"Ecstatic" is the word. Now I can actually finally stop playing Guitar Hero II (though I probably won't). I'd been toiling try to surmount my friend, Trigames.NET contributor, rival and demon, stevenscott14, and his high score on Beast and the Harlot for Zaps' Guitar Hero II League, Week 4, Season 3. After putting in a somewhat sorry Beast score after multiple tries and not faring too much better at FTK, I decided to "cool down" with Six just because I was sick of playing the league songs for this week. That cool-down period graduated to Jordan, and after 5 tries tonight (which brings my total attempt count to probably 75 or so)...

It's only a four star, it's a measly 81% complete, and I just barely made it to the Blue Note of Freedom. I'm very late in the game - I realize tons of people have already beaten it. But I don't care. In Guitar Hero terms, this is huge for me. Before this, my GH2 highest achievements were measly things like getting 400k+ on Beast and the Harlot and five-starring Six. Hell, I haven't even five-starred Psychobilly Freakout or Misirlou yet. But this makes up for the entire night of failed attempts at beating ol' Scott.

Zaps, friend, comrade, buddy o' pal o' mine, your league has increased my skill tremendously and I've really enjoyed every season. But I gotta say, from here on out, my brain is on cruise control. I'm going to enjoy myself in the playoffs (if I make it, crossing fingers!!) rather than sweat and grimace, and further seasons may not see me as competitive. Jordan is beaten, and that's probably the last thing I needed to truly do before I put this game to bed. But I will say one thing: I owe this accomplishment to your league. BRING ON THAT BACKLOG!