Penny Arcade Expo

Today is the three-year anniversary of my very first trip to PAX East. My first ever time at a Penny Arcade convention.

Penny Arcade Expo, for those of you unfamiliar, is a 3-4 day long video game festival that take place across 4 different locations, 3 in the US, and 1 in Australia.

Through these conventions, I've made so, so many friends. My life would not be what it is now without PAX.

As you may recall from my last post,  I first went to PAX in 2013 after a rough schooling experience that led to my being homeschooled. At that first weekend, I knew I had found something special. PAX wasn't just for video games, it was for the people, whose amounts of sheer passion and kindness were rivaled by none. These people quickly became the dominant reason for visiting these conventions.

My initial motivation for going to PAX, was to meet some of my YouTube idols, namely Chuggaaconroy and NintendoCapriSun. I was very young when I first attended PAX, but 3 years later I have a close circle of PAX friends who I look forward to seeing in those three days a year.

Within PAX, is the PAX Pokemon League, whom, again, you may remember from my last post. After challenging them in 2015, my circle of PAX friends finally took a more defined shape. PAX is for all video games, and I don't play ALL video games, but suddenly, through PPL's forums, I had upwards of 60 friends who all shared that same interest in Pokemon.

Now, my main motivation to go to these conventions stems from the people and the PPL. I love playing for the league and getting to roam the convention and see what it has to offer every year. The people I met at PAX shaped my life in so many ways. I've had people that helped with homework, who'd advise me on various life experiences, as most of my PAX friends can be upwards of 10 years older than I am - it doesn't matter though! The beauty of PAX is that you're valued as an individual no matter your age or appearance!

And now, the next PAX is a mere 30 days away.

Soon I'll see all my friends again, and get to truly embrace those magical three days.

Until then, I'd like to thank the Penny Arcade Expo, for giving me such an incredible second family, and my parents for facilitating these trips. My life has been made so much more special as a result.

-Audrey G

Pokemon 20

Bluefreeze here!

Tomorrow is February 27th, Pokemon’s 20th anniversary. The trend as of late seems to be posting about what the series means to you, and as someone who’s been majorly influenced by Pokemon, I figured it would be great subject matter for this blog.

I started playing Pokemon in September 2010 when I was 8 years old. I was immediately roped in by the sheer diversity of allies you could choose to fight on your behalf. At the time, there were only 493 pokemon, as Black and White had yet to be released. I started with Red Version, on my aunt’s old Gameboy. I played the first few minutes and loved it, but the Gameboy had to stay with my grandparents when the time came to leave - I had just gotten a DS though, and I knew I needed more Pokemon in my life.

Enter, Pokemon HeartGold.

Exactly how I came by my copy of this game is a story in and of itself. I was visiting my next-door neighbor one day, and I saw he had a copy of the game. Having just come back from my grandparents, I bargained with him to give it to me. Eventually, after making several Rupees from The Legend Of Zelda out of modeling clay, I won over the cartridge. I started up my first save file with a Totodile. My very first real Pokemon. The way it followed behind me was endlessly endearing, and I remember that being a huge part of my adventure - to get to watch the tiny Pokemon that you raised from level 5 eventually follow you around as a Feraligatr filled me with a strange sort of pride. Eventually, I bought a used version of Pokemon Platinum, but the save file had already been opened, and it was hacked. This fascinated me as well, and I spent a good part of 2 months breaking the game open and seeing all it had to offer off the beaten path.

Pokemon was everything. Plushies, games, a way to relate to my peers, and a way to make new friends. Indeed, without it I would definitely not be where I am today. Sadly though, I fell out of the loop. Game breaking is only fun for so long, and before I knew it I was off the bandwagon entirely. But then, in 2012, there was hope. Pokemon Black 2 version once again sparked the dormant passion I had for the games, and then in 2013, coming off of a rough schooling situation that threw my life off course as I knew it, I went to PAX for the first time and found the PAX Pokemon League (PPL). Once I saw the way they played, I knew there was more to the game. I learned about EVs and IVs, opened an account on Pokemon Showdown, an online battling simulator, and dove deeper into the game mechanics. In 2014, I went back to PAX and tried to challenge the PPL. I failed spectacularly, but by the time 2015 rolled around I was ready. I made my way into their hall of fame, and came back a mere 4 months later to play for them! PPL was and continues to be an extension of my family, and I’ve made some incredibly friends there, but I digress.

Pokemon has been my fallback in rough situations since then. I do it to make me feel happy, and it’s helped me meet incredible people. It’s much older than I am, but I like to think that the nature of the series is that anyone can love it, regardless of the amount of time they’ve spent with it. Tomorrow, Pokemon turns 20, and I’m so glad for this series that’s been able to encapsulate, pun intended, my heart for as long as I can remember.

-Audrey G

Snapchat: Selfies and Self-Image

Like many people as of late, I’ve fallen head-over-heels in love with Snapchat.

Snapchat, for those of you unfamiliar, is a mobile social media platform with two features, “snap” and “chat” -- who would have thought, right?

Snapping consists of taking photos with either your front or rear camera (or videos up to 10 seconds) and then choosing to put either filters or captions on said image (or video!) After you’re happy with your picture, you can send it off to whoever you like, but once they view your image, it disappears. Your other option when you take a photo, is to put in on your “story,” where all your contacts can see it. The story lasts 24 hours and can be viewed as many times as you want.

Chatting is...well, chatting. Similar to Facebook Messenger, except, you guessed it, the texts disappear as soon as they’re read.

Now that you’ve been given a brief rundown of how Snapchat works, here’s why I love it so much!

Reason Number 1 -- Productivity.

Shocking, that a social media application can inspire someone to be productive, right? Well, I think Hillel Fuld said it best in his post over on Medium (which, by the way, is excellent):

“I get a LOT done throughout the day. You see, I share my story on Snapchat. I give my followers a glimpse into my day. No planning, no posing, just snapping. Then, at the end of the day, I often watch my story and realize, wow, I sure did accomplish a lot today.”

This feeling of satisfaction after a day hard at work is motivation to work harder the next day, and eventually leads into a motivational cycle of sorts. You get work done and feel good about it.

Reason Number 2 -- Expression.

One of the biggest problems I run into on other platforms I use (Skype, Facebook, Twitter, etc) is that it’s hard to tell how the other person is feeling through text alone. Are they being genuine or sarcastic? Who knows? With Snapchat, you can see the other person’s face, or at the very least what they’re doing. On the other end, your mood can be reflected in a snap far better than it can be in a chat, on the platform or otherwise. Snapchat's many filters are great for road trips, as you can display where you are at any given moment, and with the ability to save your story, you can look back on those trips.

Reason Number 3 -- Body Image.

This is by far my favorite thing that’s come out of my usage of Snapchat. On average, my stories are about 15 photos long, and this is excluding the snaps I send to friends. Eventually, looking at your own face as much as I do makes you more comfortable with yourself. In addition, with the accessibility of messaging platforms this day in age, it’s so easy to hide behind your words when the other person can’t see your face. You take more responsibility for your words when they’re accompanied by a photo of yourself, in a way. Also, I find that more and more as I take pictures of myself, I really start to feel good about how I look, something I’ve struggled with for several years.

Snapchat is a unique platform, and I’d suggest to anyone to try it out -- you just might end up loving it as much as I do!

Thanks for reading the first post on this blog!

-Audrey G