![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
greybetaIf you couldn’t tell, I’m a gamer. I first played video games when I started out playing the original Super Mario Bros. on the 8 bit NES when I was five years old. I’ve liked video games ever since. One of my most prized possessions is my rare toploader Nintendo. And if there’s one thing about gamers, and I mean hardcore gamers, we’re proud of the games that we’ve beaten. I remember the first time I beat Super Mario Bros. and jumped around for joy. Games like Tecmo Super Bowl are unreal but have that touch of originality that is sorely lacking in today’s games. And games back then usually had one difficulty setting (hard) and sometimes had no save points. None. Or they had some convoluted password system that if you wrote down even one wrong letter you were screwed because you didn’t want to go back and check each letter of a randomly generated 32 character password. Oh, and some games had you press reset…
Like Final Fantasy I. Yes, the original Final Fantasy, where things like “Ineffective!” plagued you (if one of your characters attacked an enemy that had already been killed by one of your other party members, that character stupidly attacked thin air). Where you made sure you packed 99 PURE with you just so you didn’t have to hear that annoying alarm sound when you got poisoned. Where you spent time buying things like this:
You: I’d like to buy a HEAL potion.
Shop: Okay. Are you sure?
You: Yes.
Shop: That will be 60G. Do you want to buy anything else?
You: Yes.
Shop: Okay, what would you like to buy?
You: I’d like to buy a HEAL potion.
Shop: Okay. Are you sure?
You: Yes.
Shop: That will be 60G. Do you want to buy anything else?
You: Yes.
Shop: Okay, what would you like to buy?
You: I’d like to buy a HEAL potion.
Shop: Okay. Are you sure?
You: Yes.
Shop: That will be 60G. Do you want to buy anything else?
You: Yes.
Shop: Okay, what would you like to buy?
(repeat 96 times)
They fixed most of those problems in the later Final Fantasy series (strange that the first Final Fantasy was not the final final fantasy). My old high school circle, being the nerds that we were and still are, decided to attribute everyone a role from FF1. Six roles, six people. Should be a perfect fit.
I was the white mage, the guy who followed the rules and preserved order. Lucky Andy was the black mage, willing to use the dark side to achieve his goals. Longtime friend John was the red mage, being knowledgeable in all sorts of subjects. The puppy Maph was the monk for his enigmatic philosophies. Random Jameson was the fighter, because we needed a tank. Appropriately enough, that left the role of thief for anime Mike.
Um, at this point in time, I’ll avoid the legal issues about whether or not 6’2”, red headed Mike is a kleptomaniac.
To be honest he’s a good fit for the thief because he basically steals to live. Things work out for him when they shouldn’t. For example, he moved out of his parents’ house to an apartment with random Jameson. Then random Jameson moved out to attend college, leaving Mike in a quandary. But of course Mike had some friends who allowed him to stay in their living room of their apartment.
For free.
I personally did not believe this and had to verify this situation for myself. The first week he moved into that apartment, I visited him. Sure enough, he had hisbed futon and his massive collection of anime and games in the living room. I looked to my left and some guy was setting up one of those storage spaces you’d find on a camping trip. For some odd reason, some guy was assembling the cabinet for Mike instead of Mike doing it for himself. Meanwhile, some guy’s girlfriend was organizing Mike’s clothes for him. And he was invited to live there for free.
How does he do it? I mean, how does he do it?
Anyways, I met him in junior high through the acquaintance of lucky Andy. We played video games back in the day, and also we exchanged animes. My collection was much smaller at the time but it was so rare to find another person who even knew about anime seven years ago that there was the bond of knowing what few people knew. And he’s your completionist gamer, managing to beat a whole slew of titles. I think he’s one of the few people to actually spend countless hours trying to beat Unlimited Saga. I mean, he actually advanced to the end of one of the quests. That’s further than 90 percent of hardcore gamers.
And he’s also a mainstay on our unofficial Magic team, having started at Hawg Head Comics along with lucky Andy and me. Later during our junior year of high school anime Mike and lucky Andy worked at a place called Comic Mania. There we would learn to improve our game tenfold as we spent many of our weekends at Magic tournaments. During Onslaught block Mike and I built the two of the notable decks (Zombie Bidding and Goblins, respectively). But we tested against each other so much that we got tired of our decks. The only solution was to switch decks on the morning of the Pro Tour Qualifier, and it worked as we almost both made Top 8 (Mike charged through two R/W decks to make it but I missed out due to getting paired down and getting waylaid by two Mono White Control God draws. Tournament report can be found here).
Mike is a guy who will let you know what he wants and he knows how to get it. He believes that things will always work out because they always have worked out. This is good because you definitely know when he wants to do something and when he does not want to do something. He’s a practical thief as well. He goes to church because his parents provide him a free lunch afterwards. He doesn’t like Chinese, but if someone else is going to pay then he’ll suck it up and eat it.
Then again, he can be too practical. What I mean is that he often lives for the present too much, and in the process he sacrifices too much of his future. He’s a bright guy who’s often too comfortable taking the easy way out. Let me provide you a story to better demonstrate what I am talking about.
During the summer between high school and college, my high school Magic team decided that we were just going to have fun and try to make it to as many Magic tournaments as possible. For the local ones, this was not an issue. But for the larger tournaments this was a problem due to high entry fees. I saved up my money to go, but anime Mike often spent his money on a new anime series or the latest video game that piqued his interest. The first time he was short the money I covered him. He didn’t have money the second time either, as in his words “If you don’t reach me before I drive by the mall, I won’t have the money to pay you back.”
Now the third time, I knew to plan ahead and asked him to save money. He said he would. Of course, I should have known the thief had gotten used to me enabling him. He didn’t have the money. But at that point the entire high school team was going to the tournament and we couldn’t possibly leave the thief behind. I thought about it, and I decided that I needed some sort of collateral.
Me: Hey Mike, how about you just give me your firstborn child for your tab?
Mike: (Thinks for two seconds) Okay.
Of course, as soon as he gave his okay, he wanted to retract it. But he has a thief’s honor. It is said that there must be honor among thieves to preserve their own kind. Once a thief has given his word to a friend, he must keep it. Otherwise, thieves would not be long for this world.
And that’s the story of how somebody owes me his firstborn child.
Yes, I am serious.
Dead serious.
Like Final Fantasy I. Yes, the original Final Fantasy, where things like “Ineffective!” plagued you (if one of your characters attacked an enemy that had already been killed by one of your other party members, that character stupidly attacked thin air). Where you made sure you packed 99 PURE with you just so you didn’t have to hear that annoying alarm sound when you got poisoned. Where you spent time buying things like this:
You: I’d like to buy a HEAL potion.
Shop: Okay. Are you sure?
You: Yes.
Shop: That will be 60G. Do you want to buy anything else?
You: Yes.
Shop: Okay, what would you like to buy?
You: I’d like to buy a HEAL potion.
Shop: Okay. Are you sure?
You: Yes.
Shop: That will be 60G. Do you want to buy anything else?
You: Yes.
Shop: Okay, what would you like to buy?
You: I’d like to buy a HEAL potion.
Shop: Okay. Are you sure?
You: Yes.
Shop: That will be 60G. Do you want to buy anything else?
You: Yes.
Shop: Okay, what would you like to buy?
(repeat 96 times)
They fixed most of those problems in the later Final Fantasy series (strange that the first Final Fantasy was not the final final fantasy). My old high school circle, being the nerds that we were and still are, decided to attribute everyone a role from FF1. Six roles, six people. Should be a perfect fit.
I was the white mage, the guy who followed the rules and preserved order. Lucky Andy was the black mage, willing to use the dark side to achieve his goals. Longtime friend John was the red mage, being knowledgeable in all sorts of subjects. The puppy Maph was the monk for his enigmatic philosophies. Random Jameson was the fighter, because we needed a tank. Appropriately enough, that left the role of thief for anime Mike.
Um, at this point in time, I’ll avoid the legal issues about whether or not 6’2”, red headed Mike is a kleptomaniac.
To be honest he’s a good fit for the thief because he basically steals to live. Things work out for him when they shouldn’t. For example, he moved out of his parents’ house to an apartment with random Jameson. Then random Jameson moved out to attend college, leaving Mike in a quandary. But of course Mike had some friends who allowed him to stay in their living room of their apartment.
For free.
I personally did not believe this and had to verify this situation for myself. The first week he moved into that apartment, I visited him. Sure enough, he had his
How does he do it? I mean, how does he do it?
Anyways, I met him in junior high through the acquaintance of lucky Andy. We played video games back in the day, and also we exchanged animes. My collection was much smaller at the time but it was so rare to find another person who even knew about anime seven years ago that there was the bond of knowing what few people knew. And he’s your completionist gamer, managing to beat a whole slew of titles. I think he’s one of the few people to actually spend countless hours trying to beat Unlimited Saga. I mean, he actually advanced to the end of one of the quests. That’s further than 90 percent of hardcore gamers.
And he’s also a mainstay on our unofficial Magic team, having started at Hawg Head Comics along with lucky Andy and me. Later during our junior year of high school anime Mike and lucky Andy worked at a place called Comic Mania. There we would learn to improve our game tenfold as we spent many of our weekends at Magic tournaments. During Onslaught block Mike and I built the two of the notable decks (Zombie Bidding and Goblins, respectively). But we tested against each other so much that we got tired of our decks. The only solution was to switch decks on the morning of the Pro Tour Qualifier, and it worked as we almost both made Top 8 (Mike charged through two R/W decks to make it but I missed out due to getting paired down and getting waylaid by two Mono White Control God draws. Tournament report can be found here).
Mike is a guy who will let you know what he wants and he knows how to get it. He believes that things will always work out because they always have worked out. This is good because you definitely know when he wants to do something and when he does not want to do something. He’s a practical thief as well. He goes to church because his parents provide him a free lunch afterwards. He doesn’t like Chinese, but if someone else is going to pay then he’ll suck it up and eat it.
Then again, he can be too practical. What I mean is that he often lives for the present too much, and in the process he sacrifices too much of his future. He’s a bright guy who’s often too comfortable taking the easy way out. Let me provide you a story to better demonstrate what I am talking about.
During the summer between high school and college, my high school Magic team decided that we were just going to have fun and try to make it to as many Magic tournaments as possible. For the local ones, this was not an issue. But for the larger tournaments this was a problem due to high entry fees. I saved up my money to go, but anime Mike often spent his money on a new anime series or the latest video game that piqued his interest. The first time he was short the money I covered him. He didn’t have money the second time either, as in his words “If you don’t reach me before I drive by the mall, I won’t have the money to pay you back.”
Now the third time, I knew to plan ahead and asked him to save money. He said he would. Of course, I should have known the thief had gotten used to me enabling him. He didn’t have the money. But at that point the entire high school team was going to the tournament and we couldn’t possibly leave the thief behind. I thought about it, and I decided that I needed some sort of collateral.
Me: Hey Mike, how about you just give me your firstborn child for your tab?
Mike: (Thinks for two seconds) Okay.
Of course, as soon as he gave his okay, he wanted to retract it. But he has a thief’s honor. It is said that there must be honor among thieves to preserve their own kind. Once a thief has given his word to a friend, he must keep it. Otherwise, thieves would not be long for this world.
And that’s the story of how somebody owes me his firstborn child.
Yes, I am serious.
Dead serious.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-11-21 02:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-21 03:45 pm (UTC)Of course, there's the small detail that my parents don't like anime Mike, but I'm sure that's a very small detail.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-21 04:52 pm (UTC)Beggars can't be choosers! Either they want grandchildren and are happy with whatever they can get, or they haven't been sincere enough.
Either way, you're off the hook: either they're happy with Anime Mike's kid, or you can tell them you don't understand why they're not happy with the grandchild they have been given and that you wouldn't want to subject your kids to that kind of lukewarm reception. :)
no subject
Date: 2005-11-21 06:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-21 04:06 pm (UTC)My brother used to be anime Mike. Alas, it's a schtick that grows thin very soon after college. Unless he finds a real sucker to carry him, all the tough lessons of life will eventually smack him really hard.
But at least his firstborn child will have a safe place to live.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-21 04:30 pm (UTC)My work here is not done. :)
I also have made it my personal mission to annoy anime Mike about getting a job each and every time I talk with him. It's actually worked somewhat as he's actually going to apply at a sports grill in town. I mean, he has to have money to attract a mate to eventually pay his debt, right?
no subject
Date: 2006-03-20 07:17 pm (UTC)