i think therefore i am.

unpopular opinion for today; with any attention paid to gavin reed's actions you'll realize he's a stickler for the rules

i find it's very easy for us and the game itself to dismiss carl as an archetype, a wise old man and nothing more, but even a surface-level lookover tells you the exact opposite. i find it so fascinating how martyr-able he is, despite the fact that we know he had leo with a "young groupie", and despite struggling with addiction himself, shows a limited sympathy towards leo. i don't find myself endeared by him seeking retribution in leo and, when finding he is not a conduit for carl to soothe his guilt but rather, an angry reminder of it, turning away and towards a perfect replacement. something that can pose as a son-like figure and yet, can never be angry with him, or disappointed. i believe at the core of carl is a deep-seeded regret and self-loathing over leo that he seeks to cure in Markus, fathering him the way he thinks he'd have liked to father Leo. and a regret and self-loathing he ultimately does not and perhaps cannot cure. i don't think he's a bad person - insofar as you can quantify anyone as a bad or good person. i'd just like some nuance on the table. but I'm also very biased towards Leo, so, maybe I'm just looking through tinted glass

carl and elijah's friendship is one of the most fascinating and under-discussed background threads in DBH. such polar opposites on the surface, and yet the moment they open their mouths, so similar. the idea that carl, so loathsome of the pretentious elite, deemed elijah above the rest. the idea that elijah deemed carl equally important to his creation's, himself, and Amanda, in choosing to dress his minimalism with carl's painting.

is anyone else concerned about alice's view of both herself and other androids based on the line, "you look pretty. you really look like a human now."