The Paper Owl

she/they 🏳️‍⚧️ Agender 🏳️‍🌈 Bi & Ace 22 🍁 Canadian 📖 Books 💀 Anthropology pfp credit to u/ungoth on Reddit

[designerpotatosack]

So I saw a post along the lines of "Feyre suffered so much my girl deserves to NOT THINK for a while leave her alone 🥺🥺"

And like—

Yes, she suffered. Yes, she finally got out of survival mode after a long while.

But that doesn't mean she has to "turn off her brain" and be babied. She's the goddam High Lady of Night. She's a RULER. How r Feyre stans ok w her being cast off to the side as a tradwife w an art shop? Seriously y'all were all about Girlboss feminism or whatever but now it's "Feyre's literally j a girl 🥹🥹🥹"????

Fuck that. She's a ruler. She's Rhysand's equal in title. She should be getting a proper education bout prythian and politics, she should be understanding her court better, she should be making friends and allies, NOT being a trophy wife. That's the WORST way her arc could've gone, especially considering how she was originally written.

And idc if it's "her choice". It's not. It's sjm's choice. Feyre is a character who got twisted around to fit Sjm's new idea for her. And I'm done w the tradwife agenda in popular romantasy where the ONLY happy ending the fmc is allowed is being a mother.

[theteaqueendom]

My last thought: it's not that I hate that Feyre was pregnant or think she was weak for becoming a mom. If that's what SJM wants love that for her! Mothers are great. Badasses and the whole reason society exists.

It's also not that SJM wanted to write out her trauma. That's also fine. Love it for her even if that's her healing process!

It's the fact that reproductive abuse happens that is horrific but it's okay because her super hot husband did it and he's entitled to mistakes. It's that we aren't actually discussing accountability beyond "Feyre was upset and Rhys maybe had a bad call."

It's that we aren't actually acknowledging that this was so devastating for many readers because of the depth of the betrayal. Because we live in a world where women's rights are constantly being stripped and the tone deafness of the storyline/continued romanticization of Rhys is so jarring when you know that she went through something that took her own autonomy.

But no, Rhys is hot and perfect, so he can make a bad call every once in a while 🤪

[the-paper-owl]

Acotar Tag Game

So, I wasn't actually tagged to do this, but I saw a few people doing this tag game and wanted to do it myself to hopefully give folks a chance to get to know me a little better because I'm pretty new to Tumblr. I was inspired by @designerpotatosack, so thank you!

1. Who’s your favourite ACOTAR character?

Nesta 100%. I relate to her on a deep level.

2. Who’s your least favourite character?

Definitely Amren. I wish she had died in ACOWAR because she is just so cruel to Nesta and really everyone in SF.

3. Say something nice about your least favourite character.

I actually really enjoyed Amren in ACOMAF! Her snarky side was very entertaining. I also did enjoy her sacrifice in ACOWAR; it was only when she was revived that I found it cheap.

4. Who’s your favourite High Lord?

Hmm, probably Tarquin. I loved his chemistry with Feyre, especially.

5. Favourite minor character?

The Suriel for sure. I was so sad when it died.

6. Favourite ship?

Non-canon ship? Nesmerie! Canon ship?  Fuck, idk if I actually like any of the canon ships.

7. Favourite Court?

Night Court! Idk, it suits my aesthetic, and Velaris seems so lovely. I do have some problems with the leadership though…

8. Make a new court right now, no prep, just vibes.

I’m imagining an underwater city like Atlantis. Maybe it could be called the Ocean Court?

9. What relationship would you have wanted to see more in the books?

Lucien and Feyre. I wanted to see more of their new dynamic, and I wanted less hostility from Feyre towards Lucien.

10. What’s your unpopular opinion?

I don’t care who Elain (or Azriel) ends up with. I don’t really see enough evidence to confirm either way, and Elain is a character I just don’t care for at this point in time because of how she treated Nesta. I’m open to however SJM decides to explore her character and romantic storyline.

11. What is your favourite headcannon?

That Rhys is evil and is manipulating Feyre. Seems unlikely that SJM would ever write that, but it would be entertaining.

12. If you were swept away to Prythian, what’s one thing you would want to do?

Attend Starfall, Calanmai, or some other cultural event.

13. If you could have one Faeire ability seen in the books, what would it be?

Winnowing for sure!

14. What would you name books 6&7?

I’m terrible at names, so I’m not sure (ironic because I'm a researcher and I come up with titles all the time). But it depends on what themes are explored and who the central characters are. If Azriel is a key character, I’d love to see “shadows” in one of the book titles!

15. If you were in ACOTAR, who would you want to date?

Nesta <3

16. What ACOTAR characters would you want to be best friends with?

Nesta, Emerie, and Gwyn!

17. Have you read the other series in the Maasverse? Throne of glass and/or Crescent City?

I have not. I might in the future, but it's not on my TBR right now.

18. What romance trope would you want to live if you were in ACOTAR?

Friends to lovers! That’s how I ended up with my actual partner, so I’m biased.

19. What ACOTAR book is your favorite so far?

I'm torn by this question. The only ACOTAR book I considered a 5-star read was Mist and Fury. However, I connected more to the story of Silver Flames. But I couldn't rate it 5 stars because I didn't like Nessian's story very much, and the IC made me very angry.

So, SF is closer to my heart, but I find MAF to be the better book if that makes sense?

20. Since SJM is a Disney fan, who is your favorite Disney character?

Winnie the Pooh. I’ve loved Pooh Bear since childhood (my baby blanket had Winnie the Pooh characters), and I actually really want a Pooh tattoo. And the real-life bear that inspired him was from Winnipeg, haha.

21. What is your favourite thing about being in the ACOTAR fandom?

I love how people are willing to engage with this story critically and how we all come to the defense of characters we think were mischaracterized. The fan art is also amazing.

22. What’s something you want to see happen in future books?

I want to see Rhys face some consequences for his actions

23. If SJM comes out with more merchandise. Would you buy it?

Probably not, tbh. I’m a broke uni student, so most of my fun money goes to books themselves, not book merch haha.

24. If ACOTAR became a TV series. Would you want it to be live action or animated?

I think animation. I especially think this series would work great if the creators took inspiration from anime, as someone who LOVES fantasy anime.

Once again, being pretty new to Tumblr, I don't really have anyone to tag yet. However, if you are inspired by my post and want to partake, please feel free to tag me! I'd love to connect with others in the fandom and learn your opinions :)

[ladydeath-vanserra]

when I say "fiction impacts reality" I am explicitly thinking about how sjm stans think the dehumanizing behavior of nesta during that """intervention""" is "how you treat addicts". i am someone who's entire life got completely derailed because my parents were drug addicts and were alcoholics and I went to treatment with my mom when i was eight. SEEING people dehumanizing addicts in the SJM fandom is incredibly hurtful and damaging and dangerous to see

[phantomrose96]

If you are a PET trying to help your HUMAN just remember the acronym WAY

Are you in the Way?

Are you in the wAy?

Are you in the waY?

If the answer to all three is YES then you are HELPING 👏👏👏

[ladydeath-vanserra]

see if like... sjm just did a lick of research for the alcoholism/alcohol abuse she is clearly TRYINGGGGG to portray or for HOW to conduct an intervention she would have 1) realized that alcohol withdrawal can be *so* insanely dangerous that it can actually KILL you and you can't just STOP that without medical intervention

lol but then nesta didnt even go through withdrawls. she wasnt even HUNGOVER??? how was her alcohol abuse just soooo bad that you HAD to take away her home and lock her in some fucking house ten THOUSANDDD steps in the air that she had to take to get in and out of (btw she was severely emaciated and actually, could not, get out of the house) or have someone with wings fly her out of?

and 2) that interview also was fucking TERRIBLE and shame based and was, in fact, damn near the exact opposite of what you are supposed to do. everyone centered themselves and just ripped into nesta and had also slut shamed her instead of actually coming from a place of concern. Rhysand should NOT have been there. NEITHER should have Amren. Only Feyre. Only Elain. MAYBEEEE Cassian. Maybe. if im feeling generous.

the entire intervention was them ripping into her, slut shaming her and telling her what an uncontrollable embarrassment she is. meanwhile, mind you, we do not EVER actually SEE HER on page do anything wild or concerning. Every bad thing apparently happens off page that she is condemned for

she is given an ultimatum of losing her home and being forced into the house of wind and working in the library (for no pay) OR exiled to the human lands where she very likely would have been hunted and killed

a HUGE component of recovery is autonomy and personal choice and they fucking took ALL of that away from her. they completely stripped her of her personhood because she EMBARRASSED them

there were so many options SJM had to tackle a topic like this without demonizing addicts

[reapainting]

THE SUN ☀️ “If you tried, you could shine brighter than the fucking sun. Instead, you’ve chosen to sit back and wither.” ― Raven Kennedy, Glint . . First tarot card! I chose to rework my old card of the Sun with Auren, ofc ☀️🌻 Hoe you like this new style, I relied heavily on the lineart and tried to create a composition full of movement, it was inspired by Mucha and the art nouveau 🌟 I think this two years improvement is not bad for a self-taught artist 🤭 . Yes, I'm another one just waiting for what raven has to offer us now because I miss Auren so much 😫 This character grew so much with me while I was reading her journey for years 🤩 . Which tarot card do you think should come next? 👀

[shamebats]

My child, who spends their entire life being transfered from home to car to school and back, and is not allowed to leave the house or talk to anyone and can only in their wildest dreams imagine a life free from constant surveillance, is very sad. Obviously they're dumb and lazy, like all kids these days.

[whineandcheese24]

kind of a tangent but i recently went to a bowling alley with my friend i'm 19 he's 18 and the woman at the door didn't want to let us in because there was a sign saying under-18s needed adult supervision. everything got cleared up and we were able to go bowl, but i'm still so mad about the fact that kids need adult supervision to go to a bowling alley and arcade. like okay maybe young kids should have supervision but what do you mean middle and high schoolers need to hold mommy's hand while they play video games. kids aren't just addicted to their phones because phones are addicting, we're addicted to our phones because there's nothing else to fucking do

[shamebats]

I'm sure banning kids from online spaces while simultaneously not ensuring that they have access to offline spaces to socialize in (without having to rely on their parents who already don't have time for them) will help them feel better & less alienated from society.

[isuggestrevolution]

i have a suggestion

[love-nuclear-babes]

You guys are saying that Silver Flames redeemed Nesta in your eyes, but for me, the moment she tried to cross the wall and rescue Feyre she was forgiven

[battlecrazed-axe-mage]

So we're all gonna let the new Harry Potter show die on the vine, right? No hatewatching. No thinkpieces. No videos about how bad it is. Deprive it of oxygen and let it wither away unremarked-upon and unprofitable; make HBO lose their entire investment and prove to the corporate entertainment sphere that the entire IP is poison. And spend that time doing something that brings you joy instead.

[maladattata]

I find it so funny how it's like

ACOTAR: Feyre gets abducted by tamlin and falls in love with him in a beauty and the beast type of way.

ACOMAF: Feyre gets abducted by rhysand and falls in love with him in a hades and persephone type of way.

I wish all the other sequels were just new retellings of abduction love stories with all the highlords like

ACOWAR: Feyre gets abducted by tarquin and falls in love with him in a phantom of the opera type of way.

ACOFAS: Feyre gets abducted and falls in love with kallias in a hans chrisrian andersen's snow queen type of way.

ACOSF: Feyre gets abducted by helion and falls in love with him in a helen of troy type of way.

ACO#6: Feyre gets abducted by beron and falls in love with him in a king kong type of way.

ACO#7: Feyre gets abducted and falls in love with thesan in a zeus and europa type of way.

And then i think there should be ACO#8 where her family kidnaps her back

[unhealthyfanobsession]

This is even funnier when you realize that you could do it with all of the Archeron sisters …

Nesta’s book was also a forced somewhere against your will to fall in love story and Elain already has a weird love triangle thing going on so I officially declare that all 3 Archeron sisters should get a full 8 books of being kidnapped by notable Prythians and then in the final book they get to see each other again and it’s like oh bonjour here’s our harems

[my-maasverse]

Nessian

One thing that annoys me about Nessian is I want to love them but SJM does dumb things that ruin things for me. Obviously there’s the whole fact that the premise of their romance is he is her jailer and is put in a position of power over her, but also the fact that this romance is happening during an extremely vulnerable time in Nesta’s life where her self-esteem to so low and she’s being broken down.

Nesta and Cassian had plenty of chemistry and could have had a healthy relationship. There’s so much potential there, but the way SJM tells their story is frustrating.

I also hate that Rhysand is a weird spot in their relationship. He comes up randomly and it’s honestly a little creepy. It’s like SJM can’t write without having to remind us Rhysand is there and she thinks he’s perfect and handsome and stuff.

I mean, I’m still reading, about half way through ACOSF, but I still love Nesta and Cassian and I wish they could have come together in better circumstances.

[big8cola]

Its actually so crazy to me that it is still so stigmatized to have body hair as a woman like what the fuckkkkkk what the fuckkkkkk thats not even like a social convention associated with men thats just like a bodily function what the fuckkkkkk

[silver-flames-of-dusk]

The problem is that Nesta apologizes to others, but no one apologizes to her, to the point that Nesta always feels like she's in the wrong when she's not. That's not healing. This was my mentality after I left my abusive home and it took years of therapy to realize I was not always the one at fault. For example, when it comes to Nesta, she wanted to apologize to Cassian at the end of ACOSF for using their bargain to send him away. She wanted to keep apologizing until she made things right and he smiled again. The problem with classifying this as 'healing" is that Nesta did nothing wrong and had no justifiable reason to apologize. Cassian was the one who was cruel and purposely hurt Nesta's feelings because she wasn't ready to accept the mating bond. This isn't character growth on Nesta's part, but rather a character so completely broken down that she'll apologize for doing nothing wrong, all in an effort to make Cassian happy. That's an abusive relationship grounded in Stockholm Syndrome, in my opinion. Especially considering we don't see any growth from Cassian. He was the one who should have apologized to Nesta in both the Winter Solstice scene and at the Sidra (and literally every other Nessian interaction). Cassian is constantly saying incredibly hurtful and verbally abusive things to Nesta for the sole purpose of hurting her, but he never owns up to it and he never apologizes. He "forgives" her when he was the one in the wrong.

And that's not even getting started on all the hurtful and cruel things the IC say to Nesta to intentionally hurt her feelings. The problem with this narrative and the fandom is the double standard between what Nesta can get away with and what everyone else can get away with.

[the-paper-owl]

The scene where Nesta gets on her knees to apologize to Amren made me want to throw my book across the room. It was Amren who owed Nesta an apology for calling her a waste of space and for having zero faith in her when she was supposed to be her only friend.

Poor Nesta is made to feel like she's the most evil person to ever exist when she's surrounded by people who are ten times nastier. And then I see people in the fandom treat her the exact same way!!!

[flowersandelephants]

Not enough people talk about how wrong it was of Feyre to force Nesta into 'fixing' herself. It worked, yes, Nesta did let go of her unhealthy coping mechanisms, but what if she hadn't?

I wouldn't be complaining about this if Feyre apologised, but if I remember correctly, she never did. The entire time, she thought she was in the right, and eventually, it was NESTA who had to say sorry and then claim that Feyre made the right decision??? Does SJM not understand how risky it is to force treatment onto somebody against their will??? People kill themselves from this stuff. I know I nearly did when I was in a similar situation. What kind of message was this book sending?

Imagine being stripped of your freedom and forced to behave in a specific way just because you process grief differently. The IC could've found a different way to help Nesta. Cassian could've visited her every now and then to check up on her and keep her from trouble. They could've done 1000 different things that are way better than giving her an ultimatum.

I genuinely enjoyed ACOTAR and finished it some time ago, but whenever I remember the ableist undertones of SF, I want to burn the books while I bash my head against the wall.

Nesta didn't need to apologise. Everyone else did. She acted harshly, yes, but she never meant to hurt those around her unless she wanted to defend herself.

[the-paper-owl]

I would have loved to see a version of Silver Flames where the IC stops funding Nesta, and she ends up having to get a job. Maybe she does choose to work in the library, or maybe she discovers a bookstore in Velaris. There she eventually meets Emerie and Gwyn, then maybe the three of them seek out Cassian for training after they all realize that their trauma has left them feeling helpless.

Maybe that's not the best idea, but my point is that the plot wouldn't even have to be that different to avoid the weird psych ward undertones. SF made Nesta my favourite character with how well I could connect to her trauma and depression, but the narrative treats her so poorly.

[mawofthemagnetar]

Cold take but all languages are beautiful actually. Every single one. Every single human language on earth is a collection of stories interwoven into the very fabric of the words that are spoken.

“Oh but this language sounds scary-“ have you heard a child speak it while pointing at a butterfly?

“Oh but this language sounds silly-“ have you heard someone’s grandma recite a recipe with such practiced ease it comes off as poetry?

“Oh but this language is really weird-“ and yours isn’t? Everyone’s language is weird, dumbass, it came free with your fucking humanity.

Every tongue that is spoken is a work of art. Every language a unique window into the world.

Isn’t it wonderful?

[joy-and-whimsy-official]

Joy and whimsy detected! This post is joyful and whimsical!

[this-is-trans-joy]

To whoever needs to hear this, because I certainly did a few years back, you don’t need to eat “like an adult”. You are allowed to prep meals or snacks like you’re a child, and I don’t mean you need to treat yourself like you’re immature, but you’re allowed to give yourself the same grace, patience and willingness to compromise as you would a little kid.

If you don’t like the textures of vegetables, you can blend them up and mix them into something tasty. If you struggle to cook a proper lunch, you can just make yourself a luncbox full of snacks or sandwiches that you can easily take out the fridge later on and pick at. If snacks or ready-meals targeted at children look easier or more appealing, you can just buy them. If you want to cut the crusts off your bread or use cookie cutters to shape your sandwiches into fun shapes, do it!

“It doesn’t matter what you eat, what’s important is just eating” is a crucial philosophy to take on board, but the other important thing to keep in mind is that absolutely no one should control how you eat your food. I don’t care if it’s considered childish, if changing how you eat something gets you to eat it in the first place, make the change. Let yourself eat exactly how you want to.