Re: [9front] Death of user "mycroftiv"

[northernlights@sdf.org]

I didn't know of this game. It seems to be functional on MacOS? I'm not
running MacOS, and I don't know that I want to see the content anyway. But
yes, that's his visage. Anything else regarding the game I can't speak to.

Some time before he died, he had gone back to "Ben," incidentally, and
he/him pronouns; I haven't been doing any deliberate misgendering.

This was all intended as information, not a eulogy. If people who knew him
online want to reminisce or eulogize, by all means. But at least now you
know; and you know that he didn't die homeless and in a gutter (he was in
the hospital), he didn't die in prison, he didn't die as a victim of
violence, hopefully there wasn't too much suffering involved. (I have my
own personal feelings - which are slightly complicated, there are moments
that haunt me - but I didn't wish a painful death on him.) He was
evidently still in contact with his mother, so I assume family was
present. (His ex found out in a note from his mom taped on a box, in the
process of trying to recover some important/sentimental possessions from
his house.) And it's not just radio silence; I've been through that
before.

His ex and I were up late talking in the wee hours recently and for some
reason the Plan 9 stuff came up and she mentioned that they didn't have
any way to let people know that if there was anything they depended on, it
was probably going to go down. By some odd kismet, I ended up being able
to. I'm glad it was me and not them to do so, tbh. It was something I
could to do beyond emotional support.

My absolute #1 priority through all of this had been, is, and will
continue to be the safety and well-being of my friend and her kid (well,
kids as it turns out, she has another kid who doesn't live here with us,)
as well as that of the community I call home. Any community that doesn't
prioritize its children is not one I want to be a part of. I suppose my
own safety and well-being, and sanity, should be a concern as well; I
don't always pay enough attention to them.

I can say that out of care and concern for Ben (well, and others), during
one particularly bad incident early on, I took care and precautions *not*
to get police involved, but rather a mental health care team. This has all
been incredibly fucked up and trying for everybody involved, and there has
been a lot of stress, and fear and worry, and tears.

I thank those who reacted appropriately, I'm glad I could do something
which is hopefully helpful, and again, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad
news. I know it is hard to lose a friend, even one you knew from a
distance, and like I said, your feelings are sure to be different from
ours at this moment.

Take care,

-nl

> that something "happened" showed parallels in his "interactive fiction"
> game:
>
> https://www.springthing.net/2022/stories/HypercubicTimeWarp/HypercubicTimeWarp.zip
>
> mycroftiv always seemed quite open about all his problems, i hope that
> in itself is not creating more problems for others involved, as i
> always appreciated breaking the taboos around talking about or dealing
> with psychological issues.
>
> i can't tell if the act of releasing this interactive-fiction game (i
> understand after they had already split up) is endorsed, or respected,
> by the people left behind, it becomes a question to me when
> northernlights mentions "privacy of those involved".
>
> i'm certainly sorry for any pain caused to the ones physically close.
> the comfort of my far digital displacement probably is quite blinding
> in other ways.
>
> On 7/21/22, northernlights@sdf.org <northernlights@sdf.org> wrote:
>> Oh, also, in the course of things, if he was maintaining anything in the
>> way of servers or what have you, I imagine all of that will go down some
>> time soon.
>>
>>> Hello all,
>>>
>>> I'm writing to inform you of the death of a Plan 9 community figure who
>>> went by the username "mycroftiv." I believe Stephen Jones (smj) already
>>> passed the news along to some of you.
>>>
>>> He mentioned that some of you wanted some information. As far as what
>>> he
>>> died of, all I know is that it was pneuomnia. He was the former partner
>>> of
>>> 9 years of a housemate here in a large co-op I live in. They split in
>>> January due to events that I won't go into detail about out of respect
>>> for
>>> the privacy of those involved, including a minor. He was no longer
>>> welcome
>>> on the property - he had been a member who lived here part time - due
>>> to
>>> the events which led to the split. This would not have been a factor in
>>> his death, as he co-owned a house with his mother.
>>>
>>> If anybody has known mycroftiv for some time, you probably know that he
>>> had Bipolar Disorder I. He was in a long and what seemed to be
>>> constantly
>>> escalating manic episode (he generally refused treatment) and had been
>>> since, I don't know, last fall. He also had some physical health
>>> problems
>>> and was not too young, and I suppose mania can take a physical toll
>>> after
>>> a while, not to mention whatever behaviors might go along with it. (I
>>> myself got a lung x-ray for some reason when I was admitted to a psych
>>> ward during a manic episode once.)
>>>
>>> He had made our lives very difficult over the past months (although I
>>> can't imagine how much more difficult for the people most directly
>>> involved.) Condolences, exactly, are not in order; the person he was
>>> thought to be has generally already been grieved. I know the same is
>>> probably not true for many of you. It is, in fact, very sad for me, but
>>> again, it "happened" some time ago, and in a different way.
>>>
>>> I am sorry to pass along this news.
>>>
>>> I'll try to show up in IRC some time soon, and you are welcome to write
>>> to
>>> me at northernlights@sdf.org.
>>>
>>> -northernlights
>>>
>>> northernlights@sdf.org
>>> SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.org
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>