i can be extraordinary

30something long suffering lover of aerial ethereal, roxanne ruiz, & charlie cobalt. i post about krista & becca ritchie's books.

[roxannekotovaruiz]

so with the (legitimately gorgeous) rebrand/recover of damaged like us/like us series as a whole, I can't help but wonder when kbr is going to give the circus is family another (better) rebrand so that people actually want to read them.

(also if the addicted series is going to get another rebrand)

[roxannekotovaruiz]

The thing that makes the like us and to a lesser extent, addicted, series so hard to talk about is that there's flashes of brilliance and generally really good writing in them. There *is*. I love the Aerial Ethereal duet. I love the Addicted books. I love the Cobalts and Tangled Like Us specifically. I'm reading Charming Like Us for the first time and I am enjoying it (although, that isn't saying much; I'm on chapter two).

It's just all wrapped in baffling writing decisions (making Kitsulli a throuple, making beckettjoana a throuple, the issue with Raisy, the weird abuse, queerphobia (around Connor) and r*pe apologia it does with Jonathan, the fetishization of mm relationships that is particularly prevalent in the LU books, but did bleed over into Amour Amour/The Failed Audition (gag), the weird, horribly racist comment they made *in the text of the book* about why Akara should be Sulli's first time and not Banks (actually, honestly, the entire sidelining of Akara for Banks), the fact they have Daisy (and Rose and Lily??) wearing a Native American headdress in one of the later books, and their general inability to take criticism on *any* of it). I do generally think KBR are trying to do good and be good allies and write good books, but there's just... *something* about the later books that feel mean spirited and unrealistic in a way that Addicted somehow doesn't, despite not being devoid of problems itself.

I do think the only book that generally misses a lot of these problems are the AE duet (with the exception of maybe how much it's overlooked how shitty Thora's "friend" Shay really was. But all of this makes Ritchieverse hard to talk about bc when I wanna talk about how much I love AE and the core eight and the girl squad and how excited I am for Cobalt Empire, I always have to lead with how much I don't really like KBR.

[roxannekotovaruiz]

Recently in an interview with KBE, they said that Raisy wasn’t actually planned !! They said they would’ve made Daisy older by at least a year or two.

I find that really interesting 😭😭 I think it would’ve saved so much uncomfortableness

I saw that. I find it very interesting as well, but I think they figured out Raisy were going to be together before they sat down to write Hothouse Flower, because especially in Kiss the Sky, there's a lot of references to the fact that Ryke and Daisy are kind of flirting. There's also the interview where they ask "who has the best legs?" and Ryke hesitates and in her narration, Rose says "he's clearly thinking Daisy." Connor even goes so far as to say in his thoughts that age is just a social construct and doesn't denote maturity (another thing we've heard predators say). And when he, Rose, and Ryke are talking about Ryke's attraction to Daisy, Rose says "You like her. It's okay to like her." And I'm like ma'am. Your sister is seventeen and this man is twenty-three. And like, I know Julian sucks, believe me, but y'all were so weird about Daisy dating that grown adult. But not when it's Ryke, apparently. Lo is the only one who has the 100% correct take on what's going on.

And I want to be really careful because I don't think KBR intentionally wrote Ryke to be a groomer. My honest opinion is that they just get carried away with making sure all of their ships read as soulmates and meant to be. And when it comes to Ryke and Daisy, that's just a little more fucking yikes than most. Especially when you consider in Long Way Down, Ryke cops to being attracted to Daisy the first time he saw her, when she was underage. And I know he didn't know. But the thing was, KBR did, and they chose to write it in there.

So while I have to take them at their word that they would've made her older, I have to acknowledge that 1) KBR do like 6/7 year age gaps if LU is anything to go off of. And when they decided Ryke and Daisy were going to be together, it didn't seem like her age was seriously taken into account. It was just kind of written as, like, an obstacle for them. And that feels kind of weird in my opinion.

[roxannekotovaruiz]

Roxanne Kotova Ruiz

❋ Roxanne "Kotova" Ruiz: aspiring principal ballerina, Las Vegas born & raised, newbie in the elite New York Ballet Company, and daughter of Camila Ruiz & Dimitri "Kotova" Ruiz - circus is family ❋

[roxannekotovaruiz]

Charlie Keating Cobalt

❋ Charlie Keating Cobalt: lifetime contrarian, world traveler, hardest pill to swallow, certified genius, fraternal twin to Beckett, the second-born Cobalt ❋

[roxannekotovaruiz]

I will never be okay with KBR handwaving Jonathan Hale sexually assaulting a sixteen-year-old girl. Lo asks if Jonathan raped her and Ryke said "she was almost seventeen" (which i think is to try to soften what he did, instead of just saying she was sixteen) and that it was a "one time thing."

and like. I shouldn't have to say this, but a sixteen-year-old cannot consent to having sex with a full grown, married man. especially not one that has wealth, status, and privilege over her. And like, even if this girl threw herself at Jonathan, he should've walked away. He was the adult. This is singlehandedly one of the worst things he's ever done.

[roxannekotovaruiz]

So I'm rereading Addicted to You for the Ritchieverse project, and I just have one thing to say so far: I'm deeply uncomfortable with the way Loren treats Lily's addiction for the first half of this book. The man constantly toys with her and turns her on on purpose and then turns around and calls her a slut and says things like "I'd offer you a drink [of his alcohol], but I don't know where your mouth has been." Or he'll throw their fake relationship in her face. For example, just before they get together on the boat:

"I'm so confused. 'What do you want me to do? I can't go without it. You're drinking!' It's so unfair. 'Why can't I have sex?'

'Because we're supposed to be together!' He yells. 'You're supposed to be my girlfriend!' Before I can ask him to elaborate, he goes to the door, purposefully trying to avoid my questions. 'I'll be at the pool.'"

It truly feels like Lily is supposed to have all this grace and empathy in the world for his addiction and that alcohol is always the most important thing to him at any given moment, but he does not extend that same grace and empathy to her. And nuance corner, I get that on some level it's because he's in love with her and wants to be with her and he's also an alcoholic and not making the best decisions (and also he's like twenty). And Lily's addiction is not his responsibility. It's not his fault if he just exists and Lily gets turned on by it, but even with giving Loren that grace, I do not like how he's treating Lily in these moments. Especially because he is trying to trigger her in a lot of these moments and it makes me feel like he (and by extension KBR [who, credit where it's due, usually do treat Lily's addiction seriously] don't take her addiction as seriously when it comes to her relationship with Lo. He's treating it like a puzzle he just has to find the solution to.

[mzradyer]

wallflower x gamer boy

willow hale and garrison abbey from bad reputation duet by krista and becca ritchie

[roxannekotovaruiz]

doing some research for my kbr essay and the numbers as I've quickly ran them before work (this is without double checking and following up) do NOT look good.

[roxannekotovaruiz]

I'm a little worried about writing analysis bc I think yall are gonna see the secret in my heart and that's that I don't really like Loren hale. so I'm just gonna put that out here now and acknowledge that bias and hope yall won't hold it against me. I'll try to be as unbiased as possible, but from addicted to like us, I just find Loren hale to be a little asshole. and I know he'd be proud of that.

[roxannekotovaruiz]

When will you write analysis??? 🤔🤔

Hi! I'm planning to reread addicted/calloway qnd catch up on like us soon since cobalt empire got announced. I'm going to take notes as I go for things I want to talk about. the first one should be coming out soonish. for the kbr analysis, I'm gonna need fandom help too, so I'll call for that when the moment comes.

[roxannekotovaruiz]

I know I’ve been gone from this blog in awhile -mostly because while I do consider myself a fan of KBR in some ways, I’m less a fan of them and more a fan of their books and that makes it hard to celebrate their books when they directly profit off of me celebrating their books- BUT I’m about to do my third reread of The Addicted series (plus probably another round of reading of AE and maybe the Bad Reputation Duet. I’m still debating Like Us because a lot of that series is. Not Good). And I just wanted to say that there will be analysis coming! Here are things I have in mind

Problematic Like Us - talking about KBR and all of the reasons I find them problematic and hard to support bc if I’m going to celebrate their books, I want all consumers to know what they’re getting into. This is a must for me. But it will take rereading the text and more research. So be patient on this one.

Character analysis of the Core Six + Garlow and also AE characters. If I reread Like Us, tack them on here too.

Ship Analysis for all of the main ships as well.

A specific “Ryke isn’t a groomer but Krista and Becca were f*cking yikes in some ways when it comes to the Raisy relationship” analysis. I’ve actually started writing this one but I want to reread the series just to make sure my facts about the ship is accurate - and this is coming from the perspective of someone who does more or less ship Raisy

Jonathan Hale Sucks and Here’s Why

An analysis of the Kotova siblings and their dynamic with each other. May also include Dimitri.

Why I think the Addicted/Calloway books work and Like Us falls so flat.

I kinda just wanna talk about the girl squad and why I find them so fun.

Would also love to break down at least some of the Cobalt Empire and some of the other second gen kiddos I actually like, but once again idk if I’m gonna reread Like Us so who knows.

Potentially Camitri theories about Roxanne and how we got here bc I love her

(would also love to do charlieroxanne content as I love them but we shall see)

This is just the short list of ideas off the top of my head that I know I want to do. Honestly, within the Jonathan Hale essay, we might talk about how both Calloway parents suck as well, but despite all of these parents being awful, only one is truly villainized by the text and the fandom - and it’s not the one who physically/mentally abused his son and had sex with (a) minor(s). There’s no love lost between Jonathan Hale and me. That’s your one warning. So yeah, I know it’s been like. A drought of content, but I’m planning on coming back swinging. I hope y’all will wanna read the silly little words that I write.

[roxannekotovaruiz]

the twins may finally be writing the camitri book in the aerial ethereal series. this is not a drill. this is not a fucking a drill.

[heatedrivalryy]

i’m just confused how did kbr change the name of the series from “aerial ethereal” to “circus is family” and think that made it more appealing…..and they aren’t even planning on having a release for it any time soon so who are they even trying to appeal to

[displayheartcode]

i love you, secondhand sections in bookstores. i love you, library book sales. i love you, free little libraries. i love you, shelves of books at coffee shops. i love you, town wide book sales. i love you, school book fairs. i love you, stacks of free books in offices.

[roxannekotovaruiz]

one day I'm going to come back to this fandom and actually contribute to it again, but I can't yet bc all of kbr's recent releases have made me both mad and sad. sigh.

[roxannekotovaruiz]

what if I learned how to make a zine and did one for AE and/or the Cobalts and their love interests (or at least the brothers that are confirmed)? idk.