Jitter, thank you very much for starting this thread!
Since you suggested that some repetition wouldn't be bad in this case, on which I agree, this post has parts that I previously wrote on the comfort corner. I hope this collection of thoughts makes some sense and becomes useful.
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I love this community. This is the only online community where I participate and I never felt any need to look for more. We're very lucky to have such an amazing group of people, and I feel so lucky to be a part of it. Following what Róisín's mate once said, we lucked ourselves in the best corner of the Internet!
I grew so much in this place, where I started drawing art again after years of just work-related drawings and the place where I dared to write reminders, haikus, poetry (!) and stories.
Here I feel everyone is respected, and cared, and helped, as far as possible due to the obvious limitations. It surely helped me a lot when I had to face my father's death. And after that so many times, for different (and thankfully a lot less dramatic) reasons.
Here I learned so much from each one, absorbing different worldviews and experiences from people spread all around the world.
For all those reasons, and some, my plan is to remain here and contribute the best I can.
I believe that SSSS characters and stories also belong to us, to our hearts, and I've been told there are many cases on the net when a fandom outlived and outgrew its original source. I see the comic as a catalyst that started a fire, and now it keeps burning.
We are the fuel, and the fire is, and will be, beautiful to watch! (Emil is, again, telling me that he agrees)
That said, now, and even more when Minna's story ends, it's up to us! There's no reason for us to stop, be it in the more SSSS-related topics or on all the rest.
We can keep sharing and learning with each other. There's a whole World of songs, jokes, recipes, thoughts... We come from many different places and cultures, and there's so much to learn, and, sometimes, teach!
We can create more or less regular events and challenges like the yoinktober and the chapter break filler. Those can spark our creative members into producing fantastic things. And those that don't create can enjoy.
Threads based on other sources can also exist. (I for one thought sometimes about writing on Tolkien's universe... Among many other possibilities).
So I think there's a lot that we can do to keep this going on. One of the most important ones is to remain organized, preserving, as much as possible, the structure and the people that give life to it. I'm talking about our Administrators and Moderators. It is very important to make sure they remain with us, as I believe they will.
As for my participation, I will surely draw more things, SSSS related or not, and will keep writing. I heve the "A Beginning" series halfway (3rd story on proofreading, 4th half written) and then I'll go back to the "Lightning" timeline, that, I hope, will become a full novel. I also have three other stories more or less plotted, and may also return to the great oak and tell more about those squirrels...
