Yes, this! I made some of my best friends on Yahoogroups as a teenager. I felt SO alone in the world before I found out that my fandom has a whole ass community online, and it was truly magical to feel seen for the first time.
It regrettably did get toxic. And I really hope we can avoid that here, but it won’t be without intentional effort.
Aww, he reminds me of my two Maine Coon brother cats who I had to let go when they were 14. (One died from cancer right after their birthday, the other died from kidney disease not quite a year later. He never was quite the same without his brother.)
I am so sorry for your loss. He really is a beautiful cat. Magestic kitty bois are best kitty bois.