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circuitchoi · 13 days ago

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exploring animal masks at daydream

I find the concept of the animal masks at Daydream to be an incredibly nice touch in GDCG. To preface, masks in horror is a tale as old as time which is precisely why it does so well in the theme and setting of the world. GDCG in general takes themes from urban legends, horror tropes, and such and incorporates them (usually) in a refreshing manner. To note, I do think that especially plays to the meta aspect as most of the horror aspects are supposed to be from the Darkness Exploration Records (DER) and so, being written as throwaway creepypasta they should be taking inspiration from other horror stories.

Discussing every reference or allusion in there would be a completely different story and not one I’m particularly fit for, as I probably missed a majority of Korean and East-Asian cultural references. But, I do want to talk about how much I enjoy the animal masks and why—which is actually a variety of reasons. As well as some of my other related thoughts.

Starting off with my point with the masks in horror—It’s incredibly popular. Jason’s hockey mask in Friday the 13th, Michael Myers’ mask in Halloween, the Scream masks, the masks in Purge, Saw (both Billy Puppet and Pighead), Leatherface in Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And I think this is for a number of reasons. One, it divorces the character from being human. You can’t identify this person and this notion of anonymity obligates every aspect of Social Morality, leaving only personal ethics which… There’s also the fact that as humans it’s common to try and read the other person’s emotions and body language, regardless of if it may be hard to decipher. To see emotions on the other person’s face and think ‘this means they are angry/sad/happy/annoyed,’ or any range of complex feelings. Once again, the mask takes this away. Some more reasons are that the fear of the unknown is actually quite prevalent and common, as well as the fact that masks make it easier to make people look like monsters—the visceral disgust one gets when seeing Leatherface.

So, yeah, masks. Creepy. Moving on, let’s delve into animal masks specifically, which while less utilized isn’t exactly uncommon. (See pighead in Saw). But it brings this uncanny and extremely uncomfortable feeling. I think the first time I remember seeing it as a horror element was actually in You’re Next (2011). Regardless, I think this adds a secondary nature of like, primal horror? Like, animalistic urges and instincts. Once again, I think a lot of horror comes from divorcing from notions of humanity. Think the focus on the pig in Lord of the Flies (1954). The funny thing is that these masks aren’t like how they’re used when we see them all the time. In GDCG, the protagonist wears the mask and the Darknesses are as they are, oftentimes even in human form. They can’t really be called the ‘good guys,’ but they certainly aren’t the slashers going around cutting up civilians (... Most of them).

I’m no theorizer, but I think it’s… well. Okay, so, the masks exist to protect them, right? More or less. Minseong tells Soleum to always wear the mask before entering, but not why, though I do think it’s established later on, I’m just not remembering which arc. Regardless, the reason why the masks protect them is because once again it puts a layer of separation between employees and their identity. Minseong tells Soleum to just put his animal name on the postcard to Braun’s show if his real name feels weird. It also makes it easier to see other employees as not really human and lower the priority of their lives. My thoughts are pretty incoherent, but it’s because there’s so much to say! For one, it’s interesting that the Directors do not have an animal mask (this is true for everyone but Field Employees, but see next point) and yet still have an associated animal. I’m not actually too sure about it, but it seems to be highly likely that the yellow dragon and red fox mascots are symbolic of, if not literally, Director Cheong and Ho respectively. They don’t have the role of animal and instead embody them at a deeper level!

Speaking of roles! The masks definitely serve as roles and there’s a lot to say about this. I think in the first place the fact that the masks only transform after being put on the employees says a lot, pointing to the fact that they’re based off of something unique to each one. Moving on to what I actually wanted to write about in this post is that I think the specific animal chosen for each is interesting to examine because the themes really work well for me. Not that Baek Deok Soo chose these with what I’m saying in mind, but if it were the case, well, it wouldn’t be surprising.

For now I’m going to only talk about a few characters that inspired me to make this post, but there really is a lot to say about anyone so I might have more later on.

KIM SOLEUM

There’s the obvious comparison to be made here with hunting and prey, but let’s move on… They’re known for strong instincts (to avoid getting hunted haha). Something interesting, or of note, is that deers are actually very common as symbolism in stories, myths, folktales, etc. As in deers are often used as a disguise for deities and divine beings, as well as an association to the supernatural. Honestly not super strong connections, but I thought it was cool and that we should get it out of the way haha.

BAEK SAHEON

Now, his nickname used to be Viper. I might be interpreting it incorrectly, but I’m 99% sure that means in the Darkness Exploration Records he had a viper mask. Because it says that Lee Jaheon had the lizard nickname and unless it was common for employees to get nicknamed an animal, one different from their mask at that—it should be referring to his mask. This is very self explanatory— vipers are venomous and the associations made with snakes (backstabbing, snakes in the grass, and so on) are very prevalent. The interesting thing, however, is that when Soleum is introduced to the plot, his employee mask is Goat! This also makes sense, as this Baek Saheon is docile (as a facade) and unassuming, but cut-throat. While the capra hircus is considered the domestic goat and basically livestock, goats have a strong association to the devil—Something that’s even mentioned in the text. And so I think it fits a lot.

What’s more interesting, though, is that Baek Saheon and Kim Soleum might have set the tone for their batches if I’m right in my assumption that his mask was a viper. GDCG mentions that the masks of batchmates are similar because the designs are determined by the year. So in the DER— did this mean everyone that joined at the same time as him had reptile-like masks? Perhaps he set the tone by escaping early like ‘Haha, suckers,’ and set the tone as ‘Every man for himself.’ As opposed to when Soleum joins and everyone’s animal is much more docile, perhaps because he led them all to safety?

KANG YIHAK

In my opinion, horses are definitely associated with luxury. There’s so much to be said, but from olden times they’ve had an association with value. In the context of work, they’re good, reliable tools. (Like Yihak, she’s very competent.) Equestrian riding, polo, these are things associated with rich people. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. This saying means something else, but it points to the fact that horses were given as gifts, which makes sense. Trojan horse! As well as brand associations. Yes, of course, car brands having the horse thing makes sense because horsepower and transport but it can serve a dual purpose. Especially because those brands are Ferrari, Porsche, etc. It’s not just car brands though, Burberry, Hermes, Coach! Did you know the most expensive animal to ever be sold was a horse? A Fuschiachi Pegasus sold for 70 million USD. (In 2000, factoring for inflation it’s more like 90.) The next few? Still all horses. Shareef Dancer was sold for 40 million USD in 1983, the most notable before dropping to numbers like 16 and so on. I feel like Yihak’s mask being a horse points to the association with money, but also a competent, hard worker.

LEE SEONGHAE

Not only are dolphins considered to be insanely intelligent creatures, but they have social intelligence too! I don’t know how to explain it, but there’s an incredible amount of material out there for whether dolphins have morality, could they have morality, and so on. Like, there’s a big debate on this: Do Dolphins Have Morals? And this is something that stems from that stuff I mentioned. I couldn’t say either way— But the fact stands that if you asked, “What’s an animal associated with morality?” I would answer with Dolphins. There’s something to be said here though, is that animals are often used as a tool to teach morals and lessons— Animal Fables. It often uses animal-characteristics we assign such as wolves being cunning and greedy or snakes being traitors to instill lessons, which make sense for Seonghae to have a huge conflict at Daydream! I don’t know, I think it’s cool even if it’s not the intention.

Those are about all the ones all do for now. Honestly, I do think that a lot of this is influenced by personal experience and bias—-the fact that my references are mostly Western for one—so I would love to hear other perspectives and comments! And please don’t hesitate to point out, “Hey, you misremembered/forgot this in the novel!”

Anyways…. That’s all.

#괴담출근 #gsgw #gdcg #ghost story work #괴담에 떨어져도 출근을 해야 하는구나 #even if you fall in a ghost story you still have to go to work #ghost story gotta work

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circuitchoi · 17 days ago

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