User blog:Sonoris/Of Habits and Beasts

Act 1: The Young Lady and the Sea (of organic compounds)
Once upon a time I stumbled upon a reddit post, talking about a site that lets you "gamify your life".

In the midst of a depressive episode that would go on to crush my entire senior year of college, I decided to give it a try. After all, I love games. I love gearing up, flexing my in-game muscles and showing a flash of my competitive side. Alas, the site was in beta, riddled with bugs, and I was too far down the rabbit hole to even care about earning gold or checking things off. I left, but bookmarked the site. I really did like the idea, but in my weakened state it was of little use to me.

For months I hibernated. Literally, I slept for 12-20 hours a day. Despite not going to any classes I managed to barely squeak through most somehow, but the formidable  beast known as "Organic Chemistry" was far too strong. I failed, miserably. It was the last thing standing between me and the glorious bachelor's degree I had set out to earn four years prior. Things had begun to look up a little towards the end, but it was too little too late. I submitted a plea - "Let me take this last class I need at the school near my home and not in this very distant, expensive institution."

The gods were merciful and saw the logic in my plan. With their approval I returned to the small town from whence I hailed. I spent the warm months of the season of sun cultivating the small bits of motivation that had begun to sprout over the spring, and reinforcing the walls of my mind to keep the wildly unpredictable shadow beasts out.

The cool air of fall returned, bringing with it the deathly grasp of my old enemy - Organic Chemistry. The frost stagnated the growth of the motivation I had been so carefully tending to. The crisp air gave way to frozen blusters and storms. It was difficult to keep up with the daily maintenance of the walls in the freezing temperatures. Occasionally a dark shape would break through and lurk in the shady corners of my mind-fortress. The fight dragged on for months at a stalemate. Occasionally I called in mercenaries from Habitica, but I could never seem to rally the full force. Both sides knew the only way to win was to give one last push, a final rally summoning everything they had.

Luckily I had the aid of an old fortune teller on my side. Syllabus was wise, and had predicted past attacks to the day. This was no different. I spent night and day preparing for battle. I was going to slay this creature once and for all and claim my trophy.

On a quiet morning, Organic Chemistry rallied all of it's troops and struck, sending a powerful blow of the cumulative strength of all it's soldiers. It was a fearsome sight that would strike terror into the hearts of even the most seasoned warrior, but I knew I had to win. I threw myself into battle and tried to remember my preparations and studies. I plunged my ink-tipped spear into each of the generals on the battlefield and deftly exploited any weakness I saw. Three hours later the battlefield was clear - had I won? There was a strange sensation I had not felt in some time, but the word "confidence" whispered in my head. I laid down my spear and declared the war over.

Sure enough, two moons later a message arrived. I was the victor. A celebratory feast was held, and I sent word to those who had sent me on this quest. Sure enough, they honored their decision and granted me a title: Bachelors of Science in biology.

Act 2: The Lord of the Habits: The Fellowship of the Wiki
My exhausting victory had filled me with a new fire. Now that the immediate threat of the chemical beast was no longer, resources could be turned to fight the force undermining me from the start: the elusive warlock Depression. His minions were experts at sneaking in through fortifications and sabotaging progress and effort, and he himself boasted an impressive repertoire  of illusory spells that could suck the life out of most anyone, given enough time.

I knew that I could not fight this foe alone - I would need allies. My thoughts turned to the land of Habitica. They had lent some strength in the previous war, but the alliance was never strong enough to give a real edge in battle. I ventured back, curious as to what boons I might receive.

After setting up a rudimentary base built from simple dailies and optimistic habits, I explored the land a little more. A quiet building sat off from the rest, a flimsy sign reading "Wikia Library". The only thing more pitiful than the sign outside was the interior of the building. Despite calling itself a library, it only contained a few dusty pamphlets. I picked one up and blew off the dust. "Habits" was printed across the front page, along with some very basic instructions on how to build them. In the margins were notes from the author (authors? the handwriting seemed to change through the text).

"Needs more information. Also would like a picture."

Glancing around, it seemed like I was the only person in the building. I smirked a little and drew in a crude illustration to go with the bullet points. It wasn't clear what kind of picture the author wanted, but they had one now. As I placed the tiny booklet back on the mostly empty shelf, a man popped out from under a pile of blank parchment. He introduced himself as Bobbyroberts99 and thanked me for my contribution. He explained that he was the founder of the small institution and that he had intended on creating an archive of information for travelers and residents of Habitica alike, open to contributions from anyone who was a seeker of knowledge.

I still had no direction or idea of how to fight the shadow fiends that plagued me. Although I was looking for my own answers, I agreed to help out where I could around the library. Perhaps in gathering information for others to use, I would find something of value for myself. Weeks passed, and I met other scholars - Breadstrings, Sleepykit, Malikin, Wc8, JiggerD, Drunkasaurus, LadyAlys, among others. New faces appeared every day, and the shelves began to fill. I felt a sense of pride as I watched the archives grow, but I had yet to make progress on my own goal. The growth of my defenses had stagnated and I was just barely holding the darkness back, but I knew there had to be more out there for me. I knew I had to venture out on my own to seek the information I needed, and so I left Habitica with fond memories in my heart.

Act 3:  The Lord of the Habits: The Return of the Queen
Months passed. I had spent much of it selling various goods to strangers. My once glorious title was of no use here, as were the titles that my new comrades held. The days were long and boring, but the others had become my friends. We shared tales of the sales we made, and the strangers we laid eyes upon.

More importantly, the minions of the warlock Depression seemed to weaken. It was a slow process, only visible when viewed over the span of a year. The sneaky assassins that plagued me as I waged war against the chemical beast were no longer, replaced by the occasional dark whisper. I knew the wizard's power had weakened, and that this was the time to focus fire against it. My thoughts turned back to the cheery citizens of Habitica. Perhaps this time the combined force of inHabitants, friends, and my own newly found skills would strike it down for good this time?

And thus I returned to Habitica and the now impressive and bustling library. I like what you've done with the place.