And, look, it's fine if you think I'm a pretentious ass. I also think I'm a pretentious ass. But I'm a pretentious ass who doesn't take himself very seriously. There are many things I take seriously, including the value of play. But me? My little site? Nah. I'm just having fun out there.
UPDATE: Someone said I should read the comments, so I did. And, wow, it's nice that so many people said kind things down below! Honestly, that's very nice. But don't worry about me. Life is hard enough without feeling the need to defend some random dude on the internet. Never pile on on my behalf.
your stuff is educational, even! i had never heard of the Arte di Calamari before reading your review. had no idea cephalopods were so politicallu influential in renaissance Florence
So yummy!
I'm "Haladras" there. Not *just* on your behalf, to be clear. I may have given up on doing that job myself, but I want others to do it, too. I know from experience that these loudmouths get to typing first, well before an audience does. They killed any love *I* had for critique, certainly.
If this sort of thing is shut down, that's room for a future Dan(-adjacent) writer to breathe, and hopefully they'll fare better than I. Let them think twice, and then those who can love this approach will see their next critical piece more clearly, before it's downvoted to obscurity by trolls.
If we were trying to do you a personal favor, maybe it would be wrong, but we're not. Furthermore, we're quite restrained given the post's overreach. We're being a hell of a lot kinder than they were.