#asterin and her hunter

[acourtofquestions]

"And who, exactly, are you?"

Dorian gave the witch one of those charming smiles and sketched a bow. "Dorian Havilliard, at your service."

"The king," one of the Crochans murmured from near the wyverns.

Dorian winked. "That I am, too."

[acourtofquestions]

I NEED THESE BOOKS!!!

We don’t need more ACOTAR spin-offs, what we really need Maas to write is a spin-off book about Manon reclaiming the Wastes and becoming Queen of the Witches there.

And then we need a novella about Asterin meeting her hunter because I really want more content for her.

@acourtofquestions

[nikethestatue]

"Fated mates'. SJM is a 'fated mates' writer. She'll never go against the concept of 'fated mates'!

You know what bothers me about this?

The notion that only these pre-destined relationships matter. That only they can make people feel love and passion, sorrow and yearning, desire and heartbreak. That bonds trump love. Whereas SJM was very clear--it's love that trumps the bond. It's love that trumps fate.

Eluciens, of course, are the biggest advocates of the whole 'fated mates' notion. Because they think that somehow, they are 'advocating' for Lucien when they support this. But objectively speaking, ALL of Lucien's most important relationships had nothing to do with any bond. His loyalty, his often misguided support for people who perhaps needed to be questioned, his friendships, his love--none had anything to do with the bond. His bonded relationship with Elain is in fact the weakest relationship that he has. What's been meaningful to him was Andras and the other sentries in Spring, who were his friends, and whom he mourned. It's been Tamlin, who took him in and who protected him and offered his his friendships, alongside a sanctuary and a position. It's been Feyre and Vassa--two humans whom he chose to befriend and protect and serve. And then Jessminda, his love and his lover, who, by his own admission made him happy. None of these people are his 'fated mates', including Jessminda, and yet, they are the ones who shaped him and made his life bearable, and worth living.

If only 'fated mates' matter, then are we to assume that Lyria's whole life and relationship with Rowan was pointless? Was her love for him pointless? Her death? The family and the life that she built with him? Because it wasn't fated, does it mean it wasn't wanted? Does it mean it wasn't important?

Asterin and her Hunter had love and sorrow the likes of which hardly anyone else experienced. They had a daughter. They had a life they could't share. And he waited for her in that cabin until he died. But they weren't mates. So does it not matter? And if one of them got a mate, would that bond trump a lifetime of their experiences?

Lorcan and Elide aren't mates. Should a mate pop up, would Lorcan ever leave Elide, to whom he bound his whole life? Whose existence is tied to hers, because he never wanted to be without her, and never wanted her to be without him?

And when Rhys told Feyre that if this is the only time that they were allotted then that's enough, that knowing her and being with her even for a little bit was enough to last a lifetime? Was it only because they were mates? Or was it because he waited for 500 years to love someone as much as he loved her?

"Fated mates' is, in fact, one of the worst things that you can build a narrative on. Because it doesn't take into consideration the joy of the human experience, which always comes with pain and struggles. But that's what makes it meaningful and worth living for.

Would Cassian love Nesta any less if they weren't mates? She, who chose to kill over 1,000 people for him, years before they were mates--does that love not supersede a mating bond?

And if ALL you have is a mate bond, is it ever enough? Would it ever be enough?

[kimchiagustd]

one week post KOA reading and not surprisingly, i am still mourning... spoilers ahead but i need to let go of all these feelings.

i miss this new family i discovered, the excitement of the next chapter or the next book, the anguish, the tears, the cliffhangers, the surprises, the couples and friendships dynamics. i miss everything about tog!

my brain is still processing aaaallllll the events of 7000 pages and a lot of things are settling when i could not process everything while still reading the books…

but to me, this saga is a masterpiece for so many reasons. as a woman, there are so many things validating in these books, i don’t even know where to begin with.

the sorority in tog is still mind blowing to me, probably my favorite part of the whole saga, that we clearly don’t talk about enough. the ending with aelin walking to meet her people with her girlfriends, marching with them as equals still gives me goosebumps. aelin and lysandra friendship (bestfriends and soulmates), aelin and ansel friendship (free young spirits), aelin and manon friendship (rivals then equal queens), aelin and yrene friendship (sisters), aelin and nesryn friendship (admiration and role models), aelin and elide friendship (bonded by fate and a love for the same kingdom) are so precious to me... i could write entire essays about them. i adore how all the female characters just fell in love with aelin, saw her vision of a better world and just followed her to the end. and then, the thirteen, do i even need te explain myself? i think a part of me will forever mourn them. the heartbreak i felt after their death is unspeakable. i never read a book with such flawed and beautiful characters. asterin (her hunter and her whichling), sorrel, vesta, imogen, ghislaine, faline, fallon, edda, briar, thea, kaya and linnea have my whole heart.

marion and josefin are branded in my very soul. their characters had so few pages but gods, how their sacrifice still resonate in me...

then the different journeys of all the characters… chaol has a special place in my heart, despite everything, despite all these things being said about him. he had so many flaws, did so many mistakes, but what a journey, what a fight against depression and disability, what an end… he was so lost and tormented throughout thousands of pages, even while being passionately in love with celeana (not aelin!), and is so appeased at the end, married and soon to be a dad… i rarely felt so proud of someone, fictional character or not. i am convinced chaol is one of the best written characters of the saga.

i read a lot of mean things about aedion too and that just broke my heart because the man redefined loyalty all by himself. he lost everything he was taught to believe in, whored himself with the enemy for his people while believing he lost his entire family and kingdom, lost every men and women in koa as a general (his very essence as a person!) and still held the line for hundreds of pages like rowan told him to do so. I. JUST. DON'T. GET. WHY. he is so hated for some fights with lysandra (that i don't excused!) in a horrific context, in the middle a many battles and thousands of casualties. just reread aedion's arc during koa : the only thing he experienced for hundreds of pages is failure, death, grief, terror and guilt, believing he failed terrasen again. LEAVE. MY. MAN. ALONE. plus, aedion is a bisexual icon, and he slayed the whole books, period.

same thing with lorcan. oh my lorcan… i won’t even begin with him but gods, what awful things i read about him… i don't know why but i fell really hard for this character, despite knowing very few things about him. he was far from being perfect, we agree on that. but what a redemption arc. him being finally at peace at the end, after 500 years of wars, (self-)hatred and being used and fooled by a valg bitch queen, made me tear up as mush as sam's death (shocking, i know but i don't make the rules).

i think, surprisingly regarding our society, people were harsher with the male characters than the female ones. aelin, manon, lysandr and elide lied and did mistakes too, yet somehow, people forgave them immediately. i think we should reflect on that.

a few words about baby dorian too... i think his end was my biggest and bitter disappointment at the end of the whole saga. i can't even tell how his ending wreaked me. he is the one character not at peace at the end of this whole journey. his city is utterly ruined, he is alone in his big castle (the very place where he lost the first woman he sincerely loved and the very place where he was enslaved) with the thought he killed the man he hated his whole life but somehow wasn't the bad guy, his friends are all married or happily in love, even manon won back the witches and her lost kingdom... but dorian is lonelier than ever and that does not sit right with me. he was such a hopeful and loving young man at the beginning of the saga but is broken at the end... i NEED a sequel, he deserves one, more than anyone.

and rowan, oh rowan... i think "love" is not strong enough to define aelin and rowan relationship. the way they overcame depression together long before falling in love with each other is one of the most beautiful thing of this saga. they just saw each other. i love how rowan accepted aelin 1000000%, flaws, scars, fire and all. i love how he never overstepped. like many people, i read acotar before tog and thought no one could surpassed rhysand but how wrong i was... to me, rowan is the best for so many reasons. he never took decisions for aelin, always respected her every moves, respected her pace, never lied to her. i am emotional writing this because him saying "aelin is my heart... my fireheart"... *sob* aelin loves rowan with every bones and cells in her body but rowan's love for aelin? i don't know, there's something about it, i can't find the right words... i don't think i'll ever find an other rowan in an other book. rowan was intensity, hatred, heartbreak, depression, longing, guilt, pain, redemption, learning, harshness, softness, falling in love, crossing an ocean for the woman he loved, giving her an armada when he had nothing, tattooing wyrdkeys in her back to bring her back to him, waiting, loving, loving, loving again and again and again. rowan is suddenly the sweetest and most beautiful name i've ever heard. rowan is love and so much more. rowan is aelin's heart and soul and the key to this new world because aelin without rowan is fear and too far gone. rowan is everything. and what i am about to write seems crazy but i think because there's so much things happening in tog, so much characters loving each other, so many couples we rooted for, we took for granted rowan's love and actions and he somehow became a secondary character - crazy, right? i think we loved passionately his character (especially in hof and qos) but somehow forgot on the way how utterly incredible and unique he is. him saying in qos aelin must build a theater in terrasen after the war and then him offering it to her as a mate / wedding gift at the end of koa? i mean, our boy is a man of his word and i love him so much for it. WE TOOK ROWAN FOR GRANTED AND DID NOT GIVE HIM ENOUGH CREDIT.

anyway, i could write so many more things about so many characters and scenes that broke me in these books (my same is sam cortland and i am not afraid) but you got the idea.

tog is the best saga i've ever read and i am not the same person anymore after reading it. i'll take time to heal. but how grateful i am i have a good run with all these characters...

[allthatglxtters]

@upgrxded || For Cade

Asterin hadn't been alone like this in a very, very long time, the other thirteen gone, and Manon not remembering her. No world ending doom over her head, no expectations of how to be from the other Ironteeth, just her and Narene. And sometimes, like today, it was just her as she walked through the trees, letting herself enjoy the quiet of the woods. Forests always reminded her of her Hunter, of the moment of happiness she'd been able to share with the human and his woods. It felt so long ago, but she never wanted to forget him. Forget what they'd had. So she took these moments to think about him and draw those memories close.

She was on a path she'd not walked down before, so when she came upon a cabin she stopped, not exactly wanting to surprise someone in their home out here. "Hello? Is anyone here?"

[feyres-divorce-lawyer]

she uses trauma to characterize and magic is treated like a prize. it’s why any immediate defense of stan favorites is “she/he has been through a lot” and their power levels are so readily touted, very much “you’ve been through a lot but at least you’re powerful” like yea trauma is bad and magic is cool, but tell me a story

something something ianthe and mor

[pergaminaa]

omg hold on i just realized something!!!

the Blackbeak Matron is the ONLY one who knew about Manon's bloodline, like-- Manon is an actual fucking queen by birthright and the Matron is the only person who knew it because Manon never learned about this.

so remember when Asterin was telling Manon what happened to her with her hunter and witchling? The Matron warned Vesta and Sorrel not to bring it up to Manon or there will be dire consequences.

Now hear me out: Manon fucking loves Asterin. If she knew what her grandmother had done, she would have probably done something like take the Thirteen and just leave or something like that.

We all know how the Matron loved threatening Manon that she'd replace her, but while it worked on Manon, her grandmother never really intended to do that.

It's the same reason why she wanted Vesta and Sorrel to remain quiet: she has a literal fucking queen at her beck and call. Manon is ready to do anything for her grandmother just to get some praise, and the Matron isn't going to let go of that. It's why she needed Manon loyal to her (through fear because Manon didn't really trust her but she fears what she'd do)

So at the end of the day, the Matron was after more power. She kept Manon by her side through unorthodox tactics because she loved having so much control over her. And also because of Manon's royal blood, she can have so much.

I think it's also why she wasn't fully against Erawan showing interest in Manon. Because with that union, she will reign supreme.

It's just-- the way she played Manon for her whole life for no other reason than being a shitty person is what irks me the most. She literally used everything that is Manon and twisted it, turning it into something ugly.

I'm sorry but when Manon just killed Rhiannon without even questioning it? Just blindly obeying her grandmother because it's what she's been conditioned to do???

Later on, we see Manon really struggling between doing what is right and doing exactly what her grandmother wants even when she doesn't agree with it. Every time, her grandmother wins (until the part where she was about to execute Asterin) and I honestly think that the Matron was happy with how she has the actual Queen of Witches under her command.

[queenofshadowsss]

⚠️⚠️QUEEN OF SHADOW SPOILERS⚠️⚠️

ASTERIN DESERVED BETTER

IM BAWLING

SHE DESERVED BETTER

FUCK THE MATRON

The hunter waited for her. HE WAITED

I CANT ANYMORE

Art credits: Zueki.art on instagram

[mrstrafalgardshanks]

Now I can't sleep, i cannot stop thinking about Dorian and the Thirteen.

What are your headcannons about Dorian and the Thirteen interacting? How do you think he won them over?

For me, some people are more solidified but others are in limbo:

1. MANON. She LOOOOOVES him (even though she doesn't know it), and I'm pretty sure they both got teasing looks from the others (that Manon quickly got grumpy over/Dorian grinning back). They are forever mates and will get married and make beautiful babies and IDGAF what anyone says❤.

2. Asterin likes Dorian. HUGELY overprotective of Manon (duh! Like the rest of them). But she grew to like him (shown by her growling at Bronwyn when she grossly suggested that the thirteen were sharing Dorian sexually, and her trusting Dorian with Nyrene when he went to the Ferian Gap). His interactions with Manon probably reminded Asterin of her and her hunter 🥲.

3. Sorrel definitely grew to respect him (and maybe even like him) because after Dorian bested her at fighting ( which I am still convinced that she let him win/went easy on him), Sorrel gifted him with a knife 🥺

4. Vesta shamelessly flirted with him, so she had a crush on him (as we all do 😉). Manon was giving Vesta a stank face when she did flirt even though Manon said "she didn't know what the King of Adarlan was to her". I'm pretty sure she did that to get Manon to admit her feelings as part of a plot by the rest of the Thirteen😏.

5. Faline. I'm not sure....her and Fallon were massive pranksters so I'm pretty sure she pranked Dorian as an initiation. But this is speculative. 👀

6. Fallon (See Faline)👀

7. Edda. She and Briar kept to themselves, so I'm not sure...🤔

8. Briar (See Edda) 🤔

9. Thea. Her and Kaya were in LOOOVE therefore, they (and Asterin and maybe someone else (you'd never know who else was keeping secrets from Manon)) could appreciate that Dorian loved Manon. So they didn't hate him, obvi. 😌

10. Kaya (See Thea)😌

11. Lin. She barely tolerated Dorian. She was looking like she wanted to examine his insides.....😨

12. Ghislaine. She and Dorian probably bonded over BOOKS. They probably talked the most (excluding Manon). Dorian was vastly magically talented, and Ghislaine studied University in Terassen for 12 years with a specialisation in magic, so Dorian satisfied Ghislaine's curiosity and Ghislaine educated and gave guidance to Dorian in his training. Again, this is speculative 📚

13. Imogen. She kept to herself. She's probably really protective over the entire group (manon especially) but I don't think her and Dorian really interacted....😶

What do you guys think? Please share! I don't want to feel alone in my thinking, since there is no Manorian book anytime soon 😭

[moonlightazriel]

Sometimes i like to think that in another life, Asterin came back to her hunter in the cabin.

[shadowsatdawnx]

not a day goes by that i don’t think about asterin, her hunter and her witchling and cry all over again

[acourtofquestions]

"All of us who fight here today do so with someone standing invisible behind us."

Asterin's gold-flecked black eyes softened a bit. "Yes," was all Manon's Second said as her hand drifted to her abdomen.

Not in memory of the hateful word branded there, of what had been done to her.

In memory of the stillborn witchling who had been thrown by Manon's grandmother into the fire before Asterin had a chance to hold her.

In memory of the hunter whom Asterin had loved, as no Ironteeth ever had loved a man, and had never gone back to, for shame and fear. The hunter who had never stopped waiting for her to return, even when he was an old man.

For them, for the family she had lost, Manon knew her Second would fight today. So it might never happen again.

Manon would fight today to make sure it never did, too.

[highladyofterrasen7]

When I was rereading acowar and mor was talking about her old lover

It reminded me of asterin and her hunter

[nikethestatue]

Keep voting!

[loonylooly]

ok ill stop with the Malide in a BIT but I have some (mostly non-serious) QUESTIONS for SJM

Why isn't Elide a witch? I thought witches could only have witch babies? Asterin's kid with the hunter was a witchling, so...

Why didn't Elide marry Manon instead and become Queen consort of the witch kingdom 😭😭 she can be lady of perranth on the weekends SHE SAID HER BLOOD RAN BLUE

You're telling me they didn't smooch a lil bit....ever? Now that's just hard to believe, doesn't even have to be gay, i kiss the homies all the time!

[peletiersdixon]

Re-reading Queen of Shadows and I can never NOT cry when Asterin talks about her hunter and her witchling.