I love you like all-fire

Mostly here for your hot ACOTAR takes

[littlefeltsparrow]

Schrödinger’s Feyre: Where Feyre is simultaneously a cunning and badass girlboss with a mind of steel and a fragile little lamb who doesn’t know any better. When they’re proud, she’s a skilled strategist and competent High Lady, but when it comes to facing the consequences of her actions and the implications of her power, suddenly she’s a little baby waddling through fairy land.

[tamlinmybeloved]

hey so Nesta can't neglect Feyre in the legal sense. Neglect is when the party responsible for supplying the needs of another fails to do so.

Nesta is not Feyre's mother. She is not her father. Papa Archeron is guilty of neglecting all his children.

Was Nesta mean? Yes, sometimes. Annoying? Yeah. What she was not, was responsible for Feyre's needs.

People love to pull the "As an older sister, I have problems with Nesta" so I'll share my experiences.

I have 3 younger siblings. One is close in age to me, about 2 years younger. I am not responsible for her needs. Our parents may ask me to advise or share my experiences with her as an older sibling with more experience, but she is, ultimately, my parents' responsibility until she is independent. I cannot neglect her in the legal sense.

My 2 youngest siblings are 8 and 11 years younger than me, respectively. I am still not responsible for them. A larger age gap does not make me their parent. When I'm at home, I may be asked to drive them somewhere or cook them a meal if our parents are out, but ultimately they are my parents' responsibility. I may agree to take on some responsibility of them temporarily but it's just that: willing and temporary.

Have I been mean to my siblings? Yes. Annoying? Definitely. But since I am not their parent, I am unable to neglect them.

And so, since we're so fond of forcing real-world standards on acotar, Nesta is unable to neglect her sisters.

[maladattata]

also if lucien and nesta were mates and he was the one to go after her in the acofas solstice scene and ask her if she even wanted to be here and she said no he'd probably be like oh thank god me neither, tell me where you want to go I'll bring you, I'll show you the world, I'll stay 200 feet away from you at all times if you want that but I'll get you out no worries no stress

[eldritchguava]

SJM was insane for this:

So Tamlin kept quiet the entire time Under the Mountain. He didn't bargain for his own freedom, didn't plead with Amarantha to let Feyre go. But he broke his silence for Lucien?? To literally beg for mercy for him?

The whole point of Tamlin's silence was to avoid showing Amarantha how she can hurt him most, what breaks him. He endures it all in silence and yet Lucien being in danger is when he can't bear to keep quiet any longer. Lucien's the one thing that breaks his self-restraint!

And then Amarantha forces Tamlin to whip Lucien himself?? Tamlin, the protector, who tried desperately to keep Lucien safe and who then has to be the one to hurt him with no way to refuse?

Is it any wonder Tamlin then has such a hard time showing his true feelings in book 2? Look at what it got him the last time he did.

Their loyalty and affection for each other is weaponized against them both. This makes me sickkk.

[7virgo7]

I will never believe that the same people who justify Rhysand love Feyre. NO, if they loved her, they would have no excuse for Rhysand's actions. Loving Feyre and at the same time justifying what Rhysand did to her is impossible. He abused her, manipulated her, harassed her, disregarded her free will, and sexually assaulted her. He hid medical information about her body from her!!! You can love Rhysand as a character, but justify the violence he committed? No.

[hopeiochi]

You are not Feyre, your sister is not Nesta. No, you don't have a Nesta in your life. There isn't a Nesta in real life—stop it, it's a fictional character. Feyre's a fictional character. Tamlin is not your ex. Rhysand is not your ideal boyfriend.

People liking any of these characters aren't toxic because of the character they like.

I don't know who needs to hear this, but I had a need to say it.

And yes, we can recognize feelings/actions that mirror our real experiences in some ways, but that doesn't mean the story is a mirror of our life. We have every right to dislike certain characters because of our own personal experiences, but I think we need a reminder from time to time that the story isn't about our life.

[someone-who-leaves]

Oh my god I am still not over how the acotar series just absolutely fumbled Tamlin and Feyre’s relationship. We went from Ethel Cain level “This was all for you” to now he’s just a generic toxic macho dude now I guess?? Are you kidding me?? I’m sorry but that is so boring. Worse, there was a great setup. Both of them survive Amarantha, and instead of exploring how that kind of shared trauma warps love into something painful and unrecognizable we get, “he’s controlling now.” That’s it?? That’s the arc??

Show me them trying to be together and they can’t breathe around each other because everything reminds them of what happened. Or where Feyre looks at him and remembers the boy who sent her away to save her life and the man who couldn’t save her under the mountain. Or where Tamlin sees her and is just haunted by the fact that she died for him and he didn’t do anything to stop it. That’s angst and tragedy. And for Feyre instead of just the repetitive “I was treated so badly” internal monologues or the “I would’ve fallen in love with the first person to show me kindness” (I freaking HATE that line so much you don’t understand) imagine if we actually got her grieving that relationship.

Because she loved him beyond words. She died for him. Amarantha’s last taunt was literally “Say you don’t love him” and Feyre wouldn’t say it because her love was that real, she couldn’t even lie about her feelings. If only we could have read Feyre coming to the terrifying realization that the love that was strong enough to break a 50 year curse curse isn’t strong enough to put them back together after it. All that grief and anger, but with her trying to keep telling herself that they were real, and they mattered, so why aren’t they enough anymore?

And you’re telling me that same love just evaporates into a lesson about red flags?? We got the most surface-level “toxic man vs strong heroine” rewrite imaginable. I feel like everything I think about those novels comes to the same conclusion. Absolute. Wasted. Potential.

[eldritchguava]

The Spring Court really was the most fey of them all. It truly encapsulated ✨ the vibe ✨.

There was this air of something primal, something ancient. Everything was steeped in myths. We had mythical monsters roaming around. One that would change their appearance to what you wish to see so they can lure you in. One you aren't allowed to look at or it becomes real. A mysterious creature bound to answer every question truthfully, but only if you manage to catch it.

The book had this general air of mystery. Why are they wearing masks? Oh, there's a curse. What curse? How did it happen? How can Feyre break the curse?

There were rules that govern everything. Fae bargains have strict parameters, the curse has clear conditions. Everything and everyone felt bound to older, wilder magic.

It felt mysterious and wild. Untamed forces of nature that were beautiful but dangerous if you weren't paying attention.

Especially this detail of having to pay attention was so distinctly fae, very reminiscent of folklore. It really matched the vibe of trickery and bargains and finding loopholes. I was so excited for this particular aspect of words having a lot of power, but that obviously never went anywhere interesting.

The pool of literal starlight! That is truly magical, like hello? Bathing in the starlight pool as the sun reflects on the surface. Legends that say that if you were to drink the starlight water, you'd be happy until your last breath. Come on, that's awesome.

Just the splendour of eternal spring. It's spring here right now and the nature is breathtaking. Everything is alive, the first flowers are blooming, the trees are turning green like magic, the birds are singing as long as the sun shines. That but forever? Beautiful. Alluring but slightly unsettling in its neverending splendour. It blurs reality and illusion. There was always danger lurking beneath all that deceiving beauty.

Calanmai has a chokehold on me, I have to confess. A magic orgy to replenish the land? I mean... it fits perfectly into this wild untamed place. The drums and the fires and the paint. That in connection with the masks everyone was wearing, really encapsulated this vibe of old magic and rituals.

The Spring Court had fae that weren't just elegant immortals, sexy humans with pointy ears. They were not tied to human customs but they were unpredictable beings tied to forests and bargains. So distinctly fae, slightly feral!

Tamlin's shapeshifting fits right in here, too. He is deeply bound to magic he can' fully control. Claws coming out, smiling like a wolf, sharp teeth. The curse. Power that mirrors the wildness of the court around him.

I'm forever mourning the aesthetic and whimsy of the Spring Court in book 1. That was the setting I loved. Magic was all around, everything was alive and just a little bit terrifying.

[breadnabutterfingers]

Rhysand is a cringe lord, liar, and abuser. He should have stayed dead.

That's it. That's the post.

[my-maasverse]

Blatant Lies

I really need to avoid ACOTAR/Maasverse content on Insta at this point. The amount of flat out lying about the books and characters and lack of reading comprehension is exhausting.

Saw someone say Tamlin was laughing like some villain telling Feyre there’s no High Ladies. Bruh, he was eating her out and thought he was reassuring her because she said she didn’t want it.

Also a faerie having claws is a red flag but a faerie mind controlling people, being able to rewrite their entire brains and coerce people into do whatever they want is a green flag? Seriously?

Also Rhys has talons! And he’s used them on Feyre, even unintentionally, but Tamlin’s claws scratching wood is bad?????

People really forget these are suppose to be faeries and not humans so unnatural body parts and appendages are normal for these fictional characters.

I will never understand why people keep trying to claim Tamlin was always “abusive” in book 1 when SJM herself admitted she didn’t know Rhys was going to be the love interest until more than half way though the book. As if even while knowing Rhys was going to be end game, she didn’t still make him actually be the one to harm Feyre on multiple occasions. Still a weird way to start off an end game couple imo but whatever

I enjoy Rhys in my own way and I get I love Tamlin, but why do people gotta make up shit to justify hating Tamlin and justify loving Rhys? They’re fictional characters, just like them/hate them. You don’t need to make up complete lies about them.

Tamlin is not your ex. Rhysand is not your boyfriend. Calm down people.

[maladattata]

LET NESTA CHEAT ON HER LOSER MATE

[msbrownwithacrown]

The most messed up thing about UTM...

Is Feyre waking up sick. After being drugged against her will. Not knowing what happened....but knowing something did happen. Covered in marks that signified non-consensual touch. Having no memories of it, just the physical ramifications of it. As her friend Lucien, can barely make eye contact with her and share with her what has happened.

[songofthesibyl]

Spring Snow

A Tamlin POV corresponding to the beginning of A Court of Mist and Fury, set just after the Winter Solstice.

It seemed the plum trees Were already in bloom But when I picked a branch What fell—so much like flowers— Was snow.

—Izumi Shikibu

Seven-times-seven years is the blink of an eye, to an immortal fae. It passes like a spring breeze, the memory of a dream upon waking. A footprint in snow. All the victims of Amarantha, of the curse, that were not ash were already bone, sunk deep into the earth, as the mountain was, that no longer existed at all. Like it was never there.

It had been so nice, that first night home. Yes, at first it had still felt like he was Under the Mountain. In the dark, feeling another presence, he had stiffened, his whole body tense, and he had thought Amarantha had finally grown tired of waiting, and slipped into bed beside him, or that he had drunk nightmare wine, and would not remember it—only flashes. Or, worst of all, that he had chosen her, had asked her to bed with him, and he would remember shortly.

Or that Feyre had died, and stayed dead, and he had been with Amarantha because there was nothing else left. Only her and him, in endless darkness. And he had learned to want her, just as she said, he would ask for her, and he would miss her when she was not there.

But then he would feel his cheek against the pillow, and bring his fingers to his face, and feel. And then he’d make Feyre out in the darkness.

Yes, it had felt like he was still there. But when sleep fell from his eyes, when the sun started to stream in through the curtains, it was real. He was back. He was with Feyre. Everything was as it should be.

Then he would see Feyre getting into the carriage, and fading from view. And only that felt real, and nothing after that.

It felt like the mask was still there. There was this tickling feeling, an invisible weight on him. He would trace the outlines of his mask, and see masks on everyone else. He even wondered if he was doing it without realizing, a glamour on everyone. Like it had been him the whole time, that he had put the masks on everyone, that the curse had originated in him. Then he’d blink, and it was gone.

He was not sure about his power, really. How much of it had returned, or if it had returned at all. True, early, he had gone out alone, under the guise of patrolling, and let out his claws, and fangs, and he was strong again. He looked at his naked chest, and though he saw a scar there, he was whole again. But he wasn’t so sure it was all back. Maybe Amarantha had taken it with her, when he had killed her. He still felt so powerless. And then he didn’t want to see the claws, because he remembered what he did with them, and he’d remember Amarantha’s blood in his mouth, and he remembered why he did it, and he would see Feyre’s bones breaking, and then it was dancing, and he remembered he had to keep the claws in.

He remembered dancing. Every night. And drinking, and food. And laughter. And black lines running down her arm. And he had known Rhysand would do it, why wouldn’t he get his revenge, he was just waiting for the right time.

And Lucien was there too, and if he concentrated, he could still hear Lucien whimpering in pain.

But he was home, and it was no longer Amarantha at his side, but Ianthe, returned to him, and they were friends, and he could trust her, and it wasn’t like before. He would look to her, and see blonde hair instead of red, and the priestess robes, and know he was safe. She was the only one who wasn’t there. The only one he hadn’t hurt. The only one not torn apart and bleeding, crying out in pain. His heart was calmed by her presence. He would stay near her, he would do whatever she said.

And she convinced him to have the parties. To not skimp on anything. To start the tithe again. Like nothing had happened, because it might as well not have. It was not even fifty years, and while that was more than half of most humans’ lifetimes, it was nothing to the fae.

Fae weren’t broken so easily. They could heal quickly, too. They could do all sorts of things. They could bring other people back. Give a piece of themselves, and the person would live again. They could bounce back easily, as if it never happened.

But he couldn’t be sure, sometimes. If it had never happened, or if it had never ended. It all got confused in his head. He was in his beast form, but he had been able to do that during the curse, too. He didn’t feel the mask, but he had gotten so used to it then, sometimes he hadn’t felt it at all. So maybe it had never come off.

But then Ianthe there, and Bron and Hart, released from their captivity Under the Mountain. And everyone was so grateful, like he had done something. So he must have.

No, he hadn’t. He had just sat there. They had done everything. He was pretending. All of this was pretending. It was a glamour, was another mask. It had never come off. It couldn’t be like this. If he felt his face, if he proved it to himself, then he’d have to think of how it happened, and how it was his fault. He had sent her away, it wasn’t supposed to be like this.

He had to keep it in, still. It would ruin everything, people would get hurt, if he showed any sign, even the tiniest flinch. She couldn’t see, they couldn’t see him lose control, they couldn’t see how it affected him, even if Feyre couldn’t see it either. And he knew she was looking to him, and she probably thought he had abandoned her, but he couldn’t let them see, he couldn’t let them know what bothered him, he had to keep it together, but it was so difficult, and it hurt him, day after day. Sitting at the edge of the bed waiting for Amarantha to come. Waiting for when she would get impatient, and forget the game, and simply take him, and he’d wake up, and she would be next to him in bed. And he’d want her there, he’d look to her, she’d always be at his side.

No, it was Ianthe.

No, Ianthe was gone, she had left long ago. Lucien’s eye was gone, and he looked like he was in pain.

And there were parties, every night there were parties. There were so many people, and they were all wearing masks. And there was wine, and laughter, and dancing, and blood, and Feyre was at the center of it, night after night, and that’s how he knew he was still Under the Mountain, because she looked so sickly, and the bargain was there, inked on her arm. But there was nothing he could do, he couldn’t get to her, he had to play his role, and stay away, because when he hadn’t, the paint had smeared, and Rhysand had caught them, and he just needed to know she was real.

But everything he touched he destroyed.

Stay away. Watch her get worse, week after week, and do nothing. Do as you’re told.

Kill, kill, kill.

Protect, protect, protect.

She was not fae, she was human, she had not died. He had stopped it. With his fangs, and claws.

He had ripped out her throat like killing the stag at Calanmai.

Then he could rest.

The gods would do what they would with his body.

Use it for violence.

Use it for sex.

He would be asleep.

He would be aware of nothing.

He wouldn’t even know his own name.

@tamlinweek 2026 Day 5: Masquerade

[legendeyesgold]

"I've wanted this for a while."

I never minded Feyre choosing to have a child.Never. I'm not that kind of person. What really bothered me was the somewhat inorganic leap from "I want to see the world, enjoy my life, and rule as High Lady" to "I want a child NOW. I don't want to wait". I found it very unnatural and even convenient because, practically in the same week/day, two women planted in Feyre's head the desire to return to painting and have a child.And the painting thing is quite convenient because Feyre says it was a way for her to feel good, and that she wanted other people to have that experience, but she spent a long time in Spring Without painting and expressing those emotions, her point in opening art schools is for people who are psychologically affected by the war.But if even she, in her worst post-UTM moment, didn't want to paint, why would other people have the desire to do so after the war?

Now, about having a child, the worst reason of all to have a child, in my opinion, is because you want a piece of your husband in case he dies.And Feyre thinks something like "it was a desire that was perhaps hidden within me" (something like that), even though at no point in the saga did she express this secret desire, neither with Rhys nor with Tamlin. I'd say children were the last thing Feyre wanted... Of course, Feyre never said she NEVER/DIDN'T want to have children, but she also never expressed a desire to have them someday... that it was a possibility for her in the future.If she already expressed this feeling in the main trilogy, can someone give me the quote and show me? Because I really don't remember her having this secret desire... She wanted, deep down.

[R] "We can wait," he said softly, as if he feared the snow falling outside would hear our whispers. "I don't want to," I replied, being honest. The weaver had also made me realize this. Or perhaps she had simply made me see clearly what I had secretly desired for some time.

(I don't know if she's referring to the time since the war ended or before that; the point is that she never subtly expressed it until the moment she spoke with the weaver.)

[ladydeath-vanserra]

Holly Black being able to separate celtic and germanic folklore between her Air and the Folk trilogy and her Stolen Heir duology while at the same time keeping it seamless and complimentary and not just hodpodging different cultures together is just ONE MORE reason shes fucking superb and not trash like SJM

[cloudseeker7]

Okay, so we’re told by Rhys that Tamlin gave up the location of Rhysand’s mother and sister, which led to their deaths.

And then… we get three more books, and it still makes no sense.

We’re supposed to believe that Tamlin—who was friends with Rhys—betrayed him by handing that information over to a father he hated… for no clear reason? Even if you argue Tamlin is selfish, that still doesn’t line up. Selfish decisions usually have some kind of benefit attached. This just feels irrational.

I’ve looked through fandom theories, and most of them either feel wildly out of character (like “his father threatened his mother”) or require some convoluted crossover-level twist to work(the Lorin = Rhysand's sister theory). None of them really satisfy the basic question: why would Tamlin do this?

So here’s my take.

Let’s assume Rhys is telling the truth, since we don’t have another perspective on this event. We know Rhys was supposed to be at that location with his mother and sister. We also know Tamlin’s father was weaker than Rhys, but obsessed with proving his strength.

So what if Tamlin gave up the location expecting Rhys to be there—and hoping Rhys would kill his father?

Because that’s the only version of events that actually makes sense to me. It turns the betrayal from random stupidity into a calculated risk: Tamlin tries to get rid of his abusive father by setting him up against someone stronger... and it goes horribly wrong.

PS. I mean, yeah—the real answer is probably just that SJM needed something tragic for Rhys’s backstory and a reason to make Tamlin look worse, and didn’t think too hard about the logistics. But it’s still fun to try and make it make sense.

[maladattata]

On the color red in A Court of Mist and Fury

In acomaf feyre is extremely distressed by the colour red at the beginning, the most memorable instances being her panicking about red roses at her wedding (ch. 4), lucien's hair looking like amarantha's (ch. 3, 12) and the red paint splattered against the wall after tamlin's outburst (ch. 9). In chapter 2 she explains her feelings around red:

“Not red.” I hated that color. More than anything. Amarantha’s hair, all that blood, the welts on Clare Beddor’s broken body, spiked to the walls of Under the Mountain—

However, when she starts living in the night court, that trigger is not only never mentioned again, but red is mentioned repeatedly only for feyre to not remark on it. I saw this first pointed out by a woman on tiktok (books_n_candy), but I'm going to compile the instances of feyre encountering red in the night court here and expand a bit on it.

The first mention of red in the night court occurs in chapter 13, which is the first chapter after mor and rhysand get feyre from spring, where she was just triggered by lucien's hair again. When he brings her to his house in velaris, the first furnishing mentioned is the "ornate red carpet". The rest of the description focusses on warmness and homeliness, with no mention of the trigger.

We continue with more red in chapter 15 when exploring velaris:

There, like eternal guardians of the city, towered a wall of flat-topped mountains of red stone—the same stone that had been used to build some of the structures.

Then in chapter 16 Feyre dines with the ic in the house of wind, which is made of red stone, mor wears red, cassian has red siphons, amren's lips are red. And those descriptions aren't one-offs of course, mor frequently wears red (ch. 39, 42), amren's lips are described as red often (ch. 28, 32) and Cassian's siphons and the magic defensive shield is red (ch. 58). In acowar both mor and amren are additionally described with red nails. So we can see the ic (except azriel) be identified with the colour red, I'll count the redness of velaris for rhys.

You could have argued against the red stone as a trigger, considering that red sandstone tends to be more orangy in color than true red. However amarantha's red marble floors appear in Feyre's nightmare (ch. 17) and red marble is more of an orange color as well, as is lucien's hair. This mention of the red floor also shows that feyre has not processed her red-related utm trauma fully.

The other mentions of red i want to remark upon are painting related. The first red paint incident is feyre being triggered by it when given to her by tamlin in chapter 9. The first time feyre thinks of painting again is in chapter 30, where she wants to paint cassian in red and gold. Then when painting in the mountain cabin we get more red gold paint mentions (ch. 52) and more red paint mentioned with other colours in the intimate scenes with rhys (ch. 55). In chapter 49 she also mentions a set of red, yellow and blue paints as a kind gift from elain. The negative response to red paint is therefore only fleetingly present once.

But there are also instances where feyre wears red. In chapter 42 feyre's lips are painted "bloodred" when visiting the hewn city and Rhysand slips a sexual fantasy into feyre's mind where she wears red lacy underwear (ch. 38). So feyre's wearing red occurs in scenes where she is sexualised by rhysand twice and once by others in the hc. Both moments also relate to feyre loosing agency and control of herself, as rhysand secretly infiltrates her mind to share a sexual fantasy as if it was her own and feyre's dress in hc harkens back to her outfit utm where rhysand got her blackout drunk to educe sexual behaviour and willingness. Now in hewn city feyre acts out this sexual fantasy rhysand forced on her utm willingly. We do also get a scene in the last chapter of acowar, where feyre wears red lingerie, seemingly referring back to the fantasy in acomaf. Again she enters a fantasy 'willingly' after having been forced through it oncd already. In the same scene she and rhysand also make the death bargain, another loss of independence for feyre, finally and fully identifying feyre with rhysand.

So red is used to express trauma, luxury, power and sexuality in those books, but not simultaneously. The trauma aspect of red representing guilt over the dead faeries and fear of amarantha is lost basically immediately after leaving spring and first transforms into luxury and power with the descriptions of velaris as well as amren's and mor's fashion and Cassian's siphons. Through feyre wearing red makeup or clothes we see red symbolising sex. The red paint is present for all three aspects, it's likened to blood splattered against a wall in the beginning, then feyre uses red to draw cassian and mor as beautiful and powerful, and finally smears red paint over rhysand during sex and washes it off sensually afterwards.

I think this does represent the arc sjm wanted for feyre, from traumatised to rich and loved. However to me there is no working through the trauma, the red as a trigger is just forgotten about. The most likely explanation for this is obviously that sjm isn't a great writer and didn't really think about the inconsistencies she was creating. It also shows imo that sjm tacked the breakup plot and feysand plot together very haphazardly, it feels like she had this vision of velaris and the ic and wrote a trauma induced breakup with tamlin to get feyre there, but didn't consider in depth how feyre's trauma triggers would persist across court borders.

It's more fun though to theorize how feyre's red trigger disappeared so immediately. The options I can think of are these:

Rhysand mind hacking: we see that rhys can slip sexual fantasies into feyre's mind, why should he not be able to inhibit any trauma reactions? I think this is boring though, bc anything in the series could be explained through rhys mind power shenanigans making it impossible to take any pov narration seriously

Actually she's healed: feyre could have just processed her trauma to no longer be triggered by red. This seems unlikely, since feyre still has nightmares around amarantha even after the onslaught of red in velaris, and also just plain unrealistic to be cured of triggers in one day of exposure therapy

Feyre misattributes triggers: Feyre thinks she is triggered by red, but actually is triggered by tamlin and lucien. So she never had an issue with red itself however her leaving spring is not actually her healing but rather avoiding the actual triggers and escaping the inner discomfort, both of which are maladaptive ways to deal with trauma triggers

Full on maladaptive behaviour: aggression, hypersexuality and recreating the traumatising event are all maladaptive responses to trauma. That maps onto this analysis of red becoming a symbol of power and sex and also corresponds with feyre reenacting her sexual abuse but 'willingly' in an attempt to find control or familiarity in unresolved trauma. Part of the recreating of trauma can also be identification with the perpetrator, which feyre does with rhysand by seeing herself as his equal and binding herself to him fully. But she also does it with amarantha, since she is now queen of hewn city after which utm was modelled. Her obsession with tamlin to the point of needing to destroy spring could also fit that.

So in conclusion the use of red in acomaf can show how feyre was traumatised and doesn't manage to fully recover from the trauma but instead finds maladaptive coping mechanisms.