A Long Time Coming

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As of today, September 19th, 2021, I've now been part of the Random-ness Wiki (former Wikia/FANDOM one and now this one) for 10 years.

Ten years.

While this is my 10th anniversary, this will also be my last "official" day here as I am retiring from the wiki as a whole. Despite everything and how long it's been, I've never actually straight up announced a leaving (well, a long-term one anyway, lol). So...yeah, that's happening after all these years.

But before I go into what happens next, I want to go back. Back to where it all began. Specifically, I want to talk about my history here and how its affected my life. So let's begin.

The Big Life Section

I was 11 years old. There was a lot of change going on back then (starting a new school and such) and I was trying to deal with it all. At school, I was considered a "weird" kid for a lot of reasons (the big one being that I'm autistic) so while I did eventually make friends, it was kinda rough even if I didn't want to admit it at the time.

At the same time, I was around The Internet. I hung out around wikis and online games, and was briefly in a wiki community years prior. However, that didn't last long as my parents found out about it and forbade me from it (honestly it was for the best; I was wayyy too young for that). So it was back to lurking about wikis, not really being a part of any, to my knowledge.

I watched Phineas and Ferb, pretty much since it started. My interest in the show led me to the Phineas and Ferb Wiki, where I edited here and there. I think I commented on the blogs too? In any case, I liked checking the place.

I was lurking about as usual when I came across a link to the Random-ness Wiki on there. It was spun-off from the P&F Wiki, considered the P&F Fanon Wiki's sister wiki. The wiki's purpose and general vibe really spoke to me. Whether I was aware of it at the time or not, I really wanted to find another community, one I could actually get into and be a part of (I love wikis around shows and the like don't get wrong, but I wasn't really good at editing them haha).

Also they had a "List of Old People" page and Plankton wasn't already on there but Mr. Krabs was??? Smh.

So my first contribution was a stock pose of Plankton. This one, actually.

And that, is where it all began.

Throughout those years, I became a part of the community. I co-created The Bunker, which still lives on in my heart, and eventually even became an administrator and bureaucrat. And because of the friends I made along the way and everything, I went onto new platforms with those friends beside me and became the person I am today.

It's genuinely hard to imagine where I'd be if I didn't join RNW. I wouldn't have met the people that I did and those people, from RNW or afterwards, shaped me into who I am. Maybe I would have eventually realized the things I know now later on, but because of RNW and the people I knew, I knew those things much sooner than I likely would have, and for that alone I'm eternally grateful.

So eleven years later, I'm now 21. Everything is different. Graduated high school, worldwide pandemic, huge shifts in my relationships... Some of it has been good, but some of it hasn't been so good, either. That's life for ya. And man, things really are different.

And even before 2021, things had already changed quite a bit on RNW alone. A whole new community (one I rather haphazardly returned to if I may be honest...), and now a new website. It's not the same place I knew in 2011, but that's okay. Things are supposed to change.

I tried my best when I could with the newer community, but truthfully I wish I did better than I did. I made mistakes with some of y'all, and while I apologized for the bigger ones and tried to fix them, I will reiterate that I truly am sorry for my carelessness back then. None of you deserved that.

Despite everything that has happened, RNW means so much to me, which is why it's taken me as long as it has to officially retire and continue forward with my life. But like all things, this chapter of my life has to come to an end. I wish it was ending with a bigger life change, but I think closing it on my tenth anniversary will suffice.

What happens now?

Like I said above, I'm retiring. That means after today I will no longer involve myself with the wiki or its community, including the Discord. I *might* check on the place every now and then, but otherwise...Yeah. It's up to you all now to keep it going. But I believe in y'all!

As for me, I will continue living my life and doing Things. If you know where to find me, you're welcome to follow me at those places. Just, please be respectful :p. I have a lot of things in mind for the future and I'm really excited to start/continue on them! But I'm getting ahead of myself, haha.

So to anyone reading, I just want to say thank you. The community may be very different from when I first joined, but you all have kept the spirit of RNW alive over the years, especially after the original place's deletion earlier this year, and I'm truly grateful for it. I've talked to the original creator of RNW twice over the years and when I did, she was very happy that the place has lived on past her time and has changed people's lives like mine for the better. I think she would still be happy about that now.

And if anyone from the olden times (2011-2015?) is reading this, I would also like to say thank you to you too. You were an important part of my life and while things are...Extremely different now, for better or for worse, I sincerely don't regret ever meeting you and letting you into my life. Maybe that sentiment isn't shared, and that's okay. But nonetheless I want to make it clear that everything we did together, whether it was writing pages and projects like The Bunker, goofing off in the Wiki Chat, and hanging out on different platforms over the years, meant something to me. And it has and will continue to mean something for a very long time.

So, from the bottom of my heart…

Stay weird,

stay kind,

and stay random.

And once again,

Thank you. For everything.

Signing off, AwesomeCartoonFan01 (ACF) // Ace

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