#antitod

accidental-rambler replied to your post “I haven’t read so much as a page of T0D and I’m still disgusted at the...”

I don't even care about tog tbh but when I saw that she decided to do a quick switch with couples so that ofc Chaol ends with his healer because OF COURSE POWER OF LOVE CURES IT ALL and I mean, OF COURSE she would do that because having a disability is not sexy at all, right? How could she possibly write about Chaol not being able to walk and having to learn to cope with it in any interesting manner, THAT'S CRAZY, better to pull off a good ugly oldie like this trope.

Straight up, Chaol was my favourite character in that series but I have absolutely zero desire to read the bullshit that t0d appears to be. 

This could have been SUCH a compelling arc and story for Chaol as a character, and for representation of a young person finding themselves with a disability and learning how to cope with it and still grow and find happiness and fulfilment in their life but oh no.  

And I’m annoyed because again it’s that potential that sort of floods through all of her books. She has so much interesting and compelling set-up that she then resolves through tasteless cliches and painfully overdone tropes, you know? 

Like, before TOD came out I was kind of excited to see what this would do for Chaol’s story. It kind of reminded me of Jaime’s arc in ASOIAF? Both characters were kind of...defined by their physical abilities, you know? 

Jaime was the greatest swordsman in the realm, kingsguard knight, etc, etc. His entire identity, worldview and approach to life and everything in it was genuinely based around his status and ability with a sword. 

Chaol’s isn’t quite as extreme as that but...A huge part of his identity was dependent upon his ability to physically fight. His position as captain gave him purpose and pride, he lived for his job, for the honour he found there, and that was slowly starting to become undone in QoS with his worldview and perspectives changing...and he started using those skills for something else instead. But he still relied heavily on his skills as a swordsman and a warrior - it was the only way he felt he could act and contribute. 

And in both instances, the authors offer a story that involves their characters being stripped of that defining trait. They both suffer physical disabilities that makes it impossible for them to continue the things they’ve literally built their lives around. 

But then they both take...such different twists. Jaime gets...a truly beautiful character arc (in the books, idk wtf is going on with the show rn but we’ll not talk about that) that involves him learning how to cope with this. He becomes a much better man when he can no longer force his way through every single situation with brute force. He learns diplomacy, he takes his role in the kingsguard far more seriously, he forces himself to change and learn and grow. (And this is...Maybe this sounds like the arc/my view of its benefits is romanticising disability in some way, which is not my intention, nor I think is what happens in the books - I’m just talking purely from a literary/narrative/character arc point of view here, and what can be done for a fictional character and how this arc can be handled....better than in tog, anyway) 

But with Chaol it just....It doesn’t force him to change, it doesn’t force him to examine himself and explore different strengths and different aspects to his identity (which would have been SO GODDAMN IMPORTANT WITH THIS CHARACTER HOLY SHIT) there’s just...this magical solution which, as far as I’m aware, sets him back to where he was again and it’s just like...a magical undo button for his disability which....doesn’t exist and shouldn’t be considered as a ‘happy ending’ for this kind of arc, you know? 

But that’s not something i really want to talk about too much, mostly because it isn’t my place but...The thing that’s really, truly unnerving about this whole thing is, as far as I’m aware from the spoilers...Chaol’s health is literally bound to Yrene??? 

Like...If she’s tired/at a distance/drained of magic....He’ll be negatively impacted/physically disabled again and...I’m not physically disabled in any way, so I can’t really speak about it on that level but just...The idea that another person’s well-being/state of mind/whatever has any bearing whatsoever on my health is...terrifying. The idea that if a person connected to me is tired or exerts themselves one day...I’ll find myself with far worse health as a result of that is honestly and genuinely terrifying to me.   

And it creates this really horrible power imbalance as well? What if they fight one day and Yrene decides to spite him with this connection? What if they want to separate? What if she gets manipulated and hurts him through this thing? What if, what if, what if. I don’t care how much they love each other, or how well suited they are to each other, they’re human beings. Humans are flawed, they fight, they fall out, they change, they move on....and they’re tethered to each other in such a deep way that it’s just...This can never be healthy. Even if they’re guaranteed to be together and in love and plain sailing forever and ever....There’s this hideous power imbalance where she can literally control his health by her actions. 

And it sucks for her too??? Like...There’s this huge pressure on her to always be on the top of her game and always make sure that she’s healthy and functioning etc and etc because otherwise it’ll negatively impact him. And what if she falls out of love with him one day and wants to leave but can’t because of the guilt and the pressure because she knows if she leaves, she takes his health with her? 

It’s just so...Deeply unhealthy. It’s like feysan/d’s suicide pact at the end of ac0war on steroids. And not the good kind. And I’m aware that I may have gotten some of the details wrong here, and maybe I shouldn’t comment at all on this since I haven’t read it....but the idea of being entirely dependent on another person to sustain your health for you, giving them that level of control over you is just...It’s horrifying to me, it really is, and it’s messing me up because like...how did she EVER think this was a good story to tell?? (And it also throws up some...really uncomfortable metaphors for caregivers and loved ones which I...won’t try to comment on because I’m sure someone has a better insight than I do but its’ just...it just gets more and more messed up the more I think about it) 

Actually, I don’t have a huge amount of issue with the concept of a death pact as a bare bones idea/plot point/source of conflict/what have you. 

The problem in s/jm books is the way that it’s romanticised by the books, and later, inevitably, the fandom as well. @valamerys has talked about this before, I’m sure, and better than this, but it could be an interesting dark twist, or source of conflict, just as long as it’s pointed out as being that way. 

But it isn’t. In both instances (as far as I’m aware in T0D with the healing thing anyway) it’s presented as a positive thing. it definitely is in ac0war, the idea of the two lovers never again being parted because if one dies then the other dies with them, is presented as romantic and desirable and ‘oh look how much they love each other, they’d rather die than live without them’. When that’s...deeply unhealthy. Like, people, there’s a goddamn reason romeo and juliet is a tragedy.