#YouAreWelcomeHere

Hi. T4nky here. I, like I’m sure many others, woke up in a new place. A place that, honestly is quite scary. If you do not know what it was that happened, or why I would be frightened, well, there is plenty of places where you could do your research on that. That isn’t what this post is about.

In a sort of act of desperation, I looked through Twitter for something, I wasn’t sure what. I found blame. I found anger. I found people trying to “other” people they disagreed with. I saw people planning to fight. Then, I found a video by one of my favorite YouTubers, NerdCubed. He opens with a quote that really hit me:

 

“I’ve always liked Star Trek, I’ve always been a really big fan. It’s a show based on hope. In Star Trek, the future the live in is a good future. There’s very few Sci-Fis or anything where that’s the case, where the human race got it right. Sure, it took them three World Wars, but they got it right in the end.”

That quote, that idea struck me. Then, he got to the point.

“I’d like to do the tiniest thing today. This is literally the tiniest thing that I can do, but I just… I just feel like saying you’re welcome here.”

 

He then goes on to talk about how he wants to bring his viewers just some little bit of hope to make them feel welcome. That’s all he wants. And it was then that I knew what I wanted NIU to be.

I have never wanted to be avant-garde or literary in my writing. I mean, I’ve never wanted to not be those things either. I did want to be a genre writer because that’s what a person from any background can curl up and escape into. That’s what you can turn to if you want comfort.

What I want for NIU is for anyone to be able to pick it up and feel like they’re coming back to an old friend. Am I good at that? Probably not. But as long as I can moderate my own comments, I think I can make a place where everyone can hang out. Everything may or may not be fine, but you have me and my story for the next year or so.