The psychological tension here is immaculate. You’ve drawn such a sharp contrast between Elliot’s overt, loud performative nature (standing on chairs to recite Baudelaire) and the narrator’s quiet, voyeuristic passivity. The tragic irony is that while Elliot steals Victoria's work, he is simultaneously spoon-feeding it back to her to keep her dependent on his 'intellectual rescue.' It highlights how beautifully and terrifyingly you constructed this 'skewed triangle' of friendship.
I’m so happy that I was able to convey the tension properly. Elliot was fascinating to write. And the triangle had a slight erotic undertone underneath it all. I’m glad you picked up on all of that, your analysis is spot-on! Thank you so much, Lauren. 🤍🙏🏻
cece, i missed reading you! reading your dark and eerily seductive prose is working wonders on my european honeymoon (for anyone reading this comment; cece is best read while on a foresty train path or drinking red wine! i’ve got proof!)
this reminded me of aporia’s end in which the main character’s ability to keenly observe others, which should ideally be a gift, becomes a curse when paired with inaction and inertia. i became quickly frustrated when she didn’t say anything, but i thought the set-up was brilliant. i particularly think there’s a war on brilliant women going on (people stealing ideas from women is nothing new), and some men are finding it harder to step up to the plate, and elliot’s jealousy, resentment and inability to be authentic is clearly represented through his actions. combined with the main character, it made me think of three types of people: accomplishers (victoria), performers who resent accomplishers (elliot), and the audience of the performers (main character). your pen always depicts real life in a way that is sinister and grounding at the same time, and this is why i enjoy reading your fiction so much! as well as your vivid prose of course.
Omg, the fact you read me and took the time to analyze it while on your honeymoon is gold. I can’t thank you enough. And yes, Octavia’s complacency and the current MC are narratively similar. I’m glad you caught onto that (ofc you would). Also, it’s interesting to me you interpreted the MC as a woman. I was curious if people would try to figure out their gender 😂 Thank you again, and I hope your honeymoon is wonderful! 🤍
LOL two reasons; i’m a woman so i got into the character; i was thinking of your observant women main characters (like victoria). might have to read it again, now thinking of the MC as a man!
I mean, there's no right or wrong gendering in this case. 😌 But I'd be interested to see if you interpret the hints differently on another read. I had a lot of fun trying to hide it haha
Academia truly feels like this at times. I think you've captured the feeling of weird competitiveness in academia very well. Many times we're not even supposed to compete, but we do it anyway. Loved reading this story, thank you so much for sharing! (it reminded me of an anecdote from my University days, it's below if you're curious).
When I was close to finishing up my Bachelor's degree, I went to the secretariat to collect some documents I needed for my Masters, and I only needed them because I was going to study abroad. I expected the place to be deserted, and so I was shocked it was absolutely slammed with students. I asked what the fuss was and found out we were supposed to hand in a folder of documents (e.g. proof we didn't have any debt to the canteen or to the dorms) so we would be considered for the final project. This was not announced officially anywhere (not on the website, not during an assembly, not on the announcement corkboard), but rather a teacher had simply told one of my classmates to tell the rest of us. This classmate didn't, in hopes to ?? be the only one to enter the final presentation and graduate?? Obviously I shared the news and thankfully the entirety of my class managed to put together the folder on time, although we only had 1 to 2 days to do it, compared to 1 week for the rest of the students. Not finalizing my project then would have severely impacted not only my academic life, but my finances and other areas of my life too.
This classmate was also known to share purposefully incorrect notes in hopes we would learn the wrong information and he would get the highest score in class. He never did.
The psychological tension here is immaculate. You’ve drawn such a sharp contrast between Elliot’s overt, loud performative nature (standing on chairs to recite Baudelaire) and the narrator’s quiet, voyeuristic passivity. The tragic irony is that while Elliot steals Victoria's work, he is simultaneously spoon-feeding it back to her to keep her dependent on his 'intellectual rescue.' It highlights how beautifully and terrifyingly you constructed this 'skewed triangle' of friendship.
I’m so happy that I was able to convey the tension properly. Elliot was fascinating to write. And the triangle had a slight erotic undertone underneath it all. I’m glad you picked up on all of that, your analysis is spot-on! Thank you so much, Lauren. 🤍🙏🏻
cece, i missed reading you! reading your dark and eerily seductive prose is working wonders on my european honeymoon (for anyone reading this comment; cece is best read while on a foresty train path or drinking red wine! i’ve got proof!)
this reminded me of aporia’s end in which the main character’s ability to keenly observe others, which should ideally be a gift, becomes a curse when paired with inaction and inertia. i became quickly frustrated when she didn’t say anything, but i thought the set-up was brilliant. i particularly think there’s a war on brilliant women going on (people stealing ideas from women is nothing new), and some men are finding it harder to step up to the plate, and elliot’s jealousy, resentment and inability to be authentic is clearly represented through his actions. combined with the main character, it made me think of three types of people: accomplishers (victoria), performers who resent accomplishers (elliot), and the audience of the performers (main character). your pen always depicts real life in a way that is sinister and grounding at the same time, and this is why i enjoy reading your fiction so much! as well as your vivid prose of course.
a great read!!!
Omg, the fact you read me and took the time to analyze it while on your honeymoon is gold. I can’t thank you enough. And yes, Octavia’s complacency and the current MC are narratively similar. I’m glad you caught onto that (ofc you would). Also, it’s interesting to me you interpreted the MC as a woman. I was curious if people would try to figure out their gender 😂 Thank you again, and I hope your honeymoon is wonderful! 🤍
LOL two reasons; i’m a woman so i got into the character; i was thinking of your observant women main characters (like victoria). might have to read it again, now thinking of the MC as a man!
I mean, there's no right or wrong gendering in this case. 😌 But I'd be interested to see if you interpret the hints differently on another read. I had a lot of fun trying to hide it haha
Academia truly feels like this at times. I think you've captured the feeling of weird competitiveness in academia very well. Many times we're not even supposed to compete, but we do it anyway. Loved reading this story, thank you so much for sharing! (it reminded me of an anecdote from my University days, it's below if you're curious).
When I was close to finishing up my Bachelor's degree, I went to the secretariat to collect some documents I needed for my Masters, and I only needed them because I was going to study abroad. I expected the place to be deserted, and so I was shocked it was absolutely slammed with students. I asked what the fuss was and found out we were supposed to hand in a folder of documents (e.g. proof we didn't have any debt to the canteen or to the dorms) so we would be considered for the final project. This was not announced officially anywhere (not on the website, not during an assembly, not on the announcement corkboard), but rather a teacher had simply told one of my classmates to tell the rest of us. This classmate didn't, in hopes to ?? be the only one to enter the final presentation and graduate?? Obviously I shared the news and thankfully the entirety of my class managed to put together the folder on time, although we only had 1 to 2 days to do it, compared to 1 week for the rest of the students. Not finalizing my project then would have severely impacted not only my academic life, but my finances and other areas of my life too.
This classmate was also known to share purposefully incorrect notes in hopes we would learn the wrong information and he would get the highest score in class. He never did.
OMG these anecdotes are wild. I’m glad things ended up alright, but that’s somewhat crazy.
Thank you so much for your kind words and for reading, I really appreciate that! 🤍