- Messages
- 20
Hey guys. Think I’ll go on a rant for old time’s sake.
You may remember me as the other Russian woman frequenting PIMI/CV. Or not. Tbh I have no idea how I may be remembered, if I am at all – it's difficult to gage how one may have been perceived by others online over a decade ago. I posted in this font. Ahh yess... 4400CC, never forget.
GW turned out to be lifechanging for me. I guess it did for many people, considering 20+ years later we’re still drawn together.
I joined in 2002. I was 12 but lied about my age, naturally. This was still pre-IRC, but people were using AIM and MSN messenger, I remember AIM chat rooms. Man that was fun. I was always looking for someone to chat with. Made a lot of good friends. Bit surprising, given how introverted I am now, including online.
My family were living in the US at that time, but in 2003 we had to move back to Belarus, where I’m originally from. It was a drastic and depressing shift. I wouldn’t say it was exactly poverty that we went back to, but life was definitely a struggle. Technology was behind what we were used to. Less comfort. Less living space. Lingering soviet mentality and customs in the people around us. It’s only recently I finally stopped having occasional nightmares about Belarusian school, god I hated it. More than anything, I wanted to leave Belarus, but it was impossible.
Meanwhile, I was obsessed with GW. The forums and my friends there were my main emotional outlet. Whatever drama was going on on GW seemed more real and important to me than my actual ‘real’ life, or at least I was happy to give it as much of my attention as I could, to avoid thinking about ‘real’ issues. Hey, better than self harm, right?
I remember the internet situation was so shit when we returned to Belarus, that we were still on 28.8k dialup. What’s more, it was exorbitantly expensive, with pricing changing depending on the time of day. I stayed up past 2 am to go online, because that is when the price dropped. The computer I used was an ancient laptop with a cracked lid.
I had a massive crush on one of my friends. He went through a stupid amount of names, I think one of his friends who was an admin (Mark?) would randomly change it – one of the ones that lasted longer than the others was Whore. Or Anti-Social Chocobo circa 2002. PIMI was his idea and creation. He’d take hiatuses from the forums and stopped being active probably around late 2000’s. Anyway, it was mutual. About 10 years after we met online as 12 yearolds, we met in person and eventually got married.
No, no saccharine happy ending to this epic love story, spanning across decades and continents – we divorced 5 years later. Nothing grim. We were just different people.
Fast forward to present day. I’m still in touch with some GW people via group chats / FB, although it mostly comes down to me lurking and dropping an occasional “congrats”. (Sorry about that). I live in Australia. I’m happy.
You may remember me as the other Russian woman frequenting PIMI/CV. Or not. Tbh I have no idea how I may be remembered, if I am at all – it's difficult to gage how one may have been perceived by others online over a decade ago. I posted in this font. Ahh yess... 4400CC, never forget.
GW turned out to be lifechanging for me. I guess it did for many people, considering 20+ years later we’re still drawn together.
I joined in 2002. I was 12 but lied about my age, naturally. This was still pre-IRC, but people were using AIM and MSN messenger, I remember AIM chat rooms. Man that was fun. I was always looking for someone to chat with. Made a lot of good friends. Bit surprising, given how introverted I am now, including online.
My family were living in the US at that time, but in 2003 we had to move back to Belarus, where I’m originally from. It was a drastic and depressing shift. I wouldn’t say it was exactly poverty that we went back to, but life was definitely a struggle. Technology was behind what we were used to. Less comfort. Less living space. Lingering soviet mentality and customs in the people around us. It’s only recently I finally stopped having occasional nightmares about Belarusian school, god I hated it. More than anything, I wanted to leave Belarus, but it was impossible.
Meanwhile, I was obsessed with GW. The forums and my friends there were my main emotional outlet. Whatever drama was going on on GW seemed more real and important to me than my actual ‘real’ life, or at least I was happy to give it as much of my attention as I could, to avoid thinking about ‘real’ issues. Hey, better than self harm, right?
I remember the internet situation was so shit when we returned to Belarus, that we were still on 28.8k dialup. What’s more, it was exorbitantly expensive, with pricing changing depending on the time of day. I stayed up past 2 am to go online, because that is when the price dropped. The computer I used was an ancient laptop with a cracked lid.
I had a massive crush on one of my friends. He went through a stupid amount of names, I think one of his friends who was an admin (Mark?) would randomly change it – one of the ones that lasted longer than the others was Whore. Or Anti-Social Chocobo circa 2002. PIMI was his idea and creation. He’d take hiatuses from the forums and stopped being active probably around late 2000’s. Anyway, it was mutual. About 10 years after we met online as 12 yearolds, we met in person and eventually got married.
No, no saccharine happy ending to this epic love story, spanning across decades and continents – we divorced 5 years later. Nothing grim. We were just different people.
Fast forward to present day. I’m still in touch with some GW people via group chats / FB, although it mostly comes down to me lurking and dropping an occasional “congrats”. (Sorry about that). I live in Australia. I’m happy.
) I did jump off a bridge last year though.
Shows how much random stuff can stick with us, I guess.
Sorry to say, but unfortunately it did not hang on any walls. Serious omission by past me.
