#echo tj

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.

haha why aren’t there any chase/tj fics on AO3? That feels so obvious!

Me after I finish the TJ route:

(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!

Some Echo AU designs and a sketchbook page,