A few hours before Ryan Davis passed away on July 3, he tweeted to me the words, "fuckin' AGONY"
He had tweeted about how much it sucks having to wait for a package to be delivered, to which I replied that I had been waiting all day for three packages to show up. It was indeed a fairly agonizing experience, for I had lost an entire day of summer waiting in a hot house to sign for three separate things.
What I didn't know was that by the time I woke up the next day, a much more agonizing experience had begun. Ryan Davis was gone, though of course we didn't know it at the time. Starting at that moment, every Tuesday would be without "Hey everyone, it's Tuuuuesday!", every Thursday would be without the welcoming introduction from Ryan to their weekly multiplayer show, every day of the week in fact would be without his lovable charm and sharp wit on Twitter and in other videos posted to the site.
I had the pleasure of seeing Ryan at PAX East 2011, 2012, and 2013. I conversed with him directly at 2011 and 2013. And of course, at their panel at PAX East 2013 I saw the man drink breast milk.
He drank breast milk.
Such a courageous and ridiculous act is a testament to Ryan's personality, perhaps somewhat strangely. The thing he cared about most was being an awesome guy who entertained the hell out of people. And goddamn did he do that every day of the week.
Friends and family are often there when you need them, but not always. Such is the way of life. Giant Bomb by its very nature is always there. I've been a huge fan of the site since it first launched back in 2008. Ryan's voice was in my ears in podcast and video form on Giant Bomb every week for nearly five years (has it been five years since the site launched? Almost? Man). I heard his voice 30,000 feet in the sky, in multiple states, while I was bored or sleeping or sick, while I was running, while I was eating lunch, in person.... I feel extraordinarily lucky for having conversed with him face to face. Not many people make me and so many others feel that way.
Ryan meant a lot to me. He was an inspiration and felt like a friend to everyone who loved him and his personality. He influenced my sense of humor, how I thought about games, hell even how I wrote. I remember the reviews from him and Jeff being the ones that got me into writing and talking about games (and basically everything) intelligently. I think I was maybe 12 when I started following them at Gamespot.
It still doesn't feel real to me. It seems like just yesterday when I looked down at my phone and saw Ryan's tweet and chuckled and appreciated how someone I deeply respected understood the monotony of what I was doing.
So thanks, Ryan, for bringing that little bit of joy to a crappy day, no, for ALL of the joy you've brought to everyone every day. You made our lives better in ways that are hard to articulate. Thank you so much.
Oh, and if I see you on the other side, we need to get a damn photo together. You and Patrick are the only ones I haven't bothered for a picture yet.
Log in to comment