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gimme-mor · 3 years

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ACOTAR THINK PIECE: ELAIN ARCHERON, UNTOUCHABLE

*DISCLAIMER*

This will be a long post.

Please take the time to read this post in its entirety and truly reflect on the message I am trying to send before commenting. My goal is to use my background in Gender and Women’s Studies to deconstruct the comments I have seen on Tumblr and Twitter and bring awareness to the ACOTAR fandom.

The reason I am tagging “Elriel” in this post is to call attention to the arguments in the Elriel fandom that: weaponize Elain’s femalehood to shame real life people for their opinions about Elain’s character and her relationship with Lucien; victimize Elain’s character in fandom discussions; and coddle Elain’s character, which limits fandom discussions about her narrative development and prevents the ACOTAR fandom from holding Elain accountable for her actions and inactions in the same way that the fandom holds other characters accountable for their actions and inactions. It is for these reasons that I WILL NOT remove the “Elriel” tag from this post because all of the above points contribute to the toxic discourse surrounding Elain’s character.

I urge those who use these arguments to understand their implications, why they are problematic, regardless of intent, and reexamine their contributions to the ACOTAR fandom. I WILL NOT tolerate anyone who tries to twist my words and say I am attacking people and their personal shipping preferences. In fact, I AM CRITIQUING THE ARGUMENTS THEMSELVES NOT THE PEOPLE USING THE ARGUMENTS.

Also, I highly encourage the Elriel fandom to read this post because it addresses how the concept of choice as an argument enables arguments to exploit social justice and feminist languge in order to vilify Elucien shippers, among other problematic things.

Elain Archeron is one of the most polarizing characters in the ACOTAR fandom. Though opinions about Elain vary, arguments in the Elriel fandom cite society’s perception of traditional female characters in comparison to non-traditional female characters as the reason behind the hate, and this belief is used to provide an explanation as to why other characters in the series are favored over her. In the series, Elain is portrayed in a wholly positive light and this image carries over into the Elriel fandom, painting her character as a good and kind female who has been unfairly wronged and a victim of circumstances that were out of her control. When arguments in the Elriel fandom oppose other viewpoints in the fandom, they fall into one of three categories:

Category 1: Weaponize Elain’s femalehood to shame real life people for their opinions

Maybe people who hate Elain are just jealous of her in a weird way similar to when someone hates the pretty, nice, and charming girl in school just because she is too perfect

Disliking Elain is misogynistic

What happened to feminism? What happened to women supporting women? What happened to she can say no? All of that disappears the second you force Elain to be with Lucien

Elain antis are misogynistic

All Eluciens are Elain antis

Antis claiming they’re feminists when in reality they hate on Elain and Feyre but love Nesta

Elain antis are such sore losers. Y’all were that bunch of people who could not get over being rejected from hanging out with the cool kids so y’all are projecting your hatred towards pretty people now to get validation

I don’t get how Elain’s love for gardening equals boring for some people. I’m sorry your misogyny finds traditionally feminine activities boring

Why are you attacking a female? What did Elain do? Where are your feminist voices?

The fandom is misogynistic towards Elain

If people loved Elain they would ship Elriel

If you hate Elain it says a lot about your feelings toward women

If you hate Elain because she has no “development” then you must hate Azriel because otherwise you’re misogynistic

Eluciens are turned off by the idea of a woman that has the autonomy to reject a man for the simple reason that it is her choice

Eluciens are all about feminism and “it’s HER choice” until it comes down to females not wanting a male

Eluciens don’t respect Elain’s feelings when they ship her with someone that was part of her trauma and makes her feel uncomfortable

The way some Elucien shippers completely disregard how uncomfortable Elain is around Lucien is so hilariously not funny. Prioritizing being mates over Elain’s feelings is just regressive

It’s hard as a fan of Elain to see someone ship her with a person who makes her physically uncomfortable to be around. Wouldn’t you want both characters to be happy to be around each other

Imagine if SJM saw all the awful things her “stans” had to say about Elain

It’s true that we know comparatively little about her, but is she really boring or do you just not value stereotypically feminine traits?

So y’all are just gonna tell me you prefer Elucien over Elriel? Even though Lucien treats Elain as if she’s something that belongs to him? The only reason he wants to be with her is because she’s his mate, he doesn’t respect her, doesn’t treat her as his equal, even though that’s what mates should be? He doesn’t bother to look past what’s on the outside to see her for who she is. And Elain is obviously repulsed by the idea that she should belong to anyone or have no choice in who she can be with. Azriel is her friend and the only person who sees her quiet strength. He has so much faith in her, in her abilities; he’s the one who kept her company when no one else did, he’s the only one who bothered to see her for more than her brokenness. You’re going to tell me you still prefer Elucien over Elriel?

The more I see Gwynriels that ship Elucien out of their hate for Elain, the less I can understand Elain stans that ship Elucien. Pls Elain has made it very clear that she doesn’t want Lucien, why would you ship her with him? Do you hate her too? Smh

The real question would be, if you care and understand Elain why would you ship her with Lucien (where she canonically shrinks when he is near)?

People crying over Helion and Lucien’s mom not getting to be with each other and her being forced into a relationship she didn’t want, but also ship Elucien? Just say you hate Elain

When Elain’s book is out, Gwyn stans will look like clowns and I will laugh because they set her up by shipping her with Azriel just because they hate Elain. Watch them play the victims now because Elriels are clapping back the hate they’ve sent towards Elain

As romantic as wanting girl who is visibly uncomfortable around a guy who caused her trauma to end up with the said guy. Guess their standards for romance are in hell

Category 2: Victimize Elain’s character

Gwynriels only want Gwyn with Azriel because they despise Elain

Gwyn stans and Gwynriels are Elain antis

No one in the books dislike Elain, so why are there so many people who do?

Elain hasn’t done anything wrong or questionable to warrant the hate she gets

Not having Elain’s POV makes it easy for people to be swayed a certain way about her character if you already don’t relate to her in some way

It’s been years since this series came out and we haven’t gotten a lick of an Elain POV, but people still hate her for what? We don’t know her thoughts, dreams, or aspirations

We haven’t even had Elain’s perspective yet and people are passing these judgments off on her

Elain antis who say she’s boring are just cruel when she has obvious symptoms of PTSD like Feyre and Nesta

Gwyn is one of the most overhyped characters and that’s only because most people hate Elain and they couldn’t wait to find a random girl to ship Azriel with

Nesta was abusive to her sisters but Elain (who has only ever been kind) is painted as the villain

From the text we know that Elain is the epitome of feminine stereotypes (gentle, gardening, baking, non confrontational for the most part). Yet people still call her boring or deny that she has any interesting character traits?

You can’t love Nesta and hate Elain

People hate Elain because of internalized misogyny and lack of taste. All the girl does is tend to her garden and mind her business and they treat her worse than Tamlin

Does Gwyn deserve all this support? Of course yes! She is amazing! But where’s that support when Elain was in the same situation as she? Where’s that support for her right now? Why do they idolize Gwyn for her interactions with Azriel and hate Elain for having any interaction with him?

It’s not even a ship war anymore, they just hate Elain

People hate Elain for no reason

Some of y’all don’t like feminine traits and it shows

We know less about Eris and Helion but people don’t call them boring. Why would rejecting femininity make Elain more interesting?

Elain has had a lot forced upon her

The main reason I believe most people love Gwyn so much is to get Azriel away from Elain. It’s not a secret that Elain has been a widely hated character for years so suddenly we get a new female who has a minimal amount of interactions with Azriel and BOOM. New ship that once again doesn’t make sense (just like Azriel x Emerie after ACOFAS)

Elain hasn’t done something so terrible for her to get this hate. At this point some of you are just being misogynistic and you don’t want to accept it. Don’t call yourselves feminists and then say bs like this, it’s embarrassing. She’s pretty and everyone agreed to hate on her

Just a personal feeling, but I feel like a lot of the Elain hate stems from internalized misogyny. That to be a strong female lead, you need to pick up a sword and fight. That to be strong, you need to adapt traditionally masculine traits

Elain is feminine. She is beautiful. She loves to bake and garden. She is docile, quiet, observant, and a people-pleaser. All traditionally feminine traits. Yet for some reason, she’s like the worst in these people’s eyes?

I think also maybe a lot of people can’t relate to her femininity? That her being so beautiful and quiet doesn’t allow for the people who dislike her not to self-insert? Most of the hate stems from people not wanting Elain to be with Azriel. It’s mean, but maybe the people who hate Elain literally just can’t self-insert if they have a story and that’s why they’re vehemently against it?

Poor Elain. The Cauldron dealt her a bad deal. Upon emerging as Fae, she is immediately declared by Lucien as his mate, never mind that she was already engaged to a prick. Her love life is not good

It blows my mind how they really think that they can compare all the shit that Elain gets with some dumb jokes about Gwyn on Twitter (and yes, the “hate” towards her started mostly because Elriels are clapping back, it was bound to happen)

I would think of it as anti-feminist with Elain and Lucien because she has consistently stated that she does not want him so if she was forced to embrace the bond that would be taking away her right to have a choice but with Az she feels comfortable around so if they were mates then Elain would be happy and feel safe which again should be the priority for women to feel safe in their relationships with anything and to not be forced into any type of situation aka the mating bond in this

Category 3: Coddle Elain’s character

Elain has value the way she is, in all her domestic girly glory. Not every character has to be badass

We don’t speak of Elain’s flaws frequently because everyone else already speaks badly of her, mainly in an unfair way

There is definitely something deeper going on with Elain but by no means will she ever be evil or any less feminine. That goes against everything we already know about her

It’s ok to critique Elain because she needs growth but y’all keep forgetting the shit her and her sisters went through

The last “bad” thing Elain did in ACOTAR was not help Feyre when they were impoverished and I’m tired of people acting like she’s a terrible character when it was their father’s responsibility. It happened 4 books ago and Feyre has forgiven both Nesta and Elain

Elain’s character and the evil Elain theory are a great example of the trend where people only consider female characters interesting if they reject femininity

We don’t know enough to hate Elain

Many people want Elain to turn evil (which in my opinion seems to come from a place of internalized misogyny)

However we don’t tend to talk about her faults, at least not publicly, as that has been, and still is, done to death, and I--personally, at least--find it much more fun to theorise about potentially interesting aspects of the overall plot, than dwell on negatives

And ultimately, I would be shocked if Elain has a more karmically-charged story than Nesta, considering that Elain’s “wrongs” are so much less severe and bad than Nesta’s, and Elain has already apologized for them (or paid the price in other ways, like through what Graysen did)

I guess I also think Elain has suffered and been punished enough. I hope her story is about finding hope in terrible situations, and learning to love her new life, and choosing her own path after everything that has been done to her. I don’t think she needs to be punished anymore or face any additional trauma

Also, why is she being judged on her decisions as a human at all? Fae are monsters to humans! They enslaved them for thousands of years, and the Wall was erected to keep them out

Like I’m sorry, but think Elain would want to leave her ONLY FAMILY AND FRIENDS for the Spring Court where she has no one because--oh look, lots of flowers!--is the craziest thing I have ever heard

Her sisters are in the Night Court. Her nephew is in the Night Court. Her closest friends (Nuala and Cerridwen) are in the Night Court. Her love interest is in the Night Court. Her extended family is in the Night Court. Her home is in the Night Court

SJM isn’t going to keep two sisters together and split up the third. Especially not keep Feyre and Nesta together and separate Elain. They were either all going to end up in separate places, or together. Not 2 here and 1 there

Compared to the other female characters in the series, Elain is the only character whose femalehood is at the center of conversations; this is because arguments in the Elriel fandom fixate on it when discussing her character. While Elain, Feyre, Nesta, and Mor are all representations of white womanhood and white beauty, Elain epitomizes the most fragile version of white womanhood. It’s easy to blame society’s perception of traditional female characters in comparison to non-traditional female characters when it comes to the discourse surrounding Elain’s character because it: falls in line with the fixation on Elain’s femalehood to silence opposing viewpoints; is a simplistic explanation that fails to tackle the underlying issues with Elain as a character, the same issues that are downplayed in-universe; absolves Elain of her wrongdoings; prevents the ACOTAR fandom from holding Elain accountable for her actions and inactions within the series; and diminishes the impact Elain’s actions and inactions have on those around her. It’s not that Elain is hated in the fandom because she’s a traditional female character; it’s the fact that arguments in the Elriel fandom deflect a critical analysis of Elain’s character because she’s a traditional female character who embodies the ideal white woman in need of protection. White fans and white-aligned fans of color, especially white women, have a tendency to vehemently defend, gatekeep, and coddle white female characters in fandom; this makes it difficult for other fans to engage in critical discussions about these white female characters because they’re viewed as flawless and all around perfect characters despite evidence to the contrary. Since Elain is viewed positively by the other characters in the series, it has rendered her character untouchable to any perceived slight or criticism in fandom discussions because those negative opinions challenge what has been said about her character thus far. And as a result, her character has been placed on a pedestal and implicitly hailed as the epitome of white womanhood; and when she’s criticized, it’s seen as a direct attack against white womanhood. Arguments in the Elriel fandom: exploit feminist language and perpetuate white feminist tactics under the guise of defending Elain’s character; center Elain in conversations about female oppression in the ACOTAR world and uphold white feminist ideologies in their critique of ACOTAR’s patriarchal society; and use the fragile white woman narrative to victimize Elain in Lucien’s presence, playing into racial biases that are associated with white supremacy’s defense of white womanhood.

Feminism is a social movement that seeks to promote equality and equity to all genders, and feminists work toward eradicating gender disparities on a macro-level, in addition to challenging gender biases on a micro-level. As feminism became more mainstream, a flat and oversimplified version of feminism emerged: mainstream feminism. The mainstream feminist movement is meant to represent all women, but rarely does it center conversations around issues that concern most women. The problem with mainstream feminism is that it’s just a popularized version of white feminism. White feminism has relied extensively on an individualized understanding of women’s oppression, exclusively from the lens of privileged white women. White feminism only focuses on the oppression experienced by white, able-bodied, affluent, educated, cishet women; and it views gender as the key mode of privileged white women’s oppression, isolated from the privileges granted by their other social identities. White women can be and are oppressed under the patriarchy but only because they are women; their identity as women does not exempt them from the privileges granted by their whiteness. The term white feminist does not mean any feminist who is white, but refers to feminists who prioritize the concerns of privileged white women as though they are representative of all women. However, the term is not exclusive to white people. Because white feminism is so pervasive, people of other racial and ethnic backgrounds often buy into white feminism, believing that if they work hard enough, they may be able to reap its rewards.

Just like white feminism, mainstream feminism only recognizes the identity of being a woman, assumes that all women share common experiences of gender oppression, fails to address other social identities in relation to overlapping systems of oppression, and disregards privilege in relation to various social identities. Just like white feminism, mainstream feminism is palatable because it doesn’t seek to challenge the systems in place, instead its goal is to succeed within them. Essentially, mainstream feminism and white feminism are extensions of performative feminism. Performative feminism is a type of performative activism that’s used to describe feminist views that are surface level and solely for the benefit of one type of person. It’s a pretense which often has nothing to do with genuine activism. Arguments in the Elriel fandom normalize and promote performative feminism because the topic of feminism is only referenced when discussing Elain. This indicates that these arguments are engaging in disingenuous discourse to push a personal agenda within the ACOTAR fandom, and it becomes more apparent when they use white feminist tactics to shut down opposing viewpoints:

White feminists weaponize and exploit feminist language to silence the opinions of other women, especially when they’re called out for their problematic behaviors

White feminists use the phrase “Women supporting women” to defend other white feminists who exhibit problematic behaviors instead of holding them accountable

White feminists weaponize phrases like “Women supporting women” and “You just hate women” to attack other women who disagree with them on any given topic

White feminists use phrases like “All women face challenges” and “Stop pitting women against each other” to sidestep conversations about privilege

White feminists divert conversations away from privilege and towards the Trauma Olympics to equate their struggles to the oppression of marginalized people

White feminists skirt around the realities of other forms of oppression and discrimination, downplaying the experiences of marginalized people

White feminists diminish or ignore the ways in which gender oppression affects other marginalized people

White feminists paint those they harmed as aggressive, mean, or divisive when confronted with the ways they have harmed a marginalized group

White feminists deflect criticism by focusing on the anger or emotions being expressed rather than the issue that is being discussed, invalidating the concerns of marginalized people

White feminists speak over marginalized voices in an attempt to sound “woke”

White feminists get defensive and insist there’s no way they could be a part of the problem because of what they’ve done to help marginalized groups already

White feminists say they don’t see color in an attempt to obscure racial issues that need to be addressed

White feminists center and victimize themselves in conversations about racism, which derails necessary conversations from taking place

White feminists who are white weaponize the intersectionality of their race and gender to avoid accountability

Feminism is not meant to be approached from an individualistic perspective nor is it only about addressing the experiences of privileged white women, it involves addressing the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, (dis)ability, and other social identities as well; and it involves addressing how these social identities relate to privilege. Moreover, feminism is not about women upholding complete loyalty to other women because of a shared gender identity, and to claim that it does implies that women should be held to different emotional standards than men. If men are able to dislike and criticize other individual men, real or fictional, without their characters being compromised, why aren’t women granted that same privilege?

It’s clear that SJM set up the ACOTAR world to mirror a patriarchal society, and that the imbalance of power between males and females stems from sexism. Arguments in the Elriel fandom analyze the ACOTAR world through a feminist lens to show how ACOTAR’s patriarchal society, to which the mating bond is innately tied, contributes to female oppression and limits their agency. When choice and free will are emphasized as part of Elain’s arc, they imply that Elain, through the mating bond, experiences female oppression under ACOTAR’s patriarchal society because of her identity as a female with that identity being the focal point of her oppression in the world. Elain is one of the most privileged characters in the ACOTAR world: she’s High Fae; she’s the sister of the High Lord and High Lady of the Night Court, which gives her access to wealth and political influence because of that connection; she’s able-bodied; she was magically blessed by the Cauldron; and she lives in Velaris, a place that grants females autonomy and power because of the beliefs of Rhysand and Feyre. Arguments in the Elriel fandom trivialize female oppression in the ACOTAR world because they disregard the fact that Elain’s privileges prevent her from experiencing female oppression in the same way that other marginalized females in the world do. The mating bond being one such example because those around Elain are not forcing the bond on her, instead they’re allowing Elain to reach a decision about the bond for herself; a privilege that other marginalized females in the world probably wouldn’t have. Just because Elain has endured hardships in her life and is a female in a patriarchal society, they do not erase the privileges she holds within the ACOTAR world. The failure to include Elain’s privileges in discussions about Elain being a female in a patriarchal society feeds into white feminist ideologies because white feminism operates from a very narrow perspective; it doesn’t take other intersecting identities into account when it examines gender oppression, leaving no room for discussions about privilege (or lack thereof) in relation to those intersecting identities. When discussing oppression in hierarchical societies, it’s imperative that privilege is also included in the conversation because privilege and oppression are not mutually exclusive; they equally affect the ways in which people navigate those societies through their social identities.

Rather than attributing Elain’s uncomfortability to her new life as a Fae female or the mating bond itself and her trauma to the Cauldron, the King of Hybern, or Ianthe, they’re placed on Lucien to cast his character in a negative light. Moreover, fandom discussions portray Lucien as a possessive character to further emphasize Elain’s discomfort despite the inaccuracy of this characterization in canon. Arguments in the Elriel fandom play into racial biases when it comes to Lucien (a male character of color) because they mischaracterize his character in order to victimize Elain (a white female character), placing her character in the role of the white damsel in distress. In Western society, the concept of womanhood has been conceptualized from a Eurocentric perspective with femininity and feminine attributes favoring white women. It’s the idea that a certain type of femininity is only inherent to white women as they are seen as the embodiment of an ideal womanhood. White womanhood has been a symbol of innocence and purity, and white women have been viewed as fragile beings in need of protection. The reason white womanhood functions within white supremacy is because it’s the same idea that has motivated white men to kill and beat black and brown men. The so-called protection of white women has been used as a justification for the horrific violence committed by white men because black and brown men were stereotyped as aggressive and seen as a threat to the virtue of white women. The white damsel in distress trope considered white women as worthy of protection because of their perceived innocence and purity; women of color were not granted that same treatment because they did not fit into the ideal image of womanhood. Over the years, this trope became a means for white women to exercise limited power in a patriarchal society with white women weaponizing their status as the damsel much to the detriment of black and brown men. It’s through the white damsel in distress trope that white supremacy sustains its dominance in Western society. The misrepresentation of characters of color in fandom, the dismissal of their importance to the overall story, and using them as tools in arguments centered around white characters are the foundation of fandom racism; they’re examples of how racism moves silently in fandom spaces. Instead of examining their behavior and taking constructive criticism from fans of color, white fans will often double down on their bigotry and center their uncomfortability in the conversation when confronted with their complicity in fandom racism. White fans expect fans of color to swallow fandom racism in its many forms in order to not ruin the experience of fandom, dismissing the fact that racism is prevalent in nearly every aspect of society. This mentality ensures that no one is held accountable for the harm they caused and alienates fans of color in fandom spaces.

To reiterate what I mentioned in my first think piece: terms like “oppression”, “the right to choose”, “feminist”, “feminism”, “anti-feminist”, “anti-feminism”, “internalized misogyny”, “misogyny”, “misogynist”, “sexist”, “sexism”, “racist”, “racism”, “classist”, “classism”, “discrimination”, and “patriarchy” are all used in specific ways to draw attention to the plight of marginalized people and challenge those who deny the existence of systems of oppression. Yet these words and their meanings can be twisted to attack, exclude, and invalidate people with differing opinions on any given topic. When social justice and feminist terms are thrown around antagonistically and carelessly to push a personal agenda, it becomes clear that these terms are being used to engage in disingenuous discourse and pursue personal validation rather than being used out of any deep-seated conviction to dismantle systemic oppression. Being an ally, activist, or feminist is not an identity, it’s a practice. It requires: ongoing self-reflection; holding ourselves accountable; listening to marginalized people; educating ourselves; dismantling implicit biases; challenging those around us who are exhibiting problematic behaviors; and action behind our words.

It’s important to be aware of the language that is used within the fandom when defending or critiquing characters and ships. It’s also important to question how an argument is framed and why it’s framed the way that it is to critically examine the intent behind that argument: is it used as a tool to push a personal agenda that reinforces problematic behaviors, or is it used as an opportunity to share, learn, enlighten, and educate?

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Tagging: @spell-cleavers @bookofmirth @m0bulidae @ilya-boltagon

#elain archeron #elriel #acotar fandom #acotar: fandom critical

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gothicbabydollz · 2 years

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I agree, but people forgave Nesta for the way she acted while she was processing trauma, so why do we not offer Elain the same?

If we’re hating Elain for her treatment of Nesta, we should also hate Cassian for telling Nesta that everyone hates her.

We should hate Rhysand for treating her worse than anyone else and threatening to murder her.

Elain arguably lost more than anyone when she went into the Cauldron. She adored Grayson and she became the very thing he hated more than anything. And then, literally moments after the worst trauma of her life, she’s informed that she is now tied to a Faerie by a mating bond.

Also, I love Nesta, she’s my favourite character. But let’s not forget that she could be extremely toxic because of her trauma. I can’t blame Elain for distancing herself from her when she was trying to heal herself

This is very valid, yes. Nesta is probably my favourite but i’m not going to sit here and say she’s done nothing wrong. Nesta was horrid. But i think people forgive her because we saw her healing, we saw her really trying to be better and apologise for her previous actions. And maybe it’s different with Elain because we haven’t seen her be better yet. Elain and Nesta were not good people at the start of the series and we’ve seen Nesta making up for that but we haven’t seen Elain do that yet yk? But as much as i love acosf, i don’t think the sisters healing process has been went about in the right way. I think we need the three of them to spend time with each other and reconnect the broken bonds instead of going separate ways and screwing men.

None of the ic are innocent. Cassian said horrible things to Nesta and definitely should be held accountable. Now, it has been a little while since i read acosf so i don’t remember everything. But i think Nesta and Cassian’s relationship was the making up for what they’d both said and done to each other.

We most definitely should hate Rhys. I don’t like him at all after acosf. I think his treatment towards Nesta, towards Feyre and even Azriel was disgusting. But we’ll not get into that right now.

Elain has went through a lot of hardships and unfair treatment. That’s very true. And her dealing with that trauma might be the reason she wasn’t supportive of Nesta, but i’m sure. So, i might change my opinion of her in the next book. However sjm is going to write it.

Also, i have a friend who i forced to read acotar who said that she thinks because Nesta was a fan favourite. Sjm butchered most of the other characters for Nesta’s sake. And honestly…i can kinda see it

#nonnies ❥

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sabrinaacarpenters · 3 years

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my thoughts™️ about hosab ending + ideas where we go from here

anyone who’s been following me for a while knows I’m not the biggest Rhysand & IC stan (that’s an understatement tbh) so if you think (and hope) they will swoop over to Midgard and he’ll rescue everyone with his mighty powers, this is not the post for you 😅

Having finished HOSAB last night i’ve had a few hours to marinate the ending and sleep over it (a grand total of 3 hours but still), so my initial strong dislike of chapter 78 have simmered down to just being slightly iffy about it.

My greatest concern is probably ACOTAR character taking over a good chunk of CC3 and that ACOTAR’s world building with it’s plot holes will negative influence CC’s world. I’m not against crossovers in all things, but I just feel like these two series do not go together - SJM built such and interesting and complex world in CC and i’m actually scared that she will retcon it into ACOTAR’s little spin-off, since for some reason everything has to revolve around that series and its characters. (i would not be mad at all if Bryce landed in Terrasen but that’s for another post)

Now to where we might go from here:

I don’t believe for a second that this means we will have an avengers infinity war type of sequel - tying together the two series where you have to read one in order to continue with the other does not make sense from a marketing point of view. No matter how much of the CC and ACOTAR fandom overlaps, these still were pitched as completely different series and different worlds.

In my opinion Bryce will likely spend 5-6 chapters in Velaris (which is 5 too much for me still but whatever), gives a crash course of her world to the IC then Nesta will use the harp to send her to Hel and we say goodbye to Prythian. (I don’t have an idea for the truth teller-starsword situation yet) I’ve seen theories about how she will spend the majority of the book there, or that the IC will go over to Midgard to destroy the Asteri, or even that CC3 and ACOTAR5 will be the same book. But honestly, if you really think about it, none of these make much sense.

CC3 is the final book in the trilogy, and while SJM said she has more ideas for the world, she’s contracted for 3 books right now, so this storyline will end at the end of book 3. (If she writes more books in the world I suppose it will be similar to how acotar continued - acowar closed down the overarching plot, while had some minor storylines open that she decided to continue with). Regardless of whether she writes more books or not, the Asteri will be defeated at the end of the third book. Having the protagonist spend half the book (or the whole) away from their world and every other character does not make sense, and jumping between Bryce’s pov in Velaris vs everyone else’s in Crescent City would be jarring to say the least.

Bryce also has to go to Hel, get those armies and find a way to open a rift to Midgard, and I don’t believe she and Hunt will be separated for more than the initial 25% of the book (give or take 10%). So accomplishing all of this in such a short time frame (because she will be in a hurry to get back to her mate and her brother) makes me highly doubt it that she’ll have the time to just casually stroll around Velaris and build friendships to the IC.

Now for the theories that say that the IC will swoop in and destroy the Asteri - this is honestly just so disrespectful to Bryce and co. She has been training throughout the whole book, and she’s been told time and time again that she’s a key figure in the war. The CC gang will defeat the Asteri - it’s their home and they will be the ones to save it. There’s a reason that hers and Hunt’s power complement each other’s so well, and Hunt’s ancestry still haven’t been revealed, which makes me think it will be very important.

Not to mention that the IC will not just fuck off and leave Prythian and the NC unprotected, when Koschei and Beron are actively stirring shit. Transporting their armies to Midgard would be asking to get invaded by all the other Courts.

I also don’t see what relevance Bryce could have on future ACOTAR books - multiple times SJM has confirmed it now that each book will have a different couple in the centre, so ACOTAR5 being A Court of Bryce’s Adventures in Velaris makes zero sense. Her arrival will probably be shown on page from Azriel’s pov but it won’t be a significant side plot. ACOSF was a romance book in a fantasy setting with 10% plot, I don’t see why the next installment would be any different.

For this reason I also think CC3 is coming before ACOTAR5 - just because Bryce found herself in Velaris, this is still her story - it will play out in her book, from her point of view.

#house of sky and breath #crescent city #hosab #hosab spoilers #cc

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mardereads19 · 3 years

Text

Elucien’s Mating Bond 🌸🦊

I don’t know if someone already pointed this out. I haven’t hung around the Elriel tag since Elriel Month began, so I wouldn’t know. I have to catch up on all the goodies here.

I had heard of the theory that perhaps Elucien’s mating bond was not real, but I had pushed it away because Azriel could smell their bond and Lucien had tugged on it during Acowar. However, during my latest reread of Acosf, I noticed this quote and some things simply connected in my mind.

Let’s get to it! ✨

1. Spells (according to Helion) feel like threads around an individual.

Helion (aka the High Lord with the power to undo spells —Isn’t he called spell cleaver or something like that?) said that spells are like threads. He, with his powers, can feel them, manipulate them, undo them. It’s exactly why he had been called to check on the males from Autumn in Acosf. But those males were not under any spell.

We still, however, got to hear what a spell feels like.

Here is Elucien’s descriptions of the bond:

Elain felt the tug from Lucien and called it strange. “A thread tied to a rib.”

Lucien is the one to tug on it and say: “A real thread.”

Spells: threads bound around an individual.

Elucien’s bond: A thread tied to a rib.

2. Lucien was the one to pull on the thread.

Listen, this is important. Up until know, we don’t know if Elain can tug on the bond, but we do know she felt it. It was Lucien who was able to pull on the thread, able to manipulate it.

Lucien is the son of Helion and has inherited some capacity of his powers. He actually used them to break free of Hybern’s control on him during Acomaf. So it would make sense that he (with his powers) can sense the thread and tug on it.

Isn’t it a little strange how his powers manifested moments before the mating bond was revealed and how we conveniently learn that Helion is Lucien’s father in Acowar? Feyre was the one to discover this in a matter of seconds after studying Helion, but Rhys had not pieced it together after centuries of knowing Helion and his affair with the lady of Autumn? Hmmm.

Lucien also mentions how his metal eye can see beyond what his normal eye can see (in other words, his metal eye can glean spells and stuff), but it’s not really so accurate, since he never saw through Feyre’s glamour on her scent or tattoo while on the spring court.

Let’s not forget about how well him having these powers ties in with the whole Vassa and Koschei dilemma! If there really is a spell between Lucien and Elain, it can be broken by the next book and the last book could easily center around the Band of Exiles (a spelled Queen and a Fae with spell-cleaving powers two of the three members) and Koschei.

3. Description of Feysand’s and Nessian’s mating bond

We have all discussed how Elucien’s mating bond feels like a (single) thread, while Feysand’s and Nessian’s feel like a bunch of threads.

But also notice: “Between the souls/between the people”

Feysand’s (clicking after acceptance):

“The bond between us.”

“Between us.”

Nessian’s (clicking, but acceptance still pending):

“Golden threads between their very souls.”

“So much gold thread between their souls.”

What was Elain’s description, again?

“It felt... strange. Like you pulled on a thread tied to a rib.”

Hmmm. I don’t know about you guys, but this feels off. Even when Nesta had not yet accepted the mating bond, it had felt beautiful and wonderful. A bunch of golden threads between the souls. Elain said hers felt strange. It felt like a single thread tied to a rib. Perhaps around a rib?

That is not a description of the mating bond we all love so much.

I also think the bond did “click” for both of them at this moment because Elain had focused on Lucien:

So it’s not that the bond clicked for Luecien and not for Elain. Either this is a real mating bond that simply feels off, or this was the moment a spell was worked around both of them.

Concluding Thoughts ✨

In my opinion, it would make sense that a spell was woven between these two people. Perhaps something the Cauldron and Mother themselves did (since I am so in love with @themissyvonne ’s theory).

It also explains why Azriel is able to smell Elucien’s bond while Amren (with her ancient powers) had been the only one able to scent Feysand’s. If spells can be scented in accordance to the purpose, maybe everyone smells a mating bond between Elucien even though it’s not real. Even when the other mating bonds only gave scent after acceptance or were scented before acceptance only by powerful beings (like Amren pre-war and Lanthys).

Additionally, I find it interesting how we have never seen Helion and Elain/Lucien in the same room. Would he be able to tell that there is a spell in place? He can feel those things. I guess we’ll know soon.

I know this theory could be a reach, but I do think it merits at least some thinking on and considering. And since SJM already has said plenty of times that she planted little seeds for the upcoming books, why couldn’t this Helion quote perhaps be one of them?

Thank you for reading! ♥️

#elriel #feels good to be back to this #elriel endgame #elain #elain archeron #azriel #pro elriel #anti el*cien #my post

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unhealthyfanobsession · 3 years

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Sorry to clutter your inbox with an annoying question, but I really just want an honest answer. I adored the ACOTAR series when I read it a few years ago. I haven’t read ACOSF though yet because I’ll be honest and admit Nesta wasn’t my favorite character because she her initial treatment of Feyre reminded me too much of my own sister/life. With that being said, I really want to like her! Do she and Feyre sort of make amends with each other in this newest book? Also, I haven’t read it because a Maas group I’m in on Facebook, made it seem like the entire 700+ page novel was entirely sex, and as a lesbian, that just doesn’t really appeal to me. So, were they being dramatic when they acted like sex was all this book is? I’m fine if there’s scenes, of course, as long as it’s not the ENTIRE thing! Lol

Again, I’m so sorry to bother! I just needed someone to answer these things in hopes I can motivate my reading-slump self to pick up the book.

Hey! I love to be considered a reliably neutral source. I personally have been a massive fan of Nesta’s since Feyre’s returning home scene in ACOTAR, but I am in no way blind to her flaws.

Having said that, I actually think that many things about ACOSF that annoyed me as a Nesta fan would actually be very appealing to those coming in more wary. Nesta’s journey is in no way easy and she truly does not get away with a single thing. She is called out and punished (in my opinion, excessively) for all last flaws. It’s a bit much for me at times, and the sisters are certainly at odds throughout the book, but by the end yes, Nesta and Feyre very much make amends and I think in a very satisfying way that makes sense for both of their characters. That said, if you find Nesta and Feyre’s relationship emotionally triggering I think that she first scene will be a bit difficult to get through, but that is the only one where the sisters are really directly at odds.

I also disagree with the fact that the book is all sex. I believe there are 3 major sex scenes and they are kinda long, but also pretty easy to skim through. What there is a LOT of is sexual tension and fantasies/thoughts. Even still I don’t think it’s by any means the main point or plot of the story.

What I loved about ACOSF was its exploration of female friendships, learning about Nesta’s past, an unapologetic exploration of the darker sides of mental health struggles, and some truly incredibly written action scenes (I actually think SJM doesn’t get enough credit for just how good the action scenes were in this book. A MASSIVE improvement on ACOWAR in my opinion).

Overall, I think the book is written specifically for people who don’t like Nesta going in and that it really explained and explored the character. Yeah there’s more sex than is necessary, but not as much as people make out imo.

ACOSF is much like all SJM books, character driven plot, a number of inconsistencies, more hyper heterosexual sex and growling than necessary, but ultimately we all know what we’re getting into and it is a fun read with intriguing characters, girl power messaging, and a female main character that is, in my opinion, all the better for her imperfections, struggles, and the fact that being a hero and a martyr does not come naturally to her.

Whatever else you want to say about her, Nesta Archeron is a truly unique character within this genre and I think her story is well worth reading if you are a fan of this author generally.

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ladylochan · 4 years

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Azriel & Elain

**ACOSF and Azriel POV spoilers ahead!**

So that Azriel POV chapter left me with a lot to think about. I couldn’t even listen to music on my drive to work because my thoughts were a swarm. First of all, I think that Elriel can still be endgame. I’m open to it not happening and can see the potential of other outcomes, but my weary heart that has shipped many a couple who haven’t gotten together will board a precarious ship once more.

I’ve looked through the tags and read many different opinions and really wanted to share my own, if only to get my thoughts in order. This analysis will be more for Elriel than of the POV chapter. Let’s start off with the part in the bonus that gave me most pause

Three for Three

“The Cauldron chose three sisters. Tell me how it’s possible that my two brothers are with two of those sisters, yet the third was given to another.”

I’ll be honest, this didn’t sit right with me at the start. Like others have observed, I felt a sense of entitlement from Azriel as well as questioned his true feelings for Elain. Did he genuinely care and love her or was he looking to the Cauldron and what it had made of their fates?

But, I think anyone in Azriel’s position would take this coincidence into consideration, for better or for worse. We see that he’d never voiced this thought before because he knew how it would sound. He doesn’t argue this point further either, as he goes on to say Lucien doesn’t deserve her.

I’m sure that Elain has had this thought herself - who wouldn’t when it’s so clear for anyone to see that two sisters had matched with two brothers already? That could very well be a reason for why Elain gravitates to Azriel as well.

Having this thought of Azriel’s revealed is actually a good problem that can be explored in the next book because, if Elain hadn’t shared the thought as well, she would be hurt by it. Azriel questioning whether the Cauldron made a mistake would not change Elain’s view on a Cauldron-given mate. Perhaps she would have reacted differently to being given a mate she already knew, but we know that her motivation to deny a Cauldron-given mate is to retain her sense of agency and humanity. Elain would question Azriel’s feelings and hopefully that would help Azriel question and understand his true feelings as well.

Attraction

Despite Azriel’s words about the Cauldron and fate, he feels care and attraction for Elain. The former we could see from the start, and the latter was proven with this POV chapter. Azriel has been the one to see her, to sit in the garden with her, to come to her aid. And Elain sees him also, reaching out, desiring to make him laugh, calling him beautiful.

From this chapter we know that Azriel has been actively trying to curb his attraction and thoughts about her as well. He avoids her and even avoids quiet and sleep to keep his thoughts and desire for her at bay. Azriel is terrible at pursuing love but unlike quietly pining after Mor, he would have to fight for Elain. Fight with Rhys, Lucien, and his own self, not for a mate but for someone he loves - and that’s the kind of intriguing story that SJM would write (imho).

I love Gwyn so, so, much, and if they were to get together I could live with that, but I think Gwyn would be a better voice of reason for Azriel than a love interest. If they got together, Elain would be but a blip in Azriel’s journey and I think that would discredit both characters.

The Road Ahead

As others have theorized, I tend to agree that the next book will focus on Elain and Azriel even if they don’t establish a romantic relationship. The bonus chapters have shown how much these two characters need to grow and how they’ll do that together in whatever capacity. The obvious antagonist will be Koschei and since Lucien has also set his target on the Death God, he’ll play a large role as well.

I stick to my thoughts from a post I made a few weeks ago that Azriel and Elain’s relationship is about chosen love rather than fated love. The path towards each other will be complicated and fraught but both of these people desire and deserve love.

Ultimately I would love to see them together and for Azriel’s shadows to warm to Elain as well. After all, there can be no shadows without the light.

#elain archeron #azriel #elriel #acosf #elain x azriel #azriel x elain #acosf spoilers #my thoughts

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azrielsribbon · 4 years

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!!! A COURT OF SILVER FLAME SPOILERS !!!

Alternatively, Asli finished the book in like six hours and has many, many thoughts.

ON THE TOPIC OF NESTA, SOME CASSIAN AND NESSIAN AS A WHOLE.

holy shit. this is a lot.

She has grown so much, and I mean that by the little things.

I love that sjm didn’t make it so she was addicted to the wine and sex

Okay I understand Nesta was frustrating sometimes because she really was stubborn but some of the shit Cassian said was really out of line. Especially when he screamed that no one like fucking liked her.

Cassian was down so bad this entire book and I knew that the moment he said he hadn’t bed a female in two years. He was STARVINGGG

Her determination in getting down those stairs, I probably wouldve tested myself down a window or something.

I liked how she bonded with the House. It was a refreshing, different take on loneliness and finding a friend.

The House and how it looked after her. It was the biggest thing in her journey.

One theme I see in Nesta a lot is self sabotage, especially when it means the safety of others. She’s ready to throw herself in front of them.

Her banter with Cassian was really nice to read.

WHEN SHE MENTIONED HAVING A THREESOME TWICE I DIED

Cassian and his backstory was rip. It was really sad thinking about how little kid Cass really regretted some of the things that even he couldn’t control.

sjm did not disappoint with inner thoughts. Those were really refreshing.

She wasn’t vividly jealous or furious at Mor and Cassian’s friendship and I really liked that take.

Cassian’s silent jealously when Helion tries to flirt with Nesta and she dodged it LMAOOO

When Cassian kisses her in front of their family to help her get out of the map

Her silent bond with Az! That kept me going honestly. He was a sly bastard sometimes.

Sometimes I really questioned somethings, like those fast smut scenes but that’s just my preference.

Her marching down to Amren’s after she finds out they voted against her having the weapons she Made

Not to mention how she told Feyre about the baby and the labor risk out of anger, that really hurt both of them and me.

When she stayed silent during her punishment hike with Cassian. Each thought tore me apart.

When he warned her about falling and she was glad he didn’t see the expression on her face. How she didn’t mind if she fell down and how it would better.

When she cried after all those days of silence and finally told him how she felt underneath all that.

He softened up fast too and blamed himself for not realizing all this time why she hated the fire.

Can we talk about that dancing scene with Eris? And how Cassian was secretly exploding on the side as he remembered her mother wanted her to marry a Prince just like Eris.

WHEN ERIS ASKED RHYS WHAT HE WANTED IN EXCHANGE FOR NESTA TO BE HIS BRIDE AFTER LIKE A COUPLE DANCED LMAOO

The Solstice scene had my heart. The gift Az got Nesta and how she hugged him after he told her about it. How Cassian smiled at the sight.

HOW CASS GOT HER A LITTLE MUSIC BOX RECORDED WITH THE MUSIC FROM THE BALLROOM AND HOW HE ASKED THE MUSICIANS TO PERFORM IT FOR HIM AFTER EVERYONE LEFT SO HE COULD GET IT FOR HERRRR

They really kept shit away from each other till it exploded in an argument and that’s a reoccurring theme with this book couple.

WHAT MADE ME SO FRUSTRATED WAS HOW HE WANTED TO STAY IN HER BED AFTER SEX AND SHE WANTED TO CUDDLE BUT THEY DIDNT SAY ANYTHING AND ASSUMED THE OTHER DIDNT WANT IT

The topic of mates was RUSHED. Like I mean really rushed. First they argue, he says shackled and then the next time they get to speak (after the forced Blood Rite and labor scene) they accept it? I dont know, it didn’t sit with me.

I wish Nesta would elaborate on why she didn’t believe in Mates even more and Cassian would actually listen for once. Again, rushed.

The ending was fast paced in my opinion. We could’ve really had more to go off of, I needed more domestic Nessian.

ON THE TOPIC OF NESTA, GWYN, EMERIE

I am obsessed with Gwyn, Emerie and their friendship with Nesta.

I love how Gwyn and Nesta started, both gritting their teeth and still appreciating that aspect of each other.

How Nesta raced to help her with a book even when their first encounter wasn’t the friendliest.

Gwyn being persistent in paying back her small debt. I love her.

When Gwyn applied to defense lessons after Nesta defended them from the scholar priestess.

Emerie, my homegirl. I love her to death. The way she easily befriends Nesta, how Nesta stands up for her when her cousin comes to bother her.

I don’t know if it was just me, but Emerie and Mor might possibly be something. Either good friends or interested lovers.

THE WAY EMERIE BONDED OVER SMUTTY NOVELS WITH THE OTHER GIRLS AND LET THEM BORROW HER STUFFFFFF

Gwyn helping Nesta with her research on Valkyries. Muah.

Gwyn and Az, I feel like something might happen here and if it does, I do not want any Elriel drama getting dragged in, MY GIRL GWYN HAS BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH OKAY

Gwyn thinking she doesn’t deserve the purity jewel the other priestesses wear and her backstory honestly just broke me. She endured so much.

Emerie and everything she lost. Her mother, her brother, her wings and any dreams she had of flying. How she distracts herself with work and gardening to keep that off her mind.

The way the girls all developed inside jokes, jokingly hanged up on Cassian at training and always had Nesta’s back.

The way they were dedicated to each other even during the Rite when they couldve let one another behind and won.

HER SISTERSSS I CRIED I WOULD DIE FOR THIS MF TRIOOOO

ON THE TOPIC OF THE INNER CIRCLE + THE ARCHERON PARENTS

Fey-ruh was pregoooo she and Rhys raw dogged it

I felt really really bad when no one fucking told her she would die because the baby had wings and she wasn’t fit to give birth like that. Like. What.

Can we talk about how they fucked when Feyre was in her Illyrian form and didn’t think the thing through?

Rhys, I can’t stand the guy. First he wants to make a bargain with his mate that they die together and then he wants to keep it from her that she can die when giving birth to their kid.

I think what pissed me off the most was when he was trying to help Cassian get Nesta out of a nightmare/power “episode” and had to experience what she did with the Cauldron and seeing Elain and Cassian hurt. He said he knew she was feeling something but seeing and feeling it yourself was different. Yeah, what else did you think smartass.

Rhys has a habit of keeping important shit secret, Amren is no better either. I think that’s what pissed me off the most. They sometimes kept the too important shit away.

As much as Nesta grew, so did Feyre. They both developed pretty good in my mind, I don’t hate her as much as I despise Rhys sometimes. All and all I love how she and Nesta ended up.

Amren....I get her point about Nesta using and abusing their friendship. At the same time, sometimes she was too harsh.

Elain, darling old cottage core aesthetic Elain. I found her to be a little insufferable sometimes. How she showed up unexpectedly at the Library to talk to Nesta and they got into an argument was funny to me since Nesta pulled out some stuff on her.

ELAIN THANKING NESTA AND SAYING FINALLY AFTER SHE TELLS HER TO “OH FUCK OFF” AT THE SOLSTICE PARTY WAS SO RANDOM

Elain and Lucien is some fucked up shit. I understand how she doesn’t want to acknowledge the fact that they’re mates and all that but you can atleast thank the guy when he gives you a gift on Solstice.

I feel bad for Lucien because as sweet as Elain might show to be, she’s really hurting him and could just reject him if she really doesn’t want him.

AZ AZ AZ I LOVE HIM AND HIS SLY MOMENTS

Az when he cockblocks is the best thing. Do it more often.

Az and Nesta’s bond is something I want to see more, as well as how she literally thought about a threesome with him and Cassian.

Morriiiiigan. Everyone mentions her beauty and how she’s like the sun walking and I admire that. She wasn’t as annoying as I thought she’d be on the topic of Nesta and Cassian being an item.

She also wasn’t in the book as much which made sense since she was in Vallahan. I did like how she accepted Nessian towards the end.

The long awaited Mrs Archeron. Some of my theories about her proved true! About how she groomed her daughters into marriage ideologies at the worst age. 12 and 11? What the fuck?

The way she called Elain a pretty thing with no ambition at 11, no wonder Nesta and Elain have no proper knowledge of survival like Feyre did. She was set on making sure Nesta married someone who would treat her well, Elain married someone rich since her beauty was beyond all three of them.

Literally Mrs Archeron was not okay LMAOOO why are you telling your daughters this when they haven’t even bled yet damn CHILL

I felt bad since she didn’t care for Feyre and only their father doted on Elain and Feyre. Nesta was kept all to her mother to feed off Mrs Archeron’s narcissism.

Not to mention she died a year later

I found it funny Elain mentioned how at 15, Nesta even had their dad fearing her. Like it’s your daughter, wdym you fear her

The backstory on how Nesta treated him and how she feels now looking back. It was saddening and I unfortunately know the regret of not doing somethings. It must eat her alive.

I enjoyed reading this book, even if I wasn’t content with the ending. I tabbed a LOT of things so you’ll probably catch me editing and adding more to this in the morning. Thank you for reading all the way down here! 🤍

#nesta archeron #nessian #acosf spoilers #acofas #a court of silver flames #acotar #a court of thorns and roses #cassian #feyre archeron #elain archeron

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elriel-oblivion · 4 years

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Okay here's the thing.. I respect everyone's opinions and they can ship whoever they want but like... For Elucien and Gwynriel... I literally cannot even see how. I would gladly ship them if someone gave me a valid reason. Elain avoids talking or even being in the same room as Lucien, and Azriel had one polite conversation with Gwyn. Az is just nice to her. As nice as he would be to any female. Elriel has foreshadowing & chemistry- The roses painted on her drawer and the rose necklace...👀

Strongly agree with all of this!! My main problem with anything that's not elriel is that a lot of anti-elriel shippers completely ignore or erase Elain. With these ships, it's always what benefits Elain does or doesn't bring. It's so misogynistic, people just ignore everything she's mentioned about her own heart and how she doesn't want a mate or the bond, she doesn't care for it, but oh Lucien's had such a hard life, he deserves his mate!!!!!

😒😒😒

Surely he deserves someone who wants him as much as he wants them, no?

Non-elriel-endgame with the canon we currently have would mean Elain's choices are stripped once again since she'd have to give up/lose the love she actually wants in favour of one she doesn't want that's attached to some cultural concept that means zilch to her and her human heart. I mean, sure sjm could spin it so Elain catches feelings for Lucien and they end up happily mated. But then what is the point of having Elain constantly avoid him for three books? That's not even setting up for a good relationship bc every time they interact/meet, the communication just gets worse.

While I can honestly see the potential of gwynriel bc platonic interactions can later become romantic, I still don't ship it bc it doesn't feel right the way elriel does to me. I can def see gwynriel becoming a strong healthy friendship, but if it's endgame then Elain ends up with Lucien, whom she visibly shrinks from and has been avoiding since acowar. She doesn't feel seen by him at all - as much as I love Lucien and truly do want him to have his own HEA, we can't deny that he's really just pursuing (I use pursuing in the loosest way since he's very respectful about it 😅) Elain bc of the bond. If we take that away, there's nothing between them imo and he probably wouldn't give Elain more than a passing glance for her beauty and that's it bc she's not the type of girl he's into.

But people don't wanna think about how that makes Elain feel. This girl who previously felt seen by only one person - who then rejected her bc of that bond itself - and craves someone to see who she truly is, is being courted by someone who doesn't actually like her for her, but just the idea of what a relationship with her would entail. He's only trying bc of some divine belief she doesn't share. That must suck like hell. It's almost objectfying, the bond. And again, I don't blame Lucien at all, not even for trying bc it is something that's important to him and his culture, but it's not a mutual thing. If it were important to Elain too and she just wasn't cooperating bc of some stupid shallow reason, then I'd be angry at her. But that's not the case at all.

But with Azriel, the first person to see her since Graysen, there's so much potential for growth - for both of them. They make each other feel seen. And for all that antis say neither has grown in the time they've known each other, how did Az pluck up the courage to almost kiss Elain after having not done anything with Mor for five centuries? How did Elain initiate that kiss - ie have the courage to follow her heart again after having it torn and shredded by Graysen? And anyway, weve never seen into Elain's head so we don't know what she feels has changed within her; we can only detect subtle changes from other povs, but there might be some huge changes in her learnt from Azriel, maybe about her outlook on life/strength, that she's just keeping hidden for the time (or that no one has bothered to see bc Elain is invisible 😭). Same with Azriel. One little chapter isn't gonna tell us everything he's been thinking the past two years.

But either way, we know now that they both have feelings for each other. Why is a mutual healthy relationship shut down so quickly, one where both partners' choices are taken heed of? If Elain had said no in that moment, Azriel would've stepped back instantly, no questions asked. He probably would've have some huge internal conflict about his own self worth but he wouldn't have gone further without Elain's consent. He's already shown he respects her, he said they've been sharing looks and touches, and these are things fandom eat up, so I don't understand why it's suddenly wrong or unwanted just bc Elain makes up half the ship.

And there's so much foreshadowing/symbolism that antis seem oblivious to, which, fair enough, interpret the text how you want. But even if somebody doesn't see the spark or blooming feelings between the pair throughout the books (how do they explain away all the stiffness whenever one of them is mentioned or is in the same room or something though? Genuinely curious here), there's a lot of plot foreshadowing. The Blood Duel has now been mentioned twice, as has the idea of breaking the bond, maybe more. There's the issue with Koschei and Elain not being able to see things related to him past mist and shadow. There's all this potential conflict that could arise between the Courts if elriel pursue their love, and conflict is the driving force of any novel.

If gwynriel were an IRL couple, I wouldn't care if there were never any conflict, but if I'm reading their story, I want more than just them falling in love and having internal conflict about whether they should kiss the other or not. Especially if the backdrop is a fantasy world on the brink of war with many players. I saw a gwynriel post mentioning Merrill once and while I do think she has the potential to be a running antagonist, I don't see her as anything but a subplot/crony for/associate with another stronger villain. I don't think she could carry a whole novel at the moment. So Gwyn is tied to nothing in the overarching plot. Same with Az. Not to mention all the theories about the Koschei/Swan Lake/firebird folklore that is potentially inspiring this new series in the acotar world. Of course, this could all change as we get more info about the next book/s and all, but compared to elriel certainly, I don't think there's as much conflict with gwynriel.

Ultimately, I don't claim knowledge of the next books' content, so I don't really care what people ship, but the main thing I take issue with is how they treat Elain in the midst. A lot of gwynriel arguments I've seen portray certain acts in a romantic/positive light for Gwyn but either completely ignore or erase any semblance of romance for Elain or tear her down. Like, we shouldn't push the narrative that Gwyn as an SA survivor can't have healthy meaningful sex in the future (yeah, of course I agree), yet some of the same people who say that are also people who judge and make fun of Elain and call her too vanilla for Az without having a clue what her bedroom habits/preferences are 🤯 This is just one of many. There are so many double standards I've seen for gwynriel against elriel and I'm just tired of it. And even if they're not doing any of that, they simply hate Elain and don't want her to be with Az and so ship gwynriel as the next best alternative. Like, can they not push down Elain in favour of Gwyn, please? That's so misogynistic 🤮

For all that this fandom flaunts the series being feminist with strong female characters, they sure do a good job in tearing down females who don't fit their definition of strong, despite even Feyre stating and acknowledging multiple times that Elain has a different kind of strength 😒

Gahhhhhhh. *exhales deeeeeeeeply* Sorry this is so damn LONG!! 😅😅😅😅😅 I did not expect to write a whole bloody essay lol but I hope it was fun/comforting to read at least 😅😆 I know I fall back on elriel posts when the ship war gets too intense bc I actually enjoy shipping elriel. They've become my otp, and I absolutely adore both characters of the ship; I think most of us elriels do. I haven't really seen any elriel stans who dislike/don't care for Elain and her welfare so it's nice being in this corner of the fandom where we can appreciate both Az and Elain equally. And of course, the other characters with their due respect. I truly do want Lucien to finally get his good life, but I don't think that's with Elain 😕

#elain archeron #elriel #azriel acotar #elain x azriel #Acotar #Acosf spoilers

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purpleglitterypinecone · 3 years

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you know what? i've never read a single sjm book in my life and i don't think i will but i know basically the plot of the story because of rant reviews and i just want to say:

WHY ARE ALL OF THE MALE LOVE INTERESTS I'VE HEARD OF SO.... (IN LACK OF A BETTER WORD) ANIMALISTIC???? LIKE WHAT IS WITH THE GROWLING AND MATES AND PURRING LIKE (T_T). ALSO, WHAT IS WITH THE AGE DIFFERENCE????? LIKE.... ರ_ರ (do people really find the characters 'hOt' this way?)

is this how adults are experiencing rOmAnCe in their life rn? like why is EVERYONE so abusive and mean? i mean, can't you be a badass without being an asshole too?

idk whether to laugh or cry over the failed potential of the books.

also, the fact that sjm has SOOOO MANYYY characters in the series and none of the poc or lgbtq+ characters play significant roles. like when i heard about mor's coming out scene (someone actually read to me the ENTIRE THING), let me just say that as a gay, that scene changed me to be homophobic. like..... ಠ_ಠ. so now, thanks to sjm, i'm gay AND homophobic (jk) but yeah....

Yeah, I tend not to read things I know will piss me off or make me angry. Sjm’s books do that a lot but I find I actually enjoy some aspects so I keep going. Right now, I have no idea whether I’m going to have someone read the next book before I do or read when it comes out.

I always think it’s important to form my own opinion on things and I can’t do that truthfully, and without as much bias, if I haven’t read the sources firsthand.

The animalistic thing probably has something to do with them not being human, I think? It never really bothered me because I just ignored most of it — the sex scenes aren’t that good (I will say they got better in ACOSF though).

THE AGES THOUGH. Yeah, I find it all a bit weird. Especially since we don’t have an established ageing system for the fae, it’s a bit wacky to read and even harder to understand from an objective point of view. I think it would’ve made more sense to make the love interests a few hundred years younger. You can tell that Feyre needs friends her own age.

I think if an author is going to have a love interest over a few hundred years old, and has the backstory alike a lot of males in sjm’s books, the mc has to be unhinged and ready to kill. They need to be dark because otherwise it just doesn’t work. Holly Black’s The Folk of the Air book’s are a good example of this. Jude is unapologetically corrupt and badass. That’s the type of protagonist you need for a human and fae romance to work otherwise it falls flat in my opinion.

The problem I have with sjm’s books is how she is promoting them as something it is not. The relationships that she writes are not healthy and I would be okay with this if that were acknowledged. For example, many dark romances often include trigger warnings and state that the relationships are not healthy and are not to be read by the faint of heart. The problem here is that the relationships in her books are promoted as good and healthy — THIS IS NOT WHAT WE SHOULD BE TEACHING YOUNG WOMEN. It’s okay to want to read about toxic relationships, you just have to realise that they are toxic and they are not accurate depictions of what is healthy.

Also, YEAH, I hate how sjm makes the “badass” characters in her books assholes. I could write a whole essay on this lmao.

I think sjm is a very surface level writer, she’ll do what catches people’s attention and keeps them reading even if it’s not right or has no depth to it.

I’m not even going to go into depth here about the representation because it’s way too much for me to go through. I seriously think that either sjm knows we talk about this and thinks she is doing a good job — ignoring us because ignorance is her bliss — or hasn’t noticed a community of angry readers who write rants about her books, because I don’t understand how she hasn’t picked up the message yet.

Also, Mor is gay? No, she’s fucking bisexual. Sjm couldn’t even make that clear and it had to be clarified later. That whole coming out scene was atrocious.

#anti sjm #sjm critical

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bookofmirth · 3 years

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Hi! I’m the anon that asked you to elaborate on an earlier point you made and I appreciate your reply! It definitely helped me to better understand what you meant.

I wanted to hop back in your asks because there is still a little disconnect in my brain that I wanted to hear your reply for. It is no secret that POC in real life have been vilified for their actions, speech and thoughts for the past few hundreds years in American history (not to mention throughout the rest of the world).

Because of this, I’m wondering how it is possible for an author to write a POC character that is morally grey or even a villain without somehow drawing connection to a real life historically racist occurrences. If SJM writes that elain is uncomfortable around lucien and he happens to be a POC and disabled, and in doing so, that is calling back to the racist history you mentioned (even if that’s not the actual reason elain is uncomfortable), then how is any POC character able to be written without facing the same fate? Since POC have been historically criticized for pretty much every single thing, even breathing it seems like.

I love to see authors writing about diverse characters and in my opinion it’s boring when characters are “perfect”. I like to see morally grey or villainous characters but if authors are going to be criticized for writing POC characters who are controversial, I don’t know how anyone is going to be able to write without facing backlash.

I hope this makes, I apologize if it’s a bit all over the place. I’m hoping you can help provide some clarity again. Thank you!

Hello! Sorry for taking a couple of days on this one, I knew it would be complex.

The tl;dr is yes - it is possible to write a character of color who is morally grey. It just has to be done thoughtfully.

I think that you are right, it is really tricky for people to write POC or for example disabled people, or sometimes queer people, who are villains. But the issue isn't so much that they can't be written as being morally grey, it's more about whether their characterization falls into common, harmful tropes.

One of my absolute favorite booktubers talks a lot about the portrayal of people with disfigurement in media, and I think that watching her could be helpful! She made this video recently (I haven't watched it yet) and she also had an Instagram post go viral a while back because of the movie The Witches. Here is the post, and she was asked to write about it, so here is an article. The point is that it isn't the one occurrence, but the repeated trends that people have of portraying people (with disfigurements, in this case) as evil, as less than human, as wrong, as Others.

Each marginalized group has their history of having really harmful tropes or stereotypes thrust on them. The idea that trans women or gay men are predators, that bisexual women are sluts, the single Black mother is a "welfare queen", etc. Those are the stories that authors should avoid repeating. It's not just "POC can't be villains or you're racist," but does that villain play into stereotypes about that particular race or ethnicity, stereotypes that have been used to marginalize them or harm them in the past.

It's a lot to take in, I know. It's a constant process of reconciling with our history (by "our" I mean American, I am sure that these take different forms elsewhere) and seeing if and how that is portrayed in current media, and pushing back against those representations.

I agree that authors, even if straight and white etc. etc. should be able to write about characters who are not like them. The thing I don't like about some of this criticism, especially in places like book Twitter, is that people try to "purify" everything so that if you aren't queer, you can't write a queer story, as one example (see: the harassment Becky Albertalli has faced that forced her to come out). This is all fiction, and if we can't write about anything outside of what we, personally, have experienced, then what's the point??

The easiest way for writers to avoid this is to do their homework, especially if they are writing about something they don't experience personally. I have seen people say that a good distinction to make is that writers can have a character whose identity they don't share, but they should not write about what it is to be that identity. So in other words, it's okay for a straight author to have queer characters, but a bit icky if they write a story about what it's like to be queer. I think that I agree with this take. I would personally rather read a story about what it's like to be queer from someone who is, but I think anyone could write a story with queer characters.

This is also why sensitivity readers are used more often lately. I don't think it's possible to know every single harmful stereotype that exists, the only reason I know a lot is because I spend a lot of my professional development time on these issues and read nonfiction about them. So getting help from elsewhere is a good idea. I don't think it's possible to please everyone or avoid every faux pas.

I think that on the flip side, a lot of people will argue "well it's just a book" and yes, but that book doesn't exist in a vacuum. If it's perpetuating harmful stereotypes, wouldn't we want it to... not?

I am still on my soapbox haha but I also think that books are art and art does not have to moralize or teach us something or accurately represent anything. However, it's not exempt from criticism. That's why I usually defer to my own judgement on these things, trying to balance how a book or movie or whatever fits into the broader context of marginalization and social justice, with the purpose of art. That works for me because I am aware of what I am consuming, while also just plain enjoying myself.

I hope this helps! It's super tricky because I think we all want and expect different things of the media we consume, and some of us are aware of more painful or troublesome aspects of history and how those impact media, and some of us aren't aware, and some of us care a lot, and some of us don't care at all... I prefer being well-informed and aware, personally.

#booklr #acotar #ask #anon

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dontcall-sleeping · 4 years

Text

If I was to (negatively) review acosf on three things here's how it would go:

- usually I'd add a point for world building but this is like 5 books into the series so I'm not talking about that rn

- let me know if there's any plot points or characters or relationships you want me to talk about

- should I do a positive review of the book too? Like talking about things I liked?

1. Plot:

First off, the main plot seemed very repetitive when you compare it to the main trilogies plot. "Find the magical objects to stop the big bad villain". I realize that Nesta's recovery was a bigger focus of the book but this was just kind of lazy.

The sideplot of Rhys and Feyres pregnancy pissed me off to an extreme level. First off, pregnancy is supposed to be rare in this universe and the fact that within a year or so they're already pregnant makes me uncomfortable. Especially since last time we checked in with Feysand they said they weren't planning on getting pregnant. The fact that in such an advanced world the baby had wings and Feyre didn't was a major problem is ridiculous. "she'll lose too much blood with a c section". That was incredibly unbelievable but I won't rant too much about it.

Then Rhysand keeping the fact that Feyre would die in the pregnancy was ridiculous because regardless of his reasons he had no right to keep it from her. And the idea that even their doctor wouldn't tell Feyre was also infuriating. This was just another example of Rhysands actions being excused on the basis of "I was protecting her" or "it was better for her" or whatever. I don't wanna hear it I despised it.

2. Characters

Let's start with Nesta, she was written pretty well for a character that was struggling mentally but any of her interactions that weren't with the Valkyries or sexual with Cassian always framed her as the bad guy even though it was written from her POV.

Feyre showed zero development since the past books and I was disappointed that her amazing powers didn't play a bigger role in anything at all. Her pregnancy basically prevented her from showing the growth I was hoping from her. And I feel like even though she was the MC, she's been reduced to Rhys' mate which is kind of sad.

Elain is still pretty bland to me and I have no desire for her to be mated with Az and I hope she doesn't doesn't a romantic relationship with Lucien bc I love him. That's all

Cassian seemed very eager for a Feysand like relationship but when the chance came I feel like he could've done so much more. I also feel like there was no addressing his previous actions where he insulted Nesta multiple times. *more in the romance section

I didn't read the Az bonus chapter but I got the gist. Tbh I feel like him wanting Elain is like a phase and he'll be over her soon enough. He's one of the only people I think who hasn't badmouthed Nesta so he's still good in my books. I don't see him being shipped with Elain at all and there's potential with Gwyn but I still haven't developed too much of an opinion yet.

Amrens character was really fun for me in the earlier books but looking at it now I could do without her. Her pressuring Rhys to take the high king title kind of ruined her for me and I feel like it was just an opportunity for sjm to make Rhys seem like a better guy when he refused. Also it made no sense anyway since the high king thing was something they were trying to prevent in the previous books.

Mor wasn't too present in this book, I know she wasn't the biggest fan of Nesta but I don't completely hate her yet. I feel like maybe if we saw more development with her in her assurance in herself, rather than a love interest I'd be more interested in that. I'd also like to uncover more about her past with Eris because I actually really like him.

Speaking of Eris, all I want to say is that I hope he becomes friends with Nesta because there are so many parallels between them and we already know Nesta isn't gonna become besties with the IC. At least I hope not.

Gwyn and Emerie were great I'd love for them to be Nesta's support system and continue as major characters in the books. I don't have any complaints about their characters or the House.

Last is the villain, I know the name started with K but that's about all I remember. That's how memorable they were. (I can't even remember the pronouns, we'll go with he) is it koshei? Something like that anyway. I'm sure you can already tell I didn't find him interesting. Similar to Hybern, there wasn't a lot of depth in the character or in the motives.

3. Romance

We're not talking about Feysand because I'm sick of them and I've already forgotten about them thank you.

Nessian had so much potential but looking back at the way they were written I'd be better off without the ship. I feel like we get nothing from Cassian about actually appreciating Nesta and her personality and her company and all of the things couples do. They were kind of just reduced to sex buddies if yk what I mean. I feel like sjm heard the word sex and just kind of went overboard and just forgot about everything else. It felt like she'd set them up at the beginning and just kind of ran with it and forgot about details and why they actually felt attraction towards each other and why the two felt they were right for each other. For nesta after a major mental health journey a relationship seemed like the last thing she needed but it was all put out to be as simple as "she needs a love interest and she loves him because I said so". I guess what I'm trying to say is Nesta is such a deep character but her relationship with Cassian was so surface-y and black and white.

I still ship Az with no one and Lucien with no one. Ngl Eris for Nesta is looking pretty good rn.

#acosf analysis #acosf review #anti nessian #acosf spoilers #anti feysand

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redisriding · 4 years

Text

Reading Schedule

{UPDATED 26 December 2020}

I thought I would share in case anyone is looking for book recommendations, has recommendations, wants to read along, or chat about books. My ask box is always open if anyone has any recommendations that they think I might like, or wants opinions on books I’ve read.

December

From Blood and Ash - [READ] To be totally honest, I found this book disappointing. Maybe I had set my expectations too high because I had seen so many people online talking about it, but it just didn’t do it for me. From the beginning the book is VERY much a tell don’t show. I also found it in places, frankly, boring. The romance just didn’t sizzle enough, and (without spoiling anything) for a maiden who is supposed to be cloistered away from the world, unable to speak to anyone, she seems to have a lot of interaction with people on a daily basis. She even admits in the first chapter to find it difficult to talk to people as she doesn’t understand the cadence of conversation, yet she is perfectly capable of witty interaction with everyone around her??? Also, I wasn’t super keen on the hero, he didn’t make my bathing-suit parts tingle as I hoped. He was kind of an obnoxious asshole and not in a sexy I want to smush genitals kind of way. Finally, the plot twists were utterly predictable and poorly executed. I think the main take away from this book was that it was excruciatingly boring. I will not be reading the sequel.

Splash Me - [READ] This book was the definition of SHORT but sweet. I read it in about a half hour so I’m not even sure if that classifies it as a novella. Regardless, it’s sweet, even if role-play gives me the ick.

Pumpkin Pounder - [READ] This book came in a duo with Splash Me. It’s a little longer but equally sweet. Still only took an hour to read.

Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood - [REREAD] I was in a bit of a book slump and felt like rereading one of my favourite books of 2020. It was great! If you haven’t already, read it! Although I have some THOUGHTS™️ about one particularly storyline that I need to think about some more before expressing.

Wallbanger - [DNF] This book has been on my to read list since the start of the year, I thought it would be nice to read it before the end of the year, but a couple of pages in I knew it wasn’t going to be for me. I didn’t like the heroine and was a bit icked-out by the way she talks about not being able to have an “O”. I just wasn’t in the mood to read a book about a man with a magic penis who can “fix” a woman with a “broken” body. I gave up after three chapters.

The Beast (Black Dagger Brotherhood 14) - [READ] After the disappointment of the Wallbanger, I decided to return to my old reliable and read the next book in the BDB series. I’ve said many times before that these books are pure trash, not least due to the inconsistent world building and slow erosion of distinct characters, BUT they’re my catnip! That said, I didn’t love the storyline of this book. I kinda hate when couples who had their happily ever after get resisted just so they can have kids. Unnecessary and annoying.

The Chosen (Black Dagger Brotherhood 15) - [READ] Gods, I love the couple at the centre of this book and had such high hopes, but it was all a bit of a let down. There were some MAJOR side storylines that kind of distracted from the main romantic one, and many of the characters who I loved demonstrated really ugly aspects of their personality here, or in other cases, behaved in a way totally out of character for them - it was most strange. What also annoyed me is that the book was drama and angst all the way through until the last 15ish pages when BOOM all of it was magically solved without the couple really working through things or getting to see any happiness/resolution between them. It was more a case of “this thing happened so they’re going to be happy” rather than ever get to see them happy, which I think these characters really deserved.

The Thief (Black Dagger Brotherhood 16) - [READ] This is Assails and Solas book, a couple who, admittedly, when they first appeared in a previous, I skimmed over their chapters. However, overtime I came to really love Assail. This book was honestly just okay, but unlike in previous books in this series when a vampire falls in love with a human, there is some unbelievably wild (and worldly inconsistent) way for them to become immortal and stay with their loved one. That didn’t happen in this book, and I’m not sure if I liked that ending or not.

A Warlord Wants Forever (Immortals After Dark .5) - [DNF] This book series was suggested to me as in a similar vein to ACOTAR/those who enjoyed SJM might enjoy this series. Let me tell you, IT WAS NOTHING like SJM’s writing. The storyline was poor, the stakes appeared unclear and inconsequential, but the biggest issue that I had with it was that it was seriously rapey. Not what I want in a romance at all. It was only a short novella so I persevered, but I will not be continuing with this series.

January

Ahead of the release of A Court of Silver Flames in mid February, I want to do an ACOTAR series reread (I spend so much time in Tumblr I almost forgot what is on the very page and what is comments/criticisms from the fandom!) I don’t know how long a total reread will take me but I plan to start around mid January, to be done just in time for ACOSF.

A Court of Thorns and Roses - [TO REREAD]

A Court of Wings and Ruin - [TO REREAD]

A Court of Mist and Fury - [TO REREAD]

February

A Court of Frost and Starlight - [TO REREAD]

A Court of Silver Flames - [TO READ]

#reading recommendations #Book Recommendations #From Blood and Ash #splash me #pumpkin pounder #crescent city #wallbanger #black dagger brotherhood #immortals after dark #acotar #acowar #acomaf #acofas #acosf

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ma-lemons · 5 years

Text

my thoughts on some acotar characters

Hello. I’d like to discuss Elain, Lucien, and Nesta. First thing to know about me. My OTP (besides Feysand since I think is a given) is Elucien. I haven’t read ACOFAS yet.

Elain

I like Elain. People think because you’re nice, or you’re sweet, you’re automatically weak. But Elain killed Hybern and I’m so happy about that. I can never relate to heroines because they are so badass and tough, and the nice characters usually dies or is portrayed as very naive. Either way, I think Elain needs character development, but I don’t think she needs to become “tougher” or more like Nesta. Elain is struggling mentally, so while I do ship Elucien, right now, what she needs is someone to get her out of her little funk. A friend. Someone to open up to, so she can slowly find her purpose. Maybe that’ll be Lucien. Maybe that’ll be Feyre or Azriel. Maybe someone completely different. Another thing I think people ignore is that Elain was part of Feyre’s abuse too. While Feyre was out hunting, Elain didn’t lift a finger, just like Nesta. She has just as much blame in this situation like Nesta does. Maybe she wasn’t as cold to Feyre, but both sisters let their baby sister provide for them instead of doing anything to help. And it makes me so mad that Feyre hasn’t confronted them about it. I think Elain has a lot of room for improvement before falling in love, and I hope SJM will provide it for her. That being said, her falling in love may help her character development, but I’d like to see some non-romantic development.

Lucien

I love Lucien. He is my favorite character in this series, and I can’t really put my finger on it as to why. I just love him. That being said, Lucien needs a purpose, just like Elain. The poor guy lost his best friend (Tamlin still kinda sucks, sorry), his love, his whole family (not that we care, besides his mom). He really has no one, and the Inner Circle either treats him like crap or ignores him fully. Sometimes I wonder why SJM even put him in the series. He wasn’t in ACOWAR for five minutes and when he was sent to find Vassa, he didn’t even find her, Feyre’s DAD did (also wth that was so random, but I enjoyed it). As an Elucien shipper, I feel like these two could help each other love again, but SJM doesn’t really give Lucien a lot of room to grow. His personality went from sassy and witty to... kind of despondent, bummed... and with him trying to figure Elain out, it’s like he’s a lost puppy. I just want to know what Lucien’s plan is!! And someone please let him have a happy family ending, for goodness sakes. Someone give him a hug, please. For me. (Also I know lucien has many flaws that need to be fixed, especially his undying loyalty to tamlin when feyre was in trouble, I feel like his judgement gets clouded often.)

Nesta

Oh boy. *breathes* okay. Here we go.

Nesta. Oh, Nesta. I really wish I could say I like you, but really I don’t. I really don’t. And before you say “Oh, you hate Nesta because she’s cold, and powerful, and doesn’t take crap from people” NO. No, I love that about Nesta. She is refreshing and amazing and so strong. But I hate how she treats Cassian and ESPECIALLY FEYRE. I can’t ship Nessian until Nesta stops treating Cassian like garbage. I haven’t read ACOFAS yet, but I heard that Nesta slept around with guys, and I for one didn’t really care, but then I remembered she kissed Cassian? Did... what happened to that? Its not the fact that she was sleeping around it’s the fact that I saw no purpose in that kiss if she is this closed off. I just wanna know why. Was this a tease for what is to come? In ACOWAR, you could feel her worry and concern for him, and then, she ignores him again. I just can’t ship something that seems so toxic. Not yet. The idea of Nessian is cute, but in reality, neither Nesta nor Cassian are ready to be together, in my opinion. Nesta is in a lot of denial and is very, very stubborn. I’m not quite sure what she wants, because it’s all surface level. She wasn’t Elain to be safe, but what else? What are her desires? Her wishes? I don’t know anything about Nesta besides the fact that she is cold!!! Now. Onto Feyre. God. Nesta makes me so mad. Your dad didn’t provide for the family. Okay, yes that stinks. Your little sister hunts for y’all. The LEAST you can do is treat her like a human being. Why did she only protect Elain? Is Feyre not the youngest? Why did she never even hug her, tell her it was okay, HELP her? I really can’t like a character like this, she just upsets me a lot, for multiple reasons. I can’t wait for the day she apologizes and Feyre yells at her, gets all her anger out. Nesta needs to be slapped. (okay maybe I’m a bit overboard). I think Nesta needs to learn to prioritize and see things from other people’s point of view. She has her good moments, but sometimes I think everyone glorifies her too much for the little good things she does. That being said, she has a lot of good qualities that I think really show how she could be a good leader.

Let me write this bigger for people who don’t understand. Nesta doesn’t owe Cassian anything. That’s why I don’t particularly ship them becuase theres so many mixed signals going on here. If Nessian wasn’t a really big ship, I don’t think I’d mind Nesta’s animosity towards Cassian. Clearly if it’s to be canon, it’ll needto be developed, but i can’t actively ship it because of the way she treats him. Nesta doesn’t NEED Cassian. I’m only stating this because most of the fandom seems to like this ship. Nesta doesn’t need to be nice to Cassian at all, but for she could sure stop acting like she’s ready to kill everyone around her with her bare hands. Don’t mistake my dislike for her as me hating her because Nessian isn’t canon yet. That isn’t it. Feyre and Cassian have both done so many things for Nesta and she literally acts like she is incapable of at least thanking them.

Overall, there’s a lot of things I don’t like about this series and a lot of things I like. There will be more books, so I’m only hoping Sarah can create good romances as well as develop all her characters. I have many different thoughts on ships, which I could write about later on if I have time. I’m practically begging for Elain development because I just want to see her flourish!

#a court of frost and starlight #acotar #a court of thorns and roses #elain archeron #lucien vanserra #nesta archeron #books #sarah j maas #acotar series

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