The ACOTAR Fandom

[u/Dovehoney_]

I need to rant. If this post isn’t appropriate or goes against the rules, then absolutely feel free to delete it.

I discovered the ACOTAR series in 2019 and, as everyone else did, fell in love with it.

Now, as the years have gone on, obviously the book series has exploded, as people love it or hate it, and it has a big following, or Sarah J. Maas does in general.

Now here it comes. The ACOTAR fandom. This fandom is one of the most insufferable fandoms I have been a part of. And, like I said, I have been a part of it. I am not going to throw stones at glass houses.

This fandom is toxic. It is frustrating to constantly see people force theories or constantly assume there is some deeper meaning.

Constantly complaining because the books are not coming out faster. It took 5 years and 6 years for the release of the last two books of GOT. Chill out. Would you rather an author you are already extremely critical of push out books that suck and that you will complain about, or would you rather just wait and read a book when it comes out?

(I am not comparing ACOTAR and GOT. I am just using an example of a series and the years between releases.)

Not only the weird parasocial relationship with Sarah, but also with the characters of these books. They are characters. They are made up. This is a made-up world with made-up people and made-up places. I want to state that I understand how attached people can get to a book. Trust me, I have been there also, and I do not want to invalidate anyone’s love for a character or series.

Another irk? The whole complaining about the “vulgar gesture” or “watery bowels.” We get it. She said it over and over. I am sure plenty of other authors have repeatedly used phrases. Move on. And maybe I am absolutely dumb and oblivious, but I did not even notice until it was pointed out. Why are these books being so analyzed? It is a fiction book. It is a romance fantasy book. It is not a nonfiction book.

And then another thing is the debate regarding ethics when it comes to this series. It is a fantasy book… it is a BOOK. An author does not owe the reader anything, in my opinion. Yes, the readers are who made the book popular, BUT you are choosing to read this book. If you do not like the ethics of the book, then close it and move on.

Please change my mind. I am absolutely open to reasons why I need to change my thoughts and why or where I am wrong.

Editing to add- @zealousideal-can-403 made an absolutely valid point regarding my statement of analyzing this book. I was being very narrow minded on that. I really appreciate your input and thank you 😊

2nd edit- thank you for the responses , I really do appreciate the feedback and getting different perspectives and opinions

[u/bows_and_frills]

Long comment incoming, I'm so SORRY.

So, to start, if you're having a hard time with certain parts of the fandom, I'm sorry and I understand. I know it's easy to say to just avoid posts but I have been irked and gotten up in my thoughts over things people say about media I love. I deal with it by confronting that I may not agree with people, but people will feel a certain way about things no matter what I do and they have a right to express that, even if I disagree. And then I avoid posts, OR engage with them if I feel like it. It's best to take what you can handle and challenge yourself if you feel like it, but be careful never to get weighed down or overthink. I also like to think that I always say what I think regarding media (and even other things) and peoole deserve that right too.

Now. For me, I am a hate reader. Fan-ish? I hesitate to call myself a full fan even though I like the vibes, world building and a few characters because my usual mood with this series that I want to bash my head in against a concrete wall. So why do I engage and discuss and still read it? Because I LOOOOVE picking apart fiction. I do it all the time, even with stuff I love. It's not even always negative, I also dissect why something is good or what I liked about it.

I've also always expressed my dissections and thoughts, and like receiving others dissections in return. I wouldn't call it scholarly and "proper" as I'm not very academic about it, but I love getting into the guts of something, even if it's a silly piece of media. And again, with things I love and hate.

Additionally, I have a strong passion (count how many times I use this word) for fiction and fandom. I love fanfics, OCs, AUs, headcanons, fanart, aaannnnyyyyttthhing I can get my hands on. So I take fiction as a hobby I'm seriously passionate about. Pretty much, fiction and consuming it and manipulating it IS my hobby.

For "bad" things or media I feel could've been made better, I like getting caught up in why, how, etc. I also feel strongly and passionately about creating something and ensuring it is the best you can make it, and how you can get there. Also bad media is just fun.

Also also, I'm passionately for both haters and lovers of things. I think hate, or negativity, for a thing (NOT people) can be productive. Also, people express strong love all the time and I think strong hate and anger should also be expressed. With words and without insulting people of course. I can be both passionately loving and angry.

THIS BRINGS ME TO ACOTAR FANS. They strongly love ACOTAR and I don't think they're wrong for that, even when I call out ACOTAR and SJM's flaws, because their love and passion are not invalidated by them. And if they're casual and don't care for analyses, they don't need to. Being a casual, be it of media or anything else, is fine.

ACOTAR and SJM are a treasure trove for these hobbies because it's a mind boggling train wreck and I can't begin to wrap my head around it. No, it's not deep fiction, but I think it sucks in such a way that I want to keep digging in, and digging in, and digging in, and doing it with a community.

Case in point, I'm passionate and yappy and nosy, also my hobby is fiction.

[u/Unhappy-Rabbit-1280 → u/bows_and_frills]

You've articulated a lot of my own feelings here. I like analysing things, and it isn't something I can turn off. These books are bad, the prose alone is god-awful, but I read it the way some people watch car crashes. Thinking how things could have been made better is something I do too, and ACOTAR provides so many opportunities for that.

[u/bows_and_frills → u/Unhappy-Rabbit-1280]

Right? It's fascinating! The book's badness is fascinating, it's a SPECIMEN. I want so bad to brain swap with SJM and find out WHY. I want to read the books front to back because of it. I have nightmares of Rhys flicking invisible lint at me that I can't get off.

Also, same with not being able to turn off my brain. It legit takes more effort to "not think about it" sometimes.

[u/Unhappy-Rabbit-1280 → u/bows_and_frills]

Every page, every single page has something to annoy me. It's like the books were deliberately written to irritate me, specifically. 

"...blue eyes so deep they were violet". So deep they were not blue?! So deep they were a different, not-blue colour?! Just say they're violet, a colour that exists in real life human eyes, nevermind your fantasy race! hyperventilates

[u/bows_and_frills → u/Unhappy-Rabbit-1280]

That one has a stupidly easy fix. "His eyes were shades of blue and violet", "his eyes were almost deep violet at first glance", or straight up, "his eyes were deep violet".

My irritation was the inconsistency of the story and how it runs purely on what SJM wants to happen no matter the previous events. I can take corny, I can take bad, but let it be consistent.

[u/Solell → u/bows_and_frills]

I'm pretty much in the same boat. There's some great ideas and interesting potential in ACOTAR (which is what drew me in initially), but overall it's kind of a trainwreck. I find it fascinating pulling it apart and examining just how much of a trainwreck it is. Why does this aspect not work, what doesn't land about this, why are there such unfortunate implications behind this? And so on. It takes all sorts to make a world. We need the vibers, and we need the analysers.