Ten years. Today marks ten years since I turned 18, the day that was a significant turning point in my life for reasons other than becoming a legal adult. I woke up on that day, not with excitement, but some dread... I cried, broke down, and was an emotional wreak.

Through my love of dragons I had found FA a few months prior. I had reached 17 without ever having any interest in a relationship, and having grown up in a Mormon step-family the thought had never occurred to me that there may have been non-religious reasons for such. As a teenager I was very innocent and naive, and practically oblivious to the world of sexuality. At the time my Mormon upbringing was just the natural excuse to fall onto, naturally pushing away any girls that made advances on me. I just wasn't interested, at all. My dad divorced from our step-family when I was 14, making me an only child once again, and it took several years for me to break the mold and begin forming my own opinions on things.

So, 17 and oblivious, one day I was googling new dragon portraits to use as my desktop background. That innocent google search was what led me down the rabbit hole, what led me to eventually find FA a few weeks later through a series of obscure websites. I had never looked at porn in my life, and now here I was... fascinated, intrigued, and more importantly finding myself looking not at the straight stuff, but naturally gravitating to the homosexual pictures and scenes. I'm sure you readers can likely imagine how confused I was, going from complete ignorance and innocence to plunging into the deep-end.

Back to that morning ten years ago... The thought that I may have been gay had never even crossed my mind. I had been exploring and lurking in the shadows of FA for several months by that point, progressed far beyond a simple curiosity. FA had awoken something hidden deep down inside me, and I was finally coming to terms with that fact, that there'd be no turning back. At this crucial and critical point things could have gone two different ways. Fortunately for me, when my dad came out of his room it was to console and comfort me. No judging, no guilt, no excuses, just complete acceptance... He made it clear on that day that he had been waiting, that he had suspected and known for a considerable amount of time. I told him everything, and I mean everything, and even ended up showing him several of my favourite pictures at the time. There was no secrets, and he even set me up with one of his bisexual friends to help me ease into the scene, a friend that happens to be his fiancee today.

One thing about this fandom is that people come and go. For me, however, FA and the fur fandom holds a special place in my heart... it directly helped me develop as a person. Further, by refining my character Slyther, I had created a role model for myself to aspire to, helping me build confidence and independence. FA and the fur fandom had a direct and profound effect on me. Now, ten years later, I felt that I should share my story.

---Birthday
As can be inferred from above, turned 28 today.

---Relationship status
Figured it was time to formally announce a change of status, having quietly broken things off with my boyfriend a few months ago. Been enjoying the single life and am not in any real rush to get into another relationship right now.

---College
Cruised through my first semester with no real issues. One final left and then my Spring semester starts in May.

---GW2
I still play GW2 and still co-lead FER with Ribsteak. If you play and would like an invite to the guild, send me or another officer an in-game message. guildwars2furs (link)