#this is hinting how the crossover impacts acotar

[wingedblooms]

Stone Mother

Spoilers for Bryce, Nesta, and Azriel’s bonus chapter below (yes, I read it; I couldn’t help myself). Don’t proceed if you don’t want any spoilers connected to hofas.

“Stone Mother” began playing, its rolling, thumping drums offsetting the wild, yet mellow, guitars. And then Josie’s voice filled the tunnel, sharp yet soaring, accented by Laurel’s sweet, clear backups. The sound was foreign, earthy—haunting. […] The wraith-like harmonies echoed off the stones, until the rock sounded as if it was singing. (Bryce, Nesta, and Azriel bonus)

-

But the music seemed to linger, like a ghostly echo through the caves.

And with each mile onward, she could hear Azriel humming softly to himself. The rolling, wild melody of “Stone Mother” flowed off his lips, and she could have sworn even the shadows danced at the sound. (Bryce, Nesta, and Azriel bonus)

Sarah felt it was important to describe Stone Mother in detail—wild and mellow and earthy. Haunting. Wraith-like. Ghostly.

My first thought (as you might expect) was of the divine trio: Mother, Cauldron, Fate.

“Three stones for the faces of the Mother,” Amren said upon seeing Nesta’s raised brows. “Four bones…for whatever reason the charlatans came up with that I can’t be bothered to remember.” (acowar)

I love how witchy this quote is about scrying, as it specifically refers to the three faces of the Mother (like a Three-Faced Goddess). It especially reminds me of the sister peaks and the Cauldron, which is a mother encased in stone.

The wild, mellow, earthy song flows off of Azriel’s lips long after he hears it. Wild, mellow, earthy. Now, let’s pretend to ignore the fact that Azriel listens very carefully to Nesta’s description of how she dealt with becoming Fae (why would that be, truly? who else would be dealing with that?). Who do those words remind you of?

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

Elain’s solid, dark wooden rose is next to a figurine of the Mother. Something wild, mellow, earthy—just like the third sister herself, a gentle gardener.

And the harmonies? They’re wraith-like. Just like Elain’s friends…

“Half,” Amren said, surveying my turquoise, cobalt, and white clothes. “Wraiths are nothing but shadow and mist, able to walk through walls, stone—you name it. I don’t even want to know how those two were conceived. High Fae will stick their cocks anywhere.”

I choked on what could have been a laugh or a cough. “They make good spies.”

“Why do you think they’re now whispering in Azriel’s ear that I’m in here?”

“I thought they answered to Rhys.”

“They answer to both, but they were trained by Azriel first.” (acomaf)

…who act a bit ghostly, walking through stone like shadows on the daily. If Elain is connected to that lovely darkness we see roaming around, she might bring us even closer to the Cauldron Stone Mother in the next book. Commands be damned.

[infiniteetcetera]

THE FOUR PATHS I SEE THE ACOTAR UNIVERSE TAKING NEXT:

(not in order of likelihood)

OPTION 1) Next book Elriel

This book could include any combination of Elain, Elain and Az, or Elain, Az, and Lucien’s POV. The big idea here in terms of romance is just that Elain breaks her bond with Lucien and winds up with Azriel. I see this book being a lot like ACOSF in that it’s very heavily focused on character/romance over plot. We’d get a lot of in depth knowledge on Elain and Azriel’s background, definitely some secret/hidden romance, and an eventual stark break from the Night Court that will fuel a lot of the plot. I.E the inner circle falling apart/being divided meanwhile a whole lot of mess happening with the continent and the Autumn court. I’d love this book to be a reckoning for Rhys about how he runs things and treats his “family,” and an eye opener for the Archerons on their mates. I think we’d maybe see some bigger/destiny stuff with Az/Elain and the dusk court and I think there’s a decent chance something happens to Nesta here (kidnapping, power loss, etc) that forces Elain to step up. Honestly, don’t expect a lot of big plot moves here, maybe just a cliff hanger/chaotic ending.

Next book: We’ve been promised a novella and I feel like in this scenario it will definitely be Mor centered. HOWEVER, I honestly don’t think it’ll be a Mor/Emerie centered thing (not just bc I don’t like them and think Emerie deserves better❤️) . I see the two options for this as a Mor on the continent centered thing (maybe she has a LI there?) or a past centered novella of Mor and the human queen during the war (SJM has said she has an idea for a past centered ACOTAR book and I think this idea is the one with the most promise). Either of these options could still end with some hints of Mor/Emerie but I think it’ll mostly be focused on Mor’s character and her development with her family and accepting her own sexuality. Probably a decent chance she has already “come out” by then in Az’s book but no guarantee. Ultimately, just not very plot centered, more a TOD style thing for her.

Last book: A large multi-POV KOA style story with all the sisters, the bat boys, Lucien, Mor, and potentially Tamlin/Eris/Gwyn/Emerie POVs. If Mor/Emerie and Lucien/Vassa get together I see it happening here. I think (hope) this book ends with a lot of drama and some actually impactful character deaths. My best guesses would be Amren, Helion, Tamlin, etc my dream picks would be Cassian or Mor (mostly for the drama but also no i’m not fond of them). Ultimately this book would be a very standard big SJM finish with war, battle, romance, drama, etc. Big focus on the sisters, definitely one of Feysand/Nessian having A LOT of issues and maybe/almost ending, a lot of Autumn court stuff finally, just a general big scope thing. Because she’s alluded a lot to it, I could also definitely see this book or its ending opening up for a big crossover series.

OPTION 2) Next book Elucien

Same as above, I see this book being any combination POV of just Elain, Elain/Lucien, or Elain, Lucien, and Az. If we do also get an Azriel POV I could see us getting crumbs of him and his LI (Gwyn) but not them getting together. This book will definitely serve some form of forced proximity. My ideal vibe for Elucien is more of a friends to lovers sort of thing bc it’s something we really haven’t seen in this series but I could see SJM milking the enemies to lovers thing again with them. I still see this book being very character/romance driven more than plot but I could see a lot of the plot centering around the autumn court and their role in this whole Koeshi mess. I think we’d get to see more of Eris (my love) and Lucien’s family drama and I think Elain would really have to reckon with her place in the NC. I could see her having a big confrontation with her sisters and the Azriel drama still coming into play in a “why is my brother in law literally controlling my life” way. I feel like in this route there is a STRONG non zero chance we see Nesta leave Cassian in this book, or at least the beginnings of it. SJM has said there will be a broken mating bond storyline and if it’s not Elucien I feel like Nessian is a strong contender. I can see Nesta/Elain really starting to mend their relationship in this book and Elains eventual choice to be with Lucien bc he’s Lucien and not bc he’s her mate resonating with Nesta and getting the ball rolling. I also feel like the Vassa storyline gets addressed here with her really rooting for Elucien and Elain saving the day (Id love for them to be friends) but again a big plot twist ending/cliff hanger situation.

Next Book: Very similar to above. I still see this having a Mor center, the only difference is I could see this having more of an Azriel focus too. I.E. if this is set in the past maybe an earlier Az realizing Mor is for the girls and some exploration of the Az/Rhys sister fan theory people love so much. If it’s in the present, I think we’ll see the after math of a potential Elain and Nesta leaving the NC through Mor & Az’s eyes and get some hints of Gwynriel along with Emorie. I’d love to see Az and Mor also leave the NC with the Valkyries in this case and also just generally mend their friendship.

Last Book: Again VERY similar to above. Big Multi-POV Avengers Infinity War type hoorah. I think the biggest differences I could see here with an Elucien endgame are Elain and Lucien probably separated (physically not emotionally, think Rowaelin) in this book, Nesta and Cassian break up (and the Neris romance we deserve, maybe a Nesta/Eris/Lucien looking for Elain sort of thing), a Gwynriel getting together arc here, and a big “what TF do we do with our court now” reckoning for Feyre and Rhys. I still feel there’s a likelihood for the same people to die in this one but I think there’s a stronger chance we loose Cassian or maybe even Rhys with this route. Same general idea for the ending though, Prythian is “saved” but something happens that sparks the crossover series. Everyone in the IC winds up in different courts but for the most part they’d be okay.

OPTION 3) The Boring route

I’m honestly totally fine with both options I listed above if they follow some of the general patterns I laid out, but I do think there is a very stereotypical boring route SJM could take here. I.E:

• The next book is very love triangle heavy, whoever Elain winds up with feels like it barely matters because she’s split so much time with both of them, she/her partner wind up still very rooted in the NC if not straight up staying there.

Next Book:

•Love triangle part two situation. Whoever Elain doesn’t wind up with gets a novella centered on them. Their LI (Gwyn or Vassa) will get a POV but so will some third party (Mor if it’s Az’s book or Eris/Jurian if it’s Lucien’s). This would be a very TOD style novella and probably better than the last one but generally not plot heavy or world view shifting. Again, I think everyone winds up on the same “side” here. I feel like this book would be the most interesting one with this route (I would LOVE a Lucien centered book or a Gwyn/Az novella) but it would keep the general plot very minimally changed in terms of characters and alliances.

Last Book:

•Same multi POV idea except probably scaled back more, i.e. just the sisters or maybe just the sisters and the bat boys. Probably very stereotypical big happy family moves, death more in the realm of a Helion or like Amren than anything. Sort of “big happy family” ending. I could see Eris dying in this too, ultimately the focus would be very NC/IC heavy, even if Lucien is factored in or Gwyn, they would just be “absorbed” by the group. This “boring route” so to speak would be the most likely where a High King story is explored and it would definitely be a Rhys/Feyre or Nyx getting it situation. Maybe Lucien (the only one who deserves it) but even then it might feel like he’s a NC plant and I think it’s more likely if he doesn’t wind up with Elain.

OPTION 4) Something chaotic

This is the least likely option but honestly the one I’d be most intrigued by. The path going forward for ACOTAR seems pretty straight forward (as you can tell from above) and that’s because of the way SJM’s writing (recent ACOTAR Books, CC books) has been lately. BUT I would love if she could bring back some of that TOG energy and do something big, exciting, shocking with the rest of the series. What this would mean to me is:

•New central characters. Either straight up new POVs Manon Blackbeak style OR giving side characters like Eris, Tarquin, Jurian, Balthazar, Vassa, ETC a big spot light. I’d also love to see a new character being someone for the CON, the continent, or Illyria. I think they could make an awesome new perspective and an interesting LI for Elain, Lucien, Mor, or Az.

•Big shifts away from the NC. I’m talking entire books set in other courts or on the continent. A lot of external views on our current MCs in a way that they have to reckon with themselves and learn from their past and mistakes.

•An unexpected romance in the next book. I think by now it’s clear no combination of Elain/Az, Elain/Lucien, or Gwyn/Az are unexpected. The fact there are dozens of paragraph long posts for each of these ships explaining their likelihood says enough. I think to go an unexpected route for the rest of this series SJM would have to start with the next book, and to me that means the couple would have to be unexpected. Some options I can see are: Az/Eris, Elain/Tamlin, Az/Nesta, Gwyn/Tarquin, Lucien/Gwyn (im sorry this would be SUCH a funny fake out) or New character/Az,Elain,Lucien. I think there’s still room for one of the options from our core love square to happen here but I think one if not both of the other characters should wind up with someone unexpected then (or my dream route, Elain gets a why choose with Lucien/Az but SJM is not so bold)

•A BIG betrayal. I feel pretty confident the “betrayal” SJM keeps alluding to is probably just Amren or a betrayal that isn’t actually a betrayal but someone standing on business (i.e Elain and Az leaving to be together or something) BUT i think a bigger plot twist like Rhys or Mor being EVIL evil or someone like Azriel or Nesta genuinely swapping sides completely (probably to work with the Autumn court) or even someone turning dark could be so fun and unexpected.

ULTIMATELY I know these are all just ramblings and not super specific but I feel like however the next ACOTAR book goes it will be very telling of where the universe is headed. I do feel confident on some things like:

•Next book is Elains

•We will not end the series with both Elucien & Nessian together

•Last book will be multi-POV

•The novella book will be “skippable” (i.e. not super plot focused) but interesting

•Gwyn/Az will not get their own book (I actually love them but I just don’t think it fits into the amount of books left. also a SUPER bad look if everyone in the IC gets their own book except the one LGBT character). If they wind up together it will definitely be in some sort of joint book situation (which isn’t a bad thing, I’d love a Valkyrie centered book)

•Beron is dying. I think there is a 50/50 though of whether Eris takes over or Lucien (I’d love to see that explored and just generally for their brotherly bond to mend)

•Amren is either evil or dying

Everything else is pretty up in the air. I genuinely feel like SJM had no/very loose plans for this next book and still did not know who would wind up together when she finished ACOSF. The fact that everything has been kept so under wraps does not inspire confidence in me, but I’d really just like to see her acknowledging some of the problems with the IC and the treatment of others in this book. Even the small but significant acknowledgment of Rhys and Cassians shady behavior in CC3 gives me hope. I’d just love for Elains romance (whoever it is with) to not feel so stifling and toxic like what we’ve seen recently and I do think Lucien and Azriel are both fine contenders for that as long as SJM doesn’t do anything shady❤️

[tadpolesonalgae]

hehe its cowboy time. SPOILERS ahead for CC, TOG, and ACOTAR. (I'm on my laptop bc i knew i was gonna go hard so enjoy lol)

Crescent city has a very specific role within the maas universe and I'd like to believe it was created to be a stepping stone or an aid of some kind for SJM. And that the two main objectives while it was being written were to introduce crossovers between universes and propel ACOTAR's story. For years there has been speculation among her readers that there would be crossovers eventually, there's been plenty of hints and small appearances over the years but never to the full extent CC was brought to. And I'd like to argue that said crossover wouldn't have been as impactful if Midgard wasn't 'modern'.

For example, each of our protagonists across all the different series so far have all been in or currently are in unhealthy relationships. Nesta and Cassian both coping with trauma/ negative feelings using sex in ACOSF, Aelin and Rowan literally physically fighting in HOF, and Feyre and Rhysand's unexplored history UTM as well as many other examples that I don't feel like typing out. Some of these problems are ones that can be fixed easily, but most aren't. I think with modern resources however, they would have better ways to handle said negativity.

Which brings me back to CC. I believe that SJM's intentions were likely to introduce a "forward" thinking individual into the ACOTAR universe that forces them to acknowledge their faults a little more. The reason I think this was a major reason for CC's existence is because of SJM's history of giving us morally grey characters and unreliable narrators. Especially because of the randall and ember bonus chapter at the end of HOFAS. We see Ember DIRECTLY compare Rhysand's anger towards Nesta doing the right thing to help others to the Autumn King. Who is the same man who locked down FiRo and didn't send help when the demon attack happened in HOEAB. It can of course be argued that Rhys helped others and he never would have let innocent civilians die like the Autumn King did, but that's besides the point.

Rhys in particular now has been called out by several different people for his behavior towards Nesta being unfair at the very least. And with SJM's love of hiding secrets from her readers? I think the idea of Ember's comparison was to show us, the readers, that we should be analyzing all of acotar's character's a little more.

Regarding HOW Bryce and hunt's relationship was written though? Totally agree in all honesty. Not super into it. There has been a continuous trend towards hyper-sexualization in SJM's more recent books I've noticed and however while it's not a negative thing I don't think it's being done in the best way. All of the male POV's SJM has written have been gross tbh, but I argue that that could be the goal.

#casualmisandrist

Modern men are usually a lil gross anyway, so I wouldn't be surprised that SJM's interpretation of a man would also be a lil icky on purpose. Just like how I'm not surprised so many people were into it lol.

That's about the gist of my feelings on CC? Especially since there were only supposed to be 4 books in the series, one for each house. Since it is so much noticeably shorter, I can't help but believe that CC was mostly a means to expand the universe and get more eyes on her most popular series for it's upcoming books, acotar. Which I dislike as a reader but at least she pulled it off using the lil nuggets of info shes been sprinkling throughout the years lol.

(sorry if this is long or rambly, im sick so im on the nyquil train otw to see the hatman)

PS, pls consider putting any of our homegirls from TOG in cbmthy so they can beat up literally everyone but the archeron girls rn bc the girls deserve a show and the IC needs their ass beat hehe

PPS, Elide, Lorcan, and CBMTHY reader crackship?????? yes?? pls???

-🤠

Warnings: yup, spoilers for CC, ToG, and acotar!!!

‘For years there has been speculation among her readers that there would be crossovers eventually’

This is totally just personal preference, not an actual argument, but I liked it when Aelin fell through the worlds in ToG and saw a male with a heavily pregnant female and then in acosf I think she’s mentioned as that red commit? That sort of thing I loved, or I think the book of breathings showed up in CC (maybe it was the book of the dead) but I thought those things were super cool, but honestly l would have preferred if it remained a mystery? Ironically now it’s been revealed it feels less magical—but again, that’s totally my own feelings and not really an actual valid criticism on CC :)

‘I believe that SJM's intentions were likely to introduce a "forward" thinking individual into the ACOTAR universe that forces them to acknowledge their faults a little more.’

This might be my own background talking here, but I dislike the narrative that because something’s modern or natural that it automatically equates goodness? It also kind of feels like (again, maybe personal opinion), miss Maas realised she made some mistakes in how she wrote characters in the past and how she chose to make them behave, then realised some of that was unacceptable or just not great, and then tried to recover by using a ‘modern’ character to go push all their own views onto other characters which I feel is so cheap?

‘Especially because of the randall and ember bonus chapter at the end of HOFAS.’

Oooh I’ve heard people talk about the Ember scene! I saw some absolutely adorable fanart of Ember and Nesta together actually which made me so happy since I love Nesta 😭

I feel I should probably finish off CC3 but it was genuinely painful at times I often ended up slamming the book down in frustration 😭 I’ll try and push through it though for the other characters that I do genuinely like 😭

‘Rhys in particular now has been called out by several different people for his behavior towards Nesta being unfair at the very least.’

(I would like to clarify ‘you’ in this case isn’t directly as you specifically, just a general, non-specific, generic ‘you’ 😭)

If I’m honest, I feel that’s just something that comes with the type of story acotar is if that makes sense? If you look and analyse too closely you’ll find the flaws and that’ll probably ruin your enjoyment of the series which is why I only enjoy discussing acotar lightheartedly? At the end of the day it is a fictional series so it shouldn’t be taken that seriously? Like to the point of some people judging a person’s character or making assumptions about them, based on who they like is absolutely insane and just way too much 😭

I have to say I don’t really understand people who dislike some of the main characters but continued reading? Not that it’s a bad thing—I just struggle to imagine disliking a character but continuing to read the book anyway? Especially with how prominent Rhys is? How can you even get through the books if you don’t like him? Like I genuinely struggle with CC because I don’t like the two main characters and have made the decision to not read another book because it brings me no joy?

I totally get analysing decisions and having fun discussing potential reasons pr motives different characters have, but only in a lighthearted way otherwise I’m just complaining about something I genuinely enjoy and then I’ll start to believe I don’t like it and it’ll just ruin the experience?

‘All of the male POV's SJM has written have been gross tbh, but I argue that that could be the goal.’

I heavily agree when thinking of Hunt but nothing particularly stood out to me for acotar/tog characters? Except for Az in that one bonus chapter 💀

‘Modern men are usually a lil gross anyway’

Babes usually I’d try to be fair and disagree but I think like a fortnight ago I went out and this man was fully pushing up against my back when I was looking at some t shirts and he even kind of knocked my hand away as if trying to get me to move over—I could literally smell the B.O. on him too 😭 (no, I didn’t budge one inch)

‘Since it is so much noticeably shorter, I can't help but believe that CC was mostly a means to expand the universe and get more eyes on her most popular series for it's upcoming books, acotar.’

Wait is there not going to be a CC4? Oh wait wasn’t House of Many Waters skipped out and we went straight to Flame and Shadow? Or am I misremembering that? Like I’ll be perfectly peachy if there’s no more CC 👀 (I mean, I’ll miss Ithan particularly and basically most characters aside from Bryce and Hunt 😭🤦)

‘PS, pls consider putting any of our homegirls from TOG in cbmthy so they can beat up literally everyone but the archeron girls rn bc the girls deserve a show and the IC needs their ass beat hehe’

Imagine over a meal one time reader mentions she’s been writing to someone then casually explains it’s trans-dimensional communication with this Queen from another realm who has fire magic and the IC are just [stunned silence]

‘PPS, Elide, Lorcan, and CBMTHY reader crackship?????? yes?? pls???’

Babes don’t put that idea in my head 😭 Elide and Lorcan are so precious to me (like yes I was furious we didn’t find out What Lorcan Did at first but low-key I’m kind of glad their relationship was kept the way it was? Maybe that’s just me loving emotional connections in relationships though 🫣🤭)