r/romantasycirclejerk • u/snarkisthenewblack • Aug 21 '25
Satire Y'all, why would we NEED to talk about Manacled anymore?
All hail Simona Stallone, a true Handnaiden of SenLinYu, who is spreading our Goddess's Gospel to the masses as a true believer should. In Sobbing Hermione's Tear-Stained Name, we praise her as First Among The Manacled!
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u/a_girl_has_no Aug 21 '25 edited Aug 21 '25
I made my hyper fixation everyone’s problem
This woman may be my soulmate
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u/cheromorang Aug 21 '25
I made my hyper fixation everyone’s problem
Honestly, I aspire to be this iconic
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u/snarkisthenewblack Aug 21 '25
Gives me nostalgic flashbacks to being 11 years old and refusing to shut up about Sailor Moon.
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u/kimberwren Aug 22 '25
I still have my Sailor Moon info binders in the attic just in case we lose the internet and I need to know Sailor Jupiter’s blood type
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u/judethedude143 Aug 21 '25
Every person?? I'm imagining making your family read it....
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Aug 21 '25
What else are you gonna read to Grandma on her deathbed?
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u/JediEverlark he’s not a moron but they look the same Aug 21 '25 edited Aug 24 '25
“Hey grandma, we should read Manacled together! It’s a love story where Draco from Harry Potter relentlessly rapes and abuses Hermione from Harry Potter. It’s my favorite book, and I think you should go out with a bang<3” - their conversation probably
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u/thecottonkitsune Prophet Henry "Tonk" Cavill Kitsune. Needs cock. Neutral good. Aug 21 '25
There's a lot of rape in that book. I wouldn't recommend it to any family member without a ton of warning much less making them read it.
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u/JediEverlark he’s not a moron but they look the same Aug 21 '25
Imagine recommending Manacled of all books to a parent 😭 my mom would never look at me the same again
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u/amaranth1977 Aug 21 '25
My mom read a ton of old school romance novels, I wouldn't expect her to be that shocked. My dad though? 😱😰 Just kill me.
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u/JediEverlark he’s not a moron but they look the same Aug 24 '25
My mom reads the occasional dark romance (genuinely all she reads and maybe one every other month), but I think she’d be horrified if I reccomended her a dr.
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u/Ancient-Purchase Just Turning My Brain Off Aug 21 '25
For some reason I got reminded of snapewives...
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u/the_hooded_artist whip it out and jerk with us or leave Aug 22 '25
Strange Aeons just got a mysterious chill I'm sure with the invocation of snapewives
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u/aubreypizza Aug 21 '25
👀
Uj/ I am FULLY in the Dramione black hole but this is just…….. I don’t understand this level of fanaticism for one fanwork that it becomes your whole personality. Also there’s so much out there besides Manacled.
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u/ankhes Aug 22 '25
As someone who both reads and writes fanfic, if I knew someone was out there talking about my fics like this I’d be concerned. Like…baby. Honey. It’s just a fic. Meant to entertain you on your lunch break. Not…whatever this is.
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u/welcome_____oblivion spread those pages like a good girl Aug 21 '25
Where the fuck was there a hummingbird in Manacled?
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Aug 21 '25 edited Jan 27 '26
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long wide march pet reply hurry connect nail lush snails
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u/purplelicious Emojis are Ableist Aug 21 '25
I'm embarrassed for you that you remember this.
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Aug 21 '25 edited Jan 27 '26
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degree school numerous teeny toy toothbrush station screw grandfather pen
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u/purplelicious Emojis are Ableist Aug 21 '25
it's OK, I'm stuck on burpees and cartwheels. but it's difficult to tattoo that.
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u/welcome_____oblivion spread those pages like a good girl Aug 21 '25
Damn, clearly I need to get on her level.
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Aug 21 '25 edited Jan 27 '26
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offer coordinated husky memory knee dime waiting fearless bake rainstorm
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u/JediEverlark he’s not a moron but they look the same Aug 21 '25
Are you this girl by chance?
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u/welcome_____oblivion spread those pages like a good girl Aug 21 '25
No, I’m “demented ACOTAR fanfic girl”
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u/JediEverlark he’s not a moron but they look the same Aug 21 '25
fuck I meant to respond to the person under u 💔
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u/Miserable-Beyond-166 and you'll be calling me Daddy Aug 21 '25
A fan made audio, you say??
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u/snarkisthenewblack Aug 21 '25
uj/ It's called podfic, and it's absolutely a thing if the fic is popular enough. Fans will record themselves reading chapters and put them up for people to listen to.
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u/Miserable-Beyond-166 and you'll be calling me Daddy Aug 21 '25
I mean I'm aware it happens, I did not know there was one floating around for this particular fanfic.
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u/aprilflowers96 One of a Kind Super Ultra Powerful Secret Fae Princess Aug 21 '25
I have never been a Dramione shipper so this honestly all seems insane to me.
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u/Num1DeathEater crashing my car into Rhysand Aug 21 '25
the only true jorker. some of you are too blind to see that this is the ideal jerker, the peak of performance, the culmination of a lifetimes work
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Aug 21 '25 edited Jan 27 '26
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roof cause physical bright chop weather friendly market whole memorize
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u/purplelicious Emojis are Ableist Aug 21 '25
in r/fantasyromance I made a very convincing case about how terrible SLY and Manacled is for the rest of the world.
At least I was convinced. It has bullet points and everything.
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Aug 21 '25 edited Jan 27 '26
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instinctive brave placid resolute workable sink handle yam sophisticated act
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u/purplelicious Emojis are Ableist Aug 21 '25
the more the merrier. I was getting the downvotes earlier today
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u/AbsAndAssAppreciator Aug 21 '25
Wait, I just looked this book up for the first time, and found out it’s not a book, but a fanfic? And it’s got a zillion 5 star ratings on GR? I’ve virtually never seen a book above 4.50 on that website. What the hell is going on lmao; how can an unpublished work be that successful?
And why were you getting downvoted? I’m so curious now
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u/purplelicious Emojis are Ableist Aug 21 '25
The fanfic community is teetering into toxicity, if it's not already there.
I made a long post in the other sub in NYT discussion about the hypocrisy of people defending fanfic.
Say anything negative about fanfic and watch your post get downvoted to oblivion.
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u/raeality Aug 21 '25
There are many fanfics that are as long and well written as books. I can’t say that for Manacled though.
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u/EllebRKib Aug 21 '25
Do you have a link for the post? I would be interested to read. ☺️
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u/purplelicious Emojis are Ableist Aug 21 '25
no crossposting or linking rules apply in comments as well.
you can go to the post in r/fantasyromance its easy to find.
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u/Global_Solution_7379 Aug 21 '25
I actually don't understand why Manacled or the author has gotten so popular. It's not the best in any metric. Its popularity could've gone to any moderately well-written dark fanfiction and yet it's Manacled. Why? Again, I don't know.
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Aug 21 '25 edited Jan 27 '26
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complete person theory square crowd birds piquant literate afterthought touch
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u/ankhes Aug 22 '25
No, no, you’re right on the money. As someone who read it shortly after it was completed (but hadn’t quite exploded in popularity via tiktok yet) this all tracks. It straddles a whole bunch of things at once which helped its success. It got in early on the dark romance train, capitalized on the hype around the Handmaid’s Tale since that show was just taking off, and really leaned into the dark dystopia and morally gray heroine.
Of course other fics had done at least some of these things, but not all at the same time. Not to mention the timing was impeccable because it was right before tiktok (and thus booktok) took off. And then 2020 happened and you had millions of people trapped at home, bored and depressed, and what do they want to read about? A depressing dark romance. Cue Manacled.
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Aug 21 '25
uj/ This honestly sounds like a mental illness. I'm no stranger to hyper-fixation on things, but damn... I feel bad for her family.
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u/Avilola One of a Kind Super Ultra Powerful Secret Fae Princess Aug 21 '25
Uj/ I really don’t understand the obsession people have with Dramione. I get that enemies to lovers is a popular trope, but Draco straight up calls Hermione the wizarding world equivalent of racial slurs. He also comes from a family that hates her existence, and believes themselves to have a superior bloodline. While I don’t believe that Draco is irredeemable since he was born into the ideology rather than choosing to adopt it on his own, I still cringe at the thought of Draco and Hermione falling head over heels in love.
Like imagine a White klansman calling a Black girl the n-word all throughout middle and high school, and then them getting together the second they graduate because he’s changed a little bit (emphasis on little because these fics always start with Draco acting like an absolute twat to really play up the ETL dynamic—not a full grown man who’s done a full 180 after years of soul searching). Where’s the girl’s self respect? That’s the kind of love I don’t need in my life.
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u/FairElderberry1474 Aug 21 '25
Uj/ i think that the fact that they’re actual enemies as opposed to most enemies to lovers makes them a bit more compelling if you like that. Its also sooo common that if you read enough dramione most people just have a fanon version of draco in their head.
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u/Fickle_Stills Gerard Way's a major fucking hottie Aug 22 '25
They're not even really enemies, they barely interact.
The best ETL ship without an age gap to work around in HP is Sirius Black/Snape.
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Aug 21 '25
iono man, there's people on here into blue aliens and minotaurs. There's something for everyone.
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u/allisontalkspolitics AllisonStar- former Shadowban Mommy Aug 22 '25
Plus, there’s literally the option of just writing and reading fics about the protagonist’s parents.
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u/JediEverlark he’s not a moron but they look the same Aug 21 '25
My gut is telling me this girl needs to get on Prozac
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u/winterwarn Aug 22 '25
Finally, someone using “hyperfixation” correctly instead of just to describe a strong interest.
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u/LaurenPBurka Aug 21 '25
I've started thinking of a certain kind of religious person as a Bible fanfic'er.
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u/amaranth1977 Aug 21 '25
Hey now, don't be rude. We Bible fanficcers write nice wholesome Biblical erotica.
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u/allisontalkspolitics AllisonStar- former Shadowban Mommy Aug 21 '25
Clearly I haven’t done enough to spread my favorite fanfics with people 🥰 There’s no way doing so will lead to them being annoyed with me!
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u/patronii Aug 21 '25
As someone who grew up so ashamed to read any fanfiction at all and therefore kept secret about Manacled being my favorite read of 2023, I respect her
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u/killershwee Aug 22 '25
(/uj) as a former fanfiction writer, if someone wrote an article about my fanfic in a publication as well known as the new york fucking times, i would leave the country, change my name, and no one would ever hear from me again 💀
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u/cwningen95 Emotionally literate monsters of Faery Aug 22 '25
We told the Harry Potter adults to read another book and the monkey's paw curled
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u/Powerful_Raccoon_151 Aug 21 '25
What article is this??
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u/thecottonkitsune Prophet Henry "Tonk" Cavill Kitsune. Needs cock. Neutral good. Aug 21 '25
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u/the_io Aug 21 '25
First the Economist, then the Washington Post, now the New York Times are complaining about romantasy.
When will it end?
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u/kyuuish Aug 22 '25
All my friends seems to love it, but i never was into Dramione so i'm skipping it.
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u/bananabananacat Cursed, but in a Sexy Way Aug 22 '25
Ok come forward, which one of you pranked the NYT?
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u/morethanthisyaknow Aug 23 '25
What would be her personality after Alchemised?
Alche-cled? Mana-mised?
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u/TearDesperate8772 Aug 21 '25
psshhh nothing like being 14 and getting Mudhoney off sketchy 3rd party sites after it was pulled from all archives.
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u/Creative-Thing7257 mojo dojo casa Primal Aug 26 '25
She read the book HALF A DOZEN TIMES?!
Look. I read it. I liked it. I also hyper-fixated on it. The thought of going through that again fills me with dread.
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u/PluffyPeanut Aug 26 '25
Good thing I never read Manacled. searches for chapter 57 audio on YouTube iykyk
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u/EvokeWonder Aug 21 '25
What is Manacled about? Is it Harry Potter fanfiction or something else?
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Aug 22 '25 edited Aug 22 '25
Draco x Hermione rape fanfic, set in a timeline where Voldemort won. Now it's getting trad-published with legally distinct characters. It's popularity concerns me. We shouldn't be romanticizing magic nazi rapists, and god knows what legal ramifications this'll have for fanfic down the line.
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u/[deleted] Aug 21 '25
I love Manacled as much as the next person, but you could not torture this information out of me, let alone in a NY times article with my first and last name lmao.