Halloween (FPS Style)

MIDTERMS are a part of the college student's conventional experience. Without facing these, you can never say you received a formal education. MIDTERMS are like the pestering mini-bosses that are just as difficult to face as the big bosses near the end of the game (FINALS).

Speaking of games... and the obscured topic of Halloween, I've never been good at First Person Shooter games. They stress me out to no end. I can't handle when things with distorted facial symmetry and decomposing skin jump out at me on the screen while I'm focused on hitting a target that's probably too far out of range for me to hit anyway.

For example, I'll be over at a friend's house and, with an enhanced sense of self-efficacy, I'll ask to have a try. And it'll go something like this for about three minutes:

And then something like this would happen:

... which typically leaves me in a state of distress and panic.

And you know what else leaves me in a state of distress? Halloween frenzies. Locals celebrate Halloween in Hong Kong (in contrast to China, where Halloween doesn't exist) and so there were parties and haunted houses hosted by our house society. The haunted houses here weren't that mind-blowing by virtue of being operated by students alone. But still. I can't even stomach scary movies like The Fourth Kind that well. Let alone The Ring.

Anyhow, I usually have bad experiences with haunted houses and highly stressful situations because I imagine awful parallels between these and FPS role playing. I start imagining myself running through a dark corridor with "RELOAD" flashing across my field of vision. But worse since I can feel things grab at me and I can feel the full effects of declining health. Now, you may think I'm exaggerating. But it's really what I think about. The worst thing is knowing it's fake but screaming anyway because I'm easily startled. For a case like this, switching to another player (like a boyfriend? or someone walking ahead of you) comes in handy. But IRL such an option isn't available. And sometimes my boyfriend enjoys watching my distress.

Digression aside, time to face the recently respawned COMP102 mini-boss. RELOAD.

P.S. here are some pictures you should probably just disregard.

P.P.S. Sucking at FPS roles does NOT mean I fail at other games.

Thank you for your attention.