#book analysis

[shyjusticewarrior]

Haymitch spent time in the District 12 woods with Burdock and Lenore Dove, so he'd know what nightlock looks like.

When Peeta was collecting the nightlock Haymitch must've been so scared he was gonna die the same way Lou Lou did.

[yeoldecryptid]

You ever think about how Sherlock Holmes only grew old because the public made the rare decision that strange but kind people don’t deserve to die young?

Yeah… me neither.

[nadiajustbe]

We should talk more about how much Frodo loves and cares about Sam. I feel like with like in so many fellow samfro posts a focus is put mainly on Sam's love and devotion for Frodo — which is absolutely fair, because it is true and he is always very vocal about it! You can feel his love for Frodo flowing through his every action and word and passage and conversation he has with him.

But, on the other hand, Frodo's love for Sam, while quieter (mainly because he is going through genually terrible times for the biggest part of the story), is no less noticeable.

Frodo is always the first one to take care of Sam and make sure his wishes are fulfilled. He is informed about Sam going with him and his first thought is about how happy Sam would be to see elves, not the hardhips of his own journey. He is always here to make sure Sam isn't overworking himself and isn't carrying heavy lifting more than he should — which is, ouch — he doesn't let other people to treat him unfairly or command him.

He notes Sam with an additional epitet from the rest of the Fellowship and mentions how hard it is for him to leave when he decides to go and finish the quest alone. Sam is the first person he thiks about after waking up in Rivendell, and the only one he calls by name. He doesn't let Sam to sacrifice himself on his behalf on multiple occasions, including stopping him from descending first without a rope just in case "he doesn't want Frodo to fall with him", nor he lets him drink water first in Mordor "in case it's poisoned". He convices seem to eat and sleep and at least once deliberately doesn't wake him up just so he could rest. He was being tortured in the lands of Sauron and yet absolutely refused to move until Sam gets some rest and drinks some water.

He calls him his dearest hobbit and his friends of friends. He thinks Sam is the central character of his story and cherishes the fact he makes him laugh. He wants to hear stories about Sam more than he wishes to hear stories about himself. He is ready to slit Gollum's throat (a creature he repeatedly empathises the importance of mercy for down the line) for hurting Sam. He can recognise Sam's voice while unconscious and in pain and away from him. He compares Sam's voice to sunshine in Shire.

And this is not ever the full list. Frodo Baggins loves Samwise Gamgee so much I am not sure any hobbit has loved another one this much before.

[magpieanalysis]

I love that every victor from District 12 won by breaking the rules.

Katniss was proficient with a bow and in a forest because she went past the fence and hunted game illegally; Peeta survived because Katniss threatened for the games to not have a victor after the promised rule (presumably influenced by Haymitch?) if he wasn’t saved; Haymitch won because he used the capitol forcefield against his opponent, bringing their weapon into his game; Lucy won because of rat poison brought into the arena and Snow feeding her scent to the snakes.

There was not a victor from twelve that didn’t backhand the Capitol with their survival. lmao.

[hayabug]

when katniss was talking about the reaping at the start of series, she stresses how it’s absolutely mandatory to attend unless you’re literally “at deaths door.” So i wonder what it was like, for haymitchs mother, an extremely pregnant teenage girl, who just managed to escape the reaping herself a year prior, to go into labor on that day. Having to worry about how you could potentially be punished if labor isn’t enough of an excuse to miss the reaping while going through the horrors of it; Knowing that two children from your community were once again ripped away, while you bring a new one into those horrors. And then, 16 years later, you have to watch as that same child marches off to his certain death, on the day of his birth.

[kingofcourtjesters]

"The point is BOTH sides are unworthy of the throne" ngl i feel like people just say that because they have an aversion to admitting the actual point was misogyny.

It happened because Rhaenyra is a woman, end of story. its the beginning, middle, ending and thematic tragedy of her story and the stories of every other Targaryen woman. I'm not sure how you could watch the show or read the book and still come to the shallow conclusion of "well we ALL suffered because both of them were bad people" of course we all suffered... as a result of mysoginistic actions. Its not fair to rule her out as unworthy or a bad person because we will never know what rhaenyras reign would have looked like on a clean slate.

[spore-loser]

The disconnect between what SJM writes and what she thinks she writes is wild.

The Call Her Daddy podcast interview was yet another one that shows she has no idea what she's actually doing.

"... the super powerful dude wants to get on his knees in front of this lady, like she is in control of him 100%..."

The power dynamic in ACOTAR is always the men over the women. Nowhere do we see what she's describing here.

"....they want a lover who is also like a best friend that like they can be equal with and speak to on an honest level."

The narrative shows the couples are -not- equal and -can't- have honest conversations, over and over, at different times in different ways.

Feyre and Rhysand :

“You promised—you promised no secrets, no games. You promised. [...] I don’t want to hear you explain how you assumed that you knew best, that I couldn’t handle it [...] I don’t want to hear you tell me that you decided I was to be kept in the dark while your friends knew, while you all decided what was right for me—” (ACOMAF, Ch. 50) Feyre began shaking. “If I die …” Her gaze drifted to one of her tattooed arms. She lifted her head, eyes bright with tears as she asked Amren, “You … all of you knew this? [...] Rhys knew?” Tears spilled down Feyre’s cheeks, smearing the paint splattered there. (ACOSF, Ch.46)

Nesta and Cassian :

“This isn’t coming out the way it should. We argued about whether to tell you, but we took a vote and it went in your favor. Because we trust you. I just … hadn’t gotten a chance to bring it up yet.” (ACOSF, Ch. 45) “[...] And I knew what that meant, what had happened, even though you didn’t, and I didn’t want to scare you. You weren’t ready for the truth—not yet.” (ACOSF, Ch.62)

Elain and Azriel :

Elain said, “[...] I might require some time to … reacquaint myself with my powers, but I could start today. [...] Find me when you wish to begin.” (ACOSF, Ch.21) Azriel stiffened, an outright sign of temper from him as he said quietly, “There is an innate darkness to the Dread Trove that Elain should not be exposed to.” (ACOSF, Ch.29)

So when she says the men are "respecting and honoring" the women—

Literally, where? 

2 out of 3 men ignored the boundaries of and outright abused the women. All three men disrespect the agency of women in general.

Rhysand :

He physically assaulted Feyre to coerce her into a bargain she tried resisting, and sexually assaulted her for months. When she was later forced to spend time with him, he gaslighted her. Memories that we have of Feyre's POV of in the first book were reworked into something completely different. He gave ridiculous excuses (My post about UTM) and she ended up believing he sexually assaulted her "for the greater good". Once together, Rhysand subjected Feyre to reproductive abuse along with the revelation she doesn't have a support system.

Feyre :

She holds an empty title that nobody in the IC actually takes seriously. Rhysand has meetings and makes decisions without her, sometimes even acting expressly against her wishes (HOFAS bonus chapter). Azriel was told something by Feyre and looked to Rhysand for confirmation. Cassian has directly just ignored her wishes to do what he wants. 

Cassian :

Despite Nesta making it clear she didn't want anything to do with him, Cassian would not leave her alone. He stalked her, and eventually she was forced to live with him and have him control her life. He subjected her to physical and mental abuse on that hike that was actually a full-on grueling trek. (My post about it)

Nesta :

The IC forced her under house arrest, making her train and undertake dangerous missions when she was dealing with PTSD after war. When Nesta told Feyre her pregnancy was a death sentence, with Rhyand's gleeful approval and Azriel's packing of the bag, Cassian used extreme physical activity to break Nesta down—the way cults do to make their victims vulnerable to brainswashing. He wanted to punish her, was angry and taking it out on her with the labor and silent treatment, ignoring her struggling – physically to exhaustion and dehydration, and mentally with passive suicidal ideation – behind him for days on end. (Learning about "alpine divorce", I thought immediately of Nessian.)

Azriel :

He couldn't take the hint in hundreds of years that Morrigan is not interested in him. He keeps Elain on a pedestal, disregarding the fact she willingly stepped up to fulfill the IC's goals and wants to be taken seriously. He infantilizes her, doesn't think of her past his libido, and foremost sees her as a reason to feel left out that his brothers have mates and he doesn't.

Elain :

None of the men supported or stood up for her after she volunteered to work for the IC. The IC instead used her as a bargaining chip against Nesta, to get Nesta to do what they wanted, instead of respecting that Elain wanted to help.

"...[Rhysand makes] perhaps a bad call..."

Perhaps??? 🙈

This woman writes what amounts to patriarchy propaganda (boys will be [500 year old] boys), poorly masquerading as "feminist healing stories", and it's crazy to me that so many people can't see that.