u/Connect_Lie_6106

After doing posts for Feyre and Cassian, I figured it was time to finally talk about Rhys. Cassian wasn't even in the original plan, but oh well, it happened, and now it's Rhys's turn.

Doing a full series reread after ACOSF completely changed my perspective on him, in the best way possible. A lot of people started turning on him after that latest book, but honestly? I just grew to love him even more, same as I did with Feyre.

​I think ACOSF gave him so much more depth. Seeing him through Nesta's or Cassian's eyes was a completely different experience and it honestly makes me so curious about how he’ll come across from Elain's POV in future books.

Like I mentioned in an older post about his true motivations with Feyre, his absolute priority is her happiness, and I love that so much. It's just so sweet that she always comes first to him 🥺

At his core, he is definitely not "evil." He’s been a gray character right from the start, and he still is. The thing is, Rhys only shows that soft side everyone falls in love with to Feyre, not to everyone else. Not to Nesta, for example, which makes total sense.

Did your feelings about Rhys shift this way too after rereading?

Edit: I already loved him, but l think ACOSF added so many layers of depth to his character that I'm completely in awe of it. He is easily one of my top MMCs now.

​Anyway, I decided to make this post after reading comments from antis claiming that we must be 12 years old, that we have never had any exes, and that we are all just super pure virgins.

​Here is the real deal: SJM writes deep, detailed sexual thoughts and internal desires for male characters exclusively for their endgame partners.

​The main argument I always see from antis is something like, "Well, Feyre was with Tamlin before ending up with Rhys, and >!Celaena was with Dorian then Chaol before Rowan,!< so why cannot Azriel move on from Elain to Gwyn?" But they completely miss the point. The actual issue is that we never read explicit or detailed sexual thoughts from any of these male characters regarding those past partners.

Sure, we already know Azriel is not a virgin and has had past experiences, just like Rhys and Cassian are not virgins either. But we never got intimate, detailed chapters or internal monologues about those past relationships 🤷‍♀️

There is a reason why many Elriels say that if Azriel's feelings are purely lust, it is completely disgusting. I made a post about this before, but let me give a quick summary here. After all that trauma and after being rejected by her beloved former fiancé, Azriel spent time with Elain, and was all of that just to get her into bed?! That is disgusting.

Just like many others, after finishing ACOSF, I decided to go back and reread the entire series from the very beginning. While my views on a lot of characters shifted along the way, this post is going to focus entirely on Feyre.

When I first read the books, I already liked her, and like everyone else, I was totally obsessed with Feysand. But experiencing her journey again after finishing ACOSF gave me a completely different, much deeper bond with her.

Moments I used to breeze right through on my first read suddenly had me tearing up this time around. Reading her introduction to the IC again made me emotional like a fool, and her dynamic and friendship with Cassian took on so much more weight 🥹 Her fractured relationship with Nesta and Elain genuinely broke my heart, and seeing their sibling moments in ACOWAR had me outright weeping 😭

I also came to fully appreciate just how immense her strength really is. Rereading made me realize all over again how fiercely devoted she is to her family so she would literally burn the entire world to ash for them.

In the past, I wouldn't have called her my absolute favorite FMC, but after diving back into the series post ACOSF, she has firmly secured a spot among my all time favorites.

(And while our main focus here is Feyre, I just have to briefly touch on Rhys: I already loved him, but ACOSF added so many layers of depth to his character that I'm completely in awe of it. He is easily one of my top MMCs now.)

It feels like everywhere online, people are constantly debating how their opinions on Nesta changed (naturally, it would), or talking about how much they've started to resent the IC. But I haven't seen many people talking about how much their perception of Feyre improved and softened for the better. So, I wanted to put this out there.

Is anyone else feeling the same way about her?

I see this happening a lot in the fandom. People often blend their personalities together, portraying Feyre as Nesta, Nesta as Elain, Elain as Nesta, or Nesta as Feyre. Here are a few examples:

First, look at how they treat Feyre. Sometimes they write her as overly soft like Elain, while other times they randomly make her as harsh and aggressive as Nesta. And they talk about it as if she wasn't the one carrying this entire house on her back, acting like Nesta or Elain did it instead.

Then there is the classic complaint that Nesta is being parentified. But guess what? The character they are actually talking about in those scenes is Feyre, not Nesta.

On the flip side, they sometimes completely flatten Nesta's character, writing her as if she were this super polite, gently speaking, delicate flower like Elain, which totally erases Nesta's signature sharp and complex edge.

And don't even get me started on Elain. People love to define her based only on her initial mindset from the start of Nesta's book, turning her into an insanely jealous villain acting as if she resents Gwyn and Emerie, which totally ignores her actual gentle nature. They portray Elain like old Nesta.

When they do this, I find myself saying, "Wait, that's not Feyre, that's Nesta," or "That's not Nesta, that's Elain." It really frustrates me when actual fans of the characters do this.

Do you even love these characters for who they actually are?

I have seen antis label Elriel theories as mere wishes. No, our theories are actually grounded in the books. They are not shaped just by what we personally want.

They are genuinely confusing us with themselves, which is why they fail to understand our theories at all 💀. For instance, let me share a few comments and sentences I keep seeing as prime examples:

"I don't understand why Elriels want Elain to be a spy." Elain becoming a spy is not something we made up based on our own desires. SJM is the one who put this into our heads by making her friends with Nuala and Cerridwen and causing Nesta to be suspicious of he. This theory has absolutely nothing to do with wishful thinking.

"Blood Duel is so cringe, why do Elriels want this?" I didn't make up the Blood Duel, nor am I the one who wrote it involving Azriel and Lucien; SJM wrote it herself, and we are building our theories based on that exact text.

Also, people who come up with the ✨️Womb✨️ theory, or bizarre scenarios where Elain is jealous of Gwyn, or where she runs after Lucien and regrets treating him badly, have zero right to call the Blood Duel cringe 🤡

Or just look at these core theories:

- Elain actually has two mates.

- Lucien is not her true mate, but she has no romantic connection to Azriel either.

- Her bond with Lucien is real, but she will still choose to end up with Azriel.

- The bond with Lucien is entirely fake, making Azriel her actual and true mate.

Every single one of these is a legitimate theory, and all of them are text based theories, not products of our own wishes. I'm one of those people who gives a fair chance to all of these theories because, as I said, they actually have solid foundations in the books.

They are simply confusing us with themselves.

Say Elirel actually happens, but you end up disappointed by how it plays out. How likely is that for you?

For example, some Nessian fans felt let down by how Nessian was handled in ACOSF.

What kind of writing or choices would make you disappointed if Elirel happens? Would you even be disappointed at all, and what are the chances of that?

Speaking for myself, I probably wouldn't be. My expectations are pretty simple, like I'm just hoping they go on a spy mission together, but I'm not overcomplicating it or building scenarios in my head.

Plus, I haven't even read any Elirel fics yet. So honestly, whatever we get from Elirel, I’ll be happy with it.

I'm just waiting and hoping for what's been promised to us ✌️