Greetings. I hope you are all well. This e-mail is in regard to a chat room you used to visit (or that you still do, however infrequently, but I extend the courtesy to you as well); some of you as far back as 1997. Others more recently. Some of you came regularly, some of you popped up once in a blue moon. Others came and stayed for a time and left and came back and left, etc. A handful of you still even crop up once or twice a year. Some of you simply disappeared, for various reasons. Others of you said their farewells and simply left, and they have their reasons too. A few were more or less driven out due to certain circumstances. Now, I'm trying to keep this all as general and widely applicable as possible so I don't have to write several variants of this out, so forgive me the generalization and bear with me until I get to the core of the reason for this e-mail. 

SSU (previously known as and was part of Squaresoft Universe, and prior to that Terra's World of Square) is still around these days, some eight long years later. It has gone through many changes, of course, as all things do - it no longer has any affiliation with Squaresoft (nor Square-Enix) or video gaming or anything else, for that matter. It is, quite simply, just "SSU" now. A collection of we individuals who still frequent it. We do still have many of the same interests that were held back then, without a doubt. RPGs and anime and a myriad other things. But it's not specifically about those anymore, and it never wholly was for that matter. These days it's just about us and our friendship. I know, that sounds pretty cheesy. But it really is pretty much a second family for some of us, myself included. We're all busy with college or work or whatever else, but it's something some of us have held on to all this time, and it's left an enduring legacy of friendships for us. 

And I've been thinking about this for several months, and decided now's the ideal time to do it. Randofu (Ruser), who many of you may remember, is this week putting the finishing touches on the latest incarnation of the chat room, which is now handled in PHP. And, incidentally, it's a new year. How about that. 

So, what I'm leading up to is this: I'd like to invite you all back to SSU. There aren't any strings attached; you don't have to do anything special or commit to coming unless you want to. If you left on a bad note or simply faded out in the past, I assure you that you won't be ripped up and down for it and thrown back out. Which is to say that past "transgressions" and situations are forgiven; if you do something ridiculously offensive or mischievous in the present, it could happen again. I will say, however, that we're a lot more tolerant than we used to be as regards a lot of things, and I suspect we would be particularly so with you oldbies. 

I realize some of you will probably refuse, or simply ignore this message. That does sadden me a bit. I knew many of you and I do remember you fondly. I realize that some of you probably never knew me; I'm known as Janus and I've only been around since the summer of 1999. If you predate that and haven't been back since, well, there you have it. Anyway, regardless of whether you choose to come back, even just to say "hi" after all these years and decide not to stick around, I wish you all well. 

For those of you who do decide to come back, I can't guarantee a smooth transition into it, I can only say you will be welcomed. I would appreciate it if you tried, though. And for those of you who do wish to come back, or are simply interested in who still goes these days, here's a list of current regulars, in alphabetical order: 

Aaron (Bugenhagen, Gasperbu)
Armadillo (Gogo)
Carl [no, really, he's not just a figment of our collective imagination! He's real! REAL!]
Cascadius [the sister of Armadillo]
Cecil (of the Lunar Paladin variety, the one named Joe - there were two)
Dark Paladin [progenitor of Final Fantasy Battle and the Final Fantasy Collection website]
Driretlan [a friend of Armadillo]
Janus (myself)
Jester (Arthur, Crono)
K'van Cetre
Nadia
Piki
Psi-Amy
Randofu (Ruser)
Red Leader
Sraphos (Celes, Phosphene, Sraphim, Sraphene)
The Unknown Hero (Hero, Igtenos, Nall, Red XIII)
Vavalion (Edgar)

That said, I left off a few people who do turn up on rare occasion. The Man (Cecil), and Soul (Cid).

If you have any questions, do feel free to ask. I will respond to this e-mail or to janus@ssuniverse.com. This e-mail doubles as an MSN handle, and I can be reached by AIM and ICQ at NinjaJansu and 58912335 respectively. Thanks for reading and best wishes.