senior literary – Literary Arts Blogspace

The Origins of the Mask: A SallyFace Deepdive

Created by game development company Portable Moose and released from 2016 to 2019, SallyFace is a visual novel that follows the life of a young boy named Sal Fisher. The art style is rough, almost-appearing hand drawn. The game is played with a basic movement and fighting style, very similar to 90s video games that inspired the creator. While the gameplay is simple, the story that the game follows is difficult for most players to follow. Each episode goes back and forth between the past and the present, with new information being learned in all timelines. The story of this game can be confusing to understand by someone who has simply played it once. This blog will lay out the story from beginning to end, focused on the actual timeline rather than the game’s retelling.

Our story starts all the way back in 1623 with the establishment of the fictional town of Nockfell. This town was created around Wendigo Lake by a Native American tribe known as the “Greys”. Then, in 1663, Citali Grey had a vision. She was the tribe’s seer and she tells the tribe members an undisclosed prophecy that brings a specific group of tribe members closer together. This faction of the Grey tribe forms the Devourers of God, a cult that will be ever present through the rest of this story. Sometimes in the late 1600s, colonists showed up to the town of Nockfell. Citalali would marry one of the colonists, a man named Wesley Rosenberg, to unite the two groups. By 1681, the Devourers of God had constructed an under-ground temple and, by 1703, the Phelps Ministry was built over the temple to protect its secrecy. From then on, ceremonial marriages between Grey tribe members and Phelps descendants would occur.

The mid-1700s brought Citali Gray’s final prophecy. This prophecy becomes the cult’s doctrine as they fear the doom of their people. This is her final prophecy, transcribed:

“The blue flame, not extinguished, still flickers in the night. He that sees between worlds, Child of The Abomination. Wielding light beyond man, pierces through the endless black. Betrayer of our kind, resurrected by Asintmah. His sword, blood of man, rises to protect the Great Atrocity and prevent the triumph of humankind.”
Citali Gray

From this point on, the cult grows exponentially. By 1887, the Addison apartments were constructed in Nockfell. These apartments, created by the Addison family, would have a son in 1905 named Terrence. His family makes a deal with the Devourers of God so Terrence is “blessed”; they want him to be the vessel for something referred to as The Endless One. Without the public’s knowledge, high members of the cult begin feeding human flesh to Terrence so that he may become a habitable host for The Endless One. From 1917 to 1932, Terrence’s soul was consumed and destroyed by The Endless One. This creature kills Terrence’s parents, leaving him completely in the hands of the cult. The cult locks Terrance up in his room, at the Addison apartments, to keep this secret from the public. They use The Endless One as a source of power. By 1938, the cult was able to summon a shadow; a creature similar to The Endless One that they wished to use when fighting the Child of The Abomination.

Over the next few years, unclear of exact dates, a series of important events occurred. A man named Luke Holmes joins the cults and climbs the ranks until he is one of the high council members. Sometime after that, an alien-planet is consumed by the shadow creatures that the cult has been summoning. While most of the aliens are killed, two siblings are able to escape with their lives. These siblings, Jim and Evelyn Johnson, flee to Earth through unclear means. Evelyn is lost to a world between the Spectral and Physical planes of Earth, while Jim is able to take on a human form. Jim takes residence in the Addison apartments, soon meeting and marrying the janitor that works there- a woman named Lisa. They would go on to have a son named Larry in 1975. A few more important characters were born around this time. Travis Phelps was also born in 1975. Sal Fisher and Ashley Campbell were born in 1976 and, in 1977, Todd Morrison was born.

Now, despite Citlali having her last prophecy in the mid-1700s, another prophecy is had in 1906 by another seer. This prophecy stated that a ‘man from the sky’ would aid in the Devourers efforts to summon a demon in the physical plane. Given the fact that Jim Johnson is an alien, the cult believes he is the prophesied ‘man from the sky’. While Jim’s wife and son are unaware of his true identity, the cult seems to know immediately and begin attempting to persuade him to join them. Eventually, following the stillbirth of his second child, Jim agrees to join the cult in 1983. He disappears without telling his family.

Despite this, Jim Johnson is still adamantly against the cult and their beliefs. He is the one to document most of their actions, timeline, and members. Around the same time Jim joins the cult, he writes:

“Now they’re planning a mass murder of children across the globe! They think these kids are a threat to them. I have to stop this from happening. This damn cult is dealing with powerful forces they don’t understand. I’ve been secretly sabotaging their efforts where I can but I’m going to need to take greater action to stop the killings.”
Jim Johnson

(It should be noted, the cult is planning this mass execution of children due to the prophecy and belief that one of these children will be the Child of The Abomination.)

New Jersey, 1984. Sal Fisher goes on a picnic with his family. At this time, Sal is 8 years old. While on their picnic, young Sal sees a dog off in the distance and begs his mom to go pet it. Sal’ mother, Diane Fisher, agrees and she takes Sal over to see the dog. When they reach it, it becomes apparent that it isn’t a dog at all. Wearing a dog mask is the pastor of Phelps Ministry and Archbishop of the Devourers of God, Kenneth Phelps. He had been sent on a mission to kill Sal Fisher and was armed with a shotgun. He shoots at Sal and his mother, possibly intending to kill them both, but he only managed to kill Diance. Sal is protected by his mother, but the proximity of the bullet to his head leaves him with one eye and severe facial scars. From this point on, Sal would wear a prosthetic face mask. This mask would result in relentless teasing and bullying at school, including the nickname ‘Sally Face’.

Given how long this blog already is, I’m going to call it here. The next post will dive more into the story that most people are familiar with. Again, I encourage you to play through the game yourself, or even watch a gaming youtuber play. There are many play throughs on youtube (I recommend Jacksepticeye). That’s all for now. I’ll see you in the next part.

Undertale’s 10-Year Anniversary and Growing Up

September 15th, 2025 marked 10 years since Undertale’s official release. And over September 20-21, Fangamer hosted (not one but) two special streams replaying the game with new additions and development insight from Toby Fox, the creator.

I want to be clear about how there’s not a lot I can say that hasn’t been said before in a high quality video essay or lengthily written forum post. So I’ve decided to discuss my personal experience with Undertale. But I’m worried I won’t even have enough to say since I barely remember my time in the prime Undertale fandom. And now I’ve had an entire month to move on from all of my feelings I had writing my last blog.

“Steph, you seriously don’t have anything to say about the 10-year anniversary or the Fangamer stream?” I theoretically ask myself for the sake of transition.

It’s hard to say that… I didn’t feel much. And maybe, that means whatever I’m feeling is too much for me to process right now so I’m indifferent to it. Or maybe there’s so much else going on that I don’t even have time to process 10 years since the most influential game to my existence was released. I’ll probably feel it in a couple of months.

I’ve always had an extreme fear of growing up. And facing Undertale’s 10-year anniversary is like facing that fear directly. Of all of my fears, because of course there’s a lot, I’m always able to avoid them. I get my dad to kill spiders, I sit out on tall rollercoasters, and I stay far away from the deep parts of the ocean. But growing up is the one thing I can avoid. And, obviously death because I’m scared of that too. I’m growing up a little bit everyday. No matter how long I watch kids shows, color with crayons, or pray to God to let me be a kid for at least a little longer, I’m almost 18 already.

I’m not original by saying I don’t want to grow up, quite the opposite actually. I think everyone, especially my peers in my class, has felt this way. But I want to dive into this feeling in relation to Undertale’s 10-year anniversary.

When I was 7, I had just moved to America, I struggled to interact with kids my age, and second graders are mean! When nothing else was consistent in my life, the internet was, surprisingly. I think I’ve mentioned before that I got my first laptop when I was 4, so I was familiar with the internet at a young age.

That’s where I was first introduced to Undertale through Jackcepticeye’s Let’s Play. Not sure when I found it exactly, but I know it couldn’t have been long after the series first started in October. I have a memory of talking to a friend about how I couldn’t wait for the next episode and she had no clue what I was talking about. After I dove into the Undertale fandom, I was able to find some comfort at the end of the day. It was like this for years, long enough for me to have a physical reaction when I hear the soundtrack.

So now, 10 years later, as a 17-year-old, I’m under completely different circumstances. I’m somewhat comfortable where I live, I have some of the best friends I could ever ask for, and art school kids are actually a lot nicer than you would think. So why does it physically hurt me to listen to the soundtrack or play the game again? I think it’s because my life has completely switched over the past 10 years.

I’m not looking for comfort at the end of a hard day of being a confused and lost kid anymore. I’m almost a teenager who already has comfort and support. It’s like I’m actively looking to be confused and lost again. Maybe that’s why I’ve been making some brash decisions recently.

In all honesty, watching the Fangamer stream felt weird. For one, I watched a reaction stream of the original so there was a layer of separation that I didn’t even realize until the whole thing was over. Secondly, I was really overstimulated with the mix of an extremely emotional game, Fangamer’s elaborate set, props, and commentary, and the new content they mixed into the game. I almost lost my mind. But I enjoyed the stream and it ended on a beautiful note:

“The world

is as big as you

want it to be.

Where will you go next?”

That quote actually hit me harder than anything else. Recently, I’ve been rethinking my plans for my adulthood. Through my journey to heal my inner child, I’ve rediscovered my distaste for monotony, staying in a box, doing what is expected of me. I was always told: go to college, get a job, get married, have kids. That order, every single day. Going to art school halfway through high school was my first step outside of the pre-established path.

I want to make decisions that were never options to me before. I want to find what makes me happy rather than follow what people think makes me happy. I want to disappoint people because I’ve never done that before.

“So Steph, how big is your world?” I theoretically ask myself to lighten the mood.

Right now, it’s small. It’s almost completely limited to the state of Mississippi. I do not want my world to be that way, especially coming all the way from Indonesia. Big decisions are being made currently and I certainly wouldn’t have the courage to make them if not for Undertale.

I didn’t expect this blog to be so sad. I knew it would be emotional for me, but I wasn’t expecting to just be flat out sad. I think this rainy weather is getting to me. I wasn’t expecting to be able to discuss my current feelings in this either, I just thought I would be celebrating Undertale’s 10th birthday. Glad I’m able to find a way to make everything about me I guess??? On a lighter, dorkier note, I recently submitted my senior quote. Just like I said I would, like, 5 years ago, I made it, “Despite everything, it’s still you.” I felt silly submitting it, especially after having to explain it to someone who had never even heard of Undertale before, but 7-year-old me would think I am so cool so that’s literally all that matters. Yes, I did include that “not one but two” bit in the beginning just so I could insert both stream links thanks for noticing. And thanks for reading if you did.

New Deltarune Chapters Sent Me 10 Years Back

It’s only like me to start my senior year off with a Deltarune/Undertale blog. I have those two games to thank for my personality, passion for art, and my love for storytelling – and on a deeper note: for keeping me here and encouraging me to push through the toughest times in my life.

Deltarune chapters three and four were released on June 5th. I wasn’t able to play them for about two weeks since I had a writer’s workshop, vacation, and my first Comic-Con all in a row. But when I did finally play them, I went through something really strange.

As I was fully submerged in a self-established “Deltarune summer”, I felt something very familiar in my soul. I remember: I was listening to the new music, looking at and making fan art, reading people’s theories, and talking about it to friends. Suddenly, I felt like I was seven years old again in my Undertale phase. It was so strange. I had to check the date, look in the mirror, anything to make sure I hadn’t somehow slipped into 2015. Then I was so overwhelmed I threw up.

Yeah, not my best moment at all. But this feeling hit me like nothing else had in ten years. I’m not seven years old anymore watching Undertale animations, reading fan comics, or listening to the music preparing to enter middle school. I’m seventeen, graduating high school soon. Except I’m still doing everything I did with Undertale, just with Deltarune.

Everything is so different but at the same time, it’s not at all.

I’m aware most of my peers aren’t familiar with Deltarune or Undertale, I can only advise whoever hasn’t played either to play them. It’s just like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. And I’m no outlier, there’s an entire fanbase of at least one-hundred-thousand people that would say the same thing.

So why does Deltarune mean so much to me? Well the same reasons that Undertale does – but that’ll be covered in September’s blog since Undertale’s ten-year anniversary will be September 15th. Deltarune has incredible characters, one-of-a-kind music, and- …I’m realizing I’ve already written about this. It’s so interesting re-reading that blog – chapters three and four didn’t even have a release date and I had no idea what was coming.

I like Deltarune for all the reasons everyone else does, and October 2024 Stephanie did. But now, I’ve attached my entire being to that game. This is a pretty common thing I do when I really like something. Not only does it help me express myself, since all the media I love is a reflection of myself, but it also helps me feel like I’m appreciating the media for all of its worth. I’m actually really possessive in this way: my favorite color is pink, my favorite bug is a ladybug, my favorite show (that I even refer to as “my show”) is Common Side Effects, and my favorite game is Deltarune. I’m known for all of these things because I tie them so closely to my being. I may be possessive over Deltarune but I’m certainly not selfish over it. I’m constantly trying to get my friends to play it so I’m probably really annoying.

I’ve also been on a mission to heal my inner child before I graduate high school. So, like an extremely normal and mentally well seventeen-year-old does, I’ve been watching My Little Pony. And, in a really funny way, Deltarune shares a lot of similarities to My Little Pony. It’s kind of like my own teenage version of My Little Pony. Deltarune has huge themes of friendship, redemption, and conflict resolution through communication. Things also happen really quickly in the same way they do in the episodic form of My Little Pony. Kris and Susie, the two main characters, went from being enemies (?) to best friends in, at most, two days. Over the span of chapter one, Susie became open to talking problems out rather than immediately resorting to violence. And Ralsei, another one of the main characters, went from wanting to resolve everything through kindness to understanding when fighting is necessary over the span of four chapters, which was three in-game days. These are some extreme character developments over really short periods of time, kind of like how My Little Pony characters change so drastically in one episode while learning a sweet little message. And finally, the biggest reason I love Deltarune so much: Deltarune just has a lot of elements that I genuinely really enjoy.

Kris, the character we play as and/or (depending on who you ask) the protagonist, fits the description of my favorite kind of protagonists perfectly. Back in 2015, Frisk from Undertale was my favorite protagonist and they use they/them pronouns. Later in 2016, Sal Fisher from Sally Face was my favorite protagonist, mostly known for his bright blue hair. Kris fits both of these descriptions as they canonically use they/them pronouns and in the dark worlds, they have blue hair.

Deltarune also has huge themes of escapism, darkness (yes, the state of lighting), and alternate/parallel universes. As someone who used to chronically daydream, was deathly afraid of the dark, and is extremely interested in the idea of other universes, all of these are right up my alley.

And, finally, Deltarune uses the plot device of prophecies. This is my favorite thing ever, I’m so surprised I haven’t used prophecies in every single piece of my writing. For one, a prophecy can be used in so many different ways. It can be a simple statement that starts the story or even a title (for example, the book They Both Die at the End). It can be an actual fantastical prophecy (such as in the book The Song of Achilles). It can even be told in the way of generational trauma. It is so much fun to know how something will happen or end. The optimistic, hopeful side of you tries to believe it won’t happen, if it’s something terrible, or it will happen in a different way and then the truly human side of you just wants to see how it will happen.

(This paragraph will contain spoilers for Deltarune’s fourth chapter.) The way Deltarune uses prophecies as a plot device is, by far, my favorite. In chapter one, Ralsei, a fantastical mage-like character that only resides in the magical dark worlds, establishes a prophecy that him, Kris, and Susie will save the world from “The Roaring” – a catastrophe similar to the Rapture in the Bible. Specifically, he states the prophecy needs a human (Kris), a monster (Susie), and a prince from the dark (Ralsei). But in chapter four, released six real-life years later (!!!), the true prophecy is revealed straight from the source, which is the church since the prophecy is part of the religion of the town Deltarune takes place in. The prophecy needs a “cage with human soul and parts”, a “girl with hope crossed on her heart”, a “prince alone in deepest dark”, and a girl that “love finds its way to”. This version is, very clearly, a lot broader than the original we were introduced to in chapter one and it adds a completely new character (in my opinion)! And the final part of the prophecy that’s been tearing me apart since chapter four came out in June: the mysterious “final tragedy” that the main characters know about but us as players do not. This is such a unique way to use prophecies as a plot device and it inspires me so much in my own work.

There’s plenty of other smaller reasons I love Deltarune (like Noelle, who is a Christmas themed reindeer – I love Christmas themed anything) but those are the biggest ones and what truly keeps Deltarune so close to my heart. I really enjoyed writing this blog and dissecting my favorite parts of my favorite game. It helped me realize a lot of new things about myself and it helped me understand the writing of Deltarune on a higher level.

Thanks so much for reading if you did. Last year, my blogs were really fun and spilling with my own personality. I want to take a different approach now – you know, since I’m old and that means I’m a pretentious art student now and I have to be dramatic about all of my pieces. I’m kidding. Kind of.

Don’t read the old Deltarune blog too closely, there’s at least one typo that I somehow missed that’s eating me alive. Also paragraph three of this blog is a little dramatized, I knew I didn’t slip into 2015 but it absolutely felt that way. And I did unfortunately vomit… And when I briefly explained what “The Roaring” is (“a catastrophe similar to the Rapture in the Bible”), it reminded me of that one part from Snapcube’s Shadow the Hedgehog fandub with “the Devil from the Bible” and it made me giggle. Does my nicheness (that’s not even that niche) make you want to read more of my blogs? I hope so. Also do you like all of my links? I spent a lot of time on them.

Anyway, this blog was actually really emotional for me. I love Deltarune and I think I made that pretty clear. Remember to play or replay Undertale for its ten-year anniversary next month.

Book Tok is the reason I sleep til’ noon the next day.

Since coming back from Spring Break, I have found myself staying up on my phone gasping and crying, being dramatic, and all of the above because of one thing. Books.

I am losing sleep over Book Tok and Book Gram, and everything else that has me adding to a TBR list that hasn’t even started physically, barely even mentally.

You guys listen, the reason I am about to ramble about this is because all of these books that are brought to my attention usually start with those reel quotes or questions. Like, have you passed those reels on Instagram where it shows a book where the ending was like this song? Or as writers I’m pretty sure we have all seen those one-line prompts. You know, the ones that are like tell me the first line of your favorite book to try and convince me. Then there’s the ones that want you to talk about a character you’re creating, but when you finally have a chance to see how much you know about that character it all just comes up blank. Everything I see about those books just leads to rabbit holes that give writers advice until I’m on the side when someone is hating on a book I actually loved for no reason. So now I am just going through author rage bait until it gets really chaotic.

That’s not the point though. The point is, through all of the book community I have come across some really neat quotes (first lines) or some books that I may actually want to read one day. I also have come across some neat advice that could actually be beneficial. And while there is a lot of good that comes with the book media, I have come across some funny interactions because of unpopular opinions that I’ve come across. I am going to talk about a little of everything in between.

QUOTES IN BOOKS THAT SOUND LIKE RIHANNA’S “STAY” AUDIO

“Don’t let the cereal eat you. It’s only a fucking box of cereal, but it will eat you alive if you let it.” – Girl in Pieces

The cereal! Like dude, I wonder what the context was here. I mean, I haven’t read this book myself, but I have friends who have, so when this popped up on my book media, I was like, this line is genius. I know the book itself is centered around teen mental health and self-harm, so for this to be one of the lines in there just lets me know that I can expect some mic drops and fire motifs.

“but there are worse games to play.” – Katniss Everdeen, Mockingjay

I have read the book and watched all the movies, so this line hurt me. I mean, it’s sad that this was true, today you could apply this to a lot of scenarios, and it could still be true, depending on the context. In Mockingjay, I valued a lot of decisions that Katniss had to make, no matter what may have been hard, I don’t want to spoil it, but at the end of the movie franchise, I applauded what she did. It made sense. If you disagree, well let’s just agree to disagree. She just wanted to put a final end to the carnage.

“People say you don’t know what you had until it’s gone. Truth is, you knew what you had, you just never thought you’d lose it.” – Peeta Mellark

Again, I know this story like the back of my hand. This line right here is sadly true, and people experience this type of pain every day. The context behind this just made me want to look at the sky as I floated away in the ocean.

“The worst feeling is when you want to go home, but you are already there” – Our life

Excuse me, I’m just going to go and stare at a wall now.

What is this and why did I feel this way last Summer? I don’t know if I have the willpower to read this book, but if I ever do, I’m going to have to sit in the dark next to a window that gives the view of rain outside while I smell the scent of cherries and chocolate chip cookies or something to go through the motions.

BOOKS’ FIRST LINES THAT GIVE THE SAME VIBE AS THE ARCANE EXPLOSION

‘The last time I attended a funeral; I ended up with a broken arm.” — The Fine Print

I started this series, it was good. I haven’t completed the series, but if it’s as good as the first book, then maybe I shall. That line is unexpected and catches the attention immediately. It also gives the explosion vibes because I don’t know how I should take this, but it leads up well.

“I wonder what kind of sound it would make if I were to smash this glass against the side of his head.” — November

See look, this line is intriguing, and it gives a great insight onto a small part of the narrators’ personality. I would finish this book based on this line if it weren’t for one thing, Colleen Hoover wrote this. And I do feel some type of way about Colleen Hoover. What do you all think, would this line still make you read the book?

“I have a heart for every year I’ve been alive” – To Kill a Kingdom

I’ve been wanting to read more fantasy lately, but you know, it just piles up with the rest of the books, BUT I’ll get there eventually. I heard that this book was gut-wrenching and almost like a movie in the best way possible. And the title, I mean come on, that title DEVOURS! Hooked immediately. And I just wonder, are those the hearts that were collected from the enemies that tried to destroy them, or are they actual hearts in their body? I need to know.

COULD’VE DROPPED SOME ADVICE BUT IMMA GATE KEEP CAUSE THE WORDS STARTED WORDING TO WORD COUNT, SO HERE’S BOOKS THAT BOOKGRAM MADE ME ADD TO MY LONG TBR LIST

FIVE TOTAL STRANGERS

It’s a Young Adult thriller by Natalie D. Richards. The book is about five college students who get stranded at an airport during a snowstorm. They’re strangers to each other that all find out that they’re all headed in the same direction. So, what’s a better idea for them to get where they need to be, then ride 6 hours together in a rental car. The idea works at first, until the main character realizes that her travel buddies are hiding something dangerous. Now she must uncover the truth before the trip turns deadly.

I want to read this mystery. Everyone says that even though it’s a thriller story, it kind of has a bunch of sad moments that give you a gut wrench. My type of book.

YOU CAN TRUST ME

First and foremost, the cover is so pretty, but after reading the synopsis it’s so misleading.

When Alana’s best friend is found deceased in a pool, the cause results come back to be a date rape drug from a drink that was supposed to be for Alana. The boys that are suspected to be responsible aren’t held accountable in any form. Alana hates this so she decides to find out which of the boys did it before she becomes the next target.

It’s supposed to attract the readers of Holly Jackson and Karen McManus, which is literally me, so of course I want to read it.

I had more books, but I passed the word count, so until next time.

Insert Je te laisserai des mots by Patrick Watson

The Stars are Grey

First off, don’t mind the title of this blog. I just came up with it randomly. This isn’t going to be an excerpt of anything like that. Instead, I’m once again talking about that diverse piece of media that we call television.

Recently, I started watching two shows that I never thought I would ever watch before.

The first one is a pretty popular show that I have finally been convinced to watch, Grey’s Anatomy. I am already on the second season, and why I may not be addicted, I have been doing a healthy amount of binging.

The second is a reality TV show that I just finished watching in Earth and Space Science called Stars on Mars. The show was pretty light-hearted and kept me engaged throughout. It was a competitive show, and since that was part of my class work, it was pretty cool.

GREY’S ANATOMY

I think everyone has likely heard of the famous medical drama, Grey’s Anatomy.

If you haven’t, the show is about a group of interns, the main one being Meredith Grey, and their journeys as they grapple with life as doctors who basically go through the motions of humanity.
While watching this show, I already decided that I don’t like a couple of characters.

One of the first ones I really don’t like is Alex Karev. He’s one of those interns that are cocky and think they’re better than everybody, all while being vile and making crude jokes.

Now he does have some moments when he’s an actual good guy. Like it was this one episode when he was helping this kid get from under his abusive father. Karev showed he could be humane in that episode. But I heard that he actually gets some great character development.

So, I guess I’ll have to wait and see that.

A lot of people likely disagree with me, but I kind of don’t like Meredith. I don’t know why, her personality just seems like a lot to me. I know she’s just stressed with her mother and stuff, but a lot of moments are filled with her projecting. I promise I’m not trying to be different; that’s just literally how it is for me.

Anyway, back after a day because I caught myself doom scrolling with 8 minutes of class left.

The reason I started watching the show in the first place was because YouTube shorts wouldn’t leave me alone and kept giving me Grey Anatomy edits. Therefore, after seeing some interesting cases that I had to watch to finish, I just said “What the heck.” If it gets to the point that I need to stop watching them before I become addicted, I know how to stop.

I do want to mention one of the interesting cases that I’ve seen so far. In an episode of Season 2, this man was in the hospital because he was eating dolls. Yes. He was eating doll heads, ten of them to be exact. So, when his body started acting up, he had to go and get surgery to get dolls out of his gut. I didn’t get it. I honestly thought he was a brewing serial killer, especially since he swallowed them with the hair. Actually, the whole Grey crew wanted to know why he did it.

They didn’t ask him until the end of course. The guy said he got a kind of satisfaction from it.

He asked them if they wanted to know exactly how. I was so mad when they said they would rather be left in the dark. Like, to me that just seemed like lazy writing. Maybe the writers just couldn’t think of a mind-blowing reason for the plot. I mean, you can get real creative with a person who eats dolls. It was like a doctor episode of Criminal Minds for a moment.

STARS ON MARS

Star on Mars is a competition show that I just finished watching on Tubi. The stars are just a random diverse selection of celebrities. I’m talking about famous pop stars to ice skaters in the Olympics. Mars is a space station simulator built in the middle of a desert somewhere in Australia.

I did it again, argh, Insta won’t let me work.

In this Australian simulator, the stars stay there for a month, and each day someone gets eliminated or extracted as they said after doing difficult tasks, until there is one brightest star left in the galaxy. I know it sounds kind of straightforward, which it’s kind of is, but the drama was still there. I mean, there was some drama because people wanted to win so badly that it turned into a whole political game. A great example of that was this ongoing feud between Ariel Winter and Lance Armstrong. I don’t feel like getting into that. But the contestants that were picked were mostly people I didn’t know, so it was interesting learning about these new people.

There were a lot of comedians placed in the game that actually added a fresh humor aspect.

Then there were a lot of sad moments when the crew would eliminate themselves for the people they grew close with or because they missed “Earth.” Actually, the whole time I was watching this, I felt a bit claustrophobic for them, because they’re isolated for a whole month with only the production team as contact outside the experiment. And it didn’t help that they had to work in the hot desert every day. It gave the challenge depth because I knew I couldn’t see myself doing it.

Anyway, that’s my small talk about what I’ve been consuming lately.

Go check out Stars on Mars, you may enjoy it.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Image result for the giver by lois lowry

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry’s The Giver is set in a place known simply as “the community”. In the community, everyone is expected to show one another respect and caring—rudeness, lying, and simple exaggeration are all discouraged. Anywhere beyond the community is known simply as “Elsewhere”, and those who break the rules, grow too old or too sick, or simply ask, are “released” to Elsewhere. People are divided by their numbers (ages) and job occupations. Once a person enters the Ceremony of Twelves, they are Assigned their roles in the community—except for Jonas, who is chosen to be the Receiver of Memories, the highest honor of them all. Jonas has no idea what it means to be able to “receive”, but enters training anyway, apprenticing the previous Receiver known as “the Giver.” As Jonas is given memories, he realizes that he and the community have lost more than just the past.

The simple detail given in the book reflects Jonas’s and the community’s point of views. They do not notice color, shape, or form because they have been taught not to. As the book goes on, the detail grows to show Jonas’s worldview expanding. The twist with color is also a clever one that I did not see coming, as is the more major twist towards the end. Even though we may not be able to perfectly see what is happening, we get the idea clear enough.

Dystopian novels are always hit-and-miss with me, and I feel that the one presented here works. Lowry wisely does not explain every facet of the community, as each answer would probably raise another question. There’s no extremely-advanced technology or a dictionary’s worth of terms to keep up with. Although the community, to us readers, is as bizarre as it needs to be, it does not break logic. There’s some sick kind of reason to how the community is run. The lack of explanation for what caused the world to become the way it is works in the story’s favor.

Jonas, being twelve, offers a naïve newcomer’s view on the events taking place. We learn what he learns. Admittedly, I would say that the only character with personalities are Lily, Jonas’s sister; Asher, Jonas’s friend; and the Giver himself. One could argue that this is the point, to show how the community is boring and unison, but the vocal charismas of Asher and Lily kind of undermine that. The Giver himself is an enjoyable character—you expect him to be quiet and mysterious, in that ‘creepy-magic-old-guy’ kind a way, but he’s actually very sweet and soft-spoken. The way he interacts with Jonas is both heartwarming and telling of the setting the story takes place in. The same can be said for the dialogue spoken in the story. It is stilted and awkward, but with reason.

The subjects that story tackles, and the numb tone to which it does, adds to the eerie and mysterious tone of the novel. Murder, loneliness, solitude, and lack of emotion are all discussed in a speculative manner—i.e., how would people act if they did not know what ‘this’ meant? Jonas himself must deal with great emotional suffering as he realizes that the people he loves cannot and do not love him back. The film adaptation was a romance story between Jonas and Fiona, but it’s more of a tragedy here. Jonas has feelings for Fiona, but not only can she not reciprocate them, Jonas himself can hardly understand them. This helps the curiosity as to what caused society to become the way it has.

Though the novel has many things working in its favor, and it builds a not-wholly-original-but-overall-captivating world, it ultimately could have done more. The book is very short and only takes a shallow glance into its circumstances. Many things are left in the air and are unresolved. Now, it is important to know that the book actually has sequels/prequels/midequels? Other books that take place in the same setting. Unfortunately, it is also said that these books are inferior to The Giver, and I probably won’t be reading them. So, judging the book by itself, I don’t think it took advantage of its setting as much as it could have. Also, I know many consider the ending to be artistic and deep and insightful, but I was simply unsatisfied by it.

Overall, I still think The Giver is a fine, if not simple, book.

The Green Mile by Stephen King

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Stephen King’s The Green Mile is a recollection by the elderly Paul Edgecombe of his days as a prison guard. Paul was a guard for the E block of the prison, where prisoners are kept until their executions via electric chair—the floor of the E block is bright green, earning it the title of the Green Mile. Paul finds his job to be a never-ending cycle of prisoner comes in, prisoner stays, prisoner goes, etc. Lately, he has to grapple with Percy Wetmore, a young prison guard who uses connections to higher-ups as an excuse to abuse the prisoners, and Eduard Delacroix, an insane but seemingly harmless inmate with an amazingly intelligent mouse named Mr. Jingles. While Paul and the other guards think nothing of the inmates, their minds change when they meet John Coffey—a giant of a man found guilty of the rape and murder of two little girls. Though Coffey is quiet at first, the guards soon realize that there is more to him than meets the eye—a superpower, perhaps, that doubles as a curse.

As with all of his works, King has an eye for dialogue and detail. I saw every image and heard every conversation as perfectly as possible. Though the characters use expressions we don’t in reality, they did not feel out of place. And though not every moment of the book is packed with suspense and drama, I rarely ever felt bored with it. The cuts to the present-day elderly Paul calmed things down, but did not damage the overall experience, something that most past-and-present-spliced books find difficult to pull off. Delacroix, Wetmore, Coffey, and Wharton were all characters with fantastic characterizations that made them stand out from one another. The plot of the book does not have a typical point-A-to-point-B formatting. The book does not build up to something over its course; arguably, the climax of the book happens a little over halfway through, with the rest tying up loose ends.

On the downside, some of these details can border on unnecessary—one will probably tire of how often the act of urinating is detailed in this book. The first part of the book that focuses so heavily on Mr. Jingles the mouse can also be irksome to get through. And though some of the characters stand out so greatly, others, mostly the prison guards, do not. In all honesty, the only thing I ever knew to differentiate them by was the knowledge that Brutal was the tall and muscular one. That’s it.

The book gives a message that can be hard to swallow: we will all do bad things, some more than others, and how soon we will have to make up for them is unknown. Characters like Wetmore and Percy, without giving away details, exemplify true evils in humans with no remorse for their actions. Meanwhile, characters like Paul and Coffey spend much of their time questioning their choices and wondering if they have done the right thing. The ‘twist’ in the book is also well-executed, as I legitimately did not see it coming, and the smaller ‘twist’ at the end further proves the book’s message.

The Green Mile is deep, dark, and contemplative, and I’d recommend it to everyone.