Well, I've gotten my Avohkii spinny. That means two years have passed since I first joined BZP.

It's kind of weird when I think about it. That's two years in which I've had one more thing in my schedule. Sometimes it seems like these two years have flown. Other times it feels like BZP has been a part of me my whole life.

I'm not sure what to say. But what I feel is the biggest experience I've had here, is the Academy/BZPRPG. I joined the Academy about three months after I joined BZP, and I've been in it all through its nine months as one of the top three RPGs in the RPG forums, its merge with the existing BZPRPG, dozens of battles, etc. My characters have all grown and matured, but I'm not sure if I myself have grown to the same degree. Certainly, I haven't lost any of my legs in a battle, or switched allegiances, or even attended a party in which a crazy, egotistical, fork-wielding villain was one of the guests.

I’m also currently in charge of a Naruto RPG, which sort of put strain on my leadership skills from time to time. Occasionally, I’ve had to punish RPers, which is kind of hard for me, as I know what it’s like to be one of those RPers, being punished. XD The more fun part about being in charge, though, is making a master storyline with the other people in charge of the RPG. I’ve spent hours planning and discussing NPCs, and storyline events with other people, which is as fun as RPing itself.

The other RPGs I’ve participated in or are currently participating in are many, easily more than ten, but include the Gate RPG, the Redwall RPG, the Star Wars RPG, among others.

I was first drawn to BZP by the Library. There were a bunch of authors there at that time whose works I really liked. In particular, Tangled Web by GaliGee, which actually started a few months before I joined. There was another one by xccj, about a Miru-wearing Onu-Matoran Kanoka disk maker. I forget the title now, but I remember that it was 12 chapters plus an epilogue. Besides those I read the stories in the Epics forums and Short Stories forums constantly in my first few months as a BZPer, before I got introduced into the RPG world.

I joined the short stories critics about a year ago, which was fun in that now I was officially reading and reviewing other people’s stories. Unfortunately, I sort of neglected that job, only occasionally dropping in and reading a bunch of stories at once.

I myself haven’t written in a year or so, but I used to churn out stories almost every two weeks.

So, I guess my second year at BZP wasn’t as productive as the first. I’ve been neglecting my duties as a critic and a writer, focusing only on RPGs, joining a bunch of them at one time then quitting them one after another as my schedule became cramped. As I look ahead at the second semester of my tenth grade year, then my junior year, along with the daily tests, AP classes, and (oh no) college applications, it seems my schedule will only get more cramped. And maybe that means that after these two years, my time as a BZPer will cease.

Beside my computer sits my Eagle Rank Application for Boy Scouts. I became a Life Scout three months before I became a BZPer, and a Life Scout I still am now. Indeed, I’ve been procrastinating with my Boy Scout advancement since becoming a BZPer, when, before, I was breezing through the ranks, earning about 18 merit badges in two years.

Maybe by participating in BZP I’ve lost the time I could’ve used to clinch that rank, become an Eagle scout. Maybe I could’ve pushed that extra percent to get an A instead of an A-. Maybe I wouldn’t have gotten that B+ in science the second semester of my eighth grade.

Do I feel that my time on BZP was worthwhile? Of course. I’ve met a bunch of cool people, made a bunch of friends, learned what text RPGing really is, and best of all, learned that there are other people out there like me who are fans of Bionicle. Do I feel that my time on BZP was a waste? I don’t know, and I might not know until I can properly look back and evaluate my time in high school.

Maybe it’s time for this Bionicle fan to say goodbye to BZP, and set his sights on new horizons.

…

Nah. There’s still so much I need to do. I need to wrap up all the stories of my characters, kill them off if I have to. I can’t just up and leave so many loose ends.

The time when I have to log out for good is still far away. In the meantime… *gets back to posting*