"I'm sorry, I'll miss you. I won't be on the wiki at all for a long time. It's complicated, you can tell everyone i'll miss them. As for AT 2, just tell everyone it's dead. In case you didn't figure out before it's me, 1st. I never thought I would leave, but life took a turn. It's not because of the wiki, I still love it and don't want to leave. It's not because of the show either, it's still my all-time favorite show and I love it. But would you mind spreading the word? I'll miss you frenchy. Tell 888 he can get rid of my rollback rights, tell Vulmen and all my other friends i'll miss them and never forget them. This was a great experience, I've had the greatest times here."
That was the heart-breaking message I received yesterday.
It's official.
1stAvatar is not coming back until a long long time.
Now, for those who don't know 1stAvatar (though I sincerely doubt someone here actually doesn't), he was - he is - a great user, a lover of ATLA - and of baseball. He is known for his two extremely successful blogs, 61, where all the contestants got an assigned Avatar episode, and the famous Avatar Tournament, where the entire community battled to elect the ultimate fan-favorite Avatar character (Azula won).
We all noticed how, as time went by, 1st's visits to the wiki became more and more irregular. He used to be always present in the IRC - lots of people remember the rabid "FRENCHIE!" ; "FIRSTIE !" ; "FRENCHIE!" whenever each of us noticed the other's presence - ; these days, seeing Firstie around was a stroke of luck.
In short, he is awesome.
And he's not coming back.
And why does this terribly sound like an eulogy ?
"I won't be on the wiki at all for a long time."
A long time.
That means there's hope. There's always hope.
And I don't think I'm wrong to assume, 1st, that we're all going to miss you very much.