#I have no memories for fae but we gonna say that the flowers were totally meant for this | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

magicmoontea · 4 years ago

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Illuminated Fantasies (2/2)

Characters: Beckett Harrington x f!MC (Iris Atwood), Pend Pals

Rating: NSFW! The sexual parts are at the end, so if you want, there is plenty of story before it gets dirty 30 diamond level.

Word Count: Over 10,000. I went overboard. ~30 min read

Summary: Part 2! Part 1 can be found here. It’s the Summer Solstice and Iris and the Pend Pals are celebrating! With the surge of magick from the Sun, Iris has just confessed to Beckett...how will he respond?

Notes: I’m so sorry for the long delay!! I love reading longer, fleshed out pieces, so I really wanted every moment to be captured. Hopefully you enjoy because this took so much of my heart and time! I took some lines from the book and mashed them together in my own way. This was created for a choices challenge way back in April where “Fantasy” was the theme.

“Wh-What?” Beckett stuttered out, clearly thrown off by Iris’ confession. He instantly sat up straight on the couch, running his nervous hand that was just touching her through his hair, tousling it immediately, and Iris was instantly missing his contact.

Whether he realized it or not, Iris felt his magickal energy start swirling around them.

He then stood up and started to walk around in front of Iris in lazy circles, clearly deep in thought. This made her empathetic self on edge. Beckett was always quickly composed and thought every step through before he acted, so this was a new side of him that she was witnessing. She wanted to know desperately what he was thinking.

“Yeah….” Iris blushed furiously, not really thinking about the part that came after a confession like that. She felt the air and energy change in the room, and magick sparked around them as if in the perfect conditions for a magickal storm. She wasn’t sure what his reaction would be after she allowed herself to be completely influenced by her Sun magick, but she didn’t think he’d have such a strong magickal effect.

Iris felt a soft breeze of air flowing around them, dancing across her skin, and she couldn’t help but smile slightly at the feel of his magick around her. His air magick slightly brushed her hair from her shoulders. He slowly stopped his pacing to look at her then.

His gaze bore into her hazel eyes so deeply, like he was searching for guidance in them. Under his gaze, she felt herself open up to him even more, like a flower finally, slowly blooming in the right conditions. She dropped all of her guards in their silent communication through their eyes, and in a burst of raw emotion, her Sun magick intertwined with his to create a gentle warm breeze around them.

“....And…that is something, you…. you want?” Beckett broke the silence as he nervously asked, blushing so hard that she could basically feel the heat coming from his body. She broke out in a smile at the sight of the handsome blushing Metal-Att in front of her. She loved making him flustered, and pushed away any fear that he would not return the feelings, and just allowed herself to be present in the moment.

“For someone as brilliant as you, I would have thought you would have figured that out long ago.” Iris teased and couldn’t help but let out a light hearted giggle.

“I...I,” Beckett started and stopped. He cleared his throat as if he was trying to regain some control over the situation. “I would never have guessed in a million years that you felt that way about me. Iris, I don’t even know what to say. I’m not good at this.”

He moved to then sit down next to her on the couch and immediately his knee started to bounce up and down, and Iris started to feel herself doubt herself as she felt how nervous he was. Was he trying to let her down easy?

Oh shit. What did I just ruin? Her mind betrayed her earlier confidence. She reached out and grabbed his knee to stop the anxiety habit and ease him.

“Listen. You don’t have to say anything. Let’s just keep this moment,” Iris spoke softly but felt her throat tighten up as her body was starting to have a very emotional reaction to the thought of losing Beckett due to pushing boundaries. Stupid Sun magick confidence.

“Iris.” He furrowed his eyebrows like he was deep in thought over how to say his next words. “I would very much like to hear what the fantasy spelled showed you. If you want to tell me that is.” He spoke so gently as if afraid the moment was going to be spooked and run away if he approached it too quickly.

She started retelling it softly, “Okay. Well, the vision was of me waking up and having a strong reaction to a nightmare. Funny enough, even in my fantasy life, I’m not well mentally.” She laughed slightly at herself to ease the building tension inside of her.

She took a little breath and continued, looking down at her nervous hands in her lap as she spoke, “But you were there. You instantly knew what to do to make me feel safe. You didn’t do a whole lot, but I felt so loved, Beck. I didn’t fantasize about being not fucked up. I dreamt about you loving me for me, even though I’m so messed up.” As she spoke, tears threatened to fall and gathered at the corners of her eyes, feeling exposed and so tired of having to be strong all the time.

He quickly reached out to her as if she was falling, and he was the only person able to catch her. The gold detailing on all the candlesticks next to them started to curl up and bend in shape, as a burst of Metal magick left him. He cupped her face and spoke so vulnerably and choked out his words with so much feeling. Her tears started to fall softly.

“Iris. I wish you could read my mind so you could see how much you mean to me. I know I’m not good at this.” He gently wiped away her tears with his thumb and continued, “But, I know you. The real you, Iris. And you’re not fucked up. Please don't ever say that about yourself. You are so beautiful. Oh God, you are so beautiful.”

His lips were on hers before she could truly process what he was saying. The moment of feeling his kiss for the first time was a memory her lips would keep forever, and when she felt his trembling fingers caress her face and neck, she kissed him harder.

They didn’t let their minds and second thoughts stop the intimate moment. His lips were softer than she expected, and she felt herself craving the feeling of his kiss as the moments passed. He returned her passion as equally, and she was honestly surprised at how hungrily he captured her lips. She was completely under his spell.

From this close, she was surrounded by the smell of his cologne, fresh and intoxicating. She could feel his energy and magick bouncing off of him in waves, and she welcomed it. Running her fingers through his hair, she moaned slightly in his mouth, as she had always wanted to do that.

His tongue ran along her bottom lip and caressed her own, and she wanted to never forget the way he tasted. Iris smiled into the kiss and pulled her body even closer to his, almost on top of his lap. This little moment was pure bliss.

Well almost.

Reality crashed hard as they pulled apart abruptly when they both heard someone making their way into the room. Iris was about to murder her twin, who was currently drunkenly yelling, asking where she was.

“IRIS! You in here? I know you ain’t in the bathroom. Because I checked. And there are SO many bathrooms on this floor alone,” Atlas shouted as she entered Sherya’s massive sunroom taking in the extravagant surroundings. “What fucking room is this, now?”

“Yeah, I’m here. Now stop yelling,” Iris said and stood up getting some distance from the blushing Beckett who had swollen lips. Shit. She’s totally going to know.

“Dude, I looked for you everywhere! But side note, why, why do people need 42 bathrooms? One of them literally had a golden bathtub, and that’s just what they have on the main floor!” Atlas continued not being too observant of her twin before her.

“I needed a moment, and then Beckett found me here, and we were talking. Didn’t mean to worry anyone.” Iris decided to keep it short as she was nervous her intuitive twin would know what happened, and she definitely wasn’t ready to share that with her.

“Oh. Becky is here, too. I thought you went to talk to plants or something?” Atlas turned her attention now to Beckett who clearly did not appreciate the new nickname.

“Not Becky, ever. And yes, I was actually interested in studying the plants in the sunroom, and I found Iris here, funny enough.” Beckett was quick with his story leaving Iris impressed.

“Becky will stick, just see. Well, come on guys. Zeph is gonna leave soon, but he wants to do the wish to the faes together before he goes.” Atlas motioned for them to follow her, so they had no choice but to leave their moment they had built together and follow her.

“Yes, that is good timing actually because I was planning on leaving shortly as well. I will make my leave after the fae wish as well,” Beckett stated so matter of factly, that Iris was nervous that he regretted what happened. She felt him trying to make eye contact, but she couldn’t return it without Atlas getting suspicious.

Silently, they made their way back to Shreya’s backyard to sit around the bonfire once more joining in their friends’ conversation. Iris had to do everything in her power to appear normal, but her thoughts were consumed by Beckett's hands on her neck, the way his breathing changed as he kissed her harder, and the feel of his soft lips kissing her over and over.

“No way, so you guys kissed?!” Griffin asked loudly. Iris jumped in her seat at the question and turned to Beckett who was already staring at her wide eyed.

Shreya laughed at the question directed to her, “Yes! Even with that terrible button up shirt, I still kissed him!” They were engaged in a conversation that Iris and Beckett missed, and it took several moments to still Iris’ beating heart at the thought that they were that obvious and caught.

Beckett’s laughter surprised Iris even more, but then she couldn’t help but join him, making him laugh harder. The rest of the group stopped talking and looked at them quizzingly.

“Sorry, just thinking of a funny joke Iris said earlier.” Beckett smiled a lopsided smile at Iris that made her stomach do flip flops.

“Wow, Beckett’s drunk. Never thought I’d see the day.” Zeph said, teasing him and elbowing his side.

“They’re here!” Aster clapped her hands excitedly and everyone stopped talking then to look at the beautiful flickering and glowing lights in the distance as the faes took the Summer Solstice cookies offerings the Pend Pals placed earlier.

“Everyone make your wish!” Aster shouted and closed her eyes eager and loving the tradition.

Iris closed her eyes and as soon as she did, she felt the essence of Beckett wash over her even more. His energy and magick strongly coursed through her body. Completely influenced by him, she made her wish.

Faes, on this beautiful summer solstice night, I feel my magick stronger than ever before. I feel your magick, and I also strongly feel his magick. My wish is to live my life with no expectations of what others have of me. To allow myself to feel without fear.

She felt so lighthearted and free after releasing her wish. The amount of emotions and depth of the feelings that she had encountered today was exhausting if she stopped and thought about it. Even with the vision she had this morning of him kissing her in her underwear (that part didn’t happen sadly), she was still thrown off by his pure raw emotion that she briefly felt tonight. It shook her to core, and she was aware of the change that was forming inside her. He was swimming in the waters that was breaking her levee refusing to let her be the same as before.

“I always loved doing that with my grandma and sister. Since they’re gone at their Water-Att women retreat, I appreciate you guys filling in. You guys are the best! “ Zeph beamed at his friends and wrapped his arms around Beckett and Griffin’s necks, happily affected by the magick the night brought.

“Anytime, buddy. Anytime.” Griffin patted his back amused. With that everyone started to say their goodbyes for the night and made their promises to keep in touch as the summer passed. Iris hugged all her friends, and when she got to Beckett, all her senses came alive, watching his every move.

“Goodnight, Iris.” He spoke softly, and she could see the hint of pink tickling his cheeks. He took her into his arms, and she held onto him tightly. She didn’t want to be too obvious in front of the others, but her body couldn’t help but react when she was around him.

“Goodnight. Thank you for everything.” Iris whispered only loud enough for him to hear, and he squeezed her a little tighter in response. Pulling apart they started to make their distance from each other, Beckett’s long legs running ahead of her. Iris sighed a deep breath and couldn’t believe she was going to go a while without seeing him again. She’d have to make up some excuse to see him one more time before her internship with his sister.

Iris’ walking came to a slow pace, as her thoughts were becoming increasingly louder. She jumped at a touch on her shoulder. She heard her sister laugh at her reaction, so she elbowed her in the side as they walked silently across Shreya’s yard going home together.

“Okay. I’m just going to say it.” Atlas broke their silence and Iris stopped their walking to look at her twin as she continued, “You need to go after him.” She spoke so nonchalantly, but all- knowing, and Iris couldn’t help but get annoyed at her smugness.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Iris picked her pace back up and continued to walk, Atlas following right behind her.

“Riiiighhht. That’s why neither of you could look at each other the whole time without getting red. I mean that’s a norm of Beckers, but when I saw you getting flustered over him, I knew something was going on.” She shrugged. “I’m your twin, remember.”

“Yeah, I can’t forget that,it’s like looking at an angry version of myself all the time.” Iris replied ignoring her sister further. Atlas actually laughed at her sister’s remark, but didn’t drop it.

“Iris, really. I don’t want to further discuss it. But just please go after him, so I don’t have to deal with your moping all summer. Just please spare the details.” Atlas raised her eyebrows in her classic, please don’t make me smile, but I want to show some emotion to you, way. Iris beamed at her sister and nodded silently communicating in a way only they could.

She ran hard, pushing herself and allowing the adrenaline of the Sun magick building inside of her to release in every step forward. No plan was constructed inside of her mind, and she didn’t even want to think of one. Everything about Beckett since the kiss felt organic as each thought about him bloomed without effort. She didn’t want to act based on overthinking and trying to figure out what he wants from her. Feeling tired of always having to be mindful of her power growing inside of her, the dark thoughts that fought to come out of the shadows, and needing to take care of everyone, she wanted, no, needed to take care of herself.

This was Iris’ first step toward that, and she wanted her declaration to be loud and authentic to her, and what she truly wanted to be without expectations of others. She was short of breath by the time she reached Shreya’s magick portal room, and surprised that she saw Beckett still there pacing the room.

Faintly, she heard him muttering to himself. “No, no. That simply won’t do. Iris, I would very much like to talk and figure out a plan to further test our connection? No. Come on, Beckett.” She couldn’t help but gush at the precious sight of him rehearsing what to say to her.

He actually felt the same way. Holy crap. He felt the same way. Reality was catching up to Iris gleefully as she took steps closer to Beckett, her footsteps bouncing across the marble making him aware of her presence.

“Iris!” The way he was looking at her and calling her name was all the motivation she needed to keep going.

“Beckett, I don’t want the night to end. I want to be around you. I don’t care what we do. I just don’t want to say goodbye yet.” Iris allowed herself to be vulnerable as she now stood in front of him, admiring the way the blue in his blazer brought out the brightness in his eyes.

He bit his lip as if it could prevent himself from smiling hard, but Iris’ eyes were like magnets to his lips. He didn’t speak right away, and instead reached down the length of her forearm arm to capture her hands in his own. Iris immediately took his warm hands in hers and her toes curled in her shoes at the sensation. Looking down, and their hands, Beckett blushed.

“I would very much like to continue the night with you as well.” His voice was soft and comforting, and he wordlessly took her through a door to a destination he had in mind.

Still hand in hand and occasionally brushing their thumbs across the other’s, they made their way through an unfamiliar ward room, and out into a summer lakehouse. Her eyes widened at the beautiful view that was immediately visible to her through the open floor plan room: floor to ceiling windows that were letting in an abundant amount of moonlight in the room as it stood over a private lake and greenery.

“This place is stunning!” Iris took in her surroundings and decor enjoying the way the luxurious rug in the living room felt under her toes. These were the type of homes that Iris thought she would only be able to see during her late night HGTV binge watching when she was attuneless. She could tell that this was a summer home by the choice in decorations and color, and Iris couldn’t believe that this was someone’s second home.

Beckett leaned against the living room wall observing Iris as she made her way over to the large window. “I cannot believe this amazing view as well. Is that a private lake? Of course it is, what am I saying? Look at this yard!” Iris could feel herself fawning, and even joined Beckett in laughing at herself.

“Yes. I know I am very lucky to benefit from my family’s success and name.” Beckett spoke lightheartedly, but Iris could sense a deep hurt lurking there. She didn’t want to push it and make him feel anything bad.

“Where are we?” Iris asked and wanted to change the subject a little to ease his mind. He seemed grateful for the slight distraction.

“My family’s summer home about 40 minutes up north. That is Lake Evi back there and it flows quite a bit down east, but yes, this is our part of the lake. There are a few other homes around the lake. My father is keen on privacy, so the floral, trees, and greenery all have a purpose to keep it secluded still. You can barely even tell there are other homes here, you can truly pretend you’re by yourself.” He stared out the window and was deep in thought.

“It seems like a special place to you.” Iris pushed slightly, wanting him to know that she was here for him. She reached down between them to connect their hands once more. He smiled at the contact, and this gave him the courage to keep talking.

“This was always my favorite place to go as a child. We seemed to be the closest as a family when we were able to just forget the outside world and their expectations of being a Harrington. I was able to truly relax here on the lake with Katrina. That changed as we got older, however. The perpetual notion my family put on me that I had to be absolutely perfect all the time followed me everywhere, even on vacation. The emotional distance got larger and eventually we stopped vacationing here as a family all together.” Beckett confessed to her, still looking out to the lake as if he had been returning to an age-old conversation with it.

“I’m sorry, Beck. I hope you know that you are amazing, and that you’re amazing because you’re not perfect. That doesn’t mean you aren’t one of the most intelligent and capable people I know, because you are. You don’t need to prove it to anyone or constantly prove it to yourself. Trust yourself.” Iris put her head on his shoulder and looked out at the lake with him trying to help him find the tranquility he needed. He squeezed her hand again, and they stayed like that, comfortable with the silence and each other's presence.

Moonlight danced across a photo frame nearby catching Iris’ attention, and she immediately lit up at the sight of younger Beckett in the photo. She made her way over to the wall of photos and Iris made sure to stop and take in every picture. Images of younger Beckett and Katrina shined in their frames, and Iris couldn’t help but stop and smile at the photo of them making something that looked like an attuned version of s’mores in the yard with a great mess on their faces. They looked so happy together.

“I love this one.” Iris spoke pointing at the picture, and Beckett came over to see which one she was talking about.

“Oh yeah. We loved making fire pies when we were younger.” Beckett smiled absentmindedly looking at the photo, lost in a memory.

“Okay, moving past fire pies when they are obviously s’mores…” Iris giggled at Beckett’s startled face clearly wanting to object, and she loved how easy it was to make him flustered. “I think it’s a really tender moment.”

“Yeah, Katrina was big on putting up candid photos. My parents didn’t think photos should be taken unless there was some reason to take them. They hated unprofessional, impromptu photos, and so there came a point where Katrina got so fed up she asked our cook, Darla, to take our photo. Then it kinda became our thing. My parents were so mad when she bought frames and decorated the house with these photos. They took them down, naturally, but since it was Katrina, they insisted if she had to put them up, they would be put up here, where no one but us would see.” Beckett finished recalling the memory speaking softer towards the end.

Iris frowned at the story being told to her, heart filling with ache for the man next to her. She looked around the walls and sure enough, his parents weren’t in a single picture. No wonder why he looked so happy in them. She nonchalantly looked around the summer house a bit more and saw that it looked like someone had been here recently. A cup left out on the counter, a blanket folded on the corner of the couch, and the air enchantments that cooled the house were still going.

She felt a pit in her stomach, knowing the answer. Was Beckett staying here instead of his house? Iris turned to the freckled Metal-Att who was already looking at her, deep in thought. She smiled at him gently trying to ease any pain wordlessly and by the way he was looking at her, she could tell he could feel her nurturing energy.

“I’m really glad you have these photos then. This place really seems to be a safe haven for you. I’m so happy you showed me, Beck.” Iris’ soft voice came out barely louder than a whisper feeling herself and her magick connect to Beckett as if it were some magickally woven string stitching them together. They stood there wordlessly for a while and allowed the moment to stay there and be tender.

“You want to hear what my fantasy was?” Beckett spoke finally, and Iris couldn’t help but notice how overcome with emotion he was.

“Of course.” She encouraged him to tell her, and he began to speak gently without breaking eye contact.

“I was at a place, very similar to this, and I was enjoying a glass of tea. But you see, I wasn’t just sitting there drinking tea, I felt truly present. I felt the wind. I thanked the clouds for the brief shade it provided, but celebrated the sun when it returned. I heard the sound of the grass moving, and the trees were almost singing with an utter joy of just existing. You were there with me. Silent, but still communicating with me all the same. I felt the texture and warmth of your skin as you reached out and grabbed my hand, and the pure love that I felt almost knocked the wind out of me. You see, Iris, I felt no pressure. There was no thought that I should be doing more. That simply living my life, enjoying the little things with you, was more than enough.” He swallowed thickly with emotion that was bubbling up inside of him, and her heart soared.

“Beckett, that sounds absolutely beautiful.” She slid her hands to run up his chest slowly and around his beck, making his ears turn pink. Leaning forward slowly, she took Beckett’s lips in her own, and his were on hers returning the gesture immediately. His hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her even closer and deepened the kiss.

Still just as overwhelmed with delight as the first time he took her lips, she became entranced with his kiss and his taste. It sent every nerve in her body on fire, and she was aware of every feeling coursing through her.

She could feel his quickened heartbeat through the blazer he always wore, and she felt her body heat up from the contact. The effect he had on her from barely doing anything made her head spin. She could only imagine what it would be like when she became more intimate with him.

He pulled back from the kiss to tenderly caress her cheek and whispered against her lips, “Stay with me tonight. We can just sit here on the rug and watch the moon over the lake. I don’t mind. I just don’t want to let you go yet.” He pleaded with her, and she felt her stomach do flip flops.

“There’s nowhere else I rather be.” She smiled brightly, and her body hummed with Sun magick as she felt her skin warm and break out in goosebumps as if the sun just came out and warmed her chilled skin.

He stepped back and sat down on the oversized plush rug that was situated right in front of the window, giving them a perfect view of the scenery. He took two decorative pillows from the couch for them to lay down on as well. Reaching out his hand for her to take, Iris thought there was nowhere she wouldn't follow him.

Enjoying the feeling of the incredibly soft rug on her legs as she stretched out, she sat down next to Beckett. Putting her head back on his shoulders she couldn't believe that she was here sharing such a tender night with him. Part of her worried that he would disappear like this was all just some twisted dream.

After a while of comfortable silence staring at the tranquil lake, Iris spoke, still gently resting her head on his shoulder breathing in his intoxicating scent, "I don't know what's in my future and honestly, the more I think about it, the more my stomach feels sick. Tonight and everything that’s happened with you, though, feels right. I don't have an answer about where we go from here, but I for once want to allow myself to feel what I want to feel."

Beckett responded by wrapping an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. Her whole side was glued to his and she felt the fire starting to burn inside of her again setting her magick on edge.

"Then who am I to deny you such pleasures? I want you to always be yourself with me, without any fear of my expectations. I promise I'll always give you room to grow and be yourself." Beckett spoke so matter-of-factly as if this wasn't the most thoughtful thing Iris had ever heard, and she had to tell herself repeatedly that this really was happening.

She lifted her head from his shoulder and smiled warmly at him. "And you said you didn't have a way with words. Leave it to Beckett to be good at everything, even the things he’s not good at." Iris teased and enjoyed the bashful smile that emerged on his beautiful face.

"Can I kiss you again?" Beckett asked with a delight in his voice, shyly looking at her lips with such desire. What a goofball, Iris thought as she got closer to him and was centimeters away from his lips.

"You're adorable. Beck, the answer is always going to be yes." After Iris gave her consent, he eagerly closed the gap between them and took her lips so gently like he was afraid to scare her off. She placed her hands on the base of his neck toying with the hairs there and slightly parted his kiss with her tongue. Once he felt her tongue against his, the gentle kisses were replaced with urgent, passionate ones, desperate to taste all of her, but still keeping his slow pace.

He gently pushed against her body to lay them down on the rug, and she felt her heartbeat start to race as she felt his body covering hers. She distantly felt a swirl of his air magick blowing around them, but all she could focus on was his soft lips kissing her like he was making up for lost time.

He pulled back to look at her with such adoration and desire in his eyes. She had never been under such an intense, raw gaze before, and she felt her cheeks warm from the attention he was giving her.

"Don't stop." Iris pulled him back down to her, unable to stop smiling.

Her lips found his again in another heated surge, and she took the time to enjoy the feel of his kiss. He was making soft groans as his strong hands roamed her sides gently, and she felt the excitement and sexual energy build inside of her. She needed to set the boundary for the night and see where his head was at because she felt herself being pulled by her blood magick impulse and carnal desire for him as the heated moments passed.

However, the time spent longing for him from afar and in denial of her attraction to him was making the decision to keep it at just kissing harder and harder. With every capture of his soft lips, and feel of his exploring hands finding new skin to graze, her desire built higher. He was intoxicating with his entire being and the idea that she was finally kissing Beckett, and with such passion no less, was driving her absolutely wild.

She couldn’t hold back the fantasy that often played in her head: to see what he looked like when he shook with pleasure and moaned her name.

Iris moaned into his mouth at the thought and felt the tightness in her abdomen growing. Beckett responded to her moan by involuntarily thrusting his hips forward, desperate for contact even though their clothes.

After a moment, she pulled back reluctantly, and looked into his darkening grey eyes breathing heavy with him.

“It feels so right kissing you, Beck.” A small bashful smile tugged at her lips as the giddiness of the moment caught up to her.

“I still can’t believe you’re letting me kiss you.” Beckett smiled a lopsided smile, eyes filled with building desire, and Iris couldn’t help her heart tightening with extreme emotion she felt for the Attuned laying on top of her lovingly. She knew how much Beckett overtook her mind, but being able to act on these feelings was a whole other new world for her. All of her emotions were in overdrive, and her whole body hummed for him. Her logical brain was disappearing rapidly.

She blushed harder. “I can’t believe I’m the one blushing, that’s usually your thing.” Iris laughed lightly, and Beckett joined her at her small joke at his expense holding her tighter and burying his face in the crook her neck. Inhaling her scent, Beckett hummed lightly to himself.

“You smell amazing.” He spoke against her skin, sending vibrations throughout her body and making her even more aroused. The weight in his air magick changed as it swirled around them stronger. He then began to slowly and sensually kiss her neck, down to her collarbone back up to her neck, and immediately Iris broke out in goosebumps overcome with sensation as he paid attention to one of her more sensitive areas.

She felt him smile against her skin, and he pulled his lips far enough away that she could feel his breath spreading across the goosebumps. Iris bit her lip and held her breath as her toes curled. She was losing control already. She could only imagine what it would be like to feel him inside her. Her thoughts got dirtier as he continued to explore her body.

“You like that?” Beckett’s husky voice vibrated against her neck once again, and all she could do was wordlessly nod as he began to plant more kisses along her neckline, this time dipping further down her chest. He was paying extra attention to the freckles that danced across her skin as his warm fingertips started to trace her collarbone and neck lightly. Iris ran her hands through his hair and down his broad back, getting lost in the sensations.

"The effect you have on me is incredible." Iris sighed in pleasure as he continued a line of kisses from her neck to her shoulder, a mixture of sweet and desperate for more.

She spread her legs wider to pull him even closer, and Beckett willingly brought his body closer, eager for that connection as well. The hem of her sunflower dress rose up her thighs as his warm, roaming hand tested the boundaries throughout the kiss, gradually rising and falling down her figure.

The feeling of his body weight on her, completely covered and surrounded by him alone, was making her magick hum inside her and around them beautifully. She felt her hair brush off her shoulders by a warm wind created by their pure emotion and magick mixing together. They were pushing a wordless limit that neither had set.

She felt his fingers tremble slightly as his hand made his way lower and gently cupped her breast, groaning when he made contact. He kneaded slightly and took her lips hungrily in another passionate kiss in which Iris happily returned.

“Beckett!" Iris pulled away slightly to look deeply into his grey eyes, shocked by how affected she was by touch and lowered her gaze to his swollen lips. Fuck, he was irrisitable. I need him.

"I'm sorry. I-" Beckett started to apologize for crossing the boundary neither had set, but Iris interrupted him by kissing him quickly.

"Don't! Don’t apologize.” Iris spoke quickly. She took a deep breath and continued, “I'm not sorry. Far from it. I...I want to be with you, Beckett." Iris looked down to avoid his gaze at the intensity of it all, but quickly looked back at him when she heard a deep, involuntary groan escape his mouth. She could hear him break control at her words, and she wanted more. She’d never forget that sound.

"Iris... I've-I’ve wanted you for so long." He eagerly cupped her face and kissed her, making her smile against his lips and run her hands down his chest.

"Mmmm...Beckett. Show me." Iris barely broke away from the kiss, speaking against his beautiful lips and allowed the desire to be reflected in her words, so he wouldn't have a doubt with how much she wanted this.

He swallowed visibly and sat up briefly on his heels to remove his trademark blazer, leaving him in his dark grey button down shirt. Iris sat up with him then and kissed his neck tasting his skin, and her hands started to work her way through his buttons. She felt his breath hitch and become more shallow, and she couldn't wait to make him come even more undone.

His hands trembled slightly and made his way over her shoulders and down the length of her back to cup her ass, and Iris moaned softly against his neck and finished unbuttoning his shirt with some Air magick. She eagerly pushed his shirt off his shoulders, drinking in the sight of his bare chest, remembering when she first saw him shirtless when he did yoga with her.

She couldn’t help but run her exploring hands over his warming chest. He hummed in delight at her touches as he wrapped his fingers around her dress's zipper and pulled it down.

He sucked in his breath as Iris shimmed her way out of her dress, leaving her only in her underwear in front of him.

"You're... You're so beautiful, Iris." Beckett fawned over her and kissed her again with more urgency. She returned the kiss fiercely and ran her hands through his hair and loved the way it felt beneath her fingers, knowing she was messing up his traditional well-kempt style.

He began to graze his palms against her bare skin, and Iris could feel his touch long after he left the area of skin. He was drinking in the feel of her skin, taking his time, and Iris felt herself melt.

Standing back and getting some distance between them, Iris made eye contact with Beckett. She could see his erection straining against his pants, and she was eager to see all of him and fully please him.

Let’s give him a night to remember forever.

He was beginning to stare at the tops of her breasts that peaked from her bra. Smirking and reaching behind herself, she unhooked her strapless bra with one motion, and let her bra drop on the carpet without breaking eye contact.

Beckett’s eyes grew wide, and he hissed at the sight of her bare chested in front of him.

“So fucking beautiful.” Beckett breathed as he quickly closed the distance between them and enveloped her into his arms wrapping her tightly with another passionate kiss, and the wetness between her legs grew at Beckett swearing. Him talking dirty to her would surely be the death of her.

He began to kiss down her neck and make his way to her breasts with open mouth kisses. Every now and then he would trace his tongue across her skin to taste her. When he made it to her breasts, he took his time kissing the skin there, and when he got her nipples they were already sensitive with anticipation.

Her fingers dug their way in Beckett’s hair making a home there as he claimed her breasts with his mouth. His fingers pinched her nipple with just the right amount of pressure and pain as his tongue swirled around her bud, and she felt her body create a moan from deep inside.

“Come here.” Iris commanded and was surprised to hear how husky her voice had become. She felt so sexy and sure of herself. She was loving how empowered he made her feel as the heated moments passed. His lips let go of her nipple with a loud pop, and he looked so disheveled but eager to please.

Iris laid herself back down on the carpet, letting the fuzzy material caress her skin that was already humming with sensational delight. With the sexiest mischievous smile she could muster, Iris waved him down to her, and almost laughed at how quick he was down on the ground covering her with his body and kisses.

She had already decided that she wanted to drive Beckett Harrington absolutely wild and give him something to remember for the rest of the summer, but with every one of his touches, she felt her own sexual energy being fueled. The room’s temperature rose a few degrees as Iris’ Sun magick sparked.

Kissing him and teasing his tongue with her own, she carefully ran her hand down the length of him through his pants. He broke the kiss immediately to give a deep groan and eagerly helped her when she began to unzip his pants and push them down and off his legs.

Hooking her leg around his waist, she began to move her hips so she could rub herself against his bulge through their underwear, aching for him, as she captured his lips. His body trembled slightly, and she held behind his neck tighter, pulling him closer to her, completely enveloping him in her kiss.

Iris began to feel her way down his toned back, reminding herself of the countless yoga sessions she’d spend staring at it, and tucked her fingers in the waistband of his boxers to pull them down so she could see all of him.

He sprung out of his boxers, and Iris felt a warm blush cover her cheeks as she saw his cock for the first time.

“Beckett…” Was all Iris could manage to say as he claimed her lips again. When she felt his fingers pulling down the only piece of clothing left between them both, she reached down to hold his hard length in her hand.

“I-Iris,” Beckett hissed as she began to pump him slowly, resting his forehead against hers as he struggled to not moan. He was turning on Iris so much that she felt a surge of sexual confidence overcome her as she spoke.

“Tell me your fantasy…” Iris moaned, loving the effect she had on him.

“I already did,” Beckett croaked out, and looked slightly confused and out of it, and this brought much amusement to Iris.

“No...you know.” She gave a little chuckle which made his cock twitch, "Tell me a sexual fantasy you have." Iris runs her hand along the length of him again this time with more pressure.

“Shit, Beck. You’re really sexy” Iris could feel herself saying out loud as she gazed upon the blushing Metal Att, his hard cock in her hand.

Beckett groaned loudly as Iris began to deftly work her hand down his hard length, and she felt her toes curl in delight at the noise. She wanted to hear more, yearned for more. She squeezed him harder on her next pass up his erection, and swiped his precum at the top. His hips jerked in her palm, and she smirked as his eyes shut tight.

“Iris” He breathed out shakily.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Iris teased him and slowed her movements almost to a dead stop, getting incredibly aroused by having this power on him. She stopped moving her hand after he still didn’t respond.

“Hmm?” Beckett spoke breathlessly, clearly missing the feeling of her hand stroking his cock.

She let out a small laugh and Beckett’s hipped jerked, urging her to continue. She took her fingertips and lightly brushed their way up the length of his penis and gently swirled around his tip. Just enough contact to please and not tease, but not nearly enough for Beckett. He impatiently whimpered as she continued her slow strokes.

Using the way his eyes were tightly shut and the way his body slightly trembled as a motivation to continue, she sexily purred, “Beck, tell me a fantasy of yours...”, letting all of her magical seduction energy pour out of her. She increased the pressure she stroked his cock as she gave him the pleasure he was looking for.

He jerked his hips as she gave him more of what he wanted, but as she started to slow down again as he didn’t answer, he started to speak in a rushed husky tone.

“I’ll tell you anything you want to hear.” He moaned into her neck, and she twisted her hand around the head of his penis. “Fuck, Iris!” His breath spread across her neck.

“Tell me dirty thoughts you’ve had about me, Beck” Iris whispered as she stroked his eager dick with a rhythm now. She could feel him audibly gulping so she continued.

“Have you ever touched yourself to me?” She continued her teasing and wanted to blame the summer solstice energy for making her so bold, but truth was, she has craved to lose control with Beckett for a long time.

She didn’t know if he was thinking of what to say or just couldn’t speak because Beckett moved his head to stare at her with his mouth open for a few moments. He was starting to tremble slightly again under her touch as he shakily moaned. Teasing him further, she started to slow down her rhythm and strokes.

“...Y-Yes! Yes, I’ve touched myself thinking about you.” He gulped loudly and looked into her eyes. His desire was clear in his reflective eyes.

"Mmm...Beckett, you're so fucking sexy." Iris could feel how wet she was as her underwear hung around the tops of her knees forgotten with her passionate question earlier. His warm hands were frozen by her thighs as her brazen spark of sexual energy took control of the moment.

“Tell me more” She huskily demanded stroking faster and applying more pressure. He bucked into her hands not even trying to stop. Feeling the warm pulse of her blood magick growing stronger, she decided to take it further.

She stopped her movements all together, causing him to groan, and lightly pushed on his chest, motioning him to lay down on his back. Iris thought he looked like a Greek God sprawled out on the luxury rug, lips swollen, and his cock eager and ready. She knew she was driving him mad, but she had only begun.

As Iris crawled her way to his naked body, Beckett’s eyes widened in the anticipation. When she made it to him, she ran her hands over his chest and abs, enjoying the feel of his muscles getting taunt under touch. Making eye contact the whole time, Iris lowered her mouth to place open mouth kisses on his chest.

“Iris…” was all that Beckett was able to say as he watched her kiss lower, and his eyes rolled back as she darted her tongue out to taste his skin. As she got closer to his erection, she could feel his leg muscles tighten as his hands were fists at his sides, not willing himself to touch her just yet.

“Mmm...I’ve thought about tasting you for such a long time.” Iris admitted as she took him in her hands again, stoking him gently. She looked up at Beckett to see his flushed face and mouth open, staring, causing her to smirk her mischievous smile.

Still keeping eye contact, she flicked her tongue out slowly over his tip, tasting his precum as she held his shaft.

“Shit…” Beckett breathed heavily, and Iris could see his chest moving up and down as he became undone.

“Still don’t think I got an answer to my question though…” Iris sexily purred as she licked his tip and down his shaft, back up to the top. “Tell me what you fantasize about when you touch yourself…” After she finished, she took his tip in her mouth quickly and popped off with a loud pop, teasing him beautifully.

“You will be the death of me.” Beckett’s voice was hoarse and desperate, and she knew he was close to needing release.

She hummed, satisfied with herself, and took him in her mouth again, this time going even lower down his shaft, but not nearly enough for Beckett. When she stopped this time, she replaced her mouth with light strokes of her fingers, teasing him further.

“This.” Beckett spoke almost too loud for the moment as he tried to keep his composure but failed miserably. “You taking me in your mouth, feeling your tongue against m…” he stopped speaking as she finally took him all in her mouth. His hands reached out to caress her skin as she took him in her mouth over and over, creating a beautiful rhythm. When she began to move her hand along with her tongue and mouth, he started swearing under his breath.

“Mmm...so good. Well, I’m happy to oblige,” Iris found herself saying out loud after she released her working mouth from him as she continued to stroke him. She didn’t realize how much she belonged in this role of pleasing Beckett until she had his beautiful body under her palm and control.

Face flushed more than Iris has ever seen, Beckett sat up and captured Iris’ lips in a sensual kiss all while she continued to stroke him. He stopped the kiss to lean his forehead against her panting as he no longer tried to hide how much he wanted her.

“Have you ever thought about fucking me?” Iris boldly asked in the darkness, having only the moonlight dance across their features. Beckett made a startled noise in his throat before moaning deeply and kissed her again, tongues caressing one another.

“Y-Yes. God, Iris, I want you so badly.” Beckett confessed against her swollen lips.

It was Iris’ turn to come undone as Beckett’s strong hand made his way down her naked back, over her ass, and back around to swipe a finger along her wet folds. The instant spark she felt was evident as her magick surged out of her and gave her body a brief warm glow.

Beckett stopped momentarily to look in awe at the glowing Attuned in front of him, “Iris. You’re incredible.” He kissed her shoulders as his fingers continued their exploration of her wetness with gentle touches. When his now wet finger made his way to her clit and did a lazy circle around it, Iris moaned deeply.

They stayed like that for a while, each one touching the other, moaning into each others’ skin and climbing higher in ecstasy. Iris’ moans were coming closer together as he kept circling her clit with built up pressure and speed.

“Yes, keep making those noises for me.” Beckett huskily demanded into the nape of her neck, as he easily slipped a finger into her core, and Iris could barely contain herself.

“Fuck!” She grinded her hips into his finger making it go even deeper, and even though her strokes were now lazier on his hard cock, she could see he was enjoying himself just as much watching her come undone.

“Shit, yes, I feel you tightening around my finger, just like that.” Beckett coaxed her in her ear as he continued to pump into her, adding another finger, all while never losing his momentum with her clit.

She had no idea that Beckett, who would blush at their connected hands whenever she handed a book over to him, would be this comfortable enough to dirty talk with her. While she often dreamt of it, she never imagined he would actually be this wild. It was enough to make her come undone as the seconds passed, and she could feel her lower abdomen tighten and release as her ecstasy climbed higher and crashed wonderfully.

“Beckett!” Iris moaned loudly, holding onto his body tightly, surprised by how hard she was cumming around his fingers, and she could only faintly feel his kisses down her neck and chest as she made her way back down from her orgasm.

When she opened her eyes again, her heart tightened in her chest. The complete adoration and obvious desire in Beckett’s eyes as he watched her, moved Iris so much that she vowed she’d never forget this moment.

“You’re glowing...quite literally.” Beckett, amazed with her, ran his hands over her body like she was priceless art. Iris felt her body warm even more as she blushed from his compliment. She felt herself craving his affection, wanting to be everything he desires.

When her glowed died down, and she got a chance to catch her breath, she pushed Beckett lightly so that he was laying back down on his back. She wasn’t even close to being done with him.

Climbing on top of his body, she positioned her sensitive pussy over him and grinded slightly to tease him. He threw his head back and gripped her hips, grounding her even harder into him.

“I’ve fantasized this moment so many times…” Iris purred as she ran her hands along his chest, enjoying having him under her. Without warning, Iris then sank herself into his length, which easily filled her up with how wet she was.

“Iris!” Beckett’s eyes shot open, looking so vulnerable at her that her heart hurt, and he gripped onto her hips desperately holding onto her like if he let go, he would fall apart.

She stayed like that for a little while, him filling her up completely, and gazed at the Metal-Att beneath her softly. Her features were illuminated by the glowing moonlight pouring in from the floor to ceiling windows in Beckett’s living room, and she couldn’t help but watch his hands roam her body, loving the effect he had on her as each swipe of his hand left goosebumps on her skin.

“So beautiful.” He spoke so passionately as he touched her, that Iris found herself thanking her lucky stars again for putting her in this position.

She began to create a rhythm with her hips slowly at first, then picking up the pace gradually, using his moans as motivation on what he likes. He was letting her make the pace for a bit, but after a couple thrusts, she found him meeting her hips with every stroke. Occupied with the pleasure of Beckett, Iris could barely register that the gold metal detailing on the frames on the walls behind them started to creak as they changed shapes.

“You’re incredible Iris…” Beckett groaned as she made her pace fiercer and tightened around him. Iris was lost in the moans and sounds of their bodies coming together. Beckett’s grip on her hips was becoming harder, and she found herself wanting bruises on her hips to remember this night. When he released a hand to rub circles on her clit again, she threw her head back in pure ecstasy and never stopped her rhythm.

“I’m not going to...fuck...I’m going to come soon.” Beckett moaned deeply as he watched her pussy take all of his cock over and over.

“Mmm...Beckett, I want you to give me your all.” Iris moaned as she grabbed her breasts in her hands, needing more sensation.

Iris barely registered what was happening, as Beckett flipped her on her back and was now completely covering her body with his. When he entered back inside of her with a deep thrust filling her up completely, she began moaning his name.

“Keep saying my name,” Beckett moaned into her neck as he continued to thrust his hips into her wetness, never slowing down his pace. It was almost too much for Iris as she wrapped her legs around him wanting deeper, but she loved the feeling spreading all across her body. She knew he was close, and she wanted him to cum harder than he could ever have imagined.

“Beckett! Yes! Fuck me, Beckett!” Iris loudly moaned, barely able to control herself, and she faintly saw that she was producing light orbs circling all around them. His Air magick was starting to spark again with hers, and a warm breeze circled all around them. When he pulled up from her nape, he looked deep into her eyes with heavy lids, and Iris could see the deep longing held there. He reached down to join their lips and another surge of Sun magick poured from Iris in the pure pleasure.

“Come for me, Beck.” Iris whispered to him, lost in their moment together, as he rested his forehead against hers, all while keeping his pace.

“Hmmmggghh” was all that Beckett could muster out as his hips met hers haphazardly, just moving his body out of pure lust. Iris couldn’t tell where her body ended and where his began.

“I’m coming!” He groaned deeply and claimed her lips again as his hips thrusted wildly, and Iris could feel him spasming on top of her. “Oooh fuck, Iris, fuck.” He spoke against her slick skin as he rode out his orgasm causing her to feel a deep sense of pride. She would never tire of hearing that.

After his hips and thrusts slowed down to an almost dead stop, he looked into her eyes and continued stroking himself into her. Iris’ eyes widened as this felt so pure of emotion and vulnerability that her heart wasn’t prepared. She could tell how sensitive his cock must have been after coming as he continued to slowly pump into her because he’d break their gaze every so often to close his eyes and relish the feeling. Running her hands over his back and back up to cup his face, she took his lips in a kiss that held a sweet promise: that she’d never let go.

Beckett must have felt her emotion as well pouring through the kiss because his cheeks turned even more pink with his signature blush. He rested his forehead against hers and they stayed like that for a while, holding each other, still connected, and every so often placing a lazy kiss on each others’ skin.

“Wow,” was all that Iris could muster after a few moments. Beckett smiled a genuine smile that made her stomach do flip flops, and he slowly and reluctantly pulled himself out. He laid down next to her but quickly laid on his side and pulled her into him. Iris buried her face into his chest and inhaled the cologne mixed with musk that was Beckett after sex. She couldn’t stop smiling and was pretty sure that he could feel her smiling against his skin, but she didn’t care. Iris couldn’t remember a time where she was happier.

“Yeah, wow.” Beckett laughed slightly and held her even tighter to him with unspoken promises.

“Just a little something for you to remember me throughout the summer,” Iris teased and felt his body shake with laughter.

“I will remember this night until the day I die. It would be impossible to have any other thoughts that aren’t you this summer and beyond,” Beckett confessed.

“Not like that is much different for me from before, but yeah I agree.” Iris kissed his chest, and felt him push her back so that he could look into her eyes.

“You mean that?” Beckett asked, almost scared of her answer, and all she wanted to do was cradle his heart and protect it.

“Of course, Beck. I’ve liked you for such a long time. It’s kinda pathetic really.” She laughed at herself and allowed all her emotions to be shown in her eyes as she confessed more of her feelings to the man that held her heart.

“You have no idea how happy that makes me to hear that.” Beckett pulled her back into him, and Iris could hear his heart stammering in his chest. She wanted to stay like this forever, listening to his heartbeats and breath.

“Well, we will just have to make up for lost time now, won’t we?” Iris spoke, placing warm kisses on his heart, each one a new promise.

“Definitely. There’s so many things I want to try with you, and I warn you now, my thirst for knowledge cannot be quenched.” He told her as he rubbed her back slowly and lazily, neither of them a care in the world.

“Challenge accepted,” was the last thing Iris remembers saying before fading away into sleep on the beautiful summer night that gave her the spark of courage she needed all along.

Thank you, sun. Iris thought and finally drifted to sleep, more content that she had been in a long time.

~End~

Author note: I hope you guys liked it! Any time I imagined Beckett and my MC having sex, Beckett is more the submissive one. I have sooo many ideas that I want to flesh out later. However, we know from the books that Beckett has his dominant streak in him too, so they like to switch roles every now and then ;)

Please let me know what you thought! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading! :)

#Beckett x Mc #beckett harrington #beckett harrington x mc #the elementalists #play choices #the elementalists fanfiction #te fanfiction #te fanfic #the elementalists fanfic #choices fanfiction #play choices fanfic #play choices fanfiction #beckett harrington fanfic #beckett harrington fanfiction

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sleepingfancies · 6 years ago

Text

We Need to Talk About SJM

I was recently anonymously asked what exactly my issue with Sarah Jane Maas is, and ended up writing what was essentially a thesis paper about it. Unfortunately, Tumblr pulled a Shitty Website move and deleted everything I wrote under the ‘read more’ tab, so I’m compiling my reasons here on a masterpost, for your reading leisure.

EDIT: Read more tab continues to not work for me, so I apologize to all of you who have to suffer through this. I’ll tag is as a long post accordingly.

Let’s get started

***********

Reason 1: She preaches messages that no young girl needs to (or should) hear.

Granted, I know the a lot of the YA genre are adults who are no strangers to smut and aren’t phased by toxic behavior in characters. But on the same token, a lot of the YA genre is fueled by young girls age 12-20. Now I’m not going to sit here and pretend like girls in that age range aren’t reading/writing smutty fanfiction or dating. I know they do, I did, most of my friends did. But at that age, young girls are still trying to figure out who they are and who they want to be, including in terms of relationships. That’s where my problem with Maas comes in.

Maas writes, almost exclusively, toxic relationships - at best. Straight up abusive at worst. At one point in ACOTAR, I had to put the book down because I was so disgusted by what happened. Rhysand assaulted Feyre. I’m not kidding. He kissed and groped her against her will, telepathically asked whether she was wet about it, and wondered aloud what she looked like naked. The entire goal of doing this was to piss Feyre’s then-boyfriend off, and for Rhysand to assert his dominance as a Fae lord or whatever the fuck (y’know, like rapists do). Feyre was left shaking, nauseated, and scared for her life. But the worst part? It was written like this was something sexy and desirable. Literal penetration was all that stopped this from being a horrifying rape scene, and I couldn’t believe Maas wrote about it like some hot erotica. It wasn’t romantic. It wasn’t cute. It was disgusting, violating, and I was furious when I read it (especially given Feyre actually ends up with Rhysand eventually. What the fuck).

In Throne of Glass - and subsequent sequels - there are couples (namely Rowan and Aelin) who quite literally spit on each other, punch each other, and bite each other. No, not “love nip” bite, I mean “I’m trying to tear your skin off” bite. But we’re meant to believe they’re endgame, meant to be, and a totally healthy relationship. Let’s not even get into emotional abuse and manipulation, because holy fuck does every single character in these books act like a goddamn villain if we were to go over that in detail. All you need to know is that “if you don’t do xyz then I’ll leave and never come back” “what made you think I cared about you? You’re nothing to me. Just kidding, I love you” and similar sentiments are rampant in these series.

While we’re here, what is up with this “mates” nonsense? Every character pairing we see by the end of the ToG series has a “mate,” and swears off everyone they’ve had before, claiming them to be “false mates.” This whole “mates” business sounds a lot like somebody desperately trying to reassure their insanely jealous partner that they don’t still have feelings for their ex. That’s not healthy! That’s not okay! Your exes helped you narrow down your search. They helped you understand yourself more and what you want (or don’t want). And y’know what? It’s okay to have happy memories with an ex. It’s okay to not hate your ex. Telling young girls that all that matters is their future husband (which erases LGBT+ girls, as well as straight women who don’t want to get married) is harmful as hell, and contributes to the idea that a girl is only “complete” when she finds her “soulmate.”

Girls 12-20 really do not need to be given the message that it’s normal - nay, romantic - for their partners to hit them, humiliate them, or assault them. You may be saying, “Clara, come on, girls know fiction isn’t reality and no girl is actually going to stand for that kind of thing in real life.” But I can’t tell you how horribly my own view of relationships was corrupted for several years after all the books I read as a tween where the protagonist had to defend her flirty boyfriend from the advances of other girls. I didn’t trust boys not to cheat on me. I didn’t trust my girl friends not to try and steal a boyfriend. I thought girls who dressed up and wore makeup and dated a lot were sluts. It took me years of conscious effort to unlearn those ideas. Fiction can and does influence the reader. So again I say: teaching girls that it’s “hot and sexy” when men literally abuse you is not a message a 12-20 year old should be hearing. Ever.

***************

Reason 2: What exactly does Maas want her readers to be?

Y’know, Maas thinks Caelena/Aelin is a role model for young girls. But here’s a brief list of things Celery/Alien has done throughout the Throne of Glass series:

1. Tried to smash a flower pot over a girl’s head for showing interest in courting Prince Dorian. Despite said girl literally being present at the castle for that purpose and Caelena was not.

2. Very nearly murdered Dorian for absolutely fuckall reason, and then she got mad at Chaol for trying to stop her (keep in mind: Chaol and Dorian are supposed to be best friends. So like... yeah, he’s gonna come to Dorian’s defense).

3. Straight up said, “if I get bored being queen I’ll just go and conquer more lands for my kingdom.” Imperialist there much, Aelin?

This is Maas’ role model material? Half the shit she does from Heir of Fire onward could be described as “war crime” and the other half could be described as “selfish.” Maas seems to think that a shit ton of half-baked “witty” lines and a few “badass” fight scenes completely makes up for having an amoral character as the protagonist you want to flaunt around as an icon for young girls.

It would be one thing if Maas said, “I don’t want anyone to be like Celery/Alien. She’s not a good person and I want my readers to be able to identify how and why she isn’t a good person. The moral is what not to be like.” But she does the opposite and claims time and time again that Celery/Alien is some kind of feminist warrior, when in fact Celery/Alien is the very epitome of white feminism and false feminism. She’ll be all kinds of gung-ho for herself, but as soon as another woman mentions her own unique problems or lifestyles, Celery/Alien thinks she’s a “whiny bitch,” “dumb slut,” or something similar. Celery/Alien ends up looking down her nose at basically every other female character. The lack of female friendships in Maas’ books is frankly astounding.

No girl needs to be Celery/Alien. Celery/Alien is not a role model, she is not a feminist, she is not a figurehead of a well developed female character or even a compelling antihero. She’s sexist, she’s misogynistic, she has serious anger issues, she’s manipulative, she’s abusive. This is not who young girls should be looking up to.

************

Reason 3: Maas has no place in the YA genre.

I’m not really sure I need to elaborate much on this. Let me give you a scenario:

Imagine you’re at a book signing for your fans. They’re mostly girls 15-20, so you kind of just sign their copies without thinking much about it. But then a smaller girl comes up to the table, you ask her age, and she says “I’m ten.” A 10 year old girl is standing in front of you, clutching her copy of your book where you wrote and published the scene, “he buried in to the hilt and roared. Over and over he spilled inside of her, the lightning outside flashing soft and lovely long after he stilled.”

Look me in the eye and tell me that shit is appropriate in the YA genre. At all. Ever.

You wanna write romance? Go for it. It can be cute! It can be healthy! It can be intriguing! But this? This? This is just... erotica. If you’re publishing stuff like this in the YA genre, in a book that isn’t even on the ‘tween/teen romance’ shelves, then you better be ready to take full responsibility for teaching 10 year olds what a blowjob is, what an orgasm is, what BDSM is, what a fucking foot fetish is.

I know JK Rowling isn’t the most popular right now, but even she did better than this. The first 3 Harry Potter books you can generally find on the children’s/middle grade shelves. They were cute, fun little adventures about wizards and magic and fantastic creatures. Books 4-7? Those are on the YA shelves. People are dying, magic is dangerous, fascist organizations are on the rise -- it isn’t fun for Harry anymore. It isn’t about the wonders of magic. It’s about life or death, war, and fear. So yeah, of course those book aren’t going to be on the children’s/middle grade shelves! They’re dark! They’re scary! That kind of material shouldn’t be advertised as appropriate for younger kids!

Maas never extended that courtesy. Maas took her books full of badly written erotica and plopped them down right where all the rest of the completely tame YA books went, because she wanted the sales. She didn’t care if she was exposing kids who were too young to explicit sex scenes. She never posted a disclaimer, she never posted any kind of warning on social media when the books came out. Nope. She just silently took advantage of the market knowing she’d get more sales in YA. But it has no place in YA. It’s not YA. And I don’t think I’m ever gonna be okay with that.

***********

Reason 4: Diversity? Never heard of it!

Maas’ books are so incredibly white and straight that it’s painful. Rowan and Aelin? White and straight. Feyre? Rhysand? Chaol? Dorian? Manon? Hey, you guessed it! They’re all white and straight (despite Chaol, Dorian, and Manon being heavily LGBT+ coded for like, the entire series till the last book)!

“He looked at his friend, perhaps for the last time, and said what he had always known, from the moment they met, ‘I love you.’” (Queen of Shadows)

Hello? Sarah Jane? I’m all for male friendships, but there’s male friendships and then there’s actual romance. Chaol and Dorian are about as gay-coded as they could fucking get. And this isn’t even the only time this happens! Check this out:

“Dorian surged from his chair and dropped to his knees beside the bed. He grabbed Chaol’s hand, squeezing it as he pressed his brow against his. ‘You were dead,’ the prince said, his voice breaking. ‘I thought you were dead.’” (Queen of Shadows)

But wait, there’s more!

“‘I’m not leaving you. Not again.’

Dorian’s mouth tightened. ‘You didn’t leave, Chaol.’ He shook his head once, sending tears slipping down his cheeks. ‘You never left me.’” (Queen of Shadows)

I mean come on, Sarah!

Also, Manon. My girl Manon hated men, pretty explicitly, for the entire series. In case you don’t believe me:

“There were few sounds Manon enjoyed more than the groans of dying men.” (Heir of Fire)

Oh, and other characters even imply Manon has never had a heterosexual relationship in her fucking life. See:

“‘That golden-haired witch, Asterin...’ Aelin said. ‘She screamed Manon’s name the way I screamed yours. How can I take away somebody who means the world to someone else? Even if she is my enemy.’” (Queen of Shadows)

Tell me that’s not gay as fuck. I dare you.

Manon had a whole lot of love to give women! She was always affectionate towards other women. Particularly Elide. This is a woman who was about as lesbian as you could get. Had no interest in men, every interest in women, rejected typically expected roles for women (getting married and having kids, etc.) but guess what happened? Guess what fucking happened?

This warrior who was friends with and rode on a big fuckoff wyvern completely and totally submits to Dorian as her lover. I don’t mean that metaphorically. They literally do some BDSM shit where he’s her “master” and she “kneels to him” or whatever the fucking fuck. This entire thing pissed me off more than Chaol and Dorian being all “no homo bro,” because Maas used every possible symbol and subtext for Manon being gay, and then said “just kidding!” Her relationship with Dorian came out of nowhere. All of a sudden she was just as thirsty for mediocre dick as Aelin.

At this point I honestly have to wonder if Maas is really this ignorant or if she’s - dare I say it? - taunting her readers who have complained about the lack of LGBT+ representation. Maas has, historically, not reacted well to people criticizing her work. I would not put it beyond her at all to intentionally queer-code characters only to turn around and rip the rug out from under her readers by pairing them up in heterosexual relationships. And not only is that shitty writing, but it’s... really malicious and rude.

Of course then there’s the issues with racial representation. Again, Maas doesn’t even try. She includes 13 characters of color only to immediately kill off all of them in a suicide pact. So there’s that. Not sure I need to say more than that.

Maas knows what diversity is, but as per her famous quote, “I just don’t want to force diversity into my books.” So. Y’know. Writing a black or gay character (or!! God forbid, both black and gay!!) is asking a little too much of her, apparently. She doesn’t want to force anything as unbelievable as someone who isn’t white or straight, don’tcha know? In these books about fae people and dragons and gods fighting mortals and explicit erotica, an LGBT+ character or a character of color is high fantasy, not YA. *Sarcasm*

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Reason 5: The woman can’t write.

This is pretty straightforward. She cannot write. My proof? She plagiarizes the living fuck out of everything she can to avoid actually writing her own original work.

1. “You’re gonna rattle the stars.” - from Disney’s Treasure Planet

2. “The Queen Who Was Promised” - from GRRM’s ASOIAF, where Dany Targaryen is often toted as the exact same thing. Oh, and The Prince Who Was Promised prophecy in ASOIAF also mentions Azor Ahai being “the Heir of Fire” so, uh.... yeah.

3. Aelin basically being Aragorn. Lost royalty spends years as an outcast, denies their claim, teams up with elves (fae in Aelin’s case) to defeat a greater evil, becomes known as the people’s champion, falls in love with an elf (fae) and makes them their consort, crowned by the people, ends their coronation scene with a “you bow to no one” (I’m not kidding).

4. Nehemia dying for Aelin and it later being revealed that Nehemia was “grooming” Aelin to face great evil, and potentially give her life to stop it. How much you wanna bet Maas tried to give Aelin a name as close to “Harry Potter” as she could get?

5. Manon lighting a series of beacons across a mountain range to call for aid during war. I mean seriously? This is one of the most iconic scenes in Peter Jackson’s rendition of Lord of the Rings. It’s moving, it’s powerful, it’s awe-inspiring. And Maas knew it. So she just... took it. I don’t have a lot of respect for writers who can’t write their own moving scenes.

6. Kingsflame blossoms, which only bloom when the rightful monarch is on the throne. So... the White Tree of Gondor. Got it.

7. The Hand of the King being a royal court position. Like... jesus. GRRM, come get ya world-building, SJ stole it again.

8. A paralyzed Chaol has a specialized saddle made for him, because he wants more than anything to ride a horse again. GRRM! Please! She’s taking Bran Stark’s story now!

And besides all of these horribly plagiarized points, there’s nothing even slightly compelling about these books. There’s literally zero substance, and the last few books in both the ACOTAR and ToG series have been nothing but a smut-fest. Plot who? We don’t know her.

Trauma, both physical and mental, is erased at the drop of a dime (Aelin lost physical scars, Chaol’s paralysis was basically cured, series of events that should’ve left characters absolutely fucked just... didn’t phase them). The battles are rushed and sloppily written, and Maas has a particularly nasty habit of focusing on exactly the wrong people in the middle of what should be an action packed scene. Instead of showing alliances forging and plots being made behind people’s backs, instead of showing us people gearing up for battle by saying tearful goodbyes to their infants and spouses, Maas shows us Rowan and Aelin banging on a beach, or a tree, or a ship, or wherever the fuck they happen to be at that moment.

None of these characters lose jack shit. There is no sense of urgency or stakes, because we knew since Heir of Fire that Aelin and her precious uwu fae “mate” would be just fine. Why? Because nobody shipped Rowaelin as hard as Sarah Jane Maas did. Consistently the only people who suffer in these books are background characters (who, coincidentally, are almost always the characters of color and LGBT+ characters). By the end of Kingdom of Ash, literally everyone is fine. And paired off to be married, too! Because a happy ending isn’t a true happy ending if it doesn’t end with Babies Ever After and everyone in a heterosexual relationship, of course, right?

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Reason 6: World-building doesn’t even go here! Sorry, she just wanted to be a part of something.

Maas’ world-building is... how do you say... shitty. New lore pops up in every book, having never been mentioned before, and is for some reason of utmost importance (but only for this book. It’ll be forgotten again as soon as it isn’t relevant). Religions who? Culture where? History what? None of these things exist in Maas’ world. None.

Now before anyone jumps down my throat with “but The World of Throne of Glass is coming out this year!!!1!1!!” let me gently establish something. Speaking as a fantasy author: if you do not have your most basic world-building - that being religion, culture, language, and history - already established, then you have no business making a “world of” book to cover all the bases your ass never bothered with in the original series.

I said what I said.

Tolkien and GRRM are masters of world-building because they spent decades working to forge their worlds before they ever put a pen to paper and wrote their stories. Not to toot my own horn, but my own fantasy series has been developing for almost 7 years now. What am I doing with it? I’m outlining governments in different societies, why people came to worship what they do, and I’m making a fucking world map on my bedroom floor (that now has cat paw prints on it, so it’s not exactly final product material anyway).

I give not a single hoot for Maas’ “The World of Throne of Glass.” She could be saying anything she wanted to and it would all just have to be canon, because she’s establishing what this world is after already finishing her series. Yes, it does piss me off, because it’s pretty obvious she didn’t have a clue what her world was, or who was who, or why things were the way they were. She made shit up as she went along, nothing more. There was no grand scheme. There was no planning, and it shows.

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TL;DR: I have a lot of issues with Sarah J Maas’ writing, including her world-building and handling of diversity. But most of all I despise the potential impact she has on the YA genre and on the young girls reading her work. They deserve better than this. They deserve better than Sarah Jane Maas.

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