okay okay okay. with all the flood of inital backlash against wayward son, i didnt see anyone say “ur stupid if u like the book.” it was just everyone’s honest thoughts, and some people were upset.
and yet... people in the wayward sun tag now are so fucking condescending, saying “lol yall r stupid the book was amazing u cant expect it 2 b all fluff”... and the thing is no one was expecting that! lol. a lot of us were expecting the book to actually confront and work through shared trauma. we knew going in that simon was going to b depressed! and as someone who knows what thats like, i was hoping for a narrative that deals with all the bad parts while still offering some semblance of hope! thats not naive or stupid to desire, especially when SO MANY queer stories are angst ridden and tragic and hopeless. part of why i loved how carry on ended was because it recognized the fact that everything wouldnt be suddenly okay for them, but encouraged simon to “carry on” and offered hope that they’d be able to come out on the other side someday! you can understand why wayward son undermines that interpretation. and im sorry but no one wants a story where characters are put through endless trauma and arent allowed any space to heal, even if just in baby steps. instead we got a kind of oscillation between conflict and happy moments with no actual progress. and i think it was 100% right for people to criticize that. especially since, going in those first few hours, we didn’t realize there’s probably a third book in store! now its common knowledge in the tag, but reading wayward son without realizing it’s setting up a sequel till the very end? heartwrenching. really upsetting!! people are allowed to criticize media lmao it isn’t “negativity” or “hate”..... like i see bs about the tag being more “positive” now and im like... it’s because the people who were let down kind of left after sharing our thoughts?? some of us have loved and, lets be real, projected onto these characters for years since the first book came out. and i think it’s highly personal how reading wayward son will effect you. some people loved it, okay! but as someone with severe depression, who was going in ready to relate 2 simon and excited to see an emotional, healing arc for him... when i realized it wasn’t going to be like that i was devastated. it’s shitty to say that people who didnt like the book as much for these reasons are somehow the stupid ones who dont understand rainbow’s master plan and just need to trust her... like GOD can you stop talking over people who are making very fair points! especially when a lot of criticism also points to other aspects, mainly the weak plot and all the remaining loose ends. (which uhhh frustration at a dissatisfying ending isnt the same as being like “boo hoo cliffhanger”) it pisses me off insanely when people are in the tag like “u guys are wrong wayward son is good did u expect butterflies and rainbows?” like stfu just say you liked the book without the insinuation that people who disagree with u dont make fair points
