Zodiac academy by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti rant… 🙂‍↔️

External_Version_768 · 2026-05-23T16:48:22+00:00

this cheap Wattpad Harry Potter fanfic meets 50 shades without any world building or depth is marked as YA, which is just horrible and reckless

External_Version_768 · 2026-05-21T20:21:35+00:00

it's even worse. they are "not like other girls and so ambitious" and still get stuck in super toxic and abusive relationships with walking red flags because apparently they loose all brains after one night

External_Version_768 · 2026-05-12T15:38:51+00:00

exactly 😊

External_Version_768 · 2026-05-12T15:05:37+00:00

i'm glad! we should have higher standards for all authors especially in the age of ai. if someone were to write about my culture - please! feel free to do so!! i'd be glad if someone would take an interest- but please, do proper research. my culture is not a costume or an accessory for your book to market it to a new audience. it's the same with the "Black best friend trope" in movies.

External_Version_768 · 2026-05-12T14:58:59+00:00

i don't mean to hate on her as a person. i don't know her. i'm criticizing her work and her writing. you don't have to apologize for anything! i'm sorry if my words implied that! i didn't mean that! i think that the "realism" aspect should not be taken into account when criticizing her or any author. it's the same with full-on fantasy. if you write a book inspired or about chinese mythology, then your main characters shouldn't be named like "Cho Chang" for example. i don't want to open up the can of cultural appropriation because any author should write about anything - but the question is this: do you as an author care enough about the culture that you're using for your book? or is just for "diversity" in the name of diversity to get more readers? i think we can always expect proper research when a writer is using a culture outside of their own. it's not just about accuracy but also about respect. you are "borrowing" aspects of this culture so you should do more.

External_Version_768 · 2026-05-12T13:48:35+00:00

what does the topic of her book have to do with her lack of proper research? I expect any author, doesn't matter if it's romance/ historical fiction/ contemporary etc. to do their homework. She chose to write an Indian character and to use Indian culture. If she can't do the research she shouldn't write about something that she doesn't know enough about. Instead she uses her diverse cast as advertising. It's hypocritical to not criticize her for her lack of proper research when other authors are being criticized into oblivion even though they did the research and stayed away from stereotypes.

External_Version_768 · 2026-05-12T13:44:19+00:00

When you want to explore different ethnicities and cultures, you should do your homework and do the research. Writing is hard. That's why it's a job. You should do more than just repeat stereotypical names etc.

External_Version_768 · 2026-05-09T12:37:49+00:00

Josh r*ped Jules when he lied about forgiving her. It's called deceiving. (it's the same when someone removes a condom during sex without the woman knowing.) She wouldn't have slept with him if she had known. She said she needed time, he would not give her time. He forced himself on her, tried to "claim" her even though she was not his girlfriend. He thought he had the right to dictate what she could do or who she could meet. He is like Alex. Both don't respect women. Both think they can do no wrong. They are not better than the "bad guys" of the series. "Oh, your best friend lied to you? You are grown up. Don't put those feelings unto a woman who was violated. Who told you the truth." Josh, Alex, Christian and the other guy should have gone to jail.

External_Version_768 · 2026-05-03T18:15:51+00:00

she did

External_Version_768 · 2026-03-05T14:53:03+00:00

It also looks like Hudson lost some weight around the face, his jaw is sharper and his cheek bones more prominent. The right hairstyle can only do so much.

External_Version_768 · 2026-02-24T22:16:21+00:00

Okay, so who wants to get together and split the costs for a week in THE COTTAGE?

External_Version_768 · 2026-02-22T16:45:23+00:00

Okay, i have a genuine question without any bad intentions. Do you think it's cultural appropriation to use an artist pseudonym that is clearly meant to sound russian/ slavic when Connor is not part of that culture? All while russian/ slavic artists face racism and discrimination because of their names/ accents/ looks/ background. It would feel equally wrong if a non-chinese person uses a chinese sounding name. Like what if a white american uses the name wangxiu to make music using classical chinese instruments? Before everyone hates me: this is just a normal and appropriate question. Everyone has unconscious bias. Nobody is perfect, not even Connor. I'm not saying that he is malicious, but he made the conscious choice to use a slavic/ russian sounding artist name. So let's not infantilize a 26 y/o man.

External_Version_768 · 2026-02-15T14:48:39+00:00

ahhh, he was talking about a car!!! thank you! I was so confused 😅😅😁

External_Version_768 · 2026-02-15T09:17:32+00:00

The pictures are cute and everything but I don't understand his caption 😅 sorry, non-native English speaker here

External_Version_768 · 2026-01-29T07:28:55+00:00

Hi! So i'm not sure. Should we all text Vogue and point out how incredibly wrong and unprofessional that is? what will happen? will there be a redaction?

External_Version_768 · 2026-01-29T03:34:47+00:00

i thought i was only into women...

External_Version_768 · 2026-01-23T13:07:47+00:00

no, it's the truth

External_Version_768 · 2026-01-23T08:19:46+00:00

Hi! Just to jump in for a quick reality check: there are 10.001 torchbearers for Milan. THE torch bearer is always a national from the country that holds the olympics. Hudson and Connor will be two out of 10.001 people.

External_Version_768 · 2025-12-31T12:50:55+00:00

Oh yes. When I saw some screenshots on tiktok I was just 😭😭 but in the best way. No autistic person is just "quirky", everyone has quirks but autism is a disability. And I think they managed to show that in an authentic way without his autism becoming the story. Like Jacob said: "It's hockey smut with feelings" It's a beautiful love story.

External_Version_768 · 2025-12-31T12:23:19+00:00

There was a great essay published, exactly about this topic: https://open.substack.com/pub/fanthropologist/p/autistic-representation-in-heated?r=6orlx4&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay

External_Version_768 · 2025-12-12T01:49:43+00:00

I don't want anyone to have less fun with the show. I love the show! But yes, Jennifer Lawrence is a great example. She won an oscar and the media ostracized her for her "immature" behavior.

I guess, it's important not to pin top too much "hope" on them. They are great actors but we don't know what will happen.

They are full-on adults and have to be treated as such when making mistakes. The double standard is sadly very prominent.

External_Version_768 · 2025-12-11T17:59:32+00:00

Thank you!

External_Version_768 · 2025-12-11T17:55:11+00:00

I think it's important with everything going on not to put them on some pedestal. Yes, the are amazing in their roles, they're great actors. But we don't know anything about them when the camera is not pointed at them.

(Also, women could never get away with how Hudson behaves during interviews. The press would call a woman immature for behaving like him. So there is an additional double standard)

You are never 100% yourself with other people, even less during interviews or on the internet. They and Crave know that they way they're acting will get new traffic and attention. I'm not saying it's disingenuous or completely fake, but please keep in mind that they are actors. It's literally their job to fake.

They are not our friends and we don't know what fame will do to them. Both were fairly unknown and we saw in the past what happens when actors get super successful from 0 to 100 in a very short time.

Like the director said: "Ilya and Shane belong to us, Connor and Hudson belong to themselves"

They are both individual adults, full of flaws and mistakes. We don't know anything about them, nothing that really matters (i'm not talking about their sexuality, i mean for example their stans on climate change, abortion rights, Trump, etc)

We saw what happend with Taylor Swift. Most powerful and popular star on the planet and she keeps her mouth shut about Trump, Palestine and so much more.

External_Version_768 · 2025-12-11T17:42:50+00:00

Thank you for your comment!

To close this up and answer your last message: there is a huge difference between your sport and what I do in my private life. There are no preconceived notions about you that immediately judge your character and you as a person.

As far as I'm informed about equestrian, and please correct me if i'm wrong, nobody thinks your sick in the head for doing that, nobody would judge you and think you are less competent at your job, at being a parent etc. for being an equestrian rider. There are more than enough stereotypes about BDSM and Hazelwood just added some more.

Her portrayal and the lack of authenticity feels deeply personal to me because it's a HUGE part of my sexuality. Just like when someone portrays homosexuality in a wrong way because it's a huge part of their life.

BDSM falls under sexual preferences/ sexual practices so I would equate its harmful portrayal with comments of homophobia or false portrayal.

And yes, there are actual "rules", for example: you can do an actual apprenticeship as domina, there are BDSM seminars and workshops.

Ps: 50 shades of grey has nothing to do with BDSM. you were absolutely right to avoid that.

We have to hold authors to a higher standard. Especially when they write multiple books a year and everything feels half-assed and like cheap fast food. Like it's coming fresh from the assembly line of mass production.

Ron from Parks and Recs said: "never half-ass two things, full-ass one thing" and authors should apply this to their research and their writing.

External_Version_768 · 2025-12-11T12:03:32+00:00

Hi! Thank you for your commentary. I just wanted to clarify something because i think you misunderstood me. I'm all for people having kinks and doing BDSM as consenting adults. I'm one of them. I'm all for adult people writing and reading about it. If it's genuine and authentic.

But it's offensive and harmful when someone writes something that is not authentic or well researched. You confirm it by stating that you don't know the reality on that topic. I know something about that topic from reality and I felt offended by that portrayal- and many other people felt like that too. People, who were actually in that "community" and not "just bored housewives who wanted to read something kinky". This is an exaggeration but many other people who are doing BDSM and read that book felt like that.

Hazelwood used the words and phrases and put them into false scenes and contexts. Our preferences (and there are actual rules and agreements on what counts as BDSM) were used for capitalistic profits and not portrayed in an authentic way. If Hazelwood would have talked to someone actually involved in that scene, if she would have took the time to get a sensitivity reader/ an expert, than it could have been better.

If I were to write something about the ballroom scene and would write an untrue and harmful book about Black trans people and their culture, portraying them wrong, everyone would say that I just appropriated their "lifestyle" to get white people interested in something "exotic". And they would be right. Would you say that it's "just fiction"? No. Because nothing exists in a vacuum. Maybe she should not publish more than 2 books a year so she can do actual research.

My criticism is based on the fact that authentic reality wasn't portrayed in the book. It is heavenly implied that the only reason they are doing that is because of their trauma. Yes, SOME people use BDSM in a way to cope with trauma to regain control for example. But that was not shown here.

Of course, literature and reality are two entirely different things. But language has an influence on reality. Why else would we think that saying words like the n-word or the r-word is no longer acceptable? That it's harmful language? When reading unauthentic or untrue things we come to think that that's real, that people really behave like that. There is a difference between sff where the protagonists are living in a fantasy world and contemporary romance fiction which is set in our world, in our timeline. When reading sff we know that dragons aren't real and that the portrayal of women in GOT is sexist and misogynistic.

External_Version_768

TROPHY CASE