#i did it for rH YS

[vidalinav]

Aside from the deranged and almost derailing way that Nesta ended up in the House, I actually love the House as a symbolism for Nesta and her personality. A house that is hard to reach, covered in unshakeable rock, menacing and looking down at everyone. A house that has too many stairs to climb so climbing is a punishment or lesson and no one can really reach unless they’re born with a particular set of wings. A house that’s warded away from the rest, which means that effort must be made to reach it. A house that’s used for courtly functions, who’s value is based on its purpose. A house where its cold and lonely and secluded from the rest, and which was never really going to be anyone’s home...

A house that for the people who find themselves here when they have no where else to go, who find themselves seeking refuge from dark and decrepit things, people so broken they feel they can never be fixed... for those who find value in the rock, love this mountain so high that there’s no easy way down, it’s a house that means security, a solid foundation... a library and friends and even some magic hidden in its heart. Such wonderous understanding. Empathy in its depths, even if it at first appears to be monstrous. A house that cares. A house that loves. A house that lives despite all odds. A house that reminds me so very much of Nesta Archeron that it’s marvelous that it’s an expression of self-love. 

[daily-dose-of-sass]

I can argue that Fey/re locking Nesta up is even worse than Tamlin locking Fey/re. Tamlin locked her up for her safety (because she said that she would follow him nevertheless) and that was his thought process (I'm not excusing it, it was a shitty thing to do. He did a horrible thing, it might have been with good intentions but it was still horrible). He didn't want her to get hurt and he didn't want her to go to a dangerous place.

Fey/re locked Nesta up because she was embarrassed of her. Nesta was, in Fey/re's mind, trashing the image of Rh/ys, Fey/re and the IC (nevermind that they did far worse things that Nesta ever did. She drank and slept with some people- shocking, how dare she?! You can taste the sarcasm here).

Fey/re locked Nesta up to save her image, Tamlin locked Fey/re up to keep her safe. BOTH are horrible, absolutely horrible, but why do we only hold Tamlin accountable, but not Fey/re? Some bias is showing, isn't it?

[darklove9314-blog]

A lot of people think I’m Anti Fey/re because I’m a Rh/ys anti, but no I hate Rhys because of what he did to Fe/yre. I don’t want her with the guy who blatantly abused her and kept a major secret from her about her own child/ body despite the fact that he’s supposed to be pro choice. But it’s sad when Fey/re can’t even be the star of her own series because SJM has such a hard on for Rh/ys that she’s quite literally bringing Fey/re’s character down with him. She always seems second to him and his wants and needs. It’s actually quite sad to watch.

[taylors-fourth-cat-meow]

Tam was gross in the hl meeting but I still felt bad for him in because he was fr planning to screw hybern over + only did all that for fe/yre because rh/ys can break and manipulate MINDS so he seriously thought she was in danger....and had his suspicions and fears confirmed at the start of WAR and then she screws his court over and in the meeting she's like you can't rewrite this to your advantage (huh??) ! and when he mentions what she did to his court she's like *blocks the images from my mind**pushed the images from my mind**shut out the memory* like....yeah he was awful in maf and parts of war but nothing worse than Rh/ys or even Cass/ian in aco/sf 😂😂😂

IK!!

Tamlin proved that he wanted to screw over hybern from the start "reports carefully made over months".

Feyre doing all that was so cringey yet so in character for her. Beron rightfully brings up Claire Beddor and her family and feyre "blocks out the memories" and then it's never brought up again???

And "rewriting the narrative" is just so fcking ironic cause that's basically Acomaf and rhyise's whole character in a nutshell. I feel like one of her editors would have told her this and she just added it as a "fck you" to them.

[dustjacketmusings]

R/hys not telling f/eyre about the baby is such a colossal failure by s/jm on multiple levels. It's just so dumb.

It has gross anti choice connotations. Books do not have to mimic real life, but we live in a time where the pro life vs pro choice rhetoric is very loud. So regardless of whether pr/ythian believes in a women's right to choose or know about her body, s/jm is making a very pointed message by including that plotline for a modern audience. And even besides the knee jerk reaction of how awful it is for female readers to see a man keep health info from his wife in 2020, s/jm having her female character willingly and gladly bear a child that will absolutely kill her has disgusting implications for every real life woman who might prioritize... idk living over giving birth. Or even prioritize having multiple children over one that kills her. No, fe/yre absolutely should prioritize that foetus that she'll orphan and never be able to hold over actually raising her child.

It destroys the idea that R/hys got a happily ever after. Fans of Rh/ys have defended his actions by saying that he was buckling under the trauma of war and realization that his mate was going to die. Which could be interesting, I suppose, if that were the point of the book. Except that R/hys has had three books for his character development and generally speaking he should be better off than before. There is a particular brand of betrayal here. S/jm gave a happy ending and then messed it up. She said "look how happy they are after the war. They're so much better off! New beginnings! Oh but wait R/hys will absolutely crack under the weight of leadership and I'm not going to fix that because his books are done (:" the purpose of books is to give characters an arc. To achieve something. What was his arc if he's just going to crack like a walnut under pressure like that? How unsatisfying for fans to have an author give them a happy ending and then undo that one book later, with no effort to fix it.

It also undermines f/eyre's position and threatens their relationship. Yes, fe/yre was likely gonna die and that must have been horrifying for R/hys to think about (cry me a river). But there is an inherent dismissal of f/eyre as a resource that irritates me given that she's his wife and also co-ruler (and the problem solver of pervious books). S/jm is telling me that R/hys went to multiple information sources and never considered that his wife, cursebreaker, the unique creature with the power of seven high lords, defender of the rainbow or whatever titles she's got, might have a solution? That f/eyre herself might be able to figure it out? No! Her knowledge is inherently useless, only everyone else can figure this out. And! He's going to die too! So, when the chips are down and his court is under threat... R/hys trusts his advisors to help him (and even that's suspect) and not his co-ruler. When presented a problem he doesn't know how to fix, he does not lean on his other half for support, he hides it from her. This is supposed to be a healthy relationship that I'm supposed to find endearing? I don't think so. But wait, wasn't this exactly the relationship issue that they supposedly sorted out earlier in their relationship? It is! In fact they had supposedly worked past R/hys issues with keeping secrets. So his choice to keep this from f/eyre also undoes that relationship progress - he very quickly reverts to his old ways. It turns out that they never did learn to communicate, now they're just married and co-dependent. Relationship goals (sarcasm).

It's just sad that s/jm's really willing to undo the majority of her previous books in terms of relationship progress and character development so that she could write what has to be one of the most horrific pregnancy plotlines I've ever read. If she's gonna go through all that effort, make it interesting and not just pregnancy trauma porn. Lord.

[lilytriestoexist]

heIion is not good bi rep

hi, i'm lily, i'm bisexual, and i'm angry, in that precise order. someone on tiktok decided to say that sarah janet had decent lgbt representation so i'm going to discuss why heIion specifically is not good rep.

the following excerpts are from A C0urt of Wings and Ruin (final book in the AC0TAR series) by Sarah J Maas, pages 937-939. i have altered the names to follow tagging etiquette so stans don't see this post.

“Well, now I look as bad as Beron.” He strode straight past me with a wink, stalking into the sitting room. He grinned at AzrieI. “You handing Eris’s ass to him will be my new fantasy at night, by the way.”

AzrieI didn’t so much as bother to look over his shoulder at the High Lord. But Cass/ian snorted. “I was wondering when the come-ons would begin.”

right off the bat in this scene, it's established that heIion is flirtatious and often makes [sexually] suggestive comments. why is that questionable in this context, you may ask? because the idea of bisexual people being incredibly hormonal is a stereotype that's persisted for a long time.

this is the second time she's had a bi character with some semblance of significance to the story be hypersexual (the first was aedi0n in t0g, who was known as adarIan's whore and spoke of his sexual prowess). i'm not saying bisexual people can't be written as flirtatious and sexual, and i am in no way saying it's a bad thing to enjoy sex, but it's highly questionable when an author continuously writes bisexual characters with that stereotype. it reinforces that harmful stereotype and continues to give false impressions about the sexuality, as well as leaning into the idea that we are more likely to cheat due to this supposed universal high sex drive, which is totally untrue.

“It’s been what—four centuries now, and you three [AzrieI, Cass/ian, and M0r] still haven’t accepted my offer.”

M0r lolled her head to the side. “I don’t like to share, unfortunately.”

“You never know until you try,” HeIion purred.

The three of them in bed … with him? I must have been blinking like a fool because Rh/ys said to me, HeIion favors both males and females. Usually together in his bed. And has been hounding after that trio for centuries.

we've got heIion's bisexuality explicitly stated in the text! i really do think that was something sarah janet did right, instead of leaving it ambiguous and only slightly hinting at it. unfortunately, that's where the things she did right end.

so, heIion is bisexual. great! but in this scene this sexuality reveal is accompanied by heIion wanting a foursome with azrieI, cass/ian, and m0r, which he's been asking after for literal centuries. it's also stated that he likes males and females 'together in his bed.' not so great. why? because the idea of bisexuals being into threesomes and the like is a shitty and harmful stereotype that is seriously offensive to most bisexuals. it feeds into the idea of bisexual people being lustful and up for anything, which i can assure you is not an accurate generalisation at all.

i'm in awe at how sarah janet decided to write her lgbt representation here. it's honestly shocking how blatantly stereotypical this portrayal of bisexuality is, and how if you want to write good rep, you would not adhere to and perpetuate stereotypes. and no, i'm not overreacting, because heIion is a minor character without much pagetime and development, so this is the extent of his sexuality being discussed and portrayed, and it is pure, unjustifiable garbage. it's clearly stated that heIion likes threesomes (males and females together in his bed) and is even after a foursome with cass/ian, m0r, and azrieI. it's an obvious and well-known stereotype, it's completely unnecessary, and it's incredible that sarah janet decided this was how she was going to write her 'bi rep'.

in case it needed more stating: bisexual people aren't keen on threesomes just because they like more than one gender. bisexual people aren't there for you to fantasise about a threesome. not all bisexuals have a high sex drive. bisexuals aren't more likely to cheat.

I considered—Helion’s beauty and the others … Why the hell haven’t they said yes?

Rh/ys barked a laugh that had all of them looking at him with raised brows.

My mate just came up behind me and slid his arms around my waist, pressing a kiss to my neck. Would you like someone to join us in bed, Fayre darling?

My skin stretched tight over my bones at the tone, the suggestion. You’re incorrigible.

I think you’d like two males worshipping you.

My toes curled.

of course rh/ys mentioning heIion's bisexuality and interest in threesomes is used as a lead in for faysand's mental sexting. of course a character's bisexuality is used as an excuse for our least favourite heterosexual couple to fantasise about having their own threesome. i've got a bad feeling sarah janet only made heIion bisexual to use the infamous threesome stereotype so she could have faysand talk about having one, and if god forbid i'm right, that's incredibly shitty.

in conclusion, heIion is bad bi rep because he's portrayed using harmful stereotypes about bisexuals (lustful and hypersexual + threesomes) and isn't given any depth beyond that since he's a minor character, and sarah janet's attempt at being inclusive and having well-written diversity was an abject failure. i'll probably dissect m0r's disaster of a coming out as well at some point because holy shit, that was a trainwreck. but yeah. the end. 🏳️‍🌈

[mykyoudai-mykyoudai-andme]

Here’s my Secret Self Shipper gifts for the lovely @robotarmjokes! I did the title card first and then realised I probably should’ve done something with Rh/ys as well so you get two things!!

Hope you like them D! 💜💜

[rottinghollows]

Episode 001: An Encounter With DeerGod of ENDS

Before getting into the interview right away, I’d like to express a very big thanks to DeerGod, who not only was great during the interview, but for helping me re-ignite my drive to talk with people and know who they are and what they’re about. He’s a great guy and I really can’t thank him enough. Enjoy!

RH: Mind if we start with a bit about yourself?

DG: Well, I’m DeerGod and I’m from Michigan. I’m twenty-four but turning twenty-five in May. I’m also a producer for ENDS.

RH: How long have you been producing for? When did you get involved with ENDS?

DG: I started messing around with production around 2012 after I heard Curren$ys EP Cigarette Boat. It was all produced by Harry Fraud and I was blown away by the production, still one of my favorite projects. I’ve been with ENDS for just a bit over a year now. Crazy how time flies, man.

RH: It really does man, the days can almost blend. Would you say ENDS and yourself have grown in the past year or so? I’ve noticed you’ve all been busy.

DG: ENDS has grown in many ways, for sure. All of us as artists have progressed, and it’s been cool watching/hearing everyone find their own sound. We’ve added two artists in 2018, the two being FURY and Virus. We’ll also be having my good friend Zack from Noth{in}g doing more design work for us, we have a collab shirt that’ll be dropping soon. Be sure to check out his brand, it’s gonna pop off this year. Lastly, more people people have been supporting and showing us love which is fucking tight, we love anyone who supports us in any way.

RH: Are you referring to SuicideVirus by some chance?

DG: Yes I am! We’ve been fucking with Virus and FURY heavily even before they were ENDS, it just felt so natural to have them join, I’m really excited to have them both on the team, they’re amazing artists.

RH: I still remember Virus when he was in RUGGED, good shit though man. What’s this year look like for You/ENDS as far as other collaborative projects?

DG: We all have our people we work with outside of ENDS, the extended family runs deep. Personally for me I work with BurialShroud, OKnice, Cho Mari, and Zepeda off top are the people i’m most excited to work with outside of ENDS. Within the group we always have collabs going on. We’re finally working on a full project with every member involved, can’t wait for that.

RH: Both you and Zepeda are in SoundStation right?

DG: Yeah! Zepeda started SoundStation, which is a collective comprised of producers.We have a couple of mixes out right now, but expect more in the future.

RH: Where do you draw your inspirations from musically speaking? What motivates you to continue producing?

DG: Man, a lot of shit inspires, every day shit. My son inspires the hell out of me. I just love making music. I’ll wake up at about 7:30 on a saturday, roll up a spliff, drink some coffee, and listen to some music, then I can bust out 5 tracks or maybe none.

RH: What do you hope to see for the near future for you guys if I can ask? I’m sorry if I’ve been out of the loop but has anyone in ENDS done a live show yet?

DG: I just wanna see progression, as long as we keep doing what we do consistently then everything will fall into place. ENDS has and always will be natural, nothing is forced. We dont care if people don’t like us or what we do, but if they do we welcome them with open arms. Junior, Ayame, Dxrkz, and myself through a couple of house parties last year. LeftHandLuck, g4uz3(aka hafmt) 6host, and FURY have all played or have been playing shows. Everyone wants to play live though, and we’re trying to make that happen more.

RH: Good stuff man. Do you have any final thoughts/shoutouts to give?

DG: Shoutout to RottingHollows, thank you for the interview! Shoutout to ENDS, SoundStation, all my homies, Noth{in}g, my mom, my son, and my next ex girlfriend. Keep an eye out for more ENDS music, merch, videos, everything. Love <3

Links

(Unfortunately the only links that tumblrs letting work are a few, will add more in the near future when it’s not being a dick)

DeerGod’s Twitter

DeerGod’s SoundCloud

ENDS’ Twitter

ENDS’ SoundCloud

Virus Twitter

Next Episode: Zepeda of Cosmic Seagull Records This Saturday

[vidalinav]

Also… like all of this was resolved in the first three books. I know people don’t like to think so, but literally the problem of the first book was resolved by Feyre who finally saw that Nesta did love her, MORE THAN HER FATHER, she literally says her father wouldn’t have had the anger to go cross the wall to get her back. Nesta tried to do that and then set her free by releasing her of moral obligation. Feyre acknowledges this! That happened! It drives me insane. People critique by like skipping whole books. Like I know I don’t pay attention when I read, but I know what’s happening!

The problems in ACOWAR were solved by the end! That’s how SJMs work! That’s why they don’t have a consistent plot because technically none of it really matters by the end. By the end, Feyre and Nesta are good. Feyre says stay with me out here, she expresses concern. Only Nesta has an issue internally. But not with their relationship.

The problem is that SJM doesn’t remember the previous books.

So when we get to acofas, it’s an entirely new problem! But in Acosf it goes back to Nesta… and a problem that’s already been resolved. The only problem is the war and the repercussions of it and maybe personal guilt. But because she makes it about Rh/ys and him not forgiving Nesta, she reasserts a claim that has already legit been fixed!!!! That’s why it feels like we’re going around in circles rehashing literally the same thing!

Ok I’ve now seen two (2!!!) separate posts about how the books (figuratively) let Nesta get away with murder because she never made amends to Feyre, specifically stating that saving her at the end of ACOSF didn’t count as amends.

Look, call me Jesus for this radical forgiveness but … to anyone who has ever wronged me, I will somehow find it in my heart to accept an apology in the form of saving my life and the lives of my husband and child.

[notfireheart]

You know, there's a quote (by Martin Luther King, if I'm not mistaken) that says "Only in darkness can you see the stars", and while he was likely alluding to the bigger problems of his time, but for what's worth I think most people interpret it without this larger meaning: it's a quote that tells you that when things are at their darkest and most desperate, you can still find light. 

 One could argue that this happens in ACO/MAF, that Rhys and the Inn/er Circle are Fe/yre's Stars/Lights in the Dark, the people who gave her hope and a new purpose, who helped get out of her depression and stand on her own. And with that I mean to be her own person, with her own choices. 

 Now, I often don't notice things while reading the first time around, so for me to frown, put the book down and say "WTF?" to myself it takes quite a bit. 

 And that whole Night Triumphant and Stars Eternal did it for me. 

 “Night Triumphant - and the Stars Eternal. If he was the sweet, terrifying darkness, I was the glittering light that only his shadows could make clear.”

“I was the star that only glowed thanks to his darkness, the light only visible because of him. “

... What. The. Hell.

Oh, I get the whole Rh/ys=Night/Darkness and Fe/yre=Light/Stars there’s going on here but that phrasing? REALLY?

The thing about the stars is that they have their own light. They don’t need anything to help them shine. Yes, we see them in the dark because most of them are far, far away. The sun is a star too, and the darkness doesn’t enhance it, but gets chased away.

Anyway, it’s not the physics or the techinical part that got me mad. It’s that fact that to say that Fey/re was the star that ONLY GLOWED  thanks to his darkness?  The light only visible because of HIM? Of HIS DARKNESS?  No. No.

Rh/ys shouldn’t be the only reason for Fey/re to shine, for her to be visible. She should be able to do it on her own, without his help. 

Stars may become clear in the darkness, but they aren’t the reason they glow. They aren’t the reason theys shine.

And Rh/ys SHOULDN’T be Fey/re’s reason to glow, to only be visible then or clearear. Just no. 

[rhysispieces-blog]

glad to say i have fucked my playthrough of tftb

[vidalinav]

I don’t know if it’s just me but I never saw Nesta as mean in ACOSF. She just seemed so fed up with everything. The cruelest thing she probably ever did was blame Elain for not coming in time to save their father…but that’s literally it?

Her hits against Feyre during the intervention were weak. I mean saying “your mates money” isn’t some big snarky comment (especially when it’s true)

I mean... she was mean. But I fucking love mean characters and by "mean" I mean rude and maybe impatient and irritable. Mean is such a baby word, and I think it doesn't encompass what I feel is the main issue with Nesta. She has a problem with communication, and we see that quite frequently from acotar, to acomaf, to acowar, and beyond, and it affects her relationships around her. With all of her family and with her romances, and with society because she's judgemental about that too. Either she doesn't want to reveal information or she does it spitefully. Either way, this girl has no tact. lmao. She's not trying to say things "nicely" or be easily agreeable. She's not trying to be helpful straight from the beginning. She's a bit defiant and a reluctant hero and yes she has trauma. She was definitely raised to be like this and cruelty kept her calm. But even without trauma, I would have so been okay with her being like this. No explanation necessary.

We can all argue that she doesn't have to be "nice" and maybe in some circumstances she should be. But that's based on our own morals and subjectivity. It is not necessary to follow our own moral rules in fiction. Some of us find what she says to be funny. Some other people find it reprehensible. I am not a school teacher, I am just wanting to be entertained, and "mean" girls are my kryptonite. Complex "mean" girls with trauma and some drama is just chef's kiss. I personally wish she was meaner. 

But let's make no mistake, that to be a Nesta stan, you must acknowledge all of Nesta and her character. It's what drives me nuts about rh/ys stans because they don't seem to get this notion and many when they write posts look like hypocrites. This is ironic bc rh/ys is like the biggest hypocrite of all. You don't have to agree with everything they've done, because we still have our own morals and we're subjective observers, but you can never ignore anything that has happened in the text otherwise you are not being a good reader.

[vidalinav]

hosab spoilers?

i feel like being a lidia stan will soon be the same experience i have as being a nesta stan (aka people hating her when the male characters are arguably worse)

Honestly doubt it...

People don't hate Nesta for her character. People hate Nesta for what she did to Fey/re. In direct correlation to Fey/re and arguably Fey/sand. If you look at any anti argument for Nesta, it is the same argument over and over. That she didn't do enough to make up for two pages in the first book and maybe one line in the third. That she didn't apologize. That she didn't kiss butt. That arguably no one else did anything wrong. It was warranted based on her behavior to Fey/re, fey/sand, and the IC.

There are very few arguments about how she's just annoying, which is a valid claim tbh, because I find many characters annoying for whatever reason and you can. There are very few arguments about her personality that doesn't have to do with Fey/re. Probably because all those arguments fall short in the context of anyone else and because she's not that bad. She is mildly quippy and probably irritating and completely stubborn, but she's not that bad.

Lidia, is a complex character, yes. And people can shit on her, yes. But will it be the same as anti Nestas? Nah. Lidia is a double agent. Nesta is a girl in a hut that held onto her anger because that's how she coped with the world around her and she's being compared to Rh/ys or to Er/is or to TamTam when they have done so much worse at a level Nesta couldn't even create. Lidia as a double agent may have done enemy level stuff. Quite frankly she has very similar vibes as to Rhys in acotar where you're pretending to be someone awful but your intentions are good. Do I stan Lidia? 100%. But can I compare the amount of hate Nesta gets to the amount Lidia might get? Not even close.

Because the criticism might be valid. At least in the context of how SJM writes this specific theme and really only in the context of how SJM writes this theme, and rebellion and how problematic that might be. How she writes morally grey characters because she seems to flop on that at some point, where they aren't really grey just dipping their toe in the morally black and nothing they have done previously matters whatsoever because the intention is good. lmao.

Hatred for Nesta borders on irrational, because the fans in acotar are quite... spirited. I doubt the fans of cc will ever be this bad tbh.