itch.io

I'll admit I was kinda going through some shit when I wrote my initial comment. So I will clarify by saying that nostalgia is real, and can absolutely be a good thing (in fact it is psychologically necessary) but it can also sometimes lead to an unhealthy romanticization of the past. I do think that Chase and Leo could still have a future together, but it would take a great deal of work on both their parts, especially after the events of Leo's arc. I believe that the healthiest option is for them to admit that though they still love each other a relationship is simply not in the cards. 

I won't say it's impossible. The romantic in me still believes in the power of what they had but I think that the ultimate moral of this story is "you gotta know when to fold 'em". That as painful as it might be, sometimes (not all the time, but sometimes) the best thing you can do is let go, move on, and try something new.

I was talking to a friend about Echo and I summarised the relationship like this: "Contrary to popular belief, love is not all you need. You also need trust and communication. Leo is bad at trust, and Chase is bad at communication." And therein I think we can identify a formula for fixing their relationship. And if you want to follow that line of thought then go ahead. I'd like to believe that there is hope, I'd like to believe that love can withstand anything. But ultimately we all take away what we need from a work of fiction, and at the time I personally really needed a story about letting go of the past.

I hope you are well, and I hope I didn't cause too much of a stir with my first comment, I was in a fairly emotionally charged state at the time of writing.

I totally agree.

The whole story is just a shocking reality check. A reminder that nostalgia isn't real. Nostalgia is a fucking liar, that makes us cling to a past that never really existed. Endlessly chasing a feeling that we can never recapture.

It's easy to hold on to the idea that things will go back to the way they were. But you can't. It's hard, and it's painful, but you have to admit that that thing you had is gone and it's never coming back.
When you break up with him it is excruciating to see Leo and Chase so utterly destroyed by the acknowledgement that it's over but it finally allows them both to move on with their lives instead of clinging desperately to a dream that was never going to happen.

And the epilogue shows that they are finally healing. Yeah, Leo cried himself to sleep every night for almost two years. And Chase is still suffering from sever PTSD from what happened in Echo. And that pain will likely never leave them. But at least they're looking forward now, to what could be. Instead of backward, trying to recapture what was.

Even though every part of me wanted to see hem happy together, I recognise that it just won't work. Even though they both still love each other, they both have issues that they simply cannot push past if they don't let that part of themselves go.

I think that Leo could be a great boyfriend. Just not for Chase. And I think Chase could be a great boyfriend. Just not for Leo. 
Not anymore.