"no skips, no shortcuts"

November 12, 2024 6:48 AM

"In his best run, Jammy had become the richest person in the world in eleven years, three months, eleven days, and twenty-three hours (in-game timer)..." "Any Percent" by Andrew Dana Hudson asks: "Imagine you could play a video game that let you live a whole human life in a matter of minutes. What would it mean to 'win' in that game? What would it mean to speedrun?" in an ultimately hopeful "proletarian-themed" science fiction story deliberately published on May Day, 2023 to celebrate International Workers' Day. I pair it with Grace Petrie's energetic song "Fixer Upper" which starts "I woke up from an awful dream / in June of 2016" yet finds a way to lead to "everything you dream is possible / it's waiting to be made .... come grab a spade!"

Petrie previously. From Petrie's song "Fixer Upper":

"I woke up from an awful dream / in June of two thousand sixteen / in a far right fake news fucked up universe / and though we sang The Mountain Goats / loud enough to bruise our throats / every year that followed still got worse and worse"

"And maybe I'm delusional / but I think you are beautiful / and if we could just keep from losing heart / we might still / not rest until / if anybody can, we will / we will build something better from the parts"

(full lyrics to "Fixer Upper")

Spoiler: "Fixer Upper" made me absolutely burst into tears and I feel like I needed to hear it precisely now.

posted by brainwane (10 comments total)

Look, this is the first front page post I've made since the US election. I'm feeling tender and scared and determined. If people come in and dismiss the possibility of having any hope at all, it's gonna make me feel pretty bad. If people come in and make snarky one-liners about video games or whatever other words in the post snag their attention, again, that will not have a positive effect on me. If you don't like this post then please flag it and move on.
posted by brainwane at 6:52 AM on November 12 [7 favorites]

Correction/clarification: "Any Percent" is a novella.

A great fanvid that uses another Petrie song, "Black Tie", to celebrate queerness in the 2022 TV show A League of Their Own. "you will find the clothes that fit."
posted by brainwane at 6:59 AM on November 12 [1 favorite]

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing this.
posted by fast ein Maedchen at 7:05 AM on November 12 [1 favorite]

Thanks for this post, brainwane!

Any mention of speedrunning a life in a videogame is incomplete without the hilarious and sad "Roy" from Rick and Morty. (cw: mortality, Weltschmerz)
posted by lalochezia at 7:41 AM on November 12 [2 favorites]

One Hour One Life is an interesting implementation of this idea. You life a whole life in one hour, when you are born into the game you are born to other players who can choose to take care of you or not, and the entire world is persistent. It is also an experiment in building a civilisation across generations.
posted by fimbulvetr at 7:50 AM on November 12 [1 favorite]

Is it off-topic if I mention here that Desert Bus For Hope 2024 is running right now, raising money for Child's Play Charity?
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 9:38 AM on November 12

Just don't go back to work at the carpet store!
posted by yellowcandy at 11:08 AM on November 12 [3 favorites]

oh btw i have a little tune to play y'all on my flute from ressik
posted by lalochezia at 1:47 PM on November 12 [2 favorites]

I have been rationing myself to one listen of Meanwhile in Texas a day since the result.

I saw her tour in the spring and she describes this album as a nervous breakdown in songs. There are some lovely hopeful songs and the final mass sing along of Black Tie was great but it is also honest about the fear and difficulty.
posted by hfnuala at 3:27 PM on November 12

Once again, thanks brainwane, a nice nugget of a story. Comrades! The power analysis drives the story!
posted by k3ninho at 3:26 PM on November 13 [1 favorite]