i have a vehement hatred towards mumbles, the lu-lucious sin dream demon that chases Blake, not because its a disgusting nasty and often killed me during my play of Outlast.
I hate this asshole for his representation as a contorted, mangled, nightmare of the person responsible for Jessica’s death. But it doesn’t stop there; that Father Loutermilch is a terrible guy - did terrible things to a child, then framed that child as a suicide; a massive sin to the church and its teachings. Literally, Loutermilch made Jessica out to be the villain. And no one questioned it - they accepted it at face value, “Oh, the Jessica girl? A suicide. That makes sense.”
And that one chase kills me - the one where you start with Jessica’s body, finding her on the stairs, and mumbles up above being the creepy fuck. Because Blake runs - he has to run. Not because he knows mumbles is deadly and will insta kill him, but on account how when Blake first encountered that nightmare in real life - way a long time prior - when he was a mere boy. He discovered his best-friend dead, at the hands of someone he trusted, a disciple of the church.
And maybe, I think, maybe at the time when Blake was a child there in that moment, he sensed Loutermilch would kill him too. And Loutermilch may have been tempted to do so, since he was caught red handed, and Blake was old enough to understand, and be a credible witness. Blake heard the screams, came to the source, and saw that Loutermilch did this crime; murdered his friend in cold blood. Blake had no choice. He ran. Or he would be killed too.
But two dead children would be highly suspicious, and foul play would be suspect; an investigation might reveal more than the murders. Blake running and hiding gave Loutermilch time to chill out, think about what he would do - formulate the plan. Loutermilch ‘fixed’ the misunderstanding, between he and Blake; coaxed the scared child out of hiding, maybe even reestablishing some trust between them. Loutermilch manipulated little Blake into believing, betraying his friend a second time, that Jessica did some sinful suicide on account of bad relations with her dad.
Loutermilch made Blake believe he was the villain here, that Blake had something to do with Jessica’s suicide - that Blake would be seen as an accomplice or some other implication that was scary to a confused, traumatized child. And Loutermilch felt no remorse for his twisted actions. But Blake did.
But we’re not done here. Loutermilch didn’t leave the church after Jessica’s death. Nope. Still a free man, doing what he loved doing - his job, I mean. But he and Blake still had interactions; probably Blake was distanced and wanted nothing to do with Loutermilch. Sometimes, Blake did hear Loutermilch pray, or imagined he heard Loutermilch pray to god regarding Jessica’s death. Loutermilch saw Jessica’s death as a worthy sacrifice, and thanked god for taking her. But Loutermilch was also interested in ensuring Blake would never say a thing, and kept track of little Blake on the side. He simply had to be around, and Blake would stay silent - but the guilt and nightmares still haunted Blake.
Blake runs from the Loutermilch demon, because he is still that scared child, running from the monster that killed his friend.
