Hello, yes, liaschizo here. I had some unfinished observations on the topic of Our Dear Little Sister Lia's Deep Dive NPC Fetish tonight. There was some incredulity to the claim of the activity being proposed as "Doll Play" as the common conception of Doll Play involves either physical acts with synthetic dolls or elaborate staged scenarios involving "living dolls" being posed and or utilized in specific ways. The breadth of subgenres and interpretations surrounding this activity are surprisingly vast but in relation to the NPC Fetish and to a large degree vtubing as a whole you must consider:
The PERFORMANCE is at it's most pure upon THE LOSS OF AGENCY. Loss of agency is the culminating thrust of the Doll Play fetish and why it's such a subconsciously powerful thematic to employ within an interpersonal relationship. In the NPC Fetish topic we see complete and total loss of agency. The performer is fully a puppet by which the audience manipulates by pulling strings(providing cash contributions). The conceptual heart of this particular variant reaches back to the Bally hoo machines and various early carnival automatons that could be activated for a coin now a facet of hyper real flesh and blood puppetry. Wherein the vtuber has the supachat the NPC fetish is more of a hyperchat the purposeful deluge of overlapping stimulation creating the eccentric beat of the perverse demon's heart that is this act. I don't have my thoughts crystalized on precisely what this means for us as a species.
For Lia and vtubers as a whole though the SupaChat is the entry level and most common aspect of the "Doll Play" central "Loss of Agency". The stream is expected to pivot to the monetary contribution prompted addition to the content seizing the process away from the viewer and creating a type of power dynamic that elevates the chatter in a transactionary way to satisfy their ego. Vtubing, particularly western, is largely good about community participation being in good faith, and has additional moderation upon which Lia rifted expertly at the end of her stream by parodying outrage over the content of some of the content she was "being made to" engage with.
Another aspect of the "Doll Play" revolves around the complex of "Paper Dolls" and in a more difficult define aspect the "digital body" of the Vtuber character. I think this was anticipated and perfectly encapsulated in Ghost In The Shell's CASH EYE (
https://www.adultswim.com/videos/ghost-in-the-shell/cash-eye @ 7:20 ) wherein a fetishistic offering of "puppeting" the Major's body is performed. A lot of the "supporting" community around vtubing involves similiar activities of "puppeting" via creating content, scenarios, drawings, or personal delusions exerting their will over the coveted form of the vtuber of their choice. After all, beyond vtubing being a massively niche, potentially highly profitable lifestyle, having the resources, time, and energy of developing and maintaining a vtuber persona is as paralleled in CASH EYE an emergent type of haute couture. The unspeakable acts possibly generated by Wonderverse alone help to fuel this type of Doll Play. Finally is, and I think Lia's recent brush up is the perfect example of this, the adult interpretation of "Paper Dolls". Taking these (relatively) accessible maquettes and developing them into the very specific mumble mumble of the performer and fan's desires. Lia as always perfectly plays her roll of naive child, bumbling and laughing through the more salacious elements of the engagements while giving that uncomfortable pressure on the back of the neck sensation of broaching questionable topics and then slamming down on the button of awkward hardly veiled engagement time and time again. You have a sick mind Lia! Thank you for letting us jack into it for a couple hours X times a week! We deserve a little sister just like you!
