Recent headlines
World: Notre-Dame Cathedral: Firefighters tackle blaze in Paris (This is happening as I type, and it’s a damn shame. I hope nobody gets hurt.)
Gaming: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order – Release Date and Everything We Know (This should be out by the time this publishes, but with the gaming industry the way it is, a delay might be a blessing)
(Skip this first paragraph if you’re still avoiding Game of Thrones Season 8 spoilers.)
I’m at my family reunion, and it’s safe to say that would should have been a long-awaited pleasant homecoming is instead fraught with tension. My sister keeps disappearing without a trace, nobody knows how to talk to act around my brother with his new disability, and my eldest brother and sister have fallen out over his new girlfriend, who’s also come over to stay. It doesn’t help that she’s brought her fully-grown dragons with her. And- wait a minute, I’m not a Stark. I’m just so incredibly invested in this show that I’ve forgotten what reality is.
That’s right, Game of Thrones is back, and I spent hours upon hours last night watching fan theory videos and deep dives into the lore of the World of Ice and Fire. The show is on its eighth and final season, and while future Kristian and possibly you, reader, know how it ends, the Kristian who is writing this does not, and is uncertain as to what a post-Thrones life even looks like. Hell, I’m listening to the soundtrack while writing this and Mother of Dragons from the second season just came on; the hairs on the back of my neck just stood up. This show has done a better job of exploring a living world of people and families and politics and war than any other piece of fiction that I’ve ever explored. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that it’s also home to dragons and zombies and wolfboys and giants.
Reality, however, persists around me, and as arduous as it is I suppose I’m along for the ride, so let’s focus on that. I’ve been focusing on putting more goodness into the world recently, by way of small favours sprinkled in with the occasional grander gesture. Thing is, this isn’t something I’ve decided to do consciously, it’s just something I noticed myself doing when looking back over the last few weeks. And it’s all a bit wanky to go on about it, so I won’t, but I do want to mention that the feeling of doing something good for another human being is a natural high that is actually quite addictive. When I was sixteen I wanted to save the world, and I often give myself shit for that; it was a dream born of a desire to be seen as someone important, as a hero figure, and therefore my positive outlook on life was forced, false and doomed to fail. This latest bout of good behaviour, for want of a better term, isn’t from a place of wanting to be seen in any particular way, but is simply built on the fact that it makes me feel like my life has that little bit more value. It’s still a selfish motivation when all is said and done, but a less delusional one. I’ll take it.
I think that, when I was younger, I was so obsessed with the idea of being remembered that I lost my way in fears of being forgotten, and of ceasing to exist. Having navigated my way through this existential crisis, however, I’m happier to just make a smaller impact on the here and now. It’s no great change in my lifestyle or some grand epiphany; I think it’s just an indication that I’m in a better place than I was in 2018. (Hoo boy. What a year.)
I was going to talk about Nintendo Labo VR after that but I think that would that tonal shift would give you whiplash, dear reader, but if you are interested in my thoughts, feel free to check out the Weekly Deathmatch episode about it below.
Further reading
The Weekly Deathmatch #51 – Robot Roller Derby Disco Dodgeball – The Labo VR Ramble
Game of Thrones Season 8 Trailer – Hey, remember this? You probably wish you could go back in time to re-watch it with a blank memory. Meanwhile, I just wish I could watch the entire series at once. Wanna swap?
Perpetually Perturbed 