Well, now that the dust has settled, I would like to take a moment to appreciate everything that has lead up to this. As the main event organizer and the newly crowned King, I understand a few words are expected from me, and I don't want to leave you hanging without a fitting end to it all.
At this point in time, I think it is safe to say that the year 2013 and both its Character Tournament and AP Awards will go down in the forum annals as the year when a new generation of quality posters found their wings and started their era on the forum to continue the life of our precious community right from where the previous, '09-'10 generation had left it. Not only did we get a whole bunch of really enjoyable and interesting new individuals on the board to learn a lot of new things from, but we also saw a few older posters find more courage to get involved in the most active core group of posters who are our driving force.
All of you have done a marvelous job of making Arlong Park a wonderful place to stay, and a lovely group of people to be involved in. And this goes out to each and every one of you out there - not just to Print Error or to Foolio, but to all the nominees and even the normal users who have contributed to this year on the forums. Even if you feel like you don't amount to much or don't stand up to older members who seem to be incredibly knowledgeable of many things, rest assured, because we, because I as someone from above, notice many if not all the little things that you do that don't seem worth much to you but that are all equally important parts of what keeps us all going and what creates the sense of unity that most of us share as members of the forum.
You do not hear this very often for a whole array of reasons that make saying it difficult in normal conditions, but from the bottom of my heart I say: Thank you. Thank you all for making this past year here as good as it was. You all had a stake in making it happen, and the result was more than I could hope for. Thank you for all your contributions during the tournament and the awards, thank you for all the new thoughts that you gave me and one another, thank you for all the discussions that your ideas sparked and shaped. Just thank you for being you.
And thank you all for letting me take the responsibility in coordinating the two major forum events. I have been a little selfish in that I practically took over and managed most of the public things for both despite the fact that these events have traditionally been ran by other people, most notably Robby and, especially, Ubiq. Working these things for the enjoyment of all of you has been a really precious experience for me. It has been a whole lot of fun. For one, seeing that people liked the silly filler match that I came up with on three hours' notice so much that they voted it as the best filler match of the year made me very happy. And you can be sure that I will keep doing it for as long as I still have something to give to this community. There's always something to improve on.
And lastly, I guess it is only appropriate to thank you for choosing me as the next King after Zephos. There is some controversy involved about it maybe not having happened if Robby had been very serious about it or if the number of votes had been bigger, but the result is what it is. It is not very serious, obviously, and doesn't mean a whole lot, but it is still an honour nonetheless. As a King, forum-goers, let my influence be the soft wind that supports your wings and teaches you to fly on your own in the gentle breeze of the forum life. Let us usher in a new, glorious 2014 together.
A toast for the good year that was 2013, and another for the great things that will come in 2014!