Thread by @the_geeky_rose

Usually when I reread ACOTAR, I only go to the sections when Feyre's at Spring Court.

Decided to read the early chapters. Dear God, Nesta and Elain were the absolute worsttttttt.

(Strangely relatable)

"You're just a half-wild beast with the nerve to bark orders at all hours of the day and night. Keep it up, and someday - someday, Feyre, you'll have no one left to remember you, or to care that you ever existed."

WAY HARSH NESTA

(Legit my feelings right now)

"We need hope as much as we need bread and meat. We need hope, or else we cannot endure. So let her keep this hope, Feyre. Let her imagine a better life. A better world."

"There is no such thing." (Agreed!)

See, when hope comes back in ACOFAS, Feyre should have remembered her dad saying this. Especially after some events.

Huh, it took me until ACOMAF to realize this and it was there all along:

"Not me, because Nesta had always known and hated that she and I were two sides of the same coin, and that I could fight my own battles."

"I'd be little more than a lamb in a kingdom of wolves."

Nice.

After Lucien criticizes her and THEN introduces himself, he says "Your eyes are like stars, and your hair like burnished gold."

STARS, YOU SAY?

(I love my precious bb)

*sobs* I miss the friendship between Tam and Lucien.

FIX IT FEYRE! YOU HAVE TO FIX IT

"...and it tugged at that useless part of my mind that admired lovely and strange and colorful things."

It me

"You're all masters of spinning your truths to your own advantage."

True of EVERY CHARACTER IN THIS SERIES

Everyone says when rereading ACOTAR after knowing how the whole series ends, they hate Tamlin even more.

I somehow love him even more?

This is probably because of my Beauty and the Beast obsession.

And I. Don't. Care.

But Lucien is still the absolute best

"Were you admiring my sword, or just contemplating killing me, Feyre?"

I would have been admiring the sword. Sorry Lucien.

"So, when are you going to start trying to persuade me to beseech Tamlin to find a way to free you from the Treaty's rules?"

Lucien (and Alis) have ALWAYS seen right through her. Love it.

"...if not a High Lord, then a High Lady. If that was even possible."

Hehehehe

Plot hole or identity confusion for Lucien: "I don't have a natural-born affinity, if that's what you're asking."

Hmmmm

She thinks of pleasant things like "a starry, unclouded night sky, peaceful and glittering and endless."

Some things maybe were obvious...

"You don't hold on to power by being everyone's friend."

EXCUSE ME, LUCIEN. I SAY YOU CAN.

"We're too powerful, and too bored with immortality, to be checked by anything else."

Yeah, sounds like a waste tbh

I will never stop being confused that people hated Tamlin in the first book with all the circumstances.

Like how do you manage to completely ignore the hell he's in?

That wasn't his fault. (Yet)

"That's what happens when you're responsible for lives other than your own, isn't it? You do what you have to do."

MIDDLE CHILD

"Has anyone taken care of you?" 😢

"I'd long stopped feeling sorry for myself about it."

"I'm an immortal. I have nothing *but* time, Feyre."

This line hits VERY differently now.

Poor Trash Beast High Lord.

The Night Court: "a land of lethal beauty"

You have *no* idea.

"Why should I mock you for a shortcoming that isn't your fault?"

It's so fascinating that the negative voice Feyre hears is Nesta.

Ugh, sisters.

"I'd been equally foolish for feeling a shred of pity for him - for the lone, brooding faerie, for someone I had so *stupidly* thought would really care if he met someone who perhaps felt the same, perhaps understood - in my ignorant, insignificant human way..."

"- what it was like to bear the weight of caring for others. I should have let his hand bleed that night, should have known better than to think that maybe - maybe there would be someone, human or faerie or whatever, who could understand what my life - what *I* - had become..."

"...these past few years."

(Psst, both of them totally understand)

"I hope your secrets are worth it."

Oh Lucien. I still very much wish the Suriel and you had a scene together.

"It means that I don't know you. I don't know who you are, or *what* you really are, or what you want."

This is literally the description of every High Lord (except Tarquin; probably because he's "young") and why I want them abolished.

THE SURIEL ❤❤❤❤

"I wanted to tell him how much that meant - that the High Lord of the Spring Court thought I was *worth* saving - but couldn't find the words."

My bb Feyre 😭

"I had a feeling I would surely be a fool to ignore his advice."

Lol girl. You followed one piece of his advice. ONE. And it changed meanings.

"...because I didn't detect a trace of triumph in him, but rather a deep, unending sort of shame and defeat."

My poor Trash Beast High Lord

I love that Alis kind of becomes Feyre's second mom.

"Of course we can lie. We find lying to be an art."

Yeah, yeah. We know.

"You went to catch the Suriel."
"I caught the Suriel."

Sass master Feyre

"Against slavery, against tyranny, I would gladly go to my death, no matter whose freedom I was defending."

WHY ARE YOU SO HATED?!??!

"I wasn't sure if I would do the same. My priority would be to protect my family - and I would have picked whatever side could keep them safest. I hadn't thought of it as a weakness until now."

This is telling.

"I truly had nothing to fret about, save for the fact that they'd probably forget me sooner than expected. I couldn't entirely blame them. My vow fulfilled, my task complete - what was left for me?"

☹

I feel like everyone ignores a huge chunk of what Tamlin does in this book. And just focuses on what happens Under the Mountain and beyond.

I've heard stuff like it's manipulative what he does but he's not sending out those creatures to make himself look better in front of her.

I'm still not seeing anything different from my original read.

Yes, they're toxic. But in my eyes, both relationships are.

I feel like I understand what she was doing with Tamlin all along.

"If I was supposed to stay here, stay with him, then I could at least attempt to repair what I'd ruined."

Can you come to this realization again? Because something desperately needs to be repaired. And you are half to blame.

The glen! 😍😍😍

Still maintain that Beron is way worse than Tamlin.

"It didn't quite excuse everything Lucien had said and done to me, but...I understood now. I could understand the walls and barriers he had no doubt constructed around himself."

There is just so empathy oozing throughout the series.

What I have loved is that you can disagree with the characters, but you also recognize the why behind those actions. She is such a great writer.

"I'd had enough of that lately, enough of...of that girl encased in ice and bitterness."

"Don't bury it in my back, please."

Nah, she's crueler than that but you both forgive each other.

I wish more people drew Feylin scenes from ACOTAR. The glen, the pool of starlight, Summer Solstice...I want it all

One, it was never explained *why* she all of a sudden started having bad dreams involving Amarantha and the other creatures.

Two, "all watched over by a shadow I could never quite glimpse"...is that Rhys? Could she sense him?

"A whisper of a miserable life - gone, unremembered by anyone whom I'd known or cared for."

☹ again

"Don't feel bad for one moment about doing what brings you joy."

I really need to start living this statement fully.

And the limerick scene!

I don't get it. I don't get it at all.

Everyone is too mean to him.

"Oh, I can play a mean fiddle, but High Lords' sons don't become traveling minstrels."

Art, AU fic, please someone give me this.

"I was spared for whatever reason or Cauldron-granted luck."

Definitely not luck. But something deeper.

(He still wants to kill you though)

"There was a string - a string tied to my gut that pulled me toward those hills, commanding me to go, to hear the faerie drums..."

👀

She's not wrong...

"But a wild, wicked voice weaving in between the drumbeats whispered otherwise. 'Go,' the voice said, tugging at me. 'Go see.'"

I know whose voice that is...

"There you are. I've been looking for you."

😭😭😭😭

Why does Rhys constantly put his hands in his pockets?!?!?

I call bullshit at anyone saying they knew that who turns out to be Rhys would factor in later.

And since you're reading from Feyre's POV, she is so scared of him! Not buying it.

I still find most of his interactions with Feyre infuriating.

So much could have been avoided!

Another plot hole: "We do this by conducting the Great Rite. Each of the seven High Lords of Prythian performs this every year..."

Except no, because another High Lord definitely did NOT the following year. Well, technically two, but the ceremony still happened.

(And he wasn't performing the Rite at this time either. Weird.)

Ugh, I know that scene is super problematic but I still find it very hott.

😬

So, do we think he destroyed all her paintings or did he keep the one she did of her forest?

(Another scene I'd like art for)

"But they never understood. What it was like, what it *is* like, for me to care for my people, my lands. What scars are still there, what the bad days feel like."

(The two of them fell in love with her for the SAME REASON because they are all the SAMEEEEE)

"This reminds me of it."
"Of what?"
"That I'm not alone."

MY POOR LONELY TRASH BEAST HIGH LORD 😭😭😭

"Magic - *everything* was magic, and it broke my heart."

I COULD USE SOME MAGIC RIGHT NOW

"You're exactly as I dreamed you'd be, too."

I feel like this is said multiple times by our three VERY SIMILAR LEADS

One of my favorite silly details is how Tamlin like lounges in his chairs. He just can't be bothered to sit properly most of the time and it's highly relatable

"If I offer you the moon on a string, will you give me a kiss, too?"
"Don't be an ass."

I MISS YOU TWOOOOOO

"You never made me feel like a prisoner."

Oops.

"Cauldron boil me. She looks positively Fae."

Seriously, Lucien has some crazy foresight

(Makes sense that he's mated to that character...if SJM allows my precious bb to actually be HAPPY for once in his miserable life)

"Unfortunately for you and your neck, tonight's just a party."
"Do you lie awake at night to come up with all your witty replies for the following day?"

THE. BEST. BFFS. IN. THE. SERIES.

"Today, let caution be damned. Forget the blight hovering at the edges of the court, threatening my High Lord and his lands."

Look at Feyre getting possessive.

"Tam would gut me if he caught you drinking that."
"Always looking after your best interests."

These two, I swear.

I can't. Summer Solstice is my favorite and the lack of art for these scenes KILLS ME.

Oy, now we hit a chapter I do NOT like and is something I still hold against Rhys!

(I realized I never gave Rhys a nickname à la Trash Beast High Lord, and he is also trash soooo, hello Trash High Lord of Darkness)

"You bit my neck on Fire Night. If I can face you after that, a few kisses are nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm trying to eat." - LOL LUCIEN FOREVER

"I'd never dared to paint him - and now knew I would never have the nerve to."

Liarrrrr

"No, I would never dare to paint that dark, immortal grace - not in a hundred years."

Mmmk

I want way more about Rhys and Tam's friendship before it all went to hell.

"You *dare* glamour *me*?"

Such Loki energy.

"I threatened to kill you for your ~protection~" isn't much better than "I locked you in the manor for your ~protection~" but what do I know?

There is just such a warped sense of showing love here.

Feyre, you're better than both of them

"But I felt AWFUL afterward!"

Yeah yeah sure. That's why you're Trash High Lord of Darkness.

BECAUSE YOU ARE SUCH TRASHHHH

"If it's any consolation, she would have been the one for you - and you might have gotten away with it. A bit late, though. She's more stubborn than you are."

I cannot.

This is exactly why I rank them the same.

Because they're both pretty awful but I also can't help loving them for different reasons.

Rhys definitely doesn't deserve as many passes as he's gotten in my eyes.

I actually think Rhys comes across worse in ACOTAR than Tamlin does in this reread.

Again, they're both super toxic too.

Meh, whatever.

"Give me everything."

Guhhhh

"I don't like goodbyes. If I could, I'd just walk out and not say anything."

This happens TWICE

Hmmm, if Tamlin's so manipulative, why doesn't he ever throw in Feyre's face that he's the one who truly helped her family? It's literally never brought up again or used as a threat against her leaving and whatever.

I can't

(And based on his feelings toward her family, I doubt Rhys would have been so generous. Just saying.. )

Hmmm, totally forgot that Feyre taught Nesta to paint.

Sounds like Nesta would benefit from Feyre's business venture in ACOFAS...

"...and yet I'd stopped looking for answers, stopped fighting it, glad - so selfishly glad - to be able to set down that savage, wild part of me that had only survived hour to hour."

I really like this entire paragraph.

"I hadn't tried to save him. I hadn't even told him I loved him. And Lucien...Lucien had known it, too - and shown it in his bitter words on my last day, his disappointment in me."

LUCIEN KNOWS ~EVERYTHING~

"I don't think I'd be particularly fond of faeries."

Oh, you're not.

"There were no limits to what Neata might do, what she might make of herself once she found a place to call her own."

I really wish we get to see this come to fruition.

Ah, Trash Mortal Jurian...

"I don't believe in Fate. Nor do I believe in some ridiculous *Cauldron*."

Spoke too soon, my dear.

Hmmm it's never mentioned if *spoiler* actually got to use that finger again?

"I came to claim the one I love."

*sigh* Tamlin has never mentioned Clare...😬

(I don't fully forgive Rhys for that either though)

(Both of them did it to ~protect~ her)

"But Fate stirs the Cauldron in strange ways."

Yes, Amarantha, and this is the strangest!

Yeah, even here, there's some sympathy toward Jurian. Fascinating.

Aw man, Lucien does have a kill list! Let's see, his dad, brothers, probably Rhys...

"He hadn't even removed his hands from his pockets."

WHY DOES HE DO THAT?!?!?

Ugh, Eris. Go awayyyy

"At times I seem to favor the clever and the fair, / But I bless all those who are brave enough to dare"

"I ignored Rhysand as soon as I noticed his feline smile, the corona of darkness around him."

*snort*

I guess her PTSD from this experience led to all the panicking, not realizing she could get away from danger moments in ACOMAF.

Because she's keeping rather calm in the first task.

Love that she calls Lucien's voice a shooting star

MY BFFS

"What would Tamlin say if he knew his beloved was rotting away down here, burning up with fever?"

I like that he's murmuring this, like he's not freaking out about the same thing.

"I bet you'll be spitting on Death's face when she comes to claim you, too."

Those are some words coming from you

Did we ever find out the real reason he wanted Feyre to come to the Night Court? I can't remember if it factored into his confession

I so wish for an AU where Rhys didn't just try to screw with Tamlin through Feyre and that they worked together to overthrow Amarantha.

Because then this actually would be a fun love triangle

"As wonderful as it is to see you, Feyre, darling..."

Ah, the beginning of his term of endearment for her

"Each of us has a beast roaming beneath out skin, roaring to get out."

It'd really be interesting to see Feyre's and not just in a vision.

"I find wings and talons to be more entertaining."

"A lick of cold kissed down my spine."

Hmmm

"Horrific, stunning - the face of a thousand nightmares and dreams."

You know, I quite like this scene between the two of them. He isn't being that much of an ass here.

He's not soft Rhys either, but better than the previous scenes by far

"No attempts at flattery?"
"You have a high-energy opinion of yourself already. I doubt the flattery of a little human matters much to you."
"I can't decide whether I should consider you admirable or very stupid for being so bold with a High Lord."

Rhys is really like 😍

Also these two lines are great:

"I had made a very, very big mistake in offering my life to him."

"He let out a low laugh that slid along my bones, warming my blood."

Argh and here's where I really hate him again!

Sidenote: Tamlin cares most about Lucien and Feyre. They are the two constantly brought out by Amarantha for torture. And OW MY HEART for what happens later.

It all fits.

"You look just as I hoped you would."

"From the cobwebs of my memory, I recalled similar words Tamlin had once whispered into my ear."

THEY. ARE. THE. SAME. TRASH. HIGH. LORDS.

"For the rest of my life - he said it as if it were going to be a long, long while."

👀

Yup, still hate the drugging.

Still hate that it's handwaved away and fans don't see it as a bad thing.

"The kindest, sweetest soul"...not with this.

"I'm glad to see you didn't sell your lively human spirit or stubbornness to Rhys."

I LOVE MY PRECIOUS BB LUCIEN

"Your court fell, too."

"Sadness flickered in those violet eyes."

I'm still mad at him for the drugging but knowing who he's thinking of at this moment...gah

"What I do or have done for my Court is none of your concern."

Sure, sure

"What do you want with me? Beyond taunting Tamlin."
"Taunting him is my greatest pleasure."

Dick.

"You saved my life."
"And through *your* life, I saved Tamlin's."
"Why?"
"That, Feyre, is the real question, isn't it?"

ALL OF THIS NEEDED TO HAPPEN

OH MY TARQUIN, BEST OF THE HIGH LORDS

Alright, does he do the pocket thing to be like, "Yes, I'm ~so powerful~ that I barely have to make an effort to show when I'm using my powers"?

Oh. OH!

Amarantha also calls her "Feyre darling".

WHOA

"I listened to him, let him keep me tethered to sanity..."

You're tethered to more than that

"I cried for that trivial part of me, once so full of color and light - now hollow and dark and empty."

Ouch.

"All I had wanted - all I had dared want, was a life that was quiet, easy. Nothing more than that. Nothing extraordinary."

😭

Yeah, the licking away of tears is gross. Sorry. Not my fave.

"I couldn't entirely blame her; I doubted I would ever forget or forgive something like that being done to Nesta or Elain, no matter how many centuries had passed."

"Sometimes, if I stared at the ceiling long enough, it became the vast expanse of the starry night sky, and I became a small, unimportant thing that blew away in the wind."

"This wasn't music to dance to - it was music to worship, music to fill in the gaps of my soul, to bring me to a place where there was no pain."

This is what music is for me.

(Still kinda sad that this gift wasn't sent by who I originally thought)

Would love to know why she had that vision, especially since he was so confused about it happening at all

I hate the revisionist history of this scene in ACOMAF.

You just wanted him for a few minutes too! You also thought you were done for! Stop putting all the blame on him!

"I wonder how she'd punish you. Or perhaps she'd stay true to habit and punish Lucien."

So, so telling that this is what really gets to Tamlin.

*sobs* My babies

"Why do you think I'm doing this?"
"Because you're a monster."
"True, but I'm also a pragmatist."

I really wish he had been open with her from the start. Another AU I'm dying for.

I still believe Tamlin felt such guilt over the Spring/Night Court fiascos and that's why he didn't reveal the truth about his family's deaths.

But you know, a tool 🤷‍♀️

Another revision I disapprove of: he literally couldn't do anything to fight her at that point because he was so injured!"

"A sword hurtled through the air, a shooting star of steel."

Shooting stars are attributed to Lucien a lot

Huh, the first High Lord to give the gift was not who I expected at all.

Why would he do that?

(Yes, I already knew what happened, but I have a better grasp on the High Lords now and this makes very little sense)

Eh, I guess Seasonal Court alliance was important?

But my Tarquin 100% should have been first.

HELION!

WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO TAMLIN?

IS IT JUST BECAUSE OF THE ~SECRET~?

I MUST KNOW!

"This makes us even."

DOES IT NOW?!

"He was exactly how I dreamed he would be."

There it is! All three of them.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Later."

This is why your relationship failed.

"Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don't feel anything at all."

Gah, I still love it. I still love Tamlin.

It could be a perfect stand alone novel.

But I'm so glad we got more.

@threadreaderapp unroll