#acotar rant

[achaotichuman]

I will say this once, and only once because I am hardly losing sleep over Elain in the slightest.

Throwing around the idea that everyone who disagrees with the theory Elain would make a good High lady is not a direct output of internalized misogyny. In fact, not caring about Elain at all, is not an output of misogyny either.

The idea that people only dislike her, or otherwise do not pay her as much notice as other characters is because of misogyny, is completely false at best, and a half-assed attempt at morally upping people at worst.

I am sorry, but on my desk alone I can count 12 books with female main characters who are incredibly feminine and do not end up a warrior with a sword in their hands. So, to accuse me of disliking or discrediting Elain because I have internalized misogyny, is an insult, no matter how you try to spin it.

Quite frankly, I do not like being accused of being a misogynist over a fictional character, so let me go over this once and only once.

Elain is not a main character as of yet. She is a side character and so is Lucien at the moment. Sure, it's pretty damn obvious both are being set up to have their own book, but for now other than the bonus chapter we see very, very little of Elain. And when we do, she makes no major impact to the reader other than to people who ship Elucien. I highlight the word reader, because obviously with the whole stabbing of Hybern she made a pretty big impact to the story itself.

Which I will remind she would have never been able to do if she had died in the Hybern Camps, which she got herself into and had to be rescued to get out, but I digress.

Lucien has more impact in the story than Elain, Nesta had more impact throughout the entire series than Elain. When we go back to the human lands in Acowar, we see more of Nesta. We are talking Nesta.

So, already, Elain is not the biggest character in the series, in fact she tends to cause more discord and harm than good. Whether she is aware of it or not.

In the first book this is because she is another mouth that Feyre has to feed. And appears as completely unaware of the hard work Feyre is putting in to hunt. Which already starts the reader off as underestimating her. Whether or not she was doing more behind the scenes is ignored by Feyre and the bias she has, therefore this is the only impression we get of Elain.

This was retconned later, but I am not going to ignore it since we are talking about impressions here and not about the legitimacy of the statement "Elain can't grasp things". This is what Feyre says first up in the book, which is where the reader is being given their first impressions and laying out their first thoughts of the characters.

Later on, Elain is still a very minor character. Nesta was the one who went to the wall to try and retrieve Feyre, not Elain.

In the next books, Elain does not want to be in the Faery lands, with good reason. She is very much to the side trying to handle her own trauma, the only time we see her come out of her shell a little bit is when she is Seering. Which the IC doesn't even use her for in Silver Flames, they get Nesta to do it. Nesta talks to the Cauldron, not Elain. Nesta scrys not Elain. Elain only scrys once if my memory does me justice, and it is hidden from the rest of the characters other than Feyre.

Like it not, (I know I don't like it, but I recognize it) The Night Court is the Court of interest within the Acotar series and Elain appearing as not a part of it, or as different from it, is reason for the reader to not pay her interest because they are focusing on what is happening in the Night Court. Its Elain being put to the side again, because at this point, she is a side character.

She was the one who was lured into the camps of Hybern by the Cauldron, which created a frustrating problem for the IC and Feyre, who are the MCs at this point.

She is probably going to be the next MC in the series, but up until now, unless you do ship Elucien or otherwise care about what happens to Lucien. There is not a massive need to care about Elain, leading to people either not caring about her, or not liking her.

Of course this isn't a reason to be anti of her, I'm pro Tamlin and he is somehow the most hated character in the series. But like being Pro Tamlin doesn't mean you're an abuse apologist, not really caring about Elain is not being a misogynist.

Why do I not care about Elain? Because simply put, she's a side character who I've never seen be very driven for anything in a way that wholly affected the plot, and no matter what your headcanons for her are, they are your headcanons, not mine. She is never focused on, and not in a 'we don't care about her because she's feminine' way, in a 'she simply has no relevancy yet' way.

And no, I don't care about her potential, because she isn't my favorite character. That's okay. I don't need her to be my favorite character to not be a misogynist. And no, I don't need to acknowledge her potential to not be a misogynist either.

To try and accuse people of being misogynistic to support your claim of Elain being a High Lady is a blunt sword at best. And it all comes down to one argument, why do you not like Elain?

Because as of right now, she has no drive, because she has no reason to have any drive, because at the moment she is a side character. I simply cannot stress that enough.

It does not matter, if she is one day going to be a main character, she is currently a side character who drives no plot and has no call to action.

Of course, the A Court of Thorns and Roses series is a fantasy romance, and Elain's story will be for the most part non-violent. Which I enjoy a lot more than warrior stories.

I do not read fantasy most of the time. I have read like four-five fantasy series in my life. I mostly read historical fiction, regency fiction, mysteries and retellings of fairytale tropes. Elucien's book will be filled with high society and navigating the political world rather than the battlefield. I will probably enjoy it more than Nesta or Feyre's journey.

That does not mean I need to care about her or think her to be a good ruler. Because I am more than happy to read a story of Lucien and Elain travelling the world in a way that Nesta and Feyre always wanted to and never did. In fact, I think it would be a better fit for both of them to find a life outside of Prythian, and outside of the box they were both shoved into. Because regardless of how you see it, Elain and Lucien were both forced into the places they are now.

But sure, I'm the misogynist for not wanting another journey to becoming a ruler despite being in your early twenties and never being prepared for it, story.

I am not trying to pick a fight with Eluciens. But I am trying to get the point across at how it is a fairly half-assed accusation to throw at someone over a fictional character.

Do I think that everyone has some level of internalized misogyny because of the society we live in? Absolutely. But to act as though it is pure misogyny coming out when we discuss Elain is just plain insult throwing. And I put it in the same box as people who say people who support Lucien and Tamlin are abuse apologists. Because it's an assumption you are making about a person's morals and thinking with no real basis.

No matter if you ship, Elain and Lucien or Elain and Azriel, or Elain and Gwyn or Elain and Eris, or whoever else in the acotar world. I believe trying to question another personal's morals over a fictional relationship, or character in general, is rude, inconsiderate and invasive.

I will repeat, I am not trying to pick a fight, I am terrified of fighting. But that doesn't mean I won't defend myself. Overall, this was not meant at all to question whether or not Elain will be High lady, and if I see discussion about that, I will assume you did not read my full argument and will be ignoring you.

So, to recap. Elain is a side character, and her not being your favorite character does not make you a misogynist. People not acknowledging, disliking, or otherwise 'sleeping on' Elain, does not make them a misogynist. That is a crazy accusation. We are already in a highly toxic fandom that throws around labels and sticks them to people who disagree with them over characters. Let's not add to that.

I think if you can't make a critical analysis without sticking a label to someone than you haven't made an analysis.

Let's be honest, all the 'arguing' is supposed to be a debate, not a real argument. Unless the person you are arguing with is being deliberately disrespectful, then there is no reason to insult someone's person. Debates can get heated while still being respectful.

Calling someone an abuse apologist, telling someone they have internalized misogyny when you've never met them in person, or otherwise trying to degrade someone else's argument by insulting them, is childish. I am not going to allow any arguments against this whatsoever, because this shouldn't be up for debate.

Hating on a character because they are feminine is misogynistic. Obviously. But not caring for a character because they are a side character or have caused more problems than done good is simply not liking a character.

And let's be honest for a second, some people just don't like characters because they just simply aren't interested, and that is okay. You are not morally right, and they are not morally wrong.

This was a very long-winded rant, all to say, stop insulting people who have done nothing other than no agreed with a statement you made about a character. It's just not a nice thing to do at all.

And no, this was not a list of reasons of why you shouldn't care about Elain, this is MY reasoning for not caring about Elain in the present time.

You can argue that Elain did make some impression on the reader in x scene in x book at x time. But it didn't an impression on me, which led me to not caring about her. It's fruitless to argue that point with me unless we are engaging in a debate about Elain as a character.

And this was not meant to be a comment on Elain as a character, nor on what I think her story will be. This is a direct comment on the idea of people being misogynistic for not liking Elain. It's an insane comment to make.

I will repeat for the hundredth time, some people don't care for Elain because she is a side character. Some people don't like her because of the kind of impact she made on them. And some people just don't like her vibes. All of which are not rooted in misogyny. Her story has not been told, at all, we don't need to care about her yet.

Okay bye.

#acotar #elain archeron #acotar rant #kind of #more like fandom rant #since this a pretty popular idea #yall ignore that i forgot to put the read more thing at first

[ae-neon]

Nesta Vs ACOSF, a rambling rant

TW: mentions of sexual assault and abuse

Besides the "love" story that read like a quiet descent into domestic horror, ACOSF has one element that keeps me from being able to pick it up even just to sift through for Nesta gems: sex.

Here me out, I'm not a prude and I think we could have gotten a smutty romance but...

At her core, Nesta has always been a proud and modest person.

To be clear, with pride, I mean that her sense of self - her famous steel spine - has kept her together and unbroken even during harrowing circumstances. It's vital to her. It's so ingrained in her that - given we have no other explanation - we can assume it's what shields her mind from literal magic. However, like any trait, her pride can also be a thing that comes off as negative in the wrong situations.

With modesty, she was raised to keep a certain ideology that based her value on sex, beauty, marriage etc but it's important to understand that Nesta applied those standards inwards, at herself. (Eg In acotar, she brings up Feyre and Isaac in defence of her and Tomas, in acomaf, she is mostly upset about not hearing from Feyre or being notified that Feyre has switched courts - not about Feyre sleeping with Tamlin and then Rhys)

Now, I don't think Nesta's modesty makes her better than Feyre, in fact I was happy to get the representation of two different types of views on sex

But what I didn't consider at the time was that SJM was painting this out to be a negative trait.

In retrospect it seems obvious even though Nesta has defied her narrative destiny and become a sort of icon, at the end of the day she was still supposed to be written in a negative contrast to Feyre.

It seems funny but imagine you consumed the book the way Sarah intended, the way so many in the fandom have. The old Sarah Says rule, for my long time mutuals.

For example:

The dinner in acomaf - it's obvious Nesta is upset that she hasn't heard from Feyre only to have her come through not only as a whole Fae but bringing others and endangering their entire family.

But imagine it as a one dimensional reading and suddenly the "I fuck" dialogue is a girlboss moment of feminism giving a fuck you to the strict patriarchy of the "mortal lands" let's ignore how the Fae are actually more patriarchal and the Illyrians even more so than that

So understand that Nesta's modesty is being directly contrasted with Feyre's sexual freedom. The reader - at least from sjm's perspective - is supposed to agree with Feyre and disagree with Nesta in a sort of win/lose, yes/no, black/white dichotomy.

And because sjm is consistent and boring and a self-inset author, this dynamic doesn't change even when the protagonist does.

Only now sjm and her feminism has changed from fuck-whoever-I-want girlboss to kinky-but-only-with-my-husband tradwife

So Nesta can't be prudish and cut off because 1) it's not as conducive to the breakdown of self and buildup of a dependent and abusive relationship and 2) it's not in direct contrast with Feyre's current monogamous, traditional family values character.

So Nesta starts drinking and sleeping around and it's not because we're going to explore the unraveling of the pride and modesty at the core of the character as part of her transformation or as a result of her trauma

But because it's supposed to be a bad look, degrading, it shows she's failed, it makes her a loser

All of that is already insane. And even more so when taken with the context of her assault by Tomas and the sex centred relationship she has with Cassian

Now add to that the fact that in the book, Nesta is an object of desire for 2 villains and undergoes assault and drowning AGAIN

Sjm literally gives less than 2 fucks about SA, that much is obvious even from the way she inflicts and then disregards the experience of both Feyre and Rhysand respectively. It's a tool for her, a quirky story element

But to have Nesta experience such a similar thing - especially when the experience of being Made can be read as a sort of rape allegory on its own - and all for the sake of "romance" fantasy??

Even Nesta's reading habits are sexualised, to be clear I don't think there's anything wrong with reading smut, but the scope of her intellect and reading is narrowed down when we're suddenly made to believe most of the books she reads are smut.

This is someone who likely taught herself economics and investment within months in order to not just pay off the debt, upgrade her whole family's way of life but also rebuild the family fortune. Someone who, having stopped schooling at around 14/15, did the math needed to calculate the feasibility of the evacuation of a small country.

Someone who's verbally stated life goal was to see what a woman could make of herself in the world.

Even her love of reading is used as a stepping stone for how horny she is, instead of it being a result of her deeply ingrained need for escapism

She reads smut because the only thing she has in common with Cassian and the IC is sex. Because sjm thought one of the core elements of a friendship between 2 SA survivors and a disabled woman from a culture that mutilated her for being born a woman would be their desire to fantasise about men.

All the while the male love interest treats her like garbage.

We could have had a smutty book filled with sex where each scene could have been the growth of Nesta's trust and love of Cassian through intimacy. It could have been a sexual relationship that involved and explored kink - which explored vulnerability and the negative impact of how Nesta's pride became a source of stress and strain.

It could have been an exploration about the complicated relationship with desire and oppressors that many survivors have. But it isn't.

It's hahaha horny, so RELATABLE

Even when it comes to the abusive situation Nesta grew up in, it's just hung up like decoration on the character. Not explored, let alone healed. I don't wanna hear that sjm explained or explored Nesta's abuse when we don't even get her mother or her grandmother's names

We don't get

The complexity of being a trapped and abused woman who came from a trapped and abused woman who came from a trapped and abused woman

Or the complexity of a dysfunctional family

Or even the journey of recovery from addiction and self-harming behaviour

Now, not every aspect of Nesta or any survivors lives have to boil down to how it relates to their experiences but SJM is praised for her "recovery" and so much of this book is about sex and abuse but has no depth

It could have been a less-deep, fun experience of sex and desire and kink. But no

Nesta has sex with many faceless men because sjm is condemning her as a failure. Sex is her punishment, it makes her dirty and unworthy and cheap.

Then, through her "healing", she becomes a sex doll for the right guy. Sex is her reward, it makes her hot and useful and appealing.

Sjm writes not just like a man but like a particularly talented misogynist so it's the way sex is used that really puts me off

Edit: ultimately I think the sex and romance should have interacted with and evolved her pride, modesty and past experiences, rather than those things being demolished to turn her into a sex doll

#anti acosf #anti nessian #anti sjm #acotar rant #nesta deserves better #sjm critical #nesta archeron

[lorcandidlucienwill]

ACOTAR/BOOKTOK RANT

Saw a post about Tamlin being willing to sacrifice the world for his girl, and I agree to an extent because he did exactly that in book 1, putting her before all of Prythian. But the post frustrated me not because of anything OP said, but because of how some people have developed this warped idea of what a hero should be. Don’t get me wrong, I love love LOVE the idea of someone willing to destroy everything for their girl, but that is not remotely heroic. One thing I love about most superhero movies made these days is that the hero almost never gets the girl. Because he chooses his fight for justice and equality over a life with her. Because no matter how much he loves her, his cause comes first. That’s fucking compelling. When Tamlin said not even his love for Feyre would compel him to support tyranny, how did your jaw not drop at his unflinching morals?

Oh wait, I know why. Because people like to self-insert themselves as the romantic interest and they don’t like the idea of something else coming before them, even if it’s literally the good of all people. Not me though, I find it sexy as hell. I love both tropes in books, but let’s get it straight: a person who is unflinchingly on the right side no matter how it may affect who they love is fucking heroic and the most difficult decision anyone could make.

#heroes #villains #acotar rant #acotar #tamlin #pro tamlin #it was literally percy's fatal flaw that to save a friend he'd destroy the world tf are y'all on #rick riordan gets it at least

[frostwing213]

I keep getting a lot of Elain stuff popping up on my dash. Mostly about shipping, and I'm like:

How'd this girl end up in a love triangle????

People are very opiniated too, fighting over and making essays about it. There's Elain/Az and Elain/Lucien (There's also Az and Gwen, but I understand how Az got in a love triangle.)

I'm just, struggling to care. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Elain, I just find her kinda boring. She doesn't do much. She feels like that classic fairytale princess that looks pretty and sad in a tower.

Off the top of my head, these are things that define her (Without being linked to men, becase I'm not there yet. Plus, a female character should be able to stand on her own without the men in her life)

She gardens and is primiarily associaed with flowers

Pretty

Nice

Weak

She kinda killed the king of Hyburn

Didn't want to be a fae

kinda wishy washy

Achreon sister

Quiet

Her sisters want to protect her

Future seeing powers

And I'm out of ideas. From my point of view, she doesn't have any discernable personality. Her three major defining things when people think of her are: Pretty, flowers, soft.

She doesn't act for herself, she doesn't speak up. She goes with what happens and gets sad when she doesn't like it. (Becoming a fae was traumatic, and I understand her reaction, but I don't really like it. AND I HAVEN'T EVeN TOUCHED ON THE GREYSON[was that the human dude's name???]THING YET!)

So, when the books start, early ACOTAR. Archeron sisters are in the woods. Feyre is the only one doing something to support the family. Who is Elain in this book? Pretty gardener. Delicate. She isn't doing anything. Some can argue Nesta isn't either, and as a Nesta Supremist, I have to say she was willing to get married to someone cruel to make it easier on her family, and although that isn't much, it's still something. What does Elain do in this book? Be pretty. Please, someone give me an example of Elain doing something constructive and I will edit it in. Please.

Moving on. Next book. She... hosts the house along with Nesta. Oh! She's engaged to a fae hating guy (Who i think is named Greyson. I can't remember and I'm currently loaning out my 2nd and 3rd book, so I can't check rn). Uh.... I don't remember if she does anything else until the end, where she is captured and dumped in the caldron. We find out Lucien is her mate. EDIT!: As @devi1sange1 pointed out to me, Elain did stand up to Nesta about using their house as a meeting spot for the queens. She also takes responisblty for how they treated Feyre. 2 points for Elain. I give her those

She shows up more after that, so I'm not doing book by book, but she gets dumped fast by her fiancé and hangs out in the house of wind, being very sad. I almost wanna describe her as floaty, because she's acting like a ghost, just existing and mourning what is gone. This is a vaild response, and I understand why she responds this way, it just annoys me because she has not shown any autonomy so far. Anything. I think I remember her asking her ex-fiance to take in humans, but that was after being pushed by the inner circle. Uh... she gives a few prophecies, yay that. When the fighting starts, she stays on the sidelines, which I don't blame her for. She kinda kills the king of Hyburn. I think that's all she does in that.

After that. What does she do? Other than hang around??? I DON'T KNOW!

Elain shows no real drive! She exists and sometimes does stuff to push the plot!

Now onto the (possible) romantic interests she has.

Greyson: Uhhhhh, they like each other. She likes her because she's sweet and pretty. I didn't catch anything else between these two. Uh, he dumps her as soon as she's fae and she gets depressed over it

Lucien: Mating bond. She doesn't like him, I get it. He tries to back off. I think Lucien acts responsibly in this situation. Elain is at no fault in this situation either. Mating bonds don't always pair up the most romantic pair, and it doesn't always work out well. Honestly, I never saw much chemistry between these two, and if not for the bond, they likely would have forever ignored each other.

Azriel: (Random, but I searched him up on tumblr because I couldn't remember how to spell his name, and WOW, there's a lot of Azriel x reader. Yall really 'like' him) How, just how did this become such a popular ship? I never even caught this on my read through. Yeah, Az is nice to her, but he's nice to anyone considered friendly. He's just as nice to Feyre and I don't see anyone shipping those two. I just... don't get it. Is it because we want the sisters paired up with the bat boys? Is that it?? I don't understand. I see no chemistry. It's just two people being nice to one another guys.

I think those are the major ones. I don't understand any of them. Lucien and Az are such powerful charters, while Elain is... 'pretty flower girl'.

I don't hate her, but she kinda annoys me with how much crazines she's getting with people shipping her. Wanna know what i think would be great? She ends up with no one romantically. She has friends, just no romantic partner and that is perfectly fine. Lucien will live. If there's nothing between Az and Gwen, then Az will live.

To wrap up, I find Elain to be a pretty boring charter, I just feel indifferent towards her. I love the other two siblings, but I feel like Elaine could have been improved.

Feel free to talk to me about this! Throw out your own opinions! Give me edvince that supports or opposes any of my points! Correct me on stuff and ignore my spelling!

I love a good debate! Give me one! Please.

Interact with me.

Edit!: Thanks for interacting! I swear I'm reading everything! I just didn't expect this to blow up so fast!

Another edit: Thanks yall for interacting! I'm really enjoying reading the responses and what people hope to see coming from Elaine in the future!

#elain archeron #Elain #Elain rant #ACOTAR rant #acotar #Oh n #What are the ship names? #elain x azriel #elain x lucien #elriel #Elucien #Is that guy's name Greyson?? #i can't remember #Azriel #Lucien #so many elain ships are popping up #why do yall ship her with everyone #i kinda like the idea of her and Mor tho... #anyways! #Debate #INTERACT WITH ME #nesta #nesta supremacy

[fourteentrout]

Acotar Hot Take Time (Again)

Rhys' whole "Everything I love has a tendency to be taken away from me" thing is often lauded as one of the most sentimental, empathetic lines from the book. rhys stans seem genuinely moved by it, even now that more books in the series have come out.

and I think...it's kind of bullshit?

not that people find the sentiment in it, you can like what you like, but the actual claim itself is bullshit.

rhys lost his mother, father, and sister, and I will not deny that it was tragic and traumatizing. by extension, he lost his close friend Tamlin because of his betrayal.

but like...what else? Now that he's been living in his Court after UTM and everyone has moved on from his Evil Guy schtick, tell me, what "everything" is he talking about? He protected velaris, which seems to be the only territory in the Night Court he really cares about. Even when it was attacked, he was able to renew it with seemingly no struggle. he has his entire original inner circle. this guy has like. 5 houses. his Court is intact and thriving (at least, the part of it he cares the most about).

Yes, he was separated from his family for 49 years, but he didn't LOSE them. they were there the whole time, they were there when he got back.

but like, it would be even more obvious if we had an example of someone in the series who ACTUALLY lost everything, right? with no one to compare his experiences to, maybe it really DOES seem like everything he loves has a tendency to be taken from him.

Oh wait. there is an example. Tamlin.

Tamlin lost the exact same things at the same time as Rhys: his immediate family, and his best friend.

But where rhys' loss kind of stagnated, Tamlin's continued once the curse was placed on his Court. His sentries, his friends, sacrificed themselves to help him, to the point where he literally had to stop them from going out because he was overwhelmed with the grief of losing his friends over and over for seemingly NO REASON (as they weren't getting anywhere with the curse. To him, they were giving up their lives for a lost cause.) and unlike with seemingly every member of the Night Court, these guys weren't magically coming back to life. By the time Feyre gets to Spring, the only close remaining friend Tamlin has is Lucien.

And guess what? he lost him, too! feyre left him, and she was valid in doing so, but she TORE HIS COURT APART in the process. she literally fucked with the minds of his new sentries to get them to not trust him, and to get him to not trust them. hell, she made it so he didn't trust the one friend he had left. he fought in the war and his court fell into disrepair because all of his guards LEFT. even after they fought by his side. that's how lasting feyre's impression on the Court was.

Spring was literally abandoned.

So like...let's compare. Rhys has: Cassian, his general and brother, Azriel, his spymaster and brother, Mor, his cousin and third, Amren, his second, Feyre, his mate, wife, and High Lady, Nyx, his son, and his City of Starlight.

He doesn't have: The illyrian and darkbringer troops that died in the war (though there's not much mention of them, save for the illyrians. both nations seem to be pretty removed from Rhys' mind as it is), his mother, his father, and his sister (all of which remain unnamed??? for some reason???), and Tamlin

Tamlin has: maybe some citizens left?? we don't really know. alis?? she went back to the summer court, if I remember correctly, but I could be wrong.

Tamlin doesn't have: Feyre (who, mind you, he already lost once before when he literally watched her die), Lucien (parted ways), Rhys (parted ways), Andras (deceased), all of the unnamed sentries that died during Amarantha's reign, his literal current, living guards (parted ways), his unnamed mother, father, and brothers (all deceased), any kind of love interest (nevermind a mate) (just straight up nonexistent), hell, he even lost Ianthe (deceased). she deserved it, but to him, for the longest time she was just his childhood friend that he TRUSTED. so first he lost her to her own treachery, and then she literally died, presumably without him ever being able to properly confront the fact that she wasn't who he'd thought before she was murdered. he lost troops in the war, and then he lost the living ones to the effects of feyre's destruction of their trust. by Silver Flames, he literally has NOTHING.

I don't know. just knowing all that and re-reading Rhys' line about getting the things he loves taken from him makes me...kind of think that SJM doesn't really know the meaning of having everything taken from someone. cause to me, it really looks like Rhys has...a LOT. like yes, he's experienced loss, but when you have someone like Tamlin, whose Court as far as we know is ABANDONED, it kind of negates the argument before it can even be made.

#acotar #a court of thorns and roses #acotar hot take #acotar rant #tamlin acotar #tamlin a court of thorns and roses #rhysand acotar #rhys acotar #rhys a court of thorns and roses #sjm critical #acotar critical #inner circle critical

[kopfkino-o]

“The love triangle is between Azriel, Elain, and Gwyn”

In the year of our lord and savior Margot Robbie and the release of the Barbie movie…

I THINK NOT.

A love triangle with the man at the center? A man making the decision? Two women being pitted together over a literal man? Disgusting. No no no. Stay away from me. Do not want.

But a triangle with a woman at the center? Indulge me. Feed me. Succor me. Let my girl Elain taste and sample as she pleases. Let her will and her will alone decide the man she wants to end up with. Hell, let her have both of them if she wants. So long as it’s her choice I’m good for whatever.

Thank you, class is dismissed.

#acotar rant #elain archeron #pro elain #elriel

[castlecalypse]

Genuienly DISTURBS me to see all the tik tok girlies obsessing over ACOTAR. How? Why? HOW?

DID YOU READ THE 2 DIMENSIONAL WRITING? It was giving 2010 wattpad fan fic

Did u read “ my bowels turned watery “ THREE TIMES IN BOOK 1. (Author thought she ate with that pls😭)

And the main character. Like she’s just ur stereotypical Y/N “strong” “ fiery” heroine ( she was written so badly I tried so hard to like her)

The word “pissy” to describe characters behaviour like 100 times.

The whole plot of tamlin all of a sudden becoming some evil villain and it not making sense but readers going along with it to get some bad boy smut?

It’s giving Damon and Stefan

and the girls are RABID. They r getting TATTOOS from the book. Like HOWWW?????

There’s just this need to jump on trends like the whole “strawberry girl makeup” “cookie brownie hair”. That’s the only reason I can come up with.

The CRINGEY ASS SEX SCENES- like why r y’all covered in paint. You could have moved it. Just picked it up and moved it but na y’all wanted to fk in it because the author was like oooh this is gonna be so hot and steamy.

And finally after all this I research the author and find out she’s a Zionist so like GIVE ME SOMETHING TO WORK WITH BABES - BEING PRO GENOCIDE AINT THE VIBE?

I’m still reading cause I’m trying to give it chances- trying to get the hype, but y’all idkkkk

#acotar rant #why is this getting a show imma puke #pro tamlin #feyre #acotar #sorry to the girlies who love the book and see this

[nikethestatue]

This might be an unpopular opinion but ACOTAR (the book, the first one) had the most interesting characters.

If you consider the mysterious, unapologetic villain-ness of Rhysand, the intriguing motivations and his relationship with Feyre, the sleek brutality and coldness of Amarantha, the fragility, determination and humanity of Feyre, the sharpness and humor of Lucien, even the confused, impotent torment of Tamlin—all the characters were actually a lot more interesting and unique than what they became in later books.

They hooked us. How many people continued reading BECAUSE Rhys was so gray, so odd, so unpredictable? We wanted more. We wanted more of Feyre’s story, of what was in store for her strange, contradictory sisters, for Lucien.

The watering down of all these characters is a great disservice to them. They’ve become black and white, and that’s such a shame.

To me, the appeal of Nesta was her acerbic tongue, her disdain for convention, her haughty coldness. She was unique in the pantheon of female characters.

Elain was the opposite—soft and sweet and uncommonly passive. Amongst the throngs of characters who all need to handle swords, put on pants, and lose their feminine attributes , Elain unabashedly requested pink, pretty dresses, roses and a husband.

The tragedy here, I think, is that everyone has been written down, to the lowest common denominator. Swords. Fighting. Trauma. Love interest.

Even Nesta’s modestly, for example, her insistence on remaining covered, not flashy, plain in her dressing and her hair style, has been removed. Nesta, somehow, ended up naked for the majority of her book.

This is sounding like a rant, and maybe it is. I just hope that SJM returns to interesting characterization for her MCs. I saw glimmers of it in ACOSF, where she made Rhys pretty awful (and that was great!$, but I want more! I hope that she makes bolder choices going forward. Also considering that it’s now NA. Honestly, less Gwyn and more Jurian.

#acotar #acotar rant #SJM books #SJM writing

[sapaul]

Why is it that we always see “I’m hoping she doesn’t end up with anyone” only when it comes to Elain? Why can’t Gwyn be the one to end up alone? Or Azriel? Or Lucien?

#acotar rant

[rosenecklaces]

That show getting canceled saved that blonde woman from so much shit that would had come in her way LMAO In a way I can enjoy to picture her Zionism being even more public bc of the show getting mainstream, but still, thank God it doesn't exist at all

The producers/whorever was the director of it really saw the Problematique approaching – with the weird and out of place sex scenes, Racists Rethorics, the badly represented LGBTQ+ characters, the Alpha Male energy she loves on men and projects in characters that would had NOT sit well considering how shit has been going for feminism this year, "female and male".... trans people/allies/actual feminists trashing her to pieces oh I can see the vision it's so good, the whole damn Pregnancy Plot, Racist Rethorics, extremely badly treated SA trauma, addictions demonized (nesta spiraling), and the whole racist-xenophobic connotations she gives with the Illyrians: Racists Rethorics to the max, and much much more.. – and said "mhmmm you know what... I don't think you want this to go mainstream right now lady" and they where RIGHT

They saved her ass from media trashing actually and now she lives another day...

#acotar rant #acotar #not even getting into the UTM scene vulgarity i can imagine the memes and mockery that would had come from a clip of feyre almost ass naked #on rhys and whole faes around seeing them. Just imagine that happening in a screen in hd...good god #acotar show #s*m #sjm critical #i would had liked lulu being hated internationally for the support in abusers ngl that would had been delectable to watch

[achaotichuman]

Acotar Rant

Whenever I see shit like ‘Tamlin is depressed and wants to die because Feyre left him’ ‘He’s so desperate for Feyre and that’s whats driven him to this point.’ All I can think is, do we just collectively think Tamlin is immune to trauma??

To even grasp this situation you have to go way back before the book even starts. Tamlin was preyed on by the pedophile that helped ruin his childhood who then cursed him because he told her no.

He then had to watch all his close friends die in vain for him while he desperately searched for decades for another solution. He brought in refugees fleeing from other Courts. He. Carried. His. Dead. Citizens. And. Hand. Buried. Them. And he had to do it all without ever being able to fall apart.

The Feyre came along, and he learned to care for her. He didnt want her to just be used to break the curse because he didnt want to just be using her. He fell in love with a person that saw past the mask (both figuratively and literally) and allowed him a safe space. One that had long ago been stripped from him.

Then she was sexually assaulted, tortured and killed in front of him. He watched the love of his life die for him and he was completely unable to do anything about it.

Then he was given another chance to protect her and he took it. Granted this is not to excuse his actions, but there has to be some nuance given to the fact that he watched her literally die and was by the grace of God given another chance.

Then this same girl that he loved and desperately wanted to protect from the same thing happening again, was kidnapped. This same woman then tricked him into believing she had once again been raped by the same monster who assaulted her under the mountain and killed his family.

The very same woman then mind raped his sentries, his friends, and then proceeded to destroy his Court which he had spent decades trying everything in his power to protect, from the inside out. Then allowed Hybern to rampage through, destroying a neighbouring Court in the process.

He had to watch his people die all over again, when Feyre lied to him, he saw her dying under the mountain all over again. And he still went to war! He was spying on Hybern and gave over vital information about them to the High lords!

Then he dragged Beron out by his neck to fight for Prythian.

And when all was said and done he helped bring back the monster that had destroyed him mentally all for the sake of the girl that had killed his people.

Then he left them all alone in the end. Spring was abandoned and him along with it. This man, who very clearly has abandonment issues from the fact he was rejected by his family and beat within an inch of his life to the point he ran from home to the War Camps, was left completely by himself.

Lucien does come to see him once every now and again, but I also don’t blame Tamlin for not wanting him too. Considering even though Lucien had extremely valid reasons for leaving when he did, he still left Spring for dead without an explanation.

In the end, it is not ‘Tamlin needs to get over himself and his ex’ its Tamlin needs an extreme amount of mental help. He is a survivor as much as the rest of them.

Not even Feyre was able to recover from her mental health without a ton of fucking help. No one was, everyone got their support groups in the end

Tamlin went through it all without ever taking himself into consideration and still made it. He deserves to be able to fall apart.

#fight me on this #i dare you #acotar rant #acotar #tamlin #pro tamlin #anti feysand #anti rhysand #feyre critical #acotar headcanons

[ae-neon]

SJM insists Fey/sand are so smart and powerful and caring (at least if you're lucky enough to be born to a family in Velaris)

But they can't even figure out temporary housing (while building their 5th house and getting free property like art galleries)

Or alliances. Or government.

Elon never uses his "friendship" with Helion to ask him to act as a mediator or witness.

He betrays Tarquin despite Tarquin's grace to meet and treat him w/o prejudice. And this is when Cassian has already been banned from the Summer Court so Tarquin is already setting aside bad blood, the NCs stank ass reputation and advice from his own councillors.

And they intentionally fuck it up.

But they do trust the mortal queens - who they have no intel on since Azriel couldn't breech their wards to spy on them and who kept reducing in number??

Rhysand cannot even get anything from his own uncle without stealing and distractions - and this is someone who's supposed to have been ruling since he was 30 and is now 500, so much for the Most Powerful ™

He introduces Feyre as his sex slave then gets pissed when the prudish and sexist aristocracy of the Hewn City don't respect her lmao ARE YOU FUCKING DUMB

He outlaws wing clipping but doesn't enforce it. He doesn't rip out the wings of men found clipping or set up groups of warriors to police the camps or install Cassian as a warlord and back him so he can take over a considerable area and start change from there. Bad politics would at least be better than nothing at all.

He's the HL with, very clearly, the least control and influence in his own Court. At least Feyre had to actively undermine Tamlin and sabotage his Court to get it to fall.

Rhy lives in a failed state. 400 years of Nothing. And with Feyre by his side, here's to 400 more of Nothing.

Unless SJM continues to push the High King agenda (through the hand she has up Amren's ass to use her as the new Rhys Hype Puppet since Feyre was busy with the bs baby plotline and Nesta would sooner cut out her own tongue)

Then it won't even matter than Amarantha or the still nameless King of Hybern ever happened - Prythian will be corrupted and ruined from the inside out

SJM is so unserious as an author, I cannot believe y'all have gassed her and continue to do so

#anti sjm #anti feyre #anti rhysand #anti acomaf #anti acowar #anti acofas #anti acosf #acotar rant

[crackedoutwalnut]

so this has probably already been said before, but imma say it again bc I've been seeing a lot of Nesta antis recently.

Nesta doesn't owe feyre or anyone else shit.

No one in acotar owes anyone else shit, for that matter. Feyre did what she did for her family out of a sense of moral obligation and out of the righteousness in her heart. Good for her. That doesn't mean Nesta and Elain owe her anything. Feyre did that out of a sense of duty to her family; however, just because you feel like you have a duty doesn't mean you actually do. Just because you do something nice and good, no matter how grand the gesture might be, doesn't mean you get a cookie or a pat on the head.

Feyre did not have to go through with her dead ass mother's death wish- her dead mother who never did anything for her, for that matter. Whoever says that having family ties to someone means you have to be there for them is a fucking idiot. Nesta was also a child when they lost their money, and so was Elain. (The one who should have stepped up for his kids is their father. I don't give a rat's ass that he has a bum leg).

I'm also not condoning or dismissing Nesta's treatment of her; being cruel to someone is never okay. However, I will say it again, just because Feyre hunted for Nesta and Elain does not mean Nesta is required to show her love for her sister more freely. It was even stated in the book by feyre that Nesta was not the type to express and give out her love openly.

I'm sorry if yall are too hung up in fantasy ideas of family bonds and familial duty, but don't take that shit out on Nesta.

#acotar rant #pro nesta archeron #pro nesta #nesta supremacy #pro feyre #just in case that wasnt clear #i do still love feyre #pro archeron sisters #anti inner circle #acotar #acosf #acowar #feyre archeron #elain archeron #archeron sisters #nesta is a queen

[szalonykasztan00]

I still don't know why the ACOTAR world is patriarchal?

And I don't talk here about AuThOr's choice. More like the in-world explanation.

Because we know that for the Fae the One and only GOD is A GODDESS - The Mother. It seems like the genderswap of the Jewish/Christian/Islam GOD. (+ we know that AuThOr like to take inspiration from these sources)

Like:

The Mother = The God

The Cauldron = Holy Spirit?

You get the idea.

So by that logic shouldn't the fae world be like a matriarchy. A crooked mirror of our world. Where we see either:

a) genderswap problems from our world - males get slut-shame, they have rather few choices outside of marriage to a female, they don't have their own money etc.

Or

b)there would be new different problems, and obstacles for Ferye to overcome that would come from that - for example, she would need to like instantly learn how to be a good speaker/negotiator, strategist, and planer because the fae world does not have physical war but like they battle on arguments and sick burns. (imagine rap battle UTM)

And if the fae world would be like this then we can get:

Possible High Ladies (or like its more common ones at least)(if we assume that this is not happening naturally in canon - Cresseida was seen to suggest that it happens but idk)

Tamlin (or Rhysnad or anyone) becoming High Lord instead of their sister/female cousin/aunt is like a HUGE scandal and a BIG obstacle in their rule. (+here death of Rhysand's sister might have an additional political point because she is technically the heir)

Having ALL 7 male rules of Prythian at the same time is like one a million type of situation.

Amarantha might have like propaganda program where she presents herself as the chosen one of The Mother to "MAKE PRYTHIAN GRATE AGAIN" and like priestesses supporting her and that would be a HUGE point in the second book + reason for Ferye to trust Ianthe because she wasn't one of a false priestess (then Ianthe of course still betrayed them but it would hit harder)

contras to the human patriarchal world that Ferye grows up in. That can give her additional freedom which we know Ferya likes.

NO SA scene UTM.

or it is played as a power move by Amarantha and Rhysand here IS ACTUALLY forced to do this to Ferye and really feels really bad.

Ferye being locked up by Tamlin - IF it's still happening - to be like a hugely controversial thing that makes actual social unrest, starts debates, controversies (High Lord power move for the equality of males or blasphemy that proves he and the males CANOT be trusted with power).

+ And it would help Ferye with her quest in the ACOWAR

But it won't have to. Ferye could live her best life and the only thing that bothers her (destroys their relationship) would be Tamlin being cold (he can have like second thoughts about marriage because he doesn't want to lose the freedoms that he has as a single High Lord)

or he still plays his part of the happy groom but because of Ferye's dementi power, she could like see/feel it and is heartbroken.

Lucien's crisis over how Ianthe treats him. (Ferya see it in him and they bond over it)(Tamlin would where either don't see it because he is training to fit the social expectations or see it and be unable to do something about it or see it and do something about it- it depends on how much agnst you want and what you thing of Tamlin).

Lucien, Tamlin and Ferye can bond over it.

it would paint Rhysnad in a better light for the people from the beginning as "a devoted, good male that just got the wrong spiritual guardians because males can be super silly it's in their nature"

Beorn is being EXTRA careful in being a cruel bastard, especially towards his wife

+ or having Tragic Backstory™ where he was horribly mistreated by the system and/or female and he swore to change it to a Better World™ (here we have the option of Good Beorn = Vanserra brothers being spoiled little shits (in that he may think that Lucien got like rape/groomed by his lover "vile female" and like lose it and not listing to him and kill her still) or Bad Beorn = He is using propaganda on 1000000% and still is cruel, horrible and nothing really change but it's just harder for Beorn which is better) it doesn't matter if he is lying or not.

Rhysand's mother and sister, Tamlin's mother, Lady of Autumn can have a name that would be nice.

King of Hybern and Mortal Queens alliance would have another layer.

It's all that I got for now but I will probably add something when it starts ranting in my brain.

Thoughts y'all?

#acotar #acotar analysis #acotar thoughts #acotar rant

[kopfkino-o]

The absolute refusal about Elain’s book being next is… so confusing to me. Especially when there’s the potential for either Elucien or Elriel???

Like you’re telling me you don’t want either of those next? Like you really really want another training/library book? Another book with no plot progression? A whole book with a stabby stabby quirky cute “not like other girls” FMC imagined entirely by fanon? A book where a lovely brave priestess’s character has been stretched and assassinated so throughly she’s not even her any more?

Nah babes I’ll pass.

I 👏🏼 will 👏🏼 pass.

#give me Elain or give me death #fanon Gwyn is a Crime #fanon white knight Azriel is too #free them all #free the fandom #I’m so tired #acotar rant #pro elriel #elain archeron

[lyndentree63]

Oohhhhhhh. So far, all of Aabria's Dimension 20 seasons are intensely literary Misfits and Magic - Harry Potter ACOFAF - Jane Austen, Bridgerton Burrow's End - Watership Down, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Animal Farm, 1984, etc.

There's something delightful hearing her talk about not coming to TTRPGs through high fantasy like Lord of the Rings and Wheel of Time, but yet there's so much bookish influence on her GMing work. Diversify the literary influences!

#thoughts inspired by Aabria's Burrow's End screen rant interview #aabria iyengar #dimension 20 #acofaf #a court of fey and flowers #burrow's end #burrow's end spoilers #misfits and magic #books books books #literary influences #also possibly ACOTAR is an influence for ACOFAF but I don't know enough about the ACOTAR books to comment on that intelligently