Austin Wintory: The Road of Trials

Posted on March 13, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

One listen, and it seems I wanted to use “frolicking” a few times.

When I wrote this, I think I was struggling to get started, which is why this feels as stilted as it does.

Austin Wintory’s “The Road of Trials” is from Journey, the soundtrack for Journey.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Sounds dance and flutter about. There’s an energy in the air; a frolicking. Here and there everything seems to gain life. Everything seems to move vividly and it’s all wonderful and suddenly swept away.

Something still floats around there and there’s a shaking, a wavering, and then everything comes back out. Everything comes back to life, or slowly does at least. A little lower down, however. But there’s still a joy. Still a frolicking.

Everything seems wonderful and full of life and a desire to move around and be free, or feel a sense of freedom. It’s a world waking up from a small spot, and across a land a journey moves forward. Through memory and lingering sentiment, the space changes shape and things build and fall away, and there is, perhaps, some sorrow in it all; a sorrow that belies a breadth of feelings, slowly drawn out, slowly flowing, but not enough to take over.

The sounds continue their movement. They continue dancing and frolicking, and maybe they are urging forward and urging toward something before being stamped out. A revealing of danger, and the song ends.

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One Thousand Word Challenge 249: Ticking Away

Posted on March 12, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

Time is ticking away. I’m sitting here, ticking away. Everything ticks, everything disappears and I find myself thinking about this space more than I should. Shouldn’t have done so during lunch. That was my mistake. Oh well.

It’s quiet. It’s not empty, but it’s quiet. This feels like a place that should have more activity going on. It doesn’t. Such is life. Such is the way of things. It almost reminds me of when I went through redundancy in 2015.

I was the last grunt to leave that place. The last person who took calls from customers. I left with the rest of management and I felt it was important. I don’t know why. I wasn’t the first person to work there, but I was one of the seniors. There was maybe one call to take. A bunch of people left early as the choice to do so was there. I chose not to. I chose to stay. And it was a strange time, really. Strange, but I guess it helped me get a sense of closure with the place.

That place was a toxic work environs, and I got through it. I left and I played “Send to Celeste (And the Cosmic Athletes)” by Guided by Voices. Once out the doors of the building. It was a strange and emotional moment and I had some freedom that was unfamiliar to me, and it was interesting. Possibility and all of that stuff. But we all left and we were gone. I.T. were still there, of course, but they had other things that they had to take care of.

Here I am and I’m not being made redundant. I’m just here, working. Waiting for work to come through. Going through things, killing time, waiting and waiting and waiting some more. And I feel some sort of emotional strangeness. I’m sitting here, writing, trying to find words. Trying to see if there is anything that makes sense of all of this, but there is nothing to make sense of. I’m just sitting here, waiting and waiting and waiting some more. Nothing changes except the scenery, and I’ll be in a busier place after this. And maybe I will miss this place.

Maybe I feel a bit adrift. I’ve mentioned it before, but that place that wrapped up in 2015… I haven’t quite felt like I’ve belonged since, and maybe that’s why I feel strange about this contract ending. Maybe I feel like I belong a little here, but it’s not happening. At least, not right now. There’s an oddity in this space that I appreciate. It’s something I quite like, but it feels healthier, too. There isn’t this wild, raging youthful people thing going on. There aren’t a whole bunch of people who are chaotic and say really off things, and there isn’t this overpowering social clique thing either, and it’s great. But it’s not to be right now. But maybe later. I don’t know.

So I’m sitting here, waiting. Sitting here, trying to find something to do and keep on going and writing and finding where the words lie and the feelings fall, and I keep on going through it all. I keep on trying to work out where my life will go come Monday. Will it change directions? Do I find something new and amazing, and then find myself locked into something completely different? Will I find satisfaction? I don’t know. I don’t care to know. But I do.

This is all too much. I leave work soon. I get to go home and rest and I’m worrying about things that don’t matter so much at the moment. I’ve got questions and I need to get through them though, so getting through them is what I’m trying to do. Trying to find out where I go from here. Trying to work out what is what and all that stuff.

I’ll go home and rest after this. Stop thinking about all this stuff. I’ll be too tired to rest though. I have it easy and I’ll be too tired. I’ll need to keep on pushing through everything. I’ll need to find where things start and end and where they end and start, and I’ll have more thoughts about everything and nothing and it’ll just keep on going. I won’t be able to relax as, even though work continues, I’m stressed out as I still feel I’m spinning wheels. I still feel I’m not going anywhere. This is frustrating.

Back in 2015 I mattered less than I do now, but everything felt bigger, too. Maybe I felt I belonged in that place due to how toxic it was. Everyone there who was a grunt probably felt the same to some extent. I don’t know. I never asked. It seemed that way, and then we all scattered and followed different paths in life. I’m just here, now, trying to get through everything. Trying to survive and continue on with my life. Trying to get to being comfortable so I can be more healthily restless, and I am comfortable, but I don’t feel comfortable. I’ll go home and there will be things I need to do as my housemates won’t, and I’ll speak to them about it and they’ll say “Yeah, sorry” and all that and nothing will change. It’s more work than work, and that’s the way it shouldn’t be, and that’s the way it is, and I’m kept tired. I keep chugging along, but nothing changes and it’s all just blah and whatever and all those things.

It all turns into calcified routine and it all keeps chugging along because none of us are willing to make a move that’ll enact genuine change. Well, I do, but I’m not able to yet. I’ll be distracted by the fact that I can relax for a bit. I’ll be distracted by my having plans I need to focus on if I want to see them realised.

However, right now I’m sitting here, and time is ticking away.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 15:02:92

Not as fast as I’d have liked. A bit more conflicted writing. It’s an odd time, that’s what’s coming through, you get the idea.

Written at work.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1574: Empty Lunch Room

Posted on March 12, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

I’m in the lunch room and it is empty, and in a way these final days are always spent alone. Sure, I’m still among my colleagues, but I’ve started to detach. They’ve started to separate from me. We’re not a team anymore, even if we are. That’s a pretty cynical way of looking at things, but that is how it often feels. But I keep going and so do they. Our paths are no longer together. They diverge and we go our separate ways.

I’ve time to think about if I’ve achieved anything here over then past few months, and I’m wondering if I actually care about if I’ve achieved anything. One one hand I kind of do, but on the other I don’t. I came in to do a job and I took it as it was the one I had a successful interview for. I came in and did the job and I did want the job, don’t get me wrong, but it was just a job. It was not a career path and I’m not a career chaser anyway, so I don’t mind too much. I did it, it was done, and now I’m here, sitting in a kitchen, warbling away about it and that’s cool, too. Or not.

I think I’m wondering about if I’ve done much of anything, or anything that I can say that I care about as I’m floating from contract to contract. I’m moving through them, going here, going there, and that’s what’s going to happen once more. I keep going and it’s great that I get to keep going, but I just want some more stability.

Glad I can rest for a good few months, at least. That’s nice.

So I’m here. I’m sitting here and it’s quiet and it’s great that it’s quiet. Some people are passing through, sure, but this space is mine and not something I need to worry about sharing with others so much. But I’m wondering what it is that I can say. Something that I can say that will help me remember this job.

I liked the people. The people are great. I’ll miss them. That’s about it.

Sometimes these spaces can end up providing something obvious. I’m a small person at the end of the day, and despite how big a personality I have, I am a small and empty person in a moderately-sized and empty space. At the end of the day, everything moves to a quiet and I’m currently ruining that quiet right now. I’m typing away, harming an atmosphere that wouldn’t be appreciated unless someone was in it, and I’m just a person who is doing this. One more person moving through a space, soon to be forgotten (or not) as I float on elsewhere, and then to wherever comes after that. I keep floating on, keep trying to find somewhere where I can sit, and I just have to keep pushing through whatever until I get to stop floating around.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:54:69

There’s a bit of conflicting feelings coming through here, and it continues on into the next bit of writing. I didn’t have much to say but I felt I had to say something. It’s an odd bit of writing for me.

Written at work.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1573: Wasting More Time

Posted on March 12, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

Alrighty,

The day draws to its middle portion of the day and so I am going to go against the clock once more. It’s me against it. It’s it against me. We are locked in a race where the clock wins and I hope for the best. Or are we?

Who is to say and who is to know? Not I, for I know not what it is that will lead to the outcome that is most favourable to me. However, I do know that I should be writing a little faster than I already am. It’s a pleasant day though. Pleasant and lovely, and I’m inside and I’m trying to write. I’m trying to write the words that will lead to prosperity today and the best way I can do that is through wasting my time by wasting time.

That’s how you waste time in this age and day, and let me tell you, today will be a day of the time that is wasted and thrown away like a dirty rag that hasn’t been washed in years. Years, I tell you, because that’s what I have left, and many of them, but the clock always winds at the end of the day. It wins and it winds on down, then winds back up for it never rests and never feels need to. Everything continues on and on and on, and I keep going and hoping for the best, and yet the clock is always the victor.

However, maybe this time I might just beat it. You see, I have a weapon best described as secret… if the secret was that it wasn’t secret at all. How does one even deal with that? It’s a conundrum. It’s a power and there is confusion. Probably due to my pretending it’s a secret, or believing so hard that it’s a secret that I cannot escape my own deception of the self, and so I just keep on going and the time doesn’t care, but maybe it does… if it could. If it had reason to. It doesn’t. I don’t care.

So I’m just gonna keep going and then I’ll look at this later and I’ll look at it going “Why did I think this was worth the time?” even though I didn’t at the time but still went ahead and did it anyway. Because apparently, I thought that exercising without the meaning was worth the time everything takes. Apparently I’m a fool, or something.

So anyway, I’m here, I’m writing and I’m near the end and I am hoping to win this time. I am hoping that my winning is so hard that there will never be any more complaining about my wasting of time when I am told that I need to do cleaning or take the rubbish out or all of those things. You know. The things that we need to do to help maintain an idea of society and function. I will do those later, and not now.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 04:58:53

Quite happy with the speed on this one. A mess of words, but a good speed.

Written at work.

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Mazedude: Hanmuru Moon

Posted on March 12, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

One listen.

Early on I became unsure about how I should proceed with what I was writing. Not a good way to be. Still chugged along, but it harmed the overall piece.

Mazedude’s “Hanmuru Moon” is from For Everlasting Peace: 25 Years of Mega Man, a tribute album celebrating 25 years of Mega Man games. The song is an interpretation of Makoto Tomozawa’s (友澤 眞) “Hanmuru Doll Appears!” (ハンムルドール登場!) from Mega Man Legends, aka Rockman Dash – Episode 1: Adventurous Spirit of Steel, which was featured on its soundtrack, Rockman Dash Original Soundtrack.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Percussion shapes and strides in, and soon synths rises forward among beeps and boops. That synth moves in bits and stays in the background for the most part, or at least feels it does, even when it pairs up with other sounds.

A voice and other parts flowing together and sometimes separated by brief silence, and everything fills out and pulls away, and it’s as though everything is moving in some sort of wave or pulse. It all builds and pulls away, and builds and pulls away.

There’s a quiet among this all, among this sort of futurism, and this calm that’s not quite there. There’s prominence again and everything is moving quite precisely. Everything moves as precise angles, starting and stopping as necessary and creating this enclosed space that feels as futuristic as it does the past.

A moment of more quiet, and from it everything starts building again. Everything starts growing into a sterile, bright space with some sort of foreboding, almost. And one sound in particular is more at the front of the others, and it grooves and moves and rises and falls, and it is busy and not at the same time. It is climactic but doesn’t feel climactic, and it falls away when the other sounds stop at the song’s end.

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Yasunori Mitsuda: Memories of Green

Posted on March 12, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

One listen. Not sure what I was thinking as I wrote this. Sort of hit a wall and followed it rather than move in another direction. Oh well.

Yasunori Mitsuda’s (光田 康典) “Memories of Green” (“みどりの思い出”) is from Chrono Trigger‘s soundtrack, Chrono Trigger Original Sound Version.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Gentle sounds play out, drifting without a care. Without a rush. Woodwind soon comes in, drifting over. The time feels idyllic. It’s almost peaceful. It’s almost innocent, young and fresh.

Strings replace the woodwind and follow the same melody, and the air is cool. The air is refreshing, and clouds drift on by, as do the days. All passes with little care and worry. The days are young and free, and all is perfect. All is idyllic. All is almost a memory.

These moments of peace should last, but only do when fought for. They continue on, drifting in ignorance, then drifting framed by a desire to protect, as not all tat ignorance can be held on to, and what can be is worth protecting.

Drifting on, floating like a cloud, the sounds fade and the song ends.

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Hiroki Kikuta: Delicate Affection

Posted on March 12, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

One listen.

Got through the song quickly. Didn’t think too much which was great. Could’ve done a better writing, but overall this is okay.

Hiroki Kikuta’s (菊田 裕樹) “Delicate Affection” is from Seiken Densetsu 3 Original Sound Version, the soundtrack for Seiken Densetsu 3.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Percussion plays gentle, and strings lap underneath. Few sounds flowing through with some sort of uncertain journey, keeping things small. The strings get a little stronger, but all of this keeps fragility intact. The sounds continue on before making a tiny rest.

They get busier, fill out a little, but they talk of comfort and warmth. Within this more dramatic moment of lowering and rising, and moving to something more serious, they talk of innocence and conviction. They talk of the wonder of the world and the journey, and the need to work toward safety, and they look toward tomorrow as they reach the song’s end.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1572: I’m Gonna Wait

Posted on March 11, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

Nearly done for the day, and I’ve done an absolutely terrible job of killing time, but that’s how it goes sometimes. Just gonna try and write whatever now. I can’t do that as well as perhaps I could on another day, but gonna try anyway. It’s always worth trying. You should always try where you can, unless there’s a good reason for you to not try. But that’s not something for me to discern. I’ve other things to think about, anyway, so I’m not gonna try to work that one out. Maybe later, however.

I think I’m a bit fried from today. Had very little work to do today, so you think I’d do more writing. That, however, did not happen. Instead of that I’ve just sat here and killed time to the best of my ability. And it was terrible today. I could’ve killed time better by being productive in ways that are not related to work. I had the time and I had little of my job to do, which, don’t get me wrong, is great. However, it’s not what I wanted. Therefore, tomorrow I’ll have to do a better job of doing more with the time that I have.

I know that my boss would be fine with it, so long as I look like I’m working. Today I did not. Today I twiddled my thumbs and stared at a screen and told myself that I’d do more writing than I did. And I didn’t.

So… what do I do now? There are so many other things that I could be saying in this moment and I’m not saying them, and I don’t know where to go from here. I want the day to be over so I can go home and finish the day off, but that’s not happening for another few minutes, which is why I’m writing so why am I even saying this?

Sometimes there really are just days that go on forever, though they also don’t. They are as compressed as they are stretched, and everything happens and nothing happens and I’m left here wondering what is going on and when I’ll get more sleep, if I do indeed get any sleep at all. I’m sitting here, waiting for the day to come to its conclusion and it is taking time still to get there. I’m trying to get to those last few minutes that really are the last few minutes. I’m trying to get there and they seem to elude me, and I don’t know what to do about it. I can’t speed the time up and it just wants to stretch more and more, and every second is pushing against me, holding me back, rushing and covering my vision and I’m swarmed by the seconds as they fight to keep my day from ending, but there’s nothing left for me to do.

I can’t be bothered fighting against this. It’s too much energy and too much effort, so I’m gonna wait.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:43:35

Fun bit of silliness to end the day on before more writing comes through.

Written at work.

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Masashi Hamauzu: Dust to Dust

Posted on March 11, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

One listen, and this is sort of a slow song. It feels slow in how it moves and progresses, and I think that works really well for where it is used. Some of that came through in the writing, and I would have preferred more, but I think the result is okay.

Masashi Hamauzu’s (浜渦 正志) “Dust to Dust” (“色のない世界”) is from Final Fantasy XIII‘s soundtrack, Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack.

I think I spend too much time writing about music from The Final Fantasy series.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Something pleasant is here, though it’s heavily underscored by a sadness. A voice comes in, almost haunting, the way it floats. And all is gentle, and all is quiet, and everything expands outward, and in this ruinous space is grief and regret. A sad rage.

The pleasantness falls away to what is lost frozen in time, and what remains serves as a reminder for what will not be. The sounds weave themselves around structure and frame, and a sense of grace comes forward, but there’s nothing pleasing about this. This is what once was and what should still be.

The sounds mostly come to an end, leaving bits to shimmer off as they flow away, minimising and carrying a sense of hopelessness, but lingering long enough to push forward, even as the last sound rings out at the song’s end.

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Hitoshi Sakimoto: BioCorp

Posted on March 11, 2026 by Stupidity Hole

One listen, and this one was a struggle. I hit a wall within a few words and had to veer away a bit. Still cover the song well enough, but not in the way I’d hoped.

Hitoshi Sakimoto’s (崎元 仁) “BioCorp” (“バイオ公社”) is from Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter‘s soundtrack, Breath Of Fire V – Dragon Quarter: Original Soundtrack. The soundtrack was also released as part of Breath of Fire Original Soundtrack Special Box a soundtrack collection of the soundtracks for Breath of Fire I through to V.

I hope you enjoy.

—

A flowing beat meets strings and bass. They play with angles of smoothness, and a crackling comes in when they descend. Soon that is swept away in the halls and forms of technology flow forward. Flows of progression.

There’s something eerie and cold in all of this. Something uncaring stretches through, and discomfort follows nearby. It’s another place to get through, to move past, and to learn from.

As smooth as the sounds are, a harshness follows closely, and everything feels more and more off. Everything feels more and more unpleasant, as though it is all too clean. The crackling of progress feels a facade driven by lack of consideration, and the structure remains something internally imposing, and stays as such as the sounds fade and the song ends.

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