OK, couple of different things being talked about here. 1) Is this a family? I'd say it's the best kind of family. You can be a member or not. The family that raised me, I am stuck with, at least in the sense I can't honestly say, "They're no relation to me!" I've kind of separated myself from my family for a variety of reasons that would take much to much time to get into now. Instead, my family became those that actually supported me - my friends. I don't know a lot of you as well as I'd like, but I haven't come across anyone that I find utterly unpleasant to the point I don't want to deal with them. 2) What to do with this forum? I suppose the question is - what do we *want* to do with this site? What *can* we do with this site? What *should* we do with this site? Do we want to grow into some sort of non-profit organization that helps people? Some sort of "help with life" center? Or maybe a dating site, considering all the people that have gotten together here. Just kidding with that last suggestion, please don't take it seriously. As for me, I'm not sure. I think it has grown beyond just ponies sometimes, and I don't think that's bad, but I'm not sure where we should go. Perhaps we should get a list of ideas up, and vote on it. Hmm, has anyone talked to the administrator(s) about this? They just might want to have a say in this.
Yes, I believe this place is definitely a lot more than "just a forum." I actually posted my thoughts on this subject in a thread that was created about a month ago. Since only a portion of that post is relevant here, I didn't think I'd quote the whole thing or copy and paste it. I consider the Everypony community to be a second-family to me. In some ways, I'm closer to some of the members here than I am to my own family. This community has members that help other members with their problems. It has members that genuinely care for one another. The forum has also sparked off several online relationships that may eventually become IRL relationships. Just to name a few things. This community contains a diverse group of individuals all united by a cartoon about ponies. It may sound silly, but I don't care. We are a family of sorts. If I said I didn't think of some of the members here while I was off-line, I'd be a liar. I do think about many of the members here while I'm off-line, especially those I communicate with via Skype. When I first joined, my intention was to just discuss the show with others. I intended to only be a casual forum poster. Well, we know that plan backfired. I'm glad it did.
You bring up something interesting ePONY. Yeah, I also think of you guys even when I'm not online. Just wondering whether this member is writing a fic, or that member is okay with what they are going through. It's odd, but it just goes to show how much I love you guys.
