DG Interview Thread: Walrus? Toasted

[Xivii]

Xonar that pic is so good it should be on the 401

 

[Orboknown]

This is Merica Private. International conventions dont apply here

 

[#HBC | Nabe]

Pretty sure Sword was/is just trying to beat Nabe's record.

As if.

 

[#HBC | ZoZo]

marshy: man part of me wants to ask sworddancer in the interview thread the first time he saw a naked person


there it is

 

[#HBC | Dancer]

****ING FINE I'LL POST IT!

It's not even that good, like, jeez.

 

[Evil Eye]

the ****'s taking so long

it's already done it takes like no effort

 

[#HBC | Dancer]

Actually posting it is like 20% of the work. I'm editing things, rewritten things, trying to get photobucket to work with me, ect. I've beemy computer for about 2 hours now and it's still going.

 

[Gova]

I secretly hope you took screenshots of your entire interview and uploaded them to photobucket just to post it here.

 

[Xivii]

First time I saw a naked person was myself, my siblings, then my mom. Then me and a friend of mine in kindergarten dared our other friend to pull down his pants and then we told on him once he did and he got in a bunch of trouble. Then I once dared my cousin to pull down her pants at around the same age then told on her once she did.

Then about third grade a pop up add came up of a bunch of naked people sitting on a car in my school computer lab. Then alll the way to 7th grade when I was curious about hentai and looked up Sakura hentai and came across this glorious Naruto girls hentai page. That was an interesting time. Also around that time had discovered newgrounds and came across a lot of pornish material. I had never seen actual video though until a while after that. Got a vid from limewire and when I saw it I FREAKED. It seemed like the man was hurting the woman. I was shocked beyond belief.

Hey mom.

 

[#HBC | Dancer]

which one of Clint Eastwood's characters would you say you are most like?

Well, tbh I'm only familiar with the Man with No Name and Detective Callahan. Out of the two, I'll have to say that I probably relate to the Man with No Name more.

Don't get me wrong, I like Callahan. I like his witty one-liners and general "no bull" attitude. However, that's just not me. While I'll like to believe that I also carry a "no bull" attitude as well, I'm far too reserved to be like in-your-face Callahan. Plus, everyone who has seen the Dirty Harry movies knows that Callahan has a less than subtle political preference to conservatism, which is again, just not me.

The Man with No Name, however . . .

Well, just like, you know how he squints and then looks at the ground and spits?

Love it. In one single gesture, with no words Clint Eastwood expresses how I feel about life. Callahan could never relate to me on such a profound level like TMWNN could.

Swords, can you remember meeting me at Inets? Let's see what you can remember about my personality, and I want you to describe how it fits in with my personality in mafia. How does it line up? IF it doesn't, mention how it's different. I remember you wore sandles that day! :D

Aww yes, the all important character defining pair of sandals. Who could forget those?

What I remember about your personality is that you were very talkative, friendly, and eager to play me in friendlies, almost to the point where you were a bit forceful about it. To elaborate, I remember wanting to go watch finals, but you were discouraged me from doing so. "No man, stay and play with me!" you exclaimed in a friendly tone of voice. So I did. At the time you were definitely better than me at melee, winning every match we played. I remember that you laughed every time you caped me (again in a friendly way). We talked a lot, but tbh I can't really remembered what we talked about. I can only remember that your positive and outgoing demeanor.

How does it match up with your mafia persona? Well, I think most people would describe you as friendly. You're also pretty persistent. Despite the fact that I kinda wanted to watch finals, you discouraged me from doing so. Most people on Dgames I think would agree that when you want someone to answer a question, or to comment on a case you made, you WILL get them to do so. They will NOT ignore you, and if they do, you'll hook onto them until they answer to you. So IRL I remember you being both persistent and friendly, and I think both those traits can be attributed to your mafia personality.

Describe my play in general. Good and bad. Any advice?

As town, you'll like a weird mix of being both very focused on one thing and scatterbrained at the same time. When you find someone who you think is scum, you latch onto them like all hell. However, until then you're kinda all over the place. Asking questions to anyone and everyone about everything.

People have told you before that you ask questions aimlessly. I honestly think that's a lazy and disingenuous diagnosis of your play. There was NEVER a time when you asked questions "aimlessly." You always had a purpose to your questions, and still do. It's just that some of your questions didn't really lead to anything actually useful, but you yourself definitely saw value in them. I think that you no longer really suffer from the problem of "bad questions" anymore, now I think you should try to optimize your questions. If something's unclear to you, try exploring that. If you have a suspicion that someone might be scum, try asking them questions that put them in an uncomfortable situation. Also keep in mind that sometimes you don't actually want to give away too much. If you let a scummer know you're on to them, then they might alter their behavior. Best to catch them in the act if you know what I mean. Practice doing this and you'll be on your way.

I don't really think there is anything wrong with your play when you do find someone you think is scum. I think in your case you just need to improve on your ability to read people. When you have someone you think is scum, ask yourself: "Is this person truly scumhunting? Is catching scum their true intent?" "Are they trying to emulate town play in anyway shape or form?" and "Would they do what they did as scum given the circumstances? As town?" Also practice formal logical like FF suggested. I think that would help you immensely.

As scum, I think you're kinda obvious tbh. It's stereotypical cowardly play (like my scum play!). I know you don't like rolling scum (hey, neither do I) but we all are going to roll it eventually. Work on that motivation to play as scum. I betcha anything that if you could emulate your town play as scum you'll blow everyone out of the water. Just remember that next time you get scum.

You're already on the right path kiddo, just keep working at. Also, realize that you can never stop improving, so don't ever feel like there will ever be some "benchmark" to reach. I count every game I'm in as a learning experience, and I suggest that you and everyone else do the same.

List a song that reminds you of me

Ranmura

^.^

List a song that you think represents you

Considering the persona that I hold on Dgames, I think this is a fitting theme.

Since your start in playing mafia until now, what have you learned in mafia that's important to know?

A lot of things, but the big thing for me is getting a better idea of how to read intention over output. Like I told you above, this is still something I'm learning, but my skill at doing it is vastly improved from when I started. As we tell all newbies when they start out, this is a big thing to do and I think we all could benefit from working on this. Even if we all recognize this fact, we still don't really appreciate it as much as we should. I still see people make the fallacy of reading output over intention all the time, rather they're aware of it or not.

What do you think town's are neglecting? How do you think they can improve this weakness?

Just one thing I've kinda noticed is that Dgames in general is kinda week when dealing with inactives. Too often inactives get off the hook by simply being inactive. If their town, then they're being a liability to the rest of the town. If their inactive scum, town might actually let them get through the cracks simply because they are too focused on active players they consider to be "scummy." Know that the human brain is hard wired to find patterns, regardless of if the pattern is real or not. Also know that the more active someone is, the more likely they are to exhibit a "scummy" pattern. For example, look at Katefei's play in Hardbody. He did "weird" things that got him in trouble with some players Day 1, but it was still clearly his intention to scumhunt (Hey, see that? It's that intention over output thing again. Holy ****ing **** how about that?). At the same time, scummy inactive players like Circus got by (for a time) while active townies like Kat and Hilt got picked on.

Now, I'm not saying that inactive itself is a scumtell, because logically it's not. What I am saying though is that inactives should be dealt with promptly and treated just as harshly as active "scummy" players. Town's in general should by more willing to pressure someone at the first sign of inactivity, save them being v/la, and I when I say "town" I'm referring to the "town." Not just one or two people voting an inactive. I mean straight up wagoning them until they respond.

Town or Scum? Why?

Oh jeez . . . .

TOWN!

****in' hate rolling scum. Being scum makes me nervous, because I always feel pressured to emulate my "detailed" town approach and it's just hard when you're not actually being genuine. I feel like everyone can always see right through me as scum, and I hate it hate it hate it.

Plus I just get a ton of joy from scumhunting. As scum, your goal is to just survive. Emulate your town play long enough and manipulate the end game to your advantage. Snoore. Where's the scumhunting as scum? Where's the fun of seeing through other's deception? I mean I guess I could see people who get a thrill from manipulating like it, but to me, the "thrill" that you get is akin to being chased by the cops. Sure, you're really into it, but only because you're ****ed if you get caught. It's just not for me.

Pick ANY team or group of people/animals/robots/objects/whatever and pick dgames people and explain how that person is similar (like the tmnt question, but more open to whoever you choose!)

ANY team or group you say? Like the TMNT question? Well, if I get to pick any group of characters . . .

I guess I'll compare Dgamers to the TMNT!

(I'm sorry I just wanted to answer this question so badly ever since it started being asked. Screw originality, I'm following the herd.)

Leonardo - Vanderzant. I was tempted to put myself here, but I'm refraining from including myself on this list. Plus tbh I'm kinda lazy IRL and I'm not really as dedicated as Leonardo is. Venderzant, on the other hand, I think is one of the most "honorable" and responsible players on this site. He's good at self-restraint (hence why he doesn't play too often anymore) and when he does play he always exhibits a good head about him. He's a nice guy, but he can spot bull**** when he sees it and he won't stand for it. Definitely someone who I could see as a leader.

Raphael - BarDull. BarDull just strikes me as an aggressive alpha male type of guy. Shoot first (or sai first?) and ask questiosn later. Yeah, that's totally him.

Michelangelo - Gorf. Can I pick Gorf as Michelangelo? I know he doesn't really play anymore, but he's just too perfect as Michelangelo. So yeah, I'm going with Gorf. Gorf and his chill walrus toasting ass just matches up with Michelangelo's carefree personality too well for Gorf to NOT be Mike.

Donatello - Acrostic. Simply for being the only one on Dgames who actually knows about science. We'll all too focused on important things like mafia game theory to care about that science baloney.

Aprail O'Neil - Ran. Beacause, well, why not?

How's life?

Life's alright I suppose. It has it's ups and downs. Being alive in the first place is pretty cool. Being alive as a HUMAN in the 21st century living in a first world country is even better. Like, could you imagine if you were born as a zebra? Just, ****in, born as a platter on God's buffet table. Your sole purpose on the evolutionary chain is to be eaten by other animals? Sorry but I'll pass on that one.

Or imagine being born in Africa. Or being born 2000 years ago. Or being born 2000 years ago in Africa. As a zebra. You'll be ****ED.

Yet, I was born as a white human male in America during a time where white people are well off under a middle class family. The statistical unlikeliness of it all, and yet I won at life's casino. Sweet.

Besides from that, **** happens. Some **** is good, some bad. Recently missed a test that was worth 10% of my grade for my programming in C class. I'm kinda bummed about that. On the other hand, I did really well on my Physics test after studying a ton for it. That's cool. I'm kind of socially awkward. That's not cool. On the other hand, I really really like the friends that I do have. That's cool. So yeah, life has its ups and downs, but the fact there are any ups and down in the first place is amazing to begin with.

How's mafia life?

Currently taking a back seat for RL. I still enjoy lurking some games though. I'll probably be back into it by this summer.

How is your video game life?

Backed up. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I don't really follow big releases like I use to back in high school, and I'm the type of guy who likes to reply a game several times before moving on. To give perspective to this, I'm currently in the process of playing through FE 9 for the 3rd time. eeyep.

5 things I don't know about Swords and dancing.

1. Swords have been around since 1700 B.C. The first types of cutting tools were made out of flint, but since stone is fragile, bronze was first used to make swords.
2. From around 1200-800 BC during iron based swords came into use. They were only slightly better than bronze swords, but they could be mass produced, which made them a popular choice of weapon (meaning that Soup's and Gheb's ancestors probably didn't like them very much).
3. It's no secret that swords have always held symbolic value to us all. In the bible, the Roman Gladius is referred to as "The word of God." The eastern samurai's of old used to believe that their swords carried their warrior spirits in them. Also, often times it was customary to break the sword of an officer who's been discharged in disgrace.
4. We can only make educated guesses as to why humans find music and dancing enjoyable. Dancing and music may have had some evolutionary benefit to it. It may have served a purpose to exercise our bodies. It may have also served a purpose of tribe identification. I can't say for certain, but at the very least we do know is that dancing and music triggers the reward part of are brain.
5. Dancing is good for you, and I'm not just talking about keeping you cholesterol low. It seems that dancing can actually minimize your chances of getting sick, as it helps strengthen your bodies immune system.

Origin of your name?

Tales of Symphonia. There's an optional boss in the game by the name of Sworddancer. He's basically a giant black skeleton with four arms, and in each arm he wields a different sword. I picked the name when I was like, 13 years old when signing up for an account on GameFAQS. Despite the boyish nature of the name and character, I just never really let it go. At this point I feel like I'm associated with the name too much to drop it now.

Your subjective opinion of DGames

I like you guys. Dgames is a diverse group of people all with unique and interesting personalities. It even rubs off on me sometimes. For example, if it wasn't for Nabe, I wouldn't know about the band Passion Pit, who I listen to frequently now. I'll get into this in more detail when I answer Kary's music question. Besides from the inflated egos that you guys tend to process (well, I mean come on, it's true) I like you all a bunch. Probably my favorite group of internet friends that I never met before IRL. *thumbs up*

Your objective opinion of DGames

I don't really understand this question. How can it be "objective" if it's my opinion?

Um, you guys are quite the mixed bag. Some of you are bad at this game (no shots fired just trying to give constructive criticism) while others are quite good. We've pushed this game a lot in pretty much all aspects. Scum play, town play, indie play, and new set ups that are creative and/or balanced. Yep.

You hosted my first game. How've I come along in your eyes since then?

You've improved somewhat. In your first scum game you kinda just sheeped players blatantly. Now you've developed a bit of a back bone on your own. I think BIM was your best game yet. Even if you're plan to have the bombs claim wasn't logical, you still showed that you were actually thinking about things for yourself. Plus you made a good call about FF being town from Kantrip's and FF's interactions. Nevertheless though you still have a ways to go. I don't really think of you as an important influence to the games you're in, be it scum or town, and you still have to work of your logic skills.

what would you tell someone about monster to convince them that its worth watching? please be thorough!

I don't really know where to begin.

"Hey you! You know how most anime is narrative garbage? You know how most animes recycle characters, plots, and themes? Tired of emo teenage protagonist who are indispensable to the world for whatever reason? Tired of poorly written one-dimensional characters, that are defined solely by some "quirk" that they have? Tired of having the same simple themes of "friendship good" and "discrimination bad" shoved down your throat? Tired of the fact that anime writers don't know how to convey emotion outside of greatly exaggerating it? Tired of stupid Japanese cooking jokes? Then do I have the show for you!"

Okay, obviously I wouldn't say it like that, but I'll bring up the fact that anime generally suffers from the above issues, and I'll talk about how Monster is a vast improvement from anime (and really, most entertainment) in many ways. This is of courses assuming that the person I'm talking to watches anime. If they don't, then I'll probably give them a brief introduction to anime, and then just skip to the part that makes Monster good.

Where I would actually start the topic would depend on how the conversation with the person was going. For the sake of just getting on with it, I'll start with the characters, since that's probably show's strongest point.

Simply put, the show probably has the best character development I have ever seen in an anime. Like, the show takes these characters, which are at first are fairly common archetypes. Tenma is a benevolent doctor, who despite his amazing skills and a surgeon, is a bit naive and unassuming. Eva is a rich manipulative selfish ***** of a woman. Lunge is an extraordinary detective and workaholic, to the point of seeming cold and detached from his family and his humanity. Anna is a sweet and innocent girl, who constantly keeps herself busy. Johan is a psychopathic killer. There are of course more characters, but the ones I've just described are our core characters of the story, and these are the personalities that make up the story.

And yet they are so much more.

As the story goes on, the characters are taken and twisted in a lot of interesting and believable ways. By the end of the story, everyone is much more developed, sometimes being almost a completely different character than they started out being. Furthermore, I can not stress enough that the character development is believable. Like, you get to see the events that mold the characters in logical ways. What causes a character to be the way they are at a certain point in the story pretty much always makes sense, and because of it they feel like actual human beings. While they may start out seemingly stereotypical, they never end up that way. No bull**** "here's a quirk they have and here's a resolution they had and that's their character" here.

Let me compare and contrast a character from Monster and a character from another anime, Death Note, to illustrate this point. Lets look at Lunge and L. Both are interesting characters, both are great detectives and both are workaholics. So where do they differ?

Well, okay, I'm about to step on a lot of toes here, but I gotta be honest. While I enjoyed the anime Death Note and L's character, I gotta say that honestly L is a flat character if there ever was one. I can here your protests now. "But Sworddancer, he's so interesting and abnormal! How could you say that?"

I agree that L is an interesting character, who's personality is not much like anything you see in entertainment ever. However, that doesn't mean that he's not a flat character, which he still is. Think about it. At the beginning of the show he's an amazing, brilliant, and eccentric detective, and by the end of the show he's an amazing, brilliant, eccentric detective. That's it. So yes, he's interesting, but we learn nothing about him. What's his past? What inspired him to become a detective? Who are his loved ones? How do the events of of the story influence his character? What are his character flaws? Hell, for all we know, given how amazing he is at figuring out things, his only character flaw is not being omniscient.

Again, I like his character, and tbh you don't really need to know everything about a character for that character to be good. I mean, keeping a character's motivation and past a mystery is something that a lot of great shows, movies, and books have done before, and Monster even does it sometimes to. Nevertheless, because of Death Note's writer's decision to keep L's character a mystery, he ultimately ends up being a cool but flat character (like most of the characters in that show).

So how do Lunge and L differ? Well, Lunge ends up being much more well developed than L.

Without giving too much away, yes, Lunge is a great detective, but he's not perfect. While he's one of the best detectives on the BKA (German police), he's still prone to making mistakes. Like, you know, most ****ing human beings are. Also, because of his extreme dedication to his work, he has alienated himself from his loved ones, as well as from his fellow coworkers. We see the consequence of life decisions, both good and bad. We see that he's great at his job, and we also see the toll that it takes on his humanity. Again, without giving too much away, this ends up having logical ramifications on the story later on and it alters his character in subtle and realistic ways.

Now, take this and pretty much apply it to all of the main characters (mostly) and you get Monster.

Another thing I love about the characters of Monster are the minor characters. Yes, the minor characters. Naoki Urasawa (the author of Monster for those who don't know) doesn't neglete the humanity of the minor characters just because they are minor characters. I'll illustrate this again through an example.

The Baby. I'll go into his character because the spoilers revolving around him aren't too related to the main story, and I think that he's a great example of a minor character done well.

The Baby is a weird ****** neo nazi, who's goal is the burn down the Turkish quarter of Frankfurt. He is the ultimate example of a despicable villain. Not only are his motives terrible, but he's physically deformed. He appears only on as an early antagonist, and after

*minor spoiler that's not really the focus of the story but is still a spoiler nevertheless*

Spoiler

his plot to burn the Turkish quarter is foiled,

*end minor spoiler*

he disappears from the series for dozens of episodes.

Much later on though, he's brought back into the show, and we get to see a glimpse of his life outside of being a nazi. We see him take out a prostitute. He's having dinner with her, and we see that they're actually kinda hitting it off. The baby comments on how he's never really been with a woman who genuinely seemed interested in him. After dinner, the Baby takes his wallet out (preparing to pay the prostitute) to which the prostitute reacts in anger (seeing their date as genuine and not just work). The baby apologizes profusely, stating that "He was just acting on a reflex." The prostitute is still upset, but accepts his apology. She then asks him for his real name. Startled, he responds "No one has ever asked me for my real name before, but it's . . . " *The audience doesn't get to hear it because as he states it a truck passes by drowning out his voice*.

So what was the point of this scene? Why did this happen?

Because despite a nazi, despite being physically deformed, and despite being a minor character, the Baby is still a human being. Yes, he's a human being, with desires, hopes, dreams, fears, and insecurities. The scene that I described in the above paragraph portrays this beautifully. In just a couple of discrete actions and words, from the Baby offering to pay the woman on reaction, to his surprise that someone wants to know his real name, we learn so much about his character. About what makes him more than just an antagonizing nazi. About what makes him human.

Do you know what almost ANY other writer would have done with the Baby's character? They would of taken him, shown him being generally awful, have his plans foiled, and eventually have him die in a climactic way. They would have taken the easy path by making him completely despised, proceeded by killing him off to get some cheap satisfaction from the audience that wants nothing more than to see him die horribly. They would have neglected his humanity, because hey, he's a nazi, right? **** those guys. Not Naoki Urasawa though. He develops his characters. He doesn't neglect their humanity because their a minor character who's immensely disagreeable. Even the minor character ****** nazi gets development and moments of sympathy. That's character development. That's a human character. That's. A. ****ing. Well done. Character.

Urasawa likes to do this with his minor characters. He likes to take a minor character, have them make a minor appearance early on, and then bring them back literally dozens of episodes later after you have forgotten about them to flush them out. It's a great technique that really works for the show, as it further strengthens the already strong cast of characters.

I haven't even gotten into Tenma and Johan yet, arguably the most likable characters on the show.

First off, Johan, our antagonist. Ho boy, Johan. In retrospect, Johan seems like he must have been a very tricky character to pull off. For a lot of the show, he's actually absent. His motives are pretty much always shrouded in mystery. We don't know what makes him tick, and yet we do find out about some of his character traits. *minor spoliers*

Spoiler

We find out the Johan is basically perfection incarnate. He's very intelligent, good looking , helpful, likable, and great with children.

*end spoliers*

Yet, despite Johan's seeming perfection, he's still a Monster. This may seem like something clinched, the "perfect" serial killer and all, but trust me, the way it's played out makes it quite unique.

So the recap, Johan's a character who's "perfect," murderous, and has unknown motives. So how is that guy developed? How is he threatening? This is what makes his character so tricky, because not much change would have had to be done to his character to make it considerably worse. Despite his large absence and how little we get to peek inside his mind, he ends up being a very well developed character. The occasional peeks we get into his history are brief, but enlightening. Not only that, but his presence is often times felt, even if he's not directly there. Through other characters who have interacted with Johan, we get a good impression on just how threatening Johan is, just how much influence he has on the story. This, and key stand alone episodes, are what make him a great villain.

We the audience get to see that he's clearly evil, but curiously enough, he's very likable to us as well. The mystery surrounding him is so intriguing that you really can't dislike the guy.

Johan's greatly contrasted with the protagonist of the show, Tenma. Tenma is likable for totally different reasons than Johan. Unlike Johan, Tenma is extremely honorable, sometimes to a fault. He's a real man's man. Not in the masculine "I'm a big muscle guy" sense, but in the sense that he's just so damn responsible. Despite being a peaceful doctor, he puts the burden on himself to stop Johan. His journey to stop Johan, all while being on the run from the police that wrongly suspect him (minor spoiler revealed pretty early on, almost any review of monster you see will tell you this) is gruesome. Yet you get the sense that Tenma just might have the determination to see his quest through. The dedication to carry on, no matter how tough the riding gets.

As mentioned early, Tenma is a brilliant doctor, and it plays into his character very well. The fact that he's a doctor doesn't just serve as deus ex machina when it's needed, it actually shapes his personality. His doctoral career has lead him to see value in all life, and it influences how he approaches different situations. So not only is he a respectable character, but he's an intelligently written character as well.

So yeah, I could write essays on character analysis, but I think I've conveyed the point well enough that this show has good characters. I'm going to have to move on eventually, so I think I'll just do that now.

So, arguably the most important point of any story is the plot. The set of events that causes the characters to do what they do. Monster, as a show, kinda defies genre. However, every show can roughly be placed into a genre, and in Monster's case it's most like a mystery/drama/character study. So, as we all know, a good mystery keeps the audience engaged and interested. Not only is it just engaging, but the pay off that you get when you learn something new (it is, after all, a mystery. Monster frequently keeps pieces of plot information hidden away from the audience) is truly satisfying. Also, in a good drama/character study, the audience genuinely cares about the fates of the characters. So how does Monster do in all these respects? Simply put, it does fantastically.

In order to avoid spoilers as much as possible, I'm going to avoid going into too much detail. Lets just say that, while the show is a bit slow to start, once it gets its momentum it never slows down. You'll be finishing an episode wanting to begin the next episode immediately, regardless of the fact that it's 4 am and you have things to do the next day. You will care about the fates of the characters. You will be satisfied when a question that's been on your mind is answered. You will be tricked by the red herrings that the show throws at you, and you will be impressed by how logically everything is sown together. When the show wants to be thrilling, you will be thrilled, and when the show wants to be heartwarming, you will be charmed.

Okay, so that's the plot in general, but what about the themeing of it all? Again, it's excellent. I REALLY can't talk about the themes of the show without giving a lot away. Just know that the themes of the story are tied in really well with the plot and the characters. Throughout the story, you'll see several different motifs and symbols that constantly appear. These motifs effect the plot progression and characters in significant, smart ways. You'll find when watching Monster that the symbols the show wants you to focus on are pointed out blatantly, but the significance and meaning of these symbols are never really quite cleared up. However, by the end of the series you'll have fairly good inference about what they meant. While the characters of the show sometimes outright state some of the simplistic secondary themes of the show (for example, "discrimination bad, equality good" [this is a theme made clear on the first episode, so I'm not really spoliering anything by saying it now]), they never outright state the much more interesting and complex primary themes of the story. Again, you'll get an idea, but it's still ultimately left up to interpretation. It's not necessary to understand the theme of the story, and how the characters and symbols of the story reflect upon the theme for your enjoyment of the show, but it's still there nevertheless for those who are interested (and trust me when I say that you'll most likely will be). Like with the characters, I could write essays on my interpretations of the themes of Monster, and how the themes are expressed through characters and symbols, but obviously I won't. Just know that a lot can be said about the themes of the story, so you can get an idea about just how well developed it all is.

Now, that pretty much covers most bases, so I just want to go over two more things real quickly: the length of the series, and the more trivial aspects of the show. For one, the run time. Yes, the show is 74 episodes long. I've seen you guys complain about this on Dgames, using it as an excess not to watch the series. Please know that I'm telling the God honest truth when I say that the show is engaging once it gets going. You'll really want to watch the whole thing once you hit a certain bench mark. Also, please appreciate the fact that the show really needs to be this long for everything to work like it does. The characters wouldn't be as diverse and fleshed out if the show wasn't this long. The plot wouldn't be as interesting, and the themes wouldn't tie in with everything as well. So yes, I won't lie. Watching Monster is an investment of time. However, trust me when I say that it's well worth it.

Finally, let me end by going over the less important, but still significant, aspects of the show. For starters, both the art direction and animation of the show is great. I have seen complaints that the character design is kinda ugly, but honestly, it's really more realistic than ugly. Characters are well designed and drawn, animation is good, and the show has impressive lighting effects.

The show works on the auditory side of things to. The voice acting is top notch. Every character really fits their voice, and none of the voice actors ever fall flat. Also, I personally think that the English dub is better than the original Japanese one. The Japanese voices are okay, but they're just so stereotypical Japanese anime voice actorish. It doesn't really fit the characters as well as their English counterparts. Besides from the voice acting, the music is great to. I absolutely adored the original orchestrated soundtrack. The songs in Monster sound good on their own, and in the anime they fit the mood quite well.

Finally, I find the setting of the anime (10 years before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the time after it in Germany and Czechoslovakia) to be unique. It's nice to see in anime step out of Japan for a change. Plus, while I can't confirm this for myself, I've read that Urasawa created a fairly accurate depiction of the locals in the story, just as Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, and Prague. A nice touch for sure.

So, that's pretttttttttty much everything, although tbh there was a lot more I wanted to go into detail on. I wanted to compare and contrast Monster with other animes. I wanted to compare and contrast the logic of Monster with the logic of Death Note. I wanted to compare and contrast how engaging Monster is with Higerashi (I liked Monster better. Higarshi was an engaging show, but when you learned what was going on behind the curtain things kinda fell flat for me. This was never the case for Monster). I wanted to go into detail about the theme of the show, but I couldn't without giving a significant part of the show away. If you're sincerely interested and don't mind having a big part of the show spoiled for you (or you've already seen the show! =D), PM me and I'll talk about it.

Anyways, I hope this was thorough enough for you Marshy, and I hope that everyone will FINALLY give this show a chance. Enjoy!

why don't we talk all that much? I blame it on you so I also expect you to repent for it.

Sorry, I don't talk to too many people are Dgamers or IRL because I'm introverted. As a small way to repent to you, I painted a picture of me begging for forgiveness. I hope it's to your satisfaction, and I hope that it serves to atone for my sins.

Describe your ideal life-partner ?

This is a difficult question. It's hard imagining being around someone for life. I guess someone who has a good head on them. A girl who's logical and doesn't act up for attention when she's bored. A girl who's able to remove self-bias when describing things about her or events that have happened to her. She doesn't necessarily have to be good looking, but just not fat. I'll admit that I am shallow enough to not want date someone extremely fat, and it doesn't help that I myself am very skinny. I don't mind chunky, but anything more than that is a no.

Finally, and most important of all, she shares the same interests with me. A girl who's a gamer would be a big turn on for me, especially if she likes that same games I do.

Basically, a girl who can be both a friend and a lover.

What is Swords perfect Day ?

Ah, I was describing my perfect "day" for a minute there, but I guess you're not interested it that (don't worry, it only involved an attractive asian woman wearing a long jacket and a mini skirt and a jet pack, nothing too interesting).

Anyways, my perfect Day would consist of identifying my fellow townies (assuming that I'm town because it wouldn't be perfect if I wasn't), coming to a consensus with them on who's scum, being right about it, and then lynching the scumbag.

You write an award winning novel, what genre ?

Hmmmm, probably a play. Does that count? If not, then philosophy. Making up a story is hard for me. I'll much rather just say what I'm thinking straight up then represent it as a theme in a story with fictional characters.

You direct an award winning movie, what genre ?

Drama were a main character (most likely the protagonist) is dealing with a real life issue that's relatively common. Throughout the story the characters (especially the protagonist) learns some lesson about life through their struggles and tribulations.

So you know, the Oscaer bait genre.

Favorite book / series of books ?

This might seem like an odd pick to some of you, but my favorite book right now would probably have to be The Adventures of Huckaberry Finn by Mark Twain. I read that book back in the 10th grade, and the younger, more liberal Sworddancer really dug the ahead of its time "**** the establishment" message of the book.

In all seriousness, that's really kinda the reason I like the book so much. The book isn't particularly full of them, but the "**** yeah" and "holy ****" moments in the book really struck a nerve for me and sent shivers down my spine.

Also I know that you didn't ask for this but I'll like to insert that I really dug a couple of short stories I read back in Freshman Comp. Mainly, the stories A&P, A Rose for Emily (omg the ending), Everything that Raises must Converge, and, my favorite among them all, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? If anything, check out that story.

Favorite movie / series of movies ?

Pulp Fiction.

Top 5 video games ?

1. Super Smash Bros Melee
2. Super Mario 64
3. Tales of Symphonia
4. Resident Evil 4
5. Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

In that order.

How do you differentiate Swords the mafia player, from yourself, if you do.

Sworddancer is more outspoken than Stephen. Sworddancer benefits from the barrier that the internet provides when it comes to dealing with his social insecurities. Stephen needs a lot of time to warm up to people, unless he's in a group with people he already knows. Stephen has trouble opening up to new people, and is a bit lacking making conversation with even the people he does know, although he's definitely better at it with them. Stephen works better in a group where he doesn't feel pressured to talk for the sake of talking, while Sworddancer tends to be a bit more one-on-one with people. Stephen is more careful to not offend. Sworddancer will tell people that they are being dumb if he sees it as so.

Dream career ?

Astronomer, but it will never happen. There's just no demand for it.

Still, just a chill job. I love space, and I love just looking at it. My freshman astronomy class was easily my favorite science class I have ever had. Getting paid to do science that I love would just be swell.

Name 1 goal of yours which is realistic and 1 which is overly ambitious.

A realistic goal would be to graduate college with a B.S. in IT, and maybe move on to graduate school. If not that, then maybe an internship, and eventually a well-paying stable job in the IT field.

An overly ambitious one would be to be both a novelist and screenplay writer. I'm not a particularly creative person, but if I was, then getting to express myself through thoughts two mediums would be kickass. Also this is another reason why I'll like to be a writer.

any advice for newer players?

I said it 100 times before and I'll say it 100 times again: Try to read intention, not output. Also to just keep playing the game, and always try to objectively reflect on their game and others. Never get discouraged just because you did bad at first, since everyone has to start somewhere. Finally, I'll tell them to really try to exercise self-restraint when signing up for games. If they feel like they can't keep up a healthy amount of activity in a game, then don't join. You'll just end up being a liability to everyone else.

what should protown players ask themselves before making posts? same for scum

To be honest I never really "ask" myself anything before making a post, but I'll try to answer this question regardless.

As a townie, you should ask yourself if you know what you're trying to do with your post. If you're questioning someone, know why. Know were you want it to potentially lead. If your making a read, then ask yourself if those reads are justified. Ask yourself who your fellow town allays are, as successfully identifying other townies can be a real pain for scum in endgame.

Also def ask yourself if your upcoming posts might be playing into scum's hand. Sometimes it's better to withhold information or not get caught up on trivial things and instead focus on the bigger picture.

As scum, you need to ask yourself two questions IMO. One, am I playing to my team's plan? Scum teams generally should make plans that are constantly changing appropriately with the status of the game. If you stray from the plan, then you could be compromising your team. Unless, of course, your team is incompetent, in which case do your thing. Or better yet, take the reigns of your team. Just, you know, be logical, okay?

Also you should ask yourself if what you're posting is what a townie would post in the given situation. If you're not sure, ask your scummates for their opinions on a post before you make it. To often I read lackluster scum quicktopics where scum just didn't communicate with each other well enough. Try to avoid this, as scum really should be communicating with each other as much as possible.

so have you actually seen the dollars trilogy? if so brief analysis

Unfortunately, no. I just use the Clint Eastwood avatar for the aesthetics of it. That, and the fact he has the same life view as me.

*spits on ground*

what dgamers would you ship as romantic couples based on personality/interactions?

Gheb and Swiss. They should just **** already.

on a kinda not really similar note what players would you like to see hydra and/or think would be interesting?

Vinyl and Gheb
Vinyl and Swiss
Vinyl and anyone really
Gheb and Swiss
Soup and Xonar

I'm joking about everyone but the last pair. I think Soup and Xonar could potentially play off each other well. Both are willing to try wild WIFOMie things, and I think both could benefit from the other's strength that they may not necessarily have.

is there anyone you admire?

A lot of people, but if I was to pick the one person I admire the most, it would have to be my dad. He was always there for me during my entire life, and he's a very responsible and intelligent man. No one else has shaped my life and my personality more than him, and no one has been a greater friend than he.

any guilty pleasures?

Where do I begin?

80's music
anime
procrastination
sweets
buying things that I don't need
being friends with Europeans
being friends with Nabe

The list goes on and on.

how has the room changed since you got here?

We've gotten a little better at this game IMO. People are more willing to try new things as scum for the "scum would never do that!" value of it. Town has evolved to. Some townies have expanded their methods for reading people. For these people, it's not just checking to see if someone's post matches a scum tell or not, it's reading deeper into posts, into wording and tone. Townie's are also more aggressive IMO. We're more likely to just want to end a Day if we think we got something rather than prolong it if we're not sure.

what is your first memory?

Not really sure if this is truly my first memory, but I remember my preK "teacher" (more or less a babysitter at that age) smiling at me and giving me a stick of gum. I then turned around and went to do something, not really sure what.

do you actually play smash brothers? if so whats your experience with those games?

Absolutely! I started playing casually when it came out 11 years ago. I was just a wee 10 year old back then, and me and my friends didn't really appreciate it as anything else but a fun game.

I dropped it for awhile until I came across gameFAQS in 2006. There I learned about competitive smash and SWF. I started playing competitively in late 2007, and I've been playing Melee ever since. My experience has been almost nothing but positive. I've met a lot of great people in the smash community, many of which are now my friends. Besides from the social side of things, I just generally love the game. I love playing it, both casually and competitively. I love playing against people who are better than me. Getting beaten does not deter me, and just encourages me. I have a lot of fun "becoming rivals" with people, and I like the challenge of trying to reflect in between matches what I'm doing wrong, what they are doing right, what I need to do, ect. Overall just a great game and a great experience.

what would you name this room if it wasnt called dgames?

"The Town." It sounds cool, and it more or less sums up what this room is about (at least for those who are familiar with mafia it does).

if you had to choose a superpower what would it be?

The power to run super fast and do inhuman athletic stunts. I know that's kind of a generic power, but it seems like it would be a lot of fun to have.

if you HAD to have sex with one pokemon who would it be?

This is such an easy question and I'm surprised no one else has picked this Pokemon yet.

Gardevoir. You know how pokemon are basically just bizarre looking versions of animals? Well, Gardevior is basically a pokemon of a human woman, so why not?

if you had to choose a superpower that wouldn't really qualify you as a superbeing, what would it be? (This is a reworded "not-so-superpower" question)

The power to be truly dedicated to what I put my mind to. Basically every other "not-so-superpower" could be derived from this, and it would really help me to just stop procrastinating on **** already.

How do you think one can improve on explaining reads when they are town ?

I don't really understand this question. Are you asking how one can improve explaining reads in general when they are town, or are you asking how can one improve explaining a town read?

For the former of the two, what I always try to do is just be as honest and open as possible. Don't hold anything back unless you have logical reason to. Strive to show your thought process. Going hardbody "K this guy is scum lets lynch him" can work, and it's sometimes even better than prolonging things. However if you're having trouble with that route then it's probably best to buckle down and get to explaining things. Explain your PoV as much as needed, even if it gets redundant. Always cite your evidence, and be prepared to face those who disagree with you. Also, keep an open mind. You yourself could always be wrong after all!

For the latter of the two, the answer is pretty much the same. Keep an open mind, be honest and open. Cite your evidence and blah blah blah. You get the picture.

Um, if you want any tips in particular, I find that one can usually make a good case with the "why would he do this as scum in this situation?" argument when explaining why you're town reading someone. Keep in mind though, if you do use that argument, that often times scum deliberately goes out of their way to do things that aren't directly beneficial for their survival, so that they can look townie. At that point you kinda just have to make a judgement call about rather or not they are being legit. Look for people who "town tell" unconsciously and you'll be good to go.

How can one can keep improving their game ?

First realize that you're never going to truly be perfect. I can't imagine ever even coming close to perfect. You'll just never actually get there.

Now, my actual advice would be to just be to just be as receptive and reflective as possible. I myself always reflect on my town games. What I did wrong, what I did right. Why I was right and/or why I was wrong. What separated a scummer from a townie acting similarly, ect. Try doing this for yourself, be open minded and see where that takes you.

If a read is right, but for the wrong reasons, is it still a solid read ?

It depends on what the "wrong reasons" are. I find a lot of salty scum try to discredit townies after getting caught by saying that they were right, "but for the wrong reasons." These "wrong reasons" are often just them being self-biased and not wanting to admit that their play was flawed.

Now, if the reasons are truly "wrong," like someone just used a RNG to pick out scum and just so happened to be right, then yeah it's obviously not legit.

Your town game is really damn good. How did it get that far?

As stated above, it probably came from a lot of self reflection. A lot of trying to see what other, better players were seeing, and just generally "getting it" with time.

I remember in Newbie mafia 9 (which I IC'd) things kinda just "clicked" for me that game. The scum team was kinda obvious that game, but in a way the scum team being so obvious really helped my ability to read people. Like, not only was a I RIGHT about who was scum, but I felt RIGHT, if that makes sense. I felt like I really understood why what the scum team that game was doing was actually scummy, and what fundamentally scummy things really were. That game developed a really solid base for me to stand on, and ever since then I've just been trying to expend upon it.

Also, your scum game is improving. What did you do to give it a little "boost"?

I just force myself to post more. People know my scum meta to be cowardly, so I just try to avoid that. I try to do things that I "wouldn't do as scum," and sometimes it works (I fooled Circus in Liar mafia by doing this), sometimes it doesn't. People who know me well enough (like J) can usually see right through me when my content isn't genuine.

Enough about mafia though. How's life? How's college?

Again, life's pretty amazing. It's a bumpy road, but thank God the road exists in the first place.

College is challenging but worthwhile. There isn't a class that I don't find at least somewhat interesting, and while my grades are slipping from where they use to be due to harder classes and more student laziness on my part, I still manage and carry on.

Actually, scratch that part about "student laziness", because honestly my work ethic has done nothing but improve over the past couple of years. It's easy to think that my work ethnic was better before when my classes were all liberal arts prerequisite BS like humanities. However it was probably worse in the past than it is now. I think that I'm just bad at getting started with my work. I do end up procrastinating so I get behind on things. When I do actually start working though, I'm probably working as hard as any other uni student, so yeah.

Choose one place where you'd like to live.

Oregon sounds like a nice modern state. However, that Yellowstone supervolcano has me paranoid, so I think that Florida is just fine. If I'm not allowed to pick Florida, then either Michigan or North Carolina. It would be nice to see snow, something I've never personally seen before. I've been to both states before, and both are pretty nice. eeyep.

Now choose one place where you'd like to die.

I don't think that I'm going to care too much about where I die when that happens.

Not satisfied with that answer? Well then, a tacky answer, but where ever my family is is where I would want to die.

Write a quick love story between you and your favorite dGamer.

"What am I doing here?"

Shots rang out overhead.

"Why am I here?"

The sound of something falling, followed by an explosion could be heard off in the distance.

"How can I go on? How can I go on without him?"

The fury of the dgamesia war was going on all around him, and all Sworddancer could do was sit there and think. He knew that he was lucky to still be alive. Lucky to still be serving with Ryker's battalion after being caught in a relationship with a member of the enemy Europeans. Who could have been branded a traitor and executed, but no. As a cruel joke Sworddancer was forced to life on.

He took out a locket from his pocket, the last keepsake of his former lover. He opened it, and on it was a picture of an underage japanese cartoon girl wearing overly suggestive clothing given her age. What did they call these? Lolis? Sworddancer wasn't sure, but he it didn't really matter to him. All he knew was that it mattered to him.

Sworddancer clenched the locket in his fist, as tears rolled down his checks, for he knew that he would never find love like that again.

. . .

Sworddancer and his comrades were continuing their assault upon Dgamesia City. Sworddancer detested war, but he knew that the Europeans must not have control on Dgamesia, for else we were all be ruled by Gheb, and that would end well for no one.

It was a muggy knight. The ground was muddy and mosquitoes were everywhere.It was miserable, and yet something about it was just so raw to Sworddancer. Sworddancer, who was a lonely individual, could not help but to think that the conditions were right for love. Sworddancer always wondered if he was going to die in war without finding love which eluded him so. That was until he met him.

Sworddancer was on prisoner watch duty. They had all of the prisoners of war locked up in jail cells, and tonight it was Swords turn to keep watch. An hour into his shift, Colonial Ryker came in with a man chains.

"I caught another Europansy!" Exclaimed Ryker as he forced him into one of the free cells.

After Ryker left, Swords shared a long glance with the prisoner. His long greasy black hair. His thick-rim hipster glasses which were dirty. His pale European skin, as pale as pure snow. Something about him captivated Sworddancer, and apparently the prisoner was captivated as well.

They stood there in a long silence, until finally the prisoner broke the silence.

"Desu?"

"What?"

"Desu."

Sworddancer didn't speak weeaboo, but in his heart he knew what he was saying. He was expressing his love, and his desire to get down with it.

"I'll be right back." said Dancer. He left, and in a few moments returned with a wine bottle and two wine glasses, as well as some bread.

"Waifu!" Xonar exclaimed.

"Waifu indeed." replied Sworddancer. He opened the cell, and joined with him.

The details are too graphic for smash boards. Lets just say for the next couple of nights whenever Swords was on prisoner watch duty he and this mystery person got down by the fiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrreeee.

One night, Swords told the man.

"You are my lover, but I don't even know your name or anything about you really. Tell me, what's your name."

"Xonar." he barely managed, knowing only a little English.

"I . . . like . . . this." He handed Swords a locket, and inside was a picture of a scantily clad little cartoon girl. "This . . . I like. You keep, as keepsake of my heart."

Sworddancer did just that.

One night, Sworddancer made the mistake of falling asleep in the prison. Big mistake! He was caught by Ryker, who took Xonar away from him immediately.

"Xonar!" Swords cried out as he reached out his hand to his lover.

But it was no use. Xonar was dragged away.

"Kill me to!" demanded Sworddancer.

"No, said Ryker, you have to live with this! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"NOooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

So brings us back to the present day, where Sword sits now, with no meaning in his lonely heart.

end

What are your dreams for the future? One realistic one and one overly ambitious one, please.

As stated above, my realistic goal would be to graduate college and expend my knowledge base. An ambitious one would be to write a book and/or movie, and that's just never going to happen.

Most embarassing thing about you that your parents know?

That I'm kind of lazy. That might not be something you consider to be embarrassing, but I consider it to be so.

Ever seen something you knew you shouldn't have seen? What was it and what did you do?

Lol, okay story time kids.

One day I was coming home from lunch. As I pulled into my driveway and got out of my car, my next door neighbor, who I know as "Mr. Alvarez," approached me.

Now, for this story to work you guys need to know a couple things about Mr. Alvarez. Mr. Alvarez is a first generation immigrant from Cuba, who barely speaks any English. He is about 70 years old, retired (obviously), and slightly overweight.

So anyways, Mr. Alvaez approached me as I got out of my car. He was carrying an Iphone, and he seemed like he wanted to ask me something about it (since he was gesturing towards me with the phone). I had trouble understanding him at first, but I eventually picked up that he didn't know how to check his text messages. Considering our age difference, this was a fair question to ask me, so I helped him out.

I never actually used an Iphone prior to that date, but I was able to figure it out pretty easily. I went to his inbox, told him how I got there, and told him to just click on the message he wanted to read. I gave him back his phone, but I guess he still didn't get it, because he ended up just exiting from the the inbox screen back to the menu.

So I took the phone from him, explained it again, and got back to inbox screen. I then said something along the lines of "So like, I'm assuming that you wanted to read the most recent message?" and I promptly clicked on the most recent message.

And then I saw it.

Spoiler

The most recent message.

The most recent message was

a

picture

of him

completely nude

having sex

with his nude 70 year-old wife

doggie style.

Spoiler

So what did I do? Well, let me tell you what I SHOULD HAVE done.

Mr. Alvarez wasn't looking at the phone when I opened the message. I should have just exited off the screen and pretended like nothing happened. That would have been the smart thing to do.

Did I do that though? Nope! Instead I just shot my eyes away extremely quickly, gave him back the phone, said something like "and yeah that's how you do it," and fast walked into my house. Definitely the most awkward experience of my life yet.

Would you consider ever name-changing? If so, what to?

I think that I've held the name "Sworddancer" too long to change now.

Still, if I did change it, I would change it to some cool scientific term, like "Diffusion" or "Momentum." Just something basic, yet original, you know?

What's your guilty pleasure?

Just one this time? Probably 80's music. Everything about is so cheesy, but I just love dancing to that stuff.

Name 5 things I don't know about you.

1. I'm bisexual. I prefer woman, but there has been a couple guys I've seen who've really struck my fancy (don't worry Dgamers, this does not apply to any of you).
2. I used to do Shakespeare. I may be cheating with this one, since I've already stated this before, but I'm willing to bet a lot of Dgamers didn't know this about me. I've been in Shakespeare competitions before, and I've played in roles just as Augustus, Richard the third, and someone (can't remember who) in "Much Ado About Nothing."
3. I'm big on doing volunteer work. It makes me feel good about myself (not claiming to be altruistic), and it looks good on a resume.
4. I was the amateur tennis champion at my community college. Granted, I was only competing against 3 other people, but I DID start out the worse in the class. That has to count for something, right?
5. I'm actually pretty ****ing weird IRL. Lets not go into details, but my mind certainly can wonder sometimes. I take stoic comfort in the quote "The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well."

If you were a girl, what would you like to be named? Would you name your daughter like that?

Charlotte. I think that's a cute name, and yes I would name my daughter that. My wife would most likely get the final say on it though.

What's your "life philosophy"/slogan?

I don't really have a life philosophy/slogan. I guess if I had to say something, it would be that there probably is no point to life, so we should just enjoy it now while we can. I mean, if you only get to live once, then it's only logical to not take it too seriously.

Make a Rockin gay joke :D

Several religious scientists believed that God created extreme weather conditions as punishment for homosexual behavior. They knew that it would be inhuman to try to rid of the homosexual population, so they were baffled as to what to do to about the problem.

Eventually though, it hit them.

They took the first willing volunteer, Rockin, and they cloned thousands of him. They did spread out each one of these Rockin's evenly across the Earth. Their plan worked! By evenly distributing all of the Rockins, which contained an estimated 98% of the world's gayness, God couldn't pass his judgement on any one place over the other. Thus a stable climate was created, and Rockin became the hero of us all.

Choose a picture to describe yourself.

Choose a song to describe yourself.

uhhhhh . . .

What is your greatest accomplishment in life?

WARNING! Sworddancer is about to get pretty personal, proceed with caution.

Spoiler

This may seem like an odd answer, but my greatest accomplishment in life so far has probably been becoming an atheist. For me, it was a long and emotional draining battle between my faith and what logic dictated. I REALLY wanted to believe in the bible for the longest time, and I did. I really wanted to believe in heaven and an afterlife, as knowledge of my own mortality depressed and frightened me greatly. I prayed every night, and hoped that God would make himself clear to me. I wanted to believe in God so badly that I tricked myself into believing slightly unusual occurrences WAS evidence of him making himself clear to me. Me back then would have been struggling with my faith, and while in the car, would have saw a sign that said "Jesus is still the answer." and took that as God speaking to me. Me now realizes that that's just something you see, because I live in the American South, and that ****'s everywhere.

Anyways, for several months back when I was 15 I struggled with this. Every time I heard an atheist express their lack of belief, and their logic for why they didn't believe, it made me feel uncomfortable. It didn't help that my dad and one of my close friends at the time were both atheists.

I cannot stress enough how uncomfortable atheism and the knowledge of my own eventual death made me feel. I was growing depressed because of it. Despite my devote religious faith, the feelings didn't let up. It's just, despite the fact that I was religious, I was always doubting it. The fact that scientific discoveries contradicted the stories of the bible was the primary cause of it. Hearing people point out flaws in the bible didn't help either.

I can't remember what happened exactly, but one night I was just thinking about it real hard, I was watching debates about the issue on the internet, and eventually I said to myself "Okay, I really just don't believe in Christianity."

This may sound weird, but the night I became an atheist felt liberating. Despite the fact that I now believed nothing happened happened after death, something which undoubtedly influenced my faith, there was no longer fear. No longer was there guilt either. Just acceptance. All that insecurity and lying to myself gone. It was wonderful.

I'm calling this an accomplishment because for me it was like finally accepting the real world for what it is, rather than what I wanted it to be. It was me conquering a fear and freeing myself from my self made bondage. I was entering into a whole new logical way of thinking, and I think myself a better human being for it.

What is the most comfortable feeling in the world?

Realizing that you're loved.

/sappy but true answer

What are the things you enjoy most? (i.e. drawing, taking a walk, playing games)

Stereotypical nerd answer, I know, but playing games. Specifically multiplayer games, and I'm not talking about ones that you play online. Be it something competitive like Smash or something silly like Mario Party, the human element of gaming adds a lot for me. Hell, it doesn't even have to be a video game. It could be something like Poker and I'll still have a blast.

What do you pride yourself in most?

There are a couple of individual achievements of mine that I'm proud of, but in general, I'm most proud of the fact that I'm generally more honest to myself than most.

Is there a future for people like you and me in todays society?

For you? Probably. I'm not a prophet, but from my angle the future is a bunch of Xonar's Extroverted technologically savvy open minded people seems to be the new trend if you ask me. Even the fact that you're a little eccentric helps, because it makes you all that more interesting.

For me, maybe. The key difference between us Xonar is that you're extroverted and more assertive with your ideas, while I'm more introverted and reserved. There could be a future for people like me, but they're going have to accept that their shyness is probably not healthy, and is going to do them no favors whey they are trying to find a place for themselves in our world.

Why believe in a future when it's so uncertain? Why believe in the present when it's constantly changing? Why believe in the past when you have no proof of it happening but your memories?

I don't really understand your question. I believe the future will occur due to the perfect consistency of its occurrence, if that's what you're asking. Now, if you're asking why believe in the occurrence of a specific future event, then yeah that's a bit more tricky. Really, there is no WAY to ever truly predict what will happen. All we can do is look at trends, try to make connections, and then make educated guesses from there. As time goes on we get better at this, but we still have a long way to go.

So yeah, I don't believe with absolute certainty that any specific future will occur, but at the very least I can make guesses that are within the ballpark.

Why believe in the present? My friend, that is the ONLY thing that actually exists, that's why we believe in it.

I literally have no idea how to answer your last question. I've ran into this problem before in my own thoughts. "How do I know that my past exists, if all I got for evidence of it is memories while my mind could be wrong?" You think long enough about these things, and you start thinking all kinds of ****y philosophical ****, like "If my mom married someone else, would I be alive?" and "Can I have a memory of remembering something?" (I tried the last one, and while I can remember remembering something, I can't remember what I remembered). It's just weird stuff, and I don't really have an answer for it tbh.

What's a Dutch stereotype that totally turned out to be true?

I don't know any Dutch stereotypes . . .

Oh wait.

"Dutch people are weird."

Confirmed by: Xonar.

What are some things people generally don't expect out of you, even though it's true?

Emotion. Most people think of me as a logical guy, but I can be passionately emotional bro. In matter of fact, I find it mildly annoying when people pin me as a purely logical guy. Just read my "greatest accomplishment" story if you want evidence of me being emotional.

Cynicism. I imagine most people think that I'm humble, so this might come as a shock to them. I won't lie: Sometimes my mind wonders to the darker side of things. I realize that the world is filled with problems. Poverty, filith, hunger, corruption, terrorism, political oppression, and so on. Life if such a fleeting thing, and yet some people actually want to take it away from others. In the name of their country, in the name of their made up Gods, whatever. People who are so sure of themselves, that they are willing to make just huge decisions, and in general allow themselves to just be plain ****ed up.

That's a the macro level of things. Even on the micro level I can be distrusting. For example, I might overhear two college students talking about a class, with one of them complaining about how much of a ***** the professor is to deal with. Seemingly on reaction, I assume that the person complaining is filled with self-biased, and is exaggerating things for her own benefit. Here I am, making a judgement on someone about making a judgement with only an impression. The utter hypocrisy of it all.

Being the center of attention. This hardly happens, and it only happens with people I feel very comfortable with, but there are those rare moments when I'm quite the extrovert.

Maybe I should just drink beer like everyone else. That's how everyone else seems to be not shy.

What do you look for in a friend?

Really just someone who shares similar interest to me. They can be a ****, but they have to at least be clever about it. If they are a **** just because they are a **** then it's a no go. Also, big points for them if they are honest to me about my faults. I'm not saying that should be a **** to me, just that when I do something dumb or selfish they should call me out for it. I appreciate it when others help shape me into a better human being.

Really, anyone who's not mean-spirited or an attention ***** who shares at least one interest with me is good. The whole"being honest to me" thing helps, but isn't necessary. I'm not too picky about my friends.

Actually, yes! Not as much as I should, but I keep a rough schedule of exercising (in just a way to build muscle) at least once a week (although I aim for three times a week tbh).

What was your first mafia game?

Technically it was a game in the SWF Atlantic South board, but that ended the same day it began due to one of the players breaking a fundamental rule really quickly. My first completed mafia game was Xiivi's Newbie Mafia 5.

Fun fact: Gorf was in that Atlantic South mafia game that I'm referring to (and no, he wasn't the player that broke the rule right when it started).

What player in that game has improved the most since then?

From Newbie Mafia 5, I'm the player that has improved the most. It's pretty easy competition when literally no one else from that game still play. =)

Same goes for the Atlantic South game.

Has the host improved?

Unfortunately, Xiivi doesn't really come around here anymore. I think we repealed him by being ***** to the Myling family. That or he's just too busy and cool as an admin to care about us anymore.

Or he just lost interest. That might be it to.

What is your favourite cheese?

White American.

- Who is your celebrity lookalike?

I hate to admit it, but probably this little tweeb:

Michael Cera. You might know this guy from Superbad, Juno, or the Scott Pilgrim movie. Plays the down-to-Earth reserved wiener in every single movie he's in.* We share similaur characteristics, including identical lips, face shape, blonde hair, and pale whiteness. The only two things we don't share is hair type (his is curly and somewhat thick, while mine is straight and thin) and personalities (I'm not a tool).

*As an aside:

Spoiler

I don't necessarily dislike his movies (nor do I really dislike him) just because he's a wiener in every one of them. I really liked Superbad. That movie his wienerness played off the other characters really well. Juno it worked to, but I dislike that movie for it's pretentiousness and God awful soundtrack.

I do think that it hurt Scott Pilgrim. Simply put, I think that he was miscast as Scott. Even though he's in a rock band, even though he pursues Flowers, even though he plays video games and whatever, he just comes off as a low-energy guy. Sure he kind of looks like Scott Pilgrims real life counterpart, but this:

just doesn't strike me as this:

and that hurt the movie considerably for me.

- How would you go about entertaining a bunch of strangers who visited your state?

I'll point in the direction of Disney World and be on my way.

- Have you had any supernatural experiences?

When I was little I once saw a cat ghost. It was green and transparent. I saw it just after waking up from a dream that I can't remember.

Another time I think I saw a floating head of my dad. Again I was little and again I just woke up from a dream.

Another time I heard what sounded like satanic chanting as I lay in my mother's bed in the mourning. I was little, but this time it happened much later after I had already waken.

- Do you believe in aliens? Who, in Dgames, would you be least surprised by if they came out as an alien?

I believe life probably exists elsewhere in our universe, yes. I also believe that some of it is most likely intelligent. I do not believe that we have even been visited by this life, nor will we ever anytime soon, though.

Also, Kataefi?

You're most likely the alien among us bro.

Just something about your demeanor. You're so friendly and smily smily all the time. It's like you're one of those friendly aliens who's doesn't fully understand human social norms but is trying too hard to emulate it.

who would you most like to hydra with and what makes you think it'd be goodtimes?

There's a couple people who I'll be interested in hydraing with. Above them all though I'll like to hydra with Kat As mentioned above, he's just a welcoming guy. Awhile back he wanted to have some sort of spy themed .hydra with me, and I think that we could have a lot of fun with that persona. Also I'll really like to learn from him. See what makes him tick, what tells he picks up on, and why he's more often right than wrong. Too bad Vandie is always stealing him from me. >=(

what is your favorite setup and what do you like about it?

Jungle Republic. It's the perfect example of a set up being both unique and balanced. I really like how every fraction has it's own advantage. Yellow scum is the largest scum team and gets investigated innocent from the cop, but they don't have a kill. Red scum is smaller than yellow scum and gets investigated guilty from cop, but they get a kill and (maybe) a roleblocker. Town is working against and only gets a cop/maybe doctor if we're talking ToS mafia, but they get the advantage of two scum fractions working against each other. It's all unique, yet simple and it just works. Proves that you don't have to make your set up some BS recruiting crap (Nabe) to make it interesting.

I feel like you and I play quite differently as town, but both of our playstyles are good. What do you think I could learn from you, and what might you take from seeing me play?

I think I could learn to be more assertive from you. As OS said, by being reserved I allow less competent players and/or scum to take over. You would never stand for just bs. You'll go down fighting if you had to.

What could you learn from me? Ehhh. I guess maybe some tells that I pick up on. I'm pretty good at spotting disingenuous content. Maybe you could get better at that from studying under me?

did you actually trust me one iota in persona mafia or did you just wanna lynch J?

Ehh. You made like two good posts Day 5. You helped a little, but it was really Circus and my own mind who convinced me to lynch J over Circus. You on the other hand we're just an inactive null/scum read of mine. Not trying to sound mean, just telling it like it is. Sorry bro.

if you could change one thing you did in a mafia game what'd it be?

I would lynch J over Rockin back in Cinemafia.

Seriously, if anyone wants to know why the wine is so poisonous, read that game. Specifically the last 2-3 Days.

are there any newbies that you think are promising and if so what made you notice them?

Well, there are hardly any newbies left to speak of. I guess the "newest" person who I like the most is you Kary. What made me notice you was how spot-on your reads were and how assertive you were in Newbie 19.

is there anyone from dgames past would you like to see back/more from? what is it about them that demands a return?

Cello, but he won't be coming back because we were ***** to him.

He should come back because his way of taking over threads was mystifying. Just like, he'll go in guns blazing, but at the same time you never really knew exactly what he was thinking. He got tells from weird nonstandard things and his reads were better than most. I remember as scum in Rusty Guillotine I felt so Goddamn uncomfortable around him. Mainly just because I couldn't figure out what to do to get him to like me. It just goes to show you what a strong player he was.

talk to me about music and stuff. if possible name half a dozen bands/musicians that you like and mention what you like about them?

Oi, this question. I was actually self conscious about answering this question, until Xonar ***** slapped me for being just a tool (go back and read my answer to "what I look for in a friend" question and you'll see why I like this guy). So anyways, this question is actually hard to answer, because I don't really go out of my way to listen to bands per say. Instead of I just know songs by themselves, separate from the artist. However, I'll try to muster up a half a dozen artists for you, so here I go.

1. The Beatles

This is a classic case of dad's music wearing off on me. I've liked the Beatles ever since I was a child, and I still sometimes listen to them today. Besides from some of their more frivolous songs (think "I Want to Hold Your Hand") I like pretty much all of their music. Everything from the moody and somewhat eerie A Day in the Life to the pop song I've Just Seen a Face. It just goes to show you how talented the Beatles were to be able to successfully pull off so many different styles.

Other good Beatles songs:

-The entire Magical Mystery Tour album (particularly I Am the Walrus, probably my favorite Beatles song of them all).
-Most of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album.

2. Passion Pit

Kudos to Nabe for introducing me to this one.

I think Nabe said it best when he described their music as "It's like being high without drugs. " For those of you not in the know, Passion Pit is in indie band that's been growing in popularity as of late. There music, as far as I can tell, comes in two flavors: Chill and wild. While I can't say I enjoy ALL of their songs (for whatever reason I just can't get into Take a Walk, which everyone else seems to adore), I like most of their music. They have a famine and somewhat bizarre style across all of their songs, so I imagine that their music isn't for everyone. Nevertheless I like them, and would recommend everyone else gives them a shot as well.

Some chilled out Passion Pit songs that I like:

Constant Conversations
Smile Upon Me
I've got Your Number

The more kinetic Passion Pit songs that I like:

I'll Be Alright
Little Secrets
Carried Away
Sleepyhead

There's probably more, but that's all I think of right now.

3. Daft Punk

I think all of us can agree on this one. I really don't have to introduce them, nor do I really have too much to say about them. They're simply a groovy band. That's it.

Now, songs:

Voyager
Veridis Quo
One More Time
Make Love
The Game Has Changed
Face to Face
Harder Better Faster Stronger (cliche pick, I know, it's still a good song)
Crescendolls

You know, **** it. Basically the entirety of Discovery. I haven't listened to to much of their other albums (Tron music and Human after all), but I really should sometime.

4 & 5 Billy Joel and Elton John

Honestly I'm struggling for artists at this point. Like I said above, I just know songs, not artists.

Anyways though, I do like both of these artists. I'm putting them both together because they're both pianist and they're both another case of dad's music rubbing off on me. Some songs that I'll recommend are most of the Mad Man Across the Water album (mainly Levon and Mad Man Across the Water) from Elton John, and She's Always a Woman (beautiful song), We Didn't Start the Fire, and Piano Man (getting lazy with links here, just want to get this interview done with at this point) from Billy Joel.

Oh, and of course what EE would have as my theme song.

6. A bunch of Rock and Roll ****ers

I'm having trouble thinking of one last artist, so I'll like to take this opportunity to express that my musical tastes are not limited to indie/old/techno stuff. There's a bunch of rock songs I like, I'm just not terribly familiar with the artists themselves, as I don't go out of my way to listen to a particular artists just because I like one of their songs. Really though, rock is a big part of my musical tastes and I feel like I should make note of it here.

Some examples:

Even Flow
Black Hole Sun
Sympathy for the Devil
Root of all Evil
Who Are You?
Cult of Personality
Know Your Enemy
Crazy Train
Can't Stop (put a damn shirt on whoever you are singer guy, I have to scroll down whenever I look up one of your music videos)
Feuer Frei (Unlike every other American, I actually heard this song before Amerika. Get at my level guys.)
Chop Suey!
Sultans of Swing (probably one of my top 5 favorite songs of all time)

I thought of a bunch of artists and picked one of their songs that I liked a lot.

also your favourite dessert. this i must know.

Chocolate Mousse Cake. I probably can count how many times I've had delicacy with both hands. Definitely a rare item only served on special occasions, which makes it all the more delectable in my eyes.

why the **** is legolas's name such a *****?

Xonar

Top 3 dream jobs?

1. Astronomer
2. Programmer
3. Teacher

Already explained astronomer. I'm an IT guy right now, but I actually like programming a lot and could see myself going into that field. Teacher would be the job that I pursue out of love for the material being taught, and I actually do like kids. It would be the "altruistic" job pursuit (although for the record, I don't believe altruism actually exists).

Top 3 Nightmare jobs?

1. Doctor
2. Police officer
3. Politician

Each job would be way too stressful for me. Being a doctor would require an insane amount of schooling, student debt, and afterwards pressure to keep my patients healthy.

Police officer is just completely anti-Sworddancer. I'm a skinny guy with hardly any fighting experience and absolutely no experience using fire arms. It would be hard for me, to say the least.

I can actually see some appeal in being a politician. However the pressure to make certain decisions when the whole country is watching you would be immense, and no matter what I would end up doing, 50% of them would hate me regardless. That's really something I'll like to deal without.

Who ya play in Melee and why?

Marth. I use to play Link when I was started out, but a fellow Link main recommended that I try to get good with a high tier first, so I picked up Marth. I just haven't really looked at Link since.

Why are you always an Indy?

Probably because of Nabe's original Halloween mafia. Here's a little secret from that game: Nabe let me pick my alignment. At the time I was growing a bit weary of mafia, so as a nice little gesture Nabe asked me privately if I wanted to be scum or town in his game. So of course I did the obvious thing and picked indie! =D

Ever since then though, the RNG Gods have been angry with me for cheating the system. As a form of ironic punishment, they constantly make me indie, even though they know I'll prefer town. Don't upset the RNG Gods guys, trust me.

Your set-ups are silly, host another one! Please?

Sure. I hope you enjoy my upcoming small, 80's music mafia.

You like Dr. PeePee?

Absolutely! I'll go as far to say that he's my favorite smasher. I'll even say that he's an ideal example of what a smasher should be. He's intelligent, dedicated, humble, and helpful to the community. He comes from what's more or less the middle of nowhere (not saying the North Carolina is that unpopular of a state, but you can definitely do better than that for smash), and yet through his dedication to the game and his own intelligence he has built himself up to a very high level of play in a relatively short amount of time. Yet despite his achievements he's never really been pompous about it. Overall a great guy and a great smasher.

Are you having an affair with Swiss? Cheating on Xonar?

No. Swiss just doesn't roll that way.

I will say though that technically I'm already cheating on Kuzi by being with Xonar, and I was cheating on Joey by being with Kuzi. These things can get complicated, and I'll most likely find myself trapped in a closet on of these days with all my meanderings.

Pro or Anti Furries?

Indifferent. Pro if Repede counted as a furry, but he doesn't.

Do you have a castle on the moon?

Yes.

What is a Ruy? In your words?

A Ruy is a dragon in Japanese to my understanding.

In my own words it's something that's pretty darn adorable, especially when drunk.

What is a Xonar? in your words?

A Xonar is a misspelling of the word "sonar." In my own words, it's someone who's pretty abnormal most of the time, but is also the biggest bro among them all. Like, everyone needs a friend like Xonar, not even kidding.

What is a Soup? In your words?

Soup is type of food, consisting a liquid, usually flavored and heated, containing chunks of other solid foods in it. In my own words, it's the most improved Dgamer among us all.

And a dirty hipster.

What is a Bear? in your words?

A bear is a large mammal that comes in several different species. They can survive in many different types of climates (depending on the type of bear), and they have an omnivorous diet. In my own words, it's EE. No, not ****ing DB and all of his unBEARable puns, but ****ing EE. He's the real bear among here.

Is it true that you are secretly working for the military to start a revolt and slowly work your way to rule the word?

Depends, which one?

How are you right now answering this question?

Not bad, thanks for asking.

What is your favorite thing to do on a rainy day, excluding video games?

Idk, tbh my schedule doesn't really change that much, rain or shine. Unless I was going to do yard work or some other out door activity, then if I wanted to go out on a rainy day, I'll still do so.

Please answer this question exactly as written.

Done.

Top 10 favorite fictional characters.

Um, well:

Huckaberry Finn
John Yossarian
Johan Liebert
Dr. Kenzo Tenma
Spike Spiegel
Ganondorf
Yuri Lowell
The Man with No Name
Jules Winnfield
Chihiro Ogino

Not necessarily in this order.

Top 10 favorite shows, anime or live action.

Uhhhhhh . . . .

Monster
Cowboy Bebop
Baccano!
Pawn Stars (odd pick, I know, but I find this show strangely entertaining)
Colbert Report/Daily Show

That's six. I cannot think of another four. Yes I've seen at least another four shows in my life, it's just that I wouldn't call any of them my "favorite." I've seen about 15 anime series in my life time (excluding stuff I watched on Toonami), and while I enjoyed most I wouldn't put any that arn't Monster/Cowboy Bebop/Baccano on this list. I've seen a couple reality shows, mainly Survivor and The Amazing Race. I've stopped watching Survivor though simply because I lost interest, and I stopped watching The Amazing Race (despite how much liked that show) because some of the episode just made me feel bad. Like, I remember this one part were the contestants had to be carried by one of those human taxis in an Asian country (don't remember which one) from one location to another, and this one team composed of two white ladies basically screamed their heads off for the Asian man carrying them to go faster. Two white people yelling at an Asian who's literally carrying them to go faster. What terribly appropriate imagery to make every single white guilt nerve in my body go off at the same time.

*Ahem* Got a little side tracked there.

Anyways, I haven't watched any live actor fiction. A good friend of mine is recommending that I watch Breaking Bad, so I'll probably get into that sometime in the future. Right after I finish listening to the rest of Daft Punk's music that I haven't heard yet.

Top 10 video games.

Pokemon Red
LoZ: WW
RE4
ToS
SM64
SSBM
ToV
999
Tony Hawk Pro Skater (for th N64)
Super Metroid

If you could hang out with 5 Dgamers that you haven't already met in irl who would they be?

Xonar - Again, a bro. Would be the wacky friend who could serve as my foil and keep me from taking myself too seriously.
J - Another bro. Very nice guy, and in the right climate we could have a lot to talk about.
Gheb - Through all his saltiness, I feel a small connection with his extremist views. Would want to talk about it with him.
Marshy - Because Marshy, and Monster.
Kuzi - Because Kuzi. Like one of the biggest bros of all. I was quite disappointed when I missed my chance to meet him spring break.

If you could invent one law the entire world had to follow, what would it be?

Bicyclist have to ride on the sidewalk, not the street, if they're not in the city. I get why they made it so that you have to ride your bicycle on the road; it's because in big cities it would be more hazardous to pedestrians than the oncoming cars. However, if you live outside the city like I do, the rule is just ridiculous. Here you have these long stretches of sidewalk that no one is on, and yet people still obey the rule that they have to ride on the road. At that point it's DEFINITELY more hazardous for the cars, because all the cars compensate themselves to makes extra room for the bicyclist, which means that they're kinda cutting into the other lane, which is just begging for trouble.

You're granted 3 wishes, with no possible work around for more wishes, what do you wish for?

I wouldn't wish for anything. If there's one thing tv taught me, it's that wishes always back fire.

Most improved Dgamer?

Soup. That guy seriously went from like bottom tier to high/upper mid tier as a player. He went from games like salt tales to games like Disney Sing -A-Long. He went from being constantly modkilled to constantly winning MVP. Seriously, good **** bro.

If you had the choice to kill anyone and get away with it, would you? Why and why not?

I wouldn't kill anyone. As much as I dislike some people in this world, it's not my place to pass that kind of judgement on them. Besides, like the whole thing with wishes, it could totally backfire. Lets say I killed some oppressive dictator, which lead to him being replaced by someone even worse, or perhaps lead to anarchy. With great power comes great responsibility, and I don't think that I want to be held responsible for that kind of thing.

Same question but replace kill with tickle.

The Kool Aid man.

"OH YEAH!"

Don't you think we should systematically murder everyone who calls you "Swords" with an "s"?

No, I prefer it that way actually.

Do you get annoyed by that?

No.

Annoyed enough to lick their asshole? Is that gay?

ಠ_ಠ

I don't know how you guys react to annoyance over there in Europe, but I don't want to know.

Is licking your own asshole gay?

I . . . didn't know that was possible! It probably is, but if you can manage that, then good for you!

Is licking your clone's asshole gay?

Yes, because you're partaking in a form of intercourse with someone that's undoubtedly going to be your own gender.

What about fapping, is that gay?

Mmmmmmm, probably not, because while you are stimulating yourself, you're not really focusing on yourself. You're most likely focusing on porn or a mental image. If the porn and/or mental image is of your own gender, then yeah it's gay.

Is it gay when you give yourself a blowjob?

Most likely, unless you're pretending that a girl is doing it to you.

Is it gay when you put it into your own ass?

Put what into your own ass? Your ****? Again, if you can do that, then good **** for either:

A. Owning a portal gun.

or

B. Having an extremely long and flexible ****.

Is it gay when you do any of the above with your clone?

Most definitely.

Do you own a sword?

The closet I've ever been to owning a sword was temporally having a bokken that I borrowed from one of my friends. Otherwise, no.

Do you dance?

I'm a passionate dancer, although I'm not particularly good. What goes on behind close doors stays behind close doors.

*knock on door*
Mom: "Stephen, what are you doing in there, masturbating?"
Me: "No mom I'm not."
Mom: "Then what are you doing, dancing again?"
Me " . . . Okay yes mom I'm masturbating go away."

Do you dance with the sword?

Don't be silly, that's dangerous.

If not, then why is your name that?

But my name isn't dance with the sword?

Is it more important to be right, or to get along with other people?

It's more important to be right, because that way you can feel good about yourself.

No but seriously, it is more important to be right imo. Like, while it's thoughtful to take others feelings into consideration, it's also disrespectful in it's own way to compromise "the truth" (if you will) because you don't think that they can "handle it."

But hey, why not both? One could be kind when explaining "the truth." There's no reason one has to choose one extreme over the other.

where's my interview at?

Why, I suspect that you're reading it right now!

Are you going to narrate a fanfic for me?

Probably not. I don't know how to edit videos, I have a nerd voice, and because of these two facts whatever I make would be inferior to your content Nabe.

"Alright class, it's time to teach the curriculum."

"No!" snapped the teletubbie. "We want to learn to be adult!"

There's just no way I could compete with that.

Five top games and why?

Oh, um.

Youtube Memes. That game was just hilarious. X1 was the cop who gambitted Night 0 cop against Swiss as the actual REGULAR cop and got away with it the entire game. Swiss himself was actually scum, and I was able to nail him on a connection that he had with previously lynched scum Kuzi. Oh, and yeah, Kuzi was in that game and he was NOTHING like he is now (he was bad). Also I nailed Nabe scum from like, Day 1. Gheb was SK and he played well, but come endgame he was outed by PoE and lost to me in a shootout (I was vig). The set up was ridiculously swingy, but I don't care, the game was fun as ****.
Melee mafia. My reads were so on point that game. That's just a great example of me establishing a super "hi I'm sworddancer and I'm townie as ****" base super early on and then catching scum like nothing. Also it was fun getting to hang with Gorf in the mason recruiter quick topic.
Community mafia. That game was nerve wrecking but I'm glad that I preformed as I did. I was scum that game with OS and basically I managed (with pain staking effort mind you) to make each and every one of my posts so crisp. No one suspected me the entire game, it was great.
Hardbody. Aww man that game was just so great for the town. While my reads weren't spot on, they were okay and I felt like I learned a couple things from that game. Plus town just overall did well and it was nice to see town pull out the well deserved win.
Newbie mafia 9. Already explained this one.

Three ideal hydra partners for you and why?

Kat. Already explained this one.
Kuzi. A huge bro who's just incredibly solid at this game. I feel like I could learn something from watching him, and I imagine that we could play off each others good reads pretty well.
Xonar. Because when he does play he tries his damnedest, to the point where it's hard to keep up with him. It can be tiring, but it's a good exercise in hard work. Also, he's a good insurance policy in case I role scum.

Favorite Role?

Doctor. I **** as doc. I've been doctor twice now, and each time I've successfully protected someone from a kill.

Least?

Yakuza. Unless the set up revolves around the yak, then it pretty much sucks donkey ****. The role defeats the whole purpose of mafia. Like, it rewards scum for bad play, and punishes town for good play. If the yak is under heavy pressure but he survives a Day, then LOL LOOK AT THAT GUESS HE GETS AWAY WITH BEING SCUMMY AND NOW TOWN IS IN A WIFOM SITUATION BECAUSE THEY WERE ON HIS TRAIL AND RIGHT. Bleh.

Guys, mafia is a game of town vs. mafia, not town vs. mafia vs. the set up.

As town, what is your game plan usually? Like say "Oh I'm going to rvs, going to let things build up, give opinions, re-read, take notes, take more notes, and take even more notes" or something like that. Make it as descriptive as possible. Now, what exactly do you think is others game plans?

I don't really have a game plan. Whatever I do depends almost entirely on the context of the situation. In Persona mafia, I (and everyone else) spent Day 1 with literally no scumhunting. Instead we just spent the Day openly trying to guess the theme. In Kittens vs. Domos mafia I made a baseless accusation against a newbie for the sole purpose of trying to stimulate activity in a stagnant game. In most other games, I just probe people for clarity at the beginning, and try to get them to take stances.

So I guess you can say my game plan is to just ****. Just ****.

What are others game plans? I can't possibly answer that. It depends on so many factors, like the player and the game itself. It's something take into consideration, but it's not like I'm always going to games expecting the exact same things out of people every single time. I mean, I do have meta on people which I admit I do look for, but that's besides the point. Most players I don't REALLY have meta against and thus I pretty much just free form it all the time when going into games.

What is a good game plan for experienced town?

****, just ****.

Keep the game active. Establish connection with fellow townies. Get to discussing with them who the scummers are and build a wagon against them, while establishing your own influence and making yourself known as town. Make sure to identify other strong townies so that there's little doubt that they are indeed town in case you die during the Night.

Same, but for scum?

Try to "do" everything that I just said a townie can do. Ideally, get on the good side of someone with influence (I'm not talking about buddying here, just playing well enough for them to trust you). You can also directly try to take influence of the game yourself, but you might run the risk of catching suspicion Day 3 when you're not dead and you've just been leading mislynches. Also, identify power roles, and COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR SCUM TEAM! If one of them is a weak link, then DISCUSS IT with them and form a plan to play off of it. You might just be able to turn a disadvantage into an advantage if your nifty about it.

Also, ask Swiss, or Ryker, or really anyone else who's much better at playing scum than me.

If Dgames were a rainbow, who would represent each color of roy g biv?

red-Ryker
orange-Ran
yellow-Gheb
green-Soup
blue-Sworddancer
indigo- Vanderzant
violet-J

Sorry I left you hangin on your set up.

No worries, I ended up making a new set up from a new flavor anyways.

If you won 250 million dollars, would you be generous enough to allow me about a million?

Mmmmmmm, no. Zen tbh I don't know you well enough to give you a million dollars. Like, if I won 250 million than EVERYONE is going to be asking me for some. I might give you some money, like a 100k, but probably no more than that.

What would you do with your money? Full lay down.

125 million would go to taxes because I'll just have to pay about half to taxes.

I'll give 30 million of it away to all of my family, 25 million to my friends, keep about 5 million for myself that I'll put into a savings account, and I'll donate the last 50 million to charity. Perhaps I'll even use that 50 million to start my own charity. Who knows? The Sworddancer foundation for the homeless?

Like honestly you really don't need THAT much money to be set. I can't imagine ever REALLY living the rich live, but rather just living comfortably. Having a big house and everything kinda seems like it would actually get boring. I mean when it's all said and done, all the hype of installing a theater in your house and an indoor swimming pool and whatever, then what? Do you just sit down in your excessively large theater and watch a movie? Do you invite a bunch of people of to join you? How often would you really do that? How would you keep yourself busy? Having a week long get away would be nice, but the idea of constantly trying to fulfill your day with leisure activities seems drab. I'll much rather work than do that.

Who would you say the weirdest person in dgames is based on your experience them over the internet or real life?

Xonar. Have you've SEEN the questions that he asks me?

What is your favorite 2-d animated movie? 3-d animated movie? Non-animated movie?

Spirited Away, Toy Story (unless you're referring to actual 3D, in which case I haven't seen a 3d movie before), and Pulp Fiction, respectively.

Who do you think you would have the most compatible friendship with in the dgames community based on your experience with them over the internet?

J. I'm a parrot, I know, but he's just a nice guy and we seem to have a lot in common.

You have a flying Shark, can you ride it?

If you believe hard enough that I can, then I can.

If you answered no to the last questions, can you make it happen?

Believe.

You have an opponent at >5% life you can either Grab or Attack on the assumption he's pressing a button.

What's your victory dance when you guess correctly?

You know that gif of the white clad ninja dancing that scummers post when they hammer in LYLO? Well, I can't find it, but that.

Ignoring Xonar's questions for now.

And done! Finally!

 

[KevinM]

(don't worry Dgamers, this does not apply to any of you).

nuuu

 

[#HBC | marshy]

the dancer/zozo story made me realize someone should dedicate the rest of their life to writing an epic about dgamesia

 

[#HBC | Joker]

I'm glad you got this up before we had take more... drastic measures.

*puts car battery and jumper cables away*

 

[Xivii]

gog dammit sword just accept my love. i don't give a **** if you don't know me. id change the world with a mil.

 

[Xivii]

That was a goodin. Genuinely kept me interested.

1. **** you for not believing that you could never be an astronomer, write a book, or direct a play. pisses me off tbh.
2. Out of curiosity, what is it that you like about Huck Finn the character? I don't think I ever finished the book now that I think about it.
3. Passion Pit
4. Altruism does exist. Not among human beings, but I do believe that ants and bee's are truly altruistic. Scratch that. People can be trained from a young age to be altruistic I believe. But yeah in general we do things for other people because it makes us feel good.
5. We must talk theology sometime.
6. I've always questioned if it would be gay to **** one's clone. I don't think it would be, just narcissistic. I personally don't find anything about the male figure attractive, but I would definitely **** myself.

Yal didn't even ask me good questions (xonar) when I did my interview way back when. Hot dam I want a redo.

Spoiler

-An individual may only be interviewed once per 27.4 years.

...

Spoiler

 

[Handorin]

Good read.

Was that Atlantic south game the one I hosted? I honestly forgot if that happened to mine. I just remember mine not really starting.

 

[#HBC | Red Ryu]

I'm not Red in a Rainbow?

I am offended.

Loved the interview, definantly when you added more spice of yourself in there. Made me feel you in those words.

 

[#HBC | ZoZo]

dude zen was i even on here back when you got interviewed?


ANYWAY
Nice interview! <3
I feel loved but my ego is left unsatiated. Why am I not mentioned every single answer?

jkjk
but really
not really

okay maybe a bit

Still nice interview. Laughed a few times and it was nice to learn somethings about you :3

 

[#HBC | Kary]

hyyype

10hypes

 

[#HBC | Kary]

Yeah sorry bout giving you trouble about not posting this, Swords. thanks very much for making it happen!

you scored 11 lols! For me the highlight was seeing Nabe listed as a guilt pleasure. I don't know why. The fanfic was also very good, I particularly liked Ryker as the villain of the piece.

don't know what more to say really. great interview, 10/10

 

[~ Gheb ~]

Very cute interview ^_^

 

[Orboknown]

Anthony keitus(or some spelling like that) is the chilli pepper's singer. Great interview.

 

[#HBC | Dancer]

Edited in an extra song that I really like (Sultans of Swing) and fixed a couple spelling/grammer/sentence structure errors.

 

[#HBC | Dancer]

That was a goodin. Genuinely kept me interested.

1. **** you for not believing that you could never be an astronomer, write a book, or direct a play. pisses me off tbh.
2. Out of curiosity, what is it that you like about Huck Finn the character? I don't think I ever finished the book now that I think about it.
3. Passion Pit
4. Altruism does exist. Not among human beings, but I do believe that ants and bee's are truly altruistic. Scratch that. People can be trained from a young age to be altruistic I believe. But yeah in general we do things for other people because it makes us feel good.
5. We must talk theology sometime.
6. I've always questioned if it would be gay to **** one's clone. I don't think it would be, just narcissistic. I personally don't find anything about the male figure attractive, but I would definitely **** myself.

Yal didn't even ask me good questions (xonar) when I did my interview way back when. Hot dam I want a redo.

Spoiler

-An individual may only be interviewed once per 27.4 years.

...

Spoiler

1. Let me rephrase. I COULD be an astronomer, but I don't believe that by doing so I would live comfortable life. Probably the best I could manage would be getting a job at a science museum.

2. I like Huck Finn for basically being a dynamic character. He's lived a **** life, but because of it he's very individualistic. For better or for worst, he lives by his own rules. This means that essentially he breaks the law several times, but it's pretty justified when the laws themselves where so immoral (making the book ahead of its time).

The number one thing I like about Huck though is the internal struggle he goes through when it comes to helping out this one slave escape. He's befriends a slave and is helping him escape to freedom, but he's been taught that doing so is stealing and thus a sin. One of the parts near the end of the story Huck is reflecting on this pretty hard. It's an eternal battle between what he believes to be right and what society has taught him to be right, and the way he expresses his conclusion is just spine tangling.

3. Yep.

4. Is that really altruism though? If you're a bee or an ant, you're just programmed to fight and die for your colony. Can we really say it's altruism if they don't have free will? Is it really altruism when they simply "programmed" that way?

I suppose people can be trained to be "good," (which I find questionable tbh), but is that altruism, or just conditioning?

5. Sure sure, anytime.

 

[#HBC | ZoZo]

also just saying but **** you for ignoring the other questions

 

[Raziek]

Good read.

Particularly enjoyed the Sword/Xonar fanfic and the Atheism bit.

Bravo!

 

[~ Gheb ~]

Btw, I decided to finally watch Pulp Fiction some weeks ago. Great movie. Loved the "ending".

 

[ranmaru]

Why am I orange? :D Just wondering what Orange means. lol

also more comments on this later as I have to drive my sis somewhere buh huh huh

 

[Shun Goku Satsu Rake]

Cool interview.

C is a great language

 

[Evil Eye]

>Extensive discussion of Monster

>Not one mention of Richard Braun

**** izzat ****

 

[BSL]

Lol'd when you said acrostic was the only one who knew science.

Thanks for giving up on astronomy, btw. Less competition

 

[ranmaru]

We'll know science after experiencing elements and attribooties

 

[#HBC | Red Ryu]

Who would your three picks be Swords?

 

[#HBC | Nabe]

Passion Pit? I'm pretty sure I couldn't name one of their songs if you asked me.


INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM

Pop on some passion pit, you'll never need any sort of drugs so long as you have them.

 

[#HBC | Nabe]

Ranmura

I'm glad we share this association.

Considering the persona that I hold on Dgames, I think this is a fitting theme.

Nope.


All sorts of great things going on in this interview. Much more intellectual than the others have been. Shots fired on recruitment mechanics, but I can forgive that in time.

 

[#HBC | Dancer]

Good read.

Was that Atlantic south game the one I hosted? I honestly forgot if that happened to mine. I just remember mine not really starting.

I'm not sure, but it's very possible. It took place like 4/5 years ago. Did your game happen that long ago? If so, then it's probably one in the same.

Why am I orange? :D Just wondering what Orange means. lol

also more comments on this later as I have to drive my sis somewhere buh huh huh

Orange to me is a combination of the "growing" qualities of green and the "passion" qualities of red. Yes I know that mixing red and green doesn't actually make orange (it makes brown), but that's just how I feel about it. Like, red's the "hottest" color and green's a cool color. Mixing the two you get a "warm" color (which is orange to me) which I think is applicable to you.

Btw, I decided to finally watch Pulp Fiction some weeks ago. Great movie. Loved the "ending".

I'm glad you liked it.

The ending was pretty swell indeed. Jules isn't one of my top 10 favorite characters for nothing.

 

[#HBC | Dancer]

Lol'd when you said acrostic was the only one who knew science.

Thanks for giving up on astronomy, btw. Less competition

If you truly want to be an astronomer, if that's truly your passion, then good for you. Just realize that one less drop in the ocean does not make it any less fierce.

Passion Pit? I'm pretty sure I couldn't name one of their songs if you asked me.


INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM

Oh, so Zen said that then? Huh, guess my memory is out of whack.

I'm glad we share this association.




Nope.


All sorts of great things going on in this interview. Much more intellectual than the others have been. Shots fired on recruitment mechanics, but I can forgive that in time.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly theme is a good pick to.

Also I told you that I was going to fire shots at your sets ups in the sign ups thread, and you wanted it. You shouldn't be surprised here.

 

[#HBC | Dancer]

Who would your three picks be Swords?

Th3kuzinator, July, and Acrostic.

I'm surprised no one has picked Kuzi before. Everyone agrees that he's one of the top 5 best players here, so why doesn't anyone want to interview him? Is it because he's inactive? If so, that's understandable, but it's still weird that no one has picked him at this point.

July for being an incredibly solid player. Also, she's a girl. That's a totally legit reason to want to interview her, right?

Acrostic for being just an incredibly knowledgeable, opinionated, and funny guy. Everyone could learn something from him, even if it's not mafia related.

Was thinking about putting Kary up again, but I'm pretty sure he'll get his turn soon enough. Acro needs the exposure more imo.

If Kuzi isn't a legit pick due to his inactivity then go on and replace him with Kary Xonar.

 

[#HBC | ZoZo]

Ill let Kuzi get interviewed if he responds to this thread before monday.

Pulp Fiction was nice.

 

[Circus]

Glad to see that TMNT question has legs of its own now.