#i know its a backhanded compliment but it’s not completely anti so

[bennettmaximoff]

Hope and Lizzie’s relationship and how it developed over the seasons was one of the very minuscule things Legacies did right. I mean I have a few issues with how they handle Lizzie’s mental health, but she’s a good character in general and her development was great. I prefer her out of the twins for multiple reasons and I would list them out, but i’m saving those grievances for another rant lol.

[serpenteve]

shitty things mal has done (in the books)

a salty essay by @serpenteve (formerly snarkydarkling)

ignores alina’s existence for ¾ of S&B even tho he’s supposed to be her best friend like ??? ok there friend of year

“omg alina is actually fucking hot now??? hands off! i saw her first!”

shames alina for daring to fit in at the little palace

shames alina for ….wearing black?? ha ha ha ha ok who made malware the fashion police????

shames alina for daring to crush on someone who isn’t him even tho he’s probably banged half the first army

shames alina for being well off for once (”And here you are, safe and sound, dancing and flirting like some cosseted little princess.”) yEAH FUCK YOU TOO MALWARE AJSHAKJDHSFK (ﾉಥ益ಥ）ﾉ ┻━┻

“I love you, Alina, even the part of you that loved him” like whoa talk about a backhanded compliment and if we’re gonna keep holding ex-lovers against each other then alina might as well have responded with “yeahhh i love you too malfeasance, even the part of you that fucked zoya, kissed ruby, and fingered anya” like oh my god mal get a fucking grip

he’s literally the happiest son of a bitch in the entire country at the beginning of s&s, completely ignoring the fact that alina is now sickly, weak, and terribly unhealthy because she’s suppressing her powers like he literally could not give two shits about alina’s well-being aS LONG AS HE’S DOING WELL THATS ALL THAT MATTERS (And you know he’s extra gross when even the villain of the fucking series is like ?? tf you holding yourself back for ??? you look miserable??)

when they’re on the darkling’s ship he’s more worried that alina might end up enjoying herself with darkles than like…oh, idk..getting fucking tortured by him???

actually ATTACKS nikolai for daring to make a sensible proposal to alina

mal@nikolai: “You don’t have a right to her.” me@mal: HAHAHAHA STFU YOU SELFISH ENTITLED PIECE OF SHIT OH MY GOD THE IRONY

doesn’t even let alina answer nikolai’s proposal bc why would his girlfriend need to think for herself??? have her own agency??

straight up admits he doesn’t even want to help ravka he just wants to get in alina’s pants

whines and complains and generally acts like an oppressed fuckboi the entire time alina is trying to rebuild the second army and save her goddamn country

“since i dont fit in for once in my life, im gonna act like an immature shithead and make your life miserable too wah wah wah”

omg alina dares to flinch when malodorous tries to kiss her? should we let her explain herself or should we act like crybaby and go shove our tongues down zoya’s throat?

“psshhh its YOUR fault i kissed zoya!!! if you hadn’t dared to reject my magnificent self then i wouldn’t have had to kiss her obvs!!!11!”

“omg i can’t believe you care about saving your country more than fucking me?? selfish bitch!!!”

“i dont care that ravkas in a civil war and you’re our only hope of winning!! im going thru an identity crisis and i need you to stroke my ego 24/7!!!! im not a soldier, im not a tracker, so who am i alina/?? TELL ME WHO AM I???” a tool is what you are, you entitled prick

“i liked you better when you were insecure and powerless. where is that girl??? i want her back!!!!”

“how dare you crush on a prince who actually treats with the respect you deserve??? fucking gold-digger!!!”

abandons alina during his shift because he was too busy getting drunk and nearly lets her fucking die if tolya hadn’t intervened like yOU HAD ONE GODDAMN JOB MALPRACTICE

sabotages alina’s plan to kill the darkling

spends all of r&r resenting having to help alina & nikolai save the goddamn country like can you make it any more obvious you’re only here to try and get into alina’s pants again????

“i am become a blade” is probably the most unintentionally hilarious and anti-climatic conclusion to mal’s irrelevant identity crisis like yes, good for you malware, you’ve finally embraced your identity as a tool

“listen i don’t have an army or a crown but if you don’t choose me you’re basically a gold-digging materialistic whore but no pressure lmao”

hades was so repulsed by mal’s gross ass that he sent him back two seconds later

[superrichlads]

That Billboard article about Niall's LA show is still on my mind and I'm wondering if you have any thoughts about it to share? I can't make sense of it as it felt so random. I have no problem with criticism and no artist can improve without it, so that's not my issue. I'm just confused as to what was the point of the article beyond a writer having an agenda as a fan of someone else, and if it was even supposed to be a concert review, and I'm honestly wondering, did I misunderstand it?

oh boy, do I have some thoughts. but they are wildly divergent from the general reaction to that article. so I’ve been biting my tongue. if you really want to know… here are a bunch of random thoughts about the article, but mostly about  how fans reacted to the article…

> the article is full of subtle drags, backhanded compliments and a few actual compliments. she has some interesting takes ie I thought her take on Niall’s music as dad rock, with ‘the daddiest of dad rock influences’ was quite interesting after the reviewer in Dallas who thought his music was ‘a little too juvenile’ for her as a 30 year old woman.I agree with some things she wrote (although I would have phrased them in far less condescending ways), wildly disagree with others, and was confused by what she was trying to say several times. overall, I think it does a reasonable job of capturing what it is like to be at a Niall Horan concert from the perspective of someone who is somewhat bemused by the boy band teen idol to solo star phenomenon.

> the fan reaction to this article seems centred around the idea that the reviewer compares Niall unfavourably to Harry Styles. I read it completely differently. she’s definitely heavy on the comparisons, but those comparisons are just as often in Niall’s favour as they are against him. I went back and read her review of Harry Styles’ concert, and it’s a very similar read to her review of Niall’s - full of subtle drags and backhanded compliments. she seemed much more bemused than enraptured by the Harry Styles phenomenon.

> the fan reaction was also centred around the idea that Billboard has a pro-Harry, anti-Niall agenda, which is fundamentally not true. the writer is a freelancer, not a Billboard staffer, and many Billboard staff members have been enthusiastic supporters of Niall’s solo career. Jason Lipshutz (editorial director) was the number 1 Slow Hands cheerleader last year, and I don’t have enough fingers to count the number of other Billboard staff who have said nice things about Niall’s solo career. granted there are a few staff who are not on team Niall, but he can’t win ‘em all.

> there also seems to be a fandom misconception that Harry Styles is paying off publications to hype him up by dragging his ex-1D bandmates, which does not at all ring true with my experience in media & PR. yes, Harry has a PR team hard at work for him, but I think the coverage he gets is earned through cultivating strategic media relationships rather than paid, and their focus is on distancing him from One Direction than comparing him to the others. Niall has a PR team working for him too, they’re just taking a less heavy-handed approach to hyping him up.

> I understand the frustration that Niall has been overlooked and shortchanged by certain journalists and publications, and that probably boiled over into the reaction to this article. but honestly, Niall’s in a pretty good position. he may not generate the same level of media coverage as Harry, but he also doesn’t have to deal with the same degree of scrutiny & eviscerating criticism that comes with being the much-hyped frontrunner.

> controversial opinion: I don’t mind comparisons. they help me contextualise achievements. 1 billion streams of Flicker doesn’t mean much to me on its own, I need to compare that against other artists to know if it’s good or bad. to a certain extent it’s inevitable that Niall will be compared against Harry. they’ve taken different approaches to their solo careers, but they share many influences and a whole lot of history. but I’m just as interested in how Niall measures up against Khalid and Shawn Mendes and Charlie Puth and Troye Sivan and other young male popstars trying to secure global superstardom in the shadow of Ed Sheeran’s chart & stadium dominance.

> there are many, many, many fans who have gone to both Niall’s and Harry’s concerts and had the time of their lives at both. it would be a shame if fandom animosity among a small group of super-fans made other fans feel like they had to choose one over the other.

> it’s far easier to criticise than to create. if fans have issues with reviews, I challenge them to write reviews of their own. it’s hard to do well, especially to a tight deadline, and many writers are poorly compensated for their words. but it has never been easier for fans to share their own reviews - whether that’s through posting on their own social media accounts, or publishing to Medium, or pitching to local or online publications. and investing time & energy in that direction will have a greater impact - and be more rewarding - than railing against other people’s reviews… or reblogging another set of paparazzi photos. 🤨

[voteforjay]

I think it was maybe my second year in University, I was sitting around a computer desk in my Introduction to Comm Arts class. Box braids were back in style and I just got mine done to perfection.

Examples of box braids

“I like your braids, it makes you look like an African princess” the female infused in melanin said next to me.

For the purpose of this blog let’s call her The Anti Melanin.

I was elated to hear that compliment, I thought yes a Queen complimenting another Queen.

I responded with a modest “Thanks”

We continued talking for a while, me giving details on where I did it, how much I paid and stuff.

“I had my hair done like that enuh and took it out less than a week” The Anti Melanin stated

At this point, I was looking at her as if she had three eyes. I enquired on why would she pull it out that quick.

Like, seriously who spends 8 hours or more sitting down doing braids just to take them out in less than a month?

That’s the definition of insanity.

“It made me look like an African princess and I don’t like looking like an African princess. So I took them out.”

I silently continued my tasks throughout the rest of the class time, all dialogue between myself and The Anti Melanin ceased.

First of all, what I considered a compliment was clearly a backhanded one from her end. If you believe looking like an African princess is distasteful why would you tell someone they look like one?

How is looking like the embodiment of black beauty aka an African princess something to be disdain about.

I immediately placed The Anti Melanin in the I hate myself category.  you know, the category made for women who will never love themselves, never love their black beauty, their big lips, their hair that has a mind of its own, their round hips and most importantly their Hershey skin.

The women who make it their point of duty to find men with lighter skin shades, curlier or straight hair or men from a different ethnic background, in order to reproduce a mixed child.

I guess then they won’t completely feel like a failure.

Women who spend thousands and thousands of dollars on bleaching products to get the perfect white complexion.

That my friend is a woman who doesn’t love herself. That is The Anti Melanin

  So, who is The Anti Melanin?

The Anti Melanin is my classmate or any other female who is constantly donned in a weave made from an indigenous person hair (has to have a straight, silky or loosely curl pattern),  she would rather be caught dead than caught in her natural hair, a lover of contact lens (preferably blue, hazel, grey or green), spends ridiculous amount of time on social media revering other Anti Melanin females who hate the characteristics of being black and tear apart the ones who stand for something positive.

Hates her dark skin and often time runs from the sun because she would like to keep what is left of her complexion (whatever that means).

Why do we throw dirt in our creator’s face by doing this?  He has made us into gems, black people are jewels, our feature unique and beautiful.

Yes, I used the term beautiful, a word which I realized a lot of people have trouble using.

  But, there are so many beautiful shades of us. Kinda like a chocolate version of a box of Crayola crayons.

  Realize that the hair on your head is yours, you do not have curly locs, oh well, make it healthy locs and embrace it.

You do not have cafe-au-lait complexion, but how about trading in that Cairo White for some Coconut oil and start treasuring your skin and it’s shade.

And remember you are an African Princess, the epitome of beauty.

          Illustrations by: Nicholle Kobi

  “And I Don’t Like Looking Like An African Princess”… I think it was maybe my second year in University, I was sitting around a computer desk in my Introduction to Comm Arts class.