One of the reasons I liked Companion so much is that I lived a lot of my early life like Iris, with people not wanting me around, treating me strangely or with barely-concealed scorn. All with me having no idea why. Yes, I was an unkempt weird kid with no social skills. That’s what happens when you’re raised by fucking wolves with parents who don’t do anything to help you. It just seems like people could’ve been a little easier on me? But they weren’t. At all.

Anyway, the dinner party scene in Companion with poor Iris doing her best to fit in, to smile, to listen attentively and tell her own stories while everyone treats her disdainfully or barely acknowledges her — sister, I’ve been there. And it really sucks. It crushes your soul little by little. That scene reminded so much of my childhood and adolescence. I got that very same treatment if I wasn’t actively getting punched, kicked or otherwise beaten down.

Luckily (unluckily?), it wasn’t because I was an automaton, though I certainly wasn’t treated any better due to my humanity.

I mean, the whole point of Companion is that Iris acts with more humanity and compassion than the narcissistic, bumbling bio-humans all around her, even though she’s literally being used as a tool for some harebrained scheme. I think I did my best to do the same growing up in rural North Florida.

Though she had way better hair.