So if I'm remembering correctly (and there is a distinct possibility that I am not, but let's roll with it), my journey to TFN began some time around 2004-2005 in the Star Wars message board on GameFAQs, where a user started a thread for a Galactic Civil War roleplaying game. I'd never seen something like it before on a message board, but I was around thirteen years old at the time and still pretty new to the "internet." The concept was simple. You pick a character around the timeframe of A New Hope, and roleplay them in a story that's told together with fellow users.

I was amazed.

For some reason or another, the game didn't work out, and the user who started it recommended I check the roleplaying forum over at the boards on theforce.net for further adventuring. I'd come across the website before as I was trying to soak in every piece of pre-release Revenge of the Sith information I could, but I'd never made my way to the forums until then. So I signed up (I shan't divulge the name of my original account, though I do remember it vividly), found my way to the RPF, and my world was instantly changed.

It was sort of like that moment you see in movies or read about in books. The young kid who loves any book he can get his hands on, and then sees a library for the first time. That moment where his eyes light up, his mouth opens in a smile of awe, and everything kinda glows for him. For me, I was a kid who loved to write. Since my mom taught me to read before I made it to kindergarten, I've been a writer. I wrote my own stories about the characters I loved as a child. I remember writing about a Donkey Kong Country Christmas dinner, where all the characters in the video game came over to Donkey Kong's house for Christmas. I based it on National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and Cranky Kong was essentially Uncle Lewis. I was probably in first, second grade. And I wrote Rocket Power fan fiction. I'd go to my grandparents' house (we didn't have cable at home), watch the popular Nickelodeon television show, and then imagine more stories for the characters. So I'd hop on my grandparents' computer and write them, because they didn't belong in my head, they belonged in the world. I'd even print out a title page and draw my own cover. And I'd mix in some original short stories as well.



An early Reynar_Tedros manuscript (age 7).

But up until I found that roleplaying game on a message board, all the writing that I'd done, I'd done alone. I never thought of writing as a social activity. I'd never been introduced to tabletop board games or anything of that nature, so when I found TFN's roleplaying forum, my head exploded. So many other people like me, who loved to write and create stories... and they did it together!? Collaborative storytelling? My mind couldn't handle the possibilities. So I dove in.

Now, admittedly, I didn't do a whole lot of research before I entered the fray. My early games were... amateur at best. Rough. But I knew I had the chops to be successful at it. Any time I'd get embarrassed with one account, I'd make another. For a while there, I had to have a word document saved with all of my socks. And this is the one that stuck for some reason (I just came up with the name off the top of my head). Maybe I finally grew tired of making new accounts and pretending that I was new, so I just rolled with this one, for better and worse.

The RPF became an obsession for me. I had documents and documents of game ideas, character sheets, plot lines, you name it. I was an avid baseball player, and I remember sitting in the dugout at my games, not focused on what was going on on the field, but wondering how many character sheets I'd have in my inbox when I got home. Instead of thinking about what the pitcher was gonna throw next, I was considering which direction I should take the story in for my roleplaying game. In science class I would be taking notes, not on the lecture my teacher was giving, but for a new RPG idea I'd just gotten. My parents would come in to our study in the middle of the night to get me in trouble for being on the computer too late, chatting it up on AIM in RPFChat.

And I made friends. To this day I consider @Darth-Vassago a personal friend. We have each other's phone numbers and text on occasion, and back in the day I'd chat with him all the time on MSN Messenger about what games we were playing and what movies we were watching. And he could make icons like nobody's business.

@Imperial_Hammer was the figure I was chasing. I wanted what he had, that clout, that pull, where every game I launched was a success. And he took me under his wing and never gave up on me, no matter how many shenanigans I got into. Keep in mind, I was going through rebellious teenage years, and sometimes that bled through on the forums. I was a bored adolescent, and at times my antics on the forums reflected that. But I always knew I still had that gift, and Hammer did too, and I appreciate his patience and wisdom to this day.

@Penguinator and @PRENNTACULAR (or MASTERPRENN as he was once known), along with myself, made up the Triumvirate of Doom, co-owners of the original Social Thread at the End of the Galaxy. Not only were they great writers, but they reminded me of the friends I had in real life, only with better taste in art. Peng turned me on to some of my favorite bands that I still listen to today.

@Tyi-Maet_Nefer was my coding wizard. I used to love creating banners for the old forums back when we were in the IGN network, but I could never get those darn style sheets down that I needed to submit to the mods. Enter Tyi, who could look at my banners and come up with a color scheme that fit them perfectly. I spent a lot of time in Photoshop because of him, and he was a good friend to boot.

I could go on about the good folks I've interacted with on here. @Darth_Elu, @blubeast1237, @NickLitYouAFlame, the list goes on. And last but certainly not least, another person I met on here whom I still consider a friend and probably owe the most to, @spacelady. I always enjoyed our conversations together on and off the forums. Heck, we even had two-person RPGs on occasion whenever no one else wanted to play in games we liked! She always carried herself with a calm elegance, and I admire her not only for the reputation she's built on these forums, but for the life she's made off of them as well. Oh, and she was the one who convinced me to get Facebook.

Facebook was my introduction into the world of social media. Or reintroduction, I guess, as I'd previously sworn off MySpace and was thus hesitant to try something else. But spacelady convinced me, and so I caved. And of course, Facebook, for all its faults, is good at allowing people to reconnect with old friends and acquaintances. And it was also, for lack of a better term, a gateway into Twitter, which I also eventually got (I think Peng may have had something to do with that, not sure. Something about Trent Reznor ordering Viagra). And at some point, seeing as how we were already friends on Facebook, I followed a girl named Katy, who I'd known since second grade, as we were in the same class at our school. And I started to develop a bit of a crush.

As I've mentioned before, I love to read. But finding the RPF added another dimension to it. I started to read not only because I loved books and the stories they tell, but because every author has some quote that's a variation of the fact that to get better at writing, you have to read. And so I read so that I could become a better writer, and therefore a better roleplayer on these forums. And it just so happened that Katy, the girl from second grade, was also a bookworm. And on Twitter, we recognized each other's mutual hobby, and she recommended a trilogy of books to me (Veronica Roth's Divergent series). So of course I did what any reasonable prospective lovebird would: I went to Barnes & Noble and bought the entire series and read through them in a weekend. And we talked about them. And as fate would have it, after she'd graduated college and come home for a while, the Divergent movie was playing in theaters. And four and a half years after asking her out to the movie, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me, on the playground of the elementary school where we first met.



The scavenger hunt envelopes I wrote for the proposal.

Writing had, and still has, a big role in my relationship with Katy. She loves cards, and loves it when I fill up all the empty space in them with my words. We got through tough times together thanks in no small part to my ability to put my thoughts onto a page. And I feel like I owe so much of that to TFN, where I was able to write and get better and receive encouragement from my friends and collaborators. My grandfather passed away six days before our wedding, and I wrote a speech and spoke at his funeral utilizing the skills that I'd honed on these forums. I wrote a letter to Katy the night before our wedding that she read the morning of, with those same skills. Writing has proven to be such a huge part of my life, and I have these roleplaying forums to thank for it.

So, I guess, all that's really left to say is thank you. Thank you, TheForce.Net's Role Playing Forum, for taking in a kid who loved to write and fostering that love and encouraging and inspiring its growth. I don't exaggerate when I say that this place has changed my life. To the ones I've mentioned before, and to everyone I've collaborated with over the last fifteen or so years, I owe you all a great deal, and I am truly, truly grateful for all of you. And although responsibilities of life and work have caused my time here to diminish, I'll never, ever leave completely. I'll always find my way back one way or another, because this is a certain kind of home for me. And my love for it will never die.

Sincerely,
David, aka Reynar_Tedros

 

So wonderfully written! Congratulations and wishing you two the very best!

 

What a deliciously romantic story! Congratulations! I can say from personal experience as well that role playing is habit-forming! One leads to half a dozen or more concurrently in no time!

 

Congratulations Reynar! You have pursued happiness and found it. That is more than its own reward. God Bless your union with everlasting joy and prosperity.

 

Congratulations Reynar! That is awesome on so many levels, hits me right in the ole' blood pump Now, go enjoy that honeymoon and I shall look forward with glee for whatever new chapters you share with us here.

God Bless, and May the Force Be With You Both!

 

Ah, Reynar. How time moves for us all, bringing such changes that feel like a lifetime and simultaneously instant, to happen. Major Congratulations for you and your beloved! I am also glad to see @spacelady having helped you so deeply.

I know exactly what you mean, despite my disappearances, on the deep connection to this place and what it has done for you on a level you never could have guessed when you first arrive. I will never truly be gone myself because of it. So with much understanding, pride as a friend, and unadulterated joy for you and your family...I cheer for you and look forward to hearing about what comes next in the Saga of Mr. and Mrs. Tedros.

 

Being able to communicate well is a critical key to a healthy marriage, you're both on track! Congratulations!

 

@Reynar_Tedros,

Where to begin! To start, simply, congratulations. I'm so delighted to hear you found someone in RL that brings you joy and happiness. Its hard to find that special someone out there, and you and Katy make a darling couple. Your future together is clearly bright, and I wish the both of you all the best things in life going forward. I'm sure many of the old crowd not already posting in this thread (@DarthXan318, @DarthIntegral, @Ktala, @LightSide_Apprentice, @Penguinator, @Winged_Jedi, @Ramza ) would echo these sentiments.

Secondly, thank you for sharing such a beautiful story and for being honest and open with us! Its the kind of story we rarely get to read here (although perhaps for a board with such a lengthy legacy, that should change). Its quite sobering, as I sit here in 2019, to reflect on how my actions as a bored college freshman over 12 years ago in California could impact this teenager states away that I've never met face-to-face. Even crazier, I'm sure that we all have influenced someone like this, whether we know it or not, including yourself, Reynar. Its the magic of the internet. In the internet's old age, I think we sometimes forget about that.

For what its worth, it was an absolute pleasure to help you get your footing here. I saw a lot of things I liked about young Reynar - your ambition, your willingness to experiment, seeing another RPG in the quiet NSWRPF, an eagerness to socialize and to make the community larger and grander. It was great fun while it lasted, and I am so happy to see all you've done here on the boards and with your life! Amazing job - a toast and round of applause!

It is interesting to hear all of these familiar notes in your story. The folders of writing ideas, being fortunate to forge lasting friendships outside the forum, daydreaming and getting distracted by the RPF, and later that inability to completely cut ties. Its good to know that's not just me - and I doubt its just us. I wonder what else we share as a community?

Say hello to Darth-Vassago for me sometime. He was a cool cat. And don't hesitate to say hello yourself sometime on Discord. Its a little slower than it was back in the day, but RPFchat 2.0 is still going on there.

Wishing you an awesome honeymoon, friend!

-I_H

 

Congratulations to you both!!!

Indeed, I loved reading your post.
And yes, this place does get under one's skin...hehehehe

May you have much happiness.

 

What a beautiful piece of writing and an even more beautiful story. I'm humbled to think I had any part in it, even I've incredibly minor.

Congratulations! Peace, love, and happiness to you, now and always.

 

A fantastic post, Reynar! Wishing you both the very best.

 

Congratulations!!!

 

Congratulations Reynar!(this is blu! After having forgotten many a passwords lol)

I’m so proud and happy for you dude and thank you for articulating a post that encapsulates so well how many of us feel about this place. When I first joined, and for many years after that, the same way you chased I_H and admired him, I chased you and saw you as a mentor and a friend who helped me learn and guided me. I remember a conversation that we had a long time ago, probably a decade now, where you told me how special this place was and that if I was patient I would come to adore it.

You were more right than you will ever know.

It is good to see you, my friend. A true friend. It is good to see you doing well and I wish you and Katy happiness, understanding, and love that will eclipse lifetimes.