Small World, Short Cat
What its like to see yourself on TV.
Something incredible happened to me recently, but before I can explain it, I need to give some background information. If you didn't know, I love video games, specifically Nintendo games. It's honestly a huge part of my life and one of my biggest passions; it's a dream of mine one day to own every Nintendo console ever created. I could go on and on about my love for this, but I can save that for another time. If you don't know much about video games, you at least know of Mario, and if you know of Mario, then you know of Mario Kart.
One of my favorite YouTube channels in recent times is a creator by the name of Shortcat. He specializes in competitive Mario Kart World1 videos where he races online with other players. I've been watching his Mario Kart videos pretty much since he started uploading them (about 3 years ago). It’s always been my not-so-guilty guilty pleasure to turn on his videos after a long day of work or school. To be honest, I have probably watched him play Mario Kart World more than I have actually played it myself, which is saying something, as I have put nearly 200 hours into it since its release last June.
Last Thursday, I came home after taking my last final exam of the semester for my computational theory class (I got a 93!), and I turned on his most recently uploaded video at the time titled Crashout Kart World. At about the 13:20 minute mark of this video, unbeknownst to me, I joined his room. I have always wondered what it would be like to randomly see yourself on TV, whether it's in the background of a major news story or as the joke of some prank show. I think this is the closest I will ever get to that feeling. Since he is so popular in the Mario Kart community, when he plays online, he often changes his name so people don’t recognize and target him. Apparently, I played with him for a few races a couple of days before this video was released, and I had no idea.
Seeing myself in this video was weird enough, but the story does not end here. During that first race, he hits me with an item that causes me to end up in 16th place. At the end of the race, he apologises to me and says that “Conny was driving a little bit slow”. Throughout the next few races, he makes a few comments about me, stating that I was coming back for revenge. 3 races later, I get my revenge and beat him by finishing 2nd, while he placed 3rd. I can now say that I have officially beaten my favorite Mario Kart YouTuber in a race, and I have everlasting proof of that fact.
Below, I have compiled a video of all the times I am mentioned in that video. It might be safe to say that I have peaked in life.
It's funny to me, but somehow this situation has made me feel very human. It's easy to forget that you are a part of this world. One day, we will all be space dust, but I will try to convince NASA to send another Golden Record into space with this video contained on it.