#and also i just hate the shelves

[sophieswundergarten]

Guess what it's my blog and we're going to talk about the Waiting Room now.

In the show, it seems rather boring at first glance. However, this is a LIE because they want to throw you off. There's only one chair, and it has a short leg. There's a weird spirograph-type piece of art on the wall. There's a fish tank, for some reason. There's a bunch of very strange shelves. And there's a giant clock on the wall. THIS IS NOT ALL. The normal entry door is invisible due to the paneling, and the back wall MOVES. It is also possible the clock moves to create loss of time and the floor slants, although these might be stress-induced hallucination. It is a perfectly designed horror liminal space, and, depending on who you put in there and why, I'm fairly certain it can be defined as psychological torture. It evokes the same kind of discomfort and lack of control that a convict being placed in solitary confinement experiences.

HOWEVER

In the books, it is entirely different, and arguably worse. Again, depending on the person. In the books, it is a completely dark room full of slimy black mud that isn't thick enough to stand on. It is also a very deep pit of mud, so anyone who enters for a period of time slowly starts sinking. It also has bugs in it.

Now. If you are not the type of person who is terrified of who you are waiting for, or if you are a person who typically enjoys defying the conventional, the show version shouldn't be much of an issue. The chair doesn't work? Find a way to fix it, or sit on the floor. The room is obviously set up so you have to face whoever is going to enter? Face the other direction. Look at the fish. Sit on the really weird and randomly empty shelves. There are many things that can be done physically about what the room is doing to you mentally. It is also easier for the people who are putting you through this ordeal to rationalize. "It's just an oddly decorated waiting room. There's nothing that bad about waiting"

But the book version is another story. One that I have many questions about. One, we learn later on that the mud is created and maintained by the room being connected to an underground stream. (It takes a long time to swim/dig through the mud and other obstacles to reach the stream, so it is not a viable escape option for anyone but Milligan) It also, as previously mentioned, houses a lot of bugs. We do not know what kind of bugs these are. And yet, since they are alive, they must be living off of something in there. Most bugs cannot just live off of mud. So, either the Executives are having to refresh the bug population from time to time (And where would they get the bugs? Do they collect them? Does Curtain purchase them and have them shipped to the island? Does no one question this?) Or the Waiting Room is its own mainly self-contained ecosystem. My prevailing tentative theory is that it was designed for research/as a science experiment and then either abandoned until Curtain needed somewhere to keep people or he deliberately made the decision that it was part of his interrogation methods for the agents he captured (before he brainswept them) and then he simply extended the use to interrogating students.

BUT ALSO

How did Curtain in the book convince teenagers/young adults to leave children in there? It is an entirely different ballgame to tell someone (especially a younger person who hasn't quite got the morals beaten out of them yet) that it is completely safe and not at all detrimental to leave ELEVEN YEAR OLDS in a pitch-black room of slimy mud and unknown creatures for any period of time! That must have left some damage to the Executives, or maybe they had already experienced it and were afraid to be threatened with it again. Either way, that's such a terrifying thing to anyone, especially a child, and especially since they seemed to choose to leave kids in there overnight (Maybe so it wouldn't interfere with too many classes?) and they wouldn't get any sleep. AND THEN the meaner Executives and Curtain would GASLIGHT THEM. "It's not such a bad place" "Nobody likes to wait, but it didn't hurt you" "Waiting can be unpleasant, but sometimes there's no help for it" and whatever else they said. We don't even hear about the Waiting Room from Sticky or one of the other kids who've been sentenced; they just get extremely upset and start crying.

What I'm saying is, while it was a very clever narrative tool and an unconventional way to raise stakes without causing physical harm to children, I can see why it was toned down for the show. However, I think it is a fascinating bit of plot that can be examined in a lot of different ways.

[gelarshiesprofruitboarder]

sp panel redraw bc im starved for janerezi content but im lazy as shit rn

[angelsarecomputers]

I know it’s been said but I find it so weird when people demonise Dora. The one interaction that we get with her- the REAL her- in the whole game, she is extremely patient, despite the fact that Harry is calling her in the middle of the night and asking creepo shit like ‘are you sleeping naked’. We can infer through context clues that this has probably happened multiple times before, and yet she still knows no signs of ill-will towards Harry- she just seems tired and concerned.

And it would be completely within her right to be angry at him for harassing her, as well! Knowing how volatile Harry can be, perhaps she even learned through fear not to confront him. And yet, there still seems to be this perception that, out of the both of them, DORA was the abusive one, despite all evidence pointing to the contrary! It’s not even that I don’t think she wasn’t at least slightly abusive, given Harry’s disabilities and their class differences, but what I am saying is that it was likely mutual, and that, out of the two of them, Harry was worse.

Their relationship probably got horrible and toxic towards the end, of that I have no doubt. What I don’t get is why the fandom seems to believe that Harry, as he currently is, is in any way capable of viewing the relationship objectively. There’s ample evidence that he was violent, frequently misogynistic, and that the experience gap between him and Dora was significant, and yet people still take his worst thoughts at face value. That she’s a ‘war criminal’, that’s she’s a goddess- people seem to think Harry’s deification of her is the main issue, and not the opposite; his virulent hatred towards Dora, towards ‘Revacholian women’.

It just boggles me that people are so willing to believe that Harry was the only one truly hurt- that Dora’s decision to leave was made lightly. We don’t know exactly what happened, and what glimpses we do get are filtered horribly through Harry’s grief, but they were in a relationship for more than a decade! They were planning to get married! I don’t think Dora just up and left for Mirova one day- the way the dream conversation goes seems to suggest they hadn’t been together for a while.

There are so, so many things said during the final dream that are probably just Harry’s self-hatred masquerading as Dora/Dolores- and while I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of it did come from Dora, at other points in their relationship, I think it’s pretty obvious that the final dream is meant to be a confused muddle of Harry’s memories and grief. Why else would she appear as Dolores Dei? But, while no one ever explicitly says it, I feel like a lot of people want to believe that the way things are during the last dream is how they were in real life. That Dora really was cold and cruel to Harry- when in real life she appears as just the opposite, despite what he puts her through.

[orcelito]

Shino raising his dead friends and friend's dog from the dead with the power of bugs as one friend's cousin watches [not clickbait]

[t-s-n]

chuckles and scratches my head ermmm what if im a trans guy only and i’m just gnc …… heh

[scarycranegame]

okay but why do people get so goddamn upset when you say that you dislike kids/being around kids???? i'm pretty sure no one is saying that kids should just straight up stop existing, or that kids shouldn't be allowed in any public place ever. when most people say they don't like kids it means that they're sick of hearing screaming for an hour and a half in the local walmart because some kid's parent won't buy them a ps5. they mean they're sick of hearing cocomelon on full blast while waiting in the purgatory that the checkout line. they're sick of nearly running a kid over with a shopping cart because said kid's idea of fun is laying on the floor in the middle of the aisle and their parent can't be bothered to tell them to get up. that's what people mean when they say they dislike kids.

no one (at least, no one i've ever heard of) is trying to physically accost children simply for existing in a public place. no one is trying to argue that children shouldn't exist, or be allowed in public places. i feel like some of you are forgetting that "man im 5 seconds away from killing this [x]" is a figure of speech and not actual homicidal ideation. god motherfuckin damn. get a grip

[ed89]

long ass rant in tags. abt to explode

[trisockatops]

oh god why am i so bad at moving

[manicali]

I’m had a really cool idea for an episode of my cartoon, this one would probably be filler but whatever, I structure this the same as I do a book.

So it’s called the Museum of Pain. It’s EXACTLY what it sounds like. A museum of people suffering, displayed as art for that masses. I feel like this would lean away from the dreamy, floaty style the otherworld usually is in (in my head) and more into horror art.

It would be a commentary on how we just watch, sit by idly as we see people in pain because we are disconnected from each other.

Sounds cool right? I made all of that up it’s actually my disdain for “modern art.”

You wanna know why?

THIS! FUCKING! THING! I hate it so much. So naturally I am dedicating time and energy towards an entire episode of a cartoon towards it.

I plan to make it look unlike he rest of the dream world, which is colourful and has darker shades. This will be a blank canvas, white walls (like an art gallery) with the “art” front and centre. I have full ideas on how the main cast reacts to this.

Ash and Camilla are very disturbed by this, in different ways. Ash tends more towards anger at this, while Camilla tends towards sadness. Smiley is more indifferent.

However I have no idea what Clover’s reaction to this will be, because he kinda does the same thing, with his creations. He kills and tortures them. So idk what he’s going to think :). It should be an interesting exploration of his character

[icehot13]

CHAPTER 14: EMPTY HANDS AND EMPTY ROOMS

thank you for being so patient!! suddenly a month has gone by!!!

I think this fic will be 18 chapters total (and then turned into a book like A Matter Decided was, and it's going to have a secret book epilogue! I may not know what half of ch 17 will be but by god do i ever have a plan for this secret epilogue)(yes it's about Jakob, my favoritest one, how did you guess)(i love him!! shoutout to the commenter who talked about how jakob is getting all the significant beats that usually belong to the romantic partner in a fic, you are RIGHT, it's because he is SO IMPORTANT. i know i'm reading way more into this than probably casual readers would, but i want the narrative to treat him as important!! so he's getting the epilogue!! he gets to narrate!!! i love him)

that doesn't sound like a lot more fic but then i realize that means i still have to write ch 15, 16, 17, and 18 and uhhh that's forty pages right there, so it might be a second. you guys are so brave for reading this as it's written, and in fact, if you weren't, i would have stopped ages ago. thank you to everyone reading and commenting i love you and it is, in fact, written for you. Personally. I am holding your little face in my hands as I say this. This fic is being finished for you!!

[pears-trinkets]

everything sucks so hard rn idk

[beauzos]

fellow BN employee, i also judge other stores when i go LOL i think we all have the sense of “damn bitch u live like this??” bc i personally love being a hater <3

LMAO i love that it's not just me. i mean, we definitely all do it now that i think about it. sometimes when the keyholders have to help at other stores they always let us know how fucked the other stores are and i live for the drama. i love knowing they're doing worse than us. i'm sure the same would apply to anyone coming to this store. we'd get humbled by our awful libros, art/photography, and religion sections 😭

[actual-corpse]

I'm so excited to move out....

I can't sleep😫

[whisperofthewaves]

people finishing apratments to sell have no taste whatsoever. the amount of ugly ass flat pictures I’ve seen today is highly depressing.

[intertexts]

hm.

[memento-morri-writes]

So, I have 14.5 unread books in my room, which inspired me to count how many (fiction) books I have in my bedroom, and the answer is 262. And I have at least 3 more on pre-order. Ugh, I wish I hadn't gotten rid of a bunch of books when I was in middle school. I would definitely have at least 300 by now if I hadn't...

(And an ever-growing number of them are books by writeblr people!!)