--[ LAB 305 ]-- All good things come to an end...

[shushida]

*brushes off my dust for a moment*

I will always have fond memories of the lab and all the wonderful people I had the pleasure of interacting with on this platform. It was truly an amazing experience, and it has been a delight investing my time and creative energy into it. If anyone ever wants to stay in touch I am in discord under shushida.

[Ravina Loki]

Ah Lab, sweet Lab ;3;

It was a fantastic run everyone, but nothing gold can stay. I'm honored to have been a staff member for as long as I have been and have enjoyed RPing with everyone I have had the chance to do so with.

I apologize for my lack of presence on Gaia as of late. Like most of you, I have been pulling away from Gaia due to RL obligations as well as a lack of creativity (as well as Gaia's own money grubbing bs but yadda yadda). You can all find me on the Lab Discord and I'm always open to a DM if you feel like! We can talk all sortsa things!!!

It will be nice to see Anya grown in the future (thank you for the freebie Kyou ;3; <3) even though there is a bittersweet tang to not fully finishing her quest to do so. That being said, Spoder Queen gonna look HAWT U8

[Twintastic]

Yeahhh, I figured.

Oof. Where do I even start...

I owe a lot to this place for helping me bridge the gap between the messy teenager I was when I first joined, to the cool (and slightly less messy) adult I desperately wanted to be.

It's not a fresh or original perspective, but I know for me personally, the years I was most active in Lab came during a veeeery unkind period of my life. Which some of you got occasional glimpses of. The scary, complicated, humiliating s**t that Lab gave me the platform and opportunity to digest when I needed it most.

Lab got through my aunt's death in 2009, the year I joined. It got me through the bookends of my father's battle with addiction and eventually our painful estrangement. My struggles with mental health, my resulting diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. And if it wasn't for the encouragement and support of certain Labbies, it honestly would have taken me years to find the courage and initiative to go public with my art again.

I'm impressed how long Kyou & staff kept this place chugging along. How you guys kept the Lab alive for over a decade, considering the average lifespan of similar shops that demanded such a high level of engagement and writing. I can't imagine the amount of love, planning, and commitment it took to maintain, but it deserves nothing but respect.

My biggest regret is taking for granted that this place would always be here in some form or another. Something I could pick up and put down whenever. But it's true, we've all grown older and priorities change, and I don't blame Kyou or anyone else for wanting to close the chapter for good. It's time.

I just hope some of us take what we've learned here and cultivate the same kind of spaces for the writers and artists that come after.

I'll still be developing Baz and Jeho in my own time and my own pace. Their story is one that always draws me back for all its messy and disjointed pieces. It's just this behemoth I keep sharpening my teeth on, trying things out, experimenting with my writing— And there were so many developments and surprises I regret SO MUCH never getting to share with all of you back in Lab's heyday.

With this news, I can't imagine anyone will still be around to maintain the guild or the journals, but I will definitely find a place to continue posting for those that are still interested, even if the main "story" of Lab is technically finished. And I hope there will be some sort of archive in place so some old-timers can go back and revisit.

I can't promise I'll be super active on the Discord, but there are corners on the internet where people who want to can keep in touch and throw me a line! (I mean it. Even if we weren't close or only talked in passing, I genuinely hope some of y'all will hunt me down. Maybe even roleplay or worldbuild winkwonk)

•Twitter
•Priv (I'll accept most requests, just give me a heads up so I know who you are)
•Insta
•Art Tumblr
•Moodboard Tumblr for BJ

Thank you Kyou. Thank you staff. Thank you artists.

Thank everyone who made this possible, and everyone I met along the way who helped life suck a little less. ✌️

[radish]

figured i'd post here as well! uno here (just a username change) expressing my sorrow to see this place go. admittedly, i didn't get a chance to develop holle to the extent i wanted to, but i love her dearly, and she will forever remain to be one of my most favorite characters. it is thanks to her i've been able to branch outside my comfort zone in both writing style and character type, so i will never forget the impact she has on my writing.

i'm not the most talkative type, and that's all on me, really, but i'm always available to lab members if you guys wanna discuss plots or something outside of the shop. you can hit up me on tumblr, twitter, toyhouse, and/or discord (radishleaf#1222). unfortunately, i've not very active, but if you need a reply in a timely manner, i highly suggest a DM on twitter. just mention who you are and/or that you're from lab so i don't think your message is spam.

other than that, it was a fun ride, lab! good luck to the staff and shop goers in whatever endeavors you pursue in the future.

[alpha lyrae]

Thank you so much to everyone who made Lab the place that it is, staff members and regulars both! I felt really compelled to work hard on my writing and make Lorin and his family as compelling a read as possible, and I'll always be grateful to Lab for giving me that little extra push. I'll miss this place and I wish everyone well. Thank you so much for starting such a great place, Kyou!

I was also musing and think I might like to apply for the growth for Lorin too, as I'm quite curious what you had in mind! If that's okay, at least. ; v ;

For those I don't already have on there, I'm heinously busy most of the time but feel free to leave me an offline on Discord (alpha lyrae#9167) and I'll get back to you soonest, or hit me up on Twitter!

Take care, Labbies. Thanks for everything over the years. heart

[Chrystali]

Best to you, Kyou! I'll hang out on your Twitch when I can! heart (Although, it says it doesn't exist TuT)

[elfgurl1234]

*pings out love to all the Labbies over the years* It's been a good run. =) We'll always have all the memories in our hearts. heart