#it's not the wankfest I object to

[christinaroseandrews]

If you're going to blaze your AI-generated celebrity wankfest, you're going to earn a one-way trip to my block list.

I mean, come on people, if you want celebrity wankfest, do terrible Photoshop manipulation or oddly proportioned drawings like the rest of us.

[voxofthevoid]

I'm new to the jjk fandom, and it seems that the fandom likes to compare yuuji with yuuta, as well as yuuji and megumi and calling them the better character? like I get that there's always a rivalry in shounen anime, but why do the fandom seem to underestimate yuuji so much? I love yuuji but it's sad that he's receiving so much shit when he's actually doing so well, considering he just joined as a sorcerer not too long ago. what do you think about this as someone who loves yuuji too?

Ah, the plight of Yuuji fans. My sympathies, anon. I very much understand the frustration 😔

I get why people would like Yuuta or Megumi more. That always comes down to a matter of taste, and honestly, I like Megumi a lot and generally find Yuuta amusing/entertaining. I can easily see why people would stan them (and let's be real, every character has someone stanning them). "Better" character in terms of the actual narrative is more of an objective measure, and I'll kill and cannibalize on the hill of it being Yuuji. My personal ranking is Yuuji > Megumi > Yuuta when it comes to these three characters' writing and their roles in the overall narrative.

The funny part is that, unlike most shonen, there's barely any rivalry within the narrative. Yuuta and Yuuji respect each other and get along well, and while Megumi seems to want to catch up to Yuuji, you never get the sense that it's for the sake of power; it's more like he wants to stand with Yuuji.

And that right there is how I mostly cope. I love canon, and despite some of the dubious writing decisions lately, I'm still in love with these characters and storylines. That makes it relatively easy to go "well, you're entitled to your wrong opinions" when I see spectacularly bad takes. I also try my best to curate my fandom experience, though that's easier on Tumblr than Reddit (which is where I find most of the pointless comparison posts and thinly veiled wankfests masquerading as meta). I still see shit and snap, which you can see on my blog sometimes. But I have a good number of friends in JJK who also love Yuuji, so I usually just stroll into their DMs to rant about people misunderstanding or mischaracterizing him.

Overall, I'm pretty set in my fandom opinions and used to just doing my own thing in a corner with like-minded fandom folks. The rest gets ignored unless I'm directly addressed.

Good luck navigating the JJK waters, anon! For what it's worth, there are a lot of us who adore Yuuji. I hope you find plenty of kindred souls and enjoy yourself. And think of it this way—the only person who undermines Yuuji in canon is Sukuna, and that's the same guy who blocked Yuuji's punch with three whole arms. He's in denial.

[cydonian-mystery]

Basically ditto what Emma said. Nemesis is the worst hands down because of the rape scene.

Not that much else of the film is exactly great.

The entire sequence of finding B4 feels like a sidequest. Why does Starfleet need a dune buggy when they have transporters and shuttles. Why is it called the 'Argo'? It has nothing to do with the mythical ship, Jason and the Argonauts, or hunting for golden fleece. It's a null reference. They called a dune buggy the 'Argo' because they thought it sounded cool, rather than any objective or inspired reason.

The Scimitar is a wankfest like the Vengeance from Into Darkness. A big dumb ship whose main threat (it can fire while cloaked) was done better in Star Trek VI over a decade earlier. The magic medusa radiation is just icing on the cake.

Shinzon is the most cringe villain Star Trek has ever had.

I could go on, but I won't. I hate this film and it almost killed my interest in Star Trek. And it actively managed to succeed in killing the franchise until ST2009 came along.

Love or hate AOS, you have to admit it saved the franchise. Because Nemesis straight up killed it dead.

I haven't seen all of them and I'm planning on binging them soon! Let me know why!

[tarisilmarwen]

I admit I kind of like Zutara but so many shippers on this hellsite spout the cringiest fandom mom from 2013 rhetoric I’ve ever seen, from Aang was the creator’s self insert and the creator is an incel and Kataang is sexist to straight up counting down till Katara’s live action actress turns legal so that Zutara can happen in the Netflix show

Oh gross I did not know about that last part.

But yeah, shippers claiming they hate their rival ship for egregious moral reasons rather than because it's just not their taste or preference has been a thing since Harry/Hermione, it's just much more couched in obnoxious wokeism terminology now.

Joke's on them, ANY ship can use that kind of rhetoric as a bludgeon against their opponents, which is why you're seeing more of a pushback against Zutara these days.

[lululawrence]

lululawrence’s June 2020 Fic List

Click here for previous months’ fic lists.

It’s that time again! Time to celebrate the creators in our fandom! I was able to get much more reading done this month and I loved it. Here are the fics I read in the order I read them since the last 28th Appreciation Day. 

If time allows, I’m hoping to start my monthly podcast up again in July, so fingers crossed that will happen! I miss talkig about why I loved the fics I was able to read and hope you’re excited for the return of the podcast too.

Many of these fics are still anonymous as part of the @1daboficfest ​, so please especially be sure to show those anonymous creators some love! You can ALWAYS show your thanks to the authors by leaving (nice) comments and kudos.

It's not what it looks like... by @kingsofeverything / kingsofeverything (FullOnLarrie) (3k, E, Harry/Louis, Wankfest fic, Phone Sex, Wanking, Masks, Flirting, Hilarious and Hot)

lord knows i've tried (can't get her off my mind) by @choface / whensheflies (4k, M, Harry/Louis, Wankfest fic, Girl Direction, Catholic School, High School, Flirting, So Great)

Hear My Train A-Comin' by @fallinglikethis / FallingLikeThis (1k, E, Harry/Louis, Wankfest fic, Meet Cute (but the author calls it a Meet Sexy and... she’s not wrong), Semi-Public Sex, Wanking, Such a Delicious Fic Snack)

Us, Me, We by @homosociallyyours / homosociallyyours (2k, E, Harry/Harry, Harry/Louis, Wankfest fic, Recreational Drug Use, Wanking, Humor, Selfcest, I just.. really don’t know how else to explain so just please read it lol)

live show by @hereforlou / hereforlou (3k, E, Harry/Louis, Wankfest fic, Established Relationship, Video Chat Sex, Basically, Dogs, Like... they’re one of my favorite parts even though they’re so minor, anywayyyyyy)

Missed You Like Crazy by @beanno28 / Beanno28 (2k, E, Harry/Louis, Wankfest fic, Established Relationship, Canon Compliant, Sex Toys, The visuals in this omggggg)

Those Hometown Lights by @louandhazaf / YesIsAWorld (3k, E, Liam/Louis, Wankfest fic, Friends to Lovers, Video Chat Sex, Getting Together, Gosh I LOVED this so much)

Never Say Never by @haztobegood / haztobegood (3k, E, Gen, Wankfest fic, Girl Direction, Roommates, Object Insertion, Exploration, Never Have I Ever, This fic was so innocent and so dirty haha, I loved it)

Camboy on Lockdown by @reminiscingintherain / reminiscingintherain (3k, E, Harry/Louis, Wankfest fic, Camboy Louis, Lockdown Fic, Daddy Kink, Yep mmhmm)

You Drive Me Wild by @jacaranda-bloom / jacaranda_bloom (5k, E, Harry/Louis, Wankfest fic, Driver Harry, Rich Louis, Wanking, Mutual Pining, The promise of more after the end of this is delectable)

Ink on Your Fingers, Ink on My Skin by @laynefaire / Layne Faire (HisDarlin) (2k, E, Zayn/Liam, Wankfest fic, Tattoo Artist Zayn, Liam just wants to adore him, lolll, For real though I loved how Liam was so familiar with Zayn’s art)

You Called (I Missed It) by @absoloutenonsense / nonsensedarling (4k, E, Harry/Louis, Wankfest fic, Wanking to innocent things, Like inane voicemails, and Instagram Photos, That’s All I’m Saying, and there’s some excellently witty humor)

This Might As Well Just Happen by @londonfoginacup / LadyLondonderry (3k, M, Harry/Louis, Wankfest fic, Established Relationship, 2nd person POV, Self Insert Fic, Bodyswap, Humor, I cannot emphasize enough how much you MUST READ THIS FIC)

First Moments of Freedom by @jaerie / jaerie (2k, E, Harry/Louis, Wankfest fic, A/B/O, Omega Harry, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Just... Please read the tags on this one first)

Bite My Lip and Close My Eyes (Take Me Away to Paradise) by @canadianlarrie and @mizzhydes / Canadianlarrie (canadianlarrie) and MsHydeStylinson (4k, E, Harry/Louis, Wankfest fic, Roommates, Pining, Shower Wanking, Getting Together)

Sounding Off by @jaerie / jaerie (2k, E, Harry/Louis, Wankfest fic, Established Relationship, Sounding, First Time, Yep dunno what more to say lmao)

Rose Pink Omega by Anonymous (12k, M, Marcel/Louis, A/B/O Fest fic, A/B/O, Omega Louis, Alpha Marcel, Omega Harry, Styles Twins, Roommate Harry, Camboy Louis, Getting Together, This fic is so reminiscent of 2012 fics in the best way, I loved it)

No Friends and An Empty Heart by @maelstromroots / Maelstrom_Roots (36k, E, Harry/Louis, Fleabag AU, Priest Harry, Cafe Owner Louis, Depression, Anxiety, Angst, Feelings, SO MANY FEELINGS, Sadness, Loneliness, Mentions of Suicide, Sex Addiction, This makes it sound like a horribly depressing fic, But it is SO FUCKING BEAUTIFUL, and I cried the entire way through it)

When Tomorrow Comes by Anonymous (11k, E, Harry/Louis, A/B/O Fest fic, A/B/O, Omega Louis, Alpha Harry, Uni, School Project, Alpha Nesting, True Mates, Strangers to Lovers, Niall the Accidental Wingman)

Shadows Come With The Pain That You're Running From (Love Was Something You've Never Heard Enough) by Anonymous (51k, E, Harry/Louis, A/B/O Fest fic, A/B/O, Secret Omega Harry, Alpha Louis, Miscommunication, Secrets, Angst, Surprise Heat, Canon Divergent, The pain was so real fam omg)

how will you know if you never try by @musketrois / musketrois (B_kate) (11k, NR, Harry/Louis, Ace Louis, Drag Queen Louis, Photographer Harry, Anxiety, No Smut, Ace Drag Queen Louis was everything I could have ever hoped for I just cannot express to you fully how much I love her)

Confessions of a Fabricated Alpha by Anonymous (18k, E, Harry/Louis, A/B/O Fest fic, A/B/O, Alpha Louis, Secret Omega Harry, Famous Harry, Phone Sex Worker Louis, Strangers to Lovers, Read the Tags, Worldbuilding, Their relationship in this fic was so cool to watch grow, I wanted to punch pretty much all the powers that be that surround Harry in this fic lmao)

Home (It's You) by Anonymous (28k, M, Harry/Louis, A/B/O Fest fic, A/B/O, Alpha Louis, Omega Harry, Neighbors, Enemies to Lovers, Miscommunication, Mutual Pining, Hurt/Comfort, No Smut, I loved how protective Louis was in this fic)

Tastes like Strawberries by Anonymous (5k, E, Harry/Louis, A/B/O Fest fic, A/B/O, Alpha Harry, Omega Louis, Nesting, University, Heat (kinda), Accidental Texting, lmaooooo it makes sense in the fic okay)

We Both Got Nothing to Hide by Anonymous (44k, E, Harry/Louis, A/B/O Fest fic, A/B/O, Alpha Harry, Omega Louis, Nesting, Roommates, University, Pining, Mutual Pining, Friends to Lovers, Surprise Heat, Mating, Louis’ secret nest in this fic had me wishing I had a wardrobe large enough to create a nest like his tbh)

strawberry lipstick state of mind by @hazloveshisboo / Hazloveshisboo (15k, E, Harry/Louis, Girl Direction, Cam Girl Harry, Baker Harry, Teacher Louis, Mom Harry, Secrets, Communication, I loved how their relationship developed and changed)

If you let me be your man by Anonymous (5k, E, Zayn/Liam, A/B/O Fest fic, A/B/O, Alpha Liam, Omega Zayn, Scenting, Meet Cute, Early Heat, Nesting, Soulmates, I loved the worldbuilding in this one, It’s short but so great)

Unplanned Circumstances by Anonymous (9k, E, Zayn/Louis, A/B/O Fest fic, A/B/O, Alpha Zayn, Omega Louis, MPreg, Accidental Pregnancy, Spy Zayn, One Night Stand, Open Ending, The author has plans for a sequel so pray with me this happens cause I wanna know how it all comes together!)

Promise Me You Won't Run Away by Anonymous (23k, E, Harry/Louis, A/B/O Fest fic, A/B/O, Alpha Harry, Omega Louis, Prince Louis, Knight Harry, Childhood Friends to Lovers, Exes to Lovers, First Time, Secret Relationship, This fic was such fun to read!)

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Personally, I would LOVE to see a critic as talented as yourself talk about the Dark Knight Trilogy’s decidedly negative impact on superhero media.

My opinion about the trilogy has always been mixed, but since I’m sick of seeing edge lord fanboys gush about how perfect and flawless those movies are and how every other version of Batman is objectively horrible for not being exactly like the Nolan films, I know I’m gonna greatly enjoy reading what you would have to say.

(Seriously, one dude on Reddit said he hated the ERB version of Joker because it wasn’t based on Heath Ledger. You believe that shit?)

See, I have a very love/hate relationship with Heath Ledger’s Joker because a lot of people see him as the be-all end-all of how Joker should be portrayed, and while Ledger really gave a fantastic performance for what he was supposed to do, I feel that much like the rest of Nolan’s Batman films he’s missing the elements that make Joker truly entertaining. Namely, Ledger’s Joker is not particularly funny, something even Phoenix was able to do (I think Phoenix is the definitive film Joker).

But god, I really just want to air my grievances with Nolan’s Batman films. They are movies entirely carried by the villains and side characters, take place in a Gotham that has absolutely no personality and is entirely interchangeable with any random city, feature so little Batman it’s laughable, outright seem ashamed to be seen as comic book films, are so grounded in realism as to be pretentious, and worst of all, they paved the way for Zack Snyder to make the most overblown Pseudo-intellectual wankfests ever made. And then there’s the fact you can see the influence of the films in the worst superhero movies ever (ASM2 and F4antastic).

Like I still love TDK, Ledger’s Joker, and Bane (and his CIA boyfriend) but god are those movies not all they’re cracked up to be. They aren’t even Nolan’s best work! Memento and especially The Prestige are way better, and mostly because he’s not taking a source material that by its very nature is at least slightly campy and grounding it in dismal realism.

[apothecarywormcrud]

*drags over chair* omg please yell about kabuto i'm so here for this 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, and 10.

@fireemlmblem​ u gave the same numbers so this ask’s doing double-duty 

1) What’s a Hot Take you have about your f/o?

hes one of th best naruto villains actually madara uchiha eat my fucking ass. 

also when he was messing around w. those lil pebbles while doing War Strategy i think he should have eaten one 

2) On what do you disagree with other fans of your f/o?

this would suggest that i regularly interact with people who like kabuto, which i don’t, because i don’t fucking trust them (short of like, maybe three people). i know shipping him w/ snakebert is a big thing and i’m mostly ambivalent about it. like on the one hand yes it is an absolutely fascinating relationship dynamic and i have friends who’ve written some good fucking fics but also like. i think he should be able to live a life free of that influence. i want him to have nice things (while on parole and doing community service). 

5) What’s the dumbest thing you’ve heard about your f/o, either on the internet or irl?

i don’t particularly care for depictions that reduce him to “orochimaru’s simp.” he’s multi-dimensional you bastards but ofc when ppl are in it for the Hot Yaois none of that actually matters. 

7) Did your f/o deserve better?

boy FUCKING howdy do i have some opinions about this one. so obviously there’s a lotta naruto characters who got shafted out of a proper end to their character arcs (hi neji), but kabuto’s makes me particularly angry because not only are his issues therapy-no-jutsu’ed out of existence, but he doesn’t even get proper closure after the fact. you can’t give us some dramatic fuckin spiel about how a jutsu is gnna force a character into an endless loop until they confront their personal issues and come to terms with the thing keeping them trapped in a destructive cycle and then NOT SHOW SAID CHARACTER CONFRONTING THEIR ISSUES. if you’re gonna show us the tragic backstory that explains why kabuto is the way he is, why can’t we also be shown him coming to terms with that? (i’ll tell you why, it’s because war-era shippuden is an uchiha wankfest and god forbid we devote any time to anyone not directly involved in them). 

to add insult to injury, orochimaru gets resurrected, which means that even if kabuto supposedly confronted his issues, he’s still in a position to very easily be yanked right back into the codependant relationship he was involved in before. for all intents and purposes, he has learned nothing and is right back at square one. i hate this song. 

i do kinda like that in boruto he winds up as orphanage caretaker on parole w/ urushi, bc there’s something very narratively tidy about “orphan taken advantage of by the system returns to take care of other orphans and ensure they don’t turn out the same way he did,” but it really gets my goat that we know absolutely nothing about how he would up there, and also like, you’d think he’d have a couple objections about orochimaru being allowed to run rampant through the village? but like, i get it, nobody gives a fuck about kabuto so let’s just throw in a brief cameo and then forget he ever existed. it’s fine. i’m fine.  also every day i am thinking about how i wish he’d gotten to interact more with sai bc they were both forced by ROOT to kill people they cared about and it hurts me that neither of them ever really got the vengeance on the system that they deserved (to say nothing of the fact that as far as we know, said system continued to exist even after naruto became hokage despite one of the series’ original guiding points being that Using People As Weapons Is Bad.) 

8) Do you even like the source your f/o comes from or do you only watch it for them & nothing else?

naruto sucks but i like it and i love all my funky lil ninja kids. i’d be lying if i said i wasn’t marginally more interested in episodes w/ kabuto in than all the other ones, though. 

10) How did you feel when you realized “oh of course i had to like That Character”?

i felt absolutely nothing because this is just the way i always am. i see the most pedantic and insufferable little bastard imaginable and i go thats my boyfriend. 

[kingsofeverything]

Hello, darlin! Since my wankfest fic will be a time stamp from the original story, let's go with a self-rec for Take Your Time, please and thank you! I sent you the link via private message

Thank youuuuuuuu Layne!

Take Your Time by Layne Faire

When Harry finds himself in the middle of a messy break-up with no place to live, Louis offers a spare room in his flat. Unbeknownst to Harry, Louis has been infatuated for years. Over the objections of their friends, who know the truth, Harry accepts. Can Louis survive Harry moving into his home…and closer to his heart? Will Harry see what's right in front of him?

SEND ME SELF RECS (FIC OR ART) FOR 28th APPRECIATION!

[kilieit]

Makes me frightened to try and do anything initiative-wise TBH.

I’ve had it multiple times before, in my previous MMO’s RP community... where someone has taken a personal disliking to me. Usually related to the fact that I politely asked them to stop doing something that was hurting me or the people in a community I moderated, but sometimes related to the fact I’m trans and don’t feel the need to hide that from people.

And this person, whoever they are, has then gone on to decide that said personal dislike... entitles them, somehow... to straight up 100% just fabricate bad rumours about me and spread them around.

Like I’m not even talking “liberal interpretation of the truth”, I mean straight up, unadulterated lies. Things that never, in any way, shape or form, happened. Not even a little bit. Not even if you squint.

And like, how are you even supposed to respond to that? “No, I didn’t do that”? “No, I didn’t do that, you dumbasses, of course that person’s going to be bitter”? “No, I didn’t do that, and screw you all for believing it, I’m out”?

This is, by the way, why I have such an aversion to ~handling things privately~ (as is seen as the gold standard in Confronting Things Over Doing Things They Shouldn’t Be Doing). Every single time, without exception, that I did the whole... confronting someone privately, calmly, level-headedly, open-mindedly, informing them that I had the community’s best interests at heart, and that I needed to speak to them about something important, but if we worked together on the problem we could come up with a solution that suited everyone... or, if it was a more personal issue (i.e. that they were abusing me, in case that wasn’t clear) that I didn’t dislike them as a person, that we could still work something out, but I needed them to listen to me and understand where I was coming from...

...it resulted in this kind of harassment. Every single time. They would straight up lie about what I had said or done to them during that encounter, about the reason they’d been kicked, about the way in which the kick was brought about (you have NO IDEA how many times I was accused of just dictatorially deciding to kick someone myself for no reason when it was, in fact, a committee decision among officers)... about the weeks and months leading up to that... about my personality, about my IRL situation, about my age, about my gender... lies. Literally just lying to try and make me look as bad as possible.

So then... listen... this Blog That Shall Not Be Named... here’s my opinion, as a victim of more kinds of online abuse than I can really be bothered to detail here...

It’s insidious. Because it mixes in true things with false things. I saw at least two accusations on there that I know to be true because I’ve personally witnessed/been victim to the person+behaviour in question (no, I won’t say which ones, because who isn’t the point I’m making here). I also saw at least three accusations on there that I know to be false, or made in bad faith (i.e., exaggerating something that the accuser found subjectively distasteful, in order to try and make it seem objectively morally wrong).

In other words, The Blog That Shall Not Be Named places real, actual problems that people should be aware of... on a level with unfounded, fabricated, or erroneous criticisms. To the detriment of all.

Now, so, then... where does that leave me, as a potential event leader?

I have this idea for a series of events. I’m actually really enthusiastic about the idea itself. It’s not like anything else I’ve seen on the public Balmung calendar. It’s been in the running for months now. The reason I’m broke in-game? I managed to score a house to host the events in. I keep tweaking the décor there. I’m really happy with the plot, location, internal layout, everything. I have a plan for the first event - I could run it tomorrow if I really needed to, although I’d prefer to polish it some more, obviously.

But I’ve also had all these bad experiences, back on my old MMO. I remember that once you stick your head above the parapet, it means that someone, somewhere, is going to see you as a target. Especially if you admit to things people see as “weaknesses”, like being transgender, or having a mental illness, or being in a less financially well-off position.

Knowing that if people knew my name, they’d probably try to say something terrible about me... and knowing there’s a blog out there which allows them to do so with absolutely zero proof, and absolutely zero repercussions for lying...

Because listen, here’s the thing.

In my old MMO, half of those people got off scot free. Not going to lie. A few of them are BNF’s these days. I hate them. I hate that they drove me out and went on to be successful and well-loved and that their life is great and mine is still plagued by anxiety every time I make a post on the Internet that could potentially be misconstrued by someone reading it in bad faith, through absolutely no fault of my own except maybe “trying to be friends with someone who turned out to be a scumbag”.

But the other half? Got a reputation for being liars, for being pot-stirrers or drama-llamas or elitists. No one wanted to play with them any more, because the public took note that anyone who that person doesn’t like gets tarred with the Evil Person Of The Month stick. Someone made a callout post about me once on their blog. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that it was a result of a personal vendetta and not any actual misconduct on my part. People said as much. In the comments. And I never had trouble from that person again.

So that’s why this Blog That Shall Not Be Named is useless for its supposed goal, in my eyes - if you’re going to bring a case to the Court of Public Opinion, you’d better be willing to be tried in it as well, or it all just turns into a big wankfest.

I don’t actually like using the Court of Public Opinion for deciding right and wrong, by the way. I much prefer the Court of Actually Providing Receipts and Only Warning Folks About The Person If They’ve Asked Or If The Person Is, Like, Legitimately Dangerous (fun facts: my previous MMO RP community was once infiltrated, briefly, by an honest-to-god Dashcon-style scammer). But even so, there are right ways and wrong ways to go about invoking the Court of Public Opinion.

If you provide no receipts but provide your identity, then people can contact you for follow-up, review your general personality and behaviour, and decide for themselves what they think. Your reputation is on the line too, so people know that at least you’re willing to risk that to say your piece.

(And if the idea of people scrutinising you after a receiptless callout makes you uncomfortable, then tough. It’s nothing worse than what the other person is going to be going through, and there’s just as much proof that either of you have done something wrong, after all. They didn’t even get the choice of whether to initiate the incident or not... you did.)

If you provide receipts (i.e. undoctored screenshots or video footage), then it’s a lot easier to say you want to be anonymous to protect yourself. Because the receipts are right there for anyone to examine for authenticity. The focus becomes the behaviour, not the people.

Of course, the gold standard is publishing receipts under your name... because then you have the level of authenticity supplied by actually providing proof of your claims, plus the level of superficial support to your claims added by being willing to put your own name on the line along with the accusation.

But doing neither?

Don’t even bother.

TL;DR: This is the age of callout posts being used as tools by abusers to turn the tide of public opinion against their victims, in order to further harm and isolate them. Remember that when you’re reading them.

[fandomshatepeopleofcolor]

Question: Is it bad that I like ACOTAR even though it definitely has serious issues? Because every time you guys post about it I feel guilty for enjoying the series.

ok first of all, please remember to read the faq before sending a question! If you’re on the mobile app, there’s a link on the bio for it.

Second, no, it’s not bad. I don’t hate everytihng about it, I mean, half of everything I say is how much I love Lucien, that he’s never done anything bad, ever, no matter how much SJM wants us to think so, and I just Do It For Him, because He Is Worth It. The first book wasn’t at all terrible (outside of the bad writing), if extremely white and heterosexual. If I compare the racism in the first book to that of the following ones… it’s one scene, something that we as readers are expected to interpret as bad, vs a whole load of bullshit we’re supposed to cheer on in the next ones. 

The series would’ve been better as a stand-alone, with ACOTAR being the first and last book. It all goes downhill when Maas turns the hero into a villain and the villain into the hero and expects us (the readers) to believe that this somehow makes sense. She completely wrecks her own work and turns it into a literal wankfest that makes her main character the worst kind of stereotypical mary sue self-insert. 

Like I really think that in the first two thirds of the book Tamlin and Feyre had a sweet relationship, if kind of dull at times. I loved Lucien as a character (if you couldn’t tell), and I thought Feyre’s relationship with her sisters had the potential to become far more interesting than… *gestures vaguely towards acowar* whatever the fuck that is. A retelling of Beauty and the Beast in which Belle is an iliterate artist? Sign me up! But it all went downhill during the Under the Mountain arc, imo. 

Any other plot would’ve made the book better, but that edgy crap really ruined it for me. “Enduring a ton of physical and emotional pain and torture” doesn’t give your characters a personality. It doesn’t make them likeable, either, and in Rhys case it doesn’t even make me pity him. It’s just lazy, and by the end of it, when you make everything about it it’s just dull, boring, expected. You become desensitized to it.

So no, I don’t think it’s bad that you enjoy it. I think it’s bad if you’re not critical of it, if you blindly defend it as if it Literally Invented Fantasy, when it’s objectively mediocre at best. ~mod ara.