#nessian mating ceremony

[unhealthyfanobsession]

Canon Cassian would grin ferally and take it as a personal challenge to see how quickly he could get the mating ribbon tied around he and Nesta’s hands cut and then joke for the rest of eternity about how he and Nes cut the ribbon in “record time” and no one else was on their level.

Fanon Cassian would turn he and Nesta’s wrists to exactly the right angle before the priestess tied the ribbon to make sure they could both comfortably hold hands all night and then even when they got back to their bedroom at the HoW and Nesta started pulling at his clothes, he would gently tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and say, “I don’t know, maybe I want to stay bound to you forever.”

They are not the same.

[erisia-twinktruther]

People who believe Nesta and Cassian will not be Azriel and Eris‘s maid of honor and best man (these people don’t exist) are simply wrong and I will not take any other opinion

[daughter-of-lethe]

Nessian mating ceremony

Art: V_fisch03

[gwynethberdarasupremecy]

so i was just thinking about how gwyn said she wants go to nessians mating ceremony. and how she would have to get there. she can’t winnow, so she’d have to fly. who would she fly with? my guess is on the male she’s most comfortable with. the one she’s so comfortable with she has private lessons and banters with him. until said otherwise by sjm; it’s canon in my mind that gwyn flew with az to the mating ceremony.

[silverflameataraxia]

I can't get over the contrast between Nessian talking about their mating ceremony and Ruhnlidia talking about their wedding.

Cassian spent two years wanting to be with Nesta, only to worry about her rejecting the mating bond. When she agreed to accept the mating bond, he should have been so overjoyed that he should have been willing to give her whatever kind of mating ceremony she wanted, but instead he was embarrassed that Nesta wanted an ornate ceremony because of what Mor (and Az) might think.

He brushed a kiss over her mouth. But Nesta said, "I want a disgustingly ornate mating ceremony. "

He laughed, pulling away. "Really?"

"Why not?"

"Because I'll never hear the end of it from Azriel and Mor." Or the Illyrians.

Nesta considered. Then pulled something out of her pocket. A small biscuit, swiped from a tray in the birthing room. "Then here. Food. From me to you, my mate. That's the official ritual, isn't it? The sharing of food from one mate to the other?"

He choked. "These are my two options? A frilly mating ceremony or a stale biscuit?"

Once again, if he was head over heels in love with Nesta, he should have just eaten the biscuit. Instead, he complained about that, too.

Contrast that with Ruhn, who is willing to give Lidia whatever kind of wedding she wants: a big, fancy wedding or just something casual. Whatever she wants because she is his everything.

Ruhn cradled her face gently in his hands. "You're sure? You want a wedding and all that crap?"

Amusement danced over her features. "I don't think I want a big, fancy wedding, but...a small party with our friends, maybe?"

'Whatever you want. I don't care. I mean-not that I don't care, but I'm cool with anything, so long as we wind up legally wed at the end of it."

The contrast between Cassian's and Ruhn's reactions couldn't be more apparent.

[fiercehildr]

Enjoy this beautiful gwynriel commission of mine done by the great @maybemacdc ♥️ Azriel covering Gwyn with his jacket/coat as she falls asleep during Nessian’s mating ceremony ♥️

[jmoonjones]

ACOSF teased a Nessian mating ceremony thrown by Rhysand - but we never got to see it!  Until now! 🥰

Bryaxis officiated (obvs), Elain catches the bouquet in the ritual to predict the next romance (but with whom?!), and Feyre is the “photographer” making sketches and aggregating all donated memories for future paintings.  I thought some priestesses would like to attend but, understandably, might require some encouragement. So all Priestesses get their own emotional support shadowbaby 💜  Bryce gives Eris some advice, The House of Wind keeps an eye(?) on things, and if they think they can leave for the honeymoon without Bryaxis, then they’re in for a surprise

[acotarashley87]

if your one of those people who thinks Nessian aren’t true mates or aren’t endgame I’m not listening to a word you gotta say about SJM theories or ships. We got a whole book of their happy ending, we read their mating bond snapping into place, they had their mating ceremony and are still together in Hofas. Nesta refers to Cassian as her mate. Bryce notices his mate behavior towards Nesta but your out here saying they aren’t mates or endgame? And you expect us to believe you understand these books?

[rizzoreads88]

“Elain can’t handle violence!!! She’s can’t handle the Darkness but Gwyn can!!!!!”

✨When you realize Elains kill count is higher than Gwyns….. or how Elain fought Hybern hounds with her bare feet…✨

I think both women are strong in their own ways but it’s always interesting to me when people try to say Gwyn can handle violence and “azriels darkness” but Elain can’t when their is no canon proof to back this up.

Yeah Elain doesn’t like violence but she gets her hands dirty to protect the ones she loves. Gwyn doesn’t like violence either. This is why after the blood rite she retreats back to the library and they don’t even know if she will leave it to go to Nessians mating ceremony.

So this is a narrative about Elain and Gwyn that anti Elriels came up with but it is not canonically accurate.

[nessiandefenseattorney]

I need Sarah to give me more Nessian.

Gwynriel this Elucien that, no I need more Cassian and Nesta!!!

I honestly want more then what we got in acosf, I want the Nessian we had in acowar, I want the “I wish I had more time with you Nesta” vibes more than I need air to breathe.

Cass is my favorite bat boy and I think his character kinda got lost in silver flames and I want nothing more than to see him and Nesta to be happy forever, so please I am begging at least a novella like acofas about their mating ceremony or something, I will sell my soul for this I swear.

[azrielsfavoriteshadow]

I'm still new to fandom and I'm trying to get the gist of gwyn and azriel. I read the bonus chapter and I thought their scene was truly lovely. I love the way Azriel thought of the way of how Gwyn might smile if she received the necklace.

But- As of now, I ship both Elain and Lucien and Elain and Azriel. I honestly can't choose between them both. I feel like both have potential. I want to ship Az and Gwyn, too, because I feel like they also have potential but I'm not fully sure about them yet. I just want to understand the Gwyn and Az ship, because I didn't think of them together before the bonus chapter. I haven't read much theories about them, but I'm open to know more!

Hi Anon!! To clarify, I never shipped Elriel even before acosf so there was nothing tying me to that ship when Gwyn walked onto the page. This is going to be long, but these are the things that made me ship Gwynriel.

During ACOSF, there were so many little moments were Cassian and Nesta took notice of Gwyn and Az’s interactions. Even little things like glances or facial expressions toward one another. It was very reminiscent of Feyre telling us about Nessian in the previous books. The repeated drawing of attention to Gwyn and Az was very obvious to me and grabbed my interest.

The BC takes place at solstice which is around the middle of acosf. After the BC, we get the ribbon cutting scene where Gwyn takes the first attempt. Azriel’s attention is fixed solely on Gwyn. His face is shining with admiration and quiet encouragement (I mean come on).

When Gwyn cuts the ribbon, Cassian feels as if the universe has shifted. This moment indicates that the Valkyries have been revived. Cassian notes how Azriel seems to notice this shift as well. SJM is intentionally always pointing out Azriel’s reactions to Gwyn. This moment specifically seemed so important to me and the way Azriel was described to have his attention fixed on Gwyn, his face shining with admiration and quiet encouragement, was so adorable and sweet.

My favorite part about Gwynriel is the playful, competitive banter. Gwyn’s always the one to be poking at Azriel and we see he’s entertained by it. We even see him poking back at her.

Note his shadows dancing (I’ll come back to that).

We also got the infamous “See you tomorrow, Shadowsinger” line and Nesta telling Az “You’re the new ribbon, Az”.

The banter 😭 See you tomorrow, Shadowsinger is a call back to the BC when Az tells her that being a shadowsinger isn’t just some title. He is a shadowsinger. She’s being cute and playful, mocking him just a little bit and he loves it. This line made me scream the first time I read it and this was before I even knew the BC existed.

Next, Nesta likens Az to the ribbon. Gwyn was so dead set on conquering the ribbon and she completed that achievement. Now she’s moved on and Azriel is the next target. He is Gwyn’s new ribbon. Ribbons are also very symbolic for mates. During mating ceremonies, a ribbon is used to bind the hands of the pair together.

Then during the blood rite, Gwyn tells us about how she spied and just a few pages later Azriel reiterates to Cassian the importance of spying. Cassian says spying bores him and Azriel says it suits him. It just so happens to suit Gwyn as well.

Now onto the BC:

I won’t focus on the Elriel portion of the BC too much, but it is littered with negativity from my perspective. It talks about how wrong it is. How tainted Az is. All of his insecurities are hyperfocused when he’s in Elain’s presence. Then after his interaction with Rhysand, Azriel feels even worse. He wants to go out into the cold to numb himself. Until he feels nothing. Until he is nothing, again.

Then he runs into Gwyn. He makes note of how his shadows did not warn him that she was there. This tells us that Az would expect the shadows to tell him something like this, yet they chose not to. Also, in the beginning of the BC, before Elain comes down the shadows are whispering to Az telling him to go to sleep. The stark contrast in how the shadows react to Elain vs Gwyn is so telling.

Az decides to stay and takes notice of the Gwyn standing before him. How far she’s come since the day he rescued her. How she’s now a warrior standing before him. I love how he recognizes her strength and how much she’s grown to overcome her biggest trauma. Gwyn also is comfortable in his presence. We know do to her trauma that being around men can be difficult, but she is at ease and comfortable with being alone with Azriel.

They have some cute back and forth banter. A shadow even darts out to dance with Gwyn’s breath. Remember with Elain he tells us that his shadows are always prone to disappear. With Gwyn they are very playful and even calm. They settle in her presence and perch on his shoulder as if content to watch. Gwyn also acknowledges his shadows and Az thinks she smiles at them. The shadows behavior with Gwyn is unique to only her and it is one of my favorite things.

I love Azriel’s shadows. They are what make him unique and he created them as companions during his darkest trauma. The fact that they are so interactive and playful with Gwyn is adorable and special. I want him to have an endgame that his shadows love too.

In the BC we also find out that Azriel is a singer. As we know, Gwyn is also a very talented singer. I’m supposed to believe that this is just a random coincidence? Music is used as symbolism by SJM repeatedly throughout all of her books. Here is a post I made talking about some very similar quotes between mates including music symbolism.

This line about “something restless settling in him” is also repeatedly used by SJM between her mates. After two interactions with Elain and Rhys where Azriel hated himself, Gwyn is the one who settles something restless in him. She is the one who brought him peace on a night where he wanted to feel like nothing again.

Then the next day, Az goes to Clotho after he has decided to give the necklace to Gwyn. He thinks about her teal eyes lighting with joy and it makes a spark in his chest which is another example of mating bond language SJM consistently uses. That image of Gwyn’s eyes glows in his chest and brings a smile to his face conscientiously. That image continues to glow in his chest as a thing of secret, lovely beauty.

Look at how similar this quote is to a Feysand quote:

In that BC, SJM basically pulled out all of her most consistently used mating bond symbolism and used it on Gwynriel. She also chose to start the BC with Elain and filled it with negative connotations. Then she chose to end the BC with Gwyn having so much positivity. The only POV of Azriel’s we get ends with him thinking and smiling about Gwyn’s eyes and joy.

This is all the canon stuff I could think of. There are many theories and other parallels that I enjoy about Gwynriel as well, but I have already typed up so much lol. Feel free to search #gwynriel on my blog and you’ll see posts I’ve reblogged or made.

Anyways, they are my favorites and I am convinced they are mates. No one in Prythian deserves a mate more than Azriel and there is no one more perfect for him than Ms. Gwyneth Berdara. They are both loyal to a fault. They have been through so much trauma yet risen from it as warriors. They are strong and resilient. They have banter and charm. His shadows love her. She loves his shadows. They’re perfect.

[danikamariewrites]

For Nessian maybe something cute and fluffy with fem reader where the decorate for winter solstice or halloween. And the girls just want to make it extra special for Cass. Maybe the reader also takes the chance with the holiday to tell them she's pregnant 🤔

New Traditions

Nessian x reader

Notes: I love fall but Christmas is my fav and I’m ready for the holidays. Also I hope you don’t mind that I didn’t include the pregnancy part. I feel like a lot of my Nessian x reader stuff is pregnancy so I wanted to give that a break.

Warnings: none

Cassian heaves the last box labeled ornaments on to the couch. Clasping your hands in front of your chest you smile. The sitting room looked like a mess, to you it was organized chaos. Nesta, who was picking through boxes, called it a mess.

When you moved to Night from Winter you absolutely had to bring your solstice decorations. You knew they didn’t decorate like those in Winter and were worried you wouldn’t find anything new in Night. After moving in with Cassian and Nesta they were shocked that everything took up an entire spare bedroom at the House of Wind. To them it was worth the space if it meant your mats got to see that smile on your face.

“What do you want to start with?” Cassian put his hands on his hips, surveying the room and forming a battle plan in his mind. Getting the boxes efficiently unpacked and their contents into piles was the General’s specialty. You hum, tapping your chin in thought.

“Let’s do lights and greenery first. Then the wreathes and tree.” Cass nods in agreement and Nesta starts ripping open boxes. It’s been four years of this. Living and decorating with your mates. In those four years you were hoping to find a special ornament for them to put on the tree. No shops in the city had any and when you visited home you could never find one perfect enough.

It frustrated you to no end. All the ornaments were yours, consisting of ones your mother gifted to you or were family heirlooms. It wasn’t fair that they didn’t have one.

Letting the thought go you get to unpacking the wreathes, handing the big one to Cassian to hang over the mantle.

You and your mates rush around the room, only pausing for quick kisses, as the symphonia plays softly. Two hours later you were down to one box. Ornaments. Giving the box a sad smile you gently pull the lid off. With two of your favorite ornaments in hand you turn to your awaiting mates. Their excitement to hang the baubles on the tree infectious. You hand the first one to Nesta who practically skips over to the tree. Handing Cassian the second you grab another and follow him to tree.

Getting through the box and hanging the last ornament you let out a sigh. “What’s wrong?” Nesta rests a comforting hand between your shoulder blades. You lean into her side you wrap your arms around her waist. “I just feel bad that you and Cass don’t have any. It’s been four years, I just feel like a bad mate.”

Nesta clicks her tongue at you. “Nonsense, my love. And if you haven’t noticed we haven’t gotten one for you either.” That doesn’t make you feel any better. You bury your face in the crook of her neck and sigh.

“Wait, there’s one more,” Cass pulls one wrapped in tissue paper from the box. Tilting your head you give him a curious look. You catch Nesta’s smirk out of the corner of your eye. “What did you do?” She shrugs nonchalantly. Cassian holds the object out for you to take.

Ripping the tissue paper you find an ornament of three figures, one a male in a black suit and two females in gowns. A closer look shows you that the figures under the arch resemble you, Nesta, and Cassian from your mating ceremony. Tears form in your eyes as you hug the ornament to your chest. “It’s perfect.” Grabbing your mates you pull them into a hug. They hold you close, each kissing the top of your head.

“You’ve shown us new traditions and brought a new light into our lives we didn’t know we needed. Now we want to add to this one.” Cassian says, holding your chin between his thumb and forefinger. “We love you, y/n. So much.” “I love you too.” You wipe at your eyes looking back down at the ornament.

“Why don’t you go hang it,” Cassian suggests. You nod, placing the ribbon on one of the top branches, making sure the figures face the room. Stepping back you smile to yourself, deciding that this Solstice was going to be the one where you gift Cassian and Nesta the perfect ornament.

[lovemyromance]

I'm going to say this once, and I am not going to voice this again because the fact that it even has to be said, is absolutely crazy.

Nothing in ACOSF has shown us that Gwyn is ready for a relationship. She can't even leave the library at the end of ACOSF to attend Nessian's mating ceremony. She is probably now even more traumatized after the BR, and rightfully so.

Could she one day be in a relationship with a male/female? Sure. But that time is not now, right after ACOSF.

Right now, she is NOT ready for a relationship with anyone (including Azriel).

Do not get me wrong. If there had been ANY sign she had shown interest romantically in any character - I would not be saying this. But she has not shown that for anyone, let alone for Azriel.

Gwyn is going to eventually heal. But she does not need a man to do so. She does not need to play sidekick to Azriel and help him handle his so called "darkness" to heal.

Y'all can't just force her into a ship when she's clearly not ready for a relationship. Well, I suppose you can, but that would be disrespectful to SA victims everywhere.

Fictional character or not, SA trauma is real. Forcing this timeline of healing on Gwyn or shipping her with someone just so she can "fix him" or suit his "sexual freak" nature is just downright ignorant.

If y'all like Gwynriel because you think the aesthetic is cute or you think they'd compliment each other - that is fine. But this dialogue of Gwyn is gonna fix him and she and Azriel HAVE to be together because some half-baked statement from Azriel's POV - it's so weird.

Stop shipping women with people they have shown no interest in. Same goes for people shipping Elain with Lucien, when she loses her boldness around him and shrinks into herself.

Literally the moment SJM shows Gwyn is ready and likes Azriel or Elain suddenly gives Lucien the time of day out of her own free will, I will fully accept and understand the other ships.

But for now, I am shipping the couple that has actually shown desire and attraction and affection for each other. Just my opinion, and I'm not entertaining any arguments on this.

[nestastits]

I will never forgive sjm for keeping the nessian mating ceremony and frenzy from me. I NEED it. I’ve read multiple fics about it but canon them is my favorite so I need Sarah to release this as a bonus chapter maybe? Or a novella of just nessian. I just need more of them. I want domestic life. I want Nesta talking about what its like to have a home. I want cassian taking her on more dates. I want cassian cooking dinner while Nesta watches. I want them having their own alone time in the evenings to relax in their private library. I want to see them baby sit nyx. I want the house “locking” them up so they don’t have to go to Rhys unnecessary meetings. I just want more of them😩.

[nessianweek]

Nessian Week 2024 Ask Game

Nessian Week 2024 is officially two weeks away! Join us and send creators an emoji to see them answer the corresponding question. 

Shoutout to @erisweekofficial for coming up with this wonderful ask game concept ❤️‍🔥

📚 — what’s your favorite Nessian scene in the series?

💍 — what moment made you realize Nessian was IT?

💭 — what’s your favorite Nessian headcanon?

👰‍♀️ — what do you think Nessian's mating ceremony will look like?

✈️ — if Nessian took a honeymoon, where would they go?

🎶 — name a song that gives major Nessian vibes?

🌎 — what’s an Alternate Universe Nessian were just made for?

🎨 — shout out your favorite Nessian art and/or artist!

📝 — shout out your favorite Nessian fic and/or writer!

👶 — how do you see Nessian as parents?

👯‍♀️ — what is a classic Nessian date night?

✍️ — add 50 words onto your wip/sketch for 1 min on your art/add 1 song onto your playlist

🔮 — what predictions do you have for Nessian’s future?

🗣️ — describe your planned fic/art/etc in 3 emojis!

📅 — which day of Nessian Week are you most excited for and why?

🤫 — what missing scene do you wish SJM gave us of Nessian? (other than Cassian visiting Nesta post-Cauldron while Feyre was in spring)

❓ — what question would you ask Nessian if you met them?

💕 — what do you think Nessian's love language is?

✒️ — would Nessian ever get matching tattoos? What do you think they get?

👩‍❤️‍👨 — how would Nessian make up after an argument? NSFW answers encouraged 😏

[silverflameataraxia]

It's the way Ruhn had nicer things to say about Lidia in a bonus chapter than Cassian said about Nesta in their entire romance novel.

Cassian

Cassian had heard enough. He wanted to return home - to the House, to Nesta. His fierce, beautiful mate, who had saved his High Lord and Lady and their son. He'd never stop being in awe of her, and all she had done. How far she'd come.

Ruhn

He couldn't get enough of her. Even living together these past several weeks, working together most days in the Aux...he couldn't stop wanting her, needing her. It wasn't just her body, though. It was Lidia herself - her wit, her dry humor, her bravery and selflessness and compassion.

He didn't care how much Flynn and Dec teased him. He was unabashedly, unrelentingly in love with this female. With his mate.

Lidia pulled away, and for a moment, Ruhn let himself admire her. His mate. His brave, lovely, brilliant mate.

And as Lidia slid a matching titanium ring onto Ruhn's finger, he wondered if they'd also need to invent a new word for love, to embody what overflowed from his heart.

What makes matters worse is that Cassian spent Nessian's book gushing over Mor and Feyre, but could only bring himself to be in awe of Nesta. He says he loves Feyre and Mor, but never says he loves Nesta. He spends all book trying to mold Nesta into a Feyre or a Mor rather than just falling in love with Nesta for who she is.

Ruhn doesn't care how much Flynn and Dec tease him because he's in love with Lidia. But Cassian cares so much what others think (mainly Mor) that it prevents him from fully seeing Nesta, let alone loving her. He spends all series long being embarrassed of Nesta where Mor is concerned. He wants to be with Nesta, but is embarrassed to tell Mor. He's intimate with Nesta, but is embarrassed to tell Mor. He's embarrassed to hold Nesta's hand in front of Mor. He's embarrassed to tell Mor that Nesta wants an ornate mating ceremony.

I can't tell if SJM just hates Nesta so much that she doesn't think that she deserves love. I mean, yeah, Nesta can be mean, but Lidia was literally a torturer for decades. Everyone deserves to find love, though.

Now I will say that the Ruhnlidia bonus chapter took place after Ruhn fell on his face a little bit, whereas Cassian's internal monologue took place before he fell flat on his face in HOFAS. So it could be that SJM is waiting for Cassian to gush over Nesta until next book, as some sort of redemption arc. Since Nesta's story isn't over yet, there's still time for some much needed Cassian character development.

Nesta deserves to be loved, cherished, valued, cared for, protected, gushed over, romanticized, and prioritized.