Vivid/Statis

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Video game fandom
Namevivid/statis
Abbreviation(s)v/s
Developer(s)Hajimeli (Team Vividstatis)
Publisher(s)SKY HOUR WORKS
Reveal date2023, 2024
Release dateMarch 8, 2023 (Early Access)
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux (Steam)
Genre(s)Rhythm Game, Visual Novel, ARG
External link(s)Steam, X/Twitter
See alsoRhythm Game, Friday Night Funkin', Custom Remix
Sci-fi/fantasy-style poster fanart by JWPH
Related articles on Fanlore.

Vivid/Statis (most commonly stylized as vivid/statis, or v/s in short), is a 4-key mystery-visual novel-rhythm game hybrid developed by Team Vividstatis, under Hajimeli. In it, aside from gameplay similarities between DanceDanceRevolution and other related games, players also follow the story of a Japanese girl and her friends as they find out the truth behind the former's sister's sudden disappearence. Notable for having a selection of songs both fan-submitted and previously featured in underground music compilations, as well as having minor appearances in certain other rhythm games, as well as combining pixelated and digitally-drawn art styles within its setting and plot, the game has gained a small yet passionate fanbase to this day.

It had a short pre-release development cycle of roughly two years, and a further several more post-Early Access release.

Canon

In vivid/statis, the player progresses throughout the underlying story through song charts of three to four predefined difficulties, from "Opening" to "Finale", with "Encore" exclusively available for certain songs, especially those in connection with the story aspect of the game, by way of a vertical 4-lane rigid note system. Through completion of these charts, the player obtains a varied amount of two kinds of in-game currency - points and battery - which can be spent on unlocking additional songs and progressing through the Node Flowchart (its version of the storyline) in its available chapters. At each end, lies within another aspect, an ARG-esque locked cipher, that requires the player to solve the code/puzzles in order to face the "boss" song of said chapter.

Characters

Spoiler Warning: This article or section may contain spoilers. If this bothers you, proceed with caution.

  • Saturday Tasogare - the protagonist of the game's story, often reckless and cheerful in nature
  • Tsuki Tasogare - sister of Saturday and a worker of the Tanegashima Geology Institute; presumed to be missing shortly prior to the game's storyline
  • Allison Allister - Saturday's stoic, yet caring best friend; often the voice of reason
  • Kotomi Nichibotsu - social worker and sister to Eri
  • Eri Nichibotsu - one of the main detectives in the Tanegashima Police District; noted for being cold-headed and analytic, yet concerned about Tsuki's disappearance
  • Chiyo Sakamura - a novice, yet dedicated independent journalist; notable for one of the secondary characters in Chapter 2

Fandom

Since its initial state as a public gameplay demo on itch.io in March 2022, the small, emergent fanbase that vivid/statis has accrued have followed suit in deciphering and theorizing the underlying storyline, as well as making headcanons and yet-unreleased fanworks of its characters; at one point, they even partook in an in-universe ARG involving both the game itself, two related cryptic Twitter accounts, and a slew of equally-cryptic information and code released on the game's official Discord hub, the end result being of the rest of the prequel chapter, Chapter 0, which featured a few songs in connection with the aforementioned ARG's narrative.

Fanon

  • Saturday is typically portrayed as having an energetic, rowdy voice, while Allison herself is thought of as having a cautious, more-laid back tone.
  • As for the secondary characters, for example:
    • Eri, due to her stature and personality as a police investigator, has been thought of as having a typically-lower yet feminine tone.
    • Tsuki and Dawn, being seperated action-based figments of Saturday themselves, have been portaryed with contrasting voices, with Tsuki being of a younger, rebellious voice, and Dawn being of an older, cunning one.
  • Allison is also jokingly and metaphorically thought by some fans of as a cat, pertaining to parts of her own personality, to the point that visual fanworks of the character have her gain either cat-eared headbands, or just straight up portray her as a cat-human hybrid.

Memes

The fandom itself, similar to that of ULTRAKILL, has been known to sometimes, take the game less seriously, often focusing on features and bugs, as well as story bits, that, in some way, deliver more in terms of hilarity than of annoyance, to the point where even the dev team themselves join in the fun, and also relegate shitposts and memes related to the game to a dedicated subchannel on the official Discord hub.

For example, "grode" and "grodefish" both refer to the song of the same name by dandeless, in Chapter 1, as well as one of the available fish to be caught within a certain hidden section of the game, and is often interchangeably used whenever someone finishes its associated chart (regardless of difficulty), and in other humorous contexts.

Another example pertains to the character Saturday, her name being also used in often-humorous contexts.

Following the release of both Chapters 3 and 0 (specifically, the rest of said latter chapter), a pixel-style, circular image simply known as "important object", depicted as a vividly-colored disc, became a recent meme, often used alongside references to certain sections of the former's story.

Shipping

As most of the characters are female, with the exception of the ferryman, as well as some of Eri's colleagues, het pairings are extremely rare. Although rarely visible within the fandom, the most notable pairings are Saturday/Allison, Tsuki/Dawn, and Eri/Allison.

Relationships with Other Fandoms

Throughout its entire development cycle, vivid/statis has had a couple of collaborations with other games, most often in the rhythm genre, all through songs (or remixes) that originate from said games, as part of a cross-fandom exposure.

Some notable examples include:

  • All the Times (Rhythm Doctor) - ported by TaroNuke; adapts the gimmicks of the original boss stage in said game, with a certain "Taro flavor" to it
  • Proper Rhythm (UNBEATABLE)
  • Battle in Enemy Territory (YIIK I.V)

Aside from the above, it has also seen a minor crossover with the "high quality rips" community through two specific rip vids on YouTube channels SiIvaGunner and TimmyTurnersGrandDad in late 2023, leading to both recurring jokes and a small influx of players to the game itself.

Aside from this, from a fandom perspective, the number of non-rhythm game fans making over into vivid/statis, not just for the reason for its compelling rhythmic gameplay, but also for the lore and relatability of the characters themselves, has caused the fandom itself to slowly develop further, especially in light of fanvids that feature some of its originals within the background audio list; a notable example is mollystars' three-parter "The Device Theory" Deltarune fan theory Youtube video series, which in the third and final video, has "stop-motion" (by Frums) playing within the third chapter of said analysis video.

Fanworks

Fan Art

Gallery

Another poster-style fanart by Mochiinko (2024)

Fan Fiction

  • Saturday is Sick - by Maylegolus (2024), a sick fic from the aforementioned character's POV
    • Notable for being the first vivid/statis fic posted on Archive Of Our Own
  • What We Don't See - by atpx (2024-), an Eri/Chiyo fic

Fan Music

Fan Vids

Other

Meta

Archives and Further Resources

Links and Further Reading

References

  1. ^ Also known by its thumbnail's subtitle, "Saying a Lot of Things as Saturday Tasogare", of which its creator also asks for fan submission for said voice-acted joke series.
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