In ACO[idk what] (I read the first 3 books in French okay ?) Feyre says that there are people at the manor but as she was feeling down, Tam sent them away.

Here's what I think : Tam had friends, living under his roof. Surely they would not abandon him when his ex comes back crazy ex girlfriend style, right ?

Did they left ? Why ? They are his friends. Feyre can manipulate people but maybe not that much.

I’m not here to yuck on people’s yum, but I think this chapter solidifies why I’m not and have never been a Feyre/Tamlin supporter.

This one hurts. Because what is the excuse? I know no one wants this and there’s a moral weight of choosing the less of two evils, but I can’t remember Tamlin’s reasoning for doing nothing. He was probably doing something in backend here? Was he working with Hybern here already? I can’t remember!

But I like that this line has two tones from Rhys. At first glance, the night courts high lord—Amarantha’s whore—is being his typical ass self. Knowing the underlying story—it’s Rhys goading him to do something. Challenging him for help as the time is ticking.

For him to add:

Night court imagery

The night, seeming to press in closer around him 

As if he’s been molded from the night itself

I could have sworn tendrils of star-kissed night trailed in his wake 

Love the foreshadowing here

The Great Rite

We love a magic induced orgy. But Lucien’s detailed description has me thinking thoughts

And here we have this chapter dedicated to skinny dipping and Lucien’s backstory and Tamlin with Feyre just feels very bland, superficial, and just curious physical attraction than something deep to me. Whereas Feyre’s inner thoughts regarding Lucien are more emotionally tied.

On second reread, I feel the same. More so on appreciating Lucien and Feyre’s friendship, but even knowing what’s to come and Tamlin’s story, I just don’t feel anything between them—no chemistry or page turning hope they get together.

I'm making this post because I reviewed my Acomaf notes. And there's one note in particular that made me think exactly what the title says.

The note is about Feyre having an internal monologue about how UTM changed her, and that Tamlin achieved what he wanted after regaining his powers; to be protective and a provider.

I find Feyre's statement curious, because Tamlin NEVER expressed that he wanted that. She combined Tamlin's instinct/quality/flaw with his obligation as High Lord and says it's his wish...

That's my interpretation, but reading the first two books, it's clear that Tamlin doesn't see being High Lord as a blessing or something incredible... In fact, it seems like it's too much of a burden for him. That he didn't want this and it's awful and it's wearing him down.

Unlike Rhys, who seems to find being a High Lord wonderful. Power, money, influence, etc. The story of "I'm the CEO," you know? The character seems quite comfortable in the position he's in.

Following this line of reasoning, I also started to think that we know NOTHING about Tamlin outside of critical life situations. We meet him in the curse, where he is melancholic, desperate, yet hopeless, unable to communicate properly, and spends half his time away because of the border. (Most of what we know about the character is superficial, coming from other characters or not as explored as you might imagine following the POV of the character's wife.) In the second book, we meet a traumatized, paranoid Tamlin, a high-ranking lord who NEEDS to pay attention to the people, more unstable and temperamental, more protective to the point of being suffocating.

We don't really know Tamlin outside of that... We don't know much about what he was like, for example, when he helped Lucien and Alis. We don't know what his government was like BEFORE the curse.

I strongly believe that if Tamlin could choose not to be a High Lord, he would choose to just be a soldier or play the violin in corners.So much so that the GREATEST moment of connection between Feyre and Tamlin is when he tells her he's not alone, that Feyre understands better than anyone the weight of being responsible for people... Having a responsibility that both didn't want and didn't expect... That if he didn't do something, nobody would.

Ultimately, perhaps I'm overanalyzing a character that's used to bring a specific couple together... But that's it.Whether it's Feyre's fault for not knowing anything about it, or Tamlin's fault for not saying anything (the most logical and obvious something to think about. He is very emotionally closed off), or the fault of both, we don't know much about Tamlin's most intimate desires... We don't know what his dreams/desires were or his complete past without these incomplete pieces.

It's very different from Rhys, for example, who takes every opportunity to talk about himself... He does it excessively, to the point where every little thing ends up revolving around him. We know what he does in his free time with his siblings, we know what he does with the money (we just don't know how he pays taxes, obviously because nobody tells Feyre and she doesn't want to think about it) And we know that his High Lord routine seems like just an office job because half of the IC seems to be used as a scapegoat.

In contrast, we know nothing about Rhys's hobbies... With Tamlin, at least we know this part, that he enjoys art and gets excited when Feyre says she paints, writes poetry, and plays the violin. Besides probably really enjoying reading or gardening, since her mother's roses seem well cared for (that's my little fan canon).