#and i really feel like rf kuang's books are just not that good. in fact i would say they are very catered to white people

[fearandhatred]

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[archiveofliterature]

i see a lot of criticism about the friendships between the babel characters and how we were told a lot of things about their positive dynamic, yet shown barely any of it (but are instead mostly presented with the negative aspects). i don’t know if other people clocked this but i feel like it was intentional

rf kuang was commenting on friendships made through trauma-bonding: they were doomed from the start

tldr; the characterisation is (one of) the subtly(ies) people were looking for in the colonial theme. they criticise the latter but i love the fact colonialism is more of an upfront theme because lord knows i am tired of it being subtle so people can ignore it

robin says from the very beginning after they formed their little friend group:

“why had they been so quick, so carelessly eager to trust one another? why had they refused to see the myriad of ways they could hurt each other? why had they not paused to interrogate their differences in birth, in raising, that meant they were not and could never be on the same side?”

the next small paragraph goes into a raft metaphor about how they saw themselves in each other and that’s why they stuck together. they shared one thing they could not ignore – their otherness. their friendship was purely built on the fact they were discriminated against and that they had to spent the next 4 years with each other. their first pleasant conversation is them discussing how they were treated at oxford. of course, the characters didn’t see this because they had never really befriended people their age before. this feeling of belonging felt like love to them (considering their upbringings, ramy’s i will discuss in a bit)

it makes perfect sense why robin would repeatedly imply that they loved and cared about each other. in his eyes, they did. what was it they had if not love? robin, who has ignored so many problems in the past before babel as he knew it would cause him issues, wouldn’t address their friendship dynamic or how strong the arguments and animosity were. he, an abused child, would rather have this than nothing at all

in actuality (demonstrated, i think, through the photograph they took at the end of chapter 9), they were together because of academia’s and discrimination’s forced proximity. robin feels specific emotions about them that feel strong to him because he’s never experienced it before, but that doesn’t mean they are strong enough to keep them together, which is why when they see the photo, they feel weird about it because why isn’t it portraying their dynamic ‘correctly’?

it’s true that perhaps to get robin’s perspective across, it would’ve been good to see the positive aspects more but i think that would’ve made it harder for us to see how weak their friendship was. people wanted more positive to show that they loved each other, which isn’t the point rf kuang is trying to make

rf kuang chooses to show the negative aspects more because they show where their friendship will end up. when letty did what she did, i didn’t see it as a plot twist, i saw it as an inevitability. this was going to happen. honestly, i feel this with most of the ‘plot twists’ of babel except the end of book iii (i really didn’t see that coming). it was easy for letty to do what she does in book iv because their friendship had such unstable foundations. when they no longer benefitted her, she turned her back on them

the only dynamic i feel was actually strong was robin and ramy. i’m not just saying this because i think they’re queer lol. they were close not just because they were both men of colour and had similar upbringings – they actually liked each other. they admired each other and adored each other’s personalities, they bounced off each other and knew what the other meant when they spoke. when they argued, it was over something that actually considered each other’s beliefs and goals and desires, not over their differences.

(unlike letty and ramy, letty and victoire and maybe even robin and victoire, though i think they lean more to ramy/robin than they do to letty/anyone lol. ramy and victoire have a dynamic that i personally feel like robin didn’t really see because ramy understood victoire in a way robin couldn’t. you kind of see it when robin is the one who letty complains about ramy/victoire to, but that’s it i think?)

speaking of ramy, linking it back to their perspectives of love, it makes a lot of sense why he caused the most disruption in the friend group. he’s the only one with an actual family that he stays in touch with. he knows what love feels like. so of course he’s the one that is strongly anti-empire, compared to robin and victoire who have been emotionally manipulated in their childhood by said empire, the one who argues with letty the most. he still feels what robin and victoire feel, of course, but to a lesser extent

honestly i don’t know how to end this analysis, i just think rf kuang is a genius lmao but i may add more onto this as i continue to reread the book we shall see

[stevebabey]

I'm the first anon, thank you so much for understanding. I have those feelings for months now and I'm going crazy lmao.

I wish I could get into character x character stuff, but unfortunately, my stupid brain loves to consume stuff through self insert, so x reader is my preferred outlet for everything :/ I just feel like I don't belong anywhere in this fandom rn in terms of content creation. I'm not into most x reader stuff and I like to explore more character things, but I also don't really belong in there because I'm not a shipper.

It's just so frustrating to see, and the other anon was right. The tiktokification of media and fandoms in general is insane to watch. Like I saw a tiktok that complained that the Poppy War by Rf Kuang was boring because it had no spice. M'am, this is a book about war? 😭 Or, like everything is described in tropes (that's a problem for books, not fanfic per se) for fast consumption, the plot doesn't matter if certain scenarios are not ticked off. Not to mention AI and things like characterAI where people just get quickly what they want without using really their imagination (plus them not caring that this is stealing from real people).

And yeah, the whole minor part. It's insane to tell 12 year olds, that virgins write the best stuff. I'm reading and writing fics since I was 14, and I'm "lucky" I wasn't really exposed to those things until I was 16. English isn't my first language, so fanfics were a bit limited, I guess (plus having a very nieche interest that didn't reach international fame and fandom). Also, I mostly consumed stuff from friends I know irl and we had a few spicy scenes because we were curious, but we never got exposed to hardcore smut. I'm not saying there should be no smut at all, everyone is free to express themselves. It's a problem if the fandom is only that because it creates a space not everyone has access to or gets messed up. Fandom is community and everyone should feel welcome. If I was a minor and all writer blogs tell me to fuck off because they only write mature things, idk if I would even wanna stay. Which is also another problem because fandoms die out so quickly as it is.

Anyway, I don't know where I'm going with this exactly because you already said everything and I agree with you. <33

omg you say you don't know where you're going with this but brought up so many good POINTS

you're not crazy and you're definitely not the only one feeling that way!! i understand completely and it's infuriating that the topic of it is almost tongue in cheek in this fandom and lots of people feel they would be better off biting their tongue than expressing that frustration ://

character x character is something that takes a hot minute to get into i've found, i've honestly only just gotten into it within the last year or so (because i also struggle with like ocs and the like) but i am a long lover of the self insert i can't even lie <3

but there's like a difference between the way you describe this!! i think you're very much like me and it's like a genuine love for a character that drives your desire for writing self-insert- its like i love this dude so much and i want them to be happy and i want to be that source of happiness, i want to be that first kiss or gentle touch they need :D

andddd that's my problem with so much of the smut-leaning fics. where's the soul!?! where's the driving heart of the story? the best fics are the most self indulgent because you can see the best parts of someone in them !!!!

i'm really sorry that you feel like you don't have a place in this fandom but you do definitely belong here honey- fandom is supposed to be a community and there's no prerequisite to existing here at all and the fact there feels like there are certain amounts you have to succeed in to be a writer is so just bleh

tiktok is a goddam brainrotting place lmao and every day im not on it is a great one! the trope shit is SO true, like the idea that if you can check a few boxes (one of those things being smut) its the thing that makes a piece good instead of how it's written and the passion for the story like ugh and don't even get me started on ai 😭 that is a shitshow in itself and anyone who uses that to write fics or complete other peoples fics are absolute garbage people

the minor thing is yeah completely fucked and you raise SUCH a good point about how it limits the spaces that they can occupy which is so fucking stupid cos how many of us started in fandom at young ages??? everyone should feel welcome! and god the thought of someone trying to so hard to avoid nsfw content but just to have it shoved down their throat in every other post and also having so many writers telling them to fuck off ur so right, i wouldn't wanna stay either!

and it's just so so so sad because there are a thousand people who i WISH would write their ideas, write their fics, whether its bad or good first time around because THAT is the point of fandom. love for the source! new ideas! people's new takes on old tropes over and over :D

ah you opened the floodgate in me.... you didn't ask for advice but truly, write the most self indulgent stuff ever and it can't lead you wrong. i hope the culture of fandom changes and every time you ignore the urge to write for what u think people will like and just write what you want, we all get a little bit closer to that change :")

[itstimetowritecl]

The Poppy War: A Well-Contrasted Story of the Impersonal versus Personal

“War doesn’t determine who’s right. War determines who remains.”

I want to start this post by saying how much I love ‘The Poppy War.’ RF Kuang not only wrote arguably the best fantasy book in 2018 but also how to effectively capture the strife and implications of real-life warfare and how its impersonal nature will always entail some level of personal implications.

The Poppy War is based upon the Second Sino-Japanese war, which was a  one of the most bloody and costly wars within Chinese history. Kuang did not shy away from addressing the Rape of Nanjing, opium and drug use, as well as the ruthless consequences that come from war.

Her work is also a masterclass on using Narrative Contrasts, where one employs directly opposing narrative decisions/strategies to establish strong character building while increasing reader investment.

Where Kuang really shines is in her contrast of personal prose versus impersonal action. The juxtaposition of such heartfelt and engaging prose against a very grimdark and downright uncomfortable at times plot really shows the power of narrative and authorial intent. That is, the use of a character’s inner thoughts, can be powerful in the right hands. And in this case, you are in good hands with Kuang. By using narrative monologues that show Rin’s most inner thoughts such as “No—they couldn’t just do this to her...but she didn’t have to lie down and take it. She had come from nothing. She wasn’t going back to nothing,” really speaks to the vulnerability many feel when it comes to failure, and the worries we will fall back to square one. We too, like Rin, may have to keep fighting failure and the fear it drives until we succeed. I also want to call out “Everywhere she traveled, everywhere she escaped to, she was just a war orphan who was not supposed to be there. She felt so terribly alone,” because while most of are not war orphans, the feeling of otherness and the loneliness it brings is something many of us will face at some point and adds layers of complexity to Rin’s character. These personal anecdotes also serve a purpose of humanizing Rin and understanding her actions, whether right or wrong, stem from a need of self-preservation from a world often rejecting her very existence.

Secondly, there is also a thematic character development contrast of ‘Likable-Unlikable Protagonist’ that Kuang is able to effectively execute with Rin, the book’s main character. She faces an existence deemed inferior due to her skin tone, gender, and socioeconomic status, and is reminded of this throughout the book; this makes her struggle quite sympathetic and during the Sinegary military academy chapters, you can’t help but root for her. And yet, Rin engages in what one would consider to be morally questionable actions, ranging from stealing opium to committing genocide against the Mugenese, With the combination of Kuang’s personal narrative and unsettling backdrop, Rin comes across as humanized and in some aspects relatable. It makes you wonder that if you were Rin, would you make the same choices. The character development is also gradual, so while you may not agree with Rin’s decisions, they are understandable. Kuang does this by first shifting thoughts at the beginning of the War when unable to control her powers (wanting the Mugenese general to suffer), to gradually taking action in warface (becoming more ruthless as the War goes on in response to her people’s plight), and choosing her path (committing genocide against the Mugenese in revenge).

Finally, her work also is a solid example of allowing female characters to challenge what is the ‘archetype acceptability paradox.’ This paradox is where the more embedded into societal norms a character is, the greater you can expand their narrative to challenge such ideals without compromising strong character development. Rin’s development in Poppy War is not dictated by romantic relationships nor the male gaze, in fact, her decision to eschew an arranged marriage is the catalyst for her entry into the military academy and escape the abusive environment that her society deems ‘ideal.’ Her solution to painful periods getting the way of her studies? Getting rid of her uterus. While it could be perceived as anti-feminist given the graphic nature, I find it can also can serve as symbolically rejecting the societal notion that woman were to remain home and raise children; she made the choice to remove her uterus, and a choice to reject society’s imposed childbirth role. Rin is shown to go out of her way to challenge what women were thought capable of, and is viewed as the more ruthless one compared to her commander, Altan. In addition, the contrast of her upbringing versus what she must become sets a needed example that women do not have to shy away from facing the darkness male leads must face in warfare. And woman, if they choose, should be allowed to succumb to a darkness often blockaded from access within literature.

[flowerflamestars]

3 & 24?

3. What were your top five books of the year?

So this is where I admit I finished less than half of my reading goal this year. I usually do 100, this year got 45. For a lot of reasons: stress, library access being cut off, just the fact that 2020 was insane. 

So I missed many, I think, of this years really great books. 

Maybe not a top five, but a roundup of things: Jasmine Guillory is a delight, and her books are pretty precisely what is good about modern romance novels. CDTH was an absolute fever dream and while we Do Not acknowledge the title of book two, I cannot wait to read the sequel! Stiefvater is back, and the magic is strong. 

I really think RF Kuang’s books are just going to live rent free in my brain forever now? (there are SO many literary bad boy/enemies to lovers fandoms on tumblr, WHERE IS THE LOVE FOR YIN NEZHA?)

Aformentioned all over: the Locked Tomb trilogy are some of my favorite books ever, the second (crazed, wild, engrossing and heart-wrenching) of which was released this year.

Honorable mentions: Andrea Anderson’s Light as a Feather made me feel seventeen again in a bizarrely visceral way. A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine is a nearly perfect book of the scifi flavor, my prediction is that Cloudhook (as she created/defined it) is going to be one of those terms that seep into the genre as an accepted cross worlds thing.  

24.Did you DNF anything? Why?

Many. Primarily nonfiction (who doesn’t love the thigh men of history), but there’s a few fiction standouts. 

Wicked Saints really didn’t work for me- fell very much into that type of book...that feels like it was published not for the story, but because it bears just enough resemblance to other popular stories? Just, insubstantial, but with a really good blurb.

And god. God. Okay, I still can’t sort my feelings on this: what the actual fuck was Docile? Why was it marketed sexy? WHY WASN’T IT JUST A HORROR NOVEL? its like they didn’t even read it.

[wild-awake]

hello, i’m aliiiiive! 😅 been pretty busy the past few days because of the typhoon. how are you all doing??? i hope you’re safe and looking after yourselves! 🤍 haven’t done a tag in a long, long time so i will do one now. (also, i took this photo a month ago at work and i looked fresh here and the total opposite of how stressed i look now lol) i know there were two or three people who tagged me here but i forgot who specifically cos it was so long ago (haha im so sorry ✌🏻) but here’s my #meetthebookstagrammer tag: name: rham marco location: metro manila, philippines 🇵🇭 age: 18 forever. jk 🙈 27! job: marketing & social media officer favorite color: pink, black, gold, white, red (hahaha ang dami) favorite drinks: cold water, iced coffee, coca cola favorite genre: fantasy, science fiction (ya & adult) favoritw authors: marie lu, rick riordan, rf kuang, sjm favorite reads of 2020 so far: the dragon republic by rf kuang, the burning maze by rick riordan, house of earth and blood by sjm, the wicked king by holly black, jade city by fonda lee current read: jade city by fonda lee bookish goal for 2020: buy physical copies of books i read that i dont have copies yet; diversify my reading habits; read more filipino-authored books other random facts: •i’m not a morning person •my head hurts when i dont drink coffee •i like brush lettering even if im not that good at it lol •i like reading spoilers 🤪 it excites me more knowing i have something to look forward to •i dont use bookmarks. i just try to remember the last parts i read •when i really enjoy a book, i will look for tumblr posts for it to satisfy my “cravings” for the book. lol does that make sense?? •sometimes i underline quotes that i liked with a pen. i like the “lived in” feel of it with those little notes and underlines •most of my notes about the story are in my digital copy of the book i think i’ve said enough haha! if you’ve read this far, thank you, i appreciate that. feel free to do this tag even if i didnt tag you! have a great day/night! 🤍 — #thedarkprophecy #bookstagramtag (at Bookstagram) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHu3HiwADeB/?igshid=5opki7srg6d0