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Bellflower Part 40

🕑 Added 2020-07-10 17:04:51 +0000 UTC

Comments

Jennifer

You're right! Penny's definitely in the wrong on this one, it was like you said, I was only worried about the potential of it being permanent. So it's relieving to hear that. It feels like the kind of thing Rachel would freak out over if she found out about the light hypnosis angle, if that makes sense? Just like her I was partially under the assumption that Penny's effects had permanent implications in a lot of areas (especially the hips!) proving her wrong with like one who got out might help quelm audience fears. And the dreams are definitely palette cleansers, storytelling's kinda like a rollercoaster, you dip up in excitement to keep interest going. Plus dreams allow you to convey ideas and moods in a way you just can't with realism. You can say someone feels something but as human we bottle stuff up, I think having them here and there helps! Heck, if you wanted to, you can have a mini-side-series of tenants and their dreams that isn't part of the main Bellflower plot. No overarching story details, just their dreams of them bloating like blimps sljdhfkj. Have Rachel try a stick of gum (or four at once) to quell off hunger in real life and have a particularly big blueberry dream that night that makes her drop it the next morning skjfdhjk

BNevis

I understand what you're saying. It's a lot of tiptoeing, & I've been trying to subtly hint towards this for a little bit leading up to this. But this was sort of the most overt & telling example so far. I was thinking, as a way to sort of pacify & prevent current residents from asking too many questions, a baked in part of the conditioning begins to gradually block the memories of former residents that "moved away" among the most affected. An out of sight out of mind sort of thing. Like I kind of see them operating more & more in an ahistoric fuzzy sort of fog almost. Going about their business & thinking everything's fine, but then there's some nagging detail that they think they should be remembering & can't. Sort of how early on Holly never even realized she had stopped working out in the first place, if that makes sense. Some string that's being pulled to get them to not pay too close attention. And while I intended it to be a little more like hypnotic suggestion than any like permanent irreversible damage, with Penny here in this instance, it is a straight up gaslighting situation. Which isn't great. But then as the kind of chief antagonist right now, she's kind of not that great in the first place? In actuality, seeing as Holly & Courtney were close, Holly's not giving up on forgetting so easily. And so Penny's just trying to dodge the conversation entirely. If(/when) Holly & Courtney meet up, the only reason they might have any difficulty recognizing each other & go right back to being best friends again would be the gains made since the last time they saw each other. LoL And this is kind of a detail that the conspiracy theorist club never really would've keyed in on as they try to help who they can, but mostly sort of keep to themselves. So it felt weird having some sort of expository exchange about this earlier. But yeah, it's a delicate balance of trying to maintain that autonomy & mental health while also at the same time being tempted & ultimately coerced by this corrupting presence. But I appreciate the concern & the feedback on this sort of stuff! The dream was a lot of fun to write. I don't want to lean on too many of those but the sudden burst of fantastical stuff is a bit of a palate cleanser when trying to keep things "real." And I thought it was fun to follow a dream from someone other than Rachel for once too. Not too sure how the aftermath to Holly's freak out will play out LoL But I guess I'm going to have to figure it out. And yes, the blueberry were intentional, I'm a weak person, I'm sorry.

Jennifer

Memory loss? Hhhhuh, okay. I mean, considering Courtney’s recognition of Holly’s name it doesn’t seem to be a general thing. More side effect to Penny essentially irradiating Holly faster than other tenants. I do love the chapter still! I guess I’m just worried? The way how earlier in the story it sounded like Penny might permanently mess up your metabolism makes me fear that for Holly’s mind too. It’d be kind of a bit dark if that was Holly’s fate... I guess like, if I’m to explain the appeal of your series, it’s that while they’re clearly being egged on to do this, it’s still kind of these characters choices to make...? We see characters and Rachel clearly struggle with holding off and discipline balance. But taking away their mental health kind of usurps the feeling of autonomy they’re capable of having...? I only comment cause I wanna help make sure your story the best it can be, so I hope you understand my concerns on this being a bit of a tiptoe “make sure to be careful” delicate warning. Other than that the dream sequence was lovely, I feel like you made them blueberry pancakes on purpose, Holly is quickly ballooning into her clothes, Camille quickly opening about Rachel was adorable, the chair scene was hilariously memorable, and I liked the creep getting stuff tossed at him!

Shelby Decker

Always love updates to this story, look forward to reading tonight!


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