[AMA] GatoDelFuego

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GatoDelFuego

The Antimonymph of the Internet
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This Ask Me Anything (AMA) thread is a resource provided to you by the Smogon Mentorship Program. In it, feel free to ask this mentor about anything you'd like. They're most prepared to answer Smogon-related questions, but don't be afraid to ask them about their personality and life outside of this site. Have some patience when you post a question in this thread; it will likely take the mentor a few days to reply. If you're looking for our up-to-date list of mentors, check out our Mentor Profiles onsite. Read through their relevant information below, and enjoy!


Username: GatoDelFuego

Areas of Expertise: Contributions & Corrections, The Smog

Background: I began getting into competitive Pokemon sometime around 2009, going from watching youtube battles to Purplesurge (serebii) IRC, where I stayed talking with people I knew for a couple years. It wasn't until early 2011 that I got a Smogon account, and my newness showed. If I recall correctly, one of the first posts I made (and the first thread I ever made) was in The Smog forum, and it was something like "Why aren't there any more of this one article?????". I didn't really do much until early 2012, when I stumbled over into Contributions & Corrections and thought I'd try my hand at some grammar editing. Ironically enough, I was sniped by a placeholder by Shame That (but it didn't matter considering my check was pretty bad).

I'd have to consider the subsequent VMs from him (":/" followed by him explaining what had actually happened) one of the luckiest things that has ever happened to me on Smogon. With a bit of guidance from him and some other GP members, I slowly improved. I'd sent in multiple applications to the GP team leaders, but they eventually stopped contacting me (one of them actually retired from Smogon, haha) and I kind of lost interest in GP. Around that time I took a bit of a break from Smogon and didn't return until that fall. I started fiercely GP checking again, and with some help from sandshrewz and especially Jellicent I was finally on the GP team. It probably seems silly to most people, but I'm really proud of what I've been able to contribute, considering GP checking was the first (and likely the only significant) positive contribution I've done with this site. I got my Ladybug badge after some time GP checking, quickly followed by Contributor. To this day I'm sure only a select few old users top my number of GP checks, which I've never bothered to count but should be somewhere in the hundreds. I also got into grammar checking for The Smog, which gave me a ton of new people to interact with and recently got me my Smogon Media badge. Everyone in Smogon's contribution's areas is such a tight-knit group :)

Hobbies: Outside of Smogon I attend the University of Alabama (Roll Tide!), currently a sophomore majoring in aerospace engineering. I play the sting bass with the university orchestra, which I've been playing for almost 12 years. I'm currently second chair out of all the basses, and I'm poised to lead the bass section next semester :) I'm also the president of my school's small engineering theatre group, which is a small group that was put together by engineers and other non-theatre majors that have been involved in drama. In my free time I basically play video games nonstop, which include Team Fortress 2, Borderlands, Pokemon, and basically anything else I enjoy on steam. I just really love college and studying my field and doing homework, as silly as that sounds!

Favorite Pokemon: Galvantula

Good Questions to Ask Me: Anything about Contributions & Corrections, I can probably answer. Reading and checking literally hundreds of analyses has given me a pretty good overview of nearly every tier and C&C area! I can also give any advice on how to get involved with The Smog. I can help anybody get involved with Grammar/Prose, and answer any questions anybody has on the subject! Also, completely un-Pokemon related, you can also ask me anything about my extensive knowledge of military aircraft n_n
 
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Why do you like airplanes so much?
You are a pro mentor y/n
How does it feel when one of your mentees gets GP?
Why do you refrain from checking prose much?
Why isnt there anything to GP?(follow-up question: why do you do such fast checks)
Do you feel hipster being probs the only smog contrib who didnt write an article?
How old is your avy (why the obsession with cats)
Thats it for now
 

GatoDelFuego

The Antimonymph of the Internet
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
What aircrafts do they store in Area 51
Is big secret, no can tell ya man!

On a serious note, it's actually more well-known stuff like the Aurora hypersonic project (now basically confirmed as the SR-72, blackbird version 2) and stealth UAVs like the Northrop X-47 (which was actually developed at edwards but w/e). The US air force is notoriously bad at keeping area 51 secretive.

Why do you like airplanes so much?
You are a pro mentor y/n
How does it feel when one of your mentees gets GP?
Why do you refrain from checking prose much?
Why isnt there anything to GP?(follow-up question: why do you do such fast checks)
Do you feel hipster being probs the only smog contrib who didnt write an article?
How old is your avy (why the obsession with cats)
Thats it for now
1. Every kid has a "planes" phase, right? I guess I just never stopped. My grandfather was an aircraft technician in WWII, so his stories at an early age really influenced me. His family also lives across the country from me, so my family was flying all over the place. He always wanted me to be an air traffic controller due to my spacial acuity (three-dimensional thinking), which I was also set on for a while, but I was convinced to switch to engineering to actually design aircraft. But aviation has always fascinated me.

2. Yes

3. Considering it's happened exactly once, I can't say for sure. But it feels pretty good to know I can pass on my skills :)

4/5. There's no more analyses to go around! Anyway, I've developed a really fast but methodical method of checking over time. I have a fantastic memory, so I can remember pretty much every instance of something in the standards, meaning I usually can just scan something and pick out the mechanics changes that pop up. I usually don't touch prose as a side effect of this, and because even though sometimes writing might sound a bit strange to me, I still deem it "correct", and so don't want to touch an author's work.

6. Definitely not, considering I'm 100% sure I'm not the first.

7. At least 4-5 years. When I started a forum account for the group I was at on purplesurge, I literally just typed "gato del fuego" into google images and though "wow, that cat is pretty badass!". Cats are awesome so yeah.
 
my roomie and i never killed off the last borderlands boss, the destroyer iirc?

if you have the steam version, you mind hitching up with us so we can clear out that final achievement? :3

galvantula is an awful mon, btw. love ya, man, but damn, fuck spiders

i walked into cobwebs earlier today and i can still feel their boneless creeper jizz on me
 

Celever

i am town
is a Community Contributor
Jogging > Murdering yn

Are you italian? Your name sounds like it.

In the Quote Database thread did you really mean for god's sake or did you want to call Treecko a (BAN ME PLEASE)? Most people do...
 

GatoDelFuego

The Antimonymph of the Internet
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
Jogging > Murdering yn

Are you italian? Your name sounds like it.

In the Quote Database thread did you really mean for god's sake or did you want to call Treecko a (BAN ME PLEASE)? Most people do...
Nah, American born in Canada with half of the family from New Zealand. The name comes from a joke in my Spanish class and means "cat of the fire"

And no Treecko's just really dumb
 
Spanish class, eh? Have you retained any of that Spanish?

Furthermore, you're GatoDelFuego yet you have an agua badge. Explain.
 

GatoDelFuego

The Antimonymph of the Internet
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
Spanish class, eh? Have you retained any of that Spanish?

Furthermore, you're GatoDelFuego yet you have an agua badge. Explain.
I can hold a conversation if I concentrate hard, but most of the teaching was trash anyway. Like I said, I have to try very, very hard.

What can I say? I was predicting volcanion's existence back in 2009
 
Hey GatoDelFuego, do you remember me? :P. I don't think you do, but I'm pretty sure we used to be in a clan together back in the Generation IV days. How have you been doing these days?
 

GatoDelFuego

The Antimonymph of the Internet
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
Hey GatoDelFuego, do you remember me? :P. I don't think you do, but I'm pretty sure we used to be in a clan together back in the Generation IV days. How have you been doing these days?
Chileno! Never thought I'd be seeing you again...well, things have been going pretty well! I'm studying what I love and still try to keep up with pokemon. Purplesurge was a bit of a...complicated history, but I don't think I'll be forgetting it any time.
 

Jukain

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do you even commit

besides the above obvious question,

how long is it until you're a gp mod?

how tall are you?

have you ever stepped back and looked at your old checks, thinking like 'wtf was i doing'?
 

GatoDelFuego

The Antimonymph of the Internet
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
do you even commit

besides the above obvious question,

how long is it until you're a gp mod?

how tall are you?

have you ever stepped back and looked at your old checks, thinking like 'wtf was i doing'?
Bro I commit so hard because it gets me more commit

well isn't that a wonderful question, I DO wonder...

6'3.5'', or just around 2 meters for all you using the non-american correct measuring method

Nah man, they're always perfect. Except the ones I made when I was just amchecking; those are just plain bad.
 
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when you brush your teeth which side of your mouth do you start on first (serious question)

do you proofread non pokemon stuff ever
 

GatoDelFuego

The Antimonymph of the Internet
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
when you brush your teeth which side of your mouth do you start on first (serious question)

do you proofread non pokemon stuff ever
The left side

By proofread, do you mean my own work or correct other things? I'm a ridiculous grammar nazi in real life...if I had a dollar for every improper compound adjective...but my own work? I try to do stuff right the first time, but I suppose code debugging is the closest I'd get.
 

Cresselia~~

Junichi Masuda likes this!!
I totally thought your mother tongue was Spanish because of your username, and your reactions against Americanocentric people/ acts.

What makes you react so vigorously against Americanocentrism?
 

GatoDelFuego

The Antimonymph of the Internet
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
I totally thought your mother tongue was Spanish because of your username, and your reactions against Americanocentric people/ acts.

What makes you react so vigorously against Americanocentrism?
I have literally no idea what that is. And yeah, I'm American / Canadian, not Spanish
 

GatoDelFuego

The Antimonymph of the Internet
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
I don't really know when I've vigorously spoken out against that specifically, but I'm not going to go around saying my country is the best at everything and other nation's opinions aren't valid. That's just dumb! I can't imagine why anybody would do that :(
 

Redew

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Bad user y/n?

Favorite food?

Suck y/y?

Biggest mess up on Smogon?

Where are all of your posts located on my GOODMESS
 

GatoDelFuego

The Antimonymph of the Internet
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
N

Probably garlic bread

:(

I'll make little slip ups sometimes, but aside from some bad posts/threads/rmts many years ago I think I've been pretty good. Generally just being an immature ass when I was younger (I'm sure you'll be able to think of a good example of that :( )
 

Redew

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Ahahahahaha Gato what was your first impression of me? We didn't exactly get off on the right foot
 
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