#echo carl

TJ -- The most horrifying route. Kinda silly to say this in retrospect considering what happens in all the other routes, but seeing the slow decline in isolation to all the other shit going on, I was genuinely shook by the end. And I feel like I still am.

Carl -- The most gratifying/wholesome route. Felt weird going into this after TJ's since that formed my impressions of what this was gonna be, but it makes sense in retrospect. Carl's whole portrayal of anxiety and the conclusion he comes to, it's not something I see that often and it was a very pleasant ending.

Flynn -- The route that made me fall in love with Flynn as a character. Holy shit, this lizard rules. He acts like he doesn't care but he cares so so so much. Though Carl will always be best boy, Flynn will be my favorite character in the game. He deserves so much more. I now know to not be afraid of my sleep paralysis demon anymore :)

Leo -- The most cathartic route, and my favorite. I deliberately held off on doing this for a while, kinda fitting into that thematic thing of Chase not addressing his problems. But the choice that you need to make at the end and seeing the shit that happens, the realization that things will never go back to how they were. It is painful and it hurts but I know it is for the best. Absolutely some of the best that Echo has to offer.

Jenna -- A nice sendoff. While I really liked Jenna as a character, I feel her route is kinda low for me on the enjoyment scale since the actual horror aspect never feels fully present, just tension. There are no doubt some absolutely horrifying moments (never before have I been so terrified of a walk cycle), but this route feels like it needs to be experienced last, which kinda makes it weirder to enjoy in isolation. It's the bow that ties everything up nicely, but it's hard to enjoy a bow without it being tied to something else. But overall, still a way to go.

(I’m in tears and crying because I wrote this entire thing and was getting ready to post it, just looking over and seeing if I had any additional thoughts, but my cat jumped on my desktop, turning off the computer, and I lost everything I said and now it seems like wayyyy too much work to repost it. I want to die. I had written so much! T_T OTL)

Wow... it has been a while... Honestly thought I did another of these, but I guess I got swept away in the story. ANYWAY (this one is going to be all spoilers, and a close approximation of what I said previously that was lost to the cyber planescape of the internet, so apologies if it isn’t as deep as I usually wanted it);

I finished Carl’s route! And wow, what a journey THAT was. First, the nightmare dimension was so interesting and strange! It was like a weird, older reflection of Echo! But not like that much older? I suspect it was an echo (hah!) of the town in the 1900s somewhere. Probably post John hanging... Oof. I’m curious why Echo has this dimension/mirrored reality though. I keep getting more and more questions.

Second, I thought it was a very cool aspect that due to being descendants of James Hendricks and John Begay, Carl and Jenna actually got possessed (kinda’)! However the fact it actually happened is horrible and I hate it entirely. John was particularly stabby though. In fact I actually “lost” my first playthrough and chose to grab Jenna instead of pushing her (I was TERRIFIED pushing her would cause her to stab herself). I get so freaking sad when my authentic choices lead to my demise, because then I’m like: ‘Welp! Guess I’m doomed to fail or die in a situation like this!’ *sigh* anyway!

Third, this hysteria/entity thing itself. I don’t think it’s a hysteria at all and is absolutely supernatural in some way, but I am very curious about the expansion of this, and I want to know what happened in the mines, and why this place has a mirrored reality that you can just snap out of! How does this work?! I also wonder if it worsens the negative traits of all the residents here!

Fourth, I actually started Leo’s route now! I’m like 5 hours into it, Thursday, I think. And WOW. This wolf, while wonderful, is absolutely concerning. I’m worried what we’re going to discover about him as the days go by and worsen! =( To quote a fantastic creator: “His fur is red because of all the red flags!” My man’s got some serious issues hinted at, and I’m anxious since he does seem like a good person at the end of things... But things only get worse as we saw from Carl’s route and I’m morbidly curious how this will translate with Leo. But also, WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH CARL NOW THAT WE’RE NOT WITH HIM?!  Like the birthday party didn’t even happen this time! At least, not in the same way AT ALL!!! Like Carl got freaking lost! But at least we found out he was okay... enough... We know what else happens and I’m curious of the results when we’re not there!! Also oh my god, FLYNN warning us about Leo? And not being a complete asshole about it for all of three seconds as if he was serious? Like my dude... what is up with Leo? I’m fearing the worst at this point, which sucks because it feels like he and Chase could have a caring and legitimate relationship! I gotta’ say, the character writing in this is fucking legendary. But besides that it is super fun. I’ve also enjoyed meeting Mr. Raccoon man himself, Kudzu! He seems like one those dudes that keep themselves locked in a steel cage to keep other people from getting in, and I’m curious what his story is all about. I’m liking him though, since he seems like one of the only other positive influences around Leo besides Chase and maybe Leo’s family? We haven’t gotten much on that end... Either way, I like mystery raccoon!

So. A LOT has happened since my last update. (Sorry for not keeping up religiously.) But uh we will go by what I remember item by item.

Fuck the crawlspace. Place is fucked up son. Which I mean 'Terry, it's a horror VN literally what did you expect?' To that random citizen I say you are right! I still hate it though. The horror elements are ever so slowly ramping up. This gradual build really has me worried literally EVERY not so wholesome scene.

Speaking of not so wholesome scenes: YO JENNA WHAT THE HECK?! Look I could see your perspective. You came from the worst home life ever and everything was awful, and Carl wasting his amazing life triggers you. I get it. You do NOT come after our boi Carl like that. This birthday scene was a fucking disaster. Omg. There was one (1) good thing about this. Flynn not being the absolute worst ever, with a thoughtful gift to Carl. (Ho-ho, what LAYERS are there, my friend?) Leo is trying so hard it's sweet. But at the same time, oof. He is trying too hard. And THAT is a red flag. This friend group is so broken... But I like the dynamics we're exploring.

Speaking of dynamics... OMG FIRST KISS WITH CARL!!!! It was quiet, shy, a little awkward, and SUPER sweet. I wonder what the results of this will be though... He was drunk... Although he did later on explicitly admit to Chase to ye didn't label his sexuality? So you know. There's something there. Haha! Yes, quite "queer" there Carl. XD

RAVEN?! Who is this mysterious new emo wolf?!?!?! I didn't expect a new character seemingly so much later on! And on that note, I wonder what this 'circle' motif is, that keeps on being brought up? And I wonder if that means at the "end" of Carl's route if we are going to end up looping back in time to the other route choices or if the choices we make for each route impacts the other ones? I hope so! It would make the game have a lot of interesting layers. But if not, and we just need to load up from the route choices, I wonder if OUR perspectives change and shift from what we find out? It would be a shame to be a "one and done" route kinda' deal. But we will see.

Besides that, I didn't know what a window well was until today, and I really DIDN'T need to know. That fucking knocking was creepy as shit. Q-Q

And again with the spiders!!! Which we apparently hallucinated... Eugh. I am so worried. I never read something that has a slow but constant build up like this. =/

It's stressful as hell. And can I just say, we kind of suck ass coming down for the week to hang out with the group and more than half of the week we just fucking ditched them and hung with Carl! I mean don't get me wrong - I love Carl but we are seriously being inconsiderate. @-@

Anyway... That's all my thoughts for now! Creepy haunted mansion for the win!

Alright, so! As I predicted, things have quickly gone to "WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!?!"

So I absolutely feel for Carl. I have that bad anxiety and I feel so AWFUL for him. Everyone telling him to get his life together, critiquing him and his every move, etc. Like I know EXACTLY how that feels. And then Chase's moment of self-realization when he realized he became exactly what Carl didn't like?

O o F

AND THEN. AND THEN!!! OMG they have to go to the lake immediately after Carl completely botched his interview? Yikes-a-roni.

So! I did really love the lake scene, for the most part. (If you know, you know.) I appreciate how well it was written, the awkwardness and Flynn being his usual *sigh* Flynn self... But then Chase just fucking goes out and reclaims it! That was boss as hell, and eventually, everyone starts to come around too. It was really sweet, serene for a moment. And it was nice to have a TASTE of what could be.

(Blatant spoilers starting now)

Then everything fucking hit the fan and omg. I can't BELIEVE the genius and simultaneous DEVASTATION of sleep paralysis underwater, IN THE LAKE OF ALL OF THEIR SHARED TRAUMA, WITH CHASE NEARLY DROWNING ON TOP, LITERALLY TRIGGERING AND DESTROYING EVERYONE THERE!!!! OH MY GOD. *Flops over dead* this is too much. These poor people. They'll never go near the lake again. Whatever semblance of friendship they had is absolutely SHATTERED now. Omg. I can't handle it. Is there a good end? I doubt it now, because immediately thereafter we deal with the fucking crawlspace. And the nightmare dungeon apparently just underneath it!!!

Like what the hell?? Thoughts are manifesting?! And if thoughts are manifesting then no offense Chase, but you're the last one I want down there with me. XD But geeze. Everything got insanely fuck-y immediately. What is this 'other power' that is harming James Hendrick's ability to manipulate the environment? Also I love how the history of Echo is directly impacting this moment now, and that we are at just the tip of the iceberg of the trauma of this place. I know this prequel exists called The Smoke Room and I suspect James Hendricks has a lot to do with that too. And it's just- damn. I love how complex and layered this story has gotten, and the real horror and other elements just started despite me being hours into it already.

Anyway. Um JENNA?! WTF ARE YOU DOING HERE?! And on that note, where the fuck is everyone else and are they okay? Last we saw it kinda' seemed like Flynn and Leo were trying to kill each other. And who the fuck knows what's going on with TJ? I'm pretty excited for TJ's route, honestly, because I have gotten almost NOTHING from him at this point. God there's just SO. MUCH. I CAN'T WAIT TO READ IT ALL!!! But god I'm scared... X-X a bloody knife as a title screen for Sunday is seriously concerning me. X-X

(help)

Oh but we had a nice and lovely kiss between Carl and Chase. That was nice at least! =)