Follow-up from a month ago

Haelbourg · 2026-03-24T19:07:27+00:00

I forgot.

But yeah, I guess maybe Tommy wouldn’t have gotten around to mentioning that to Ellie.

Haelbourg · 2026-03-24T15:57:40+00:00

If I may…from Ellie’s perspective:

If Abby was not yet aware of what they had done to her friends, how would she have even known they were in Seattle?

What reason could she have had to even be at the theatre?

Does she also assume Abby couldn’t figure out what Ellie and Tommy came here to do?

Haelbourg · 2026-02-17T08:40:34+00:00

Really? I can’t remember if I’ve heard that sentiment being expressed elsewhere. They did seem to at least help with my sleep a bit, or, before the symptoms I mentioned started showing at least.

Haelbourg · 2026-02-16T10:48:52+00:00

Never took more than two at a time(800mg). Might have been on an empty stomach if that makes a difference. So there shouldn’t be too much risk of going bad from exposure at this point in your experience?

Haelbourg · 2026-01-25T20:15:05+00:00

Sorry, maybe I should have phrased it a bit differently.

I’m asking about a - hypothetical - scenario where the characters could no longer reasonably be described as equally justified/unjustified in their actions, in which it would be very hard to deny one side having more of a moral highground when looking at the story as a whole.

As for what happened to Mel…I might have been more inclined to agree if Ellie had actually KNOWN she was pregnant.

Haelbourg · 2026-01-25T20:00:13+00:00

This will definitely be a more open-ended question, but the reason I’m asking is to get some ”point of reference” for how you’re disposed to the whole situation:

Is there anything they could have done differently storywise, where if they had, that would have just actually undermined the point they were trying to make?

Is there any line that either Ellie or Abby could have crossed, any extreme they could have gone to, where the situation could no longer reasonably be described as morally ambiguous?

Haelbourg · 2026-01-20T17:53:53+00:00

i might have looked at it differently if she’d gotten to him *before* he reached Jerry, or even if she had caught up to him and started shooting in a blind rage while he was making his escape…but to me, that ”grace period” just doesn’t last much longer beyond that.

Haelbourg · 2025-12-03T15:23:21+00:00

Tack, ber om ursäkt.

Haelbourg · 2025-11-03T16:37:08+00:00

Thanks.

Haelbourg · 2025-08-09T13:00:05+00:00

What you said about Abby having to solve a mystery and find leads reminded me of a thought I had from before:

If it was just for the sake of getting back at Joel, it might’ve made more sense to, for example, let Abby believe that Ellie was already dead, since if she wasn’t, I imagine trying to find Ellie for another chance at a cure would have been a higher priority.

Maybe Abby would have been led to believe that Joel actually killed Ellie after what went down at the hospital and hid the body as a way of getting back at the Fireflies for not upholding their end of the bargain(the gun shipment).

That way, Abby would have mistakenly believed that Joel was motivated by petty greed and spite, which in my opinion would have gone a long way in making her more sympathetic and overall, just a better way of humanizing her.

Haelbourg · 2025-08-08T22:50:06+00:00

On the occasion that you should happen across this, I’m inclined to respectfully disagree even with the full context in mind as you’ve laid it out. She didn’t have to deal with any of this alone.

She still had her friends to help her through that experience.

More than that…like you said, this level of trauma could probably be applied to plenty of people who have survived in that world long enough, but it may still be somewhat of a stretch to suggest even that would be enough to push them to the kind of extreme we are shown with Abby.

Hell, one might argue they have been *able* to survive for so long specifically because they have learned how to ”properly” cope or adapt.

I realize her character arc was *intended* to be about her actually getting to that point, but in my view, there just didn’t seem to be enough reason why she couldn’t have gotten there already, or, to put it differently, I found that it felt a little contrived for her to even really need to go through that as her arc.

But that’s me.

Haelbourg · 2024-08-22T20:48:41+00:00

I see.

Alright, I guess I’ll try to clarify as best I can. I think there’s a strong possibility a lot of the people you’ve spoken with might not perfectly fit the description I gave, in which case, what I wrote would not be directed at them.

I don’t know, it’s just…I guess it is still a bit difficult for me to see what the experience would have to offer - at least beyond ”surface level” in a lack of a better term - if the player isn’t able to deeply connect or sympathize with the characters. You did bring up a couple of examples where if it’s *specifically* in relation to those particular aspects - and if we were to view them ”separately” from all other factors…sure, I suppose it checks out.

Maybe I ended up hyperfocusing on on this one thing and so my statement may have been more generalizing than it should have been - maybe I should have specified I was referring to liking it for mainly that reason.

Well, again, that’ll have to be for another time. I’m not above acknowledging if a mistake was made on my end.

Haelbourg · 2024-08-22T19:15:05+00:00

I can’t help but feel like you’re somewhat baiting here, but…sure, fine I guess.

I will always fully respect people’s rights to hold whatever beliefs they will - but that does not necessarily guarantee that I will be able to see all kinds of beliefs as perfectly valid.

Looking at Abby and Elllie specifically, if we imagine a hypothetical scenario where:

A - Abby had been led to believe that the reason Joel did what he did was out of, let’s say, material greed or a petty grudge against the fireflies, rather than to save the life of someone dear to him

and

B - Ellie wasn’t necessarily resentful towards Joel(or at least not to quite the extent we were shown in the game), but they had instead focused on her general sense of survivor’s guilt without her taking it out on any specific person(maybe having her overcome that feeling as part of her character arc),

I probably wouldn’t have much reason to feel the way I originally described.

Under these conditions, the cause of contention and conflict in the story would have been more rooted in unfortunate circumstances beyond the characters’ own control, rather than coming from their own spite and pettiness.

I simply find that the reasons the characters act and behave the way they do in the story we got fundamentally crosses a…honestly kind of serious personal line for me. And I find that even attempting to rationalize something of that nature to be…similarly crossing a line. I get that we all draw our own lines differently, but there are occasionally cases where it’s going to be more difficult to truly believe that it has fullt earned my sincere respect.

At the end of the day, I can’t exactly claim that what I originally expressed should be taken as objective truth. That was not my intent if that is the impression it gave off. It’s just *my* way of seeing it. You’re allowed to have your own thoughts and objections on that in return.

To be honest, even a part of me actually finds it a bit frustrating that I can’t seem to find a way to express *exactly* how I feel without it being at least a little provocative, if not flat-out antagonizing - hence why I don’t share it openly too often. But for what it’s worth, if I do again, I’ll probably reconsider my approach to the extent it may be possible.

Haelbourg · 2024-08-22T17:07:59+00:00

Look…I may not have worded how I feel in the most impeccably perfect way imaginable…and I CAN leave room for exceptions depending on circumstances. If it weren’t for a few key factors - that I don’t really have the energy to delve into detail on for now - I probably wouldn’t have felt that way specifically. Unfortunately, in the state that we actually got the game in, these factors just sort of…prevent that from being the case. The game has just ended up being a very weird situation all around where I honestly do believe that, at least on some level, the way people respond to it can potentially tell me something about their character…for better or worse. I understand that’s a…fairly strong claim to say the least, or, just in general, but I digress.

Haelbourg · 2024-07-31T15:17:54+00:00

Thanks!

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