12 years of Destructoid, roughly 7 years of Seymour

Now that I have your undying, unfiltered love and attention, allow us to discuss something far more important than passing flattery:

A celebration of not just you and/or I, but all us here at Destructoid. Namely, well, the very site itself!

If Niero is the Mantra, then we are his little slave Manikins. 

I'm no granddaddy of Destructoid, but I've at least been around long enough to have made some great memories that may or may not have been real memories but just old fever dreams. To have had first-hand experienced some of this site's very best past work. I'm like... one of Destructoid's middle-aged aunts. 

Boy, I could tell you some odd, though fascinating stories. 

Not the least of which would likely include a Willem Dafoe movie pitch

But, I'm gonna keep this blog personal. Not a celebration of me necessarily, but of the memories I most treasure about this place! In hopes of reminding people here why this site, Destructoid (not just yours truly), is so incredibly awesome. 

The biggest of pardons if I end up keeping much of this short and sweet. My blogging has become more and more infrequent over the past couple years and that's in no small part due to my, frankly, dwindling interest in the practice. I should definitely read more of them, but crafting them has become a tad of a nuisance. These days, I guess I'm just more interested in video making (ain't that about sum up much of the Internet, eh?). 

With that said, let's round 'em up!

Max saying my username on The Destructoid Show

I'm a simple boy. I could eat a whole box of Tootsie Roll Pops, I still like riding those shopping carts to the car after a day at the grocery store, and, ya know, a little validation can go a long way. I even got teary-eyed at that "love is love" speech towards the end of Happy Death Day. 

Just as well is when you're recognized by someone who is a lot more popular than you.

Whilst our favorite e-celebs are but small potatoes compared to your George Clooney's or Jennifer Aniston's of the world, we love them just as much (if not more)! They're just as talented at that! Only, most often, working with a lower budget. They make us think "Me too!", they inspire a sense of community, and a lot of them are really sexy. 

So, on that note, remember The Destructoid Show? 

You know something's old when you see that classic troll face. 

Max and Tara are still chugging along within their respective fields, but no matter what magic they hone in what field today, they will always be Destructoid's ex-co-hosts (boy, that looks stupid now that I've typed it out) to me. Their camaraderie was almost akin to Sessler and Webb's from X-Play, one awkwardly though sternly playing off of the other in fits that were, often, hilarious. 

One time, even, Max said my name! I was one of the users who had sent in free game codes that week and he had no choice but to utter "SeymourDuncan17" in his usual silky, dudebro tone. It got me rather giddy and I can still remember exactly how it felt. 

Of course, those were different times. I'm now just plain old "Seymour". Perhaps I've lost my luster. Hmm. 

Jim Sterling's infamous DmC: Devil May Cry review

One of my most fondly-remembered comments I've ever left on any Destructoid article was on Jim's DmC review:

"I came for the review, stayed for the backlash."

At least back in the day, it was the review's most upvoted comment and, eventually, it was what first had me interacting with Jim Sterling. From there, through various social media interactions, I had the luxury of being on good terms with him. Then, eventually, I felt confident enough sending him a friend request to his personal Facebook and our relationship would continue to grow. 

Now, I'm not about to speak for the man. Are we "friends" by this point? Who knows. All I know for sure is that it's been wonderful hearing from him via my Facebook wall. Some of my most depressive and desperate posts, he's commented on with loving support. We've shared grievances, made smalltalk, and, heck, we've even flirted a little! It never doesn't cheer me up. 

To this day, we're still, ummm... Facebook "friends", still chatting every now and again. It may not seem like much to some here, but I think it's a heck of a thing. To think that, even just occasionally, I get to personally chat with this man: 

Watching Johnny Luchador's final Halloween stream

Do you believe in love at first sight? I think that's sort of what I felt with Johnny Luchador. A rambunctious, flamboyant, and, dare I say, splendid relic of a time long past (at least for Destructoid). He was the reason to tune into Destructoid's Twitch channel... 

And I only got to watch one of his streams. 

I dabbled in his stream where he played this virtual hub sort of game, inviting community members to play alongside him and that was some fun, but it seemed most gravitated towards his Halloween streams.

It was during that small window of time where Destructoid forced their Twitch channel embed onto the front page. All but a small few complained about it, and I was most definitely one of those few. One of the first things that popped up for me was this wild-looking man in a Destructoid lucha outfit, with dancing skeletons and Lisa Frank-like glitter font around his Twitch overlay. It was impossible to not be immediately drawn in and hooked.

Sadly, his time was drawing to a close around then. So, I didn't get to experience much of him. But, what I did experience was something special. He clearly loved this community, he was a great commentator, and he shall be missed. 

Destructoid fronting my "gender identity" blog

Now, despite the recentness of this memory, it is, without a doubt, the biggest impact I've ever made on Destructoid.

For years, I had considered myself a comfortable little section of the Destructoid community. I had come out as openly queer, openly horny, and openly odd. At all times, still (seemingly) welcomed and loved. But, I had yet to take such a drastic step as to discuss what some might call "gender politics".

I was worried that most would just laugh it off or hook, line, and sinker with that ever so popular "SJW" tag. Sitting at over 300 comments, I, inevitably, brought the trolls and the assholes. Unexpectedly, though, I was as much as 97% met with just as much love and understanding as per usual. 

I couldn't believe that Destructoid hadn't front-paged my blog in jest. To that, I really couldn't believe that people actually understood me. I felt so fucking... happy. Just unconditionally happy. I had become really attached to this community before, but it was then that I truly could solidify Destructoid as more than a community of awesome people. It was a place where I was safe, almost becoming like a second home. 

No other gaming website is as accepting as Destructoid. I'm actually tearing up a little. I love you guys so goddamn much. 

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Here are some lesser memories worth re-experiencing: 

My very first "Fetish Blog"

My poetic hot take on PT

My best blog I've ever done

My official professing of my love of Midna

My short-lived Persona 4: Golden playthrough series:

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10

- Spamming a bunch of Tuco reaction images to last year's E3 reveals in the Destructoid Discord channel

Easily the one I spammed the most.

- Customizing some Rabbids in Rabbids Go Home to look like Jim, Conrad, and Holmes

Podtoid?

- RIP my old persona

I do miss the mustache.

- My Dafoeverse posts

- The fanart

This one's, of course, my favorite.

(Also, take credit where credit is due please. I've forgotten the sources.)

- Max's Destructoid Show sketches

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You know, as I look back on all these memories, as I'm looking through all these pictures in my Downloads folder, I can't help but smile a warm smile and think to myself that my life hasn't been so bad. 

Me posing with celebrities or other cosplayers, my recent songwriting ventures, all these hilarious Destructoid images... I still have my whole life ahead of me, but I haven't really been giving the life I've led since adulthood enough credit. I can sometimes make mistakes or say really stupid things, but I have a lot to be thankful for. My forever supportive family, my best of friends, and this sticky little website called "Destructoid". 

You guys will forever be sealed away in the deepest, darkest recesses of my heart. Ya know, that way it's easier to pretend all this is completely normal. 

Here's to more years of suspicious love. 

LOOK WHO CAME:

Seymour   

Wes Tacos   111

DeadMoon   104

Robo Panda Z   48

homeoftheblues   37

Agent9   34

Luckrequired   33

LaTerry   31

Rad Party God   31

Malthor   29

Anthony Marzano   23

AvtrSpirit   21

NinjaSpeed   20

dephoenix   19

Dan Roemer   16

Kerrik52   15

JPF720   13

Gamemaniac3434   10

Salador   8

The Actual Charlton Heston   7

Roager   6

Kutsufatmo   6

NakedBigBoss   5

Vesalius   1

Zach Bennett   1