I still remember the first time I had discovered Launchora, it still feels like it was yesterday. If we consider the time of the universe compared to mine, it must have been yesterday.
About a year ago, I was scrolling through Facebook, just casually strolling, no purpose, no reason. (Its easy to imagine how Facebook earns money out of people’s boredom.) Then I saw in an advertisement: Launchora.
I'm sure quite a lot of people discovered Launchora this way and I don't consider my discovery as divine intervention but you know what? I'm a writer, and I decide what is and what's not, so yeah, it is divine intervention.
Anyways, I ended up clicking it out of pure curiosity. I was also kind of lying about not having a purpose. I was actually looking for a site to put up my works which I had on my blog (which up to now never had any visitors) I just didn't think Facebook would have Launchora in it.
It took a lot from me to actually get to where I am right now and I have a lot of people and Launchora to thank for that.
I signed up cause it was free, I browsed through some stories and read them and I said hi. At first, I was just posting stuff up from my blog, with one of my first stories--Fading Echoes--being one of them. I was also, at the time, dating someone, who is now, my first and only. Crazy how things coincide in life huh? Its like the universe pairs up two great cosmic events into one singular month, just to make you feel special and let me tell you that I do feel most of the time, special. I brought my girlfriend up, because more than anything, whenever I write and post something in Launchora it's because of her.
Now this is a love story isn't it? Anything that a writer writes is a love story. Horror is the love for the dark and mysterious. Action is the love for adrenaline. Adventure is the love for fiction and being inside a home from far away. Fifty shades of Grey is the love for the mediocre and shitty things in life.
Enough of that, I'm talking about my love story here. Yes, my soon to be wife and my mistress Launchora. Both are as loving, rewarding, devastating and demanding as the other.
Looking back I wouldn't be a storyteller if it wasn't for my girlfriend. I guess she was the one who pushed me to post it up and its only true that she is the only person I consider as my true fan, alongside my mother and myself (Love yourself, yo).
I posted Fading Echoes and it was featured just like that. Let me be the first person to remind you that I did not expect jack shit. I was expecting it to be shut down after my first try. I was expecting it to be ignored (even if the LSP team did say that they read all the stories sent to them) Just like you and everyone else in this world I have fallen into the never ending pit of disappointment. Whenever I write or do something, I only expect it to be near shit or completely unreadable. That is why I never really told anyone my real name when I write, that is until now.
It was Lakshya (I still blame you up to this day hahaha) who told me to do so because they wouldn't feature a story without a real name in it. Its not fair to put him into the fray when he didn't even know what was going on but still--Anyways, once again I was pushed out of my comfort zone and well, I did what any human being would do. Choose the decision that would lead to self-destruction. Luckily enough it didn't.
I guess that's the moral of the story here. Every decision we make, inevitably leads to self-destruction. Until that one time it does not. Until that what time when everything actually goes up fine.
My life has been filled with moments from there on: my graduation from college, my discovery of Launchora, my meeting with my first girlfriend, my first written story in Launchora, my birth into this world, my first time to be followed in Launchora. I'm now here, still working on new stories and new things to write about and I will continue to post here and I don't think I'll ever get tired of it.
But a lot of things happen, and sadly these events are only ripening itself for the inevitability of oblivion, but for now it's postponed. Maybe it'll happen in the near future, maybe soon, but if you're a part of this place, Ill let you in for a little secret: Oblivion is postponed forever. Welcome to the fountain of youth. Welcome to Heaven for writers.
This is where the strings of our stories intertwine, forever creating a straight strand, and stretching towards the infinite and the beyond. It will be soon out of our reach, but it will be in the reach of many others out there, and in their hands, our legacy will last, forever.
Anyways thats my Launchora Day for you. Here I am, part of this community that I will cherish forever. I am becoming a part of the lives who read this and those who follow me and acknowledge my existence. I only have actually a handful of people I care about, but I guess I can make some exception for you. More than anything this story, just like Launchora, is meant for you. So thank you for this opportunity and read on. Happy Launchora Day and Cheers!
Yours truly,
Khen Ramos
PS I never thought I would do something like this, but I thought what the hell, being a man of letters, I'm going to thank the place that grant me confidence and belief within myself. Also I'm writing this in starbucks, drinking some frap, makes you think how basic I am. Teehee!
PSS Also for those people who went and celebrate it for realsies: Fuck you. You guys are lucky. I'm stuck in the corner of the world in where I cant go there. Hope you choked on the good food they got there. In case you cant pick up the sarcasm it's there somewhere hehehe love you guys and enjoy!