#cassian is so fucking important and he doesn't even know it

[im-poe-dameron]

“We are the spark, that will light the fire that will burn the First Order down.”

All I could think about this episode was Poe's quote and how this show is the epitome of that. Ferrix, Aldhani, Narkina 5, later Scarif, they're all the spark of the Rebellion that will burn the Empire down, and Cassian is apart of every. single. one.

[yazthebookish]

"If Azriel wants a mate then why is he pursuing a mated female."

He gave you the answer:

"The Cauldron chose three sisters. Tell me how it's possible that my two brothers are with two of those sisters, yet the third was given to another." He had never before dared speak the words aloud.  

Let's start by a scenario where you [the reader] is desperately and hopelessly in love with someone whether they're mated or not, would the mating bond make a difference for you?

If you answer yes, then you admit that a mated pairing are unlike any other because they're connected on a soul level and that's why it would make a difference to you.

If you answer no, then the mating bond wouldn't be an important condition for you because you can love the person with or without a bond. The mating bond wouldn't be at the forefront when someone asks you to explain why you would pursue or want someone.

Now back to Azriel, why does it matter if Elain wasn't his mate? Would that make his "feelings" for her less meaningful?

If he is very confident Elain has no interest in Lucien, then why is he upset about her being mated to someone else?

"But he could be her second mate or true mate"

As of canon, there was no mention of multiple mates and it's been proven more than once that Elain and Lucien's bond is legit (they're a unique case because all other mated pairings knew about the bond when they were already in love). You have to twist the context to make it seem suspicious or out of the norm—and the only thing that is out of the norm here is unlike the other mated couples, they're the first one we see that aren't in love "yet".

So excluding the theory that he is Elain's true mate or that he is her second mate, doesn't his confession to Rhys prove that he is desperate for a bond.

He used Feysand and Nessian as an example because the equation in his head is not making sense with him being excluded from also getting an Archeron sister as a mate. To him, 3 brothers + 3 sisters makes sense but was that even a condition for either Rhys or Cassian to fall in love with either sisters? No.

And you know what are the two biggest red flags here:

1. He immediately questions the Cauldron not giving him a mate, or more specifically, the Cauldron gifting his brothers two Archeron sisters but the third wasn't his.

2. Does Elain want a mating bond with him, or anything to do with a bond at all? Based on what we've seen... no.

So the first point shows you that it wasn't his attraction or feelings for Elain that Azriel expressed or could've said things that came off more romantic like "I want her" "I've grown fond of her" "I feel good with her"—because I promise you he didn't need to do a whole love confession to Rhys to convince him and Rhys would've had a very different reaction than what we have seen.

But what we got was Azriel questioning the Cauldron and be visibly upset about not getting an Archeron sister—that what probably ticked off Rhys.

OR we, as the readers, were in his head so he didn't need to vocalize his feelings to Rhys (since the argument is often about he doesn't open up), we could've just read his thoughts

He is putting what he wants at the forefront without considering whether Elain wants a mating bond or not.

And then you have the final nail in the coffin:

Azriel said nothing. He hadn't gotten that far with his planning, certainly not beyond the fantasies he pleasured himself to.  

Is this what it all boiled down to? Fantasies?

Where in his entire conversation with Rhys did the topic center on what Elain wanted or needed?

"Oh but Azriel did say she has no interest in Lucien and is making it clear to Rhys"

Sorry but that's Elain's piece to say and no where were we given any hint that Elain asked or opened up to Azriel about this. He is yet doing something that everyone else does for Elain: speak for her and assume what she needs.

Though I completely disagree with the idea that Azriel is a fuck boy. He isn't but this is a male that carries a lot of conflicted feelings and thoughts within him—his actions and words can be questionable but it doesn't mark him as someone who is a player. He is just hitting rock bottom.

[acourtofthought]

The Asteri arrange bondless matings in Midgard to produce powerful offspring. The Asteri corrupted the Cauldron. ACOTAR is the only world where the Cauldron has influence. ACOTAR is the only world where we know some matings bonds can be wrong. Rhys says mating bonds may be from the Mother or the Cauldron, and might just be to produce powerful offspring. If SJM wants to make Elain and Azriel true mates she's already done all the work. It's all in canon. Elriel, Nessian, and Feysand could all have bonds from the Mother, just like in CC and TOG. Elucien could have a bond from the corrupted Cauldron. It's not that hard.

In 15,000 years.

After Danika / Baxion, Kallias / Vivianne, Feyre / Rhys, Rowan / Aelin, Bryce / Hunt, Nesta / Cassian, and so on.

In 15,000 years, ONLY the Elucien mating bond is corrupt? Those are some fucking odds, let me tell you. And damn, Elain and Lucien must be really important to be the sole recipients of such a unique plot with such far reaching implications.

It's really strange how the Asteri, who have never met Elucien and will never meet Elucien considering the ones on Midgard who are responsible for all this corruption are (spoiler) DEAD, would have gone to so much trouble.

If you're trying to claim Elain and Lucien were mated only to create the most powerful offspring than I feel pretty bad for E/riels future children since you're telling me they will just never measure up and that Az is in fact the weakest link.

It's also really strange how this same corrupt Cauldron created Elain and Nesta. Maybe it's not the bond that is corrupt but Elain herself, right? Since everything that comes from the cauldron now has the potential to be tainted I guess neither Lucien or Az should end up with a girl with that sort of questionable creation. I mean, the author did include the line about Elain having tightness on her face and Cassian suspecting she wasn't telling the truth about something. Clearly, that's SJM already "doing the work" to support Evil Elain and Az and Lucien will need to put her down together.

You know what's not hard? Understanding why some bonds are poorly matched.

You're referring to Rhys's parents, correct?

Rhys's father was cold and vicious and stole his mother away the second their bond snapped because he felt entitled to her. He also refused to ban wing clipping despite his her begging him to.

Rhys's mother was soft and fiery and beloved by many.

Elain sounds like Rhys's mother, does she not?

Cold and vicious, cold and vicious, feels entitled to a female. Gosh...that just doesn't sound like Lucien.

But it kind of does sound like someone full of an icy rage who is a far better liar than Rhys himself and knows how to perform a symphony of pain during his torture sessions. The guy who feels he should have gotten Elain as a mate for the simple fact that his brothers are with her sisters.

Elain and Az will never be true mates and let me tell you why.

Because as Elain was violated in the most horrible way possible to her character, Az was crying out for Mor.

As Elain was depressed and traumatized, Az never bothered to ask how she was doing, did not visit her for weeks after she was turned, and actually drew straws so he didn't need to stay and guard her.

After Elain lost her father, Az was relieved not to get her a Solstice gift and blushed and stared at Mor with heat and yearning.

I don't even need an Elucien mating bond to understand he is by far the better male for her.

[lovemyromance]

In what world would Rhys become besties with Gwyn 😭😭???

Feyre & Cassian are besties.

Nesta & Azriel are besties.

And yet, these people believe the Bat Boy x Archeron Sis pattern will be broken with Rhys and he'll suddenly become besties with Gwyn?? Not Elain, the Archeron sister who literally lives in his home, cooks for his family, cares for his son?

Make it make sense. Gwynriel is already a stretch but the Gwyn & Rhys friendship is straight up fabrication at this point.

Where. Would. They. Even. Interact?

For what purpose?

He's the HL, he's not out here training the priestesses with Cassian. He's busy doing paperwork, keeping the peace, or whatever keeps him so booked 🤷🏻‍♀️

Gwyn lives in the library. A place Rhys literally would never even be allowed to hang out in. Nor would that be his first choice either?

They've maybe interacted ONCE, total. How would they suddenly become best friends? What would they bond over? What do they have in common? And I swear to god - if someone says SA, I'm going to lose it. They're not just going to sit around discussing their past traumas? What the fuck?

It is absolutely delusional to think Rhys even knows who she is. In the grand scheme of things, Gwyn is literally not an important person. She doesn't even have any great powers that would make Rhys want to send her on a mission or something.

I'm so sick of antis stealing Elain's entire life and giving it to Gwyn. All because they don't like her?? If Gwyn is truly someone's favorite character, why are ALL their theories and HCs stolen from Elain?

I'm so tired of pretending Gwyn is relevant

[readychilledwine]

Eris Week Day 7 - Free Day

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Happy Day 7 of @erisweek2023. It is a double post day. 💙

Summary - Ophelia Archeron, the youngest of the Archeron sisters, is forced to meet with Eris and the Batboys, causing her to miss a day in the Summer Court with Amren That doesn't stop her from finding some fun in the water, though.

Warnings - Giving into intrusive thoughts and kissing strangers, OC tries to do the math for angles and trajectory, but the brains behind the OC hates math, angles, and formulations OC's thoughts are choatic and all over the place. Ophelia is an OC one of my close RL friend's asked for. She had wanted to know how sophisticated Eris would have handled a wild and carefree OC, so she has a few hidden pieces from me based on our book club coffee dates, but she said I could share this one. Also, she was listening to Geronimo by Sheppard when she asked me to write this.

Word count - 1203

🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁

"I don't know what the Littlest Archeron is thinking, but I would consider speaking with her, Rhysand." I continued staring through the red-haired heir of Autumn, grinning at the close distance from the edge of the waterfall he was. This wasn't a great first impression, but I really didn't care.

If I just get a good running start and jump….. 

I felt Rhysand's eyes drift to me again before refocusing on the important meeting he and the other two bat boys had brought me to.

Azriel had ignored my protests, arguments, and pleads for Nesta to go instead of me. I understood the whole seeing and ripping people's souls was a rare gift, and Rhysand was always super excited to try to use to intimidate people, but I had been promised a day in the sun and surf with Amren. I was missing Tarquin, and Tarquin's beautiful beaches, and oceans for this.

He's approximately 2 feet from the ledge. If I hit him running fast enough, we would land approximately… far away from any potential rocks. Maybe. 

Azriel looked over at me with his eyes narrowed as he watched me do math on my fingers. Eris also began to narrow his eyes at Rhysand. Cassian, though? His smile had grown. Being the bat I had spent the most time with, he knew the second I saw Eris on that ledge overlooking the waterfall, exactly what I was thinking.

Do I yell "Geronimo?" No. That'd be dumb. Focus, Ophelia. 

Eris took a step closer to the ledge and made eye contact with me for the first time. For a brief second the aloof higher than thou expression left his face in favor of something softer. The conversation between him and Rhysand came to a full pause. Rhysand  was holding back his grin the best he could while trying not to laugh as he entered my mind and quickly left after figuring out what I was thinking. I felt Azriel's shadows begin to steal my hidden daggers. 

Maybe I should make sure I land first so he doesn't potentially get hurt. Lucien would laugh at that, though. And Lucien's laugh is my favorite.

Rhysand began the conversation again with his eyes meeting mine every so often. Mischief was shining in them like the reflection of the sun on the waterfall. It was almost as if he was daring me to do it.

Am I even fast enough to do this? I'm totally fast enough. Cassian makes me run everyday. I can do this. 

"Enough! What is the little brat plotting?" Eris began to glare and move another step away from me. A few inches. 4 inches was maybe all that remained between him and that ledge. "I swear on the Cauldron itself, if you so much as look at my soul, I will -"

Fuck it.

I didn't hear the rest of Eris's threat as I broke into a full sprint directly at him. I jumped straddling his torso, effectively pushing him back hard enough for us to fall off the ledge. I felt his arms grab onto me tightly as we fell. Something inside of me snapped as he placed a hand on my head and cradled me for my protection.

His hands are so warm. He'd be wonderful to snuggle. This should be terrifying. Wait. He's laughing. Eris is laughing.

The collision with the pool of water came before I could process the sound of his deep laughter or even brace myself for how badly this could hurt. I felt him grab my hand in the cold, deep waters swimming us to the surface. When we emerged, he pulled me to him by my waist. He was smiling, and I felt myself melt under his gaze. His amber eyes searched my blue ones before he began to laugh again.

No one should look this perfect with hair stuck to their face.

Laughter rang from the ledge above us. Eris and I both looked up to see the bat boys leaned over the ledge. Cassian had his head thrown back, "Did you see his face?!" 

Rhys was smirking down at us, "You never said she couldn't physically attack you, Eris!"

Azriel was shaking his head trying to hide his amusement, "You know, Ophelia, if you wanted Eris to take you for a swim, you could have nicely asked."

I heard Eris hum next to me as his warm arm kept me close to him by my waist, "Ophelia. So the Littlest Cauldron Made does have a name."

My brain desprstely wanted to respond. To answer him and talk to him, but shadows and light dancing had caught my attention. The waterfall seemed to sparkle from down here against a dark background. What's BEHIND the waterfall?

I wiggled from his grasp before ducking back under the waterfall. I surfaced in a small cove and pulled myself up onto the rock. Eris appeared behind me and pulled himself up on the rock beside me. I heard Rhys yell for me before seeing two winged males land on the bank across the water. Rhys appeared beside them seconds later.

He's so warm. 

I felt a hand come to my chin as Eris moved my face to look at him. "Well, little Archeron, do you have something to say for yourself?" I followed the glittering silver thread that attached Eris and I at the heart. I felt it tug, so I tugged it back causing warmth to spread throughout my body and soul. A soft smile came to his face. The hand on my chin moved to the back of my head. Inches separated my lips from his.

Can he feel my heartbeat? Is my face getting really red? Is he about to kiss me?

"I can, yes, and only if you want me to." My eyes widened at the sound of his voice. "Mating bond," his voice was soft and warm as his other hand came, and his thumb began to brush my lower lip. The intensity of his stare began to set my soul alight. 

Kiss me.

He pulled me to him the second the thought came. His lips were as warm as the rest of his body and so soft. I sighed deeply as he deepened the kiss and pulled me onto his lap. My hands came to his face, holding him to me. We broke apart at the sound of Rhysand yelling for me again.

"It would appear that big brother is no longer enjoying your antics."

My only response was to kiss him again. I felt my legs wrap around his waist as we sat chest to chest. He took control and dominance over the kiss quickly. One hand tangled into my soaking hair, and the other held me around my waist, locking me where he wanted me. A shadow pulled me from Eris before taking me to Rhysand leaving Eris and Azriel alone in the small alcove. 

Rhysand snapped and changed me into dry leathers as he studied my face. I averted eye contact from him as a single brow raised. He stated softly, "You have got to be fucking joking."

Pain radiated down the bond, causing me to grip my jaw. Cassian's eyebrows shot up. He stared at Rhys, eyes slightly glazed over before muttering softly. "Ness is going to kill me."

Eris and Azriel appeared in front of the three of us. Eris was rubbing his jaw, smiling at me softly until a growl came from Az. Rhysand snapped his fingers to also give Eris dry clothing before leaning his head against a nearby tree. Eris smirked at me as the 3 Night Court males moved away to discuss the situation.

"Can we do it again?" I looked over at him, studying his red hair, angled face, and soft smile.

He rose his chin towards the ledge and looked my direction, "Jump from the waterfall?"

"No. Kiss."

Eris moved to me, a warm hand gently gripping my face and angling my head towards him, "I would kiss you until my dying breath left my body, Ophelia Archeron."

[ofbreathandflame]

You’re right, Feyre stans are rarely just Feyre stans.

hi anon!

yep! this was specifically solidified for me after silver flames came out. feyre stans have been conditioned to always validate rhysand's intention over feyre's opinion. again - feyre has established that she:

(1) does not want rhysand to speak about her sisters in a disrespectful manner. feyre validates rhysand emotions about her sisters - meaning she isn't saying (and im not saying) that rhysand doesn't have a right to feel a certain way about her sisters. but that rhysand's feelings should not manifest in jabs and disrespectful words:

“Rhys said smoothly, “I’m not entirely sure Velaris is prepared for Nesta Archeron.” “My sister’s not some feral animal,” I snapped. Rhys recoiled a bit, the others suddenly finding the carpet, the divan, the books incredibly fascinating. “I didn’t mean that.”

feyre to rhysand.

“So she keeps saying, over and over,” Amren grumbled. I shot her a glare. “Careful.”

feyre to amren.

that's a boundary being set - clear as day. feyre does not approve or condone outright disrespect of her sisters. this has nothing to do with how we believe xyz or what rhys has a right to do, but what feyre has established as a no go.

(2) that she does not feel comfortable with rhysand being overly protective, to the point he withholds information, is overly violent, or conflicts with her wants:

“It’s hard to shut down my instincts.” Instincts. Just like … like someone else had instincts to protect, to hide me away. “Then you should have prepared yourself better,” I snapped. “You seemed to be going along just fine with it, until Keir said—”

rhys to feyre; feyre to rhys (acomaf)

(3)feyre doesn't care about instincts (as is an excuse used in sf), here she is telling rhys straight up that he needs to prepare himself better. bc she DOES NOT feel comfortable with the way rhys expressed his frustration. and again feyre is sympathetic to his reasonings, but she does not believe his intentions (in this case) justify the way he chooses to go about these things.

“I craned my neck to look up at him. “Never lie to me again. Not about that.”

feyre to rhys (acowar)

(4) again - feyre establishing a boundary. never lie to her about anything, especially important things.

feyre (and also fucking amren) also establishes that she doesn't believe that keeping her sisters couped up in the house of wind to be productive or helpful:

“If you want to start convincing your sisters, get them out of the House. Being cooped up never helped anyone.”

amren to feyre (acowar)

and nesta has established to rhys that she wants no interest in cassian:

“Nesta had made it clear enough she had no interest in Cassian—not even in being in the same room as him. I knew why. I’d seen it happen, had felt that way plenty.”

rhysand to az (acofas)

feyre also establishes - to rhys - that her she knows her sisters don't do well with public humiliation, and making a scene:

“ “I shouldn’t have asked her in public. I made a mistake.” and “I loosed a long sigh. “I should have considered that telling strangers what happened to her in Hybern might … might not be something she was comfortable with. My sister has been a private person her entire life, even amongst us.”

feyre to rhys (acowar).

im saying allll of this to say that in sf - rhysand literally takes all of these boundaries and shits on them. even his creation of the intervention conflicits against what feyre establishes: (1) her sister is a private person, and will not respond well to public humilation (2) nesta wants nothing to do with cassian (3) her sisters are not healty being in the house of wind and (4) feyre wants to be looped in and considered every step of the way. even the act of creating an intervention that goes so instinctively against feyre's wishes is an act of deep disrespect. that feyre stans can see these moments and still justify them bc their hatred for nesta and obsession w/ rhys trumps their 'love' for feyre. its a conditional like. here feyre is the victim and instead of writing metas and ff about feyre being done dirty by rhysand - they flock to justify rhysand's point to the point where they're willing to ignore feyre's opinions. its not abt how much we like / dislike the sisters. but how rhys's behavior conflicts against feyre's wants and boundaries. its about how those feyre stans would rather validate rhys then stand by feyre's emotions. to imply that rhysand's actions were appropriate means u place his actions above feyre.

feyre is adult and mature enough to manage her emotions, she not a child, she is perfectly able to stand-up and put her foot down. and she has - on multiple occasions retorted and fought back against her sisters - to consistently pretend feyre is a child who needs rhys to cosign and stand body-guard when feyre is perfectly able to do it herself says so much abt those 'stans' than they are willing to admit.

like feyre was able to face down tamlin - her abuser - all by her damn self. she's not some child who needs people to consistently defend her by undermining her opinions. if she wanted rhys to be an asshole to nesta - we would have saw that. instead we got this:

“That’s enough,” Feyre snapped at Rhys. “I told you to keep out of it.” He dragged his star-flecked eyes to his mate, and it was all Nesta could do to keep from collapsing onto the couch as her knees gave out at last. Feyre angled her head, nostrils flaring, and said to Rhysand, “You can either leave, or you can stay and keep your mouth shut.”

we got feyre telling rhys and amren that she did not want them to behave that way. and even after that. both rhys and amren continue ignoring feyre's requests. feyre is not respected - these are not the actions of people who respect her as an equal. she's a child to them , and they believe they know better.

idk - if i were a feyre stan- yall would never have shut me up if my fav was treated like a doormat and sidelined. i would have been writing scathing metas on rhys and the ic. - i wouldve been explaining exactly why rhys withholding information was wrong - not just vaguely saying he was wrong and then justifying why he did it. i would have been an amren hater #1 for how she continually undermined feyre. idk...yall are not real feyre shooters. like damn your fav is catching strays by the author and the readers and you're only focused on how nesta factors into that equation?? like youve got bigger problems to worry abt here. feyre has been continually and consistently phased out of her own story by the author and that don't bother yall? hmm couldnt be me tho.

[litnerdwrites]

It's interesting how Nesta had to apologise for something she wasn't even in the wrong of doing while Rhys, who overreacted by threatening to kill her (for a mistake he made) and chasing her out of the city, did not have to. Especially, after it was canonically established by Feyre herself that he did not have the right to do that..

And for someone who claims to write about badass female mcs who crush patriarchy and choose the course of their own lives, shouldn't an apology scene for something in which a female's right to information on her own body was undermined be a fundamental part of the book?

I mean, she could add a bonus chapter about the characters in question fucking to make babies but had to keep the apology off-page? Weird.

The only somewhat sufferable part of the book was the scenes with the Valkyries and the smut (if you ignore the poor timing).

I don't know if it's my eldest daughter syndrome acting up but I feel strongly about this.

I agree completely. I won't deny that Nesta has some things to apologies for, but so does Rhysand, and Feyre and Mor. I'd even argue that the things the IC put her through negate the need for her to apologies, or at least makes it a little less urgent/important than the apologies she's owed. This is mostly due to the fact that Nesta's so-called crimes amount to a bad attitude (most on page examples of which are pretty understandable to me), and issues she had with Feyre in childhood. Meanwhile, the IC's actions are immature and ignorant at best, and extremely abusive at worst.

Honestly, I don't think any of them, much less Rhysand, see what they did as a mistake. If any of them did, they wouldn't have made her walk through those woods. Feyre would've demanded Nesta be brought back otherwise, but she didn't.

As for Rhysand, honestly the part where he hugged Nesta gave me ick. Especially when Nesta said he'd been acting like a brother the whole time because he hadn't. He abused her. He broke her down. He only showed any semblance of decency (even then it wasn't much) when she did something to benefit him.

Offering pity jobs for somebody else's sake without taking into account Nesta's strengths or passions into account isn't what a brother, or anybody who cares for her, would do. Staring at her like a circus attraction when she enters the room isn't something a brother would do. Forcing her to social events just to ignore her isn't something a brother would do. Financially abusing her, refusing to give her a salary for her work during the war, along with her inheritance, is not something a brother would do. Not caring for her wellbeing beyond how her sister feel's is not something a brother could do. I could go on.

I think, at the end of the day, this amounts to a simple fact. SJM clearly doesn't see anything wrong with the things she writes and narrative she creates. No matter how you argue that ACOSF is a healing story, not a redemption story, it doesn't matter. Through analysing the sext, the author clearly shows how she feels about Nesta. Looking at what she says about the book, the author clearly has little understanding of mental health, and hasn't done enough research on it to be able to write a healing arc that isn't straight up abuse/torture (seriously, the bar is in the crust of the earth).

ACOSF could've been the best book in the series. All of the material, the concepts, the potential was there. Nesta's story was set up in ACOFS, and perhaps I wouldn't have minded the actions of the IC as much (from a literary perspective anyway) if they had been acknowledged as wrong and the IC apologised. I don't think anyone would've minded the locked in the HOW plot either, if, at some point, the characters acknowledge how abusive it was. If the narrative itself acknowledged how messed up it was, and did something about it.

If Cassian apologised for abandoning her after the war, Cassian especially. If Feyre apologised for not trying to reach out in a way that Nesta was comfortable with. If Elain apologised for not being there for Nesta the way Nesta was for her. If Mor apologised for, intentionally or not, isolating Nesta from the rest of the court. If Amren apologised for her comments. If Rhys apologised for sticking his nose where it didn't belong.

Rhys apologising for the hike, or threatening to kill her would mean nothing because both he and the narrative don't see anything wrong with his treatment of her. If he did, then the forced training/library/stuck in the how part would've ended half way through the book.

The part that infuriates me the most, however, is that they don't see their wrong doings at all. They still think they're doing the right thing and that they know everything. It's messed up.

[ae-neon]

Screenshotted bcz I genuinely have no stake in the el.riel vs el.ucian debate and I don't wanna derail that post

but I saw this

And ship or don't, endgame or not, doesn't matter

imo, in this moment, Azriel has already done more for Elain - or at least, in defense of his own feelings than Cassian (who cannot stand his ground for Nesta even half as well as he stands it against her)

I haven't read SF but I think the closest I can remember is Cassian being upset that Rhysand ruined Nesta's first time flying so badly it literally made her sick

but it wasn't that she was sick, more that she wouldn't be enthusiastic about flying with Cassian in the future (as far as I remember, I could be wrong, it's been years and I am very biased after all)

Ultimately both Cassian and Azriel are somewhat defined by their loyalty and in the IC, loyalty boils down to obedience and conformity

And that's fine, it's whatever, Riceball is an absolute, certified by the universe, monarch, it's literally Lore™

But so is the mating bond

Which is why we need to acknowledge Cassian isn't just not sticking up for Nesta, he's defying the fucking laws of nature which dictate he put her well-being above all to put Rice and his feelings before her actual life

😭 < I'm not crying, I'm laughing

You know those 'feminist' male tiktokers who somewhat decode cis men's behaviour for women? and they talk about how if your man does x y z, he hates you? Like picking fights or being 'sick' on days that are important to you - birthdays, anniversaries, graduations? Or they find a way to joint celebrate? Like "we did it"?

I saw this one where he shoves the kids into the way BEFORE THE FINISH LINE as the woman is about to complete a MARATHON to try steal her moment from her by using motherhood as a sort of shackle???

I'm getting off track. The point is! Cassian hates Nesta so bad 😭 like it's not funny but I can't stop laughing. He's rejecting SJM's built in biology, it's so fucking 😭😭😭

[theshadowsingersraven]

Azriel's "connection" to Koschei

I've seen this argument twice in the past day, and truly I need to stand on business with this and clear up this flimsy, willfully ignorant stance.

If you think Azriel is "connected" to Koschei's plot, then you have to think Cassian is, too.

Here's why:

“Where is Briallyn?” Azriel demanded, Siphons flaring like cobalt flame. “I spend so many months preparing for you,” Koschei crooned, “and you don’t even wish to speak to me?”

Here Koschei immediately responds to Azriel, but he is also using 'you' to refer to both of them.

"Cassian crossed his arms. “Let Eris go, and then we’ll talk.” He prayed Koschei didn’t know of the Made dagger that Eris had again sheathed at his side, that the Crown’s aura of power had blinded even Briallyn to its presence.

But if the death-lord got his hands on it…

Fuck.

Cassian didn’t let himself so much as glance toward the blade.

“You fell for it rather easily,” Koschei went on, “though you took your time making contact. I thought you’d rush in for the kill, brute that you are.”

Now there's an important part. Brute.

Azriel is a stealthy spymaster who literally moves through shadows. He spends days camping up in trees to spy, utilziing patience. Something Cassian even admits in hiw own POV that he doesn't have the patience for. Azriel doesn't 'rush in for the kill'.

And while the Illyrians are often derogatorily referred to as brutes, who openly gets upset about it with his mate during the same book Koschei says that? Who is called a brute the most often as an insult? Who is frequently shown to be inscure about being viewed as a brute?

Cassian.

"Not for fear of Feyre and Rhysand’s wrath. But the wrath of that insufferable Illyrian brute. Everyone somehow knew what had happened during the war; that final battle with Hybern. That Cassian had nearly bled out defending her against the King of Hybern, that she’d chosen to shield him with her body in those last moments." From ACOFAS, Nesta POV

"Cassian dragged his hands through his hair, fingers catching on the wind-tangled snarls.He knew why he’d come here, why he always came here. For all that Amren taunted him about being an Illyrian brute, he knew his own mind,his own heart." From ACOFAS, Cassian POV

And all of these are from ACOSF alone:

-"Nesta managed to step away. “You’re a brute.” He winked. “Born and raised.”"

-"They were all staring. Cassian rolled his tensed shoulders, stretching out his wings. He’d revealed too much. Like a stupid brute, he’d let them all see too much, learn too much."

-"Cassian clenched his jaw. “So you’re to be my ally whether I wish it or not?”

“The brute understands at last.” Cassian ignored the barb.

“Yes. What you know, I want to know. I will notify you of any movement on my father’s part regarding Briallyn. So send out your shadowsinger. And when he returns, find me.”"

-Nesta lifted a brow. He cut her a sharp smile that didn’t meet his eyes and said, “Not just a brute after all.”

-She’d called him a brute.

-“I had no idea punching was so fraught with peril.”

“Apparently, it takes brains to be a brute.” Nesta flattened her brows, but focused on aligning her forearm and the knuckles he’d indicated.

-“Eris and his twisted word games and politics are an enemy I don’t know how to handle. Every time I meet with him, I feel like he’s got the upper hand. Like I can only catch up to him, and he sees through my every fumbling attempt at being clever. Maybe that makes me a stupid brute after all.”

-“Let’s not lie to ourselves. You only bothered to contain two, by the time your brute bloodlust ebbed away.” Nesta saw red at the words, and Cassian sucked in a breath.

“We did what we could. There were two dozen of them.”

-""...I can tell you how I hear Eris and Devlon and the others talk and, deep down, I still believe that I am a worthless bastard brute. That it doesn’t matter how many Siphons I have or how many battles I’ve won, because I failed the two people dearest to me when it mattered the most.”"

-"She glanced toward Bellius’s corpse. “He’s a hateful brute—just like you, Cassian. Arrogant and brash. He wandered off from his scouting unit to look for fun in my lands. So I showed him my idea of fun.” Her thin lips twisted in a mockery of a smile."

I could quite literally post every single mention of Cassian being referred to as a brute, but I think you get the point.

So, clearly Koschei expected Cassian's involvement, too. By his own words: "I thought you'd rush in for the kill, brute that you are." Even Briallyn in the quote above calls Cassian a brute, too. It's not a coincidence that the two antagonists in league with one another used the same insult for Cassian.

Especially since Briallyn planned for Cassian to appear so she could use the Crown on him.

"Briallyn glowered at the interruption. “I was waiting for him.” She nodded toward Cassian, who was bristling with rage—something like loathing and fear now pushing through the cloudiness in his eyes. “Days and days, I waited for him to get close enough for me to use the Crown toensnare him. I had to use that brash princeling Eris to draw him in.” A soft laugh."

Do you really think Briallyn didn't communicate this plan to Koschei considering that they're allies? That Eris was in tow with the both of them, and this passage happens before Briallyn even reveals that Cassian was part of the trap:

Azriel grabbed Eris and shot into the skies, the Made dagger with them. They had to get it far from Koschei. Yet Cassian could not move. Cassian’s Siphons glowed like fresh blood, then sputtered out. Azriel shouted his name from high above.

Koschei drifted closer to the shore. “You can take him now, Briallyn. You have plenty of time before dawn.”

Koschei is not surprised. He's not questioning why Cassian is there. He speaks to Briallyn fully understanding that her part in the plan is next.

And even if this wasn't included in the text, do you really think SJM is going to write an antagonist who has lived for thousands of years and yet is not forward-thinking enough to plan to trap both Cassian and Azriel?

Please be so for real.

If you actually review the text, it's so abundantly clear that they planned to trap both of them. Maybe do that before posting "evidence" to support that your ship may still have a chance.

Because if you have to actively ignore paragraphs of explanation and logical conclusions to get the two characters in your ship on the same plotline in the hopes that they're canon...it sounds like you should really start preparing for disappointment.

I think we all know Cassian has no connection to Koschei at this point, and especially considering Azriel's lingering Illyria trauma, and everything revealed in CC3, neither does Azriel.

Move along, folks.

(That's not to say that anyone has to stop shipping something just because it isn't canon, and I don't know why people seem to believe this?

There are plenty of ships that are not canon but are incredibly popular and constantly have new fan content for people to consume. (Zutara? Dramione? Johnlock?)

If it's not looking good for your ship, for god's sake, just move on and stop twisting the canon to suit your narrative. SJM isn't going to personally hunt you down and make you stop commissioning pieces or writings fics. )

[pinkforwinter]

Hello! Can I ask for Ijin Yu and Cassian (separately) headcanons for how they are as boyfriends? Thank you!

Of course! And thank you very much for being my first request! I hope you like it. ❤

Warnings: Intimacy is discussed but its not NSFW so you shouldn't worry too much.

Ijin Yu and Cassian Lee when in a relationship headcanons.

Ijin Yu-

100/10 best boyfriend, let me just throw that out right away. Good luck getting to that stage though, the dude got suspicious of girls asking for his number. You're gonna have a hell of a time getting past his walls but it's so worth it.

He has little to no romantic experiences due to his childhood but he's a very quick learner and very perceptive. He can act a little awkward at times but he'll slowly grow into it with time.

His love language would almost definitely be Acts of Service. Ijin is a quiet man and he's much more comfortable showing his affection through doing things for you.

You're having a problem with someone? No, you don't. The second Ijin realizes someone is targeting you or bullying you, you won't have to worry about it anymore. If you ask him to let you handle it yourself, he'll step back but the second things turn dicey, he's stepping back in the ring and ending it. Nobody fucks with this man's SO without getting some bones broken.

Besides that, you can expect him to bring you snacks and drinks every now and again. We've all seen he has some food insecurity and I can definitely see that bleeding into his actions. One of his favorite services acts is cooking for you. He would gladly cook for you every night if you let him.

You'll know the relationship is getting serious when he gives you a key to his and his family's apartment. His family is the most important thing in the world to him; once you have unlimited access to his apartment- and them by extention- that's when you know he trusts you full-heartedly.

Intimacy is going to be especially hard for the two of you. He's never been vulnerable with anyone before- he has walls built on walls. He's always tense and ready for anything to happen; to let all those walls down and expose himself to you is going to be HARD for him. You'll have to be really patient. It's not that he's not attracted to you, he just really struggles with this stuff.

When it does happen, he'll be unsure and shy. He won't hide it during this time and will basically lay his soul out in front of you. Sex isn't going to be a once a day occurrence with you two, but when it does happen it's absolutely magical. He's a generous lover.

Cassian Lee-

So, to start with, I'm going to do Gangu!Cassian as he is the one we know most about. Cassian is very loyal, very sweet, he's also best boyfriend 100/10. Gangu!Cassian would be hard to get into a relationship with; his whole attention is on getting revenge on Lampas. You want a relationship with him? You're gonna have to make the first move. Even then, he'll be hesitant- not because he doesn't like you but because he doesn't want to drag you into his mess.

He had experience dating before when he was a psyker but not so much recently. He'll be a little unsure at first but after the first date, he'll find his footing.

His love language is Quality Time/Gifts. He wants to be with you, whether it's you hanging out while he's working out or the two of you going out to do some errands together. His favorite part of the day is when he finally gets to see you. No talking is necessary, he just wants to be near you. On days he can't see you for one reason or another, he'll leave you little gifts- these can range from something he saw you looking at in the store to something he saw that made him think of you.

Depending on whether you know he's a villain or not, you guys might not see each other a whole lot. During the time you don't know he's the vilzone boss, he'll be gone a lot but he'll always have a reason ready. That being said, it can be hard to not be suspicious with how often he disappears.

If you didn't know from the start, you'll probably find out who he is by accident one day. Whether by him saving you from something or someone- or by just drawing the dots together yourself. In any case, when you confront him, he won't deny it. He'll explain himself and will apologize for keeping it from you then ask if you still want to be together. He won't blame you if you say no but it'll make him really unhappy.

Depending on if Yuri is still around, he might ask you to move in with him. You can take that as your que that the relationship is starting to get serious. Cassian is a bit cliché when it comes to dating so he might even get you a promise ring to give you when he asks you to move in. Quite frankly, it's adorable.

Intimacy comes naturally to you two. He's a very straightforward man and will tell you straight up that he wants you when he's ready to have sex. He will come onto you but will back off immediately if you look uncomfortable or if you tell him to. He absolutely will not pressure you into something you're not ready for.

Once you are ready, however, Cassian will be gentle and slow. He's careful with you; the absolute last thing he wants to do is lose control and hurt you with his extreme strength. Once he grows confident that he won't break you, he'll start to experiment with his speed and strength. He'll give you a safe word to use just in case, though. He's definitely a thoughtful lover.

[blodgmonster]

Part THREE of my A Court of Silver Flames reread commentary that absolutely no one asked for.

--Is there a ship name for Mor/Emerie? Even though it's based entirely on Emerie saying she forgot how beautiful Mor is and blushing? Because I ship it.

-- Gwyn having them written into Merril's book about the Valkyries. So SWEET!! "Our stories are worth telling." Damn straight.

-- Nesta facing her fear with the fire. That's my girl.

-- the House showed her its heart!!!

-- kinda fuckin rude of Rhys to give the dagger Nesta Made to Eris. Even if she doesn't want it, it should be Nesta's to give away.

-- I need Nesta, Aelin, and Bryce to form a dance troupe.

-- Eris tells Nesta that what happened between him and Mor after she was savaged didn't go down the way Mor says. He's implied this a few times. I need to know!!! What happened!? Her gift is truth, why would she lie about that?

-- Nesta, teach me how to dance! I need to seduce a man into a marriage proposal in three dances or less.

-- Nesta saying "fuck you" to Elain is priceless

-- Nesta and Azriel's relationship is low key but adorable!

-- Take the gods damned symphonia, Nesta!! Jesus Christ, stop getting in your own fucking way! You two idiots love each other!

-- Nesta and Cassian making love instead of just fucking is...wonderful. It's about damn time. "And warm and safe and home at last in Cassian's arms, Nesta slept." YESSSSSSSS. (Also my work crush walked into the break room when I was right in the middle of this sex scene. I was screaming internally.)

-- the girls are having SUCH a good time in the House and the House is having a good time and they're making bracelets and they're a found family and I love them.

-- VALKYRIES!!!! CUT THAT RIBBON, YOU WONDERFUL FEMALES!!!!

-- "She would not be mastered by anything again. She was the master of herself...And this person she was becoming, emerging day by day...She might even like her." NESTAAAAAAAA

-- I forgot she MADE the House oh my God.

-- "The mood hadn't been helped by a rare red star blasting across the sky one day." SUP, AELIN!!! LOVE YOU MOST

-- "I am your MATE, for fuck's sake!" Oh, Cassian.

-- "Well, I didn't have a choice in being shackled to you, either." CASSIAN, YOU FUCKING IDIOT OH MY GOD.

-- "some things are more important than fear." Gwyn, I love you.

--And I love that Mor agreed to be their Uber. Have a falling out while dealing with the fact that you're mated? Call Mor's Mating Mishap Uber to get you the fuck away from that male.

-- I said it before and I'll say it again. The bargin to die together is so FUCKING STUPID. And inconsiderate to your loved ones. The Inner Court, your sisters, your possible son would be devastated by one death and you bargained to make it a DOUBLE funeral for them. How nice. If Nyx loses a dad, oh no, guess what, he's an ORPHAN. Also, Rhys is waaaaay older than Feyre and would die before her naturally, so this bargin drastically shortens Feyre's lifespan. 'Oh, she doesn't want to live without him.' That's fucking life, isn't it? The people we love the most die on us, and our world falls apart, and then guess what? We keep fucking going.

-- Nesta has made her first kill in the Blood Rite

-- "Emerie was alive. And nearby. And in danger. And this motherfucker wouldn't stop Nesta from saving her." FUUUUUUUUCK YES

-- every time the pov shifts from Nesta to Cassian on the continent I want to scream. I don't give a flying fuck about the rescue mission for Eris.

-- "You came for me."

"Of course. That's what sisters do." * SCREAMING. CRYING, THROWING UP * I love you, Emerie!

-- "I have been broken before...I survived it. And I will not be broken again -- not even by this mountain." FUCK YEAH, GWYN.

-- Gwyn's story and then Emerie telling her "You're not alone." And Emerie's shit father. And Nesta finally, finally telling them everything, letting them all the way into her heart. And they don't cringe away. They love her. I am fucking crying.

-- "'I'll face it with you,' Gwyn whispered over and over again. 'Promise me we'll face it together.'" I love you, Gwyn.

-- "There were no hateful voices in her head. Only the knowledge that her friends lay behind her, beyond the line she had drawn in the earth, and she would not cede that line. She would not fail her friends. She had no room for fear in her heart." I love you, Nesta

-- "my mate taught me well." FUCK YEAH

-- OH FUCK I FORGOT ABOUT THIS PART!!! Cassian showed up, mind controlled. FUCK

-- JESUS CHRIST, HE'S KILLING HIMSELF!! I FORGOT SO MUCH!

-- oh hell. The stupid birth. I have a genuine fear of giving birth so this fucking sucks. For a few reasons.

-- HOW is a C section BEYOND THE POWER OF MAGIC.

-- "so live, Nesta Archeron." Echoes of "live, Manon, live."

-- And thus, my beloved Nesta gets nerfed. WHY must the female protagonist sacrifice her power in order to save the day? Why can't she stay overpowered like Rhys? Like Feyre? It's clear in HOFAS that Nesta still has some power but come on! WHY, SJM, FUCKING WHY!!!!!! Her power is Death, couldn't she use that to tell death to back the fuck off of her sister? Save Feyre USING her power instead of SACRIFYING IT. Ugh. It makes me so mad.

-- you SHOULD bow, Rhys. And you should treat Nesta with the utmost respect, love, and gratitude for the rest of time. But as we see in HOFAS that's not the case, IS IT? This book (and HOFAS) kind of ruins him.

-- Nyx was a goddess. Weird thing to name a boy.

-- Cassian, I am going to need you to say "I love you" back in one of the future ACOTAR books. Do you hear me, SJM, he needs to SAY IT.

-- I'm glad Nesta got the House. And finally a painting of her.

-- I am so glad that Nesta got the peace and love and friends that she deserves. But it does make me wonder why the relationships seemed so off in their cameos during HOFAS. Rhys is being a domineering prick to Nesta, so much so that Ember (beloved) feels the need to step in and defend her and mother her. And Cassian, who clearly loves her and has challenged Rhys before when he was being a dick, just stood there and let it happen. What was that??

[seth-shitposts]

Space Monopoly

Heres an idea that's just been sitting somewhere in my docs.

-----

On another between missions, the group decides to play an old game that predates the Old Republic. (Like a larger scale monopoly game) 

-There are very few games Kallus has ever played. This isnt one of them so he has no idea what to do. At first, he tries to back out, he'll just watch. But Ezra convinces him to play, secretly making him a deal that he'll tell him everything he needs to know. 

-Ezra knows he doesn't quite have enough charisma by himself to win this game (at least not right off the bat), and winning isnt his intent. And he knows that this is something right up Kallus's Alley. 

-near the end of the game, Kallus has a hard lead, second place being Han Solo with a large gap, third being Ezra just barely behind Solo. 

+Han makes a snide remark of "Of course, it's the Imp that's ahead in the game. That's so like you, Agent Kallus." 

And then Kallus, out of spite, gives 50% of everything he has to Ezra, giving him the solid lead, and then divies up everything else he has to everyone except Han. Just to spite him. 

-Hera mediated deals and bargains. She also played as credit counter. 

-zeb isn't big on the game, not a whole lot of skill. Goes broke early on in game, even when Cassian tried to help him. Donated what little he did have to Sasha and sat with him for the rest of the game. 

-Cassuis wasn't to far behind Ezra most of the game, he pasted Han by just a bit when Kallus chose to spitefully fold. 

-One of the reasons why Ezra decided to teach Kallus to win, was that he wanted to team up with Sabine and Chopper to cause Chaos for everyone else. They are the reason Zeb went broke and Kanan folded. 

-chopper dropped out halfway through to start tormenting Han on behalf of Kallus, and then mocked Han endlessly when Kallus fucked him over. At that point, the droid deemed that Kallus could take care of himself and moved on to chatting with Kanan and relaying information. 

-Sabine convinced Ezra to start pulling to win after Kallus folded. She made a few deals with others and then helped Ezra keep ahead of Han.

-Ap5 made purposely vague comments on everyone's choices, how good or bad they're were and stated their chances of winning. 

-Rex eventually grew wary of the game and chatted with AP-5 about the choices and such. 

-When Kallus folded, AP-5 protested greatly, going on about how his victory was certain and in stone. As Kallus relaxed into Zeb's arms, Rex explained there are some things a bit more important than winning and that the look on Han's face was more than enough to satisfy Kallus. 

-Gregor and Wolfee, though having lasted longer than Zeb, fell short once Rex folded. 

-Luke was lost during much of the game. Wedge and Leia helped him continuously. 

-Leia kept taunting Han the whole game, about how he got beaten by an ex-imperial. She also helped Kallus in the beginning, teaching him how to make the best deals with other players. 

Also Ezra does reign victorious and Han some how manages to go bankrupt.

[moodymelanist]

Are you just doing Elucien prompts? Because I had this idea for Nessian where canon Nesta craves physical affection from Cassian but doesn’t really know what to do with it when he is affectionate with her because she’s never had anyone touch her tenderly like he does

nope, I’m taking any and everyone as the mood strikes me! I hope you don't mind that this is a modern au; I really liked this idea but writing in canon isn't my preferred thing to do. tw for discussion of prior abuse (tomas + mama archeron can suck it).

Nesta knew Cassian had noticed the way she didn’t know what to do with herself whenever he wanted to touch her. He was just so giving with his affection, from the easy way he would sling an arm around her shoulders to the kisses he liked to press to her skin whenever he felt she needed one.

Part of her wanted to lean into those touches, to make things easy the way they seemed to be for him, but a much larger part of her didn't know how to trust hands that were reaching for her. She was so used to being hurt instead of being held that her body just didn't know what to do when it was presented with the second option.

"I'm sorry," Nesta said for what felt like the millionth time after it happened. She'd been washing their dishes from dinner when Cassian had come up from behind her to wrap his arms around her, sending her into a stiff panic before she forced herself to calm down. "Fuck, I'm sorry."

They'd been dating for long enough that Nesta hated it was even an issue. They spent endless time in each other's apartments, saw each other multiple times a week, had met each other's friends and chosen families. She knew Cassian would never hurt her, would never even want to, but it was hard to fight every instinct in her body telling her she was in danger when it had kept her alive for so long.

"You don't have anything to apologize for, sweetheart," Cassian replied. He slowly unwrapped his arms from around her so he wouldn't startle her further and took a few steps to the right. "I'm the one who should be apologizing."

"What?" she responded, completely flabbergasted. She turned off the water and turned to face him so they could have what was shaping up to be an important conversation without any distractions. "You're not the one who's fucked up."

"Nesta." He gave her a look that told her exactly what he thought of that statement. "What happened to you was fucked up. That doesn't mean you're fucked up."

"But I am fucked up."

"We're all a little bit fucked up. Doesn't mean I still don't owe you an apology."

"What do you think you owe me one for?" Nesta asked, a little resigned. Her boyfriend was even more stubborn than she was on the best of days, so sometimes it was easier to just give in rather than fight a ridiculous fight, especially for something they'd talked to death so many times before.

"I know you don't like me coming up to you like that, so I'm the one who owes you an apology," Cassian answered. "I'm sorry for scaring you."

"It's not that you scared me," she told him honestly. Having conversations like these made her insides crawl, but since they were already talking, she thought she might as well rip the entire band-aid off anyways. "I like it when you touch me, I just... need some more warning, is all."

"Okay," he easily agreed. "I'll try to remember that for the future. Okay?"

"Okay," she mumbled. She turned around and started messing with the dishes again just to give herself something to do, not sure where to go from here.

"Is it okay if I give you a hug now?" Cassian asked after a few moments passed.

"Yes," Nesta answered. She took a deep breath and let it go just as his arms slowly circled back around her, letting herself relax as much as she could into the warmth of his embrace. It was much better now that she knew it was coming, and she found herself able to enjoy the feeling of his warm body behind her instead of immediately going into fight-or-flight mode.

"Better?" he murmured, squeezing her gently.

"Better," she repeated.

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[acourtofthought]

All The Things We Didn't Say

There's a lot that's said in these books. A lot of lines coming from the mouths of each character that we like to interpret and hold under the microscope. But sometimes what isn't said is just as important. "You are his mate. Do you even know what that means?" "It means nothing" "It means nothing. I don't care who decided it or why they did -" This line does have a response and it feels in line with what Nesta tells Cassian in SF: "It means something to all of you, but for most of my life, husband and wife was as good as it got. Mate is just a word." "Because with that one word, the last scrap of my humanity goes away!" "With that one stupid word, I am no longer human in any way. I'm one of you!" Both Elain and Nesta are against the word "mate" because mate is a fae term and neither Elain or Nesta were ready to give up with their humanity (especially Elain in ACOWAR). But "And you are bound to some....Fae male. A High Lord's son"

"His name is Lucien".

In KoA we have this line between Rowaelin: "She felt the truth of his words echo into the unbreakable thing that bound their very souls." Elain protested to the word mate in the same way Nesta then protested to the word. However, Elain does not dispute that she is bound to Lucien which I find meaningful. SJM could have had her argue with Graysen when he said she's bound to Lucien but what Elain did instead is confirm that fact by telling him Lucien's name. In that moment, of course Elain's heart belongs to Graysen as they were set to be married but it doesn't change that she and Lucien will always be connected in their souls. "You couldn't say a single word to him? A pleasant greeting?" Elain only stared at the steaming kettle as she set it on the stone counter. "He brought you a present" Those doe-brown eyes turned toward me. Sharper than I'd ever seen them. "And that entitles him to my time, my affections?" I think it's important to note what Elain responds to. She could have said something along the lines, "No, I couldn't give him a pleasant greeting because he doesn't deserve one, I don't owe him anything." But she says nothing which indicates to me that she knows Lucien is deserving of some response from her, she knows she was the one in the wrong when it came to that statement. It's not until Feyre throws in the part about presents that Elain speaks out. Elain is responding to something she can argue against because Feyre is focused on the wrong thing, nobody deserves your time just because they brought you a present, gifts shouldn't buy your attention. "It would be an invasion of her privacy to track him" "You sure about that?" I asked. "Where did Lucien go." The fact that Az did not respond to Rhys' question and instead asked his own seems to hint that Az's issues with Lucien have nothing to do with Elain. Rhys doesn't seem to believe that Az hasn't been following Lucien's whereabouts for the reason Az gave Az refuses to confirm that he meant what he said. I hope we learn more about his problems with Lucien in his own book but to me this does suggest that his jealousy towards him came about before he actually considered anything physical with Elain (since he still looked at Mor with heat after this scene). Rhysand blinked. "What of Mor, Az?" Azriel ignored the question. And.... "So you'll what?" Rhys's voice was pure ice. "Seduce her away from him?" Azriel said nothing. He hadn't gotten that far with his planning, certainly not beyond the fantasies he pleasured himself to. And.... "If you need to fuck someone, go to a pleasure hall and pay for it, but stay away from her." Azriel snarled softly. THREE different chances for Az to say something, anything to reassure Rhys that his intentions with Elain were the right ones for the right reasons. A chance to convince him that he was over Mor. A chance to convince him that he had thought of ways that he and Elain might approach Lucien to have a mature discussion with him. A chance for him to convince Rhys that he wasn't only looking to have sex with Elain. Azriel's silence is damning in all three of these excerpts. SJM is very purposeful with her character interactions and sometimes what is said is not the full story when you take into consideration the missed opportunities for what could have been said.

[gwyns]

The post by op talking about how Elain loses her newfound boldness when Lucien is around makes me laugh. What about when Azriel (and Nesta even though I love her) keeps making decisions for Elain and speaking up for her, when she has said that she doesn’t like that. Calling what happened a mistake to her face and hurting her feelings. Not encouraging or supporting Elain to do what she wants. Elain in SF is not happy or thriving. E/riel’s talk about how Azriel knows what Elain needs because he asked her if she wanted to look around the gardens in ACOWAR, but they fail to acknowledge that it was Lucien who first suggested it! Same with Cassian who first offered to rescue her from the camp, then offer his knife to her in the battle, and defended her from Amren in ACOFAS at the dinner table.

One of the reblogs from op came from an E/riel that said we know the bond is yadada because we know the Cauldron is corrupted by the Asteri. To question their mating bond would also be questioning Feysand’s, Nessian’s, Viv & Kallias, and multiple others. They just don’t want Elucien to be mates because they know Sarah loves her mates and that mates are endgame.

I’ve seen them compare that Elain & Azriel scene from Solstice to other couples from TOG & CC. And to me, that’s just not a good comparison. As if sex/lust = love, because it doesn’t. You can have a crush on someone without it being anything deep. And that’s what we got from Azriel. He spent a year planning for a snowball fight, but couldn’t think beyond the fantasies he pleasured himself to. We got no romantic feelings from him. Only lust and jealousy. Lust is no way as strong as a feeling to that spark that Azriel felt in his chest at the thought of Gwyn.

Reminds me of how they dismiss Cassian when he said that Night Court black sucked the life from Elain and say it’s not important, but her wearing cobalt blue is or that her scent of honey & jasmine is important, because jasmine is used a lot to describe the NC. They really do pick and choose what they want for when it suits their ship.💀

I’m convinced that most E/riel’s lack reading comprehension or haven’t been in an actual relationship.

despite claiming they care about elain, they don't listen to her, much like characters in the series. no one actually pays attention to elain, not in the way she craves. the only person who has shown that he actually hears her is lucien when he believed in her powers and vision so much he risked his life to find vassa. that's what she wants, she's just being an archeron and stubborn as hell

i can't remember who it was but someone brought up that everything az did "for elain" in acowar was first suggested or attempted by someone else. he didn't have one original thought when it came to her, he didn't understand what she needed or wanted and based on his bonus chapter, he still doesn't. elain wouldn't want him speaking for her or threatening her mate

newsflash! the cauldron has been corrupted. wasn't that like a major plot point in acomaf and acowar?? literally evil forces were using it for their own gain then, what's different now? oh yeah because it suits their narrative. the cauldron is just a tool for their god, the mother, it's very likely that she (aka sjm) is who decides mates. also like... even if not sjm will pull something out of her ass, if she wants it to happen, it will lol

i've said it before and i'll continue to say it, az in his bonus chapter was not romantic. that chapter was more so to show us his mental state than anything else. it showed us how envious he is of his brothers, how desperately he wants a mate and to feel like he's worthy of something. but of course e/riels deny that and say it wasn't about wanting a mate and he doesn't care, what did he mean by "what if the cauldron was wrong?" then?? that's clear as fucking day to me that he's jealous and wants that deep bond with someone. if he indeed didn't care, he wouldn't be questioning the bond

i'll forever be amused by e/riels saying that spark is evil when it's literally just az feeling a normal emotion. something elain clearly hasn't made him feel before, it's such a self drag that it makes me laugh everytime i see it

ok look cassian has never once commented on clothing to that extent, of course we'd have him describe nesta because hello that's his mate and he loves her but elain? my man spent a good chunk of time telling us how shitty she looked in that damn dress and it means nothing?? uh huh. whatever you need to tell yourself. they really do pick and choose which colors are important, and honestly the only one i see holding any relevance is her wearing night court black. it sucking the life from her is like sarah holding up a big sign saying: look here!

everyone goes on about different interpretations and such and i understand that is a thing but i'm sorry, not everything is up to the reader to decide. it's the author's job to tell us a specific story and sjm is and no amount of cherry picked "evidence" will change that

[flowerflamestars]

(Part two)

2nd there’s Feyre’s sisters, who she loves dearly but doesn’t know if she likes all that much. Nesta HUGS her. Nesta breaks Cassian’s nose. Elain STABS Azriel. They know about the war. They know about Valeris. They hatehateHATE their father with a ferocity she doesn’t understand. She doesn’t understand why titled nonsense matters. They don’t like Rhys so they must still hate faeries (the problem can’t be RHYS so it must be faeries. Never mind that Elain is perfectly fine having tea and small talk with Cassian and Azriel and, you know, the whole Lucien Thing).

She doesn’t understand why they’re so angry she wrote to the queens. It’s important that they talk to the queens. Don’t her sisters understand that? The queens will meet with them. Why wouldn’t they? Feyre was human and understands humans. The queens will understand how important this meeting is. (Never mind what the laws about consorting with faeries are. Never mind that Feyre knows absolutely nothing about the political climate of the Human Lands.) Rhys will protect them from anything anyway (and there’s absolutely no reason Elain needs to MARRY LUCIEN).

But her sisters give her the cold shoulder for a few days. Elain eventually forgives her enough to take her on a tour of their new house. Feyre tries to be interested in the life her sisters have built (even if she doesn’t understand it) and ask about tapestries and things. Then Elain opens a set of doors to some of the most beautiful perfect rooms she’s ever imagined and the ART STUDIO and the paints and the windows and then Elain says it’s all hers. The sisters she loves but doesn’t know if she likes built a place in their new home for her even knowing she might never be coming back (like they were hoping she’d come back). And they still say it’s hers, even though she’s a faerie now and they hate faeries (never mind how easily Elain talks about wards and blood magic and the Lucien Thing).

Then there’s a wardrobe full of dead birds on the front lawn and Nesta and Elain are even more furious. Then Nesta is shouting and Rhys is telling her to back off and then all of a sudden Elain IS HOLDING CASSIN’S KNIFE TO RHYS’S THROAT, like he’s a threat and she tries reassure her that Rhys would never hurt Nesta and he would protect them from whatever was happening, they can trust him. Everything is happening so fast and Cassian says he called a legion.

She doesn’t really understand what’s happening but she knows Rhys will make it better. Right?

(End babble)

Right EXACTLY

So, when writing Feyre I always end thinking about how...SJM really doesn't know how to write believable siblings, actually? Feyre has a lot of that youngest sister brattiness hiding in her, but she's also possessive of people in a way that feels...like she maybe never had siblings at all? She doesn't really like her sisters, even if she mostly loves them, but they matter because they're HERS

(please picture here Feyre wrecking peoples lives like a toddler stomping on sandcastles)

And that carries through! She's so surprised when they show any sign of their personalities!

To Feyre, I think, having money again was just supposed to wipe away any pre-existing issues within the family. Obviously, this does remove the biggest stressor in their lives. But in comfort (if not necessarily safety, Feyre, bringing FAERIES TO THEIR HOUSE, FEYRE), all those festering things still exist.

Their dad? Still the worst. Their childhoods? Still fucking trash. The entirety of sexist society? Still, in fact, an issue.

And like the money, Feyre applies the same minimizing logic to magic. To transformation. To the Night Court.

Her death? Doesn't matter because she lived, never mind that she never bothered to tell her sisters that until she needed something. Fae historically kill and own humans? No, NOT HER FAE. The war? Won't touch her sisters because Rhys won't let it. The Queens? Will just talk to her...because she was a human?

She doesn't understand what's happening but she mostly thinks she does.

She also wholly believes Rhys will fix things, Morrigan will lighten up the situation and get along with Nesta (lol), the Queens of multiple countries will just...believe some random letter in the post and show up to a provincial manor to meet a High Lord of Prythian everyone says is a monster, and oh yeah, trust him.

I don't think it's even a spoiler to reveal that the Archeron sisters relationship is complicated, and frankly, about to get a lot worse.