The birth of Gabe's son and the fact that his friends were there in the waiting room to support him and help him and how happy Gabe was about his son's birth.
The birth of Tycho's daughter, and the description he writes about it ("Girl, You're So Groovy"):.
I very nearly buckled. Not struck dumb, but struck, as a string might be struck, into sound:
It’s me, I said. I’m the one who sang to you.
On this news update, Tycho (referred to by his real name, Jerry, in the update) tells a tale about his mother. He talks about how, when he was a teenager, his mother's church said that Dungeons & Dragons "held within it the clustered seeds of apostasy." She came to PAX, of course, and ended up seeing Of Dice and Men, which bewildered her to the point that she watched the D&D Live panel. After the show, she came up to Tycho, with tears in her eyes, and simply said "I'm sorry, Jerry. I'm sorry. They told me it was something else."
The commentary in the book version makes it better.
Tycho: I remember coming back to the apartment after this went up, seeing Kara get out of Gabe's computer chair, look at me, smile, and wipe tears out of her eyes. I didn't remember that until just now.
Assuming he didn't get some help from Tycho on this, Gabe is apparently a pretty goddamn good writer himself when he really goes for it. That proposal is tear-inducingly beautiful.
Gabe's six-year-old wants to stay up and watch him play D&D. Gabe tells him it's a school night and a game for grownups, and sends him to bed. A little later he gets this note written in crayon: WEN I AM 7 CAN I PLA DUNJNS AND DRAGINS.
When a little girl is cheered up by Gabe's account of a Pokemon tournament. (Scroll down the page for full story.)
Also the way the kids' behaviour convinces Gabe to stop powergaming, "throw away my spreadsheets" and enjoy it more.
The last part of the opening to the third book.
Robert, the man we had met, eventually agreed to be the person who would take things seriously. This seriousness - though not on our part, certainly - brought with it a measure of stability. And from that stability came PAX, the book you are reading, and even Child's Play. It was a reader who made it happen - and got to us before we could destroy the whole thing. One of you. Every good thing in my life that has ever happened to me has been the result of your enthusiasm, you kindness, and your support.
The ending of the Penny Arcade Presents episode in season 3 was a high point. Mike's watercolor of Link gets auctioned off at the Child's Play Charity Dinner, and it goes for $5000.
Mike (Gabe) went to an award ceremony in Las Vegas that Penny Arcade was nominated in, Penny Arcade didn't win, but he got to meet his heroes Jim Davis and Stephen Silver. Stephen Silver even considered him his hero. Mike had Manly Tears over how happy he was.
The generally magnanimous way the pair handled the Mass Effect 3 Child's Play protest and their explanation for what they felt it was time to shut it down. "Child's Play is the cause", indeed.
Even as a person who is not really down with this sort of thing, it had a very pronounced effect on me. It is beautiful, and you can appreciate it either because it's the house of God or because human beings of tremendous talent and passion created something immortal.
Mixed with awesome too, but Mike hearing about how a girl at his son's school likes Slenderman, a game definitely not for 7-8 year olds. So he's going to do something about it by teaching the parents about violent games and why their kids shouldn't play games online in a mature and reasonable way.
This newspost where Jerry describes Christian Boggs, the man who won the 2006 PA Charity Auction with a bid of 20.000$ as "a luminous counterpart to Jack Thompson, a lawyer who uses his powers for good, not evil".
Mike's New Years resolution for 2014 and admitting how much of a Jerkass he can be after he did a lot of soul searching. He explains that he had to harden himself to cope with the bullying he dealt with as a child but turned into one himself and even to this day, he still kind of is one and he hates that and plans to change and separate himself from the angry kid who lashed out at bullies that he used to be. He also speaks about how he wants to make sure that his mistakes don't stop people from donating to Child's Play and enjoying PAX because they're not about Penny Arcade, they're about gamers.
Sam: Grab your coat, Carl. We just quit. Carl: We did? Sam:They were gonna junk you! No one does that to my friend. I guess you work for me now. Carl: Do you mean it? Sam: Yeah, I mean can't pay you much but... Carl: No, I mean... that I'm your friend?
The Megaman 9 Effect. Brings back fond memories for anyone who grew up playing NES games.
comic in which Gabe begins his first ever D&D Campaign (the following comic ruins the moment a bit).
