You know that whole "This is the hardest post I've had to write" thing? I used to be unconvinced, but now that it's happening to me, I finally get it. Today, you see, is my last day with io9.
This site has been part of my daily existence for two-and-a-half years (maybe longer?), way before it was even called io9 - One day, Annalee will reveal the other names this site almost had, and you shall collectively think "Yes, io9 is the best one" - and I'm genuinely going to really miss it (I'm not going away entirely; I'll likely be back every now and then, if only to defend the honor of Chuck from Meredith's cruel ad-hominem attacks).
Thanks are in order to many, many people for their support, assistance and sanity-keeping during my time here, and to list them all would turn this into an Oscar speech without the music to play me off. So, quickly: Annalee and Charlie Jane, thank you for bringing me in in the first place, believing in me enough to do so, and for introducing me to that place on Irving that had the great cherry pork balls even though it's no longer there. Meredith, you're the little sister I never knew I had, and getting to know you was easily one of the best things about this job (even though you're completely wrong about both Congo and Christian Bale's popularity in relation to Will Smith's). Lauren, Jeff, Esther, Alasdair, Kiala, Moff, Mr. Garrison Dean, Alex, Sarah and everyone else who wrote for me on the weekends: Thank you for your words, your support and making me look better than I am every time you put whatever the modern equivalent of pen-to-paper is (fingers-to-keyboard really doesn't sound as good). Thanks, also, to Alex (another one), AnnaMaria, Jeff and the many others who've helped me with posts, setting up interviews and all manner of behind the scenes shenanigans, and I promise I'll shut up and stop being sincere after this last one: Thank you to everyone who read the rubbish I wrote, commented and/or emailed in the last two-and-a-bit years since the site launched. Yes, even the people who think I'm an idiot who knows nothing about nothing - I'll miss you most of all*.
In parting, I'd like to leave you with one final gift: Kate Beaton's retelling of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea:
So long, io9. Thanks for all the fish.
(* - This is not necessarily true.)