ARTWORK BY:
 tacki

ORIGINAL:
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/9980583/

I had many, wonderful times at BronyCon. But, of them, this was my finest.

 tacki drew this picture and posted it the very day I finally returned to work after over seven months of recovery from having been totally blind.

Going back to work was far from easy. My vision, despite being saved, dropped at least another 20% and my cornea had officially been declared, in abridged terms, "A Ticking, Time Bomb".

Needless to say, I struggled immensely to even make a dent in my workload that day and came home very discouraged. That was until I saw this waiting for me in my Submissions.

 tacki made this picture for me that, as of this day, has been the only work of art he has posted. He has been incredibly busy with college, work, and home life. But, despite all this, he made the time to make this picture for me to cheer me up and give my eye a reason to know I still have a gift and that gift must be used. Even if I have to use all sorts of additional, accessible technology, I can't give up for, if I do, I'll not have the opportunity to delight in thoughtful gestures such as this.

Over the months, I have seen this work cropped by very unfriendly folk. When I say "cropped", I mean you can find only the picture of Spike from it floating around being called things like "The Worst of Friendship is Magic" or "Fetish Work".

These statements hurt me to the core and I was determined to make all those who mocked  tacki's effort seem as if it was for clopping purposes only.

So, after months of planning, I finally got in the room with Cathy Weseluck. I had two copies of this picture on hand. I began by explaining to her how  tacki had only done one work this entire year and it was for me on my very first day back to work after having survived a tremendous battle against blindness. I then went on to explain to her it was based on how my character, Yosh, potentially could've met Spike during the possible upbringing of Spike by Princess Celestia while Twilight Finished her studies. I told her how I developed the thought of how, perhaps, there was more than one, gifted unicorn who got a dragon sidekick and that Yosh was one of them.

Cathy happily signed the work, accepted the copy, and then she asked to take my picture! So, my son and I stood together as she took snapshots of us. It was wonderful!

Though, that wasn't it.

I finally got to tell Cathy of how, like Spike, I feel I live in a world in which doesn't quite understand me. However, despite this fact, I do my best to be my best. I then told her how I really want to be a children's book author and offered her a copy of me and  nishi's, "Captain Scuttles.

Not only did Cathy accept the book, but she asked me to sign it!

My heart sang as I did my best to sign the cover of the book for her. She then told me she'd read it on her plane ride home. Hurray!

Side point is that, as we were with Cathy, she went into character as Spike and spoke to my son! The most notable line she said as Spike to him was, "Wow! I think we're the same size!" :) <LoL!>

So, in sum, my special thanks to Cathy Weseluck for making me super-duper happy! She's a wonderful person and I wouldn't mind meeting up with her again sometime. You can tell she enjoys what she does and, as a creative individual myself, I get such a charge when I can be with people who share the love and passion for their characters.

 tacki, this is for you. Not to mention all those who misinterpreted his fine work as being a "Fetish Art" just because it is on FA.

ATTENTION:
To anyone who finds this post, be aware that you should not judge a book by its cover. Especially if you are a Brony. Being a Brony, or good human being, is learning to understand, accept, and respect other people. If you had gone through the same degrees of trauma that I have over the course of my life, you'd understand why a work like this means so much to me and is NOT anything to clop over.

Furthermore, many individuals here on Fur Affinity are just like me. Folks who have been outcast by society and in need of a place to be loved and understood. Fur Affinity is the most accessible art / social networking site for my accessible technology I use to interact with the world. True, some people in the furry community may seem like what has been stereotyped by society. HOWEVER, just like any other group of people, you have The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. To focus only on the "The Bad" and/or "The Ugly" shows a level of ignorance that is unbecoming of a society in which is supposed to be tolerant towards those who are not "Normal".