Where do I begin, when we’ve finally reached the end?
I spent a long time trying to find the right words, and even now I don’t think I have.
So I’ll tell you all a story.
One day, I was browsing around 8WR, being little old me, when I received a PM from someone named “Vilarcane”.
“I see you a lot in people’s CaS threads giving good reviews. Maybe you should come look at mine sometime?” he said.
“Hmm… I suppose I could”; I thought to myself, though I was getting bored at seeing samey CaS and offering the same old bits of advice – A lot of people PM’d me asking for reviews,
Now don’t get me wrong – I didn’t think I was particularly good at CaS myself, and most of my advice seemed obvious enough, but I was honest to the point of brutality, and I didn’t believe in holding back, so maybe that’s what drew this ‘Vilarcane’ character to me?
Regardless, against my feelings at the time, I gave the link a click.
Since then my life has expanded in ways I never could predicted. Who could imagine that a self-proclaimed wordsmith who works in a tiny shop in a sleepy village would be trading quips with an important man in a noteworthy car sales company, in France? (Kept vague out of respect).
I’ve gotten to know someone from a completely different walk of life, and even been, to an extent, included in the lives of his sons – And in turn he’s become a part of my life - An important one.
After all, I consider my friends the MOST important thing.
I won’t (much to your dismay I’m sure Vil) talk about any single CaS of his, because that’s not why I commented on his thread – His talent isn’t why I stuck around. Prominent as it was, to me that came second to his passion. Because whilst he may not be the best CaS Artist technically, he’s certainly the most passionate.
We’ve spent many hours discussing his creations, perfecting them, checking them in battle and even doing performance fights (the idea being to use flashy moves rather than focus on winning) in order to capture their true potential in a less-static format. All because Vil felt that having them stood still, staring at the screen was just not good enough for his characters. And that’s what they are – Characters.
So this passion has carried him through all this time, and it’s never dwindled. Sure there are times he slowed down, and he’s even almost stopped a few times before, but that’s because he genuinely cares about his characters – and not seeing that same passion shared by others must’ve been truly disheartening.
And yet we’re lucky that he stayed, because if not we wouldn’t have seen this wondrous slideshows, or these genius anthros (though some of them genuinely gave me nightmares), and that hooker alien we all love so much.
So Vilarcane. For inviting me along for the ride, I thank you. For teaching me so much about so many things, I thank you. For those hours of playing mock-battles, and all the feedback from Lil Vil, I thank you. For never reading the rules in a competition, I thank you. For sharing your passion with us, the community, I thank you.
Because whilst CaS is just a game-mode for most people, for some it’s a way of expressing themselves. For some it’s a tool akin to Photoshop, or even a pencil and paper. It’s a medium with which to create art. I know a lot of people will think that might be a bit much, but you only need to look at some of the bigger-named galleries to see that it really is, in its own right, an art-form.
Vil. I know you wanted my comment to be the last one in your thread, which is a great honour, but I really hope it isn’t. Even now I hope new users, and old, will find this thread, see your characters, and really feel the passion, devotion and ambition that went into them. And I hope they express their gratitude to you, for sharing something you value so highly with us.
I tried finding the right words, and even now I don’t think I can, so all I can really say, is thank you.
