#sjm critical

[whitedemon-ladydeath]

Mor + Feyre: we were locked up,,, we has to suffer under the patriarchy. we couldn't be free and it's traumatized us

Mor + Feyre, inconvenienced: we should take away Nestas home and force her to live with a man she's verbally expressed to want nowhere near her

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

[olenvasynyt]

In ACOWAR during the meeting with Kier when he asks for his people to be free of the mountain, Feyre says “You have every comfort, and it’s still not enough?”

She had every comfort at Tamlin’s manor, and it still wasn’t enough for her…

#freethecourtofnightmares2024

One thing that really pisses me off about the Court of Nightmares is how SJM writes it so black and white. The entire court, not just Keir, is evil and conniving. There was a part in ACOWAR where he says he is going to let the CoN go to Velaris but he told all of the vendors and business owners to refuse service to not just Keir, but all of the CoN. And this paints the entire court in this black and white lense.

Not a single person in that court is a dreamer like Mor? She was the only fucking one?

I think there can be a little bit of nuance to the situation where a significant portion of the court is just bad because they have been festering in the dark for so long, but guess who's fault is that?? It's the leader's fault, the one who keeps the court up and running, aka the High Lord, aka Rhys.

Rhys says he wants change. That he wants to show the world that he's good. But he continues to keep the Court of Nightmares up and running, he keeps Keir as herald.

"Oh this court is so awful and sadistic," Feyre thinks as she sits on the throne with a crown on her head and with Rhys holding her hand.

And Rhys says "the Court of Nightmares just rules itself" and sure, I guess that's true, but as High Lord, you have the ability to put a stop to that and pull out the bad weeds. But instead, you keep it running to further your agenda and to keep your evil mask on.

Getting mad at Keir for slutshaming your lover and breaking his arm is not enough. Restricting access to Velaris is not enough. Even telling the Court "you guys are bad >:C " is not fucking enough.

Rhys the most powerful High Lord who killed all of the Illyrian war bands who sided with Amarantha after UTM, yet he can't do the same to the CoN?

Rhys and Feyre and the IC label the entire CoN as evil without trying to find the forgotten dreamers, and they continue to keep the court up and running and making the excuse that "it's too hard" despite their power and influence. It means they don't care. Or that Rhys maybe fucking enjoys it.

It also means that SJM (so far) has no idea what she's doing and can't understand the situation she wrote in her own series.

And this brings me to comparing Nesta being locked up, the CoN and its dreamers being locked up, and Feyre being locked up. Is SJM intending this irony and hypocrisy of the IC? I sure hope so because I swear it's the most obvious comparision ever, but it confuses me because a large majority of the ACOTAR fanbase doesn't get it. "Oh well the CoN is evil! They have to keep them contained and Rhys can't do a whole lot as High Lord because the Court rules itself." And the most frustrating argument: "Nesta was addicted to sex and alcohol, she needed to be rehabilitated! It's for her own good!"

They don't see the irony of how the IC treats Nesta because Tamlin also did what he did for Feyre's own good. It was to protect her, keep her safe. Not saying it was 100% good and right, but why are we not understanding that what the IC did to Nesta was not 100% good and right either?

#anti inner circle #anti rhysand #sjm critical #anti ic #anti sjm #please stop treating the IC as if they're saints #pro nesta #pro tamlin

[reblogandlikes]

A lot of things in ACOSF makes me angry.

The 'intervention'.

The forced training.

The entire baby plot.

Cassian stripping her of drinking (though she never experience withdrawals), sugar, music and general curtesy of leaving her alone, but somehow having sex with a woman at the beginning of the book everyone was mad at because she was having a lot of sex with other men is now fine?

The threat on her life for speaking the truth.

That dumb hike.

But Nesta getting on her KNEES to APOLOGISE to AMREN?!?!?!?!

Babe, get the fuck up.

#anti acotar #anti acosf #anti nessian #pro nesta #anti ic #sjm critical #this man didnt tell her he loved her once #this male is Rhysand’s second mate #anti cassian #nessian had potential #anti feysand

[wingsdippedingold]

Please remember SJM is a terrible writer

and that's why there's huge divides about characters and plots. It's not that we all interpret things differently, its that she didn't think that far ahead - or behind since she regularly retcons, SOMETIMES WITHIN THE SAME BOOK

She has old posts about romance stuff but that's it. The actual plot is secondary to her fantasy couples. Ofc its a romantacy so it'll focus on that, but you still need to have the basic skills of writing down, which she very clearly does not (despite it being 12 years since your first published book, seriously wtf are you doing??)

She's good at storytelling, she made cool characters and a cool setting, but she cannot write them

I love discussing characters, but with hers it's useless half the time because she cannot write consistent characters nor a cohesive narrative. She regularly changes character traits on the fly, and bends the narrative to serve her favs.

If you find yourself pulling your hair out, just know, so are her editors (whom she does not take feedback from, so really why are they there) 👍

Conclusion: ACOTAR (and her other books) weren't written to be books, they're just shared pieces of her personal fantasy and diaries, which would be fine if she didn't perpetuate terrible stereotypes and harmful relationships. - i also touch on the books being her personal self-inserts here but it's more jokey

It was clearly not meant to be a series, but with the success she made with the first, an edited (albeit very slightly) version of an old draft, she made more hence the latters being very disjointed.

I'd like to end with another reminder that SJM is a bad person, please do not support her upcoming books, if you really want to read them they'll be uploaded to some website after like 2 weeks anyway

#anti sjm #anti rhysand on everything i hate that bitch #anti acotar #sjm critical #anti sarah j maas #anti rhysand

[yaralulu]

@lorcandidlucienwill I cannot stop thinking about your tamlin post of him possibly abdicating his throne so I wanna share my two cents on this.

While you’re probably gonna end up being right, I really do hope you’re wrong lol.The main thing I wanna see with tamlin is him healing and tamlin abdicating his throne and “quitting” just feels like he’s giving up on his people,his court and himself and nothing about that screams healing to me.I think tamlin is deeply connected to his people and his lands and a big part of his healing journey should be him embracing and making peace with his high lord position—as well as regaining the trust of his people and rebuilding the spring court.Tamlin has shown that he cherishes his people deeply and everything he does is for them and I don’t believe he’d abandon them so easily.He is a good high lord,he just needs to accept his place and find some peace and enjoyment in it.I believe tamlin healing is deeply connected to the spring court healing and vice versa.One won’t happen without the other.

Right now tamlin’s too deep in his own shit to see what’s really going on around him so I think it’s a lot more complicated than “he has no interest in ruling over spring anymore”.He doesn’t want to be alive anymore and him living in his beast form is basically his way of fulfilling that without completely fucking up the spring court and leaving his people with nothing.Once he’s out of this depressive episode(because really that’s what it is)the one thing that’ll keep him going will be his court and the effort of trying to be better for them after failing them so terribly.Tamlin healing through the SC and the SC healing through tamlin is what I wanna see happen and it would be much more fulfilling than him giving up and handing his court to someone else —or worse him dying.

And as much as I love lucien and I know that he would make a great high lord,I don’t believe spring would flourish under the rule of some guy whose half autumn half day.They need tamlin— someone who has spring literally running through his veins and blood, someone who is connected to the very lands and core of the spring court.Tamlin has lived in the forests and has dug his hands through the literal ground of his lands.He IS the spring court.

Now do I think SJM will do tamlin’s story justice? Absolutely not but a girl can dream 😁!!

#“I wanna share my two cents on this” I just wrote 3 full paragraphs #i am curious on what fellow tamlin stans wish for tamlin #let me know 🙏 #ultimately i just want him to be happy #and i just happen to hope that doesn’t involve him giving up #acotar #a court of thorns and roses #a court of silver flames #acosf #tamlin acotar #pro tamlin #spring court #high lord tamlin #anti sjm #sjm critical

[lorcandidlucienwill]

Look look, we all have our theories, but tbh SJM could pull another ACOMAF and retcon everything so nobody really knows shit😭

#i am pretty confident but i’m never 100% sure #bc this bitch can always do a u turn #sjm critical #same reason why i haven’t totally ruled out elriel

[thedickgraysons]

i made a post that briefly dipped into the "amarantha was tamlin's mate" theory not long ago, and now that i've seen a handful of posts about it, i like repeating myself, and yelling into the sky while shaking my fist is my favorite hobby, i feel legally obligated to touch on it again (even though no one wants me to).

in my original post i said something about how the theory reeks of victim blaming, and honestly? i stand by it.

people often bring up this theory when talking about tamlin's behavior post-utm. they use it to explain why he was so volatile and why his mental health declined once he killed her and left the mountain or to talk about why amarantha would pursue tamlin at all. its a theory that, at its core, pins amarantha's actions entirely on tamlin.

amarantha was his mate, and the rejection of the bond caused her to snap; amarantha was his mate, so of course he went mad once she was dead; amarantha was his mate, which was why she tore apart prythian for him.

what amarantha was, is full grown. she was a power hungry general who was established in her field. she was mad, obsessive, and the object of her desire was a child who she met through his father.

it is a theory that takes away from tamlin's story, from the impact of the decades of mental abuse and psychological warfare that he underwent by amarantha's hand, and writes it all off as a consequence for him not accepting his abuser's harassment and advances. it makes him responsible for amarantha's wrongdoings, blaming him for her actions because, in the end, tamlin just wasn't a good victim. tamlin didn't square his shoulders and accept the bond to quell her.

#sjm critical #acotar critical #amarantha #pro tamlin #inner circle critical #you may say it is never this deep #i will say that it is because i can make it this deep #obligatory yes what tamlin did to feyre was wrong and gross and not good #but also it is very clearly a trauma response #so the way people talk about tamlin's victimhood while uplifting rhysands #is so gross #rhysand critical

[rigelus]

Why are we reading these books anymore? What's the point? Is just to see how far SJM will go down the rabbit hole?

#anti acotar #anti sjm #sjm critical

[keepittoyourshelf]

Rhysand is NOT morally grey, for fuck’s sake. I’m tired of the amount of people that jump to say “rHySaNd!!!” any time someone asks for recs for morally grey villains. I will downvote that shit on Reddit, idc. I’m petty and it’s just an incorrect statement.

Actual morally grey characters would include Kaz Brekker, Lestat de Lioncourt, maybe even Cardan Greenbriar. They don’t have an excuse or explanation for literally every single wrong thing they’ve done in their entire lives.

Rhysand, if anything, is morally brown, because his morals are shit and so is he.

#anti rhysand #anti feysand #anti sjm #anti feyre #pro tamlin #anti inner circle #anti acotar #sjm critical

[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

[simmanin]

What gets me about Feyre’s character is the inconsistencies.

Like in ACOMAF, we see her get upset over the Tithe thing in the Spring Court. And she chooses to help the wraith, even knowing that they’re not notoriously ‘good’ people. While I don’t think the Tithe makes Tamlin a monster, I can see why Feyre would get upset. It felt very much like something she would do up until that point.

However, when she goes to the Hewn City, it never dawns on her that there could be other innocent women there like Mor. I know she’s not in control at first, but even when goes back as their High Lady, she never questions it. When Keir ignores her, she even thinks “As I’m sure he ignored most women in his life”. And then he excuses himself from the meeting to ‘deal’ with somebody’s daughter (the man who mutilated his OWN daughter, btw) and she’s just cool with it???? It’s so clearly stated how women have little to no rights in the Court of Nightmares and everyone’s just cool with abusive, sexist men staying in control? And Rhysand’s whole “umm actually I rule this city 😠” every 9 months when he needs their army is so fucking stupid like bro you are allowing these men to hurt these women and you DON’T CARE. But that’s our feminist king😻

And don’t even get me started on her taking out her own personal vendetta on a whole court instead of just Tamlin. Ya know, the people she was just fighting for against the Tithe? Yeah she was like “fuck it you’re all dead to me now”. Okay Mrs. High Lady making terrible fucking choices already😭

I guess SJM is saving the dismantlement of the Court of Nightmares for Mor’s book (if we even get that) but for Feyre to not even question it more just because Rhysand said so genuinely aggravates me so much. She had no problem questioning Tamlin’s ruling decisions but somehow Rhys is absolved from all of that? Really? Is the dick that good, girl? Did she lose her morals in becoming his mate and High Lady? I need answers

#acotar #acotar critical #rhysand critical #feyre critical #anti rhysand #anti feyre #acomaf #acowar #sjm critical

[whitedemon-ladydeath]

the Fandoms relationship with Feyre and the Race to Innocence to defend her poor actions and war crimes across the series whether that be to the innocent spring court and summer court citizens or the poor and authoritative actions torwards her sister and their strained relationship

this Fandom has decided Feyre is an eternal victim, she's selfless, she's kind, she's a feminist, shes-

Feyre has committed war crimes that have gotten countless people killed due to a personal vendetta. She has made fun of Lucien and the Band of Exiles and have undermined what they wanted to do. She has locked up her sister and taken away her freedom in the name of "her learning how to control herself" and to "help her" in a very similar way that was done to her- to which she justified the destruction of thr Spring Court in order to further Spurn tamlin

and quite frankly you can also see it when Feyre does not do anything about helping the Illyrian Women, despite donning their wings and using them in a way they are prohibited from using

you can also see this in her not doing anything to help anyone, especially the women and children, in the CoN. Keir asks for freedom for his people and she responds with questions about his comfort level. And when he, rightfully imo, ignores her, she blames it on being a woman

Events from the first book, especially around her and her sisters and their father, are often used as a way to undermine the impact and destruction Feyre has brought on people around her

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

[lainalit]

#the CoN women should be grateful since they don't see and smell how their high lord boinks their high lady in the sky #our feminist high lord once again proving why he is such a good leader #especially to women who are not in his immediate peripheral vision #anti sjm #acotar critical #anti acotar #sjm critical #anti rhysand #anti ic #anti inner circle #acotar memes

[reblogandlikes]

Dipped a toe and snooped in the pro IC and Co. tag just for shits and giggles and it's crazy how so many can't seem to comprehend general criticism of the acotar books and will call people or stans of other characters abusive and idiots and whatever else for simply being a stan of (name character) but do not see the total hypocrisy in their own faves. The abusive nature of their faves. The favoritism towards their faves. The manipulation both from and of their faves.

Many resfuse to see how all over the place SJM writing generally is and I find it hilarious how when it's stated that SJM retcon blatantly to fit the 1st person narrative of the book it's bullshit people and antis are hating for no reason, but as soon as it comes to ACOSF it's lies pandering to pro Nesta despite the story being written in 3rd person from both Nesta and Cassian's POV. I'm sorry, your fave Rhysand has always been a dick. They'd take everything in first books as gospel, but the moment it's Nesta's or even Bryce’s, it's not true? It's biased. It doesn't count.

Hmm...odd

I don't like ACOSF. The story wasn't about healing, but beating a character down into submission and as a Nesta stan, I still critique it because...I can and I will. Cassian can go fall down those stairs and give the usefulness of his wings to Emerie.

If they want to read the books blindly, go ahead, but don't get mad when others actually internalise and think about the messages being spoken. Everyone digest media differently, and that's OK. I personally like reading about ambiguous and indepth characters. Not a fan of being told how to feel and what to think. The ability to ready between the lines and pick up things that aren't in big neon writing is preferable. SJM has the capability, generally, which from what I've seen, is why TOG is far better recieved, even with the criticism.

They say if we hate Rhysand or Feyre so much, why keep reading? Well, at this fucking point, we're all too deep in this shit show to stop. Call it morbid curiosity. These books have made me a masochist.

If you're an anti blog, keep doing your thing. If you're a pro blog, same thing. Who cares? We find our communities and have fun talking shit. But the unnecessary harsh name calling over something supposedly "not that deep" is wild.

#sjm critical #acotar #acowar #acomaf #acofas #acosf #anti rhysand #anti ic #anti feysand #pro nesta #pro tamlin #pro eris vanserra #pro lucien vanserra #jurian #queen vassa #feyre acheron #elain archeron #anti #pro #reading comprehension #critical #stan culture #wtf sjm #acotar critical

[wingsdippedingold]

"The General and Lady Death" is such a badass title, and then it turns out it's Cassian...

#whomp whomp #i don't like him #greasy ass man bun #anti acotar #anti sarah j maas #anti sjm #anti inner circle #sjm critical #anti nessian #pro nesta #anti cassian

[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