"Only you can decide what breaks you."

No one asked for this but I’m going to share my thoughts on this…

• They thought they were going to die the next day. That could have been the last time they were alive. Seeking closeness, comfort and love in that moment isn’t frivolous.

• Their relationship had already been built on trust, vulnerability and survival. The tent scene wasn’t about “ignoring the war,” it was about choosing love and connection even in the shadow of death. That’s powerful.

• Before battles, people have historically sought intimacy because the fear of mortality sharpens the need for closeness. SJM didn’t invent that dynamic; it’s very real.

• People often expect characters to stay grim and stoic before war but that’s not always realistic or emotionally honest. Feyre and Rhys weren’t being careless. They were being vulnerable.

• Criticise the tent scene all you want but if my husband was Rhysand, I’d be too busy riding the High Lord and not the moral high horse.

Nyx Misting for the First Time

Nyx got a little too excited with his new toy ✨

Truly, faerie fucking and fantasy is the highest caliber of literary masterpiece that all scholars should strive to understand if they truly want to ascend in an academic setting.

I notice trends because that's what I do. I also have to manage the books chosen and people's interest in them. I could make a lot of generalizations about people on their ship preference and what I see in the book club. One ship tends to exclusively prefer audiobooks. They are the ones who HATE reading classics, and when we do end up reading a classic, they complain it's too complicated. They tell me they only read romantasy outside of the book club. Believe me, it shows.

The people in the club who typically have the worst takes when analyzing the texts also belong to certain ships. I mean, these people miss obvious foreshadowing, didn't see the plot twist coming, and usually hate the more complicated nuanced characters. They also forget details and character names. It's wild to me when that happens!

There are a couple of people in the book club who have solid takes and good literary analysis skills. Believe it or not, those aren't the most formally educated people. It's the people who genuinely love to read outside of the club and read a wide variety of genres. When the more sophisticated readers start discussing a story in detail, I can see certain shippers' eyes glaze over in disinterest or, sometimes, outright say they can't follow the conversation.

I have also seen opinions on certain ships change over time. With more exposure to certain genres and/or encouragement to reread ACOTAR, their opinions shift. They will tell me they have changed their mind or tell me they see the foreshadowing they missed but now realize they just prefer a certain dynamic.

instead, feyre is forced by the narrative to have to yet again parent her older sisters and be a source of financial means, and she's expected to be the most perfect and understanding sister who never complains or feels bitter about this.

and now, stans want to act like she's the #1 cheerleader for one sister and really gaf about who her sister is in a relationship to the point where she'd throw her mate onto his ass about it and not understand his political decisions. and on the other side, she is "just as bad" as the other sister who verbally abused her growing up.

Rhys has always been like this. He’s the High Lord, which means his job is to maintain balance in his court and prevent possible fallout that could affect his family and his people. That’s literally his role. The issue with Elain, Azriel, and Lucien is political. Elain hasn’t rejected Lucien outright; she hasn’t said anything at all. She’s avoiding him, which still leaves room for uncertainty. Meanwhile, Lucien is still coming to the house, still possibly holding out hope that Elain might change her mind. And since we know a mating bond can make a male aggressive, Rhys’s concern in that moment is politics, not meddling in someone’s love life.

We also know Rhys doesn’t actually care about his family’s personal relationships. He doesn’t like Nesta, yet he didn’t interfere when Cassian was sleeping with her. He even joked about it. The problem arises when personal choices ripple outward and create political or dangerous consequences for everyone. In the bonus chapter, Azriel was about to make a move on Elain while Lucien was still in the house — a major issue since Elain hasn’t rejected the bond yet. Rhys just happened to walk in, saw what was happening, and immediately laid out the potential fallout: *what if Lucien caught you?* He spelled it out — a blood duel could follow.

And if that happened, Rhys believed Azriel would win and kill Lucien. That’s a disaster in itself, because Rhys knows Lucien isn’t Baron’s son but Helion’s. Imagine the fallout: Elain wracked with guilt because she hadn’t rejected Lucien and one night with Azriel led to his death; Baron taking it as an excuse to march on the Night Court in “revenge” for his son; and Rhys being forced to reveal the truth about Lucien’s parentage. That’s not romance drama — that’s political chaos.

People also forget Rhys’s view of Azriel’s feelings. Rhys still believes Azriel has unresolved feelings for Mor — because Rhys doesn’t know she’s gay. So to him, it looks like Az has been tangled up with Mor for centuries, and now he’s complicating things further with Elain. Hence Rhys’s pointed question: *What is your plan with her?* Azriel’s silence there says it all.

This is not new behavior for Rhys. Back in *Mist and Fury,* Mor herself tells Feyre about the time she slept with Cassian. Rhys’s reaction was very similar — he thought about the consequences, not the act itself. In Chapter 44, Mor says:

“Rhys came back the next morning, and when he learned what had happened… I’ve never seen him and Cassian fight like that. I know Rhys wasn’t pissed off about my virginity, but about the danger that losing it had put me in. Azriel was angry too, but he let Rhys do the walloping. They knew what my family would do for debasing myself with a bastard-born lesser faerie. And they were right.”

It’s the same pattern. Rhys doesn’t care that Mor slept with Cassian — he cares about what it means for her safety, her future, and the ripple effects on their relationships. Just like with Elain, Azriel, and Lucien. Just like when Nesta gave away the Mask. It’s his job to calculate consequences, whether they touch him directly or not.

That’s why I find it frustrating when people act like this is the first time Rhys has ever “interfered.” It’s not. He’s always been the one to think five steps ahead, whether it’s politics, relationships, or the fate of the world.

And as for the Archeron sisters “unity” narrative — I don’t buy into it. I’m all for forgiveness, but let’s not rewrite history. Feyre has been on her own since she was practically a child. She does love her sisters and wants the best for them — because that’s who she is. And honestly, I admire her for that. Feyre has this endless compassion, this ability to keep caring for others no matter what they’ve done. If more people were like her, the world would be a better place. But I don’t pretend the sisters were always united — they weren’t. Bringing them back into her life as if they were never a problem feels off.

And finally, about Feyre being “selfish.” That says more about the people making the claim than about her. Even Sarah has said one of Feyre’s defining traits is her compassion. If she were selfish, everyone would have starved — she would have hunted just for herself and left. But she didn’t. She carried her family. She risked everything. She sacrificed herself again and again. Calling her selfish is projection, plain and simple.

…

No way I just saw this comment.

Imagine missing your family for 50 years. Imagine thinking you will never see them again. Believing whole heartedly that you’re doomed to live out your immortal life as a sex slave in order to keep your family safe.

And then comes someone, who for the first time in 50 years, reminds you of said family. Who reminds you of that family you are protecting with everything you have including your dignity. And said person is the reason for the first time you feel hope you will see your family again.

And you can see that else on fitting in right at home with your family if you both make it out alive.

"You are my salvation, Feyre."