other Random's Rewind: Reminiscing 2020

[Person_Random 4,991]

It's been a heck of a year, and... okay, I'm going to stop repeating the lyrics from an unreleased song before I get indefinitely muted. Join in as I rewind the good, the bad, and the cringey of 2020!

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Just the other day, I got my Spotify Wrapped and the Top 100 Songs playlist added to my account. Curiously, I took a listen. The first song, idfc, was pretty normal because I already knew this song pretty well - I just vibed to it perfectly as it played for a glorious four minutes and five seconds. The next song was i'm so tired, setting me on a completely different split-screen. One was the world of devastation and loneliness everyone usually thinks of when reminded of me, while the other was finding peace and satisfaction in a world of chaos and sugar-high barbaric children. It was the epitome of 2020.

In short, 2020 was not the normal year. We all saw the signs with conflicts and the medical crisis back in the early days in January, but as I had just started off my first few days with a positive moment, I, like many others, chose to ignore this impending problem. 

In time, we were all sent home on that fateful day, March 13, 2020, and to this day, everything is now different. What we thought was a short-term goodbye was a forever farewell. What we thought was just a small issue is now a raging predicament everywhere. Sometimes, it just seems like the world turned upside-down: everything we thought was fine is no longer so. 

In the first months of quarantine, I struggled to embrace this new normal. I cursed the year. I cursed everything that happened. I wished it would all be over and send me back to the blissful (almost) heaven I had. But now, with just days before the end of arguably the worst year in history, I embrace this year. It doesn’t mean I have to like it, but at least, I am doing my best to have a good time here. I hope you'll be able to feel the same way with a few good memories. Let's take a look at some of the interesting moments on Tanki and in real life.

 

 

What?!? Playing Tanki?

This year was a strange one if you're discussing my Tanki career, as well as those of some others. Back in 2019, I swore off playing (due to *cough* rude stares for playing a game that wasn't "trending") and stayed at the lovely rank of Third Lieutenant for over a year. But instead, in 2020, I ended up playing more than ever before, ranking up an unprecedented three times to Major and completing two challenges. With all the weird schedules from lockdowns, we all had strange 2020 Tanki careers. Here's a nice screenshot to remember these great times:

 

Special thanks to @Do.Or.DiE for taking an AMAZING screenshot!

Definitely a different scene from a usual day at school, where I would be quietly surviving on cookies instead of real food to save money and look like I could actually afford a lunch at an expensive restaurant with my friends *cough*.

Moving on, it was an uptrending forum and helper career. Some time ago last year, actually, precisely 1 year to the writing of this article (10 December), I was invited to join the Newspaper Reporters crew as an official candidate. It was a dream come true as I've already discussed previously, and I'm glad I had the chance to help organize the Tanki's Birthday, Halloween, and this very own Christmas Issue as well as play a large role in the development of today's paper. And of course, thanks for staying here and being a loyal reader!

I also got the chance to expand my writing codeblocks expertise on to two more fields, Proofreaders and eSports Reporters. Collaborating with the different team members and getting in sync with the varied dynamic was and still is a fun learning experience. I can't wait for more amazing moments (with perhaps new helper teams) in the coming years!

As mentioned above, this past year was hectic, but despite this I was still able to make some interesting memories, to say the least. Why not leave some room for a quick little story? Hopefully you'll be able to gain something from it!

 

 

 Lessons from the Lockdown

For all of us, I'd bet that life prior to the lockdown was more or less relatively good. For me, I had reached a new high score in my video game of life provided that you don't count the physical education Assault gamemode two days prior: I had more friends (and a relationship *cough*) than I had ever had before, I was performing exceptionally well in my classes, and I had just settled in as an official Newspaper Reporter. Honestly, it was one of the best times of my life. except the week before, because as you know, I am psychic and can predict when bad things are going to happen.

Anyhow, as I predicted, something large happened: the schools closed. The school was all buzzing about it in that week - calling for the officials to stop school, planning parties with friends and all the various activities to do during the given quasi-holiday. It sounded nice and peachy - heck, I even got invited to a hot pot party (and finally got the go-ahead after completely smashing my hand on a table and trying to go for volume over reason) - until it was all cancelled. Because between that Friday the 13th, when we were all sent home, and Monday the 16th, a true lockdown had happened. We were all cooped up at home.

One little virus, so many problems :x

Because the school had already called a holiday, we just happened to have no classes for two weeks. During that time, I somehow managed to beg my parents into letting me use Discord to connect with my friends and we had a blast on my church server, much to my brother and toaster's dismay. The next day, of course, the toaster was crumbling and my brother was in a surly mood. Then things started to fall apart. My darned laptop couldn't keep up with Discord voice calls, what we had in mind for passing time was becoming dull, and I was losing every single game of skribbl.io (or getting votekicked randomly *violent cough*). To make a long story short, I had a difficult time adjusting to this new normal.

My friends from school were constantly playing video games and voice chatting for hours on Discord. At the time, I only had an ancient laptop and severe computer restrictions, so it’s safe to say I had no time to do things like browse through YouTube and the Tanki forum (which was blocked anyways) and chat with my friends, so for the first few weeks, I was constantly angry. I was locked up in my own little world (except for the occasional Discord call from my now ex) while everyone played skribbl.io and Valorant, watched anime and movies, and had a good time together.

The more I thought of it that way, the angrier I became towards my friend group, and the more I felt I deserved something better. So for the next few weeks, I was constantly raging. I unplugged the happy-go-lucky playlist and started putting in angry and depressing tracks. I fought with my family on an hourly basis.

I'm still not over not having the best PC. But it's Christmastime - maybe I will get a new one

It was all about something I didn’t have: a strong computer. I needed to look for something that I could do without what I lacked. For this reason, I started running on the track and looking for places to improve there, as well as started studying for my exams. Though it was initially dark, I began to make my way through to the light. Well, at least until my foot injury. By finding something else to distract myself while they laughed through jackbox.tv, I no longer felt as left out.

Finally, they restarted school and I rediscovered forum work. I didn’t realize how relieving it was to approve an AWS article after several weeks of being offline. It was bliss. And it didn’t just apply to Tanki. I also started working on a physics research project I really wanted to start and finally understood how to work with Python much better than before. Through these, I was able to forget the pain of being left out and lose myself in something I liked to do more.

In the summer, I was pretty fully immersed in helper work. I woke up, proofread, ate, wrote eSports, ate, wrote for the newspaper, ate, brainstormed ideas and studied, and went to sleep on a normal day. It was a great time. I remember joining the eSports and Proofreaders team and building great bonds with some of the helpers there. Additionally, I really got into MasterChef and a bunch of other cooking shows, which was just as fun. To make it even better, I ended up getting more time on the computer and gaining access to the Tanki forum. It was honestly the best part of the year. The only dull part was losing all of those friends, who no longer wanted to hang out with me because of toaster discrimination I didn't make an effort to be part of the group, but good riddance - who cares about people who won't accomodate to people with toasters?

We just look so much better with Santa hats, don't you know?

Even now, with more helper and school work to busy me and none of those friends I had before, it's a lot easier to look on the bright side and find what brings me joy. Before the lockdown, I was used to going along with the group to fit in oh, and did I mention that my 200 000 Tankoins spent on micro-upgrading my wardrobe is completely worthless?, but now, I also grew to find my own interests instead of looking to someone else to find something to do. It's a lot better that way - you have much more control over what you want and gain so many key skills through this process.

 

 A Cheesy Conclusion

Ah, welp, even the best of stories have to come to an end. (smash liek)

Though 2020 was an unusual and tumultous year, instead of focusing on the painful moments and tuning into the most cringeworthy songs, I turned my eyes to the world of blessings, the new opportunities I had. Through this different year, I remember to focus on the better things in life, and more importantly, be myself and do what I love. I hope my experiences will be able to help you do the same.

I really want to thank everyone for being here and pulling through this year. While I hope that 2021 will be a better year, no matter the circumstances, let’s band together and find new opportunities!

Oh, and if you wanted to listen to my Spotify playlist, here it is:

Enjoy!

TNK00-00000-0?DJA-RK65C-RDQPQ

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Well, that's all for my random ramblings for now. Happy holidays and I wish the best for everyone! NO STOP JINXING EVERYTHING LIKE YOU DID LAST YEAR OKAY Bye!

[Venerable 2,967]

I'm disappointed.

You didn't use cringeomatical even once, and your ramblings took less than an hour to read. 

LOL jokes aside, I enjoyed reading this! 

[Tokamak 1,021]

Admin only should have red hats, and other helpers a green hat (like the xmas vader's elves) :D