User blog:Sunshineandravioli/More Than One, Less Than Three

On this day two years ago- January 25, 2009- the TDI Fanfiction Wiki was a new and relatively small website that was just barely beginning to gain users. This day in particular, the little group of usual users- the ones we now know as the Wiki Vetarans- found a new fanfiction posted by an anonymous user. This anonymous user was modest to a fault, and quick to apologize about how new she was to the fanfiction business and how long the first chapter alone of her story was. Yet in spite of her insistance that she wasn't all that good (and certainly terrible at editing), her story became looked at anyways. Back then, that wasn't as much as a big deal, since there was maybe twenty stories on the site at the time. But what was notable was that the story was immediately showered with praise, with even the great being known only as Nalyd Renrut commenting under a heading that simply read "Amazing!" It became an instant classic and a groundbreaker for its time, being one of the first fanfictions on the site to be written in first person and to be a non-competition fanfic.

A few days later, the anonymous user, finding that she could only post pictures of her original characters if she was registered, created an account. From there, she would advance from an unknown to a household name, going on to accomplish many things: she competed in and won a season of Total Drama Author; she became the first female administrator on the wiki; she created many fanfics that were celebrated by the community; she became a well-known and revered artist; she became famed for being utterly unable to regularly update or complete a fanfiction.

That fanfiction was LIFE AS AN EX-REALITY TV SHOW CONTESTANT. And that user was me.

Two years.

It amazes me beyond belief that so much has happened to me here in just two years. Even after two years, I still look upon each positive comment on my stories' talk pages with a combined look of pride and utter confusion; still cheerfully bounce around people's talk pages leaving "love and ravioli"; still can't figure out how I won Total Drama Author 2; still happily accept requests for collaborations and fanart only to realize I have far too much to do; and above all, still can't finish anything other than a rediculously long one-shot. But, you know what? I wouldn't change any of that for the world. These past two years have been amazing ones, and I cherish both the friends I've made in this time and the ones that have moved on from the wiki in the time I've been here. I take pride in (most of) the fanfictions I've written, even though they're incomplete and, considering my awesome lack of focus, might never be finished (at least it gives me something to constantly aim for!). I love this wiki and everything about it. I just can't believe you've all put up with me for two whole years!! XD

All joking aside, the fact that I've hit my second wiki-versarry already just amazes me. I can still recall the day I decided to type out EX chapter one, still remember Owe and myself on computers for hours, racing to type up our fanfiction attempts the fastest (Owe, obviously, won by a landslide). I still look on the talk page and glance at the first few comments sometimes, especially that single one that made me realize, somehow, I actually can write: "I truly enjoyed reading this! Bravo! --Nalyd Renrut". When that was written, Nalyd still seemed a fearsome and legendary creature to me (we hadn't been in a camp together yet, honestly XD). I had read part of Total Drama Paradise and loved it quite a bit. I was very aware that everyone on the wiki held a combination of reverance and fear for him. So for him to both read my fanfiction and honestly like it was amazing. Even though I now know Nalyd is not quite so fearsome once you get used to him and have grown used to having him drop the occasional nice comment on my fanfictions, I still treasure that first comment, that first implication that I might actually have a shred of talent behind my inability to edit. The kindness and support I have recieved from everyone else on the wiki has only reinforced this further, has made me proud to be a member of this absolutely wonderful community.

To celebrate my two years, I thought I'd actually give you a gift rather than the other way around. That's right, guys- the long-awaited Chris McClean chapter of EX is finally up!! And only two years after the series premiere!! XD I hope you all enjoy it; I was certainly proud to finish it!

Now, what can y'all expect from me in my third year? Well, I hope to work on and possibly finish Total Sonic Island, which has gone far too long without any sort of update, along with EX chapters whenever I have an idea for a chapter (since EX doesn't have any one plotline, it's occasionally difficult for me to decide what to do with each chapter). I'll also be working hard on my collaborations, including Total Wikia Elementary, Total Wikia Pokémon, When Reality Becomes Too Real..., and possibly Summer if Codaa5 returns to the wiki again. (On that note, my hugest apologies to MTDM and Weblykinly for my lateness in my submissions for their respective fics, and the biggest thanks for their patience; as you can probably tell, I tend to get very busy!) I've also been toying with ideas for a few new fanfictions, one as a pseudo-sequel to TSI and one as a stand-alone fic. I don't have any cool logos that you can try to guess the titles from, but if you'd like to try anyways, I'll tell you that the initials are TDS and TDG respectively. No prizes, just bragging rights. XD

Here's to year three!!!