#better representation for the acotar show

[dippedinmelancholy]

It might be wild, but I kind of hate that the only way Maas knows how to show women as claiming their sexuality and being “strong” is having them prance around in promiscuous clothing.

We see this with Mor, Feyre, and then Nesta. It’s not a character trait, it’s a statement that anything seen as rigid, conservative or modest makes you weak.

Feyre’s would be wedding dress to Tamlin is not bad because it’s hideous, but because it’s the traditional style of “princess” ballroom dresses. She suddenly enjoys dresses when they’re all skimpy and revealing, despite her having never enjoyed dresses before. Worse, Rhysand dresses her like a harlot, exactly as he did under the mountain, branding her in front of god knows how many eyes.

Mor’s style and statement of her clothing could be beautiful, except once again, it’s only used to show that if you value a more conservative style, you are too closed off, bitchy, and without value.

Both of these could be written as character TRAITS, that women can be as conservative or promiscuous as they want because it is THEIR BODY, except Nesta is shamed for both. She is shamed for her conservatism with her own body, and then shamed for her promiscuousness. She is used and put on display by the Night Court, who she allows to fuck her put under a microscope. She is only accepted by them when she wears the clothing they want her to wear, when she fucks who they want her to fuck.

Idk, I thought there was some beauty in the initial representation of Nesta. That a woman who is conservative in how she dresses, who fights with her words rather than blades, could claim just as power in her own sexuality as Mor or Feyre dressed in sheer fabrics.

And the worst irony is Mor widely fucks whoever she wants, often very blantantly under everyone’s gaze but specifically Azriel’s, drinks wine in almost every scene - and yet no one shames her for it. No one calls her an embarrassment. No one locks her in a house with Azriel because he wants her so badly.

Nesta deserves better.

Women can be just as proud of their sexuality in a conservative dress as a sheer one.

There’s power in simply being a woman, not only putting your flesh on display.

Nesta never should have been forced to conform to a lifestyle that is so opposite to everything she had ever wanted in life.

#pronesta #ic-critical #acotar #nestadeservedbetter #silverflamesbutcherednessian #everywomandeservestofeelpowerful

[ae-neon]

Nesta Vs ACOSF, a rambling rant

TW: mentions of sexual assault and abuse

Besides the "love" story that read like a quiet descent into domestic horror, ACOSF has one element that keeps me from being able to pick it up even just to sift through for Nesta gems: sex.

Here me out, I'm not a prude and I think we could have gotten a smutty romance but...

At her core, Nesta has always been a proud and modest person.

To be clear, with pride, I mean that her sense of self - her famous steel spine - has kept her together and unbroken even during harrowing circumstances. It's vital to her. It's so ingrained in her that - given we have no other explanation - we can assume it's what shields her mind from literal magic. However, like any trait, her pride can also be a thing that comes off as negative in the wrong situations.

With modesty, she was raised to keep a certain ideology that based her value on sex, beauty, marriage etc but it's important to understand that Nesta applied those standards inwards, at herself. (Eg In acotar, she brings up Feyre and Isaac in defence of her and Tomas, in acomaf, she is mostly upset about not hearing from Feyre or being notified that Feyre has switched courts - not about Feyre sleeping with Tamlin and then Rhys)

Now, I don't think Nesta's modesty makes her better than Feyre, in fact I was happy to get the representation of two different types of views on sex

But what I didn't consider at the time was that SJM was painting this out to be a negative trait.

In retrospect it seems obvious even though Nesta has defied her narrative destiny and become a sort of icon, at the end of the day she was still supposed to be written in a negative contrast to Feyre.

It seems funny but imagine you consumed the book the way Sarah intended, the way so many in the fandom have. The old Sarah Says rule, for my long time mutuals.

For example:

The dinner in acomaf - it's obvious Nesta is upset that she hasn't heard from Feyre only to have her come through not only as a whole Fae but bringing others and endangering their entire family.

But imagine it as a one dimensional reading and suddenly the "I fuck" dialogue is a girlboss moment of feminism giving a fuck you to the strict patriarchy of the "mortal lands" let's ignore how the Fae are actually more patriarchal and the Illyrians even more so than that

So understand that Nesta's modesty is being directly contrasted with Feyre's sexual freedom. The reader - at least from sjm's perspective - is supposed to agree with Feyre and disagree with Nesta in a sort of win/lose, yes/no, black/white dichotomy.

And because sjm is consistent and boring and a self-inset author, this dynamic doesn't change even when the protagonist does.

Only now sjm and her feminism has changed from fuck-whoever-I-want girlboss to kinky-but-only-with-my-husband tradwife

So Nesta can't be prudish and cut off because 1) it's not as conducive to the breakdown of self and buildup of a dependent and abusive relationship and 2) it's not in direct contrast with Feyre's current monogamous, traditional family values character.

So Nesta starts drinking and sleeping around and it's not because we're going to explore the unraveling of the pride and modesty at the core of the character as part of her transformation or as a result of her trauma

But because it's supposed to be a bad look, degrading, it shows she's failed, it makes her a loser

All of that is already insane. And even more so when taken with the context of her assault by Tomas and the sex centred relationship she has with Cassian

Now add to that the fact that in the book, Nesta is an object of desire for 2 villains and undergoes assault and drowning AGAIN

Sjm literally gives less than 2 fucks about SA, that much is obvious even from the way she inflicts and then disregards the experience of both Feyre and Rhysand respectively. It's a tool for her, a quirky story element

But to have Nesta experience such a similar thing - especially when the experience of being Made can be read as a sort of rape allegory on its own - and all for the sake of "romance" fantasy??

Even Nesta's reading habits are sexualised, to be clear I don't think there's anything wrong with reading smut, but the scope of her intellect and reading is narrowed down when we're suddenly made to believe most of the books she reads are smut.

This is someone who likely taught herself economics and investment within months in order to not just pay off the debt, upgrade her whole family's way of life but also rebuild the family fortune. Someone who, having stopped schooling at around 14/15, did the math needed to calculate the feasibility of the evacuation of a small country.

Someone who's verbally stated life goal was to see what a woman could make of herself in the world.

Even her love of reading is used as a stepping stone for how horny she is, instead of it being a result of her deeply ingrained need for escapism

She reads smut because the only thing she has in common with Cassian and the IC is sex. Because sjm thought one of the core elements of a friendship between 2 SA survivors and a disabled woman from a culture that mutilated her for being born a woman would be their desire to fantasise about men.

All the while the male love interest treats her like garbage.

We could have had a smutty book filled with sex where each scene could have been the growth of Nesta's trust and love of Cassian through intimacy. It could have been a sexual relationship that involved and explored kink - which explored vulnerability and the negative impact of how Nesta's pride became a source of stress and strain.

It could have been an exploration about the complicated relationship with desire and oppressors that many survivors have. But it isn't.

It's hahaha horny, so RELATABLE

Even when it comes to the abusive situation Nesta grew up in, it's just hung up like decoration on the character. Not explored, let alone healed. I don't wanna hear that sjm explained or explored Nesta's abuse when we don't even get her mother or her grandmother's names

We don't get

The complexity of being a trapped and abused woman who came from a trapped and abused woman who came from a trapped and abused woman

Or the complexity of a dysfunctional family

Or even the journey of recovery from addiction and self-harming behaviour

Now, not every aspect of Nesta or any survivors lives have to boil down to how it relates to their experiences but SJM is praised for her "recovery" and so much of this book is about sex and abuse but has no depth

It could have been a less-deep, fun experience of sex and desire and kink. But no

Nesta has sex with many faceless men because sjm is condemning her as a failure. Sex is her punishment, it makes her dirty and unworthy and cheap.

Then, through her "healing", she becomes a sex doll for the right guy. Sex is her reward, it makes her hot and useful and appealing.

Sjm writes not just like a man but like a particularly talented misogynist so it's the way sex is used that really puts me off

Edit: ultimately I think the sex and romance should have interacted with and evolved her pride, modesty and past experiences, rather than those things being demolished to turn her into a sex doll

[wishcamper]

AITF Part IV: The Nestapocalypse

Pre reqs: PART I | PART II | PART III

Creds: licensed mental health profesh, person with a family

Hello and welcome back to our deep dive on ACOTAR and family systems theory!

Last time we talked about how Feyre destabilized, and then re-stabilized the IC family system. Her addition revealed the weak points in the system, particularly of Mor as the primary source of anxiety. So let’s look at what happens to the system, and Mor in particular, once Elain and Nesta join, with Lucien peripherally.

Mor, you good? You’re looking a little lonely there.

So I had to eliminate some relationships to make it readable, but there have been some major changes structurally that I want to highlight:

Feyre and Rhys introduced a romantic alliance into the system. Cassian and Nesta later reinforce this. And Azriel is clearly tryin, even if he’s not having success. This is a complete turn from the original systems where, not only were there no romantic relationships, but via the buffer romance in the family was actively discouraged.

The center of anxiety has shifted to Rhys. We see him make choices for others to soothe that anxiety CONstantly throughout ACOFAS and ACOSF. It’s pretty much his primary strategy. And that’s because..

Rhys has real challenges to his power. Nesta doesn’t want or need anything from him, yet has influence on her sisters and Cassian. Nesta refuses to follow the family rules and participate in the NFEP, undermining Rhys’ ability to keep the system stable. Until they cut her off financially and give her the “intervention”, he has no leverage against her because enough other people ultimately want her in.

Waaaayyyy less energy and resources are being devoted to Mor, and her feelings matter much less in family decisions and functioning. 

It’s interesting because even though Mor is no longer the center of the family in terms of relationships, I think she has the most to lose from instability in the system. Everyone else has a stronger relationship than the one they have with her. Yet she needs each one of them to:

Rhys - establish her relevance in the system, provide structure and enforce the rules, and keep the buffer drama from spilling over

Cassian - protect her from connecting with Azriel’s feelings and diffuse her anxiety

Azriel - provide a reason for her to be cagey about her love life/justify keeping her sexuality a secret

Feyre - ensure her relevance to Rhys / secure her position and value

Elain - less their relationship, more that there’s a blanket family rule of “protect Elain”

I say this not as a call out, but to show that Nesta is the only person Mor can attack without jeopardizing her position and reasonably assume the others will let her. Nesta in ACOFAS and ACOSF is a classic scapegoat as the person with the least apparent power and most obvious and stigmatized issues. She’s an easy target, especially for someone like Mor, who is well-versed in the courtier’s game and can appear to be innocent while actually being quite malicious (see: lingerie-gate).

This is where we come back to the topic of alliances. I always associate that term with Survivor, which is actually a really good representation of how alliances function in families in three main ways:

Alliances are always mutually beneficial.

Alliance can be used to leverage power.

Alliances can be broken or changed if one person can get their needs met in a better/easier way.

Alliances can be temporary and utilitarian (I’ll give you a dollar if you don’t tell mom I hit you) or long-standing and an integral part of the system (parents do not contradict each other on rules in front of the kids, and work those disputes out in private to maintain consistency).

The Mor/Cassian alliance fits all these qualities exactly. Cassian gets relief from his guilt and can suppress conflict before it starts, and he also gets someone to fuss over which tbh it seems like he enjoys. Mor gets protection from Azriel’s feelings for her, doesn’t have to face the conflict she generates, and gets fussed over which she also seems to enjoy. And when Cassian starts getting those needs met by Nesta instead, with more perks and fewer costs, he leaves Mor behind and both their roles fundamentally shift.

In that way, Nesta and Cassian’s relationship is really the thing that changes the family permanently, in my opinion. I think if Nesta had just been pushed out, or at least neutralized, they could’ve been fine for a while longer. But because he wants her there, and she refuses to follow the rules, the family has to figure out how to accommodate her. The Nes/Cass alliance is crazy powerful when you break it down.

Nesta has power in the purest sense, as in she is probably magically stronger than anyone else in the Night Court, especially considering Amren’s lost her powers. So at the end of the day, if she got her shit together she could tear it all down. She’s could really leverage the idea that no one should take her temperance for granted. She doesn’t do this and I think that’s because she’s a good person. She doesn’t desire power, which weirdly makes her very suited to have it. She also has power in an influence sense, in that at least her sisters and Cassian are invested in having a good relationship with her which means, by extension, Rhys and Mor have to get on board.

(I realize I haven’t mentioned Azriel very much - he’s the former scapegoat, and never had much power in the first place. I wonder if that’s why he seems to have a soft spot for Nesta, like there’s a sense of solidarity. So his opinions and actions don’t really affect the system unless he wants to start rebelling. Which I think we’ll eventually see him do since he doesn’t have as much investment in keeping the family together after his brothers pair off and Rhys pulls rank.)

Cassian’s power is more passive in this system, in that he causes change when he STOPS doing things, mostly peacemaking behaviors. He absorbs a lot of anxiety in the system, along with Az, and exerts influence through physical and emotional absence. Because of this power, when he starts investing more time and attention in Nesta, Mor reacts by retaliating toward NESTA, who she sees as the more vulnerable/lower status one even though Cassian is 100% initiating the change. Lingerie-gate. “She belongs in the Hewn City”. Her protectiveness of Cass. The call’s coming from inside the house, my love.

As a sidebar, I find this such an interesting dynamic in that is sort of an accidental subversion of the typical tropes. Magical young women conquers the world by NOT using her powers. Bad ass fighting dude is more powerful when he chooses not to act. Such a fascinating theme. Anyway.

We know systems want to stay in balance, so members will do things to rebalance them. Cassian and Nesta are going to be together? Okay, then she has to be acceptable by the family standards and fall in line with the rules. We see this blatantly in the way the IC “intervenes” when Nesta is “embarrassing” them. And there is a layer of the backlash to this shift this that is definitely Mor feeling threatened by Nesta taking her place in the alliance. But what’s interesting to me is that there’s another layer in what she says TO Cassian when Nesta isn’t even around, a passive aggressive way of expressing her disapproval that he’s abandoned her and what she sees as his role.

So when they’re very clearly going to be together, and the mating bond is both obvious and powerful given the rules of their culture and their own system, it forces a schism. On one side is Rhys, Mor, and Amren. On the other is Nesta, Cassian, and Azriel. Feyre straddles the middle, and Elain uses absence to avoid taking sides.

This is actually fairly normal in families as kids grow up and begin families of their own. Shifting priorities change how decisions are made individually and as a group, and where members go to get their needs met. If people are able to accept their changing roles, things can go well - parents transition to being grandparents, siblings can support each other without competing for resources, adult children can establish their own family rules that are in line with their values. When it goes poorly, or when people cling to their rules and roles too rigidly, there can be a lot of conflict.

It’s the great contradiction of the family system that the best way to achieve equilibrium is by accepting that shifting is constant, inevitable, and important. It’s like standing on one foot, that even when you feel stable there are tiny shifts happening, and when you focus too hard on staying upright you almost always fall over. But when you treat the little shifts as normal, you realize that balancing is a process in motion, and looking ahead keeps things steadier than looking down.

Looking at this in a zoomed out way is helpful, but I also want to remember that while these are characters, the dynamics they play out are very real and can be very damaging. We naturally internalize the strategies and structures of our family system. I see this over and over again in my office, the ways people have been conditioned to believe they are defective, broken, inadequate, hopeless. In my personal life, I’ve been contending recently with a lot of trauma from my family that was covert, normalized, and well-hidden but which left me convinced that I was so repulsive, that my inner world was so ugly that anyone I showed it to would immediately leave. Some days it feels like it’s permanently damaged my brain. I know that’s not true, both on a literature level and a personal belief level, but it can be hard to remember and god does it still hurt. I still fear breaking the rules even though I’m the only one enforcing them now.

Okay I’m gonna stop here. This one is really rambling so I hope you got something out of it lol. Life is hard and weird right now, so I hope you’ll excuse if it’s not my usual standard. Thanks for reading <3

[nyxreads]

I see alot of Elain stans wanting to read about soft female characters and that is why they love Elain as the next lead of the acotar book. I get it. Please don't misinterpret what I'm about to ask but soft girls are way too overrated. This is why men easily step on women, because women are too soft and can become a doormat. Elain is "too kind", "too forgiving", and some stans hate "girlboss" but did one of you pause and think that maybe the reason why some people like girls like Gwyn or Nesta is because they are the representation of women who stood up after centuries of patriarchy? Women aren't lesser. We love to read more girlboss characters in fantasy books because they empower us. Just some food for thoughts but I love Elain too, she can show more flavor in the next books

Hi anon,

First, I want to clarify to you that (imo, I can't speak for all) but Elain stans don't really hate badass characters. There's that. And I don't really think feminine women are overrated considering how characters like Elide, Yrene, Elain (at least in this fandom) are overlooked because well, they don't wield sword or isn't bitchy enough.

The thing here anon is, instead of women empowering women (may it be fictional or real) it became a competition. Of who's better, who can wield sword better, who can kill, who can say the last word, who's fit to have a love interest. It comes to the point where some women especially in this fandom look at characters like Elain and decides they are weak because they aren't the kind of women (as per to your own words) who stood up after centuries of patriarchy. Instead of uplifting every female characters, women started tearing female characters down that they deemed boring or unimportant in the series.

Anon, there is strength in gentleness. There is strength in forgiveness, in fact according to research people who forgives tend to live longer and their hearts healthier. Just because women are feminine doesn't mean we are lesser. We have a vital role in the society, and whoever sees feminine women as lesser, are the real lesser one. Because looking down at somebody because they don't meet your standard of strength shows insecurity.

Most women are feminine anon, I think it's time for us to stop demonizing femininity. Hollywood fooled us hard, let's open our eyes, this is why it's very important to also see characters such as Elain take the lead and have her own book.

There's enough representation of girlboss character in fantasy series, and I have no complaint in that. But there's also nothing wrong in embracing your feminine side and wanting to see a representation of it on fantasy books.

And let me tell you, irl, it's not women who held guns that helped on the war, it's the women most people sees as doormat. In fact, during the WWII, men underestimated these type of women and thought of them as fragile and helpless but they are spies, anon. They became a big weapon in war. Women are capable of anything despite of their trait. It's 2023 anon, let's stop underestimating women because of their gentleness or because of their hobbies and desires in life.

Stop tearing down women (fic or not). Just because you don't relate to them doesn't mean no one does. Every kind of women can be a main character.

And this is long enough but OMG (I am trying to be calm, really) stop looking down at my sweet girl! Lol okay bye.

[irontrashglitter]

aight lads. i am going on a bender (defence of red queen)

red queen is unmistakably a very route one book. the author clearly took a bunch of cliches and shoved them into her book series and a combination of a ready market and engaging writing made it extra extra powerful. the representation is not the worst but definitely not the best especially considering it was 2015 (which i was shocked about), the plotline was sometimes overstretched, BUT

it is very refreshing having a book that is unambiguously about destroying the ruling class and changing the system for the better. mare and her allies might join up with the aristocrats in the book and they are sympathetic but it never wavers from the core message that the system they’re working in is broken and needs a complete overhaul. and in a fantasy climate that took a fairly centrist view of “bad man = bad world, replace bad man = good world” (ACOTAR, TOG, Shadow and Bone) and so i did very much like how the book showed that radical change was needed and never changed on this.

[houseofhurricane]

ACOTAR Fancasting - The Archeron Sisters as Latinas

As we’re all fancasting the ACOTAR show and crossing our fingers for more diverse representation, I had a wild dream:

What if the Archeron sisters were played by Latine actors?

Obviously, all three are portrayed as White in the books. And, as a Latina myself, there’s definitely wish fulfillment involved.

However, I do have a case that’s based in the text. Hybern is meant to parallel Trump and the rise of Trumpism, which is pretty clear at this point in ACOWAR:

Meanwhile, the human lands at the south of Prythian are bordered by a giant wall, and they are tortured by the High Fae if they ever cross that wall. That’s a pretty accurate summary of what happened to Latine immigrants crossing the border during the Trump administration. Humans also live in poverty for which the High Fae are, historically speaking, responsible. This is an extremely simplified version of the history between the United States and Latin America.

So that’s my initial rationale for casting Latina actresses as Feyre, Nesta, and Elain, not to mention their father, and the rest of the 

But it’s not just for the text parallels. It’s all the fun possibilities that this specific casting choice would open up. Imagine Nesta, the talented dancer, whipping out a tango or a danzón, setting the High Fae world on fire with the way she dances salsa or bachata. Or picture Elain, the gardener, attending her orchids and birds of paradise, or trying to grow a poinciana tree outside that cottage. (I know these plants need tropical climates and ACOTAR starts in the middle of winter, but let’s dream a little bit.) What if Feyre turned that deer into tacos instead of a stew? What if Feyre’s devotion to her father was based in a culture that so highly values families and their elders? Bringing this closer to home. I’m Cuban-American, with a lot of friends who came from Cuba in recent years, and I’ve heard stories of how desperate they were for food growing up, to the point where we’ve played games of the animals they’ve eaten, which included alligators and, in one memorable story, a manatee. What if we saw Feyre and her sisters at this point? And this is one country out of many, each with its own specific history, its own culture. I bring this story up because I know it, because it causes a real pain inside me when I hear it, that people I know and love could be so hungry and desperate. Imagine if the ACOTAR show tapped into these real, known stories.

Plus, on a lighter note, can you imagine how cute it would be to watch Feyre introduce the Inner Circle to her culture? 

But before I start really squealing about the possibilities, I’m going back to history for a second. Latine culture is beautiful in part because it’s a braid of cultures that were forced together by a strange alchemy of resilience in the face of horror (the main example being the human trafficking commonly known as slavery) and hope (as with the US, many people immigrated to countries all over Latin America in hopes of a brighter future). In the same way, we see places where the human culture in ACOTAR is inflected by the horrible history where humans were slaves to the High Fae, but also their resiliency and hope.

It’s really difficult to get Latine representation in high fantasy, in large part because it’s based on European history. The reality of Latin America reveals the dark side of that history, the imperialism and genocide and war that nations across Europe, and particularly Spain and Portugal, were willing to commit for gold and spices and territory. When we do see Latines in high fantasy, they’re often sporting an Inigo Montoya accent or are highly sexualized... sometimes both at the same time! (Not that I didn’t love Pedro Pascal in Game of Thrones, but I think we can all admit that he wasn’t exactly the most shining example of what Latine representation could be.)

Casting Latine actors to play the Archerons and the residents of the human lands of Prythian would not only provide the kind of representation Latine actors never get in high fantasy, but this casting choice would make the real-world parallels in ACOTAR come alive. Imagine formerly-unknown Latina actors as Feyre and Nesta and Elain, taking the screen by storm.

And seriously, now that you’ve thought about it for a second, doesn’t it sound amazing?

[nikethestatue]

I really wish there will be no ACOTAR movie. We may fight over casting choice, plots, and whatnots. I rather keep everything to our imagination and I think movie kills it. How do you feel about ACOTAR movie?

So it's hard for me to decide. I am an extremely visual person. So much so, I add 'illustrations' to my own fan fics, because I like for my readers to have a visual representation of something that I am describing.

If it's done well, I think I am totally fine with the show.

To have these characters that I love in front of me, as 'live' beings, saying the dialogue that I know by heart, living the scenes that I know by heart--I would love to see it.

To me, ACOTAR, for example, has a lot of exciting visual opportunities. Of course the hovel/village will look like 12th century England, but beyond that--I want to see Tamlin's manor, the magic that Feyre sees, the scenery, the monsters, the colours. I want to witness Calanmai. I want to go under the Mountain and see how it was 'made'. I want to see the wyrm. The debauchery of Amarantha's court.

I want to see Velaris, of course, and the Moon Palace, and Summer Court and the Prison and the Weaver's Cottage.

There is just SO MUCH that I want to see.

So I can't say that I am against the show. Who is going to play all these characters--it will be a point of contention, of course. But I hope they are all unknown. Or mostly unknown, with maybe 1-2 better known actors. Like Sean Bean was in GOT. Or Ben Barnes in S&B. But it would be good if they are unknown, because then we can 'grow' with these characters/actors too.

I mean, if the show goes ahead, I will certainly watch it and then form my opinions.

[houseofhurricane]

I adore this fancast!! In my mind, Tara is now Vassa ✨

Does anyone have any fancasts for the band of exhiles??

[algumaideia]

It makes me mad that Sarah seems to be leaning towards Elriel because of COURSE she’d use Lucien to subvert the mating bond trope. OF COURSE Lucien, the only unproblematic male in this series, the biracial, disabled, abuse survivor, has to lose his mate to to a possessive bat (seriously. Azriel is creepily possessive of Elain in the ACOSF bonus chapter). Of course Lucien has to suffer more.

Hi nonnie!

Yeah this whole situation makes me sad. I think this post says how bad this relationship would be considering Lucien's story better than I ever could.

I also would like to say that I don't like Elain, as much as want Lucien to be happy I don't want him with her. As an older sister her treatment of Feyre in the first book hurts me. It would be the same if Prim was the one hunting and Katniss was at home, spending all the money Prim got without helping in anything.

If you ignore the estabilished characterization in the first book(like SJM did) you got two things about her character:

1. Shout out to Elain for being the only consistent character SJM wrote in her books (as far as I know).

2. She only has two personality traits, being feminine and avoiding conflicts/problems (liking gardening doesn't count). So she is barely a character. That's why I think she is a door.

My boy Lucien deserves someone better that is why I ship him with Tarquin.

I think people don’t understand the ableist implications of saying that Lucien is creepy or things similar to that. He is disabled, not only that but he has a prothestic eye, his disability is obvious. It is not nice, you know? I’m not the best person to explain that since I’m not disabled and I’m incapable of wrting texts that aren’t confusing.

Other thing about this that bothers me is how people say that the mating bond is taking away Elain’s choice. Where were all you people when Feyre was mated with Rhys? When Nesta was mated with Cassian? Also, WHEN Lucien took Elain’s choice from her? Did we read the same book?

The poor boy tried to comunicate with her three times becuase he was trying to know his mate. When she showed no interest he backed off. He gave her space. I mean he is so respectful.

I didn’t read Acosf but I read about Az chapters here on Tumblr. AND HOW DARE HIM SAY HE WANTS TO KILL LUCIEN JUST BECAUSE HE IS ELAIN’S MATE??? LUCIEN HAS BEEN NOTHING BUT RESPECTFUL AND SWEET AND THIS CREEP GUY WHO HAS BEEN LIKING THE SAME GIRL FOR 500 YEARS, FREAKING 500 YEARS, EVEN WHEN HE KNOWS SHE DOESN’T LIKE HIM THAT WAY THINKS HE IS BEST THAN HIM?? AZ, LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, YOU ARE AS BAD AS RHYSTRASH. 

I just want SJM to forget Lucien so she can’t harm him. Leave my boy alone. 

And I think that Lucien is the best representation in her books. He suffered abuse by his family, but he doesn’t abuse anyone. There is this narrative that says if you suffer abuse you are going to abuse someone. But Lucien says no to this bullshit, he is sweet, respectul, nice and kind. He is disabled and being disabled isn’t his only character trait, I mean the way his narrative is written is not that good, but is the better in the acotar series. He has abilites that have nothing to do with his disability. He is biracial and, he doesn’t know about Helion, but he loves his land. He dislike the way his father rules it, but he truly care about his court. He misses them. Now the bat boys want to kill all the illyrians, think all the culture sucks. Lucien has conflicted feelings about his land, but the bat boys just hate their culture and think the world would be better without them.

This whole situation is so terrible, because Lucien is such a good boy and he deserves better. He deserves to be out of IC influcence. He deserves a better mate. He deserves a better family. He deserves a better story. He deserves a better author.  

*sigh*I really can’t write organized and coherent texts. 

I hope we were able to get our anger out of our chests together nonnie.

Best regards,

Me.

[writtenonreceipts]

I don’t know much about mutism (I guess really anything to be honest) and I don’t want to be insensitive… but I’m wondering, for the things we cannot say, does Feyre laugh? Or does she make any noises like in surprise?

I’ve been loving this story so much, it’s been my comfort fic

*edit to add, please let me know if there are ways I can better improve how I represent Feyre and her mutism/signing. I still have a long way to go on being accurate. I hope I am still able to show compassion and understanding with this fic/these thoughts.

Hey! thanks for asking and I'm so glad you enjoy this fic!

I've done a little bit of research for this fic (and my og novel) and still have some things to work out. So...lets see if my thoughts make sense...Also, I apologize in advanced. Once I started thinking and writing about this, I just kept going. So...long post alert. my bad.

For the purposes of this fic--Feyre is selectively mute. She'd originally been able to speak and then at her mother's death, she stopped. I don't think I've gone into it exclusively in the fic yet, but the entire situation was just so traumatic for her being so young and then her father not taking the time to understand how the death affected Feyre so much. Some sources that I looked in on say this happens while rooted in anxiety. And generally only persists when they are in this high anxiety situation while being able to open up to close friends and family. From my own understanding of trauma and what trauma does to a person, it seemed reasonable to me that she would just stop talking in general. And then I realized I needed to do more research for this fic and my novel to more accurately portray what some people go through.

At times it feels like I've embellished a little too much? Most of the sources I've looked at say that this typically only persists in children around 5-10 yos. When untreated it can persist, so I think it's reasonable that she still can't speak, but almost not. Idk. I wish I knew people who are selectively mute or mute in general...but I'm trying my best with research, lol.

But for this fic, Feyre had never felt safe. Not even with her sisters. And while I've tried to give them a decent enough relationship, I wanted to also reflect themes of ACOTAR of how isolated Feyre is in the human lands (and even with Tamlin) until she meets Rhys and comes into herself in the Night Court. So, I wanted to bring a little of that out to.

From what I've interpreted with what I've looked at, it's that no sound or noise comes out only in these situations of high stress. So, yes, she can make some noises and grunts--there is no trauma to her vocal cords/genetic reasoning that she can't--it's the anxiety and stress and trauma that has kept her from speaking. It's the trauma that keeps her from speaking in other situations. I'm wanting to explore this a little more and what feyre can and can't do. And I'll decide how best to approach this--and maybe, maybe, she'll speak again? It'll be a long journey whatever I choose to do with it.

Unlike in my og book, where it's magically based muteness, and I feel like there's a little more freedom and more to make up for the not speaking--so I am a little worried that some of that unrealistic-ness is bleeding in and TTWCS is giving an unfair representation of what people with selective mutism and mutism as a whole suffer and struggle with.

I'll forgo my personal rambling of more of why I approached this fic the way i have, y'all've gotten enough of that. But what it boils down to is what the person has experienced in their life, I think, and if they are in a safe place. Since Feyre's is more trauma based, I thought it made sense that it persisted for years and that she doesn't speak at all. But then she's comfortable enough with Rhys to live with and marry him so....yeah. I dug a hole there. Hopefully when I explore it further in later updates it's mesh enough that it makes sense.

[twos-complemented]

sjm really screwed up this time

okay so before i start this post, i'm a south asian and a Muslim, so i know what i'm talking about. and sjm managed to piss me off even more than i thought she could.

there will be mentions of nakedness, abuse and violence in this post. be warned.

okay so we all know cassian, azriel and rhystank, right? well, they're coded as south asian (according to the official coloring book and some official arts, and their descriptions show that too) which makes me mad because i fucking hate rhysand. i mean, dude literally abused feyre so much in acotar. anyway.

so they're coded as south asian. and guess which race they are in the books? illyrian. and guess what illyrians are in the books? misogynistic, sexist, violent bastards. at least that's what they're described as by our lovely inner circle.

need i say more? need i have to explain how the fact that a poc race coded as south asian is shown as violent and misogynistic makes me, a south asian who is fucking proud of being one, so fucking mad? like...dude. not only does this further the 'poc are violent' trope, it also places these harmful stereotypes on south asians.

oh and our lovely rhystank calls illyrians backward. he himself is half illyrian yk so i guess he hates his race. but backward??? bitch need i remind you of how india is in south asia and it was actually indian mathematicians who put forth the idea of zero??? i mean, not to mention all the technological and scientific developments that happened as a whole in asia and stuff. oh and sjm says that illyrians have amazing fighting skills. yes. we south asians are fucking badasses thank you for acknowledging our power (like, the mughal dynasty happened in the indian subcontinent which is indeed south asia and the emperor akbar was such a good leader better than idk rhysand or whatever) but anyway, we are not backward thank you very much rhystank.

i mean i guess the night court fashion makes sense now, but no, feyre can't have our beautiful henna or our harem pants thank you very much.

and onto henna, the night court tattoos are basically like that with a few differences. well, what if i said henna was an important part of our culture and is a tradition that comes from the time of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)??? and you know, how rhysand used it to mark feyre and make her dance almost naked in it?? idk seems pretty disrespectful to me.

oh and the bharat thing. bharat is literally what you call india in indian languages. and sjm said feyre's dad sent ships there to get 'invaluable spices and cloth'. nope, it's not like india was ever known for it's spices, clothes and dyes. or you know, how some relative of feyre died of malaria after going to bharat. or the fact that malaria is like the topmost communicable disease in india. fuck you sjm.

also the way lentils were mixed with ash in acotar, i feel bad for the lentils they could've been used to make some rice and stuff ;-; (and do they eat rice and lentil stew (i'm not very good with translating food to english i usually say daal chawal which is urdu for that) because that is a lovely dish (i guess they just eat McFaerie fries in velaris tho yes i call velaris new york as a joke take that))

oh and the kohl (or kajal) sjm i mean, just no please.

and i mentioned velaris earlier, there's a sidra river there i am so sorry for all the people named sidra reading this you all deserve better

so conclusion of this post is that sjm is really good at pissing south asians and poc off. thanks again for calling us backward and violent i absolutely appreciate the representation :))

[battlestar-royco]

i'm so glad you said that making illy/rians poc would just be more detrimental. i'd really hate to see a visual portrayal of this dominating, sexually aggressive brown man and this skinny white girl. and this is both going to lead to white women fetishizing that brown man and white women who never read the books to demonize brown men at the same time. they should just let mess cast some toasted whites and leave it there.

Over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that no representation is better than bad representation. It’s not truly representation unless you are *representing* an experience with some degree of authenticity and dimensionality. The I/llyrians would be better off just white tbh because their society is riddled with misogyny, abuse, and hypersexuality. I’m still lowkey reeling at the fact that the possibility of an ACOTAR show went up like 95% and no matter how they cast the show, I just really want it to not be a thing.

[nomattertheoceans]

I feel like I picked up on most of the racist tropes in Maas’ books but I’d love to hear your thoughts on the homophobia in them

Hi Non!! Thanks for the ask :) 

Just an fyi if people didn’t see it, Anon is referring to my tags on this post about death of the author and the importance of criticizing media without taking into account the creator’s intent.

So yeah, regarding Maas. There’s a lot of ways in which I find her writing homophobic, I’ll divide them in different categories to try and make it clearer because my mind works in twisted ways x)

You should also know that I haven’t read Crescent City past the first few chapters so I can’t talk about this book (what I heard isn’t great regarding this issue but I haven’t read it so I won’t comment on it)

(this got long so I’m gonna use a read more)

worldbuilding

I think her worldbuilding tends to reflect a homophobia that she might not be aware of. Her entire world is built on heteronormative ... norms (lmao sorry I don’t have a better word I haven’t slept in more than 20 hours) that don’t leave any space for queer people to thrive in.

Throne of Glass actually got the less awful bit on this one, we’re shown that Hasar’s girlfriend Renia would become Empress if Hasar was crowned, and Aelin’s uncle was openly gay, so I guess compared to ACOTAR it’s better.

ACOTAR gets the worst of this: The fae society is painfully mysoginistic and by extend, homophobic. Mor is basically sold into marriage at sixteen, to a man, without regards of how she feels about it, because women are considered a breeding stock. The Illyrian women are viewed in the same light. Even Feyre is expected to be making heirs when she’s about to marry Tamlin. Yes, all these examples are painted as bad things in the books, but it doesn’t take away the fact that there are also considered normal within the society we are presented with. When the entire world is built around cishet dynamics (whether good or bad), it shows us that queer relationships are not the norm here, they’re outsiders from their own society (btw considering women as ‘baby makers’ is also transphobic but I’m not gonna open that can of worms).

The mating bond in itself is the biggest heteronormative concept in her books. As Rhys explains it in ACOMAF, it is literally intended for couples to make the strongest babies. It doesn’t care about love between partners, its primary goal is to perpetuate the species. It’s a natural instinct that we’re shown is basically impossible (or at least very difficult) to fight against. We’re shown that the woman has to make the man a meal to “seal the deal”, we’re shown that men become extremely violent towards other men they consider a threat when they’re influenced by the bond (by the way that’s toxic masculinity but it’s not what this post is about).

I believe that Maas didn’t intend for the mating bond to be a possibility between mlm or wlw couples, but that she retconned it in ACOWAR. Which in a sense is good, I’m all for queer soulmates! But the concept she invented here doesn’t have much room for non heteronormative relationships, and it becomes painfully obvious when you try to apply the mating bond logic to wlw/mlm couples. It brings many questions to mind: if it’s intended to make babies, does it mean that the mated mlm couple has one of the men be a trans man? If that’s the case, why didn’t she tell us? Why didn’t she spend more time on telling us their story? If they’re both cis men, then why would they have a mating bond, something specifically designed to help with species continuity by making babies? To me, it’s proof that she didn’t think it through, she thought it was cute to have two men be mates just like our main couple was, and didn’t stop to consider how the mating bond didn’t allow for this to happen organically because it exists in a vaccum of cishet privilege where she didn’t think about the consequences of including it in her books without elaborating on it. 

We can also see that queer people aren’t expected to be the norm in that society. Feyre is genuinely surprised when Mor tells her that she likes women, as if it was this groundbreaking thing she never even considered. I’m not going to get into details as to why I hate Mor’s coming out (I love Mor being a wlw but really, really, hate that scene), but the fact that she hasn’t felt comfortable enough to come out in five centuries is very telling of how unaccepting the fae society is of queer people. So yeah, there’s a queer bar where she hangs out but like... that doesn’t mean it’s accepted. One of the main reasons why queer bars started existing in the first place was to become a safe space for people to be themselves, so you know, I kinda take it as another proof of how unopen-minded the fae society actually is.

lack of queer characters

Overall, we don’t have a lot of confirmed queer characters. Off the top of my head, I can think about (of course I might forget some so that might not be 100% accurate, I haven’t read the books in a long while):

TOG: Hasar and Renia, Aedion, Orlon and Darrow

ACOTAR: Mor, Helion, Thesan, Andromache, Nephelle

Note that I’m not counting unnamed characters. I don’t consider “x’s lover” as a developped enough character to count as representation, come on.

Out of all these characters, only two of them are in the main cast of their respective series (Aedion and Mor). The others go from “mentioned” to “secondary character” at best. I’m not saying that all of her characters have to be queer, but out of such a big cast of mains, one in each series seems very little.

construction of these characters

On top of not having many characters that aren’t cishet, the characters we do have aren’t very well handled by the story.

Hasar is repeatedly described as being ugly, despite most of the other characters being described over and over as breathtakingly beautiful.

Aedion compares bisexuality to forced prostitution.

Helion is basically shown as sleeping around with everybody.

Mor’s sexuality is kept so ambiguous that there’s debate as to whether she’s actually bi, or rather a closeted lesbian.

Renia barely talks, Darrow is a jerk. Orlon, Andromache and Nephelle are figures of the past that we never meet

This is a problem mainly because of how small in numbers the queer characters are. The more diverse cast you create, the easiest it gets to avoid hurtful tropes. I wouldn’t mind Helion being a bi man sleeping around all the time if he wasn’t the only bi man in ACOTAR. Nor would I mind Mor’s tragic backstory if we had other wlw characters. By reducing her cast to such little numbers, she’s creating problems in her writing. She’s telling us that bi men sleep around and never settle down, she’s telling us that sapphic women will only get tragic stories and never find love again.

In the end, the combination of a heteronormative worldbuilding and the lack of work put into the queer characters we are given makes it impossible for me to not consider her books homophobic.

To be clear,

I don’t think Maas does this out of malice. I don’t think she’s a homophobe who hates queer people or anything. I also don’t dislike her books. They’re a fun read, and there’s a reason why ACOMAF is one of only two audiobooks I always have on my phone! Hell, I even write fanfic with her characters. But I think it’s important to be critical of her books, particularly in regards to issues such as racism, mysoginy, or homophobia.

To go back to the original post from yesterday, this is why ‘death of the author’ is an important point here. I’m not saying that Maas intended to be homophobic or that she built her world expressedly to exclude queer people. But in the end, that’s what happened, and we can’t brush off the critics of queer people and people of color just by saying “well, the author didn’t mean it that way.”

I do think that she includes queer representation only as an afterthought in her books, and it shows. Mor’s coming out was poorly handled because she didn’t consider the ramifications of it, just like the mating bond suddenly applying to queer relationships. Her societies are based on cishet white upper class America and that leaves little to no place for queer people (and people of color) to thrive in her stories. From what I see, she doesn’t seem interested in consulting with sensitivity readers over these issues, and as long as she doesn’t swallow her pride and listen to the people that are affected by it, she’s not going to get better on these points.

[sabradaz]

Just wanted to say this isn't hate or anything. Look, i realize that u shuldn't blindly accept information u r being fed abt a medium u never interacted w, n this case it's books, n u obviously r right by saying that u shudn't have discourse abt it if u haven't read it, n so a person shudn't. That being said knowing the background of the creator/author n all the problematic things they've done, i personally will safely take the information i recieve abt it bc there's no point in reading something if i'm unable to enjoy it, especially considering it will waste the limited time i have in my life when i can spend it on other less hurtful things. I'm not gonna engage in discourse abt it, ofc, but i'm still not gonna read it. Also these aren't just petty problems. We're talking abt actual real life issues that actively hurt marginilized communities. We're talking racism, fetishization n transphobia. I'm not gonna force myself to read or watch something if ik it's only gonna end up mentally triggering n hurting me. Again i will not *personally* engage in discourse abt it, but i will stand idly n watch others who have read it do so, so i can form my own opinion on it. Is that a bad idea? Probably. But better safe than sorry. Is life unsafe, n i shudn't hold myself to the expectation that it will be? Ye, ofc, but that's not what i'm talking abt tho. I'm talking abt when *i* have the control, n if i can help it, y wud i wanna go out of my way to purposefully inflict pain on myself. If there seems to be a great concensus, n not a tiny one, that there r many problems w the medium in question, then frankly better safe than sorry. N i will even go as far as warn those close to me abt it. I won't start a discourse abt it since i haven't actually interacted w it, but i'll still give warnings based on what i've heard. If they end up wanting to interact w it, that's their choice. I won't force em not to. I've never watched “Birth Of a Nation” in my life, but i know from the great concensus held that it is an awfully racist movie, n it will only shock n upset me if i watch it. I'm not a robot. I'm a human w feelings n emotions, n i sure am gonna proudly n arrogantly act on them, ONLY when it comes to these issues. I'm not gonna think logically cuz academia, which has a BIG history w classism, racism, transphobia n everything bad under the sun, tells me to. Again none of this is hate. Just wanted to hopefully let u in on a diff perspective.

Here is the thing. You don’t have to have an opinion on anything. Saying, “I heard this movie is racist/homophobic/sexist/antisemetic, and therefore I have no interest in watching it,” is extremely valid and I personally think is very smart. First and foremost self care is essential and reading those reviews and then refusing to engage in the content is great. However, you need to keep in mind that you’re making those judgements based on reviews, not the content itself.

For example, I haven’t read the new ACOTAR book and I’m not planning on it. I made this decision based on the fact that I didn’t enjoy the other books too much and the poor representation throughout the series became a deal breaker. However, as long as I haven’t read it, I can’t really form my own opinions on it. I especially can’t from any opinions that would have any value in any form of discourse or otherwise. If (I have yet but I also don’t really engage with the fandom) I see a post calling it racist or homophobic I might feel validated in my decision but that doesn’t mean I can make my own post calling it racist or homophobic. I still wouldn’t have anything useful to add to the discourse regarding the new book. If you know what I mean?

I wrote this post specifically in response to some discourse occurring in the She-Ra fandom probably about six months ago? I won’t go into too much detail expect essentially the creators did a panel about the show which received a lot of accusations of racism, antisemitism and homophobia. Most people posting about it had clearly not seen the panel because I’ve never seen such a huge amount of misinformation being spread so quickly by a fandom in such a limited space of time. (I’d like to add that some of it was good and important, especially in regards to Bow’s brothers, but a lot wasn’t.) This wasn’t to defend Noelle Stevenson, but rather to highlight the fact that by refusing to watch the panel but engage in the discourse regardless they were adding a frankly useless voice to the issue and were at risk of spreading misinformation.

This post was not about people forming their own views on whether or not they want to engage in the content and by extension discourse of a text. If you decide you don’t, all the power to you. But you need to know you won’t have anything useful to add to the discourse or even general discussion regarding it. I couldn’t write a long post about the poor representation in Sarah J. Maas’ books because I read them so long ago I can barely remember. I don’t want to reread them and so as I don’t have anything useful to add to the discourse I don’t and I shouldn’t.

Academia is extremely classist, I know. It has many faults in its approaches to pretty much everything. But it is right in the sense that you have to engage in the material to make a judgement on it. You can’t do a calculus question without having seen the question, like you can’t interpret a text without having read/watched it.

I think we both agree on this though. My post was specifically referring to public discourse, not how one privately engages with books/movies/etc. and I agree with you in that regard. However, it is really important that we draw that line between what we can use as private judgements on something and what we can use for public opinions. If you put something in the public it can influence people’s understanding of what you are talking about, and as such you need to know what you are talking about. What Dave from Sound Design said about something isn’t a good enough basis to start public discourse on, regardless of whether you think it’s good or bad. But if it makes you want to either read/watch or not read/watch something then that’s fine too.

[coasttocoastreads]

Welcome back to Week 2 of Coast to Coast Reads! Who’s still alive? Katya and I are dying while social distancing, but at least we had a few laughs discussing this book:

Crescent City (House of Blood and Earth) // Sarah J Maas

★★ / ★★★★★

Summary in one two gif(s):

Real Summary:

Crescent City, a place where vanir (supernatural beings such as angels, fae, shifters, etc.) and humans freely mingle and go about their days. Bryce Quilan is a 20-something fae/human who’s still reeling from the murder of her friends 2 years ago. But after she’s commissioned to help search for an ancient artifact, Bryce, along with her new angel partner Hunt, unearth previously buried secrets about the murder that threaten to expose a worldwide conspiracy. 

Pros:

Great side characters. I would die for each and every one of them.

Lots of different mythological creatures! Not just another Fae Book™️

Cons:

It’s literally ToG 2-7 combined. If you read Throne of Glass, you’ve already been spoiled for this book. 💀💀💀

It’s wayyyy too long

Drags a lot in the beginning

Plot .5/5 (the .5 is for you, Lehaba)

What can I say. SJM literally plagiarized herself by taking the plotline of the tog books and translating it to this new setting. The writing itself was subpar, and most of the time it felt like the author herself had no idea where the plot was going, instead letting it drag on until a plot twist that makes no sense is revealed. (You’ll know which one I’m talking about when you get there.) I’ll compare CC with ToG with spoilers under the cut. 

Pacing 2/5

The beginning is full of info-dumping as SJM tries to set up this world which is metaphorically like ours, but everyone’s hot and does fantasy cocaine all the time.  It narrates boring day-to-day schedules that could have been condensed into a paragraph and at times I was tempted to skip ahead. The plot does pick up near the last 25% though, so I’ll give it that. 

Worldbuilding 2.5/5

It was confusing. To be fair, after all the info was dumped at the beginning, I didn’t bother going back to try to figure things out when they popped up again after. But like still??? I think I only started understanding the hierarchy of the government with the Asterrii(?). Also what are the Triarii I am still lost. SJM attempts to blend a more modern society with one of fantasy creatures, and for the most part it succeeds, but it often just feels...strange. I think the one thing I’m most hung up about is why swords and guns still coexist. Like ??????? it’s one or the other plssssss abandon the “aesthetic” Also while they literally have cell phones and keurig machines there aren’t common things like cars? Why.

Characters: (This is unconventional, bear with me)

Main Characters: -infinity/5 they could go die for all I care

Bryce and Hunt were both super unlikeable, 10/10 would let fall from a cliff. They are literally just rewrites of Aelin and Rowan? Bryce is like ahahaha yeah people think I’m Just a dumb vapid Female™️ who parties too much and gets trashed but SIKE I’m actually the chosen one and I’ve been hiding it this whole time because I didn’t want to hurt people’s feelings uwu. And did I mention I’m actually a trained Warrior who can keep up with The Boys? It’s Aelin y’all. There are numerous times where a character says that she’s not stupid and I’m like...are you sure... This girl makes the poorest decisions, yet ofc, there aren’t any long term consequences... (Also 99% of her problems come from ghosting people literally just respond with “k” sis)

Hunt is... idek what to say about Hunt. He’s just Rowan but in angel form. His inner monologue cycles between I must pay off my debt so I can gain Freedom 😔, why is Bryce so hot 🥴, and Shahar 😭. Once again, literally Rowan who also was bound to some evil villain, had the hots for their CENTURIES YOUNGER pupil/protectee, and had an old lover die tragically which led to them believing they can never find love again UNTIL BryLin comes along. Snooze. 

Side Characters: Infinity/5 

Ruhn Danaan was the most valid character and that’s the hill I’ll die on. He literally just wanted to protect his sister cuz she’s stupid af but she keeps pushing him away bc he’s an “alphahole” (haha how subversive :/) I want a whole book about him and Hypaxia, preferably fanfiction so I don’t have to read “soft feminine breathing” ever again.

Literally all the supporting cast- Lehaba, Therion, Ithan, Jesiba, Flynn, Connor, etc, etc. had more compelling characters and side stories than Bryce/Hunt. I was 100% more invested in them and I can’t wait to read/write more about them. 

(Pls let me marry Jesiba Roga or Therion 🥺)

But while the people on the “good” side were spectacular, the villains all felt one-dimensional and the product of over-recycled and overused tropes mashed together. Sandriel and Pollux are literally just Maeve and Cairn (is that his name)

I’d recommend for:

People who loved Throne of Glass and are lamenting the absence of new content. Please read about Rowaelin 2.0

People stuck at home during this global crisis and have too much time on their hands. (If you need that free epub, hmu)

People who are willing to skip all scenes that feature just Bryce and/or Hunt 

People who hate themselves

Would I travel here?

Sorry, what? Already shredded my passport, not getting a replacement, sorry. 

Overall thoughts:

I wish I could somehow take those hours of my life back but alas. 

See y’all in two weeks with a hopefully better book selection,

Tiff

Spoilers under cut

Okay time to VENT

OKAY so CC=ToG, let’s break down how

Danika’s death is the Nehemia Incident, setting the mc up for a journey of self discovery/reclaiming their power. They both show up as ghosts later to encourage mc in a time of great self-struggle.

Syrinx if Fleetfoot. bc all female mc’s need a pet to reveal her Feminine and Soft side

Sandriel and Pollux are Maeve and Cairn. Evil female character with vast power and her torturer? COOKIE CUTTER FORMULA. The scene where Bryce offers herself up for Hunt in the lobby also kinda mirrors that scene in..HoF? QoS? Don’t remember, but pretty sure that happened. Also that scene was so fucking dumb, I really thought Bryce had a Smart Plan, but I was bamboozled once again. 

A gem from my notes: “Bryce is Aelin but with cocaine”

I think the whole demon portal thing is a ripoff of ACOWAR (or is it KoA I can’t even remember), sacrificing yourself to close the rift, etc, etc. 

Anyways, Bryce = Aelin, a party-girl front with a sob backstory that’s her superpower origin story who always has a Plan. 

Hunt = Rowan, broody warrior busy repaying debts getting orders they don’t want while pining over a lost love. They reluctantly let the female mc in and voila they’re in LOVE

The whole “plot twist” that revealed Hunt’s true plan along was so fucking dumb...

It wasn’t a plot twist, it was just plain bad writing

There was no set up at all, nothing alluding to Hunt secretly masterminding an attempted coup with the help of Magic Meth

The whole time I was like “...this is part of their plan right. There’s no way he legit planned this...”

Character’s POVs should reveal what they’re thinking, even if you’re just hinting at something to reveal later...this was just lazy

Another thing that really rubbed me the wrong way was the sudden reveal that Fury and Juniper had been in a relationship the whole time? Despite like above, there was no prior allusion to that?

It felt like half-assed representation at best and completely irrelevant to the story with it coming up again in a throwaway line near the end

Also? I’m fairly certain there was a scene in the beginning where they were all out clubbing and Juniper hooked up with some rando while Fury was also at the club with them? Was this before they got together or did SJM insert this so last minute that no one caught it?

Wtf is sunball. Can someone just help me out here.

Some people have been saying Hunt is Asian coded? Where???!!!!! All I’m seeing is the same stuff she pulled in ACOTAR where all the Illyrians were tan so people could claim they were poc for woke points but not get in trouble for art depicting them as white ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

SJM pls stay away from “like calls to like” you don’t deserve it

[houseofhurricane]

New ACOTAR fancast: Laurie Hernandez as Feyre. I’m just saying... she’s nailing the Night Court aesthetic!