chronic illness is so fucking annoying because what do you mean I was completely fine and able to do tons of work yesterday with no problem but today I can't even stand up from bed without feeling like I might collapse. like what do you MEAN
WX-78 Beta Branch's theme is a waltz, and my interpretation of what this could mean for their character
Okay so, I would like to start by saying that I am pretty pissed that they removed the Beta Branch music because IT WAS SO GOOD. I've found it around YouTube and have been listening to it because it was really good and it scratches my brain just right, and there was something familiar about its rhythm and tempo that I just liked but just couldn't figure out why.
Then during a random train of thought, it hit me:
WX-78's beta theme is a waltz. A waltz on a 150 BPM tempo, for the record.
And my brain started spiraling, the gears in my head running nonstop (ha, get it? okay sorry I'll see myself out) and I had to get my thoughts on the matter out, and now I'm here posting this.
Now stay with me for a while because I have a LOT to say about this. Mainly I will focus on WX-78, but I will also mention their robotic companions a little, and maybe even something else... we'll see.
But for now, sit down, grab a cup of whatever drink you enjoy and relax as you read the rambles of a nonbinary idiot with too much time while in the metro to overthink about their favorite nonbinary robot and their theme music and what this could mean for their character.
I hate this stupid robot /aff
So! First things first, I wanna tell you people that I have absolutely ZERO knowledge on music theory and all of what I could write down in here that takes some music theory knowledge was thanks to my friend Annie, who is a huge nerd about the topic and has ranted to me before about Berdly's theme being a waltz as well. Annie if you're reading this, thank you for helping me confirm my suspicions, this ended up on a full damn rant about WX-78's Beta theme being a waltz LMAO.
So, let's begin:
Why do I say that this theme is a waltz? What does it have that makes it qualify like it?
Let's first get the definition of what a waltz is, shall we?
This is what Wikipedia says about it:
The waltz (from German Walzer [ˈvaltsɐ], meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, in triple ( 3/4 ) time, performed primarily in closed position, originating from German-speaking regions of Europe in the 18th century.
So, it's a ballroom dance in 3/4 time! Which to put it on simpler terms, it follows a constant "one, two, three, one, two, three" rhythm with a bit of emphasis on the starting note (one).
Now, listen closely to how a waltz rhythm is supposed to sound like.
And now listen to WX's theme.
Doesn't ring much of a bell, right? Yeah, I was not convinced on a start either. But what if instead of a 120 BPM rhythm, we check out 150?
Now listen to both of them together!
You see now where we're headed to?
So yes. This theme is a waltz.
"Okay, cool, we get it. What the hell does that mean?" you might be wondering. Well I am not done here!
You see, this is a waltz. From what I’ve been reading, in narrative terms a waltz is meant to represent freedom, expressiveness, the ability to change and adapt smoothly/graceful adaptability (which is also taken from the fact that you need to adapt to the dance moves smoothly, with grace), character, passion and expressiveness. Which are very interesting concepts to think about when it comes to WX-78
Now, before we continue, I would like to point out that there are two versions of this theme, and I will be addressing both of them.
Version 1 (Beta Branch version):
This version will be addressed to as the "Ominous" version.
Version 2 (Skill Tree Short version):
This version will be addressed as the "Soft" version.
DISCLAIMER: I know this one YouTube video is a fanmade extension made by Fabin, however it takes after the canon version from the short so we'll still address this extension and the short version here.
Moving on!
Skills of graceful change and adaptability
I will focus specially on it representing freedom and adaptability. I’ll start with adaptability and how this relates to the Skill Tree - hell, their very existence -if the Disconnect description is anything to go by- is about progress, change and adaptability! One could infer by connecting these factors that WX has been growing accustomed to this world and adapting smoothly and not necessarily looking for world domination as they so claim, but rather actually adapting to live as part of The Constant.
Let’s take for example their machines, starting by the Roto-Mapper: Scott!
Scott’s function is to scan The Constant and help WX learn about the environment they’re in, slowly amplifying their map- WX learns how this world looks.
This gives room for the next steps, with Jimmy and Drew.
We’ll focus on Jimmy first. Jimmy is WX’s main tool for adaptability in this world, being able to scan the creatures of this world and getting data from them, and with this learning and creating circuits all in favor of living and adapting better to this world.
What’s funny though, is exactly that: the circuits they craft don’t seem to be focused on helping them take over the world, but rather they’re adaptation tools
The first circuits we had after the first rework were them learning to adapt to this world- and now after the Skill Tree we could say that now they feel “comfortable enough” in this world yet they keep adapting, again, not trying to take over the world as they claim they wanna do, but rather making tools (circuits and bots) that will make adaptability to The Constant easier not only for them, but for their fellow survivors too.
We move on to focus on the Portable Storage Unit, Drew
Admittedly I’ll make this part shorter but it makes sense for it to be shorter- once they’ve gotten a wide view of the map thanks to Scott, now with Drew they can easily send over required materials to the base or to wherever any fellow survivors are. Initially I believe they tried to convince themself that this was only to make carrying materials for themself (and specially between chassises (?) (is this how you write that?) they have across The Constant) easier, but it turns out they’ve actually used this to help their fellow survivors too. They do care yet are deeply trying to pretend that they do not (and are failing at it).
And we cannot forget the Zaptrocuter!
Albeit this one miiiight be a bit of a stretch, Jules could signify them learning to take a different, more careful approach on the enemies and/or aggressive creatures of The Constant- instead of them directly going for the hit, they are more cautious and decide to strike from a safe distance- maybe even elaborating a strategy with their fellow survivors beforehand which includes them striking while hidden! Even when it comes to attacking, this is still a change -albeit one they definitely took longer to learn and adapt to- and they’re still being helpful to the other survivors.
Lastly, the new chassis abilities.
Being able to move between different “bodies”, all of them with different (or no) circuits in them and smoothly moving between them depending on the circumstances and what’s required. Come on man, that’s probably the BIGGEST sign of adaptability that we can downright see in game aside from/combined with the circuits. And couldn’t this also count as showing their own character? Which is another thing that waltzes are meant to represent.
Going back to the music with this- I’ve already said that it’s a waltz (3/4 beat) on a 150 Beats Per Minute tempo. Not too fast, not too slow- it has quite a smooth pacing.
Both versions of the the theme follow a rhythm which follows a pattern, which feels mechanical and is reminiscent of “factory sequences in a movie” as my friend said, but even in said pattern the constant sounds of machinery, clicking, turning, ticking and other sounds I may have left behind (which are a lot more noticeable in the softer version), feels like they’re constantly creating, changing (and in this case it could be creating their little robots, their chassises and their circuits if we wanna put it more literally)
If you interpret this with the aforementioned stuff, they’re gracefully adapting to this life in The Constant- gracefully moving alongside the pace of the waltz.
But I'm getting too stuck on the skill tree. It's time for us to head onto the next part:
Mechanical freedom: facades, moving on and true-self
Moving onto the Freedom part which is the one that interests me with how mechanical this waltz is, and also the differences between the ominous version and the soft version- the ominous version, as I mentioned to my friend, it’s definitely the projection that WX is trying to portray about themself, that of an ominous, soulless, evil robot who hates organics and is trying to take over this world. But they are forcing themself to depict this image and it’s in fact, not who they really are- they’re forcing an image of themself not only on others, but on themself too and not giving themself the chance to be themself.
Does this look like freedom to you? Because it does not look like freedom to me.
It’s an irony that their theme is a waltz yet it’s so mechanical- they crave this freedom, yet they won’t allow themself to be vulnerable around others. They don’t let the other survivors know they care about them, and won’t let the others care for them as well -cue the Nature short in here, with Wormwood showing they care for them, WX panicking and retaliating with violence because they not only don’t want to be vulnerable, but also won’t allow others to care for them- and this keeps them trapped.
Letting themself feel, care and be cared for could give them the true freedom they say they have (but don’t actually have and so desperately want)
Something else is, they tell themself that they’re free from who they were, from their past but we all know it’s not really like that.
Their memories haunt them, the past and who they used to be haunts them and they want to leave that behind but the fact that they won’t come to terms with it, accept it and move on is keeping them trapped in this mechanical loop- and interestingly! The Ominous version loops every 10 seconds. Much to think about I believe.
Specially compared to the Soft version: listening to it with full focus, I came to notice that this one does not loop until 48 seconds in- it does keep a looped melody and of course the waltz beat, yes, but the instruments and the composition are vastly different. It’s still mechanical but in a rather different way- I’d argue that this version is more organic, more free, quirky and shows more of them as they really are. It feels more creative too! It’s mechanical in a creative way and if you close your eyes and focus, you can picture them creating their little robot companions.
To me this version feels like it could potentially be their “true-self-waltz”, to say so, it’s still their same mechanical waltz but it pictures them as they truly are.
So their beta branch theme being a waltz is, quite fitting, wouldn’t you think?
And now for the third surprise part...
Wxwood!!! For I love this ship and love to find comparisons and interesting things that can indeed apply for my OTP. So, without further ado...
Wxwood's could-be waltz
As we know, Waltzes are meant to be danced in pairs! Yet here we have a WX-78 who is not dancing with anyone: they are alone, they’re on their own and as they walk alongside their machines, they terrorize the small organics as we can see with the scared catcoon and the rabbit on the loading screen.
Considering that the background of the loading screen looks a lot like the scenery from the Nature short, one could infer that this background is connected to that specific short and happens afterwards (or even before?).
You guys see it too, right?
Now deal with me for a minute because I know this delves a bit into theorization territory and it’s more of a stretch but with this background on the Beta Branch screen, the Ominous version of the theme playing and the context of the Nature short, one could infer that this is WX trying to try even further to impose the image of them being violent and an evil, cruel killing machine by terrorizing critters… yet despite the creepy, ominous music, the fact that it just loops and doesn’t go any further gives me the vibe of them being all bark and no bite. They don’t see to be damaging any organics in the loading screen at least. And specially- I saw someone around here on Tumblr mention that in the Nature short, WX never hurt Wormwood. Yes, they went on a rampage, yes, they hurt other creatures IN THE SHORT, but NEVER they thought about hurting Wormwood, which reads to me as being more of a “I have to keep the image up or they’ll realize I’m vulnerable and I cannot let myself be vulnerable with anyone”
But they clearly care at least to some extent to not even think about hurting him not even once.
Potentially, what we see in the loading screen could be them cooling down after this whole incident. The waltz plays, and it’s meant to be danced between two people yet there’s only one of them, alone, with an Ominous, mechanical waltz playing as they try to pretend they’re evil and unfeeling, not giving themself the chance to accept these feelings, to accept the change that Wormwood would bring into their life, denying that he could ever care for them (despite being quite evident that he cares) not dancing smoothly to the rhythm. And by doing this, they’re depriving themself of freedom of feeling care: of caring for someone deeply and being cared for.
The theme it’s a waltz! Yet it’s a little difficult to notice with all the ominous music.
Waltzes are also meant to represent expressiveness, and yet they’re trying to mask it with the “evil robot” image (which is also interesting, as waltzes have been also used previously to depict evil characters due to how grand they sound and WX is trying to make us think they too, are part of that archetype.
And yet us, the fans, notice that this is nothing but a disguise and none of us believes it: we see right through them. And so does Wormwood, wishing that their robot friend one day stops trying to pretend that they’re cold and unfeeling and gives themself the freedom to be cared for and to care for others.
Deep inside, the soft version of the waltz plays in their mind. Could this be a version where they potentially are more accepting and inclined to accept said change and let Wormwood into their life? In another universe they’re not alone and they’re both gracefully dancing to the rhythm, smoothly adapting to the changes that the Constant brings into their lives.
But we’ll have to wait and see what the future holds for both of them.
And specially, we'll have to wait and see what the future holds for our dear "soulless" automaton.
(twirling my hair but it’s increasingly clear i’m about to cry) would you still love me if i suddenly and tragically lost my hearing ahaha (voice cracking and hands shaking) do you prooomise you wouldn’t get so mad at me for having so many more needsss
when Darry calls soda n pony honey he means specific things for each.
for soda he means 'honeysuckle'. who springs up unexpectedly n is suddenly everywhere. whose bright amongst the bushes still dead from winter. the first sign of spring. who gives n gives n gives. who sticks to your clothes n whose laugh is sweet in your ears. he calls soda honeysuckle n means 'do you remember fillin hands n mouths n jean pockets forgotten n washed n scolded for but it never much mattered cause our faces are streaked yellow n bright n I'm so lucky youre my brother. you are the first sign everythin might be ok for us. you're first light'
for pony he means honeycomb. a labor of love. ain't easy to come by. he calls him honeycomb n remembers sittin on the front porch n runnin down to the river n sharin somethin stolen with sticky hands n skin freckled with summer. he calls pony honeycomb n means 'remember when I was just your brother? even then I'd scrap my knees n bandage my own stings n still give you the bigger piece. you're the thing I'm workin for.'
