Ozymandias

It's funny how things work out sometimes. One day can be just like any other day. You wake up, go to work, maybe get your usual from a sub shop nearby, go home and repeat. It's just how things go. But then there's the one day. The one day that is just different enough to bring something back to you.

I'll preface this by saying this isn't gonna be written in any particular structure. Also that it's been so long that I might not remember formatting stuff.

I'll be honest. It's pure chance that I'm even here writing this right now. There's no way I can crunch the numbers but the odds are that things would happen to cause this must be incredible. But I suppose this creates the need for an explanation as to why I'm even here.

At the time of writing, it's 12:14 AM on March the 5th, 2025. Only a mere hour before this I was chatting in a Discord server I sometimes hang out in. It's not related to this site or fandom at all. And yet the topic of discussion some how shifted towards forums. The thing that Discord itself kinda sorta killed. Or at least was an accomplice to the murder. That single word, forums, plucked a memory from my mind. A memory of something I hadn't even thought about in years. The memory of this site was as clear and as crisp as it could ever be.

Naturally, I mentioned it. Not by name but that I was pretty active way back in the day and how it was pretty much my primary online interaction while Facebook was still taking over everything else. It was then that curiosity got the better of me. I had to check. So many places have just gone offline so I thought that there was no way this was still a thing. Imagine my shock when i typed in the url and ended up looking at the front page that I remembered. Even more surprising to me was that I could still recognize a couple of the people making up the banner. Or even remember who a couple of the people who showed up in more recent posts were.

I clicked for a minute or two before I decided to try and log in. Surprisingly, it only took 3 or 4 attempts to get into my old account. Now logged in I could properly dig in and it got me all reminiscent and nostalgic. So I suppose that's the reason why I'm writing this. I was never the blog type of user but its somewhere I can just put down my thoughts. Maybe someone sees it, maybe they don't. It's going up either way.

It's actually funny how the only other two things I have under blogs are what they are. I even got a good ol' spelling error.

I had a good laugh at it though. Not making fun of it but the kind of laugh you have when remembering something terrible that happened a long time ago. For the purposes of this though, that terrible thing was just how awfully cringe I was. 2012 was a while ago now and the way people interact has certainly changed. Its funny to look back on it but I appreciate it for what it was nonetheless. So I'm not touching anything that was left behind. That stuff will stay up for as long as this site remains.

Now allow me to speak to anyone that's from back in the day that might see this or even recognize my username from way back when. I'm sorry. So very sorry. And I say that while chuckling to myself. Looking back I can definitely see myself as being seen by one of the "weird users." Or the type you respond to every now and then but have a general understanding that a certain amount of distance would be good. I may look back and cringe but I still have a fondness for it. I appreciate that I could even be that way. Even if it's just me being overly critical of my younger self. But good news folks, I got old. I can probably say I'm a lot more normal now.

Moving on to something other than just myself though. While I was clicking through and seeing stuff, I really got to thinking. The kind of thinking that will let me complain about those young whippersnappers nowadays. Boy do they have it rough nowadays. Things sure are different now. I just want say that I appreciate I could spend my time "growing-up" with this site as my primary online presence. Yeah I had Facebook but that was for family and I thought spending all day commenting on their posts was lame. This site and countless other forums offered a pretty safe place. The community was small and moderated pretty well. There were the forum rules and you didn't break them. Simple as that. Needless to say its a bit of a far cry from the endless bombardment of everything you get online now.

So to everyone involved from back in the heyday , both as site staff and users, thank you.

Now's the time I take a break from the topic of this site to further explain myself. I never was and never will be good at coming up with good titles for anything. It's just something I'm aware of. I picked the title of this on a whim. Not as a reference to Breaking Bad at all. I suppose the poem somehow crept its way into my mind. Believe me, I'm not trying to get deep and philosophical here but I guess it somehow fits. Not as a metaphor for this site itself though. Hear me out.

The poem speaks of this great king and his empire but there's nothing left but sand a broken statue. The kingdom is gone. But it's not gone entirely is it? There's a reminder of something that was once there. Something that was once great but has been lost to time. Without that statue there wouldn't be a reminder would there? Nothing saying "this was here." I kinda see this site as that. Not quite as something completely lost but a reminder of something of something that was great.

The brony fandom exploded in 2012. Its probably common knowledge but I know because that's around the time I signed up. It was incredible to have seen and I posted constantly when I had access to the internet to do it. But now the fandom has died down. Its still here but not as huge. This site serves as that statue to me. A reminder of what was once here. Of something great and something cherished. I can't really say how much joy seeing it still up brought me. Even looking at my own old posts. So for the sake of preserving a monument to fandom history, I hope this site stays viewable for a long time.

And now for some musings about life you're more than welcome to skip if you've read this far. I appreciate that you have.

Time is funny. No matter what, it goes on and you're just along for the ride with it. As far as I can tell, the last time I accessed this site was 2017. And even then it wasn't for any substantial period. Even then it's been 13 years since I joined. It's weird to think of all the stuff that's happened in that time. Way back then I was still in school. I didn't have a job or anything so posting was a lot of my time outside of class. I've since graduated from college.

I have no idea what I would have told you I wanted to do for a career 13 years ago but I doubt it would have been what I do now. A certified legal video specialist. Sounds real thrilling doesn't it? Surely gonna get a lot of clueless teens into the field on the name alone. Regardless, it's funny how you can end up doing something you never even had heard of at the time.

I said I was a weird user earlier. Maybe that's not true but it's what I think of myself. I was weird but I was definitely quiet in person. Unassuming and didn't bother putting myself out there. Since then I've done some work for commercials and even hosted three separate radio shows while I was in college. While I wouldn't say I'm really outgoing nowadays, I'm a lot more confident now. Still afraid of making a bad impression? Sure. But much more willing to go out there and do something now. I might as well be a totally different person than the one that was posting on this account all those years ago.

This is probably longer than anything I would have ever expected to post here. Maybe it's the time of night or maybe it's just the nostalgia talking but it's what I wanted to say. Part of me wants to hang around. Check in again and maybe post for old time's sake. I want to but well...life is funny like that. I guess we'll see what happens.

Lastly, to anyone still around who might actually be reading this. Shoot. Hey there! I never expect anything i do to get any attention so you're a pleasant surprise. But if you happen to be reading this far anyway, hit me up maybe. I'd say especially if you've got veteran status. Maybe you remember me and maybe I remember you! I'm still in the Discord for this site. Though I'm Rakman nowadays rather than the username this account is under.

Once again, I gotta say that I'm glad this place is still here. Don't know how often you guys hear it or see it but it means a lot to me.