6x4

[6x4]

My first post, many, many moons ago was titled: Feyre — The Perfect Victim.

In that post I talked more about F/eyre as a she is conceived (i.e. the way she is set up by Sarah J Maas). The running thread in that series of posts was how F/eyre is consistently victimized, how she is never able to be complex because the narrative doesn’t actually acknowledge her as an individual with flaws and character traits that don’t stem from trauma.

In that same vein, I think it’s worth noting that SJM uses another ploy to characterize F/eyre, and that is selective traumatic reactions. By this I mean, F/eyre chooses when certain things spark PTSD-like symptoms, to the point where it gives whiplash to the reader. I think this is seen in the framing of her experience UTM...which is a lot to get into. We as the reader as gaslighted by the narrative that seeks to tell another story separate from the events that actually happened.

But, I’ll break this up into little sections to kind of reiterate what I mean

This first section is dealing with F/eyre’s experience UTM and how it is used in relation to T/amlin. It’s more exposition for my next post, but it will detail how F/eyre’s narrative gaslights the audience into placing her into a certain role. It’s not F/eyre, but rather how the narrative rewrites events to her favor, even when they skew with the plot of the story. This forms the basis of the selective trauma which will cover some other characters specifically R/hys and A/marantha.

F/eyre’s + T/amlin’s Experiences UTM and its Consequences: Gaslighting the Narrative

So, something that bothered me about the aftermath of F/eyre’s experience UTM and how it is conceptualized relates to A/maratha’s invisibility as a villain. It nagged on my that F/eyre seems to pin the consequences of her decision to go UTM unto T/amlin. A/marantha becomes disembodied and T/amlin becomes the conduit for her actions. This is prevalent in the scene where F/eyre spars with C/assian, and she states:

I had done everything—everything for that love. I had ripped myself to shreds, I had killed innocents and debased myself, and he had sat beside Amarantha on that throne. And he couldn’t do anything, hadn’t risked it—hadn’t risked being caught until there was one night left, and all he’d wanted to do wasn’t free me, but fuck me, and—

Again, again, again. One-two; one-two; one-two—

And when Amarantha had broken me, when she had snapped my bones and made my blood boil in its veins, he’d just knelt and begged her. He hadn’t tried to kill her, hadn’t crawled for me. Yes, he’d fought for me—but I’d fought harder for him.

There’s a lot to unpack about this scene, but going line by line:

For one, there is a lack of something — someone, and that someone is R/hysand. F/eyre didn’t debase herself, R/hysand did. The emphasis is put on T/amlin’s inability and not what was preventing him from trying to help: Amarantha and R/hysand. F/eyre acknowledges that T/amlin couldn’t do anything, but then scorns him for not “risking” it, which means what? When T/amlin shows emotion towards F/eyre...she boils her blood and snaps her neck. But then he’s blamed for not having the resources to protect her, even though his entire point of sending her home was that he physically could not protected her. The argument then becomes he should have done more when...he physically could not. Then there’s yet another retcon because T/amlin did try to help F/eyre: he made L/ucien swear an oath to protect her UTM, which is actually why he helps her initially UTM:

I swore an oath to Tamlin—” (L/ucien to Feyre)

So you needn’t hold to whatever oath you swore to Tamlin to protect me—or feel like you owe me anything for saving you from Amarantha. (Feyre to Lucien)

So, T/amlin had L/ucien watch over her because HE DID NOT have the mobility R/hysand did, which makes this entire scene a great big retcon. But, what’s interesting the constant lack of A/maranta and R/hysand. How R/hysand’s “debasement” is conveniently absent from this scene. The scene in itself is supposed to be a break through but it’s selective in it’s discussion of F/eyre’s source of trauma. T/amlin does everything he can despite the obstacles but F/eyre constantly heralds him as the source of her trauma. It’s T/amlin, and not R/hys — even when R/hysand is responsible for putting her in these situations.

But moving forward, we get this line, which is highlighted in green at the top of T/amlin only wanting to have sex with her, which again is kind of annoying because both of them initiated that encounter. And she herself says she wanted to be close to him because well...she might very well be dead the next day over. Her response to T/amlin in this future consistently blames him, and not idk the people actually torturing her??

Then another red con, highlighted in red, which literally retcons this entire scene, which is that T/amlin just sat there because he didn’t;t care enough, when literally in the text it states:

I found Tamlin’s eyes—wide as he crawled toward Amarantha, watching me die, and unable to save me while his wound slowly healed, while she still gripped his power.

Ah, he didn’t crawl for her? The text literally states word for word, bar for bar that he literally crawled, and begged for her. Which was all he could do while he was mortally wounded and bound by A/marantha.

So, we get this idea about T/amlin implanted to us via an egregious retcon. But T/amlin is blamed for everything, which is something I’ll talk about in my next post which is about how this selective trauma really hurts the thematic threads of this story, both between F/eyre and T/amlin, and her relationship and justification of R/hys.

#anti sjm #anti rhysand #anti feyre #anti acotar

[6x4]

One thing from Feyre's time in the spring court that made me feel sick is that she implies Rhys mind-controlled her into kissing/having sex with him. To gain sympathy from Lucien, and to provoke Tamlin. To me, this read as a false sexual assault accusation being condoned by the narrative as a genius girlboss tactic. I just hate it so much, that we're supposed to admire her for thinking to do that and be proud that it worked and Lucien and Tamlin "fall for it". It's just so distasteful and hypocritical, in-text and in the real world, and I don't get how it doesn't jump out at all readers as a horrible thing for Feyre to do & for sjm include in a story that was targeted at YA readers at the time. Just a rant but curious about your thoughts as well

Hi, anon!

This!!!!

F/eyre's destruction of the Spring Court is a low point of the series because it didn't feel good. That's because it is an unraveling of F/eyre as a character. She becomes just as low as the people who wronged her. She is just as conniving as I/anthe -- to the point where she uses the exact same methods I/anthe did on...innocent people. The only people who honestly deserved her wrath were I/anthe and T/amlin, yet she implemented innocent people. But even then, what is even her plan with T/amlin? Dismantle the court and leave the people to die? That's the only consequence that comes from her revenge...which isn't truly revenge towards T/amlin. Nor does his actions honestly warrant this?? She's being shitty, and it doesn't honestly feel like revenge that's worth it.

Secondly, she NEVER actually confirms that T/amlin is the enemy. She never actually checks to see the nature of T/amlin's relationship with H/ybern -- which if her goal was to truly "help the people" -- she should have been her first inquiry. It would have saved us eleven chapters of her cheesy inner thoughts.

But the fake r*pe allegation is even more disgusting when you think about the implication of it, both in-world, and in the real world. Because it preys on a very real, and valid fear that T/amlin had concerning her capture by R/hysand, therefore validating -- to an extent -- his worry about her. But it also confirms that SJM is aware that R/hysand's behavior UTM...was sexual assault. This again validates Tamlin's concern about F/eyre, but it also raises a red flag about R/hysand and F/eyre's romance. It also proves that T/amlin's intent was never to hurt F/eyre because she knows that his believing she was hurt would affect him. And it means that F/eyre...understands that to some extent, R/hysand's actions were abuse. It also means she's aware of how R/hysand is perceived, which makes her behavior during the High Lords meeting even more incorrigible.

When T/amlin comes to Hybern, he truly believes that F/eyre is hurt, abused, and manipulated. SARAH WROTE THAT. He's literally saying "one day she'll repay you for all of the hurt you caused her" (or something along those lines) because he truly doesn't believe that she was safe. Because R/hysand sexually assaulted her for three months UTM.

Also, is this not the SAME justification R/hys has for working for A/marantha? He sold out his entire continent for FIVE PEOPLE. He killed, and enslaved for fifty years to protect the Inner Circle -- how is T/amlin ANY different? For doing anything to save F/eyre from a man who assaulted her for a three-month span? I'm not understanding the distinction?? Especially since T/amlin never actually worked for H/ybern.

F/eyre...insinuating that R/hysand assaulted her is not being clever. She's claiming that another head of state r*ped her, in the middle of the war, when they're in need of allies. It's disgusting. It also means that once again, F/eyre is not actually plotting, she's just lying. If T/amlin was such a bad leader and evil person, all of this is unnecessary. She literally could just sit there, and T/amlin would ruin himself. But it's not what happened. T/amlin is goaded into situations that either require him please F/eyre or blow his cover with Hybern. It's putting him in an impossible situation.

Like the more you read into F/eyre's behavior during those initial chapters the worse the experience is. It also proves that SJM is absolutely aware of R/hysand's nasty behavior, and chooses to do nothing about its implication. She knows how bad R/hys behavior was UTM, but it's sExY so who cares, right?

#anti feyre #anti rhysand #anti sjm #rape tw #sexual assault tw

[6x4]

Flaws in a character are great. Wonderful.

But when people say R/hys has flaws make him realistic and are good...

Which ones? When he drugged his wife? When he killed on behalf of A/marantha? When he groped and embarrassed F/eyre in front of the entirety of Prythian. And then left her in those skimpy clothes while she had to throw up her food because of his drugging? When he withheld medical information about F/eyre’s impending death? Or when he threatened to fight a mentally unstable N/esta...despite the fact that the “intervention” was supposedly for her mental health? When literally allows people to suffer in Illyria and CoN because “that’s the way things are”

Those aren’t flaws. Flaws are realistic, yes. But when the story glorifies those flaws as “the greater good” — then that’s a narratively flawed character, not a realistically flawed one. R/hys actions are hailed as tragically heroic, not as faults. And when you defend those elements: the s*assault, the drugging, the lack of trust of his mate that he’d let her die, then you are justifying his abuse. I’m not saying you’re an apologist irl, but I’m saying that these things can become skewed when they are always brushed off and justified.

#anti rhysand #anti sjm

[6x4]

was discussing polyamory and how people usually have a pretty fundamental misunderstanding of it and what it can be, and i think i finally placed a finger on one of my bigger issues with kierarktina.

mark and cristina could’ve worked fine because they had chemistry. kieran and cristina, however? none. it’s a stiff and awkward relationship and doesn’t work, and their relationship being rushed doesn’t help that either.

cassandra, alongside of the fandom (and honestly most people), view polyamory as an “everyone dates each other,” dynamic and while accurate in some cases, it isn’t in every case. this partly plays into why we get a stiff, unrealistic and rushed relationship between the three.

what would’ve worked better for this trio would’ve been if marktina and kierark being separate but coexisting relationships. cristina and kieran both date mark, but not each other. not only would this be great polyamory representation, but it would be a type of polyam representation we don’t see nearly often enough (and the reason we don’t see it often is because it’s often portrayed as “cheating,” even if it is a completely consensual dynamic).

compare kierarktina with herongraystairs. tessa, will, and jem, unlike with the other trio, are the main characters in focus. we have lots of time to see their relationship grow and their bonds deepen. but because kierarktina are three of the many main characters, we don’t get that type of time to focus on them— even though the dark artifices is a longer series than the infernal devices (word count wise, not book number wise).

this is why, from both a chemistry between characters and a writing standpoint, kierarktina should not have been an “everyone dates each other,” type of polyamorous relationship. kieran and cristina did not have the time to get to know each other well enough, especially since kieran didn’t really become a main character until later in the series.

this rushing of their relationship made their overall dynamic seem awkward, stiff, and forced— and because cristina and kieran have an awkward dynamic, it in turn makes the entire relationship awkward. this wouldn’t be the case if cristina and kieran were dating mark but not each other.

anyways, to wrap this up before it gets wordy and repetitive, kierarktina isn’t perfect polyamory representation by a long shot; and while i appreciate the effort, i really wish non-polyam people would stop putting the ship on a pedestal and acting as if it is perfect in every way, shape, and form.

acting as though anything is perfect is bad, especially when it comes to representation. cassandra needs to hear criticisms towards her representation in her books, otherwise it will never improve. people will not work to improve on something if they aren’t aware it needs improvement.

#anti kierarktina #kierarktina crit #cc crit #anti cc #this isn’t really anti anything but the anti tags tend to be mostly critical content anyways #long post #tsc #tda #the dark artifices #kierarktina #shadowhunters

[6x4]

but seriously, the reason so many rhysand stans claim this is out of character is actually because they do not actually pay attention when they’re reading.

sarah has an awful writing habit of telling rather than showing, which ends up making awful characters like rhysand. we’re constantly told how amazing and wonderful rhysand is, but we’re shown the exact opposite— and we’re very clearly just supposed to listen to what we’re told.

but rhysand’s actions consistently contradict this “good guy,” image sarah has claimed for him. rhysand isn’t a good guy and he never has been. she can call him a good guy until she’s blue in the face but until she starts showing that with his actions instead of just saying it over and over, it won’t be true.

this extends to his “feminism,” too. he’s not a feminist at all. he’s exactly like all the misogynistic men in his court, and he’s exactly like all the misogynistic men in real life who pretend to be feminists so they can manipulate women into giving them what they want.

rhysand’s “feminism,” never extends to women who don’t worship the ground he walks on, and the “feminism,” he does show with the women who do isn’t feminism at all. he only does these “feminist” things to make himself look good.

if rhysand was actually a feminist it would be shown in his actual actions. he’d be working to fix the violent and dangerous misogyny in his court instead of feeding into it and encouraging it; and no, i don’t want to hear any “he can’t fix it!” crap. he’s supposedly the strongest high lord, he could fix it if he actually cared about it— but he doesn’t.

anyways, fact of the matter is that rhysand is both an awful person and an awful character. sjm is not a good writer whatsoever and i can’t believe she has so many people romanticizing men as toxic and abusive as rhysand. i worry for the people who think men like him are the peak of romance and feminism, i really do.

“rhysand always gives feyre a choice,” rhysand has never given feyre a choice in anything. he gives her the illusion of a choice and then manipulates her into giving him the answer he wants to hear. which is why him hiding her extremely dangerous pregnancy from her is 100% in character for him. he’s always been like this y’all just can’t read.

#anti rhysand #anti sjm #rhysand stans dni

[6x4]

“rhysand always gives feyre a choice,” rhysand has never given feyre a choice in anything. he gives her the illusion of a choice and then manipulates her into giving him the answer he wants to hear. which is why him hiding her extremely dangerous pregnancy from her is 100% in character for him. he’s always been like this y’all just can’t read.

#anti rhysand #anti sjm #anti feysand #rhysand stans dni

[6x4]

Can you please tell me how Solangelo is ableist ? I'm genuinely curious.

If you've done the ask before can you please link it ? Genuinely curious

A lot of it is in the inherent power difference in their relationship between a doctor and patient. And between a disabled man and an able bodied “doctor” to be specific

Also there’s a lot of ableism specifically in the fandom as well. Will is played as a savior character to Nico’s disabilities-that is ableist. The fandom doubles down on it

I’ll link some of posts about it. I strongly suggest you go through my disabled tag or my it’s disabled time <3 tag as well 💕

https://ursie.tumblr.com/post/659060544544948224

https://ursie.tumblr.com/post/659066315754045440

https://ursie.tumblr.com/post/659070868820049920

https://ursie.tumblr.com/post/659070903430381568

https://ursie.tumblr.com/post/659070937652674560/sleepcities-sleepcities-dont-get-me-wrong

https://ursie.tumblr.com/post/659071019309465600/im-writing-a-solangelo-fic-and-i-was-wondering

https://ursie.tumblr.com/post/659071434184851456

https://ursie.tumblr.com/post/659071483588575232/ok-but-nico-isnt-disabled-hes-fully-capable-of

https://ursie.tumblr.com/post/190334530314/everyone-rb-this-and-calling-it-a-hclike-in-text

https://ursie.tumblr.com/post/659071524662312960

#anti solangelo #rr crit