They got the wrong indie visual novel lmao. Everlasting Summer is a Russian VN about a paranormal Soviet Pioneer camp. Endless Summer is one of those choose your own adventure games with the horrible ads.
I’ve never played Everlasting Summer, but I’ve read a couple of the fanfics (all sorts of weird stuff ends up in the “communism” tag on AO3, most of it is so bad that even pretty terrible stuff eventually seems worth reading because it’s better than the rest of the tag, precious little of it is actually kinda good), at least one in which a modern Western politically-unconscious post Cold War child of the Red Scare type managed to somehow wind up there, and, well, I know it’s supposed to be all supernatural horror shit, but some of those scenes just made me want to take that guy’s place so badly. I mean, I have fits of wishing I’d been born in the USSR a lot, I think that’s kinda common for Western MLs my age, but that triggered entirely different “myself in the USSR” fantasies a lot harder for a bit, y’know. Especially with reading scenes like the assembly and flag raising, and being like “I’d handle that with a lot less hostility towards the Soviets.” or “I’d want to learn the language quick not because of a cute girl (though that is motivating), but because, oh my god, getting to argue about communism with actual Soviet commies, fuck, yes please!” Like, I wouldn’t almost drop a Soviet flag or feel something in me screaming and burning at touching it, I’ve literally got one hanging on my bedroom wall at home. I wouldn’t have an instinctive panic at hearing the people around me speaking Russian, nor would it take me all that long to recognize the place as a pioneer camp and the context as Soviet times. I do wonder how long it’d take me to tell someone that I’m a commie too and I think the Soviet Union is awesome and the Cold War is bullshit.
The game itself was made by and is aimed at younger Russians with nostalgia towards the USSR. In the same way that US millennials feel cheated by boomers ruining their country, a lot of Russian people aren’t necessarily communist but still recognize that the 90’s were a disaster for their country. Its been like a decade since I read it, but I don’t recall it being particularly political - it’s mainly set dressing for a pretty standard visual novel.
They got the wrong indie visual novel lmao. Everlasting Summer is a Russian VN about a paranormal Soviet Pioneer camp. Endless Summer is one of those choose your own adventure games with the horrible ads.
Disclaimer the screenshot is using google translate so i cant speak for the accuracy of everything
I’ve never played Everlasting Summer, but I’ve read a couple of the fanfics (all sorts of weird stuff ends up in the “communism” tag on AO3, most of it is so bad that even pretty terrible stuff eventually seems worth reading because it’s better than the rest of the tag, precious little of it is actually kinda good), at least one in which a modern Western politically-unconscious post Cold War child of the Red Scare type managed to somehow wind up there, and, well, I know it’s supposed to be all supernatural horror shit, but some of those scenes just made me want to take that guy’s place so badly. I mean, I have fits of wishing I’d been born in the USSR a lot, I think that’s kinda common for Western MLs my age, but that triggered entirely different “myself in the USSR” fantasies a lot harder for a bit, y’know. Especially with reading scenes like the assembly and flag raising, and being like “I’d handle that with a lot less hostility towards the Soviets.” or “I’d want to learn the language quick not because of a cute girl (though that is motivating), but because, oh my god, getting to argue about communism with actual Soviet commies, fuck, yes please!” Like, I wouldn’t almost drop a Soviet flag or feel something in me screaming and burning at touching it, I’ve literally got one hanging on my bedroom wall at home. I wouldn’t have an instinctive panic at hearing the people around me speaking Russian, nor would it take me all that long to recognize the place as a pioneer camp and the context as Soviet times. I do wonder how long it’d take me to tell someone that I’m a commie too and I think the Soviet Union is awesome and the Cold War is bullshit.
The game itself was made by and is aimed at younger Russians with nostalgia towards the USSR. In the same way that US millennials feel cheated by boomers ruining their country, a lot of Russian people aren’t necessarily communist but still recognize that the 90’s were a disaster for their country. Its been like a decade since I read it, but I don’t recall it being particularly political - it’s mainly set dressing for a pretty standard visual novel.