The Stories We Tell Ourselves: A Video Essay

"If she doesn't care about anything then there's nothing to manipulate... against her." Oh boy, that hit a little close to home. Honestly caught me by surprise.

Having watched this essay twice now, I can't wait for your big Rule of Rose video. I'm so glad you took your time to extend empathy towards the other children in the orphanage, much like the game does, despite them having done some truly horrible things to Jennifer and to each other. I've sadly seen many people who talk about this game only in terms of "wow, here's why children (and usually girls) are awful and cruel and inhuman creatures" without even mentioning the fact that they've been absolutely failed by every adult in their lives. Thank you so much for your work on this!

I think getting so caught up in a fictional character can be difficult for some people too. There's a important line between finding part of yourself in a character and wanting to become them. As you mention, people are not stories; I know this was difficult for me personally. Why can't I just act one way and stick to it? Why doesn't my personality fit into a neat little bubble like my favorite characters? It's something I struggled with for a long time, realizing that one story does not make you but thousands, even millions do was an eye opener. The complexity of the self is truly mind boggling. I think rule of the rose captures it really well, it's an adventure of the self that's a bit confusing as it's not from your own perspective. I think that's partially why people like having simple explanations for their emotions; the self is already so complex, adding emotions makes it incomprehensible. But emotions are important, an integral part of ourselves. Inside out really captures it in such a simple way. Emotions are often mixtures of multiple that can lead to something entirely new, and sadness and joy are basically 2 mirrors facing each other; they don't exist without the other. Very brilliant video, my favorite quote was "cooperation is our greatest asset; we're social creatures".

No way. A new honey bat upload to start the year? I thank you from the bottom of my heart

As someone who suffers from OCD (scrupulosity to be exact) this video really resonated with me. OCD makes it extremely difficult to have your own sense of who you are, it’s always trying to sell you a different story.

"It is finished, it is done. You can't take loved away." MAN holy hell that quote has been rattling around in my head since I first read it. absolute banger of a video essay, I'm glad I found this channel.

20:05 locked tomb jumpscare got me SO hard

I laughed so hard when I spotted the 'I am so normal about this' under 'Rule of Rose' Thank you for, again, sharing your perspective in such a thought provoking and moving way. A lot has changed in my life in the past few months and you said some things I really needed to hear. It's always fucked me up how I will never be able to truly understand another person, no matter how hard I try. I've managed to consume a lot of media that has changed the way I view life and people in the past 2 weeks (I highly recommend citizen sleeper if you haven't played it yet) and this video perfectly fits in with those. I was also happy to see how well your bloodborne video is doing now and wish you a great year :)

I heard the Locked Tomb audio and instantly subbed.

Rule of Rose is one of my favorite games of all time. I don’t think we have had many games that compare in its effectiveness in showing the female victim experience. Often many victims DO cope by becoming a tormentor, but is rarely viewed with compassion or empathy in video game plots. I struggle with the games mechanics, so I am good with my one playthrough, but anytime a video analysis crosses my page I get so happy! This game deserves so much more attention.

I've just stumbled across your channel from your Bloodborne video and just wanted to say how impressive your insight into these topics is. Also your ability to write your thoughts into an emotionally captivating story truly is second to none. You had me genuinely in tears while you were talking about inside out. I can't remember the last time I cried before that. Thank you Honey Bat, I hope you had a good new years, can't wait to see how far you continue to grow.❤

I'm definitely going to leave a comment once I'm all done watching this essay but I just have to say that the Nona jumpscare at 20:05 grabbed me by the god damn throat

This was quite a treat to listen to, as always. Consider my whole bag of popcorn thrown at you. Wish you all the best for 2024!

Every time I hear about RoR it sounds like such a unique and compelling game. But it also sounds like a game I'd totally hate playing lol (the animal deaths alone would put me off). So I'm very grateful there are writers like you to thoughtfully explore and analyze it. I still get to appreciate the ideas that a great game has to offer

The way I screeched with joy at seeing a new honeybat post.

It is indeed "funny", and on closer inspection a downright unnerving concept how much our minds construct narratives and fill in the blanks. The Mandela Effect in full swing. I myself just had to wrestle with this concept with an event my mind was absolutely adamant happened in "sometime summer 2023" BUT upon inspection of raw undeniable data (discord messages with literal minute-sharp timestamps) happened near halloween 2022. That's how quickly some narrative distortion in one's mind can happen.

the cold princess to me is also the autistic princess, her lack of eye contact and silence, going along with the social norms, i cant imagine what sort of internal experiences she's having, hidden under her inability to appropriately express.... the entirety of rule of rose is such a tragic, powerful story

Babe wake up!!! Honeybat posted!!

All I can really say in response to this is that it reminds me of something I heard once where someone told me that we see ourselves one way and everyone else sees ourselves in other ways and no matter what we do, there will always be different versions of ourselves out there and that's what makes humans truly weird.

Ok, I’ve watched it now. Excellent video, well written, well crafted, and well presented. You made an excellent selection of media to facilitate the deconstruction and reconstruction of the concept of self. Personally I relate very much to your experience of anger. I, too, grew up fearing it in myself and others, and considered it a purely negative emotion. Long into my adult life I lacked the tools to express anger without causing harm, so I just didn’t. I know better now, the habit of fear lingers. This is probably why I find horror games so hard to endure. I relate most strongly to the monsters.