August 19, 2017 - 10:48pm — Wendingo
I discovered The Endless Forest when I was ten, and yesterday I turned eighteen.
Looking back on it, I realize this game has had an enormous amount of influence on me. When I saw this kooky looking deer game when I was ten, of course I didn't think I'd still be here after all these years. I'd pop in every so often for the pure nostalgia of it, and to admire how beautifully creative some of you were--
--and continue to be...really, I mean it, so many players on here shake down my expectations of writers in general. You are all a stellar lot.
TEF has stayed with me through periods of discovery. I've gone through a lot of phases to figure out who I am now, which is a gay trans man--and the foreboding that came with coming out never really happened with TEF. This community has always been kind to me, even when I was a wayward kid getting my gary-sue OC tangled in the plotlines of others.
In fact, I've always found that TEFc is mostly understanding, and I really cherish the ability to grow in it--I know some of you in contrast find it downright stifling, but I'm not joking when I say this is by far the most pleasant website I've been a part of in terms of user-base. My sense of creativity was nourished here.
It gets testy sometimes (as anything does,) but I've never been on another website that has grown up with me to adulthood. Period. I can commit to something that does that for me, regardless of what happens.
TEF taught me to think outside of the box in all kinds of ways and I can definitely say it's rewarded me--in friends, writing, and general enjoyment. My margins in middle and high school were filled with whimsical human-faced deer and the characters I had seen around the community that I enjoyed. Even through my absences on this site, I couldn't tear the concepts it gave me out of my mind. Here was a forest that celebrated creation, character-building, and constant ingenuity, something that vastly appealed to me.
In fact, TEF was absolutely fantastical when I first discovered it. I remember walking around the forest during Halloween over and over again, just marvelling at the beauty and sounds of this game, and how anything in it could change at a moments notice. The huge, artistic plotlines of those like Iaurdagnire and Verve seemed magical. Getting my character peacocked for the first time by Tisority was outstandingly funny to me. My first Abio felt absoloutely jaw-dropping in terms of how intriguing it was.
The consequence is that this game will have a permanent haunt in my psyche. I dream of fantastical worlds where our realities don't apply and dreamlike forests like this flourish. There's an impression on almost every aspect of my art and writing in some little form, some how, and I have the feeling it's going to stay.
So thank you, TEF. Thank you to the community. I can confidently say my creative bursts would have dulled out from how rocky the road to adulthood was if I didn't have this one thing, this one little world where none of my problems existed. Sometimes it was good to escape for a little bit.
So here I am still. Eighteen, about to be on my own, which is bringing a perspective on life I had never had before. And this little jewel of a game is still here with me. I can't wait for what the future brings.
Finally, of course, thank you to all of the new friends I've made and old friends I've kept when I returned a few months ago--you're all amazing and I'm glad to know you.
wrote this on no sleep CLUTCH GAME STRONG so if there's mistakes um that's probably why lmao
♥♥♥
May the force be with you!
you're so good.. Thanks for
Thanks for sticking with us for so long and making our days brighter.
(No subject)
♥!!
man you and I are on the same
I'm really glad you stuck around and this place has meant so much to you, happy belated bday <3
tysm guys! also @phantom
also @phantom YES that's the mood exactly I love birthday musings
made by foxofthestars!
Happy belated birthday! I'm
I'm so happy to see stuff like this posted. I think it's easy to take the good things in life for granted sometimes, so this is a nice reminder to appreciate all the wonderful bits and pieces that make up TEF and its community.
(No subject)
Happy Birthday! I love
ayy happy birthday ♥
Giving this a gentle bumppp
"I mean it, so many players on here shake down my expectations of writers in general. You are all a stellar lot."
"In fact, I've always found that TEFc is mostly understanding, and I really cherish the ability to grow in it--I know some of you in contrast find it downright stifling, but I'm not joking when I say this is by far the most pleasant website I've been a part of in terms of user-base. My sense of creativity was nourished here."
Every community has problems, but it's our job to make it a better place anyways. :<
made by foxofthestars!
(No subject)
♥!!!