User:Styracosaurus Rider

I'm Styro. You may have heard of me. Chances are, though, you'll be hearing much less about me over the coming months (and possibly years).

And lo, with a sharp exhalation the world retracts in shock! The clutching of chests commences and the sounds of precious china shattering on the floor sweep across the globe!

Okay. Don't panic. Point of order. It's not what you might expect it to be:


 * I'm not vanishing completely, never to return. I'll still be here, and able to be contacted should you choose to do so.
 * I will still be editing, for the most part. It won't be as frequent as it used to be. In recent months you've gotten a taste of how active I might be in the near future (i.e. not very).
 * I still might get involved with new things that are overly ambitious. I know, I know, I probably shouldn't, but I can only handle so much logic and reason over excitement and impulse.

But the fact of the matter is that at this point in life there are many important things needing attention, and I have to prioritize these things in order for it to all make sense. As it happens, Wikia is not very high on the list.

Now, what exactly this means is different depending on the particular wiki I am involved with. If you need me, are looking for me, or are simply curious, check the list of wikis below from the table of contents and you'll see the long term plan for my involvement with them. (If you need me immediately, particularly if it's for something I promised to do, go here.)

Remember: when in doubt, drop me a line.

UPDATE - NOVEMBER 2015: For the most part I stay logged in nowadays. Even though my Wikia Participation Quotient (WPQ) is near-zero, I tend to visit the site more often lately. (Proably looking stuff up on TARDIS Data Core, if you're curious.) A few things have changed since my initial hiatus announcement thingy that need addressing: Soooo, them's the happenings.
 * As I said, I don't actively participate that often. And by "that often" I mean "like, at all". This will remain the case for the forseeable future, unless plans change (which, let's be honest, they are wont to do).
 * I do frequent Wikia, but if you need me for super urgent matters (or if you're one of the ol' pantheon and want to talk. You know who you are), it might not be the best place to contact me anymore. At some point in the future I may be setting up a Styro-specific email address for quick and easy mail, but none of that is set in stone yet. Also I do Reddit now, more often than I'd like. u/Diplotomodon, private messages, ask away. It will be helpful to tell me who you are. :P
 * Because of my reduced participation, I'm going to update the list of wikis with a better idea of what my situation is with them all. Refer to the updates first. CHECK THE UPDATES IF YOU HAVEN'T LOOKED AT THIS PAGE RECENTLY. You'll need em.

Wiki Prehistorica
I'm still going to try to contribute to this, time permitting. It's the oldest and most consistent project I've been involved with for three and a half years and by god I'm going to find another admin for this place even if it kills me.

Once I organize everything properly, establish guidelines for the future, build an active userbase and find another admin or two to keep things in check, I'm probably going to step back for a while and let them take care of everyday maintenance. That makes the most sense (to me at least).

In any case, I've got big plans for the wiki in the medium/long-term future - some of which may involve moving off Wikia itself. Do contact me if you want details - it would certainly be beneficial to have someone to bounce ideas off of.

UPDATE (Nov 12 2015): At the current time, I will probably not be returning to the Wikia version of Wiki Prehistorica in a major way.

Yeah, I still really like it, and I want to see it continue. But I've come to the conclusion that Wikia is not the most conducive platform for it, and by moving to a different place many more possibilities for the site are opened up. I do have a general idea of what might happen, but it's far from definite. Just gonna throw it out there for all you folks: I do think this has potential, but it's not something I'm ready to start actively working on for a few years yet. I just wanted to show you what I've got.
 * The Wiki (as I'll refer to it for the time being, because the Wiki Prehistorica title will probably be scrapped) will probably be hosted on a website of its own, using the MediaWiki software.
 * The Wikia site was nice, but basically something aimed strictly at the general public. If you wanted to learn basics, great - but someone with a significant amount of experience in paleontology/related sciences would probably have all that information memorized ten times over. I want the new Wiki to be a tool for the public and professionals alike. For example, anybody could go to the site and find an article about drepanosaurid reptiles, explained without an excess of complicated jargon (and when there is, that's where helpful hyperlinks come in). At the same time, someone with a more invested interested can visit the site and find a bibliography of published papers on drepanosaurids, museum catalog numbers for specific skeletal elements, a geologic map of excavation sites for perusal - things like that.
 * Still not sure about how you'd go about editing it yet. Could be open privileges, could be a restricted membership for editors. It's something to think about in the future.

Jurassic Park Wiki + Jurassic Park Fanon Wiki
Ah, the exceptions to my mostly consistent strategy. As you might be aware the Jurassic Park franchise is about to hit it big once again. Trouble is, its wiki and its accompanying fanon wiki aren't exactly the best organized in the world. We have a pitifully small team of admins, certainly fewer than would be required on such a wiki. I have a plan worked out for a "reboot" of the wiki, if you will, which will hopefully clean things up a bit.

After all the kinks are worked out, I'll try and step back from most major editing.

UPDATE (Nov 12 2015): I ended up skipping straight to the last sentence. If you need CSS changes for Park Pedia/JPFanon, let me know. If you need an admin, there are more active people you can find that will probbaly solve your problem quicker than I ever could.

I'm also available on Jurassic Park Legacy, under the username Crimsonraptor. So there's a line of contact if you need one.

Whoniverse Fanon Wiki
So I'm signed up to write some stories. I will still be writing those stories, and in the timeframe allotted. But the chances of me writing any more stories are somewhat slim. (If you give me a good concept, that might help.)

UPDATE (Nov 12 2015): ...I have no recollection of all that actually. :P Sorry guys. I'm going to assume that you found replacements. Do not expect me back for a long time - it will be easier to assume that than stand around waiting for me.

The Pantheon
(Don't worry if you don't know what this is. It won't pertain to you, so there's no sense in worrying about it.)

If we do get this thing started up again, definitely let me know. I'd be more than happy for a fresh start. It definitely won't be the same old, though.

Basically, since it all sort of fizzled to a halt, I've borrowed several elements of the Plan and stuck them into other things that I'm doing. Often, they fit better into that context. It's going to seem sort of weird to bring back the original concepts and stick them back into that older context. They'll be better utilized elsewhere, methinks.

What of those other contexts? None of it will ever make it online. That's almost certain. But if you want to know more, I'll be happy to oblige, either here or in Mibbit. Whatever works.

Oh, and almost the entire Plan could be explained through the use of a hyperadvanced multiversal civilization of single-celled organisms.

Because reasons. :3

UPDATE (Nov 12 2015): Hey. Hey. You readin' this update? Throw me a Wikia message, wake me up on reddit, stalk me elsewhere online if you must. Let's get the band back together.

Obeidon lives.

Any other wikis where I have admin privileges
The likliehood is that I won't be coming back any time soon, if at all. The exception might be Reptipedia, although it rarely crosses my mind at all, so the chances of that are slim. If you think it necessary, feel free to take my admin rights and give them to someone else who might need/deserve it. I'm fine with that. Though if you do require me, see directly below.

UPDATE (Nov 12 2015): The above more or less still applies. Gonna take the opportunity to say thank you. For the fun times, and all that.

Any other wikis where I might have a responsibility
Have I forgotten to do something that I said I would do? Follow these easy steps:
 * 1) Find my talk page/message wall. (It could be on that particular wiki, it could be on Community Central, heck, it could be on any darn wiki. It all notifies me the same way. But if you do decide to contact me on another wiki, be sure to provide a link to where you need me.)
 * 2) Leave me a message by berating me about what I was supposed to do and tell me to go do that thing. (An example format could look something like "YO STYRO YOU WERE GOING TO [insert that thing I was supposed to do here] BUT YOU DIDN'T AND IT KIND OF NEEDS TO BE DONE SO GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW BEFORE WE HUNT YOU DOWN")
 * 3) Click Publish.
 * 4) Hopefully when I read your message I will be suitably mortified and go do that thing you asked me to do, or at the very least provide a legitimate excuse why I might not be able to do that thing immediately.
 * 5) Repeat as necessary.

UPDATE (Nov 12 2015): You can still do this. I might be a little while though.

Summary
Hopefully you got the answer you wanted by reading this page. If not, refer to the "when in doubt" rule spelled out further above.

Once again: I'm not gone forever, and I'll still be here, though my activity will be moderately to greatly to reduced. I probably won't be joining any new projects unless I have a very good reason to do so.If you have any questions/need me for something/[insert miscellaneous request here] go to my talk page/message wall and say it there. Can't stress this enough. That's how things get done around here in Ye Olde Wikia Towne.

That's pretty much it. I can't think of some meaningful conclusion to end it on.

Read a book or something.

Styro (Contact me)  We have a T. rex! 17:54, April 28, 2014 (UTC)

UPDATE - NOVEMBER 2015: Hopefully my update has shed a clearer light on the state of things here at Styro HQ. I am indeed still alive. Things are still busy. I will be at college/university in less than a year, at which point I may as well disappear off the face of the earth. So I'll make sure that all relevant parties have my current contact information to get in touch. Thanks for understanding.

I have no idea what to say now so I'm going to tell you a story that some of you may or may not have heard before. (Forgive me for writing a novel. I had no idea it would be this long. -future me) Cast your mind back to September 1st, 2010. I was but a feeble youth, with little understanding of Internet communities aside from the achievements list of Off-Road Velociraptor Safari. (Click that link, by the way. You won't regret it.) On that day I was really fricking tired. There was a Rush concert in Allentown, Pennsylvania the previous evening and I'd practically pulled an all-nighter. As far as I can remember, I spent most of the first day of September waddling about in a metaphorically druken, dream-fueled haze. And for reasons lost to the mists of time, I said "why the hell not" and made a Wikipedia account.

2010 was initially a tough year for me, for reasons I won't go into. A few well-timed things and occurences kept me afloat. But I suppose the stars were aligned, and in the midst of the black seas of infinity, I happened upon the road that led me to where I am today.

Editing on Wikipedia went well, all things considered, though I won't deny that some of it, looking back, was pretty stupid. It was the first time I really contributed things to the online world, aside from two cheesy lolcat macros. (It was a dark time. I still get 'Nam flashbacks every now and then.) Wikis seemed to be a pretty neat concept. So after a Google search (or so my userpage tells me), I happened upon the Calvin and Hobbes Wiki.

Normally I would say this was my first encounter with Wikia.com, but now that I think about it, that's not true. I distinctly remember going on TARDIS Data Core (then called the Doctor Who Wiki or something like that) at the start of Series Five of Doctor Who. We Yanks got the show two weeks after they aired in the UK, but I temporarily forgot that and figured a quick peek at the wiki on premiere day wouldn't hurt. So I was very surprised when I was met with the sight of new, giant, technicolor Daleks. It was my own fault I suppose. But, I digress.

I found the Calvin and Hobbes Wiki and, after a few brief anonymous edits, decided to make an actual account there. I wanted a C&H-specific username, since I assumed I would only be using that account on the one wiki (oh, ye of little faith). So I decided on Styracosaurus Rider - taken from a Sunday strip when Calvin imagines his school desk turning into a Styracosaurus, and proceeds to ride it straight out the window. On October 21, 2010, it was so.

Just for you, here's an extract from my first ever Wikia edit, part of my newly created userpage:

"Just so you know, before we begin, I must say something about my computer. It told me last night John Lennon was in the vicinity. I can therefore only conclude my computer is very screwy and might not respond swiftly to questions or concerns. Hopefully I should get this thing fixed soon."

- 2010 me

...the fuck was I on about?

This was back in the day when Monaco was the glorious skin of the website, and we were all royally pissed off when Wikia decided to change it. (I remember it well. Those were the days.)

Of course, I swiftly found out that Wikia.com was actually a network of many different wikis. Learning this, I promptly found the Jurassic Park Wiki and joined it immediately. And it's around here where I started making friends with people. It's a very odd thing, to make friends with people in faraway places through a set of tubes and screens, yet here we are. It was around here that I was introduced by a very good friend to a now-defunct wiki where I spent exorbitant amounts of time. Site-wide upheavals, arguments, rogue IP addresses - I remember thee well.

But time marched on, people came and went, I moved to different things. In particular I turned to the fanon community, where I met more people, who in turn introduced me to a place that I've sunk more hours into than more or less anything online. And that lasted for a good year and a half. After that, I started to step away from Wikia, doing less and less, and finally in early 2014 I officially went on hiatus. And now here we are.

To be honest, I have no idea why I decided to give a history of my online presence to you right here right now. But I can say this...participating in these communities has been a great boon to me. When I was more active, I loved staffing the wikis I had helped to build, being an admin or bureaucrat or occasionally both. It was a tremendous pleasure and responsibility that I'm a teeny bit sad to let go of. And it's been a creative exercise - all that brainstorming and collaborative worldbuilding with like-minded people has been great. And it was enough for me to actually keep it up - different projects, flying solo, working in my supposedly spare time, writing down stories and waiting for the future. I am the better for it.

None of that would have happened without the people in these communities.

So while I'm at it, and while I have your attention, I'm gonna stop worrying about what I've been doing and mention some people that I've haven't had a chance to mention for a long time. And to say thank you, in case I don't get a chance to do so later. If nothing else, I feel it's necessary - even if it's just for my own benefit.

How should I even do this? idk. Let's just roll with in. Thesaurus Rex and Montagna, I hope you're doing well out there in the real wide world - thanks for sticking it out through the tough times and shenanigans. Mollica and Starscream, good luck out there. I've seen your Youtube channels...keep at it. Hey Turtlecake: wish I could've written more. Hopefully you've found other writers to work together with. CyborgIguana: I liked what I saw. I see you on The Round Table a lot - registered there recently. Maybe we'll chat sometime. PhotonCommander10: I think you might actually still have my (old) email. I check it occasionally. Should you ever drop me a line...I'll return the favor eventually. Zeokx and Yuy, I really appreciate the things you did to keep things running. Dyga and Eo: Quality over quantity, they say. I wish it was both. If you're still around out there, I may very well have opportunities for you two. JPT, you get singled out for special mentions too. I know it was rough at first but I think we're both the better for it now. Follow your dreams. (Also, I know your Reddit account. Don't worry - your secrets are safe with me. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ) Thanks man. And of course I can never forget BastionMonk. I hope all's going well in Nederland. Maybe we can butt heads sometime and talk genetics. It'd be an honor and a pleasure. Hartelijk bedankt. And for those I haven't mentioned, don't think you're getting off easy. I've got your names. Take it easy out there.

Toothless, Ping, and Holben. You nerds get a whole paragraph to yourselves, whether you like it or not (and dammit, you're going to enjoy it). Like I said, let's get the band back together. I've got ideas, and ideas are dangerous things. Also there may be money involved. I'm not sure yet. YOUR INPUT IS FORVER USEFUL. pls phone home

Anyway I've rambled way longer than I should have, I've said all I needed to say, and I still don't know how to end these things. TLDR, everything has changed but nothing really has changed, and some people need to poke me and get on Mibbit. You know who you are.

> #DarthJarJar

"Call me Styro. Some years ago - never mind how long precisely - having little or no duties to accomplish in the real world at that moment, and nothing particular to interest me offline, I thought I would browse around a little and start to edit on Wikia. It is a way I have of procrastinating, and regulating my unusual and somewhat eccentric mind. Whenever I find myself growing grim about Cretaceous melanosomes; whenever it is not a Saturday when Doctor Who is on; whenever I find myself involuntarily confused while trying to research the correct date of the de-extinction of the Pyrenean ibex; and bringing up the rear of every steampunk convention I happen across; and especially when some amateur Jurassic Park enthusiasts become enraged whilst arguing whether Tyrannosaurus or Spinosaurus would win in a fight (a trivial matter which I feel merits no further attention, seeing as it's only a movie anyway), that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and giving those fools a right smack followed by a comprehensive paleontological education - then, I account it a high time to get to Wikia as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball, and occasionally fisticuffs, depending on how annoying people get. With a decidedly un-philosophical flourish and a great deal of noise they throw themselves upon the sword; and I take to the MediaWiki Foundation. I then proceed to clean the sword; after all, I feel it rather pointless to get a good sword dirty when it can be displayed above the mantlepiece."

- Styracosaurus Rider

The above quote is entirely factual.