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#Acosf Rhys was still weird but I never really read it as hating nesta because she was powerful
highqueenmorrigan · 1 year
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Hm tbh still don't understand saying Rhys doesn't like powerful women, as if his court isn't made up of powerful women, he lost his mind (positive) every time Feyre started exploring her power, and has the utmost respect for and fear of Amren pre-acosf
*edit: I saw amren specifically because she seemed to be significantly more powerful than rhys
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bookofmirth · 2 years
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so pre acosf i was a major anti nesta. like i really disliked her. but i respected the fact that she was a bitch through and through and wasn’t changing for anything or anyone. and then i read acosf and really disliked rhysand (who was my number 1 book boyfriend previously) and it’s literally the terrible internalised misogyny in sjm and her writing that made me dislike him
firstly i thought it was so weird how the inner circle treated nesta like she was the greatest evil of all time and had murdered their children. i thought it was just so silly 💀 like nesta and her mistakes compared to what rhysand has done, compared to how many people az and cass hahe killed is literally just nothing. like compared to what all the other characters have done i feel like nesta being a bitch and letting feyre hunt is honestly so much less evil and feels so hypocritical for the inner circle to regard her in such a negative way because of it (considering the evil things they’ve done)
but anyway, i honestly started to hate rhysand after the entire pregnancy secret came out. was nesta in the right? NO. absolutely not. but rhys is the reason it was even able to come out like that. he’s the man with power and withheld the info from feyre because apparently no more choices for feyre exist after acowar 🫶
but to have to read about rhys sitting in velaris and laughing with cassian about nesta getting punished for spilling the beans as if his wife didn’t just find out she’s gonna die and he didn’t just threaten to kill nesta was so oddly misogynistic to me that i had to pause. like rhys really got out of that situation scott free? i know everyone makes headcanons that feyre yelled at him or something but … come on. in canon no one blames rhys for shit. even cassian doesn’t blame rhys at all and just punished nesta on that god awful hike where he makes her walk (on a trail he himself says could easily kill someone unexperienced WHILE NESTA IS UNEXPERIENCED) for 4 days until she passes out of exhaustion is just … horrible? i think that’s when my opinion on nesta really just flipped.
like i just feel sad for her and the narrative that is honestly never on her side. after acowar, i’m not sure why rhysand still hated her so much like she literally saved cassian’s life twice? helped them through acomaf with the queens and then all through acowar? obviously she was a bitch that used their money but honestly she kept to herself and only lashed out when they sought her out. like she didn’t go out of her way to find them and fight with them. idk the entire inner circle feels so weird after acosf like this happy bubble just popped and honestly they’re not as amazing as i’ve thought they were?
this turned into a rant but i really need sjm to address this whole nesta punishment situation in some way in the future books (i know she won’t because rhys is rarely held accountable or truly made to look like a bad guy) but i really need some justice for nesta 😭
i know lots of people blame nesta and say she deserved the way she was treated in acosf and after telling feyre about the pregnancy but after reading acosf through really neutral and unbiased eyes, i honestly think rhysands behaviour is excused just bec he’s a guy that everyone loves and nesta is a bitch so she ‘deserves’ to be treated badly and unfairly
There are a few things I miss from acomaf - Rhys, and the IC.
This isn't character development, it's like character demolishment, especially in Rhys's case. That anon I answered earlier this week said that they think he was in character in acosf, but I still just have a hard time with that! Not necessarily with Nesta, because I could see that building from the moment they met, but with the pregnancy. That's beside the point, though.
I wonder.... I wonder if this is because of sjm's habit of not writing villains very well, and by that I don't mean Nesta is a villain - like objectively speaking, she doesn't serve that function in the story - but what I mean is that her villains are very two-dimensional, boring, flat, I rarely understand their motivations. And her protagonists are very good, beautiful, powerful, the Most Best Ever. Then enter Nesta, who is somewhere in between the most perfect angel/demon... idk, I kinda wonder if this didn't expose a weakness in sjm's characterization overall, that she just couldn't write a character with flaws and like, deal with that in a normal way?
I do think that the IC as individuals all dealt with Nesta in different ways, and to me most of those ways made sense. Amren, Mor, Azriel, even Cassian, their behavior, while not perfect or ideal, makes sense to me. But Rhys? He got turned into a prop to create conflict in acosf.
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demonlovesangel · 3 years
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Azriel and Elain... Maybe something else?
Just a cute post because I've noticed how they are around each other, but mainly a couple of interactions that scream... Something else.
In Acowar we really start seeing Elriel crumbs, and I think it's interesting how things develop for them.
But Azriel asked softly, "What about Elain?"
~
From the shadows near the entrance of the tent, Azriel said, as if in answer to some unspoken debate, "I'm getting her back."
Nesta slid her gaze to the shadowsinger. Azriel's hazel eyes glowed golden in the shadows.
Nesta, said, "Then you will die."
Azriel only repeated, rage glazing that state, "I'm getting her back."
~
Azriel gently removed the gag from her mouth. "Are you hurt?"
She shook her head, devouring the sight of him as if not quite believing it. "You came for me." The shadowsinger only inclined his head.
~
Azriel's roar echoed off the rocks as the hound slammed into him, dragging those shredding talons down his spine, his wings-
The girl screamed, but Elain moved. As Azriel battled to keep them airborne, keep his grip on them, my sister sent a fierce kick into the beast's face. Its eye. Another. Another.
It bellowed, and Elain slammed her bare, muddy foot into its face again. The blow struck home.
~
Rhys lunged for Azriel, taking Elain from him and gently setting my sister down. Azriel rasped, swaying on his feet, "We need Helion to get these chains off her."
Yet Elain didn't seem to notice them as she rose up on her toes and kissed the shadowsinger's cheek. And then walked to me and Nesta, who pulled back long enough to survey Elain's clean face, her clear eyes.
I don't know about you, but when rereading this interaction something struck me as odd.
They're supposed to be friends, or acquaintances at the very least, right? They met like 4 months ago considering Feyre was in the Spring Court for 3 months and a little before that she took the bat boys to meet her sisters.
The interest in each other was always there, while Azriel's interest towards Elain was always very vocal (he talks to her a lot even when he hates talking), Elain's interest towards Azriel is a little different, since she is shy around him, but she wants to get to know him and doesn't balk from him even if for everyone else he's intimidating... Weird, huh? Considering how she is. Everyone seems to be afraid of Azriel, and she isn't.
So, coming back to how long they've known each other... Isn't it weird that Azriel decided to risk his life in order to save her? Isn't it weird that somehow, without knowing, he sensed that Elain must have heard the Cauldron and left? He was the first one to notice, the first one to go to her cot and see how long it had been since she left and the first one to say he would go save her. Not even her sisters said that first.
Not only that, but he's covered in shadows the whole time, and we know shadows do that to him when he's having negative emotions.
When Elain sees him she can't believe he came for her. Not Feyre, but him. Why though? Maybe because they haven't known each other for that long, maybe because she knew the risk of him going there, maybe somehow she called him and didn't expect him to come.
And when they are airborne and Azriel screams in pain and his wings are shredded, Elain kicks the hound with her bare feet. She risks getting hurt (the beast could have easily cut off her foot) in order to defend Azriel.
When they arrive at the camp he is swaying and spilling blood from his wings and he still thinks about her wellbeing first. And she notices this, kisses his cheek and goes to her sisters.
Elain shows her caring by being a lot less aggressive than her sisters. She doesn't resort to kicking or killing unless it's something serious, like when the King of Hybern was about to kill Nesta. So that makes me wonder, and I can't help it, why she helped Azriel in that way. She could have screamed in terror, but instead she defended him.
And that brings me to my other point, and maybe it is a reach but... This screams mate behaviour.
Mates are supposed to not be able to hurt each other, not physically at least (because we know both Feysand and Nessian have said hurtful things to one another). They always defend each other even if they risk their lives (again, Nessian and Feysand, both of them risked their lifes to save each other)... And in this case, Az risked his life when he knew Elain for less than six months and he didn't even think twice about it, and Elain did the same thing without thinking a few pages after that. Again, they have known each other for a very short period of time.
Don't get me started at how they seem to communicate without words and how they just understand each other and see each other. Because that, to me, looks a lot like soulmates.
I can't help but wonder how they gravitate towards one another and how they display similar reactions with each other as Nessian and Feysand do.
Don't get me wrong- I've never wanted them to be mates, but when you read their interactions you can just see there's something else going on there. Something bigger, something that's deeper than what we've seen so far.
I'm not surprised at all Azriel wondered if the Cauldron was wrong, because if you look at their relationship, they clearly have a similar pattern as other couples we know (Feysand and Nessian). And if he feels when Elain is in danger or when something is wrong with her... It sounds like they have a deeper connection than what we have glimpsed so far. I think he's wondering how he can feel all that for Elain, that it feels as something deeper, stronger, than just a crush, not a real connection, since she already has a mate. Honestly? I would be wondering that too if I were him.
Elain knowing what he needs is something that I'm wondering too, because no one else seems to notice him and she's the only one that gifts him something he actually needs. Where Azriel is adamant on keeping her safe and seeing her, she speaks and pays attention to him and knows what he's going through.
I really want Sarah to acknowledge at least some of this, because she did write in Acosf not once, but twice, about Az going to the heart of Hybern's war-camp to save Elain, like it was something truly meaningful.
I sincerely think there's something else in their whole relationship and I just need to know what it is.
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starbornvalkyrie · 3 years
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ACOSF USA BOOK TOUR NOTES
Hey y’all! I just attended the LiveTalks Los Angeles event with Sarah J Maas and Eva Chen!! I took lots of notes so I wanted to share them with you all! They’re a little incoherent on the page, so it might seem a crazy, they jumped topics a lot. Feel free to chat with me about what she talked about! But first.
MY RULES:
NO SHIP OR CHARACTER SLANDERING. I know that we all may have different opinions. I will not offer my opinions here, this is purely informational for those of you who did not have the opportunity to attend this event.
PLEASE NO ARGUING IN MY COMMENTS OR ASK BOX WITH ME OR ANYONE ELSE WHO COMMENTS
Acknowledge that I am not perfect and may not have written down everything perfectly. I did my best while still trying to enjoy the event.
I AM NOT SARAH J MAAS AND CANNOT INTERPRET WHAT SHE MEANS
I’m tagging this with #acosf spoilers and #acosfspoilers just in case.
If you understand and can abide by these rules, keep reading below the cut, and enjoy!
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SJM said it was weird doing this event from her living room where you might be able to hear her dog in the background or her son trying to get into the room.
ACOSF started as a passion project while she was writing ACOWAR! It was never anything she thought she was going to publish. (more on this later)
About reading and writing growing up
in middle school, she read a lot of fantasy
in high school, she didn’t read as much, but wrote A LOT. it became her fixation, almost an obsession.
in college, she only really wrote on vacations (she had a very healthy social life hehehe) but her junior year is when she found her balance between schoolwork, writing, and socializing.
there was no plan B for her!! it was always to be an author. if it didn’t happen right away, she was going to find a job that would get her by until plan A could come to be.
her favorite author growing up was Garth Nix. She longed for books about badass women. She got to meet him and write a blurb to be on one of his books! She cries when she meets her favorite authors.
Talk about character names!
her character names come from everywhere and nowhere
sometimes she’ll just hear a name in her head and think “that’s it!” (Rhys, for example)
she needs to know the name to write the character
if the name doesn’t immediately come to her, she spends a lot of her time on baby name websites and makes lists until it clicks
sometimes the names just... connect. sometimes she doesn’t mean for them to.
it will always be uncommon. never “Frank” lol
Writing about Nesta!
on a “surface level” she loves writing when Nesta comes out to fight. for example, her favorite scene in this aspect to write was the bog scene. As soon as she got to it, it flowed out of her. The final product was almost identical to the first draft. She wrote it in one session, from the terror & tread to the “who am i?” to when she emerged--she went YES. MAJOR Mic Drop moment for her.
going deeper: definitely her overall journey was one of the favorites she’s ever written. From the dark place she’s in at the beginning to the very end. 
Writing about Nesta meant so much to her because of her own mental health. She channeled a lot of her own feelings and went on the journey with Nesta.
it was a lot of “how do you face mental health in a fantasy world without therapy and medication”
it was easy to get into Nesta’s mind but emotionally intense.
ACOSF’S BIG MESSAGE: LEARNING TO LOVE YOURSELF AND OTHERS. YOU ARE WORTH OF LOVE.
YES there is a book planned for Elain!
As soon as Nesta and Elain came onto the page again in ACOMAF, she knew they’d get their own journey.
Nesta grabbed her by the throat in book 1
She was originally contracted for only the first three books but realized there was more she wanted to explore. Essentially the “what comes next” after ACOWAR in this new world with out the wall.
FUN FACT: while editing ACOMAF/writing ACOWAR, she drunkenly told her editor at the time, “hey guess what happens next?”, and it turned into a two hour conversation about everything she wants to happen for Nesta, Elain, Mor, Azriel, etc. TWO WEEKS LATER, she gets a call saying they want to buy the stories!! Obviously, she said yes.
This allowed her to start planting the Easter eggs for these stories in ACOWAR. She knew she did not want Nesta to be sympathetic at the beginning of the book! But she did not want people to hate her.
She always has one eye on the horizon for future books.
If she could visit one court for a day, which and why?
She LOVES the season Autumn, it’s her favorite. “BUT EVERYONE IN THE AUTUMN COURT IS AN ASSHOLE”. She would want to visit the Autumn Court when no one is there so she can enjoy the beauty of Autumn.
But also she would want to go to the Summer Court because she has a thing for Tarquin but only if it’s not gross and humid.
She would ALSO want to go to the Day Court for Helion and all his libraries.
ESSENTIALLY she would want to go everywhere but Spring because Tamlin sucks and is an asshole lmao.
BEAST FORMS
SJM’s beast form would be something totally not cool or majestic like a sea otter.
Nesta’s beast form would be something terrifying and beautiful like a snow leopard/dragon hybrid, a griffin, or a sphinx. **WANTS SOMEONE TO DRAW THIS**
FUN QUESTIONS
Nesta’s favorite smutty book would be JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series. She reads these books for the distraction, of course, but also for the comfort they gave her that everything turns out okay for the characters.
Nesta’s Starbucks order: cappuccino- something simple, nothing with too much sugar or whipped cream. Elain’s would be a Frappe- something delicious and sweet. SJM’s is a flat white, iced or not, but never after 2PM.
SJM usually listens to classical music and movie scores while she writes, but she’s gotten used to write in silence so that she can listen for her son’s shenanigans with Josh.
“Stay Together for the Kids” by Blink 182 semi-inspired the scene when Nesta and Cassian go back to her family’s cottage. She can hardly explain why.
WRITING ADVICE
Write what you love, not what you think you should be writing.
Give yourself permission to suck. Her first drafts are shit and are usually accompanied with an email that says “I know I need to fix this, this and that” lol.
WRITE THE DAMN THING. Vomit on the page!
YOU CAN’T FIX A BLANK PAGE.
Her least favorite part about the publishing process is the first pass of copy edits, those last minute checks and balances. But once it’s off to the printer, it’s not her problem anymore.
She’s every publisher’s worst nightmare because she sends it off to the printer at the LAST possible minute.
For reference: Throne of Glass was finished almost... a year and a half? ...before it hit shelves, but ACOSF was finished this past fall.
MAIN CHARACTER TALK
All of her heroines have a piece of her.
SJM’s personality is a hybrid of Bryce and Nesta.
Feyre and Nesta got most of her in terms of learning to be empowered.
She has to have a connection to them in order to write them. It’s an out of body, method acting experience.
MISCELLANEOUS
She said “CC2 is a year from now.”
She started writing ACOTAR in 2008 before she published TOG.
She loves the story and dynamic of Elizabeth and Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. Cassian is Elizabeth. Nesta is Darcy.
And that’s all I have, folks! Thank you for reading, I hope you got something out of this!
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ACOSF Thoughts - SPOILER WARNING
(ACOTAR series, ACOSF, and Kingdom of Ash spoilers are all below along with my thoughts after finally finishing A Court of Silver Flames!)
Was SJM trying to get me to hate Rhysand in this book? And kind of Elain and Amren? Even a teensy bit Feyre? Don't get me wrong- I love Rhys. ACOTAR and ACOMAF Rhys is one of my favorite characters and my literal favorite book boyfriend EVER. So could someone please draw me a map to where the hell he went because that Rhys was NOT IN THIS BOOK?!?!?
Rhysand in ACOSF was every bit the territorial fae bastard in this book that Tamlin was in ACOMAF. He lied to Feyre about something HUGE. Nesta shouldn't have told her like that, but someone needed to tell her. And the way he treated Nesta sucked.
And Feyre was every bit the pretty bride who blushed and had lots of sex and had a male who shielded her from what was really going on (you know, her impending death?) that she accused Tamlin of wanting to make her into. What the fuck was happening with them in this book? It's great to make Feyre a High Lady, but then she should be treated like one, not lied to?!? It's fine to make her more domestic, she deserves peace and happiness, but not at the expense of her autonomy.
And while we're on it, I kind of hated Feyre's pregnancy storyline. The thing about writing immortal characters is that you have so many chances to play with time. There is no reason that 500+ year old Rhys and 21 year old Feyre who were together for like one year?!?!? needed to have a pregnancy story here. They are IMMORTAL. Why can't they have time together, just the two of them, before introducing a pregnancy? What's the rush? They are immortal High Fae who will be alive for CENTURIES to come. Forget years, give yourselves a few decades together first! Your whole relationship so far has been 50% trauma-recovery and 50% saving the world/trying not to die!!!!
Feyre's pregnancy felt like the author showing through and overshadowing the characterization—I have to think some of this is SJM becoming a mother in the last few years and wanting to write that into their story, but still. (SJM also did this with Yrene and Chaol in Kingdom of Ash - is the eve of a huge war really a great time for a pregnancy? Wouldn't a healer know how to not get pregnant accidentally?) I also didn't love that a Feysand pregnancy was this huge part of Nesta's story. Can she not have five minutes of the spotlight? Feyre already got 3 books. (Sorta kidding.) (You know what I'm not kidding about? Not liking the name Nyx at all...but who cares I guess.)
If it's so well-known that Illyrian baby delivery is basically a death sentence for High Fae females, why would Rhys not be like 'omg Feyre, yes, let's have a baby, but let's not have sex while you're in that form which is optional for you like is he this 'the most cunning high lord' or not?!) (Also they wouldn't even have Feyre try shifting her body to give her Illyrian hips when otherwise she would FOR SURE DIE like try it?!) All that magic and no one's invented the cesarean?!?
(On a separate pregnancy note, y'all realize the Kingdom of Ash scene where Aelin falls through the worlds and sees a 'heavily pregnant' fae whose mate throws his night-like power towards her to slow her fall have happened during the timeline of this book, right?!? Wild.)
I love Nesta. I love her. I love her arc. I've loved her this whole time, but her coming to terms with herself was great. Her finding peace was great. I was already in the she doesn't need a redemption arc, she needs a therapist and time to herself away from her sisters camp before reading ACOSF, and I only feel more strongly after reading it.
I honestly think time away from her sisters and Rhys with people who weren't constantly judging her (Cassian, Azriel, Gwen, Emerie, Clotho, the House) was just as healthy and necessary for Nesta's healing arc (NOT a redemption arc, a healing arc) as giving up some of her more harmful vices like nonstop drinking and complete isolation was.
So much sex. Like as one of my friends put it, 'this book is filthy, y'all!' It was kind of overkill, like I was already sold on their relationship, but sure, why not. But if nearly all those scenes cut away instead of getting super descriptive, I would have liked this book just as much. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The part with the Mask and the kelpie was so good! It was crazy, and creepy, and her rising up with this army of the dead was so great. Also when they went to the prison for the Harp!!! So good.
A couple weird 'repeats' from ACOMAF... 1) Nesta 'knowing' that Cassian 'needed to hear' her say the exact phrase "You're mine" which is right out of the mating bond acceptance chapter from ACOMAF stuck out to me, especially combined with hearing that Nesta had never told another person she loved them as we found out in the scene where she saved Feyre at the end. I was expecting 'I love you,' especially with them starting out in a 'just sex' relationship. 2) That 'just sex' thing and how obviously Cassian was into her and she was into him but she says she wants 'just sex' also reminded me ACOMAF, when Rhys and Feyre are at the inn and she disappoints him/lies to herself let's be real by telling him she wants just "fun."
Loved getting more of the Night Court palace on top of the Hewn City mountain. Dream house. That bathtub. Swoon.
I may really be in the minority here, but I did not like that Cassian and Nesta are mates. Tamlin tells Feyre in ACOTAR that it's rare for people to have mates at all. And honestly, I see why accepting the mating bond was so hard for Nesta as someone who didn't want to be fae in the first place, and I do not think she needed Cassian to be her mate to choose him forever. I wish they had CHOSEN each other and not also been mates. I think it would have been just as strong, and healthier for Nesta. (And also...if not everyone is mates, why can't they just fall in love? He won her heart, she chose him. I was fine before they were mates. I also think that would have nicely set up Elain rejecting the mating bond later, which she clearly wants to do/has basically done (did y'all read the Azriel extra chapter?! Anyway)
At the end of the day, the Inner Circle (except Cassian/Azriel) bothered me with their treatment of Nesta, even the intervention at the beginning. Was Nesta in need of help? Yes. Were they kind? No, especially not Rhys/Amren. Elain was just as traumatized/self-destructive for a while. She hardly ate, she spoke to no one, she lay in bed all day, Nesta checks that the high windows don't open because she thinks Elain is suicidal, etc. Nesta is also traumatized, but her trauma presented more angrily, less beautiful/sad woman lies around being beautifully sad (like Elain in ACOWAR or Feyre in ACOMAF), and she's entirely condemned by the IC for it (and by a lot of this fandom, let's be real).
I love Cassian. Love him. Looooove him. He stood up to Rhys for Nesta, defended her, was honest with her, accepted her, forgave her for what she actually did wrong (belittling him for his background/hurting him on purpose), but told her she herself was not wrong or broken (@ Rhys, @ Amren, @ Feyre, @ Mor, are y'all taking notes? Cassian and I said she was not broken. Not in need of fixing or redemption.) He kept reaching out his hand.
Plot wise, I also loved that Nesta/Gwen/Emerie ended up doing the Rite! That twist surprised me in a good way. Devlon and any other Illyrians who doubted them can suck it. VALKYRIES!!!
And finally, I LOVED the Nesta/Gwen/Emerie friendship. It made the book (it Made it, y'all. Pun intended). I loved reading about Nessian and I love Cassian, but these three and their friendship was my favorite part of the book, hands down. So great. I love female friendship - it's so underrated as a concept - and this one was amazing, and I'm glad it was such a focus of the story.
This was long, so thanks for sticking with me if you did! Not really interested in angry/anon discourse, but I'd love to hear y'all's thoughts!!!
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heyovivi · 3 years
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ACOTAR 6? (MAJOR SPOILERS FOR ACOSF)
Okay! I just finished A Court of Silver Flames and absolutely love Nesta’s journey and this is coming from a person who didn’t really like Nesta from the beginning. Her journey of healing and finding herself was beautiful and her journey with Cassian was heart-wrenching and sexy and I just loved it all! But anyways, more on that later, I have some predictions for the next book. 
So I usually don’t go into anything without spoiling myself so before I even picked up ACOSF from a bookshelf at Target (don’t worry I was able to read both bonus chapters; meaning Azriel’s and the Feyre and Rhys’ chapters) I knew a little about ACOSF already. Now, ACOSF wasn’t deeply plotted and there wasn’t any world building like there was when we read the first three book--although it didn’t really matter to me I still enjoyed the book. ACOSF was all about Nesta and her journey and an insight to her thoughts and why she is the way she is and although I felt that at some points I hated Nesta I could still understand her frustrations and I could understand that she was deeply flawed as a character--which is fine. 
Now, even if ACOSF didn’t have a huge plot there were some key elements that will probably be very important in the next book such as Koschei, the remaining Mortal Queens, the Band of Exiles, Azriel’s journey, and Elain’s journey. But one key thing I noticed was Eris. Now he didn’t appear that much in the book and if he did it was during moments where his presence was essential to the plot (such as being kidnapped by Queen Brialynn and Koschei), but in that last chapter he appeared in it seemed like there was more to the story, to his story specifically. I think that maybe we might be getting a book on Eris. 
A lot of people say that ACOSF is reminiscent of Tower of Dawn from the Throne of Glass series, where instead of following Aelin in her quest to free her kingdom and stop Maeve, we instead venture into a Chaol-centered book where we kind of try to understand his point of view and character growth. So maybe, and this is just a theory or prediction, maybe we’ll get a similar thing with Eris. 
From that one little conversation we get with Cassian and Eris, it appears that Eris is kind’ve jealous of the Night Court and it’s relationships with the other courts in Prythian. A lot of people have already pointed how much Eris could be a lot like Rhys in the manner that Eris wants the Autumn Court to be seen not as the fiery court of rage and misery, but instead wants to be a beacon for those who dwell there. And you do see some parallels between Rhys and Eris and their upbringing with their fathers being very strict figures in their lives but with Eris there was an emphasize of abuse somewhere along the line. 
Now I’m not saying that Eris is getting a book or that his book even next, but I think that we have not heard the full story of what happened between both him and Mor, and I really want to know the entire story of what had happened in Eris’ life to make him seem like such a conniving person. But if I’m being honest I would much rather read a book about Eris’ efforts to lift the Autumn Court than a book about Mor--just my preference you don’t have to agree with me. 
Now here are my runner ups for who could be the possible voice of ACOTAR 6. 
Azriel
Elain
No, not Azriel and Elain, but Azriel or Elain. Now there were a lot of people saying that the book is either about Elain and Azriel, or Azriel and Gwyn, or Elain and Lucien--and I’m not going to shut down anyone’s theories but I’m going to share my own. Again, if you feel peeved about what sides or ships I support then stop reading when you get pissed because I can live with the fact that not everyone is going to agree with my theories.
First off, Azriel. 
I’m going to be honest, from what I read on Tumblr mainly I thought Azriel’s role in ACOSF was going to be way bigger, but I still enjoyed his dry humor and presence when he was there. Though when it comes to Miss Sarah J Mass we have to pay attention to every little detail in her books and if you caught onto his distance from Mor during the Solstice party or his reluctance to hold baby Nyx because of his scarred hands then I think it’s pretty telling that the next book could be about Azriel and his journey with coming face to face with his trauma, his past, and maybe his unsteady relationship with the Illyrians; not to mention his five century one-sided love with Mor. 
If you know me, or looked at any of my content, you should know that I am a hardcore Gwynriel shipper. I love Gwyn and fell in love with the ship almost immediately so much so that I’m embarrassed that I entertained the idea of shipping Azriel with Emerie or Clotho. I think that she might play a pivotal role in his journey to healing and that he might also play a large role in hers as well. Through his bonus chapter we can kind of see the sparks of something starting between them, I’m guessing it’s tied to theories that they are mates or to the theory that Gwyn could be a possibly lightsinger. All I know for sure right now is that Gwyn’s story is definitely not over with and I except see more of her in the future along with the other Valkyries as well. 
Finally, Elain. 
Now I don’t think the next book is about Elain but I do feel that out of all of the other characters her story is in the making? I’ve been told numerous times that Elain will be getting a book of her own, but we don’t know when and we don’t know what it is going to be about. Now, I’m not the hugest fan of Elain and it all goes back to her and Nesta just sitting around when Feyre was in the woods fighting for her life and there's as well. I know that she apologized and felt guilty afterwards but her excuse was “we gave up and she didn’t” just did not do it for me. 
It was in this passage from A Court of Thorns and Roses, where my distaste for Elain blossomed: 
The mercenary transferred the coins to my waiting palm, and I tucked them into my pocket, their weight as heavy as milestone. There was no possible chance that my sisters hadn’t spotted the money--no chance they weren’t already wondering how they might persuade me to give them some. 
...I felt my sisters sweep closer, like vultures circling a carcass. 
Like at least we knew Nesta was the “wolf” as she described herself. We knew she had a sharp-tongue and we knew she could be a bitch with her words. But Elain, she was described as innocent and nice, and yes when you paint her in a garden with flowers and frilly dresses she does just seem like some Cinderella-like character but after five books, especially after ACOSF my hate for Elain has just grown. Like after ACOWAR, I just thought she was boring--yes, she had a hand in killing the king of Hybern but that hype was kind’ve stolen away when Nesta ripped his head from his body. 
Since then, we haven’t really, really got a full look through with Elain and a large part of that is because we haven’t gotten her point of view, like not even in A Court of Frost and Starlight. From what we know about her, canonically, no theories or anything, she likes to garden, she likes to cook, her friends are Cerridwen and Nuala, she doesn’t want to confront that bond she has with Lucien, and she has an attraction to Azriel. But beyond that we don’t know anything--there were things that I kept out even though they were mentioned in ACOSF but there is also a lot of mystery around the things she said and claimed to do--even Cassian questioned them but didn’t approach her about the topic. 
I don’t think we have enough of a story to build up on Elain. For the most part I feel like her presence in ACOSF was mostly there to just piss Nesta off. Literally, in every scene she has with Nesta, she is pissing her off, setting her off, making her yell or scream, or making the silver flames ignite. And this is extremely out of character for Elain. Yes, we don’t get enough of her, but from what we can gather, Elain usually is not one to push buttons but I wonder why she did with Nesta. 
Here are a few passages that I just found beguiling while reading Nesta’s interactions with Elain: 
Elain stepped closer, brown eyes wide. Undoubtedly wholly convinced of her own innocence, her innate goodness. “It’s the truth. We did this because we love you, and we worry for you, and if Father were here--”
“Don’t ever mention him.” Nesta bared her teeth, but kept her voice low. “Never fucking mention him again.” 
Mentioning their father? A very taboo subject for Nesta. And Elain stans like to argue that Elain is quiet and docile because she is an observer. She takes things in and she tucks them away in her memory, but if she’d paid so much attention then why would she mention their father to Nesta? Feyre noted Nesta’s relationship with their father in book one, so there is no way that Elain herself didn’t know about it. 
Here is  another line from their conversation I thought were very weird to read about and I’ll explain why: 
Elain crossed her arms and said calmly, sadly, “Feyre warned me this might happen.” 
Bullseye. Nesta doesn’t like to be talked about, to be judged. We learned that in ACOSF and again if Elain was this person who sees and pays attention she should’ve known this or caught on. 
I think in this scene, Elain was purposely trying to set off Nesta. 
Nesta cleared her throat. “Cassian said it might be good if I came.”
Elain’s eyes flickered. “Did Feyre pay you, like last year?” 
“No,” shame washed over her. 
Elain sighed, glancing over Nesta’s shoulder to the open doorway across the entry. The party within, only for their small inner circle. “Please don’t upset Feyre. It’s her birthday, first of all. And in her state--”
“Oh, fuck you,” Nesta snapped, and then choked. 
Nesta was actually trying to get better at this point. She even risked going to a party despite not feeling welcomed just because Cassian told her it might be good for her to be surrounded by her family and for her not be alone on the holiday. You could even tell how by the way Nesta is keeping herself away she is still uncomfortable but the thing is she still showed up which is a sure sign she is improving. 
I don’t know why Elain started talking about the year before or about upsetting Feyre--literally wanted to slap the bitch in this scene. Like I just want to know why Elain pressed so hard. Then afterwards she waved it off as if she hadn’t just said what she said and acted normally. I can not tell you how mad I was at this--like especially for a sensitive character like Nesta who is ALWAYS In her thoughts and always takes things to a deep level. Like what Elain said could’ve just broken a vital part of Nesta and caused her to relapse. 
Anyways, I think Elain’s behavior in ACOSF could hint at the Evil Elain theory. Although I don’t think it’s going to come in the next book--it might build in the next book but at most I think Elain’s story will come to fruition in ACOTAR 7 or 8 and isn’t going to be about her journey or soul searching but maybe we’ll be getting the point of view of a villain. Like there were many mysterious hints dropped in ACOSF and the way I interpreted them is that Elain is planning something and if her behavior matches her actions, it’s something that could possibly affect her sisters. 
Plus, you have to wonder how Brialynn and Koschei knew everything. They knew all the IC’s moves and all of Nesta’s moves...but how? A lot of the time when Nesta was given a mission by Rhys it was in the River House and we also know that Elain has been getting better at sneaking around without being detected so it’s not too farfetched that Elain could be the spy. You don’t have to agree with me but I think it’s a pretty solid theory as far as they go. 
But do tell me your thoughts I would love to hear them. I’m sorry if I offended anyone in the end but we all have to just respect everyone’s opinion so no fights or slander, especially in my comment section. 
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Right! So now that I've somewhat collected and organised my thoughts about ACOTAR, here we go:
First of all, I feel like this is one of those books where the plot is not the highlight, at least for me (that's not a bad thing at all), and is honestly starting to fade from my mind already (I almost never forget plots, but then again, I've also never binged a whole series in a week 🙃) I went into it looking for some steamy romance, not a whole lot of brainstorming, and a relatively easy-to-follow plot and world. That's exactly what I got.
I'm breaking this into 3 parts: the ACOTAR Trilogy, the ACOFAS novella, and then ACOSF.
This can get long, so I'm gonna put a wee cut here.
The ACOTAR trilogy
I don't really have much to say here, actually...I had a good time with it and finished the trilogy in 4 days.
I liked ACOWAR (4 stars) the most, ACOTAR (3 stars) the least and ACOMAF is in the middle (3.5 stars). (For reference, I take 3 stars as "fine"/ a good time but no strong feelings.)
I have heard this before while I was looking up reviews of this series, and I agree that SJM is very upfront with which characters you should like, and I feel like if you don't love them, the series will fall flat. I, for one, liked Feyre throughout these 3 books, but didn't blindly love her, so there were many points where I was annoyed at everybody worshipping her and Rhys, even when they were in the wrong. But I did enjoy her character overall.
I knew what was going to happen with Tamlin, so I didn't really bother getting attached, but Rhysand intrigued me in book 1, then I didn't like him much for most of book 2, but liked him in book 3.
I liked Lucien as well! He has some sassy one-liners and when have I not loved that?
The inner circle seemed cool to me until ACOSF (except Azriel, I liked him all throughout but even more after it)....but also, does anyone in the IC ever question anything Rhys does? Because that sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. These people need to get their heads out of Feysand's asses, if they're going to have any actual debate.
Nesta extracting revenge in the cauldron, like the queen she is. Like, go Nesta, pillage death! 😌 (oh god did I just quote Rhys?)
I loved the moments between Nessian in ACOMAF and ACOWAR.
I never want to see the words 'velvet' and 'steel' in the same sentence again, or I will lose my mind. Also goes for "bowels loosening" or some shit. It might sound sensual to SJM but to me, it sounds like Diarrhoea.
I'm sorry, but I literally cannot take the Cauldron seriously...the fact that they worship a magical pot is just hilarious to me.
ACOFAS
Now, I know a big part of the fandom didn't like this book, but I actually did. I'd say 3.75 stars. It's probably because I didn't read this series for the plot to begin with, so I didn't really care that it was altogether absent here.
I still liked Feysand at this point (this wasn't going to last long...), but I was still annoyed at Feyre for making Nesta attend the party, and then doing nothing about everyone ignoring her. Like, what was she trying to achieve with this?
I really wish they hadn't brought up Rhys' parents age-gap as a justification of the one between Feysand. It just wasn't needed, and was a little weird that we needed to be told this.
I really felt for Nesta in this book. She was my favourite Archeron from the get-go. Listen, I almost always get protective over traumatised women with terrible coping mechanisms, and who push people away. I still think she and Elain were way too passive while Feyre was out hunting to feed the family, but I think Nesta gets WAY more hatred than Elain.
And about her, I low-key forgot Elain and Tamlin existed. It's not that I hate Elain, it's just that she isn't fleshed out as a character. She's just there (other than the stabbing scene, of course..that was cool). I really hope she gets some sort of arc in the upcoming books. And Tamlin, well... I'm just tired of him at this point.
And yes, like most people, I too am irked by Rhys climaxing to an image of his unborn son. A part of me is aware it's more because he is thrilled by PROSECT of having a child, but it's still weird.
I like that the bat boys have snowball fights and I want more of that!
ACOSF
Now, this. This one I have quite a few things to say about. I liked it a lot, and I'd give it 4 stars if I had to rate it.
How ironic that my favourite book in the series is also the one that made me SO angry at many characters.
I'll start with things I hated, and then move on to things I loved to hopefully end it on a positive note.
*takes a deep breath* okay, let's go.
First off, Feysand really pulled a Tamlin in my eyes. I hated them here.
Rhysand hiding the death-sentence part of her pregnancy from Feyre? Excuse me, I thought he was a self-proclaimed Feminist? Oh right, his feminism is highly selective.
And then Feyre just moves over it so quickly? Why isn't she more pissed? 🤯
And the Suicide pact...(Feyre is what? 22? And what about the court? Or their son? Does nothing else matter?) I can't even get myself to believe that SJM thought it was romantic. It's co-dependant and nothing else. I'll leave this here, because I can write a whole essay on this topic and this post is already long enough.
And the IC. Oh, god..where do I start? They feel entitled to make decisions FOR people and then try to justify it? And Feyre defends this? Honestly, Nesta was right to be pissed. And as terrible as it was for Feyre, when she found out that the IC had made a decision for her without her knowing, just like she was a part of doing for Nesta, I felt truly sorry for her, because no one should have to go though that, but a part of me was also couldn't help but see that she basically got a taste of her medicine.
Rhys told Cassian to get Nesta out so he doesn't kill her? He does realise he wouldn't be able to even if he tried, and that with the power she had at the time, she could end him on her worst day, right?
And Feyre, I thought she wanted to do whatever she could for the people who had suffered during the war, but somehow can't find anything to do for them (rehabilitating people, for example?) with one of her and Rhys' FIVE houses? I wouldn't have minded this so much if only SJM hadn't painted Feysand as the most charitable people alive when they don't do shit where it matters.
Also, how do they make money in this world?
And Cassian, I liked him later in the story, but initially I was so annoyed at him for defending Rhys when he was clearly being terrible. (This is what meant when I said the IC needs to get their heads out of Feysand's asses.)
The way the IC shames Nesta is just abhorrent. Like, these people have been alive for 500+ years and still don't know how to treat a person who is very clearly in depression.
And Nesta fucking Archeron apologising ON HER KNEES? To Amren?! What was that? I'm choosing to erase that part from my memory.
Okay, Rant over. Now onto the stuff I liked.
The Valkyries. Gwyn, Emerie and Nesta have my whole heart. I love them so much.
The Valkyries>>>>>the IC, and that is a fact.
The blood rite and the Valkyries coming together was a great scene. Emerie and Gwyn's stories hurt my heart.
The sleepover and the friendship bracelets! ❤️
Nessian. I don't think I need to say more. I really liked them after Cassian started calling Rhys out for shit-talking Nesta. I like them way more than I ever liked Feysand, just because I feel like they don't idolise each other to ridiculous degrees. They keep it real.
The smut definitely improved. I've still read better, but it's a leap from the torture that was the trilogy.
Also, while I love Nessian, I just want to say that Nesta and Eris Vanserra would have taken over the Fae world if they had come together. Not that I wanted them to, but I'm just pointing out how badass it could be.
The friendship between Azriel and Nesta. I didn't know I needed it, but I did. Again, I like this friendship more than Cassian and Feyre, because they don't idolise each other. They're two people who've been outcasts and understand what it's like, and found comradery with each other. And his gift was so considerate!
Azriel the chaperone. Poor guy. 😂
So yeah, Az is my favourite bat-boy.
Helion being Sellyn Drake was the best reveal in this entire series. I really do wish he gets Lady Autumn back, because their story is making me sad...
Now, I could see why people shipped Elriel in books 1 and 2, but after ACOSF, I NEED Gwynriel to happen. They could very possibly become my favourite ACOTAR couple, if it happens.
I have conflicting opinions on Nesta giving up her powers to save Feysand. On one hand, I do think they were eating her alive and she was tired and didn't want them. But on the other hand, I feel like she gave them up without ever understanding what she could do with them...? It just feels like SJM took the easy way out with this plotline instead of exploring Nesta's powers. Because let's be honest, ACOSF was a very VERY long book and this exploration was quite possible at the expense of a little less smut. Just saying.
Rhysand kneeling and bowing to Nesta was the one good thing he did in this book.
The house reads and recommends smut. I stan.
OKAY I'M DONE! (I think...for now.)
If you read this all the way...Wow. Much respect to you.
Anyway, as of now, the only characters I actually like are Nesta, Gwyn, Emerie, Azriel, Cassian, Lucien and the House. I don't really care about anyone else.
So those were my thoughts that absolutely nobody asked for, but here we are.
I'd love to hear everybody else's opinions!
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angelathewitch · 3 years
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Okay I just finished the ACOTAR series for the first time and I have so many thoughts so I'm gonna write them down.
Also I have not looked at any fan theories or been a part of this fandom very much so all these headcannons are straight from the noggin:
Literally what the fuck is tamlin doing.
Okay getting this out of the way cause its a hot topic. Azriel is my baby I love him but
I would have mixed feelings about him being with both gwyn and Elaine. I love the idea of Elaine being azriels sunshine he deserves light in his life (also their scene in ACOSF had me ejdjbdksks) but also all three bat boys being with all 3 sisters rubs me the wrong way idk.
Gwyn is amazing because she's a badass bitch and if azriel doesn't snatch that up I will. I feel like azriel almost gets bulldozed over by the other bat boys (like he will do the dirty work only because he feels inferior) And I want gwyn to help him stand up for himself.
Gwyn is an adult jfc. I'd be more worried about her trauma.
I am totally a elucien shipper I'm SORRY lucien deserves the world
But at the same time I would totally understand if Elaine couldn't forgive him for his involvement in the cauldron business. That shit was wack. I just want this relationship to be the biggest, most "period drama esqe" slowburn.
I have very mixed feelings about lucien. On one hand lucien has never had a home and when tamlin took him in I can see how that loyalty blurred the lines of right and wrong. But at the same time lucien messed up MANY times where the archeon sisters are concerned.
Nesta deserved her kick in the ass because it was needed. She did not deserve everyone to be a little bitch to her. It felt like feyre was the only one who wanted her rehabbed for nestas sake. I definitely would have preferred Nesta to hit rock bottom and choose recovery for herself (cause alcoholism and things can only be truly solved through self help) Everyone else was uncharacteristically nonempathetic. Idk how Cassian could be okay with her treatment after they mated.
I'm still digesting Rhys and nestas relationship. I like that they don't like each other for most of ACOSF. Nestas reasons for treating feyre poorly are valid, but not excuses. The feyre, Nesta, and rhys relationship thing is weird cause I see all sides. I need more feyre and Nesta bonding they always get interrupted.
I HATE what SJM did to Mors character. What the fuck is up with mor not liking Nesta. Maybe we will get an explanation in the next book but I feel like mor was set up to be a great LGBT character with himbo allies but SJM just dropped her off a cliff. Big mad.
However I do want eris and mor to end up together. Not necessarily romantically, but I want them to have it out and I want eris to support mor. Kinda want them to be mates. Kinda want eris to be gay as well. Kinda want them to get married and them have consorts.
WHY does everyone treat feyre like a porcelain doll when the IC has more collective trauma than anyone else in this universe. Don't get me wrong I'm all about the hurt/comfort but it was so inconsistently written LOL. When the IC was telling their stories the first night they met and then feyre told hers I cackled like sorry but she is a baby
Rhys's trauma is just as recent as feyres... yeah he's a lot older and seasoned but oh my GOD he was consistently assaulted for 49 years. Feyre does very little to comfort him. Idk I feel like it was SO glossed over.
Like in ACOWAR feyre admits that amaranthas hatred wasn't personal it was general, unlike Tamlins hatred. But amarantha and rhys had multiple personal vendettas against each other. Like his amarantha is vaguely feyres tamlin. Rhys didn't even get to kill amarantha. His trauma is untapped. Rhys is the main character feyre is the love interest idc
Idk what yall say rhys is my baby my lovebug my everything. He's got his flaws but you can't love Nesta and hate him at the same time without being a lil hypocritical
But he's fucked in the head for thinking he was justified in drugging feyre every night for 2 months. Almost more mad about that than the SA (I dont really blame Rhys since it is not cannon to me. SJM just messed up 😌 it was so out of character) did he ever really apologize for that??
ALSO I know smj wanted to write like #consentking but half of what he allowed was so unnecessarily dangerous (like the first AND second weaver encounter- if my SO ran off in the middle of a battle to track down a mysterious creature when the task could have been done after the battle I would have be livid. Mor was justified in being mad.)
I'm so mad rhys didn't flatten tamlin during the high lord meeting. Either it will happen in the future or I will burn these books.
THE BAT BOYS HAVE CONNONICALLY BEEN IN THE SAME ROOM WHILE HAVING SEX. the foursomes in my head gets clearer by the day
I HATE the fact that rhys almost had an existential crisis over feyre being so young when she found her mate and not having "lived" and THEN GETS HER PREGNANT??? Are you kidding me. I'm so mad. I don't wanna deal with babies. I hate babies.
But I DO have a fun headcannon that since the bone carver is a death-god or whatever he KNEW nyx wouldn't survive and that is why he appeared as him. Also when the bone carver offered to take feyres first born in exchange for help rather than the oroboughs I think that was also foreshadowing. The only reason nyx survived was because of Nesta and the bone carver had trouble seeing the cauldron.
((Maybe nyx should have died during the birth idk))
Literally I would have enjoyed ACOSF if instead of the pregnancy feyre was busy looking for bryaxis. Literally what happened to him. Wtf
I know the plot armor is crazy thick around the IC but it would have been nice if one of them died. Well, not nice, but more believable. Maybe thats why nyx should have died. Lol I need therapy.
FREAKING HEADCANNON: the archeon sisters are partially fae. Their mom was definitely a descendant and that's why all three sisters have mates. It was hinted that the sisters had mated because they were powerful and cauldron made but Cassian and rhys could feel the pull before the sisters were turned.
Tarquin is the hottest high lord
The whole blood rite thing was stupid. I would have loved if it was spread out over a longer period of time but it was so unrealistic
You know we all love a good #girlboss🤢 moment but the whole valkarie thing seemed 1. Out of no where 2. Really quickly forced (ACOSF should have been like 2 books) 3. If emerie and mor get together life=complete
The inner circle and ther archeon sisters would not get along if they weren't mated to like 50% of the gang
They're too whiny
It's so weird that the mating bond can only be felt by guys??? Lol wut
Okay I know this is a complicated subject but having LGBTs in a universe with mates based in evolutionary advantage seems more homophobic than having a universe without LGBTs LOL. Like their connection can't be as deep cause they can't procreate?? I did like that SJM made up for it a little by saying not all mates are complementary souls.
Hybern was so powerful and for WHAT. I don't understand
Vassa, lucien, and jurian being a trio is so weird 😐
I WANT A NOVELLA ON THE STORY OF AMREN AND VARIAN. They are my otp. If anyone has made it this far and knows of some good amren and varian fanart pls let me know
Okay that is all for now thank you if you read down to here xoxo gossip girl.
P. S. Also I am starting throne of glass and am having a hard time getting into it. Can anyone vouch for this series please I'm conflicted.
Edit: omg I was zooted when I wrote this and didn't realize my phone autocorrected cassian to Caspian RIP
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good-forthe-weekend · 3 years
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Okay, so like, this blog has low key become an ACOTAR theory/headcanon blog. But here we go again. Because I’ve been thinking about the remaining books/novella, and what might be obvious about what the next book may be. So stick with me on this one, but here’s how I hope it plays out. (Gonna be really long, because 3 books worth of theories, so gonna make it a read more post)
Let’s start with what I’d like the books to be (not in a demanding bitchy way, just what I generally hope for)
Books 5 and 6 (in no particular order): Azriel, Elain/Lucien
Novella: Feyre’s pregnancy from her/Rhys’ perspective
While books 5 and 6 could be in any order, depending on the overarching plot with Koschei and everything, I really think the next book is going to be about Az. I know that the 2 main contenders for obvious choices are Az and Elain, but I don’t think their stories are meant to be told together. Their arcs are completely different. Az needs to be someone’s first choice and get over 500 years of darkness and self hatred, whereas Elain needs to find her own agency. Here’s how I’d do those things.
Az’s story, to me, is rooted in self worth. I don’t think he has much. I think that the events of his life have done everything to convince him that no matter how much good he does, no matter how many people love him, he will never be good enough. Similar to Nesta, tbh. Just rooted in different places. His family loathed him, Mor’s been stringing him along for 500 years, and most people value him for what his shadow singer abilities can do for them. I think his story should revolve around him finding self worth, and being his own first choice, but also realizing how inherently valuable he is to everyone around him. (If we get a brothers bonding moment in Az’s book, I will cry my eyes out in the best way) Now *personally*, as a lover of Gwyn, I would love to see her tie into Az’s story. (NOTE: No hate for any shippers, Gwynriel, Elriel, Elucien, idc. They’re all valid, this is a respect only zone. This is simply my personal opinion on what *I* would like to see) Gwyn has also been shown to need some help in the self worth category. She literally says how she believes she’s a bad person for not being able to save her twin. So I’d love if her and Az have parallel stories in Az’s book. Romance or not. Actually, I’d love to see them grow side by side without having to be all horny all the time. I’d love if Gwyn prioritizes her mental health and growth above having a relationship, and tells Az that she cares for/loves him, but needs time to herself before getting into a relationship. Mates wise, I do see the merit in the Gwynriel mates theories. (I’ll get into why I don’t like Elain as Az’s mate later. But also, I have no problem with Elriel, I just don’t like the idea of them being meant to be mated. Although I have this evil!Elain idea brewing in my head that would fit with Elriel being supposed to be mates that the cauldron effed up) but I also am on the fence about it, because even with my own headcanon about ACOTAR mates, I’m still getting a little tired of every single romance having to be mated.
For Elain, I have 2 theories that I favor. Either she gets kidnapped by Koschei, and her story is a loose retelling of Swan Lake, or she ends up going to the Spring Court, and we get Beauty and The Beast part 2, but different this time. Either way, I want her story to give her some damn agency and flesh out her character as more than the Cosette character whose whole personality is “Well, I went through a trauma and stayed kind”. Because there’s a way to do that meaningfully, but since it’s been coupled with her being a character that simply does not do anything for herself, it falls flat for me.
Also, side note about Elriel being mates who the cauldron messed up. I don’t care for that. First of all, I don’t think that the cauldron picked Nesta and Elain’s mates when they were Made. Which I mention in my personal theory on ACOTAR Mates, which I linked above. I think that the Cauldron picks mates when you’re born, which would mean that Elain and Lucien were always meant to be mates. Besides which, while I’m not a rabid supporter of either ship at this point, I see what people are saying about it not being a good thing that Az’s shadows disappear when Elain is around. His shadows are a part of him, they’re his friends. So I think it’s better for them to respond well to someone’s presence than disappear entirely. Also, with the light singer theories (which I see on both Gwynriel and Elriel sides), in ACOSF, it’s said that light singers weren’t good. They were beings that looked kind but ultimately were evil, just like shadow singers look all bad, but ultimately Az is an extremely kind, empathetic person with a savior complex. So, unless you want to make your fave be secretly evil (which, again fits in with this evil!Elain theory I’ve been stewing on lately) it’s probably not a good idea to say they’re ‘the light singer to Az’s shadowsinger’. ALSO ALSO. Azriel deserves to be someone’s first choice. Not their 3rd, behind the guy that the universe destined them for AND the human that they still aren’t entirely over. Azriel isn’t a ‘well, since there’s no one else to choose, I GUESS’. Azriel is someone who deserves, and should be loved as a first choice. And no matter if that person is Gwyn or not, we should see someone fall for him as a first and only choice.
Anyway, if she got kidnapped by Koschei, I’d like for everyone to freak out and be trying to save her (Lucien included, because protective fae mate), but Elain ends up saving her damn self. Without anyone knowing until she just sort of shows up somewhere in Prythian. Whereupon everyone is like “You escaped Koschei?????”, and Elain just responds “What, like it’s hard?”. I don’t have too many specifics in mind for this theory, but yeah, I’d love if that were to happen. I can even see a path for Elain and Lucien to fall for each other in that scenario, I just can’t find a way to verbalize it.
Alternatively, and hear me out on this one, I would love for her to go to the Spring Court. SJM keeps putting connections between Elain and Spring, and has even had several characters say she’d love the Spring Court. She doesn’t belong in the Night Court. And I would love, and again hear me out here, for her to help Tamlin. I know, I’m not his biggest fan either. But I don’t want him dying alone and angry either. He was an ass, and reacted poorly to many things, but I want him to grow from that. And learn how to be a better person. And not be so overprotective. How does Elain fit into this? Well, I’m not sure how to get her there, but I would love for her to end up in Spring Court, where she befriends him. Friends. Nothing more. Not a drop more. In fact, I want Tamlin to make an advance on her, thinking that he’s falling for her, only for Elain to be like “Dude, you only think you like me because I’m the one who’s been helping you, but we’re friends. We wouldn’t work as more.” Or even vice-versa. Either way, I would LOVE to have a story about a character coming into their own without a big romance, and frankly after the way Elain has treated Lucien and Az, she can stay alone (as much as I think her and Lucien would be cute together). But I also think that Elain befriending Tamlin, and eventually becoming a member of his court, could lead to some nice healing places for Feyre, and would afford her the opportunity to actually confront Tamlin about everything they went through. (It would also be cool if Tamlin made her High Lady of Spring, without them being together. Idk, I think it would be cool for him to abandon tradition so much when he held it up to a toxic level before)
‘But how does Lucien come into this?’ I hear literally no one asking because this post is so fucking long already. Well, beloved reader of this bullshit, I simply want him to officially be able to move on. I want him and Elain to have arcs that happen at the same time, and are tied loosely together, but are ultimately separate. I want Elain to find agency and finally make up her mind, and I want Lucien to call her out on stringing him along. And I ultimately want him to find peace. (And for him to find out he’s Helion’s son in the messiest way possible, but I digress) I really just want Lucien to ride off into the metaphorical sunset and be happy and content and finally value himself. If Elain is in the Spring Court, maybe call out Tamlin for the way that he abused Lucien too. As long as he ends up happy, I’m cool with it.
Also, I want a comeuppance for Mor/Eris. They’ve been hinting at something for several books now, and I damn well want to see what’s behind those hints. (I also low key want the Eris/Mor comeuppance to cause a confrontation between Az/Mor/Cass about their weird dynamic and how toxic it was, and how it kinda made Mor treat Nesta like shit. I just really want Cass to officially choose Nesta in front of the IC, esp Mor. I think it’s important for their relationship. I could go on and on about that tho.)
Personally, I kind of want Mor and Eris to have been Mates. Not only because I already ship Mor/Emerie and want to see a mated pair that don’t end up together, but I think there’s a ton of opportunity for angst there. Maybe they fell for each other, never actually let the mating bond fully set (because, up until this point we’ve never seen a mating bond click into place without sex, which we know they never had), and Mor realized that no matter how much she cared for Eris, she was in fact gay, and so she slept with Cass, and you know the rest of her story there. Eris didn’t care, and told his father that he would marry her anyway because they were in love (I don’t think he’d play his full hand and admit to being un-mated mates because it would put Mor in a whole new level of danger). Beron basically told Eris that under no circumstances would he marry Mor, and told him to abandon her completely. With a threat to Mor’s safety thrown in there for good measure (like “Go ahead, marry her. See exactly what will befall her her in the Autumn Court. It will not go well” except more eloquent and shit) When Mor’s family dumped her, I don’t think that he found her first with people with him. I think he would have found her shortly after she got left, and he’d have been alone. So he found a way to tip off Az that she was there, and staged it to look like he found her and semi-publicly abandoned her completely. Idk, I just feel like there’s a lot more to the story than we know, and given how extremely Mor responds to someone who never actually laid hands on her, I think there’s more to why she does that. Maybe it’s because she knows he’s her mate, and is terrified he’s going to get spiteful and let that info slip. I kind of want this to be a situation to be one where she didn’t outright lie about what happened, just the context, because she knew if the context was revealed, then she’d be forced to come out, so she lied by omission.
Personally, I would love for this to be a not insignificant piece of Az’s book, because I think there’s a not insignificant part of his personality that’s been influenced by Mor, so whatever comeuppance that Cass/Az/Mor have (and I’m praying they do), I hope it’s not just glossed over. I also wouldn’t hate if this story was told in the novella, but I also really want to see Feyre and Rhys’ side of their pregnancy story (I think it would be weird to have such a significant plot for them told during someone else’s story, and not give us Feyre and Rhys’ perspective). And that would really only fit in either a novella or bonus short story. Also, I think that Feyre’s pregnancy would make a better novella, and Mor/Eris would fold nicely into the plot of a book.
So yeah, there’s my ridiculously long rundown on what I want to happen/my theories for the rest of the ACOTAR series. Feel free to add/dissect/interact/tell me I’m horridly wrong. I wanna talk about these books at length so bad
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nessiancalore · 4 years
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Ok it's time, let's talk about baby boo Cassian in acosf...
Honestly he has been my favorite character since his first scene (yes, "Hurry up, you lazy ass") because I love funny and "present" characters (in Brazil we called it "chegou chegando" it would be like "got here- GOT IN HERE" - marked himself since the beginning or something like that) and when his other side came (still not a lot, but it did), with Nes and with his story with Rhys and Az then Feyre and him, he became my favorite character ....
And it's like, we have seen his "serious" side, specially in acowar. For example, that scene where he and Feyre have training when she comes back from sc and then him talking about how "it went quiet again" when she left, that was really deep. But I don't think we've got to everything yet..Not even about Nesta.
Him and her are leaning to be mates, but even if so, it would be nice to see his side of the things they have (and had) before finding out about a future mating bond... Why does she gets under his skin so easily... or how even without an actual relationship she was the thing he regretted the most, I understand that his regret was not getting more towards her, but how do they became so much "so fast"?... I think we may have a lot of him explaining to himself the reasons him and her became like that ,because apparently even he doesn't exactly understands it (again, even with mating bond, it would be amazing to not be just it like with feysand.. And don't get wrong, I love them, they are an amazing shipp,definitely one of my fav couples buut I feel like nessian it's more complicated than that so... I just would like to have more into it idk...
Also his family, we had a little about his mother but I also think there's (should have) more of it, not necessarily more in the history itself but him talking about it, considering he's gonna be in the place he grow up (Since i found out about him going to the camps I've been thinking about this scene where he explains to Nesta about things in the house..Maybe he say like "you can have anything you want outside, do whatever you want, but not in here" because that's Rhys mother's house, and his house too, so... Or something like that)...
His posture in the camp will be different, he's general so he might be way more serious, maybe almost all the time. I feel like Nesta will feel that difference too, that's gonna interesting to read... And honestly I don't see it as a bad thing.To me, it would be like Dorian, he's also flirty and kinda funny but has his very much serious side and it's great to read it (at least for me hsbsk)
About the people in there and him. He grow up with some, maybe a lot, of them...So I hope we're getting new characters from his past — Even with the camp being hateful and in the edge of civil war, maybe there's like 1 friend of him, that lives there, and doesn't see it like that you know?... I've also been thinking about a lover of his appearing ( Because we know him and Az has lovers in the past even with Morrigan situation so... who knows??), that's actually one of the parts I'm most excited for it to happen...
About that Mor thing: CLOSURE... We haven't had anything like it, only scenes where Mor gets mad at Nesta for worrying about him and then Cassian dropping Nes's hand... That thing with him and her, they both know it's nothing (and I'm no saying it because of Nessian, but because there isn't)... I've said it before and OBVIOUSLY no one wants to have Mor coming out any time sooner before she's ready but, she doesn't need that to say no. And past war and everything else I have no idea of how Cassian is in the situation but, he also needs to let go of things as fast as we know...
That's gonna be weird but not gonna lie...i want to see him mad. Not just training or like we saw in the wars or his scenes with his future new girlfriend (😉) but.. Angry mad Cassian, for some reason I think that's gonna be interesting to read, specifically from his pov...I understand that it might be something wrong to "want to see" that but I feel like we would know him entirely after something like it because we've seen him get into a lot of shit, and he never truly lost it, And as a reader I'm honestly curious to see how would go (and as person who loves him, I'm mad at myself to be curious about it)
And last but not least...nessian. I want it. I need it. (I'm not going to talk of this bc I've said it already in another post)
How about you guys?, any predictions, or "wants" towards our lovely little (big) bat?
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highqueenmorrigan · 2 years
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Currently in my Rhysie feels and thinking about what a well-written, textbook morally gray character he is.
To be honest, when I first joined the fandom and saw people saying he was too perfect or never was faced with any consequences for his choices, I was sooo confused. I was thinking "did we read the same thing?" And I think him actually being a perfect example of a morally gray character gets brushed under the rug (imo a lot of times because of a personal dislike).
He does a lot of bad things, and pre-acosf, he suffers deeply for his mistakes. He's not a well-liked character for most of the series! He's definition morally gray because he does villainous things that hurt other people for the "right" reasons. And that's interesting! It would be boring and too much like so many other ya fantasy books (where either the character is so weighed down by always doing the morally right thing that they can't take any action, or is labeled a villain despite not actually doing anything villainous) if he didn't have reasons for his actions and believe that what he was doing was the best option. Because he has reasons though, I see people say that he's excused of all wrongdoing in the narrative. But really, reasons aren't excuses, and I'd much rather a character have a reason for doing something bad beyond just "being evil".
It's almost like, in people demanding more moral grayness, there's this imposition of a weird moral purity. This isn't exclusive to Rhys by any means, to be clear. Fandom in general is very black and white when it comes to questionable or outright villainous actions in the narrative. If a character does something wrong, something bad, something that hurts other people, they should basically be thrown in the trash. They can't be redeemed, they can't have good things happen to them, they can't still be the hero in the story. And it's to a certain point where I genuinely don't know what kind of redemption or attempt to grapple with bad things people expect to see? A character does something wrong and they just have to spend the rest of the series groveling? That's not realistic and it's also just...not at all enjoyable to read about. Personally, all that really matters is that the way the other characters respond and the way the action fits in the narrative makes sense.
Bringing it back to Rhys, other than the pregnancy plot, the characters generally respond in a normal way. Feyre hates him for what he did under the mountain and for cashing in on the bargain, he has to fight to earn the trust of the other high lords after what he did under Amarantha, Tarquin declares a blood feud after they steal from him (and is still angry even after they help him), Mor is deeply hurt and angry after he allies with Keir, Feyre and Cassian frequently tell him off for how he treats Nesta. And for the most part, other people being upset is framed as valid. It isn't brushed aside or considered unimportant.
Consider the feud with Tarquin: Rhys is upset when Tarquin sends the blood rubies, but doesn't ever imply that he's wrong to do so. Maybe the theft had to happen, but Tarquin isn't in the wrong for being angry about it.
The only time I will accept that other characters don't respond to Rhys in a way that makes sense is the pregnancy plot. The inner circle don't even question the decision or push back at all. Cassian tells Nesta, who is the first person to disagree with Rhys, and she says nothing to push back on his decision to not tell Feyre. If the entire series were like acosf (really just the pregnancy plot in acosf though), I would understand saying that Rhys is never criticized and never suffers for his mistakes. But the rest of the series isn't like acosf, which is what makes Rhys such a well-written, deeply interesting character.
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bookofmirth · 2 years
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I agree with your sentiment about people feeling like you must either be pro or anti a certain character. That logic makes no sense to me being that i feel like that not how life works in regards to how we respond to when people do something wrong. Especially when it comes to certain characters doing things that are considered deplorable, even if I may understand a characters reason, it doesn't mean I support them doing that or like them doing those things. I feel like this goes hand in hand with people generalizing on all sides of the fandom. For example, "all Nesta stans blah blah!!", "All Rhys stans blah blah" and obviously with the ship war as well. Like as you said I can love a character but still criticize them, like thats a normal thing we do as humans. It's very draining, especially for me at this point because I happen to like Nesta and Rhys the most and it's usually their fans that always have their swords drawn.
Also, in regards to ur research about the characters ppl like based on how they read the series, I read all the books back in early 2021 like a month after ACOSF came out. I have no strong negative feelings on Nesta or the IC. I guess it's just up to person interpretation ?
Yes, thank you!
Like I'm not gonna go around saying I am pro my friends and anti other people alskdjalksjdaklsd that's not how life works, it's not that black and white.
If I think that Nesta has had some really problematic behaviors but I want to talk about her journey and how it relates to my own in some respects, I'm not going to tag that as anti her because 1) I'm not hating on her, and 2) it's really weird that we have to create these little echo chambers for ourselves where we never ever hear anything bad about our faves. Just like if I want to talk about Az having some red flags and how that might impact his romantic relationships, that's also not anti IMO, that's just me trying to better understand his character.
It's way more complex than pro/anti. And like the long fandom anon said the other day, it makes an echo chamber, and it also makes it literally impossible to have any sort of nuanced conversation because people then isolate themselves in conversations where pointing out a character flaw is like, the absolute worst thing you could ever do.
It must be rough liking both Nesta and Rhys the most 🤣
Okay one more thing about this, but my absolute favorite thing to do in fandom is to explore characters - their motivations, their emotions, their goals, etc. And it's super hard to do that in an environment where people accept absolutely no criticism or even hint that their fave might have done something wrong, or where people just throw a character in the trash for one decision.
My research yes, thank you! It probably is just personal preference. Maybe if I did an official poll we could see if reading time influenced which characters people like, but maybe not. Maybe it's all coincidence.
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nestacorvere · 3 years
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acosf rant review
i finished acosf a while ago and i just can´t stop thinking about it so this is an attempt to get it all off my chest cause i have a lot of thoughts. 
spoilers below the cut 
i read the first 6 chapters when they were “leaked” and honestly that just set the bar really low. all these years that i´ve waited for the book i always thought nesta was going to illyria and that she would be away from the inner circle (except for cassian and azriel). but then came those chapters and i realized the ic would actually be in the book and i was pissed. 
the first few chapters were hard to get through. what mor said about sending nesta to the court of nightmares (and cassian not saying anything about it), what amren said about putting her in the dungeons in hewn city made me want to through my phone across the room. sure, send a depressed person dealing with ptsd, which is something they have all gone through before, to a place where she´ll feel more tortured. yay that´s so smart. it will certainly make her feel better (/irony). 
also this thing feyre says and sjm apparently forgets about it throughout the book to make us believe feyre acted solely on nesta´s wellbeing. (i dont´t hate feyre yall it was just clear to me she had ulterior motives to send nesta away and that quote proves it)
“It is about how it reflects upon me, upon Rhys, and upon my court when my damned sister spends our money on wine and gambling and does nothing to contribute to this city! If my sister cannot be controlled, then why should we have the right to rule over anyone else?”
but then the part where nesta calls rhysand “an arrogant, preening asshole” got me laughing so much. this whole scene is a fucking disaster but that part was funny af. 
i only began to really like the book after the scene where nesta helps gwyn by trading the books in merrill´s office. when nesta trully smiled for the first time i literally teared up. 
also nesta´s friendship with the House was amazing. one of the best things in this book. and the whole “the house likes romance books” made me laugh all the time. 
“The book,” Nesta said, a bit breatlessly, “is about...” Her nostrils flared and her eyes went a bit unfocused. “A book”. 
“Interesting”, Cassian murmured, “Sounds great.” 
and this dialogue... pure gold. i’m also like that when i’m reading smut and someone asks me what the book is about hahaha. 
now another thing that bothered me:
“Because illyrians are backward and horrible”  
why is sjm constantly depicting the only POC in acotar as monsters? wht tf did she make them to be abusers? it´s a rhetorical question btw. i think we all know the answer. i´m a firm believer that even though this is a fantasy book, stereotypes like this are still damning and wrong. 
the fighting scene between cassian and azriel and nesta fantasizing about a threesome was funny and weird. i understand sjm wanted to show us who the threesome would be with if she hadn´t deleted it and it actually made me glad she did. it would not have fit the narrative at all.
the sex scenes were great in the beginning but then i got tired of them. i always get tired when there´s that much sex scenes and ik sjm warned us. but it was nessian so i made myself read and care about them. 
nesta´s power damn i was shook. i loved it. all the scenes that showed her power were absolutely amazing. 
now moving on to the worst part of the book. nesta Made the weapons. with her power. therefore they are her weapons. they happened to end in rhysands hands but that doesn´t give him, or feyre, or the ic the right to choose not to tell her about her weapons. the whole high king thing sjm threw out there just to make us see that hey rhysand is not bad yall he doesnt want to usurp power even though he has the weapons for it and his friends actually suggested it. amren could go to fucking hell for all i care after this. also for the things she say when nesta confronts her about it. 
when rhysand and all them found out the baby could kill feyre and didn´t tell her i was already pissed. who the fuck they think they are to deny her the information that she might die and that her son would likely die with her? nothing and no one has that right. not even her fucking mate. no one. i think it was wrong of nesta to tell her the way she did and to only do it out of anger. but i was actually fucking glad someone told her at all. and rhysand threatening to kill nesta only makes me more angry. even feyre can see it was because of the parallel she saw between them not telling her about the weapons and she isn´t even angry at nesta. but rhysand thinks he has the right to be angry after not telling his mate she could die? oh fuck off. 
i actually enjoyed the major plot of this book. the dread trove thing, the queen and koschei was actually pretty interesting to me and i wasn´t bored. it actually made me more interested to read the next books. i had promised myself i would be done with sjm after acosf cause all i ever cared about was nesta but i might keep reading cause i enjoyed this plot. 
since i´ve talked about the worst part (to me) let´s talk about the best parts now. nesta´s, emerie´s and gwyn´s friendship was absolutely everything to me. i love them all so much. i was just so happy to see nesta happy and i fell in love with emerie and gwyn as well. i also love nessian and although some things they said to each other and the way cassian behaved toward nesta in some scenes didn´t really make me happy, i will always love this couple. i just like the version in my mind and fanfics better. and nesta´s whole healing arc was amazing to me. it made me so so proud of her.  
azriel´s present to nesta made me soft. i love them so much omg i wished they had interacted more.  
the scene where it´s revealed nessian are mated is so heartcrushing. it made me sad to see cassian say he was “shackled” to her because she had already admited she felt unworthy of his love and by saying that he just made her feel it all over again. sad sad sad sad sad. i actually cried. 
the whole blood rite thing to me was only to prove to us readers that nesta was strong even without her powers and it was preparing us for what would come. that being said i actually liked it. i think the bond the girls created there and nesta realizing how strong she was made it worth it. 
now to the ending. i unfortunately read spoilers of the ending before i finished the book. so throughout it was already preparing myself for that scene. i think that was part of the reason that i wasn´t pissed by the end of the book. i don´t think power means strenght and i also believe nesta is strong regardless of her power. but i just loved her power, you know. i don´t think she´s any less strong now because everything she learned makes her strong in a different way. but i was just sad. it made me think sjm just didn´t want anyone more powerful than rhysand. 
also sjm really made nesta think of rhysand as her brother, seriously. out of nowhere. he never did one good thing toward her. never. and he also didn´t apologize for the bad things he did. no one apologized actually. nesta and feyre were the only one´s that actually said they were sorry and that realized they were wrong. sjm made nesta apologize to everyone. but only one person apologized to her.  disappointed but not surprised. 
i think that´s all i have to say. this book was truly a rollercoast of emotions to me. i was angry, sad, i laughed, i cried (of sadness and of happiness) and in the end i was just happy. all the things i wrote here were because i couldn´t stop thinking about the book after i finished it and i started realizing some stuff. but i still loved it. nesta is my favorite character and in the end i´m just happy she´s happy. 
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teagoddess99 · 3 years
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My thoughts on the acotar fandom
First of all i would like to say that this are my opinions, my thoughts, my experiences and my views of the fandom, you’re free to disagree.
Secondly ,English isn’t my first language so i apologize for any mistakes.
My experience with acotar bagan at the end of 2020. With the pandemic and lots of other things going on in my life, my anxiety (something i wasn’t aware i had, but that I’m now thankfully treating) was at an all time high. So as an attempt to control that horrible feeling i turned to my place of comfort: books.
I really just wanted to distract myself and since i had already read TOG and enjoyed it, i decided to go for another of SJM books, so i picked ACOTAR.
If I’m being honest before quarantine i wouldn’t have read acotar, I’m not a big romance reader, but at the time, the books provided great escapism which was just what i needed.
I didn’t really like the first book, Feyre was boring, Tamlin was bland, Rhysand was really problematic and the plot was just MEH, but i didn’t care, i craved something to distract me from what i was going trough, and Acotar provided that. Besides there was one character that really stood out for me, Nesta, and i wanted to know more about her, so i read on.
I continued with the books and finished the entire series in a week, and after it my opinions hadnt really changed much. Feyre was still boring to me, Rhys was very idolized and i hated it, the inner circle was fine, the other characters weren’t really there so i didn’t really care, and the plot was still dull. The series had its moments, of course, but it still wasn’t something i would have treasure as i do other books, it was just fun times and a need to really not think about other stuff. However ,i dont why, Nesta really resonated with me. Even though the other characters hated her, and she was a bitch, she was very entertaining to read and she had very good chemistry with Cassian which i really enjoyed, so when i found out the next book was going to be about them, paired with the fact that i really didn’t want to acknowledge my reality, i became obsessed.
I pre ordered ACOSF, i was constantly checking new updates on the book, i even bought tickets for one of the online tours, and for the first time in my life I joined tumblr.
I had never being involved in a Fandom before, so i wasn’t really sure how it worked. Before, the most contact i had with it was seeing beautiful fan art on Pinterest. So when i first came here i was a bit lost. I started following the tags and discovered lots of brilliant content. Amazing fan art, very fun, interesting theories, entire pages dedicated to the characters and Fan fiction, (which i was never fan of before, i tried once once on whattpad and it wasn’t my thing). You people are very talented. All of this helped me cope with my ACOSF obsession and by association my anxiety. I’m really greatful for it, luckily I’m at a much better place now. Big part of my process has been to be a bit more open about my interests even my guilty pleasure ones, as i consider the Acotar series to be. Just some fairy smut, with weird, sometimes questionable, sexy characters. That’s what the acotar series means to me, something of comfort which now holds a very special place in my heart, and a big reason for it have been the fanfic writers, the artists, the theorists and many other people who are constantly just adding more fun and enjoyment to the fandom by sharing their love for the books. Which is amazing!!
Now i have to address the toxicity that became prominent after ACOSF came out: The ship wars
Before i continue, i would like to clarify that you can ship whatever you want. If you like gwynriel, elriel or elucien is totally fine. Just don’t degrade other people for liking something different, or something that “interferes” with your ship. It’s ridiculous how some people are attacking each other, threatening each other, reducing the characters, and overall making up a narrative just for the sake of their ship. And it sucks because it takes away from the good parts of this fandom, the parts of the fandom that have made me want to be involve in this platform.
In conclusion, lets celebrate the books, that doesn’t mean we can’t criticize them, I know there are many critiques to be made about them, but just enjoy doing it !!! And just remember this is just a book we can go around threatening others for people that don’t exist, or at all for that matter.
That’s all!
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darklove9314-blog · 3 years
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Do you think that a court of silver flames was well written? When I read it, I hated every character that I use to loved. Most people are happy that Tamlin is suffering for his mistakes but did Feyre not do the same to Nesta? I also love the friends that Nesta made but I feel like Nesta isn’t the type to have sleepovers with hot chocolate. I saw her more as Loki character (cunning and mischievous). Also the fact that Feyre is literally still a child and is a mother is weird. I just hate that book. To make things worse, NESTA AND CASSIAN DIDN’T REALLY TALK ABOUT THIER ISSUES (like the fact that Cassian is more loyal to his friends than his own mate and the trauma that Nesta went through). I just felt like the book is very poorly written and everyone acts like Feyre is perfect makes me want to throw up. Am I a horrible person for wanting Feyre and Rhysand to die?
TW: for mentions of rape/severe depression/ childhood abandonment.
You see I have a love/hate relationship with ACOSF because I see a lot of good in the story and in Nessian’s relationship in general, I do wish we spent more time on Nessian than on the Feysand baby plotline. I think most of the reason this book went the way it did was because at first it had a separate plot line. If you go back to ACOFAS, it’s as clear as day, she may have had to scrap the idea due to the various problems within the text. If she had went with the simpler plot of Nesta’s healing journey and Nessian’s romance this book would’ve been better, because despite having a 800 page book about a Nessian, I still feel like I know nothing about them, like I loved getting glimpses into both their past and Feysand and their pregnancy plot take away from who the book is supposed to be about which is Nessian. However I went into this book with the mind set that SJM can’t let go of Feysand (even though Nessian is her second biggest ship in her fandom and a better ship in my opinion) that and all her various lives had the same five questions so I kinda figured this would be the case. I think since I prepared myself I ended up enjoying the book because I went into it with low expectations, but that still doesn’t mean I can’t admit that it could’ve been an extraordinary book If SJM focused on the couple it should have been focused on, As for Feysand, I’m an anti Feysand shipper because I can’t stand Rhysand. He is the worst type of person. Feyre I’ve always been on the fence about her. I don’t hate her with a burning passion of a thousand suns, but I don’t love her either. As far as the IC the only two I hate right now (besides Rhysand) are Mor and Amren. And I can agree, I think people acting like Feyre is the perfect being enables Feyre a lot, it squanders the potential Feyre could have as a character by treating her as if she’s still a child and keeping things from her about her own court, like she can’t be happy 24/7 and people need to realize that, tough childhood or not, the real world doesn’t give you these type of free passes, as for Cassian, I’m at an impass. I love Nessian with my whole heart and soul, but even I can admit when he can be a dick, it’s why out of the bat boys, he’s my favorite. The thing about his devotion is that it’s all about psychology and the effects of childhood abandonment, Cassian’s main fear is being abandoned by those he loves. To feel unwanted and unloved. (If you look back to the way he talks about wanting kids and how he would make sure that they never felt unwanted or unloved it hits harder) and giving Cassian’s history him clinging onto whatever family he thinks he has makes a lot of sense. Even if that family doesn’t deserve his devotion at times (I’m looking at you Rhysand) but let me go further, In Cassian’s history, he was a biproduct of rape, we have no clue what psychological repercussions that has on Cassian, but from the way that it appears to affect him I can say that it’s a pretty heavy factor to why Cassian feels unloved and unwanted, He was also ripped away from his mother at a young age and thrown into a place that made him feel even more unwanted, his mother was also murdered before he could do anything about it, and it’s clear as day that he blames himself for his mother’s death like Nesta blames herself for her father’s. That being said Rhys is a sensitive subject for Cassian because despite Rhys being a raging asshole, Rhys was also the first person that Cassian made a connection with. Rhys’s mother was also the person that made sure that Cassian felt loved and wanted. So I can imagine after 500 years it’s hard for Cassian to let that go and Nesta understands that no matter how much she may hate Rhys. It doesn’t mean she necessarily has to like Rhys. There’s a lot of great reasons why she doesn’t, but she’s not going to get in the middle of that relationship because she knows how important Rhys is to Cassian. But she’s also Cassian’s mate and best believe that she’d rip Rhys a new asshole if he hurt Cassian in anyway, (I’ll probably make this an analysis later)
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highqueenesta · 4 years
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I don’t have a clue if I’m doing this right lol, I’m still getting used to this app even though I’ve had it for months 😆 but I just wanted to say that your posts really resonate with me!! I’m having so much fun reading through them and seeing the fervour with which someone else defends Nesta and hates/dislikes Feysand and their whole superiority complex. I’ve seen a lot of people defend the IC and Feysand/Fey/Rhys in general on Insta and not much defence of Nesta so to see it here is so -
- refreshing!! I have so many of the same problems that you have with Sarah’s books, no matter how much I love her writing (seriously, her writing feels like home to me, I can’t think of many other books that make me feel how hers do 😭) but this fandom is hella toxic so props (and thanks!!) to you for being brave enough to put out these differing opinions 💪🙌 I cant wait to see more of your Nesta posts bc she really deserves them ✨ What are your thoughts on Az, by the way? I haven’t seen you post much about them 😅😅 I only ask bc I think he’s my fave character. I haven’t read the series in two years but I’m planning to reread it in prep for ACOSF - but from everything I can remember about the books and what I see on social media, I think I gravitated to his character the most 😅 But we’ll see after I reread haha Oops, I didn’t tag the other two asks 😅😅 this is the third and last of them haha, have a lovely day!!
Thank you so much!!! You are too kind, nonnie. I’m glad there are readers out there who feel the same way I do.
Yeah, I stay away from Instagram because all people do on there is talk about how perfect Feysand & Co. are. People are allowed to love whatever characters they want, but if I never see another Feyre Friday ever again, it will be too soon. Tumblr is a much better platform for conversation and diverse opinions.
I really liked Sarah’s books, especially ACOTAR, before I joined tumblr/IG, but the fandom really turned me off and made me realize how many flaws her writing has. It’s weird to think that there was once a time when I loved Feyre’s character LOL. I remember the spoilers for acomaf coming out and being so freaking giddy that feyre and rhys got together. Now, I cringe at my past-self. But the one thing I’m proud of is that I NEVER disliked Nesta. Not even for a second. Even past-me had good taste when it came to the best Archeron sister. I was intrigued from the very first time she came onto the page.
As for Azriel, he’s the only member of the IC that has never annoyed me or pissed me off. I feel like SJM really neglects his character, but I also worry that if she didn’t she’d ruin him anyway? Similar to the way she did Feyre and Rhys. However, I will say that his whole situation with Mor makes me feel very...icky? Like, dude, MOVE ON. She’s clearly not interested. I kind of want him to see him just go off on his own and find more of a purpose beyond the Night Court, bc all we really get from his character is his interactions with the IC, and I’m bored of it. I honestly think Nesta, Azriel, and Lucien would be the most sarcastic amazing trio of friends. But alas, SJM would never have the genius to give that to us.
Comment on this post and tell me if you’ve had any drastic opinion changes about ACOTAR (or any SJM books in general) as the years have gone by. I’d love to see everyone’s responses! (Mine is obviously that I used to like Feyre and Rhys. I’m not proud of it, but in my defense, it was a longggg time ago.)
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