u/Glittering_Call_6556

Alex- “You can’t tell us whose POV it’s from?”

Sarah- “Um, no. And that was one of the surprising things for me and writing this and what came out. You get a lot of insight into various things.”

-how on earth did this turn into “SJM said the POV will shock us!” bc I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard people say this on TikTok

She is clearly saying that the process/result of the POV gave her unexpected insight into different characters/things, not that the POV itself was surprising

I was thinking about this a lot last night. Given Elain’s unique powers, the narrative voice used will dramatically alter the story, even more so than with Feyre or Nesta. This might get a little meta so bear with me.

It seems commonly accepted in the fandom that SJM said she didn’t write Nesta in first person because she felt like it would be too close to Nesta’s mind. (I tried to find the interview where she said this, but I couldn’t. If someone has it, that would be great!) Nesta is a guarded and closed-off type of person, and she wanted to maintain some distance, for privacy’s sake, between her and the reader.

We also know that Feyre and Rhys are the only two characters that she has ever written in first person, across all her series. And while I love that Feysand holds that spot of honor, and I feel like there is likely a reason for that, I still think Elain would be a great character to write in first person because of her specific power.  

Simply put: Third person makes us observe Elain having visions, and first person makes us experience the visions with Elain. And I think experiencing the visions for ourselves would be so much more powerful. For example:

I saw the Lake again.
Black water. A mountain. Something dark looming on the other side. It was waiting for me. Calling to me.

Vs.

Elain saw the Lake again. She saw the black water. A mountain. Something dark was looming on the other side, waiting for her, calling to her.

I don’t know, I just feel like the first is so much more chilling for some reason.

Also, in first person, SJM can make the reader experience the fundamental problem with being a Seer: that you don’t necessarily understand the meaning of what you’re seeing and must attempt to decode it yourself.

But in third person, she could maintain a greater distinction between Elain’s perception and the objective narrative. So in first person, Elain is more likely to do the decoding for us. In third, we do the decoding as the reader.

What do you guys think? 🤔 🤨 💭

The last post showing Feyre with a sword has me wondering, is Feyre the only major SJM FMC to never wield or own her own named sword? Actually, correct me if I’m wrong but does she ever even wield a sword at all? She fights in Adriata and in Velaris with knives/magic, and kills/fights Dagdan with a knife.

Bryce: Gwydion
Aelin: Goldryn
Nesta: Ataraxia
Manon: Wind-Cleaver
Elain: Truth-Teller

Make it right, SJM! Let’s give Feyre a sword! 🗡️ ⚔️

If the bonus chapter was Azriel’s first time meeting Gwyn, I could understand where their ship comes from. But it wasn’t. He had been training her for months and barely even felt even friendship for her.

Can anyone name an SJM male character who continued to have romantic and sexual thoughts for a different female character after meeting and spending significant amounts of time with his endgame romance?

I can tell you right now if ACOMAF had been dual-POV and began with Rhys desperately wanting to taste another female in his court, I’d have DNF’ed that book so fck fast. I wouldn’t care what happened after that. Nothing could convince me that was romantic.

Rhys knew he loved Feyre BEFORE HE EVEN MET HER. Azriel had been pining for the same unavailable woman to FIVE centuries until he met Elain. That is romance. That is what we are here for. Not “oh boss man told me I can’t have the one I really want so I guess this one will do.”

TLDR; The MMC should not be having sexual thoughts about any other woman after he has already met and interacted with the FMC multiple times.

Just had to get that out! Glad I have somewhere to rant without getting jumped.

I know ‘misogyny’ has been a buzz word lately, but I genuinely believe it is the source of most of the toxicity within the ACOTAR fandom. Sorry this is long but I’m going to list all the ways this fandom reveals its misogyny.

1. Loving Nesta and hating Feyre, Mor, and/or Elain, specifically those who love Nesta and feel a need to passionately tear down the other female characters. I’m not referring to the readers who prefer Nesta or relate to Nesta more than the others: that is obviously perfectly normal. What isn’t normal is being obsessed with hating the other female characters. These fans are revealing their internalized misogyny through a scarcity mindset: the belief that there isn’t enough of something (love, success, beauty, opportunities, attention, power, etc) so if another woman has more, there’s less available for you. It is the idea that they (via their favorite character) is in competition with the other female characters. Thus the urge to denigrate, mock, or villainize the other women in order to ensure your favorite female has the highest status. We don’t see the same level of vitriol when comparing the Bat Boys: the fandom doesn’t pit Rhys against Cassian as MMC but we need to pit Feyre against Nesta?

2. Arguing that Elain owes Lucien a chance just because they are mates, or arguing that Elain can’t be with Azriel because she might not be able to carry his children. Women don’t “owe” men anything, and arguing infertility as to why a woman can’t be with a man, is gross (and obviously misogynistic).

3. Hating Elain because she’s quiet, shy, and domestic, and not a warrior. They are literally hating Elain for having traditionally feminine qualities. I don’t need to explain why this is misogynistic.

4. Hating Nesta because of her personality. If you struggle with Nesta because of the way she has treated others, especially her sisters, in the past, that is obviously normal and perfectly reasonable. But if you dislike her just because you think she’s a “difficult woman,” a shrew or an Ice Queen and doesn’t deserve Cassian for that reason, then that’s misogyny.

5. Hating Mor because she was “leading Azriel on for centuries” or because Mor is keeping her sexuality private. It isn’t Mor’s responsibility to tell anyone anything about her private life. It isn’t her responsibility to tell Azriel anything. If Azriel can’t take a hint after 500 years I don’t see how that is on Mor.

6. Hating Feyre for enthusiastically accepting the High Lady title and actually using it to give orders. They love to act as if they aren’t being misogynistic because Feyre’s title came from a man so she doesn’t deserve it. But how does Feyre deserve it any less than any of the High Lords? In fact, she deserves it more since her own courage, resilience, and determination enabled her to break the curse, and earn her resurrection and the High Lord power she possesses and wields. And the magic did choose Feyre to be High Lady when it made her the mate to the High Lord. Why does the “magic of the land, the magic that chooses High Lords, have more value in their minds than the magic of the mating bond? We know from CC that it used to be common for the High Lord’s mates to share power as High Lady.

7. Mocking Feyre for her hobby, or thinking it’s funny if she’s bad at painting. Again, self-explanatory. I’ve never seen anyone think it’s hilarious to headcanon that a male character as bad at his hobbies.

8. Justifying or brushing off Tamlin’s actions. The whole Tamlin thing is so complicated I don’t need to get into it, but if you justify or defend certain things he did, specifically the following: exploding in a rage and throwing furniture at Feyre, locking Feyre in the house, making decisions for Feyre without regard to her thoughts for feelings, or if you criticize or judge Feyre for leaving him, then yes, that is obviously misogynistic.

Rhysand 🤝 Aelin: both wear masks to conceal their true nature, letting people think the worst of them. both very secretive, master strategists who always seem twenty moves ahead of everyone else. both rarely ever tell anyone, even their mates, about their plans. both are witty and theatrical, beautiful and enormously powerful. both have major main character energy.

Feyre 🤝 Bryce: impulsive, self-sacrificial, both start out as ordinary and underestimated (Feyre as an illiterate human and Bryce as a spoiled, party girl) and become extraordinary

Nesta 🤝 Manon: proud, emotionally closed off, terrifying but awe-inspiring. their most harrowing journey and difficult battle is actually just letting themselves be loved.

Elain 🤝 Yrene: gentle nurturers, both possess a quiet strength. They appear soft but they are actually incredibly powerful, resilient, and tough as nails.

Cassian 🤝 Fenrys: both a combination of elite warrior and goofy, fun-loving golden retrievers

Azriel 🤝 Ruhn: they’ve both got the Shadow Daddy thing going on, they love deeply but keep their feelings hidden, both quiet observers but have an understated wit.

What do you guys think? 🤔 🤔

View Poll

I keep seeing people arguing that Elriel isn’t forbidden romance because Rhys will fold like a cheap suit when Feyre puts him in his place. And I do agree with this, although I think there will be a lot of drama and misunderstandings before we get to that.

And that Lucien isn’t the type to demand a Blood Duel, or want to be mated to Elain against her will. And I agree with this also.

So where is the forbidden romance coming from?? Beron of course. Beron is being set up as a major villain in the next books, and it absolutely was not accidental that SJM had Rhys name drop Beron when discussing the Blood Duel. Beron will somehow discover the extent of Elain’s power. He will find out that she can wield the trove. He will become obsessed with gaining her power for HIS court, and demand the Blood Duel from Azriel. It is obvious he is going to be massively threatened by the existence of Nyx, and driven mad with anger and fear of his potential power. That will drive him to extreme lengths to obtain a wielder of the trove.

Also, through this plot, Lucien’s true parentage will be discovered.

So my (505 M) girlfriend (20 F) has this stalker guy, let’s call him Hybern (H). Everyone knows he’s looking for her and he wants to snatch her the second she’s alone. I’ve told my girlfriend again and again, she can’t leave our house or garden because it isn’t safe, but she keeps saying she needs to get out of the house. Why does she need to leave the house so bad for? Can’t she just be happy doing nothing all day? Isn’t that what all women want? She’s acting crazy and saying she wants to get a job and actually learn to train to defend herself against H.

But Reddit, how is she supposed to do that when H is out there looking for her? I already told her all she needs is me. My friend just told me that she suspects like 6 other dudes I know may be interested in her also!

So just yesterday she was being particularly annoying and flat out insisting that i let her leave the house, so I just locked her in. When I got back she was gone! Wtf, I can’t believe she just ghosted me like this. What do I do, Reddit?? AITAH??

So this is a controversial question, and I know a lot of us believe the story will be that the Elucien bond is corrupted/ not a real bond/ Azriel and Elain are the real mates.

But just for discussion’s sake, let’s assume SJM is going to write the choice/free-will over fate story and explore the effects of a rejected mating bond. She writes a beautiful romance where Azriel and Elain are not mates, but choose eachother anyway.

In this scenario, how would you prefer the question of Azriel’s mate/potential mate be handled? Would you like a tragic story where his mate was Rhys’s sister? or it was Mor the whole time (hence the 5 centuries of pining). Or would you prefer that his mate could still be “out there” but his love for Elain is so enduring that it is irrelevant? That he could one day recognize another female as his mate but immediately reject/ignore it and go home to his true, chosen love?

So I actually really enjoy reading about the dynamic between Feyre and Lucien. I loved their banter and always had a good time reading their scenes. I do think Feyre and Lucien love eachother and try to be good friends to eachother but circumstances keep making things hard for them. But I’m SO TIRED of hearing “Feyre was a terrible friend to Lucien!” And people acting like Lucien is a saint, and Feyre took advantage of him, etc. etc. and that is just so far from my interpretation.

First of all, Feyre and Lucien aren’t equals. Lucien is a 300 High Fae aristocrat, and Feyre is a 19 year old human/ former human with no education and very little knowledge of the world. Also this story is set in a feudal patriarchy, and Lucien is male and Feyre is female. Being in a position of superior power, status and knowledge, Lucien has the responsibility and duty of care to be the bigger person in their friendship.

But he rarely ever was. Here are 7 times Lucien was a crappy friend to Feyre:

1. ⁠Lucien sends human Feyre to a likely death in the woods to hunt the Suriel. And then ADMITS that he purposefully doesn’t come to her rescue when she screams for help. she would have died if Tamlin didn’t just happen to be there.

2. Lucien is unkind to “his friend” when she is leaving the Spring Court, all bc she didn’t do exactly what he wanted her to do. “Lucien's smile was edged, his shoulders tight as he gave a sharp look behind me to where Tam was waiting in front of a gilded carriage. When he turned back, that metal eye narrowed. "I thought you were smarter than this."
   "Good-bye to you, too," I said. Friend indeed.

3. Lucien mocks Feyre UTM when she’s feeling humiliated by the dancing by saying: “I’ve seen enough of your body to last a life time.” That’s really what you’re going to say to her when she is in this super vulnerable state?

4. Lucien mocks Feyre again when she tries to express her concerns about her impending marriage to Tamlin: “Isn’t that what all human women wish for? A handsome faerie lord to wed and shower them with riches for the rest of their lives?" Way to show us exactly how you feel about women, Lucien.

5. Lucien is complicit in locking Feyre up inside the manor. It was only 3 months after he literally witnessed her being caged in a tiny cell UtM and he can’t try harder to help her?! SJM makes it clear Lucien knows how wrong it is and how it’s destroying Feyre, and ultimately, he just continues to allow it to happen.

6. Lucien tries to literally kidnap Feyre in the woods after she told him she didn’t want to come with him. He actually tries to grab her and take her away against her will. He doesn’t respect her autonomy.

7. Lucien s**t shames Feyre for falling in love with her mate (looking upon Feyre and Rhys with disgust and disdain) meanwhile being desperate to obtain the love and affection of his own mate, without even knowing her. Like, hello bro, we see the hypocrisy.

And I’m not arguing Feyre was a perfect friend to Lucien either. Yeah she used him and manipulated him when she was taking down the Spring Court and was also mean to him about his Band of Exiles. But it doesn’t outweigh all the crap he did.

Hey guys, I posted this little theory I had in r/nontoxicacotar pretty soon after I had read Silver Flames and hadn’t really gotten involved in this community yet, but I just realized you all might appreciate it more than anyone!

When I was reading that heartbreaking scene at the end of Silver Flames, I remember thinking, how come Elain didn’t foresee her >! her sister’s near death !< and then I was like, omg what if she did? So read my post here and tell me what yall think!! 🩷 💙 🦇 🌺

https://www.reddit.com/r/nontoxicACOTAR/s/U06Fyqdu42