#alisha not alihsha

[spite-of-the-grifter]

My actual thoughts under the cut because I don't want to take up your whole screen. Please watch this, it's so important.

This this this forever from someone who's been in love with reading since I was a kid. It uses books as a status symbol, intellectualism has ALWAYS been a status symbol. But now, times have changed and people from marginalized communities are able to educate themselves better than they ever could. Which is a good thing!! Critical thinking skills and knowledge are so, so imperative ESPECIALLY these days. Which is what makes the commodification and consumer culture of reading so scary. It dilutes it. It takes away the point of reading - the seeking of knowledge and different perspectives - and makes it about safe, samey, bite-sized tropes and discourages people who like reading to actually read and share their interpretations in fear of being "pretentious" or a "hater" which. Being pretentious is one thing, but the lack of openness to criticism is such an issue in the community and it hurts people.

As for the "let people enjoy things" side I do understand where the sentiment comes from. Especially, as said, when women have hobbies that are constantly belittled, it's understandable how every minor criticism about what they like can be read as that same belittling (see also; cringe culture) and I 100% get that.But this defensiveness does way more harm than good in my opinion, it contributes to the dillution of reading itself and increases the speed of rampant consumerism and commodification. Which in turn leads to more criticism, this time maybe more directed at the community, which only serves to solidify these people's feelings and it ends up repeating again and again until all nuance is lost. It's like a dog chasing it's tail. We get NOWHERE.

It turns it into a class thing, it shows that when we went two steps forward, we went a few steps back.

Also if you read smut, I'm not bashing you with this. Read what you want, I'm absolutely anti censorship and if you enjoy reading that, that's 100% ok and not the issue we have with the online book community. Just putting that out there. Don't hate the people in the community, hate the books and the systems that make up the community. Don't bash the people who like the books, bash the companies who blindly churn the stuff out so it dulls out all meaning TO the books.

Sometimes, the curtains are blue for a reason. (Same thing goes for the overconsumption behind annotations and over-analysis, but I'll let her explain that. Please watch this. It's so important.)

[eleiyaumei]

I feel like these two should have a discussion because both have valid points for approaching things like BookTok the way they do but imo fail to give their opposing sides more room and understanding.

(I hate that my brain is such a contrarian: watching the one video being like "yes, valid, but..." and then watching the other being like "yes, valid, but...")

(I also have a problem with people talking in ways that make it seem like their opinion is the one that truly matters and either leaving other opinions and arguments out of it or just glossing over them in a sentence or two.)

[swannkings]

booktok, brainrot, and why it’s okay to be a hater - alisha not alihsha

[nomazee]

a month ago i said i would yell about misogyny and patriarchal themes in fanfiction and eventually i will but there are so many thoughts and feelings in my head that it will take me forever to type it down. But i will say this

Be critical of the things you read. i’m not saying you CANT read for enjoyment—you CAN and SHOULD read for fun. But i’m saying that sometimes you should take notice of the themes in writing and think “wow, i wonder why that’s written like that. Is this harmful or is this helpful?”

it’s a given that fanfiction is widely heteronormative because society and media blah blah blah We know all of this … but in my opinion i think it’s important to think about why women in hetero fics are portrayed the way they are sometimes. I think reader insert fics have gone a long way in being more inclusive and less harmful than they were years ago BUT. Do not let that stop you from recognizing themes in the works you read right now

like; Why are misogyny-affected people written a certain way?? Why are there often degrading themes in a lot of tropes and fics regarding women?? Why are there certain roles that misogyny affected people are expected to fulfill even in fiction?? why are women often the “default” for fics with male characters?? think about any of these questions for like longer than two minutes, read a bad fic, and you will probably see where i’m coming from

[eerna]

Who should I watch on YouTube???

I assume this is about Booktube? If so, here are some recs of mine. Like I said I don't have much name loyalty, if I wanna hear a review I usually just type in the name of the book into the search bar and click the vid not done by a famous booktuber (bar the first 2 on this list, I trust them for that)

Withcindy. That one Booktube channel I love. She reminds me of my friends and I enjoy her vibe so much. I watch everything she posts.

Mynameismarines. I watch her videos when I need reviews, but also context for drama.

Alisha not alihsha. Very cool recs and thoughts. Mwah chef's kiss

Inis Vitre. I only watched the The Witcher book to TV adaptation vid but it was so good I will keep my eye on future vids

Bookish Songs Collective. They write book songs so that counts as Booktube right!!!

[sleepy-vix]

"to critique something is, to me, the greatest form of adoration" - alisha not alihsha

[alyrasturnz]

video essay recommendations please :))

definitely go check out clark elieson and alisha not alihsha! they only have a few videos but i swear i rewatch their shit everyday!!

my all time favorites are oliasunvia and shanspeare

but if you have a really bad attention span then sisyphus 55 is the one for you