Looking for some advice...

I'm not sure if this is the right/best place to put this, but I need some advice.

With how often I've "disappeared" over the last 3 years I haven't done nearly as much with my one (and only) character, Abigail/Abby, as I would have liked. As of right now, she's a Hufflepuff first year, and though I have threaded her a bit and feel like I know her much better than I did when she was first sorted, I still feel like she needs to be threaded more and interact more with some new people before I age her up a year. Theoretically she should now be in her third year at Hogwarts, but, since I've been such an absent driver, she is still in her first year. Now that I'm finally updating her sheet, I'm not sure if I feel she's ready to be a second year yet (let alone a third year), but can I really just keep her as a first year and (sort of) start her year over again? I guess what I'm really wanting input on is if I should basically start her from scratch (as in make new connections/friends for her, keep her a first year for another year, and then age her up to a second year after) or just bump her up to a second/third year now (where she should be) and just change her sheet as necessary. Regardless of my decision, Abby needs new connections and her sheet desperately needs an update. I'm just not exactly sure how I should go about it, and what my options are. Am I still even allowed to do an EoT update at this point, if I was going to age her up a year? And do I even have the option to age her up more than one year at a time?

I hope I explained my thoughts clearly enough. Any opinions/thoughts from admin and members alike would be awesome.

Ageing up for more than a year requires admin approval, but I don't think anyone would have a problem with you making Abby a third year as long as you wrote in all of the relevant connections and updated the sheet to show the years that have passed. As for keeping her a first year... well I'd say that that's up to you? You'd definitely be starting her all over again. I'd suggest making sure you let any drivers that might have her in their sheets as connections know, but other than that I wouldn't have a problem with it. If she hasn't really changed and developed too much since you made her, then maybe starting her as a first year again isn't a bad idea?

Also, as people have mentioned to me, there has been a sudden influx of ickle firsties that you'll be able to have fresh connections with if you decide not to age her and simply update her sheet. Just mentioning.
/pleasedon'thurtmeadmins.

There are so many first years, this is true.
But the third year population at Hogwarts is also weirdly big. 1st, 3rd & 6th seem to be the busier ones at Hogwarts.

If I did make her a third year, I'd have to fish for a lot of connections (which hopefully wouldn't be overly difficult). If I kept her a first year, I could just start her from scratch and make connections/friends for her as I go (And, as Robyn pointed out, there is a TON of new firsties that she could connect with! ). Either way could be fun. She hasn't really developed enough through threads at this point to merit any real change, but obviously if I were to update her to a second or third year I would have to show some growth in her personality, etc.

Really though, when I think about it, it probably doesn't make sense for me to age her yet. She really hasn't developed as a person/student, which leads me to think that it would take more "work" to age her than is necessary/makes sense at this point. Plus I don't think it would end up being as fun for me in the long run, skipping those two years. So, if it's okay with everyone/the admins, I think I'll keep her a first year and start over. (I'm not even sure who, if anyone, has Abby in their charries sheets, so should I just post a note in my sandbox/shipper, letting everyone know?) Most of her sheet will stay the same, besides her first year history of course.

Thanks for your help Vannah and Robyn. <333

*double posts*

Yeah. So I guess if no other admins or anyone else wants to chime in, then this is solved, so to speak (and I can start asking for new connections?). Little Miss Abby is going to stay a firstie, and I'll update her sheet and resubmit it in The Sorting Hat? Will her post count stay the same, or will that be reset? And when I get her done (it should be tomorrow or the next day), is it still okay to post her in the BoT thread? And what about The Sorting Hat thread?

is it still okay to post her in the BoT thread? And what about The Sorting Hat thread?

Not an admin, but I would guess that since we are still in September playtime, both of these threads are still fair game.

1. Post count should be reset.
2. As long as you don't change much about her personality, she's going to stay a Hufflepuff, so the sorting thread wont be much of a surprise
But sure, feel free to post there and the BoT thread.

1. Post count should be reset.
2. As long as you don't change much about her personality, she's going to stay a Hufflepuff, so the sorting thread wont be much of a surprise
But sure, feel free to post there and the BoT thread.

1. Understandable. Wouldn't really makes sense otherwise.
2. It will still be fun to write a post and see what The Sorting Hat says about her, even though she will still turn out to be a 'Puff. (I've now gone through her whole sheet and the only thing I'm drastically changing is her history.)