1000 Posts: A Retrospective Reflection

Not popular enough to have a well and not contributor enough to have a profile so I'll just use 1000 posts as an excuse to talk about myself. Seriously though, this is a thread to thank all the people who have made my time here enjoyable as well as to share my experiences of being on PO. I don't expect any of you to read all of this because it'll be pretty long but I'll put sub-sections so you can just pick the parts you wanna read :).

Finding PO

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The oldest memory that I have of PO was back during the days of POv1. I had started looking at Youtube videos of competitive battlers and I noticed that the majority of them spent time on PO. I quite liked competitive batting so I figured PO was a great way to spend some free time since it was easy (all you had to do was press the find battle button). I stopped playing PO because it didn't interest me much anymore (probably because I was terrible). After the release of POv2, I was excited because the newly-released Kyurem-B/Kyurem-W had actually been implemented on PO. So I eventually got back on PO pretty often when I was bored and battled. I don't remember doing anything else except battling (no Tours, Trivia etc.), the only other thing I remembered was seeing a lot of "X user was banned by Crystal Moogle" (this was before she hid on alts!) and "Y user was banned by Mahnmut."

Getting Started

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One day during the summer of 2013, I glanced at Tohjo and saw one of the notices for #Tournaments. I decided to join the channel and find out what it was about. After playing in some tours, I fell in love with it. I started to participated in tours heavily for about a month. I got like #4 on the leaderboard for the month I was tourfagging and I was pretty proud of it (kinda silly looking back at it now). During this time, I made my forum account to sign up for the midseason pickups of POCL 3. Some time during this, I befriended user Withoutatrace. I asked him for an NU team and he actually gave me one (even taught me how to import a team through pastebin). It was the first time I had actually interacted with anyone on PO and it was cool because he was such a nice and genuine person.

Realizing that his team needed a backup BW UU player, Finchinator expressed interest in me after he saw how "well" I was doing in #Tournaments (I wouldn't have looked in #Tournaments for good players at that time because I was terrible myself). I remember doing test battles with him and losing all of them thinking he would never pick me. He didn't end up picking me because he got the shitty end of the stick during POCL drama (thanks Weavile!), but I still talked to him pretty often and we became friends. Withoutatrace also got MU during this time and I was really happy for him. This promotion kinda motivated me to get MU as well so I started helping users and what not. Along with helping out in #Tournaments, I also submitted a ton of questions (probably only 10% of them were accepted) for #Trivia and started participating in that as well. I also applied for BF Reviewer for BW Ubers/UU/NU and actually got in! I probably shouldn't have been picked because I knew nothing about those tiers other than what #Tournaments experience gave me (which was very little), but Finchinator suggested to sulcata and Xdevo about promoting me so it actually happened. I remember reviewing sets with BR (Hikari/Emi/Kat) and I was scared he was gonna ban me for constantly annoying him about reviewing sets (this was back when I thought he was a girl).

Channel Staff

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After about a month of contributing to #Trivia, I got Trivia Admin. This was cool because I got to review questions and associate with some of the coolest people on the server (uso, Ascarotte, Bananabeard, BigSneakySnatch, Windblown etc). Getting TA also meant that I got access to the Channel Staff forums, and I could see people nominate me for Megauser on #Tournaments, which was slightly awkward to be honest. Shortly after I got TA, I was made MU and that was pretty cool. A little after this, a few of us TAs were getting kind of frustrated with the way #Trivia had been ran. So, uso and I made a "petition" to get Wriggle Nightbug (sTA at the time) demoted. Surprisingly, it worked as we had multiple TAs supporting it. Looking back at it, I kinda feel bad about this but I was pretty determined that this got done. I also got access to #Victory Road but I have nothing to share about it because it was pretty boring (still is). In this same time period I randomly got a forum PM from Navz. I thought it was completely weird because I had never talked to him / mentioned him any time before that. So I replied to him and we eventually became friends.

#Rage Channel.

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I don't quite remember when I got invited to join #Rage Channel. but I'm pretty sure it was before I got server mod. Finch decided to let me into "his" channel one day (I had no idea what this channel was before this) and I ended up staying. This is also the place where a lot of stupid drama happens (most of it having to do with Finch, coincidence?). To say the least, I still enjoy the channel because I get to talk to some awesome people (bugzinator, ZoroDark, MetalGross, meeps, Cased etc). The channel today is pretty full. We have the maximum amount of members/mods/admins/owners a channel would permit so it's become popular. This isn't necessarily a good thing because there are a lot of people I don't know and it's harder to say stuff that I would normally say to my friends.

Server and Forum Staff

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On the first day of 2014, I was promoted to Server Mod. This was cool because I could now bypass the "Disallow Spectators" clause and watch whatever battle I wanted. A month or so later, the Competitive Analyses project had started. I started contributing to the Ubers section of the analyses and I became the QC Leader for Ubers. Back then, when the PO forums were still on vBulletin, your name was bolded if you were a forum mod so that was pretty cool (it also had a Moderator Control Panel, which Xenforo unfortunately doesn't have).

#italics

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Shortly after I got Server Mod, I used /whereis on uso and noticed that she was in #italics. I ended up joining the channel and staying, even though I knew no one there besides uso (turns out some cool trivia people stayed there too). I was quite surprised that Wavy didn't ban me for just randomly joining and staying in his channel but I became friends with pretty much everyone in there. This is also a fun channel because it's hilariously random and there are fun people in there.

Tournament Director and Tier Leader

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After offering to finish a forum tour for BR (because he was too busy to finish it) and hosting a forum tour of my own, I became a Tournament Director to replace BR after he quit. Being a TD is probably one of the most annoying positions one could have on PO (people are just unable to discuss things with you in a decent way), but I still quite enjoy it for some reason. Shortly after I got TD, our forums switched from being on vBulletin to Xenforo. I was quite content with this switch because everything looked better, felt easier to do, and staff was able to do their own colored user titles (I was particularly happy with this addition).

I hosted Battle of the Week (which was cool for a while and then it died the last week), and "helped" Weavile with POT. Originally, POCL 4 was going to be hosted by Samphire and I. However, this thread was made and Samph decided not to host anymore. Since I was the co-host, I had the choice of hosting POCL or letting BR host it (because he offered). I 100% was not ready to host PO's biggest tour so I decided to help BR host it. I didn't really have to do much for POCL except for running it for a few weeks and doing the Midseason stuff when BR was away. All in all, it was a pretty easy and drama-less tour so that's good. After both Xdevo and Roku quit Side Metagames Leader, I was promoted to do that as well. Side Metagames was the only Competitive Discussion forum I enjoyed reading and posting in (although, I don't mind reading OU threads now because I somewhat play it). I also got Server Admin along with 3 others (Fuzzysqurl, Withoutatrace [funny how far we've come], and ShowMeTheMankey) after a lot of "heated" debate.

I recently got promoted to Super Moderator so I can do stuff like this, badges and other things. I'm also hosting the POWC right now. n_n

Shoutouts (no shitouts because I don't genuinely dislike anyone here):

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Ascarotte:

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Although we really don't talk much, you're definitely someone who I have a lot of respect for because you're a wealth of knowledge and you are nice. You offer really nice insight on everything trivia-related and it's nice to see.

Aurist:

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A really outspoken person who I've come to like. You offer your opinion on a plethora of staff matters (which is better than most of the staff) and it's really refreshing to see. We don't really talk much except for the times we talk about Beyoncé, but those are pretty enjoyable.

Bad Romance:

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Biggest contributor to PO and from what I can see, the best PO leader. I really respect the things you say in arguments - I don't think I've ever disagreed with the stuff you say in an argument before. After I read some of the posts you made in the Admin Forums, I was able to see how well voiced you were in all staff matters. I'm also really impressed by the fact that you literally didn't speak English when you first got on PO, and now your English is near-perfect!

BananaBeard:

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You're a genius. I haven't seen you on PO in a really long time (you come on sometimes in #italics and say hi) so I don't even know if you'll actually read this but you're awesome! I can't see you being anything less than successful in your life.

BigSneakySnatch:

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Pretty much the same as BB. Although, you never did come on as much as BB did so we didn't talk much but you were still really cool.

bugzinator:

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One of my favorite people on PO. I really enjoy trolling you because either you have no idea that it's me or you know it's me and just play along for my amusement. You joke about the weirdest things but that's okay because they turn out to be really funny. I particularly like talking music with you because you know a lot of really cool British songs. Also, despite all your claims, everyone knows your favorite song is Anaconda so don't even deny it. Glad you're successful in SPL because you deserve it. After all, who wouldn't be impressed with a 12 year old girl playing Pokemon at such a high level?

CasedVictory:

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Didn't really like you or talk to you until we started as the BF Reviewers for XY Ubers. After that, I actually started paying attention to the stuff you say and most of it made sense, despite it being edgy. You can be a huge asshole when it comes to stuff that doesn't matter in the long run but I like how you're not afraid to speak out against people. You didn't end up achieving in SPL as much as you'd hoped but hey, you can always come back to PO!

Cirno:

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I've actually never really had a full conversation with you. However, I do read a lot of your posts and I think they're smart. You're also a pretty nice person from what I can tell.

Crystal Moogle:

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I asked you for a colored user title back when we were on vBulletin and you actually gave me one! Most people probably think you just sit on the server all day on a secret alt, and they'd be kinda correct but you do a lot more behind-the-scenes stuff than people think.

Daybreak:

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You're not on PO anymore but you were a strong battler and good friend :)

DR. GOLD:

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Can't believe how much CA$H you have given me over the years. I can't express my gratitude enough for people like you. I am thrilled about your new insurance deal. I'll be signing up as soon as I'm done writing this post.

Dude24:

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New Zealand friend! I didn't actually get to know you until you quit PO staff. You're extremely nice and you enjoy trolling bugzy as much as I do!

Finchinator:

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The person I talk to the most nowadays on PO. I don't even know where to start but I guess POCL 3 is a good place. I was really surprised when you said you were interested in me for BW UU. I didn't really think of myself as anything more than a tour random (that's probably what you thought of me as well). But yeah, you definitely helped me establish my place in PO and I'm grateful for that. You're still really active on PO despite being Smogon Tour star now. I make a lot of my (bad) jokes at your disposal and you tolerate them. Also, ever since your loss to McMeghan and spending downtime at #Mahomie Roleplay, you've been maintaining your composure extremely well, which I am glad to see. Guess that's why Mahomie's such a popular channel huh :)

Fuzzysqurl:

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You're a huge PO contributor and one that actually has a personality. I still remember when King Finchinator rekt you on PO2 though.

imacow:

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Another #italics friend. You're extremely nice and a strong BF battler :)

Insane Soul:

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Pedro! You're one of the people who keeps Indigo alive and I appreciate that. You're a good contributor and you post funny stuff.

meeps:

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Probably the funniest person I know on PO. 99% of the time you're not serious and it's cool because it's fun to talk to you. You pretty much quit PO so I don't see you as often :(

MeowMix:

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Really funny person who posts really random stuff. You are still the best sheep host. Also, remember the #hot sexy room (or something like that)?

MetalGross:

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Nice friend who I snapchat often. I'm glad your SPL run was so impressive even though many people saw your name and said "PO random." You're a strong battler and 10 times better than Finch despite his statistical trash talk. n_n

Mylo Xyloto:

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You never come on anymore but you're really nice and you have almost the exact same music taste as I and that makes it really easy for us to talk.

Navz:

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OMG YOU CAME BACK. You're like 10 times active now than you were a month ago. Glad to see you're absolutely killing it in the college game. You're extremely nice and chill.

Proof:

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Omfuga :3 Really cool friend who also kinda quit for Smogon. But that's okay, you can always come back and we can make fun of Finch together.

ShowMeTheMankey:

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You're really funny. Along with Pedro, you also keep Indigo alive and that's always nice. You're the kind of person that is really easy to talk to :)

SongSing:

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One of the most random people I've ever met. I'm really grateful that I can ask you to "build" me pictures. You also make really random but funny threads in Gen Chat and kill all the ladies with your pleasing aesthetics.

sulcata:

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Gave me my first "staff" position (BF Reviewer). I don't really know you that well (most people don't), because you don't really share that much of your personal life but you're a great contributor and your calc is great because it actually has inverted.

uso:

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You're really cool and you come on more often nowadays which is cool! The times when I was still a TA were fun and we had good times complaining about people. n_n

Vahle:

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Best TA there ever was. Didn't even get alum :(

Wavy:

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Really funny person who I like to start random conversations with. Quite a shame you don't know anything about the Beat Generation though. Really thought you were into that.

Weavile:

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Best owner. You always make fun of my avatars but that's okay because I know you're just a hater. But nah, your personality is great and it makes talking with you really easy. You put up with me bugging you so much about stuff and I appreciate it :^]

Windblown:

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Not on PO anymore but you were a great sTA. You're also extremely smart and cool. But you play League now so I guess -4 respect points for you. ;)

Withoutatrace:

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My first "friend" on PO. Really cool to see how we both rose through PO at the same time. You're an amazing contributor and it's really sad to see you go. I hope for the best for you because you're such a good person. I didn't really know about your situation until a couple days before you left so it's been hard to talk to you about it. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here!

Xdevo:

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Sad to see you quit but you were a great contributor. But you seem to be the type of person who comes back out of nowhere so :)

ZoroDark:

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Great friend who I like to snapchat. Don't listen to the haters that make fun of you for your weight n_n

Hope you enjoyed!

 

one line

really

 

Future TD partner :]

It's ok, profiles sucked anyway.

You know there are always people who read the whole thing, no matter the subject or the longness (except my Medicham post). I read the whole thing, so be happy :]

You can now see her Indigo kicking edition, starring me. Name of the movie is Injustice: Waifus Among Us, in a theater close to you.

Ayy

Surprised you didn't get a contributor badge just for that. I mean, getting a PO petition to meet its end, of course.

Literally the only reason why anyone would ever want to be Server Mod (except maybe betting on a POlitical career to be admin, but you can just skip that and become insta-admin like mys-i guess Dis Spects is cool too :[

Gets me everytime.

Ayy

You're the person* And thanks ;D

Pot calling the kettle gay. Also >Best owner = Owner who has, so far, refrained from doing any major fuck ups. Give him time, though.

 

one more line than me mmm wacha say

 

cojote is the only owner.

Also I'd talk to you more but probably too big a difference in interests and yeah :v ( and IS doesn't keep indigo alive his memes ruin it :(( )

 

Raducan, you're a good pal and I'll return your car as soon as I figure out where I parked it.

 

dont tell people about italics

ily i hope you dream about a birthday cake :)

 

awwwww fren :^] ur right I am best owner.
Shoutouts to MankE not getting a shoutout.
ur still pretty gay with all that Beyoncé shit
<3

 

Weavile will never be on Oak's level though.

And you shouldn't be sad about not having a well. Answering people's questions isn't all its cracked up to be. Especially Element's 100 question gauntlet.

 

raddy u own and thanks for telling me about italics :o time to harass songsing : D

glad you're enjoying my snapchats, i think at this point you can almost have a conversation in dutch lol. we should maybe talk more on po though but fuck timezones D:

edit: tennis season hype

 

THIS IS THE CUTEST THING IVE EVER READ OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

gratz on 1000 posts ya big loser!! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

 

sry bout it bae </3

:]

I genuinely forgot to give you a shoutout because I see you and pedro in the same vein and thought i already gave you a shoutout when remembering pedro's :/ Check now :)

Do you like Coldplay, Mumford & Sons or any other indie rock groups? Also, I pretend to laugh at the Indigo memes to fit in but truthfully I don't know what they mean either :(

Wavy! I sware if u don't give me my car right now i will cancel ur DR. GOLD subscription

I dream about this kind of birthday cake:

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ur the best <3. also u wish u changed the game as much as Beyoncé did.

During my whole time in staff I don't think I've ever seen Oak not on LOA/ROA so I can't really accurate gauge his "level."

wells were fun for a while and then they stopped :(

omg lol

also I should have put this in your shoutout but when you had that young pic of urself in "full action" in the cstaff forums it was funny to go back and laugh at it bc it was gr8

tennis! <3

thx bae <3

 

tfw overlooked

 

hah it's okay i was only jokin but thanks bae <3

 

:+]

ur cool

 

ma girl <3

 

You like college football I think.

You the real MVP.