Advent Calender 2014 - Day 5

[Gift Giver]

Advent Calender 2014

Day 5

Reindeer

Greetings Everyone and welcome to the 2014 Advent Calender. Today is December 5th, which means Day 5 of the Advent Calender and the theme for today (If you couldn't see the big letters above) Is Reindeer! Yes, the wonderful creatures that fly through the Christmas night sky, pulling Santa's sleigh and all of the wonderful gifts for everyone (Or so they did while Santa was still alive..... RIP Santa). But hearing stories like that was one of the many that kids were told while they were young. So I'm curious about what stories you were told as a kid. The stork brings babies, the tooth fairy collects your teeth and leaves money, monsters lurked in your closet. It doesn't necessarily have to deal with a holiday.

After the creative Candy Cane designs, the apparently agonizingly annoying Present Scavenger hunt, and the many Snowy descriptions that I'm slowly working on judging, I've given you an easy event today. So! Can you tell me the stories you believed as a child? And, when/how did you find out it wasn't real?

Here are the rules for this event!

[li]This is a two part event! 1) Tell us the stories you believed as a child but then found out weren't real. 2) Tell us when and how you found out that it wasn't real.[/li][li]This is a Posting Event! This means that all entries are to be posted here in this thread!
[/li][li]This is a ONE DAY EVENT! That means that 24 hours from the time of posting, this event can be closed. Will it be closed immediately after that point? Nope! The thread isn't closed until I say that it is. So if I haven't posted saying it's closed, you can still post your entries.
[/li][li]This event is an "Everyone Wins!" event! I, nor can anyone, judge your stories from when you were a child. So in this one, posting your entries gets you an automatic win![/li][li]I can't believe that no one has not had something they were told as a child that they believed. Maybe your parents told you, or your Aunt or Uncle, perhaps Grandparents, or even your siblings! There has to be something out there that you believed as a child and then found out wasn't real.
[/li][/ul]

• If you have a problem with any of the rules, PM Me! I'm an easy going guy, and if you waiting on a PM from me prevents you from entering this event, no worries. I will give you an extension equal to the amount of time you were waiting on me to respond.
  
• Make sure to follow the four rules I listed in the main thread. Here's a link for convenience sake. (LINK)

Now for the fun part... The prize! The prizes for Day 5's event are... TWO Item Upgrades AND ONE Event/IM Credit! With the Artisan stuff out, we have upgrades for items. Well with this, you get two. You can put it on two different items, or two of them on the same item. Check out The Artisan Overview thread to see what I mean! These can also go to any of your characters. You also receive an Event/IM credit for this. These are needed for certain things like making an Uchiha or becoming a Puppeteer. They also count toward your normal mission count which helps with going to Chuunin Exams or Jounin exams.

For these prizes, however, you need to link the account that the upgrades are going to as well as the item(s) and link the account that you'll be putting the event credit on. Make sure to save the link to this thread as well to show proof that you've received it. At the end, I'll list everyone who has gotten what when I close the event. All entries also enter you into a chance to win the five prize packages at the end. Plus, remember that you have to participate in all 24 events to receive a special prize package at the end! So go ahead and tell us what thing you believed as a child!
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[Father 'Suke]

Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age the child is grown, and puts away childish things. Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies.

-- Edna St. Vincent Millay

As a child I, and many other children, were told that death was actually a very deep sleep. The original story being said to me in an unorthodox manner unlike most who hear this tale. I was told that the thanksgiving turkey took my parent and flew off to some distant land where my parent would happily be set for life with plenty to eat and read. That one day the turkey would bring the parent back and that we would be happily reunited. The story was told when I was six by my mother's sister. Needless to say I would find out about the tragic story's falsehood four years later when at school we actually learned about the definition of death due to an argument I had with a teacher. I was a very rowdy child, tantrums and so on. Anyways, as the quote above says, childhood is not just believing in fairy tales but also believing that there is no death. It is this land of deathless encounters that the lie was told and believed as a child on to such a state as afterwards. Truly, I believed that she would awaken at one point until reality came crashing down.


Prizes: katana from this account will get both upgrades and the event/IM credit here as well.

SPOILER: Click to show

Katana
Rank: "C"
Type: Main, Slashing, Sword
Effect: A weapon with a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: A One-Handed Weapon. These weapons do +8 Amour Points of Damage. A longsword (also spelled long sword, long-sword) is a type of sword characterized as having a cruciform hilt with a grip for two handed use and a straight double-edged blade of around 100–122 cm (39–48 in). The longsword is characterised not so much by a longer blade, but by a longer grip, which indicates a weapon designed for2-handed use or 1-handed use. Examples of Longswords: Katana, Jian, Tachi, Scimitr, Shinai, and Waster.
Limit: These items may be bought inside any Weapon Shop.
Cost: 4,000 Ryo

from overview to superior

[Draven]

I think I realized it at a very young age. When I was three or four years old I remember visiting Santa Claus at a community center. Then at a mall, then Christmas night. The thing about meeting Santa Claus that many times and even if you are that young you notice the differences. Differences in height, beards were obviously fake, One even had bad breath. But all in all the realization that these Santas were not the real one got me to thinking. Or rather it was more of a feeling about this "play" that we call Christmas. To me it was just a normal thing that the parents do for their kids. So it was no big deal, I wasn't shocked or anything, I simply played along as if playing pretend in some imaginary game. I never let my parents or anyone know that I didn't trust the story of Santa Claus, I simply went along with it. Which kid wouldn't go along with it? You get toys and all that stuff after all.

Of course now looking back at it, because of this I don't think I really ever believed in the tooth fairy either. Nor the Easter bunny or any other fair tale that was told to me. Again I played along and all because well I was still a kid playing pretend, or going with the festivities of the holidays, but I knew better. But on the opposite spectrum of the fair tales that are told to children when, I believed in monsters in the dark. It wasn't the boogy man or anything like that, no I believed in monsters that I thought up myself. Or rather in my mind it was simply unexplained noises or figures in the dark, and that was scary enough for me.

[Seira Kimura]

Both prizes will be going to this account, thanks! I'll be using the enhancement on the longsword on this account, making it Superior for +10 Striking Damage and +2 Defense.

As I child my head was always up in the air. Because of a difficult childhood, stories and fantasies were the only thing where I could let my mind escape into a reality and away from life (probably what eventually led me to rping). However because of this, I was easily duped into falsehoods and other stories by my elders and rather rude creative friends. (Just as a small insertion of relevant site humor: there was this time my best friend convinced my younger cousin that she was the female version of Naruto). But, in spirit of the holiday, I did indeed believe in Santa Claus. That magical, mysterious man that would give out presents to little kids that had been good (and bad, don't let them lie, no proper parent would want to see their kid upset about getting coal just because they're bad, just imagine their fit when they got it!).

I never really got much, and most of it was usually signed from my mom, but they did put the occasional thing from Santa - albeit not the "cool" stuff. At some point in my early life, I just started to doubt in Santa. It seemed more farfetched to me the older I got, and I began to grow suspicious. Why were the presents I saw my mom buying my sister suddenly from Santa? When did Santa get there when the presents would appear in the same room our family had to sleep in, while I was wide awake the entire night from anticipation for the morning? It just became less believable and I accepted it as the truth. Of course, those Christmas movies with the doubting kids with the logical explanation of it being from their parents was pretty big hint too, just saying.

[Tora Tsume]

Oh boy! Where to start?

Bein Russian, I wasn't taught about Santa. In the Russian tradition, Santa's role is taken by someone called "Grandpa Frost" - who looks just like santa. Only in blue. He also comes with an amazing sidekick! A hot babe named "Snowflake" - she's usually blonde, young and pretty damn fine! It's mainly believed that Grandpa frost comes to visit the children, and if they get up on a chair and recite a poem for him, he will give them a present!

SPOILER: Click to show

How did I find out it wasn't real? I have no clue. I honestly can't remember how I found out about this old guy being fiction. I guess my parents were just straight with me, told me I'm a big boy and that it was all a myth. They still gave me presents though, so who cares, right?

[Deleted]

This account. Idgaf about the weapon upgrades.

It sounds suspect, but I pretty much always thought the idea of Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy and all that a bit far-fetched, not helped by the fact that my parents, while relatively sporting, weren't too fond of filling my head with the ideas of magic (that was not strictly Islamic), so my idea of Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy and such was mainly gathered from my peers.

When my first tooth fell out about the age of 5-6, I woke up that night to my parents gently lifting my pillow up to replace my tooth with a coin. I pretended like I didn't wake up, but I remember thinking "Thought so", before falling back to sleep.

Not long after I asked if Santa Claus was really real, and my parents almost seemed proud of me for asking the question. "No, but don't tell the other kids." "Why not?" "Because they think Santa Claus is real!"

...I did so anyway. C:

[zarak729]

Lots of stories a believed in when I was a child. My head was in the clouds half the time so I'm not surprised. If the story was believable and told convincingly you had me hooked. The fact that I was a gullible as hell didn't help either. I remember once my grandmother told me not to leave the house at night. This was while we were visiting them at the village. I asked her why. She said something along the lines of malicious spirits gather in the trees at that time and if you pass under the trees then they will descend upon you and take over your body...

Kinda believable right? At that time it was, I was getting into religion so spirits were believable.

As I grew up my head didn't fall from the clouds. But I did install a dome of glass around my head, to keep people from reaching in and taking advantage. Now I see their beliefs and ideas while able to decide what I choose to believe in, never taken advantage of will I be again as long as I remember the words of one of the greatest men of our generation.

SPOILER: Click to show

"Its the basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies. The only variable is about what." 
                                    ~Dr. Gregory House M.D

[Deleted]

I was pretty gullible as a child, I can even still be just as gullible to this day. Although I had always had my suspicions that Santa Claus wasn't real, as with the Tooth Fairy and the other fictional characters. I guess gullible isn't the right way to put it... I was a smart kid it's just that I wanted to believe in all of these stories so much I forced myself.

Until eventually I got curious and fell asleep on the couch one Christmas night to see my parents placing presents under the tree, I pretended as if I was still asleep; much like Kaizu, I remember thinking something along the lines of "I knew it, damn".

The Tooth Fairy was much more difficult to prove wrong, simply because my teeth rarely fell out; combined with the fact that I was an incredibly heavy sleeper. I never quite managed to catch my parents in the act. When I finally did have one of my teeth fall out I placed it under my pillow.

Naturally the following morning there was money under my pillow... along with the customary empty two letre milk carton just laying on my bedroom floor. I stared at it blankly for at least half an hour, unsure of what to think of it; just sat in my bed.

After which I brought it over to my parents bedroom, and with an empty milk carton in my hand asked the question; "The Tooth Fairy isn't real, is she?"

Yeah... it was pretty awkward.

[The God Damn Otokage]

I never had Santa or the Easter Bunny or any of those. My mom told me from te get go they weren't real. My step-grandfather liked to invent stories though. And he made them real.

I grew up very close to a lake. In winter it would freeze over an you could skate on it. My grandfather told me the story of Snow Fish. They were fish that lived in the lake. They had razor sharp teeth an were only active in winter. They would come up through the holes created by ice fishers at night and travel through the snow banks looking for children to drag back to the freezing waters for them to devour. He went so far as to making tracks when I wasn't around and showing them to me.

I can't say when I stopped believing in them. Just a natural thing with age. His second story stuck with me though. When my little cousin was old enough to be scared he told us about flying spiders. Also child eaters of course. He used to rig fake spiders in wires and send them zooming past windows. I know they aren't real now, again just something I grew out of, but to this day I'm afraid of spiders.

[Oron Kazeraikou]

I was an innocent child who believed in just about everything. I believed in Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and just about any other fictional character. My whole family kept the idea up until one of the kids found out or they were old enough to tell them, and once a kid knew, they just kept on helping the others believe. I believe there is something special behind these types of things that are more important than whether they are real or not. I think a child’s innocence is a thing that should be preserved for as long as it can be.

The only reason I really found out was that my parents finally told me when I got older. It’s not like it devastated me or really even bothered me. It’s like it ruined my trust in my parents or anything and looking back I am glad I was able to keep my innocence until that point. I then went on to keep up that tradition of telling these things to the younger kids in my family. I will continue on the tradition with my kids as well and tell them all these stories and protect their innocence for as long as possible.

P.S. This account for the Event credit

One upgrade to each of my Katanas on this account as well with + 10 striking damage

SPOILER: Click to show

Sword, Longsword (Overview)

Rank: "C"

Type: Main, Slashing, Sword

Effect: A weapon with a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard.

Special: ---

Drawback: ---

Description: A One-Handed Weapon. These weapons do +8 Amour Points of Damage. A longsword (also spelled long sword, long-sword) is a type of sword characterized as having a cruciform hilt with a grip for two handed use and a straight double-edged blade of around 100–122 cm (39–48 in). The longsword is characterised not so much by a longer blade, but by a longer grip, which indicates a weapon designed for2-handed use or 1-handed use. Examples of Longswords: Katana, Jian, Tachi, Scimitr, Shinai, and Waster.

Limit: These items may be bought inside any Weapon Shop.

Cost: 4,000 Ryo

[Raika Tatsu]

When I was a child, I believed in several of the big holiday characters. Santa Claus was the main one. Coming from a Hispanic family, the Easter Bunny wasn't a thing outside of my peers, while the Tooth Fairy was barely used. I quickly figured out that the Tooth Fairy wasn't real, just because I was always a very curious child. I loved reading, anything I could, but especially about unusual things and history (mainly dealing with mythology and the like).

This was mainly how I learned the truth about people like Santa Claus. While I was only just a little younger than the average kid when they learned the truth, I learned it from reading first. Being always curious and logically/scientifically minded, I was always a bit skeptical of things like that, while at the same time wanting to believe in all those kinds of things. After reading about such things, I talked with my parents to confirm my findings, and of course they relented, rather proudly in fact. I kept such things secret from my younger brothers, but eventually they too became inquisitive and learned the truth. It never really affected me that much because it made so much more sense that it was my parents. Yet, I was more than happy to keep believing in things like certain modern-day legends (i.e. Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, aliens, etc.) and in many ways still do, though I am much more logical in thus respect. Still, I loved knowing the truth while many of my friends did not. Nerd for the win!

[Infinite Swordsman Trace]

Young Beltran really did grow up as a normal kid. Believed in Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and whatnot. But what he believed most out of all of it is Santa Claus. When Beltran was young, his father and mother made sure Beltran got everything he needed and sometimes what he wanted. Clothes, school supplies and enough power rangers figures to choke your nostalgia goblins for years. But Santa had an accomplice, the furry Sasquatch demon from hell. See, Papa Beltran is half German so obviously the story of Saint Nicholas and the Krampus was passed down from him to his son, Beltran. This creature scared little Beltran so much that he never dared speak out of line, misbehave or be just a little trouble maker come November. Beds were checked under, shades closed and curtains pulled over that.

Well, when little Beltran was 7 years old, Papa Beltran had devised a little trick. A mask Papa Beltran had brought back from a trip of Germany was placed upon his head and laid in wait just outside of little Belt's bedroom window on Christmas eve. A commotion outside had stirred little Beltran to wake up, little did he know it was his father scarring his son for LIFE. (I swear to god, this thing was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen in my life. Horns, fur, a terrifying scowl. I have no idea where my father got this thing, but it scared the piss out of me.) Opening the curtains, little Beltran was face to face with not Santa Claus... but something that scared him even straighter until he was 14. Grabbing at little Beltran from outside. The Faux Krampus made little Beltran scream and hide under his bed until dawn. Parents attempted to get him out, but he wouldn't come out until dawn had broken. The fear of that night still lays with Belt. At the age of 14, Beltran was told the truth and revenge was had years later when the same mask was used to scare the living hell out of Papa Beltran. Beltran was relieved to find out there was no Krampus, but saddened there was no Santa Claus.

[Penitence]

As a child I grew up in a very relaxed environment, my folks wern't really interested in telling me about santa claus or the easter bunny or Jesus or w/e. So I grew up mostly just believing that the world was empty of wonder and we all sort of just came to be through random chance. Big bang etc.

Then when i was about fifteen years old I started to question everything I'd been taught when it started making less and less sense, and by about eighteen was called to Christ and have been deeply faithful ever since. The big bang is a lie people.

-:-

This account for both the artisan and event rewards: narutoforumrp.proboards.com/user/11017





The artisan rewards will be masterwork and pristine, and will be applied to the sabre in this thread: narutoforumrp.proboards.com/thread/105372/lucius-scarred




Thankyou!

[acids]

As a youth, I can vaguely remember believing in the tooth fairy, as when it came time to lose teeth, that was when I was actually excited. Of course, given the trade of tooth for dollar, I tried desperately to lose all of my baby teeth in order to reap in a cash load in a quick manner; that didn't work so well, though, for it took years to finally lose all my teeth and that's when I began to hear rumors from older cousins...

Around the age of eight, I had heard from another that the tooth fairy wasn't real. To make matters worse--or rather, to verify such claims--I stayed up one night when I was to expect the tooth fairy, and in psuedosleep, I witnessed my mother placing money underneath my pillow. Did it sadden me? No, not necessarily, as I still received my reward, but I grew up and figured that parents told their kids the story of the tooth fairy to add to the special feeling that comes along with being an imaginative child.

Then, that's when that scary tooth fairy movie came out, probably several years later. Spooky shit back then.

SPOILER: Click to show

will PM you at a later time to discuss rewards for this contest

actually, event credit to this account

perfected and masterwork to the muramasa-katana of this account

[Y]

Janus Yeider

[/link]

Humorously enough, I was never an imaginative child. I was rarely drawn in by these ridicoulous stories which were dispensed by adults to me during my childhood. Quite ironic, my joining of an RP site after many years of limited imagination. But I guess I grew into my imagination much more than many did.

But I recall being completely convinced that vending machines were a cruel device. They captured these small people, and shoved them inside. They were forced to work to get out the specific drink which was requesting. Back in those days, the things were so loud... it must have been a horrible place to be. My sister who spun this tale convinced me that the least I can do is yell my thanks loudly to the machine whenever I buy something. I can only imagine how many times I looked a fool in public due to this.

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[The Bearer of Bad News]

It seems like almost a cliché at this point to say that as a child we firmly believed that santa clause was a reality, only to sneak down the stairs and spot mommy and daddy placing the gifts themselves, et cetera. To say that we believed in the tooth fairy, only to be awoken accidentally by a grandparent, or that the easter bunny was in fact our aunts and uncles. the story goes that we're supposed to find out for ourselves, and have our dreams crushed privately only to never tell anyone.

well, when I was a wee lass, one year at a time after becoming a teenager...I never had that. I was given the spoilers, so to speak. as the middle of five cousins, I was actively informed one by one by various relatives that everything I had once thought to be a universal fact was an elaborate deception. oh dear gods was it elaborate. and apparently every adult in the world was in on it. and then I was brought into the fold, involved in furthering the illusion of magic to the younger generations just a little longer. seeing their naïve faces light up during the holidays really cushioned the blow.

I cant help but hope privately though that maybe we're all wrong, and that we're really just taking a difficult job performed by one fantastic individual and...lightening the load.

[xenosheedin]

The house i grew up in had no chimmney. When I asked my mother how santa got in if there was no chimmney. She just laughed and brought me to the front door. Hanging from the outside of the door was an old looking bronze key. She told me it was a magic key, and when santa came to the door and held it, It became the key to our front door.

Of course the magic ended the same way most people find out. I woke up when I heard someone moving in the living. I saw my mom moving presents under the tree. And if there was no Santa, there's no magic key

[Ikki Ko]

Another dark tale of Coal's life...

As a child growing up, my mom would frequently assure me that my father loved us, which is why he paid the child support. Of course, I believed her, because how would I know if he did or didn't. I would ask, she would back her story up, and we would carry on with our lives. That was just how it went.

How I found out that was bullshit...

Recently, about three years ago or so, my father came to visit. We had fun, we called him dad, not Daniel or anything. It was good times, he went home, and we kinda stayed in touch. However, he pretty much doesn't really speak to us at all, too busy with his own bullshit or whatever, and that's fine. Of course, that's also how I know he doesn't love us, cause he can't take the time to even say hi and ask how the fuck it's going. Fantastic. Probably only paid the child support out of guilt.

[Nira]

Account:
narutoforumrp.proboards.com/user/359

Planning to place the event credit on this account.
Planning to place both artisan upgrades on my Masterwork Longsword, thereby making it an Advanced Longsword: +20 Striking & +2 Defense against automatic destruction.

---

I used to live with my grandparents in China. During this time, I was roughly six or seven years old.

There was this night when, while lying on the couch with grandma, I saw two lights coming from our kitchen. I asked my grandma what they were. She said that the lights were the eyes of the children-eating night dragon. When kids were being rude and disrespectful, the night dragon eats them up.

That was the last time I went to the kitchen for night-time fruits.

After first grade was over and done with, I came back to the USA.

I told my parents about the children-eating night dragon, and asked if it came around the US to eat children. They said it was probably just some streetlights coming in through the apartment window curtains. I pretty much believe that now, though I was unsure when I first came back from China.

---

My mommy used to tell me that if I made a circle with my hands by touching my fingers together, my soul would fall into the hole I made and I'd keep falling forever.

Now I'm pretty sure that doesn't happen.

Still too afraid to put my hands together, though.

[Gift Giver]

Just going to make another mention here as a lot of people haven't yet...

Put what prizes you're getting here. What item is getting the upgrades, what the upgrades are, what account its for, and what account you're putting the event credit on. A lot of the posts here are missing their prizes, so I'm just making a mention here to put that in your post.