hey steph! i wanted to ask how you felt whenTAB came out and to see that your meta was all right? i wasn't on tumblr back then so i didn't witness all of that (unfortunately ahah) it must have been awesome!
OH GOSH, oh gosh it was actually really surreal.
So, for anyone who’s new or wasn’t aware, my “claim to fame” is this meta here, The Mind Palace Theories of TAB, wherein I and others pretty much predicted the entire outcome of TAB. It was first started as a crack theory I wrote IMMEDIATELY after the first trailer dropped on October 24, 2015, and then expanded upon a few hours later; I remember I had a CRACKING headache, but the theory just wouldn’t leave my head, and I remember I posted it at like 2 AM or something ridiculous like that, and then went to bed to stave off my headache.
I woke up to over 500 notes on the post, and I was flabbergasted, because I really did just write it because it was a silly theory that just popped into my head, based ENTIRELY on a 2 minute trailer and a LOT of speculation. And then people started interacting with me, and positing their own theories, and then bloggers I ADMIRED added their own two cents onto the post. I was so happy!
So imagine my shock when nearly everything discussed on the post happened. I… couldn’t believe it, to be honest. People came to me after it aired essentially screaming and calling me a psychic or secretly working for Mofftiss, but I assure you I am neither. My follower count went up after, and I was super-excited because finally, I felt like people really DID want to read what else I had to say.
And thus began my meta-writing career, LOL. After that meta, I just went full force into obsessing about the series, because HOLY SHIT I DID KNOW HOW TO READ SUBTEXT!, and then people started asking me questions, and I sought out answers. It was fun, and here I am now, and I love it so much.
It’s still one of my favourite meta of mine, and one I am RIDICULOUSLY protective of, mainly because another bigger, well-respected blogger continually tries to claim they came up with the theory, even though I know for a fact they SAW my post, REBLOGGED my post, and essentially summarized my post into a couple paragraphs literally a few weeks before TAB aired. GRANTED, I know that a lot of us can come up with the same theories, but a lot of what they posted on theirs really felt like a summation of our post. I think the only reason I’m the one remembered for it is because it went viral overnight and I have a lot of loyal followers who followed me BECAUSE of that meta, and they knew it was mine, and constantly reblogged it so that it wouldn’t get forgotten. PLUS I ensured that it was known to be a COMMUNITY effort, and I have never EVER taken full credit for the ideas – I may have started the ball rolling on it, but everyone attached to the meta really MADE the meta what it is, and it just shows what a fantastic little corner of fandom we have here.
Anyway, so yes, it’s the post that “made me popular” (apparently I’m popular, but I REALLY HONESTLY don’t think I am… I’m just me), but I just want it to be known here that it WAS a community discussion piece, and I don’t take credit for all of it, except for the initial post itself that spring-boarded the whole theory. I am grateful that it helped people take me a bit more seriously, though, and that it helped ignite my love for writing again.
It’s amazing what one can accomplish on very little sleep, no job at the time, and a huge migraine, LOL.
