In Memoriam of Robert "Ceeb" Elkins
3 years ago
Earlier this month, my dear friend Ceeb was rushed to the hospital. We would find out later that he had suffered a stroke. The reason? For the last several months his blood pressure had been spiking and slowly killing his kidney function. On the night he was finally taken to the hospital, he suffered a stroke from the blood pressure levels and ended up in a coma. Since that time the hospital struggled to bring him back... but after suffering another Bi-lateral stroke last week, the prognosis turned well...hopeless. Shortly after that, he was moved to a Hospice where he hung on up until today. I'm...gutted to tell you all that Ceeb has passed away.
Ceeb was...well, I'm sure divisive to many. Some didn't like his story content, and others didn't care for his very opinionated and offensive takes on things. I can recall multiple stories he had told me about saying the wrong thing, joking or not, that had led former friends to cut him off. But for me... despite not exactly having the same furry interest in common, nor the same sexuality, we were really close friends.
Ceeb was the first person to commission me, and essentially start my career in furry. Yes, even before my Rehab fic got me some notoriety, Ceeb was there not just paying me for my work, but helping me build confidence in it to some degree. But more than that, the longer we got to know each other, the closer we became. We were both curmudgeon types, who'd prattle off and on about our ongoing medical struggles, or just other general complaints and laugh about them. We'd tease each other at every little opportunity. But also we confided in each other honest feelings about a lot of stuff, things I haven't even shared with most of my other close friends. We knew we could be honest with one another without fear of losing each other's friendship, and that's a rare commodity in this day and age.
It was that relationship that made Ceeb more like a brother to me than anything else. Someone I grew to love dearly... and will now miss terribly...There's a lot I wish I could have done now... that I should have done. I told him so many times... begged him to go to the hospital when he'd tell me he passed blood. But inevitably he'd put off going at the last second, or just evade the medical topic for a while...I wish I had lived closer, that I had been able to drag him out of his home and take him to the hospital....but...I know you can't force a grown adult to do anything, and that was especially true for Ceeb. Of course, we'd find out after... this... that the poison from his kidneys was amplifying his paranoia about going to the hospital in the first place. Still...I can't help but blame myself... for not thinking of something, anything I could do from where I am to force him to finally go in.
Rob, I love you so much, and I'm going to miss you so badly. You were a better brother to me than my actual blood family. I only pray now that you're no longer suffering and... while I'm not the most religious guy, I hope you've found an afterlife paradise awaiting you. I sincerely hope we'll get to meet again someday...
Goodbye, my brother...God, he'd probably tease me for even picking this video...what I wouldn't give to hear it...
Aaron ( A.K.A WastedTime)
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PS: For those coming here to 'inform' me of some things. Yes, I'm aware Ceeb was on Inkbunny, yes I'm aware he drew cub. Don't contact me because you 'are morbidly curious about the situation. Save your reveling in Ceeb's death for someone else. Camaraderie in that sort of thing won't be tolerated in my comments of DMs. Thanks.
Ceeb was...well, I'm sure divisive to many. Some didn't like his story content, and others didn't care for his very opinionated and offensive takes on things. I can recall multiple stories he had told me about saying the wrong thing, joking or not, that had led former friends to cut him off. But for me... despite not exactly having the same furry interest in common, nor the same sexuality, we were really close friends.
Ceeb was the first person to commission me, and essentially start my career in furry. Yes, even before my Rehab fic got me some notoriety, Ceeb was there not just paying me for my work, but helping me build confidence in it to some degree. But more than that, the longer we got to know each other, the closer we became. We were both curmudgeon types, who'd prattle off and on about our ongoing medical struggles, or just other general complaints and laugh about them. We'd tease each other at every little opportunity. But also we confided in each other honest feelings about a lot of stuff, things I haven't even shared with most of my other close friends. We knew we could be honest with one another without fear of losing each other's friendship, and that's a rare commodity in this day and age.
It was that relationship that made Ceeb more like a brother to me than anything else. Someone I grew to love dearly... and will now miss terribly...There's a lot I wish I could have done now... that I should have done. I told him so many times... begged him to go to the hospital when he'd tell me he passed blood. But inevitably he'd put off going at the last second, or just evade the medical topic for a while...I wish I had lived closer, that I had been able to drag him out of his home and take him to the hospital....but...I know you can't force a grown adult to do anything, and that was especially true for Ceeb. Of course, we'd find out after... this... that the poison from his kidneys was amplifying his paranoia about going to the hospital in the first place. Still...I can't help but blame myself... for not thinking of something, anything I could do from where I am to force him to finally go in.
Rob, I love you so much, and I'm going to miss you so badly. You were a better brother to me than my actual blood family. I only pray now that you're no longer suffering and... while I'm not the most religious guy, I hope you've found an afterlife paradise awaiting you. I sincerely hope we'll get to meet again someday...
Goodbye, my brother...God, he'd probably tease me for even picking this video...what I wouldn't give to hear it...
Aaron ( A.K.A WastedTime)
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PS: For those coming here to 'inform' me of some things. Yes, I'm aware Ceeb was on Inkbunny, yes I'm aware he drew cub. Don't contact me because you 'are morbidly curious about the situation. Save your reveling in Ceeb's death for someone else. Camaraderie in that sort of thing won't be tolerated in my comments of DMs. Thanks.
I only got to know him for about three years in regular conversation and he was always a delight to have extended talks with. Lord knows he and I didn't see eye to eye on much, but what we did enjoy mutually... many a laugh was shared over them.
He's gonna be sorely missed, and I'm saddened by the fact I never got to say goodbye properly.
Farewell my musky friend.
It's such a punch to the gut. We all begged him to go get checked out. I unfortunately expected something like this for a while now, his stubbornness was impenetrable and his paranoia was just... infinite.
I mourn with you. He made me laugh and drove me nuts for over a decade and it's so weird to not have random-ass messages from him anymore. I miss him so much.
He talked about you a lot, and really loved you. Thank you for being part of his support team and improving his final years by that much, and for being so supportive to his parents.
When it came to Rob's paranoia I tried to accommodate. I have a senior parent with Agoraphobia, and while I don't fully understand that kind of paralytic fear, I never tried to dismiss or berate them over it. I just wish there was some way I could have convinced him, but like you said he was impenetrably stubborn for better or worse.
I dunno if Ceeb ever mentioned your name to me either. Part of a problem I realized pretty quickly after he ended up in the hospital was that in terms of letting other friends of his know what was going on, I knew very few of them by name. I really only knew Nightfaux. But I didn't know who else to reach out to, nor of a great way to convey what was happening out to those who knew Rob in general, as I couldn't get into his account because he never wrote passwords down. Still I'm glad Rob had spread enough word about me around that a lot of folks knew to reach out...it also meant a lot to know how much he thought of me from what others had to say.
I loved him just as much, and I'm gonna miss him terribly. But I'm glad I got to be his support arm, and really glad I got to help his Mom and Dad...if I did indeed help in the slightest amount. They seem like terribly sweet people despite Rob's usual Curmudgeonly ways.
May he Rest In Peace.
But yet I sit here teary-eyed. Guarantee any interaction I could have had with the dude would have resulted in a spat. Hell, I'd actually hoped that would happen one day.
But eh. Humans are fucked. Being human is fucked.
He will live on, thanks to the memories of those such as yourself.
I've known Ceeb for over a decade. My only method of contact has been through Steam chat. 4 weeks to this day, his last message that he thought he was having a heart attack. Those 4 weeks of having no idea if he was okay or not. Constantly checking to see if he has been online. Coming to this site, checking his profile to see if there were any updates. 4 weeks of hoping he was okay. Now that I know he is gone, it hasn't fully sunk in yet.
He will be missed for sure. I get ya when you say he was divisive. I'll miss all the random messages and such. We didn't talk all day every day, but enough to be regular. Plus I'm socially inept, so I found it hard to converse in any form.
My thoughts go out to all his friends, his family, and Ruby who will miss the fuck out of him.
I'm bad at posts like this, mostly because I never have to do them. I feel like this will take some time to actually sink in. Thanks for doing this post, it does offer some sad closure.
His family and Ruby...man...his Mom told me Rob wanted at least one more Christmas with Ruby because she was such an old girl...and now, Ruby's going to have a Christmas without him. I can imagine the true depths of the pain they are feeling right now, but I'm glad I've had the opportunity to support them, and really get to know them.
This is my first time doing a post like this...I was very...nervous about the language, and how to handle it. So thank you for the reassurance.
least I can do
I know the feeling of trying to get him to see a doctor. It was heartbreaking that he kept avoiding it due to his situation, and now it's just devastating.
I just hope in the future I'll be able to go back to his stories, or look at Desmond again and not have a heart crushed by sorrow. Or even look at the pictures of Rob with Ruby.
I'm just going to miss you so fucking much, Ceeb...
It hurts just to see his discord icon hanging there in my contacts...knowing I'm never going to see a notification from it again...Seeing his character sheets and other works I've done for him sitting in my folders is...it's definitely making more averse at present to go into those folders then I have been., let alone access his actual user page. I hope it will get easier with time...with less pain and more warmth behind seeing the art...but still...
I only knew Ceeb for a few years, but he helped me branch out more with my subject matter by commissioning me. I really enjoyed his concepts, and while some of them will never be realized now, I'm glad at least for what I was able to create with him. I knew he was having issues, and I tried to help him when I was able, but I wish he had been able to get out of his situation sooner.
I hope you'll be okay, dawg. I can see he had quite an impact on a lot of us.
Best of luck with the commission, yo.
Ceeb was a good friend. We had several important conversations that influenced my life and choices for the better. I will cherish the time we spent together chatting, playing games, and our art. He was someone I could talk to about anything, and upset, and he'd come back later and still be my friend lol. He was very unique and impactful, and he will be most certainly missed by myself and many others in our community.
May he rest in peace.
Generally i often re-read logs to remember what friends/interactions i had to catch-up or to "remember" as i got a bit memory problems , if someone deletes logs on me its like he erased half of my memory.
If haven or its equivalent exists i hope he is happy there.
and take my sincere condolences.(despite we not spoke before)
I'm sure there's something after death...and whatever it is, I'd like to think he made it.
Thanks for the condolences.
He deserved so much better than all the bad shit he had to deal with. I just hope that at the very least he has found peace. He is owed that so much.
Having it confirmed is a fucking blow and I don't know how to feel.
We were waiting on a picture and I don't even know if I should have the artist finish it since it's full bore lewd stuff...
I've never really grieved over the death of someone I didn't know. Over basically a stranger to me. But after going basically through the stages of grief over the past week, I finally broke down. It felt strange to do so, but I needed to or I'd be stuck in that depression for a long time. I know everything is going to be ok. But it still kinda feels bad knowing that he's gone.
Knowing his cause of death made me relate to it as well, considering I have blood pressure problems, so that made it hurt even worse because of that fact. I knew somewhat what he was going through. I've had a heart attack from it, but I survived and went on meds. I just wish he had done the same.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlPhMPnQ58k
This song helps me whenever I am grieving over the loss of someone. I hope it can help yourself and others as well who knew them. They may be gone but we have the memories still.
Rest in peace, Desmond, wherever you may be. ♥
I've known Ceeb, off and on, for quite awhile. He had only in the past few months gotten back in touch with me.
I had been wondering why he had been quiet. That is pretty distressing, we had been talking about health issues last but I didn't know things were that bad for him.
I am not sure what to say.. I just hope wherever he ends up is better. Hope you are okay too.
For a very long time I had been trying to tell him to visit a doctor to get medication for any symptoms to the point it had somewhat became a joke between us, but I still feel awful that the last message he saw from me was "Go to the doctor" and that I missed his response the next day due to work in my timezone. Once I saw that he hadn't been online for over a week I suspected he was just ignoring me, but then noticing his FA and all other profiles had nothing on them made me think that something like this had happened.
I'm happy that there are quite a few others who were close with him, more than I expected which is fantastic, he was certainly rough around the edges but I'm sure he is tearing it up in the afterlife.
RIP Ceeb, you glorious bastard <3
I know I was on him almost daily about going to the doctor...to the point where he'd immediately change the subject or ghost me for like a day to avoid the subject. Sadly I think it would have taken people like us showing up in person to drag him to the ER to actually get him to go...not that I would have been much help in that department, I'm a 175 lanky white dude with rail thin extremities, and Rob had 100 pounds on me. Still I keep finding myself feeling like I should have done something more....despite knowing I was doing all I could.
I'm going to be working on a picture for him over the next week or two, one we had been discussing since the beginning of summer in the same theme of those warmer, fuzzy pictures of Kahnso and his family life. It felt like it would be the best way to honor him all things considered. Sadly it doesn't feature aunt Seg, but I'm thinking you'd probably dig it anyway.
Still though, I didn't want him to die, I only ever wanted him to stop being a jerk to me. I'm sorry for your loss, and I hope he's in a better place.
He was a spiky guy. He could definitely be a bit of a bastard, but he was also funny, and it's nice to see so many folks talk about having positive interactions with him. We never exchanged more than the odd comment, so I can't say I knew him by any means, but I never got the impression that he was really a bad guy.
Thanks for posting this, and my sympathies to his family and friends.
Sorry, my thoughts are all over the place. I hope he's in a better place now.
My deepest condolences to you and Robert's family. Thank you for the updates; I know it's not easy to give such bad news, but the effort, time and dedication you have been putting into it is very appreciated.
He included one of my most meaningful characters in the universe he created around Kahnso and we exchanged private messages once in a while, sharing ideas for pictures and stories in that setting. He was very polite to me and it was always a pleasure to communicate with him.
I'm deeply saddened to see him go and I hope he rests in peace, wherever he may be. Thank you again and best wishes, Wasted.
I knew very little of him, his dabbling in Doom modding being the extent of my knowledge
But, all the same, I'm sad that he's gone
If you come across anything Doom related that he's made and sent you, could you send it my way?
I really wish I could say we left on good terms, but Ceeb owed me quite a substantial amount in pre-paid commissions, and I feel that as time progressed I began to maybe treat him a little colder than I should have due to the years of delays. We hadn't really spoken truly since maybe last year because of it, and in hindsight I regret it a lot. I wish I could have had just one more chat about Duke3D or Blood with him, but I suppose all we can really do is say what we should have or could have done. He used to always say I was one of his favourite artists. I need some time to reflect on things.
I know I'm still going through the 'should of, would have, could have, kind of motions. Despite how many times I have to reassure myself, or be reassured by others that I had done all I could...I don't think I'll ever be able to shake that guilt.
He brought so much to so many, and his writing was some of the hottest I've ever read. He really had a gift.
Rest in peace Robert!
This is like the seventh time in five months I've learned about a long-time friendly acquaintance being dead.
It was a great time nonetheless. Hope he can be at peace.
Ceeb. I'm sorry I'm not much of a talker but i appreciate your comment. rest well good sir.