thoroughly stupendibrained

This is a well-known fact of the Stupendium's music. They never write a song that is just about a video game. There's always something more. Doctor! Doctor! is a Horation satire of the private healthcare system. Tune Into The Madness focuses not on the story the game tells, but the lives of those in the world it takes place in (and is also commentary of its own). Number Go Up, a song about a game with no narritive, is actually less about Balatro and more a reflection on the nature of existing within a system centred on the constant chase for validation via the unending quest for higher numbers, and the futility of it all in the face of our finite existence as human beings. Sorry for the very long sentence. It was like that when I stole it.

But there's one song that has always felt like an exception to me.

Impossible Geometry is about Beat Saber. It is about playing Beat Saber, it is bragging how good you are at Beat Saber. There aren't any deep themes, it isn't about anything more. It's a Beat Saber song. There is No Plot that you could add to a Beat Saber song. It is their one song that isn't about anything. That doesn't have to be about anything. It's just fun. It's just a fun, fast, catchy, upbeat, braggy song.

And then something happened to me. Nothing life changing, nothing that particularly has to do with the song, either. Something, for just a brief period, grabbed be by the brain and wouldn't let go.

And when I came back to the song, I realized,

Impossible Geometry by The Stupendium is about hyperfixation

I don't mean "my favorite piece of media" "hyperfixation". I don't mean "I love this thing sooooo much". I mean I'm addicted to the dopamine high and I don't know if I could stop if every other cell in my body was begging me to. I mean I want to dedicate every ounce of my energy and attention to this even if it kills me. I mean Hyperfixation.

I'm using https://add.org/adhd-hyperfixation/ as well as my own knowledge from personal experience as references. I would reccomend reading through it because I don't actually reference it very much and this post is not organized the best but I don't want to redo anything. Having it in your mind though will likely make it easier to see the parallels as I bring them up

Here's the song in case you didn't know it but are still here for some reason

The player is caught in the rush of a dopamine high

Hyperfixation (specifically in ADHD, as I understand it) is a dopamine seeking activity. When you do something hyperfixation-related, there's that little burst of satisfaction that makes you want to keep going, doing it Again and Again, until you lose track of all else.

The singer describes these kinds of dopamine hits in a few different places in the song

Something that is known to give one that kind of dopamine hit is watching a score get bigger (Stupes has a whole song partially about this phenomenon that I brought up earlier), and the song mentions this a couple times too

And the player is utterly entranced with this world. "Brilliance," "bliss," "graceful," "vibrant," "radiant," "beauty," "light." They're in a complete flow state

But there's a drawback.

The player cannot disengage from the game

The game isn't just blissful. It's more engaging than real life.

They're so caught up in the thrill of the game that nothing else seems as interesting. Nothing else is enticing like this is. Nothing else matters. This is everything.

They're stuck, and they couldn't get out if they wanted to. And that's if they wanted to.

Including the explicit neglect of basic needs, such as food and sleep (the latter of which I've already included a few lyrics about, I'm trying not to repeat any)

This is the most clear in the bridge, where the bliss fades into a simple repetitive desire. It's unclear if this is enjoyable anymore, but it's all that there is. You can't let go. You can't seem to stop.

This is where a hyperfixation becomes a big problem, and it's what convinces me that this song is indeed about hyperfixation and not simply an interest or hobby. A hyperfixation doesn't need to be a problem to count as a hyperfixation, but these are the kind of problems that can and often do arise in the case of one.

and they've been singing it to their cats