aphroditeofcnidus

[aphroditeofcnidus]

This is a very long post!

These last couple of months, it’s been interesting to talk about Nesta as a character and how her subsequent characterization is so integral to pointing out the problems in the series. Whether or not you view Nesta to be ‘real’ or ‘good’ character is one thing, and often subjective. Our own personal backgrounds may muddle or influence whether we like these characters or not.

The reason why I think Nesta is an interesting character is because of how she kind of…ruins the story, or the illusion of a story we are given. There are many times in the story where I think SJM could have elaborated on the qualities that she gushes about, but she intentionally chooses not to. For example, if SJM kept Rhysand consistent, I could see him disliking Nesta and wanting to actually hurt her, but have him think about Feyre and her wants and ultimately relent to Feyre’s want. One thing about Tamlin’s abuse that I think was done well was the fact that he genuinely seems broken up by the fact he can’t control his anger, and he feels something akin to guilt, but he doesn’t stop the abuse. It highlights the effect of the victim, not the intention of the abuser. I don’t know if it was intentionally done, but I liked that element of his abuse. I also liked that the dangers that Tamlin are worried about are real – the threat is real. Why? Because I think it proves, to some extent, that we should not justify abuse, even if the abuse seems rational. It proves that in this world, these men should still adhere to the fact of self-control. How can Feyre in a relationship with Tamlin if he can’t regulate his emotions around her?

But then the story does something weird – it embodies Rhysand with these very same qualities. It also recreates Tamlin’s abuse of Feyre with…Nesta – and then justifies it. Nesta arrives in a similar position as Feyre, yet the story goes to great lengths to vilify her for not reaching out; this is a far-cry from how the story (and stans) think about Feyre. (paint scene, fire scene, solstice scene, and hiking scene). We're supposed to sympathize with the decisions being made; so much rides on the fact that the IC are doing this out of the kindness of their heart:

Did Nesta notice the faint glimmer of worry in Amren’s smoky eyes—understand how rare it was? More than that, did Nesta understand that this meeting wasn’t to condemn her, but instead came from a place of concern? Her simmering stare told him she considered this purely an attack.

We're supposed to think about the worry of the Inner Circle and not think about the way they've decided to express their worry. Its similar to this scene that we get with Lucien to Feyre about Tamlin:

“I’ve given him time,” I said. “I can’t stay cooped up in the house forever.” “He knows that—he doesn’t say it, but he knows it. Trust me. You will forgive him if his family’s own slaughter keeps him from being so … liberal with your safety. He’s lost those he cares for too many times. We all have.” Every word was like fuel added to the simmering pit in my gut. “I don’t want to marry a High Lord. I just want to marry him.”“One doesn’t exist without the other. He is what he is. He will always, always seek to protect you, whether you like it or not. Talk to him about it—really talk to him, Feyre. You’ll figure it out.” Our gazes met. A muscle feathered in Lucien’s jaw. “Don’t ask me to pick.” “But you’re deliberately not telling me things.” “He is my High Lord. His word is law. We have this one chance, Feyre, to rebuild and make the world as it should be. I will not begin that new world by breaking his trust. Even if you …”

Lucien is continually asking Feyre to place Tamlin over her own happiness; he is asking her to consider his feelings before she considers his own - partially because this is the way Lucien is characterized to handle Tamlin's abuse himself. Cassian is asking Nesta to consider the Inner Circle's intention over how she feels. Amren and Rhys immediately shame and threaten Nesta - she is valid in her anger. She has interpreted this meeting as an attack...because it was. I think its especially telling that the later scene is asking Nesta to have empathy for Amren who is arguably the most abusive, abrasive, and unproductive person in that entire meeting. The second part of Lucien's monologue end's up being true for Nesta as the Inner Circle end up doing the same thing to control Nesta's behavior -- whether that be by leveraging Elain, outright forcing her, or even the decision to withhold Nesta's power from her -- these echo the exact same plot points we see in MAF with Feyre.

Let’s compare some scenes:

It was worse than a crown, actually. Built into the box were compartments and sleeves and holders, all full of brushes and paints and charcoal and sheets of paper. A traveling painting kit. Red—the red paint inside the glass vial was so bright, the blue as stunning as the eyes of that faerie woman I’d slaughtered— “I thought you might want it to take around the grounds with you. Rather than lug all those bags like you always do.” The brushes were fresh, gleaming—the bristles soft and clean. Looking at that box, at what was inside, felt like examining a crow-picked corpse. I tried to smile. Tried to will some brightness to my eyes. He said, “You don’t like it.” (MAF: Chapter 9)

“You’re going, even if you have to be tied up and hauled there. You will follow Cassian’s lessons, and you will do whatever work Clotho requires in the library.” Nesta blocked out the memory—of the dark depths of that library, the ancient monster that had dwelled there. It had saved them from Hybern’s cronies, yes, but … She refused to think of it. “You will respect her, and the other priestesses in the library,” Feyre said, “and you will never give them a moment’s trouble. Any free time is yours to spend as you wish. In the House.” Hot rage pumped through her, so loud Nesta could barely hear the real fire before which her sister paced. Was glad of the roaring in her head when the sound of wood cracking as it burned was so much like her father’s breaking neck that she couldn’t stand to light a fire in her own home. “You had no right to close up my apartment, to take my things—” (Silver Flames; Chapter 2)

She could barely stand to hear the crack and pop of the wood. Had barely been able to endure it in Feyre’s town house. Snap; crunch. (FAS: Chapter 21)

"He had Enough of the coldness, the sharpness. Enough of the sword-straight spine and razor-sharp stare that had only honed itself these months"

He understood. He really did. It had taken him months—years—after his first battles to readjust. To cope. Hell, he was still reeling from what had happened in that final battle with Hybern, too

Another grin as he lifted the small, wrapped parcel. “Your Solstice present.” “I don’t want one (FAS)

“Nesta forged a new Trove,” Cassian said, reining in his rage at the truth of Azriel’s words. “She could create anything.” He nodded to Rhys. “She could fill our arsenals with weapons that would win us any war.” Briallyn, Koschei, and Beron wouldn’t stand a chance. “Which is why Nesta must not learn about it,” Amren said. Cassian demanded, “What?” Amren’s gray eyes held steady. “She cannot know.” Rhys said, “That seems like a risk. What if, unaware, she creates more?” “What if, in one of her moods,” Amren challenged, “Nesta creates what she pleases just to spite us…’ (SF)

He appealed to Rhys, “You’re all right with this? Because I’m sure as hell not.” “Amren’s order holds,” Rhys said, and for a heartbeat, Cassian hated him. Hated the mistrust and wariness he beheld on Rhys’s face.(SF

“No. She knows the labor will be difficult, but I haven’t told her yet that it might very well claim her life.” Rhys spoke into their minds, as if he couldn’t say it aloud, I haven’t told her that the nightmares that now send me lurching from sleep aren’t ones of the past, but of the future. Cassian squeezed Rhys’s shoulder. “Why won’t you tell her?” Rhys’s throat worked. “Because I can’t bring myself to give her that fear. To take away one bit of the joy in her eyes every time she puts a hand on her belly.” His voice shook. “It is fucking eating me alive, this terror. I keep myself busy, but … there is no one to bargain with for her life, no amount of wealth to buy it, nothing that I can do to save her.

So much is happening here – there’s actually more scenes, but I don’t want to go and find them all. I wanted to include more similarities between Feyre and Nesta (I might make a separate post with all of those). To some extent, I think a lot of these quotes, even without elaboration echo the point I’m about to make. In quote #4, Cassian’s narration berates Nesta for not being integrated into the family and not being happy at Solsitice, but we the audience know that Nesta (1) isn’t being talked to, (2) she can barely stand the sound of the fire, (3) Feyre forced Nesta to come by essentially holding her rent over her head. And there’s just way to many parallels between how Nesta feels at the NC and how Feyre felt at the Spring Court. Nesta is drowning; she tells us that – Rhysand’s subtle anger is something she not only notices, but internalizes. She specifically mentions that she doesn’t take any of Rhysand’s positions because they were pity offerings; he’s only doing it because of Feyre. The story then decides to let him spearhead the conversations around Nesta’s autonomy. In the first quote, Tamlin's overall ignorance regarding Feyre's mental state, and her aversion to things such as the color Red were considered red flags; yet when Nesta has an aversion to fire, when she is neglected and nearly dies the story spends so much time trying to tell the audience that Cassian simply didn't know - it doesn't say anything about him.

But one of the biggest indicators of this ruin of the story is the fact that Amren and Rhys believe that Nesta should not have her power because ““What if, in one of her moods,” Amren challenged, “Nesta creates what she pleases just to spite us?” (Maas). The issue, as consistently reiterated, is a control one. They don’t trust Nesta simply because they cannot control her – that is what is highlighted as the issue in the story. Furthermore, Feyre doesn’t let Nesta know, she defers to a process that she doesn’t have to. She outranks everyone in that room; if she wanted to tell Nesta was rules would stop her – that’s literally been the way Feyre has characterized (see: Wraiths, the HL meeting attacking Beron, Tarquin and the BoB, Mor/Feyre w/ the Suriel), yet in this moment when she disagrees with Rhys – she essentially defers to his command. She simply expresses a subtle wariness and then moves on. Feyre has the power to just tell Nesta is the point that I am making here. It’s Nesta’s power; they forced her to do these tasks, and when she has one moment of autonomy in making the sword – they are argue that Rhys should make himself High King and Cassian, despite his earlier provocations, believes in this. He agrees with it. And even though I am going on this long, wordy analysis, I think a lot of what I am saying is kind of really clear In these quotes even without explaining.

To bring this back, Rhys (and Feyre somewhat) are only excused because the story believes their intentions were good (see quote #7), which conflicts with what we’ve already seen. These are…the exact same justifications we get about Tamlin; he truly believes that by making her safe, he is making her happy – but we know Feyre values truth over safety. And so the story undermines its lessons by not condemning the actions of its characters and instead leans into moralistic reasons. The argument now isn't even that Nesta isn't being abused, but stans and even the story (subtextually) believe that Nesta deserves the abuse - or that it's purely a consequence of her own immaturity, yet this is a far-cry to how Feyre is perceived in similar situations. The story argues that these characters understand that Nesta is not in her right mind - but constantly the story expects her act functionally in the face of her depression, even though the very reason the decided to lock her up is because they all unanimously believed she could not function by herself. She's expected to respond appropriately to their jabs, do missions on their behalf, train, and work at the library with no pay. She cannot leave Velaris without a Chaperone and all of her Chaporene are employed officials who are gone for the entirety of the book. No one ever actually offers to ever take Nesta out to see the town. I am seriously tired, and really concerned with the way Nesta's abuse is talked about.

[aphroditeofcnidus]

The problem with Rhysand's treatment of Nesta when she gives Bryce the mask is not that he disagreed with what she did,so his stans arguing how he was right in that is besides the point.This wasn't a situation,where you can simply say one is right and the other is wrong.Nesta had serious reasons for doing what she did and Rhys had serious reasons to disagree,he and Cassian both.The problem is how he bursts into her home,the threats of violence and how Nesta is not even sure she's not going to get executed by the man whose life she saved.The way that she doesn't trust her own mate would protect her from possible execution.I find the way Rhys bursts into her home especially horrifying.He might have gifted her the HOW but he doesn't consider it Nesta's home but that she merely lives there out of his goodwill.The IC doesn't have any boundaries in the first place and Nesta is a victim of abuse and has war trauma.Her home has to be a safe space,a sanctuary for someone like her.

[aphroditeofcnidus]

"I don't like how Nesta treats people."

But people are okay with how the IC treats Nesta? They're okay with how the IC treats each other?

I really don't understand the double standards in this fandom.

It's not okay for Nesta to call Cassian a low-born Illyrian bastard twice, but it's okay for him to insult her, be highly inappropriate with her, grab her without her consent, almost sexually assault her, disrespect her boundaries, disrespect her autonomy, harass her, say incredibly hurtful/cruel/abusive things to her, stalk her, not back off after she's told him a thousand times that she's not interested in him, physically abuse her (at least I classify the punishment hike to be physical abuse), and neglect her? But Nesta's the problem here? People don't like Nesta's treatment of Cassian?

It's not okay for Nesta to "let" Feyre hunt or for Nesta to be occasionally bitchy to Feyre, but it's okay for Feyre to never give Nesta credit for doing the cooking that kept her alive and for doing the household chores during their years in poverty; to blame Nesta for the sins of the parents rather than blaming the parents; to get off on the thought of Nesta starving to death; badmouth Nesta; wonder if Rhysand could use his Daemati mind control on Nesta to force her to allow them to meet with the human queens in her house even knowing that Nesta could be killed for it; caring more about what Nesta's trauma does to her than what Nesta's trauma does to Nesta; having sex with Rhys before checking on Nesta after Nesta had been tortured and violated; expecting Nesta to be gracious to the IC when they spectacularly failed her and ruined her life; expecting Nesta to be ready for a relationship with Cassian right after being abducted, tortured, violated, and killed; bullying Nesta; wondering if breaking Nesta would be worth it; stalking and harassing Nesta; abusing Nesta and locking her up in the HoW; allowing Rhysand to berate and abuse Nesta; allowing Cassian to punish Nesta even though Feyre wasn't angry with her; and allowing her chosen family to insult, abuse, neglect, exclude, and isolate Nesta? But Nesta's the only problem here? People don't like Nesta's treatment of Feyre?

It's not okay for Nesta to be mean to Rhysand, but it's okay for Rhys to hate her before he even meets her, compare her to Eris when it's not even the same situation, blame her for the sins of Papa Archeron while simultaneously forgiving Papa Archeron, promising to protect her and then spectacularly failing to do so, allowing Cassian to repeatedly disrespect Nesta's boundaries after she had been tortured and violated and had asked to be left alone, conflicted about whether or not to be gracious or yell at her for saving Cassian's life, not giving two shits that she was willing to sacrifice her life so Feyre and Amren could reach the Cauldron, berating and abusing Nesta, being a dick to Nesta for no reason, withholding information about Nesta's world-shattering gift to Make weapons, allowing Cassian to punish Nesta for telling Feyre the truth, wanting Nesta to be miserable, doing nothing to save Nesta from the Blood Rite, and continuing to disrespect Nesta and yell at her and threaten her with violence even after she saved his family's lives? But Nesta's the problem here? People don't like Nesta's treatment of Rhys?

It's not okay for Nesta to not want to wear Mor's dress, but it's okay for Mor to continually allow Cassian to disrespect Nesta's boundaries after Nesta had been tortured and violated and had asked multiple times to be left alone, violate Nesta's personal space and get all handsy with her dress knowing full-well that Nesta had just been violated in the Cauldron, insult Nesta to her face and behind her back, exchange lingerie with Cassian when she knows he's interested in Nesta, verbally kick Nesta when she's already down, tell Nesta she should have been dumped in the human lands to be hunted and killed, couldn't care less that Nesta was bruised from a fall that could have killed her as a human, and compares Nesta - an abuse victim - to her abusers rather than the people abusing Nesta? But Nesta's the problem here? People don't like Nesta's treatment of Mor?

It's not okay for Nesta to be mean to Amren, but it's okay for Amren to verbally abuse Nesta, suicide-bait her, slut-shame her, consider tossing her in the dungeons of the Hewn City, being condescending towards Nesta, insulting her to her face and behind her back, only talking about manipulating and controlling Nesta rather than about helping her, dismissing Nesta's trauma as if it doesn't matter, mistaking Feyre's abuse of Nesta as "love" and telling Nesta she should be grateful, telling Nesta she doesn't deserve her powers, and allowing Rhysand to berate Nesta and threaten her in her own home? But Nesta's the problem here? People don't like Nesta's treatment of Amren?

It's not okay for Nesta to move Papa Archeron's cane out of his reach, but it's okay for Papa Archeron to neglect Nesta her entire life, to allow his mother-in-law to physically and emotionally abuse Nesta, to allow his wife to groom Nesta to become a child bride, to never show Nesta a day of love in her entire life, to never cherish or adore Nesta the way he did his other daughters, to be willing to see Nesta starve to death rather than getting a job to feed her, and to never once protect Nesta or make her feel safe? But Nesta's the problem here? People don't like Nesta's treatment of Papa Archeron?

It's not okay for Nesta to be cruel to Elain, but it's okay for Elain to turn her back on Nesta after all Nesta's done for her and how Nesta has spent her entire life protecting Elain; for Elain to pack up Nesta's belongings knowing full-well that the IC were going to be locking her up; showing up, unannounced, without Nesta's permission; for Elain to give Nesta a grand total of two weeks to get better before crying to Rhysand, knowing full-well that he was going to dump Nesta in the human lands to be hunted and killed; Elain refusing to see Nesta even though she didn't give Nesta that same consideration; and not giving two-hoots that Nesta could be raped and/or killed in the Blood Rite? But Nesta's the only problem here? People don't like Nesta's treatment of Elain?

On another note, these people who don't like Nesta's treatment of people are okay with the IC's treatment of each other? Cassian, who beat the shit out of Az as an eleven-year-old, who mocked Az for not knowing how to fly. Cassian and Rhys teaming up to make Az's life hell. Mor using Cassian for sex without telling him the consequences of those actions. Mor's actions led to Rhys physically abusing Cassian. Mor's actions could have led to Cassian's execution if Keir had demanded it. Rhysand suicide-baiting Tamlin is considered tame compared to how he talks to Cassian, which suggests he is very verbally abusive to Cass. Amren is racist to the Bat Boys constantly and is repeatedly rude and dismissive to those beneath her. The Bat Boys (or at least Rhys and Cassian) physically abuse each other on a regular basis. Rhysand forced Feyre to wear clothes she wasn't comfortable in and drugged and sexually assaulted her for months. Rhys twisted a bone in Feyre's arm until she agreed to his bargain and withheld vital medical information from her for months on end. The entirety of the IC chose Rhys over Feyre and withheld the truth about her life-threatening pregnancy because Rhys asked them to.

And last, those who don't like Nesta's treatment of people are okay with the IC's treatment of people? With Rhysand killing people for Amarantha. Cassian slaughtering an entire village and displacing innocent women and children from their homes. Azriel torturing his brothers. Mor preciding over the CoN for centuries and not doing anything to help the women and children being abused and raped, thus making her complicit in their suffering. Cassian getting into a fight that destroyed an entire building in the Summer Court. Rhysand segregating his court into three distinct locations, rather than allowing freedom of movement and the freedom to choose what people want to be when they grow up. Feyre destroying an entire court and ruining the lives of thousands of people in the Spring and Summer Courts and the human lands. Feyre displacing innocents from their homes in Spring, Summer, Night, and even the human lands. Feyre throwing the door wide open for Hybern to invade Spring and Summer and rape, maim, and kill any women and children they wanted. Feyre murdering innocents and skinning an innocent. Feyre causing an innocent guard to be whipped and only checking on him to make Tamlin look bad. Feyre lying about sexault assault and then getting mad at Tamlin and Lucien for believing her. Feyre using Lucien to make Tamlin jealous. Feyre burning the Lady of Autumn. The IC wanting to leave an entire world enslaved, their people tortured, their women and children raped, tortured, and killed.

"I don't like how Nesta treats people" just shows me that people lack reading comprehension and just think the way the  narrative tells them to think, rather than thinking critically. The IC treat Nesta far worse than she treats them. They treat each other far worse than Nesta treats them, and they treat others far worse than Nesta treats anyone.

[aphroditeofcnidus]

acosf is so crazy to me. not because it’s a bad book (it is) but because it ignores everything that happened in the preview books. the actual facts. I felt gaslighted. why was everyone was acting like all nesta had done in the war was sit there and be pretty

what do you mean she killed your biggest threat, saved your general from dying, fought a war she was dragged to after she was promised safety and then you go and act like she’s garbage ready to be taken out just because nesta isn’t all giggles and rainbows. what the fuck

[aphroditeofcnidus]

What will never stop amazing me is the popularity of works that have the potential to offend or even trigger so many people.In Acotar,for example there's racism in the way Illyrians and HC citizens are presented and also there's the discrimination against them ordered by Rhys in Velaris.This could cause a generational trauma to be triggered,if the reader belongs to a race that has suffered that type of discrimination in the past.There's the way Feyre's assault UTM is no big deal, because Rhys didn't touch her private parts.How many women have been harassed and told that what they went through is no big deal,it was simply flirting? There's also, Nesta's stalking by Cassian,where Nesta was the bitch that needed to apologize,like she owed him to be nice,when he wouldn't take no for an answer.The fact that Feyre created refugees in SC,with Rhysand's blessings triggers me, because i come from a country that had to deal with a huge refugee crisis, because of its geographical position,paying the price of wars that others caused.The NC wasn't affected,after all,in the slightest by Feyre's actions,the courts sharing borders with the SC paid the price.Then,you have reproductive abuse,pro life propaganda,when abortion bans or restrictions have made many people suffer.There's cultural appropriation of the characteristics of an unprivileged group of people by someone privileged,who does nothing to better the conditions of the people she borrows from.That's of course Feyre and her Illyrian wings.Or imagine someone struggling with depression and substance abuse reading about Nesta's treatment in Acosf.Being locked up against her will,slut shamed,called a pathetic waste of life.

There are so many problematic political or social views in SJM's works it's difficult to count.Some of them like how Mor says that she would like to wipe Illyrians off are extreme.This is genocide she's advocating.Or in CC,where the human rebels are terrorists.In TOG,there seems to be an unbelievable parallel between assassins and sex workers.While it's true that both in this world seem to be trafficked orphans,so there's this similarity,you just can't compare the two.Being an assassin is extreme criminal behaviour.I don't mean it as an attack on the protagonist's character, because in fantasy,even a character that displays such behaviour can be a likeable hero.Pirates are a classic example for this.But as likeable as Jack Sparrow is, historical pirates were ruthless killers and slave traders.So,when you make a comparison like that is saying that both killing people for a living and being a sex worker is criminal behaviour,that some happen to engage in without their choosing and this is a very problematic,very harmful view.

Now,are they worse examples of popular entertainment with deeply problematic elements than SJM's works?Of course someone could wonder about the fact that the longest running shows in television are copaganda shows,with some of them running for more than 20 years.Even after George Floyd's murder .Despite the fact that they tell us that police brutality is necessary,otherwise dangerous criminals will go free.

[aphroditeofcnidus]

What i can't stand in modern versions of fairytales,like Acotar is how untrained and uneducated girls take positions of power, because "they're so awesome, they deserve it".In classic fairytales the poor, unfortunate girl became a princess consort,she went from rags to riches,but didn't govern the lives of thousands of people.But,now with feminism it's not enough in modern fairytales to become the wife of a prince,they need to become rulers.Only that this sends a horrible message of political power being some kind of personal reward and not a huge responsibility towards people and the world is too full of people,who see political positions as a personal ambition and not responsibility.In Acotar an experienced official,like Azriel,who has served two HLs has to hear that Feyre is his High Lady and he needs to shut up,when he disagrees with her, because "her word is law".Same with CC.Why does Ruhn give up his birthright in favor of Bryce?Just because she has more powerful starborn magic?Physical or in this case magical power is not what matters with a politician.Ruhn has been trained for this all his life and Bryce couldn't be less suitable to be queen of the Fae,since,you know, she hates Fae and is heavily prejudiced against them.But,no she's so awesome she needs to take power.

[aphroditeofcnidus]

The way Feyre doesn't "let herself think it"sums up her governance as a High Lady.She gave the poor SC faeries her jewelry, because she saw their misery right in front of her and this has to do with the way taxes are collected in SC(the citizens come to the palace to pay).She never had to watch an Illyrian female get her wings clipped, before she wore those wings as a fetish costume,though.She never met one of the ordinary citizens in HC.She just goes there to flaunt herself in front of the snobbish aristocrats,who disdain her dear Rhys for being half Illyrian.She never had to face the consequences of her actions in SC, because the refugees didn't come to the NC,but went to other courts,that share borders with the SC.She created refugees,that others had to deal with,with Rhysand's blessings.She never even saw how Nesta's neighbours became homeless, after she demolished the building Nesta used to live in.She stays at her mansion, surrounded by sycophants and "doesn't let herself think it",like a Marie Antoinette with pointy ears.She has no contact with regular people at all and lives in the bubble Rhys created for her.

[aphroditeofcnidus]

Sjm's female protagonists are supposed to be icons of female empowerment and yet they often judge and shame other women,while being far worse themselves.Feyre deems her sister an embarrassment, because she drinks and sleeps around,while she regularly has sex on the sky,blows Rhys,with people around them dying,makes out with Rhys for everyone to watch in HC and used to sleep with an engaged man.Her behaviour is not just far worse than Nesta's, it's extremely disrespectful to others,not to mention that forcing others to watch you like that is harassment.Then, there's TOG,where things become surreal.You have an actual assassin judging a sex worker.Or it could be called surreal,if you don't take into account that the treatment of violence vs the treatment of sex has generally always been one of the biggest problems in American media. SJM needs to realize that being a feminist heroine doesn't necessarily mean becoming a warrior.The way every heroine's path to empowerment is becoming a warrior is getting annoying.Women don't necessarily have to do traditionally male jobs to be empowered feminists.In fact,when only such jobs are considered worthy of pursuing while traditionally female ones are undervalued,this is downright misogynistic.Nesta wasn't worth anything,when she cooked for her family,only Feyre,the hunter deserved recognition.

[aphroditeofcnidus]

The racist ideology in Acotar is especially obvious in Rhysand's order to the shop owners of Velaris to refuse service to the HC citizens.Personally it makes me sad.I can't stop imagining the soldiers's children being unable to buy toys.But, that's not what the author wants us to imagine.All HC males are described as dangerous misogynists.So,when Rhysand,the supposed feminist king doesn't allow the Darkbringers to enter Velaris bars, he supposedly protects Velaris women from possible assault.And this reminds me of the rhetoric of the European far right parties,during the refugee crisis about why Muslim refugees shouldn't be allowed to enter their countries.They supposedly all have dangerous misogynistic mentalities,so they pose a danger to european women.Meanwhile,i can assure you that in the countries with the biggest influx of muslim refugees and immigrants ,like Greece and Italy the vast majority of rapes and femicides are committed by the victims's own countrymen.Acotar is not just conservative,it has a serious far right logic.The parallels are too obvious to ignore.Another example is Illyria and how the wing clipping is obviously inspired by female genital mutilation in african countries.Because of that,the exploitation of Illyrians is justified.What is the most common excuse for the exploitation of African countries?That they're uncivilised,the people are savages.Of course,Mor,who says she wants to wipe their race off advocates genocide as well.Again,we're talking about the heroes of the series,not the villains.That's seriously extreme stuff.

[aphroditeofcnidus]

There's a talk among fans about a possible Nessian child and imo the best thing for such a child would be to be a full Illyrian,with minimal magic,like their father.If they inherit Nesta's powers,like creating weapons, Amren will lick her lips over the potential such a child would hold for Rhysand.Nesta might not have been broken enough to do everything they want,as Hofas shows,but a child is more easily manipulated.If it's an Illyrian boy ,i don't think Cassian will send him to Windhaven against Nesta's will,he will probably train him himself and most importantly noone would find it advantageous to manipulate him to do things for their benefit.Rhysand has thousands of strong Illyrian warriors, including Cassian,he wouldn't need his child.However, i don't think Cassian is able to protect a child with Nesta's powers from Amren,who would advise Rhys to be especially nice to the kid and take them under his wing.He doesn't see her true colours.He doesn't see how entitled she was to Nesta's powers and just thought how Nesta should be grateful that Amren supposedly worried about her.He didn't see why she was so worried,that it was about her powers and not Nesta herself.Azriel,who at least spied on her at first, sees her much more clearly.It would be very difficult for Nesta on her own with no support to protect her child from Rhysand and Amren.Granted,Nesta seems to have theese powers, because she's Made,so they shouldn't be hereditary.But of course,Nyx shouldn't be 3/4 Illyrian either, because parents pass their genes,you never know with SJM.

[aphroditeofcnidus]

Tamlin telling Nesta in ACOSF "You are just as nasty as your sister said you'd be", is such a rage baiting exchange between them for me. It very clearly highlights the way that Feyre victimizes herself to every single person she meets, to the point where every character that she interacts with before her sisters comes away thinking that Nesta is the person that should be held responsible for everything that Feyre has gone thru. In doing so, Feyre basically lays the groundwork for all the negative interactions that Nesta has with anyone that Feyre gets to first - because everyone ends up tripping all over themselves to become one of Feyre's many revenge proxies. Tamlin, Rhysand - and by extension the Inner Circle - all of them get the same sob story and all come away with the same conclusion about Nesta. It's not their mother that gets any blame, or their father and definitely not Elain, it is ALWAYS Nesta.

And if this isn't a huge sign to the reader that Feyre is not only an unreliable narrator but that she is a very bias one, I don't know what is.....but most people still do not get it! I was calling bullshit from Book 1, but I guess I'm some kind of anomaly.

Just about the only thing that ACOSF got right was to point out that anyone that Nesta met in the series outside of Feyre, likes her and gets along with her fine..., but it also felt like too little to late for me.

And I'll add this - and this goes out to the "as an older sibling, I would never" crowd - I have 3 siblings, and the way that we treated each other growing up makes the Archeron sisters look like saints. We said and did some really wild things to each other growing up. One thing I never did and will never do, is bad mouth my siblings to anyone that I just met. The last thing I would ever want or would allow is for someone who barely knows my siblings at all to treat them negatively on my behalf. That is a very hard line in the sand that I do not allow people to cross.

[aphroditeofcnidus]

I keep seeing ACOTAR being described as sex positive and i have to say that sex positivity doesn't necessarily mean a two page blowjob description.It's about the mentality, not how detailed the sex scenes are.If you have lengthy descriptions of sex between married,mated or couples,who date seriously,but it's acceptable for sexually promiscuous people to be slut shamed and confined,this isn't sex positivity.You can have smut with conservative values,however contradictory this sounds.Horror films,that show nudity,but the sexually promiscuous girl is the first to get killed is a good example for this.In Acotar there's Nesta being confined, because her drinking and sleeping around embarrasses her family,which is extreme patriarchical abuse,you have extreme pro life propaganda,way worse than Twilight,which noone in their right mind would call anything but conservative and sex negative.And this is conservativism,only when it comes to sex.Acotar has seriously politically conservative values as well.The good guys are those,who discriminate against entire groups of people,who according to them are born bad and should not come in contact with civilized people.What does that remind us of?

[aphroditeofcnidus]

I see this argument from Elriels, that Gwyn can't be with Azriel, because he's supposedly a freak in bed and Gwyn has been sexually assaulted.Should such an experience define her forever? Can't she find healing and enjoy her sexuality?Gwyn's only sexual experience unfortunately was getting raped, that's true.She wasn't old enough to participate in the Great Rite, as she says and her temple was isolated.That doesn't mean she's condemned not to find any joy in sex for the rest of her life or that she would never wish to try rougher consensual sex.There's this unfortunate mentality that if a woman gets sexually assaulted,she will be defined by this forever.It is rooted in misogyny.Rape in the past was considered a loss of value for the woman, especially if she was a virgin.And if a woman lost her value,she had no reason to exist.This survives in the fact that there are people ,even today who believe that a SA survivor will always be defined by this experience,that she can never truly recover.Or in the fact that many authors think the worst thing that can happen to their female heroines is getting raped.

What i also don't understand is how Azriel being a freak in bed supports the Elriel ship.How is Elain a good match for a man like that?Elain is ridiculously conservative,to the point of refusing to talk to her sister about menstruation.She refers to sex "as those other things".She slut shames her sister and believes that a woman who sleeps around should be confined.

[aphroditeofcnidus]

Rhysand and the IC's hostility towards Nesta has to do with Feyre's unrealistic expectations of her.Feyre lost her mother and expected her older sister by three years to take her place.Nesta was in no position to do that.She was too young and too traumatised to play such a role.Does Rhysand,who says how he wants to yell at Feyre's sisters for not protecting her not understand this?He likely does,but he's always trying to validate Feyre's feelings.He has access to her thoughts and feelings,after all,he knows them very well.For example,why did he make her high lady?He knew that she took it wrong when Tamlin told her that there's no such thing and gave her what she desired.Does he not know that it's an empty title,both because she wasn't chosen by magic and because she couldn't be his co ruler?(one,monarchs don't usually have such a thing,they have consorts and second she doesn't have the skills for this).Of course, he does.He just gave her what he knew would make her happy in her ignorance,like giving a 5 year old girl a tiara,so she can play princess.He knows that Feyre blames Nesta for not taking care of her,when she was no more than a traumatized teenager herself and validates her anger,however absurd it is.His behaviour has a lot to do with his guilt of his treatment of Feyre UTM.Now,he just punishes everyone that has ever upset Feyre,whether this is right or wrong.As for the others,they do as Rhys does.Cassian accuses Nesta for not taking care of her sister,when he first meets her,as Rhysand does,but in ACOSF when he has fallen in love with her, he's trying to say that he didn't mean it,when they visit the cabin together.He has come to realize he was unfair,that Nesta was an abused teenage girl,then.Falling in love with her made him see things in a different light,he saw Nesta as a person and not just the sister that his brother's mate is mad at.

[aphroditeofcnidus]

I’ve been thinking about something, what does it say about Mor’s supposed “found family” who apparently love her so much that she doesn't feel like she can come out to them? 

I'm not sure whether this has to do with Rhysand and the others or Mor herself.They shame people they dislike like Nesta,but don't generally seem to have conservative views.Perhaps her reluctance to come out has to do with her upbringing,since she was raised to believe that this was sth she must absolutely hide and doesn't feel comfortable being open about it, yet.Feeling comfortable talking about it with Feyre, who's definitely not more open minded than the others is weird,though.

[aphroditeofcnidus]

Helping someone deal with their anger issues is very different to the "taming of the shrew" we see in Nesta's case.Rhysand and the IC wanted to control her,not help her deal with her anger.Nesta now feels like she needs to earn love and this of course includes pleasing people,who don't allow her angry emotions.As a result she ends up apologizing,when she shows anger,even when she has every right to be angry. You see Nesta apologizing,when she's not even wrong.When Cassian stalked her after the solstice party ,she would have every right not to see him again and she could rightfully even scream and embarrass the hell out of him,in public.Nesta however ends up apologizing,as if she was wrong for rejecting him.She didn't have the right to reject one of them.When she fought with Amren she had every right to be furious at her for voting to hide information about herself from her.And yet,she ends up kneeling in front of her, because noone has the right to yell at Amren.From the beginning all they wanted to do was break Nesta and control her, because of her powers.It was never about Nesta becoming mentally healthy,which if course she isn't yet.

[aphroditeofcnidus]

Justice in Acotar is very problematic.It is expected that in a fantasy series heroes would be rewarded and villains would be punished,but here there are examples of severe punishment that is not justified by the person's actions.Nesta, for example gets imprisoned,threatened, verbally and psychologically abused,and while this is supposed to be for her own good,you also get the idea that this is the way to be punished for her past treatment of Feyre.Nesta is also knocked,when she's already down,which makes things worse. This isn't justice, it's simply revenge.Then,you have people,who do way worse things getting away with them.They never face the consequences of their actions,they never acknowledge their mistakes.Feyre never faces the consequences of the Spring Court destruction.She created refugees.Let at least Tarquin and other courts,that share borders with the SC and have to deal with its refugees, demand the NC pay for their housing,since it's its High Lady's actions that caused this.Let at least Rhysand beg for Feyre's forgiveness for what he did UTM.But,no there are those who get away with everything without facing any consequences and those that need to suffer greatly for a lot less.Also, there's no problem with innocents suffering for the sake of revenge.It's perfectly acceptable for the lives of SC citizens to be destroyed,for Tamlin to suffer.Honestly, especially the way Nesta has to suffer for saying rude things to Feyre,while others get away with war crimes and sexual assault is the epitome of the New Testament phrase"to strain out a gnat and swallow a camel".Let those who commited crimes pay and atone for them and then let's talk about Feyre's mean older sister.