I don‘t want to read ACOMAF (Spoilers!)

Tamlin is my favorite character as well because at one point in time I myself was a Tamlin. It’s not something I’m proud of, but it’s not something I’m ashamed of either. Most people don’t understand how much mental trauma, especially the ones you get in war can change a person. But yeah, without going into too much detail, I was a Marine and did several deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. When I came back, I just had this darkness inside of me. Like this ball of anger, guilt that constantly made me lash out. So I saw myself and a lot of veterans with PTSD in Tamlin. Yes, the things he did were wrong. But I couldn’t feel anything but pity for him. Because I understood why he behaved the way he did. Because I and many other veterans have been there.

Lucky for me, I had something Tamlin did not. People who loved me more than I hated myself. If I didn’t I probably wouldn’t be here today.

I’m sad at how things turned out for Tamlin in the end. It’s a grim reminder to me of what tends to happen to those of us who don’t have a support system. Except, in the real world our solution to that problem is a bit more permanent.

/r/acotar Thread