It really is. I'll have to do another playthrough without music sometime, that sounds like it would be excellent. Glad you're enjoying it!

Finally getting Ellie to watch Twin Peaks with me and she's loving it

Thanks! That actually really helps.

How is Relink? I keep stopping just shy of getting it, but I'm not sure why. It looks kinda cool.

You must defeat the part of you which cringes

Screaming the whole way down

In reality, even that surface-level reading is a valuable form of analysis and critique, and the more nuanced readings are just a different mode of enjoyment. But few people are willing to own that they're mainly interested in the portions of the work that are meant to entertain them.

Generally it's a reader problem, I think. People want to feel that their reading is nuanced and complete at the surface level of a work, and feel anxious when confronted with more nuanced observations about it. It challenges their ability to "master" a piece of art without applying critical analysis

So, even if she wanted to remain in the world of mortals, she would always be visibly different, a little grey smear in a world of color. But she didn't want to renounce it all and leave for Arcadia forever. Suspended between two worlds, she fought to reform our side of the hedge.

Cherny was a fun character. She was half faerie, and raised by her mother outside the fae realm. Her grandparents wanted to bring her back, but she could only stay if she renounced her attachments to the mortal world. However, her time visiting family beyond the hedge left her monochrome.

I've got 4 queued up if you need any more!

This explains so much, you have no idea

I think this was actually a thing in 3rd edition for a while. Cats had some wild combat stats and could wreck a 1st level character fairly easily.

She has begun to thirst for the Human Water again