#and I have mixed feelings about tamlin mating bond theories

[flat-neines]

Ok, I gotta elaborate on this.

As a fellow arospec person on this hellsite, I think that both Tamlin and Nesta being different gradients of aroace could be more compelling than the trash fire that's acosf and Tamlin getting a LI.

Acotar as a series is thematically supposed to be about love conquering all but fails to deliver on that theme on so many levels and different angles that you can't actually tell what you're supposed to be reading. (I've already made posts about how the series fails bc it wants to have its cake and eat it too. now isn't the time for that convo tho) And it's a damn shame that the series that insists on "make love not war" sucks at delivering the different forms and kinds of love that people can have and actively celebrate it. Like. This is a romantasy. It should be the bare minimum. (But alas)

On nesta:

So nesta being ace is kinda obvious to me because she, at her core, craves being seen and cared for who she is and not what she can do for others. It's probably one of the reasons why she reads romance novels most often in particular (instead of "I Am Totally Repressed And Horny And Can Only Think About How Horny I Am" bs) because seeing the heroines being saved or loved by the ML no matter how "difficult" they are is an escape from the reality she lived as a human and currently as a fae.

Her mother and grandmother groomed her to marry well for the reputation of the family her whole life and when that got torpedoed when they fell into poverty, she believed that being married off to Tomas Mandray and becoming his wife would ease her sister's burdens. There is no excitement like elain had for grayson. There's not even any sensuality or desire that could be pointed to. Marriage (and now mating) and all the things it entailed was expected of nesta. It was her job.

Also one of the few times that we see nesta express her dreams for the future, she says that she wants to travel the world and make a name for herself. There isn't any mention of settling down. Or falling in love. I'm not really sure if it immediately occurred to her.

Nesta, when not dealing with her poor mental health, often just seems very :/ about her own sexuality and is deeply uncomfortable with people wanting her to be hypersexual. You can attribute it a lot to her being a modest person (and her history with sa), but I find that a interesting facet of her personality and its notable that one of the core things that she does to cope (poorly) with her trauma is to become incredibly hypersexual.

She swings from two extremes, primarily because she has never been able to set boundaries in any of her relationships, and when faced with such an extreme violation (the cauldron), she goes the opposite way; possibly thinking that it would spare her more pain than whatever she's currently feeling.

(It is also weird that author lady straight up implies that nesta's (whose incredibly modest) one night benders are a form of sexual self-harm and then turn around to say "its not really a problem for nesta" with her characterization for bat boy smut. smh)

The intervention makes this worse. By the end of acosf, she never truly establishes any healthy relationships on her own terms (sans the valkyries, but that can be dubious) and internalizes the idea that her needs and wants are ultimately secondary to the ic's desires, and that she will (should) only be loved conditionally.

I do believe that if nesta was allowed to heal on her own, she'd be too apathetic the ideas of "one true love" and mating bonds for it to be used to control her. She would also be impossible to be used to seduce other characters, like eris, as she would just refuse to do it.

We never get nesta being introspective on her relationship to sexuality because author lady believed it was inconsequential to what she wanted to write despite it being a vital component to nesta's character arc (and cassian's to some extent)

And also obviously, it would've been more interesting that nesta's story was about her love for her sisters and friends; how much of a ride or die she is for her loved ones as she learns to love herself instead of having to earn the conditional affection of a man who doesn't even like her. We were robbed.

On tamlin:

He's a bit more complicated because I think I read him differently from most popular interpretations of his character and many of his relationships (as it has been said by others) with the cast reeks of repression and comphet at times.

I'm not a huge fan of mating bonds, and the way sjm writes about them, the relationships are strangled by the bond (feysand in particular) or magical eugenics at best, which is, uh, not good.

So tamlin getting a mate, even at the end of a potential hea feels off to me, especially considering how fucked up and skewed like 90% of his relationships are in general.

His parents (the initial blueprint any child sees for relationships) had an unhealthy relationship with each other, with his mother standing by as his father abused his sons and just the fact that he felt so unsafe that he decided that joining the spring court's roaming war bands was a better option. As much as I enjoy tamsand (sometimes), their relationship possibly has always been unbalanced; with rhysand being the older, more experienced one between the two of them and then the mutual loss of their respective families (starting with rhysand's mom+sister) , which rhysand blames tamlin for and makes it his life work to torment tam for as long as he lives for that transgression.

This spirals over to what goes down in the books, culminating in rhysand telling tamlin to kill himself despite tamlin ultimately being the bigger person and saving his life when he had every reason to leave him dead and buried.

(I do believe both tam and rice were the age of majority when they became friends, but rhysand more than likely was a good amount older than tamlin. Tamlin also might've learned about positive relationships while in the armies; which is something to think about)

Then there's aramantha and feyre.

Both relationships are also incredibly fraught for different but interconnected reasons. Aramantha, a known sadistic general of hybern (and a slaver) pursued him and then cursed him when her (predatory) advances were still rebuked, even after stealing the power of the high lords, becoming the queen under the mountain.

Over the next 50 years, he slowly loses his friends as they're either tortured or sacrificed for the sake of breaking the curse (something he did not want to do, they left willingly) and is put in the position of world's shittiest trolly problem: find and use a mortal woman to save his people (compromising his morals entirely to save his people) or give in (something that would not work, no matter what the strawman might say). This is exacerbated by rhysand, who uses his limited position to torture tamlin even more for the sake of vendetta (genius move there, riceman)

Because of these factors, feylin is a relationship haunted by the shadows of the mountain. They love each other, the curse couldn't have been broken if neither of them loved each other, but feyre also died for him because of aramantha. Immediately afterwards he also has to deal with rebuilding his court with little to no support system, the threat of hybern (to both the courts and to feyre) and once again rhysand trying to get his pound of flesh.

What he did to feyre was abusive, full stop; but by god, this guy was operating on negatives. There is nothing that could've happened that someone wouldn't get hurt at the time and it is a testament to his character that he realized what was wrong and not only apologized, but actively tried to rectify his mistakes.

This is a bit incoherent, but I wonder how much of the latter half of feylin is tamlin also going through the motions of what a romantic relationship is supposed. Pre mountain, he was a lot more carefree, but there was always the sword of the curse hanging over his head; and afterwards ianthe was also pressuring him to be more of a "proper" hl, leaving little space to even process... anything. How much of his romancing was because he thought he was supposed to do this? Did he want to go through with the wedding, with how miserable feyre was or did he do it to bring his citizens own morale up while protecting feyre ?(in a completely misguided sense) there are too many moving pieces that feylin operates in that discounting context when talking about canon but..... we don't really have his pov to confirm or deny anything, ugh.

Before I end up going off on tangents, I do think that similar to nesta, love (romantically) wasn't something that he wanted but an obligation and duty he had to fulfill as a hl. Any desires he had were ultimately secondary to his divinely ordained job and unessesary. He values his friends and citizens deeply and there's a strong case to be made that tamlin subconsciously doesn't make the same distinctions most allos make towards romance and platonic intimacy, further complicating any relationships he has.

Tl;Dr ace/aro hc's for characters fuck hard.

I think we as a collective are sleeping on ace!Nesta and aroace!tamlin headcanons

[starbornsinger]

Elriel/Gwynriel/Elucien Theory Time :)

Ok so in regards to the Az POV chapter, I have some thoughts. This is super long and detailed and also tearing down ships, so uh, beware.

⚠️ACOSF spoilers (duh)⚠️

So I was re-reading the thing and as I was reading the conversation between Az and Rhys, it kind of hit me. I used to be an Elriel shipper until ACOSF, and I was really all for it.

But I don't think they're in love.

See, earlier in the chapter, Az is thinking about how jealous he is of the other couples. We know he isn't very lucky in love, and seeing Elain and her mate and their mating bond upsets him. I think he fancies Elain because she's beautiful and sweet, but I don't think he's in love with her. I think she's another thing he can't have, and he feels frustrated and it only makes him want her more. Because he thinks, why shouldn't he have her? Why is the Mother so cruel as to deny him love? And he thinks, "well all my other brothers have Archeron mates, why don't I? It must be a mistake!"

I think what Azriel's biggest issue is though, is that he wants love so bad, he's willing to risk it all for the first girl he feels attraction too. It also feels relevant that the primary thing we see in his POV is his physical attraction to her, his sexual attraction. We don't see much of how he thinks she's so sweet or so clever or so gentle, but instead how nice her tits are and how badly he wants to kiss and fuck her. I think he doesn't particularly want Elain, and while he likes her, I think what he really wants is love. True love, just like his brothers and friends. He thinks the Mother must be wrong because they both got Archeron sisters while he didn't, and his attraction to Elain makes him wish they were Mates so he could finally have that true love that's entirely his own.

But she's not. And he can't. I think what Azriel wants most isn't Elain. He wants her sexually, and he admires her and has a crush on her, but the thing he focuses on and gives him the most emotion is that she has a Mate and he doesn't, and that everyone does but him. I think he wants someone like Elain and wants to feel happy, but I think he doesn't exactly want Elain. When he thinks of her, he doesn't seem to be truly in love as we've seen other SJM couples are. And sure, it's early, but it's also been like— 2 years. I don't think they're in love sadly, I think Azriel just wants to move on from Mor and finally find love. He has a type, and when he found someone who loosely fit into the mold of his ideal partner, he jumped at it because he's desperate to have someone love him. All his life, he's struggled with self-love and love from others, and I think that it's deeply affected his relationship with love itself.

Physical attraction and desire and interest isn't love. And the idea of her being mated already only makes him mad— that of course the first girl he likes for the first time in 500 years, of course the girl that could help him move on from Mor, is mated. I think that only makes him feel more passionate towards her; and Rhys notes how he seems to think he has a claim to her, when he doesn't. It makes Az angry, not because Rhysand thinks he's being possessive and reckless, but because it's true. He genuinely can't have her.

As for Elain, I think she's far too hesitant to be with him. She reminds me of Daisy in The Great Gatsby, and how she claims to love Jay but she won't leave Tom, or jilt him. Now this is a different situation, because Daisy was selfish and didn't want to give up her comforts and stability and fame. Elain, on the other hand, doesn't seem ready to have a serious relationship with Az. I think she is still severely affected by Graysen's rejection, and is still clearly not over him. I don't think she's ready to accept Az fully and be with him, and I also don't think she's ready to reject her mating bond with Lucien.

I don't know 100% what's going on with Elain, but what I do know is that clearly she is intrigued by Lucien in some capacity. Ok Elriel shippers, don't come for me, but there are several scenes in which Elain seems to want to talk to Lucien, or whatever the heck. But also seems disinterested, like when she dismisses his Solstice gifts and doesn't speak to him.

However, I don't think she's resentful towards him exactly, or at least that isn't the main reason she's like this. While we know he was helping Tamlin lowkey, Feyre and the IC all understood he was on their side, and was their friend. So it seems kind of odd to still bear a grudge against him, but who knows.

But funnily enough, she has yet to reject their mating bond. If she's so disinterested, or hates him so much, why hasn't she turned him down? Mother, she's barely spoken to him at all. I think the obvious reason behind her disdain or distancing from Lucien is her connection to Graysen and her human life. Of all the sisters, Elain has not yet adapted to or accepted that she is Fae— or if she has, she's sure as hell not happy about it. Even Nesta in ACOSF mentioned how she actually likes her ears now, and we know Feyre has totally accepted being Fae. But with Elain, she had the most human connected life of them all, and to have it taken away from her is shitty.

For Elain, her happiness seems to come from a love of gardening, of family, of people. She has very little human things to hold onto, and adding a Mating bond to the mix right as she's made Fae is like she's had all her humanity stripped. She doesn't hate Lucien, she hates the bond. She dislikes that it's chained her to someone and taken away her choices, which we know is a big deal for the sisters after being imprisoned, kidnapped, and Made. I think Elriel is an infatuation, because even though she doesn't love Az, he's helping her rebound from Graysen (and giving her control and power over her love life). He's a choice she (can't really) make, but a choice nonetheless. With Lucien, she feels she has no choice with him, and no control over her obvious attraction I say obvious because mates have a primal attraction of some level to each other , and is probably afraid that accepting the Mating bond will remove any last connections she has to who she used to be, and the human she feels she really is.

But she also hasn't rejected it, because I think she realizes that Lucien is a genuine and kind and hot guy, and that rejecting him would be a stupid idea. He's been very patient and very kind and accepting, and has always given her the freedom of choice when it comes to the bond. I think Lucien is the kind of guy that would be very easy to fall in love with, and I think Elain sees that and knows it.

Also, I think with ACOSF, it feels relevant that Cassian pointed out specifically how Elain looked beautiful in black at the ball, but it looked horribly wrong on her. With SJM the devil is always in the details, and I think it was a clearly accentuated bit of symbolism. Although Elain looks beautiful, the black dress wasn't for her. And although Elriel is very sweet, it won't work out. She won't thrive in the Night Court, or with Azriel. Az doesn't challenge her or meet her as an equal (like all other SJM ships), and they don't push each other to be better or to accept themselves or whatever etc etc.

And I really used to like Elriel, but I think that surprisingly, Elain will be the one who says "stop, I can't do this" to Az. I think she knows she isn't ready, and I think she knows they aren't meant to be. Even if a Mating bond was put in place between her and Lucien, I still think their relationship wouldn't work because they're both too insecure, too closed off, too non-communicative, and too stagnant together to be a healthy or good match. I think with Elain they would struggle to understand each other even if they were fond of each other and can relate on some level, but at its rawest form I think they won't truly be able to be themselves with each other.

With Elain, Azriel's shadows— a key part of him— disappear. While I initially thought, awww that's so cute, she's a light in his life, I soon realized I was wrong. Az's shadows are not just a part of him, they're an extension of him, of his will and subconscious and emotions. So Elain chasing them away, while chasing away the shadows and darkness seems cute, isn't a good thing. Most of the time with shadows, we think "ew bad!" Because they have an inherent connotation of negativity or sorrow or depression or darkness etc etc. And while this is partially true, Azriel's shadows and darkness are a part of him. His sadness and struggles are a part of him. And his shadows aren't just representative of that, they're also a representation of how he overcame his abuse and turned that fire (pun unintended) and anger and trauma into something beautiful and powerful and a weapon. I think they can serve as an armor and a shield, and while that's not good, I also don't think they should fully disappear.

More on that: with Azriel's shadows, we know they're a part of him, right? So I think an important part of self is self-regulation. Rather than be consumed entirely by shadow, or totally exposed to the light, I think he just needs his shadows to be calm and present, but not controlling or hiding. I think the whole "Elain bringing him out of the shadows" bit sounds cute at first, but then you have to think of it like this. In order to be with Elain, he would have to change. He couldn't be a spy or a shadowsinger or a torturer, and he couldn't be dark and introverted. With her, he has to push that aside. Those are key parts of him, key parts that would have a big impact on their relationship. Elain can't be with someone with so much blood on their hands or a history of violence or darkness. We know that, because we know that sort of thing upsets her and she doesn't like it.

Azriel can't just be himself with her, he has to become someone else. And while he's attracted enough to not care, after awhile, that grows exhausting. Being in love and not being your true self, all of it, is exhausting. And while some might argue "why can't he be his true self?!" well my slime, I think we both know that even if we wanted him to, Elain would be silently resigned about it. I don't think— no, I know— Elain can't be with someone like Azriel. Even if they have feelings, even if they have lust or affection, it isn't love. They aren't in love, and they won't work out no matter how much we want it to.

Onto Elain: with Elain, this all ties back to what Cassian said in Hewn City. She looks beautiful in black, but it's wholly wrong for her. The Night Court is wrong for her, and darkness is wrong for her. While some yin-yang relationship tropes can work very well, I don't think this will. She doesn't like the darkness or accept it, and she doesn't want to be a part of it. I think the Night Court is good and happy for her when she makes her own little garden world, and only then, really. It's like living in the middle of the desert and only thinking of the beach: it's not the right place for her.

I think the Spring Court needs her, and I think she needs it. Here's more on that.

So we've seen the set up and execution of the fall of the Spring Court. We know that it's in shambles and is weak and needs a new/better leader than Tampon. I feel like SJM is setting things up for a new book focused in the Spring Court, because in a lot of ways, it's becoming the centerpiece for action in Prythian (aside from the Night Court). I genuinely believe that as Tamlin's second, Lucien will take over the Spring Court as High Lord. He doesn't fit in with Autumn, didn't fit in with Night, and wasn't really a part of Spring. But with Spring, it was where he was happy, where he felt safe, and the home he chose. Chosen homes and chosen families are a big deal for SJM, and I think that Lucien will return to the Spring Court to try and help it, because Mother knows it needs it. I think Elain belongs there, not only because she needs to be in an environment suited to her, but because she needs to heal.

We've seen a theme of helping others heal in order to heal ourselves, and I think a good book idea (and what I think an Elain book would be about), is healing the Spring Court and helping it. Elain is a gardener. She wants to see things grow and blossom, wants to get her hands dirty and dig in! But she can't do that in the NC. I think she needs something new and fresh and blossoming that she can help and tend to, and I think the person that can be at her side for that is Lucien. I think with Azriel, she can't see growth and life and flowers. He's a different kind of person, far too different, and the two wouldn't mesh well. Elain isn't like Persephone and Azriel isn't like Hades; although she's flowers and he's death and they're attracted to each other, they don't fully accept those roles and cross into each other's. Elain could never be a killer or someone who wears black or thrives in a darker place, and Azriel couldn't be someone who is in the full heat of the light and wear bright colors and be cheerful and flowery. In a dream world, yes, but I think in this one, no. SJM loves to create realistic relationships and realistic relationship conflict, and I think we'll see this here. Even though they want it to work, and in theory it should, it won't. I think they know it too. Azriel's shadows vanish when she's around, and Elain struggles to feel comfortable in the darkness and Night Court, and fit in with the others in the black dress that is wholly un-Elain.

I also think that this relationship doesn't bring development to the table. The forbidden love concept is adorable and a trope I love, but this love isn't one that will push them to grow. Azriel can feel loved and happy, but can he feel fully accepted? Can he stop being ashamed of his shadows, of his violence? Of who he is? Can Elain break out of her shelf and be more assertive, and truly grow and change? Can she be herself and be happy? The answer is a sad no. Their relationship is sweet and cute, but it won't truly work. I genuinely believe Lucien is a better match for Elain, and while the Cauldron isn't always right (like Rhysand's parents), it usually is. If he isn't, then I'm all for independent Elain.

Now onto the moment you've all been waiting for: who should Az be with?

Gwyn. :)

[angelathewitch]

Okay I just finished the ACOTAR series for the first time and I have so many thoughts so I'm gonna write them down.

Also I have not looked at any fan theories or been a part of this fandom very much so all these headcannons are straight from the noggin:

Literally what the fuck is tamlin doing.

Okay getting this out of the way cause its a hot topic. Azriel is my baby I love him but

I would have mixed feelings about him being with both gwyn and Elaine. I love the idea of Elaine being azriels sunshine he deserves light in his life (also their scene in ACOSF had me ejdjbdksks) but also all three bat boys being with all 3 sisters rubs me the wrong way idk.

Gwyn is amazing because she's a badass bitch and if azriel doesn't snatch that up I will. I feel like azriel almost gets bulldozed over by the other bat boys (like he will do the dirty work only because he feels inferior) And I want gwyn to help him stand up for himself.

Gwyn is an adult jfc. I'd be more worried about her trauma.

I am totally a elucien shipper I'm SORRY lucien deserves the world

But at the same time I would totally understand if Elaine couldn't forgive him for his involvement in the cauldron business. That shit was wack. I just want this relationship to be the biggest, most "period drama esqe" slowburn.

I have very mixed feelings about lucien. On one hand lucien has never had a home and when tamlin took him in I can see how that loyalty blurred the lines of right and wrong. But at the same time lucien messed up MANY times where the archeon sisters are concerned.

Nesta deserved her kick in the ass because it was needed. She did not deserve everyone to be a little bitch to her. It felt like feyre was the only one who wanted her rehabbed for nestas sake. I definitely would have preferred Nesta to hit rock bottom and choose recovery for herself (cause alcoholism and things can only be truly solved through self help) Everyone else was uncharacteristically nonempathetic. Idk how Cassian could be okay with her treatment after they mated.

I'm still digesting Rhys and nestas relationship. I like that they don't like each other for most of ACOSF. Nestas reasons for treating feyre poorly are valid, but not excuses. The feyre, Nesta, and rhys relationship thing is weird cause I see all sides. I need more feyre and Nesta bonding they always get interrupted.

I HATE what SJM did to Mors character. What the fuck is up with mor not liking Nesta. Maybe we will get an explanation in the next book but I feel like mor was set up to be a great LGBT character with himbo allies but SJM just dropped her off a cliff. Big mad.

However I do want eris and mor to end up together. Not necessarily romantically, but I want them to have it out and I want eris to support mor. Kinda want them to be mates. Kinda want eris to be gay as well. Kinda want them to get married and them have consorts.

WHY does everyone treat feyre like a porcelain doll when the IC has more collective trauma than anyone else in this universe. Don't get me wrong I'm all about the hurt/comfort but it was so inconsistently written LOL. When the IC was telling their stories the first night they met and then feyre told hers I cackled like sorry but she is a baby

Rhys's trauma is just as recent as feyres... yeah he's a lot older and seasoned but oh my GOD he was consistently assaulted for 49 years. Feyre does very little to comfort him. Idk I feel like it was SO glossed over.

Like in ACOWAR feyre admits that amaranthas hatred wasn't personal it was general, unlike Tamlins hatred. But amarantha and rhys had multiple personal vendettas against each other. Like his amarantha is vaguely feyres tamlin. Rhys didn't even get to kill amarantha. His trauma is untapped. Rhys is the main character feyre is the love interest idc

Idk what yall say rhys is my baby my lovebug my everything. He's got his flaws but you can't love Nesta and hate him at the same time without being a lil hypocritical

But he's fucked in the head for thinking he was justified in drugging feyre every night for 2 months. Almost more mad about that than the SA (I dont really blame Rhys since it is not cannon to me. SJM just messed up 😌 it was so out of character) did he ever really apologize for that??

ALSO I know smj wanted to write like #consentking but half of what he allowed was so unnecessarily dangerous (like the first AND second weaver encounter- if my SO ran off in the middle of a battle to track down a mysterious creature when the task could have been done after the battle I would have be livid. Mor was justified in being mad.)

I'm so mad rhys didn't flatten tamlin during the high lord meeting. Either it will happen in the future or I will burn these books.

THE BAT BOYS HAVE CONNONICALLY BEEN IN THE SAME ROOM WHILE HAVING SEX. the foursomes in my head gets clearer by the day

I HATE the fact that rhys almost had an existential crisis over feyre being so young when she found her mate and not having "lived" and THEN GETS HER PREGNANT??? Are you kidding me. I'm so mad. I don't wanna deal with babies. I hate babies.

But I DO have a fun headcannon that since the bone carver is a death-god or whatever he KNEW nyx wouldn't survive and that is why he appeared as him. Also when the bone carver offered to take feyres first born in exchange for help rather than the oroboughs I think that was also foreshadowing. The only reason nyx survived was because of Nesta and the bone carver had trouble seeing the cauldron.

((Maybe nyx should have died during the birth idk))

Literally I would have enjoyed ACOSF if instead of the pregnancy feyre was busy looking for bryaxis. Literally what happened to him. Wtf

I know the plot armor is crazy thick around the IC but it would have been nice if one of them died. Well, not nice, but more believable. Maybe thats why nyx should have died. Lol I need therapy.

FREAKING HEADCANNON: the archeon sisters are partially fae. Their mom was definitely a descendant and that's why all three sisters have mates. It was hinted that the sisters had mated because they were powerful and cauldron made but Cassian and rhys could feel the pull before the sisters were turned.

Tarquin is the hottest high lord

The whole blood rite thing was stupid. I would have loved if it was spread out over a longer period of time but it was so unrealistic

You know we all love a good #girlboss🤢 moment but the whole valkarie thing seemed 1. Out of no where 2. Really quickly forced (ACOSF should have been like 2 books) 3. If emerie and mor get together life=complete

The inner circle and ther archeon sisters would not get along if they weren't mated to like 50% of the gang

They're too whiny

It's so weird that the mating bond can only be felt by guys??? Lol wut

Okay I know this is a complicated subject but having LGBTs in a universe with mates based in evolutionary advantage seems more homophobic than having a universe without LGBTs LOL. Like their connection can't be as deep cause they can't procreate?? I did like that SJM made up for it a little by saying not all mates are complementary souls.

Hybern was so powerful and for WHAT. I don't understand

Vassa, lucien, and jurian being a trio is so weird 😐

I WANT A NOVELLA ON THE STORY OF AMREN AND VARIAN. They are my otp. If anyone has made it this far and knows of some good amren and varian fanart pls let me know

Okay that is all for now thank you if you read down to here xoxo gossip girl.

P. S. Also I am starting throne of glass and am having a hard time getting into it. Can anyone vouch for this series please I'm conflicted.

Edit: omg I was zooted when I wrote this and didn't realize my phone autocorrected cassian to Caspian RIP

[orihara-infobroker]

A Court of Mist and Fury

Thanks to work I fell off on my reading and am sad about that. Since I don’t work alone in the mornings anymore, I can’t get away with listening to audio books like I used to. I finished this one just before the hell of six-day weeks started but never got around to writing about it. I put off my initial review because I had mixed feelings. I still kind of do. Thoughts under the cut. Probably spoilers if you haven’t read these books.

Where the first book was a Beauty and the Beast retelling, this book definitely departs from its origins. Which is a plus overall but there is a specific trope that she decides to jump on in this book that I really don’t like. It left me with some very mixed feelings by the end of the book.

Pros: Everyone in this book is suffering from the trauma they experienced in the first book. I greatly appreciate this fact. This is not a happily ever after scenario and that part I truly love. I really think Maas did a great job capturing the trauma and the various reactions to it. We left off the end of the first book with Feyre being turned into a fae and riding off into the sunset with Tamlin. The second book picks up some months later back in the Spring Court. Feyre is struggling with a combination of everything she suffered in the first book, including near death, paired with a sudden rebirth in a now-immortal body full of fae powers she doesn’t understand. Tamlin, whom I did not like much in the first book, doubles down on aggressively patriarchal behaviours. Tamlin grows super overprotective of Feyre. To the point that she is functionally a prisoner. Now, I will give him this much: Tamlin is also suffering some serious PTSD. So I understand where his motivation to protect Feyre comes from but it’s so unbelievably unhelpful..

Enter Rhysand. Our delightful bastard man has decided to call in his deal with Feyre. She must now spend one week a month at the Night Court. He does this in an absolutely glorious way by crashing Tamlin and Feyre’s wedding while Feyre is in the middle of a full blown panic attack that none of the spring court, not even her husband to be, seems to realize is happening. Rhysand only gets involved because he feels Feyre’s distress. So Feyre goes to the “Night Court” which is really just Feyre hanging out in Rhysand’s fancy house and trying to figure her shit out. Eventually she just leaves the spring court to hang with Rhysaand and company and this is good because unlike Tamlin, Rhysand actually wants to see Feyre get better. 

In the background, we also have the plot continuing that war is coming to the fae and Rhysand is trying to get ahead of the problem. Feyre wants to help, of course,, and there is much politics and also a heist and we all begin to see that Rhysand is not the bastard he appeared to be in the first book (which I called, in the first book). 

But. And here’s where I really dislike Maas’s chosen trope. Feyre and Rhysand are linked with a... wait for it... “mating bond”. In other words, some form of soulmate type bond. They are destined to be together. 

Now. I’m not saying she’s a bad writer or that she wrote it badly. It’s just. I really don’t like these kinds of bonds. And I feel that Feyre’s discovery of the bond (Rhys hides the truth from her for most of the book) cheapens the actual relationship they’ve built together. You basically have taken a girl in an abusive relationship and shoved her straight into a relationship she is magically predisposed to agreeing to. And it’s just. Ugh.

I like Rhysand, I really do. He’s my favorite character so far. (I also like Lucien but I’m a bit mad at him right now). But I just can’t get into soulmate type relationships. And on top of that, apparently acknowledging the bond (because you can deny it in theory?) makes you fuck like rabbits. Now I write smut. I read smut. I am not opposed to smut. But magically enforced hornyness as an excuse to write smut is just UUUUUGH. Please. We don’t need magical justification for two people in love to get it on. They don’t need a mating bond to be horny for each other. I actually started skimming the infamous mating bond smut chapter. (And I don’t usually skim smut). 

Overall, I did enjoy the story (even if Feyre and Rhysand’s decisions sometimes had me sighing in frustration) but I just struggled to get behind the mating bond trope. It really kind of soured the story for me. I genuinely feel like Rhysand and Feyre’s relationship is better off without it. I know it’s a small part of the story and it shouldn’t bother me so much but I just got to that point in the story and like, immediate turn off. :(

OH! I almost forgot. One last note. This book has apparently taken some heat for abusive relationships. And I absolutely need to call bullshit on a lot of the claims. This book definitely delves into post traumatic reactions. Some of which are absolutely abusive. But they definitely need to be understood within the context of the greater story and the experiences of all parties. Tamlin’s response to nearly losing Feyre is to become exceedingly overprotective of her, to the point that his attempt to protect her becomes a form of abuse. But it is not with the intention of being abusive. Tamlin needs help as much as Feyre does and I think people who vilify Tamlin for his behaviour are being unfair to him and the trauma he went through that drove him to this behaviour. I am not defending his actions and I think he’s a big old douchebag but I can absolutely see where he’s coming from and I don’t think Tamlin’s a bad person. I think, just like Feyre, he needs help to overcome the trauma and see his behaviour for what it is. Which I hope gets explored in the next book.

[mesmusae]

Elain: The Mating Bond

I think this is an important one to make in terms of my interpretations about Elain’s feelings when it comes to the bond, her actions and feelings around it. Because we still don’t have her perspective, this is entirely obviously speculation, but speculation I’m basing off what we have, and what i think makes sense about the situation. And please note, that nothing I say is necessarily against Lucien. Just more, how his actions are being perceived by her and why she responds in the way that she does. This is purely for character development. Not a statement for or against Elain or Lucien. 

So one thing that I think plays largely into her feelings around the bond is how it was addressed to her. She’d just been basically waterboarded, nearly drowned, after being kidnapped and held hostage. She’s practically exposed to a bunch of strangers (because wet nightgown....doesn’t leave much to the imagination). Then she watched the same thing happen to her sister while a strange man is wrapping his coat around her (do not misinterpret this mention. I love this moment and found it cute as hell and is one of the reasons I do still ship the).  but remember, at this time, Lucien had entered, standing by Spring. He left with Spring and her sister. Regardless of his outward argument against what was happening, he ultimately was on the side of the people who hurt her and her sisters. And as her sister comes to take her away from the male who happened to be standing with the very people that had caused that to happen, he suddenly makes the claim “You’re my mate.” 

Now, we know Elain knows a little about mates. But not much, as Feyre and Rhys were only open about it during the second meeting, the one that she was kidnapped shortly after. So while she knows it’s important to some degree, we don’t know how much exactly she knows. Other than between Rhys and Feyre it clearly became Romantic. And Elain is in love with someone else as we know. So even under the BEST circumstances for that statement to be claimed (well maybe not the best because that would include them being in a situation like Rhys and Feyre where he didn’t tell her while they’re totaly strangers. But it absolutely wouldn’t have been during one of the most traumatic moments of her life), she would have been against it. Her heart belonged to someone else and she wouldn’t have been interested in Lucien. 

Now flash forward to him being in the castle. She can feel his heartbeat. And I think we all agree, that’s kind of cute. But I think to her, it’s terrifying. Especially when it’s mixed with her trying to process her trauma AND the fact that she’s getting visions and no one understands that yet. Her feelings around the bond still, it’s likely reminding her of that trauma (cause I imagine she also felt it in the brief time he held her when he gave her his jacket in Hybern so it would draw her back to that). 

Flash forward to the Graysen confrontation. I know fandom rags on her for “whining and moping” about her wedding in the middle of all of that. When in reality, of all the traumas she was experiencing at once, that one was the likely the easiest to focus on and begin processing. Elain was absolutely coming to terms with losing Graysen. But as someone who is clearly a hopeless romantic,I think it’s obvious that she hoped he might look passed everything and still love her. That their love would triumph the fear, and I think that was in part knowing that Feyre left as a human to go be with Tamlin. (Even if that didn’t work out. Hopeless romantics don’t always acknowledge that part). And in the end, Graysen rejected her. But he didn’t just reject her. He told Elain that she belonged to Lucien. As if she didn’t get a say in the matter. As if her feelings on the situation didn’t count. So not only did she not get a choice in becoming fae, didn’t get a choice in whether or not she was given that gift from the cauldron, and didn’t get a choice on the mating bond itself, her choice of who she loves and wants to be with is also being taken away. And this is where she first rejects the bond. Unfairly, Lucien isn’t there to hear this. But she has expressed a rejection of the bond. 

There’s also the brief bits in ACOWAR of Elain showing....something towards Lucien. Like when he was leaving for the continent and her semi0step forward that feyre says was “as if to say something. to stop him” but isn’t necessarily the case. And then the end of acoward, when after being prompted by Feyre, she invites him to stay in the night court. I have 3 theories about why that changed after this 1) It was just a high from the success of everything (given it basically happened immediately after), and then trauma hit again. 2) She felt she had to because of that nudge from Feyre. And that perhaps she owed him that much for his part in bringing Vassa and her father back, so it was less a genuine desire to have him there and more obligation from the beginning. or 3) That something happened in the time between acowar and acofas that changed things. And I’m kind of inclined to lean to the third. But less that it was a specific event.

And of course, we have to factor in the feelings she has for Az. Because those exist. And i view them as she’s kind of growing to see him as like...a knight in shining armor kind of. He has come to her rescue several times. He’s the one that listened and figured out what was going on with her Visions. And he gave her Truth teller for protection. He rescued her in Hybern’s camp. Like, it might very well be a crush on him because he’s her savior, but it’s grown with time. (And that part in the Az bonus chapter is going to leave her hurting for a while).

Now this is the part that fandom gets really up in arms about. And I think it’s a little much? Like it feels like they only look at the actions through Lucien’s perspective, or our outsider perspective and don’t even care enough to try seeing it through Elain’s. And so this is something I’m going to put a Real Life example of to compare. It’s not Identical of course, but there are similarities.

So we have Lucien, who comes to the Night Court for some business in regards to the human lands. And then he just goes and spends time with Elain. and We don’t know much of these interactions. We don’t know how they start, we don’t know what’s said in them. All we know is that Elain does like...all the little polite things, but is clearly keeping him at a distance. Now I think it’s two fold. 1) I think she feels like Lucien is only interested in her because of the bond. Now, we might know better...though honestly, i don’t think there’s much more there to say otherwise beyond the thought of feeling like Elain was thrown at him and comparing her mentally to Jessminda. And i think the second part is likely a mix of the other options. 

That being said, we get pretty clear body language Elain is genuinely uncomfortable in Lucien’s presence. From the way her demeanor changes when she thinks it’s Nesta at the door and opens it to find Lucien, to the relief she shows that Feyre notes when Lucien delines the invitation to stay the night. And when she jumps to do what any gracious host should have from the start, which is get refreshments (the kinds of things she was raised to do and told she’d never be anything more than). Yes, to leave Lucien’s company.

AND EVEN LUCIEN UNDERSTANDS. When Feyre asks him if he would want anything to do with Elain if their positions were reversed, he cannot truthfully tell her he would. So even he has some understanding of the situation from Elain’s perspective. 

He also rejects the idea of spending time in the night court to spend getting to know Elain at Feyre’s request. Yes, his reasoning is solid. She likely wouldn’t want to spend that much time with him. But it would have been a good place to get a solid start making ties in the night court and showing her it wasn’t just about the bond. Also, let’s not forget, Lucien himself says he can’t stand to be with her. You think that isn’t radiating off him? That it doesn’t make everything feel like even more of an obligation to her? And makes her feel like he’s only doing things because he feels obligated? Like even if he genuinely wants a connection, (which he turned down Feyre’s ‘hey maybe try to get to know her’ intitally soooo who knows) and isn’t pursuing it because he feels like he has to, that statement alone, mixed with giving her unasked for gifts and trying to have small talk with her, doesn’t help his case at all.

Like. The girl could feel his heartbeat in the house of wind through the stones. And we think that she can’t feel it still? That him not being able to stand being near her wouldn’t have an affect on that? Like it is the worst thing in the world to feel like someone only pretends to care about you. (Please note, I don’t think Lucien is pretending to care. But I think he feels forced/obligated because of the mating bond and the effect it has on males versus females). Like I’m glad I was going through that part again, because that changes a LOT. And maybe the not being able to stand being near her stems from her not making an effort. Maybe it stems from just...her. We don’t know. Maybe both? And maybe her uncomfortableness grew upon noticing that he couldn’t stand being near her yet tried. Maybe it started before that. or again, maybe both.

Ultimately, I think Elain resents the mating bond itself. She didn’t want it. She wanted Graysen. She didn’t want to be fae. And the mating bond is one of the most uniquely fae things. Then there’s all the ties to her trauma. The fact that the mating bond and it’s forming are directly linked back to everything that happened in Hybern.

And none of this is also taking into account the OTHER things going on. AKA the outside pressure. Nesta and Feyre got to know their mates freely. They didn’t have the knowledge of the bond over their heads. And they got to know their mates and accept their bonds without everyone knowing of it’s existence. Elain does not get that luxury. Not only does everyone know, but they discuss it. Feyre still tries to nudge Elain that way. Rhys fucking interfered with a kiss because of the bond, even though they both know how she feels about the bond. Nesta and Feyre didn’t get that. Well, Nesta got that a little bit from Cassian, but...he was the other party, not an outside party who shouldn’t have involvement. Elain and Lucien do not have that luxury. 

No matter what happens, there’s gonna have to be a behavior change from both of them. What I want more than anything (and is something I’d love to rolepaly) is them getting to know eachother outside the night court. I want Elain to gain some freedom from her family and relying on her safety net. And i want Lucien to fulfill a real desire in her that isn’t just based on a few small things he only knows the surface about. I want him to take her places, and show her the world. I want them to open up to each other about Graysen and Jessminda. And I want Elain to see that she and Lucien have a lot of things in common and that he really is a good person. 

I want them to have a genuine friendship. I kind of want the bond rejected regardless. Like. I want Elain to say she doesn’t want that. But because the air is cleared, it kind of frees them. And I want them to feel free of expectations and find that they can get along.