It is with heavy heart that I report that I found out today that longtime Legion Worlder Varalent/Vee passed away last January.
Vee had been a part of the LMB community since the beginning of Legion World, and before that back on the DCMBs. He always stood out to me because he was one of the first members to join the LMB after me, becoming involved in some the legendary tag team threads on the DCMBs. Among his notable contributions on LW are his annual college football poll thread. One can find one of his last creative contributions to Legion World in his thread, Vee's View on What the Titans Should be in the New 52.
He hadn't been around for awhile, and I knew he'd had health issues in recent years, but it still comes as a shock to find out about his passing.
Vee has been missed and will be missed in our community. He's one of those posters whose kindness and genial nature just shone through in each and every post he made. We and the people in his personal life are all the poorer without him in this world.
I'll never forget those great tag-teams in which the poster then formally known as "Varalent" helped create some of the funniest moments I've ever experienced on the internet. His love and enthusiasm for college football and his beloved Miami Hurricanes made it an absolute pleasure to participate in his college football threads.
My memories of Vee are more generalized. He was one of the nicest posters and conveyed a sense of positivity. I think he played a large role in setting the tone for LW.
I always liked his original username, Varalent, though I never knew what it meant (a play on his real name, apparently). I always associated it with "variant" and assumed that the Progenitor had created some unknown race of "varalents" along the way.
As a side note, when I began writing my novel, The Power Club, in 2010, I named one of the characters Vee. I didn't consciously name him after our Vee--in fact, our Vee hadn't posted regularly in some years so I only noticed the connection later. However, I think it's a testimony to his central role in LW and positive nature that he "lingered" in my subconscious when I created Veryl "Vee" Evans.
Thanks for blessing us with your presence, Varalent/Vee, and rest in peace.
Vee was very active when I first joined Legion World back in '05. About a few months after my joining, he was was making avatars for the game he played (forgive me, I know nothing about gaming, so I hope I'm saying that right) and, even though I was very much a newbie, he made a Rockhopper Lad avatar. That really helped me to feel part of the group, for which I will always be thankful.
Requiescat in pace.
The only character in all of literature who has been described as "badnass" while using the phrase "vile miscreant."
I remember when I first joined way back, Vee was a huge presence on Legion World. He was right in the thick of most of the fun. Vee was a great guy, very friendly.
When writing the Dark Oval novella, I gave him a major role in one of the missions because of his very unique powers of growing and shrinking objects.
He was also one of the consistent players on Teen Titans Idol a while back, and I was very much looking forward to having him on board for Justice League Idol. I missed him during that game.
This is certainly a big shock for me as well. I will treasure the memories I have of him. Rest in peace, Vee.
Finding this out hurt a lot. Vee was a good friend on the board, and that was always enhanced by how much of a kind and warm presence he was on the boards to everyone. I always considered him an elder statesman who could provide calm and clarity (especially back when intense arguments used to break out). When I told him that he just laughed.
Like Rob, I was so glad to have met him in Boston some years back. It was a special pleasure for me, because as I've reiterated elsewhere, Vee was one of the first people I met on Legion World, and his warmth helped me feel incredibly welcome. I had been with the group before but had been gone over a year. On the first few nights I started posting, all the posters I knew were nowhere in sight. Essentially dipping my toes in the water, there was a good chance this might be a one-off return, but Vee and a few others were so full of fun, kindness and craziness that it ensured I would remain a part of this group, this time permanently.
There are a lot of funny Vee LMB stories over the years, most from the 2003-2007 or so era. I'll share a few in this thread later I think. He was the right kind of poster for LMB shenanigans: blending ridiculous humor with a true love for comics and the LSH.
I named the current 2014 college football thread "The Varalent College Football Thread" thinking he'd get a laugh out of it. It sucks he never saw it. But I think it's a nice little way to pay tribute to him since his college football knowledge surpasses anyone I've ever met, and he had a unparalleled passion and love for the sport.
I kept thinking he'd pop up for a role play or tag team, or to pick a few college football games. I'm going to miss him.
Aw, man, this is so sad. You've all really nailed it with how nice he was.
Rocky, that game was "City of Heroes," and he was such a great player (along with Blue and a few others) and always up for a mission or two or three or four or ...
Cobie mentioned elsewhere that Vee once sent him some comics. Vee sent me some, too. And I live on the other side of the world!
I actually got some from Cobie and from Bevis too. But I never received Vee's package, and I blame the postal service for that. I still really appreciated the gesture, though.
I didn't know Vee's real name. I never met him in person
I only knew Vee from here, Legionworld.
Most of my talking with Vee was simple stuff, fun or funny with no real purpose behind it other than to chat. We had a lot of fun on his college football threads.
The amount of detail and information he would uncover and post was incredible. And when I was first here and could be emphatic about my beliefs, he was one that could defuse situations.
We've all been looking for him, and hoping he would turn up again to join in the fun. I think part of why it took so long to find out was because he had told us he would be off the boards for a little while, or much less prominent.
So far, 2014 has been one poor year, and the loss of Vee just makes it even more so.
Rest in Peace, buddy. You have been and will be missed.
Damn you, you kids! Get off my lawn or I'm callin' tha cops!
All I can add is that he was one of the first Legion Worlders to welcome me when I joined in '05. And that I wish we had interacted more, because when we did he was always very nice.
Never really knew him well, but I should probably note that if he hadn't done a fair chunk of running on 21CL, I wouldn't have got involved and ended up writing so much! He's also responsible - directly and indirectly - for many of the characters' codenames in insisting that the “creator” (the poster that introduced the character to the story) got naming dibs, hence how we ended up with his introductees being Catalyst (Chemical King) and Valor (Karate Kid!), and others giving names like Trinity and Spirit.
I'll end this post with a couple of quotes on his favourite character...
Like Rick, I didn't know Vee's real name, and we didn't really interact much here on Legion World. I don't know that we shared many particular interests other than Legion World itself. I joined his college football thread last year just for fun; I'm not much of a football fan. Yet the impression Vee left on me was just as everyone else has said, and I'm sad to know he's gone.
I'm thankful to have known him, even if it was mostly as we passed each other in the Legion World halls. And I'm thankful for the part he played in making Legion World the community it is.
"Everything about this is going to feel different." (Saturn Girl, Legion of Super-Heroes #1)
Vee also had his own little corner of LW - Varalent's Variable Villa. Way way back, Cobie, myself and a few others (I think Super Lad Kid, Condo and Magnetic Kid) would hold wild parties there. Vee was always the perfect host. We also had a running joke where Cobie would sneak the underage IB some drinks. Unable to hold his liquor, IB would fall asleep right away while still invisible. His snoring would frighten people into thinking the Villa was haunted!
So sorry to hear this. While I didn't often have the opportunity to post alongside him (he was beginning to post a lot less as I first arrived here), Vee was one of the first folks to welcome me to this board. My thoughts go out to those who knew him personally, and especially to our teammate, Blue Battler, who I know was very close with him.
I happened to be on the boards on a "hot" afternoon when the MMB was rocking and rolling in the days when there were dozens of posters going ape and an equal amount of alt IDs doing the same.
Vee screwed up and posted as the Emerald Empress.
Until then, in late 2003, only Semi knew Vee was the Empress. It was a closely guarded secret. He told me "Semi is laughing his ass off over my screw up", and I was laughing right along, feeling like some voyeur detective who stumbled onto a state secret. By now we had become friends--so many of us, in those bright early months of Legion World, but for me especially a select group of posters who I'll always associate with those times: Abin, Semi, Kippers, Icey, and so many others. And Vee.
He said the cat was out of the bag and he might as well admit it. I begged him to reconsider. Instead, I said, let's craft the Empress a long role in LMB history. He loved the character--so let's make her an essential part of the lore.
And if you posted 2003-2006, we did exactly that.
The Office of Security, Thora's invasion, Miss T's Civil War, the Good the Dark & the Dead and of course, her farewell, in Infinite Crisis. Vee had a guiding hand in them all, and sometimes, only in the cigar smoked back rooms.
...
He loved the LMB lore. The continuity, the hilarity, the ironic awesomeness that could evoke a nostalgic love for a series that had long ago basically told you to fuck off.
A lot of us shared that then and still do. It hurts to think we've lost someone who shared that same passion.
I remember that period, that was about the time I first started dabbling in the LMB-verse. I have some very fond memories of the Emerald Empress, like that time she made Cobie and IB pull her sled (I can't remember what story that was in anymore). That was a wonderful, wonderful time.
I heard the terrible news earlier this week on Facebook. I wasn't nearly as close to him as some here but he always seemed like a considerate, great, and kind guy. RIP friend.
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