Linda

[trip]

As several of you already know from Facebook, our Linda Rhaldeen  has passed away. I'm sure I don't have to tell you about the enormous impact Linda made on this community in her long years as a member, or the enormous impact she made on those of us who love her. In fact, if you're willing, I'd love for you to tell me anything you have on your mind about Linda. 

All of us on 667 Dark Avenue have known Linda, some more closely than others, some for over a decade. Many of us were greeted by her on our first day here, many of us participated in events she organized and read her fanfictions and 667er columns. Linda was present, and passionately so. This will be, and already is, a difficult thing to cope with. My inbox will be open to anyone who needs to talk, and of course you can say anything you need to below. 

It seems an understatement to say that Linda will be missed, but God, will she ever be missed.




If you are able, and want to give ease to Linda's family at this time, a YouCaring page, linked below, has been set up to aid them with medical expenses. Additionally, I'll be looking into an avenue through which to send them a card or letter, and if you want to contribute a few lines, please PM me.


YouCaring page benefiting the family of Megan Howarth

[Esmé's meme is meh]

I met Linda shortly after I arrived to 667, and since the beginning she was incredibly welcoming. I remember taking part of one of the videochat thingies a few weeks after I got here, and she was really nice introducing everyone (most of them dear friends nowadays, like Nicole or Sophie).

I always felt identified with her, especially with how hard she worked. Not only doing her job irl: she was, like me, a volunteer in multiple organizations and causes, from the Asexual community of her city to her religious group, where she gave a very important feminist perspective. She worked so hard on everything she did, not only work related: every Summer she would make sure 667's Big Brother would be a success, even if she had to disguise herself as a quirky housemate and spend hours pretending to be someone else to have enough people in the game and make a fun twist by the end of the competition. I'm so, so, so happy to have shared that experience with her as co-host, we had a lot of fun planning everything and then making it happen. She took it mad seriously and would make schedules to make sure everything was perfect.

Also, Linda worked A LOT of extra hours to get enough money and go to NYC just to meet me last year. I never imagined she could be so tiny, but she was! We met in a subway station, she kept telling me she was there but she wasn't, then she randomly found Sophie on the street (what are the odds). One of those days we went to see a musical together (one I've loved for years and she didn't know but ended loving too) and spent a lot of time with Sophie guessing the gender of the squirrels and petting dogs. I have videos and pictures I'll share with you asap.

We shared many common interests other than ASOUE: we both loved musicals and spent a lot of time talking about that. We also loved Doctor Who and we both had our 13th Doctor cosplay we planned on using together some day. I'm so sad she won't be here to see the female Doctor... I know how excited she was about that.

Linda used to react and comment to most of my posts on Facebook, showing her love, care and interest. She was an incredibly smart and intelligent person, and also had a great level of Spanish, being able of understand most of the stuff I wrote not using Google Translate. She always encouraged me, made me feel loved, smart and important, and I hope I made her feel the same way because she definitely was.

One of my favorite moments with her is when we decided to censor Bear's nickname to "wet blanket" on Big Brother to punish him for something silly he did that I forgot now. Even when you were an asshole sometimes, bear, multiple times we talked about you for different reasons and she really liked you and had fun with you. She was so potato ing funny and loved to make those stupid jokes and laugh and make others laugh as well.

She loved cats and animals in general. She knew how much I loved my dog Colitita and she was extremely present and attentive when Colitita unexpectedly died this January. Linda sent me a penguin Christmas card just after I joined 667, barely knowing me. The funny thing is the year after that, when we were good friends already, she sent me the same penguin Christmas card with a different message handwritten, so I bet she had like one hundred of those at home. I never got to answer those and I regret it deeply.

Damn Linda, I didn't cry this much in a long, long time, and I can't stop crying every time I remember things about you and realize you won't be there to make me laugh, recommend stuff or just make me feel better about life. You were so brave, you overcame so many things and you were so strong and good... I'll miss you terribly and I'll never forget you.

Wherever you are, I hope you're cuddling with Noel and reading Daniel Handler's mind to know more about ASOUE's universe than us, because of course you'll find a way to read his mind. I love you immensely and you taught me so much about myself not even knowing it. I hope someday I can be as good, generous, compassionate, patient and noble as you were.

[Songbird]

I've been on this forum for over 10 years. I never thought I would ever have to say good bye to one of our own so soon.

Linda did so much for the forum, and so much for humanity in general. She was such a kind person and really just wanted to make a difference.

I really regret that I didn't get the chance to meet you when you were here in New York. I am thankful for all the hangouts we had together playing Cards Against Humanity. I remember how no matter how dramatic I was during my high school years, you never said a single negative thing and always tried to make others feel better. I'm sorry we didn't have more time with you and I am really going to miss you.

[Snicket]

I heard the news a while ago through Facebook and I've been incredibly sad...

I loved reading her posts on 667 - especially everything she wrote for The 667er - because she had such a great (and dark) sense of humor. I think a lot of people in the early days of 667 were going for that sort of dark humor style reminiscent of the books - but Linda really, really nailed it. I'm super thankful for her History of 667 column for reminding me of so many things I had forgotten. From what I've observed, she had a great memory and she was quite the mathematical genius as well.

A few years ago, we added each other on Facebook and I came to know more about her through her posts. It was there that I really came to understand the passion she had for activism. She is so inspiring...

I live in a very conservative area where social justice issues are of very little concern and much ridicule. In the past, I wouldn't speak out much about my views on these topics - or do much in the way of standing up for friends that faced bullying, harassment, or unfair treatment out of fear that I would become an outcast in some of the organizations I work with.

After seeing the work Megan had done in her (also conservative) town, though, I was inspired to set aside my fears and start speaking out, attending protests, and working with and promoting political and social justice oriented groups in my community.

Only a week or two ago - she was live blogging season 2 of ASOUE through Facebook. Due to my work schedule, I've only been able to sit down and watch a couple of episodes of the season so far - but her posts definitely got me hyped and made me laugh so, so much.

She was such a remarkable person and I will miss her dearly...

[Liam R. Findlay]

She was a prominent member of this community, which is a special, unique network made great by passionate and thoughtful people like her.

[B.]

Although I didn't know Linda very well these past few years, I best remember her as someone who made a wonderful contribution to this forum in everything she did. The earliest memories I have consist of her orchestrating the 10th anniversary celebrations, and advising me how to put together an anniversary edition of The 667er. She worked tirelessly on The 667er throughout all the years it ran for, she organised Big Brother every summer and made it such a fun and wonderful experience. She was a big part in all the hangouts, fan fiction, competitions, controversy, drama and other shenanigans I have such fond memories of from years ago. She once told me not to be scared of getting a blood test when I was 13, something which I think meant a lot at the time given that I still remember it all these years later. She was such a unique member of this community in that she made such meaningful contributions to both the social side of 667 and the snicket-orientated side.

She liked a post of mine on facebook only a couple of weeks ago, and was such a constant presence on there, raising awareness for the causes she cared about. I can't believe she will never post here again, she will be very dearly missed.

[Violent BUN Fortuna]

I really didn't know Linda well, so I won't take up much space on this. I just wanted to say that she was always nice to me. Always. I'm sorry I didn't know her better, but my memory of her will always be that she was a very kind person, and that, I think, is a wonderful legacy. I'm so sorry she's passed away.

[katekor]

I'm really sad to hear about Linda. I've been around here for over a decade, and of course, Linda was happily a constant presence. I'm really bad at participating in online life in general, and I'm especially bad at remembering to check up here, but Linda remembered me and asked me to be a Big Brother contestant in 2016. That silly little contest was by far the highlight of my summer, and it was so wonderful to get to hang out with her and old friends again, while also meeting new-to-me folks like Zort and Trip. I regret falling off the deep side again after that, because I think the last time I talked to her was towards the end of 2016. I loved following her facebook posts, since she had such a weirdly unique but similar life trajectory to mine, and she always inspired me to be true to myself (we both come from almost cult-like religions that are quite anti-feminist and anti-LGBTQAI+).

I'm so sad, and I'm so sorry for those of you that were especially close with her. So much love to you all.

[Hermes]

Linda was the first person ever to win Most Compassionate, and she was incredibly deserving of it. She was a real friend to us all: in all our time here I don't think I have ever seen her be unkind to anyone, even in what were sometimes very trying situations.

She was also the first person to win Best Organiser, and the second (and I think the third as well?), for a different thing each time, and she really put her stamp on that award. The amount of work she did for this community is staggering, and had a massive impact in the way it helped to hold us together. People have already mentioned a lot of the things she did, but I want to highlight especially he anniversaries, both the tenth and the thirteenth, where she not only organised the whole event, but put in an immense amount of work researching 667's history for the timeline.

I did not know her as well as some of you, but I still feel her loss. All my sympathies to those who were close to her.

[Skelly Craig]

I never really thought I'd hear about the passing away of a 667er, and much less so one as important to the forum, even though I wasn't esp. close to Linda. I keep 667 and my fb separate, so I only knew her from here, but I did participate in a couple google hangouts with Linda, of which I have fond memories. We weren't always on the same wavelength, but I still felt included by Linda from the time I joined here in 2012; I loved the experience of the one and a half Big Brothers I participated in, that she organized and invited me to. I remember a recent post of hers making me laugh (the one about the sugar bowl) in our discussions of the newest ASoUE season, which I'm glad she still got to enjoy. Any and all future collective forum activities--to which she was always such a big contributor--will miss her voice.

I'd like to express my condolences to all 667ers and real-life family and friends who were close to Linda.

[Grace]

I don't know anyone from this website IRL, but I think I liked almost every post she made. She was so, so positive and kind, always. I'm actually getting emotional because she was such a notable presence, and such a good one. She was one of the only people I remembered from back when I started on this forum (at about 10). To say she'll be missed is an understatement.

[Esmé's meme is meh]

I know Trip already said it on her original message, but please, those who can spare at least a few dollars, make a donation to help Linda's family to deal with the medical expenses. She spent some days on ICU so I assume it's a lot of money they will need, and everything helps. Instead of buying some drinks this weekend, a new game or a nice book, help Linda's family as she would have helped any of us without a doubt.

www.youcaring.com/meganhowarth-1170541

[pepper]

once a long time ago linda and i were talking about our cats and i asked her why mine hated me so much, i’m not sure why but her telling me to call them he and her instead of it has stuck with me to this day and i can remember moments where i made a point to do that specifically. that was probably the last time linda and i talked that wasn’t me being an asshole and arguing with her about stupid things.

i always appreciated her loyalty and contribution to 667.

[Liam R. Findlay]

The netflixasoue fan account on Instagram has kindly shared the YouCaring page with their followers.

[Esmé's meme is meh]

That's amazing. Thanks Liam!