Yeah. Yeah....
The thing is, I never cared what the degenerate part of the fandom did when the LOTR movies first came out because it was confined to Deviantart (lol) and Livejournal. I never had to see what female coomers were getting all hot and bothered about when it came to the characters and everyone just rolled their eyes at them anyways. Now, these fujos are pushing to be recognized as special for their "ships" being legitimate and we ALL have to be apart of this now. It's frustrating.
It hit the Witcher pretty bad since the terrible TV show came out and it makes it hard to enjoy your franchises when looking up anything becomes a game of russian roulette. Am I going to find some nice fanart or fanmade merchandise that makes me appreciate the series? Or terribly drawn images from a "queer folx" who doesn't understand male friendships because she's a pornsick coomer. Why the insistence that men need to be more feminine, but when they are, they're gay? Is it THAT hard to divorce yourself of a modern mindset - and a female one - in order to understand the complexity of men?
Oh wait. Of course it is. Because acknowledging men and women are different is sexist and transphobic or some shit. Better to continue to write horrible fanfiction that enforces your twisted mindset than ever challenge it. Fml.
You can really tell the difference between the two, not just because Tolkien came first, but it's pretty obvious Tolkien has studied English Literature for a fuckton of time. Whereas GRRM mainly seemed to hone his skill in short pop stories and soap operas. Tolkien has a mastery unlike we've ever seen and he used his love of etymology and knowledge of oral storytelling to create a world that feels old, timeless, and real. And ASOIAF, I'll say... isn't timeless.
At least not to me.
While GRRM has some great chapters, when you step back and look at ASOIAF overall, it's pretty obvious it's written like a television script. The cliffhangers, the details of food (and sex), the betrayals and shocks. You're reading a movie, basically, which is what a lot of modern fantasy writers now seem to do. Every battle is detailed and you read how people's swords met down to every stroke they make. Or how floppy their dicks are when they get ready to bed a woman.
When you jump back to Tolkien and it's like "Yeah, the Rohan killed those orcs. There's the bodies." You get some detail, but the point isn't the
battle. The battle is the fluff. The point is the journey and the characters taking you on it. Here's the dead marshes - this is what they are! - And you're out of it within the chapter and onto other places.
And while I do like both writers for their own points, Tolkien's works are always going to lovingly surpass GRRM because they feel a lot more satisfying and structured to give you everything you want out of a story. Heroism, brotherhood, romance, villains, mythical creatures, epic lands, etc. You know at the end you'll feel renewed with wonder, and I personally find that lacking in GRRM's works because he focuses too much on the 'grit' and not enough on telling a good story.
Enough with the subversion of tropes. Make me care about the story you're taking me on otherwise your book is going to the bottom of the Read pile.
Like, ASOIAF isn't terrible. It's better than a lot of things, but it's like cooking a box of dried macaroni on a Wednesday night with a bit of "truffle oil". Yeah, it's good, but it's nothing like the holiday feast where your Grandma spent hours basting that ham and it's accompanied by dessert, drinks, po-tay-toes, and company that is happy to see you.
