Dead Core - By D (ㄷ) (8/10)
This one is weirdly unsettling. As in it's rare to see an example of a protagonist that has actually "broken down". He was on his way to being famous. A band mate stole his songs and his shot, and he's burnt out, and he's too tired to fight the strange forces around him.
Connie had the looks and the talent and the tunnel vision that came with it.
It just didn't occur to him. That his raw talent and hard work could be stolen with a few lies. His fall was fast, hard, and quiet. Band members change all the time. Rookie moved on to be big without him. He missed his shot to be special at a young age.
Now he's in his regular young adult prime. He still has fans. Friends who harp on about his brush with fame. He still plays alone. He writes alone. It is his passion. Losing didn't take that away. It just makes practicing hurt a bit.
The art is good at establishing how alone he is and how alone he feels. Connie looks a bit scruffy and I dont think he's trying to be grunge. Art still gets him up in the morning, but he dresses plain and he doesn't go out much. The polar opposite of what he was on camera.
It's a sad, dull, real depiction of someone who "lost".
No screaming. No crying. No drama. No drugs.
Only the comments and stares from friends and occasional strangers that feel oh-so-belittling.
Haha.
I can't even strum a tune. You're so talented! It's amazing you even got that far!
Ouch.
Louie, a friend and fan, has been pushing him to join an up and coming college band called Dead Core. He has agreed as of the start of the story. He misses it. It is his talent. He insists he's not joining to prove anything to anyone.
He just wants to be himself.
Connie is trying to find a healthier attitude, and it's clearly been a long term challenge.
Perhaps Dead Core can be his innocent creative outlet and...
....
.......
Mika, his new roommate, is obsessed with him for reasons unknown. He doesn't even hide it. He immediately tells Connie he's a fan.
It's a cold first meeting. No chemistry at all. Connie rightfully dismisses the fanboy in his personal space.
Things escalate fast though.
I think introducing Louie really helps set this mess up. Louie, a social media influencer, has been trying to get Connie back into music for years. She also wants to use him for views on her streaming channel. This smartly establishes that Connie is probably used to be used. To being known. To being the music guy before he's a person.
Which definitely makes him more vulnerable to people like Mika. It doesn't matter if you "mean well" or not. Treating a person like a show pony has alot of side effects. Look at any influencer scandal.
It doesn't feel like a romance. It does feel like Connie doesn't have much fight left in him.
Does Mika want to see him in Dead Core? Or does he just want to conquer his favorite?
No idea.
He confesses his love pretty quickly too. Leaving Connie to contend with that horrible question. The problem any artist with some fame has to face. Can I trust love?
What if my lover is just with me because....
No, I mean Mika was honest about it.
That makes him better than some stalker, right?
