I think that the quote: “Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you” definitely applies to Silksong in radically wonderful degrees of resounding relatability


How I imagine a lot of self-performed pep talks go with Silksong players about to give the boss who just killed them for the twentieth time just one more try

One of my main thrusts of intent in the past day was to put some serious hours into Silksong, by pulling an all-nighter, a task which was sadly derailed by a sudden and spontaneous bout of cat cuddling, which lasted longer than I thought it would, and did me in proper, leading to a much earlier bout of sleep that followed. Not the first time I’ve been a victim of such a cuddly downfall; I once missed an appointment at the DMV due to similar circumstances, and I regret nothing in regards to the matter. I stand by my decisions, as one must know when to prioritize work, and when to prioritize contentment of a more wholesome variety.

That does end up translating to me losing quite a bit of work on Silksong as a result, but I’m feeling quite rested, with a well cuddled kitty to show for it, too, so I think the ends justify the means in this moment. Still, an amazing amount of hours lost in the process, so I will have to refocus on pouring more hours related to completing the game, in pushing on into the depths of the Citadel, to get to the heart of how the faithful were driven mad by corruption.

I have a trifecta of disparate ideas all worthy of discussion, though I feel I will be too much of a wanderer betwixt wonderment if I dilly-dally amidst all of them this day, so I think I will focus on the singular notion I only briefly touched upon before, where as the other two are more or less follow ups to cogent thoughts I’ve already presented prior. What I’m about to touch upon most certainly could use some externalized reinforcement, but I have not happened upon perspectives referencing the subject material I am about to metaphysically gesticulate about, though I won’t be surprised if the algorithms bring something my way in the near future regarding the matter.

One of my fixations with Silksong, as I work my way through one hell of an inspiration of thought processes, is to break down the parsimonious reasoning behind how the game has impacted gaming at large: the people, the doctrines, the ideologies etc, etc. This is all speculation of course, but my speculates do spring from a long history of both writing and playing games, as well as my fumbling within the realm of the analytically metaphysical, and a poking and prodding with ideas involving both psychoanalysis and media decontructionism. Needless to say, a lot of great threads to pull at, especially with a game as elaborately inspired as Silksong has been.

One facet of Silksong that I reiterate, I think I’ve only brushed against, is the notionality behind games as art vs consumer product, and all that follows suit. This also relates to an early stage theory I’ve been developing, which may yet still be too undeveloped to really whip out here, but relates to people being a“Homunculous of Hobbyism” (H.o.H), which kind of deals with us as being essences of the media we consume, some kind of malformed chimera of sorts made out of our metaphysical delights of choice, but one that remains a distorted human figure as a result, not entirely of our own creation, but an alchemical result of our own cultural predications, as it were. Somewhere between the husk of humanity and an echo of memetics, resulting in a simultaneity of spirits of interests converged, that becomes “more real” than the individual inside of the amalgamation of interests that encases it.

A grotesquely monstrous concept, to be sure, and one I figured I would wheel out in a lesser state of conceptualization, as if I’ve been kicking it around in some form or fashion for a few years now, and the only way to possibly “make it grow” in developing it further is by possibly getting it wrong by running into some dead ends of experimentation of what it can and cannot relate to, and I think there remains some merit within my reference to Silksong to discuss on the matter.

To use one of the more basic examples of how this can apply here, in borrowing from my H.o.H, in the more literal idea of being chimerical, regards to being made of disparate parts of metaphysical interests, I think some people view certain forms of media and certain ideas within it, based on either a particularly strong interest they have, or the context of that interest, for example. For some people, that ends up looking like someone who enjoys video games for the fun factor, others might like video games through the lens of time wasting, others still may love to challenge themselves within the realm of gaming, so something like Silksong makes sense for them to enjoy. As I’ve discussed in the past, there was a famous debate that Roger Ebert had when he was still alive with the gaming masses involving whether or not video games were art, and there was a lot of interesting discussion to be had, and it’s something I’ve touched upon before here on ATE.

I think, using the H.o.H theory, and keeping something like ego in mind, and how one builds self-identity, people have a tendency to have fixations, of course. This tends to dictate how they view the media they appreciate or enjoy through certain lenses, even though it might not exclude the notions that the media they do enjoy is more than one thing to them, other qualities just aren’t taking priority, or being something else than the thing the H.o.H wishes to assimilate into its being with similar interests previously acquired. Almost like a metaphysical magnetism of sorts.

So, within this regard, and in essence, truncating this whole idea into a more digestible version by skipping to the conclusion only slightly bypassing some of the more dry assertions that get us there, the H.o.H seeks out what it wishes to continue to incorporate into its being for its foremost quality, thus adding to its own form. In the case of Silksong, some who have tried to incorporate it into their own being attempted to do so, without realizing what they were trying to assimilate was being rejected by the ego, in a sense, as I think one of the more defining characteristics of Silksong itself is its difficulty, and it is a quality that the H.o.H did not end up needing to absorb, or realizing it was not “of their essence”, with Silksong’s other qualities, like its Metroidvania sensibilities taking precedence in terms of the qualities sought for absorption.

My mention of Ebert earlier involving the debate about games as art; this may be of note for some H.o.H in regards to the artistry involved in Silksong’s identity, though other H.oH’s will have no desire related to this consumable quality for this particular facet of the games identity to engulf into their hungry metaphysical endeavors. Even more abstract notions can be a defining characteristic of the H.o.H, so cultural significance in relation to the launch of an important game can be relevant to a H.o.H, as if being present in consuming history is pertinent to its “essential appetite”, maybe even FOMO driving the ego’s voraciousness in the process, or perhaps a lust and yearning for the ramifications of the impactful zeitgeist on display that quells the amalgam and satiates the beast incorporated thusly.

A fairly long winded (though I posit, a fairly fascinating exposition) way of saying people bit off more than they could chew with Silksong, and or in an even more reductionist sense, not to their taste, for details reasoned prior. I think you probably now understand the “Homunculus of Hobbyism” theory more now, and I feel as if it was a decent test run to apply it to a real world scenario in front of an audience.

Definitely an idea worthy of pursuing…

~Pashford