GTA player goes viral after roommate turns her in-game comms into poems

[jwplayer 91I9RIGm]After months of hearing their roommate talk to themselves during Grand Theft Auto, someone has turned those ramblings into Rupi Kaur-inspired poetry and the results are incredible.

Gamers are often very passionate. And that passion often means communicating while playing, even if it’s to yourself in a trance of decision-making self-talk. One GTA player, Reb Day, has been muttering to herself during sessions, either releasing frustrations by accosting the characters she runs into, or simply working through deliberations. 

Rather than get annoyed with this ongoing stream of consciousness and try to finagle a way to get their landlord to evict the rambling gamer, Day’s roommate saw through the swear words and virtual aggressions, discovering the true art that they contained. Instead of telling her to keep it down, he spent months scribbling down her in-game, self-directed discussions, and subsequently elevated them into a surprisingly fitting form: short poems, structured and illustrated much like Kaur’s work.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEqIbAdhdub/

Kaur is a Canadian poet, illustrator, and author, with numerous accolades and a book that spent over a year on Best Seller list. Day does “wiggily wammilies,” is willing to grenade people, and is “fine” with not knowing why she’s being shot at.

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It’s a true embodiment of the mantra that art is universal, but you don’t need to take our word for it when you can take hers, written out and beautifully illustrated.

“I don’t want to race — sometimes, it’s just nice to take life slowly and enjoy…the view. Let’s do some wiggily wammilies.” GTA V released in September 2013, but has lasted to this day because of its open world and consistently expanding online options. As Day’s monologues prove, Rockstar has created a virtual universe in which one can partake in everything from racing and enjoying the scenery to simply doing some “wiggily wammilies.”

One of her other thoughts helps express the nuances inherent to navigating the NPC-filled environments gamers are all too familiar with: “Again, I don’t really know why I’m being shot at (and that’s fine). What? Why can’t I shoot you? Are you…my son? Are you…my friend?”

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Day deserves to be commended for having the gall to voice her GTA adventuring and her roommate ought to be appreciated for his artistic mastery. But, above all else, we can only hope that people are inspired by their art and begin giving the same treatment to in-game comms for other titles.