untitled very short story

"hey, summoner. it's me. don't you remember me, a few months back? i was a victim of your toxicity. but i guess you wouldn't. after all, you were too ignorant to realize the damage you were dealing. no, not to the enemy, to your team. you're probably still too ignorant. here, let me give you a reminder.

remember that Irelia you called a disappointment for feeding lane? she logged in that evening after her father just called her the same thing, saying she'd never amount to anything. she was playing that game in hopes of receiving recognition from someone. if only you'd known she hadn't the energy nor willpower to perform to your standards at the time.

remember that Maokai you called autistic for missing smite? he has downs syndrome and his brain can't react fast enough in a lot of high pressure situations. he plays league of legends to help stimulate his brain to increase its slow development.

remember that Diana you called a useless bitch when she was underfarmed and took some of your cs? those are the same words her abusive boyfriend tells her everyday, along with the several other degrading adjectives she's grown accustomed to hearing. she queues up everyday and drops subtle hints in the chat seeking help because she doesn't know of any other way, but you also called her an attention whore for doing so.

remember that Ezreal you told to kill himself because he asked you politely to stop being so negative? he's already been thinking about it for several months, after years of neglect from his mother, physical abuse from his father, emotional abuse from his girlfriend, and the many bullies that are jumping him and all-in-all giving him hell at school. he spends most of his life playing the game to get his mind off of all of the negativity; he wanted you to stop because you're reminding him of it all.

remember that Annie you called a disgrace to the community for playing an off-meta support? she doesn't really play league of legends all that often, and before she didn't like it. it was her little sister that liked the game, but her little sister is dead now. and that little sister died right in front of her. she plays that champion because it reminds her of her little sister. her sister also happened to be a support main, so that was the role she decided to pick up.

remember that Darius you wished cancer upon? he already has cancer. he's been fighting it for several years now. however, it recently moved up to stage four and he only has a few months left to live. make-a-wish foundation already gave him the vacation he'd wanted to go on, but he's always wanted to be at least diamond. even though he knows he'll die soon. he continues to play and works even harder at the grind because that's the last thing he wants to accomplish in life.

but instead of feeling remorseful about all of this, i'm sure the only thing you're thinking of right now is how i don't know the proper use of capitalization. no, i do know, but as i said, you're ignorant. you wouldn't notice that i did it intentionally. before i get to that, though, who am i?

im the ezreal. and after so long taking all of this damage with no visible light at the end of the tunnel, i surrendered. again, i don't mean in-game. i surrendered my life. that's why only the champions names are capital, because we both know you've added pain onto more than six people. IM DEAD. and people like you took away the last place i had to escape my harsh reality. so, congratulations. not only did we lose the game, but i also lost my life.

thank you, and goodbye."

Author's Note:

Hello, friends! I wrote this today as sort of a stress reliever from all of the toxicity that's been piling onto me in solo-queue, though I also intend for it to be kind of an inspirational message. We don't see how a lot of the players behave in-game over the boards, just as none of us see how the life of the players we play with and talk to every day. A lot of the players on the boards are toxic themselves, though in hiding, and we all socialize with these toxic players without knowing that they're actually toxic, and without knowing what's going on in their lives. I don't think we should outcast and shun toxic people, that'll just make them more toxic, though I do believe that them actually seeing inspirational posts and videos or statistics every now and then can help ease off a lot of that toxicity. While on this topic, I'd just like to also point out that in now way does this reflect me and is not a cry for help.

We all play this game for a different reason, but when we're in-game we all share the same objective: Victory. To achieve victory, we have to fight our enemies, and our enemies are on the opposing team, not each other. The time we share together is limited, we'll only see each other for sixty minutes tops. Why be toxic to a group of people that you don't know and you'll never see again, instead of spending it encouraging the team and leading them to victory? After all, their loss is also yours, and your loss could end up being theirs.