• JoeByeThen [he/him, they/them]
    ·
    13 days ago

    Oh, shoot, you read it. Apologies, I totally misinterpreted what you were asking for. Thought you were asking me to sell you on it.😅

    I felt like it was jarring, Idk. It is not an overly funny book I don't think, so the attempts at levity were kind of bruh moments to me, I guess. I found it mostly unrelentingly dark.

    Again I'm a cishet guy so while I totally sympathized and even teared up a bit for their struggles I appreciate there's a limit to how much I can relate to what they're going through and I totally get that, and that may be part of it. I tend to respond more emotionally to the sorrow than the horror or gore. Probably shouldn't have been reading Stephen King and Clive Cussler as early as elementary school.😅 My big complaint regarding writing tbh, was the Gretchen's style kinda reminded me of Ready Player One at times; lot of like nostalgia-ish/meme humor, if that makes sense? Reference heavy.

    Wait really? I did not get any "tankie" vibes from this, huh. Maybe I gotta read it again, it certainly leans very far left which I like.

    I'm probably projecting on saying Tankie, but certainly far left. Definitely some Anti-fascist talk, pro labor, maybe even some acab in there at one point. I felt like Beth's( I think?) writing was tempered, politically. Like we only got a taste of how far left she was originally conceived. took-restraint

    It's pretty harrowing, I felt like I needed a shave after, a lot of the time. Also there are things like the "you make me feel so small" bit that just sort of get left hanging. Beth and Fran have such a weird relationship...

    How do you mean left hanging? Like story wise or just that they were bad at communicating? Definitely agree if you mean the latter, certainly a complicated relationship. More of convenience or necessity rather than anything positive imo.

    I'd read Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt before, and it's not even close in terms of violence.

    Putting that on my list to check out, thanks. Always adding to it. Like I said I grew up on Stephen King and that type of stuff so the violence didn't really bother me. Nowadays my guilty pleasure is paranormal romance slop which can be a bit violent at times too. Honestly Manhunt wasn't too far off than most slop I read, just more Trans representation.

    • ashinadash [she/her]
      ·
      13 days ago

      Yeah it's a whole thing, I had to pop up :3

      I totally sympathized and even teared up a bit for their struggles

      To be real this is a pretty good result for a cishet reading something like this. I made a cishet dude read it at gunpoint once and he said there was "too much sex", lmao. Also good eye on the writing style, I think it's inherited from Torrey Peters and thus Imogen Binnie though, only resembling RPO. It's kind of bloggy which is weird for the setting somewhat.

      TRUE AF :3 The editors may have toned that down, but Fort Dyke is definitely going to become a Soviet Socialist Republic at some point though. The themes around building community and uh killing terfs, I liked a lot.

      "Left hanging" as in, I mean it makes sense that it doesn't really get resolved insofar as like, uh, Fran is def using Beth in the worst way for gender affirmation. I guess the resolution is her character arc, lol. It can feel like the book is just tormenting Fran sometimes honestly.

      Oh good, it's awful!! aubrey-happy Hit me up whenever you read it. AW SHIT PARANORMAL ROMANCE SLOP, I fear somewhat if Manhunt resembles your slop, I'm big into horror fiction too, all queer ofc madeline-smug

      • JoeByeThen [he/him, they/them]
        ·
        13 days ago

        I made a cishet dude read it at gunpoint once and he said there was "too much sex", lmao

        Lol. I will admit there was more detail than what I usually read and the parts and pronouns not matching to what I was used to did throw me off at first but I adapted pretty quick. It was definitely horny though. data-laughing

        The themes around building community and uh killing terfs, I liked a lot.

        Same. stalin-approval Even if I felt it was tempered, the overall politics was better than most slop I read, by far. I felt it definitely did Trans representation without making them capitalist mascots. One of the reasons I recommend the book a lot to Libs in my life with potential is that I feel normalizing leftist representation is a key component to radicalization.

        "Left hanging" as in, I mean it makes sense that it doesn't really get resolved insofar as like, uh, Fran is def using Beth in the worst way for gender affirmation. I guess the resolution is her character arc, lol. It can feel like the book is just tormenting Fran sometimes honestly.

        Word, yeah, I just took that as part of the toxicity of their relationship. But agreed, Fran seems like the "Don't be this B or face consequences!" Character.

        Oh good, it's awful!! Hit me up whenever you read it. AW SHIT PARANORMAL ROMANCE SLOP, I fear somewhat if Manhunt resembles your slop, I'm big into horror fiction too, all queer ofc

        Lol, will do. Paranormal Romance-wise I tend to stick to a handful of authors I picked up when I would download books for my sister; Kim Harrison, Patricia Briggs, Laurel K Hamilton (wanna talk about too much sex? Her plot suffered and stalled for like 5 books because she became obsessed with her MC's sex life.🤦), Mercedes Lackey back in the day, some other stuff. Lots of vampires and werewolves, some faires; so plenty of violence tho not sure if it really qualifies as horror 🤔, varying degrees of sexual details, depending on the author. I'm always down to explore so if you wanna throw something my way feel free. Suggestions always appreciated... When I can find the time to get around to them.😅

        • ashinadash [she/her]
          ·
          12 days ago

          yea a lil bit horny, yeah

          One of the reasons I recommend the book a lot to Libs in my life with potential

          Holy fucking based, kim-salute really admire you throwing this one at people lmao. And yeah, I guess it is a key component of radicalisation, never thought about it like that. Hmmm...

          Fran seems like the "Don't be this B or face consequences!" Character.

          I felt bad for her by like a third of the way through, I mean that weird terf chaser from Maryland, some pretty harsh consequences for assimilationism. Also regarding that terf chaser, what a useless character! c:

          Kim Harrison, Patricia Briggs, Laurel K Hamilton,

          inhales Awwww yeah, urban fantasy paranormal romance slop madeline-smug Incredible stuff. I don't have a load of experience with this genre explicitly, although funny enough the fruity little interactive fiction game I'm playing pretty much fits this bill ✨

          • JoeByeThen [he/him, they/them]
            ·
            12 days ago

            And yeah, I guess it is a key component of radicalisation, never thought about it like that. Hmmm...

            Gotta fight the Cultural Hegemony with more culture.💁 Problem is my reputation as being radical taints my recommendations. I keep meaning to start up like a DNC bookclub or something on insta that sprinkles in agitprop every couple books. "Why does Hillary Clinton love The Grapes of Wrath so much? Let's find out!"

            Also regarding that terf chaser, what a useless character! c:

            If the book wasn't so explicitly pro-trans I'd say they were a character written to lead Terfs to the light, but yeah, I can't imagine a terf reading that far. Idk, she's necessary for Fran's survival at least.

            Awwww yeah, urban fantasy paranormal romance slop

            Unfortunately, so much of it so very Lib. I need sexy communist werewolves hunting capitalist vampires!

            • ashinadash [she/her]
              ·
              12 days ago

              waow-based Building counter-cultural-hedgemony as one of the bricks in the Communism Foundation... That's a fuckin awesome idea lol, gee really makes ya think thonk

              The whole book is basically purpose-positioned to make terfs mad, which is extremely funny and rad. I wonder almost if that was the intent, hmmmm...

              Noooooo my slop is liberal boohoo I want communist werewolves hunting capitalist vampires!!! The Last Girl Scout by Natalie Ironside actually has communists hunting fash vampires, but it has trot shit in it trot-shining

              • JoeByeThen [he/him, they/them]
                ·
                12 days ago

                Building counter-cultural-hedgemony as one of the bricks in the Communism Foundation... That's a fuckin awesome idea lol, gee really makes ya think

                Before I got kicked off Facebook many years ago I was running a very large number and variety of meme pages that regularly slipped pro communist jokes in the mix. Very rarely did I ever get any pushback. There's way more potential in boiling the frog rather than a frontal assault, imo.

                The Last Girl Scout by Natalie Ironside actually has communists hunting fash vampires, but it has trot shit in it

                I mean, I'm still adding it to my list! Thanks!

                • ashinadash [she/her]
                  ·
                  12 days ago

                  Agitprop on facebook, waow I'm sincerely impressed. I don't have the guts to tolerate too much lib trash. Uncritical support 07

                  yea I tolerate the trot nonsense because it's a killer t4t romp otherwise tbh

                  • JoeByeThen [he/him, they/them]
                    ·
                    12 days ago

                    Lol thanks that was like 10 years ago tho. I can't decide if it's busy enough to try again or not.

                    Word. Sounds cool enough to try! stalin-approval