#feyre archeron critical

[ennawrite]

Tamlin: *is personally targeted by Amarantha to be her lover, denies her advances & gets cursed, spends the next 50 years sending his sentries out to ultimately die (something he feels extreme guilt for and tries to stop), actively takes in refugees from other courts, spends a majority of his time hunting down Amarantha’s monsters from his lands so they can’t harm his people, gets a human woman to fall in love with him but sends her away so she won’t be in danger, goes UTM, basically becomes Amarantha’s lap dog, somehow holds all of his emotions back because ANY sign of ANY emotion would get Feyre killed (did I mention how down-bad Amarantha is for Tamlin? Yeah.)(Also, Rhysand somehow finds it suitable to parade Feyre around like his own personal whore because…he wanted to rile Tamlin up? Which would have lead to Feyre’s death…🤔), ends up killing Amarantha*

Rhys:

jesus man, I know you hate him but give roses where roses are due. Tamlin did A LOT, but I guess doing Amarantha’s personal tasks (like killing children) is the only thing that holds any merit to the High Lord of the Night Court 🫤

#acotar #acotar critical #rhysand critical #anti rhysand #pro tamlin healing arc #pro tamlin #tamlin #rhysand #feyre archeron critical #feyre archeron #feysand critical #critical sjm #when history rewrites itself #pro lucien vanserra #acomaf #acomaf critical

[spacerockfloater]

The way people switched on Tamlin the moment Rhys was introduced is diabolical.

“Tamlin never really loved Feyre, it was all a trick from the start”: It is stated that Tamlin was disgusted by the idea of forcing someone to fall in love with him and considered it slavery, but ended up being so in love with her that he ultimately lets her go and choses her freedom and safety over that of his own people. Rhys confirms that Tamlin loved Feyre too much. And he loved her truly. Not because he had to. Tamlin treated Feyre with dignity when she was engaged to him. He introduced her as his lady, to be respected and cherished by all. And she really was loved his people, too. Rhysand uses her as his lap dog to scare Hewn City and parades her as his whore.

“Tamlin never did anything for Feyre, he just used her”: He improved her and her family’s life in every aspect and offered her everything he had.

“Tamlin had sex with someone else in Calanmai”: Out of duty and responsibility because he didn’t want to force Feyre, who still wasn’t sure about her feelings, into it. All of the High Lords perform the Calanmai. Lucien says so. How convenient that this is never brought up with Rhysand. He surely does perform it as well. All the theories in here, “Lucien doesn’t know what he’s talking about/ This is a SC ritual only/ He probably just passes the duty on to someone else” are just a way for people to villainise Tam and glorify Rhys again. All of them inaccurate. The Calanmai is canonically performed by every High Lord. There’s no evidence that proves otherwise. As the son of one High Lord and the ambassador of another, Lucien would know. He is 500 years old. It’s just more convenient for SJM to never bring this up again because it raises the question of “Who was Rhysand fucking all these years?” and it makes her favourite character look bad. And once he is engaged to her, Tamlin flat out refuses to do it. Let’s be real for a second.

“Tamlin didn’t help Feyre under the mountain”: He literally could not. He was bound by a curse. He was forced to be Amarantha’s consort and a consort cannot oppose you. His powers were bound. Alis warns Feyre that Tamlin will not be able to help her. Stop acting as if he didn’t want to help her. He decapitated Amarantha the moment he got his autonomy back. Claiming that there’s no proof that Tamlin was under the influence of a spell when he literally didn’t break the curse and Amarantha’s magic didn’t allow him to use his powers is crazy. And even if he tried, he could never provide actual help. We see this when he begs Amarantha for Feyre’s life. Him showing he cares about her would only make Amarantha more jealous and vicious towards Feyre.

“Tamlin made out with Feyre instead of helping her”: He couldn’t help her run away. No one could do that. She would never make it, Amarantha would find her. In fact, Tamlin specifically could not help her in any way. He could only assure her he still wants and loves her. And she wanted that just as much. Rhys abused her physically, mentally, verbally, drugged her and much worse. And he enjoyed all of it. If he didn’t want to raise suspicions, he wouldn’t have placed a bet in her favour. Rhys is a masochist, SJM just decided to mellow him down in the next book so that we’d all like him over Tamlin.

“Tamlin ignored Feyre’s wishes and only wanted her to be his bride, he didn’t let her be High Lady”: Both Tamlin and Feyre were bad communicators going though trauma and Tam had a whole court to care for. Tamlin was unaware of how Feyre felt because she barely spoke up once. Rhys knew because he literally lived inside her head and had all the time in the world to focus his attention on her since his court suffered zero consequences during Amarantha’s reign. And Tamlin simply told her the truth: there’s no such thing as High Lady. Even her current title is given to her by Rhys, the magic of Prythian has not actually chosen her to be High Lady. The title and its power are decorative. And she said she didn’t want that anyway.

“Tamlin locks Feyre up and uses his magic to harm her”: He locks her in his humongous palace to keep her safe, after she just came back from the dead and his worst enemy is kidnapping her every month, while he runs off to protect his borders. Rhysand lock Feyre in a fucking bubble. Tamlin loses control of his magic. He doesn’t want to harm her. That’s not abuse. Abuse is intentional. Feyre and Rhysand lock Lucien and Nesta up. They lock the people of the Hewn City up in a cave. Feyre loses control of her magic and harms Lucien’s mother. Double standards I guess.

“Tamlin is a bad and conservative ruler”: Tamlin is such a beloved ruler that his sentries literally begged to die for him. Feyre had to fuck with their minds to finally turn them against him. They were his friends. He was so progressive that the lords fled his court once he became their ruler because he wouldn’t put up with their bullshit like his father did. He loved all of his people. He is against slavery. The Tithe was just tax collection. Rhysand practically rules over just one city, while ignoring Hewn City and Illyria. He treats 2/3 of his realm like shit and everyone except the residents of Velaris hates him. He collects tax, too, but we conveniently never see this. He ranks the members of his inner circle (my 1st, my 2nd etc.) and reminds them every moment that they are his slaves first and anything else second, while Tamlin treats them equally and even gives Lucien an official title by naming him Ambassador.

“Tamlin conspired with Hybern”: He was a double agent and his short lived alliance, two weeks all in all, not only didn’t harm a single soul, but ultimately saved all of Prythian as he was the only one who brought valuable information to that meeting. He dragged Beron to battle. Rhysand’s alliance with Amarantha harmed thousands and only helped save one city, Velaris.

“Tamlin is responsible for turning Nesta and Elain into Fae”: No, that was Ianthe, who got the info from Feyre. Tamlin was fooled by her, just as Feyre obviously was, or she wouldn’t have trusted her. Tamlin was disgusted by that act.

“Tamlin is less powerful than Rhysand”: Rhysand himself says that a battle between them would turn mountains to dust. Tamlin killed Rhysand’s dad, the previous High Lord of the Night Court, in one blow. He is just as powerful as Rhysand. SJM again just wants us to believe otherwise. And he is smarter, too. He was the only one not to trust Amarantha. And he was a good spy for Prythian against Hybern.

All of these takes are cold as fuck. SJM was testing the waters with ACOTAR and she made sure the main love interest, Tamlin, was insanely likeable, so that the book could be a satisfactory standalone story in case she couldn’t land a trilogy deal. She didn’t know it would be such a big hit. But once she realised she could turn this into a franchise, she had to figure out a new story to tell. She may claim otherwise, but there’s just too many plothotes to convince me. And in order to make her new main love interest seem like the best choice, she had to character assassinate the old one. There was no other way. ACOTAR Rhys was too much of an evil monster to be loved by the majority of the audience. But Tamlin was introduced to us as such a heroic and passionate man that is literally impossible to turn him into someone despised by all. Feyre’s relationship with Rhysand reads too much like cheating on Tamlin. That’s why anyone with basic analytical skills is able to realise the flaws of the narration.

#acotar critical #acotar #acomaf #acowar #acosf #acofas #anti sjm #sjm critical #tamlin #tamlin week #pro tamlin #he deserves the world #tamlin my beloved #anti amren #anti rhysand #anti morrigan #anti ic #anti inner circle #anti feyre archeron #anti feyre #anti feysand #anti night court #pro spring court #anti cassian #pro lucien vanserra

[lorcandidlucienwill]

The most disturbing things portrayed in ACOTAR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#lucien vanserra #pro lucien vanserra #pro nesta archeron #nesta archeron #tamlin #feyre archeron #anti rhysand #anti feysand #anti nessian #anti inner circle #anti ic #anti e/riel #sjm critical #pro tamlin

[whitedemon-ladydeath]

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

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

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

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

#a court of thorns and roses #acotar #sjm critical #nesta archeron #anti feyre archeron

[littlefeltsparrow]

Schrödinger’s Feyre: Where Feyre is simultaneously a cunning and badass girlboss with a mind of steel and a fragile little lamb who doesn’t know any better. When they’re proud, she’s a skilled strategist and competent High Lady, but when it comes to facing the consequences of her actions and the implications of her power, suddenly she’s a little baby waddling through fairy land.

#And the perfect case study? just look at the indecisiveness of her stans when it comes to her culpability in the downfall of the Spring Cou #In one camp Feyre is an excellent and clever strategist who expertly infiltrated enemy territory to destroy those who wronged her #She exacts righteous revenge on her enemy with her wits…but when Tamlin points out the collateral damage wrought upon the innocent civilian #of the Spring Court suddenly it wasn’t Feyre’s fault at all and it was ACTUALLY entirely Tamlin’s fault that the Spring Court fell #Suddenly Feyre had nothing to do with it…how convenient lol #sjm critical #anti sjm #anti inner circle #feyre archeron #anti feyre #acotar #acomaf #acowar #anti feysand #anti acosf #anti rhysand #tamlin #pro tamlin

[bunnyshideawayy]

always insane to me how everyone is jumping to blame Nesta for her families poverty instead of their father?????? this happens the entire series and then when Papa Archeron shows up last minute for the finale battle everyone is just like “🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹” expect* for Nesta who can only remember how he actually never really cared for her and how she is the one who holds his mantel for not doing anything/providing for them. its okay though he gets a pass bc his knee! its shattered, expect it was miraculously healing before his sudden death! but that’s okay Nesta suffers and becomes violently depressed/traumatized by his death in which no one helps her progress through! it takes Cassian the entire book to finally realize the fire sounds like a snapping neck and that’s why she flinches around it. but he sure noticed her huge boobs on her sickly thin body!! absolute himbo frat boy chad of a man. guys on a serious note when are we going to stop holding Nesta accountable for their father’s actions? im getting sick of having this discussion. 

also i find it hilarious Cassian sticks up for Feyre here when he literally does not care about her, if he did he would’ve done the same when Rhys told him to keep the wings secret. just like if he truly cared about Nesta he’d stick up for her, too. instead he insults her and sets himself up to look like a fool all in one go.

#acotar #nesta archeron #acosf #nesta acotar #feyre acotar #feyre archeron #nesta acosf #elain archeron #sjm books #sjm multiverse #cassian #nesta x cassian #cassian acotar #nesta stan #nesta supremacy #pro nesta #nesta deserves better #nessian #a court of silver flames #high lady feyre #sjm universe #sjm fandom #cassian critical #the ic critical #lady death

[yaralulu]

nothing pisses me off more than this moment in acowar when feyre recalls a conversation in which tamlin told lucien to back off bc he was jealous of his relationship with feyre.

🚨❌‼️not what happened🚨❌‼️.feyre might have selective memory but i don’t ! tamlin told lucien to back off bc he kept urging him to basically seduce and manipulate feyre .tamlin ,despite the predicament they were in ,could not stomach the idea of using feyre,would not let himself be anything like his father.yet feyres over here acting like he was telling lucien to stop flirting with her.girl 😭??

“it would threaten every plan he had” why are we making him sound like a criminal mastermind ?? he was trying to break the curse ,to save himself and his court and he was clearly not over the moon about it 🗣️.

i like to believe sjm did this on purpose ,to show just how blinded with revenge feyre was that she was misremembering things about tamlin,completely vilifying him in her head but i doubt it lol.

#acotar #a court of thorns and roses #feyre archeron #tamlin acotar #acowar #a court of wings and ruin #lucien vanserra #sjm critical #pro tamlin #pro lucien vanserra #i can’t stop yapping about tamlin

[achaotichuman]

ACOTAR Rant

The way that Rhysand's actions could be so easily justified if SJM has just written down that Amarantha was tormenting Feyre in the dungeon. Like, then Rhys does need to get her out. If SJM had written Amarantha being jealous of Rhys, then Rhys needs some way to get Feyre out without looking suspicious. If she had written AMARANTHA being the one to suggest the clothing or telling Rhys to get Feyre to 'put on a show' THEN Rhysand has no fault because it wasn't his choice either.

But SJM didn't, this was the first book, the book where Tamlin and Feyre were set up to be endgame and it is so, so fucking obvious, because even Rhysand's reasoning later doesn't really at all justify what he did.

Amarantha didn't give two flying fucks about Feyre, just dumped her in a cell and made her do chores, she forgot Feyre was even there and was like wtf when Rhysand OUT OF HIS OWN CHOICE drugged and assaulted Feyre.

It is so obvious that Feysand wasn't planned to be endgame at this point, that SJM and her editors didn't properly look at these things. It would not affect the budding relationship of Feysand, it would actually bring them a little closer together.

If Amarantha had been utilized as the villain in a more thorough way, Rhysand would be relatively blameless, but as it is, he is the instigator, and the one who abused Feyre in horrific ways that permanently traumatized her.

#acotar #anti rhysand #anti feysand #pro feylin #feysand #feylin #rhysand #feyre archeron #feyre archeron deserves better #critical sjm

[kataraavatara]

last thing about acotar I promise. but I really can’t get over silver flames because who tf sent feyre to the cersei lannister school of becoming your abuser. forcibly locking up a woman because you don’t know how to deal with her trauma responses. hmmmm sounds familiar feyre. who’s playbook did that one come from i wonder.

#feyre critical #pro nesta archeron #acosf #nesta archeron #anti acosf #a court of silver flames #anti rhysand #frankly tamlin is owed an apology #because literally everything tamlin got hated for the ic did

[washmchineheart]

things about the intervention talk in acosf that pissed me off (no particular order):

amren lying about the laws so nesta feels that she has no choice but to leave to HoW

feyre getting offended that nesta doesn’t want to live with them when 1) her mate hates nesta 2) she doesn’t even have paintings of her but does of their negligent father

feyre telling nesta she will tie her up and drag her to HoW and not even thinking about how that is exactly what happened to her the night nesta was made

rhysand just fucking destroying her building like she’s the only one that lives there (she’s not) and feyre acting like it was such a good act because it was for the “refugees from the war” (they wouldn’t care that much otherwise)

and just that the whole thing was more about feyre and saving her feelings so she doesn’t feel like she failed her sister than…nesta. the girl that actually needed help

#pro nesta archeron #nesta archeron #acotar #anti inner circle #anti rhysand #anti amren #I don’t want tag this anti feyre because I like her but it kinda is #acotar critical

[novaricewrites]

If Magic Chooses-

So we know the magic in Prythian ties the land, Courts, and the High Lords and can be vaguely sentient (as with the Cauldron).

It's unclear how it chooses the High Lords but the magic seems to be deliberate and adheres faithfully to whoever it chooses. Even Amarantha couldn't fully access it despite all that she did - she could only prevent the Lords from using it against her.

So imagine if this was explored.

E.g: The time when Feyre and the IC stole the Book of Breathings from the Summer Court as guests - literally committing a crime worthy of a magical death sentence. This then left the Summer Court open to Hybern's invasion, further enabled by what Feyre did in the Spring Court.

This didn't just harm the High Lords. It harmed the Courts in a major way. The very land and the people living in there were devastated by it. And it must have caused mass turmoil that even the magic sensed.

So imagine because of this intricate connection to the land, the people and the High Lords - it caused Feyre's bond to the Spring and Summer magic to become hard to control or even the magic rejecting her.

The kernels of magic are technically still the High Lords'. They're not Feyre's magic but were gifted like handing her a scale off their essence. And it would make sense if the magic reacted to the state of the High Lords (and deeper the courts themselves) if they experienced deep, visceral emotions & damage thanks to Feyre.

Magic being fickle about who wields it would sort of suit the capriciousness of Faeries. It would also require Feyre to use her wits and sense to navigate situations instead of resorting to the Feysand tactics of Lie, Steal and Justify.

It would give actual consequences and gravity to her actions, and add depth to why her being a Made Fae is a big deal. She is now attached via these kernels of magic to the land in a way that she can't run from. Just as High Lords (even those reluctant like Tamlin are).

Just the plot potential and character development. And the internal conflict over actions that we never got.

#acotar #acotar analysis #sjm critical #anti sjm #anti feyre archeron #but not really cause I wanted to like her in the beginning #anti rhysand #he still and always sucked though #anti inner circle #anti ic #anti amren #we were robbed #a court of thorns and roses #feyre critical #pro tarquin #summer court #spring court #pro spring court #tamlin

[ennawrite]

What would’ve been a real serve is if the land/Mother/whoever tf decides who becomes High Lord would have actually made Feyre High Lady.

Because right now, it’s nothing but a name. There’s nothing to back it up besides Rhys saying so. But if she was actually chosen, then even Rhys himself wouldn’t be able to question it. I also don’t think Rhys giving her that title makes him a feminist king. It feels more like a manipulative tool than anything but I digress.

Idk I just don’t care very much for the ultimate girl boss move when a man had to give her that title. And in reality…her status doesn’t particularly stand on any solid ground. The High Lords aren’t High Lords because they just decided to be. It all depends on who the power goes to. Even Feyre’s magic wasn’t given to her by some higher power (although I do think she deserves to have those powers since she saved them…but that doesn’t make her High Lady material).

Vivianne led the Winter Court for fifty years, and still wasn’t made High Lady…because the power didn’t go to her. She wasn’t chosen. That’s likeeee kinda the whole point of having High Lords. It’s not something that’s voted on or given to them, it’s chosen for them. By something much larger than any of them.

I feel like we often see that Feyre and Rhysand are not on equal ground. No matter what Feyre says, Rhysand’s vote will always trump her own. The Inner Circle will always choose Rhysand over her. They are not equals, in any way. And I am tired of being gaslit into believing so.

ALSO, I don’t think Tamlin being blunt and saying “There are no High Ladies” is sexist. He spoke facts and I refuse to be mad at him for not dangling a fake title in front of Feyre’s face that truly doesn’t mean much of anything when you actually think about it for more than five seconds.

#acotar #acotar critical #the high lords of prythian #rhysand critical #anti rhysand #feyre archeron critical #sjm critical #critical sjm #pro get feyre away

[spacerockfloater]

“Rhysand is the most powerful High Lord” this and “Rhysand is the strongest fae” that, but are we just gonna forget that Tamlin, within 30 seconds of becoming Spring Court’s High Lord, was able to fucking annihilate Rhysand’s father, who had been Night Court’s High Lord for fuck-knows-how-long and was able to kill all of Tamlin’s brothers and father?

Like, aren’t strength, valour and power Tamlin’s thing? Why did we have to take away all of these qualities from him and give them to Rhysand?

It just seems so… odd, to me at least, that Tamlin had to be nerfed in order for the reader to be convinced that Rhysand is superior in every way and therefore the better choice between them.

#acotar #pro tamlin #anti rhysand #anti feysand #anti feyre archeron #acotar critical #acomaf #acowar #acofas #acosf #sjm critical #tamlin

[lorcandidlucienwill]

I am absolutely certain that had Feyre played her cards right, she would've been worshipped as a goddess in Prythian. Think about it: this seemingly ordinary human girl with no power whatsoever walks right into the den of the faerie who has tormented Prythian for decades and by some miracle, she frees them all. They all see her die. They hear her neck snap. And by another miracle, she is brought back to life, even more beautiful than before. No doubt there were people who believed she was an reincarnation of the Goddess herself. Not to mention that Feyre and Tamlin's story is a retelling of Eros-Psyche, and Psyche does become the goddess of the human soul. She's Feyre Cursebreaker, savior of Prythian. Her wedding to a High Lord would have been presided over by the Head Priestess of Prythian. She could've had temples in her name. They might have even made her High Queen had she willed it. She might not have been as powerful magic-wise as the High Lords, but politically? For a brief time, she was the most powerful person in all of Prythian. Had Ianthe been her position, she would be High Queen of Prythian right now. But instead SJM focused on her magical abilities, claiming that despite having only one drop of each High Lord's magic, she is just as powerful as them. She doesn't understand that a woman learning to survive in a world full of men far more powerful than her is not anti-feminist, it's compelling. Example: Jude Duarte. If Feyre had had half a brain, she would've used her political influence to create equality between the High Fae, lesser faeries, and humans. But instead, her political influence was overlooked in favor of tHe MoSt PoWeRfUl HiGh LoRd To EvEr LiVe. Now that is absolutely NOT feminism: a woman's story being overshadowed by a toxic man.

#feyre archeron #pro feyre archeron #anti feysand #anti rhysand #sjm critical

[whitedemon-ladydeath]

remember when Tamlin set the sisters up financially so they could find stability after Feyre was taken without prompting or asking but then Rhys promises to keep the sisters safe after he and Feyre ask for their help, Feyre who had also said she'd make them help if she had to, and then he failed to keep that promise and it led to them being murdered bec I do

#nesta archeron #acotar #a court of thorns and roses #sjm critical #anti rhysand #elain archeron #tamlin #feyre critical #not really ANTI but alas

[littlefeltsparrow]

There’s a problem with the way Sarah J Maas depicts physical abuse/intimidation in ACOTAR

The fact that Tamlin’s physical abuse of Feyre being communicated through a magical/emotional outburst is problematic in the sense that it undercuts the reason why abuse happens. Incorporating magical concepts into a portrayal of domestic violence muddles the issue at hand and makes the abuse an accidental consequence of involuntary magical impulses as opposed to a deliberate tactic of intimidation and control. This issue is exacerbated by the fact that Feyre too, experiences an uncontrollable magical/emotional outburst during the High Lords meeting due to Beron’s provocative remarks. To be clear, I don’t view Tamlin as detestable or as an irredeemable abuser, but the text very much does. What I want to comment on is the problematic framing of Tamlin’s actions that are meant to characterize him as an abusive partner to Feyre.

So, I’m going to compare and contrast a scene from ACOMAF with a scene from ACOWAR, both of which depict magical outbursts that are brought on by intense emotional stress or rage.

ACOMAF

Here, Feyre objects to Tamlin’s protective measures he had enacted earlier. She expresses how suffocated she feels and how she wishes that she had the breathing room to cope with her new reality and that Tamlin’s actions are making her suffer. Furthermore, Feyre introduces her doubt in their engagement and expresses her reservations. Tamlin then goes blank, reacting explosively with his power blowing the room into splinters.

This is a good first step towards characterizing Tamlin as an abusive partner (despite the leaps it took to get there) But, where it goes wrong is the emphasis the text puts on Tamlin's blank expression and subsequent magical response. He loses control momentarily, but the issue about this portrayal is that abuse is not "losing control" or accidental, it is a conscious decision made by the abuser. But here, Maas makes it seem as though Tamlin really was not in control, that the heightened emotions made him react that way.

It gives Tamlin an out and consequently undercuts the message Maas is trying to communicate. Bringing magic into the scene takes away Tamlin's agency and removes a portion of his culpability in harming Feyre.

This scene should not have been Tamlin simply losing control of his temper, if Maas wanted to enhance her abuse narrative, she should have taken Tamlin’s temper and had him weaponize it. Intimidation is a possibility, one that would work towards making Feyre feel scared about voicing ver true feelings on their relationship. But Maas doesn’t go all the way, she doesn’t lean into that interpretation and instead plays it straight.

This is also undercut by Tamlin's second magical outburst in ACOWAR. Feyre intentionally provoking him does nothing for Maas's abuse narrative and actively undermines it by strengthening the idea that Tamlin's destructive outbursts really were caused by overwhelming emotions. Once again, it gives Tamlin a way out and dilutes the message.

The notion of an involuntary magical outburst is applied again in ACOWAR

Beron’s inflammatory remarks provoke an immediate reaction from Feyre, she goes blank so to speak, and can no longer focus due to the intensity of her emotions. This manifests in a fiery outburst that throws the meeting into disarray and injures the Lady of Autumn accidentally.

She’s so angry that she can’t think straight or logically, and it manifests in an attack. Though this isn't exactly the same, Feyre's "blinding fury" is so powerful that it cannot be restrained and ends up harming an innocent party. This moment strengthens the case for magic manifesting strong emotions as external attacks, characterizing it to some extent as involuntary.

Ultimately, the magical element removes the agency of the individuals in question. It frames their violence not as a conscious act designed to inspire fear, but as a genuinely accidental reaction to intense emotions. This is why the "Tamlin is an evil abuser" narrative is so weak. Because it dilutes the severity of the violence and makes it seem as though these kinds of emotional outbursts are an element of possessing magical powers. It gestures at a larger issue of Maas picking and choosing when and where she wants to apply real-world standards to her characters' morality. It makes events less believable and hypocritical, making allowances for certain characters, but condemning others without adequate narrative set-up.

This is why Maas is fundamentally incapable of recognizing the abusive dynamic she constructs with Feysand. It is a combination of double standards, authorial bias and a misunderstanding of how abuse manifests.

#sjm critical #Even when Maas hates a male character and bashes him constantly she still offers him a shred of plausible deniability due to the magic syst #I just think that Maas does a terrible job of writing a coherent abuse narrative #Acowar #acomaf #acotar #anti sjm #acomaf critical #tamlin #feyre archeron #anti rhysand #anti inner circle #acotar meta #acotar critical #anti sarah j maas #not a Tamlin hater