Happy Anniversary MLP! · 3:59pm Oct 10th, 2014
4 years.
It's been 4 years since MLP begun. Okay, given that I didn't encounter the fandom till April 2012, I suppose one could say it's only been two years. However, I think this is as good a time as any to say that this show, this fandom, changed my life for the better.
If three years ago you told me I would be a brony? A boy/man into My Little Pony? I would have laughed the hardest I probably ever would have. Heck, I was a little judgemental of the bronies too, but when I first saw the Derpy scene spread around the internet, I knew that the show was something special (even if I didn't want to admit it). I then watched a few episodes...and a few more... and a few more... and, well, you get the idea. I was so happy, I was utterly perplexed at how MY LITTLE PONY could be as good as the show I was watching. I loved the lessons, the humor, the charm and the passion behind every episode.
So then I started to do a little research and found the community was not only welcoming to me but was so honest and sincere, the likes of which was unheard of to me. Everyone didn't care about who or where they were, they wanted to make friends with the people that had such a passion for the same show!
Then ideas started hitting me. Not only hitting. Bombarding my mind. I found FiMFiction and saw a whole sub-community of great writers and an audience I could finally reach out to. However, I was still hesitant. I tested the waters with my first fic and even though it was filled with more errors than one could count, I found guidance from a few users, offering to make me a better writer.
And so I wrote. And wrote. I posted and smiled. Laughed as the stories I spent all my time on got no attention, while others which were written in a day almost reached the feature box. It was the start of something amazing. That isn't to say the fandom was all fun and games, for as it got bigger near the start of 2013, things started changing. People were a bit more apprehensive, Season 3 wasn't as good as the hyped built it up to be, everyone started to become bitter, and that's when I had my first burnout.
Truth be told, I'm not sure I ever recovered. I miss the old times when everyone was kind, but I suppose to community can remain the same for long. Everything feels...different. Not necessarily worse, just different, but for what this show, this community, the people I met and the friends I made? I wouldn't have had it any other way. It has given me the ability to connect to people around the world, start massive projects I never thought possible. Improve myself as a writer and get my passion to a whole audience, be it one or one thousand people.
You, the readers, have made my life better in a couple of years than decades have. You have made me smile, improved me, built me up and held me there as I worked to become better. You, the one reading this, have contributed and changed my life in more ways than one.
I'm not sure how long I'll stay, how long this fandom will stay. But I guarantee you this. As long as I have words to put on a page, to make you smile, laugh or even cry. I'll be here. I'm here to talk to, here to write tales that you (hopefully) enjoy. I'm able to do this because of you.
I will never forget these couple of years and the, I hope, many years to come. Keep on smiling alright? The world needs you. Now if you excuse me, I have a story to finish.
-Deathscar
Reading blog-posts like this one are fun; hearing how another person found his/her trek into the fandom. Everyone have their own introduction.
Indeed. Even if I'm just here as reader, I can only agree.
You keep on smiling too, and here's to some more pony!
It might have changed a bit as it's growing, but it's still a great community to be part of.
All the best!
M
2524753 Thank you!