#chaol westfall critical

[nestasminiaturepegasus]

My harsh SJM opinions

-- I disappeared for a minute, but I'm back and ready to shit talk sjm books again. --

Rowan vs. Chaol: 

If you can forgive Rowan for punching Aelin and being vile towards her, you can forgive Chaol too.

Nesta's New Family: 

Hating Nesta for finding a family that understands her more than her biological family is weird. She hasn’t disowned her existing family; she’s added to it.

Valkyries and the Rite: 

Claiming the Valkyries shouldn't have won the Rite because it's unrealistic makes me laugh. THAT is where you draw the line? Really?

Character Behavior vs. Plot: 

SJM writes weird, shitty plots, but that doesn’t excuse the characters’ behavior. Rhys fingering Feyre in a place for SA victims was, yes, a weird plot written by SJM, and it still makes him WEIRD.

Rhys and Hypocrisy: 

If you claim Rhys couldn’t have sa’d Feyre because he was sa’d himself but then say Nesta’s abuse doesn’t excuse her ‘abuse’ towards Feyre, go sit in the corner and think about your hypocrisy.

Rhys in ACOSF: 

“Rhys only looked bad in ACOSF because it was in Nesta’s POV." Rhys looked better in Nesta’s POV than in Cassian’s. He is the problem.

Nesta and responsibility

Nesta did not neglect Feyre. You cannot neglect something that is not your responsibility.

Nesta antis

Nesta antis who bash her and bring her up in any circumstance are weird as hell (especially in vids talking about how ACOSF helped someone’s mental health).

Valkyrie Hate: 

Hating on the Valkyries is weird. Emerie and Gwyn are LITERALLY the least problematic characters in the entire SJM universe. 

If you don’t like Gwyn because you ship Elriel, try respecting women for more than their potential partners. And then going and fucking urself :)

Amren Sucks: 

Amren sucks as a character.

That’s it. That’s the opinion.

If I hear ‘girl’ one more time, I’m burning the book.

Feyre and SA: 

Saying Feyre wasn’t sa’d because it saved her life is WEIRD.

sa is sa regardless of the circumstance. Are we forgetting that Rhys admitted in ACOMAF that he kissed her because he was jealous, and in ACOTAR when he said the only reason he didn’t take advantage of her was so Tamlin wouldn’t kill him?

Minimizing SA so you can love on an attractive man is problematic and gross. Please don’t talk to me if you do that because, EW BRO UR GROSS.

[gabilina]

People say that Chaol was the one who loved the idea of Celaena/Aelin and that he hated her for who she truly was, but what they fail to realise is that:

Chaol didn't knew that Celaena Sardothien was Aelin Ashryver Galathynius.

He loved the parts she SHOWED HIM and ALLOWED HIM to know

It's not his fault that she had her own secrets

Chaol tecnically didn't get a chance to love all of her, considering that when she was away, she met Rowan, her mate (I know that Rowan waited and gave Aelin time to talk with Chaol, but still…it was shitty move considering she made him promise that she would always pick him)

He still wanted to be with her after finding out that she was fae (CoM), she was the one that said no

On the other hand, SJM fandom adore Cassian even though, he was the one who (I believe) loved the idea of Nesta and never the real her. Cassian in ACOSF, was never positive towards Nesta. He was much more positive about the others than her. When she spoke against Rhysand he didn't do anything, which leads me to thinking that if maybe Nesta was worshipping Rhys like the members of the IC and was more of a fusion of Mor + Cassian's illyrian lover, he wouldn't have problem with her.

What do you think?

[ladydeath-vanserra]

guh its actually really annoying that SJM gives characters disabilities but she then either heals them (Chaol) or she gives them fancy magic prosthetics and removes the disabling part of disabilities (Lucien). or she gives them chronic pain (Rhys) and then never mentions it again or then there are characters who Should have chronic pain (Aelin, Azriel, Cassian) and they don't, or she has them lose actual LIMBS only only for them to grow back the fuck (idk if this is true, it's what I heard about CC)

[1800naveen]

The way Sjm wrote about Chaol and his paralysis/disability in tower of dawn is something else...

And he gets healed and can walk again, bro. I don't have any body injury but if I had to read that, I'm crashing out.

[shadowqueenjude]

You know something I just thought of?

Of all the SJM Fae who have been love interests, they’ve all been described as desirable (duh) and we’ve met/know past lovers of theirs. Rowan had Lyria. Lorcan had Essar. Lucien had Jesminda. Tamlin had a variety of Valkyries and stuff (😏). Ruhn had a sort-of thing with Hypaxia. Hunt had Shahar. Even the humans had lovers. Chaol had Celaena and that other woman who cheated on him with Roland. Dorian had Rosamund, Elise, Celaena, and Sorscha. Cassian had Mor. I don’t include Azriel on this because he’s not really a LI yet. But Rhysand? He’s supposed to be all desirable and shit, yet he’s never had a serious relationship??? His most serious commitment was to freaking Amarantha, and she wanted Tamlin, for God’s sake. You’re telling me he’s never been in even a semi-serious relationship with somebody aside from his mate??? Even Lorcan, who everybody thought was in love with Maeve (i fully contend it’s Stockholm Syndrome), had a semi-serious relationship with Essar before winding up with Elide. So am I just supposed to believe that for 500 years, women approached Rhysand and he just said no, holding out for his mate? That he refused to be in a proper relationship unless it was his one true love???

[ennawrite]

SJM books be like “yeah, well, some people can react to their traumas.”

[nestarcheronmommy]

"You'd rather my queen to die than your king? "

Fenrys...Fenrys my love... YOU'D RATHER DORIAN TO DIE THAN AELIN?

I love you Fenrys but fuck you, what was that? Are you stupid? Chaol never said Aelin should die. I don't understand how people find this hot, Chaol could have say the same about Dorian.

[partfae]

Aedion’s whole “you’d rather my queen die than your king?” line pisses me offfff because like objectively dorian staying alive makes more sense, there was no one else in the line of succession and dorian was infinitely more prepared to run a kingdom than aelin (see: entirety of koa). also like of course chaol is gonna pick his bestie over his ex who literally attacked him and left him with permanent scars. why are we surprised

[readingabookmostofthetimes]

Wait!

Chaol thinks that Aelin has respect for him? That is nonsense. She doesn't know what that mean

[six-of-cringe]

What’s wrong with Sjm?

Is it worth it getting into the serried?

I tried to get into throne of glass series but the first book was very meh and everyone hyped the second book only for it to be nor as good as I was expecting.

Hello! Finally going through my asks and you, anon, are the lucky person to have the oldest ask that I can respond to without feeling deeply embarassed for letting it rot for so long!

I don't talk a lot about other books on my blog, especially not criticism, but I do take issue with SJM and her work. I was a fan of her books when I was younger, but as I got older and developed a better understanding of critical reading and also of complex real-world issues, I realized that her technical work and her narratives are just not good. If you're looking for a bit of fun and drama that you aren't supposed to think about, feel free to read her work. You'll just have to deal with a lot of ellipses and em dashes. I'd recommend buying it used. However, you should go into it with the knowledge that it is full of holes in many ways. Characters are bent and broken to fit whatever plot is happening in the moment, the narrative perspectives and "lessons" are biased at best and downright harmful at worst, and a veneer of feminism and progressivism is placed over what is in many ways a very backwards and troubling narrative, all while purporting itself as empowering YA content. Like, it had me rationalizing SA at the age of 15. And she can't seem to stop writing racist shit. There's that.

So it's really up to you. If you do decide to read it, just be sure to go into it with the knowledge of what it is, so you don't get blindsided or internalize some shit you really shouldn't. I'm gonna pretend it's not going on a year since I recieved this ask. Cheers.

[a-library-ghost]

IM TIRED OF DEFENDING TOWER OF DAWN TO PEOPLE WITH NO GRASP ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT/ARCS AND THEMES YOU ARE ANNOYING STFU

[gabilina]

Sarah J Maas and her beloved Rowaelin

So… long time ago I was sitting in my room relaxing, when I found an interesting post on Instagram. The creator of this post goes by a nickname @yaz.the.bookish

[ladydeath-vanserra]

tbh I get leery when healers are introduced in fantasy series. Chaol was paralyzed with a spinal cord injury and SJM managed to make the whole thing both ableist and racist from Yrene getting mad at him telling him to stand up when he frustrates her too much (she is a PROFESSIONAL HEALER your ass would get FIRED for that if a physical therapist said that to one of their patients)

He regains the ability to walk in like 2 months after being paralyzed, oh but that can go away if Yrenes magic is depleted WHAT?? their lives get *literally* bound together and it's through her literal magic he can walk

it's gross. it's icky and Yrene is literally holding him up via her magic and bond. magic healers are such a cop out and at worst can become incredibly ableist

[shadowqueenjude]

The fact of the matter is that Sjm could’ve ended Chaolena in a perfectly amicable way. Rather than the Nehemia shit and the delightful bit of intimate partner violence from Celaena, we could’ve had Chaol see Celaena butchering people and realize he could never be with someone who didn’t value life like him; bc no matter how much he killed or how bad the person was, he’d never be desensitized to that sort of thing; not like Celaena was. And we could’ve had them depart as friends without the false promises of Celaena always choosing him and a story where there’s no vilification of a past lover. But SJM loves bringing down one love interest to pull up another. Maybe they’re just not RIGHT for each other and it has nothing to do with how good of people they are.

[readingabookmostofthetimes]

Chaol is finally healed!

This could be faster, but Sarah does hate him

[thebridgehqs]

Most wanted? Not sure if you received my other ask

From our members:

Aedion Ashryver, Lysandra, Manon Blackbeak, Dorian Havilliard, Nesryn Faliq, Chaol Westfall (tog), Cassian, Alis, Amren (ACOTAR) Rhiannon Matthias, Ridoc Gamlyn, Imogen Cardulo, Sloane Mairi, Sawyer Henrick, Garrick Travis, Bodhi Durran (Fourth Wing), Grog (Critical Role), Robb, Sansa Stark (Game of Thrones), JJ, Emily Prentiss, Alex Blake, Aaron Hotchnor (Criminal Minds)