u/Moonbunny120

I don't know how to flair this, this is no hot take. But something about Mama Night is off, for a few reasons.

The "dress" that is not a dress

You know the one, the one that is small, sheer and described as the size of a napkin. THAT dress. I guess it could be sweet for her to make dresses for her future daughter-in-law, but why one that shows so much skin and would result in everyone being flashed because of a strong gust of wind? It's such a strange choice of a dress, why oversexualize your daughter-in-law like that? I genuinely don't get it. Makes it even worse when Feyre puts on the very same dress to show her pregnant belly to the rest of the world.

The Weaver's cottage

Okay, that's where it gets worse. The Weaver trial is inexplicable to me. Ah yes, let me send my son's fiancée to a Death God'​s house to see if she can get her hands on my ring. It reeks of "is my daughter good enough for my son?" mentality. And Rhysand knew, sent Feyre in there with no preparation and she survived of the skin of her teeth. Imagine if before her, other women went through the Weaver trial and either died or ran for the hills because of how crazy it all is? Would it have been so bad to keep the ring in a box and save it for when the time comes? Or I guess that's too normal.

Making the dresses in the first place

Now this might be a reach, but this comes from the fact that ACOTAR is so... Gender essentialist. In another universe where mates can be of any gender rather than man and woman (no I won't say male or female), there's something a bit... Weird about Mama Night making a whole wardrobe (with that dress). What if her son had fallen in love with another man? Would Mama Night change the outfits or force Rhysand to marry a woman? We are entering theory territory right now, but Illyria isn't very progressive. Women aren't allowed to keep their wings and boys are sent to war camp at 8 years old.

Now they lived in Velaris and I guess it's more "progressive" because Rita's is a gay bar. But it's possible that Mama Night had an Illyrian mindset. She saw nothing wrong with her son going to war camp and Rhysand doesn't seem to resent her for that. But it's very telling of how she could think.
I want to see making the dresses as a sweet thing but coupled with the whole ring trial, I can't help but see it through a critical eye.

Final Thoughts

I understand why some people have "boy mom" vibes from Mana Night (it would be nice if she had a name). The last part is just me theorising, it's not too serious, but again, in a world as gender confirming as ACOTAR, I could see a world where she doesn't imagine her son being with anyone else other than a woman or not being in a relationship in the first place. She also gives me potential overbearing MIL vibes. I shudder at the thought of my MIL giving me a dress that exposes the body so much. There's no justifiable explanation for that. I may have missed some other elements but these are the ones that give me pause.

I see so many theories about Nesta or Elain becomimg High Ladies in some way and I'm going to be honest, I'm not a fan. The first reason being that the Archeron sisters have been fae for all of 2 minutes in immortal fae time. And they're going to become High Ladies and rule over people centuries older than themselves? Who have been in Prythian longer than them, who know more about the history, the culture and just about everything there is to know?

I know that there are many things hinting at Nesta being made for bigger things, she was raised (groomed) to become a Queen or someone of high status. But I'd rather she'd become the leader of the Valkyries than be a High Lady. And the theories about Elain becoming a High Lady of Spring, I don't like them either. Mostly because there isn't much hinting that she will be and liking flowers doesn't qualify anybody to become High Lord/Lady of Spring.

I just think it would make for a less interesting story for all sisters to have essentially the same lives. Everyone becoming a High Lady would not only be boring but also hard to believe. Again, they haven't been faes for that long. Feyre barely has power and authority (courtesy of Rhysand), and she's nowhere near experienced enough. As much as I want something good for Nesta, I would be disappointed if her character followed the same trajectory. If Dusk is revived, I would cheer for Nesta finally dumping Cassian and leaving the Night Court. That would be amazing.

But all sisters becoming High Ladies? Eh. Honestly I think the book's idea of "feminism" is women in position of power. But once again, Feyre was not qualified for the role (and women like Viviane are way more deserving of a title), and Nesta and Elain are yet to show the leadership skills required to rule a whole entire court. It would be more interesting for all the sisters to have completely different lives (and maybe live away from the Night Court).

>For Hybern was coming—already here. I had debated it for weeks: whether it was better to claim the Spring Court for ourselves, or to let it fall to our enemies

Ugh. When you think there is nothing left to rant about, here comes something else. I am currently reading someone do great, snarky summaries of the ACOTAR books on another platform. And this quote, this quote pissed me off. What "good person" and "hero" thinks "oh yeah, we should totally conquer this place and make it ours". Girl, what the hell? Fae Feyre is one of the most insufferable MCs ever. We witness her slowly descend into a power-hungry, cruel, disdainful High Lady with no care for who she harms and who is left behind in her cruel plans.

I've always rolled my eyes at the people who called what she did in Spring a "girlboss moment". Yeah, letting a Court be destroyed and displacing a bunch of people (including refugees who went to Spring in search of a new home) because you're mad at your ex is sooo ✨girlboss✨. But reading through it and seeing Feyre not only be the world's least subtle spy but also pretend to care about the people of Spring is maddening. One minute she's all "I care about these people, unlike Tamlin". Only to say this a few chapters later:

>“Take the Spring Court,” I said, and meant it. “It’s going to fall one way or another.”

Ah yes, she cares so much 🙄. When Tamlin calls her out during that meeting, all she can say is "I shut that out", "I blocked that", "I didn't want to think about it". I wish I could enter the book and tell her to actually think about the consequences of what she's done! Self-reflect a little bit! But no, Feyre won't allow herself to dwell on the harms of her actions for more than a microsecond. High Lady Feyre is not a caring ruler, she's a cruel person who couldn't care less about her people.

When she looks into the Ouroboros mirror and accepts all her flaws, it's a clear sign that she is incapable of looking deeper into herself. The Feyre who used to feel guilty about killing two faes is gone. Now she just violates people's minds on a regular basis, goes to another court to destroy it, tells Keir he has every comfort when he and his people are stuck under a mountain (I don't like Keir, but she was so tone deaf here and it's very rich coming from her). She couldn't care less that she's ruining Lucien's reputation with her schemes and making him look like a homewrecking traitor. He doesn't call her out on that enough. I wonder if human Feyre would even recognise herself.

I feel bad for Feyre because of who her mate is. Rhysand is awful to her but the books won't acknowledge that. But I find it hard to like her as a character. If at the very least her flaws were more acknowledged and her actions had consequences. But alas, that does not happen.

There's been a lot of interesting discussions on this sub about Nesta's treatment and how the male characters act. The more I looked into this book series the more I realised how badly it reinforced gender norms. It was baffling to me how boring fae society is. It seems to be stuck in the 1950s. What did they do to Nesta because she wasn't coping with her trauma "properly", drinking and sleeping with men? Lock her up! Meanwhile Elain was left alone because she's sweeter and more meek (so far).

The way mating bonds work is also another part of this. The men feel it first and the women remain unaware. Who knows how long, and if it is rejected, the men go crazy. I just find that so weird and concerning how women could go on their whole lives not knowing they were mated to someone. But also the whole "fae men get more possessive/aggressive because of the bond!" thing is so gross. And we're supposed to find it romantic.

Men are meant to conform to hypermasculine behaviour, be aggressive, be possessive and growl and snarl at anybody daring to look at your mate. Repress any emotion except negative ones and forget your trauma. Men like Tamlin who do not conform to this behavior are punished by the story. He was sweet, he likes poetry and music, he shows his emotions outwardly and his trauma as well. And the story punishes him for that and continously does so even after he saved members of the IC and helped resurrect Rhysand.

Nesta is punished the same. She shows her trauma in an ugly way, outwardly lashes out, isn't compliant and obedient. What the IC did was basically force a square in a round hole. She was beaten down until she could fit their standards. But that's not enough. If you read the CC3 bonus chapter, Nesta still gets Rhysand’s ire at herself. Cassian stands by and does nothing to defend her. But she doesn't have it in her to fight anymore. She was made to stay around Cassian even if she couldn't stand him.

Cassian acts like an emotionally stunted frat bro and is awful to Nesta, but he still gets rewarded by getting with Nesta in the end. Despite his behavior, his lack of showing love to her and his dismissal of his family's treatment of her, Nesta doesn't reject him. They end up together and we're supposed to cheer. Her only solace is her friendship with Gwyn and Emerie.

Illyria is another place that reinforces gender norms. Women aren't allowed freedom, the barbaric tradition of clipping wings still exists and they are treated terribly by their male spouses and relatives. But it extends to boys too. They are sent to war camp at a young age, they are beaten down, given lashes and turned into unfeeling war machines from childhood. "Three lashes" is "kindness" supposedly. Are boys allowed any path other than warrior? Illyria is just a miserable place all around and nobody cares. Women will continue to lose their wings and boys will become part of the Night Court's cannon fodder army.

I will always laugh at the claims that these books are feminist. Feyre was shafted in her books and her mate was given more importance than she was. She has a title that holds no power, she has no true authority and has been assimilated to Rhysand's world. She had no autonomy during her pregnancy but Rhysand gets excused again and again. Nesta had the fight smothered out of her just so she could conform to the Inner Circle. I have no faith whatsoever in SJM's treatment of her female characters or characters over all. I would want for Nesta to ditch Cassian and find herself without having to end up with anybody.

Asking for information about the next book is not "entitled". I know this conversation is tired, but we are 2 months away from the next book release and still nothing. "But it's book 6!", "but you know the characters and the lore!" so?? Is it really asking for the moon to want a title and a summary? I genuinely do not understand why wanting information is seen as entitlement. "Oh but ASOIAF", yes ASOIAF, but as some other people have pointed out in some posts I've read, other authors are also releasing in October and people know exactly what they are getting.

It is the next installment in a massively popular book series, people are spending their money on the next book. Yes, it's a hobby, "it's not that deep" whatever. ACOTAR is extremely popular, it's only fair people want to know what the next book is about. I'm sorry but I don't subscribe to this "mystery/blind box" style of marketing a book. I don't know if it's the spaces I'm in, or the algorithm, but I'm not seeing much hype for these next books either. I'm sure there is, but the places I see are not buzzing with excitement.

This is my opinion, but I would hate for books to be marketed/promoted that way from now on. I would not pre-order a game I know nothing about. I would not do it for a book either. "But it's fun to not know", it might be for some people but it's still not "entitlement" to want a title. There may be some people being extreme about it, but what about anyone else? Again, October is in 2 months and nothing has come out. As long as people aren't harassing SJM/Bloomsbury about it, I don't see what's wrong with wanting a title. Just a title. Even if it has spoilers which is fine, any next book is going to be full of spoilers anyway. I just fail to see the entitlement here.

Ive been thinking about Loona a lot lately and while I missed most of the pre-debut era, I thought it was an interesting way to get a group interest before debut. The whole thing was very ambitious and it most definitely paid off, with the following that Loona got afterwards. I liked the way they did solos and sub-units and I really like lore too so in the end I was very invested. It got me thinking about other ways Kpop groups managed their pre-debut eras.

I liked the way Purple Kiss did it as well (Purki deserved so much better...). They had solos and two songs in completely different styles, My Heart Skip a Beat being rock and Can We Talk Again being a poppy ballad. Then their debut having this dark witchy sound. I'm sad we never got full versions of the solos (except Ireh's). It wasn't as extensive as Loona's but showing every member's talent individually was a good idea in my opinion.

Lastly, I liked KQ Fellaz. At first I was thinking it was a dance crew before realising that it was a pre-debut Kpop group. Their dancing was that strong.

I don't know if it's weird but I like it when a company does something interesting to show who a group is and their talent before they make their big debut. I wouldn't call myself a pre-debut fan in general, but these kind of projects are at least interesting to see. I guess it's all about the build up and seeing the pay off.

Edit: Adding tripleS to the list, can't believe I forgot them, it was basically the Loona pre-debut project on steroids. 24 girls was so ambitious and I got into tripleS a bit before it the group was fully completed. It was even more ambitious than Loona but it paid off! Jaden Jeong this madlad said "24 girls? No big deal" and now he's doing it again with idntt.

• Anything to do with Velaris
• Rhysand being the "Most Powerful High Lord"
• "Spymaster" Azriel (his real job is torturer)
• The Court of Dreamers (because they don't actually DO anything)
• "Everyone in the Hewn City is evil"
• Tamlin’s character assassination
• Nesta being the worst
• IC are the "good guys"
• Feyre was the only one to ever figure out the identity of Lucien's real father
• Another daemati (who was never seen again) was responsible for the Winter Court children's death
• Amren and Varian's ramshackled relationship

That's it, that's my list. What about you guys?

Edit: added more

There's a huge lack of love in this "romance" series. People often say that Feyre is better with Rhysand, that they're better for each other, that Rhysand at least shows love to Feyre and defends her. But all I see is lust. I don't see love at all, all they do is flirt. They barely have any kind of "deep" conversation together. One question that keeps coming back is: what does Feyre know about Rhysand? Yes, he's told her a bunch of stuff about him, but does she know his favourite food? Favourite color? His hobbies? Favorite star? His dislikes?

It has been brought up before, but even we as readers barely know anything about Rhysand. Again, his hobbies are non-existent. We barely know him beyond the surface level. I could rant about this too but Feyre is so incredibly incurious. She doesn't ask enough questions about Prythian or fae culture or anything like that. And it also affects her relationship with Rhysand as it feels like she doesn't know him enough. I can't help but think "what the hell do they talk about at the end of the day?". Obviously I'm biased, due to his actions UTM I really don't like the guy. But, there wasn't enough work to make me believe in Feysand's love in my eyes.

It feels very "lust at first sight". Sex seems to be the crux of their relationship. I remember one part (can't put my finger on which book) in which it basically says that their arguments are solved in the bedroom and my only thought was "Uhhh that's not good". Love is going to show differently between people, but not only does their relationship feel rushed, it also feels shallow. What's Feysand's common point? I still can't find it.

Nessian is the same. Nesta is treated so badly by Cassian already and sex was already the one thing they used to "communicate". There's nothing that screams "they're in love!" about Nessian at all. People say Cassian shows love through actions but it doesn't justify the fact that there was no "I love you" said a single time from Cassian to Nesta. He doesn't care to defend her and the hike made me side-eye him heavily. The one thing they have for themselves is their lust for each other.

Communication was the reason why Feyre and Tamlin didn't work. But there's not much communication with the other main couples either? Everything feels so surface level? I feel like the whole mind reading between Feyre and Rhysand is a way to avoid the whole "deep conversation" thing. It feels like skipping steps. "Oh! They don't need to talk, they can just do telepathy!" but is it truly enough? It makes me think that the other coming ship or ships might suffer the same fate.

This has gotten pretty long, but doesn't the "love" here feel shallow?