[FFML] Farewell Old Friend...

[the DragonBard]

I look upon the news of this list ending with some sorrow.
I joined back when this, and the Anime Highway were the primary method of getting your anime fanfiction fix.  I'd been something of a fan, having grown up on Battle of the Planets (yeah, I know, I know) and the rarely caught rerun of Robotech, as well as Transformers and similar.  Not even Voltron.  It helped me get into anime and manga, and helped me take some small steps into writing.  I'd just started taking some college courses (I've never graduated, and it's been over 25 years since, as I never found the field I wanted to really study, and now too busy with work to make the time)  I greatly enjoyed several fan fics that have since vanished from the internet, and that I barely remember.  I jumped for joy when Metroanime's Bet was waged, and the stories were continued.

Now, I'm a 45 year old man, I lost my father to a heart attack just over a year ago.  Just seems like another piece of my past is fading into the ether.

Great, now I'm feeling melancholy, and I 'don't' need help doing that. 🙁

________________________________
From: ffml <ffml-bounces+dragonbard=hotmail.com at chez-vrolet.net> on behalf of Benjamin A. Oliver <benjamin.a.oliver at gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, April 5, 2021 4:47 PM
To: ffml at chez-vrolet.net <ffml at chez-vrolet.net>
Subject: [FFML] Farewell Old Friend...

Since the ancient Super-Dimensional Battle Fortress FFML is to be
decommissioned on July 1st, 2021, a final message and thank you,
before the FFML cannon is charged and fired one last time to defeat
the invading aliens as they seek modern-culture.  Will there be
fleet-destroying singing by an off-key dubbed voice actress, I wonder?

To the list at large: Farewell, old friend.  I gained confidence as a
writer by posting my admittedly inane/insane plotlines to the point
that not even I could keep them straight.  I always loved getting the
feedback I did, even if I never found the time to properly
reciprocate. (Looking at you, Abdiel!  Thanks again.)

I'll regret never finishing and posting what I had in the works when
the list was in its heyday.  I was too young to have fought in the
revengefic wars, too old to have gotten into some of the other
fandoms.  Too busy with RL to finish anything.  Ah, a life--how many
of us thought we would never have one!  Much less a life in which one
plays My Lovely Daughter at midnight on weekends to process and deal
with complex feelings toward parenthood.  Aaaaanyway....

Thanks to all those who wrote inspiring, thoughtful, or just plain
bizarre stories that due to copyright and trademark they could never
hope to profit from, but wrote them anyway.  My heart definitely had a
home here for a long time.

Final plugs for stuff that I wrote a long time ago (thanks, Larry F,
for keeping it up longer than any sane man could!):
http://florestica.com/boliver/index.htm

The awesome webcomic that my list friends and I worked on but couldn't
keep up (seriously, there's some great pages drawn by Esa and a fun
sprite comic by Chesu):
http://nettg.com/

I raise a metaphorical glass to our dreams, the past, and what might
have been.  To us!  To all of the ones who worked to make it happen!
And the readers who read and actually liked what we wrote!  Or even
just read it.  That itself is heartwarming.  And maybe a little
disturbing.

And a toast to the many explosions!  Lots of explosions.  Good times.

So long, everyone, and thanks for all the ArbyFish!  And the
Chickenball award, thanks for that one.  (Only won one of those
because DB Sommer's vote got split that one time.  Meh, I'll take
whatever wins I can! ^_~)

--
Benjamin A Oliver
benjamin.a.oliver at gmail.com

Technical Writer / Translator
M3 Engineering & Technology

Master of Science in Management Information Systems
Eller College of Management
University of Arizona

"...last survivor of the FFML, signing off."








"THE TENTACLE MONSTER! IT'S TEACHING A CLASSROOM!!!"
-Recon, Sword Art Online Abridged


Hmm.  Is it hubris to think that I somehow influenced culture decades
ago?  ... I'll rejoice in my hubris!  It was me!  All me!
Mwahahahahahahah!!!

*Runs cackling into the night...*
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