Hi everyone! *salutes*

[Shadow Wolf]

Hey guys! I'ts been a long time since I last wrote. I hope you're all doing well. :)

To be honest, I really don't know what to say. My mind is kinda drawing a blank, hehehe. I will say that I have a laptop (finally), so I'll try my best to be around more often (kinda hate writing with the tablet; too much autocorrect trolling me). And well, a bit of an update about life should be good, right?

1845

1846

Yeah, got married with this beautiful lady and although we're just starting (a month and a half of a married life), things are looking great.

Anyway, since I don't know what else to say, I'll go ahead and ask about you guys: how have you all been? Just answer with whatever topic makes you guys happy to talk about. Oh, and of course, if you have anything to ask, then I'll answer to the best of my knowledge.

Anyway, nice to see the forum again and it's also nice to see some familiar names around.

[RedStarWarrior]

Congrats on the wedding! I like that she's a Zelda fan.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

Congratulations! And welcome back, hope you stay. The forum has got quite silent.

[Knight of Time]

Normally I'd be happy to see an old friend back here, but after having those conversations with you on Facebook that ultimately made me take you off my friend list on there, I want to know just what happened. It's as if I was talking to someone else instead of you those last few times, and I'm not too happy about it (not to mention hurt).

If you want to talk about this, you can PM me.

But other than that, welcome back.

[Blademaster]

Holy shit he's alive! Hey, man, welcome back! :wave:

[Shadow Wolf]

RSW: Thanks Man. She is indeed a Legend of Zelda Fan and pretty proud of it. :D

Mika: Yo, what's up man? Glad to see you around. And it may be silent, but it is still here, right?


Normally I'd be happy to see an old friend back here, but after having those conversations with you on Facebook that ultimately made me take you off my friend list on there, I want to know just what happened. It's as if I was talking to someone else instead of you those last few times, and I'm not too happy about it (not to mention hurt).

If you want to talk about this, you can PM me.

But other than that, welcome back.

First of all, I want to apologize for hurting you. What exactly happened? Even I can't tell just yet. I do need to sit down and review the last messages I sent you, along with an analysis of what happened during those times. However, if it ain't too much to ask, I would like to receive a PM from you. I would like to hear how you felt during our last conversations and I will do whatever I can do to make it up to you.

And hey, to say welcome back despite this is pretty amazing from you Kyle, so thanks. :)

Blade: Yeah, still going strong (totally not stolen from Tyrion Lannister). And I see you're also alive and kicking. How are you man? :)

__________

OK, so you guys probably remember how I was constantly apologizing for almost anything, right? Yeah, that's because I do know I can hurt people with words without even realizing it. It has happened since I was little and at one point, I managed to hurt 4 of my closest friends in just one weekend. Because of this, I try my best to watch my words, but it doesn't work all the time; so if I say anything hurtful, do let me know please. I can be clueless and even kinda ignorant at times, but I don't like making people feel hurt. If I did, then I'm truly sorry and I will do what I can to make it up to you guys.

Well, I'll be around a bit more often, and again, if there's anything to as, fire away. :)

[Blademaster]

I got my own apartment and only have to work 20 hours a week.

:livingthedream:

[Magmar]

Hey there, welcome back! I love your wife's Zelda outfit :)

[Lady Vulpix]

Welcome back! And congratulations on your marriage!! I hope you're both very happy. :)

I think we've all hurt others without noticing, because our life experiences are different from theirs and the same words often have different meanings for different people. The important thing is to notice when that happens and clear things out, so that the person who was accidentally hurt can know that no offense was meant.

[shazza]

RSW: Thanks Man. She is indeed a Legend of Zelda Fan and pretty proud of it. :D

Mika: Yo, what's up man? Glad to see you around. And it may be silent, but it is still here, right?



First of all, I want to apologize for hurting you. What exactly happened? Even I can't tell just yet. I do need to sit down and review the last messages I sent you, along with an analysis of what happened during those times. However, if it ain't too much to ask, I would like to receive a PM from you. I would like to hear how you felt during our last conversations and I will do whatever I can do to make it up to you.

And hey, to say welcome back despite this is pretty amazing from you Kyle, so thanks. :)

Blade: Yeah, still going strong (totally not stolen from Tyrion Lannister). And I see you're also alive and kicking. How are you man? :)

__________

OK, so you guys probably remember how I was constantly apologizing for almost anything, right? Yeah, that's because I do know I can hurt people with words without even realizing it. It has happened since I was little and at one point, I managed to hurt 4 of my closest friends in just one weekend. Because of this, I try my best to watch my words, but it doesn't work all the time; so if I say anything hurtful, do let me know please. I can be clueless and even kinda ignorant at times, but I don't like making people feel hurt. If I did, then I'm truly sorry and I will do what I can to make it up to you guys.

Well, I'll be around a bit more often, and again, if there's anything to as, fire away. :)

Provide us an example or two and I will deduce whether your words had underlying malicious intention or your friends are sensitive.

Either you are automatically a jerk which you need to address the motives for, or you have easily sensitive friends that need to work on their own insecurities and build up self-esteem. Ignorance doesn't seem to be an excuse here.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

Well, I had a mental hospital period of more than 2 months. Luckily I got out just before my 30th birthday. I just hope I don't end up in that condition ever again.

[Shadow Wolf]

Blade: That's awesome man. And in your opinion, does it have more ups than downs?

Gabi: Thank you and true that. Many times it may just be a misunderstanding so yeah, definitely agree there. :)

shazza: Let's see now...

1-An old event I usually remember involves 4 people who would always hang out in a group. On a weekend they invited me for some Salsa lessons next town and the invitation came it two weeks earlier. At that time, money was a bit hard for me to find, so I went the extra mile to gather the cash for the lessons. When I had the money, I started to contact them (the group was two girls and two guys btw). However, when I asked them if they were going, they're were kinda "passing the ball" to the other (I contacted the first one and he told me to ask the second one, the second one asked me to contact the third one and the third one made me call the fourth one). This happened on the week before and on the day due, I called them again to see. Since one of them didn't want to go, the other three didn't go either and I was pretty much by myself next town taking the lessons.

This incident (where one would not want to go and the other three refused) happened two more times before I got frustrated and called out this habit of them, so in the last time I wanted to go somewhere, I decided to invite someone else.

One Monday after those events, two of them called to meet me at Walmart. The reason: to ask me for an apology related to the events since the girls got offended and the guys were not happy about it. After I apologized, they pretty much admitted to the habit they make and to top it off, they called the other friend I invited on the last event "a bad influence". In the end, even though things were solved, the friendship was not the same again, since we didn't hang out like that anymore.

2-Another event was one I didn't quite understand. On another forum I held a relationship with a girl, but she wanted it to be kept a secret. We talked for six months before she broke up with me for reasons she didn't want to tell me. From my perception, I felt like she was feeling guilty of something and even though I tried to help, I couldn't do anything about it.

With my hands tied, I decided to take a gamble: since she was very appreciated on said forum, I decided to write a blog post asking people on the forum to give her support and to cheer her up. On the post, however, I did say that we were in a relationship and that even though it ended, I wanted the best for her, and such was the reason for me to ask for support.

The reaction was not the expected one: not only my post was deleted, but I received a message from her saying that I was a jerk and that if I wanted revenge, I pretty much achieved it. The message pretty much said that I ruined her life and that I would never be forgiven for what I did. I must admit I was pretty depressed after those events to the point that I stopped visiting forums for a month before another friend encouraged me to apologize about the events.

After thinking very carefully what I was going to say, I went ahead and sent a message to her, apologizing for hurting her and for everything wrong I did, only to receive another message saying that I was the worst. After that one, I just decided to leave things as they were, being careful of everything I said wherever I went.

Finally, two months after the last message, she disappeared from the forums. A friend of her contacted a friend of mine to deliver a message to me: That her disappearing from the forums was not my fault.

To be honest, I still wonder to this day what went wrong and how could I mend my mistakes (or at least know what was the mistake). But that has helped me be very careful with what I say. Granted, I may still hurt people with my words, for some people say that I am as nice as I am blunt, but it is the very reason as to why I tell everyone to let me know if I say something hurtful.

Anyway, let me know what you think.

Mika: What matters is that you're well and hanging around again. So hey, keep your spirits up. :)

[Blademaster]

I'm gonna say there's more ups.

Maybe.

[Jeff]

Nice to see you again and congrats to you and to Mrs. Wolf! :P

As for what I've been up to... where to begin?

Let's see, I lost my old job back in '08, around the time the old website revival project started, which is why I was able to put so much work into it, then I dropped out of college in '10, mostly because I had lost my motivation. For a year, I was doing absolutely nothing but living in my parents' basement like a stereotype. In '11 I got a fast food job. On my first day, I picked up cigarette butts in the parking lot, cleaned the gunk out of the fryers, and scrubbed toilets. I had officially hit rock bottom. But it had its advantages. Since I was making money, I was able to go places. I started driving to Virginia to hang out with some people I met on TPM. 2012 was a huge year for me: I went to two TPM weddings, joined an online dating site, and got promoted to shift manager at my job. In 2013, I started dating my girlfriend (who I met on the dating site). Then in 2014, at the urging of her and my parents, I decided to go back and finish my degree. This year, I got a new car, and I plan on graduating with my B.S. in Computer Science next year. I've also been given more responsibilities at my current job, but they understand I won't be around much longer. I've got bigger ambitions!

I guess what I want to say is that life can be a crazy ride, but if my recent history is anything to go by, it really is darkest just before dawn. Never before have I been this excited to see what comes next in my life. OK, I'm rambling. Blame the fact that I'm posting at 1:00 in the morning after a work shift that wouldn't seem to end. Still can't wait until I'm out of that place. 4 years = 4 years too long, lol.

OK, yeah, it's bedtime. :P

[ChobiChibi]

So I've taken a while to respond, because I wasn't quite sure what to say.

Sometimes, as I'm sure many of you do, I think of a person I haven't spoken to in a while, and go to Facebook, search for their name and have a look at their wall to see what they've been up to. I normally then just leave it, having satisfied my curiosity and normally feel quite happy that said person is happy and well, as far as I can see.

I actually searched for you, Louis, a few days before you posted this thread, for that exact reason. I was a bit surprised that I couldn't find you at all, so I guessed you'd deleted your Facebook. Fair enough, people do that.

But then you posted this thread, and I looked harder. By using the TPM fb group, I found you, and found that I could no longer add you as a friend.

Now this made me sad. I try not to take stuff like fb seriously, it's just a social network, it means nothing in reality, which is why I tend to not delete people from my friend list unless they're a complete wanker. To date, I think that's only been 2 people, and they deserved it.

For a while I wondered what I'd done. I couldn't think of anything, other than a general lack of communication, but that's something that goes both ways. I found that Sie (or anyone else from tpm) were no longer our mutual friends too, and that made her sad too.

So if there is something we have done, I think we'd both like to know. We used to be quite close, and I think I've run out of things to say. So I'll leave it at that, and move on to more happy things :)

--------- END WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DEFINE THAT SECTION AS ----------

I graduated as a music teacher back in July, and I've managed to get a temporary position at a school (covering sick leave) teaching music, and I'm really happy :D So far loving the school, disliking rude year 8 and 9 groups, but they will come around.

I got engaged back in the summer :D It was a big surprise, which was nice. I knew he wanted to ask me for ages, but I knew that it might take a while, as we don't have that much spare cash, so it really was unexpected! Really excited, probably looking at getting married in 2017, but have a lot to do before then.

I guess the saddest news is that both my dad and Rio lost their fights with cancer over the last year or so. Didn't know if you knew, particularly about Rio, so I thought I'd say.

I met Gabi at the beginning of August, we had fun :D

I have an addiction to pop vinyls (I have 36, and want more) and FFXIV. Pewdiepie has helped keep me sane over my 3 month summer break and I watched Inside Out when I was on holiday and it made me cry.

Oh and those people you described in your first scenario just sound like assholes, tbh XD

[Lady Vulpix]

I agree with Becki about your 'friends' from the first scenario. It was them who were at fault, not you.

As for the second one, if she wanted it to be kept a secret and you revealed her identity, then yes, you hurt her because her secret was out. Then again, it was probably not a good idea to get involved in a secret relationship in the first place, she was probably using you to cheat on someone else and had to leave you when her other boyfriend started getting suspicious. At least things ended up well for you, since you've found someone you love and were able to marry her. :)

Oh, and Becki... thanks for including our encounter in your recount of recent events. :keke: I've already said it, but I had a great time too!

And Jeff: I'm glad to hear things have picked up for you like that. You're an example to anyone who's going through hard times.


-------------

OK, so I guess it's my turn to talk about my life.

So... where to start? Well, I also attended Brian and Becky's wedding, and it was great. I got to meet Brandy, Jeff, Matt and Celine there too!

I also got to see Will (DragonairRider) a few times (3 times in total, but the first was in 2006). And Becki this year! (And I got to see the nerdy side of London thanks to her!)

I finished my doctorate after 7 painful years, and now I'm doing research in my free time (submitted an article to a journal yesterday) while I still work as a programmer and teach at university. So my life is quite busy, but since I don't have to work on my thesis anymore, I get some time to see my friends and... my boyfriend too!

Yes, I have a boyfriend now. We've been together for a while but I didn't dare talk about him in case our relationship would somehow fade away. After so many years, I had some trouble believing it was real, and that it could last (and I was a bit scared that something would go wrong because he's 8 years younger than me). I met him at a wedding/brony meetup (yes, it was a wedding and a brony meetup at the same time (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHJB5qlKPRc)). Then I started seeing him at other meetups where we were both notable for taking lots of photos. I can't even tell when exactly we got together, our beginnings were quite confusing. But the important thing is that we're together now. :)

I've also become Anthrocon staff, so I've been working at registration every year and hosting international tea parties too (another great chance to see some online friends in person)!

Aaaand I've noticed we've been talking about a lot of personal stuff online where anyone can see it. I hope nothing bad comes out of this. >.>

[Shadow Wolf]

Wow, glad to see everyone doing so well in life. :)

Anyway, I will edit this post when I have the time, but I couldn't go without taking a moment to write some quick words:

Becki: I'm not sure myself what happened in my facebook. I sent a few messages using the facebook messenger, so if it's not too much to ask, could you see if there's a clue there as to why we can't add each other. And also, I'm truly sorry for not being there when your dad passed away. Same with Sie and her sister (I feel at a loss for words now...).

Gabi and Jeff: It is great to see your lives fulfilled. Keep going forward, for you are an inspiration to this little man here. :)

Well, time to get ready for the meeting ("church"). I'll be sure to write as soon as I can.

EDIT: OK, so I promised to get back to this, hehehe. :)

Blade: Hahahaha, well, I'll put my faith in more ups than downs. :D

Jeff: Your story reminds me a bit of Rhonda Byrne (author of "The Secret"), but its is so great to see things going so well for you. Be sure to keep aiming higher, alright? :)

Becki: I mentioned a bit of a summary in the fb messenger conversation, but I'll go ahead and re-write it here:

Basically, I'm not sure how both you and Sie got deleted from my fb account. I was pretty sure things were well, since I still had you both on Skype, but again, I think my fb went nuts or something. As for the inability to send friend requests, I think it had to do with the privacy settings. It is fixed now, so that makes me relieved. Finally, I'm sorry for not being there when you needed me (in the moments of sadness) and you can be sure that you have done nothing wrong. Both you and Sie have been pretty much pillars of hope in my life when I needed said hope, so there's no way I would like you two to disappear from my life. :)

With that said, I'm happy with the news of your engagement, your career sucess and all the good things in general for you. It's good to see the fruits of hard work and of looove. :) Hope we can talk soon and catch up of random stuff, hahahaha.

Gabi: Congrats on the relationship and may everything go great for you. As far as I know, TPM is a family, so I don't think harm will come out of this. If you feel like it may be dangerous, then methinks you should delete the post. Now I want to meet some TPMers but I'm back in PR again, hehehe. Well, I'm sure that eventually I will. :D

It is so great to hear everyone doing so well. Funny how an online community can become a place for friendships, marriages and all sorts of awesome stuff. :)

[Magmar]

I think we've all hurt others without noticing, because our life experiences are different from theirs and the same words often have different meanings for different people. The important thing is to notice when that happens and clear things out, so that the person who was accidentally hurt can know that no offense was meant.

Terrific words, Gabi!!

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks, Barry. :)

[GreenShirT]

:o

[DarkestLight]

Good to see you are doing well Wolfie boy :D Congrats on your recent milestones, and hey, it's always good to come back to something familiar once in awhile. I'm curious, are you just taking life as it comes, or do you have any specific goals you are gunning for at this moment?