If it weren't for…

[IVstudios]

Sometimes, something seemingly insignificant can have a huge affect on who we are as people. Sometimes in ways that make no sense.

One of mine: Sailor Moon. (No it didn't cause me to develop an unhealthy attraction to underage girls in sailor uniforms, I developed that completely independent of the show ) Sailor Moon lead to my love of MST3K, and pretty much shaped my whole sense of humor. (My apologies in advance to any Sailor Moon fans)

I can remember watching Sailor Moon and screaming in my head "Why are none of the characters aware of how ridiculous this situation is?!" It was the first time I ever watched something largely for how mockable it was and started my fascination with bad movies and TV shows. So, years later when I was introduced to MST3K it was like finding a stick after years of having an itchy back. If it weren't for Sailor Moon I might be a very different person.

So what things have shaped your lives in unusual ways?

[Prettysenshi]

If it wasn't for those very outspoken people in #keenspace during my freshman year of college 2005-2006, then I would have never switched majors, applied for jobs, and gotten into the SC House of Representatives as page or in Amnesty International as an intern. They made me realize that I was rather naive and immature and I forced myself to change for the better.

If it wasn't for that random lady somewhere along I-77 in 1997 that had a cell phone and phone book and helped us after our car broke down, then I don't know what would have happened to me or my family while we were headed to South Carolina, after my dad got a job as a professor and mom and dad FINALLY got out of poverty.

If it wasn't for my lovely, patient teachers in in kindergarten 1st grade to made me realize that I had potential as an individual and there was more to the world than the impoverished neighborhoods of SE DC around me, I would have never took up drawing or writing as a serious hobby, which would later be a great outlet for me when I was being teased and bullied in middle school.

[Dr Legostar]

If it weren't for my getting into my highschool production of "Midsummer Night's Dream" I would never have met Kathleen and Sarah, Sarah would have never "tested" me by making me waltz her down the hall and deemed me adequate to come to dancing with them. As a consequence of that I would not have made my two best friends (Kathleen and Sarah), I wouldn't have continued dancing all through college and into graduate school. I would not have built the self esteem I have now, and most of all I would not have continued dancing in graduate school and met my future wife.

If it weren't for my obsession with the game Thief, i would not have been looking on the internet for stuff about theif and not stumbled upon PVP, my fist webcomic, and therefore I would not have read other comics and would not have been inspired by Sluggy Freelance's lego week to make my own comic, therefore I would not have created a single comic to make a friend of mine laugh and wouldn't have continued putting out comics on a daily basis and not joined comic genesis and not met lots of great people on the forums and not had a moderately successful comic that has brought me fame and as soon as i figure out step 2, profit.

[SergeXIII]

The Sonic the Hedgehog comic books and saturday cartoons are what got me drawing, though if deviant art is any indication I'm unique in that I did so for reasons besides a creepy urge to see him procreate.

[Rkolter]

When I was a pre-teen, I had a friend whose name I've forgotten... sadly. But he was the one who introduced me to roleplaying games. Roleplaying has been a big part of my life in one way or another ever since. I love statistics because of roleplaying. I enjoy watching things fluxuate over time because of roleplaying. A lot of the richness of my imagination is because I've been a roleplayer. I wouldn't be the person I am today in most respects, without this friend whose name I've forgotten introducing me to roleplaying games.

[McDuffies]

If I didn't stab my toe just now, it wouldn't hurt.

[CaptainClaude]

If I didn't stab my toe just now, it wouldn't hurt.

if it hadn't hurt I wouldn't have laughed

[VeryCuddlyCornpone]

...my aunt's antique store, there's a good chance I wouldn't have developed a love of old obsolete things, nor would I love looking at old pictures, so my comic would probably be set in the present day and would be like a lot of other "slice of life" comics.

...the problems with the FTP password thing going on right now, my site would be up already.

...my math class in ~three hours, I would be drawing because I wouldn't have homework to do.

...all of my family members that gave me art kits and things for the holidays when I was growing up, I wouldn't have had anything to do as a kid and would probably be even more boring than I am now.

...growing up on Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and newspaper comics, I don't know what my style would be like. I can barely tell what it is now, but it's definitely influenced by all the hours I spent watching Hey Arnold, Doug, Rugrats, Ed Edd & Eddy, Rocko's Modern Life, Spongebob Squarepants, Powerpuff Girls, etc, etc, etc...........

[Laemkral]

If it weren't for my father, I wouldn't be me. In so many ways, I really am just a shade of my father. And that makes me happy that so much of what I am is just like him.

If my friend Anthony hadn't played saxophone in elementary school I wouldn't have joined the band the year after, which led me to continue playing in middle school because of a friend I made, without which I wouldn't have gotten really into Magic: The Gathering and begun my descent into geekdom (though I also got my love of comics from my dad, he used to read Green Lantern as a kid), and middle school introduced me to marching and gave me my first taste of military discipline and my first taste of how cruel people can be. Band also took me to high school wherein I was a social outcast (even in band) which fostered in me an inner drive to succeed and transcend myself which sent me to the military which showed me the real me and just what I'm capable of. The military also gave me a career and sense of belonging and the satisfaction that I get to live in Germany on Uncle Sam's dime, see sights and experience events that define history, make 46K taxfree while most of my high school classmates are trying to figure out what they're going to do in a recession.

So thank you Anthony for playing sax for a semester. Thank you Ms. Freuhling and Mr. Luck for introducing me to military marching. Thank you James, Clark, and the others who made my life miserable for 7 years, because without them I wouldn't be an officer in the United States Army, with a good solid career and future, friends who like me for me, and a guaranteed paycheck for the next 20 or so years. May I run into them down the road and may their futures be as pitiful as my past.

No, I'm not vengeful.

[Pimpette]

..if it weren't for one very determined grade-seven teacher in elementary school, I would never have met Tynan, and I would never be where I am now. Gods know where I would be.

Backstory:
- both my brothers went on to the "gifted program" in grade two - that is, they passed a special test and were sent to a more educationally advanced school. I faltered in the math section so I stayed in the nearby public school (and I'm glad I did, it was awesome).
- in grade seven we had this new teacher (we were her first class ever) and she was determined that I was some sort of genius and needed to retake the test and go into the gifted program in high school. I am an obvious pushover so I let her shove me into retaking the test.
- I apparently passed with flying colours, so i was enrolled in the advanced classes in high school.
- met Jon, and the real Niche (who didn't become "Niche" until halfway through grade nine)
- grade ten English spawned Turkish
- grade eleven Media English spawned Pimpette
- friends of a boyfriend of mine introduced me to webcomics
- through Something Positive I discover Devils Panties, and through there, Keenspace
- I decide a webcomic would be fun! Coin toss between Pimpette (who was just a pinup doodle at that point) and another comic I'd been working on randomly for a class.
- Pimpette wins. I join Keenspace.
- I join the forums.
- I discover K-Dawg, somehow get ahold of his msn, add him, and begin harassing him.
- Ghastly decides it would be awesome if all the nearby Canadians met up for a comic con and Anime North.
- I go (though late) and end up meeting Dawg and Tynan in person
- Later on, Dawg and I adopt each other as unsiblings and I jump Tynan.

Present Day:
- Dawg is unbrother who I demand rides and money from
- Tynan is manho and househusband and I steal the blankets from him during the night.

Keenspace (aka ComicGenesis) was the best thing to ever happen to me. :3

Thanks Miss Told, wherever you are.

[Nanda]

If it weren't for "Little Shop of Horrors," I wouldn't have three beautiful men in my life.

In the 8th grade, our highschool drama club put on a production of "Little Shop of Horrors," which was my favorite movie at the time. I decided to try out and got a part in the ensemble. Two things happened: I fell in love with acting, and I met my husband, who, at the time, was 12, and the younger brother of our "Seymore."

Two years later, still heavily involved in Drama club, "Seymore's" little brother, now 14, joined the drama club. We became fast friends, and about a year later, we were in love. We stayed together through the rest of highschool and college, were involved in a poly triad for about a year with a girlfriend, and shortly after my final year, we got married. And, of course, a week later, we had our son.

Being a stay-at-home mom left me with a lot of time on my hands and feelings of a lost sense of self, so I started getting involved with internet forums. Around the same time, I was writing and drawing a lot, which eventually lead to little comics, which lead to Ugly Girl, which brought me here. I got really involved in the forums, then the Keenreality TV jam, where I met Stinky. We became fast friends, met in person, then he came to live with us in Rhode Island. We were best friends and rommates for several years, and we've been a poly V for about a year now.

So if it weren't for Little Shop of Horrors, I wouldn't have met Mr. Nanda, without Mr. Nanda there would be no Nanda Jr, and without Nanda Jr, I never would have met Stinky. Plus I wouldn't have a career that I love at the Costume Studio.

Thank you Rick Moranis.

[McDuffies]

If I didn't stab my toe just now, it wouldn't hurt.

if it hadn't hurt I wouldn't have laughed

God works in misterious ways.

[Dr Legostar]

If I didn't stab my toe just now, it wouldn't hurt.

if it hadn't hurt I wouldn't have laughed

God works in misterious ways.

and some pretty obvious ones.

[Evil Jamie!]

The Sonic the Hedgehog comic books and saturday cartoons are what got me drawing, though if deviant art is any indication I'm unique in that I did so for reasons besides a creepy urge to see him procreate.

I read the comics and found the cast completely unattractive too! *high five*

If it weren't for that post I wouldn't have typed *high five*

[Rkolter]

- through Something Positive I discover Devils Panties, and through there, Keenspace

Weird. This is exactly how I found out about Keenspace.

[Nanda]

If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college.

[Fading Aura]

If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college.

Someone listens to Lewis Black.

[VeryCuddlyCornpone]

If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college.

Someone listens to Lewis Black.

And to think I thought today would be a bad day.

[CJBurgandy]

if it weren't for Thin H Line, it would have taken me a few more years to think "hey I can put comics on the web! Durrrr" and I wouldn't have my join date lie to you all about being here since 1999.

[McDuffies]

- through Something Positive I discover Devils Panties, and through there, Keenspace

Weird. This is exactly how I found out about Keenspace.

Funny, I found it through Keenspot. Which was back then pretty much the only webcomic-only host. I found Keenspot through one of those comic rippers that snitch comics from sites and collect them in their own pages. Checked it out, saw some thing I liked, and went to it's sites. Nothing I'd call a stroke of destiny.