Thoughts

So um... hey everyone, I'm uko. More specifically ukotunes, formerly ukobotic. Pronounce however you please. <3

I don't even know where to start, honestly, haha. I'm sitting on the plane right now just completely overflowing with emotion. I'm so sad to have left limitbreak and that the event has to be over, but I'm moreso happy that it happened and I got to meet all of you who also attended.

...

I guess let's just start from the beginning.

Andy,

You lit the torch. I wouldn't be running EarthBound in any way shape or form if it weren't for your streams, your limitbreak runs, or your big video guide. I used to lay down and just listen to the video because I found it so entertaining, but it wasn't until I saw RPGLimitBreak 2016 that I really really knew that this was a community that I wanted to join, the big speedrun that I wanted to learn. And like I've said over and over again... it was a very surreal and amazing feeling to know that I kept pace with the Big Dude Andy Perfect for pretty much the entirety of our section. I never thought I'd reach such a level of execution in EarthBound when I first started out, never ever ever. If not for you and the family, I know I never would have. Thank you so much, Andy. <3

DRock,

You were the first one to find me. I was a real humble kehd when I started out, completely clueless and detached from the already existing community. With 40 minute Onetts left and right and so much of the game that I hadn't yet learned I thought I'd just be submitting a crappy time and quitting, until you told me you were a runner and you saw I had potential. You pushed me to do that full run during that race in June just to see what happened, and I had so much fun that night that I made a highlight reel. (I looked like such a douche with that hat. Much regret.)
We already mentioned this at LB but you remember. You told me that right once I got sub 5 you'd give me mod on your channel... and I did it. I dunno why, but that promise really gave me a push to grind it out. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought... 100% thanks to your and others' help. And now look where I am, heheh. Sorry I bopped ya... repeatedly... but if it weren't for you and the family, I know I never would have. Thank you so much, Derek, I love you to pieces. <3

Skateman,

You came next. You weren't racing that night (i don't think) but you did come into my stream and help me along through the rest of my disastrous first run. From there, your support for me in not just EarthBound but my other speedrunning endeavors grew and grew. Not long after my sub 5 did you and I start to come together and optimize Mother 1 GBA in addition to our own EB times, and with the lower and lower times our friendship started to grow as well. Idk how much you know but you honestly have carried me through so much in my own life. You've given me a real push to reach all of my goals and without your love and support I know I never would have taken you by 3 seconds, and then some. (Mother 1 is still next, by the way. Just warning you.) I'm really glad you were the last one I had to say bye to, haha. Thank you so much, Cory, I love you terribly and you mean a hell of a lot to me, really. <3

Ulti,

Good times when I fucked up Dalaam and you tweeted about it. Because of that day I never made that mistake again... except for all those other times where I did. :ok_hand:
You were the first (at the time) sub 4 runner to find me and show me that I had the stuff. You've never stopped pushing me forward and believing in me either... even right now over twitter you're telling me I'm a valid contender for sub 3:50. I really feel like I am, and I'm very exited to finally prove it by pulling it off, but without your moral support and validation I know I never would have reached this point or even come close at all. I don't know if you know this but I have an extremely intense admiration of you, you're such an inspiration to me. I think you've told me before that I reminded you of you when you started out with EarthBound and I'm starting to see similarities as well ;P You've definitely given me one of the biggest if not the biggest push forward in reaching my goals, and I really really appreciate you. Thank you so much, Tim, you're fucking awesome and I love you to bits. <3

James,

You're literally prince charming. Like, ClassicTiff is so lucky to have you, I swear.
Remember when I was learning manip? Like, forever before I snatched the Onett world record? I know you do, because you were there. You were constantly supporting me and giving me tips and advice and you were racking your brain right along with me when I was constantly getting butterflies outside of the Minch house. What the heck was happening that day? ;P For real though, you're ridiculously awesome and another huge inspiration of mine in EarthBound. I'll always be glad you got sub 4 (and sub 3:55) before I did, because you've been working super hard at not only glitchless but also literally all the other categories (when am I gonna stop putting off any% and photo%???)... but remember that if it wasn't for you, I know I never would have made it that far myself after you did.
Thank you for the lyft from the airport, and being the first EarthBound runner that I met and talked to in person. Thank you as well for giving me such a huge push to reach my goals, and for being an awesome teammate. Like I said, race ya to sub 3:50. Except you better get it before me or else I'll feel awful. Love you, Jams, you're the best. <3

Daniel,

You're fucking ridiculous, dude. Like, what a guy. Holy shit. I'll never stack up to this intense level of amazingness.
I'll be completely honest, I was afraid to talk to you very much at first. Not for any negative reason, of course, but you made such an "I'm a fucking god" impression on me that all I knew how to do was turn my head, grovel on my hands and knees, and repeat "I'M NOT WORTHY, I'M NOT WORTHY" to myself silently.
I think you were the one that lit the competitiveness in me. As soon as I saw myself do things just about as well as you do them I was fucking stunned, just like woah... I can do this?? And it gave me a huge push to try and, like, match you in stuff. And now look at this 18:35 that I got. Like this isn't me trying to brag or anything or shit on you at all but like yknow this is supposed to be like a holy shit testament to how much you've pushed me forward and shit so. Like if it weren't for you I never would have hit this mark or any of the other marks that I've reached and all that stuff. Pls understand. ;_;
Real talk though, Daniel, you're an amazing guy, and I'm beyond honored to have met you and talked music with you and been in your presence while you were on that boat. I have a huge admiration and respect for you and I love you fucking tons. Keep being badass, dude. <3

Buhjeejee,

You're so much more beautiful in person than I ever could have expected. You're a hilarious, generous, and all-around wonderful person, and I couldn't have been more honored to meet you, hug you, and have you as my team captain.
You really didn't have to take us to iHop, LOL. I'm glad you were open to the idea though, of course the food was delicious and I had a great night hanging out with you guys. The zoo was a fucking blast too, I was laughing the whole time and having so much fun.
Thank you so much for being a sanctuary, dude. Your stream is so nice to chill and relax in when I'm not feeling the best, or even just when I'm tired. Not only that but you're also a huge EarthBound inspiration of mine as well, thank you so much for teaching me things that have helped me lower my time and perform better all around. I had a fantastic week with you and the rest of our family and I hope you keep being stupid badass. Love you, Issac. <3

Temple,

You're an awful lot like James in the way you've inspired me as far as running this game. You're such a chill guy who I supremely, supremely admire. I love hanging out in your stream (you're one of the only EB runners left who stream while I'm not at my fucking job) and I was super hyped watching your long-awaited PB. You're also so sick for being basically the front runner for our community, organizing all these events like the super series, orchestrating the relay idea, and giving so much support for new runners, much like me when I was starting out. I'm so happy I finally met you in person and hung out with you dude, I love you and your fucking face. It was awesome racing you that one day even though it literally sucked. Being in person made it fun though anyway, eh? GG on that 4:40. Anyway, if not for you I wouldn't be where I am now, so. Thank you so much, Sean. Race ya to sub 3:50? <3

Angela,

You're such a sweet pea. I think you and I probably hugged more times than I did with anyone else while I was there, heheh. That makes me happy.
You're also ridiculously admirable. What you do is amazing, I mean I torture myself on stream doing dumb bullshit that I can't stand but not on your level, yo. And you've got a 24 hour stream coming up............ yeesh. Can't wait. <3
I don't know, I think just seeing you in person and talking to you made me want to get to know you more, like on a personal level? Like I didn't mean to vent to you this morning about some Real Shit™, but that's how it happened, and it made me really happy to have your ear and your open arms. You've always been so sweet to me and supportive of me and I dunno I'm just gushing at this point. But you're great and I love you so much. Thank you Angela for being a sanctuary and pushing me forward, probably more than you know you are, if it weren't for you I wouldn't be where I am now for sure. <3

Tawl,

You're also a real sweet pea. I'm so, so, so happy that I finally got to meet you in person, and I'm really happy you were able to book your flights and make it out to limit break like I know you wanted to. Let me remind you that I support you in every single way in every single thing that you do, and I hope all of your dreams come true. Sometimes it's hard and depression can really hit you sometimes, but that's literally what the EB family is for, right? At the very least know you have me <3 you're always welcome in my stream. And I know you'll get your hippies back soon if you try. ;) Love you so much, Davy. <3

Auri, Boing, Wah, Drumbo, Landy, OneGuy, Moonrose, Muri, Greany, and Pidge,

AYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a fantastic crew of people to also enrich my RPBLimitBreak experience. The parties, the races, the zoo, the karaoke, the limit break runs, the everything... even the Magic which I didn't understand fucking at all. I'm really, really happy with the way everything went down. I had such a blast the entire way through this whole week, I couldn't stop laughing and smiling anywhere I went. You're all really really great people and I admire and love each and every one of you. <3

Let's not forget all my babes who unfortunately couldn't attend...

Doc, Jesse, Toucan, Foxy, Ceriam, RBM, Geno, Eri/Jen, Soggy, Keku, Hunter, Screevo, Quatro, Arithium, and.... hmmm........ did I forget someone? Man who else was it that it was really sad that he couldn't come................. Oh, yeah, that falex guy. Heh.

No, seriously though. Every single one of you and anyone else I might not have mentioned because I'm terrible and I'm sorry have all touched my heart in their own way. Every single person in my EarthBound family has pushed me forward, been there for me, supported me, loved me, cared for me, and made me so so happy to be a part of it, especially when stuff in my own life has gone south.

I dropped out of my first semester of college after trying to get in for over a year, partially due to stress/anxiety and depression in my life, and partially due to the really big year-long relationship that I lost a couple months ago which is unfortunately still affecting me, and which probably caused a lot of the aforementioned stress, anxiety, and depression as well while it was happening, lol. I could go on about the past few years and everything as well but that's a little much, the point is that the EarthBound community and the speedrunning community by extension has basically saved me. This past year has been really rough and really scary for me, entering the adult world has been terrifying and really strenuous, and any mental health issues that I have or that stem from my circumstances really don't help. Without my EarthBound family's love and acceptance and appreciation of me which I feel every single day full-fledged, I have no idea where I'd be now or if I'd even still be around. When I have nowhere to turn, especially during times like these past few months, my EarthBound family is there, always and forever, and I couldn't be happier knowing that. RPGLimitBreak has brought me closer to each one of you guys, and you probably can't tell just by looking at me but I was freaking out internally the whole week just from complete bliss and happiness. I wish I could have this experience forever, and I'm sad that it's over now, but I'm really excited for next year because it's gonna be even huger and more amazing, right? <3

The Mother 1 run was so special. This was my first experience ever doing commentary for a speedrunning marathon run, especially one of this caliber, so I was super nervous at the beginning (there was even a part towards the beginning where I almost cursed by accident heheh) but after about 20 minutes I finally started to feel comfortable and I had the time of my life laughing and having fun with everyone there. I even got to sing the eight melodies in front of the entire audience thanks to peer pressure, but I'm so glad I did, it was awesome!!! Sounded like you all enjoyed it, anyway. ;P

And let's not forget the relay race. Ohhhhh man. I could not tell you how nervous I was switching spots with BGG to face off with Andy. And guess what, immediately at the beginning of my section I got to stutter around everyone's favorite, 2^7327469872634 bookas. That was a very stressful moment but it was also hilarious and beyond that I felt like I played very strong and I had so much fun. One interesting thing I noticed, one of my favorite parts of the relay... at the beginning there were no teams. It was all 12 of us, together, trying to get out of Onett. We were all cheering each other on and having fun and working together, and that's the biggest example that I can think of for what the EarthBound family really is, huh? Even up until carpainter, it was completely a collaborative effort, and THEN the race started. I thought that was really fantastic and I dunno it made me really happy inside.

And lastly, my biggest moment from the whole week... I got a 3:53:23 at limit break, a 3-minute PB all on film, just before they started breaking down the practice room. During that run I also got the Onett manip world record, with an 18:35.5. So many earthbound runners and other folks that came and hung out in our corner during my run were there in the background supporting me and cheering me on the whole time, and commending me for my play. I've become so much stronger over the course of this week alone, in addition to these past couple months of grinding my time down. Doing an actual PB run in front of a live audience was once of the most amazing experiences I've ever had, and I actually got applause when I split at giygas which honestly almost made me cry. I just. I love you guys so much. Honestly I might cry as I'm typing this lmao. I miss you all so much. At this point in my typing I've arrived home and I'm definitely ready for sleep soon but I gotta make sure I get this pastebin uploaded first.

All of this means more than the world to me. You all mean more than the world to me. I wouldn't trade this sense of identity I have or this sense of community and family that I have with all of you for anything in the unverse. Thank you, everyone, for being the most wonderful people I've ever met. I love you all so much, and I'll never stop saying that. I'll see you all around, online, and hopefully in real life again as soon as possible. Thank you all for reading my thoughts, and have a good night. <3