YMMV / Modern Faerie Tales

• Complete Monster: Of all the wicked fae to inhabit this universe, these are the worst:
  • The original trilogy's Valiant: Mabry(n), a spy of the Unseelie Court (Night Fae Court), uses her position to frame loyal members of her own court and watch them be executed to amuse herself, then uses her magical harp to replay monologues of their deaths to enjoy time and again. While sent to spy on the Seelie Court (Bright Fae Court), Mabry tricks Ravus into killing his friend after the latter catches on to her status as a spy, leading to Ravus's banishment from the Seelie Court along with Mabry. Gaining a petty obsession with getting back at Ravus for the banishment despite being the one who actually caused it, she kills dozens of innocent faeries with poison and frames Ravus for it. Mabry then critically wounds him. Plotting to aid in starting a civil war, when Mabry is confronted by Valerie Russell, she boasts of planning to kill her best friend and using his bones to craft a new accursed harp.
  • The Darkest Part of the Forest: The Alderking is the father of Severin, and an evil fae who murdered Severin's mother and horrifically abused Severin himself, alongside his "sister" Sorrel whom the Alderking kidnapped from the Court of the East upon his exile. The Alderking had Severin murder Sorrel's own human husband, which drove Sorrel into such a wrath she was twisted into a monster called Sorrow, which the Alderking then enslaved using a ring forged from the bones of his former "daughter's" murdered husband. Now aspiring to conquer the Court again, the Alderking appoints the human child Hazel Evans as his soldier for seven years of her life, using her to try and lock away Severin in a glass casket for eternity and attempting to massacre Hazel's home village of Fairfold in revenge for her defiance, reveling in the litany of cruelties he and his servants will visit on every human and fae in Fairfold alike.
  • The Folk of the Air: Prince Balekin Greenbriar desires the throne of Elfhame from his father, King Eldred. A psychopath from a young age, Balekin beat and abused his younger brother Cardan for his entire life, even trying to force him to kill someone, and when his father favors his other sibling Dain as his heir, launches a coup against him, personally murdering his family with only Cardan surviving. Imprisoned for his crimes, Balekin allies with the undersea and helps them lay siege to the land and its populace, kidnaps heroine Jude Duarte and has her tortured for weeks in order to break her into his pet assassin and only allows her return if Cardan forces his subjects to not fight back as he unleashes the undersea to slaughter many civilians, with Balekin targeting the court of King Roiben in particular due to a petty grudge, nearly having Roiben's consort burned alive out of spite. Balekin even tries to kill Cardan by poisoning him with a deadly drug and then frame Jude for the crime, willing to do anything to get the throne for himself.
• Fridge Brilliance: Luis being gay completely explains all the times in Valiant when he ignored Lolli and why he never acknowledged her advances when she came on to him, despite being a depraved teenage boy and her being good-looking and willing.

• Moral Event Horizon: Sweet Jesus, Lolli.
  • Dave essentially rapes Val, and later disguises himself to look like Luis to have sex with Lolli, who doesn't realize it's really Dave.
• Nightmare Fuel: Take your pick.
• Self-Fanservice: Ravus gets this a LOT. In the book, he was described as ugly and monstrous-looking (but having nice golden eyes). However, as Ravus warmed up to Val, he was shown to be a relatively okay guy with an extensive tragic backstory, (which he explains while he makes Val hot chocolate) making him wary of humans and fair folk alike. Top this with his poetic speech and deep voice, and it's easy to understand why many readers picture him as conventionally handsome before they've even finished the book.
• Squick: Val letting Dave sleep with her, while Val was glamoured to look like Lolli and Dave was glamoured to look like Ravus. Especially since Dave starts undressing her while she's still asleep.
• Ugly Cute: Ravus can be considered this. See Self-Fanservice above.

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