#i won't name names - but like... it's frustrating to see so much interesting world-building thrown in the trash

[racke7]

So, a long while back I found an author with some interesting world-building ideas. They'd maybe slip into "crack"-territory a bit too often for me to recommend it, but like... I didn't really mind it that much? And they'd written a LOT, so I was running high on that "fics to read"-energy.

Then, a few weeks ago, I came across a scene and-... And it made me start thinking about "the underlying values" of the author. Not in the sense of "they're secretly a Republican" (thank god), but in the sense of an (in hindsight) hilariously blatant feeling of heteronormativity.

Yeah, they didn't write X character as gay, but that's no need to point fingers (canon doesn't call him gay, so it's fine). And okay, maybe they created a crack-ship for one of their fics that they got heavily invested in and are now reusing, but like... it's convenient for plot-reasons so knock yourself out? And maybe leaning heavily on "women are mysterious" for cracky dad-jokes is in bad taste, but it's a cracky kind of scene?

But... it just keeps coming. They've basically gone out of their way to create ships everywhere, and they're all straight? And it's constantly played as a "and they make each other better people" as if they need romance to become such. The people who aren't in relationships are being pushed to become romantically involved (because it will make them better people), and the narrative thinks that this is reasonable and well-meaning (despite the threat of a literal war at their doorstep).

Combined with some comments from the author about being very dismissive about people who don't think marriage is important, because they actually "can't get married" and are crying sour-grapes about "not wanting to get married"?

And then on top of that, the reoccurring harem-plots? Where one dude gets lots of girls, with maybe a tiny little bit of Les-Yay thrown into the mix?

It made me sit back and really look at their stories, and... it's kind of painful? Like, I was curious about their fics, and now it's just-... How can I trust them to write interesting things, if their feelings on "romance" (which often plays an integral part in their stories) is the single most boring vanilla-ass shit that I've ever encountered (from someone who wasn't an insane Republican)?