thebookisalsobad

[thebookisalsobad]

Do you love JayVik? Does the idea of soulmates so entwined that their love goes beyond the bounds of friendship and romance appeal to you?

Then let me put you on a book series called the Realm of the Elderlings. Fitz and the Fool take this concept and blow it to the stratosphere.

I’m talking soul-bonding, tender kisses in quiet moments, feelings of unrequited love (but also kinda not) and literal soul-crushing agony (in the best way).

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The Rings of Power is funny because it’s one of the rare cases where the gay thing would have been closer to book accurate than the straight thing.

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I am aware that I usually only post to complain about fantasy books I didn’t like, but Robin Hobb has enchanted me so thoroughly that I had to post something.

Just finished The Golden Fool. Beloved, how I adore you my sweet little guy. Time to go get my ass kicked by Fool’s Fate.

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I loved Nosferatu because there were so many cats. Bonus points for not killing all of them brutally. That never happens.

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We don't talk enough about how funny the dreamer shit in ACOTAR is. The IC are all sitting around acting like they're these underdogs when they are literally the government. Wdym you're dreaming of a better world... that's your fuckin job. Get to it, chop chop!

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I had never played anything but Minecraft and Sims before this year. Of course, as a big dnd nerd, I inevitably saw BG3 floating around. Initially I planned to ignore it because most video games have always felt too inaccessible for someone like me (I have literally no experience, lol). Eventually I gave it a try because I’m already familiar with the 5th edition system, and let me tell you…

I finally understand why people are obsessed with video games. It’s art, it’s beautiful, and I’m so grateful to Larian for what they’ve created.

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I got a Tumblr notification that you were back lmao, I gotta ask have you read f.ourth w.ing? It's literally acotar all over again. It's even more wattpad coded but the love interest is literally just rhysand with a different name

I haven’t read it for exactly that reason. It seems like F/ourth W/ing is just a new title in a long line of books trying to capitalize on the shallow fantasy-romance trend that a/cotar popularized.

As of late, I’m sticking to books I think I’ll enjoy—unfortunately, s/jm books made reading unpleasant enough that I took a small hiatus.

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Me: *stabs someone*

Me: It’s my mask 🥺

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What do F/eyre and R/hysand talk about? What does the i/nner c/ircle talk about? (Outside of war/sex stuff for plot reasons.)

Based on what I've read, I can't imagine they have terribly stimulating conversations. Just try to imagine them discussing books or art together. I can't do it.

I don't know why but this is very funny to me.

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'neither side is innocent' rhysand says, as not even the narrative bothers bringing up what the fuck the humans are guilty of. what did they do that equates to slavery to warrant rhysand using this dumb fuck argument? i am once again begging authors who are incapable of not fucking up themes even slightly complex not to write them

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Please let us acknowledge how SJM actually portrayed government realistically when the Night Court was suffering and the Inner Circle proceeded to purchase a fifth (5) mansion.

Got to give credit where credit is due.

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I’ve talked on here about my distaste for the ‘it’s not that deep, just let people read for fun’ stance that is so prominent in online book communities.

This is just another thing I’d like to add . . .

It’s more than okay to read for fun and not read thoughtfully. I understand the need to be mindless when we live in this hell-scape of a world. But I think the issue arises when we actively discourage an environment where critique and mindful reading exists in favor of ‘just letting people read for fun.’ (This means harassing antis or reviewers that criticize certain works in favor of a ‘if you don’t like it, don’t talk about it’ model) Because this moves books away from ‘art to be thoughtfully engaged with’ towards ‘products to be mindlessly consumed’.

This isn’t good for readers as a whole. Why? Because mindless consumption will always be rewarded by capitalism, and therefore encouraged by publishing. Publishing is a business, and the more we consume certain things, the more they will neglect other books in favor of turning over a profit. A push against critical engagement will only limit the kinds of stories we see from trad publishing in the future, which I think is a real shame.

Even if you love S/jm books, I’m sure you don’t want every book to be a carbon copy of her stuff. Harassing antis and critics isn’t helpful for anyone, and while I understand the need to shut off your brain, I encourage you to read thoughtfully when you can.

I will also add, the existence of critique does not negate your ability to enjoy something. And if seeing a different opinion bothers you that much, you can block and tag appropriately rather than attacking people.

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Because we really were made to think Feysand and the NC were the progressives of Prythian especially compared to Tamlin and the SC but where is the evidence?

First things first, Rhysand is the most obviously wealthy of all the High Lords and has (as to what we’ve seen) the highest wealth disparity in his court. He has FIVE homes to Tamlin’s one, and although the SC has to have wealth to some degree, especially considering economy (the SC is way more likely to have exports and things that actually generate money for the court), Tamlin is never shown flaunting it except for necessary occasions (see: his doomed wedding to Feyre). And still, with all that wealth, they’re stingy. Tamlin opened his doors for everyone. Feysand’s homes sit empty when Feysand and the IC do not occupy them. Imagine having five homes, staying in 2 or 3 of them, and letting the rest collect dust RIGHT AFTER acknowledging that there are people who are displaced by war and need homes, people that you are responsible for. Couldn’t be me. Or rather, couldn’t be Tamlin (canonically).

Then there’s the whole Inner Court and NC hierarchy in the first place. Rhysand has his family controlling the entirety of his court. Mor is a cousin who controls Velaris, her father is an uncle who controls the Hewn City, and Cassian and Azriel are brothers who control Illyria. And while that isn’t too different than what we see in places like Summer Court or even Autumn Court, in those places there are also advisors and nobility, people who exist to hold the High Lord somewhat accountable for how he treats the court. The closest thing to that in the NC is Amren, who is not Fae and canonically doesn’t care about the NC.

And I gotta address that High Lord meeting. You care so much about Prythian, but every single time you step outside of your mansion(s), you’re cruel. You mock and intimidate and bully and threaten everyone you come across, hurt their friends and family who are innocent, and then ask them to believe you’re a nice person. It’s insane to me that the other courts literally haven’t discussed a war on Feysand yet. Destruction of Spring is one thing. Winter’s children can’t fully be proven (even though all it would take to blow a hole wide through that story is asking them to provide said daemati that wasn’t Rhysand, or his name at least). Summer had the most grounds for hating Night, considering Feysand literally came as a guest, threatened to murder Cresseida and countless others, invaded their minds, stole their greatest treasure, and then paved the way for Summer to be destroyed in the war. But even all of that is not the same as Feyre intentionally attacking a High Lord and harming his wife IN THE PRESENCE OF ALL OTHER HIGH LORDS on neutral ground. How is that not grounds for all other courts ostracizing and freezing out the NC at the very least and declaring war at the most? Name one other court that has done anything remotely similar or comparable to anything said in this paragraph. I’ll wait.

And even within the bounds of your court, you’re cruel for absolutely zero reason. Swaggering and posturing in front of the Hewn City residents, forcing them to bow while you smile down at them and remind them all that you’re better than them because…they deserve it? Yeah I’m sure the children born into that absolutely deserve that treatment. Going into the Illyrian camps, doing jackshit for all the obviously abused and mistreated women there and beating the snot out of most of the men because…that’s what they respond to? Sure, there’s absolutely no way that the most powerful High Lord of all time in all of Prythian, the most powerful war general in all the courts, and the most powerful spymaster and shadowsinger (who are also, funnily enough, the most powerful Illyrians in the NC) can get anyone to listen to them unless they’re beating the hell out of people they’re duty-bound to protect. And tbh, if they do all that and no one listens to them anyway, are they really the most powerful or are they just tooting their own horns? By contrast, we see Beron as some sort of monster for being cruel, but doesn’t he, for the most part, at least leave his citizens alone? Someone who’s done a reread recently correct me if I’m wrong. And even if I’m wrong about them, I’m not wrong about Tamlin, whose citizens approached him freely and spoke to him freely without fear or intimidation, whose citizens were not being forced to bow to the ground every time he walked in the room, whose citizens didn’t hate him and plot behind his back to overthrow or undermine him.

There’s so much more I could write about: treatment of women, High and Lesser Fae equality, seeing every person outside of Velaris as a warrior/potential warrior to die for their random causes, treatment and subsequent discarding of said warriors, adherence to rules especially of other courts, treatment of the people you love and care for the most, etc. No matter the topic, the NC ALWAYS FAILS. Like, how can anyone really read about the NC and think they’re progressive and misunderstood and kind? How anyone can really read about the NC and think they’re anything other than a court of literal evil is crazy to me. You know how they say to not watch out for the person who comes as your enemy but the person who is your enemy and dresses as your friend? That’s the NC, playing at being friends except they’re bad at that too, ask Tarquin and Cresseida. They strut around on their high horses, finding fault with everyone but themselves, ignorant to their own cruelty and exaggerating their made up virtues that can’t be proven with actions or history. Literally, Rhysand is a wealthy military king with a plutocratic oligarchy that rules his war state, literally like Russia or NK except for the colonizing (which I fully believe is coming by the end of the series).

Credit to @bythenineshards and their anon who inspired this rant.

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i just found your blog and was going through your posts, and i was wondering about this one: "what they would think if a husband was told life-threatening info about his pregnant wife without ever telling her. " Could you remind me what the situation was with that? I am writing a very long doc for my friend of reasons why I'm an anti, and one of my subsections is about RiceAss being a horrible depiction of a romantic partnership for young readers to internalize. Ty for doing the lords work

Hi there!

I was talking about R/hys hiding the potentially fatal nature of F/eyre’s pregnancy in Acosf. I think it’s fair to say that taking away the bodily autonomy of your partner is a negative thing. I think it also represents their power imbalance. F/eyre is the one who should’ve received that information first, not R/hys. Not only is she supposedly a high lady, but it’s her body. It’s a shame that the book doesn’t see it that way.

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His (Tarquin) gaze drifted to my chest, the bare skin revealed by the sweeping vee of my gown, as if he could see where that spark of life, his power, had gone. Rhys followed that gaze.

“Her breasts are rather spectacular, aren’t they? Delicious as ripe apples.”

If that’s not the most demeaning frat boy comment that Rhys could have made, idk what is. How does this add to the mask? How does this help literally anything? It’s so gross and for no reason.

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I think the thing we need to keep in mind when it comes to morally-grey characters is this distinction between actions being explainable vs justifiable.

I want to clarify that I adore morally-grey characters, and even straight up villains. Silmarillion Sauron (Mairon) has me in a chokehold, and he's basically just evil personified. Jason Todd is my favorite comic book character, and he's almost always portrayed as an anti-hero.

But in the case of most (successful) morally-grey characters, the narrative never sets out to justify their actions. It's not there to tell you that their world-view and actions are correct because xyz, or even that you have to like them in spite of their flaws. Instead, they try to explain why these people do what they do. Jason Todd kills people because he has certain beliefs and life experiences that have led him to this point. Is that morally (or otherwise) justified? Idk, maybe, maybe not? There's a discussion to be had, but the narrative isn't here to scream at you telling you that you have to agree with Jason.

My issue with characters like R/hysand is that the narrative is constantly trying to convince me that he's in the right. I can't think of one scene where he faces the consequences of his more abominable actions, and certainly none where those consequences are framed as anything other than unfair. He had to do the bad thing. There was no other choice. It was bad in the moment, but right in the long run. He’s the best most sexy and powerful high lord and anyone that disagrees is morally bankrupt.

That's not good execution of the morally-grey trope. At least, not in my opinion. Morally-grey characters should make you think and question the structures around you. They shouldn't force the narrative to bend over backwards justifying cruelty.

So when people say r/hysand is a shitty person and folks go ‘he’s morally-grey, he’s supposed to be bad’ I can’t help but laugh. The complexities of that character don’t go beyond ‘this is dark and looks cool.’