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[helloyesimrhys]

ACoTaR confuses me

Ugh.

This is going to be long and rambly and based on my foggy memory of the books but I’ve been going through both the anti Feyre/Feysand and the pro Feyre/Feysand tags and tbh they both have valid points.

FEYRE

I can think of reasons to like Feyre and reasons to dislike her. But the problem about liking Feyre is that the only reason we like her is because SJM almost forces us to like her. Examples: going into the woods as a child with no previous training and somehow managing to single-handedly save her family from the brink of starvation, fighting in the battle of Adriata despite having almost no training with weapons, being an all-round wonderful person who somehow stays calm and decides to continue with a pregnancy that literally kills her (Nesta stopped time during Feyre’s final breath, I think)

But all of this is what we’ve been told, not what we’ve been shown. I actually kind of hate reading from Feyre’s POV. I don’t know how to explain it and I haven’t read the books in a good while now but one thing that is permanently burned into my memory is the moment during the meeting with the High Lords when she calls her Inner Court “some of the most powerful people in the room”. She’s sitting there with 7 immensely powerful High Lords and she thinks that? We are told that the Court of Nightmares are terrible and deserve to be trapped under that mountain, but from what we are shown (which isn’t much) Rhysand and Feyre constantly disrespect them and use the court as foreplay and the visits as a chance to test out their exhibitionist flairs.

Feyre is a good character, but terribly written.

RHYSAND

Rhysand, on the other hand, I find almost impossible to like. Once again we are told that he is a perfect High Lord, that he is the Ultimate Feminist, that he loves and respects Feyre, that he cares about his people, but what are we shown?

How often are we shown him meeting with the Court of Nightmares and not acting like a possessive asshole and essentially fucking his mate for the entirety of the visit? The only proper visit that didn’t involve Azriel stealing something or showing the CoN who’s boss was the one where Rhysand wished to use Keir’s Darkbringers in the war.

Another thing that bugs me is the Illyrians. Cassian literally tells us that the Illyrians are considered soldier grunts or expendable chattel (or something) and yet Rhysand doesn’t seem to value them any more than that anyway? None of the Inner Court seem to care what happens to the Illyrian women being clipped. Yes, they banned it and try to stop it from happening, but what have they really done? Rhysand said that the more backward camps still occasionally do it, but Emerie lived in Devlon’s camp. He was supposed to be the best camp leader, and yet that still happened. It’s the same with the rest of the girls. Cassian, allegedly the feminist hero that the Illyrians need, seems to care more about also forcing the girls to become soldier grunts or expendable chattel than actually working on the Illyrians’ misogyny and fixing the patriarchal system.

Rhysand was supposed to be a good character, but was also terribly written.

FEYSAND

Ah. Finally. SJMs golden ship. I really, really, really really really don’t like Feysand. And once again, it comes down to what we are told vs what we are seen. We are told that they are madly in love with one another, that Rhysand did everything he could to protect Feyre UTM, that they have a deep and loving relationship that goes beyond just sex and that Rhysand respects Feyre’s boundaries.

But.

UTM Rhysand essentially forced Feyre to make that bargain with him. She made that bargain while slowly dying of infection, and while he was twisting the bone in her arm. Say what you will about Tamlin, he never deliberately physically harmed Feyre. Not to mention the parties UTM. Yes Rhysand said that he made Feyre drink the wine so she wouldn’t remember what happened afterwards, but he still drugged her and sexually assaulted her by forcing her to give him a lap dance. He never touched her beyond her arms and waist, he said, as though Feyre was supposed to be grateful that it didn’t go beyond that. He forced her to wear clothes she was uncomfortable with and assaulted her repeatedly, and never once apologised for it.

We are told that Rhysand always respects Feyre’s boundaries and keeps the promises they make each other, but didn’t he promise Feyre that he wouldn’t keep any secrets from her? I think you all know where I am going with this, but the pregnancy. He could have told her his concerns far earlier, and they would have been able to find a way to terminate the pregnancy. Instead he forced her to continue the pregnancy by withholding vital information.

Essentially, what I am saying is that all of this boils down to shitty writing on SJMs part. She relies heavily on us believing what she shoves down our throats, even when a lot of her writing shows us the exact opposite of what she tells us. Whatever about being pro Feysand or anti Feysand. It’s a toxic relationship, but it’s still fictional. I’m anti SJM.

[helloyesimrhys]

ACoTaR crack headcanons

CASSIAN Definitely bisexual Paints his nails black ‘for the aesthetic’ but actually he just thinks the cold nail polish feels nice before it dries We’ve already established this but girl dad Writes Nessian fanfiction (not even smut he just writes fluff) He canonically wears leather jackets so I can’t really put it in but fuck that Either drinks black coffee or a mocha latte with three pumps of vanilla, no in between NESTA Also bisexual Wears lingerie to bed just to tease Cassian Beats the shit out of everyone except for Az in cards Gwyn is her ‘if I had to pick a chick’ only Nesta literally would pick her So good at dancing but most of the time when asked to dance she just bobs from side to side. If you’re lucky she might throw in a lil shuffle Takes wrapping presents so goddamn seriously it’s not even funny Would definitely sniff presents to find out what’s inside Again, she canonically reads textbooks for fun so I can’t really put it in but fuck that ELAIN Should have been a lesbian If you ask her what her favourite colour is she’ll panic Actually enjoys doodling, but like tiny little drawings Draws on her hand when bored Has a very elaborate skin care routine Hates coriander Puts highlighter on the tip of her nose AZRIEL Wears graphic t-shirts Mom friend Makes self-deprecating jokes *points to rubbish bin* Haha me Actually despises water, lives on coffee instead Makes surprisingly good pasta Allergic to shellfish Really likes the colour green (but like sage green) GWYN Chaotic good Really good at art but doesn’t like to show anyone Obsessed with opossums and raccoons but she doesn’t know why “Hey is it hot in here? Oh sorry that’s just me” Uncomfortable with the idea of being in a relationship, sorry in advance to any Gwynriels out there :/ Says live laugh love ironically but does it so often that it’s become unironic Definitely not straight idc what anyone thinks EMERIE Absolutely drop dead gorgeous A queen Such a good cook Has an amazing memory most of the time but will forget to drink water for two days straight Wears glittery gold nail polish Completely oblivious to her own crush on Mor When she finally realises that she’s in love she asks Nesta to ask Cassian to ask Mor if she has a crush on Emerie When Mor says yes Emerie freaks out and spends the next three consecutive nights at the House with Nesta and Gwyn just planning the perfect time to ask Mor out FEYRE Occasionally goes through a crisis and dyes her hair some random colour Absolutely amazing at buying presents, even for people she barely knows Literally buffer than Rhysand Spoils Nyx rotten Lawful neutral Can do eyeliner in one stroke MOR Has a British accent and if you think otherwise idk what to tell you Loves Halloween but never knows what to go as Well aware that Emerie has a crush on her Shaves her armpits but nowhere else Has really short fingers ;-; Somehow smells fine after a workout no matter how much she was sweating Unironically says ‘ello luv *bites lip* sheeeeesh

[helloyesimrhys]

Hey :] just wanted to give my thoughts on the Azriel bonus chapter. This is a pro Elriel post so just scroll away if that doesn’t interest you :]

A lot of people assume that Azriel only wants Elain for sex because of how his chapter is worded, but honestly I don’t see it as SJM warning us about the issues with Elriel. She’s spent a lot of time setting Elriel up with hints and little moments and I don’t think that she would have changed her mind completely, only to hint about the problems and establish a new romance in a bonus chapter that not everyone would be able to read.

Right off the bat in ACoSF we see that SJM has changed how much smut there is and how detailed the smut is in her books. I think that a lot of the bonus chapter was written in this new way so it came off as Azriel being a horny teenager who doesn’t understand relationships and only wants sex. I see it as more of an admittedly awkward transition from one style of writing to another on SJM’s part.

Feel free to disagree with me in the comments, I’m interested to know if anyone has any different thoughts!

[helloyesimrhys]

Elriel vs Gwynriel

Everyone out here borderline killing each other over who should end up with Azriel

Meanwhile I’m just hoping that my poor touch starved bat boy can finally learn some self love

[helloyesimrhys]

Mallory Keen

Is problematic.

I know she’s not as bad as a lot of RR’s other characters but there are some things that make me, as an Irish person, uncomfortable.

We’ll start with the obvious: she’s a redhead with green eyes and a fiery temper. Ring any bells? So many Irish characters are stereotyped like this and it’s actually really annoying. It feels like Rick Riordan threw her into the story for no reason. She insults people, has a berserker boyfriend and has knives. Other than that she doesn’t have much of a personality, which just adds to my feeling that she literally only exists to be a stereotype. But don’t worry, it gets worse.

Riordan says that Mallory “curses in Gaelic” a few times. However if he’d done even the tiniest smidge of research he’d know that she’d be cursing in Gaeilge, which is the Irish word for Irish. Yes, the word Gaelic is derived from Gaeilge but you wouldn’t say “curses in Gaelic”, you’d say “curses in Irish”. Gaelic would refer to Scottish Gaelic or Gaelic football, not Irish.

But the worst thing about Mallory is her death. Disarming a car bomb that she and her friends set up? Of all things. There were so many other causes of death that Rick Riordan could have chosen but he picked a car bomb.

Quick history lesson: Mallory died during The Troubles, an “irregular” or “low-intensity” civil war in Ireland. The two sides were the Nationalists and the Loyalists. Loyalists wished for Northen Ireland to remain a part of Great Britain whereas the Nationalists wanted Northern Ireland to rejoin the Republic.

The Troubles were a very political and bloody time in Ireland’s <recent> history and a lot of people in Ireland still remember it. It was wildly insensitive of Riordan to have the one Irish character in his series not only be a gross stereotype but also set up a car bomb? What the fuck?