Write-the-room - Flynn

why is Richard sickly for like 95% of the book he's always complaining about being exhausted and faint and nauseous and riddled with headaches and his solution is LETS HAVE MORE PILLS AND ALCOHOL??

LIKE SIR PLEASE JUST EAT A VEGETABLE IM BEGGING U

francis abernathy is genuinely god’s strongest warrior because how did this motherfucker survive THREE homoerotic failed situationships in a ROW, bunny, bunny’s murder, henry, richard, charles, incest twins, being a redhead, a SUICIDE ATTEMPT, being catholic, being gay in the 80s, being catholic AND gay BOTH in the 80s, multiple nervous breakdowns, vermont, an alcoholic absent mother, a homophobic grandpa, being fatherless AND to top it all off being the only diva in the classics group 😢

This is such a revealing passage in regards to how Neil views other people and the world in general. He's so compartmentalized he just straight-up won't process information he deems irrelevant to the things he cares about if it takes any extra time or effort.

I think he's probably so hypervigilant that he notices almost everything going on around him at all times but that's way too much information to deal with, especially when reacting and making decisions quickly is a matter of life and death like it often is for him, so he does this. Filters out everything unnecessary so he can focus only on what's most important.

Crooked Kingdom chapter 16

headcanon that neil and andrew don't necessarily hide their relationship in public but also absolutely refuse to acknowledge it. neil asked about his relationship with andrew "yeah i hate that guy", andrew asked if he and neil are actually together "i don't know who neil josten is" and then someone will spot them kissing in the car and they'd both be like "this is not our car"

Bunny wtf

andrew minyard really has a way with words but like can you imagine how it feels for people when they find out that this short, knives obsessed, batshit asshole is the most eloquent guy you'll ever meet

I mean obviously there is the iconic "is your learning curve a horizontal line?" and the underrated "oh, neil. you are far too heavy to tread ice this thin." or even "hell hath no fury"

but the icing on the cake has got to be "is your spine the spine of the righteous? are you trying your best to step on my toes because you’re feeling the tragic weight of the holier than thou?"

I mean come on

what is the spear cuts through water about? great question.

your lola said it was a romance but your dad said it is NOT romance. it's about an oppressive regime and the rebellion. the moon is there and so it the water. your lola is telling you the story but you are also watching it in a theater. it's deeply upsetting but also really funny sometimes. it's about redemption and regret. it's about longing. it's also totally gay. it's written in first, second, AND third person. it's absolute chaos but also beautifully structured. 10/10 would recommend.

Okay, I might be pulling this out of my ass but since that finals match was in Evermore that means the foxes should have been wearing their white away jerseys. Which means: the final match was a game of chess.

Not only are they wearing white, but they have first serve (Dan won the coin toss), and near the end the Foxes' king (Neil, because this is a battle between Riko and Neil) changes positions with the tower (Matt, a defenseman that towers over most people) creating the illusion of a castling.

And right there at the end, Riko attempts to kill Neil because they're in front of each other, but that's not how kings work. In the time it takes him to take that step, Andrew closes the gap and strikes. Check mate.

now i haven't finished the dream thieves yet (i'm like,,, 7 chapters away from finishing) and i think this may contain spoilers???? but i'm not too sure yet. i'm basically gonna word vomit. i'm sorry for not using any quotes, i wish i could but i only have the ebook version and a very limited storage space on my phone where i can only have ~two books downloaded

like a normal person, i enjoy listening to video essays, see what creators want to explain to their audience and leave with a certain view, try to come to my own arguments about certain points in the videos, see if i can apply some points to other aspects of my life etc etc. (this was the type of shi that helped me with my eng lit essays rip i miss alevels) and like a normal british citizen i looked up stuff about classism in the uk. in the end, i found a video essay about classism in general and how the ultra rich try to mimic being poor to get away from their hard issues that comes with being rich (which, frankly, is probably a lot less compared to someone who is working class).

recently, i was talking to my friend about specifics in the book about certain characters and i remember we went onto the convo of making music playlists for the characters. they said "it's gonna be hard for adam [...] cuz his whole thing is about being unknowable" and it always struck me with how unknowable he truly is when reading his character because his character is intrinsically linked to his working class background. (context: i'm a middle class child of immigrants who built themselves in the uk)

it's very clear the kind of social commentary stiefvater wanted to make using adam's character with how isolating and alienating it can be coming from a working class background trying to assimilate yourself into a society of those protected and privileged enough to not have any problems with accessing opportunities. how class is a huge obstacle between interpersonal relationships and feeling safe enough to be vulnerable with your issues with being working class. how difference in class can cause one-sided shame because of the meritocratic society we're living in. how, no matter how much money you earn or how many connections you can make, your attachment to your working class identity can be enough reason to aim for something supernaturally larger than yourself.

it's evident that other characters overlook adam's social class because he's a "self-made man" (or smth) and mainly because he's their friend: adam. however, when we get a chapter in his pov, class is a driving factor in how he interacts and views everyone. we can see the privilege gansey and ronan have for being able to not even consider class as an intimidating aspect about themselves to a normal person, but it's everything to adam in the sense that he feels like his earned money doesn't give him access to a similar respect.

now that i truly think about it, it was a good idea for adam not to join them in monmouth manufacturing because it just feels like they're... mocking him in an indirect way? they have the ability to choose to live in a nice place and instead chose to live in a random, run-down building because it seemed aesthetic. adam was forced to live in a rundown trailer because that's all they could have afforded. i know gansey had good intentions for wanting adam to join them, but everything that he likes as an aesthetic (monmouth manufacturing, the run-down camaro, eating mint leaves instead of gum) can seem like he's flaunting the fact he can choose that lifestyle without any consequences.

back to the point of the meritocratic society (which we usually assume in books that take place in a similar world as our own) creating shame because of their class: the assumption that because someone has worked hard to earn what they have gives them a right to be proud. but this is the opposite for adam as he fights with the fact that he could have maybe be seen as even more equal to gansey if he had just been born with wealth.

we can frame it as, maybe, despite gansey's desire to appear working class, it only broadens the distance between him and adam. it only worsens adam's difficult relationship with his class shame despite probably wanting to be more relatable or even laid-back.

when reading the second book after his sacrifice, i was confused as to why adam was so un-adam-like. i mean, in the first book i didn't really understand him because of his huge insistance that his class makes him inherently inferior to everyone he surrounds himself with and i don't see class as an issue myself.

however, his sacrifice basically was watering the seed of ambition that was planted when he decided to aim for aglionby. it becamse clearer to me how much this opportunity to be superior, even if it's supernatural and terrifying, is important for him understanding in what he thinks he lacks. by those thoughts of what he lacks, he thought that this chance to be cabeswater's channel could be a way to compensate for his inferior social class. or something.

anyways, thank you for coming to my ted talk. this is not proofread, and my sister keeps nagging at me to shower. also i simp for gansey do not think this is me trying mischaracterising him i'm just trying to understand the theme of class in this series and having gansey as a figure to compare to is literally integral.