Something of a last word from me to you guys.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

It's no secret that a lot of people have been moving on from the forum. I'm not here to make a big gesture of leaving (although I kind of...am?) but rather I'm intending on parting with a good farewell to this community. Call it something of a catharsis, but I feel like since this website and the people who I interacted with on it had such an impact on my life I feel like it wouldn't be right to just fade away quietly. If I'm closing off this chapter, I'm closing it with a neat little bow - at the very least for my own sake. Y'see, the main reason I'm doing this whole thing is because I'm on a bit of a weird trip down memory lane, and while I was at it I decided to use The Wayback Machine to look at this site in its early days, around the time I joined up. While I was doing it I kind of got into this uneasy "jesus-christ-its-been-almost-5-years" state. So after a little while of sitting in that fun little state of existential dread I kind of came to a decision.

I'm gonna own this feeling. I'm gonna confront it and let it pass on my terms. So...here goes.

When I joined up here, I was a very different person to who I am now. I was naive, unfocused and frankly kinda stupid. Y'know, typical 15-year-old stuff. This was back when the community was in it's big upswing and it was everywhere. I didn't know what I wanted to do back then, I never ever thought about it. But over the course of about a year, posting my music here, talking to other producers, listening to their music, participating in projects..I kinda decided on a direction.

MLR is part of what convinced me to go to University. Which in itself has been a pretty crazy ride (it took me all the way to LA). If I hadn't started watching a cartoon in 2011, got interested in its electronic music scene, decided that I wanted to buy FL Studio, become a musician, and joined a dinky lil forum about mlp music in 2012, I would probably not be where I am in life right now. Looking back on it it seems like the most unlikely thing, but that's where I am and how it happened. Call it fate I guess.

But I guess one of the most important things this website gave me was a sense of community at a point in time in my life where I really didn't feel like I had that. I grew as a person on this website. And even if I don't really care much for MLP or the fandom anymore, that's something important. I'm leaving this site different to the way I entered it; for the better.

Profoundly, to the people I've interacted with on this forum, the ones who left long ago, the ones I butted heads with, the ones I became friends with, the ones who listened to my problems in the venting thread, gave me advice in the review threads, and the ones who are still here hanging on and reading this.

Thank you.

[ExoBassTix]

Thank you too man! It's been great having you around. And I really love reading this from you. Frankly, I believe that most everyone who stuck around here has had a lot from MLR in regards to learning about life's rules and exceptions, developing the self. So it's really cool to read into the details of what it meant for you! :)

All the best, Mr. BigBagelBoggle. You rock.