#the seers ability is a little boring to me

[artificer-real]

having a normal time in rainworld tonight

[thisblogisaboutabook]

Rainy Season

Azriel x Reader

An angsty little one shot. Azriel’s mate is tired of being at the bottom of his list of priorities.

Update: Due to popular demand, this is being made into a series!

Part 2

The air’s getting heavy and we both know why

There was a time when an evening like this brought solace to my weary soul.

Azriel’s hand wrapped around my waist, caressing my stomach, pressing soft kisses to the juncture of my neck and shoulder. His hair tickling against my sensitive skin as we hid under blankets absorbing the incessant melody of drip, drop, drip, drop and the echoing pitter patter of rain drops hitting the roof. His warmth seeping right through to the coldest depths of my soul.

I’d turn around, pressing my bare breasts against his muscled chest. Our breath hitching as his sunburst eyes of brown, amber, and gold bore into mine, his soft lips whispering promises of forever.

Say that this storm is just passing through

But Azriel wasn’t here. He hadn’t been for 6 days, 23 hours, and 50 minutes now. It would have been laughable, comparing the past to now, if it weren’t so damned sad. In the beginning there’d been long, doting love notes with risqué quips regarding his intentions upon coming home, little gifts that he couldn’t resist bringing back from his travels, and the stolen hours where he’d sneak in a visit during the intermittent downtime on his missions. As a realist, I knew that it was not sustainable long-term but relished in it as the gift it was. Newly formed, passionate love that exceeded anything I had ever imagined upon finding my cauldron-blessed mate.

As the years went on I understood when the love notes became briefs and the thoughtful gifts became pecks on the cheek as he hurried through the door to exchange his leathers for clean ones, wipe down his weapons, and rest before his next mission. But time went on, as is inevitable, and distant were the memories of stolen moments away from missions, the desperate caress of his hands roaming my body as if he couldn’t quite believe I was fully corporeal before him - needing to touch me to reassure him that this was real. Now the touches were detached, perfunctory, another task on his never-ending to-do list.

Drop after drop we’re destroying this house and eachother.

The boiling point had been simmering for a while, left on the fire with reassurances of “Things are just busy right now”, “It’ll slow down soon”, “I would stay if I could, love. You know I would. I have no choice.”

But we both knew all too well that there was always a choice. There were times when Rhys let it slip that Azriel had volunteered for missions that his other spies were perfectly suited for, times when all I wanted in the world was to be curled up and listening to the rain with my mate.

Missions became tasks with the Valkyries, “chaperoning” Cassian and Nesta, and emotionally supporting the lovely doe-eyed fawn - Elain - who was the delicate cherry blossom of spring opposite of my wild summertime storm.

It wasn’t her fault. The trauma inflicted upon her, the loss of autonomy that came with being thrown into the cauldron and having her mortality stripped away without her say. The powers she never asked for overwhelming her senses. Hell, maybe it wasn’t Azriel’s fault for responding to the traumas of his past and the need to overcompensate for every ounce of blood he’s drawn by saving anything and everything that needed rescuing.

The problem lay with the fact that where Elain is a “seer”, my ability to “sense” when things are amiss was strong and Azriel’s intentions with her were becoming blurred. Feelings of lust had become more frequent down the bond along with flutters of joy and adoration. When it began I thought maybe things would look up in our relationship - he was missing me, fisting his cock to fantasies of taking me over and over when he returned home - but he only became more distant. He’d return more often than not smelling of jasmine and honey. The strength of the scent coating him correlating with the increase in enamored feelings slipping through the bond.

Six days ago when I’d asked him to skip out on training with Cassian and Nesta and whatever it was he and Elain would do - that was when the thunder clapped and the sky opened. “I can’t just stay home and cater to you all the time. I have duties to this court. Why can’t you find a hobby to occupy your time? Nesta reads and trains with the Valkyries, Feyre paints, Elain gardens and she evens bakes! Why can’t you be more like-“

He caught himself too late, immediately reaching out to place a gentle hand on my shoulder and apologize but it was too late for that.

Please, make it stop

It wasn’t that I wasn’t a forgiving or understanding person. i appreciated his dedication to his court and family and those in need but…

“Why can’t I be more like what? You can stop mid-sentence but you already said it all.” I looked down, shaking my head as silver lined my eyes. Gods, I hate that I’m an angry crier. “You want to know why I can’t be more like Elain in your eyes, Azriel? Because I exist in your fucking blind spot! I have been helping Feyre AT the studio, volunteering at a food pantry in Velaris, and teaching self-defense classes to women and children at the park but you wouldn’t know because you never ask me what I’ve been up to while you’re gone.”

He started to speak but I wasn’t finished. “The reason I cannot be more like Elain, or Feyre, or Nesta is because I’m none of them. I am ME. And you know what? I like me. I don’t want to be anybody else.” Trying and failing miserably to hold my head high I pathetically fell to my knees, shuddering as tears of rage flowed freely.

Warmth enveloped me as Azriel knelt down to soothe my quaking form. I let him if only because I didn’t have the composure to tell him otherwise as he began pressing kisses to my forehead. “I’m so sorry. I have been a terrible mate. I love all that you are- I- I’ll stop with Elain. She’s doing much better and Nuala and Cerridwen can keep an eye on her, so can Rhys and Cassian, and her sisters. It will be okay.”

That consolation attempt only drove the blade of bitterness deeper into my heart. Elain had so many in her corner and who did I have anymore? My chronically absent mate? The family I left behind to move to Velaris with Azriel? There was nobody close by.

“I think you should leave.” I sobbed out.

Azriel ignored the shaky command, continuing to hold me. Fuck - is this what it took for him to notice me? Breaking my heart so he could stitch it back up again?

“Azriel.” I stated firmly.

He met my eyes.

“You should leave.”

His look grew puzzled. “I thought you wanted me to stay - to spend time together? Please, Y/N. Let me make this better.”

“I need space. Give me one week.”

“But-“

“One. Week.”

Azriel’s shoulders slumped, head hanging low for several minutes before realizing that my decision was firm.

“I love you.” He said before heading out the door.

——————

Like clockwork as 7 days, 0 hours, and 1 minute were up, the front door to our home opened and Azriel’s footsteps padded in behind me, my gaze remaining fixated on the rain falling outside the window. A lump formed in my throat as I avoided turning to meet his gaze.

So dance one more dance and tell one more lie.

Azriel stepped around me, wordlessly extending a hand, patiently waiting as I avoided his gaze a moment longer before taking it. His shadows began humming faintly, increasing their melody and reaching a crescendo as Azriel began dancing with me through the room.

Say that you love me even if it’s not true

I let myself melt into the warmth of his chest. The thick air remained heavy upon my soul but I could have this. I could let myself enjoy this moment.

We wordlessly danced through the room in the soft glow of the fae lights.

We made our way through the hall into our shared bed that had become so neglected.

“I love you, Y/N.” he murmured as he laid me down, stripped bare underneath him.

“I love you too, Azriel.”

——————

Wish I could just say it and words were enough to keep you from being the one giving up.

The middle of the night left me restless as he lay soundly asleep beside me. My senses tugged me toward his bag that he’d discarded at the entryway. I brought out his dirty clothes from the week only to be greeted with the fresh scent of jasmine and honey.

Like the sky letting go for no reason

I packed my essentials and voyaged out into the pouring rain. Its patter on my skin washing away the salty tears streaming down my face. Following my senses to where the love was true back to my Summer Court home, my family. As free as a summer storm.

It's just the rainy season.

—————————————

A/n - I know there are plenty of Azriel x Reader and Elain fics out there. It was rainy and dreary here yesterday and this song was in my head for the first time in like 10 years so…. I wrote this.

[rootspiral]

Agatha All Along deep dive: episode 4 part 7

(Wandavision entries: [1][2][3])

(AAA entries: ep1 [1][2][3][4] ep2 [1][2][3][4] ep3 [1][2][3] ep4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][+1] ep5 [1][2][3][4][5] ep6 [1][2][3] ep7 [1][2][3][4][5][6] ep8 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] ep9 [1][2][3][4][5][6])

THIS IS THE LAST EPISODE 4 ENTRY I SWEAR

agatha: why yes I'm listening politely because I'm being sociable, not because this story concerns me in any way shape or form

she did NOT want TO DO IT AGATHA. HE WAS HER SON TOO AGATHA. did you ever give her a chance to SAY any of THAT. damn rio is (metaphorically) fighting for her life here. waiting centuries to catch her wife with her guard down next to a random fire, and then reworking her LONG PLANNED SPEECH into bite sized easily digestible bits so that her emotionally stunted soulmate doesn't run away screaming

I was doing MY DAMN FUCKING JOB agatha

agatha looks away like whooops! wasn't listening! wasn't looking at you! no sir, not me!

that's right. acknowledge her feelings. show her that you understand but that you're hurting too. be mature. you're doing great. god the way she swallows and stares right ahead, so determined. this is such a crucial moment for her.

agatha: i'm stone cold. I'm a wall. this is not affecting me in the slightest. I'm bored, really.

lilia not missing a word of what rio's saying

lmao the neutral pronoun lasted two seconds. she's not even trying to pretend like she isn't talking about agatha. and the way she nods to herself like yes, I did the best I could with this. so, there.

"she is my scar" is going to the sapphic annals, isn't it?

LMAOOOO the unblinking cat stare. rio is like I WAS TALKING TO YOU DUM-DUM. I KNOW IT, YOU KNOW IT, EVERYONE AROUND THIS GODDAMN FIRE KNOWS IT. CAN YOU PLEASE PLEASE FUCKING TALK TO ME PLEASE DEAR GOD

and agatha doing a teeny tiny side glance and going whoooooooops not looking! I'm NOT looking! I'm not even here! and scrunching her face more and more trying to keep it blank

AND she's gone. she's so predictable lmaooo. every dang time.

awkwaaaaaard

rio with her soft smile again! with the little amused eye roll! never getting mad at agatha's antics. she's like FINE I'll come after you, you BIG BABY. the patience this woman has

lilia is so scared of rio because somehow, through her exceptional Seer abilities, she knew instinctively that this is her mortal foe. but something funny has just happened: here in front of her there's just a regular little guy, a bit odd maybe, doing her little thing, trying to talk to her ex. might it be... might it be that death isn't a monster, that it's just a thing, a strange but natural thing that happens to everybody? lilia cannot accept that quite yet. so she grabs rio and says no, no. I've seen what you are. you're scary, you're evil, you're dangerous. this is lilia's survival instincts kicking in. we are simply wired to fear death, that's just how humans are. it takes an exceptional mind and soul to see past that.

oh god, here we go, here we go. deep breaths (I'm telling this to myself tbh. i need the pep talk)

stroking her hair so gently. soft, tentative.

hey, subtitle people??? what the fuck??

rio just stands and stares. lets agatha decide what comes next, goes at her pace always

the haiR CARESSING

the HUG. the BIG SIGH. this bitch was running away screaming from rio just yesterday. and here she is. her love. her partner. she finally acknowledges rio's pain and all that they lost and all that they were (and still are tbh) to each other. THIS is what rio was looking for. she's not flirting to manipulate and deflect now, she's not being somebody else. this is agatha cracked open and bleeding love and sorrow

and they melt into each other, and they're rocking each other back and forth, with all their pain and tenderness and longing

agatha with her face buried in rio's shoulder. I'm unwell

and then agatha gently pushes rio back and strokes her hair and cradles her face like she did so many times before and leans in and here I am giving you a play-by-play and running a commentary like a totally normal and sane person would

you know what makes for a perfect onscreen kiss imo? no it's not tongue, although these two will give us plenty of that too. it's the TREMBLING. THE HESITATION. THE YEARNING.

rio and her superhuman willpower. couldn't be me.

and and and and and agatha looks at her puzzled for a second and doesn't register what's happening and dives for a kiss again she's so far gone. the feral animal noises I'm making you have no idea

THE ICY SHOWER

THE STEP BACK. THE MOST PAINED SMILE

THE REGRET

I think one big reason why agatha is always so calculated is because she's afraid her instincts will take over. she does something big and spectacular and stupid and then calls it a 'calculated risk' when it was actually a rush of fear, desire, sorrow, anger that she couldn't control. tonight rio has managed to poke a little hole into a carefully constructed dam, and now all the water is rushing out and tearing down the walls. agatha has rio in her arms and her shape, her scent, her skin are so nostalgic and familiar. her brain goes on autopilot, she's been lonely for so long, she is FAMISHED for love and connection and sex and acceptance. rio wanted her to open up, but agatha doesn't do half-measures. rio wanted her to give for a change, but agatha can only ever take.

rio HAS to put a stop to it. she puts logic before heart, one of them has to and you know agatha isn't gonna. more than anything rio wants to take this one perfect moment and run away with it, but instead she tears herself away and asks, what happens next? what happens if I have to take billy away from you? that reanimated corpse, that freak of nature who walked into your life only yesterday and took over?

billy is now part of the equation and rio cannot ignore it. she has been so gentle and careful with agatha, easing her into a reconciliation that is now in jeopardy because here comes billy maximoff like a sword of damocles! what happens if agatha takes her back only for rio to break her heart all over again? there would be no coming back from that. rio cannot help being the grim reaper just as much as agatha cannot help being a succubus, and she is almost at her breaking point here. because she is hurting too! she is sick of having to be the mature one! she's sick of always coming in second after all of agatha's issues! turns out there's a limit even to the heartbreak an impossibly old and wise being can take.

(and now I need a smoke and a future episode that is just 30 minutes of hot but soft cuddles and kisses and sweet nothings. please.)

once again a big shoutout and thank you to all the people reaching out and leaving comments, it's incredible to hear from you all @crybabyheathen @onceuponalegendbg @idkbroletssee @psychicsolanum @73chn1c0l0rr3v3l @a-tad-bit-obsessed @a-rusty-bucket-of-woes @miacheezytoon @isagrimorie @april-december @aquaaquila and I'm probably forgetting someone but I see you all and I appreciate you so much!

and now for something extra

[pepsiiwho]

The heat of Apollo’s stare feels weak to the too warm hand gripping Hypnos’ chin, pulling him in and forcing their eyes to meet. The incarnates, for all their posturing as merely means to an end and nothing more than aspects of Chaos, knew themselves to be divine and godly to some degree. But here, feeling the soft, blemish free skin of a real god— hypnos feels wildly inadequate.

Apollo stares at him, unblinking and bored. There’s something crazed, in those bright eyes of his. That much is proven as he leans in further breathing the incarnate in, taking the air from his lungs with each inhale. “I should seer my image behind your eyes.” Apollo whispers. “Have you see me in the waking world and your domain”

Hypnos hums, unable to look away. He doesn’t know when they started talking so lowly, murmuring into the other’s mouth and the ridge of his nose and the flat skin of the cheek. “I need not close my eyes to sleep, my lord”

“You jest”

“I’ve been told I’m incredibly unfunny, actually”

A god domineering his space like this was, or rather, should’ve been distinctly uncomfortable. It was, a part of his screamed out from the back of his mind. The louder, more front facing part of him leaned into the warmth, letting his back arch off the wall and hands wind around the smaller God’s hips. Was every Olympian so warm? So whole? His kin ranged in size and shape but the stockier, cold dispositions of his siblings was absent in every Olympian hypnos had met.

Zagreus too, was warm. Maybe Hypnos had a type.

The thought is cut short, going taught before falling limp as Apollo finally closes the gap and kisses him. In an instant, hypnos understand’s melinoe’s little boy shade intimately. Needing this, chasing this.

“Think only of me. Not whatever daydreams plague you while your sun is out”

He’d nod, if he had the space. Or the ability to pull back from the God’s searing kiss.

[konstantynowitz]

Lestrange Sr. headcanons

Lestrange sr was the grandson of former Minister for Magic Radolphus Lestrange. It became a family tradition to give the boys within the Lestrange family a name that bore the first initial ‘R’ after Radolphus.

I headcanon Lestrange sr’s first name to be Radolphus in honor of his grandfather, so he’d technically be Radolphus Lestrange II.

His nicknames are Rudolph or Ru (but anyone besides Tasoula who dares call him these is a dead man).

Other than being British, he is of German and French descent.

Lestrange had three children with his wife Tasoula Shafiq: Rodolphus, Rabastan and Renissa. Renissa is Lestrange’s youngest child and only daughter, and in spite of being a girl she was included in the family tradition of being given a name that started with an ‘R’.

He and Tasoula were a love match, they were betrothed to each other since by their parents since they were seven. The match may not have been their choice in the beginning but they were undoubtedly soulmates.

Lestrange definitely had his fair share of relationships outside of his betrothal to Tasoula, but believe me when I say she was his queen. If he had to choose over his side whores and her, it would be her without question. She is the only one he ever truly loved.

He became a Knight of Walpurgis in his fifth year at Hogwarts when Riddle first started recruiting. Lestrange was second in command of the Knights, if Tom wasn’t there then Lestrange was in charge. Even since the early days of the Death Eaters the Lestrange family always held a position of power amongst Voldemort’s followers.

Close friends with Rosier Sr. — judging by the the French branch of the Lestrange family tree I’d say the two were probably distant cousins.

Lestrange is a seer, which was both a gift and a curse. He passed this ability onto his eldest son Rodolphus Lestrange.

He spoiled his children rotten, especially Renissa. She was daddy’s little princess in all regards. He’d do anything for her, she was the mini version of Tasoula and Lestrange adored her. There was nothing he wouldn’t give her, she was his whole world.

Lestrange held high expectations for Rodolphus as he was the eldest of his children. There was no doubt that when Rodolphus got older he would become a Death Eater like his father, much to Tasoula’s chagrin, although there was nothing she could really do about it.

Rabastan was of course going to follow in his father and older brother’s footsteps. All the sons of Voldemort’s Knights went on to become Death Eaters, especially if they were from prominent pure-blood families such as the Lestranges.

Radolphus and Tasoula would never disown their children if they decided not to fall in line with their family’s purist beliefs. This is mostly because Tasoula refused to abandon her children, she loved her sons and daughter too fiercely to ever cast them out. If Radolphus ever disowned one of his children then he better be prepared to lose his wife as well because wherever her kids go, she goes.

Don’t get me wrong, Radolphus was a pure-blood supremacist, he hates muggles and he doesn’t want them anywhere near his family, nor does he want any of his kids to defend or protect the very people threatening the magical integrity of the wizarding world. But family is family and he loves his kids and Tasoula, and I don’t think he’d be willing to just let them go like that.

Radolphus definitely had this talk with Tasoula when Walburga disowned Sirius. Tasoula was probably the one who started this conversation saying something along the lines of: “you can cast them out, you can disown them and pretend they never existed, but if you do that then you may as well erase me too, because wherever my children go, I go.”

I don’t think Radolphus would have ever considered disowning any of his kids anyway. I believe the Lestranges are a really loyal, tight knit family and they look after their own. After all their family motto is: Corvus oculum corvi non eruit (The raven did not pluck out the raven's eye), which essentially means they’d never betray each other.

[fullmetall]

@feuhrer said: [ . . . ]

GROWLING, SNARLING; THE SHINE OF GNASHING TEETH, a stench so foul and coppery upon beast’s tongue. something beyond animal instinct shines in wild eyes, a strange and scary sort of intelligence. you’ve seen these eyes before, deep blue and widened in terror, brimming with tears but still trusting you completely, believing you’d be the one to save her from this.

p—lease . . .

you freeze. the voice crawling from creature’s throat sounds wrong, wrong, wrong.

big . . . br—other . . ?

the mutts can talk and you know this. you’ve known this for weeks, now; a bizarre take on city strays, ravenous and bloodthirsty things, with the uncanny ability to mimic the human voice. you’d called them uninspired at first, attempting to calm nina when she’d first heard them- surely no one would falter at such an obvious trick, right?

h—elp! ed—ward! big brrrrrr—oth—er!

you realize your mistake only as the beast lunges. right arm comes to cover your face as left hand fumbles for the knife on your belt. too slow. the weight of the mutt knocks you onto your back. eager teeth tear into your arm, iron jaws clamped tight, gnawing and shaking until white

hot pain seers through your body and the

limb is pulled

clean of f

a light tapping on the table. a cup of coffee sat in front of him. the steady whir as capitol train speeds on.

i can tell you’re not fully here with me.

‘ mmh. ‘ ed sinks into his seat a bit, left hand instinctively going to right arm, fingers tracing the plating through his shirt. he avoids roy’s steady gaze, instead choosing to rest his head against the window, staring out at the pinks and oranges of sunset. he sighs, sounding more bored than anything, ‘ just thinkin’ about excited i am for the rest of the tour, that’s all. ‘ he shoots roy a tight-lipped little smile as he finally starts to come back to himself. ‘ god, i’ll be glad when this is over. ‘

it’s never truly over, though, you have to keep reminding yourself of that. this is your life now, your little part to play; the little worm from district nine going against all odds by pulling himself to his feet and driving a blade between ezra’s ribs. you are district nine’s fullmetal victor, and that’s all you ever will be.

ed finally takes the offered mug, taps his fingers against it, metal clinking against ceramic. it’s strange, being unable to feel the smoothness of the mug, the heat from the coffee. before he can think too hard about it, he chugs his coffee and sets the mug down with another drawn-out sigh. ‘ man, district one oughta be fun, ‘ he mutters, sinking further into his seat. ‘ can hardly fuckin’ wait! ‘

[stargirlfeyre]

It makes sense for Feyre to have all the powers of the courts because it’s ties into the fact that she can’t be categorized as one thing. A big part of Feyre’s character is there isn’t one word to describe her. She’s not ice cold or over sweet. And her powers symbolizes that.

You can tell Sjm was trying to do the same with Nesta and Elain by giving Nesta “ice cold flames” or giving Elain seer abilities but it doesn’t work in their cases because their personalities weren’t really fleshed out that well.

We’re told Elain is observant but we rarely ever see it and if we do see it we eventually also see something going against that characteristic. Elain’s character is as contradictory as Nesta’s to me because one minute she’s kind and understanding but the next she’s ignorant and self centered. For example in Acosf when she genuinely didn’t understand why Nesta was upset about being in the HoW (I don’t even like Nesta but I understand about why she was upset about being in the HoW). She literally tells Nesta “it isn’t so bad” which is…? Or when in Acomaf she tells Feyre that she didn’t help because she “didn’t think she was capable” but that doesn’t make sense to me because if you don’t think you’re capable then why would you think your little sister is?

And all this happened after Acotar so y’all can’t use the excuse “they were just acting like cardboard cutouts of evil sisters”. Sjm wrote these things coming out of Elain’s mouth when she was setting her up to be a major character. Elain is just terribly written.

And in Nesta’s case…it’s just a mess. Her powers wouldn’t make so little sense to me if they were actually fleshed out. Okay I get it she’s a cold person and she has cold flames, cool. What else? Why would you say someone has the power of death if you aren’t going to let them use it? At all? And when it comes to her character/personality everything is a contradiction. We’re told she’s protective of Elain and she would tear the world apart to keep her safe yet when Elain is in danger and it’s time to actually put that into action��she does nothing? We’re told that she’s fiercely loyal but she turned her back on her sister and only friend the minute they acted in a way she didn’t like? We’re told she “loves more than anyone” but we literally never see that happen. There is nothing in the text supporting the belief that Nesta feels things more than other people.

And it’s always funny to me when Nesta or Elain fans say Feyre is boring when look at who they think is interesting? Two girls who were written in “tell not show” manners. Everything important about Nesta and Elain’s characterization is very surface level and when you dig deeper into them nothing about their character actually makes sense and I think that’s why I could never really like or connect with them.

[rainpebble3]

Snippets Someday!

Heh, so I think I was tagged by @thequeenofthewinter @dirty-bosmer @mareenavee @archangelsunited for this! Thank you for the tag and I'm happy to be able to get to it :D

Again, I'm not sure who has all been tagged or not so I apologise in advance for the multi tag <3 :) @paraparadigm @kookaburra1701 @orfeoarte @gilgamish @thana-topsy @tallmatcha @snippetsrus @rhiannon1199 @inquisitiondragonborn @the-storytellers-seer @elfinismsarts @friend-of-giants @saltymaplesyrup @changelingsandothernonsense @thelightofmorning

Rules:

Rules: Revisit an old fic (or earlier chapters of your current WIP) and share a snip from: * Your first chapter * Your favorite chapter * Your most challenging chapter Alternatively, if you don't write longfic, feel free to share your one-shots. Provide as much or as little commentary as you want.

Seeeing as I mentioned in another post how precious my character Ailith is in her story "The Flames of Justice" (which is complete on AO3 😇) This story was something that was initially meant to be a 5 chapter intro to my fic Snarling Wolves but a friend betaread those first few chapters and she said she needed more to understand Ailith... so I gave her more. 70 chapters more than the original 5 :D

Despite all that I put her through I adore Ailith's character. She will always be so special with me, even if I'm painfully blocked on her latest adventures!

First Chapter - This is where we get to see some of Ailith in her brattiest state. She was described by some as a bit of a Malfoy!

"Miss Copperwing! Are we boring you?" The irritating voice of her teacher broke into her fantasy as he slammed a book on the desk at the front, making everyone jump. She felt the rest of the class eyeing her, hoping to see her taken down a peg or two. Ailith knew they didn't like her... they hated that she was better than them. She also knew she was the youngest in the group by at least ten years which was hugely resented, and she loved showing off in class.

Ignoring her classmates, she smirked at the stuffy Altmer at the front of the classroom. She released a heavy sigh before answering him. "Just a bit, Mr Spellock..." she drawled. As an added insult, she began to chew on a ragged fingernail.

She could almost taste the disapproval from her classmates as it rippled towards her. They tutted and shook their heads. She didn't care, they were dull morons and she enjoyed watching her teacher squirm. Despite beings an arrogant ass and always talking down to her, he wasn't even a master of anything, he hadn't earned the right to teach anyone.

"Well," he frowned for a second. He ran a hand through his golden hair before smirking, "I suppose, to perhaps save us some time, you wouldn't mind explaining to the class what the consequences of magika burnout are?" The class stared silently between the two mages.

"Burnout, hmm..." Ailith picked at an invisible thread on her robes, sounding bored. She gnawed on her lip and sighed more dramatically than necessary. "I guess that would be when you spread yourself out over too many fields causing rapid fatigue, hindered recovery and impaired casting. It could cost your life if you get too carried away or potentially weaken your abilities permanently... Oh! And we have to mention caster's flu, that's a nasty... nasty consequence there." She finished by sucking a breath through her teeth.

Ailith's mother had explained this to her when she discovered her daughter aged ten surrounded by spellbooks from all of the magic schools and practising novice level spells from each of them. Ailith's smirk widened into a grin as Mr Spellock shook his head and took a moment to compose himself. He was getting quite annoyed with her, but now it was the time to put the cherry on top. She stood up and stretched. Everyone blinked at her curiously.

My favourite chapter - Ohh. I don't know how to pick, there were so many fun chapters! I think I'll go for chapter 20 when Ailith gets a talking to from her beloved mentor for being her typically reckless self.

She jumped down and landed in the ash pile. It exploded upwards and Ailith coughed, flapping at the ash cloud.

“Ugh,” she groaned and gagged. It stank of burned troll hair, troll fat and general troll stench. She staggered away, brushing ash off her and followed the corridor into the first hall. Her boots echoed in the silent ruins as she retraced her steps. She soon spotted Master Bedail sitting on a broken pillar reading through the notes she had left with him earlier. He raised a hand warily as she approached.

He realised it was Ailith and smiled, “Hello my dear, how are you?”

“Good! I’m glad to see you here, I was worried.”

“Ah yes, I wasn’t able to get beyond this door. I suppose there was some rubble blocking it from the other side. I’ve been reading through your notes on the crystals… I believe they do have a purpose but I’m not sure what…”

“Oh! I know! I can show you, follow me!” Ailith grinned and turned to head back up to the entrance. She was so excited her walk quickly shifted into a jog.

“What did you find?” Master Bedail asked as he tried to keep up with Ailith who then sprinted towards the entrance.

“Look at these crystals, if we touch them we can see their original bindings!” She called out excitedly over her shoulder.

“How in the world did you discover that?”

“I touched it and felt the power! It was incredible! I read through an Ayleid lexicon before leaving so I picked up a few words, something about protecting the main chamber, intruders will die so on and so on.”

“And you wrapped your hand around this supposed weaponised light?!” His tone quickly lost its enthusiasm.

“Well, yes. It wasn’t activated by my presence, so I assumed it was safe, anyway, I undid the bindings on one and…”

“YOU WHAT?!” he spluttered.

Ailith froze. “I undid the bindings and used it to kill a troll…” she mumbled.

“For the love of Azura, girl!” He shook his head and Ailith felt an embarrassed flush travel up her cheeks. “Do you have any idea how dangerous it was?!”

Ailith opened her mouth to defend herself but Master Bedail continued, “That magic could have turned on you! It could have killed you or at the very least taken your arm! Do you want to lose part of yourself so easily?!”

“No, Master Bedail…” she bit her lip and blinked against the sting in her eyes. “I could feel the magic, it responded to me so I just… did it…”

He shook his head, “My dear, you must be so careful with your actions. These ruins are incredibly dangerous, their defences have endured for millennia. You may be skilled in magic, and I know you are a thorough researcher but…” he sighed heavily, “For your own safety, try not to be so impulsive with unfamiliar spells.”

Most challenging chapter - Like favourite chapter, I have so many to choose from. I think I shall settle for this snip from chapter 74, when Ailith is a guest at Blue River Prison (A Thalmor Prison mentioned in the Beyond Skyrim: Bruma mod which is one of my most favourit mods!!).

He released Ailith abruptly, pushing her back into the mud. Two guards came from behind her and wrapped her wrists in chains that were staked into the ground at different points, pinning Ailith there like a bear in a trap. She couldn’t move her arms and as she tried to steady her breathing, Rulindil crouched next to her. His beard tickled her neck as he whispered in her ear.

“You have permission to scream, Dartwing.”

Ailith looked behind him and watched some guards approach her with impeccably polished maces that shone menacingly in the rain. They came closer and closer as Rulindil stepped back. Ailith stared frantically between the crowd and the guards but there were no allies, only waves of faces wearing the same expressions of hunger and anger. She was so busy searching for someone who didn’t eye her with open hatred that she missed the swing of the first mace.

[heliinx]

Days. It’s been days. And she still reeks of blood.

Given all she’s been through, one would expect the priestess to be more high-strung, on-guard, frazzled and disturbed. And certaintly, there had been a time for that, such as when that brass hided brute had held her head to his jaw and used her magnificent horns as a toothpick.

Fury lit her blood. Heliinx clenched her teeth so hard she could feel them creak and her gums ache and bleed. Again, her eyes beheld the small bounty of Warpstone she’d managed to amass during her underground forays. She had no magic, and while Khazaan’s “training” had improved her martial ability, a Grey Seer’s true strength came from their aethyric gifts. And this blasted collar was draining that from her.

She could not even convince any of the daemonettes to help her take it off. Not even Lyss’ daemonettes.

It looks so pretty on you though. Maybe with a dye job, a gem studding or two or three. They had crooned in response. And so she was alone, with nothing but her pile of warpstone. Again, she eyed it and entertained mad, vengeful dreams of consuming all of it and mutating into something truly monstrous. Like she wasn’t already, with her claw and he hooves and her tusks--

But even a Chaos Spawn behemoth would be little more than a workout for the Bloodthirster. More importantly, she would die in the attempt. And she wasn’t quite that miserable. Not yet.

The desert was still. Her burrow was colder than it was usually, meaning night had fallen and her patron was likely asleep (he had spared her his company in that) at least. Yet, footsteps shifted above her. Heliinx hunkered down further in her small, multi-chambered home. This land was crawling with all kind of daemon beast and this must yet another one, seeking to make a meal of her...

The scent grew stronger-- something she couldn’t quite recognize. But something had definitely slipped into her burrow. Heliinx bore her teeth, the typical skaven terror that characterized their kind far away. She had dealt with a Bloodthirster, Bloodletters, two Daemon Princes-- what was some lily-livered scavenger creature at this point?

Whoever they were, they were silent, furtive, and as the seconds stretched on, Heliinx became surer of two things: One, there was more than just the single individual and two, they were intelligent. There were multiple scents. Her rudimentary traps had been triggered, but there was no sound of death or smell of gore to indicate anyone or anything had actually been trapped. Fear, just the slightest bit of it, tingered her growing fury. It turned into impulse, and impulse turned into:

“ Corward-cravens! If you mean to kill-slay me, come and fight! I do not have all night!”

It didn’t deter whoever they were, rather, it emboldened them. The pack of whomever closed in on her location and Heliinx could scarcely make them out, even in the warplight of her main chamber. She levelled her claw hand at what appeared to be biggest one. The leader-- well developed, black of fur, rangy with eyes as black as an endless pit.

Heliinx panted with rage and fear, but no attack came. The shapes kept their distance, doing little more than keep their distance, and as the adrenaline bled from her and cleared her vision, she could make them out. These were rats. Skaven. And not just any skaven. Two sniffs confirmed what fear had obscured from her senses: these were rats of Reave.

She felt elation, relief, dread, and suspicion. Heliinx’s razor claw stayed up.

“ Pale Lady of Reave. Master has sent us a long-long way to find you.” Said the familiar, deep rasp of the Master Assassin Espik. He bowed, as did the others.

“ It is good-pleasant to see you still live.”

Heliinx sniffed, doubting his ingenuity. Doubtless, her sire would’ve worn his hide should be she be dead for any reason.

“ Enough with the flattery-pleasantries! I have been humiliated! Forced to commit unsavory acts! Forced into affiliation with daemon-things! We must leave at once-once!”

Espik shook his head, “ We ask-request patience, my lady. These lands crawling with daemon-things. Overground is no easy path back...but underground will take time-time. The earth itself is corrupted-twisted. Lava. Daemon-things. Breeder-tentacles with roots in soil-earth. Digging is dangerous, yes-yes.”

Heliinx grabbed her horns in frustration, and surpressed a scream. She walked up to Espik and prodded him in the chest, her eyes shining with unshed tears, her face twisted into a snarl. To stay was to die, but to leave also courted death. She thought of Khazaan, thought of Lyss. Heliinx blinked and one of her tears slipped free.

“ You have-have to get us out of here. You have-have to.”

And she had no doubt he would. Because now, it was his neck on the line too.

[reallyromealone]

Fortune teller

Part 1 - part 2 - Part 3

"what do you mean you want me?"

"we want you--well your abilities specifically for Bonten" Takeomi said bluntly and (name) felt nothing but regret for going shopping today and for once...he wishes he could see his future.

"I don't get an option do I?"

"nope"

Having a member of Bonten at his side at all times was a little awkward-- that's a bull faced lie it was incredibly awkward.

He watched as Bonten grunts packed his stuff up to bring back to headquarters "you quit your job yeah?" Ran said casually as he glanced around the almost empty apartment, a lazy smile on his face as he kept a close eye on the seer.

"mhm" (name) said bored already, eyes unfocused as he sat on the couch and just wanting to end the day already " good good, well it seems like my men finished packing! Let's go my little magic 8 ball!" Ran teased as he led the other out and back to headquarters "still don't get why you wanted to watch them pack your place, you barely have anything!"

The room he was placed in was simple, a bed and a few dressers and a bathroom that connected.

This was his little birds cage.

A canary in a lions den.

He supposed it could be worse.

Carefully he took off his gloves, hands warm from wearing them all day and he just...sighed.

One could suppose he was jaded after seeing so much.

So much he couldn't stop.

Maybe this was his punishment for not helping more?

Maybe.

Sitting Infront of a table, there was a shaken man before him as the men of Bonten surrounded the two.

They knew this man's fate.

(name) did not.

It was a test and he knew it.

Gently he took the man's hand, grimacing as he felt the clamminess before gasping, eyes white as he spoke in a voice not of his own.

"hot ice in the morning dawn, your mind speaks but your throat is full of sorrows and body for all to torment"

"hm, seems like our little prophet is correct!" Sanzu giggles as he smacked the poor man's back, horrified at what he just witnessed and heard.

"you do die by us forcing liquid nitrogen down your throat and letting everyone here--save for our little prophet use you to get out all the anger for your betrayal! Good job bud!" Ran said with mock pride while gently squeezing (name)s shoulder and the man was shaking at this point, looking ready to throw up and (name) wasn't far off.

Fortunes were never easy, especially not ones for death.

The room was slightly blurry as he swayed slightly, energy drained both emotionally and physically as his hands twitched.

"hmm? You alright (name)?" Ran asked as the prophet slowly nodded, hoping they mistake his swaying for overdoing it and not the horror of just telling a man his own death.

"must have tired him out, poor sparrow" Kaku said while helping the young man up, no one missing how he shoved his hands in his sleeves to avoid contact.

"I will take him back, he looks ready to pass out" Kaku said while gently leading (name) off and away from the interrogation room "you did good kid, you earned a break for tonight" Kaku said softly as (name) felt a headache come on, stress induced.

It never got easier.

"sleep for now kid, you earned it" Kaku said as he helped the other into bed, not even sure why he was being so helpful of the other.

He just looked so helpless.

Like a lamb.

"how is he?"

"passed out, well we know the limits of what he can handle now" Kaku joked slightly, walking to the bar to pour himself a drink as the men lounged about.

"his eye thing is unsettling" Koko spoke up while scrolling through his phone and the others couldn't help but agree, it was like he looked into your soul while seeing nothing at all at the same time.

It was creepy.

"outside of that though, not bad on the eyes" Ran added on "though we should really find him better clothes"

"he dresses for comfort over aesthetics, nothing wrong with that" Mochi said taking a bite of his sandwich, forgetting to eat lunch and be was starving honestly.

"I wonder what the lamb has to offer"

It was the dead of night when (name) woke, not bothering to leave his room as he knew it was locked; those men would be fools to not lock it.

One way windows showed the city below, Kaku off handedly mentioning they were bullet proof as to hint that he couldn't jump out.

(name) stared down and looked at the people below, unsure what time it was as there were no clocks in the bedroom for some reason.

"you don't look like you're from Japan" a voice rang and (name) slowly turned to see Koko leaning against the now open door, takeout in his hand "we don't want you starving" he said simply as he walked over and set the food on the dresser and walked out, pausing when he heard (name)s soft voice ring out "thank you..." It was the first time he heard it since the meeting, it sounded nice.

"you're welcome"

(name) slowly walked towards the food, curious as he opened it as if it were going to attack him but it wasn't anything dangerous...just simple take out.

Though he couldn't recognize the expensive logo or whatever was In-front of him, he slowly ate while sitting In-front of the window and began people watching to pass the time.

He supposed this was his life now.

Morning came and (name) was brought out, hands gloved as he was guided by Ran to the main room where a man with a tattoo gun sat as the others sat around watching.

"it's time for your tattoo sparrow, Mikey thinks you would look nice with it" Ran said sweetly and (name) began hyperventilating, everything becoming to much "ah, so he finally started to snap" Mikey said emotionless as he watched Ran quickly bit a pressure point on the prophets neck, the other slowly relaxing in his grip "shhh, it will be over soon" Ran said soothingly as he began petting the others head, letting the others body fall limp against his before removing the others shirt.

"on the chest, over his heart"

[peakysanakin]

a bit about Elain's trauma and why it correlates with her rejecting her mating bond with Lucien in the future, a thread:

(WARNING: this post isn't about ships, except Elucien because Lucien is a key factor in Elain's trauma. )

Everyone deals with trauma in their own way and that's totally okay. Some are destructive, some shut people up and others want to not feel anything. Elain, just as Nesta, went into the Cauldron and those moments were horrific for her.

She is literally dragged and shoved into the Cauldron while she cries, struggles and kicks to escape the guards' grasps. The guards and the King keep laughing at her during the whole time.

Elain is used as an experiment for the Queens.

She is used as if she was a mere object.

Her body has been changed forever and she is practically naked, completely terrified and in shock from whatever she has gone through inside the Cauldron. (We know how terrifying and horrible it can be because of Nesta's experience.) Everyone is looking at her, some are even laughing.

Do you know how violating this could feel? To be left naked and vulnerable in front of people who have just terrorized you? How would you feel?

We don't know what she goes through inside the Cauldron, but it was probably very painful and terrifying. Then, she is thrown off it and she experiences this horrific scene, and her mating bond with Lucien snaps.

Another thing has been decided for her.

Not only has her body and life been changed forever without her consent, now her romantic relationship has been decided for her as well. And it's with a man who participated in the plan that made this horrific moment happen.

Lucien is an accomplice of that. He isn't a bad person, but he is CLEARLY an accomplice. (GO NESTA!!)

Elain is dealing with her trauma and she doesn't own Lucien anything. She suffered so much, she was broken and traumatized by what happened to her.

And Lucien and their mate bond are a BIG reminder of the day her body and life were changed against her own will.

We don't know much about her, but we have seen enough of her suffering and how traumatized she is in the books. Feyre always admired Elain's strength, because being kind and gentle in a world so dark takes balls, you know? Later on in the books, Elain is still kind and gentle but more reserved and quiet because she is dealing with her own shit.

Strength doesn't equal to physical force. A big example? Queen Elizabeth I of England was strong and she never fought in a battlefield, but she was intelligent, cunning and brought a Golden Age to her country. She made a place for herself in a patriarcal society and that's how strong she was.

Elain's strength differs from Nesta's, Mor's and Feyre's. She isn't an active fighter like them, but yet she had the guts to fight in the war and stabbed the King on the neck to protect Nesta because she loves her sister and would die for her. Look at this.

No one wanted her to fight, but she chose to. SHE CHOSE TO! This is important. She is scared in the battle camp and doesn't know how to fight or wield a sword, yet she trusts her friends and wants to fight alongside them. 

She might die in the battlefield, but at least she will fight fighting and not be a pawn.

She will enact revenge for what the King did to Nesta, to Feyre and to herself.

MOREOVER –– Another big trauma (aside from happened inside the Cauldron and the dramatic changes in her life), it will probably be center around her body. 

Her clothes, body and beauty are mentioned all the time. ALL THE TIME. Elain, who was a very proper and modest lady (and didn't want to talk about periods even with her sisters), was seen naked against her will by everyone and she probably felt violated.

Feyre mentions Elain's reaction when she sees her and Nesta wearing Illyrian fighting leathers. She mentions how Elain was offered something less scandalous and more proper. 

Imagine how someone so proper would feel after being used and seen all vulnerable and naked by so many people? To have been ogled against your will? To be seen as an “object” to see whether the Cauldron worked?

Nesta is a sexual assault survivor and she also suffered because of their youth, Feyre's sacrifice to provide for them and Elain suffering from the Cauldron incident. She dealt with her trauma in her own way, just as Elain deals with it in her own way. And that's okay!

In Elain's book, her choosing who she wants to be with and how she wants to live from now on will be important. She will turn down Lucien, as it is obvious from what I explained above and because of the following:  Feyre and Rhys comment on how being mates doesn't equal to being right for each other.

Sarah J. Maas said this as well.

She also said that a mating bond is something rare but that some people might be lucky and end up having two. But the main thing is: 

Elain will reject Lucien because they aren't right for each other and she will chose whomever she wants to because she loves that person. That's big and it will be key to the plot.

Elain might end up being lucky and while falling for another person, a new mating bond might develop. But at the end of the day, it will be her choice. 

Not the Cauldron's choice, not society's choice or anyone else. 

Hers and hers alone.

You think she is boring? Well, we will learn more about her and we will see her heal from her trauma. Her body and her choices have been violated, but she will heal and grow for that and gain ownership over herself once again. 

Rhys, Amren and Feyre believe there is more to her than just the kindness she shows. 

“Maybe she was never given the chance to be that way.” “You think I stifle her?” “Not you alone. [...] But I wonder if everyone has spent so long assuming Elain is sweet and innocent that she felt she had to be that way or else she’d dissapoint you all. [...] With time and safety, perhaps we’ll see a different side of her emerge”

“You think Elain is boring?” “I think she’s kind, and I’ll take that kindness over nastiness every day. But I also think we haven’t yet seen all she has to offer.”

“Don’t forget that gardening often results in something pretty, but it involves getting one’s hands dirty along the way.”

“You can’t have it both ways. You cannot resent my decision to lead a small, quiet life while also refusing to let me do anything greater.”

“I went into the Cauldron, too, you know. And it captured me. And yet somehow all you think of is what my trauma did to you.”

“Including Elain, who is more than capable of defending herself against the darkness of the Trove, if she chooses to. Don’t underestimate her.”

Being a seer gives you many powers, but it would take me too much time so I recommend you to read this LONG AND AMAZING list of powers a seer might have posted by @miru5llec​ and you will be shocked and hyped.

If you like mythology and fantasy literature, you know seers are feared and respected. Kings have killed for having a seer in their ranks. They can reach levels of divine status and their ability as a seer gives them many more powers than those I have mentioned before.

Elain might not be physically powerful like Nesta or Feyre, but being a seer makes her more powerful than both of them but IN ANOTHER WAY. Look at the list above (linked) if you don't believe me. 

Her being on the Night Court makes Feysand's court the most powerful in Prythian.

That's why Elain is not boring and her trauma is valid. There is much more to her than what little we have seen. SJM has said so. Rhys, Feyre, Amren, everyone has said so in the books. We will learn about her, see her heal and chose who to love in her book.

“Why?” Elain demanded. “Shall I tend to my little garden forever?” When Nesta flinched, Elain said, “You can’t have it both ways. You cannot resent my decision to lead a small, quiet life while also refusing to let me do anything greater.”

“But Elain said, “I went into the Cauldron, too, you know. And it captured me. And yet somehow all you think of is what my trauma did to you.”

We will see her develop her powers and learn how to use them. She is possibly the key to killing Koschei (the big bad villain) because she might have visions of where his heart is hidden in that fucking box and guide the IC to find it.

Furthermore, stop saying “I want Elucien to happen so Lucien can be happy.” or “Azriel deserves better than Elain because she likes to garden and is mated to Lucien.”

Elain doesn’t belong to Lucien.

Elain can garden, bake and walk around on her hands while singing La Macarena and that doesn’t make her any less strong than Feyre, Mor, Nesta or any other female character.

(Also, in this stupid ship war I have seen people pointing out how she wouldn't be able to give Azriel children because her body isn't Illyrian. This is disgusting. You are basically saying that all her worth lies in whether she can give someone children or not.

Do I remind you adoption exists? Rhys, Cassian and Azriel are brothers by choice, not by blood and they are BROTHERS. You can adopt and be a mother. And you can chose to not have children and that would be okay too. A woman's worth isn't in her uterus.

And that’s it. 

(I posted this thread on Twitter as well, so if you liked it you can go there and RT it or hit a like.)

[og post]

[blindbeta]

Trope Discussion: The Blind Prophet / Blind Seer

This covers blind seers, prophets, clairvoyant characters, etc. Anyone who can see or predict the future, usually through seeing visions. This trope is extremely common. It also has roots in classical mythologies, religion, and literature. It is not necessarily bad on its own, but the way it is used in fiction and it’s popularity with non-blind writers makes it an uncomfortable trope for me much of the time.

I understand that not everyone will agree with me, but I think some of my suggestions can be helpful because this post offers potential ways to make this trope better for those who wish to use it.

I neglected to include it in my post about Things I Want to See More Of / Less Of in Blind Characters, but it is still something I want to discuss. I thought it warranted its own post. To get an idea of my thoughts on this trope, I don’t think it is so much harmful on its own, such as the cure trope, but rather I feel it is over-used and used in ways that contribute to ideas I find harmful. In the case of this trope, the ideas I find harmful refers mainly to the idea that blind characters need something extra or special that is designed to make up for their blindness.

The blind prophet or blind seer is something people seem to assign to their blind characters because it feels right. I would like writers to consider why this is, ways to avoid problems associated with it, and ways to be more intentional with how they design blind characters in the future. To clarify, I’m not saying you should never write a blind character who can see or predict the future. I’m not even saying this is best left up to blind writers. I’m saying I want writers to be aware and have more intent when they use this trope. Hopefully this post can help people do that.

I often receive asks or messages about blind characters who can see the future. A few common characteristics include:

1. this blind prophet is the only blind character

2. this blind character is the only person in the story who can see the future

3. this blind prophet is always totally blind - I have only received one message in which the blind prophet in question had some vision in one eye

4. seeing the future is portrayed as making up for or otherwise replacing the character’s lack of vision (again, the trope is almost always about a totally blind character)

So, in other words, this trope can be used for writers to make up for blindness, whether that means actually giving the character sight through their visions or making up for it emotionally. For example: “This character is blind, which is sad, but that’s okay because they can see even more than we can! They’re special!”

Let’s break it down.

Discussion: 1. this blind prophet is the only blind character

Why is this a problem? First, I think we are well beyond having only one blind character in our stories. Sometimes having one blind character feels as if the writer believes having more than one would be unrealistic. Sometimes it also feels frustrating to explain over and over that affirming stereotypes can often be avoided by simply having several blind characters. Unfortunately it often feels like a struggle to get writers to consider it. This means the only example of a blind person in the story is one who can see the future, which means they affirm this trope or stereotype for the casual reader.

Second, having the prophet be the only blind character tells readers that blind characters cannot exist without something to make up for their blindness. They can’t even exist in a story without this.

Discussion: 2. this blind character is the only person in the story who can see the future

Why is this a problem? This one is similar to the first one. We have the token blind character who is the only one who needs sensory based powers. Because, remember, the blind character needs to make up for something, apparently.

Why does the blind person always have to be the prophet? Why can’t they be the strong one or the one with teleportation? Why can’t they be, I don’t know, the person with power of attraction or display proficiency with a weapon?

Why do they always have sense based powers? Why not another power? At least a character like Toph is a powerful bender. She can do plenty of things aside from see, plus her adaptation was derived from everyday use of a power she already had rather than a power she was given for the purpose of seeing.

It gets a little disappointing when a blind person’s power is just the ability to — I guess — see? More on that in section 4.

Discussion: 3. this blind prophet is always totally blind - I have only received 2 story ideas in which the blind prophet in question had some vision

Why is this a problem? I’ll try to explain this part as best I can.

There is nothing wrong with having a totally blind character. That is not what I’m getting at here. My issue resides in the idea of seeing the future making up for blindness, and this means, the character usually needs to be totally blind.

I think this is a manifestation of the myth that all or most blind people have no vision at all. This is not true. In fact, the majority of us have some remaining vision. I asked my totally blind friend who said she had only met one other person who was like her.

I think this is also a manifestation of the idea that blindness needs to be made up for. With a special sight power and not with something like flight or technology-based powers. Writers who are consciously or unconsciously accepting this idea need to have a totally blind character. Because if the character has some remaining sight, what needs to be made up for?

Discussion: 4. seeing the future is portrayed as making up for or otherwise replacing the character’s lack of vision (again, the trope is almost always about a totally blind character)

Why is this a problem? I want to stress that these are two separate things. Both problems, but different ones that have roots in ableism.

When I say ‘making up for’, I refer to a blind character being given visions to make up for their lack of actual vision. As I mentioned before, this character, almost always totally blind, needs something to make up for blindness in the narrative. These visions can be brief ideas of the future or actual flashes of light or color. Either way, this character is being given a special kind of “sight” which makes up for their blindness. This can be a way for a sighted audience to feel better, or for the writer to feel as if they have made up for the character’s blindness. This is mostly emotional or mental. The character doesn’t need to actually see anything in order to fulfill this part of the trope.

The second part is about how sometimes the blind prophet can literally replace their blindness with their future visions. For example, they don’t need a cane while using stairs because they can predict when each step is. Or they might not be able to see people’s faces in visions. This erases their blindness. And in this case, why write a blind character at all?

On that note, discussion 3 also comes into play. If you want your character to be totally blind while failing to write them as totally blind, you shouldn’t be writing a totally blind character. In this instance, you probably shouldn’t be writing any blind characters, period, but I do think you would be better off writing a character with some vision instead.

Additionally, back in discussion 2, I said this: [quote] “It gets a little disappointing when a blind person’s power is just the ability to — I guess — see? More on that in section 4.” [End quote]. I wanted to add that having powers that just make up for a lack of sight is boring. I’m bored by it. Does it mean it can never be made interesting? Of course it can be interesting. However, that would require more work than some writers are putting in when this trope is used.

How to Avoid Some Problems

Problem 1: this blind prophet is the only blind character

To avoid: add more blind characters, specifically ones who cannot predict the future.

I generally advise adding at least 1 extra blind character, but for big tropes like this my happy area is 2 to 3 extra. You should have at least 2 to 3 blind characters in total to avoid both tokenism and this problem specifically. This means, if you have 1 blind character who can see the future, you should have at least 2 who cannot. This is the minimum.

The point is to expose readers to characters who do not follow the tropes they are probably used to and may even think are representative of blind people in general.

Problem 2: this blind character is the only person in the story who can see the future

To avoid: Set out to have characters who can see the future and who are specifically not blind. Also, have characters who are blind who cannot see the future.

I think, if you want a bunch of prophets in your story, this is a good way to go. You could also simply not have any blind prophets, but it depends on the story you are telling and if you have a bunch of prophet characters, you might wish to include a blind character among them.

For an ask relevant to this point, go here.

Problem 3: this blind prophet is always totally blind - I have only received 2 story ideas in which the blind prophet in question had some vision

To avoid: Create characters who are prophets with residual sight.

This problem is very much connected to problem 4, but I wanted to mention it just in case. It is not as much of an issue on it’s own.

Problem 4: seeing the future is portrayed as making up for or otherwise replacing the character’s lack of vision (again, the trope is almost always about a totally blind character)

To avoid: Don’t erase the character’s blindness with visions. Don’t give them visions as a way of making up for not being able to see at all / well. Don’t connect their powers to their blindness. The idea of [quote] “My character can’t see so what if they could - gasp - see in an extra special way” [end quote] is not that creative. Also see problem 3.

Additional thoughts:

Consider giving blind characters powers that don’t involve sight, at least not in such a direct way. Whether you have a blind prophet character or not. Perhaps another alternative could be giving them several powers.

I would like blind characters to have more unique powers, because I see this trope often. It would be fun to see something different or for this trope to be subverted somehow.

Again, I want more awareness and more intent from writers. Not necessarily complete avoidance of this trope. Would I like to come across it less? Yes. But there is still hope for it.

I hope this helps.

-BlindBeta

I also offer sensitivity readings. See my pinned post for more information.

Edit: @stealthetrees Yes I think it would still apply. Think of this type of character as also being totally blind.

[achirding]

WIPtober 3: Adjectivizing Thee pt. 2

Summary: Sonic is impatient. Caliburn is annoyed. Lancelot is sleepy. They could do without all of these things. Actually, Lancelot is a lot more open and honest when he’s sleepy, so that can stay. Even if he is a little snootier because of it, heh. Rating: General! 

Note: This is a snippet! Or possibly a deleted scene! I like it a lot but it is hard to make it fit. Maybe. IDK what i’m doing with this tbh. :C

--------------

“Sir Lancelot!”

Lancelot startles at the sound of his name like he hasn’t been listening, pulling away from the tree to sit up straighter. His visor is pulled over his face, obscuring his expression again, and Sonic wonders if he had been spacing out. Or dozing?

Caliburn either does not notice or chooses not to notice, “Would you please remind Sir Sonic why we are here.”

“Gladly, Kingmaker,” Lancelot answers, voice slightly husky like maybe he had been on the verge of falling asleep, turning his face in Sonic’s direction, “My lady mother and the royal magician, through use of the reflection pool and other ancient magicks, ascertained this was the crossroad of the Lady of Rings.”

Lancelot does not immediately continue, even though Sonic and Caliburn are waiting for him to elaborate. He’s really not much of a conversationalist, huh?

“Cool, good for her,” Sonic says at length, moving his hand in impatient circles, “And why are we here?”

“The Lady of Rings is a powerful seer, rumored to have trained under Merlin himself,” There’s a weird intonation to the way Lancelot says Merlin, something negative, but it’s very subtle. Maybe Sonic just imagined it. “Upon winning her favor, she will tell you how to return to your homeland.”

This time, Caliburn jumps in where Lancelot leaves off, preemptively answering the unasked question, “The Lady of Rings is said to polish her rings at this crossroad on the day the sun blazes the hottest. It is said her eyes are so weak, she needs the brightest light to see if there are any imperfections on her rings.”

“Can’t think of how this day could get hotter!” Sonic agrees with a sigh, rolling onto his stomach and kicking his feet in the air. Not super comfortable, but it gives him something to do, at least, “You two sound pretty confident. Has she helped you before?”

“No,” Lancelot answers simply, leaning back against the tree.

“....That’s weird,” Sonic says, arching a brow at him, “Caliburn, I get- he’s swayed by titles and reputations and junk-“

“Epithets and reputations must be earned!” Caliburn interjects, hopping in place with outrage, “You would do well to remember that, Knave the Hedgehog!”

“Nope, no take backs!” Sonic was just going to ignore Caliburn, but that sword really knew what buttons to push, “My new ‘epithet’ that you gave me is ‘Sir Sonic, Knight of the Wind!’ And don’t you forget it!”

Caliburn looks like he is going to keep arguing, but let’s out an amused sound and smiles instead, “Indeed.”

Uh. Okay. “Cool,” Sonic wasn’t expecting his sword to agree with him so easily, and he isn’t sure what to say... so he turns back to Lancelot.

“Lance!”

Lancelot startles, again, turning his face in his direction, “Sir.”

“You don’t seem like the kind of guy who gives his trust out so easily,” Sonic rests his chin on his hands, still kicking his feet restlessly, “Why are you vouching for this lady?”

“You misunderstand,” Lancelot scoffs with a shake of his head, “I am not. I have never met her. I have no desire to vouch for her, her temperament, or her abilities.”

“...Okay,” Sonic answers after a moment, trying to figure out what Lancelot is trying to say. He’s getting better at it, but this one’s tricky, “Then... what’s got you so sure this lady is the real deal?”

“I trust my lady mother’s judgment and magicks,” Lancelot pointedly does not mention Merlina, obviously still a sore spot, “I trust my swordsmanship and instincts. I trust you and Caliburn to keep out of my way.”

Lancelot settles back against the tree with a shrug, still looking rather sleepy. He must have been just as bored, “I don’t know if she will be able to help you- but I will ensure you come back from this adventure hale and hearty. That is all I can promise.”

Aha, Sonic knew it! Nothing to do with this Lady of Rings or Sonic’s quest to go home, and everything to do with Lancelot’s combat abilities and skill. The black and red hedgehog certainly spoke down to him when they first met, so it’s good to see this side of him again. Not Lancelot’s most endearing trait, for sure, but much better than his more recent quiet and stiff formality.

Especially in the company of his fellow knights, it feels too much like Lancelot is on his best behavior around Sonic. Not fake, per say, but definitely not normal. Like he’s visiting his grandma or meeting with a dignitary. This? This is a lot more casual and honest.

Caliburn’s mouth quirks into a disapproving frown, obviously not pleased, but he doesn’t say anything. Weird.

“Heh,” Sonic chuckles, amused and pleased despite himself, “If you say so, Lance.”

[elainsshadows]

I want to talk about Elain today and her role in future books. I will also be talking about other ships at the end of this including: Lucien x Vassa, Lucien x Elain, and Azriel x Gwyn. These are merely my opinions and thoughts, this is not me trying to bash anyone else's opinions. I am open to having discussions as long as you are kind and respectful.

This is going to be long as a warning. Let's begin.

Quiet Strength

My friend recently start reading ACOTAR and she came to me one day and said that she had found a quote that she really liked. That quote was:

"She had looked at that cottage with hope; I had looked at it with nothing but hatred. And I knew which one of us had been stronger" ~ ACOTAR, pg. 259

I know that a lot of antis like to bring up the fact that Elain didn't do anything but plant flowers and such while Feyre was out risking her life to put food on the table. Why hadn't Elain planted food instead? As someone who tried to garden vegetables with her dad one year I can tell you it's not as easy as flowers.

Maybe Elain was trying to bring some color into their drab little existence like Feyre had done with the paints. Maybe she wanted one thing to make her happy.

When Feyre comes to see them in ACOMAF, to ask for their help, it was Elain who said that they should help.

"If... if we do not help Feyre, there won't be a wedding." ~ ACOMAF pg. 247

"Feyre gave and gave - for years. Let us help her. Help... others." ~ ACOMAF pg. 248

Elain was risking a lot by saying they should now help their Fae sister. She was going to be married to someone who's family hated the Fae. If they found out what Elain and Nesta were doing it would probably be the end of her engagement to Graysen. They would become Fae sympathizers and like the Children of the Blessed we see mentioned throughout the books.

Would a coward risk all of this? Not to me they wouldn't.

When Rhys, Az, and Cassian arrive once Elain had cleared out the servants. Elain, while scared, still tries to be a good host to the four of them. I want to come back to this scene when I discuss Elriel because this was the moment that I first started thinking that they would make a good pair.

But while Nesta and Feyre are more bold with their actions like wielding swords, bow and arrows, knives, etc., Elain doesn't necessarily back down from a challenge. When given Truth-Teller she simply states that she doesn't know how to use it. She does not shove it back at Azriel and refuse it, she simply informs him she doesn't know how to use it.

Also when they had been captured by Hybern and all that mess was going down. Tamlin had been gunning for Feyre and it was Elain who did this:

"But Elain's cry - a warning. A warning to- To my right, now exposed, Tamlin ran for me. To grab me at last." ACOMAF pg. 602

Elain, despite being scared in this highly stressful situation, saw her sister in danger and tried her hardest to warn her. If it had not been for Elain, Tamlin might have been able to grab Feyre at that moment in all the confusion and chaos. Despite being in her nightgown and terrified she still tried to protect her younger sister.

Once again when people are in danger once the Wall had been taken down it was Elain who spoke up. She knew that Graysen's family's estate could help protect those closest to the Wall and from any Fae that may come to do them harm.

"Glamour me," Elain said - to Rhys. "Make me look human. Just long enough to convince him to open his gates to those seeking sanctuary." ~ ACOWAR pg. 471

"It's already ended badly. Now it's just a matter of deciding how we meet the consequences." ~ ACOWAR pg. 471

She's Fae now. If Graysen or any of his family or those working for them knew this (which we see that they did) then they might kill her on sight. She risked her life to make sure defenseless humans remained as safe as they could with the oncoming war.

When Azriel and Feyre go to Hybern's camp to save Elain they also save another human. They are being pursued and clearly, the human girl is terrified of them, but it is Elain that says this:

"Grab onto him!" Elain ordered to the wide-eyed human girl as Azriel thundered toward her. *skipped ahead* "Elain screamed at her, "If you want to live, do it now!" ~ ACOWAR pg. 577

She also does this when the King of Hybern's beasts are upon them:

"Elain moved. As Azriel battled to keep them airborne, keep his grip on them, my sister sent a fierce kick into the beast's face. Its eye. *Skipped ahead* "Elain slammed her bare, muddy foot into its face again. The blow struck home." ACOWAR pg. 577

Knowing that their lives are in danger and that if this beast does anything to Azriel's wings they are all going to die. She does not hesitate and does not back down as she goes after the beast with her barefoot.

She slays the King of Hybern as well:

"Elain stepped out of a shadow behind him, and rammed Truth-Teller to the hilt through the back of the King's neck as she snarled in his ear, "Don't you touch my sister." ~ ACOWAR pg. 652

She has a protective streak in her and she will go down swinging if she has to.

And this I just found interesting. Everyone seems to shy away from Amren, but in ACOFAS this happens when they're all eating together:

"Elain, to my surprise, held Amren's gaze." ~ ACOFAS pg. 108

I just like that she held Amren's gaze.

Being Feminine Isn't Boring

I see a lot of people saying that Elain being feminine is boring, that she isn't an exciting heroine. Yes, Elain isn't one of SJM's typical heroines, but I think that makes her all the more interesting. We've never seen someone who isn't like Aelin, Bryce, Feyre, and Nesta from SJM.

"Elain stood between Nuala and Cerridwen at the long worktable. All three of them covered in flour." ~ ACOWAR pg. 386

"Elain was in the kitchen, helping Nuala and Cerridwen prepare the evening meal." ~ ACOFAS pg. 101

"She'd been toiling in the estate gardens since dawn." ~ ACOSF pg. 28

"Elain had already departed with Feyre, claiming she had to be up with the dawn to tend to an elderly faerie's garden." ~ ACOSF pg. 311

Do I think Elain's entire book will be based on her baking and taking care of gardens? No, I don't. I think she is capable of more than that and that is going to lead into my next point.

Elain Archeron, 007

This is not a new theory and it isn't even one that I came up with. Many lovely Elriels have pointed out comparisons to Azriel and Elain and how he may even teach her how to be a spy. I think it is a perfectly lovely idea. Let me show you some quotes from the book that make me think that this could be a possibility.

"Elain spoke from the doorway, having appeared so silently that they all twisted toward her, "Using me." ~ ACOSF pg. 230

They were talking about looking for the Dread Trove here and scrying. They were debating who should do it when Elain stepped up. She has done this before and with her seer abilities she is a perfect choice for the job. Obviously several characters aren't thrilled with the idea (Nesta and Azriel being two of the ones that don't like the idea).

"Azriel stiffened, an outright sign of temper from him as he said quietly, "There is an innate darkness to the Drea Trove that Elain should not be exposed to." ~ ACOSF pg. 311

"Elain saw every single thing Nesta had done, and understood why." ~ ACOSF pg. 470

"You came," Elain said behind her, and Nesta started, not having heard her sister approach. *skipped ahead* "Wondering if she'd been taking lessons in stealth either from Azriel or the two half-wraiths she called friends." ~ ACOSF pg. 595

We see that even Nesta is questioning whether or not Elain has been having lessons. She very well could have or this could be a hidden talent that Nesta has never gotten to see or never cared to see because she viewed Elain as someone who is innocent and needing protection.

Nesta mothers Elain throughout the series, we constantly see her coming to Elain's defense, stepping in front of her, talking for her. And while Elain used to let that slide we can see now that she is coming into her own and not letting Nesta walk all over her.

"Elain said, "You can't have it both ways. You cannot resent my decision to lead a small, quiet life while also refusing to let me do anything greater." ~ ACOSF pg. 232

I think Elain has been denied many things in her life because she has been seen as the most beautiful. Her own mother seeing her as nothing more than a pretty face that would be easy to marry off once she was of age. What will she do now that she has more freedom than she did before? Now that she will not become some lord's wife?

I do not see Elain as a warrior who is ready for battle, but I see her being ready for a different kind of battle.

"It took hours for Elain to work her charm on the staff to swiftly pack their bags and leave, each with a purse of money to hasten the process." ~ ACOMAF pg. 250

You know who else is charming? James Bond.

Being another pretty face has something going for Elain. No one would look at her and think "Yeah she's totally a spy." She can charm people, make them feel more at ease, and get them to open up. Maybe even enough that they think nothing of divulging things in front of her that otherwise shouldn't be overheard.

Maybe she can learn to glamour herself so that she is not recognizable to others. Who knows but I'm sure we'll find out when her book happens.

Welcome To Spring

One of my least favorite theories I've seen is that Elain will leave the Night Court and her family to go to Spring. Even going as far as saying that she will wind up with Tamlin. I don't think Feyre would let her sister wind up with her abuser plain and simple. Nor do I think Elain would fall for her sister's abuser just because he lives in a land of eternal spring and has flowers.

In ACOSF Nesta has this thought:

"Elain would love this place. So many flowers, all in bloom, so much green, *skipped ahead* But Elain... The Spring Court had been made for someone like her." ~ ACOSF pg. 454

While I do believe that Elain would love the Spring Court I do not think she would ever leave her family or friends behind.

"Two half-wraiths she called friends." ~ ACOSF pg. 595

"Cassian kissing Elain's cheek in greeting. *skipped ahead* Amren came next, giving my sister a nod. *skipped ahead* The Mor, with a smacking kiss for either cheek." ~ ACOFAS pg. 105

We also know that the sisters tend to consider one of the brothers friends. Feyre with Cassian, Nesta with Azriel, and I believe Rhys and Elain will also be friends. He seems to like Elain (certainly more than he likes Nesta).

Plus now there is Nyx in the mixture and why would she leave and miss out on her nephew growing up? What about if Nesta becomes pregnant and has a child? So no I do not believe that Elain will leave the Night Court.

Shipping Time

Here is where opinions and feelings may vary and people might not like what I have to say. Just know that these are merely my feelings on a ship. Ship what you want to ship, I am not here to gatekeep. These are merely my feelings on the matter. I'm going to start with the two ships I like: Elain x Azriel and Lucien x Vassa.

Elain Archeron x Azriel

I mentioned this earlier but I've been shipping them since ACOMAF. I saw the potential for them from the moment they began to interact.

"Elain rasped, "Nice to meet you," before hustling after her, the silk skirts of her cobalt dress whispering over the parquet floor." ~ ACOMAF pg. 253

I like the symbolism in this line. Cobalt = Azriel's siphons. Whispering = Azriel's shadows. While it might not be that deep as a writer I like the small things like this in my works. Things that later when you come back to them after something important happens that is a callback to something like this you can go "ooooh that makes sense now, yeah." We also do see other mentions of Elain wearing blue, but this post is long enough and it's only a few more times so I don't think it's worth noting. This part just sticks out to me because it's the first time they're meeting and like I said I love symbolism.

"Elain said to Azriel, perhaps the only two civilized ones here, "Can you truly fly?" ~ ACOMAF pg. 256

Elain who has been taught to fear the Fae is talking to him, also probably leaning around Cassian - who she is seated next to and also has wings - and asking if he can fly.

Azriel responds on the same page saying, "We're born hearing the song of the wind." And her response of, "That's very beautiful." This is the same male who famously said he wouldn't need poetry to woo a woman. Maybe he's not trying to woo her here, but he's trying to impress her.

"Elain, noticing Azriel's ease as proof that things weren't indeed about to go badly offered one (a smile) of her own as well." ~ ACOMAF pg. 258

She seems mighty comfortable with a Fae she just met. Which leads my into my two mate theory that I've had for some time now.

We know the tweet where SJM says that someone can have two mates. This was during a time when one of the TOG novels was about to come out and was probably referencing something in there, but I think it would be interesting to see play out in this situation as well.

We've seen several times people questioning Elain and Lucien's mating bond. Feyre and Azriel both do it. Feyre during ACOWAR and Azriel in his bonus chapter from ACOSF.

We also know that not all mates are happy pairings ie. Rhysand's parents and Tamlin's parents. We also know that sometimes it's based on who would have the strongest offspring. We can see this reflected in both Rhysand and Feyre's mating (he's considered the most powerful High Lord and she has abilities from all seven HLs).

But what if Elain and Lucien aren't true mates? True mates to me is a happily mated pair like Feyre and Rhys as well as Nesta and Cassian. Azriel questions why his brothers were mated to two sisters while the third was mated to another. (Pardon me for not using quotes here, I do not have the bonus chapter so I am going from memory.)

Why indeed? And I think it was because he was on the floor dying at the time. We know that the Cauldron loves Elain, so if her true mate was on the floor dying and there was no guarantee for survival it would make sense for the Cauldron to gift Elain another mating bond.

I will talk more about this in the section where I discuss them as a ship, but I wanted to briefly mention it here.

We also know the scene where Azriel hands over Truth-Teller to her, something that shocks all of them. I think of Truth-Teller like Azriel's security blanket. Something that brings him comfort and he never ever wants to part with it. But he gives it to Elain.

After she was taken by the Cauldron and held captive at Hybern's camp. After she says this:

"She shook her head, devouring the sight of him as if not quite believing it. "You came for me." The shadowsinger only inclined his head." ~ ACOWAR pg. 573

Why did she look only to Azriel? Why did she seem so surprised that he would come for her? Kind of like how a princess might not believe that her prince has come for her. (Love me some Disney princess movies)

To me these two just fit together. And to me they are more like Hades and Persephone than Feyre and Rhysand are. And hear me out: Elain as Persephone, goddess of spring. Azriel as Hades, god of death. (Feyre once calls him Death when thinking of a painting of him and Elain. Death and the lovely fawn she called it). Some might see Azriel and Elain falling in love as stealing her away from her mother (or mate in this case).

Also if you want another mythology reference. Paris (Azriel), Helen (Elain), Menelaus (Lucien). Helen was considered the most beautiful and was stolen away from her husband Menelaus (though I think she went with Paris willingly so there's that.)

I see so many parallels and signs that point toward an Elriel endgame. We know Elain's book is in the works and I'm pretty sure it's next since Sarah has talked about doing research for her book. We also know that Sarah is excited to work with Azriel as well.

Moving on.

Lucien Vanserra x Vassa

I've been shipping them since ACOWAR. So not as long as Elriel, but since a bit. I think this was the line that did it for me:

"Indeed, Vassa still remained inside, chatting with Lucien animatedly. *skipped ahead* Lucien, surprisingly, was chuckling, his shoulders loose and his head angled while he listened." ~ ACOWAR pg. 690

Unlike with Elain, he seems comfortable around Vassa.

"Even with Elain here, he's become close with Jurian and Vassa. He's voluntarily living with them these days, and not just as an emissary. As their friend." ~ ACOSF pg. 57

I'm a sucker for the friends to lovers trope (it only falls after the enemies to lovers trope). And while we do not have a lot on them I can see the two of them being happy. I can see Lucien trying to find a way to make her immortal if that's what she wants. And I just want the two of them finding their HEA together in the final book.

My theory is that Vassa will be the MC of the last book and will deliver the killing blow to Koschei (as she should). I would love to see their journey together and their time together in the mortal lands especially since the mating bond would be severed at this point if Elriel is the book before this one. I want Lucien to be happy and I think that he could be happy with Vassa.

Elain Archeron x Lucien Vanserra

We know that Elain and Lucien are mates. He announced this on page 608 a little bit after Elain had come out of the Cauldron. But these two do not seem to fit together in my opinion. Now please note I have nothing against Elucien, I even like some of the fanart and the theories I have read are wonderful. I'm just personally not a fan of these two because of how they were thrust together.

When comparing Jesiminda and Elain, Lucien says this:

"Elain had been... thrown at him." ACOWAR pg. 249

I know Lucien wants to be happy and I know mates are special, but I don't necessarily think that Elain will be his happiness. I think that the way they met ruined that for them.

"But Elain blinked slowly, "You were in Hybern." *Skipped ahead* "You betrayed us." ACOWAR pg. 250 - 251

Lucien, however willing or unwillingly, did play some part in Elain being turned Fae. He was one of the reasons she could no longer go home or marry Graysen. I don't know if that's something that could be overcome especially since Elain is still dealing with the events of that day.

We also know that Elain tends to avoid him, shrinking in on herself when he's around. Another reason why I can't ship this is because I've been in a similar situation where people were pressuring me to be with someone I had no interest in. I know what it's like to hear "you two are perfect for each other", "you should give him a chance", "just try".

Their relationship is not evolving naturally like Feyre and Rhys's did or Cassian and Nesta's. I don't think Lucien would ever push the mating bond onto Elain, but I do think since it's something special to Fae he may cling to it more than she will.

Another thing about their bond that doesn't sit with me is how it is described.

"It felt... strange," Elain breathed. "Like you pulled on a thread tied to a rib." ACOWAR pg. 301

"There's a bond - it's a real thread," he said, more to himself than us." ACOWAR pg. 301

Other bonds have been described as "so much golden thread" or an "unbreakable chain". But Elain and Lucien's is described as a singular thread that feels as though it were attached to a rib. To me mating bonds are like soulmates, why would that bond be attached to a rib and not the heart or her being?

I believe that once again either the Cauldron created this bond between them or maybe they are not what's considered a "perfect match" like Elain's sisters with their mates are.

I will say this: If Elain and Lucien do wind up together I won't be mad. Sure they are not my preferred ship, but they both deserve happiness and can find it together then good for them. We will just have to wait and see where SJM takes them.

Azriel x Gwyn Berdara

I've lowkey been dreading talking about them because of how toxic this fanwar between Elriels and Gwynriels gets. Once again this is just my opinion and my theories. No hate or shade to any of the shippers. I will not be bashing theories. If you don't want to read my thoughts then please just leave now and pretend you never saw this.

I do not like Azriel and Gwyn as a ship for one very big reason: power imbalance. Azriel saved Gwyn from a highly traumatic experience. Now before I go any further let me say that I brought this up to my mom who also reads the series but isn't a shipper, she just reads them to enjoy them. I asked her what she thought of Az x Gwyn as a pairing and if she would like to see that and she said no that she also felt there would be a power imbalance.

Gwyn is a strong character, but I do not think I could get behind her and Az as a couple because of how they met.

I also do not believe that Gwyn will be the MC of any of the last books there are. We still have Elain's book, possibly a Mor book, or even Vassa. There are too many people from the original trilogy that we need to see books for. While I will not rule out a book in the future I don't see her getting one now.

I know the necklace is a hot button issue, but I also don't believe that Clotho gave it to her. We never hear it mentioned in the main portion of the book and I think Clotho knew how troubled Azriel was and thought that she should hold onto it just in case.

"You're the new ribbon, Az," ~ ACOSF pg. 623

Gwyn is a competitive person, to me this line that Nesta says is here merely telling Az that Gwyn's next challenge would be to prove him wrong about the training course. Nesta knows of Azriel's feelings for her sister by this point, so I don't see this line as her teasing Az about Gwyn possibly having a crush on him.

But again these are just how I interpret things between them.

These are all my thoughts at the moment that I'm going to share. If you would like to have a discussion my ask box is open. Hate will not be tolerated though.

[nikethestatue]

Do you notice that Gwynriel are trying so hard to paint Elain as this weak person. Its like they need to convince themselves that Elain will always below female characters like Gwyn or Mor just because she likes gardening.

Ohh and notice that they only used gardening as Elain only attribute and not her seer abilities. Like I never once see any Gwynriel misogynistic argument took her seer power in consideration. It always Elain the gardener and nothing else😂

I think they afraid to acknowledge Elain’s cauldron power bcoz yk that will make Elain less boring am i right? And they couldn’t stand it😭

The interesting thing about this is that they've done a similar thing to Gwyn herself. Because what is Gwyn? Gwyn's 'profession' is probably the least violent one in the history of the world--she is a librarian! (Btw, does anyone else think that she is based on Evie from 'The Mummy'? Or just me?) And the most interesting thing about her, her biggest contribution, is that she learned about the Valkyries, she learned about the ribbon and how it was a a standard of excellence for the Valkyries, and she learned about the mind stilling techniques that helped Nesta. NONE of her contributions, really, have anything to do at all with her so-called military knowhow. She used her brain and knowledge during the BD, to outsmart the warriors and send the beasts to them. She never even fought with anyone. She never even handled her dagger or sword really.

Yet the Gwynriels have made her into some caricature of a character, who is drunk on some bloodlust and who wants to fight and kill everyone. Just look at the so-called 'jokes' that they flood the tags with. Again, no appreciation for her intelligence, for her skills which have nothing to do with fighting anyone.

Same with Elain. When it was necessary, Elain fought and Elain killed. When it was necessary, Elain Saw and Elain helped. And Elain is just as valuable as a character, even if she doesn't fight.

Was Nesta to be discarded as a being and as a character before she picked up a sword? Or learned punches and kicks? All her other contributions were null?

Cressida, btw, was specifically described as not a fighter, but she helped out in disguising an entire army. And was loved by the troops.

Viviane wasn't a fighter, yet she shielded and protected the whole Court from Amarantha for 50 years.

Amren isn't a fighter, yet she saved the world.

Women, as a whole, have a lot more to offer the world than just waving sticks around. If it wasn't for women and 'gardening', we'd still be living in caves. We moved from hunter to farmer because women learned how to grow crops, wheat, learned how to mill it and make bread. And that's how civilization began.

I wish some women gave other women as a whole a little more credit.

[miru5llec]

One of the things that rub me the WRONG way is when people say that Elain is BoRiNG on Twitter and Tik Tok. Like????? Listen to what I have to say. And I’m sorry in advance for how long this post is.

After Nesta deals with the mortal queens, the only bad guy left is Koschei. I don’t think that Koschei is going to have a big role in this book, he’s probably gonna have some mentions throughout the story and help the mortal queens when necessary given the fact that he most probably is the “dangerous new alliance”. Why do I think Koschei is not going to be part of Nesta’s story? Because she has nothing to do with him, nothing has been teased or forshadowed in the books and she would not be able to kill him given the fact that he can’t die and she doesn’t know where the chest containing his mortality is.

Which leads me to Elain who is THE ONLY one who has a connection with him, aside from the mortal queens and Vassa. In ACOWAR, she has a vision about an onyx chest. According to legend, Koschei’s mortality is contained in a needle that’s placed somewhere highly inconvenient and very far. But, finding and breaking it is the only way to destroy him. It’s hidden in an egg, inside a duck, inside a hare that's inside an onyx chest; the chest is buried under the roots of an oak tree, which grows on an island at an undisclosed location in the middle of the ocean-sea.

If Koschei can’t die, why should he be afraid of Nesta or the IC? He has literally no reason at all. BUT there comes Elain who has the slighthest idea of where his mortality might be. It’s only logical that Koschei will be at least a little threatend by that. My theory is that when Koschei will find out that Elain is a seer, he’s going to start manipulating her. Like an Aleksander Morozova/Alina Starkov kind of situation. Imagine him being constantly in Elain’s mind, trying to make her leave her family behind and join him. And that’s why I believe that something very bad happened to Elain while she was in the Cauldron.

I also do think that Koschei is to blame for seers being so rare. Imagine if they weren’t and 6 out of 10 seers would have had visions about the place where that chest is burried, he would stand no chance. I mean what chances do you have against someone who, if trained accordingly, knows every step you’re going to take, who thinks ahead of you and takes in consideration every foreseeable future. Let me answer it for you. None. Seers can literally change the future and mold it to their wishes. But Elain is BoRiNg, right?

And also, don’t you ever wonder about what exactly the mortal queens will give Koschei to have him on their side? He is going to give them his protection and alliance for what? It can’t be for free and surely not cheap. A SEER would make some kind of sense, I mean they are a rarity. But I don’t think the mortal queens know about Elain being a seer, but maybe Koschei will find out? I mean he kinda is one of the most if not the strongest warlock to exist in the ACOTAR world.

And now let me tell you why Elain and Azriel will most probably end up together. So let’s say that Elain figures out where the box is located, she will need at least a little bit of help. Who will give her his constant suport? Azriel. Who will most probably train Elain in combat? Azriel. Elain will go to the mortal lands so she could meet with Vassa and question her about Koschei. Who will be with her every step of the way? Azriel. Who will sail with her to the Faerie Realms so they could kill the Death God? Azriel. And probably Lucien too, though I doubt it. Who will train Elain to be a spy so they could gather information about Koschei? Azriel. It just makes sense. I’m not going to give you whole speech on why elriel will most likely happen when you have amaizing people who already explained it, but you got the idea. And more importantly, if Elain and Azriel will truly leave Prythian, we would have the chance to see how the Faerie Realms actually are.

A lot of people started shipping Emerie and Azriel (and I’m not saying you’re wrong, you can ship whatever you want), but if we put these two together, what would they add to the plot? Nothing. Let’s say that Azriel and Emerie (even though she has nothing to do with Koschei) decide to track Koschei down and they find him, how would they find the box, or what is in it? They would need the help of a certain seer 👀 Like I said, I don’t think that Emerie and Azriel will add anything to the plot and their story would end in like 200 pages. ACOSF will take place in Ilyria and it’s unlikely that the next book will also take place there.

Let’s talk a little bit about Elain and Lucien too. I still do think that there is a posibility that they will end up together, I mean we don’t know what cards SJM will pull at the end. And again, like I said above with Emerie and Azriel, they would add nothing to the plot. Feel free to disagree with me, I don’t mind, but I believe they would be boring, sorry not sorry. Give me Lucien x Vassa, give me Lucien learning about his true father, let me see him going to the autumn court to wreak havoc, give me him talking and clarifying things with Eris, give me Eris justifying his actions, give me Lucien talking about Jesminda, give me Vassa being the Queen of the mortal lands, give me Vassa and Lucien fighting Beron alongside eachother, give me Helion being a true father and helping his son, give me the story of Lucien’s mother and Helion, give me Lucien, Vassa and Jurian being a comedic trio, give me their stories. There’s so many things Sarah could do with Lucien that doesn’t involve his mating bond with Elain.

Sometimes I come across people, especially on Tik Tok, who want Elain to die, but Lucien would suffer so let’s keep her alive for now. Can’t you see how messed up that is? Like Elain is an object with no feelings and her only purpose in the future books is to accept the mating bond. She can say no. She can reject the mating bond and she can continue ingnoring Lucien if she wants to. A lot of people don’t realize that when the mating bond snapped into place, it was in one of the most traumatic experiences of Elain’s life. She has every right to deal with this in her own ways. Do I think that her ignoring Lucien till the end of times will be any good for them? No. She will have to face him one day, and that day will be when she wants it to be or when Lucien had enough of staying on the side lines and thinks that it’s finally time to face her.

I have to laugh every time when people ignore the fact that in one of the 2018 interviews, SJM said that during her pregnancy she started gardening and shifting to Elain’s mind and how she is going to have visions about ivory strangling her in her sleep (and a very interesting thing that ties ivory to my Koschei theory is that ivory does grow on oak trees 👀) And also it wouldn’t make sense for her to write Feyre and Nesta’s story and then skip to another character. And at the end of ACOSF we will have Azriel’s POV so... I think that confirmed elriel at least a little bit. But again, we don’t know what Nesta’s book will bring us.

Elain is BoRiNg! We don’t know anything that goes in Elain’s mind or how things are from Elain’s perspective. I think that Elain tries to repulse every negative emotion, especially anger. I think that Elain is hiding behind a very well constructed mask and at some point that mask is going to break and she’s going to snap. Remember when Elain whispered that she hopes they all burn in hell (they being the mortal queens), I think that we got to see a little bit of who Elain Archeron truly is. When she hit those hounds with her feet and when she stabbed the King of Hybern in the neck, it’s not out of character. That is the true Elain. Don’t you ever think that maybe Elain wants people to underestimate her, to think of her as weak so she can have the upper hand in any situation? GOD for all we know Elain could be growing poison in her garden. Anything it’s possible. But for sure she’s not as dumb and naive as Feyre’s perspective makes her out to be.

But the most fascinating thing to me is Elain’s powers, a seer’s powers in general because there’s so much you can do with the ability of seeing the future. Imagine her fighting after she masters her powers: her dodging every arrow, every sword blow because she already knows when and where they are going to hit, her knowing where and how to strike her opponents harder. Her powers can go in so many directions. I can’t wait to see her journey going from being only Feyre and Nesta’s sister to a badass seer spy. But yeah sure don’t buy her book after ACOSF because for sure it will be BoRiNg!

But before we get to her book, Nesta’s story will come out in 2 months and, for sure, her journey will make us want more of the ACOTAR universe. Can’t wait for ACOSF.