In lieu of my 3 year anniversary on this site (which actually took place sometime in February), I decided that I would write an article looking back on what this site has given to me and how grateful I am to have come across it. While I haven't frequented this site in months, it still holds a dear place in my heart, as well as those who I have met through this site. Well, here I go. For those of you who don't know me, this will probably be a pretty mundane article, so I wouldn't be offended it you stop reading now. If anything, this article is really for me to get out my pent up love for this place and look back on all it's given me. By the way, this is going to get pretty personal (and sappy, knowing me), just warning you haha. Anyway, enjoy!

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Deep in my slumber, I dreamt. Dreamt of a world where I could be free of the chains that had forced me into this slumber and dreamt of a place where I could be wholeheartedly myself. This place was somewhere I never would have expected it to be. It was within me. Haha, just kidding. That would be totally cliché, I mean really? This place was the Disney Princess fan club on Fanpop. A place where I soon came to notice that something was just a little different. At the time I couldn't pin point it, but I knew that this place was a sanctuary. I would rush home to vote in polls, write articles, and chat with friends, feeling a warmth that I had never felt before. Deep in my slumber, I discovered I was a Sleeping Beauty.



Deep in my slumber, I stirred. Stirred and realized that maybe there was something else out there and stirred in a way that made my bones ache. My bones ached in a way that hurt, but it was a good hurt, a hurt that needed to take place. I was confronted with issues I had never allowed myself to face head on. In a place filled with female users I reminded myself of all the times I had been different. All of the times I didn't fit in with other boys. As I stirred I forced myself to face things that were uncomfortable, that I'd locked away as I had slept all that time. I came to the realization that hey, maybe I was different. Maybe I wasn't like the other boys, maybe I was never meant to be like the other boys, and that's okay. Deep in my slumber, I discovered I was a Sleeping Beauty.



Deep in my slumber, I realized that this slumber didn't have to be eternal. Realized that this slumber didn't have to be eternal and could be broken out of if only I believed. Coming to terms with feelings I had locked away for years, I began to realize that this slumber was temporary, and it was finally coming to an end. I had finally found a place that could awake me in a way that I had never been awoken. A place where I could be myself, find friends similar to me who I could be myself around and finally live, finally awaken. Debating over whether the Renaissance princesses or the Classic princesses were better (Classics all the way!), getting into the funniest of conversations with friends in the Random Fun Place and laughing uncontrollably over in-depth countdowns of the Disney Princesses with the best hips, I really felt at home. Deep in my slumber, I discovered I was a Sleeping Beauty.



Deep in my slumber, I lived two lives. Two lives that begged me to choose one or the other, two lives that refused to mesh with each other. Online I had awoken, but outside in the real world I still slept. Groggy, I was confused at which path to choose. Not ready to wake up and face the real world, but also not ready to go completely back in my slumber. This place where I was half in and half out was almost more tormenting than when I was completely asleep. At least then I didn't have a taste of what it was like to be awoken. But part of me knew I had to awake. Part of me screamed and begged to be let out, to awaken and live life in a way that needed all of me, not a fake version of me. Deep in my slumber, I discovered I was a Sleeping Beauty.



Deep in my slumber, I discovered I was a Sleeping Beauty. A Sleeping Beauty who had awoken, who was strong enough to break the chains and live my dreams. No longer were there two, but the me who I exuded online with a confidence and unabashed love of the Disney Princesses was finally let out. No longer was I ashamed that I didn't conform, rather I embraced it. All of the princesses in that header taught me something different, something life altering. However seemingly small it was, or this site is, the effects they have had on me are really life altering. I was a Sleeping Beauty. Going through the motions of life, sleeping in a world that demanded my attention. Now I have awoken. I have realized that I was a Sleeping Beauty, and I still embrace that was me. While I am no longer in my slumber, I am still that Sleeping Beauty. For that Sleeping Beauty got me to where I am today and gave me a strength that I would not possess without them. While I no longer come on here very often, this place holds the deepest of love in my heart and I will forever be grateful for the things it taught me and the help it gave to me. Deep in my slumber, I discovered I was a Sleeping Beauty, and with that I changed my life.