Until recently, I wasn’t a very happy person.
Hell, half the time I’m still not. I’m not really anywhere I want to be in life. I’m at a job I hate, living with my mom, with no romantic prospects and no real dreams. At least any dreams I can accomplish anytime soon. Things could be a lot worse, and they are getting better. But I definitely have a long way to go.
However, even with all that, I know I would be much worse off if I didn’t have my friends. I probably wouldn’t even be here now to type this if it wasn’t for them. My friends keep me going, comfort me when I fall, and make sure I have a good time while doing both.
I know this challenge is about sidekicks, but I don’t really like to think of them that way. If anything I’m the sidekick in their stories, although I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t want to call me a sidekick either.
So, being sufficiently nerdy (and because I’ve got Pathfinder on the brain), I’m going to call them my adventuring party. Omitting names of course, there are 3 other members party, and they will know who they are. (If you aren’t on the list, it’s not because I don’t like you. Maybe if you guest star in enough adventures you can join the main party too. But all my friends are awesome. Yes, even you. You can put your hand down now.)
Life’s like this, except less dragons, and more Cheetos.
We’ll go in chronological order:
First, there is the one I’ve known the longest. We met in 3rd grade, if I’m remembering correctly. It’s been a long time, that’s for sure.
He’s always been such an easy going, laid back guy. He doesn’t seem like he has to try that hard, cause he’ll either come out on top, or he’ll just roll with it. But either way, he’ll make sure to put a smile on your face. He’s the type of friend that I could not see for ten years, but come back into town and hang out with like it was just yesterday.
He just always seems to be able to lighten a mood, strike up a party, and generally just makes me feel good when he’s around.
If we are going with the classic adventuring party, he would be the rogue.
Quick witted, sure to get you into trouble but can get you out just as quickly. Although not as stalwart as the fighter or as powerful as the wizard, he’s just as invaluable as both of them. Plus, rogues are totally my favorite class.
Next is my friend I met in high school. He is the reason I am the man I am today.
In 9th through 11th grade, I was a weirdo. Well, I still am, but back then I was even more so. Wearing vests no matter what the weather, playing Yugi-oh cards, angst-ing out to Linkin Park and Metallica, etc. Not really doing anything important or thinking about anything worthwhile.
All that changed when we became friends. I don’t know why he decided to invite me on that camping trip, but we really hit it off. He is the reason I even care about philosophy, psychology, religion. Pretty much everything I write or care about know was influenced by him.
Plus, he introduced me to the world of fine cigars and bourbon. It doesn’t get better than that. It was totally worth skipping calculus to hang out.
He would be our parties’ wizard. Wise beyond his years and full of arcane knowledge, with just enough insanity behind it all to make things entertaining. Also the one with all the fun tricks and toys.
Last, but most definitely not least, is a more recent addition the party. She and I have known each other for years, but it was only through suffering the hell that was my last relationship that our friendship got stronger.
She was my ex’s roommate, and let’s just say, nothing brings you closer like adversity brought on by someone who never pays their rent. She’s just awesome. She helps me see my daughter, gives me rides everywhere, and is always willing to give me a hand. She is one of the strongest and most loving people I have ever met.
She will also listen to me rant for hours. Just imagine being forced to listen to me rant day after day. Not this nice, edited, coherent stuff. Just pure, uncut brain vomit. Sure it might be fun at first, but eventually you’d probably want to kill me just to shut me up. But she’ll not only sit and listen, but she helps me build new ideas, and tackle things from new angles. Although she may not know it, she is one of the driving forces behind this blog. If I couldn’t rant to her, I would never gather my thoughts enough to write these posts.
She is supportive beyond belief, and without her, I don’t think I would have made it through my emotional problems. She was there when I needed someone most, and I owe her my life for that, literally and gladly.
Let’s see: strong, willing to help others and sacrifice herself, protecting her friends… Sounds like a cleric to me. Not one of those fruity clerics with the staff though. One of those clerics that will smash you up with a mace if you piss them off. But otherwise is completely pleasant and helpful. She’s smart, and could kick your ass. Well, definitely my ass at least.
What class would I be?
Well if we’ve got the rogue, the wizard, and the cleric, I guess that would make me the fighter.
Strong, tough, and extremely protective of his friends. Willing to take the hits, because he trusts that his friends will have his back.
I think it suits me. Although I can’t say I’m the defender of my friends, or that I help them out as much as they help me, I’d like to think they know I do the best I can. I would gladly put myself in harm’s way for them, even when they charge headlong into battle, run screaming with the loot, or have just lit the building on fire (and it totally wasn’t their fault.)
If there is anything I want you guys to take from this little rant, it’s this: I love you guys so much, and I am absolutely honored to call you my friends. I can not put into words just how much you all mean to me, and I hope we will get to keep having these adventures for the rest of our lives.
Now, if only we could work on the loot gathering part… 🙂
-Shaman
I’ve never felt I was a fiction writer. At times, I feel so wrapped up in myself that I can take the time to imagine anything different. In fact, I only feel like when I am writing as my self about myself, that I feel it is any good. The closest I’ve gotten to fiction writing is creating characters for role-playing games, which have been average, plot-wise, at best.
So when this week’s writing challenge came up, at first I felt like I shouldn’t even try to do it. I mean, I’m just not that good at it, right? But on further reflection, I decided I wanted to do it. The point of a challenge is to challenge yourself, so I did.
I had a fun doing too. In the end, isn’t that the point?
Anyways, here it is. I hope you enjoy:
The man leapt. Freeing himself from the shackles that bound him, he cast himself off the edge. Away from hate, regret, failure; as the wind rushed by it stripped all this from him. He was left a man without any burden, except existence. Now, he was finally free to fly.
Thank you for reading.
First off, I tend to WAY over think things. So naturally when a prompt about time travel comes up, my mind goes off with all the things that wouldn’t work: the grandfather paradox, the conservation of history, the what-if-I-squish-the-butterfly-that-somehow-emancipates-the-slaves-and-creates-sweet-n’-low problem, etc. I think because of my tendency to over think, I can’t really do a blog post on a historical event and time. Well I could, but it would probably be way to long for anyone to bother reading, although I’m sure someone would find my ramblings about killing Hitler’s dog and investing in Google would be entertaining.
But as I thought about what I wanted to say, my thoughts turned personal. Instead of trying to do a funny rant about paradoxes, or a deep rant about why it wouldn’t work, I decided to write a letter. I wanted to write a letter to my past self, as if I had the ability to pop back and give it to myself. It ended up being very cathartic. I’ll share it below. I hope you enjoy reading it, as much as I did writing it:
Dear Shaman,
I know you don’t know where this letter came from. Just found it in your pocket while you are walking home. Well, I put it there. I know this is going to sound strange, but I am you, from the future.
No you aren’t about to die. No, you don’t need to save the world.
No, you absolutely SHOULD NOT TURN AROUND RIGHT NOW!!!
I got you, didn’t I?
If you had anything important I had to tell you, I wouldn’t be able to. Those are the rules. No I will not tell you the rules. But if you think about the paradoxes I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Just don’t over-think it too much, you’ll figure it out when you are my age. 🙂
I can’t really tell you anything important. Not big advice, or life lessons, or things to look out for. By the time this gets to you, I’ll have had to revise it so it can be sent. Not I won’t tell you that either. I will say the only reason I’m allowed is because I’m assure this will not turn you, and therefore me, into a gibbering psych patient.
So I can’t say much. But I can give you an idea of what your near future is going to hold. If you want to stop and not know anything, this would be the time to stop. I won’t judge you. It’s probably the smart thing to do.
….
Come on, who am I kidding?
I know you’re going to read it. No way you wouldn’t. You (I? We?) are way too curious for your (our) own good sometimes.
A couple more things before I go on. Obviously I’m avoiding names, dates or any discernible information. Pretty much anything worthwhile, actually. Even so, I would like you to read without skipping, all the way to the end. If you haven’t already skipped to the end before reading this, that is.
First off, enjoy the years you will have in high school. Yes, I know that it seems fun to feel angst-y and deep right now. But you never really grow out of it, so you should cut down on it while you still have all of these friends around. You’ll have more fun if you just lighten up, and not worry about girls and all that other crap. Don’t get me wrong, deep brooding will always be one of our hobbies. But there’s a time and place, and the girls you’re agonizing over aren’t worth it.
Instead, try to spend more time will the friends you love. It’s not that you’re going to lose them or anything tragic, but you never will capture the magic you have right now with them. People just drift apart sometimes. You’ll still love them. But you’ll also long for them all the time. I wish that I could just recapture one more conversation, one more day, one more moment you’ve yet to experience. So enjoy them while you have them. They will make wonderful memories. But don’t worry, I’ll keep making sure we have plenty of good memories to come.
You will have bad things happen to you too. That’s just the way life goes. Some will be big, some on the small side, but all of them are important. You will be more depressed then you ever thought possible. They will make you angry, and make you sick. You will feel like giving up, calling life quits and leaving it all behind. Hell, I’ve gotten closer to doing so than I’d ever care to admit. You will be more miserable, and you will suffer. (See, told you that you’ll still be angst-y.)
But don’t let all that worry you. I’m sending you this now, so obviously you make it through all of the problems you face.Weird as it sounds, you’ll look back at those times, all the pain, the frustration, the hopelessness, just as fondly as all of your happy memories. Every tear shed and wall punched will have made you a stronger person. They’ve made me a better person than I ever thought I could be. Granted, I’m still learning, and I’ve probably got some more prime suffering years ahead of me. I’ll send us both (you? my selves?) a letter when I finally get past that and get to the just plain fun parts of life.
Now, I can’t give you too much advice, for obvious reasons. But if there is one thing I want you to remember; just one thing I want you to take from this surreal experience, is this: love your life. Love every single success, every single screw up, every bad day and every good moment. Love every single breath, every single tear, every single breath, every single moment you’re alive. Love every aspect of your existence. You get one chance, and it is far too short to spend worrying about everything you’ve done. Just enjoy it all while you can. In the end, you’ll life it right if you do that.
Sincerely you,
Shaman Romney
P.S:I promised I’d stop lying to myself. Never thought it’d be literally, but here we are. I lied to you earlier in the letter. I could have told you anything I wanted to. Who your friends will be, who will hurt you, what you end up doing to those around you. But I’m not going to. I like the way my life has gone so far, and I know you will too. You maybe mad now, but you’ll understand when you finally get here.
Shame on The Universe 