Pafl - Tumblr Posts - Page 3
I'm very glad I was able to bring some new media to people to get interested in with my post, bcs I am also huge fan of both, the Roadside Picnic and Parties Are For Losers !
I do agree with you that every of this medias are taking The Zone concept and turning it into something their own and unique is incredibly interesting, there is something like a base, but The Zone is kinda of a sandbox, and I find it cool how differently people can interpret it based on what story they want to tell...!
Like The Zone originally created by Strugatsky brothers is dangerous, but more in the form of a natural disaster than something living or conscious. Although Zone is dangerous, even scary beyond human comprehension, it still brings people hope that the gifts of the Zone can and should be used for good.
I only recently started playing Stalker games and I enjoy them so much so far. The main difference between The Zone in Stalker and The Zone of the Strugatsky brothers is that it is Really Alive. Alive not only in the sense that it is inhabited (both living and dead, and mutants) but alive in the sense that it seems to have its own kind of Consciousness (C-Consiousness, you get it LOL), that tries to save itself at all cost.
While human mutants exist in Roadside Picnic originally, as you have noticed, Pafl takes this concept to the next level (I also really like that the Zone in Pafl is rather closer to the one of the Strugatskys, but everything mysterious and scary that is in The Zone is united in one person - Dr. Temnova), I also like how Pafl is about humans more than it is about The Zone, like the way it is in Roadside Picnic book. So yeah !
I haven't read much of the Otherside Picnic honestly, maybe I will pick up this story later, but it also makes some interesting points, like I really liked the "Otherside" kinda of pun, because unlike the other Zone takes, that "place" isn't actually some kind of anomalous zone of planet Earth, but rather something completely out of our world. That's very interesting.
(it’s not for nothing that the zone is addressed as a woman)
that's kinda specific meme I made for myself and one and a half people who are as insane as me to understand da meme
yura russian meme idk how to translate dis even
direct trnslation would be something like "fucking show off more, make a dick knows what out of yourself"
funney KT drawing bcI miss this gurl
let's die and not tell sergei
katya and dmitry (my beloveds), or discussing mutation motifs in texts from a biological and psychological standpoint
CONTENT WARNING: DISCUSSIONS OF MENTAL ILLNESS AND HUMAN EXPERIMENTATION.
READING-THIS WARNING: I MISINTERPRET STUFF A LOT, THIS IS PURELY MY INTERPRETATION OF THE SERIES. SORRY IF I'M WRONG. :(
When I first watched through Parties are for Losers and its respective songs, my brain was already whirring. Come on. I'm a Vocaloid nerd, obviously I have to look into it, and I know something is up, which means the analysis brain begins. I really enjoyed the Evillous Chronicles, and it seemed as though this was similar. Unlike it, this was actually in English (being set in Russia), and the narrative felt inherently more understandable, although that may just be because it's only 13 songs, compared to Evillous' 82.
AND it covers topics of biology and its affects on psychology. it's perfect. why have i never heard of this before??!?!?!?
There's a lot of aspects to explore within PafL, but I want to specifically focus on Katya (KT) and Dmitry, and their mutations, taking a biological and social approach to their current mental state. I will refer to Katya by her full "name" because it feels a little more humanising, and our baby girl deserves that.
Human experimentation/mutation is a fascinating topic to explore, because it questions the essence of humanity itself - how could you do that to another human being, a child, no less? End and Save is one of my favourite webtoon comics because of this. The abilities that these children gain typically have significant disadvantages, due to the inherently unethical nature of the creation. In some ways, the mutation itself explores corruption.
Biologically, genetic mutations are a natural occurrence, resultant from selection. We are nowhere near the current level needed to cause significant mutation like that of Katya and Dmitry's, and despite what most people think, there's actually no real intention to head in that direction. Therapeutic gene editing (LITERALLY MY SPECIALISED INTEREST. LIKE I WANT TO GO INTO THIS IN THE FUTURE. THIS IS PERFECT.) strays away from eugenics, and focuses on curing genetic disease. It's a fascinating topic of research, and one I hold dear to me. CRISPR my beloved
Katya's mutant ability is directly related to stress. It causes the extensive growth of tissue when she's in a stressful situation, and she has limited control over the flesh. This then has to be cut off, leaving serious wounds to heal on her skin.
art by Ferry
Taking this biologically, it would have to be mutation related to extreme cell division in tissue - in more simple terms, it's not unlike cancer, where a cell does not consider the required markers for division, and instead rapidly divides. Katya's seems far more controlled than cancer, sticking only to particular sites, and also significantly more extreme. Considering the stress required, it may actually be related to an influx of hormonal changes during stress sequences.
As a result of this, Katya is hypersensitive to the emotion of others and can tolerate a high amount of stress, with inherent optimism. She's relatively simple, and tries her best not to let her abilities weigh her down. In the end, she resigns herself to undeserving of true kindness, suggesting she has some well-hidden low self-esteem.
Dmitry's mutant ability seems more controllable, and therefore powerful, than Katya's. He has the ability to pick up anything, with vague limitations on weight, provided he knows specific location and it is within a 15 metre radius.
art by Ferry
Telekinesis from a biological standpoint? I'm not opening that can of worms. I'm not even gonna try. Make it up yourself. I'm pretty sure A Certain Scientific Railgun couldn't even really explain Kuroko's powers, and I'm one small scrawny rat.
Dmitry suffers severe physical consequences as a result of this ability, even using it regularly - severe headaches, loss of consciousness, and dizziness, which can been seen when he attempts to save Anya. Dmitry is significantly more cautious of the outside world than Katya is, and he's somewhat more hostile, threatening Yura and Sanya when he is blackmailed. However, he's practical, likely from the skills taught to him through use of telekinesis.
Dmitry and Katya were set out to have a negative relationship, due to the power dynamics between the two of them making them inherently different people. Dmitry was used for several years as an "assistant" to test Katya's abilities, and seems to hold a grudge with her over that. They have differing opinions on the outside world, particularly due to the way Dmitry's inhumanity was repeated to him often, as the lab researchers began to fear his power. He's not so pessimistic that he acts as contrast to Katya, but the clashing elements still causes them to go their separate ways in KT's Guide.
I couldn't find any specific links between the use of GUMI as KT and Fukase as Dmitry, but I'm sure there is some when considering the different Vocaloids used as a whole. I just wish I could understand what it was, but I don't quite know enough about Vocaloid as a whole for that. Alternatively, it could just be because of gender and the fact that both sound good with the style of the song.
song i wrote this listening to (after PafL, of course): sleep thru ur alarms by Lontalius
it's been a rough night, okay? i needed this as a distraction.
thanks so much to powercoreact for the suggestion! i genuinely really enjoyed this, and you hit my secret hidden love for vocaloid right in the feels. can you believe i watched this like an hour ago??? i feel like i've known it for years.
It feels like she is so close yet so far Always present yet absent
Will we see you ever again
@nopanamaman
I'm not a big fan of sergei but do you ever think about how he barely got to process nikita's death. the universe was like "oh btw the only remaining sort of parental figure in your life is dead. but don't linger on that too much cause you still gotta break your wife and stupid soon-to-be-disowned son out of jail." he lost so much after the events of "the mill" and he barely had time to sit down and figure out how to move forward after that.
also, why do you think he bothered to get yura out of jail? was it for olga's sake, since she clearly wanted to help yura? was he just trying to respect her wishes or did he also still care about yura, just enough to give him a chance to live somewhat normally after everything?
What’s up with the City?
Loredump. September 2023
What do we really know about the City the characters inhabit? Aside from it being located right next to the Zone, not much. And to be fair, the song series format doesn’t leave a lot of room for exploration.
But it’s an interesting place in its own right. Today we’ll learn a little bit about its history, life, and how being right next to the strangest area of the planet has affected the lives of its 400,000 inhabitants. Let’s dive right in.
View of the City’s edge in winter. Unexciting.
Where is the City located?
The City has no concrete location: it can be placed on almost any territory within Russia, Belarus, or Ukraine. Despite a lot of the realia and places within it being drawn from my own lifetime in Minsk, it’s not meant to represent it specifically.
The City is part of a larger totalitarian state. Housing hundreds of thousands of citizens, it used to be the largest settlement in the vicinity of ЦКР-5 (TsKR-5), a closed town declassified after its own destruction and the emergence of the Zone.
Closed city TsKR-5. In reality, the military town Knyaze-Volkonskoye
Who lives in the City?
The City is mostly inhabited by people of various slavic nationalities. The main spoken language is Russian, though there are folks who know and communicate in other slavic languages. The government treats those who do so with suspicion, so it’s not common practice.
Smoke above the City. In reality, Nekrasovka, Moscow
The majority of people living on the periphery of the town are employed in factories. A significant industrial centre before the Zone’s emergence, it remains a stable producer of vehicles, electronics, and environmental waste.
However, the proximity to the Zone and the massive research centre have attracted a lot of scientific talent and entrepreneurs to the place. The latter usually choose banditism or smuggling as their business model. Unsurprisingly, the crime rate is high.
Most of the population, adult and child alike, has had some contact with gangs. It’s not uncommon for kids to actively want to go into banditism, as it’s seen as one of the few avenues for achieving some sort of financial stability.
How is the City affected by anomalies?
The City is no stranger to bizarre meteorological, metaphysical, and otherwise logic-defying events. One day it can rain tar. Another day the air will smell a little sweet. Another day a dead pet will rise from its grave. Another day a street will distort, then go back to normal. Another day everyone born on May 11th will cough up ammonia.
Sky anomaly. In reality, a mirage above Jiangxi
There are at least a dozen anomalous events every year. It’s generally believed they occur because of precipitation, affected particles and/or artefacts travelling outside of the Zone, as well as City dwellers unknowingly ingesting anomalous particles into their bodies.
Few environmental anomalies outside the Zone are permanent or dangerous, but some do require containment. On paper, public access to any life-threatening anomaly needs to be cut off as soon as it becomes known. In practice, places deemed dangerous often get little more than a police ribbon and a couple of warning signs around them.
What are some restricted anomalous areas within the City?
The Lazurny (Azure) Pool
The most notable one in the context of PAFL itself is the pool KT inhabited during her two weeks on the run. Abandoned, but neither guarded nor fenced off, the building had all its entrances and windows welded shut and left at that.
Mosaic by the main pool
The reason for its closure was the main pool’s basin becoming what one could only call a bottomless pit. Its water cannot be drained or pumped out, and everything alive entering it disappears underneath, never to be seen again. Only pieces of plywood, garbage, sports and research equipment now float atop the surface.
The Anomalous Forest
As far as less relevant places are concerned, the workshop Ivan and Arthur work at overlooks a large restricted area just on the edge of town. It’s part of a bigger forest that fell victim to the local wind rose: a lot of clouds coming from the Zone have rained various suspicious liquids on it.
As a result, the treeline became ridiculously uneven, with some parts looking lush with greenery, some being inappropriately naked, some standing pale and sickly, and some even emanating a faint glow come nightfall. There is little official information about the dangers of local flora and fauna, but more than enough urban legends. Though, most seem to agree that eating anything from the pale zone results in awful diarrhoea.
Affected trees. In reality, the Drunken Forest in the Curonian Spit
A popular theory for why such areas are never cleared or properly restricted (aside from money pocketing) is that the facility uses them for resources.
For instance, a pine tree whose needles cause people to develop tumours can be a valuable asset for various research, medical or otherwise. Or take a small stretch of an impossibly warped landscape – that one can be a great place to test the physical attributes of anomalous objects. Would be a waste to make those things nearly impossible to access, no?
What about the artefact trade?
As was stated multiple times before, unregistered possession of anomalous artefacts is strictly against the law. The only exceptions are the anomalous souvenirs produced and sold in the Facility and shops around the city (small floating toys, balls of glowsmoke, standing needles).
Sorting of artefacts (batteries) in False Disposition
Actual artefacts are acquired and sold illegally by stalkers. They are usually traded to either gangs, police, or government officials who, in turn, resell them to faraway regions or abroad, where they go for an even higher price.
This is a large part of why crime continues to flourish in the City: the underground trade is simply too profitable for everyone involved, including those who are supposed to fight against it.
Where do the main characters live?
All of our main characters live on the edge of town, in an area that’s relatively close to the Facility located just outside of the City. The rough map of the main locations would look something like this:
Approximate map of the area. Apartment blocks sure look crazy from above
Yura and Sanya live about 15 minutes away from each other with Sanya’s house, in turn, being a 10-15 minute walk away from the Molodzyozhny club. Following the road South from Molodzyozhny will lead you to the orphanage, Ivan’s house, and his dad’s workshop overlooking the anomalous forest.
Following the same road North will have you pass by Nikita’s house and eventually lead to Olya’s – though, she lives relatively far, being around 35 minutes away from Sanya’s place by foot. Yana lives even farther, in the city centre way to the West.
Going to the East will lead you to a more forested area. That’s where the abandoned Lazurny pool is located. It’s also where buses and railroads travel through to get to the Facility located right on the border of the City and the Zone.
The estacade in False Disposition
The estacade where Sanya catches up with Yura in False Disposition and, subsequently, the meeting spot with Olya and Nikita are also located off the little map (sorry): they're to the East of the orphanage, next to the train tracks.
The road to both the Facility and the Zone has plenty of buildings on the way (industrial and otherwise), but getting to the border checkpoint by foot from, say, Yura’s house would take at least an hour and a half. It’s not somewhere you wander to by accident.
ferrys death is why there should be more safety regulations on pianos being precariously suspended from cranes at absurd heights. a tragic moment in vocaloid history💔