Haha, I suppose it makes sense that you would make this thread again since another year has passed, Ryan.
It won't do me much harm if I post the same thing again, though I'll make some adjustments so it won't be the same boring read.
I was lurking on the web in July 2005 for more information on PokéSpecial Adventures (the manga) and eventually came across nicoleb's manga scans here on PC. I had the page bookmarked and referred back to it on and off for a few days, then I decided that it'd be a nice idea that I joined and made it easier for myself; I had done so on 3rd August.
After posting a few little bits in the Pokémon Manga section, I started to venture out to the Art Gallery and its sub-forums: Home of the Sprites (now called Pixel Art) and Sprite Comics (now Pixel Projects). A lot of the threads I saw in the Art Gallery at the time didn't really interest me; all except one. It was a thread made hours back by a user called Cookie luvs Green, a lot of them were pencil sketches and Oekaki doodles, but her style fascinated me and I was surprised she hadn't any replies yet. So I went ahead and posted the first reply to her thread, she replied to my comment and others started to come in and comment themselves. Eventually I PMed her with an urge to get to know her a bit more, I can safely say she was the first person I ever befriended on PC.
Even now I still adore her work, she's developed such an incredible abstract art style that really captivates me whenever I look at it. Sadly we don't keep in contact as much anymore, but I want to...
During the first four months of my stay here at PC I had accumulated a good number of friends and a little popularity with credit to my Sprite Comic I had at the time called "Pokémon Fire Red/Leaf Green Continued", which to my surprise became a lot more popular than I expected. What I wanted for it was to be a panel strip that recited a story than it being a proper sprite comic...and lord, the typos, grammatical mistakes...XD; I'm surprised I wasn't seriously bashed for the weirdness that was that sprite comic, but I suppose people were just taken by the storyline to pay too much attention to trivial details. Incidentally, I looked over those comics again (was surprised to see some strips were still available to be seen) and...it brought back memories, I wouldn't mind revamping that comic one of these days.
For the whole of October and November I kept in good company with my regular crew that frequently fooled about in my fan club and a user named Vaati (also known as Kaku, he was recently modded in Pixel Art. :O) He and I were intimate friends, and although we talk once in a blue moon nowadays, he still remains as one of my closer friends.
One day in October I decided to lurk the Who's Online list to eventually find Forest Grovyle in 'Javachat'. I wasn't so sure what that meant; nor did I ever see that status before for anyone on the list. So I decided to click the link that was displayed and eventually was lead into a chatroom. It was...deserted, hardly active. It took about 25 minutes or so for someone to say anything, and that was just simply 'echo...echo...echo' by FG. I immedietely greeted her after she said that and then we started to converse. That's when I learned of the existence of an IRC chatroom on PC. Eventually Draelen popped up and we all had a bit of a fool about. Since then I've been coming on and off the chat, though after that moment of activity there was simply naught. Too few people in the channel, all of them idling...and furthermore, hardly anyone knew of its existence.
December 5th 2005: It was a Monday and I was dulled at the fact that I had to go to school. So, logging onto PC to find that I had an unread PM -- went to my inbox to find a PM from Bobby (who was a Praetor/Assistant Admin at the time.) I actually started to panic and pray that I didn't do anything wrong. XD; In fact I was so scared to even open the PM. But...when I opened it, I had read something that took a couple of double takes and eye rubbing to believe.
"The other Higher Staff and I have come to the conclusion that you would make a worthy moderator for Home of the Sprites. If you think you can or cannot handle the job please let us know as soon as possible.
Thank You!"
Now that just blew my mind. I was actually asked to become a moderator? I hadn't really taken any thought of myself ever becoming a mod in the future, yet right there in front of me was a request to mod a sub-forum I...didn't really visit. XD; I frequented Sprite Comics, not Home of the Sprites. But apparently it didn't matter all that much. I was still shocked that I was asked, and my reply to Bobby's PM was written with shaky fingers. I simply couldn't believe it. Basically, I stuttered my acceptance of the request. Foolhardy it might've seen, but it's simply how I felt at the time.
Later on in the day I glanced at my bold and blue username and thought to myself "I can't believe this just happened."
It was hard being a newbie mod. Lurking your section of power almost for hours and looking for threads and posts that violated the rules, etc.. it was almost all too overwhelming. I was incredibly nervous with the thought that I might get fired within a week's notice. XD; But as time passed, I actually got a hang of keeping my cool and letting things flow out on their own. I'd like to think being a moderator helped shaped my maturity since at the time...I was naught but frivolous, playful, I felt this was a good break for me to wisen up.
During that time I became a regular at PC's IRC chatroom (which then actually gained a fair amount of activity thanks to Steve advertising it on the forums.) Let's see if I can remember correctly... Deviruchi (Superfairy), Avatar, myself, Charade, Ty, Koroku, Scizz, Chibi. Later came Cowrie, Hiroshi Sotomura (known as Tetsuya-san at the time), wakachamo, Skittles (Twilight Sky) and so on and so forth. We all became regulars, and IRC was treated as my second home to the forums. During the year of 2006 I also met Audy (Ausaudriel), Aoriaku (Gretchen Wieners), Kimi (CUTENESSattack!!) and various others I can't be asked to mention, but they're most notable in my mind since they've been with me for a long time.
So, the beginning of 2006 and through it came a lot of drama and new people. I can't be bothered going into so much detail. A LOT happened at the time. I left PC for 2 weeks and came back since I felt the job was tedious...but I couldn't exactly pull myself away. Then I paired with Scizz (go figure...I liked him a lot at the time, and even now we still get along pretty well.) 2007 was also drama infested and more people came to appearance -- not really anything different; except that I took a permanent leave from the staff on October 27th 2007 since my college work became a main priority over running my mouth off on members on the forums. Apparently the last time I wrote this I wasn't a moderator at the time, now I...am one again after some meddling and...actually, I believe today is the one year anniversary of when I was picked to mod OVP again, time does fly... o_o;
Over time I believe my attitude changed, and so had my maturity. A good number of people complained that the moment I became a moderator was the moment I shifted from being a human being to becoming that of a 'robot'. Which isn't so true, I kept my playful demeanour and I didn't pick favourites out of anyone. But I do agree that I was at times strict and harsh. I was jaded by the idiocy of a good number of members and by staff conflicts, really. The stress of the job shredded my patience slowly.
Since the last year I've met so many more people that I consider to be wondrous and absolutely fantastic. I've known a few, but...it wasn't until March time did I really get to know a lot of them better, and with them I found myself a great deal of comfort. Nica (Forever), Zet, Will (Guillermo), Malyka (Aizuke), Fiona (Franceschi), Went, BeachBoy, Emily (who doesn't frequent PC all too much), the list goes on. I really do appreciate meeting you all and getting to know you better, it's one of the best decisions I've made in a while.
And of course there is another person here who has made me feel at my absolute best during the last year. You know who you are, and I can't express enough how much you mean to me.
