Scotticus Erroticus has passed away.

Aha wrote:Well this is surreal. Its 1:45am on the 14th of November 2019 and I have just discovered this news a year and a half later. I have alot to say.

I've suffered badly with my mental health for the last few years and rejoined this forum in the midst of it a while back when I was still housebound. Most of my memories of Poopgang and GR are pretty foggy due to my struggles, some of them I've lost forever. What I can say is those forums were a significant part of my teenage years. Scotty was one of those I interacted with the most.

I came across this thread by chance. I've had a bad couple of days and was looking up old pictures to convince myself I was in the real world (a part of my issues). That is when I decided to search Poopgang to see if there was any trace of the old site where I would spend my evenings chatting shite. This is when I came across the familiar name of Sillysprout mentioned under a random heading.

I decided to log in on here to see if he happened to still hang around. I searched his name, found him, clicked on his post history and then wallop. Like a punch to the stomach I find this thread with it's tragic news.

I was a polarising character on gamesradar and poopgang in my adolescence. I joined gr at around the age of 14 writing in all caps from my first post and immediately pissing most people off. Over time I changed the name and to he honest found myself to be bullied quite viciously on there. That's when I transitioned to Poopgang which was more accommodating of my antics. Admittedly I was a horrible little sod at times and apparently said some very hurtful things to certain members. Disgusting things which I'm glad I learned were not acceptable as I grew up.

I digress, but the reason I am telling you all if this is because Scotty was one of the few people from these forums that reached out to me. We would speak regularly on msn, mostly about English versus Scottish things and giving each other painfully bad advice on girls we liked. I think he saw the good in me and we could relate to each other and be silly at the same time.

I just read every last post on this thread trying to gather as much information about what happened as possible. As I went from post to post I recognised some familiar names and some memories that were long forgotten were rekindled. I found myself chuckling remembering those group chats. How much fun we would have with them, how much nonsense I would type and then eventually get pissed off and leave... Only to be re-added by Scotty 20 seconds later and repeat.

Regrettably like so many of you noted last year, after the demise of poopgang and msn, I drifted away from those friends I had made on these forums. I can't remember when I last spoke to Scotty, just that it must have been after my uni years when I was drifting in and out of mental health issues. It's made me realise how many people I have lost contact with due to my problems (those I knew in the flesh and online) and how troubled my teenage years truly were.

I never did get to meet Scotty in person though I think we had talked about it. However as I type this his face is continuously flashing up in my mind thanks to our long and winding online conversations with his wacky profile picture being the enduring presence!

Regrettably this does make me very reflective about how my life has gone in these last 16 years. I am now myself a 30 year old man and it scares me to think I am still in many ways like that naive 14 year old. I'm not really sure who I am or where I am going with my life continuously put on hold by mental illness.

To my shame I hadn't really thought much about Scotty and others in the years prior to our last chats as I have been caught up in my own life. I just hope before his passing he knew what an impact he had on other people and that his friendship, all be it a digital one, was valued.

It is now almost 3am as I finish writing this. Sorry if I sound like a self centred pratt, just wanted to reflect the affect that stumbling upon this thread had on me. I hope that this is a fitting enough tribute to Scotty.

It was such fun knowing you Scott, it is so unfair that you were taken so young. I'm sorry we drifted apart.

Sleep tight my friend.

Aha, your post has really touched me. I have fond memories of the time I spent making friends online all those years ago too and whenever I think back I regret how I killed off PoopGang overnight as I know it was a hub of a great community (much like Grcade is today). Truth be told, I was going through my own issues at the time, but was several years and a few mental breakdowns away from realising that at the time, and therefore hadn't even begun to deal with my own issues. The responsibility became too much. I hope that you're getting on top of your own battle - life can be tough and we all need some help at times. I've PM'd you my telephone number in case you feel like a chat at any time as I can see you don't post on here often, but hopefully you'll get an email alert or something - it would be good to catch up.

I feel bad commenting on this thread and bringing it back to the top of the page, however I know Scotty would have loved the bump. I hope that Captain Scotty is making regular appearances!