gyou08

[gyou08]

who watches the watchmen?

[gyou08]

What is the difference between The Secret History and If We Were Villains?

For two stories with themes that are so similar—be it the cultist college students, the dead haunting the narrative, the deplorable acts, the so-called ‘inadequate’ protagonist—they are not identical. Let me explain.

The secret history is a criticism of those who base their actions purely on the aesthetic and superficiality, while if we were villains shows the punishment of those who fail to differentiate between what is real and what is fiction.

The secret history is a full-fledged novel. It it about six-hundred pages of someone so used to being an outsider that he commits murder along with his classmates to feel part of the group. It doesn’t dance around the act with delicate prose and poetry, and there’s no valid reason to it either, but you don’t question it. Every single character from Donna Tartt’s book is morally grey from the start, with few moments of humanity, which you could say makes the reader numb to even something as evil as murder, or it is possibly the unreliable narrator trick she uses. Has this truly happened? Was bunny truly a horrible person or was this just Richard’s point of view?

If we were villains is a play. A Shakespearean tragedy. It’s written as one, intended to be and everyone has their specific role, unmovable and unchanging. Rio states the character’s roles clearly, through foreshadowing mostly. James being cast as Brutus, or Macbeth was no coincidence because, as stated at the beginning of the book, life and art imitate eachother. The only character who’s evil, per se, is Richard (the other one), and is our antagonist. Meredith: the temptress, the seducer. Filippa and Alexander: the masterminds.

Is If We Were Villains a copy of The Secret History? In some ways, maybe. I can’t deny the parallels. But, honestly, I think the biggest difference of all is this: Rio’s finale spikes hope, Tartt’s speaks of consequence.

[gyou08]

i made a gone edit :3

(ignore the fact that u can tell what parts i did like months ago and what parts i did last night 😭)

art credits: @/gone.grouptherapy, @/wrathofthebadger.art, @/gone_memes_cs, @/ichorink_, @/cheekypenguu (all on insta besides the last one which is on tumblr)

audio credit: @/iamcrystalice (on insta)

(also i’m not good at using text in my edits so that part isn’t like the best…. i also haven’t edited in like a few months so oops)

[gyou08]

Caine is such a deliciously tragic character, his ending was probably one of the only ones I was fully satisfied with. I love thinking of all the things I can do and write with a fanfiction centered around him, mostly cause I'm an angst lover through and through.

I also love how mg didn't shy away from the villainous route with him, which I feel he could've easily done in Gone by just having Caine be like I'm hurt so I hurt people:((

NO, Caine is hurt so he hurts people, but he also does it for his own benefit, and he doesn't lack a conscious, he just has a weak one. In my opinion Drake wasn't the best deception of a psychopath and mg could've done a lot better with him, but Caine was incredible deception of a sociopath.

When I first read I liked Caine but was not too intrigued by his character, now rereading after I've become a writer I absolutely love all the little habits he has and the sudden mood shifts.

I also love how Caine is charismatic, makes it feel like actual research has gone into writing his ASPD accurately.

[gyou08]

if anyone's wondering how the job hunt is going

[gyou08]

being an english major is loving the subjects but hating the procedure of learning it

[gyou08]

“I’m an English major I’m an English major” I chant as I misspell the same word five different ways

[gyou08]

loving a book isn’t enough I need to merge with it on an atomic level

[gyou08]

the fact that i'm no longer the same age as the protagonists of novels and films i once connected to is so heartbreaking. there was a time when I looked forward to turning their age. i did. and i also outgrew them. i continue to age, but they don't; never will. the immortality of fiction is beautiful, but cruel.

[gyou08]

(I lent a book to someone the other day and said “just ignore my notes, I wrote another book in there.” This made me laugh so hard)

[gyou08]

tiktok is getting banned, twitter is incel hell, and meta is evil……it’s time to return to my roots

[gyou08]

What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.

— J.D. Salinger.

[gyou08]

Pre-FAYZ Caine and Diana Head Cannons

Hii l've lurked in this fandom for years so here's me throwing out some thoughts I've had because this series has lived rent free in my head for 6/7ish years -

I don't ever stop thinking about these two before the FAYZ.

ーーーーー

1. They were both smart. Like, really, really smart.

2. Diana's best subject was history and she also enjoyed sciences/was very good at math. She took mostly APs or whatever form of higher level classes they had at Coates. Diana was the type of smart that she got good grades but didn't try in the things that didn't interest her. For example, she hated English. She couldn't care less because it was boring. It was the only class she didn't take some form of higher level in.

3. Because of this lack of interest, she would often get other people to do the homework for her and she had a mental list of boys (Caine and various other boys who had good grades in English who had a crush on her) and would rotate through getting them to do the homework for her.

The only assignments she ever did in English were the exams and quizzes.

4. In contrast. Caine's best subject was English and he loved to read. He read all the time, mostly classics, biographies, historical fiction and science fiction.

(This idea was prompted to me by that scene in Plague where Diana references Napoleon and he's like, "ummm actually" and cites a biography he read on Napoleon in the Island house like ??? Okay nerd) (He was me, I would do some shit like that if one of my friends made a reference to something I didn't know)

5. He also took mostly APs or higher level classes. He was really good at most subjects, or at least English and math, but couldn't stay awake during any science classes. He managed an A in science (despite his naps in the class) because he tried to maintain a 4.0, but he hated science

6. Diana tried to tutor him in science once because he told her he would only write her essay if she helped him, but it ended up with them fighting so she refused to help him again.

7. Caine was definitely in one of the following sports before he went to Coates:

- rowing, tennis or golf.

- or he at least knew how to play golf or tennis.

I can't explain this one. He just exudes preppy athlete energy (because his mom made him do it.)

8. Kind of off topic but: Coates did in fact have sports but not football because there was a time where a fight between them and another school they played against got so violent that they had to disband their team to avoid a lawsuit.

9. Diana has a ton of siblings (I imagine 4 in my head, so she's one of 5). She's 100% the middle child, and her younger siblings are MUCH younger because of her dad's affair. I imagine ~4 when she leaves for school the year of the FAYZ and they're part of what makes her want to be a mother because she was often the primary caretaker of them when she was home (because her dad and stepmom were losers).

10. (I don't think we get official confirmation on this, apologies if I'm misremembering) Diana's birthday is on Halloween and she just turns 14 before the FAYZ starts that November and she is young for her class.

11. Before the FAYZ started in that fall, Diana had a shitty boyfriend who was a couple years older than her that Caine hated. Around the time his powers got stronger, some conflict happened between Diana and the boyfriend (I haven't decided on a specific one) and he has a suspicious "accident" on the stairs that day. Diana got mad at Caine, and her boyfriend had to leave school due to his injuries. However, this was one of the early moments that made Diana feel like Caine could protect her.

12. Diana didn't find out about Caine's powers on purpose. She stumbled across him practicing in what would have been an empty library while avoiding class or something.

13. Caine and Drake were roommates because Caine was the only Coates student not too afraid to be his roommate. Drake was a clean and meticulous roommate, so Caine didn't mind him much.

—————

This is what l've got for now! If you've read all of this thank you 😅

I have some on the trio as roommates post-FAYZ as well if anyone is interested :)

[gyou08]

me after last minute switching my subjects from all STEM to all humanities...

i fear this is my richard papen moment...

[gyou08]

"There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin"

-hozier

[gyou08]

Dead Poets Society

-1989

[gyou08]