about a year ago, i met you. i was a pretty unpopular user, making forced jokes and bad posts, and i didn't really have any friends here. on a whim, like how i usually acted then, i decided to try to host a mafia game. i had big plans but little experience, a really bad combo, so i decided to go to you for help. you accepted, albeit a bit reluctantly, and helped me with a role. little did i know how much this simple request for help would change me.

i joined irc more and more around that time, starting to get to know you a bit better. we talked about games and music, and it was then when i realized how relatively poor my tastes were. unfortunately, for a time, i took this the wrong way. while on the outside i appeared relatively fine, on the inside i harbored strong, often intense feelings of jealousy and envy. i was jealous of your tastes, i was jealous of your games, i was jealous of your art, and simply put, i was envious of you. often my jealousy overcame me and made me vent to others, though overall, i was able to suppress these feelings of envy and continue developing a relationship with you, spending all-nighters on rabbit watching avgn, spongebob, and the like. somehow you were able to tolerate my often off-putting behavior and habits, which only allowed it to develop further.

despite our original mafia plan folding, we continued to keep a friendship going for a pretty decent while. we began confiding to each other, venting as needed and simply going to each other for advice. you helped me improve my tastes as well, allowing me to discover some of my favorite bands and artists, and introducing me to some new games. december of 2016 saw our friendship blooming, though unfortunately not over the best circumstances. we both came to each other mostly for a shoulder to cry on quite a lot that month, though the otherwise bleak circumstances allowed us to go even further. we got each other christmas presents, and while that alone may not seem like much, i feel it helped to solidify our relationship completely, as it got both of us into great games; you got me into danganronpa, and i got you into binding of isaac.

we then started talking more personally, as we talked more and more about our lives. i really have a lot of fun talking privately with you; i don't have to worry about overstepping anything, i don't have to worry about keeping secrets, and best of all, i can truly be myself around you. i feel as if you felt the same way towards me too, and i was very glad to see that. it didnt take long for me to realize you as my best friend on the forums, and among one of them in real life -- soon enough, as time went on, i came, and continue to do so, to consider you my best friend overall. i've never quite met a guy just like you, and i feel like i'd be a vastly different person not just here, but overall, without you.

then summer came, and with that came your graduation. i was so glad to see that you'd gone so far, and moreso when i saw you'd been accepted to some truly great schools... and today, you finally reached another huge milestone in your life; your 18th birthday. i'm really happy that we've managed to get such a strong friendship going together after only a year, and it's just timing it happened to fall around now. i know you're gonna kick ass in college, i know you're gonna have a bright future, but most of all, i know we're gonna stay close together as you go on in life. you're my best friend for a reason, buddy, and all things considered, i've really come to love you as a brother. i'm glad you're around as much as you are.

from a best friend to another best friend, and for years to come, i wish you a happy birthday and the absolute best of luck for your future.

- lb