When I started this website three years ago, I could never have imagined what a fun and involving project it would turn out to be, or how I was just beginning to enter into a really wonderful web community. Through this site I have met some of the most incredible, fun, fascinating, friendly, and supportive people I have ever had the pleasure to meet online or in real life.
Through this website, I have been able to indulge in the pleasure of rubbing shoulders with some of the most talented artists and writers I have ever met. I still look forward to updating this site every month, because I get to share such gorgeous fanart and amazing fanfics with other Starlights fans out there.
Through this website, I have been able to meet all sorts of fans of Sailor Moon and the Starlights, of all sorts of different ages, from all over the world. I have been able to debate with other fans about the little nitpicky details that only we obsessed fans find so absorbing; I've been able to talk with other fans who find the Sailor Starlights to be just the complex, interesting, and fascinating characters that I've always known them to be. Among the people that I've met and talked to, each person has their own particular take on the characters, and their own particular viewpoint from which they see and explore the world of Naoko Takeuchi's creation. But that's the fun of being in a fan community in the first place! Everybody has something new to contribute; this way, it feels as though Sailor Moon, despite having been finished for years, will never grow old to those of us who see something fresh and new in it every day.
There are some special people in particular that I'd like to recognize. These are people who I am honored to consider good friends and good people. These are people who have supported me personally when I've needed it, and who have supported this website, my little hobby, by showering me with goodies like written analysis, fanart, and fanfics - whether I ask for it or not! I owe shout-outs to (in roughly alphabetical order): Abbie-chan, Abigail, Akaiko, Angel Anne, Earthfirefly, Gina, Ian, Irene, Irina, Kelli, Layne, Lita-chan, Lorenor, the Lunar Archivist, Meiousei, Meianou, Menagi-chan, Mnemosynehime, Naia, Pam, Sarah-chan, Sarah R., Sawa Hikari, Senshi Mars, Snow White, Steph C., Telly, and Zara. And now I feel terrible because I know that there are probably some people that I forgot, just because I'm a scatter-brain like that. This website wouldn't be here today without the support and contributions of hundreds of other writers and artists. Thank you all, really, from the bottom of my heart.
I have to be honest here - it hasn't always been sunshine and roses for all of the past three years. Starlight Pops was my first attempt at building a real fansite and sticking with it. Throughout it all, I've been giving myself constant impromptu crash courses in HTML and CSS, and not always with, er, desirable results. ^^;; I've had experiences with hosts both good and bad, trustworthy and not. Because of this site, I've had to deal with the headache of moving to paid hosting for the first time, and losing money on stupid, newbie mistakes in the process. I've also, most unfortunately, had to occasionally deal with just plain lousy people - the flamers, the stalkers, the trolls at the boards, the copycats and thieves, and the general scum of the Earth who seem to take no pleasure in life other than giving other people a bad day.
But despite all of that - and through all of that - I've had my friends supporting me, and they more than anything have helped remind me of why I started this site in the first place, and why it's worthwhile for me to stick with it and not let myself be chased offline by a bunch of trolling brats. I started this website because I love the Sailor Starlights, and I'm sticking with this website because I love the Sailor Starlights, and I find them every bit as fun and fascinating today as I did when I first saw Sailor Stars four years ago. That's all there is to it.
Hmm, this page is getting a bit long, isn't it? I seem cursed to eternally be overly verbose. Anyway, thank you very much for taking the time to read my anniversary ramblings. I will look forward to spending yet another year, again, working on this website. And many more after that, hopefully.
Oh, by the way... Who drew the crappy little sketch of Yaten used in this layout? Yeah, that was me. I slashed it out in, like, less than a minute. Er, at least the cake looks all right, doesn't it? Brushes used in the splash and header graphic are originally from Echoica.net, which, unfortunately, does not seem to exist anymore.