Introductions are in Order

[Seeker_of_Truth]

Hello Denizens of TPM. After watching these boards for some time, I have decided to become an active member in this internet society. Whether this if for better or worse remains to me seen :P

As is customary, I shall tell all of you a little about myself. Some people call this an icebreaker. And then, if you wish, you may then tell me and the rest of the forum-goers a little about yourself. In this way, we all can learn something about one another and, perhaps, grow closer together as a community.
This may very well be a corny idea, but I wanted my first post on TPM to be a little more than just 'hi, I'm me. I like stuff'. This seems like a great way to make my entrance into TPM: by trying to promote and foster friendship and a communal togetherness that should be present on all discussion forums (in my honest opinion, anyways).

Now then.. I am a 23 year old male who lives in the strange and terrifying land of Pennsylvania in the United States. Here, I busy myself by taking people's hard-earned cash in exchange for over-priced, mass-produced, consumer-grade merchandise. Those in the know call this deceitful web of lies and blatant theivery 'Retail'.
When not taking advantage of the masses, I enjoy playing Magic: The Gathering semi-competitively. I also am an avid reader and writer. Currently, I am actually trying to write a novel, but I find that actually trying to take the images in your head and transfer them onto paper is infinately more difficult than it first seemed. It's kind of like trying to describe fog to a blind person. But I keep at it, hoping I'll find the inspiration I need someday to finally manage at least a commendable effort.

As far as the Pokemon World, I have been enjoying this very innovative and groundbreaking game since Day 1. Ad fortune would have it, my brother was able to snag me a copy of Red a full week before it was released. Don't ask me how he did it, he doesn't reveal his methods even to me. I enjoy the vast strategic quality of the game and feel that is goes far beyond a simple children's game with cute, furry critters.
The fact that this game can appeal to people of all ages is a testament to its ingenuity. This is what I call the Shakespherean Philosophy. When Shakeshpere wrote his plays, he did so in such a way that both the pomp and proper lords as well as the more base and primal commoners would find enjoyment in his works. He did this by writing many things in a vague manner so as to give a great potential for double meanings, some of them very adult in nature. Try reading Romeo and Juliet sometime with that in mind and you'll see what I mean. Disney uses this same philoophy and so does Pokemon in a way (meaning in a not so perverse way).
Oops, sorry about that. I tend to go off on rants when a subject really peeks my interest. My friends tell me I'm long-winded. I say I'm merely opinionated. You be the judge :P

That is me in a nutshell. I hope I don't scare too many of you away ^_^;
Now it's your turn to tell us about yourself. Don't worry, we won't laugh too hard XD

[mr_pikachu]

Hey, Seeker! Welcome to TPM!

So you're working on writing, huh? Awesome. If you're looking for inspiration, I suggest you check out Fanfic. Trust me when I say it's a lot better than most of the other fanfiction sites out there; I honestly have a deep and long-lived hatred of fanfiction.net for the sheer quantity of tripe they have.

If you're looking for a really strong fic with which to start, check out Lisa the Legend by Gavin Luper. The writing style changes drastically from the beginning to its current point, mainly because Gav's been writing it for five years or so. But it's turned into quite an extraordinary epic.

Anyway, this post is about to turn into a rant as well, so I'll just conclude by saying that I hope you enjoy your time at TPM. And make sure you take a look at Fanfic!

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

Welcome.

So playing Pokémon is the same as watching a Shakespeare play and playing a videogame at the same time?

About the way you are going to start, I hope you don't overdo it. I had to leave last year because I thought too much of TPM and couldn't sleep.

EDIT: By the way, once a Finn introduced himself here and I posted at least a thousand word reply as a welcome! That I don't do this time, sorry.

[Jeff]

Welcome. So you're from PA huh? That's probably the closest to me. I live smack in the middle of Maryland, near Annapolis.

Anyway, you'll probably like it here, we might not have the same level of activity as certain other pokemon forums, but you're also unlikely to find topics containing ten pages debating whether Giovanni is Ash's father, and people with annoyingly oversized sigs proclaiming who their "bishie" is. Welcome again!

[Seeker_of_Truth]

Welcome. So you're from PA huh? That's probably the closest to me. I live smack in the middle of Maryland, near Annapolis.

Anyway, you'll probably like it here, we might not have the same level of activity as certain other pokemon forums, but you're also unlikely to find topics containing ten pages debating whether Giovanni is Ash's father, and people with annoyingly oversized sigs proclaiming who their "bishie" is. Welcome again!

awww, but people like that are fun. I could spend hours making them mad with the most simple and 'innocent' observations about their beloved anime character. It's almost another hobby :D

It is, however, a breath of fresh air to find a place that doesn't have the words 'bishie' or 'baka' or 'kawaii' (or however that is spelled) in every other post. It's kind of like finding an oasis in a desert of silliness.

Maryland, eh? Never been there myself. It's just a little too close to Washington D.C. You see, I have an abject fear of politicians. Everytime I see one, I think they're going to demand the hard-earned money I just stole from an unwitting consumer. They use fancy words like 'fraud' and 'tax-evasion' to try and trick me into getting caught in their webs of deceit. Oh no, Mr. Spider! You won't get this little fly! No sir-ee! ... Umm.. ANYway.. how's the weather in ol' Maryland this time of year?


mr_pikachu:
GASP! a moderator! talking to people!! In a friendly manner!!! This is unheard of in the world of internet forums!!!! I knew I made the right choice when I joined these forums. I'm so awesome it's almost scary ^_^
Thank you for your warm welcome. It was actually the fanfic section that peeked my interest to begin with. It was refreshing to see a fanfic site that had a practically no, as you put it, tripe whatsoever. I've always thought of fanfics as a way to flesh out your writing skills as you can try new ideas without much worry. I've written a couple in the past and I may very well try my hand at it once again. I've got some ideas that I won't get in to here. Needless to say, if I do happen to get something started, I think everyone will enjoy it thouroughly.

[The Blue Avenger]

mr_pikachu:
GASP! a moderator! talking to people!! In a friendly manner!!! This is unheard of in the world of internet forums!!!!

It happens more often here than you'd think. While we're pimping out our subforums, by the way, visit Anime Style Battling. 'Cause it's cool like that.

Anyway, we don't get that many new members these days, so it's always refreshing to see someone who a) respects the rules of grammar and... uh... that's about it. You seem like a cool guy, so have a good time here.

And don't forget ol' ASB. ;)

[Jeff]

ANYway.. how's the weather in ol' Maryland this time of year?

Warming up pretty good, but of course I'm sure that's mostly due to all the hot air given off by the politicians. :P

[Weasel Overlord]

I like bishies... *looks shifty*

ANYWAY! Since we're all pimpin' our forums, if you're a writer, dude, you should come to RPG! We do have a few good writers in there... naw, I'm kidding, we have quite a lot of good RP'ers.

No but seriously... soon enough, Plantae is starting a new RPG called The Jungle. When it pops up, check it out, cos it's no doubt gonna be a good one.

Anyway, enough of the RPG-pimpin, eh! Should I pimp my writing in Fanfic next!? Hrrrm... Naw, maybe not.

So yes! Welcome to here! We're really very nice, as you might have noticed.

*waves hypnotic pendulum* Come to are-pee-gee! You know you wanna...

[mr_pikachu]

mr_pikachu:
GASP! a moderator! talking to people!! In a friendly manner!!! This is unheard of in the world of internet forums!!!! I knew I made the right choice when I joined these forums. I'm so awesome it's almost scary ^_^
Thank you for your warm welcome. It was actually the fanfic section that peeked my interest to begin with. It was refreshing to see a fanfic site that had a practically no, as you put it, tripe whatsoever. I've always thought of fanfics as a way to flesh out your writing skills as you can try new ideas without much worry. I've written a couple in the past and I may very well try my hand at it once again. I've got some ideas that I won't get in to here. Needless to say, if I do happen to get something started, I think everyone will enjoy it thouroughly.

I'm finding it very difficult not to burst into laughter right now. I mean, I regularly get PMs from people just asking if I want to get on AIM/MSN for a chat. That's half the fun of being on a forum! ^_^

But you do make a good point; too many moderators see their positions and use it as an excuse to lord over other members. The way I see it, my modship simply means I spend too much time here. Not that I think that's a problem, but it doesn't necessarily make me better than any other member. It's not a license to be demeaning and arrogant. I think you'll find that most of the mods here have similar opinions. For instance, I've always known Weasel and Hypotenuse to be very friendly and approachable.

Anyway, yeah. We'd love to have you become a part of our community in Fanfic! Look for the E-zine, as well, when it comes out April 1.

And as a final note, the word "tripe" is very fun to use.

[Lady Vulpix]

Welcome!

It seems everyone is pimping, so I'll do the same. Check out Polls, Clubs and Games and its Adopted and Captured Pokemon subforum. It's fun when people play. :)

[Blademaster]

Even'n, Seeker.

Welcome to TPM. The name's CuleX (The Admins haven't finalized the change yet, which is why it still says Blademaster.); I hope you enjoy your stay here.

I've only been here for a year and a half, myself, and I'm pretty popular, so I doubt you'll have to worry much about the whole friendliness aspect. (If you want a list of members to avoid, PM me and I'll fill you in.)

Oh, and be sure to stay as far away from any political/religious debates as possible. This is for your own safety.

Other than that, have a ball. Laterz.

[darktyranitar]

Wow, this is certainly not your everage post by newbies... Anyway, welcome to TPM, Seeker. You'll find that TPM is a very good forum with a lot of nice people... well, the activity can be a bit slow. Sometimes.

Everyone has gone pimping, but I'd recommend you checking out the fic board and the RPG board first. Then go for ASB and PCG.

[Lady Vulpix]

Heh. I guess everyone is interested in getting a promising new poster. :D

[The Blue Avenger]

There's a quota we have to fill; you should know that by now, Gabi. ;)

[Dark-San]

For instance, I've always known Weasel and Hypotenuse to be very friendly and approachable.

For some reasons, I feel quite left out. =(

Hi Seeker, welcome to the board. I'm pretty sure that you are feeling quite comfortable here already. If you are into writing, fanfic would be good but I would recomend RPG. Its been a while since I had participate over there ever since the tutorials and assignments got the better of me. But I'm pretty sure you fill into the forum nicely with nice people like Weasel and Roy to help you around.

TCG-wise, well we do have some TCG resident experts around. Catch them online if you feel like discussing strategies. And if possible if you win a tournament, do your winning deck here and let us share your victory together. Still not quite sure on how to go about identifying the resident expert, just drop a pm to Roarkiller, a close friend of mine who would help out anyone in need.

I do suppose that you haven't heard of anything about other animes other than your typical pokemon? If you wish to know more, pm me instead. I had been regularly watching animes for seven years, hence I might have some idea of animes to recommend to you if you can tell me about your favourite genres.

Other than all these, feel free to roam around and mingle around with the friendly members here.

[Seeker_of_Truth]

lmao people, people! There is plenty of me to go around! You don't have to play tug-of-war with me while shouting 'Mine!', even though that is doing wonders for my precious ego :D
If at all possible, I plan to make my presence known at as many boards as possible. This, of course, depends on how indispensable I am at work each week. Sometimes, I even get a day off! Isn't that neat! And there are even times where I don't have to work 10 straight days before I get a day off! *laughs then cries then laughs again before passing out*

ANYway...
Hypotenuse Man:
I've checked out the ASB and it intrigues me. I've never seen anything like it before. Whoever came up with that idea should be given a nice, big, shiny trophy or something. Once I have a little more time, I'm definately going to give ASB a try. :D

Weasel Overlord:
To be honest, I never considered myself to be a very good Roleplayer. Granted, I'm basing this on my experience in the realm of chat room RPing (I let friends talk me into things too easily -_- ) and E-Wrestling (I was actually pretty decent at this, but it wasn't all that fun). However, it seems the RP board is more of a chain story in a sense with each person writing their character's part. As a writer, that appeals to me. I may very well pop sometime. Don't worry, I won't scare too many people away XD

Mr Pikachu:
It's great to know that the mods are so accessible here at TPM. I've been to a couple boards where the mods are engaged in power struggles as well as some boards where the mods stay completely detached from everyone else. From what I've seen, those other forums should take lessons from TPM.
I agree, tripe is a very entertaining work. I don't know why, but it makes me think of seafood. Sometimes, I confuse even myself.

Lady Vulpix:
I must have skipped over that board, I dont recall seeing it. If the name speaks anything for it's contents, though, I'm sure you'll see me lurking around. I enjoy voicing my opinion on stuff. And forum games are always very entertaining, I've always found.
On a side note, Isn't the word 'stuff' horrible? It just seems so uncouth no matter how you use it. They should remove it from the english dictionary and give it to some less fortunate langauge that doesn't have the privledge of having countless groups of words that mean the same thing.

Well, this is officially the most posts I've ever gotten on an introduction thread. Most of the time, 2 to 5 people will say a quick 'hi, enjoy yourself, bye' and leave it at that. I think I'm going to enjoy it here. :D

[mr_pikachu]

Dark, I would've mentioned you if you'd been quick enough to post. As you may see, Kirst and Jeff were the only other mods to have posted when I made that comment. (Translation: It's your own fault, lazy!) ;)

If you're wondering about Adopted and Captured Pokemon, Seeker, there are two ways to get to it. (Well, three if you use the Forum Navigation tool, but I've actually never touched that in four-and-a-half years.) The first way is, from the main forum page, look right below the description for Polls, Clubs, and Games. There should be a smaller link to its subforum. Also, if you're already on the PCG page, there will be a link above the threads to the subforum.

And stuff can be a very useful word if you know how to use it. I, for one, like intentionally tossing it five times in a row to make a point. Or to just act like an idiot.

"Wow, look at all that stuff! This is some really cool stuff here. Ooh, you want to go do stuff? So, what stuff did you buy? Stuff!"

[Crystal Mew]

Well that is quite an introduction, haha. Welcome to TPM...

I've been a member here for almost 6 years now, and although I'm not really into pokemon anymore I stay for the people :)

so enjoy yourself, and I'll see ya around I guess!

[The Blue Avenger]

Hypotenuse Man:
I've checked out the ASB and it intrigues me. I've never seen anything like it before. Whoever came up with that idea should be given a nice, big, shiny trophy or something. Once I have a little more time, I'm definately going to give ASB a try. :D

I wish we could claim ASB as our brainchild, but I'm fairly certain it existed before we got to it. ...Ours is the best, though. >_>

Also, I'll have to throw my vote out there for Adopted and Captured Pokemon as well. It's awesome. :P

[Drago]

hi, enjoy yourself, bye


...damn, was tempted to just leave it at that but I already made one rubbish post this week, might as well sacrifice my sense of self-humour for now.
Anyway welcome to TPM! We could use a few brave men like yourself in these times of silence and unrest, do you reckon you could bring in another forty just like yourself and give us a bit of a kickstart? (On an unrelated note, I feel pretty cool for having not worked ten days straight in a dog's age)

Crap, everyone's recommending forums. Umm... I think I'm a fanfic person, still kinda sorta. Go there! or... Go to miscellaneous stuff! ...oh too late.

[homeofmew]

Welcome, this board was way more active in the older days
anyway have a good time :)

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

ANYway...
Hypotenuse Man:

Weasel Overlord:

Mr Pikachu:

Lady Vulpix:

I got nothing...

But perhaps I should give an introduction, too. I live in Finland. I have a dark hair and glasses (not dark ones) I bought last November. Yes, I got them fixed, if you remember my wish in Twisted Wishes. I have devoted my life to drawing, video games, languages and, should I say, TPM, my favourite message board. Now I'll have someone saying that I left at least thrice, but anyway. If you are interested, I have studied my mother tongue (Finnish), English, Swedish, German, Japanese, French, Chinese, Russian and Anglo-Saxon, but it's not like I remembered anything of all of them.

I also advertise my topics here, If I may, some of them have no replies and I would be thankful if you dared to reply them.