The history of [I'm 12]

asside from Renard: In a very controversial move, Nye and I decided to give Tarrant perfect information. We knew Duke wanted to recruit him, but out of respect to us, Duke agreed to give us the draft rights to Tarrant, since we were interested first. We told T that while we would love to have him, we thought that there was another clan in which he might be more interested in (despite Tarrant being denied admittance, at the last minute I might add, to the first [I'm 12] / [M] get together. Duke didn't allow outsiders at this function for security reasons :) Once our rights expired, Duke made his pitch, and the rest was history, as they say. No other TF clans had the relationship that [I'm 12] and [M] enjoyed. This was but one example of the selflessness between us.

But I digress. With the line up complete, we put our plan into action. Mark gives us our unbeatable gameplan: "Go forth, and camp, my son"

Flash forward one year later. [I'm 12] is winning matches like nothin doin. Sure, we're no [GT] or [M], but now other people are making fun of newbies who make fun of US, for us! Respectible clans are sticking up for us not just on our server, but on other random pub servers. [I'm 12] has allied with [M]. Things are moving smoothly. Our skills are growing, both technically, and organizationally. Renard is a leaders' leader. He runs the show. Keeps people in line. Smooths over ruffled feathers (and egos, something quake players are reknowned for). Nobody but a leader can possibly fathom what is requred to get 12+ people to be in the same place, at the same time, with the same goals, together every day of the week (except fridays and saturdays).

Most of all, he tries to prevent [I'm 12] from getting that holier-than-thou sheen almost all "elite" clans suffer from. My personal hope is that our name helps this in some small way....

The ridicule [I'm 12]' as put up with for months has given way to respect. As predicted, the WORDS [I'm 12] have taken on a new meaning; the l33t quake d00ds begin to speak of [I'm 12] with reverence, even if only via word of mouth. As predicted, reputation was gained from action, not from naming, even if it took longer than simply focus group marketing and coming up with yet another lame clan title.

In honor of our accomplishments, I add a little blurb to our news page (http://im12.curtisfong.org/news.html) poking fun at the great IC and >V< renaming in their pathetic attempts to reinvent themselves with something as trivial as a name change.

[I'm 12] has undergone a massive restructuring, much like the one IC and >V< went though. Yes. That's right. We've changed NAMES! That's how damn different everything is now.

NOW we're [I'm 13], and because we have a new name you should be scared of us because the NEW one is WAY more badass than the old, lame, pussy one. You see, when [I'm 12] started, people were just plain ashamed to get killed by Jessica[I'm 12].

"What!," you had said, "I've been fragged by a clanless newbie 12 year old! I must REALLY SUCK."

No longer must you suffer such humiliation, because the [I'm 13] tag is SO much more badass, you can NOW tell yourself (and your friends) "I'm SO cool I got pwned by a [I'm 13] member. He even said something like 'heh' or 'gay' or 'yawn' or 'owned' or 'boy DMing for 16 hours straight really helps my TF skillz' right after he killed me. Thats how l33t I am."

Just be thankful we didn't use clanomatic to make our new name. Because if we had a clanomatic generated name, we'd never lose at all. EVER. See, i'd be like "MofoM[DB]" (DeathBringers) or "MofoM[RRBD]" (ReallyReallyBigDragons) or "MofoM[KoSwD]" (KnightsOfSlayerswithDOGS) or "MofoM[IPN]"

Nobody, of course, gets the joke but me. Newbies think we are disbanding. My clan mates think I have gone insane. A few days later I am forced to clarify my position, since people have begun to complain I have "diluted" our "name recognition", the very concept I had set out to destroy! The irony if THIS truth, now, it seems, has bitten me in the ass.

My vision is crumbling, and I have nobody to turn to. The new members have no clue why the clan is called [I'm 12], the old ones are having too much fun to bother with my morbid fascination with these deviant subversive actions.

Right about this time, I realize my grand social experiment has failed, and I Become better at Letting Things Slide (99)! I begin to have fun again, and take pride in having been a part of the most amazing events I'd never have though possible through online contact.

Most of all, I had learned the difference between saying "it's just a game" and "these are my friends, I am a part of a community". John understands this more than anybody, and the next time somebody says "it's just a game" will have their home address and phone number forwarded to him by me personally.

Jackrabbit[I'm 12] has now taken over leadership of our TF division, which may blossom again should q3f prove fun or should qwtf manage to catch its second wind. Now if only they could schedule 9pm PST games...


Finally, sorry I didn't give "props" to all the "homies" that deserve them (there are many, if you are in that list, I hope you know who you are, and I hope you too have at least a 80 skill in Letting Things Slide, hi DaBee!).

Here's to seeing you all in EQ, AOE2, Q3F, or wherever.
- Nye Liu (Mofo Mujimbo [I'm 12], Mujimbo Mofosan [Twelve Year], Etimame Tskukemono [Twelve Year])