#acotar critical

[litnerdwrites]

"Cassian would be such a good father!" "He's such a girl dad!" "I hope we get a Nessian baby in the next Acotar book!"

That would be the start of a horror story. Not because of the risk of death thing, since it was taken care of at the end of ACOSF. No. Nessian are not ready for a kid, and quite possibly never will be at this rate. There are 101 reasons why neither Nesta or Cassian would be good parents at this current stage in their relationship and their personal development, especially if the dynamic we see in the HOFAS bonus chapter is anything to go by.

When you become a parent, you are responsible for your child's physical, mental and emotional wellbeing, and should provide for them within the best of your abilities. That goes beyond food, shelter and clothing. It means support, love and encouragement, fostering a safe, nurturing environment for them to grow up, free to be themselves.

Nessian can't give that. Not entierly anyway. I don't believe that either of them wouldn't love their child. What concerns me is if they would love their child enough.

Cassian has proven time and time again that he will chose Rhysand over Nesta, no matter what. If he can't chose his damn mate, how could he chose his child. What would he do if it came down to choosing between his Rhysand and his mate & child?

We've established that the mating bond is likely to be the Cauldron's form of selective breeding based on power, so it's highly likely that their child would be incredibly powerful too. The IC have been shown to go as far as lie and manipulate their own in order to exploit their powers. That is what happened to Nesta in ACOSF time and time again. Hell, it's been happening since the IC met Nesta in ACOMAF.

It's not beyond possibility for the IC to lie and manipulate or guilt trip Nessian's child the way they did to Nesta, so they can exploit that power. The worst part is, Cassian, thus far, hasn't given us a reason to think he wouldn't go along with it. If Amren, or Rhysand decide they need Nessian's kid to do something "for the good of the court" but Nessian's kid doesn't want to, or is reluctant? Would Cassian really stand up to Rhysand for the sake of his child? He doesn't love Nesta enough to stand up for her, why would he try to stand up for his kid?

Even if he did stand up for NK, (I'm calling his and Nesta's hypothetical kid NK from this point on, to make things easier) what's to stop the IC from going behind his and Nesta's back? What's to stop Cassian, from going behind Nesta's back on the off chance that he agrees with the IC but Nesta refuses to allow it (assuming NK isn't an adult, which in this world is about 50-80 years)? I wouldn't put it past Nesta's own sisters, and so-called family to undermine her rights and position as NK's mother by going behind her back and making the kid do what they want anyway.

They might not even bother hiding it from her and, like the intervention, tell her it's happening, regardless of how she feels. What proof do we have that Cassian would stand up for her or NK? Would stop the IC, for his child's sake, and defend his mate's right as Nk's mother? He wouldn't. Current, cannon Cassian, wouldn't. He simply doesn't care for Nesta enough to defend her rights and boundaries as his mate, so we can't believe he would defend NK from the IC, if it came down to it.

Then there's the issue of Illyria. Some people are of the opinion that the bat boys would send their kids to Illyrian war camps because it's their culture, while others argue that they wouldn't because it was traumatising. Personally, I think certain parts of Illyrian culture needs to become part of their history instead, like the child soldiers, and wing clippings, for example, but that's not the point.

Rhysand claims to advocate for change and equality in Illyria by thrusting a sword into a woman's hand, and basically forcing them to train too. Based on the argument with Devlon in ACOFAS, it's safe to assume that some level of force and authority is being used to make the women train. But handing them a sword and making them train, presumably in skin tight leathers, while men gawk and stare at them, isn't Equality.

Equality, by definition, means that men and women have the same status, rights and opportunities.

Opportunity, by definition, is "A set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something".

Equality in Illyria won't exist until men and women alike have the choice to not be warriors. Women like Emerie are lucky enough to inherit businesses, but the social circumstances mean that while women may, technically, run businesses, social pressures prevent it. They either wouldn't get business, or other Illyrians might refuse to sell business licenses or stock to them.

These same social pressures are what the IC apply to women when they make them train with the men, without considering what they want. These are the same social pressures that the IC would apply to NK if they decided that they wanted her at these camps. Not only would they consent to leaving one of the youngest members of their 'family' with a people who are so openly hostile to them and to women in general, what are the odds that they would hear any objections from NK?

If NK said they didn't want to train, but the IC wanted them to become a warrior, either to help protect Velaris or to, once more, exploit their powers, or their potential strength (Illyrian killing power, whatever that is).

Cassian claims to love his people, but won't provide them with the opportunities they deserve. He doesn't look or listen to find out what they need, and he did the same to Nesta. He forced her to do things she didn't want to, without asking or understanding what she wanted or needed. If his child were to refuse training, or express interest in other areas, would he ignore them too? Would he force them to train as well?

If his child went through something traumatic (which is pretty much guaranteed with the IC as their family), would he resort to the same methods they used to break Nesta? Once again, we have no reason to believe he wouldn't strip his children of their personal choices, all so they become loyal, complacent weapons of the IC.

What's worse, is that those children may even become weapons to use against Nesta. Who's to stop the IC from telling Nesta's own kids lies and stories to turn them against her? They isolated her in an attempt to break her into compliance, what are the odds they wouldn't bar Nesta from her children? They used Elain to strong arm Nesta into doing their bedding, who's to say they wouldn't use her children? Or manipulate her children against her in some way? Who's to say Cassian wouldn't just let it happen, or even actively participate in the manipulation.

Cassian's loyalty and dedication to the IC would always come before Nesta and their potential children. He's not ready to be a father because he could never put his children before his brother or the rest of his family. The truth I'm seeing is that Cassian, clearly, doesn't love his mate, and probably wouldn't love his child as much as the IC. He wouldn't love them enough to stand up for them. He wouldn't love them enough to not manipulate or coerce them into using their body or powers in a way that the IC approves of (yeah, I also never thought I'd have to read, much less write, that a parent wouldn't love their kid enough to not manipulate them). He's unfit, at this point, to be a parent.

Moving on to Nesta, who still has several unresolved mommy issues, clearly. Her mother raised her to marry a prince and, assumedly, be the perfect wife. Given that the way women are treated in the mortal lands, it's not a stretch to imagine that part of that training would mean obeying her husband (or in this case, mate,) and looking the other way if he cheated, amongst other things.

These values may explain why Nesta isn't as assertive against the IC or Cassian as we'd like. Even if it's subconsciously, some of those values seem likely to be so ingrained in her that she can't break away, as we see when she takes Rhysand's abuse in HOFAS bonus chapter. It's also a fair to assume it may be part of the reason she does what the IC ask when searching for the trove. I'm not saying that those traditions and her mommy issues are the only reason why, there's plenty of other reasons why Nesta acts in these ways, including the brainwashing she got in ACOSF, but it's reasonable to assume that they're at least part of the reason why.

Speaking of brainwashing, Nesta was brainwashed in ACOSF. She was beat down and forced into submission to the point where she even tells Gwyn that she's glad Feyre did that for her. Nesta gave up her dream and desires to travel, her power, her autonomy, and her aspirations just to be subservient to the IC. She became barely a shell of who she was by the end of that book.

That's not to say this is Nesta's fault. Not by a long shot. This is a result of abuse at the hands of the IC, her mother and Cassian. Abuse that left Nesta way more vulnerable and malleable than she was before, stripping her of anything the IC didn't approve of. Meanwhile Cassian did nothing. She thought that she had to earn Cassian's love, despite him being her so-called mate. She seriously thought that she, as her parents' daughter, had to earn their love, for fucks sake people.

What happens if the IC decide that they don't like way NK is growing up, or that they don't like how the kid is dealing with potential trauma? Will they push Nesta into believing her own child doesn't deserve her love? Will Nesta, at any point, consider if her child doesn't deserve her love if they don't have an interest in training or court affairs or training their powers? f

Nesta, like Cassian, is unfit to be a parent, for similar, yet very different reasons. Nesta's self hatred and the lack of ability to stand up to the IC (not saying that's her fault) would bring into question if she would be able to stand up for her children. If Cassian won't stand up for either of them, then how would she, if she feels that her kids deserve better, and that the IC are better. If she feels powerless, and weak, because of their abuse, she likely wouldn't be able to stand up to them. If they come after her together, she wouldn't be able to stand up to them.

I'm not saying any of this is Nesta's fault. She is a victim of abuse. Plain and simple. However, it's also reasonable to decide that she'd be unfit as a parent at that point in time, in large part, due to the environment that was created around her. It's not an environment to raise a child. Especially since Nesta is so brainwashed that it took a stranger from another world (Ember) who knew nothing about her pointing out how messed up her situation was for her to begin considering it as a possibility.

Nesta's own self hatred wouldn't allow her to see anybody but herself as the problem, so she likely wouldn't stand up to the IC or Cassian for her kids, in part because it was so ingrained that she had to obey her husband, but also, in part, because she's less likely to be able to fully understand if or how the IC or Cassian's actions hurt them. Or to consider those actions unnecessary. Even if it came down to mating bond divorce being the best option, if kids are involved, she might not end up going through with it, which can often be worse for kids than a divorce.

Nesta would love her kids so fiercely, but it would be difficult for that love to outweigh the brainwashing, self hatred and abuse that has been engraved into her mind for practically her whole life. She wouldn't love them enough for it to overshadow those voices in her head, through, once again, no fault of her own.

Then the kid themselves. Bringing a child into that mess would be just as torturous for the poor kid.

Imagine what it would do to a child, seeing your uncle threaten to kill your mother, while your aunts, and father and rest of your family let it happen. All because your mother tried to do the right thing?

Or, another scenario, is if NK overhears their aunt (Mor) complaining about how horrible their mother is, and how she belongs in a place you were taught was terrible and evil because she's just like them.

What would it do to NK, to grow up hearing Amren, somebody their Uncle and mother trust and love, refer to their mom in reference to how useful her powers are, or to NK themselves by how useful they are to the court.

NK would likely be forced to do things they don't want to 'show a united front' or to train because it sets an example to the Illyrians. NK would be exploited for their potential power, an initiative likely spearheaded by Amren, and trained to be just as blindly loyal to Nyx as Cassian is to Rhysand.

The child would likely be left to Amren to train, with or without Nesta's consent, and even if she did find the strength to vehemently reject the IC's methods of trying to raise her kid, she'd be punished. She'd be locked up and told she was bad for her own child's wellbeing, while breaking down the poor kid the way they broke her down. They stripped Nesta of her autonomy and freedom. If she had a kid, it wouldn't be long before they stripped her of her role as a mother.

At the end of the day, Nessian wouldn't be great parents, because the IC aren't a great family. They have issue upon issue to work through before they can consider their relationship even somewhat functional or healthy, much less bring a child into it.

So no. Nessian doesn't need a kid. They'd be terrible parents and need to figure their own shit out before they even consider having a kid. Nesta isn't in a good place, mentally, physically, or emotionally, to be able to act with the kid's best interests at heart. Meanwhile Cassian is either delusional enough that he thinks Rhysand's best interests equal everybody's best interests, including his kid's. So, he won't bother to stop Rhys or the IC from using the kid however he wants.

Which is why I'm begging you. Please. No. No Nessian kid in the next book. Not in any book. Not unless SJM somehow fixes the relationship between Nesta and Cassian, and by that, I mean figure out how to fix Cassian's character from ACOSF.

(On a side note, Nesta's basically still a kid by fae standards, and so is Feyre. So why? Why would they not wait anyway? Cause ew.)

[thedickgraysons]

i made a post that briefly dipped into the "amarantha was tamlin's mate" theory not long ago, and now that i've seen a handful of posts about it, i like repeating myself, and yelling into the sky while shaking my fist is my favorite hobby, i feel legally obligated to touch on it again (even though no one wants me to).

in my original post i said something about how the theory reeks of victim blaming, and honestly? i stand by it.

people often bring up this theory when talking about tamlin's behavior post-utm. they use it to explain why he was so volatile and why his mental health declined once he killed her and left the mountain or to talk about why amarantha would pursue tamlin at all. its a theory that, at its core, pins amarantha's actions entirely on tamlin.

amarantha was his mate, and the rejection of the bond caused her to snap; amarantha was his mate, so of course he went mad once she was dead; amarantha was his mate, which was why she tore apart prythian for him.

what amarantha was, is full grown. she was a power hungry general who was established in her field. she was mad, obsessive, and the object of her desire was a child who she met through his father.

it is a theory that takes away from tamlin's story, from the impact of the decades of mental abuse and psychological warfare that he underwent by amarantha's hand, and writes it all off as a consequence for him not accepting his abuser's harassment and advances. it makes him responsible for amarantha's wrongdoings, blaming him for her actions because, in the end, tamlin just wasn't a good victim. tamlin didn't square his shoulders and accept the bond to quell her.

[reblogandlikes]

The way I heavily detest the idea of Mor and Emerie together. Got the smallest inkling in ACOSF and instantly shouted, "I hope the fuck not, Sarah!" because Emerie deserve someone who will love her openly and fiercely. Not some chick who couldn't even be honest with those closest to her for centuries, let alone tell Azriel to piss off than allowing him to even speculate potential (he should have gotten the hint, especially as a spy master, but damn Faes are slow).

I also don't think everyone needs to mix and be friends. You can be friendly, but the IC will just ruin this cute female friendship that's been missing through the series and not everything need to be connected to Rhysand. I'd rather Emerie, whether she's bi or a lesbian, be with an Illyrian. Like all the 'bat boys' are with/want high fae women. The vibes are off. I'm not saying something, but I'm saying something. Like, how many variations of fae are there and you all just like the same type...? Have they even been with an Illyrian woman or dated one in all their years?

I need to see a cute Illyrian couple. Illyrian's demonstrating more than being tools to be used or asses or generally disregarded and disrespected. I need more like Balthazar. Just decent Illyrian's. I want to see more Illyrian women and someone to cus the shit out of Feyre for mimicking wings that do not belong to her while Illyrian women are grounded, seeming the IC won't educate her and how incentive that shit actually is.

Anyway...

Mor, your dumping ground is Rita's. Stay there!

[b00kdiary]

Eris Vanserra is Rhysand if he didn’t have the Inner Circle.

Eris Vanserra is a dreamer with no stars. The Autumn Court is his Hewn City, it’s his Court of Nightmares.

Free my man 😭

[lainalit]

Azriel in his bonus chapter💀

artists: lucien: mftfernandez | azriel: dominiquewesson

[wannabewriterlol]

I want tamlin and Nesta to start a therapy group and just work through the copious amount of gaslighting they’ve faced by Rhysand, Ferye, and the his merry band of idiots.

[simmanin]

What gets me about Feyre’s character is the inconsistencies.

Like in ACOMAF, we see her get upset over the Tithe thing in the Spring Court. And she chooses to help the wraith, even knowing that they’re not notoriously ‘good’ people. While I don’t think the Tithe makes Tamlin a monster, I can see why Feyre would get upset. It felt very much like something she would do up until that point.

However, when she goes to the Hewn City, it never dawns on her that there could be other innocent women there like Mor. I know she’s not in control at first, but even when goes back as their High Lady, she never questions it. When Keir ignores her, she even thinks “As I’m sure he ignored most women in his life”. And then he excuses himself from the meeting to ‘deal’ with somebody’s daughter (the man who mutilated his OWN daughter, btw) and she’s just cool with it???? It’s so clearly stated how women have little to no rights in the Court of Nightmares and everyone’s just cool with abusive, sexist men staying in control? And Rhysand’s whole “umm actually I rule this city 😠” every 9 months when he needs their army is so fucking stupid like bro you are allowing these men to hurt these women and you DON’T CARE. But that’s our feminist king😻

And don’t even get me started on her taking out her own personal vendetta on a whole court instead of just Tamlin. Ya know, the people she was just fighting for against the Tithe? Yeah she was like “fuck it you’re all dead to me now”. Okay Mrs. High Lady making terrible fucking choices already😭

I guess SJM is saving the dismantlement of the Court of Nightmares for Mor’s book (if we even get that) but for Feyre to not even question it more just because Rhysand said so genuinely aggravates me so much. She had no problem questioning Tamlin’s ruling decisions but somehow Rhys is absolved from all of that? Really? Is the dick that good, girl? Did she lose her morals in becoming his mate and High Lady? I need answers

[spacerockfloater]

The way people switched on Tamlin the moment Rhys was introduced is diabolical.

“Tamlin never really loved Feyre, it was all a trick from the start”: It is stated that Tamlin was disgusted by the idea of forcing someone to fall in love with him and considered it slavery, but ended up being so in love with her that he ultimately lets her go and choses her freedom and safety over that of his own people. Rhys confirms that Tamlin loved Feyre too much. And he loved her truly. Not because he had to. Tamlin treated Feyre with dignity when she was engaged to him. He introduced her as his lady, to be respected and cherished by all. And she really was loved his people, too. Rhysand uses her as his lap dog to scare Hewn City and parades her as his whore.

“Tamlin never did anything for Feyre, he just used her”: He improved her and her family’s life in every aspect and offered her everything he had.

“Tamlin had sex with someone else in Calanmai”: Out of duty and responsibility because he didn’t want to force Feyre, who still wasn’t sure about her feelings, into it. All of the High Lords perform the Calanmai. Lucien says so. How convenient that this is never brought up with Rhysand. He surely does perform it as well. All the theories in here, “Lucien doesn’t know what he’s talking about/ This is a SC ritual only/ He probably just passes the duty on to someone else” are just a way for people to villainise Tam and glorify Rhys again. All of them inaccurate. The Calanmai is canonically performed by every High Lord. There’s no evidence that proves otherwise. As the son of one High Lord and the ambassador of another, Lucien would know. He is 500 years old. It’s just more convenient for SJM to never bring this up again because it raises the question of “Who was Rhysand fucking all these years?” and it makes her favourite character look bad. And once he is engaged to her, Tamlin flat out refuses to do it. Let’s be real for a second.

“Tamlin didn’t help Feyre under the mountain”: He literally could not. He was bound by a curse. He was forced to be Amarantha’s consort and a consort cannot oppose you. His powers were bound. Alis warns Feyre that Tamlin will not be able to help her. Stop acting as if he didn’t want to help her. He decapitated Amarantha the moment he got his autonomy back. Claiming that there’s no proof that Tamlin was under the influence of a spell when he literally didn’t break the curse and Amarantha’s magic didn’t allow him to use his powers is crazy. And even if he tried, he could never provide actual help. We see this when he begs Amarantha for Feyre’s life. Him showing he cares about her would only make Amarantha more jealous and vicious towards Feyre.

“Tamlin made out with Feyre instead of helping her”: He couldn’t help her run away. No one could do that. She would never make it, Amarantha would find her. In fact, Tamlin specifically could not help her in any way. He could only assure her he still wants and loves her. And she wanted that just as much. Rhys abused her physically, mentally, verbally, drugged her and much worse. And he enjoyed all of it. If he didn’t want to raise suspicions, he wouldn’t have placed a bet in her favour. Rhys is a masochist, SJM just decided to mellow him down in the next book so that we’d all like him over Tamlin.

“Tamlin ignored Feyre’s wishes and only wanted her to be his bride, he didn’t let her be High Lady”: Both Tamlin and Feyre were bad communicators going though trauma and Tam had a whole court to care for. Tamlin was unaware of how Feyre felt because she barely spoke up once. Rhys knew because he literally lived inside her head and had all the time in the world to focus his attention on her since his court suffered zero consequences during Amarantha’s reign. And Tamlin simply told her the truth: there’s no such thing as High Lady. Even her current title is given to her by Rhys, the magic of Prythian has not actually chosen her to be High Lady. The title and its power are decorative. And she said she didn’t want that anyway.

“Tamlin locks Feyre up and uses his magic to harm her”: He locks her in his humongous palace to keep her safe, after she just came back from the dead and his worst enemy is kidnapping her every month, while he runs off to protect his borders. Rhysand lock Feyre in a fucking bubble. Tamlin loses control of his magic. He doesn’t want to harm her. That’s not abuse. Abuse is intentional. Feyre and Rhysand lock Lucien and Nesta up. They lock the people of the Hewn City up in a cave. Feyre loses control of her magic and harms Lucien’s mother. Double standards I guess.

“Tamlin is a bad and conservative ruler”: Tamlin is such a beloved ruler that his sentries literally begged to die for him. Feyre had to fuck with their minds to finally turn them against him. They were his friends. He was so progressive that the lords fled his court once he became their ruler because he wouldn’t put up with their bullshit like his father did. He loved all of his people. He is against slavery. The Tithe was just tax collection. Rhysand practically rules over just one city, while ignoring Hewn City and Illyria. He treats 2/3 of his realm like shit and everyone except the residents of Velaris hates him. He collects tax, too, but we conveniently never see this. He ranks the members of his inner circle (my 1st, my 2nd etc.) and reminds them every moment that they are his slaves first and anything else second, while Tamlin treats them equally and even gives Lucien an official title by naming him Ambassador.

“Tamlin conspired with Hybern”: He was a double agent and his short lived alliance, two weeks all in all, not only didn’t harm a single soul, but ultimately saved all of Prythian as he was the only one who brought valuable information to that meeting. He dragged Beron to battle. Rhysand’s alliance with Amarantha harmed thousands and only helped save one city, Velaris.

“Tamlin is responsible for turning Nesta and Elain into Fae”: No, that was Ianthe, who got the info from Feyre. Tamlin was fooled by her, just as Feyre obviously was, or she wouldn’t have trusted her. Tamlin was disgusted by that act.

“Tamlin is less powerful than Rhysand”: Rhysand himself says that a battle between them would turn mountains to dust. Tamlin killed Rhysand’s dad, the previous High Lord of the Night Court, in one blow. He is just as powerful as Rhysand. SJM again just wants us to believe otherwise. And he is smarter, too. He was the only one not to trust Amarantha. And he was a good spy for Prythian against Hybern.

All of these takes are cold as fuck. SJM was testing the waters with ACOTAR and she made sure the main love interest, Tamlin, was insanely likeable, so that the book could be a satisfactory standalone story in case she couldn’t land a trilogy deal. She didn’t know it would be such a big hit. But once she realised she could turn this into a franchise, she had to figure out a new story to tell. She may claim otherwise, but there’s just too many plothotes to convince me. And in order to make her new main love interest seem like the best choice, she had to character assassinate the old one. There was no other way. ACOTAR Rhys was too much of an evil monster to be loved by the majority of the audience. But Tamlin was introduced to us as such a heroic and passionate man that is literally impossible to turn him into someone despised by all. Feyre’s relationship with Rhysand reads too much like cheating on Tamlin. That’s why anyone with basic analytical skills is able to realise the flaws of the narration.

[washmchineheart]

things about the intervention talk in acosf that pissed me off (no particular order):

amren lying about the laws so nesta feels that she has no choice but to leave to HoW

feyre getting offended that nesta doesn’t want to live with them when 1) her mate hates nesta 2) she doesn’t even have paintings of her but does of their negligent father

feyre telling nesta she will tie her up and drag her to HoW and not even thinking about how that is exactly what happened to her the night nesta was made

rhysand just fucking destroying her building like she’s the only one that lives there (she’s not) and feyre acting like it was such a good act because it was for the “refugees from the war” (they wouldn’t care that much otherwise)

and just that the whole thing was more about feyre and saving her feelings so she doesn’t feel like she failed her sister than…nesta. the girl that actually needed help

[littlefeltsparrow]

Nesta’s emotional breakdown at the end of the hike was not a product of a well-meaning attempt to improve her well-being, but a manipulative pseudo-therapeutic strategy that aimed to simulate vulnerability and masquerade as progress in Nesta’s character arc.

The narrative would have you believe that the hike was an ordeal of self-discovery for Nesta, that Cassian was using a bit of “tough love” to help Nesta get better and grow as a person. But it operates on the idea that exposure to nature, which is presumed to be inherently beneficial, would give Nesta the push she needed to work through her issues and unpack the trauma that had been affecting her all throughout the book. But, this couldn’t be further from the reality that we are shown. Exercise like hiking can be immensely beneficial to one’s mental wellbeing and it can also be therapeutic in some cases, but such benefits are negated when the people involved are subjected to undue hardship and danger during that exercise.

It’s not a coincidence that Nesta opening up to Cassian comes directly after an extremely straining hike, during which she exhausted herself mentally and physically all while in the midst of intense psychological stress. Nobody told her that Feyre was alright after their heated argument, nobody told her that Feyre AGREED that Nesta did the right thing and understood why she did it. Consequently, this omission prolongs Nesta’s emotional anguish and guilt unnecessarily and makes the ordeal of the hike even worse.

Nesta, who has never hiked before in her life, is forced on one against her will, chaperoned by Cassian who does not speak to her and hardly looks at her during the 2 day hike. This is a detail that exposes this hike for what it truly is, a means of breaking Nesta’s spirit to get her back in line. It was never about piecing her back together, it was about shattering her emotionally to punish her for defying Rhysand’s authority. But, the text doesn’t want to admit that, it wants to pretend to make a grand statement on mental health and make a cheap copy of Cheryl Strayed’s memoir “Wild” without any of the pathos. Cassian can feel warm and fuzzy about the accomplishment of opening Nesta’s heart, when in reality, that vulnerability he witnesses is entirely a result of prolonged stress and pain.

So could it be, that Nesta’s emotional “ breakthrough” at the end of the hike, was not due to Cassian’s and the IC’s efforts to help her, but the combined strain of dehydration, exhaustion and intense emotional distress finally catching up with her after repressing it for 2 days straight?

[kataraavatara]

do y’all think that there are hewn city citizens who were born, lived their whole lives, and then died without ever seeing sunlight or the stars once. because they are literally trapped under the mountain, no? Mor was allowed outside apparently but by ACOWAR this exchange happens:

so they’re trapped inside of a mountain and can’t get out? how horribly claustrophobic. how confusing and scary for a little child.

[thedickgraysons]

i dont have all of the words for it right now but there's something so gross about the way sjm chose to handle tamlin's trauma and his responses to being triggered post acotar. and it's not the fact that she writes it at all, but the way the narrative beats you over the head with the fact that tamlin was Wrong for being harassed by amarantha and not giving her what she wanted, Wrong for being affected by it, and then he was Wrong for not pushing feyre's clear boundaries (her insistence to not speak about what happen UTM) when that is a trigger for the both of them.

tamlin's not sleeping in the bed as a beast as he is also incredibly traumatized after being utm, its framed as him being possessive. he doesn't insist feyre keep her powers secret and not come with him to hunt beasts because he had just watched her die, its because he's controlling. there's no addressing of how feyre was using him sexually as much as he was indulging in her, because the fact of the matter is they were on a path of mutual self-destruction.

then there is his and nesta's fandom and canon vilification and over-criticism because their responses to their trauma are "ugly." the lack of empathy their characters in particular draw. the narrative (rhysand's) insistence that nesta needs to get on her knees and spend the foreseeable future Atoning while tamlin can never make up for his actions.

the justification of the ic forcing themselves onto nesta. the fandom insistence that its rehab when they need to assert control over her, but she can leave at any time when someone points out that rehab centers dont let the therapists sleep with their patients. the gross fandom theory about amarantha being tamlin's mate and how he went "crazy" after the mountain because of it.

all of it reeks of both the 'perfect victim' theory and victim blaming

[littlemisssatanist]

my acotar unpopular opinions

taking this time to come out as an acotar reader. yes i've read all the books and i've spent way too much time thinking about it. i enjoy the books in the sense that i enjoy hating on many of the characters and loving a few of the others.

be forewarned inner circle fans. you will not like this.

rhysand is not a 'morally grey' character. he's a rapist and a groomer. he sexually assaulted feyre utm, he groomed her (reminder that she was 19 in acotar), and he withheld important medical information from her. 'you'll always have a choice' my ass.

nesta telling feyre about her pregnancy was not a bad thing. why do people act like it is? 'oh she did it to hurt feyre' hurt her by doing what? revealing the lies that her beloved husband had woven? revealing the fact that she'd die giving birth? the fact that rhysand told literally everybody but feyre?

mor is not the champion for women everyone thinks she is. this i will give to sjm it is truly impressive to make a character like women and still be a pick me. i'm not even going to go into her whole weird ass relationship with her dad (i still don't understand why she wouldn't just kill him. 'oh rhys needed the army' rhys is supposed to be the most powerful high lord ever. either admit he's a fucking loser or give me an actual good reason for this) or the fact she's seemingly incapable of doing anything to help the women in the court of nightmares, but everytime she was mentioned, i had to let out a heavy sigh and rub my temples.

on a similar topic. i liked eris. like a lot. out of all the acotar characters sjm has written, eris is by far my favorite.

the inner circle needs to sit the fuck down. they are the most hypocritical bitches i've ever met. they like to think themselves high and mighty. reading them make fun of lucien's band of exiles while their name is literally 'court of dreamers' was the most infuriating thing ever. and then they have the gall to be insulted when called out. don't dish what you can't take.

out of all the inner circle, the only one i don't hate is azriel. this is simply because he is the only one who hasn't opened his big fat mouth and done something bad (except if you maybe count his whole thing with elain). cassian is on my hit list. it's on sight with cassian.

nessian is sjm's worst ship and i will stand by that. lucien/nesta could have been so much. 'nesta would have ripped lucien apart' and cassian was your first choice? not even azriel was considered? like be so for real right now. sjm didn't see the potential of lucien/nesta and i will forever mourn that.

sjm is a terrible writer. i'm not saying this to be mean but she seriously just sucks at it. that being said i admire her ability to still make millions of dollars off her shitty writing. as a woman, i am rooting for her. as a reader, every day i wake up a shoot a prayer to the heavens begging the gods to not let sjm write any more books from the inner circle's pov.

lucien/elain is better than azriel/elain. argue with the wall.

eris/azriel is better than azriel/elain. you can kiss my ass.

NESTA/ERIS IS BETTER THAN RHYSAND/FEYRE. i know this because i have been enlightened.

feyre is a victim to rhysand. that being said, she is also a major bitch. both can be true because these things are not mutually exclusive. i wish she could make friends outside of the ic like nesta did, but i know that's unlikely.

feyre's pregnancy storyline was completely useless and went against her whole character.

acomaf retconned everything about tamlin and feyre's relationship in order to make more money. idc.

tamlin gets a ridiculous amount of hate. rhysand is hypocritical. so tamlin locking feyre in a house because she wants to ride out with him into potential danger is terrible and abusive, but rhysand locking nesta in the house of wind for... *checks notes*... having sex and spending money on alcohol is helping her? what?

[ecileh]

trying to write an acotar fic that is grounded in canon is such a sisyphean task because when you do a close reading of the text it kinda falls apart. like we talk about the major inconsistencies in characterization, plot, and worldbuilding a lot, but the details are also a mess. because why is it mentioned that feyre wears a crown to visit her sisters in acomaf and then never brought up again or explained. sorry but we actually do need to know WHY she is wearing a crown. like what’s the point of it here? to show off to elain and nesta of all people?? or did sjm just change the order of events in which feyre becomes high lady, and nobody in how many rounds of editing ever caught this?

anyway there’s some goofy nonsense like this almost every chapter

[lainalit]

[bettdraws]

SJM needing to butcher Tamlin’s character (or at least trying to) just made Feysand’s love story that much weaker.

You’re telling me that if Tamlin didn’t fuck up those two wouldn’t have ever been together? You’re telling me Feyre needed to see Tamlin as worse than Rhysand for her to fall in love with him.

Imo SJM could have made them fall in love without assassinating Tamlin’s character. I think Feyre finding solace in Rhysand’s grey morality could have been enough.