Though I do not have Helga anymore (and I could kick myself for that) I'm so happy to see people from way back when rise from the ashes recently! Though I didn't really disappear from the RP scene here myself I have been chasing that old feeling ever since and I know that spark is still around somewhere :)
JENN! i feel the exact same way when i notice ppl from way back when still around!!! it's so nice to see folks (like you) still at it -- along with all the new ppl of course! but i know exactly what you mean about that old feeling, my friend Al ( @ababwa ) and i have been talking about it a lot recently (over discord).
tumblr's still great and everything, but i really do miss how everything was back then. there was sooo much activity, sooooo many creative and weird ideas, and plots that were so thoroughly developed and followed up on and lots and lots and lots of writing, like deep, 10+ threads every day that had ongoing plots and titles (rmr everyone was titling our threads just bc there were so many just for one partner??), everyone (like 80 blogs and more at once) sending a million asks a day back and forth, connected universes and timelines across accounts, and adventure chats where we all rp'd sound bites of our characters for like hours a day. obv we're all older now and life gets in the way but mannn. nostalgia bites back hard doesn't it!!!
it's NOT like there's none of that now -- don't get me wrong, there's still so much lovely things to see every day here. but i think you really had to be there to know just how much fun and communal tumblr rp was 2012-2016ish? and the best part about it was that it was so ... cringe but free ?? sometimes ?? there was no inferiority complexes about who has the best graphics / icons / themes and stuff because we all just had the same stuff and were all just super locked in on writing really deep threads and stories -- again, NOT like there's none of that here anymore. but there rly was a spark that i loved abt that era in particular that i'm trying to carve out for myself here and find again. :)
i knowww saying all that makes me sound like some old lady. it's not like back then was perfect at all (god knows how stupid the drama was too). but it's kinda like how ppl talk abt when tumblr was at its prime too bc it coincided with that era. to me, the scale and universality of how creative and active and writing-heavy tumblr rp was back then is something i haven't seen in any online community ever since.
i'm excited to see what this new world of tumblr rp has to offer tho. and i'm glad i still get to see ppl like you around having fun and chasing that spark. :3