Little Rocket in the Sky

Hey, Boy,
Do-do-do
Hey, Boy,
When we first met,
on the 31st,
and it was Hallowe'en
You know what I mean.
And I was the one dressed up as a rocket
that night
Don't ask me why!

You came over to me, and said tell me,
if you're alone tonight, can I be by your side?
Hey, baby, aren't we having fun?
Little Rocket in the sky?

I'm a Rocket in the sky.
Don't ask me why.

Benassi Brothers feat. Dhany

-- `phfina analysis:

So have you seen that song's vid? With Dhany walking across the stage, the imaginary universe in a patent leather outfit that would make the CatWoman jealous and leave Batman standing there, totally enchanted, totally befuddled like the dumb fu- (uh, PG rating, `phfina) fool that he is? That is, since Michael Keaton played Batman when Batman had at least a one-dimensional character to play, given the helming by Tim Burton (who totally missed the boat on Abe Lincoln and Vampires and how could you screw that up, Tim, but so it goes).

Anyway, she walks across this orange creamiscle world in her black leather get-up and leaves trails of herself across the backdrop, marking it with her.

*sigh*

That's not the image that captures me. (yes, it is, but so what), the image is the lyrics: a rocket, in the sky.

*sigh* (again)

That's me, a little rocket in the sky!

Why do I like the Haloz so much? Why does anybody?

Well, I suppose I could punt there, and say each has a different reason, and that would so totally explain that it outsold every movie in the world going toe-to-toe.

So I'll just give my reason, and let the corporate wonks chuckle greedily as they rake in more profits from other little rockets in the sky.

See, there's this thing, when teams are competing against each other online called a banshee, it's an alien aircraft, a one-seater, very effective against ground forces. It swoops, it bombs and then rockets away, untouched, untouchable. A little rocket in the sky.

When I get in the banshee ...

Well, when I get in the banshee, our team wins; but it's the real test, that we don't have anymore: a test of self against all others, and the results are immediate and obvious: you win, you lose.

And you fly.

In the banshee, I'm invincible. I'm a little hawk, swooping down from my lofty perch, raining down death and destruction, and shrieking away, my keening victory cry the only thing you hear from beyond the grave I just splattered you into.

Why do I play the Haloz?

Why do I write fan fiction?

No reason, and every reason. It, they, are something I can do well, something others recognize and admire in me, and something I derive pleasure, a sense of excellence and belonging.

Putting on the wings of a banshee, I find myself centered, grounded, and ... free.

And nothing can stop me from getting to my beautiful bird and soaring into the heavens. One time, there were three elite warriors guarding the banshee as it spawned, and I rolled right into the midst of them: me, and Bessy, my rocket launcher. I took out two of them with two rocket rounds, and the splash damage weakened the third enough that a few shots from my needle rifle finished him off.

Three elites between me and my banshee? No. Not today.

And nothing's more frustrating that me soaring along in the heavens, then BAM! a rocket takes me out, or ZAP some plasma disables and grounds me, leaving me an easy target for being boarded and forcibly ejected. ARRG! I'm like: Hey! My Banshee!

And, I can do this, online, with my friends, and we can measure our worth against a team of other friends. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, and we come out of the game a team of friends, still.

Now, you may say, "Hey, `phfina, you're a girl, all this talk of Video games and swooping and swerving in a combat aircraft sounds rather, well, you know: mannish!"

Yeah, maybe so, but I have one little interesting factoid for ya.

You know who are the deadliest fighter pilots in the world?

Teenaged boyz, yes (guess who flew the first fighter jets for the Nazis?)

But, now: girls. Specifically, young women, in the Air Force, be it for Israel or the U.S.A. or Sweden (Saab fighter jets, so smexy!) Yep, in modern air combat, a girl fighter pilot of similar skill can beat a boy fighter pilot.

Why?

Well, a girl's smaller frame and lower weight for the same height means she can withstand higher G's than that same boy can before passing out. She turns, he turns, she turns harder, he turns harder. He blacks out and crashes into a mountain, or he levels off, and she gets behind him, shoots, and destroys him and his fighter air craft.

`phfina in a banshee: mannish? or just right?

But also, so what? I have mad skilz in the banshee. Okay, and that's a given. So we win this game.

What about the next game, and the next?

What if you're closer to the banshee and three bks are coming to kill you and I'm across the map?

That's why I believe in: the person closest picks it up.

All the time I see bks betraying for sniper rifle, or sword, or for banshee. I've been betrayed quite a bit for these power weapons, and then, I watch the betrayer charge in and die, instead of using the weapon wisely and getting kill after kill after spree.

Okay.

So, you're closer. You pick it up, or you say, '`phfina, take it.' Okay.

I probably won't take it, if we can afford it. Why? You suck at banshee. Okay: learn on the job. You'll suck this time, and the next time, and the next.

But eventually you'll get better, and then we'll have two good banshee flyers on our team. So you fly banshee, and I'll snipe. And we win, even better than before.

When you're playing a team game, with your team, your team wins better and better the better each person is, and a person gets better by being bad at something at first, and then learning from first-hand experience by sucking at it, not doing sucky things anymore, and then getting skilled.

It's only a game.

But all this: teamwork, coordination, learning from past mistakes, sharing, all this is directly applicable to real life. You get better in game, because you try harder ('try hard': I'd rather be called a 'try hard' then a 'fail weak.' ... think about it), make mistakes, pick yourself up, correct, learn, apply, win, grow.

Yeah. That.