Member Focus: Inoko.
Submitted by Gemini.

Hello all animeleague fans! This month we have a special treat for you... that's right. An exclusive with Inoko. For those of you who don't know who he is, I am sure you will eventually find out (He's one of those spar-tastic Momentum Moderators from the Roleplayer's Realm Section. - Ed, keeping the uninformed informed). Well enough small talk...read all about him.

1. How long have you been an active member of AL?

I'm not really sure. I joined around August 2003, if my memory serves me, and I believe it does. Anyways, I've been "active" in the Momentum section of AL since then, generally speaking. A few weeks here or there where I'm not. When Momentum moved to its own website (The Ill Fated www.momentumsparring.com debacle) I didn't really come here at all.

Essentially, I'm here for sparring, to ---- with the rest of it. I've delved in to a few other forums at times, but the latent inanity and idiocy always drive me off.

2. From your memories offhand, who were the first people you became friends with on AL?

Hmm... Well, I "came here" with a friend or two, and he introduced me to some fellows called the Brotherhood of the Watchful Dragon (Yes, Paladin's Guild. Surprised that I was once, a long time ago, a Member?) but... I really hated most of the people in it. I was a punk ass new sparrer, and I hated being told what to do. Especially when WolfDragonM or whatever his name is tried to give me some "Lessons" that I needed to follow. From a psychological point of view, I suppose you could say that experience is why I absolutely abhor training.

However, I digressed from the question. My first real "new" friend would probably be TRL, or TheRealLuthien, who sent me a PM saying, essentially: "Your new character is a Lich, wanna team up?" and things have snowballed since. That would be my first memorable meeting of anyone.

3. And who, in your opinion is the funniest person you have ever met on AL?

Funniest? I don't think I've ever laughed at any of the posts here, except in an insulting manner. Posts rarely make me laugh. On Instant Messengers, I suppose I've laughed a few times, but I generally don't find the people here to be funny. They try way too hard (ORLY? YARLY! ----ing 'net Fads piss me off. It's not funny. It never was.)

4. Alright moving on, how did you get involved with sparring?

Uhh, I came here for it. I was involved in the RP forum at a small board, and one of the people there linked me here.

5. And if you could choose anyone to spar, who would it be and why?

This is probably the hardest question on the entire thing. There are a lot of names that I could say that are just that: Names. People like The Baron, Benime, DecidingStrike. Love'm or Hate'm, they're Names.

However, I think I would have to pick DecidingStrike, even though I really do want my Rematch with The Baron. My reasoning is simple: I've sparred The Baron once, even if it wasn't a very good one, and Benime is washed up by now, at best. DecidingStrike though, is a legend for a reason. A damn good reason. And I wanna pit myself against that legend, one day.

6. Amen expressed the desire to spar against you...would you do it?

Yeah. He owes me a rematch anyways.

7. What fundamental change would you make to the sparring system if you could?

I'd repopulate it. That's all sparring is missing: people. Now, we could debate "why aren't people sparring?" but I refer you to the RP sections and their decline. RPing in general is fading, and I couldn't tell you why for the life of me. It's a question I've been fighting for over a year.

8.Alright, now for more personal questions. Name three colors you identify with.

Purple, Blue, Red, Black, White, Silver, Gold, Grey.

9. How would you describe yourself in a few words to people that have never met you?

Sarcastic, even caustically so. Straight-forward and doesn't bullshit. I'm a nice guy, but I don't waste my time on bullshit like being nice just because.

10. I have interviewed 7 of your friends, and I will list them here and I would like it if you could give up to five words to describe each person:

Matt Nada,
Hard working and (mostly) fair.

Amen,
Lazy slacker that's cool.

Bregan,
Emo, Screamo and possibly Cooking.

TRL,
Kinkos' best employee? Fight fight!

Jevex,
GOOOOOOTH! Kidding. Just loves black.

Avarice,
He's dutch and lazy.

Grahf,
He's not dutch. Go Ivan.

11. What is your favorite hobbie at the moment?

Hmm. I guess it's "doing nothing," or "playing games."

12. What do you plan on doing in the near future with your life?

Going to University and having a hell of a lot of fun.

13. If you could associate yourself with any character, who would it be and give a reason for your answer.

What kind of character? Pop. fiction? Sparring character? Historical?

I guess, as far as my own sparring characters go, I associate with them all. I won't bother to elaborate, 'cause anyone who can't see why needs to put the crackpipe down.

For a pop. fiction character, I guess Morpheus (AKA: The Sandman) from Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman," or "Shadow," from Neil Gaiman's "American Gods."

As for Historical, I leave it to other people.

14. Do you have a message for your "fans" out there?

I have fans? WTF? Get a better hobby.

* * * * *

As a surprise I interviewed some of his friends and this is what they had to say about him.

1. How long have you known Inoko?

Bregan: Pfft...six months or so? I can be bad with time.

Matt Nada: Two years now, close to exactly.

Jevex: A while… technically a long time, but we’ve only really known each other on a personal level for a few months.

Amen: Going on a year, I think. We only started really talking much more recently.

TRL: Hmm...I believe we met a little over a year ago now. Maybe more? 2 years? Yeah, 2 years.

Grahf: Two and a half years, maybe more?

Avarice: - Intimately? About three passionate nights. (I'd say three years, give or take.)

2. How did you first meet him?

Bregan: When MS had just moved back to AL, I fought against Ino, Matt, and TRL in Rome. I started talking to him before the fighting really got going.

Matt Nada: He popped up on AIM one day. He was sparring someone who played as a ninja that had a demon fox trapped and used the Sharingan Eye iin his battles. I renamed the topic "Inoko and TRL vs. The Cast of Naruto;" he liked it, I guess

Jevex: I don’t entirely recall. I believe it was more so around the time I teamed up with the Deathless Alliance in Australia.

Amen: The inter-forum sparring tournament. We were pitted against one another in the first round, but never honestly got to spar, as I got swamped with stuff early on. I still owe him another spar >>

TRL: I believe I was recruiting him to ally up with Rashael, as I was seeking out undead allies at the time on Momentum Sparring.
Grahf: He joined a guild which I lead in a tribunal, and become one of the more contributing members.

Avarice: - In a dank alley across from the subway station.

(I think he was around when Momentum moved to and I served briefly as one of its mods. I must have interacted with him in some way or other back then.)

3. What was the reason for becoming his friend?

Bregan: Because he's interesting, and we both <3 mac and cheese.

Matt Nada: He was around, got invited to the same chats as me, and we ended up working together alot.

Jevex: I need a reason to become someone’s friend? Well uh, we started talking because of sparring and being in similar groups… but uh, my reason for becoming his friend was probably because he continued to IM me.

Amen: He IMed me and proved to be a badass.

TRL: He was very intelligent and entertaining to talk to, was into sparring and writing, and seemed to think very highly of me as well.
Grahf: He was a cool guy. Well-spoken, smart, and succinct.

Avarice: - He was wearing butt-less chaps and I totally fancied the way he styled his ass-hair; it was all braided into a doormat saying 'welcome' and shit. I just couldn't resist.

4. Name five things you hate about him.

Bregan:
-Refuses to cut his hair.
-Can be a little curt (but, hey, that's fine by me)
-I can't make up songs about him in my head.
-Refuses to let me cook splattery dishes in a way that would blind me.
-Can't think of anything else.
-Yes.

Matt Nada: In some areas, he can be too critical of anything that differs from his opinion. He can be to critical of the people who have differing oppinions. He acts like he's honest and straightforward, but if you talk to him long enough you can start to see that he cares about his image at least to a degree. He holds grudges for a long time. He doesn't just badmouth things he dislikes, he'll often attack the people that like them.

Jevex:
- number one thing I hate about him is that I can’t come up with five things seriously.
- that he’s not responding to my stupid question right now.
- that he is powerless to conquer my hunger.
- he plays World of Warcraft.
- he has more time to waste than I do.

Amen: I couldn’t tell you one. Inoko rocks.

TRL: There is literally nothing I hate about 'noko.

Grahf: I don't really know his vices, but I'm sure if I hated five things about him, he wouldn't be my friend.

Avarice: - He is:

1) I
2) N
3) O
4) K
5) O

(Seriously, he can nitpick or be a little confrontational at times, but those aren't qualities worthy of being hated. oO)

5. What color do you associate with him and give a reason why.

Bregan: Silver, because because. Must just be his italics or something.

Matt Nada: Red for passion. Well, actually, I'd go with vermillion. We once had a discussion about it.

Jevex: … color? I do not like colors. But uh… a red like orange… given that’s the color his name shows up as in IMs.

Amen: White. I couldn’t tell you why.

TRL: Gray, as it is a fairly neutral color, but can easily lean to one side or another considering it's own balance.

Grahf: Wtf? Red, I guess. He comes off as angry sometimes.

Avarice: - Gray, because he can sound like a cynical, old fogey at times.

6. What is the funniest thing he has ever said at any stage.

Bregan: I could give you a quote, but I lack chat logs.

Matt Nada: Vash Riftwalker: If pally is in a position of any importance of greater height than negative six feet, your country is doomed.

Jevex: Get him angry at the large collection of idiots on AL, specifically something sparring related, and it’ll be hilarious no matter how many times it happens.

Amen: He makes me laugh, but I couldn’t pick out one thing funnier than the rest off the top of my head

TRL: I'd have to say his post in the Vega thread on the RR forum had me falling out of my chair.

Grahf: I dunno, I'm not usually on stages with him. =s But anyway, I really don't know. What am I supposed to do, log all my conversation with the guy?

Avarice: - That's a pretty in-depth question, there. However, seeing that I'm a psychic, I can safely say it was the one time in kindergarten when he smeared doodoo in this other kid's face and was like 'Excuse me, kind sir, I was not aware my excrement exhibited such adhesive properties when applied to the epidermis' and then he brought it OG-style to Ethiopia where he rassled cave lions and saved the village of Wakkanunu by throwing shit helluva far.

It still cracks me up every time I have visions about it while meditating to Mecca.

7. In a few words describe him as you would describe him to someone that has never met him.

Bregan: OMFG U NEWB HES TEH INOKO LOLLER. U NOT NO HIM? Y R U LOSER LOL? HES INOKO !

Matt Nada: Charming and sexy. His name is Julian.

Jevex: Easy enough to get along with if you are not dumb.

Amen: The first word that comes to mind is enlightenment. He’s not enlightened, not even close (and I’m sure he’d laugh at the idea too), but he’s closer than most people I know. He’s got more figured out. He knows more, but it has nothing to do with his level of learning.

TRL: Intelligent, sarcastic, witty, mature

Grahf: He can come off as mean, but he's a good guy who tells it like it is. Keeps it real and pities the fool.

Avarice: - A simple 'Consider yourself priviledged' would suffice

8. What would be your words of wisdom be to any other person about him?

Bregan: Don't piss him off.

Matt Nada: Don't piss him off until you've known him for at least a month

Jevex: Do not be a dumb ass and realize you are probably wrong. Though do not be afraid of him, he is a peacefully snuggly person, whom by no means is the harshest.

Amen: He only seems unsociable. Intimidating as he may be, he’s actually a really nice guy.

Like, surprisingly so.

TRL: Don't be a dick to him and he won't be a dick to you.

Grahf: ...Isn't this just question 7 again?

Avarice: - Do not ingest.

Do not use as a flotation device.

Do not use to extinguish fire.

Objects in pants are smaller than they appear.

* * * * *

Well that's all for this month. I hope you enjoyed it.

Veteran of the month: Armisael.
Submitted by AVARON.

Rejoice! It’s what you’ve all been waiting for, *cough*, the most thoughtful, serious and fun-filled part of the AL Legacy. Yes, that’s right, all of that is possible in this article.

Our veteran of the month is once again, another roleplayer, Armisael. He joined the ranks of the ALiens, four, three (his memory escapes him as I found out quite a few times during my interview), whatever many years ago. Let’s just say he is old, or we wouldn’t be reading this, now would we? Yes, our dear veteran arose around that time and has been sporadic with his activity here, but nevertheless, he is here still.

“Mass e-mail from Free,” said Armisael when asked what made him come here. I’m sure many of you have seen a couple of n00bs exclaim that they were brought in the same form. Our veteran also exclaims, “Yeah, that's right people, thank Free for bringing my arse here.” He has stuck around because he has acquired a great group of friends that seem to be growing AND because Jevex, paid him “with sexual favors to stay.”
His job around AL for many years before his modship (or maybe still) was to “dot around Adult Discussion, cursing out non-practical posts and just being an ego-boosting prick.” But for real, he is a moderator in the ALcouncil, the head of the Rpg newsletter and an assistant.

When asked what he missed most in the past he said, “Well, when I was more frequent, back in the day, the RPG Forum was a lot more cleaner, fun and just plain interesting. It was before the thought of creating RPG's that need their own forum. People like Jace, Jevex, Tai, dragonsbane, Omaki, Inoko, Rose and so forth were around.” With further probing he explained how he likes everything “simple [with] no excessive rules, bios or plots/posts” (take notes admins on possible changes).

One of his favorites places to be in AL is the Entertainment forum because, “they have a lot of great mods, assistants and just a great, arrogant views on things,” and it “makes [him] all tingly inside.

When probed further to share a story, he was able to reach back in time, to tell of a classic CL moment.

“Possibly my little topic in CL a couple of years back where I chibied all the mods/s-mods and admins and sold them to the posters. Went from one page to about twenty in an hour. I remember the whole of the chat group getting really annoyed that I sold Ren to some random poster, so they decided to bribe me with their posts.”
I’m sure I hear some sighs about the good ol’ CL/Alien days.

Hail, Armi! Vet of the month.

Past Issue Comics.

Focus on Paladin101.

Focus on Yusagi.