#but this is definitely a fucking anti sjm post

[lunatic-fandom-space]

You know what its past midnight Im gonna make a post critisising acotar despite never having the read the series, the only book of SJMs ive actually read was crescent city but I spend a lot of time in anti acotar circles bc its fun being a little hater sometimes and I think I know enough by now to atleast critise some of the themes. I definitely know more about this series than I should, like I know about that immortal horse whose horse wife tragically died in horse childbirth and then Im pretty sure he died of horse sadness. And yet, despite cari can read being pretty good at explaining magic shit, I still dont know what the hell syphons are or why illyrians have them or why they matter so you really never stop learning huh

Anyway, I wanted to talk about the misogyny within the universe of acotar because its really bad, both in the sense that its just annoying and insufferable to read about even second-hand and in the sense that its badly written. The thing that inspired this was this short piece of flashfiction by @feynessupremacy about an unnamed girl from the hewn city being married off and having a horrible time living in this endless cycle of misogynistic abuse that her mom is still in and that her dauggters will end up in, all powerless to do anything against this kind of systemic sexism. I thought it was good and made its intended point pretty well but it also made me once again realize how borderline comical this series portrayal of misogyny is

Like, okay, once again, I have not read these books myself but it very much seems like the sexism in this world just materialized in the second book, from the summaries Ive watched it straightup seems like it was just not there in the first book. I mean hell, the entire plot hinges on the fact that Tamlin was sending all these fae disguised as fucked up creatures out so that they would hopefully be killed by a woman so she could break the curse, which implies that women being hunters was pretty normal. (Also, dont come at me with any kind of "oh, it doesnt specify the gender of the person who needs to break the curse a guy couldve done it as well", sjm is too insufferably heteronormative to consider that)

So basically what Im saying is, from my perspective it very much seems like sjm put not only systemic misogyny but like, incredibly violent systemic misogyny to the point where women being brutalized is basically completely normal, in her fantasy series for the sake of making a man look good because hes a wittle sad :( about it sometimes which is honestly pretty funny to me

But it gets even funnier because it doesnt even seem like sexism is really a widespread thing ? Like, i have never seen anyone else directly address this but its all I can think about: in the Nightcourt, the misogyny and institutionalized violence against women is literally the worst it possibly can be with genital mutilation and everything and then in the rest of Prythian its just like, not there. There are plenty of women with political power, the queen of adriada comes to mind first, Im pretty sure I read something about a woman from the wintercourt who was in a similar position of power, its unclear to me what all these fuckin priestesses do because theres no focus on the religion at all much less the institution(s) behind that religion, but they have to have some kind of power if theyre anything like priests in our world (although tbh they seem more like nuns to me functionally just with a diffrent name), especially Ianthe who was like a high priestess and directly in charge of Feyre, who shouldve been the most powerful woman in the springcourt by virtue of being with the high lord, Amren and Mor seem to be well respected outside of the NightCourt, their only deity is the MOTHER. Sure, there arent any "official" High Ladies but if being a High Lord entails being chosen by the magic of the land or The Cauldron or The Mother or whatever other kind of magic bullshit and women just dont get to have it for some reason, is that really indicative of the broader culture being sexist, or is that just God, Who Canonically Exists being sexist? Idk about you, but Im leaning towards the latter option

Thats not even mentioning the mortal lands which seem to be ruled by queens exclusively at the time of the story taking place, or Hybern which had Amarantha and I think her sister as well be these high-ranking generals and it wasnt presented as anything unusual. Like, are you telling me that the kingdom whose only value is "we love slavery, we would like to have slavery back" is more progressive than the court of fuckin Feminist King Rhysand?? I Am Going To Turn Into The Joker

Anyway, I think thats all I have to say, please correct me if I got any of this information wrong I cannot stress enough that I have not read these books and dont plan on reading them anytime soon, atleast not in english because reading the term mate a 1000 times sounds like too much for me to bear, atleast in german theyll probably use a term like "Gefährte/in" which doesnt make me think of actual animals

#im öretty sleep deprived so i hope this is coherent enough #anti sjm #anti acotar

[ae-neon]

Nessian Rant part 3

First I wanna say the looneys in this fandom make it so unbearable to be here and just have fun. I used to post whatever I wanted without a second thought but now everything has to sit in the drafts for 3 days while I stress over how people might react.

Fuck that.

I'm gonna scream about what I wanna scream about and if you take it personally that's your problem. These are just characters, clock in to reality and stop acting like they raised you.

Now...

I always see my Nessian mutuals talk about acowar Cassian and trilogy Cassian as a whole being so great but...

To be clear I don't mean Cassian as a standalone character, he's literally amazing alone but in Nessian? Be serious

He's also amazing with every other woman he comes into contact with except Nesta... 🤦🏻‍♀️ can't believe yall stan this ship, stand up rn please 😭 lolol jk. This is just a rant, ship literally whatever the fuck you want, luv u 🫶🏼

I said in a recent answer that the key to enjoying SJM's books is abiding by the Sarah Says rule.

Listen to what Sarah Says even if you read with your own eyes that in canon that "character A got shot by character B", if Sarah Says "well actually B doesn't have fingers so he couldn't pull the trigger and A actually shot himself from 3 feet away being both the victim and the gunman" then that's that.

I'm gonna refer to the facts on paper as canon and what Sarah Says as the narrative and what fans think as fanon.

The thing with a lot of (anti Feysand pro Nessian) fans is they can break the Sarah Says rule only when they want to.

They see past the narrative and fanon to look at the canon and say "I don't like that/ I don't think that's healthy/ that guy sucks/ they both suck"

But then will say acomaf and acowar Nessian was great. What was sooooo great about it? I'm not gonna act like they don't have good moments but they definitely aren't as good as fanon or the narrative makes them out to be.

Let's look at their first meeting

Narrative/ Sarah Says/ Feyre's Mind: Cassian is looking at Nesta and Nesta is ignoring Cassian. There's a little back and forth. Nesta tries to ignore him, he doesn't like that. Do you feel some tension? I feel some tension

Fanon: Cassian was the only one brave enough to call Nesta on her BS and dish it back to her/ he got under her skin/ finally someone tells her off etc you know what I'm referring to

Canon: Feyre and Elain frequently challenge Nesta and she more often than not gives in to them. The IC are in the house because Feyre wants to be there and Elain said to hear them out. In that same scene, Feyre essentially tells Nesta she's living her best life and to fuck off. And power to her. That's just their dynamic.

But Cassian? Cassian is a stranger. He's in her house. He's asking for her help. His HL is asking for her help. So why was he antagonising her?

The narrative and fanon loves to act like Cassian is at best an equal and at worst below Nesta in some way and he's just stepping up to meet her energy but ???

Nesta didn't want them in her home. She worried that just working with them would put herself and others in danger. She didn't want to become Fae. She didn't want to share her story to garner sympathy for the NC. She didn't want to kill or use swords.

But all of those things happened anyway??

She's always the one backed into a corner and then treated like she was on equal ground just cause she's still got her pride? That single sin of not breaking is always punished again and again.

Do you see how you've bought into what Sarah Says?

Hybern and the Cauldron?

Cassian was twitching trying to reach for her, this was the moment we knew for sure they were gonna be mates omg

And Nesta? She was right. Everything she feared would happen did but even worse? She and Elain have been kidnapped and she doesn't know why they're being dunked like chicken wings but the fucking pot tried to kill her. She's the one who fell for an eternity and fought her way back to life.

No offense but not the greatest moment to base your romance on since you have to swivel the camera away from a woman in a traumatizing situation to point at a man and say look how seeing her hurt hurts him 🤕

And acowar??? The supposed golden era of Nessian?? Babe, that's just spray paint

It's Nesta who stands up for Cassian at the HL Meeting. You know what she also does? Recount her trauma to strangers, she isn't feeling well, she stands up for innocent humans and fae, she commands a room full of the most powerful men on the Continent.

It's Nesta who calls for Cassian, saves his life, and covers her body with his. These are Nessian moments yes but they are Nesta's actions. It was her who made Nessian shine.

Cassian? He promised her forever and then ignored her? Pulled away, got embarrassed or something who the fuck cares.

But this is your man - look at the canon - this is your man??

And you said yes.

That's why you got ACOFAS. That's why you got your 500 year old man telling a shell shocked, dying woman that he didn't know why her sisters loved her. That's why you got a leader of legions raging like a 14 year old league player. A whole r/AITA villain

And that's why he embarrassed y'all in ACOSF. That's why you got EIGHT HUNDRED PAGES AND NOT A SINGLE I LOVE YOU because you already accepted less than the bare minimum

Because you failed to apply the rule equally for both ships.

Cassian is also in a power imbalanced relationship with Nesta, he's also 500 years older than her so why suddenly have issue with him having control over her and using it to break her and reshape her how he wants?

Again. You can ship what you want. You can indulge in fanon all you want. I support that. Just hope you know that that's what you're doing.

Mutuals don't hate me 😭

#anti nessian #acotar rant #anti acomaf #anti acowar #anti sjm #nesta archeron #cassian #nesta deserves better #pro nesta #sjm critical

[acourtofthought]

listen you have no idea how much I appreciate you!! How you always have an answer to everything those bitches (I'm sorry I'm at my limits) have to say that makes absolutely zero sense. And how they always want to stir some shit to get a rise out of us so they can say "hey look they're rude to us :(" but you always answer with certainty and respect unlike some ppl (even tho we have so many SS from them telling us to k*ll ourselves)

But I hope you're looking out for yourself. Bc me personally can't handle them. I can't deal with stupidity and argue with a grown ass person who feels like arguing with a wall, incapable of changing for an ounce and act all childish. I know how tiring and harmful it can be.

I and so many others have read enough sjm books to know who will be the next couples of the series and I really think the only thing that will make the shut the fuck up is waiting for the next book confirmation. Time will tell.

Thank you for the check in ❤️

Honestly, I have it easy compared to some of the other peoples experiences on here so it's not fair for me to complain. And it's on me for engaging with some of the stuff they put up because I am capable of turning my head and leaving it be.

Which I usually do because I don't go searching for their posts. However I do occasionally check my "Your Tags" section and the Elucien / Lucien tags were used in a clearly Anti Elucien post. This isn't the first time this week I've seen it happen across the fandom so the repeated behavior tends to spike my argumentative side and that in of itself is childish to a degree but at times it feels like you want the other side to be heard too, you know? They go around shouting the loudest thinking it means they have something on us, more proof of something, and I guess something about that feels unfair to me.

It's always canon this and canon that for them while ignoring all the other canon that exists. Being selective with canon is going to be the thing to bite them in the ass in the end because these books are not just what happens when Elain and Az are on page together. They definitely don't like "canon" when it tells us Az hasn't thought of a future with Elain. They don't like canon when the thought of Gwyn's happiness sparked something in his chest.

And SJM doesn't talk about all the little hints and crumbs she laid out for Elain's journey only for some in the fandom to think that the things that are wide out in the open (like Az and Elain wanting to kiss) are the full picture. Feyre saying, "why not make them mates?" wouldn't be a crumb or a hint, that would be SJM leaving nothing to the imagination. A crumb is something like "what can I get you Elain?" "Sunshine", then later revealing that her mate is the heir to Day. Or "Spring had been made for someone like her" in reference to Elain and later being told Lucien is permanently being stationed there. Crumbs are SJMs way of laying out the mystery of what's going to happen and she wants the reader to be clever enough to spot them. Thinking Elain has no interest in Lucien and it's clear she wants Az because she was willing to hook up with him and currently ignores Lucien doesn't take any sort of genius to figure out. But a clever reader who look a little deeper to see if maybe the "obvious" isn't really so obvious at all, that there is more going on beyond what we're seeing.

But you're right, there's no point in arguing. It doesn't matter how logical your response is, it doesn't matter how much proof you can provide based on past endgame couples and how that means Elucien (while not a guarantee) is not a lost cause, they don't want to hear it. They want to only fixate on the moments that support E/riel and nothing that possibly throws a wrench in that ship and that's like trying to talk to someone about a movie where they only stepped into the room every 20 - 30 minutes, catching 5 minutes at a time.

#fandom fuckery #anti e/riel

[bleeding-star-heart]

It has come to my attention that some people have been accusing Sarah J. Maas of being a ‘Zionist’ without proof.

Now, from my time lurking on Jewish Tumblr, I have learned that the word ‘Zionist’, to Jewish people at least, has many definitions. Only ONE of which is the typical one used by us goyim. A.k.a. that of thinking it’s ok for Israel to bully the Palestinians.  And undoubtedly, that typical definition is what those accusing her of being a ‘Zionist’ likely mean. The thing is, there is NOTHING on her accounts that would support this idea even VAGUELY. Her Instagram is mostly promotional materials for her books with slice of life pictures tossed in. What little political stuff there is either anti-Trump/pro-Biden stuff, or sometimes a charity thing. NOT A DAMN THING RELATED TO ISRAEL.  Her Tumblr is a mix of promotional materials and shared fan content. There’s also a Facebook page with exactly ONE POST that is again more promotional stuff. And her personal website is, again, promotional stuff.  NOT A DAMN THING ON ISRAEL. So, where the flying fuck do you get off accusing someone who’s said nothing about Israel on her socials of being anti-Palestinian rights? Some more cynical people on Jewish Tumblr would probably say, ‘because she happens to be Jewish’.  And if that is indeed the case, and it’s not a VAST misunderstanding... Well then you can FUCK RIGHT OFF.  There are many things you could say about Sarah J. Maas. That she has problematic tropes in her writing, yes. That the so-called ‘feminism’ in her books is not only nonexistent, but that said books are also regressive as hell. Likely unintentionally, but still pretty regressive.  You can even call her books bad and nothing but trashy smut. But until she SAYS something about Israel, you had best steer clear of accusing her of being anti-Palestine.  Because frankly, that is just straight-up antisemitic slander. And frankly, the plight of the Palestinian people, while a dire one, is NOT an excuse for you to hide your own disgusting beliefs behind. And it is SHAMEFUL that you would use pro-Palestinian activism for such an end.  Shameful and deceitful and disgusting beyond belief.  The SJM critical/anti SJM community is NOT a place for spreading bigoted beliefs. It is a literary critique community, not some alt-right stomping ground. If those of you who spread this ‘Zionist SJM’ shit can’t understand that, get out. 

#anti sjm #sjm critical #anti antisemitism

[bookofmirth]

Same anon, and when I read your post, I didn't see any mention of "Cassian wouldn’t always respect the way she expresses herself". But if that is what you meant by the facepalm then it makes more sense. I saw the facepalm comment as more of a "Nesta reacted badly again and Cassian has to deal with the mess because he's never wrong" rather than "Cassian didn't understand what she was trying to say and made the mess worse"

I just didn't like how your post made it seem that Nesta was the one who was always at fault when their relationship goes south...which you already cleared up.

Nesta definitely has to work on expressing herself better. I never said that she was some perfect example? I was acknowledging her growth over the book by referencing the "shackled" scene and how she did try to express herself well in that situation.

I wouldn't exactly use the term "she's learning to use her big girl words" as I find that condescending considering how hard she's worked to get to where she is, and to those who are finally in a space where they can heal and learn to express themselves better.

Yah, I wrote that post as I was getting out of the shower and heading out the door so I probably didn’t explain things as much as I could have! And tbh I’m still conflicted about it because like @rayonfrozenwings said in a reblog it’s not like couples need to be perfect. And I know people use reasoning like mine to say sjm doesn’t know her characters or whatever and I’m like *makes sign of the cross* I cannot stand that sort of anti rhetoric. I think it all just goes back to how different Nesta and Cassian are from one another.

Re: Cassian face palming, if my partner did that I would be like “fuck you thanks for the support”. It makes him look more “mature” but really he’s just playing peacekeeper at the expense of his partner. Sometimes I feel like it’s justified, other times not.

Re: using her big girl words yes, I do tend to have a mocking or sarcastic tone when I write 😂 Totally agree that it’s something she is working on though and don’t mean to make light of that progress. It was the whole point of acosf!

Ngl that post came from a conversation I was having with @tangledraysofsunshine about how people in the fandom see Nesta. I feel like we’ll have a lot of similar conversations about Az when we get his story, where people see him differently and argue about that but… that just means they are compelling characters.

#ask #acotar #anon #acosf #Nesta

[gopeachllama]

Why I think Feysand were OOC in ACOSF

I hope that no one misunderstands from the title but let me say this is a 100% PROfeysand post. so if you hated feysand even before acosf, then this post isn't for you.

So i've seen a lot of interesting theories about feysand's and in particular rhys' behaviour and choices throughout acosf. and while alot of them seemed possible and may have been the case canonically speaking, even as a feysand stan i just couldn't seem to wrap my head around some of the things they said and did in the book. they just both seem OOC, its the only pausible explanation for me.

To understand why feysand were OOC in the book we have to look at this through a narrative perspective. as in we have to ask why would the author write the character/s in this way?

a quick overview of what a character arc is

so there can be a lot of variations of a character arc in a story but the basics is as follows (how does the character go from point 'a' to point 'b'):

the 'big lie' - the views/beliefs/actions the character has at the start which will be challenged throughout the story (this is point 'a')

the 'incident' - a plot point in which starts development of the character. something that spurs the character into action, this most ofter happens when they are placed in an unfamiliar situation. this usuallyy is the intial challenge to their 'big lie'. at this point the story will move forward and theres no going back.

the midpoint - the character changes conciously or subconciously, they start to recognise their own flaws in the 'big lie'.

world collaspes - this is usually on the heels of a victory, the character reaches the lowest point in their journey. they finally confront 'the big lie' and forces to stop this deception they inflict on themselves. they can destroy it or it will destroy them.

the climax - the reason for the story. the reason why the character had to take this journey in order to get to this moment. the moment that the character will decide once and for all whether they will go forward to point 'b' or regress back to point 'a'

the resolution - the character reaches point 'b'. their view/beliefs/actions have changed, they no longer believe in the 'big lie'.

So obvisouly the main character in acosf is Nesta. What sjm does in her books is that every plot point and development of secondary characters is in service to the arc of the main character. None of the character's outside of Nesta have their own development. Not even Cassian, any sort of changes or developments he undergoes is in service to Nesta (a complete missed opportunity for Cassian but that a whole other point). And before anyone tries to say otherwise, you can have development for characters even if they are secondary ones (and for a book that is 800+ pages long it is definitely possible). An example is with his can also be seen with Gwyn. Her leaving the library for the first time was a huge moment for the character, but she did so, in order to comfort Nesta after her big fight with Cassian. It was also so that Nesta, Gwyn and Emerie could all be together in Illyria so they could be kidnapped and forced to enter the blood rite (where the final showdown occurs with Nesta and the villan).

so what has this got to do with feysand and why are they OOC?

In fact the entire plot with feyre's pregnancy was made to give chracter developments for Nesta. There was nothing written in the book that suggested any developments for feyre and rhys. it did nothing for them. Nesta needed to become central to the story and the only way sjm thought to keep feyre side lined was to make her pregrnant. It was also just lazy writing and world building bc there is no way that rhys would have though of this when he and feyre were trying for a baby.

SIN #1 The Shields

Rhys practicing shields (shield thats doesn't even allow anyone to even touch her) on feyre, which she just allows. the book explains because of the fact that there is more danger to her now that she's pregnant. Narratively, this would make sense if there is a payoff. Like later in the story if feyre was in physical danger and the shield saves her or if the shield became a detriment to her in some way. But no nothing like this happens. Rhys 'practices' the shield on her and thats it. Rhys, who was the same person that trusted feyre enough defend herself against the weaver. It was totally out of character that he would shield her to the point that Cassian can't even kiss her on the cheek (sounds familiar huh). and the same goes for feyre, who has no problem with this (*cough* tamlin locking her up *cough*). Thats is some OOC behaviour.

So what were the point of the shields? well since sjm made it canon that fae can smell when a female is pregnant, the biggest way they came into play was in the scene when rhys lifted it long enough so that everyone could sense that that feyre was pregnant. And It could have been just that, feyre and rhys were expecting a baby, and Nesta can go along with her development, they did not need to intersect. But it did, and we'll come back to that later. This scene is a lighthearted moment in the book, one of the rare few where all the characters are happy and celebrating a good thing. acofas we knew that rhys and feyre decided to try for a baby, and seeing it pay off here was enjoyable for the readers.

But what else does this scene do? through Nesta's perspective, we can read her thoughts on it, and though she doesn't reveal much its an important character moment for her. the readers can see that she can feel happiness for someone else beyond the self-loathing she guards herself with, it shows that she is a character worth rooting for.

SIN #2 Rhys concealing the dangers of the pregnancy from feyre

oof this one is a doosey. this was the most baffling thing to come out of acosf for me. there is literally no reason or explanation that would make sense for rhys to lie to feyre like that. It offers no development for the two character it affects the most: rhys and feyre. there no fallout on rhys' end for lying to her, and there is no turmoil for feyre such as falling into depair like we told she would (the whole reason that rhys was hiding it in the first place).

When Nesta finds out that the pregnancy was most likely going to kill feyre and the baby. instead of Nesta disagreeing and urging Rhys to tell feyre, she doesn't say anything and forms a temporary truce with him, a character she has always had conflict with. It also serves as the incident that allows Nesta to have her 'world collapse' moment in her character arc. How else was Nesta going to realise what a shitty person is was being if she didn't do something so absolutely shitty? in a fit of rage, Nesta reveals to feyre that the pregnancy was going to kill both her and the baby. she get taken away on a hike in illyria (because???) and she reaches rock bottom after she comes to term with what she did. the story is taken away from velaris and the inner circle, and any conflict and resolution that happens between feyre and rhys, if it even happened at all, happens off page. again furthering my point about the pregnancy having no impact on the two characters is affects the most. After Nesta's fleeting moment of enlightenment, and her swordplay sex marathon with Cassian (urgh) she returns to velaris and nothing has changed between rhys and feyre. there isn't really much of a development with Nesta's relationship with feyre, their 'reconciliation' occurs all of less than one page and doesn't even happen out loud, just mind to mind. Now that Nesta has had her important character moment, nothing else matters (again lazy writing).

SIN #3 Everyone dies

ok so yes everyone has said their two cents about this and i agree with it. Feyre and nyx had to die so that Nesta could have her climax moment. It is the climax of the story since it is the big story development right before the resolution. and about the bargain - feysand decided in acofas that they were going to try for a baby. meaning that it was after this decision that they struck the bargain that they would die together. so at some point they would have thought of the fact they would have a child/children when the both die. im sorry but do they seem like the kind of ppl that would make a suicide pact even if it meant leaving their children behind? TOTALLY OOC for me. and i dont know i guess also the stakes weren't high enough with just the threat of feyre and nyx dying.

So feyre and nyx are dead and rhys will soon follow and Nesta intervenes to save them. Its also a self-sacrificing moment bc she has to give up her powers in order to do this... Showing that she does truely love her family and the depths of her powers. (seriously idc how you stan or hate how does anyone this good book?). don't doubt that in the future books sjm will find a way for Nesta to get her powers back (whatever they are (pure death WHAT DOES THAT MEAN???))

So Nesta saves the day, everyone is fine and nothing has changed except Nesta is nice now probably. the end.

welp this got way longer that i expected but anyways long story short there was nothing about the pregnancy that gave development to feysand characters and it was all for the development of the main character.

i don't claim acosf!feysand and sjm better fucking leave them alone in the rest of the books.

#acotar #acosf #anti acosf #rhys #rhysand #pro rhysand #feyre #pro feyre #feysand #pro feysand #nesta #this is not an anti nesta post #at least i dont think it is #but this is definitely a fucking anti sjm post #anti sjm

[dreaminginvelaris]

nessian analysis

im not sure if this qualifies as an analysis? It's basically me just explaining why I didn't like the nessian relationship, what it lacked, what sjm should have done.

I will be using the “anti-nessian” tag bc there are many softies here on Tumblr who get pissy whenever you have some things to say abt a beloved character or relationship that dont paint them as gods even though i dont hate them. I DO NOT hate nessian, I am not the biggest fan of them, im not entirely fond of them, I personally think we were robbed of a much deeper and flushed out relationship, but I do not hate nessian whatsoever. 

also please for the love of god don’t get butthurt and start talking about how feysand is the boring one, how feysand is so vanilla, in retaliation. stop. it makes you look childish. if you hate what i have to say abt your ship, move on. you don’t need to come on a nessian post and start talking about other ships. yes i realize i mention feysand, and rowaelin, but it was to compare how sjm usually writes her main couples.  

with that being said, let's move forward. 

sjm in the past has done an amazing job when writing romantic relationships. She's so wonderful at establishing a friendship, at establishing an emotional connection, before any romance takes place. like with rowaelin, we got to see rowan and aelin forge a friendship, from hating one another to respecting each other. before it was romantic love, it was friendly love first, it was love and respect for their friendship that made aelin threaten that bitch who i forgot the name of but who wouldn't stop touching rowan and aelin bathed her in fire until she stopped. it was the love and respect for their friendship that made rowan fight against his cadre to go save aelin, it was that love that made aelin go to maeve, threaten her ppl so Rowan could be free. 

all of this built up to the amazing relationship that is Rowaelin. it took establishing an emotional connection between the two to make what is their relationship now. the romantic/sexual part of their relationship is amazing as well, but it wouldn't have been amazing were it not for the trust their relationship was built on first. 

it's the same thing with feysand, their relationship built on trust first, on friendship, on emotional talks, on sharing their thoughts and feelings, on sharing hard truths with one another. on feyre trusting rhys with how she felt abt the whole tamlin situation, it built on rhys sharing his past, on sharing some of those horrific moments of UTM, it built on them fighting with one another, it's what made chapter 55 so amazing because it built up. it wasn't just sex right off the bat, it was forging a connection much more powerful than sex. 

which brings me to my main point, that nessian definitely lacks all of this. before it even starts, i know there are ppl who might say “but nessian was building during acomaf/acowar?”  yes, it was, we knew that there was something between them. but can you really call it an emotional build up btwn them? i mean we saw it through the eyes of feyre, so we didn't really see much of substance. we saw them exchange glances, nesta insult cass, cass tease nesta, even that one bonus chapter, but that wasn't enough buildup. because even in that bonus chapter we mainly just got to see cass corner nesta to a wall and learn how he was so turned on by her. nothing of depth and substance. 

you would expect sjm to bring this to their book. but it didn't happen. perhaps she as well thought that was enough of a build up to them, i wouldn't put it past her, her writing skills definitely are questionable in this book.

but where were the talks? where was nesta confiding to cassain abt her mother? abt her life being groomed for marriage? abt the years during the poverty, abt how she felt disgusted by herself for what she had done to feyre. for what she had not done for their family? for what she felt with her fathers death, how she felt abt elain, how she was coping?

where were the talks in which cassian confided in nesta? in where he talks abt his years in the illyrian camps, in what happened in those moments when he murdered a whole illyrian village, in which he learned he would never be able to bury his mother. the talks where he tells her how it felt to be separated from his brothers, how he felt when rhys was trapped, how it felt when feyre was taken, how it felt when he thought him and nesta were to die, at hybern and at the war. 

where was the teasing? the laughing? the pinning each other down during training, the talks during training. where was the friendship being built? just because cass tells nesta he was always her friend doesn't mean it’s not important to see it.

instead all we got was training and fucking and fucking and training. instead we got nesta jacking off cassian 200 pages in? i mean thats so out of character of nesta. this fiery woman who spent three books pushing cassian away, who made it known she ‘despised’ cassian, who made it clear she would not touch or even try to interact with cassian during her stay at the house of wind, but all of a sudden she just loses that and jacks him off? i mean the fact that nesta kept pushing cassian away was such a great opportunity for sjm to take and make it slow burn. teasing touches, never going too far but enough it made the other shiver. i mean that when the pinning each other down in training would have come in handy. but instead sjm just decided to change nestas character just like she changed cassians as well. 

(note: i am not slut shaming nesta, before any of y'all try to twist it that way, i am merely stating how in my perspective that was not something nesta would have done with cassian.

not to forget how cassian would literally leave nesta after their sexual encounters! please tell me i’m not the only one who notices that the cassian from acomaf/acowar/acofas would not have done that. this man has practically been in love with nesta since day one and he just straight up says “thanks for the ride” and leaves? uhhhh what? the cassian i knew and loved would not have done that. i mean him staying after those encounters would have been the perfect opportunity for them to have deep talks, for them to get to know one another. i mean they both claim to know each other, but do they really? 

the mating revelation was soo underwhelming too. i wanted passion, i mean thats what i was promised no? from both sjm and the nessian stans. so where was that passion during the mating revelation? i mean sjm had aelin realize rowan was her mate after rowan was shot, and she felt the fear of losing him. had rhys know fully when feyre was dying and he was trying to get to her. had ferye realize when they professed their love for each other, and she realized she had healed with him. even goddamn lucien and elain knew in such an intense way as well. and nessian? on a sidewalk. with cassian demanding nesta say it, and nesta robotically denying it. 

all im saying is that we were robbed. i like sex between two characters as much as the next person but sex doesn't matter unless there is a deep emotional connection between the two, its what makes chemistry between two characters amazing. 

also lets mention how cassian didn't even say i love you to nesta. PLSSS WHAT WAS THAT

the only part in the whole 700+ page book that actually felt deeper and much more stronger between the two of them was when nesta broke down and admitted she hated herself and cassian consoled her. but that was what? 3 pages and then they proceeded to continue to fuck during their “healing hike” nah that aint it

all im saying is that nessian was much more fun and sexy when it was through feyre’s perspective. 

#anti nessian #acotar #acomaf #acowar #acofas #acosf #acosf spoilers #anti cassian #anti nesta #nesta #nesta archeron #cassian #anti nesta x cassian

[ceremoany]

⚔️⚔️⚔️

#i never realized how much discourse effects my experience with all things regarding what the discourse is about #like the anti nesta's make me want to not blog about this series anymore #it and nesta are so near and dear to me that i don't want the two merging #like i just want to enjoy the world of prythian by myself so i don't run into these posts/people/accounts #like i said it doesn't take away from how much i love them but it takes away from the experience #yet at the same time fandom can be such an exciting place to be when new content is being released #its a double edged sword #and i just saw some anti post about the raven cycle which i wanted to start soon that's been on my tbr for a year and it just discouraged me #from starting it lol i know it shouldn't affect me like that but im pretty sure it's a normal reaction #big sigh #i think im gunna step back from acotar blogging until the novella comes out #ill still rb edits and art and such and probably make the occasional nesta post but im gunna chill out from the thick of it #fandom can definitely feel suffocating and i feel like i owe it to my followers to strictly blog about sjm books and create content #i enjoy doing those things but i feel like it's become expected of me to pump them out #i dont know. i guess off times in fandom just suck #too much time for negative discourse #exp. when everything that needs to have been said has been said... to the discourse turns into vindictive salt posting #im guilty but a lot of you are just terrible #and mean and sadistic with the way you shame others and actively try to ruin characters/series for others like jesus fuck #its just not something im willing to fight anymore #you can be a hateful goblin in peace but im going to enjoy my next installments of this series #without the need to shit on other people and make them feel bad #like i could honestly give a fuck less about lucien and he makes me zzzzzzz every time we have to focus on him but ive never once #posted discourse about him let alone hateful and vindictive discourse #beause i just. can't make myself care that much. and if others like him who the fuck am i to try and shit on that #just. gah. so much wasted energy y'all #anyways though. this was long but i can't do a read more since im on mobile #aleksandra rambles #salt

[battlestar-royco]

I think a common mistake is that SJM is more successful than Leigh B. or Victoria A., because according to the sales and NYT Besteller list she really isn't. Her books manage to stay on the list for 6-12 weeks, but many other ya authors spend over 15 weeks on that list and aren't half as hyped. It just that she has a very strong and loyal fanbase consisting of approximately 30-50k people, who'd do anything for a little recognition and don't hesitate to promote the living hell out of her.

Absolutely. There’s a huge misconception that SJ/M is more popular than authors of similar ilk when that’s not true. (Not to mention that popularity isn’t always an indicator of quality.) I think @spaceshipkat has receipts for comparative first printing numbers, and plenty of other YA authors stay on NYT for several weeks. Mess wins the GR awards every year because her stans band together to win it for her, but that’s the only prize she’s winning. They also happen to have some really great fan artists in their fandom, so that’s free promo for SJ/M. Stans also know no boundaries on any social media website, so they’re always crosstagging and commenting in other fandoms’ posts, and they’re all over Pinterest posting random original art and fan art as SJ/M’s characters. In my perception, the SJ/M fandom was at its height around AC0MAF–that was when C B0water, one of the biggest fan artists on the internet, got into the series and when people were the most in love with Rice and the Night Court. Ever since E0S/T0D and AC0WAR, however, the fandom’s passion has steadily been dwindling and way more antis have emerged out of the woodwork (me being one of them!!). I don’t know if I can confidently say that SJ/M stans are a loud minority because I still feel like they’re fucking everywhere, but SJ/M is definitely not as popular as she used to be, nor is she the most successful YA author by a long shot.

#anti sjm #anti sjm fandom #stans being stans

[the-resurrection-3d]

hey so I (@aelinbitch) am currently answering the ask you just sent me for this but i decided to write A Whole Essay so in the mean time: would love to hear you go off on something about the acotar series - something you have an issue with or love or literally anything. i stopped reading midway through acowar not because i disliked it that much or anything but just because i like….. lost steam i guess? so anyway i don’t engage with acotar content that much and i’d love to hear your hot takes

Lol this will probably also require an essay. 

EDIT: it did require an essay. I cut out some stuff (like the way the fae world is wlwphobic and the fandom’s reaction to it) just because this post was getting too long and that whole mess could make for its own. The TL;DR is I am both a contrarian and yet don’t have anything new to say because we all know SJM didn’t think it though that deeply.

Now, keep in mind that I haven’t reread any of the books, nor have I finished ACOFAS - I gave up about halfway through because it just wasn’t grabbing me. ACOWAR was slaughtered on the alter of unnecessary spin-offs, and ACOFAS did little to mend my opinion. I actually had a review of it written way back when for my wordpress blog, but my beta thought it was too dark because it ended on a few quotes from Yahtzee Croshaw’s Duke Nukem Forever review. Specifically these lines:

So,this is how the anticipation ends, people. First show of the long-awaitedcomeback tour and the singer’s hanged himself on the microphone cord. But he’strying to sing anyway! Forcing on a smile and choking out lyrics in-betweengrotesque spasms. Andyou’re wondering whether it’s kinder to cut him down or swing on his legs tohelp him on his way.

Yeah, he thought it was a tad too dark, lol.

Looking back over my ACOFAS review (which was really a rambling list of complaints that I openly struggled to continue), I suppose I really have only a few things that are still worth mentioning. My personal favorite that I haven’t really seen echoed:

Honestly,since it’s very clear every Archeron sister is going to be mated off, what I’dlove to happen is for each sister to be used to explore a different way themate bond can resolve itself. Feysand is obviously meant to be the OTP, butElucien can become best friends (possibly with benefits) as Elain comes out ofher shell, while Nessian eventually realizes that however much they understandeach other, they’re too toxic to function in a romantic relationship.

Thatwas supposed to be the original definition of mates, wasn’t it? Someone whounderstands you better than anyone else on earth? It’s a very versatiledefinition, and one I’d like to see explored further – I’m honestly tired ofboth media and fandoms treating soul mates as an exclusively romantic phenomenon,to the point I’ve been about turned off the trope entirely. 

And then I shit-talked a TomTord artist who also draws Big Hero 6 incest porn, lol. Like I said, I was openly struggling to write about ACOFAS. Sure, Rhysand’s parents hated each other, but we don’t actually see them “on-screen.” Not that any of this really matters since the definition of the mating bond has gotten increasingly mangled. Can I just say I’ve never really liked Nessian / Elucien or gotten the hype about them? 

And then ACOFAS vagued me personally with Rhys/Cass/Az’s constant reminders of what great totally fraternal brotherly no homo brothers they are. I’ve seen plenty of anti TOGs complain about SJM burying any ship she doesn’t like, but I didn’t believe it until that book, lol.

On a more positive note though, ACOWAR had a lot of moments I really loved! Part one ( “The Princess of Carrion,” right?) was just SJM’s fairy!Degrassi AU and it was fantastic, because it captured perfectly the best moments of that horrible, horrible show – namely, watching a character you hate get shit on by everyone else around them. 

Also, Amren’s comment that Feyre was treating her sisters the way Tamlin treated her? I was shook to my fucking soul. And honestly I hope I hear about SJM capitalizing on that more in the Nessian book, because ACOFAS had plenty to support that. Sure, I don’t like Nesta, I would be fed-up with her behavior in ACOFAS too, but Feyre needs to understand that she can’t mend their relationship if Nesta herself isn’t interested, and it really felt like Feyre only bankrolled Nesta as an excuse to keep herself tied to her sister. (Which is all very ironic, considering one thing I loved about ACOTAR is Feyre eventually realized her family ain’t shit – I’ve been so hungry for stories that acknowledge that family =/= undying love/loyalty. Oh well. “Requiem” from DEH still exists I guess, lol). 

Oh god this is getting long. Sorry I went off like that! I don’t really have many opportunities to talk about this series. :PPPPPP

#long post #I can post my thoughts on the lgbt stuff but I only have like one (1) new thing to say and it's more about a different book entirely lol #rumors1977

[acourtofthought]

Hey girl hey! How are you?

I feel like things have been NUTS in this fandom recently, and tbh I can’t be bothered to engage as much as I used to bc of everything else going on in my life. BUT I did see a post where an anti claimed that because Bryce and hunt “chose to be mates”, Elain will OBVIOUSLY choose Azriel. And that’s just “common sense”.

It tickled me, especially since I don’t think their Quinlar claim regarding choice is as valid as they believe it to be. But I did find it humorous that this is what they took from Quinlar to be proof or indication of E/riel. When Quinlar has all the mating code of SJM’s other mated pairs. But especially the two instances that mimic Gwynriel’s code from the Azriel bonus.

Like I’m sorry but op wrote this long ass post about Quinlar’s “choice” = Elriel but ignored the glowing within Bryce’s chest when Hunt first kissed her in CC & in their additional bonus which matches Azriel’s thoughts of Gwyn. That’s fucking hilarious.

Anyways, wanted to share bc I think you’ll find it funny to💀😭

💖🧼

How are things in your life? I'm hoping that if they've been stressful, you've had the chance to find ways to relax and unwind especially outside the fandom because this is definitely not the place for that 😂😂😂. I look forward to the day we have answers so things can settle by at least a few degrees. Do you have any fun summer trips planned or have you taken any so far? There are so many things off about the Quinlar = E/riel take. First, it's odd when they try to compare a "chosen" mating bond set in a modern world between a half fae / fallen angel (with unknown lineage) and use it as evidence of Elain breaking her fae mating bond and choosing Az instead. They aren't close to being the same thing. First, Quinlar didn't choose one another while sharing a powerful bond with another. Hunt previously loved Shahar and chose to be with her yet she still wasn't his mate (choice or not). He didn't walk away from a magical force with her only to eventually end up with Bryce. Also, we don't know if it was truly a choice between Quinlar because would the same things have happened had Hunt ever called Shahar his mate? Would their scents have merged and would Hunt have gone into a rage? Or were Hunt and Bryce always destined to be the only ones who could share in a mating bond together? Sure they could have dated other people and maybe been happy but we don't know if they would share mate coding with those people and been as happy and powerful as they are together. We don't know enough about the bonds in CC to know whether it was ever really a completely random choice between them or whether destiny played a part in their ending up together. But really, the main take away is that SJM could have just had Bryce and Hunt choose to be together as partners then left it at that but instead they STILL ended up as mates with mate coded language like you pointed out 😂 They are still the ONLY mates each has known. In the SJM world whether you are given a Cauldron blessed mate or a chosen mate a character still seems to end up with the only mate they've ever known. If that doesn't tell you that SJM prefers mates above all else then I'm not sure what will. Once mate is thrown into the equation, that's the ultimate for her. Even her poorly matched mating bond pairings still chose one another, i.e. Rhys's parents. It's not even apples to oranges at this point, it's like leafy sea dragons to apples 😂

[bookofmirth]

Az, Gwyn, and power

Something I’ve seen going around a lot lately, in the past couple of months, is that if Azriel and Gwyn were to enter into a relationship, it would be unequal or imbalanced, basically that Azriel has more power than Gwyn and so it would make for a potentially... bad (? definition tbd) relationship.

I’ve already explained why the theory about Elain not knowing how the bond works makes her look like either stupid, or ignorant, or supremely passive. I’m assuming that is not the intention of the stans.

Now lemme explain why this interpretation, of a gwynriel relationship being inherently imbalanced and problematic for being so, would make Azriel look like an asshole.

I keep seeing people saying “because this person has power and this person doesn’t, this thing is bad”. No. That’s not how it works. Power is much more complex and nuanced than that, and it depends on how the individual decides to wield it. There are multiple ways that someone can gain, retain, and use power. Some have more access than others, for different reasons. However, it is not inevitable that those with more power will exploit those with less.

In the post about power I mentioned Rhys, and he is a great example of why having power isn’t necessarily a bad thing for everyone around him. The only thing that keeps Rhys from literally every sort of privilege is that he is half Illyrian. Other than that, he has everything going for him. However, he rarely, if ever, takes advantage of his power to the detriment of others. We could probably argue about why this is or isn’t true and to what extent, but the point is that we have other examples of similar fae - Beron - who wield the same types of power and do not gaf about anyone else. Rhys intentionally allows the IC to have a voice in what happens in the NC, he listens to them, he takes their advice, and sometimes he does a shitty job but he tries to avoid ruling with an iron fist.

Back to gwynriel.

So the idea that Gwyn and Azriel cannot be equals in a relationship initially came from the idea that Gwyn is, somehow, at 28 years old, mentally and emotionally a child. We know that this is NOT true. It has been confirmed by the writer, who did hear explanation of the different rates at which fae age. So her denial that Gwyn is a child was not out of context. She knew what people were thinking.

However, there are still issues that people bring up regarding Gwyn being a priestess and Azriel being the spymaster. But let’s be clear about who Gwyn and Azriel are:

Gwyn is a priestesses. She is not a nun. She spends her time learning and aiding others in that pursuit.

She protected children when her temple was under attack.

Gwyn is Carynthian. One of the only two women in history to earn that distinction. That accomplishment took intelligence, cunning, cooperation, and strength.

Gwyn is mostly High Fae.

Gwyn is a SA survivor.

Azriel rescued her.

Azriel is a spymaster.

Azriel is also Carynthian.

He is part Illyrian.

Azriel’s role in the library is not “supervisor”. He is not their camp counselor. He is not their authority figure. He brings women to the library who have been victimized, and then he leaves. 

The two people who are actually in charge of the library and its citizens safety are Morrigan and Rhysand.

Combining all those facts with Gwyn’s age, Gwyn is not Azriel’s inferior in any way. No matter which way you look at it, there is nothing about Azriel that inherently puts him in a position to abuse his power.

She is also not his inferior in terms of maturity (while I can see that being an argument, it would need to be equally applied to nessian, feysand, elucien, e*riel, etc.... and it’s not. Unless an sjm anti is reading this, then yeah, I can see them making that argument.)

So let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that Azriel does hold a position of authority over Gwyn. He doesn’t, but let’s just pretend that these arguments are actually valid.  If - if - Gwyn and Azriel were problematic as a relationship because of some power imbalance, then it stands to reason that that ship is problematic because Azriel is the type of person to exploit that imbalance.

Is that what y’all were going for when you try to say that gwynriel makes you feel uncomfortable??? Doubt it.

One last point about my list above - if y’all think that the fact that Azriel rescued Gwyn means that he can only see her that way, that he can only see her as an SA survivor and can never see beyond that, fails to recognize her growth and strength, even though he helped her to complete the Blood Rite Qualifier... again, that doesn’t say great things about Azriel (and maybe doesn’t say great things about people who would make that argument, since people are not defined by their trauma!)

I have seen (maybe? maybe I imagined this) a comparison between Azriel and Gwyn that he’s like... a teacher, and she’s the student, to explain why they are not an appropriate ship. The big problem with a teacher/student relationship is that the student in the scenario feels like they cannot say no. Your teacher is an authority, they are more mature, more knowledgeable, they have influence over whether you pass a class and get a good grade, they can tell your parents if you have been behaved or completing your work, etc. There are a lot of ways that a teacher can punish a student for not doing what they want. This is why those relationships are always frowned upon - it’s big dubcon territory, if not straight up noncon. 

However, again, Gwyn is participating in the Valkyrie training voluntarily. She lives at the library voluntarily. She is a priestess voluntarily. There is nothing that Azriel can do to Gwyn that would force her to comply with what he wants. Gwyn can tell Azriel to fuck off, to go choke, to eat dust, to go jerk off, and... nothing would happen. He would probably stop hanging around as much, but that’s... it. He has no actual power over her in the sense of being an authority figure or being in control of her life in any way.

Something that I almost put in that original post but didn’t because it was besides the point at the time, was that there are always power differences. People will always have differing levels of access to privilege and power. That does NOT mean that people can and must only ever be in relationships with people of similar levels or power/privilege. In that post I mentioned how feylin didn’t work out because Tamlin had so much access and Feyre had none - to compound this problem, he allowed her access to none. He did nothing to try to even the playing field, to educate or empower her. That’s what made it a problem. 

So do y’all think that Azriel would be like Beron? Someone willing to take the privilege he has and wield it over someone else like a cudgel? Or is he more like Rhys? Aware of his position and working to support - not manipulate - others? Because even if we were to accept the premise that there is a problematic power imbalance between Azriel and Gwyn, the only reason we should be uncomfortable with that is if we think that Azriel is the type of person who would exploit that imbalance. 

#azriel #gwyneth berdara #gwynriel #acosf #acotar #acotar meta #power #i hope this made sense #i still feel like i'm getting my thoughts about it in order #jfc this got longer than I intended

[spaceshipkat]

Your blog literally mostly consists of supernatural and good omen posts and a few memes here and there. To reduce it to just anti sjm is so ridiculous - especially knowing that you constantly give writing advice etc. Can y'all SJM stans please crawl back to your pro sjm tags and leave us the fuck alone. We've asked you guys multiple times, we created our own tags, we made whole FAQs explaining why we critique your kween-and yet you guys seem more interested in us then your kween's work. Fuck off

i mean, there has been a large surge of sj///m related stuff now that the book is out, but i try to space it out and reblog other shit. spn is on its hiatus rn, too, so there’s not really anything new there to reblog. beyond that, i’d say at least 80% of my asks (out of the 442 i have rn) are sj///m related in some way, and i tend to let my asks dictate the topic of the day. 

anyway, thank you for saying this! i tag everything carefully and literally checked the main cres///cent ci///ty tag to make sure my stuff wasn’t winding up there, and it wasn’t (it only shows up if you search CCity, but i don’t think stans use that tag, hence why i use it), so it seems that these stans are just searching for anti stuff bc they know we exist and they want to have their two minutes of fame by sending me another ask with another question i’ve answered a thousand times before them. i mention my FAQ twice on my /ask page, so it’s not like they aren’t aware i have it. i think they just don’t bother to check it. 

but it all centers on two things: 1) they take our very existence as an attack against them, when our anti community is one of the best in the entire tumblr world. looking at the anti destiel tags is enough to make you want to deactivate, and we’ve worked hard to make sure our anti community is warm and welcoming, even if we do get a little sarcastic at times. it can’t be helped with the material we’re critiquing. which brings me to 2) the fact they conflate “critique” and “hate” and therefore read everything we say, everything that critiques the books, as “hate” against sj///m personally, or against themselves. they center our existence on themselves, and therefore they don’t absorb much, if anything, of what we say, and therefore they’re always gonna be around. at this point, it’s almost amusing, though it can definitely be annoying (such as, again, when they completely ignore my FAQ). 

#ask #anonymous #anti sjm #stans being stans #when will my queue return from war

[aelinphobic]

sexuality in acowar

okay, i’m going to be a good person and not call everyone who enjoyed acowar a monster because unlike most stans i’ve talked to, sensationalism isn’t my thing and well, it’s just a very untrue statement.

however i’ve seen some comments made by cishet people or even other bi people like me that don’t sit well with me and it just feels wrong to applaud a cishet woman for writing such bad representation.

as many of you know, the character helion is a bisexual man (he is also black but it feels bad to insert myself in that conversation since i’m not black, but you should know why some things about helion are harmful when writing black dads). he is presented as this really sexually active fae that wants to have threesomes with EVERYONE he finds hot. despite mor, cassian and azriel’s declinations, helion insists on having sex with them.

bisexual people are seen as degenerate sex crazed people, all lgbt people are seen as predators, so helion doing that feels like shit. no bi person i know would insist on having sex with someone who already said no, because we don’t want to be seen as fucking predators (we’re not, in most cases and if there are bi predators, it’s not because they’re bi). a homophobic person reading that would see helion as disgusting. he’s also the only single high lord (i thnk) and he had an affair with a married woman. it just doesn’t feel right to have a cishet woman write this walking stereotype of a bi man and it certainly feels like shit that hardcore sjm fans are telling me i should be THANKFUL for this representation because “she’s trying”.

i’m not going to get into the whole mor thing because i have more to say about that, but i’m tired of how the fandom uses her supposed bisexuality as a tool to ship her with men. mor has no canon sexuality, but she has expressed no interest in men romantically, so it’s safe to assume she doesn’t want to be with them. even if mor were bisexual, she doesn’t want to be with men so stop using her “bisexuality” as an excuse to romantize her relationship with azriel. mor is a closeted woman not allowed to be herself and it was written in a very disrespectful and hurtful way for wlw. 

not to mention, there’s a scene in which mor sleeps with helion for something related to azriel. she forces herself to sleep with one of the few characters in the novel that could understand her, as he is a non straight person too, making the experience not pleasant. for me, finding a non straight person is always a relief, because i can be myself without fear of being rejected and i’m pretty sure it wasn’t mor’s case. i have more to say about this particular scene, but let’s just said it was bad.

anyway, i could go on and on about sexuality in maas’s books, but this post stops now. i know stans have the tendency to generalize when they talk about antis, but next time you praise sjm’s “amazing lgbt rep” because she’s “trying” remember she’s not the actual victim if the rep is bad. read what most people in the fandom or the anti fandom have to say. it’s okay if you’re bi and think helion was good rep, but don’t throw the rest of us under the bus for not liking it. oh and if you’re straight you’re definitely not the best person to say what’s homophobic and what isn’t.

the representation was clearly written by someone who has no idea what’s like to not be straight and therefore insenstive.

#acowar #morrigan acotar #acotar helion #sjm #anti sjm #anti acowar #helion's bisexuality #i'm sorry i ranted i was really mad #non anti tags too because even if it's an anti post it would be nice if you read it #oh and before you start talking shit i genuinely like helion as a character that's why i wish he was treated with more respect

[fucknoantisjm-blog]

Anti SJM as a ‘Fandom’

Anti SJM have explicitly stated that the anti sjm tag should not be posted in with by pro-SJM posts. Some have give the argument of ‘You have your fandom, let us have ours’. 

Let’s get one thing straight: the Anti SJM blogs, individuals, etc is not a ‘Fandom’. 

It’s a hate speech group.

Here’s Why:

Now let’s get one thing clear - hate speech as a loose term does not have to be a definitively bad things. By the MB Dictionary, it is defined as:

“speech expressing hatred of a particular group of people”

 So we can all agree that Anti SJM blogs fall into this category, as they constantly make posts calling SJM stans/fans brainless abusive nitwits. 

Hate speech can be perfectly valid if we’re talking about a group such as the Nazi party, who advocate for total violation of people’s rights, and do not consider their hate speech a problem. ‘Hate speech’ tends to be a term we use for fascists’ speech.

And no, I’m not calling the Anti SJM ‘movement’ Nazis. They would be ridiculous hyperbole. No minority/vulnerable group are being persecuted and oppressed here, unless it crosses over in the perspective of outsiders. Without this occurring, it’s basically just people mentally (or who knows, physically) wanking over a bunch of hate speech. So who cares?

The problem is when this penetrates outside of their group. People who like SJM are made to feel like total garbage just for liking something. Honestly, it’s strikingly similar to the way comic book nerds were treated before nerd culture became the zeitgeist. Except today, especially on tumblr, it’s much more fashionable to bully people behind the guise of ‘liberal/leftist activism’. 

Look at those Anti SJM warriors, fighting the good fight. Improving the world. Wanking. 

This is one of the key problems with the movement. 

It does not improve anything. It is far, far more toxic than the pro-SJM fandom, and because ‘hating’ and ‘advocating for peoples rights’ is so validated by tumblr culture, they feel like better people for it.

But they’re not advocating for people’s rights.

All Anti SJM posts do is vilify all aspects of the author, books, characters, and fans. It is purely hate. They are ‘anti’ a fucking book series. A book series which, on the scale of things, is actually pretty fucking low on the problematic scale. And don’t get me started on how they define what makes something problematic (oh my god! A character did one thing wrong! Was a dick for a whole scene! They can never be redeemed! Ever!)

Fandom is a place where people gather to share their love of something. This does NOT mean it has to be criticism free, but said criticism centres around the hope of improving the thing, learning from the thing, and finding ways to enjoy the thing despite it’s issues without ignoring them. Fandom has always been radical, projecting queer and female voices way more than mainstream media.

Anti SJM is a place people gather to share their hate of something. Which is fine.

It’s just stupid when it goes to extremes. Sure, bitch about a thing, we all do it. We all have things we get annoyed and angry and furious about. But over a book series? 

Anti SJM people need to find something better to do with their lives. I’m all for advocating for people’s rights and raising awareness of abuse, but THE ANTI SJM FANDOM / SJM FANDOM IS NOT THE PLACE TO DO IT. It has too narrow an audience stream, and besides, is a place where a lot of critique happens anyway within the fandom. 

If you want to help persecuted/oppressed/abused individuals or survivors, do something specifically for them. Find out how you can help them from THEIR perspective. They don’t owe you a how to guide, but look at their activism and what they wish they could see more of from other groups. 

Improve yourself before you try to improve the world.

The Anti SJM Group seems to think that just because they are critical and negative, they are somehow exempt from being toxic, from being responsible for their content, and that they are somehow doing ‘good work;. That they are morally better than others.

Spoiler alert: You’re not. You’re criticising a bunch of teenage girls (and adults too, but this is especially important regarding teenagers) with constant hateful language and extreme views whilst they are trying to learn about these issues, and unlearn the problematic views society teaches. It’s damaging, degrading, and worst of all

*whispers* problematic

#anti sjm #sjm #sarah j maas #antisjm #anti-sjm

[propshophannah]

Obviously everyone's fucking pissed about TOD because "SJM just keeps fucking up" but what are your thoughts? Personally, I quite liked it.

Yeah. I liked it. There where moments where I was like, “Who tf is on this editing team that should have caught that and been like you’ll get slaughtered for this?” But overall I thought it was a good book.

There was stuff in the beginning that was her trying to blend culture and it read like she picked and chose what it was she wanted from an existing culture and then slapped it onto a page, but by the end, for me at least, it came together. It was rough in the beginning though and there were moments when I had to remind myself that this was her trying to be better. And I’m honestly not sure where I draw the hard line on cultural appropriation. But again, by the end of the book it stopped reading like she was *trying* and it started to flow seamlessly. For me at least.

I enjoyed the slow burn of all the ships and I FUCKING LOVED Chaol’s arc. It was angsty enough and it fully explained what all the Chaol fans already knew about his character and his reasons for acting the way he did. But I was glad she fully explained stuff (even though at times I found myself wishing she’d have left it for the reader to gather/know from her hints). But I also get that he is a character she loves and she wanted to explain to all the haters—and people who just didn’t get his actions—his motivations for acting the way he did.

Hypermasculinity is her brand. I know that when I open a Maas book, that’s what I’m getting. So I can’t fault her for that. If that’s something that makes people mad, then that’s a problem with them. We can’t change other people, but we can change ourselves. If hypermasculinity is not something you can deal with, then stop reading her books. Change your own behaviors. Don’t try to change Maas. That’s like complaining to your kitchen table for being a table when you want it to be a chair. It was always a table, it’s not fair to ask to suddenly be a chair. That’s on you. Not the table. Lol.

There was some stuff that was repetitive and dragged on for me that I personally would have changed or edited out. But I ain’t judging. THose things included references to Chaol’s back muscles (LOL @rufousnmacska ), Yrene healing similar back injuries with the horse riding clans, and yeah by the end that last big “I broke my oath to Nesryn” thing was a tad annoying/over done to me. But I LOVED the angst. I was just over that particular aspect of it.

It was slow for me in the beginning. But once it got going I enjoyed it. I thought she did a good job with Chaol’s recovery. His actions and inner thoughts were very believable and realistic to me. And I liked how she used the darkness in his spine as a metaphor for the darkness in him. And I did like how she showed that him not loving himself or feeling good about himself or worthy of self love and respect was his biggest roadblock. That’s one of the things that makes him so relatable to me in this series. He’s a legit human and he doesn’t get all the fancyshmancy arcs and stuff that Aelin or Dorian get. He has always had to dig deep. And I liked that we got that through and through.

I LOVED NESRYN’S ARC. AND I SWEAR TO FUCKIN GOD IF I SEE ANOTHER IDIOT POSTING ABOUT HOW IT WAS “anti emigration or immigration” IM GONNA START THROWING SHIT. LOL. I already posted about how disgusting and toxic that shit is ESPECIALLY from people who can’t think outside their privilege.

I’m fucking excited for Kadara and Abraxos to meet! LIKE REALLLY EXCITED.

I SMELL A SPIN OFF WITH BORTE AND FALKAN AND YERAN (that probably includes Nesryn and Sartaq). AND IM HERE FOR ALL OF IT. (Just please for the love of god don’t let the last book turn into acowar. Let the original story go and end the way it was always planned!)

I’m more convinced now that Dorian and Manon are mates/connected. I’d add the Chaol and Yrene “thread” to my post listing the evidence for that. Lol.

The ending dragged on for me a bit. After Duva and Nestaq/Sarryn I was getting annoyed. But that’s just me. And also because it was a descent book, but it had a lot of filler. It could have been 100 pages shorter and been great. And part of that was that Maas spent more time describing things in this book and that’s not what I’m used to with her writing so it bugged me. I like her cuz she gets to the point quickly and then stuff starts rolling. This was paced a LOT slower. So sometimes I was hooked and other times my A.D.D. had me like “You can skim this. JUST SKIM IT!” So I had to just put it down and walk away so that I wouldn’t skim it. LOL.

I SCREAMED WHEN CHAOL FOUND OUT ABOUT THE WITCHES COMING TO HELP DORIAN AND THEM! I MEAN SCREAMED! That’s honestly ALL I WANTED from this book. ALL. And when Nes was like no it was definitely the thirteen I was like HELL YES IT WAS!

My mind is honestly ALIVE with thoughts of any other covens that may have heard about that battle and chosen to defect and follow Manon. I feel like I would expect that from Petrah, but also Manon was ALWAYS nice to the other Blackbeak covens. She gave them chances to prove themselves and helped them to fight. So I wonder if any of them said “fuck the Matron, we fly for Manon,” and tried to escape Morath to find the Thirteen to join up?! 💀💔🗑

Pretty sure Yrene is Crochan. Pretty excited she’s mixed race too.

I’m a Hasar fan. I was a bit skeptical at first. There were some iffy/cringe worthy moments for me, but by the end I felt like Maas did a good job showing the nuance and not exploiting her.

Um. Um. Um. I think that’s it for right now. Im sure I have other thoughts on it overall. But these are the thoughts I can remember!

#tod spoilers