A Eulogy for Lyoko Freak

[SilverPrince offline]

I, SilverPrince, by all the power vested in me (by myself), do hereby on this day, the Twenty Ninth of April in the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fifteen, and the Year of Our Forum Ten, declare that this forum's long, long passage from life has finally concluded.

Lyoko Freak is dead.

It could have been argued it died long ago, but there were always trickles. Tiny sparks of defiant activity, every now and again. I think it is fair to say that this is no longer the case. I am, of course, just as much to blame as anyone or anything else. This will be my fifteenth post in two years. Come to think of it, people have been calling this place dead since 2006 - before I even joined. Even so, this place was once the entire core of my online life. Before I had Tumblr, before I had Facebook, I was here. Friends I have made here have been with me for life.

In reality, I was never as active as I could have been, which I always regretted. I would always be here for stretches and then leave. But I've always come back. And now there is no longer a community to greet me. I am 23 years old. I graduated college with a bachelor's degree a year ago. When I first started posting here, I was 14. I had just started high school. Almost my entire adolescence, in all its horrific, embarrassing glory, is archived here. I grew up here. I know many others did too. So I am sad to see it go, even though I know it was bound to happen. Nothing lasts forever, certainly not a forum centered around a children's TV show that ceased airing 8 years ago. (Except for that one thing that happened in 2012, but I'd rather not talk about it.)

I remember when I was so eager to see responses to posts that I would check the site at computers at school, having to endure questions of "what's loco freak?" from other people who saw. (And that was when I was like 17.) I remember when it was exhilarating to theorize about plot points, or wonder just how things on the show worked, or who Franz Hopper really was. Irreverent forum games, awkward TMI posts, and just horribly awkward, megalomaniacal posts in BKO. All of these things were what got me through the day.

I've grown up now, and I'm a very different person than what I was when I started here. This part of my life is over, I suppose it's time to admit. But this place will always be a part of me, as I'm sure it will be for you, if you're reading this. The glory days of this place ended in 2011, at the latest, but even so, it's hard to let go. I'm not sure I can even now. In my grand tradition of being entirely overdramatic, perhaps I never really will. Perhaps I'll tell my children stories of when people had fun by writing messages on these things called forums on the Internet, back when you used screens and keyboards instead of sticking cords into your head or whatever strange dystopian future will exist in whatever weird alternate universe it is where I actually have children.

This place, and the people in it, and the world we all loved to think about, were a core part of my life for a long time. What made this place so great was, even when it was far from a bustling hub of online activity, it was our little corner of the Internet. This was the home of our community, with our own traditions and history. I've never felt as connected to any other place on the Internet. Nowhere else has felt more like home.

I imagine this probably won't be the last ever post on LF. I'm sure there will be a few more, every now and again. I don't know if any of the people who were around when I was will ever read this. If you are, I want to thank you. If you are someone I never met, someone who came here after most everyone left, I want you to know that I am so glad you still have love for Code Lyoko, and apologize nothing but my eulogy was here to greet you. This was once a special place. Even if I haven't remembered it all the time over the past few years, I feel so now, and I'm sorry it isn't anymore. But I want you to know that incredible things were forged here. This place is a monument to a time and state of mind that were unique and wondrous. (You might have to look really hard for the wonder, though. Especially in BKO. Actually, don't look too hard there, it's bad for your health.)

Goodbye, Lyoko Freak. Thank you for everything.

And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

[nodsviper offline]

Awesome post SilverPrice! I really enjoy reading posts like this that show how these online communities can play such a big role in our lives. I've felt the same way about other CL forums and it's crazy that it seems like the years go by in a split second.

Good Luck where ever your life may take you. Who knows, maybe we'll meet on some other planet in this vast galaxy of servers we call the internet.

Godspeed~

[Lyoko Computer]

Thanks for the heartfelt post. That encapsulates the stories of many of us I assume. We enjoyed the cartoon show when we were younger but eventually we grew up. I have just graduated college myself.

TheAppleFreak worked hard in 2013 to modernize the site and he's done a fantastic job. But he seems to be absent now and I don't want the site to die slowly. I'll take ideas of what to do with the domain name or the site but I think I will bring the site down at the end of this month (July). Let me know if I'm out of line here and what you guys think. Thanks!

For alternative communities, I might recommend: http://reddit.com/r/codelyoko

[SilverPrince offline]

Since you are the one paying the bills, I certainly think you get to decide. But I agree with you. It is time.

I wouldn't want to do anything that would require any significant usage of resources. Do you know when the domain name expires next? I might propose some kind of landing page with some sort of message at the URL, but I would leave extending the domain name any further up to you. All good things must come to an end, after all.

Maybe something like "Lyoko Freak: 2005 - 2015. Thank you to all those who called this place home, and may your world be forever without danger." Or "Server Down - God damn it, XANA." Can't decide which sentiment I like better.

[Rail Runner offline]

Well, I knew this day would come. Lyoko Freak has given me plenty of laughs, and I met some really cool people. Code Lyoko and LF will always have a place in my heart. Im going to miss all the fun we had in BKO, the episode discussions. Im sad, but not broken, for all things must come to an end. It's been a pleasure hanging out with you guys, and you will all be in my hearts. I will be sad to see LF go, but we all must move on at some point. I want to thank LC for hosting us this long to begin with. I cant thank you enough for everything.

Rail Runner/Highway Runner/VSTI

[KarinBerry offline]

I just got the email announcing the upcoming closure of this site. It's been a long time since I stopped by. I was quite active back in the day. I made a lot of friends who I connected with on other sites like LJ, but have since lost touch with.

I just want to say thanks to everyone on here who helped make this a place I spent a lot of my time during a really difficult time in my life. I know there were others like me who found support when real life became too challenging to handle.

Anyway, thanks again, everyone. I'll always remember this site fondly.

[Stonecreek]

I don't suppose there's any way to archive the content of the site? The fics hosted at LFF, Let's Talk Tech, all the episode threads, the caption contests and thread, all the hangout shenanigans....that I will miss.

[SilverPrince offline]

I'm not sure I want my BKO shenanigans archived, hahahahaha. But that's just me. That's a good point about LFF, I hadn't thought about that. If that's any kind of feasible, I think people's creative works should be archived at least. At the end of the day, however, any kind of archive is going to be an expense, and I don't want to propose anything that's going to present an undue burden on anyone's resources. It makes me sad to speak so... clinically about it.

[TheAppleFreak]

I'd have to research the database format for phpBB 3, but I don't think it'd be impossible to spit everything out into a static archive rehosted on Github or something.

[Lyoko Computer]

I wouldn't be against some sort of landing page until the domain expires or so. As for archiving the forum content, I will work with TheAppleFreak to provide a database archive if that's what you guys want. It would of course be stripped of any password hashes or emails.

[TheAppleFreak]

I wouldn't be against some sort of landing page until the domain expires or so. As for archiving the forum content, I will work with TheAppleFreak to provide a database archive if that's what you guys want. It would of course be stripped of any password hashes or emails.

How large was the last full DB backup you made? I remember something like a half a gig for everything...

There's also Lyoko Freaker's Fan Fiction to consider. That's another project in and of itself, I feel.

[Tangent128 offline]

A Github archive would be nice; anybody could easily download/mirror it, then.

[axslayer33 offline]

Wow....

On one hand it's kinda hard to believe, but on the other not so much...

I'll be the first to admit I wasn't as active here as I could have been. But it was nice to have a small corner of the internet that was like a private club for us, away from trolls and the general 'hum' of every day life. While it's sad to see it go, I'm proud to have been part of this group. My guess is we use the subreddit as a new place to connect, or maybe form a steam group just among ourselves.

As for the archive, I heartily agree with the Github idea. Just a preservation for the site. If you need help with retaining stuff let me know.

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

[nhjm449 offline]

Hi all,

There's a crazy part of me that hates to see things disappear, so:

I'd be happy to host a largely-read-only copy of the website. (I already have a VPS that's pretty much sitting idle. It would be good to give it more of a purpose.)

I'd also be happy to either take over the domain name, simply contribute funds to keep it registered, or just make a subdomain on a domain that I already own.

-NhJm
That one guy from Tech Links back in the day

[TB3]

Well, I knew this day would come, but its still sad to see it happen.

Farewell Lyoko Freak - I'm proud to say I was here to see the site in its prime, and it made a shattering difference in my life. I would not be the person I am today without the friendships I formed through this site, and for that I cannot thank it enough.

Godspeed and godbless LF

TB3

PS: Yes, an archive of the site would be amazing!

[Gadget offline]

I just noticed the email in my junk folder.

I kind of wish it would stay, But it is time. It is better if we see Lyoko Freak off instead of allowing it to simply die a slow death.
Although I did not post a lot on here I fell that this was a community that I was welcomed into.

We will always have the ability to watch Code Lyoko and remember the past enjoyment it, Teklinks, and lyoko freak brought us. That will never change.

As for lyokofreak.net, it will always be a happy memory. Through good times and bad.

I guess that is it. Everyone have good life. See you in Cyber Space!

[TL.]

Well here we are then. Honestly don't know what to say. When I joined up (well TB3 drafted me) nearly 10 years ago, I was still doing my GCSEs! Now I've been out of Uni for 4 years, in full time employment for nearly as long as that and have achieved full financial independence in my own home. A lot has happened to us all in that time and I only spent a fraction of it active here. Heck, I moved on from Lyoko during that time. I never even finished watching Season 4 and never watched Revolution beyond the first episode.

But you know what? I had a lot of f*cking fun in that time. Reading the ongoing discussions in LTT, catching the latest CL news dripping down the grapevine, the pure uncensored fun in the hangout threads over in BKO, the late nights to watch livestreams of Season 3, being part of a duo with my brother, the mod/co-admin who would keep me in the loop about the going ons in the admin board and the time 'I took over the forum'.

But of the course, nothing compares to the adventure the show took me on. Because of Code Lyoko, I ventured out into the world without my parents for the first time when TB3...(you know what I'll dispence with his username)...Rhys, Osiris and I went off to Paris to meet the people that created the show and the voice actors who were so generous to us. I can’t even describe the excited daze we were in as we left Moonscoop HQ and how honoured we felt to sit in on the recording sessions which was only made possible by Jodie opening her home to us. Even to this day, I find it hard to believe that one week in Paris happened because of a TV show.

I look back fondly on those 2-3 years of my life that we had together as a time of self-discovery. Here’s to you Lyoko Freak and farewell. A round of Blue Stuff on me.

[TB3]

I agree! One final round of Blue Stuff!

[Stonecreek]

Well here are then. Honestly don't know what to say. When I joined up (well TB3 drafted me) nearly 10 years ago, I was still doing my GCSEs! Now I've been out of Uni for 4 years, in full time employment for nearly as long as that and have achieved full financial independence in my own home. A lot has happened to us all in that time and I only spent a fraction of it active here. Heck, I moved on from Lyoko during that time. I never even finished watching Season 4 and never watched Revolution beyond the first episode.

But you know what? I had a lot of f*cking fun in that time. Reading the ongoing discussions in LTT, catching the latest CL news dripping down the grapevine, the pure uncensored fun in the hangout threads over in BKO, the late nights to watch livestreams of Season 3, being part of a duo with my brother, the mod/co-admin who would keep me in the loop about the going ons in the admin board and the time 'I took over the forum'.

But of the course, nothing compares to the adventure the show took me on. Because of Code Lyoko, I ventured out into the world without my parents for the first time when TB3...(you know what I'll dispence with his username)...Rhys, Osiris and I went off to Paris to meet the people that created the show and the voice actors who were so generous to us. I can’t even describe the excited daze we were in as we left Moonscoop HQ and how honoured we felt to sit in on the recording sessions which was only made possible by Jodie opening her home to us. Even to this day, I find it hard to believe that one week in Paris happened because of a TV show.

I look back fondly on those 2-3 years of my life that we had together as a time of self-discovery. Here’s to you Lyoko Freak and farewell. A round of Blue Stuff on me.

My final act as a mod around here (most likely) will be to censor one last swear on the open forums. I might even miss that, too...

[TB3]

Hey there Stonecreek - nicely censored

Fare thee well Lyokofreak - it's been amazing

[Stonecreek]

Hey there Stonecreek - nicely censored

Fare thee well Lyokofreak - it's been amazing

You're going to pull an all-nighter, Rhys, if you're planning on being here till shut-down time. Kudos!

[TB3]

Don't know if it'll be an all nighter, but I'll certainly push for a little longer - be there for the very end

[TB3]

As a final 'event', Moonscoop finally gave us a canon answer as to why Jim is always wearing that sticking plaster on his cheek.

https://vimeo.com/114331178

(English subtitle options availible by clicking on the 'CC' button)

Spoiler: show

Turns out Jim reflexively pounds the wall each morning to shut off his alarm clock - this invariably knocks something off the shelf above his headboard, which always lands on his cheek...

...and yes, he's got an entire first aid kit full of nothing but sticking-plasters.

And in a nice detail, Jim has a Dragonball Z alarm clock, and a wall fall of photos detailing some of his adventures - they even recreated the old 'Paco King of Disco' DVD box with the CLE actor.

Ah Jim, we love you

The short features footage captured behind the scenes during the filming of Code Lyoko Evolution, but also some nice stills based on the original show style of art.

[TB3]

Well, this is the end for me - goodbye and Godspeed LF - you helped shape my life for the better

[Stonecreek]

Triple-posting mic drop like a boss, Teebs. You'll be missed 'round these parts.