Success requires innovation. This is true in business, this is true in love, and this is true in art. It stands to reason, then, that such a sentiment would apply to Fortnite as well; how else can one come out on top if you don’t master the crafting aspect of one of the most unnecessarily sweaty games on the market?
Of course, innovation purely in the context of the gaming world is amateur hour. Advanced innovators know that they must build on the image of the gamer itself. Grant, of TikTok‘s @jenaeandgrant, is one such innovator, although it seems that Jenae has both mistaken and correctly identified Grant’s individualism as the act of a madman.
In the brief 15-second video, we’re first greeted to Jenae’s face, and the sentiment it conveys is perfect; something profoundly disturbing is going on in this living room right now. She eventually switches to her phone’s back camera and slowly pans around the room. First we see a game of Fortnite going on on their wall-mounted television, and second, we see Grant, who seems to be going for the Guinness World Record for Healthiest Gamer Spine.
As if this avant-garde approach to the activity wasn’t mind-blowing enough, he’s also participating without a gaming chair, and there’s not a single Mountain Dew can in sight. Instead, there’s a carton of what appears to be pear juice nearby, which further suggests that Grant is operating from a headspace that defies comprehension. The fact that we were deprived of so much gameplay footage is a complete tragedy; the people deserve to know what Grant is playing at with this neo-gamer state of being.
Jokes aside, Grant’s posture probably isn’t doing him a whole lot of favors in-game, but it’s likely making a world of difference in real life. Per Haworth, unmindful gaming postures (such as slumping over your controller, as Grant would be doing if he were a conformist) can result in both short- and long-term lower back, neck, shoulder, hand, and thumb pain; all significant hurdles for humans and a death sentence for gamers in particular. To combat this, it’s recommended that you keep a fair distance from your monitor, keep your arms and wrists as loose as possible, keep your head over your spine, and keep your feet flat on the floor.
Gamers who succeed in following these steps will be just as adept at conquering joint pain as they are the 10PM 15-year-olds who are perpetually juiced up on chocolate milk and ready to wreak digital havoc with the latest skin they bought with their mom’s credit card. You don’t know what you’re in for, kid.