quest master
good morrow, quest master

onward is my favorite pixar film of all time and it was the first special interest i've had in a movie. before it came out, i thought i never would've been able to maintain a years-long special interest for a standalone film, but onward checked enough boxes and came out at the perfect enough time to help me achieve such a feat. the film released just before the quarantine, when i was about to be out of school for over five months. the film featured two nerdy siblings who are close with each other, backdropped by a beautiful fantasy aesthetic. it was love at first sight.

for 2 and a half years, i poured all my heart and soul into my fanart and fanfics, among other projects. it was a way of giving my thanks to pixar and dan scanlon for creating such a beautiful, underrated, relatable gem that felt like it was made just for me. i made wonderful online friends in the process, and even wrote a whole season of a fanmade series in script form. i've read what i think is some of the greatest fanfiction ever written. i had the time of my life in this small town-esque fandom, giving love to this film that only deserves more.

after 2 and a half years passed, my special interest began to wane, and i moved onto greener pastures. the major reasons for this were me starting a busy semester in college and the creator of my previous special interest finally hitting a million subscribers (both happened on august 22nd, 2022, funnily enough). but my love for the film is still as strong as ever. even though i'm no longer actively creating or engaging with the onward fandom, i'm still adding this shrine to my website out of respect for this film and the work we as a fandom have done to keep its legacy alive.


fandom timeline

Blurbs

The Onward fandom was overall a magical experience for me. It was a wonderful little community, all of us sharing our art and writing with each other. I'd never been part of a fandom until Onward, and I can say I truly had THE fandom experience - the good, and the bad, but mostly good. I'm grateful to the film for how much creativity it brought out in me, for helping me discover my love of writing, and for gifting me wonderful friends who I'm still connected with today. While I don't think fandom culture is really for me anymore, I look back on the experience I had in the teeny tiny Onward fandom pretty fondly. I hope Dan Scanlon knows how much his movie is loved.

- Cosmo, formerly known as Star