Uncomfortable ideas, the idea of a friend like this dying. Gives a little bit of a shudder down the ol' spine. Thought provoking story, TW.

It's not been happy inside my head lately.

So far, I haven't lost any online friends. I have lost track of a few, much to my deep regret, but none to the utter finality of death. And I want to tell you that if I did, I would probably feel exactly the way you described it here.

This is a potent, moving piece that has most likely played out more than once in real life. It brought me to the verge of tears until the final two paragraphs. Seeing something so wistfully beautiful created in response to something I did, especially something so meaningful to me, touched me deeply. I had to wipe my eyes before I could respond.

Thank you very much for sharing this with us.

And especially with me.

p.s. Those have got to be the most inventive and modern sounding band names I've seen in years. I was convinced I needed to do a Google search on them to find out what kind of music I'd been missing.

If I hadn't been approaching this so seriously, I'd have delved into my massive collection of "these would make awesome band names". I'm glad that you liked them, though, I was happy with most of them. I could even tell you what genre half of them are! (Now just tell me why I bothered to make up band names and change the name of OpenCanvas, but didn't do so for LiveJournal. :P)

And I'm very glad you liked it, your response even got me a little teary. I have honestly wondered what happens to a person's online self when they die. Think about all the accounts, the e-mails, the websites, the networking; what becomes of that? If you're someone's friend from another state, or God forbid, another country, what chance is there of the person's family actually informing you? You don't mean anything to them, they don't know you. Our narrator here was fortunate enough to have been informed of her friend's demise, though I get the feeling it was some time after the fact.

But think about it, really. Who in your family knows your passwords to things? How do you convince a website a person is dead? Should you even? It's hard to know what to trust on the internet. I haven't lost any online friends (that I know of, anyway), but I heard about a furry or two a few years ago who died, and I've been pondering the question ever since.

Oh, and I should mention, I don't think I really addressed it in the story, but Kimber's supposed to be a genemorph with species dysphoria. The kangaroo avatar wasn't just meant to hide his identity, it was actually how he felt he should have been born. I'm sure it's a concept outside what you might have envisioned for your world, but I thought it was kind of an interesting idea. ^v^ Anyway, again, I'm glad you liked it; you've certianly given me plenty of enjoyment reading the original works!

I have wondered, more than once, what would happen if I was to, well, cease. I imagine my works would float around like seeds. Some might find fertile ground and flourish for a time while others would perish almost immediately. At some point I suspect changing servers and lost files will eventually erase a person's e-presence from the 'net.

As for losing someone only known through the net, I suspect you're right. Unless the deceased made arrangements for notification to go out to a list of email addresses, few, if any, without RL connections would know. And I find that an amazing irony in an age of information and communication. I wonder if such a 'notification list' being included in people's wills might ever catch on? There might even be a good story in that idea, too.

You know, I never even thought of the idea of a genemorph who felt they'd been born the wrong species. I gave the term 'chameleon' to humans who tried to act like and fit in with genemorphs. It was meant largely as a disparaging term used by 'morphs. But the notion that a feliform might feel he or she was meant to be, say, a caniform simply never occurred to me. Another great story idea!


Urf, I should be in bed.

As others have already said -- a thought-provoking vignette.

But think about it, really. Who in your family knows your passwords to things?

My husband and I do know each others' LJ passwords, although that was more for the idea of, say, one of us being sick or hospitalized or something to that effect, and needing to update for the other. I suppose, though, if something were to happen to both of us, all bets would be off... I can't imagine my parents or siblings figuring any of this stuff out enough to post anything. Something to think about... I've been meaning to write something up, not as a legal will as much as preferences for memorial service and that sort of thing, and now I'm thinking it might be good to include a page or two giving usernames, passwords, and step-by-step instructions on how to post, to put in the fire safe with all the other important stuff...

If there were a genemorph God, what form would he be? All of them? One in particular? That'd open all kinds of theological cans of worms.

A genemorph God made in the image of Man?

I would think all of them, appearing to each in his own form. Which might mean that the genemorph God and the human God were actually one and the same.

Then again, that all comes rather close to describing my concept of the regular God, now that I think about it. >^_^<

I'd prefer to think of it in the latter sense, myself, but I'm certain many would not agree. :)

Um... you lost me. What latter sense do you mean?

I suspect TakeWalker was referring to "that the genemorph God and the human God were actually one and the same." And yes, I don't doubt that idea would bottle a few tails and launch a few jihads.

You already know my feelings on this thanks to IRC. Basically, it's wandering self-wankery with no hook and no plot, just aimless meandering with no tone. But at least you use the english language decently, instead of tying it down and raping it like most furry writers.

this is fursecution! ;_; don't make me cut myself

very touching story, great job! *sniffles a little*

I'm glad you liked it, thank you for the fave. ^v^

no problem, and boy your fast on the response

I CAN HAS DO THING :D it is very late

*beats on him for making her cry.....

so good to have you back TW.

*hugs...

V.

*hugs* Hahaha, where did I go? c.c

I think pretty much everyone can relate with this on some level. Everyone's lost somebody over the course of there life, and although it might not be an online friend we can all still relate to the feeling of loss.

Nice, I’d say more but… *sniff*

Beautiful. Sad. Touching. Interesting ideas, the story visits the edges of pretty heavy matters. Anyway, great little piece, I am happy I came across this.