Fillyfoolishization and a Thanks Overdue · 5:43am Aug 29th, 2019
Hello, dear friends and fellow nerds!
’Tis I Transanity Fillyfoolish! Yes, yes, I’ve changed my name. What a tragedy, I know – if it’s any consolation, it’s basically the same name now, just 20% gayer.
Thus commences the Fillyfoolishization, in which I sell out and rebrand towards Raritwi fluff. And serious Raritwi, and Raritwi comedy, and the ocassional Sunlight or perhaps Rarishimmer. Diversity is magic!
But the fillyfoolishization is something deeper than a marketing ploy; it is an earnest attempt to reflect on who I was and who I am. Oh, and also a marketing ploy to get people to read my fics by updating my profile to match the pony I've become.
Looking back on my fimfiction journey, I'd like to thank my dear friend fourths. For those who don't know her, fourths is a wonderful horse of a human with an undeniable kindness and authenticity. For those who do know her, fourths is also all of those adjectives, and you can testify to that fact. I met fourths before the dawn of Friendship is Magic, and we reconnected years later over our shared love of horse. So, though I've been in the fandom since Season 2, I only grew involved with the fanfiction community a few years ago. With fourths' love and support, I joined fimfiction and published my first story -- a story which I cringe to remember now, of course, but which I have retained online for posterity ("What posterity?" "Quiet, you."). fourths was my earliest fanfiction supporter and first fimfiction follower. Shameless plug for y'all to follow her and read her fics; you won't regret it.
Reflecting on my life journey over the past seven years, my world has turned upside-down time and time again. I've made some of the biggest decisions of my life to date, and thousands of the smallest. The person I was when "A Canterlot Wedding" aired would not recognize me if she met my present self. My life has changed in virtually every aspect, and I have grown tremendously. Yet throughout the chaos, pastel horses have been a constant.
Though I must confess, when I joined the fandom, my friendships were scarce. Although some find the friendship lessons of the first two seasons to be heavy, for me, at the time, they were rays of hope. As I grew and wrestled with me, myself, and the universe, these pastel ponies have reminded me to keep honesty, generosity, kindness, loyalty, and laughter at the forefront of my heart.
Years later, as I warmed up to the promised magic, I made friends both inside and outside the fandom. Today, many of my closest friends are bronies and pegasisters, including fourths and multiple meatspace horse pals. I'm blessed to surround myself by such wonderful ponies and humans (and Equestria Girls...?), embracing love and friendship in a world that brushes off magic.
And so, for years as "Transanity", fimfiction was a vehicle to read and to share the rawest stories of my heart and the hearts of friends and strangers alike. My "Read" list contains everything from Raritwi to Sunlight to Sciset to Rarishimmer to.... Okay, you get the point, I'm shipping trash. All stories that have made me smile, like the wonderful authors who shared them.
A few of these stories are worth special shout-out, like "Dash's Secret", a wonderful trans fic that inspired my first storydump to the site. There's fourths' "Flowers for the Leading Mare", a fluffy one-shot that shows not every 2k fillyfooling romance hits the tropes. And of course, I would be violating my contract with the Monochromatic chat if I didn't plug The Enchanted Library, objectively the best horsewords in existence, a story I thoroughly enjoyed in a not-so-enchanted university library. ("Using school facilities to read gay fanfiction?" "...and?" "blinks" "It was professor-approved, don't worry." "You told a professor you were reading gay fanfiction in the university library?" "Of course. Don't you?")
These stories -- and hundreds I could not hope to list here -- have been my lifeblood. I'm grateful to cherish these stories, and so grateful to the authors for sharing them.
On the note of thanksgiving (but it isn't October yet!), I'd like to thank someone you will recognize as Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, or that OC in the corner. You know who you are and why you're here, so thank you for your role in my fanfiction journey and beyond.
Overall, I feel the horse girls and I grew up together. It's bittersweet, then, that Friendship is Magic is finishing up its final season, following the final BronyCon and the final Equestria Girls special. It's wonderful to see the show of my dreams find closure, but where does this leave me? Must I leave as it leaves me?
Without all of you, maybe I would have to. By stats alone, my fillyfoolishization is late in fandom; it's easy to wonder, are my future stories in vain? Alas, the girls with the hooves offer an answer:
Things may come and things may go,
Some go fast and some go slow,
Few things last; that's all I know.
But friendship carries on through the ages
And soon, while the episodes and the stories may come and go, the friendships we forge in the fandom are forever. Thank you, mis queridas, for your friendships in my life. Also for the gay horses. But mostly the friendship. But also the shipping.
Love,
~Your friendly local fillyfooler
Woop!
Good write up!
Shine on.
Press Fillyfoolish to pay respects.