I'm so tired of the fact that FEYSANDS (!!!) want for Lucien to die or smth bad happens to him and never ends up with Elain... I mean I completely ignore E/riels for this bc its obvious why they want this to happen.

But Feysands who are mostly also Feyre stans would blame Lucien for the things that happened to her in Spring Court and that's it... they don't see what happened to him as well!! Like Feysand is my fav ship of all SJM couples but I still saw (and still see) Lucien and his situation, I don't want to get into details bc we've already been through it hundreds of times.

But if you can forgive Rhysand for his deeds why can't you forgive Lucien? Yes Rhysand had a reason for everything he did but also Lucien he's not the bad guy here lol he never was! They can put themselves in Rhysands place and listen to him telling his stroy from his point of view but they can't do that for Lucien. They don't even want to hear his story!!! And the little we know from his past everyone ignores it...

They're morally gray characters FFS you can't tell me you can forgive Rhys and can't do the same with Lucien wtf

For whatever reason I assumed that most of the Lucien hate stems from those who prefer E/riel rather than it being Feysands and Feysand alone (more like Feysands who also like E/riel).

But anyone accusing Lucien of this that or the other thing is a pot calling the kettle black situation. I love Rhys. I love Feyre. I even like Amren. Az is fine too even though he's an idiot right now when it comes to women. I did struggle a bit with Nesta because the constant disdain and verbal abuse were for selfish reasons. With Rhys's questionable actions, his reasons were multi layered. He did benefit from them, yes. But he was also trying to save their entire land and help Feyre. With Lucien it's more of the same. Of course every action (or inaction) had a note of self preservation, I'm guessing he didn't want to risk Tamlin's wrath considering he knows for a fact what Tamlin is capable of. But he also told Feyre that it was important to the land and it's people that they present a united front. That those people were struggling after being held captive for 50 years. He also realized Tamlin was struggling and not coping well. There were bigger things at play than one females depression (sad as that is it was the truth), and Lucien was never going to be able to do what was best for all the people who looked to him to do what needed done especially because of the conflicting interests. Back to Nesta, her vitriol and hatred were a protective mechanism for the hatred she had for herself and her father and as a result, Feyre (for doing what neither Nesta or her father would do) and while I do understand that, her reasons were pretty much 100% selfish and all about Nesta versus characters like Amren, Rhys, Lucien, etc. who, while having a small percentage of their own interests coming into play, often were looking out for the greater good and the bigger picture.

Lucien again... People are doing the reading equivalent of selective hearing if they can forgive every other character and move on from the mistakes they made but not Lucien.

The more responsibility someone has, the more difficult it is to do what's right for everyone and it's impossible to handle things in a way where it only really benefits one person when multiple people are looking for their needs to be met.

Sure, he could have done more for Feyre but.....would that really be fair if it meant Lucien himself would be physically assaulted? Would that be fair if it meant Lucien would be causing more distress for a High Lord who was going through his own PTSD while trying to help the land of Spring to recover after Amarantha? Would it be fair if by causing more issues for Tamlin, it meant the people of Spring would suffer? Whatever action Lucien took, he'd be bringing about struggles for someone. We're meant to empathize with Feyre because it's her story but when you stand back and actually look at what was important at that time, I have to say, it probably wasn't making the needs of a 19 year old who had only been in their world for a few months the priority over an entire court of people who had been tortured and forced to do unspeakable things for 50 years or even Tamlin struggling to get everything back up and running.

That doesn't mean I'm a Tamlin fan or anything or that his inability to control his temper was excusable, but I am saying the entire situation was impossible and the only reason Rhys was able to give Feyre what she needed is because Rhys's people were not rebuilding in quite the same way since he kept them hidden and he was her mate, therefore she was his priority.

And when ACOMAF ended, Feyre knew she had Lucien by the balls because she was using Elain as a pawn against him. She used Lucien in her revenge against Tamlin.

To me, that's actually a worse offense because again, Lucien struggled to help Feyre more because he was worried about the state of Spring, he wasn't purposely trying to hurt her. But Feyre actively chose to hurt him with her schemes.

Do I hate Feyre for it? No, I understand why things happened the way they did. But when people claim she was a better friend than he was I cringe because he never sought out to use her, he was actually worried for her throughout the series (even when he tried to "kidnap" her back to Spring, he legitimately thought Rhys had brainwashed her which is valid considering Rhys wanted people to believe those things about him, he was under the impression she was being tortured) though his hands were a bit tied.

Acomaf Chapter 55

Warnings: 18+ only ; anti feysand; bad smut.

I just want to make clear that I, in no shape or form, like this badly written smut doing this cause some of ya'll requested it. So I am proud to present the infamous Chp 55 commentary.

I watched him consume every spoonful, his eyes darting between where I stood and the soup.

Umm... Does sjm not realise just how unromantic soup is? Like why soup? It's...slimy and has vegetables and boiled stuff and like- it's the least romantic food bruhhh 😭

 “I was going to tell you what I’d decided the moment I saw you on the threshold.”

Maybe you should....

Rhys twisted in his seat toward me. “And now?”

Ohh yeahh Feyre answer him!! What do u think of your sexual assaulter now?? After he told you he SA'd you for your own good, told you a sob story and gaslighted you! No srsly I am so intrigued. Please do tell.

Aware of every breath, every movement, I sat in his lap. His hands gently braced my hips as I studied his face. “And now I want you to know, Rhysand, that I love you. I want you to know … ” His lips trembled, and I brushed away the tear that escaped down his cheek.

WHAT THE FUCK? BESTIE WHAT?!

“I want you to know,” I whispered, “that I am broken and healing, but every piece of my heart belongs to you. And I am honored—honored to be your mate.”

Honoured?? Wtf 😭😭😭 why wud u be honoured to he tied to Rhysie???? BITCH HE SA'd YOU! I wud have legit went naked out in snow and died of hypothermia if I were her Honoured my ass.

Rhys looked up, his face gleaming with tears. He went still as I leaned in, kissing away one tear. Then the other. As he had once kissed away mine.

Here we go with the retcons again. If I remember correctly babe, he licked your tears. Yes he licked u without your consent and like then twisted your bones. Literally.

The word's licked. Not kissed. Don't make it romantic. It's fucking gross.

His body shuddered with what might have been a sob, but his lips found my own.

You wanna know what my body is shuddering with? Disgust.

Rhysand scooped me up in a smooth movement before laying me flat on the table—amongst and on top of all the paints.

Ouchh.. that's gotta hurt. I mean aren't paints in like glass bottles?

I plunged my fingers into his hair, and he braced a hand beside my head—smack atop a palette of paint. 

Nah noo why? Why the paints? Is it supposed to be poetic cause she paints? Nah i- paints are gross and sticky and have a weird smell?

He let out a low laugh, and I watched, breathless, as he took that hand and traced a circle around my breast, then lower, until he painted a downward arrow beneath my belly button.

PLSS 💀

Homeboy thinks he's Google maps.

Thanks for the directions sir.

“Lest you forget where this is going to end,” he said.

Wtf is this shit?? Like is this supposed to be dirty talk?

He bhagwan uthale mujhe 😭😭 (translation: oh god kill me)

I snarled at him, a silent order, and he laughed again, his mouth finding my other breast.

Idk why but whenever it's mentioned that someone snarls, All I can think of is old ppl snoring loudly.

Smearing it in his hair, until great streaks of blue and red and green ran through it.

PLSSS RHYSIE WITH BLUE, RED AND GREEN HIGHLIGHTS LMAOOOOOO

Rhys pulled back again, and I let out a bark of protest—

Okayyy... What is this really? Is she shapeshifting into a dog or like-

I want you splayed out on the table like my own personal feast.

Yepp that's doesn't sound cannibal-ly at all.

He growled his approval at my moan, my taste, and unleashed himself on me entirely

Okayy I get u wanna do it doggie style but that doesn't mean u have behave Iike them too 😭💀

He looked me over, naked, covered in paint, his own face and body smeared with it, and give me a slow, satisfied male smile. 

Umm... But how is a smile male or female? Like what is a male smile? Do tell.

Wholly naked, I watched as he unbuttoned his pants, and the considerable length of him sprang free. 

I'm sorry but sprang free. 🤣🤣💀

I leaned up, reaching over his shoulder to caress the powerful curve of his wing.

Rhys shuddered, and I watched his cock twitch.

Nah but what is this weird wing fettish sjm has?????? Like wtf? This reminds of the anon ask about Illariyans orgasming on the battlefield because some touch their wings. 💀💀

and slid in. And in. And in.

Is this a typo or is she really that bad a writer?

My friend through many dangers.

My lover who had healed my broken and weary soul.

My mate who had waited for me against all hope, despite all odds.

Great! I'll join in! You're sexual assaulter who traumatised you for three months.

drawing out my pleasure until I felt and saw and smelled that bond between us, 

OHHH NO GROSSS WTF SHE MEAN BY SMELLED

Outside, the mountains trembled, the remaining snow rushing from them in a cascade of glittering white, only to be swallowed up by the waiting night below.

Not the Illariyans hiding under their tables cause their hl orgasmed and now there is an earthquake. Life there seems fun ngl.

hi! i've seen a lot of discourse around the way that the ic handled the intervention in acosf. i was wondering if you could put your two cents in and maybe explain your thoughts? what options should they have given her, should they have done it at all, ect.

I think the idea itself was a mess. I don't know how SJM expected it to come across, but cosnidering how she framed Feysand across the novel, I don't think she realizes how f*cked up it was. Firstly, because they all talk about it as something they are doing for Nesta, but is instead for Feyre. The worse part is that we are supposed to belive Feyre is doing this as a desperate last try to help her sister, but it was actually Rhysand's idea. We know he has no intention to help Nesta whatsoever, and even talks about Nesta's drinkig problems as an annoyance he has to suffer and pay for. He explained to Feyre previously in the books that alcohol can be dangerous for fae, yet when Nesta is abusing it, the only thing that bothers him is the fact that she is spending his money. When he reads that note to Feyre in public and she starts crying, Rhysand already had the plan formed, so I can't understand how anyone would see the intervention as a well-intended act.

There are 4 people besides Nesta in that room:

Rhysand, who thinks of Nesta as Feyre's evil sister he has to put up with, doesn't want to, and has orchestrated this event. They paint it as something Feyre needs to do and through Nesta's pov SJM describes her as being regal and in control. But not even Feyre doing a good job as a politician is enough for Rhysand to respect her authority and he decides to jump in to make Nesta sit down. Why? Just so she doesn't forget that this is being done from a place of love, of course.

Cassian, who claims to be oh so concerned about Nesta but didn't move a finger to approach her until Feyre and Rhysand told him to (I know Nesta rejected him, but previous to that he says they had gone no-contact after the war, hence the rejection on her end). He even makes nasty comments about how he can smell several males in her apartment to shame her and sexualizes her too-skinny body.

Amren, who has called Nesta a waste of life while knowing she was severely depressed and while being her confident. Amren sluts shames her... you know, to let her know the intervention comes from a place of preoccupation for her and their intentions are to help her.

And Feyre, who has decided her sister's life is something she has a right to decide upon because she is high lady and despite Nesta being a civilian, this is how things are done in the Court of Dreams. I could have believed at least her had good intentions and wanted Nesta to get better, but she went as far as making up a fake law to fool Nesta into believing she had no choice but to do as they said. She purposefully lied to her so she could have her way and lock her sister into a tower because Nesta couldn't be the healed sister she wanted.

You know who is missing? Elain. This is particularly surprising, because what did Nesta tell Feyre would help her?? If Elain went to see her. That's literally what Nesta asked for. But Elain couldn't go because she was disgusted by Nesta's new lifestyle and couldn't be bother to try. She couldn't be in the intervention either, she was busy packing up her sister's stuff before they GOT THE BUILDING DEMOLISHED.

WTF????

The intervention was a shitshow, Nesta was a convict listening to her sentence without a chance of a fair trial. She was deprived of her autonomy and everyone present in that room was only there to witness their revenge on a woman who had *literally* done nothing to them besides not fit into what they wanted her to be.

Now, what could have they done?

First of all, if Feyre or Elain wanted to help Nesta, they could have at least tried what their sister said would make her happy.

They could have had a private conversation/intervention with her

They could have listened to her without judging. Her coping mechanisms were hurting her, and I get that both Elain and Feyre wanted to put a stop to that. But I feel like after finishing the book, none of them really understood why Nesta was doing any of it.

They could have respected Nesta's choices. They went out of their way to prevent Nesta from having options. They sent Cassian to take her there as a guard would, they didn't even invite her in, it was an event she was ordered to assist from the start. They demolished the place where she lived so Nesta didn't have a place to go back to. They sent her to a place she physically couldn't get out of so she would have no choice but to stay there until they decided she could be taken out. They had a vote on whether or not share with her information about herself. Even if the sisters had an intervention in private, they would havehad to be empathetic, explain themselves, and then listen, reason, etc. and I didn't see that respet from them at any point in the books. Teling Nesta she is an embarrassment and then locking her up... that's not an intervention at all.

They could have visited Nesta when she was in the House of Wind. Not like Elain did, to slut shame Nesta even more and make herself the victim of Nesta being depressed, but rather go check on her and her recovery instead of asking Cassian to report on it.

Almost anything they would have done would have been better than what they actually did.

Random Thoughts

*spoilers ahead*

I consider myself an older fan of the SJM multiverse. I’m almost 38, and I came into the books late. Meaning I had the benefit of reading them all at once and in a different order than they were released.

I started ACOTAR in August 2019 and by November 2019 had finished the entire ACOTAR and TOG series. Just in time to collect my thoughts and prepare for the March 2020 release of HOEAB. My husband joked that he was going to work on a reentry program for me back into my family 😳 (jokes on him, I’m permanently in faeryland).

My point here is that I had a different perspective than many of my fellow SJM fans. Reading ACOTAR first and reading the entirety of TOG all at once, to me, made it apparent that these worlds would collide. But the fandom was divided, and I’m too old to debate online. But in 2022 my dreams came true!

Now, I’m not going to fight anyone on ships. But I will say that purposeful misdirection is a staple of Sarah’s writing style. So in my opinion NOTHING is ever written in stone.

I definitely don’t think elain and Azriel are happening, and I thought they were destined after reading ACOWAR. If you haven’t read his bonus chapter yet, you must. But I also don’t think elucien is definitely a thing. Remember how Maeve fucked with Rowan and created a mating bond with Lyria, then killed her and their unborn child 😅 yikes.

I think something similar is happening with elucien. I think Hybern is Valg based on his black glittering eyes and the fact that no one knows his damn name! And I think he created a bond that mimics a mating bond between elucien and they’re going to have to untangle that in the upcoming books.

But maybe I’m totally wrong!

I have to do some rereading to find the text supporting this next statement, but I’m pretty sure Maeve’s husband is still traveling throughout the worlds. Orcus I think? You know, the King of Hell 😳 Also there are cats everywhere in each of these series and I will die of happiness when it’s revealed Aidas has just been around the entire time.

Also I scrolled through an opinion that I support: Rhysands last name could be Danaan. That would get my vote I think 🤔

Where does Dorian’s magic come from? Are his mind powers considered Deamati? Will he ever bang Manon ON THE PAGE?

Since Rhun has a Sword in the Stone backstory, does this mean he will be the one to defeat the Asteri and usher in a time of peace? Perhaps as King of Prythion?

Does Quinlar also give anyone else pause? I can’t help it, logic says yes they’re mates IT’S WRITTEN DOWN RIGHT THERE! But my gut just doesn’t buy it.

What is Elain up to? Why does the fandom still call Tamlin abusive and not Rhysand? Can we please kill Jurian and why does anyone like him?!?! WHERE ARE MIRYAM AND DRAKON. Why would Feysand just GIVE them the cauldron WTF?!?!

These are the difficult questions that I’m dying to answer. I can’t wait for more books 🥰🥰🥰

Nessian are the only two characters I trust throughout all three series. They are the only two that have proven they’re capable of honesty, every one else is plotting and lying and keeping secrets. And while this sounds negative, it’s another reason why I love the books. Antiheroes everywhere!

Some hot takes on Feysand Pregnancy

Okay. Here goes. So, I've read a lot of mixed reviews on the Feysand baby situation that occurred in ACOSF, most of them in the negative. So, I'm here to offer counterpoints. She's too young. Hasn't lived her life yet. But, hasn't she? She practically raised herself, took care of her family for years before she moved to Prythian. Just because someone is "young" doesn't mean they aren't "old." Goes the other way as well (the bat boys are over 500 years and still do and say some pretty dumb, immature shit). Age is truly relative in adulthood IMO. And, let's remember, Feyre's view on this point of having a baby changed in the series. She told Rhys she wasn't ready in ACOMAF. Then you have the war with Hybern where she LOST him, only to be brought back. So, you see her in ACOFAS contemplate a family when she sees art from the widow in the Rainbow. She realized, though the fae are practically immortal, tomorrow isn't promised. The war and understanding this changed her perspective on wanting to start a family now instead of wait. And, don't forget, they live a thousand years; this time to enjoy their child is just a drop in the bucket. Full disclosure, my mom had me at 21, was married at 20. 3 kids by 30 and she and my dad are living their best lives because we were out the door when they are still young-ish. Oh, and my dad is 6 years older and way less mature (still is LOL). So, whether a character (or RL person for this matter) decides to have them younger or wait until they are old, that's their choice. In this case, I can see why Feyre changed her mind. Now, this is where I get annoyed... :ahem: having a baby does NOT mean you stop living your life. Does not mean you aren't allowed to be a badass or have a job. If you generally just don't like pregnancies in books, fine, but good gods the number of times I've read complaints as if Feyre is just going to sit on her ass. Just don't. Plus, WE ALL KNEW THIS WAS COMING! We've known since ACOMAF and the meeting with the Bone Carver they would have a son. I'm just saying. And let's not forget the most important part here; Feyre made a CHOICE to start trying for a baby. Feysand were selfish in their deal to die together. This I can agree with. Their death pact is a little much and I get that the trauma of each of them having lived and witness the other die was a little much. I didn't agree with it (much like how I would never get a name tattooed on me). It was a dumbass, impulsive move done out of emotion on both their parts that SJM clearly romanticized. However, I don't think they planned for the pregnancy wing complication to occur, so the risk of her dying in childbirth was probably relative before they decided to fuck junk out, wings out. But, I mean... also real life? You can have kids and be in the same car in an accident. At least Feysand has a good support system around them where, if they did leave, Nyx would be raised by a family that would comfort and love him. The birth scene in ACOSF was overdramatic and just a way to add Feysand into a Nessian book. IDK why no one thought that Feysand wouldn't have some part in a Nessian book but, yeah, it was a little overdramatic. However, there has to be a reason SJM made sure Nyx had wings when he was born. I'm sure we'll see him deal with Illyria and stuff as he gets older. She wouldn't go through all of that for it not to be important at some point. Rhysand was wrong to keep the wings from Feyre. Yes. That's a duh. I get that he didn't want to stress her out, didn't want her to worry. But still, dick move. But also, WTF Madja?! What kind of healer wouldn't mention that or the risks TO THEIR PATIENT. I don't like healthcare in the Night Court. Nope.

Wth does an "adult relationship" mean?!?

I just saw a post from that el/riel page on instagram, talking about how Elain and Azriel would have an "adult relationship"...

I read their points and... my god- I'm so hoping that Sjm will not make el/riel endgame because the book would just bore the hell out of me.

What? The couple isn't allowed to do childish things? To have some fun? Don't they know what most adults actually do? Adults don't just pay bills, have sex and work. That would be so sad.

Nah- uh! I already don't ship el/riel due to how bland they are. Now I really don't want that couple to happen.

And then apperantly El/riel are already in love... so a 900 pages long book of secret sex, some politics, shy glances and finger brushes, one jealousy moment and then finally the confession. The end.

And Azriel showing his overprotectiv side more to Elain? Hell nah.

I'm sorry to dissapoint, but Sarah’s isn't a fan of bland relationships just because they have good sex. Have a look at every sjm couple that are endgame (Feysand, Rowaelin, Bryathalar etc.) They do and say silly things that this person would consider "childish". Again- WTF IS AN ADULT RELATIONSHIP?!

If their ship was as solid and in love as they claim to be, then why do most of their theories are 95% bringing Gwyn's character down by making up outrageous and harmful claims about her?

And how would their relationship be an "adult relationship"? By having sneaky, meaningless sex, and talking about gardening? (there is nothing wrong with gardening, but what else would they be talking about when they know nothing substantial about each other in 4 books worth of build-up)

It's already been confirmed by the freaking author that Gwyn is a GROWN WOMAN. Gwyn getting excited is not childish. Her love for making bracelets does not make her immature or a child; if they had read the book, they would've known what making bracelets means for Gwyn. Hell, my grandmother used to make bracelets until the day before she died - she died at 78, was she a child as well?

Having fun and doing silly things does not make the relationship "childish" as they claim to be. When you can do those so-called childish things with your partner, that means you have a great bond with them. Something deeper than just attraction for a couple of fucks.

I'm really curious to know what an "adult relationship" means, too. Because, if anything fun and silly is considered "childish" in their eyes, then my parents, wearing matching Disney pyjamas each Christmas, and who are in their 40s, don't have an "adult relationship", right?

But yeah, El/riel definitely has an adult relationship and they're so in love. My life and romantic expectations have not been the same since the most romantic line I've ever read in my entire life: "He hadn't gotten that far with his planning, certainly not beyond the fantasies he pleasured himself to". Yep, the peak of romance.

It's sad they don't see what's wrong with this. We've been in Azriel's head. The only time. We know exactly what he's thinking. And yes, clearly, he is attracted to Elain... but that's all? Their story would never be about choosing love over a bond because Azriel's only motive to go after her is because he believes she should be his mate. His brothers are mated to her sisters, so, in his mind, it's only natural he should be mated to Elain, right? Even if they ended up together somehow, Azriel's fixation with the bond would not fade, because it's already there when he thinks of the middle Archeron sister. The moment Azriel found his mate would also be the moment he left Elain.

Also, I can't with those that claim the bonus chapter means nothing, because it was not accessible to many readers. Like?? Do they realise that, for Azriel's story, it's the most important part so far? Because, again, it's his point of view? Not Feyre's, not Cassian's, not Nesta's, not Rhysand's - it's his. There was not even one tiny romantic thought about her. He never went on about how he saw her as a person, how he cares about her, how he'd fight to no end for her; no. He just thinks about eating her kitty and how his hands would soil her perfect skin. Why do they keep claiming they're in love? They're obviously attracted to each other. That is undeniable. But attraction does not equal love. One person can be attracted to another without loving them.

Everyone can ship who they want, as I've said. But at least they should stop embarrassing themselves with theories calling a Gwynriel relationship childish, making Gwyn evil just because, calling us paedophiles because they refuse to listen to the freaking author who, once again, confirmed Gwyn is a grown woman and so on.

The Mating Bond, Choice, and Feminism.

i’ve been seeing a lot of posts lately talking about how the mating bond is anti-feminist. that not being able to choose your own partner, but have it pre-determined by the cauldron/mother is misogynistic. oops! sorry, i should clarify. this argument is not about the feysand bond or the nessian bond. this argument seems to only be limited to elucien because for some reason all the other bonds are perfectly fine, but the elucien bond is problematic. wonder why that is... if you do not support elucien this may not be the post for you. if you continue reading you do so at your own risk of being annoyed by my words. 

the mating bond:

the mating bond is like having a soulmate. the cauldron or mother or sjm decides who would make the best pairings, but we don’t really understand why. rhys theorized that it may be determined by who can produce the most powerful offspring, but considering we have mated same sex couples i don’t think that’s the case. it’s talked about that the bond is chosen for couples who are equal to each other. however, it does not mean you will be in love or happy with your mated pair. the examples we were given for poorly mated pairs were rhysand’s and tamlin’s parents. sadly we do not know what their relationships were like. we were only told they were ill-suited. now i thought a lot about this, why the cauldron/mother would pick two people to be together if they were so poorly matched. i have a theory....

a mating bond, like a marriage, only works if the partners are willing to put in the work. being bonded does not mean suddenly you get your happily ever after. it means you try to be the best version of who you are and to have someone to lean on when you aren’t at your best. we witnessed feysand’s love story. it was not easy and accepting the bond did not make them live happily ever after. they are constantly working to improve themselves and their relationship. they disagree, but support each other and compromise. nessian accepted their bond, but even they argued and said hurtful things to each other afterword. a mating bond is not some idealistic disney ending. it takes time, commitment, and understanding. if you aren’t willing to do the work the bond is just an inconvenience.

power of choice:

having a choice in your life is extremely important and has been a theme of this series since acotar. being mated is destiny, but making your relationship work is your choice. feyre has been in a relationship where her voice, her choices, didn’t matter. but rhys has proven over and over that feyre will always have a choice. and she chose him and their bond. nesta and cassian chose each other. many people on the outside could look at them constantly arguing and think wtf was the mother/sjm thinking pairing them together? but despite the arguing they choose try to be their best selves and choose to support one another when they aren’t at their best. so why would anyone assume that suddenly a mating bond is stripping elain of her choice?

elain has been in the drivers seat when it comes to her bond since the beginning. it is her choice to accept or reject the bond. it is her choice to not discuss the bond when her sisters bring it up. it is her choice to not have a conversation with lucien about the bond when he’s been sitting in limbo for over two years. it is her choice to remain silent when feyre and rhys invite lucien to the night court. it is her choice to not tell lucien stay away. elain has been calling the shots and everyone in her life has been respecting her non-decisions regarding the mating bond. if she chose to reject the bond during solstice feyre and nesta would have held her hand in support and lucien would have walked away broken, but accepting. to infer otherwise makes no sense, especially when we see time and again lucien respecting elain’s boundaries. elain holds all the power here and lucien is just along for the ride. 

elucien and feminism:

i find it a very weak argument to claim that supporting elucien is anti-feminist. no one wants elain to accept the bond for lucien. no one wants elain to accept the bond and be miserable for the rest of her life. elucien shippers want her to get to know lucien, to see who he is and what’s in his heart. we want her to choose to accept the bond because she has fallen in love with him. just like feyre did with rhys. just like nesta and cassian did with each other. we also want lucien to get to know the real elain. we want him to see her beautiful and flawed soul and happily declare he loves his mate. because in case anyone forgot, feminism is about equality. 

this isn’t just about what is best for elain or what is best for lucien. it’s about what’s best for both characters. we want them to consider all their choices. we want them to have a chance. we want them to explore who they are and see how they fit with each other. because elucien shippers believe that they are best for each other. that they will try to be the best version of who they are and have each other to lean on when they aren’t at their best. 

ACOTAR 5 or 6?? (I don’t know which book is next)

Did someone ask for this? No, not really. Am I still going to theorize how the next book is going to go in length? Yes, yes I will. Also I’m doing a facemask that needs 20min to set in so like, I have time to kill. 

I have seen many saying that Azriel’s book is next because through him we will get Illyria, which still needs to be dealt with. Also through him we get Gwynriel and that. Even though I can definitely see the logic behind that, I thought I might throw in another option just for shits and giggles. 

This is more like a fever dream than anything. Don’t hold me to it, because I haven’t read these books with the academic rigorosity to come up with counter arguments as to why it’s Az’s and not Elain’s book that will come next. But, that being said, if I’m right I will say I told you so (lol). 

Also this will further my Elucien agenda so like... yeah you’ve been warned.

Why Elain?

Because I think it makes more sense to go have a book deal with one villain working up to Koshei, than to have Beron+Koshei as the big baddies in one final book. So like ACOSF was the human queen, ACOTAR 5 is Beron and then ACOTAR 6 ultimate baddie Koshei. And who is character that has ties to Beron? Lucien and who would Lucien’s book be with? exactly, Azriel. no I’m kidding, of course Elain. 

I also think Elain was a character that had a huge presence in this ACOSF despite having like three sentences. You could see her impact in the book and to me that was quite telling. 

ACOTAR 5: 

Right so we all can agree on a few things after being in this fandom for a couple of years or at least since the end of ACOSF: first, Elain and Lucien will deliver a Jane Austen type romance; second, it will entail a lot of court politics; and third, Elain is up to something and no one knows what it is. Yes? 

First Act:

Elain doing her suspicious stuff and we as the reader find out what it is and can already see the negative implications

Lucien still taking the brunt of the work in the SC, which is still utter chaos.

BoE content: Vassa is agitated because her curse is nowhere near close to being broken and time is running out. 

The IC finds out what Elain is been up to. I do think it has something to do with her wanting to go back to her human self. Cue the confrontation.

Meanwhile with Lucien: Vassa might attempt something it triggers a magical response from Koshei, an attack or something. Maybe Beron decides to make a move to the SC given that Tamlin is absent as a ruler. I don’t know, the point is we get a confrontation scene that sees Tamlin die to protect Lucien. Everyone is in shock because the HL of Spring just died, without heirs and close relatives. Where did the power go?

Lucien starts to feel it, but then he realizes that it’s not because it is happening to him.

Cue to Elain having her “i want to be human again I don’t care the cost” rant at the IC. Amren will call her a stupid girl, because that’s what she does. Then the power flows to her and she’s going to be hella confused, everyone in the IC is stunned and when Elain asks wtf just happened, Feyre will say: Tamlin died (because she can feel the shift of power of spring due to the kernel of power of spring that she has), so that means and Rhysand finishes the thought by saying that Elain is the new High Lady of the Spring Court (and the first cauldron-chosen high lady)

This means that now she has more ties to this fae world and can’t simply abandon them.

We will have some discussion about what to do next and Elain is all like “I don’t want to be High Lady I didn’t even want to be fae”. Trust someone in the IC, maybe Amren (since she has no problem with saying what everyone else is thinking in the bluntest-maybe even rudest way), to say that having Elain be HL of Spring would make everyone’s life easier given the unified Prythian front they must once again have because of the Koshei threat. Maybe it will even be Azriel and they will have the E/lriel fallout...

Lucien arrives at the NC to talk to Elain or well something. 

News spread about what happened and they know that Elain’s claim (if she chooses to make it) to the SC is a tad shaky and not everyone will accept it. Beron is like the fuck if you think I will accept this human-turned fae claim. The SC is an strategic location and I will take it for myself because it will be useful fo my Koshei-agenda.

Eris arrives like hello my dad is about to move his army to the SC so now is the time to kill him

And Elain is still like “i don’t want it”. Think Jon Snow in GoT.

Cue an Archeron confrontation of “you can’t run away from your responsabilities// life is not neat and sometimes it will throw at you things you thought you wouldn’t have thought you’d needed to take on// take a stance for once and think beyond your own plants”.

Details are blurry but she is like I need to leave here (the NC) because no one has my best interest at heart they are just doing what it’s politically best. But who might have my best interest at heart? That’s right, Lucien. She asks him for help or to leave or whatever.

Lucien is a politician and a courtier but for once, for fucking once he will do something that’s not for political gain (for the court he represents). He will help her because he wants to see her at peace. They go to the human lands with BoE.

The first act ends with one dead Tamlin, one unsure Elain, one willing to help regardless of the decision Lucien, and one war focused Beron. 

Second act:

The BoE content we have all been waiting for 

Vassa might be weak from whatever happened and Jurian is all worried. 

They see Elucien arrive and are like 👀👀👀👀. Lucien glares at them in a “say anything and i will in fact kill you” way. 

Elain starts to open up and mentions that if anything it should be Lucien who’s the HL and not her because he knows the territory and it suits his skillset. All she wanted to do was have a quiet life and see the world. 

Lucien says that if he were to make a claim he would need even more support from other courts, because if Elain’s claim is shaky at best, then his is like ... not great.

They agree that Lucien should travel to other courts to gather support because regardless whether it’s Elain or Lucien who will ascend to the Spring throne, they will need it. Elain asks if she can go with him because, as she said, she wanted to see more of the world. 

We also get an Eris Vanserra visit - or several - and Lucien starts to realize that Eris knows waaaaaaaaaaaay more than he has lead on. And that they need to work together because again, regardless of who takes the throne, Beron will fight it, but if Eris is on the Autumn throne he would offer support to either. 

Cue the Lads tour of Prythian ft. Politics-courtier plotline and the “how the fuck are we going to help Vassa” side quest.

Elain starts to learn more about what it takes to be a High Lady and about the territory of Spring and its people.

During visits to other courts one or two members of the IC will pop in and out.

Elucien slow burn + court romance begins (We have nice balls with tension because that’s how Jane Austen would have wanted it and this is nothing if not an austenian romance).

Elan will learn about Jessminda (that’s her name right?)

Lucien and Elain have a heart to heart one day and Lucien is like “I’ve never had a home that is mine, i’ve always owed it to someone else or it comes because they see me as a political pawn”.

Eventually another heart to heart about the complex grief (if you will) that Lucien must be feeling for Tamlin. 

When we get to the Day Court, we get the baby news. Not only are they trying to gather Helion’s support but also to figure out a spell to save Vassa. Doing something with a spell Lucien and Helion find out. I imagine that Feysand is in the DC because they are trying to keep tabs on how Elain is feeling regarding her High Lady position and they wanted to meet somewhere neutral; and so is Eris, because things are getting out of hand at the AC so they are trying to see what they should do. Also Feysand are nosy bitches so of course they would be there.

After the reveal, Lucien is shooketh and leaves, Elain leaves after him. It is raining. They get wet and he stops when he arrives at a temple (we love a good P&P reference) Lucien starts the monologue of what does this mean, who am i, I’ve always been alone and Elain cuts in and says that maybe in the past he’s been alone but that he will never be again; Lucien turns to face her and she walks up to him and kisses him like the Cauldron intended when it made them mates. 

We Eluciens are starting getting our well deserved smutt dishes. 

Third act:

Elain is still  a tad unsure about being a High Lady, because all she ever heard was that she was good at being pretty and an ornament, that she was meant to be the supporting role. Lucien is like “babes fuck what your mom said but no matter what you choose, I will choose you”. 

Finally shit hits the fan at the AC so that’s where Elucien go and Helion.. because LoA is there and he says fuck it imma go help her Beron can go fuck himself.

However they do not arrive at the palace or something like that but to another location where we can finally have visual proof of what Eris has been up to. LoA appears. Her and Helion have a nice tête-a-tête. 

Vassa and Jurian are there too beause #WereGoingToNeedAllTheHelpWeCanGet

Elucien formally arrive to Beron’s court, as is the plan. 

The tension is absurd, the coup is about to happen, something goes wrong, they need to think of their feet, somebody gets hurt.. you know the usual stuff. 

They use the spell to free Vassa and in such release of power Beron is confused and weakened

Lady of Autumn delivers the killing blow. Beron dies, power goes to Eris and everyone is like did we win??

Eris makes the joke that whichever half of Elucien will make the claim to the SC he will support it. By this moment is clear that Elain will take up the role so we all have a good laugh.

Archeron sister reunion, congratulations all around. Maybe a celebration in the SC??? or maybe that’s too tacky given that the whole court is still a mess,

Happy ending?? oh wait there’s something more uh-oh, when freeing Vassa you also freed Koshei. Oh you thought you had weakened Koshei by killing is Prythian ally? think again. Koshei is a god of death that now has full access to his powers. 

The end. 

ok hold on. acomaf is my fave book out of the whole series (it's mostly out of emotional value, i read it when i was younger and didn't have a real understanding out trauma and abuse only that i saw a character i loved getting out of a bad situation and getting happy) so obviously i didn't mind feysand being endgame and the development all of the characters had. i can accept tamlin turned out like that is realistic due to his trauma, i can accept feyre had to flee because it wasn't right for her, but the thing is after acofs i see no point to feyre leaving tamlin when rhysand ends up doing everything they told us tamlin was evil and unredeemable for. hiding the risks of her pregnancy, putting on shields on her, having feyre need to compromise over it. i honestly felt so betrayed by that. i'm not saying feyre and tamlin were good for each other, but it doesn't feel worth it to dismiss the potential they had for what we got with feysand.

also, sarah learn to treat "ugly" trauma with respect challenge. no they don't need to learn to physically fight to fight it. no they don't need a love interest to overcome it. yes the behaviors acquired from trauma and abuse aren't pretty but that doesn't mean a person is undeserving of kindness and compassion.

i think i had a point somewhere but i can't get to it. so hope you don't mind my rambling. anyway i loved your meta about tamlin i think he deserves better too

HOLY SHIT THIS ONE IS SO GOOD OK IM SO EXCITED

Bro you are so fine, I'm the one who doesn't make any sense and I totally get what you're trying to say. (Acomaf was actually my favorite book in the series too ngl)

BUT FUCK YEAH LETS TALK ABOUT RHYSAND.

I don't think it's a secret that Rhysand is one of my least favorite characters in media, probably ever? (How do I even put this into words) He is a bad character and to me, laughably so. You know how if you've ever written a character, there's that little phase that's like "what if people don't like this character' and then you're sad for a little bit? That's how Rhysand feels to me. He feels like SJM looked at this character and thought "I can't stand the thought of people not liking this character because I love him so much" and then did everything in her power to make sure we know how great he is.

Idk if this is just me screaming into the void, but I get to this place with my characters where like, especially if they are a little more morally gray or their decisions have negative impacts, I understand that I don't need the audience to like my main character. they can stand on their own, they can own up to what they do and they can grow from it. Thats what a good character does. That's how you keep your audience rooting for them. You gotta knock them over sometimes.

SJm doesn't knock Rhysand over. She doesn't push him to make mistakes, apologize, own up and move on. Rhysand has never made a decision that ended poorly for him. Everything goes the way he wants it to, because SJm wants us to know how cool and great he is. People who are cool and great don't make bad decisions! SJm doesn't let Rhysand fail, and she doesn't let him suffer his own decisions. Everyone else suffers his decisions, not him.

Rhysand's reputation as a good person hinges entirely on the audience liking him and/or thinking he's hot. And then what happens when the audience thinks neither of those things? Ya get a rly long post like this by a lil enby who is mad all the time. Rhysand loses all credibility when you look at him through a critical lens. Not a single thing the man does makes any goddamn sense. Here I thought acosf would give us a different perspective on Feysand and I was desperately hoping that Nesta would tell us what she really sees in them and how people around them really feel, I hoped that SjM would throw us for a loop and tell us that hey, she does know that Feysand are fucking toxic as hell and ruin the lives of people around them and she wants to show us that from an outside perspective but noooOoOOOoOoOOOO...

Instead we get Nesta hating herself because Rhysand told her that she shouldn't tell Feyre that Feyre could uh die in childbirth. Hey what the fuck.

Now I don't actually ship feylin, I kinda always sorta knew, even without spoilers, that it wasn't going to work out. Tamlin isn't sjm's idea of a good partner because he's not charming and witty and dark and handsome ya know? We met Rhysand and I knew that I was going to fucking hate this romance. Which sucks because I found Rhysand so intriguing in the first book. Ngl all the time spent in the spring court was kinda boring and every time Rhysand showed up to throw dead faeries at Tamlin I was like "oooooo" and I wanted to know more about why Tamlin, this awkward, blunt and kinda shy dude had beef with this super duper sly and shady man from another court.

I don't know if I've ever said this before, but SJm doesn't let her love interests grow. Rhysand doesn't change over the course of the story because he was already a good guy and his motives were for Feyre's sake I swear, the same goes for Rowan in TOG. SJm doesn't give Rhysand room to change. She needs to get to the part where they fuck make sure everyone knows that Rhysand is a good guy and actually he was good all along so that we like him more than Tamlin. It backtracks on everything bad Rhysand has ever done because you know... He had a good reason! It's fine!

I know it's probably just because SJm doesn't actually know how to write a good character growth arc but... Like can you imagine if Rhysand stayed the bad guy? Or at least remained the bad guy through acotar and acomaf? And then when Rhysand comes to take Feyre for his bargain it really was only to spite Tamlin? What about Rhysand, taking Feyre to the night court with him once a week every month for a long time, if only to see Tamlin's eyes grow darker and emptier every time he goes, and then he really starts to fall in love with Feyre. He's been a monster all this time, angry and cold and cruel and then he actually starts to fall in love. And then to get Feyre to stay he really does try to change, he stops antagonizing Feyre, he stops throwing dead faeries at Tamlin, and he stops harassing the Spring court. He starts spending genuine quality time with Feyre, he starts to learn about her and all the things she likes and he stops trying to get her to come with him just so Tamlin will be mad. He starts asking her to come with him because he wants to be around her and he prays that someday she'll want to be around him too. What if SJm let him grow.

But nahhhhhh instead we have a character who always knows the right answer to things, and he always knows how to fix every issue, and he is always so innovative and outside the box except that he isn't. We get a character who does the same shit as Tamlin but it's ok because he had a good reason not to tell Feyre that she could very well die in childbirth. Uhhhh don't know what that is but uhhh I know he has his reasons because all he has are his reasons.

It would be so easy to hold a mirror up to Rhysand and say "look at this. Look who you are. Do you not look just like Tamlin right now?"

But nooooooooOoOOOo Rhysand doesn't get to be wrong. Rhysand doesn't get to look like Tamlin because Tamlin is evil and Rhysand is definitely NOT I SWEAR.

But yeah I think the point I'm trying to make is that Sarah thinks so highly of Rhysand that he could never do wrong. He could never be like Tamlin, despite the narrative literally telling us the exact opposite.

Like you said, we lost the potential of what feylin could have been if SJm didn't suddenly decide that her audience needs to love Rhysand as much as she does. I think feylin could have been slow and sweet and a story of true healing and learning about one another. I think it would have been kind and steady and lots of "are you ok"s and "I'm sorry"s and "talk to me"s. Everything about Feysand feels rushed and hard and fast and the rest of the world doesn't have time to catch up. It's fucking exhausting to read it ya know what I'm saying.

(also can we talk about Rhysand like dying and Feyre finding the suriel and learning he's her mate and then instead of being like "k let's put a pin in that and fuckin save his life first" she like throws him around and everyone is like "wtf woman" and she's like I neeD tO Be alOnE these people have no idea how to prioritize)

Truly, I think it's innocent to a degree. There is absolutely no harm in wanting people to like your character. The harm comes when you destroy another character with no reason or explanation other than you want people to like a different character. Villain arc? Completely out of left field. You gotta build to that shit or like... Make it so that when you look back you slap your forehead and yell at a wall "OF FUCKING COURSE I SHOULD HAVE SEEN IT"

anyways, SJm treat "ugly" trauma with respect challenge SECONDED.

WELL IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK ME WEEKS YO WRITE IM HAVING A HARD TIME I know it probably doesn't make any sense I can't find my braincells BUT thanks for the ask @xelly

Tell me all your acotar things I love yo hear them !!

Main Issues with Feysand's leadership: it mostly consists on rather inmature, underdeveloped strategy that would in no way get a world leader very far in the real world (see: 'i schooled my face into a look of boredom'), seem content in making enemies left to right as long as they never have to step down from the pedestal that they've built, and see Illyria as a necessary evil, like wtf. In conclusion, Rhysand is a governor for Velaris, but is not fit to be the ruler of the Night Court.

Rounding caveat, because I know I’m going to get shouty: the dividing line between ToG and ACOTAR is that tog is a fantasy series with romance, and acotar is a romance series in a fantasy world. They’re not the same. I’d be totally fine with how the world building in acotar is v handywavy, because it’s still accomplishing what the books set out to do (tell a love story, hello acomaf) but- BUT, it’s not consistent. And that inconsistency wildly undermines the characters.

And god, if Rhysand as a ruler isn’t the heart of ???? spirit.

We’re not going to talk about how the plot of acotar only makes sense backwards (Hey, Rhys, why did you want to kidnap every month a powerless mortal girl???), we’re just going to talk about reputation.

So Rhys is a villain who we learn isn’t actually evil. A classic. He was made to do terrible things by Amarantha! He sacrificed himself to save his friends! Of course the High Lords hate him, they think he sided with the enemy.

That could have been the whole thing- the layers pulled back, Rhysand also a victim, a reason for the world to hate him but for Feyre to see otherwise.

OKAY BUT- then we learn? that Rhysand has been playing Evil Scary Jackass in all political situations? for his entire reign? that’s just what he does?

Round two: Rhys had to be Amarantha’s because he had to “shield the knowledge” of his friends and his capitol? city. 

BUT- other people Under the Mountain, also accessible to Amarantha, know the IC??? have been acquainted with them for years? They’re not a secret. Mor was almost married out, Az and Cas are legendary, Amren is a story people tell. 

And all those people are probably incentivized by the fact that, you know, they think Rhysand is an evil traitor.

Furthermore: guess who willing cooperated with Amarantha? The Court of Nightmares. Recall who, surprise in acowar, knows all about Velaris: Keir.

Round three: Sexy Evil Cosplay, wherein we learn that not only instead of just keeping it together in politics Rhys has adopted an entire secondary persona, we learn he also...uses this persona...to scare all the other highborn faeries into submission....so he? never has to talk to them?

BUT ALSO: this whole thing is undermined by, once more, Keir. 

The whole game on the throne is to instill fear/ control of Keir. The whole Second Face. But Keir knows about Velaris? Keir knows exactly what Rhys stands for because Rhys and Cassian tried to rescue Morrigan from the Court of Nightmares when they were teens. Hell, Keir probably knew Rhys when Rhys was a kid.

It’s almost like eventually the person you pretend to be becomes who you are.

I think the Political Rhys vs Real Rhys started out as a plot point, but in character became this: not someone separate at all, but actually, Rhysand’s coping mechanism for making shitty choices.

See: if everyone in the Court of Nightmares bows, I’m ruling them. It doesn’t matter that women are being sold, that there’s servants and presumably totally normal people trapped in a mountain they can’t leave with people I think are monsters.

Let’s jump to Illyria. 

How much easier is it, for Rhysand, half-Illyrian himself, to align wholly with the High Fae and say: no, it’s Illyria’s fault. They’re savages, they’re barbarians. 

Easy as being a dick to other powerful men because it’s fun when they can’t fight back.

If the blame isn’t his, he keeps his army. He doesn’t have to fight a civil war that might swallow him whole, considering Illyria is the army he controls vs the High Fae soldiers left entirely under Keir’s rule. 

If it’s Illyria’s fault he can successfully reimagine the past as he clearly needs to (someday, I’ll make a whole ass post about Rhysand’s mommy issues and how they creepily bleed into Feyre’s characterization, but one thing at a time).

If it’s Illyria’s fault, he can’t be mad about his Mother, daughter of a warrior race, offering him up for brutal, dangerous training. It’s the fault of Illyria. He doesn’t have to imagine he was learning those things, fighting in the mud, because it was the only way his mother could pass the legacy, could say, look, this is where I come from and someday you will have the power to make it better for your sister, for everyone.

He LOVED his mother. He wears the sacred tattoos, manifests wings, has Illyrian “brothers”.

But- It’s Illyria’s fault, so Rhys didn’t fail, Rhys is doing his duty by keeping them in line. 

Which brings us to the war.

I’m unclear on why only the Night Court knew Hybern was coming, but let’s just accept that. 

But it’s all about the Public Face, moving in the shadows, the two Rhysands. So for the months Feyre is wasting away with Tamlin, planning her wedding Rhys...doesn’t warn anyone. Doesn’t whisper to the other High Lords to shore up defenses.

He makes a plan contingent on 1)that creepy deal with Feyre that he can now both justify and doesn’t want to enforce knowing she’s his mate, and 2) long lost magical objects no one knows the location of, and that don’t belong to him.

Rhys got SO used to the All-Knowing Dickbag face, it’s like he started believing he was all knowing. He’s one of seven Lords, but he doesn’t talk to any of them, on the off chance they don’t do exactly as he says. He steals from Tarquin, a young High Lord kind enough to take a chance on him. He tricks Mor. He lies to...everyone?

And then it’s a big deal, a failure on their part, when at the FINAL HOUR AND LAST MOMENT BEFORE ALL OUT WAR, AFTER THE SECOND INVASION HAS ALREADY COMMENCED, when the High Lords don’t jump to trust Rhys.

A step back, a Feyre tangent: Feyre, younger, also deeply traumatized, falls into this hard. Rhys tells her he’s the underdog, and she believes it. He’s SO SO SO powerful he can take the voice of another High Lord, Feyre herself thinks he’s so magical the gap between him and his contemporaries is like that between humans and high fae-

But hey wait, they don’t trust him because he’s been a dick for five hundred years. 

But hey wait, they came as their true selves, they don’t trust him while he’s WEARING ILLYRIAN WINGS- IT’S BECAUSE HE’S DIFFERENT-

No, it is not, but Feyre’s POV sort of wants us to think so.

And that’s where everything sort of falls apart.

The act of power has stopped being an act- it’s just their actions now. And they do not know how to stop.

Because they are in control, and they have to go on for the war. They have to keep making decisions, even if they’ve lost the thread, because they want to survive.

But they do survive.

And it turns out, even after that, they can’t put down the masks fused to their faces, because the act is the only thing keeping them together.

So the balls to the wall, We Must have the High Ground Even at Our Own Dinner Parties, The Center MUST Hold shit just keeps going: tearing down Lucien because he chose something that wasn’t their Court. Letting Illyria crumble because they don’t need the army right now. Banishing Nesta because she’ll never bow to authority.

All the weird, incestuous feeling inter IC drama.

But they’re the underdogs! the Heroes! It’s not their fault! 

So they spend their time in Velaris, charmingly hanging out like they’re normal people, thinking they’re better because power is wielded on an unimaginable personal scale.

Rhys loves his people! Rhys sacrificed!

Rhys...careened from one war/disaster to the next, and then settled down to play house?

The narrative cannot decide: is Rhys really an underdog, devoted to his people? How about he helps every other city that Amarantha destroyed?

Is Rhys a Normal Guy who just wants to walk on pretty cobblestone and have a cute, happy family? Maybe, there should be a government so he isn’t solely responsible for everything?

Is Rhys the Lord of Darkness Redeemed by LOVE?  Cool, let’s have him maybe he honest with Feyre exactly once, OR, at least talk about how him dying made her go off the rails and try to fix that with a bandage that isn’t baby shaped before Feyre’s 22nd birthday. 

Canonically, becoming High Lord is a mystical, magical endowment. That then, for the most part, functions as some kind of mashup Monarchy/ Feudal Lordship.

If that’s what it is, why can’t we lean into that? Rhys who does want a normal happy life with Feyre, trapped by the weight of immovable magic destiny.

King Rhys, duty bound to his bloodline and his people, torn between different ways to rule. 

Hell, Rhysand who really is a monster, because maybe Faeries are monstrous by human standards, who shows Feyre the beauty that lies beneath the brutality in a magic, surreal world where everyone is terrifying, but even monsters love.

My Spicy-Hot Take

The difference between theorizing for TOG and ACOTAR is theorizing for TOG made, like, sense. Things certainly evolved through the series but there were a lot of seeds and bits of foreshading laid into the first few books, and that comfortably sustained the next several hundred thousand words. I'm not saying every scene was planned, and it didn't need to be. It certainly helped that it followed one (main) character who had a distinct arc outside romance.

ACOTAR... does not have that. I don't say this in a hating way, at all. But ACOTAR is, IMO, Sarah's world to just do whatever the fuck she wants. Okay we have a bat winged race? Cool, now we're gonna do it with angel wings. Something emotional happens in SJM's life? We can put a few nods in it. Clothing? My girl is in leggings and sweaters. Yes, Feyre can open an art studio. Build-your-own dreamhouse. We want to explore Illyrian culture? Lit. Actually wait we don't want to get to into that? Backtrack. Moriel (tho was it ever a thing)? Elriel? Elucien? Gwynriel? Whatever blows her hair back. An entire set of magic maguffins that people somehow completely forgot about? Why not! (I cannot emphasize enough, this is something I can't see having been in TOG, at least not the way it was handled.) Suicide vows? (FEYSAND BB WTF) oh guess we should go back and have Amren say that's dumb af. Who lives? Who dies? What is Vassa up to? Who knows! The answers are literally always changing

Some things are obviously planned. Nessian was very clearly always gonna happen (though we do have the flames-dresser>>lucien flames theory, so even that isn't really true, let alone how the sisters were characterized in acotar but I am digressing upon digressing). But beyond that, ESPECIALLY with shipping (and I gotta say, I feel like we as a fandom focus on shipping because I honestly cannot tell you what the plot is going forward outside of romance--are we dealing with the human queens, Vassa's thing, the potential Rhysand-dictatorship, the Illyrian uprising??) we have NO solid foundation. Sarah is changing her mind as she is writing. What seems foreshadowed in one book can be tossed by the wayside in the next book.

And this is, I cannot emphasize enough, FINE. It's her story, and as long as she's having fun, more power to her. But there's no point twisting ourselves into pretzels over what the text says (especially from more than one book back) because this is EVOLVING in a clearly unplanned way. Again, I repeat, this is FINE. And I'm not saying don't ship your ships. Ship them. Draw them. Write fics. It keeps the fandom alive and fun. By all means, theorize. Draw text evidence. Spice it up and theorize about whatever the plot is, too.

But the holier-than-thou subtext of a lot of these posts is EXHAUSTING. No one is wrong for what they ship. And no one is "right" because SJM could literally decide ya know what Elain was just a proxy for Azriel and Lucien's repressed feelings for each other and they ride off into the sunset. (Or dawn court, I suppose.) There's no "but actually the text says this" because, guys, the text is super inconsistent. Which is just the nature of SJM writing an explosively successive series that definitely came about when YA was different vs her other series that was planned out for like... a decade.

I love theories. I love text analysis. I read stuff I don't agree with, and I'm just happy to be part of an active fandom. But play nice and accept that SJM is probably gonna invent robots at some point in Prythian.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!

DONT READ UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED!!!!!

My full review of ACOSF 3 seconds after reading it.

Probably unpopular opinion. Idk.

First off wow. I did not expect that shit at alllll! I liked it but I would rate it a solid 6.5/10. To me it wasn’t that good. It was a book with a good plot for about 3/4 of the way and then it gets weird with smut scattered throughout it with no real purpose.

First I want to say that I still feel that Nesta and Cassians relationship is so strange and forced. I wish I liked it more. I don’t. The initial romance scenes were so quick and weirdly put together they literally did nothing for the plot. It was just a lot of sex scenes that I was like eh ok. They’re steamy and raunchy but with little to no purpose. Like Maas just decided to make this her sexiest book bvs of how many views it would get without calculating the plot into it. They just end up making out and having sex a lot but I didn’t see the buildup or anything it just happened out of nowhere. And then it stopped and then it happened again. I wish their mating bond snapping into place had been more of a plot line I was left a little confused when I read it. Nesta apologizing and accepting Cassians apology was too quick he said he was shackled to her. Hellllll no. She became a pushover.

I did like how now Nesta has a relationship with all the IC. However her instant forgiveness and her apologies to the IC were very rushed and ingenuine. She was treated very poorly by rhys and amren and shes the one who throws herself at rhys and apogkizes? She’s the one who apogizes to amren? No. It doesn’t seem at all like the Nesta that I would have expected. I wanted at least a little rebuttal or fire. Like I understand all of their hesitantion and why they were so mean but I wanted a little apology or explanation.

I hate to say it but Maas really did seem to cut the fire out of Nesta. I didn’t want her to be a bitch but I wanted to go retain of her sassy energy and she just seemed like a wash rag at the end. Nesta was done wrong by Cassian rhys and amren a lot and she was the one who ended up fixing or apologizing in those relationships and it doesn’t fit right that they don’t at least mention their mistakes to her as well. And this is coming from someone’s who didn’t like Nesta, or didn’t rlly care for her, so I can’t imagine what people who liked her thought after reading this book.

I didn’t like how she never apologized to feyre or Elain. She did in actions but I wanted a verbal apology. I loved the total sacrifice and I thought it fit her arc. I thought it was very full circle. Obviously Nesta and feyre love eachother and I’m elated about that. I like that Nesta had to give up her power and was able to keep a bit of it. The power would have killed her I think if she was able to keep it.

Lowkey I was expected each sister to have to be called to a made item and I thought it would have been a cool plot idea to introduce Elain into the story.

I love how Elain was so bold in this book but there were moments where even I was like calm down girl.

I loved her slow development with Mor. mor was aggressive at the beginning but really came into herself and i liked their friendship all the way through. I liked how mor is portrayed a lot. Hopefully mor snd emerie are a thing. But, how does nestas jealousy just go away? How does mor just accept that Nesta and Cassian are having sex? How does every charter just act fine with it when they all were so cautious around her? Seems kind of gross to constantly smell the sex. Ew.

Az and Nesta are so great as a pair. Hopefully we see more of Gwyn with him.

Love emerie and Gwyn but how the three of them were able to complete the blood rite after only a few months of training is so unrealistic and just not what I expected. It seemed so played out and sacrificial martyr like I was bored of it. Very predictable. Especially how Cassian goes against the crown to save his mate like okay next.

I wish Maas had just kept her as a leader for assault survivors I think that would have been amazing. But Nesta and her friends after literally 3-4 months of training being illyrians is unrealistic. Nesta seemed to transform into Feyre at the end and while I love Feyre Nesta is not Feyre and I was not a fan of seeing another recreation of that sacrificial lamb trope.

The whole pregnancy plot point was weird and I didn’t like it. I get it at the end but literally I could have done without the whole thing. Rhys keeping it from Feyre that she was gonna die- horrible. Them making a pact they would die together is absurd and so weird. They would never do that like ... someone has to fucking rule the night court.

I loveeeeeed the dance scenes and the importance of music.

Eris is fine. I don’t like him I don’t hate him. He’s whatever. Same with Lucien. Literally this whole thing he was with Mor about her knowing the truth like literally don’t care. It’s mor making me curious it’s just a stale detail now that’s been repeated a lot with no follow up information.

I would have liked more touching up on mor azriel and cassians relationship. It’s like Maas is fostering confusion with Elain and morrigan over azriel and it’s not mysterious it’s just annoying.

There was some amazing detail that went into this novel and I applaud the well thought out and carefully constructed attention to history and mythology. I thought a lot of the smaller scenes and chapters were brilliant- the harp scenes, the initial training, the library and house scenes, the female relationships, music scenes, etc....- but as a whole plot it felt like 6 stories being forced together and tied with a ribbon but the stuffing was coming out so your left confused and a little like wtf okay.

Overall I liked the story thought it was very good “redemtption” arc for nesta but I wish it had more to do with her psychological journey and not so much out on her psychical one- Illyrian blood rite, hiking, weird sex- with odd plot points and rushed relationships and forgiveness.

Also I liked the azriel extea chapter it was fine. Kinda made az look like a little morally grey but we now know he is interested in Elain, that Elain wants him back, and that he is lonely. Hopefully he doesn’t hurt Gwyn.

Loveeeeed the feysand chapter. Rhys is dead on about his characterization of Elain.

The next book will def be about as, Lucien, Elain, mor, and probably Gwyn. LOVE THAT.

About something in ACOSF

I’m definitely late to talk about this, but the thought just came into my head, so I will.

(This is my personal opinion, so please, respect it. And sorry for any misspellings, english is not my first language)

I think most people disliked the pregnancy thing in the book for a hundred different reasons: divergence in the book’s focus, Feyre is too young (22 I think?), how come she got pregnant so fast for the faes patterns, etc. Basically, I guess pretty much everyone had a moment when they looked at the book and went “Wtf is going on here??” (especially because of the possibility of death in labor). I know that I had all of those thoughts, but then, there was this one moment when I was reading that I came to terms with it. Why? Because, I feel like Sarah needed to put Feyre and Rhys out of the way, out of the adventures and quests.

They’re not the ‘focus’ anymore (even if they still hold importance), so now, the other characters need to get stuff done, and to do that, there must be a plausible explanation as to why Feysand is not doing it. Cause, let’s be honest, they’re not the type of rulers who will just sit in their thrones and give orders (we have 3 books with them not doing that, even if Feyre wasn’t a High Lady in all of them. You get the point), they do stuff. The whole beginning of the plot surrounds the fact that Feyre could not look for the Trove (because of the pregnancy) and due to that, they had to ask Nesta to do it (and there’s, also, the whole thing about them not really being open about Elain doing it, but that’s another conversation)

About Rhys, he was concerned about the complications of the labor, the possible deaths (due to that ridiculous bargain) and overall the future of the Night Court. He had a lot on his plate, especially because he didn’t tell Feyre. So yeah, it’s not my favorite thing to happen and I can’t say I enjoyed it 100%, even though, I must admit, that when they were so happy because of the pregnancy and when Nyx was born, it was so heartwarming to me lol, like, it was just sweet, you know?

And now, in the next books, they’re parents. I can’t be 100% sure that will stop from doing dangerous stuff, but I don’t think Feysand are going to risk letting their child an orphan (maybe it sounds a bit awful, but it’s what I think) + now that the Inner Circle knows about their bargain, I don’t think they will risk Feysand’s lives. Therefore, the other characters will have to get shit done. So I'm okay with it.

Also, I have to add this very personal opinion of mine, the pregnancy was not that random, like yes, they decided to wait in ACOMAF and live their lives as a couple first, but then Rhys died in ACOWAR and Feyre heard all those stories in ACOFAS about the loss of husbands and other family members and stuff in this area. So, in that book they decided to have children. Yes, logically, it should have taken a lot longer for that to happen, which is why pretty much no one expected it to happen (at least not in acosf), but Sarah did it that way. + we know that Sarah is a mother now and is most definetely in love with motherhood, so that might have influenced her.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

Okok Headcanon Time!!

Rhysand is also a weirdo.

Lemme tell you, he doesn't show it bc now boy has to act like a decent High Lord, but he is weird. Not weird like Azriel, who's in a creepy way, but like his mate Feyre.

See, I don't know exactly what's to be a weird person, but I guess disgusting things count, right?

So, a thing lots think to be disgusting and weird: Foot Fetish. (no kink shaming pls i don't think it to be weird i actually see the appeal)

Rhys has. He loves Feyre's feet. In random times of the day, when they are together, Rhys, unconsciously, will just grab one of Feyre's feet and start playing with it. He'll touch, lick, try to put it all inside his mouth. Meanwhile Feyre will be there like wtf??? and then start laughing and helping Rhys to make her foot to fit in. Cassian is always the one who find them doing these oddities.

Another weird thing that they do is... ok this one might be disgusting, but they do feed each other like birds. Rhys will be drinking something and Feyre will stand there with her open mouth just waiting for Rhys to give her a sip. Rhys will give it to her, but with his mouth (this one is romantic and kinda sexy, c'mon). In other scenario, Rhys, the food-selfish that he is, will eat all the candies before Feyre and our sweet queen will jump on him to grab the candy from his mouth. There are also others disgusting moments which I prefer not to share.

I can't think about weird stuff anymore, but if you have some good ones feel free to share!! Whatever you think to be weird; Feysand does it.

ACOSF FINAL THOUGHTS. 3/5

It was good. But it could have been EPIC. I think I got caught up in the hype and should have remained blissfully ignorant. Loved Nestas journey and her finding happiness. WELL DESERVED.

However lots of loose threads, ignored angst, rushed ending, pregnancy plot overshaowed a lot - 2 chapters wasted!

It was Nestas book with Cassians POV to balance. It was interesting to read how skewed, almost backwards it was the way Nesta saw things. Like the IC behaviour/comments at times to her was counter acted then with Cassians interpretation. Really showed her low her self esteem was.

I know it's Nesta letting go and being happy with herself and I believe SJM wrote it this way to be deliberately CLEAR that the IC are NOT perfect and are 100% capable of being total pricks. BUT that they are not held accountable for their actions the same way Nesta is, was frustrating. Cold hard facts: Nesta never murdered/stole/lied/tortured/assaulted anyone. She was a bum and a drunk who spewed hurtful shite. An angry bitch. However the only thing she ever wilfully killed was the King of Hyburn at the NC's request. The level of disgust from Amren/Rhys/Mor directed at Nesta in the beginning was uncomfortable to read and didn't sit well with me.

I'll have to read it again but I was not satisfied . Nestas character arc started half way through ACOWAR. She stepped up when they needed her to.

Feyre agreeing despite her experience in Spring was a step backwards for me. Then again it's exactly what Nesta needed. Cruel to be kind. And Feyre had Nestas back repeatedly throughout the narrative.

Loved Nestas story all of it, training, friendships, self love, etc etc. Gwyn and Emerie ❤ All epic. And she's well...more interesting! Detail on Cassian killing all those monsters, scene in the big, wow so good.

Feysand overkill or perhaps Rhys overkill. Sorry SJM but you need to pull back.

Nessian happened the way I thought it would. That Cassian isn't perfect is normal. His heart is Nestas, it's pretty clear. Smut scenes, I've read better sorry !!! Intensity was not the same as previous books. More sexy and less crude for me. Missed Cassians swagger but I guess we are in his head, and he's a big cuddly insecure bear. With a big d**k.

More thoughts (in my humble opinion).

Feysand pregnancy DRAMA. Unnecessary. Keep it, just don't let it happen the way it did. I've already said I thought the sacrifice should have been for Gywn/Emerie and there is a simple tie in IMO (see previous posts). Or perhaps Cassian actually stabbing himself rather than hurting Nesta with the Queen. But I get SJM and 'losing' her power, that much power just undermines the remaining plot for next few books. Nesta could just blast them all to hell. And she stole it in anger and has let it go with love. Growth! She is clearly still hella powerful. We don't know the half of it.

For me the above was the most irritating. The ending squeezed in. And I like Feysand. But Nesta healing with Feyre needn't have been so convoluted. Or drastic. More private, perhaps a real angsty, tense conversation and confession. They didn't discuss anything.

The last few chapters too much went on...important moments; first females to win The Rite, sidelined. Accepting the mating bond, sidelined. WTF is Nestas power now, sidelined. Queen dead, sidelined. An ILLYRANIAN FEMALE KICKING ASS sidelined. I mean Christ that was Cassians goal! And nothing. NOTHING. Not even a handshake.

Rhys. It was plain uncomfortable. But someone mentioned SJM deliberately wrote Rhys that way for this book and that's true. In the Feyre POV she mentions "two mates" the reasonable one and the asshole so that, I think, is telling. He's def more HL and pulls rank in this book with everyone.

Rhys clearly witnesses Nestas trauma from her nightmare but there is no recognition with Nesta. Not a peep. Yet he clearly feels massive regret. Is that for our benefit, the readers? That at least we know. Don't hate on Rhys. (I like Rhys btw)

I'd have liked a full circle scene where they are back in THAT sitting room admiring baby Nyx and Nesta just says a few things. Cooly and calmly. She's happy they intervened, but for all their wisdom and years of living it left a lot to be desired. Nothing too crazy, just a few delivered lines, Nesta style.

Felt Nesta lost a little of her fire. But maybe you see it more from the others POV. Though they always provoked her and it was a defence mechanism. And she was a bitch at times. With others outside the IC it's clear she is not like that. Make what you will of that.

I know SJM doesn't like to over detail things but a moment with Feyre/Nyx/Nesta alone would have been nice.

The sisters never meeting Gwyn or Emerie. A scene like that would have been powerful.

Amren is as Mor rightly said is a "cranky old bastard". And "Welcome back to the Night Court Nesta Archeron" screamed, now that you've scrubbed up love come on home. I don't know. Amren was clearly done with Nesta she was the one that stood by her the most and got sick shit of her. All Amren can command is respect now and Nesta really wanted hers, possibly the most.

Can I make a point about people harping on about slut shaming. Amren made one catty observation, that Nesta would ride almost anything. No other character mentioned it. Not one. And Nesta enjoyed her bed partners, she refers to some of it (threesome!). There was zero shame. And SJM hates slut shaming. So stop. It's not a thing.

I'm nitpicking but there was a lot of hurt just left off. Perhaps that was the point. SJM was like, fuck it, Nesta doesn't want to feel that anger or resentment anymore she wants to live and be happy. She's found inner peace with herself and those that matter most. Me wanting justification for how they treated her at timea is not the point!!! Lol.

The painting, that stood out for me in ACOFAS. It hurt to read it. Maybe Feyre had nothing to paint of Nesta. They didn't talk. Share thoughts. I think Feyre asking Nesta herself to show her memories of The Rite so she could paint it would have had more impact. But it read very plainly like now you've earned your spot here...or I like you now or something. She was deliberately not there, perhaps until she wanted to be. Or finally accepted and embraced life with the IC. It was an unnecessary detail that just fueled the Feysand halo (again I like Feysand).

Nesta made those weapons therefore they are hers. Amren is power hungry. Rhys seems happy to hand them over. High King drama, I can see it. It could happen.

It's clear that Nesta didn't want to leave the NC, therefore she had to fall in. People have a problem with 'who's boss' but we've only ever had court dynamics from Rhys/Feyre POV. And they are the top dogs in the NC. We are going to have to get used of seeing Feysand make decisions from the outside. It's THEIR court. And to be fair, Feyre always had Nestas back.

And yes I believe you always have a choice with Rhys. I know some scoff at that.

Rhys kneeling to Nesta further proves our gal is a Queen. Feyre is the only one he's ever bowed to. SJM gave us that moment for Nesta and we will have to be content despite he's questionable aggressive behaviour. He clearly has issues with family given his past.

Enjoyed seeing a bit of Elaine. Finally. And Nesta delivered some home truths! Elaine needs to find some backbone. Really looking forward to her story. Go mad SJM!

Feysand POV should have been the fallout of Rhys keeping baby drama from Feyre. Now THAT I would want to hear. And perhaps Feyre saying to Nesta I'm "secretly glad you told me".

Eris I always found super interesting. It's clear to me he knows Mor is gay. Him helping her would have meant she was trapped in the AC. 'Rejecting her' allowed Rhys and Co to save her and to have freedom. She screwed him by keeping it secret. His arc will be with Lucien I think.

Az and Elaine not for me. Sorry. I'd like Lucien to find some happiness. I've spoken of this before see other posts. Az tortures people for a living, he has serious issues.

I've already spoken about Mor....remember her lol. Where is she! Ha! Actions speak louder than words with Mor. Winnow please my mate is being a dick, teach me to dance, dress shopping. But I guess she's Feyres friend, Nesta has hers. Nesta feeling ashamed as to how she treated Mor, will be interesting to see how Mor feels about that oul time when I was such a hypocrite, lol, what I really meant was....

There are 2 more books and a novella so who knows. Nessian ain't over.

Going to look forward to the fanfiction!

Thanks SJM.

Omfg Nesta Archeron is not Hayley Marshall wtf is this?! She was a crappy sister, but so was Elain. Everyone always blames Nesta for not stepping up to help their starving family, but Elain was the older sister too and yet she always gets a free pass. And yes Nesta is mean and cruel when people try to reach out to her, but her book was about why she’s that way. Why she constantly pushes people away because she would rather them hate her than see who she really is and then leave. I know you, Hillary, have not read these books so this is all meaning nothing to you. Sorry, but damn I will not deal seeing someone say Nesta is Hayley. That makes zero fucking sense. Nesta has depth and character development. She’s not a character everyone worships and praises for literally nothing.

rhysand from acotar often reminds me of damon salvatore but more likable ig? and also watered down. he’s often fancasted as ian too. actually the show’s main ship - feysand - is frequently fancasted as delena which is funny bc in sjm’s other series (throne of glass) the main ship rowaelin i’ve seen fan casted as klaroline in edits.

i mean sure nesta could be scarlet personality-wise but scarlet literally works for everything she gets, is consistently ambitious and bring herself back up from the ground. nesta doesn’t do any of these things she allowes her 13 years old sister feyre to risk her life going hunting for them and solely supporting their family while nesta abuses and belittles the shit out of her to the point were feyre is embarrassed to learn how to read because nesta used to make fun of her for it being illiterate. i can sympathize with nesta at certain points but she’s consistently terrible to the one person who ever gave a shit about her survival for reasons i don’t understand (and i didn’t even like feyre), and is incredibly inconsistent. her narrative is all over the place and she’s often described as things we’ve never seen her be.

In the originals hayley had scenes were everyone literally kneeled in front of her. In acotar it got so bad that for Nesta to be accepted by the main characters she had to literally kneel in front of someone who called her a waste of life when she was suffering from severe ptsd. I don't know how your anon can compare the treatment hayley got with the one Nesta got. If anything feyre is a blend of Elena hayley right down to being extra special and the pregnancy trope and the delena type of ship.

People often say Nesta was villainzed like she was literally awful to people who had done nothing to her what reaction do stans expect other characters to have towards Nesta when she went around being an asshole to everyone for no reason at all? And the worst part is that the one person that was never an asshole to Nesta is Feyre who is also the one person Nesta consistently emotionally/verbally abused for no reason.

people will shit on nesta but the praise the fuck out of rhys who is also absolutely awful misogyny smells

Nesta is the type of character obsessed with status she’s never gonna get back. But she literally never does anything to try and get it back. Interpret what you can from that.

ion like this anti nesta talk yall better be rhys antis too

hellacioushag said: i swear to the satan shoes if i see one more person say nesta is hayley…

tyrellsmoon said: nesta was sent to train because she was literally self-destructing not because she was having sex with people.

elainissus said: she is nothing like hayley

maevelin said: the sacrilege to compare nesta archeron to hayley… i am without words lol

maevelin said: lol… generally speaking the acotar fandom as a whole is a mess. hate or love characters… everyone gets passionate about them… and the fandom wars… wait till this gets adapted to a show… tvd to fandom wars will seem a fond memory lol

hellacioushag said: @maevelin oh god the fandom wars are already so intense right now i can’t imagine how bad it will be once it actually is a show. some fans on twitter just threatened to kidnap the author’s toddler for agreeing to adapt it in the first place. the crazy can only get worse from here.

maevelin said: @hellacioushag what the actual.. yeah i am not going to touch another kind of fandom fuckery like this with a ten foot pole… i am too old for that shit 😂…i didn’t survive plec for this lol

Jesus Christ.