How a video game character impacted my life
12 Jul 2015, 11:28 am
I am a 21-year old Aspie, and I find my talents of collecting various things to learn about them as my biggest gift. But I do have a story I'd like to share about how my favorite video game character impacted my life.
This character's name is Saria, a young girl from the video game Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. She has blue eyes, green hair, and she plays an ocarina (a oval-shaped musical instrument). In the game, Saria befriends the main protagonist, Link, after he shunned by his peers for being different. I admire that she accepts Link for who he is as a person. The friendship that existed between Link and Saria was very touching. And at times in my life, I did feel like Link. I was shunned by my peers at school, teased and taunted, people called me names, and the teachers said I'd never get anywhere in life. But never did I realize that Saria would come back to impact my life outside the video game.
One day, I was on YouTube watching some videos, I had accidentally clicked on the avatar icon of a user who was a troll. Their account was entitled "9/11 was funny!" The misconduct and trolling on that page was absolutely disgusting, let alone poking fun at the September 11, 2001 attacks. Rather than fighting with the troll and making myself look bad, I simply left a comment telling people to ignore them as they were trying to provoke people into anger. The next day, I got a private message entitled "Thank You." Was it a prank, spam, or a sincere response? I read the message, and this person was thanking me for posting that comment. Then they told me that they had survived the impact and collapse of the Twin Towers, losing a sibling during the attack. I felt sorry for them, but since I am an Aspie, interpreting body language or social queues can be a challenge. I responded back, saying I'm sorry, sharing my feelings from that day, and even shared a funny video in the message. A few messages later, this person said that "most people just hear my story and move along. You listened and really made me feel better." At first I didn't notice it, but I had later realized I had acted like Saria. I was supportive like her and offered this person a listening ear. However, me and this person have fallen out of touch.
The next story has a more negative outcome than one that is positive. It was my junior year of high school, and I joined a FIRST Robotics team under the guidance of my advisor. Then one day I met a girl on my team that looked nice while we were all building catapults and trebuchets. We talked, and I wanted to be basic friends with this girl. One day, she rejected me for friendship because she had a boyfriend. It was embarrassing beyond belief. Then when I found out who her boyfriend was, I was frustrated and I made some gestures towards him that she viewed as threatening. One day, she spreads a rumor, claiming I'd beat him up. The word got out and principal got involved, as he interrogated me like I was the bad guy. From there, one of the girl's friends said this lie to my face, mentors resented me, and peers stayed away from me. My dad had to give up time and money from work to come help me build prototype parts and protect me from gossipers. With the exception of my dad and maybe one or two random people, I was on my own, with little gratitude from the team afterwards. A FIRST competition at Purdue University that year was a dreadful and boring experience. I couldn't help out with the robot, and I had to sit up in the bleachers for hours over the course of three days. watching these chunks of metal vertically stack pool inflatables and placing mini-bots to climb up poles. Afterward, my grades fell and my attitude was awful. I needed a soft, cuddly doll that reminded me of my favorite video game character.
To get my custom Saria plush, I had to hunt every which way on the internet for someone to fulfill my request. I found a site that would make one for a $150. My mom then ordered a custom plush doll of Saria for my 18th birthday.
Fast forward to my senior year. I joined the team, thinking things would be different. But I kept having dreams of apologizing and being forgiven by this girl and her boyfriend. I did just that, and they both forgave me. I also told them that I am autistic, and that I have trouble with social situations. But in the build season of robotics, I was still being shunned and given nothing to do. But one day, I was having a conversation about a paintball-like sport called airsoft, and they were nearby when I was talking to members of my team. This girl then decided to spread a rumor about me, claiming I'd turn a robotics trip into a Columbine-like shooting. After the principal called me out on this lie a few days later, I was scarred for life. I didn't want to go to school anymore, and I chose not to go on the trip to a FIRST competition in Chicago, IL. When I got home that same day, I wished to die (but I was not going to harm myself, mind you) since I felt so betrayed by my peers and my high school advisor let me down big time. In my moment of despair, I saw my Saria plushie sitting on my desk. I kept thinking about her and her video game counterpart, and how Saria makes me happy. So I gave the doll a warm hug, and I felt calm inside. The girl and her boyfriend got away with the rumor after the school's investigation.
However a person like me is never truly alone. I had meet another person with a similar story to mine, and they are also a huge fan of Saria like I am. I even acted like Saria again out of choice to make another friend, and even saved their life. Even through the rough times in my life, I found hope through my all-time favorite video game character.
Because of all this, whenever I have a family of my own, I will name my future daughter Saria.
