Sights, Sounds & Rants – Page 2 – universeofshadows.me

who are you?

August 12, 2018 No Comments

I have played computer games for about twenty years now. I have slain countless monsters, armies, conquered empires, schemed and slaughtered the hell out of the pixels on my screen. In real life, I am glad my chicken comes pre-cut and pre-packaged in the supermarket, because I would be entirely incapable of murdering a chicken for food. My stomach kinda turns at the thought. Similarly, while plotting and conniving to overthrow a pixel empire is harmless, I am not capable of understanding how someone can do that in the real world – playing with the real lives of real people, […]

It's My Life, Ramblings

pride (in the name of love)

July 30, 2018 No Comments

I am still trying to gather my thoughts and organize and sort through them. Like always, I stumble when it comes to the eternal egocentristic question “what does this mean for me?”. For some reason, the Christopher Street Day (the German version of the Pride Parades) takes place here in July. I have a feeling that it is also a lot more political, though it is certainly not lacking in color. Two years ago was the first time I had the occasion to witness the exuberant joy and cheer from the sidelines. Last year I sadly missed it, as it […]

Fiction

The Bridge Troll

June 29, 2018 No Comments

In the dark, Audriana waited. And waited. And then, she waited some more. Waiting was something she had become really good at and darkness had long since become her friend. She was convinced that she could now see better in the dark than the cook’s cat ever had. To pass the time, she picked up one of the toy soldiers that lay about her and started polishing his shield with the hem of her dress. It was a very pretty, summery dress. If it hadn’t been quite so dark, you could’ve made out that it was a creamy sort of […]

Fiction

Lux and Nox

June 28, 2018 No Comments

A former co-worker (with whom I had shared a passion for gaming) unexpectedly phoned me at some point in 2014 to ask me for help. He wanted to set up a Minecraft server and was working with a developer, but he needed help with the frame narrative. I have never played Minecraft, so he had to explain it a bit more in detail. Also, he wasn’t entirely certain what kind of world he wanted to create. I told him to give me a couple of weeks to think about it. So in the end I came up with the idea […]

Fiction

The Collector

June 27, 2018 No Comments

He seemed to be in his forties. Or maybe not – I am a terrible judge of age, after all (like I am a terrible judge of many other things; like for instance, character). He had a cap on and his hands were buried deep into his jacket pockets. He was slightly hunched against the cold wind. His collar was up, but didn’t quite hide a grizzled beard. Can’t remember if he had glasses, but my faded memory seems to paint him with a pair. Two years later, and after I had only glimpsed him for a couple of seconds […]

It's My Life, Ramblings

when i look in my father’s eyes

June 17, 2018 No Comments

I am absolutely terrified. A deep, primal terror that claws at my stomach at night, and puts a lump in my throat until I fall asleep on a pillow drenched in tears I cannot shed in daylight. I try to picture the moment when I find out you are gone (painfully aware that it might come before I get to see you again) and how it would feel to know that there will forever be a you shaped hole in my world and I cannot. I do not need your help or your advice anymore, I do not even need you […]

Books, It's My Life

10 books

April 6, 2018 No Comments

published in 2015 on my tumblr There is a meme doing rounds these days about the ten books that had the most impact on you. And I see loads of heavy stuff listed there, very serious books indeed. Stuff like Marquez and Dostoevsky and Steinbeck; and I feel utterly unqualified to add my two cents of light-hearted enjoyment of mystery, adventure and wonder. For quite a while I fought the temptation. I gave in with a sigh one evening a couple of weeks ago when I started mentally composing my list. I then wrote it down a couple of days […]

It's My Life, Music

gonna be alright

April 5, 2018 No Comments

published in 2015 on my tumblr (edits in red) This guy was showing the kids how to rock on right, as everyone was snapping pictures of them. Judging by the amount of entrance bracelets, he probably knows what he is talking about. I took a photo in passing, before going further away and sitting down to text someone to set up a meeting point for later. At some point, a shadow fell over my phone. As I looked up, this guy was in front of me, hands on his knees, looking at me and asked me if I was okay. […]

It's My Life, Music, Ramblings

just an earth-bound misfit, i

April 4, 2018 No Comments

published in 2015 on my tumblr I am not at all a religious person. I wouldn’t even call myself a spiritual one. But if I were to pick the most spiritual experiences I had, they revolve around two types of situations and one exception. The exception happened in Thailand, on the top of a hill overlooking a wonderful landscape, with temples projected against the horizon as the sun started creeping up. That was an amazing experience. One of the situations where it might easily happen – that’s what good concerts do to me. I have had a few where I […]

It's My Life

burn

April 3, 2018 No Comments

published in 2014 on my tumblr I like a lot of things. I love some things. And among all my likes and loves, I feel like butter scraped over too much bread (thank you, Bilbo). Like I am dilluting instead of devoting myself to something that makes me genuinely happy. I love traveling, but I have neither the means, nor the temperament to devote myself to it. It is one of the things I do to get away; because as cliché as it might sound, a change of scenery helps calm and clear my mind better than just about anything else. However, unless […]