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Well, I've been 'fraid of changin'
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I'm gettin' older, too
I never liked goodbyes.
I was never particularly good at them, and so I avoided them like the plague as much as I could. But whenever I'm forced to look one in the eyes, I tend to sit down and write out unnecessarily long, sappy epitaphs. If that's what you're looking for, then congratulations; you're in the right place.
There are too many people to thank; far too many for me to ever list out completely. AuronKaizer, Ccbermanzzpedia, EveryDayJoe45, Fierce Deku, From Beyond the Stars, Green Rupee, Hylianhobbit, Jäzzi, Jedimasterlink, MaloMart, Minish Link, Oni Dark Link, The Midna, Tirlby, Triforce 14, Xykeb Zraliv. I could go on for paragraphs, so suffice it to say that I'm more grateful to each and every one of you that made Zeldapedia what it is today than I can put into words. Many of you blazed the trail not just for me, but for countless other editors, and inspired us all to make Zeldapedia the best place it could possibly be.
Many of these people have moved on over the years, as people are wont to do. And though the activity (and eventually, I admit, the quality) of Zeldapedia trickled away over time, it always remained a familiar haven for me, and will forever hold a special place in my heart. I was taught so much here, and I've learned more than I can ever explain; strange though it may seem, Zeldapedia helped me to grow and become who I am today.
More than anything, I'm proud. Truly, genuinely proud of what Zeldapedia was; as an encyclopedia, as a website, and as a community. I've had the privilege of contributing here for nearly a decade (which is more like a century in Internet time, it seems), and the honor of serving as a rollbacker, an administrator, and finally a bureaucrat. Putting the Wallmaster image into our Bureaucrat Gallery was something I had only dreamed of doing; it's still a bit surreal to see it there. I was also lucky enough to write for and run the Temple of Courage beginning with its semi-successful revival back in 2015; another aspect of the community that I was fortunate enough to experience in its heyday.
Cliché though it may seem, this is not the end of Zeldapedia. Our time on this site may be drawing to a close, but the community will go on, with a new generation of leaders. Whatever form it takes, be it on a website, a Discord server, or some other form of yet-unforeseen media another decade down the road, there will always be fans of The Legend of Zelda, and there will always be communities that form around it.
The bonds that have formed between people over the 14 years of Zeldapedia's history may wear away or change their shape, but they can never be truly broken. The site may disappear one day, but it will always exist in our memories.
So whoever you are reading this, be you a cherished friend, a casual acquaintance, or a complete stranger stumbling upon the site for the first time, heed my final words of advice: enjoy the time you have doing the things you love with the people you care about. In the end, everyone grows, everyone changes, and we all go through life in all its beautiful ups and downs.
So I wish the best to each and every one of you; to those I knew and to those I may never meet. Go find your passions. Chase your dreams. Make mistakes and learn from them. Cherish the time you have, and perhaps we'll all meet again beyond, in a far green country under a swift sunrise.
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