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3 Years and Counting

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And then we were 3.


Greetings, Nine Lives family. This is your friendly neighborhood Fairies Masquerade here, representing the admin team. I have spent days sitting here staring at a blank page, trying to figure out how to say all the things I want to say. 


2016 was, in what became typical 2016 fashion, tumultuous for Nine Lives in every way. To say that we experienced some growing pains in 2016 would be quite the understatement. Subversivegrrl said something to me the other night that I wanted to share (with her blessing). She was speaking about her own writing, but I feel very strongly that what she said applies to Nine Lives as well. She said: “It’s a little like metalworking. After you whack at a piece of metal for a while, it gets brittle and you have to put it back in the fire for a bit so you can work it some more without shattering it.”


For me personally, this anniversary is bittersweet. Although my passion for Caryl has not diminished, I’ve stepped back from being a more active face of Nine Lives and a member of the Caryl community for my own mental and physical safety and well being. My stepping back allowed Ikkleosu and subversivegrrl to come forward together and bring a new energy to the Nine Lives Archive, one that I am incredibly proud of. Ikkleosu and subversivegrrl’s level of commitment - to Nine Lives, to Caryl, to each other as friends and teammates, to their fellow fans, to their own fandom works - is truly awe-inspiring. Point blank: we would not have Nine Lives today without these two ladies. We’re also incredibly blessed to have meeshie, our Chat Admin and Unofficially-Official tech goddess. Without her knowledge and her unending patience, so much of what we have on the archive wouldn’t be possible. I am continually honored and humbled to call these ladies my friends as well as my co-admins here. If there is a heart to Nine Lives, it’s the three of them.


The soul of Nine Lives is you. You brilliant, wonderful, talented, enthusiastic, inspiring people out there who decided to take a chance on this place. We have said it before and we will never stop saying it: You are Nine Lives. You are the lifeblood of this archive, of this communal haven we call home. Thank you for coming. Thank you for staying. Thank you for being part of us.


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All I ask from you today is to share what Nine lives means to you, either in the shoutbox or the comments below. Share with us why you came, what stories or events have tickled your fancy, and what your hopes and dreams are as we march headfirst into our 4th year. 


We’ve changed a lot - as individuals, as an archive, as a fandom - but we’ve learned a lot from those changes and I think that 2017 will show our archive moving forward in incredibly positive ways from the lessons of last year. I look forward to the growth and expansion of Nine Lives, not just as a website, but as a community family. There will be new challenges, new adventures and new stories to tell. I, for one, cannot wait to see what you and 2017 have in store.


That’s 3 years in the bag. Let’s see what 4 has in store for us!


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Much Love,


Fairies Masquerade



--Fairies Masquerade on January 24, 2017 2:17pm 2 Comments
Comments

Happy Birthday!  Its like a birthday every day when I come to this site and see what new gifts there are to open and read!  Thank you! Squee

- prtykty on January 24, 2017 3:49pm
Happy Birthday, NineLives! I love how committed all of you are to keeping the rest of us safe.

My absolute favorite thing about this site is how safe it is. And there's absolutely something for everyone. I love the categories so that we can find what we want to read. Personally, I love reading Season 3 and before, and being able to select that in the search options I get exactly what I want.

Also, I am so honored that you all have allowed me to make banners for y'all. I'm excited to share that with other artists this year.

I can't wait to see what 2017 brings Caryl and this site and all of the amazing Carylers that support one another!
- untapdtreasure on January 24, 2017 5:46pm