Evening of Tuesday, November 17, 2020 (comprised of some raw note editings from April 29 through April 30, 2023 that I really hope sound consistent because I left it alone for too long)
Shrine Out Of Time 2 - Grace Under Pressure
I was at my Hateno House.
How long had it been? How long had it been since I had played? Or at least since I had been at Ben’s house, watching him play, or Dottie, or Mary, or whoever it was?
They have a WiiU, now, and Breath of the Wild, and game files of their own.
They’re loving it.
And we have so much fun talking about it.
Talking.
I never really put or imagined any bars against Word-Of-Mouth. Not something so old and basic and pure.
There was no harm there.
And we had been talking about all the shrines we had been to, and Ben had brought up that crazy lady on the beach, fawning over the ancient Shrine-Orb and calling it Roscoe....
What?
They’d known, I think, that I had every single shrine in the game except for one.
Fair enough odds for talk.
But when Ben saw the incomprehension on my face, the not recognizing, the hungry, affronted, but still piqued eyes.... he made his own surprised face.
And I pursued after the general location from him....
Something about a beach....
Something about south of the.... that stable.... the one near the Horse God....
Roscoe....
And I tucked it away for later.
And later came, and went.
It’s just been so hard.
This year, I guess.
!
I didn’t even remember to put the date.
It’s fixed now.
What happened to my writing?
I used to write on my lunches.
Oh how I used to write! All through lunch and bleeding over into work time again, simply because I could, if we were caught up.
But I didn’t like that job.
They treated me well. Very well. And they paid me well. I had great benefits. There was often food. Lots of treats. Birthdays often meant whole lunch outings. There were holidays, and barbecues. My manager was great. My coworkers were warm and friendly.
But I didn’t like any of the horizons I could see at that job.
I didn’t want to live on that mountain.
There was nothing there. Nothing fulfilling.
And so in February, I took a leap of faith.... and got a different job.
I started it the first Monday in March, right before the madness hit.
And I’ve been there ever since.
Only now.... at home. Where I am not isolated in a cubicle with nothing but my computer, but where all the blasted house is open to me any time I want.
I miss.... the constraints. The pressure.
Pressure.... allows for friction.
And friction allows for movement.
We’re not supposed to live like this.
That’s what happened to my writing.
It’s so close at hand, that I can do it any time.
And that’s the problem.
But tonight.... Something made me get on tonight.
I guess there is a kind of pressure, somewhat.
I’m running out of time.
You see, there is a game that I preordered earlier.
Huh—has it only been within this year?
For when I left my previous job, I cashed in my “EPIC” points—some goofy system of kudos and praise where you can accumulate points and get a fancy pen or something after like five years—and I got what was honestly the most appealing thing I could find in the entire catalogue: a $25 gift card to GameStop.
And then what seems like much later—a month ago? Two months?—something was announced. Some game was announced. Something beyond which I knew there would be no more hope for me. Something that indeed I wanted to suck me in and carry me away....
It’s hard.... journaling a game.
I think.... I miss being carried away all in a rush.... It’s hard to remember.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.
Goodness. Gracious. Me.
And so.... back when it was announced, I went to my local GameStop.... and with the help of the gift card that I’d been holding onto for months, I preordered the upcoming game.
And it comes out this Friday.
So I knew.... that it was time to strike out and find.... this Roscoe....
Huh. I just vomited those two pages straight into the document in.... not a lot of time.
Maybe my writing’s not so gone as I thought. ☼
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