HA! Yeah it's a post disguised as a chapter. Now silence. Go and read.

I want to first establish that I'm not calling anyone out. Honestly, the majority of you were great in the comments of the last chapter. Not all of you, but a good majority of you. But I want us to be on the same page and take a step back to think more clearly about what just happened.

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TGGBB has a lot of potential. People tell me it's their favorite book and other compliments, but I don't think of that. It just simply has a lot of potential that was brought down because of my amateur writing and incomplete plot outline. My insecurity and self-criticism would label it as a bad book, but I have enough confidence to say it has... potential.

I have never read TGGBB ever since I wrote it. You know how sometimes you remember an embarrassing thing and you cringe while in a fetal position in some corner of the room? Well, TGGBB is a "physical" entity of that fear and anxiety.

One of the many reasons I don't like TGGBB and worked to rewrite over it in Broken Glasses is the misogyny, or dislike or prejudice again women, in the book- not only from the writing but from the comment section as well.

The situation made it easy. I struggled writing a female protagonist who I wanted to be a relatable role model and friend, someone who's quirky and smart but has her flaws and selfish desires, hindered by insecurity and bullying.

BUT

Then we have three male characters each with their personalities, backgrounds, and imagined physical attractiveness served on a silver platter to a reading audience primarily of young women. (I could easily say hormonal tweens and teens as I was when I first started Wattpad but I digress).

And with that setup, this imbalanced sympathy and support was created. The majority of the readers through their comments naturally leaned towards the guys over Naomi. I'm not saying Naomi didn't have any faults and mistakes, I had just said she has her flaws and selfish desires. But that never meant the guys didn't have them as well. At one point, I even tested my suspicion of this imbalanced support, when I had both Naomi and Bennett say the same thing, and everyone supported what Bennett said while waving Naomi off.

It was frustrating and tiring. I remember when writing TGGBB I often got depressed knowing everyone seemed to just hate Naomi but love the guys. Maybe it's just because I made them that I want them all to be supported equally, but now it goes beyond that.

And I'm not saying everyone blindly thinks the guys are right, maybe even a minority of you think so now, but what's important is acknowledging that this exists and is actively happening. I thought this wouldn't be a problem anymore after TGGBB1 but here we are.

This is all because of, and you guessed it, Chapter 29. I wanted to wait to better explain it in the later chapters, but after talking about it in the TGGBB Discord (link in my bio what up), I felt it's important to first formally introduce/discuss it before those chapters because not everyone can analyze it on their own which is why I like Wattpad's comment section because it sparks these great discussions.

The main point of Chapter 29 is that everyone was in the wrong. Jordan was clearly in the wrong, snapping and starting arguments with everyone, looking towards alcohol as a coping mechanism- there was a general agreement in all of the comment sections that Jordan needed to shut up and calm down. Glad we're on the same page.

But now we turn to the other two: Declan and Naomi.

Naomi, also in the wrong. She bit back at Jordan's insults and arguments as well as started on some of her own. Like I said before, Jordan and Naomi used to have my same Myers-Briggs personalities and that's just the kind of characters they are when they're angry and hurt.

Then there's Declan. A special case of course. Now the leader over the two, he forced himself to be the level-headed one when just as easily he would lashing out like Jordan and Naomi as he initially did when Bennett said he'd leave. So we think, yes finally someone who's still in their right mind, we will now side with you for everyone you say or do.

But that's just surface layer stuff I have written explicitly. Now just think again about Declan's background and character- he's not really ok. Save for that outburst again Naomi and Jordan, he's the type to really bottle up his emotions before it breaks compared to the other two already displaying them. Does that mean it's right? No, of course not. You shouldn't lash out your emotions but you also shouldn't bottle them up either.

Ah but you'll say, "We shouldn't blame him, he's just doing his best as being a leader and be level-headed for the others". Well, what about Naomi and Jordan- don't they have a right to feel their feelings as well? If you defended them you would just say "but we shouldn't blame either of them because they're clearly hurt even though they're reacting poorly towards each other". People have different personalities and upbringings- if two different people face the same situation, they will react differently and you can't really blame them for it UNTIL they learn how to react to it better, healthier.

Then there's the main point of this chapter-post. That fun little argument between Naomi and Declan in the end. You know... that one.

One of my shortcomings with Naomi's character in TGGBB is her place in the gang plot. It was 2013, the gang/mafia genre was at an all-time high. The book would've been perfectly fine without a gang plot and I decided to just roll with it into TGGBB2 but not including a gang plot in Broken Glasses.

But let's check this one snippet of that particular conversation and some comments with it:

Now I'm not calling anyone out. As I said before, people's backgrounds and mentalities make them think differently. But it doesn't hurt to stop and think: is this all that we can conclude? If you start creating this mentality, imagine applying it not only in other books but real life situations. That's what I hope to achieve with TGGBB and BG.

I think we all established that Naomi's is smart given that one gang meeting. So what seems to be the problem? How about looking specifically at the last line Naomi said: "And I can't have you two be on your own either!"

She isn't some prideful brat who wants to go play a first-person shooting game in some gang war. There are only three of them now, having lost a capable leader and their main financial support. Now Declan wants to keep her safe at the expense of putting him and Jordan at risk. Naomi isn't saying she wants to go fight with them, but she wants to do be able to better support them because there are only three of them. Can you really just quietly take the role of watching your friends be hurt while you're safe- this "survivor's guilt" before the guilt will come in.

This isn't a spoiler. I clearly wrote that. But it was brushed aside because the main point people focused on is that Declan is clearly protecting her and risking his and Jordan's safety. Yes, how sweet, we love him, we wish all guys would do that. No, we get that and we can still think about that, but we don't have to put down one character at the expense of the other.

But then Naomi decides now is the time to give them a piece of her mind of her role/standing with the gang, saying that she's being degraded at their expense and constantly undermined because she just happens to have less experience than them. She made some reasonable points seeing that nobody's perfect (Hannah Montana what up), but she was definitely fueled by anger and jealousy to even dig into some ad hominems. If I start a new sport, does it give veteran players the right to make fun or discourage me from continuing the sport? A bit of a safe comparison compared to joining a gang, but the point is clear. Play to a person's strengths, have a discussion and talk it out, don't just order someone around and expect them to blindly follow.

And so we turn back to Declan.

Someone in the TGGBB Discord or in Chapter 29 pointed out that Bennett and Declan are clearly different leaders. Bennett (was lol) a leader who was confident in his decisions, used to being someone people look to lead, can be calm and rational, depends on his intelligence and reasoning. Declan seems to be the type of leader who would step up when the situation called for it. As a leader by circumstance along with his background and personality, he would seem to depend on intimidation and strength to lead while also make decisions on reason and instinct. We can obviously assume that Declan wants to be a leader that can replace the hole Bennett left, but now has to deal with a budding alcoholic who doesn't agree with his position and a know-it-all who seems to want to throw herself into danger.

And as she believes in her points and refuses to listen to his decision, Declan decides to fall back into intimidation. Remember that little earlier exchange when he asked that if he'd be a good leader if he ordered people around instead and Naomi said that would make him a tyrant instead of a leader? That was a mini foreshadowing in the same chapter. I have my moments everyone.

Did Declan make a good point about why Naomi has to stay safe? Yes. Is how he said is correct? Um, no. There are a million other ways to say- hey I want to keep you safe as a person, as my friend, and so I won't use vulgarity and intimidation to make you shut up and listen to everything I say or else I'll kick you out. You know, something like that.

@declanlynchswife (what a name) made some brilliant points way more eloquently than me on a good day and:

So in conclusion, everyone was in the wrong in their own quirky way. And I want to say I'm so proud of the readers who commented how they aren't taking any sides and that everyone was wrong. I didn't think anyone would say anything like that all but would just react- so I was very proud and excited to see those comments because that was my main point. We're diving more into these characters and their relationships- underneath the surface, in between the lines. There were WAY more comments like this one, introspective brilliant comments, but it's almost 1 AM in the morning and I have school-crap.

Also.

Stop thinking grief and anger is hot. Ok cool, they're book characters. But please, if your "crush" is yelling at you or being physical to intimidate you- ignore them, slap them, leave. You must respect people and you must be respected. This ain't After- NOON, it isn't the afternoon, it's almost 1 AM as I write this.

Feel free to discuss your thoughts about this. And know that no one is to blame of this. This is society's mentality, it got into my head, it got into your head, it's clear in Wattpad writing/reading culture. We might not stop it, but we can at least stop and think about it.

Be sure to join the TGGBB Discord to talk more about this stuff and how you love/hate me for the last two chapters lol.

I'm proud of this cult- I mean community. I love you all. Ok I have a bad week coming up. So please join the TGGBB Discord so I can lurk around and read your theories and discussions to fill the void that is school.

Rubix