Name: lunatofu

Event: My life (the new beginning)

I’m sure you’ve heard the “AFI changed my life” stories this is another one of those stories. But to say this is a story about a band and me is an understatement. Its about finding the family I needed when I most needed it. The rules say to choose an event, but I could no sooner pick a favorite star in the sky.

Before AFI I was a pathetic excuse for a human being. I drifted along, desperately wanting to fit in with the world. Actually, it was worse than that, I had had it. I didn’t fit in, regardless of how bad I wanted to. Kansas (where I’m from) was full of people that I just didn’t seem to click with and I was left alone and confuse wasting my time watching whatever was on MTV. One day a new video came on from a band called AFI, it caught my eye because it was awfully similar to my favorite childhood story, Alice in Wonderland. The song (Girl’s Not Grey) was amazing and I couldn’t get it out of my head. To say that it was love at first sight would be a lie. I liked AFI from then on, but as with all great loves, it needed time to blossom. It wasn’t until that summer, when AFI magically appeared in my hometown, thanks to a random Warped tour show that I fell. Oh god how I fell. I knew they were going to be there and I decided that perhaps I should catch them. The crowd was tiny (because this is Kansas we’re talking about pre-Miss Murder, no one had ever heard of AFEEEYY) But then, Miseria Cantare came on and I felt like I was hit with a ton of bricks. My heart raced; the little show was amazing, I’m still a bit in awe of how lucky I am to have seen them with the handful of people that surrounded that stage (I’m talking maybe 100 people, if that). After that day I bought Sing The Sorrow and found my new favorite band. I had found that little piece of paper about the gathering in the darkness that first day I got STS but I decided I should give it some time. I waited about a year from the day I first saw the video for Girl’s Not Grey before I too joined in the Despair Faction. I joined the boards, although I rarely posted I lurked daily. All this lurking got me to cave and finally sign up for a myspace so I too could have the little [DF] at the end of my name. This is the 1st really significant change, before this I was not a social person, I didn’t want to talk to people unless they talked to me first. As soon as I got my profile 3 DFers sent me friend request 1 of them remains one of my dear friends and the connection to most of my other DF friends. I immediately feel comfortable around AFI fans, even if they aren’t DF (although I have so much love for my DF buddies) just because they all somehow get me. Its like AFI cured me of my social retardation and gave me the confidence to take control of my life. I know I did most of it, but I truly believe that had I not seen that little video on MTV I wouldn’t be the same person I am today. AFI and the DF opened a whole world of possibilities my mind was ignorant of. They (the band and the community) are who I turn to when I’m upset, when I’m happy, and when I’m content. They are the loves of my life and my family. Without them I would be nothing.

This all might seem very sappy, I’m all right with that. Might seem a bit fan girl, I’m all right with that too, because you and I both know that AFI is more than just a band, and the DF is more than just a fan club. It’s life.

This lyric from Girl’s Not Grey best sums it up for me:

“What follows has led me to this place where I belong, with all erased.”