girls with adhd playing long rpgs like "i am overwhelmed by the state of the save file i left off with last time my attention arbitrarily fell onto this game. time to start from scratch."
"yeah i fucking love this game. i've bought it on console and pc, and then the remaster too. i have no idea how it ends, i only get 40% of the way through the main story each time"
Ok so honestly i didn't cry, and I'm happy she didn't kill them but killed max instead. She took away what they desired the most, what they were destroying themselves for. And she freed herself contemporary. Also it might be me projecting but at some point this book was so trans coded when she drew all the parallels between herself and Max. ||
It's all in the simbolysm i think, this book is not about revenge, actually Sam is angry at the world for most of the book, by killing him. She killed a part of her that she needed to let go off. Or maybe to make peace with. Wich was also what made the Bunnies seek her out and hate her because they couldn't make her like them.
Like we never get an actual description of Samantha, but then she says that she sees her face in Max and to me then she just looks like max, maybe with her hair longer. Max is a mix of all her ex lovers yet it feels a purely aesthetic thing, a very "I don't know if i want to kiss him or be him."
|| I think that her blockage with writing is like a symptom that something is wrong. Because she is not focused on actually writing, she is writing Ava, she is creating her as she goes and therefore she can't write anything else. When her and Ava get back together she is immediately able to write again because Ava is a complete character now that can make her own decisions (like thell max to leave) and so she can actually go back to writing.
||There is also the fact that she doesn't have her narrative language. Every other girl has a narrative language, that they exhaust and re use to the nausea, because they are too scared of being anything else (another commentary on genred and their use extreme of femininity) while Sam doesn't have a language like that, she doesn't have a comfort subject that she can keep using to hide the fact that she doesn't know what to write, because she has no identity, no home, no face. She is a blank page and that's why the other girls immediately want to grab her. Because that way they can write her as they want, eliminating an adversary and erasing any changes of self descrivery on her part.
okay so bunny by mona awad succeeded in areas I think my year of rest and relaxation by otessa moshfegh failed in which she created a satire that actually had something to say. the way awad deals with the concepts of loneliness (both incidental and self inflicted), female friendships, class and the pretentiousness of New England college culture actually feels purposeful. and the reason I compare it to moshfegh is because both books are satires with unlikeable protags but while moshfegh is too busy kissing her own ass and hiding behind “oh all art is apolitical” bc shes to scared to admit that she actually cares about the topics shes talking about, awad cares very deeply about what she’s writing which made it unsurprising to see she based it on her own experiences at brown university.
Samantha is not the most likable character and you’re either gonna cone away from the book hating her and her pity parties or deeply understanding why she throws them (especially if you read her as a woman of color like I did). there’s a constant theme of her being obsessed with her own otherness and its true especially when you consider (Spoiler) She created her best friend Ava from a swan in the pond . Ava is Samanthas ideal friend but also the ideal form of herself: cool, self assured and beautiful. If Ava is the good part of herself, then Max is the bad. Her dark thoughts, negative impulses and hatefulness. But he is also how she sees herself as well, or at least what she thinks Ava would find attractive, he’s smooth, attractive in a dangerous way, poetic without being pretentious (he’s a literal vessel for her to say what she feels about Ava all of which is written in her diary) and what I think is very very important he can fuck Ava. Something the bunny-boys couldn’t do.
there’s also the sense of how we lose ourselves in our friends, as female friendships tend to be all consuming to the point we really do melt into a hive mind and I think even the friendship with Ava is tinged with co-dependency. Samantha dehumanizes the Bunnies calling them by nicknames she gave them, robbing them of agency because of their perceived perfectness but once she is invited to the Smut Salon she begins to call them by their real names until finally in honestly the most disorienting section of the book they all become Bunny, to the point its hard to tell who is talking and I loved that I wish we got more of Sam as a Bunny.
the atmosphere and aesthetics of the novel were so fun a candy colored dark academia where we even see that the bunnies also put on airs around each other like how Kira’s voice deepens when she thinks shes alone, no longer concerned with sounding like. bunny. I like how each of the women have a genre assigned to their writing and personal style showing how even though they are indistinguishable from each other, they were their own people beforehand but they allowed themselves to get sucked into a vacuous pretentious bubble.
the commentary on class was great, especially with how sam is said to be too obsessed with being poor to have been poor her whole life and I think thats a very accurate representation of someone who’s financial status has been precarious for much of her formative years and why despite herself shes so intrigued by the bunnies and feels out of place in her writers cohort. rich people love to blow smoke up each others asses, which allows the bunnies to write horrible work because at the end of the day they’re rich it doesn’t matter they’re never gonna have to improve themselves. its also why sam feels reluctant to speak her true feelings on their work because she doesn’t have anyone to rely on lest she gets ousted
the usage of the all female writing cohort with the singular teacher was a great nod to the secret history honestly the whole book was
I loved how it was a creation horror story as well as coming of age the horrific parts were truly gross and the way the cannibalize themselves (metaphorically) towards the end was satisfying as fuck
and a lot of ppl hate the ending but sam choosing Jonah was honestly cathartic, she isn’t healed things aren’t sweet and nice but she makes a connection with someone who has been reaching out to her instead of being obsessed with her own otherness
this is a super funny comparison but i actually really liked bunny for a similar reason. like the bunnies are, on paper, trying to make samantha happier, friendlier, more free in her creativity, its just that happiness in their world means a certain sort of thing which someone like samantha cant achieve without being hollowed out and brainwashed first. the bunnies are all about enabling their most surface level self-indulgent desires, and thats not all bad. its in fact kind of a good impulse that comes from wanting to free themselves and each other from shame. samantha craves validation and companionship and thats not a bad thing either, but it turns her into someone who goes along with acts that fundamentally disgust her for the sake of feeling valued.
its not a one-to-one comparison to what i was talking abt earlier with reanimator but i do kind of love horror dynamics that are all about like a well meaning protag with normal human desires and follies that gets drawn in by a villain(s) who like enables those desires until the protag cant tell the difference between what they want and what theyre simply willing to endure in order to get that superficial validation.
-Julian was actually a dick. He isolated and groomed vulnerable students (do you think it's a coincidence that every single member of the greek class had a difficult home life?) into thinking that these very outdated concepts of love and power were good for them. He compared their dangerous behaviour to that of ancient gods. Then, rather than face the consequence of his actions and take accountability, he left when it mattered.
-Charles was an asshole, but he's not a scapegoat. You cannot blame all the problems on Charles, he was an addict as a result of his trauma. He needed help. This doesn't excuse him from his actions, but it explains them. At the beginning of the book he physically could not bring himself to hurt Camilla. He's not a "bad" person. He's a sick person.
-Bunny didn't deserve to die, but he was also probably going to condemn the group at some point. He didn't just die for no reason. (Believing that Bunny's death was truly pointless also means believing that Henry was an actual psychopath who killed his friend for shits and giggles.)
-Judy, Cloke and Sophie ended up the happiest. That is literally the moral of the book. Judy wasn't all tortured when Richard didn't want to hang out with her, she shook it off and kept living her life. That's literally the point.
-Richard was never in love with Camilla. He loved the idea of her, but didn't see her as a person. Because of this specific dynamic and the fact the Richard is narrating, we know nothing about her actual personality. Anything he says can be disputed, and a lot of it contradicts itself.
-Francis is not blameless or unproblematic, but of the group he probably had the best intentions. Most of his behaviour that can be interpreted as creepy can be chalked up to Richard's internalized homophobia (remember, everything is told from his point of view, and Francis was a gay man in the 80's) When you look objectively at what Francis did, you see that he made a pass, got rejected, then dropped it and moved on. There is (i think) one more attempt made later on in the book, and that is furthered by Richard and only interrupted when Charles shows up.
-Henry may be the metaphorical representative of death when talking about the book, but in the narrative it's important to remember he's also just a person. Otherwise everything he does seems beyond question, and he's assigned this label as just "evil." He was 21!! Literally still a kid
-There were not good or bad characters. The reason they hit so hard is because each of them are so layered. They all have good traits and bad traits, but calling one "evil" takes away their humanity and dismisses their complexity that makes them so great.
'Lucifer', 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine', 'Arrested Development', 'Family Guy', 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', 'Community', 'Star Trek' and 'Veronica Mars' are among the shows theat got cancelled but fans fought SO HARD that they saved them.
'Shadow and Bone' can be on that list too! Here’s a bunch of things you can do to help:
Sign the petition: http://chng.it/fqqThcFq
Share the petition and make EVERYONE you know sign it!!! (It takes two seconds and you can sign more than once using different email addresses)
FLOOD Netflix’s social media (Instagram, TikTok and Twitter) with comments, DM’s, story replies, threads, retweets and video stitches about 'Shadow and Bone' and 'Six of Crows'
FLOOD Netflix’s decision making staff’s social media with SaB and SoC renewal requests: @wade_davis28 (instagram and twitter), @reedhastings (twitter), @tedsarandos (instagram), @larrytanz (twitter)
FLOOD other Streaming Services Social Media with 'Shadow and Bone', asking them to pick it up!! (Prime Video I believe is by far the best choice)
WATCH THE SHOW!!! Many shows after cancellation loose viewership completely. Let’s not allow that to happen!!
Share this information in EVERY WAY you can. I have quite a following in other social media, so I’ll do that, and you should too!!
Richard's unhinged energy is the most entertaining part for me beside the murders. Like the guy is an inspiration for chaotic people. He lies about his family life, pretends his rich father has business in oil (who irl has a petrol pump), lies to his part time employer to get money, goes on a 90s teen movie shopping spree, takes any free item from Judy, lies about going to a prep school, lives on a diet of wine and more wine, takes any pill anyone gives him, joins a cultish greek gang, lets Bunny die an aesthetically pleasing death and not to forget.....does cocaine in the parking lot of Burger King.
You know I think an underrated theme in SOC is that, the adults have ruined the future of the next generation. They have created an inhumane environment that serves only them. They've crushed and wrung out the lives of the weaker and the new, keeping them desperate, subjugated, exploited, and dead. Pekka Rollins, Tante Heleen, Jan Van Eck, Jarl Brum, these are our villains.
But Six of Crows also says that these circumstances have manufactured a much darker and tougher individual than these people can imagine. While the older generation are content to rest on their laurels and their ill gotten easy lives, their juniors are sharpening their pain into cruel and effective tools, with a drive that someone on top simply cannot understand.
Idk, I think it's an interesting and empowering (if not subversively harsh) message for its core audience as a YA novel.
Imagine Ketterdam centuries in the future, where all six crows have become saints, and their shenanigans have too many references sin history books to be written off as fairytales.
Kaz Brekker, the Saint of thieves who takes pity on the lost souls and evokes power into the hearts of crooks.
Inej Ghafa the Saint of the abused, holding a protective hand over those who share her story and causing slavers great misfortune.
Jesper Fahey, the Saint of treasure whose name those whisper at gambling tables for good luck and is said to guard all zowa.
Wylan Hendriks, a Saint of runaways who watches over the shaken souls and bruised children who slip out of their bedroom windows to start new lives.
Nina Zenik, the Saint of lovers who couples leave offerings to in hopes that their love will be eternal, no matter what.
Matthias Helvar, the Saint of soldiers who younglings going to war pray to for mercy, and known to protect Grisha when called upon.
normalize reading a book without caring if the spine breaks, folded cover, misspelled annotations and just ruining the book completely as a form of art
i'd like to thank freddy carter's big blue eyes and acrobatic eyebrows for their contribution to the "stay in ketterdam" scene in the show. you can practically hear kaz thinking you inej, you through them (and honorable mention to his jawline that could cut glass)
a the amazing devil song each for the shadow and bone characters
*this is based off of the netflix series versions of the characters
Kaz Brekker - The Old Witch Sleep and the Good Man Grace
'Cause when I stand, oh all those folks will run
And tell the tales of what I've become
They'll speak of me in whispered tones
And say my name like it shakes their bones
Inej Ghafa - The Calling
And I promise you I'll write I love you
With my fingers on your sleeping hand
And when that fox howls I'll howl with it, in its cries I'll find an end
And when I think I'm fine you'll visit
And then you happen to me, you happen to me all over again
Nina Zenik - Ruin
I will bring you ruin in everything I do
It's never my intention but it happens all the same
It starts with love and comfort
Becomes a strength of will
But all that strength made rubble of those towers we built
Matthias Helvar - Blossoms
And my saint she is dancing
As every step I choose to take begins to set the world aflame
And the soldiers march behind me
I can hear them beat their spears
And for the first time in all my life
I know I'm more than what I fear
Alina Starkov - Inkpot Gods
Oh what these? These aren't tears
It's just the rain that wasn't brave enough to fall
And what they hear isn't laughter after all
It's just your voice learning for once to stand up tall
Aleksander Morozova - The Horror and The Wild
Think of all the horrors that I promised you I'd bring
I promise you, they'll sing of every
Time you passed your fingers through my hair and called me child
Witness me old man, I am the Wild
Malyen Oretsev - Farewell Wanderlust
Because farewell wanderlust, you've ever ever so kind
You brought me through this darkness but you left me here behind
And so long to the person you begged me to be
He's down, he's dead
Now take a good long look at what you've done to me
Nikolai Lantsov - That Unwanted Animal
And you rip my ribcage open
And devour what's truly yours
And our screaming joins in unison
I cry out to the lord
'Cause if we join our hands in prayer enough to God
I imagine it all starts to sound like applause
Genya Saffin - Fair
"'Cause outwardly," he says, "I try so hard to make you laugh at me"
And she, she does, she laughs as though she's not heard the joke ten thousand times before
And he adores her, he watches her get dressed as though she's hurtling through time
"Oh darling, please be mine"
Jesper Fahey - Welly Boots
And when you scream that it's not fair
It's like I've gone off to the coast
Left you behind just standing there
Pretending not to see your ghost
Wylan Van Eck - Secret Worlds
'Cause I will suffer silence for the strings you tune
And I'll withstand what's written for the writer in you
Write me well my love, write me weird
Write me willing, write me well
Everything is fine. Im completely fine. Its not the fact that one day, its just going to be nina, alone. At everyones funerals. No more crows. No more heists. No more chaos. Its no more. Just nina.