#Tarquin is never going to be Nestas mate and thats fine

[flowerflamestars]

THOUGHTS about the mate bond in shoreless sea though. Like we know it's motives are wobbly, Rhys' parents didn't get along, but it seems like the goal was that he be born. In Daylight, yes they're compatible, but also we get Illyria and the freeing of the gods, BUT if Nesta can break the bond and Elain can see multiple possibilities (I see Elain's power working similarly to the bond), I LOVE the implication that they chose this timeline from the start like Elain has to step in when bonds fail :P

Hi!! SO so very many thoughts:

I don’t like the way the bond is handled in the books. We get this vague framing for it that’s destiny sure, but more specifically, it’s biological destiny. And that’s gross, on a multitude of levels. Wildly reductive of what we’re supposed to think is this rare, beautiful thing. It’s a soulbond, and I can’t treat it like it’s all about babies.

So the through-line in Daylight, what makes Starlight, and is VERY featured in Shoreless Sea, is that love is a choice. Real love is always also, freedom.

There’s a part played for laughs in Daylight where Lucien keeps telling Cassian the bond is magical phenomenon. It’s made of you, it’s what you make it.

And that’s how I like to use it. Fate exists, but the destiny you run head first into is your choice. Elain can see every possibility, but there will never be infinite possibilities.

The bond itself is fated- there’s no path where, for example, Nesta didn’t meet Cassian- but what you need shapes what that bond becomes.

It happens like a flashpoint, the snap.

For example, Rhysand’s parents (who I, for the record, think Rhys very heavily projects his issues onto), but who this works for: they literally meet while she’s being dragged off. What does she need? Someone to save her. Someone strong. Someone who will never take away her wings, never deny her any part of herself. 

What did Rhysand’s dad need? Someone who was all his and not the crowns. Someone to be ruthless for. A counterweight to his rigidity.

Rhys says they had a bad marriage. But all we really know is that both sides of that were served well- Lady Night flew her whole life, lived in a palace no one, not even her husband could winnow to. Rhysand’s hardass dad was completely the kind of person to walk down ten thousand steps every day, and probably did. His heir was raised in Illyria. I would bet money he knew about the weaver test. 

I think they just...weren’t soft? with each other? they were both pragmatic people, looking to the future, and probably an incredible team.

Elain and Lucien: Elain needed someone to understand her, when she went too deep. Needed someone who wasn’t the Night Court, wasn’t saddled by war the same way. A companion, an anchor to life. 

Lucien needed a family. Someone that was his to protect, a reason to keep going, to even imagine the future existed. 

They’re family, they’re like siblings, because that’s the bond they chose and so it became the bond. 

The matebond is a tie between souls who always meet- magic, the whatness of a person- of course it’s love. But there’s so very many kinds of love to be experienced.

I love that you see Elain’s power that way! Because it really is that. She sees the Shoreless Sea timeline in Daylight, sees the mistakes.

This is absolutely magical fuckery I made up, but stay with me: mates always meet. There’s a sameness between them. (Feyre and Rhys, both nothing the world has ever seen before, ect)

Human Nesta is no less Cassian’s mate than she was as a God wearing a faery face- because there’s no future where she doesn’t become fae, in some way.

But the path diverged. A Cassian who chooses Rhys, who doesn’t know how to stop fighting, who won’t ever fight for himself- stops being a Cassian who becomes Nesta’s equal, remade by the rage of the mountain gods into something more.

He picked wrong- he’s never going to be her godly equal, the circle is never going to close.

Why? because this time he didn’t ask Azriel to go after her. And with Az there, they were too busy fighting about peace vs slaughter for Cassian to find that scrap of silver silk he carried for bravery. Because he’s so worn down that by the time he goes to see Morrigan he stays, and lets her say all that bullshit, almost believes it.

Cassian stays as mortal as immortal faeries can be, and the future breaks. 

He rejected the bond- shut Nesta out so soundly be can’t even find her when she leaves.

Even Gods can have mates, but Nesta’s mate is not God like her. She can bring back the dead, she can swallow the world. She could probably build a new one entirely, if Elain helped. 

We know even normal faeries can reject the bond so soundly it breaks. 

I think Nesta, who has built a life, who hasn’t heard a whisper from Cassian since, jesus, that horrible Solstice long ago, who knows now that she deserves better, would tire of the idea that there’s one last tie that can pull her back. Rein her in. The he never wanted her as she really was, even if she’d been willing to die for him.

Because they lived. 

They lived and isn’t that a new life? this whole new world, an entire eternity. Cassian doesn’t just not come to find her, he leaves her alone immediately. 

Nesta, bloody, trailing behind on a battlefield while Cassian is supported by Morrigan.

I think Nesta plucked up that thread of soul like a life that could be cut and broke it, shattered it like the chain it was when it became clear there was no going back.

[thedaycourts]

(completed) acowar liveblog

ACOWAR LIVE BLOG (SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY)

spoilers will be ahead... you have been warned

feel free to message me to talk about the book!

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5/1/17 11:22pm- someone help me I've literally preordered the ebook and the hardcover (which hasn't even shipped yet ugh) and I'm so prepared 

5/1/17 11:31pm- I've read the first 8 sample chapters so. many. times... i'm ready for the real thing now pls thx bye

5/2/17 12:06am- IT TOOK TILL 12:06 FOR THE EBOOK TO RELEASE OMG MIDNIGHT RELEASE MY BUTT SMH

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chapters 1-8: i kinda like jurian actually (maybe ill regret saying that idk), lucien being protective of elain is making my heart warm, tamlin makes me wanna kill someone, feyre shouldve cut ianthe’s throat tbh, the twins give out such weird vibes, AND OMG rhys and feyre sending images of themselves sticking their tongues out is my moodboard i love it so much

chapter 9: “Blood rubies or no, you will always have one friend in the Summer Court.” My throat bobbed. “And you will always have one in mine,” I promised her. She knew which court I meant. And did not look afraid. I LOVE ALIS OK SHE IS ACCEPTING AND PROTECTIVE AND AMAZING

ianthe needs to get her filthy hands off of lucien before i strangle her

LUCIEN AND FEYRE GOING TO THE NIGHT COURT TOGETHER HECK TO THE YES 

chapter 12: @luciens brothers can you go die pls ok thx bye

chapter 13: CASSIAN IS OK AND SO IS AZ ADHEIOFHJKFAJ MY LIFE IS SLOWLY PIECING ITSELF BACK TOGETHER

“i am the high lady of the night court” hECK YES YOU ARE

the tender cassian and feyre hug made me sob even more and then the mor hug hauidfghuajkshcdfa the feels

chapter 14: I AM SOBBING I AM S O B B I N G AT THIS FEYSAND REUNION HELP MY POOR BROKEN SOUL

also omg just imagine lucien watching this reunion bc i think his expression would be absolutely priceless

chapter 15: “I was in love with Feyre,” Rhys said quietly, “long before she ever returned the feeling.” whats that noise??? oh yeah its just the sound of my heart breaking no big deal

“I revealed the mating bond months later—and she gave me hell for it, don’t worry.” hA 

LUCIEN CALLING AMREN A CRANKY OLD AUNT OMG

chapter 16: poor nesta and elain omg no 

i really need to know whats going on between nesta and cassian bc theres def something there hehe

chapter 17: MOR AND CASSIAN AND STICKING THEIR TONGUES OUT TO EACH OTHER TOO NOW OMG FIRST FEYRE AND RHYS AND NOW THEM WHAT IS HAPPENING

chapter 18: “defending the female he loved”  PLS JUST GET TOGETHER ALREADY @MOR @AZRIEL 

“our family” MY HEART IS MELTING HELP I JUST WANT MY BABIES TO BE HAPPY

“It was the first time you had looked … peaceful. Like you were indeed awake, alive again. I was so relieved I thought I’d puke right onto the table.” GUYS RHYS CARES SO MUCH ABOUT FEYRE LIKE PLS REALIZE HE WAS SO ECSTATIC THAT SHE LOOKED ALIVE AGAIN HE WANTED TO PUKE BC HE CARES ABOUT HER SO. FREAKING. MUCH.

“I will fight with everything I have, too, Rhys. Everything.” why do i have the feeling this is foreshadowing something that i am not going to like at all

chapter 19: “Why should I be scared of an oversized bat who likes to throw temper tantrums?” this is how true love starts out 400% you go nesta 

chapter 21: oh dang it here goes the nightmares starting up again

chapter 22: feyre sees the bone carver as their son omg what can this please happen

chapter 23: “Nothing about Nesta could frighten me.” *cue me audibly going awwwwww*

chapter 24: “She was the most beautiful female he’d ever seen.” This seems to be a common way of thinking when people look at their mates hehe throwback to acotar

az is such a bean like who else is awesome enough to wait 500 years for the girl he loves 

chapter 26: AZRIEL PUTTNG HIS HAND ON TOP OR MOR’S DURING THE MEETING WITH KIER OMG WHY MUST SHE REJECT HIS TENDER HAND TOUCH

chapter 27: mor being depressed bc of what she witnessed at the meeting makes me wanna cry

omg the inner court arguing what is this

chapter 29: tbh az reminds me of myself so much and i think we have the same MBTI personality type((:

chapter 30: the heck is hybern’s little minions doing in velaris nonunion go home you aren't allowed here

chapter 32: NESTA IS A SEER WHAT DOES THIS MEAN

chapter 33: “He did not glance back at Elain. Did not see the half step she took toward the stairs—as if she’d speak to him. Stop him.” elucien for rulers of the autumn court pls

chapter 34: varian warning amren??? they're friends?? so they keep in touch?? hmmmmmmm sounds suspicious(((;

chapter 36: KING OF HYBERN VS RHYS OMG WHAT AM I ABOUT TO WITNESS

oh jk he wasn't really there oops

chapter 38: I think tarquin should forgive them especially since they came to his rescue but hey thats just me

chapter 39: “And it was precisely because of it that I said, “I love you.” His head lifted, eyes churning. “There was a time when I dreamed of hearing that,” he murmured. “When I never thought I’d hear it from you.” 

nesta being worried ab cassian ahhhhhh

chapter 42: nesta being named emissary omg i love it

“And to my eternal shock, a smile tugged at Nesta’s mouth.” ahaha

GAMBLING ON THE FIGHTS AT THE MEETING AHAHA WHY AM I NOT SURPRISED AT ALL

chapter 43: this viviane girl seems cool.. i hope she doesn't end up stabbing my babies in the back:)))

ew no i was perfectly fine with having tamlin absent for the remainder of the book

same @feyre who is 500% done with tamlin and his crap 

chapter 45: NESTA STANDING UP FOR CASSIAN AND SASSING OUT BERON IS THE REASON IM STILL ALIVE 

chapter 47: I'm beginning to really like helion

chapter 48: too bad i already saw spoilers so i knew helion was luciens dad smhhhhhhh

ok but like if nesta thinks something is wrong, shouldn't you have learned by now that something is usually wrong???????

wow would ya look at that...something was wrong *scowls*

chapter 52: where the frick frackle jensen ackle did jurian come from 

chapter 53: ok but i totally called jurian being good

....tamlin still being a tool i see 

chapter 55: they keep mentioning their dad so i have a feeling he's in trouble/being held captive

chapter 56: nesta helping heal cass omg yes

YES MY GIRL SURI

chapter 58: I've never wanted ianthe dead more,,,,WHO DARES SHOOT MY GIRL SURI HREIAOFHJAKEF FIGHT ME

chapter 60: i literally bawled so much when suri died omg i sounded like a dying horse

chapter 61: this episode of honestly hour features feyre and mor going head-to-head about decisions and relationships... stay tuned for the next episode

chapter 62: amren and varian kissing hm how do i feel ab this

chapter 63: ELAIN IS AN ACTUAL SUNSHINE WHO DARES TAKE HER AWAY (of course its az my little bean who notices she's gone)

also I'm betting ten bucks lucien will find her and save her (prolly not gonna happen but it would be cute if he did)

chapter 64: EW SHE HAS TO BE IANTHE WOW THATS UNFORTUNATE

rhys and feyre’s goodbyes felt more like a pep talk than a sad goodbye but thats just me

ok thanks for saving feyre @tamlin but for the record i still hate you

chapter 65: omg nesta hugging feyre and all the sisters being all nice and cuddly makes me so happy

chapter 66: the moriel shipping part of me is very sad but yunno maybe this means i can keep az for myself (or elain can have him idk which direction sarah will take this) and mor can be eternally happy((:

sooooo does this mean elain x az is now gonna happen bc like az is gonna need someone to help heal the hole in his heart and elain is such a sweetie but what about lucien????

chapter 68: but are we ever gonna know what feyre saw in the mirror?

chapter 69: tender az and elain moment omg that was so cute i love my smol beans

“I would have waited five hundred more years for you. A thousand years. And if this was all the time we were allowed to have … The wait was worth it.” AWEEE

rhys and his lil speeches to everyone dang what is this

chapter 70: “And then Nesta began screaming. Not in pain. But a name. Over and over. “CASSIAN.” IM SUCH NESSIAN TRASH IDOFHAJDKFA

chapter 71: “This was it. The last moments … the last time I would see them all.” nothings even happened yet and I'm already crying

“He told me that he’s got three daughters who live here. And that he failed them for many years. But he would not fail them this time.” well shoot i have no words rn and tbh i kinda forgot their dad existed the past few chapters

chapter 72: “She wrapped her arms tightly around Cassian, those gray-blue eyes bright, then they were gone.” THEY GIVE ME LIFEEEE YESSSS

chapter 73: OK AMREN WHAT ARE YA DOIN???

chapter 74: ....welp... bye bye mr archeron thanks for saving my babies and also wHERE THE FRICK DID YOU COME FROM?? nesta and elain and feyre being sad is making me sad

OK WHY IS CASSIANS WINGS GETTING HURT AGAIN??? i feel like this is sarah starting a new thing like “hey! lets just end every book with cassian’s wings getting ripped to shreds!!”

“I have no regrets in my life, but this.” His voice shook with every word. “That we did not have time. That I did not have time with you, Nesta.” FRICK OMG THIS IS IT. THIS IS THE MOMENT I BECAME COMPLETE NESSIAN TRASH. AND THEN THE KISS. OH MY. I CANT. I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH.

and elain coming to the rescue omg heck to the yes

chapter 75: nesta stabbing the king is tHE BEST. i can't just feel the pure rage and emotion radiating out of her as she twists the blade in his neck. think of the people she's doing it for. her dad, her sisters, her new family, cassian. this scene gives me so many feels

amren saying she's glad she met feyre awe

chapter 76: AHHHH RHYS IM SOBBING NO FEYRE HDAUKHJD AHHHH WHY DID RHYS DIE ON PAGE 666

chapter 77: feyre screaming for rhys nononononono i feel my soul shattering

rhys was DEAD and he comes back making a JOKE....why is this not surprising

chapter 78: lucien is back ahhhh it feels like he was gone for the whole book tbh

yes drakon and miryam hauifheajkdfhajfha

chapter 81: RHYSAND’S POV YESSSS

talking about feyre’s “beautiful laugh” ahhhhhh they're sooooo cuteeee

chapter 82: i LOVE the fact the book ended with them all peaceful. they deserve it. i love everyone. i am happy. goodbye.