe I'm pushing it on that last one, but it's a funny image.

Need I point out the use of the word 'morph'?

Well, there you have some food for thought and vague amusement. Have a lovely weekend, my dearlings!

-Estelore

I was just randomly Googling 'Animorphs', and this is what happened...

http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/28010


O_O;....

I made the thread as a joke, and now this.

I'm sorry, but that's funny. And awesome.

Happy Friday, RAF!

All my love,
Estelore

Spoilers = NO, please.

I know Michael Grant's Hunger was just published. I own it. I've read it. Not everyone else has, and I'm going deliberately to keep elements of it out of my fan-fic RAFGone.

Spoilers suck; please let's not ruin the books for everybody else, okey? :D

Sorry for the short blog post. :P Early weekend begins now.


All my love,
Estelore

Catching Up

Summer has finally hit, and I think you'll notice more activity on the boards from our recently-busy members. Tyler and I are both posting much more often, for instance, and I've seen a couple other familiar faces pop up in their usual places.

Now that I have time to post, I have some catching up to do on all the conversations I have been missing and all the RPG's and fanfictions in which I'm involved. I also need to get back into RAFchat. I suspect this applies also to the rest of the RAFians who were inactive over the past few months.

It pleases me to see that things are starting to come back to life, showing more names from older generations in the Users Online Now section.
Let's keep up the activity, neh? It's nice. :)

-Estelore

Take it easy!

Moumentai! Hakuna Matata! No worries, no problem, chillax, peace, take it easy, calm down... there must be a dozen ways of telling people to ice it down, but they never seem to take you seriously when you say it, do they?

Let's all take this opportunity to take it easy. Pause for a few moments of your busy day, and just take a deep breath and enjoy living.

While you're at it, have a gorgeous weekend. :)

-Estelore

It's almost summer!

If you have already started your summer break, then you're awfully lucky. The rest of us, however, fortunately don't have too long to wait. My summer starts for real in about a week and a half.

Comment and tell us: when do your summers start? What are you planning to do during this time? Sorry, Aussies, I know it's going to winter for you. :P

I'm planning to get my garden started, catch up on some karate practises, read as much as possible, clean up fan-fictions and poetry, RAF it up, spend time with IRL dearlings, and play music. :)

Help me out here, please?

Hallo, RAF!
This week's article has to be short; I'm to be away for the remainder of the weekend.

Y'know, I absolutely love this blog, but it's not always easy to come up with ideas for my next article. This is where you dearlings come into play:
Tell me what you want me to write. PM me, email me, post in my blog thread, or comment here with what you'd like me to address in future RAFblog articles. I may not do every topic suggested, necessarily, but I'd really like to know what RAFians like to read/hear when they check the blog.

Please and thank-you, everyone! Well, I've got to be away now. Be safe, well, and blessed, my dears.

All my love to you.
-Estelore

RAF: Basically an alien embassy cleverly disguised as a forum...

Today's article is just for fun, folks. We'll call it a thought-prompt. ;)
We tend to joke about the different 'species' on RAF, and if someone says he or she is an alien, a star, a faerie, a seal, an Ellimist, et cetera, we go along with it, neh?
What if at least one of those was true?
Mind you, I'm a star, but I'm not going to press the issue here today. Just think on it, my dears. What if just one of these crazy-fun sci-fi enthusiasts actually is from someplace out-of-this-world? RAF would be the equivalent of a micro-embassy on behalf of open-minded Earthlings everywhere.



I bet you this hypothetical five dollar bill that this article left at least four RAFians seriously paranoid about the aliens in the boards. :)
My job here is done for the day, I think.

All my love to you, dearest RAFians.
-Estelore

May Approaches...

Know what that means, RAF?
Well, I'll tell you, anyway.
It means that all the high school seniors on the boards are going to be graduating, and the majority will be university-bound by autumn, if not sooner. We're looking forward to a wave of new college freshmen in RAF, which forbodes either MUCH more free time for those people... or much LESS free time, depending on their majors. I'm in architecture, so I fall into the latter category.
I really do hope that this doesn't mean a huge drop in forum attendance. :P
Let's be optimistic, though: May also means that next fall there will be grade-schoolers on the boards going to high school....

-Estelore

Smileys

Hello, RAFians!
I don't know if everyone has been paying attention to the growing list of animated "smileys" that are now at our disposal, so I'm going to point them out here. I tend to use only the emoticons that I can quickly type, so I did not even notice that we had Animorphs-themed animations until I saw somebody post an Hork-Bajir in one of my threads.
Goom and DinoNothlit have been doing a brilliant job designing animated images of the main characters' primary morphs, and it sounds like the next morph on the agenda is Aximili becoming human. (If I'm wrong, please, someone, correct me.)
Anyway, folks, please do just check it out, there is some seriously fawesome stuff happening in the smiley-making thread.
Thanks, Dino and Goom, for doing such a great job on all of these!

-Estelore

Spring Break!

Hello, RAF!
Well, it's spring break over here, over a week without classes. This means more online time, in general, except on specific busy-days. The weather is simply gorgeous, and I'm leaving for awhile to visit family.
Who else here is enjoying a lovely break, and who has interesting plans for their vacation time?

Comment!!

I'll see you all on my return. Much love to all of you.
-Estelore

A Proposal: RAF Silence Day #2

Right, well, folks... I'm still uber-curious about Richard's appearance, in all honesty, and this blog post is already a day late, so let's get to business.

I suggest we re-attempt RAFSilence Day. I suggest that we try to do this next Tuesday, since Tuesdays seem to be our non-busy days.

Commentary, if you please?

Richard, if we can pull it off, even belatedly, will you still agree to post a picture?

*shrug* I think it's worth another shot.

-Estelore

Bending Life Around RAF...

...and not the other way around...

I wonder how many of us actually adjust our schedules specifically to be able to access RAF.
I, for instance, wake about fifteen minutes earlier than necessary for that specific purpose.

Does anyone else here do this? Do you stay up a bit later than you might, or put off any meals, or avoid IRL conversations for RAF?

Or does RAF have to conform to your life?

Please do comment. :)

-Estelore

Don't Forget RAFSilence Day!!

Hey, folks! For this week's article, I'm just going to remind you all:


DON'T POST THIS TUESDAY!!!!

(or Wednesday, if you're in the Eastern Hemisphere)


If you want to see Richard's face, do NOT post on Tuesday/Wednesday of the coming week.
If you DON'T want to see his face... then please just don't spoil it for everyone else. :)

Happy Weekend, RAF! See you all Monday!
-Estelore

Dusting Off an Old (kinda) Gem

Okay, so maybe it's not that old, but it's old by internet standards!

This is just a little poke in the side to ye olde RAFians that RAFipedia is still out there! To the newbie RAFians, allow me to introduce you to RAFipedia.

RAFipedia is a wiki about RAF, the RAFians and Animorphs. Please, check it out! http://rafipedia.wetpaint.com/

There, you can register, add information to the wiki and even add your own page to the Notable Members section. Let RAF know who you are! Check out some of the other pages and learn more about your fellow RAFians. Didn't know that one of Ken's favourite movies is The Matrix? Didn't know that Gaz loves The Count of Monte Cristo? Can't keep up with the latest RAFrelationships? Want to know more about the history of RAF? Well you can find all this information and more at http://rafipedia.wetpaint.com/!

Once again, that's http://rafipedia.wetpaint.com/.

C'mon, test out that nice, shiney left click button by clicking on THIS!

Or THIS!

And believe it or not, even THIS!

...Are you there yet?

Happy Spring!

Spring is finally arriving in the northern hemisphere of this lovely planet, and it means different things to each of us. Some of us are getting ready for spring dances, concerts, musicals, and other school events. Some of us are eager for the sports season to begin, and March Madness is about to hit the U.S. I'm very eager to get my garden and my private music lessons re-started. Just today we had our local music contest, for which I've practised all week with the kids I accompany on piano, and that's only the beginning of my 'busy season'. Graduation approaches for high school seniors. Final tests are coming up for kids in school and university. Life is getting to be very busy and down-to-the-minute for most of us.

Whatever spring means to you, it generally means that RAF will be seeing less daytime activity from many of its members.

That's the problem with having a life: you have to live it.

Well, happy living, folks. If you can blend IRL with RAF, then more power to you. You have more free time than I have, and I admire your dedication.

Bliss to you, my dears.
Yours Always,
-Estelore

Comment! Please, for the love of Asimov, COMMENT!!

Hi, folks. I'm just about to disappear-for-the-remainder-of-the-weekend, but I felt I oughtta' get this post out there before I depart.

Okey, I know quite a few of you read the blog, and that's lovely. Thanks. Please, could you post comments in the blog once in awhile? I know we have readers, but who are the readers?
Which of you follow this blog and actually pay attention to the posts?

If you really do check this blog at least once weekly, please post a comment to this post. I'd love to know who watches the RAFLocal News, so to speak. Also, if you feel like having opinions, please post comments for the other posts. We like to know what you think! Pleeeeeease??!

Well, have a great weekend, all!
All my love.

-Estelore

RAFgenerations: Defining the Passage of Time

The other day, Broken asked me if I had seen passing generations of RAFians, and it gave me pause for thought. Sure, we've nearly all of us seen wave after wave of newbies arrive and build their own positions in our tight little society, but what defines where one wave, one generation begins and where it ends?
Perhaps we should be watching not only those who join but also those who leave us, even if they only leave temporarily. There was a time when RAF was startled to see both Tyler and me gone for more than a day at a time, and now it seems almost commonplace for us to be absent. There was a time when Zues, Ellimist, Toomin, Touquie, Ash, and Terenia frequented the board with great consistency, and now we hardly hear from them. It seems that for every two or three waves of newbies that arrive, two or three of our longest-standing veteran members drop off the map a little bit.

Let's just hope that this trend is not a permanent thing, neh? I don't know about you, but I miss all my old Classic RAF buddies. Sure, I love newbies, but RAF sorta' loses its RAFishness without the Classic members.

Why do YOU RAFparty?

Well, folks, we all know that another RAFparty begins tonight, and I know that most of us are very much looking forward to it. I like the increased activity, and I like when most of the members are online at once so that I can watch the lovely ways they interact. Sometimes I take advantage of the chance to raise my post count, I'll admit, but I RAFparty mostly for the social interaction.
Not everyone shares my reasons for RAFpartying. Some of you like to spam the boards just for the halibut. Others take the opportunity to post as fast as they can all at once, using many windows of the same forum. Some of you make your choicest posts or start new topics for the karma-boosts they bring.

Why do you RAFparty?

RAFian Commonalities

Hallo, all!
I've been noticing lately how many similarities there are between RAFians with vastly different personalities, and it baffles and amuses me to no end. Not only do we all have Animorphs in common, but the vast majority of us share at least one other RAF-common trait with other members. I'll post some of those traits I've noticed, and you all please do feel free to comment and add any that I've missed.

1. Addiction to "Pinky and the Brain"
2. Musical ability, especially on piano
3. INTJ or similar personality type (Myers-Briggs Typology... I walk the fine line between INTJ and INFJ, for instance.)
4. A certain fondness for crazy
5. Another certain fondness for argument-for-argument's-sake
6. Belief in the existence of extraterrestrial aliens
7. Either very intense religion or no religion at all
8. A solid and fierce opinion on anything at all political, or else an absolute apathy for politics
9. Intense love of books
10. Arcane pop-culture, movie, musical theatre, and literary knowledge

What else, folks? Help me out, here. :)

Veteran RAFians: Remember the Newbies!

Hello again, dearest RAF!
For this week's article, I'd like to address a subject that has been at the heart of many of our discussions over the past few days.
More than one of my RAFfriends has noted that lately the veteran RAFians and the RAFpantheon have been acting 'clique-ish' towards the newer and younger members of the forum.
As a veteran RAFian myself, I cannot claim much objectivity on this subject, and I'm certainly not pretending that I'm immune to clique-forming-tendencies. After all, I'm a female with the ability to speak and type. Cliques are hardwired into my genetic makeup.
*ba-dum-pssht! ...yeah... stand-up comedy is not for me...*

I joined RAF nearly a year ago, and I can still very clearly and easily remember what it felt like to be a newbie here. People were nice and helpful, and they were willing to listen and let me have my own opinions. Sure, they argued with me as often as they agreed, but they accepted that my opinions were VALID.
Nowadays... I'm not so sure about us, as a forum. Not to say that I don't consider us still the best forum on the web, because RAF is still RAF, no matter what, but... we've lost a little bit of that tolerance-and-acceptance-and-lovingkindness-for-everyone feeling that we had just a few months ago.

Folks, all I'm asking is that you think back to what RAF was like when YOU were a newbie, and try to treat our current newbies the way you'd've wanted to be treated. The mods can't be expected to do all the work for you, guys.

G'day!

-Estelore

RAF: Why we really ARE the best forum on the Internet

Hello, RAFians!

If I know this forum and its denizens as well as I think I do, then I am correct in the assumption that the vast majority of us consider RAF to be the best thing to happen to the internet since the invention of the hyperlink. Most of us consider RAF to be our "Home Forum", and even if we visit other forums sporadically, RAF always receives the greatest devotion of our online free time.

Why?

Why should this website, of all the websites available for our use, be the one that draws us most powerfully?

I've been doing some thinking on the matter, and I've managed to narrow it down to the ten biggest factors that, for me, at least, are why I can't stay away from RAF.

10. It is centred on books. As much time as we may collectively spend on the Bored Board, it was the Animorphs books (and to a lesser extent, Everworld, Remnants, and now GONE) that brought us together in the first place. Let's not forget that. Many other forums so easily lose track of what brought the members together, until only the newbies have a clue. The great thing about this: it means that we all love to read, at least to some extent. When many literate people of similar tastes meet as friends, amazing things happen.

9. The site has interests and conversation to offer for a wide range of age-groups. Whether you were born at the dawn of time or in 2000 Anno Domini, there is a place for you on this forum. Whether you're 26 or 10, there is someone here who'll be happy to talk with you. This is a rule without exception.

8. The background is a most soothing shade of blue. Oh, come on! I know you were thinking it! It's easy-on-the-eyes, which is conducive to posting more here than in other sites, where red letters on a black background give you a headache in three minutes.

7. RAF has supporting pages. Even when you aren't posting actively, you can still stay up-to-date with RAFian goings-on by visiting the blog, the chat, or the wiki. Even when life gets in your way, you can still maintain contact with your old online friends. It's a very user-friendly and real-life-tolerant forum.

6. The staff actually know what they are doing. Richard and the other RAFstaff are attentive, active, and fair-minded. When we need help, they are there. When we need to shut up or change the subject, they tell us in a nice way. When they make rules, they enforce them. They treat newbies with a kindness that isn't often seen in other forums.

5. The forum allows for freedom of expression while maintaining a fun, safe, and kid-friendly atmosphere. We all have opinions, and thanks to the open-mindedness of RAF's members, none of us is afraid to express those opinions. We know that there is a limit to what RAFians consider 'acceptable behaviours', and we respect those limits to the point that some of our members even invite their younger siblings and friends to join, knowing that the site won't offend them or scare them away. RAF isn't OCD about preventing heated discussions, and it isn't one big cuss-fest, either.

4. The members treat each other like family. Anyone who spends more than five minutes in RAF knows that the members genuinely care about each other. We can playfully rib each other, and nobody takes offence. We are there for each other during hard times.

3. Even beyond the books, the members share a wide range of common interests. Some of us write music, poetry, and fan-fictions. Some of us play in RPG's or haunt the Bored Board's games. Pinky and The Brain, H2G2, and the works of Orson Scott Card and Scott Westerfeld are just a few of the things that interest many of us.

2. It's a fairly 'small' community. Of our 400-or-so members, fewer than 80 are highly active at any given time. This allows us all to know each other on a username-basis, and we recognise each other and follow each others' posts. It encourages a strong sense of unity that cannot exist in sites where you might never see two posts from the same person in one thread. RAF does not NEED to be a 'large' forum. As the forum grows, all active newbies are welcomed with open arms, and the veteran members notice them and remember their names, which simply does not happen in a huge website.

1. We have Richard. Seriously, folks! Where else are you going to find an administrator like Richard? Anywhere else, the admins get in your face and 'put you in your place' before you've had a chance to post. Anywhere else, the guys in charge get an unfair high off of exerting control over others. Richard delegates his power and uses it fairly. Newbie or Veteran, you get his full attention when you bring him your questions. He gets his point across to you with a single sentence, instead of making a two-page lecture illustrating every last mistake you've made in an argument. The books brought us together, but Richard and his forum are what kept us together.
Well, those were my reasons for liking RAF more than any other forum. Why don't you all tell me your reasons? Thanks to Touquie, we now know why you STAYED, but why have you stayed LOYAL?
In your opinion, why is RAF the best?

Avatars: What does your user image say about you?

Hello again, RAFians! I apologise for not getting last week's article up when I intended it, but life has been rather hectic on this side of things. Let's get down to business, neh?

Avatars. Most of us have them, some of us change them like we change clothes, some of us could not care less. Regardless of how you feel about those cute, funny, or quirky little icons beneath our usernames, you rather must admit that they say something rather distinct about the person that uses them. Sure, we can all use our signatures to SAY things, very deliberately those are designed for textual statements, and we are all free to psychoanalyze each others' siggies to our hearts' content. Avatars, though, are a direct representation of the person who is speaking in each post.

I, for instance, use Wakko Warner of the Animaniacs as my avatar. It has been this way since I joined RAF last February. Of course, I am not some strange-looking male dog-cat-skunk-creature wearing a red hat, blue turtleneck sweater, and no pants. I do not belch publicly nor speak with a Scouse accent. I don't sing about the state capitals to the tune of "Turkey in the Straw".
Why, then, should I choose Wakko to be my avvy?
To be honest, I just am terribly fond of the Animaniacs, and as a fan of Animorphs, you might consider me an Ani-maniac, after a fashion. When I first joined RAF, the image of Wakko was the first one to catch my attention, so I went with it, and I have never had any desire to change it.

Richard, on the other hand, simply uses an understated red letter "R" for his avatar. Short, sweet, simple, and very easy to understand, this avatar tells much less about Richard than Wakko tells about me. The most we can gather is that he holds an affinity for the colour red and that he doesn't feel the need to project his personality at all times.

Others, like Claire, show a fondness for an actor or a television programme. Phoenix uses an image of a supernova, and Anna changes her username and avatar with almost dizzying frequency. Touquie uses a scrolling image of the four elements and their Japanese names. Qwerty uses the avatars of various RAFians, scrolling according to the alphabetical order of the members' usernames.

Tell us, RAF: why did YOU choose YOUR avatar? What does it tell us about you, as a person?

Richard: Do we know ANYTHING about this guy?

Hello again, RAFians! For the second installment of my hopefully-weekly blog series, I'd like for all of us to take a moment to think about the guy that brought all of us together over our love of Animorphs. You know who I mean; that's right: Richard. The guy that made the forum, runs the forum, and so kindly allows me to write in his forum blog.

Okey, so we know exactly four things with certainty about our dear friend Richard.
1. He lives in Jamaica.
2. He likes Animorphs.
3. He listens to a tonne of music.
4. He has a very interesting accent, which can be heard on his YouTube video.

While it doesn't take more than this to instantly like and respect him, it rather makes you wonder...will we ever know ANYTHING about this guy?

Now, I'm not going to be a hypocrite here. I'm more tight-lipped about my Real Life than most currently-active RAFians, and I'm content to keep it that way. I'm not about to start nosing into Richard's personal life. However, I am still just as curious as the next RAFian.

Something tells me that I should follow the lesson taught by Orpheus and Pandora, and just leave well enough alone. Let the mystery live on.
Something Else tells me that I'm being totally ridiculous, and that mystery is for the uninquisitive and the lazy. The only way to know anything is to go out and find the answers!
I think that, for the mean time, I'll just continue to walk the fine balance between curiosity and mystery, and let Richard tell us what he wants, if and when he feels like it. He's been awfully good to the lot of us, keeping RAF active and functional for all our sakes.

Thanks, Richard, for everything.
Sincerely,
Estelore

P.S. - I fully expect to see you, Richard, and everyone else currently on RAF, at the projected RAFconvention in 2015!! Identifying you, however, will present an interesting challenge....

RAFcouples: A Rising Trend

It all started with Esplin9466's "RAF Crush" thread, back in Classic RAF: RAFcouples. Members of RAF announced their jesting interest in other RAFians, and these tentative RAFpairings took on lives of their own. They grew slowly at first, with RAFdating and RAF-PDA during the chats, culminating with RAFengagements, when each member of a RAFcouple would place an announcement in their signature, for lack of an engagement ring. Sometimes RAFships end in RAFdivorce, and sometimes strange offspring like Pootang and Ender would result from these RAFunions, but as a whole, most early RAFbonds have remained solid. The ultimate sign that a RAFcouple had been accepted by the forum? A 'ship nickname, naturally!

First AnnaKen established itself as a notable RAFrelationship, receiving its "official name", and then Estyler, Chouquie, and the short-lived Clanker followed it in close succession.
Other names were not so easy to decide. Teach9466 is rather awkward-sounding, some seem to believe. How do you combine Yrkd88 with ANYTHING?
I'm not slamming anyone's username, of course, but it is worth consideration when you choose your RAFpartner.

After all, while Dunna sounds interesting, Esteloomin, Estanker, Jorsinuff, and Esplouquie don't really roll off the tongue so very well, do they?

It seems like there is a new RAFcouple rising into the spotlight every time I turn my head. The wikians at RAFipedia are in a hurry to keep up with the tempestuous waves of RAFlove and affection. Since AnnaKen's separation, the collective RAFian consciousness has been spinning. How can something as permanent and sacred as a RAFmarriage be so easily broken? What is wrong with the world? What will happen to the rest of us?
These are powerful questions for us to consider. In the mean time, I'm just going to cling tightly to my sanity, Tyler, while I try like Heck to keep up with it all. Now that January has arrived, my free time is waxing longer, and I shall have more energy and time to commit to RAF and its wonderful, unpredictable, lovable, crazy denizens.

Well, I hope all my RAFian darlings have a marvelous weekend. Good-night, all!

Yours Truly,
Estelore

What to expect... or at least what to hope...from your new blogger.

Hello, RAF! It's me, Estelore. I'm sure most of you know me pretty well, and if you don't, then talk to me. I may be one of the older members here (time spent in the forum and actual age), but I love to meet new people.

As most of you may know, winter places major limits on my free time, but I devote what time I can to RAF, RAFipedia, RAFchat, and now the RAF Blog.
My intent is to make at least one regular post in the blog for every week that I have access to my laptop. This may change with time, but my hope is to start a series of RAF-related editorials, articles, and opinion pieces.

I've worked several years on the staff of a small local newspaper, where I live, and I love to talk about virtually anything (as you may have noticed from my forum posts), so this could, potentially be very interesting.
If you have any suggestions at all about an article that you would like included in the blog, feel free to PM me or e-mail me at any time. My e-mail is estelore@gmail.com , and I reserve that address almost exclusively for RAF-related messages. I check it daily.

You can look forward to subjects like these in upcoming weeks:
Richard - Do we know ANYTHING about this guy?
Avatars - What does your user image say about your personality and about RAF?
RAF - Why we really ARE the best forum on the Internet.
RAFcouples - A Rising Trend.

RAF Blog Welcomes Estelore

Congratulations to Estelore, she is now on the authoring team here on the blog. Keep a lookout for her blog posts.

Estelore is the brains behind the RAFipedia, the RAF Wiki.