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Wow... I'm really old. o.o; |
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Today's May 12, 2005. What does that mean? To most people, probably nothing in particular. Me... it's my 2 year anniversary on Gaia. Thank you to Cinema for pointing it out to me after I deleted a stray post in her thread. whee
Kava, I blame you for making me write this seeing as you just celebrated your own 1 year last week. blaugh Happy birthday!
Let's start though. Senior year in high school, April perhaps, Brittany (Carandra) showed me this strange site, www.go-gaia.com. It looked kind of interesting, and I told her I was going to check the site out when I got home... when I forgot what the url was. sweatdrop I've always been bad at stuff like that.
Until I joined Gaia, I floated around the Internet rather aimlessly. There was the Pokemon Abode, which from its fanfiction section arose my online aliases, and Neopets, which, if you check and look me up, I've been on there a hella long time.
So a month later, Brittany asks me if I have a Go-Gaia account yet so that she could make some avatar cosplays for me. Oops. sweatdrop So in the practice music rooms at school, I signed up for Gaia and mailed mysef the URL so that I wouldn't forget again.
Also, I had just been hacked on Neopets thanks to a... friend... who was trying to show off to some idiot, and the idiot hacked my account because we shared access. I still haven't forgiven him for that.
Thus my strange little beginnings. Logically, I would choose the name that has now acquired a life of its own. Being from the Abode, I knew what stickies and announcements were, so perhaps that gave me a headstart. In the stores I never had any problems, as I noted on the top that there were page numbers, then noted the cute blue colored arrows. With that knowledge, I bought a White Hot Top, the Blue Jean Skirt, and the Ocean Beach Sandals. I still have those original items on Hiruna Sachiro as well. ^_^ On the first generation Jynk GEN banners, I am shown wearing them as well.
In the forums and the game itself, it was interesting. I can't really remember any time that I've been on Gaia without the GAIA Exchange, though I still remember when Gambino first opened along with the ability to trade items. OMG... that was the happiest day of my life!
Kinda. XD
Either way, there's only one person I truly remember back in those days, and that was foolmonsta. Many of you may know that he's the one who gave me my panda hat, which has and forever will be named after him. He was the first real friend that I had on Gaia, and when he left in November, I wanted to leave with him. There was simply no point to Gaia unless I was having fun chatting with him in his thread in the Exchange, the quest thread in which he was trying to buy all of the nice items.
At the time, 10k was a HUGE amount. I still remember him paying eek 50k eek for some of the items. I will never forget his trademark avatar either.
Back to Gaia though. So being a crazy-insane Exchange lurker, that was all I ever posted in. Rarely did I ever click into other forums, much less try to post in them. I donated for my first donation letters in September and traded one of them and some gold to TurtlesAndStars for the 40k (at the time) Angelic Headband that I had always wanted since joining the site.
I still have that too. ^^
In October though... that's what I consider a turning point in my Gaian life, for it was when I would make the most important discovery of my time here.
I discovered the Gaian Exchange Network.
At the time, it was a sticky in the Exchange, but I met the nicest people there. Jynk, Celesse, Chibigreen Tejinashi, Celes Star, PurpleDucky, Botan-Chan, Lazarous, SeijuroHiko, MeThinkX, m0cha, chibi chaows, jadonblade, and many others. I was intimidated at first, definitely, but talking with the regulars helped me overcome that. *This was before someone coined the term GENer*.
My established position for the GEN before I became an updater, was that I was the "Researcher" because I would always write these essays just out of the blue or whenever I felt like it in relation to the Gaian economy. CT coined the term "Kimono Effect", and it's pretty much stuck even to now.
I got to see Gaia's first Halloween and Christmas, though I must say those site errors around Halloween were horrendous. Even to today, I wish I could've gotten a shirt. crying For Christmas, it is forever remembered in my mind as the "Tree of Doom" due to the donation tree in the middle of Barton. Slippers filled the Exchange and nearly drowned it in their red poufy glory...ness.
As I become more and more involved with the GEN, I branch out and meet more friends. Red Einlanzer, kwazistar, Nephilim, Renaissance, Brahms, Kalec, Kormadoka, Chi-chian, sephirothgal, Phoenix Goliathane, and even more from there.
My position in the Exchange switched to something else though, right around February. In a way, perhaps I helped mediate the Price Guide Wars, but who can really tell nowadays?... certainly not me. But either way, at the time, I was just glad the crisis had passed. Around that time was when I was considering leaving Gaia, which would make #2 try. But by that time, I was too tied to this site and I couldn't leave even if I wanted to... which I did and didn't want to do.
So with 2004 came the Olympics, I saw my first Easter Event *remember I joined after Easter 2003*, and celebrated my first anniversary on Gaia by changing the gender of my avatar to a guy and confusing the heck out fo my friends. XD Phoenix lent me his clothes, and admittedly, it was incredibly fun to confuse people when Phoenix and I were chatting back and forth with one another.
So obviously by this time, I had been a GEN updater for quite awhile *otherwise known as February or so*. I had never been so stressed out in much of my life, having to update sometimes. It made me appreciate the work CT had put into it for so long so much more. You really don't know how hard it is to run a guide until you are helping update it. @_@;
More time passes, and I consider leaving one more time, seriously. This was back this past December 2004 when it seemed as though everything were against me. Now that I look back, it seems rather strange to be in such a state, but it shows how much I love this site that I can't help but come back day after day.
Thanks to this site... I feel an incredible urge to type out the color code everytime I type a report, I can't help but worry about the GEN all the time, and for awhile, I was the interim owner of it. So strange..
I need to hunt Red Einlanzer down though. During the "Fall Wave" of moderators, he kept dropping hints that I would make a good one for the Exchange, but I kept smacking him for it. How in the world would anyone see me, seeing as I just stayed in the GEN? Mysterious, ne?
Apparently no surprise to anyone else except me, I got a moderator invite from Lanzer in my inbox one night. I was shaking so hard that when my roommate came over to see what was going on, I actually asked her as to whether I was hallucinating or not.
I wasn't. XO
But January is the 2nd turning point in my Gaian life. I had to force myself to quit the head updater position and leave behind so much of my life in order to aid others on a greater level. I don't know yet if I regret it *I say this as I breathe a sigh of relief that I don't need to deal with the Pain Collage today*, but perhaps time will tell.
I left one facet of life behind and entered a new one, and with more new friends made. Yuzi_K, my adoptive parents Wolfie and ShyRomance, Calluna, cloverina, siskataya, Nobara, Tsukiyomikami, Kava, and so many others in so many new forums.
Looking ahead, I don't know if I will survive another year on this crazy site, but one of the best parts has been to see its evolution from forums only into a more interactive place, a place where some of the friends you make have the potential to be lifelong friends. I don't know if you believe in fate or what, but I believe everything happens for a reason.
The people you meet, the things you do, everything in life can change how you live it. Thanks to Gaia, I'm not so introverted, I hold my own in conversations, and I'm not so afraid of meeting new people anymore.
Most of all, I thank Brittany for introducing me to this site. One person can impact another's life forever, and I think with this, she has. Perhaps I've impacted yours in some way, perhaps not. ^^;
At any rate, I'll be going to Fanime in two weeks to enjoy myself and meet more friends than ever. I wonder if I get to smack anyone with my boken? Ohhh, I hope so. whee
 Aquafire · Fri May 13, 2005 @ 01:04am · 9 Comments |
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