January 2012
Dypo deLina
Someone fix that crack in the ceiling. There's water dripping out of it.
I personally select each month's Member of the Month. People are picked based on their contributions to the community, whether they are: making excellent trials, providing comic relief or just being a brilliant person. The next Member of the Month could be you!
If you have any questions about the Member of the Month system, please PM me.
Dypo is this month's interviewee. He's been here a long time, but only made his first successful trial recently with Wackyman in the Fire and Ice competition. That's not to say he hasn't done much. This place just wouldn't be the same without Dypo, who has always played a big role in our community.
Dypo: It truly is both an honour and a pleasure to be here. *bows to the non-existent audience flamboyantly*
Of course, it is not at all a surprise that I would be chosen. *cough* Especially considering I barely did anything noteworthy over the course of January *cough*
Meph: Oh ok. I'll choose someone else. Bye.
Dypo: N-N-NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
On a more serious note though, I'm happy to be elected and there's not much else to say about it.
*2 minutes later* W-Wait, don't tell me you were serious! D:
Meph: Well I guess you can stick around. How are you?
Dypo: Ph-Phew! xD
For a second there, I thought I had just destroyed my only chance to be Member of the Month, haha.
Anyway, I suppose I'm fine... aside from a particularly itchy spot at the base of my neck, which isn't important I suppose.
...Okay, I admit it, I am not fine at all. I mean, where's the audience? Where are all the fans? Where are the chicks my position as Member of the Month should be attracting?! D:
Meph: They come later. And then they forget about you the next day.
Dypo: But... then what purpose is there in being MotM? The chicks and the fans are only temporary... oh well, it's an honour anyway. Maybe. Kinda. Sorta.
Also... is there any particular reason they call you Mr. Eater?
I mean, it never occurred to me before, but now that I'm alone in a room with you, I must admit it makes me kind of nervous...
You... don't eat Members of the Month and replace them with fakes afterward... DO YOU?! D:
THERE'S NO USE DENYING IT! I KNOW IT'S THE TRUTH! D:
Meph: Er. Erm. Let's swiftly move on to the questions. How did you find AAO, and what made you want to join?
Dypo: ...The fact that you are ignoring my question just confirmed my hunch! D: But that's okay... because you'll never be able to eat me anyways... hahaha...
...All right then. How did I find AAO? I've answered that question a lot of times already... but okay, I can't expect you to remember that considering you ARE an eye with limited memory capacity...
Anywho, I merely randomly stumbled upon a link to AAO in someone's sig, back when I still frequented GameFAQs, and, as it turned out, it just so happened that I'd just finished playing the Ace Attorney games... so I decided to check it out. As for why... I dunno. I guess I just liked the prospect of making my own case, with my own characters...
In other words, extremely blatant self-insert.
Of course, it's not self-insert anymore... but yeah. It definitely used to be.
Meph: What's your favourite fan trial on AAO?
Dypo: Hmm... it's pretty close, but I'd say it's Turnabout of Courage, with One Hell of a Turnabout and Sirens coming in as close seconds.
My reasons for that are simple... first off, ToC is a very well-pulled-off AU, and I love the heck out of those. Furthermore, the concept of multiple endings hasn't really been exploited by trial authors (other than Zeel and his 'The Most Important Trial Ever Held', which featured three different endings). Couple that with an elaborate crime, brilliant characterization, custom sprites, an epic soundtrack, and new gimmicks, and you have a recipe for the best fantrial up to date.
Now, One Hell of a Turnabout and Sirens snag the second place because they hold some of those elements as well... though they both rank high for a few more reasons. For One Hell of a Turnabout, it was the concept - a trial in Hell that turned out to be one big farce: brilliant, and just as brilliantly executed.
Sirens, on the other hand, scores points because of its length and its emotional story. It's just very enthralling... it's sort of hard to describe. Plus, the new trial theme is just yummy... although that's sort of part of the 'soundtrack' bit which I've already covered... oh well.
Meph: Let's talk about your first public trial. One that was so good, it won the Fire and Ice competition!
Dypo: Hey, let's not forget - that trial was a collab. Wackster worked on it a lot too... maybe even more than I did.
Meph: Ha ha. Yes, but you still had an involvement in it. Did you enjoy making it? What was it like working with Wackyman?
Dypo: I had a blast, really! xD Wackster is an awesome guy to work with, and he's a great dialogue writer. I'm not sure how many times I laughed at a joke he incorporated, but I definitely laughed a lot. The only downside was that we both got addicted to Persona 3 at some point (although he got addicted to Persona 3 FES while I got addicted to Persona 3 Portable), which undermined our attempts to get a higher framecount... still, we managed to win, so it's not all bad. xD
Meph: Well, frame counts aren't everything. Are there any plans for any more trials? I've seen some of your own trials that you're working on, and some of them involve *shudder* My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic!
Dypo: Do not fret, dissident - for in due time, all living beings shall be assimilated into the herd, where, ultimately, they rightfully belong.
RESISTANCE... IS FUTILE.
NWEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEEEEEEEEEE~!!
On a more serious note, no, I currently don't have any plans for more trials... mainly because there are still so many unfinished trials in my Trial Manager that it's become kinda hard to find a trial when I want to work on it...
xD
Meph: When did you start spriting?
Dypo: It was... a little over a year ago, I think. In 2010, early... September? *checks* Oh, so it was actually the middle of September. Oh well, I almost got it right. xD I seem to recall seeing a thread King Treuth (who's left now) made, which featured a sprite he made... I wanted to crit the sprite, but I felt bad doing that when I knew I couldn't do anything better, so... I actually went and tried the spriting biz for myself!
And... this was the abominable result of my first attempt. xD It's laughably bad, but... yeah. For some reason I thought THAT was a legitimate sprite at the time... how I could've possibly thought that will remain an unsolved enigma. Good times, good times...
Meph: Moving on to Real Life, what was your childhood like?
Dypo: Well, I kinda remember I used to be sort of a lone wolf when I was younger... leading me to believe that the stuff people say about kids who go to preschool being more social is a load of rubbish. Honestly, looking back at my youth, it's kind of like I was living in my own world, somewhere inside my head. Needless to say I stuttered a lot when asked something...
Despite all that though, I still excelled at a lot of subjects in elementary / primary school, and even got a 10/10 for a speech-ish thing on Dinosaurs, which, looking back now, I totally didn't deserve in my opinion. xD Anyway, of course that closed mindset I used to have also meant I was extremely awkward around girls... sometimes treating them as different life-forms entirely, pretending I'd die if touched. Rubbish, I know. I honestly have no idea why I was like that, though... my parents nurtured me the same way they nurtured my bro, who never had these problems in the first place.
Anywho, luckily all these little things have vanished now; I'm able to speak clearly, relate to others, act normal around girls, and all that jazz... now all that's left is to overcome my laziness.
...Hmm, maybe I should stop lying to myself. Laziness is part of my being and as such, it's only logical to assume it can't be overcome! :3
Meph: What is your average day like?
Dypo: I typically wake up at 6:30 AM (no, not PM ), take a shower, have breakfast, and then go to school. If I'm quick, I'll manage to squeeze in some browsing the internet in-between. I've got school from 8:30 AM up until 4:00 PM. After that, I hang out with my friends or go straight home and finish my homework (which I sometimes neglect on mondays due to piano lessons and choir rep). Then I help out at my parents' shop until 6:30 PM and after that I browse the internet for a bit... or I finish the homework I didn't manage to finish when the shop was still open. Either way, I then go to bed at about 11:00 PM or so, sometimes earlier.
Meph: Piano lessons? Choirs? Helping out at your parents' shop? Sounds like your weeks are quite busy. How did you get involved in these activities?
Dypo: Um... I guess it's my 'Eh, why not? What could possibly go wrong?' attitude that gets me into that kind of mess... every time something interesting is offered to me, I just accept without thinking of the possible repercussions... granted, the 'messes' I get involved in usually are fun, so I don't mind that much.
For example, my piano lessons. They aren't usually that hard, but what kind of irks me is that me and my bro don't usually get songs to practice, but rather, so-called 'etudes'. Still, some of the etudes are very well-composed and melodious, and they tend to form interesting challenges. As for choir practice, it's pure fun. I mean, it can be hard to hit the right notes, but once I get immersed into the songs it just gives me a soothing feeling, like I can momentarily forget all my problems (e.g. school). I remember when I did a solo part once... it went pretty well, luckily, although I had hardly practiced and I was bloody nervous at the time. The audience was positive though, which is a good thing... xD
Meph: What are your future aspirations?
Dypo: I'm not completely sure yet... I'm studying medical sciences though, so I imagine I might become a general practitioner so I'll be able to stay close to my family and see my kids grow up... I used to consider specializing as a neurologist or something, but that would require me to be away from home a lot... and then I'd miss my kids' youth... and that's not a very appealing prospect, at least to me.
Meph: So is family a really important part of your life?
Dypo: Yeah, I suppose you could say that. I've always been close to my parents and I cant barely imagine eventually moving out... ironically enough, though, more than half of my family is back in Indonesia, and I can barely communicate with them as my Indonesian is a lot less than perfect. xD Still, I care about them a lot, and I recently found myself wanting to grow even closer to them. To that end, I've been studying Indonesian on my own and frequently practicing it with a cousin of mine via Facebook.
The bond within our family is most evident during Christmas though - no contest. Because every relative that resides in the Netherlands gathers on that day - a little over 30 people. It definitely tends to get a little bit crazy at times, but also crazily fun. Yep, Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year...
Meph: What is your favourite Ace Attorney game?
Dypo: Hmm... I'd have to say Ace Attorney Investigations. That's not to say I didn't like the other ones, though, I just like AAI more. xD I mean, honestly, it had the most badass characters ever to appear in an Ace Attorney game. Gotta love the wolf-related metaphors. xD
Silly reasons for preferring it over the other games aside though, I really liked its story. The way it could all be traced back to that trial in the past was amazing, and as always, I enjoyed the elaborate crimes a lot. The fact that it starred Miles Edgeworth as the main character also played a part, of course - his sophisticated way of thinking, mixed with the quirky sarcasm he prefers to keep to himself makes for a balanced and, above all, interesting mélange which made Edgeworth even more fascinating a character than I thought he was prior to playing the game.
Meph: What other games do you really like?
Dypo: What, you been living under a rock? I thought I'd made it pretty clear that Persona is the most awesome series ever to exist!
...Oh, you mean other than Persona. Well, I also really enjoyed Devil Survivor, The World Ends With You, Disgaea, LoZ: Phantom Hourglass / Spirit Tracks, Luminous Arc 1 and 2, Heroes of Mana, and various other games which slip my mind at the moment... Oh! Dragon Quest IX. Awesome game. Oh, and FF Chocobo Tales and FF Chronicles were very good as well...
Hmm... nope, those are all the games that come to mind at the moment.
Meph: Last question, now. Do you have any other interests?
Dypo: Aside from everything I've already mentioned, I also really like reading books. Just like games, they provide me with the opportunity to immerse myself into a different reality, and to find other ways to see my own reality... they also serve as a means to expand my vocabulary in other languages, which is also a plus. Lastly, there's frequenting forums, but that should go without saying. xD
Meph: Before we finish, is there anything else you'd like to say?
Dypo: Oh, heck yeah, there is! First off, I'd like to give a shout-out to Mii-sama, whose date of descent is exactly three years ago today! If I didn't screw up somehow, you'll probably have a full report of Timely Chronograph in your trial thread now. Enjoy it! Second, I'd like to give a shout-out to Whirl, who specifically asked me to mention him somehow, and well... I forgot. But now I have after all! xD
Lastly, I'd like to say something to AAO as a whole: thank you all for being such a wonderful, tight-knit community where I can feel 'at home'~! <3 Peace out, man.
Meph: Thanks for the interview. Bye!
Dypo: The pleasure was all mine, Meph.