If you haven't heard the news that I just heard, Brian Jacques, the creator of the Redwall book series, died a couple of days ago.

I'm... not even sure what to make of this. Intellectually, of course, I know that everyone dies, and presumably most of the older people I know (of) will die while I am still alive. But some people miraculously fool us into believing they are immortal. Brian Jacques was one of those people for me.

I definitely wasn't the most rabid Redwall fan - I sort of got tired of the stories somewhere around book 11 or 12, as the overall plots were often repetitive - but a good number of years of my life were marked by the creations of this man. I was a member of the official fan club. One of the first anthros I ever drew was Martin. When we fostered a black-and-white puppy with badger-like head markings, I wanted to name her Constance. I'd lapse into mole speech while answering questions in class or talking with my friends. Stashed somewhere in my parents' house is an entire box full of just Redwall books - and funny, I was just thinking of asking them to ship the box to me so I could re-read them.

Mr. "Jakes" is dead. I just... this is just weird, like when Michael Jackson died. I'm... I don't know.

This really sucks.

Eulalia.