I followed Monday here forever ago, and the site was too rad not to sign up. It gave me a reason to draw comics throughout highschool and keep up a fairly constant workflow, doing the Void shit helped me keep up a momentum to do some non-Void shit (which amounted to nothing of value but time spent drawing comics in earnest is never time wasted) and a large portion of the portfolio that got me into college was Void comics (Primarily one Wei decided was too shit to get posted, back when he went around deciding comics were too shit to get posted).
Through Void I've met some of the most impressive and most influential artists I've ever known, and I got a girlfriend off Void (We lived close enough that we were hanging out before we were dating, fuck e-dating). I fucking hate cons but goddamn if WW07 wasn't one of the biggest things for me as an artist. It was also when I started drinking. Since then I've been simultaneously banned and welcomed back as a special guest at the Chelsea Hotel for throwing a shitstorm party. Shit, WW09 was rad too. It felt rad sharing a row of tables with people I'd admired and finally having something of my own to show.
Most importantly I met Justin (Dawgmastas) and he and I are now putting out some badass books, and I'll admit I was heavily motivated by Void's Pulpo books and my disappointment in what they'd turned into to do so (No offense Galvo, but you know you hurt me bad with how mismanaged that one was).
Oh yeah and I lost my V card via someone I met on Void, so there's that.
I spent most of my time here being a contrary cunt and I learned a lot for it. Moreso when I did it with comics than in the forums but still. In looking for ways to break form and rules I experimented a lot in my comics here and that was awesome that I was allowed to. The site is imperfect, the site will always be imperfect. What one person loves is going to piss someone else right the fuck off. Punks won't go to Abercrombie, whatever. The world is a better place for having variety.
But this is my leaving the site. It's not for me anymore. I've done my time here, and I've had a great one, the best one. I'm not saying goodbye to anybody, just to the site. It's changed and it's not a website I'd want to use anymore, and I couldn't be happier. If it was still the website I wanted to use it wouldn't be the website you new users want to use. This isn't a website for adults, it's a website for kids. It isn't a website for comics professionals, it's for wannabes and neverwills, and it's okay to be either one. At some point though you have to grow up and say "I want to be a comic artist" or "I don't" and go on with your life. I didn't even want to make a goodbye post, but I was struck with how pathetic it was seeing people still bitching about how the site has changed. Fuck you, move on, grow up. If there's anything that should be learned from this site it's that there's way bigger and better things out there than Void, but this is a fucking great place to find out what those things are.
Don't be this guy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo4kDrWBa6cPS-I'm leaving because Gavin ruined Void.