I played arches for the sake of your upcoming video, and when I found out the whole story revolved around the reason I only played echo once (brian) I was upset but pushed through cause I could tell through the set up was about healing/pushing through trauma. And I'm glad I did cause it was a beautiful story about perseverance. I've also been in a huge funk since about late June, lots of life changes, adult responsibilities with a general identity crisis boiling underneath it all, so to say I relate to what you're going through with comparing your "less important pain" to all the hurt in the world, is an understatement. Hope you find people in your life to help you push through.
Last month, I've had to be around my fiance's family a whole lot. It was mostly mundane, kinda annoying, the general microaggressions you can expect from a family who's not totally sold on the fact of two women in a relationship. The worst part by far is that no one had the "right" to complain. It was poisonous. It took so much from me to just keep on fake-smiling, showing my most cheerful self with people I had no desire to be with. It feels absurd to compare that experience, the one of just taking small hits every time and smiling through them, to the absolute horror of Arches. It even feels absurd to compare it to other people's struggles - how can I complain about casual homophobia when they at least accept me as trans? What right do I have to feel bad when they could have just given up on me and her? The part of this essay about forced positivity, about not having the right to feel bad or just be accepted for being sad and down - that hit home. I'm sorry, I know how hard and damaging it is to pretend to be happy, to pretend to be a version of yourself that you're not. This month I played Arches, and during all this time it was this goddamn nightmare of a furry VN that made me feel loved. It made me feel like even after going through hell it's possible to come out the other end, damaged, changed but alive. It showed the other reality, the one of Cameron's death, as a cautionary tale of the horrifying alternative. Seeing him truly gone was painful in a way I hadn't experienced in art since TJ's route. Most of all it just showed me that things can suck, you can change, you can get in stupid-ass fights with the people you love, have cravings years after withdrawal, have parts of you die physically and mentally and still go on. Thank you for this. Take care
This video was beautiful. The game resonated really deeply with me and I havent been able to put into words why that is, but you’ve captured the feelings I have about it. Thank you, gratefully and genuinely, thank you
I'm binging both of your Adastra and Arches videos because like you, I decided to mix uppers and downers and played Adastra and Arches back to back after playing Echo a few years prior. The linking of these games has made the complex feelings of both of them very difficult to untangle. So thank you for these videos. Seeing others process these works of art has been deeply cathartic. All three of the completed games from Echo Project spoke to me in wildly different ways but all still spoke to me through the lens of intimate partner violence (cf. Chase × Leo) and PTSD (cf. Cam's schizophrenia and struggles to come to terms with the so-called new normal) that occurred to me after moving from Canada to Scotland for university studies (cf. Marco). It's still too recent to say if these games have helped me work through some of the trauma (well, Echo has, especially because I saw a lot of myself in Chase and my ex, G, in Leo and my attempts to get away from G being pulled back in the same way that Leo and Chase have a magnetism between each other for better or for worse). All of these VNs are challenging reads due to their emotional intensity. With Arches specifically, I found the whole part with trauma changing you fundamentally the most challenging. As you say, there are things that you will go through that will change you forever. And sometimes it's beyond your control, and it feels unfair. I'm on several of the same medications that Cam is on and will likely be on them forever and I've had breakdowns begging my current partner to treat me the way that G treated me because at least that felt like it was predictable. I could count on G to hurt me and there was a comfort in knowing that no matter what he would do that. And as I continue to recover 5 years after running from him in an airport in Lebanon and hopping on the next available flight to Canada, there's a part of me that still holds on to that past. I knew I was messed up and still crave feeling alone and scared. Your video essay helped me put words to that and I think I'm gonna take this back and discuss it with my therapist next time I see her. I do agree on the front of the death of the narrator that it does feel cheap to connect to the characters, especially Cam. Because it does feel like his problems are so much worse, and yet, I can't help to put myself into his situation. I found myself wishing that I was Cam because at least my struggles would be justified, my trauma that much more real. I will say, I was reading Arches next to my partner and when Cam was in an urn back home in the alternate timeline, I started weeping uncontrollably. My partner even commented on it- but when you play the games about trauma you too also get the trauma. I had the same reaction when the Parents in Adastra tell you about the bucolic future you get with your space wolf husband and I can't put to words why that scene upset me deeply. Both of these games end on hopeful notes and yet they leave us fucked up. The novels that they put out are all so complex that it's hard to talk about them with any kind of brevity and I love Echo Project for that. So thanks again for putting out this video.
Your videos about Echo and it's sister-projects always resonate with my heart - I feel a lot like while reading those stories. My life is a mess right now and reading/playing Echo or Arches and watching videos like yours are one's of not many things in the world that make me feel something, even if it's fear or pitiful resemblance. I wanted to say a thing about monsters of Echo, or remnants of that horrible town - in the alternate universe we see in one particular part of an epilogue the version of Devon "possessed" with Cameron. It's just like Leo with his tulpa of Chase. So what I wanted to imply was that feeling. That specific dread of recognition, when you come to understanding of what's really going on without expecting it at all. And on a way we all (who've read the novel) carry part of Echo in our souls, with that being the ability to recognize some patterns of fear we would never encounter otherwise. Thank you very much, your thoughts helped to overcome me missing novel's. [English is not my first language, so l am sorry for all mistakes]
Thanks for sharing your life struggles and your understanding of them with us viewers :). I can somewhat understand these feelings as well and believe that we can move on looking forward to life as we never know what's in store for us. You've become one of my favorite visual novel reviewers because of explaining of your feelings based off of the game's messages.
I feel like, despite all the difficult topics and pain that was shared in the video, this was something a lot of us needed to hear, regardless of situation or how uncomfortable it was to hear, this is what I felt I needed to hear. It's not like it was meant for me, but I still felt it was needed.
Another beautiful and expressive piece, my fellow Vivian. There were parts of this that sounded like it was straight from my own diary. Like you said, trying to relate one's own experience from such a deeply personal expression of self can feel wrong, but I hope you don't mind me doing so here with your video. I related so strongly with so many parts of what you said, and given how I feel about those moment, I am sorry that you are in that place too. But for both of us, I have faith your music will be heard again.
I remember the moment the final chapter/epilogue dropped, I went ahead with binging Arches within one afternoon. My God, this VN is one of the most horrifying experiences I’ve played through. That point of the player being stripped of agency is what resonated with me the most - I’m so used to wanting to try everything to lead characters in a game to a better end, especially in VNs/games with different endings. And to a real-life extent, I like being able to control what might come about. So watching Cameron break apart with no choice but to keep progressing the story terrified to my core. 10/10 VN in my books. I definitely have to replay Arches sometime!
another really touching video...i do hope you'd feel alive again, that's what im working towards, i too am struggling with depression, it's like being numb and isolated, but its cruelty allows you some moments of clarity just so you realize, oh it's been a year again, i don't think i have done much this year...again. but i really hope you can feel better, more alive, im doing better this month, i thoroughly cleaned the apartment, and kept being neat instead of it being one of those "high moments" impulses since i already had the "crash" and it was surprisingly manageable, it never occured to me that im actually kinda a neat person???? guess depression really changes a person smh. but it's possible to feel better and work thru at least some of the things that hindered u before, i hope you get to make more music and play some sick tunes on your instruments in near future. srsly we need more musicians in this fandom 😤 also, i really love that you poured your heart out in these essays, they make me want to get to know more about you, so is it ok if i have your discord or something? would love to chat more, and the bit about them maybe having a better future? ummm they MOST CERTAINLY are going to have one, the best future of all futures😤😤
Hey, I am kinda mad at the title of the video, it spoiled Arches for me while looking at your channel after watching your impressive video on Echo. I wish you titled it something differently, although I understand it given the nature of the themes discussed in the video. Edit: to those with my concern, this title is still not good but less spoilery than anticipated.
I think that if you have doubts and think that you are a bad person, this is the ultimate proof that you are not a bad person. A bad person is one who never admits his guilt or the fact that he may not be good. I think that instead of worrying about whether you are a good or bad person, it is best to just try to be good to others. In progress and work on yourself, it is sometimes important to analyze and think about your actions, but it cannot be something that makes you broken and it cannot be a goal in itself. We humans are always emotional, but I think that sometimes we need to try to calm down our emotions and think better about something. Try to think about the things you are good at and the good things you have done. Also try to mention the positive aspects of your life sometimes. These can be very small and inconspicuous things. But most of a person is made up of small and inconspicuous things. Even something as trivial as fresh air, comfortable shoes, warm coffee or something similar are positive aspects of life that are worth appreciating. When it comes to actions, even a moment of worry about someone or something important is already a good thing. If something is sincere, it doesn't matter whether you managed to change something or not. What matters is your intention. And if you hurt someone unknowingly, you are not guilty. You should apologize and try to improve, but a bad person does not do bad by accident. An evil man does special evil. However, even good people sometimes do bad things. When it comes to positive thinking, I think it's better not to force it. But instead, try not to think so negatively. Remember that no one will give you an objective assessment of you and your situation. Even you cannot fully objectively evaluate yourself. So try to take all the things that you think about yourself or that someone else thinks about you with a pinch of salt. One last thing... it may sound strange but suffering is just suffering. Suffering is not when someone hurts you. It's about how you react to what someone does. Of course, it is almost impossible to react to every bad thing with indifference, but we can control it to some extent. We can face our suffering and, to some extent, not experience it so much. Everyone suffers, everyone lives with wounds. And that's part of life. We have to accept it. Besides, maybe when this is all over, maybe there's something better prepared for us afterwards. Arches also talks about it beautifully at the end. Here we can't break away from our traumas and worries, but we don't know what happens next.
![BLESSED BE - [ Echo VN X Ptolemaea Fan Animation ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-0qeBOg_RjU/mqdefault.jpg)
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
I played arches for the sake of your upcoming video, and when I found out the whole story revolved around the reason I only played echo once (brian) I was upset but pushed through cause I could tell through the set up was about healing/pushing through trauma. And I'm glad I did cause it was a beautiful story about perseverance. I've also been in a huge funk since about late June, lots of life changes, adult responsibilities with a general identity crisis boiling underneath it all, so to say I relate to what you're going through with comparing your "less important pain" to all the hurt in the world, is an understatement. Hope you find people in your life to help you push through.
Last month, I've had to be around my fiance's family a whole lot. It was mostly mundane, kinda annoying, the general microaggressions you can expect from a family who's not totally sold on the fact of two women in a relationship. The worst part by far is that no one had the "right" to complain.
It was poisonous. It took so much from me to just keep on fake-smiling, showing my most cheerful self with people I had no desire to be with.
It feels absurd to compare that experience, the one of just taking small hits every time and smiling through them, to the absolute horror of Arches. It even feels absurd to compare it to other people's struggles - how can I complain about casual homophobia when they at least accept me as trans? What right do I have to feel bad when they could have just given up on me and her?
The part of this essay about forced positivity, about not having the right to feel bad or just be accepted for being sad and down - that hit home. I'm sorry, I know how hard and damaging it is to pretend to be happy, to pretend to be a version of yourself that you're not.
This month I played Arches, and during all this time it was this goddamn nightmare of a furry VN that made me feel loved. It made me feel like even after going through hell it's possible to come out the other end, damaged, changed but alive. It showed the other reality, the one of Cameron's death, as a cautionary tale of the horrifying alternative. Seeing him truly gone was painful in a way I hadn't experienced in art since TJ's route. Most of all it just showed me that things can suck, you can change, you can get in stupid-ass fights with the people you love, have cravings years after withdrawal, have parts of you die physically and mentally and still go on.
Thank you for this. Take care
Thank you so much for this comment. I hope that things go well for you too, and I'm sorry that you had to go through the pain that you did.
This video was beautiful. The game resonated really deeply with me and I havent been able to put into words why that is, but you’ve captured the feelings I have about it. Thank you, gratefully and genuinely, thank you
I'm binging both of your Adastra and Arches videos because like you, I decided to mix uppers and downers and played Adastra and Arches back to back after playing Echo a few years prior. The linking of these games has made the complex feelings of both of them very difficult to untangle.
So thank you for these videos. Seeing others process these works of art has been deeply cathartic. All three of the completed games from Echo Project spoke to me in wildly different ways but all still spoke to me through the lens of intimate partner violence (cf. Chase × Leo) and PTSD (cf. Cam's schizophrenia and struggles to come to terms with the so-called new normal) that occurred to me after moving from Canada to Scotland for university studies (cf. Marco). It's still too recent to say if these games have helped me work through some of the trauma (well, Echo has, especially because I saw a lot of myself in Chase and my ex, G, in Leo and my attempts to get away from G being pulled back in the same way that Leo and Chase have a magnetism between each other for better or for worse).
All of these VNs are challenging reads due to their emotional intensity. With Arches specifically, I found the whole part with trauma changing you fundamentally the most challenging. As you say, there are things that you will go through that will change you forever. And sometimes it's beyond your control, and it feels unfair. I'm on several of the same medications that Cam is on and will likely be on them forever and I've had breakdowns begging my current partner to treat me the way that G treated me because at least that felt like it was predictable. I could count on G to hurt me and there was a comfort in knowing that no matter what he would do that. And as I continue to recover 5 years after running from him in an airport in Lebanon and hopping on the next available flight to Canada, there's a part of me that still holds on to that past. I knew I was messed up and still crave feeling alone and scared. Your video essay helped me put words to that and I think I'm gonna take this back and discuss it with my therapist next time I see her.
I do agree on the front of the death of the narrator that it does feel cheap to connect to the characters, especially Cam. Because it does feel like his problems are so much worse, and yet, I can't help to put myself into his situation. I found myself wishing that I was Cam because at least my struggles would be justified, my trauma that much more real.
I will say, I was reading Arches next to my partner and when Cam was in an urn back home in the alternate timeline, I started weeping uncontrollably. My partner even commented on it- but when you play the games about trauma you too also get the trauma. I had the same reaction when the Parents in Adastra tell you about the bucolic future you get with your space wolf husband and I can't put to words why that scene upset me deeply.
Both of these games end on hopeful notes and yet they leave us fucked up.
The novels that they put out are all so complex that it's hard to talk about them with any kind of brevity and I love Echo Project for that. So thanks again for putting out this video.
I admire the way you wear your heart on your sleeves, its like hearing a friend speak. Wishing all the luck in the world
pls several minutes in your already revealed insights i completely overlooked while playing the thing myself 💀💀💀
This game was my first ever Visual Novel and I’m
Glad to have experienced arches
Your videos about Echo and it's sister-projects always resonate with my heart - I feel a lot like while reading those stories. My life is a mess right now and reading/playing Echo or Arches and watching videos like yours are one's of not many things in the world that make me feel something, even if it's fear or pitiful resemblance.
I wanted to say a thing about monsters of Echo, or remnants of that horrible town - in the alternate universe we see in one particular part of an epilogue the version of Devon "possessed" with Cameron. It's just like Leo with his tulpa of Chase. So what I wanted to imply was that feeling. That specific dread of recognition, when you come to understanding of what's really going on without expecting it at all. And on a way we all (who've read the novel) carry part of Echo in our souls, with that being the ability to recognize some patterns of fear we would never encounter otherwise.
Thank you very much, your thoughts helped to overcome me missing novel's.
[English is not my first language, so l am sorry for all mistakes]
Thanks for sharing your life struggles and your understanding of them with us viewers :). I can somewhat understand these feelings as well and believe that we can move on looking forward to life as we never know what's in store for us. You've become one of my favorite visual novel reviewers because of explaining of your feelings based off of the game's messages.
I feel like, despite all the difficult topics and pain that was shared in the video, this was something a lot of us needed to hear, regardless of situation or how uncomfortable it was to hear, this is what I felt I needed to hear. It's not like it was meant for me, but I still felt it was needed.
Another beautiful and expressive piece, my fellow Vivian. There were parts of this that sounded like it was straight from my own diary. Like you said, trying to relate one's own experience from such a deeply personal expression of self can feel wrong, but I hope you don't mind me doing so here with your video. I related so strongly with so many parts of what you said, and given how I feel about those moment, I am sorry that you are in that place too. But for both of us, I have faith your music will be heard again.
I feel noticed. Thank you. Yes I'm crying.
I remember the moment the final chapter/epilogue dropped, I went ahead with binging Arches within one afternoon. My God, this VN is one of the most horrifying experiences I’ve played through. That point of the player being stripped of agency is what resonated with me the most - I’m so used to wanting to try everything to lead characters in a game to a better end, especially in VNs/games with different endings. And to a real-life extent, I like being able to control what might come about. So watching Cameron break apart with no choice but to keep progressing the story terrified to my core.
10/10 VN in my books. I definitely have to replay Arches sometime!
OMG how come i didn't see this one rolling in my feed i turned on the notif, again this is amazing thank u so much vivian!!!!
Actual blessing to this world. I cannot describe how good this video is.
Hugs. And tears.
another really touching video...i do hope you'd feel alive again, that's what im working towards, i too am struggling with depression, it's like being numb and isolated, but its cruelty allows you some moments of clarity just so you realize, oh it's been a year again, i don't think i have done much this year...again. but i really hope you can feel better, more alive, im doing better this month, i thoroughly cleaned the apartment, and kept being neat instead of it being one of those "high moments" impulses since i already had the "crash" and it was surprisingly manageable, it never occured to me that im actually kinda a neat person???? guess depression really changes a person smh. but it's possible to feel better and work thru at least some of the things that hindered u before, i hope you get to make more music and play some sick tunes on your instruments in near future. srsly we need more musicians in this fandom 😤
also, i really love that you poured your heart out in these essays, they make me want to get to know more about you, so is it ok if i have your discord or something? would love to chat more, and the bit about them maybe having a better future? ummm they MOST CERTAINLY are going to have one, the best future of all futures😤😤
Hey, I am kinda mad at the title of the video, it spoiled Arches for me while looking at your channel after watching your impressive video on Echo. I wish you titled it something differently, although I understand it given the nature of the themes discussed in the video.
Edit: to those with my concern, this title is still not good but less spoilery than anticipated.
When you get time please do a. Video essay in rdr2 you’ll enjoy it
I think that if you have doubts and think that you are a bad person, this is the ultimate proof that you are not a bad person. A bad person is one who never admits his guilt or the fact that he may not be good. I think that instead of worrying about whether you are a good or bad person, it is best to just try to be good to others. In progress and work on yourself, it is sometimes important to analyze and think about your actions, but it cannot be something that makes you broken and it cannot be a goal in itself. We humans are always emotional, but I think that sometimes we need to try to calm down our emotions and think better about something. Try to think about the things you are good at and the good things you have done. Also try to mention the positive aspects of your life sometimes. These can be very small and inconspicuous things. But most of a person is made up of small and inconspicuous things. Even something as trivial as fresh air, comfortable shoes, warm coffee or something similar are positive aspects of life that are worth appreciating. When it comes to actions, even a moment of worry about someone or something important is already a good thing. If something is sincere, it doesn't matter whether you managed to change something or not. What matters is your intention. And if you hurt someone unknowingly, you are not guilty. You should apologize and try to improve, but a bad person does not do bad by accident. An evil man does special evil. However, even good people sometimes do bad things.
When it comes to positive thinking, I think it's better not to force it. But instead, try not to think so negatively. Remember that no one will give you an objective assessment of you and your situation. Even you cannot fully objectively evaluate yourself. So try to take all the things that you think about yourself or that someone else thinks about you with a pinch of salt.
One last thing... it may sound strange but suffering is just suffering. Suffering is not when someone hurts you. It's about how you react to what someone does. Of course, it is almost impossible to react to every bad thing with indifference, but we can control it to some extent. We can face our suffering and, to some extent, not experience it so much. Everyone suffers, everyone lives with wounds. And that's part of life. We have to accept it.
Besides, maybe when this is all over, maybe there's something better prepared for us afterwards. Arches also talks about it beautifully at the end. Here we can't break away from our traumas and worries, but we don't know what happens next.
❤
I love your videos, but I haven't played the game yet and got spoiled by the thumbnail :(
Hope that "Cameron's death" isn't meant in literal sense.