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Exo is Phase Connect’s “self insert character”. Pioneered in the 1990s Boomer softcore series Baywatch, a “self insert character” played by Michael Newman added a balding middle aged man (pic related) to the cast of beautiful people on the series. The balding middle aged Boomer fanbase of the series, seeing a relatable balding middle age peer lifeguarding with the beautiful women of the series, would thus identify (overlooking his ripped body which was still well within the realm of the fanbase’s average self-delusion) with the character and imagine themselves in his stead, and thereby strengthen the fantastical appeal of the series. In this case, we’re supposed to see a fat Mexican manlet who looks like a frog call into Lia’s stream, watch her figuratively ride his dick for thirty minutes, and think “he’s just like me frfr”. Our interest thus heightened by his relatability juxtaposed with his proximity to and inferred access to Lia, we fall further into the grip of parasocial investment.
