What Was the Last Video Game You Played?

machine · January 21, 2015

Ys: Oath in Felghana

Kenzi · January 22, 2015

Hm, well for my original username of Meitantei Holmes, I only chose it because I was an inexperienced, green anime watcher and Internets surfer and just went for something that was kinda DC related. Really nothing special behind it, just sort of pulled it out of nowhere when I needed it. But then as I began making more user names for more and more sites, I realized that Meitantei Holmes wasn't exactly something that would universally work, so I had to think of a new one. After considering meaning, length, simplicity, rarity, and matureness, I decided on Akazora. I got it from mixing the words "akai" (red) and "sora" (sky) in the same way the real words "aozora" (blue sky), "yozora" (night sky), and "hoshizora" (starry sky) are derived from "aoi"/"sora", "yoru"/"sora", and "hoshi"/"sora" respectively. Though I prefer star gazing to sunset watching, since yozora and hoshizora were both real words and thus common usernames, I decided to compromise on the fake work akazora since "red sky" is always translated as "akai sora". It's a name that's stuck with me for a while now, and I feel I probably won't change it for a long time, if ever. It's neither too long nor too short and has a really like "look" to it, with alternating vowels and consonants that physically look nice next to each other, haha. And don't worry, you're not prying at all. I'm open to talk about anything regarding me and if there's anything else you want to know about me you can feel free to ask.

I guess you're right in not wanting to invest in Smash for the Wii U, since I suppose if only your guy friends play it then it's not like you'd just invite them all over to duke things out. It would be kind of awkward, and if I were in a similar situation to yours I'd avoid it as well. Though I've said some girls I know play Smash, the more I think about it the more I realize not many of them really do. There's only one I know well enough to call a friend that loves the series, though I think she's starting to grow out of it as she doesn't plan on ever getting the fourth installments. The rest of the girls I know have only played Smash a few times in their lives, at birthday parties. They're pretty clueless about it all, as they say things like "What was that game you were talking about? You know, the one kind of like Brawl? Super Mario Bros or something...?" While it makes me want to facepalm, I suppose I can't really blame them for their ignorance and misinformation, since I'm not exactly well versed in some of their interests (whatever they are). A birthday on July 31st, hm? I'll do my best to remember to wish you a happy birthday when the date rolls around. I suppose you'll be 17 then. And you've never asked for birthday presents? Gosh, I've asked for so many things over the years, though recently I realize I don't get birthday or Christmas gifts anymore. I do receive presents in the form of video games and whatnot every once in a while, but those gifts never correlate to birthdays or Christmases; they sort of happen when there are big releases.

Ehem, anyway, speaking of Mt. Coronet, I just caught the Dialga last night. Caught it with a standard Pokeball easy enough given its relatively high catch rate. It's even Adamantly natured, completely by accident. I haven't checked its IV yet, though I will. I must say though, my Beautifly barely had any PP left. By the time Barry showed up to heal me, I had 2 PP left for Giga Drain with every other move completely dried out, even Gust. I don't think a Beautifly with Roost and PP Up-ed moves would have lasted very long. For me, health has never been a problem, so Roost was never necessary. I also haven't used any PP restoration items yet, which is good since I'm saving them for the Elite Four. My Beautifly is level 87, if I'm remembering correctly, so it's in a very good place right now. I've actually only ever solo run once more before with my shiny Typhlosion in SS. Solo running isn't very difficult; just make sure you have a moveset to cover your weaknesses, enough PP (HP shouldn't be a problem most of the time), and the HM slaves you need. The run through will be fast and painless.

I'm glad you want to visit the Adirondacks now. They're severely underrated and unknown considering how close they are to the east coast and a lot of major cities, at least as far as places of natural beauty go. I've been to the Grand Canyon; it was one of the many stops on our southwest road trip in the summer of '12. My family and I flew out to Las Vegas, which is actually a very interesting city if you can ignore the occasional advertisements of scantily clad women on the broadside of buses you will most definitely be driving past. Not a place I'd like to live in, ever, but it's iconic and you might as well use it as a starting place for a road trip. We then rented a car and proceeded to National Parks such as the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone. Granted, Grand Teton and Yellowstone aren't even in the southwest anymore, but they were worth the long drive up north through Salt Lake City (where we stayed a night) to reach. Of the National Parks I've visited, I'd have to say Yellowstone is my favorite. We got really lucky many times there. There was this one geyser that erupted only once every 1-3 weeks (can't remember its name), and my family and I were right there in front of it when it happened! Just being in the park on the day that geyser erupted was lucky enough, but to be there at the right hour and minute just blew my mind. We also caught sight of a bald eagle perched in a tree and took pictures. Overall, a very fortuitous visit made Yellowstone my favorite, unfair as that is. That being said, I did prefer the overall scenery of the southwestern states than I did the area around Yellowstone. My mom occasionally said it was like driving on the surface of the moon, but barren as it was that's what what made it all the more beautiful and appealing to me. Oh my gosh, you like star gazing, too? I've never me a girl like you before, in the sense that I've never been able to relate to one as well as you, haha. Though where I live, which you know is New Jersey if you've been reading the other threads, there's a bit of light pollution from the north east as my town is in really close proximity to New York City, on a really good cloudless night you can see a lot more stars than you'd expect. At the very least I'm able to spot, recognize, and identify constellations relatively easily. I even wrote my Common App essay on stargazing, that's how much I love it. I can share it with you, if you want. I was actually in a similar situation to yours: the rest of my family is neutral to stargazing and told me it would be better to sleep so I could enjoy the "important" stuff during the day. Not to mention, it was always just cloudy enough the whole time we traveled to spoil the night sky, which was a bummer. Regardless, I'll definitely get around to stargazing in the southwest, even if it means flying out there alone and hiking out in the middle of the desert and not sleeping for a few nights. Ahaha, I'm really determined about this all.

In fact, almost a bit too determined, as I seem to have diverged from the main topic even more than this paragraph was meant for. I guess when I mean Asian dramas I don't mean it in the sense of what your dad watches, but instead just Asian movies in general. I watched a few obscure things , but don't really remember them that well. The only one's whose titles I can remember are Platinum Data and Bayside Shakedown 3, both Japanese movies. Apparently Bayside Shakedown is a relatively successful television/movie cop humor series, and while I didn't get certain parts of the movie (felt like watching a single DC movie and treating it as a standalone) it was surprisingly kind of enjoyable. It's weird how your parents are so nice to your sister, or are at least more lenient with her than they are with you. Though I guess I should be thanking her, because I'm really glad we've gotten to know each other through DC. Haha, however when you say that your sister is like me "but to a lesser extent", depending on the context I realized it can be interpreted different ways. Paired with the sentence directly following the phrase and taken to the extremes, it makes it sound like I'm an immature otaku that has not yet moved on and grown up. On the other hand, if read with the sentence immediately preceding it, it sounds as if you can't imagine how different your life would have been if you hadn't met me, which sounds like some kind of indirect confession (the shippers are going to jump all over this). Hahaha, but I know what you meant, so it's all fine, I didn't take any offense from it or anything, I just thought it was a curiously phrased few sentences you wrote there.

I just had the interview earlier today. I got along with the interviewer really well, but I don't think I gave the impression that I really cared about or was interested in the college my interviewer represented. Eh, it must be because I applied to too many schools. In fact, we spent more time talking about The Legend of Zelda games than we did about, you know, more important stuff (don't even know how we had gotten off topic, I must have that effect on people). At the very least the conversation was never awkward and I don't think I came off as unusually nervous or unpresentable. It was a good experience either way. Yeah, I know a lot of people who get involved in summer programs and it can definitely get in the way of relaxing over the long break. And you're probably going to need to go out and visit colleges so you don't over-apply like I did, though I actually spent a lot of time visiting schools, heheh. I also hope you find time for the Fate series, because it's a very good one.

Wow, you've put a lot of thought into your username! I even looked it up at one point thinking that it may have been related to an anime character of some sort. This is honestly mind-blowing to me. It's so creative and... special. Perhaps if I ever need a new username, I could utilize a similar tactic because what you did was really unique. All of the usernames I've created so far were pulled out from the top of my head. Don't even get me started on my very first email address, haha. I really liked how you combined words into a suitable username. I know I've seen tons of people do it before, but I don't think I've ever met anyone who has put as much thought into it.

I don't play Smash that often anymore either. I played Brawl with my sister a ton when it first came out, but I stopped after she began losing interest. It's not as fun going solo after all. I'm still keeping up with some of the updates for Smash 4 so hopefully the game won't seem outdated by the time I get my hands on it, haha. But yeah, I don't think I've ever mentioned Smash in front of my girl friends (or even any games in general). The only games they're probably familiar with are from the Pokemon franchise, but only a handful bothered even picking one up. Most of my guy friends are more interested in League so I can't talk about games with them either. Only one of my guy friends is willing to talk about this stuff, but he's also began losing interest and is more engrossed in League now. This is probably why I'm not too open with talking about my interests in front of my real life friends. Most of my girl friends are just picking on each other about their crushes and talking about classes or other school-related stuff most of the time. My other group of girl friends are tumblr-ers so it's a bit easier to talk about anime with them. Still though, I don't really mind because all of them are part of a really tightly-knit group that I love being a part of. Yup, turning 17, although it probably wasn't too difficult to guess, haha. I likely did ask for presents when I was younger (might've been something ridiculous like a pony or something, lol), but lately, I really haven't been asking for much.

Legendaries before gen 5 seem to have an unreasonably low catch rate making it extremely frustrating when attempting to catch them in Pokeballs (though I'm not sure why Pokemon like Dialga and Palkia have catch rates of 30). I guess it makes the catch a lot more rewarding, but it's also really irritating as well, lol. But congrats, nonetheless! Gosh, doing a solo run seems really frustrating at points. Plus, I don't think I have the heart to restart my games after everything I've been through with them. I tried doing one using an emulator, but I always end up compulsively catching Pokemon anyway because I feel too exposed without a full team. One day. One day I will do a solo run, haha.

Dang, I don't think any of the road trips that I've been on were that far-reaching. The most my family has driven through was probably Yellowstone and Teton, which lasted about a week. We also encountered a rare geyser eruption (a lot more grand than Old Faithful) purely through luck, although I'm not sure whether or not it was the same one that you saw. We saw it on our way back from the Morning Glory Pool if that helps jog your memory. It's fortunate how you managed to see a bald eagle! I only managed to see bison, coyote, bears, and elk--you know, typical stuff, lol. I went to Yellowstone around August of '14 and experienced both summer and winter during the visit. Temperatures reached around 80*, then dropped to 20* without warning, which really caught me off guard. One of my favorite parts of the visit was seeing the basins. Some of them were absolutely breathtaking. I took countless amounts of pictures of the stunning array of colors they radiated, but seeing as you also went there, I don't think I'll need to explain any further. I got the idea of stargazing when my parents told me they rented a tent for us to sleep in so we can experience the 'great outdoors.' Ironically, when I told them I wanted to go stargazing, they immediately dismissed the idea thinking that it was a waste of time and told me that I'd be better off reserving my energy for the next day. Wow! A Common App on stargazing? I didn't realize that you'd be that dedicated! I would love to read it if it's okay with you. Haha, I don't think I'm the Vegas kind of person. I might visit just to see what the hype is about but I'm not thinking about moving there. I think I'll get a few plane tickets to the southwest once I'm old enough just for the experience. The Grand Canyon is definitely near the top of my list of places to visit along with the Adirondacks now.

I haven't watched many Asian dramas. I've watched a few movies, but it was during a summer school history class. One of them was called To Live, which actually was a lot better than I expected it to be. Apparently, it was also banned from China because it frowns upon Communism, haha. I've never had the motivation to watch any Asian dramas mainly because some of them can get really corny. I need to stop being so ignorant about these things so maybe I'll watch a few more once the idea warms up to me. Ahahaha, I didn't think the last few sentences of my paragraph would gain that much attention. I suppose all of this was for showcasing your English analyzing skills? Nah, I'm kidding. I didn't even realize that I came off that way, lol. I just wanted to say that you remind me of my sister in a few ways, which might explain why I've taken a liking to you. I also really admire your character and how well-read you are. So no, I do not consider you as an immature otaku. It's quite the opposite, actually. Like you said earlier, this is one of the slower threads. I doubt anyone is willing to dig through this ~~haven~~ extensive conversation anyway (barring Kirsch maybe but even then, this thread is still easily forgotten). Hopefully I didn't offend you earlier because that certainly was not my intention, haha.

Your interviewer must've been a really chill person considering that you guys were able to deviate to a LoZ conversation. That's pretty awesome. Aren't interviews all about first impressions? If you were comfortable the entire time, then I'm sure everything went well. Though I'm really curious how you manage to diverge so much from the original purpose of the interview, haha. I'm still not entirely sure on which colleges I want to apply to, but I do have a few in mind. However, that still isn't going to stop me from applying to as many colleges as I can, heh. About how long is the Fate series? How much time will it take for me to get all caught up? I've watched a few trailers and I'm really stoked.

And I'm going to diverge for a bit, but you say you have trouble showing gratitude. However, in the other thread when I described my walk home yesterday, I feel like you made it clear enough that you were thankful for what I posted. And for that, I'll say I'm really glad my post was helpful in some way. I don't think I did the scene justice with my description and it was far from my best writing, but if it made you de-stress a bit then I'm happy as well, haha. You definitely didn't seem to be in the best of moods recently. If there's anything bothering you, let me know. I know you probably don't want to unload all of your problems on me, and while that's very considerate of you I really wouldn't mind reading some of your rants if you feel the need to vent out. I'm a senior with college apps done, so I have a bit of extra time on my hands, and I'd be more than happy to help you with anything. Of course, if it's too personal for you to talk about then it's fine if you don't want to confide in me. Junior year is tough, but hang in there! I hope things get better at your end soon.

When I said that I have trouble showing gratitude, it's when someone is giving something to me--whether it be a gift or a compliment. I just don't know how to appropriately react in those situations. Should I jump for joy? Or would that seem out of place? Should I say a formal thank you? Or would that seem underwhelming and make me come off as ungrateful? Maybe doing either of those can make the situation more awkward than it needs to be. In your case, when it was something I happened to stumble upon, I felt more comfortable conveying my thank yous because what I did simply seemed like the most natural thing to do. And it wasn't because you were directly giving it to me, it was just something that helped better my situation. It's a bit hard to explain, haha. Perhaps it depends on the person I'm talking to. Maybe it's just easier to show gratitude over the internet. I think it's really thoughtful of you to want to listen to my problems, but I don't think I'm ready to spill out everything yet. I rarely even talk about them with my real life friends. I'm okay with venting out on a Word document since these rants tend to be filled with bunches of incoherent thoughts, sentences, emotion, and spontaneous outbursts of caps lock. I just type whatever instantly comes to mind so it's not really meant for anyone to read anyway. It's still currently my main de-stressing outlet which probably means it's effective to some extent, I suppose. I'm still touched by your willingness to listen so I will take you up on your offer if the time comes. Reading this very paragraph of yours really made my day. That in itself is an under exaggeration for how happy reading those words made me feel--especially with what I've been experiencing lately. Consider this as a sincere thank you.

xxelement · January 22, 2015

Zero Escape: Virtues Last Reward

Akazora · January 25, 2015

Wow, you've put a lot of thought into your username! I even looked it up at one point thinking that it may have been related to an anime character of some sort. This is honestly mind-blowing to me. It's so creative and... special. Perhaps if I ever need a new username, I could utilize a similar tactic because what you did was really unique. All of the usernames I've created so far were pulled out from the top of my head. Don't even get me started on my very first email address, haha. I really liked how you combined words into a suitable username. I know I've seen tons of people do it before, but I don't think I've ever met anyone who has put as much thought into it.

I don't play Smash that often anymore either. I played Brawl with my sister a ton when it first came out, but I stopped after she began losing interest. It's not as fun going solo after all. I'm still keeping up with some of the updates for Smash 4 so hopefully the game won't seem outdated by the time I get my hands on it, haha. But yeah, I don't think I've ever mentioned Smash in front of my girl friends (or even any games in general). The only games they're probably familiar with are from the Pokemon franchise, but only a handful bothered even picking one up. Most of my guy friends are more interested in League so I can't talk about games with them either. Only one of my guy friends is willing to talk about this stuff, but he's also began losing interest and is more engrossed in League now. This is probably why I'm not too open with talking about my interests in front of my real life friends. Most of my girl friends are just picking on each other about their crushes and talking about classes or other school-related stuff most of the time. My other group of girl friends are tumblr-ers so it's a bit easier to talk about anime with them. Still though, I don't really mind because all of them are part of a really tightly-knit group that I love being a part of. Yup, turning 17, although it probably wasn't too difficult to guess, haha. I likely did ask for presents when I was younger (might've been something ridiculous like a pony or something, lol), but lately, I really haven't been asking for much.

Legendaries before gen 5 seem to have an unreasonably low catch rate making it extremely frustrating when attempting to catch them in Pokeballs (though I'm not sure why Pokemon like Dialga and Palkia have catch rates of 30). I guess it makes the catch a lot more rewarding, but it's also really irritating as well, lol. But congrats, nonetheless! Gosh, doing a solo run seems really frustrating at points. Plus, I don't think I have the heart to restart my games after everything I've been through with them. I tried doing one using an emulator, but I always end up compulsively catching Pokemon anyway because I feel too exposed without a full team. One day. One day I will do a solo run, haha.

Dang, I don't think any of the road trips that I've been on were that far-reaching. The most my family has driven through was probably Yellowstone and Teton, which lasted about a week. We also encountered a rare geyser eruption (a lot more grand than Old Faithful) purely through luck, although I'm not sure whether or not it was the same one that you saw. We saw it on our way back from the Morning Glory Pool if that helps jog your memory. It's fortunate how you managed to see a bald eagle! I only managed to see bison, coyote, bears, and elk--you know, typical stuff, lol. I went to Yellowstone around August of '14 and experienced both summer and winter during the visit. Temperatures reached around 80*, then dropped to 20* without warning, which really caught me off guard. One of my favorite parts of the visit was seeing the basins. Some of them were absolutely breathtaking. I took countless amounts of pictures of the stunning array of colors they radiated, but seeing as you also went there, I don't think I'll need to explain any further. I got the idea of stargazing when my parents told me they rented a tent for us to sleep in so we can experience the 'great outdoors.' Ironically, when I told them I wanted to go stargazing, they immediately dismissed the idea thinking that it was a waste of time and told me that I'd be better off reserving my energy for the next day. Wow! A Common App on stargazing? I didn't realize that you'd be that dedicated! I would love to read it if it's okay with you. Haha, I don't think I'm the Vegas kind of person. I might visit just to see what the hype is about but I'm not thinking about moving there. I think I'll get a few plane tickets to the southwest once I'm old enough just for the experience. The Grand Canyon is definitely near the top of my list of places to visit along with the Adirondacks now.

I haven't watched many Asian dramas. I've watched a few movies, but it was during a summer school history class. One of them was called To Live, which actually was a lot better than I expected it to be. Apparently, it was also banned from China because it frowns upon Communism, haha. I've never had the motivation to watch any Asian dramas mainly because some of them can get really corny. I need to stop being so ignorant about these things so maybe I'll watch a few more once the idea warms up to me. Ahahaha, I didn't think the last few sentences of my paragraph would gain that much attention. I suppose all of this was for showcasing your English analyzing skills? Nah, I'm kidding. I didn't even realize that I came off that way, lol. I just wanted to say that you remind me of my sister in a few ways, which might explain why I've taken a liking to you. I also really admire your character and how well-read you are. So no, I do not consider you as an immature otaku. It's quite the opposite, actually. Like you said earlier, this is one of the slower threads. I doubt anyone is willing to dig through this ~~haven~~ extensive conversation anyway (barring Kirsch maybe but even then, this thread is still easily forgotten). Hopefully I didn't offend you earlier because that certainly was not my intention, haha.

Your interviewer must've been a really chill person considering that you guys were able to deviate to a LoZ conversation. That's pretty awesome. Aren't interviews all about first impressions? If you were comfortable the entire time, then I'm sure everything went well. Though I'm really curious how you manage to diverge so much from the original purpose of the interview, haha. I'm still not entirely sure on which colleges I want to apply to, but I do have a few in mind. However, that still isn't going to stop me from applying to as many colleges as I can, heh. About how long is the Fate series? How much time will it take for me to get all caught up? I've watched a few trailers and I'm really stoked.

When I said that I have trouble showing gratitude, it's when someone is giving something to me--whether it be a gift or a compliment. I just don't know how to appropriately react in those situations. Should I jump for joy? Or would that seem out of place? Should I say a formal thank you? Or would that seem underwhelming and make me come off as ungrateful? Maybe doing either of those can make the situation more awkward than it needs to be. In your case, when it was something I happened to stumble upon, I felt more comfortable conveying my thank yous because what I did simply seemed like the most natural thing to do. And it wasn't because you were directly giving it to me, it was just something that helped better my situation. It's a bit hard to explain, haha. Perhaps it depends on the person I'm talking to. Maybe it's just easier to show gratitude over the internet. I think it's really thoughtful of you to want to listen to my problems, but I don't think I'm ready to spill out everything yet. I rarely even talk about them with my real life friends. I'm okay with venting out on a Word document since these rants tend to be filled with bunches of incoherent thoughts, sentences, emotion, and spontaneous outbursts of caps lock. I just type whatever instantly comes to mind so it's not really meant for anyone to read anyway. It's still currently my main de-stressing outlet which probably means it's effective to some extent, I suppose. I'm still touched by your willingness to listen so I will take you up on your offer if the time comes. Reading this very paragraph of yours really made my day. That in itself is an under exaggeration for how happy reading those words made me feel--especially with what I've been experiencing lately. Consider this as a sincere thank you.

Ah geez, you're making me blush, haha. Thinking up of my user name wasn't too difficult, and I'm sure you'd be able to make one equally as well thought out if you ever find the need to. Regardless though, it makes me happy knowing you appreciate it, so thanks!

All Smash titles end up being classics and go-to party games regardless of how much time has passed since its initial release, and since Smash 4 hasn't even been out for half a year yet I doubt its freshness will die out any time soon. Though I do admit it'll have a lot of competition in the coming year, as there appear to be a ton of really interesting Wii U games slated to be released soon, new amiibo waves will continue to keep the Smash 4 community alive, as well as future updates that they promised in the 50-Fact Extravaganza. Oh, and you've already seen the Nintendo Direct right? They announced that we're getting the New 3DS XL soon, with amiibo compatibility, so you can take advantage of the new release and get that along with Smash 4 3DS. Hm, where I live, most of my guy friends actually still prefer the good ol' Nintendo games. A couple of them play League, but not too seriously. Maybe I just hang out with a strange group of guys, but we all still get hyped about new Nintendo games together. It's good that you still enjoy being with your friends though!

Solo runs can be fun, either as personal challenges or as a means of finishing a game as soon as possible, so I definitely recommend you try one out. I checked that Adamant Dialga's IVs, and unfortunately they're rather poor. Single digits in everything except for a bit over 20 for both defenses. Jeez, I'm not having much luck with the stats. I'm on my way to Victory Road with my now level 90 Beautifly. I haven't found much time to play that much, mostly because I've been preoccupied with other stuff and because I decided to RNG abuse for shiny Torchic in my Sapphire version to solo run with. Eh, I know it's not good to try and balance both of these like this, but I had a urging for a shiny Kyogre... Hmm, now I somehow have to make time for Y, Diamond, and Sapphire. I guess I'll figure it out somehow, haha.

I don't remember too much about which geyser we saw, though it was really big. Maybe even more so than Old Faithful. I vaguely recall taking a picture of the plaque so I wouldn't forget, but digging out the picture now from the many SD cards and computers my family owns would be a nightmare. The only thing I remember about it was that it was in the same location as Old Faithful, so that cluster of geysers right around that complex. I do remember, now that you mention it, that it could get rather cold at night. But I actually really enjoyed that, since it made the basins radiate that much more heat. Haha, yeah, I remember I thought the colorful basins were really magical. Those are what made Yellowstone my favorite, more so than geysers or anything else. I read in one of your other posts that you stargazed from a bus, so I'll take the opportunity to reply to that here. I actually did something very similar a while back. I'm a band member and so after a competition/festival that lasted late into the night, the bus dropped us back off at our school where my dad picked me up. In the car, I remember kind of tilting my head to the side and up to see a cloudless sky, so the moment my dad and I arrive home I ran back out in the cold to enjoy the stars. The night sky really can be breathtaking. I'd be happy to share my Common App essay! It'll be in spoilers at the end of this paragraph. Yeah, you never rubbed me as someone who'd enjoy Vegas, which is good. It's far too extreme for my tastes as well, and I'm not one to party or date around, so I don't think I'd use Vegas for anything other than a springboard for a road trip.

This is the prompt I chose to write about: Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?

I’ll admit that I’ve occasionally snuck out at night. When I find that I can’t sleep because too many abstract thoughts are bouncing around my head at once and I’ve rolled over my sheets more times than years I am old, I put on some clothes, grab a jacket, lace my shoes, and quietly maneuver down the stairs and out the door. I don’t need to walk far before I reach my secret place. There in the cool night on my driveway, I stand under the stars that greet my smile.

I look up at the moon floating in the black upturned ocean filled with suspended lighthouses twinkling and shining at each other and feel my breath catch. It isn’t my first time stargazing, but that moment when I crane my neck up and peer into the dark expansiveness of space never fails to amaze me. On this particular day, there is freshly fallen snow on the ground and my feet silently leave their marks behind me as I step forward. An icy wind blows crystals off tree branches that catch the glow from the arc of the moon and pixie dust-like flakes dance over my shoes and across the peaceful neighborhood. I grip my jacket closer to my body and shiver. I do not shiver because it’s cold; the black coffee dotted with starry-white sugar crystals that has runneth over from the cup in the sky keeps me warm. I shiver because I am in the presence of unparalleled beauty.

There is something therapeutic about standing under the stars and watching as the imperceptible spin of the Earth sends the glowing orbs in delicate circles above my head. I find myself bathing in the moonlight when I have a test coming up, a presentation I need to memorize, or a concert to prepare for. It may seem like it would be more productive to be in bed and asleep at two in the morning, but I find that I wake up feeling far more refreshed and prepared for the day if I spend a few moments contemplating the constellations. My troubles seem to stay by my bedpost when my body ventures outside, waiting for my return. Life isn’t simple enough to just let those thoughts slip away into the shadows once their master leaves, though I’ve more than once crept back into my room hoping they’d be gone. When I slip back under the covers, I realize I need to grapple with the struggles of reality once more. But those few minutes spent stargazing are enough to brace myself and my thoughts return to me more organized. Whether it was anticipation or fear that I had previously felt, I am now able to tuck those emotions away into my shirt pocket and face the next day with a clearer head.

In an age where computers have been integrated into our society and invisible webs cross themselves over our world, that there exists a place where I can connect to the natural beauty around me is of great importance. This technologically advanced world is undoubtedly beautiful. We’ve come so far as to produce some of the most complex machinery, synchronized and balanced to fully maximize the limitations of our species.

But this enchanting beauty is fleeting. Unlike the stars that every human, living and deceased, has slept under, the technological era is only that: an era. There will be a day when the term “advanced” is redefined, and all that is familiar are the stars. The stars are the true bridges between opposite people living opposite lives on opposite hemispheres. They are the threads that connect past and present, the teachers of the future and the ones that have seen every sin and miracle ever to bless the fast eroding soil we tread on every day beneath our soles.

It is with them that I am truly alive, truly human.

It's exactly 600 words, which is the maximum limit for Common App essays.

Of course you didn't offend me, haha. On the contrary, it was really nice to hear you've taken a liking to me. You know, you've complimented me quite a bit now and it makes me very happy, but I realized I haven't really made it that clear how much I've grown to like you, too. I've had a lot of fun getting to know you, and it's great to have found someone who's willing to read through and reply to these long posts of mine. It's hard to find people like that, and one that I can relate this much to no less. You're a really great person and you're impressively smart. In one of your earlier posts from this week, you seemed to be going through a tough time with a test result you got back. I've been through rough times like that too and I know how bad it can feel. It's times like these that I wish I knew you in real life, or at least had the opportunity to see you in person, so I could give you a hug. There's no need to get yourself down like that. Actually no, that would make me a bit of a hypocrite, since I've cried buckets over the silliest and stupidest of my own issues. I guess it's okay to beat yourself up a bit, as long you get up and recover from it. After all, like I mentioned a long ways back, life is too short to spend wallowing in your own misery, especially with time perception taken into consideration. Ah, I started this paragraph off as a means of expressing how much I've come to like you, but it's strayed quite a bit from that. To bring it back on topic, you mean a lot to me. You can call yourself stupid and hate yourself as much as you want, but if you were any different you wouldn't be the Kenzi I've conversed with for this long. To me, you'll always be the one's whose replies to this thread I look forward to reading and responding. Now, I'm not too sure how much my opinion means to you or if this makes you feel any better about yourself, but you're definitely a special person to me.

It looks like you've up and started Fate/Zero before I even responded to your question. Well, it doesn't hurt to answer anyway. Fate/Zero has 25 episodes, though as you've already come to realize, the first episode is twice as long as a usual anime episode (it took up a one hour slot when it aired on television), which makes it feel like 26 episodes. Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works is a bit more complicated than that. The first season is, according to MAL, 12 episodes long, but there's a prologue episode (episode 0) that's a special ~50 minutes in length, much like Fate/Zero's first episode. F/sn's real first episode is also ~50 minutes long, as well as it's 12th episode. This means that while F/sn on paper looks like 1+12 episodes, it feels like a whopping 16 episodes. And the second season will be at the very least 12 episodes, probably more, which brings the total to 28+ episodes. Now, Fate/stay night's situation is a bit complicated, as the visual novel has three alternate parallel routes: Fate, Unlimited Blade Works, and Heaven's Feel. All of these have drastically different plots and were meant to be enjoyed together in the order I listed. The Fate route had a very poor anime adaptation done in 2006 by Studio Deen, which you must avoid like the plague. There's no good way to experience the Fate route apart from the original source material, but that takes way too long and most people consider the Fate route to be the weakest of the three anyway, so most would agree you're not missing much. Deen also attempted to make a UTW summary movie, which you also need to avoid (watching it would only spoil all of the currently airing F/sn anyway). Heaven's Feel is being made into a movie or series of movie by ufotable, the studio behind F/Z and the current UTW so it's in good hands. Therefore, if you want to experience all of the Fate series, you need to watch that as well. That's all that's been confirmed to be adapted, so it's actually quite a bit to watch. But once you really get into it and marathon all that's already aired, you'll end up finishing it really quickly and wishing there was more. And I'm glad you like it so far! Aw, calling me a legend is quite the exaggeration, but I appreciate the sentiment.

I find that I have a bit of trouble showing gratitude, too. I'm not one to be very expressive in person, since when I try it usually comes off as weird and kind of awkward. So yes, I can imagine how it's easier to express gratitude and feelings over the Internet. See the paragraph two above this one? I honestly probably wouldn't have been able to say that to you in person, both because I'd be fumbling with my words and because I'd probably be really embarrassed, haha. Anyway, feel free to talk about your stresses if you ever want to; I'll always been willing to lend an ear. I'm really glad that my words made you happy, which is, at the very least, a step towards feeling better. And for that, you're very welcome.

(These paragraphs are a mess in terms of organization...)

EDIT: Posted this and realized there were a few things I was planning on writing about but completely forgot when I typed this up. I'm just going to slap them all here at the bottom, which is probably going to kill the organization even more, but, eheh...

First things first, have you heard that Club Nintendo is ending its services? It's been around for a really long time now and I've never taken advantage of it, but since I've accumulated so many games over the years I decided to make a last-second account and register them all to see how many coins I can collect. I've registered pretty much all my games now (save for Wi Fit and Wii Music, which have alluded me ever since my mom hid them somewhere and forgot where she put them) and I have 980 coins, which doesn't include the post play survey coins I'll be getting once they send me a survey for everything I've registered in a week. This should bring me up to over 1100 coins, which is a crazy amount. However, I was wondering, do you have any Club Nintendo codes for games that you haven't used yet and don't plan on using? I can only register one of each game, so you giving me another Brawl code would be useless since I've already registered mine. But if you don't mind, could you PM them if you don't need them? Of course, if you'd rather make a Club Nintendo account yourself and garner the rewards then that's understandable since they are your games, but I know some of my friends don't really care for the rewards system or wouldn't have enough coins to get anything worthwhile anyway and give me their codes. In the meantime, I'll be looking for that Wii Fit and Wii Music, since those together would accumulate to 120 coins sans the post play survey coins. If you're wondering which consoles and games can be registered, here's a list: https://club.nintendo.com/eligible-products.do

Also, I can't believe I've neglected to mention this, but one of the defining events of junior year is taking the SATs, right? It's already late January and just yesterday was an SAT testing day, wasn't it? Have you taken the SAT I test yet? Or maybe even the ACTs, if that's more prevalent where you live?

Finally, your school sounds intense. To have middle school students take high level AP classes is insane. Maybe my school district is one that just doesn't allow for much educational flexibility, but even then whatever your district is doing is pretty crazy. I can't even begin to imagine how daunting and stressful it can all be.

And that should be it for now. Gosh, sorry for typing so much like this. Take your time with getting back to me, because I've written a lot more than usual I think. Haha, good luck with everything!

Zero Escape: Virtues Last Reward

Oh man, I'm so envious! That game's been on my plan-to-buy list for nearly a year now. 999 was awesome.

Edited January 25, 2015 by Akazora

Kitty Paw · January 25, 2015

The Walking Dead

Kenzi · January 29, 2015

Ah geez, you're making me blush, haha. Thinking up of my user name wasn't too difficult, and I'm sure you'd be able to make one equally as well thought out if you ever find the need to. Regardless though, it makes me happy knowing you appreciate it, so thanks!

All Smash titles end up being classics and go-to party games regardless of how much time has passed since its initial release, and since Smash 4 hasn't even been out for half a year yet I doubt its freshness will die out any time soon. Though I do admit it'll have a lot of competition in the coming year, as there appear to be a ton of really interesting Wii U games slated to be released soon, new amiibo waves will continue to keep the Smash 4 community alive, as well as future updates that they promised in the 50-Fact Extravaganza. Oh, and you've already seen the Nintendo Direct right? They announced that we're getting the New 3DS XL soon, with amiibo compatibility, so you can take advantage of the new release and get that along with Smash 4 3DS. Hm, where I live, most of my guy friends actually still prefer the good ol' Nintendo games. A couple of them play League, but not too seriously. Maybe I just hang out with a strange group of guys, but we all still get hyped about new Nintendo games together. It's good that you still enjoy being with your friends though!

Solo runs can be fun, either as personal challenges or as a means of finishing a game as soon as possible, so I definitely recommend you try one out. I checked that Adamant Dialga's IVs, and unfortunately they're rather poor. Single digits in everything except for a bit over 20 for both defenses. Jeez, I'm not having much luck with the stats. I'm on my way to Victory Road with my now level 90 Beautifly. I haven't found much time to play that much, mostly because I've been preoccupied with other stuff and because I decided to RNG abuse for shiny Torchic in my Sapphire version to solo run with. Eh, I know it's not good to try and balance both of these like this, but I had a urging for a shiny Kyogre... Hmm, now I somehow have to make time for Y, Diamond, and Sapphire. I guess I'll figure it out somehow, haha.

I don't remember too much about which geyser we saw, though it was really big. Maybe even more so than Old Faithful. I vaguely recall taking a picture of the plaque so I wouldn't forget, but digging out the picture now from the many SD cards and computers my family owns would be a nightmare. The only thing I remember about it was that it was in the same location as Old Faithful, so that cluster of geysers right around that complex. I do remember, now that you mention it, that it could get rather cold at night. But I actually really enjoyed that, since it made the basins radiate that much more heat. Haha, yeah, I remember I thought the colorful basins were really magical. Those are what made Yellowstone my favorite, more so than geysers or anything else. I read in one of your other posts that you stargazed from a bus, so I'll take the opportunity to reply to that here. I actually did something very similar a while back. I'm a band member and so after a competition/festival that lasted late into the night, the bus dropped us back off at our school where my dad picked me up. In the car, I remember kind of tilting my head to the side and up to see a cloudless sky, so the moment my dad and I arrive home I ran back out in the cold to enjoy the stars. The night sky really can be breathtaking. I'd be happy to share my Common App essay! It'll be in spoilers at the end of this paragraph. Yeah, you never rubbed me as someone who'd enjoy Vegas, which is good. It's far too extreme for my tastes as well, and I'm not one to party or date around, so I don't think I'd use Vegas for anything other than a springboard for a road trip.

This is the prompt I chose to write about: Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?

I’ll admit that I’ve occasionally snuck out at night. When I find that I can’t sleep because too many abstract thoughts are bouncing around my head at once and I’ve rolled over my sheets more times than years I am old, I put on some clothes, grab a jacket, lace my shoes, and quietly maneuver down the stairs and out the door. I don’t need to walk far before I reach my secret place. There in the cool night on my driveway, I stand under the stars that greet my smile.

I look up at the moon floating in the black upturned ocean filled with suspended lighthouses twinkling and shining at each other and feel my breath catch. It isn’t my first time stargazing, but that moment when I crane my neck up and peer into the dark expansiveness of space never fails to amaze me. On this particular day, there is freshly fallen snow on the ground and my feet silently leave their marks behind me as I step forward. An icy wind blows crystals off tree branches that catch the glow from the arc of the moon and pixie dust-like flakes dance over my shoes and across the peaceful neighborhood. I grip my jacket closer to my body and shiver. I do not shiver because it’s cold; the black coffee dotted with starry-white sugar crystals that has runneth over from the cup in the sky keeps me warm. I shiver because I am in the presence of unparalleled beauty.

There is something therapeutic about standing under the stars and watching as the imperceptible spin of the Earth sends the glowing orbs in delicate circles above my head. I find myself bathing in the moonlight when I have a test coming up, a presentation I need to memorize, or a concert to prepare for. It may seem like it would be more productive to be in bed and asleep at two in the morning, but I find that I wake up feeling far more refreshed and prepared for the day if I spend a few moments contemplating the constellations. My troubles seem to stay by my bedpost when my body ventures outside, waiting for my return. Life isn’t simple enough to just let those thoughts slip away into the shadows once their master leaves, though I’ve more than once crept back into my room hoping they’d be gone. When I slip back under the covers, I realize I need to grapple with the struggles of reality once more. But those few minutes spent stargazing are enough to brace myself and my thoughts return to me more organized. Whether it was anticipation or fear that I had previously felt, I am now able to tuck those emotions away into my shirt pocket and face the next day with a clearer head.

In an age where computers have been integrated into our society and invisible webs cross themselves over our world, that there exists a place where I can connect to the natural beauty around me is of great importance. This technologically advanced world is undoubtedly beautiful. We’ve come so far as to produce some of the most complex machinery, synchronized and balanced to fully maximize the limitations of our species.

But this enchanting beauty is fleeting. Unlike the stars that every human, living and deceased, has slept under, the technological era is only that: an era. There will be a day when the term “advanced” is redefined, and all that is familiar are the stars. The stars are the true bridges between opposite people living opposite lives on opposite hemispheres. They are the threads that connect past and present, the teachers of the future and the ones that have seen every sin and miracle ever to bless the fast eroding soil we tread on every day beneath our soles.

It is with them that I am truly alive, truly human.

It's exactly 600 words, which is the maximum limit for Common App essays.

Of course you didn't offend me, haha. On the contrary, it was really nice to hear you've taken a liking to me. You know, you've complimented me quite a bit now and it makes me very happy, but I realized I haven't really made it that clear how much I've grown to like you, too. I've had a lot of fun getting to know you, and it's great to have found someone who's willing to read through and reply to these long posts of mine. It's hard to find people like that, and one that I can relate this much to no less. You're a really great person and you're impressively smart. In one of your earlier posts from this week, you seemed to be going through a tough time with a test result you got back. I've been through rough times like that too and I know how bad it can feel. It's times like these that I wish I knew you in real life, or at least had the opportunity to see you in person, so I could give you a hug. There's no need to get yourself down like that. Actually no, that would make me a bit of a hypocrite, since I've cried buckets over the silliest and stupidest of my own issues. I guess it's okay to beat yourself up a bit, as long you get up and recover from it. After all, like I mentioned a long ways back, life is too short to spend wallowing in your own misery, especially with time perception taken into consideration. Ah, I started this paragraph off as a means of expressing how much I've come to like you, but it's strayed quite a bit from that. To bring it back on topic, you mean a lot to me. You can call yourself stupid and hate yourself as much as you want, but if you were any different you wouldn't be the Kenzi I've conversed with for this long. To me, you'll always be the one's whose replies to this thread I look forward to reading and responding. Now, I'm not too sure how much my opinion means to you or if this makes you feel any better about yourself, but you're definitely a special person to me.

It looks like you've up and started Fate/Zero before I even responded to your question. Well, it doesn't hurt to answer anyway. Fate/Zero has 25 episodes, though as you've already come to realize, the first episode is twice as long as a usual anime episode (it took up a one hour slot when it aired on television), which makes it feel like 26 episodes. Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works is a bit more complicated than that. The first season is, according to MAL, 12 episodes long, but there's a prologue episode (episode 0) that's a special ~50 minutes in length, much like Fate/Zero's first episode. F/sn's real first episode is also ~50 minutes long, as well as it's 12th episode. This means that while F/sn on paper looks like 1+12 episodes, it feels like a whopping 16 episodes. And the second season will be at the very least 12 episodes, probably more, which brings the total to 28+ episodes. Now, Fate/stay night's situation is a bit complicated, as the visual novel has three alternate parallel routes: Fate, Unlimited Blade Works, and Heaven's Feel. All of these have drastically different plots and were meant to be enjoyed together in the order I listed. The Fate route had a very poor anime adaptation done in 2006 by Studio Deen, which you must avoid like the plague. There's no good way to experience the Fate route apart from the original source material, but that takes way too long and most people consider the Fate route to be the weakest of the three anyway, so most would agree you're not missing much. Deen also attempted to make a UTW summary movie, which you also need to avoid (watching it would only spoil all of the currently airing F/sn anyway). Heaven's Feel is being made into a movie or series of movie by ufotable, the studio behind F/Z and the current UTW so it's in good hands. Therefore, if you want to experience all of the Fate series, you need to watch that as well. That's all that's been confirmed to be adapted, so it's actually quite a bit to watch. But once you really get into it and marathon all that's already aired, you'll end up finishing it really quickly and wishing there was more. And I'm glad you like it so far! Aw, calling me a legend is quite the exaggeration, but I appreciate the sentiment.

I find that I have a bit of trouble showing gratitude, too. I'm not one to be very expressive in person, since when I try it usually comes off as weird and kind of awkward. So yes, I can imagine how it's easier to express gratitude and feelings over the Internet. See the paragraph two above this one? I honestly probably wouldn't have been able to say that to you in person, both because I'd be fumbling with my words and because I'd probably be really embarrassed, haha. Anyway, feel free to talk about your stresses if you ever want to; I'll always been willing to lend an ear. I'm really glad that my words made you happy, which is, at the very least, a step towards feeling better. And for that, you're very welcome.

(These paragraphs are a mess in terms of organization...)

EDIT: Posted this and realized there were a few things I was planning on writing about but completely forgot when I typed this up. I'm just going to slap them all here at the bottom, which is probably going to kill the organization even more, but, eheh...

First things first, have you heard that Club Nintendo is ending its services? It's been around for a really long time now and I've never taken advantage of it, but since I've accumulated so many games over the years I decided to make a last-second account and register them all to see how many coins I can collect. I've registered pretty much all my games now (save for Wi Fit and Wii Music, which have alluded me ever since my mom hid them somewhere and forgot where she put them) and I have 980 coins, which doesn't include the post play survey coins I'll be getting once they send me a survey for everything I've registered in a week. This should bring me up to over 1100 coins, which is a crazy amount. However, I was wondering, do you have any Club Nintendo codes for games that you haven't used yet and don't plan on using? I can only register one of each game, so you giving me another Brawl code would be useless since I've already registered mine. But if you don't mind, could you PM them if you don't need them? Of course, if you'd rather make a Club Nintendo account yourself and garner the rewards then that's understandable since they are your games, but I know some of my friends don't really care for the rewards system or wouldn't have enough coins to get anything worthwhile anyway and give me their codes. In the meantime, I'll be looking for that Wii Fit and Wii Music, since those together would accumulate to 120 coins sans the post play survey coins. If you're wondering which consoles and games can be registered, here's a list: https://club.nintendo.com/eligible-products.do

Also, I can't believe I've neglected to mention this, but one of the defining events of junior year is taking the SATs, right? It's already late January and just yesterday was an SAT testing day, wasn't it? Have you taken the SAT I test yet? Or maybe even the ACTs, if that's more prevalent where you live?

Finally, your school sounds intense. To have middle school students take high level AP classes is insane. Maybe my school district is one that just doesn't allow for much educational flexibility, but even then whatever your district is doing is pretty crazy. I can't even begin to imagine how daunting and stressful it can all be.

And that should be it for now. Gosh, sorry for typing so much like this. Take your time with getting back to me, because I've written a lot more than usual I think. Haha, good luck with everything!

I'm planning to get Smash once I earn enough money during college. I don't know how long that's going to take because I'd also have to starve myself in the process, haha. Probably a few years from now? I know I've also said that I had a bit of money left over from YouTube on my PayPal, but I've grown very sentimental towards everything I've managed to earn from there so it's likely that the money is going to remain untouched. Plus, it's my only proof to my parents that what I did on there wasn't a complete waste of time. I'm also waiting on gen 4 remakes because Platinum was my favorite Pokemon game. It'll be a while before that happens but hopefully I'll be able to own both Smash and the gen 4 remake once I get enough money. I'll be thinking about getting the 3DS XL if I'm not going to run into monetary issues along the way just for the amiibos, heh. League must be some sort of Asian fad because a lot of my guy friends play it 24/7. StarCraft seems to be popular among the Koreans but League seems universal for most of the Asian guys at our school, lol. No one here really talks about the Nintendo games anymore but I think I have a few friends who may or may not be playing them in secrecy.

I feel like solo runs don't allow you to get the full experience of the game though. If anything, I'll probably do one on a game I've already played so that I don't miss or rush through anything. Haha, I'll break out of my shell eventually. I usually don't care too much about Pokemon IVs just because it's all a game of luck. I'm normally okay with them as long as most of them are in the double digits. Plus, breeding for IVs can get pretty wearisome, so I'd rather enjoy the game for what it is. Sometimes I'd wish I never discover natures because they make me particularly finicky with the Pokemon I catch. I didn't catch any of the legendaries in my HeartGold for this reason (along with the fact that I risk getting crappy IVs). I was a bit more ignorant with Platinum and just caught everything I happened to run into (which is how I ended up with a Sassy Garchomp). Still, I think you should be happy that the Dialga you managed to catch was Adamant. Even though its IVs aren't that great, it's probably something you can work around. Geezus, a level 90 Beautifly? Dang, haha, how far have you gotten in the game so far? Good luck to you with that shiny Torchic! Kyogre is one of my favorite Pokemon, but its shiny is a bit strange in my opinion. I would have preferred if it was black or maybe a lighter shade of blue. The whole concept of a pink whale is just really foreign to me, lol.

I don't think the geyser that we saw was near Old Faithful since it took a while for us to walk back there, but it was definitely in that vicinity. My sister and I would huddle around the big basins when it got cold because they felt like saunas in contrast to the cold climate, ahaha, it was wonderful and really soothing. The only thing that bothered me was the smell of basins with hefty sulfur deposits--which brought back bad memories from AP Chem. Despite this, the vibrant basins were still my absolute favorite part of Yellowstone, so I'm glad that I've found someone who also relates (my parents and sister were getting sick of seeing them, haha). The stars were already drowned out by the time my dad picked me up from school late at night so my only opportunity to go stargazing was on the bus. I just happened to gaze out the window while waiting for F/Z to buffer when I noticed how prevalent the stars were outside. Gosh, they were so breathtaking. You could only see them on the right side of the bus though, so it was really fortunate that I happened to be sitting there. Also, your essay is magnificent. You're a really talented writer, and people have to be crazy not to acknowledge that. Seriously. I have no words. I loved how you incorporated timelines along with how the stars connect to society as a whole. Not only did you manage to effectively convey your viewpoints, but you also brilliantly allowed others to take a moment to experience what stargazing is like in your shoes. I absolutely adore how you managed to illustrate stargazing as a delicate, yet meaningful pastime. I hope you take a lot of pride in this--I've read through it over and over again because it's incredible.

The fact that I've come to like you should come as no surprise at all. You are an exceptional person. I've never met someone as considerate and patient as you. You're willing to listen and take the time to reply to my lengthy responses, which really seems like a burden at times. It's just so effortless for me to confide in you because we have an insane amount of parallels. And the fact that you've experienced nearly everything I've gone through makes your replies feel that much more comforting. I'm being 100 percent honest when I say that your responses are one of the few things I look forward to in the week. Remember that test result I had an outburst on last week? I never would have been able to blurt that out in front of my family or real life friends. I understand that I shouldn't be putting too much of my focus on grades, but I just don't want to end up regretting anything or getting the worst case scenario just because I wasn't proactive enough about my academics. Your words were very flattering, so I'll return the gesture. I have an immeasurable amount of words that I wish I could pour out in order to express how extraordinary you are. You have an awesome sense of humor and I love how you're so open and honest about everything. Also, I've said this before, but I'll say it again: You are a very talented writer. You most certainly are a special person to me, and I admire every aspect I've seen of you so far. It even feels humbling that we see so many things eye to eye.

Holy crap. I think I have to pull the plug on the Fate series for now because of school. I've managed to watch a bit of the second season of F/Z if that gives you an idea of how far I've gotten. The first season gave off a lot of Dragonball vibes so I'm glad that the second season managed to fit in a lot more character insight. I'll give what I've watched so far an 8/10 so I'll be waiting to finish the series before I give my final judgment. The music is also pretty good, I'll give you that much. Right now, I'm just crossing my fingers that the series doesn't end up like Mirai Nikki because its ending dropped it from a potential 8/10 to a 6/10 for me. The OVA made up for some of it, but it still doesn't change the fact that the conclusion was still rubbish. Thanks for the heads up though! I'll be sure to refer to this once I pick the Fate series back up again. I'm not sure if I'll be able to watch it over the weekends because the teachers seem to be going on an unusually large homework assigning spree lately, but I hope I can catch up before the new season begins.

Haha, it really is easier to express gratitude over the internet because I don't think I'd be able to say all of this in person either--it'd probably create a really awkward atmosphere. Welp, I guess this solves that mystery, lol.

Wait, these paragraphs were supposed to be organized?

hehe, oops.

I'm just replying to them in the order that they're written, haha.

My parents would never let me participate in Club Nintendo because they think processes like these are sketchy, lol. Heck, they didn't even let me activate my PayPal account until my sister managed to persuade them that it was a safe site. I'm just glad that the coins won't go to waste, though it's a shame that I can't find my HeartGold code. Would you mind telling me what you plan on using the coins for?

Haha, I never mentioned it but I actually did take the SAT a couple of days ago. Our school prefers the ACT over the SAT but that's all about to change next year. Normally, I'd be laughing at my sophomore friends about this but the new SAT takes out both the vocab and essay (the worst sections in my opinion) sooo............................

I have no idea why these middle schoolers even agree to this because most of them seem content about taking these classes (pride? bragging rights?). However, this only pertains to the math APs like calc and stats. I haven't seen any middle schoolers attempting any of the science APs yet. The only way they're able to take these classes is if they test out of a class or if they get a summer school credit. There's this one kid in AP stats right now who's probably going to finish all of his math APs before he graduates from middle school. I don't think our district is that insane because if you provide the credits, they'll let you get a waiver--which I think is pretty straightforward. I've done it before for a few classes, so I'm not complaining. But it is really demeaning having to sit in a calc class with two middle school students. Thank goodness my parents haven't found out about these middle schoolers yet or they'd start hammering me.

Haha, don't worry about writing too much. I really do enjoy reading and replying to your responses.

But on a more related note, has anyone here heard of Undertale? There's a demo of it out and I got hit pretty hard in the feels.

It's like a strange mixture of Touhou, Cavestory, Pokemon, and Homestuck. It takes only about 30 minutes to play the demo so I highly recommend it if you have the time. The premise has a lot of potential.

It was originally a kickstarter (finished a while ago), but here's the link if anyone's interested: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1002143342/undertale

Akazora · January 31, 2015

I'm planning to get Smash once I earn enough money during college. I don't know how long that's going to take because I'd also have to starve myself in the process, haha. Probably a few years from now? I know I've also said that I had a bit of money left over from YouTube on my PayPal, but I've grown very sentimental towards everything I've managed to earn from there so it's likely that the money is going to remain untouched. Plus, it's my only proof to my parents that what I did on there wasn't a complete waste of time. I'm also waiting on gen 4 remakes because Platinum was my favorite Pokemon game. It'll be a while before that happens but hopefully I'll be able to own both Smash and the gen 4 remake once I get enough money. I'll be thinking about getting the 3DS XL if I'm not going to run into monetary issues along the way just for the amiibos, heh. League must be some sort of Asian fad because a lot of my guy friends play it 24/7. StarCraft seems to be popular among the Koreans but League seems universal for most of the Asian guys at our school, lol. No one here really talks about the Nintendo games anymore but I think I have a few friends who may or may not be playing them in secrecy.

I feel like solo runs don't allow you to get the full experience of the game though. If anything, I'll probably do one on a game I've already played so that I don't miss or rush through anything. Haha, I'll break out of my shell eventually. I usually don't care too much about Pokemon IVs just because it's all a game of luck. I'm normally okay with them as long as most of them are in the double digits. Plus, breeding for IVs can get pretty wearisome, so I'd rather enjoy the game for what it is. Sometimes I'd wish I never discover natures because they make me particularly finicky with the Pokemon I catch. I didn't catch any of the legendaries in my HeartGold for this reason (along with the fact that I risk getting crappy IVs). I was a bit more ignorant with Platinum and just caught everything I happened to run into (which is how I ended up with a Sassy Garchomp). Still, I think you should be happy that the Dialga you managed to catch was Adamant. Even though its IVs aren't that great, it's probably something you can work around. Geezus, a level 90 Beautifly? Dang, haha, how far have you gotten in the game so far? Good luck to you with that shiny Torchic! Kyogre is one of my favorite Pokemon, but its shiny is a bit strange in my opinion. I would have preferred if it was black or maybe a lighter shade of blue. The whole concept of a pink whale is just really foreign to me, lol.

I don't think the geyser that we saw was near Old Faithful since it took a while for us to walk back there, but it was definitely in that vicinity. My sister and I would huddle around the big basins when it got cold because they felt like saunas in contrast to the cold climate, ahaha, it was wonderful and really soothing. The only thing that bothered me was the smell of basins with hefty sulfur deposits--which brought back bad memories from AP Chem. Despite this, the vibrant basins were still my absolute favorite part of Yellowstone, so I'm glad that I've found someone who also relates (my parents and sister were getting sick of seeing them, haha). The stars were already drowned out by the time my dad picked me up from school late at night so my only opportunity to go stargazing was on the bus. I just happened to gaze out the window while waiting for F/Z to buffer when I noticed how prevalent the stars were outside. Gosh, they were so breathtaking. You could only see them on the right side of the bus though, so it was really fortunate that I happened to be sitting there. Also, your essay is magnificent. You're a really talented writer, and people have to be crazy not to acknowledge that. Seriously. I have no words. I loved how you incorporated timelines along with how the stars connect to society as a whole. Not only did you manage to effectively convey your viewpoints, but you also brilliantly allowed others to take a moment to experience what stargazing is like in your shoes. I absolutely adore how you managed to illustrate stargazing as a delicate, yet meaningful pastime. I hope you take a lot of pride in this--I've read through it over and over again because it's incredible.

The fact that I've come to like you should come as no surprise at all. You are an exceptional person. I've never met someone as considerate and patient as you. You're willing to listen and take the time to reply to my lengthy responses, which really seems like a burden at times. It's just so effortless for me to confide in you because we have an insane amount of parallels. And the fact that you've experienced nearly everything I've gone through makes your replies feel that much more comforting. I'm being 100 percent honest when I say that your responses are one of the few things I look forward to in the week. Remember that test result I had an outburst on last week? I never would have been able to blurt that out in front of my family or real life friends. I understand that I shouldn't be putting too much of my focus on grades, but I just don't want to end up regretting anything or getting the worst case scenario just because I wasn't proactive enough about my academics. Your words were very flattering, so I'll return the gesture. I have an immeasurable amount of words that I wish I could pour out in order to express how extraordinary you are. You have an awesome sense of humor and I love how you're so open and honest about everything. Also, I've said this before, but I'll say it again: You are a very talented writer. You most certainly are a special person to me, and I admire every aspect I've seen of you so far. It even feels humbling that we see so many things eye to eye.

Holy crap. I think I have to pull the plug on the Fate series for now because of school. I've managed to watch a bit of the second season of F/Z if that gives you an idea of how far I've gotten. The first season gave off a lot of Dragonball vibes so I'm glad that the second season managed to fit in a lot more character insight. I'll give what I've watched so far an 8/10 so I'll be waiting to finish the series before I give my final judgment. The music is also pretty good, I'll give you that much. Right now, I'm just crossing my fingers that the series doesn't end up like Mirai Nikki because its ending dropped it from a potential 8/10 to a 6/10 for me. The OVA made up for some of it, but it still doesn't change the fact that the conclusion was still rubbish. Thanks for the heads up though! I'll be sure to refer to this once I pick the Fate series back up again. I'm not sure if I'll be able to watch it over the weekends because the teachers seem to be going on an unusually large homework assigning spree lately, but I hope I can catch up before the new season begins.

Haha, it really is easier to express gratitude over the internet because I don't think I'd be able to say all of this in person either--it'd probably create a really awkward atmosphere. Welp, I guess this solves that mystery, lol.

Wait, these paragraphs were supposed to be organized?

hehe, oops.

I'm just replying to them in the order that they're written, haha.

My parents would never let me participate in Club Nintendo because they think processes like these are sketchy, lol. Heck, they didn't even let me activate my PayPal account until my sister managed to persuade them that it was a safe site. I'm just glad that the coins won't go to waste, though it's a shame that I can't find my HeartGold code. Would you mind telling me what you plan on using the coins for?

Haha, I never mentioned it but I actually did take the SAT a couple of days ago. Our school prefers the ACT over the SAT but that's all about to change next year. Normally, I'd be laughing at my sophomore friends about this but the new SAT takes out both the vocab and essay (the worst sections in my opinion) sooo............................

I have no idea why these middle schoolers even agree to this because most of them seem content about taking these classes (pride? bragging rights?). However, this only pertains to the math APs like calc and stats. I haven't seen any middle schoolers attempting any of the science APs yet. The only way they're able to take these classes is if they test out of a class or if they get a summer school credit. There's this one kid in AP stats right now who's probably going to finish all of his math APs before he graduates from middle school. I don't think our district is that insane because if you provide the credits, they'll let you get a waiver--which I think is pretty straightforward. I've done it before for a few classes, so I'm not complaining. But it is really demeaning having to sit in a calc class with two middle school students. Thank goodness my parents haven't found out about these middle schoolers yet or they'd start hammering me.

Haha, don't worry about writing too much. I really do enjoy reading and replying to your responses.

But on a more related note, has anyone here heard of Undertale? There's a demo of it out and I got hit pretty hard in the feels.

It's like a strange mixture of Touhou, Cavestory, Pokemon, and Homestuck. It takes only about 30 minutes to play the demo so I highly recommend it if you have the time. The premise has a lot of potential.

It was originally a kickstarter (finished a while ago), but here's the link if anyone's interested: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1002143342/undertale

Hm, that actually seems like a long time to wait for Smash 4. Maybe you could try to get a small part time job when you’re a senior, after college applications are finished. Depending on the work, it may not take too long to buy what you want. Well actually, I don’t even have a job myself, so I’m not too sure how easy it is to balance with school work, but I know some of my friends who are handling it rather well. That’s really awesome you managed to earn a bit of money from YouTube. I’ve never really done anything on there but lurk around watching videos, so I don’t really know how the whole system works, but it must be impressive. It’s really too bad your channel is gone now, since I’d have liked to watch your videos. Also, I’ve been thinking, you’re going to need that Mewtwo DLC right? I’ve already registered both versions of the game (got a Club Nintendo code for the 3DS version from a friend who happened to have a spare), so I’ll be e-mailed two codes when the DLC is released, one for the Wii U and one for the 3DS. The DLC will most likely be available for purchase for those who only have one version, and it probably won’t be very expensive, but it would be a shame if you had to pay extra for Mewtwo. How about I give you one of the DLC codes to use for when you get Smash 4? Actually, no, I insist that you have the code. I have a feeling you’d reject my offer if I didn’t force it upon you, haha. My friend isn’t very interested in the Mewtwo DLC and already gave me permission to use the code in any way I want, so don’t feel bad about taking it. Also, I think you mean the New 3DS XL. Yeah, the “New” is actually part of the title and can’t be confused with the regular 3DS XL. Most people agree it’s a stupid and confusing name for a completely upgraded console, haha. If you want amiibo compatibility with your Smash 4, you’re going to need to chalk up your money for the New 3DS XL. I guess worst comes to worst you could settle for a 2DS, which run for really cheap. Gen 4 remakes probably won’t be for a while. I’m guessing they’ll be on the next gen handheld, the 4DS or the Game Boy 2020 or whatever crazy thing it ends up being called. I really look forward to when they come out though since I’ve had the most nostalgia with Pearl myself. The town I live in actually has a lot of Asians, but none of them are really into video games anymore, or even anime and manga for that matter. Maybe they’re just afraid people will judge them or something? They all stick to relatively mainstream forms of entertainment when it comes to music and movies and television shows. Also, there aren’t that many tumblrers at my school, so maybe that’s why.

Solo runs are honestly best suited for games you’re comfortable with and have played through at least once. Well, I say that even though my HeartGold solo run was my only run. I guess as long as you don’t make a solo run a speed run or solo run a game with Pokemon you’ve never experienced before, it should be fine. Soloing a game just makes things faster, so you don’t have to think very hard, especially if your goal is to reach or achieve something post game and you don’t want to bother with everything in between. I also try not to care too much about IVs, but sometimes I can’t help myself and check them anyway and feel down because they’re are less than stellar, haha. Knowing about natures is kind of annoying at times, but I guess it’s unavoidable given how invested I’ve gotten in Pokemon. My Beautifly is now level 100 and I’ve beaten the Elite Four. I only used two Hyper Potions the entire time, which is pretty good I guess. It was actually level 97 when I was at the Elite Four’s doorsteps, so I grinded in Victory Road to cap it out. I can finally try and track down a good natured Cresselia for my Battle Tower run once I get myself the National Pokedex. I’ve also started EV training my Torchic in preparation for its solo/speed run for the shiny Kyogre. Haha, I guess you’re pretty happy that shiny Primal Kyogre is black, since its pink coloration in standard form didn’t quite appeal to you.

When you say the stars were already drowned out, do you mean by the clouds or by light pollution? Also, I couldn’t help but notice, did you sit by yourself on the bus? If so, I find that that usually ends up being the case with me as well, haha. Even so, sometimes it’s better that way; after a long day of whatever activity I’m coming back from some alone time is exactly what I need. Oh, though didn’t you also say that you usually get car sick? If that was the case, how did you manage to watch F/Z on the bus? Regardless, I’m glad you managed to enjoy the stars, even from there. It’s hard to find people who appreciate these things, especially those around my age, haha. And thank you for the compliments, I really appreciate it! Mhm, I definitely am proud of my essay, since it turned out even better than I had hoped. I hit writer’s block at the very beginning, when I was trying to figure out how to start the essay, and at the very end, when I was trying to conclude it. I don’t think anyone has had as strong a reaction to my essay has you. I’ve had a few people critique it and couple who wanted to read it for fun, but the most I got was “this is pretty good, I guess”. Maybe it’s because you can relate to the topic more. Either way, I’m really happy you liked it. In a strange way, it puts my mind at ease, haha.

Oh geez, I didn’t expect you to respond back like this. Not that I’m upset or anything (your words made me feel really happy); I just didn’t really expect you to “return the gesture” since what I said was in response to your previous post of gratitude in the first place. Your words are far too sweet for me, really. If anything, I’m the one feeling humbled that I’ve been blessed to meet someone as amazing as you. The thing is, your replies are also some of the few things I look forward to each week as well. You’ve already expressed your thanks, so now I feel like it’s about time I expressed mine. There are times when I’m not always in the best of moods, though I guess it can be kind of hard to tell, and reading what you’ve written really lifts my spirits. When we first started conversing, I was riding some rough waves, and believe it or not responding to your posts gave me a sense of comfort. You may not think you’re doing much, but it really is appreciated. Your lengthy posts are never a burden, honest. If anything, I’m the one who’s been writing more and more each exchange. Before we actually stayed on topic, for the most part, but now this has turned into a public PM, heheh. I don’t really know how to put it into words, but it’s no bother at all responding to what you write, whatever it’s about. You say I’m a talented writer, but ironically I can’t really explain it. Maybe it’s because I like you so much. Also, I don’t know if Kirsch even stops by here to read all that we’ve written. Part of me thinks she does, but given the subject of some of our discussions I’d have expected a strong reaction somewhere, haha.

I’m glad you like F/Z so far! I think the hardest part for some people is getting past the beginning. The dialogue can be a bit dense and the pacing can be on the slow side, especially for a battle royale. Don’t worry about taking your time with the series either. Focus on your work and squeeze in some time for Fate when you can manage it. Do let me know of your progress every once in a while though. By the way, do you have an MAL account? I was thinking of friending you on there.

As for what I’ll be using my coins for, I don’t really know yet. There are two facets to Club Nintendo’s rewards system. If you’re an Elite Member (300+ coins), you’re given the choice of a handful of free games to download on either a registered Wii U or 3DS. Gold Members (300-599 coins) are given the option of mainly older, ported games while Platinum Members (600+) are given the choice of everything Gold Members have as well as some new games, like indie titles or Nintendo games on the cheap side. This part of the rewards is what post people strive for, as actually redeeming your coins for prizes is apparently underwhelming. Most of what they offer aren’t really that great or worth the trouble: https://club.nintendo.com/rewards.do However, they’re going to add “dozens” of stuff come February, which is tomorrow! Hopefully, given that the system is shutting down this year, they pull out all the stops and have some really cool stuff. I already have an overwhelming 1820 coins, and if I’m counting right I’ll reach over 2000 when all my post play surveys come in. You helped me get as far as I did, so thank you so much!

At my school, SATs reign supreme. Junior year is pretty much defined by that test. When your score comes out, let me know how you did! Or I guess if you don’t want to you don’t have to, haha. For me, the critical reading section was the hardest. I could do really well on the writing section even if I didn’t practice much and I held my own on the math portion despite my tendencies for stupid mistakes. But the critical reading section always crippled my score. It’s weird though, because on the PSATs it was the opposite: I got a perfect critical reading score and an embarrassing writing score. Ah well, I never did like standardized tests that much.

Maybe it’s my own district that’s too strict? They almost never accept credits to skip certain classes or anything, so everyone in every class is no more than one year apart. I guess there are pros and cons both ways. If you’re given a lot of credit freedom, then you’ll be mentally stimulated by taking the classes that truly challenge you, though the pressure from being in the same class as a significantly younger student can be daunting. If you’re given almost no opportunity to jump ahead, you won’t be pressured by younger kids and you’ll be in the same classes as those who are going through similar life situations as you though you may not be taking classes that truly challenge you. The key is probably to strike a balance between the two extremes, but I can imagine that would be difficult, too.

I just played through the UnderTale demo, and I have to say I was rather impressed. It has a really charming atmosphere and I’d like to play the full version someday. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!

Kenzi · February 5, 2015

Hm, that actually seems like a long time to wait for Smash 4. Maybe you could try to get a small part time job when you’re a senior, after college applications are finished. Depending on the work, it may not take too long to buy what you want. Well actually, I don’t even have a job myself, so I’m not too sure how easy it is to balance with school work, but I know some of my friends who are handling it rather well. That’s really awesome you managed to earn a bit of money from YouTube. I’ve never really done anything on there but lurk around watching videos, so I don’t really know how the whole system works, but it must be impressive. It’s really too bad your channel is gone now, since I’d have liked to watch your videos. Also, I’ve been thinking, you’re going to need that Mewtwo DLC right? I’ve already registered both versions of the game (got a Club Nintendo code for the 3DS version from a friend who happened to have a spare), so I’ll be e-mailed two codes when the DLC is released, one for the Wii U and one for the 3DS. The DLC will most likely be available for purchase for those who only have one version, and it probably won’t be very expensive, but it would be a shame if you had to pay extra for Mewtwo. How about I give you one of the DLC codes to use for when you get Smash 4? Actually, no, I insist that you have the code. I have a feeling you’d reject my offer if I didn’t force it upon you, haha. My friend isn’t very interested in the Mewtwo DLC and already gave me permission to use the code in any way I want, so don’t feel bad about taking it. Also, I think you mean the New 3DS XL. Yeah, the “New” is actually part of the title and can’t be confused with the regular 3DS XL. Most people agree it’s a stupid and confusing name for a completely upgraded console, haha. If you want amiibo compatibility with your Smash 4, you’re going to need to chalk up your money for the New 3DS XL. I guess worst comes to worst you could settle for a 2DS, which run for really cheap. Gen 4 remakes probably won’t be for a while. I’m guessing they’ll be on the next gen handheld, the 4DS or the Game Boy 2020 or whatever crazy thing it ends up being called. I really look forward to when they come out though since I’ve had the most nostalgia with Pearl myself. The town I live in actually has a lot of Asians, but none of them are really into video games anymore, or even anime and manga for that matter. Maybe they’re just afraid people will judge them or something? They all stick to relatively mainstream forms of entertainment when it comes to music and movies and television shows. Also, there aren’t that many tumblrers at my school, so maybe that’s why.

Solo runs are honestly best suited for games you’re comfortable with and have played through at least once. Well, I say that even though my HeartGold solo run was my only run. I guess as long as you don’t make a solo run a speed run or solo run a game with Pokemon you’ve never experienced before, it should be fine. Soloing a game just makes things faster, so you don’t have to think very hard, especially if your goal is to reach or achieve something post game and you don’t want to bother with everything in between. I also try not to care too much about IVs, but sometimes I can’t help myself and check them anyway and feel down because they’re are less than stellar, haha. Knowing about natures is kind of annoying at times, but I guess it’s unavoidable given how invested I’ve gotten in Pokemon. My Beautifly is now level 100 and I’ve beaten the Elite Four. I only used two Hyper Potions the entire time, which is pretty good I guess. It was actually level 97 when I was at the Elite Four’s doorsteps, so I grinded in Victory Road to cap it out. I can finally try and track down a good natured Cresselia for my Battle Tower run once I get myself the National Pokedex. I’ve also started EV training my Torchic in preparation for its solo/speed run for the shiny Kyogre. Haha, I guess you’re pretty happy that shiny Primal Kyogre is black, since its pink coloration in standard form didn’t quite appeal to you.

When you say the stars were already drowned out, do you mean by the clouds or by light pollution? Also, I couldn’t help but notice, did you sit by yourself on the bus? If so, I find that that usually ends up being the case with me as well, haha. Even so, sometimes it’s better that way; after a long day of whatever activity I’m coming back from some alone time is exactly what I need. Oh, though didn’t you also say that you usually get car sick? If that was the case, how did you manage to watch F/Z on the bus? Regardless, I’m glad you managed to enjoy the stars, even from there. It’s hard to find people who appreciate these things, especially those around my age, haha. And thank you for the compliments, I really appreciate it! Mhm, I definitely am proud of my essay, since it turned out even better than I had hoped. I hit writer’s block at the very beginning, when I was trying to figure out how to start the essay, and at the very end, when I was trying to conclude it. I don’t think anyone has had as strong a reaction to my essay has you. I’ve had a few people critique it and couple who wanted to read it for fun, but the most I got was “this is pretty good, I guess”. Maybe it’s because you can relate to the topic more. Either way, I’m really happy you liked it. In a strange way, it puts my mind at ease, haha.

Oh geez, I didn’t expect you to respond back like this. Not that I’m upset or anything (your words made me feel really happy); I just didn’t really expect you to “return the gesture” since what I said was in response to your previous post of gratitude in the first place. Your words are far too sweet for me, really. If anything, I’m the one feeling humbled that I’ve been blessed to meet someone as amazing as you. The thing is, your replies are also some of the few things I look forward to each week as well. You’ve already expressed your thanks, so now I feel like it’s about time I expressed mine. There are times when I’m not always in the best of moods, though I guess it can be kind of hard to tell, and reading what you’ve written really lifts my spirits. When we first started conversing, I was riding some rough waves, and believe it or not responding to your posts gave me a sense of comfort. You may not think you’re doing much, but it really is appreciated. Your lengthy posts are never a burden, honest. If anything, I’m the one who’s been writing more and more each exchange. Before we actually stayed on topic, for the most part, but now this has turned into a public PM, heheh. I don’t really know how to put it into words, but it’s no bother at all responding to what you write, whatever it’s about. You say I’m a talented writer, but ironically I can’t really explain it. Maybe it’s because I like you so much. Also, I don’t know if Kirsch even stops by here to read all that we’ve written. Part of me thinks she does, but given the subject of some of our discussions I’d have expected a strong reaction somewhere, haha.

I’m glad you like F/Z so far! I think the hardest part for some people is getting past the beginning. The dialogue can be a bit dense and the pacing can be on the slow side, especially for a battle royale. Don’t worry about taking your time with the series either. Focus on your work and squeeze in some time for Fate when you can manage it. Do let me know of your progress every once in a while though. By the way, do you have an MAL account? I was thinking of friending you on there.

As for what I’ll be using my coins for, I don’t really know yet. There are two facets to Club Nintendo’s rewards system. If you’re an Elite Member (300+ coins), you’re given the choice of a handful of free games to download on either a registered Wii U or 3DS. Gold Members (300-599 coins) are given the option of mainly older, ported games while Platinum Members (600+) are given the choice of everything Gold Members have as well as some new games, like indie titles or Nintendo games on the cheap side. This part of the rewards is what post people strive for, as actually redeeming your coins for prizes is apparently underwhelming. Most of what they offer aren’t really that great or worth the trouble: https://club.nintendo.com/rewards.do However, they’re going to add “dozens” of stuff come February, which is tomorrow! Hopefully, given that the system is shutting down this year, they pull out all the stops and have some really cool stuff. I already have an overwhelming 1820 coins, and if I’m counting right I’ll reach over 2000 when all my post play surveys come in. You helped me get as far as I did, so thank you so much!

At my school, SATs reign supreme. Junior year is pretty much defined by that test. When your score comes out, let me know how you did! Or I guess if you don’t want to you don’t have to, haha. For me, the critical reading section was the hardest. I could do really well on the writing section even if I didn’t practice much and I held my own on the math portion despite my tendencies for stupid mistakes. But the critical reading section always crippled my score. It’s weird though, because on the PSATs it was the opposite: I got a perfect critical reading score and an embarrassing writing score. Ah well, I never did like standardized tests that much.

Maybe it’s my own district that’s too strict? They almost never accept credits to skip certain classes or anything, so everyone in every class is no more than one year apart. I guess there are pros and cons both ways. If you’re given a lot of credit freedom, then you’ll be mentally stimulated by taking the classes that truly challenge you, though the pressure from being in the same class as a significantly younger student can be daunting. If you’re given almost no opportunity to jump ahead, you won’t be pressured by younger kids and you’ll be in the same classes as those who are going through similar life situations as you though you may not be taking classes that truly challenge you. The key is probably to strike a balance between the two extremes, but I can imagine that would be difficult, too.

I just played through the UnderTale demo, and I have to say I was rather impressed. It has a really charming atmosphere and I’d like to play the full version someday. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!

I was actually thinking about getting a job for a while now, but I'm not sure when or where I want to go. I'll probably have more time to think about it after I get college apps over with, so I'll be sure to keep that in mind. I'm still a little salty that my YouTube channel got shut down after getting hacked. I had a lot of history on there and now it really does feel like everything went to waste. I had it since middle school and built it up to a cozy 2k before it got hacked during the summer after sophomore year. The videos I had on there were mainly speed-arts and random tutorials, and most of the money I made was from ad revenue and from people who were willing to pay me to make them graphics. I'm being serious when I say that I've made over a thousand graphics. I still have every single one stored on my laptop (which was the only way I could keep track of the number, so I can prove it to you, lol). It's a pretty overwhelming number, and I, myself was shocked after seeing how many I've made. I guess I wouldn't have been able to maintain the channel this year because of the workload from school, so maybe having it shut down wasn't too bad after all? ehhhhh. But I did learn and gain a lot from this experience so I guess this would be a good time to insert in this quote, "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." I should consider myself lucky for being fortunate enough to experience something like this, haha. Ohmygosh, I didn't even realize how off topic this has gotten from what I was originally going to type. I apologize for my rambling. I just really wanted to let off some steam. Haha, I don't want to get ahead of myself since I'm not even close to getting a 3DS right now, much less Smash. I appreciate your offer though! Wait, so the name is "New 3DS XL"? Wowowowow, Nintendo, wat r u doin. The amount of money I need to generate for the "New" 3DS XL does seem a bit overwhelming...gah, decisions, decisions. 2DS or amiibo compatibility? Actually, I think I should get a job before I begin deciding between these things, lol. Ah geez. If gen 4 remakes are going to end up on a different console, I don't think I'll end up getting either the 2DS or the New 3DS XL. It seems like unnecessary effort to buy two handhelds for two games. But for all I know, the gen 4 remakes could end up on the 2DS or 3DS, so only time will tell, I suppose. Haha, the school I go to is flooded with Asians (or maybe it's because we all take similar classes). None of them will openly admit to watching anime or playing video games either. Most of them just sparingly post Facebook statuses on their progress in League. I only know a few tumblr-ers at our school, but even they choose to keep their real lives and internet lives separate--which I guess is understandable since I also do the same.

I'm just a little uncomfortable with the idea of a solo run. I can see why it can be enjoyable and convenient, but I'd much rather go through a game with a full team. I can't really explain it. Maybe it feels less lonely? The mechanics do take away from the enjoyment of the games at times, but it can't be helped. At least it's satisfying knowing that the Jolly Gyarados I raised a while ago was a good investment. Danggg, level 100 now? I'll assume that the Elite Four was a breeze for you then, lol. Haha, you really are ambitious. I probably would have stopped after beating the Elite Four because it's a pain to soft-reset for natures. I still think that Pokemon Showdown is a lot more convenient when it comes to these competitive stuffs (especially with the incorporation of megas), so I'd love to verse you one day considering that you're really knowledgeable with the game mechanics. Seeing a black Kyogre was very, very satisfying. It kinda sucks that Primal Groudon outclasses Primal Kyogre though (I have a bias for Kyogre, heh).

The bus ride was a few hours long and we were on the highway most of the time so the stars were drowned out by light pollution when we got back. I wanted a bit of alone time and I didn't want my friends peering over my shoulder while I was watching F/Z, lol. How did you guess that I was sitting by myself? I'm not too sure how you managed to deduce that from what I wrote. Hrmm, a very observant person you are indeed, haha. We rode one of those really nice charter buses (thank goodness) so I was able to dedicate some time to watching the show. If it was one of those standard yellow school buses, I probably wouldn't have even considered bingeing on F/Z in there. I have a few friends who enjoy stargazing, so I wouldn't say that it's terribly uncommon amongst people around our age. I don't have much talent in creative writing since my forte is writing essays that analyze stuff or voice my opinion. I don't get to see creative writing too often, so I was really taken aback by your abilities to illustrate stargazing in such an elegant manner. I'm a bit shocked by the lack of reaction the people you asked had towards your essay because it really was well-written.

No, no, you deserved every compliment I gave you. I'm just so happy that there's someone out there who can empathize with me. I look forward to reading your responses every week because it's just so nice knowing that someone out there sincerely enjoys reading and replying to my posts. When I'm having a bad day, I feel loads happier after reading your responses. When I'm having a good day, I still feel loads happier after reading your responses. It's such a wonderful source of comfort for me. Whether or not I'm having a good day, I'll always look forward to your replies, and I'll always appreciate every ounce of effort you put into them. I hope this doesn't seem too out of place because I'm not kidding when I say that I haven't met a single guy willing to take the time to reply with such detail, ahaha. Gosh, I guess I must be really fortunate to have met you because right now, I think it's safe to say that you're not only my best friend on DCW, but I also consider you as one of my best friends in general as well. I actually don't mind that this seems like a public PM. It saves me from having to worry about deleting these when my inbox is full, especially with how much time we put into them these days. You don't need to explain how you're a talented writer--though I'm not sure how your following sentence correlates--just know that I will always see you as one, because I also like you a lot, haha. I guess this is a good example of how awkward it can be for me to express gratitude. I can't imagine how embarrassed I would be if I told you something like this in real life, ehehe. Kirsch definitely would have mentioned something by now if she was still following our conversation. If anything, she probably only skims through it and happened to skip over these portions of our responses as a result. Given how much we tend to write nowadays, I wouldn't be surprised if she even forgot about or gave up on this thread entirely, lol.

I recently had some snow days (as you could tell, haha), so I was finally able to finish season 2 (thank you based snow gods)! I'll let F/Z sit at a solid 8/10. I really enjoyed seeing the character insight on Kiritsugu. Actually, that's an understatement. I absolutely loved seeing the depth of his character and conflicts. The incorporation of history was also a nice touch, but something about the show was...missing. I can't put my finger on it, but the ending wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped because essentially, it felt like nothing was accomplished--kind of like the ending of SnK. I would have enjoyed seeing more background on Iris as well as how/why the servants came to be, along with a few more things I can't seem to think of at the moment. The last episode was comprised of mainly summary rather than "showing," which was also a bit of a turn-off for me. Oh, and the deaths and development of some of the characters were somewhat underwhelming (Kariya and Ryuunosuke being especially guilty of this). There were still a few more holes that I felt should have been patched up, but then again, this is a prequel for F/SN, so maybe I'll adjust my rating after finishing the entire series. I didn't mind the dense dialogue at all. Steins;Gate is also slow with the development at the beginning, so the pacing wasn't something I haven't encountered before. Also, this is really weird because I made a MAL account just a few hours before you posted this (1kenzi). I only made it so I could keep track of the shows that I've watched, so the list is a bit incomplete. Hrmm, now that I think about it, I really haven't watched much anime compared to some of the other people on MAL. 600+ anime? Holy geezus.

Dang, not bad! I was aware that Club Nintendo existed, but I never really acknowledged it until recently. Oh, and congrats on the Majora's Mask Messenger Bag! I think it's a bit weird that they suddenly decided to shut down the rewards system because I don't see how the continuation of Club Nintendo would cause them to lose money or even run them into any general issues. Haha, no need to thank me. I didn't have much use for the coins, so I'm just glad you're able to put them to good use! Wow! Over 2000 coins? Dang, man. You'll be able reap in some good stuff for sure with that number!

I didn't prepare for the SAT as well as I originally had planned, so I don't think I did too well on it, haha (*cough* critical reading *cough*). I usually breeze through the math and writing sections of the SAT, but ohmygosh the critical reading. My attention span just drops to unbelievable levels. I don't think I need to explain because it's pretty self-explanatory. The essay section is a hit or miss for me because it really depends on the topic at hand. The ACT is the required test for us to take so I'd much rather invest my time studying for that. Plus, ACT essays are much easier to deal with because the prompt is formatted so that it usually asks for an opinion, or some form of persuasion or dissuasion, which I love writing, haha.

Your district doesn't accept credits to skip classes? Geez, that sounds awful. If our district followed that same decree, I'd have to take classes like gym and government/civics during the school year. In other words, I'd have no room for classes that I actually want to take. I agree that a balance would be nice, but if I had to choose between the two, I'd much rather keep our current system--even if that means sitting in a classroom with two middle school students--because at least my friends know that we're all in the same boat, haha.

I'm glad that you enjoyed the demo! I really want this game to get more exposure because of how much potential it holds.

xxelement · February 5, 2015

Suikoden

Akazora · February 8, 2015

I was actually thinking about getting a job for a while now, but I'm not sure when or where I want to go. I'll probably have more time to think about it after I get college apps over with, so I'll be sure to keep that in mind. I'm still a little salty that my YouTube channel got shut down after getting hacked. I had a lot of history on there and now it really does feel like everything went to waste. I had it since middle school and built it up to a cozy 2k before it got hacked during the summer after sophomore year. The videos I had on there were mainly speed-arts and random tutorials, and most of the money I made was from ad revenue and from people who were willing to pay me to make them graphics. I'm being serious when I say that I've made over a thousand graphics. I still have every single one stored on my laptop (which was the only way I could keep track of the number, so I can prove it to you, lol). It's a pretty overwhelming number, and I, myself was shocked after seeing how many I've made. I guess I wouldn't have been able to maintain the channel this year because of the workload from school, so maybe having it shut down wasn't too bad after all? ehhhhh. But I did learn and gain a lot from this experience so I guess this would be a good time to insert in this quote, "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." I should consider myself lucky for being fortunate enough to experience something like this, haha. Ohmygosh, I didn't even realize how off topic this has gotten from what I was originally going to type. I apologize for my rambling. I just really wanted to let off some steam. Haha, I don't want to get ahead of myself since I'm not even close to getting a 3DS right now, much less Smash. I appreciate your offer though! Wait, so the name is "New 3DS XL"? Wowowowow, Nintendo, wat r u doin. The amount of money I need to generate for the "New" 3DS XL does seem a bit overwhelming...gah, decisions, decisions. 2DS or amiibo compatibility? Actually, I think I should get a job before I begin deciding between these things, lol. Ah geez. If gen 4 remakes are going to end up on a different console, I don't think I'll end up getting either the 2DS or the New 3DS XL. It seems like unnecessary effort to buy two handhelds for two games. But for all I know, the gen 4 remakes could end up on the 2DS or 3DS, so only time will tell, I suppose. Haha, the school I go to is flooded with Asians (or maybe it's because we all take similar classes). None of them will openly admit to watching anime or playing video games either. Most of them just sparingly post Facebook statuses on their progress in League. I only know a few tumblr-ers at our school, but even they choose to keep their real lives and internet lives separate--which I guess is understandable since I also do the same.

I'm just a little uncomfortable with the idea of a solo run. I can see why it can be enjoyable and convenient, but I'd much rather go through a game with a full team. I can't really explain it. Maybe it feels less lonely? The mechanics do take away from the enjoyment of the games at times, but it can't be helped. At least it's satisfying knowing that the Jolly Gyarados I raised a while ago was a good investment. Danggg, level 100 now? I'll assume that the Elite Four was a breeze for you then, lol. Haha, you really are ambitious. I probably would have stopped after beating the Elite Four because it's a pain to soft-reset for natures. I still think that Pokemon Showdown is a lot more convenient when it comes to these competitive stuffs (especially with the incorporation of megas), so I'd love to verse you one day considering that you're really knowledgeable with the game mechanics. Seeing a black Kyogre was very, very satisfying. It kinda sucks that Primal Groudon outclasses Primal Kyogre though (I have a bias for Kyogre, heh).

The bus ride was a few hours long and we were on the highway most of the time so the stars were drowned out by light pollution when we got back. I wanted a bit of alone time and I didn't want my friends peering over my shoulder while I was watching F/Z, lol. How did you guess that I was sitting by myself? I'm not too sure how you managed to deduce that from what I wrote. Hrmm, a very observant person you are indeed, haha. We rode one of those really nice charter buses (thank goodness) so I was able to dedicate some time to watching the show. If it was one of those standard yellow school buses, I probably wouldn't have even considered bingeing on F/Z in there. I have a few friends who enjoy stargazing, so I wouldn't say that it's terribly uncommon amongst people around our age. I don't have much talent in creative writing since my forte is writing essays that analyze stuff or voice my opinion. I don't get to see creative writing too often, so I was really taken aback by your abilities to illustrate stargazing in such an elegant manner. I'm a bit shocked by the lack of reaction the people you asked had towards your essay because it really was well-written.

No, no, you deserved every compliment I gave you. I'm just so happy that there's someone out there who can empathize with me. I look forward to reading your responses every week because it's just so nice knowing that someone out there sincerely enjoys reading and replying to my posts. When I'm having a bad day, I feel loads happier after reading your responses. When I'm having a good day, I still feel loads happier after reading your responses. It's such a wonderful source of comfort for me. Whether or not I'm having a good day, I'll always look forward to your replies, and I'll always appreciate every ounce of effort you put into them. I hope this doesn't seem too out of place because I'm not kidding when I say that I haven't met a single guy willing to take the time to reply with such detail, ahaha. Gosh, I guess I must be really fortunate to have met you because right now, I think it's safe to say that you're not only my best friend on DCW, but I also consider you as one of my best friends in general as well. I actually don't mind that this seems like a public PM. It saves me from having to worry about deleting these when my inbox is full, especially with how much time we put into them these days. You don't need to explain how you're a talented writer--though I'm not sure how your following sentence correlates--just know that I will always see you as one, because I also like you a lot, haha. I guess this is a good example of how awkward it can be for me to express gratitude. I can't imagine how embarrassed I would be if I told you something like this in real life, ehehe. Kirsch definitely would have mentioned something by now if she was still following our conversation. If anything, she probably only skims through it and happened to skip over these portions of our responses as a result. Given how much we tend to write nowadays, I wouldn't be surprised if she even forgot about or gave up on this thread entirely, lol.

I recently had some snow days (as you could tell, haha), so I was finally able to finish season 2 (thank you based snow gods)! I'll let F/Z sit at a solid 8/10. I really enjoyed seeing the character insight on Kiritsugu. Actually, that's an understatement. I absolutely loved seeing the depth of his character and conflicts. The incorporation of history was also a nice touch, but something about the show was...missing. I can't put my finger on it, but the ending wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped because essentially, it felt like nothing was accomplished--kind of like the ending of SnK. I would have enjoyed seeing more background on Iris as well as how/why the servants came to be, along with a few more things I can't seem to think of at the moment. The last episode was comprised of mainly summary rather than "showing," which was also a bit of a turn-off for me. Oh, and the deaths and development of some of the characters were somewhat underwhelming (Kariya and Ryuunosuke being especially guilty of this). There were still a few more holes that I felt should have been patched up, but then again, this is a prequel for F/SN, so maybe I'll adjust my rating after finishing the entire series. I didn't mind the dense dialogue at all. Steins;Gate is also slow with the development at the beginning, so the pacing wasn't something I haven't encountered before. Also, this is really weird because I made a MAL account just a few hours before you posted this (1kenzi). I only made it so I could keep track of the shows that I've watched, so the list is a bit incomplete. Hrmm, now that I think about it, I really haven't watched much anime compared to some of the other people on MAL. 600+ anime? Holy geezus.

Dang, not bad! I was aware that Club Nintendo existed, but I never really acknowledged it until recently. Oh, and congrats on the Majora's Mask Messenger Bag! I think it's a bit weird that they suddenly decided to shut down the rewards system because I don't see how the continuation of Club Nintendo would cause them to lose money or even run them into any general issues. Haha, no need to thank me. I didn't have much use for the coins, so I'm just glad you're able to put them to good use! Wow! Over 2000 coins? Dang, man. You'll be able reap in some good stuff for sure with that number!

I didn't prepare for the SAT as well as I originally had planned, so I don't think I did too well on it, haha (*cough* critical reading *cough*). I usually breeze through the math and writing sections of the SAT, but ohmygosh the critical reading. My attention span just drops to unbelievable levels. I don't think I need to explain because it's pretty self-explanatory. The essay section is a hit or miss for me because it really depends on the topic at hand. The ACT is the required test for us to take so I'd much rather invest my time studying for that. Plus, ACT essays are much easier to deal with because the prompt is formatted so that it usually asks for an opinion, or some form of persuasion or dissuasion, which I love writing, haha.

Your district doesn't accept credits to skip classes? Geez, that sounds awful. If our district followed that same decree, I'd have to take classes like gym and government/civics during the school year. In other words, I'd have no room for classes that I actually want to take. I agree that a balance would be nice, but if I had to choose between the two, I'd much rather keep our current system--even if that means sitting in a classroom with two middle school students--because at least my friends know that we're all in the same boat, haha.

I'm glad that you enjoyed the demo! I really want this game to get more exposure because of how much potential it holds.

Woah, it’s really impressive what you managed to accomplish on YouTube. Graphics, hm? I’d actually be interested in seeing some of your work. You have all of them saved you say, so would you mind sharing some of your favorites? It’s a shame you got hacked though. I wonder how things like that even end up happening. Hopefully it was just some random drive-by hacker and not someone out there with a personal vendetta against you. Yes, you probably did gain a lot from this experience. I can’t imagine making over a thousand works and coming out of the whole ordeal anything less than better. Maybe you've even found a calling for graphical design! I know it was only your hobby and from what I can imagine your parents would probably be against it, but pursuing a career as a graphic designer is an idea. I’m not too sure how realistic that is or how much money you’d earn and how much the occupation is in demand, but it definitely doesn’t hurt to consider it. After all, if you end up loving your job, regardless of how much or little money you earn, you’ll live a happy life. That’s sort of what I’m looking for. I’m not aiming for a six figure salary or anything, just enough for me to live comfortably and pursue my interests and enjoy what life has to offer. The stars are free after all. I don’t crave fancy cars or massive houses or the finest dining like some people, and I’m not one to worry too much about what others think of me. My mom always wants to look good in front of her peers, haha. She’s quite the gossiper and she’s been competitive to a fault since she was young, so we don’t see eye to eye when it comes to how to live life. Ah, if anything, I should be apologizing for straying off topic myself. I didn't really mind that you diverged from the original topic much, since I got to know more about you, haha. Even if you won’t accept the Mewtwo code offer right now and it’ll be years until you get Smash 4 3DS, I’ll still be holding onto the code for you just in case. Hopefully there’s no expiration date on it. Oh, and I hope we’re still in contact with each other that far into the future too, hah. It’s times like this I remember I don’t have a Facebook and thus don’t really know what my friends post there. Regardless though, from what I can gather from their in-school conversations and merchandise, Frozen, Marvel, and shows that can be found on Netflix and HBO are what occupy most of their time in place of anime and going to the mall to hang out and eating at places like Chipotle take the place of video games. Of course, my closest friends still share my hobbies, but we don’t exactly make up the majority of the people at our school, or even the Asians for that matter. Hm, there are a lot of Asians at our school but they've become really Americanized, at least in comparison to how they were when we were all elementary and middle schoolers.

The Elite Four definitely wasn’t all that hard. Occasionally I was just barely short of OHKOing a Pokemon, and since I’m already capped out at level 100 with 252 EVs invested in special attack, my heart sank when I realized the 0 IVs in that stat were what kept my Beautifly from truly going on a nonstop rampage. I’ve taken a bit of a break from Diamond now, since I want to keep things fresh. I’m nearly done EV training my shiny Torchic in Sapphire. I’m making it a mixed sweeper and need some special attack EVs, which can only be found later in the game. In the meantime, I’ll be using a Lombre as a substitute, which will ultimately turn into one of my HM slaves. My team is actually really solid: Blaziken will be my solo runner, Lombre and Skarmory will cover nearly all my HMs (Strength/Flash/Waterfall/Dive and Cut/Fly/Rock Smash respectively), and I’ll have three Zigzagoon that will rack in a ton of items with Pickup (one of which will learn my final HM, Surf). Regardless of the fact that shiny Kyogre is pink in Sapphire, I’m still excited to catch it. I also have a bias towards Kyore, and Palkia too for that matter. Back in elementary school, everyone I watched playing Pokemon thought Groudon and Dialga were the “cool” and “stronger” Pokemon of the pairs, so when I got my hands on Sapphire and Pearl I felt kind of bad for Kyogre and Palkia. Because of that, I’ve always favored them over the “edgier” Pokemon, haha. I’m actually not as knowledgeable on Pokemon mechanics as you might think. I’m still in a third to fourth generation mindset, and I haven’t ever used Pokemon Showdown though I am familiar with how it works and think it would be interesting to give a whirl one day.

A few hours long? That’s crazy; my band has only ever needed to drive an hour and a half tops to get to some musical venue. I’m actually curious to know where it is you live. You don’t need to tell me or anything, but you definitely live in a place much more urbanized than where I am. While the stars here can’t even compare to those found in national parks, on good days when I guess the wind is blowing and clearing up the sky they look awesome. The only perpetually bothersome light pollution is the faint glow from New York City to the northeast, but that doesn't bother me too much. I thought you were sitting by yourself because you were sitting on the right side of the bus and on standard yellow buses the right side only has two seats which, for high schoolers, pretty much only counts as one seat. Not to mention, you might have had your instrument next to you instead of on a storage bus/truck which would have taken up that seat anyway. Since you were on a charter bus though, I guess that assumption goes out the window. Still, I didn’t think you’d watch F/Z with others around, so there’s still that. Huh, I don’t have a single real life friend who likes stargazing, or at least not one that will admit it, so you should consider yourself lucky. I've always day dreamed about how it would be like actually stargazing in a real stargazing spot, and I've always pictured myself alone, heheh. It could be seen as a bit lonely, but there’s still a charm to the solitude of it all. Of course, I definitely wouldn't mind bringing a person or two along as long as they appreciated the experience. I've always been a bit more of a creative writer than an analytical one. I like all types of writing however, though if I was forced to write any essay I wanted, it would have to be something on the poetic side, haha.

I’m really glad that my lengthy posts make you so happy. It makes me feel that all my effort isn’t going to waste. I end up typing or writing too much all the time, so it’s become second nature to stick on an apology at the end. The people I find myself ranting on to usually say my rambling isn't any bother, but that’s just the polite thing to say of course. You’re the only one I know that I believe truly doesn’t mind the lengths of what I say, and even enjoys replying. I don’t feel that I’m a burden to you, and that really puts my mind at ease. Actually, I was thinking something similar but didn't say it because I was afraid I’d come off as weird: I've never met a girl, or anyone for that matter, who appreciates and enjoys replying to what I have to say. I've known some girls who have similar interests as me and who are friendly enough, but none of them ever reply as much as you have to what I type in e-mails and the like. I've written many long paragraphs to people and received a measly sentence or two as a reply. Sometimes, I just never get a response and instead am apologized to a few days, weeks, or even months later that they had somehow missed my message. I try not to take any of that personally. After all, I’m only a background (or at most supporting) character in other people’s story of a life. I’m only a main character in my immediate family’s lives, I guess, which is normal. Because of that, I can’t blame or dislike those that simply brush off what I type, especially in an age where people just exchange short, quick messages. That being said, I find it remarkable I’ve met someone like you who does reply with so much care and detail. There’s no doubt you’re one of my best friends, and I feel so lucky to have met you. I probably used up a year’s worth of luck to meet you, not that I mind or anything, haha. Well, I guess we would be embarrassed together, since I’m blushing over what I’ve typed just sitting here, oh gosh… Oh, and today’s MK1412 episode ended with Kaitou Kid saying something along the lines of “you’re the main character of your life” or something, but I swear I didn’t copy from that episode. I had this typed out beforehand and I was a bit taken aback when I got to the end of the Green Dream case.

It seems you enjoyed Fate/Zero enough, haha. The biggest complaint people have with the series is it’s “conclusion”, since a lot of things are introduced and referenced but never really fully developed. The second biggest complaint is usually the slow first half, haha. The conclusion only seems a bit convoluted and unmoving the first time through; even after watching only the first half of Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, going back and rewatching all of Fate/Zero a few times (had to do it for the anime club at my school) I find that a ton of scenes that went right over my head, especially at the end, have much more weight and gravity upon revisiting. I suggest once UBW is finished airing and you’re waiting for the “true” conclusion of F/sn that is the Heaven’s Feel movie(s), you rewatch Fate/Zero. Also, the Fate series is part of the Nasuverse, which is the fan name for all the TYPE-MOON visual novels and works that take place in the same fictional universe involving magic. Some aspects of the magical world that are only briefly touched upon in F/Z, like Dead Apostles, receive more development in other series a part of the Nasuverse. While the Fate series is the most popular, Kara no Kyoukai is a Nasuverse anime that is a movie series. Apparently it’s also really good, and while I’ve yet to see it myself I do plan on watching it eventually. If you’re interested in learning about and experiencing other aspects of the magical universe that aren't related to the Holy Grail Wars (after all, there are usually 60 years between each one and it's not like every mage in the world is waiting for that day in anticipation), Kara no Kyoukai is something you might want to consider. Have you started watching F/sn: UBW yet? Since the second still has a ways to go before airing, there’s not too much rush to finish the first season just yet. Don’t forget, UBW has a 50 minute prologue episode that’s actually a separate entry on MAL that can be found here. Be sure to put it on your list! Also, I've just sent a friend request to your MAL account. I haven’t really watched much anime either. My numbers may look pretty decent, but I’ve seen a lot of OVAs and movies that just pad up my list. As for actual full blown series, I haven’t seen too many, at least I don't think.

Nintendo is planning to introduce a new rewards program once Club Nintendo goes down for good. Given the timing of it all, I expect them to announce it at this year’s E3. Apparently, CN had a ton of problems: the rewards selection was poor and the site was always under maintenance. Hopefully, whatever new idea they come up with turns out to be good. I plan on signing up immediately and being a long running member, haha. Apart from the messenger bag, I don’t know what else to get. What do you think looks good? You can help me decide: https://club.nintendo.com/rewards.do. I had 2100 coins, but now that I've purchased the bag I’m down to 1300. Haha, maybe I could buy another bag and have it shipped to you. On an unrelated note, I had a Japanese Marth amiibo imported, and it arrived today! Apart from a mildly bent sword that a hairdryer can easily fix, his face looks surprising great! It's symmetrical and rather dashing. I don't know when I'll get the chance to use him, but I'm happy I got my hands on a rare one like him. I have Sheik and Ike pre-ordered. Ike is hopefully going to ship soon, but he's not officially released on shelves in the US yet, so I'm not too worried. Sheik has been on the selves since the first day of February, but Amazon somehow goofed up their numbers or something and now my Sheik is delayed indefinitely. There's not even a predicted shipping date, which is kind of silly for a released product. I got frustrated and decided to try my luck at hunting for her at a few stores today, but the three I went to only had the common ones. I guess it was silly of me to expect finding a somewhat rare amiibo at a time that ends in "pm". Sigh, and Lucina still isn't up for pre-order anywhere in the States yet.

Part of me wishes I had taken the ACTs as well as the SATs. I actually had no idea (and still have very little idea) how the ACT is formatted, though the essays do look to be nicer. When does your SAT score come back anyway?

Ah, you reminded how terrible I feel knowing I have gym. It really is a useless class and wastes precious time. It’s not even like I get much exercise from it. While I’m not participating in any athletics, I do occasionally jog for forty minutes on the treadmill at home, so I’m not a complete couch potato, haha. Well, I saw your post about my school on the other thread so I’ll divert it over here. That may not be the best idea given how off topic we are and how long I've already typed, but the mods don’t seem to mind, so… The band program in my school is especially cancerous. I've been ostracized from their tight-knit clique practically since the very beginning of freshman year (for a stupid silly reason that’ll take too long to explain) and while I've stuck it out up until last year and tried to make the most of it, I came to realize just how miserable that community made me so I quit senior year. I don’t regret the decision at all, and I feel all the more better that I was their lead oboist. I really don’t like to hate anything, since hate is admittedly a harsh word, but my school’s band program has put me through so much emotional turmoil and stress that I can confidently say, without a doubt, I hate it. Anyway, I’m going to stop myself before this turns into a scathing rant about my band. Your school sounds really amazing, honestly. The workload does seem to be a bit overwhelming, but you’re still so happy there which I can really feel from your words. You’re fortunate to be attending such a good school, and it almost makes me a bit envious. It would be great if I had grown up where you were and attending your high school, and not just because I would have been able to meet you in real life. Regardless, I’ll try my best to enjoy the last few months of my school. The thing is, there are two types of people at our school: those that openly curse it and the ones that think it’s not that bad. I’ve generally been one to think my school isn’t too bad, but really taking a good look at the quality of the whole system makes me want to hate it. If anything, I’ll have to graduate and be in college for a while before being able to look back and reflect on the good aspects of my high school. On the other hand, college would just make me dislike it more, haha. I really appreciate your words though, more than you think. *hugs back* On the topic of high school, I guess I’ll address the whole prom thing here, too. Gosh, this is turning into one fat paragraph. I know prom is an American tradition and that I’ll only have one high school prom in my life, but I really don’t have much motivation to go. My parents are even urging me to reconsider and ask a girl out or something, which is actually kind of funny given how they’ve dictated my life thus far. I don’t think prom is something for me, though. I’m not one for dancing, the tickets are expensive, I don’t have anyone to go with, and even if I attend with a group of friends it just wouldn’t seem… right, for lack of a better word. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised, but maybe I won’t. It might just turn into a night I’m surrounded by people happier than I am, people having more fun than I am having. I don’t want to sound like some kind of pathetic, pessimistic loner making excuses for himself, because the more I type the more I realize that’s what I sound like. Thank you for your consideration, but not all once in a lifetime chances are meant to be taken.

Sorry, I didn't mean for this to end so negatively, eheh.

Moonlit Flower · February 8, 2015

Bayonetta 2

machine · February 9, 2015

persona 3 portable

Balthazar Manfredie · February 11, 2015

hitman 3

Rye · February 11, 2015

Bump Sheep!

PeunileV74 · February 11, 2015

The newest Super smash bros for WII U for a bet with some friends. I barely won.

Kenzi · February 12, 2015

Woah, it’s really impressive what you managed to accomplish on YouTube. Graphics, hm? I’d actually be interested in seeing some of your work. You have all of them saved you say, so would you mind sharing some of your favorites? It’s a shame you got hacked though. I wonder how things like that even end up happening. Hopefully it was just some random drive-by hacker and not someone out there with a personal vendetta against you. Yes, you probably did gain a lot from this experience. I can’t imagine making over a thousand works and coming out of the whole ordeal anything less than better. Maybe you've even found a calling for graphical design! I know it was only your hobby and from what I can imagine your parents would probably be against it, but pursuing a career as a graphic designer is an idea. I’m not too sure how realistic that is or how much money you’d earn and how much the occupation is in demand, but it definitely doesn’t hurt to consider it. After all, if you end up loving your job, regardless of how much or little money you earn, you’ll live a happy life. That’s sort of what I’m looking for. I’m not aiming for a six figure salary or anything, just enough for me to live comfortably and pursue my interests and enjoy what life has to offer. The stars are free after all. I don’t crave fancy cars or massive houses or the finest dining like some people, and I’m not one to worry too much about what others think of me. My mom always wants to look good in front of her peers, haha. She’s quite the gossiper and she’s been competitive to a fault since she was young, so we don’t see eye to eye when it comes to how to live life. Ah, if anything, I should be apologizing for straying off topic myself. I didn't really mind that you diverged from the original topic much, since I got to know more about you, haha. Even if you won’t accept the Mewtwo code offer right now and it’ll be years until you get Smash 4 3DS, I’ll still be holding onto the code for you just in case. Hopefully there’s no expiration date on it. Oh, and I hope we’re still in contact with each other that far into the future too, hah. It’s times like this I remember I don’t have a Facebook and thus don’t really know what my friends post there. Regardless though, from what I can gather from their in-school conversations and merchandise, Frozen, Marvel, and shows that can be found on Netflix and HBO are what occupy most of their time in place of anime and going to the mall to hang out and eating at places like Chipotle take the place of video games. Of course, my closest friends still share my hobbies, but we don’t exactly make up the majority of the people at our school, or even the Asians for that matter. Hm, there are a lot of Asians at our school but they've become really Americanized, at least in comparison to how they were when we were all elementary and middle schoolers.

The Elite Four definitely wasn’t all that hard. Occasionally I was just barely short of OHKOing a Pokemon, and since I’m already capped out at level 100 with 252 EVs invested in special attack, my heart sank when I realized the 0 IVs in that stat were what kept my Beautifly from truly going on a nonstop rampage. I’ve taken a bit of a break from Diamond now, since I want to keep things fresh. I’m nearly done EV training my shiny Torchic in Sapphire. I’m making it a mixed sweeper and need some special attack EVs, which can only be found later in the game. In the meantime, I’ll be using a Lombre as a substitute, which will ultimately turn into one of my HM slaves. My team is actually really solid: Blaziken will be my solo runner, Lombre and Skarmory will cover nearly all my HMs (Strength/Flash/Waterfall/Dive and Cut/Fly/Rock Smash respectively), and I’ll have three Zigzagoon that will rack in a ton of items with Pickup (one of which will learn my final HM, Surf). Regardless of the fact that shiny Kyogre is pink in Sapphire, I’m still excited to catch it. I also have a bias towards Kyore, and Palkia too for that matter. Back in elementary school, everyone I watched playing Pokemon thought Groudon and Dialga were the “cool” and “stronger” Pokemon of the pairs, so when I got my hands on Sapphire and Pearl I felt kind of bad for Kyogre and Palkia. Because of that, I’ve always favored them over the “edgier” Pokemon, haha. I’m actually not as knowledgeable on Pokemon mechanics as you might think. I’m still in a third to fourth generation mindset, and I haven’t ever used Pokemon Showdown though I am familiar with how it works and think it would be interesting to give a whirl one day.

A few hours long? That’s crazy; my band has only ever needed to drive an hour and a half tops to get to some musical venue. I’m actually curious to know where it is you live. You don’t need to tell me or anything, but you definitely live in a place much more urbanized than where I am. While the stars here can’t even compare to those found in national parks, on good days when I guess the wind is blowing and clearing up the sky they look awesome. The only perpetually bothersome light pollution is the faint glow from New York City to the northeast, but that doesn't bother me too much. I thought you were sitting by yourself because you were sitting on the right side of the bus and on standard yellow buses the right side only has two seats which, for high schoolers, pretty much only counts as one seat. Not to mention, you might have had your instrument next to you instead of on a storage bus/truck which would have taken up that seat anyway. Since you were on a charter bus though, I guess that assumption goes out the window. Still, I didn’t think you’d watch F/Z with others around, so there’s still that. Huh, I don’t have a single real life friend who likes stargazing, or at least not one that will admit it, so you should consider yourself lucky. I've always day dreamed about how it would be like actually stargazing in a real stargazing spot, and I've always pictured myself alone, heheh. It could be seen as a bit lonely, but there’s still a charm to the solitude of it all. Of course, I definitely wouldn't mind bringing a person or two along as long as they appreciated the experience. I've always been a bit more of a creative writer than an analytical one. I like all types of writing however, though if I was forced to write any essay I wanted, it would have to be something on the poetic side, haha.

I’m really glad that my lengthy posts make you so happy. It makes me feel that all my effort isn’t going to waste. I end up typing or writing too much all the time, so it’s become second nature to stick on an apology at the end. The people I find myself ranting on to usually say my rambling isn't any bother, but that’s just the polite thing to say of course. You’re the only one I know that I believe truly doesn’t mind the lengths of what I say, and even enjoys replying. I don’t feel that I’m a burden to you, and that really puts my mind at ease. Actually, I was thinking something similar but didn't say it because I was afraid I’d come off as weird: I've never met a girl, or anyone for that matter, who appreciates and enjoys replying to what I have to say. I've known some girls who have similar interests as me and who are friendly enough, but none of them ever reply as much as you have to what I type in e-mails and the like. I've written many long paragraphs to people and received a measly sentence or two as a reply. Sometimes, I just never get a response and instead am apologized to a few days, weeks, or even months later that they had somehow missed my message. I try not to take any of that personally. After all, I’m only a background (or at most supporting) character in other people’s story of a life. I’m only a main character in my immediate family’s lives, I guess, which is normal. Because of that, I can’t blame or dislike those that simply brush off what I type, especially in an age where people just exchange short, quick messages. That being said, I find it remarkable I’ve met someone like you who does reply with so much care and detail. There’s no doubt you’re one of my best friends, and I feel so lucky to have met you. I probably used up a year’s worth of luck to meet you, not that I mind or anything, haha. Well, I guess we would be embarrassed together, since I’m blushing over what I’ve typed just sitting here, oh gosh… Oh, and today’s MK1412 episode ended with Kaitou Kid saying something along the lines of “you’re the main character of your life” or something, but I swear I didn’t copy from that episode. I had this typed out beforehand and I was a bit taken aback when I got to the end of the Green Dream case.

It seems you enjoyed Fate/Zero enough, haha. The biggest complaint people have with the series is it’s “conclusion”, since a lot of things are introduced and referenced but never really fully developed. The second biggest complaint is usually the slow first half, haha. The conclusion only seems a bit convoluted and unmoving the first time through; even after watching only the first half of Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, going back and rewatching all of Fate/Zero a few times (had to do it for the anime club at my school) I find that a ton of scenes that went right over my head, especially at the end, have much more weight and gravity upon revisiting. I suggest once UBW is finished airing and you’re waiting for the “true” conclusion of F/sn that is the Heaven’s Feel movie(s), you rewatch Fate/Zero. Also, the Fate series is part of the Nasuverse, which is the fan name for all the TYPE-MOON visual novels and works that take place in the same fictional universe involving magic. Some aspects of the magical world that are only briefly touched upon in F/Z, like Dead Apostles, receive more development in other series a part of the Nasuverse. While the Fate series is the most popular, Kara no Kyoukai is a Nasuverse anime that is a movie series. Apparently it’s also really good, and while I’ve yet to see it myself I do plan on watching it eventually. If you’re interested in learning about and experiencing other aspects of the magical universe that aren't related to the Holy Grail Wars (after all, there are usually 60 years between each one and it's not like every mage in the world is waiting for that day in anticipation), Kara no Kyoukai is something you might want to consider. Have you started watching F/sn: UBW yet? Since the second still has a ways to go before airing, there’s not too much rush to finish the first season just yet. Don’t forget, UBW has a 50 minute prologue episode that’s actually a separate entry on MAL that can be found here. Be sure to put it on your list! Also, I've just sent a friend request to your MAL account. I haven’t really watched much anime either. My numbers may look pretty decent, but I’ve seen a lot of OVAs and movies that just pad up my list. As for actual full blown series, I haven’t seen too many, at least I don't think.

Nintendo is planning to introduce a new rewards program once Club Nintendo goes down for good. Given the timing of it all, I expect them to announce it at this year’s E3. Apparently, CN had a ton of problems: the rewards selection was poor and the site was always under maintenance. Hopefully, whatever new idea they come up with turns out to be good. I plan on signing up immediately and being a long running member, haha. Apart from the messenger bag, I don’t know what else to get. What do you think looks good? You can help me decide: https://club.nintendo.com/rewards.do. I had 2100 coins, but now that I've purchased the bag I’m down to 1300. Haha, maybe I could buy another bag and have it shipped to you. On an unrelated note, I had a Japanese Marth amiibo imported, and it arrived today! Apart from a mildly bent sword that a hairdryer can easily fix, his face looks surprising great! It's symmetrical and rather dashing. I don't know when I'll get the chance to use him, but I'm happy I got my hands on a rare one like him. I have Sheik and Ike pre-ordered. Ike is hopefully going to ship soon, but he's not officially released on shelves in the US yet, so I'm not too worried. Sheik has been on the selves since the first day of February, but Amazon somehow goofed up their numbers or something and now my Sheik is delayed indefinitely. There's not even a predicted shipping date, which is kind of silly for a released product. I got frustrated and decided to try my luck at hunting for her at a few stores today, but the three I went to only had the common ones. I guess it was silly of me to expect finding a somewhat rare amiibo at a time that ends in "pm". Sigh, and Lucina still isn't up for pre-order anywhere in the States yet.

Part of me wishes I had taken the ACTs as well as the SATs. I actually had no idea (and still have very little idea) how the ACT is formatted, though the essays do look to be nicer. When does your SAT score come back anyway?

Ah, you reminded how terrible I feel knowing I have gym. It really is a useless class and wastes precious time. It’s not even like I get much exercise from it. While I’m not participating in any athletics, I do occasionally jog for forty minutes on the treadmill at home, so I’m not a complete couch potato, haha. Well, I saw your post about my school on the other thread so I’ll divert it over here. That may not be the best idea given how off topic we are and how long I've already typed, but the mods don’t seem to mind, so… The band program in my school is especially cancerous. I've been ostracized from their tight-knit clique practically since the very beginning of freshman year (for a stupid silly reason that’ll take too long to explain) and while I've stuck it out up until last year and tried to make the most of it, I came to realize just how miserable that community made me so I quit senior year. I don’t regret the decision at all, and I feel all the more better that I was their lead oboist. I really don’t like to hate anything, since hate is admittedly a harsh word, but my school’s band program has put me through so much emotional turmoil and stress that I can confidently say, without a doubt, I hate it. Anyway, I’m going to stop myself before this turns into a scathing rant about my band. Your school sounds really amazing, honestly. The workload does seem to be a bit overwhelming, but you’re still so happy there which I can really feel from your words. You’re fortunate to be attending such a good school, and it almost makes me a bit envious. It would be great if I had grown up where you were and attending your high school, and not just because I would have been able to meet you in real life. Regardless, I’ll try my best to enjoy the last few months of my school. The thing is, there are two types of people at our school: those that openly curse it and the ones that think it’s not that bad. I’ve generally been one to think my school isn’t too bad, but really taking a good look at the quality of the whole system makes me want to hate it. If anything, I’ll have to graduate and be in college for a while before being able to look back and reflect on the good aspects of my high school. On the other hand, college would just make me dislike it more, haha. I really appreciate your words though, more than you think. *hugs back* On the topic of high school, I guess I’ll address the whole prom thing here, too. Gosh, this is turning into one fat paragraph. I know prom is an American tradition and that I’ll only have one high school prom in my life, but I really don’t have much motivation to go. My parents are even urging me to reconsider and ask a girl out or something, which is actually kind of funny given how they’ve dictated my life thus far. I don’t think prom is something for me, though. I’m not one for dancing, the tickets are expensive, I don’t have anyone to go with, and even if I attend with a group of friends it just wouldn’t seem… right, for lack of a better word. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised, but maybe I won’t. It might just turn into a night I’m surrounded by people happier than I am, people having more fun than I am having. I don’t want to sound like some kind of pathetic, pessimistic loner making excuses for himself, because the more I type the more I realize that’s what I sound like. Thank you for your consideration, but not all once in a lifetime chances are meant to be taken.

Sorry, I didn't mean for this to end so negatively, eheh.

I don't think I can choose any particular work out of the thousand that I've made, haha. I posted a DC banner in my art thread not too long ago that I'm rather satisfied with. I can also link you a work on my DeviantART account since I'm too lazy to rummage through my folders. I'll warn you beforehand that the username I made was godawful. DC banner Random graphic. The hacker was probably some random guy from Nigeria or something who spammed a bunch of advertisements before getting my account banned. I even contacted YouTube about this, but it didn't help. The weird thing is, I managed to get my account back for a few hours before they suspended it again. I messaged them again about the misunderstanding, but to no avail. I've given up at this point, haha. Yeah, I was in a pretty crappy mood for a few weeks, but looking at the positives really helped me get over my situation. It's a thing of the past now, and I'm just glad that I still have my works and videos saved on my laptop. Ahaha, I really don't think I'm going to pursue a career in graphic design. Nearly everything I've done was self-taught so my skill level is pretty amateur compared to others, and as you said--my parents likely wouldn't be happy. To be honest, I was actually kind of annoyed from being constantly pestered to make graphics for people, so I don't think I'd be able to handle it for the vast majority of my life. I still have no idea what I want to be, but I'm leaning towards stuff in the science field. I know, it's not very specific, but I really have no clue on what career I want. My parents aren't the ones to gossip, but if they ever have something to brag about, they'll go for it. But by the same token, if they have something to hammer me on, they'll tell it straight to my face. It's been getting on my nerves, so I've learned to tune them out since most of what they say to me really lowers my self-esteem. If there's anyone out there who needs the code, please don't hesitate to offer it to them. I don't want you to hold the burden of having to keep it for years just for my sake, haha. I'm touched, but it really isn't necessary, honest.

lol, I didn't want to merge these two paragraphs because of how lengthy it would turn out, so I felt like this was a good separation point.

Despite how "addicting" people say Facebook is, it really isn't. I think it's a really convenient way to keep in contact with my friends--especially with those outside our school. Most people tend to give in by junior or senior year if they haven't made an account already. I made mine towards the end of eighth grade after my friends peer pressured me to get one, and I don't regret my decision. At all. If you're worried about how distracting it might be, there's an option to disable your account whenever you feel like it. In fact, Facebook was one of my most visited sites in sophomore year because of the beautimous AP Chem group page my friends invited me to join. It was an absolute life saver and helped me study for countless amounts of tests and quizzes. I can even say the same for the 11 AP English group page they made this year. I'm not the one to dictate your life though. I just thought this was something you should know because investing in a Facebook is definitely worth your time--well, at least it was for me, lol. Oh god. Frozen. That movie is still relevant? I'm going to hurl, haha. I liked it, but I've watched it so many times with my friends that I've gotten pretty sick of it at this point. No one around here really talks about Marvel, so I found that interesting. But yeah, Netflix. I can definitely agree that a lot of people at our school obsess about stuff like Netflix and HBO. Many people at our school have gone to Chipotle before, so I guess that's also something our schools have in common, lol. Most of my friends aren't aware of my hobbies. Only a few know that I watch anime--and even fewer know that I had a YouTube channel (two, to be specific). I have a bunch of other close friends who don't know any of my hobbies other than playing tennis and violin, but I guess it's only because we enjoy each other's presence. Haha, I really don't want to degrade my relationship with them because I still love them all too much. Even though our school is fairly diverse, I guess you could say that most of my friends are Asian. I have a couple of Indian friends and very few white friends, but it's been that way for a while since the cultural gaps only began widening after elementary school. I agree that most of the Asians here have been Americanized--I'm not afraid to admit that I'm one of them. It saves us the trouble of being labeled as FOBs, and we manage to fit in relatively nicely around here.

Whoa, your Beautifly ended up with 0 IVs in special attack? Geez, what are the chances, haha. Blaziken was one of my favorite starter evolutions in gen 3 (thanks to my sister, lol), so I'm a bit pleased that you decided to choose a Torchic for your solo run. However, I've began growing a liking to Swampert just because its mega absolutely wreaks havoc in the rain in Pokemon Showdown. Nobody ever uses one so it's really satisfying seeing it sweep entire teams. My bias for Kyogre came from my sister's Sapphire game and because it was the first Pokemon to reach level 100 in my Platinum game. It's gorgeous--it's just so pleasing to the eye for some reason. It also has a fantastic moveset and all around great stats. Groudon is cool too, but Kyogre, gosh. I just love Kyogre. However, I did prefer Dialga over Palkia. It wasn't for any particular reason other than the aesthetics. Maybe I just have an affinity for blue Pokemon, haha. Definitely try out Pokemon Showdown one day! It can get stupidly addicting, but it's still a lot of fun.

I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but I no longer live in New York City. I've moved a while ago since my parents have found better jobs here. I'd much rather be back in NYC since life is a bit monotonous and boring around these parts. It's a city, but it's not nearly as urbanized as NYC. The house and street lights are enough to wipe out any chance for me to go stargazing around here though. Most people usually don't openly tell others whether or not they enjoy stargazing. For instance, I was only able to find out after one of my friends told me that it was also one of her highlights of visiting Yellowstone. Haha, one day I plan on camping out in a stargazing spot and sleeping under the stars during a summer night. I'd probably also take a friend or two just so I can share the experience with someone. Most of our English teachers stress on how to write analytical essays, but completely neglect creative writing. I've taught myself to write satire though, which I even used for a physics project--but it's still probably not going get me anywhere when I have to write essays for college apps before long. You do seem like the "creative essay" type, so I'm not too surprised that you enjoy writing them, haha. I don't know many people who have talent in creative writing, so this skill of yours is really unique in my eyes.

Haha, the longest conversation I've ever had with someone was through a chat that lasted a few hours. Most of what we typed were just one-liners that we didn't put much thought into. This is the first time I've ever written and replied to someone consistently with this much length and detail. Needless to say, I've never met anyone who has done the same. Most of my friends have never sent me lengthy messages of any sort so I feel like it's only proper to reply with the same degree of effort. Wow, that sounds a lot more harsh now that I've typed it out, but I assure you that no negative undertone for that sentence was intentional, lol. Aw, don't say that. You most certainly are not merely a background or supporting character in people's lives. I could say the same for myself that I'm just a background character for most people at our school, but I know I've definitely made a difference in a many of my friends' lives, and vice versa--and I'm sure that you have as well. I don't know if this will count as anything, but you're undoubtedly an important character in my life. I'm honored to be considered as one of your best friends, but I think it's a bit much to say that you've used up a year's worth of luck to meet me...though I could say the same about meeting you, haha. Regardless, I'm still flattered.

My main complaints are the anti-climactic ending and the lack of development in background info--especially that Dead Apostle stuff. I almost thought I missed something because of how it suddenly gained relevance out of thin air, haha. I didn't have a problem with the slow development, though at one point I thought the show was just going to be a simple fight to the death without much plot (that was until I finished the first season). I might rewatch it if I have time, but that'll only be after I finish F/SN, of course. Hrmm, I couldn't help but notice that you have an anime club at your school. That's interesting. The most we have is just a Japanese club, haha. I haven't started on F/SN yet and I probably won't until spring break ~~which we all know may very well be a lie~~...or at least that's my current plan seeing how much homework I have piling up lately. Goodness, that's a lot to remember, so I really appreciate your efforts in helping me with what to watch! I'm definitely going to refer back to your posts once I find the opportunity to watch them, haha.

Ohh, I see. I never realized that Club Nintendo ran into so many problems. I'll be honest, there isn't really much else that looks too appealing in that catalog, but considering that everything's free, I'd say get whatever you want and regret nothing. Ahahahaha, I appreciate the offer, but I'll have to turn you down on this one. I'm a bit uncomfortable giving away my address, plus I'd run the risk of my parents prying where it came from. I'm surprised that you have so much freedom in buying and ordering stuff like amiibos. I have to run everything I order by my parents since it is their money, after all. I normally can't buy anything without their consent without raising suspicion--even that one time I bought Vaporub from CVS to help with my cold symptoms. From what I can tell, I'll assume that you can drive and have a bit of free spending money? I should probably get my drivers test over with soon, lol. Aside from my Paypal, I normally don't have much money other than the leftover change from school-related payments. Still though, I'm glad that you've managed to hunt down so many amiibos! Especially since some of them are a bit rare, haha.

The ACT is divided into five sections: English, Math, Reading, Science, and the essay. The English, Math, and essay sections tend to be the easiest for me, while the Reading and Science sections are more, meh. What irks me the most is that the Science section only tests your ability to read and interpret charts and data. It sounds really easy in hindsight, so it really bugs me how it tends to be one of my lower scores. SAT scores come out relatively soon, I think. I never bothered to check the exact date because to be honest, I kinda don't want to know what I got, haha.

I'll admit that I love the school I go to, but I left out one small little detail: It can be bloody competitive at times. I was close to throwing up and having a mental breakdown before symphony auditions, and every person (even friends) turns into an enemy during tennis tryouts every year. The only thing keeping me sane in this competitive atmosphere is that we no longer have a valedictorian system. Otherwise, this school would have turned into an absolute hellhole. However, people here tend to be more lax around others when it comes to academics only because the valedictorian system was removed a while ago. Don't get me wrong though. I don't want you to be intimidated by this description because it's all completely overshadowed by the positives the school has to offer (most of which I explained in the past post that you've already read). The competitive atmosphere only comes into play during specific situations such as those I mentioned earlier, so in all honesty, it's absolutely 100 percent worth it. I don't want to talk bad about the community because everyone's really friendly if you overlook the competitiveness--it really is an amazing school and I really wish I could grab you by the arm and take you here. But, wow. I can't believe what I just read. Those band members are complete assholes. I've never experienced such turmoil at our school before, and if I were in your shoes, I would have quit right after freshman year. This is horrifying and I'm really surprised, even impressed at how well you managed to take their crap. I can't get any more frank than this. However, I'm really glad that you were able to find satisfaction from quitting. The fact that you had the courage to quit as a lead oboist is also really admirable. I hope that college turns out to be much more enjoyable for you because no one should ever have to go through such an awful experience. It's times like this when I also wish I knew you in real life so I could give you a genuine hug. I don't understand what possibly could have made those people act the way they did.

Welp, I've written too much again and need to separate paragraphs once more. Haha, gomen.

I understand where you're coming from with your stance on prom since I have the same mentality towards homecoming. With that said, I'm actually the type of person to want to experience as much as I can, and while in freshman year I was reluctant to even think about prom, I'm beginning to change my mindset. A lot of my old upperclassmen friends (now in college) seemed to have a great time there and since it is a once in a lifetime experience, will it really hurt to go? I hate having missed opportunities because you never know what might happen. However, at the same time, you can call me a hypocrite for not wanting to go to homecoming but in all honesty, most of my older friends do admit that it is just a downgraded version of prom, haha. I've gone to events where I begged my friends not to take me, and while some of them were disappointing, most of them turned out to be pleasant surprises. Admittedly, prom might not be that big of a life changer, buy hey, don't knock it till you try it! Personally, I would want to go and make memories. Even if they're sucky memories, you only live through high school once, why wouldn't you want to experience everything? And yeah it's true, you can lounge around in your sweats instead of getting dressed up, but you could do that on any day. I highly doubt that going to prom will end up being a regrettable decision and I feel like having friends around you might help alleviate some of the anxiety, but if prom is really that out of your comfort zone, please don't feel obligated to go. There isn't anything wrong with not wanting go since a lot of people have the same mentality--this is just my two cents, haha.

Akazora · February 15, 2015

I don't think I can choose any particular work out of the thousand that I've made, haha. I posted a DC banner in my art thread not too long ago that I'm rather satisfied with. I can also link you a work on my DeviantART account since I'm too lazy to rummage through my folders. I'll warn you beforehand that the username I made was godawful. DC banner Random graphic. The hacker was probably some random guy from Nigeria or something who spammed a bunch of advertisements before getting my account banned. I even contacted YouTube about this, but it didn't help. The weird thing is, I managed to get my account back for a few hours before they suspended it again. I messaged them again about the misunderstanding, but to no avail. I've given up at this point, haha. Yeah, I was in a pretty crappy mood for a few weeks, but looking at the positives really helped me get over my situation. It's a thing of the past now, and I'm just glad that I still have my works and videos saved on my laptop. Ahaha, I really don't think I'm going to pursue a career in graphic design. Nearly everything I've done was self-taught so my skill level is pretty amateur compared to others, and as you said--my parents likely wouldn't be happy. To be honest, I was actually kind of annoyed from being constantly pestered to make graphics for people, so I don't think I'd be able to handle it for the vast majority of my life. I still have no idea what I want to be, but I'm leaning towards stuff in the science field. I know, it's not very specific, but I really have no clue on what career I want. My parents aren't the ones to gossip, but if they ever have something to brag about, they'll go for it. But by the same token, if they have something to hammer me on, they'll tell it straight to my face. It's been getting on my nerves, so I've learned to tune them out since most of what they say to me really lowers my self-esteem. If there's anyone out there who needs the code, please don't hesitate to offer it to them. I don't want you to hold the burden of having to keep it for years just for my sake, haha. I'm touched, but it really isn't necessary, honest.

lol, I didn't want to merge these two paragraphs because of how lengthy it would turn out, so I felt like this was a good separation point.

Despite how "addicting" people say Facebook is, it really isn't. I think it's a really convenient way to keep in contact with my friends--especially with those outside our school. Most people tend to give in by junior or senior year if they haven't made an account already. I made mine towards the end of eighth grade after my friends peer pressured me to get one, and I don't regret my decision. At all. If you're worried about how distracting it might be, there's an option to disable your account whenever you feel like it. In fact, Facebook was one of my most visited sites in sophomore year because of the beautimous AP Chem group page my friends invited me to join. It was an absolute life saver and helped me study for countless amounts of tests and quizzes. I can even say the same for the 11 AP English group page they made this year. I'm not the one to dictate your life though. I just thought this was something you should know because investing in a Facebook is definitely worth your time--well, at least it was for me, lol. Oh god. Frozen. That movie is still relevant? I'm going to hurl, haha. I liked it, but I've watched it so many times with my friends that I've gotten pretty sick of it at this point. No one around here really talks about Marvel, so I found that interesting. But yeah, Netflix. I can definitely agree that a lot of people at our school obsess about stuff like Netflix and HBO. Many people at our school have gone to Chipotle before, so I guess that's also something our schools have in common, lol. Most of my friends aren't aware of my hobbies. Only a few know that I watch anime--and even fewer know that I had a YouTube channel (two, to be specific). I have a bunch of other close friends who don't know any of my hobbies other than playing tennis and violin, but I guess it's only because we enjoy each other's presence. Haha, I really don't want to degrade my relationship with them because I still love them all too much. Even though our school is fairly diverse, I guess you could say that most of my friends are Asian. I have a couple of Indian friends and very few white friends, but it's been that way for a while since the cultural gaps only began widening after elementary school. I agree that most of the Asians here have been Americanized--I'm not afraid to admit that I'm one of them. It saves us the trouble of being labeled as FOBs, and we manage to fit in relatively nicely around here.

Whoa, your Beautifly ended up with 0 IVs in special attack? Geez, what are the chances, haha. Blaziken was one of my favorite starter evolutions in gen 3 (thanks to my sister, lol), so I'm a bit pleased that you decided to choose a Torchic for your solo run. However, I've began growing a liking to Swampert just because its mega absolutely wreaks havoc in the rain in Pokemon Showdown. Nobody ever uses one so it's really satisfying seeing it sweep entire teams. My bias for Kyogre came from my sister's Sapphire game and because it was the first Pokemon to reach level 100 in my Platinum game. It's gorgeous--it's just so pleasing to the eye for some reason. It also has a fantastic moveset and all around great stats. Groudon is cool too, but Kyogre, gosh. I just love Kyogre. However, I did prefer Dialga over Palkia. It wasn't for any particular reason other than the aesthetics. Maybe I just have an affinity for blue Pokemon, haha. Definitely try out Pokemon Showdown one day! It can get stupidly addicting, but it's still a lot of fun.

I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but I no longer live in New York City. I've moved a while ago since my parents have found better jobs here. I'd much rather be back in NYC since life is a bit monotonous and boring around these parts. It's a city, but it's not nearly as urbanized as NYC. The house and street lights are enough to wipe out any chance for me to go stargazing around here though. Most people usually don't openly tell others whether or not they enjoy stargazing. For instance, I was only able to find out after one of my friends told me that it was also one of her highlights of visiting Yellowstone. Haha, one day I plan on camping out in a stargazing spot and sleeping under the stars during a summer night. I'd probably also take a friend or two just so I can share the experience with someone. Most of our English teachers stress on how to write analytical essays, but completely neglect creative writing. I've taught myself to write satire though, which I even used for a physics project--but it's still probably not going get me anywhere when I have to write essays for college apps before long. You do seem like the "creative essay" type, so I'm not too surprised that you enjoy writing them, haha. I don't know many people who have talent in creative writing, so this skill of yours is really unique in my eyes.

Haha, the longest conversation I've ever had with someone was through a chat that lasted a few hours. Most of what we typed were just one-liners that we didn't put much thought into. This is the first time I've ever written and replied to someone consistently with this much length and detail. Needless to say, I've never met anyone who has done the same. Most of my friends have never sent me lengthy messages of any sort so I feel like it's only proper to reply with the same degree of effort. Wow, that sounds a lot more harsh now that I've typed it out, but I assure you that no negative undertone for that sentence was intentional, lol. Aw, don't say that. You most certainly are not merely a background or supporting character in people's lives. I could say the same for myself that I'm just a background character for most people at our school, but I know I've definitely made a difference in a many of my friends' lives, and vice versa--and I'm sure that you have as well. I don't know if this will count as anything, but you're undoubtedly an important character in my life. I'm honored to be considered as one of your best friends, but I think it's a bit much to say that you've used up a year's worth of luck to meet me...though I could say the same about meeting you, haha. Regardless, I'm still flattered.

My main complaints are the anti-climactic ending and the lack of development in background info--especially that Dead Apostle stuff. I almost thought I missed something because of how it suddenly gained relevance out of thin air, haha. I didn't have a problem with the slow development, though at one point I thought the show was just going to be a simple fight to the death without much plot (that was until I finished the first season). I might rewatch it if I have time, but that'll only be after I finish F/SN, of course. Hrmm, I couldn't help but notice that you have an anime club at your school. That's interesting. The most we have is just a Japanese club, haha. I haven't started on F/SN yet and I probably won't until spring break ~~which we all know may very well be a lie~~...or at least that's my current plan seeing how much homework I have piling up lately. Goodness, that's a lot to remember, so I really appreciate your efforts in helping me with what to watch! I'm definitely going to refer back to your posts once I find the opportunity to watch them, haha.

Ohh, I see. I never realized that Club Nintendo ran into so many problems. I'll be honest, there isn't really much else that looks too appealing in that catalog, but considering that everything's free, I'd say get whatever you want and regret nothing. Ahahahaha, I appreciate the offer, but I'll have to turn you down on this one. I'm a bit uncomfortable giving away my address, plus I'd run the risk of my parents prying where it came from. I'm surprised that you have so much freedom in buying and ordering stuff like amiibos. I have to run everything I order by my parents since it is their money, after all. I normally can't buy anything without their consent without raising suspicion--even that one time I bought Vaporub from CVS to help with my cold symptoms. From what I can tell, I'll assume that you can drive and have a bit of free spending money? I should probably get my drivers test over with soon, lol. Aside from my Paypal, I normally don't have much money other than the leftover change from school-related payments. Still though, I'm glad that you've managed to hunt down so many amiibos! Especially since some of them are a bit rare, haha.

The ACT is divided into five sections: English, Math, Reading, Science, and the essay. The English, Math, and essay sections tend to be the easiest for me, while the Reading and Science sections are more, meh. What irks me the most is that the Science section only tests your ability to read and interpret charts and data. It sounds really easy in hindsight, so it really bugs me how it tends to be one of my lower scores. SAT scores come out relatively soon, I think. I never bothered to check the exact date because to be honest, I kinda don't want to know what I got, haha.

I'll admit that I love the school I go to, but I left out one small little detail: It can be bloody competitive at times. I was close to throwing up and having a mental breakdown before symphony auditions, and every person (even friends) turns into an enemy during tennis tryouts every year. The only thing keeping me sane in this competitive atmosphere is that we no longer have a valedictorian system. Otherwise, this school would have turned into an absolute hellhole. However, people here tend to be more lax around others when it comes to academics only because the valedictorian system was removed a while ago. Don't get me wrong though. I don't want you to be intimidated by this description because it's all completely overshadowed by the positives the school has to offer (most of which I explained in the past post that you've already read). The competitive atmosphere only comes into play during specific situations such as those I mentioned earlier, so in all honesty, it's absolutely 100 percent worth it. I don't want to talk bad about the community because everyone's really friendly if you overlook the competitiveness--it really is an amazing school and I really wish I could grab you by the arm and take you here. But, wow. I can't believe what I just read. Those band members are complete assholes. I've never experienced such turmoil at our school before, and if I were in your shoes, I would have quit right after freshman year. This is horrifying and I'm really surprised, even impressed at how well you managed to take their crap. I can't get any more frank than this. However, I'm really glad that you were able to find satisfaction from quitting. The fact that you had the courage to quit as a lead oboist is also really admirable. I hope that college turns out to be much more enjoyable for you because no one should ever have to go through such an awful experience. It's times like this when I also wish I knew you in real life so I could give you a genuine hug. I don't understand what possibly could have made those people act the way they did.

Welp, I've written too much again and need to separate paragraphs once more. Haha, gomen.

I understand where you're coming from with your stance on prom since I have the same mentality towards homecoming. With that said, I'm actually the type of person to want to experience as much as I can, and while in freshman year I was reluctant to even think about prom, I'm beginning to change my mindset. A lot of my old upperclassmen friends (now in college) seemed to have a great time there and since it is a once in a lifetime experience, will it really hurt to go? I hate having missed opportunities because you never know what might happen. However, at the same time, you can call me a hypocrite for not wanting to go to homecoming but in all honesty, most of my older friends do admit that it is just a downgraded version of prom, haha. I've gone to events where I begged my friends not to take me, and while some of them were disappointing, most of them turned out to be pleasant surprises. Admittedly, prom might not be that big of a life changer, buy hey, don't knock it till you try it! Personally, I would want to go and make memories. Even if they're sucky memories, you only live through high school once, why wouldn't you want to experience everything? And yeah it's true, you can lounge around in your sweats instead of getting dressed up, but you could do that on any day. I highly doubt that going to prom will end up being a regrettable decision and I feel like having friends around you might help alleviate some of the anxiety, but if prom is really that out of your comfort zone, please don't feel obligated to go. There isn't anything wrong with not wanting go since a lot of people have the same mentality--this is just my two cents, haha.

Ah, that’s right, you have an art thread. I remember browsing through it a while ago and being rather impressed by what I saw. In my opinion, your work is really good! Considering you had to balance schoolwork with this hobby, you’ve made some high quality stuff. Also, your DeviantArt username isn’t that bad. If anything, it’s kind of cute. I don’t know how many request you’ve gotten but I guess it could get tiresome after a while. Even the best things in life can get dull if overdone. You definitely have always struck me as a “scientific” person. Even if you don’t know for sure what career you want, it’s always good to start thinking as soon as possible. It won’t be very long before people start asking what you want to major in and you start focusing in on specific schools that can provide you the best education. I plan on going into business despite math being my weakest subject just ahead of science (eheh, sorry…), mainly because I needed a good starting point when choose colleges to apply to. Otherwise, I would have applied to even more than sixteen schools. Also, as you start thinking about your future, just know that when people say “it’s okay to be undecided on our major” they’re lying. It’s just something admission officers and the like say to make people feel better. Even if some schools don’t discriminate based on your undeclared-ness, most colleges force you to officially declare a major before the second semester of freshman year starts anyway, so it’s not like you have a lot of free time to “explore your options” and “soul search”. Not to mention, investing in a college without much of an idea of what you want to get out of it can be a risky financial gamble as well. I don’t mean to diverge from the topic too much, but it’s something I thought you’d like to know since the long road to college can be full of more lies than you’d think. Hm, if you insist then I guess I won’t be holding onto the Mewtwo code quite as tightly as I was planning on. When you do get the game, whenever that may be, be sure to check with me in the event I still have the code.

I think the issue with and Facebook is that I’ve managed so long without it that I can’t really find a reason to make an account. Everyone has one now, and I know this sounds kind of stupid, but it makes me feel kind of special not having a Facebook, as misled as that belief is. I’m not trying to be a hipster or anything (trust me, I’m far from one) and it’s not like I dislike anything that’s mainstream. You might think I’m conservative, narrow-minded, or an old geezer in the body of a teenager, but eh I guess that’s just the way I am. While there are a lot of benefits to it like groups made to study for tests or the ability to keep track of faraway friends, I just… actually… I can’t really think of a good counter argument. Now that I think about it, there were a few people I knew that asked me to add them as friends on Facebook, and when I told them I didn’t have one they said not to forget them when I got around to making an account. They’re in college now and I haven’t heard from them in two years since I didn’t have any way of contacting them. Ah, looking back on it I feel kind of bad. I hope they don’t think poorly of me, and I guess it would be nice to let them know I haven’t forgotten about them. Sigh, I don’t know why I’m so stubborn when it comes to Facebook. Sorry, you probably think I’m kind of weird now if you didn’t already think so before, haha. Anyway, Frozen is still somewhat relevant. I was reminded of it when I girl I know wore a Frozen graphic t-shirt to school a couple days ago. I haven’t watched Frozen yet so I can’t judge, and it’s not like I come off as any less strange to other people since I have a small collection of anime and video games related graphic tees. I had them ordered for my birthday last year so the entire school knows about my hobbies, haha. Well, even without my t-shirts people would still know I like anime, which I’ll explain in further detail later in this post. The town I live in has a lot of Indians. It used to be a mainly Caucasian town, but then a wave of Asians, mainly Chinese with a couple of Koreans, flooded the schools in the late ‘80s to early 2000s. Recently though, there have been less and less Eastern Asians and a ton of Indians instead. It seems to be a second wave, and it’s rearing to be even bigger than the East Asian wave ever was. I walk by my elementary school every weekday, and occasionally I’m walking late enough after school to see the little kids get picked up by their parents. If I had to put a number on it, I’d say about 95% of the elementary schoolers are Indian. Our town is so famous amongst Indians everywhere. I’m not even exaggerating or trying to make a joke. My sister lives in Los Angeles and whenever she meets an Indian there she mentions she grew up in our town and every person so far has had a reaction to her saying that. They either have relatives and friends in our town or have heard of it from people they know. Crazy, isn’t it? Anyway, I’ve strayed too far off topic. I’ll wrap this up before it gets out of hand. Despite the growing number of Indians here, I find that most of my friends are still Asian, East Asian that it. Depending on the college I go to, that could all change very quickly, haha.

My Torchic (or Combusken now) is fully EV training and doing really well in this speed run. It’s actually good you brought up starter Pokemon. When I start Alpha Sapphire in the future, which starter should I get? It’s been nagging me from the back of my mind for a while now, but I can’t quite make up my mind. I mentioned this a long while back, but since I have a tendency to only use the Amulet Coin as a hold item I probably won’t be using anyone’s Mega form. I’ll admit that I thought Palkia’s design looked worse than Dialga’s back when they were first announced (ah, good times, I didn’t really use the Internet much back then so I relied on a senpai for all my Pokemon news, haha) but it’s grown on me. I mean, golly, it looks kind of like a pink small-headed T-rex with wings. I wish I had a shiny version of it. I managed to find a shiny Dialga and Giratina on GTS back before Nintendo discontinued Wi-Fi connectivity, but never stumbled upon a shiny Palkia.

New York City is a pretty great place. I live so close but never take the time to visit, unfortunately. Personally, it’s especially nice in the winter, right around Christmas time. All those parks with small booths and trees strung up with lights are great. Not to mention, there’s the Nintendo World Store. They usually have some pretty rare amiibo there. The last time I was there a couple of weeks ago there were a ton of Fox in stock, which is pretty hard to come by in other places. And my town can be pretty boring, too. Nothing ever really changes, but there’s always a charm in that which is familiar, right? The closest I had to someone enjoying stargazing was this one friend I had that told me she’s always wanted to find the constellation Cassiopeia. That was back in freshman year, and now she says there are more important things to do in life than worry about the stars. I don’t think I showed her my Common App essay, but I don’t think she’d have a very strong reaction to it anyway. Oh well, I guess growing up can be a bit sad, depending on how you look at it.

Oh geez, yeah I’ve had some crazy long chats with people. Gosh, Google Talk wasted a lot of my time back in the day. I think they’ve replaced it with Hangouts, or something, but I still have it set to the original layout and haven’t officially used their new system yet. Even if you reply to short messages likewise, I find it impressive that you reply to a long message with the same amount of effort. You’d think everyone would do what you do, but you’d be surprised. Pretty much everyone I know sends one line responses to everything and anything sent their way. Ah, and I’m not particularly upset or sad that I’m only a background or supporting characters, I just see that as how life is. If anything, it’s a part of life that I find beautiful, strange as that may sound. If you treat everyone equally, there won’t be anyone special, right? So I really do thank you for considering me an important person in your life. It counts as a lot to me, and I’m flattered by your words.

An important thing to do with Fate/stay night is keep your expectations in check. That doesn’t mean to keep your expectations low otherwise you’d be disappointed or something, no far from it. In my opinion, the first half of F/sn: UBW is tons better than the first season of F/Z. The thing with F/sn is that its layout is completely different than F/Z’s. While F/Z is a linear path with one distinct plot, F/sn is a multiverse with three routes. This means F/Z has the length of only two cours to reveal everything about all the Masters, Servants, and side characters. It does a rather fine job of it, save for perhaps Assassin and to a lesser extent Berserker. F/sn on the other hand has three times that length of time, which means not every character will be treated “fairly” in each route. For example, a Servant may die off early in one route with neither true identity nor Noble Phantasms revealed, but be practically a main character that fights his or her way to the very climax in another route. Because F/sn has such a unique layout, expecting to be fully satisfied by the end of even just UBW would be misleading yourself. UBW is only a fraction of the whole story with only parts of character development fully explored. Heaven’s Feel will provide more of that missing content, and I guess for the last bit of it you’re going to have to download the original visual novel and play through the Fate route. Apart from that, in F/Z you saw how all the Masters and Servants interacted with each other while in F/sn it takes a more limited view approach as the anime is seen (for the most part) through the eyes of a single character. Ah, sorry, I know it’s going to be a while before you find time to even get into F/sn, so this is all stuff you’re either going to have to remember or refer back to later. About that anime club, I was actually the one who founded it, haha. That’s why even without my graphic tees I wouldn’t exactly be able to keep my interests a secret. It’s doing rather well I think, and it’s set to continue even after I graduate. Maybe you could try founding an anime club at your own school? If you don’t have time this year, you could do it your senior year.

Yeah, since nothing they have to offer looks that great, I’ll meditate on it for a couple of months and get something at the last second. It would have been awesome if they had offered amiibos for their physical rewards, but I guess those need to be exclusive and not purchasable anywhere else. Hm, they could have given them golden stands or something, heh. Actually, I don’t have as much freedom as you think. While I’m able to ask my parents for things like video games, I’m not able to play them very often. I haven’t even laid eyes on my Wii U or my 3DS since Christmas. Not to mention, they do occasionally turn down some of my requests, which is why I have to give myself restrictions (like limiting myself to only seven amiibo or asking for things on holidays). For example, for my birthday I plan on asking my parents for Majora’s Mask 3D and Virtue’s Last Reward. I do plan on paying them back when I get a job though, haha. Also, I haven’t learned how to drive yet, ahaha. I haven’t even sat in the driver’s seat before or gotten a driving permit or anything, bleh. Ehh, my mom says that as a guy, I’m a disgrace.

Gosh, your school sounds intense. Close to throwing up and having a mental breakdown? Phew, that’s crazy. My school still has a valedictorian system, but people don’t rip each other apart trying to be top of the class. I think it’s because class rankings aren’t publically disclosed, so it’s kind of hard to keep track of who’s “better” than who. But regardless your school indeed sounds pretty amazing. You’re really lucky to be attending such a nice school, so definitely make the most of it. Even if you aren’t here to give me a legitimate hug, your words are enough. Just knowing you’re upset for my sake makes me feel a lot better. Also, there’s nothing all that impressive about me weathering it out until the end of junior year. If anything it’s just an indication of how stupidly stubborn I can be. Looking back on it, maybe I should have quite earlier to make room for exploring other facets of high school life, since our band program is unreasonably difficult and time consuming. But not all was for naught, as being in the band allowed for me to tryout for the regional ensembles, and when I got accepted into the regional orchestra in my sophomore year I met some really great people (the upperclassmen that I lost contact with that I mentioned earlier were those great people, funny enough). Once again, I really appreciate your words. There aren’t any people I’ve been able to tell about my problems with band, since the only people I trust enough to tell are in the school I go to and I would rather not have all hell break loose, so being able to get a bit of it off my chest and to have someone who truly cares on the receiving end is much more than I could have ever asked for.

Geez, you really are good with analytical/opinion writing. First it was with the whole Facebook thing and now with prom, haha. I just can’t seem to string together a very good argument. I wouldn’t be surprised if you could manage to convince me to buy sand from you in a desert. Well, the thing I can say is that I’m just not one for dancing. I’d just be there standing in a corner enjoying myself some expensive mini hot dogs, while everyone else is out there having themselves a good time. I don’t want to sound like a Grinch who hates other people’s happiness, haha, but I’m just not really feeling the hype behind this whole prom business. But I guess I won’t completely dismiss the idea either. I won’t be preparing an elaborate one-of-a-kind promposal like I know a lot of other guys are, since I don’t have anyone to ask anyway, but I’ll try to be more open to the idea.

I can’t tell for sure, but I think I might have typed less than last time. Ehhh, I don’t really know whether or not to apologize, this is kind of a weird predicament I’m in. Anyway, it’s Valentine’s Day, isn’t it? It actually snowed a bit where I am, so I guess it's a white Valentine's? I found this pretty cute Smash picture:

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Well, to show how much I appreciate you keeping me company on this site and replying to these posts, I’m going to be giving a rep to the past few replies you’ve sent me. I know it can’t beat chocolate, but take it as a thank you as well as a Valentine’s Day gift, haha.

Kenzi · February 19, 2015

Ah, that’s right, you have an art thread. I remember browsing through it a while ago and being rather impressed by what I saw. In my opinion, your work is really good! Considering you had to balance schoolwork with this hobby, you’ve made some high quality stuff. Also, your DeviantArt username isn’t that bad. If anything, it’s kind of cute. I don’t know how many request you’ve gotten but I guess it could get tiresome after a while. Even the best things in life can get dull if overdone. You definitely have always struck me as a “scientific” person. Even if you don’t know for sure what career you want, it’s always good to start thinking as soon as possible. It won’t be very long before people start asking what you want to major in and you start focusing in on specific schools that can provide you the best education. I plan on going into business despite math being my weakest subject just ahead of science (eheh, sorry…), mainly because I needed a good starting point when choose colleges to apply to. Otherwise, I would have applied to even more than sixteen schools. Also, as you start thinking about your future, just know that when people say “it’s okay to be undecided on our major” they’re lying. It’s just something admission officers and the like say to make people feel better. Even if some schools don’t discriminate based on your undeclared-ness, most colleges force you to officially declare a major before the second semester of freshman year starts anyway, so it’s not like you have a lot of free time to “explore your options” and “soul search”. Not to mention, investing in a college without much of an idea of what you want to get out of it can be a risky financial gamble as well. I don’t mean to diverge from the topic too much, but it’s something I thought you’d like to know since the long road to college can be full of more lies than you’d think. Hm, if you insist then I guess I won’t be holding onto the Mewtwo code quite as tightly as I was planning on. When you do get the game, whenever that may be, be sure to check with me in the event I still have the code.

I think the issue with and Facebook is that I’ve managed so long without it that I can’t really find a reason to make an account. Everyone has one now, and I know this sounds kind of stupid, but it makes me feel kind of special not having a Facebook, as misled as that belief is. I’m not trying to be a hipster or anything (trust me, I’m far from one) and it’s not like I dislike anything that’s mainstream. You might think I’m conservative, narrow-minded, or an old geezer in the body of a teenager, but eh I guess that’s just the way I am. While there are a lot of benefits to it like groups made to study for tests or the ability to keep track of faraway friends, I just… actually… I can’t really think of a good counter argument. Now that I think about it, there were a few people I knew that asked me to add them as friends on Facebook, and when I told them I didn’t have one they said not to forget them when I got around to making an account. They’re in college now and I haven’t heard from them in two years since I didn’t have any way of contacting them. Ah, looking back on it I feel kind of bad. I hope they don’t think poorly of me, and I guess it would be nice to let them know I haven’t forgotten about them. Sigh, I don’t know why I’m so stubborn when it comes to Facebook. Sorry, you probably think I’m kind of weird now if you didn’t already think so before, haha. Anyway, Frozen is still somewhat relevant. I was reminded of it when I girl I know wore a Frozen graphic t-shirt to school a couple days ago. I haven’t watched Frozen yet so I can’t judge, and it’s not like I come off as any less strange to other people since I have a small collection of anime and video games related graphic tees. I had them ordered for my birthday last year so the entire school knows about my hobbies, haha. Well, even without my t-shirts people would still know I like anime, which I’ll explain in further detail later in this post. The town I live in has a lot of Indians. It used to be a mainly Caucasian town, but then a wave of Asians, mainly Chinese with a couple of Koreans, flooded the schools in the late ‘80s to early 2000s. Recently though, there have been less and less Eastern Asians and a ton of Indians instead. It seems to be a second wave, and it’s rearing to be even bigger than the East Asian wave ever was. I walk by my elementary school every weekday, and occasionally I’m walking late enough after school to see the little kids get picked up by their parents. If I had to put a number on it, I’d say about 95% of the elementary schoolers are Indian. Our town is so famous amongst Indians everywhere. I’m not even exaggerating or trying to make a joke. My sister lives in Los Angeles and whenever she meets an Indian there she mentions she grew up in our town and every person so far has had a reaction to her saying that. They either have relatives and friends in our town or have heard of it from people they know. Crazy, isn’t it? Anyway, I’ve strayed too far off topic. I’ll wrap this up before it gets out of hand. Despite the growing number of Indians here, I find that most of my friends are still Asian, East Asian that it. Depending on the college I go to, that could all change very quickly, haha.

My Torchic (or Combusken now) is fully EV training and doing really well in this speed run. It’s actually good you brought up starter Pokemon. When I start Alpha Sapphire in the future, which starter should I get? It’s been nagging me from the back of my mind for a while now, but I can’t quite make up my mind. I mentioned this a long while back, but since I have a tendency to only use the Amulet Coin as a hold item I probably won’t be using anyone’s Mega form. I’ll admit that I thought Palkia’s design looked worse than Dialga’s back when they were first announced (ah, good times, I didn’t really use the Internet much back then so I relied on a senpai for all my Pokemon news, haha) but it’s grown on me. I mean, golly, it looks kind of like a pink small-headed T-rex with wings. I wish I had a shiny version of it. I managed to find a shiny Dialga and Giratina on GTS back before Nintendo discontinued Wi-Fi connectivity, but never stumbled upon a shiny Palkia.

New York City is a pretty great place. I live so close but never take the time to visit, unfortunately. Personally, it’s especially nice in the winter, right around Christmas time. All those parks with small booths and trees strung up with lights are great. Not to mention, there’s the Nintendo World Store. They usually have some pretty rare amiibo there. The last time I was there a couple of weeks ago there were a ton of Fox in stock, which is pretty hard to come by in other places. And my town can be pretty boring, too. Nothing ever really changes, but there’s always a charm in that which is familiar, right? The closest I had to someone enjoying stargazing was this one friend I had that told me she’s always wanted to find the constellation Cassiopeia. That was back in freshman year, and now she says there are more important things to do in life than worry about the stars. I don’t think I showed her my Common App essay, but I don’t think she’d have a very strong reaction to it anyway. Oh well, I guess growing up can be a bit sad, depending on how you look at it.

Oh geez, yeah I’ve had some crazy long chats with people. Gosh, Google Talk wasted a lot of my time back in the day. I think they’ve replaced it with Hangouts, or something, but I still have it set to the original layout and haven’t officially used their new system yet. Even if you reply to short messages likewise, I find it impressive that you reply to a long message with the same amount of effort. You’d think everyone would do what you do, but you’d be surprised. Pretty much everyone I know sends one line responses to everything and anything sent their way. Ah, and I’m not particularly upset or sad that I’m only a background or supporting characters, I just see that as how life is. If anything, it’s a part of life that I find beautiful, strange as that may sound. If you treat everyone equally, there won’t be anyone special, right? So I really do thank you for considering me an important person in your life. It counts as a lot to me, and I’m flattered by your words.

An important thing to do with Fate/stay night is keep your expectations in check. That doesn’t mean to keep your expectations low otherwise you’d be disappointed or something, no far from it. In my opinion, the first half of F/sn: UBW is tons better than the first season of F/Z. The thing with F/sn is that its layout is completely different than F/Z’s. While F/Z is a linear path with one distinct plot, F/sn is a multiverse with three routes. This means F/Z has the length of only two cours to reveal everything about all the Masters, Servants, and side characters. It does a rather fine job of it, save for perhaps Assassin and to a lesser extent Berserker. F/sn on the other hand has three times that length of time, which means not every character will be treated “fairly” in each route. For example, a Servant may die off early in one route with neither true identity nor Noble Phantasms revealed, but be practically a main character that fights his or her way to the very climax in another route. Because F/sn has such a unique layout, expecting to be fully satisfied by the end of even just UBW would be misleading yourself. UBW is only a fraction of the whole story with only parts of character development fully explored. Heaven’s Feel will provide more of that missing content, and I guess for the last bit of it you’re going to have to download the original visual novel and play through the Fate route. Apart from that, in F/Z you saw how all the Masters and Servants interacted with each other while in F/sn it takes a more limited view approach as the anime is seen (for the most part) through the eyes of a single character. Ah, sorry, I know it’s going to be a while before you find time to even get into F/sn, so this is all stuff you’re either going to have to remember or refer back to later. About that anime club, I was actually the one who founded it, haha. That’s why even without my graphic tees I wouldn’t exactly be able to keep my interests a secret. It’s doing rather well I think, and it’s set to continue even after I graduate. Maybe you could try founding an anime club at your own school? If you don’t have time this year, you could do it your senior year.

Yeah, since nothing they have to offer looks that great, I’ll meditate on it for a couple of months and get something at the last second. It would have been awesome if they had offered amiibos for their physical rewards, but I guess those need to be exclusive and not purchasable anywhere else. Hm, they could have given them golden stands or something, heh. Actually, I don’t have as much freedom as you think. While I’m able to ask my parents for things like video games, I’m not able to play them very often. I haven’t even laid eyes on my Wii U or my 3DS since Christmas. Not to mention, they do occasionally turn down some of my requests, which is why I have to give myself restrictions (like limiting myself to only seven amiibo or asking for things on holidays). For example, for my birthday I plan on asking my parents for Majora’s Mask 3D and Virtue’s Last Reward. I do plan on paying them back when I get a job though, haha. Also, I haven’t learned how to drive yet, ahaha. I haven’t even sat in the driver’s seat before or gotten a driving permit or anything, bleh. Ehh, my mom says that as a guy, I’m a disgrace.

Gosh, your school sounds intense. Close to throwing up and having a mental breakdown? Phew, that’s crazy. My school still has a valedictorian system, but people don’t rip each other apart trying to be top of the class. I think it’s because class rankings aren’t publically disclosed, so it’s kind of hard to keep track of who’s “better” than who. But regardless your school indeed sounds pretty amazing. You’re really lucky to be attending such a nice school, so definitely make the most of it. Even if you aren’t here to give me a legitimate hug, your words are enough. Just knowing you’re upset for my sake makes me feel a lot better. Also, there’s nothing all that impressive about me weathering it out until the end of junior year. If anything it’s just an indication of how stupidly stubborn I can be. Looking back on it, maybe I should have quite earlier to make room for exploring other facets of high school life, since our band program is unreasonably difficult and time consuming. But not all was for naught, as being in the band allowed for me to tryout for the regional ensembles, and when I got accepted into the regional orchestra in my sophomore year I met some really great people (the upperclassmen that I lost contact with that I mentioned earlier were those great people, funny enough). Once again, I really appreciate your words. There aren’t any people I’ve been able to tell about my problems with band, since the only people I trust enough to tell are in the school I go to and I would rather not have all hell break loose, so being able to get a bit of it off my chest and to have someone who truly cares on the receiving end is much more than I could have ever asked for.

Geez, you really are good with analytical/opinion writing. First it was with the whole Facebook thing and now with prom, haha. I just can’t seem to string together a very good argument. I wouldn’t be surprised if you could manage to convince me to buy sand from you in a desert. Well, the thing I can say is that I’m just not one for dancing. I’d just be there standing in a corner enjoying myself some expensive mini hot dogs, while everyone else is out there having themselves a good time. I don’t want to sound like a Grinch who hates other people’s happiness, haha, but I’m just not really feeling the hype behind this whole prom business. But I guess I won’t completely dismiss the idea either. I won’t be preparing an elaborate one-of-a-kind promposal like I know a lot of other guys are, since I don’t have anyone to ask anyway, but I’ll try to be more open to the idea.

I can’t tell for sure, but I think I might have typed less than last time. Ehhh, I don’t really know whether or not to apologize, this is kind of a weird predicament I’m in. Anyway, it’s Valentine’s Day, isn’t it? It actually snowed a bit where I am, so I guess it's a white Valentine's? I found this pretty cute Smash picture:

Well, to show how much I appreciate you keeping me company on this site and replying to these posts, I’m going to be giving a rep to the past few replies you’ve sent me. I know it can’t beat chocolate, but take it as a thank you as well as a Valentine’s Day gift, haha.

This hobby of mine didn't develop until the end of seventh grade, so I actually had the opportunity to invest as much time as I did into it. Making graphics was definitely a blast and I would spend hours interacting with bunches of other YouTubers after I managed to get my name out there. They were almost like a second family to me, but a lot has changed over the years after YouTube began experimenting with different layouts. I'd be trailing off again if I explained it all because there's a lot more to this whole YouTube story, but hopefully this gives you an idea of how much history I had on there. If this helps put things into perspective, investing time into my YouTube channel was arguably one of the best decisions of my life just because of how much I managed to learn from the experience. And I'm glad you like what I made! My graphics are nothing compared to those bigshot graphic designers, so I really do appreciate your kind words. I originally intended to go into the medical field--an oncologist, to be more specific. But I've also taken a liking to physics now that I'm taking the class, so I no longer have a set career choice anymore. It's a bit frustrating since the two subjects are rather far apart in terms of commonalities. I guess you could say I'm a bit more "open-minded" in my career choice now? Not sure if that's a good thing, but I think I'll wait a little longer before I make a firm decision. Also, I'm very, very grateful that you warned me about this career stuff because I would have walked into college completely oblivious if it weren't for you. My sister, strangely, never talks about this stuff so I'm really relieved that I have someone to help walk me through this process. Money was never much of an issue for my family so I don't think I'll run into financial problems when applying to colleges. They can be a bit stingy at times, but they're willing to cash out on nearly anything education-related. Holy geezus, sixteen schools? I had a friend who applied to ten and I already thought that was a lot. Good luck to you, nonetheless!

Believe it or not, I also had the same mindset towards cell phones. I felt unique in being the minority. When people asked me for my number, I'd just tell them that I didn't have a phone. They'd ask me why, and I'd tell them that it's because I didn't want one. Of course, that was until my parents forced one into my hands because they were sick of me borrowing phones in order to call them to pick me up from places, lol. From this, I understand exactly how you feel towards Facebook, but regardless, I hope you still keep an open mind about getting one since it really is a useful asset in everyday life. Once again, I'll say, "don't knock it till you try it,"--there has to be a reason why so many people have one, right? Ahaha, I don't have many opportunities to flaunt off my hobbies or interests. It's mostly just me hinting towards certain games, shows, and the like, and seeing if anyone happens to have a reaction to what I say. I've managed to nab a few friends just off of that and even vice versa--like when this person, now a really good friend of mine, happened to play the DC theme on his viola. Haha, I used to think our school was 75 percent Asian just because most the classes I took were flooded with them. That's definitely not the case now, but maybe that's the reason why you think there are so many Indian people in your town? I find it a bit hard to believe that 95 percent of the elementary schoolers in your town are Indian. That's like saying 19 out of 20 kids are Indian, lol. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm completely off-mark with this comment of mine since ethnicity ratios tend to vary a lot throughout America (as I saw during a road trip to the South). I just find this a little hard to digest since I've lived in areas with such diverse ethnicities for most of my life. I'm a little shocked, is all, haha.

Hrmm, probably not Torchic since I think you mentioned earlier that you got the event Torchic already. Mudkip or Treeko then? I'd probably pick Treeko just because I've ever used one before, but I suppose this wouldn't be the best way to help you decide what you'd choose, haha. I didn't have anyone to look up to when I got my Platinum game. I mainly played it by myself and looked up a bunch of aftergame stuff on Serebii using my dad's laptop when he wasn't looking, ehehe. Palkia's design has also grown on me just because it looks a lot "friendlier" and "softer" than cold, steel Dialga. I don't know how else to put it, lol ...though I would have preferred if Palkia's shiny was blue..................heh. Whoa, you managed to find a shiny Giratina on the GTS? Its shiny is, undoubtedly, one of the best, if not the best. Haha, I was thinking about mentioning Garchomp as one of favorite shinies, but I felt that'd be a little too trollish.

I love NYC to pieces and I was even thinking about moving back once I'm older, but it really is too much of a luxury to live there. I just want to point out that one of the first comments my parents made when we moved here was how cheap the mushrooms were. I still remember the exhilarating daytime atmosphere and the lively night life--especially during the holidays. I could go on and on about it but I don't want to go even more off topic that I already have, not that it matters anyway. The top tourist attraction in our town is a mall that I've been to countless amounts of times. It's actually a really high-class mall (fountains, preserved palms, you name it), but I've been so used to it that I'm a bit ashamed to admit that it's boring now. It's nice to be familiar with my surroundings since the bustling city can get a bit tiresome once in a while, but it's just...boring, haha. I can't even go stargazing because there's just enough light pollution to drown out most of the stars. I don't want to come off as whiny because this really is a nice town to live in. I just want to experience more, go places, you know? Ah, well, it can't be helped, I guess. Though I understand that people can change as time goes on, I still find it a bit surprising that your friend blew off her interest of stargazing as quickly as she did. I never had the time to study up on constellations, but I plan to if I ever find the opportunity to go stargazing again. The whole idea of "growing up" never stuck with me. I'm not particularly fond of how "growing up" means throwing away former ideals for more "realistic" ones. Perhaps my ignorant self isn't in touch with reality yet, but maybe that's one of the beauties of still being a kid. Ignorance is bliss, after all.

I can't even imagine how many hours I spent on Gmail chats talking to this one friend of mine. Hours, days, weeks, months, possibly years, haha. Like you, I still haven't accepted their new system yet, and I probably never will. I get that our generation tends to enjoy the chat-like format of texting, which is why I rarely respond to messages with detail--unless they do the same. If the person on the receiving end of the conversation isn't willing to reply with a long message (perhaps they're too busy and don't have time), it only makes sense that they wouldn't want to read a long message either. I normally don't mind one-liners since I'm also the type of person who will reply to messages with stuff like, "ok, got it." Sometimes I'd vent by replying with gibberish like, "dfakdjfkjdhgsfkgdfg" in order to express incoherent emotion. Sometimes I'd respond very informally, "omg, wat." It all really depends on the person I'm talking to. Gosh, it's hard to communicate this kind of stuff over the internet. I swear I don't have split personalities, lol. I admire how you look at the world in such a positive manner. You may not realize it, but I've learned a lot from you. I suppose it's true that treating everyone equally means that there's no one special anymore. Life is a bit strange in this aspect, but it also gives a whole new meaning to "special" now, haha.

I think this may be why I didn't rate F/Z as high as many others did. A lot of information seemed missing, incomplete, even irrelevant. If F/SN is going to end in a similar respect, I'd probably give it the same rating as F/Z, if not lower. In my opinion, an anime should be able to stand by itself without the need of visual novels to enhance the experience. Why not just play the visual novel and skip the anime entirely then? Steins;Gate was also based off of a visual novel but it still stands very nicely by itself. It's complete, all bases are covered, and no questions are left unanswered (with the exception of some very minor details that can be easily overlooked since they were needed for the progression of the plot). Perhaps I'm being a bit too critical or maybe I'm even approaching this the wrong way, but I just don't like the feeling of being "cheated" out of an experience that I had high expectations for. I really wanted to like the Fate series, and I even thought it would give Steins;Gate a run for its money because of how much you were advocating it. I think the one of the only reasons I rated F/Z as high as I did was because of Kiritsugu's character conflict--I'm a sucker for those. I'll still watch F/SN along with the movie, and if I have time, I'll watch a playthrough of the visual novel. It's not what I originally intended, but if it'll help the experience, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. As usual, I really do appreciate the trouble you're going through just to inform me about this. This reaction of mine probably wasn't what you expected, so I apologize for that. As for clubs, I have experience as an officer, but I don't think I have the guts to become a founder of a club--though an anime club does sound pretty awesome. I haven't watched much anime (or at least compared to some people on MAL), so I don't think I'd be qualified to create one either. I still think it's amazing how you managed to create your own club. You've gained a few more respect points from me, haha.

Honestly, something as massive as closing down a rewards system should provide members a much better variety to choose from. Hopefully whatever they plan in the future will turn out to be better. I don't think I have a lack of freedom either, it's just that I'm too afraid to test it. Anything I say can set my parents off, so I tend to be more wary with my words and actions around them nowadays. I never even thought about taking Drivers Ed until my parents forced me to near the end of sophomore year. I'm actually really grateful that they did because it saves me the trouble of having to take the class as a junior since I wouldn't have the time. Oh my goodness, don't be so down on yourself! There's nothing wrong with learning how to drive as a senior. I also have a few other senior friends who haven't learned how to drive yet, so you are most certainly not alone.

It's a competitive school, but it's hard to hate it. I'm just happy that the district had enough sense to remove the valedictorian system or else I'd probably have no sleep or social life, haha. The music program is probably one of my favorite aspects of our school, and it really is a shame that you weren't able to experience the full enjoyment. You'd fit in great around here, and considering that you were accepted into your regional orchestra, I have no doubt that you'd have no trouble making it into our symphonic band if you wanted to audition. Contrary to what you may believe, I don't think sticking with the band program was done as an act of stubbornness. I'm not sure if you realize this, but three years is a long time. To be able to endure such agony for three years is very much admirable in my eyes. I definitely would have cracked by the end of freshman year. And I'm glad you managed to gain something out of it! I'm also happy that I was able to help a bit because I really do owe you one for listening to some of my previous rants. I understand how it feels when you can't confide in real life friends since I've also been in that situation many times.

Haha, I'm not the one to dance or party either. I think going for the experience is enough, and even if it doesn't turn out as great as I'd have hoped, at least I can tell myself that I accomplished something that day. It would be one less thing I might end up regretting when I'm older. I've also known people who don't regret about not going, so don't sweat it!

lol, don't worry about the length of your posts. It's not like this is an English essay that requires a maximum and minimum word count, haha.

Oh my goshhhhh, ahhhhhhh, how do you find such good fanart?! :')

(I stared at this for a good five minutes, by the way, heh.)

Goodness, I really wasn't expecting this. It wasn't necessary to inflate my rep count, but I do appreciate the gesture. I guess it wouldn't hurt if I did the same--especially with that common app essay of yours. It was such a pleasure to read. And I really am thankful that you were able to put up with me for so long, haha.

Kitty Paw · February 19, 2015

Evolve

Metantei Kiddo · February 20, 2015

Left 4 Dead 2

Akazora · February 22, 2015

This hobby of mine didn't develop until the end of seventh grade, so I actually had the opportunity to invest as much time as I did into it. Making graphics was definitely a blast and I would spend hours interacting with bunches of other YouTubers after I managed to get my name out there. They were almost like a second family to me, but a lot has changed over the years after YouTube began experimenting with different layouts. I'd be trailing off again if I explained it all because there's a lot more to this whole YouTube story, but hopefully this gives you an idea of how much history I had on there. If this helps put things into perspective, investing time into my YouTube channel was arguably one of the best decisions of my life just because of how much I managed to learn from the experience. And I'm glad you like what I made! My graphics are nothing compared to those bigshot graphic designers, so I really do appreciate your kind words. I originally intended to go into the medical field--an oncologist, to be more specific. But I've also taken a liking to physics now that I'm taking the class, so I no longer have a set career choice anymore. It's a bit frustrating since the two subjects are rather far apart in terms of commonalities. I guess you could say I'm a bit more "open-minded" in my career choice now? Not sure if that's a good thing, but I think I'll wait a little longer before I make a firm decision. Also, I'm very, very grateful that you warned me about this career stuff because I would have walked into college completely oblivious if it weren't for you. My sister, strangely, never talks about this stuff so I'm really relieved that I have someone to help walk me through this process. Money was never much of an issue for my family so I don't think I'll run into financial problems when applying to colleges. They can be a bit stingy at times, but they're willing to cash out on nearly anything education-related. Holy geezus, sixteen schools? I had a friend who applied to ten and I already thought that was a lot. Good luck to you, nonetheless!

Believe it or not, I also had the same mindset towards cell phones. I felt unique in being the minority. When people asked me for my number, I'd just tell them that I didn't have a phone. They'd ask me why, and I'd tell them that it's because I didn't want one. Of course, that was until my parents forced one into my hands because they were sick of me borrowing phones in order to call them to pick me up from places, lol. From this, I understand exactly how you feel towards Facebook, but regardless, I hope you still keep an open mind about getting one since it really is a useful asset in everyday life. Once again, I'll say, "don't knock it till you try it,"--there has to be a reason why so many people have one, right? Ahaha, I don't have many opportunities to flaunt off my hobbies or interests. It's mostly just me hinting towards certain games, shows, and the like, and seeing if anyone happens to have a reaction to what I say. I've managed to nab a few friends just off of that and even vice versa--like when this person, now a really good friend of mine, happened to play the DC theme on his viola. Haha, I used to think our school was 75 percent Asian just because most the classes I took were flooded with them. That's definitely not the case now, but maybe that's the reason why you think there are so many Indian people in your town? I find it a bit hard to believe that 95 percent of the elementary schoolers in your town are Indian. That's like saying 19 out of 20 kids are Indian, lol. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm completely off-mark with this comment of mine since ethnicity ratios tend to vary a lot throughout America (as I saw during a road trip to the South). I just find this a little hard to digest since I've lived in areas with such diverse ethnicities for most of my life. I'm a little shocked, is all, haha.

Hrmm, probably not Torchic since I think you mentioned earlier that you got the event Torchic already. Mudkip or Treeko then? I'd probably pick Treeko just because I've ever used one before, but I suppose this wouldn't be the best way to help you decide what you'd choose, haha. I didn't have anyone to look up to when I got my Platinum game. I mainly played it by myself and looked up a bunch of aftergame stuff on Serebii using my dad's laptop when he wasn't looking, ehehe. Palkia's design has also grown on me just because it looks a lot "friendlier" and "softer" than cold, steel Dialga. I don't know how else to put it, lol ...though I would have preferred if Palkia's shiny was blue..................heh. Whoa, you managed to find a shiny Giratina on the GTS? Its shiny is, undoubtedly, one of the best, if not the best. Haha, I was thinking about mentioning Garchomp as one of favorite shinies, but I felt that'd be a little too trollish.

I love NYC to pieces and I was even thinking about moving back once I'm older, but it really is too much of a luxury to live there. I just want to point out that one of the first comments my parents made when we moved here was how cheap the mushrooms were. I still remember the exhilarating daytime atmosphere and the lively night life--especially during the holidays. I could go on and on about it but I don't want to go even more off topic that I already have, not that it matters anyway. The top tourist attraction in our town is a mall that I've been to countless amounts of times. It's actually a really high-class mall (fountains, preserved palms, you name it), but I've been so used to it that I'm a bit ashamed to admit that it's boring now. It's nice to be familiar with my surroundings since the bustling city can get a bit tiresome once in a while, but it's just...boring, haha. I can't even go stargazing because there's just enough light pollution to drown out most of the stars. I don't want to come off as whiny because this really is a nice town to live in. I just want to experience more, go places, you know? Ah, well, it can't be helped, I guess. Though I understand that people can change as time goes on, I still find it a bit surprising that your friend blew off her interest of stargazing as quickly as she did. I never had the time to study up on constellations, but I plan to if I ever find the opportunity to go stargazing again. The whole idea of "growing up" never stuck with me. I'm not particularly fond of how "growing up" means throwing away former ideals for more "realistic" ones. Perhaps my ignorant self isn't in touch with reality yet, but maybe that's one of the beauties of still being a kid. Ignorance is bliss, after all.

I can't even imagine how many hours I spent on Gmail chats talking to this one friend of mine. Hours, days, weeks, months, possibly years, haha. Like you, I still haven't accepted their new system yet, and I probably never will. I get that our generation tends to enjoy the chat-like format of texting, which is why I rarely respond to messages with detail--unless they do the same. If the person on the receiving end of the conversation isn't willing to reply with a long message (perhaps they're too busy and don't have time), it only makes sense that they wouldn't want to read a long message either. I normally don't mind one-liners since I'm also the type of person who will reply to messages with stuff like, "ok, got it." Sometimes I'd vent by replying with gibberish like, "dfakdjfkjdhgsfkgdfg" in order to express incoherent emotion. Sometimes I'd respond very informally, "omg, wat." It all really depends on the person I'm talking to. Gosh, it's hard to communicate this kind of stuff over the internet. I swear I don't have split personalities, lol. I admire how you look at the world in such a positive manner. You may not realize it, but I've learned a lot from you. I suppose it's true that treating everyone equally means that there's no one special anymore. Life is a bit strange in this aspect, but it also gives a whole new meaning to "special" now, haha.

I think this may be why I didn't rate F/Z as high as many others did. A lot of information seemed missing, incomplete, even irrelevant. If F/SN is going to end in a similar respect, I'd probably give it the same rating as F/Z, if not lower. In my opinion, an anime should be able to stand by itself without the need of visual novels to enhance the experience. Why not just play the visual novel and skip the anime entirely then? Steins;Gate was also based off of a visual novel but it still stands very nicely by itself. It's complete, all bases are covered, and no questions are left unanswered (with the exception of some very minor details that can be easily overlooked since they were needed for the progression of the plot). Perhaps I'm being a bit too critical or maybe I'm even approaching this the wrong way, but I just don't like the feeling of being "cheated" out of an experience that I had high expectations for. I really wanted to like the Fate series, and I even thought it would give Steins;Gate a run for its money because of how much you were advocating it. I think the one of the only reasons I rated F/Z as high as I did was because of Kiritsugu's character conflict--I'm a sucker for those. I'll still watch F/SN along with the movie, and if I have time, I'll watch a playthrough of the visual novel. It's not what I originally intended, but if it'll help the experience, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. As usual, I really do appreciate the trouble you're going through just to inform me about this. This reaction of mine probably wasn't what you expected, so I apologize for that. As for clubs, I have experience as an officer, but I don't think I have the guts to become a founder of a club--though an anime club does sound pretty awesome. I haven't watched much anime (or at least compared to some people on MAL), so I don't think I'd be qualified to create one either. I still think it's amazing how you managed to create your own club. You've gained a few more respect points from me, haha.

Honestly, something as massive as closing down a rewards system should provide members a much better variety to choose from. Hopefully whatever they plan in the future will turn out to be better. I don't think I have a lack of freedom either, it's just that I'm too afraid to test it. Anything I say can set my parents off, so I tend to be more wary with my words and actions around them nowadays. I never even thought about taking Drivers Ed until my parents forced me to near the end of sophomore year. I'm actually really grateful that they did because it saves me the trouble of having to take the class as a junior since I wouldn't have the time. Oh my goodness, don't be so down on yourself! There's nothing wrong with learning how to drive as a senior. I also have a few other senior friends who haven't learned how to drive yet, so you are most certainly not alone.

It's a competitive school, but it's hard to hate it. I'm just happy that the district had enough sense to remove the valedictorian system or else I'd probably have no sleep or social life, haha. The music program is probably one of my favorite aspects of our school, and it really is a shame that you weren't able to experience the full enjoyment. You'd fit in great around here, and considering that you were accepted into your regional orchestra, I have no doubt that you'd have no trouble making it into our symphonic band if you wanted to audition. Contrary to what you may believe, I don't think sticking with the band program was done as an act of stubbornness. I'm not sure if you realize this, but three years is a long time. To be able to endure such agony for three years is very much admirable in my eyes. I definitely would have cracked by the end of freshman year. And I'm glad you managed to gain something out of it! I'm also happy that I was able to help a bit because I really do owe you one for listening to some of my previous rants. I understand how it feels when you can't confide in real life friends since I've also been in that situation many times.

Haha, I'm not the one to dance or party either. I think going for the experience is enough, and even if it doesn't turn out as great as I'd have hoped, at least I can tell myself that I accomplished something that day. It would be one less thing I might end up regretting when I'm older. I've also known people who don't regret about not going, so don't sweat it!

lol, don't worry about the length of your posts. It's not like this is an English essay that requires a maximum and minimum word count, haha.

Oh my goshhhhh, ahhhhhhh, how do you find such good fanart?! :')

(I stared at this for a good five minutes, by the way, heh.)

Goodness, I really wasn't expecting this. It wasn't necessary to inflate my rep count, but I do appreciate the gesture. I guess it wouldn't hurt if I did the same--especially with that common app essay of yours. It was such a pleasure to read. And I really am thankful that you were able to put up with me for so long, haha.

It’s really cool how you managed to meet so many people with the same hobby as you through YouTube. From what I’ve gathered lurking around, there are some really wide spread webs that connect YouTubers with the same content, whether it be anime or video games (eheh, the videos I usually watch). It’s awesome how fans can connect in that way. Sometimes I wish I had a YouTube account that I used to actually upload things I’m interested in, but I never did find the time for it. Not to mention, I wasn’t able to really think of anything I was particularly good at to share anyway, ahaha. Oh, and I really don’t mind you going off topic. If you ever want to tell me more about your experience on YouTube, I’d be happy to listen. I’m only a year older than you, so I’m not too sure how helpful my advice would be since I could be easily mistaken about some things regarding college and all, but if you have any concerns I’ll try my best to help out. I know, sixteen colleges and universities of all sorts is pretty overwhelming. I can’t remember everything I’ve applied to off the top of my head, no joke. I need to go back and check. It’s especially bad when most of those schools ask for you to check your decision notice on their portal, and they give you some random username consisting of your initials and a three-digit number or, even worse, a long string of random letters and numbers and you have to keep track of which username belongs to which college. It’s a real hassle, though I guess it’s partially my fault for not organizing all my information nicely somewhere. I see, it’s good that you have money to spare. The thing is, I don’t think I’ve had to opportunity to mention this to you yet, but I have a younger brother who’s a freshman in high school right now, and while my parents are rather well off, they aren’t really anything more than upper middle class. Especially after my parents helped pay for my sister’s tuition a few years ago, they’ve bit a bit hesitant to throw money even at things like prestigious colleges. With tuition costs on the rise, it’s becoming harder and harder to afford high end schools that aren’t going to hand out merit based scholarships unless you’re a certified genius. Is it really worth going to an Ivy League that charges you over $60,000 a year or should you settle for a respectable public school that gives you a full ride and you attend for completely free? There’s no right or wrong answer, as everyone’s financial and lifestyle situation is different. Even I don’t know which way I’d choose, and I have to make a final, irreversible decision before I know it. I don’t want to stress out about it, but I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t occasionally cross my mind. Thank you for the good luck, though!

Goodness me, I still haven’t gotten around to getting a cell phone yet. I’ve put it off for this long, but I don’t think I’d be in a very good position if I don’t get one by the time I’m off to college. I can imagine it would be a lot weirder asking some random person next to you to borrow his or her cell phone once you’re out of high school. They’d think you’re some of creep. Ah, that definitely wouldn’t be the best way to start a new chapter in my life. Actually, I technically do own a cell phone. My parents bought me one and they have a phone plan on it and everything, but I never use it. I think it’s just sitting on a table somewhere in the house. I don’t even know what model it is. I’m far from an expert on phones, but I feel like it’s kind of a waste buying a plan for something never touched. My parents aren’t forcing me to use it or anything though, so I don’t think it’s a very big deal. I’m actually fairly certain there are a lot of Indians in my town. In my grade, I’d say about 50% of students are Indian, and the percentage is even higher for my brother’s grade. He even has one class where he’s the only non-Indian (his class is about 25 large). I was rather shocked to find that upwards of 95% of elementary schoolers were Indian myself. But that’s only counting kids in schools. Most of the town is still Caucasian (though I’d admit Indians would come in second), but it’s just that those Caucasians don’t have any children attending the public schools, so sometimes they’re hard to headcount. Also, most students go elsewhere for college and beyond, so they don’t really hang around our town too much (there’s nothing to do here either, haha) which is why at a glance, as long as you don’t look too deeply into one of the schools, you’d think my town was pretty standard.

Hm, I guess I’ll worry about which starter to pick when the time comes. There’s absolutely no rush anyway. I do have to say Palkia’s shiny version isn’t all that impressive, and I’d agree with you in preferring a blue coloration. I found that shiny Giratina a long time ago; it was one of the earlier shinies I dug up on GTS. I think it’s legitimate too, thought I remember checking and finding that it wasn’t EV trained. So, I mentioned a few days ago that I finally got around to learning how to RNG abuse in 4th gen games (thank God for snow days). I’ll admit it was harder to conceptualize compared to 3rd gen RNG abuse, but funny enough it gives you much more flexibility in choosing Pokemon and stats to obtain, and it’s even a bit easier to execute. The only difficult thing is learning how to do it, which will probably take a few consecutive hours (given it’s difficult, if not impossible, to stop in the middle of the process and pick up later). I’m really happy with the Cresselia I managed to get from it. I mentioned before it had perfect IVs in HP and Speed and 26 in the defenses. It will have no damaging moves, so the attack IVs don’t matter. I could have managed perfect 31s all across the board, but I sacrificed a few stats to make it shiny, hehe. I plan on making the rest of my Battle Tower team shiny via RNG abuse as well. If you’re curious, I’m borrowing this successful set I found here. Gosh, if I had learned 4th gen RNG abuse earlier I probably would have that black trainer card already and have officially completed my Pearl version a while ago.

My town has this one mall that’s not very attractive. Or at least, I don’t think it is. It isn’t particularly big or fancy and I don’t it’s very popular elsewhere, but it gets the job done. I don’t go very often, mainly because there’s just nothing to do there. Pretty standard mall if you ask me. There is however this one landmark that’s pretty popular that’s located in our town. If I told you what it was, you’d know which town I lived in instantly even if you aren’t very familiar with the landmark specifically. Hm, that sounds contradictory, doesn’t it? It’s hard to explain unless you know which landmark I was talking about, haha. It’s not a place that gets many visitors, though there is a mini museum right next to the landmark. It’s kind of obscurely located even though it’s historically significant. I don’t mean to ramble, especially because this probably doesn’t mean much to you, eheh, sorry about that. And I understand, I’ve lived in my town for so long that I’m yearning for a change of scenery. There’s so much of the world I haven’t seen yet and I’ve been enticed by so many trips that I’m really excited about living somewhere else for a few years. That is, unless I go New Jersey’s official state university, in which case it wouldn’t feel much different. I also don’t feel like growing necessarily means throwing away your childhood. That’s how some people grow, and I guess that’s all fine and good for them as long as they’re happy. Personally though, I feel like I’ll always be a bit of a kid at heart. I’m only 17 going on 18, so it’s not like I’m in any position to say how I think I’ll be living as an adult, but that’s just the gut feeling I have.

Nah, you don’t come off to me as having split personalities at all. You’ve explained it well enough. The thing is, I don’t always find myself typing too much; sometimes even I can be a bit curt in my responses to people. I think one of the reasons why I do tend to type a lot is because I try my best to use proper grammar and punctuation. It’s been like this since I first started using Google Talk and it hasn’t changed much. Of course, I do let myself slide a bit when I find it necessary to, but I find that proper punctuation especially can come off as cold or rude or something which is why I usually type a lot to show that I’m not not interested in what someone else has to say. Of course, this also causes new problems, like overdoing it to the point I feel like I’m bothering others. Ah geez, you’d think at this point I’d have found a good balance. Yeah, I do feel that I’m more positive than negative. There are just so many great things about life that even when misfortune strikes I don’t really want to waste time getting upset over it. Nobody’s really complimented me about this though, haha, I think because at a glance I just look like some dork who locks himself up watching Japanese cartoons and playing Japanese games all day long. After all, most stereotypical dorks aren’t exactly the happiest bunch. It makes me happy to know you’ve learned some things from me though. I hope I can be of further assistance in the future as well.

Oh gosh, there’s no need to apologize for feeling how you do. The Fate series definitely isn’t perfect, but I feel that there are a lot more pros than cons and it’s something that I wouldn’t mind investing the time in. Another thing to note about Fate/stay night is its length. The visual novel is ridiculously long though you wouldn’t really guess it from the length of the anime series. I’ll take the new UBW for example. The length of the first half, with the prologue and special long episodes taken into consideration, is 16 episodes. However, this isn’t the true length of the first half. The Blu-ray edition of the series will be adding 90-100 extra minutes of footage. These were scenes that ufotable intended on putting in the series but couldn’t fit given the time restraints on an airing anime in a 30-minute time slot. Fate/Zero did something similar, though not to quite the extent of UBW, which is why you’ll notice some episode lengths are longer in F/Z than others, notably episode 11. These 90-100 minutes translate to about 4.5 episodes in length (given each standard episode is 24 minutes – 3 minutes for the opening and ending = 21 true minutes). If UBW’s first half is truly 20.5 episodes in length (honestly nearly two cours), then let’s assume the second half will be the same. This brings UBW’s length to 41 episodes. Now let’s assume again that the Fate and Heaven’s Feel routes are the same length as UBW. This makes the entirety of Fate/stay night 123 episodes, about ten cour long. This calculates to about 43 hours of content, which is still shorter than the actual visual novel. Most people seem to say it takes about 50 hours or around two full days to beat, of course with reading speed a major factor. From what I can tell, it seems you’ve actually started UBW. You probably realize there’s a massive budget behind the series, one much bigger than F/Z’s. Unfortunately, while most people would love to have a full adaptation of the visual novel, a 123 episode anime would spread that high budget thin. Ufotable probably only earned enough money from F/Z to animate one route, UBW. The money made on UBW will probably be used to animate the Heaven’s Feel movie(s). I’m pretty satisfied by what’s in store for the future, even if it’s not an ideal situation, haha. This wasn’t really written with the intent of converting you to a diehard F/sn fan. It was more just to let you know what’s going on behind the scenes once you crunch the numbers. Anyway, since you’ve already watched the prologue episode, what do you think of it so far? And founding an anime club wasn’t all that impressive. Objectively it’s quite a bit of extra work, since I’m taking far more seriously than anyone else on my exec board, but it’s also a lot of fun. But I realize it would be rude to turn down a compliment, so I guess thanks, haha.

The Elite Member rewards haven’t been announced yet (they will be in early April, just in time for my birthday), so there’s still a chance Club Nintendo is going to go out with a bang. Elite Member rewards are either downloadable games or physical items, though I’d much rather have a physical item given downloadable games can be purchased. CN’s physical rewards are always exclusive items, and it’s nice to know I own something rare. Honestly, I’m not completely impressed by what I’ve seen, but I guess that messenger bag is still another one of those nice things I’ll be looking forward to in the future. Ah, I’m not really down on myself about not being able to drive. If anything, I just don’t really feel lie learning, eheheh. I wanted to back when I took driver’s ed as a sophomore, but then my parents shut me down saying I was a fool for thinking I had the time to learn how to drive with the shape my grades were in. Now as a senior, I don’t really want to learn how to drive but my parents are saying I’m a fool for not wanting to learn because people would look down on me. Our opinions are just having a tough time aligning. It’s kind of like with prom. My mom doesn’t like the idea of me not going. I think she’s worried kids will tell their parents that I’m some weirdo for not going and then those parents will tell other parents and then everyone will think my parents are incapable of raising a normal child, haha. It’s almost kind of funny, how angry my mom can get about me not wanting to go to prom.

Ahh, your school does seem really great. Bleh, my school is competitive but easy to hate. When my sister went to college, she said it was a lot easier than high school (even though she attended Dartmouth) and that she met a lot of people there who missed their high schools. This goes without being said, but my sister didn’t miss high school at all. I think she missed some friends and this one cute teacher. Haha, honestly, I don’t think I’ll miss my high school either. I might miss the club I founded or some people there, but I really doubt I’ll miss much else. Hm, I do hope the music program in whatever school I go to is nice. I actually haven’t picked up my oboe that much since I quite band, eheh. While it’s something that’s tied to some good memories, it’s also connected to far more bad ones.

I just sort of lurk around a couple of video game and anime sites and find some really surprising stuff. Yeeah, it is a really nice picture, haha. Gives me an urge to up and play some Smash. I have some amiibos to use now and I really want to train them up soon. I guess I’ll get my chance during spring break, which also coincides with my birthday, as long as I don’t spend the entire break visiting schools to decide on which one to attend.

I know DCW reps aren’t all that exciting or important, but honestly the amount of effort you put into responding to me every week is definitely worth at least one point. Especially when you consider most of the thousands of posts made on this site are short, silly things. Thanks for the reps, too, haha. Here’s another one for your work!

Kitty Paw · February 22, 2015

It’s really cool how you managed to meet so many people with the same hobby as you through YouTube. From what I’ve gathered lurking around, there are some really wide spread webs that connect YouTubers with the same content, whether it be anime or video games (eheh, the videos I usually watch). It’s awesome how fans can connect in that way. Sometimes I wish I had a YouTube account that I used to actually upload things I’m interested in, but I never did find the time for it. Not to mention, I wasn’t able to really think of anything I was particularly good at to share anyway, ahaha. Oh, and I really don’t mind you going off topic. If you ever want to tell me more about your experience on YouTube, I’d be happy to listen. I’m only a year older than you, so I’m not too sure how helpful my advice would be since I could be easily mistaken about some things regarding college and all, but if you have any concerns I’ll try my best to help out. I know, sixteen colleges and universities of all sorts is pretty overwhelming. I can’t remember everything I’ve applied to off the top of my head, no joke. I need to go back and check. It’s especially bad when most of those schools ask for you to check your decision notice on their portal, and they give you some random username consisting of your initials and a three-digit number or, even worse, a long string of random letters and numbers and you have to keep track of which username belongs to which college. It’s a real hassle, though I guess it’s partially my fault for not organizing all my information nicely somewhere. I see, it’s good that you have money to spare. The thing is, I don’t think I’ve had to opportunity to mention this to you yet, but I have a younger brother who’s a freshman in high school right now, and while my parents are rather well off, they aren’t really anything more than upper middle class. Especially after my parents helped pay for my sister’s tuition a few years ago, they’ve bit a bit hesitant to throw money even at things like prestigious colleges. With tuition costs on the rise, it’s becoming harder and harder to afford high end schools that aren’t going to hand out merit based scholarships unless you’re a certified genius. Is it really worth going to an Ivy League that charges you over $60,000 a year or should you settle for a respectable public school that gives you a full ride and you attend for completely free? There’s no right or wrong answer, as everyone’s financial and lifestyle situation is different. Even I don’t know which way I’d choose, and I have to make a final, irreversible decision before I know it. I don’t want to stress out about it, but I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t occasionally cross my mind. Thank you for the good luck, though!

Goodness me, I still haven’t gotten around to getting a cell phone yet. I’ve put it off for this long, but I don’t think I’d be in a very good position if I don’t get one by the time I’m off to college. I can imagine it would be a lot weirder asking some random person next to you to borrow his or her cell phone once you’re out of high school. They’d think you’re some of creep. Ah, that definitely wouldn’t be the best way to start a new chapter in my life. Actually, I technically do own a cell phone. My parents bought me one and they have a phone plan on it and everything, but I never use it. I think it’s just sitting on a table somewhere in the house. I don’t even know what model it is. I’m far from an expert on phones, but I feel like it’s kind of a waste buying a plan for something never touched. My parents aren’t forcing me to use it or anything though, so I don’t think it’s a very big deal. I’m actually fairly certain there are a lot of Indians in my town. In my grade, I’d say about 50% of students are Indian, and the percentage is even higher for my brother’s grade. He even has one class where he’s the only non-Indian (his class is about 25 large). I was rather shocked to find that upwards of 95% of elementary schoolers were Indian myself. But that’s only counting kids in schools. Most of the town is still Caucasian (though I’d admit Indians would come in second), but it’s just that those Caucasians don’t have any children attending the public schools, so sometimes they’re hard to headcount. Also, most students go elsewhere for college and beyond, so they don’t really hang around our town too much (there’s nothing to do here either, haha) which is why at a glance, as long as you don’t look too deeply into one of the schools, you’d think my town was pretty standard.

Hm, I guess I’ll worry about which starter to pick when the time comes. There’s absolutely no rush anyway. I do have to say Palkia’s shiny version isn’t all that impressive, and I’d agree with you in preferring a blue coloration. I found that shiny Giratina a long time ago; it was one of the earlier shinies I dug up on GTS. I think it’s legitimate too, thought I remember checking and finding that it wasn’t EV trained. So, I mentioned a few days ago that I finally got around to learning how to RNG abuse in 4th gen games (thank God for snow days). I’ll admit it was harder to conceptualize compared to 3rd gen RNG abuse, but funny enough it gives you much more flexibility in choosing Pokemon and stats to obtain, and it’s even a bit easier to execute. The only difficult thing is learning how to do it, which will probably take a few consecutive hours (given it’s difficult, if not impossible, to stop in the middle of the process and pick up later). I’m really happy with the Cresselia I managed to get from it. I mentioned before it had perfect IVs in HP and Speed and 26 in the defenses. It will have no damaging moves, so the attack IVs don’t matter. I could have managed perfect 31s all across the board, but I sacrificed a few stats to make it shiny, hehe. I plan on making the rest of my Battle Tower team shiny via RNG abuse as well. If you’re curious, I’m borrowing this successful set I found here. Gosh, if I had learned 4th gen RNG abuse earlier I probably would have that black trainer card already and have officially completed my Pearl version a while ago.

My town has this one mall that’s not very attractive. Or at least, I don’t think it is. It isn’t particularly big or fancy and I don’t it’s very popular elsewhere, but it gets the job done. I don’t go very often, mainly because there’s just nothing to do there. Pretty standard mall if you ask me. There is however this one landmark that’s pretty popular that’s located in our town. If I told you what it was, you’d know which town I lived in instantly even if you aren’t very familiar with the landmark specifically. Hm, that sounds contradictory, doesn’t it? It’s hard to explain unless you know which landmark I was talking about, haha. It’s not a place that gets many visitors, though there is a mini museum right next to the landmark. It’s kind of obscurely located even though it’s historically significant. I don’t mean to ramble, especially because this probably doesn’t mean much to you, eheh, sorry about that. And I understand, I’ve lived in my town for so long that I’m yearning for a change of scenery. There’s so much of the world I haven’t seen yet and I’ve been enticed by so many trips that I’m really excited about living somewhere else for a few years. That is, unless I go New Jersey’s official state university, in which case it wouldn’t feel much different. I also don’t feel like growing necessarily means throwing away your childhood. That’s how some people grow, and I guess that’s all fine and good for them as long as they’re happy. Personally though, I feel like I’ll always be a bit of a kid at heart. I’m only 17 going on 18, so it’s not like I’m in any positive to say how I think I’ll be living as an adult, but that’s just the gut feeling I have.

Nah, you don’t come off to me as having split personalities at all. You’ve explained it well enough. The thing is, I don’t always find myself typing too much; sometimes even I can be a bit curt in my responses to people. I think one of the reasons why I do tend to type a lot is because I try my best to use proper grammar and punctuation. It’s been like this since I first started using Google Talk and it hasn’t changed much. Of course, I do let myself slide a bit when I find it necessary to, but I find that proper punctuation especially can come off as cold or rude or something which is why I usually type a lot to show that I’m not not interested in what someone else has to say. Of course, this also causes new problems, like overdoing it to the point I feel like I’m bothering others. Ah geez, you’d think at this point I’d have found a good balance. Yeah, I do feel that I’m more positive than negative. There are just so many great things about life that even when misfortune strikes I don’t really want to waste time getting upset over it. Nobody’s really complimented me about this though, haha, I think because at a glance I just look like some dork who locks himself up watching Japanese cartoons and playing Japanese games all day long. After all, most stereotypical dorks aren’t exactly the happiest bunch. It makes me happy to know you’ve learned some things from me though. I hope I can be of further assistance in the future as well.

Oh gosh, there’s no need to apologize for feeling how you do. The Fate series definitely isn’t perfect, but I feel that there are a lot more pros than cons and it’s something that I wouldn’t mind investing the time in. Another thing to note about Fate/stay night is its length. The visual novel is ridiculously long though you wouldn’t really guess it from the length of the anime series. I’ll take the new UBW for example. The length of the first half, with the prologue and special long episodes taken into consideration, is 16 episodes. However, this isn’t the true length of the first half. The Blu-ray edition will be adding 90-100 extra minutes of footage. These were scenes that ufotable intended on putting in the series but couldn’t fit given the time restraints on an airing anime in a 30-minute time slot. Fate/Zero did something similar, though not quite the extent of UBW, which is why you’ll notice some episode lengths are longer in F/Z than others, notably episode 11. These 90-100 minutes translate to about 4.5 episodes in length (given each standard episode is 24 minutes – 3 minutes for the opening and ending = 21 true minutes). If UBW’s first half is truly 20.5 episodes in length (honestly nearly two cours), then let’s assume the second half will be the same. This brings UBW’s length to 41 episodes. Now let’s assume again that the Fate and Heaven’s Feel routes are the same length as UBW’s. This makes the entirety of Fate/stay night 123 episodes, about ten cour long. This calculates to about 43 hours of content, which is still shorter than the actual visual novel. Most people seem to say it takes about 50 hours or around two full days to beat, of course with reading speed a major factor. From what I can tell, it seems you’ve actually started UBW. You probably realize there’s a massive budget behind the series, one much bigger than F/Z’s. Unfortunately, while most people would love to have a full adaptation of the visual novel, a 123 episode anime would spread that high budget thin. Ufotable probably only earned enough money from F/Z to animate one route, UBW. The money made on UBW will probably be used to animate the Heaven’s Feel movie(s). I’m pretty satisfied by what’s in store for the future, even if it’s not an ideal situation, haha. This wasn’t really written with the intent of converting you to a diehard F/sn fan. It was more just to let you know what’s going on behind the scenes once you crunch the numbers. Anyway, since you’ve already watched the prologue episode, what do you think of it so far? And founding an anime club wasn’t all that impressive. Objectively it’s quite a bit of extra work, since I’m taking far more seriously than anyone else on my exec board, but it’s also a lot of fun. But I realize I would be rude to turn down a compliment, so I guess thanks, haha.

The Elite Member rewards haven’t been announced yet (they will be in early April, just in time for my birthday), so there’s still a chance Club Nintendo is going to go out with a bang. Elite Member rewards are either downloadable games or physical items, though I’d much rather have a physical item given downloadable games can be purchased. CN’s physical rewards are always exclusive items, and it’s nice to know I own something rare. Honestly, I’m not completely impressed by what I’ve seen, but I guess that messenger bag is another one of those nice things I’ll be looking forward to in the future. Ah, I’m not really down on myself about not being able to drive. If anything, I just don’t really feel lie learning, eheheh. I wanted to back when I took driver’s ed as a sophomore, but then my parents shut me down saying I was a fool for thinking I had the time to learn how to drive with the shape my grades were in. Now as a senior, I don’t really want to learn how to drive but my parents are saying I’m a fool for not wanting to learn because people would look down on me. Our opinions are just having a tough time aligning. It’s kind of like with prom. My mom doesn’t like the idea of me not going. I think she’s worried kids will tell their parents that I’m some weirdo for not going and then those parents will tell other parents and then everything will think my parents are incapable of raising a normal child, haha. It’s almost kind of funny, how angry my mom can get about me not wanting to go to prom.

Ahh, your school does seem really great. Bleh, my school is competitive but easy to hate. When my sister went to college, she said it was a lot easier than high school (even though she attended Dartmouth) and that she met a lot of people there who missed their high schools. This goes without being said, but my sister didn’t miss high school at all. I think she missed some friends and this one cute teacher. Haha, honestly, I don’t think I’ll miss my high school either. I might miss the club I founded or some people there, but I really doubt I’ll miss much else. Hm, I do hope the music program in whatever school I go to is nice. I actually haven’t picked up my oboe that much since I quite band, eheh. While it’s something that’s tied to some good memories, it’s also connected to far more bad ones.

I just sort of lurk around a couple of video game and anime sites and find some really surprising stuff. Yeeah, it is a really nice picture, haha. Gives me an urge to up and play some Smash. I have some amiibos to use now and I really want to train them up soon. I guess I’ll get my chance during spring break, which also coincides with my birthday, as long as I don’t spend the entire break visiting schools to decide on which one to attend.

I know DCW reps aren’t all that exciting or important, but honestly the amount of effort you put into responding to me every week is definitely worth at least one point. Especially when you consider most of the thousands of posts made on this site are short, silly things. Thanks for the reps, too, haha. Here’s another one for your work!

Wow, you and Kenzi both type A LOT.

Destiny

machine · February 22, 2015

if apps count: 2048

if they don't: ys oath in felghana

Kitty Paw · February 23, 2015

if apps count: 2048

heh, when my dad found that game, he was so addicted to it, he played it all day long, and he didn't even work

Kenzi · February 26, 2015

Wow, you and Kenzi both type A LOT.

ehehe, sorry.

I didn't mean to bombard this thread with our ramblings, haha.

It’s really cool how you managed to meet so many people with the same hobby as you through YouTube. From what I’ve gathered lurking around, there are some really wide spread webs that connect YouTubers with the same content, whether it be anime or video games (eheh, the videos I usually watch). It’s awesome how fans can connect in that way. Sometimes I wish I had a YouTube account that I used to actually upload things I’m interested in, but I never did find the time for it. Not to mention, I wasn’t able to really think of anything I was particularly good at to share anyway, ahaha. Oh, and I really don’t mind you going off topic. If you ever want to tell me more about your experience on YouTube, I’d be happy to listen. I’m only a year older than you, so I’m not too sure how helpful my advice would be since I could be easily mistaken about some things regarding college and all, but if you have any concerns I’ll try my best to help out. I know, sixteen colleges and universities of all sorts is pretty overwhelming. I can’t remember everything I’ve applied to off the top of my head, no joke. I need to go back and check. It’s especially bad when most of those schools ask for you to check your decision notice on their portal, and they give you some random username consisting of your initials and a three-digit number or, even worse, a long string of random letters and numbers and you have to keep track of which username belongs to which college. It’s a real hassle, though I guess it’s partially my fault for not organizing all my information nicely somewhere. I see, it’s good that you have money to spare. The thing is, I don’t think I’ve had to opportunity to mention this to you yet, but I have a younger brother who’s a freshman in high school right now, and while my parents are rather well off, they aren’t really anything more than upper middle class. Especially after my parents helped pay for my sister’s tuition a few years ago, they’ve bit a bit hesitant to throw money even at things like prestigious colleges. With tuition costs on the rise, it’s becoming harder and harder to afford high end schools that aren’t going to hand out merit based scholarships unless you’re a certified genius. Is it really worth going to an Ivy League that charges you over $60,000 a year or should you settle for a respectable public school that gives you a full ride and you attend for completely free? There’s no right or wrong answer, as everyone’s financial and lifestyle situation is different. Even I don’t know which way I’d choose, and I have to make a final, irreversible decision before I know it. I don’t want to stress out about it, but I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t occasionally cross my mind. Thank you for the good luck, though!

Goodness me, I still haven’t gotten around to getting a cell phone yet. I’ve put it off for this long, but I don’t think I’d be in a very good position if I don’t get one by the time I’m off to college. I can imagine it would be a lot weirder asking some random person next to you to borrow his or her cell phone once you’re out of high school. They’d think you’re some of creep. Ah, that definitely wouldn’t be the best way to start a new chapter in my life. Actually, I technically do own a cell phone. My parents bought me one and they have a phone plan on it and everything, but I never use it. I think it’s just sitting on a table somewhere in the house. I don’t even know what model it is. I’m far from an expert on phones, but I feel like it’s kind of a waste buying a plan for something never touched. My parents aren’t forcing me to use it or anything though, so I don’t think it’s a very big deal. I’m actually fairly certain there are a lot of Indians in my town. In my grade, I’d say about 50% of students are Indian, and the percentage is even higher for my brother’s grade. He even has one class where he’s the only non-Indian (his class is about 25 large). I was rather shocked to find that upwards of 95% of elementary schoolers were Indian myself. But that’s only counting kids in schools. Most of the town is still Caucasian (though I’d admit Indians would come in second), but it’s just that those Caucasians don’t have any children attending the public schools, so sometimes they’re hard to headcount. Also, most students go elsewhere for college and beyond, so they don’t really hang around our town too much (there’s nothing to do here either, haha) which is why at a glance, as long as you don’t look too deeply into one of the schools, you’d think my town was pretty standard.

Hm, I guess I’ll worry about which starter to pick when the time comes. There’s absolutely no rush anyway. I do have to say Palkia’s shiny version isn’t all that impressive, and I’d agree with you in preferring a blue coloration. I found that shiny Giratina a long time ago; it was one of the earlier shinies I dug up on GTS. I think it’s legitimate too, thought I remember checking and finding that it wasn’t EV trained. So, I mentioned a few days ago that I finally got around to learning how to RNG abuse in 4th gen games (thank God for snow days). I’ll admit it was harder to conceptualize compared to 3rd gen RNG abuse, but funny enough it gives you much more flexibility in choosing Pokemon and stats to obtain, and it’s even a bit easier to execute. The only difficult thing is learning how to do it, which will probably take a few consecutive hours (given it’s difficult, if not impossible, to stop in the middle of the process and pick up later). I’m really happy with the Cresselia I managed to get from it. I mentioned before it had perfect IVs in HP and Speed and 26 in the defenses. It will have no damaging moves, so the attack IVs don’t matter. I could have managed perfect 31s all across the board, but I sacrificed a few stats to make it shiny, hehe. I plan on making the rest of my Battle Tower team shiny via RNG abuse as well. If you’re curious, I’m borrowing this successful set I found here. Gosh, if I had learned 4th gen RNG abuse earlier I probably would have that black trainer card already and have officially completed my Pearl version a while ago.

My town has this one mall that’s not very attractive. Or at least, I don’t think it is. It isn’t particularly big or fancy and I don’t it’s very popular elsewhere, but it gets the job done. I don’t go very often, mainly because there’s just nothing to do there. Pretty standard mall if you ask me. There is however this one landmark that’s pretty popular that’s located in our town. If I told you what it was, you’d know which town I lived in instantly even if you aren’t very familiar with the landmark specifically. Hm, that sounds contradictory, doesn’t it? It’s hard to explain unless you know which landmark I was talking about, haha. It’s not a place that gets many visitors, though there is a mini museum right next to the landmark. It’s kind of obscurely located even though it’s historically significant. I don’t mean to ramble, especially because this probably doesn’t mean much to you, eheh, sorry about that. And I understand, I’ve lived in my town for so long that I’m yearning for a change of scenery. There’s so much of the world I haven’t seen yet and I’ve been enticed by so many trips that I’m really excited about living somewhere else for a few years. That is, unless I go New Jersey’s official state university, in which case it wouldn’t feel much different. I also don’t feel like growing necessarily means throwing away your childhood. That’s how some people grow, and I guess that’s all fine and good for them as long as they’re happy. Personally though, I feel like I’ll always be a bit of a kid at heart. I’m only 17 going on 18, so it’s not like I’m in any position to say how I think I’ll be living as an adult, but that’s just the gut feeling I have.

Nah, you don’t come off to me as having split personalities at all. You’ve explained it well enough. The thing is, I don’t always find myself typing too much; sometimes even I can be a bit curt in my responses to people. I think one of the reasons why I do tend to type a lot is because I try my best to use proper grammar and punctuation. It’s been like this since I first started using Google Talk and it hasn’t changed much. Of course, I do let myself slide a bit when I find it necessary to, but I find that proper punctuation especially can come off as cold or rude or something which is why I usually type a lot to show that I’m not not interested in what someone else has to say. Of course, this also causes new problems, like overdoing it to the point I feel like I’m bothering others. Ah geez, you’d think at this point I’d have found a good balance. Yeah, I do feel that I’m more positive than negative. There are just so many great things about life that even when misfortune strikes I don’t really want to waste time getting upset over it. Nobody’s really complimented me about this though, haha, I think because at a glance I just look like some dork who locks himself up watching Japanese cartoons and playing Japanese games all day long. After all, most stereotypical dorks aren’t exactly the happiest bunch. It makes me happy to know you’ve learned some things from me though. I hope I can be of further assistance in the future as well.

Oh gosh, there’s no need to apologize for feeling how you do. The Fate series definitely isn’t perfect, but I feel that there are a lot more pros than cons and it’s something that I wouldn’t mind investing the time in. Another thing to note about Fate/stay night is its length. The visual novel is ridiculously long though you wouldn’t really guess it from the length of the anime series. I’ll take the new UBW for example. The length of the first half, with the prologue and special long episodes taken into consideration, is 16 episodes. However, this isn’t the true length of the first half. The Blu-ray edition of the series will be adding 90-100 extra minutes of footage. These were scenes that ufotable intended on putting in the series but couldn’t fit given the time restraints on an airing anime in a 30-minute time slot. Fate/Zero did something similar, though not to quite the extent of UBW, which is why you’ll notice some episode lengths are longer in F/Z than others, notably episode 11. These 90-100 minutes translate to about 4.5 episodes in length (given each standard episode is 24 minutes – 3 minutes for the opening and ending = 21 true minutes). If UBW’s first half is truly 20.5 episodes in length (honestly nearly two cours), then let’s assume the second half will be the same. This brings UBW’s length to 41 episodes. Now let’s assume again that the Fate and Heaven’s Feel routes are the same length as UBW. This makes the entirety of Fate/stay night 123 episodes, about ten cour long. This calculates to about 43 hours of content, which is still shorter than the actual visual novel. Most people seem to say it takes about 50 hours or around two full days to beat, of course with reading speed a major factor. From what I can tell, it seems you’ve actually started UBW. You probably realize there’s a massive budget behind the series, one much bigger than F/Z’s. Unfortunately, while most people would love to have a full adaptation of the visual novel, a 123 episode anime would spread that high budget thin. Ufotable probably only earned enough money from F/Z to animate one route, UBW. The money made on UBW will probably be used to animate the Heaven’s Feel movie(s). I’m pretty satisfied by what’s in store for the future, even if it’s not an ideal situation, haha. This wasn’t really written with the intent of converting you to a diehard F/sn fan. It was more just to let you know what’s going on behind the scenes once you crunch the numbers. Anyway, since you’ve already watched the prologue episode, what do you think of it so far? And founding an anime club wasn’t all that impressive. Objectively it’s quite a bit of extra work, since I’m taking far more seriously than anyone else on my exec board, but it’s also a lot of fun. But I realize it would be rude to turn down a compliment, so I guess thanks, haha.

The Elite Member rewards haven’t been announced yet (they will be in early April, just in time for my birthday), so there’s still a chance Club Nintendo is going to go out with a bang. Elite Member rewards are either downloadable games or physical items, though I’d much rather have a physical item given downloadable games can be purchased. CN’s physical rewards are always exclusive items, and it’s nice to know I own something rare. Honestly, I’m not completely impressed by what I’ve seen, but I guess that messenger bag is still another one of those nice things I’ll be looking forward to in the future. Ah, I’m not really down on myself about not being able to drive. If anything, I just don’t really feel lie learning, eheheh. I wanted to back when I took driver’s ed as a sophomore, but then my parents shut me down saying I was a fool for thinking I had the time to learn how to drive with the shape my grades were in. Now as a senior, I don’t really want to learn how to drive but my parents are saying I’m a fool for not wanting to learn because people would look down on me. Our opinions are just having a tough time aligning. It’s kind of like with prom. My mom doesn’t like the idea of me not going. I think she’s worried kids will tell their parents that I’m some weirdo for not going and then those parents will tell other parents and then everyone will think my parents are incapable of raising a normal child, haha. It’s almost kind of funny, how angry my mom can get about me not wanting to go to prom.

Ahh, your school does seem really great. Bleh, my school is competitive but easy to hate. When my sister went to college, she said it was a lot easier than high school (even though she attended Dartmouth) and that she met a lot of people there who missed their high schools. This goes without being said, but my sister didn’t miss high school at all. I think she missed some friends and this one cute teacher. Haha, honestly, I don’t think I’ll miss my high school either. I might miss the club I founded or some people there, but I really doubt I’ll miss much else. Hm, I do hope the music program in whatever school I go to is nice. I actually haven’t picked up my oboe that much since I quite band, eheh. While it’s something that’s tied to some good memories, it’s also connected to far more bad ones.

I just sort of lurk around a couple of video game and anime sites and find some really surprising stuff. Yeeah, it is a really nice picture, haha. Gives me an urge to up and play some Smash. I have some amiibos to use now and I really want to train them up soon. I guess I’ll get my chance during spring break, which also coincides with my birthday, as long as I don’t spend the entire break visiting schools to decide on which one to attend.

I know DCW reps aren’t all that exciting or important, but honestly the amount of effort you put into responding to me every week is definitely worth at least one point. Especially when you consider most of the thousands of posts made on this site are short, silly things. Thanks for the reps, too, haha. Here’s another one for your work!

--begin YouTube story--

When I first created that YouTube channel, I didn't upload any videos for months. I just did it to interact with people because of how friendly the community seemed at the time. I only started uploading videos after there was this one person who influenced me to begin graphic design. At the time, I didn't even realize that I was creating graphics--I just thought it was a fun way to make "art". I uploaded pretty stupid videos at first, but later shifted to speed-arts and tutorials. Most of them were pretty amateur, but I still got tons of positive feedback--which only motivated me to upload more. It was kind of the golden age of prosperity for my channel, and I did loads of fun stuff with it. A few YouTube friends even gave me codes/passwords for programs like Camtasia (which is a few hundred dollars worth), so these were very kind people. I'm not sure how they managed to get their hands on them (though there was this one guy who knew how to hack the programs for the codes/passwords), but I was still tremendously grateful for their kind gestures.

Then YouTube began experimenting with different channel layouts and I had to create different graphic templates in order to compensate for the changes. It was a pain, and everyone absolutely hated the changes to the website. With that said, the lively atmosphere began diminishing afterwards. People and friends began leaving because it was too drastic of a change, while a few of the more dedicated people decided to stay. This was around the time when I decided to partner my channel with a YouTube network. At first, I only did it because I wanted a branding/banner on my channel that was only exclusive to YouTube partners. Then I realized that I could potentially gain money from partnering my channel. This still didn't change my uploading schedule though. If anything, I began uploading videos less frequently because of how busy I was getting (actually, I still didn't have that many videos up)--the money was just an extra luxury. After high school began, I couldn't keep up with the requests so I put a price on YouTube background graphics while still keeping my icon/avatar making services free of charge. Afterwards, I was sitting comfortably at a rate at which I could process requests regularly while occasionally making a buck or two out of it.

But once again, YouTube made another drastic change to the channel layout. Suddenly, I no longer had an exclusive branding/banner, and everyone's channel now looked the same (what the current YouTube looks like right now). YouTube was no longer formatted as a chat-friendly site (probably because it wanted to seem more "professional") so the rest of my YouTube friends left at that point. I was still hanging on with the occasional request popping up once in a while, but it was enough to discourage me from being active anymore even though I still logged on daily.

My channel kinda just plateaued. It stayed this way for many months until the summer after sophomore year. The one day I decided not to log on was the one day my channel got hacked. I can't even begin to describe how infuriating it was--especially with all that history I had on there. It felt almost insulting that this random commonplace hacker felt the need to do such a thing. It was all I could think about and I could only anxiously wait for a reply from YouTube about this situation after messaging them. I managed to get a reply after a few hours and I got my channel back. The first thing I did was change my password, and suddenly everything was all right again. I was overjoyed. Then, my channel got suspended again the next day. I was shocked, and to this day, I don't even know how or why they reverted their decision. Of course, I messaged them multiple times afterwards, but it was all fruitless effort by then. My channel was gone, and I had no way of clearing up the misunderstanding. I'm a bit more stoic towards what happened now, but I'm still a little salty.

--end YouTube story--

Despite my channel getting suspended, I'm still really grateful for everything I have gained because of this experience. To be able to have these skills and programs was simply a stroke of luck for me. I can't imagine what my life would have been like if my channel never existed. After reflecting back on this, losing my channel wasn't all too bad. I have the abilities to continue my hobbies by leisure, I still have most of what I made on my laptop, and I have my memories. I'm totally okay with this now. Shit happens, and you just have to get over it, haha.

I apologize for how long it was (and trust me, there's a lot more), but I'm just so touched that someone is willing to listen.

If I had told this to anyone else, they'd probably dismiss it as tl;dr. You have no idea how much your ear means to me.

And with that said, I haven't mentioned any of the above to anyone, nor would I have planned to if it weren't for how much I've warmed up to you. You're the only person who knows about this, haha.

Gosh, you're making the college ordeal sound like a nightmare, lol. I'm probably not going to apply to sixteen schools. Probably ten at most. My parents aren't any higher than upper middle class either. My sister went to a school out of state, so the tuition was relatively high. For that reason, my parents want me to stay in state. That is, unless I manage to find a scholarship out of state (which I'm really considering). The only other way I'd be able to find my way out of state is if I get accepted into some top tier college like Stanford, but even then, I wouldn't be surprised if they suddenly became hesitant just because of the cost. Evidently, that's out of the question since I'm not even planning to apply to most of those (or at least for now). I'm definitely not a genius and I've been treading water for most of junior year so far. I still don't have a solid list of colleges I plan to apply to. I'm going to wait a month or two--when I feel more stabilized--before I start making plans. I'm struggling a bit as a junior, and it's probably because I'm not putting in as much effort as I should be. I'm pretty ashamed because it has bit me back numerous times, yet I still haven't learned. I guess there really is no right or wrong choice for these kinds of things when it comes to colleges. However, I'd much rather focus on my academics in the meantime because it's typically the single most important aspect that colleges look at (though I understand that there are exceptions). The other stuff tends to be extra padding from what I've heard. Feel free to disagree because I'm actually hoping that this assumption is wrong.

The most I use my phone for is calling, texting, and checking my emails. A few of my friends don't have Facebook, so texting is a convenient and quick way to get back to them. Don't worry, I'm not one of those people who compulsively texts just for the heck of it, lol. Having a cell phone these days almost seems like a necessity. It shouldn't be, but it really feels like it is now. The fact that your parents don't mind paying for the plan probably means that it wouldn't hurt to try using it. Definitely make use of your cell phone soon, or at least carry it around with you. Even if you don't plan on using it often, it saves you the trouble of having to borrow from others, haha. Ahh, that makes a lot more sense. I was having a hard time grasping that 95 percent of the kids there are Indian, lol. Still, 50 percent is a lot. Is there a particular reason why they like to settle there? This is a bit of an interesting town you have here--I'm still a little shocked, haha.

I'm a bit wary with the shinies I managed to hunt down on the GTS. The multiple shiny Deoxys I received were probably hacked to say the least. It's rare to find a legitimate shiny on the GTS (since why would anyone bother giving one up? lol). I definitely agree with what you did with that Cresselia. I also would have sacked some IVs for the sake of it being shiny. To be honest, I'm probably never going to get into RNG abuse. I haven't touched my 4th gen games in ages, and as silly as it sounds, I'd rather leave them be for sentimental reasons, haha.

Naw, I can also relate. If I told you the name of the mall in our town, you'd also be able to locate where I live, lol. We don't have any historical monuments around here (or at least from my knowledge), so this town of ours is relatively unknown. The only significant landmark that stands out around here is the mall I was talking about earlier. It's pretty classy, and probably the only thing around here that attracts visitors. Don't worry about rambling! I've skewed off-topic loads of times (probably the reason why our responses have gotten increasingly longer, lol), and I really don't mind reading it at all. It's always nice to know a little more about you, haha. I'm really excited for college for the sole reason that I want to go somewhere new. I also want to have a little more control over my life instead of having my parents treat me like a puppet. You say that it wouldn't feel much different if you stay in state, but I'd have to disagree with you here. I've traveled to places 30 minutes from where I live and the scenery can change drastically. I don't remember what New Jersey's like since I haven't been there in years, but I'd assume that it's also something similar? Haha, I'll always be a kid at heart, even if I have to hide it from others. I'm not willing to throw away my childhood (though there are a few memories I'd rather leave behind me). I like looking back on things and seeing it with a new perspective. I love going through how I was like in the past and comparing it who I am now since it makes me happy seeing how much I've grown as a person. It's corny, but it's true. I like the idea of growing up in that sense, I suppose. I'm sure I'll have a new perspective in a few years, and you as well. I mean, what could a 16 year old possibly understand about life anyway?

I used to be that one person who was somewhat self-conscious about how I typed. Everything had to be punctuated properly and everything had to be spelled right. It'd make me sound more mature, right? I'm completely over that phase now--I've embraced my immature self, haha. If you saw some of the informal messages I send to my friends nowadays, you'd be shocked. You probably wouldn't even recognize that it's me, lol. Although I don't use emoticons often on DCW, it use them pretty often in Facebook messages and emails--I prefer typed out emoticons to picture emoticons if that makes sense. It really depends on the person I'm talking to, because obviously, I wouldn't send something like "oh hey i forgot the hw from thurs can u send me a pic pl0x, thx!!" to a teacher. I find that using improper punctuation with friends is the best way for me to indicate that we're on the same page, and it's also a lot easier to convey different emotions. I also find that the use of "lol" makes sentences seem a lot more lighthearted. For example, "stop worrying" sounds a lot more harsh than "stop worrying, lol". It's now a habit for me to frequently use stuff like that over the internet. It's hard to convey emotion or undertone through formal words on a screen, so I find that it helps to use that along with emoticons in order to prevent something from sounding unintentionally serious or hurtful. You don't seem like the kind of person who would use stuff like emoticons, so I understand how awkward it can be when you have to type out unnecessarily long messages as a compensation. But in all honesty, emails are just emails, messages are just messages. Most people tend not to dwell on typical everyday emails or messages, so be as terse as you want! I'm sure that you don't come off as cold as you think you do, haha. My parents tend to focus on the past more than the future: "you failed this test, I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up with a D in this class." They always take everything to the extreme and imagine the worse case scenario for every slipup I have. So yeah, it's hard for me to stay positive at times when they're constantly ripping through my self-esteem. I'd like to think of myself as an optimist, but it doesn't happen very often. Okay, you're not a stereotypical dork, lol. You most certainly don't come off as one. You're pretty well-rounded in a lot of other aspects too, you know? haha. You also seem pretty content with your life from what I've seen so far, so it's good that you have such a positive outlook on life!

I usually don't mind the length of anime at all. I've sat through both FMA and FMAB, and as long as it isn't a never-ending series like DC (or anything past 100 episodes), I won't complain about jumping in (you know, as long as the plot's good, lol). Sure, it might take me a while to finish it, but it's nothing I'd be mad about. The prologue was...a lot better than I expected it to be. After watching it, I was so tempted to continue, but I know that if I did, I wouldn't be able to accomplish anything, haha. In other words, I was pretty impressed with the introduction. I'll be looking forward to the rest of it, but it won't be until a while from now before I pick it back up again. But holy........ 50 hours? Ahaha, I think I'll just cherry pick what I want to watch from the visual novel then. I'm also rather impressed with the music and animation, so I guess it wasn't a bad thing that Ufotable only decided to use the budget to animate one route. Being a president/founder of a club is always a lot of work, but I think it's awesome how well you manage to juggle your anime schedule with schoolwork!

Haha, I'd have to agree with you there. Over time, physical items can begin gaining sentimental value that downloadable games usually can't provide. It's also nice that the Elite Member rewards will be open just in time for your birthday! But if the physical items don't seem that great, I still don't think it's a bad idea to nab some downloadable games. I found this a bit funny: your parents tried to discourage you from taking it as a sophomore, but now they're mad that you don't want to take it as a senior? Although it's true that people can prefer different lifestyles, it's probably not a bad idea to take the class. Even if you aren't planning to drive, taking the class can at least get your parents off your back. And if you happen to come across a situation when you do need to drive (maybe you have to rent a car?), you'll be able to whip out your license without a problem. Back in NYC, my parents didn't drive at all. We walked, took taxis, and rode buses and subways to places. But after moving, they were forced to buy a car since there wasn't a single taxis, bus, or subway here. Driving almost seems universal nowadays. Hrmm, I guess it wouldn't matter as much if you're planning to live in a bustling city that provides public transportation, but it's always nice to have the skill in your back pocket in cases when you do need it. Haha, I've definitely been in your position in a few times. My parents are constantly comparing me to others: "why can't you be like her," "why aren't you as talented," "your sister always did this, why can't you," "I wish this person was my child instead!" etc. I used to be really affected by their comments, but they do it so often, I just tune them out now--though I'd be lying if I said that it still didn't hurt once in a while. I can't blame you for not wanting to go to prom, but there really isn't much to lose. Your parents won't be pissed anymore, and maybe something unexpectedly nice could happen. At the very least, it'd be another thing to add on your list of things you've done in high school, haha.

College is easier than high school? One more thing to look forward to! Actually, I'm still a bit doubtful, but there's nothing wrong with getting my hopes up, heh. Dartmouth? Not gonna lie--that's impressive, and to be frank, I'm a bit jealous, haha. I love the school I go to, but I hate it at the same time. Some of the classes are unusually difficult (I recently just found out that my bio teacher makes her tests loads harder than the actual AP test, and I'm a bit ticked right now because of how much my grades have been suffering), and my sleep schedule is more wrecked than ever. My high school schedule is so tightly packed together I barely have any breathing space. Heck, sometimes I'm forced to sack a few grades for the sake of my sanity. Probably not the best decision, but I'm absolutely sick of the constant stress I'm under. To be honest, despite how much I love this school, I can't wait to get out of here. From my sister, I heard that college life allows for more leg room, so that's definitely something I look forward to. I'm not sure if I'm going to bring my violin with me to college. It's most certainly not going to do anything sitting at home, but that also doesn't mean my parents are willing to let me join another music program. They think it's pointless, and my mom even tried to persuade me to quit senior year (not going to happen). I'll probably bring my tennis racquet though, haha. I'm not planning to play for anyone, but that isn't going to stop me from hitting on the courts with a few friends every once in a while.

Gosh, I can't wait for spring break. I'm 110 percent done with everything right now, and I'm way past my breaking point. I've gone deeper than rock bottom, and my motivation is practically nonexistent at this point. I would love something to help take my mind off academics like Smash, but the closest I can manage is finding videos and streams. I'll also keep your birthday in the back of my mind, heh.

Haha, I feel like most of these brief posts are made for the sake of post count. I never saw post count as any sort of goal, but apparently, some people seem to care about it a lot, lol.

Ahh, I think I'll be repping your posts on here from now own. As always, I appreciate the time and effort you put into these responses, so just consider them as tokens of appreciation!

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