She wasn't supposed to end up with either of them!
One thing is for sure, here where I am, the Brazilian fandom (some fans, obviously) doesn't recognize Sarah's hypocrisy in writing Tamlin and Rhys.
This is old news, but I'll never get tired of talking about it. Tamlin and Rhys are not the same, because Sarah insists on making one find redemption and the other not.
Rhys and Tamlin took Feyre into their courts at a time when she was most vulnerable in her life. They both welcomed her and did good things for her. The both used horrific methods to keep her safe and save her. The two kept her in a strange place, even though she wanted to leave. They both hid something from her (with the difference that Rhys did it out of pure selfishness and Tamlin because he was under a spell not to say). Feyre fell in love with both of them for the same reason in books different: "He's done good things for me. He understands me. He's protected me. He's good to me. He doesn't make me feel like I have to carry everything on my shoulders. He saved me. I get to have time for myself with him."
Do you know the difference? They handle Feyre DIFFERENTLY! One is blunt, direct, and doesn't know how to use words. The other is gentle, articulate, knows how to use words, and can read her mind!
Do you have any idea how hypocritical it is for Sarah to show a toxic relationship and tell you not to stay in it, but then have Feyre stay with a man who abused her just because he explained why he did it? The Instagram comment was, "It makes absolutely no sense that you want redemption for Tamlin! He's an abuser." And what was Rhys in UTM? A feminist fairy?
Sarah presented two men as examples of violence against women; the right thing for Feyre to do would be to not end up with either of them!
Of course there are people who want Tamlin's redemption! Because Rhys had his own, even after committing the worst female nightmare! "Ah, but it was a necessary evil. The context is different. He had to do that." Well, that's what the character says! Isn't it? Like the forced kiss to get rid of Tamlin's scent, but how did Tamlin get rid of Feyre's scent on him? Did Rhys kiss Tamlin, by any chance? Why did he take her to parties (leaving her physically and mentally unwell at the end), when he could have pretended to have fun in a room with her and let her rest there? Rhys just didn't think of that? He, of all people, who used his powers to convince Amarantha that he didn't want to kill him, but sleep with him? The intelligent Rhys? Who was manipulating Amarantha with his double game?Oh, ok.
Sarah Gmail made her saga a huge hypocrisy! She made a mistake writing Rhys doing all that against Feyre.
And despite all that, it was still a very good experience reading the novel, despite those questions along the way. Feyre forgives him, and well, that's what matters to most people, even with Rhys not directly apologizing or admitting he was wrong.
Tamlin also expressed remorse, but for some reason, his remorse is seen as something an abuser would do—someone who does something wrong and says they're sorry, but... This sounds familiar, doesn't it?
I'm playing devil's advocate here. Because my opinion is the one I've already stated: Feyre shouldn't end up with either of them.
Feyre romanticizes both men. They both took her in during her time of extreme need, despair, and spiritual destruction. In the end, Feyre turned out exactly as Tamlin wanted, and Rhys knows it. A Court of Frost and Starlight makes it clear that Rhys knows how ironic that was!
(Believe it or not, I like Rhys. I usually trash characters I like when they do something ridiculous. Who else is like that? I don't want to be alone.)
I'm making this post because I reviewed my Acomaf notes. And there's one note in particular that made me think exactly what the title says.
The note is about Feyre having an internal monologue about how UTM changed her, and that Tamlin achieved what he wanted after regaining his powers; to be protective and a provider.
I find Feyre's statement curious, because Tamlin NEVER expressed that he wanted that. She combined Tamlin's instinct/quality/flaw with his obligation as High Lord and says it's his wish...
That's my interpretation, but reading the first two books, it's clear that Tamlin doesn't see being High Lord as a blessing or something incredible... In fact, it seems like it's too much of a burden for him. That he didn't want this and it's awful and it's wearing him down.
Unlike Rhys, who seems to find being a High Lord wonderful. Power, money, influence, etc. The story of "I'm the CEO," you know? The character seems quite comfortable in the position he's in.
Following this line of reasoning, I also started to think that we know NOTHING about Tamlin outside of critical life situations. We meet him in the curse, where he is melancholic, desperate, yet hopeless, unable to communicate properly, and spends half his time away because of the border. (Most of what we know about the character is superficial, coming from other characters or not as explored as you might imagine following the POV of the character's wife.) In the second book, we meet a traumatized, paranoid Tamlin, a high-ranking lord who NEEDS to pay attention to the people, more unstable and temperamental, more protective to the point of being suffocating.
We don't really know Tamlin outside of that... We don't know much about what he was like, for example, when he helped Lucien and Alis. We don't know what his government was like BEFORE the curse.
I strongly believe that if Tamlin could choose not to be a High Lord, he would choose to just be a soldier or play the violin in corners.So much so that the GREATEST moment of connection between Feyre and Tamlin is when he tells her he's not alone, that Feyre understands better than anyone the weight of being responsible for people... Having a responsibility that both didn't want and didn't expect... That if he didn't do something, nobody would.
Ultimately, perhaps I'm overanalyzing a character that's used to bring a specific couple together... But that's it.Whether it's Feyre's fault for not knowing anything about it, or Tamlin's fault for not saying anything (the most logical and obvious something to think about. He is very emotionally closed off), or the fault of both, we don't know much about Tamlin's most intimate desires... We don't know what his dreams/desires were or his complete past without these incomplete pieces.
It's very different from Rhys, for example, who takes every opportunity to talk about himself... He does it excessively, to the point where every little thing ends up revolving around him. We know what he does in his free time with his siblings, we know what he does with the money (we just don't know how he pays taxes, obviously because nobody tells Feyre and she doesn't want to think about it) And we know that his High Lord routine seems like just an office job because half of the IC seems to be used as a scapegoat.
In contrast, we know nothing about Rhys's hobbies... With Tamlin, at least we know this part, that he enjoys art and gets excited when Feyre says she paints, writes poetry, and plays the violin. Besides probably really enjoying reading or gardening, since her mother's roses seem well cared for (that's my little fan canon).
I wanted to conclude by mentioning that we don't know if Tamlin was always temperamental or if he became that way... Or if he was, but had ways of controlling it, after all, the guy is a great spy and soldier...I believe you need to be calm and strategic to do something without acting impulsively and letting anger get the better of you.The fact that in the first book, despite showing his claws, he controlled them and even showed them less as time went on with Feyre, especially in UTM, It seems that his change in the second book really has to do with reactions to trauma and that he can no longer maintain as much control over his powers, to the point that they react on their own.Similar to Feyre when she was locked in her house, but unlike Rhys, who stops his own panic attack and manages to control his powers.
It's not a promise because I know I won't be able to keep it.
I'm going back to blindly following Rhysand. In their view, the saga is noticeably simpler and more colorful because the book, and the author herself, is always on the character's side.
You don't bother to think or see nuances because even when Rhys is wrong, the book molds itself so that in the end he seems right, or a misunderstood, always selfless, even when he makes mistakes. And like, man! I want that simplicity in my life! Even the arguments are simple, like "Ah, that's already been justified in the book" or "Did you read the book with your eyes closed?" and also ""Dude, blame the author then, not the character" and my favorite, "Pfft, that wasn't abuse! He was saving and protecting her!"
I don't need to worry about worldly issues, consistency, the trivialization of sexual abuse/assault, and what people consider it to be. I don't need to think about the hypocrisy, double standards, lies of the character, or bad lines like "I wish I could take back that kiss under the mountain [...] Because I didn't make it pleasurable for you."
Books are for relaxing! Not for making me question my sanity as an individual in a society where even a law student defends Rhys and does not consider what he did to be sexual harassment. (I know very well who she would gladly defend in a court)
Have you seen that meme about how stupid Amarantha was for continuing to pursue Tamlin, even though she had Rhys for herself?Poise.... In my head, If Rhys were a real person, he'd be disgusted by all the fans who do this.I think he would even go so far as to defend Tamlin, because NO ONE wants to be the object of affection for an abusive, tyrannical, and pedophilic woman.
It's the most anti-Tamlin and anti-Rhys meme disguised as a compliment I've ever seen... What's worse is that this meme is accompanied by people saying, "That's why I believe they were partners, because there's no way a person could be like that over Tamlin." The drama is literally Feyre being Tamlin's heroine.... because she loves him
You know, I personally can dislike a character and still understand that even they don't deserve to be harassed, psychologically pressured, or raped....
It's such a ridiculous "who's better" meme, especially when we know Rhys had to put himself in that position...
I didn't want to get to this point, but here goes... What if it were the other way around? What if Amarantha was a man and Tamlin and Rhys were women? It's not just Sarah who doesn't take abuse issues seriously... These people don't either, and it's not their fault! It's the book's own fault for not dwelling much on Tamlin's abuse and focusing on the abuse of Rhys somehow very distorted "a choice" of his... And the fact that Tamlin is toxic/abusive in the second book completely negated the persecution and harassment he would suffer from Amarantha. To the point that nowadays the theory that Amarantha and Tamlin are partners is only considered because... They deserve each other... I think that's the argument that supports this theory.
I would like to talk about Rhysand’s morality in ACOTAR.
I’ll be honest, I loved ACOTAR Rhysand when he was introduced. Like yes Rhys be evil. And then I moved to ACOMAF… which was an entire book of justifying Rhys’ actions as “necessary” or “for Feyre’ safety”.
No? No, Feyre’s ✨sexual assault✨ (let’s call it what it is. Because she definitely didn’t consent to being objectified) was not for her protection nor it it a required step in ‘motivating’ Tamlin to kill Amarantha. Tam would have killed her anyway. I don’t understand the argument or logic behind stripping Feyre bare and parading her around whilst drunk on wine.
Also, this is something I don’t see talked about often, what’s the point in being most feared if Rhys has to dehumanize Feyre for her protection? I feel like it shouldn’t have mattered what Feyre wore or how she acted as long as was claimed as ‘Rhysand’s plaything’. As long as she was ‘his publicly’, no one who cared for their life would mess with her.
Because Rhysand would have free range to kill anyone who touched her anyway.
Amarantha wouldn’t have cared. :V Why would she? She trusted Rhysand ( evidence from ACOMAF chapter 54, read it. And the ending of ACOTAR where Amarantha seemed surprised and called Rhys a traitor)
Besides, in the narrative there were no stakes for making it look like Feyre was a harlot. 🤷 Amarantha did nothing. And I think it would have been more fun for Feyre to experience the court Under the Mountain.
Like: what do they do all day? Is dancing to untuned music all they do? What if we saw Rhysand converse with Eris UTM. Or had Feyre bond more with Rhysand/ have her see the cruelty that is UTM. Because 🧍🚶 it wasn’t that bad. Yes, that was the point of drugging her but like ugh UTM was my favorite arch and I wish there was more😭
Has anyone read a theory post about why Feyre's tattoo has NOTHING to do with the Night Court?I don't remember now, and I could be wrong, but doesn't the tattoo have floral patterns? Like, lines that resemble growing plants? And the eye is the only thing close to what you could say has to do with the Night Court.
I think it’s kinda funny that Rhysand thinks he’s so much stronger than Tamlin, even though a lot of what we actually read proves that at best he could go toe-to-toe with him, and Tamlin is known for holding himself back the majority of the time.
Yes! The fact that Rhys was betting on Tamlin's anger, even before he had fully regained his powers, to confront Amarantha, also proves that Tamlin is very strong! But Tamlin himself probably doesn't see it that way or think that way.
Rhys was also concerned about the civilians and the fighting that would ensue if Tamlin fought him, so Tamlin could certainly go toe-to-toe with Rhys without problems, but it would cause a wave of catastrophe.
The mere fact that Tamlin's powers manifested on their own due to a panic attack shows that he has little control over his own powers or knowledge, just like Feyre, When she was locked in the mansion... She didn't explode, but her powers manifested on their own.(Although I mention this, I know that a large part of the characters kind of follow the same line... That emotions end up activating their powers unintentionally, but I'll stick to the argument). Unlike the other two, Rhys has greater control... not only over his powers but also over his emotions. Rhys stopped mid-way, seizing a panic attack and preventing his powers from continuing to manifest.
As a fan of Raven, Scarlet Witch, and Jean Grey, I know that powers tied to emotions are ABSURDLY STRONG, and if you don't have a way to stay in control... Goodbye world lol
Another issue is that even with Tamlin all battered, depressed, and crippled, Cassian still says in ACOSF that they will need the "forces" of the Spring Court, and Rhys insists on taking care of Tamlin...The guy cares more about Tamlin than he does about Nestha, who literally has the power of pure death and knows how dangerous that is in the hands of someone unstable. (It might just be Sarah's inconsistency, but it's her fault for canonizing this concern.)
Tamlin has something that not only equals, but also rivals, Rhys.
Despite everything I've pointed out, we know it's not that deep, and Sarah just wants you to see Rhys as the badass of the ACOTAR universe. So much so that Feyre needed his help to save the world, meaning that even SHE, who has the power of seven cuts combined, can't be more powerful than Rhys.
Let's see. I hope that Sarah's flawed power dynamic makes sense, at least A LITTLE.
I strongly believe in the theory that Sarah hasn't said anything about the new book yet because it will have something to do with Tamlin, and that would displease a large part of the fandom. So she's taking advantage of all this mystery in the pre-sale to sell as many as possible and then reveal it later.
Or maybe Elucien. The publisher here in my country revealed the couple from the book... I mean, maybe it's a bluff and a fake, but if it's not—just so you know, they used Lucien and Elain in the post about ACOTAR 6 🤣
I laughed. But it’s very true that ACOTAR is built entirely on sexism.
It makes me physically ill that the strongest man in Prythian… must also whore out a woman (that he ‘respects’) to control his people.
It doesn’t make sense and never will.
Whats the point of Rhysand being feared by all… if not for it to be aura farming.
Rhysand’s power is a joke. It’s just words on a page, because he doesn’t use/abuse it AT ALL. (except for people close to him like Feyre, all of IC except for Amren, and towards Tamlin like during the High Lord meeting where he muted his voice.)
And if I had his power, guess what? Call me morally corrupt ect. ect. but I’d abuse the shit out of my magic to do what’s best for ‘the future’ I envision.
Especially to prevent a world war/ get allies. And keep my loved ones safe… and not treat them as a whore for an elaborate ‘distraction’.
Plus Rhysand is supposed to be morally gray, whatever. Bro never uses his tools that are right there (for real plot purposes. Because he does use his power to torture people off the page.) And spare Feyre from the humiliation that is supposed to be a ‘woman empowerment’ moment.
WHERE? Is the feminism in the room with us? I don’t think so.
Feyre also has that same power, HELL SHE HAS MORE. She has all seven Courts🤦. And she doesn’t do a thing for herself without her husband. ⚰️🚶
Feminism and ‘choice’ is all an illusion. Especially when Rhysand is in the same page. Because, Rhysand limits the options to ‘A or B’. Thats not Feyre’s choosing, she is just complying with the narrative, and it certainly never gives her any agency.
Rhys already dodged that argument when he said that the Court of Nightmares practically rules on its own.
But also, the guy couldn't make up his mind about it. He says she's independent while also going there to govern sometimes, but he kind of left Mor in charge there... He also says, I think in another chapter, which definitively gave the city...
So, does he govern or not? Then he shouldn't even have his own throne if the city is independent and has its own people governing. Which, apparently, is Rhys's own fault for functioning this way...
I think Rhys wants to be seen as the leader of that place, but at the same time he doesn't want to take responsibility for the city... He just wants the authority (And he doesn't even have that, believe it or not... Feyre had to behave like a prostitute for them to get what they wanted, and Rhys only agreed because... I don't know, if he didn't agree someone would complain.) He clearly doesn't have it, since he and Feyre had to sexually expose themselves instead of demanding what they wanted from Keir. In other words, Rhys is powerless and utterly useless, unable to protect the integrity of the woman he respects, thus preventing this kind of thing...If THAT were the only option, I could understand, but it wasn't...
The intention was clearly to create something involving female empowerment, exploring female sexuality and such... But if I were to rely solely on the author's intention, then Sarah's books should come with a instruction manual.
The fact that Feyre and Rhys seem fine doing that also doesn't make sense to me. Feyre is fine, she doesn't have trauma related to sexual exposure or what Rhys did to her in UTM, but Rhys? Rhys clearly has trauma related to that... He must feel disgusted having to resort to things like that. To let Feyre think she needs to do this to help them.
I totally agree. Rhysand does not have authority over Hewn City and he does not care tbh. 🧍🚶 he literally only visits when he needs something.
Kier is supposed to be the man head of the Court of Nightmares and Morrigan checks up on it every now and then. It’s part of the territory, but runs on its own like Illyria. But my main issue is…Morrigan also doesn’t care about her people. And honestly the entire IC is racist. No joke, the way they talk about Illyrians and Hewn city is disturbing.
Rhysand is also… not good with politics. He literally could have negotiated with Kier. Like he does in ACOWAR— which I also didn’t agree with how that went down. Or use his mental powers.
But I believe nuance and political plot points are not SJM’s strong suit. when I read the story, I mostly don’t blame the characters, but instead the literary direction that SJM takes. Because I’ve read Crescent City and began Throne of glass… they show very similar flaws.
Also for the end part where you mention “Rhysand probably feels disgusted with exploiting Feyre like that”: he does not. ( Rhysand does say he feels uncomfortable. He does say that he doesn’t want to re-traumatize Feyre— but look at his actions. When he talks, it sounds terrible I know, but imagine he’s ALWAYS lying. X,D it makes me laugh. But LITERALLY Feyre couldn’t teleport or fly. She didn’t know where Hewn City was. And he could have omitted the whole thing— like he usually does.)
So, in the scene before the The ‘throne room’ part, Feyre was the one fighting to be involved in the plan. (Again Rhys USUALLY omits information, yet he did not omit this? Hm.)
Rhys was like “oh but Feyre, I’m going to have to be the bad guy. You will have to play as my whore like UTM.”
feyre said, “you don’t scare me!” And then guilt tripped him. Because she was being excluded and has that ‘trauma’ with Tamlin, with not being told anything. (Which Rhysand doesn’t respect… because he does it in ACOSF)
Rhysand would have said no harder, if he cared. But he doesn’t. Another instance of him not caring and Feyre being ‘empowered’ is in ACOSF with Feyre’s pregnancy reveal. She was wearing a similar dress, but emphasized her belly. It’s fine to wear revealing clothes, but the intention of the story is not okay.
But Feyre DOESNT dress that way. Morrigan does. Only in Hewn city does she wear these overly revealing clothes.🧍
-Women should not be ‘empowered’ just because they’re attractive, they should not be ‘empowered’ only by exploiting their body.
Women can weaponize seduction but… ACOTAR is not the story for that.
( Game of Thrones did a better job, and that story has whole other issues. But a lot of the women are written well and show various ways to gain power.)
Amarantha and Ianthe are better representation of women empowerment (Yes villains, etc etc let’s ignore their crimes for a moment. ). Amarantha tricked all the High Lords without selling her body or seducing them for 50 years. Ianthe had the ear of Tamlin, another High Lord, and got him to make a deal with Hybern by exploiting his protective nature for Feyre.
THATS FRICKING COOL.
the way women are treated as a whole… is very poor in ACOTAR. I think it hits an astonishing low in ACOSF. But that’s… a lot to unpack. And I’ve seen a LOT of people dislike Rhysand in that book. A lot. Because— literally I think it’s the angle. Rhysand isn’t a good guy. If he is painted as a good guy, his character flops entirely. It’s sad to say, but the way that SJM wants us to see his character— is not the way he’s actually written.
This is a big rant. But, when I first read ACOTAR… I was confused BECAUSE I thought Rhysand was good. 😭 I was confused… on why the good guys are racist and refuse to help their own people because they’re “irredeemable”. I was confused on why THE GOOD GUY went to his wife’s abuser to bully him and make him more miserable.
LIKE WHO WOULD DO THAT. I wouldn’t! I’d leave him the fuck alone and send someone else. That’s fucking WILD. Literally when Rhysand went to kick Tamlin back down in Acofas— I was taken back. and then HIS MALICE towards Nesta in ACOWAR and ACOSF?! Leave the mentally ill people ALONE MY GOODNESS. If I was Feyre, he would be catching my HANDS. AND ALSO he how he treated Lucien in ACOWAR too. nah that’s my son. 😭 the good guy CANNOT be this malicious!
RHYSAND would do so well in Cruel Prince. JUST SAYING.
He doesn’t care about people, except his family. EVEN THEN— he harms them too! 🤦 and I don’t think it’s bad—- except for the fact that the ENTIRE story tells us “Rhysand is good”. Even Nesta thinks he’s good to a degree and she’s his number one hater in the story.🧍🚶
I don't have much to defend myself with, but I WILL TRY.
Lucien went to "rescue" Feyre on Tamlin's orders.In this case, it would be Lucien wanting to return Feyre to her abuser.Okay? Okay... But, at the same time that we have THIS context, we also have the context of Rhys being the individual who abused Feyre, has a reputation as a villain, with a repulsive court, and who spent 50 years next to Amarantha
You know what I think? Lucien wasn't just following orders; at least by taking Feyre back to Spring, she wouldn't be with someone WORSE, but simply someone negligent and overly protective.
Regarding him ignoring Feyre's wishes... I believe the obvious; he simply didn't believe that Feyre TRULY wanted to stay there... Again, because of ALL the context surrounding Rhys's reputation, the fear of Feyre being used by him again.
Both Tamlin and Lucien had this in mind... And it was precisely this vision that Feyre used to manipulate Tamlin, among other things. Lying that she was abused, lying that she was controlled, reinforcing this MORE than it already was.
So, I admit I'm totally obsessed with Lucien and defending him, and thinking, "Oh my god, she's focusing on the man," but in my defense, even Sarah does that, especially with that whole story about It was a high-risk pregnancy, and Rhys was still carrying that burden while "learning". Ultimately, it's not fair to blame Lucien entirely, not only for obeying orders, but also for thinking it's right to remove Feyre from there even though she says she doesn't want to leave... Not because "he doesn't respect a woman's 'no,' and his mother didn't teach him that," but because it was unbelievable that the woman who died for them was standing next to the guy who exposed her in UTM and can control minds...
I'm very much on Lucien's side, both in this situation and regarding his supposed "omission" at the mansion.
I laughed. But it’s very true that ACOTAR is built entirely on sexism.
It makes me physically ill that the strongest man in Prythian… must also whore out a woman (that he ‘respects’) to control his people.
It doesn’t make sense and never will.
Whats the point of Rhysand being feared by all… if not for it to be aura farming.
Rhysand’s power is a joke. It’s just words on a page, because he doesn’t use/abuse it AT ALL. (except for people close to him like Feyre, all of IC except for Amren, and towards Tamlin like during the High Lord meeting where he muted his voice.)
And if I had his power, guess what? Call me morally corrupt ect. ect. but I’d abuse the shit out of my magic to do what’s best for ‘the future’ I envision.
Especially to prevent a world war/ get allies. And keep my loved ones safe… and not treat them as a whore for an elaborate ‘distraction’.
Plus Rhysand is supposed to be morally gray, whatever. Bro never uses his tools that are right there (for real plot purposes. Because he does use his power to torture people off the page.) And spare Feyre from the humiliation that is supposed to be a ‘woman empowerment’ moment.
WHERE? Is the feminism in the room with us? I don’t think so.
Feyre also has that same power, HELL SHE HAS MORE. She has all seven Courts🤦. And she doesn’t do a thing for herself without her husband. ⚰️🚶
Feminism and ‘choice’ is all an illusion. Especially when Rhysand is in the same page. Because, Rhysand limits the options to ‘A or B’. Thats not Feyre’s choosing, she is just complying with the narrative, and it certainly never gives her any agency.
Rhys already dodged that argument when he said that the Court of Nightmares practically rules on its own.
But also, the guy couldn't make up his mind about it. He says she's independent while also going there to govern sometimes, but he kind of left Mor in charge there... He also says, I think in another chapter, which definitively gave the city...
So, does he govern or not? Then he shouldn't even have his own throne if the city is independent and has its own people governing. Which, apparently, is Rhys's own fault for functioning this way...
I think Rhys wants to be seen as the leader of that place, but at the same time he doesn't want to take responsibility for the city... He just wants the authority (And he doesn't even have that, believe it or not... Feyre had to behave like a prostitute for them to get what they wanted, and Rhys only agreed because... I don't know, if he didn't agree someone would complain.) He clearly doesn't have it, since he and Feyre had to sexually expose themselves instead of demanding what they wanted from Keir. In other words, Rhys is powerless and utterly useless, unable to protect the integrity of the woman he respects, thus preventing this kind of thing...If THAT were the only option, I could understand, but it wasn't...
The intention was clearly to create something involving female empowerment, exploring female sexuality and such... But if I were to rely solely on the author's intention, then Sarah's books should come with a instruction manual.
The fact that Feyre and Rhys seem fine doing that also doesn't make sense to me. Feyre is fine, she doesn't have trauma related to sexual exposure or what Rhys did to her in UTM, but Rhys? Rhys clearly has trauma related to that... He must feel disgusted having to resort to things like that. To let Feyre think she needs to do this to help them.
We get to join everyone as they go out on the town for the night. Yaaaaaay. Everything is very pretty and quaint and picturesque generic-artsy-European town-y.
From the ornate lanterns that lined either side of the bridge, faelight cast golden shadows on the wings of the three males, gilding the talons at the apex of each.
I won't lie, the absolute boner this book (and CC) has for wings has kind of ruined them for me in any other fantasy context. I mentally cringe whenever a character is described as winged, and I have to stop and forcibly remind myself that it's not going to be weird fetish shit this time. Because guys, they have wings. Wings. Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiings. Don't forget the wings, can't forget the wings, wing accommodations, wingswingswingswingswings-
Yes, it does drive me a bit insane. Thank you for noticing.
The conversation ranged from the people they knew, matches and teams for sports I’d never heard of (apparently, Amren was a vicious, obsessive supporter of one), new shops, music they’d heard, clubs they favored … Not a mention of Hybern or the threats we faced—no doubt from secrecy, but I had a feeling it was also because tonight, this time together … they did not want that terrible, hideous presence intruding. As if they were all just ordinary citizens—even Rhys. As if they weren’t the most powerful people in this court, maybe in all of Prythian. And no one, absolutely no one, on the street balked or paled or ran.
Okay, it's a long quote, but. I feel it articulates a lot of the problems this book has with writing convincing governments/leader-type characters. And there's a few different things to it. First of all, this:
...people they knew, matches and teams for sports I’d never heard of [...], new shops, music they’d heard, clubs they favored …
Now, apart from being vague and generic af. It's absolutely true that leaders are all people, and thus have interests like this. They even discuss them with their fellow leaders from time to time. And, yes, it's even not that weird that they wouldn't be discussing things like Hybern when they're just out and about, because yeah, security and whatnot. But... well, I can't help but read it as a little performative? Both from the book itself (trying too hard to convince us that these are Totally Relatable and Normal characters) and also cause like, a lot of leaders leverage this kind of stuff performatively in our world as well.... Australia's previous PM, Scuntmo Scott "I don't hold a hose mate" Morrison, was kinda notorious for it. The whole daggy sports-and-beer dad image he had going on.
This image was taken during covid, btw, after he'd just shut down every other public event, except for the one NRL game he was going to for the team he liked. Dude was proper scum, but liked to hide it with this kind of oh-so-relatable image. How good's the footy, right? How do you do, fellow plebs?
It's kind of the same energy here. Amren's such a vicious supporter of this unspecified team of an unspecified variety of sportsball! She's still a terrible person.
Further.
—no doubt from secrecy, but I had a feeling it was also because tonight, this time together … they did not want that terrible, hideous presence intruding. As if they were all just ordinary citizens—even Rhys.
While it's true that they are, indeed, all just people, leaders do also have a certain amount of responsibility. There's times where they've got to buckle down and do things that ordinary people simply do not have to, and imminent war is one of those times. There's diplomacy to be attempted, preparations to be made, intel to be gathered, morale to boost, PR to wrangle... and that's all before the actual fighting starts. And while it's not wrong for leaders to try and relax where they can amidst all this... well, it's not the first time the book has insinuated that running the country is the kind of thing that can be just "left in the office," so to speak. I've pulled it out a few times now. Imminent war is definitely not the kind of situation where a raucous, public night-on-the-town is appropriate leader behaviour.
And the whole "leave in the office" attitude becomes even more implausible for leaders the further back in history you go. The leaders who visibly partied while war (or whatever other crisis) was looming? Yeah, they're the ones who generally got assassinated or overthrown. People don't like it when their leaders look like they don't give a shit. "Let them eat cake," and all that...
.....well, I say that, but modern politics is sure trying to give me a run for my money....
And no one, absolutely no one, on the street balked or paled or ran.
This, though, is just fucking stupid. Why should they? Is Rhys known for just wandering through the streets and snotting people? Why are you bamboozled by this behaviour, Feyre? Why are you presenting this as something we should be surprised by, or find impressive?
As if they weren’t the most powerful people in this court, maybe in all of Prythian.
Ohhh, right, scary-scary dangerous and Primal Dominance and ugh, I hate this shit so fucking much.
Awed, perhaps a little intimidated, but … no fear. It was so unusual that I kept silent, merely observing them—their world. The normalcy that they each fought so hard to preserve. That I had once raged against, resented.
The normalcy they fought so hard to preserve...... at the expense of literally everyone else in Prythian. The Most Powerfullest High Lord Ever chose to use his power to protect this one (already safe) city from Amarantha, instead of using the "dregs" of his power (which, by his own admission, were still enough to forcibly mind-control and memory-wipe everyone who knew about Velaris for decades - hardly trivial magic) to try and stop her, or even to protect the rest of his own damn court. That is what you resented, Feyre. That is what you raged against. Not the fact that Velaris is nice, but the fact that its niceness was given even more protection, despite being already safe, at the cost of everyone else in Prythian. Everyone else who you literally died to save, remember!
But, no. No, the brainwashing is complete. Rhys has convinced her that Velaris is just that damn special, that it's worth the lives of everyone else in the country to protect. They're all just plebs and faceless NPCs, after all. Not real people. Only the privileged-ass people in Velaris are real people. This book is actual cancer sometimes, I swear to god. I hate saying things like that, but there's really no other way to describe it.
But there was no place like this in the world. Not so serene. So loved by its people and its rulers.
Yeah, not a single other place in the entire world is kinda peaceful and loved by the ones who live in it........................ that's why it's worth throwing them all under the bus to protect it................ I mean, whatever helps them sleep at night, right?
The other side of the city was even more crowded, with patrons in finery out to attend the many theaters we passed.
And where do the patrons get their finery, if the entire city is closed off from the world, hmm? I'm sure I've already ranted about this, but. You have to pick one: a complete secret that nobody else outside of the city knows about, or able to receive trade by sea. You can't have both. Traders go places, and they talk. "And where are you shipping all these fancy clothes off to?" "Errrrrrrr, nowhere....." And if they lie and say a different port, then any unrelated discussion between people from those two places runs the risk of exposing everything. It just isn't possible.
I’d never seen a theater before—never seen a play, or a concert, or a symphony. In our ramshackle village, we’d gotten mummers and minstrels at best—herds of beggars yowling on makeshift instruments at worst.
And absolutely no thought is given to the fact that her village had no theatres because it was small and poor, and was poor because some asshole was hoarding all the money, no. It's just because her (human) village was a shithole, compared to the Better-Than-You city of Perfect Velaris.
Fuck, this is going to be another chapter where I want to pull out every line, isn't it? Rampant classism and Rhys's bullshit do that to me, I guess.
More description of how awesome and lively Velaris is.
How much had I missed in these months of despair and numbness?
But no longer. The lifeblood of Velaris thrummed through me, and in rare moments of quiet, I could have sworn I heard the clash of the sea, clawing at the distant cliffs.
Ugh. Just... like, yeah, if your depression is caused by something like isolation, then going somewhere more lively might help. But it might also exacerbate it, in an alone-in-the-crowd kind of way. I think it's far more likely that it's Rhys's mind-fuckery that's responsible for this.
Also... hmm. I don't know that's necessarily why it's bothering me. It's more like... well, I've gone on at length about all the horrible things Rhys has done, and how unfairly the narrative has been framing Tamlin by comparison. But here, it's rewarding Feyre, on a meta level, for doing what Rhys wants. And it makes it so that any criticisms of Rhys's behaviour can (in theory) be shut doing by pointing to it and going "no, see? It worked! He cured her depression!" And just completely ignores how utterly inappropriate the whole thing is, how Rhys's "success" here is utterly undeserved. The fact that the narrative contorted itself to make his selfishness and manipulations have a positive outcome doesn't actually mean he did the right thing, book. It just means he's a Mary Sue who the book will allow to do no wrong.
Eventually, we entered a small restaurant beside the river, built into the lower level of a two-story building, the whole space bedecked in greens and golds and barely big enough to fit all of us. And three sets of Illyrian wings.
See? Do you see what I fucking mean????? Enough with the god damn wings already! We'll assume they fit unless you tell us otherwise! And besides:
As you can see, neither the bird nor the bat's wings take up all that much extra space when they're tucked in. Unless the boys are walking around while T-posing with their wings, I really don't think it would ever be as big a deal as the book makes it out to be. Just. A truly unholily weird fixation on big wings.
But the owner knew [the Inner Circle], and kissed them each on the cheek, even Rhysand.
The book wants us to think it's because Velaris is so wonderful and Rhys is such an awesome High Lord, unlike the Evil Tamlin. I'm inclined to think that this owner is just sucking up to the High Lord who is known for his nepotism, though. It's the only way you get anywhere in his court, after all.
No doubt [the pot-plants were] spelled to keep from dying in the winter—just as the warmth of the restaurant kept the chill from disturbing us or any of those dining in the open air at the river’s edge.
Something something, have to follow the laws of nature...
I’d never had such food—warm and rich and savory and spicy. Like it filled not only my stomach, but that lingering hole in my chest, too.
Do you get it yet, guys? Velaris is just so awesome that it's magically curing Feyre's depression. That alone means it was worth sacrificing all of Prythian for! Yes, even though it was already safe! The stinky Spring Court could never, after all.
[The owner was] chatting with Rhys about the latest shipment of spices that had come to the Palaces.
How did the ships find the secret city that nobody else knows about, though? Not just once, but many times, given this is just the "latest" shipment? Oh, right, they found it because the book just does not give a fuck, of course. Silly me.
There's banter, while Rhys promises to magically stop the inevitable war inflation of spice prices and the shopkeeper does absolutely nothing to convince me that she's not a nepo-hopeful.
The happiness on [the shopkeeper's] face, the satisfaction that only a day of hard work doing something you love could bring, hit me like a stone.
Feyre, you literally just told us that she beamed because the High Lord she's sucking up to said he liked her food. Don't try and rewrite what we've just seen with our own eyes.
But no, no, that's all just a wind up so Feyre can further hammer home how Velaris is curing her depression, by telling us that she now "remembers" that feeling from when she used to "paint from morning until night," and the only thing I can say is... bitch, when? You spent the start of last book whinging about how you were too poor to paint, then spent the rest of the book whinging about how you sucked at painting and couldn't possibly paint the awesomeness that is Prythian. And then spent this book telling us you were too depressed to paint. Literally when have you 1) ever actually painted morning until night, and 2) enjoyed it? About the only time it could have happened is during the time skips while you were dagging around the Spring Court in book one... huh...
But no, no, Feyre gets special cake for saying nice things about the food, and then much fuss is made about Amren being brought a goblet of blood (after being served a whole plate of food she doesn't eat, and thus I can only assume is wasted. Why not just arrange for her to have blood from the start??).
Indeed, I almost asked Mor to roll me out of the restaurant by the time we were done and Rhys had paid the tab, despite the owner’s protests.
Oh yeah, this has got to be attempted sycophancy. No restaurant would try to refuse being paid for the fucking food they sell unless they thought they could get value elsewhere for it. They'd go bankrupt. Unless the book legitimately thinks its protagonists are so awesome that of course shops should be giving them freebies Just Because. It disturbs me that that is a distinct possibility. Both that anyone thinks anyone is special enough to deserve freebies in the first place, and that anyone thinks that these people, specifically, are the kind that deserve it. Absolutely wild.
Dancing. My body groaned in protest and I glanced about for an ally to shoot down this ridiculous idea.
But Azriel—Azriel said, his eyes wholly on Mor, “I’m in.”
Why are you saying that as if it's so surprising that Azriel wants to go dancing, Feyre? You know jack shit about him except that he's quiet and has a Tragic Past. Plenty of quiet people like dancing.
But, no, this is just to tease the whole Mor/Azriel/Cassian thing and also have everyone banter.
[Azriel's] broad chest expanded with a deep breath
Ngl, I always forget that Azriel is meant to be ripped as well. Like Rhys, he basically looks like an anime twink in my mind. A bizarre cross between Lorenz Hellman Gloucester from Fire Emblem, and the student council president from that magical boys anime from a few years back. The one with the really long name. I think the only one that I can actually picture as ripped is Cassian. And I'm 99% sure I've seen the way I picture him somewhere before, but can't for the life of me remember where. It's identical to how I picture Hunt from CC, btw, because they're basically the same character. Anyway.
Feyre doesn't want to go dancing, and looks to Amren for help, but she's gone. This prompts Rhys (who read her intention to look for Amren from her mind, obvs) to banter about Amren drinking blood.
I tried not to shudder as I faced him. “Why blood?”
“It doesn’t seem polite to ask.”
Translation: the author thinks it sounds more scary-dangerous and mysterious this way, but the answer is obviously because she's a vampire. And until the book gets over itself and gives us evidence to the contrary, that will be my headcanon. Vagueness can work against you sometimes, book.
Anyway, Rhys says he's not going dancing, he's going to walk home, and of course this is framed as just being oh-so-gentlemanly to Feyre, even though, again, he would have read this desire of hers from her mind. Without asking. She never said it out loud.
Feyre and Rhys walk for a bit, before stopping to look at how pretty the artists quarter is, because haven't you heard? Feyre's just about done with her depression arc, Velaris cured it.
“This is my favorite view in the city,” Rhys said,
Of course it is. The one that would be so personally meaningful to Feyre. What a coincidence. You know, if it weren't because they're so clearly ~*~soulmates~*~, I'd almost say it was as if he could read her mind and was manipulating her with salesman tactics.... Rhys has given us no other indication that he appreciates art, after all...
[F]“Then why are both your houses on the other side of the river?”[...]
[R]“Because I wanted a quiet street—so I could visit this clamor whenever I wished and then have a home to retreat to.”
Spoken like a true privileged asshole.
[F]“You could have just reordered the city.”
“Why the hell would I change one thing about this place?”
Er, because change is sometimes necessary? Like yeah, going in and dicking around just for the sake of it isn't good, but to refuse to change anything at all? Places have tried that throughout history - Edo Period Japan, for example. It rarely ends well for them. But, I suppose, to acknowledge that something about Velaris could be changed for the better would imply that it's not absolutely perfect in its current state, and we obviously can't have that. It wouldn't be Better than the Spring Court, otherwise. Never mind that it has literal slums in the fifth book...
Well, enough of that, we spend some time angsting about how Hard it is to be High Lord, and then establishing that Rhys is a sexually competent man who has had many, many lovers (not Amren tho. No, I don't know why we need to specify this), but also, he's still a virgin so far as long-term, committed relationships go, so it's all g. None of them would have wanted to marry him anyway, because it's Just So Dangerous. Even though he's the Most Powerful High Lord Ever and could definitely protect them from that danger......
But! Now it's time for the big questions!
I still didn’t know the full story, but I asked, “Why? Why are you [the Night Court] hated? Why keep the truth of this place secret? It’s a shame no one knows about it—what good you do here.”
Hoo boy. Here we go.
Essentially, the Night Court was once legitimately a Court of Nightmares, but one random High Lord staged a coup (which he somehow hid from the entire rest of the world), killing all the Designated Evil characters, and built Velaris instead. There were many spells to explain bullshit like why it still gets trade despite being secret from everyone.
“But along the way, despite his best intentions, darkness grew again—not as bad as it had once been … But bad enough that there is a permanent divide within my court. We allow the world to see the other half, to fear them—so that they might never guess this place thrives here. And we allow the Court of Nightmares to continue, blind to Velaris’s existence, because we know that without them, there are some courts and kingdoms that might strike us. And invade our borders to discover the many, many secrets we’ve kept from the other High Lords and courts these millennia.”
So...... essentially, you let the Court of Nightmares exist to be your meatshields against the other courts, to protect all the "secrets" (knowledge and wealth, I assume) that you're hoarding in Velaris and refusing to share? Yeah, wow, I wonder why there's a permanent divide in your court. Fucking mystery, that one. Who woulda thunk that forced segregation leads to divides?
Also... the implication here is that the Court of Nightmares cops all the fallout from the other courts. They're the ones that get attacked, or politically disadvantaged, or whatever. Literally sacrificing half your entire court, just so that Velaris can... what? Keep living their privileged, wealthy existence, without any threat of harm? The people of the Hewn City deserve to suffer and die and live under tyranny (Rhys's own tyranny, as he will eventually remind us. Not yet tho, that might make new readers think he's a bad person) so that those in Velaris never have to feel uncomfy? Just what is so fucking special about this damn city???? "Oh it's pretty and quaint and has artists and-" yes, and?????? Many places are pretty and quaint and have artists???
Of course, the book expects us to think this is all fine and dandy, because it's tried to establish that actually, the people of the Hewn City are all evil meaniepantses and also not Main Characters, so it's fine if they're turned into sacrificial lambs en masse. They're evil, so who cares, right? Book. Book, book, book. An entire city cannot be uniformly evil. It's full of individuals, first and foremost. Yeah, sure, they might have an evil government, or a high concentration of evil wizards, or some cultural practices which might be deemed evil by outside parties. And especially in fantasy, we tend to give leeway for that sort of thing.
But, as with most places, the overwhelming majority of people in the Hewn City are going to be just ordinary people. Living their lives, not bothering anyone else. The book wants us to think that, because the nobles are all evil and corrupt, that makes it okay to condemn the whole city. It doesn't. It really doesn't. And, again - Rhysand is the one inflicting the fucking tyranny. He goes there later and shows us, tells us all about how he cows the Hewn City to his whim. It exists in this state because he, as it's unquestionably feared tyrant leader, fucking allows it.
And it's like, there's no reason the Hewn City has to be such a shithole to protect Velaris? There's no reason it couldn't be a perfectly nice city, but still be the only city other people know about, so that's why it gets attacked? Velaris can still be secret even if the Court of Nightmares doesn't exist? But, no. No. Rhysand keeps all these people locked in their mountain (hey Feyre, remember your trauma about people being locked in mountains? No? Okay..), with no option to leave. He either does nothing to discourage evil policies, or actively prevents good policies from being implemented - likely both. It beggars belief that even every noble in Hewn City is uniformly evil, after all, especially since Mor, a character we're (meant to be) sympathetic to, is from there. Already, we have proof that there's at least one non-evil noble from there. It stands to reason that there'd be others. Are they not trying to make changes? Not a single change, in 500 years? The only way that seems possible is if there's someone with immense power (like, I don't know, the Most Powerful High Lord Ever, or something) forcing things to remain the way they are. Actively stifling any and all attempts at change and reform. Letting unsavoury policies run rampant. This is all on Rhysand, and no amount of bleating otherwise from the book will change that.
But, and once again, this is very important. We still haven't seen Rhys flexing his control over the Hewn City. That little tumour of a scene hasn't happened yet. So, for a new reader, they're being told all this about the Hewn City without the knowledge that they're basically at Rhys's mercy. It's being presented as though the evil of the Court of Nightmares is something inevitable, unchangeable, completely out of Rhys's hands..... and that is just patently not true. But it washes Rhys's hands of any responsibility before we even begin to see the full picture. Again, these books are an absolute masterclass in manipulative writing.
“So truly none of the others know? In the other courts?”
“Not a soul. You will not find it on a single map, or mentioned in any book beyond those written here. Perhaps it is our loss to be so contained and isolated, but … ” He gestured to the city around us. “My people do not seem to be suffering much for it.”
No. No, they're not suffering. And do you know why, Rhys? BECAUSE YOU'VE OUTSOURCED THE SUFFERING TO THE HEWN CITY YOU ACTUAL FUCKING PUSTULE! OF COURSE YOUR PEOPLE AREN'T FUCKING SUFFERING WHEN YOU'VE THROWN THE ENTIRE REST OF YOUR COURT UNDER THE BUS TO MAKE IT SO! HOW CAN YOU SAY THIS WITH A STRAIGHT FACE? HOW CAN THE BOOK SAY THIS WITH A STRAIGHT FACE? IT'S SO FUCKING HYPOCRITICAL I JUST CANNOT
I hate him. I hate him so much. No character in any of Maas's series is worse than this guy.
Also. It just occurred to me that maybe making Rhys half-Illyrian was just to forestall accusations of his obvious racism? "No, I can't be racist, I'm half-Illyrian" yeah, and you're still a segregationist ass so?????? And the reason he can summon and dismiss his wings at will is because Maas didn't actually want him to be one of those filthy Lesser Faeries, so she just gets rid of it every time he doesn't need it for pity reasons. Or wing fetish reasons.
Well, the book doesn't want us thinking about that, time to switch topics to whether Azriel feels bad about torturing people. Not that the book will use the word "torture", of course. We might realise that everyone involved is an awful person otherwise.
Rhys loosed a breath. “It’s hard to tell with him—and he’d never tell me. I’ve witnessed Cassian rip apart opponents and then puke his guts up once the carnage stopped, sometimes even mourn them.
Oh, well, that makes it perfectly acceptable then, doesn't it? "Hey, sorry I ripped your family member apart. No, really, I am sorry, I even puked afterwards!"
Just?????? Does the book think puking is some kind of get-out-of-doing-the-wrong-thing-free card or something? That's what it is, isn't it? Oh my dear fucking god. Weaponised fucking puking, both in-universe and on a meta level. Now all I can think about is them jamming their fingers down their own throats whenever they need to trick people into thinking they feel genuine remorse. This is actually insane.
Oh dear god. I thought when they started walking again, we'd get a bit of a break from rage-inducing things, but. I was wrong. Fuck was I wrong.
I was about to beg Rhys to fly me home when I caught the strands of music pouring from a group of performers outside a restaurant.
My hands slackened at my sides. A reduced version of the symphony I’d heard in a chill dungeon, when I had been so lost to terror and despair that I had hallucinated—hallucinated as this music poured into my cell … and kept me from shattering.
Yes. Now is the time where Feyre realises that Rhys is the one who sent her that music. You know, Rhys, who was her enemy then, who tortured her into accepting his bargain, who drugged and assaulted her every single night..... Rhys, who we've been told is the Most Powerful High Lord Ever, who has uber-mind-control powers, so strong that the people he's interfering with don't even know he's there. And when she heard that music, she also saw an image of a palace, a moonstone palace, kinda like the one above Hewn City, actually, and her head was filled with thoughts that "the one she loved" was there.........
Oh wow. What could she have to say about this obvious and staggering violation!
And once more, the beauty of it hit me, the layering and swaying, the joy and peace.
...............just. There are no words. None whatsoever.
The music swelled and built. I’d seen a palace in the sky when I’d hallucinated—a place between sunset and dawn … a house of moonstone pillars. “I saw the Night Court.”
He glanced sidelong at me. “I didn’t send those images to you.”
Uh. THEN WHERE THE FUCK ELSE DID THEY COME FROM, SHIT-FOR-BRAINS???? WHERE THE FUCK ELSE COULD THEY HAVE POSSIBLY COME FROM???? BECAUSE FEYRE WAS A FRAGILE LITTLE HUMAN THEN, WITHOUT HER RESURRECTED FAERIE POWERS TO GIVE HER DAEMATI SHIT OR WHATEVER FUCKING EXCUSE YOU'RE TRYING TO USE TO JUSTIFY HER SEEING THINGS FROM YOU NOW. ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY SHE PULLED IT HERSELF FROM THE BOND??? THE BOND THAT SHE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW EXISTED THEN, THAT SERVED ONLY AS YOUR SPYWARE INTO HER MIND???? SHE JUST COINCI-FUCKING-DENTALLY PULLED AN IMAGE OF THE NIGHT COURT AND THE THOUGHTS "that's where the person I love is" FROM YOUR FUCKING HEAD ALL BY HERSELF, DID SHE??? IS THAT WHAT YOU EXPECT US TO FUCKING BELIEVE, RHYSAND?????
If this isn't an admission that he did it all on purpose, I don't know what is. He doesn't give any further explanation about where they might have come from, mind. Just "oh, I totally didn't do it."
Of course, Feyre fucking believes him. No. She doesn't care.
I didn’t care. “Thank you. For everything—for what you did. Then … and now.”
And note, they still haven't fucking addressed the whole drugging and assaulting thing. Literally just not mentioned it at all. Like the book knows it's fucking indefensible, so it just hopes we'll forget about it if it doesn't say anything.
“Even after the Weaver? After this morning with my trap for the Attor?”
My nostrils flared. “You ruin everything.”
And look, the shitcunt still isn't satisfied, he's even fishing for extra forgiveness for his latest bullshit! Twisting her words around to absolve him of even more! Go eat lead, Rhys. Gut yourself. Jump into a furnace. I literally don't care at this point, I just want you fucking gone.
I could learn to love it, I realized. The flying.
That's called stockholm syndrome, Feyre. Or rather, it's your brain's desperate attempt to cope with a situation you can't escape from.
There's a scene break, but if you had any hope that any of this shit was going to get even a sliver of the attention it deserves:
I was reading in bed, listening to the merry chatter of the toasty birch fire across the room,
let me dash that hope immediately. We suffer this shit together.
Rhysand is texting her again.
I might be a shameless flirt, but at least I don’t have a horrible temper. You should come tend to my wounds from our squabble in the snow. I’m bruised all over thanks to you.
Oh, the squabble where she was retaliating after you USED HER AS LIVE BAIT WITHOUT EVEN FUCKING TELLING HER???? Fuck. When can we launch him into the sun? It's the only way I'll survive with my sanity intact, I think.
[F]Go lick your wounds and leave me be.
[...]
[R]I’d much rather you licked my wounds for me.
And look, he even acts like a fucking tinder creep who can't take a hint.
My heart pounded, faster and faster, and a strange sort of rush went through my veins as I read the sentence again and again. A challenge.
I... no? It's not a fucking challenge? Just bog-standard creeping? What the fuck is it with this book and thinking that inappropriate flirting is a "challenge?"
They begin sexting.
I wrote back,
Let’s hope my licking is better than yours. I remember how horrible you were at it Under the Mountain.
Lie. He’d licked away my tears when I’d been a moment away from shattering.
....................................................................this is the closest the book has come to acknowledging *any* of the shit he pulled Under the Mountain. And it's not the drugging and assault part, of course, but some other part when Rhys was being creepy and invasive. And it's just................ used as fuel for flirty banter. As if it's just one of those quirky things that happened. I.......... I........
Of all the bullshit ways to be insensitive...... I don't have the energy to rant about it. And the chapter is nearly done. God, this one was a slog, wasn't it? So many rage-inducing topics in such quick succession.
He’d done it to keep me distracted—keep me angry. Because anger was better than feeling nothing; because anger and hatred were the long-lasting fuel in the endless dark of my despair. The same way that music had kept me from breaking.
Hatred. Hatred. All of my hatred, so much so that I'm actually feeling kind of numb, because I think my brain is shutting itself down in an act of self-preservation. Because causing anger was really the value move UtM, instead of just, I don't know, fucking helping her or something. The brainwashing is complete. Feyre's mind belongs wholly to Rhysand. She'll spout whatever bullshit he wants now.
Lucien had come to patch me up a few times, but no one risked quite so much in keeping me not only alive, but as mentally intact as I could be considering the circumstances.
LUCIEN GOT FUCKING FLOGGED SAVING YOUR UNGRATEFUL ASS, FEYRE! AND THROWN IN THE CAGE WITH YOU FOR YOUR SECOND TASK! WHICH IS FAR MORE HARM THAN NOBLE FUCKING RHYSAND WAS EVER SUBJECTED TO FROM THE "HELP" HE GAVE YOU. SHUT UP. SHUT THE ACTUAL FUCK UP!
Ugh, more tone-deaf fucking sexting, a vulgar gesture, Feyre has a nightmare about the Attor but it's all g because she doesn't wake up, close chapter. Fucking finally. Rhysand needs to die in a fire. But, for now at least, I am done here. Freedom. Until the next post.
I've already posted about these three situations... But I decided to combine them and use your post as well, since it has the context I want.
A controversial opinion (I have many regarding the Rhysonarias' view)I laughed so hard when Rhys said he waited for Feyre for 500 years.
Rhys's expectation is basically: To lock himself away, not invite anyone into his life, and say that even if he did, nobody would accept him.(How he can be so sure of that, I don't know lol) And having lots of orgies with friends.
Following this incredible logic, Tamlin also waited for Feyre.He had lovers, but he didn't marry any of them because, according to him, none of them could understand what it meant to dedicate half of one's time to caring for people.Then we have that scene where Feyre says she didn't lock her room. The peak of the Feylin connection, basically, is where the two of them know what it means to bear responsibility for the lives of others.
I think I'm going to eat my words, but I don't think Rhys waited for Feyre if he only learned of her existence when he was in UTM. Or he specifically waited for the partnership bond, not the person themselves. If Nestha were his partner, would he have said the same thing? Maybe, since Nessian is like Feysand, only more problematic (?)
One person who dreamed before Rhys was his mother. The woman made a lot of dresses for her son's future wife and gave him a deadly test to retrieve a ring.Imagine the embarrassment of showing dresses to your wife, who isn't thin or "standard" in size, and her realizing that her mother was already idealizing a woman for her son the way SHE wanted. Imagine how embarrassing it would be if Rhys fell in love with a man... Imagine Tamlin wearing that Starfall dress lol.
But on the other hand, I understand why that phrase is embarrassing and makes no sense, because for Rhys to be good in bed and make Feyre literally shine, he would have to have A LOT of experience. And apparently, he doesn't even have that much, since Feyre doesn't make that little noise when she reaches climax (according to Tamlin, at least... I don't know if she actually does, but judging by Rhys's face, he must have seen a memory). What's cooler? Shining or making a little noise? As someone who's read Fourth Wing, I think lightning bolts that shatter windows are cooler.(It's kind of like something out of The Boys, you know? Who remembers that scene where the guy says he lost his penis because the woman who turns to ice chopped it off while it was still inside her? This vibe)
We have the excerpt where Rhys says he was never interested in sharing his life with any of his mistresses... It doesn't surprise me, maybe he just had sex and didn't even think about marriage lol But that's just speculation because nobody in this book seems to have had any emotional experience... If you're not a virgin physically, you're emotionally!
I know I'm writing fanfiction, but I find it so funny how Rhys, even in a political and selfish way, cares about Tamlin and makes a point of looking after him.
With Nesta, if he could, he'd let her rot (that is, if she wasn't spending his money), but with Tamlin? He makes a point of visiting and seeing how he's doing... of keeping an eye on him.I get a Hannigram vibe, you know? Even when they're cheating, hurting the one the other loves, they always end up in the same place... needing each other, even if for some reason involving work.
The only difference is that perhaps it's a platonic love... Or Tamlin is like Will Graham, and it's difficult to know how he demonstrates love/obsession.
If Acotar doesn't reveal that they were once lovers, Acotar is completely wrong!
Rhys loves to annoy Tamlin. That's an act of love through teasing! Everyone knows it.
I really wanted to understand the intention behind the dialogue between Cassian and Rhys involving Tamlin.
No, I know very well. It's to use "good guy" characters to villainize another character... But the dialogue makes absolutely no sense with ANYTHING we've seen in the three books.
Unfortunately, I won't be able to include the dialogue because I'm too lazy to look it up and translate it into English, lol, but it's basically Cassian or Azriel mentions the danger of Tamlin finding out about Feyre's pregnancy and what he would do, and Rhys saying that he won't know anything.
(If anyone can add the quote in the comments or reblog, I'd appreciate it.)
The scene is meant to make you think Tamlin would do something bad, but if you stop to analyze it, he wouldn't. He wouldn't do anything about it. 1) because he saved Rhys knowingly and told him to be happy... 2) he canonically LOVES Feyre, and at every opportunity he has to protect her, save her, or prevent her from being in danger, he chooses to protect
Why would Tamlin, who wants Feyre's happiness and has accepted that he deserves to be alone, bother trying to do something against the baby and Feyre? The author herself reinforces Tamlin's misery by using Nesta. She blames him for her transformation, tells him to look in the mirror (in a way of showing that he is to blame for his own downfall), and points her finger at him in a threatening manner.
Rhys thinks Tamlin is him. That Tamlin will leave his Court to torment them both, even though Tamlin himself has already accepted that he should be alone and unforgivable.
And even though there are people who want Tamlin to turn the page and transform into the vengeful monster Feyre manipulated him into being in Acowar, that's not going to happen... He's more likely to kill himself than try to get revenge for something he's accepted he deserved. That's because he's already done everything he could in ACOWAR, and yet, nobody cares... He did no more than his duty... To revive Rhys, to be on the right side, to be a double agent, to drag Beron into the war, to fight in it...
Everyone knows that quote where Mor says they should throw Nestha into the Court of Nightmares, because she'd do well there, right?
Well, I want to interpret that quote in a different way. Find a way to make Nesta seem "poor thing" and Mor seem "nicer."
Mor, despite offending Nestha by calling her equal to the people of the Court of Nightmares and calling her hateful, is also admitting that Nestha would be MUCH better than her at ruling the place.
Perhaps Nesta would fit in well there; with her sharp tongue, poise, and power. A true queen without a throne, as Feyre described in the first book. And you know what? That would be great! Nestha doing what Mor and the IC never could, shaping the Court of Nightmares... Would Nesta have that capability?
Well, considering Nesta managed to act more like a High Lady than Feyre at the Acowar meeting, to the point of drawing everyone's attention, including making Beron and Eris interested... I don't doubt it. Considering that it was only through dancing that Eris wanted her as a wife, I don't doubt it. Considering that she is a great warrior and doesn't lose control so easily, I don't doubt it. Considering that she can wear a cold and indifferent mask and still have a heart, I wouldn't doubt it.
Do you know who Nesta reminds me of when it comes to putting on a cold mask, saying cruel things, seeming arrogant and presumptuous? Rhys.And Rhys fans and Nesta haters go to great lengths to avoid admitting that the two have some things in common.
I know being called hateful and like the people of the Night Court should be an insult, but it isn't, since Mor came from there and is the exception... Maybe Nesta is too, but unlike Mor, she would have presence.She would do more than just stay in Velaris and carry a title.
She would have allies, whether out of loyalty, respect, or fear.
Isn't there that theory that Nesta is going to have her own Court? Well, what if it's the Night Court? That would be really cool.
I'll say upfront that in MY OPINION, no... absolutely not.
Cassian only accepted that Rhys wanted to hide the risk of Feyre's pregnancy... Of course, for the greater good and all that talk about avoiding suffering, just like Tamlin once did and Rhys too (Partnership bond and not talking about trying to find a way to break the UTM agreement/not talking about enemies and war strategy)
And Lucien? He tried. My god, how did that man try to get it into Tamlin's empty head that Feyre should train! Even after Tamlin said no, he tried. Even after Tamlin unleashed his power, he still wanted to try AGAIN when Feyre was locked in the manor.
(Honestly, I would only regret leaving Feyre awake, not stopping her from following me into battle, but anyway-)
I think this would be pro-Lucien and anti-Cassian?
If we're REALLY going to compare the two things... It's impossible... Because both had to obey their High Lord/best friend, and one of them wasn't doing that... Insisting and pressuring. Lucien was being a friend to Feyre, realizing how much she needed this not only for autonomy, but because it was the most logical thing to do if she were kidnapped... If no one could defend her.But Tamlin felt he didn't need to, either because he imagined he could protect Feyre or that it would draw the attention of the other High Lords, who were too suspicious of spies....(and he wasn't entirely wrong about the spy)
Cassian's situation isn't complicated. He saw that his friend and high lord wanted to handle it alone and tell him at the right time (spoiler alert, the "I'll tell him at the right time" thing never works out) and let him. I was really surprised that Azriel wasn't against any of that... It's funny how they're both "rebellious" and obedient at the same time, isn't it?
P.s: On TikTok, a comment says that you can't compare the two because Lucien was negligent in taking action. Now I ask, if Lucien had convinced Tamlin that Feyre should train, would he still be negligent?From what I've researched, "omissido" refers to a person who does NOT SPEAK UP and does not take physical action... As far as I know, Lucien tried... He saw that it wasn't fair, and he tried, even after Tamlin had already said no.
Another thing, The comment says it's different because Feyre was happy in one scene and Feyre was depressed and wanted to leave in the other. I want to know why people forget that Feyre could indeed leave, but that Feyre's problem wasn't about leaving... It was about not leaving without guards or risking her own life.
In fact, it's something that @snarkformysanity She comments a lot on the posts.... About Feyre saying she'd leave the mansion and then saying she never would... So, what's the truth, Feyre? The problem was never leaving the mansion. She could always do that. The issue was that she couldn't go out alone and do anything that didn't involve risking her life.
Going deeper, the comment also says that it doesn't support IC's attitude in hiding the pregnancy, but that it understands... And this person can't understand that Lucien was limited? Just like Alis and anyone in that mansion under the roof of an unstable and temperamental leader who only listened to those who agreed with him and filled his head with more paranoia? (Ianthe). Did both Tamlin and Lucien believe that keeping Feyre locked in the manor in THAT setting was precisely to protect her, just as the IC did regarding the pregnancy?Even so, Lucien still said he would try again for Feyre... He would try to talk to Tamlin.
Lucien also made a mistake, but one thing is certain, he wasn't negligent... Following the logic of actions, then the IC was also negligent when Rhys said he would send Feyre to the weaver... They only spoke, nothing more.
