AFW Holiday 2015

It is time for the 4th annual AFW Be Nice To People Holiday!

Those of you new to the board might not know, and other might not remember. The AFW Holiday comes but once a year, and it's supposed to be in May, though there has yet to be any consistency. It's particularly timely right now, though, at least for me.

Here's the deal: There are a lot of things we should probably say that we don't. There are a lot of things we shouldn't say that we do. We should be encouraging with each other, and we should be positive influences and build people up with our words.

For me, I have been in a really dark place. I have a long history with dark places, and I have struggled through most of my life with hard shit that I hope no one else has to deal with. Without outside influences, I slowly default to thinking of myself as worthless, hateful, a burden on the world, who would be much better off dead. I truly believe in those times that everyone I know would just be relieved if I was gone. I really believe that I am a broken human being, incapable of anything good. Stupid, dirty, worthless, ugly, unlovable, failure. And I want to die.

In the course of my life, I've had ups and downs. I've attempted suicide twice, and failed. I've had people in my life who picked me up and held onto me and taught me the truth. I owe my life to the people who have saved me in the past, because I very literally would not be here if it were not for them. Thank god for them.

Lately, I have isolated myself. I've become a hermit irl, and my busy work schedule helped me accomplish it. Even on here, I've blocked people, burned bridges, cussed people out, and hidden from people. This past week, I hit rock bottom. I fell apart.

And that's when I went to all of you, and you helped me. Through criticism, some gentle and some savagely brutal, you helped me come to terms with the person I am and have been. Your encouragement and kind words helped me more than you will ever know. I feel hopeful and encouraged and energetic today, I slept last night, and I'm looking forward to the things to come, because of all you who cared enough to write to me. Maybe it seems stupid, but I was in need, and you all picked me up.

So.

The Holiday.

This is a special time of the year when all of us say things that we don't find the energy or time to say on a normal day. Find someone, pm them, im them, call them, whatever, and tell them something good. Encourage them. Say what you like about them, what they have to be proud of, tell them something good they did for you. Remind them of what they're worth and how they should feel. Be a blessing to someone.

And you don't need to stop there, go down your whole friends list, go through the whole board, talk to everyone you know. The only rule: be genuine. Be honest. Insincere compliments are easy to spot, and to me, they cheapen the real ones.

Over the next few days, try to dig in and come up with the words to help someone feel good about being alive.

Thanks to all of you. I'm glad I stuck around here with all you nerds.

I said most of my peace last holiday, so I'm not sure what I would say this year, so I'll take the cop out choice before anyone else takes it.

Bluemouse: You've had it rough recently. I just want to say that you're a great writer, a nice person, and I hope everything in your life works out for the better as soon as possible.


and just to be original...

Shumagorath: You are a pantheon of our new site, you have not gone unnoticed. You truly have the power to brighten anyone's day...or destroy it. PRAISE SHUMAGORATH!

@Bluemouse: I don't interact much with you (largely because I'm a pussy and I'm scurred), but I think you're a damn good poster. Your characters have more depth than I do in real life, and I've probably spent more time reading their RPs than I have on novels. So, thanks for giving me and everyone else on the board these stories.

@Alex: Can I get a count on the number of times Crow's come up in our IMs? I bet it's almost the number of times Crow's ruined everything. But yeah, you're a pretty awesome geezer overall. Maybe I'll ask for a RP with you some day (when I stop being lazy and/or lose my job because I get even more lazy) but for now, enjoy the entirety of the new season of the best character ever, Mr. Crow Hogan!

@Cookie Monster emote: You've been neglected lately, and now it seems like all everyone's using is that new kid on the block, Shumagortentaclemonster or whatever. So here's me making up for underappreciating your worth.

The forum wouldn't be here today without you, and we forget that way too easily sometimes! Praised be Cookie.

Wamts, if I didn't love ya...

Highfly: You are a massive goofball and I always enjoy RP'ing with you, doing things on YIM with you, and just chatting with you. You are like the chillest breh who has ever chilled and you are very easy going. You could be someone I hang out with in real life. I love your characters and that you care about them long term. Obviously we will be chatting more and more and I anticipate all of our little sessions with great pleasure.

Gwyndolin: I haven't RP'ed with you for very long, but the times I have you have been beyond wonderful. I thought I was going to be frustrated that you always write Iliads for your posts, but it pushes me to be a better writer. Your writing is very much appreciated and it is easy to write responses to. You are the new person that all new people should aspire to be. When you made your blind girl, I admit I doubted you, but you have come through way better than I could have imagined. Keep doing your thing.

Lariato: Julia is a fun character to read and I enjoyed our match. I feel kinda stupid that we have only ever had one thread together. That is something I think we can work on though, hopefully. You seem very forthright and courteous, and you are someone I could see myself having more fun with. So I will try to hit you up more often.

Daemongirl: You are wonderfully descriptive and I think someone who has truly earned their status on this board manyfold over. Your threads are mostly really damn hot and are exceptional, even here. Natasha is a fun and interesting character and you are wonderfully creative with what you do with her. Keep on keeping on, homegirl.

Tatyina: Thank you for the advice you have dispensed to me. It has been helpful and I will try to do everything moving forward. You do a tremendous amount of work for the board, and you really are the glue holding this whole thing together. Thank you for everything, and I appreciate all the things you do to keep us whining children in line.

CybeastGregarX: I understand you have been bogged down with work a lot but you still keep trucking along and that is commendable. You always make sure you have everything straight and your ducks in a row before proceeding, and I think that is a wonderful trait. Sorry for the times I have called you Greg. No more of that, I promise.

Omegavan: I think you appreciate pushing the envelope a little bit, and I appreciate that. To put it frankly, you always try shit- trying shit is awesome and I hope you do more of it. We are going to RP more in the future and I think it will be beyond fantastic. We will definitely be seeing more of each other around the board and I think it will be fantastic.

fdukna: Я рад что мы нашли друг друга. Лена интересна, а я люблю когда Лена и Ека вместе. У них будет отличная борьба а я жду нетерпеливо. You also are learning quite a little bit so that looks nice. I think our little story arc has been fun and will get even better. Will definitely be doing more with you.

Lobo: It feels nice when Jessica is mixed in with the Coalition and your bouts with Taylor Parker have been spectacular. Everything you do, you do energetically and it brings a certain vitality to the place that feels nice. Doing our YIM rps is really fun as well. I hope I can do more threads with you. Kelly for Heisman.

Bluemouse and Lunarwolf, we have already had our chats, and I hope both of you know how much you are appreciated.

And to everyone else, thank you for making this board a fun place to be. If you feel like I have forgotten you I didn't mean to, sorry.

I participated in this last year and I would like to add a few more this time.

el_lunchador: wherever you are my friend,  I hope you are safe! I haven't heard from you in a while but I hope you are doing well and I badly miss our rps but I'm so glad I got a chance to work with you.

Lariato: Best new guy around ever, period.  Well, I guess he's not new anymore is he?

Highfly: The only guy, in the entire AFW, who's actual voice I have heard and we have actually talked with our voices rather than text you're a pretty funny guy and I loved our destiny madness as much I love the rps I do.

Lunarwolf: This man, I have read so much of his rps and I actually waited one and a half year to get a chance to rp with him, I'm so glad he gave me that chance.  The wait was totally worth it.

Tatyna: really co-operative person, helps everyone like the afw is his full time job and I commend him for that. Im honored to have rpd with you and doing threads with you is so fun and easy!

Maxy: crazy and fun one of the first few guys who I talked to when I joined and he really helped me find my feet. Thank you so much for all the rps! It was a blast.

Ltlukas: first of all, welcome back . Secondly, while we have never done an official thread our rp matches were fun haha! I am very much impressed on how cool you are when discussing about rps and setting them up.

SnappleR: this dude, let me tell you a story. One day I was browsing and I saw this guy browsing the site. I was like hey, I've never seen him before, must be new. I inspected his profile and saw that he joined way before me and I started to read his characters and threads. I contacted him and we threw some ideas and it turned out fantastic! I was lucky to contact him when I did, otherwise I would have missed the chance to work with this amazing dude, a really nice person as well

Wow this time already? Well I got stuff I'd like to say, so here goes.

LARIATO: We made history, the tension tag finals. A long time from now we can look back and say that we did that, epic. Can't also forget the match with the Ishii siblings vs Keno and Mion too.

Gwyn: You always put the maximum amount of effort in your posts, you took a chance on me with Leon. Someone who I wasn't sure of how to properly use yet, and the descriptions you did encouraged me to write on. Irene's a pretty cool character, love the interactions between her and Leon.

Lobo: Gotta love Clyde, him and his interactions with Eliza are always fun to see. Like that current thread where she's teaching him how to dance, it's something quite light hearted.

Highfly: That beach vacation thread was a blast, I enjoyed the back and forth between Suzumi and Mikoto. And then there was the fun xmas thread with Charlie and Alaina, always some cool stuff being done with you.

killcarrion: Again that beach thread was fun, you and HF have good chemistry together. Plus Chuang was someone that I hadn't really used (If at all) by the time we started it, so thanks to the pair of you for taking a chance and helping me develop him at the same time. Looking forward to the stuff that's down the line.

Furry4ever14: We've spoken quite a bit on YIM, and you tracked me down from the old forum and sometimes we just chatted. I know we tried a couple of RP's on YIM and I couldn't really do it due to my lack of experience there, but we've got something planned down the line and I look forward to it.

vhamelin: I think it's great that you came back to the forum, you responded to my PM's and I was impressed with how you've been with AFW way way back. Always good to meet people that come back here, it's a great choice if you ask me lol.

Valyn: Again same with vhamelin, you did a couple of RP's back on the old forum. But you came back and I think you've settled in nicely, as I said always nice to see people come back to the forum.

IndigoDragon: As usual we have such fun times, you waited so long for that RP with Ryan and Anampo going to Russia. And I can tell that it might be our most ambitious one yet.

Who else?

SleeperAgent94, TheRacker, Kelevra, Ninja999: I've not done anything with you lot yet, but it's always great to see new blood here on the forum that sticks around. Keep up the good work all of you and I might do RP's with you guys as well!

Very new to posting, been lurking for a few years on and off reading all of the wonderful threads that everyone here posts.  Starting posting in April and was immediately and warmly welcomed by Ryu.

WrestleRyu : had the graciousness to welcome me into the site and help me out with my first long thread, was a ton of fun and Ryu helped to walk me through everything and guide me along the way.  Learned a ton, and can't thank Ryu enough for taking the time to help me out.

Furry4ever14 : My first gym match up, lots of back and forth with IM getting what we wanted to do with it, thx for taking the time to help me get more much needed practice.

Edmund :  Thx Edmund for giving Cinder a chance to lose gracefully her first match, was definitely fun and taught me to make sure that I have fun with my threads and not take them too seriously.

Tatyina : Thx for helping me to get started with my first character approval, and taking the time to answer my questions.  I know you probably have a zillion things on your plate, so I appreciate the fact that you took the time to help me out when I needed it .

Deus001 : Thx for the mention Deus, I will definitely be around for a long time here.


Everyone : Big thank you to everyone that posts or reads the threads here, it is an awesome site and with so many excellent writers I could read for fifty years straight and never be bored.  You guys rock!!!!!!!!

I'm not really good at coming up for individual nice things to say to multiple people, so I'll just say this for mostly everyone. All of you are very great people, really nice, kind, and helpful. While I did have some problems here I'm very grateful to those who helped me to improve and change so I can try to do better here. Nearly everyone here, while we may have some times where we get on each others nerves and such, is like a second family to me as we all have a shared interest in what we do here. Of course I might be slow with RPs and whatnot due to how busy I am, I hope everyone can please be patient with me as I PROMISE I will get to whatever it is I'm doing with whoever sooner or later, I have absolutely NO interest in letting something be idle. For anyone that has any issues with me I hope I can try to make it all better so we can get along, I really don't want to have any bad ties to anyone here. That said, I hope that while I am here we can keep on getting along and do great RPs together in the distant future. ^^

Also...

LtLukas wrote:CybeastGregarX: I understand you have been bogged down with work a lot but you still keep trucking along and that is commendable. You always make sure you have everything straight and your ducks in a row before proceeding, and I think that is a wonderful trait. Sorry for the times I have called you Greg. No more of that, I promise.

*HUGS* Thank you for understanding! T-T But it's not just work that takes up my time, it's also times of depression, lack of inspiration and motivation, personal issues, taking care of my new kittens, and managing my 6 chickens since I'm now a Chicken Farmer.

Lobo: You were the first person I had a match with here. It was fun, and I really appreciate all the feedback you gave me. I feel like I’ve been able to improve a lot here based on your help, so thank you for that!

KillerV: I’ve enjoyed the all threads we’ve done so far, and I really like a lot of your characters, even though I’ve only RP’ed with a few of them. Also, I know we’ve talked about a few different ideas for threads that’ve ended up getting pushed back for one reason or another, but I promise we’ll get to it eventually!

acuya: From the first thread we did together you’ve consistently been one of my favorite people to RP with in general. Everything from the Akino/Carmen thread to the Valkyrie storyline has simply been awesome, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing how things end up playing out with Felina, Carmen and Army

kaz: I’d seen and loved several of your threads right before I joined, so I was pretty stoked when we did our first thread together. And since then you’ve been awesome to work with in general. You’re open to ideas, and have plenty of good ones yourself. Also, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate how quick you are with your replies, and how patient you are with me when I’m not able to reply as quick as I’d like. You’re awesome, dude!

Tatyina: I felt pretty timid about talking to you when I first joined, but looking back on it now, I don’t even know why. You’ve been a great friend to me, and I feel like you’re a very approachable and reasonable person. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help in getting me used to this place, as well as all the work you’ve put in to making AFW as great as it is. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as good at portraying such a wide range of characters in RP as well as you do.

LtLukas: We’ve only done one match together, but I’ve read and loved several of your threads. Jessica vs Avery is still one of my favorite matches I’ve seen since I’ve been here. You’re a cool dude, and I hope we get more chances to do some stuff in the future!

Alexandra: Even though we’re only, like, in the middle of our first RP together, I absolutely love your writing style. If you’re up for it, we should totally work together again sometime.

wrestleryu: I envy your male Tension characters so much . Had a ton of fun with Mariko vs Ryu though. Definitely looking forward to doing more matches with you.

Teenwrestler: It’s a crime that it’s been so long since we’ve done any RP together. You’re easy and fun as hell to work with, and every thread we’ve done has been a blast. And you’ve been a great friend to have here too.

Kelsea: Like Tat, you were very helpful to me when I first came here, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all the work you guys have put into making AFW as cool as it is. I know a lot of that’s been said in another thread already, but still, thanks for being awesome!

Deus001: You said it! The Ishiis vs the UKE was awesome, probably one of the best matches I’ve been involved in here, if not the best. Had a ton of fun with it, and hopefully we can put some more awesome stuff together again sometime!

LunarWolf: I’ve enjoyed our threads thus far, and I’m very much looking forward to where things are gonna go, especially with Minerva and Cecilia. Oh, and thank you so much for getting me into watching Fate

HighFly: Since Julia and Alaina became bffs through the dojo, I feel like we’ve become pretty good friends too, which is awesome. You’re a cool person to talk to and RP with, and I’ve been loving the threads we’ve done together recently.