Yi-Kuan Cheng, Week 10: The Im-power is Sus
Yi-Kuan Cheng
Benedetti
AP English P5
2 February 2022
In almost everyday life, we can use our words to win us the smallest, most insignificant victories. A slight jeer, getting the last laugh, or convincing a teacher to raise all his students' grades up to an A are all examples of these victories (that last one was actually a pretty big one). But without contention, the biggest victory is undoubtedly sweet, sweet revenge. While I myself may not have any memorable instances of these verbal revenges, I have one anecdote which I hold very dearly that comes from a friend.
Constantly being singled out, “Pyke” always found it hard to avoid the harassment of the ringleader of his old friends, “Sova.” The most concrete pattern of Sova’s bullying came in the form of constantly kicking and banning Pyke from group chats for petty reasons, or sometimes none at all. One time, during a casual game of the hit sensation Among Us, Pyke was once again kicked from the server by Sova simply as the butt of the joke. This time, Pyke had had enough. As he was reinvited into the server by a more benevolent member of the chat and a new game started, Pyke wanted revenge. If you have never played or seen a game of Among Us before, the objective of the game is for the innocents, or crewmates, to vote out the imposters, whose objective is to kill all of the crewmates. It is essentially a more interactive form of the party game “Werewolf.” As soon as the game could allow, Pyke called a meeting. With revenge on his mind, Pyke accused Sova of venting, an action that only imposters could perform. With a hard accusation, Sova was immediately voted out. Sova was innocent. Pyke was, naturally, once again banned by Sova out of embarrassment, but this time he went out his way.
The reason why I love this story so much resides in the fact that despite Pyke’s inability to even so much as touch Sova, he was able to get his revenge simply by working with the little resources he had in hand. Unable to fight Sova in his own turf, Pyke used his words to get back at Sova with prestige, causing him more embarrassment than a simple ban ever could. This story still inspires me each day, reminding me that language is power.
(Shoutout to my homie T rixxcore. You’re going places.)
Image Source: Twitter User @AmongAsImposter
I would like to ask when this story happened or at least how old "Pyke" is. You write this story like a well-thought-out scheme that took careful deliberation. Instead of imaging you guys playing Among us I imagined Pyke as someone who was distraught once but came back cool-headed and focused on revenge. When I hear the word revenge in the context of a story I think of Sasuke from Naruto—shhh, yes, I know, I'm a weeb. Like I would want to feel that level of hatred just to experience the novelty of chasing revenge. And then when I get that revenge I want to feel the high touted in all those stories to be the ultimate sweetness. That said, please don't kill my entire family.
ReplyDeleteHi Yi-Kuan,
ReplyDeleteI found your story pretty funny, and I really miss those Among Us days. I also wonder who Sova really is—he sounds like a total jerk!
However, what stood out to me most about your blog post is how you use an anecdote to support your argument. I thought it was quite effective towards proving your point that language is capable of getting power over others with significantly more influence than you, and I will attempt to incorporate one in my blog post next week.
Sincerely,
Krish
Hi Yi-Kuan,
ReplyDeleteThis is truly a tale of the saddest kind. Through your words, I can feel the emotion that Pyke felt, their attempt at imbuing their language with the sharpest grief imaginable, and their retaliation, containing as much force as one lonely person would be able to muster. That being said, it takes balls to pull off a sneaky play like that; I would commend Pyke on his solo-queue knowledge and his cheeky yet justified retort. I do wonder, did Pyke ever get his ultimate reset --- I mean revenge? It sounds like Pyke is not doing that well, although I assume you are talking about someone real. Who knows?
Sincerely,
Sean
Hi Yi-Kuan,
ReplyDeleteThis story that you shared is just sad on its own. I remember when I was playing Among Us I would enter a new room and immediately I would get banned. I didn't really know anyone in that room so it didn't matter much. But being banned from everything is already too much. If I was in Pyke's situation, I would have done the same thing that he did.
Sincerely,
Vivan Waghela
Hey Yi-Kuan, Among Us certainly taught me a lot about the power of language, especially under pressure. There were a few times when someone most definitely saw me vent or kill someone as the imposter, but I managed to sweet talk everyone else and eventually end up winning. Language is especially powerful in stressful situations, and what you say can effect the results dramatically. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHey Yi-Kuan,
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize how much Among Us was a representation of language and power, from using your words to convince others that you are innocent or that someone else is not innocent. Thank you for that. I hope Pyke feels content with his act of revenge. In my opinion, the biggest act of revenge that Pyke can perform is simply cutting all ties with Sova.
Hi Yi-Kuan,
ReplyDeleteThe anecdote that you are using is very interesting in its events. I think that it supports your main claim quite strongly and is very effective. The consequences of "Pyke's" revenge, however, are interesting to consider. Being banned, let in, and then kicked out again definitely seems like it would support "Sova's" argument for banning "Pyke" in the first place, proving "Sova" right in the eyes of the players. "Pyke's" reputation seems like it would suffer greatly as a result, but without any repetitions, it doesn't seem like it would become a lasting stain. Was I close or completely off?
Sincerely,
Raymond Yu
Hi Yi-Kuan,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting story that I believe has a much deeper meaning behind it than it may seem on the surface. This situation is easily comparable to real life situations rather than in game and online. In high school, it is very easy to convince other people that one person had done something wrong. Usually, it is the victim that is "always right" and the attacker "always wrong." The story you told has a slight connection to the Crucible, as "Pyke" used what they could to get revenge on the person they disliked through the power of their words.
Hey Yi-Kuan!
ReplyDeleteNever could I have ever imagined that I would see Among us as the topic of an APENG blog. But I do think it sends a message of how much power language holds, especially is it is even applicable in a video game. I think in this case of "Pyke" and "Sova" it shows the more destructive power of language. I have always seen language as a gift of creation and knowledge, but language can serve as poison in a sense. It can hurt someone and cause them to become vengeful like Pyke did.