i have wanted to come back to hpft for more or less as long as i've been away from it. i don't even really think i could say i want to come back, because i was drifting into hiatus territory as soon as the old site went down in flames, and i haven't made my home here at all. instead, i migrated to twitter like so many others, staying in contact with the community while drifting further and further away from the forums and the experience of writing fic.

i know my experience isn't unique. i'm guessing there are also people in the same boat i find myself in now - wanting to return to fic, wanting to get involved again, but having no idea how. the site is different. there are new people here who i've never properly met. there are new friendship ties and new groups and its so easy to feel like an outsider, especially compared to those who have been able to throw themselves into staff/leadership roles, or time-intensive events, and all the rest of it. seeing people return who were part of what was, to me, the golden age of my hpff experience (circa 2014-15) like @galadrieland @crestwood has made me want to do the same. 

but my golden age was when i was in undergrad, when i had so much time to spend writing, and participating in the HC, and making graphics and being a prefect and editing the old QTR newsletter and sitting in giant Skype group chats. i miss being that involved, but i know that the days when that was possible for me have long since passed.

so, i guess, at the heart of all of this, is a question. how do i come back? is it even possible? or do i start anew?