There aren't any pictures here because my Google is borked. At least, that’s the excuse I’m using, because I wanted this blog to be about text not pretty pictures. If you read on, be forewarned that this blog is of epic proportions. I’ve a letter to the editors, a letter to the community blogs, a letter to the forums, and a letter to IRC. I’ve also written a short letter to the cast of Failcast. It may serve you well to scroll down to the section that was specifically written for you, though I’d like to encourage everyone to read it all.

I suppose I should start this off by telling you how I made my way to Destructoid last July. It’s not an epic tale of overcoming the adversity buried deep inside me, eventually leading my football team to victory and helping to shatter racial preconceptions in my small country town. No, my tale of joining Destructoid is very simple. You see, last July I did a Google search for something or another and it led me to this community blog written by Phoenix Gamma. It wasn’t the greatest blog, but it was the blog that got me hooked. I started lurking through the Cblogs, looking at what others had written and dreaming of the things that I would one day contribute, taking my place as God among men.

Sometimes things don’t work out quite the way you plan them to, and my first blog was this relatively quaint article about Animal Crossing. Yeah, it was pretty shit. I soon realized the error I had made in choosing a fifteen(?) character name, and I scurried to create a new account. Instead of choosing something easier to type, I went with Bwark-Kupo. Maybe I wanted to cement myself as the resident Final Fantasy nerd, though the only thing I’ve ever written about in that regard is my short-lived playthrough of Final Fantasy VI. It wouldn’t be long before altitis once again grabbed me by the ankles and made me his bitch. Soon I would reemerge as the prospective blogger Krow. A name that would prove to be short lived.

Google and Phoenix Gamma may have been responsible for getting me hooked, but I think my addiction to this website has more to it than what you see on the surface. About a month before I discovered Destructoid, my parents divorced. Thanks to my fathers desire to have me removed from Public school, my lack of a drivers license or a car to drive, and that my Mother had to get two jobs to keep us afloat, I was left to spend every day alone for nearly a year. As sad as it may seem, for a long time Destructoid was my only friend. I blogged so people would pay attention to me, I posted in the forums so that I could have discussion with someone other than myself. I popped into IRC every now and again so that I could have some to talk to. Over the past eight months you’ve been there for me more than I’d ever ask anyone to be, and I want to thank you for that. So, without further ado I present to you my love letters to the community.

To the community bloggers:

To each and every one of you who posts something worth reading, I want to say thank you. Lately I’ve seen a decline in quality round these parts, but those of you who I still recognize don’t fail to disappoint. Whether it be an opinion piece on the divide between Nintendo and the gaming population, a story of a lost family member who you shared gaming with, or a silly blog with nothing but a turtle humping a shoe, you never let me down. To all of you who don’t blog or don’t feel that it’s worth your time anymore, please reconsider. Where else am I going to get me fill of amateur gaming news and features?

I always hear talk from the older members about the community blogs. They say that it’s saturated with garbage posts and it’s not like the old days. I wouldn’t agree on the first point, but of course it isn’t like the old days. I’ve only been here eight months and the community blogs have changed several times since my arrival. It’s just the way things go with an evolving website, and you can either swing with the punches or pretend nothings happening. When I can look back on such great things like this Twilight Princess post by Necros, I’m saddened that they don’t bother with writing here anymore.

Thank you to anyone who supported me when I was first starting out. Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to keep coming back. I’d also like to give a huge thanks to the Cblog Recap team. You guys make my extended browsing sessions a reality, and you keep genuinely good material from getting buried underneath a slew of crap. Jackal27, you rock.

To the forums:

This place has taken up the majority of my time ever since I realized they existed. Whether it was a harmless discussion about the Final Fantasy series, or a fifty page thread featuring chicks I could fap to, every time I navigated to the forums I achieved nirvana. With the advent of the hacker debacle and the change in forum administration, what had happened to the community blogs before my arrival had happened to the forums. Many of the regulars who I had grown to know and love weren’t posting anymore, and if they were it was in drive by sessions once a week. Hell, my favorite Destructoider has completely abandoned the site.

Even with all the changes, I still enjoy the forums. Technophile has done an amazing job as an admin, giving us two extra themes to choose from as well as helping to implement a badge system achievement whores like me can really appreciate. There’s really not much more I can think to say, so I’ll simply leave this off with a list of people who have honestly changed my perspective on the way the internet works.

Nigger Love:
Poopface, CG, Sam, Banj, Serp, Sharpless, Novakaine, NegFactor, Technophile, RiotMonster, mamadonna, KyleGamgee, Dexter, Necros, Mikey, lv99ron, VGMari, NotAZombie, blehman, Solgrim, Diverse, Corican, Kiranio, Mxy, The Ghost, Craineum, digtastik, Bullet Train, and many, many more.

Keep on rocking forums, I’ll love you forever. Just don’t get another sex change without telling me, okay?

To the IRC:

I’ve been popping in here since I joined, but I’ve only really been active for the past few weeks. To everyone who has welcomed me so warmly, thank you. I had always had the impression that the IRC was a dark cliqueish place that only Destructoid regulars frequented, and to some extent that remains true. I was wrong about your capacity to accept new blood though, and I’ve learned that the only requirement for acceptance in the IRC is a capacity to not suck. I’d write more here, but there’s really not much more to say. Don’t ever, ever click on links in the IRC though. I got stuck with Rogue the Bat dick jelly porn today.

To the editors:

You guys are what make the actual news section of this site interesting. You write with personality, you write knowing who your audience is, and you don’t try and sugar coat everything to get you points with the big wig game publishers. For that, I salute you. You run podcasts that don’t end up sounding like a bunch of crotchety nerds arguing over whether or not Gears of War 2 is the game of the year (lol), you posts in the Community Blogs every now and again, and you have a tendency to give a shit about the site that you’re working for.

Chad I <3 you. Rev I hate you.

This blog is far too long for its own good and it really serves no purpose, so if you do happen to read it, thank you. You were probably better off just skipping all of this and posting “Lol Cocks” in the comments though.

Signed, InexpresstiBwark-Krowcalitykupo