#anti sjm: nesta archeron

[ofbreathandflame]

stans are actually very funny bc they often time talk themselves into the weirdest corners.

the whole point of criticizing acosf and its handling of nesta's character is to prove the point that sjm...doesn't like nesta as a character. that's is literally THE point - that sjm often abandons her moral themes (abuse, trauma, assault, etc.,) for character's deemed as undesirable or villainous to a capacity - and its through the handling of those 'vilified' (i.e. main character opposed - not even villianous) that we can gauge the extent to which sjm actually believes the ideals of her story. like - it is alarming that the only tolerable, empathetic parts of the a court of silver flames were the moments you could tell where ripped straight from sjm's own life (the hiking, training, mind-stilling etc.,). any actual characteristics about nesta weren't explored...like at all. her relationship with feyre and elain, with her mother, her trauma from her sexual assault, her conflicted relationship with her grandmother, her life before the cabin, her life during the cabin. in 800 pages - i still don't know mama archeron's name. what was life like in the cabin? what did nesta do all day? what was the dynamic? what was going on between elain and nesta?i don't know anything about her and nesta, we don't know anything about nesta's human life, her conversation with clare bedor, her relationship with clare beddor, moments with her dad - not even touching moments with him (and part of this story is her finding love for her dad). mind you we read 800+ pages and we learned absolutely nothing about her.

we essentially read sjm's emotional journey in one part, and a taming of the shrew narrative in another. i think the only way sjm had genuine interest in exploring nesta's story is through essentially self-inserting herself and avoiding the actual plot-points she set up in the first three books. like did nesta have childhood friends? if losing the wealth so drastically affected her life wouldn't she reminisce about it a lot? would she yearn for her mother? who were her childhood friends, how did she function at court?

and the whole point of saying alll of that is to argue the misuse of these topics - serious discussions abuse are only reserved for certain situation, and others its completely undermined in a way that only reinforces the negative ideals to begin with. (i.e. nesta needs to abused bc..." "the intervention was harsh but" - pair that with discussion around what feyre needed in acomaf - and it makes much more sense).

nesta antis often jump between the fact that nesta is so favored that sjm nerfed feysand to 'redeem her' and arguing that sjm secretly does everything in her power to embarrass and secretly laugh at people who like nesta's character. (1) we've gotta pick one or the other (2) in my humble opinion - sjm would have always given feyre a pregnancy plot like this regardless of whether this was nesta's book or elain. its literally so sjm. im shocked people are surprised she pulled the pregnancy as she did.

as with the tamlin discussion we had under this post - i think the story undermines its discussion of abuse with feyre/tam by essentially insinuating that tamlin (when placed in the same victimized position as feyre) should have sucked it up and braved out his abuse with amarantha (and the same with rhysand as well - esp with the deliberate foil of rhysand's 'willingness' v. tamlin's unwillingness). and when we start to have a real conversation ultilizing our own irl analysis and standards we really see how harmful and rather sisyphean the conversation becomes. instead of engaging with these topics earnestly, they only engage in them to prove a point - which is how the issue began in the first place. the whole issue with rhysand isn't the fact that he engages with harmful, potentially villainous positions. no - its that the book wants to prove that tamlin is wrong by justifying rhysand's actions. so even though rhysand and tamlin almost always have the same written and expressed intentions in their abuse of feyre, the book flocks to justify one, and eschews the other. and thats why we get so much reactionary critcism of rhys that is surface: people only admit the problems because they know antis will, not because they actually believe their are issues in the story.

and perhaps im still speaking into a void here but i can tell there's tension between pro stans wanting to have these serious conversations but understanding they can only really introspect so far until the conversation begin to prod at the validity of the topics being brought forth. so stans have to jump between invalidating the romantasy genre ("its just faeries") and treating this book as a serious topic (cue: "sjm put a hotline in the back of the book"). this is also the exact reason why the racism conversations stall (i.e. why inherent superiority is always passively emphasized - despite cc1 + 2 centering human oppresion there is no human in the ensemble cast. despite the fact that illyrian women are the most oppressed - rhys has no illyrian women - or reg illyrians (not his brothers) in his inner circle. aelin 'sacrificing' her human body).

[starrbirrd]

I refuse to read the new book but what I'm hearing is that it's okay when the IC want to impulsively steal from another court which results in a death sentence, it's okay when both Feyre and Rhysand want to impulsively form pacts with ancient death Gods without consulting one another and treat it as a weird flirty gift???, it's okay for Cassian to impulsively murder the entire village where his mother was or whatever that was about, it's okay for them to impulsively tear down an entire apartment building to teach a lesson, Feyre and Rhysand made a life/death pact without consulting anyone- AND SO MUCH MORE because the IC is literally all impulse and no self control, but they're livid and hateful towards Nesta because she "did something impulsively". Okay Janet.

[whitedemon-ladydeath]

"rhys is finally in a time of peace and is happy with a healthy mate and son. of course hed rip into Nesta. Shes lucky he didnt do worse"

and. who do you think gave him that.

WHO do you think gave you that healthy mate and son, Rhysand? Mr. Let's Steal the Book Entrusted to the Summer Court. Mr. Let me just Routinely bypass Boundaries and Taunt High Lords due to a Personal Vendetta. Mr. Let me make a Death Pact with my Wife and potentially Leave my Court with no Ruler and make my child an Orphan. Mr. Let Me make a dangerous Deal with a Death God

The Dread Trove answers to Nesta. She is not one of Rhysands little special bootlickers like the rest of them. she made a calculated risk to help someone in dire need

Feyre would have done the same thing and you fucking know it

[lorcandidlucienwill]

The most disturbing things portrayed in ACOTAR

Victim-blaming: Lucien tries to help Feyre and gets physically abused by Tamlin as a result. Feyre then proceeds to call him a dog despite Lucien doing everything he could in a difficult situation. And we're supposed to...support Feyre on this? And Rhysand throws around words like "can never forgive" man stfu you prick.

Sexual Assault: The most disturbing thing is not that Rhysand sexually assaulted Feyre. It's that he's never held accountable for this and never even apologizes at ANY point in the series. There are so many examples but this is the one that is the most disturbing.

Double Standards: We have Tamlin locking Feyre up for her own good being vilified, yet Rhysand is championed for locking Lucien and Nesta up in houses for their own good. Huh? WTF.

War Crimes: What Feyre did to the Spring Court, manipulating the sentries with the whole Ianthe thing and basically getting them killed, then weakening the Spring Court rulership which resulted in all those villagers in the Spring Court getting killed, then laying the Summer Court bare to Hybern as well, are nothing short of war crimes. And...instead of feeling regret, we have the main characters saying "Hybern's actions are their own." Like bitch what? Hybern wouldn't have been able to do shit if it wasn't for you! Have some damn accountability! And the fact that Tamlin and Tarquin are vilified for this never ceases to irk me.

Grooming: Rhysand groomed Feyre. He made excuses for everything he did with trauma, then sent Feyre out to do tasks for him like she's some kind of weapon he can use. WITHOUT giving her proper information, there is no choice. And everything he does is constantly explained away, until eventually Feyre becomes his trophy wife. Rhysand basically assigns Cassian to do the same for Nesta. I'm holding out hope that Elain will be saved from the Night Court.

The pregnancy debacle: the whole thing with the baby having wings and Rhysand withholding information from Feyre is just...disturbing. Idc if you're not telling her FoR hEr OwN gOoD, it is HER life at stake and she deserves to know. They didn't even try to shapeshift her to try and save her life? Like why is everybody seemingly more concerned about the baby than the mother? Disgusting. And why is Nesta vilified for being the only one to tell Feyre? She said it to hurt her, blah blah blah. She also wanted to show Feyre that their situations are similar. That they're BOTH being shit on by the Night Court. And when she's close to a breaking point...Nesta is forced to hike a mountain? That is physical abuse. Also, Rhysand being extremely territorial putting a shield over her and barely letting Feyre go anywhere is beyond weird.

Suicide baiting: What Rhysand did to Tamlin in ACOFAS is nothing short of suicide baiting. And...only Lucien seems to really be that concerned about it? Like...are you telling me I'm supposed to be supporting Rhysand after he basically told a depressed male to kill himself?

Segregation: Separating the Hewn City from Velaris IS segregation, no matter what excuse you try to come up with. You can't claim they're all shitty people, since your bestie Mor comes from the CoN. So, there are good people stuck in the CoN unable to get out of their torment because Rhysand decided that only certain individuals are allowed in Velaris.

Performance Feminism: Establishing laws to help women and not doing shit to enforce them is performance feminism. If he's as powerful as he says, he can 100% stop wing-cutting and r*pe. But, he's a goddamn virtue signaler so he doesn't fucking care. The thing is, SJM could've handled these topics in a much better way and it would've been fine. But she completely fucked shit up here and it's crazy that some people don't see it. Part of me is still waiting for the final book where she says, psych rhysand was the villain the whole time. If so, I'll take everything back.

[spidersmiceandeverythingnice]

My hottest take is that the Hike From Hell is actually a beating. Like, I struggle to read it any other way than Cassian actually physically abusing Nesta with Rhysand and Feyre's blessing. I don't really see how you could read it any other way.

"But Cassian doesn't touch Nesta, he never lays his hands on her!"

Well what do you call it when a man, at the direction of his boss who is also his brother in law, forces a woman to do strenuous physical activity against her will for days on end? What do you call it when a man forces a woman to carry the heavy supplies, doesn't check if she'd eaten or had water, doesn't allow her to rest, and doesn't allow her to leave the situation until they've had sex and he deems her adequate for society again? He has no kind words for her and he knows that she's In a dark mental spiral and he keeps pushing her until she faints from exhaustion.

I'm serious. What is this, if not physical abuse?

Nesta "acted out" and the men in her life punished her physically for it.

It's genuinely disgusting how this scene is meant as an important step on the so-called healing journey.

[kataraavatara]

A Court of Silver Flames: “Cassian looked over a shoulder, to where Nesta had been asleep for the past few hours, curled into a tight ball against the wall of rock. I think we'll stay out here for a few days. We're going to hike.

Nesta has never been on a hike in her life. I guarantee she will hate it.” (Feyre’s response)

A Court of Thorns and Roses: "My hands slackened at my sides. "You went after me," I said. "You went after me- to Prythian."

"I got to the wall. I couldn't find a way through."

I raised a shaking hand to my throat. "You trekked two days there and two days back-through the winter woods?"

Hey guys? Guys? THIS is why it’s important to have a team who will actually check you when you make a mistake. This makes Feyre, the main character of the series that Sarah wants people to like, look absolutely awful.

[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?

[moonssalad]

I will never forgive Cassian for not standing up to Rhysand when he threatened to kill Nesta and just obeyed him to get her out of the city.

Fucking pathetic. Hes like Rhysands dog.

[watcherintheweyr]

Genuine question

What was done to Nesta was basically what happens to survivors of Wilderness 'therapy'. You know. Those camps for troubled kids that have been being exposed in the past 10 or so years to be absolutely disastrous places of abuse and harm that some.kids literally don't survive?

She was forced to do physical labor while unused to it until she broke down, broke apart, and became compliant with what the Inner Circle wanted from her.

Which... still makes no sense.

Amren is a bitch and genuinely horrible to almost everyone but that's accepted and she's even loved for it.

Mor uses sex and drinking to cope with her trauma and she's often praised for it.

Why is it different with Nesta? Why is literal wilderness therapy being lauded as a wonderful, redeeming thing?

Do you have any idea the damage that 'therapy' like that causes?

[ofbreathandflame]

i often think that a lot of people facillitating the discussion about the 'necessity' of nesta's intervention always seem to fundamentally misunderstand what exactly is wrong with it

anytime someone shifts the conversation to the 'ends justify the means' ideology- a red flag goes off in my head; anytime someone makes any of these statements...red flag:

"the intervention might have been harsh but.."

"even though the inner circle could have done things better...

"the ic don't owe nesta anything..."

"nesta treated feyre badly so she deserves...."

"feyre cares about nesta and her intentions were good..."

"nesta did xyz to feyre, so its only right..."

because...these statements (and those adjacent to them), always seem to misrepresent what the problem is. its one thing for the inner circle to cut nesta off, for mor and rhys to hate rhys, for feyre to want to get revenge; its an entirely different scenario for the inner circle to put themselves personally in charge of nesta's wellbeing. like....they staged an intervention, they locked her in a house and did not allow to leave without an escort, the tore down her home, they locked in a home with a man she verbally and consistently reiterated she wanted nothing with.

one thing people consistently refuse to acknowledge is the fact that there is quite literally a tangible power imbalance between feyre and her sisters. feyre is literally the governing body of the entirety of the night court; her sisters....are her sisters. silver flames confirmed (and proved to me) that feyre does have tangible, official power over sisters. if feyre says, "you have to be locked in this house with this man," her sisters have no choice but to comply. if feyre says "you're banished," then elain would just be banished. nesta would be banished. and this why i've always said that feyre's function as an eternal victim is undermined by her position in the story.

and this is the kind of power imbalance i have often cited between feyre and rhys and feyre/tamlin. its the natural deference that forms between a subordinate and their superior. its not inherently negative (see: mentor/mentee; teacher/student; manager/employee) but it does mean that people in power have to be cognizant because it is often easy to fall into abusive/imbalanced roles. feyre cannot be nesta's sister and high lady through the intervention; she's either a concerned sister, or the high lady. ordering nesta as her high lady and as her sister mean two different things. feyre establishes herself as high lady in that meeting; she establishes to nesta that the intention of the invention was political in nature.

feyre isn't deferring to an professional who can properly help nesta; she (and the ic) are quite literally assuming the role of the professional. even if we did argue for the necessity of an intervention, that entails consulting and deferring to what they (the professional) outline is the best measure. its still facillitated...through the professional. and by doing that they are inherently consenting to the fact that that person is (1) a subordinate (2) their responsibility. we can't argue for the necessity of a extreme measure - and then in the same breath deny the resposiblities that entails. we can't justify the intervention by saying its the equivalent of a mental health facility and then say the people responsible somehow don't have a responsibility to the person who is essentially forced into being a patient by their standards. and then also claim they owe that person nothing.

and even then - then we have to think about the validity of the house of wind's equivalecy to a mental health facility. because (1) it's nesta that empowers the home, not feyre. its only welcoming because nesta...made it welcoming. its only caring because nesta made it caring. (2) feyre still makes nesta go on missions in her stead. nesta is sexually assaulted twice on said missions. she literally pimps nesta out to eris during her imprisionment. nesta is not getting paid, and she's only allowed to leave the house of wind during these moments. so even that comparison doesn't justify what feyre makes nesta do. she can't be in the equivalent of psychiatric facility and then be coerced into situations she has verbally expressed she does not want to do and that terrify her. we also have to think about the fact that feyre was absolutely down and allowed her sister to be locked up with another male who everyone knew was her mate; who nesta verbally rejected multiple times.

feyre is making the sister that she deemed was so mentally ill that she could not support herself then complete the tasks of a high lady? like how are justifying that? you can't say "this person has a debilitating addiction, therefore, she needs to be locked into a home, escorted, and policed" and then argue that this is the same person who should complete tasks that should be the high lady's job.

like what made tamlin abusive?

it wasn't being a concerned lover. it was that he assumes (and takes advantage of) the position of a high lord over feyre. we know whar tamlin's "intentions" were; he wanted to protect feyre. but how does he protect feyre....by presiding over her as her high lord not consulting her as her lover. a high lord can lock her in the house, restrict her access to his state, refuse to pay her. and again - the concerned lover and the abuser can absolutely co-exist. the 'good intentioned' sister or lover can still be an abuser.

we can acknowledge feyre's position as high lady, but that also comes with the responsibility of managing how you represent your power. the intervention is abusive. and illegal. and impractical. like even if you argue that "nesta heal" that doesn't change the fact that (1) nesta is fictional - of course she "benefits." writing that a character 'heals' from abuse doesn't negate that it is abuse. (2) if feyre had 'healed' under tamlin...he would have still been abusive.

its just very tiring when these conversation focus on the characters and not the frameworks behind them. nesta could have been the nastiest person to ever walk the earth and the intervention and the the behaviors thereafter are still indicative of abuse. and if the ic did not like nesta or could not tolerate for her she treated then they should have not have the power to enact extreme measures like an intervention and lock up.

[munchkinchild]

I was looking for something in ACOSF and came across this scene:

NESTA WHY ARE YOU APOLOGISING FOR SNAPPING AT A MAN WHO CROSSED YOUR BOUNDARIES AND TOLD YOU HE HAD NO IDEA WHY YOUR SISTERS LOVED YOU????

And Cassian, WHY are you saying you forgave her when she literally did nothing wrong?

Nesta babes, I'll come rescue you

[whitedemon-ladydeath]

feyre: I cannot believe I do EVERYTHING all By my Self. my sisters and their Smooth Hands 🙄😒

feyre: cannot cook, does not put any thought to the daily chores required for home upkeep and says she spends all her time hunting so it leaves unanswered questions regarding housework and cooking

nesta: can cook. was groomed from birth to be a Wife and a matriarch. chops wood

the Fandom, refusing to believe that maybe, just maybe Feyre is an unreliable narrator: I cannot believe feyre has to do EVERYTHING all By her Self

[lorcandidlucienwill]

Something I've really noticed in SJM's writing of Rhysand: She'll constantly say one thing about him but the writing will tell us exactly the opposite. Like she'll tell us that Rhysand is super feminist or some shit and we're just supposed to...agree. But he hasn't done shit to help Illyrian females who get their wings cut off every day. Making laws without enforcing them is useless. Which leads into my second point: She tells us 70 times a chapter how powerful Rhysand is, yet he's unable to force the Illyrians to follow laws? Pls be fr. She tells us he believes in the equality of all beings. Yet he sexually assaulted a 19 yo human and he separates the CoN from Velaris? And also says bOtH sIdEs MaDe MiStAkEs. Bitch stfu. She tells us this man is uber handsome and desirable. Yet he's had no serious relationship in like 500 years. Tamlin has had relationships with a ton of people as was stated in book 1. But Rhysand? No relationships or even casual fucks as far as we know. Bro is just celibate somehow. We KNOW Lucien is hot because everyone in Prythian plus the Children of the Blessed are instantly dumbstruck when they look at him and it ain't because of the scar lovelies. Plus we even have LUCIEN being out on border control "WITH SOME COMPANY!" As in he was fucking someone. Plus he had Jesminda ofc. And we have Tamlin being insecure (it's a retcon but whatever) of Lucien in ACOWAR when it comes to Feyre. We have SJM telling us Rhysand is super duper smart and shit. Yet I've seen no demonstration of even the slightest bit of tact from him. He couldn't even make the High Lords listen to a word he was saying without violence. But Nesta, a human just turned Fae, was able to make all of them listen without violence. We've seen Lucien use tact when he played spymaster in book 1, when he used his cunning to try and guide Feyre to the answer in book 1, when he and Feyre together use the Bogge to assert their dominance over the Hybern twins, and when he was able to send a sample over to his friend Nuan about the faebane. Plus there's the fact that he saw through all of Feyre's bullshit and he survived the cutthroat Autumn Court and he currently balances three roles while still dressing immaculately. She'll tell us Rhysand believes in choice. Yet she wrote Rhysand forcing himself on Feyre, Rhysand forcing Feyre into a bargain, not permitting her to go back to Spring, not giving her the necessary info to make a proper decision over ANYTHING in Night (biggest example of this is the Weaver scene), hiding her malignant pregnancy from her and restricting her movements, and locking Lucien and Nesta up in houses. I could go on but you know...

Sjm needs to realize that SAYING something doesn't make it true. You have to PROVE IT with the actions and storyline you undertake. ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS.

[theweeklydiscourse]

What Makes Feyre’s Pregnancy Plotline in A Court of Silver Flames so Upsetting?

The answer is that the events and outcome concerning Feyre’s pregnancy speak to a fear of one’s loss of autonomy, specifically one’s reproductive autonomy. Furthermore, this plotline demonstrates Maas' consistent prioritization of her male characters at the expense of her female characters. Multiple factors make this subplot feel particularly uncomfortable and upsetting, but I can condense them into three main points that converge to create one frustrating scenario.

1. Rhysand and the Question of Choice

From ACOMAF onwards, the reader is made aware of Rhysand’s unusually progressive politics and his attention to the autonomous choices of women. This is demonstrated through his selection of counsel, appointing Mor and Amren in roles of authority, and eventually crowing Feyre as High Lady of the Night Court. In addition to this, we are shown his emphasis on choice through his interactions with Feyre. Rhysand repeatedly reminds Feyre that she can choose, that she can make an autonomous decision that he will respect. So, it is these positive features of Rhysand that make the pregnancy subplot of ACOSF so disturbing.

He, and the Inner Circle by extension, purposefully omit the information that Feyre’s pregnancy will turn deadly and never volunteer the information to her. During Cassian’s meeting with Rhysand and Amren, we are shown their thought process behind withholding information from Nesta (and Feyre by extension) According to Amren, it is not lying because they are technically not telling lies in the traditional sense, only withholding information.

While this is about Nesta, the reader can see the parallels between both cases. The choice to lie by omission reveals that both Amren and Rhysand are aware of the dishonesty of their actions, choosing to mitigate it slightly on a technicality. It feels distinctly like a loophole in Rhysand’s previous promises to Feyre, making this act feel more deceitful while demonstrating Rhysand’s willingness to undermine Feyre’s authority as High Lady. If Rhysand had a condition or illness that would eventually kill him, informing him of it would be certain, you wouldn’t even consider the possibility of not telling him. However, because Feyre is pregnant, she is not afforded the same autonomy.

Wanting to keep Feyre in blissful ignorance is not a sufficient reason, especially when Feyre is still of sound mind and can advocate for herself. Rhysand’s reasoning sounds noble, but in reality, it is just benevolent sexism. It doesn’t matter if he thinks it will cause Feyre stress, she NEEDS to be aware of what’s going on and the fact that the news will ruin her peaceful pregnancy is of little consequence when her life is on the line. Rhysand prioritizes his feelings and implicitly gives himself executive authority over Feyre’s pregnancy, demonstrating his disregard for her autonomy and choices. This action directly contradicts the progressive beliefs Rhysand stated in previous books and is a betrayal for the reader as well as Feyre.

2. The Infantilization of Feyre

The omission of this critical information, good intentions or not, is based on a belief that Feyre would not be competent enough to handle such a pressing situation in her pregnant state. Amren claims that the stress and fear could have physically harmed Feyre, but such a claim assumes that Feyre would not have the fortitude or ability to handle the situation.

Amren's explanation demonstrates a belief that Feyre's input on the matter would be irrelevant and pointless because it prevents Feyre from offering any. It is a plan that assumes Feyre will not be able to add anything meaningful to the solution and that it would be less harmful to her if she was kept out of it. This is infantilizing and paternalistic because Feyre has proven herself to be capable of coping under pressure and happens to be an unprecedented magical anomaly. Feyre’s access to pertinent medical information should not be revoked and it is insane that Madja her physician, actively misleads her with Rhysand’s consent.

This infantilization of a pregnant character echoes how pregnant women have been infantilized throughout history. It is a terrifying thought to imagine that your bodily autonomy could be stripped from you in the name of serving your supposed best interest. Rosemary’s Baby is one of the most famous horror movies of all time and it explores this exact topic, the same is true for the short story The Yellow Wallpaper, both stories capture the horror of reproductive/medical abuse that still happens to women today.

3. The Aftermath & Prioritizing Male Rage

Lastly, one of the most disturbing elements of this subplot is the way the text consistently prioritizes and coddles the violent rage of male characters at the expense of female characters. This is on full display when Rhysand flies into an intense rage after Nesta reveals the truth to Feyre. Although Nesta can be faulted for her harsh phrasing, let it be known that even Feyre felt that she did the right thing and was expressing her anger at the paternalistic and unjust practices of the Inner Circle. However, Nesta is still subjected to severe physical and emotional punishment in the form of a grueling hike where she is left to stew in her guilt and suicidal ideation despite Feyre ultimately not faulting her.

Feyre admits that Rhysand “majorly overreacted” and that she wanted Nesta back in Velaris. And yet, Nesta is still punished. But why? Will Rhysand or any of the Inner Circle be punished for betraying Feyre? Why, if Feyre agreed that Nesta was right to tell her, would she ever need to be subjected to a severe punishment when she was justified in what she did?

This is a particularly telling detail that compels me to ask: is this punishment about Feyre’s feelings or Rhysand’s? Why is it that Rhysand’s “overreaction” needs to be assuaged by punishing Nesta? What I observe from this passage is the characters prioritizing the feelings of a male character and placating him with the suffering of a female character, even when he wasn’t the one who was hurt in that situation. Feyre asks Cassian to tell Rhysand that the hike will be Nesta's punishment as though it isn't truly a punishment, but it undoubtedly is.

Throughout the hike, Nesta is in a silent spiral of guilt and self-hatred, Cassian never tells her that Feyre is alright and that Rhysand overreacted, letting her dwell in it alone. He hardly speaks to her, he pushes her to the point of exhaustion and is somehow surprised that Nesta shows signs of suicidal ideation.

This isn't constructive at all, it is not evidence that Cassian cares about Nesta's well-being, and the scenes of Nesta internally repeating that she deserves to die and that everyone hates her are nothing but gratuitous and disgustingly self-indulgent. The text basks in Nesta's suffering, even when she was in the right and this hike only happened to placate Rhysand who wronged Feyre in the first place.

Hindsight am I right? Fuck off. A more productive resolution to this matter would be for Feyre and Nesta to talk it out ALONE. Feyre could express her feelings to Nesta directly and they could find a solution together, that way Feyre’s situation could be centered on the two sisters working together. Cassian can see that Feyre is alright, she’s obviously upset, but she didn’t crumble like he expected and that makes it completely baffling that he would punish Nesta anyway. It’s a solution that prioritizes his and Rhysand’s feelings as opposed to Feyre’s, making it not about a perceived transgression against Feyre, but against Rhysand.

In Conclusion

This topic has already been discussed at length by many people in the fandom, but it is a topic that still stays on my mind with how upsetting it is. It is a stunning example of the misogynistic undertones in Sarah J Maas’s writing and makes reading a very straining experience due to her obvious bias towards certain male characters. Not even her main character matters when Rhysand is factored into the situation, his emotions are always centred by other characters and is permitted to betray his wife and get off scot free.

Feyre’s reproductive autonomy is violated, and Maas doesn’t bat an eye. But when Nesta rightfully reveals the truth to Feyre, everyone loses their mind. Both Nesta and Feyre have their autonomy stripped away from the, by way of the Inner Circle’s paternalism, and when Nesta advocates for herself and Feyre, she is punished severely. Being put in her place as the hierarchy is strengthened.

[hrizantemy]

Is anyone going to talk about how Feyre and Rhysand gifted Nesta and Cassian the house of wind as a mating gift. The same place where Nesta has to walk down thousands of stairs or ask her mate to fly her down to leave, and that’s only if he approves on where she’s going. Nesta cannot winnow, no one would teach her because then they wouldn’t have control over her. So Nesta is still essentially trapped in a house where people dictate where she goes, what she eats, who she sees, what she does, but now it’s just official.

[the-darkestminds]

You know what always bothered me? At the end of the hiking scene in acosf, when Nesta finally breaks down sobbing, Cassian chooses to talk about how he relates to her pain because he almost lost the most important person in his life (Rhysand) under the mountain. Like I understand he and Rhysand are basically brothers but it felt like such a bad time to talk about how much he loves him when he literally threatened to kill Nesta a day before that. This whole scene made me angry on her behalf.