Claire

I love that vid, definitely a classic. I thought I wouldn't laugh because I've seen it plenty of times before but it still got me! I have so many favorite videos I gotta really think about which one to share... Let's try this one: https://youtu.be/O0cAx1jLbJk

I missed the whole thing but I was rooting for the Cubs the whole time. I'm a Rays fan, so I'm very familiar with the Cubs manager Joe Maddon. He took us to the World Series in 2008 and when I learned he was going to the Cubs I just KNEW he was going to help them break the curse.

I think about OB every now and then. A decade ago, it was my favorite place on the internet. It's kind of strange to see so many familiar names in this thread. I didn't know Desbreko personally. He invited me to join the OB staff when I was 14 years old. I remember being so excited and telling everyone I knew that I was going to be a moderator. I think my name on here was Amelia back then. To his friend and and family, I'm sorry for your loss. Des helped me grow here on OB and I'll always fondly remember the time I spent here.

  I think what actually happened is that the series was supposed to be a single book long, and then before it finished airing Nick ordered two more seasons. Honestly there was so much corporate meddling involved with the production of Korra that it's kind of impressive how good it ended up being. After a few episodes of book 3 leaked the network took it off the air altogether and only released the remaining episodes online. Since production on book 4 was already underway they opted not to outright cancel it and continued the online streaming until nearly the end of the series, and they actually cut the budget before it was done.    So really you could easily blame most of the writing flaws on all that malarkey.   It makes sense for Bryke to want a break from the Avatar world, especially after all the nonsense Nick put them through, but since there's such a huge following I think they could easily find a different network to fund a future Avatar series. I think some fans have been soliciting Amazon, maybe even Netflix would want to get in on it. But I know the creators don't have plans to write a new Avatar story anytime soon. Nick is probably sitting on that IP anyway.

Omg. The finale almost killed me. I woke up that day to CRAZY HUBBUB on tumblr so I basically had THE BIG THING spoiled for me before I watched the episode, but I was still really excited to see exactly what happened. And I still ended up crumpled on the floor practically weeping with joy.    I have never been especially impressed with the storytelling throughout Korra, and the final season definitely wrapped everything up too hastily, BUT I don't watch Korra for its writing. I watch it for the strong, diverse, multi-faceted female characters and the incredibly animated ass-kickings they dole out. Korra has got to be one of my favorite cartoon characters of all time, and as evil as Kuvira turned out I can't help but admire her.   [spoiler]And Korrasami was just about the best thing that ever happened to me and I am not kidding not even a little bit.[/spoiler]

This girl I really like bought me chocolate, video games, and special bath stuff, so we're gonna spend some quality time in the tub playing the new Monster Hunter.   [spoiler]THE GIRL I REALLY LIKE IS MEEEEEEEEEEEEE[/spoiler]

I'm all about frozen foods. If I can throw it in the microwave for a minute and at least have something that doesn't taste like hot garbage, I'm set. There are some really good Lean Cuisines; mushroom mezzaluna ravioli, french bread pizza. Lean Pockets are okay. I used to eat those Amy's burritos a lot too.    for healthier frozen options I have Green Giant steamers. right now my favorite is brussels sprouts but the honey carrots are also quite good.    there is one non-frozen thing I can think of that's still super easy to make. you need a single serving cup of instant rice, a can of lentil soup, and a sweet potato (you can microwave those). all it needs is some curry powder. it's absurdly filling and has a good mix of flavors. it takes less than ten minutes altogether and you don't even have to pay any attention to it because it's being microwaved. IDEAL.

I pretty much only browse YouTube when I'm really bored or to look for absurd videos with my friends. I like Kim and Hannah of the Yogscast, mostly when they play horror games together. I also like Achievement Hunter's Go and Versus series, but I never really bother with the actual gameplay videos. Actually, most of what I do watch consistently on YouTube is video game content. I'm playing around with running my own channel but I've got too many things going on to give it much effort.   One of my favorite series is Beer and Board Games, which is exactly what it sounds like. Some folks get drunk and play board games, and they are hilarious. My favorite episode is Nightmare III.    As for the kinds of videos I find funny, let me just say this: you can stop at five or six stores, or just one.

  I picked up XIII a few months ago during an Xbox binge, despite never before finishing a Final Fantasy game. Once I survived the first hour or so it really clicked for me and I got a little addicted. I looooove Lightning, we have the same first name. And Fang and Vanille KILL ME. I'm scared to finish the game because I keep having dreams that something horrible happens to them and my big gay heart can't take it. Also for some reason everything on Gran Pulse just vaporizes me and I can barely get anything done. I actually haven't touched the game since before Christmas...and I've had to get a new Xbox/HDD since then, whoops.   Other than that, I haven't been playing games very much lately. Still check up on ACNL every now and then. My friends and I like to play a couple rounds of The Yawgh sometimes. That's about it. 

Too many times I will have an amazing idea for a video game and just no chance of ever being able to play it because I don't have magic powers and no one is going to make the game for me.    Right now I'm dreaming about a Madoka Magica RPG. I know there are a couple Japanese games but I have no way to play or enjoy them. This Madoka game would probably be a lot like Final Fantasy as far as the battle system goes, since the skills and powers of the magical girls have such aesthetic potential. The anime also offers a pretty good gameplay idea in that you go around killing witches. There could be a custom character option where you build your own magical girl, and a co-op mode where you hunt witches with friends. I would pay good money to play a game like this.   There's also the Skyrim-Pokemon fusion idea that a lot of people drool over. It would pretty much be an open world, massively multiplayer Pokemon game, featuring every region and every Pokemon. I think that would be really cool on the Wii U, or even the 3DS.    Similarly, I think a Legend of Zelda mmo would be fun. No idea what kind of stuff you would do since Zelda has always been so singular in its gameplay, but there is enough lore and stuff to make an mmo fun.    Finally, I recently sank several days into the latest Tomb Raider and got the idea for a kind of hunting game. I've never played hunting games before so I'm not sure how similar this idea would be to them, but essentially you'd play a survivalist (like Lara Croft) hunting monsters in various locations. It might be a little bit like Monster Hunter but with guns--maybe 1st person optional. You'd have to collect resources like food, water, sticks, furs, etc., and utilize them to get by in the wilderness, and you could sell your haul in a town. It would probably be the most fun as an mmo, as well, but I feel like I would enjoy spending time playing by myself.

I haven't been to a concert in so long. I've actually performed in more concerts this year than I've been an audience member. Did I even go to any shows at all this year? I honestly can't remember.   WAIT I LIED, I literally just saw Trans-Siberian Orchestra the other night. Tenth year in a row going to their concert! Skipped two of my own performances to make it. WORTH IT.   There are tons of venues around here, including four or five arenas, several performing arts centers, and a handful of bars and clubs. I prefer going to smaller venues but it's rare that I feel like paying $10 and trying to down a PBR to enjoy someone I've probably never heard before (even though there's a 90% chance I will enjoy it no matter what).    I just bought tickets to see Neutral Milk Hotel a bridge over in May and I am stoked about that. Loved them since I was a freshman in college, and I figured with how elusive they are I'd never get a chance to see them play. I might also go see Kevin Devine when he plays near my city in February because one of my favorite musicians, Laura Stevenson, is opening for him. 

From my own personal experience, it can be hard to grow to like a place that already feels well-established. I've tried to become active on various forums and just couldn't find a way in because the posters seemed so tight knit already. It's already been mentioned that new members should be the focus for this comeback attempt. Perhaps we should see a consolidation of nostalgia threads, of which there are four or five in the midst of the General Discussion threads. It's always nice for veterans to have a place to reflect on old times, but I don't think there needs to be more than one thread for that kind of thing. Maybe one sticky? Maybe even none?   Of course there won't be any sort of activity by new folks if there aren't any new folks. I don't have many ideas for getting people over here, other than what's already been mentioned or things that just aren't possible for such a small forum to accomplish. There needs to be a big draw to the community, something people get here that they won't get elsewhere. I can't think of what that might be.   When I think of forums nowadays, I pretty much only think of reddit. It could be possible to advertise over there, especially on /r/anime or whatever, but it would have to be in a way that's not just "hey come to this forum we need blood." Maybe an event with a nice prize? Something to get people engaged, something with the promise of a good return. We used to have so many events here, from art and writing contests to general game threads and stuff like that. I was never good at running those, though, and who knows if the old gamemasters even have the time or patience anymore. Worth a shot? 

  That is absolutely brilliant. I might have to start doing that, even though my family doesn't really have that kind of sense of humor.

  I neglected to take any good photos of my Halloween costume so have this potato.

Hey OB! It's been a while. I thought I'd try to stir up some conversation with a nice timely topic.   As of today we are less than six weeks away from Christmas, but there's a lot that goes on in the time leading up to it. How do you spend your holiday time? Where are you spending your Thanksgiving? Are there activities you do every year? Do you travel to see family? If you don't celebrate Christmas, what kinds of winter holiday stuff do you do?    My family doesn't have too many traditions. Since my grandparents moved to an assisted living place we've had to move our Thanksgiving dinner to my aunt's house, which is pretty different than what I've been doing my whole life but it's still pretty nice. Most members of my dad's side of the family will be there and I intend to eat myself into a coma so I don't have to put up with our differences for too long.   I'm especially geared up for Christmas, though. My family will pick up a tree day or two after Thanksgiving but we don't really make a big deal out of decorating it. Last year we bought a real tree to replace our old synthetic one, so I think we'll do that again. I'm going to start working on my Christmas wishlist today--I always put together a nice sleek presentation, it's kind of silly. The only problem is there isn't anything I especially want, other than a new laptop (which is too expensive to ask for, anyway), so I'll have to really brainstorm. I've already bought gifts for some of my friends and I'm really excited to wrap them up.   The only thing I'd really consider a Christmas tradition is that my dad and I go see Trans-Siberian Orchestra every year. We've been doing it since I was in ninth grade, and this is the tenth year in a row that we're going to the concert. If you have the chance to see TSO, I highly recommend you do it! They combine Christmas, classical, and metal and put on this unbelievable light show. I'm getting chills just thinking about it.   So, let's get talking! Tell us about your holidays!

Finished Alien: Isolation with a friend a few weeks ago. Inspired me to dress as Amanda Ripley for Halloween. We're gonna play the DLC as soon as he gets it but right now we're trudging through The Evil Within, which isn't really as fun as Alien but is certainly pretty unsettling.   Also attempting a Wonderlocke playthrough of Pokemon Y. I've had to restart a couple times already and my current roster is pretty meh so I'm not sure how it's going to go. I might not be able to finish it before ORAS comes out and I pick up Alpha Sapphire.

  Please! I stopped coming here so often right around the time that thing took off, just because I had no interest in sorting through such a massive, directionless thing to find a conversation. I would love to come back to an active board and I think encouraging lots of new threads will help.

Putting a lot of time into Animal Crossing: New Leaf lately. It's such a cute way to unwind or kill time. Right now I've gotta wait until tonight to pick it up again because of the game's real time clock and time-based events so I have no idea what to do with myself.   Trying to add some mods to Skyrim in the mean time...we'll see how that goes.

I can second these tidbits of advice. Not sure what part of the country you're going to be schooling yourself in, but down here in Florida (and I think lots of other places) we have this one really infamous evangelist named Brother Micah who always attracts masses of hecklers and something hilarious pretty much always happens when he and his wife are around. My first day of spring 2012 I witnessed a trans-guy strip down to his assless underwear and offer free kisses to everyone just to rile BM up. And I don't even go to a liberal arts school.   There's also a lot of free food and probably squirrels that do not fear humans. Do not toy with college campus squirrels.

I'd like to take the time to recommend that everyone watches Tommy Wiseau's masterpiece The Room. It literally change my life for the better.

I just found out I'm going to Toronto in July, which will be my first time leaving the country. I gotta figure out what to do while I'm there!

I've been so off and on with Pokemon. Last summer I got really into Black and started EV training a whole bunch of dudes and I would just play all hours of the day, and when I wasn't training I was working on the impossible Battle Subway with a friend. I way overdid it and got pretty burnt out. Then I bought SoulSilver and decided to just have fun with it, and now the team I have is probably my favorite ever (including a shiny Nidoking!!)   I was pretty addicted to Skyrim for a little while, too, but then I decided to leave my HDD at my friend's house so I can't play Xbox at all in favor of doing more productive things like reading. Except I haven't been reading and life is boring.   I need a cool new hobby cause whenever I'm not in school (which is most of the time since I'm a graduating senior ugh) I'm pretty bored and sad.

I like seeing new places and exploring, but because I'm a broke student the only trips I get to go on are with my family. Those are not fun. We recently drove to Blue Ridge, GA, to spend a few days in a cabin in the mountains. I loved the scenery and the weather but it didn't take me long to feel sad about being so far away from my friends. The day we drove back I had a 21st birthday party to go to, and though I live maybe 8 hours away from Blue Ridge it felt like we were on the road for a WEEK. There are few things I hate more than long car rides. I've never been anywhere interesting though. I don't even have a passport. I'd be happy to go on a big trip with friends and visit foreign countries but who knows when I'll have the funds for that.

Oh wow, that dual type cycle looks sweet. The inclusion of dark might make me actually pick the grass starter for once!   Of course, I'd have to actually acquire a 3DS first...that was a big reason I was thinking it was time to let Pokemon evolve without me. I guess if I can save up some money for it, it would be a good investment.