A lot's gonna change
In your lifetime
Try to leave it all behind
In your lifetime
Well, here we are again, 2 years since last time. I'll cut to the chase - since coming back to moderating RBY a few months ago, I realized I lost the passion for the game and it's become more of a job than a hobby. Scheduling games ate my weekends up and prevented me from going outside nearly as much as I liked, and eventually I started dreading playing matches and hoping the RNG would go my way as well as all the work to keep resources up to date despite big metagame shifts. I'm a huge advocate for stepping down and making room if you can't or won't do the work to keep the community going, so I'm stepping down from forum mod, Discord mod, and lower tiers leader, as well as all the other stuff I was involved in like maintaining the Hall of Champions, the RBY teamtours sheet, RBY C&C moderation and the accompanying sheet, and running the Lower Tiers Circuit. This time, I'm not expecting to stick around, either - I've made a lot of friends on this site and I hope you'll all stay in touch via Discord or whatever else, but I'm pretty sure I'm just done playing mons competitively and using Smogon. As with most things I've gotten heavily involved in in my life, I put a solid few years into it and now I'm ready to move on and do something else.
I've made some moves to ensure that RBY will be taken care of - we added new Discord mods, Wanted in 49 States should be a forum moderator soon, gastlies, Maris Bonibell, and Wanted in 49 States are taking over as lower tier leaders (stay tuned for more info), and I'll get the other stuff like record keeping and C&C sorted on the way out over the next few days. I have faith in all of them to do better than I ever did and keep RBY thriving for years to come.
I can't possibly say thanks to everyone for everything over the years, so I'll pick out a few, and if I missed you then poke me on Discord and I'll tell you how much I appreciate you. I'll stay in RBYcord for a while yet but I'm probably leaving most Smogon-related Discords after I finish sorting out final business. As fraught as my relationship with the game has become, one thing that never changed is how much I love the RBY community. From the day I started I could tell it was better than all the previous gaming communities I tried to get involved in, and it was genuinely the first time I felt welcomed as I was, after experiencing transphobia and racism in so many places beforehand. Thank you all for giving me a place to call home for these last four years.
nicole7735 you got me into this game in the first place, and for all the ups and downs I don't regret it for a second. Thanks for roping me into mons - I wish I could take your attitude toward this game because I'm seriously impressed by it. I'm glad we could win an RBYPL together before I quit.
phoopes you trusted me to take over RBY low tiers way back when - this may have been your worst decision ever but I did my best with it. Hopefully you look upon my works with only mild despair and maybe even a little pride :D
Sceptross hey buddy :) you make me want to be a better person and more self-reflective, and not many people can do that - I've had lots of reasons to be cynical in the last few years. Thanks for the many little talks and helpful thoughts, friend.
gastlies you're one of the people who was there for me during one of the worst times in my life, and you've put as much of your heart and soul into this community as I have, if not more. I'll be mad at you if you work yourself to the bone over this game, but I think you learned better than me. Thanks for being stubbornly supportive when I needed it most.
Amaranth despite your grumpy old man exterior, you have a big heart and you were there for me in a critical moment, which I will never forget. Thanks for that and so many little conversations since - I fully intend to keep poking you about Pokemon Sleep (guess who caught a shiny Mareep last night).
Teh my goated comanager, I'm happy we could bag a couple PLs together before I got out of the game. Thank you for always believing in me as a human being at times that I got put under intense scrutiny. Glacial Articunos and Zapdostistas forever <3
Eve you've been one of my closest friends from early on using this site and you've helped me through some truly terrible and painful times. LGPE has been my second home on Smogon thanks to you and you've always been someone I could confide in - thank you for everything.
Maris Bonibell I know we've had our ups and downs, but I'm ending my time playing RBY on a good note with you, and ultimately I'm thankful to know you. You're a real talent and I'm sure you'll get your big wins sooner than you think, but don't let this stupid game wreck your mental. You deserve better than that.
spell you're very cool and I enjoy talking about megaten and fear and hunger and various weird esoteric things with you. I hope we'll keep doing that in the future and thanks for being a friend till now.
Wanted in 49 States Maris has the "be gay" part down so you're in charge of covering the "do crime" part. Thanks for keeping the resources going, I have faith in you to alleviate the "women (and honorary woman Amaranth) carry RBY on their backs" curse.
Volk I was pretty surprised to get to know you given you keep some level of (healthy, I think) detachment and distance but your dry sense of humor and passion for the game come through clearly. We've definitely had our disagreements, but I'm glad we've stayed friends through it.
Shellnuts you're maybe the most committed and passionate person I've ever met, to the point of frustration. I hope you can channel more of that into doing things you care about in your life, because arguing about RBY tiers is definitely small potatoes by comparison. Wishing you the best with one thing especially that we've talked about - I hope you'll give it a try sooner rather than later.
ButtGallon you've made me laugh so often, and that's an important thing right now with well, the state of the world, so thank you for that. You're also one of the people I think will make a big difference in keeping RBY LTs running longterm - just a hunch.
Kate I like the way your brain works a lot and I hope you keep being who you are even if people don't always appreciate you. I, personally, appreciate you a lot and I'm really glad we've become such good friends in the last couple years. You've made me a lot more confident in what little writing I attempt as well and I hope you keep sending me stuff you're working on.
KJ you're literally the biggest factor in me relentlessly touching grass as of late - you're a social butterfly and I've really enjoyed going to so many different events with you. Thanks for making me feel welcome and happy in a totally different city I'd otherwise never have gone to.
Rage and goldmason thank you for trusting me enough to help bring me back on as a moderator after everything - I'm not privy to what those discussions looked like but I'm sure it was a lot of hassle for you both. It really does mean a lot and I'm glad I could have this last stint to push some changes through and get things done before burning out.
@ all the other cunos not mentioned above I love you guys, thanks for being friends, dm me for the glaze <3
@ everyone I didn't mention here (which is a lot of people and I feel bad) I have a ton of you to thank for your friendship and support over the years but this is getting horrifically long so, as above, say hi to me in DMs and I will have plenty to say!
And of course...
Chloe if you told me in 2021 I would have dated someone I met on a Pokemon website I would've called you insane. If you told me in 2023 that I'd go to Hawaii with a woman I met online and fall in love with her, I would've laughed my ass off. And yet here we are. I'm so glad I happened to meet you and things worked out how they did. I'll refrain from being even more nauseatingly gay in public but thank you for everything dear <3
phoopes you trusted me to take over RBY low tiers way back when - this may have been your worst decision ever but I did my best with it. Hopefully you look upon my works with only mild despair and maybe even a little pride :D
Sceptross hey buddy :) you make me want to be a better person and more self-reflective, and not many people can do that - I've had lots of reasons to be cynical in the last few years. Thanks for the many little talks and helpful thoughts, friend.
gastlies you're one of the people who was there for me during one of the worst times in my life, and you've put as much of your heart and soul into this community as I have, if not more. I'll be mad at you if you work yourself to the bone over this game, but I think you learned better than me. Thanks for being stubbornly supportive when I needed it most.
Amaranth despite your grumpy old man exterior, you have a big heart and you were there for me in a critical moment, which I will never forget. Thanks for that and so many little conversations since - I fully intend to keep poking you about Pokemon Sleep (guess who caught a shiny Mareep last night).
Teh my goated comanager, I'm happy we could bag a couple PLs together before I got out of the game. Thank you for always believing in me as a human being at times that I got put under intense scrutiny. Glacial Articunos and Zapdostistas forever <3
Eve you've been one of my closest friends from early on using this site and you've helped me through some truly terrible and painful times. LGPE has been my second home on Smogon thanks to you and you've always been someone I could confide in - thank you for everything.
Maris Bonibell I know we've had our ups and downs, but I'm ending my time playing RBY on a good note with you, and ultimately I'm thankful to know you. You're a real talent and I'm sure you'll get your big wins sooner than you think, but don't let this stupid game wreck your mental. You deserve better than that.
spell you're very cool and I enjoy talking about megaten and fear and hunger and various weird esoteric things with you. I hope we'll keep doing that in the future and thanks for being a friend till now.
Wanted in 49 States Maris has the "be gay" part down so you're in charge of covering the "do crime" part. Thanks for keeping the resources going, I have faith in you to alleviate the "women (and honorary woman Amaranth) carry RBY on their backs" curse.
Volk I was pretty surprised to get to know you given you keep some level of (healthy, I think) detachment and distance but your dry sense of humor and passion for the game come through clearly. We've definitely had our disagreements, but I'm glad we've stayed friends through it.
Shellnuts you're maybe the most committed and passionate person I've ever met, to the point of frustration. I hope you can channel more of that into doing things you care about in your life, because arguing about RBY tiers is definitely small potatoes by comparison. Wishing you the best with one thing especially that we've talked about - I hope you'll give it a try sooner rather than later.
ButtGallon you've made me laugh so often, and that's an important thing right now with well, the state of the world, so thank you for that. You're also one of the people I think will make a big difference in keeping RBY LTs running longterm - just a hunch.
Kate I like the way your brain works a lot and I hope you keep being who you are even if people don't always appreciate you. I, personally, appreciate you a lot and I'm really glad we've become such good friends in the last couple years. You've made me a lot more confident in what little writing I attempt as well and I hope you keep sending me stuff you're working on.
KJ you're literally the biggest factor in me relentlessly touching grass as of late - you're a social butterfly and I've really enjoyed going to so many different events with you. Thanks for making me feel welcome and happy in a totally different city I'd otherwise never have gone to.
Rage and goldmason thank you for trusting me enough to help bring me back on as a moderator after everything - I'm not privy to what those discussions looked like but I'm sure it was a lot of hassle for you both. It really does mean a lot and I'm glad I could have this last stint to push some changes through and get things done before burning out.
@ all the other cunos not mentioned above I love you guys, thanks for being friends, dm me for the glaze <3
@ everyone I didn't mention here (which is a lot of people and I feel bad) I have a ton of you to thank for your friendship and support over the years but this is getting horrifically long so, as above, say hi to me in DMs and I will have plenty to say!
And of course...
Chloe if you told me in 2021 I would have dated someone I met on a Pokemon website I would've called you insane. If you told me in 2023 that I'd go to Hawaii with a woman I met online and fall in love with her, I would've laughed my ass off. And yet here we are. I'm so glad I happened to meet you and things worked out how they did. I'll refrain from being even more nauseatingly gay in public but thank you for everything dear <3