Do you know about Missingno.? It’s a “glitch Pokemon”. A creature that exists entirely by accident.
It’s a topic of much fascination and intrigue. Many even have affection for this garbled mess of pixels and data.
When I was younger, and my social life was about as dull as it possibly gets, I found solace in viewing myself as something like Missingno, the missing number, the mysterious zero in a world of typical creatures. Like my existence was part of the foundation of other people’s happiness. Like I was the missing one, despite being there.
It was whatever my lack of social skills was, it was definitely both not my fault, and part of some grand truth. Something about me, and people like me, was the fuel by which smiling faces could actually get to exist. It was the groundwork, the engine, of egregious cheerfulness committed by jerks.
I’m sure you’ve met people like this. Or maybe you were like that when younger. And those people confound you with some kind of joyful arrogance and unmitigated angst.
But try looking at it this way. No matter how aggravating somebody’s vibe is, at the very least, they’d appreciate something like a glitch creature if you talked in detail about what they are and where they come from.
Everyone’s heart glows in a spicy fashion when they hear about the right type of inspiring outcast. It makes you feel the opposite of egregious.
That relaxing and spicy energy is exactly why it’s so hard to talk somebody out of being enchanted by transcendent-feeling blame for any other person or group.
It’s like trying to tell somebody to not be fascinated by interesting flaws within a video game. Like telling them to freeze up and feel nothing when learning about the most objectively fascinating trivia within a game’s development.
But maybe you can do it. Can you be the one to do it?
Could you actually shut the power off inside you when it feels like you’ve uncovered the freaky and unnoticed qualities of other human beings?
When the fascination of seeing a new Pokemon seems to combine with frustration about other people’s actions?
Could you switch your inner strength out with a more peaceful kind of monster, in the battles of social interaction?
You can become what the world is missing, no?
Someday, somewhere, our hearts will all FRZ over and we’ll be happy it happened. Or at least, it’s possible somewhere in our code.
It only takes an unexplored exploit. I propose comparing the nasty vibes you absolutely can’t stand, which you definitely have….to the clear-headed, steady-hearted, victory-prone purity you taste when winning and appreciating games.
Because to be prone to victory is to actually create new problems, to exploit others, and to even be a little bit ugly-feeling on purpose.
It’s to be very spicy indeed. Ah, you taste it, don’t you? That special feeling everyone doubts you have, but you know you have.
That’s what needs to remain captured and tamed, no matter how much good it does for you and others. I’ve laid out the win condition as well I can.
Spend energy keeping your very spiciest self in the game, rather on the battlefield of human interaction and the world might just be saved, or level up, or get past the loading screen. Choose your metaphor.
I believe this is something we’re already doing as gamers. I just want to inject it with some fucking vitamins.
This is Spicy Gamer Vibes and the Banality of Karen.
The Found Emotion (Invoke Yourself) 