Happy Birthday, Hammel!

[Admin!]

Tony: Dear Hammel:

Happy second birthday!

Wow. Two years. Hammel has outlasted hundreds of other rp sites that have advertised on our board. We've been through highs and lows of activity, many characters, and many plots.

And....we don't know what else to say, except we love it here. We love the atmosphere created by our members and maintained by our lovely staff, Rae and Dryope. We love the inside jokes and the knowledge that we've always got something to look forward to.

Hammel is worth the blood, sweat, and tears--okay, less blood than the other two--that we've put into it.

Anyway, we wanted to open this thread up to you. Tell us your experience with Hammel. Have a good story? Have a goal for the next year? Please tell us!

You, our members, are the greatest resource on the site. We are thankful for every one of you.

Happy Birthday, Hammel, and get ready for another great year!

Your loving Admins, Tony and Mads <3

[Therru Simmons]

Dear Hammel,

Wow. It's been almost a year since I found you while I was wandering around on the internet. The first time I tried to join was with a gestalt pair, around christmas. That was a total flop, and I didn't return to make a new character until spring break, even though I had been site stalking the entire time. During spring break my first character, Zaeric, was accepted. I was thrilled.

After that was a flop character, then Aki. And the characters just kept coming. Diverse, fun, crazy. I even convinced Trix and Evey they needed to join. And Trix is still here with us.

I am so so very glad I've had Hammel, and I hope it continues to grow and prosper. It's a really, truly wonderful online community.

Neki

[Cobalt Weaver]

Ahh this site. I love this site. I didn't want to join this site when I first heard about it.

First it was "noooo I am nervous and fragile about my writing WHAT IF THEY HATE ME D:"

Then it was "no Kaitlyn Cobalt is a stupid name, I will never name a character of mine Cobalt ew what are you even thinking."

Then it was "I don't want to talk on the cbox THEY SCARE ME I don't know how to talk to cool kids wweh. D:"

And then eventually I settled the hell down >.> But I am glad that I have a wifey who will peer pressure me into a good site with wonderful people :3 Now I have like seven characters, all of which are unruly as hell, and some amazing friends and writing partners.

I guess for the next year I want to try to branch out and talk to new people D: Because new threads and new relationships are AWESOME! Thanks guys, for an amazing experience <3

[Angela Chambers]

Dear Hammel, staff, and members

I've only been a part of it for a few months, but this is still incredibly exciting to me.

In the short few months I've been on Hammel, it's quickly come to feel like a home away from home. And all of the members and staff family. I come to Hammel everyday. And I could be on the brink of tears or so mad that I see red and within mere minutes, I'm smiling and laughing as if whatever it was that happened never did.

I can never tell any of you just how much you guys or the site means to me. And I'm very happy here with you all. And I wanted to say thank you for being in existence.

Love,
Cuppy

[Cole Kessler]

Dear Hammel and everyone involved,

For the past year of my life and all of yours, this site has been one of the best things to be a part of. To all of the people I've met, some I've seen come and go, others I've just seen go and some I've only seen enter into our little world of greatness, I thank you all.

This site and the people that make it up, all of you(even the ones from days past) have been an enjoyable spring in the turmoils of my life as it is......

So, here's to Hammel -raises glass- May we see your third birthday and may we see many more after that.

[Isaac Marcotte]

Dear Hammel,
After three attempts at making a character I finally got one that is worthy of such a fun site. I have only been here for about a month but it has been a fun month. I realize that two years is a long time for a site to be up and running, but you must stay up longer!

One month is far to short a time to be among such fine and admirable people. I don't know half of you half as well as i should like and i like less than half of you half as well as you deserve!!

[JD Paerson]

When I came to Hammel, I had just left another site (book fanclub site) which I felt I had outgrown. Being on Hammel filled that gap and was a great place for me to work on my writing and make even more friends. Because of this site I have managed to meet lots of amazing people and go on grand adventures. I also feel that I have finally discovered what I want my writing voice to be, as well as created some great characters and learned how to make more good characters.

Thank you Hammel, for supporting me this past year and a half as I grew as a person and moved to Australia for a year, keeping me connected with my old friends and letting me make new ones. Thanks for letting me see how two people don't have to be all that similar in order to be friends, and to see that things are better when you grew up on a ranch. Thanks for the inside jokes, the outside jokes, and the ones that I never even saw because they couldn't get past the prude barrier. Thanks for friends and enemies, for good times and bad, and know that you will always have a place in that rock I pretend is a heart.

The biggest thanks, of course, goes to the people who made this possible. Tony and Mads for creating it, and all the other writers for participating. I may or may not love and appreciate you all but you did not hear that from my lips/keyboard.

PenPen the Prude

[Morgan Tonaya]

I’m sort of an old hag when it comes to Hammel. I’ve been around a long time, seen a lot of members come and go, and seen/participated in some of the plots that are essential to making the site part of what it is today. Hammel has been my internet family for a long time now, and I’ve made some of the best net!friends a gal could ask for just by letting my characters run loose.

What I am most proud of Hammel for, and why I will continue to take pride in being a Hammelite, is our ability to remain a community. We’ve had our tough spots, our bullies, and our drama, but no one lets it get to their heads. We always just come out bigger and better for it.

Hammel has helped me create some characters that have gone on to star on other sites, in stories, and in books of mine. Hammel is there when I need to get away, and it’s there to humble me when my head gets too big. It’s its own little vacation right on my computer screne! I look forward to growing more together with the Hamhams in the coming year, and jumping into new and not-so-new plots.

Cheers to more years!
-Lynx

[Aaron Walker]

Dear Hammel -

So, I feel like anything I type here will turn out to be a pitiful excuse for the greatness that is Hammel.

Still, I have to say something.

When I stumbled across this sight almost a year ago, I had no idea how much fun I would have with it, or all of the awesome people I would meet. You guys are all the greatest, really. You always ready to give a hug or make someone laugh in the c-box. Plus the threads, characters, challenges..well let me just say that my fellow Hammel-ites never cease to amaze me with their humor, intelligence, and just pure awesome-ness.

I know I've had my ups and downs, and I may not always be as active as I'd like to be here, but I just wanted to take the time to wish Hammel a very happy birthday. And a big thank you to everyone here for making it the great place that it is.

--Abi

[Gregory Strickland]

2 Years - that's nothing to sneer at.

I loved this site the moment I came here. Penny was the first person I spoke to, and Jalen August is my first character (and she's still kicking around somewhere). I've made five more since her, and oddly enough all male characters have been Wanted Ads. Go figure.

I think my favourite part about Hammel (besides the writing of course), are the people that bring it to life. I love writing with all you guys and think about you all even when I'm not on Hammel. I've made some lifetime friends and continue making them.

And, who doesn't love the c-box? It gets a little crazy on there, maybe a bit inappropriate, but between Sean and his penguin fetish, Penny and her prudishness, the awesome Admins, and everyone else in between, I think any new member can find a place here at Hammel.

Here's to another year of Hammel!

[Tree Roxenbourge]

Dear Hammel,

Before you, I hadn't rped in over 2 years. I'd had some nasty experiences that happen when you're in a small community that is slowly dying off. I wanted to give it another go, and I found you.

Thank you for your people. It's not on every site that you can make friends you like and trust well enough to backpack in Asia with, or crash at their house and sit around on our computers because we are such nerds. Thank you for letting me meet my online family, and thank you for helping me grow as a writer,

Even if all my characters are /still/ larger then life. Also sorry about Mia's sex talk thing. And Anastasia's... well, evilness.

I know I'm not on as much as I used to be, and that at times we grow apart, but I don't think I could imagine life without you. And I have a super hyper imagination. I am thankful I found you and I am thankful to every last person on this site for making it the cauldren of ideas and creativity it is today.

I am not one for sentimentaly, but for you, Hammel dear, I will make an exception. You've been a life saver. I'm not sure you know how literally.

Neon/Cthulu/Sauron.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Dear Hammel:

At first, I'd wanted to post a note in the Thank You thread for Hammel's second birthday, but Tony beat me to the punch with a better idea. Then I needed to take some time to gather my thoughts, and I read everyone's entries in this thread a few times each.

I've made this observation before, but Hammel's birthday is William Shatner's birthday, and I joined on Leonard Nimoy's birthday, four days later. I find it funny, but I also probably infer too much from it.

I'm both honored and grateful that I've been with Hammel since so early on in the game's creation. I'm both honored and grateful to have been here for two years. I'm in a somewhat unique position of being able to remember when almost every player and character joined and when different events happened with different characters. I remember Tony's gestalt pair; I remember when "Domination" was in Chase's power description. I remember when Kaitlyn's emotional spectrum project was a work in progress. I remember writing Sean's first session with Ann Hudgins and falling in love with the character. Jam talks about his first draft of Zac to encourage newbies, and I remember that first draft. I remember the excitment I felt when Dryope filled my reqeust for Josh. I remember the first Talk, the first Rumor post, the beginning of M.S.A.D. and the coalescence of the first plot arc. I remember when journals were added to the OTMs and when we started doing challenge stories. I remember why Mads has a thread in the Games/OOC section entitled the Naughty List.

And I am so very grateful for these memories.

I still remember how I came here: aside from role playing, one of my hobbies is browsing games in hopes I might find another one to join; or barring that, new ideas. I saw an advertisement for Hammel and came to poke around the site. It had just opened, and there were only a handful of characters and players. I don't always have luck with school games, because I play characters like Sean, and adults, particularly middle-aged and older adults, don't often have a home in such environments. But of the handful of characters, two of them were over thirty-five, and they were married to each other.

I asked some questions, worked on my application, and posted it; soon after, Sean had been accepted, and I made some threads. New characters began to pop up slowly but surely from role players I had never met before, which is part of the charm in new games. I knew nobody.

Two years later, I'm proud to say that I know everyone. I'm proud to say that I've had threads with so many of the Hammel players and characters, and I'm ashamed that I can't say that I've played with everyone. I hope to remedy that in this coming year.

I care so deeply about this game and the people who play here. I worry when I haven't heard from people. I'm emotionally invested in the development of different plots and characters, and I'm genuinely happy to see people in the C-Box, simply talking about their lives and being themselves. I look forward to logging on in the morning and seeing what happened while I was asleep. I look forward to new characters, new plots, new relationships for everyone.

I know that "love" gets thrown around on the Internet easily, but I'm sincere when I say that I love Hammel, and I love you all. Hammel is a family to me, one as real and valid as one off-line. I say that quite literally, because Hammel is where I thrive.

Thank you for giving me a home. Thank you for being here with me and for me. Thank you for letting me be here with and for you. Thank you for still being here.

Warmly and simply,
Sean