#anyways like if you want more of my acotar rambles

[somnas-writes]

I feel like the High Fae in acotar should’ve looked a little weirder (limbs too long/too thin, eyes too bright, facial features too sharp/perfect etc).

And the high fae are so convinced that everyone wants them when in reality, nobody really does. When Human Feyre falls in love with Tamlin, all her ‘lesser’ fae friends are like “Girl… for real?”

And when the Archeron sisters are all turned into fae, they retain some intrinsic humanity to their appearance. So they’re just the right balance of Human and High Fae.

Feyre still finds herself getting unsettled looking at the high fae too long. when she talks to other fae, to her, they’re human in a way.

Anyways feyre should’ve been anti-class system and hung out with the other fae groups more. She’s a people person get her out into the community.

[achaotichuman]

ACOTAR Rant

Have y'all missed these? I have. The rambling juice machine is running again apparently.

Okay, so I just saw a post @an6elic-d3vil made about the scene in Frozen where Elsa freezes Anna's heart reminding them of Tamlin's outburst in the study in ACOMAF, and it triggered a very very long rant about this. You can find the original post here, I didn't want to hijack it with my senseless rambling.

Also, side note, I think I've gone into some detail about what I'm going on about here before. I don't think I've ever made a full explanation of my line of thinking. But just to preface, if I get a singular comment or reblog calling me an abuse apologist, a victim blamer or a misogynist, you will not be acknowledged and you will be blocked.

Anyway, onto the rant.

Honestly, this is the best example of what happened between Tamlin and Feyre. No one blames Elsa for harming Anna, despite her finally accessing full power, no one would expect her to have full control over them, she had lived in fear of them her entire life. She saw herself as a monster who could hurt or potentially kill Anna, and when eventually pushed to her absolute breaking point, she exploded. Anna wasn't at fault either, but later on, it's clear she recognized that Elsa wasn't in full control, and that what she had done was not an example of her true character but a reaction she had no control over.

It's the same situation with Feyre, minus how Anna handled the situation, Tamlin had just gotten back the full extent of his powers, whilst still under immense stress. He canonically did not want the High lord's magic, and viewed himself as a monster who could hurt or potentially kill those around him. He lived in fear of himself, and when eventually pushed to his absolute breaking point, he exploded. It was a natural reaction that he had no control over whatsoever. Feyre was not at fault for it either, but unlike Anna, Feyre actively went out of her way to attribute this outburst to Tamlin's true character, when it was obviously a reaction that he actively regretted.

Tamlin then tried to reign in his magic, despite still being under immense stress, and having to deal with power that was out of control. He tried to be better, but unlike Anna with Elsa, who tried to help Elsa, Feyre sabotaged his attempts and purposefully pushed him to the point that he would lose control of his magic, and then put herself in harms way so that she could ruin his reputation.

When you look at it how it is and not through the eyes of Feyre's biased POV, what Feyre did to Tamlin when she returned to the Spring Court, is far more sinister.

Was Feyre being harmed by Tamlin's outburst of magic the first time her fault? No, of course not.

Was Feyre being harmed by Tamlin's outburst of magic the second time, when she manipulated him into having an attack, and then went out of her way to ensure he harmed her so that she could ruin his reputation and therefore destabilize the Court, her fault? HMMMMM....

Not to mention that throughout that scene, at least from my shitty memory, Tamlin was aware that he was slowly reaching his breaking point, and telling, practically pleading with Feyre, to stop, so that he didn't hurt her by accident.

Hmm, an orchestrated pattern of behavior, in this case preying on your partner's fear and high-functioning anxiety that is driven by their intense trauma, that centers around forcing a reaction out of them so that you can maintain power and control over how other people perceive them for your own personal gain? Sounds a lot like...

On a side note, I'm also kind of done with the continued rhetoric that Feyre should have 'just gone after Tamlin' and left the rest of the Spring Court alone. Because, honest to God, explain to me why she is justified in abusing Tamlin.

"He locked her up." She was attempting to follow him onto dangerous territory, despite being untrained, in a new body, and having a history of running into dangerous situations and winding up needing to saved. Even when it came to Amarantha, Feyre DIED. She has never succeeded once in protecting herself on her own when in a highly dangerous situation, she always ended up needing someone beside her or to rescue her.

"He was controlling her." He had a few sentries ensure that she would not be in harm's way. They had Amarantha's big boss coming at them and Feyre just killed one of his biggest assets, you don't think that Tamlin wouldn't be smart enough to know that Hybern would have his eyes set on Feyre?

Should Tamlin have helped Feyre in training her new powers? Yes. Did his fear of losing Feyre again blind him to what she actually needed? Also yes. But I implore you to refer to the Elsa and Anna example above. Now, that's a little bit different, Elsa was the one locking herself away, but the principle remains. Elsa controlled Anna in not allowing her to marry Hans, hiding information that caused the entire plot of the movie, and wound up harming Anna significantly because of this. But the important thing to note is that, Elsa didn't know any better. How could she have known that Anna would be able to handle this information when it literally almost killed them as kids? Plus, no one would ever say Elsa wasn't entirely correct in telling Anna she could not marry Hans, she did know better in that regard. Why would Tamlin want to involve Feyre in more magic, when she literally died a few months ago after getting too involved with Fae? And why would Tamlin not know better than Feyre when it came to her following him on a dangerous mission, he has been in these situations before, and knows more about them.

Feyre was traumatized and needed a space that Tamlin could not give her, but Tamlin needed a space that Feyre couldn't give him either. They didn't help each other, they weren't physically able to, and neither were in a mental state in which they could successfully care for the other. And that is neither of their fault. But I again ask you, why is that a reason that Feyre should be allowed to abuse Tamlin as 'punishment'?

I have absolutely strayed from the original point I wanted to make, but I'm sort of glad I did. I've never considered Elsa and Anna as a possible example of Feyre and Tamlin's relationship and yet, it's almost a perfect reflection. Trauma will change the way people think, and when panicked people lose their rationale. Tamlin should have done things differently, and later on, when he saw how his actions led to Feyre ending up in the Night Court, he actively tried to be better.

If any of you have anything to add, please do. I think there is also something to be said about the power imbalance between Feyre and Tamlin, but I think it's also similar to that of Elsa and Anna, where Elsa is Queen and Anna is the Princess.

Also, obviously, Feyre's fucked up perception of Tamlin is driven by SJM trying to break up Feylin to make Feysand happen, so a lot of things that Tamlin does are just... very random? They happen not because, Tamlin as a character would do that, but because SJM is trying to make Tamlin a horrible person. Which she is failing to do, because all of these things happen off screen, e.i killing the sentries who were on duty when Morrigan kidnapped Feyre, giving Lucien a black eyes and a split lip, etc. We don't see the very random acts of cruelty on screen, and if we do see acts of cruelty, they tend to be for a good reason. For example, the wraiths that had nothing to give for the Tithe, and Tamlin being like "Well you give something, or you're gonna be hunted down." This happens because, one- everyone has to do it, no exceptions are ever made, and two- what each person has is calculated and their taxes are all equal to the amount they have, which is extremely fair tbh.

So, yeah, this is my very long post of why Feyre is actually a really shitty character and what she did to Tamlin and the Spring Court was not a #girlyboss move, but actually a "You abused your ex for funzies" move.

[offtorivendell]

Truth-Teller, Gwydion and Illyrian Runes... or are they actually Wyrdmarks?

This post was written for @azrielappreciationweek Day 7 - Free

Disclaimer: as always, this is just a theory that I think is fun and it makes no claim of being canon. It's definitely entering crack theory territory. This post also isn't Azriel specific - it's more about the dagger he has used for centuries and how it may tie into the Maasverse, or Prythian's plot, as a whole than Azriel himself. I know it's Azriel Appreciation Week, but this is his dagger, at least currently, so I feel like it's okay. It also rambles a bit, sorry.

Spoilers: there are big, huge, massive Maasverse spoilers ahead, so please beware.

Other posts about Azriel and/or Truth-Teller you might find relevant:

Why is Azriel so different? On Dusk, Hel and the Valg

What if Azriel - or his Shadows - are Made Beings?

Azriel could be Koschei’s heir; a crack theory

Shadows, siphons and fog; has something happened in Velaris?

Powerful Heirlooms and the Four Treasures of the Tuatha de Danann

Does Truth-Teller portend a future relationship between Azriel and Elain Archeron? Especially the first section, about Fragarach inspiring TT.

The possible significance of Azriel and Elain Archeron, the Embrace of Solas and Cthona, the paired blades Gwydion and Truth-Teller, and thin places; a theory - in particular the section about the two Made blades.

Love it or hate it - though personally, I love it for many reasons - we all know about the "Truth-Teller scene" in ACOWAR. While I do think it will end up being incredibly crucial and symbolic for Azriel and Elain Archeron as a couple (you may disagree of course), I also think there is a good chance that its importance to the overall plot was intentionally highlighted by its inclusion in the ACOTAR colouring book, which is what I hope to discuss here (plot, not romance, though as this is romantasy I do think the couple will be reflected in the plot/vice versa).

Here is the passage again, to refresh your memory:

Viviane stepped in, offering a Winter Court fashion that was far less scandalous: leather pants, but paired with a thigh-length blue surcoat, white fur trimming the collar. In the heat, it’d be miserable, but Elain was thankful enough that she didn’t complain when we again emerged from the covered wagon and found our companions waiting. She refused the knife Cassian handed her, though. Went white as death at the sight of it. Azriel, still limping, merely nudged aside Cassian and extended another option. “This is Truth-Teller,” he told her softly. “I won’t be using it today—so I want you to.” His wings had healed—though long, thin scars now raked down them. Still not strong enough, Madja had warned him, to fly today. The argument with Rhys this morning had been swift and brutal: Azriel insisted he could fly—fight with the legions, as they’d planned. Rhys refused. Cassian refused. Azriel threatened to slip into shadow and fight anyway. Rhys merely said that if he so much as tried, he’d chain Azriel to a tree. And Azriel … It was only when Mor had entered the tent and begged him—begged him with tears in her eyes—that he relented. Agreed to be eyes and ears and nothing else. And now, standing amongst the sighing meadow grasses in his Illyrian armor, all seven Siphons gleaming … Elain’s eyes widened at the obsidian-hilted blade in Azriel’s scarred hand. The runes on the dark scabbard. “It has never failed me once,” the shadowsinger said, the midday sun devoured by the dark blade. “Some people say it is magic and will always strike true.” He gently took her hand and pressed the hilt of the legendary blade into it. “It will serve you well.” “I—I don’t know how to use it—” “I’ll make sure you don’t have to,” I said, grass crunching as I stepped closer. Elain weighed my words … and slowly closed her fingers around the blade. Cassian gawked at Azriel, and I wondered how often Azriel had lent out that blade— Never, Rhys said from where he finished buckling on his own weapons against the side of the wagon. I have never once seen Azriel let another person touch that knife. Elain looked up at Azriel, their eyes meeting, his hand still lingering on the hilt of the blade. I saw the painting in my mind: the lovely fawn, blooming spring vibrant behind her. Standing before Death, shadows and terrors lurking over his shoulder. Light and dark, the space between their bodies a blend of the two. The only bridge of connection … that knife. Paint that when we get home. Busybody. - ACOWAR, chapter 69

I have previously theorised that Truth-Teller may have pierced the veil of Prythian's world in order to let Elain shadow walk through the murky realm/void to save Nesta and Cassian at the end of ACOWAR - which of course parallels Azriel's threat to "slip into shadow and fight anyway" - but it also ties into the power that Truth-Teller and Gwydion/the Starsword can activate together: instead of opening a portal to somewhere, as a few of us had previously theorised about Truth-Teller alone, we learnt in HOFAS that the dagger and sword will open a portal to nowhere.

A black hole... or a Void?

@wingedblooms has previously suggested that the woman on the cover of HOFAS, who had runes - or were they really Wyrdmarks? - down her arms, may be Wyrd, and I agree. We would both especially love it if Wyrd was the secret language of the universe - the language spoken by shadow, wind and stone, or even what Singers used to cast spells - because how much would that make sense? It would also tie TOG in with a tidy bow, given the importance of Wyrd, Wyrdmarks, Wyrdkeys and Wyrdgates to Aelin's story.

But it could get wrapped up even tidier. I hope.

The markings on Truth-Teller's sheath

Take a much closer look at the "Illyrian runes" on Truth-Teller's scabbard, the runes that SJM made sure existed in print, in May 2017 (the colouring book was published the same day that ACOWAR came out, on the 2nd of May).

But back to the runes.

Do you see what I see?!

They are so similar to the runes on HOFAS' cover that it cannot be coincidental? I acknowledge that they're not identical, but they pass the vibe check.

A. I've previously discussed the possibility of the first rune on the HOFAS cover being derived from the Embrace of Solas and Cthona, and that it might have been indicating the two Made blades, Gwydion and Truth-Teller, coming together to create a portal to nowhere. @wingedblooms has also brilliantly suggested that it could be depicting the three mountains of the Night Court, or even the three sister peaks. But do you see the similarity with the top rune(s) on Truth-Teller's scabbard? The dot and two ^ type markings come together differently, but imo the components are still there.

B. This portion is the weakest link for sure, not least because there are more runes on the woman's arm than Truth-Teller's sheath - and I'm no artist so my opinion definitely comes with a huge heaping of salt (if anyone wants to weigh in then please do!) - but I can see similarities in the elements of certain runes. If I put my clown hat on then the spiral could be referring to a vortex/portal, and the marking half hidden by the O could be depicting a ship... you know, like those names after the Archeron sisters.

C. The two opposing triangles on Truth-Teller could be referencing the diamond on the woman's forearm and the crescent moon shape half hidden by Azriel's thumb could potentially be linked with the crescent moon shape above the diamond. Could the diamond on each of her forearms be suggesting siphons, like those worn by Azriel and Cassian? And is the crescent moon referring to the Mother, or Wyrd? SJM paralleled siphons and invoking stones were in ACOSF, was she hinting that the Illyrians and the priestesses all serve Wyrd in the end?

If I'm correct - a big "if" - the difference in runes, or Wyrdmarks, could be down to one of a few potential reasons (though the following list is not exhaustive):

It was always intentional so we wouldn't piece it together too easily.

The almost seven year gap between ACOWAR and the colouring book coming out in 2017, and HOFAS in 2024. Things change.

The in-universe time difference between Wyrd's birth/creation and Truth-Teller's forging. Did the wyrdmarks "evolve," so to speak?

The Wyrdmarks are not actually identical; perhaps they only look similar because they have similar or even complementary meanings?

I'm actually completely wrong and need to remove my clown makeup right now. 🤡

It would make sense that Truth-Teller's wyrdmarks were not identical to those we would see on Wyrd (assuming it is actually Her on HOFAS' cover). One of those things is a goddess, a force who created their entire universe, and the other is a dagger that can help open a portal to the Void and ferry the bearer through. Truth-Teller's scabbard might tell a story, it might hold a warning, or even contain a spell or the instructions for activating its magic etc; are they a spell to contain the power of the blade, as Bryce hinted at in HOFAS, or something else?

As if their sheaths had kept their power contained, the naked metal now throbbed against her palm, up her arms, tugging toward each other so violently it took all her strength to keep them apart. - HOFAS, chapter 48

It's just a pity that - unless I missed it - we weren't told about any markings on the Starsword, though that's assuming that its scabbard¹ was the original (or that Truth-Teller's is the original, of course - maybe it was given a new sheath, one with a very specific message, after Silene returned to Prythian). All we know is that both blades were Made by the Cauldron, with their obsidian² (wyrdstone?) hilts and black Iridium blades that can devour light (though Gwydion's blade can sparkle) and appear muted in darkness, I assume because there is no sunlight to charge their magic.

¹ @ladynightcourt3 has previously suggested that Truth-Teller may have been blessed by the God of Truth, who also blessed Damaris - the Sword of Truth, first wielded by Gavin Havilliard and currently claimed by Dorian Havilliard - which also has Wyrdmarks on its scabbard and was used in the Valg king Erawan's death. She's also reminded me that the Asterion blades in TOG also have markings, and are described as being made of a dark metal imbued with starlight... sounds familiar!

² @emmitaaa4 reminded me that wyrdstone can cause headaches in those who carry it - and who is known to rub his temples so much that Elain gifted him headache powder? Azriel.

I have spoken before about the possibility of the obsidian hilts either being possessed by some sort of Void based being, or that the material may help the Made blades attract a prince of Hel by design (here and here). Imagine if the Iridium³ blades come from a meteorite originating in Hel. Could the Made blades be secret wyrdkeys thanks to their hilts?

³ The element iridium's name is derived from "Iris," which means rainbow. Could this be where the meteorite that went into forging Gwydion and Truth-Teller have fallen... in the Rainbow of Velaris? What does this mean for Velaris' history, or the future of the Made blades? Will Feyre, the protector of the Rainbow, become involved?

What might this mean for Prythian?

Let's revisit the Truth-Teller scene, and pay close attention to Elain's clothes: Winter Court attire. Too warm, but Elain didn't complain... is that because she suspected she may have to brave the cold, harsh environment in the space between before the day was done? My next suggestion is unlikely, but could her face have turned crimson because she didn't know how to ask for warmer clothes without explaining that she'd Seen that she'd need them, especially if she knew that she was going to be sent away and she'd have to work from the shadows, as uaual? This could even tie in with my theory that the Archeron sisters will "sail" (for lack of a better term, sorry I know it's silly) the bat brothers by Singing them across the Void, possibly to Hel, as Nesta wanted insulated leathers in ACOSF. @elrieldreamer and I have previously discussed the fact that the serpents (dragons?) on HOFAS' cover look like they could be passing through Wyrdgates, which could also circle into the "sailing through the void" idea I mentioned in my post about The Weaver's Song, because Illyrian armour is known to feature scales. So isn't it handy that Emerie can source fleece-lined leathers!

“I was about to write to you before Bellius interrupted me. I asked about making leathers with fleece inside.” Emerie leaned her forearms on the immaculate counter. “It can be done, but it’s not cheap.” “Then it’s beyond my means, but thank you for finding out anyway.” “I could order it and let you pay it off as you’re able.” - ACOSF, chapter 25

Then there's the blade-like object that appears to be pointing down onto the eight-pointed star above the woman's head; could it be indicating Truth-Teller or Gwydion, or even Damaris - the Sword of Truth - from TOG?

The eight-pointed star obviously holds relevance to Nesta, given the tattoos that she and Cassian shared for much of ACOSF and Bryce's parting remarks in HOFAS, and we know the Starborn used it as their symbol, but why? Many don't realise that it may also have been the symbol on 'The Elain' ship that Papa Archeron commissioned among the three named for each of his daughters. Could it be a seafaring compass rose/rose of the winds, as Wingedblooms has previously discussed? Is it also related to Ishtar, another amazing theory shared by @wingedblooms' and @merymoonbeam? Or could it actually be the Chaos⁴ star, and truly be a symbol of Wyrd as Chaos, the Mother - or dam - to all?

⁴ I hope to post this theory soon.

I cannot move past the fact that, in addition to The Elain flying an eight-pointed star with nothing on either side (referencing the Void?), The Nesta was flying a dragon with two suns, and The Feyre was flying two crescent moons and diamonds. It has to mean something, right?

I still find it really interesting that one of the eyes of the woman on HOFAS' cover - which seems to be all about depicting gate travel and world walking - appears to be bleeding, when Gwyn remarked in ACOSF that reading Merrill's theories about multiple worlds made her eyes bleed.

Gwyn frowned. “Lots of things. Merrill’s brilliant. Horrible, but brilliant. When she first came here, she was obsessed with theories regarding the existence of different realms—different worlds. Living on top of each other without even knowing it. Whether there is merely one existence, our existence, or if it might be possible for worlds to overlap, occupying the same space but separated by time and a whole bunch of other things I can’t even begin to explain to you because I barely understand them myself.” Nesta’s brows rose. “Really?” “Some philosophers believe there are eleven worlds like that. And some believe there are as many as twenty-six, the last one being Time itself, which …” Gwyn’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Honestly, I looked at some of her early research and my eyes bled just reading her theorizing and formulas.” Nesta chuckled. “I can imagine. But she’s researching something else now?” “Yes, thank the Cauldron. She’s writing a comprehensive history of the Valkyries.” - ACOSF, chapter 13

Now, Gwyn was obviously being flippant while attempting to demonstrate the extent of Merrill's brilliance, but who do we know who has peered across one world so far, who may be set up as a worldwalker with a strong affinity to any thin places? Elain Archeron, the sister whose ship flew the eight pointed star sail for all to see. A Seer. Will the Seer's eyes bleed when she looks too far, or past wards of "mist and shadow" designed to keep her out?

“Firebird by day,” Rhys mused, “woman by night … So she’s held captive by this sorcerer-lord?” Elain shook her head. “I don’t know. I hear her—her screaming. With rage. Utter rage …” She shuddered. Mor leaned forward. “Do you know why the other queens cursed her—sold her to him?” Elain studied the table. “No. No—that is all mist and shadow.” Rhys blew out a breath. “Can you sense where she is?” “There is … a lake. Deep in—in the continent, I think. Hidden amongst mountains and ancient forests.” Elain’s throat bobbed. “He keeps them all at the lake.” “Other women like her?” “Yes—and no. Their feathers are white as snow. They glide across the water—while she rages through the skies above it.” - ACOWAR, chapter 33

Its over-large teeth clacked faintly. “Thrice now, we have met. Thrice now, you have hunted for me. This time, you sent the trembling fawn to find me. I did not expect to see those doe-eyes peering at me from across the world.” - ACOWAR, chapter 58

Alpha and omega. Ask and answer (and Azriel told Elain that Truth-Teller would "serve" - a synonym to "answer" - her well). Made (or Make) and Unmade (or Unmake). Matter and antimatter. Gwydion can kill the unkillable, while Truth-Teller slew an almost unstoppable king. They Sing⁵ to each other - is it a spell, or are they communicating in Wyrd, the secret language of the universe > Chaos > eight pointed star? - and to those who bear enough Starborn magic to hear it. Azriel learnt that he can charge a Starborn fae like Bryce in HOFAS, there are three Archeron sisters who share significant parallels with Bryce and Theia... and wouldn't you know it, Azriel has two brothers. I could always be wrong, but this all seems fated to me.

⁵ I know I'm not alone in speculating whether Elain heard Truth-Teller Singing to her like kin, as @wingedblooms, @emmitaaa4, @psychologynerd and @ladynightcourt3 all share this theory at least (I've also wondered if she can hear Azriel's siphons singing, but that's another theory). Is this why Elain's eyes widened when Azriel offered Truth-Teller? Did it Sing to her? Is she a Singer, as @silverlinedeyes, @wingedblooms and I suspect? Was this in addition to (or instead of) her Seeing herself using it to kill the king? If true, this could parallel the scene earlier on in HOFAS where Elain's eyes widened at "the shadowsinger's display" just before Azriel winnowed her to Windhaven; was Elain listening to his shadows and/or Truth-Teller such that she could activate the blades (or her own) hypothetical shadow walking magic later on?

Anyway, sorry for rambling on a fair bit there, if you made it this far thank you for reading my nonsense! I am so excited to learn what SJM has been planning, because just like Koschei I think she's been playing the long game and setting all of these pieces up for years, even if it was just in case.

[chairofchaos]

30, 52, or 58

Nyxlin because my gods that first part has me full sold on them

Please!

The Wine Cellar

Pairing: Nyx Archeron x Tamlin Summary: In which Nyxlin get stuck in a wine cellar. Rating: Teen Word Count: 2.4k Warnings: There's drinking. Because wine cellar. Nothing else that I can think of! A/N: Shoutout to @thrumbolt who enthusiastically informed me the proper ship name is NYXLIN. Also, this was supposed to be a drabble, but it turned into 2.4k so fast. It is connected to the Nyxlin drabble "Banned from Bed" if you're interested! Linked in my masterlist under ACOTAR>Drabbles! <3 Prompt 58: being locked in a small space

As soon as Tamlin stepped to the second step, the heavy door slammed behind him. “No, no, no, no.”

“Lord Tamlin?”

The voice came from total darkness. Tamlin shifted his eyes quickly into the eyes of an owl so that he could see down the stairs more clearly.

Nyx. He was locked in a wine cellar with Nyx Archeron. To Nyx’s credit, he looked absolutely petrified to be facing his mother’s ex-lover in Thesan’s wine cellar. 

"Nyx?"

“Um. Yes. Hello,” the male said. He was almost 300 years old, wasn’t he? Not the smooth salesman his father had been at that age, then.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a key, or a way out, would you?” Tamlin asked cooly. Nyx fidgeted, his hands fidgeting at his sides as he looked in Tamlin’s general direction.

“No. You don’t, either?”

Tamlin shook his head until he saw Nyx pause quizzically, awaiting an answer. Right. Total darkness. He may be the Darling of the Night Court, but Nyx couldn’t see anything here. “No, I don’t.”

Nyx spun on his heel and began to pace. The room wasn’t very large. It was Thesan’s private wine cellar, and Elain Archeron had sent him (by request of Thesan) to retrieve a bottle of wine he wanted for dinner. 

“Could you break us out?” Nyx asked. He paused his pacing, looking rather peevish as he looked up. 

“I wish,” Tamlin admitted, sitting on the stairs. “Thesan has intense spellwork on this cellar.”

Nyx nodded shakily. “I know. Aunt Elain had to talk me through how to get into them. And they’re so strong, I couldn’t even make a faelight.”

He returned to his pacing, his hands fidgeting away at his sides. It was on his sixty fourth trip across the room that Tamlin smelled blood. Not a lot, but in a small room like this, it only took a drop. Nyx was facing the far wall, and wouldn’t turn around for another second or two.

“Are you alright?” Tamlin asked. He immediately regretted it. What did he care for the life of the child of his ex-lover and the male she had left him for? But he had asked, anyway. 

Nyx froze mid-spin. “I- What?”

Tamlin sniffed. Definitely blood. “You’re bleeding.”

Nyx started, so Tamlin added, “I can smell it.”

That didn’t seem to put the lord at any ease. “Okay.”

“Are you alright?”

“Yes,” Nyx wavered as he resumed his pacing, his eyes darting between Tamlin’s form and the floor. He still couldn’t see Tamlin, because he never came close to making eye contact. “I just bit my lip.”

“Are you certain?”

Nyx stopped entirely and frowned, a hint of anger flashing in his eyes. He has Feyre’s eyes, Tamlin realized. No wonder he thought they were pretty.

“I’m fine,” Nyx snapped. And there is Rhysand.

“Alright,” Tamlin said.

But Nyx wasn’t done, and he started pacing again, hands waving emphatically. “I just don’t like being trapped. And this room is only ten feet by eight feet, and the shelves take up all but the three foot walkway between them, so I am feeling very, very trapped. I do not like this. I couldn’t even fit my wings properly if I–”

Nyx froze, completely froze this time, as he turned back to face Tamlin. “I’m sorry.”

Well. That was unexpected, coming from an Archeron. “Sorry for what?”

“Rambling. To you.”

Tamlin shrugged, leaning back on the staircase to prop himself up on his elbows. “You wouldn’t be the first to do it. Lucien’s much worse than you are.”

Nyx snorted. “He’s so put together. Uncle Lucien doesn’t ramble.”

Tamlin laughed at that, and Nyx looked so curious that he couldn’t help but add, “Oh yes, he does, if you give him the right amount of liquor. Or if you ask him about Elain when he’s tired. He’ll talk for hours about the curl of her hair, the pretty color of her new dress. Try it sometime.”

Nyx laughed. “I’ll do that.”

“What do you say we crack open one of these expensive bottles of wine to pass the time?” Tamlin offered. 

Nyx shook his head. “I can’t. Lord Thesan would kill me.”

“I outrank you,” Tamlin shrugged, standing up. “Blame it on me like the rest of your family.”

Nyx paled and said nothing. 

Tamlin chuckled, stepping down the stairs to reach for an 800 year old bottle of Autumn merlot. “Don’t worry. It’s nothing new.”

Nyx shuffled back until his back hit the wall. “I didn’t say anything.”

“You didn’t have to. I can see you.”

If it was at all possible for a fae to turn green without literally turning green, Nyx Archeron was making his best attempt. “What?”

“I can see you.”

“Mothers’ tits,” Nyx swore, crossing his arms. “You shifted your eyes.”

“Yes,” Tamlin said, grinning. “And it’s been very informative.”

Nyx frowned, then seemed to think better of it, and schooled his face to something more neutral. “How so?”

Tamlin shrugged out of habit, scoring the wax seal on the wine bottle with a taloned finger. “It isn’t every day you learn an heir to the Night Court is afraid of the dark.”

“I’m not afraid of the dark!” Nyx threw his hands up in the air. Tamlin began to sink a falcon’s talon into the cork to try to pull it off. “I said I’m afraid of small spaces!”

Tamlin froze at the same time as Nyx, the wine bottle in his hands forgotten for the confession the male had made.

Nyx swore again. “Please, don’t mention it. Ever.”

“No,” Tamlin shook his head. “I won’t. But, are you alright?” He took a swig of the wine straight from the bottle. 

“No!” Nyx shouted. He tugged at his black curls (oh, why was that attractive?) before waving his hands in the air as if gesturing at the room. “I am not.”

“Is there…” Tamlin sighed, setting the wine back on the shelf. “Can I help?”

Nyx rolled his eyes, crossing his arms again. He had as much attitude as his parents, the brat. “No.”

“I will, if I can.” 

“I don’t want your help.”

“So I could help, you just don’t want it?” Tamlin teased. It was like he had forgotten, in the absurdity of the position they were in, just who this male was.

Nyx bit his bottom lip and scuffed his toe against the ground. It didn’t seem to matter if he knew Tamlin could see him. That, or in his anxiety, he had forgotten he could be seen at all. “No.”

“Great. Now that we’ve established you don’t want my help, what can I do?”

Nyx sighed. “Hug me.”

“Excuse me?”

“You could hug me. It’s easier to pretend I’m somewhere else if I have physical contact.”

It was Tamlin’s turn to freeze. Well, this was ending up one of the weirder days in Tamlin’s life. “Alright,” he shrugged as nonchalantly as possible. He had said he would help. Of course, that meant he actually had to do it. He wouldn’t be made a liar by Feyre’s son, of all fae.

Nyx rubbed his arm, shifting his weight awkwardly. Tamlin strode to him, then murmured, “Any particular… request?”

Nyx shook his head. Standing close to him, Tamlin could see the blood crusting on his lower lip and the panicked glaze in his eyes. “Alright.”

When his arm went around the male’s back, Tamlin was surprised to find how easily Nyx folded into his arms. One of his hands hovered for a second above Tamlin’s heart before fisting into the fabric of his shirt. Nyx smelled like ink and a piney soap he couldn’t quite place. It was distracting enough that it took Tamlin a few seconds to realize how tightly Nyx was gripping his shirt. In the same moment, he realized he didn’t care if the fabric was wrinkled. 

Mother save me, Tamlin thought as Nyx buried his face in his shoulder.

“Thank you,” Nyx whispered. Lost for words, Tamlin simply stroked the male’s back and nodded.

Nyx’s breaths slowed, and after a few moments, his grip on Tamlin’s shirt loosened. He was muscular, more so than his thin frame would suggest. Still, his shoulders were much more tense than the rest of his body, as though he carried the weight of the world in the muscles which lay there. 

“You’re so tense,” Tamlin murmured. Nyx huffed, picking his head up and leaning back. “What?”

Cauldron boil and fry me. “Your shoulders. You’re tense.”

“I am stuck in a wine cellar,” Nyx returned, sounding every bit as though he’d rather be discussing anything else.

“This didn’t happen in the last hour,” Tamlin countered, his hand drifting up to squeeze Nyx’s shoulder as if to confirm. Nyx rolled his eyes, shifting his weight to step back, but Tamlin was quicker, and tightened the arm around the male’s waist. “Nyx.”

Nyx stiffened, eyes widening as he looked at Tamlin. His jaw dropped slightly, a huff of air leaving his lips. Tamlin raised an eyebrow. “You’re a beast,” Nyx snarled suddenly with flashing eyes. 

Tamlin would have responded in kind had it not been the snarl of a cornered animal. “Nyx.”

Nyx pinched his bicep. “Let me go.” 

“Fine,” Tamlin returned, raising his hands in mock surrender. He had pinched him. Brat. “As you wish.”

Nyx retreated to the far wall, breathing heavily before resuming his pacing. Tamlin grabbed the bottle of wine, reclaiming his perch on the stairs as Nyx turned angrily on his heel. “You’re going to wear a path in the floor.”

“I don’t care,” Nyx snapped. 

“Why so hostile all of a sudden? You were the one who asked me for help.”

Nyx said nothing, so Tamlin took another swig of wine. Mother help him. Somebody needed to find them, and soon. 

Ten minutes later, Tamlin heard the creaking of the hinges above him. Light which was way too bright filtered into the room, and he blinked as he looked up, shifting his eyes back quickly.

“Nyx?” Lucien said. Then, as though surprised, he added, “Tamlin? What are you doing here?”

“Don’t let the door shut!” Nyx said quickly.

Lucien eyed his nephew and his friend with concern, but took a step back, holding the door open. Nyx bolted up the stairs as quickly as he could, his legs brushing Tamlin’s shoulder as he did so. Pine. The scent of his soap was so strong.

“I’ll grab the wine,” Tamlin said dully, standing to walk down the stairs and into the gloomy cellar. He had drunk half of the bottle of wine he was already holding. What was another?

He grabbed a bottle, and found himself questioning why Elain Archeron would send him to get a bottle of wine. Surely a servant could have been spared for this errand?

Nyx and Lucien spoke in low voices at the top of the stairs, but when Tamlin began climbing the stairs, they stopped quickly, Nyx stepping further out of the doorway to let Tamlin through. 

Lucien was examining his nephew the way he assessed prey, and when his eyes, one russet, one golden, slid to Tamlin’s approaching form, he blinked quickly as if to clear his vision of some obstruction.

Tamlin ignored his oldest friend, pressing the sealed bottle of wine into his hands. “I’m not coming to dinner. Please give Thesan my compliments and let him know I’ve gone to bed.”

“Why?” Nyx’s head shot up at that, looking concerned. Tamlin ground his teeth together, swirling the remaining wine in the bottle he still held. 

“I’m tired.”

Lucien nodded. “We’ll tell him.”

“Do you need anything?” Nyx’s heedless words clearly surprised him as much as Lucien and Tamlin. The tips of his ears flushed as Lucien arched an eyebrow at the young male while Tamlin looked at him one last time. Last, because whatever pine scent was addling his brain could not find him again.

“No,” Tamlin shook his head, not unkindly. 

“Alright. Thank you for your help.” Nyx turned and walked away, his steps quick. 

Lucien’s hand shot out to still Tamlin before he could turn in the other direction. 

“What is he thanking you for?”

Tamlin felt his cheeks heat. Fuck. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it, Lucien.”

Lucien tilted his head. “He’s my nephew.”

“I know.”

“Rhysand’s son.”

“I know.”

“Did you,” Lucien waved a hand in the air, grimacing. “Did something happen with him?”

Tamlin ground out, “No.” 

Lucien raised an accusatory eyebrow.

“I didn’t do anything,” Tamlin growled.

Lucien sighed. “If you insist.”

Tamlin bit his tongue, barely refraining from asking why Lucien might have thought that they would have been together in the first place.

“Goodnight, Tamlin.”

Tamlin nodded, finally stepping away from the redhead who saw far too much. “Goodnight, Lucien.”

Mother help anyone who tried to get something past Lucien and his mate. Elain could see far more than she let on. It was no doubt she– Elain, Tamlin realized suddenly. Hadn’t Nyx said Elain had sent him there as well? Tamlin swore under his breath, turning to call down the hall. 

“Lucien!”

Lucien turned to face him. 

“Tell your wife I need to talk to her tomorrow, please.”

Lucien sighed. “I’ll ask her.”

“No,” Tamlin shook his head. “Tell her. It’s essential.”

“I will ask her,” Lucien repeated firmly. “She isn’t yours to order any more than she is mine.”

Tamlin swallowed at the hard set of Lucien’s face. His role as the heir of Day had changed things between them, but never before had Lucien leveled such a look in his direction. “Very well.”

Lucien smiled faintly in acknowledgement, then raised a hand in a parting before resuming his walk towards the dining room. 

Lucien be damned. Tamlin swore he could still smell the scent of pine, his chest tightening with something akin to longing as he thought of the hand which had fisted in his shirt, the blood on Nyx’s lip. Fuck. It lingered, no matter where he tried to drive his thoughts. Tamlin swore as he opened the door to his rooms, then shut it behind him once again.

They had only just met, but somehow, Tamlin knew: Nyx Archeron would be the death of him.

Taglist: @ninthcircleofprythian @dusk-muse @c-starstuff-man0 @dusk-muse

[thenewrises]

enjoy my brain rambles (18+ MDNI)

idk the last time i did a theory/full lore post on anything since 17 year old me played mystic messenger in 2017 (IN FUCKING PHYSICS!!!!!) but for some reason 14 days with you has been on the forefront of my brain for over a year so. also it's so funny how not into yandere games/dark romance i was years ago but the moment i started college and started reading shit like ACOTAR (not dark romance but like... y'know... rhys...) i am like damn... what if someone was THAT into me me... (this does not include haunting adeline i fucking hate that book)

anyways sorry for the ramble!!!! some fun stuff i have found in the last idk few days of perusing old stuff, new stuff, etc.

also, a lot of hints i've found have been followed up by "👀". this is not the case with everything but just a lil tidbit i noticed! :)

The official 14DWY blog is @14dayswithyou

edit: put 18+ mdni in title because the game is 18+! should have mentioned that LOL

Ren's name!

I have been super interested in finding out his name, which i will send guesses sometime to the ask box when i have more as to not spoil anything if i'm right. BUT, i can share everything i have collected! i do know we will know more about him in day 7 possibly but i want to hopefully give some help if anyone wants to guess like me!

(Not In Name) ❌ - T, D, Z, S

(In The Name) ✅ - N, R, A, E

does not begin with - E, R, B, A, P

does not end with - N, L, Y

extras ⁃ 8 letters (could be more) ⁃ not traditionally masculine ⁃ american ⁃ emerald has three letters (E, A, R are my guesses) ⁃ clarence (two letters right spot) ⁃ emerson (one letter right spot) ⁃ marienne (one letter right spot) ⁃ his sister called him ren

so, with this in mind i have a few ideas. it seems the letter "R" is in the fourth position in his name. the letter "E" seems to be at the end of his name. i believe his name may be unisex or possibly more typically feminine, but he was named by his mother after her two friends (which i believe are Teo's relatives). some guesses about the name i have are: i believe his name may begin with an L or F, but this is just a guess i have but i do not believe it begins with a C. either "ren" is in his name altogether or another variation such as rien. but! this is just a theory (matpat... thank u).

some extras:

_ _ _ r _ _ _ e

edit: upon some scrolling before bed i am starting to believe their name may end in “rence” or “riene”. will update but that’s where i’m landing right now.

edit 2: may ALSO end in renie!

2. Ren's hands!

so we know ren has scarred hands from an accident prior to the events of the game before he ran from home. i don't know exactly what caused the scarring, but i believe it was some kind of altercation with his father from the sounds of it. it was said that ren left his mom in absolute hysterics when he left, so i believe there are a few things that could have happened.

i don't know if ren's father would hurt his mother but let's assume he wouldn't, maybe ren was presenting more masculine, talking back to his father, becoming a "threat" towards taylor, who knows! whatever happened, ren got into an altercation with taylor that ended in the scarring. I believe it has something to do with fire, taylor may have been set of fire somehow. maybe taylor wanted to burn the house down. OR, maybe ren tried to burn the house down with taylor in it...

it's possible that taylor may have tried to harm ren's mother that he attempted to save his mom and burn his father/harm his father. whatever happened, hana was not present for this as i believe this is when ren ran away from home IF this is how it happened.

maybe what happened to his hands was much longer before he left. i've seen some questioning that when leon had a birthday party, he invited hana but she did not go for reasons unknown. what this could mean is that something happened WHEN hana still lived there before she was sent off to school. maybe this was when ren got the scars on his hands. maybe taylor tried to harm ren due to him simply being male, maybe it was something else. maybe ren fought back. maybe taylor tried to hurt ren's mother, causing him to be punished by his father. all i know is, ren in an ask has said “I-I didn’t mean to… He— I didn’t have much of a choice…”

3. Playlist!

a while ago, saint put out this playlist and explained that characters and endings are connected to the songs. from other's guesses and my own curiosity, i went through and did some eliminations and found these to be the most possible to be connected:

shapeshift - ren

almost had me - violet

glimpse of us - leon

angel - ending

god complex - ending (possibly leon)

EDIT: gun - ending (most likely bad)

heart-shaped hologram - EDIT: I believe this is ren's introspection now

these could be inaccurate! but from what i have seen i think these are the best guesses for some of the songs. maybe i'll try to guess more in depth, but for now, this is just from what i've read up! 14 days also has the potential to be an ending, but once again this may be another post.

conclusion

i am so out of my mind. but it is so fun to evaluate lore i have always loved doing it and this game itched my brain. i reccommend this game if you're interested in horror and are 18+ then i say check out this game! read the warnings ahead of time, but i find it funky fresh

anyways womp womp, redacted come home, emo boy by ayesha erotica lookin' ass

[jiminiesfavouritecolourisblue]

Just gonna hop onto the previous anons question about tropes, (excuse the ramble) but I couldn’t help but agree with your take on the yandere trope!!

No hate to anyone, but I just wish there were more yandere fics out there where the mc wasn’t at risk of losing a limb!! Like, make them sick and twisted. Make the yandere commit utter atrocities for their darling, but make them in the name of love, as obsessive and twisted as theirs is. If I don’t leave the fic questioning my sense of morality, I don’t want it, lol. I just can’t see a yandere who would kill someone for looking at the mc wrong; feel alright with causing lasting damage to their so! It’s why I like Lovesick so much, definitely some hiccups on the boys' parts, and I’ve never felt so genuinely split between wanting the boys back or the mc leaving!! (Absolutely love it!!)

Anyways, I was really curious about how you feel about angst? Do you prefer fics to remain within a certain word limit? I’ve had some people say they won’t touch fics that are just too long, so I was really curious on your take with that!

Love your work and take care!~ <33

Ramble away my lovely you’ve articulated yourself so well! I completely agree, and I have read some messed up yandere fics and novels (haunting Adeline anyone?) but some I’ve read I just completely switch off especially if I can’t feel the yandere’s “love” for the character, if it’s just pure possession or obsession with no softness I’m like no 😵‍💫 I cannot I’m sorry

And OMFD I need to catch up with lovesick, I was completely hooked and then I didn’t touch tumblr for ages and now there are so many chapters to binge but no time to binge them 😭 I’ve got a week off coming up soon I might just do it then but I’ve also started the ACOTAR series and I’m hooked with that too

@angelicyoongie is one of my favourite writers on this site, the way Maggy writes is just 👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽 the woman is younger than me but she’s my role model for sure

I can read more than one thing at a time though I’m currently reading 3 books at the same time (and making no progress 🤦🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️)

I have a love hate relationship with angst, I love it as a writer and admire other writers who do it well, it kills me as a reader because it just hurts like hell 😭 if it’s ripped my heart out then it’s an A class fic

And to be honest I don’t mind word limits I think it depends what you want to read, sometimes you just want a drabble but sometimes you want a full on novella where you can get deep into the feeling. I think the longest oneshot fic I’ve read on tumblr was 40k words and I loved it. Chapters long fics are even better there’s more to digest, it’s hard to find a fic your craving sometimes so always good to have lots of words of it

[bookofmirth]

Lele, I have a rambling though

We always have discussions about possibilities for SJM future books (especially acotar 5) and I always read interpretations that are done so very tastefully and with a lot of knowledge on text interpretation, book context and narratives

but the thing is… ppl always treat SJM as this super hiper mastermind and after HOFAS and how messy and not good it was (honestly it was terrible) … I’m a little afraid about acotar 5 and sjm choosing to go with the easiest way (which, for me, would be choosing Elriel - since with Gwyn she would have to treat her trauma her carefully and be more cautions on her narrative) and I don’t know if I see her doing it 😓

(Also… I would like to say as my last though of someone who is following her since 2018 - that SJM loves to write about powerful woman and the friendships between them and their bonds but to let the fandom be where it is today… young impressionable girls treating each other with such hostility and disrespect… I know she probably can’t say anything bc of contracts but man is a hard pillow to swallow that she “let” the fandom be where it is today… which is a horrible place.)

Anon, have some rambling thoughts of mine!!! hehehe

A big difference between acotar and hofas is how thoughtfully she generally treats the acotar characters. I've been thinking a lot about this the past few days and the main thing I dislike about hofas is how the plot and world building absolutely take over everything to the detriment of the characters. I cannot understate how much I dislike Bryce, and I've always pinpointed her lack of consistent values as the core reason why. hofas really, really emphasized that writing flaw. Not character flaw, but writing flaw.

People acting like sjm is some mastermind drives me crazy when we can see all the plot holes and inconsistencies and retcons. One of these days, someone should make a list of them. Anyway, she mentioned rereading the acotar series sometime last year, and I would bet you good money that she did so in order to see what she can use. She has said explicitly that she isn't great at world building and she has also said that she didn't plan the crossover until she was writing hosab. That means any connection we see between hofas and, for instance, acomaf, is a result of her going backwards to see what she can use. Not the other way around. She "planned" in the sense that she wrote really vague stuff in the first place so that she could use it how she wanted to later on. That has become really apparent to me with the crossover.

Like... for example, Mor's power is "truth". Vague as fuck, right? I would bet good money (again haha like I'm rich) that sjm didn't even know what that meant in acomaf other than "I need a reason for the mortal queens to trust Mor". And then she'll figure out the mechanics and technicalities later and the fandom will call her brilliant for it. *facepalm*

I don't see e*riel being easy at all. But that's all I will say about that hehe.

Gwyn's story aligns perfectly with what sjm has already been doing in acotar, with Rhys and Lucien, and to an extent Nesta. I don't have any concerns there because I think her strength is in her characterization. (CC is just... another beast.) There was an interview she did a while back where she talked about the movie Promising Young Woman and it really emphasized to me that sjm's particular brand of feminism revolves around gender and sex. This isn't a critique, just a statement of what I've observed. My point is that she is very aware of rape culture and has strong feelings about it and gives characters the space to heal on page, and so that's not really a concern of mine, especially in acotar.

To your final point, I got SO frustrated the other day in the group chat, @sabrinasam said it was the most frustrated she's ever seen me haha. I'm so tired of sjm and the publisher being coy about this!!!! But mostly, I am so, so sick of people in this fandom treating each other like shit just because they don't agree on ships. Like it's one thing to have notps and brotps and to be annoyed by or even hate certain characters. It's a completely different thing when people feel totally comfortable going out in public and treating other actual, real, human people like absolute garbage because of those feelings.

Azriel is never gonna lick your fucking home entertainment center!!! Get the fuck over it!!!!!!!!!

I don't think that sjm is at fault for this because I think that people are responsible for their own actions. I also fully believe that the people taking screenshots and mocking them publicly (of people who probably have them blocked anyway, fucking stalkers) or just outright attacking people on different platforms would be doing that exact same thing whether it was about sjm or not. Like you could just stick them in another fandom, and these people would act the same deplorable way.

Anyway. I'm fucking tired. I'm still excited for acotar5 and will continue that series and when I was doing a lil voice chat with my friends for hours last weekend it revived my enjoyment of acotar and ToG. The fandom just makes it a lot of work, trying to have fun.

[zenkindoflove]

Oh my god, I read all your fics with Eris/Alexius on ao3 and while I am not usually someone who reads main pairings with OCs, you made Alexius blend so seamlessly into the world of ACOTAR I just !!! Aaaa! I just finished Summer Heat and !!! God, it's probably my favorite of yours so far, regardless of whenever you get around to making a sequel or not.

Anyway, sorry for rambling, I hope you have a great day and thank you sm for sharing your writing

Omg, nonnie, you made my day just now. I don't normally get anons about any of my fics, so this was such a big surprise and just 😍. Please, if you ever want to come off anon and chat, I would love to know who you are!

It really makes me happy that you gave Eris x Alexius a try and you liked them! Alexius is my baby, and one of the things I really tried to do as I developed his character was to really fit him into the world of ACOTAR, both in terms of his family, his friends, and his magic. I've definitely tricked myself into thinking Alexius actually exists in this world. So idk what the hell I am going to do when I read the next book and he isn't there. 😆

Ahhh, Summer Heat. I'm so happy it's your favorite because I really tried so many new things in that fic. And I know it's been months and months since I said I would work on the sequel, but obviously some other things took over, like writing Pull Me In Deeper, which took me a lot longer than I expected it to. But I'm glad it did because I loved what that fic became too. My plans now are to work on my Secret Santa fic and Carrion Flowers in the fall, and then dive back into Summer Heat's sequel when those are done. I really do want to write it because it's going to get a lot more into exploring some of my head canons and world building around Elain's magic and how they will approach Koschei. So I see it as me learning how to explore more fantasy writing (along with lots of romance and smut with Elucien and Erixius).

And never apologize for rambling to a fanfic author about their work. I am inherently a little monster about hearing what people think, so please always tell me any and all of your thoughts! 💕

[malverav]

beasts of the briar: 2 books in 9 hours and absolutely all of mega rambly stream of consciousness thoughts about beasts and i shill for garth nix, not for the last time

So i started reading book 1 at 2am as an insomnia read, because once my insomnia hits, it stays, and i'm awake until bedtime tomorrow (thanks vyvanse!). Wanted easier than my recent bedtime reading, a small town in germany by john le carre. It's dense and i read the looking glass war right before it, which was clever but a slow burning, subtle novel. i was in the mood for something lighter, and was thinking about trying to read more sarah j maas (i read acotar in 2022 and hated it. I'm giving the next one a fair crack once my reservation comes in, but it was just so... not fun? Not boring but really dry). I have a fairytale themed market coming in march, know fey are big, but haven't been keeping up with popular fey lit At All so if i want to make fanart to get people to look at my stall, it should probably be a throne of x an y?

ANYWAY

(also don't follow me please if you want like, uncritical take or breathless praise of a series/author (unless it's garth nix, we stan nix on this blog). i'm not attacking you personally if you love it, but i'm over 25 and this is my tumblr blog where i have my opinions. peace)

also im spoiling stuff if you care about that

My friend recced beasts of the briar as totally unconsciousness madness with a plot as subtle as a sledgehammer, so obviously i'm in for it. I'd rather have rubbish someone cooked with pure joy/horny than something boring and technically "good".

Anyway i finished book 2 at about 11am. I'm a fast reader and couldn't sleep, but i like it a lot! I read 2 books in 9 hours! Like let's be real, it is not Classically Good and it definitely reads like fanfic of something else, but it's like, fanfic on a03 in 2010 that's got an air of respectability, it's had a couple of betas and a regular update schedule for a while. You can tell that someone's having a blast writing it. I'm interested to see if they keep the core heat of the dynamic as they start to you know, spoilers, pair people off and solve curses. For me, I feel like the dynamic is starting to cool/stale with Kel/Rose and Farron/Rose. Kel/Ez? *sucking in a breath thru my teeth, leaning back in my chair, white knuckled* anyway Book 2 has barely touched this ship and I'm reading for it. Thank you, EH, for writing this for Me, your horniest nb reader. I appreciate the slow burn while Day/Fare make me roll my eyes so much they roll onto the floor after a while. Don't ever talk about your feelings directly in a romance unless you're forced to. My cardinal sin. Tension evaporates when people therapy talk. Therapy fuck instead, that's how kink works and you get an insight into a character with how they process what scares them into what turns them on this is a post for another time moving on

It's a common issue in romance imo where once the initial tension wears off or breaks, if there's no other "plot" to carry the book it's really hard to keep me hooked. It's best short and sweet, in maybe 20-80k word bursts imo. More than that wordcount I think you need to dream up a plot first and a good romantic dynamic second - most writers (including EH) aren't good enough to carry full novels on characters alone. I can write smoking hot 10k word smut scenes. That's the hard limit for me before I have to start spinning a plot around it, which is so much fucking harder so I absolutely sympathise with the dilemma - if she'd solved the personal issues of the 4 MCs (and +1 secret love interest with Cas, honey, EH, that flower on the ground representing her mate bond with him was so blunt I flinched but you know what I like it anyway because I think you liked too). The plot/worldbuilding is on the thin side, not meaty enough to carry the book all by itself without the romance. There's a huge disparity in stakes with the fate of the Enchanted Vale HANGING in the BALANCE of this ROMANCE and not on the actions of any other character's plots or actions

I think this book reading like fanfic (and let's be real, the trope marketing of these types of books) makes the romantic conclusion generally a sure thing, which takes the air out of any non-romance plot conflict because the characters will solve it with romance. Eg, the bond/mate thing here being the plot answer means that characters who aren't in the main romantic sphere mean very little. So you can kill them as the author because we know they're "safe". . Niamh (queen shit rip miss u already) did nothing meaningful. The side characters (Fare's cool adorable brothers, Rose's dad, Astrid, Marigold (love her tho)) and even the VILLAINS all feel really cardboard because we as the readers know they won't impact the final stakes unless it's to drive our MCs further in love. We know the resoution is that they're all gonna live in a happy polycule and Cas will be fixed with the power of love. But, that means that when you kill Niamh or imprison/defeat uh... Jafar - sorry, evil vizier Perth (reading this book as an Aussie is so fucking funny but that's a separate post ok) it's a bit meaningless. Perversely (hah!) it has a negative impact on the sex, too, because it's too much sweet and not enough vegetables (other plot stuff/character connections). It's like watching a movie that's nonstop action scenes - you feel tired watching it because there's no variety. How many times are Day/Fare/Rose/some combination going to fuck with basically the same beats in the sex scene? Too many. I was getting bored. Sorry.

side note GIIIIIRL PERTH IS VILLAIN QUEER CODED LIKE JAFAR IN A BOOK WITH 4x QUEER MALE MCs I praise EH for the courage to fall back on the classic lazy tropes in book 1 so they can handwave politics and get back to the porn. Shine on.

And the author's game of keep away with the specifics of Kel's vow with Cas, what exactly happened there at the start is wearing preeeeetttttyyy fucking tired. Fucking talk to each other. This stuff only works in a romance with a small cast because there's very few other characters Rose isn't romantically involved with that she can talk to, and fewer still that she's on equal terms with - remember, Astrid and Marigold are servants and serving in Castletree is a big honour, and while they act like the prince's friends/fans let's not forget how some of the pretty boys (Day) kill their own citizens pretty thoughtlessly, so if Astrid was to betray her liege lord's trust and tell Rose (and the reader) the truth, she's risking death by Kel's hand, being banished back to Winter, or having to flee to the Below. And there'd be no concequences for Kel apart from Rose probably having a huff a bout it but getting over it eventually. Not great!

The "oh I can't tell Rose this it's my GREATEST SHAME" is dull after the first two reveals, and I feel like we have more of these to go where she accepts them and heals them because Castletree is a fucking construction site with how Rose is fixing these boys (lame! hate how she's always the damsel/healer/fixer - ez is literally a healer but doesn't fill the healer/heart/gendered female caretaker role in this polycule and i reckon i'd like it a lot better if he did - based on sexual tension with kel and the early line about mummy and daddy fighting, this shit writes itself (ok personal ick to daddy/mummy dynamics but im too genderqueer to not like to fuck with power + gender/roles another post another post omfg)). There's other ways to create tension in a romance, but you need to lean harder into the Other Plot to make it richer. Or have Rose be a Bad Person and be disgusted at what they've done, but imo backstory reveals are boring, tell your story onscreen, coward.

In my opinion. In minecraft. This is longer than I thought. Also for the record! I like this series! I think it's still fun and the narrative voice is cheesy but I really like it, and I'm looking forward to reading more books. Oh, and looking at the community on here, it's been so long since I engaged in a fandom.

Ok last side note I also like how everyone's super normal about everyone being bi/pan, at least in the male MCs. I haven't caught much queer/poly romance elsewhere in other characters - lots of 2 parent households and het monogomous relationships, apart from the random hot fae people of various genders except Rose fuck. No nbs so far but I'm used to not seeing anyone resembling me in a book.

(Notable exceptions to the romance notes above? Garth Nix's recent books (Frogkisser, Terciel and Elanor, Booksellers books) all are a great romance and have a fabulous plot, so the romance in a book like that feels fleshed out and meaningful. But that's another blog post. But, rest assured, you like Regency fantasy? Read Frogkisser. You like to read/like books (or like American Gods, Good Omens, Skulduggery Pleasant)? Read Left Handed Booksellers of London. Butchy FMC and NB love interest in the 80s, come OnNNNnnnNNnNNNnn Garth Nix writing books for healing my inner queer teen. If I read Angel Mage or Booksellers I'd probably be out with they/them pronouns being a blazing queer in all spheres of my irl life, not just the close ones. I cried a bit reading Booksellers when Merlin is just, very genderqueer as a matter of fact because that's a character like me and my favourite childhood author knows people like me exist and lets them be awesome in his books. I tear up thinking about it and I'm nearly 30. Fucking read it even if there's no smut. Angel Mage is on the three musketeers. There's a great female villain. If you're from the US you may not have heard of Nix. You're missing out so fucking bad and I'm sorry.)

I ramble. My vyvanse wore off a couple hours ago so this is my diary now. Never expect short posts.

[starlightbooklove]

Welcome to another episode of things I've realized even though they were pretty obvious.

I found a Fanart of Sjm's universe with all the characters from the series at a dinner and by association I started to look at how the series have crossed paths so far.

And something clicked for me, before the final battle in TOG happened, everything in the acotar saga had already happened, it was halfway through the book in ACOSF when Aelin fell through the worlds, before they had Nyx So while feysand already has children and relative peace, rowaelin is just starting out.

The Fanart I was talking about was with feysand already with nyx and with Aelin pregnant btw, which makes sense

Another thing, if I'm not wrong, Aelin is younger than Feyre at this point And it is somewhat expected that Aelin is going to have children (Because she made it clear that she wanted it and well, Rowan's dream when he's looking for her) so in conclusion I have three ideas:

In the future when they include Aelin in the entire multiverse again, she Will already have a baby or she will have the news that she is pregnant Not in a way that prevents her from helping or anything if you understand what I mean (Like yrene or by the end of the story)

If Acotar has more books where they are said to give small hints of the multiverse, then when Aelin enters the scene she will already have children, because there is more time involved.

I think Aelin is going to have certain hints in Hofas, or at least Terrasen and Erilea will, but I don't think she will directly have participation in the entire multiverse until a few more books. I don't know, it just makes sense, at the end of tog they have an awesome job to do, to recover and repair the kingdom So i think they'll be at least two more books from ACOTAR and one more from cc (which is what is expected) to give room to TOG universe and there then multiverse of madness

Everything is very scattered and it is pure rambling but anyway, thanks for coming to my ted talk ✨

[achaotichuman]

ACOTAR Ramble

Tbh I think it's a lot more fun to imagine that Rhysand's younger sister is just a few years younger than him and is just batshit fucking crazy.

Like she's smart asf, if the power is gonna pass to anyone, out of Rhysand and her, it's gonna be her, but also if you let her into the Dawn Court, she'd try to sell them the very first concept of the modern day machine gun. Not for any beneficial reason, she just wants it.

And don't try to water her psycho down, this bitch is only helping you if it benefits her directly.

All the female villains are sex offenders because the author's a misogynist, get me a real villain who would do horribly heinous things if given the slightest taste of power.

Why does she do this? Chronic daddy and mommy issues, obviously.

Her mom doesn't give her any ounce of love and scrutinizes every moves she makes, because she's a #boymom and her dad hates her for being a woman, so she's just been plotting revenge every night since she was five, I can only assume.

She's Nesta in reverse, she's Nesta if Nesta let the lack of affection from her guardians, and her parents taking advantage of her and her body, turn her into a wannabe all-powerful God. Her brother taught her a thing or too, but she also just took the ball and ran with it.

Also do not tell me this woman did not kick scream bite and claw her way into being allowed to train. Her dad only let her because he was sick and tired of the death threats and sloppy assassination attempts.

Her mom did not approve in the absolute slightest. And her daughter did not care what her mother thought.

Like come on people, you're totally missing out on this train wreck of a hot gothic villainess who will fuck you up for funzies. She's only a train wreck, because she has zero impulse control, and that makes the whole lying in wait part of the evil villain plans real difficult.

Probably would have killed Amarantha, just to take her place. Would have killed Hybern while she was at it, just cause she got sick of having the idea of answering to someone.

Death won't stop this motherfucker, she will be crawling out of the grave and haunting the narrative like a clingy ex who won't stop 'finding your things' at their house and inviting you over to come get them. Only, she's not filling Tamlin with guilt and remorse and self-loathing for helping to be the cause of her death, she's more the Devil on his shoulder, and with every horrific idea she tries to sell to him, he is more and more relieved that she is not physically present, so as to enact them herself.

Anyway, I support her and all of her wrongs. There's no "she could do no wrong in my eyes" here, she worked damn hard to get as low into Hell as she is.

[vgilantee]

CHAR MY LOVE THIS IS LONG AND I'M SORRY LMFAO. this is my one fic idea/series that I really needed to tell a second person about.

So I thought of this reincarnation idea but it's treated like a curse or just a curse or spell placed on the reader

so I've been reading the ACOTAR series and was inspired to write this. To debrief you a bit about the book...In the book, everyone has a mate and sometimes the bond snaps for one while it takes longer for the other person to feel it, anyway, in this case, Azriel (the love of my life jk, a book character) has always longed for a mate and thought he finally found it with Elain (a character in the book) but he finds it in the reader and he then is so happy to start his life with her but then a sudden mishap happens and she dies, and then another couple years pass (in the series he's like 500 something but looks like he's in his twenties Imfao) and each couple years he has to relive the snap of the bond and experiences the reader to die each time, every time the reader comes back she doesn't remember him sadly and dawns a whole entirely different personality and look, whether it's on the run, homeless, happy, miserable, you name it.

I don't if I should start it with her dying at a young age and then he meets her through each phase of growing up or have that he loses her during one of the best moments of his life??? I'm going with losing her during the best moment of his life.

Anyway continuing on...so losing her wrecks him and during some years, Azriel doesn't even want to make the attempt to seek her out because he knows his time with her is very limited, like after a he keeps seeing her alive again and again, he starts to realize what's happening, anyway, sometimes his brothers are the ones to tell him that's she's passed and he doesn't have to assume so since he feels her die each time, but he slowly loses himself even more and also refuses to have children with her when she comes back into his life because he can't fathom the idea of being left with a child and then having the reader not remember who their son/daughter is.

She dies the same day on each night. different ways, I want to incorporate that she speaks her fate in the air and so each time she dies it's from something she joked about. Also as a way to make it more angsty, like she'll be a kind soul who faces death in not-so-drastic measures, rather her death is based on what she says before it happens than it being at the hands of someone else.

I have more but I'll keep the rest to myself so that it doesn't spoil the story.

so i haven't read acotar (i will eventually, but i need to reorganise my books/library before i buy any more books) so my ramble are based only on everything i've gleamed from this

so is she going to be reborn and meet him at around the same time? like she's the same age when he finds her again? or is it jason-todd-type? where she is the same being (?) as azriel where she physically looks 20s but is actually 500+. but she dies and is either necromancy-ed back to life, or because of the curse she crawls her way out of her grave? but because of her death she doesn't remember who she was (i am feral for jason digging himself out of his grave, as much as i love the lazarus pit)

oh but i love the idea that he loves her but cannot bring himself to build a life with her! and speaking her death into existance; words have powers and the idea that words are spells!

and why has she been cursed?! was it her? was it an ancestor? juicy juicy juicy

[redbleedingrose]

ive thought about this recently a lot but i genuinely would love if they made acotar in animation style format rather than movie style

like everything would look so good and it'll be easier to show the fantasy world and dreamlike body proportions(wings, bodies in general, and also small details like syphons and stuff)

idk i just got randomly passionate about it bc i saw lots of wonderful fan art of the bat boys and it made me appreciate how good they look in diff art styles and it'll be near impossible to find actors that fit the book description

srry lmao vent over, love you bb

- 🩷

HI LOVELY 🩷!!!

I totally agree, I have seen some really amazing illustrations in the form of animation for the ACOTAR series, and I honestly think that would be the best route if they want to make this into a TV series.

I think a movie would be too short for the amount of information and character building that needs to happen, so a TV series would be absolutely perfect. And then you could break each book up into a season! Ugh, I just hope that is what ends up happening.

I will say, I do love being able to imagine things for how the characters and courts look, just because I feel like I can create more diversity in my mind with the characters race and body shape. I wish SJM did a better job of making exploring that side of ACOTAR, the different races of fae and different body styles. I feel like most of her fem characters are skinny and tall and just naturally stunning/sexy, and I wish we had characters that were medium and plus sized but still extremely desired.

I swear @princess-tulip-writes and I have this whole headcanon series we have built in our silly little minds on how medium and plus size woman in Prythian are highly desired, and men and woman will be falling on their knees to get a taste of a full, curvy woman. The scent they gives off is immaculate, and idk... I wish SJM did that too.

Anyway. sorry for this little ramble! I hope you are doing okay! I am sorry I havent been writing as much! I am in the throws of my 3rd year of medical school, getting closer to taking step 2 and applying for residency. Life has gotten extremely busy real fast and I want to write, but the exhaustion just does not let me sit down for it. Thank you for your patience and love and support dear 🩷!!!

[possumsandprose]

🎄 it’s me again!!!! 🎄

so, to make sure me and my elves (I.e. my brain) can make you the most wonderful gift possible, I would absolutely love to know what you enjoy about elriel, and even what you’d like to see from them💜💙🖤

hello!!

oh gosh, what isn't to love. Personally, I'm all for forbidden romance, and above all, dark boyfriend/sunshine girlfriend. Those are the big two, but in terms of canon scenes they have together, I think my top 3 would be

the 'you came for me' scene in ACOWAR

Azriel giving Elain Truth Teller and the 'never in 500 years have I seen Azriel let someone else touch that knife' we love a man who breaks rules only for his girl

'can you truly fly' that whole dinner conversation in MAF. Not exactly an Elriel moment, more like just an interaction, but I still love it

In terms of what I'd like to see from them, I think that door is really wide open, both for canon texts and for fanfiction. I've read fics where Elain remains the quiet gardener she is in canon and she falls in love with Az anyway, and I've read some where Elain becomes a 'knife wife' as they are called and they do cool spy stuff together and defeat Koschei. And of course, I've seen the middle ground too. Personally I don't have a preference. The only big things for me are that I want to see more of Elain's powers described (this is assuming we're talking about a canon compliant fic that's more than just a one-shot, or ACOTAR 6), I don't want there to be a love triangle with Lucien or Gwyn (some angst and doubt is fine, heck it's even encouraged there's no pleasure without pain angst is very much fine by me but once one of them actually brings it up to the other, end of. None of this awkward "whom should I pick, whom do I love more" nonsense), and biggest of all, I don't want Elain changing her whole personality just for Azriel. If she stays as someone who prefers the finer things in life, and doesn't enjoy fighting like her sisters, great! If she does turn out to become a spy or a warrior or any of that, let it be because she wants to, not because of what a man (be it Az, Lucien, or literally anyone else) wants her to be.

Of course I'm kind of just rambling about what I want to happen in the next book, my range for fanfiction I'll read is open to pretty much everything. My favourite fics to read are the canon-compliant ones (or canon divergence, so like what if the bond snapped between them out of the cauldron, I have yet to find this but it's an interesting thought hehe), as well as any ancient or mythological AUs (as you can tell by what I've written). Not a huge fan of any modern AUs, including the high school/college ones or workplace.

Looking forward to whatever you create!

[alvaeris]

I sometimes wish there was more good fantasy books that have adventures and exploring and like related to faeries but instead we get A court of thorns and roses copy. 😖😕 i dont want characters calling their other s/o mates or..growling..furry shit

The cruel prince could never do that JUDE DUARTE MY BELOVED

🪳

NO I AGREE!!! OH MY GOD. I HATE ACOTAR SO MUCH..... i found some pretty good seelie/unseelie books before, but their titles all escape me. my biggest gripe is that authors sacrifice worldbuilding for subpar romance. like no, i don't want 6000 sex scenes, i want actual depth in the storytelling and an interesting world. but the problem with the fantasy genre is that it's either romantasy or Lord of the rings. and i have nothing against lord of the rings, but when there are ten thousand books of the same type you start getting bored. it's why i love six of crows so much! it's not classic grand fantasy, but it's unique and good at what it does. bring back grand fantasy with less of a focus on romance....

i have an extreme love/hate relationship with the cruel prince. i HATE cardan greenbriar! i hate hate hate him so much. the political plot of the cruel prince series is good. but the romance ruined it for me! there was no development, at all. it ramped up from -200 to a hundred in two chapters. cardan was INSANELY bad to jude in the beginning, and his justification was HORRID. 'oh i loved her but i was mad at myself for that because i was also kinda jealous so me trying to drown her kill her and publicly humiliating her was all okay because i love her now' KILL YOURSELF CARDAN GREENBRIAR.

on the other hand, i read how the prince of elfhame became king or whatever the title of the spinoff book is and....

i can't say i like cardan. i still really hate him. but i understand his past. does it justify anything he did? NO. but, err, i have drawn a lot of cruel prince fanart.

all of cardan greenbriar.

cough cough cough.

love/hate, people. love/hate.

anyway sorry for rambling can you tell i really like reading and have strong opinions

OH OH OH AND I THINK OAK IS TEN MILLION TIMES BETTER LIKE I REALLY LIKE THE SIDE SERIES (?) BETWEEN OAK AND SOREN

[goforth-ladymidnight]

Hello!! It’s your secret santa again!

I know it’s a little early but I’d love to get to know you a little so I’d like to ask you some questions; just to get to know your taste so I can start planning the perfect gift for you !!

-What are some things you like to read in fanfictions (fav tropes,dynamics,AUs,etc)?

-What are some of your favorite tags that you look for in fics?

(Could be general or tamcien specific)

And if there’s anything specific/niche you enjoy, tell me!! I’m here to make ur dreams come to life 😌!

-🎅🎄

Hi Santa!!

Would it surprise you to know that I don't read that much fanfiction?? 🫣 This is my first fandom, so while I write a lot, I'm still learning about tropes and tags and... well, everything else. 😅

That being said, here are my answers, and I hope they're helpful!

When I read (fanfiction or otherwise), I like feeling that shiver of ✨magic✨ that you can only find in fantasy. As much as I like ACOTAR Book 1, it didn't quite go far enough into Fae territory, for my taste. I've written essays complaining about that, if you want to go looking through my pinned masterlist, haha.

When it comes to tropes, Fluff is always nice, but I don't usually make that my focus. It's just a nice layer in the fanfiction sandwich. I write a fair amount of Angst myself, but I'm not sure how much exactly I can handle for the holidays, haha. I won't tell you NOT to write angst, because this is your gift. I promise I will love it no matter what. ❤️

Come to think of it, Fluff and Angst isn't really a trope, is it? Only One Bed is, though, and I think that's cute. Pining is good, Hurt/Comfort is actually really good... (Did I say I didn't want Angst? Forget that. Add as much as you want. I will EAT IT UP WITH A SPOON.) It just needs a happy ending. Nothing bugs me more than a great story that ends too soon, in ANY medium.

Not that you asked, but my interest in Tamcien started when my Tamlin Week co-mod Reyna planted the seed in my brain. I think my first foray into Tamcien territory was writing how Lucien lost his eye (in canon), and how Tamlin comforted him afterwards. Best Friends to Lovers? Yes, please!! (And here I thought I didn't know anything about tropes...)

I'm also slowly coming around to Modern AUs, because while I do love Fantasy (see my first bullet point above), there's something really special about: "I will find you in any universe", and this universe just so happens to have Christmas in it. 🎄

Coincidentally, I have a list of holiday movies I like to watch every year. I like sprinkling in that kind of pine-scented nostalgia into my own gift fics, fantasy or modern. I won't require that of you, though. Just choose what comes naturally to you! (I say this because while I wrote my modern Tamcien AU as a gift fic for my friend Reyna, it's also a gift to me. I added a LOT of Christmas stuff to it, and I didn't realize until after I published it that Reyna doesn't really celebrate that holiday. Haha... Woops!! But she's told me many times how much she enjoys it, and I choose to believe her. 😁)

Anyway, enough rambling for one night. I hope this is enough to get you started! I'm already looking forward to hearing from you again! ❤️Thanks again!