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the Lamba Squad hate is UNJUSTIFIED and quite frankly fills me with a rage I am unable to express very eloquently.
Emma needs opposition to her ideals for the story to continue and I have seen many essays from people smarter than me on how this could’ve been accomplished despite the rushed ending, but I still love this story and wouldn’t change anything that we got.
Some people dislike that Barbra and Cislo specifically were almost “dumbed down” to make Norman feel smarter but I don’t think that’s the case at all
in fact i love how childish and immature they are because it shows the difference in how Norman and the others handled trauma.
Norman saw his inner child as weak, not able to do what needed to be done, and an obstacle to overcome to become Minerva, the person he needed to become to change the world.
however Barbra and Cislo are unapologetically child-like compared to other characters and they are entirely justified in BEING CHILDREN.
It’s almost like they are so childishly happy and silly and bashful in spite of everything that’s been done to them because they still see being a child that survived as something to be proud of. Norman wants to seem like an adult because all his life adults have had power over him (see isabella, peter, ect.) even Minerva who had the power to help them was an adult. No matter how you look at it Norman saw being the child he was as a bad thing which is exactly why I love that Emma and Ray use that acceptance to get through to him.
i love that the theme is it’s okay to be a kid which is why Barbra and Cislo are almost static characters but they still fulfill their role so well in the story.