Lessons in irony

[ChillPlayer]

Ash Canyon is out, my excitement is huge and after almost a year away from TLD I went exploring the new region in Pilgrim-ish Custom to be prepared for when I enter the region with my long running Stalker sandbox, which I was playing for over 3 years. After I felt comfortable enough to know my way around AC I started the "real" sandbox and forgot that my survivor was camping in the Cannery, desperately waiting for half a month for an Aurora to arrive so I can finally enter the workshop. I lived off wolves I've shot around the Cannery but my last meal was almost a day ago, I had 2 hours of fire left, a blizzard was roaming, no food, hungry, fast-fatigued (I think from hypothermia, didn't check) - and no Aurora.

So I gave up on entering the workshop and decided to patch myself together and venture into Ash Canyon. It was early evening and I headed over to the Worker Residences. There I had some loot luck, gathered two pieces of wood and some canned sardines and even found some ammo for my rifle. I went fishing and caught three trouts which I cooked right away, filled my stomach, happy survivor.

When I left the fishing hut irony hit me for the first time: eerie music and the Aurora was blazing over the sky, noooo this can not be, why now? I kidd you not, I was out for 15 days in the Cannery without a single Aurora, when I finally left, the Aurora came. So, change of plans, determined to get into the workshop no matter what I went straight from the fishing hut back to the Cannery - which is when I noticed that I was tired out due to some affliction. But hey, that battery of hypo stims I was carrying around finally became handy, so shoot up survivor. I ran as fast as I could, shot another hypo stim into my leg, reached the Cannery, no wolves (guess I ate'm all 😈) and reached the rope. Had to take another stim to be able to climb it and parkoured my way to the workshop. Midway I noticed the wind picking up, snow getting thicker, almost blizzard like and no Aurora to be seen anymore. My last hope was that it was still there "over" the blizzard so I continued but I already feared for the worst, no lights in the buildings and of course, I couldn't enter the code anymore. Unbelievable, finally an Aurora but it went out before I reached the workshop. Irony lesson number 2.

Out of desperation I've quite the game and loaded the Sandbox again, hoping that it didn't autosave my failed attempt to reach the workshop in time, and that is exactly what happened, I spawned inside the Worker residence building. Okay, this time I skipped the fishing, just grabbed the sardines and blazed off to the Cannery with the help of some stims. Climbed the rope, parkoured the place in record time and then finally, at last, reached the workshop, entered the code, the door opened and... a wolf was inside 😮

Luckily it ran away from me in fear, thanks to my weeks-long wolf diet I think, so naturally I tried to shoot it - but my stim weared off and I was completely fatigued, missed a few times with the revolver and switched to the rifle with 3 bullets left. I could only hold aim for what felt like 3 seconds and couldn't hit the beast, it was running around too crazy. One shot fired, two shots fired, went after the wolf, stepped into some live-wires and burned myself, last shot fired and... the wolf was no longer afraid of me and switched to attacking mode. I quickly drew my bow and tried to shoot it right before it jumped into my face - and missed.

We struggled for a few seconds but I stood no chance, moments later my survivor faded into The Long Dark and a highly succesful 560 day Stalker run ended. Since then I cannot get Alanis Morissette out of my head, so I thought I share my experience as a form of therapy but she's still singing: "and isn't it ironic, don't you think?". Yes it is, yes it is...

Fare well old friend, we had a good run, you are one with the Dark now, rest in pieces...

Edited December 8, 2020 by ChillPlayer

[hozz1235]

This is a classic means of death - pushing too hard.  I'm sorry for your loss. 

[Kranium]

20 hours ago, hozz1235 said:

This is a classic means of death - pushing too hard.  I'm sorry for your loss. 

Yep. Always gotta think like "what would I do if this was IRL". Me, if I entered a room & found a wolf inside: immediately exit the room, and figure out what the heck is going on!

 

Crisis averted.

[ChillPlayer]

On 12/10/2020 at 12:50 PM, Kranium said:

Yep. Always gotta think like "what would I do if this was IRL". Me, if I entered a room & found a wolf inside: immediately exit the room, and figure out what the heck is going on!

There wasn't much thinking involved on my part anymore, guess this was my Captain Ahab moment On the other hand though, I was living off wolves for hundred of days, most hunted with a bow and didn't expect that shooting one with a rifle would be a big deal.

[UpUpAway95]

9 hours ago, ChillPlayer said:

There wasn't much thinking involved on my part anymore, guess this was my Captain Ahab moment On the other hand though, I was living off wolves for hundred of days, most hunted with a bow and didn't expect that shooting one with a rifle would be a big deal.

I would have thought that being locked in that room for more than 100 days without food or water should have finished that wolf long before you ever entered.  My other thought - my kingdom for a grenade in TLD.

[Daymo]

I’m really sorry to be a pedant but, that’s not what irony means.

 

[ChillPlayer]

On 12/16/2020 at 3:05 PM, Daymo said:

I’m really sorry to be a pedant but, that’s not what irony means.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony

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On this aspect, The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has also:^[8]

A condition of affairs or events of a character opposite to what was, or might naturally be, expected; a contradictory outcome of events as if in mockery of the promise and fitness of things. (In French, ironie du sort).

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The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics distinguishes between the following types of irony:^[3]

Situational irony: The disparity of intention and result; when the result of an action is contrary to the desired or expected effect.