#acotar and hosab crossover
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nikethestatue · 1 year ago
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Plot Twist:
Bryce, meeting Azriel, then Elain
"Oh, I've read about your two in 'Great Romances of Fae'. You two are in for one hell of a ride!"
Azriel, nervously,
"Do we get a HEA?"
Elain, curiously,
"Is it a dark and erotic romance?"
Bryce, sagely,
"Yes and yes."
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offtorivendell · 1 year ago
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My thoughts on the Bryce, Azriel and Nesta HOFAS bonus chapter...
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Disclaimer: as suggested by the title, the following discusses the Walmart HOFAS bonus chapter featuring Azriel, Bryce and Nesta. I haven't read the main text, so it won't feature anything related to that, but there are massive Maasverse and HOFAS spoilers ahead regardless. Please beware.
These are just my initial thoughts, not expanded upon in any substantial way and, as usual, I could always be way off the mark.
Also, yes, fair warning that I'll be mentioning the ACOTAR characters a lot. If that's not your jam, and you'd rather avoid any of the possible implications of the crossover, then I'd give this post a miss. On the other hand, if you're interested in how CC/HOFAS may affect Prythian going forward, please read on.
Music:
The Stone Mother song has me 👀 especially as the stone and water were "talking" at the start.
@cassianfanclub and @wingedblooms have already posted about the Stone Mother (here and here); @ladynightcourt3 has found the Phrygian goddess Cybele, also known as the "Mountain Mother," who sounds very relevant.
That being said, am I crazy to think Elain could have been listening in? Is Azriel stone and Elain water? His stone siphons - which Elain called beautiful, did she hear their song, as kin? - and Elain possibly as water? Was she using salt water to boost her powers, or a reflection pool to scry, and keep tabs on her sister and friend?
Or is it the space between linking worlds? Are the old gods talking?
Alternatively, could stone be referring to Nuala and Cerridwen, who are capable of manifesting stone around themselves and others (ACOTAR).
Is this what SJM meant when she said we'd see Elain in "some form" in the next book?
@psychee92 said she wished that SJM had somehow included Mr Brightside, and now I wish the same; even a mention of indie rock. 😭
Josie and Laurel - "He/god will add/increase" "(laurel) trees/victory"? Elain? Lol sorry, but it's either giving gardener, or Elain killing Hybern.
Wraith-like harmonies? After the description of Josie and Laurel's voices? It's crack, but is it a metaphor for Nuala and Cerridwen?
The musical similarities between what Juniper dances to and Prythian's music?!
Azriel's humming/singing made the shadows dance, once more suggesting that shadows dancing is a response to power, not mate bonds
The music Az liked was death metal. Could this link to any sort of metal artefact, like an iron crown for grounding? Or wyrdstone jewellery?
The glass coffin?
"Nineteenth century literature presents the glass coffin as a prison within which sleeping women are frequently mistaken for dead or vice versa." (Source). It's giving Sleeping Beauty (credit to @elriell for the OG SB theory), and a little Snow White.
Check out this tale from The Brothers Grimm, which sounds... suspiciously relevant to Elain.
@cassianfanclub also suggested that it's giving necromancer vibes, and I'd love that for Elain.
Feyre once said she could sleep for a hundred years after coming back from the Prison, right before going to the Hewn City in ACOWAR. After Elain had left the room, and before Feyre went to check in on her to find her "asleep—breathing."
Let's not forget Elain's assistance in rescuing the human COTB, Briar, from Hybern's camp.
Will Elain prick herself while weaving?
I was tired enough that I could barely summon the breath to ask, “Do you think the Cauldron made her insane?” “I think she went through something terrible,” Lucien countered carefully. “And it wouldn’t hurt to have your best healer do a thorough examination.” I rubbed my hand over my face. “All right.” My breath snagged on the words. “Tomorrow morning.” I managed a shallow nod, rallying my strength to rise from the chair. Heavy—there was an old heaviness in me. Like I could sleep for a hundred years and it wouldn’t be enough. “Please tell me,” Lucien said when I crossed the threshold into the foyer. “What the healer says. And if—if you need me for anything.” I gave him one final nod, speech suddenly beyond me. I knew Nesta still wasn’t asleep as I walked past her room. Knew she’d heard every word of our conversation thanks to that Fae hearing. And I knew she heard as I listened at Elain’s door, knocked once, and poked my head in to find her asleep—breathing. - ACOWAR, chapter 27
Azriel specifically said Nesta "beheaded" Hybern, after looking down at Truth-Teller.
This is not Azriel giving Nesta credit for the assassination. If anything he's hiding Elain's involvement.
I've said before, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has done so, but I would expect Azriel to protect his LI with silence, whoever they are.
He had to have been thinking about Elain, who I've theorised could now/soon be known as "The Shadowsinger's Knife" after she became the "knife in the dark" in Azriel's place at the end of ACOWAR.
The young girl sitting on the mushroom:
I'm still looking into the carving of the young girl sitting on the toadstool with the hound sprawled on the ground beside her, as I find it really interesting. My initial thought was that it seemed like a convenient place to drop a mention of a garden-like fairy carving with a hound right after Bryce had quizzed Azriel about his hypothetical mate, or lack thereof (Elain being both heavily associated with plant life, thanks to her "little garden," as well as dogs, after Nesta called her one in ACOSF).
I also wonder if it has anything to do with the Czech tale that amanita muscaria - while psychoactive/toxic - are said to protect from lightning and other ill fortune. If this is correct, it reminds me a little of the markings - wyrdmarks - on the Archeron cottage.
I don't know where Bryce and co were walking, as I have only read this bonus chapter and the prologue, but given it was carved on an underground wall, and I suspect that there are underground portals in at least the Hewn City and the Prison, and maybe the waterways... could it have been for protection against the invading lightning Asteri? Or did the Asteri (Daglan?) put them there to protect against Thunderbirds, or whatever Hunt is?
Miscellany
Maybe Bryce hadn't been sent there by Urd? Who then? Was @silverlinedeyes right all along?
The mention of pleasure halls seems like a call back to Azriel's bonus chapter, but it's also likely that they aren't all brothels (see Rita's).
Azriel listening closely about Nesta now liking being Fae; he could extrapolate her responses to Elain. Maybe she's no longer miserable, and in need of their pity. And maybe she's changed her mind from ACOFAS, when she said to Feyre "I don't want a mate, I don't want a male."
Azriel said "no" to whether or not he has a mate rather quickly. Hmm... the shadowsinger doth protest too much?
It's also potentially important that Nesta said "yes, WE are" curious about Azriel's mate status. Her, Azriel and most of the fandom! 😂
"Okay, okay," Bryce said. "But it'd be cool to know something about your world. Or about you." They were both silent. Bryce asked Nesta, "You have a mate, right?" She nodded to Azriel. "Do you?" "No." Azriel said quickly, flatly. "A partner or spouse?" "No." Bryce sighed. "Okay, then." Azriel's wings twitched. "You're incurably nosy." "I think that's the nicest thing you've said about me." Bryce winked at him. "Look, I just... I'm curious. Aren't you?" Azriel didn't answer, but Nesta said, "Yes. We are." - HOFAS, Bryce, Azriel and Nesta bonus chapter
All in all, while there were no overt mentions of Elain - and really, why would SJM do that in a series that wasn't Elain's own - imo we got the Elain-shaped holes in the text that I was hoping for, and I can't wait to see if there are any more in the full book.
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silverlinedeyes · 1 year ago
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Are HOFAS and ACOTAR5 going to be a tandem read ala ToD and EoS?
I know a lot of us have speculated that ACOTAR 5 might overlap some with HOFAS. But the more I think about it, the more I think HOFAS and ACOTAR5 are going to be essentially a(n unrequired) tandem read like EoS and ToD.
Sarah has said that you do not need to read CC to read the rest of the ACOTAR series, and vice versa. And that you won’t need to read HOFAS as an ACOTAR reader. But how would this work in practice?
I think the best and most logical way to do it is have ACOTAR 5 and HOFAS essentially overlap. That way she could show us what happens in HOFAS that’s relevant to the ACOTAR plot in ACOTAR 5, and she can show us what’s relevant to the CC plot in HOFAS, while Bryce is in Prythian. Doing it this way would not require her to spend large chunks of ACOTAR5 giving us the backstory of what happened while Bryce was in Prythian during HOFAS—instead, we’ll see what we need to see for the purposes of ACOTAR actually on the page in ACOTAR5.
Now, I do think that ACOTAR5 will start before chapter 78 in HOSAB (especially since things happened after ACOSF but before chapter 78 that are eluded to in chapter 78, like Az knowing where to find bryce and elain maybe moving to the townhouse) and likely will end after bryce returns to Midgard in HOFAS. But I expect that all of Bryce’s time in Prythian will be within the timeline of ACOTAR5.
Now imagine that at the beginning of HOFAS Elain is sent on a mission to find the fourth trove (to help get Bryce back) or to find the third trove weapon, or even to find out information to help contact Hel or Midgard. And Az insists on going with her to protect her. And a big part of acotar5 is going to be following them on that mission

(and that’s how Sarah unofficially confirms elriel đŸ€ŁđŸ€ŁđŸ€Ł)
I COULD SEE IT
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galamerapple · 6 months ago
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house of sky and breath is my fav comedy
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acourtofthought · 1 year ago
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"Nesta sometimes wondered if they would ever see battle. If these priestesses would ever be willing to leave here to fight, to face violence that might summon the devouring demons of their pasts"
This seems to be yet another hint at the return of the Daglan / Asteri to Prythian. I don't think SJM is referring to their individual pasts (Gwyns time in Sangravah and Emerie's abuse from her father) but of a collective "their", as in the "devouring demons" of all the faes pasts.
"The Daglan. They ruled for millennia, and enslaved us and the humans. They were petty and cruel and drank the magic of the land like wine.”
The Asteri:
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Bryce is "the key to opening the doors between worlds" and her landing in Prythian just set the wheels in motion for the Asteri.
To me, that's why Koschei, the treaty and Beron are no longer the most major threats.
They need to be dealt with for sure but Koschei is immortal just as Lanthys was and he was easily taken out by Nesta's made sword.
The leftover plots from ACOWAR, ACOFAS, and ACOSF are the equivalent of Captain America Civil War but by the end of an Elucien book, I think they'll find a way to bring peace to the Human and Fae lands and why I think this will occur in the 6-9 months between the end of SF and Bryce's arrival in Prythian (or even spilling over into her arrival in the ACOTAR world).
And that peace will be necessary for when we get to SJMs version of Endgame.
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acotars · 1 year ago
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possibly an unpopular opinion but i feel like sjm’s writing/plotting have gone downhill, which is disappointing bc i enjoyed tog so much. i actually did like the first 4 acotar books and hoeab, but her most recent work feels like she’s trying to do too much with the maasverse and it’s not well thought out (i had so many issues with the larger world plot elements of acosf and the regression on bryce’s character arc in hosab
). it feels like as she’s gotten more and more popular, whoever her current editor is doesn’t do a good job at making her ideas work best for the overall story. i’m disappointed bc the premises have so much potential but haven’t lived up to it to me :/
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send me your unpopular opinions and i’ll either let you in or not
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shallyne · 2 years ago
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I want Bryce to look at the paintings Feyre made and just praise them into eternity so people finally get it in their brains that Feyre is a good painter
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azrielsbxtch · 2 years ago
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SJM’s super power is giving vague interviews
We will literally go months without news and she’ll pop up talking about a random mountain from her childhood
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helion-ism · 1 year ago
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the crescent city series is kinda sjm’s version of history class
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pollyaunt · 2 years ago
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GUYS HOLD THE FUCK UP-
HOUSE OF FLAME AND SHADOW RIGHT?
FLAME= AELIN FROM TOG
SHADOW= RHYSAND FROM ACOTAR
#THEFUCKINGMULTIVERSEISHAPPENING
ps: please be purple cover (literal dream coming true given its my favourite colour)
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nikethestatue · 1 year ago
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offtorivendell · 1 year ago
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Is an oily residue corrupting Azriel's hypothetical mating bond and making him feel off kilter? Is it related to Valg-type magic?
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Disclaimer: this theory is a continuation of a few of my others that I've been too lazy to post until now - first I was going to post it for Elriel Month 2023, then Azriel Week 2023... it never happened - but like everyone else I'm having massive FOMO before HOFAS, so here we finally go, even though I know I've forgotten something lol. As usual, this makes no claims of being accurate, it's just theorising for fun.
A massive thank you goes out to @wingedblooms, @tswaney17, @silverlinedeyes, @psychologynerd, @ladynightcourt3, @cassianfanclub, and anyone else I've forgotten (sorry!) for all of our discussions that finally became this post. Love you guys. 💜
Spoilers: this is a Maasverse post, and draws from the ACOTAR series, CC 1 & 2/HOEAB & HOSAB, and the TOG series. It is CC 3/HOFAS spoiler free, as I'm waiting to read it in its "original English" đŸ€“ on the 30th of January. Please be respectful of that if engaging in the comments before it's published!
Plenty of people, including @silverlinedeyes, @icedflames and myself, have posted our thoughts on mating bonds in the Maasverse, and this theory builds on those previously established - though again, as yet hypothetical - ideas. Specifically, this post about the use of “oily” throughout the ACOTAR series is recommended reading.
What we do know is that:
Mating bonds contain threads, and so do spells.
Mates are the song/music of the soul, and their laughter is likened to music.
Different fae, and magics, contain different scents, be that personal or regional
First, let's go back to ACOWAR, when Feyre described the Ravens' entrance into the library as being like an off-kilter chord:
I felt it at the same moment she did. The ripple and tremor. Like 
 like some piece of the world shifted, like some off-kilter chord had been plucked. We turned toward the illuminated path that we’d just taken through the stacks, then to the dark far, far beyond. - ACOWAR, chapter 30
Initially, I had wondered if the King of Hybern had had Jurian use the Harp to infiltrate Velaris, but it was @merymoonbeam (I think) who theorised that the Cauldron might be mimicking the Harp, and maybe not doing the best job of it. Which made me wonder, could it do the same with mate bonds?
He left the rest unspoken. Because her mate was here, sleeping a level up. Because her mate had been in the family room and Azriel had needed to stay by the door the whole time because he couldn't stand the sight of it, the scent of their mating bond, and needed to have the option of leaving if it became too much. - ACOSF, Azriel's bonus chapter
Looking at her now 
 She was pale, yes. The vacancy still glazing her features. But he couldn’t breathe as she faced him fully. She was the most beautiful female he’d ever seen. Betrayal, queasy and oily, slid through his veins. He’d said the same to Jesminda once. But even as shame washed through him, the words, the sense chanted, Mine. You are mine, and I am yours. Mate. - ACOWAR, chapter 24
What if the Elucien bond, as either a spell or piss poor Cauldron-Made approximation of a bond, causes Azriel - and maybe Elain, possibly Lucien - nausea when Lucien is around because it's constantly changing, or reverberating over the top of, what remains of a hypothetical Elriel bond?
What if it's making the Elriel bond off-kilter, out of whack, imbalanced?
Does this make Azriel feel sick, nauseous, or simply overwhelmed/overstimulated?
When people are feeling off-balance, for whatever reason, they can feel sick or nauseous. It's one of the symptoms of vertigo, which can be triggered by severe headaches such as migraines. And guess who rubs their temples? Azriel!
Alternatively, certain chords played loudly enough on a string instrument can really mess with your chest - and where do mating bonds attach - if you're standing close enough for them to vibrate through you (at least, they do for me haha). It can be weirdly disconcerting, and I'd imagine that if Azriel or Elain feels something like this, no wonder he describes such severe discomfort that he needs to leave, and she shrinks away from Lucien, the unintentional cause of her pain.
Same with the smell; if the magic of the Cauldron, in whatever way, is messing with the smell that should be there? Contaminating it? Unbearable.
Is this too crack for you? Well, let's get even crazier.
I have previously suggested that the Cauldron's actions throughout the series could be tracked, in part, by SJM describing a feeling or quality as “oily,” and I've also wondered if the dark maker of the Cauldron - Koschei? - could have hijacked it in some way, as the Book of Breathings being made from leftover iron gave me “One Ring” vibes. I still stand by that, but with a clarification (and here is where the TOG and CC spoilers come in, FYI). I think it's only half of the magic belonging to the Cauldron that is "oily":
Throughout TOG, the Valg are heavily associated with “oiliness,” in terms of their blood and magic. The smell “reeks” and always results in the involved characters experiencing extreme revulsion, including headaches. Sound familiar?
Wyrdstone has an oily, hideous aftertaste.
Even in CC 1/HOEAB, Danika was described as oily when she came into Griffin Antiques.
Celaena looked at the sealed door, her stomach turning. A half-dried pool of blood lay at the base of the door, so dark it looked like oil. She crouched, swiping a finger through the puddle. She sniffed at it, almost gagged at the reek, and then rubbed her finger against the pad of her thumb. It felt as oily as it looked. - COM, chapter 45
“What the hell is that?” Rowan demanded, kneeling beside her, sniffing her outstretched hand. He jerked back, snarling. “That’s not dirt.” No, it wasn’t. It was blacker than night, and reeked just as badly as it had the first time she’d smelled it, in the catacombs beneath the library, an obsidian, oily pool of blood. Slightly different from that other, horrific smell that loitered around this place, but similar. So similar to— “This isn’t possible,” she said, jolting to her feet. “This—this—this—” She paced, if only to keep from shaking. “I’m wrong. I have to be wrong.” There had been so many cells in that forgotten dungeon beneath the library, beneath the king’s Wyrdstone clock tower. The creature she’d encountered there had possessed a human heart. It had been left, she’d suspected, because of some defect. What if 
 what if the perfected ones had been moved elsewhere? What if they were now 
 ready? - HOF, chapter 45
The overseer roared, thrashing as her magic swept into him, melded with him. But there was nothing inside to grab on to. No darkness to burn out, no remaining ember to breathe life into. Only— Aelin reeled back, magic vanishing and knees buckling as if struck. Her head gave a throb, and nausea roiled in her gut. She knew that feeling—that taste. Iron. As if the man’s core was made of it. And that oily, hideous aftertaste 
 Wyrdstone. The demon inside the overseer let out a choked laugh. “What are collars and rings compared to a solid heart? A heart of iron and Wyrdstone, to replace the coward’s heart beating within.” - EOS, chapter 15
* Side note, it's giving Tamlin and his stone heart.
Danika didn’t just look like she’d been rootling through the garbage. She smelled like it, too. Wisps of her silvery blond hair—normally a straight, silken sheet—curled from her tight, long braid, the streaks of amethyst, sapphire, and rose splattered with some dark, oily substance that reeked of metal and ammonia. - CC HOEAB, chapter 1
The Hind held Ruhn’s gaze as the game began. She was the spitting image of Luna, with her upswept chignon, the regal angle of her neck and jaw. As coldly serene as the moon. All she needed was a pack of hunting hounds at her side— And she had them, in her dreadwolves. How had someone so young risen in the ranks so swiftly, gained such notoriety and power? No wonder she left a trail of blood behind her. “Careful now,” the Harpy said with that oily smile. “The Hammer doesn’t share.” The Hind’s lips curved upward. “No, he doesn’t.” - CC HOSAB, chapter 33
I think the dark maker of the Cauldron could have been Valg, whether that's Koschei or someone else I don't know though Koschei currently makes the most sense. I also don't know when the dark maker would have had the chance to influence the Cauldron; was it always made from dark and light, or - as @fawnandshadows theorised a while back - did Koschei bastardise it after the fact? Where the Valg would fit in with the Daglan and the Asteri is also a mystery, though my current train of thought is that they could be family names or allegiances, like different clans of the same parasitical species, thanks to the description of Danika in HOEAB.
But, back to Azriel and his severe reaction to the Elucien bond.
I know I'm not the only one who wonders at the very Valg-ish themes with which Rhys and Azriel's powers have been described - maybe one day I'll post my thoughts about the possible link between lightsingers, shadowsingers, daemati and the Valg (but it is not this day lol) - and how that may have come about. For example, are the Valg interwoven, genetically, with the Avallen people, or is it because the Princes of Hel are also involved, and have similar magics? Are the Princes of Hel a similar species as the Valg, Asteri and Daglan, or completely different? Ugh, let's stop this spiral here.
Oily: the obvious train of thought being that oily things are slippery, which can lead to an imbalance
 ie. becoming off-kilter.
Sounds like Azriel could be suffering from some sort of vertigo, of which symptoms can include nausea; severe headaches, such as migraines, may trigger an episode
 and who rubs his temples enough that Elain noticed it?
Maybe Azriel can sense the corruption in the bond, either the current Elucien bond, or the hypothetical original bond between Elain and himself; if like calls to like, and his shadows are Valg-ish, maybe it is because his OG bond was fucked with. So, what if:
Azriel's shadows can slip away from spells and binding magic (Slippery > oily > Valg).
The guards at the prison know what he is.
Valg magic making Azriel nauseous and Elain sourcing/making a healer's powder for him? It's giving Chaol and Yrene. Especially since Elain (and Mor) make his shadows brighten.
So, we have in-text mentions of Azriel feeling overwhelmed due to the proximity of the Elucien bond, as well as Elain shrinking from Lucien - an action that parallels Azriel hanging out in the doorway, and even Lucien retreating to the human lands, if he feels any bond-related discomfort around Elain. But what about his initial response to seeing Elain, and thinking she was the most beautiful female he'd ever seen? The quote that sent me down the “oily” rabbit hole to begin with?
Looking at her now 
 She was pale, yes. The vacancy still glazing her features. But he couldn’t breathe as she faced him fully. She was the most beautiful female he’d ever seen. Betrayal, queasy and oily, slid through his veins. He’d said the same to Jesminda once. But even as shame washed through him, the words, the sense chanted, Mine. You are mine, and I am yours. Mate. - ACOWAR, chapter 24
Well, Aelin felt oily disgust at the thought of marrying someone who wasn't Rowan:
“There are no allies,” Darrow said. “Unless Her Highness decides to be useful and gain us men and arms through marriage”—a sharp glance at Rowan—“we are alone.” Aelin debated revealing what she knew, the money she’d schemed and killed to attain, but— Something cold and oily clanged through her. Marriage to a foreign king or prince or emperor. Would this be the cost? Not just in blood shed, but in dreams yielded? To be a princess eternal, but never a queen? To fight with not just magic, but the other power in her blood: royalty. She could not look at Rowan, could not face those pine-green eyes without being sick. - EOS, chapter 5
This example from Aelin could describe Azriel and Elain’s potential future if Elain accepted a theoretically Cauldron spelled bond to Lucien, but also for Lucien and Jesminda, if they were originally true or fated mates before she was murdered.
Some final thoughts:
We know from TOG that healing light is known as the Valg executioner. In a parallel to Yrene killing Erawan with her healing light in KOA, Elain killed the King of Hybern - who I suspect was possessed or assisted by a Valg, as Feyre described his magic as a “galaxy” in his palms - with Truth-Teller, which had recently devoured the (her?) sunlight; does this mean that Elain could heal or purify Valg possessed things, with or without the magical, Made dagger? Could this be extrapolated to Azriel's magic, the Dread Trove, or even the Cauldron (possibly with Feyre and Nesta for the bigger ticket items)?
If the Asteri are the same species as the Valg, and the Valg somehow had a hand in making or twisting the Cauldron, it could follow that they used the Cauldron to create offspring bonds for a more powerful food source. If this pans out then Elain, bright light, could hypothetically heal the Cauldron. Maybe that is why Azriel describes her with purity language? Not because SJM wants to display Azriel's apparently toxic thoughts about her (🙄), but because she, along with her sisters, will be his/their salvation? Rhys once said as much to Feyre!
@mrspettyferr has suggested that Azriel's shadows ability to hide him from binding magic - see: the High Lord's meeting in ACOWAR - could have prevented his true bond from snapping with Elain when she came out of the Cauldron. This could be supported by any Valg/shadow link.
Thank you for reading! Please don't mention any CC HOFAS spoilers in the comments or reblogs until after it has been officially published. 💜
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darklove9314-blog · 11 months ago
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Chapters: 10/? Fandom: Crescent City Series - Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas, Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Hunt Athalar/Bryce Quinlan, Lidia Cervos/Ruhn Danaan, Baxian Argos/Danika Fendyr, Celestina/Hypaxia Enador, Declan Emmet/Marc Rosarin, Ithan Holstrom/Unnamed Wolf Mystic, Ariadne/Tristan Flynn, Juniper Andromeda/Fury Axtar, Nesta Archeron/Cassian, Feyre Archeron/Rhysand, Elain Archeron/Azriel, Azriel/Gwyneth Berdara, Elain Archeron/Lucien Vanserra, Amren/Varian (A Court of Thorns and Roses), Emerie/Morrigan (A Court of Thorns and Roses), Lucien Vanserra/Vassa, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien/Rowan Whitethorn, Manon Blackbeak/Dorian Havilliard, Yrene Towers Westfall/Chaol Westfall, Elide Lochan/Lorcan Salvaterre, Aedion Ashryver/Lysandra, Nesryn Faliq/Sartaq Characters: Bryce Quinlan, Hunt Athalar, Baxian Argos, Hypaxia Enador, Lidia Cervos, Ruhn Danaan, Tharion Ketos, Cassian, Elain Archeron, Emerie (A Court of Thorns and Roses), Feyre Archeron, Gwyneth Berdara, Lucien Vanserra, Morrigan, Nesta Archeron, Nyx Archeron, Rhysand, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien, Rowan Whitethorn, Dorian Havilliard, Manon Blackbeak, Chaol Westfall, Elide Lochan, Aedion Ashryver, Lorcan Salvaterre, Sartaq (Throne of Glass), Nesryn Faliq, Declan Emmet, Ithan Holstrom, Tristan Flynn, Celestina (Crescent City Series), The Autumn King (Crescent City Series), Rigelus (Crescent City Series), Aidas (Crescent City Series), Apollion (Crescent City Series), Sabine Fendyr, Ariadne (Crescent City Series), Ember Quinlan, Jesiba Roga, Juniper Andromeda, Fury Axtar, Pollux Antonius, Danika Fendyr, Connor Holstrom, Cormac Donnall Additional Tags: Crossover, Fantasy, Romance, Angst Summary:
Since it'll be a while until we get HOFAS, I thought it would be fun to write a fic of how I think the story will turn out. (Major Spoilers for House of Sky and Breath if you have not read it yet. Proceed with caution!!)
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mystical-blaise · 2 years ago
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Me today
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Can't stop, won't stop
All I wanna do in this fandom is theorize and create fun things, dammit!
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acourtofthought · 1 year ago
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I'm thinking SJM made the Trove in the likeness of the One Ring from Lord of the Rings. The ring was also sentient in a way, doing it's best to be "found" by those who might help it along it's journey and calling to those who it felt could lead it back "home" to Sauron.
“Made objects tend to not wish to be found by just anyone,” Amren cautioned. “That they have faded from memory, that even I didn’t think of them immediately in the fight against Hybern, suggests that perhaps they willed it that way. Wanted to stay hidden. True things of power have such gifts.” “You say that as if the objects have a sentience,” Cassian said. “They do,” Amren said, storms drifting across her eyes. / Made objects back then tended to gain their own self-awareness and desires. It was not a good thing.”
The Dead Trove seems to have purposely stayed hidden all these years, waiting until the right time......
“Or perhaps the Dread Trove wants us to know of it now, for some dark reason of its own.”
When Nesta first wears the Mask, it's as if it knows it's on its journey to where it wants to be:
Her blood was a cold song, the Mask a slithering echo to it, whispering of all she might do. Home, it seemed to sigh. Home.
SJM spoke of the consequences that would result from Nesta changing Feyre's anatomy and I think those consequences are not because of the physical alterations made to their anatomy but because she wielded all three items at the same time:
Koschei may very well know something about the Trove that we don’t—some greater power that manifests when all three are united.”
I think the three items worn together sent a signal into the world, possibly to the horn which led to Bryce landing in Velaris. And that event will alert the "original" masters of Prythian to it's location (the Asteri have long since forgotten where the ACOTAR world is). Remember, it's as if the items wanted to be found for a dark purpose of their own, perhaps to return to:
“They were Made in a time when wild magic still roamed the earth, and the Fae were not masters of all. / They were petty and cruel and drank the magic of the land like wine.”
As the ring was eventually destroyed, I imagine the Dread Trove will be too.
But first, in a crossover battle I think Nesta will call armies of the dead to her (just as Aragorn did), in their world and others:
Thousands and thousands of bodies. But she would not call thousands. Not yet.
"Open any door, and you could move that army of the dead wherever you wished"
Emerging from her cocoon of grief and rage, this new Nesta might very well send entire courts to their knees. Kingdoms. (I think this line is hinting that the dead across kingdoms will kneel for Nesta, awaiting her command).
And as that golden light broke the surface before them, the dead knelt.
"you could make any enemy territory and its people bow to you.”
I don't think the Dusk Court will ever become an actual Court so much as being a portal between their worlds and a way for the characters to come to the aid of one another in a final showdown. The whole "sword and dagger being reunited and so too shall our people" prophecy could simply mean the ancestors of all the original major players from different worlds coming together for one last battle (not to live) in order to defeat the Asteri for good and a place where Nesta can raise the dead who were once trapped within the stone.
I keep trying to figure out how Helion and Lucien will be tied into everything. Since Helion had a reaction to the Mask, that means Lucien would be connected to it as well.
I wonder if Lucien will play a role in destroying it in the end?
The reason a hobbit was most suited to the task of destroying the ring was because they were less likely to fall victim to the greed that plagued men however even Frodo struggled to do what needed done when the time came.
Especially if she were to march into battle wearing the Mask. No enemy could stand against her. She’d slay Beron’s soldiers, then raise them from the dead and turn them on him.” Cassian’s blood chilled. Yes, Nesta would be unstoppable. But at what cost to her soul?
Wielding items of power usually come at a cost and it's possible that by doing what needs done to save others, the Mask will latch on and make it difficult for Nesta to destroy it. I think SJM has written Lucien's character to not fall victim to temptation (just as Aragorn did not fall to temptation by taking the ring from Frodo) and I could see him freeing her of its burden (I actually love the idea of Lucien and Nesta having a moment like that 😍).
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offtorivendell · 1 year ago
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I love that you linked Manon's invisible current with the Cauldron's swirling eddies, but now I'm thinking again of "the rock against which the surf crashes."
This is a bit of an aside, sorry, but I included in this post - I think, I've lost track of what I included where hahaha - that if the Void/Space Between is "the sea" referred to in the Weaver's Song, that "the surf" could be an onslaught against which the Valkyries defend, and Hope is necessary in such times! It's also very interesting that Gwyn thanked the Cauldron that Merrill had moved on to researching the ancient Valkyries, when discussing it with Nesta.
I love it when our theories mesh well together. đŸ€ŒđŸ»
Three Witches Sisters
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Thank you to @offtorivendell, @silverlinedeyes, and @psychologynerd for our discussions which inspired this theory. This is a Maasverse post, and as such, there may be spoilers for all Maas series. Please proceed with caution.
“All three sisters blessed by fate and gifted with powers
” (Amren, acosf)
The acotar series begins with three sisters: Feyre, Nesta, and Elain. Given their ironwood origins and the fact that Ironteeth witches in Erilea use it to carve their brooms, many of us suspect the sisters have witch heritage or are connected to witches in some way.
The room was large enough for a rickety dresser and the enormous ironwood bed we slept in. The sole remnant of our former wealth, it had been ordered as a wedding gift from my father to my mother. It was the bed in which we’d been born, and the bed in which my mother died. In all the painting I’d done to our house these past few years, I’d never touched it. (acotar)
In Midgard and Erilea, witches worship the Three-Faced Goddess, and she is sometimes conflated with Fate

Again, Manon felt that ebb and flow in the world, that invisible current that some called Fate and some called the loom of the Three-Faced Goddess. (hof)
In this quote, Manon feels an invisible current that goes by different names. That current sounds a lot like Urd in Midgard, Wyrd in Erilea, and the divine trio (Mother, Cauldron, Fate/Forces That Be) in Prythian. The Fae believe this being controls fate, including fated bonds. Bonds, like spells, are described in terms of threads. Does this being weave threads of fate together with her loom, like witches seem to believe? She (they?) appears to be inspired by the Norns of Norse mythology, one of which is named Urðr (Wyrd). Together, these wise women preside over fate. In some folklore and literature, they are considered witches, like the Three Witches or Wyrd (Weird) Sisters in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, who deliver a prophecy.
The Three-Faced Goddess is also known, albeit rarely, as the Three-Faced Mother:
Manon couldn’t look at them, couldn’t do anything but close her eyes and pray to the Darkness, to the Three-Faced Mother as she held her hands over the bleeding gashes. (koa)
I’ve talked about links between the Archerons, witches, Three-Faced Goddess, and divine trio (Mother, Cauldron, Fate) before, so this isn’t new, but something caught my attention when reviewing the text recently. Ironteeth witches believe that they return to the Three-Faced Goddess when they die, and they are reborn within her womb. It’s called the Mother’s Womb.
“We’ll collect the dead tomorrow,” Manon said, her voice low. “And burn them at moonrise.” As both Crochans and Ironteeth did. A full moon tomorrow—the Mother’s Womb. A good moon to be burned. To be returned to the Three-Faced Goddess, and reborn within that womb. (koa)
This belief reminded me of the three sisters’ rebirth, particularly Nesta and Elain. We gain insight into this experience in Nesta’s book:
In the beginning
And in the end
There was Darkness
And nothing more
She did not feel the cold as she sank into a sea that had no bottom, no horizon, no surface. But she felt the burning.
Immortality was not a serene youth.
[
]
They would pay. All of them.
Starting with this Cauldron.
Starting now.
She tore into the darkness with talons and teeth. Rent and cleaves and shredded.
And the dark eternity around her shuddered. Bucked. Thrashed.
She laughed as it recoiled. Laughed around the mouthful of raw power she ripped out and swallowed whole; laughed at the fistfuls of eternity she shoved into her heart, her veins.
[
]
Wrapped in black eternity, Nesta and the Cauldron twined, burning through the darkness like a newborn star. (acosf)
While Feyre is not reborn in the Cauldron, we do get insight into her experience. When telling the Bone Carver about what appeared to her after death, she said this:
But if he knew 
 I turned again to the boy-creature. “There was a choice—in Death,” I said.
[
]
“I knew,” I went on, “that I could drift away into the dark. And I chose to fight—to hold on for a bit longer. Yet I knew if I wanted, I could have faded. And maybe it would be a new world, a realm of rest and peace. But I wasn’t ready for it—not to go there alone. I knew there was something else waiting beyond that dark. Something good.”
[
]
“I knew there was no coming back from what I’d done,” I said, wondering if the blue flame in the Carver’s eyes might burn my ruined soul to ash. “And once I broke their curse, once I knew I’d saved them, I just wanted enough time to turn that dagger on myself. I only decided I wanted to live when she killed me, and I knew I had not finished whatever
whatever it was I’d been born to do.” (acomaf)
Feyre was broken, but she wasn’t finished with whatever it was she had been born to do. Nesta also chose to fight in the Cauldron like a warrior. When we finally get insight into Elain’s rebirth, I am willing to bet that she fought with her own brand of strength.
It’s clear the dark womb of the Three-Faced Goddess is the same divine trio (Mother, Cauldron, Fate) the Fae in Prythian worship. When discussing the sisters in acosf, Amren emphasizes, there are no flukes, and the Cauldron—like the invisible current Manon described—can influence others without their awareness, especially those it has reforged. The sisters are blessed by fate with immortality and rare gifts for a reason. What plans does it have for them, and who would it enlist to help them on their path?
“May the Immortal Light shine upon thee, sisters,” said the pale-robed young woman directly in our path. (acolyte, acotar)
From the beginning of the series, various religious influences have played a role in the sisters’ journey. Children of the Blessed are the first religious influence we see, and they are largely reviled as religious fanatics by humans. The acolyte who blesses the sisters wears pale blue robes like Fae priestesses, and it is this blessing that serves as foreshadowing for their immortal fate. The acolytes’ imitation of Fae priestesses also makes me wonder if they are part of the priestesses’ extensive spy network.
Like witches, Fae priestesses worship the divine trio, and in their full garb, they represent the Voice of the Cauldron:
Ianthe had shown me once what the panel looked like when down: only her nose and full, sensuous mouth visible. The Voice of the Cauldron. I’d found the image unsettling—that merely covering the upper part of her face had somehow turned the bright, cunning female into an effigy, into something Other. (acomaf)
Their powers stem from their rituals and they can be deadly, if desired:
Among the High Fae, the priestesses oversaw their ceremonies and rituals, recorded their histories and legends, and advised their lords and ladies in matters great and trivial. I hadn’t witnessed any magic from her, but when I’d asked Lucien, he’d frowned and said their magic was drawn from their ceremonies, and could be utterly lethal should they choose it. (acomaf)
It was a High Priestess who informed Hybern about Feyre’s sisters, leading to their eventual capture and rebirth. Hybern also possessed the Cauldron at the time—did it influence him and Ianthe, weave their actions like threads in a tapestry?
Lucien’s face had slackened. “She sold out—she sold out Feyre’s family. To you.”
I had told Ianthe everything about my sisters. She had asked. Asked who they were, where they lived. And I had been so stupid, so broken 
 I had fed her every detail.
“Sold out?” The king snorted. “Or saved from the shackles of mortal death? Ianthe suggested they were both strong-willed women, like their sister. No doubt they’ll survive. And prove to our queens it can be done. If one has the strength.” (acomaf)
According to the Bone Carver, dark makers created the Book of Breathings and used the Cauldron to make terrible things. The Book of Breathings can control or nullify the Cauldron, and because like calls to like, only someone who is Made can speak the spells and wield its power.
As three Made sisters with potential witch heritage, were the Archerons chosen to wield the divine trio's power, a Three-Faced Goddess in the flesh? Each sister is associated with a different kind of light, so could they be light makers? And is that ultimately what it means to be Starborn? Blessed by fate, their purpose written in the stars or woven into the Goddess's loom...
The weaver went on, "I have to create, or it was all for nothing. I have to create, or I will crumple with despair and never leave my bed. I have to create because I have no other way of voicing this." Her hand rested on her heart, and my eyes burned. "It is hard," the weaver said, her stare never leaving mine, "and it hurts, but if I were to stop, if I were to let this loom or spindle go silent..." She broke my gaze at last to look at her tapestry. "Then there would be no Hope shining in the Void." (acofas)
...to be threads of Hope shining in the Void.
In acosf, priestesses continue to remain directly in the sisters’ path. They help Nesta in various ways, including scrying and locating the Harp during their dusk ritual. It belongs to the Dread Trove and it is the Trove that Nesta uses to save Rhys, Feyre, and Nyx. Was the divine trio pulling the threads here as well, and if so, to what end? To help another world defeat an old enemy? Combat an ancient death-god and sorcerer? Bring peace and healing through a different sort of world?
Now that Nesta has tracked down three Trove objects, and we know the Cauldron can be used alongside them by those who are Made, it seems inevitable that we will see it again.
“Shall I tend to my little garden forever?” When Nesta flinched, Elain said, “You can’t have it both ways. You cannot resent my decision to lead a small, quiet life while also refusing to let me do anything greater.”
“Then go off on adventures,” Nesta said. “Go drink and fuck strangers. But stay away from the Cauldron.” (acosf)
In the original trilogy, we learn that the Cauldron gave Elain such powers and found her so lovely.
The Cauldron seemed to realize what she’d done, too, as his head thumped onto the mossy ground. That Elain 
 Elain had defended this thief. Elain, who it had gifted with such powers, found her so lovely it had wanted to give her something
It would not harm Elain, even in its hunt to reclaim what had been taken. (acowar)
Her story might bring us even closer to the divine trio, witches, and priestesses with her gift of Sight. Among the Ironteeth, Bluebloods were especially known for their connection to divine Sight and even had their own priestesses:
“I see now,” Manon said softly, “why my Blueblood sisters still worship you.”
“Do they, now?” The spider remained motionless, but the three behind her crept closer, silent and observing with their many dark eyes. “We can hardly recall the last time the Blueblood priestesses brought their sacrifices to our foothills. We do miss them.” (Manon to the valg spider, hof)
Like a Blueblood, Elain is different from her sisters. She has a different sort of strength. Manon comments that the Blueblood Matron, who represents the maiden aspect of the Three-Faced Goddess, is more priestess than warrior. Her heir, Petrah, is similar to Elain: she is gentle and caring and is rumored to have her head in the clouds. Their clan is full of oracles, mystics, zealots, and they supposedly require more iron to remain tethered to their world.
Elain’s connection to the Cauldron—marked a mental, iron crown—mirrors her unique strengths and gifts.
She had no mental shields, no barriers. The gates to her mind 
 Solid iron, covered in vines of flowers—or it would have been. The blossoms were all sealed, sleeping buds tucked into tangles of leaves and thorns.
[
]
If Elain’s mental gates were those of a sleeping garden, Nesta’s
They belonged to an ancient fortress, sharp and brutal. The sort I imagined they once impaled people upon. (acowar)
Rather than a brutal ancient fortress (the Prison?), Elain’s iron crown is covered in vines and sleeping buds. It is peaceful and lovely and full of budding life. With her oracular and mystic sight, Elain might be able to move and influence like the divine trio, a rose among the thorns constantly shifting form. She could use these gifts, or the Cauldron itself (the flower of life), to weave threads of Hope through protection, healing, and creation. Both Feyre and Nesta have used raw magic to heal and create, weaving their own threads of Hope. Elain may also participate or learn a ritual in the light-bringing dawn service to help her channel her powers. It’s no coincidence that we’re told about a dawn ritual called groundings before her story. Not when she is described like this:
But even the silence weighed too heavily, and though the shadows kept him company, as they always had, as they always would, he found himself leaving the room. Entering the foyer. Soft steps padded from under the stair archway, and there she was.
The Faelights gilded Elain’s unbound hair, making her glow like the sun at dawn. She halted, her breath catching in her throat. (Azriel’s bonus chapter)
And there she was, a vision of hope and healing, glowing like a new dawn during the longest night of the year.
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If you’re interested in related posts about Elain, the divine trio, witches, and Archerons, here are some of my favorites:
Murky Realm of Dreams (Elain's connections to oracles and mystics)
Seer. Wise Woman. Witch. (Elain’s connections to witches, shifting, sight, herbs and healing, rituals, etc.)
Sister-Glass Caverns (Prythian’s underground caves behave like sister-glass)
A Rose in the Thorns (Elain moves like the Cauldron)
Elain and the Flower of Life (The Cauldron is the flower of life and Elain is a gardener on a larger scale)
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