I love you like all-fire

Anti-hero Rhysand, that’s it. He did everything he did for peace or whatever, but he owns it. There is no mask. It was intentional from the start and he doesn’t care what people think of him. Everything that happened UtM wasn’t to protect Feyre. He took her to Night because his hatred for Tamlin runs that deep, because he could and so he did. He came up with the intervention for Nesta because his idea of help is demented; he never hides it and everyone knows. He still doesn’t care but none of this is under pretence of doing Feyre a favour. (We have a whole lot for his feelings towards his court but that will take up the entire post, so moving on)

LolA is manipulative & equally abusive. She is abused by Beron yet she still stays because power is safe and being a Lady gives her that. She abuses her sons emotionally because they are the only ones standing between her and Beron; also she hates them since they are replicas of him.

Beron had and still has bastards to insult LolA as she ran away once (he loves her though, don’t ask what that looks like idk yet). But they were either killed at birth as he couldn’t allow autumn magic flow in such low lives, or never to be found in the court.

Lucien is a traitor. In the overarching theme, he has good intentions and always comes through, but he betrayed his home and Tamlin to figure out his mate. Given their history and all that they’ve been through, Lucien could’ve trusted Tamlin, instead he chose the woman who destroyed his court and ran away like a coward. (This isn’t that special but I don’t see people talking about this enough)

LolA doesn’t love Lucien. She loves what he represents. (Again not far-fetched but she’s a very romanticised idol in this fandom)

Vanserra brothers are distant. Eris and Lucien never had a connection. They have a huge age gap that forced Eris to keep away from the latest baby unless he wanted to look weak or “feminine” to his father. Actually the age gap exists between him and all his brothers, that's how his love for hounds started because he was lonely as a child and thus he's attached to his dogs more than his siblings. Anyway, Eris didn’t care about his own brother being hunted down in Spring either. He had done his part in the escape, you see, if that sucker couldn’t survive even after that, it ain’t his fault. But after their family is pruned in one night, they both realise how badly they wanted to mend their relationship. Eris due to the added burden of protecting the now withering family line and finally seeing a brother in Lucien; Lucien due to his guilt.

Night Court Siblings aren’t any better. Rhysand Sister (probably should name her too, my mind went to Rhysta as in Rhy-ster, then realised that’s a Nesta crackship lol) hates their mother. She hates Rhysand too because he was the golden child to their mother (and probably to their father in a sexist way, but I’m on the fence about this because no drama, no good. Ykw I’m also entertaining the idea of her part in the ambush that killed the mother as well as her)

Rhysand’s mother is a raging misogynist and kept choosing her boy over her girl. She left her only daughter alone to nurture her son for years in the camps because “that is no place for a girl”. She was “protecting her wings” or something along those lines, regardless she’s negligent af.

Rhysand’s father is a sexist but he loved his daughter more than his son because that’s the child he spent most years with and actually raised. He even wished at one point that if anyone in his line rules their court again, it’s his daughter, because she is better than the coddled, insolent wimp of a son (and he clocked Rhysand’s gay ass before anyone else, so he’s homophobic too) but wouldn’t admit to it even if his life depended on it.

Looking back, I now realise how silly that was. If I could go back, I'd shoot myself in the head for thinking that.

Tamlin would've killed Amaratha either way, regardless of how Rhysand acted with Feyre. It doesn't even matter whether Tamlin loved Feyre or not. He still would've gotten rid of Amarantha for thousands of different reasons.

Rhysand assaulting Feyre was just unnecessary and uncomfortable. I feel like its only purpose was to push the enemies to lovers trope.

Except she’s not really his equal at all, because if she was, she would stop him from threatening to kill her sister, bully her sister, and not have information about her own body kept from her.

And he would also actually get off his ass and fully enforce a complete and total ban of wing clipping of Illyrian females aka female genital mutilation instead of repeatedly saying “change takes time.”

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

That's it. That's the post.

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.