How have you changed?

[PancaKe]

Wow. TPM is so old now. So... How have you changed since you first joined the forums (whenever that was)?

I guess I'll start

~ I was 12 when I joined the forums. I turn 20 next month (gasp!)
~ My first ever user name was Lavern, then I changed that to MistyDeeDee, and then was known as Mist. Then for some stupid reason (because I drank a litre of pancake mix and thought I was awesome) I changed it to PancaKe. I much preferred Mist.
~ I was so shy when I first joined, and never used to leave fanfic.
~ I went through these phases where I would have the glowing font in my sig and think I was so cool. Also the whole e-dating thing, where you'd display who you love in your sig.
~ I used to write in different colour font. I started off with a variety of colours, but most commonly switched between royal blue and lime green. I stopped using Royal Blue because B4 used it. Haha.


Dang, I can't find any pictures of me from when I was in year 7. But I was going to fully compare what I looked like then to how I look now. Haha its so different. :P

[Knight of Time]

Okay, since I'm guessing this is a bit of a history topic, why not?

-I was 17 when I joined here.
-I went through a bunch of old usernames before the current and permanent one (wightmak, The Legend, DarkPrince aka T_L, DarkPrince the Dark Knight, Knight of Time)
-I joined the old ASB, and used to also have some adopted and captured Pokemon long ago (two sets at two different times).
-after some hard times in early 2004 around the forums, I decided to leave, and figured that I'd be better off in a few other forums, mostly in the gaming area.
-but around late October/early November of 2004, I was thinking of coming back to TPM, after getting burnt out over some gaming related stuff (from above), it was that time I restarted completely on adopted and captured Pokemon, as I wanted to make a fresh start (I only released one Pokemon, one from my current captured Pokemon team that wasn't fitting in too well).
-after awhile, I began to occasionally lurk in the new ASB, but without making any posts there. It wasn't until one day when I helped Chris 2.0/2.1 with a randomizer or two in the Binary District forum, that I decided I should give the new ASB a try. Over time, I began to find myself being a better battler than I had been in the old ASB (even though I don't know if or when I may decide to be a ref in the current ASB, due to it being so quiet these days), which is one of the main reasons why I'm still there today.
-I also used to post in the lime green font occasionally, but I usually don't these days.

Overall, I've definitely been finding TPM to be a better place these days, compared to what it was years ago, to top that off, I got into the game business in PCG more than ever, making a couple of my own games in the process.

[mistysakura]

Not much, actually. :P

Way way back in 2000, I joined and mostly hung out in the TCG forum. I liked the puzzles people made back then, like chess puzzles where you have to figure out what moves to make to win. I didn't post unless it was to reply to one of those. I don't remember posting outside of TCG much, although I did newb stuff with my sig like everyone else did. Oh, and I cared about my post count.

I discovered the concept of fanfics back then, when they were on the main site and rated. So I wrote a couple of bad AAML fics and one got put up, with a D rating or something. For some bizarre reason, I don't remember reading anyone else's fanfics, so I didn't realise how bad mine were. I don't remember ever venturing into the fanfic board either.

Then I left TPM. I came back in 2002 under a new account because I couldn't access my old one. TCG was dead, my love for the games and the anime and shipping had died, but I found Fanfic. And I pretty much lived there, like I do now. I was... overly serious back then, to say the least. Not so much uptight as humourless. I remember entering the mod contest with really serious essays on spam and stuff. Was shy, still am. But I was less argumentative and possibly a nicer person back then.

Writing-wise, in 2000 I didn't know the rules of thumb, then I learnt the rules of thumb, then I realised that rules of thumb don't make you a good writer. And I used to write about nerdy stuff that no one else cared about. Oh, and I used to think that poetry had to rhyme. As a reader, I don't think I've changed much (although I read less nowadays). As a mod, I've probably become more assertive, but more laidback (like the rest of the forum these days).

I don't look that different from my 2000 self -- it's sad.

[MToolen]

Well, I made my first venture here in 2000... I started out just watching, in about June, and signed up in November, being barely 11. I am embarrassed to mention that my first post involved Pig Latin. It wasn't pretty.

I stayed mostly in RBY, VG, Misc, and RPG, though I have to admit that I was not big on posting, as my record shows. I was probably up to 200 when life hit me and I sort of drifted away until about last year.

Since then, I've had bursts of activity in different places--RPG, PCG, Misc--but I have to say that I'm still not as significant a contributor as I could have been/be.

I haven't bought anything Pokémon in well over 5 years. However, my geekdom and general knowledge of it stays strong, at least as far as GSC.

As far as the quality of my posts, I like to think I am constantly improving. While grammar has never been an issue, I never figured out how everyone else's posts seem to be leagues longer than mine.

This wasn't supposed to be part of the discussion, but I'm very proud to be a part of this community where everyone's really starting to open up to each other. Just my two cents.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

I have said pretty much in "Truth about Mikachu Yukitatsu", but I try to take more of a TPM point of view. And here I can omit unnecessary information.

I joined TPM in 2001, when I was 16. I used to post in about the same places I do now. Except PGC games and perhaps Fanfic, I found them much later. I mean I posted in General Discussion, Misc, Videogames, Pokemon Anime, sometimes FanArt and Polls. However, I used to post just much slower and my postcount stayed little. I finally had it to 1.00 posts a day about one and a half year after starting to regularly post in PGC games.

I left TPM thrice, I think. I was a poster in the EzBoard, but the first time was August or September 2002. Sailor Moon anime began in Finland and I kinda disliked Pokemon for a while. If you can talk about disliking Pokemon when you're talking about me. I came back in January 2003 and regained my interst on Pokemon.

As you know, I had yo leave TPM again in 2004 when I went to army. Then I was in the hospital and no chance to get online. Got back in late 2005 but left once again because of sleeping difficulties spring 2006. Came back in Janurary 2007 and I hope it's for good.

My favourite forum used to be Pokemon Anime, and when it was more active, I actually got some feedback with my translations. I've tried to return there and start translating TVTokyo previews again and again but it doesn't seem reasonable. So I post mostly at PCG now.

Some people have even proposed me to be modded, but I don't know the latest turns of events in that. Or should I say, it seems that the latest truns of events are against that attempt.

[Bulbasaur4]

Great idea PancaKe! Do you know that whenever I see your user name, I always want to call you panqueque? I don't know... why... I guess I just think it sounds cute. xD


~ I came to TPM when I was in sixth grade, so I was about 11 years old. Now I'm a Senior in college and currently 21... so yeah...wow. xD
~ I used to only hang out in Fan Fiction and Fan Art. Just never was really into the whole pokemon talk... I suppose I didn't like the game so much as to care about my teams and what-not. ^^;;
~ My first RPG I ever started was called PokeHeroes... xD It was actually A LOT of fun and it was the third RPG brought to TPM. I don't even know why I remember these things...
~ I became a moderator... uhmm... you know, I don't really remember. I know it was in August, but I think it was when I was 14-15. *shrug*
~ When the RPG board was created, I immediately leapt into there but hung out in Fan Fic. Slowly RPG dragged me more into it... until now, where I live in RPG but pay rent to Fan Fiction once and a while.
~ I always post in Royalblue now, mostly because it is my favorite color and I find that I can find my posts and the posts of others easier if I use that as a marker in a topic. xD

~ Personally, when I was younger I used to be super cheerful but also extremely sensitive. I was a big push over and I really cared about what others think. Thank goodness for college... XD Now I try to be cheerful, but I don't put up with internet bullcrap like I used to. Because it is the internet... n'yah.

[shazza]

The first period was from about 2000-2002, which included being pre-pubescent, naive, optimistic and aspiring for power.

-Joined the forums when I was 11 and in Grade 6 in 2000 as pokemastershazza2000.
-Was extremely naive and foolish in using the forum and writing proper sentences, and spammed without even knowing I was doing so.
-Was too nice for my own good.
-Aspired to be a PCG moderator and even lost some e-friends in the process.
-Aspired for posts and power.
-Loved making awesome Polls and crazy Games.

Then when TPM became an ezBoard and during 2003-2006:

-Became a cunt, a troll and a purpose spammer.
-Was involved in an underground forum which Chris made which was devoted to spamming in 2004 for #pbs members based on Something Awful.
-Resented the current moderators and the strict rules of TPM and made this known publicly.

Man, I feel like browsing the archives now.

[Zak]

-I went through a bunch of old usernames before the current and permanent one (wightmak, The Legend, DarkPrince aka T_L, DarkPrince the Dark Knight, Knight of Time)

You forgot EVERYONE BUT DARKPRINCE!

[PancaKe]

Man, I feel like browsing the archives now.


Totally beat you to that man. I've spent the last few days in the archives. Gosh it beats doing assessments.

[Austrian ViceMaster Alex]

I haven't changed much at all in my opinion except seeing things a bit more relaxed now.

- I was 23 when signing up, now I'm 31
- been using the same username since starting out (except a single day as "Ringo Starr")
- I used to hang out in General Discussion all the time, trying to find more or less realistic explanations for Pokémon powers, types, gadgets and whatnot ... I miss those =P
- got modded barely two months after signing up, that came as a surprise
- modded General Discussion since March 2001
- been using the same sig since 2001 with only a minor change once every few years
- never used an avatar except for a short time in 2007
- used to make fun of Hyrulian_Genius' one-word replies in a time when every post with less than two lines was a big no-no

I'm boring, lol.

[shazza]

The first night you became a mod Alex, you asked me how do you close a topic on AIM because of my experience with my own UBB.

At that stage I wasn't a moderator on TPM and was extremely jealous of you, probably because you only joined two months prior.

[Austrian ViceMaster Alex]

Heh, yeah, I remember that as well. I was never moderator on any kind of board before and I had really hoped for a "how to do this and that" crash course or something by the other mods. But since there was none I had no idea how to close, move etc. a topic.

[Blademaster]

I joined three years ago. I was innocent, naive, aspiring, and kind to everybody.

...

Three years on the Internet really changes a man...

[Dark-San]

I was 16 and joined the forum officially in December 2000. Had a couple of accounts (lost my passwords, forgotten my emails etc) before eventually settling with Darkyouth. I used it for quite a while before converting it to Dark-San for good.

Only venture within the Trading Cards section. Back then, the only two message boards that I ever regular are Pojo and Pokemasters. Pojo for their comprehensive deck list and Pokemasters are their more logical and simpler to understand deck techniques. I got handsomely rewarded, also continuous persistence online and viewing every decks available, got ranked overall sixth in DCI tournaments. Even if I quited Pokemon TCG, I stick to these two boards like bible and got rewarded again with my back to back win in Duel Monsters tournaments.

Surprisingly, I did not expect to get modded in OA forum midway into while I was still serving national service at age 19 I think. Roar was the first one to break the news to me first but I was like 'WTF?'. I did quite a few changes to the OA forum and fought to keep its identity as being only Japanese. Sadly, this didn't work well and also with inactive partner moderators, things could only be made worse. >.<;

[Heald]

I think many people can attest that I haven't always been the calm, collected, authoritative guy that now commands this forum. I'm not a fan of tl;dr style stories so I'll keep it brief.

Was a lurker when this forum started, signed up in June 2000. Mainly stayed in Fanfic and then later RPG when RPG got its own forum. Got in an argument with a guy called Ishdul, who bawwed about it to Dodrio who banned me. This begins a trend of me getting banned and then returning sometime later.

I returned soon after and continued with RPG, although by 2002 I was branching out more. I ventured into VG and sometimes posted in Misc, although never considered it a must-post forum.

I think around 2003, 2004 I began posting in Misc a lot more, probably more than in RPG at this point. I began establishing a name for myself and began several rivalries, including with TMM and Tainted. Misc became a warzone, and I began making some pretty obscene posts, along with others. Something known as 'the Heald effect' began, where mods would whine that while people who posted the kind of stuff I did would be banned, I could get away with it because 'I was Heald'.

Eventually, Misc had to weather the storm from several annoying pains, such as WPM, Animelee, Yoh Asakura, Sorovis, Checkmate, HavoX, among many others. The mainstays of Misc, including Raz, TMM, Tainted, fmwam and myself, were victorious in repelling the tide of fail and sending them back to where all fail is born (PokeBeach). From this victory rose the Misc Marauders, what was known as the most powerful force in the universe, and together we held a grip over Misc so tight that no one dared question our might.

But, like all great powers, the power waned over time and people moved on. At this time, I began doing something I had never dared consider doing before: contributing intelligently to topics in Misc. Somebody noticed at some point, and modded me. And that's where I am today.

[shazza]

'The Heald effect' as you dubbed it existed much prior to your 2003-2004 emergence in Misc, brah.

[Heald]

Yeah, but it became known as that after I was it's most revered beholder.

[Bulbasaur4]

Oh Heald, you poor thing. See where intelligence gets you? That's why I threw mine out the window a long time ago. Curses.

[Lady Vulpix]

I was 21 years old when I first joined TPM (October 1st, 2000). Since then I have learnt a few things about life... but I can't say I've really changed much. I've probably become stronger in many ways, but I'm essentially still the same.

Oh, but my hair's grown darker of its own accord!

[Jeff]

Let's see. I lurked on and off after the main site when down for the first time in '03 (or was it '02?). After a while, I started coming back more often and decided to join.

I was 20 when I joined, and my username back then was Jeff 02. Dropped the 02 a few weeks later. I was a bit gloaty over the results of the '04 election, probably made some people mad. I was also somewhat paranoid that people would get the wrong idea about me here. I remember in one thread when I thought someone was talking about me, and I thought that they thought that I was someone else, I jumped in and said, "that's not me"! Of course I was a noob back then. Now, four years later, I'm modding the effort to bring back the main site. And now, since getting modded, I feel like I've been more active here. Also, to my knowledge, this is the first year I've been nominated for any Unown Awards, and I even managed to win one!

It's kind of funny really, TPM's main site going down is what brought me here, and now I'm part of the effort to bring it back.

[The Decapitated Mole]

Discovered TPM sometime in 2000 on a quest for G/S/C information and eventually joined the forums under the name "krillin245." (my first e-pseudonym)

Sucked as a poster for a pretty long time. Hung around in PCG and General Discussion at first (maybe a few others but I really can't recall). I remember one of my first posts was in response to someone named "PokeSam####" and it was an entirely unwarranted (and immaturely executed) flame.

Changed my name to 'The Decapitated Mole' sometime in 2001 after I yelled it in gym class earlier that day and thought it sounded cool. Started hanging around in PCG and Fanfic pretty exclusively, with occasional forays into TCG and General Discussions. Had an annoying obsession with e-relationships.

Changed my name to o_0 in 2002. Wrote in fanfic and fanart and became pretty active there. Was in TPM Big Brother 2 and stopped coming to PCG around the same time. Started the misadventures of Hiro, which I reposted several times and "finished" in 2004. Started to really dislike pokemon itself and started hanging around in misc. and fanfic exclusively. Went back to the decapitated mole after a time.

Became a reviewer in fanfic around 2004 and started coming less and less. Left for three years, and now I'm back, sort of.

[Jeff]

I thought about this this morning, so I figured I'd post it. Another thing that's changed about me here is my user title.

It was originally "Right-wing nutjob" in reference to the JibJab videos that were popular back then. Another early one I had was "Never makes misstakes" (yay irony!). The only reason I remember that is because it's still my user title at Bulbagarden. While playing Diamond, I changed it to "Cosmic energy for the win!", a direct quote from DP. Then it was "Audi famam illius" from Brawl, then "Took too many blue shells" out of my frustration over the most evil item to ever appear in a Mario Kart game. Then, when we got all those spam bots, I changed it to "Not a spam bot". Now that that's long over, I decided to change it to something that I can stick with until I get tired of it, "Prince of Dorkiness". Came up with it this morning when I was thinking about my past user titles.

[PancaKe]

I was a spam bot once. But now I'm all better.

I keep trying to find a picture on the computer of what I actually looked like when I first joined the forum. My intentions are to do a Then and Now thing. But I can't find one!!!

[kendawg528]

I keep trying to find a picture on the computer of what I actually looked like when I first joined the forum. My intentions are to do a Then and Now thing. But I can't find one!!!

haha i think that'd be such a great idea. that being said, whatever happened to those old post-pictures-of-yourself topics we used to have? i really have no idea how anyone here looks like...

-i joined in january 2001 under some username i can't even remember. i was 11 back then
-i kept changing usernames for the first couple of months and i tried posting a lot because in my mind postcount++=awesome.
-i spent the first year or so just in gsc and gsc help, not knowing that misc. was really the money forum.
-i lost my username a few years ago because i like, forgot my password or something. i really miss it, join date of aug 2007 makes me feel like a noob =(
-i'm pretty sure just from a maturity stand point i've changed a whole lot from being 19 and 11. when you're 11 the little things like what people think of you in an online community really seem to matter a lot more.

[Ghost]

Well, lets see, I joined the forums back here in 2001...Was known as Raven The Jedi Bounty Hunter.... Maybe something before that. It was a unique name, I honestly have no recollection of why i was named that.... I was 8 years old. I was a noob back then, and some of you probably see me as one now as well. Im 15, turning 16 in a little while, and i've changed alot since then. I'm more mature now then i was then... Reading some of the posts I did way back when disgust me. I used to frequent misc, fanfic, PCG, VG,and then i found RPG and have been stuck there ever since.

I left TPM for a while (three years maybe?) and came back recently... It's nice to see everyone and talk to everyone again. Things have changed alot since way back when... Some for the better, some for the worse. I wish there were some good RPGs out there.. I can't seem to find any to join. It seems kinda dead...

[PancaKe]

haha i think that'd be such a great idea. that being said, whatever happened to those old post-pictures-of-yourself topics we used to have? i really have no idea how anyone here looks like...



Yeah we should totally bring back the post your pic thread! I wonder why that died...

anyway.. look what i found. You want to see change? Here's seven years of it. You guys should feel privelaged to witness my entire teen life :P

Here we go.

THEN:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/helga_the_strong/tarayear7.jpg
year 7, 12 years old, 2001

NOW
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/helga_the_strong/tarasndyearuni.jpg
Totally my facebook pic. 2nd year of uni, 19 years old (20 in like a month), 2008.

Dudeeeeee.
Post yours! all of you!

[Number1ChanseyFan]

First of all, glowing font was awesome, I loved it!!

I joined TPM back on November 6, 2008 at the age of 15, now I am 23. (I just celebrated my 8 year anniversary, yay!!) I have always had this username, even though I really hate it!! I never really intended on staying when I first joined. I was having trouble on my Pokemon Gold game, I couldn't find Heracross, so I went on the internet looking for help, and TPM was the first site that appeared on my search page. I was relatively new to the internet, and I thought that I would just get the answer to my question, and then disappear off into the sunset. I didn't post for another week or so, but I kept thinking about the place, so I came back and started posting. I got off to quite a fast start, getting modded in G/S/C Help with only a little over 3 months experience on February 17, 2001, with just under 1,000 posts. This was quite a birthday present, seeing as my birthday is February 19th. I was definitely shocked that morning, I had no idea that I would be modded, it never even entered my mind. I didn't notice my name in large print on the mod list in the forum, and I didn't notice the big congrats topic either. I only noticed when I was looking at a post I made the night before, I was looking at my Pokeball ranking, postcount was important at the time, and I was not even 30 posts away from getting to 1,000 posts, which would make me an Advanced Trainer and get me my 4th Pokeball. So yeah, I was being a little vain, I just wanted to look at my post and admire my 3 Pokeballs, knowing that I would soon get the 4th. I was completely shocked when I saw 8 Pokeballs and the "Gym Leader" title under my name. It was pretty much unheard of for such an inexperienced person to be modded at TPM at the time, I replaced Silver_Espeon, who later came back to TPM for a few posts as Lady Kinogassa. G/S/C Help was a challenging forum, at within a few days, my partner RAD_Slash left, leaving me to mod the entire forum by myself for awhile, although he saw the state of the forums and returned until other people were modded to replace him. My inexperience and immaturity proved to be a little too much, as I did a poor job, and I eventually stopped posting altogether, leading to demodding through inactivity, and I went from one of TPM's rising stars to a rather disgraced figure after that. From that point on, I only used TPM for PMing my closest friends, but I generally did not post at all. However, when TPM lost the UBB and went to the ezboard in Summer 2002, I started posting again, fearing that TPM may be about to die off, and I did regret my absence a little bit at this time. I never left again. I started posting again in G/S/C, and somehow I was modded in Ruby/Sapphire on June 21, 2004, despite the fact that I hardly posted in that forum before I was modded, I was mostly a G/S/C person at the time. There was also concern about modding me given my past history. Even I was concerned!! lol I didn't do as bad a job this time around, but I am hardly a great mod either, I just kinda settled into mediocrity. I became a Hangman worker in October 2005. I was demodded for 2 days in 2006 because of an April Fool's Day joke gone bad, where I posted a topic in misc saying that I was leaving, and the administrators took it seriously!! I also temporarily lost my Hangman worker spot too!!

As far as how I have changed, I don't think that I have changed much at all during my time at TPM, my personality is still pretty much the same, both online and offline. I like the more outgoing aspect of my online self though, as I am painfully shy IRL. Life was probably less busy and a little better back then, as some family and pet deaths have occured over time. I do kinda miss the simplicity of life back then, just being a 10th grader. Things seem so busy now with college and work with stuff. I would love to go back to 2000 for a day or so. I would make sure to visit TPM, it was so much fun back in the day!! I wonder where all my old TPM friends are, and what they are doing!!

Also, I have pretty much always posted in Magenta during my time here. I was actually going to post in Red, but I noticed that Little_Pikachu, who registered on the exact same day as me, and has the same birthday as me (although she is 3 years older) also posted in Red. So, I decided on Magenta, although I later noticed that EVme15 also posted in Magenta, but I had already been doing it for so long when I noticed that I just kept using Magenta font.

http://web.archive.org/web/20010419123944/www.pokemasters.net/ubb/NonCGI/Forum17/HTML/008012.html

^ I found this link on archive.org, this was the earliest of my posts at TPM that I could find... (April 2001) see, I told you have been writing in Magenta for a long time!! There are maybe a few posts from my first month or so that were in plain white.

Ok, I think that is enough for now. This has been the longest, most thoughtful post I have made in a long time!!

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

I'd like to add TPM has changed me much my behavior in Real Life, too. I noticed it in 2003, when the mother of the substitute family wondered: "Why do you always have to comment on everything these days?" or something. Now I don't comment on everything at TPM, but I sometimes try but luckily get real and don't post anything. That's what has made me more talkative in Real Life.

[Crystalmaster Mike]

Apr 2001:
A 13-year-old kid, known on the Drawing Chat as Cool Cat 13, joins the forums.
Among the first PM's he sends is a series of about five, in which, in retrospect, he's harassing an innocent FanArt person about a Fakemon he'd like to be drawn. Admittedly, he threw in a share of ;)'s and :P's, but still, this artist hadn't deserved this.
Over time, he will experience several types of bulletin boards, site hacks and server lags.
He will have his screenname changed to Machampharos, and then Crystalmaster Mike, the member in front of you.
He wanders from FanFic to PCG and the AP/CP subforum, where, for a time, he's co-owner of the Goldenrod Tower, together with the second member to post in this thread, Knight of Time, and Aipom of Doom.
During his last two years of high school, he came decidedly less and less online, to the extent of a (several?) year-long hiatus, although he never forgot the good times he had at TPM and on AIM. Plus, I lurked around quite a few times.
Now, this 21-year-old has long since graduated high school, and college, and is now in possession of both driver's license and full-time job. He posts far less than before, but he's still much the same person, so proves his still fond interest in the Pokémon Universe.

Well, the earliest post made by me I could find directly was: here (http://www.pokemasters.net/forums/showthread.php?p=65698#post65698), when I was already an AP/CP (I keep wanting to call it AP/DP, yay for pop culture!).

Then there's this one (http://www.pokemasters.net/forums/search.php?searchid=67268), where, uh, I'm being cocky.

[Lady Vulpix]

Mike, search links expire quickly. Would you mind providing a link to the post instead?

Ah, photos! One from the year I joined the forum (2000) and one from this year (2008, of course). Click to enlarge.

http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g26/Gliynn/th_Gabi3.jpg (http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g26/Gliynn/Gabi3.jpg) http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g26/Gliynn/th_Gabi10.jpg (http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g26/Gliynn/Gabi10.jpg)

[shazza]

This is the only picture I posted on TPM, I recall it vividly because Ash_300 made a comment about my shirt, I informed him it was my school uniform. This was early 2001:

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/8254/shannon31101mq4.jpg

2006 (long hair represent):

http://photos-e.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v115/149/19/564283880/n564283880_130172_7442.jpg

January 1, 2008 (on the right, drunk, overweight):

http://photos-e.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v170/149/19/564283880/n564283880_329868_9255.jpg

August 2008 (~25kg lighter):

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v319/149/19/564283880/n564283880_818091_3173.jpg


....and yeah.

[Blademaster]

STOP NOT POSTING PICTURES IN THE PICTURE TOPIC, DAMMIT!

[Crystal Mew]

wait, STOP posting pictures in the picture topic? what! lol

anyways, I have changed quite a bit since I joined here. I was 15 when I joined here in 2001, and now I'm 22.
- I think when I originally signed up I was clefairy girl or something, and then I changed to Crystal Mew, and I've stayed with that name ever since
- I started using this color font, which has just become a habit now, I dont really think about it
-I too, used to declare my love for whoever I was e-dating at the time in my sig. LOL E DATING...
-I was pretty shy at first, but then started IMing people, and then got invited to cool chats like ummmm
-made lots of polls
-stayed up late every night chatting to people, and finding out all info on how to be a pokemon master

now
- whats pokemon?
- I work, and go to school
- hardly any time to for fun :(

well, I guess overall, I have become more outgoing since I was 15. And when I read all the posts from years ago, they embarrass me. :)

[Zak]

well, I guess overall, I have become more outgoing since I was 15. And when I read all the posts from years ago, they embarrass me. :)

Haha, me too. Good thing I have the power to delete them...

[RedStarWarrior]

Haha, me too. Good thing I have the power to delete them...
Fuck you, power abuser. I demand a Jew picture now!

[Blademaster]

wait, STOP posting pictures in the picture topic?

Re-read: You forgot a word.

[Crystal Mew]

hmm, guess I did! my apologies lol

and...sometimes I like looking back and reading all my old posts. I was such a freaking teeny bopper :(

[shazza]

STOP NOT POSTING PICTURES IN THE PICTURE TOPIC, DAMMIT!

Settle down there, Lecter.

[Dark Scizor]

I joined when I was 12, in 2001, after a few months of lurking and not having a clue how to actually sign up. My original username was Mew2_the_great_destroyer.

Don't remember much inbetween. I spent quite a bit of time in GSC and GSC help at first, then PCG, and finally on to Misc. I left this place for a bit when it became an eZboard.

Back then I couldn't wait until weekends to get on the internet so I could get on here. Now, I still visit this place every other month or so, it's always good knowing that there's still activity.

Also I'm intercalating a second degree within medicine, as well as taking up rowing. I want to kill myself for doing this.

I still find Pokémon quite fun. It's like my not-so-secret, secret shame. I used to get endless shit out of other Rugby players for it. Good times.

[Drago]

Back in my more innocent days of 2001, I was a rather strapping young lad at the age of 13 who marched on in here proudly, thinking little of the consequences of the posts I made or just how dumb I really acted. Not like little jerk dumb, just quite naive and chirpy. I cared not that my first RPG entry looked absolutely idiotic, because I illustrated my words with smiley icons :pokeball:, nor did I care that I recommended Bite for a Crobat simply because I thought its teeth looked mean. If you were to shoehorn me into a TPM sub-species, I would have been of the RPG variety - I joined a whole slew of those things, and would only ever venture out of its confines to check out misc, PCG or video games. I have no idea why, but Fanfic seemed really daunting to me at first. Maybe it was the bookish Dragonair threatening to shush me.

Anyhow, nowadays I'm simply a laid-back goon with enough free time to scour the forums high and low for matters of discussion, not likely to get riled up by anything anytime soon. I'm just plain old mellow these days, and it suits me fine. I get my point out well enough, I reckon.
I work now, which is certainly a big change for me, and (assuming I didn't fail anything this last semester), I'm about to graduate from university. Who'd have thought I'd ever be post-grad? I intend to take a year off to work, before likely retreating back to the safety of university in 2010.

Comparison is imminent...
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c268/Squidomar/ssu2.jpg
The spritely young lad in his youth - I think this was a couple months before I joined TPM.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c268/Squidomar/04-11-08_1250.jpg
The dapper gent of today. I likely chose to use this photo to make it seem like I always dress so swanky.

[DarkestLight]

o.O Man..You all are old timers here. I don't really have much of a history here....

I joined in 2003. I was in the midst of college then, Pokemon still strong in my blood (always have, always will be for some damn reason I can't shake)-and I was looking for another MB to just prowl along. I've been a major player in a bunch of online Pokemon guilds and what not (with non Pokemon characters, go fig) and now since that was going sour, I needed a quick fix.

Found a bunch of the common sites, and I liked this ones boards the best because they were kinda chaotic. --Pause--

--Resume--I went looking for a post. Found it. Here is what I think is my first actual post... (http://www.pokemasters.net/forums/showthread.php?t=912) and yep, was a moveset one, as always..a horrid horrid one. Compared to my posting style now, yeah...nothing's changed. And yeah, 5 years don't really change how I look, 20 to 25. Well except the hair :p

And well only other big changes was that I moved from the Advanced Generation into ASB and well, now made a small impact there. Still poke in other places...but meh. That's me.