Like, "You were proud of throwing away your humanity? Was it too much for you to handle? That thing that every other person manages to deal with? You were really that weak?"

The Hat will never be forgotten. It will live on in increasingly obscure references.

An "Uh-huh" or an "Oh really?" would have probably been a better fit as an empty phrase, especially following "The only response possible".

Like, there's gotta be another way to translate ああ、そうですか that would feel a bit more natural for conversational English, right?

The way she writes love that is also a festering resentment...I am taking notes.