Now I'm not going to talk about the birds and the bees. But I am going to talk about a very important subject for those who have internet friends.

Many of us here have pretty close friends on the community as well as friends in other places online. We may not know most of these people IRL (In Real Life) but we may know some of their biggest secrets and their craziest dreams. Some of us have 'grown up' together and have known each other for years. We may never meet face to face or exchange phone numbers. But we have made a connection, a friendship. We care deeply for each other. We love each other like family.

But what if something happens to you? What if you become so ill to the point your unable to get online and never recover? What if you unexpectantly pass away? What if your friends get "that feeling" but can't be sure? What if they knew you were sick but can't find a way to ensure you're ok? It is important for your online friends to know. As it is important for any of your family and friends IRL to know.

But what do you do? You don't really want to give out your phone number or address. You want to stay just online friends.

Let's call it the Buddy System. A friend or family member who knows that if anything were to happen to you they know to leave a note for your online friends. Keep a list of places you would want them to go to and announce if anything were to happen to you. Keep it in a safe place, maybe somewhere only your Buddy System partner knows where to look. Or if there is places you'd rather a IRL person not to know then perhaps have a specific online friend they can get in contact with. Then supply that online friend with a list of places to inform.

I bring this to your attention because I have been through this.
The first time was years ago when I first started RPing. A close friend of mine was in an accident where she ended up having amnesia. Many of her memories came back but she was never the same person after that. Luckily her sister knew to inform her online friends. And while I still feel sad I lost a connection with that friend at least I knew she was alright.
More recently I have been trying to get in contact with a good RP buddy of mine. But I have been unable to find any trace of him. Normally I would sigh and think 'well, I guess they moved on to bigger and better things' but in this case I know he was a very sick person. I felt pretty close to this person even though we were "only" online friends. I can't help but wonder and feel sick to my stomach over it. I may never know if he is ok or if he passed away. I personally feel I can't mourn him fully because I just don't know for sure.

So please. For the sake of your online friends. Find someone to Buddy with. I am not posting this to scare you or to upset anyone. I am posting this to help you prepare - just in case.

We may only ever see each other as words on a screen or a deer in the forest but we still feel for each other. We're human. It's what we do. We make connections and these connections feel very real even when we're across the world from each other.

Thank you for reading.