Q&A The AMAs are back baby! Starring Scoliosis Jones

[staindgrey]

Scoliosis Jones
​

Hey everyone, we're back! I'll be handling our semiweekly AMAs now. If you're curious about if you're on the list of future AMAs or wish to be added, refer to this post over in the Social thread.

This AMA's subject is the Social thread's resident essay writer (and grader) who's recently found a spot on the Smashboard Writing Team, Scoliosis Jones. As always, all site rules are in effect. Please try and limit yourself to one post containing up to three questions until Scoliosis Jones has answered, then you may ask more. And when asking questions, please keep it civil. Have fun!

Whenever you're ready, Scoliosis Jones .


Here's mine:

Captain America with the beard or without the beard, and why?
What is the most heartwarming thing you've seen your students do in your time teaching?
Waffles or pancakes?

 

[Gentlepanda]

1. why scoliosis?
2. what got you into teaching?
3. do you talk with your students about your love for smash/nintendo/etc, or do you mostly leave it as a private thing?

 

[Sari]

What is the hardest part about being a teacher?

 

[Dyllybirdy]

1. How tough is teaching?
2. How do you pronounce the word potato?
3. Butter or jam?

 

[SnakeFighter64]

1. What is your Final Fantasy of choice?
2. What is your pie in the sky, never gonna happen Smash character request?
3. Which crossover between two different game series are you absolutely diying for?

 

[Scoliosis Jones]

Scoliosis Jones
​

Hey everyone, we're back! I'll be handling our semiweekly AMAs now. If you're curious about if you're on the list of future AMAs or wish to be added, refer to this post over in the Social thread.

This AMA's subject is the Social thread's resident essay writer (and grader) who's recently found a spot on the Smashboard Writing Team, Scoliosis Jones. As always, all site rules are in effect. Please try and limit yourself to one post containing up to three questions until Scoliosis Jones has answered, then you may ask more. And when asking questions, please keep it civil. Have fun!

Whenever you're ready, Scoliosis Jones .


Here's mine:

Captain America with the beard or without the beard, and why?
What is the most heartwarming thing you've seen your students do in your time teaching?
Waffles or pancakes?

With the beard. Because beards amplify the power of someone by at least 69.420x.

The most heartwarming thing a student has done is gift me things for Christmas last year. But in terms of their classwork, seeing students grow throughout the year, and three of them presenting at Buff State each year is the coolest. I would have never done that when I was their age. They’re awesome!

Pancakes. **** yeah.

1. why scoliosis?
2. what got you into teaching?
3. do you talk with your students about your love for smash/nintendo/etc, or do you mostly leave it as a private thing?

I often ask the same question. But honestly, genetics, most likely.

My grandparents were both teachers, and my grandmother specifically taught English. I enjoy reading and writing as well.

When it’s appropriate, of course. One of my ice breaker activities was 2 truths and 1 lie, and one of them was that I caught one of every Pokémon. They were completely bamboozled.

What is the hardest part about being a teacher?

Realizing that you can’t change the outlook of the life of every student, or that you can’t necessarily help them when you really want to. Some students have had really heartbreaking stories, and knowing I can’t do anything aside from being a role model for them can be heart breaking in itself.

1. How tough is teaching?
2. How do you pronounce the word potato?
3. Butter or jam?

It really comes down to what aspect. Lesson planning is stupid, but meeting and learning from a whole lot of different kids is one of the my favorite things about it.

That’s easy. “Potate”.

I usually am a degenerate and I put both on my toast.

 

[staindgrey]

Can you walk us through the process of writing your article on the front page? It's a really impressive read, and I think it'd be cool if people knew how you do these analyses and write them out.

Writing is hard, yo.

 

[Scoliosis Jones]

1. What is your Final Fantasy of choice?
2. What is your pie in the sky, never gonna happen Smash character request?
3. Which crossover between two different game series are you absolutely diying for?

Hm. Well, i’ve played FF7, FF10, and FF15. Those are the only three i’ve played despite having a good amount of interest in expanding that amount.

In order, i’d say the same way I posted them. 7 and 10 are just...fantastic. I really liked 15 as well, but it just didn’t have the same feel as the first 2.

That second question is...harder than I thought it would be. I’m overly realistic with my character wants because I don’t want my hopes to get the better of me. I might have to sit on that and quote you again at some point. Man, that’s tough.

Maybe Sephiroth?

Smash Bros x Resident Evil

Can you walk us through the process of writing your article on the front page? It's a really impressive read, and I think it'd be cool if people knew how you do these analyses and write them out.

Writing is hard, yo.

Sure!

To be honest, I hardly ever draft my comments in the social thread for example. I straight up type it, hit send, and then just see what happens. That’s typically why there are sometimes typos.

When it came to the article on the front page, I really wanted it to touch on stuff i’d been thinking about. I’ve always loved Smash, and while I love playing it without a doubt, talking about character possibilities is also one of my favorite things.

My original draft for that piece was, like, 2000 words. The editors helped me trim it down to what it is now, and I think it’s better for it. The editors really are wonderful. I get wordy, but they directed me in a way to make it less fluff, and straight to the point.

The thing with writing is that everybody has their own style. It’s also dependent on audience. You have to know who you’re writing for, but also know yourself as a writer.

Even as a teacher, it pains me that I have to teach kids of all sorts how to write the same damn essay just to prepare for the state exam at the end of the year. Every person is different. Some use big words, some are painfully detailed, others get straight to the point.

But if you get a style that works for you, and shows, not tells, the reader what you’re trying to say...it’s much more fun to read.

It’s also both a blessing and a curse that my brain never really shuts off, mainly because i’m a teacher. I always am thinking about what I can do in a lesson, or what skills the students need to succeed, or even what i’m going to do when I get home, etc... But that usually also contributes to thinking about my hobbies. Smash is my favorite game after all, so of course I think of all these ideas.

 

[Deleted member]

Might as well since feels empty.

How long do you take to write one of your regular posts with multiple paragraphs?
Has one of your students pranked you before?
Any game series that you havent tried but want to try?

 

[ZephyrZ]

1) Charmander, Bulbasaur, or Squirtle?

2) Do you have a Hogwarts house and if so, which house are you? You kind of strike me as a Hufflepuff, but I've been wring before.

3) What was your first Nintendo or Smash-related game? By Smash-related I mean games with representation in Smash, like Mega Man or Metal Gear.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

1) Falcon Hammer Stroke or Falcon Dive?
2) You ever played Quest 64?(Mandatory, I know)
3) What is the average air speed velocity of a laden swallow?

 

[Scoliosis Jones]

Might as well since feels empty.

How long do you take to write one of your regular posts with multiple paragraphs?
Has one of your students pranked you before?
Any game series that you havent tried but want to try?

Usually not too long. It depends on how distinguished I want to look. But really, we’re talking about video games, and I feel comfortable enough to be “casual” around you guys.

I mean i’ve had the occasional student dab on me before, but that’s...also because I had already dabbed on them.

Ace Attorney. I wanted to play Devil May Cry, so I actually just started playing the collection. I’ve been grinding Capcom games hard, so I may go all in on Ace Attorney once I get through Devil May Cry.

1) Charmander, Bulbasaur, or Squirtle?

2) Do you have a Hogwarts house and if so, which house are you? You kind of strike me as a Hufflepuff, but I've been wring before.

3) What was your first Nintendo or Smash-related game? By Smash-related I mean games with representation in Smash, like Mega Man or Metal Gear.

Charmander, although I will admit that Bulbasaur is effectively the best one. I’ve always loved the Squirtle line though. They’re all great.

Scratch that, Pikachu.

Actually, Pottermore ranked me as a Slytherin. I couldn’t believe it, but it is what it is. My girlfriend is a Ravenclaw.

My first ever game was basically Spider-Man, X-Men, or TMNT on SEGA Genesis because I was prescribed video games for hand-eye coordination training. Fun fact!

My first ever Nintendo game I think was either Mario 64 or Mario Party 1. However, I believe my first series played that would end up relating to Smash was Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

But yeah, then Mario pretty much took over my life.

Another fun fact, i’ve played every series with playable character in Smash, except for Wii Fit, Duck Hunt, and R.O.B. Well, and Dragon Quest If Erdrick is a thing.

1) Falcon Hammer Stroke or Falcon Dive?
2) You ever played Quest 64?(Mandatory, I know)
3) What is the average air speed velocity of a laden swallow?

I’m gonna go for the c-c-c-combo and go for the Falcon Hammer Dive Stroke.

I have not, but I would assume it’s a great game going by your tastes!

The average air speed velocity of a laden swallow is...the average air speed of a laden swallow.

My brain just exploded.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

1) What is your Quest?
2) What is your favorite color?
3) What kind of RPG's do you like?

 

[King Sonnn DeDeDoo]

1. What advice would you give to someone going into teaching?

2. You get to include an extra Echo fighter for Smash DLC, who would it be?

3. Besides Cap, who’s your favorite superhero or supervillian?

 

[Scoliosis Jones]

1) What is your Quest?
2) What is your favorite color?
3) What kind of RPG's do you like?

1) My quest?
I want to be the very best,
Like no one ever was.
To catch them is my real test,
To train them is my cause!
(I will travel across the land,
Searching far and wide.
Each Pokemon to understand
The power that's inside!)
Pokemon!
Gotta catch em' all!
It's you and me,
I know it's my destiny!
Pokemon!
Oh, you're my best friend,
In a world we must defend!
Pokemon!
Gotta catch em' all!
(A heart so true,
Our courage will pull us through!)
You teach me and I'll teach you,
Po-ke-mon!
Gotta catch em' all!
Gotta catch em' all!
Every challenge along the way,
With courage I will face!
I will battle every day,
To claim my rightful place!
Come with me, the time is right,
There's no better team!
Arm in arm, we'll win the fight,
It's always been our dream!
Pokemon!
Gotta catch em' all!
It's you and me,
I know it's my destiny!
Pokemon!
Oh, you're my best friend,
In a world we must defend!
Pokemon!
Gotta catch em' all!
(A heart so true,
Our courage will pull us through!)
You teach me and I'll teach you,
Po-ke-mon!
Gotta catch em' all!
Gotta catch em' all!
Gotta catch em' all!
Gotta catch em' all!
Gotta catch em' all!
Pokemon!
Gotta catch em' all!
It's you and me,
I know it's my destiny!
Pokemon!
Oh, you're my best friend,
In a world we must defend!
Pokemon!
Gotta catch em' all!
(A heart so true,
Our courage will pull us through!)
You teach me and I'll teach you,
Po-ke-mon!
Gotta catch em' all!
Gotta catch em' all!
Po-ke-mon!

2) My favorite color has always been blue, but recently I've really taken a liking to the combination of purple and black.

3) Hm. With RPGs, I'm finding that JRPGs have really been my thing lately, but as long as the story is engaging and the gameplay isn't monotonous, I can get into it!

1. What advice would you give to someone going into teaching?

2. You get to include an extra Echo fighter for Smash DLC, who would it be?

3. Besides Cap, who’s your favorite superhero or supervillian?

1) My advice would be to always keep your head up. Teaching isn't an easy job for a variety of reasons, and unfortunately society doesn't always value teaching the way that, personally, I think it should.

I'd also say to always think of new, creative, ways to make learning fun for the students AND the teacher!

2) Oh man, my lucky day!

Eliwood as a Roy echo .

No, but for real? I think I'd include Leon or Jill as an echo of the opposite. I'd get both Resident Evil picks into Smash and be done with it. If it wasn't for a DLC pick, but rather for a pick already in Smash, I'd say Shadow as an echo of Sonic.

3) Spider-Man and the X-Men, and it's not really close except for maybe Batman. Spider-Man is just amazing (no pun intended). Then with the X-Men, I always really liked Gambit and Nightcrawler. Their powers were always so cool to me.

Only recently have I gotten to liking Wolverine. His powers...I don't even know if I'd want them.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

1) My quest?
I want to be the very best,
Like no one ever was.
To catch them is my real test,
To train them is my cause!
(I will travel across the land,
Searching far and wide.
Each Pokemon to understand
The power that's inside!)
Pokemon!
Gotta catch em' all!
It's you and me,
I know it's my destiny!
Pokemon!
Oh, you're my best friend,
In a world we must defend!
Pokemon!
Gotta catch em' all!
(A heart so true,
Our courage will pull us through!)
You teach me and I'll teach you,
Po-ke-mon!
Gotta catch em' all!
Gotta catch em' all!
Every challenge along the way,
With courage I will face!
I will battle every day,
To claim my rightful place!
Come with me, the time is right,
There's no better team!
Arm in arm, we'll win the fight,
It's always been our dream!
Pokemon!
Gotta catch em' all!
It's you and me,
I know it's my destiny!
Pokemon!
Oh, you're my best friend,
In a world we must defend!
Pokemon!
Gotta catch em' all!
(A heart so true,
Our courage will pull us through!)
You teach me and I'll teach you,
Po-ke-mon!
Gotta catch em' all!
Gotta catch em' all!
Gotta catch em' all!
Gotta catch em' all!
Gotta catch em' all!
Pokemon!
Gotta catch em' all!
It's you and me,
I know it's my destiny!
Pokemon!
Oh, you're my best friend,
In a world we must defend!
Pokemon!
Gotta catch em' all!
(A heart so true,
Our courage will pull us through!)
You teach me and I'll teach you,
Po-ke-mon!
Gotta catch em' all!
Gotta catch em' all!
Po-ke-mon!

2) My favorite color has always been blue, but recently I've really taken a liking to the combination of purple and black.

3) Hm. With RPGs, I'm finding that JRPGs have really been my thing lately, but as long as the story is engaging and the gameplay isn't monotonous, I can get into it!

Heh, nice. Also, I merged a few posts and soft-deleted the post you didn't use.

Blues, blacks, and purples are nice~

Okay, I can safely say Quest 64 isn't for you. It has no real story, and the gameplay is very repetitive. It's unique as hell, sure. But it's more or less the same thing. Basically it's a hack and slash in turn-based form(as an analogy. It has no hack and slash elements). You could potentially watch a video of a LP to get the gameplay down, but it does shine in being basically Dragon Warrior 1 in 3D where you can dodge spells, move around in true 3D movement(unless you plan to jump), and cast a wide variety of Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water spells. The other thing of note is the C-Buttons are used really well here, in probably one of the most innovative ways. Besides that, stats go up otherwise like FFII, with Defense going up by taking hits, and other similar style things. You can't hurt yourself due to having one character, though, so that's not a way to build your stats. However, it does have a special variety in leveling up your "core" levels. Every element can get up to 50, and you can only do so by gaining spirits by winning battles or finding floating wisps on the ground(it's like a rare candy, but it's not as rare, and it doesn't affect your other experience levels. It's a requirement for max). So it's a grindfest. It's totally a JRPG with a very simple plot ala Dragon Warrior 1. You just save your dad instead. The Gameboy remake has a better story, but same gameplay issues.

 

[Venus of the Desert Bloom]

1) What is the average airspeed velocity of a laden swallow?
2) You only have a knife and a pocket full of lint and a rabid T-Rex equipped with Thanos Lasers is charging right at you with an unladen swallow’s airspeed velocity. Which one do you choose to counter the beast? Take care as one will transform it into a Super T-Rex while the other will OHKO it due to allergies.
3) Have you ever thought about teaching English in a foreign country?

 

[Wunderwaft]

1) What's your favorite boss battle in a video game?
2) What's the hardest video game you've ever played?
3) What was the most shocking Smash reveal for you?

 

[Noipoi]

Howdy!

1. Favorite Disney movie?
2. You are tasked with making an animated series, what’s the plot?
3. Cats, Dogs, or Chicken Ninjas?

 

[Deleted member]

1. What's your favorite video game?
2. What's your favorite MCU movie?
3. How likely do you think an RE character is as DLC for Smash?

 

[osby]

1. Is there something you don't like but respect?
2. Novels or short stories?
3. What is your favorite flower?

 

[Scoliosis Jones]

1) What is the average airspeed velocity of a laden swallow?
2) You only have a knife and a pocket full of lint and a rabid T-Rex equipped with Thanos Lasers is charging right at you with an unladen swallow’s airspeed velocity. Which one do you choose to counter the beast? Take care as one will transform it into a Super T-Rex while the other will OHKO it due to allergies.
3) Have you ever thought about teaching English in a foreign country?

1) W-wait, isn’t the average air speed of a laden swallow basically similar to the average air speed of a laden swallow?

2) I counter with my Down B Knife counter!

3) I have! One of my colleagues at Buff State has actually made a career out of it.

I don’t think I ever will teach abroad, but I think it’s such a cool thing that educators can do.

1) What's your favorite boss battle in a video game?
2) What's the hardest video game you've ever played?
3) What was the most shocking Smash reveal for you?

1) Hm. I mean the ones that I remember so fondly are typically the classics. Mario 64 vs. Bowser, OoT vs. Ganondorf, vs. several different Pokémon League champs.

It’s hard for me to narrow it down, so I may have to come back to this one.

2) Hardest video game...idk that any one game has been overly hard, but particular achievements in them for sure. Like for Brawl, beating boss rush on intense was awful. I basically spammed Rock Smash as Charizard and SOMEHOW finally beat it without dying. That was one of my best accomplishments without question.

I guess if I had to say “hardest game”, I would maybe off the top of my head say Rondo of Blood. But if I play another Castlevania i’d probably find a harder one.

3) Cloud. I was too young when Snake was revealed to understand why that was a big deal, and Sonic was my absolute most wanted so I wasn’t surprised. Mega Man and Pac-Man were super obvious, Ryu is a gaming icon, but Cloud was honestly one I never thought would happen. I wasn’t huge into Final Fantasy at the time, but my friends were hardcore about FF7 specifically.

I called my friends and was like, “ BRUH CLOUD IS IN SMASH WHAT THE ****”. I still get chills when I watch that reveal.

Howdy!

1. Favorite Disney movie?
2. You are tasked with making an animated series, what’s the plot?
3. Cats, Dogs, or Chicken Ninjas?

1) The Lion King, i’d say. Or Toy Story.

2) Hm. If I made an animated series it would probably be some sort of superhero series but with high school kids that have to deal with being high school kids.

Probably like Persona 5-lite, but more Americanized.

3) Dogs. Chickens smell bad and...I can’t imagine they would be good ninjas.

1. What's your favorite video game?
2. What's your favorite MCU movie?
3. How likely do you think an RE character is as DLC for Smash?

1) While i’ve had a lot of favorites over the years, i’d say probably Smash Ultimate.

2) Iron Man is probably the best one, but Spider Man has always been my favorite. Despite that, I feel like my favorite is...wow that’s actually tough to come up with.

I’ll go with the original Avengers movie just because it was awesome in general.

3) I’d like to think real likely, and I think there are plenty of reason to go for it, but I really don’t know for sure. I think it depends on if Sakurai sees something unique in the characters. If he doesn’t, then I could see he series getting Mii Fighter costumes for Jill, Chris, and Leon.

That would probably make me sad.

1. Is there something you don't like but respect?
2. Novels or short stories?
3. What is your favorite flower?

1) Hm...I guess I would say when people flaunt things they own. Like, I can respect that people have done things in their lives to be able to get things they’re proud of, but sometimes people take it too far and are just kinda...annoying about it. I respect they can do it, but don’t like if they’re braggarts about it.

2) Really depends on the writing. If a novel is bad writing, it suuuuuuucks. I mean, both would. But there’s value in both of them, so i’ll take the “English teacher” answer “all of the above”!

3) Now, that is something i’ve ironically only recently thought about.

I mean roses are lovely, but I would probably say like a tulip, or daffodils. I honestly just like colorful combinations of them.

When I worked at a grocery store prior to becoming a teacher, I was able to just stare at the floral department and feel this indescribable sense of happiness just from seeing all the colors. It was great.

 

[KarneraMythos]

1. What naturally-occurring resource (aside from the ones our bodies can already process) would you want to make into an infinite supply of?

2. Suppose you are offered a new skill-set of your choice. You gain it after taking up a different career profession (with borrowed knowledge, but you lose that knowledge at the end of the year).

If you complete this gambit, you earn this new skill-set, which counts as a degree for a different career path that's unrelated to teaching.

So for example, you can temporarily make yourself into a football coach, then suddenly gain an intricate understanding of computer science once you are done. Would you go through this entire process if it meant being efficient in a second career?

3. Would you go back in the past and live up to this very moment if it meant getting every event correct to be seen as a fortune-telling god?