Why do you think Feysand had a son from the author's pov? A daughter heir would have fit with the feminist narrative better so I am curious.
My hunch is that Feysand had to have a son because a daughter would naturally raise some big questions that Maas doesn’t care to answer. For one, how is it that there’s never been a single natural born High Lady? Fae children are rare, so it seems a bit improbable that through all of time, there has never been a High Lord who only had one daughter who could inherit the title. The deity Prythian worships is female, yet all of fae society is dominated by an oppressive and patriarchal system. This makes no sense, and it reveals the author’s ignorance about how systems of oppression function. It’s reiterated that High Ladies are not a thing because the magic of the land only selects males. But why is this the case? The physical limitations that come with human gender differences don’t exist for fae. Any physical limitations can be made up for with magic, something that all fae are able to access and use.
To your question, it’s far more straightforward for Maas to give her power couple a traditional male heir. A firstborn daughter for Feysand would herald the first ever High Lady by birth. This hypothetical daughter would have power independent of her partner and would be an actual leader in her own right as opposed to a glorified consort. There is no feminist narrative in ACOTAR because Maas is deeply conservative. She will always err on the side of conservatism and traditionalism because her interest in feminism is extremely surface-level.
Now if I put on my tinfoil hat…I start to wonder if a daughter would conflict with the wish-fulfillment fantasy. Feyre is Rhysand’s #1 priority, but a daughter would introduce a potential rival to that dynamic. Is that deeply fucked up? Yes, but such is the nature of the conservative ideals of the nuclear family. Having another woman take away from Feyre’s special attention and harm the fantasy, so to avoid this, Maas chooses to eliminate the possibility of a rival by having Nyx be a boy.
I think the reality is: a lot of Feyre stan's discontent at the direction of her character is developed into a sort-of jealousy dynamic with Nesta (and Elain, to some extent-- I will elaborate).
Think about it like this: They dislike, that in the end, the sisters both ended up beautiful and immortal with mates as well. Because...thats Feyre's reward. It's her prize. There is (in my opinion) some subconscious understanding between them that Feyre's narrative saving grace is Rhys. SJM will always love Rhys, and by extension Feyre. But they also understand that it means that Feyre has never been a priority to SJM. She is not written as the center of the narrative like we've seen wit Aelin and Bryce.
And then here comes Nesta. When HoFas happened, they were horrified by the fact that not only is Nesta (and Rhys) the narrative focus, but that its Nesta who pulls the moral, selfless card which ends up not just saving Prythian, but all of their world(s). And in a narrative where the women have to earn their happy ending, thats a capita that burns. And Feyre, the progenitor of this narrative, is not present. Not only is she not present, but shes not even referred to as the High Lady. And the reality was that they wanted that...for Feyre. They'll deny it now, but I remember all of their little metas and ideas before Hofas came out; they truly banked on SJM hopefully remembering Feyre existed post-SF. They wanted acknowledgement...and instead they got more Nesta. And the next book will probably be Elain's. And even in HoFas, the narrative overwhelmingly sides with Nesta in a twist of events. She is given sympathy by Ember, relevance.
But even more - in a switch of dynamics - its Nesta and Elain who have the narrative freedom, the intrigue. And to combat this they rely heavily of reverence for Feyre, elevating her so high, that she's more a paragon of virtuousness than an actual character. But Nesta, who is narratively complicated, complex, angry has room to continue being an active character...and that resonates with audiences more than an idea of holiness. So now, they harp on Nesta but the reality is...they wanted that intrigue for Feyre and she was pushed EVEN further into the back ground. And I think it burns even more in fandom spaces because regular people (casual readers) are making metas like "Nesta might be x" or "Nesta might be High Queen" -- and we know thats not going to happen, but the fact that people elevate Nesta to that position burns all the same.
And so, they'll go on these rants calling her dirty, slutty, evil...and yet...she's still at the forefront of the narrtive. She is still powerful, she has her own friends, she's exactly where Feyre is, arguably in a better spot. And on top of that, Feyre saved Prythian...Nesta saved entire worlds...they can't even use that against Nesta anymore.
And again, its more discontent at where Feyre's character is going, but I think its manifested into a very jealous rage. Its not to say Feysand isn't popular - they are. But Feysand is. Not Feyre. And that's gotta burn, if you truly like Feyre.
At the heart of all of these issues, I think a lot of people defend Feyre (and Rhysand) under the pretense that they are real people in need of defending. That’s why a lot of you resort to behavior that is violent, abusive, and nearly stalker-like.
Even my dislike for Rhysand stems from narrative a standpoint . Rhysand is NOT REAL. He iS NOT my abuser. Tamlin is NOT MY ABUSER. They do not exist. While my experiences inform my understanding, they do not wholly control it. It would be disingenuous to believe otherwise.
“They hurt Feyre” — Feyre is fictional. She does not exist. We can absolutely have a conversation about harm, dynamics, and optics, but I also recognize that I’m criticizing authorial decisions, not the actions of cognizant, sentient people.
You guys are projecting your own experiences into these characters, to the point of derealization . And while your experiences definitely inform what you take away, they are not uniform. Nesta, Tamlin, Rhysand, Feyre…are not your abusers. They did not personally harm you. They are not REAL. I’m saying this as someone with an extreme hatred of Rhysand…he’s just words on a page. The only tangible part of him are those words, and I will analyze and critique as I see fit, but I will not demand that my reading of the text is somehow more urgent because of my own personal experiences. The reality is that some people will empathize, some people won’t. That’s just the name of the game. So if you must critique, critique to ensure these writing patterns don’t persists. Point your ire towards the person who actually put pen to page. Not random people on the internet, that you don’t know, and had no hand in the development of this story.
I know he didn't mean it be funny but Rhysand telling Feyre in ACOMAF that obviously Tarquin is easy to love because he would never have the issue of his loved ones having a target on their back is so hilarious to me. Cause yeah Rhys, that's because Tarquin has a stable court and honestly has the makings to be a decent ruler. It's probably looking a little shaky right now after you stole from him and basically betrayed a court willing to have friendly relations with you. He still has a rather stable court in comparison to the Night Court though.
I'm honestly surprised that Tarquin doesn't remind Rhysand of himself. Young, untested high lord with dreams of a new future for his court and people. Instead he gets jealous and sees Tarquin as competition because Feyre smiled at him. Oh, brother.
There's such little introspection done by Rhysand's character and it's actually quite laughable upon hindsight. I'm still left speechless that Rhysand sincerely believes Tarquin doesn't understand fear of injury or worse of his loved ones when Tarquin only became high lord after two of his relatives are killed UTM (where one of them is killed in front of him). Tarquin knows loss. He comes into power amidst said loss. Adriata wasn't spared during the 50 years and it was his court that was also decimated by a Hybern attack. Why? Because he chose naively and wrongly when inviting a particular court into his own, effectively putting a target on his back. He vows to keep Feyre's visit a secret, effectively putting another target on his back by risking his amicable relations with Tamlin. Instead of it being about any of that in the story, it's about Rhysand being the most damned and how sympathetic we're meant to be about Rhysand cause he just can't be like Tarquin for sad reasons. It's quite obvious that Tarquin knows the price and power of his choices and position as high lord. It would be a bit more obvious in text if Tarquin's character wasn't being used to just bolster Rhysand's character as a tragic good guy.
Tarquin is seemingly "easy to love" because he's nowhere near as envious of others as Rhysand behaves.
We're supposed to believe that Rhysand and the IC treat Nesta the way they do, because her treatment of Feyre offends their morality.We're talking about the same people,who joke about beating an 11 year old boy with burnt hands, because he couldn't fly.These are the people,who find Nesta's rude words to Feyre so atrocious.They are also shocked by the fact that Feyre hunted at 14,while saying how they would like to have Illyrian female soldiers.The training system for Illyrian soldiers means training since 8,under harsh conditions,which includes getting beaten for discipline.They're not shocked by this in the slightest,they want to extend that to girls,but they find a 14 year old hunting the most shocking thing ever.It's not a matter of morality.They know that this has upset Feyre,they know that she blames Nesta and not her father for hunting and they punish her accordingly.Their mentality is "If sb somehow upsets one of our own,they will be punished for it,whether it's right or not."There's a reason they don't have any real friends or meaningful relationships except one another.They made Feyre one of their own, because she's Rhysand's mate.Other than that they trust noone.Rhysand didn't trust Helion with Feyre's pregnancy,which means that he doesn't really consider him a friend,but merely an ally and Varian can't be with Amren without essentially betraying his own HL .This is a toxic clique.
They talk about the violence and brutality inflicted upon children not as a terrible thing, but as an explanation for their fortitude. The level of violence they describe is accepted as normal, yet they gasp at the notion of Feyre hunting as a young teenager and what could’ve happened to her. There is a clear disconnect here morally speaking. All this hand wringing over Feyre hunting as if she was actually mauled by a fae beast despite their own experiences suggesting that they were accustomed to far worse.
You could say that Feyre’s humanness made her inherently fragile compared to the Illyrian boys, but one would think that this level of normalized exposure to violence would make them think differently. Rhysand frequently reiterates his young Feyre was and expresses horror at the thought, yet the same horror is never quite connected to his own childhood experiences.
The thing that stands out to me is the way he elevates her to the status of a “vengeful queen” only for him to use it as a point against her. As if she has power over him and is wielding it to be vindictive when in reality, Nesta is only enforcing a simple boundary. Nesta is often assigned these symbolically powerful descriptions that contrast with her actual lack of control in the story. She’s literally walking towards a “grimy” part of the city in this scene, something that is a testament to the disempowered status she’s taken on for her freedom from the IC.
Cassian, who will return to a shining mansion and role as a high-powered general, is framed as the victim of Nesta’s rejection and classism. His projection is continuously validated by the narrative even when he’s the objectively more powerful person in the situation.
Among the well of red flags in the intervention it seems obvious that Feyre is taking up the mantle of the family member that out of love became the enabler coming to terms with having to cut off their ‘addicted’ family member which the topic alone is very meaningful and deep but the problem is it’s insane to me how it can’t be more transparent that it doesn’t hold any weight because Nesta’s story was not given that same weight and respect that an addicted persons story would entail. Nesta being an actual alcoholic wasn’t a part of the story so why should I offer Feyre’s character what it is to have an actual addict family member??? I notice most counter argument fall along the lines of saying that that’s not how the story was written so why can’t I just see it for what it presents and shut up. A step above that is that some people do conviniently question the narrative only when it serves the purpose to reaffirm their already biased opinions against Nesta usually elevating an ic member in the same breath. Do you see it or is it just me 😩
Ps I’d post from my acotar sideblog, wolfnesta, but I can’t /: tis I though!
One of my pet peeves is when readers try to headcanon the hell out of the narrative and then argue with you about why you must accept their version of the story. Many such cases with ACOTAR, as I expressed in another post.
You’re completely right, Nesta’s addiction really isn’t part of the story. Maas uses Nesta’s alcoholism and hypersexuality as a means of justifying the inciting incident of her so-called “healing arc” but doesn’t actually care about exploring it any further. We hardly see Nesta truly craving the things that numb her pain, or tangible negative consequences that aren’t a minuscule dent in Feysand’s joint account. She experiences next to no symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, and her having sex with Cassian while confined in the HOW is never regarded as a coping mechanism. This is why I roll my eye whenever people try to act like Nesta was a genuine depiction of an addict.
The people who portray Feyre’s struggle as one of a family member’s to an addict are not serious people. I’m partially joking about that remark (but I’m also partially not). Feyre’s real struggle is that Nesta is embarrassing her in front of her tenuous new friend group who she doesn’t yet feel secure enough with to stand up to. Hence why Nesta’s “recovery” is centred around the comfort and sensibilities of those with the power to control her. This is evident from the fact that Nesta’s forced confinement was justified by…*checks notes* heavy spending, promiscuity and drinking. It was an extreme measure in a situation that was not severe enough to justify it. The only way I could even potentially justify this kind of approach would be if Nesta was an active (and imminent) danger to herself and others. This is another example of SJM’s laziness and lack of imagination. Nesta’s new and unpredictable abilities coupled with PTSD, frequent inebriation and emotional distress could genuinely pose a serious threat to the public. We know that one’s emotional state can impact their powers, and I could easily see Nesta’s powers flaring up because of that. However, no such thing ever happens and her threat level to the public is mild at best. Making the drastic measures taken by the Inner Circle completely unwarranted.
But back to the main point…you’re completely right about the selective interrogation of the narrative and its logic. Trying to paint Feyre’s actions as an acceptable way to respond to a struggling individual is just another way to absolve her. It elevates Feyre in a way that is very generous and helps these fans reaffirm their ideas about Nesta’s treatment. It’s a counter argument that conveniently ignores the lack of weight Nesta’s addiction had in the story and fills in the gaping holes that Maas didn’t bother to fill in. All this to say…I completely see it.
Sidenote: I really liked this ask! This was a bit of a crossover since I follow you on my other side blog. Love your posts and analysis!
The concept of true mates in sjm's series honestly grosses me out like I prefer freedom of choice when it comes to a love interest not some fated bs. But when it comes to this series sjm's track record she is proven she is fine with robbing her character's of choices and autonomy.
The whole fantasy of “Mates” is that you have to put in no effort to be desperately loved and desired. Many people find the idea of automatic/preordained attraction to be a very appealing fantasy that doesn’t require much specificity on the part of the characters. Feysand embodies this through the fact that fact that Rhysand fell for Feyre before he even knew who she was and had no idea about the specifics of her character. He “fell” for her with no idea about her values, personality or likes and dislikes, because the mating bond is the product of biological design. Compatibility? What’s that? Clearly Maas only thinks to portray compatible relationships by slapping a “fated mates” label on them.
Her attempts to discuss choices and personal freedom in her writing were found gunned down in a ditch. Admittedly, this take is party influenced by my personal distaste for the conventions of omegaverse-esque romantasy. Part of the draw with the mating system in ACOTAR is the fact that it makes male fairies uncontrollably lustful to the point of aggression (and insanity tbh), and such aggression is excused by the narrative. Personally, I’ve always hated that trope because it removes the male lead’s agency and ensures that there is zero accountability for his actions. The possessiveness is a major source of appeal for many readers, but I personally dislike it because I hate even the mere idea of a man telling me what to do. The possessiveness exhibited by the male leads in ACOTAR often results in her female characters being robbed of their autonomy (ex. The shield during Feyre’s pregnancy or Nesta being forcefully placed in the HOW). SJM’s themes of “choice” are totally superficial and it’s embarrassing that any readers take it seriously.
I commend every Nessian shipper who can rehabilitate that atrocity of a relationship through art and fanfiction, but I fear I’m not strong enough. Shipping discourse often involves a lot of chatter about abusive relationships and how they shouldn’t be romanticized, but these conversations often miss the mark because they overlook relationships like Nessian. They get so distracted by the overt antagonism of enemies to lovers that they ignore the abusive behaviours on display in canon relationships.
Case in point, Nessian is an abusive relationship that is endorsed by the text. People are willing to defend the merits of A Court of Silver Flames as a “healing arc” because they don’t like Nesta enough to interrogate how nuts it is. Or, they simply take a lot of pleasure in the wish fulfillment narrative and don’t see an issue with Nesta being bullied and controlled by her love interest. Nesta’s “healing arc” is a representation of SJM’s failure to reconcile the reader insert’s power fantasy with a narrative that centres around a different character. Nesta’s suffering and the “tough love” inflicted on her is the kind of gratuitous punishment that the reader is assumed to want to see. No matter how little sense it makes, Nesta being humiliated and controlled is the (assumed) desired outcome.
But also let it be known that I especially hate Cassian. He’s a total weak-willed weakling, except in cases where he wants to terrorize Nesta and lord his power over her. But what truly makes me mad is his AUDACITY to victimize himself when Nesta bites back. He’s nothing more than Rhysand’s loyal dog and enforcer. He’s not just kissing the ring, he’s full-on making out with it. He’s so incompetent as a love interest that he can barely succeed in the most basic love interest duty of defending your girl in public. I truly can’t stand how the narrative babies him and then proceeds to act like his and Nesta’s transgressions are equal. At least my villain x heroine ships are enemies on opposing sides of a conflict, then they at least have a valid reason for their toxicity and violence. Nessian has so such justification, it’s literally just Cassian tormenting Nesta and having his abuse of her validated by the narrative.
Reading how Feysand shippers (in reality they are just Rhysand stans) defend Rhysand's actions in the pregnancy plot is truly triggering, you have no idea. As someone who has been through that myself as have countless other women it fills me with such rage to see it brushed under the rug and them downplay the abuse to absolve poor little Rhys rather than acknowledge the woman whose autonomy was just violated and by extension the IC who were so cowardly and spineless they never once called Rhys out on his abomination of choices. And these people claim to be feminists as well as the author of this shit series? Nah that card should absolutely be revoked.
It’s genuinely insane that such a plot line was read by her editors and approved for publishing. It’s so bad that it utterly obliterates the small shred of credibility that had been built up for Rhysand. I said it on my other blog, but I genuinely believe that Maas doesn’t grasp how much of a massive (relationship-ending) betrayal it was on the part of Rhysand. She most likely sees the pregnancy lie of omission as somewhat severe, but ultimately forgivable as it was done because Rhysand loves Feyre so much that he wants to spare her from any pain. Maas would never have Rhysand do anything she feels is unforgivable because Rhysand is her special boy.
Feyre’s situation taps into a horror that is not only specific to pregnancy, but also based in the historical reproductive/medical abuse women have experienced for centuries. It taps into the terrifying idea that your body could be subject to the whims of your husband/male guardian and you would have no means of stopping it. It’s a stunning example (and endorsement, if we’re being honest) of benevolent misogyny and it effectively confirms that Feyre’s friends don’t respect her at all.
It’s impossible for people to justify Rhysand’s actions and absolve him without making a sexist argument. But they try anyways, because they cant accept that their previous Rhys committed reproductive abuse. Furthermore, they try to argue that Rhysand’s offence is lesser because technically the secret was only kept for a short amount of time. But in arguing that, they miss the point. It’s the fact that he tried to commandeer Feyre’s pregnancy with the consent of their friends at all that’s so depraved. Overall, it’s egregious even for a faux feminist like SJM.
I’ll also add that the fallout from the pregnancy lie is a testament to the wish-fulfillment fantasy at the centre of ACOTAR. When Nesta reveals the truth and is subsequently punished, Feyre’s feelings become almost completely peripheral and the main event becomes Rhysand’s rage at Nesta. Because the point is for the reader insert to watch herself being watched through the eyes of the protective love interest. It’s fundamentally voyeuristic.
Rhysand’s feelings taking priority over Feyre’s feelings of betrayal feels particularly ghoulish in this context where Feyre was already decentred from her own pregnancy. The focus is shifted to Rhysand’s beef with Nesta and his retaliation against her for making Feyre sad (even though he was the true perpetrator). The intended effect is for the voyeur to watch how much a powerful man cares about her and judge the strength of his devotion to her through the violence he inflicts on another woman.
I get that but I also know that SJM loves Rhysand and won't want him to call Elain stupid? It didn't come out as anything positive but it feels like SJM wanted it to be something positive, I can't figure out what it was though.
I think in SJM’s eyes, Rhysand wasn’t calling Elain stupid. The sentiment of “Elain is Elain” is circular and means nothing, it effectively avoids saying anything of substance about his true reasons for hating Nesta more than Elain. It helps SJM avoid the obvious contradiction of resenting Nesta for letting Feyre hunt, while simultaneously excusing Elain who did the exact same thing. Acknowledging that contradiction in Rhysand’s argument would be to acknowledge his own pettiness and diminish the righteous anger and justice that’s critical to the wish-fulfillment fantasy. Essentially, it’s a way of avoiding accountability to uphold his place at SJM’s special little guy.
It’s my view that Rhysand sees Elain as a malleable fool. The way he speaks about her is very similar to Feyre’s infantilization of Elain in the first chapters of ACOTAR. He’s nice to her the way you would be nice to a puppy, where you recognize that the puppy is incredibly beneath you as far as intelligence goes, but you find it cute and don’t blame it for certain things.
I just finished ACOMAF! And it only took me over a year and motivating myself with classical german novel about a guy who fumbles a girl so badly he kills himself to do it
This book fundamentally had the same issues as the first one while not having any of its few redeeming qualities and also having new some new issues. Like, it had basically the same story structure: starts off with a few chapters of Feyres miserable life, then a hot fae guy swoops in and gets her the hell out of there without her consent, she initially struggles against the guy but quickly falls in love with him, then its just a whole bunch of nothing with the occasional magical threat or sweet moment between Feyre and her new man happens, then it all ends with an epic high fantasy finale that lowkey comes out of nowhere and clashes with the rest of the book. The only improvement here is that the section taking place in Hybern's castle didnt take up like a fourth of the book the way the UTM section did, but it still dragged. I just kept thinking to myself "godddddd Rhys just take her sisters and gtfo, listen to the love of your life just this ONE time im begging you". Also, that random Rhysand POV chapter did nothing except further drag the book out and mess with the flow. I guess its there to tell us that Feyre is officially the High Lady of the Night Court now so that the final line of the book can hit harder, but I feel like SJM couldve just written out the High Lady ceremony instead of treating it as some twist. Like, this entire book is basically Feyre telling the audience about everything shes doing, no matter how banal and stupid, in painstaking detail but shes gonna leave her becoming high lady out? what?
One thing that I noticed in the final few chapters was that action/tense scenes felt way more cringe than I remember them being in ACOTAR. Its probably because Feyre was a human with no magic so she wasnt constantly going "And I reached for the power at the center of my being and I grasped it in my hands that longed for nothing more than to hold those of my Mate—my Mate—and I became mist and shadow and flame and light and night and sky and
But those are basically just my issues with the final few chapters, lets get into the rest of this, which I admittedly dont remember too well right now, but I'll do my best
Most of this is about the romance which takes up most of the book and is just so incredibly unpleasant. One of the main things that was. well, I hesitate to call it 'good', but one of the main things that worked well enough and that made it understandable for me why so many people liked the first book, was the romance. Not really because the romance itself was well-developed (because I dont think it was) but because it, and Tamlin as a character, functioned well enough as a vehicle for Feyre healing from her trauma. Yknow, she had this awful childhood that she just couldnt get away from because she didnt have the means to and even if she did have them, she felt that it was her duty to be with her family as their only provider even though she pretty much hated them, and Tamlin came in to take her away and completely absolve her of her self-imposed duties so she could really focus on herself for once. Hes also someone who is very much an outsider to Feyres external issues, so hes able to emphasize with her without any sort of baggage. And that was pretty nice; her development could have been less clunky and the worldbuilding better and UTM kindof ruins it at the end, but it works.
ACOMAF is trying to do the same thing except instead of healing from her childhood/early teen trauma shes healing from her UTM trauma, and instead of having her healing journey be fascillitated by a guy unrelated to her painful past, its fascilliated by the guy who caused most of her (new) trauma, and thats what I was never able to forget or get past, no matter how much the book tried to ignore or shift the blame onto Tamlin and Amarantha. Its really no wonder that so many people recommend just skipping the first book because if you just read this with no context you'd probably be like "okay, Feyre is a traumatized noblewoman whos unhappy in her marriage bc her husband is bad at handling her trauma, but then this guy who Gets It swoops in and helps her, thats nice" when its like, bro, Rhysand is THE REASON shes so unhappy and needs help! Granted, hes not the only reason, but still
Another thing about the romance that many other people have talked about but it bears repeating: Tamlin was made for Feyre and his only goal was to get her to love him and his only purpose as a character was her healing and self-actualization, which is not great because the best romances are ones were both characters are their own well-developed people with their own shit goin on, but it works well enough for the kind of wish fulfillment that (most of) the first book was. By contrast, Rhysand has his own nefarious goals that he wants Feyre to be a part of, and her personality noticeably shifts to compliment his the more she spends time with him, and it doesnt feel like its her moving past her trauma and being able to finally be her true self now that shes in a better enviroment, the way it did in ACOTAR, it just feels like Rhysand is molding her into whatever he wants (the fact that he has mind control powers and is thus theoretically fully able to do that really doesnt help in this regard)
Theres also the fact that we dont really get a lot of cute and romantic moments for Feyre and Rhysand, which was also an issue with Feyre and Tamlin in the first book, most of their interactions were told to the readers in passing rather than actually shown, but we atleast got to see a few of them and they were generally pretty cute. Yknow, that one moment were Tamlins hanging upside down and she pets him and he purrs, him writing those poems after her little list of words, the summer solstice etc. Really, the main issue was that Feyre seemed to spend way more actual page-time with Lucien (and the fact that Lucien was way more interesting). However, in ACOMAF she definitely spends most of her page-time with Rhysand and literally the only kindof sweet and romantic thing that I can remember is Star Fall, and if youve been following along with my liveblogs you'll remember how joyless and hollow I found that chapter. Other than that basically the only things that stick out in mind as stuff theyve done together are basically saw traps that Rhysand put Feyre through, like her getting the ring from the weaver's cottage, or the UTM reeanactment in the hewn city. I guess they flirted a lot but idk. I thought was annoying more than anything, and the sexual nature of it, as well as all the sex Rhysand and Feyre were having in general just made it feel cheap and hollow. And I dont think its because sex inherently cheapens romantic stories, I think SJM is simply not good at writing sex-heavy romantic relationship development while also conveying that the characters have a connection besides mutual attraction and good sex (which she is SO clearly trying to do (like via having Feyre constantly talk about how Rhys is als her friend on top of everything else) which just makes it so much worse tbh)
I think a big part of it is also that Rhysand has no real personality (which is to say he does have one, but that seems to be kindof an accident bc you can really only make sense of him if you look at him as the most mentally ill men in the world, as opposed to looking at him as the daddiest dommiest daddy dom ever like youre supposed to), so its like, what else is there?
Theres also the fact that the flirting is mostly just this insufferable negging dirty talk banter-combination, which requires absolutely no sincerity or vulnerability from either party
The last thing that I wanted to talk about it not really a complaint, its just a question to people who have already read ACOWAR: does Lucien seeming to be suspicious of Feyre and her whole oh-i-was-brainwashed act ever come up or matter in the next book? Because from everything Ive heard, Lucien ends up being really loyal to Feyre there , which doesnt really gell with his behaviour from the end of this book
Anyway, thats it! I havent decided when Im gonna start with acowar yet, but it may already be next week bc I ran out of data on my phone, so I cant kill time listening to music or audiobooks while on my way to work. I hope you enjoyed it and sorry for taking so long to finish this book
feyre: I can't believe you're making these poor people pay a Tithe right after a war!
also feyre: I mean I suppose I can't blame you for having your hands tied with the systematic oppression and brutality of women. change takes time, after all
The type of feminism she describes epitomizes the facade of Sarah J Maas’s feminist politics. The romance of the ACOTAR series is thematically conservative, and this tweet describes Feyre’s journey beat for beat. The fantasy of ACOTAR lies in Feyre securing a benevolent patriarch and lording her power over everyone else through him. Exercising power directly wouldn’t align with the conservative values of the series, hence why Rhysand is always the one who punishes Feyre’s enemies for her and acts like an aggressive combative heel “for her sake”.
Feyre reaches the height of power through a patriarchal institution and is afforded a morsel of power for being a good wife and mother. Her body and reproductive capabilities are flaunted by her husband, reiterating her worth according to patriarchal standards of womanhood. She climbs the ranks, and then shuts out other women (ex. Hewn City and Illyrian Women) and hardly lifts a finger to contribute to their liberation. Her power is FOUNDED on their oppression and she benefits from the way their suffering funds her lifestyle.
In the conservative fantasy, she is the ultimate prize (object) and is content with her subordination.
The most annoying thing about Rhysand and the Inner Circle is how they can never forgive anyone who wronged one of them,but they expect to be forgiven when they have wronged others.They can't forgive,even if hundreds of years have passed or in Nesta's case that person was an abused teenager,who lived in a deeply problematic environment and has since offered a lot.They always have to go back to their past mistakes and judge them by theese.Meanwhile,they expect others to overlook their mistakes.They stole from Tarquin and yet they expect him to forgive and trust them.Often,they don't even apologize or find anything wrong in their shitty behaviour.Feyre burns LOA,a victim of domestic abuse,and she finds no fault in this,like that woman is guilty for being married to Beron.Now imagine if Lucien dared to confront her about it and demand an apology for his mother,when he met her. Rhysand would most likely slit his throat.She destroys the home of many innocent people in Spring Court,who not only have no part in her conflict with Tamlin,but also used to adore her.Would she ever apologize to them?Of course not,because she's proud of what she did.Would Cassian ever apologize to Nesta for taunting,harassing and stalking her?No,because she's the bitch in theese situations.She's the bitch for not being all sweet and jumping in his bed right away, she's the one who must apologize.Will anyone apologize to Nesta and Elain for failing to protect them from Hybern and destroying their lives?No,in fact when Nesta tells Feyre during the intervention that the situation she's in is her fault,sth entirely true and Feyre, recognising this flinches,Rhysand threatens violence,because she dared to upset his darling mate.They treat everyone,who doesn't worship the ground they walk on,like crap,everyone who even dares to question them,like a mortal enemy.They are toxic to everyone,but a select few.
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