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#anti sjm
littlefeltsparrow · 3 days
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I think the way Sarah J Maas depicts Tamlin’s abusive traits are indicative of the simplistic understanding she has when it comes to depictions of abuse. Even when the text views Tamlin as irredeemable for his actions, it still strangely gives him an out by bringing magic into it. By having his magical outbursts be involuntary (and have little evidence to challenge that notion) she makes abuse seem like the accidental result of uncontrollable emotion as opposed to deliberate tactics of control.
This is why she can’t clock the irony of Rhysand presenting a compelling case of covert abuse, because she doesn’t have the imagination to consciously write an emotionally abusive or controlling dynamic.
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lainalit · 3 days
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So tiktok and also goodreads recommended me acotar to read because I usually really like Fantasy with a good portion of romance. But I'm currently on acowar and I think one of the reasons why I didn't like the series as much as others online is that the worldbuilding is probably one of the worst I've read in quite some time.
Like every time I try to understand anything in this world, it is either a) retconned b) contradictory, or c) doesn't make much sense.
For example, in one chapter, we learn that High Lords are chosen by a godlike figure, and apparently High ladies don't exist because of this,so it's like godlike sexism, but then Feyre becomes High Lady, and we should believe she is equally as powerful as Rhysand, so either Rhysand lied to her and she only thinks she has any power over the night court or everybody can technically become High Lord/ High Lady but why established the rule that they are chosen in the first place?????
Another example would be the whole Court of nightmare thing, so we know that Mor comes from the CoN and everybody there is awful, cruel and evil, but then Mor talks about her cousin, who are in seemingly in abusive marriages, and there are also probably children there too, so either a) the abused women/children are also evil or b) abused women/children deserve to be there for reasons...
I'm usually not so nitpicky about worldbuilding, but the world in acotar is so black and white, like there's no nuance or even more explanation given. Instead, we get feyre painting, training with sexy guys, or having thoughts about how hot Rhysand is....
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lorcandidlucienwill · 8 hours
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If you Inner Circle stans just admitted that the Inner Circle is fucking toxic and you’d never like such people in real life, I wouldn’t have a problem at all.
If the ACOTAR books were marketed as dark romance rather than YA, I wouldn’t have a problem at all.
If SJM hadn’t started this trend of writing abuser-abuse victim relationships as “enemies to lovers,” I wouldn’t have a problem.
I’m not a snowflake. I like toxic, obsessive relationships in fiction, but not when they’re abusive. Snowbaird is the perfect example of this: toxic, obsessive, and murderous, and I absolutely love them. Because it’s not between an abuser and their abuse victim. I’m also not stupid; I can perfectly acknowledge Coryo is the villain. Would I love Snowbaird in real life? Absolutely not.
It’s even fine to like abuser-abuse victim in fiction as long as you acknowledge it’s abusive and something unacceptable in real life. My problem arises when all YA romances are written like this now. You can write a compelling romance without abuse involved. Teens may not admit it, but we are impressionable. Do you really want the next generation to believe this shit is ok? Just take a look at booktok. The girls on there are scary.
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wingsdippedingold · 3 days
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Roman Reigns is who Cassian thinks he is, but he’s actually a little bitch
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viktoriakosci666 · 3 days
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ACOSF Expectations: The intensity of Nessian that we WANTED:
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The Unexpected Gentleness & the Fiery Passion:
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The Worship & the Care:
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The Look of Love:
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And what we actually GOT:
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papenathys · 8 months
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"Authors should be allowed to explore dark themes in fiction! WRITING IS NOT CONDONING!"
That's so cool dude I agree with you absolutely!!! I am also against censorship and purity politics in fiction!!!! Wait dude- what are you doing- why did your white MC just call their POC love interest a racial slur and assault them......... ah........ I'm "moral policing" you???........ I see I see , my bad....... I just thought when you said you're "anti censorship" it meant you wanted to meaningfully explore complex themes in fiction........ oh nvm you just wanted to write a dark romance with a barely legal teen banging a 35 year old and not be judged for it........ My bad dude. My bad.
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spaceshipkat · 15 days
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mmkay so the words sjm is apparently trying to trademark are: Fireheart, Sarah J Maas, Lunathion, Velaris, Feyre, SJM, Aelin, ACOTAR, Rhysand, Hunt Athalar, Throne of Glass, Illyrian, Nesta, Suriel, Bryce, and Umbra Mortis
genuinely. what the fuck.
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holmespsychoaddict · 4 months
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She spilled 💀
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belle-keys · 1 year
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this is the worst book description I’ve ever read like I’m actually having a stroke
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hereathemoment · 2 months
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I just remembered that Cassian sat across from Mor sipping tea while she talked about how Nesta should be in a dungeon or being tortured by being locked up in hewn city and he’s just there blown the fuck away by Mor’s beauty AND THEN LATER she winnows to Illyria where Cassian is training, ogles him and talks to Nesta about how she’ll never deserve him and how attractive he is
Nesta stood up for Cassian during the high lord meeting, in front of EVERYBODY and he can’t take his family aside and tell them to stop starting fights with her? He’ll stand in front of Mor when Eris is around but sit by and do nothing when Rhys threatens Nesta’s life?
He. Does. Not. Love. Her. Funny also that his attitude changed toward her after the war when she was taking other men to her bed. Sjm made her sleep around out of character so that nessian can have hate sex but sjm still virtue signals feminism as if Cassian in acowar wasn’t calling her sweetheart and Cassian in acomaf didn’t wipe away her tears in front of the queens and everyone. He promised her time together as his would-be last words. But then sjm writes that Nesta uses sex to cope and now all-of-a-sudden Cassian is telling her that everybody fucking hates her and that he never asked to be shackled to her. Making it clear she can only use sex as a coping mechanism if it’s sex WITH HIM.
Suddenly he’s not understanding. Suddenly he isn’t gentle with her. No, now he’s an incel who locks Nesta up until she caves and sleeps with him.
It’s hard to imagine a being with wings, who flies in the air, would want to confine his MATE to a house she can’t escape from. Azriel, too, was locked up as a boy and then acts as a prison guard against her? And for Feyre to be the one to do it when she was supposedly traumatized when Tamlin locked her in his mansion? I understand why elain packed her clothes and sent her on her way— she’s the type to save herself and if she sided with Nesta she’d be locked up alongside her.
I’m just saying, ACOSF is a lot to unpack and I’m still processing my shock and disgust years later. I truly can’t believe it happened.
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angel-maybe-alive · 10 months
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He was a man written by a woman, unfortunately the woman was Sarah j Maas
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littlefeltsparrow · 2 days
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There’s a problem with the way Sarah J Maas depicts physical abuse/intimidation in ACOTAR
The fact that Tamlin’s physical abuse of Feyre being communicated through a magical/emotional outburst is problematic in the sense that it undercuts the reason why abuse happens. Incorporating magical concepts into a portrayal of domestic violence muddles the issue at hand and makes the abuse an accidental consequence of involuntary magical impulses as opposed to a deliberate tactic of intimidation and control. This issue is exacerbated by the fact that Feyre too, experiences an uncontrollable magical/emotional outburst during the High Lords meeting due to Beron’s provocative remarks. To be clear, I don’t view Tamlin as detestable or as an irredeemable abuser, but the text very much does. What I want to comment on is the problematic framing of Tamlin’s actions that are meant to characterize him as an abusive partner to Feyre.
So, I’m going to compare and contrast a scene from ACOMAF with a scene from ACOWAR, both of which depict magical outbursts that are brought on by intense emotional stress or rage.
ACOMAF
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Here, Feyre objects to Tamlin’s protective measures he had enacted earlier. She expresses how suffocated she feels and how she wishes that she had the breathing room to cope with her new reality and that Tamlin’s actions are making her suffer. Furthermore, Feyre introduces her doubt in their engagement and expresses her reservations. Tamlin then goes blank, reacting explosively with his power blowing the room into splinters.
This is a good first step towards characterizing Tamlin as an abusive partner (despite the leaps it took to get there) But, where it goes wrong is the emphasis the text puts on Tamlin's blank expression and subsequent magical response. He loses control momentarily, but the issue about this portrayal is that abuse is not "losing control" or accidental, it is a conscious decision made by the abuser. But here, Maas makes it seem as though Tamlin really was not in control, that the heightened emotions made him react that way.
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It gives Tamlin an out and consequently undercuts the message Maas is trying to communicate. Bringing magic into the scene takes away Tamlin's agency and removes a portion of his culpability in harming Feyre.
This scene should not have been Tamlin simply losing control of his temper, if Maas wanted to enhance her abuse narrative, she should have taken Tamlin’s temper and had him weaponize it. Intimidation is a possibility, one that would work towards making Feyre feel scared about voicing ver true feelings on their relationship. But Maas doesn’t go all the way, she doesn’t lean into that interpretation and instead plays it straight.
This is also undercut by Tamlin's second magical outburst in ACOWAR. Feyre intentionally provoking him does nothing for Maas's abuse narrative and actively undermines it by strengthening the idea that Tamlin's destructive outbursts really were caused by overwhelming emotions. Once again, it gives Tamlin a way out and dilutes the message.
The notion of an involuntary magical outburst is applied again in ACOWAR
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Beron’s inflammatory remarks provoke an immediate reaction from Feyre, she goes blank so to speak, and can no longer focus due to the intensity of her emotions. This manifests in a fiery outburst that throws the meeting into disarray and injures the Lady of Autumn accidentally.
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She’s so angry that she can’t think straight or logically, and it manifests in an attack. Though this isn't exactly the same, Feyre's "blinding fury" is so powerful that it cannot be restrained and ends up harming an innocent party. This moment strengthens the case for magic manifesting strong emotions as external attacks, characterizing it to some extent as involuntary.
Ultimately, the magical element removes the agency of the individuals in question. It frames their violence not as a conscious act designed to inspire fear, but as a genuinely accidental reaction to intense emotions. This is why the "Tamlin is an evil abuser" narrative is so weak. Because it dilutes the severity of the violence and makes it seem as though these kinds of emotional outbursts are an element of possessing magical powers. It gestures at a larger issue of Maas picking and choosing when and where she wants to apply real-world standards to her characters' morality. It makes events less believable and hypocritical, making allowances for certain characters, but condemning others without adequate narrative set-up.
This is why Maas is fundamentally incapable of recognizing the abusive dynamic she constructs with Feysand. It is a combination of double standards, authorial bias and a misunderstanding of how abuse manifests.
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lainalit · 2 days
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One of the things I don't understand while reading the series is why Rhysand is book boyfriend material or even generally liked. I mean after the first book, he becomes pretty boring, like Sjm had a Villain character and instead of him being a cool Villain character who gets the girl, he is now a tragic hero who did everything for good reasons (even then most of the things he does, doesn't make much sense). I don't understand why he couldn't be just a Villain, there are many books there the Villain gets the girl and they together become power hungry or cruel.
I'm sorry but every time he tries to justify things it makes him more of a hypocrite, why can't he just say "yep I do things for my own personal gain and power and I don't care who I hurt in the process" now that would be hot 🔥
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lorcandidlucienwill · 21 hours
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It’s wild that no matter what they do, there will always be people who defend individuals such as Sarah j Maas and Taylor Swift simply because they’re blonde women and they fancy themselves some great feminists. Like no, there are other women who are far more talented who are being held back because the industries are dominated by white supremacists such as these two.
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wingsdippedingold · 2 days
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ACOTAR artists are some of the most talented people ever, but I can literally never tell characters apart unless their hair is styled specifically in their typical style or they’re in their colors. The archeron sisters always look identical and the batboys are only identifiable by hair and eyes. This is not a criticism of the artists but rather SJM for not giving them any diversity and instead making them her ideal of beauty (she herself said Rhysand was inspired by her husband and the arch worn sisters are literal self inserts of her)
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lunamond · 1 month
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He had me dance until I was sick, and once I was done retching, told me to begin dancing again.
A Court of Thorns and Roses, Chapter 39
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Based on this post by @decadentpostnacho
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