Torchwood-99

I’m on page 490 of ACOSF and I have to say a few things…

To say Rhys has been pissing me off this whole book is an understatement. He had no right to keep the truth about the wings a secret, nor did he have a right to threaten Nesta’s life. In fact, telling Feyre was probably the most sisterly thing Nesta has ever done. She’s right, if they’re supposed to all be one big happy family then secrets like this can’t be kept. Everyone being mad at Nesta about it is pissing me off.

I also HATE that SJM is even hinting that Rhys and Feyre can be high king/queen. They ARE NOT fit for that job. Rhys is lowkey losing it with Feyre being pregnant rn and Feyre is still a 21 year old… these people already have more power than they can handle truth be told.

1. The Hewn City – The King of Torture? Rhysand's treatment of the people in Hewn City is straight-up barbaric. The way he holds power over them isn’t out of necessity or to “protect” them from worse rulers—it’s control through fear and violence. He tortures them, plays with their lives, and enjoys maintaining his iron grip on them. It's almost like he uses them as his personal stress toys. Is that really the hallmark of a just ruler? Sure, Hewn City isn’t full of saints, but for Rhys to stand on his high horse and act like he's saving everyone while still torturing his subjects? Hypocrisy at its finest.

2. Rhysand and Feyre – Let’s Talk About Consent Let’s not forget that he literally assaulted Feyre Under the Mountain. I don’t care how anyone tries to frame it as him “saving her” from Amarantha—there’s no excuse for the way he took away her agency. Rhys manipulated her, forced her into wearing those skimpy outfits, and paraded her around for his entertainment. All while pretending it was for the greater good. It's pretty damn disgusting how that gets brushed under the rug like it was some noble sacrifice when in reality, he robbed Feyre of her choices.

3. Planning to Execute Nesta – The Line Between Justice and Control Rhysand and his inner circle legit planned to execute Nesta, all because she didn’t fall in line. Nesta had her faults—hell, a lot of them—but threatening her life because she didn't act the way Rhys wanted? That's not justice; that's manipulation and control at its core. He wasn't trying to protect anyone. He was pissed that he couldn't control her, that she wasn't another cog in his perfect little machine of Night Court harmony.

4. Tamlin – Kicking a Man While He’s Down Say what you will about Tamlin, but there’s no denying that Rhysand completely overstepped every boundary when it came to him. The Night Court loves to preach about freedom, but Rhys had no problem strutting into Tamlin’s land, throwing it in his face, and making an already broken man feel like utter shit. There’s a difference between defending your own and downright antagonizing someone who’s in the depths of depression. At one point, he basically told Tamlin to end his own life. What kind of "savior" talks like that to someone who's clearly struggling? It's downright cruel.

5. The Night Court – A Dictatorship Wrapped in Pretty Words Rhysand's Night Court is sold to everyone as this place of freedom, where people can be who they truly are—but at what cost? If you cross Rhys or don’t fall in line with his vision, you either face his wrath, his torture, or his manipulation. He's not running a court; he's running a dictatorship where everything is fine as long as it aligns with his master plan. The fact that he keeps calling himself the “most powerful High Lord in history” just feeds into that massive god complex he has. The ego on this guy is unbelievable.

6. Double Standards – The Morality of Convenience Rhys preaches about freedom and respect, but he only seems to extend that to people he deems worthy. If you’re in his circle or someone he cares about, great—you get all the privileges. If not? Well, tough luck. He’ll trample over your land, threaten your life, or torture you into submission. The cherry on top? Everyone around him acts like he’s the greatest thing to happen to Prythian, and the fandom just eats it up.

So, yeah. Rhysand is fucked up. He’s not just morally grey—he’s power-hungry, manipulative, and borderline sadistic. His version of “ruling” the Night Court is as hypocritical as it gets. Benevolent High Lord? More like the king of self-righteous cruelty.

7. Locking Up Nesta – Rhysand’s Tamlin Moment Remember how everyone vilified Tamlin for locking Feyre up “for her own safety”? Sure, it was messed up, but the narrative painted him as this controlling, possessive villain because of it. Now, fast forward to Rhysand, who literally does the same thing to Nesta. She’s spiraling, yes, but instead of finding her real help or giving her space to heal, he decides to trap her in the House of Wind like a damn prisoner. He takes away her freedom, isolates her from the outside world, and forces her into a situation she clearly doesn’t want. How is that any different from what Tamlin did?

But here’s the kicker: Rhysand gets praised for it. Why? Because he’s Rhysand, the supposed hero, and everything he does is always “for the greater good,” right? It’s utter bullshit. He used the same controlling tactics on Nesta that Tamlin used on Feyre, but the fandom acts like he was being this saintly, tough-love older brother. What he did was textbook manipulation, stripping away Nesta’s autonomy because she didn’t fit into his perfect vision of what recovery should look like.

8. Forcing Recovery on Nesta – Ignoring Trauma Let’s not sugarcoat this: Rhysand locked up a woman who was using drinking as a coping mechanism and basically said, “Tough luck, you’re staying here until you fix yourself.” That's not helping; that’s punishing someone for their trauma. Nesta was in pain, lashing out and struggling to deal with what happened to her. Did she need help? Absolutely. But instead of offering her real emotional support, Rhys just forced her into a recovery program that suited his standards and timeline, not hers.

What makes this even worse is that Nesta was self-harming through drinking, and instead of addressing the root cause of her pain, Rhysand and his inner circle chose to control her like she was a problem that needed to be fixed, not a person who needed to be understood. There’s nothing noble about that.

9. Rhysand’s Hypocrisy – Tamlin vs. Himself This is where Rhysand’s hypocrisy really shines. He condemned Tamlin for being controlling, and Feyre (rightfully) left that toxic environment. But Rhys turns around and does the same thing to Nesta, and instead of being held accountable for it, he gets celebrated for “taking action.” How does that even make sense? It's such a double standard that it's almost laughable. Tamlin’s actions were wrong, but Rhysand’s were just as bad, if not worse, because he knew better. He knew what it felt like to be controlled, yet he did it anyway.

10. Stop Giving Rhys a Pass People need to stop giving Rhysand a pass for his behavior. He gets away with literal torture, manipulation, locking people up, and trampling over others' boundaries because he’s good at hiding it behind the facade of “protecting his court.” He’s not the hero people make him out to be. He’s just as flawed and fucked up as the people he claims to be better than.

@theladyelizabeth

And I’m like…..he has?

In FaS when he realizes his presence makes her uncomfortable he moves out of the fucking city and puts himself in exile in the human lands so she’s not uncomfortable?

When she gets up to excuse herself in FaS he actually gets up himself and tries to say he was going to leave but she didn’t listen.

When Feyre tries to get him to stay longer with them and uses the promise of forced time together with Elain to try and tempt him he’s disgusted by the tactic and refuses.

In SF we have no mention of him trying to interact with Elain on Solstice. He gives her a gift and when she makes it apparent she doesn’t care he’s hurt sure but he doesn’t make any kind of fuss about it.

And the last time we see him, on Starfall, he’s with Feyre and Rhysand and there is no mention of him trying to approach Elain who is with Varian and Helion.

Lucien is still Feyre’s friend. He still works for Rhysand as an important role. He will need to be at official court functions, he’ll need to be at their residences. And Feyre WANTS him there and WANTS his friendship.

His presence at official gatherings and doing his job and being Feyre’s friend are not harassment.

Being concerned for Elain’s well being is also not harassment. Being attracted to her is not harassment.

Also Elriels:

Feyre's billionaire boyfriend, Rhysand, has spent years using his wealth, influence, and carefully cultivated public image to keep everyone around him firmly under his thumb. If his younger brother, Azriel, isn't abusing his career as a private investigator to conduct illegal surveillance and dig up dirt on anyone Rhysand deems a threat, then it's his half-brother, Cassian, a decorated former soldier and Jiu-Jitsu expert, using his size and strength to intimidate those same people, acting as Rhysand's loyal attack dog who will do anything for his brother.

From the moment Rhysand entered her family's life, Nesta became his favorite target. He blamed her almost exclusively for not doing enough to care for poor Feyre during the years the Archerons lived in crushing poverty, as if it were her fault that Mr. Archeron's business dealings led the family into debt. Every dinner became another opportunity to needle and belittle her under the guise of concern as her brother-in-law. Azriel quietly kept tabs on her every move. Cassian physically restrained or manhandled her whenever she "acted out" after Mor deliberately provoked her. And when Nesta became too difficult to control, Rhysand simply used his money and influence to have her committed to a psychiatric facility for her "own good."

The cruelest betrayal, however, came from Cassian.

He was the man Nesta married. The man she genuinely believed would choose her when it mattered.

Instead, he chose his family.

Every. Single. Time.

Whenever she tried to voice her fears or express her growing paranoia, he dismissed her concerns as irrational, flew into angry outbursts whenever she questioned Rhysand's motives, and quietly sabotaged every promising career opportunity that came her way, ensuring she remained financially dependent on him and unable to leave.

So Nesta does the only thing she believes will finally set her free.

She disappears.

At which point they will find an ovarian cyst, but they now get whatever fucked up satisfaction they derive out of proving you wrong, because you didn't believe it could a cyst at all, but guess what? They did find a cyst! It's such a good thing you didn't listen to your intuition and came to them to verify your lay diagnosis from that third party! Bonus? Doctor doesn't have to feel like they look stupid in front of a patient, which is really what all this is about. Not your health, why would you think your medical diagnosis is about your health? It's obviously about a doctor's potential ego.

And apparently this works. Apparently you just need to be able to always play 4D chess with your medical professionals in order to find an avenue of advocating for yourself and getting you medical needs met. Isn't that great?

If this is the case, then why is Mary apparently eager to show her and Jane everything that she's been up to the moment they get back from Netherfield, evidently in the full confidence that they will listen to her ("They found Mary, as usual, deep in the study of thorough bass and human nature; and had some new extracts to admire and some new observations of threadbare morality to listen to")?

Where, for that matter, is even one piece of evidence in the text that Mary is particularly ignored by anybody?

Elizabeth never tries to guide or discipline Kitty and Lydia.

That's not her job.

Yes, she quite literally does ("Elizabeth had frequently united with Jane in an endeavour to check the imprudence of Catherine and Lydia; but while they were supported by their mother’s indulgence, what chance could there be of improvement?").

Elizabeth thinks she's better than Jane, like when she says "I am happier even than Jane; she only smiles, I laugh."

I'm going to need you to go to the dictionary and look up the word "joke" for me.

Elizabeth is a gold-digger, like how she loved Darcy after "first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley."

The point here is that seeing Pemberley gave her a better idea of him as a prudent, responsible, tasteful, unextravagant, conscientious man—it isn't just that he owns a lot of stuff.

You cannot convince me that if you found out you had passed up the chance to live amongst every possible comfort and beauty of architecture and nature for the rest of your life, you wouldn't briefly be like "oh damn"

I'm going to need you to go to the dictionary and look up the word "joke" for me.

Elizabeth thinks she's a better judge of character and circumstances than Jane is.

Perhaps at the beginning of the book. Later, she castigates herself for having "disdained the generous candour of my sister, and gratified my vanity in useless or blameless distrust."

Jane doubted Wickham's story about Darcy, not because she could discern that he was a liar, or that there was something suspicious about the story, but because she would deny the truth of any story that alleged that anybody had done something wrong. I can't see that "nobody would really do that! just go to aunt Phillips's and lie!" is a good read on the situation, and in fact her opinion does not end up being correct (Darcy has not been misrepresented to Wickham by interested parties, nor was their mutual dislike occasioned by any kind of mistake).

Elizabeth doesn't listen to Miss Bingley's advice about Darcy and Wickham, even though Miss Bingley has been his close friend forever, and she doesn't know him at all.

You mean the bit where Miss Bingley said "I pity you, Miss Eliza, for this discovery of your favourite’s guilt; but really, considering his descent, one could not expect much better"? That's the advice that you think Elizabeth should have listened to? That? That's the advice? That's the advice she's at fault for disregarding? That advice?

Elizabeth is a pick-me when she says “I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing any.”

Where do I start here.

I feel like you've got to be white because this is not a usage of the term "pick-me" that is conversant with its origins.

Elizabeth saying that she doubts the existence of this uber-"accomplished" woman only counts as dissing other women if you agree with Miss Bingley's implication that women's worth and value lies in whether or not they tick off various skills on a list of "accomplishments." Aka you have missed the point of this scene.