We start off strong with a very cringey exchange between Kate and some of her ambiguous cohorts that have no defining traits or importance to her overall storyline. When you've read some of Fanny's logs, you rapidly ascertain that she talks just like this, which is probably why her Sick Bantz do not amuse me.
This scene mostly caught my attention because of how they skated right past the "rape is wrong" bit; Fanny is such a rape fetishist
she cannot even conceptualize why other people think it's wrong in any deep or meaningful way. She's so shallow it makes the whole "educated French socialist" LARP even more grating.
Another instance of getting dangerously close to a potentially interesting exchange, but Fanny saves us from such a dreadful fate. Also, the fact that Maggie thinks a teacher having a crush on a student is not cause for much concern is another example of how Fanny's theory of mind and empathy is so poor, she cannot envision a world that doesn't bend to her will even slightly.
Such a college movie way of looking at college; lots of people don't even lose their virginity until after college, especially if they are pursuing especially intellectually draining degrees like law or science. Also, lol IRL @ "Turns out fat chicks
are hot." Oh, Fanny - still feeling insecure about your pooch, are we?
Something every writer struggles with is a concise, natural way to initiate a scene that sparks an integral moment in the plot; amateur writers are very clunky and show their hand obviously while more seasoned writers are so practiced, you won't even notice the lead-up until after the fact. This entire scene makes me want to wash the toilet with my head. That's not even touching upon the fact that the narration subtly supports Kate's fury towards the proper labeling of Cyrus' abuse; this is where, despite Fanny's proclamations that she doesn't support raping kids, it comes across that way anyway.
European alert: no staff at a Waffle House would benevolently let some fat tard pass out in their establishment. You think Waffle House employees aren't finely trained in the art of evicting the homeless and the drunk? (You see, I had to focus on that instead, because the rest of this passage is essentially Fanny's propaganda to promote her whole "she asked for it" shtick.)
Women in the Fannyverse are objects to be abused, sniveling cunts or nagging, presumptuous bitches; men, however, are always saviors, heroes and attractive love interests you'd be a fool not to swoon over. Make that of what you will.
I actually laughed at describing Cyrus as "big as a mountain." Yeah, Fat Mountain's what we called him! Also, the bit about how being a Republican is worse than being a pedophile, while an attempt at humor, is just more of Fanny's own personal bias leaking into her work - because
she genuinely seems to think it's worse to skew conservative than to rape kids. The fact that this conversation ends with a request for them to have sex is why I study Fanny's cranial measurements like an old Yakubian ape.
Astute readers will notice that once Kate has reached the age of consent and then some, the sex scenes between her and Cyrus are remarkably less erotically charged. Reveal to me the contents of your hard drive, you beast of Angoulême.
Another conversation about a very serious topic (so sensitive, some people may be forgiven for being brought to tears by its severity and what it means) that reads like it was written with the same sensibilities as your average episode of Archer. Also, Cyrus calling it "the devil's lettuce" is so dated, rank and memetic it could be used as a smelling salt.
As Kate grows older and we encroach closer toward the end, scenes get shorter and even less meaningful than before. There just simply isn't anything to say about some of these lines; a particularly hostile editor could probably snip this fic down by at least 15k.
Honestly, this sometimes reads like a PSA promoting the rape of kids. "They'll get better grades if you let teachers fuck 'em!"
Rape scene time! Or sexual assault, depending on how specific you want to get about it. Notice here that when Fanny writes someone who is meant to be "bad", the narration takes a different tone to it, and the character is written even flatter than her beloved blorbos. Also something to consider: this scene was vague but other sex scenes were needlessly detailed; this should give you an idea of what she
really thinks of Cyrus' repeated rape of Kate.
The paragraph in which Kate warns people of Isaiah's poor behavior
but does not warn any other students about Cyrus' misconduct is a rather appalling display of inconsistency. I'm a sensitive soul that doesn't like to turn traumas into competitions, but the idea that one forced blowjob when you're both hammered is worse than being repeatedly raped as a teenager by your teacher over the course of several years just strikes me as oddly convenient to Fanny's personal interests. But now you must remember: this is supposedly her mother's
favorite work of hers.
After all these years of ensnaring Kate, you'd think Cyrus would be more aggressive and domineering with her the way he is with Lynn, because
this kind of personality is not so easily turned on and off depending on your company. Spend enough time around abusive personalities and you'll notice quickly that even their milder, kinder behaviors take on a darker tone.
"Cy, they think you're some loser small-time teacher while you're busy doing academic
robbery and shipping your students to the best universities in the whole state
." Again, beating the reader over the head with the fact that Fanny considers Cyrus' serial predation acceptable because he gets the girls he abuses into good schools. What a coldly mercenary, transactional way of viewing the world; maybe Fanny resents she didn't get
even more opportunities in life because she's a dumpy little pervert who can't attract fat-walleted sleazeballs. If only you were a blonde, long-legged bombshell like the sisters you draw fucking your dead father!
Case in point: another girl he molested who is doing just fine and dandy, thank you! No need to involve the cops, Cyrus has the Midas Touch of making all the children he rapes turn into solid gold.
KAMGO can be summarized succinctly by describing it as a series of unfortunate events where the misfortune is never actually recognized as that bad, actually. Cassandra's response to a grave and terrible reveal like this is so apathetic and dry, you'd think that they lived in those fucked up hentai worlds where breeding stocks are commonplace in public. Just feels like normal women would have a bit more of an incendiary response to this than calmly stating "He's the teenager-fucking type, that's already enough of a red flag for me."
Fanny really, really has no issue with rape on any serious moral level and it drips out of the pores of every passage. Also, the misogyny leaps out here by describing the sympathy of other girls as slimy; Kate sees herself as above other women the way Lynn does, and when you've read enough of her stuff, you realize that misogyny may be Fanny's most defining character trait.
A tense conversation between victim and perpetrator that reads more like a transcript of a phone call with a customer service representative from a call center. While it's nice to see Kate grow a backbone, she's still a selfish wart on society that acts like a jilted girlfriend when faced wtih Cyrus' more unsavory nature.
The inescapabability of trauma is a compelling subject matter, at least in my eyes; too bad Fanny doesn't do anything meaningful with it. This is also quite nitpicky, but the whole woodcarving thing feels so trite and forced that it often takes me out of the work itself, which is funny because it's a hard work to be invested in.
"She missed their banter!" This is how we know Kate is a masochist.
There's been interesting legal cases about possession and distribution of child porn charges being directed at teenagers who took their own selfies, but that's another conversation for another day. Instead, we'll just note that Cyrus asks to keep the CP for his CP hoard, because Fanny Perret thinks CP isn't a big deal.
A vague sex scene which is mostly to establish Cyrus as the Alpha Male who will define men for Kate for the rest of her life. Fanny veers close to some interesting possible character revelations - Cyrus has difficulty getting erect for Kate as she's older and more developed now - but of course, misses the goal completely.
This is like watching two Redditors reproduce.
Boring stuff about how Kate is like, doing so well and super good because Cyrus raped her. Also, she befriends a girl named Violet, but the dull minutiae of their friendship's development isn't compelling enough to earn its time in the limelight.
Finally, a scene with some juice: Kate lashes out at Violet and Cassandra after Violet claims there were rumors that Kate slept with Cyrus to get good grades, which is actually an interesting twist to the reality of the situation (and, tragically, an accurate lens that many young victims are viewed through). Of course, Kate chimps out in the extreme and starts through chairs out of windows, which Violet and Cassandra should've had the common sense God gave to worms to film for World Star.
Kate finds herself as one of the few recipients of consequences in the Fannyverse, forced to confront her anger issues when Cassandra threatens to report her to the police. (She doesn't, because monumental consequences are nonexistent.) This part of the chapter is arguably the most noteworthy part, as she reads My Dark Vanessa and makes up excuses for Cyrus being different from Strane. Citing that Strane is rapey and manipulative is likely intended to showcase that Kate looks at Cyrus through rose-tinted glasses, but knowing that Fanny wears these glasses too makes it less incisive.
Cyrus' casual misogyny being dropped in the middle of such a tense scene really helps the whole "Fanny is an irrevocable misogynist" theory get legs. I also thought it was funny how laissez-faire Cyrus is about the reality of being a chomo in prison, because he would die very, very quickly from a lifer shivving him up the asshole.
The exchange between Kate and Cyrus here is also enough to drive a man to the brink of madness in an attempt to tear the beating heart out of the floorboards - Cyrus doing the same thing Kate did earlier by saying "Erm, but if you
wanted it, then it's not
grooming" can only be tolerated so many times. We fucking get it, Fanny, you think getting raped by old dudes is fine as long as you get something out of it. In another life, Fanny would've loved to be a golddigger.
And with that, we have just one more chapter to go! What's the buzz, Kiwis? Do you think Cassandra deserved the kind of mistreatment from Kate that definitely got brushed off way too easily? Do you get tired of reading about how, without the sunshine of Cyrus' insufferability to help her bloom, Kate is the most boring bitch on the planet? Just how gigantically fat do we think Kate will be by the time the book is over?
