MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR LOST LIGHT IN ABOVE VIDEO
Let me tell y'all a little story. (TW for self-harm, drug abuse, and suicide)
MTMTE saved my life once.
I say this not hyperbolically. It saved my life. In 2013, I was in a very dark place. Lots of near-misses, so to speak. Self-harming, abusing my meds, kinda the whole nine yards. Throw in the fact that I was in a schooI for "special ed" students that really was a personal hell for me, I was about ready to call it quits.
At this time, I was reading MTMTE. And one day, I see the solicitations for July 2013 are up on Seibertron. And dead center in the icon is one of my favorite characters, Star Saber. And I say to myself "I NEED to see this." So for the following months I stuck it out. And regardless of my own feelings on his portrayal in the end, seeing that he lived in 21 made me want to stay and see him again. And as I keep reading, this sense of having a "fictional family" grows on me. I relate to these characters struggles, and as they grow, I grow, and I reconnect with my family.
Flash forward to BotCon that year, and I get to meet James Roberts and Josh Burcham in person, the latter of whom I've actually chatted a little with since. Two of my idols? Oh yeah.
Flash forward again to this year. I'm in college. I'm out of an abusive household. I'm living well, relatively speaking.
I've not always been the best person in life. But this series, this wonderful, tragic series, has taught me that I have the ability to get better. So I wanted to honor it, and RWBY Volume 4 has a very similar tale for me, though not one I'll repeat for sake of length.
I may not be good, but I'm sure as hell good enough.