User blog:El Alamein/So long, mates

Well, jeez. I didn't think I'd ever be writing one of these blogs, but here I am, writing one.

Firstly, I am formally resigning from my position as administrator on the Deadliest Fiction Wiki. This is because, being busy with studies, work, and applications, I simply don't have a lot of spare time. When I do have spare time, I guess I just feel like spending it doing other things now. So, yeah, this is me stepping down. I'm genuinely appreciative that, as a community, you had the faith in me to elect me to a position of responsibility, and I'm sorry that I have to let you guys down.

In addition, I am also going to be retiring from the Wiki. I'm doing it mid-season, and that sucks, because I would have liked to see some of the upcoming fights (specifically Mount Olympus vs. Asgard) through. (I definitely would have won some BotMs and at least one Battle of the Year with this season, so you're all lucky that I softened the competition! :P )

As I mentioned above, I've simply had to come to the sobering realization that as my life becomes more and more "grown up" (for lack of a more "grown up" term), I have less and less desire to spend time on the Wiki. Don't get me wrong, I still love the Wiki. Heck, it's been a huge part of my personal life through high school and into my second year at college. It's really something, I think, to look back at my early battles and see how I've grown as a writer. And it's interesting to see the experiments I've made and the collaborations I've done in the 55 battles I've written (not counting tournaments). I successfully finished the Hunger Games, which I'm proud of, because that was hard as hell. It was frustrating and I'm still not sure it was "worth it," but I can say that I stuck through with it. Parting advice to anyone who wants to do a user tournament: prepare yourself for a sharp decrease in interest as the tournament goes on.

In addition to the battles I've written, I've gotten to know a couple of you pretty well, and we've had fun doing stuff outside the Wiki (like playing games on Steam, video chatting, and connecting on Facebook). We've debated, argued, fought, and even put me on trial, but that's just the way life is. Stuff happens. You guys are, honestly, a really cool and intelligent and remarkable bunch of people who come from all reaches of the globe, and I'm glad that I've gotten to know you through the Wiki. People might say that online friendships aren't as good as the real thing, but that's bullshit. Of course, they don't as easily carry the same emotional intensity as a real-life friendship, but that doesn't mean they're not valid, and it doesn't mean that they aren't significant to the parties involved. So don't let petty arguments and disagreements and personality clashes ruin what is truly a special corner of the Internet. We're all still maturing, we're all still learning, and we're all still people. Mature and learn together.

If we're connected on Steam or on Facebook or something, message me whenever you want. I'm always interested in what's going on with the Wiki here. I might pop in every once in a while--heck, I might vote now and then--but I can't promise that I'll do this with any regularity. Again, life and all that.

It's weird to think that this December would have been my five-year anniversary on the Wiki. But now I bow out and, though I still remember my days of noob-ness fondly, leave a veteran. I've been chatmod, I've been admin, and I've been a goddamn pain in the ass at times. I hope that that's enough to leave a legacy that today's anons will hear about as tomorrow's new users.

Though I'm a Bernard Montgomery fan to my core (and please don't put him up against someone who will kill him in a fight), I find it pertinent to quote Douglas MacArthur: "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away."



It's been a blast.