Endgame.
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TL;DR ahead.
From Lord Wikipedia:
"
In chess, the endgame (or end game or ending) refers to the stage of the game when there are few pieces left on the board.
The line between middlegame and endgame is often not clear, and may occur gradually or with the quick exchange of a few pairs of pieces. The endgame, however, tends to have different characteristics from the middlegame, and the players have correspondingly different strategic concerns. In particular, pawns become more important; endgames often revolve around attempting to promote a pawn by advancing it to the eighth rank. The king, which has to be protected in the middlegame owing to the threat of checkmate, becomes a strong piece in the endgame. It can be brought to the center of the board and be a useful attacking piece.
"
Some (if not most) things come to an end. The last drop of tea, the last page of a novel, the season finalé, catching Pokémon number 151, the final lines of a song... ironically, it's (usually) the good things that come to an end.
Why end?
Existence dictates so, it seems. If you start on something, you'll eventually end it. Science is aware of this. Our sun will eventually burn itself out. Storms die out. Volcanoes become dormant. This is evident in history. Even the glorious Roman empire, shining like a star during its peak, was reduced to mere embers during the middle ages.
"The end is near!" proclaim doomsday-prophets. I beg to differ. The end is always near. We just don't realize it. Or maybe we do, but we don't want to accept it. This leads to complacency, which is dangerous.
Why is this complacency dangerous? When the inevitable end comes, we tend to flail around in a desperate attempt to salvage what we can. And this is often where the critical mistakes are made. The Germans, had they sustained their blitzkrieg strategy, could have conquered Great Britain easily. Speed is the lifeblood of battle. And so, when the Allies came storming into Germany, instead of holding their composure, everyone went... nuts. And the rest, as they say, is history.
From the chess endgame, it seems as though the little things (pawns) are suddenly more important, and the big things (other officer pieces)... get even bigger.
Chaos theory stipulates that no matter how random the system appears, there is an underlying order. Chaos explains not the initial state, but the exponential growth of uncertainty after. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)
Of course, this assumes that there is no cheating (in the form of intervention). In the endgame, there is one thing you can be certain of: every move is of your own volition. Which is why to thine own self be true, or spend an etenity mired in regret.
As I walked back to Palma Hall, I looked up at the sky and saw that it was raining. I felt something go down my face. It touched my lips. It was salty. I hadn't tasted this in a long time.
Typing in these final characters, I come to realize that I have begun to prepare for the end. Of course, I knew this moment would come. Not if, but when, was the question. Protracted things, it seems, are not my thing. Not at all.
Good things come to an end, and this one is no different. It's been a good four-ish months.
An Oscar moment, if you please: Thank you for the good thing (and eveything else that came with it.) Thank you for the rationality. Thank you for making me remember. Thank you for the right thing at the wrong time. Thank you for being there. (I shan't name names.)
Final thoughts:
"We could stay in this moment, for the rest of our lives." - Inevitable, Anberlin
... but we can't. We shouldn't.
"I will do what I must." - Obi-Wan Kenobi
"So it begins." - Kabuki Warrior, Battle Realms
"You alone." - Nihilanth, Half Life
TL;DR ahead.
From Lord Wikipedia:
"
In chess, the endgame (or end game or ending) refers to the stage of the game when there are few pieces left on the board.
The line between middlegame and endgame is often not clear, and may occur gradually or with the quick exchange of a few pairs of pieces. The endgame, however, tends to have different characteristics from the middlegame, and the players have correspondingly different strategic concerns. In particular, pawns become more important; endgames often revolve around attempting to promote a pawn by advancing it to the eighth rank. The king, which has to be protected in the middlegame owing to the threat of checkmate, becomes a strong piece in the endgame. It can be brought to the center of the board and be a useful attacking piece.
"
Some (if not most) things come to an end. The last drop of tea, the last page of a novel, the season finalé, catching Pokémon number 151, the final lines of a song... ironically, it's (usually) the good things that come to an end.
Why end?
Existence dictates so, it seems. If you start on something, you'll eventually end it. Science is aware of this. Our sun will eventually burn itself out. Storms die out. Volcanoes become dormant. This is evident in history. Even the glorious Roman empire, shining like a star during its peak, was reduced to mere embers during the middle ages.
"The end is near!" proclaim doomsday-prophets. I beg to differ. The end is always near. We just don't realize it. Or maybe we do, but we don't want to accept it. This leads to complacency, which is dangerous.
Why is this complacency dangerous? When the inevitable end comes, we tend to flail around in a desperate attempt to salvage what we can. And this is often where the critical mistakes are made. The Germans, had they sustained their blitzkrieg strategy, could have conquered Great Britain easily. Speed is the lifeblood of battle. And so, when the Allies came storming into Germany, instead of holding their composure, everyone went... nuts. And the rest, as they say, is history.
From the chess endgame, it seems as though the little things (pawns) are suddenly more important, and the big things (other officer pieces)... get even bigger.
Chaos theory stipulates that no matter how random the system appears, there is an underlying order. Chaos explains not the initial state, but the exponential growth of uncertainty after. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)
Of course, this assumes that there is no cheating (in the form of intervention). In the endgame, there is one thing you can be certain of: every move is of your own volition. Which is why to thine own self be true, or spend an etenity mired in regret.
As I walked back to Palma Hall, I looked up at the sky and saw that it was raining. I felt something go down my face. It touched my lips. It was salty. I hadn't tasted this in a long time.
Typing in these final characters, I come to realize that I have begun to prepare for the end. Of course, I knew this moment would come. Not if, but when, was the question. Protracted things, it seems, are not my thing. Not at all.
Good things come to an end, and this one is no different. It's been a good four-ish months.
An Oscar moment, if you please: Thank you for the good thing (and eveything else that came with it.) Thank you for the rationality. Thank you for making me remember. Thank you for the right thing at the wrong time. Thank you for being there. (I shan't name names.)
Final thoughts:
"We could stay in this moment, for the rest of our lives." - Inevitable, Anberlin
... but we can't. We shouldn't.
"I will do what I must." - Obi-Wan Kenobi
"So it begins." - Kabuki Warrior, Battle Realms
"You alone." - Nihilanth, Half Life