annd now we're practically over
1 .
1. Favorite character?
Oh my god, so many
I could say Dirk because I feel the most like him, or Dave because he's still a great character even when I don't think I relate to him
But Rose is my favorite character. Her character arc is just perfect to me. She gradually comes to have more and more empathy for others, awakens to the complicatedness of the world, and faces the sort of moral ambiguity that nobody can have all figured out perfectly.
Like, when she talks about the "head empty" (Troll) feeling, that's so emblematic of something I used to feel as a young person, and she says it in a way that distills the feeling really well -- I can see why a 13-year-old who has never felt "that way" before would be instantly into it, and also why that kid would get caught up in that feeling and never quite shake it
And it's a great moral lesson for people who are 13 -- it's great to connect with someone who feels that way and wants to find a common language with them, but at the same time it's dangerous to get caught up in it and think that this is the sort of experience that you should have always
And I think that's great writing. If she ever came across as obnoxious, which she doesn't, I would think she'd be a great character. But she's more than just that.