#rhiannon crochan

[goddessofwisdom18]

The Crochan Sisters

[acourtofantumbra]

Was doing a deep dive for a future post about *gestures wildly* witches... Manon's lineage... cross-world connections... something I've found that feels actually tangible, maybe. Anyway, despite only dipping a toe into the ToD reread so far (I am not a ToD hater lol I'm just busy) I found myself checking a moment from KoA and took a nosedive into something immediately shinier. But it was so sudden I didn't have time to do my usual highlights/scribbles on my (currently dead) ipad so... enjoy my measly Kindle highlights.

I KNOW many folks have beautifully analyzed SJM's repeated character names because at one point SJM herself basically said, "I keep a record of all of them and I know what I've used."

I've seen folks flag important repeats for years now (we've seen this film before, A+ work, it keeps me up at night!), but the heavy hitters have been Briar, Thanatos, Cormac and even Ruhn (you know... the Erilean mountains and the hottie who knows 3 things).

So it stands to reason that repeated names might deserve some extra scrutiny... And I pray we get some pay off with that in CC3.

Anyway, as I'm pulling at the thread of ToG witches via our (my) favorite queen - Manon - I hadn't realized I fully forgot her dad's name. Frankly, of all the plot points from ToG, Manon's story's specifics were the haziest... except where Dorian is concerned I'm a mere mortal... and that has me suspicious regardless. Anywayyyy, as you can see above, it's Tristan. Tristan Crochan.

I cannot fully explain the cartwheel flip my brain did thumbing through the roladex of SJM's characters... because Tristan Flynn was not the energy my brain was ready for after reading this really sad passage about Manon's murdered family.

On my first read of the SJMU I went ACOTAR (long break between the original and ACOSF) -> CC -> TOG. And on my first TOG read, this passage triggered no alarm bells. I probably just didn't remember Flynn all that much. But after my CC reread... oh. I remember him. Don't you worry.

Now I am fan of Flynn. He's got a rakishness I simp for, I root for him and the dragon, and clocked his lordship woes despite having what we've all decided is a "hot dad". He's a good time. And Flynn feels like someone to watch! He makes an appearance in not one, but two, CC bonus chapters... and he's got a crush on the aforementioned dragon, who either was introduced for no reason or is gonna be a key player going forward. Or SJM is fucking with us. I don't have the answers.

But what I'm struck by Tristan-wise is a) the similarity in the little physical descriptors we get - brown hair, brown eyes and b) not actually Flynn-related... but a deeply similar sounding story to none other than the Autumn King. Daughter you didn't know was born to a woman you claim was your real love... check. Searching far and wide with a singular focus on recovering your daughter... check. Having another kid out of obligation and duty to continue on important bloodlines... check!!!

It might not have anything to do with Flynn at this current moment... but it's not implausible. Lord Flynn is of course a beloved frat-pack member living in a dump with his fellow bros. He specifically pops up in these bonus chapters going through the motions necessitated by his aristocratic bloodline. His mom/family is eager to marry him and his sister off - of course he seems miserable about the whole idea. But also resigned to it? It seems complicated. TLDR there's a world where Flynn's like "woof, yeah I gotta get married off but the heart wants what it wants!" There is precedent!

Also, I've been 👀 Flynn since it was flagged that he has "super rare earth powers" not commonly seen in Valbaran Fae... first off, what does that mean? Second, hot?!

Well I've done it again, so many words and nothing really of note to take away haha. I'll be honest, my mind was not in a Tristan Flynn headspace!! I'm kind of bogged down in my own thoughts about the witchier women of this multiverse... but in my dragon theory speculation Flynn popped up again and I really can't explain why random dead ends are turning up Tristan!!! I'm not mad about it, but I wish I understood.

[pergaminaa]

I dunno why I woke up with this thought:

What if both Lothian and Tristan lived? They’re in love, and don’t care about much; Tristan can convince his family and they’ll come around, Lothian isn’t as lucky and she knows her mother will not react well at all so she just avoids her and never shows up again.

What if they both fall into the rhythm of simple happy life, with no worries and just enjoying what they have.

What if that peacefulness leads them to want to expand their family, and while Lothian isn’t as sure of becoming a mother she decides that she wants to have a child that she will love with all of her heart. She doesn’t let what her mother did to her stop her from having something she wants.

What if Manon is born to parents who love her very much and couldn’t wait to meet her. What if she lived a happy life with them, with no harm ever coming her way because her parents love her and are always protecting her.

What if years later, her sister Rhiannon is born. What if Manon gets to enjoy being a sister, living a normal life with loving parents and a younger sister that she’d protect and dote on.

[acourtofquestions]

TOG series up to EoS spoiler alert:

So, Maeve had no way of knowing when Aelin would appear, all she knew was her face (I think) maybe a name at most.

The interesting thing is she talks about trying to get Evalin to bring her as a child (but she wouldn’t have looked like Aelin yet as a child) so how would she even know?

My theory is like how Emrys said Aelin looks just like Evalin. While the Ashryver eyes probably helped Maeve follow the line, I think it’s why Evalin knew Maeve & ran so far, I think she experienced the similar prowling Aelin always felt; that Maeve was looking for something else, might have even mistaken Evalin as Aelin at first.

The other reason I find this idea interesting: there is one other character told they look just like someone else. Aelin’s paralell. Manon. And in a game with all the old players it’s very interesting that you have Manon and her near-twin/doppleganger Rhiannon Crochan. And the Aelin, Evaline, Elena line.

[manonslayme]

Rhiannon lives au

During a celebration after Manon takes back the crown, Manon gets drunk enough to ask questions neither her or Rhiannon are ready for.

*** think of this fic like that one tik tok that goes ‘when the beer starts tasting like doing *something*’ but instead it’s ‘when the wine tastes like asking your sister questions about why you felt she abandoned you and crying.’

[lavendaers]

@tragcdysewn rhiannon crochan ii for manon blackbeak

she had no idea where she was or why she was even there. the last thing she remembered was searching for the ironteeth witches, needing to find them. to find her. no, she'd found them and hadn't been able to escape. "where is this place?" rhiannon questioned the first person she saw, but froze when she recognized the face. "you... how are you here too?"

[blodgmonster]

Kingdom of Ash reread commentary. That no one asked for.

-- it hurts. Right from the very beginning. SJM starts out swinging and does not let up.

-- Life got the better of me and I didn't read for like a week. I'm back!

-- this magical academy near the border of Adarlan sounds like excellent spin off material. Devellin.

-- God, Aedion. Get OVER IT. Lysandra did what she did to protect Terrasen. She's following orders from her Queen. Your queen. Stop being a dick to her.

-- On the other hand, I completely back Elide's grudge against Lorcan. He was an absolute PRICK selling them out to Maeve. I know he did it to try to protect Elide or whatever. And I do love them together but God damn. What an epic fuck up.

-- Gavriel and Elide are a cute little friendship.

-- Aelin and Fenrys coming up with the blinking code. My poor loves.

-- Lorcan STILL cutting up his shirts for Elide's pads though...

-- again, OBVIOUSLY Aelin and Rowan need to have kids to continue the line of succession. And their kiddos would make for good spinoff material. But FIVE kids? Ugh. Brother ugh.

-- See, Rowan feels ashamed for the way he treated Aelin when they first met. Rhys never expresses shame for the crap way he treated Feyre Under the Mountain. All he does is defend his actions. Rhys might be hotter but Rowan is the better male.

-- Yrene is pregnant. GAG. Why would a HEALER heading into a WAR not take precautions?

-- it's sad that there's no dragons.

-- having Connall kill himself is a wild move. Poor Fenrys.

-- Fenrys and Aelin crying together as he removes the glass from her legs.

-- welcome back to the plot, Nox!

-- Aelin seeing her mother. "You do not yield." And it giving her strength to fucking fight. Oh my God. And then THAT reaches Rowan. Oh GOD.

-- love that the Chrochans are a Fleetwood Mac reference. Rhiannon. Perfection.

-- "how many of those beasts might have been like Abraxos, had they good riders who loved them?" Good fucking question, Dorian.

-- Manon's father was named Tristan. Is it too much to ask that her mother be named Isolde? Lothian. What a mouthful.

-- Crochan is pronounced CROCK-IN?

-- "Let it kill him, wreck him. He would not serve. Not another heartbeat. He would not obey. He would not obey. And slowly, Fenrys got to his feet."

-- Aelin and Lorcan running for each other. The RELIEF he feels when he sees her. Gaveiel running beside her, shielding her. "The sob that came out of Aelin at the hawk's bellow of fury cracked Lorcan'd chest." And Lorcan pulls her along to safety.

-- "Rowan wrapped an ice-kissed wind around the tent, blocking out all sound, and began." GET HIS ASSSSSSSSSSS

-- "Take it off, take it off, take it off!"

-- All her scars are gone. All new skin to replace what they destroyed. Jesus. Dark as fuck.

-- Aelin saving Fenrys with the blood oath. Fenrys getting to live, to serve a queen and a court that are the opposite of Maeve. Good old Fenrys.

Aelin is free. Fenrys is saved. I feel like I can breathe again but we're only a third of the way through the book and it gets worse for our heroes before it gets better. Stay tuned for more commentary.

[rufousnmacska]

can you write a passage where Dorian came to the wastes and Manon is informed that twins were born in one of the families (for the first time since the witch kingdom was reborn)? 💙

Hi anon! This is going to be quick and I hope it’s what you were looking for!

Thanks to @itach-i for talking this through! Please excuse any typos or mistakes 🥰

***

Word of the twin’s birth spread like fire through the Witch Kingdom. Manon had insisted the mother-to-be stay in her keep and be attended by the best healers in order to maintain some semblance of privacy. But news could never be held for long. Especially when it was news of this magnitude.

There had been some witchlings born since the war, but to Crochans, the clan unaffected by Queen Rhiannon’s curse. The witch who now held two witchlings in her arms was a Blackbeak, the first Ironteeth witch to give birth on these lands for hundreds of years. That she’d bore twins was a secondary source of awe and celebration.

Manon had visited the witch only briefly, feeling uncomfortable when she’d been asked to bless the witchlings. As if she were the Three-Faced Goddess herself. She was merely the queen.

Merely, because she often caught herself feeling out of her element in ruling. She longed for the simplicity of battle, without the actual carnage that came with it. Day in and day out of city planning, crop reports, settling meaningless disputes between witches… she had no patience for it or for the balancing act of managing so many personalities.

“How do you do it?” she asked Dorian that evening. He was visiting under the pretense of establishing some sort of treaty between their kingdoms. But the treaty had been signed within twenty minutes of his arrival.

He laughed quietly, dipping his spoon into the steaming bowl of stew. “I delegate as much as I can. If I could delegate everything and spend my time lounging and drinking, I would.”

Now Manon laughed. “That sounds exactly like you.” Growing serious, she added, “I do delegate, but everything here is so new that even with Petrah and Bronwen to help, it all ends up back on my desk.”

“How are the witchlings?” he asked, apparently ready to change the subject.

“Fine at the last report. Both healthy. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Their arrival should help ease some of the tension. With the curse officially broken, witches can feel free to truly settle here. Perhaps, start families.”

Manon eyed him. “I guess so. Why are you so concerned?”

He shrugged. “It just eases the pressure for you.”

He went back to eating but Manon wasn’t convinced. Dorian had reacted strangely to the news of the births. She would have expected some mild happiness at the news of a stranger having twins, even with the curse looming over them. But he’d been truly excited. Almost as excited as he’d been when Yrene had given birth last year.

“What’s going on?” she asked, taking hold of his hand and forcing him to look at her.

Dorian took a breath, trying to calm his nerves.

“When I heard the witchlings survived, I couldn’t help but wonder if…” He trailed off, his face a portrait of hope, his eyes shining brightly.

“You wondered if I might want to try for an heir?” she finished for him.

He smiled, a silly looking grin, and brushed his hand through his hair. “I did.”

She hated when he did that. That grin and ruffled hair and blue eyes. It always made her heart stutter.

“I’m only telling you this because we promised to never hide anything,” he explained. “If you aren’t ready, or, or…” he paused before pushing on, “or would rather choose a different father, I would understand.”

Manon smirked. “You’d understand if I wanted a witchling with some random human male and not you?”

He glared at her as her smile grew wicked with teasing.

“I would not understand but I would step aside for you to make your own choices,” Dorian said through gritted teeth.

Standing and moving around the table to sit in his lap, Manon pushed his curls back down so they were no longer sticking up and distracting her.

“Thank you, princeling,” she said, kissing his cheek. “My choice is you. I made it a long time ago and I’m sticking by it.” He laughed and squeezed her waist. “But I’m not ready for that yet.”

Squeezing her tighter, Dorian tucked his head under her hair and kissed her neck. “I’m not ready either, witchling. But it’s nice to know that when we are, we won’t have to worry about any curses.”

The kiss turned into more and their dinner was forgotten.

When Dorian left for Adarlan the next morning, their goodbye felt different. Weighty in a way she’d never sensed before. They’d made a promise to each other last night, one that hadn’t caused any fear or worry to bloom in her chest. Instead, she felt calm. Part of a team.

She wondered if this was what marriage felt like?

Dorian was already flying away when the thought popped into her head. Maybe when she visited him next month, she’d ask him.

💙💛💙💛💙💛

[wingedblooms]

Herbs she planted

This is a Maasverse post, and as such, there are spoilers for all Maas series. Proceed with caution.

“The point is that this is all gardening. The garden runs through our lives like a river through a field, like air in our lungs. The garden does not end in space any more than it does in time. The flowers grow as much in our minds as in the soil. There are very few nights when I do not lie in the dark, everyone else sleeping inside this dark, creaking, bony house, and go through the garden, seeing it with the clarity of a dreamer, taking it to pieces and putting it together again, mending everything in my head.” (Montagu Don, My Roots: A Decade in the Garden) 

Like the threads of an intricate tapestry, Elain weaves a variety of plants together in her gardens. She creates living art, even at the worst of times:

I dragged a hand over my face before going to Elain and touching her too-bony shoulder. “Can I set you up in the garden? The herbs you planted are coming in nicely.” (acowar)

Feyre casually mentions that Elain is planting herbs in the town house garden after she drops some unsettling information on Cassian (which, as an aside, is one of my favorite scenes; I love it when Elain, the gentle gardener, unnerves 500-year-old fae). @offtorivendell posted a headcanon that Elain has a garden full of useful plants, which makes sense for a practical forest witch, and this quote suggests she is on the right track. We don’t hear about her herbs specifically again, but we do see glimpses of her work on the town house garden where she started planting them: 

…peering out the kitchen window at the garden beyond…Elain had already readied the garden for winter, veiling the more delicate bushes and beds with burlap. (acofas) 

-

Azriel and Elain remained in the sitting room, my sister showing him the plans she’d sketched to expand the garden in the back of the town house, using the seeds and tools my family had given her tonight. (acofas) 

Herbs are used by witches and healers in the Maasverse for a variety of purposes, such as flavoring cuisine, enhancing divination, and healing the body. All things many of us naturally associate with Elain.

Cuisine

Manon gives us a glimpse of Crochan witches going about their domestic tasks, including cooking with dried herbs at their cauldrons:

At least two dozen other witches tended to the several fire pits scattered amongst the white tents, all of them halting their various work as Manon passed. She’d never seen Crochans going about their domestic tasks, but here they were: some tending to fires, some hauling buckets of water, some monitoring heavy cauldrons of what smelled like mountain-goat stew seasoned with dried herbs. (koa)

This image makes me think of other witches (and suspected witches) who have engaged in similar domestic tasks, such as Hypaxia offering tea to Ruhn in the medwitch clinic, or Elain carrying herbed potatoes that she helped the twins prepare near the winter solstice. In our world, traditional witchcraft is founded on a deep bond with the land; many of the holidays on the Wheel of the Year align with the agricultural year. It is no surprise then that witches in the Maasverse are also deeply connected to the bounty of the land. And even though it does not involve witches exclusively, the Great Rite in Prythian honors this bond and is performed to ensure balance between the the land and those who benefit from it. It’s very witchy.

This also helps put into perspective the gravity of Queen Rhiannon's curse on the land:

But the last Crochan queen had cast a spell to ensure that as long as Ironteeth banners flew, no bit of soil would yield life to them. (com) “Rhiannon swore on her last breath that we would win the war, but not the land. That for what we had done, we would inherit the land only to see it wilt and die in our hands. Our beasts would shrivel and keel over dead; our witchlings would be stillborn, poisoned by the streams and rivers. Fish would rot in lakes before we could catch them. Rabbits and deer would flee across the mountains. And the once-verdant Witch Kingdom would become a wasteland. […] Every few decades, they would send groups to try to work the land, to see if the curse still held. Those groups never returned. We have been wanderers for five hundred years—the wound made worse by the fact that humans eventually took it for themselves. And the land responded to them.” (eos)

Manon’s half-sister, who is named for the last Crochan queen, has earthy eyes that are described exactly like Thesan’s, which are rich and warm like Elain’s (who I have long associated with healing light and Dawn).

The Crochan witch, her eyes the solid color of freshly tilled earth, looked up at Manon. How those eyes were so bright despite the horrors written on her body, how she didn’t collapse right there or start begging, Manon didn’t know. (hof)

Every Crochan witch also has an hearth that travels with them, and they can use it to communicate when they are scattered across the world:

Glennis jerked her chin toward the tent flaps, to the fire pit beyond. “Every Crochan family has a hearth that moves with them to each camp or home we make; the fires never extinguish. The flame in my hearth dates back to the Crochan city itself, when Brannon Galathynius gave Rhiannon a spark of eternally burning fire. My mother carried it with her in a glass globe, hidden in her cloak, when she smuggled out your ancestor, and it has continued to burn at every royal Crochan hearth since then.” 

“What about when magic disappeared for ten years?” 

“Our seers had a vision that it would vanish, and the flame would die. So we ignited several ordinary fires from that magic flame, and kept them burning. When magic disappeared, the flame indeed winked out. And when magic returned this spring, the flame again kindled, right in the hearth where we had last seen it.” Her great-grandmother turned toward her. “When a Crochan Queen summons her people to war, a flame is taken from the royal hearth, and passed to each hearth, one camp and village to the other. The arrival of the flame is a summons that only a true Crochan Queen may make.” (koa)

The Crochans carry hearths—the heart of family and domestic life—with them as they travel, which reminded me of Elain’s rose:

It was a fire. Not her father’s neck. Her gaze shifted to the carved wooden rose she’d place on the mantel, half-hidden in the shadows beside a figurine of a supple-bodied female, her upraised arms clasping a full moon between them. Some sort of primal goddess—perhaps even the Mother herself. Nesta hadn’t let herself dwell on why she’d felt the need to set the rose there. Why she hadn’t just thrown it in a drawer. 

Another log cracked, and Nesta flinched. But she remained sitting there. Staring at that carved rose. (acosf)

Nesta found Elain’s dark rose on the mantel in their old cottage, and then felt the need to place it on a mantel in the House of Wind, just above the hearth and next to a figurine of a primal goddess, likely the Mother. It moves from mantel to mantel and hearth to hearth until she places it on her father’s gravestone in the final scene of her book. This rose may be yet another hint of Elain's connection to witches, divinity, and roses, as well as the gift of healing, which I’ll get to later. Roses are associated with love and death (among many other things), and have a rich history in folklore; they are a common ingredient used in herbal magic. I could see Elain possessing her own portable hearth to accompany dried herbs from her town house garden as she sets out on various adventures. That way, no matter how far she travels, she'll always have her home with her like a lovely Crochan witch.

Divination

Some herbs are used to amplify divination or dream magic. As @offtorivendell mentioned in her post on Elain’s Sight, seers in Erilea use bloodbane (which, as a drug, may contain herbs) to see spirits from other realms, and mystics use bloodsalt to focus their search across worlds. In Midgard, the Oracle's Temple is full of incense and the sphinx breathes in the fumes that are smoldering in her chamber.

...the domed onyx building of the Oracle's Temple veiled in the mists that had rolled in over the river.

Even at midday, the Oracle's Park was near-empty, save for the hunched, slumbering forms of the desperate Vanir and humans who wandered the paths and gardens, waiting for their turn to enter the incense-filled hallways. (hoeab)

-

She blinked, wings rustling as if in surprise, but settled herself. Breathed in the fumes rising from the hole. Minutes passed, and Hunt’s head began to throb with the various scents—especially the reeking sulfur. 

Smoke swirled, masking the sphinx from sight even though she sat only ten feet away. [...] A rasping voice slithered out of the smoke. “To open the doorway between worlds.” A chill seized Hunt. (hoeab)

@offtorivendell theorized that, like others gifted with Sight, Elain could use substances to amplify her powers if needed. It's possible she might be able to use herbs from her garden to pierce the veil and see clearly. She even smells like jasmine, a plant that—among many other things—induces prophetic dreams.

Healing

What can cure can also kill. (Rebecca Beyer, Wild Witchcraft)

In Midgard, we're told witches are seers, warriors, potion-makers, and healers. Healers, also known as medwitches, are the most visible and they have their own herb gardens. Their healing magic is even more powerful than the fae.

They were a strange, unique group, the witches. Though they looked like humans, their considerable magic and long lives marked them as Vanir, their power mostly passed through the female line. All of them deemed civitas. The power was inherited, from some ancient source that the witches claimed was a three-faced goddess, but witches did pop up in non-magical families every now and then. Their gifts were varied, from seers to warriors to potion-makers, but healers were the most visible in Crescent City. Their schooling was thorough and long enough that the young witch before him was unusual. She had to be skilled to be already working in a clinic when she couldn’t have been a day over thirty.

[…]

She gestured to the hall behind her, where sunlight leaked in through a glass door at its other end. “We have a courtyard garden. The day is fine enough that you could wait out there.”

[…]

Ruhn followed her down the hall, trying not to breathe in her eucalyptus-and-lavender scent too deeply. 

Don’t be a fucking creep. 

The sunlight tangled in her thick night-dark hair as she reached the courtyard door and shouldered it open, revealing a slate-covered patio surrounded by terraced herb gardens. The day was indeed lovely, the river breeze making the plants rustle and sway, spreading their soothing fragrances. (hoeab)

We now know this graceful healer is the Witch Queen, Hypaxia. Elain seems to share parallels with Hypaxia and her half-sister, the Hind (and her story about the forest witch). Hypaxia smells like plants that are used for healing and shows Ruhn out to their courtyard herb garden. Like the witches, Elain is gifted magic from an ancient source (the Cauldron, which is also part of a magical trio: Mother, Cauldron, Fate) and plants her own herbs in a courtyard garden. She smells of jasmine and honey, which have medicinal properties: one is used to improve sleep and the other is used to treat burns. 

The wise and peaceful medwitches in Midgard remind me of Crochan witches in Erilea, who were scattered to the winds and used healing to hide their heritage:

They were still out there, the self-righteous, insufferable Crochans, hiding as healers and wise-women. (hof)

We also witness extensive healing magic from humans blessed by Silba in Antica, and as I mentioned in forbidden secrets, they seem to share some pointed parallels with Elain as well.

It was broad, more of a keep than anything, but still rounded. Buildings flanked its sides, connected on lower levels. All enclosed by towering white walls, the iron gates—fashioned to look like an owl spreading its wings—thrown wide to reveal lavender bushes and flower beds lining the sand-colored gravel walkways. Not flower beds. Herb beds. (tod)

We learn that Maeve surrounded herself with healers because of the threat they pose to the Valg, and in the scene below, a Valg princess calls the healers Maeve's secret army:

“Why do you think Maeve has hoarded her healers, never allowing them to leave her patrolled borders? She knew we would return. She wanted to be ready—to protect herself. Her prized favorites, those Doranelle healers. Her secret army.” Duva hummed, motioning with the dagger to the necropolis. “How clever those Fae were, who escaped her clutches after the last war. They ran all the way here—the healers who knew their queen would keep them penned up like animals. And then they bred the magic into the land, into its people. Encouraged the right powers to rise up, to ensure this land would always be strong, defended. And then they vanished, taking their treasures and histories beneath the earth. Ensuring they were forgotten below, while their little garden was planted above.” (tod)

The fae healers bred magic into the land, into its people…then they vanished beneath the earth…forgotten…while their little garden was planted above. THEIR LITTLE GARDEN?! I've wondered elsewhere if Elain might heal the land, but what if, like Doranelle healers, Elain is weaving magic into the ground because of something she has Seen? What if she is endlessly toiling in her little gardens not just to restore life, but to cultivate the right magic to rise up and bloom, in defense of her family and the realm?

@offtorivendell has theorized that Elain might weaponize plants, like Ents, which would be so much fun to read. I would love to see her use (or sing to) living things around her, as @silverlinedeyes theorized, to uncover secrets and protect others (like a forest witch would). There are so many possibilities for how gardening will come into play in her story. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to see her little gardens become secret weapons that are critical for the future. At the very least, we know that it has a symbolic purpose, as the quote I started this post with suggests: it is the lens through which we see Elain's evolution and role. Feyre starts the series believing this about her sister:

It wasn’t meanness that kept her from offering to help; it simply never occurred to her that she might be capable of getting her hands dirty. (acotar)

Then she sees her sister come alive in her garden, where she is able to exert control and create beautiful art with blooms. Her joy is infectious.

The little garden beneath the window was hers: every bloom and shrub had been picked and planted by her hand; she would allow no one else to care for it. Even the weeding and watering she did on her own. (acotar)

And we also see the moment when Feyre’s perspective shifts, and she begins to wonder if Elain prefers to get her hands dirty; if it's proof of her work.  

“Enchanted gloves,” she read from the card. “That won’t tear or become too sweaty while gardening.” She set aside the box without looking at it for longer than a moment. And I wondered if she preferred to have torn and sweaty hands, if the dirt and cuts were proof of her labor. Her joy. (acofas)

We’re then reminded of this evolution in the Feysand bonus chapter:

I glowered at Rhys. “You think Elain’s boring?” 

“I think she’s kind, and I’ll take kindness over nastiness any day. But I also think we haven’t yet seen all she has to offer.” A corner of his mouth tugged upward. “Don’t forget that gardening often results in something pretty, but it involves getting one’s hands dirty along the way.” 

“And torn up by thorns,” I mused, recalling a morning this past summer when Elain had come into the house, her right palm bleeding from several gashes thanks to a stubborn rosebush that had pierced her gloves. The thorns had broken off in her skin, leaving sharp splinters that I’d had to pull free. (feysand bonus)

It’s interesting that Feysand discuss Elain’s hands in their bonus chapter: gardeners often get their hands dirty for a pretty result (living art). And then, in Azriel's bonus, he thinks about how Elain couldn't possibly know how his hands have been sullied far beyond their scars (by his deadly art). Sully is a synonym for soil, which means to make dirty. Soil is often used to describe the upper layer of the earth where plants grow, bringing us full circle.

Sarah could run with this hand imagery in a few different ways, but it reminds me of someone else in another world who also bloodies their hand on a rosebush…

Dorian held up his bloodied hand. “Thornbush.” Rosebush made his cuts seem that much more pathetic.

“The hand is—very complex,” she murmured at last, studying the cuts. “I just wanted to make sure that nothing was damaged and that there weren’t any thorns lodged in there.” She swiftly added, “Your Highness.” (com)

Why do I keep coming back to Dorian? Although he is heavily involved with the witches in tog, he is not a witch. So what is he doing here? It will lead back to healers and witches so stay with me. Dorian evolves over the series and becomes a force to be reckoned with; his raw magic allows him to learn other types of magic, including how to shift and wield magical hands.

His hands trembled—and not just with fear. No, there was some force still running through him, begging him to unleash it again, to open himself up … Dorian crammed the last book back onto the shelf and took off at a run. He could tell no one. Trust no one. (com)

-

Chaol stared at Dorian in mute horror as his friend’s eyes glowed a deep, raging blue, and the prince snarled at the king, “Don’t you touch him.” The ice spread across the room, up the legs of the shocked guards, freezing over Sorscha’s blood, and Dorian got to his feet. He raised both hands, and light shimmered along his fingers, a cold breeze whipping through his hair. (com)

Anyone else think Dorian’s snarl sounds a lot like Elain’s snarled don’t touch my sister? Yeah, me too. In Seed of power, I wondered if Elain possessed raw magic like Dorian, and before I’m accused of giving her excessive powers, I think this might be the case for all three witchy sisters. They are blessed by fate and gifted with powers to match Rhysand whose power is described as raw. When Rhysand uses Feyre as a conduit in acowar, her magic comes out as raw, brutal power to weld the Cauldron back together. It reminds me of this:

"Once, the High Fae were more elemental, more given to reading the stars and crafting masterpieces of art and jewelry and weaponry. Their gifts were rawer, more connected to nature, and they could imbue objects with that power." (acosf)

Feyre welded the Cauldron and Nesta hammered swords, creating her own trove of nightmares. Elain will likely craft something with her magic as well, and it may be the other side of the coin to Nesta's nightmares: a trove of dreams. It could be witch mirrors hidden in ordinary jewelry, or even herbs with the power to heal and kill, if she can weaponize plants.

Now back to Dorian and the reason I mentioned him in the first place. He uses phantom hands, as @ladynightcourt3 has pointed out before:

Then those claws were pinned in the wood beneath phantom hands as Dorian sauntered over, face so unyieldingly unmoved. The Bloodhound thrashed, those claws trying to wrench free— The creature screamed as those invisible hands crunched down on bone. Then through it. […] It was not flame or wind that snapped the Bloodhound’s neck. But invisible hands. (eos) 

Interesting. This reminds me of another phantom hand, albeit a bit gentler:

And as it faded, dark ink splashed upon Nesta’s back, visible through her half-shredded shirt, as if it were a wave crashing upon the shore. A bargain. With the Cauldron itself. Yet Cassian could have sworn a luminescent, gentle hand prevented the light from leaving her body altogether. (acosf) 

This gentle, glowing hand intervenes on Nesta’s behalf, and it seems to be connected to the wise, soft voice.

A soft, familiar voice whispered the words. As they had been whispered to her long ago. As it had warned her in Oorid’s darkness. A lovely, kind female voice, sage and warm, which had been waiting for her all this time. (acosf)

This gentle hand and voice also seem like the Other Yrene bargains with in an important healing. The Other is most likely Silba, the goddess of healers and bringer of peace and gentle deaths, in Erilea. The one who is associated with owls and purple and healing magic. 

A woman’s voice that was both familiar and foreign. A voice that was both Hafiza’s and … another. Someone who was not human, never had been. Speaking through Hafiza herself, their voices blending into the blackness.

[…]

A daughter of Fenharrow will pay the debt of a son of Adarlan? 

Yes. 

She could have sworn a gentle, warm hand brushed her face.

[…]

The Other said, You offer this of your own free will? 

Yes. With my entire heart. 

It had been his from the start, anyway. Those loving, phantom hands brushed her cheek again and faded away.

[…]

The Other said, I chose well. You shall pay the debt, Yrene Towers. And I hope you shall see it for what it truly is. 

Yrene tried to speak. But light flared, soft and soothing. (tod)

The Other is not named, but it says it chose well and we know that Yrene was blessed with powers by Silba, so it seems likely that this is Silba’s voice. Interestingly, one of the healers also mentions Death:

Before Yrene could answer, Chaol demanded, “What cost?” 

A stillness crept over them, and even Yrene looked to Hafiza as the woman extracted herself from Eretia’s care. The Healer on High said quietly, “The damage was too great. Even with all of us…Death held you by the hand.” (tod)

This scene shares so many parallels with the Feysand rescue; it is a powerful healing with a high cost. We learn through Yrene that healers can sense when death is near, which is one of their less savory abilities. Death lurks near Feyre before Nesta uses the Trove, and that is when an otherworldly being looks out from her eyes. The Feysand healing would have taken place after the gods were banished from Erilea, and we did not actually witness their deaths. Is it possible the Mother is connected to Silba?

There is also a place beneath the Torre called Silba’s Womb where healers soak in natural spring waters in the form of dozens of tubs. The darkness Yrene senses in this underground cavern is connected to creation, rest and unformed thought, reminding me of Elain’s iron mental gates that are covered with sleeping buds, leaves, and thorns. This sleeping garden could be a hint for a dormant power like Dorian’s; when his sleeping power is awoken, it is described as something ancient and slumbering deep inside of him, and it opens an eye.

And the darkness above her … it was different from what she had spied in Lord Westfall’s body. The opposite of that blackness. The darkness above her was that of creation, of rest, of unformed thought. Yrene stared into it, into the womb of Silba herself. And could have sworn she felt something staring back. Listening, while she thought through all Lord Westfall had told her. (tod) 

Silba’s dark womb of creation is also eerily similar to the dark womb that Nesta senses in the depths of the library:

There was night, and there was the darkness of extinguishing a candle, and then there was this. Not only the true absence of light, but … a womb. The womb from which all life had come and would return, neither good nor evil, only dark, dark, dark. […] Her name drifted to her as if rising from the depths of some black ocean. […] The darkness pulsed, beckoning. (acosf)

The healing magic we see in tog reminds me quite a bit of the Cauldron, which is that dark womb Nesta mentioned. Healing light not only weaves things together, but devours darkness:

More of the world faded away. I am not afraid of you, Yrene said into the dark. And you have nowhere to run. Duva thrashed, trying to unseat Yrene's grip. Yrene pressed down harder on her chest. Time slowed and bent. She was dimly aware of the ache in her knees, the cramp in her back. Dimly aware of Sartaq and Kashin refusing to offer their position to someone else. Still Irene sent her magic flowing into Diva. Filling her with that devouring light. [...] "Utterly pathetic," Yrene repeated, her magic rallying behind her in a mighty, cresting white wave. "For a prince to prey on a helpless woman." The demon scrambled back against the wave, clawing at the dark as if it would tunnel through Duva. Yrene pushed forward. Let her wave fall.

Yrene's tidal wave of light devours the dark of the Valg like the thread of Hope piercing the Void. The language is similar to the wave imagery of the Cauldron and Elain’s white void when she is overcome by despair and strange new powers. If her void is not the typical dark nothingness but white, could her healing power be opalescent light that devours the darkness? As bright as the sunstone palace of Dawn that holds the light of a thousand suns, piercing the shadows of night each morning?

If Silba and the Mother are connected (one and the same, or part of the same consciousness of formless, higher beings), could Elain—a seer with theoretical raw magic that can heal and destroy and everything in between—act as their watchful guardian, an otherworldly bird of prey?

Even though it perched atop a gnarled branch of iron that flowed across the door itself, wings flared wide as it prepared to leap into the skies, it seemed … alert. Aware of all who passed that door, who perhaps gazed too long in the direction of the workshop. (tod)

Perhaps time and space also work differently for her, as they do for the Ancients.

Next: The Ancients, or Elain’s connection to ancient witches.

Series: seer. wise woman. witch.

[hiddenwashington]

@lavendaers said: okay, dropping a few more lehabah, rhiannon crochan ii and scarlett dragna. and can i reserve amy raudenfeld from faking it?

no problemo, sunshine! lehabah, rhiannon crochan ii and scarlett dragna are now reopened for applications, this is a mumu - please do not unfollow! amy raudenfeld (faking it) is reserved for l until 3/20 at 11:14 am est!

[pergaminaa]

Fuck I can’t sleep because I keep thinking of what happened in Empire of Storms

The part where the Blackbeak Matron revealed who and what Manon is…

“You are a Crochan.”

“And you’re going to die like one of them by the time I’m finished with you.”

I mean, she knew all along what Manon was and she kept that to herself for a hundred and seventeen years. Just… molding Manon into a monster that would do her bidding. But this is all she saw her as- she never cared for her or loved her. And Manon has lived her whole life trying to impress this woman who never saw her more than a mere tool. Probably satisfied with how she turned her against her own blood, her own people without her realizing it.

I mean, Manon killed Rhiannon without asking any questions. She does what her grandmother wants, no questions asked. And that woman never acknowledged it, she never let on that Manon has done the right thing or anything like it.

Honestly, her grandmother never loved her while she spent her whole life trying to gain her approval. The Matron only saw her as a Crochan that she can use for her own sick enjoyment.

[tragcdysewn]

was that emilia clarke? oh no no, that was just manon blackbeak, a canon character from throne of glass. they are one hundred and sixteen years old, use she/her, and are aware that they are not actually from washington dc. too bad they can’t stray from this city for long.

how long has your character been here:

a little under a year

what is your character’s job:

no. she doesn’t work, how dare you expect her to

where has your character been pulled from in their fandom:

the end of kingdom of ash

has any magic affected your character:

nope!

bonus info:

this is my beautiful lethal witch baby manon. i love her to death and so should you. she is the daughter of two warring witch species, the ironteeth and the crochans, and her parents believed she would be the key to uniting the witches and bringing them home to their native lands. her mother, lothian, the heir to the cruelest of the ironteeth clans, the blackbeaks, told manon’s grandmother who her father was right after her birth. her grandmother murdered her mother in cold blood and named manon the new heir, telling the clan lothian had died in childbirth. she later tracked down manons father, tristan, and killed him as well, but not before promising to turn the daughter he’d searched for into a brutal weapon. she succeeded, and manon became the leader of the ruthless coven the thirteen, gaining the title the white demon among the crochans, after she hunted down and slaughtered many of them, believing her grandmothers claims that she was born soulless.

after the ironteeth allied with a demonic king and took several witches to breed new demons, manon began to doubt her grandmothers ‘wisdom’ for the first time. she killed another witch to save the good kings life, and her grandmother demanded her second in commands life in return. during the execution, manon turned on her grandmother, who revealed her lineage during the duel, along with the fact that the most recent crochan she’d slaughtered was her half sister, rhiannon. the thirteen got away, but manon barely survived, her wyvern bringing her to the king she’d saved for help. after she healed, she found the crochans, and convinced them she meant no harm. she killed one of the ironteeth matrons, and took the crochans stolen crown from them. the crochans named her their new queen. she convinced many ironteeth to rebel, and led her witches into battle against the demon king, finally slaughtering her grandmother, though her thirteen were lost in a sacrifice to stop his ultimate weapon. now she has returned her people to their home, and united under one queen, just as her parents wished.

though she isn’t soulless, she is not soft. she will kill you with no hesitation, and has razor sharp iron teeth and nails to do it. and while this isn’t used in canon, as she is part crochan, she has access to crochan magic, a very different magic than the ironteeth, but she’s still learning.

[lavendaers]

@mcrcki rhiannon crochan ii for sorrel blackbeak

the other looked familiar to rhiannon. she felt familiar to her, but she couldn't quite put a finger on why. at least, not until she met her gaze. she moved towards her, her curiosity getting the better of her. "you're a witch."

[clvtte]

Manon Blackbeak and Rhiannon Crochan, as Queen of spades ♠️

[witching-by-the-willow]

Okay, but what kind of magic do the Crochans have?

They took after their Fae heritage, so if the Ironteeth have teeth and nails from taking after the Valg, the Crochans must have had some kind of power to match that from the Fae...? (Also, when Manon mentions the yielding for the first time, she says "Ironteeth witches" do it in dire circumstances, since they don't have any other well of magic. It specifically mentions Ironteeth witches here.)

We know the Crochans do have some kind of magic because Glennis could amplify her voice like Gavriel, and there has to be some way Rhiannon Crochan was able to channel Mala's essence to forge the lock...?

Oh, and however the hell was that memory mirror made? Like, It literally took Manon and Aelin's bodies, and transported them to a whole other dimension!! Hell, it even got Elena's spirit in there. What kind of sorcery that??? 👀

[acourtofcouture]

The Crochan Witches, 5/?