#gvsjdhdks this is so long i'm so sorry 😂🙈

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

What's your opinion on Vivi? Cos I'm re reading the series and have just finished twk and while she does love her sisters I'm reminded of why I don't like her much there's always something that never struck me right about her mainly it's the whole situation with Heather and how Vivi glamoured her and everything else but also bc of how she deals with her sisters

DISCLAIMER: this post is about defending Vivi Duarte with what little information we are actually given about her, for those who are genuinely open to interpretations on her. if you've made up your mind and do not like Vivi, that's fine, but this is probably not the ask for you!

i love most of the characters in TFOTA. in fact, unless it's Balekin, Valerian, Asha, or Locke, you can be sure i will probably take the time to defend them.

Vivi is funny, outspoken, and (like most HB characters) complex. but i think people's dislike of Vivi is along the same vein as their dislike of Taryn.

both betrayed their sisters in one way or another���Taryn through more obvious modes of betrayal (the Locke situation in TCP and tricking Cardan in TWK), and Vivi through more covert modes (questionable sisterly neglect). but if we look at a person's actions as facts about their character, rather than the result of nuanced motivations, it's easy to dislike them.

i like them precisely because liking them is so much more difficult. not impossible, though—we just have to do a little digging.

I. Words and How They Bind

something very interesting about Vivi that i think is hard to remember for the duration of the series is that, in the prologue of TCP, she vowed to hate Madoc forever:

“'I hate you,' Vivi proclaimed to the tall man with a viciousness that Jude was glad of. 'I will always hate you. I vow it.'”

this isn't something to be taken lightly. it's not a rage-filled but mostly empty threat of a child that can be later assuaged with a few kind words or a handful of sweets. it's a proclamation.

it is explicitly a vow.

to the fae, vows and promises are absolute. just how the people of Elfhame are bound by their word when they pledge themselves to the High King/Queen, or how the fae bind themselves through vows in marriage, Vivi is literally bound to her word.

she will hate Madoc forever.

additionally, it's almost as if she pledged herself to a life of being the opposite of whatever Madoc wants her to be. he wants her to live in Elfhame? she will move to the mortal world when she's old enough. he wants her to attend classes? she will stop going. he wants her to go to the revels and socialise? she'll stay at home and read comic books.

"If it annoys Madoc, it pleases Vivi." (TCP, ch.2)

so it's interesting that Madoc, right after Vivi has made her vow to hate him, tells her not to shirk her responsibilities as the eldest child—and, consciously or not, she proceeds to do exactly that. and perhaps even more interesting is Madoc's constant emphasis on "family over everything", juxtaposed with Vivi's almost apathetic absence from it.

this isn't to excuse Vivi of everything she never noticed with Jude and Taryn by pinning it on some magical vow she made when she was nine. but i do wonder if, because of her vow, there's a little more at play than just carelessness here.

still, even if we are to believe in Vivi's free will, imagine growing up being forced to live with a biological father you viscerally hate, and having your younger sisters—whose parents (and yours) were literally murdered by him in front of your eyes—treat him as more father than murderer.

at that young of an age, i suspect it would be hard to understand why Jude and Taryn didn't hate Madoc viscerally, too. to Vivi, i think it might even feel a little gaslighty.

Jude hints at Vivi's feelings about this in TCP:

“When Vivi wasn't reminiscing about home, she was a terror. She broke things. She screamed and raged and pinched us when we were content. Eventually, she stopped all of it, but I believe there is a part of her that hates us for adapting. For making the best of things. For making this our home.” (TCP, ch.2)

if you're alone in hating someone, it is probably a very isolating experience.

II. Coping or Cop-Out?

Vivi is portrayed as this impulsive, rebel-child with her head in the clouds. her main focus is on escaping a life she never chose for herself. in fact, i think one of the ways Vivi tries to take control of her own life again, after Madoc upends it by murdering their parents, is through escapism.

we see this in her constant fixation on the mortal world, through her voracious consumption of the comics Heather draws, and how she only has one friend in all of Faerie: Rhiya.

“All our new memories are of here, and Vivi has only a passing interest in those.” (TCP, ch. 2)

suffice it to say, she has not bothered putting down roots.

one fascinating theme, which has become apparent to me recently, is that the Duarte sisters each have a very distinct way of handling the trauma they've endured.

Jude carves out a space for herself through strength, skill, and intellect- fight

Vivi seeks any methods of escape- flight

Taryn relies on relationships with others to ensure her security at court- fawn

each of these is a psychologically recognised trauma response. so if Vivi seems distant or detached from the happenings in Faerie, it's because of this coping mechanism.

however, the difference between Vivi's response and that of her sisters, is that hers is a coping mechanism for a memory of the past. Jude and Taryn's responses are survival mechanisms for current ongoing trauma.

i don't think Vivi, as one of the fae, recognises the privilege she has over her sisters.

if there's anything negative to be said about Vivi's character, it is this. that she either presumes that since Madoc claimed Jude and Taryn as his own, they would be just as accepted by the fae is she or Oak is, despite their being mortal; or worse, that she is as Jude suspects—altogether oblivious to the plight of mortals living in Elfhame.

either way, it's not as if any of them talk about it.

but if Vivi's words truly do bind her will, i wonder if existing in a space occupied by Madoc is difficult. i wonder if it weighs more on her than it does on her sisters. i wonder if noticing details of other people's lives is difficult when your mind is totally consumed by a hatred for one person.

i think Jude, of all people, might be able to understand that.

III. Age is Not But a Number

we sometimes forget that, although she is older than Jude and Taryn, Vivi is still a kid herself. i believe she is said to be around 19-20 in the books.

now, i know the "adult" age for humans is 18, but frankly that doesn't really mean anything in our world, much less Elfhame. even with my 25 years (which is still quite young btw), i look back at years 19 and 20 and think about how immature i was then.

i was barely able to care for myself sufficiently. i was in no way qualified to care for a whole other person (or two).

there's this weird theme in YA fantasy novels where the fate of the whole world often rests on the shoulders of kids. where the only adults they know are either obsessed with power or dismissive and impervious. and while i do think kids are capable of a lot, and it's certainly neat to imagine a world where they are given enough respect and credibility to affect positive change in their societies, i don't think it's good or fair to conflate capability with responsibility.

just because someone is ostensibly capable of doing something, it doesn't mean they should have to do it. especially not alone.

which brings me to my biggest point: it was never Vivi's responsibility to raise her sisters.

even when they lived in the mortal world, where the twins were relatively safe, it was presumably Eva and Justin who made sure all of their needs were met. it wasn't Vivi's responsibility then, and it isn't when they get to Elfhame, either.

so my question is, do you actually have a problem with the way Vivi specifically treated the twins? or are you frustrated with her lack of protecting them from the way they are treated by Elfhame in general?

because in my mind, that burden is entirely Madoc's to bear. he assumed the responsibility of protecting them when he murdered their parents. he even says so himself in the prologue of TCP:

“'They are the progeny of my wife and, thus, my responsibility. I may be cruel, a monster, and a murderer, but I do not shirk my responsibilities.'"

yet, how are we meant to believe he honoured his duties to them when they lived every day terrified?

we, as a fandom, seem to have many excuses at the ready for Madoc:

"he loved them in his own way"

"he did the best that he could in raising them"

"he didn't treat them any differently, he regarded them as his own, what an amazing complex relationship!"

and while i think these are commendable and true statements, i also think they should be able to coexist with:

"he didn't do enough to protect them, he should've done more"

"because he was obsessed with power, he was also a bit neglectful"

"he had his own interests in mind more than his children"

so if the twins ever felt unsafe or unwanted in Elfhame, we should only have Madoc (and potentially Oriana, whose guilt is by association) to blame.

IV: Heather the Harbinger of Clarity

to me, Vivi glamouring Heather at Taryn's wedding in TWK was the panicked action of a young person who felt guilty for letting something bad happen to someone she loved. much in the same way as the time Vivi whisked Jude and Taryn back to the mortal world for a few days because they missed home, Vivi just wanted to make the problem go away quickly.

and much in the same way as their escape to the mortal world when they were little didn't fix the girls being homesick, glamouring Heather didn't fix anything like Vivi thought it would. it only made everything worse.

so was it a good move to glamour Heather without her permission? no. it was a mistake.

i don't think she realised the gravity of what she was doing, and it showed the audience (as well as Heather) that maybe she wasn't quite ready for a relationship.

i do think Heather is an important piece of all of this, though. because Heather's problems in Elfhame will be the same or similar to Jude and Taryn's problems. the only difference is, Vivi is directly responsible for what happens to Heather, since Vivi is the one who brought her into the world of the fae.

i'm hopeful that their relationship will shed a light on the subject of mortals in Elfhame that Vivi had yet to see. and perhaps someday we will get to see her make amends with Jude and Taryn, too.

TLDR:

Vivi is bound to her vow of hatred for Madoc, and therefore, is isolated by being the only one who truly hates him.

the way she copes with that is by running away to the only place she's ever known love (the mortal world). this makes her appear detached and neglectful in protecting the twins, which rubs people the wrong way.

but that was never Vivi's job. it was Madoc's.

we see Vivi acting like a kid because she is one. and part of being a kid is acting impulsively and selfishly sometimes.

at the end of the day, Vivi is learning how to best care for herself at the same time as she is learning how to love others to the best of her abilities.

i don't fault her for making the mistakes she does. that's part of growing up.

—Em 🖤🗡

more on words & vows in the fae

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