.. and an update on what Steffi Marie has been up to these last few years!
This was a caption I made for Steffi Marie back in 2013 for a contest she was running, She provided the picture, and I was trying to make a caption that didn't look like something I would make .. with warped text, various background layers, variant fonts, etc .. You can read the original posting HERE and it will take you almost step by step on how I made the caption, in case you wanted to know. Usually there are less steps than that nowadays, but I was making this one special so it took way more time that usual.
And that leads to the main point of this post.
I mentioned up above in the "teaser" section of the post, is that I have had a recent communication with Steffi Marie aka Britney Shagwell and probably a few other personas throughout the years online as a TG captioner. She was around from almost the very beginning of putting pictures and words together, and I believe did them WAY before I started, and that was 13 or so years ago.
Over the years, she would do what many people do, binge and purge, so to speak. She would crank out like 5-6 captions a day, then not do anything for a month. She changed personas as she evolved as a person, and certainly didn't suffer fools lightly. She could often be dramatic, but you could tell that she CARED about things, and never half-assed anything. Some would think that what I'm saying here could be considered an insult, but I bet she doesn't agree! She knew exactly who she was, and is.
About 4 years ago, she pretty much vanished, deleted her blogs and .. this time it stuck. I knew that she was having some personal problems, and that the fantasies in our community were intruding into real life, something that does often happen after some years of "dreaming" about the topics discussed in this blog and others like it.
So about a week ago, I was thinking about her and wondered if she'd respond to an email, just to let her know I was thinking about her and hoping that things are ok. I got a reply one day later, which is pretty good since she's in Europe so time-zones and all that! Here's what she had to say!
Hey Dee,All is wellOver two years since I started transitioning... Coming up on my two year coming out anniversary.I remember my time in the captioning world fondly. Especially some of the nice people I got to meet and correspond with. I no longer have any desire to read or create captions, but that's just because I am focusing on becoming the best me that I can be...It's a long, difficult road, starting as late as I did. It's not always pleasant, and certainly rife with disappointment, but I strive to maintain a positive attitude and keep hope alive.I'm not really "happy"... not yet. But I am a lot less miserable and depressed, and confident that I am finally moving in the right direction.Please pass on my greetings and happy thoughts to any of the old folks still hanging around. I do miss them, and you!/hugsSteffi
I am so pleased to read this email, and she included a recent picture .. and of course, she had BRIGHT RED ((all natural!)) HAIR! I wouldn't have expected anything else to be honest! I don't always get replies from people that have disappeared from the scene when I email them; and even if I do, they often don't contain good news by any stretch. So getting fairly good news is a big sigh of relief!
So if there is anyone out there that was a part of this community, but had to step away .. please do contact me and let me know things are OK (or not OK .. I don't mind listening!) either through the comment section, or at my email address which I will delete from here in a few days so it won't be harvested. I'm available at Dem@en@tia. Notm@eyo@u@gmail.com. Take out the unneeded @ symbols .. I am definitely trying to not have my email sucked up by every spam bot!
And those who remember her, leave a comment as well, and I'll see about sending her what you wrote here. There's no chance she's coming back to do more captions, but if you have a fond memory, let us know about it!