I suppose it’s high time I got around to writing my sendoff letter here on good ol’ Kazamatsuri.org, a place that’s seen a whole lot of great discussion and a whole lot more great folks. Despite my radio silence over the past 3.5~ years, Kazamatsuri will eternally have a place in my heart, and it has made massive waves in my life. I’m hardly the best when it comes to reminiscing about things, no thanks to my abysmal memory, but an event like this warrants I at least try. So here it is, my swan song for Kazamatsuri. To be accompanied with this literal swan song I have played: https://soundcloud.com/linkthinks/philosophy-of-yours-piano-cover
As it is written, a young Link joined the forum many moons ago after seeing a Reddit thread advertising the upcoming planetarian podcast. I’d actually just read planetarian the night prior (apparently) and enjoyed it immensely, so getting a chance to vent my thoughts seemed great. I’m not sure what gave me the idea that I was a good speaker at the time, but clearly I had convinced myself, so I hopped right into activities on the forum here.
Kinda crazy to look back and see that I was part of the welcoming committee on the Introduce Yourself topic back when I joined up, haha. I most certainly was never the most active poster, nor did I contribute a whole lot to the discussions about Key works, but I can say with pride that I (eventually) read through everything there was on the forums, and have always had immense respect for the people who really got down in the discussion trenches to crack open every facet of every Key work, and all the people who made awesome fan content for Key’s stuff, @SuikaShoujo, @Glenn_Irish, and @eptakyrios coming to mind in particular. I will never forget the coincidence that was my piano cover of Gentle Jena being posted the same day as Suika’s vocal cover. Really amazing.
Perhaps the most individually incredible experiences I had here on Kazamatsuri came from the myriad of podcasts that I was fortunate enough to be featured on. Aside from just improving immensely at speech and analysis, each and every podcast was accompanied by amazing and hilarious antics. From the OG planetarian bookclub (whew that was rough) to the vastly improved AIR podcast with the MŒ ͜ʖ°)/ s @Yerian, @Bizkitdoh, @Aspirety, @Iotheria, and @Bowiie, plus our fantastic guests, and then finally the smattering of Monthly Terra podcasts which I was fortunate enough to be able to mess up Rewrite Vita information in! These were all filled with so many dreams and memes and adrenaline and were oh so fantastical. Even if I can never stomach going back and listening to them as I have a condition where my body decomposes upon hearing myself speak, all those podcasts are good memories to me that I wouldn’t trade for the world. Also I can still sing Farewell Song thanks to the chorus. Good stuff.
And of course, this is all ignoring the elephant in the room which is the 100 friends I made along the way (at least in the Kotarou definition of friend). To this day a very substantial part of my social network is made up of people I either met here on Kazamatsuri or indirectly came into contact with from here. There are so many people here that have carved out a place in my heart, even if I’m not in touch with them anymore. The old Skype group was truly like a family to me, and I even used the DMs here on Kazamatsuri quite often back in the day (eventually boasting the longest DM chain on the forum). It was because of how special the forum was to me that I eventually decided to become a moderator along with everyone’s favorite boy @Pepe, and while I definitely made a couple minor mistakes as a moderator, I also remember working quite hard on occasion to keep this place clean and tidy, and much love was put in. I even solved a wacky detective mystery.
Of course, here we are now at the end of the decade, and I myself have changed over the years. As my interest in visual novels as a medium slipped away, my enthusiasm for Key was naturally dragged with it, and I devolved into yet another void walker, right up until this final farewell.
But this isn’t a funeral. It’s a sendoff. A sendoff to years of some of the greatest people and passion I have ever encountered. To a site that brought people around the globe together and helped change their lives. To the power of emotion, and the ability for Key’s works to cause us to want to connect. It’s inevitable that many of us would drift apart in time, but what’s truly amazing is how many have returned to mourn and celebrate the experience that is and was Kazamatsuri. It goes to show that the love wasn’t just there for Key works, it was for here and the fans of those works. Even after these forums enter their stasis, I’m hopeful that even a small number of folks will stumble upon its archives and be able to view and appreciate the warmth and family that formed here. At the very least, I’m still here, and I will always trumpet Kazamatsuri’s praises as a force in my life.
Thank you, everyone. There are plenty of people I didn’t mention who I still remember fondly (basically anybody I’ve interacted with for any amount of time back in the day), but I also want to thank all the people who have joined in my absence and fallen in love with Kazamatsuri like I did. Because I can think of no better happiness to give someone than what Kazamatsuri has given to me.
Thank you all for everything. I will always remember this journey.
