Subject: Hat also off, just adding my two cents.
Author:
Posted on: 2023-02-20 18:33:29 UTC

Re. Zenile and bigotry, it looks like gryphons, as a brand-new species, have been subject to oppression by humans. This summary right here tells me there's a blatant parallel to American anti-Black racism in the first book. That being the case, it doesn't strike me as unreasonable for Zenile to have some prejudice against humans.

That's not to say it shouldn't be a point of growth for her, though, since not all humans are the same. Especially when they come from different universes. {= )


I do question the choice of badfic, though. First of all, it looks like it may be in active publication. My advice is to pick something inactive that's at least five years old. That way you avoid stepping on a person's rawest feelings if they happen to get wind of the mission. (Which they shouldn't. But still.)

Anyway, on the quality of the fic—with the caveat that I don't know the Wings of Fire continuum—a quick skim through the extant four chapters (they are chapters, even though they were posted as separate stories), doesn't have me reaching for the Bleeprin. The writing IS cringey at times (the prologue is particularly urple {X D ), and there's some really obnoxious fourth-wall-breaking in the fourth chapter, but it strikes me as mostly mediocre, fluffy, and boring. It takes some effort to pull humor from that.

And the protagonist IS special, but he's special by design, and I kinda like how that's explored with his feelings of restlessness and having a close relationship with (I think) a canon character who also has an unusual backstory. (I don't think it's actually a slash relationship as part three's category says, though? They are children.)

I even think the inner-space exploration was done reasonably well, with attention paid to changes in gravity and atmospheric density, and the need for a different sort of propulsion than wings.

Plus, well, he's a child. Yes, he's touted for being oh so mature for his age, but he's still just a year old in part four. I am on record as personally having qualms about agents happily slaying children-shaped things. ^_^;

None of this is to say this fic can't be PPC'd at some point, especially if there's bad OOCness I can't detect, but I suspect there are easier targets out there for a first mission. And ones that are not potential live powder kegs. {= )

~Neshomeh