but a lot of that was also fighting and wars and so on and that's not my thing; I'm not sorry to have avoided that.

It was a real bummer. I thought we were all here to have tons of fun and then people started being super mean about petty things.

Regarding your friend, and how it has opened up some conversations that you wouldn't have had otherwise, that's one thing I've loved about the fandom. I've become friends of sorts with so many different people that I would have never talk to otherwise. It's opened up my world. I really look forward to hearing your friend's reactions as she continues on with the show. Be sure to keep us posted! Maybe she'll even end up on LJ! :)