Caleb Berens > Recent Status Updates

Feyd having hair feels wrong.

much less dense- but the mystery is working on me a little bit more than I thought it would. Also we used to be a proper nation who portrayed Irish gangs with thick accents as much as Italians-if only we could get back.

HOLY ARTWORK BATMAN!!! Someone make a print to put up on my wall. Genuinely the best art once seen in a graphic novel… maybe ever? Also it’s crazy just how much Chris Nolan was clearly inspired by this for TDK. 🎃🦇

good God almighty. This is Godfather II level bleak.

yeah holy cow this is crazy. only question tho: who is the one talking just out of view the whole chapter???

The calm before the storm- I don’t know much of what happened this episode other than Adam gaining in-universe right wing news stations to be on his side but other than that? 🤷‍♂️ otherwise really excited to see where this goes; and what exactly happened to their daughter.

genuinely feels like Brad Bird meets Scorsese in some ways. Genuinely flawed character but everything around them, including their reasoning, makes you want to believe in them, but I have a feeling that is misplaced belief here.

(also loved the way the interrogation scenes were cut between, great pacing)

rewound a little bit to make sure I remembered this as I picked it up- and yeah it’s epic. I know I said before this screams HBO, but I could also see an edited down version for a DePalma esche feature adaptation.

“I mean, I just wanted to die. YOU want to die, right? You get it.”

weird… like it turned out in the end but I don’t think it landed QUITE as effective on paper as it would maybe on screen. Either way, that ending is just depressing and I really need them to figure out how to end this with some level of happiness.

Also it made me miss my wife.. ♥️

okay this is tragic and so sad and tender but Sam is on that growth/redemption arc and I truly did not anticipate it. I’m hopefully gonna finish this soon but I’ve loved it so far.

that was the best? most devastating, horrifying, beautifying, heart wrenching, chapter of any book I’ve ever read (I’m no certified bibliophile but still) I quite literally almost cried in the middle of work.

TENNNNNSEEEE. I do think it’s a touch strange to tease something so Grey’s Anatomy level decimating and then have it resolved right away but still…

Also things in the personal realm are REALLY starting to heat up now that we are in the back half.

“She had said that Sam didn’t know her, but he knew her well enough to know what her face looked like when she was in love.” Is this what a Taylor Swift album feels like to Swifties? I hate this (complementary). I know Sam is flawed, he’s cold, he is cut off but just under the surface of the trauma is all that love. Sadie shouldn’t have to, but I’m begging her to end this beef. 🥩

BOOOOO!!! the only chapter I haven’t vibed with. Felt like a side quest that should have been folded into mainlining the story. (Sadie don’t do this)

Okay what?? Sam actually being the better developer is NOT what I saw coming. Sadie’s gonna bounce back though, you just know it. Also don’t tease me with Sadie admitting to herself that she HAS thought of Sam like that.

this resentment is killing me (complementary). probably the grossest sex scene(consensual) ever before but it really highlights the ACTUAL love Sam has for Sadie. They need to figure this out (even though the flash forwards spell doom). Overall, I’m just as invested as when I put this down.

The pit in my stomach at the Mulholland Dr. scene…

The pits in my stomach during the last chapter of this section…

I think Sadie is fairly right for being upset but I REALLY hope this doesn’t become a “I can’t talk about so let’s just live in hatred, leave everything unaddressed” type scenario. Bc if it does…

YES! SADIE LEAVE THAT HOE-BOY!!!!

jokes aside, i think this was arguably the best stretch of the book yet. I have absolutely ATE up all the “creative process” stuff, the game design, the storytelling, it’s all delivered in a very visual and gripping way. BUT I was waiting for this. Now I care more about THEM, not just what they do, if that makes sense. We finally are seeing the drama build, I’m locked in.

Just when you think things are gonna be happy… and they are… but that flashback is just so very brutal and sad. I’m waiting to see the validity of these flashbacks and what they will add to Sam in “present day”. Meanwhile; Sadie is displaced (to Dov’s of all places) and I hate that for her.

Sam is lowkey based but the future snapshots leave a pit in my stomach for where this is headed.

That being said I’m absolutely obsessed with the way this breaks down creativity and the partnership in it. Such a unique feeling and it hits like heroine here, and in real life.

I love how this is basically Challengers w/o the toxicity. So stylish and still retains some tenderness. If they make a film I hope Luca directs.

More Sad than Sadie, if we’re honest.

I actually adore the way that games serve as metaphor and build out the scenes better than if they weren’t there. (also there is a really interesting analysis of how/why male “dominance” impacts an industry that should be built to make fun for every one)

gamer girls get a +2 on a /10 scale automatically.

Adam Strange… what did you do??? Really well done by King to transition the protagonists so smoothly. I love this book now.

“Aleea, my love. Did… did you… grow?”
“I DID grow! Can I hug you? I missed you.”
“Yes honey. You can hug me.
I missed you too.”

This. Is. So. So. Sad.
It’s. Giving. Breaking. Bad.

“In the end, we’re all islands. And no one asks who the bell is tolling for.

No one even hears it ring.”

Nihilism, born of trauma. Secret sins as trip mines hidden all over your footpath. This may be a perfect book. 📕

It’s Alanna’s world, we just live in it. It is a… blessing really, to have you (…) here to share with the American people that this is not the time for panic.”
“Bullshit.” “What?” “I SAID bullshit.”

In a perfect world we’d get Angelina Jolie to play her.

Timotheé for Russ plz. No joke though I love the way the tables are turning in Hank, he’s turning into a more unique crime protagonist. This plot barely gives a second to breathe and I do have some gripes with that but for the most part it’s BALLIN’.

Edwin is too good. Demand both that we see more of him in the movie & that it’s Dave Bautista who plays him. 💪

This has accomplished what almost no thriller does well: near constant tension. Near constant sweats. And the flow of situation to situation feels SO natural. Each character is unique, fun, scary, or all of the above. I could go for any themes but maybe that’ll uncover itself later.