foreverroaming

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If you support authors like SJM, you’re the problem.

Critiquing her and spreading the message that she is a bad person is completely different. Liking her after everything she’s done and still supporting her both with books and merch- that’s a problem. Being ignorant and refusing to look it up, also a problem. Deciding “too many authors are getting cancelled so I’m just going to read whatever regardless” is also a fucking problem. It’s not cute, it’s not quirky. You’re the problem.

Accusing people who do condemn SJM as “oh they’re just trying to be different” also just shows how terrible of a person you are.

I make my content about SJM critiquing what she does, and trying to spread information on why what she does is wrong. However if this does come off as support of her, I will gladly stop or insult her further.

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To all the readers who go:

“I don’t care if the author is problematic, I’m still going to read the books”

“Separate the art from the artist”

“Don’t care, I’m still going to read it anyway”

“It’s too hard to keep up with who’s cancelled and problematic now so I’m just going to read whoever”

It’s literally not hard. My favorite authors are never a part of a controversy and are never considered problematic, because in reading diverse authors who are genuinely good people. You can’t separate the art from the artist when most of the time that art reflects their beliefs either intentionally or not intentionally. And to ignore it all and read from these authors anyhow is so unnecessarily cruel to the communities who are affected. I can’t stand this sort of person either, because their willingness to fade into apathy and ignorance is what is contributing to a lack of media literacy.

I also recently saw someone say they can read 900 page fantasy books but can’t struggle through a 90 page book for school. That’s also not the flex or the silly goofy joke you think it is. It reminds me of the boys I used to know in middle school and high school who would turn reading into a joke because they couldn’t keep up with the girls in class, and so they needed a way to invalidate something the girls were good at, because they were terrible at it themselves.

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The lengths Feyre (SJM fans) will go to justify Feyre is unreal:

1) they choose not to have empathy for anyone other than the IC

2) they think that instead of taking the high road, hurting someone a 1000% more is better

3) they ignore the cultural appropriation

4) they don’t understand why war crimes are bad

5) they ignore the elitism and classism Feyre holds towards others

6) they ignore the bullying she uses towards characters

7) they ignore the lives she ruins

8) they ignore her emotionally manipulating and abusing Lucien

9) they ignore how entitled and ungrateful she is towards those who help her

10) they ignore how she rarely says thank you and sorry, and I believe it’s even mentioned that most of the time when Feyre says sorry she doesn’t mean it

11) they claim she’s intelligent. Now that’s just a lie. We know from book one that she isn’t, and she’s not interested in learning more about the world around her

12) they make the biggest deal about Feyre hunting as if the families who have always been in poverty haven’t been doing that without complain for their entire lives

13) they ignore the very obvious red flag that Feyre hasn’t had friends before. If I read that Feyre says she’s never had female friends before, that would make me nervous as hell.

14) they value the feelings of a 500 year old man over a 25 year old woman

15) they will send you death threats, SA threats and harass you across platforms if you disagree with them.

16) when the conversation gets tough and they can’t stand critiques towards Feyre, they go down the “it’s not that deep” route or “it’s just a fantasy book”. No, you’re just fucking stupid, sorry to say

I treat Feyre/SJM fans the same way I treat MAGA. They’re blocked without question, because I cannot deal with the lack of empathy and media literacy from them. I do not have empathy

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For all the die hard SJM fans saying “she has a degree in world religions, she knows what she’s doing!”

NO. World religions only includes the major religions that are recognized today. And while SJM does steal from those religions, do not get me wrong, she at least studied those in school? I guess?

She did NOT study mythology, which is what she bastardizes the most. It shows in her blatant misunderstanding and disrespect of the cultures she’s stealing from.

Now I could be wrong, but MOST of the world religion courses I’ve seen in schools are completely focused on popular world religions today.

As a pagan, I can absolutely admit that does not include us and that we aren’t recognized in that way.

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My claim: SJM is a leading cause of anti-intellectualism, lack of empathy, lack of media literacy, and pro-plagiarism (honestly, including pro-AI) in the Booktok community whether it was intentional or not.

Anti-Intellectualism:

While this term most usually refers to the movement conservative lawmakers are doing when it comes to banning books and such, I am talking about this one specific kind on TikTok that is a push to read for “vibes” only. These readers will often say “it’s not that deep”, and condemn those who want to analyze what they read because they do not see value in it.

This is something I see the most in the SJM fandom. Often, a fan does not want to dig deeper than what’s written there for them, and what the MC believes. Quite literally “what you see is what you get”. They do not like making connections to the real world, valuing escapism to a degree that just isn’t functional. Escapism is absolutely a useful tool for readers, but it shouldn’t be all that you do to an extreme degree.

These fans will often take hypocritical stances because they refuse to understand a character past the beliefs of the MC, and often don’t like learning about new things.

If their favorite character is Feyre, it is especially difficult, because their favorite character does not value reading, as she practically kicked and screamed her way through learning. So why should readers who adore her put any value on reading more than surface level?

This type of closed mind reason often does not allow them to see past their own beliefs and understand other perspectives, which leads to my next point.

SJM also refuses to do her research (you can check my blog for a list of things she should be researching within her books). she disrespects different cultures, religions, etc, mostly which is frustrating.

Lack of Empathy:

1) I’ve seen many SJM fans tell people of color and pagans that the problematic content they see in SJM’s books isn’t real because they personally aren’t affected by it. For example, I’m upset as a Norse Pagan that SJM plagiarizes and disrespects my faith. I’ve been told by multiple fans that my faith isn’t real so I’m getting upset over nothing. Another example, I’ve seen women of color screaming to be heard about Feyre’s cultural appropriation, and I’ve watched as they’ve been told that Feyre should be allowed to slip into a costume when she feels like it.

2) Every single SJM FMC has a problem with empathy. Feyre does not receive consequences for the harm she does to other people and “doesn’t let herself think about it”, so she clearly lacks the foundation of empathy. She thinks she is entitled to the help she receives from others and gets frustrated when they choose their own safety over helping her again. She clearly holds no sympathy for the women in 2/3 of her court. Aelin also seems to have a big empathy problem (I mean, she was literally going to use her cousin as a breeding stud???), and also never faces consequences for her actions until the last book. If these FMCs never have to care about others and never have to face consequences for hurting others, why should the readers ever have to as well?

3) we’ve all seen the SJM fans who have sent SA threats and death threats on tik tok, I’m sure. And it’s all over small opinions over characters too. This is just not normal behavior. But then again, Feyre openly allows her husband to tell people to off themselves, so how could we ever expect better behavior from her fans?

4) This is also especially interesting to me because SJM’s FMCs are all around 16-21, which I’d assume to be her target demographic. However, this is the most impressionable age because these are young adults going off into the real world right before their prefrontal cortex develops. This is a crucial time for us, and yet we are reading about FMCs our age who are doing terrible things to people with no empathy and are getting away with it. What is that teaching us.

5) also most people you meet in the fandom are younger (13 is the youngest I’ve seen) and older (I think the oldest I’ve seen was in 40-50s)than that target demographic which is also insane to me because why is my age group fighting with people much older and much younger?

6) For a while (and still in some stores) ACOTAR is branded as YA, meaning impressionable teenagers and children have better access to this material. This can shape their formative years too. Especially when this content is so pro-conservative and pro-traditionalist views.

Lack of Media Literacy:

This goes right back to my explanation about “it’s not that deep”. Fans don’t want to put in the effort because they want to “turn their brain off”. With the rise in lack of media literacy, this is especially dangerous. I’ve also noticed that people are saying ACOTAR is the gateway into fantasy. That tells me new readers are immediately jumping into this sort of story with no basic understanding at all.

Pro-Plagarism:

It’s no secret that SJM has plagiarized from many religions, cultures, movies, books- literally anything. Her fans view it as great story telling. I’ve had people tell me that she’s a genius for using Norse mythology and mashing it with other religions and that they’re excited to see her do more things like her Hades and Persephone retelling with Rhys and Feyre. SJM has not has an original thought in her life and it shows.

It also makes fans think they can steal too and get away with it because their favorite author does.

Pro-Capitalism:

We all know SJM wants money and will do anything for a quick cash grab. In the same way, I think this instant gratification for capitalism manifests itself in the use of AI- art through fans. SJM’s fandom has been almost the only fandom I’ve seen use so much AI art that I have to wonder why.

Conclusion:

I’m of a big belief that human beings are not stagnant. We are constantly changing based on our influences and environment. Reading is a big influence for many people, and what we read can shape our perception of things, regardless of age. When people tell me that these are just adults reading these books so whatever’s going on is their own problem from their upbringing and not SJM, I get frustrated, because it’s a problem for both.

The fact that SJM hasn’t recognized the harm that she’s doing to various communities and hasn’t spoken out about anything tells me everything I need to know about the type of person she is. We all know she’s eager for money and fame. I don’t like speculating about people’s political beliefs, but as much as SJM says she’s anti-Trump, I believe she’s still a conservative. Both things can still be true. Whether it’s old bias that she is trying to unlearn or she still believes those things, there are ideals within her books that are still so harmful.

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This was addressed to a specific content creator, but I find the need to share it: Art is always political, and always reflects reality. While I understand your point, it is also important to make these connections between the evil that characters do, and the evil we see in the world. It can help fellow readers understand a bit more to make such connections, and inspire others to potentially take a stand. Others may need the comfort that their favorite book series illustrate reality at the moment and that the main characters of those stories almost always prevail against evil. And there are some people who are reminded that any form of art is a way to take a stand. It is dangerous, of course it is, but is not exactly stupid. I have not stopped writing since the result of the election, and I do not plan to. Art is political, and the artists I know plan to take a stand and use their voice. This is what I study for a living. This will be my career. I respect your opinion, and I highly respect you. However, I will continue to take a stand until good prevails over evil, and until as many Americans are safe as possible. 💙