#Essays & Anthologies

[sappylemons]

HELP THEY'RE GOING TO ANTHOLOGY OF THE KILL ME

[letters-adressed-to-the-fire]

pov: you’re addicted to the “if-onlys” (or me when I’m over-analyzing Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus)

Yes, I’m gonna analyze the entire song. No, I don’t need an introduction. Yes, let’s dive into it.

Let’s start with the very interesting use of the word "hologram".

"Your hologram stumbled into my apartment"

We’ve seen Taylor use "phantom" and "ghost" to talk about past relationships in other songs (for example: loml), but we’ve never seen her use "hologram." Why? Well, this suggests she might be talking about something more present, as if the relationship had become so worn out that he stopped being a real person to her and turned into a hologram—something close yet untouchable.

But, this line, followed by “hands in the hair of somebody in darkness” paints a picture of someone cheating. So, even if Taylor intended this, the ambiguous nature of the verse means it’s necessary to approach it from a different angle too.

Yes, the idea of her coming into her apartment and being followed by the presence of the person she loved, does resembles the idea of a ghost. But the use of "hologram" indicates something different this time, she’s talking about the person’s current actions, and given Taylor’s past relationships with famous people, it makes sense that she would know when they started seeing someone new.

So, what does this mean? With these lines Taylor is bringing a completely different emotion to the song, one that permeates throughout: The rarely discussed how, when someone you loved starts moving on, you’re left wondering, "Why am I staying behind?" and "Why does it still hurt?"; and how this can lead to drowning in "what ifs" and trying to remember why it didn’t work out.

"As the decade would play us for fools And you saw my bones out with somebody new Who seemed like he would've bullied you in school"

In the same note, this part of the verse mirrors Taylor's narrative but from the guy’s point of view. She’s now saying the same thing happened to him.

There’s something common in both perspectives tho, Taylor is not just saying “you’re with someone else”, she’s saying “you’re with someone else and that makes me angry”. In the first lines, the mention of names like "Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus" emphasizes her anger and condescension, showing that she doesn’t care about the specifics of who he’s with, just that it’s not her. Paralleling this, the line “who seemed like he would’ve bullied you in school” suggests she’s trying to provoke her ex by mentioning something that would bother him, not because the new partner is a bully (obviously), but because it’s a sore spot for her ex.

"And I just watched it happen" "And you just watched it happen"

Here, we are already introduced to one of the key elements of the song: the act of watching. Throughout all the song, Taylor will resort to this bit to depict a sense of helplessness.

In the first verse, it is used to portray how both parts of the relationship watched each other drift apart without trying to reconcile.

“And I couldn't watch it happen” “And you just watched it”

In the second verse, she couldn’t bear to watch, indicating she took action to stay away from him; which was also possible because the guy didn’t do anything to stop her.

“Like it never happened?” “It just didn't happen”

By the third verse, she dropped this act of watching, now she’s stating facts and contemplating whether pretending it never happened is a viable way to move on.

Now, we’ll move to the chorus.

To start, we need to discuss the double meaning behind the line “I loved you the way that you were”: Did he love her for who she was without needing to change, or did he only love a past version of her? Both interpretations are equally devastating.

“If you wanna tear my world apart Just say you've always wondered”

Then we are presented to the most heart-wrenching part of the song. Taylor is already wondering, and it would destroy her to know she’s not alone in this. This could mean either she’s hoping to get back together, or she fears she’ll never move on. Imagining a scenario where they meet years later and he admits he’s always wondered about their potential could terrify her, showing how significant this person was to her.

*Part 2 in a few days!!! I'll be discussing some metaphors and some alternative interpretations (because I'm me and I love to complicate things)*

[elspagoot]

I made a 70-minute long tribute to Escam, ScribbleShrimp’s story about meat.

Despite its unfortunate premature ending, Escam is a story that means so so much to me, and in an attempt to create something just as meaningful, I’ve spent the past few months working on a video essay detailing my thoughts about it, and explaining my deeply personal relationship to this series of TikToks. Whether you used to be a diehard Escam fan, or if you’ve never heard of it at all, I hope you can still appreciate the video nonetheless. It is called Escam: A Eulogy, and it is out now.

“I don’t think I can even articulate the emotions this video gave me.”

~ @scribbleshrimp

[tatjana-fantasy]

Why I love House of Ashes’ choice system

House of Ashes is my favorite Dark Pictures game for many reasons, and one of them is its choice system. It makes the game very replayable for me, despite the plot armor it has. But what exactly do I mean by that?

Well, in HOA, the consequences of your actions are often decided by both your current and your previous choices. There is rarely a single choice that always happens and always dooms a character, because the game gives you multiple ways to save them. It’s honestly amazing, and I hope future Supermassive games will implement this choice system as well. Let’s talk about some examples!

The first one is technically not a choice, but a QTE: Eric cutting the rope or not. But since it’s presented as a choice, I’m fine with treating it as such. Here, by far the safer option for Eric is cutting the rope because it guarantees his survival (assuming Dar wasn’t alerted), but NOT cutting the rope doesn’t guarantee his death. Instead, Jason’s and Nick’s actions decide his fate, particularly how well they do in the QTEs and whether or not they save Merwin. If they save him, they won’t have enough time to save Eric and he dies if he doesn’t cut the rope. But if they kill Merwin – either by accident or by choice –, they prevent Eric from falling to his death, allowing him to hold on to the rope.

And that’s so amazing, isn’t it? That the game makes it possible for him to survive either way, but requires certain choices to be made beforehand. There was even supposed to be a third way to save Eric, by A.I. Rachel cutting the rope herself, but because of an earlier scene getting cut, it’s unfortunately not possible to get this outcome anymore. A small part of me still hopes it will be edited in someday …

The second example is Nick’s and Salim’s truce. Once again, Eric’s life is at stake. There are multiple ways to kill him here, but there are also multiple ways to save him. I think the most common way to kill Eric is by shooting the shepherd, letting Eric accompany Nick and reassuring Salim to stay, so let’s go with that. (I know you can kill Eric slightly easier by simply exposing Salim’s location, but even then, it requires around three consecutive choices to cause Eric’s death, while just a single different one can guarantee his survival.) You don’t have to worry if you shot the shepherd, because just telling Eric to stay behind makes sure he doesn’t die. But you also don’t have to worry if he accompanies you, because you can just tell Salim to hide in order to save Eric’s life. It’s only if you shoot the shepherd, allow Eric to join Nick and reassure Salim that causes Eric’s death. I love that the game gives you so many ways to save him here!

Then there’s the Clarice situation. Once again, the game gives you multiple ways to avoid Eric’s death. In Bloodbath alone, there are three ways to leave Clarice behind (leaving her behind directly, picking the right dialogue options for her to stay behind by herself and failing the QTE to cross the chasm), but even if Rachel convinces her to follow her, Clarice can still die by saying the wrong thing to Jason (which is admittedly hard to screw up by accident) or by Eric deciding to abandon her later. Granted, all these choices lean more into causing Eric’s death rather than avoiding it, but I still applaud the game for giving you so many possibilities to save him!

Speaking off Bloodbath: I LOVE the scene variation during Eric’s parts of the chapter. Depending on whether Salim was captured and the vampire was killed, there are four different ways these scenes can play out, not counting the one that requires Eric to be dead. I think we need more of this – scenes that don’t only vary because you killed someone, but because you made some different choices. :)

Another example I want to mention is Rachel’s infection, but not because it’s forgiving, but because it has two solutions. Assuming you don’t avoid her getting infected, you have to pick some strict dialogue options in order to save her, with barely any variation. But if you do pick the right options, she can either survive by burning the infection out of her or by getting cocooned. I LOVE that depending on whether or not Eric knows about the effects of the UV wand (which in itself can be achieved in slightly different ways), Rachel’s fate changes, but is only truly doomed if there’s nobody to save her. Although I do wish that the dialogue options in order to get these scenes wouldn’t be as strict as they are, I’m glad the game doesn’t automatically doom Rachel without Eric’s UV wand.

Finally, we have the game’s greatest scene when it comes to possibilities: Nick advancing the motherlode. It’s outstanding in so many ways, because the game doesn’t only give you multiple ways to save him, but also one that automatically dooms him – while still being quite forgiving overall. Let’s go over the possibilities!

The first way to save Nick is by not having anyone else (besides him) injured. It’s quite easy to avoid Jason’s and Eric’s injury, but Salim’s is another story, since most players would want to save Rachel from her vampire instead of shooting the vampire that attacks Salim. So, saving Nick this way isn’t too likely – but House of Ashes wouldn’t be House of Ashes if it didn’t give you another chance to save him.

Here, Joey’s med-kit comes into place. It allows you to heal one injury, so if you end up with the likely scenario of only Salim (and Nick) being injured, finding the med-kit is enough to heal him – and to save Nick’s life in the process.

But let’s say you didn’t find the med-kit and/or have more than one person besides Nick injured. Maybe you shot the shepherd or screwed up some QTEs. In this case, there’s a third way to save him: By finding the stake in the Bloodbath chapter and giving it to Nick. Granted, the dialogue option isn’t as clear-cut as it could be, but it still provides another option for him to defend himself.

In the same chapter, Jason can also make two dialogue options that inspire Nick enough to “fight like they do”, which is one of the rare instances where a (technically “bad”) dialogue option can determinantly save a character’s life. Similar to the previous dialogue option, it’s not very obvious, but I still appreciate that it exists!

But of course, we can’t talk about this scene without mentioning the possibility of Eric leaving Nick to die. In this case, it doesn’t matter how many choices you’ve made that usually guarantee his survival, because a low relationship with Eric will render them all pointless. Thankfully, it’s easy enough to keep their relationship on a neutral level, but just like it’s possible to miss all chances to save Nick, it’s also possible to cause the one consequence that kills him.

Still: It’s outstanding that the game is so forgiving in its choices, and lets you save its characters in different ways. There is even more stuff I haven’t talked about (like Eric’s possible death in The Signal or some general second chances when it comes to saving vs leaving characters), but I think you get my point. Personally, I absolutely love House of Ashes’ choice system and hope to see it in future games <3

[quaranmine]

pick a book for me to take on work travel

Ends of the World by Peter Brannen - nonfiction geology book about earth's previous mass extinction events. The author is also the writer of one of my favorite climate history Atlantic articles I read for a college assignments.

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer - nonfiction true story of Chris Mccandless, who decided to leave society to live in the Alaskan wilderness and was later found dead. I want to read Into Thin Air too but I don't have a copy (my mom probably does but that won't help me for this trip)

Dune by Frank Herbert - do i have to describe what Dune is about at this point? I've never read it and I also refused to see the movies 'caues I wanted to read the book before doing so

A Song for the River by Philip Connors - nonfiction/memoir by the same author who wrote my beloved fire lookout book Fire Season. This book also has to do that, as well as a massive fire he witnessed in his national forest, but I think it's a lot more about grief and death.

What the Eyes Don't See by Mona Hanna-Attisha - nonfiction/memoir by one of the doctors who discovered the Flint water crisis. I'm actually already 90 pages into it but got distracted and haven't picked it up for like a year. It's very good and highly relevant to my work (though I don't do lead in tap water but you know it's great information to have)

[that-butch-archivist]

thank you so much for this blog, as a femme it’s really comforting to see pictures and read poems n things I resonate with as it can be an isolating experience. It’s nice to know there is a place for me and all my femme-ness even if others don’t get it <3

You're very welcome for this blog. It is my pleasure and honor to find for you works that honor your femme-ness. :)

I have found so far in my meanderings that it is strangely hard to find femme-specific content in comparison to butch content--which I imagine maybe you have also noticed? Technically, I'm not sure why that is (though I imagine it's a symptom of femme invisibility), but I hope to correct it as much as I can. There is always a place for femmes. And luckily for both you and me, there's a lot of witty, brilliant femmes out there that have graced us with their essays and art, so there's lots to love. I hope you continue to find and enjoy good femme content. :)

[haveyoureadthistransbook]

Fat and Queer: An Anthology of Queer and Trans Bodies and Lives edited by Bruce Owens Grimm, Miquel M. Morales and Tiff Joshua TJ Ferentini

goodreads

We're here. We're queer. We're fat. This one-of-a-kind collection of prose and poetry radically explores the intersection of fat and queer identities, showcasing new, emerging and established queer and trans writers from around the world. Celebrating fat and queer bodies and lives, this book challenges negative and damaging representations of queer and fat bodies and offers readers ways to reclaim their bodies, providing stories of support, inspiration and empowerment. In writing that is intimate, luminous and emotionally raw, this anthology is a testament to the diversity and power of fat queer voices and experiences, and they deserve to be heard.

Mod opinion: I haven't read this anthology yet, but I remember reading an essay by one of the contributers in another anthology that I liked, so I'm excited to check it out at some point!

[falinscloaca]

its interesting to me that in Victory Over The Sun, the defeat of logic and the death of history is framed as an act of radicalism & the destruction of traditional values, whereas in the Of The Killer series (which derives themes from the opera at least from Eyes oneward if not from the start) the destruction of history is framed more as a form of bourgeois cowardice, itself a reaction against the inditement of consequences and the laying of blame. NEAT!

[echo-echo31]

fave lyrics from all songs + commentary because I need to SAY THINGS part 1

1. Fortnight - "your wife waters flowers, I wanna kill her" (babe this is illicit affairs but unhinged I love it)

2. The Tortured Poets Department - "You left your typewriter at my apartment, Straight from the tortured poets department, Who else decodes you?" (mecore mecore MECORE LETS GO)

3. My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys - "Once I fix me, he's gonna miss me" (thinking of Diane and the revenge dress rn)

4. Down Bad - "Fuck it if I can't have him" (hopeless romantic me loves this in a problematic way)

5. So Long, London - "You swore that you loved me, but where were the clues? I died at the altar waitin' for proof" (ough)

6. But Daddy I Love Him - "I'm havin' his baby. No, I'm not, but you should see your faces" (fuckin snarky 4th wall taylor I love you)

7. Fresh Out The Slammer - "To the one who says I'm the girl of his American Dreams" (although this song is not about positive love I am biased about this line)

8. Florida!!! - "Little did you know your home's really only a town you're just a guest in" (OUFH ALSO FLORENCE ILY)

9. Guilty As Sin? - "What if he's written "Mine" on my upper thigh only in my mind?" (:3)

10. Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? - 'So tell me everything is not about me, but what if it is?" (women 👏 unapologetically 👏 not 👏 humble)

11. I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) - "Trust me, I can handle me a dangerous man. No really, I can" (so much writing potential)

12. loml - "You're the loss of my life" (WDYMMMMMMMM)

13. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart - "'Cause I'm miserable (Haha). And nobody even knows" (the overachiver mental health anthem)

14. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived - "And I'll forget you, but I'll never forgive. The smallest man who ever lived" (see really said imma hold a grudge on the man with a small dick)

15. The Alchemy - "The hospital was a drag. Worst sleep that I ever had." (medical trauma besties u know this one)

16. Clara Bow - "You look like Taylor Swift. In this light, we're lovin' it. You've got edge, she never did" (T A Y L O R)

[oakgreenoak]

i wanna do proper reviews/analysis of the different pokemon manga ive read...

theyre all so different and handle things differently and i always find myself thinking about how they compare and contrast with the games theyre based on

[andnowrotfront]

jacob geller made a book :0

[the-random-sentence-library]

"Here too, in late summer, are the many colorful butterflies: scarlet tiger moth, painted lady."

Quote randomly selected from page 90 of Hermann Hesse's collection of poetry and essays Trees.

Additional notes: Quote specifically selected from the essay "The Little Path"

Quote was selected at random from a book chosen at random from my local library. Image 1 is of a scarlet tiger moth taken by Ben Sales and Image 2 is of a painted lady taken by Charles J. Sharp. Images licensed under creative commons attribution 2.0 and creative commons attribution-sharealike 4.0 respectively.

[letters-adressed-to-the-fire]

So I ended up writing a short essay about the albatross (part 1)

There’s just something about the albatross that’s been scratching my brain since the first time I heard it. Initially, I thought “oh, it feels like it belongs in evermore” (I really love that album), but soon I realized it goes way deeper than that.

Well the song is about the albatross (duh), but to really understand it, there are a few things you need to know. First of all, this particular bird is widely known as a symbol of bad luck, burden and regret. Why? What could an innocent bird possibly have done to deserve such a reputation? Taylor tell us the answer throughout the song, but for a more in-depth understanding, one can turn to Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, which was the source of inspiration for this piece.

Gotta be honest, I haven’t read it, not entirely (it’s actually really long). But I did do my research soooo, let me summarize it for you in a few lines:

This is the tale of a sailor who, convinced that an albatross was a bad omen, tragically shoots the innocent bird. As a consequence, he and his crew face a curse. The sailor is compelled to wear the lifeless bird around his neck as a form of punishment. Yet, as time passes and years go by, it is the innocent albatross that becomes a mournful symbol, rather than the sailor who committed the deed.

Now, if you revisit Taylor's lyrics, she narrates this progression through the reprise of different verses:

“Cautions issued, he stood Shooting the messengers They tried to warn him about her”

“Locked me up in towers But I'd visit in your dreams And they tried to warn you about me”

“You were sleeping soundly When they dragged you from your bed And I tried to warn you about them”

Or:

“Cross your thoughtless heart Only liquor anoints you She's the albatross She is here to destroy you”

“So I crossed my thoughtless heart Spread my wings like a parachute I'm the albatross I swept in at the rescue”

Or my personal favorite:

“Devils that you know Raise worse hell than a stranger She's the death you chose You're in terrible danger”

“The devil that you know Looks now more like an angel I'm the life you chose And all this terrible danger”

What I found so fascinating about her decision behind the use of this technique, is that she not only embraces it to move the story forward in an organic way, but she plays with the point of view of the spectator (or in this case, listener) to lead them through all the characters of the story.

In the opening verse, you assume the role of the sailor on the verge of shooting the albatross. You don’t have proof but you know she’s here to destroy you. As the song progresses into the second verse, it becomes evident that you’re now talking with the albatross, or more accurate would be to say that the albatross is talking to you. Contrary to the poem, Taylor is giving the albatross a voice (which effectively serves as a metaphor for herself), and this standpoint will remain for the rest of the song, though with a slight change at the end. Taylor not only lets the albatross tell its story, but she let it be the hero. By the end, the spectator finds themselves in the crosshairs of "them”, the very group they once belonged to. This is the moment where the transformation of the figure of the albatross reaches its peak, as it transitions from a harbinger of misfortune to a beacon of hope, it is there to rescue you.

(obviously there's more to this! but I'll be posting part 2 in a few days just because i didn't want this post to be THAT long lol)

[pocketseizure]

Hyrule Fashion Anthology is a fanzine celebrating the complex evolution of fashion history through the characters and setting of the Legend of Zelda series. I contributed an essay titled “A Wind-Grieved Ghost” about the influence of medieval Japanese Noh theater on Ganondorf’s costume and character in The Wind Waker.

@hyrulefashion is filled with gorgeous illustrations that illuminate the historical and cultural influences of the character designs in the series, as well as brilliant renditions of fan-favorite characters in a diversity of times and places. The zine also includes music, merch, and articles about weaving, metalworking, and the beauty of style in all its forms.

Preorders are open until September 19! ✨ https://hyrulefashionanthology.bigcartel.com

[tatjana-fantasy]

Why Little Hope’s most mundane interpretation is still amazing

You know what’s amazing about Little Hope’s story? That even its most mundane explanation – everything being an imagination and nothing more – still makes for a heartbreaking experience. This is why I decided to look through the events of the game from the basic “Anthony walks through the town” perspective, and analyze the various places he visits throughout the game, and why they were important to him. Because I believe this may be another way to interpret Little Hope’s story: Anthony coming to town to say goodbye to every place he loved.

(For the sake of argument, we’re mostly going to ignore everything that isn’t “real.”)

We start at the Bus Crash Site, where Anthony is perfectly greeted by the “Welcome to Little Hope” sign. I don’t think the place itself is actually important, but it does force Anthony to head into town, so I think it’s worth mentioning. Similarly, the fog forces him to stay on his path, which is likely Anthony’s own subconscious, guiding him to familiar places.

(Side note: I think it’s very fitting that Anthony can find Eric’s and Rachel’s car here, a reminder of another horrible accident that took place at the edge of town.)

Eventually, Anthony makes his first stop at the Black Cat Bar. Here, he meets Vince, the only other real person in town. It’s quite clear that Vince visited the bar regularly, but I wonder if Anthony visited it, too. We know that he was only an adult for about two and a half months, so he might’ve shared a drink with Vince during them; but even if he didn’t, he likely knew that Vince was a regular customer, which probably inspired him to visit the bar in the first place.

Afterwards, Anthony follows the Main Road, which is basically the red string of the story that ties all places together. Here, he makes a short detour to a vantage point; I can’t pinpoint its exact significance, but it’s easy to imagine that he had certain spots in town he liked to visit whenever he wanted to be alone.

The first bridge Anthony comes across is the part where the fictional characters in-game decide to split up. It’s like a metaphorical bridge for Anthony that allowed him to sink deeper into the depths of his mind; beforehand, his imagination only went so far to imagine all characters relatively close together, but now that he’s deeper in town, his imagination grows.

Meanwhile, Vince glimpses into Anthony’s story every so often, as if to remind him of the reality he doesn’t want to accept. Fittingly, his first cameo happens at the intersection, which can easily be seen as the intersection between imagination and reality.

Shortly afterwards, Anthony comes across a hut with a gun inside it – which raises some interesting questions about whom the hut belongs to, and consequently, who the owner of the gun is. Because of the book you can find inside, I believe it could be Vince, but it’s hard to say for sure since he doesn’t seem to recognize the gun later. There’s also the possibility that Anthony himself deposited the gun here at some point, but I don’t think that’s very likely.

Either way, Anthony continues to the Little Hope Police Department, which is obviously an important place for him, considering he was briefly imprisoned here and made the Crude Doll. But before we actually get to see him explore the place, we jump to Daniel’s POV – and the question of how real the events outside Anthony’s own perspective are. Does he imagine the other characters visiting these places or does he visit them himself? Personally, I’m leaning towards the latter.

We get a look at the Little Hope Middle School, which Megan likely visited, and the Playground, where one of her drawings can be found. It’s quite horrifying to think that all that time, Megan drew her experiences with Carson, but no one paid enough attention to her in order to do something about it.

Anthony enters the General Store next, whose nostalgic value is shown in the comic, where he mentions that he used to buy comics and candy there. Nearby, there’s also a small shack with some runestones and candles, but similarly to the hut above, the owner is difficult to pinpoint. Was it Vince’s and Tanya’s place to practice their Pagan beliefs? Or was Anthony himself a regular visitor? It’s hard to tell for sure, but I think both explanations are likely.

Either way, he explores the inside of the police station next, which must be a painful experience for him. He looks at all the memories he rather wanted to forget, reminds himself of everything he lost. I can’t even imagine how hard that must have been for him!

Exiting the police station, he comes across the Little Hope Bridge, where Tilly Johnson’s memorial makes me wonder about her existence, while Dennis’s band poster reveals more details about the Clarke family. Following the most mundane explanation theory though, this could potentially reveal a very heartbreaking fact about Anthony: That the memorial and the poster didn’t depict his family members, but he sees them anyway, like he can’t stop thinking about the people he let down.

This can also be seen in the Little Hope Graveyard. Because of course Anthony would want to visit his family’s graves; a part of him wants to confront the harsh reality he cannot yet accept.

When it comes to the other graves (like Wyman’s or Abraham’s), I suspect he got inspired here and decided to use their names for his story. It’s also interesting that Anthony comes across Vince right after, because this basically confirms they barely missed each other when visiting the graves of the people they loved.

Continuing to the Woods, I have to wonder about their significance. Sure, the Witch Trial is located here, which is likely a place Anthony was interested in, but I’m not sure if this is the only explanation – especially because the Woods are visited later as well. Is this another red string for the story, like the Main Road? I honestly have no idea, so I’d like to hear your thoughts!

Anyway, after a quick scene on the Main Road where we get a glance at the sewers, Anthony enters the Little Hope Museum. It’s easy to imagine that he used to come here regularly, and in the present, he even visits it twice. The first time, his own mind influenced the things he saw, but his second visit showed him what was actually real. Maybe a part of him knew it all along, so he went back to confirm it.

Following the Main Road, several historical plaques of places and events can be found here, alongside Tilly Johnson’s house and the Execution Site near the Church. The Execution Site is probably part of Little Hope’s historical town tour, while the Church is not only the place where Anthony bumps into Vince again, but also the place Reverend Carson resided. Which is interesting because after a short climb to the Bell Tower, you are free to either explore the church or simply skip everything that might remind Anthony of Carson. It’s the only place that allows that, like Anthony doesn’t want to be reminded of him anymore than he has to. He was probably a regular church visitor, and might’ve confided in him a couple of times, which only strengthens the betrayal he must feel.

Outside Church, Anthony makes a return to the Woods, where he relaxes for a bit and continues on the Dirt Trail, whose significance I honestly can’t tell. However, it does lead up to Mary’s grave, and most interesting of all, the Derelict Building. Since Abraham is properly introduced here, the building has to have a meaning, but what exactly? Was it always abandoned and Anthony came across it one day? Was it a functioning building before? In the flashbacks, Joseph seems to live there, so maybe James used to live there as well? I’m really curious what you think, because I believe there has to be a reason why Anthony wanted to visit this building in particular, I just don’t know what it could be. So, what are your thoughts? :)

Continuing to the Factory and another meeting with Vince, Anthony can find multiple remnants of the past. In the comic, it’s the first building he visits, spending quite some time there, reminiscing of the past and the physical memories it left behind. It’s also obviously the place his father and Vince worked at, so it makes sense that he would want to go there at some point.

From the Factory Grounds, you have to walk quite a bit through the Woods and a small tunnel until you come across the Ruined House, and the Back Yard associated with it. It’s notable that Vince’s old car stands here, like he never moved it away after the fire. And in the Ruined House itself, Anthony finally reaches his destination: Home. Now, he has to decide Mary’s/Megan’s fate, he has to come to a conclusion. But interestingly enough, his own story only ends here if he fails to forgive Megan and/or fails to let his family go; it’s only when he saves at least one person besides Mary that he can continue to the Main Road, where Vince determinantly brings him to his last – and in some ways, first – destination: The Diner. No matter which ending you get, Anthony’s story comes full circle and he leaves the town forever.

Imho, just viewing Little Hope as Anthony wandering around town and nothing more still makes for an interesting, heartbreaking story, and one I personally love – regardless of the interpretation you choose to believe. :)

[that-butch-archivist]

The GDrive archive is now at 5.5GB .... and I haven't even started adding my set of physical books & essays yet.