Goodbye For Now

[GK Sierra]

Moderating this forum has always been a fairly easy task. Out of all the community boards I am responsible for this one is by far the most civil and friendly. Other than the occasional troll, spammer or minor spat, things are remarkably peaceful.

Gunnerkrigg Court is such a good comic and will always hold a special place in my heart.

Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control, I will be without an internet connection for about a decade. As such, I will not be able to moderate this or any forum for a significant amount of time. I'm sure all of you can make nominations, take a poll amongst yourselves, and decide who would be a good choice to handle the day to day moderation duties in my absence. Whoever is chosen can then message Tom and get knighted, so to speak.

At any rate, I am leaving in about 3 weeks, it has been an honor and a privilege. Perhaps by the time I am back the comic will be complete, who knows.

I wish all of you the best of luck in all your endeavors.

[mturtle7]

We're sorry to see you go, GK Sierra! It's the end of an era, I think, and you will be missed.

(Also, condolences from a fellow Santa Cruz Slug! It's kind of weird, learning you were right here in the same town as me the whole time...)

[aline]

I hope you will be okay, as okay as one can be in circumstances like these.
I wish you well, Sierra.

[imaginaryfriend]

Hang in there, man.

[speedwell]

Hey dude, it's not going to be easy, but keep the sense of goodness and camaraderie you feel here tucked in a safe place in your heart so you can take it out when things feel all wrong. "Put us on your shoulder", as a wise therapist said to me once, when you feel like things are overwhelming, and imagine our support for your sense of humanity as you go through your hard times.

[GK Sierra]

Jun 25, 2021 4:56:02 GMT mturtle7 said:

We're sorry to see you go, GK Sierra! It's the end of an era, I think, and you will be missed.

(Also, condolences from a fellow Santa Cruz Slug! It's kind of weird, learning you were right here in the same town as me the whole time...)

Haha no way, what was your attendance dates? I'm local so I live in Santa Cruz but 2015 to 2019 was when I went to UCSC.

I do keep running into slugs in the weirdest places.

[Georgie L]

Hope you do alright in there, we'll miss you.

[pyradonis]

Whoa... We didn't really interact much on here, but.. Good luck, man! And thank you for the work you did here.

[Per]

Drugs are bad, m'kay? Ten years without internet seems a bit harsh though. There are countries with cosier prisons.

[theonethatgotaway]

I'm confused by the news, but I wish you the best. Stay safe, and when you come back we'll have a finished story, an animated series, a deal with Pixar and a Mort spin-off ready for you.

[maxptc]

Best of luck, stay safe.

[snipertom]

Really sorry to hear that GK. FWIW I don't agree with that kind of punishment. I hope things get better for you and that the world improves too. I've really enjoyed the time spent on the forum with you around all these years. Take care and if you're able to from time to time would be great to hear from you, let us know how things go even if it takes some years?

[ctso74]

That sucks. Never easy. Good luck to you, man. Hopefully, it will be shorter than you think.
This is an awesome, easy-going place. You're a reason for that. Thanks.

[GK Sierra]

Jun 25, 2021 13:10:26 GMT snipertom said:

Really sorry to hear that GK. FWIW I don't agree with that kind of punishment. I hope things get better for you and that the world improves too. I've really enjoyed the time spent on the forum with you around all these years. Take care and if you're able to from time to time would be great to hear from you, let us know how things go even if it takes some years?

Likewise man, thanks, and yeah America is a spicy harlot but what else is new, eh? If this had been Norway I'd be out on probation already. Ah well.

I have about 20 science fiction and fantasy books outlined and in various states of rough drafting, so I'll probably spend most of my time working on those. Really want to learn how to draw as well.

Also I am planning on buying all of Tom's books and putting them in the prison library along with Rice Boy and Dresden Codak and whatever other webcomics come to mind.

I'm getting my writing platform together so I'll leave some links when thats done. Gonna post a bunch of short stories and poems and probably do a serial to help gain some readership. There will be contact info there as well in case anybody is lonely and wants a pen pal 😘

Jun 25, 2021 13:02:16 GMT theonethatgotaway said:

an animated series

If someone told me they made a Gunnerkrigg Court animated series and it was good I would be scaling down a rope made of bedsheets that very evening and I am only half joking when I say that.

[sleepcircle]

well at least it's only ten years. a morbid ketamine addict is in a prison for the rest of their life. so just think. between you and your customers, you got off easy.

[GK Sierra]

Jun 25, 2021 14:02:53 GMT sleepcircle said:

well at least it's only ten years. a morbid ketamine addict is in a prison for the rest of their life. so just think. between you and your customers, you got off easy.

I didnt sell Ketamine, that quarter pound was for my face. The morbid addict was me.

[sleepcircle]

well then this ten years of time to work on your books might have, in fact, saved you from a very nasty fate. delusions and cognitive deterioration set in with extended exposure.

edit: i should be clear, i'm not just being flippant, there. i have some tangential experience with the subject of addiction.

[GK Sierra]

Jun 25, 2021 14:15:42 GMT sleepcircle said:

well then this ten years of time to work on your books might have, in fact, saved you from a very nasty fate. delusions and cognitive deterioration set in with extended exposure.

Yeah I saw a lot of the folks go down that road. My best friend had pretty much completely blown his bladder out, abdominal pains, smashed his dendrites all to pieces.

He got murdered in a robbery shortly after my arrest and one of the shittiest things about it was that I was almost happy for him because I knew he wasn't going to suffer anymore.

I wish you luck on your journey, its a hell of a drug to try to kick.

[sleepcircle]

i hope you do ok, ultimately. good luck to you too.

[snipertom]

@gk I'd really love to stay in touch! I'm not very timely with posting letters but I would sure write some . Would also love to see your writing ^_^

[snipertom]

Jun 25, 2021 14:14:18 GMT GK Sierra said:

Jun 25, 2021 14:02:53 GMT sleepcircle said:

well at least it's only ten years. a morbid ketamine addict is in a prison for the rest of their life. so just think. between you and your customers, you got off easy.

I didnt sell Ketamine, that quarter pound was for my face. The morbid addict was me.

Big hugs. I guess for me I think to why we self-medicate sometimes, I guess my self-medication is a different substance but that doesn't make me a better person. While I can't be sure what you've been through, I send whatever healing vibes I can. It sounds like you're working to get yourself in a better space.

[jda]

Farewell.
Thanks for all the fish, mate.
The world will continue to spin, pup.
Setting an alarm for 2031 (or sooner for good behaviour?) to congratulate you on your newfound freedom and clean slate.
Gbye.

[liminal]

I wasn’t active in the forums until more recently, but I’m sorry to see you go (…I’ll leave my thoughts on the system aside 🙃). It’s heartening to hear all of these kind words about you and I’m excited to see your writing by the end of this. For what it’s worth from a stranger, I wouldn’t mind a pen pal 🙂.

[mturtle7]

Jun 25, 2021 9:17:25 GMT GK Sierra said:

Jun 25, 2021 4:56:02 GMT mturtle7 said:

We're sorry to see you go, GK Sierra! It's the end of an era, I think, and you will be missed.

(Also, condolences from a fellow Santa Cruz Slug! It's kind of weird, learning you were right here in the same town as me the whole time...)

Haha no way, what was your attendance dates? I'm local so I live in Santa Cruz but 2015 to 2019 was when I went to UCSC.

I do keep running into slugs in the weirdest places.

As of a few weeks ago, I'm actually class of 2021! And I started in 2017 so there's at least a couple years of overlap there.

[SilverbackRon]

Oh GK that sucks on so many levels!   You have always been a good influence on this forum and a steady hand as our moderator.  

I know these next few years are going to be rough, but hopefully it will go faster than you think.  It is obvious you have a lot of people pulling for you.  You say you have been moderating several other forums?  I hope you are getting positive energy from all of them.

You hang in there Friend!

[speedwell]

Hey folks, just as an administrative note, GK has alerted us to the fact that we will need someone to step up when they step down. I know it's unpleasant to think about because we really appreciate GK <3, but we should seek a handful of people who would be willing to take on moderatorship before moderation is actually needed, and do some sort of poll to demonstrate to Tom that we did this thoughtfully and with the consent of the membership. 

For health reasons I am personally taking myself out of the running (and it's a bit cheeky to assume I would even be in it in the first place, haha), but I feel like it would give GK a bit of peace of mind if we were to sort this relatively quickly. Your thoughts? 

[philman]

Oh wow I must have missed this last week. So sorry to hear about this GK, you've been one of the faces that seems to have always been here on these forums. While I can't condone what you did, 10 years does seem extortionately high. Sorry to see you go, hope you keep safe and can make it through the other side ok.


On the moderator front, yes it would be good to get someone (or two people maybe? in case of breaks, holidays, time zones, etc?) in soon, not that moderation is often needed here so I assume it would be a light effort, and ultimately down to Tom.

[ohthatone]

I think we should start by asking for volunteers then we can go from there.

[Igniz]

Now you know better.

Regrettably, much of what we can say here is of little consequence, given your current situation. Instead, here's a little goodbye tribute:


*Number of GK's comments as of editing this

Hang in there, buddy, and remember: "there is no evil that lasts a hundred years, nor a body that resists it." Always keep this in mind. Greetings from Mexico.

[agasa]

Kid, I loved reading your comments for the last eleven effin years. And if I remember right, I loved your contribution to the Gunnerkrigg Minecraft.
In another eleven years, you'll be back here, and I'll be here waiting for you. I'm setting a google calendar reminder.
It shows your love and dedication that, even in all the chaos you're enduring right now, you did remember to notify us and pass the baton. I'm not sure I would have; you're in unfortunate circumstances and you f'ed up, but we here all believe you're a champ.

The ether doesn't need YOUR particular soul to keep running just yet. So don't do other stupid shit in the meanwhile. See you on the other side.
Lots of love from an old crank from Italy.