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iridescentscarecrow · 5 months

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what frustrates me about fandom interpretations of makima as a one note Source of evil, apart from the fact that the manga itself refutes this, is that her character haunts and ties together so much of part two that it's impossible to fully understand without understanding her.

makima isn't ever a unilateral antagonistic force. she's an agent of the institutional evil that looms over all of CSM. she's in as much a commentary on gender and performance of gender as denji is.

and fjmt in part two enacts the "haunting the narrative" trope in such an interesting manner because you see flashes of makima in every female character. you see elements of her diluted into, most visibly, the characters of asa, nayuta and fumiko.

in asa, i see makima in that yearning for connection. i see her in the way that asa herself is fundamentally unable to approach the relationship of equals that she so desperately desires, partly due to her own social awkwardness but also because of yoru's threat: everyone she gets close to turns into a weapon. the fundamental inequality to human relationships that makima is unable to overcome.

during the aquarium date, you see asa echo makima again and again in lines that evoke makima's purposing of denji. that weaponising. "i'll grant you any request / save me chainsaw man! / you don't have to think about a thing."

and her connection with denji also founds itself upon this. yoshida talks to asa about parasocial relationships -- rerendering makima's idealisation of the CSM in how asa sees denji as a love interest. asa and denji parallel each other so organically in their gendered suppression and portrusion of desire. it's a punctuation of denji's search for intimacy that's mirrored by makima's in part one. exploring how asa is different from makima is perhaps the most intriguing part of this reflection though: an example being the way asa overthinks her outfit for her date with denji while makima seamlessly models herself into an Effortless woman.

[it's not like asa borrows just from makima. for example, there are things to be said about the way she views her Body (as compared with reze and quanxi) but examining how mkm's character bleeds into asaden is quite compelling.]

nayuta being the most visible remnant of what makima was is also interesting because makima herself appears so little in nayuta beyond the surface. nayuta's role as the control devil is hinted at frequently as is her appearance resembling makima's

but her and denji's dynamic more often echoes the hayakawa family and pochita than anything else. consider: aki giving up his goal (his 'easy revenge' that he finally sees for what it is) for the sake of his family, that warmth of blood and platonic bodily intimacy that power embodies--

it's all referenced to again with nayuta and denji, in direct panel callbacks and the plot itself! nayuta is The Family that makima constructs for denji in part one to pull him along the plot she prepares. i'm thinking about how makima is an allegory for capitalism. and what the family unit means in a capitalistic structure. the propagation of an ideal that hinges on birth and descendancy, about narrative and reproduction of narrative, about how nayuta births herself from makima and denji's relationship.

and this is also why nayuta herself exerts so much control over denji in the plot, as well as why she's used as a piece to control him. in part one, family was used to create the Chainsaw Man from denji. in part two, it's used to make denji abandon the Chainsaw Man, this icon that the church and the public now take possession of. [something something alienation of the worker from the product. from the collective. from the self.]

fumiko is perhaps the hardest to pin down here because her role evolves as the fandomisation of the Chainsaw Man evolves too. in fact, as a denji fan, she represents not just makima but multiple people who see something in and want something from denji! (think of how she references reze in her highlighting how denji is just a child; how reze uses her commentary on denji to engage with her Self. it's fandomisation,,, and what is makima but Chainsaw Man's fan?)

fumiko most obviously calls back to these wants and their conceptualisation of denji in the raw sexual violence that the events in the theater scene moving into the karaoke scene embody. the undercurrent of sa that runs through p1 and p2 is brought to the forefront in this scene -- denji falling back into these cycles of abuse, him slipping into habitating the wants of others (his initial horrified expression and then his grin during the fight. his initial inner monologue and then the cut to him licking the tentacle.)

so much of CSM rests on this fandom of denji, this theme of what production and idealisation means, one you can trace through fjmt's body of work. and this fandom reaches its crescendo in p2. what's even more interesting about fumiko is her pathos under this layer. her seeing denji as denji at some level but in the end, her handling of him is so selfish. her echoing makima's uninhibited laughter at the horror of denji's situation, her predatory cruelty. denji simultaneously humanised and dehumanised through her fandom.

fjmt's characters exist as foils, as parallels and ideas. makima's character has such a stranglehold over part one and these ideas run over into part two naturally -- as a consequence of denji being a reciever of these themes, but also deliberately in fjmt evoking the Thing that is makima repetitively -- to underscore the forever re emerging structure that denji and now asa are trapped in. the same structure that makima produced and was simultaneously caged by.

#csm #also ahaha this was written pre csm 150 and then they drop those lines on family. okay. sooo good #chainsaw man #denji #makima #asa mitaka #csm part 2 #huuge thanks to my friend wingdings banger thoughts on fumiko #crow.txt #csm meta #csm 150

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trolagygirl2022 · 2 months

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K-Pop in 2024: An Astrological report

Starting from April 11th, the industry will be really thriving off parasocial relationships and I see the bonds between idols and fans being more tighter and some fans may overstep the line and cross boundaries (possibly more sasaengs?). Fans will feel a type of "connection" to the groups so they need to look out for that.

Groups will be more active on social media and I see interactions being more common (outside of stuff like fancalls, and I see some interesting interactions going viral). If I were an astrologer for a company, I would advise that they should be more active, as it will bring tons of exposure for the groups as well. It's also possible for a group to go viral.

The industry will try to be more daring and ambitious in their plans, but many will fall behind expectations. The drive is there, but they are not really willing to push themselves and be more daring. They just want quick results and want to pump out more groups as much as possible. Expect more collabs between artists this year and for them to want more freedom.

Companies really need to focus on the talent of their idols rather than the visuals. They can try to cover it up as much as they want, but people will still be talking about it. Also, it's important to prioritize the health of their artists. I see certain groups getting harsher treatment (Note: I had this draft ever since February but groups like LESSERAFIM have gotten lots of hate these days).

Gaining fame and notoriety in the West is the ideal for the industry, so English singles, collabs with Western artists will occur a lot during the year. This could affect fans as people will worry about the music and talk a lot about how there's no "K" in Kpop. (This seems to already be happening with certain groups.

Pluto in Aquarius is going to heavily affect fan culture and the bond between fan and idol. The dating lives of Idols will be more and more well known and will be a big wakeup call for certain fans.

Companies are the ones holding them and their groups back. They're not going all out and doing innovating things, this is why I feel that the industry needs new people. Foreigners could be of great help, especially foreign idols. Companies really need to get out of their comfort zones and experiment.

#kpop astrology #astrology #kpop birth chart #solar return chart #kpop astro #astro placements #birth chart #solar return kpop #astro notes

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aliennazero · 9 months

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Random midnight rant (01:00 AM), imo people thinking Yoshida would set up a girl to assault Denji is craaaazy because come on now, let's be for fkn real.

The person you think is mastermind in all of this is the same boy who refuse cigarettes because of the law that said minor can't smoke. It's also the same boy who refuse sexual offers in non-consentual situation even though he's clearly could take advantages. He's just weird, NOT predatory.

Yoshida is suck at socializing, yes, but he still has basic human sense. Why WOULD he want Denji to go through all that? Isn't his mission is to keep Denji happy with his current life so he didn't transform into Chainsaw Man?

Oh, also, he planned for their date to be in movie theater, a place that is supposedly full with crowd of people. It's completely not a place to have sex in. There's no fkn way Yoshida hire a prostitute/classmates to specifically engage in sexual situation with Denji there. I think he just overhear a random girl in his class saying she really wants to have a bf then decided to pair her up with Denji in a date because he thought it would be a good idea (also it's Denji's type of girl, a girl who's desperate for boyfriend).

Even if you argue that Yoshida lure a devil here to scare everyone and emptied the room (again, why would he did that, it's counterproductive because if a devil was there then Denji could have reason to transform into Chainsaw Man, it makes more sense if it's really just a coincidence since devil attacks nowadays is that common) someone will come up eventually to clear the devil corpse, there will still be people here. And again, not an ideal situation to have sex in.

I think it's clear that nobody, either Denji or Yoshida expect this situation to turn into non consentual SA.

And if you argue that Yoshida goodbye lines has sexual connotation in it. Well, it's not. It's a simple English idiom. And in Japanese, it's also a basic way to basically say the same thing, to go get that girl impressed. That's all.

"But she's Yoshida's classmate! He should know her weird behaviour!"

He can't even notice HIS OWN weird behaviour and life philosophy omg. He's already confirmed to be socially inept, hard to connect emotionally with others (he keeps every of his relationships as parasocial and transactional only) and bad at reading people. HOW and WHY do you think he would fkn know that.

It's because of his negligence, I agree, but he's not a big bad villain in this!? Stop your overhate on him wtf. Are we even read the same story and same character at this point, hello???? Y'all media literacy is concerning tbqh.

#yoshida hirofumi #denji #chainsaw man #chainsaw man part 2 #chainsaw man 136 #not a clarification post 'cause i stand where i stand #yoshida is just doing his job like give him time to explain himself #also why Yoshida's action can't be justified for the very same reason we justified others!? it's not fair #he's a child soldier like Reze who never experience normalcy #he's not a NORMAL kid #and his life is completely heavily implied to be very lonely and fucked up to the point he thinks being isolated is what “normal life” is

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gg-selvish · 4 months

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recovering from parasocialism, the ideal of a faceless man, and a heaping tablespoon of comphet within lesbianism

my name is tender, and i'm a multishipper who writes self-indulgence. as of december 31st i will have been posting fic for dteam-adjacent for three years with very few breaks, and a lot has happened in that time. i've been harassed and cancelled multiple times, chased into priv twitter, and now my last remaining public account is starting to get swarmed over something recent that i believe is a pretty simple misunderstanding that i would like to clear up. i've been alluding to it vaguely and it's partially my fault because my word choice implied things about the timeline that lead people to draw negative conclusions about me. but we're gonna fix that now.

dream is my least favourite member of dtk, but in the beginning he was my #1 favourite. i went corpse -> dream -> dnf -> george -> knf for my favourite ccs and i feel like it's pretty normal for stuff like that to switch around, but the way dream and i were previously attached and the way that attachment broke was pretty interesting but i also don't think it was that unfathomable. and firstly, for people who won't extend this post: it had nothing to do with the drituation. i say 'about a year ago / over a year ago' and people's minds go to the drituation / drexit but it wasn't that for me that broke my parasocialism to dream, it was the face reveal itself.

i am a lesbian and i've been a lesbian for a long time. i also love mlm content as evidenced by the fic i read and write and that's also always been an aspect of my life to the point where in my formative years i identified as an mlm trans man because i didn't want to get called a fujoshi. but i don't like men and i know that now. however, i have a nasty, nasty case of comphet. unattainable men to me are a safe and comfortable way to explore attachment to men because in my life i've never really had a positive experience of being friends with or dating a man. early dtk was like a pipedream to me and i think that's why i got so deep into it. discord podcasts and alt streams felt like private calls with friends and they were men in a distant and safe way so i was excited to feel apart of that (partially due to my own genderfuckery and gender envy but that's not what this about).

dream especially. it was dangerously easy to get into dream in 2020/2021 because he was so equally parasocial it fed into a relationship that felt like equivalent exchange and i got deep in it. self-ship daydreams and fantasies i turned into fic and basically dating this idealized faceless man in my head for a year and a half or some shit because he made me feel so safe and comfortable the way he makes a lot of people feel.

but i was scared of the face reveal always. when it comes to me developping comphet attachment i usually am introduced to the man as himself, and determine whether i like him or not and then either cling or drop. like george was genetically engineered in a lab for me to fixate on, same with karl, but dream in his faceless and parasocial era was another fucking level. and i fucking dreaded the face reveal because i knew the second i saw his face the magic would break and i would realize he's a man and that would make me uncomfortable.

dream has said before that 'dream' the persona can be gender neutral, any gender, anyone, and i really believe that. faceless dream was this magical and perfect person who i really loved deeply and found so much comfort in. and with the other male ccs it was easy to remind myself 'be careful, these are men', but dream didn't feel like a man, he felt like a soft voice who was there for me and a character i enjoyed exploring in fic.

the way i got into this fandom was also different, i was never in it for the content. i wasn't really watching streams or vods, i got into it via a heat waves tiktok, binged fic, and lived off of clips, youtube videos, highlight reals, and fan content. that's just how i approach most fandom spaces. hell, when i was into voltron i watched the first 3 seasons, got bored, and read a shitton of klance fic with my scraps of lore and was perfectly content. i have never indulged in fandom including rpf fandom for the people creating the source, i love the fan content and the easy to digest stuff. i don't really watch movies or tv shows, i read books or write stories or watch longer youtube videos.

so we're building up to the face reveal. everyone's so hyped and i'm excited too but i'm also bracing myself because i know my heart's gonna break and it's out of everyone's control and i just didn't talk about it because it was weird and might kill the vibe. the face reveal happened. i saw him. i processed him in my head as 'this man is dream', and my heart broke a bit.

dream has always been handsome, he's still kind and smart and the least funny of his friends. nothing about him changed besides my perception of him. but that's the point i'm trying to make with this: parasocial relationships can snap like a twig in a very one-sided way. but in this case it was a bit equal again just like our dynamic before. because as i was recovering from the face reveal and meetup vlog and sad about this 'break up' i was going through that was so stupid in my head (i literally looped a taylor swift song about it it was a break up.) the drituation hit and i was really turned around. my deep love for dream was gone already, i just had lingering fondness and empathy, and then the allegations scared me really badly. i absorbed the evidence and believed dream was likely innocent but i decided that between my loss of parasocial attachment and this new grey-area of morality i was just going to distance myself. not to mention by this time it was late 2022 and i had been harrassed and cancelled by dream stans more times than i can remember so i was pretty comfortable moving away from dream.

then he made himself smaller, and wasn't really around much. it was easy to get over a lot of the parasocial feelings because he didn't really give it back anymore, so then the interest just wasn't there. and there was so much constant negativity i just didn't want to be involved. but even after all of this and wasn't really into him as a content creator i have never stopped having empathy for him. dream is a human being and i think both stans and antis forget that because i've always been displeased with what i've seen on both sides and aligned myself with neutrality. but the internet doesn't really seem to allow for that, so antis think i'm a stan and stans think i'm an anti. and most people just hate me in general. do you see why it's hard for me to be here? and it's not anything dream has done so i don't hold anything against him. we just broke up. i've never said 'i hate dream' or even really 'i don't like dream' i just don't really care about his content anymore and that's, like, super normal.

but why do i write about him? well, as i prefaced this and as is in my pinned post, i don't write fanfiction the way other people do. i write self-indulgence that's chock full of projection and weird niche stuff and heavy themes. and most people don't like my fic, but the readers i have love it and give me a lot of positive feedback, so with my passion for the hobby of writing, my familiarity with the dnkn dynamics i have established in my 'cinematic universe', and positive feedback for creating only art i want to create instead of clinging to realism and making sure no one's feelings are hurt, i just make art that makes me happy. sure, if i need a bad guy it's been dream a lot, but it's also been george and karl. my comment about doing him dirty in fic was fucking. starting hush hush with a dnf break up and having knf fuck in his bed in a college au. it was so not that serious and it bothers me people assumed i was writing harmful content to take out some weird hateboner on a guy i used to love. that's not me, dude, i'm 26 years old. if i don't like someone it's easy for me to drop them. when supermega was outted as shittheads i dropped them after being a fan for years, it is a perfectly viable option for me and i didn't deem it necessary for this case.

in the end, i'm not exactly sure why people are so angry dream's my #4. he's still there, just lower on the tier list. i didn't get shit when i actively disliked sapnap in the early days, but now that i'm neutral on dream it's the end of the world? and to resolve this i'm getting harassed more by dream stans insulting my new #1? in what world would that get me to do what u want, be it liking dream or disliking karl, or not longer writing. i'll reiterate again: i am 26 and write self-indulgence for myself and my readers. i've done this for a long time and i'd really like to continue if that's okay. if you think i'm dragging dream's character through the mud and beating him with a baseball bat in my fic i really encourage you to look at the fic i've written about dream. even when i lost interest in him my fondness and empathy has always been there. i've written a lot of really lovely things about dream recently, and even when i put him through hardships it was just a story, there was no ill intent towards the real person.

and most of all: dream doesn't care how i feel about him, why do you?

#don't piss me off on a website with no character limit #thonking #txt #drituation mention //

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lagoonalake · 2 months

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that feeling of when you know you would be compatible with your biases of whichever group or groups but you also know its never going to happen anyway due to varying reasons like not being able to speak korean, age or simply feeling like you would never truly be their type or no ones type for that matter

do you think kpop idols kind of box themselves into having a particular type thus limiting their own dating experiences cause whomever gets to date those wonderful species of idols must really have to fit the idols ideals lmfao. that or it wouldnt really be possible due to schedules and other situations getting in the way

maybe in some other version if this lifetime but idts for now i will just like these groups from afar but they make it so difficult to not be delulu and in some cases like bangchan they encourage it too much

You know there are millions of people in the world who are compatible with you. It's the same for idols, many people and fans are compatible with them.

It doesn't mean they are "the one" for them, partly for those reasons you mentioned, things getting in the way, beauty standards, culture gaps, age gaps, whether younger or older, different lifestyle and goals... And IT'S FINE. Fame or being in the life of famous people is truly not something to be envious of. Most people wouldn't be happy dating a celebrity.

Whenever you slip into delulu mode, or that your mental health is too impacted by them, whether because you empathize with them or are worried about them, or because they triggered you in some way, remember that these celebrities, as much as you are attached to them, are not truly part of your life, not part of your immediate environment. Take a breath, take some distance, and ground yourself with things that are real and available in your life and that make you happy.

Idols are also put on a pedestal because of the glamour of celebrity. They are behind a screen. Everything that you see on screen has been edited, filtered, even visually, you will only see what they/the company want you to see. I'm not saying that everything you see on screen is fake, but it's not the whole story.

Not to sound like a preach, but it's the idols job to make people fall in love with them to create parasocial relationships. And also the job of their stylist, makeup artists, cameramen, people editing and filtering videos...etc.

At the end of the day, they are just human beings like you and me, and I bet that what most fans are attracted to beyond the glamour, is their humanity.

And human beings are available all around you! Use idols as inspirations for your own life and goals, they can also inspire you for your own relationships if they have qualities that you desire.

You absolutely deserve love, true genuine real love, we all have something to offer, and you will always find people who will appreciate you, and who in return have qualities that you can appreciate. First step is to love yourself, this is such a cliché answer, but it's the only answer.

In what we love, we see ourselves in, always. Whether consciously or subconsciouly.

If you love Bang Chan for example (or any other idol, or even a music, movie or art) it's because he embodies a part of you through his energy, which is why you feel connected to him in the first place. There is a bit of him in you and vice versa. Whether you realize it or not, whatever qualities you love about him are already in you! If this is in a subconscious way, cultivate those qualities, recognize this part within yourself. If you can love him, it means you already love yourself too.💕

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frenchkisstheabyss · 4 months

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Hellouw 🥹 I don’t really know who else I could talk to about something that has been on my mind lately and I’m kinda questioning how “normal” it is so I wanted to ask you and hear your opinion about it. You’re always so nice and I feel like you wouldn’t judge others..

So..I know a lot of K-pop Stan’s joke about having a crush on their biases or when they say “giggling, blushing, kicking my feet to XYZs picture” or whatever but I’ve also seen so many fans judging others for that.

I was feeling really down for a while and when I discovered my ult group and especially my bias I finally felt some sense of enjoyment and happiness again. I began to notice how my mood and happiness depended on them and also how much I actually liked my bias. Obviously most idols are super attractive and with all the fan service it’s easy to develop celebrity crushes on them but I began to wonder whether I should feel bad about it or even try to stop it by maybe taking a break from my ult group. It’s not that I’m delusional and think I could actually pull my bias or would get mad if he dated someone and cancel them for that.

It’s more like daydreaming about him and admiring him, finding him obviously super attractive but with no ill intent.

But then I see videos or tweets of other fans who talk about “breaking the first rule of K-pop”and they’re really harsh and mean and talk super negatively about people who have crushes on idols and then I feel bad about myself and wonder if I’m actually weird for that or if it’s okay as long as I’m not delusional about it..

Have you ever felt like you like an idol too much? Or where you were close to actually falling in love with one?

I don’t even know if what I said makes a lot of sense but I’d really like to hear some more opinions on that topic without being judged 🙃

Let me be the realest of realest of real with you. Anyone who’s judging you can suck a dick and not in the fun way. In the most disrespectful way possible.

It’s completely okay if your biases and the groups you love are the thing that makes you happy. Kick your feet, giggle, smile, feel good. Have a nice time. Be joyful. You’re not hurting anyone by doing that.

Would it be ideal if we could source all of those feelings from within ourselves? Totally but that’s just not the case . Life is fucking hard and it can be a struggle to make it through the day.

It doesn’t matter what the people judging you wanna say, they’re into KPop because it does the same thing for them. They can pretend that the entire industry isn’t one big parasocial relationship factory but they’d be lying to themselves.

We love our biases and our groups and the music and the concerts because they make us happy. They bring light to our lives. And yeah sometimes you’re super duper into one of them but so what?

I gave up KPop after first getting into it cause friends shamed me for loving it so much but I got back into it and I love it more than ever now liiiiike Hyungwon from Monsta X is my man period. I’ll go to war over my lil 6ft tall chronically sleepy turtle boy lol

All of that is fine and if anyone ever gives you shit TAG ME. GIVE ME THEIR INFO. I got your back 💜

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astrolaurical · 1 year

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dude have u listened to closer from indigo by rm. its such a twin flame song about connecting only on the astral realm.

I got that vibe for a split second because of all the mentions of dreams, but then upon my 2nd listen I was like nah actually this is about a relationship that was hella toxic. Good thing they broke up bc it sounds like that ex just played games with him.

He couldn’t keep a grip on his manipulative ex (“wanna lock you up in my sight, but you run away like a fish”- nj wants a committed relationship but his ex is too busy playing mind games/ being fwb/ partying/ being deceitful, etc). He doesn’t want to wake up from sleep aka his rose colored glasses as he chooses to ignore all of these red flags.

The only reason he stayed was because the sex was amazing, which good for him. Get that good good. He needed a stress reliever but sounds like his ex gave him even more stress. (“I get a feeling sometimes that I can’t get close enough to you. I feel it most in the nighttime even though that’s when I’m closest to you”- even with the sex, which is supposed to be the most intimate and vulnerable act between two people, he feels like there are barriers and walls up between them. That’s how he knew that that wasn’t his true love. Remember in my twin flame post where I mentioned his romantic astrological placements? Sex is CRUCIAL to him- he bares his soul, so he was DEVASTATED when it wasn’t reciprocated. He mentions that in the lyrics of Change pt 2 where he says “you can’t love someone like I do. That’s all i can say to you.”

I reallyyyy hope him and his twin flame find each other. Some twins don’t find each other until they are in their old age after both have completed the intense physical/mental/emotional/mental healing work that is necessary to wipe away generations of societal/ancestral/familial/past life trauma and karma.

This is his 3rd mixtape/album where he has had an ENTIRE SONG DEDICATED TO FEELING LONELY. He yearns for his true love so much 😭😭😭 Like he has his friends, members, and family but I understand the hollowness in your heart of wanting to find YOUR forever person. Before I began my TF journey, I could never understand why I could never be in love with any of my partners, only lust or only liking certain aspects of the person, never loving the person entirely and unconditionally. It’s because they weren’t MY TRUE LOVE. Namjoon’s SOUL is looking for that other SOUL that sings his same song and that loves him unconditionally, as he will in return. I just don’t think his head realizes that yet, so he continues to be in these bad relationships as he searches for these qualities.

I think he maybe even unconsciously places idealized qualities that he wants his partners to have onto them, like a creating a mask, making him disappointed when they can’t achieve these qualities they don’t have. (Sound familiar? That’s what a lot of fans do in these parasocial relationships where they say that BTS are the LOML and then absolutely devastated when they discover their idol is dating or koreaboos when they date an Asian person because oPpA speaks Korean just like JungKook, the same attribute as the loml has 🤩)

I sincerely hope Namjoon finds his true love, and soon. He deserves a happy life full of domestic bliss and children, should he wish to have them.

I will try to make a master list just dedicated to NJ TF stuff but can only create master lists on my laptop which is ancient. Thank you all for being so patient. A LOT of unexpected things have occurred in my life, but a bittersweet silver lining has kind of appeared that will give me more time. My mental health is not good at all right now and has not been for a long while, but with my newfound time, I will try to find my joy for writing again which will hopefully lead to updating and posting my many neglected drafts.

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generation1point5 · 1 year

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True love is possible

Only in the next world - for new people

It is too late for us

If there was any summary of the sentiments that encapsulate my thoughts and response to Echo, it is this line from Disco Elysium. Though decidedly on the psycho-paranormal spectrum of narrative than political, the same sentiment is expressed. A complex combination of psychological and paranormal factors, external and internal forces, contribute to an intense and gut-wrenching backdrop for a horror-themed visual novel. Because of this, Echo’s focus and sentiments trend extremely closely to Night in the Woods. Like Disco Elysium’s more American counterpart, the culture and sentiments expressed in Echo are decidedly exclusive to the geographical area of its setting. Its approach is undeniably rooted in American individualism and the American psyche, tailored further to portray the particular quirks of the post-frontier United States.

Normally I’m not really one for horror, having not enough of a visceral imagination for Steven King but also lacking the stomach for the same genre in motion picture. Echo, for its part, trends more towards the former than the latter, and the genre serves as an excellent backdrop to explore themes of generational trauma, the border between perception and reality, and the external and internal circumstances that become the driving force behind the formation of identity and interpersonal relationships.

Like Adastra, Echo acknowledges a baseline awareness of socioeconomic conditions, but it’s primary focus lies elsewhere. Adastra has often been described by others as an inversed dating sim, while Echo is often described as an anti-dating sim. The analysis carries merit on a number of points for consideration.

If horror and fear is the recognition of one's helplessness in the face of a dire threat, it is only natural that the game presents a perpetual and necessary sense of powerlessness to the cast of characters; whether driven by their own will or by circumstances they are helpless to alter, they are all subject to forces that can neither be fully articulated nor influenced. None of them fully understand themselves or their peers; the bonds that unite the cast of friends and define them all are contextualized by trauma, even victimhood. Their efforts and desire to escape their victimhood defines them as much as the victimization itself. There are “better” endings and some “worse” endings, but I don’t think any of them could truly be said to be “happy.” No matter whom you choose, no matter what route is pursued, there is no “ideal” or “perfect” ending for Echo. The sense of futility instilled within the player is given as a disclaimer from the very beginning.

You’re only going in circles.

Historical trends within Echo are cyclical; likewise, the paths available to the player do not necessarily distinguish between “good” and “bad” endings, but merely serve to paint a clearer picture of what happens. The other routes do little other than to add splashes of color to what is largely an already foregone conclusion. Pursuing all of the routes is better performed as an act of morbid curiosity than any sort of hope that things will turn out fine.

Of course, the pull and the quality of Echo as a visual novel is getting the player to, in fact, care for the characters trapped in a largely bleak situation. Unlike Adastra, I had incentive to approach the game at arm’s length, but even with my reservations in mind, I ended up hooked onto just about every character and route presented in the game. Perhaps it is just my parasocial and sentimentally-prone heart being at odds with my better judgement, but that is part of the draw, the appeal of this visual novel; it pits the heart against the mind, hope against hope.

From here on, since I will be getting into specifics and potential spoilers, I’m putting the rest of my review under a readmore.

The limited impact of player choice recurs frequently in Echo in a myriad of ways; Chase as a protagonist lacks agency not only as a result of his own socioeconomic conditions and past trauma, but also by the very nature that his actions are partly determined by the player’s choices as well as the remnant influence of Samuel Ayers. Sometimes this manifests as internal monologue inconsistent within Chase’s own mind, and in more extreme examples, locking players into a single choice and even a perspective shift to the second-person. In such instances, the narrative is railroaded into advancing the plot. In other circumstances, the player is hampered by the dispositions and actions of the characters themselves. Few (if any) opportunities exist for the characters to change who they are; many have already grown into themselves with varying degrees of personal baggage and history that largely determine their behavior and reaction to certain events. Chase as protagonist and player character, by contrast, has extremely little personal autonomy and personality, despite having a name and a backstory that cannot be changed, only discovered.

The only notable exception to this rule is in Flynn’s route, where the player experiences a perspective shift from Chase to Flynn, accompanied by a restoration of Chase’s personality and individual identity at the direct erosion of Flynn’s. It’s a subtle implication that the nature of the player’s choices and interactions alter the identities of the characters by whose perspective they take. There is a give-and-take dynamic at work; we get to see the inner workings of the friend group from the protagonist’s perspective even as their perspective is altered by the player’s presence. This is most pronounced when Sam’s thoughts intrude on that of his host character. In general, the player’s experience in Echo serves to highlight the disconnect between influencing an individual directly and the ability to influence the people around them, not in the least because there are other external forces competing for control as well.

Further complicating this dynamic are the presence of the paranormal entities that amplify and otherwise alter the already unstable disposition of the people of the town, some borne of intense desire, others out of an almost consequential animus from past misdeeds committed in Echo. A scientific explanation for these occurrences is sometimes posited but never directly linked; what is clear is that the cyclical appearance of these entities is triggered by a slow accumulation of injustice and suffering that spill over in key moments that trigger the mass hysteria in the town. The experiences are simultaneous and shared to some degree, but are often perceived differently, colored by the accumulation of (often traumatic) experiences of those witnessing the events unfold. Some of these entities are manifestations made to witness tragedy, others entities seem intent to directly incite them. There is no clear dynamic between the forces that seem to overlap and intersect with each other at various points in the story; only that their appearance is the mark of a general decline of sanity for the town. Prevention other than complete avoidance is impossible; efforts to mitigate its effects are limited.

Though the exact causes of Echo’s decline are not made entirely clear, the pattern of mass hysteria throughout its troubled history, coupled with a broader socioeconomic decline over the decades, reinforces a general impression of inevitable failure. By the time of the events depicted in the visual novel, it is all-but guaranteed to become nothing more than a troubled memory. Its persistence is largely the result of habit, the last gasps of people living in spite of their circumstances, and a seemingly overall desire to salvage what good is left. The existential crisis is palpable; a sentiment that is also shared with Night in the Woods.

But here Echo takes the paranormal and the psychological breaks a little bit further. What happens, exactly, when we hold on to anything at the end of everything? Each of the routes are an answer to this question, none of which are designed to be all-encompassing or comprehensive; the act of choosing a route is simply a different examination of how the cookie crumbles.

Of all the routes in the game, Carl’s shows a good deal of character growth, detailing the ram’s journey of paralysis and coping in the face of his fears and expectations placed upon him to a broader acceptance for responsibility in the choices available to him in life. This is, in part, dependent on the player’s choice for him to face his fears directly or to rely on external forces to bolster his shortcomings. The horror setting serves as a backdrop to force a resolution to Carl’s issues, when so much is at stake. Should Chase encourage him to be his own person and not rely on the ghost of his dead ancestor, he will be set on the path of self-actualization. It is not a momentous or glamorous occasion; it is grounded and modest, an honest reckoning of himself and his circumstances that dispels the hold that the socioeconomic legacy of his family has upon him. He frees himself and Chase is there to witness it; but as a result of all this effort spent with a single individual, the rest of the cast of friends all turn out worse by the end of the hysteria, to varying degrees. In terms of material conditions, Carl is given more than any of the others the means to break from the legacy of his past despite the ways he is also hampered by it. The rest are not so lucky.

A prominent but mostly background force in Echo is that of family; many that try their best to accept and love one another and many more that are broken, dysfunctional, and outright abusive, and all of them a product of their cultures and socioeconomic conditions. Though distant and fairly permissive, Carl’s well-off family offers him a secure foundation towards financial independence and success, and to this end has also railroaded him with expectations that he one day assumes the mantle of the family business. Leo’s own family sticks closely together as a tight-knit group of immigrants from a distant country, one that shares much of their lives with each other and expects, at least to some degree, reciprocal goodwill. Leo himself buys fully into this mentality, even as he easily grasps the idea of family beyond blood relations. It also comes with traditional expressions of heteronormativity and patriarchal attitudes. The same heteronormative expectations are reflected in Chase’s otherwise loving and accepting family, and expressed in much more toxic ways in Flynn and Sydney’s parents. At first glance this toxic heteronormativity can be attributed to the religiosity of the two characters’ families, but this dynamic is not evident in TJ’s own deeply religious background. TJ himself could be considered a more ideal product of someone who had more or less fulfilled the expectations of his parents, to both the benefit and detriment of his person. Socioeconomic considerations for the characters’ families play a greater role in affecting the growth and the outlook of the friend group, as evidenced by Jenna’s impoverished household. Their coping mechanisms in the face of poverty often turned self-destructive and abusive without the presence of religion in their lives. Jenna in turn sought to escape her conditions but also to understand them; she hints at her political views more often than most others, and her interest in psychology is rooted in not only understanding her own situation but also how similar life events have affected all of the people around her. Broadly, those within loving families adopted their parents' values to some extent, while the others found it easier to make (and value) their own choices in life. In some respects, the latter grew up faster, though it is also notable to point out that TJ, not only being the youngest, is also treated as the baby of the group.

TJ’s route is less about his own personal growth and more about how Chase’s desire to nurture and protect him leads to an extreme psychotic breakdown, culminating in a (repeat) murder and the reinforcement of the cyclical violence that plagues Echo. TJ’s fragility and non-aggression makes him something of a victim that Chase feels compelled to protect; it is not the first time that he has acted in response to this compulsion. Here we see the road to hell, paved with good intentions; Chase in his efforts to protect the remnants of good from otherwise awful parts of Echo perpetuates the same cycles of violence that ultimately lead to the town’s final demise. This compulsion is not unique to Chase; the entire group dynamic involving TJ reflects this at-times unhealthy protectiveness of his apparent naivety, albeit to lesser extents. TJ remains a victim partly because of the tendency of his friend-group to treat him as such in an effort to protect him from harm.

One of the most dominant (and relatable) themes within Echo is pain aversion, not only oneself but for the community that one identifies with. These manifest in all sorts of coping mechanisms and scars that manifest in both beneficial and harmful consequences down the road. Drug use features prominently, as does therapy and prescribed medication, but none of this addresses the root cause of the chronic illness plaguing Echo. The wounds that fester run much deeper, beneath an already thin veneer of civilization until the caustic buildup spills out into a mass-hysteria event. All at once, everyone’s personal problems and historical baggage become everyone’s problem, and the cycle begins again. While there may be healing of the initial wound, there is no restoration in the aftermath, only scar tissue and new points of sensitivity, fertile ground for the cycle to begin afresh.

Of all the routes, Flynn’s is the clearest glimpse players get into the paranormal workings of this cycle. Indeed, his inability to process his grief with the others as a result of unresolved questions over Sydney’s death is what drives him away from the group, and join into a gruesome and timeless entity positioned to glimpse at all the moments of great suffering and tragedy that kicks off the cresting wave of hysteria. His desire for answers ultimately outpaces his capacity for relationships with his friends, and even his own desire for closure. The price for the knowledge he desperately seeks is his own identity, his very personhood. He merges with the cycle and becomes witness to it. Of all the characters in Echo’s cast of friends, Flynn was understood least, in no small part for his frustration and relative inability to express himself with any degree of sincerity outside of biting, dry humor and his stilted desire for intimacy following the death of his closest friend Sydney. His transformation marks the end of the road where his trauma drives him, where he becomes a stranger even to himself, losing all sense of self.

This end strongly contrasts with Jenna’s route, which arguably contains the strongest example of player agency affecting the outcome. It has one the most positive of the endings available and arguably one of the worst; a decision that is largely contingent in the face of an existential, yet everyday question. How much control can we exert over our own will? Over others who seem to have no power to control themselves or the circumstances they were subject to? When agreeing with her initially negative mindset, she is intent on wiping the wounds of the past (the whole slate really) clean through violence, first by the murder of Heather and then by the flooding of the town of Echo. But when Chase encourages her to see the good in the company of friends that gave her the solidarity to endure, Jenna can forgive and let go of her past rather than destroying it. Most of the others are given the opportunity to do the same, and in the end they all survive. The group retains its cohesion despite their flaws and is given a clear road to move on; Echo is left behind forever. The cycle continues, but they are no longer party to it.

And then, of course, there’s Leo.

I saved his route for last because I found it odd that the anchor bracelet on his arm is the same as the icon used for cursor mouse in-game. Being Chase’s ex-boyfriend and the catalyst behind the whole group get-together in the story, it was clear his role in the story was meant to be a central one; even so, knowing how messy things would be, I avoided going for his route until I had exhausted all the others. In a stroke of irony, I believe this is what ended up making me fixate on him the most, and (despite my best efforts) wanting to see him happy; not just happy in the sense that he would no longer captivated by Echo, but happy because his old happiness could be restored to him. But this is a horror VN, and Leo of all the characters can never truly get a happy ending. For both narrative and character reasons, I knew he would not find what he was looking for. What he seeks had died and was buried three years ago; to try and bring it back would be a necromancy of the worst order. And so, in the act of giving the wolf kept taking, until what he had become was a stranger and a monster, unable to understand that he had sacrificed everything: himself, his friends, his former lover and best friend, for a temporary and psychotic happiness. I had understood this from the beginning, and yet I could not help but desire for a path forward for Chase and Leo to be together once again.

Part of Echo’s peerless quality is its ability to showcase the past in the rose-tinted lens and the lens of trauma in equal measure. It is not simplified of its complexity, nor reduced to a lesson in building character. The people in Echo do their best to deal with the past, clinging to the good and rejecting the bad each in their own way, and often to their own detriment. All the same, the past exists independent of the desires and aims set upon it, and its echos reverberate to the present day from the days of old, far beyond any single lifetime. The weight of thousands of years of history exercises itself upon the world, heedless of the will of the living to alter it.

Both in spite of this animus and because of it, there is a persistence to Echo; it is not a town that passes into memory from apathy and despair, but from illness, neglect, and the chronic failure that has been present from the beginning. Echo’s paranormal conditions merely accelerate the pattern of history that had followed the people who had founded the town, and all who had come and gone since. It magnifies the essence of, for a lack of a better term, the human condition. Even as Echo itself expires in the face of its own entropy, the lives that once called it home live on, forever marked by the scars it leaves behind. It does not kill them, and yet it will not fully disappear. Humanity in its near entirety permeates every single aspect of Echo as a visual novel. It is existential persistence in its rawest form.

This existential persistence is the same found in Night in the Woods, the same as in Disco Elysium. It is far removed from any sort of idealism, or any sort of ending that resolves all the underlying issues plaguing the characters from the beginning until the moment the player enters their lives. In this respect, Echo and its sentiments deconstruct the traditional purposes and structures of its genre. None of the characters who seek romance here will find it. For those within the cast that do, it remains a possibility for the future, but that future is beyond the world of Echo, and beyond its people as they currently find themselves. As far as love relates to Echo itself, there is only a shadow and a passing remnant that ought never make its return.

#personal #blogging #echo vn #echo project

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sailoryooons · 7 months

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Do you ship any of the members together romantically? Genuine question because I'm curious since you write m x m stories.

Hi! I don't ship anyone with anyone as a general rule. To me, member x member pairing in fiction is just a pairing of two characters and is not a representation of anything real and shouldn't be taken as a real-life adjacent! I additionally don't "ship" them with any person in general.

Out of a fanfiction setting - or even out of music settings and movie settings - I don't think it's appropriate to idealize or promote your expectation that two real people should be together romantically. I think, in my opinion, it's a little invasive and contributes to the overall parasocial relationship a lot of celebs struggle with.

We see it a lot, especially in the movie and TV scene, where two people who have characters that are romantically engaged in a film/tv project are then expected to also be romantically engaged outside of that work, and I don't agree with that. This is the best example I can think of!

All of this to say: I do not think about my interpretation ideal romantic relationships for other people nor do I have opinions on who anyone other than myself dates!

#replies #i really just never think about it i'm only worried about myself romantically hahah

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real-total-drama-takes · 9 months

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i saw the "I want to see trenterra" ask and that just intrigued me so here's my immediate thoughts on how that cld even work.

Obviously they'd know each other before TDWT because Drama Brothers.

Because Trent's so into what the fans want (to the point where he's chill after they tie him to a bus), I can see him still being genuinely friendly to her even after she does some over-the-top stuff like breaking into their tourbus.

And I don't think Sierra's really had that many fulfilling relationships, she grew up in a house where her mother obsessed over Chris Mcclean, and that's very obviously had a large effect on her. It's mentioned at least once that she didn't really make friends in her childhood. I feel like she followed her mother's actions and turned to the parasocial in its place, forming a deep disconnect that spiralled out of control.

So yeah, having those first few strings of genuine could be good for Sierra in helping her recognise how unhealthy her behaviour is, and what she can do to be better. And Trent's a fairly good person for that, he's sincere, patient (especially in responding to really.. idk how to say it.. intense stuff? i.e. bus again), but still able to put his foot down. He'd be more readily able to sympathise with Sierra because he screwed up in Action in ways that are along similar lines.

And Sierra would be very open to his issues too, I can't see her immediately jumping to harsh judgement when his OCD causes him to act in ways she can't immediately understand, and I can see her as very happy to listen, which I think is something Trent needs a lot.

So yea they gradually develop to allow themselves to be fully open to each other, in a way they haven't really done with anyone else and then eventually they start dating boom trenterra

...okay the dating would actually probably take a fair bit of build-up, I think beforehand these two would be quite eager to jump into relationships due to idealism, but with their relationship shaking them up so much I think they'd kinda be hesitant. I can see Trent worrying he'll make the same mistakes with Gwen. I can see Sierra worrying if Trent truly likes her, or whether she's fallen back into bad habits and is fictionalising his emotions.

It'd be a kinda bizzare romantic relationship (definitely not fitting previous Trent's idealizations of what a romantic relationship should look like), of course they'd play into some of those romantic concepts, I think they're both very into that thing, big gestures, sappy romances, but ultimately the relationship is stable due to that openness and communication, the hidden part of the iceberg.

It probably ends after a few years after they develop enough in their external lives to realise that they no longer need the romantic relationship, and can just go back to friends.

ok after writing this whole thing i went from curious trenterra neutraller to mild trenterra liker. Heck, now i'd want to see Trenterra too.

#trenterra #total drama #td trent #td sierra

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melis-writes · 9 months

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i need your cognizance … im kind of new to the al pacino fandom and ive binged watched his filmography in over 3 days and i LOOOOVED EVERYTHINGGGG but mostly just staring at his gorgeous faaaace (im rolling my eyes and biting my fist as i type this)😮‍💨🥵😩 but im rlly having trouble finding my footing with the elephant in the room … and that is him having a baby at his present age and dating a woman 50+ yrs his junior… like im in too deep now, i just watched his nypd episode and that’s how far ive already went😭(not complaining👀) but im also at this stage where idk what or how to feel about him doing that. obviously ive acquired an above-average-more-than-wikipedia knowledge about him (i like him a normal amount, trust me) and i won’t willfully overlook the fact that he’s kind of a womanizer and one that is commitment-phobe, so i guess him having new girlfriends isn’t out of the blue but to date someone THAT young? like that could be ur daughter😭 in fact his eldest daughter is a few yrs older than his current gf

anyway what im rlly trying to say is, i need u to weigh in on this and pls tell me ur opinion. ive read ur impressive work and it encouraged and inspired me to read the godfather as a book, and not just settle on watching it. and with that in mind i thought u were the right person to provide insight on this. as u can see i love al so much, im actually thinking of making myself a bday cake with his picture on it, similar to a pic i reblogged a few days ago, but im soooo conflicted on this. like i truly am. i know it’s bad to have parasocial relationships w celebrities (especially younger versions of themselves OMG) (but im rlly not i just love him sm and admire him) but im at this phase where im afraid that finding out more of his humanly desires would disappoint me? and yes ppl might say i shld avoid putting celebrities on a pedestal bc they rlly dont give a fuck abt who u are😵‍💫 and i would definitely love to be one of those ppl that could simultaneously admire a person for their achievements and recognize their kind behavior but also acknowledge their wrongdoings … but if i do that isn’t it kind of telling on my end, of my behavior and shaky moral compass😫? or, now that im in too deep, maybe im just trying to maintain this idealized version of him in my head and this is simply a reality i refuse to accept😭? bc honestly when the news broke out a lot of ppl were divided, with most responses pandering to eerie and just odd reactions, but a small minority claims a different take, along the lines of ‘if two consenting adults wanna make a family then why not’ and this rlly bugs me bc ??? apart from it being an awfully lazy analysis there’s just SOO much to unpack about this situation. like theres just way too many layers and there’s nuances too. one of the replies actually said men at the age of 60 should already be neutered to prevent from procreating ever again and why i kinda agree to it ?? 😶 like im so conflicted … like i rlly am … this is eating me out and consuming me i honestly dont know what to do.

anyway IM SO SORRY FOR THE RAMBLING AND FOR HOW LONG THIS WAS … im sorry for the overcomplication … pls take ur time in answering this im rlly sorry id rlly appreciate ur stance on this … I LOVE UR WORK SO MUCH IT KEEPS ME SANE. especially with the gifs🥰🥰🥰🥰 bc of u i still get to fuel my indulgences. THANK YOU

Ah my dear, welcome to the Pacino fandom, first of all. 🤣❤️ We Pacino girlies welcome you with open arms here lmao I know exactly how that intense ass Pacino brainrot can hit and how hard too. 🥵

You're right first of all about the fact that there's a lot to unpack beyond the "it's two consenting adults in a relationship" piece but here's the thing, it's not meant for us to unpack. At the end of the day, all we can do is hear news, gossip and read articles about Al's relationship and this and that but we don't know how much of it is actually true and what's really going on, and we can't know. It really has nothing to do with any of us, and those two don't care what the public think either. It's Al and his gf's private life and judging on how shit broke out, they seem to have a lot more to worry about on their plate than anyone else's reactions.

Al is basically a womanizer from what I've read lmao. He always really has been and I know things obviously changed when he got older but an early article that came out saying Al and his gf are dating mentioned the age gap doesn't bother either of them and his gf has dated men around the same age and even older than Al. This is their personal and private life, after all. Men can have children at a very old age, this is just how science works lmao although it can be baffling at 80+, it's still a thing. From what the gossip online says, it looks like this was an unplanned thing and Al isn't doing so good. He doesn't seem to be jumping over the moon about everything from what I read either. I think this is hard for him, tbh.

And some people may think it's weird someone as old as Al is still having sex but given his track record, I'm not surprised at all lmao. To avoid disappointment from celebrity parasocial relationships and putting them on pedestals, you need to come to an understanding that you're also recognizing and putting up (in a way) their flaws on that pedestal too. Al is not a perfect human being, nobody is, but he isn't out here trying to be perfect or live up to anyone else's definitions either nor should he.

I love that you admire and love Al like the rest of us, but you also need to come to an understanding about the things he's done or said or whatnot that you don't agree with or necessarily like. He's just a human being at the end of the day, it's so complex. Don't think too hard on it, because everyone has their flaws and mistakes and as we recognize this, we can still love them for the great things they do. That's really the only thing you need to do.

I think the fandom as a whole looked way too far into this man's personal life. It does not effect us whatsoever and it's honestly none of our business. Al doesn't owe us anything and he's not trying to be a role model to us; we shouldn't be this held up about his personal life. I know it can be hard not to care, but sometimes all you need to do is acknowledge it, accept it, and move on.

I would also recommend reading the biography "A Life on The Wire" by Andrew Yule. It has a lot about Al's life from early days, to romance, to his personality and everything inbetween. It's seriously extremely detailed and gives you a whole new insight on just who that man is!

Feel however your heart wants to feel. You don't have to get held up in Al's personal life like others or form a strong opinion just because someone else has. Something like this doesn't need to stop you from admiring what a phenomenal actor Al is and how he's a fine ass man too. 😭

#al pacino

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