#i'm reviewing the faerie smut

[thesylphroad]

Inner Monologue Shitpost Breakdown A.K.A. Review of Chapter 2 of "A Court of Thorns and Roses"

Commence Chapter Two

Even though just a few minutes ago narrator gave us that whole concerning spiel about how her world has no color in it anymore, the moment something good finally happened her world is "a living painting" once again. This is textbook catastrophizing, and I will say it again: protagonist absolutely has BPD. I love this, because it makes her more relatable as a heroine. But also...seek therapy, please. There is a less compelling counter-argument to be made for the possibility that she's simply suffering hallucinations in color due to starvation and/or hypothermia, but overall I'm feeling confident about my prognosis.

In chapter one narrator foreshadowed her two sisters as these sort of...2D villains...but now she's walking into the house and catches their muffled talking from inside and she's like (paraphrasingly), "I don't actually need to hear what they're saying to know it's something stupid about like boys or ribbons" which is so cunty but I love it. Like, this sort of knee-jerk condescension where she minimizes them to silly, shallow, frivolous little idiots without even HEARING them...chef's kiss. It's this implication that our protagonist isn't such a black and white instrument of morality that makes her character more likable in my mind.

She extends this same flavor of contempt to their father in the very next paragraph, because it turns out he's also wildly incompetent, and gullible to boot. We learn that this is a combination of their family's unfortunate financial situation, a smattering of PTSD (courtesy of some kind of evil banker crony guys attacking and crippling him), and what reeks of depression-induced executive dysfunction. Dad has basically fucked off and given up, sisters are essentially useless.

Verdict: there's definitely some weaponized incompetence going on in this household, and everyone just assumes narrator is going to pick up the slack (she does). She also vaguely hints at the fact that she's only DOING it because she has to. Reader (me) is not surprised to hear this. Narrator takes promises very seriously, and is constantly burdened by this promise she made to their dying mother. Their dying mother knew to place this burden on narrator, because...well...quite frankly the rest of the household fucking sucks. Dad is fruitlessly chasing the "someday I'll be rich" dragon, courtesy of the book's real-world parallel of our capitalistic brainwashed poverty regime; he is doing little wood carvings no one fucking wants because he's a freelance whittler in a destitute village where nobody can AFFORD HIS SILLY CURIO CURIOSITIES. Sister Elain is pretty and brainless and probably just needs to marry a rich man with a big garden (she loves flowers). Obviously this one is Dad's favorite, which is just an extra sting to the narrator's piling list of injustices. Sister Nesta is...a cunt? There's a line about how she deliberately places Dad's cane out of his reach, which is funny but also, what the fuck? This could also be some manifestation of her just being really unsatisfied with his mediocre parenting, which is pretty understandable in retrospect.

This chapter is...better than the first. Thank the forgotten gods. Author struggles with the concept of nuance. This is less of an issue for the narrator, because the author overtells everything the narrator thinks and feels (to an extreme degree); but once we are introduced to characters whose perspectives we aren't given directly, it becomes a problem. For example, I know I'm not supposed to hate the narrator's sisters. The only reason I know this is because the narrator has explained to me in exact words that SHE doesn't hate them. But are they WRITTEN as irredeemable villains? Yes, absolutely. Can I forgive the fact that they don't notice the narrator is covered in blood, or offer to help with any of the meal prep, but immediately both jump to what she can buy for them with the money she gets from the wolf pelt? No. But I get the sense that I'm supposed to, in that EVENTUALLY the narrator will insist that I root for them.

If the author had chosen to make the sisters CHILDREN, I would feel a lot differently here, because, despite being the youngest child, the narrator is shouldering the brunt of the household's emotional and financial needs. She promised her dying mother she would play mother once she was gone, which...is not fair to her, obviously...and now I SEE why she took 3 years to leave the forest and has a branching inner monologue that rivals Homer's Odyssey and a very pronounced, undiagnosed borderline personality disorder. They do SEE her as the mother of the household. But considering the narrator is 19, and they are both OLDER than she is, their lack of empathy just makes them look like fucking monsters. Do I hate them? Yes, I've been urging narrator to burn her house down with her entire family inside since I started reading this chapter.

I'm thinking there is probably some significance to the faerie wards on the threshold, but I also just generally like the implication that even in this world of forgotten gods you still get a bit of good old-fashioned fundamentalist inspired fear-mongering. I also like that this is lore-accurate based on the way Celtic fairy faith was very much driven by a similar fear. Families were constantly seeking ways to defend themselves against the fae, be it with religious symbols or iron or salt or open scissors above a newborn's crib. This is why you don't keep welcome mats on the doorstep, this is why you need protection runes and throw your infant in the fireplace if you suspect it might be a faerie changeling. Some of it seems so silly, yes, but it does conjure up a sense of real fear, and how it is deeply-ingrained into the MORTAL side of this book's world, but we also see where the protagonist deliberately separates herself from the DELUSION of it. She's like, "Yeah these wards are obviously fake, everyone knows we don't have magic, we can't even hope to defend ourselves against the power of the High Fae." Protagonist is a realist; she is not indoctrinated by the false sense of security provided by these carvings on the threshold. It is very significant that narrator CHOOSES not to weaponize this secular understanding of the world around her, she CHOOSES to let her father live in this naive bubble he's created for himself. Just like she acknowledges the blind, shallow, selfish nature of her sisters but CHOOSES not to confront and unpack those issues. It's the most multi-faceted element we've gotten of this heroine thus far, because we know now that only part of this is out of kindness and empathy. The other part of her ENJOYS the advantage she has over her family members. They ARE absolutely inept, incompetent, naive, shallow, blind, shackled sheep in a pen, and narrator gets some small satisfaction from that. She is smarter than they are. She is more responsible than they are. She spares them the burden of being held to a higher standard because it keeps her on this pedestal, and the resulting sense of self-worth is literally ALL she has, that is her ONLY sense of self-worth, no matter how she may resent it. These two halves of her personality are held together by obligation and guilt. It's not that she ENJOYS playing mother to a grown man and two grown women; she feels like she has to, and at this point, it's all she knows HOW to do.

Narrator’s name is Feyre. I had a hunch because I am both clever and wise, but it’s nice to finally receive confirmation. Author makes certain to include pronunciation directly after, because author realizes most readers will not skip to the pronunciation guide at the end of the book.

In short, things I do like: The deepening of the story’s morally gray protagonist, the impending burden of responsibility versus guilt, the name “Feyre,” a deeply fearful human settlement built on the outskirts of faerie territory, whose only line of defense from their hostile neighbors is…ineffectual carvings in the windows (and probably like bits of iron or something), details like the brassy hair narrator shares with her sisters—juxtaposed by the disparity of things like eye color, and how her sisters and father all have a “clean” face—while she comes home, the contrarian, covered in blood,

Things I don’t like: lack of effectual character development for narrator’s sisters and father, the way two people in the same two-room house asked narrator the same dumb question about “where she got” the two animals she very obviously hunted and skinned herself, author’s hyperbolic over-use of adjectives, and this sentence: “My father’s deep rumble came from the fire.”

[antisocial-mochi267]

JIMIN fic recs oneshot PART 1

Hope it helps to find you the great fics! Hope it helps!! And please leave a comment/like/reblog or any reviews guys the writers should receive the appreciation they deserve (I'll be eventually adding more fics here)

Minors strictly DNI

And if you want recs about any particular trope or au I'm always willing to help 👀🤗

Oneshot :-

Fluff :- ☁️

Angst :- 🥀

Smut :- 🔥

Crack :- 🎃

Personal Favourite :- ✨

1. you.Me.us__ ☁️🔥🥀 (stalker, yandere , thriller) @kosmosguk

2. Driver's license __ ☁️🥀✨ (coming-of-age, one-sided!au, brother's bestfriend!au) @gyukult

3.while you are at it __ ☁️🔥(pool boy jimin, divorced reader). @aureumjeon

4. I need you __ ☁️🔥🥀(exes to lovers, oneshot, idol au) @hisunshiine

5. Crystal snow __ ☁️🥀✨ (figure skating!au, fantasy!au, king jimin, supernatural power). @minniepetals

6. Vampire's garden__☁️🎃(College student jimin, fantasy, dark fantasy, vampire au). @ebonyinktea

7. soliloquy __☁️🎃 (Angel jimin× human reader). @kinktae

8. schrödinger’s cat__ ☁️🎃✨(guardian angel jimin, comfort) @dovechim

9. Azure blue__☁️🎃✨(Adventure, Fairy!Au ) @jimlingss

10. The pull of the tides __☁️🔥(surfur au, Strangers to lovers) @goldenscript

11. Fairytale__☁️🎃(merman jimin × human reader) @gukyi

12. Rock bottom __☁️🥀🔥✨( Idol!Jimin, establishedrelationship!AU, marriage! AU) @jkbabiey

13. Boats against the current __☁️🎃✨ (Hogwarts au, opposite to lovers). @gukyi

14. Into the wilderness __☁️🥀🎃✨ (camp counselor!au, unrequited love!au, friends to lovers!au) @gukyi

15. Lover to lean on__☁️🥀🔥🎃✨ (neighbour au, flower shop au, it's more complicated) @sketchguk

16. Paper bandits __☁️🎃(highschool au, S2F2L) @vantaenims

17. Blowing dandelions __☁️🥀🔥(badboy jimin, e2l, childhood friends, college au). @httpjeon

18. Grinch in law__☁️🥀🔥✨(fiance to marriage, bad to good mother-in-law, established relationship) @mercurygguk

19. Cut me free__☁️🥀🔥(Demon Yandere jimin ) @sopejinsunflower

20. Earnestly yours __ ☁️🎃✨(Highschool au , enemies to lovers , actor au) @gukyi

21. Theophany (To Paint a God) __☁️🥀🔥 (college!au , Old Friends to Lovers , Best Friend’s Brother!Jimin , Bisexual!Reader , Dancer!Jimin , Painter!Reader) @ilikemesometaetaes

22. Hello__ ☁️🥀🔥✨(exestolovers!au, high school pining, adult love, slice of life au ) @gyukult

23. Only you __ ☁️🔥 (single dad jimin, best friends to lovers au) @personasintro

24. Hell-ish__☁️🎃 (establisedrelationship, kinda fun date) @jtrbluv

25. 20 things and continuing I Hades about you__☁️🥀🎃✨ (dj famous jimin× pa reader) @readyplayerhobi

26. Just a little bit of love(is all you really need)__☁️🎃 (gymnastics au) @gukyi

27. Poster boy __ ☁️ (highschool au, social anxiety, comfort) @versigny

28. He's pretending__☁️🎃✨ (Enemies-to-lovers (kinda, jimin is in deniel but lowkey wipped) Daemon!Jimin x Faerie!Reader, fantasy au). @crystaljins

29. Adonis __☁️🎃 (firefighter jimin, s2l ). @xjoonchildx

30. Red gardania__☁️✨ (ballerina au, secret admirer, kinda e2l ) @joyfulhopelox

31. Shake shack __☁️🔥🎃(stranger to crushes to lovers) @kth1

32. The happiest place on earth __☁️🎃🔥 (Disneyland actors au, slice of life au) @dovechim

33. The midnight pack __☁️🎃🔥 (wolf au, S2L) @jjungkookislife

34. Terrible liar__☁️🥀✨ (F2L, pinning , comfort) @writtenwhalien

35. All that glitters __☁️🥀🎃✨(kinda soft Yandere/ tsudere jimin , Obsession) @deepdarkdelights

36. Deviant affairs __☁️🔥🥀(new Yandere stepbro jimin ) @yandere-society

37. Believe it __☁️🥀🔥✨(friends to enemies to lovers (it’s more complicated though)+ bet AU , high school to after high school) @writtenwhalien

38. Love you a latte__☁️🎃(Yandere Jimin, Stalking, Masturbation, obsession, it's kinda angsty though) @worldwidemochiguy

39. Heartbreak Insurance__☁️🎃✨ (insurance agent jimin× fraud reader, S2 F2 L) @jimlingss

40. Wicked obsession __🔥☁️(University AU, friends with benefits, unhealthy obsession) @peachypinkygloss

41. Love pages__☁️🥀(Yandere, highschool au, supernatural kinda) @jimlingss

42. The devil's own luck__☁️🥀🎃✨ (demon jimin , Slice of Life). @jimlingss

43. Beneath the water __☁️🥀🔥🎃✨(merman jimin× human reader, mermaid au, fantasy au). @jungshookz

44. His hoodie my hoodie__☁️🔥🎃✨ ( S2F2L, college au) @yoongihime

45. Kiss the girl__☁️🎃 (Disney land prince jimin×waitress girl, f2l, whipped) @sketchguk

46. Devil's advocate__☁️🎃(devil jimin ×human reader) @7cypher

47. No need for dreaming__☁️🎃(roommate au, clumsy jimin, frenemies to lovers) @ve1vetyoongi

48. Nine to five__☁️🎃🔥(softie smut, fwb2L, Dr. jm) @jiminrings

49. Just a taste__☁️🥀🔥🎃(Vampire jimin, established relationship). @yoonieper

50. Safe haven__☁️🥀🔥✨(royal king’s guard werewolf!jimin × princess reader, forbidden love au, medieval royal au) @kth1fics

51. Spiral__☁️🥀✨(Time traveler Jimin, teenager! reader, underground fighter! Jimin, time jumps, violence, blood, supernatural) @i-am-baechu

52. Red flag__☁️🎃🔥✨( richboy!jimin x mystery!reader, strangers to enemies to lovers to potential plaintiff) @xjoonchildx

[koqabear]

Hmmm, I'm really into fantasy. As for groups, I stan a lot (probably too many), so you could recommend any 😭

Also, what do you mean?!😭 Your personality is just so 💜💜💜!! Like I have never admired a stranger so much in my entire life 😭😭😭

-Lvlee

hi loveee !! so as it turns out,,, making a rec list is very hard. very. i've read a lot less fics than i thought omg (which is why all the ones i listed are on the older side LMAO), so i am here with some txt and bts recs 😭 they're mostly supernatural/fantasy, but you can always check out my main blog (@/michipan) if you wanna see anything else!

also 🫠 please.... im sobbing rn u are the cutest ever </3 i am nothing but a silly little normal person i promise

to anyone who decides to check out these recs, pleeeeaaase support the authors!! please im genuinely begging you!!! leave a little review and a reblog and show them love bc they're amazing <3

BTS Recs

☆ Beastly Gods by @lemonjoonah

✧ hybrid!taehyung x fem!reader x ???

wc: 8K // genre: hybrid au, thirller, drama, smut, potentially dark and triggering content so read the warnings carefully!

Summary: ‘Don’t leave the forest,’ a rule that you’ve been forced to follow since birth, but you are tired of living in this wooden cage. Out of desperation you cut a deal with Taehyung, who claims to be the only one who can get you out safely, even though he might be just as dangerous as the god you’re trying to escape.

sol's personal notes:

oh. my. GOD. this was one of the first few fics i read when i joined this site, and it's literally stuck with me ever since. i can't say too much about it without spoiling it, but the worldbuilding and pacing was just. immaculate. the storyline is so well done and just. everything about it is perfection omg. there's another part that goes along with this story, but i can't link it bc ofc... spoilers 😖i wish i had more to say about this fic, but i read it years ago and forgot to write a review for it T_T

☆ Treasure by @sombreboy

✧ faerie dragon hybrid!jimin x fem!reader

wc: 4.7K // genre: pwp smut, hybrid, yandere, fairytale, again potentially dark and triggering content so read the warnings carefully!

Summary: Jimin loves to collect sparkly riches and playthings. You just happen to be the next treasure that ignited his obsessive desires.

sol's personal notes:

(fucking explodes into a million pieces) i can't. i had to reread this story real quick to get a refresher on it and just. jimin's character in this is literally so perfect and mischievous and evil!! and i love it... <3 he is characterized so well and the descriptions are just so well done... ouuu i just read over the smut again and i teared up a little. the dialogue is genuinely so insane im not normal abt this fic sorry.

TXT Recs

☆ the prince and the jackal by @gyuluster

✧ prince!beomgyu x woodcutter!metalbender!reader

wc: 11.8k // genre: fantasy au, fluff

Summary:  in the Kingdom of Terrae, you, a metalbender, believe in the deforestation to modernise the land. As a member of the Lumberjackals, you thrive on cutting down trees and stealing resources until you get caught by the Crown Prince, Choi Beomgyu, a lover and embodiment of the nature you wish to destroy. However, instead of imprisoning you for your crimes, Beomgyu decides to show you the beauty and wonders of nature, leaving you to doubt your beliefs, your identity, and your very feelings for the certain boy determined to change you for the better.

sol's personal notes:

unfortunately the author is no longer active on this account (💔💔💔💔) but like. this story literally changed my brain chemistry i dont think you guys understand. it's been so long since i read this but even so, it lives on in my mind... the world building and characters are so well done and from what i remember, beomgyu's character was literally so charming T_T such a pretty story, i might go reread this bc like... the fantasy was executed so well and i love me a good royalty au <3 not to mention the whole concept of the powers is so cool!

☆ Swimmin' in a Mirror by @bangchanswolfpelt

✧ soobin x2 x fem!reader (stay with me here)

wc: 2.5K // genre: magical school au (not a harry potter au) smut

Summary unavailable.

sol's personal notes:

this one's like a whole 180 from the last fic LMAO but GOOD GOD. this author isn't active anymore from what i know of but like. they were literally revolutionary and this fic is just. never seen anything like this before but )#%(&#%??? it's genuinely so impressive how they managed to pull this off alkghadg so hot so insane so creative

☆ that's the spirit! by @agustdiv1ne

✧ sixth sense/ ghost hunter! soobin x fem!reader

wc: 14.6K // genre: high school au, fluff, angst, some elements of horror

Summary: a couple weeks before halloween, you find the quiet boy from your high school staring up into your bedroom. you're a little creeped out, and miles more scared, but then he shows you something that changes how you see, well, everything.

sol's personal notes:

are we surprised. i don't think so. i literally never shut up about this fic ever like i'm such a sucker for unique stories and this is definitely one of them! the pacing, supernatural elements, and environment was written sooo well, and the worldbuilding and explanations that comes along with the plot is so perfectly executed and well thought out. such a cool story, with a banger playlist to go along with it :]

☆ Dirty Little Secret by @petrichor-han

✧ vampire! yeonjun x gn!witch!reader

wc: 4.0K // genre: angst, dark fantasy, vampire!au, witch!au, enemies to lovers

Summary: yeonjun is one of prince seungmin’s most trusted bodyguards. born as a low-class vampire, he worked his way to the top and is proud of his accomplishments, beginning to adapt his friends’ classist mindsets and forgetting where he came from. but when his brothers come to visit one day, exposing his poor ancestry, everyone turns against him except for one: a lowly servant whom he’d picked on in the past—you.

sol's personal notes:

are you kidding me. DARK FANTASY. yeah that's literally all it took for me to fall in love with this story; the imagery is beautiful and the storytelling is so heart wrenching and good and i am literally clawing at the bars of my enclosure rn btw. this fic is sososo good and i'd literally kill to get another morsel from this universe !

⭒⭒⭒

✧ again, make sure to show all these lovely authors some love!! if any of you manage to see this (unlikely. for the most part) i literally cherish these stories sm and would literally die for them idcidc u guys truly made some masterpieces over here ✧

[checkoutmybookshelf]

How is Faerie Smut Not Its Own Genre at This Point???

Ok, I've been on a faerie kick again lately, and I have just finished reading ACOTAR with a friend because he had started it and noped out, but agreed to try it again with me because he's the best. Like Fourth Wing, this book is a white girl BookTok darling, which means that the hype around this books peaks at "THIS IS THE BEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN AAAAAAAAAAAAAA" and "THIS BOOK IS THE WORST THING EVER WRITTEN AAAAAAAAAAAAA."

Y'all...this book is fine. It's aggressively fine. I think it has pacing and plotting issues, and it is absolutely oversold in terms of spice, but I didn't hate it, and there were bits that were fun. I would not kick this book out of bed. (I might kick it out of my classroom if I was teaching, but that's a separate issue.) Let's talk A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Spoiler warning here, because this book and series has been memed to hell and back, and I do not feel like avoiding spoilers is necessary. So SPPOILERS BELOW THE BREAK. Consider yourself warned.

Ok, so first thing's first: I like a good faerie story. I like a good scary faerie. And I am a wee bit of a sucker for a sappy love story once in a while. ACOTAR has all three of those, so objectively this book was fun. It hit some good beats for me, and I was not objectively opposed to faerie smut. Faeries are very flexible, they work in a surprising number of contexts--not to mention that the jump from "my boyfriend is a monster" to "my boyfriend is a high fae lord" is less of a jump and more of a sideways step. So just on paper, ACOTAR wasn't a hard sell for me.

For those of you who have been following my reviews--specifically the Artemis Fowl ones--you'll be happy to hear that Amarantha has been added to the Hall of Unnecessarily Extra Lady Villains with Opal Koboi and Semihrage. I am HERE for Amarantha girlbossing her way to absolute power while wearing the eye and finger bone of the dude she brutally murdered on the way up. I'm also a fan of her TRULY EPIC tantrum once Feyre has murdered two faeries, attempted murdered Tamlin and solved the goddamn riddle at the LAST POSSIBLE SECOND.

(And no, I'm still not over my John Oliver pitching a fit over the solution to the Da Vinci Code being apple levels of fury about THAT...but I digress.)

Amarantha fully leans into toxic girlbossing and just has FUN with it, and I'm never not here for that.

I also appreciated the little tweak of the Aos Si tradition of fairy hills and fairy mounds and fairy barrows into being under the mountain. Like, yes, that mountain is fae as HELL and I'm here for it. That was a nice little addition to the lore, and there's something about having an entire mountain above their heads that made Amarantha's court feel even more oppressive. I'm not sure how it managed not to feel like Khazad Dum, but it didn't, which was excellent.

The other thing I really liked was that the faeries in this series had a very clear sense of danger to them. No candy floss Disney Fairies here, the high fae are DANGEROUS and you can really and truly be fucked if you aren't fully on your game and know all the rules PLUS have a doctorate in rules-lawyering immortal beings. And even then, you could miss something and end up horribly murdered. Between Amarantha, the Night Court in general, the Attor, the Suriel, and the bogge, there was plenty of ambient danger around for our little human protagonist out of her depth.

The problems with this book for me were the aforementioned pacing and plotting problems, and also the romance. Let's take these one by one.

I think it's pretty well known that the last hundred-odd pages of Sarah J Maas books are where the action is, and while that can work for books (it worked beautifully for To Shape a Dragon's Breath), I wasn't buying it for ACOTAR. Feyre's time at the Spring Court draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagged for me, and honestly I would have been happy with about a third of that timeframe. There was also some dragginess in the pacing under the mountain between the trials. A month between trials was just too long, and the time was not well-filled. A week. Just give it a week, you get the same bits between, and I'm not over here going "Why is this taking SO LONG??"

The pacing issues are at least a little exacerbated by the plotting issues. The first like...two-thirds of this book is a weird speedrun of a slow-burn Beauty and the Beast, except that Feyre isn't actually genre-savvy enough to KNOW that's what's happening, and the curse deadline actually passes (with everyone somehow blaming Feyre for this????) before anyone fills Feyre in on the fact that there was a curse in play at all. Then the last third of the book speedruns cursebreaking. Which was actually more interesting than "Feyre just kinda hangs out in a faerie castle for a few months," but very much felt like a completely different book.

Finally, we have the romance issues. And please, as y'all go into this, remember that I have a PhD in English and Film, and I have more life experience than your average 15-year-old who is inhaling this book. I am not the target demographic. Disclaimer out of the way...WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT???? Feyre spends more time with Lucien than Tamlin at the Spring Court, Lucien is the one who checks on her in her cell in under the mountain (yes, I know they explained it in the text, but it was a weak explanation and frankly, Tamlin could have TRIED), and then she spends a weird amount of time with Rhysand under the mountain, even if she doesn't remember most of it. She didn't have TIME to fall in love with Tamlin. I kind of hate to say this, but there was a huge sense of "You love the IDEA of him, sweetie" while I was reading. Not to mention that she kept flip-flopping on Tamlin while she was under the mountain. While he was physically in her line of sight she was all "I love this fae" but the second she's not looking at him, it's like he barely exists. Was this just an object permanence problem??? Like...Feyre, sweetie. I'm happy if you're happy, but you have not spent enough time with this man. You're just horny for the idea of him.

I also want to just...morally object to everyone BLAMING FEYRE for not knowing there was a curse? Like, even Belle knew that there was a curse in play, she was not expected to just...intuit that the Beast and castle were cursed. Like ten people told her about the curse. And I don't care that part of the curse was that nobody could tell Feyre, that did NOT serve the story.

The last weird thing I want to morally object to is everyone shaming Feyre for her illiteracy. Kids not having the opportunity to pursue education is a tragedy, but WE DO NOT SHAME THEM FOR IT. Feyre gets shit from EVERYONE about this, and the second trial hinging on an assumption that she can read just really hammered the "you are bad for not being able to read" home in the weirdest way. Just...What the hell???

All of that said, I want to reiterate that I would not kick this book out of bed. It has its problems, but I was indeed entertained--at least enough to finish the book. And full disclosure, my reading buddy and I are going to start ACOMAF next, so we're apparently hooked. And yes, you will eventually get a review of that one too!

[moonah-rose]

Thought I'd do some quick book reviews for three sapphic reads I've recently finished.

First one is Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall.

Three stars. I really, really wanted to like this book because the cover is so gorgeous and I wanted so badly to have it on my shelf. Basically how my reading experience goes is that I listen on Audible or read the Kindle and then if I like the book I buy the physical copy, kinda like a murderer displaying trophies of their victims, I dunno why that's the similie I chose to go with. To start with the positives; this book is told in a really cool style with the narrator being an amoral sprite who watches and subtly intervenes over mortal affairs just to collect stories to bring back to their master. Honestly watching them start to slowly and reluctantly feel sympathy for the main leads and their funny commentary was the most entertaining aspect. I also liked the quirky best friend, I find it a shame she didn't get to interact with the narrator, that's a dynamic I would have loved! Sadly they overshadow the main leads who are pretty dull in comparison and the plot feels like two stories mashed together and very rushed because of it, rather than having both the reveal of the villain and the high stakes happen at once at the end to make a better climax and see more of the couple spending time together to build up their connection. This is supposed to have Bridgerton vibes but really lacks the Ton intrigue and politics that make Bridgerton interesting. Bit of a let down but I would be up for reading more stories in this world with the same narrator.

Next up is the Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores.

Two stars. Like a lot of people I was really hyped for this book; a sapphic retelling of Rapunzel with witches and vampires, sounds like fun if nothing else. Also, like Mortal Follies, gorgeous cover! But sadly, like Mortal Follies, another let down. And this one doesn't have a fun narrator to save it. This was such a struggle to get through, I felt like a secondaries school English teacher being handed a students first draft, like I could tell the author had a story she really cared about but how it's written is just so basic, with way too much exposition and poorly delivered world building. Similar to another book I read recently, The Shattered Lands, this just feels like it doesn't belong in the YA category, even though it deals with really mature themes and has some graphic, violent moments, the writing style just doesn't suit it.

Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawking.

Three and a half stars (four if I'm being generous). This book really surprised me, I finished watching Red, White & Royal Blue wanting to find the sapphic equivalent and this kept popping up on booktok. This is just a really sweet teen love story, even if it's by no means perfect. I listened to this on Audible which on the plus side, the narrator had the cutest Texan accent - I have a weakness for Southern Belle accents, can't help it - but it also sadly meant the Scottish accents were awful bordering on hilarious. The history nerd in me does wish we'd got a little more info on the hows and whys of Scotland still having a monarchy, it's just something that's set up without any explanation, but I get that's not the focus. I do feel that the writer had even less understanding of monarchy than who wrote RW&RB, I didn't read that book but going by the movie, the Prince acted mostly on point like a British royal and you felt how important that role was to him wheras Flora could have been just any high profile celebrity or nobility. But again, not the focus, it's high school romance where the alpha queen is revealed to be more than a spoiled brat and the simple country girl falls for her, and that being what it is, it's just very sweet, there's not much more I can say other than it gave me the same corny but cute fluff I got out of watching RW&RB.

Bonus quick review.

Four and a half stars! I did not think Faerie smut was for me, I skimmed through pretty much all the "spicy" parts in the ACOTAR series (which was also 60% of ACOSF). But I dug this, even though it's filthy as hell, I knew what I was going into, and it just surpassed my expectations. And it's gay, maybe that's why, maybe het spice just rarely does it, but this ticked so many boxes I didn't even know I had. Only took off half a star because it's so short and dammit I know it didn't need to be longer because it's just meant to be simple fantasy porn but, ugh, I got way more invested in this three day love story than I did the whole of Mortal Follies!

[hyunjinspark]

Did I hear someone ask for theories? I have a few all based on little details mentioned in the story that I've been dying to share.

"He nodded, “He said it’s a different kind of feeling. Although I’ve never really hooked up with someone in the dance studio. It’s far too risky, but I guess I could see the appeal in that”

One of my first wait a minute moments all the way back in Chapter 7… No but seriously I would combust if we ever got dance studio smut (pls tell me I'm not delusional).

"There was a time when you were younger that you dreamt of being a designer of clothes, but that was before you realised you were possibly terrible with style. At least, that's what Hana had once told you."

I had almost forgot about this quote until the most recent chapter, when Y/N wasn't chosen for her program. I firmly believe that Y/N does have style (screw you Hana) and maybe this could be another route for Y/N to get to the city? Lots of potential for tension if Y/N became a stylist for Urban Faeries.

"You wish one day someone loved you as much as Yeonjun loved Hana, in the way that he flew across the country, just to make things right. Something like that would never happen to you though, so you’d vicariously live through this moment."

Perhaps foreshadowing for the future? Like a k-drama style airport scene between Y/N and Hyunjin?

Well, that's all from me now. Still working on my review of Chapter 13 because there is so much to go through, but I'll get there.

you came through with the theories ! 👀 loving the effort. and no youre not delusional, the chances of that happening are always there :)

not the screw you hana 😭 ahh the stylist x idol storyline…it has so much potential and it certainly was something i thought about a lot before crafting slwy… 😳 yn originally was supposed to go to the city like that.

that could definitely be foreshadowing for the story, even if its pretty dramatic 😅 i dont watch kdramas much but grand gestures of romance are always welcome :)

ah cant wait to see your review for chapter 13! 🫶🏻

[thebookpandemonium]

Book Review - The Never King - Nikki St. Crowe

Rating: ✭✭

I have seen this book dozens of times, on bookstagram, on booktok, on goodreads, on storygraph. It was everywhere. And now I know why.

Spoilers incoming, be aware!

The Never King is the first book in a dark Peter Pan retelling, which now consists of four books. It was written by Nikki St. Crowe and it follows Winnie Darling, Peter Pan and some Lost Boys.

Synopsis:

Winnie Darling is set to be kidnapped by Peter Pan on her 18th birthday. Or so, she is told by her mother, who according to legend has been kidnapped by Peter Pan as well, same as all the Darling-women that came before her, dating back to the Original Darling: Wendy! However, Winnie is a bit sceptical about the whole affair, as her mother always has been a bit unstable and, dare I say, insane.

But, Peter Pan does come for her, and everything she believed to be madness, suddenly become true. Peter and his Lost Boys hold many secrets, and they believe Winnie somehow can help Peter Pan and Neverland from the fading magic. A tumultuous time is unleashed on Winnie, together with several good-looking young men. A recipe for disaster if you ask me.

Review:

This book had so much potential. So much! I mean, dark retelling, Peter Pan, good looking Lost Boys, sign me up! However, this book was somewhat underwhelming... From the first moment I started reading the book, I disliked Winnie. She felt one dimensional, shallow and obsessed with s*x. However, I was willing to accept that because I was here for Peter Pan and the Lost Boys. Sadly, they turned out to be nothing better than Winnie Darling.

I mean, there was a plot somewhere. However, it was completely covered in smut, which is truly a missed opportunity, if you ask me. However, Nikki St. Crowe did pull my interest and is more or less forcing me to read the sequel to this literary fantasy p*rn book, which I must admit is very clever of her, haha.

See, there is this Lost Boy, Vane, and he is very mysterious, dark and twisty, violent and all things wrong. He is the only one without a POV, and though there is some discussion about who and what he is, still there is a lot left that will keep you guessing. So, I want to know more about this creeper. Winnie, Peter Pan, Bash and Kas are all mweh, smut-obsessed and semi-boring. But Vane, the man without a POV is the hidden force of this book, I'm sure.

So, to summarize:

✅ The Peter Pan world full of magic and all we ever wanted from Neverland: Mermaids, Pirates, Faeries, you name it, they have it!

✅ It's definitely a lot darker than OG Peter Pan

✅ Mysterious, but highly interesting character, Vane

✅ A plot which has a lot of potential, which can still lead to a nice sequel with an epic fantasy plot

💢 Too much smut

💢 One-dimensional smut-obsessed main characters

💢 Smut without sufficient reason behind it, which showers over the plot that could have been nice

💢 There is fast pace, and there is Formula 1 pace. This is Formula 1 pace. Take the time to get to know the characters, man...

And I know, I complain about the smut. I despise the smut. And I know that the so-called 'spice' is the main reason people read these books, but it so sad to sell it as a 'Peter Pan retelling', while you could have used some random names for a random fantasy-driven plot and still you would have ended up with the same thing. I read Peter Pan retellings, because I loved Peter Pan as a child, and now I want to enjoy it as an adult. And I really don't mind spice, I like it in most books, as long as it makes sense.

In the current setting of the book, the characters have turned in to s*x-obsessed beasts, which is a waste of the characters as well. All of them, especially Winnie, could have been amazing characters, if she would not have said 'I don't care, I love having s*x', at least a dozen times. And if not every POV of her would be her thirsting over not one, but four men. Get a grip, woman!

Anyway, I am set to read the sequel. I was told it would get better, less smut-driven and all that, so who knows! To be continued.

-S.

[woodelf68]

AO3 tag game

Tagged by @luthienebonyx

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

75

2. What’s your current AO3 wordcount?

272,188

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

For fics that I've published/posted to share with others: Robin of Sherwood, Wizards and Warriors, Zorro (the Family Channel series), Lord of the Rings, Once Upon A Time, Stargate: Universe, The Tournament, Thor -- and like 99% of that is OUAT, SGU, and Thor. Everything pre-OUAT was no more than one or two fics per fandom. (I am not a natural story writer. I find it easy to write missing scenes, or extend existing ones, but a proper fic with a beginning, middle and end? At that age, the only thing that could force me to come up with enough words to count as a proper fic were those magic words "free contributor's copy". I did do a lot of art and poetry/filks for RoS, though.)

For all those journals filled with fannish scribbles that I wrote just for myself? Various soap operas, with the most being from Days of Our Lives probably, since I had a couple of big OTPs there. House. Highlander. Beauty and the Beast (Ron Perlman series). A bit of Hercules the Legendary Journeys? I remember writing something for Aphrodite and Hephaestus and at least one thing based on Tyr from Andromeda. More of all the shows that I listed as having posted online or had published in zines. Maybe some ST:TNG for Picard and Crusher? It's hard to remember, it's so long ago; I'm sure I've missed at least one fandom.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Bearing in mind that most of the Rumbelle and Rushbelle ones were posted on tumblr years before I copied them to AO3 (thus having most of their likes over here), these are all my more recent Thor fandom ones: Measuring Up, Child of Love, Tumblr Prompt Fics, Mornings, and Trust.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not.

Yes, always. I very much appreciate any and all comments and I want those who leave them to know that.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

*Scrolls through my fics on AO3* Hm, I can't decide, my three fics in which I accept Neal Cassidy as being dead all make me sniffly. It's either 'Rumple and Henry at Neal's grave', 'Rumple names a star after Neal for Henry's birthday present', or 'Years after Neal's death, his sister visits the grave of the brother she never met'. I debated rewriting that last one when the Rumbaby turned out to be a boy, but was too pleased with the way the fic came out to mess with it.

7. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve ever written?

I've done several Rushbelle ones and one Macelle one that springboarded off a Bad Faery fic. Craziest one was a prompt for SGU's Nicholas Rush to turn into a unicorn. It somehow ended up not feeling like crack at all, though.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I got a few critical reviews from someone this past winter, but nothing strong enough that I would call it hate or be bothered by it. Like 'this is too fluffy and OOC' and I was like 'if you're looking for angst, you're in the wrong place, but thanks for reading!' I was having quite a bit of fun responding to this person tbqh, I was kind of sad when they stopped after three fics.

9. Do you write smut?

Yep. My brain keeps providing me with ideas, rudely not caring that it's much easier to play out sex scenes in my head for my own pleasure than to actually write them down.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No. (At least that I know of!)

11. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No

12. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Oh boy. *Drums fingers* I'm going to go with Vincent and Catherine from Beauty and the Beast, because their journey was cut short when Linda Hamilton left the show and I was left feeling unfulfilled and cheated of everything that they could have been. Fic was good, but they were canon, and we did not get enough of them. I wish they had either tried recasting the role or just cancelled it without doing what they did in the third season. Their romance was just so beautiful.

13. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

If little isolated scenes I just wrote for my own pleasure (often extending an aired scene to make it fluffier or smuttier) in a journal counts, then Days of Our Lives, I think. Or maybe General Hospital. That was the first soap I got hooked on at the tender age of 12, thanks to my mom. For a proper fic written to be shared with others...it might have been a very short Robin of Sherwood scene where Robin wasn't killed due to some Herne-sent Magical Mist™ shrouding him from view of the Sheriff's archers and allowing him to escape back into the woods. (My more experienced self is asking what good that would have done, when the dogs could have just tracked him right back down. I DON'T KNOW, OKAY?)

14. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Oh man, I've got too many to choose from. The best I can do is say that for Rumbelle it's probably one (or all) of the fics in the Floofy!verse, and for Thor, one (or all) of the completely self-indulgently fluffy kid Thor and Loki fics.

Open tag for anyone who wants to do it!

[minkiverse]

POLY!ATEEZ FIC RECS PART 1

Part 2 - Kim Hongjoong - Park Seonghwa - Jeong Yunho - Kang Yeosang - Choi San - Song Mingi - Jung Wooyoung - Choi Jongho

A collection of Ateez fics that I think everyone should know about!!! This has been QUITE the project, but I'm so happy to have done it. Unfortunately not all my recs could fit on one post so there will be at least one other part to this list, as well as individual member lists. (i really thought i could fit them all on one post lmaooo) I hope you enjoy and support these authors!!

DISCLAIMER none of these works are mine and majority are MATURE 18+, please review all warnings before reading!!!

Key:

✨ - My Favs

🔥 - Smut (MINORS DNI)

⛈️ - Angst

💗 - Fluff

🍑 - Humor

POLY!ATEEZ

Sway With Me - @luvt0kki 🔥⛈️ Sci-fi ✧ Ongoing

the world 🤌 the story 🤌 the SMUT 🤌🤌🤌 but truly this fic is such a fun take on a sci-fi adventure. im already obsessed with the mc, AND HER AND WOO'S CHEMISTRY?!?! off the charts sooooo good like 👏👏👏 the interlude has me a tiny bit nervous because now i know how well this author writes angst and yeah its gonna be a doozy 😩😩

Wonderwall - @atzfilm ✨🔥⛈️ Yandere ✧ Faerie AU ✧ Ongoing

i realized pretty quickly that yandere is much more popular in this fandom than in previous ones i've been in, so i never really read any. HOWEVER, i get it now i do lmao. this was the first one i read, and i was HOOKED like i couldn't stop reading! the story just like took over my brain, and i am thinking why am i sympathizing with the guys BUT I AM BECAUSE THEY ARE COMPLEX AND SO INTERESTING AND WELL WRITTEN!!!!! its hard to put into words how much i love this series

The Answer - @berryunho ✨🔥⛈️ Cult AU ✧ Ongoing

i genuinely don't think i've ever read a fic like this, and i mean that in literally the best way possible. i was STRESSED reading this like there are so many scenes that make me question everything, but like there is no one to trust about what is actually happening. idk if i'm making sense but this fic just needs to be read to understand the legit anxiety it gives me in certain chapters lmaooo😭😭

Deep Down - @seventhcallisto 🔥⛈️💗 ABO AU ✧ 9th Member AU ✧ Ongoing

this is just self indulgent fun AND THAT PEOPLE IS WHAT FANFICTION IS MEANT TO BE!!! like im just kicking my feet reading about this 9th member ateez finding out she's an omega!~ i'm having the TIME OF MY LIFE!

Into the Aurora - @honeyhotteoks ✨🔥⛈️💗 Idol AU ✧ Complete

this soooo quickly became my main comfort fic for ateez! like i have reread this TOO many times. sometimes i'll just revisit specific chapters, but i know the exact chapter number.... is that concerning? lmaooo~ but truly this is more than just a you date every member of ateez fic (WHICH ARE GREAT DONT GET IT TWISTED!!) but the more we learn of the mc the more i adore her and her relationship with the boys!! it's just a must read ok 👏👏

Inception - @remedyx ✨🔥⛈️💗 Dragon!Teez ✧ Royalty AU ✧ Ongoing

my brain is still stuck in this world tbh, like its maybe a bit embarrassing how many times i look at the map and moodboards and just vibe and think about this fic lmaoo! but honestly the world building is so thoughtful and its so easy to just immerse yourself in it which is amazing!!!!!!!

Dragon from the Window - @thelargefrye ✨🔥⛈️💗 Dragon!Teez ✧ Fantasy AU ✧ Ongoing

this collection of one shots, drabbles, headcanons, and world building i went through SO QUICKLY I WAS IMMEDIATLY OBSESSED. i am so genuinely invested in this story and how each member react to their connection with the mc!!!! ALSO the mc is a witch SO BIG BONUS POINTS!!!!~

like the moon - @sunmoonjune ✨⛈️💗 Warrior AU ✧ Clan Systems ✧ Ongoing

try not to cry challenge - FAILED, MULTIPLE TIMES 😭😭 this is major hurt/comfort, but its truly such a beautiful story!! i would do anything ANYTHING for gray!!!!! all of them deserve the absolute best in the world and i just adore them so much 🥹🥹🥹

Morning Mist - @mint-yooxgi ⛈️💗 Dragon!Teez ✧ Yandere ✧ Ongoing

another story with an mc that is just 🤌🤌🤌 like she is so badass i'm in love but also scared lmao,, but i think if you are new to yandere, this is a good starting point! like yes they are obsessed but not like terrifyingly so if that makes sense~

MULTIPLE MEMBERS

This Night Together - @honeyhotteoks ✨🔥⛈️💗 Yunho x Reader x Mingi ✧ ABO ✧ Ongoing

listen i'm a bit of a slut for ABO fics and this one!!!! THIS ONE IS SO FUCKING GOOD!!!!!!!!! im like just in love with all of them not just yungi n reader but EVERYONE (except u minseok u bitch) like not only is the main plot so good but the side plots for the other members is just incredible,, i just love this story too ok if you see this author know that every fic they write is going to be a comfort fic for me 🥹🥹

Project Omen - @atzfilm 🔥⛈️ Hongjoong x Reader x Wooyoung ✧ Hybrid AU ✧ One Shot

Bouncy - @hongism 🔥Yunho x Reader x Jongho ✧ Mechanic AU ✧ One Shot

splish splash - @atozfic 🔥San x Seonghwa x Wooyoung x Yunho x Reader ✧ Swimmer AU ✧ One Shot

sharing is caring? - @byuntrash101 🔥Hongjoong x Reader x Mingi ✧ Idol AU ✧ One Shot

Untitled - @orgverse 🔥Seonghwa x Reader x San ✧ Idol AU ✧ One Shot

Untitled - @cheollipop 🔥San x Reader x Wooyoung ✧ One Shot

Threesome with Yungi with woosan watching - @k-hotchoisan 🔥Yunho x Reader x Mingi (San and Wooyoung) ✧ One Shot

one more rep - @cheollipop 🔥San x Reader x Wooyoung ✧ Personal Trainer AU ✧ One Shot

blue bird - @seonghwaddict 🔥💗San x Reader x Wooyoung ✧ Mafia AU ✧ One Shot

What's the Time, Mr. Wolf - @starlitmark 🔥Yunho x Reader x Mingi ✧ Hybrid AU ✧ One Shot

the good friend + the better friend - @byuntrash101 ✨🔥San x Reader x Mingi ✧ Idol AU ✧ Two Shot

as a sangi bias this fic changed my life maybe?!! the smut is just toe curling ESPECIALLY PART TWO!!!!!!!!!!!!! literally i could drool just thinking about this fic 🤤🤤 i need this to be my reality ASAP

Untitled - @ja3hwa 🔥Seonghwa x Yunho x Mingi x Reader ✧ Business (?) AU ✧ One Shot

knockout - @igbylicious 🔥San x Reader x Wooyoung ✧ Boxer AU ✧ One Shot

Untitled - @sanspuppet 🔥Hongjoong x Reader x Seonghwa ✧ One Shot

Untitled - @thetypingpup 🔥San x Reader x Mingi ✧ One Shot

Time of Love - @desayunho ⛈️💗 San x Reader x Wooyoung ✧ SMAU ✧ Complete

compromise - @cyberpxnk 🔥⛈️ Seonghwa x Reader x Yunho ✧ College AU ✧ Soccer AU ✧ One Shot

Untitled - @cheollipop 🔥San x Reader x Wooyoung ✧ One Shot

cheerleader - @byuntrash101 🔥Seonghwa x Yunho x San x Ming x Reader ✧ One Shot

from eden + Pt. 2 - @atzfilm 🔥⛈️ Seonghwa x Reader x Yeosang ✧ Vampire AU ✧ Two Shot

whichever way - @igbylicious 🔥💗 San x Reader x Wooyoung ✧ Neighbors AU ✧ Ongoing

Under the Comforter - @thelargefrye 🔥Seonghwa x Reader x San ✧ Idol AU ✧ One Shot

Double Trouble - @kitten4sannie 🔥 Wooyoung x Reader x Jongho ✧ Hybrid AU ✧ One Shot

What Should We Become? - @sluttywoozi 🔥💗 Yeosang x Reader x San ✧ One Shot

like a dream - @cheollipop ✨🔥💗 Yunho x Reader x Mingi ✧ One Shot

this is like so incredibly hot, literally all i need in life is to be in between these two men 😩😩😩 but it is also so sweet and both boys are so doting to the mc and the end!!!!!!!!!! so loving and cute and aaaaaaaaaaaa 😭😭😭

SCENARIOS/TEXTS/HEADCANONS

ateez as royals who fall for you (hyungs, maknaes) - @eightmakesonebraincell 🔥⛈️💗 Royalty AU ✧ Scenarios

subby ateez - @seventhcallisto 🔥Headcanons

Ateez cumming too soon - @sluttywonwoo 🔥Headcanons

soft cuddles with ateez - @beenbaanbuun 💗 Scenarios

first kiss with ateez - @beenbaanbuun 💗 Scenarios

Ateez and pussy slapping - @kitten4sannie 🔥Scenarios

Bedroom Mishaps (hyungs, maknaes) - @seohwang 🔥💗 Scenarios

Ateez 'n free use - @seventhcallisto 🔥 Scenarios

Cupping their Cheeks - @yeorisanaxox 💗 Scenarios

Ateez as Exes + Pt. 2 - @kisshwa 🍑 Texts

Friends to Lovers Headcanons - @kpopnstarwars 💗 Scenario

boyfriend!ateez discovering you write smut - @eightmakesonebraincell 🍑 Texts

Ateez being overstimulated (hyungs, maknaes) - @ateezscupid ✨🔥 Scenarios

listen i just like sub!ateez a lot 😭😭 but like these are such a go too for me when i NEED some dom!reader content like it is so cute/hot/toe curlingly delicious 🤤🤤🤤

mtl of who would like choking - @sxcret-garden 🔥 Headcanons

texts when they think you’re asleep - @beenbaanbuun 💗🍑 Texts

[supitsgdo]

Book review: ACOTAR saga by Sarah J. Maas

Rating:

A Court Of Thorns And Roses - 4⭐

A Court Of Mist And Fury - 5⭐

A Court Of Wings And Ruin - 4⭐

A Court Of Frost And Starlight - 3⭐

A Court Of Silver Flames - 3⭐

Well, this saga kept stalking me all over the internet. Everywhere, there was always someone recommending or talking about the books in such a way that I couldn't escape the spoilers. Still, I decided to give it a chance.

Some day, if you're looking for a hot and spicy romance with an interesting world, this saga is a good starting point. Since I read a lot of fantasy, I occasionally enjoy a good romance with a lot of tension that builds throughout the books, and I must say I wasn't disappointed with what I read.

To give you an idea, this book is about a world where Faeries and humans live separated by a wall. And one afternoon, Feyre, hunting food for her family, kills a creature she shouldn't have. As a result she is forced to go into Faeries territory and live with them. And little does she know that her life will take a 180° turn. Feyre fights for her love, for her family and friends, for her world and is broken in many ways because of that fight. But we also witness her recovery/healing. So we have a badass character whose personality and, in a way, her essence, grows and develops throughout the books, despite all the traumas that affect her.

Now… my reactions were:

(ACOTAR) I knew what I was going for and wasn't disappointed. *wink wink* I really liked Feyre and her badass personality. The world that Sarah created in this book is also interesting. Even though I read some spoilers, I'm still excited to know how it's going to happen.

🌶️chaps: 26, 27, 42

(ACOMAF) OMGGGGG this was intense. Can I pretend that I don't know the story already and reread????? Just woaw! I have no words!

🌶️chaps: 2, 42, 48, 55

(ACOWAR) I only didn't give 5 stars to this book because of the ending. (I don't want so say much because of spoilers but) Am I the only one who got the sense of repetition? And maybe I'm also used to reading more realistic and important deaths in a battlefield, than the ones that happened there. Either way, I really enjoyed the book. My love for Feyre and Rhysand kept growing. And I want more stories about their inner circle and how the rest of the world is going to unfold.

🌶️chaps: 14, 29, 39, 56

(ACOFAS) Ohh this book was just wholesome. A soft blanket to warm our hearts. We get to know more about the characters and it's also a reminder, to us, that everybody copes with trauma in different ways and that it takes time to heal.

🌶️chaps: 22

(ACOSF) Dudeeee what a let down.... Only the last 100 pages were worth my time.

Sarah why are you doing our favourite characters so dirty? Why??? The only fucking reason for them to start helping Nesta is because she wasted too much money in one night? HOW ABOUT THE OTHER MONTHS?!? Wtf?!? Even when Rhys doesn't give a fuck about their money! Like for real, wtf? I know it's Nesta's POV but we all know that Rhys isn't the shithead/bastard you turn/make him look like!! He's not fucking Tamlin come on! I'm not even going to rant any more about that.

For the people who love smut, this book is intense and full of it, have fun! For me, since I've been reading this series recently and one book after another, I have to say I was a bit annoyed with the sex in this book. Like can y'all keep it in your pants for a bit?! Obviously I wanted them both together, but for me it felt forced (maybe that's not the right word but wtv). Idonno, anyway.

My favourite characters were the House, Gwyn and Emerie. For me, they made the story more appealing and got me to finish the book. I hope they appear in the next ones. I love Cassian, but even him was weird in this book somehow. Andddd about Nesta... Jeezzz. I wanted to see her evolution and I was left with mixed feelings. Something about the way the author wrote about her personality and her character development, idonno. It's not that I don't like her, it's just the things she's going through and the things she has done, nothing justifies her actions. At least she got a good outcome so yeay to us!

🌶️chaps: 19, 22, 26, 37, 41, 44, 51, 58

[whitneydaniell]

by: Sarah J. Maas Published: May 5, 2015 Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult, Fiction 419 Pages, Paperback

★★★★★

GoodReads Synopsis:

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.

At least, he’s not a beast all the time.

As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

My Review:

If Beast and Belle were in a mythical land of fairies and shape-shifting royalty, it would be A Court of Thornes and Roses!

Let me preface this review by saying... this is my first step into fantasy fiction -- well since I read the first Harry Potter in the 6th grade. I also read the first Hunger Games, even though that's not really fantasy. Anyway, I wasn't sure what I was getting into and it did take me about, the first hundred pages, to really get into it.

How-Be-Ever! When I got into it, oh man!!! I wasn't ready.

Fayre - a mere mortal living in the human world when the seams of her world begin to unravel after a day in the woods hunting. Fayre is ripped from her world and all that she's known, and thrust into Prythian. Initially, Fayre annoyed me! Girl, you got a Picasso in your house. Word to ATL, #IYKYK. Just live in the lap of luxury and shut up. But ripped from the only life she knew, leaving behind her family, it was only right that she longed to go back and save them from a war that they didn't know was coming.

Tamlin. Beast. I mean, swoon. He's kind and gentle but, massive and dangerous when the land and people that he loves are threatened. His power knows no bounds when it comes to protecting his court, his land, his Emissary, and Fayre.

Sarah Maas knows how to write! Even with the language of this world; the names; and places, I still understood everything effortlessly.

The romance is there, without the smut. I loved that! As the reader, I could feel the heat between Fayre and Tamlin from the moment he brought her to the Spring Court. I'm glad the pages were not full of heavy petting and the secks.

TEAM LUCIEN ALL DAY. He gave real "Big Bro" vibes and I loved how he and Fayre's relationship grew. I loved that he admitted to hesitating and that they overcame that.

Rhysand. Rhysand. Rhysand. I knew you were up to no good at the Rite.

Final thoughts. Loved it. Will pick up the rest of the series and hope to finish before the TV adaptation begins streaming.

One-Word Summary: Amarantha

[thesylphroad]

Inner Monologue Shitpost Breakdown A.K.A. Review of Chapter 1 of "A Court of Thorns and Roses"

Everyone on TikTok is going batshit crazy about this book series, so as a very late-to-the-program sheep, I must join the wave. My credentials are that I'm obsessed with faerie lore and I read a lot of AO3 fanfic so I'm pretty well qualified to review what I am assured is "faerie smut." There better be faeries and fucking or I will sue.

Commence Chapter One.

We meet the book's narrator, Girl in Forest. She has wandered too far into the forest (which, like, never a good sign in fantasy). Her family is starving, so she is hunting for deer. We get some ominous foreshadowing about both giant wolves and the supernatural ilk that seems to freely wander out of Prythian, which is the name for the "faerie lands." Right away it sounds like this world will adhere to a physical barrier between realms (thank god, I hate that dimension jumping bullshit). Kudos to the author for spelling faerie with the "e' because that's obviously the superior way to spell it.

Anyway, moving on, this girl is cold, and she tells us as much, and then immediately launches into an existential follow up: "A shudder skittered down my spine at the thought, and I shoved it away, focusing on my surroundings, on the task ahead. That was all I could do, all I'd been able to do for years: focus on surviving the week, the day, the hour ahead." Immediately I'm like, okay so I think she has BPD. Anyway narrator is simply a girlboss, in what almost seems like a Hunger Games type backdrop. Girls just wanna survive their dystopian medieval-esque? era frozen hellscape. Please god don't let this be a YA series. Anyway, author maybe forgot the "show don't tell" rule, but I'm full of forgiveness so I won't hold it against her.

Narrator reminds us (me?) she is in a tree, which is good because I'd forgotten that detail. Never mind, in the next sentence she informs me she is getting off the tree. We already know she's like, survival-centric, which gives us a good idea as to her social status (and thus her likely financial class) but she adds in a detail about her fraying boots so we know for sure she's no uptown girl. Protagonist is probably like, humble and selfless and all that.

Okay, so she's got a few hours of daylight left and now she's really harping on the giant wolves rumor, and like, how they're traveling in groups (as wolves are wont to do). But more sinister still, she shares this little detail: "Not to mention whispers of strange folk spotted in the area, tall and eerie and deadly." I have bad news for the narrator after reading the follow-up sentence: "ANYTHING BUT FAERIES." I have a sneaking hunch it might be faeries, since like, this is the forest and the forest leads directly into the faerie lands as aforementioned.

We get some lore for the road, about "long-forgotten gods," whom the hunters are still praying to, for some reason. I guess when you need a crutch you need a crutch, right? She goes on to explain that she's actually a couple of days away from the "immortal border of Prythian," and this is why they've been "spared an attack." I will assume these are hostile invader faeries until otherwise advised.

Oh no, narrator's family finished their last loaf of bread yesterday, which means they are really banking on narrator to come through with a kill. Narrator is like, the breadwinner, except instead of bread it's deer. Which, like, not to be rude but this is fatherless behavior, where is the dad who's supposed to be crunching through the snow with her right now? Narrator is like (paraphrasingly), "But also I'd rather starve than be wolf food. Or faerie food." OK, DO THE FAERIES EAT HUMAN FLESH? More on that later, I trust she will not forget to expand on this detail, as author is very good at expanding on…every single detail. "Not that there was much of me to feast on," narrator adds (coyly).

Note to self: narrator is a skinny legend.

Okay, homegirl definitely has some self-worth issues to work through here, which furthers my BPD suspicion. I mean she's like, traveling deeper into the forest, and the whole time she's playing out this scenario where she comes back empty-handed and her family is like, disappointed or angry or something. She's in the winter of her life, and the wolves she meets along the way are her only…I can stop.

Moving on, narrator is waiting and hoping. Good to hear she still has hope, because she definitely just told us she didn't exactly have that. Interesting detail to note is this sentence where she's like "Too many families had already started begging for me to hope for handouts from the wealthier townsfolk." Book world is presumably also in a recession, and they're probably relying on the same age-old trickle down politics pyramid scheme.  I'm on page 19 and protagonist is getting deeply troubling in her existential inner monologue. Like, not only is her life kinda crappy, narrator actually feels like her world has no color. She is in her 2016 Tumblr era. She cannot stop listening to that Arctic Monkeys album. Like, not only is the landscape bleak (could be a little bit of seasonal depression rearing its ugly head here) but this also applies to like, the luxuries of jeweled brooches and expensive silk fabric. I think this is meant to imply that she maybe at one point enjoyed these luxuries, like maybe she is New Poor. You know how there's New Money and Old Money, and there's also New Poor and Old Poor. I think this lifestyle is newly acquired, if that makes sense. She cranks it up a notch by telling us she sometimes "would even indulge in envisioning a day when my sisters were married and it was only me and Father, with enough food to go around, enough money to buy some paint." Okay, okay, actually this makes sense: narrator is an artist. A real Barbara Ross with the paints, if you will; so it makes sense that she sees the world in terms of COLOR. It's interesting to consider that, in these sort of unspecified back-in-the olden days societies there was probably a good deal of like, inter-family resentment when parents just kept popping out kids they couldn't feed, and we see that evidenced here. Narrator resents her sisters, and since she mentioned they're both OLDER than she is and neither one of them are traipsing through the forest with her right now, I can kind of sympathize. I also just randomly remembered that part of this book is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and those old fairy tales love a good "shitty sibling" or "shitty step-parent" motif, so this tracks. 

Narrator admits that, while she hasn't admired any beauty in the world in like forever, she is currently admiring this beautiful winter light on the snow even though she is super miserable and cold (also starving). Narrator is a real contradiction. We get a cute little tidbit about some guy called Isaac Hale (they fuck). She's like, a cool girl, though, so it's more like romps in the decrepit barn, and not anything serious. "Hungry and empty and sometimes cruel, but never lovely" is a real as fuck way to describe a no-strings hook-up. I like that. 

"The howling wind calmed into a soft sighing." Okay, back to that "show don't tell" rule, because I'm bored of the snow at this point. I have some serious questions about the editor who let "the lethal, gentle beauty of the snow" slip through to publication, but carrying on. We get this recurring reminder that the protagonist is "peering through thorns" which seems relevant since it ties back into the title and all, or maybe it's just an allusion to the thorny lifestyle girlboss leads, I don't know yet. Will follow-up on this. 

FINALLY a wild plot device appears, and a deer spawns in the clearing ahead of narrator. Deer is eating tree bark, narrator is like "This deer is not too scrawny to kill." Narrator should remember the old adage "Beggars can't be choosers." She also adds that this deer could sustain her family for like a week, probably. I'm not a hunter myself, so no comment, but I believe her because why would she lie? Protagonist really puts off the whole ACTUALLY firing the arrow process, distracted by her maladaptive daydreaming about what she's going to do with all the meat and the deer hide if and when she ever shoots the damn thing. She's also like, "One of my sisters needs a cloak and the other sister is an if u got it I WONT it type of girl" which, like, stay focused girly, the deer is STILL ALIVE. 

Fuck, okay, now there's some golden eyes shining across the way. This is probably because you took so damn long to kill the deer, and now there's one of those tall faerie things in the bushes!!! 

Nobody panic it's just a wolf. Fun fact: more people get attacked by deer every year than wolves. Wolves are super non-aggressive towards humans, unless they're cornered or feel threatened. Just keep that in mind if you're going to develop a fantasy RPG and wolves are one of the hordes of monsters you include in the wilds.

OK never mind narrator is like, "He was enormous--the size of a pony." CUT THE TAPE. CUT THE FUCKING TAPE. Does…does the author know how big ponies are? Ponies are just small horses, okay, some ponies are like 14 hands high at the shoulder that's almost five feet tall. THAT'S ALMOST FIVE FEET TALL THAT IS TALLER THAN ME. Holy fuck pony-sized wolf is "unnaturally stealthy." Who buffed the wolves in this world? Okay, is it a werewolf? I thought this was a faerie book.

I actually hadn't considered that the wolf might be a faerie, but she suddenly foreshadows that this is a possibility, and I get the feeling author isn't super great with subtletly, so I'm thinking there's a good chance it's a faerie. A wolf faerie. Equine-sized. 

"If he was a faerie, I should already be running" okay how do we know it's a boy wolf? Note to self: wolf faerie is obviously packing. I'm sorry I still can't get over the size thing, like I'm just imagining a pony-sized wolf, and all I can think is that you should absolutely be running at that detail alone. Like, this is clearly some kind of fucked up, genetically maximized wolf. 

Narrator has just explained how she's kind of really alone in the world and her family sucks and the rich people won't help the begging poor folk, but now she's like "Should I help my village and kill this big wolf?" Um, how about no? How about you're the only bitch in this forest right now and are you forgetting that this thing is the size of a small horse?

Girlboss…proceeds to waste an ungodly amount of time wondering whether the wolf is a wolf or something more than a wolf, but the point here is that SHE THEN EXPLAINS SHE ONLY HAS THREE FUCKING ARROWS AGAINST A WOLF THE SIZE OF A SMALL HORSE. Okay, so, I took a deep breath. I am putting my trust in the assumption that narrator is wearing plot armor, but the odds are SOOOOO not in her favor right now.

We learn that the girl has 2 regular arrows and 1 ASH arrow. Ash is supposed to be a faerie killer, according to the narrator. Which is interesting because in Celtic faerie lore ash is actually one of the three sacred trees of the faerie folk, but carry on. Okay, so I'm learning that ash trees are rare in this world. I'm writing that down. This is gonna be the dragonglass of this book series, isn't it? I'm calling it now.

 So it's not that I'm not intrigued but the author is really telling way too much and showing way too little. Protagonist proceeds to like, wonder whether her ash arrow is even REAL. Because like, the counterfeit ash market is a real problem in the village. It could be fake, she's had it for three years, why the fuck has it taken you 3 years to use one of your 3 arrows? I just…never mind. She finally draws the arrow like 8 paragraphs later, but even as her chest starts to ache, she's like, I should get sidetracked again wondering whether this big ass giant ass horse-sized ass WOLF is alone. Girl, I am praying to the forgotten gods for your ass that it IS.

Oh my god, I can't believe I'm typing this but narrator goes on another side quest explaining how she's never faced a wolf before. She seriously needs an Adderall prescription this is insane. "I'd thought it made me lucky--even blessed" GIRL BLESSED BY WHO YALL DON'T REMEMBER YOUR OWN GODS. Jesus. Now she's like, lol idk where to HIT IT. Just hit it. For god's sake. Hit it already. She reminds us one more time she only has the one ash arrow. I think I have to kill the wolf myself at this point. 

Protagonist has already decided for herself it's an animal and not a faerie, but now she's suddenly like, "oh no what if there IS a faerie heart pounding in there?" It will die of old age before you shoot the fucking ash arrow, so I would not worry too much.The wolf is like, unnaturally stealthy but then two paragraphs later it snaps a twig but it's okay because the deer is stupid and just looks in the other direction. How fucking long has this deer been eating bark off this same tree? I feel aged. I feel evolved.

"If I judged wrongly, my life wasn't the only one that would be lost." What the fuck does that mean? Like, if you shoot the wolf and don't kill the wolf it will probably kill you, and if you sit here and wait for spring to come the wolf might kill the deer. What does this mean? I am so confused. I am so overstimulated. Help?

Finally, at long last, can we get a round of applause, narrator shoots the wolf. She waits for the wolf to kill the deer first. She did a lot of deliberating about where to hit the wolf only to hit it in the side, which…statistically speaking that's not one of the more lethal regions to puncture, but that's okay because this is her first wolf, remember? I would like some sort of compensation for having to read this sentence: "He barked in pain, releasing the doe's neck as his blood spewed on the snow--so ruby bright." So ruby bright?????? SO RUBY BRIGHT??????

Ugh.

I really do wanna like this book, okay, did I mention I spent $84 for the hardcover boxset of this series at Target? Okay, well I did, so I'm going to be really disappointed if they suck, because like, TikTok girlies put me on. But I have to be honest this chapter reads like a first draft.

Next up the wolf is just standing there, looking at the narrator. The ash arrow is "protruding so vulgarly" from his side. Gods help me. Okay she is definitely starting to think the wolf is like, sentient. But in a human way. Or like, does that mean a faerie way? Are we sure this isn't a werewolf? She fires a second arrow through his eye, which like, cheap shot considering but go off I guess. Now the wolf is finally laying down. He's still like twitching and whatnot, and the narrator is like "Impossible--he should be dead, not dying!" Well dying is a process, okay, and isn't this your first wolf? Don't get cocky. She describes the blood on the snow some more, and then wonders whether dying from an arrow through the eye is super painful, or maybe he's just trying to "shove death away." My guess is probably yes. Yes to both. The snow is continuing to fall. She decides once more that he is a wolf. Not a faerie. She's honestly just trying to convince herself at this point, I don't even care anymore.

She starts thinking about how another predator could smell the blood while she's cleaning her arrows off, and I'm praying to the forgotten gods that this doesn't happen because at this point I know it has to be dark because it's been several hours in the forest and PLEASE JUST GO HOME WITH YOUR WOLF AND YOUR DEER. I just remembered she has to carry these two carcasses back home and she's just a skinny legend as we learned earlier in the chapter. How is she gonna do that, I wonder? Okay, so the answer is she skins the wolf pelt and just carries the whole deer carcass. Girlboss moment. As she's leaving, she's like "wow really wish I could feel sorry for this wolf" even though she kind of already did wonder whether it was in pain or not that was a whole thing like 3 paragraphs back.

I actually really like the closing sentence, "But this was the forest, and it was winter." It hit me right in the "But winter is coming" feels.

Um, overall, I have to say, well I have to say what the fuck but I'm going to keep reading because I heard there was gonna be fucking. So um, yeah. Stay tuned I guess if anyone wants to read my chapter 2 review.

[xxxtwilightaxelxxx]

I posted 8,295 times in 2022

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#btw i'm gonna queue each part since i'm trying to clear it and its mostly series so it will help since i'm doing onepost a day from my queue

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Impersonating Yelena: "Kate Bishop" :D

And pizza dog :) woop this cheered me up after a bad annoying ending to my shift tonight, its funny that the amazon exclusive one was supposed to arrive ages ago but god.delayed, this one came on time

14 notes - Posted February 11, 2022

#4

Wish me luck peeps I'm about about watch ingrid goes west...im..scared lol

I'm expecting this to be cringy but I'm doing this for elizabeth and to bloody see what Taylor is all about..but I expect I'm gonna be this for most of the film

See the full post

15 notes - Posted April 27, 2022

#3

Me having a discussion with one of the guys I'm at mcm comic con bit and talking about how I call wanda daddy/mommy and he was like...

16 notes - Posted May 27, 2022

#2

HOW ARE WE FUCKING FEELING RIGHT NOW WANDA GIRLS!!!!!

Cause this is me right now (I made this use and it has always been this way lol)

23 notes - Posted February 14, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I think ppl who read wanda/elizabeth x reader smut fics will agree...if @themidnightcrimson and @cthulhus-curse did a collab...we wouldn't fucking survive what these two could come up with.. the smut would be the stuff of legends!!!

See the full post

332 notes - Posted May 18, 2022

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[ma-at-thought]

Idk if you're the one to ask of know someone who can answer but... what are your thoughts on bi-gender or gender fluid individuals (esp biologically female) who write m/m smut or erp gay characters? Is that okay for them to do? I've never seen anyone talk about it when they talk about people fetishizing m/m relationships and I'm very curious if they count or not

Well, Anon, I don’t know if I’m the right person to ask, but I’m a person to ask. And answers will probably vary based on who you ask. If any of the folks who follow me have things to add to what I’m going to say, please do so, but please be polite about it.

First, looking at smut that exists purely for smut. No real plot or much character development, just hot word-porn. Let’s face it. Smut is fun to write. And it’s fun to read. A number of authors (frequently in the supernatural romance category) will have steamy sex scenes that are gay, bi, or unspecified varieties of three- (or more) somes. And a lot of these authors are female, regardless of what pen name they go under. I’m not just talking fan-fiction here; this stuff is published for e-readers and in actual book form through publishing houses. Some of it is pretty darn good, and some of it seems very fetishizing. One of the things that makes the difference is research. Anatomy is important (with a certain amount of leeway for fantasy creatures and settings), and writing that sort of thing in properly can go a long way toward making it about smut instead of about fetishizing the gender identities and sexualities involved. Another thing is having some good foreplay in there, because it lets you focus on things beyond the genitals. If the sole focus just seems to be on the peen and attached dangly-bits, that’s going to seem fetishized to people. Explore the sex beyond the obvious to avoid that.

Second, looking at romance writing. This is usually actual stories with overarching plots unrelated to sex, but steamy love scenes play a big part. Again, pay attention to the non-obvious sexy parts and reasonably accurate anatomy research to convey sensations and such. But this is beyond smut; you’ve got characters getting involved here, and their lives are intertwining, even if it’s just for the duration of the story. Ships passing in the night, and all that. They’ve got emotions, needs, desires, and pasts; you’ve got to keep these sorts of things in mind, especially with little behaviors and conversation. Some of it is about avoiding stereotypes. But stereotypes can exist for a reason. I’ve got a friend who would merrily respond to the title ‘Gloriously Bearded Prince Of The Faeries’ and I’m sometimes surprised that he doesn’t sneeze rainbows and glitter while doing jazz-hands. And honestly, having one of the characters be flamboyantly super-gay is alright. You just need to make sure that not ALL of the gay men in your story are like that. And if every single man encountered in the course of the story is a shockingly-hunky gay man, that can seem fetishizing too, because it excludes variety and is hyper-focused on The Gay. I don’t mean that there should only be two of The Gays and that they must have The Sex; it’s good to have some other characters in the story that happen to be gay (or bi) and also happen to not be interested in sex with the main character(s). Some variety in your cast of characters goes a long way to avoiding fetishization, and honestly will make your story a little more appealing to a broader audience.

Third, regarding ERP. Again, the issues mentioned above regarding researching some accurate anatomy and not having all the sexual focus being on the genitals apply, but it’s not the technique of the writing that’s bothering you, I think. It’s whether or not it’s “okay” for someone biologically female to write gay characters...

Personally? I say go for it. This is your character, and the only other people involved with this will be your RP partner(s). Now, I don’t understand much about being bi-gendered or gender-fluid, but to me, the gender identity of my RP partners doesn’t matter at all. (Unless stuff starts bleeding into OOC, but that’s a whole different issue and should raise some red flags.) What matters is how accurately you portray the gender and sex of your character. And it is your character. Presumably, he has a back-story, a history, preferences of his own, goals and desires. Those don’t have to relate to your naughty-bits, your genetics, your preferences, or your identity. I myself have role-played or written sex-related stories involving lesbians, gays, bisexuals, demisexuals, pansexuals, paired up with whatever happens to appeal to them, and needless to say, I am not OOCly all of those things. Erotic Role Play is a progression of character stories; yes, it’s smut, but it’s also potentially a turning point in a relationship, or an opportunity for awkwardness, or the delicious angst of calling a lover by the wrong name. It is part of a larger story, and as long as you’ve taken some steps to avoid the things that can seem extremely fetishizing and you and your RP partner(s) are comfortable with whatever real life information you choose to disclose, I don’t see an issue here. When it comes to RPing, the key words are Respect and Communication, and if you keep track of both of those things, you play your character how you want.

Now... there will always be people who think this is wrong. There always are, and there probably have been since cave-man days erotica. Some folks will get upset that you’re role-playing or writing something that you aren’t. I always found that odd, because it’s fiction. Part of the fun of writing is diving into a world of Not Reality. Some people might get upset because of how you’re portraying a specific thing. And if they bring up this protest politely, it never hurts to politely ask in return what they feel is off about it, or what they saw as fetishizing. You can think of it like a peer review. And note that the key word here is “politely”; if someone just goes off on you out of the blue, it’s not likely that you’ll get a polite and educational conversation out of it. 

This may have been way more information than you were looking for, Anon, but I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to ask me and believe that my views on the topic would be helpful to you. I hope they were, and I hope that any comments from others can be helpful as well, to broaden on what I’ve mentioned. Again, this is my personal opinion, and you’ll probably find a wide variety of those; take the polite advice and offers for conversation about it. Everything is a work in progress. ^_^

[thesylphroad]

Inner Monologue Shitpost Breakdown A.K.A. Review of Chapter 6 of "A Court of Thorns and Roses"

Commence chapter six

Feyre wakes up in faerie land, and realizes there’s been a seasonal shift. Remember how it was winter back in mortal world? Okay, now it’s warm and sunny. She attributes this to magic, on account of the smell. Note to self: magic smells.

She is crossing the grounds of a pretty estate, which seems fairly normal aside from being suspiciously deserted. At this point she realizes Beastie stole her knife while she was in her magic coma, but she is still determined to run away but, as we will recall, the horse is Loyal to Beastie and refuses to cooperate. At this point Feyre chooses to see logic, and realizes she has no food and probably wouldn’t get very far if she actually did run away.

She and Beastie enter the manor. She immediately notices there’s no dungeon, but that could be due in part to the fact that dungeons are generally downstairs somewhere. She was sort of expecting the powerful magical overlords of yore to live in like, tents or cob houses or something, so it’s a surprise to learn they have big fancy estates like normal rich people. They go into a room with a big table and she’s like “wow this is bigger than the tables I’ve seen.” She is so silly, I love her.

Feyre is surprised the faeries eat normal looking food. She doesn’t trust it, because everyone knows you can’t eat or drink in faerie land or you’ll be stuck there forever. Even though this is kind of like the whole sentence she’s just been dealt, she plans to…figure out how to survive without food until she can escape?

She is having a hard time wrapping her mind around the normalcy of this faerie manor, and how it’s really not THAT different from what she would expect from a mortal manor. Beastie chooses this time to transform into a hot young High Fae. He is wearing warrior clothes, so she establishes that he must be a warrior. He’s also wearing a sassy little masquerade mask and we’re not really sure what that’s about, but she doesn’t ask.

Beastie tells Feyre she should probably eat something, and she’s like “nice try,” but then he informs her the food is actually safe and not poison. Faeries can’t lie, so I am forced to believe him. He also tells her she can fuck off whenever she likes because she’s not a prisoner, so long as she doesn’t leave Prythian. She realizes she will probably die really quickly if she just runs off into the wilderness, so she decides to stick around and craft a mastermind plan to like, viciously murder this guy or something (I presume).

Enter faerie #2. We have a redhead in the building. Redhead bows to Beastie, which suggests either he is a servant of some sort of Beastie is someone of overall importance. Beastie fills Redhead in on the state of things, and also lets him know their wolf friend (his name was Andras, apparently) is dead. RIP to Andras.

Redhead is also wearing a masquerade mask. Is this some kind of sexy phantom of the opera thing? Redhead’s mask is a FOX mask. This is probably the author’s way of telling us he’s just a foxy little sly-guy. We also learn he has a big scar and a big gold orb eye. What in the Aemond Targaryen is going AWNNNNNN? Is this somehow related to the arrow she put through the wolf’s eye?

We learn that Fox Guy is actually called Lucien. Lucien also doubts that our skinny legend Feyre could be capable of killing Andras, and he’s super not thrilled that she’s their new adoptee. He decides to talk shit until he gets a scolding, and then after that he uses fae ability “Fake Nice” to continue pissing Feyre off.

Beastie tells Feyre she smells and calls in faerie 3, Alis the servant lady. Alis has a brown bird mask—ok what the fuck is with the masks? Is this some kind of kink? Are they going to a masked ball? When do people start fucking? Alis takes Feyre away, but Lucien and Beastie use plot device “Talk Extra Loud” to divulge some ominous foreshadowing we weren’t meant to hear. Lucien basically wants to dump Feyre off somewhere or kill her so they don’t have to deal with her. Beastie says they’re not gonna harm her because she already had a miserable life back home at the Hovel. Note to Feyre: Here’s your one chance Fancy, this is your Pretty Woman moment don’t screw it up.

Alis and the other servants implement plot device “Make the Dirty Homely Girl Hot by Giving her a Bath and Plucking Her Eyebrows.” This is Feyre’s introduction to the life of faerie luxury and honestly, it doesn’t seem so bad. Alis puts Feyre in a “velvet turquoise dress” which reminds me that turquoise is a super ugly color choice for a velvet dress but maybe that’s the point because she immediately asks for her old clothes back. Alis is like “bet” and then brings her her clothes which fell apart when the laundresses put it in water. I’m sorry but this made me cackle. Girl, just wear the ugly dress, it’s not worth it. Alis compromises and brings Feyre a new tunic pant ensemble.

Feyre describes the room she’s in and honestly it sounds like Beastie has bad taste but at least it’s not a dungeon am I right???

Alis gives Feyre some advice about her new life, and it seems like she might be a Good Guy, but she also isn’t keen on sharing too much, and basically just gives her some vague warnings that tell us “nothing is safe” and “be on your guard.”

More 2 come

[thesylphroad]

Inner Monologue Shitpost Breakdown A.K.A. Review of Chapter 5 of "A Court of Thorns and Roses"

Commence chapter five

Beastie and Feyre take a trip into the forest. We learn that Beastie actually planned this all along, because he brought a pretty white horse for Feyre to ride. Feyre makes several notes to herself about how the horse trusts Beastie. This is author’s way of telling us he’s probably not such a bad guy. She also reminds us that he is like the same size as the horse. Note to self: horses are the undisputed standard for making size comparisons in this world.

“The Treaty forbade faeries from taking us as slaves, but—perhaps that excluded humans who’d murdered faeries.” - This seems like it would be a really bizarre clause for a Treaty, but since we know very little about this Treaty, I won’t mention that. “We’d likely go to whatever rift in the wall he’d used to get here, to steal me.” - The author is telling us this because later in the chapter Beastie decides to render her unconscious for this part, but we probably need to know how access through the wall is achieved for future plot points.

Feyre decides she isn’t really guilty about killing a faerie, and is more worried about her family, and how they’ll survive without her. It’s a reasonable fear as we know how incompetent they all are. We also learn that Prythian is ruled by seven High Lords, “beings of such unyielding power that legend claimed they could level buildings, break apart armies, and butcher you before you could blink.” Note to self: Don’t piss off these High Lord guys.

Feyre thinks about how her life is probably going to be pretty miserable going forward, although to be fair it was pretty miserable looking back, as well. She wonders whether she’ll get thrown in a dungeon. She also plots how she can murder Beastie, since her ash arrow was burned when she shot his wolf buddy. She tries asking him what sort of faerie he is, and what his name is, but he’s (unreasonably) sulking over the recent loss of his pal, so he doesn’t believe she actually cares. He decides she is asking too many questions and/or he doesn’t want her to know exactly how to get back to the escape gate later, so Feyre gets an itty bitty magic tranquilizer, and wakes up a while later in the faerie land.

I just realized how short this chapter was, okay. Well I am experiencing suspense to learn more so brb with a chapter 6 review.