This isn't "the" essay but more of a precursor. The truth of the matter is that I haven't written an essay like this for Smash since the Brawl days and it brings back painful memories. I used to be a lot like
@EricTheGamerman . I used to be able to write paragraph after paragraph and debate 4 or 5 people at once and I even established a "three day rule" where I wouldn't carry on a debate for longer than three days for the sake of "courtesy." It's too real some days (we even share the same name for God's sake) and I find myself having to walk away for a few hours. Obviously I don't really write tomes anymore. There's definitely a value in being succinct but it digs up too much of the past. In the days following Brawl's final reveals, I very strongly debated deleting my posts and asking an admin to close my account. The shame and embarrassment was more than palpable. I had spent 2 1/2 years pushing the Geno campaign only to feel like I had let everyone down...
It still amazes me how many people from the Brawl days still have a presence in this thread.
@KCCHIEFS27 ,
PsychoIncarnate
,
@ctt4lfecw ,
@TBone06 ,
@Foz , Xigger, etc. Beyond that, you have people like
@TerminalMontage ,
kiteinthesky
,
@SSGuy and
@papagenos who I've known to some degree since the Smash 4 days. Nowadays you have Xigger,
@Ovaltine , and
@Slender being the main driving forces behind Operation: Star Fall. There's so much dedication and the fact that I've known some of these guys since 2005 is really humbling. 14 1/2 years! That's longer than if we had met on the playground in Kindergarten and shook hands and went to different colleges following our high school graduation! It's nuts but it gives me comfort in how important this is to so many people.
I've already explained this but obviously Geno and SMRPG are very important to me. It goes way beyond just getting a character in Smash and ultimately (pun intended) has to do with immortalizing a game and a character that had such a positive impact on me. Smash Bros is not only the Nintendo Hall of Fame but has turned into the Gaming Hall of Fame too. For what Geno and SMRPG did for 8 year old me and many, many others, I believe it deserves this honor and that's never changed. It was my driving force during Brawl, the reason my hope for Geno in Smash 4 never fully extinguished, and why I came back with such force and bravado with Ultimate. So, while I try to navigate my own insecurities and past hurt, I'd like to thank you all for being so supportive and I'll try to get the essay out when I can.