Mibbian of the Week: Ali Cat

Ali Cat considers Mibba to be her escape, and loves all the creative outlets the site has to offer. In this week's Mibbian of the week, we take a closer look at this awesome member!

When did you join Mibba and how did you find the site?

I think I joined Mibba sometime in 2008 or 2009 (part of me thinks it was summer '08, I don't know why!) I don't even really remember how I heard about it -- I was bouncing between a lot of different writing/fanfiction sites like Quizilla, Buzznet, and fanfiction.net, and I stumbled upon Mibba. I've been here ever since!

What is your favorite thing about Mibba?

My favorite thing about Mibba is probably that it has so much to offer. It's such a wide variety of writers, readers, bloggers, etc. There are so many different ways of expression: writing stories, blogging, contributing to the forums. It's almost like this corner of the universe that you can escape to when you want to put yourself into your natural writing element. It's sort of an escape from everything else for me.

What does being a Mibbian mean to you?

I think being a Mibbian means being yourself, letting your creativity flow, and letting go of any stigmas you may have about writing (especially fanfiction where people find it embarrassing or a guilty pleasure). Mibba is a creative environment designed to help you put your own work out there, so as a Mibbian you should utilize that!

If you could change one thing about Mibba, what would it be and why?

I don't think there's really anything I'd change about Mibba except making the comment swap feature a little more efficient--it's a great idea and it has potential, but sometimes the feedback can take a long time to receive. Besides that, something I just thought of, having a word counter while you're posting your work would be awesome. I mean, I know a lot of people write their work in word processors first, but for some reason I think having a word counter in the posting element would be awesome. Otherwise, I like Mibba just the way it is!

What hobbies do you have outside of Mibba and writing?

Outside of Mibba and writing my "hobbies" are probably school and work, haha. I'm just learning how to play the guitar, so that's kind of a new hobby I've picked up on, and in the summer I love going to the beach and I love sailing and kayaking and basically anything having to do with the water. I also have an unhealthy obsession with Fall Out Boy, so I don't know if that really counts as a hobby, but I spend enough time obsessing over them that it may as well be!

What are your plans for the future?

I think about my future a lot and it really stresses me out sometimes. I'm a marketing major right now, so I'd like to be a market research analyst once I'm out of school, maybe work in Boston or New York. I really want to be that executive bitch kind of person, you know? Maybe like Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada. Part of me always wanted to be a writer, too, so maybe some day that'll come to fruition. I mean, I want to get married and have kids probably, but I want to work really hard first. I'll keep obsessing over Fall Out Boy, and writing, and hopefully posting here!

Is there anything you'd like to say to all the Mibbians out there?

Just be yourself when you're on here! I see this as kind of my safe haven for writing, because I'm never judged. Get to know the people on here, talk to them, become friends with them. You can sort of carve out your own little niche on here, and it's really great to have people who will help you with your writing, and praise it. Get involved on the forums or comment on people's stories or posts. Get yourself out there, because nine times out of ten you're going to find someone who thinks you're pretty cool. I've met some really great people on here, so definitely take advantage of that.

Special thanks to Fandango and aubs for editing!