Hi guys.

I'm not really sure posting this here is even appropriate in the first place (and I made this forum?? Lol), but posting this on my homethread seemed like it would be inappropriate outright. So instead of making something a lil more modest, I instead choose to make it more dramatic than it should be! Yeah. You guys know me.
Well, this thread isn't going to introduce itself, is it? That's up to me, so here I go.
Today is June 11th, 2021. It is a very special day to me out of all the days of the year because it's my forum anniversary.
There, as frank as that. There is really not much else for me to say. On June 11th, 2018, (not at midnight,) I decided to post on the Spirit Animals Message Board.
It's crazy to me, but three whole years have passed from then. That of course means that I am now three years older and...none the wiser, as the wise saying goes, but I have certainly been beyond fortunate. That is something I would like to say, over and over again, and maybe that's what makes me feel like I'm perhaps too dramatic and too emotional, especially in this case.
Then again, if you're still reading this, you're probably emotional in a similar way too, right? (I would rather not think of the possibility that you're just bored or got baited in by the title and wants to just finish reading for the sake of that...so let's just go with "Yes" to my question.) So, I hope you'll keep reading on until the end and "listen" to what I have to say, just like you guys always have.
Now, I would like to somewhat make a distinction between who I will address following this.

For those of you who were on that special place and are still here to read this message, I want to thank you for following this little part of the community, and I want to thank you for being here and being my friend. You were once strangers to me, and the fact that we are no longer strangers is a fact that makes me glad. It's likely that in some way we are still strangers--we can't know each other that well, after all, and in the usual case, we know neither face nor name, or other information like that, from each other. And maybe, just maybe, one day we will become strangers again. You may decide to leave, or maybe you're compelled to. But no matter how long we can know each other, I hope that you know that you will always hold a special place in my heart, and I hope that I will have been someone to remember, in even a little way, as well. For now, please continue being here, and thank you for being you.

For those of you who were on that special place but aren't here, and as such will likely never be here to read this message, I still want to thank you for once being part of that community and being part of my life. No matter whether we actually were in that community during the same period of time or not, I think that our lives still crossed, and that that itself is something worth cherishing for me. We also would have been strangers forever, but no matter it was by nickname or by messages, there was a part of time where we weren't. Now, we are strangers to each other once again, but I hope that you also have some beautiful memories that you can recall from the forums that connect the two of us even now.

~|-O-|~

 As can be seen, the theme of this (long) message is the idea of two people (or more) being "strangers." That is because my gift to you following is related to this theme.
I came across a song (it's a Chinese song) much earlier this year. It was...well, it hit me way too hard in the feels. It was just too appropriate. So I translated it and then waited for today to show you guys my bad translation, yes. That's the way Galaxian decides to do things, yep! But there are some special things about this translation in particular. One, while I did abide with the original text, I structured it a bit differently, which is something I usually don't do. One could say I tried to structure the translation like a poem, with a poem's elements within it. Two, I also made some adjustments on wording so that it would sound like I'm reading it aloud, especially with some parts that are more or less pertinent to this community than what the song perhaps originally intended. Ultimately, however, all of this is to say...I'm lazy and, yeah, I'm gifting you a song that wasn't written by me (which should be no surprise as well as something to be grateful for, I think), but I hope that it is meaningful nonetheless and conveys the feelings that I was struck so hard by during my first listen to it.
Without further ado, here it is.

Link to the song: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nJvrx_gHpB0

                          “Thank You, Stranger” (by 32 singers)
[This miraculous world brings us happiness but also, inevitably, sorrow and even tragedy. No matter whether it’s whom we meet or what experiences we go through, there is too much one cannot manage to recall aloud…but we must hope that the ultimate result is that we can still remain in some most beautiful and clear memory that we will always be able to remember.
And…no matter whether it’s been increasing closeness or increasing distance between us, we both cannot deny that we once met. And so I give you my blessings:]

[Thank you—you who were once a stranger,
Even if up to today, I still don’t know your true name;
Thank you—you who are no longer a stranger,
For experiencing this world with me and allowing me to have even more colorful and wonderful memories;
And thank you as well—those of you who have once again become strangers,
For letting me create those details related to you that I often recall again during restful and peaceful times.]
 
In this expanding two-dimensional world, our feelings and friendships all are created from a single part of this “net.”
We hide our names but strive to show the best parts of ourselves,
Starting a portion of our dreamed and fated journey.
With my emotion-filled messages, I have always wanted to gain your attention,
So I hide them within a song,
And I’ll refresh the page, waiting for your comments and responses.
 
There are so many unique existences in this world, so I’m definitely not the most special one;
But out of luck, I somehow have that little bit that is able to connect you and me.
 
I gift this to you—someone who is perhaps still somewhat a stranger to me,
And I thank you for being willing to remember my happiness and sorrow.
I thank you for occasionally encouraging and uplifting me;
I thank you for listening to my fragmented, incomplete thoughts.
 
I gift this to someone who was once a stranger to me—
I thank you for being willing to become closer to me;
I thank you for paying attention to my words and feelings;
And I thank you for unintentionally admitting that you will never leave or abandon me.
 
In this expanding two-dimensional world, I still hold onto this much-cherished concern and caring,
For even if I’m used to holding back my emotions in front of people, it’s hard to avoid becoming entangled with concepts like winning and losing, loss and gain.
 
Back then, I wanted to gain your attention.
Now I wish that some song can make you remember me somehow,
Or maybe my efforts back then weren’t really all that great in the first place.
 
Sometimes I selfishly imagine that I can be something that is “most important” to you.
I hope so much that one day, we can meet in reality.
 
I gift this to someone who is perhaps still somewhat a stranger to me,
And I thank you for tolerating my volatility.
There are too many messages I was not able to respond to,
But I’ve remembered all of them.
 
I gift this to someone who was once a stranger to me—
Thank you for being willing to create flowering surprises for me.
Thank you for unintentionally telling me,
“I love you.”
 
I gift this to someone who will still be a stranger to me—
Thank you for being willing to send me private messages;
Thank you for being willing to talk about our lives with me,
So that the petty me can feel fulfilled.
 
I gift this to someone who was once a stranger to me—
I will create even more miracles,
So now I send out an invitation to you:
Will you please exist in our future by my side?
 
I thank you who are no longer a stranger to me—
Life means there will always be unaccomplished things left behind,
But for what has been here, I am willing to collect all the memories,
And through all the distance between us,
I will always sing this to you.


~|-O-|~

-Galaxian Explosion-