This is going to be a modified version of something I posted a while back on the same topic.

I've known about Sound Horizon for a bit more than two years now. Over this time, I've been blown away with mostly everything about Sound Horizon and Revo. Revo is easily one of my most respected musicians because of his creative genius—he composes every track, he writes all the lyrics, he plays various instruments including guitar and accordion (and even bagpipes!), and he’s even been singing more now. There’s just so much talent that this guy has, and it just shows in how intricate his music can get (seriously, as someone who is into music compositions, Interview with Noel, HoshiKirei, and Yoiyami no Uta are some of the most brilliant compositions I've seen).

But what Sound Horizon means to me transcends Revo’s music and delves into the meaning of the music. Sound Horizon is so different from anything I know because the stories of each Horizon embedded in each track are so special and meaningful. For example, take Hoshikuzu no Kawahimo (or Leash of Stardust, from Roman—yesterday I made a post on it). I was so blown away when I first heard/read it that I had to share it with someone. I just casually sent someone a message and said “Hi, listen to this, read the lyrics and the manga chapter. It’s about the meaning of life.” and I don’t think it could be described in any better way. That description extends to all of Roman, and its music is stellar, which is why it is my favorite Horizon and album created by Revo.

There’s just something beautiful about Hoshikuzu that just epitomizes what Sound Horizon is to me. Yes, like most of Sound Horizon, the story is inherently tragic. But the bond between Pleut and Etoile, as described by its lyrics, just struck a chord that resonated deeply within me. The song also hits home on the message that it gets better. I'll talk a it about Miezaru Ude now and how I see it (I realize this is pretty contested so this is just my opinion of things). The drunkard Laurant protagonist of Miezaru Ude is hinted at being Etoile’s father, and his reappearance shows how he could make something out of his life even though his life was in complete shambles. This message is also shown with the blind Etoile, who felt guilt for living because her mother died during childbirth. I was just so blown away when I found out about how Pleut, Etoile’s seeing-eye dog, was actually the reincarnation of her dead mother because her mother wanted to help guide Etoile through the world “glittering in darkness”. I’m not afraid to admit that I bawled. I found the story incredibly meaningful and it’s just one example of one message from Sound Horizon.

I feel like Sound Horizon has also taught me some things regarding understanding how people work. The example I’m going to use here is the meaning behind Aoki Hakushaku no Shiro from Märchen (side note: I was unfamiliar with the Bluebeard’s Castle fairy tale before listening to it). For me, this song actually provided me insight on how many people work in regards to abusive relationships. Although the Earl is a horrible monster of a human being who deserved an even worse death than what he got, the main wife in the song cannot truly hate him. Even though she was murdered by him and hung up in his forbidden room with all his other victims, the Earl is still “the one she loves”. In the live, after the revenge is carried out and the Earl is dead, she holds his body in the live, as if in mourning.

I couldn't understand this concept at first. The Earl is a mass murderer and rapist. How the hell could she still love him after all that? I thought for months. Now, however, I do know some people who have been in abusive relationships and I can understand that there is an underlying truth behind all of this, as the victims I know do share some similarities with the main wife in Aoki Hakushaku no Shiro. Through this song and essentially all of Märchen, I learned that “hatred cannot bring healing to sadness”, and I really feel like Sound Horizon’s messages have helped shape my outlook on life.

So Sound Horizon means a lot to me: from Revo’s music to the meaning behind his stories, this band is most probably the best thing I've discovered...ever.

Won't dwell on the musical or analytical aspect, since I pretty much wholeheartedly agree with Ghostie and Thanako on those matters.

However, I think I would probably be (and likely have been) one of the first to argue the connection between the Laurants of Miezaru Ude and Hoshikuzu, the one that Ghostie made just there. But that is for more personal reasons. I cannot see the two as the same, yet I've come to acknowledge that the possibility is there, and is seen by others.

Sound Horizon, to me, is about strength, and finding strength. But more than that, it's about accepting that even if you're faced with hardships, even if things don't work out in your favour, you shouldn't give up. You don't have to fight everything in your path, as Thanako mentioned, but giving up is no good either. And you shouldn't wallow in your misery so long that it defines you entirely.

It's funny, how the song that most resonates that inside me, is the aforementioned Miezaru Ude. For the longest while, I couldn't stand the imagery that song shows us, again for purely personal reasons. It hit too close to home.

But now I've learnt to embrace it, all of it, and appreciate that imagery. The strength of the woman who left her violently abusive lover, more for the safety of her child above that of her own, it makes me feel something I can't really describe with words. It makes me feel strong, too, just by listening.
And that same man, who had lost sight of his life and everything in it, who went and confronted the fears that had been terrorizing him for so long. That, too, is strength.

But enough of my nonsensical babbling about Miezaru Ude.

As for the community, I've found some of my best friends through the music Revo makes, whether they've come through the SH side, the LH side, or the eroge music. Okay no I've actually never met a Pastel Kitchen fan.... nor one that likes Leviathan and came from there, rather than liking Leviathan from having heard the Image Album. Same for Gunslinger Girl, really, but Gunslinger Girl fans are scarce these days....
So additionally, for me, Sound Horizon has meant "family" for a long time now.

Family... means you're all connected somehow. In this case through music rather than blood and the usual family ties. It also means you don't neccessarily get along with everyone (something I know to be the case in this fandom), and you're bound to disagree on all kinds of topics. But you still share the love for that music, no matter what form it takes.

To summarize what feels like an awful lot of text:
SH means finding your own strength, and it means family.
Miezaru Ude still hurts in my heart though.

At first my interest in SH was purely intellectual as the idea was simply interesting and beautifully done. I have a weakness for the different, even if I can be just as easily turned off by it. Of course, I liked the music and everything in general... Perhaps the story was a bit weak at first... Of course, until I started to find all the oh-so-beautiful connections.

What made me unable to escape was probably the whole theorizing concept. It made me realize the true depth of the universe inside the music and start to be more active in an intellectual sense of the word. I could enjoy it in so many ways, it was a blast of an experience. The fact that I wasn't at the best of my moments and it helped me in a way may also be of influence.

But, as you perhaps may get from my previous words, what I like the most is the world, the stories, the characters... how it all connects so beautifully and creates a giant complex picture. I like the feeling of detailed pieces of works in which one can get lost hours and yet find new details about every time you look at it. It entertains me not only in a music sense, or even story or character-wise. But also at an intellectual level. That as top in your game as you can get in my opinion, really.

There are also the fact that Revo made that someone like ME, who usually listens to one or two songs per band and say thanks, collect patiently all of his compositions. It is some impressive feat, really. Revo always manage to do it different and fresh to my ears.

The strength in Revo's Musical fantasies is that it is built on the foundation of creativity, everyone can interpret what his story means. For me personally, Sound Horizon is to accept that life is limited but does not mean you can't make it worth living for with memories of-/insert cliche passionate stuff.

Or you could just enjoy the music because it sounds catchy.