I play video games…a lot.

A shock, I know, a millennial who plays a lot of video games. The only way it could be more stereotypical would be if I had a YouTube Gaming channel (or Twitch…Twitch is a thing, right?….I’m not a very good millennial).

As a purveyor of video games I have on occasion engaged in gamer rage. Getting stuck on a level and playing it over and over without getting further into the game. A game control causing the game to be nearly unplayable.

Or for the importance of this anecdote, difficult boss fights.

“What does this have to do with kittens? I came here for the kitten. WHERE IS THE KITTEN?”

Calm down pretend reader in my head and I’ll tie the title of this post with the story of my game addiction*.

*I do not endorse the idea of gaming addiction as a joke. Because if gambling can be an addiction than gaming can as well as both release endorphins hence the continuation of participating in these activities….as one does with drugs or alcohol…but arguably a less deadly addiction. Sex addiction is pushing the line a bit. BUT THIS POST ISN’T ABOUT ADDICTIONS! BACK TO THE KITTEN!

Christmas came and went and I received a number of presents. Books I requested (a large number of essay books), a recipe box with new cards, some things for work, and video games.

One in particular I was excited for: God of War.

For those of you who have played the new God of War probably already know exactly what boss I am referring to and for those who have no idea what I’m talking about…it wasn’t the final boss of the game like you’d probably expect.

I went into a harsh rage fighting the Valkyrie Queen.

For those who’ve played the game, here is some context:

I was Level 9, I found all the apples (full health upgrade), upgraded my axe, blades, and the shattered Gauntlet of Ages (I don’t remember what combat runes at this moment), fully upgraded the Ivaldi armor set, upgraded Atreus and assigned Wrath of the Wolf runic summon, and brought the best resurrection stone with me.

But even with all this, that flying bitch was the most frustrating thing in the entire game. I mean, I LOVE this game. The mechanics and controls are superb. The story is one of the best in a long time.

But Sigrun, the Valkyrie Queen….oooooooh, I’m getting angry thinking about it.

I think I’d attempted to beat her for possibly two hours before the anger became that kind of anger where you start talking to no one in particular, but every other word out of your mouth is the F-word or some other insult. Also, the pitch and volume of my voice had reached bellowing mouse.

Anyway, my kitten, Midna ran into the room and meowed. Now this may seem inconsequential, but Midna so rarely meowed we initially thought she couldn’t. She put her two front paws on my leg, but I was so focused on the flying bitch on the screen I simply, and rather calmly, told her “Not now, Midna.”

So she jumped onto my bed which I was leaning against and put her front paws on the top of my head and meowed again.

She was upset and didn’t like hearing me so angry so she came in to calm me down. She was trying to stop me from playing the thing making me angry.

I died for the (over) fiftieth time. I paused the game and picked her up. I laid on the floor with her on top of me. She refused to move so I couldn’t play again and laid down on my chest. She purred to calm me down.

It worked. I calmed down, she left with her job done and I attempted to fight Sigrun again.

Two tries.

It took me two tries and then I beat her after my kitten calmed me down. If Midna didn’t like me yelling angrily, she didn’t really know how to react to the crying cheers of relief.

And that’s the story of how my kitten helped me beat the hardest boss in God of War.