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.)
The character who suffered the most throughout the entire saga.
I think I've already commented on this, but Holly writing "Lost Sisters" and then backtracking, saying Locke has Oak's powers, makes Oriana and Jude seem so dumb and Taryn so lacking in personality.Because, the story was that Taryn chose Locke specifically so she could become part of the fairy world... A different path from Jude... That's completely broken now that we have the canon that EVERYTHING was Locke and Taryn spent half the time being made a fool of... An empty shell... It's a great tragedy, especially because afterwards, Taryn has to deal with the fact that Ghost turns into a tree. So NOTHING that happened was a consequence of Taryn's actions, and she suffered unnecessarily by being widowed twice, being left alone with a child from a man who abused her.
Oak is right, Taryn is the most unhappy person in this saga.
I'm purposely looking for things to complain about regarding Rhys (if I'm being unfair, it's on purpose lol)
Much is said about the fact that Tamlin never woke up to help Feyre with her nightmares... But little is said about the fact that Rhys spent months knowing Feyre was unwell, and never did anything...He loves Feyre, but even knowing she was unwell and having nightmares, he never used his powers to ease her sleep? He never used the agreement as an excuse to take her to NC and help her?
He was capable, he just didn't do it because he didn't want to... He only comes to help Feyre on her wedding day, and she didn't even want his help... He only uses her thoughts as an excuse on that day!
Tamlin, at least, had the excuse that he couldn't read minds, that he was a heavy sleeper, that Feyre never got sick while he was watching the room, or that he never got sick right after her...Feyre never confronted Tamlin about the matter, she never called him after feeling unwell... We also don't know if he knew and simply ignored it for 404 reasons. Rhys doesn't have those excuses... He knew and did nothing, not even using his powers to help.
"He could have helped, sure, but why would he keep helping someone who chose to marry someone else? He implies he was willing to move on from Feyre because, ultimately, she had chosen Tamlin—Tamlin was the one by her side, the one marrying her. In that situation, Rhysand had no obligation to keep interfering in her life; after all, she never asked him to! He only intervened that one time because she had begged for *anyone* to get her out of there. I don't see why he would be obligated to help someone who chose to live her life elsewhere. Besides, as horrible as the nightmares were, they didn't put her life at risk; I think if it had been a life-threatening situation, he would have stepped in."
That makes sense, if Rhys wasn't the type of character who supposedly does questionable things for the sake of the people he loves...I agree that Rhys had no obligation whatsoever, but he loved Feyre and saw her suffering from nightmares... He did nothing for the person he loves.It would still be an invasion, yes, but since when does the character care? A character who subscribes to the philosophy that "the ends justify the means"? Even though Feyre explicitly stated that she didn't want to go, that she wanted to go home, he just mocked her and confined her to a single territory?Why do fans keep defending him, saying he does wrong things in secret but with good intentions? I posted this thinking about all of this... Thinking that if Rhys does the questionable for a greater good, why was it different in this case?Because he rarely respects Feyre's decision, which Feyre doesn't want...
And honestly, I doubt a little that the guy who put Feyre in danger while she was still traumatized, without knowing her reaction to it, would have intervened... Of course, we have the example of him semi-null on top of Feyre when she was having a nightmare... But the guy is unpredictable... What if he waited until the last second for Feyre to ask anyone to rescue her? The same guy who turned Feyre into a creature? The same guy who didn't warn Feyre that the Prison was literally a mountain? Do you really have a choice when the person doesn't tell you everything about that choice?I don't think so, right?
The comment was about how Rhys respects Feyre when she doesn't want help, which is why he didn't do anything... That Feyre had to overcome her traumas alone.Does this mean that, unknowingly, Tamlin was doing the right thing by not waking up to help Feyre? What if one day we get a POV from Tamlin and he's "heard and sensed by the smell what Feyre was going through. He tried to get up, but always hesitated and lay back down... Feyre didn't ask for help. She didn't talk about it, and I didn't ask... It seemed like an unspoken agreement between us not to talk about what happened, about Amarantha and Rhys being tormented in dreams... They had won, even though it was all over.Feyre once said she didn't need my help... I learned, even though it hurt, that Feyre fought her own battles even if it was too heavy a burden. Too destructive"
Is everything going to be alright? The guy knew she was feeling unwell and didn't even try? Just because Feyre didn't ask for help?Does anyone complain that Rhys forced Feyre to learn to read, even though she didn't want to do it with him?No, right?
I think it's the least Rhys could do and his obligation to respect Feyre's choice in choosing him, but according to the logic of Rhys's fans and the book, he shouldn't be altruistic enough to help Feyre, Even though he wasn't chosen and it wasn't right to invade Feyre's mind, since this invasion would be for "her own good"?
Perhaps Rhys's morally grayness is just an excuse for SPECIFIC choices... I don't know if it makes much sense for altruistic and morally gray to be in the same sentence, but anyway, The person I found incredibly explaining the morally gray is @cloudseeker7
Feyre has more resistance because she is a Daemati and Rhys's mate. Her power/gift also helps... It's in the book.
I made a post on TikTok about Rhys not helping Feyre deal with her nightmares using her powers, just like he helped Feyre not cry in front of Amarantha... So far, so good... But then came a comment that I genuinely found very curious...
Basically, the comment explains that Rhys didn't do anything because Feyre, being a Daemati and his mate, had resistance to his powers...I can neither deny nor confirm... Because I don't remember if Sarah did a retcon about it at any point in the second or third book. But from what little I remember, it doesn't make much sense... If Feyre, being partnered with Rhys and Daemati, has a resistance to his powers... then why is he able to enter Feyre's mind without her shields? Why does she have difficulty expelling him? "Ah, because she has to train," but then the person who commented says it's not ONLY about training, it's also about talent/power... Another problem, because Rhys says Feyre needs to continue training to see how far these powers go... Which made me think that... You develop a strong shield when you also practice your power... That HAVING mental shields is a kind of "magical ability"...Which makes sense, because in real life "blocking" things is about meditating and not necessarily visualizing a shield and having it LITERALLY in your head. But the woman keeps insisting, and then the book explains that Rhys can't use his abilities on Feyre because they're mates... She didn't understand that I was talking BEFORE all of this... Before Feyre knew that mental shields existed, that she couldn't keep them up when she had very strong emotions, to the point that Rhys saw her dreams...
Finally, even if Rhys couldn't use his powers, why didn't he use their agreement or partnership bond? Because there's no way to completely block that... Another inconsistency we see in Acosf, where Rhys apparently manages not to pass on ANYTHING he didn't want to to Feyre...
Finally, I wanted to know if anyone has confirmation that this is true.The fact that Feyre is partnered with Rhys and Daemati really does influence things...
I'm purposely looking for things to complain about regarding Rhys (if I'm being unfair, it's on purpose lol)
Much is said about the fact that Tamlin never woke up to help Feyre with her nightmares... But little is said about the fact that Rhys spent months knowing Feyre was unwell, and never did anything...He loves Feyre, but even knowing she was unwell and having nightmares, he never used his powers to ease her sleep? He never used the agreement as an excuse to take her to NC and help her?
He was capable, he just didn't do it because he didn't want to... He only comes to help Feyre on her wedding day, and she didn't even want his help... He only uses her thoughts as an excuse on that day!
Tamlin, at least, had the excuse that he couldn't read minds, that he was a heavy sleeper, that Feyre never got sick while he was watching the room, or that he never got sick right after her...Feyre never confronted Tamlin about the matter, she never called him after feeling unwell... We also don't know if he knew and simply ignored it for 404 reasons. Rhys doesn't have those excuses... He knew and did nothing, not even using his powers to help.
It's a very good point you've made. And honestly, whether Tamlin could or couldn't have done more largely doesn't matter for your main point - Rhys didn't do anything either. It's like, the one time where doing some mind trickery without asking could be framed as okay (easing her nightmares/suffering in general). We know he's capable of such things, because he claims to have done as much for Clare Beddor as she was being tortured. And even if he wanted to "let Feyre Choose(TM)", he could still have eased her suffering without rocking up to take her away.
But then, if we think about it, Feyre's suffering served his purposes. It drove her away from Tamlin and towards him. There's an argument to be made that easing Feyre's suffering might have disguised how bad (according to the book) Tamlin was being, leading to her staying longer than she otherwise would have, and that's a valid point. But, at the same time, Rhys could have stepped in with his bargain sooner. Instead, he waited for the absolute most disruptive moment possible, the middle of their wedding ceremony. When it would have caused as much chaos and friction between Feyre and Tamlin (and Spring at large) as possible. He didn't *have* to wait for precisely that moment. He could have come before, or even after. And yet, that is the moment he chose.
And that's what makes his earlier silence look more calculated imo. If he was genuinely concerned about Tamlin's awfulness, then getting Feyre out of there should have been priority number one, rather than leaving her there to "see for herself." When he does act, it's too... theatrically timed for me to buy it as genuine concern.
@snarkformysanity (My comment was going to be very long... So I decided to turn it into a post instead lol sorry for bothering you.)
Feyre's analogy about Tamlin being the villain for throwing away the key is ridiculous in my opinion.
I understand that Sarah wanted an analogy of "an abusive man who keeps his wife captive to control her", But the scene only works if there's no real threat, and him trying to instill paranoia in his own wife and scare her on purpose (Like Rapunzel's mother, Gothel). The whole context of the scene seems more like an analogy of "a person (Feyre) mentally bad/without conditions insisting on doing something that could to place them and others Innocent people are in danger, so another person (Tamlin) stops them from committing such a reckless act."... Do you know why this happens? Because in ACOTAR there are enemies who could capture Feyre, there was danger, Feyre really wasn't thinking clearly and had no sense of self-preservation at that moment, She could snap and end up hurting someone because her powers were out of control
The book proves his decision was right, as Feyre's powers were unleashed on their own in the split second she was inside the mansion... That's because Feyre's emotions are intertwined with her power. This is actually common throughout the saga, not exclusive to one character. (Just to be clear... We see in Acosf that, in reality, this is nothing more than an intervention... at least, it depends on which character is doing it... If you're not the IC, then you're wrong... You're bad, So much so that there are many people in the fandom who treat one thing as terrible and the other as helping someone in a bad mental state... We criticize Tamlin, but not the IC... )
This isn't to defend Tamlin, but rather to show that Feyre's analogy is TERRIBLE and that she admits, without realizing it later in the book, that she shouldn't have been on the front lines, otherwise it would be a hindrance.
I understand Feyre's frustration about going out and doing nothing radical, but that doesn't mean Tamlin is any less right in wanting her to stay.It was the most sensible thing to do, yes... even though I don't like his attitude..., it's undeniable that his reasoning wasn't wrong... And it amazes me that Feyre sees him as "the villain who throws away the key" just because he didn't want her to die... Because he couldn't trust Feyre to understand what going with him meant, because she was only thinking about her need for adrenaline and risking her life, just because, apparently, UTM awakened in her a sense of urgency and a desire to no longer live a quiet life... That's why Rhys is good for Feyre, because Rhys doesn't care if Feyre risks her own life or doesn't care about risking hers without clarifying anything beforehand...
Tamlin simply didn't understand that Feyre at that moment was a frustrated Bord Collins with pent-up energy who needed action and to risk her own life to feel good and useful...Why? Because the guy is super protective and he met Feyre as the human who chose him BECAUSE HE IS PROTECTIVE.
In the end, I still think Feyre shouldn't have ended up with anyone, and that Tamlin and Rhys are both toxic figures; what changes is that one has become romanticized and Feyre chose as final partner.
If I was hypocritical at any point, I apologize... It's very difficult not to be, even unintentionally, because Sarah keeps recycling scenes and plot within the saga... giving another meaning or romanticizing in favor of their "good" characters
I agree that it's a ridiculous analogy. And it falls down even further when we remember that Rhys had already kidnapped and imprisoned her twice by that point, and laughed in her face when she asked to go home. That sounds a lot more like "throwing away the key" to me than saying "no, you can't follow me into a battlefield, go out for a ride instead if you need to get out of the house" and then shutting her in when she refused to listen.
The main issue (well, one of the main issues, there's a lot) is that the book just completely ignores context that does not support Feyre's assertions. According to her, Tamlin isn't concerned about Rhys's spy eye and wants to break their bond before letting her in on state secrets; he's just being mean and controlling and shutting her out of things she thinks she's entitled to hear. Tamlin isn't doing his duty to his people; he's ignoring her suffering. Tamlin isn't struggling with his own trauma; he's just being controlling. And so on.
It would all be fine and dandy if it were just because we were in Feyre's head, and the rest of the world considered the context. But that's not what happened. Rhys and the IC validate every single one of Feyre's assertions without question. And even if we put that down to them just trying to manipulate her into staying with them, we see the same thing happen again when the other High Lords immediately turn against Tamlin at the meeting, despite having nothing but Feyre/the Night Court's word about what happened. They, of all people, should be considering the wider context. But they never do. And so, when *readers* start to consider it, the whole story becomes really jarring, and it makes every single character look like a blind, biased idiot. Because to us, it's really obvious why Tamlin is doing what he's doing, even if we don't necessarily agree with his methods. But the book just completely ignores those reasons and insists it's all because he's an abusive jerk, no more, no less. It's very frustrating.
I think it's sad for Rhys's character that Sarah manages to create dilemmas and situations like this where you understand why the character came to make such a decision in the same scene, with Tamlin, a character who supposedly shouldn't have gray areas, only represent the role of an obstacle for the future couple...
Unlike Rhys, Tamlin doesn't need a chapter 54, retcons, or anything like that for you to understand the subtext... You can understand the whole conflict in the scene... And it's not even complicated (Unless it's your first reading. My first reading was without any analysis. A few here and there, but overall, it was Team Rhys after the fall of the stars.)
In the first book, Rhys was nothing more than a guy taking advantage of a girl and torturing her, and that same girl eventually stops seeing him as an enemy simply because he did her the favor of keeping her alive... And the second book gives reasons why he chose to do what he did to make it seem less bad... To make it seem like it was the only way and the right decision... Even though the first book made it clear that he had other options... Rhys isn't morally ambiguous... He's just bad, and the narrative is shaped around him so that he isn't...
The dream was never to have a family, only peace. And the change was abrupt, even though she said "it was something I'd wanted for a while," even though it doesn't seem to have any subtext.
Feyre's lack of development in reaching the decision that she wants the destiny Rhys said she would have with Tamlin (and treating it as something terrible and suffocating) bothers me... a little... I think I have a personal feeling about Feyre's decision to have a child in ACOFAS.I need to address this in therapy... Maybe I'm just protecting the pity I feel for children who are meant to hold people captive and provide emotional comfort because they're seen as an extension of someone else... a way to fill the void left by the "original" person upon dying/passing away
I'm fine, I'm just sensitive with these issues involving projections and having children for any reason other than responsibility, but rather out of fear or to fulfill something
@snarkformysanity (My comment was going to be very long... So I decided to turn it into a post instead lol sorry for bothering you.)
Feyre's analogy about Tamlin being the villain for throwing away the key is ridiculous in my opinion.
I understand that Sarah wanted an analogy of "an abusive man who keeps his wife captive to control her", But the scene only works if there's no real threat, and him trying to instill paranoia in his own wife and scare her on purpose (Like Rapunzel's mother, Gothel). The whole context of the scene seems more like an analogy of "a person (Feyre) mentally bad/without conditions insisting on doing something that could to place them and others Innocent people are in danger, so another person (Tamlin) stops them from committing such a reckless act."... Do you know why this happens? Because in ACOTAR there are enemies who could capture Feyre, there was danger, Feyre really wasn't thinking clearly and had no sense of self-preservation at that moment, She could snap and end up hurting someone because her powers were out of control
The book proves his decision was right, as Feyre's powers were unleashed on their own in the split second she was inside the mansion... That's because Feyre's emotions are intertwined with her power. This is actually common throughout the saga, not exclusive to one character. (Just to be clear... We see in Acosf that, in reality, this is nothing more than an intervention... at least, it depends on which character is doing it... If you're not the IC, then you're wrong... You're bad, So much so that there are many people in the fandom who treat one thing as terrible and the other as helping someone in a bad mental state... We criticize Tamlin, but not the IC... )
This isn't to defend Tamlin, but rather to show that Feyre's analogy is TERRIBLE and that she admits, without realizing it later in the book, that she shouldn't have been on the front lines, otherwise it would be a hindrance.
I understand Feyre's frustration about going out and doing nothing radical, but that doesn't mean Tamlin is any less right in wanting her to stay.It was the most sensible thing to do, yes... even though I don't like his attitude..., it's undeniable that his reasoning wasn't wrong... And it amazes me that Feyre sees him as "the villain who throws away the key" just because he didn't want her to die... Because he couldn't trust Feyre to understand what going with him meant, because she was only thinking about her need for adrenaline and risking her life, just because, apparently, UTM awakened in her a sense of urgency and a desire to no longer live a quiet life... That's why Rhys is good for Feyre, because Rhys doesn't care if Feyre risks her own life or doesn't care about risking hers without clarifying anything beforehand...
Tamlin simply didn't understand that Feyre at that moment was a frustrated Bord Collins with pent-up energy who needed action and to risk her own life to feel good and useful...Why? Because the guy is super protective and he met Feyre as the human who chose him BECAUSE HE IS PROTECTIVE.
In the end, I still think Feyre shouldn't have ended up with anyone, and that Tamlin and Rhys are both toxic figures; what changes is that one has become romanticized and Feyre chose as final partner.
If I was hypocritical at any point, I apologize... It's very difficult not to be, even unintentionally, because Sarah keeps recycling scenes and plot within the saga... giving another meaning or romanticizing in favor of their "good" characters
"People forget that Feyre later started drinking wine and dancing of her own accord to cope with the situation."
It's a more common argument than I thought to downplay what Rhys did.Have you ever heard the phrase "If you're in hell, embrace the devil"? Well, that's basically what Feyre did. She was in a bad way, she had lost hope, she wanted to die, and Amarantha's second trial made her realize that she only survived by luck... And she stopped fighting even against Rhys and what he did to her, no longer caring what he did to her body.It's literally Feyre's downfall... She's at rock bottom. Drinking wine and dancing was never her choice, and she didn't choose to do it; she resigned herself to the fact that she couldn't do anything about it and started to to use this situation as an escape valve... And that's the saddest part of her character... She doesn't fight anymore, she longs to be toyed with and get drunk... She doesn't even care if she was risking her own life following Tamlin.She resigns herself to the fact that this would be the last night and that she should enjoy that last moment kissing Tamlin and having sex with him one last time. And it's disgusting that someone would use this low point of the character to defend Rhys, saying that Feyre started "choosing" to drink wine and dance... longing for parties and being humiliated as if that this was a good thing...
"And later on, he wouldn't even offer anymore. She just wanted to forget where she was, so she’d go ahead and drink. Even though I don't forgive him for that, lol."
This comment is not a good example, mainly because Rhys NEVER offered, he demanded! And he didn't need to do that anymore, because Feyre no longer refused... She had already resigned herself to it.
Ironically, These are the same people who say you don't read "deeply," that you don't know how to interpret...
Feyre is literally a victim of violence who stopped fighting back because she realized her struggle is futile... That she will always end up in the same place; alone, weak, and half-naked on the cold ground.
I feel mixed emotions when I see a comment saying that Cassian is a perfect partner for Nestha because he puts her in her place... I punish her to keep her in line and in her place.But Cassian deserves a better partner than Nestha...
I don't know... I think Nestha thinks that too, because Cassian does exactly what her mother did... And after the scene where Cassian doesn't stop, even after Nestha says "I don't care", this further confirms my feeling...His first time after the Kelpie scene is heartbreaking... And sometimes I wonder; at what point is Nestha actually enjoying the wild sex, and not using it to punish herself?
I'm purposely looking for things to complain about regarding Rhys (if I'm being unfair, it's on purpose lol)
Much is said about the fact that Tamlin never woke up to help Feyre with her nightmares... But little is said about the fact that Rhys spent months knowing Feyre was unwell, and never did anything...He loves Feyre, but even knowing she was unwell and having nightmares, he never used his powers to ease her sleep? He never used the agreement as an excuse to take her to NC and help her?
He was capable, he just didn't do it because he didn't want to... He only comes to help Feyre on her wedding day, and she didn't even want his help... He only uses her thoughts as an excuse on that day!
Tamlin, at least, had the excuse that he couldn't read minds, that he was a heavy sleeper, that Feyre never got sick while he was watching the room, or that he never got sick right after her...Feyre never confronted Tamlin about the matter, she never called him after feeling unwell... We also don't know if he knew and simply ignored it for 404 reasons. Rhys doesn't have those excuses... He knew and did nothing, not even using his powers to help.
“Don’t dance so much on your toes,” Cassian said to me four days later, as we spent the unusually warm afternoon in the sparring ring. “Feet planted, daggers up. Eyes on mine. If you were on a battlefield, you would have been dead with that maneuver.”
And here I was hoping I could get a few lines into the chapter before pulling something out. Really? Four days into her training, and you've got her fighting with daggers? When she couldn't even stand properly four days ago?
See, here's the thing with daggers, as I'm sure I've already ranted about. Knife fights fucking suck. The reason is because, with such a short-range weapon, you have to be right up-close and personal with your opponent, i.e. in stabbing range of their knife. And also in range of being grappled. Which is not what any fighter ever wants, especially if said fighter is a woman who is likely to be physically outmatched by her opponents.
Essentially, you don't get into a knife fight unless you're ready to be cut up, because you're too close to the enemy to avoid it no matter how skilled you are. Many soldiers carried daggers, of course, but they were a weapon of last resort, once the enemy had grabbed you already, or if all your other weapons were gone.
If it's so important for Feyre to learn weapons, something like a spear would be a better place to start - it's a relatively simple weapon (we taught it en-masse to peasants during wartime, after all), and it helps her keep distance from her foes, which is very important when there's a strength and/or skill differential between opponents. Or, you know, a bow! Which she already knows how to use! Nothing wrong with being an archer.
Anyway, that's the opening line. What about the rest of the chapter?
Amren is watching the training, and she and Cassian banter a bit in a way that definitely makes them sound like unfathomably ancient beings and not juvenile teens.
Standing between [Cassian and Amren] in the sparring ring atop the House of Wind, a dagger in each hand,
God, and she's even dual-wielding them. And look, I love me some two-weapon fighting in my fantasy. And, for whatever reason, characters always seem to dual-wield two of the same kind of weapon. I know in, say, tabletop games (Pathfinder 1st Edition being my main point of reference), that was generally because you only had so many feats/skills/whatever, so you'd only invest in one weapon type. Not sure what other mediums' excuses are.
But, in real life, dual-wielding isn't all that common. Why? Because a free hand is very, very useful. You can use it to shove or grab your opponent, to throw things at them, open and close doors, balance, etc, etc. Or, perhaps the best use of all, you could hold a shield, or at least a buckler. Yes, I know sword-and-board is boring, but there's a reason it's so ubiquitous. Shields are really fucking useful. They keep you alive. Why would you forgo something that could keep you alive when people are coming at you with sharp objects?
When people do dual-wield IRL, though, they tend to do it with different weapons. Rapier and dagger, for instance. The reason being, well, if you have one dagger, you can't really do anything with two of them that you couldn't do with just one. Whereas if your other weapon is a rapier, suddenly you have significantly more options. The rapier gives you reach, while the dagger gives you close-range options. Things like that.
Another thing to note about IRL dual-wielding is that it was rarely done in battles - it was much more a mono-a-mono thing. Battle weapons were more typically things like spears and polearms (and bows!), because again, ease of use and distance. And cost. A spear is much cheaper than a sword. And when everyone else has spears, you want a goddamn shield. But when you're just duelling one guy? Then yeah, go for it. Show off a little. Use your extra pointy thing to your advantage.
...I wondered if I should find a way to slip out. Perhaps winnow—though I hadn’t been able to do it again since that morning in the mortal realm, despite my quiet efforts in the privacy of my own bedroom.
I thought you couldn't winnow into/out of the House of Wind? Which is why Rhys insists on manhandling her up there every time?
There's more misunderstandings of training timelines, then more banter, then Mor arrives for even more banter, and a weirdly large amount of detail on everyone going out and partying. None of it is important, but...
Females and males watched Rhysand throughout the hall—and the shadowsinger and I made a game of betting on who, exactly, would work up the nerve to invite the High Lord home.
I'm pretty sure the leader of the nation can't just go cruising the local clubs like this. For security reasons, if nothing else. When leaders go to events, the attendance list is usually pretty tightly curated, and the venues are pretty exclusive. But then, Velaris is basically a bougie gated community, so maybe it's actually fine?
Had he been with anyone since Amarantha? Did he want another person in his bed after Amarantha? Even the wine hadn’t given me the nerve to ask Azriel about it.
It hasn't been that long since Amarantha, in the grand scheme of things. And while I get why Feyre might wonder about this (since she is very painfully obviously into him), I can't help but feel like there's something off about how it's just... idk, assumed? That this is a pertinent and relevant issue. Maybe that's just my asexuality talking though, who knows.
Mor, it seemed, went to Rita’s more than anyone else—practically lived there, actually.
Excellent trait to have in someone who is allegedly queen of a completely different part of the court. Complete mystery why everyone in the Hewn City hates her so much. She's only off partying while they're trapped Under a Mountain, after all...
There's also more allusions to the whole triangle situation with Cassian/Mor/Azriel, and I really don't understand why the book is so hung up on it. Each time, Feyre posits some new "revelation" about it. This time, for example, it's "oh, maybe Cassian is acting as buffer to prevent Azriel from being hurt" or something. I don't care, book. You're just pointing out that this situation exists in slightly different ways each time. We already know it exists. Do something with it or get over it.
I shrugged and took a moment to set down the daggers and catch my breath. For a heartbeat, I wished Nesta were there, if only to see them go head to head.
I presume they are Nesta and Cassian, because shipping. And really, Feyre? You know Nesta doesn't like the guy. You just want her to be harassed by him for you own amusement, is that it? Fucking gross.
Oh, also, we get summaries of nothing happening with the various plot points all throughout this, btw. In case you were wondering what the fuck happened to the plot.
Mor closed her eyes as she tipped back her head, sunning her golden face with the same irreverence that Cassian perhaps sought to shield Azriel from—and Mor herself perhaps tried to shield Azriel from as well.
God, enough, book. And to make it worse, this is all just Feyre's supposition, too. She's assuming that this is the case, and then telling us again and again and again and again... the situation is just not novel or interesting enough to warrant this much attention. But the book is clearly very proud of it, and wants to make sure we look at it.
More banter, and then Rhys arrives, announcing his presence with a "vicious, unearthly snarl," for some reason. No, I don't know why. It's been too long since we were reminded that he has the brain capacity of an animal, I guess. Very sexy.
........unless it was Amren snarling at Cassian as part of the banter? It's really not clear.
But yeah, anyway, Rhys. Ugh. He's here to announce that the Summer Court has formally invited them to visit, and he, Feyre and Amren will be going.
“The Summer Court is full of hotheaded fools and arrogant pricks,” [Cassian] warned. “I should join you.”
Ah, I see we're starting with the slander and shit-talking already. The Summer Court aren't part of the Inner Circle, after all, which means they're Enemies. Definitely not a cult that Rhys has going here.
Rhys rubbed his temples. “Cassian, considering the fact that the last time you visited, it didn’t end well—”
“I wrecked one building—”
“And,” Rhys cut him off. “Considering the fact that they are utterly terrified of sweet Amren, she is the wiser choice.”
"I wrecked one building," as if that's the kind of thing to just be played for laughs? Why did you wreck the building, Cassian? Who's to say you won't do it again? I wouldn't want you visiting me either, if last time you came to my house you smashed up my bookcase or whatever. Yes, even if it was just one bookcase. Also, look at that, jumping straight to assuming intimidation will be necessary. I'm not sure I necessarily hate the base idea - Amren is Rhys's 2IC, after all, and thus an important diplomatic person in her own right, and it's fairly normal for leaders to make subtle displays of power when meeting with each other. Just, I don't think the book realises those things, and just assumes that preparing to bully someone is perfectly natural when going to meet with them instead.
I didn’t know if there was anyone alive who wasn’t utterly terrified of her.
Me. I'm not terrified of her. The book has not done anywhere near enough legwork to make it so - all we've seen (well, "seen") about her scariness is just people insisting that she's oh-so-very-scary. Kinda weak, ngl. You'll have to do better than that, book.
Rhys said too casually, “There is also a great deal of treasure to be found in the Summer Court. If the Book is hidden, Amren, you might find other objects to your liking.”
Oh look, and he's encouraging Amren to rob them as a bribe to make her come along. Remind me why we're meant to be on these assholes' side, again?
Cassian shares my misgivings. But Amren doesn't give a shit, and agrees, because she thinks the Summer lord is young and won't have catalogued all his treasure yet... yeah, they're all terrible people.
No better than a firedrake guarding its trove indeed. Mor gave me a secret, subtle look that conveyed the same thing, and I swallowed a chuckle.
Yeah, it's just so funny and quirky, casually talking about robbing people like this! Oh, Amren! You silly old thing!
If, I don't know, the Summer Court were to rob the Night Court, book, would you be treating that as a funny, quirky thing? No? Didn't think so. Protagonist-centred morality at its finest. No one outside the Inner Circle is a person, after all, so it's fine to treat them like this. Right? Right??? Fucking disgusting.
I stiffened. What I had to do—meaning track down that Book of Breathings and steal it. Feyre Cursebreaker … and thief.
Note, not once have they considered just fucking asking the Summer Court for it. Not even once. They've jumped straight to assuming it will need to be stolen. Even if they don't want to spill the beans about Hybern (for whatever fucking reason), they could just make up a different cover story for why they want it? Why is their first thought to steal from people who've done them no wrong? I thought Rhys was meant to be Actually Good and all that????
And the worst thing is, the book *still* thinks he is Actually Good and sacrifices So Much. It's just, it doesn't see anything wrong with planning to rob innocent people, ergo, it doesn't see it as a smear against Rhys's good name. Which is really fucking disturbing.
[A]"...Their High Lord owes Rhys a favor for saving his life Under the Mountain—and keeping his secrets.”
Cool. So..... any reason why you can't make that favour asking for the Book of Breathings? No? You're just awful people who want to steal? Okay, then...
Cassian seems to have forgotten that Feyre was the lynchpin of the heist with her macguffin-sensing powers, because he argues that she shouldn't go because... idk, it'll look bad, for some reason. But Rhys just leaves, and Feyre follows him.
“Any more traps I should know about before we go tomorrow?” I said to his back.
Rhys looked over a shoulder, pausing atop the stair landing. “Here I was, thinking your notes the other night indicated you’d forgiven me.”
That's not an answer, asshole. And given your past behaviour, it's a perfectly legitimate concern for her to have. But, no, it's a just a pretext for them to flirt for a bit, and we go to the next chapter. Only Rhys, Feyre and Amren end up going, with a brief summary of what everyone else is doing.
...and Mor tasked with guarding Velaris.
Even though she's allegedly queen of a completely different city...... yeah, can't imagine why they hate her/Rhys by extension at all.
As Rhys’s newest pet, I would be granted tours of the city and the High Lord’s personal residence. If we were lucky, none of them would realize that Rhys’s lapdog was actually a bloodhound.
You're Rhys's..... pet, now.......? .................when did that happen? I mean, I have no trouble believing that Rhys sees it that way, but this is Feyre's narration. You don't have any problem with this, Feyre? Don't see it as a smidge controlling, perhaps? An insult to your autonomy? Fucking nothing?
These fucking books man, I swear to god.
We get several paragraphs describing what everyone is wearing, for some reason. And banter. Amren says Rhys is pissy this morning.
“Because,” Rhys answered for her, “I stayed out late with Cassian and Azriel, and they took me for all I was worth in cards.”
In most rulers, this sort of thing is considered a flaw. And you know what? I think, ultimately, the book doesn't actually want to be about people who run a country. It just wants to be about quirky celebrities. People who literally do nothing but exist and be rich and get up to all sorts of wild shenanigans that the world for some reason expects other people to care about. But, either because it understands that celebrity culture is a bit anachronistic in its chosen setting, or because it understands that celebrities can easily be perceived as shallow and unsympathetic, it instead made them the rulers of the place, without understanding that that's not just an old-fashioned word for "celebrity." American Royals at its finest.
Rhys teleports them to the Summer Court, and we get a description of it, which can be essentially summarised as "fancy beach city." They appeared on a balcony at the palace.
On our little balcony, there was no option to escape—no path out but winnowing away … or going through those doors. Or, I supposed, the plunge awaiting us to the red roofs of the fine houses a hundred feet below.
......why do you need to escape? You were literally invited here. Also, er, yes, you can winnow away. That's how you arrived, after all. So you're not trapped. Such a bizarre attempt to make drama where none needs to be made.
The High Lord of Summer, Tarquin, is waiting to greet them.
I’d already remembered that the handsome High Lord of Summer had rich brown skin, white hair, and eyes of crushing, turquoise blue.
Okay look, I love the whole dark-skin-light-hair aesthetic as much as the next person, and these are faeries, so all bets are off. But. It seems like it'll often be the case that the POC of a fantasy series will have some sort of non-POC trait e.g. the white hair and blue eyes in this case. Like the whole foreign, but not too foreign trope. You see it in e.g. House of the Dragon with the Velaryons, too. We can have POCs, but they can't be too POC, because otherwise.... I don't know, white racists would feel insecure? Baffling. Again, in this case, they're faeries, but... well, given our only other POC-equivalents we've got so far are the "barbaric" Illyrians (who our sympathetic Illyrians make sure to shit on) and Rhys, who can turn his POC-ness on and off at will... yeah. Makes me less inclined to look the other way, ya know?
I’d already remembered he’d been forced to watch as his courtier’s mind was invaded and then his life snuffed out by Rhysand. As Rhysand lied to Amarantha about what he’d learned, and spared the male from a fate perhaps worth than death.
A lot of supposition here from you, Feyre. The only part we know is true is that first bit. The rest sounds like the book pre-emptively trying to justify why Tarquin will inevitably forgive Rhys for it.
There's five other people behind Tarquin.
Like their lord, their skin was dark, their hair in shades of white or silver, as if they had lived under the bright sun their entire lives.
That's..... not really how it works. See: every dark-skinned race of people on planet earth. Hell, not even fair-haired people have their hair turn white from the sun. Become a bit paler, sure, but not white. Again, faeries, but...
Rhys slid one hand into a pocket and gestured with the other to Amren. “Amren, I think you know. Though you haven’t met her since your … promotion.” Cool, calculating grace, edged with steel.
........which part is meant to be grace, and which part is meant to be steel? I see neither of those things in what Rhys said. Maybe even a minor blunder, by choosing to linger on Tarquin's coming into power like that. Drawing attention to it, like. Not particularly graceful at all.
[Amren to Tarquin]“At least you are far more handsome than your cousin. He was an eyesore.” [...]“Condolences, of course,” she added with as much sincerity as a snake.
............................bruh. He literally just said hello. Why are we going straight for the "witty" put-downs? Dude has done nothing to you. And I mean, honestly? I could forgive the first part as Amren just being a crotchety old eldritch being who doesn't give a fuck about faerie courtesies, but the added "condolences" just makes it seem petty and mean-girly instead.
Wicked, cruel—that’s what Amren and Rhys were … what I was to be to these people.
Yes, good, hold that thought, Feyre, hold it! It's such a weird approach to take, yes, question it!
She doesn't hold it.
Rhys gestured to me. “I don’t believe you two were ever formally introduced Under the Mountain. Tarquin, Feyre. Feyre, Tarquin.” No titles here—either to unnerve them or because Rhys found them a waste of breath.
And in either instance, it makes him an incourteous ass, and is a major diplomatic blunder. Again, where the fuck is the "grace" supposed to be? This shouldn't be immature banter between high school enemies, it's a meeting between two diplomatic powers who have been raised for the role.
I kept my face neutral, vaguely bored.
God, this shit again. Is it not just basic politeness to at least pretend interest in the other party? What is it with Maas books and the whole "superior boredom" shtick? Again, this isn't a catfight where you look good by pretending to be bored. You're just saying fucking hello to a dude who invited you there and also has done nothing bad to any of you. Why is the book treating him like he needs to be "put in his place" or whatever?
[Tarquin's] gaze drifted to my chest, the bare skin revealed by the sweeping vee of my gown, as if he could see where that spark of life, his power, had gone.
Rhys followed that gaze. “Her breasts are rather spectacular, aren’t they? Delicious as ripe apples.”
I fought the urge to scowl, and instead slid my attention to him, as indolently as he’d looked at me, at the others. “Here I was, thinking you had a fascination with my mouth.”
We both looked back to our hosts, still stone-faced and stiff-backed.
Diplomatic.... meeting...... foreign powers....... ...this is so utterly fucking juvenile. Literal locker-room banter. And I thought I'd have to wait for the High Lord meeting next book before the politics (well, "politics") would make me want to break shit.
Gee, I wonder why they might not be feeling so friendly towards you? Mystery. Couldn't possibly be because you've done nothing but insult them this entire time. That's just unpossible!
But, Tarquin is a bro and tries to keep the meeting on track, inviting them inside for refreshments. He introduces one of the other people with him.
“Cresseida—Princess of Adriata.”
The ruler of his capital—or wife? There was no ring on either of their fingers,
Her long, silver hair blew across her pretty face in the briny breeze, and I didn’t mistake the light in her brown eyes for anything but razor-sharp cunning. “A pleasure,” she murmured huskily to me. “And an honor.”
My breakfast turned to lead in my gut, but I didn’t let her see what the groveling did to me; let her realize it was ammunition. Instead I gave her my best imitation of Rhysand’s shrug. “The honor’s mine, princess.”
Or sister, or cousin, or daughter...... also, what's with the mention of the ring, or lack thereof? Not every marriage ceremony ever involves rings, you know. Get out of your bubble.
Oh, also, if she were his wife, wouldn't she be a Lady, and not a Princess? So that assumption doesn't even make sense in the first place.
Feyre............. she's just exchanging pleasantries. What the actual fuck is this reaction? How is she fucking grovelling? And how the fuck is grovelling ammunition? Ammunition for what? No, really, I'm very confused how grovelling to someone is meant to be a weapon against the one being grovelled to. Unless it's sarcastic grovelling, and the recipient knows they actually don't deserve it and don't want their ego bruised? Truly baffling. And why do you feel such a need to look as though you don't give a fuck, Feyre? Just smile, say the "the honour's mine" and go inside. There's nothing wrong with just being polite. This is so fucking weird.
We're told the rest of the Summer delegation are faceless NPCs, except for Varian, Cresseida's brother and captain of the guard, who gets shiptease with Amren. Then they go inside.
We get a description of the room, it's ocean themed. Also, everyone, even the servants, are High Fae.
No lesser faeries crossed our path—not one.
You say that as if you don't live in Segregation City, Feyre.
There's banter, some infodump, some random angst about Tamlin and Calanmai, and then we learn that this city was sacked by Amarantha, when Rhys asks how the repairs are going.
That hauled Tarquin’s attention back. “Mostly. There remains much to be done. The back half of the castle is a wreck. But, as you can see, we’ve finished most of the inside. We focused on the city first—and those repairs are ongoing.”
Amarantha had sacked the city? Rhys said, “I hope no valuables were lost during its occupation.”
See, Tarquin is concerned primarily with his people. He fixed up enough of the palace to get it functional, but otherwise is focusing on tending to the city at large first. Rhysand, not giving a shit about faceless NPCs or anything outside his own self-interest, asks about Tarquin's valuables, which not only makes him look like a terrible person, but also makes it blatantly clear that Rhys has some particular interest in Tarquin's valuables. Way to make yourself a suspect there, Rhys. Very graceful.
The three advisers peeled off to attend to other duties, murmuring farewell—with wary looks in Tarquin’s direction. As if this might very well be the first time he’d needed to play host and they were watching their High Lord’s every move.
He gave them a smile that didn’t reach his eyes,
And right away, this makes Tarquin's court so much more interesting than Rhys's will ever be. There's tension there. Stuff happening. Poor Tarquin needs to prove both himself and his radical ideas to his stuffy, hovering courtiers, likely people he's known since childhood and who helped educate/raise him. Why can't we read about that instead?
There is much rhapsodising about the ocean view.
I had never seen water so vibrant. Green and cobalt and midnight. And for a heartbeat, a palette of paint flashed in my mind, along with the blue and yellow and white and black I might need to paint it …
Good for you, Feyre! Maybe you should move to the seaside for inspiration? You know, revive your artistic spirit?
Tarquin, being a vaguely socially competent lord, comes up to talk to her, and tells her this is his favourite view. There's a bit of back-and-forth, with Tarquin eventually asking her if being immortal is "lovelier" than being mortal.
So I looked the High Lord of Summer up and down, as he had examined me, brazenly and without a shred of politeness, and then said, “You tell me.”
Tarquin has been more polite to you in this exchange than Rhys has ever been.
Tarquin’s eyes crinkled. “You are a pearl. Though I knew that the day you threw that bone at Amarantha and splattered mud on her favorite dress.”
I shut out the memories, the blind terror of that first trial.
Here, we see Tarquin admiring her for an astounding feat she pulled off, which is especially impressive given she was mortal at the time. I don't think it makes him a dick to bring it up - so far as he knows, it's a feat she's insanely proud of. He doesn't know she's traumatised, after all. And while it's not wrong for Feyre to not want to be reminded of it, you know what is still notably absent? Yes, that's right, any acknowledgement whatsoever of the shit Rhys put her through while under there. You know, the bulk of the regular torment she was subjected to? She's more than willing to have war flashbacks about everything else, but when it comes to Rhys's bullshit? Nothing but crickets. And it makes these kinds of flashbacks very unconvincing. They're too selective to take seriously, even if they're not bad in a vacuum.
Feyre decides that obviously, not only is she going to rob Tarquin, she's going to seduce him, too. Because they weren't big enough assholes already, I suppose. Also, basically every time Tarquin says something, Feyre's narration butts in with something like this:
A direct question, after such roundabout ones—to no doubt get me on uneven footing.
As if the book knows it's politics time, and feels the need to point out every single instance of politic-speak, just to make sure we don't miss any of its cleverness. Book, if your political banter is even half as clever as you think it is, it'll speak for itself. Let it breathe. Maybe have Feyre realise at the end of the conversation that Tarquin was being a bit crafty with his words, but for god's sake, don't point it out to us every single time the dude opens his mouth. It just comes across as bragging about your "clever" writing, and bragging is annoying as shit. Especially when the writing isn't even all that clever.
...Rhys said from the table, as if he’d heard every word, “Feyre is a member of my Inner Circle. And is my Emissary to the Mortal Lands.”
Cresseida, seated beside him, said, “Do you have much contact with the mortal realm?”
None whatsoever. Much like her later title of High Lady, this title is purely honourary. Again, the book knows medieval "celebrities" need to have titles, but doesn't want to deal with any of the actual work that comes with them.
The High Lord of the Night Court sniffed at his wine—white, sparkling—and I wondered if he was trying to piss them off by implying they’d poisoned it
Yeah, because, no matter how much the book wanks over how smooth and clever it thinks he is, he has the social sophistication of fucking donkey. Now, if he were to then go on to make some comment about, I don't know, the wonderful bouquet of Summer wine or something to that effect, that I would allow as clever. Letting him check for poison while giving him plausible deniability that that's what he was doing, and even complimenting the hosts if they don't pick up on his true intentions. But, he says no such thing. Because this book thinks middle-school name-calling is the height of politics.
The book keeps trying to make us care about Amren and Varian. I don't.
“Yes, you mentioned that in your letter,” Tarquin said, claiming the seat at the head of the table between Rhys and Amren. A bold move, to situate himself between two such powerful beings. Arrogance—or an attempt at friendship?
Feyre. He's the High Lord of the Summer Court. Where the fuck else is he going to sit but at the head of his own table? What the actual fuck is wrong with you?
There's banter about war with Hybern, and "other" wars, in which Rhys basically acts as cagey as possible while the book thinks he's being smooth.
If—if Tamlin went to war to get me back. No. No, that wouldn’t be an option.
Why not? So far as he's concerned, you've been fucking kidnapped by Amarantha's chief lackey, who tortured, drugged and assaulted you repeatedly while Under the Mountain, right in front of him, even, and specifically to piss him off. He even recently received a letter that was totally written by you (remembering you were illiterate last time you spoke to him) saying that you're staying in the Night Court! There's literally no way it could be more suspicious. That's not him being a possessive jerk, that's him doing what you did in book one when you went to save him from Amarantha. You know, the other creepy sexual predator who went around kidnapping people? Is it only okay to blame them for that if they're a woman?
Not when he wouldn’t be fighting other High Fae, but Illyrian warriors, led by Cassian and Azriel. It would be slaughter.
I thought High Fae were more powerful than Lesser Faeries, though? We had that banter before that informed us that Illyrians were officially considered Lesser Faeries, after all. Wouldn't they be the ones at a disadvantage?
So I said, bored and flat and dull, “Try not to look too excited, princess. The High Lord of Spring has no plans to go to war with the Night Court.”
Why? Why do you need to be bored and flat and dull?? I literally do not understand what this is supposed to accomplish, apart from making you look like an arrogant asshole who thinks they're too good to speak pleasantly to the plebs? Isn't your cover story that you're asking for help with the war against Hybern? Wouldn't being, ya know, nice to the people you're trying to win over be more amenable to that? Like, even for an asshole manipulator, they at least pretend to be nice. So what the everliving fuck is with the boredom? Why is it treated as the best possible response to everything?????
Cresseida brings up that there's apparently a law about stolen brides, and how they need to be returned to their "masters." I'm sure the book wants me to get angry about the use of the word master, but given all the shit it's ignoring about Rhys, I don't feel inclined to humour it. You set this world up, book. Gotta commit to it.
“I left of my own free will,” I said. “And no one is my master.”
Lol, keep fucking telling yourself that, Feyre. But I guess, she's not aware of the mind-control, so we can't really blame her for thinking this. Also, Mor didn't ask before spiriting her away from Spring. And even though Rhysand "offered" to send her back, given her past experiences with asking him to take her home (you know, when he laughed in her face), there was no reason to think he'd honour his word this time.
Cresseida shrugged. “Think that all you want, lady, but the law is the law. You are—were his bride. Swearing fealty to another High Lord does not change that. So it is a very good thing that he respects your decisions. Otherwise, all it would take would be one letter from him to Tarquin, requesting your return, and we would have to obey. Or risk war ourselves.”
Hmm, interesting. So, the fact that there's been no word from Tamlin (at least, not that we know of - wouldn't put it past Rhys to hide it from Feyre) implies that Tamlin has actually respected her decision to leave? Hmm. Hmmmmmmmmmm. Watch as this never gets mentioned again.
Tarquin studied me and Rhysand—whose face was gloriously disinterested.
Fuck, enough. Seriously, what is with the boredom?????? You just look like pompous, self-important assholes! And you wonder why no one fucking likes you!
Tarquin tries to smooth things over, saying that Cresseida is just worried about her people, that many sacrifices were made during the war, etc. But then Rhys gets all butthurt at the implication that people other than him had to make sacrifices because of Amarantha, and basically threatens to kill Tarquin or anyone who tries to contact Tamlin.
Even the sea breeze died.
“Do not threaten me in my own home, Rhysand,” Tarquin said. “My gratitude goes only so far.”
“It’s not a threat,” Rhys countered, the crab claws on his plate cracking open beneath invisible hands. “It’s a promise.”
Oh, well, that makes it perfectly acceptable then, doesn't it? No. No, it fucking doesn't. Tarquin should do us all a favour and execute the lot of them.
But, Feyre makes a "witty" quip, the tension is diffused, and the chapter ends. Fuck, I hate it when these books try and do politics. It's just embarrassing for everyone involved.
"As Rhys’s newest pet, I would be granted tours of the city and the High Lord’s personal residence. If we were lucky, none of them would realize that Rhys’s lapdog was actually a bloodhound."
A disguise that isn't really a disguise, after all, everyone saw how Rhys treated her in UTM.
The fact that Feyre narrates this as if it were a merit is strange... In the first book, when Suriel said she was Tamlin's human, she got angry...
Feyre being presented as a pet seems a bit off, knowing where the book's ending is going and that Rhys had said Feyre wasn't anyone's pet. Feyre also said she didn't want to be a pawn, but she's being used as one and being displayed... This means that Rhys isn't very different from Tamlin in that respect.Many people say that Tamlin only wanted to show off Feyre, that he wanted to show that he was with the "Cursebreaker", But isn't that EXACTLY what Rhys is doing?
"Ah, but it's a disguise," okay, right? Let's go. Feyre agreed and thought it was a great plan, so who are we to argue about the hypocrisy of it and the fact that Rhys simply introduced Feyre as the third guest, just like Amren, which is literally there to serve as an oppressor/intimidator
(who knows, this might be of interest to you @snarkformysanity)
After reading a passage from the third book where Feyre decides not to let Lucien be raped again, I realized something very curious...If Feyre managed to "change" (prevent perhaps would be a more appropriate term) Ianthe's nature from continuing, why didn't Rhys do the same back then?Because he has the power to do it.He thought about Ianthe being a problem in the future, but he didn't kill her, so why didn't he prevent Ianthe from causing more victims in the future? Rhys saw that she was a harasser... And supposedly Rhys is the type of person who doesn't care about the consequences of his actions, if it means ending up protecting innocent people.
Ultimately, I don't know what stopped him besides not wanting to do anything.
"She’d be a problem—now, and later. He knew it. Kill her now, end the threat before it began, face the wrath of the other High Priestesses, or … see what happened."
And Rhys, being the self-sacrificing hero that he is, obviously chooses to end the threat and face the wrath of the other priestesses.... nah, jk, once again he's a fucking coward who chooses to save his own skin. He lets her go, and she leaves with a canned "you'll regret this."
He didn't even need to kill... He just needed to stop Ianthe from continuing with this... Whether with a curse or by entering her mind like Feyre did... It surprises me a little that Ianthe has come this far, by the way, especially considering Rhys and the IC... Like, this woman is dumb then.What would the plan be if he refused and banished himself... I think there wouldn't be one, because her victims never speak up or spread rumors, which makes the Priestesses feared women? Or is it because the world is sexist too much to care about a sexually abused man? And how come we have nothing about whether she ever tried to take advantage of Tamlin, for example? That's another thing I always wonder about. What was stopping her from trying that move with Tamlin...? Or was she afraid of being expelled from Springtime?Ultimately, I think she only had consideration for Tamlin... More than Amarantha, who watched Tamlin grow up and still desired him sexually and became obsessed.
Was browsing the news today and came across an article talking about narcissism, covert narcissism, specifically. I've often said in my reviews that there's a lot in SJM's books and characters that comes across as narcissistic. Thought I'd pull some quotes from the article and discuss how they come up in her work. The article is here, for the curious:
As "narcissist" becomes the catch-all insult of the social media age, here is the crucial difference between everyday selfishness and a seri
Most of my thoughts will come from ACOTAR and CC, as I've not read TOG yet - feel free to chime in with any thoughts on how it fits in the comments! I'm curious.
Anyway, without further ado. Let's begin.
“People with Narcissistic Personality Disorder see life as a vertical hierarchy,” leading American expert Elinor Greenburg says, “where the goal is to get as close to the top as possible. Everything is about status.”
One of my greatest pet peeves with SJM's works are around the portrayal of status and inequality. It isn't just that her protagonists end up rich - ACOTAR is essentially a billionaire romance with a fantasy coat of paint, and CC has most of its characters receive "considerable inheritances" or other such excuses to give them a lot of money. It's in everything.
Every relevant character is the Best and Most Awesome and Dangerous and Scary ever. A common tactic to discredit characters we're meant to dislike is to imply that they're fakey-fakers just trying to copy the "real" elite. E.g. as part of the demonisation of Tamlin, we learn that apparently all his fighting techniques are Illyrian techniques he learned from Rhys, and even his damn knives are suddenly of Illyrian make. Nowhere else in Prythian has ever made a knife, I guess. Amarantha, as well, is only copying the "real" atrocities of the Night Court.
Most egregiously, it's in the portrayals of conflict between the powerful elite and the oppressed masses, usually humans. How often do both ACOTAR and CC try to "both sides" their respective conflicts? Despite the situations being not even remotely close to a "both sides" situation? It's an element of the covert narcissist - victimising themselves in order to gain sympathy from their target (in this case, the audience). The poor, poor fae/Vanir, victimised by these evil, evil humans! Jurian tortured a fae woman, tortured her I say! And the human rebels killed some Vanir children one time! Weep! Weep for the oppressors! And yet, we get curiously little mention of the (significantly worse and more numerous) atrocities committed by the fae/Vanir side...
Both ACOTAR and CC make attempts to ingratiate their protagonists with the "lessers", primarily for cheap victim points (see above point about covert narcissists). Feyre with her family situation and living in poverty, Bryce with her half-human status. But it's clear the book doesn't *really* think they belong in that filthy class. The portrayals of poverty and class dynamics are laughable at best. In CC, Tharion is even "punished" by having to pick up rubbish! And having him whinge at the indignity of it! And it's *that* incident that makes him start thinking there needs to be a leadership change! Despite pretences to the contrary, it's clear the books think that such tasks are "unworthy" of their protagonists, despite how fundamental and important such things are in reality.
At best, The Poors are something protagonists can use (and discard) in order to make themselves look good, to pose with for cheap Good Person cred. Feyre when she's oh-so-generously handing out money (that she's conveniently just received a bottomless supply of) to the families in her village who are apparently Even Poorer than she was - families who were never mentioned even once when trying to build up Feyre's victim cred, note. Bryce does this as well, with her book setting up centrepiece moments for her to "fall to her knees" in grief at the plight of the Lesser humans, but having her not give a shit at any other time. Even going so far as to only even entertain the idea of helping the rebellion on the basis that she might be able to personally gain something out of it. The Poors are tools to be used, according to these books. The overwhelming majority of them never even get names!
An exaggerated sense of self-importance, preoccupation with fantasies of success, power and brilliance, a belief they are special, excessive need for admiration, sense of entitlement, pattern of taking advantage of others, a lack of empathy along with envy and arrogance are the criteria to look out for.
The criteria list is very interesting. It's painfully obvious to us how well it fits many of SJM's characters - Feyre puffing herself up about what an awesome High Lady she is, how she deserves to have the other High Lords (her alleged equals) bow to her, how she's such a brilliant spy, how she deserves to be calling the shots on running a nation and Tamlin is Wrong for suggesting otherwise, her complete inability to consider perspectives other than her own, etc, etc, etc.
But what makes it interesting is how the narratives will twist and contort themselves in an attempt to justify and make true some of the narcissistic delusions. Giving Feyre all of the High Lords' powers, for example. Or Bryce and her constant power-ups as the Super Awesome and Magical Starborn Princess, or however it went whenever the book wanted to be cute by lampshading it. All the faceless masses *do* fall on their knees in admiration; failure to do so is used as justification for all sorts of atrocities e.g. breaking multiple bones in Keir's body because he took Rhys's (carefully and deliberately crafted) bait and called Feyre a whore. Failure to think the Main Characters are the Greatest People Ever is a fault to be corrected, at best, and a one-way ticket to irredeemable villainy, at worst. The framing of the novels are a narcissist's wildest fantasies made manifest, in a world where literal god is on your side.
We all know about the balls-out, boasting, shiny, charismatic braggadocio of the overt or grandiose narcissist who creates stories and causes chaos and confusion. But vulnerable narcissists are a sub-species that can appear fragile and charming. This is a mask.
They are insidious and pernicious, says US psychologist Ramani Durvasula. “Quietly hostile, passive aggressive, sullen, brooding, victimised. A covert narcissist’s tactics only show up when there are no witnesses, apart from the victims.”
They can appear needy, brittle and dependent. “It draws us in,” Ferguson says. “It makes us want to help and protect them.”
But this is weaponised weakness. By getting people to feel sorry for them, covert narcissists are gathering the sympathy and support to isolate their victim.
Says Durvasula: “Covert narcissism is essentially a manipulation through victimhood.”
A long quote, but a telling one, because how often are SJM's characters making sure to play the victim for us? Probably the most egregious examples are the in-universe ones with Rhysand. He uses sob stories to dodge all sorts of responsibilities, from what he did to Feyre Under the Mountain, to the murdered Winter Court children, it's all classic DARVO to try and make the other characters (and the audience) feel sorry for him and therefore cow to his will (usually by dropping whatever thing they were trying to make him take accountability for).
But of course, it's not just him. Every character and their dog has an extremely traumatic backstory (no, really, Bryce's dog does too), to the point that it's kind of excessive. Said backstory is often the very first thing we learn about a character, in an attempt to prime us to feel sympathy for them regardless of what happens after this point. Our first chapter in Hunt's POV is a multi-page infodump of his Tragic Backstory. Feyre's first dinner with the Inner Circle is full of them positively tripping over each other to share details that make them sympathetic, and this continues in the chapters immediately afterwards as various characters tell her about the other characters' respective Tragedies. As if a sad past is a replacement for a personality (which we'll get to in a bit).
Also, note the specific use of the word "mask" in the quote. How often are the Night Court banging on about "masks" and how they "have" to use them?
Instead, [the narcissist was] studying you, learning how to become your perfect companion by mirroring your traits, mimicking your behaviours and flooding you with praise and admiration, says Robert, who also asked to use a pseudonym.
When the real person emerges it looks like this: “The gaslighting is constant. Mood swings and outbursts of anger are frequent. It is a cycle of highs and lows. The narcissist lives in chaos and confusion, and they need you to live in confusion as well,” Robert says.
The parallel between e.g. Rhysand's lip-service to Feyre's wants and the subsequent constant gaslighting is obvious. But I want to talk about it more on a meta level. Most of SJM's works pay lip-service to topical issues - feminism, gay relationships, abuse, class struggle, slavery, and so on and so forth. We all know they're poorly done, but that isn't really the point here. In a way, the narratives are making sure to provide a constant feed of things it assumes we want to hear, rather than establishing a consistent setting that the characters inhabit and are true to. Arranged marriage, for example, seems to be a staple for prominent persons in CC... but the characters are still complaining about it in a way that's very in-line with our modern views on the practice, that it's oppressive patriarchy at work and it's a girl-power thing to throw a fit about it. Even though it should be a normal thing in that world. But the book doesn't care about that; it's saying whatever it thinks it needs to to make us like it/its characters. It's also why it keeps insisting that e.g. Rhysand is such a feminist, despite all evidence to the contrary.
The gaslighting is obvious throughout the narratives. See everything concerning what happened UtM from MAF onwards, as an example. Or the slow appropriation of the human rebellion by the Vanir over the course of CC. But even the rest of that paragraph in the quote - mood swings, outbursts of anger, highs and lows, chaos and confusion - is honestly pretty representative of the style of narrative as a whole. Very little makes sense in a contiguous way. The book oscillates between self-congratulatory preening and self-righteous anger at the drop of a hat, performative emotions dismissed as soon as they're no longer needed. We're told whatever it thinks we need to be told to think how it wants us to think in the moment, and damn whatever came before. Motivations and plot points do not exist, they are merely tools to make us feel a certain way about the main characters, usually to get us on their side. And so on. E.g. CC expecting us to both be self-righteously angry over the mystics situation with the protagonists... but also on the protagonists' side when they're complaining Karen-style about how much the mystic service cost. People who are legitimately so horrified by the situation wouldn't use the service at all. But the book attempts to milk both kinds of angst from the situation, and cares not a whit that the two types don't really fit together. It's all in service of making the protagonists look like heroes, but also like victims. And on that note...
The covet narcissist will use “rat cunning”, she says, and go to any lengths to be in a dominant position, even if another person’s self-esteem is eroded to make them feel better.
“They create a new version of reality where they’re always the victim, the hero, or the innocent party,” she says.
Yeah. How often do we see this play out with Feyre and Rhysand? Rhysand essentially attempts to re-write everything from the first book in order to establish himself as the Selfless Hero who Sacrificed Himself and became Amarantha's Victim in order to save Everyone Else (read: only Velaris). How many elements in Feyre and Tamlin's relationship is appropriated and re-framed in a Feysand context? E.g. dancing with the will-o-wisps being replaced by Starfall, insisting Rhysand crawled for her but not Tamlin, even insinuating that Feyre and/or Rhysand were the ones who killed Amarantha, at times. Or when Rhysand is confronted about the Wonter Children, and tells us that a heretofore unmentioned and never spoken of again daemati is responsible, while he himself is an innocent victim (and isn't everyone else just such an asshole for assuming otherwise!).
Eroding someone's self-esteem to make themselves feel better is an almost verbatim description of what Cassian does to Nesta throughout their relationship. SF is devoted to tearing her down, so she can be rebuilt as he/the Inner Circle desire.
CC isn't safe from it either. Bryce and co often get stroppy about not receiving the treatment they think they are due for "helping" the rebels (e.g. insisting the rebels need to rescue the "valuable assets" that are Hunt and Ruhn from captivity), while completely ignoring all the times they've actively sabotaged the rebel efforts. Or when Bryce is telling us all about how it was So Hard for her to lie to her parents and dump them in Prythian as collateral for a bargain of dubious use beyond powering her up further - all without telling them! But damn if we aren't expected to feel sorry for her for "having" to make such a Difficult Choice.
The High Lord meeting is another interesting example, and shows the narrative warping itself to accommodate the narcissistic fantasies. Despite having absolutely zero reason to trust the Night Court, every other High Lord is immediately on board with the Tamlin Bad campaign, and spend most of the meeting bashing him and creating openings for the Night Court to look Better. All previous history the Night Court has established for itself is irrelevant - they are The Heroes now, and the book does not give a shit if it makes sense with anything else.
“They remove the context, erase the lead-up and cut out the things they did or said to push you over the edge,” Shaw says.
Suddenly you are presented as an unstable abuser.
“It is a clever, cruel trick,” says author Debbie Mirza. “They have effectively vanished from the crime scene they created, leaving you standing there holding the evidence of your own emotions.”
And this, I think, is very evident in a few places. Rhysand manipulating Feyre's (and the audience's) perceptions of the events UtM being the most prominent one. And the book helps him. Feyre's outfit during those events are not "the clothes Rhysand forced her to wear", but "the clothes she was made to wear Under the Mountain." Rhysand carefully admits to *some* wrongdoings, but is very careful to avoid acknowledging others - he'll admit (without apologising) that he made her drink the wine, for example, but never mentions any of the subsequent sexual assault. He reframes what he did as "protection", conveniently leaving out that the protection was only necessary because he dragged her out of her cell in the first place. And thus, when Feyre has any notions of maybe holding him accountable for that behaviour, she's instead twisted into feeling that she misunderstood him, and is thus Wronging him for daring to think he might have been anything less than a hero. All with a copious side-helping of Rhys attacking himself for being So Terrible - we're dealing with a covert narcissist here, after all. Baiting Feyre and the audience into wanting to comfort him and assure him that he's not terrible at all.
This same pattern is also very clear with Feyre and Tamlin. The book frames Tamlin as abusive, and Feyre as his victim (and using this to justify her later atrocities in Spring). But often, her own actions inform and exacerbate much of what goes on. More subconsciously in MAF, and then deliberately in WAR when she starts manipulating and baiting him. But returning to MAF, Feyre staunchly *refuses* to communicate with Tamlin for much of her time at Spring. She's upset when he buys her paints, but at no point has she communicated her new-found distaste for them to him, before or after the event. Instead, she resents him for not Just Knowing. Yes, Tamlin's explosion during that scene was not good, irrespective of whether he did it deliberately or as a result of a loss of control or whatever. But it doesn't change that Feyre is, unconsciously, setting up little tests (and only telling the readers about them) that are designed for him to fail. I don't remember which MAF post it was, specifically, but there's one where I listed a whole bunch of quotes from earlier in the book that show Feyre engaging in this avoidant behaviour, and blaming Tamlin for not being able to work out what she wanted anyway. This is a very common form of manipulation and abuse. It's not physical abuse like Tamlin's explosion. But it's also not about one-upping who was the Most Abusive. That's what the book wants us to be doing, and is precisely why it's framed things as it has - so that we see Feyre as the bigger victim in this situation, and thus overlook her own shitty behaviour. But all it really proves is that they were both abusive, just in different ways. The book points to Tamlin's overt behaviour and cries foul, when really, it's mostly just to distract us from Feyre's covert acts. I'd even go so far as to say that the bulk of her victimisation and suffering here is presented to us with the sole intention of smearing Tamlin, because most of it disappears *immediately* once she is in Night. Lucien's hair and flower petals trigger her, but not Mor's red dress? Okay, book. Okay. But speaking of smearing:
But if you expose a vulnerable narcissist and leave the relationship, the smear campaign can begin.
The demonisation of Tamlin is the prime example. The NC even shit talk him to the other High Lords before the meeting, classic smearing.
But it happens in more subtle narrative ways as well. How often are we told that Hewn City and Illyria are Evil and full of violent, sexist assholes before we get to see either place for ourselves? We learn all about Mor's Tragic Backstory in HC, and how Cassian and Azriel were abused by the Illyrians, long before we get to meet any of the people there and decide for ourselves. And the book is very careful not to show us too much of either place when we are there. The only named character from HC is Keir; the only named Illyrians I can remember are Devlon and Emerie. And most of the time, we're being "shown" behaviour that (the book thinks) "proves" its assertion about them. There is no room for nuance whatsoever. Only the smear campaign, conducted by both the book itself and its characters.
CC is not immune either. Pippa Spetsos, and the human rebellion more broadly, are victims of it. We're told that Pippa is insane and evil and is leaving strings of bodies behind her..... all well before there's even a shred of evidence to suggest that it's true. But, the book wants us to hate her, so that we cheer the protagonists on when they blow up the rebel base, instead of questioning why our alleged of-the-people heroes would do something that's so blatantly in line with the oppressors.
“I hate myself. But I am better than anyone else. I need to be better than everyone around me. My life feels like an act. I feel like a shell, a patchwork of traits that I stole from other people over the years. It feels like being dead, emotion is deeply uncomfortable and distressing. Emptiness is safe.”
This quote is from a diagnosed narcissist interviewed for the article. But it goes back to what I mentioned earlier about a lack of personality. We learn all about the (external) parts of a character's life that are meant to make us feel sorry for them..... but very little about who *they* actually are. External measures of suffering (verified as abusive by popular consensus) are being used as a replacement for an internal world. Many of SJM's scenes lack an emotional component when they would really, really need one - Feyre's re-enactment of UtM when they first visit HC is one of the most egregious offenders that springs to mind. We get very, very little from her about how she actually *feels* about the situation (apart from feeling horny). It's mostly her gushing about how awesome and selfless Rhys is - becoming an external validator for what the book wants us to think about him. Emotions are uncomfortable and distressing to narcissists. Thus, the book avoids writing about them deeply at all costs.
And it's very clear the book has no understanding of proportionality of emotion. The Rage at being wronged is absolute and all-consuming, no matter how minor the offence. Bryce "falls to her knees" in grief upon realising that human women were abused 15000 years ago (even though it's still going on, and she's allegedly aware of it, to this day). Feyre sits in the dead Summer faerie's blood until it goes ice cold, too numb from grief to even move, even though she didn't even know him. And so on. Aping genuine emotion, rather than considering how and why characters might feel the way they do.
And on the topic of being a "patchwork of traits stolen from other people." I already touched on how Rhys appropriates many of Feyre's scenes with Tamlin. But Tamlin's not the only victim of it. The first time we hear about wanting equality for lesser fae is from Tarquin - and wouldn't you know it, right after that Rhysand claims he's secretly wanted the same thing all along. Even though he was pretty noncommittal to Cassian's resentment of the Illyrians being considered "lesser fae" earlier...
And if we look at Rhysand's "inspiring" speech in WAR, it's all about how he's gotten things from the rest of the IC and become better because of it. Nothing about their own merits. Only the parts that serviced him. The fact that the book frames this as "inspiring" is very telling.
Many believe the more important question is whether the narcissist can even recognise that they need to change. Ferguson suggests that the reason NPD is rare is that so few make it to therapy in the first place.
Complete lack of self awareness is another common flaw in SJM's writing. Not understanding how the Night Court would come across to the other Courts is the obvious example. The book cannot conceive of how the Night Court could ever be perceived as in the wrong - it is blind to the faults that are so blatantly obvious to the rest of us.
“Many others joined in [the smear campaign], including my friends and even my own brother, spreading rumours, attacking my credibility. It was a coordinated effort to destroy my reputation.”
And this last quote is interesting to me, because it shows how far-reaching the impact of a narcissist can be. And I think this is part of the reason this fandom is in such a toxic state of division. In the same way that IRL narcissists cause fractions and divisions amongst real groups of people and turn them against each other, so too does the narcissistic writing in these books turn factions of the fandom against each other in kind.
So yeah, to sum all this up, I believe there is an inescapable narcissistic element to the writing of the books themselves, and this goes a long way to explaining many of its faults. Was this writing style a deliberate decision on SJM's part? Hard to say. And I don't know which answer is worse, tbh.
Saw an opinion that Rhysand did the painting Feyre's naked body utm thing with the specific intent of assuring Feyre that she was not getting touched inappropriately and therefore no abuse occurred. So I have two issues:
First, Feyre only needed reassurance of what happened to her bc Rhysand got her to black out every single night. He could have just let her hang out in the cell (if he was nice try and get a bigger cell, get food, get clothes idk). So really Rhys is just doing damage control of his own whack behaviour.
And secondly, the canon reason for this bullshit is Rhysand wanting to piss off Tamlin. He parades Feyre as his to make him mad enough to kill Amarantha and needs the proof of his hands not doing anything untoward to redeem himself to Tamlin and not get torn to shreds himself. That's from the horse's mouth. Feyre is a tool for Rhysand to steer Tamlin.
The fact that Feyre is also drunk doesn't reassure anyone. Luckily for Rhys (or perhaps he only made her remember that), Feyre conveniently only remembers being touched on her arms and waist...But can we be sure he only touched it there, given that he can control the ink? Of course not. He's a liar and a manipulator who only took her to the party to annoy Tamlin, even knowing that Tamlin He could only do something if the curse were broken... After all, Rhys himself says he didn't kill Amarantha precisely because she was using the powers of the High Lords to control them.
Rhys is only intelligent when it comes to manipulating Feyre, because otherwise, he's at best cunning.
Besides, Feyre narrates that people only pay attention to her because of Rhys... Feyre's fault lies in the parties and the danger of being abused by other people; it's his fault.
Okay, I want to make very clear that I have no dog in the fight regarding Elain's ships, and quite honestly, I mostly just want Lucien to get the hell away from the Inner Circle, as far and fast as possible. But this random crack thought occurred to me and now it won't leave, so, here it is.
I was going through the chapters where everyone goes to visit Graysen, and he starts telling Elain all about how her mate now owns her and etc which is uh. A weird stance for a human to take on the matter, but I digress. And I remarked to myself, well, he can get the stick out of his ass, because she hasn't even accepted the bond yet....
And then the thought struck. Remember that time Lucien ran into her in the library, and she was having tea or whatever, and he asked if he could have some? What if she actually *has* accepted the mating bond already?? And of course I was 99.99% sure she didn't actually say anything in response, so my thought would be no, but I went and had a look anyway. It's chapter 24 of ACOWAR, if anyone else wants to sus it. These were the excerpts that seemed to be relevant:
[L]“I’m going to assume that one of those cups belongs to your sister.” [...]
“Do you mind if I help myself to the other?”
[Elain does not respond, Lucien narrates some stuff while pouring himself a cup of tea]
[L]“There’s a plate of biscuits. Would you like one?”
He didn’t expect her to answer, and he gave himself all of one more minute before he’d rise from this chair and leave, hopefully avoiding Nesta’s return.
But sunlight on gold caught his eye—and Elain slowly turned from her vigil at the window.
[...]
Her eyes were the brown of a fawn’s coat. And he could have sworn something sparked in them as she met his gaze.
[...]
For a long moment, Elain’s face did not shift, but those eyes seemed to focus a bit more. “Lucien,” she said at last, and he clenched his teacup to keep from shuddering at the sound of his name on her mouth.
And after looking at this, yeah, nah, Elain doesn't say anything, let alone offer him food. But.
“There’s a plate of biscuits. Would you like one?”
What if it's actually an uno-reverse mate offer situation?? Because let's be real, SJM isn't very good at including details that actually fill out the setting, so it seems kinda weird she'd include anything beyond "tea" just because it makes the scene feel more complete. And he is, specifically, offering one to her.
And I mean of course, she doesn't take a biscuit, so it's probably moot anyway. But she *does* turn towards him and acknowledge his presence at the offer. And "something" sparks in her eyes. A mental acceptance of the biscuit, even if she doesn't bite it before Feyre gets bored of spying and disrupts the scene? Who can say.
But if I'm being serious, I don't think SJM has the skill to place such a hint without absolutely bashing us over the head with it, and nor do I think she will ever subvert her rigid male/female dynamics for a reverse offer, but it amuses me to think it might be the case. If only from imagining the chaos it would cause in the ship wars if it turned out to be true.
It doesn't have much to do with the issue, but I like that he's the ONLY man who did the bare minimum; telling her about the partnership, instead of hiding it and waiting until she's already in love to drop that bombshell.
Because then you don't get that feeling of: did he hide it so she wouldn't resist? Did he use it to his advantage? How do we know that EVERYTHING she felt was coming from within herself, and not from the partnership bond?
I believe that's why the ending won't be Elain and Lucien, not only because I want them both away from the IC, but because...Perhaps this saga is primarily about the Batboys finding love through traumatized girls who never received paternal love, have low self-esteem, and believe that love is something to be rewarded.
"Elain barely out of the cauldron" and Shouldn't He have told us?
I may not like the moment Lucien told Elain about the mating bond, but I will NEVER agree with the fact that he should have kept it a secret the way Rhys did. Lucien did the bare minimum, which is to be conscientious and provide information to the person, and that will NEVER be bad for me.Because this book has such a huge flaw, which is making men hide things from their wives, even supposedly seeing them as equals.
And at least Elain, knowing what she knows (we do), can understand each of her emotional feelings without the man lying to her face about what it is...She can figure out what her feelings are, what the "pulls" are, whether she wants to try or walk away....
Before coming to Tumblr, I thought Lucien was one of the few characters who didn't have haters, but he has quite a few, blaming him for things that weren't even in his control or that he couldn't change... And I'm not saying this because I think he's a saint, but because he's guilty of things that don't make much sense for him to be the target.
One of those things is him telling Elain that she's his partner.Why would that be bad? Some people don't even complain about the timing, just the fact that he told them.And it's not like Lucien spends most of his time circling Elain like a vulture. He's normal, and he knows Elain doesn't even like him around... Even he doesn't seem to like being near her very much.He's not going to force himself to stay in the same place as her, or do those specific people want him to be like Cassian, and just circle around the girl like a clueless idiot?
