Danimal

@Ballatw @LeaderGrev Extremely relatable interview

Probably the last time I'll post here, miss y'all! Check out this interview with @LeaderGrev on everything surrounding leaving esports! He did a great job asking some good questions! Also reach out if you wanna talk, I'm still around just not really ever on twitter.

This is a photo account now

Yosemite fills me with joy

Glad to have gotten out before this stuff became ubiquitous. Everyone rightfully calling out the horrific LGBT human rights violations associated with Saudi Arabia, but for those of you dickheads who don’t care abt that, it is also an open secret that SA helped plan and fund 9/11

@DanimalVal Unc in the gym

2 years of coaching, 7 months of life

Can’t just vaguely gesture at mental health every once in a while. Exercise, cultivating face-to-face friendships, creative hobbies, some form of mindfulness/journaling/awareness are all parts of the antidote.

I started working at a school during last few months of competing. Teachers are obv super stressed but they’re all easily happier than almost everyone I talked to who competes. This lifestyle is objectively bad for your brain, you have to take many active steps to combat it.

Biggest difference between competing in esports and doing anything else is how you and everyone around you are insanely depressed compared to rest of the population. It’s hard to see when you’re in it, because your “community” is in the same situation. It’s normalized.

@kapikoaaron Damn. RIP Bruce ❤️

I have had a few people reach out to me asking about Bruce (Sae), so it is with great sadness in my heart that I share with you he has passed away, please respect the privacy of his friends and family during this time #LongLiveBruce I will miss you brother, Love you man

A lot of people say that brainrot content is making the kids dumber, but I recently had a 1st grade kid I teach say under his breath “POV: you are literally a first grader” Memes unlocking new levels of consciousness

@cartoonFPS My GOAT

There’s probably plenty of valid reasons for it but it is simply astonishing that Valve can fix 20-30 issues per patch on Deadlock that would each individually take Riot 6 months to conceptualize and ship a solution to. Not just bugs, entire systems get fixed in a week. Insane.

@JPARKJMC If you enjoy the work enough to stay present instead of looking into the future, you don’t feel like you’re wasting time.

9-5 work life is a joke, how does the world live like this? commute, gym, make dinner and the days gone the only reason why im not having a crisis and am happy is because my work arrangement is a temporary means to an end if i find myself like this in my 30s-40s id go crazy

@Luna__Fox I love to carry one around

@DanimalVal You play bass?

Retirement is sweet

@drewspark @itskaplan 🥹

A few more from this year 📸 Appreciate you Kap, it's a pleasure to work with the best every day. I'm grateful for your hard work, your leadership and our friendship ❤️

@drone_fps We have no choice but to stan a self-reflecting king. Love you Taylor, I believe in you.

Big long tweet about competing, challengers, and my future below. If you don't want to read all'at, TLDR: I would still like to compete but need to regain my love of the process. While I prepare myself and grind, I will be offering coaching services for supplemental income. Discord link: discord.gg/bwqwEqsTxb In the last three years, my decline in the competitive space has been unquestionable and steady. Coming from tier 1 and being a top player in the region, to being relegated out of challengers has been a truly humbling experience. I have learned equally as much about my character and myself in my fall from grace as I had in my ascension to it, which I am grateful for, but the rumination accompanying the failures are taxing. I have come to terms with my failures. I understand them, and I take accountability for them. I have been forced to spend a considerable amount of time seeking introspectively for the reason there has been such drastic change in myself as a player and a competitor. Throughout the different attempts at tackling every problem I could find about myself as a player, one thing remained constant: I always felt like I was fighting an uphill battle. It took a lot of reflection, many good friends, teammates, and mentors for me to realize the truth; I simply have lost my love of the process. This is a difficult reality to face. Losing the very thing that brought me to heights I never thought I could reach is a brutal pill to swallow. My rise to my peak as a player was supported by the sheer work I put in, but the critical difference is that it never felt like work. I simply loved playing val and cs, and the more hours I sunk the better and better I became. The amount of time I put into the game outside of my team practice has fallen to a minute fraction of what it was when I was at my best. Despite the problem being clear to me, the reason for it is more complex. I believe a combination of a bad mentality, a feeling of being disconnected from the community, and poor prioritization of my mental health has led me to actively avoid the process of individual grind and improvement that I used to love. My passion for competition and working with my teammates to improve is still very much alive. I have a strong desire to win and the feeling of winning and achieving new heights with a group of good people is unrivaled. With all of these factors considered, I have a way forward. I will eventually continue competing as a player, and until then I will be spending some time addressing all of the issues that lead to my aversion of the grind. I plan on building myself back up as a player using the same routines that did it the first time. I will not be actively seeking any offers for competition until I feel I have successfully reignited the same passion for the grind I once had out of respect for any potential future teammates. I do not want to be on a roster until I am confident I am the best version of myself, or on a clear path to it. In the meantime, as I prepare myself for competition, for supplemental income I will be starting a coaching service for both individuals and teams. I will be looking for only a small number of clients at the moment to iron out the process. Details are in my discord: discord.gg/bwqwEqsTxb