my tribe is my world.
Originally uploaded Aug. 5th, 2025.
and, as it turns out, your words will never make me disappear.
What the hell, man.
A few years ago, I went to my first offline major, CEO. It was a weeklong trip to Florida with some friends, as a sort of college graduation gift. I had saved up some money from some odd end jobs here and there, and I finally, finally got to experience something I’d only seen online.
It was pretty alright. Daytona isn’t a fun town to be in, but that’s been the general vibe for a while. My friends and the people I met and grew to be friends with were lovely. Watching the games was fun, as I had only done that at locals so it felt like that, but much, much more.
And, a little unrelated, I guess, I competed in a side tournament for some game called “Guilty Gear XX Accent Core +R.”
This 5th place sparked something within me, and I wanted to compete in the game more. And so, nailing a job (and getting fired, and then hired elsewhere), I would continue working towards my goal of becoming a big time competitor. Another CEO, a few Frosty Faustings outings, and some regional events here and there, I would play.
Traveling and meeting new people is so fun. Awkward and clumsy as I was, it was a little difficult to open up at first, out of fear of being rejected. But a lot of these players were so nice, so welcoming, just so cool as a whole. And as we watched, laughed, gasped and screamed, we grew closer and I felt like I was a part of a community that had always had its doors open for me.
But there was always an event that eluded me (two, if you count Combo Breaker. I’m not missing CB next year! I promise you!)
EVO.
There are a few reasons for this.
- It’s expensive. Flying out to Vegas from the east coast isn’t cheap. This is already outside of the fact that it’s 2025 and things are getting worse and worse. There’s a good chance I’ll be job hunting by the end of this year, too.
- It’s very corporate. When I was TOing my local at college, we were friends first. Of course, others outside of the immediate region would eventually join in, and internal/external rivalries would form, but those stories were still as genuine as we were. I’m not saying sponsors shouldn’t be involved. They’re important for majors and larger events to exist – always operating at a loss and whatnot – but how many more Chipotle ads are necessary, really? Who’s best interests are in mind? This kind of loops back into point 1 – tickets are way more expensive now, too. Is it all still genuine at the end of the day? I don’t know.
- It’s huge. I’ve been to big events before. Frosty and CEO come to mind – but nothing as big as EVO. It’s very intimidating, in a way. I love a good melting pot, but it’s really easy to get lost in the sauce of it all.
But, despite it all, a friend really wanted to go. And if not for them, I wouldn’t have gone on my own. I owe a lot to this friend – Everii – and really, you should stop reading this and go follow them instead.
Pools were great. I ended up drowning in Xrd, but that was no surprise – out of practice and what little time I had beforehand I had spent it doing other… horse-related things. But, I had a pretty rad set and made a ton of friends here. Maybe this is the next step in my journey? We’ll see.
I made it out of pools in Granblue, locked in on Lowain. Amusingly, and almost as if by fate, one of my friends from college was in my pool, and we had to fight each other to escape loser’s side. There were 900+ people in this bracket, so the fact that both of us ended up in the same pool at the same time is kind of insane? I took the pretty close set, streaming the set with my phone to the gang in a discord call. Definitely a highlight for me. Lost immediately right after (in the mirror, no less), but it was jokes all the way through and the mood was light.
That was fun and all – and watching MVC2 into Granblue in the arena was pretty awesome, too. But none of that compares to Sunday. Proving ground day.
AC+R day.
I’ve gone on and on and on about how much that fighting game in particular means to me. How much Justice as a character means to me. The number of rivals that I’ve had, the people I’ve looked up to, the want for me to inspire people to keep playing, keep trying, to never give up. Any stage is as good as ever to prove that – so why not EVO?
And I had thought I proved it, smashing through walls and toppling giants.
I ended up falling to third place, dropping in winner’s finals and going 2-3 in loser’s finals in a very close set.
Man, was it hard not to feel something as that medal found its way around my neck. There were people who called me an inspiration that day, to my face, in person. People who went “are you that G.Viper?” And it’s a little silly, but. There’s something that needs to be said, right here and right now.
I already was that person. I already had made that impact. I’ve had aspirations to be a top player – but that paled in what I had actually become. I was a rock, a hero, someone that pressed on even when the mood was dim. I didn’t need EVO to prove anything – there was nothing left to prove.
I wish I could be writing this under better circumstances, because the event itself was awesome. It legitimately was. But there’s so many bad actors and truly evil people trying to make sure we’ll never have any space to be ourselves ever again. Trying to squish us into a cage to throw into the fire, to wash their hands of unspeakable sins that they think they’ll get away with, scot-free.
You can try to silence us all you want. Kick us under your heel. Sweep us under the rug. But if you think that spark is going anywhere, you’re sorely mistaken. If you think we’re done trying to inspire and help people to fight, to live, to thrive, you’re an idiot. If you think you can just rip what we built – what we’re continuing to build by our actions and our words – you’re so, so, stupid.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not stopping. Not for one second.
Ready up.
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