In regard to recent events…
(excerpt from an e-mail, edited for recipient privacy.)

What basically happened was that WolvenOne was banned for talking politics in-channel under circumstances in which I could not agree that this was a proper course of action. (I was there, and talking politics too. No one was complaining, and no warnings were issued during my period of presence. My practice has been, so long as things remain amicable, to stop the moment someone protests. Sometimes it goes on for hours, with many eager participants and no complaints.) Wolven is clearly non-functional in some manner or another that profoundly affects his social skills, and IRC is not only his sole social outlet but one that he may never be able to replace. I decided that I could not, through silence, give assent to banning him when it would leave him so utterly alone and without much prospect of making on-line friends elsewhere anytime soon. Yes, he's annoying at times; I'll grant that in spades. But, to cut him off from his only circle of friends over so trivial an issue (it'd be different if, say, he'd threatened someone) was over my limit, so to speak. It is in my opinion cruel and unjust. I believe that we as a group are and can be larger than that.  I've been similarly isolated, and wish the agony of it upon no one.

That is not to say that there is rancor between Kristy and Jessie and I, though some are apparently misrepresenting things that way. My discussion at the time with Jessie was very polite and civil, and it was made clear that this was not a break of friendship, but rather an area of personal disagreement. They and I have disagreed for a very long time on many fundamental things and have had no trouble remaining friends. In my book, this simply constitutes a new area of disagreement, and probably one less profound than the pre-existing ones.  I made it clear, and Jessie agreed, that we're still very much on good social terms. So far as I know, we're still getting along fine. My fondest desire is that this whole thing be somehow resolved, though I fully understand that the odds are severely against this.

What if comes down to, I suppose, is that I see the TSA to some extent as the social group of last resort among a certain kind of socially inept people, which Wolf epitomizes. To put it bluntly, we practically do rescue work on each other at times, and I'm no exception. A larger measure of tolerance is therefore in order. I (and we) have put up with far worse from many others than anything Wolf has done, and I've spent time around far less pleasant TSA people in the name of trying to help others. It's part of what I believe we're here to do for each other, and what makes us special; if we lose sight of this self-imposed duty, we lose much of who and what we are. Jessie and Kristy are in no way, shape, or form obliged to share this vision of our community, however. Or the sense of duty. I recognize they have the right to run their server any way they choose-- indeed, I'd not have it any other way.

But, damnit! I could never enjoy a happy moment on Lapinia again, if I'd just stood there and watched Wolf, thinking himself friendless, be shoved off into the cold. I just _couldn't_!

So, I did the best I could with what I had available to me. What it comes down to, I suppose, is that sometimes things just suck and people have to go their own separate ways. In making this split I've done my level best to make sure it caused the minimum possible amount of hard feelings and drama, so that hopefully there might someday be a healing. And, also, because I _do_ still like, respect, and very much enjoy the company of Jessie and Kristy. It s _not_ my goal to make enemies of them, or to force others to choose up sides. If anyone's playing this thing up, they're doing so without my consent or blessing.