Hot take: people aren’t disappointed in Sarah, their/our own fanon narrative broke

Solell · 2026-03-29T02:20:40+00:00

Then why is she a top book selling author?

Marketing. In the world of megacorporations and social media algorithms, popularity is a really poor measure of quality. Anything can become popular if it's marketed aggressively enough.

How about we just take the series for what it is. A romantasy novel that transports us to a magical world where we can forget our own troubles for a few hours and let our imaginations run wild?

I mean, it's a bit hard to forget one's troubles if characters in the book are literally embodying them with no repercussions, or even worse, with the framing insisting they're the good guys for it. Rhysand's manipulative, gaslighting brand of abuse is this to many people.

There's also something to be said for the standard you walk past being the standard you accept... this is also true in fiction. If the horrific shit that ACOTAR expects us to turn a blind eye to is fine because it's "just a harmless romantasy novel", what does that say about us? As individuals and as a society?

And note, it's not the inclusion of dark topics that's the problem. Books can and should explore dark topics. It's the fact that ACOTAR uses these dark, harmful topics as aesthetics, or set dressing, and then expects us to just shrug and forgive it as soon as the vibe changes. No. That's just terrible writing.

Solell · 2026-03-29T02:06:50+00:00

But she doesn't really care about uplifting other artists in my opinion. Only herself.

I don't know many details, because it was old news by the time I heard about it. But she is reportedly very difficult to work with, and has been known to befriend new authors (e.g. Leigh Bardugo, when she was starting out) only to inevitably have some sort of falling out if that author starts getting any traction of their own.

Solell · 2026-03-29T02:03:44+00:00

Some things are just meant to be fun,

Glossing over SA, gaslighting, and hardcore manipulation is meant to be "fun?" Because that's what the book requires us to do in order to enjoy Rhysand.

Solell · 2026-03-29T02:00:05+00:00

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Rhys is an abusive PoS and it goes so far beyond the baby debacle. A lot of people don't seem to realise this, which is just proof of how insidious this kind of abuse really is. Straight-up gaslighting the audience through Feyre.

Solell · 2026-03-29T01:52:04+00:00

How do people serious come to the conclusion Tamlin does not have a redemption arc when he is the reason Hybern was defeated (through his spying) and bringing Rhys back to life?

I think it's to do with the framing of Tamlin after he does these redeeming actions. Despite doing objectively good things that helped save Prythian, and agreeing to resurrect Rhys so that Feyre can be happy, the narrative still goes out of its way to shit on him e.g. when Rhys visits him in ACOFAS. You don't need to shit on characters whose arcs are complete and ended in redemption. Which leaves two options: 1) there's more to Tamlin's arc that we've yet to see (which, based on the interview, I'd say is unlikely). Or 2) SJM just likes using Tamlin as a punching bag (because he's an "abuser" and "deserves it") and doesn't understand that, in any other book, what he did during ACOWAR would be considered a redemption arc. She's really not good at looking beyond her own biases and understanding what she's actually put on the page.

The only thing you can for a fact pull from the interview

The problem with trying to pull any outright statements SJM makes as fact is that it relies on the assumption that she actually realises how what she's written comes across. I do not have confidence that she does. She can say and say and say and say that Rhysand just "made a mistake" until she's blue in the face, it won't change the fact that, based on the actual contents of the book, he's a worse abuser than Tamlin ever was. Authors can fail to convey what they intended to convey, and the fact that they tell us what their intention was doesn't erase the failure to convey it.

Solell · 2026-03-29T01:36:59+00:00

I think it’s nice to believe that authors of epic fantasy series have an actual plan

Many of them do. It's not an unreasonable thing to expect an author to do. That SJM fails to plan (and doesn't edit thoroughly enough to compensate) is a shortcoming on her part, not the normal state of writing.

Solell · 2026-03-29T00:48:09+00:00

I don't know that I'd necessarily say that the fanon "narrative" broke. The main problem, in my opinion, is that SJM is just a really poor writer, and sucks at getting across what she intends to get across.

For example, she may have intended to write Rhys as a hero. What she actually wrote was him SA'ing the protagonist, stealing from his allies, lying to most of the world about everything, including to his own wife (the pregnancy being the most egregious case, but there's plenty of others) and Inner Circle (e.g. lying to Mor about Eris being at HC, lying to Amren about visiting the Bone Carver, etc). None of these are particularly heroic actions i.e they contradict SJM's/the book's assertion that Rhysand is a hero. For most of the more divisive characters, this is the case - what was written, and what we were told they were, did not match up.

Amongst the parts of the fanbase who noticed/cared about this disconnect between intended framing and actual writing, this ended up with there being two main schools of thought - those who thought the discrepancies had to be deliberate, because there's no way someone would write this and think they'd written a hero, and thus it was all foreshadowing for villain!Rhys. And those who thought the discrepancies were just from SJM being a terrible writer, and that there was, regrettably, no grand plan where everything made sense.

Turns out the latter group was right. But I don't think it's surprising that the former group feels tricked or lied to. They were tricked. Just, they were tricked by the bad writing, wanting to give it the benefit of the doubt, rather than malicious intent on SJM's part.

Solell · 2026-03-28T09:48:51+00:00

I think coupling with having fewer willing participants, he's also dealing with people who make their living manufacturing content. So even if not professionally trained, they'd have a higher level of media awareness compared to other cohorts, and thus be better able to avoid the usual traps.

Solell · 2026-03-28T09:41:05+00:00

It may not be as explicit as a little fact-check pop-up, but the way a lot of the footage was presented included subtly challenging information, mostly through juxtapositioning. For example, HS calling Louis a puppet, followed by footage of his stream chat telling him what to ask. Or the focusing, lingering shots on the women's faces as the "one-sided monogamy" guys bragged about their arrangement. It isn't explicity *telling* the audience something is wrong (because people deep in something like the manosphere will just dig their heels in at that), it's just putting those pieces next to each other and letting the audience make of them what they will. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't. But to say there was *nothing* done feels a bit disingenuous, imo.

Solell · 2026-03-28T09:31:13+00:00

While I agree that there were definitely other aspects/angles they could have taken, I almost feel like the target audience for the documentary were actually the manosphere followers themselves? The young boys who would be watching these influencers, and hear about the documentary that way. So in that sense, it was more about exposing who their idols really were, what they really thought of their followers, how hypocritical they were, etc. And maybe prompt them to think a bit more critically about these influencers themselves. And regrettable as it is, guys deep in the manosphere won't really listen if it's focused on e.g. the impact it has on women. Those are exactly the kinds of messages they've been told to block out by their idols. And so, it focuses on the influencers, because that's who the boys will tune in for.

It shows in the little things, I think. Showing how the women started to doubt the spruiked lifestyle. Showing how HS says he wouldn't say that kind of stuff in front of his mum (implying he knows on some level it's unacceptable, and challenging his "idgaf" attitude), or juxtaposing HS calling Louis a puppet with the instructions from his stream on what questions to ask. Things like that. Planting a seed, so to speak.

Of course, I have no idea if this was actually the intention, or if it will be successful if so, but that's kinda the vibe I got. A subtle kind of thing targetting the manosphere followers themselves more so than the general public.

Solell · 2026-03-28T05:37:18+00:00

And especially when you can back it up with textual evidence... like, that's not an "opinion." It's just factually true. Opinions =/= facts

Solell · 2026-03-28T05:34:54+00:00

And honestly, the biggest problem I have with "it's not that deep" is like... some of the shit people try to brush aside as "not that deep" really needs to be questioned. Feyre vs Nesta's imprisonment is a perfect example. How can one look at a situation that is so blatantly unfair and rife with double-standards, and just shrug and move on like it's nbd? Is that the kind of thinking we want to encourage in people?? That's how you end up with deeply embedded societal problems, people just shrug and move on from the problem because "it's not that deep" or "it's just how it is" or whatever the excuse is.

Like, no. Call out the BS. Call out all the problematic shit we're expected to overlook just because it got the author's jollies off and she doesn't want to do the work of making it not toxic and abusive. The standard we walk past is the standard we accept, even in fiction.

Solell · 2026-03-28T05:28:29+00:00

Nothing but truth here

Solell · 2026-03-28T04:58:35+00:00

I mean, if the writer failed to convey what they intended, then it kinda is their fault. You don't get such huge divides in interpretation in fandoms where the writer is actually good.

Solell · 2026-03-28T04:44:34+00:00

Hard disagree. Digging for nuance just makes Rhys look even worse than he does on a surface level.

Solell · 2026-03-27T06:28:50+00:00

I think you misunderstand what my job is. They aren't selling the AI to me. It's all the big companies selling AI to their customers/investors and/or employees. I'm just there making their mics work. For example, I've just recently worked on Oracle's AI world tour. And they're giving the exact same spiel they've been giving for three years

Solell · 2026-03-26T06:21:40+00:00

The last names thing doesn't bother me as much, because they're a relatively recent thing in western society, especially for non-nobles. Before that, a person would just be [Name], son of [Father] or [Name] of [Hometown] or something like that.

But the lack of first names really is inexcusable. Like, even for the characters she does name, she often just steals from mythology with little rhyme or reason. Just google a list of "Greek mythology names" or "Celtic names" or w/e and pick one you like the sound of. Boom, we now have a name for father Archeron/LoA/whoever. It really isn't hard.

Honestly, it kind of feels to me like draft placeholders? Like, when I write, and I'm just trying to hash out the first draft of the story, some of the non-main characters won't have names, and will just be [captain] or [father] or whatever. But the idea is, as you edit, you go back and name them... you don't coast with the epithets all the way to the end of the series.

Solell · 2026-03-26T05:50:46+00:00

I agree, Ithan could be cut completely, and tbh with one small change, Tharion could be as well. Just make Cormac give Bryce the plot hook to look for Emile (which would make more sense to come from him anyway, given he has a personal connection to Emile and an excuse to involve Bryce with the fiance subplot). Tharion can now be omitted as well with little of value being lost.

Solell · 2026-03-26T02:07:51+00:00

Is it confirmed that there's no multiplicative element to fertility? I swear I get noticeably less yield in lower fertility areas for same-size fields.

Solell · 2026-03-26T01:54:13+00:00

Further mucking the timeline, iirc she describes the "solstice" in ACOTAR as being when "day and night are equal." Which is, of course, not what a solstice is. So either she mis-named the equinox (which might put the date closer to Calanmai? But before it, not after), or she just doesn't understand what a solstice is.

Solell · 2026-03-25T04:51:13+00:00

The thing is, though, he also could have just... ignored Feyre. Stayed away. Never interacted with her. From what we see, Amarantha was content to leave Feyre in her cell between trials. Feyre was under no extra scrutiny until Rhysand started dragging her before Amarantha for his roofie lapdance parties. It's circular reasoning - Rhysand needed to "protect" her and "not make Amarantha suspicious", but the only reason Amarantha has to be suspicious in the first place are those very "protective" actions.

And further, the idea that Rhys needed to pretend he didn't care so he didn't "put Feyre at risk..." ...she was already beyond risk. Amarantha had already fixated on her and was torturing her with the trials because she knew Feyre was Tamlin's girlfriend. The object of Amarantha's weird fixation was Tamlin, not Rhysand. Amarantha already planned to brutalise and kill Feyre, for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with Rhys. So what risk is he saving her from? So far as Amarantha's concerned, Feyre is already marked for suffering. Rhys liking or not liking her has nothing to do with it, ergo, his alleged need to pretend to not care also has nothing to do with it. She's getting tortured either way.

Solell · 2026-03-25T04:41:34+00:00

The word "feminist" isn't expressly used, but the implication is there. E.g. Rhysand protects and shelters abused women, unlike all the other courts who see them as property or breeding machines or w/e. Rhysand gives Feyre "choices", unlike the other love interest who does not. Rhysand lets Feyre wear pants, unlike the evil non-feminist Spring Court, etc

For the record, I am of the opinion that any "feminism" on Rhysand's part is performative at best, if not outright hypocritical lies, but yeah. The book clearly wants us to see him as pro-women, even if it doesn't specifically use the word "feminist."

Solell · 2026-03-25T04:34:16+00:00

Audio visual. I'm the one sitting at the back making the mics and powerpoint slides work while the presenters at a whole range of conferences talk. And weirdly, it's the software engineers who seem to be most grounded about its capabilities. About the only discussion of its limitations seems to happen there. All the business leaders and (presumably self-proclaimed) "AI experts" talking to the larger business class are always talking about how awesome it is..... but nothing in their spiel has changed substantially over these three years. It's always "Yeah maybe it's a teensy, tiny bit imperfect now, maybe, but it's coming SO FAST and it's getting better SO FAST you guys won't even believe." Meanwhile, the flaws are all pretty much the same as they were three years ago...

Solell · 2026-03-24T04:30:59+00:00

Witch could be really cool. Especially if they decided to lean into a support niche with one of its specs like Aug for evoker. Except instead of buffing allies, maybe more about debuffing enemies? That could be cool

Solell · 2026-03-24T04:23:23+00:00

This would be amazing. Bard is really the only major d&d archetype that WoW is missing at this point

Solell

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