i really wanted to fill in the empty canvas with tiny davekats, but i soon realized it’s impossible to do it all at once, so i’ve made it my personal mission to add one or two davekat(s) a day until all of the canvas space is filled ^_^
check reblogs for when i inevitably add more tiny davekats!
Critics are saying “it’s not as good as Hill House” because that’s the lazy, empty argument they always go to when criticizing a sequel or sister series like this is. It makes a snappy headline and it’s always easier to make surface-level comparisons instead of giving genuine, critical thought to a piece of media.
It’s especially frustrating to see with The Haunting of Bly Manor because this series is very clearly a different kind of story than Hill House, with different priorities and themes and tone. It’s not Hill House, it’s not trying to be more Hill House, it has very little in common with Hill House, and it’s unfair to compare apples to oranges.
“It’s not as good as the first thing” is a bad faith criticism. It judges content based on how it compares to something else rather what it is on its own. If Bly Manor appeals less to your personal tastes, that’s fine. What’s unfair is judging it as less because it’s different. What’s unfair is disregarding its unique merits and implying its differences are inherently flaws. What’s unfair is expecting it to be something it isn’t trying to be.
Hill House was a horror story. Bly Manor is a gothic romance with horror elements. It’s not fair to criticize it for being less scary when invoking fear isn’t a priority for this story. Hill House’s ghosts were frightening and induced trauma because it was a story about trauma. Bly Manor’s ghosts are less scary and more tragic because it’s a story about tragedy.
Hill House is about grief and overcoming trauma. Bly Manor is a story about love and all the forms it takes - true love, tragic love, possessive love, star-crossed lovers, sibling love, love between parents and children. It’s a very different story, it’s a very good story, and it deserves to be judged on its own merits rather than being compared to another piece of media it isn’t meant to resemble in the first place.
Sirius: I just saw Remus crying in the library for five or six minutes and then his phone alarm went off and he just?? stopped crying?? and went right on back to work???
