User blog comment:Chicken Bond/It's My Seventh Anniversary - It's Time to Call It a Night/@comment-1788742-20160220140508

So this is where it ends.

When you told me you were stepping down last month, I didn't believe it. For the longest time, whenever I thought of Custom BIONICLE Wiki, you're the first person I thought of. Imagining this site without you is like imagining a world without Doctor Who- unthinkable.

I saw this post yesterday and debated whether I should say anything. We already said goodbye two years ago, and I didn't want to cheapen that farewell. Still, since our fellow Musketeer J97 dragged himself out of oblivion to wish you goodbye, I figured I should do the same. It's only right that all three of us are here together on your last day(s). Plus, someone's gotta write that melodramatic farewell post (it's a tradition) and it might as well be me, no? :P

In all seriousness, this isn't an easy post to write. I don't like endings, old friend.

Where to begin? Even though it's been years since that day, I still remember how we first met. You were a veteran user already, and I was a newbie who could barely string together a coherent sentence, much less co-author a novel with you. As we bonded, first over our fanfic storylines, then over the Dark Realities Trilogy, I was struck by just how skilful a writer you are. While I'm honored that you wrote you learned a lot from me, in truth I feel as though we taught each other so much. It was your work on DR that inspired me to keep writing on the wiki, and it's not a stretch to say that without your inspiration I never would have accomplished a single thing of note on this site.

But it wasn't just your writing that deserves mention. Indeed, of your many accomplisments of note, your management of this site in the years after BIONICLE ended is nothing short of inspirational. Through those years, it was your leadership that kept the fires of creativity going and helped fill the void left by the toyline's end. In his farewell post back in 2012, former site leader TheSlicer said that he predicted the wiki would last "one, maybe two more years." Today, it's 2016, the toyline is back, and a new generation of users has come to prominence. Your leadership has left a mark on this site that equals, even surpasses that of Slice, and for that you should be proud.

Most of all, though, I would be remiss not to mention the impact you've had on my own life. Even though it's been two years since I officially left, and though we never met face-to-face, I remember every conversation we had, whether it was about BIONICLE, Doctor Who, or something else entirely. So many of your wonderfully idiosyncratic phrases have become part of my daily vocabulary. I remember quoting the hilarous awards on your userpage verbatim to friends in years past, and thanks to you I'll never look at a fez again without thinking of you. There are very few people I've met online whose friendship I value as much as my friends in the "real world", but I can say beyond a doubt that you are one of them. Though it's been two years since I left this site, I still look back fondly on our friendship and I hope, two years from now, you'll do the same.

And so, farewell Chicken Bond: Author, MOCist, Whovian, site leader, Fezmaster extraordinaire- and my friend. Thank you for everything you've done for this community.

''There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea's asleep and the rivers dream, people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice and somewhere else the tea is getting cold.''

Somewhere out there, CB, you've got work to do. Best of luck.

Your friend,

Varkanax

P.S. I'm planning a trip to Australia this summer. I'll be thinking of you while I'm there!