Teres

- I mean... Axis having positive emotions is a relatively uncommon thing, but Douglass clearly went quite overboard qua praise.

I honestly can't figure out if Douglass loves her characters or hates them. The way she treats them and the way she clearly wants us to think about them seems to change from one chapter to the next. What's more, what she wants us to think about them is completely at odds with the way they behave! She misses the mark every single time!

- She only needs to point out that she couldn't have twisted his arm while lying on the floor to show it was an accident.

Given the villagers' inexplicable hatred of her, they would probably still find a way to blame her for his death, anyway.

- I still do wonder if they bothered brainwashing Belial, too...

Honestly, I wouldn't put it past them, whether they have a reason to or not. I think they sometimes do it just because they can.

- That is true... though I do wonder if the stitching would even be sufficient (and why not put some people who are not crying on the task, anyway?).

I don't see why not. The knife didn't completely gut him, so the wound itself is probably only a couple of inches long, with practically no width. Since the stitches aren't being used to hold the wound together so it can heal, they would just need to close the top layer of skin.

- I do like Belial's comment here (because it is a little goofy and I do appreciate that about him),

Belial might actually be my favorite character simply because he's one of the only ones I can tolerate, and he seems to have a somewhat pleasing personality. ...now I'm just waiting for Douglass to ruin it.

- Sure, if they really want to keep these forms, that is fine, but at least assume your own name and make it clear you are not the real Brothers!

There's really no reason for them to keep the same names as the real Brothers, either. And even if their original names somehow give them away as Sentinels, all they need to do is make up new ones! The real Brothers are probably spinning like rotisserie chickens in their graves...assuming they even have graves, and these two didn't...I dunno, dissolve them in acid or something.