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Are you that blog that used to post alot about sjm books but doesn’t anymore?
that would be me 😅
i pulled away from the fandom as a whole because i genuinely cannot stand sjm, her books, or the vast majority of her fandom. i got sick of the toxic (for lack of a better word) interactions in every corner of the fandom, the crap writing, and just in general the woman herself. also, i didn't like the way i acted when i acted within the space, so really the overall best choice was to simply remove myself from it.
i'm much happier with my tsc/anime content now :)
Unpopular book opinion, but I think almost every single man in the Acotar books is problematic in one way or another. Like almost all of them are shitty, and I wouldn't let my friends date them. With the exception of the Winter lord Kallias and Lucien. I wouldn't let my friend date Lucien either though, because I think he needs therapy more than a relationship.
acotar tv adaption is being made for fans and not the antis so please stay away from it.
Jude's character also made me realize just how lazy of a main character F/eyre is. While F/eyre might initiate certain scenes, she remains utterly stagnant within them. F/eyre chooses to kill Andras, but then she doesn't do anything else, things happen to her, and she is pushed around. She makes the decision to go UTM, she does nothing after that, things happen to her. F/eyre is absolutely stagnant UTM. You know what would have been a very cool scene, if F/eyre was the one who bargained with R/hysand, if she were the one to come up with a plan when she realized that R/hys needed her. If F/eyre was learning about the politics of the Fae world, if she demanded to be let in because she's their only hope. That would make it so much more convincing that R/hys fell in love with her. If F/eyre exerted her obvious power over R/hys. If F/eyre showed that type of control over her fate...it would have been badass. That is a good main character.
Jude immediately recognizes her power in situations. When she bargains with Dain. Yes, she at a disadvantage, but she's also in a position that she can bargain with.
F/eyre is not active within the scenes, even if she initiates them. F/eyre never earns anything, things are given to her. And while Jude is not the perfect protagonist, and while I have my critiques, Jude does things, she learns, and her wants manifest with her making the decisions to act within the scenes. It's true that things happen to Jude, but what makes her different from F/eyre is that Jude also affects those actions, she learns from what others do to her.
So what does Jude want? She wants power. How does that manifest? She wants to be a knight. And the plot of the story follows around that.
In TAR, what does F/eyre want? We...don't know. She thinks of safety in the first four chapters, but her actions literally conflict this. When she kills Andras, that's out of survival, and when she goes UTM, it's a decision made mostly out of guilt. It doesn't say anything about F/eyre. The story straight-up won't commit to a core value for her. And it would be easy to characterize her like Jude. F/eyre wants power. It's the truth of her character, but SJM employs a misplaced sense of altruism and virtuosity. Nothing F/eyre does actually says anything about her because she's a lazy character. She'll start the scene, and then will do nothing after.
F/eyre wants to be High Lady of Spring, but she literally does nothing to show that she wants that. When she's introduced to Tamlin's court, she ignores them. She's completely disinterested in the most important parts of being a leader. Tamlin won't let you out? Okay, how is F/eyre going around that? Does she inquire about Tamlin through associates? Ask around, and play that role of Lady just to get more information? Maybe she learns concerning information about Tamlin through her constant inquiry. Does she talk to the nobility? Glean information when Tamlin won't tell her? Talk to Ianthe or gossip with her just to find out about court dynamics. If she asks the right questions, she could literally find out that Tamlin has a dark past while the story concurrently shows his devolving behavior.
It's okay if she fails, or if she gains nothing, but that type of characterization would literally make sense. It would make F/eyre a clever, learning, and interesting character. If she's sneaking around, doing xyz, we learn way more about F/eyre....and she grows.
So when Tamlin becomes more abusive, F/eyre is already actively seeking ways to get out, to be free. And when we get M/or coming to rescue her...it is F/eyre saving herself. Yes, she has no power, but she's not a damsel, she's a survivor. It's F/eyre exerting control (and even if she doesn't she's still a strong person for leaving, or being recused, but for what the story is arguing...having F/eyre be the one to make her own opinions on Tamlin rather than told by R/hysand is way more feminist and powerful).